The Hunger for Fire
Matthew 3:1-6, 11
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.
4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him 6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
Hunger Is the Precursor to Fire
Throughout Scripture, God responds to appetite. Moses turned aside to see the bush; Elijah repaired the altar before the fire fell; the 120 tarried before Pentecost (Acts chapters 1-2)
Fire follows posture, and Hunger is a posture.
Why Hunger Burns?
Fire consumes as long as there is something to spread to it, it will not stop. Fire does two things:
- “It consumes”
- It creates heat that draws oxygen
Without oxygen fire will die, it starves to death.
I know you have the Holy Spirit and with fire I want to ask you, “Is there a draw on the life of God?”
Hunger Is Evidence You Are Not Cold
Cold hearts don’t long for fire, Dead altars don’t ache for flame.
Hunger itself is proof there is still coal alive underneath the fire
Psalm 42 says: “As the deer pants…” Panting is not weakness.
It’s life needing breath, Holy Fire needing the breath of God!!!
When you hunger for God,
Pride becomes fuel
Self-sufficiency becomes fuel
Familiarity becomes fuel
A soul that’s hungry comes to the Altar and says “God, the oil from yesterday is used.” That’s hunger talking.
I have been experiencing Hunger in my heart, I can’t stand silence why? Am I addicted to noise? Lord No! I have a hunger for the fire of God.
The wind of God does not ask for permission. But when it sweeps through a house, something begins to move. If nothing moves, it may not be the wind that’s missing, it may be life.”
Ezekiel 37:1-5 (KJV)
1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest.
4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
5 Thus saith the Lord God unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
Tell someone “It’s so good to be alive”. Dead, dry Bones come together; life cannot come till there is breath. The cry of my heart is “God don’t leave me the way you found me.”
Sound that carries Glory
2 Chronicles 5:13-14
13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;
14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.
The Sound of worship carries Glory, Sound preceded manifestation.
Psalm 22:3 But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
In my hunger for the fire of his Presence, I might get loud, very loud. I don’t care what you think when I worship. I’m in pursuit of his Presence.
Is the deadness coming from lack of sound? Or from lack of surrender?
Because sound can amplify hunger, But it cannot create it.
In Isaiah 6: the seraphim angel took tongs from the Altar and touched the lips of Isaiah and purged his mouth,
Notice with me!!! Coals only needs breath.
In Hebrew, ruach means Breath, Wind, Spirit
At Pentecost, in Acts 2, fire appeared, but it came with wind.
Fire and breath work together.
If we bring the coal. God brings the breath, That fire is automatic
Say it with me “Breathe on me God.” When that fire comes a hunger is fire’s attribute.
What is the eco system of a church? Are we a healthy church?
Acts 2:14-18
14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
16 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
18 And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
Church, we Love His Presence, we value the fire of His presence. We value the word of God, honoring His written and spoken word.