HOW IS YOUR FIRE?
In these last days, God has been speaking to me a lot about spiritual cooling. And as the leader of this church and as a pastor in the Body of Christ, I have felt the weight and the urgency of sharing this word with you. I want to begin today’s message with a question:
How is your love for Jesus?
How is your relationship with your Saviour, your Master and your Bridegroom? Is your heart still in love with Jesus? Do you still hunger for His presence? Do you still take pleasure in the Word? Do you still enjoy praying? Do you still have passion for souls? Do you love the church of Jesus and take pleasure in taking part in the services, in the Life Groups?
Because I can look at you, but I do not know exactly how your heart is. But Jesus knows. Jesus knows our heart. And today I do not only want to ask: Are you in church?
I want to ask: Is the fire still burning inside you?
- JESUS KNOWS THE STATE OF OUR HEART
Jesus said to the church of Laodicea:
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I am about to vomit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:15–16
And then Jesus says:
“Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Notice that Jesus is speaking to a church. It is not a message for someone who has never known God. It is a message for people who are inside the church. That is why this message is not only for your neighbour. This message is for us.
Jesus begins by saying: “I KNOW YOUR DEEDS.”
I do not know how your heart is; your leader perhaps does not know how your life is. Your family, your wife perhaps does not know that you are lukewarm and perhaps you have hidden your life of sin.
But Jesus knows and He said: “I know your deeds and you are neither cold nor hot. And because you are lukewarm I am about to vomit you out of my mouth!” Revelation 3:15
God has no problem with our sin, but with the lack of repentance and spiritual lukewarmness.
You can keep coming to church, keep singing, keep serving, keep raising your hands, but Jesus looks beyond what people can see. He looks within.
- THE DANGER OF A LUKEWARM FAITH
Jesus is confronting a church that had lost its fervour, its dependence and its true passion for Him. Further on, Jesus explains the problem:
“You say: ‘I am rich, I have acquired wealth and need nothing.'” Revelation 3:17
That was the problem.
“I am fine and need nothing, I do not need to change.”
You keep going to church, but you lost the passion; you keep hearing the Word, but you lost the hunger. You keep worshipping, but you lost the presence; you keep serving, but you lost the first love.
The problem is not only being far from Jesus; it is being near Jesus without depending on Jesus and being spiritually lukewarm.
That is dangerous.
Lukewarmness is a faith without passion, it is a façade Christianity, a half-hearted commitment. It is knowing the truth, but not living the truth with intensity.
- JESUS WANTS OUR HEART
If you are married, perhaps you can understand a little of what I am saying.
There are couples who live together. They live in the same house. They ride in the same car. They eat together. They even sleep in the same bed. But they are no longer in love as they were at the beginning.
And I ask:
How many married men would like to see their wife flirting with another man?
None of us! Because relationship involves exclusivity. Because love involves passion. Because you do not only want your wife to be in the same house. You want her heart.
And YOU ARE THE BRIDE OF CHRIST.
Jesus does not only want you to attend His house. Jesus wants your heart. He wants relationship. He wants love. He wants passion. He wants you to be on fire for Him.
- LOVE CAN GROW COLD
Jesus said:
“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. But the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:12–13
Jesus said that at the end of times the love of many would grow cold, but the one who perseveres in loving the Lord to the end will be saved.
We are living in a world full of distractions, temptations, pressures and values contrary to the Word of God. But we need to be careful. Because it is not only the world that can change.
Our heart can also grow cold.
The question is: How is your love for Jesus? Are you still in love with Him?
- WHEN THE FIRE GROWS COLD, THE MISSION ALSO GROWS COLD
And here is something we need to understand: The problem of spiritual cooling does not end with us.
When our love for Jesus grows cold, our passion for people also begins to grow cold.
We can keep attending church, we can keep singing, we can even keep serving, but we can lose something very important:
When our love for Jesus grows cold, we lose our passion for the church, for our brothers and sisters and for the lost.
A church can be full of people and, at the same time, be empty of passion for people. When the fire diminishes, the mission begins to disappear from our vision.
That is why: God wants to rekindle the fire in us because there is a mission before us.
- “NEVER LACK ZEAL!”
Paul wrote:
“Never lack zeal; rather, be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.” Romans 12:11
Never lack zeal! Zeal means dedication, care, intense affection, readiness to give oneself.
Paul is saying: Do not serve Jesus any old way.
If you are going to serve, serve with passion; if you are going to worship, worship with passion. If you are going to pray, pray with passion; if you are going to evangelise, evangelise with passion.
Do not give Jesus what is left over of you. Give Him the best of your heart.
- GOD LIGHTS THE FIRE, BUT WE TEND THE ALTAR
In the Old Testament, God instructed Israel:
“The fire must be kept burning on the altar continually; it must not go out.” Leviticus 6:13
The fire came from God. Leviticus 9:24 says that the Lord Himself sent fire to consume the sacrifice.
The fire came from God. But the priests had the responsibility of tending the altar and keeping the fire burning.
Every morning it was necessary to put wood on it. And this teaches us something spiritual.
You CANNOT live TODAY only on the fire you experienced YESTERDAY.
You need to seek God today. You need to pray today. You need to open the Word today. You need to surrender your life to God today.
So keep this phrase: “God lights the fire, but we need to tend the altar.”
- HOW IS YOUR ALTAR?
Perhaps this is the question God is asking today: How is your altar?
How is the altar of your prayer? How is the altar of the Word? How is the altar of your worship? How is the altar of your family? How is the altar of your consecration?
Because when the altar is abandoned, the fire begins to diminish.
But today God is saying: “Return to the altar.”
Paul says:
“Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” Romans 12:1
Our life needs to become an altar. Every area of our life needs to be placed before God:
Our family, our work, our finances, our relationships, our gifts, our time, our strength. Everything.
The fire needs fuel and our fuel is a life surrendered to God.
- THE FIRE BEGINS WITH HUNGER FOR GOD
Jesus said: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6
We need to hunger for God again, desire His presence, return to the Word.
The disciples said after walking with Jesus:
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32
The Word (Bible) makes the heart burn. So plunge into the Word again. Let us return to the secret place. Not because we are trying to win God’s love. But because we have already been reached by God’s love.
- THE HOLY SPIRIT FILLS US TO SEND US
John the Baptist declared:
“He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke 3:16
And at Pentecost:
“Tongues of fire appeared, which separated and came to rest on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:3–4
I want you to notice something: the fire did not end at that moment. After the fire, they went out. They began to proclaim Jesus.
And Jesus had already said:
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” Acts 1:8
You will receive power… and you will be my witnesses.
Power has a purpose, fire has a purpose, being filled has a purpose, the presence has a purpose. It is the mission.
Pentecost did not end when the fire fell; Pentecost began when they went out.
The fire of God was not given so that the disciples would remain shut inside that room. The fire enabled them to go out, to witness, to proclaim and to make disciples.
The fire of God is not only to warm us; it is to send us.
A HEART ON FIRE CANNOT STAY SILENT
A heart on fire for Jesus cannot remain indifferent to people who are far from God. That is why I want to ask:
Who is the person God has placed close to you?
Who needs to hear about Jesus through your life? Who needs a prayer? Who needs hope? Who needs to hear your testimony? Who needs an invitation to church? Who needs to meet Jesus?
God did not place these people close to you by chance; you are the answer to their prayers.
- FIRE FOR SOULS
Jesus said:
“Go and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19
A heart on fire cannot keep Jesus only for itself. We need to carry the Gospel, we need to love people, we need to serve, we need to witness and we need to make disciples.
Wherever we go: at school, at work, at the supermarket, on our street, we are called to carry the fire.
To bring light to darkness, hope to the hopeless and life to those who are spiritually dead.
CONCLUSION
I WANT TO BURN TO THE END
I want to finish by sharing something very personal. Since my conversion, 42 years ago, there is a prayer I pray:
“God, I never want to lose my love for the Lord.”
I want to live every day of my life so that people can see the light of Jesus through me. I want to be like a candle that keeps burning to the end.
I do not want to remain on fire only for myself; I want to remain on fire to fulfil the mission God entrusted to me.
I want to spend my life, I want to spend my gifts, I want to spend my money, I want to spend my strength, I want to spend my time.
I want to spend everything I have to make disciples for Jesus.
Because the way we spend our time, our money and our energy reveals our true priorities.
We have only one life and soon it will pass. But everything we do for Christ will remain.
I will spend my life serving my Lord. Because it will be worth it!
LORD, SET FIRE IN ME AND SEND ME!
Now I want to ask three questions.
- HOW IS YOUR FIRE?
Are you spiritually alive, ablaze and in love with Jesus, or only functioning?
- HOW IS YOUR ALTAR?
Is there a life of prayer? Is there hunger for the Word? Is there worship? Surrender? Repentance and brokenness?
- WHO IS GOD SENDING YOU TO?
Who needs to meet Jesus through your life?
Perhaps today you have realised that the fire has diminished, your prayer has diminished, your hunger for the Word has diminished, your passion for souls has diminished.
Perhaps you are tired, comfortable, but today Jesus is calling you again to the altar.
Rekindle the fire, return to prayer, to the Word, to the presence, to worship. Return to the first love.
May our prayer be: LORD, SET FIRE IN ME AND SEND ME!”