You’re Fired!

Luke 12:49-56

August 15, 2004

Donald Trump- “The Apprentice”.  “You’re fired!”

Here’s another types of being fired: being fired-up.

Theologians have debated this question for centuries: Why did Jesus come to planet Earth? Jesus directly answers this question several times in the New Testament. For instance in John 10:10 Jesus said: “I have come that you might have life–and have it more abundantly.” Again in Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In Matthew 20:28 He said, “The Son of Man has come to give his life as a ransom for many.” You probably are aware of those scriptures.

But did you know Jesus also said He came to bring fire on the earth? Jesus said, “I have come to bring fire on 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 completed!”
 

The fire He is speaking of is not literal fire but a spiritual fire. He is speaking of the burning, exciting, dynamic presence of God in the lives of people.

In the scriptures, God sometimes revealed Himself through a physical representation; this is called a theophany. Fire is the most common theophany. When God appeared to Moses He spoke out of the flame of a burning bush. Later, on Mt. Sinai, God appeared to all the Israelites as a fire on the mountain. Exodus 24:17 says, “To the Israelites, the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire.” Later, when Moses built the Tabernacle, they made the first sacrifice in the Holy of Holies. God again revealed Himself by fire. Leviticus 9:24 says, “Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering ... And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell face-down.”

That’s what Jesus is talking about, bringing the supernatural, burning, exciting presence of God Almighty down into our lives. When John the Baptist was asked if he was the Messiah he replied, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” (Luke 3:16)

On the first Easter, those two disciples walked with the resurrection Jesus on the road to Emmaus. They didn’t recognize that it was Jesus because they were certain He was dead and buried. After Jesus revealed Himself and disappeared they said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us?” (Luke 24:32)
 

When your heart is on fire for someone; that means you are passionate about that person. Jesus came to give us that kind of burning, passionate, love relationship with the God of the Universe.

There is a scientific field called Thermodynamics. It deals with the relationship between heat and mechanical energy and the process of changing one into the other. Your car has an internal combustion engine that burns fuel and changes it into the motion that pushes the pistons, and turns the drive shaft which turns the wheels which lets you get to from point A to point B. Electricity is produced in plants that use gas, coal, or a nuclear to transform heat into power. When you plug in an appliance in your home, that electrical current again is transformed back into some kind of energy.

I want to introduce a new concept to you. I call it Spiritual Thermodynamics. Jesus said in Acts 1:8 “You will receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” The Holy Spirit living in you is like the fire of God that generates the power you need to live the Christian life. He gives you power to share your faith or to forgive people who have hurt you, or to love unlovely people. In your own strength you can’t live the Christian life. Jesus said, “Without Me you can do nothing.” (John 5:5) But the fire of God in your heart will be like a spark that generates the energy you need to live the Christian life. John says we have an “unction” from the Holy Spirit. The key to Spiritual Thermodynamics is: You can’t function without the unction!

Fire will only keep burning as long as it has fuel and oxygen, but when it runs out of either, it will go out. So, if you don’t tend a fire, it will simply burn itself out. The sad thing is, this can also happen spiritually. At the this point, I want you to stop for a moment as you ask yourself a very important question:
HAS THE FIRE GONE OUT IN MY HEART?

Was there ever a time when you were more excited and fired up about the Lord than you are now? Has your zeal and passion for Christ cooled down? During the 1960s and 1970s being “cool” was a good thing. In the old television show, “Happy Days”, there was a character named Fonzie, who was the epitome of “cool.” Everybody wanted to be cool. To be cool, you had to look disinterested. You never got excited. You never really became passionate about anything. You never got in a hurry. You always kept one hand in your jeans and looked bored most of the time. You were just ... cool, man.
 

The problem is we have too many “cool Christians.” If you neglect prayer, Bible Study, your quiet time, or regular fellowship with other Christians, the fire will go out. You don’t lose your salvation; you lose the joy of your salvation. You lose your zeal, your edge and your fervor.

That’s an accurate description of thousands of Christians. You are still going to church, serving, singing and giving–but the fire has gone out.
 

Instead of being God’s Chosen we have become God’s Frozen!

Place your hand over your heart right now. Has the fire gone out? If it has, this is God’s way of telling you it is time to re-ignite your zeal and fervor for Him. Jesus came to bring fire on the earth; has that fire been kindled in your heart?
When God’s fire is burning in your heart, it will remove all the impurities that find their way into your life.

In 1665 the residents of London were dying by the thousands each day. The bubonic plague was spreading from house to house because of the unsanitary conditions. Rats and fleas spread the germs throughout the city. Almost 30,000 people died, almost a third of London’s population at the time. This plague was so bad experts surmise the entire population of London would have died if it had not been checked.

But on September 2, 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out and burned uncontrollably for five days. Most of the structures in Medieval London were wooden, and almost the entire city was reduced to ashes. But when the fire finally died, the people soon discovered many of the rats and fleas had been killed in the fire and the epidemic of the Black Death was halted. The fire cleaned the city of the impurity that was killing its people.
 

That’s what God’s fire can do in your life, too. His fire is a purifying, cleansing flame.

Also, fire is fascinating. People like to watch fires. There is something about fire we must not forget. When something is on fire, people come to watch it burn.

A fire broke out one night in St. Matthew’s Baptist Church in Kentucky. As the fire trucks came to fight the fire, hundreds of people from the neighborhood showed up to watch it. A friend of the pastor was watching the scene and said, “More folks showed up to watch our church burn than ever came to worship with us!” He said, “I guess the lesson is: When you have a church that’s really on fire, people will come to watch it burn!”
 

A good fire attracts a crowd.

Charles Spurgeon used to give this advice to young preachers: Build a fire in the pulpit and people will come to watch it burn. I want our church to be a church on fire for Jesus! As good as it is, I hope that St. Paul’s won’t be known as “that church with the antique show.” I pray that St. Paul’s will be known as a church on fire, because if we are church on fire, multitudes of people will come to watch us burn.

Are we a church on fire? Not really. We are a warm church, but the warmth of friendship is not the same as the holy fire of God.

God doesn’t light churches, He ignites individuals. You can tell when someone is on fire for Jesus.
 

Because once God’s fire is lit in your heart, you can’t keep it a secret. You have to act; you’ll never be the same. When you place an iron bar in a blazing furnace, that bar begins to heat up. You can pull it out after a few minutes and it will be glowing. The same thing will happen to you when you are filled with the Fire of God. You will literally be glowing white-hot with your love for Jesus.

John Wesley was kicked out of the Anglican Church because he was too radical. He preached in fields instead of churches. He was only 4 feet 11 inches tall, but he shook a continent for Christ. Once he was preaching in a crowd and a group of thugs had bragged they were going to interrupt his preaching and beat him up. John preached anyway. In the middle of his message they approached him with sticks and clubs. But this mighty man of God didn’t stop. Suddenly the leader of the thugs stopped and said, “Look! He glows! He glistens!” They dropped their clubs and sat down and listened and were gloriously saved.

Let me ask you again: HAS THE FIRE GONE OUT IN YOUR HEART? Are you known as a glowing witness for Christ?

In the Old Testament, God had a Temple for His people. Today, God has a People for His Temple. The New Testament tells us our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit. Wouldn’t you love to have the fire of God fall in your heart and for His glory to fill this temple?

You may be asking, “How can I do that?” First, admit the fire is gone out. Next, refuse to be a cool, apathetic believer. Finally, simply ask God to relight your fire.

*some excerpts courtesy David Dykes