Paul’s exhortation to Timothy was to stir up (agitate, disturb, wake up) The gift that was in him
This Gift is the HolyGhost
It is evident that Paul understood that it wasn’t enough to receive this gift but the gift must stay active, the gift must be stirred, the gift must be activated.
It is also evident that Timothy was responsible for keeping the gift stirred and active.
We could say it another way: It was Timothy’s responsibility to keep the fire burning/
(He was the Keeper of the Flame)
I want to say to every person hearing my voice, (the most important thing that can happen in your life is to meet the Lord Jesus Christ, to be forgiven of your sins, to become a child of God, and to be redeemed by the blood of the lamb and to have your name written down in the lambs book of life and to know that Christ lives in your heart, and you are now a new creature in Christ Jesus.
That is the single most important thing that can happen to a human being.
I don’t care how religious you are (you must be born again) I don’t care how well you know the bible, or what church you belong to you (you must be born again)
I don’t care how good or descent of a person you are (you must be born again)
Jesus said: Except ye be born again you cannot see the Kingdom of God
Then Jesus said: Except ye be born of the water and the Spirit ye cannot enter the Kingdom of God
(You must be born again)
But once you’ve been born again, once you’ve become that new creation in Christ Jesus (The next most important thing that can happen in your life is to Baptized with the HolyGhost and Fire.)
John said: I baptize you with water unto repentance, but there’s one coming after me He will baptize you with the HolyGhost and Fire.
Jesus believed the Baptism of the HolyGhost to be so important that he commanded his disciples to no leave Jerusalem until they had received this HolyGhost and Fire Baptism.
Jesus said: Ye shall receive Power after that the HolyGhost is come upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria and unto the uttermost parts of the earth.
Then we find in Acts 2: When the day of Pentecost was fully come they were all in one place with one accord when suddenly there came a sound from heaven as a mighty rushing wind and cloven tongues like as of fire sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the HolyGhost and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance.
Why is this HolyGhost and Fire so important?
Because the HolyGhost is the supernatural power of God filling the human vessel in order to establish and advance the Kingdom of God in the earth.
The HolyGhost is the supernatural equipment to fulfill the great commission, to carry on the ministry of Jesus.
What was the ministry of Jesus?
1. He came to seek and to save that which was lost
2. He came to establish the Kingdom of God in the earth
3. He came to destroy the works of the devil
Acts 10:38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the HolyGhost and with Power who went about doing good, healing all that were oppressed of the devil for God was with him.
1 Jn 3:8 For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil
Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Jesus ministry has never changed: Now we are continuators, we are commissioned and anointed to continue his ministry in the earth.
1Jn 4:17 because as he is, so are we in this world.
The book of Acts is the diary and the record of the new testament church in her infancy, (It is the record of the operation of the HolyGhost through yielded vessels.)
The book of Acts is the pattern for the New testament church.
Signs, wonders, miracles, and gifts of the HolyGhost are the defining characteristics of the new testament church.
In other words: To say it another way (The new testament church acted just like Jesus) They healed the sick, they cast out devils, they performed signs and wonders and miracles and raised the dead and manifested the gifts of the Spirit. (All by the Power of the Holy Spirit )
If there is one thing we need in our churches today and in our lives individually today (it is a fresh anointing of the HolyGhost)
We Need a HolyGhost invasion
We need God to crash our services
We need a divine interruption
We need the HolyGhost to show up like he did in the upper room (suddenly and supernaturally) undeniable and indisputable
Like he did in Act 4:29-31
They prayed: Behold their threatenings and grant thy servants boldness that we may speak thy word as we ought by stretching forth your hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy Holy Child Jesus
And when they had prayed: The place was shaken and they were all filled with the HolyGhost and they Spoke the word of God with Boldness,
It was a HolyGhost invasion
Just like when Peter was preaching at Cornelius house: The bible says the HolyGhost fell on all them that heard the word. (Not at the altar call) It was in the middle of Peters preaching, The HolyGhost interrupted him.
That’s what we need: Something that originates from heaven,
Something that will shake us up
Something that will wake us up
Something that will stir us up
Something that will set us on fire
We need God to interrupt our saying by his doing.
While Peter yet spake the words, the HolyGhost fell on all them that heard the word (The HolyGhost did not wait on the Peter to finish his sermon, he just fell on them.)
I would rather have 10 minutes of HolyGhost doing than 10 Months of saying.
You don’t have to wait for me to finish to receive from God.
You can be healed right now, you can be saved right now, you can be delivered right now, you can receive the baptism of the HolyGhost right now, you can get your miracle, or your breakthrough right now.
Everything you need is in the HolyGhost
I started this message with Pauls words to Timothy, but he might as well been speaking to us.
If there’s one thing we’re missing in our churches and personal lives today, (it’s the energy, the life, the vitality, the fire, the power and the anointing of the HolyGhost.)
We can look at the world and we can cite the world as being our problem, we can blame the atmosphere around us.
But the truth is: We can’t blame anyone
(You are the keeper of your own flame)
On the day of Pentecost when the Mighty HolyGhost came: Every head got a Flame
(It was a personal Pentecost)
Every person is responsible to fan the flame of Pentecost, to keep the fire burning.
We must stir up the gift that is in us.
The first step to stirring the flame is to remove anything that is flame resistant.
That means: Get rid of anything that is offensive or resistant to the HolySpirit
That means: repent of allowing the accumulation of junk in your life.
That means: To seek the Lord with all your heart
That means: To Pray
That means: To spend time worshipping and adoring Jesus
That means: To read his word, eat his word, meditate his word
That means: To Pray in tongues (building up yourselves on your most holy faith praying in the HolyGhost)
We have to stir up the gift
There is an anointing in you
There is a fire in you
It may be low, it may be just a flicker, it may even seem like it’s gone out, but if you’ll begin to stir the ashes the wind of the spirit will begin to blow again and the fire will burn again.
We can’t afford to let the fire go out
We’re too close to the end: The bridegroom is at hand
People are falling asleep all around us: (Many believers are asleep in the church)
They’re still singing the same songs, still saying amen and hallelujah, but the fire has gone out
It’s time for us to stir up the gift that is in us
Wake up that calling
Wake up that destiny
Wake up that anointing
Wake up that fire
I want to pray with you, lay hands on you and stir up and activate that gift in you today
It doesn’t matter how big or how high performance your engine is, if your battery is dead, you’re dead in the water.
It doesn’t matter how much destiny is in you, or how many gifts or callings are in you, unless they are activated by the HolySpirit (They’re dead)
I don’t care how many God given dreams you have, or how many prophecies you have over your life, they are never going to come to pass without the (Activation of the HolyGhost)
When you are activated you can activate others
When you are on Fire you can release the fire to others
When Samson set the 300 foxes on fire, they become dangerous to the enemy
They carried the fire
And they released the fire, they spread the fire everywhere they went.
Everything they touched caught on fire (They didn’t really even have to touch it, they just ran by and the fire jumped off them.)
You can have that same kind of Fire, that same kind of Anointing
Peter carried that kind of fire (They laid the sick and the diseased and the demon possessed in the streets and as his shadow passed over them they were healed delivered, and set free.)
(I want to pray with you and stir up and activate that fire and that anointing in you so that wherever you go You will carry the Fire and you will be a threat to hell).
