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Tongues of Fire

I will, Lord willing, continue my study on the pitfalls of Saul, but for now, I want to touch base on a subject that is of grave importance for the church.
Concerning the coming of Christ, John the Baptist once declared to the the crowds that he baptized, “I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11 / ESV).” Just before His glorious ascension into heaven, Jesus told all His disciples, “...for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now...But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth(Acts 1:5, 8 / ESV).” Indeed this mighty outpouring of power and holy fire would take place on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2). In his book, Impossible People, Os Guinness wrote, “Jesus, the Son of God, is the Father's greatest gift to humanity, and the Spirit of Jesus is the greatest gift of Jesus to His followers and the essential requirement for living His way of life and fulfilling His Great Commission.”
Now, there are many, many other passages describing the Holy Spirit and His workings within every believer, but I want you to understand that ultimately the Holy Spirit was given to us that we might glorify Christ. True, He intercedes for, strengthens, and comforts us, but read up on John 14-16 and you will see that the primary ministry of the Spirit is to promote the teachings of Jesus and magnify His person. When He was on earth, Jesus said, “...I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things,” and concerning the Holy Spirit, Jesus said, “...he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you...he shall testify of me.” (John 8:28b, 14:26b, 15:26b / KJV)
My point is that far too often Christians want to claim the power of the Spirit without understanding His purpose. Realize that the more you are yielded to the Spirit, the more He will use you to testify of Christ! Many believers claim to have the “holy fire”, but it is just emotional mumbo jumbo. When the fire of the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, they were used to boldly proclaim the gospel! What's the point of praising God in a pew, if you will not seek to reach out to a lost soul, so that all of heaven can rejoice? What's the point of “speaking in tongues”, if you are not willing to use that same tongue to be a daily witness? On Sunday, we make it seem that we're ready to “Go tell it on the mountains”, but somehow on Monday our attitude is “I shall not be moved.” What changed? Did the Spirit leave? Is He not still within our lives? Invariably, if we are truly filled with the Spirit, we will be a faithful witness. As you are led by His Spirit, you will seek to lead others to Christ. This is where the walk , produces the talk.

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