The Fire of the Holy Spirit

FGB Jaya One/11/5/12/Reverend Johan Van Der Westhuysen

The Word of God should always touch our hearts, always taking us to a new level. The Christian life is about moving from glory to glory. As a young believer at the age of 38, I asked the Lord “How could you save me? I was a terrible man. How can you love me so much? And the Lord showed me a Scripture from 1 Corinthians 6:9-11”Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” When I first started reading, I thought “Uh oh, this doesn’t look good”, but when I came to the end I realized that though I was like that, I was now sanctified, justified in the name of Jesus and by the Holy Spirit.

Today, I want to focus on the topic of the Fire of the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 3:11, John the Baptist first gave this promise to come:- I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Later, Jesus, speaking of the coming of the Holy Spirit, said in Luke 12:49 “I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! This first occurrence then occurred in Acts 2:1-4 during Pentecost:- When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Since then, the Holy Spirit has been poured out on various believers throughout the earth in diverse places.

Ephesians 5:18 says “Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit”. The verse in Greek is in the continuous tense. It should be part of our lifestyle to be constantly filled by the Holy Spirit. A recent American pastor that I heard spoke of not wanting to do anything unless the Holy Spirit was with him. Today, I have the knowledge that I am never alone because with me is the Holy Spirit.

We are in the end times. Since Jesus ascended to heaven more than 2000 years ago, we have been in the end times and the end has been steadily drawing nearer and nearer. Just a few years ago, it was estimated that there were still 4,000 unreached people groups but in a recent survey, there were only over 400. The church has been active and something is happening.

In Acts 28:1-9, we are given the account of how the apostle Paul was shipwrecked on Malta. The account reads:- “Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta.The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.”

In this story, we see that Paul continued to put sticks on the original fire. We need the original fire of the Holy Spirit. Large portion of believers have become satisfied with artificial fire. We need to fuel the fire, the pentecostal fire. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to share the message with power. A faithful African Pastor asked his congregation:-  Are we losing our Pentecostal fire and becoming a nominal church? He was fired up because a Professor had asked him “Are you losing your Pentecostal distinctiveness?

We have to fuel the flame to feel the heat. We need to get rid of the things that quench the fire. A brother who was on fire for God went to a church where his enthusiasm was not welcome. The church quenched his fire. Another fire quencher is emotionless worship. There must be emotion in worship. When we first became Christians, we would cry every time we worshipped because we were so grateful for what Christ had done for us. We could not help it.

Too much flesh activities and events will quench the fire. We need to wait on the Holy Spirit to guide us. Jesus said “I will build my church”. It is His church, its about the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Some people refer to the Holy Spirit as an “it” but that is wrong, even blasphemous. The Holy Spirit is a person. He is God. We must not see Him as an it.

A coal by itself will quickly go cold, but together with other hot coal, it will keep hot much longer. Unconfessed sin also quenches the Holy Spirit. We need to confess our sins and God is faithful and just and will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness as promised in 1John 1:9. We need to be passionate Christians, alert people of God. We need a fiery message, a fiery intimacy. The church of Jesus Christ is much more than just a blessing club or social welfare organization or filling station. The church is a living organism, designed by our Lord Jesus Christ to resist the gates of hell. The church must be anti-Atheist, anti-religion. Jesus does not like a lukewarm church which He will vomit out.

Church is about people getting saved and empowered to go. However, too many Christians are sleeping, physically and spiritually. When fire slows down in Africa, it leaves a pile of ashes. When you bend down and blow hard, the dust is removed, and you can see a glowing ember. Put some small twigs there and it catches fire again. The word for breath in Hebrew is Ruach meaning wind, breath, mind, spirit and the Greek Word is Pneuma, meaning wind. When our embers are low, we need to bow down on our knees and ask for fresh Pneuma wind to come. The vision of the old church was to see the lost saved. The whole gospel is about becoming a blessing to others. In Christ, we have a natural giving nature. Giving is in our DNA. We have to be a blessing. From Genesis 12, God’s promise to Abraham was not only that he would be blessed, but that he would be a blessing. Every 2 ½ seconds, an unsaved person dies in India. If the church had truly maintained its fire, we would all be in heaven, and the end times would have been completed long ago.

The snake came out of the fire before it bit Paul. We need fire to burn out the dross, the negative things. We need fire to give us a fresh revelation from the Word of God. Sadly, the divorce rate among Christians are shockingly high. We need the Holy Spirit to enlighten us so that we can understand the mysteries of Jesus Christ.

We need to fuel the flames for victory. We were sanctified by Jesus’ precious blood. We are blessed in every spiritual area. The blood of Jesus has given us access to the Holy of holies. Know that you are strong, that you have the right to become children of God. Jesus Christ is the King of Kings. With him, we need nothing more, nothing less.

In closing, as taken from Jude, To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.