Ever Wonder Where The Fire Went? (Part 1)

When you see someone who is brilliant at any type of sports and beating everyone they compete against, people often say “They Are On Fire.” The word fire depicts intense passion and ability, and the same could be said about believers who are baptized in the Holy Spirit.

When John the Baptist was baptizing people in the Jordan, before Jesus showed up, he would preach about the need for repentance and the Messiah coming to baptize followers in the Holy Spirit. He was the first to talk about the Holy Spirit and Fire being linked together to give people an understanding of the dynamic result of when a person is truly filled with the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:11

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 

Many Christian’s today believe and are taught that when they are born again they automatically receive the Holy Spirit and nothing further is needed. The first major outpouring on the day of Pentecost in the book of Act paints a different picture, as do five other assurances in the book of Acts, over a 20 year span of time..

There seems to be a great divide in the body of Christ as to whether you need to receive a further “BAPTISM” in the Holy Spirit after conversion, or if the Holy Spirit just arrives in a person’s life at conversion and there is nothing further we need to do to in order to have the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. 

Many, if not all fundamentalists believe that having a baptism experience in the Spirit is not necessary, whereas those who are from the Charismatic or Pentecostal persuasion believe it is necessary to be have a baptism experience in which the Holy Spirit is released in an individual’s life in order to walk the Christian life as God intended. One has to observe the fact that there are a lot of professed believers in Jesus that seem to be no different from unbelievers with regard to their lifestyle, who embrace no additional baptism. This should cause us to see the missing link from confession and empowerment.

It’s funny how those who believe they have the Holy Spirit automatically when becoming Born Again no longer need what John the Baptist said we would receive from Jesus, namely the “Holy Spirit & Fire.” If what they say is true, where is the FIRE and why would both Jesus and Paul teach so much on Holy Spirit baptism? If God offers more from the work of the Holy Spirit shouldn’t we take God up on the offer? Isn’t it something we need to seek and experience?

Interesting fact is Jesus gave his disciples the Holy Spirit the day after the resurrection, and then over the next 40 days he teaches them before he ascended into the clouds. He then said WAIT until you receive the Holy Spirit. These are two distinctly different times of being filled, and long before Paul writes countless times about being filled again.

John 20:22

And when He (Jesus) had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 1:8

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” 

Jesus demonstrated in his earthly life ministry the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit as a man. It was that example we should follow, not some man-made doctrine that says we don’t need another baptism. In the book of Luke we are told that when Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended upon him and Luke says he was “FULL” of the Holy Spirit, implying there are different amounts of filling. 

Luke 4:1

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness 

So going back to what John the Baptist said concerning his meaning when he used the word “FIRE.” It seems John linked the Holy Spirit & Fire together, so if we have received the Holy Spirit have we received the Fire? He does not make them separate but joined concepts.

The word in Greek for fire means just exactly what the English translation meant which was also fire. The idea was that when the Holy Spirit comes upon a person it illuminates and permeates a person’s very soul. So what exactly did God intend that we should understand and receive in this baptism experience?

Peter, on the day of Pentecost identified what the first out pouring of the Holy Spirit looked like, as some thought people were DRUNK because these eye witnesses were saying these people act like drunk people. Peter said it’s only 9am and they are not drunk even though it may look that way. These people were experiencing an outpouring of the Holy spirit that causes them to be overcome because they were experiencing what the prophet Joel prophesied.

 Acts 2:15-16

“For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day; but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel: 

Here is the exact prophecy Peter was referring to:

Joel 2:28

“It will come about after this that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;

And your sons and daughters will prophesy,

Your old men will dream dreams,

Your young men will see visions.

So if we look at the first large scale baptism in the Holy Spirit, which was referred to in Joel’s prophecy, we should desire or manifest some type of overcoming influence which would enable one or more of these gifts. Paul elaborated on the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 14 about both the gifts of the Spirit and the enabling encountered from it.

Here is my problem. There seems to be many people talking about the Holy Spirit and yet lacking in the operation of the Holy Spirit. Unless people embrace the idea given in scripture of experiencing regular fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit in their lives, which should affect their belief system or theology as well, they are bound to try to live the Christian life devoid of power or fire. Is it possible that the fire that John the Baptist referred to was about a fire that produces these three gifts and so much more? I believe every time the Holy Spirit fills us the fire of God will affect every area of our lives from how we live to what we invest in.

It is also possible if we don’t believe and practice what Paul told us in the book of Ephesians 5 concerning the Holy Spirit, which was to be “CONTINUOUSLY FILLED” instead of just a one time experience, is a major reason we don’t have a passion for the things of God like pursuing the Kingdom first, or pursuing the fruit of the Holy Spirit given in Galatians 5.

Ephesians 5:18

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

Do you also notice that Paul uses the same idea of being drunk with wine as an illustration of what being filled with the Holy Spirit should look like? Consider what Moses taught the children of Israel about God using the same word FIRE and how Paul did the same thing in the book of Hebrews.

Deuteronomy 4:24

“For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Hebrews 12:28-29

Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.

May we start to have a fresh grasp of the significance of the Holy Spirit’s desire to invade every part of us, so that he can fill us to overflowing before a lost and dying world.

Questions:

1) Do you see the vital importance of desiring the Holy Spirit in order to be really filled?

Reading 1 Corinthians 14 should give us a clear perspective of how we need to operate in the Holy Spirit.

2) Have you noticed a lack of the power of the Holy Spirit since first being filled?

Take Paul’s admonition to welcome the Holy Spirit to baptize you anew according to Eph 5:18

May the Holy Spirit illuminate our very souls to have a hunger for the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Dale