1On the day of Pentecosta all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages,b as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability.
(Acts 2:1-4)
Fire is powerful. In life, when things aren’t working out in a job or a relationship, we have a tendancy to ‘burn’ our bridges to move on. At the same time, when we’re excited about a new thing, we can have a ‘burning’ desire for it, whether it be a new job or relationship, or when we come to Christ for the first time.
As well as being incredibly destructive and powerful, fire can be cleansing too. In medical science, flames are used to cauterise wounds to cleanse them and remove bacteria. When we want to protect ourselves from identity fraud, we burn old paperwork. In previous societies, criminals were also burned, and this included suspected witches, and sadly Christians too.
Flames can also be a positively good thing! Ancient Israel used to burn items as offerings to the Lord, and in society today, if someone is going through a positive phase, they can be described as being ‘on fire’. In social media, the flames emoji is even used to react to inspiring posts and stories.
There are 3 things about fire that Pastor Jonny taught us this weekend:
Real fire
The flames of Hell are real and you don’t want to go there. The only way to avoid Hell and spend eternity in Heaven is by trusting in Jesus as perfect saviour.Only Jesus leads to Heaven.
In the Christian life, we can sometimes talk about people with pastoral concern, however, like fire, this can quickly get out of control and become gossip.
As Christians, we also need to be careful with our money. We ought to invest in our future and our church and avoid debt. Consumer debt is a propagator of poverty and can get out of control very quickly, overwhelming families and destroying relationships.
In the book of Daniel, we see Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, who were forced to ensure time in a giant furnace due to their refusal to worship a false god instead of the Lord. When they were in the furnace, God protected them, and when they escaped, they didn’t even smell of smoke because Jesus was in the fire with them!
Consuming fire
God is just and wants to bring justice to His people. He appeared to Moses as a burning bush in Exodus 3, then in Exodus 13 He appeared as a pillar of fire to lead His people through the wilderness.
One book later, in Deuteronomy, God describes Himself as an all-consuming fire. He wants you to have nice things, but He doesn’t want things to have you. God’s love will come together with His justice and things will be consumed in His judgement one day.
We also see in Malachi 3 of God’s fire being refining. For the Christian, the fire of God is not punishment, but discipline, reconciling us in fellowship to Him and crafting us to be more like Christ.
Holy fire
This is the passion for the Gospel. As Christians following the Great Commission, we have a passion to see God’s kingdom grow.
The disciples were on fire for God, passionate to spread the Gospel across the Middle East and the Mediterranean, and we should be too.
Here at Light and Life, we are praying that you receive the fire of the Holy Spirit and come to Jesus for eternal, abundant life, which begins today!