INTRODUCTION
Have you heard the story about the church that caught on fire No one really knows how it got started but as the pastor stood watching his beloved sacturary go up in flames he spotted one member of his congregation who had not attended in a long time. Approaching the man the pastor said “Why Bob! We haven’t seen you in church for a while?” Turning to the minister the absentee parishioner said, “Well, to be honest pastor. This is the first time I’ve seen the church on fire.”
What does it take to catch an indivdual, a group of christians, or even a church on fire for Jesus? Do your remember learning how to start fires as a kid? If you hurried the process the wood would never light. It was only when you took the time to prepare the kindling over the top of plenty of paper and then after igniting the paper to patiently blow on the sparks. Then, and only then would a steady fire catch. Preparation was everything, painters know this, surgeons know this, even NASA knows this.
“The word of God came to John in the wilderness; and he went into all the region about the Jordon, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, ‘The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” Have you ever had someone visit your house when you weren’t ready to receive them? The house was a mess and you were ashamed to show them the conditions in which you were living In Revelations 3:20 Jesus declares, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock if anyone will open the door, I will come into him and sup with him and he with me” Jesus is knocking at the doors of our lives. Right here, Right now. Waiting to be let in that He might fellowship with us. Waiting to set our lives on fire. If in that moment we are unprepared to receive Him, like Adam in the garden we will be embarrassed by the exposure and be unwilling to let him in.
So John the baptist is warning us. He’s giving us a heads up that the Christ is coming at any moment now. John is therefore giving us time to prepare our lives, to cleanup our acts, to put our spiritual house in order before the day of Christ’s arrival comes. Every year during this time of Advent we are given this warning to prepare. The same scripture. The same message. If anyone should understand the need for preparation, it should be Christians. As Christians we are “to prepare the way of the Lord.” We are to “make His paths straight.” This we know. We get the point. But how does one do that?
You have probably heard sermon after sermon, minister after minister, chiding you to prepare for the coming of the Lord. Don’t you think that maybe it’s time one of us told you how to do that? Earlier on, I talked about starting a fire. Can anyone here tell me what three elements must come together for a fire to exist? Fuel - Why We Make Kindling. Heat - Why We Keep the Fire in one spot. Oxygen - Why We Blow on it. remove any one of these three elements and combustion can not take place. And so, Beloved of God. For there to burn a spiritual fire within our souls. For the divine fire of the Holy Spirit to fall upon us gathered here, as it did upon the disciples on the day of Pentecost. There must be three elements in place if heavenly conbustions is to ignite us. A fuel source that can burn, a form of heat to excite that burning, and a wind to blow upon the beginning flame that it may become a raging fire. All provided to us by God above, that we might be prepared for the coming of His son
“For the word of the Lord has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,:there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in.” Jeremiah 20:8-9
We begin with our fuel source. We begin with the Word of God. In Joshua 1:8-9 we are commanded, “This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.”
Let me ask you, “How often do you read your Bible?” Many reasons are given as to why people don’t read their Bibles more: to little time; hve no idea where to start or how to proceed; Don’t understand what we are reading. Let me give you some pointers to help you along your way. Start in the New Testament, you need to get confortable first before you hit some of the tough stuff. First, familiarize yourself with the scriptures, comprehension will come over time. Meditate upon , or even memorize those scriptures that speak to you. Use a variety of ways to get into the scriptures: daily devotion; Scripture on tape; Bible study. Make reading the Bible a daily part of your routine.
One day in St. Louis, Missouri, a young man walked into the office of a friend. He found his friend writing notes in what was clearly a brand new Bible. “Why are you’re spoiling that beautiful Bible!” exclaimed the young man. His older friend pointed him to Acts 8, where he had underscored the fifth verse, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.” In pencil he had connected these words to the eight verse which reads, “And there was great joy in that city.” Years afterward, that young man frequently introduced his friend C. E. Paxson as “the man who first taught me to mark my Bible.” The inspiration and instruction received from his friend led C. I. Scofield to create the now famous Scofield reference Bible
This book we call the Bible. This word of God. Testifies to the existence of the creator of Heaven and earth. It introduces us to the Christ who died to save us from our sins. Nations have fallen to it’s influence. Men and women by the millions have had their lives transformed by it’s words. It is the doorway through which we behold the image of the one in whom we were created. THE LEAST WE CAN DO IS TO TAKE SOME TIME TO READ IT.
MARGARET E. SANGSTER
A bit of the Book in the morning,
to order my onward way,
A bit of the Book in the evening,
To Hallow the end of the day
But now that we have our fuel source, the Word of God. What will be our heat source, that will turn written text into living word? That will ignite Holy Script into a flaming hunger for the Christ. Our heat source is “Fellowship.” Now fellowship is more then simply socializing. It’s more then light conversation by which you pass the time. Fellowship takes place between believers when their eyes are opened to the truths of Christ revealed within the scriptures and taken form in their lives. As it was for two men when they unknowingly met the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:30-32)
“When Jesus was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed, and broke it, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened and they recognized him; and he vanished out of their sight. They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures?”
When christians gather together in fellowship, to learn the Word of God, to place their faith in the Word of God, to order their lives by the Word of God. Unbelievable things take place. Through Fellowship and the Word of God we become bound together with God and with one another. We become family. We become the family of God. Brothers and Sisters. Uncles and Aunts. Related by blood. By the blood of the Christ shed to cleans us from our sins. In 1765 John Fawcett was called to a small church at Wainsgate, England. He labored there diligently for 7 years, but his salary was so scant that he and his wife could barely obtain the necessities of life. Though the church was poor, they compensated for this lack by their faithfulness and warm fellowship. Then Dr. Fawcett received a call from a much larger church in London, and after some long deliberation decided to accept the invitation. As his few possessions were being placed in a wagon for moving, many of his parishioners came to say good-bye. Once again they pleaded with him to reconsider. Touched by this great outpouring of love, he and his wife began to weep. Finally Mrs. Fawcett exclaimed, “O John, I just can’t bear this. They need us so badly here.” “God has spoken to my heart, too!” he said. “Tell them to unload the wagon! We cannot break these wonderful ties of fellowship.” This experience inspired Reverend Fawcett to write a hymn. Do you know it? Can you guess which one it is?? “Blest be the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love! The fellowship of kindred mind is like to that above.”
We have our fuel, the Word of God. We have our heat source - fellowship. That sharing together of our hearts desire, that bonding, that fusing, that forging into one of our soul’s longing for oneness with God. The flame of desire for our creator has been lit. Now all we need is for a wind to blow to turn that flame into a fire. What wind will God provide us? In Luke 11:9-10, Jesus said, “Ask -and it will be given you; Seek - and you will find; Knock - and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks - receives, and he who seeks -finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.” The wind we seek. The wind which God himself has given us, is the breath of prayer
“The Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
Through the written Word of God, the Holy Spirit unites us with the living Word which is Jesus Christ. Through fellowship the Holy Spirit unites us with one another. We become one in Jesus Christ. But it is through prayer that the Holy Spirit unites us with the Spirit of God. By which we become the embodiment of Jesus Christ in the here and now.
A moment in the morning,
Ere the cares of day begin,
Ere the heart’s wide door is open,
For the world to enter in,
Oh, then alone with Jesus,
In the silence of the morn,
In heavenly, sweet communion,
Let your joyful day be born,
In the quietude that blesses,
Let your soul be soothed and softened,
As the dew revives the rose!
In prayer we are taken beyond our limits. Through prayer we are prepared by the Spirit of God to receive the Son of God, when He comes. We are transformed into divine recepticles earthen vessels made to hold the Son of Man. In Word, Prayer and Fellowship, Christ would meet us here. If we allow the Spirit of God to prepare us for His coming. Are you prepared? If he knocked today, would you feel free to let him in. His knock is coming! So let us all be ready, by preparing the Way of the Lord.