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Acts 2:1-5 Pentecost 2007 "We Need Fire from God"

by Rev. Clancy Nixon

May 27, 2007

Church of the Holy Spirit

Ashburn, Virginia

www.HolySpiritAnglican.org

Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician and philosopher known for his logical

thinking. After his death, his servant found a piece of paper sewn into the lining of his

coat. Here, in part, is what he wrote: "The year of grace 1654. Monday, 23 November . . .

From about half-past ten in the evening until about half past midnight. FIRE. The God of

Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob. Not of the philosophers and intellectuals.

Certitude, joy, peace . . .joy, joy, joy, tears of joy. . . Renunciation, total and sweet.

Complete submission to Jesus Christ...."

Pascal was already a believer in Jesus. He did not gain a new theology; he gained

a new experience that bypassed his intellect and went straight to the heart. He gained

confidence and joy. And when the heart of Pascal met the heart of God, there was true

surrender -- sweet renunciation and complete submission -- not as a slavish thing, but as

one gives oneself to a lover. There was passion in Pascal's experience that he described

as "FIRE." John the Baptist prophesied that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit

and with Fire. That fire is Pentecost. The fire of Pentecost displays the presence of God.

The Bible tells us the God the Father sits on a burning throne (Daniel 7:9), lives in

everlasting burnings (Isaiah 33:14), is surrounded by seraphim -- flaming angels (Isaiah

6:2) and is himself a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24). God sometimes consumed

sacrifices with fire from heaven (2 Chronicles 7:1) to show his presence. Pentecost is the

occasion when the apostles and other followers of Christ came into contact with the fire

of God -- so much so that it could be seen hovering over them." (Illustration from

Rodney Buchanan, SermonCentral.com)

As we read the stories of the first Church in the book of Acts, stories of mass

salvations, people speaking in other languages that they have never learned, divine

healings, casting out evil spirits, and other miracles, we rightly ask, "Where did the fire

go?" Why do so many Churches, and so many Christians, exhibit such little power in

their lives? Why do some people seem so alive in the Spirit as Scott Manley said of my

wife Ginger, she's just "lit up" with the Spirit and others seem to be out of the spirit

most of the time? The short answer is that we need the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. We

desperately need to burn with the fire of the Holy Spirit, so that God's very self fuels us

to love a lost and needy world. We need fire from God.

In Acts 1 verse 8, Jesus says, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit

comes upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and

Samaria, and to the ends of the Earth." If you read on in the book of Acts, you'll see that

that is exactly what happened: the disciples ministered in power just as Jesus had, and

even did some things that Jesus did not do. They healed the sick, brought sight to the

blind, raised the dead, and preached all over the Mediterranean world. The same power

that operated in Jesus, operated in the Apostles, and that power can and should operate in

us as well, when we are anointed or baptized in the Holy Spirit. We need fire from God.

I've seen this Holy Spirit power at work in my own life. For example, I've

prayed for many people for healing, and many of those have indeed received divine

healing, some instantaneously. I know that I have no power on my own to make people

better when they are sick simply be telling them to get better. At most, that would be the

placebo effect. Only God can do that! God does do that; God is doing that all the time all

over the world. Amen? We've seen my son Will healed of a life threatening immune

deficiency simply though healing prayer. This is very commonplace. I want to ask you

now: If you have been healed through prayer, or used in prophetic ministries, have

spoken in tongues, or you have seen God do other miracles, please raise your hand now.

Look around, and see the power of God. Now I want us to do a faith exercise. Please take

just three minutes to find two other people to share a story of Pentecost power at work in

your life. That means you each have just one minute to tell a story of God's power. So

please rise, and find two others, and tell a one-minute story of God's power.

We need fire from God. Someone said, "We live in an age of "Pentecost

Substitutes." If Christians lack real power and fire from God, we are tempted to try to

produce our own fireworks. We can act like auxiliary power supplies like diesel

generators when the electric grid goes out we can switch on our own power supply that

we manufacture. Every week I receive ten mailers asking me to use this packaged

program or that promotion. Many churches, hungry for apostolic results, try to find

substitutes for what God the Holy Spirit did on the day of Pentecost when the fire fell and

three thousand were added to their number that very day. Not that godly programs are

bad in and of themselves, but they are no substitute for the power of the Holy Spirit. This

is not something you can gin up. But you can ask God for His fire, and He will send it.

We need fire from God.

The red clothing I asked you to wear today is only a symbol of the fire we are

praying for today, a symbol for our spiritual hunger for fire from heaven. As I prayed

about this message, I hung out with Jesus and asked him to show me what to say to you

today. I believe God spoke to me and said that what our church needs most right now is

not a building, though that would be a big help; what we need most is not more people,

though I'm praying for the harvest. What we need most right now is Pentecostal power

for witness, and Pentecostal passion motivating us to walk in the Presence of God 24/7.

I don't know about you, but my spirit man is hungry to experience the power and fire of

Pentecost again, the Spirit of God in fullness of manifestation. I want to see ALL that

God has for our church and our county today. We need fire from God.

Even so, many Christians still seem to think people who believe that the Holy

Spirit is still in the business today of giving supernatural power to Christians for witness

are one bubble off plumb. As Terry Fullam said, "The Church has been subnormal for so

long, that were it ever to become normal, it would seem abnormal." The church that

moves in supernatural power is normal. We are privileged to live in a generation when

God is again pouring out His Spirit in a mighty way.

In Peter's sermon found later in Acts 2, Peter preached, "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-for all whom the Lord our God will call." Peter is not just talking

about receiving the Holy Spirit at your conversion, which all Christians do; he's talking

here about receiving the outpouring of power as prophesied in Joel. Peter said this

outpouring of the Holy Spirit is not a Special Blessing for a Special Few in a Special

Age. IT IS FOR ALL who have repented and believed the gospel. Have you been filled

with supernatural power by the Holy Spirit? [pause] Some Christians have allowed the

Devil and religious tradition to rob them of their inheritance of the Power of God. Some

religious traditions say the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit were only for the

Apostles, so that their message would be authenticated. The truth is that we need the

power of God today as much as ever! We need fire from God.

Peter said the promise is for you to all who were hearing his voice, and to your

children, the next generation, and to all that are afar off that's throughout the ages, even

to the 21st Century to you and to me. What was the Promise? -- It was The Pouring Out

of the Holy Spirit upon all Flesh, both Men and Women. As the Apostles spoke in

tongues on the day of Pentecost, they praised God and prophesied in languages that could

be understood by the hearers.

Why tongues? It was more than just a way for others to hear the gospel in their

own language. Tongues represent the universality of the gospel, a sign that the message

of Jesus is for every nation, every ethnic group. The blessing of the clear communication

of truth and visible unity at Pentecost represents the reversal of the curse of Babel, where

tongues and communication were confused, and people were scattered and divided.

Pentecost also scattered the new church, but they were united in witness to Jesus. Babel

tried arrogantly to ascend to Heaven; at Pentecost, Heaven humbly descended to earth.

Babel show us man full of himself; Pentecost shows us man full of God. I think God

uses tongues partly because you have to humble yourself and be willing to sound foolish

when you speak in another language, since you don't know what you are saying! The

disciples were forever changed. When you have a sensory experience with God; when

you see the fire of God; when you hear the hurricane of God; when you have a

supernatural encounter that is unmistakably God, like the early church did at Pentecost,

you cannot stay the same!

In First Corinthians 14, Paul lays down guidelines for speaking in tongues. With

regard to the private use of this gift (on our own with God), he strongly encourages it.

He says, "I would like every one of you to speak in tongues" (v. 5) and, "I thank God that

I speak in tongues more than all of you" (v. 18). Tongues is only one evidence of the

baptism of the Holy Spirit there are other evidences as well. I've found tongues to be a

major blessing in my own life. It's a gift. In First Corinthians 12, the Apostle Paul tells

us to eagerly desire the spiritual gifts.

I've found in my own life that tongues is a GATEWAY GIFT. It opened up the

floodgates for me to receive many other spiritual gifts. Many people experience the same

thing. It's a blessing, and it gives you more tools in your toolbox to win people to Christ.

We need fire from God. We can't win the world on our own.

In 1988, Ginger and I decided that we wanted to ask for all the gifts of the spirit.

We knew we needed power for ministry. We lived in a condo in the Cathedral district of

DC at the time, and we prayed one evening to receive the gift of tongues, following the

instructions in Dennis Bennett's book, The Holy Spirit and You. We prayed and prayed,

and ...nothing happened! God didn't open our mouths. We went to sleep and decided to

try again later.

The next morning, in my regular quiet time alone with the Lord, I was led to pray

for a man who was in my wedding named Mike. He had a double diagnosis of drug

addiction and mental illness. As I prayed, I sensed in my spirit that he was demonized. I

had never prayed against demons before, but I knew enough to take authority over them.

As I did that, God gave me a new weapon to fight this spiritual battle. As I rebuked that

demon out loud, a new language came from my lips! I was as surprised as anyone. I

experienced tingling over my whole body like a liquid fire that did not burn.

Now I pray in tongues most every day. I find that if builds up my faith when I do.

I pray silently in tongues during the Sunday service from time to time when I'm hearing a

testimony or when I need wisdom of what to do next. This is a blessing that I don't want

you to miss. The gift of tongues is not something that you need to get into heaven; this is

something that is very helpful for you here on earth! We need fire from God, and tongues

is just one way that God can light you up. God loves it when we ask him for Holy Spirit

gifts.

This morning, I encourage you to ask God to baptize you with his Holy Spirit and

with fire, and to give you the gift of tongues or any other gift that you may desire. Go on

seeking him until you find. Go on knocking until the door opens. Seek God with all your

heart. If you'd like to speak in a new tongue, you must open your mouth and start to

praise God in any language but English! Believe that what you receive is from God.

Don't let anyone tell you that you made it up. (It is most unlikely that you have.)

Now we are going to pray, and then sing praises to God. Let's start with some

instrumental music during our prayer time. I invite you to pray in one of two ways. If you

would like to be baptized with Holy Spirit fire, or to receive a spiritual gift of some kind,

you can go to one of our trained Prayer Ministry teams at the left side of the gymnasium

to be prayed for individually. Or you can stay right where you are, and do business with

God yourself.

Let's pray. Come, Holy Spirit. Send your power.