Transformative Fire: Embracing the Holy Spirit's Purification

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord. Amen. The Lord be with you. Let us pray. Eternal Father, at the baptism of Jesus, you revealed him to be your son and your Holy Spirit descended upon him like a dove. [00:19:49] (30 seconds)


And John answered them all saying, I baptize with water, but the one who is more powerful than I will come. The straps, of whose sandals I'm not worthy to even untie. He will baptize you, listen carefully, with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear the threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. [00:34:24] (30 seconds)


The passage is telling us that to put out the apocalyptic fires in our lives, we need the safety fire of the Holy Spirit burning inside of us, a safety fire which extinguishes the destructive fires by denying those fires the fuel that it wants. And the fuel that that kind of fire wants is fire. known as worldliness the fuel the chaff that that is described as being burned up by the coming messiah those destruct those those fires are worldliness and worldliness is idolizing created things the fuel that's currently burning in your life creating destruction destruction is what the bible refers to as worldliness defined as the lust of the flesh which is a passion for sensual satisfaction food alcohol drugs sex you name it the lust of the eyes the inordinate desire for the finer things in life and the pride of life satisfaction self -satisfaction in fact in temporal things who we are what we have what we've accomplished how big our bank accounts are how many degrees we hold the pride of life and our obsession with created and temporal things is the fuel that keeps the destructive fires raging in your life what's causing those fires is worldliness the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life [00:35:24] (114 seconds)


Augustine said it this way. Anyway, idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used and using anything that ought to be worshipped. Idolatry. And our attempts to extinguish the destructive fires of worldliness in our life are almost always futile. I've read that the first few weeks of January is the busiest week of the entire year for gym membership. [00:38:34] (33 seconds)


There's only one force powerful enough to contain and ultimately extinguish the firestorms that are engulfing our lives and, frankly, our world today. The fire of a life set ablaze. A common phrase used during the Jesus movement in the early days of the charismatic movement was to be on fire for Jesus. We've heard that phrase. Are you on fire for the Lord? It was a phrase used to describe earnest disciples who were willing to abandon that old life of sin. [00:41:15] (37 seconds)


The wind and fire baptism of Jesus is God's only remedy for the wildfires racing at our heels. And the way it works is to deny that destructive wildfire any fuel. That's what the Holy Spirit does in your life. He roots out those places where worldliness has become your God and threatens your life, your life in Christ. The baptism in the Holy Spirit is transformational. [00:43:23] (34 seconds)


The problem is with us, inside of us. Here's the deal. We are created, you and I, we were made for one purpose and one purpose only, and it is to worship. That's what we were made for, creatures of worship. And when we decline to worship God, the Creator, we will worship something else. And the Bible tells us that when we deny the Creator, then we will worship created things. [00:45:43] (35 seconds)


When anything becomes an obsession or an addiction, when anything begins to replace God as the master of our life, that thing must be dealt with by the fire of the Holy Spirit. You're not able to deal with it. You've tried, and you failed. The Holy Spirit makes it happen. God disciplines us, not out of hatred of us, but out of supreme love for us. Because God's desire is that we not become slaves to those created things. [00:47:31] (36 seconds)


There are wildfires ravaging our lives and our world. These wildfires are fueled by the chaff of worldliness, an unhealthy obsession with created things. And our attempts to control those wildfires on our own are absolutely futile. God's answer is to fight fire with fire, to set your life ablaze with the Holy Spirit. That's a disciplined life where the fuel of worldliness is burned off. [00:49:41] (33 seconds)


Everything that God has created, He has created for us to enjoy, but with moderation. And that's what the Holy Spirit does in our life. He is that voice deep inside that speaks to us. And guys, quite frankly, in your life, if you're a born -again believer, the Holy Spirit is speaking to you well nigh incessantly. He's always speaking to you. He's not listening. [00:50:00] (30 seconds)


Because the Holy Spirit isn't out to make you miserable. Quite the opposite. It's the created things that make you miserable, that enslave you, that addict you, that consume you, and that rob you of your joy and peace and love and power and your sound mind. Fight fire with fire. Let's stand. [00:50:40] (28 seconds)


Because your word tells us that if we're born again, your spirit has come to live inside of us, and your spirit quickens or makes alive, our dead spirit causes us to be back in that relationship. Help us, Father God, to desire that more than we desire the created things of this world. Help us to realize that those created things, yes, they can break forth in fire. There's a lot of passion involved in it, but they destroy us. But the fire of the Holy Spirit brings life, Father. [00:51:33] (32 seconds)