"KEEP THE FIRE BURNING"
(It’s Time To Light The Night)
Mark McCool
TEXT: ZECHARIAH 14:6-7
6 And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7 But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
ISAIAH 60:1-2
1 Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
INTRODUCTION
It has been said that: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life". And if that is true, then today is a day that God has ordained that there may be an encounter with Him that can forever change the way that you live for God!
Depending on how you came to this service and what you came for will be the determining factors on how you leave here, and to what extent that you will be effected! Because God’s promises to His children are not for a few special people, but they are for every hungry soul that longs to be a part of the Kingdom of God!
For Jesus said in Matthew 5:6, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled!"
Hebrews 11:6 says, "... And He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him!"
Therefore, if you came only for the entertainment and nothing more than to be seen, then you will be rewarded with that which you came for!
But if what I feel in this place tonight is true, then there are those here who have come to this service with a hungry heart and a thirsty soul and a holy desire to have more of God in their lives than ever before!
Not merely to feel the fire of God’s Holy power, but to become a flame and a fire of God that will light the night in this end time before Jesus comes again!
I. WE NEED LIGHT FOR A DARKENED AGE
A. It is evident by the signs of these times that we are living in the darkest days this world has ever known! No other age of mankind can compare with this age of spiritual confusion and darkness!
* When in America alone, over 1.5 million babies are aborted each year - It’s a dark age!
* When teenagers are shooting it up and shooting it out on the streets of our cities - It’s a dark age!
* When prayer is outlawed in our schools, and anyone caught doing so are subject to suspension - It’s a dark age!
* When student rape, teen pregnancy, shootings, and drug deals are considered normal classroom activity - It’s a dark age!
* When the Bible is rejected by the secular humanistic school boards in America, but pornography, humanism, occultism, and Satanism are regular curriculum - We are living in a dark age!
B. That is why that in the face of such darkness, we must have an enactment of God’s power to burst forth and vanquish the blackness of sin, and declare the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world!
1. The Bible tells us that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5).
2. In Genesis 1, God created the heavens and the earth, and the earth (world) was without form and void (chaos), and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
3. It was upon this backdrop and scenario in the very beginning that God stepped in and said, "Let there be light!" And the result of His Word was, "And there was light!"
* God’s voice is again commanding, "Let there be light!"
* God is still able in this hour to break in upon this chaotic world and pierce its sinful darkness to bring order to a confused heart, mind, and soul!
* God only needs a channel to work through and a vessel that will hold oil and expel a flame!
* That’s why God needs the Church in the world, to be an eternal flame that will light their way to God Almighty! The Church needs the fire!
II. THE NEED OF AN “ON FIRE” CHURCH!
A. The Lost who sit in darkness will never see the Savior without the light of Truth and Example!
Illustration - song - "Pentecostal Fire"
1) There are souls in sin that we fail to win, just because we lack desire; And the thing we need - sorely need indeed is the Pentecostal fire.
2) He will send it down and our lives will crown with the blessing day by day; If we truly plead for the things we need in the earnest old time way.
3) Let us seek the face of the King of grace, let us do His holy will; Then the fire will come on each heart and home, for He loves the faithful still.
4) If your heart is cold and you’ve lost the pow’r, God will give you your desire; If we seek His face ev’ry day and hour, He will send the old-time fire!
C) That’s the thing, the very thing, that is what we must aquire; Let us pray once more as they prayed of yore for the Pentecostal fire!
I read a story that said for nearly 200 years a fire that was started with the use of flint and steel by Tom Dalton in his Blue Ridge Mountain cabin has been kept burning to this day. The fire has been moved from cabin to cabin, as old fires gave way to the newer ones, and generation after generation of descendants have watched it carefully for years. Today it is the oldest fire in the U.S., perhaps in the world. It has been no easy task, but always the fire has burned on and on!
There are many so-called eternal flames in the world, the most famous of which is the flame that burns under the Arc De Triomphe in Paris, France. This flame burns in honor of their unknown soldier and to commemorate those veterans of the 1st and 2nd World Wars who laid down their lives for the freedom of man.
But I’m thinking of a flame that burns tonight in honor of the Veteran of the greatest war ever fought! His name is Jesus Christ, and I’m talking about the war He won at Calvary for all mankind to be made free!
And I’ve made up my mind that I’m gonna keep the fire burning until He comes back again!
1 Thessalonians 5:5 - "We are the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of the darkness."
Ephesians 5:14 - "Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light!"
John 9:5 - Jesus said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
John 12:35-36 - Jesus said, "Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light."
Matthew 5: 14-16 - Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candle stick; and it giveth light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."
* Closed mouths are bushels! People who don’t witness are bushels!
* But bushels won’t keep a fire hid for long! For the bushel won’t extinguish the fire, the fire will consume the bushel!
* Jeremiah said he was determined to keep his mouth closed, but "it was like fire shut up in my bones!"
B. In the Bible, the most basic source of light, other than the sun or its reflection upon the moon, is that of fire. For the sun and the moon were made to light the heavens. But to light the earth and its inhabitance, God gave it fire!
1. Fire was used to consume the sacrifices man offered up to God. It began with Able’s "acceptable sacrifice" and it continued throughout the Old Testament as "the ever burning fire" upon the altar.
2. This "ever burning fire" was to never go out, in order that the burnt offerings that were made might never cease! By this it showed uninterrupted worship and represented continual service to God!
* May I remind you tonight that the Bible says, "Be instant in prayer!" We are to "pray without ceasing!"
* Our praise and our worship must first become acceptable before God!
* And it must become a lifestyle showing the continual sacrifice of service to God! That’s what God is looking for!
* We need the fire to come upon us again! A zeal, a consuming desire to God again!
3. If you came to this service cold or lukewarm, and the fires that once burned hot within you for God have died out, and you feel backslidden, let me say to you: If at any time the fire upon the altar went out, it could only be restarted by the act of friction in striking two stones together such as flint rock.
* The only way for the fire to burn again in the cold and lukewarm, or backslidden individual is for their to be some friction! And that striking of your stony heart against the rock Christ Jesus through prayer! And I can assure you that when you begin to make the effort of prayer and repentance to God, the fire will fall again! Praise God!
* People want to try and enjoy someone else’s fire! (e.g. Peter), or think that just any kind of fire will do!
* We must never be deceived into thinking that any other sacrifice will do. Or that any kind of fire will get God’s attention.
* We must remember that "strange fire" upon the altar brought the judgment of God upon those who sought to offer it instead of that which God required!
4. In the Bible, fire symbolizes three things:
a) Purity,
b) consecration,
c) God’s Devine presence and power!
* If you don’t have all three you don’t have the fire!
5. For centuries, fire has been a fascination with man and an object of worship! So it should not appear strange to us that the Only True God, whom we worship, would reveal Himself by fire!
Hebrews 12: 29 - "For our God is a consuming fire!"
* His fire tries and refines the purest gold!
* His fire consumes every acceptable sacrifice!
* His fire cleanses the unclean!
* His fire illuminated the burning bush for Moses!
* His fire led the children of Israel out of Egypt!
* His fire burned the fields of the Philistines for Samson!
* His fire kept Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego while they were in the furnace of fire!
* His fire approved Elijah in the face of the false prophets of Baal!
* His fire fell, and filled the 120 seekers in Jerusalem, as John said it would when He would "baptize them with the Holy Ghost and with Fire!"
* And the fire of God has set down upon the Church for an end-time move of His Spirit to ignite us to consecration, holiness, and power to be His witnesses in the world!
CLOSING - KEEP THE FIRE BURNING!
It’s time to light the night Church! Is your light shining? If its not, then now is the time to rekindle the flame! If the light has been blown out by slothfulness, prayerlessness, compromise, or whatever, then friend, you can get the fire back into your life again!
