Title: The Holy Spirit As Fire
Memorize: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matthew 3:11 (Nkjv)
Bible Reading: 1 Kings 18:36-39 (Nkjv)
[36] 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 Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word.
[37] Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
[38] Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
[39] Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
Message:
The Holy Spirit often manifests Himself as fire, and in the Scriptures, we see many instances of this.
In Acts 2:3, the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples as cloven tongues of fire, and they began to speak in other tongues.
Hebrews 12:29 says that our God is a consuming fire. Ananias and Sapphira played with this fire and they paid with their lives (Acts 5:1-11).
They lied to a man of God regarding the proceeds from a property they had sold.
Peter simply confronted them on why they chose to lie to the Holy Spirit, and within seconds, they fell down dead.
In Ephesians 4:30, the Bible says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God…” Anyone who offends or grieves the Holy Spirit is toying with fire.
This is why Jesus said, in Matthew 12:32, that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
My dear child, I plead with you to be careful not to offend or grieve the Holy Spirit in your actions and words.
The same fire that brings power when it falls on a believer can also consume a fellow who prides himself or herself in sin.
Action Point:
Ask God to fill you with the fresh fire of the Holy Spirit.
HYMN 16: OH, SPREAD THE TIDINGS ROUND, WHEREVER MAN IS FOUND
1 O spread the tidings ’round wherever man is found,
wherever human hearts and human woes abound;
let ev’ry Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound:
The Comforter has come!
Refrain:
The Comforter has come! The Comforter has come!
The Holy Ghost from heav’n, the Father’s promise giv’n!
O spread the tidings ’round, wherever man is found:
The Comforter has come!
2 The long, long night is past, the morning breaks at last;
and hushed the dreadful wail and fury of the blast,
as o’er the golden hills the day advances fast!
The Comforter has come! [Refrain]
3 Lo, the great King of kings, with healing in His wings,
to ev’ry captive soul a full deliv’rance brings;
and through the vacant cells the song of triumph rings:
The Comforter has come! [Refrain]
4 O boundless love divine! How shall this tongue of mine
To wond’ring mortals tell the matchless grace divine—
That I, a child of hell, should in His image shine!
The Comforter has come! [Refrain]
Bible In One Year: Luke 5:1-16, Joshua 16-18
Authors: Pastor E. A. Adeboye and Pastor Folu Adeboye