Peter was making comments about faithfulness and people
being faithful.
I'd like to just express my appreciation to
Steve, Stephen Chen here, whose faithfulness is making
so much that Peter was talking about possible,
and we're very grateful.
Can everyone hear me okay?
I know my voice is not as powerful
as it used to be.
Tell me if you can't hear me though,
and you keep it up.
All right.
If you have your Bible with you, perhaps
you'd turn with me.
I have two different passages of scripture to
read, and then I want to use them
as a launching pad for what I believe
God has put on my heart.
I'm looking into the book of Exodus, first
of all.
Exodus chapter 3.
I'll just say this much.
I'm not speaking specifically from this passage, but
I felt to read it, and you'll see
the connection as perhaps as we move on.
But chapter 3 in verse 1, now Moses
was pasturing the flock of Jethro, his father
-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he
led the flock to the west side of
the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain
of God.
The angel of the Lord appeared to him
in a blazing fire from the midst of
a bush, and he looked and behold the
bush was burning with fire, yet the bush
was not consumed.
So Moses said, I must turn aside now
and see this marvellous sight why the bush
is not burned up.
When the Lord saw that he turned aside
to look, God called to him from the
midst of the bush and said, Moses, Moses,
and he said, here I am.
Then he said, do not come near here.
Remove your sandals from your feet, for the
place on which you are standing is holy
ground.
He said also, I am the God of
your father, the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
Then Moses hid his face, for he was
afraid to look at God.
And then the other passage is in the
New Testament, in Luke's Gospel.
This is why I don't sing very much,
just before I speak.
I'm looking into Luke chapter 3.
The man who we know as John the
Baptist was speaking to the people.
Verse 15, Now while the people were in
a state of expectation, and all were wondering
in their hearts about John as to whether
he was the Christ, John answered and said
to them all, As for me, I baptise
you with water, but one is coming who
is mightier than I, and I am not
fit to untie the thong of his sandals.
He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit
and fire.
Amen.
As you all know very well, I'm sure,
a metaphor is a figure of speech that
equates or brings together two unrelated things using
characteristics that they both share.
And usually the purpose for using a metaphor
is to establish a particular contrast or to
highlight a symbolism that may be represented by
that reference.
The Bible is replete in metaphors.
And I was thinking as I was sitting
here of Psalm 23, for example, and it
seems to me that really the entire psalm
is just a combination of metaphors.
For example, the Lord is my shepherd, a
metaphor.
He leads me to green pastures, another metaphor,
and beside still waters.
My cup runs over.
And so it goes on.
He will take me ultimately to the house
of the Father, and I'll be there forever.
And so on.
These are all metaphors.
They're figures of speech being used.
When we think of Jesus himself in the
light of the teaching of Scripture, again, we
find that there are so many metaphors which
are used to describe him.
I've never tried to count how many, but
just for example, they range from reading Jesus
saying that he is the light.
He's the light of the world.
He's the bread from heaven.
He's the true vine.
He's the bright and morning star, and so
on, and so on, and so on.
There's always a purpose for a metaphor being
used.
Metaphors are not being used just because, I
don't know, because they can't think of anything
else to say or another way to say
something.
But almost always, and most certainly when we're
thinking about the Scriptures, there's always a reality.
There's always a purpose to which they point.
They're being used deliberately to illustrate something of
great value and great importance.
I want to just make a reference to
a childhood memory at this point, which I'm
using as an illustration for what I want
to say.
But in this immediate company here, I almost
have to make an apology because I've been
talking to some of you for very many
years now, and I've only lived one life.
I've only got so many memories as well.
Yes.
But anyway, I'm thinking of my childhood.
I'm thinking of the home in which I
was raised.
And just in reference to the actual building
itself, it was an old stone house or
brick house.
Central heating was unknown.
We didn't know what central heating was.
We never even heard anyone talk about zone
heating.
Never mind central heating.
But there we were.
We didn't know what double glazing was or
insulation.
But that's where we lived.
And in the wintertime, and I know there
are a few of you here who live
in a Canadian house, not the same in
many ways to the house I was raised
in, but you would have some of these
same elements, I'm sure.
Perhaps this one in particular.
And that is that in the winter, it
was not unusual for ice to form on
the inside of the windows.
The fact of the matter is, it was
jolly cold.
We had one source of heating and that
was a coal fireplace in the little living
room where everything happened in our family.
We even got bathed there right in front
of it.
That's another story altogether.
But the fact is, when you went to
bed, you went upstairs and it was cold.
And so one of my memories, and it
wasn't just one occasion, it's something that happened
quite a lot, as I recall.
But I can visualize myself being in bed,
cold, and the lights off, of course, and
then being aware of a glow that was
beginning to enter into my room.
And what it was, was my mother who'd
taken a shovel full of the burning coals
in the fireplace downstairs.
And she was carefully coming up the stairs
with the shovel full of burning coals.
And she would come into my room.
And in the bedrooms, my parents' bedroom and
in my bedroom, there's a tiny little cast
iron fireplace.
And she would bring the living coals and
drop them into the fireplace and usually add
something to that before too long as well,
and so on.
But the glow of it and then the
warmth that that brought was very, very welcome,
of course.
But the grate, which was, as I've mentioned,
cast iron, it was black.
In fact, my mother used to use something
called blacko.
Great on, you know, making up names in
those days.
We had silvo and blacko.
We didn't have much silver to use the
silvo on, but blacko was what she would
use on the cast iron fireplace.
But it was black, it was dark, it
was cold.
But it lit up with the burning coals
that my mother placed on the fireplace.
I had instant fire in my room.
You know, I believe that that is very
likely, in my opinion, most certainly, the greatest
need in the churches today.
And that is for, excuse me, a shovel
full of coal.
I speak metaphorically.
But there's the need.
It may very well be that it's your
greatest need, as I'm speaking to you today,
the need for a shovel of living coal,
a need for fire.
Again, I speak metaphorically, of course.
And another feature of the illustration I'm using
of my mother with the shovel of coals,
is supposing that she had come up the
stairs and she had the shovel, but it
just had black coal on the shovel.
And it was the right material, it would
be the right material, and it would be
far less dangerous.
You will agree with that.
But the fact is, the coal in that
state is dead.
And it provides no light, it provides no
heat, it provides no power at all.
She needed the right material, but in order
for it to fulfil its purpose, it needed
to be burning, it needed to be lit
on.
And I believe that with that simple illustration,
and I hope you've not forgotten the scriptures
that we opened with, but I believe that
there's a spiritual, very lightly, a very personal
application from this illustration that we could take
for ourselves this morning.
The need for fire.
You know, to just move over to one
side just for a moment or two, a
person may be, you may be, well versed
in doctrine.
I think probably most of the people I'm
speaking to today have been around the Bible
for a long time and listened to many,
many people speaking many, many more sermons and
messages.
And you've read a lot of books and
you're aware of the doctrine.
We're aware of the right material, perhaps.
I'm assuming that the doctrine you've exposed yourself
to has been good doctrine.
But the fact of the matter is that
there's a world of difference between having black
coal and a living fire.
There's a world of difference between merely having
the right doctrines and the right information and
be able to speak the right words at
the appropriate times, and having the fire, which
is being referred to now metaphorically.
You know, let's just think for a moment
of the way in which God used metaphors
in reference to himself.
When he used the metaphor of fire, there
are several things that are being referred to,
and I can't this morning try to deal
with everything.
But let me emphasize this.
He primarily is speaking of himself.
We know we read in Deuteronomy, then again
in the same statement in Hebrews chapter 12,
that would be Deuteronomy 3 and verse 24
for someone who's writing down in Hebrews 12
and 29, where I read, your God is
a consuming fire.
Now there's a metaphor.
He's not literally fire as we know fire,
but he's deliberately referring to himself symbolically with
an element that we are all very familiar
with.
And then this happened in the reading that
we had in Exodus chapter 3, where Moses,
during that particular night, he sees a bush
that is burning and yet it's not being
consumed.
And when he draws near to it, he
finds that the very presence of God was
somehow there represented or signified symbolically, if you
will, by actual fire, which drew his attention
and drew him to go to the bush
and then enter into that conversation which God
graciously initiated with him.
There are so many other scriptures we can
think about, but we could think about Exodus
again, chapter 19.
So on the one hand in chapter 3,
we've got God symbolizing his presence by fire
with Moses.
But then as we get to chapter 19,
we've got God again symbolizing his presence, not
just to Moses, but to the whole nation
as they're gathered around Mount Sinai.
And the text reads, the mount was wrapped
in smoke because the Lord had descended upon
it in fire.
And so this becomes increasingly plain and clear.
There are other scriptures I can think of.
2 Chronicles 7, where Solomon has just finished
that outstanding prayer concerning the dedication of the
temple, you'll remember.
And when Solomon had finished praying, we read,
fire came down from heaven and consumed the
burnt offering and the sacrifices that were upon
it.
God utilizing this symbol or actual symbol and
referring to himself metaphorically in this particular way.
To the Jewish mind of old, there was
another feature that was outstanding to them when
they saw or were made aware of God's
presence in terms of fire, and that was
judgment.
And so without delving into that or looking
for other scriptures, what I'm learning as I
read through the pages of scripture is that
God himself has chosen to make himself known
symbolically or metaphorically by fire and revealing or
emphasizing his divine presence, reminding his people of
his divine power and indeed of his divine
judgment.
In other words, this element because of the
very nature of it, that is fire, physical
fire as we know it, is not limited
to a little fire grace in an upstairs
boy's bedroom.
But of course, we've been exposed to varying
degrees to forest fires and enormous fires and
the power of fire and the drama of
it and the fear of it in many
cases.
So the way in many cases, other cases
it's utilized for very positive reasons and purposes.
But it's not surprising to us, is it,
that God, who is this sovereign almighty God
who is wanting to make himself known to
us or make features of his person or
of his activities known to us in terms
of the greatness, the transcendence of who he
is and what he is doing and wants
to do, that he would use fire as
an illustration in that particular way.
He uses other illustrations for other purposes.
But I want to concentrate here on this
particular passage.
So we've got God revealing himself in the
Old Testament in those particular ways.
And then the other section of Scripture I
read to you was from Luke chapter 3.
So we've moved through a whole transition here
of time and whatnot.
And on this occasion, as we were reminded,
we've got John the Baptist, the forerunner of
the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, sent very
specially by God for this purpose, to be
his forerunner.
And as you noted from the reading, the
people who were listening to him, they're observing
just how unusual this man John was for
different reasons, not least his dress, not least
the food he ate, and so on.
But the things he said, the things that
he was saying, and it caused them to
wonder, and this is what we read in
the 15th verse, they wondered to themselves, could
it be that this John is the Christ?
Could it be that he is the Messiah,
which is quite a thought to consider.
But then, in the light of the fact
that the nation were not merely looking for
some strange or unusual man with unusual dress
or whatever, but they were really looking for
a Messiah who would be a warrior, someone
who would come in power and with drama
and be able to bring to an end
their over-rulers and allow them to come
into the kind of blessings that were referred
to by the prophets in the Old Testament,
and so on.
And then here we are with John the
Baptist speaking.
But then we noted in verse 16 how
he turns the attention away from himself, and
he said, in his many words, he said,
no, I am not the Christ.
And he goes on to make a statement
and introduce what I can only think of
as being a shockingly new idea that he
puts out to the crowd who were gathered
around him and listening to him.
Essentially, he says, yes, the Messiah is coming.
In fact, he's on the doorstep, as it
were.
He's about to appear.
And when he appears, whereas I am baptising
you with water, he will baptise you in
the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit of God.
And I can't tell you what those words
meant to the people who were listening to
him on that occasion.
But I'm pretty sure I'm right to say
that what he was now saying was not
expected nor anticipated, nor did it seem particularly
relevant, no matter how the words may have
some sort of, I don't know, some transcendence
in that he's referring to the Spirit of
God, certainly.
But what did it mean?
How could they understand it at that particular
time?
And I'm sure it was very perplexing.
You know, you turn over a few pages
in Luke's Gospel and you come to chapter
12.
And in verse 49, we have Jesus now,
Jesus himself speaking.
And he makes this statement, I have come.
So don't forget, John said he's coming.
And, of course, other prophets had said he's
coming earlier before him, of course.
He's coming.
Jesus says, I have come to cast fire
upon the earth, and how I wish it
were already kindled, but I have a baptism
to undergo, and how distressed I am until
it is accomplished.
So this is Jesus.
And let's just note carefully, because I think
it's very important, we've got this idea behind
us now of metaphor, of fire being used
metaphorically.
And I sought to emphasize the fact that
God does that because he's got a greater
purpose.
There's something great, there's something infinitely great behind
his words.
Okay, so that's a fact we've got there
on the table.
Over here now, we're reminding ourselves that John
said, and when he comes, he will baptize
you in the Holy Ghost and fire.
And we say, of all of the things
that I could, even I could imagine that
John could have said, on the basis of
what I've learned from the rest of the
Bible, of course, that he would do or
he would accomplish or he would make possible
when he comes, we believe that John, John
the Baptist, was inspired by the Spirit of
God to say, and when he comes, this
is what he's going to do.
It's like right there, top of the list,
capital letters highlighted, when he comes, he will
baptize you in the Holy Ghost and fire.
And now we've got Jesus himself speaking, and
he said, I have come to send fire
on the earth.
And how I wish it were already kindled.
Now, I'm well aware, as some of you
may be, that there are commentators who take
this in different directions.
But I can't help but feel, I'm reading
the same gospel writer, Luke, I'm only nine
chapters away, and I'm being referred to fire
again.
Why should I put a different meaning on
this?
Why should I take my thoughts in a
different direction?
John's saying, when he comes, fire.
Jesus is here, he said, I'm come, fire.
There's a connection that in my mind is
inevitable here.
Now, Jesus goes on, I'll make just brief
comment to this because it's a very important
issue, but I can't make it my topic
this morning now.
But Jesus did go on to say, and
this is the New American translation I'm using,
he says, how distressed rather I am until
this, my longing, my purpose be accomplished.
And then he goes on to say that
he has a baptism to undergo.
The words are graphic, aren't they, and full
of meaning.
I have not the slightest doubt that he
is referring to his suffering, to his redemptive
death.
He's referring to the cross.
He's referring to Calvary.
He's referring to God's judgment upon sin in
him, the sinless one upon the cross.
And clearly there was, and this is highlighted
later on in the unfolding story when we
find Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, that
what he was about to face was horrifying
to him.
In my own Christian background and where I
used to go to church as a boy,
there was, every Sunday morning was a breaking
of bread service and every Sunday morning various
men in the assembly would share something that
was related to Calvary and the shedding of
Christ's blood and so on.
And it seemed at that point that they
sort of, and I was a boy, that
the more powerful speakers were those who could
more graphically present the physical features of his
suffering.
And I am not diminishing them at all,
but I've told you before about a book
that my father had with old pictures in
it.
It was Fox's Book of Martyrs, and that
was the scariest book on the shelf.
At one point he said, maybe you shouldn't
be looking at it.
These are drawings, of course, but of men
and women who suffered the most dreadful, most
horrific deaths because of their testimony and their
devoted hearts to God.
But the fact is, so many of those
stories, which I was able to read later,
portrayed men and women who were courageous, who
were filled with faith, and they almost, I'm
exaggerating somewhat, but there's a sense in which
they almost volunteered themselves for martyrdom as a
kind of badge of honour, signifying their love
for God.
I must never make Jesus less than any
of them.
Jesus was not a coward.
He wasn't cowering just from the physical suffering,
no matter how great that was.
But Paul puts it so succinctly, doesn't he,
when he refers back to that event, and
he says that he was made sin for
us, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him.
There was a depth, there was a dimension
to Christ's suffering on the cross as the
sin bearer before his Holy Father in his
substitutionary death.
Vicariously he died for me and for you.
There was a price involved in that that
cannot be calculated or measured.
And I believe it was that, and perhaps
it's highlighted in those words that all of
us are familiar with, when Jesus, upon the
cross, in the darkness, suffering these very things,
said, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?
So there was a, there was a, he
was distressed because he longed for his purpose
to come to fruition in the hearts and
lives of men and women, that they may
discover and experience what John the Baptist said
he had come to do.
But Jesus anticipated the fact that before that
could become a reality, he would need to
go through his, or undergo his baptism that
he refers to there in that fiftieth verse
and so on.
John the Baptist spoke of the Holy Spirit,
remember.
You shall be baptised in the Holy Spirit.
I pause here because, you know, I believe
that here is, here's something we need to
consider in a fresh way, something that's incredibly
important.
It's so easy for the words which are
familiar to us, Holy Spirit, to just roll
off our lips.
Or some, not all Christians, but some certainly
would use the phrase baptism in the Spirit,
sort of, such a matter of fact, sort
of, almost casual way and so on.
But I think it's important that we remind
ourselves this morning who the Holy Spirit is.
The Holy Spirit is not some impersonal force.
He is a person.
In the old King James, there is, to
my mind, a most unfortunate translation in the
Book of Romans where it makes a reference
to the Holy Spirit and it says the
Spirit, the Spirit, which refers to the Holy
Spirit, itself.
Surely it should be himself.
Itself.
And I'm not saying that people build their,
sort of, doctrine on that one word.
But it comes to my mind as I
think about a sort of a superficial, easy
-come reference to the Holy Spirit.
He's not it.
He is, first of all, he is a
person.
My Bible teaches me that he, the Holy
Spirit, is, he's co-equal with God.
He is the third member of the Godhead,
as we refer to the gods.
He's co-equal with God the Father.
The Holy Spirit is co-equal with God
the Father.
He is co-equal with God the Son.
He is, we're taught, not by word but
by the references to him that we find,
he is of the very same essence as
God the Father and the same essence as
God the Son.
And yet, and here lies the mystery, he
is separate from them.
And I can't explain.
I've had all these little illustrations to try
and help us understand.
But at the end of it all, we
don't know.
There's a separateness and yet a unity within
the Godhead that is outside of the realm
of our understanding.
But woe be to any one of us
who fail to recognize that God the Father
is a person, that God the Son is
a person, and that God the Holy Spirit
is a person.
I believe that together, together, God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,
they share together omniscience.
That means all-knowing.
There is nothing that they do not know.
They together share omnipresence.
That means that in a way that, again,
boggles our understanding, that they are everywhere.
They're not limited to time and to space.
I believe that together they share omnipotence.
That means all-powerfulness.
They are all-powerful.
And together they share eternality.
That is, that they are without beginning and
without ending.
Under the new covenant that God has established
through the redemptive work of Christ, the major
role of God the Holy Spirit, who we
have met already in the Old Testament on
various occasions, but under the new covenant, his
major role is the application of the salvation
which Christ wrought upon the cross to and
within individual men and women.
And John the Baptist said, when this Messiah
comes, he will baptise you in the Holy
Spirit.
In fact, from reading the Apostle Paul in
Romans chapter 8, I can say this with
the authority of the Bible, that apart from
him, apart from God the Holy Spirit, a
man or a woman is not a Christian.
Paul says that.
Apart from the Holy Spirit, he who doesn't
have the Spirit is none of his.
It's just another way of saying the same
thing.
So then, where does that bring us?
It brings us here.
To be indwelled by the Holy Spirit is
to be indwelled by God.
That's where we're coming.
And you may agree with me that in
a time of shallowness within the Christian community,
everything is so superficial and so self-centred,
our attention is distracted from the reality of
who God is, him with whom we have
to do.
I have a note here which, before the
meeting, I scribbled out because I thought, no,
I won't talk about that.
But I will make a reference to it.
This is one I had written there.
Conversely, on the other hand, having said that
to be filled with the Holy Spirit is
to be filled with God, the tragedy is
that within so many quarters of the Christian
church, so many activities are credited to him
when, in fact, to make the suggestion is
blasphemous.
He's the Holy Spirit.
I might as well tell you, and I
know I'm on record here, I'm exercised in
my heart about certain of the gifts of
the Spirit.
I've become frightened of prophecy.
I'm frightened of it.
That a mere man can say, thus saith
the Lord, is a terrifying thought to me.
Jesus said, when he comes, this is now
Jesus speaking, not John the Baptist, you will
receive power from on high.
You remember this, of course, from Acts chapter
2.
Let me just read it to you.
You say, you know, this is what ancient
prophets were prophesying.
It's what John the Baptist was talking about.
It's what Jesus was talking about in many
more references than anything I've quoted this morning.
But then it happened.
Jesus had said only verses earlier in chapter
1 that this that John talked about was
going to take place, not many days hence,
and now, look, it happened.
What are we thinking about?
We're thinking about fire this morning as a
metaphor.
When the day of Pentecost had come, they
were all together in one place, and suddenly
there came from heaven a noise like a
violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole
house where they were sitting.
And there appeared to them tongues as of
fire distributing themselves as they rested on each
one of them, and they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak
with other tongues as the Spirit gave them
utterance.
Amen.
Then it happened.
The fire, the real, the actual, the fire
from heaven, the reality behind the metaphor, the
fire came from heaven, and it was not
a shovel full of fire.
But as we learned from just turning a
few more pages, it was the promise of
the Father, Jesus had said that, and it
was an act of Jesus.
It would appear, if we're understanding this, it
is as though in heaven after the resurrection
and the ascension, the time down on earth
had come, the day of Pentecost had fully
come.
And this is the imagery I've got in
my mind, that the Father excuse me for
saying something that is completely inappropriate, but it's
as though the Father nodded to Jesus.
The moment here, and then Peter says, he,
referring to Jesus, he has shed forth this
which you do now see and hear.
Amen.
Jesus is the baptizer in the Holy Spirit,
and this is where it all began.
Having been promised and promised and re-promised,
this is where it happened.
Amen.
And Peter, in the course of preaching, you
know, because there's all the questions, what does
all this mean?
Are they drunk?
What's going on here?
He said, just these three words have lodged
in my mind, this is that.
This is that which was spoken by the
prophet Joel.
Joel 2 verse 28 and on from there.
This was what Joel had preached about.
This was what John the Baptist had preached
about and declared.
This was what Jesus had promised and quoted
his Father as being behind it all, and
so on.
And on that occasion that is recorded in
these verses I've read to you, everyone that
was in that room on that occasion heard
the mighty wind from heaven, or a sound
that was like a mighty wind.
I didn't say all the windows blew out
or anything, but they heard a sound like
a rushing mighty wind coming, and they saw
fire.
The fire was falling.
The fire was there.
It wasn't a forest fire, but the fire,
still, yes, a physical element speaking of something
which was invisible, which was taking place behind
the reality behind it.
They saw the fire as it rested upon
each and every one of them, and everyone
in the room experienced that fiery baptism in
the Holy Spirit of God.
And just to be clear, we're not thinking
here this morning or talking about what, for
the want of a better definition, might be
charismatic extravagances.
We're talking about the Holy Spirit of God.
The Holy Spirit of God who comes equipped
with fire-like power, the fire-like power
of the victorious Saviour, fire-like power of
the redemptive work that was accomplished through the
enthroned Redeemer himself, now at this point in
time.
Amen.
I'm emphasising, put it in capital letters and
highlight it as well, I'm emphasising here in
this that God has put in my heart,
that Jesus came for this purpose.
He experienced his own transcendent baptism in order
for this to be accomplished and to become
a reality.
It's what the suffering of the cross was
all about, and this is only the down
payment to it, I should add, certainly.
But it was not to start a new
religion.
He didn't do all this to start a
new religion called Christianity.
The word Christianity never appears in the Bible,
of course.
He didn't undergo all of this in order
to, I don't know, leave some accurate information.
In other words, if you've still got this
earlier thought in your mind, you probably still
do.
He didn't do this so that there would
be black coal, the right material.
The information is the right material.
Good doctrine, which is based entirely on the
Scriptures, is good doctrine.
It's the right material.
We need it.
We cherish the book that we have and
the words that God has inspired and included
here in the book, and we bless God
for that.
But just having the information doesn't accomplish what
God actually came to make possible in us.
Amen.
He chose to symbolize this baptism, this experience
feature, that which touches our lives, not merely
just information in our minds of good doctrine
and good teaching, but that which touches our
lives and is transformative to us is God.
It's not clever preaching.
It's not a good exposition of texts.
We're not ruling out the benefits of such
things, but that's not it.
It's God the Holy Spirit, the living God
who is the Holy Spirit coming in Jesus'
name and being received.
One of the words which I associate with
the Holy Spirit as I read in the
New Testament is the word receive.
It's something we receive.
We believe.
Yes, we believe, but it's a believism which
is unto reception.
Amen.
And this that we're talking about that's very
difficult to sort of—how do we get hold
of it?
This that's referred to as a baptism, this
which is referred to as fire by God,
using symbols we can relate to, is something
greater, something that is outside the scope of
human ability to accomplish.
In other words, God is in a position
today to accomplish something in my life, in
your life, whoever you are, that is so
much greater than anything you could ever accomplish
or any change that you could ever hope
to make in your own person.
You can't do it.
Fundamentally, that's a change in our relationship with
God.
You can't change that.
He had to make that a possibility.
And we can modify ourselves.
They call it behavioral modification.
And we can stop doing certain things that
we've decided are inappropriate.
But the fact is there's that about our
inner man before a holy God that we
cannot change apart from his own act, an
act of his power and his ability.
You know, there's a verse of Scripture in
the Old Testament, so this comes out of
the Old Covenant.
Okay, I've got that in mind.
But nevertheless, this one statement, I'm going to
read it to you in a moment, in
a sense it quite succinctly just points out
what is actualized on a whole different scale
under the New Covenant.
It's from 1 Samuel 10 and verse 6
where I read, and it references Saul, all
right, who is going to become King Saul.
But it serves us well here this morning.
It says, The Spirit of the Lord will
come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy
with them and be changed into another man.
And you shall be changed into another man.
That's what we need.
If you like, it's the shovel full of
fire, but it's an outpouring, it's an infilling,
it's a reception of, it's an experience of,
it's the enjoyment of God, the Holy Spirit
in our lives, which alone can produce in
us what God is attempting to produce.
And nothing less than this is the authentic
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you know, and I think you do
know this, maybe you find it in your
own heart, but there's an ancient yearning or
historic yearning that we can read about in
the lives and in the hearts of men
and women down through the ages.
Once again, praise to God it might be
in your heart this morning, but they long,
they long for this very thing that we're
looking at here.
And thank God there have been people through
the ages, most of them have gone now
who did it really well, poets, if you
like, people who wrote hymns for us, who
sort of expressed this historic longing, this deep
heart longing so well.
Who can forget William Booth who said, send
the fire, send the fire, let the fire
fall, because this is a personal cry to
God.
This is not merely something that you pray
in a meeting like this, you may do,
but it's something you do when you're alone
with God and the Holy Spirit is working
upon you and you're made aware of your
own personal deep need of God to accomplish
this great fiery baptism in your heart.
Let the fire fall, and of course Wesley's
wonderful poetry, he would put it this way,
and he caught this metaphor reality feature that
we've been thinking about this morning so, so
clearly.
He said, O thou who camest from above
the pure celestial fire to impart.
Well then again he said, come Holy Ghost,
life-giving fire.
Or again, refining fire, go through my heart
and sanctify the whole.
Or again, O that in me the sacred
fire may then begin to glow.
Amen.
Or another hymn writer put it this way,
that until this earthly part of me glows
with thy fire divine.
My question beloved is this, is the fire
in your great, do you understand me now?
Is the fire burning in your great, in
the great of your heart, the fire of
divine life, the fire of divine presence, there
is a price to pay.
And the question is who is willing to
pay it?
There's a sense in which we have to
be willing to do violence with ourselves.
We can't make this happen, but we can
make ourselves available.
And part of our response to his prompting
that is required is a willingness to sort
of rip out the door, the airtight door,
the door that keeps on nice, neat, little,
well-ordered life as it is, to allow
it all to be completely interrupted and so
on.
Or for others it's not so much the
airtight door, it's something that's caught my attention.
I've not read the book.
I don't know what the book is, but
I believe it's one of Billy Graham's daughters,
not the one who writes most frequently, who
made a statement.
It's something to this effect that clearly what
I took from this one line, it's all
I have to work on, was that as
a preacher, keep in mind that virtually everyone
in every seat in your congregation have a
broken heart about something.
There's broken hearts, there's bound up hearts, there's
longing hearts, and so on.
But whatever it is, if we'll open ourselves
up to the truth of the gospel of
Jesus Christ and allow this holy fire to
burst in upon the horizon of my heart
or your heart, and this, I remind you
as I close, is not some poetical phrase
or word or idea.
This is the reality behind the symbolism, behind
the metaphor, and to allow God to fulfil
his purpose, you can rest assured that there
will be no area, no area in your
life, no area at all that he will
not impact, and given the opportunity, he will
transform to his own praise and glory.
And with that I close.
Let's pray.