Fire on the day of Pentecost
The purpose of the Holy Spirit’s fire can be vividly seen in the account of the day of Pentecost. John the Baptist had promised that Jesus would “…baptize…with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). Jesus promised this baptism of the Holy Spirit to the disciples immediately before He ascended to heaven. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you…” (Acts 1:8). He commanded His disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit.
The disciples were waiting and praying in an upper room for many days. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:1-4).
What seemed to be flames of fire rested on the head of each disciple! This fire was the visible manifestation of the presence of the Holy Spirit. One hundred twenty disciples were instantly empowered to begin spreading the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus told the disciples they would become witnesses to the ends of the earth when they received the Holy Spirit! He declared, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
Fire must spread! The Holy Spirit’s fire gave the disciples the power they needed to take the gospel around the world. This heavenly fire gave the uneducated fisherman, Peter, the boldness to stand up in front of a huge crowd and begin preaching.
Peter began preaching with fire! Peter, quoting from the prophet Joel, proclaimed, “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days…” (Acts 2:17-18). Joel also tells us that one of the signs of the last times will be fire (Acts 2:19).
Peter preached the good news that “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Acts 2:21). He told the crowds, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off…” (Acts 2:38-39).
Three thousand people were saved as a result of Peter’s fiery sermon that day (Acts 2:41). The story of Acts is the story of the spread of the Holy Spirit’s fire. The fire inside of the individual disciples quickly became a wildfire no one could contain. The religious leaders of Jerusalem tried to stop it, but they failed. The Romans tried to stop the fire and they did no better than the priests. The fire spread and spread until the entire Roman Empire had heard the Word of the Lord.
Fire gave the disciples a boldness to witness. This same fire will also give you the boldness to be a witness. When you are filled with God’s fire, there is no need to be timid in sharing your faith.
The Bible promises that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. In addition, everyone who repents and is baptized, will be filled with the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit fills you, He will come with fire. This fire will begin to spread to the people around you. You will begin to see people saved, healed, and delivered as they come in contact with your fire.
The purpose of being filled with the Holy Spirit is to be a witness. It is vital to spread the fire once you have caught it. Fire must spread or it will go out. Fire will give you urgent, burning compassion to save the lost.
How Revival Fire Spreads
Every substance has a temperature it must reach before it will burst into flames. Firemen call this temperature “flashpoint.” Every substance on this earth has a flashpoint. There is nothing on the face of the earth which can not be marred, altered, or changed by fire. Every substance will burn at some temperature.
When any substance reaches its flashpoint, it will begin to burn. Paper ignites at 200-210 degrees Fahrenheit. Wood has a higher flashpoint. Steel and concrete must be extremely hot before they burn. Something hard (like steel) is more difficult to ignite than something soft (like paper). Every material will burn if it is hot enough.
Every natural substance has a flashpoint. In the spiritual world, everything has a flashpoint too. There is a point when the revival fire of God will cause a wildfire to break forth. Every individual heart has a flashpoint. Every city has a flashpoint. Every nation has a flashpoint. A spiritual flashpoint is the supernatural temperature a spirit must reach before it will burst into flames.
Every Christian has the potential to be the spark which will start a mighty revival! For a fire to start where you are, you need to be burning hotter than your area’s flashpoint. The passion inside of your life can suddenly cause your home or city to burst into flames.
Different places have different flashpoints. In the same way that a soft substance burns easier than a hard material, a soft heart will reach its flashpoint and start burning much quicker than a hard heart. This is why it is important to keep your heart soft toward God.
The Bible often describes people with hard hearts. Some hearts are hard and some are soft. Some areas are spiritually sensitive and some areas are cold. Some places only need a spark to set a fire going, and some places are going to need a blowtorch.
It is possible for a single, passionate, sold out, follower of Christ, to change the entire spiritual climate of an area. One pastor can change a city! One family member can turn an entire family towards God. One church can change the world if they would only fan the dying embers into red hot flames!
Revival fires will only burn to the degree that spiritual temperatures have surpassed the flashpoint. The key to changing the temperature from a lukewarm Christianity to a raging fire is prayer! Prayer always precedes the Holy Spirit’s fire. Before the day of Pentecost occurred, the disciples prayed intensely in the upper room. Revival is going to require massive amounts of prayer from the saints.
Every fire burns hotter if it has more fuel. Every Christian who begins to pray for revival, tosses a new log into the fireplace. This is why we can not rely only on our leaders to seek God, we must seek Him ourselves. For the wildfire to spread across the world, every Christian must be burning hot!
The more prayers prayed, the hotter the Christians saying the prayers will burn. The more you pray, the more fire you will experience. If you want to burn as hot as the flashpoint in your area, you must pray, pray, pray!
Total, consuming, unquenchable Revival Fire
In some forest fires, fire will spread slowly through the underbrush. But if the wind picks up and begins whipping up the flames, the fire quickly changes. It begins to leap from treetop to treetop. It almost instantly becomes a roaring wall of flame which can move faster than a man can run and suddenly the forest fire consumes everything in its path.
The Holy Spirit appeared like a rushing, mighty wind on the day of Pentecost. He blew heat into the fires which had been started in the disciples lives. They suddenly became an unbelievable force which could not be stopped. A gust of the Holy Spirit’s wind in your1ife will do the same thing. Once a fire starts burning strong nothing can stop it from spreading.
Firemen know they only have a limited amount of time in which it is possible for them to stop a fire. Once a fire has reached a certain point, firemen can only attempt to contain the fire and hope it runs out of fuel. Flashover is the term firefighters use to explain this phenomenon. Once a fire experiences flashover it becomes impossible to quench.
It is time for the church to experience flashover! Fire will consume, cremate, and incinerate every work of the devil. Once the church stops smoldering and starts blazing, it will accomplish great and mighty deeds for God.
Do you remember the nuclear meltdown in the Russian powerplant at Chernobyl? The meltdown was caused when some plutonium accidentally overheated. The plutonium will burn for thousands and thousands of years. In an effort to extinguish the burning, radioactive material, the Russian army poured over 300,000,000 tons of concrete over the burning nuclear fuel but the plutonium is still burning. Basically it will burn for thousands of years. It is impossible to quench.
It is impossible for Satan to quench a burning Christian. The fire of God should continue to spread from person to person for thousands of years. The only one who can prevent the spread of the Spirit’s fire is you. I exhort you, in the words of Paul, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire”! (1 Thessalonians 5:19).
Ignite Genuine Passion for Jesus and a Revival Fire in Your Heart as you read Daniel King’s book on the Fire of God.
