You Are Responsible For Your Own Fire

YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN FIRE

Acts 2:1-4

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: SONG LEADER SABOTAGE

1. I heard about this pastor who was finishing up a fiery sermon on self-control. He said with great passion, a). "If I had all the beer in the world, I'd throw it in the river." b)."If I had all the wine in the world, I'd throw it in the river"...at the top of his lungs, c). "If I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd throw it in the river."

2. He sat down. The song leader came up and said "For our closing song, Let's sing Hymn 365..... Shall we Gather at the River."

B. TEXT

“When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” Acts 2:1-4.

C. THESIS

1. GOD HAS GIVEN EACH ONE OF US RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR OWN FIRE!

2. On the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came into the upper room with a rush of fire. Then an interesting thing happened; the Holy Spirit fire subdivided into 120 separate flames, resting on the heads of the disciples.

3. EACH PERSON GOT THEIR OWN PIECE OF HOLY SPIRIT FIRE! What they did with that fire after that was up to each individual. Either they could keep it burning brightly or let their fire die down and go out. WE ALSO FACE THE SAME DECISION. That’s the subject of this morning’s message, “You Are Responsible For Your Own Fire.”

I. HEAVENLY LIFE – A DERIVED LIFE

A. SIN SEPARATED US FROM GOD

1. A study into your family's history and your ancestors can be a very inspiring and surprising. You may come upon a horse thief or a bootlegger. If we follow our origins back far enough, we’ll all end up at the Garden of Eden.

2. We learn from Gen. 1-3 that our first parents heeded the hissing of a snake and committed high treason against God Almighty. This began a domino effect touching every man, woman, boy, and girl ever born.

3. The result is that a separation has formed between us & God, as Isa. 59:2 says, “Your sins have separated between you and your God.”

B. INHERENT FALLEN NATURE

1. This isn’t a mere outward blemish; all mankind was infected with the “germ” of sin – we have a fallen nature, a “bent” toward evil.

2. EXAMPLE: THE CULTURED PIG

a. Henry Moorhouse, as a boy, was walking down the streets of Manchester, England. His attention was arrested by shouts, "Come see the Great American Pig." He paid his fee and saw, "the most Wonderful pig, which could perform feats (he could spell "good pig") and exhibited intelligence, unlike other pigs. He was washed and scrubbed, and dressed in fine clothing. He walked on his hind legs and could shake hands. But nevertheless, he was only still a pig.

b. Moorhouse watched as, after the pig’s performance, it was loosed from its accessories; it immediately ran back to the mud hole and wallowed in it as before. All its superficial "culture" hadn't changed its basic nature."

3. So it is with us. We can be sincere, religious people – but that isn’t enough. Jesus met with a great teacher of the Jews named Nicodemus and told him that he needed a HEART-CHANGE; he needed to be “born again.” Jeremiah pointed out that, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Jer. 17:9.

C. THE ONLY HOPE – BEING BORN AGAIN!

1. The only way we can be saved is to surrender our old life to Christ & let Jesus begin a new life inside us.

2. The Apostle John said that when the “seed of God” (1 Jn. 3:9) is implanted in us, the DNA of God will begin changing us into the Image of Christ. That seed of God is the new life of Jesus we receive by repentance and faith in Jesus. He puts His Holy Spirit inside us & the Holy Spirit begins to do a “remodel” from the inside out.

3. “Therefore if any man/woman be in Christ, they are a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” 2 Cor. 5:17;

4. HUMOR: Hiccups:

a. A mother had been telling to her 4-year-old daughter about how God had come into her heart.

b. Later, the girl got a case of hiccups. When she had an especially big one, the girl exclaimed, "Mom, God almost got out on that one!"