This is the Truth Network. This fire that appeared in the upper room in Acts chapter 2, did it come in to just warm the disciples and make them feel good? Or did it come in to destroy something?
Well, stay with us, listen, and learn. You're listening to Until He Comes, a blend of prophetic and practical biblical studies with Dr. Greg Hinnant, author of The Second Coming of Christ, His Appearing, His Return, Our Preparation. And now, author and teacher Greg Hinnant. Welcome to the program, my friend.
Today we're going to continue and talk about tongues of fire and see the spiritual implications of that strange manifestation of the Holy Spirit that appeared in the upper room on Pentecost Day. But before we do that, I want to tell you about something that's very important. We're going to host a conference on the Book of Revelation at the First Baptist Church in Coernesville, North Carolina. a venue that holds over 600 people. This will begin on September 14th, Monday, and continue Monday and Thursday for two weeks and finishing on the following Monday, the 28th.
It will be at 7 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. on those evenings. This is avoiding church nights and those nights which are given to athletic activities for those of you who have children. And this will be an engaging study, an in-depth study of the book of Revelation.
Now, the registration fee is only $45. Let me tell you what that's going to do. Ten hours of instruction, first of all. Then you will receive my 758-page in depth. Commentary on the book of Revelation is called Revelation Notes.
Now, pastors, it is loaded with sermons, it is loaded with teachings if you're an elder and teach the Word of God. And if you want to know the book of Revelation, it will thoroughly give you the grammatical, historical understanding of each text and an application to your life.
Now, you don't want to miss this. This conference will be both in person and by Zoom.
So if you're if you can't make the Kernisville a site, then you can register online as a Zoom student. I encourage you to register now. The seats are limited. Reserve your spot today.
Now In our study today, we want to see that the fire that fell at Pentecost consumes believers' sins. Ah You know, a fire in a house that's in a furnace it's constructive. We like that. But when it gets out into the house it's destructive. and it causes distress and serious material and financial loss.
However, when the Spirit of God begins to burn away the things that never should have been in our life anyway, It's a constructive fire. We want to talk about that today.
Now This fire is described by Paul in Colossians 3 when he tells us to put off certain things. He could have said, Let them be consumed by the fire of the Holy Spirit. Let's read this passage in Colossians 3, 5 through 14, and see if you understand what I'm saying. Mortify, that is, minister death to, render as dead. Your members which were upon the earth, fornication, Uncleanness.
Inordinate affection. Evil desire and covetousness, which is idolatry. For which thing's sake the wrath of God comes on the children of disobedience. Oh my goodness, these things bring God's wrath on us. We don't want that.
So let the fire destroy these things which we've just mentioned. He goes on to say, in the which ye also walked sometime when you lived in them, but now You also put off all these.
Now listen to this list. Anger, Wrath. Malice Blasphemy Filthy communication out of your mouth. Oh my goodness, our generation has become so filthy in its communication. Every other word is the F word.
Lie not to one another. seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved. Bowels of mercy.
kindness Humbleness of mind, meekness, long suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any, Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
Now, in this passage, He's clearly telling us we must put off To put on.
So the Holy Spirit fire has come into your life and mind to burn out certain things, to eradicate them so that. there is room for the various graces The manifestation of the grace of God in the form of the fruit of the Spirit, may grow Okay. and honour Christ in our life.
So, God's purpose in redemption, specifically sanctification, is to destroy the control. And the regular manifestation of sin and self-will in the born-again believer.
Now, think about that. To destroy not only the control, but the regular manifestation. God doesn't want flesh to be seen in your life and mind on a daily basis. And He has made provision through the redemption. For this, and that's what we're talking about.
The specific Provision is this fire of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul wrote this, excuse me, John wrote this: for this purpose or this reason, The Son of God was manifested, or he visited this world, that he might destroy the work. Of the devil, 1 John 3:8. And so the Lord is destroying that work with His holy fire. You know, we don't think about it, but when you receive the Holy Spirit, you receive a fire in your bosom.
You got a fire in your breast.
Now we talk about the fire of devotion for Christ. This is another fire. This is a fire that is a destructive fire, yet it works constructively for you and I.
Now, why does this fire come? Why is God destroying certain things in our heart, in our mind, in our life, in our actions, in our habits?
Well, first to purify us. Then to make us holy or sanctified, Than to make us part of the bride church, that glorious bride. And then to qualify us for the rapture, yes, we need to qualify for the rapture. If you're walking in the flesh, don't expect to be taken. Also, to hasten the Lord's coming.
We'll go into Peter and look at that. And to make us effective believer priests. on a daily basis.
Now let's discuss these one at a time. The fire comes to purify us. The Apostle John said that the hope of Jesus appearing is a purifying hope.
Now think about that. It is a purifying hub. You know, some claim that the rapture makes us indolent. And indifferent. We're just sitting around waiting for Jesus to come.
That's not the way the New Testament describes The ready or prepared Christian. Not at all. To the contrary, When we understand that Jesus is coming, and especially in our day when the signs of the times are so prevalent. In my book on the Second Coming, in the first few chapters I lift I list eighteen different signs of the times which have converged since the Second World War. Many of them were improbable, some impossible, some laughably impossible, yet They have come to pass right before our eyes, and we're living in the fulfillment as I speak to you today.
So let's look at 1 John 3, verses 2 and 3. See what John says. Beloved, now are we the sons of God? And it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is and every man that has this oap this hope in him, Purifies himself even as he is pure. Look, when you believe Jesus is coming and you want to be like him spiritually, because you know you're going to be like him physically, that is, you receive a glorified body, This is a powerful.
Powerful impetus, an inner drive, a hunger. to get your life in divine order. To get things straight.
So that everything in your life is lined up for the moment. The trump sounds Christ shouts and he appears and takes us home to the marriage supper of the lamb.
So the Holy Spirit comes in to purify us. And he also comes in to make us holy or sanctified. This is similar yet a little distinct. The Apostle Paul said that God wants to sanctify us holy.
Now that word is W H O L L Y, or entirely, spirit, soul, and body. In preparation, For the coming of the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 5.23 states that. What does sanctification mean?
Well, technically, to make holy. What does it mean to be holy? It means to be entirely set apart for God. Exclusively set apart for God. and his pleasure.
and his use.
Now think about that. Is your life like that now. Or have you set aside 90% of your life for what you want and 10 for what God wants? Think about it. Think about it now.
'Cause you've got a chance to change. If You're not living a sanctified life. When you get up in the morning, they'll say, Lord, this is what I would like to do. Would you please bless it? Instead, say, Lord, this is the day you have made.
I will rejoice and be glad in it.
some one eighteen. Father, What would you have me to do? Acts 9. This is what Paul said. When he first met Jesus, Lord, what will you have me to do?
You see, the day belongs to God. You belong to God. Your body belongs to God. Your spirit, soul, and mind belongs to God.
So the spiritual anti Christian will live the sanctified life and say, Lord, this day I set apart to you because it belongs to you. What will you have me to do?
Now of course, you have your normal responsibilities. You go about your things as you normally do.
However, In the back of your mind you're ready at any moment to change your desired path. To meet a divine appointment? To recognize the divine initiative? To speak to a person about Jesus who you know is lost. To do what you need to do to encourage a brother who has fallen.
or discouraged in heavy heavy trials. That's putting Christ's will First. That's the way a sanctified Christian lives.
So the fire comes to make us sanctified. He wants to burn out that self-will that says, I want my way today.
Now, he comes also to make us part of the Brat Church. Hey, the Brat Church and the body of Christ are not. The same. Yes, you heard me correctly. Everyone in the body of Christ can be, should be, God wants them to be, a member of the bride church.
But the bride church fits the description of Revelation 19, 7 through 9, and we find these words there. His wife, Has made herself ready. Friends, if you're the body of Christ, that is, you've been born again. You're not automatically in the bride. This month, for a gift of any amount, receive Dr.
Hinnan's book, Precious Pearls from the Proverbs. This book is an in-depth examination of 33 wisdom sayings from the book of Proverbs. They will enrich your spiritual walk with practical and spiritual pearls of truth.
Some of the topics addressed are attitudes, motives, speech, parenting, mercy, faithfulness, leadership, laziness, and many others. Give and get your copy today. For a gift of $60 or more, we'll send you the complete four-volume Hinnant End Times Prophecy Collection: The Second Coming of Christ, The Tribulation Story, Revelation Notes, a verse-by-verse commentary on Revelation, and the Day of the Lord commentary, which interprets all Old Testament prophecies and foreshadowings of the end times. And if you are a Logos Bible software user, you may purchase all four of These books from the Logos Online Bookstore. You may give your gift today by visiting the donation page at greghinnantministries.org or sending your checks to Greg Hinnant Ministries, P.O.
Box 788 High Point, North Carolina, 27260, or by calling 336-882-1645.
Now, again, Dr. Hinnant. If you don't make yourself ready, you will not be in the bright church and will be left behind when Jesus appears. That is a terrible. terrible thing for a Christian.
Tend to amount to spiritual failure. You don't want that. It's a catastrophic loss. You won't go to hell, but you'll have to go into the first part of the tribulation period. Christ does not want that for you.
Paul was explicit in 1 Thessalonians 5, 9 through 11. He says, God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, that whether we wake or sleep, We should live together with Him. He's talking about the rapture experience. But it was also God's explicit will that the children of Israel not. walk in circles for forty years in the wilderness, but they did.
They did. Why, unbelief? and disobedience. As I'm talking to you today. And I say it with sadness, grief.
Millions of Christians who have genuinely had a born-again Experience. There's no doubt about that. are living a life of disobedience and general disbelief.
Some are being taught that the scriptures don't contain the inspired word of God, or rather, they're not entirely the word of God. Liberal theology teaches that the Bible contains the inspired word, but it's not entirely. The inspired word of God.
Well, that makes you and I God's editor. I'll do what I want to do, and those things that I don't want to do, I'll say, well, I don't believe that's. inspired, but it's all inspired, Fran.
So this is very serious. We need to trust and obey God on a consistent basis so that we know we're going to be in the bright church because we're making ourselves ready. We're taking Jesus' spiritual readiness warnings seriously, where He taught us to be wise, He taught us to be ready, He taught us to be prepared. He taught us to be faithful. He taught us to be knowing Him.
And He taught us to be living a worthy life, which means two things in the New Testament. First of all, prayerful. Second, it means cross-carrying.
So are we preparing? For the coming of our Lord, then we'll be in the bride church, no question about it. I don't want you to doubt that. But, friend, if you're not preparing, if this doesn't mean anything to you today that Jesus is coming soon, you're not going to be in the British church.
So today is the day to realize it and change your ways.
Now, the fire also comes to qualify us then for the rapture, as we just said. The worldly, unclean, and holy will not be caught away to enter God's heavenly kingdom. And the scriptures make this clear. First, let's look at one of Jesus' readiness warnings here in the passage that we're talking about. Let's get a look at this, first of all.
Here we are. This scripture is. Um Here in Matthew 48. Let me get this in just a moment. Matthew 48.
Mm-hmm. First. 20 excuse me, Matthew 24. First. forty eight.
Here we go. Jesus is talking, and he's talking about his coming and how we should be ready. But and if that evil report, that evil servant rather, shall say in his heart, My Lord delays his coming, hm. The thought that Jesus delays is coming. This is what got this guy off on the wrong foot.
If that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delays his coming. And shall begin to smite his fellow servants. He didn't act like this before, but once he lost faith in the imminence of Jesus' coming, He began to mistreat his fellow Christians, and to eat and to drink with the drunkards oh, to go back and live with the old crowd, and do the old things, drinking and carousing. which inevitably would include immoral behaviour.
Now notice what Jesus says. The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looks not for him, and in an hour when he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder. Ooh, this is terrible language. And upon him his portion with the hypocrites, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Let me interpret this to you: to cut him asunder means to lacerate him.
By scourging. That's the worst punishment that you could do for a slave.
Some interpret this to cut him in half. I doubt that a first century slave owner would have done that because then you've destroyed your chattel, your property.
So he's saying you'll be severely punished. Then he goes on to say, you'll be given a portion with the hypocrites. You'll be left behind. With the religious hypocrites and pretenders. Wow, this is a serious warning from Christ.
Right in the middle of his Olivet discourse. We know what he's talking about. He's talking about readiness for the rapture.
Now, he didn't say rapture or catching away or the Greek word hapatzo in this passage. Why? Because it was one of the things that would come later. He said, I have many things to tell you, but you cannot bear them or understand them.
Now, the rapture was one of them. But he was speaking in this passage to that very event. He had already answered the disciples' question as to when he comes back. That was finished in verse 30 and 31.
Now he's turned to talk about readiness. And he says, If a born again Christian loses faith in Jesus coming, and goes back to mistreating his brothers and sisters instead of walking in love, and goes back to the bars and begins to drink, and begins to carouse and begins to sleep around Committing fornication and adultery, don't expect to be taken, winned the master. appears.
Okay, and the next thing here on our list is to hasten the Lord's coming. Peter says that if we walk in holiness, we hasten His coming. 2 Peter 3:10. Let's read that. 10 through 13.
He says, But the day of the Lord will come, that is, it will come initially at its first manifestation, as a thief in the night. That's the rapture. And then he says, In the which, or in that day, The habits will pass away with a great noise. Oh Peter seems to have his eschatology confused. No, he doesn't.
The day of the Lord begins with the rapture it triggers What will eventually come the tribulation period, and then it ends at the thousand years when it's expired, it ends with the destruction of the heavens.
So Peter says. and the elements shall melt with fervent heat the earth also and the works that are in it shall be burnt up seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness? Looking for and hastening. Unto the coming of the day of God? Wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
Now, what is he describing here? He's talking about the dissolution. of the elements which comprise the material universe. Think about that. All the elements in the universe, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, etc., etc.
These Adams will be dissolved. Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Only the redeemed will dwell on the new earth.
So he says, Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace? Without spot, that is without spot of flesh. and blameless.
So Peter here in talking about the end times gives us an exhortation to holy living, and he says in verse 12, This will hasten his coming, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God.
Now, what does that imply?
Well, that implies that if we don't Walks in holiness, we will what? Hender His coming. Why, it's very simple, my friends. Jesus is coming for a bride. If the bride hasn't fully cleansed herself and prepared herself for the marriage supper of the Lamb, if she's not living a holy life, a righteous life, a sanctified life, where she's manifesting on a daily basis Christ's likeness, the fruit of the Spirit, then she's not ready to be taken.
So, unholy living delays the Lord's coming. He doesn't have someone to come for. Who would go to a wedding what what groom would go to a wedding if his bride was not prepared? She has to be prepared before the wedding can occur.
So, have we taken upon ourselves the personal responsibility to hasten? The rapture and not hinder it. Think about it. You and I have a part to play. Also, this fire has come to make us an effective believer priest whose prayers are not hindered by sin.
Psalm 66:18 says, The Lord will not hear me if I regard iniquity in my heart. That means sin may not even be manifested in your life, but if you're coddling it in your heart, in your mind, in your thoughts. In your true essential self, where only you and God and the Holy Spirit know what's going on. Then you can't pray effectively. You know, Leviticus is God's instructions to Israel's priests.
And all of us in the New Testament who are born again are believer priests.
So we're told in. Peter In the book of Peter, First Peter To be holy. He says Just as he who has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all You do. Or be holy. Because I am holy.
Again, we defined holiness earlier. Holiness implies Purity. Because to be set apart into God who is sinless means you don't have active sin, unconfessed sin, unrepentant sin, in your lack or Your heart Again, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.
So to be an effective believer priest, We need to walk in righteousness. We need to be obedient to the Word of God. We need to walk in love, walk in truth, walk in quick confession of our sin. You know, it's one step to get a Christian to finally start praying for other people and to become an intercessor. Praise God, that's a great step.
But it's another big step to cause us to realize: hey, the condition in which I pray. is vitally important as well. We don't want to just Pray Without effect. We don't want to just get together, have prayer meetings, so we impress ourselves with how many prayers that we pray audibly. No.
We want to pray in direct line, in real communication with the Lord.
So This fire helps us do that.
Now, one more scripture here in Matthew 3. Verses 11 and 12. Listen to what John the Baptist said, and he was a visionary. He saw the purpose of the Holy Spirit. Listen to what he said in these two verses: I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that comes after me is mightier than I, he's talking about Christ, obviously, whose shoes I'm not worthy to bear.
He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Oh, that's what happened. On Pentecost. But he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Oh, we hadn't heard about that from other sources.
Usually, we're told that the Holy Spirit baptism empowers us. Christ said that in Acts 1, verse 8, and he's right. Here, John says. The fire is loosed. What does he go on to say?
Whose fan is in his hand? He will thoroughly purchase for him. Floor and gather the wheat into the garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. This means. The Holy Spirit is coming to your life to burn the sin out and the self out.
He won't do it without your cooperation, but with your surrender, He will burn it all out in time. God says in Jeremiah 23, 29, Is not my word like a fire?
So The Holy Spirit looses His fire to burn out self-will and sin so that you're free. to walk. in communion with God. And do what he calls you and bids you to do.
Now, this fire is unquenchable. What does that mean? That means that God will not stop trying to sanctify you. Until you're in his presence. Friend, have you given up sanctification?
He's not giving up sanctification. Follow through and let this fire burn. Until that holy fuel is expended, and there's nothing more in your life. That is sin or self manifested on a regular basis.
Now, stay with us, and we'll have one more session on this in our next episode. God bless you. If this message has blessed you, tell your friends and please consider helping us stay on the air by sending your tax-deductible donation to Greg Hennett Ministries. Also, remember, you may download the Until He Comes podcast from your preferred podcast app. May you walk closely with Christ and trust and obey Him in your daily tests of faith and patience until He Comes.
This is the Truth Network. Mm-hmm.
