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LUKE SERIES: CHAPTER 3- LIGHTING THE FIRE INTRODUCTION: THE CULTURAL BACKDROP Luke chapter 3 is about understanding these two elements: (water) and (fire).
As John the Baptist was coming on the scene; there was a national sense that things weren’t going well in Israel; military occupation; corruption in government and religion. There was a sense of impending judgment. It was a culture losing its hold on everything that identified its culture. So, an odd revival was gaining momentum. People began seeing something they never imagined they’d see. Jewish people getting baptized!
Now, baptism had been part of Jewish culture for over two thousand years at this time. But baptism was for the non-Jew who was converting to Judaism. But now, natural Jews, the people who prided themselves as the children of Abraham, were getting baptized. Why?
Because, even though they had prided themselves on being the children of Abraham, they realized they had been not very good children of Abraham. And their baptism was a symbol of recommitment.
The spiritual hunger was right, but the thinking was off the mark. So John the Baptist was sent to set things straight. …Surely, if they wanted to correct their lives; John would talk to them in sympathetic tones, right?
Check out this sermon: Luke 3 7. "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8. "Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, `We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones. 9. "And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.''
Why so harsh? Sincerity means nothing if you’re sincerely wrong. Just because people are spiritually hungry doesn’t guarantee they’ll take the right steps. In this case, they were entrenching themselves deeper into their prejudices. Their hope didn’t really lie with God; it lay in their system of faith. Religious people had the inside track with God, and everyone else was quite rightly, on their way to hell. (Funny how some thinking never changes.)
John told them to repent. Repentance means literally, to change direction. It was crucial for John to shake their spiritual racism to the point they would change direction.
The New Testament isn’t about a religion; it’s about coming to life, spiritually. And the pivotal event that causes that to happen, is the focus of John’s next remark: 16. "I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”
The word “baptize” means to “immerse.” John was immersing people in the desire for a new direction. Water is the symbol of repentance. This water is necessary to prepare for what’s coming next. What comes next is “the fire.”
In spiritual issues; isn’t it amazing how badly human thinking gets things turned around. Denominations have split over the issue of how to baptize with water. Sprinkle or dunk? The real question; the one on which spiritual life depends isn’t- HOW WERE YOU BAPTIZED WITH WATER? It is- HAVE YOU BEEN BAPTIZED WITH FIRE?
Which leads to this question: What is this “fire?”
Nowhere in Scripture does Jesus or His disciples burn people with physical fire, so there must be a deeper significance to this “fire.” Let’s take a look at what Scripture as a whole, tells us about God’s “fire.”
WHAT IS “THE FIRE?” · Fire- is God Heb 12 29. For our God is a consuming fire.
· Fire is the Holy Spirit (The Third Person of God) In verse 16 John says the Messiah will immerse His followers with “the Holy Spirit” and “fire.” It sounds like two different qualities. But, the original Greek for “and”, is “kai”. It can also mean; “ both, even, when, yet, or, therefore.”
To put it in the intent of meaning, John says; Christ will baptize with “the Holy Spirit, therefore fire.”
So what kind of “fire” is the Holy Spirit?
The Holy Spirit is a “consuming fire” but not necessarily a destroying fire. In fact, consider one of the final promises of Jesus in: John 14 16. "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever, 17. "even the Spirit of truth
Helper (parakletos) in the original Greek means someone who will intervene for you; someone who will be an advocate and a comforter. - In other words, someone who is right alongside you.
In 1992, Britain’s Olympic hopeful Derek Redman, fell to an injury as he was close to winning a race. His father came alongside him. He wouldn’t let anyone or anything get between him and his son. He took his son by the arm and together, they finished that race. That is exactly what we’re talking about in an even more profound sense.
The Holy Spirit is the agent of our understanding 1 Cor 2 10. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.
Between, spouses, or between a parent and child; it’s a sign of connection if we can sense what the other is thinking. It’s wonderful having that kind of human connection. But imagine having that connection with God! This “fire”, this “Holy Spirit” makes that possible.
And not only is it possible, it is necessary. Over the years, I’ve come to realize something: You can’t argue anyone into heaven. It is not our job to hammer away at people until we obliterate every contrary thought, and riddle them with such guilt there’s nothing left to do, but step toward Christ. For one thing; human nature doesn’t work that way.
Our job is to point as clearly as we can through the honesty of our spiritual lives. (Show others) Our job is to pray for the Holy Spirit’s movement in a life, as earnestly as we can. But leave it to The Holy Spirit, to do the drawing and convincing. He can do it because…
The Holy Spirit is NOT an external fire- From the original Bible language, “Holy Spirit” in summary, means- a divine breath that is perfect, morally pure, and religiously consecrated.
An experiment: Take a deep breath. Has that breath become a part of you? …Of course it is. The oxygen is absorbed into your blood. It spreads through your body. It even becomes part of your thinking process as it infuses your brain. It is part of you; body and mind.
But, here’s the thing about breathing; you have to choose to inhale. You have to choose to let that air in. The same holds true in a spiritual sense.
The Holy Spirit is the fire of empowerment. · In the book of Acts, it was when Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, he brought a hardened city to tears, by explaining The Cross. · Filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen presented such an argument for Christ that all the religious professionals were left speechless. · The Apostle Paul; saw into people’s hidden motives, spoke just the right words at the right time, survived impossible trials, and even healed people.
The fire of empowerment does involve feelings of inspiration, and by times a sense of rising courage and enthusiasm. “Yes, I am ready to speak… to take on that challenge… to climb that mountain!” But if God’s fire was simply a fire in the heart, it would be nothing more than a faith of emotion. (And emotions alone, can be very confusing and disappointing.)
The fire of empowerment is more than that. It is the “brain fuel” to understand God’s Word in a way you could never understand on your own. It is the touch of God- that allows the most humble efforts to reap eternal results.
-One event that is still a favorite of mine; comes from the former Soviet Union. As people hungered for something more than Stalin and Niche, one little church was inspired to do nothing more than put a loudspeaker on the roof and read Scripture. Eventually, it attracted so many people that even the parking lot was filled with listeners. A little speaker and an a single Bible had done what many churches can’t do with thousand dollar budgets and professional productions. That is how the fire of the Holy Spirit empowers; it might look like something’s far too humble to work, but because it is aligned with God- it just does!
OTHER SIDES OF THE FIRE But there are other qualities to this fire of God as well. And it is crucial we keep them in mind: · Fire is the sometimes, a painful means to our own refinement 1 Peter 1 7. These trials are only to test your faith, to see whether or not it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests gold and purifies it--and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold; so if your faith remains strong after being tried in the test tube of fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day of his return.
· Fire is an uncompromising tester of what we’ve done with our lives 1 Cor 3 11. And no one can ever lay any other real foundation than that one we already have--Jesus Christ. 12. But there are various kinds of materials that can be used to build on that foundation. Some use gold and silver and jewels; and some build with sticks, and hay, or even straw! 13. There is going to come a time of testing at Christ's Judgment Day to see what kind of material each builder has used. Everyone's work will be put through the fire so that all can see whether or not it keeps its value, and what was really accomplished. 14. Then every workman who has built on the foundation with the right materials, and whose work still stands, will get his pay. 15. But if the house he has built burns up, he will have a great loss. He himself will be saved, but like a man escaping through a wall of flames.
CONCLUSION: JESUS AND “THE FIRE” In Luke 3:22, Jesus comes on the scene. After His baptism by John, God speaks these words that many of us know well, "You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased."
But there is significance to these words far beyond mere approval. They are the combination of two key texts that proclaim how the life of Jesus will play out.
“You are my beloved son” comes from Psalm 2:7. It is a universally accepted description of the Messianic King. “With whom I am well pleased” is part of Isaiah 53, which tells of how the Anointed One would suffer.
The ministry of Christ started with water, but even Christ had to be baptized with fire. –Fire in its fullest Biblical sense. And it was that fire that opened the life of heaven to us.
If we are followers of this Christ; can we really expect to do what we’re called to do; become what we’re called to become with anything less than the same fire?
Water is a sincere, resolve to change direction. But the fire is the direction. It is an honest 24/7 focus of keeping step with God, through God’s empowerment. …It’s as simple as this: No fire; no spiritual life.
Are we merely “water people” or are there people in here, truly interested in “the fire?”
INVITATION You know; church people have talked and talked about Christ, and the world is tired of listening. There is only one thing that will gain respect and attention, which is this: We do less talking and more showing.
And we cannot possibly do that without this “Fire” John had talked about two thousand years ago. …We have a closing song before communion. It’s just enough time to send God a message; we want Him to light a fire in us; we implore Him to fan the flames. We’d like Him to know we are truly serious about this. In the full spiritual sense; We hunger for the empowerment to live.
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