Sunday April 18, 2010 Phone: 570.829.5216 Pastor David Miklas e-mail pdmikBBM@aol.com Message Power & Glory in the Church – 2 Text: Acts 2:1-8; I Kings 18:17-40; Isaiah 6:1-7 "Let the Church Catch FIRE" Introduction: The Psalmist said in Psalms 127:1 "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it." Once again, let's say it this way, "Unless the Lord builds the church they labor in vain who build it." From the past to the present, the Church of the living God is glorious in His sight. Would to God that we could all be filled to overflowing with a profound sense of the glory of the church as God sees it! Please follow as we read from Acts 2:1-8. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. (2) And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. (3) And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. (4) And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (5) And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. (6) Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. (7) And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? (8) And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” The average American will tell you that for them the dullest hour of the week is 11:00 AM on Sunday morning. They go to a gathering of the church only out of a sense of social obligation or religious duty. Excitement is out, boredom has replaced the blessing. There are many empty seats. Rarely does anyone get saved and baptisteries are dry. Shouting "Amen" and “Praise the Lord” is inappropriate. There's always somebody bent out of shape. There's no vision, no goal, no burden, no direction. Christians just go through the motions with no change in their lives. Most of their talk is just religious talk. It is a lot of spiritual HOT AIR with no real substance. We make the gathering of the church a play time instead of a time to worship, change souls, teach hearts, and prepare to go forth to win the lost for Christ. Far too long we have been in a dry, barren, spiritual wilderness thinking this is what Christianity is all about. If that is true then something is amiss; something is woefully lacking; something is wrong! The 20th century church is not like the 1st century church in Jerusalem. From the Book of Acts we find the churches there to be alive, bold, crusading, witnessing, dynamic and excited. What's the difference? What are the dynamics that set that church apart? The passage we've read gives us the truly distinctive dynamic. It's "THE FIRE OF HEAVEN, THE FIRE OF GOD." The church is set ablaze when the Spirit of God fills a Christian with the PERSON of Christ, the PRESENCE of the Holy Spirit and the POWER of God. Notice again verse 2-3, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. (3) And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.” In the Bible, the fire of God reflects His PRESENCE. In Genesis 15, you hear it expressed in terms of a smoking furnace and a burning lamp. In Exodus 3, an angel of God appears through a burning, but not consumed, bush. In Exodus 19 Mount Sinai was altogether enveloped in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. When the fire of God is burning in us, the PRESENCE of God will be evident. When the fire of God is burning in us, the POWER of God will be evident. It is my prayer, dream and hope that there will be a yearning for the burning Fire of God in the soul and life of the people of this assembly. In the Bible, the fire of God reflects His ETERNAL PUNISHMENT. In Matthew 25:41 it says that Jesus one day will say, "Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire..." In Revelation 21:8 we read, "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone..." In the Bible, the fire of God reflects His POWER. In I Kings 18:17-40 is a familiar Old Testament story of Elijah and the play-off between BAAL and JEHOVAH. Jehovah's side was hopelessly outnumbered; the ODDS were 850 to 1 in favor of Baal. Elijah challenged the Baalites on their own ground. It should have been their strong point. He challenged Baal, the "sun-god, the god of fire." He said, "the God who answered by fire, let him be God." Silently the crowd WATCHED and WAITED and WONDERED as the prophets of BAAL tried first one tactic and then another to persuade the god of lightening and fire to prove himself, and send FIRE FROM HEAVEN. They stood upon the altar and cried as they cut themselves until their blood gushed out. But still no answer, still no FIRE. After a while Elijah started making fun of them. He said, "Yell a little bit louder, maybe he can't hear you, maybe he is on vacation, maybe he is asleep." But still there was NO SIGN of FIRE from Heaven - not even a spark. In fact, there had been no movement of any kind in the heavens for 3 years. NO FIRE, NO RAIN, NO VOICE, NO REALITY. At this point in the familiar account, we cannot help but notice some striking similarities to the church in our day. We are making lots of noise. We are busy, earnest, and perhaps sincere. But still, there is a deafening silence in the heavens. THERE IS NO FIRE! Subsequently, Elijah boldly stepped into the arena and said, "All right, fellas, you have had your turn; now move over." Follow as I read verses 30- 35: “And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. (31) And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: (32) And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. (33) And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. (34) And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. (35) And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.” He rebuilt the altar, unused for years. He placed the bullock on the altar. Yet, at this point there was still nothing out of the ordinary. Now comes the part where he caught the crowd off guard. He directed them to fill 12 barrels of water and to pour them over the sacrifice. Had he lost his mind? Everyone knows WET wood will not burn. What a waste of water. They must have thought, there goes the last drop of water we have. Remember there had been no rain for 3 years. Then Elijah uttered a simple 63 word prayer, in verses 36-37: “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. (37) Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.” What was the result? FIRE! Notice verse 38, "Then the fire of the Lord fell..." There were no matches, no pretending, and no magic tricks. JUST FIRE, REAL FIRE - THE FIRE OF GOD FELL UPON THAT PLACE. Notice verses 38-40, “Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. (39) And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. (40) And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.” In all probability, I am talking to some who have been saved, yet the power of God has never been demonstrated in your life. You need that fire of God's power to fill you, to make you effective in what you do for Him. Again, looking over that short 63 word prayer, I realize that there are times when you and I must admit to God, "God, if You don't do it, it can't be done." We can't orchestrate the dynamics of church life, such as getting people saved and planning spiritual programs unless God does it through us. Everything falls flat unless there comes the mighty fire of God. If we are going to see exciting, alive and dynamic movements of God in this place and in this ministry, we need to know, feel, and experience the FIRE of God's power unleashed on us. In the Bible, the fire of God reflects His Purity. Over in Isaiah 6:1-7 we read of this experience of the prophet Isaiah. “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. (2) Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. (3) And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. (4) And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. (5) Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (6) Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: (7) And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.” In verse four, the whole house was filled with smoke, because the fire of God was there. In verse five, Isaiah cried this confession of sin, "Woe is me...I am undone...I am...unclean..." In verse six, God applied the red-hot purging from His own mighty hand and declared Isaiah forgiven, cleaned and purified. The ceremony of fire made the humbled Isaiah ready for his heaven-sent role as the servant of God. Our desire for the power of God must always be preceded by our devotion to His purity. Our God, the God of Fire, is a consuming fire. He burns up our pride. He burns up our sin. He burns up our carnality and our fleshly ways. He burns up our worldliness. The result is a purification that presents us as clean vessels suitable for use by God. Now I want you to hear me carefully: You and I can be very precise in our church work by dotting every fundamental ‘I’ and crossing every fundamental ‘T’, but still have no power from God. We can have great programs, wonderful music, and even insightful preaching in our church, but have no life in it and no blessing upon it. We must have the FIRE OF GOD upon this ministry. Please look again at our text found in Acts 2. What is the purpose of the fire? The FIRE of God draws us together, Verse 1, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.” Today I'm hearing all kinds of voices. There are voices sounding notes of discouragement. There are voices sounding notes of disillusionment. There are voices sounding notes of disappointment. There are voices sowing discord and discontent. There are voices sowing dissatisfaction and defeat. Brethren, this is the product of our behavior, and carnality. There is no way to have the Glory, Presence and Power of Almighty God, if Christians are fighting one another by quarreling and kicking one another. You can't have your hands around someone’s throat and be successful in reaching out to bring a lost sinner to salvation. As your pastor, I have no talent for being a referee. I have no qualifications for sorting out people who are at one another. There were, in the church at Jerusalem, 120 members the day the fire fell. It's asking a lot of 120 independent-minded folks to be in one place, and all of them to be of one accord. But, brethren, we have the New Testament model here. These people were drawn together around the Word of God, in prayer and sweetly waiting for the promise of God to come. Yes, the fire of God draws us together in one place. The FIRE of God delivers us triumphantly, Verses 2-5, “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. (3) And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. (4) And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (5) And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.” There are three miracles here. Number one: the rushing mighty wind that filled the house. Number two: the cloven, visible tongues of fire. Number three: After God had gotten their attention with the wind and the physical fire, He gave to them the supernatural ability to speak in real, known languages, which they had never spoken in before that day. All this was for the purpose of sending forth the gospel message to the thousands gathered in that place for the feast of Pentecost. Triumphantly, 3000 understood the message of salvation and were saved. The FIRE of God distresses the onlookers, Verses 6-8, Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. (7) And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? (8) And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?” The observers became distressed. The multitude was confounded. I believe the devil has sold us a bill of goods, saying it can't be possible to have excitement in the services or in the work of God. Whenever the Fire of God is blown toward you, it will create some difficulties. Sure, some folks aren't going to like what you do. They will even charge you falsely, as they did in verse 12, "These men are full of new wine." Let's face it. In these days there will be opposition: There are those who carry on in the carnality of the human flesh. There are Christians who resist the man of God and the work of God. Many of God's people are content to remain where they are, doing what they are doing with no vision, no goals, and no fire from heaven in their souls to see the Glory and power of God at work. The FIRE of God demands a decision, Verse 21, “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The Fire of God breaths on us, so we can get folks saved. In thinking through these passages from I Kings, Isaiah 6 and Acts 2, there comes an obvious question. WHY DON'T WE HAVE THE FIRE? Perhaps we don't have the FIRE of God because we DON'T THINK WE NEED IT! We are content to live without it. The Israelites didn't think they needed FIRE. They thought they needed WATER. They focused on FELT need, while blinded to their REAL need. But once the FIRE came, then came the RAIN. For the most part, our churches and lives today are devoid of the GLORY and POWER of GOD. But when asked to state our needs, we speak of needing bigger buildings, more money, more volunteers, better staff, more equipment, etc. "WHY CAN'T WE SEE THAT OUR REAL NEED IS FOR GOD HIMSELF?" We have gotten used to functioning in our own efforts. Hardly anyone questions the authenticity of our results. Someone has said that if the "Holy Spirit were taken out of the average church, 95% of the program would just keep right on going." AS LONG AS WE THINK WE'RE DOING ALL RIGHT, WE WILL NEVER BE MOTIVATED TO CRY OUT TO GOD TO SEND FIRE FROM HEAVEN. Perhaps we don't have the FIRE OF GOD because we REALLY DON'T WANT IT. Oh, we say we do. But do we really want a revival of FIRE that will EXPOSE and BURN? Do we want the hard preaching on SIN, REPENTANCE, HOLINESS, BROKENNESS and CONFESSION of SIN? Are we more concerned about our IMAGE or about God's IMAGE? Perhaps we don't have the FIRE OF GOD because we AREN'T WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE TO GET IT. What we need is a great awakening in our midst and in our homes, in our lives and in our church. Someone said, "When the church is aroused to their duty, men will be swept into the kingdom. A WHOLE CHURCH ON ITS KNEES IS IRRESISTIBLE!” When the FIRE OF GOD FALLS, we see God for who He really is, HOLY and JUST and MERCIFUL. When the FIRE FALLS, God comes. And when God shows up, people are more comfortable on their face, than sitting in a pew. When the FIRE FALLS, there would be a return to the authority of the Word of God, calling the church to REPENT. When the FIRE FALLS, it consumes everything that is earthly or temporal. The FIRE of God PURIFIES, PURGES, and MELTS, for as Hebrews 12:29 tells us, "our God is a consuming FIRE." When the FIRE FALLS, sin is judged and dealt with thoroughly and uncompromisingly. Not just the obvious sins of the flesh, but also those SECRET SINS of the SPIRIT, as well. We will cry like David did in Psalm 139:23-24, "Search me. O God and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." A casual attitude toward sin will be replaced by BROKENNESS and GENUINE REPENTANCE. When the FIRE FALLS, there will be reconciliation and restitution among Christians. Personality clashes in the church would disappear. Envy, strife, divisions, contentions, gossip, bitterness, hurt feelings and backbiting will cease. When the FIRE FALLS, there will be a marked decline in the worldliness of the church where Christians would learn afresh, "that to be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of God." When the FIRE FALLS, houses would become homes and marriages would be for life. When the FIRE FALLS, our efforts and works will be tested and exposed. What now appears to be "spiritual activities" may really be nothing more than "fleshly efforts" to be labeled as "wood, hay and stubble." Today, I do not know of any greater need in the church, even in our church, than for the FIRE of GOD to FALL. That is what we are missing. The God of Fire is available, alive and well. The Fire of God is still powerful and necessary. For the work of God to be drooping and declining, dry and dull, defeated and dead is altogether unacceptable and inexcusable. I'm appealing to you now, Let's get back to having church with the fire burning. Let's pray for the preaching that will burn with fire. Let's go soul winning because we've got a fire burning in our soul. Let's fire the staff with holy heavenly fire. Let's fire the deacons with holy heavenly fire. Let's fire the choir with holy heavenly fire. Let's fire the Sunday school workers and all the workers with holy heavenly fire. Let's fire the believers of this church with holy heavenly fire. Today and everyday my prayer is: “O' Lord, I want to be your pastor in this place, but first I want You to breathe Your fire on me. Lord anoint me, fill me, don't let the fire dwindle and die out. I do want to see folks saved and baptized every week.” Perhaps there are many, who need a fresh anointing of the presence and power of God. Perhaps there are deacons, ushers, choir members, Sunday school workers and many other workers who need to feel the FIRE of GOD again. Let me ask you a question. Do you want the FIRE? If so, join me in crying out to THE GOD OF FIRE: Revive us again; Fill each heart with Thy love. May each soul be rekindled With FIRE from above. Hallelujah, Thine the glory; Hallelujah, Amen. Hallelujah, Thine the glory; Revive us again! It may be that I'm talking to somebody now who is not saved. Listen to me. Jesus died upon Calvary's cross, was buried and arose from the grave so that you could be saved. He bought you with a price. He paid for your salvation. It is yours as a free gift if you will receive it. So, right where you are, if you're not saved, I ask you to pray this simple prayer: “I do want to go to Heaven. I know I am a sinner, and I do believe Jesus Christ died for me. I realize I cannot buy this great salvation, nor can I earn it. Knowing Jesus died on the cross and arose from the grave to pay my sin debt and to purchase my salvation, I do now trust Him as my Savior, and from this moment on I am completely depending on Him for my salvation.” ********************************************** If God has spoken to your heart after reading the sermon "Let the Church Catch FIRE" then right now talk to God about what He has spoken to you. Do you have the assurance that one day you will go to heaven? If you have no assurance that you know Jesus Christ, then I trust you will decide to accept Him as your personal Savior. The Bible tells us in Acts 16:31, “...Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved...” Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” This prayer is here for those who need to ask Jesus to be their personal Savior: “I do want to go to Heaven. I know I am a sinner, and I do believe Jesus Christ died for me. I realize I cannot buy this great salvation, nor can I earn it. Knowing Jesus died on the cross and arose from the grave to pay my sin debt and to purchase my salvation, I do now trust Him as my Savior, and from this moment on I am completely depending on Him for my salvation.” If you made the decision to accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, would you please let me know? Please send an e-mail to pdmikBBM@aol.com and in return I will send you some literature that will help you in your Christian life. The “Weekly SERMON” was sent as a ministry of Bible Baptist Ministry, 48 Alexie Rd., Hanover Township, PA 18706. Privacy policy: your e-mail address will not be sold, or shared with any third party. 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