"Team Extreme" Series

Light was also fire. There was a disciple named Thomas; but his last name was not Edison.

Not destructive fire… but productive fire… it was the “fire” inside them…

The thing about fire is while some see it as dynamic, others see it as dangerous. While some will embrace the fire, others will oppose it.

Consider this as well: John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize us with the Holy Spirit AND fire. Theologians have debated for centuries what is meant by “fire.” Some say it refers to the purifying work the Spirit does. Others have said it refers to the power of God in the life of a Christ-follower. Still others have said it refers to the result of what happens when a Spirit-drenched believer interacts with the world around him. I see all three at work here.

Here’s why this is important. John said that Jesus would immerse his followers with the Holy Spirit AND with fire. In the Sermon on the Mount, the first description Jesus gives of his followers is this: you’ll be FIRE.

For those who receive the message of the GOOD NEWS of Jesus, this fire is DYNAMIC. BUT, for those who reject the message, this fire is seen as DANGEROUS.

Whenever Jesus talked about his church, he talked about an active, invasive force:

Matthew 11:11-12, “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force.”

Something happened when John the Baptizer came on the scene. The promised Kingdom of God began to advance. A conflict of spiritual kingdoms was set in motion. That’s what Jesus was talking about here. Verse 12 is challenging to translate because of the Greek language. Since I don’t want to turn this message into a seminary class, let me just say that the most plausible interpretation of this last phrase would be “the kingdom of heaven has been going forward in strength, and violent men are trying to take it.”

The picture is one of two opposing armies hitting each other head on. ). Have any of you ever watched the competitive tv show “BATTLEBOTS?” In it, Competitors design and operate remote-controlled armed and armored machines designed to fight in an arena combat elimination tournament. That’s the picture Jesus is painting here: two opposing forces hitting each other head-on. Remember, Jesus came to “destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8)

Matthew 16:18, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

Gates have a single purpose: to keep what’s on one side of the gate in, and what’s on the other side of it out. A gate is a defensive weapon. If we were having a rumble in the parking lot after church, you might bring an ax handle, or a baseball bat. You might bring a knife or even a gun. But nobody in their right mind would bring a gate. Here’s the picture Jesus is painting: His church would be an invasive, gate-taking, gate-breaking, gate-obliterating force! His intention has always been for his people to play OFFENSE, not DEFENSE. Here’s why the world the rejects the GOOD NEWS reacts like it does: when we sit back and play defense, we become IRRELEVANT. When we go on the offensive, then we are labeled EXTREMIST.