PYROMANIAC
God is the Original Pyromaniac
Lk. 12:49,50
49 I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?
50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!
Lk. 3:16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:
God does not play with fire, but He created it and has started many a fire throughout the centuries.
A pyromaniac is one who has an affinity for starting fires.
The word fire is mentioned more than 500 times throughout the Bible.
Fire is mentioned in every book of the Bible except Ruth, Esther, and Ezra.
The first indication of fire in the Bible is found in Genesis 3:24 - a flaming sword to keep the way of the tree of life.
There are fires of judgment and there are fires of blessing. God would much rather that we be recepients of His blessings.
Exodus 3:1-5
1 ¶ Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb.
2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt.
4 And when the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I.
5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.
It was necessary for Moses to experiment the fire of God before he was ready to be a real leader.
The fire taught him reverence and the need for holiness.
Has the fire engulfed your person? It will make the difference that we need.
3 Baptisms of Fire found in the Bible
I. Flaming Baptism of Love
Song of Solomon 8:6,7
6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned.
God desires for us to be baptized (submerged and engulfed) in His love.
II. Baptism of Holiness
Malachi 3:1-3
1 ¶ Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
God sends His fire to purify and to refine us.
III. Baptism of Power
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
That word power means an explosion of fire (dinamite).
The Challenge
Leviticus 6:12
And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.
1 Thes. 5:19
Quench not the Spirit.
The secret to not letting the fire go out-----keep applying the firewood (fuel)
Types of Fuel
I. The Word
Jer. 20:9
II. Prayer
Rev. 8:4
III. The Holy Spirit
Lk. 3:16
