Fire Introduction: I would like to examine some people from Bible history that had an experience very much in common that changed their the way they lived there lives. It was something that either changed the entire direction of their or intensified the direction they were already heading. What all these people had was an intense encounter with God. So intense that it changed their very life. This intense encounter was symbolized by the manifestation of FIRE! Let's Pray that we might feel His warmth right now. Fire can and is a very destructive force. Out of control fire can destroy with much malice. However, under complete control, fire can also be as powerful. There is no in between good and bad in this life we live. There are two forces that drive us in life. They are the Holy Ghost or the influences of Satan and his imps. If you are not driven by at least one of these forces then you are not moving, you stagnate. If you are influenced by the Holy Ghost your life should be burning with fire of desire to do His will at all cost. If you are influenced by Satan and his imps your life is destine for a fiery hell. If you are still and not being influenced you are lukewarm and in danger of a fiery hell. Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. This means if you feel your just neutral, your not. Either for God, or against God. We need the fire of God real in our lives. A. Moses: Exo 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 1. After his experience, he had a mission and carried it out with vigor. B. The Nation of Egypt Exo 9:24-25 So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation. And the hail smote throughout all the land of Egypt all that was in the field, both man and beast; and the hail smote every herb of the field, and brake every tree of the field. 1. They tried to stop the mission of God's people. Exo 9:26 Only in the land of Goshen, where the children of Israel were, was there no hail. 2. God protected His people and their work. 3. After this experience of God's fire, the children of Israel had a mission. "They departed with a high hand." NOTE: Do not try to stop God's people from doing what God wants them to do. C. Ishaih Isa 6:1-7 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. 1. After Ishaih's experience with fire, he had a mission. D. The Three certain Jews(Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedngo) Dan 3:12-25 There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Then they brought these men before the king. Nebuchadnezzar spake and said unto them, Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, do not ye serve my gods, nor worship the golden image which I have set up? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, and dulcimer, and all kinds of music, ye fall down and worship the image which I have made; well: but if ye worship not, ye shall be cast the same hour into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands? Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. E. Jeremiah felt the passion brought by the fire of the Holy Ghost. Jer 20:9 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. F. The dynamite Deacon, (Stephen) Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 1. Stephen had been touched by the fire of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2:3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. Acts 6:5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, Acts 6:8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people. 2. Stephen had a mission to complete at all cost. 2 Prepared by: Rev. A. D. Carter