On Fire for God

[0:00] Now, I have some sermon notes here, but I'm just going to do something a bit radical this morning.

[0:15] I'm not going to be able to drink my glass of water now.

[0:34] Get fired up. That's my message. Amen. Get fired up. I urge you to get on fire for God. Amen. I'd like to think you'll be saying amen a bit louder by the finish of this sermon.

[0:46] My plea to you today is get fired up. I'm not saying get fed up because many Christians are fed up, but to get fired up.

[0:57] Amen. Shouldn't we get fired up for God? We need to get re-fired, fired up. Now, you'll be pleased to know my sermon is shorter than my communion message today. I urge you to catch the fire.

[1:09] Catch the fire. To get on fire for God. To be real. To be. Oh, I missed it all. I'll have to do that all again now. Get fired up. We need to get fired up for God.

[1:20] To be on fire. To be real. To be authentic. There's a crying need for genuine fired up Christians. Fired up Christians. Authentic Christianity.

[1:32] Authentic Christianity. There's a crying need for God's people to rise up. To be on fire for God. I put to you that I get fired up when I see damnable doctrines.

[1:47] Damnable doctrines. You know, it just boggles my mind when I go down to like a Christian bookshop like Curon and I see the book titles there. The top ten.

[1:57] And you think it's all, largely it's all doubtful. Even damnable. Damnable doctrines. Damnable doctrines. That cause division and confusion.

[2:09] Divisive doctrines. Man-made doctrines. Man-made false gospels. Man-made false gospels. Man-made false gospels. And some people, some Christians have the attitude of, whatever. Whatever.

[2:20] Just, I'll just pick the bones out. Or they say, they sit back, kick back and say, I need nothing. I have need of nothing. The Bible tells us of a lukewarm church.

[2:31] We see Revelation 3 from verse 14, which I'll, and then we'll get to 16. It says, unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things sayeth their amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.

[2:48] I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot. Verse 16 here. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of thy mouth.

[3:05] So I'll just stay there. Because thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing and knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.

[3:26] And anoint not eyes with eyes with eyes that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore and repent. Be zealous therefore and repent.

[3:36] There it is verse 19. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore and repent. Lukewarmness is something that God is grieved by.

[3:49] It's something that is repulsive. It's revulsive. He revolts at the lukewarmness. And there's lukewarmness all around us, I put to you.

[4:03] There's a crying need for authentic Christianity. Instead, we have a churchianity that's comfortable and careless. Some care more about their social life than their spiritual life.

[4:17] They care more about what do others think than about what God thinks. Some will use foul language without conviction.

[4:29] The gutter language of the world. The filthy language of the street. When God calls us to be clean. Clean.

[4:40] Holy. Pure. And some are also what you could call invisible Christians. Invisible Christians. Their faith is not seen. Or they are chameleon Christians.

[4:53] They kind of change colour to suit the situation. To blend in. To suit the crowd that they're hanging with. No one knows they're Christians.

[5:05] They never open their mouth. They are no different. They're unbelieving friends. Don't even know that they're a Christian. Look, I've been there. I've been there.

[5:21] Some are double-minded. Half-hearted. They just dabble with Christianity like it's some little hobby. Like a side interest.

[5:32] Not really the main game. Rather, the word exhorts us to be whole-hearted. James 4. Next one. James 4 verse 8. Draw nigh to God. And he will draw nigh to you.

[5:44] Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. For some, they just go through the motions. Their Christianity is routine. It's vain. It's empty.

[5:55] It's just tick a box. I've turned up and I've given him my time. I put something in the plate. Tick the box. Tick the box. I sang a song.

[6:05] Tick the box. But it's skin deep. It's superficial. There's no heart faith. It's a bland, plain, weak-kneed, mamby-pamby kind of Christianity. The least thing in such a one will get offended and get in a huff.

[6:21] You know, as a pastor, I've had that happen. And it takes the least thing for someone to, oh, I'm going to another church. Now, of course, there's times to leave a church.

[6:37] There's times to stay in a church. But some leave the church because just some little offense, some minor difference, some things someone said. Look, I can't vouch for everyone who says something to you this morning.

[6:53] If someone looks at you the wrong way, they're not necessarily appointed by me. Or, you know, even the one who's the greeter on the door, if you don't like the color of his shirt or the way that he shook your hand, you know, don't get offended, please.

[7:05] Let's not get offended about such little things. You know, some will get offended if they, someone, oh, he looked at me funny. Or whatever it is. Or whatever it be. There's some that take such offense over such trivialities.

[7:19] But especially if the preacher can come on too strong. Oh, that's too heavy. That's too hard. He's too legalistic. Oh, that's a bit too strong for me. And they up and walk away. At their heart, they are carnal, weak, fleshly.

[7:38] I don't set out to offend you this morning, but sometimes it can happen. And the word can be strong. It can be, oh, ouch, the truth hurts. It can be like that.

[7:48] It can be for me. Even as I prepare these things, I think, oh, God's really speaking directly to me. And in some circles, it can be a sad mixture, can't it?

[7:59] Next verse is 2 Corinthians 6. A familiar one, of course, where we see this sad mixture, this compromise going on. Where Paul rebukes the Corinthians.

[8:10] Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers? For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion hath light with darkness? It's chalk and cheese, isn't it?

[8:22] Light and darkness. It's righteousness and unrighteousness. Now, for some, the world has control over them. Now, this might be getting a bit up close and personal this morning.

[8:33] This might be a bit confrontational for you. But bear with me. I pray that I'm being honest with you today. For some, they watch things like Game of Thrones.

[8:46] Full of graphic scenes. Violence. I haven't actually seen it to tell you. But I've heard reports of it. But some, they think nothing of such things. They just tune it in.

[8:57] Oh, just what's on channel, such and such. And they think nothing of what they're actually watching, what they're partaking of. Their consciences are seared. Their children are watching. The parents watch this.

[9:08] They're compromising with the world. They say, well, everyone else is doing it. They aren't interested in the things of God. Some mix light with darkness. I had one guy tell me he is a seer, like a magician.

[9:22] He's into crystals and fortune-telling and witchcraft. And he's a big fan of the Influencers Church. And he's under an influence, all right. I've told him straight.

[9:35] You can't mix light with darkness. And there's whole churches like this. The Bethel Church in America, they're just into this. Christian Ouija boards. God help us.

[9:47] This is what's going on. And I lovingly challenge that this need for rebuke of such, to not mess with that. For some, they have their theology down pat.

[9:59] You question them. And they say, well, God tells me, God told me this. I've had this experience. I had this happen to me. And I had these visions and dreams and these Holy Ghost goosebumps.

[10:14] And you can't deny my experience. Well, if your experience doesn't line up with the word of God, then it must be tested and found faulty and found wrong.

[10:26] If it doesn't measure up, it doesn't matter how many goosebumps you had. It doesn't matter whether you had a trip to heaven and back again or whatever it be. If it doesn't measure up with the word, then it's wrong and reject it.

[10:39] The test of everything, of every experience, the test of every truth claimed is whether it is in accord with the word of God. For some, they don't pray very much, if at all.

[10:52] They hardly read the Bible, if at all. Many do not believe there is a Bible we can actually hold in our hands today that we can count on. They deny the Bible.

[11:03] They say the word is in the original autographs. Yes, it is. But we don't have any original autographs. We have copies and translations. And I can assure you today, if you have a King James Bible in your hand, then you do have God's word in your hands.

[11:19] This is a faithful translation of the faithful text. This is trustworthy and reliable. And we can count on it. Thus saith the Lord.

[11:30] There is no higher authority. This word is sufficient. It does not need to be retranslated. The Bible is complete. We do believe that we have God's words inspired and preserved in a single book.

[11:45] Sadly, today, many don't believe the Bible, any kind of Bible. They disobey the Bible. They disobey the word of God. And they make excuses for it. They disobey it.

[11:56] They do not study the Bible. They're malnourished. The Bible talks about a famine in the land. It tells of people perishing for lack of knowledge. And meantime, they feast on their spiritual junk food.

[12:07] Whatever they might tune into here and there. Feeding their flesh on whatever makes them feel right. Whatever makes them feel really just like the world.

[12:19] In James 4 verse 4 it says, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that friendship of the world is amnesty with God. It's hateful. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

[12:33] Friends today, this is getting quite strong here today. Because God is strong against compromise. God is strong that we be fired up.

[12:46] Not lukewarm. And at the heart of it, for some they have a friendship with the world. The friendship with the world counts more to them than friendship with God. It's what lures them.

[12:56] It's what delights them. It's what attracts them. It's what they yearn for and hunger for. It's what occupies their time, their energies, their love. What consumes their lives.

[13:08] And their appearance, their clothing, their thinking. It's more worldly than godly. It's what they're tuned into. Friends, we need to change the channel. And tune into God.

[13:21] Don't we? Change the channel. For some their churches are filled with demonic sounding rock music. That they call worship. And people are turning their backs on God.

[13:36] We're living in a modern Sodom and Gomorrah. A world living in rebellion. We see the world of our day where politicians are just pandering to these things. I was saddened to see even President Trump in the US has made some quite compromise in this department.

[13:56] It's a world living in rebellion today. And this is what many follow. Many people are more worried about what others think than about what God thinks.

[14:07] And friends, prayerfully, spiritually, I urge you earnestly, individually, seek after God. Be fired up. This world is toxic, isn't it?

[14:18] It's toxic. It's antichrist. And for some there is another love greater than the love for God. We see the next verse. It's 2 Timothy 3.

[14:29] It's house of traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof from such turn away.

[14:41] People are lovers of pleasure where it's like the love of pleasure, it just tantalises them, it captivates them.

[14:52] And they become lovers of themselves too where it's all this carrying on. People are dying to get their photo taken, literally, dying to get the selfie, the perfect selfie.

[15:04] They're dying for it. Falling off the cliff. Lovers of pleasure. Lovers of themselves. Self-love. The world preaches the gospel of self-love, doesn't it?

[15:16] There's churches that preach this. Self-esteem. Lovers of self. Lovers of pleasure. And they have a form. A form of godliness but not the real. Now that can be in all quarters too.

[15:28] You've got some that they say they've got the power but it's empty. Then you've got some that are just dead and boring in tradition and staid and stodgy and stale.

[15:41] They're missing it too. Some would place their faith in works or traditions or the trappings of men, in baptism even, in church attendance.

[15:51] Some would trust in their good works more than they put their trust in Christ. And these are all empty things, aren't they? A form without the reality. They only turn to God when things go bad for some.

[16:05] It's like they've got to get in that lifeboat when the ship's gone down. Then they pray. Then they seek after God. Then they try to get right with him. Then they try to get spiritual. But for the meantime, it's just easy breezy.

[16:18] Just coasting. And they've lost the passion. The fire's gone out. It's snuffed out. It's extinguished. It's just like this little piece of paper here.

[16:29] It's just snuffed out. Some Christians are like this, aren't they? The fire's gone out. They have little passion to talk about the Lord. God is not first in their lives.

[16:41] Where's their testimony? It's just gone very quiet. They give of their leftover time, their leftover money.

[16:52] And fellowship is something that is what they can fit in when it's convenient. Or maybe it's a last resort thing. They count it as a low priority in our lives.

[17:04] And look, I can be like that too. It's common to man. And then we see the next verse. It says, of some their heart is not in it. The Lord says, for as much as this people, they draw near to me with their mouth.

[17:18] With their lips they honour me, but with their heart. Their heart is removed far from me. Truly at the heart, the heart is the problem.

[17:29] I know there was a, I had some interchange with someone. And he summed it up very aptly. He said, the problem is their heart. The problem is their heart.

[17:41] And at the heart, it's a heart problem. How is your heart? Friends, brother, sister, is your heart far, far from God? Has your heart been removed far from him?

[17:52] For some, they don't share their faith. Often, if at all. Be stirred today. Time is short.

[18:05] There's people you know you need to tell. Tell them. Doesn't matter what they do. Tell them anyway. Some make excuses for sinful behaviour.

[18:21] They don't really give of themselves, of their substance. They don't count church a priority. They don't put their time, their energy into it.

[18:31] And of course, look, we're all busy. I'm busy. But like the saying goes, if it's important, you'll make time for it. If it's important.

[18:43] Some, they don't want to hear about the Lord. Oh, I'll just, my Christianity is just kind of when it, kind of, when it sort of fits in. Their heart is far from me.

[18:55] Do we walk with God? Do we seek after him? Friends today, I urge you, cry out for God to do a work, a fresh work, to refire, to get fired up. And next one, Psalm 84, verse 2.

[19:07] This was likely David singing in Psalm 84, verse 2. My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth. For the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh crieth out.

[19:19] For the living God. There's a whole lot of emotion jam-packed in this one verse, isn't there? My soul longs. I'm fainting. For the courts.

[19:29] For the fellowship. For the gathering together with God's people. My heart, my flesh is crying out. Sometimes God sets our heart a-jumping. Our lips are shouting.

[19:41] Our eyes are crying. We long. We faint. We yearn. We desire. We earnestly seek after. We get fired up. And God searches our hearts.

[19:53] May we learn to yearn. May we tremble at his word. May we refresh that zeal, that love. The Lord looks at the lukewarm church.

[20:05] Now there's many false converts. There's no guarantees. Who's saved here? Who's not? We're not making assumptions. One way or the other.

[20:18] Many are carnal. They're still saved, but they're carnal. Like the Corinthians. Fleshly minded. 1 Corinthians 3. 1. Our Lord sees the apathy. The unbelief. There's a mixture going on.

[20:29] A prayerlessness. There's little concern for the lost. How does the Lord deal with such a church? How does he deal with it? With a rebuke in love. Revelation 3.19.

[20:41] Our Lord calls us to mission. If we fail to evangelize, we will fossilize. It's a saying, isn't it? I've seen a church.

[20:53] There's one church that really struck me that the whole church went evangelizing. It was amazing. Mind you, it was only like 10 people or something.

[21:05] But the whole church turned up. And they had a trailer. And they set it up as an open air platform. And everybody was joining in.

[21:19] They sing some gospel songs and some gospel preaching. And they had a mobile missionary outfit as they took to the streets. And the pastor said to me, everybody's here.

[21:33] Wow, that's a blessing, isn't it? That's a fired up church. Praise God for that. But how does the Lord deal with a lukewarm church? He rebukes. He chastens.

[21:43] He says, be zealous. Therefore, get the zeal back. Get back to the altar. Get back. Get refreshed. Get refired. Get refocused. As many as I love.

[21:55] He loves us. He doesn't rebuke out of hate. He rebukes out of love. He chastens us out of love. He urges us back to zeal.

[22:09] Can we get back to the altar? Can we get fired up again? You might think, brother, sister, I was there once. You can be there again. You can get back there again, can't you?

[22:21] God can take you back to where you were. Can we get fired up? Can we seek after God with all our hearts to be a people, a people on fire for God?

[22:33] We can be. He wants us to be. It's his best for us for this to happen. We need to be zealous, therefore, and repent. Let go.

[22:44] Let go of self, of our own way, of our own thinking, of our own doing, and most importantly, of our own self-sufficiency. Sometimes I think we can get self-sufficient.

[22:55] As we see here, 2 Corinthians 3, verse 5. Where does our sufficiency rest? Our sufficiency must be of God.

[23:05] You might say, preacher, look, I know it's kind of hitting a nerve this morning. I'm under conviction. I know things need to get sorted between me and God. I know that I was more fired up at one point, and I need to get fired up again.

[23:23] But I'm pretty right, though. I'm pretty okay. She'll be right, mate. I'm all right, Jack. You know, I can get by through my own kind of self-will and my self-talk, and I'll go my own way.

[23:45] But no, we must depend on God. We must depend on him, because our sufficiency is not of ourselves. Now, some would think, oh, there's no way that I can be a witness or there's no way that I can be stronger with my faith.

[24:00] I'm doing as much as I can. But God makes up the difference. God gives you the sufficiency. Our sufficiency must be of God. And he has made us able. God is able.

[24:11] Trust in his ability. Where is our sufficiency found? Now, some people would think, well, look, I'll go so far, but no further. You know, God's given me this to do, and that's enough for me.

[24:23] That's as much as I'm prepared to do, to be for God. I'm going to draw the line right here. And, yeah, I'm not going to go over that line. You know, I'm not going to be pushed to be a stronger Christian or to get more zeal in my life.

[24:40] I'm just as busy as I can be. You know, I saw there's a chap in the streets nearby, actually, that virtually said that to me. He said, oh, I'm busy studying. I'm busy working.

[24:53] And, yeah, church just, I just can't fit church in. Well, it's not true. It's not true.

[25:05] It's what is important. It's what is important to him. And where is our sufficiency found? Now, some people, they don't step out of the comfort zone, out of the shadows.

[25:17] They look too much on their own capacity. They say, oh, look, I could never pray in public. It's just something I've never done. Well, it's always the first time.

[25:28] Amen. I know there's a senior saint that has passed now, but he said, oh, I'm never going to get up and give a Bible message.

[25:39] It's something I've never done. You might even say, look, I don't really, I can't see myself being an usher. Oh, I couldn't, I'd be too nervous to be one of the people greeting people at the door or whatever it be.

[25:54] Oh, don't ask me to give a testimony. I just couldn't open my mouth. I'd be too afraid. Our sufficiency is not of ourselves.

[26:07] It's of God. It's of God. Don't look to yourself and your own capacity. Look to God's capacity. God's capacity. I know Brother David doing the Bible studies.

[26:19] I don't know whether you've done a Bible study before in another church, David. First time he's doing it in this church because he stepped outside of his comfort zone. Amen. Amen. He stepped outside of his comfort zone because his sufficiency is not of David.

[26:33] It's of God. Our sufficiency is not of you and me. It's of God. And rest in that. He is able. The next verse says, yeah, no, that is the one, sorry.

[26:43] God is able. God is able to make all grace abound toward you that ye always having all sufficiency in all things may abound to every good work. So, friends, just to close, get on fire for God.

[26:58] Get on fire for God. It's a very simple sense. And look, it's kind of a trite little phrase and take of it what you will. But don't stay lukewarm.

[27:11] If you've settled in the camp of the lukewarm, leave that camp. Don't stay there in the camp of the lukewarm. Jesus says, get either cold or hot.

[27:24] He'd rather that you're either cold or hot, not in between. And I'd rather that you're hot. Amen. Wouldn't you rather be hot for God, on fire for God, fire up? Let's pray.

[27:34] Lord, we thank you that you are the one who makes us sufficient. Lord, you are able to do all things.

[27:46] You're able to make all grace abound towards everybody right here now, right here, right now. You're able to make all grace abound that we, having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

[28:01] And Lord, help us to be encouraged to greater zeal, to be, as it were, rebuked, as it were, to repent, and to do your will.

[28:13] Lord, to be zealous, a zealous people. Refire us and send us, Lord, that we'll be ready, set, and going in your word, in your will.

[28:25] In Jesus' name. Amen.