On Fire With the Holy Spirit

[Gen 1:1-2; Mt 3:16; Acts 1:8; 2:4]

The Scripture teaches us that when the Holy Spirit comes, He brings spiritual fire. The Bible says when we’re baptized in the Holy Spirit, we’re baptized “with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (see, Mt 3:11; Lk 3:16). And if we’re going to be on fire for Jesus, and keep burning for Him for years to come, we need to continually experience the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. He adds the fuel we need to maintain our spiritual fire.

We’ve been looking at Keys to Living on Fire for Jesus – fuels we must add to our heart if we want to stay on fire as we run our earthly race. We have studied the fuel of the Word of God and the fuel of Prayer. Now, we’re going to look at a third key – adding the fuel of the Holy Spirit to our spiritual flame.

The Holy Spirit is not just fuel for the fire. The Scriptures teach us that the He is fire. The first time He is mentioned in the book of Acts, He shows up like a flame of fire. If you want to be on fire for Jesus, you have to have the Holy Spirit manifesting in your life.

We’ve seen that the words “stir up” in Second Timothy 1:6 — basically means to “Do whatever you have to do to put life back into your fire again.”

These words in Second Timothy are for us today. Paul wrote them to Timothy by the inspiration of the Spirit¹ because Timothy was going through a tough time, and his fire was burning low. Serious problems were distracting him from his calling. Paul told him, “Timothy, there is something you can do about this.”

Paul didn’t tell him to go to a revival meeting for help. There’s nothing wrong with that at times, but here Paul said this was something Timothy had to do for himself. Timothy had to stoke the fire in his own heart. He could add the right fuels to his flame to stir it back to life.

This is true for you today. You can bring life back to your spiritual fire if you’ll intentionally keep adding the right fuels, and if you’ll continually stir up the gift of God that’s in you.

The early church depended upon the power of the Holy Spirit to do the work of the ministry, and to fulfill their commission. Because they understood this so completely, they preached, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” They were able to “heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, [and] cast out demons” (Mt 10:7-8). And they had the power to “witness… to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Darkness was driven back, the Church was on fire for Jesus because they had the fire of the Holy Spirit!

Without being filled with the Spirit, it is impossible to live in God’s will. I pray for zombie “Christians” to be stirred up and on fire for Jesus when He returns.

It is God’s will for us to be filled with His Spirit.

• Here are 7 Scriptures filled (Lk 1:15; Acts 2:4; 9:17; Eph 3:19; 5:18; Col 1:9; 2:10).

• Here are 7 Scriptures full (Lk 4:1; 10:21; Jn 6:63; Acts 6:3,5; 7:55; 11:24; 1Thess 1:5).

Some churches today believe in the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, but they don’t see much of it in their church because they don’t make room for it. Other churches believe the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit ended when the original apostles died. They believe in the work of the Holy Spirit to convict a sinner of sin leading to salvation. But after that, their unbelief quenches the Spirit. They may never experience the ongoing power of God.

God wants to give you a fresh supply. You can’t operate on what you had a long time ago. It is like having a dead battery. When you seriously seek God for a refilling of His Spirit, He will make sure you have it.

With the Holy Spirit, there is movement and power. In a previous podcast (VB091), we saw that the book of Acts is a pattern book. But the whole Bible contains patterns for us to study, including the way the Holy Spirit moves.

Gen 1:1-2 (KJV) –[1] In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. [2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Because this is the first mention of the Holy Spirit in Scripture, it sets a precedence about the Holy Spirit that we need to know. In verse 2, we see the Holy Spirit is moving. And when you study the whole of Scripture, you find that when the Holy Spirit comes on the scene, He’s always moving. And when He moves, something supernatural always happens!

From reading and studying the Bible, we can discover that the Holy Spirit is not silent or motionless. He moves. He speaks. He empowers. He moves upon people and circumstances, and they are changed.

We also see this in the life of Jesus — in fact, from Jesus’ very conception. The Bible tells us the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, “You will conceive in your womb and bear a son” (see Lk 1:31). Mary responded, “…How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (v. 34). The angel answered her, “…The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you….” Gabriel said, in effect, “The Holy Spirit is going to move upon you, and power from on high will be released.”

Of course, we know the angel was speaking of the virgin birth of Jesus the Son of God and Savior of the world. The angel finished, saying, “…therefore the child to be born will be called holy — the Son of God” (v. 35).

The Holy Spirit is always moving. He moved upon Mary, and she supernaturally conceived Jesus in her womb.

Years later when Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, we see the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus as a dove.

Mt 3:16 (KJV) –And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

The Holy Spirit moved on Jesus, and because He did, Jesus was empowered to begin three years of supernatural ministry leading up to His death and resurrection.

Let’s look at it. Acts 1:8 where Jesus said to the disciples,

Acts 1:8 (NKJV) –“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

“…When the Holy Ghost is come upon you and you shall be witnesses to me….” Jesus was prophesying a move of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that when the Holy Ghost came upon them, they would be changed.

That word “power” is the Greek word dunamis, and it describes explosive power. It’s the very word used to describe the force of an advancing army, so Jesus was prophesying that when the Spirit moves upon you, power is going to be released in you. It will be like the force of God marching through you to advance His kingdom upon the world.

The power of the Holy Spirit is a moving power. It is forceful, explosive power. We see that in Acts 2:4 on the Day of Pentecost.

Acts 2:4 (NKJV) –And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The Spirit moved into that Upper Room, fire literally appeared in that place, and their hearts were set on fire for Jesus. They felt His presence and saw His fire. And they were empowered.

Acts 2:43 says that “many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.” We saw several other references in the last lesson to “acts of the Holy Spirit” through the disciples.

He’s not theory, and He’s not just doctrine. He wants you to experience Him in your life. He wants you to take part in the divine activity of the kingdom, here on earth, through the power of Holy Spirit.

Study The Word:

Look up the following Scriptures in Acts about the moving of the Holy Spirit. Write out the ones that mean the most to you. Acts 3:1-9; Acts 4:24-31; Acts 5:14-16; Acts 6:8; Acts 10:44,45; Acts 11:28-30; Acts 13:2; Acts 14:10; Acts 19:6; Acts 19:11,12.

Now ask yourself, what are some of the conditions that welcome or allow the Holy Spirit to manifested Himself? What does it mean to wait upon the Lord?

Using The Word:

What moving of the Holy Spirit have you experienced in life? Can you remember a time when there was no doubt that it was the Holy Spirit acting through you to cause something or someone to change for the better?

Dig Into The Word:

Spend some time reading through John 14, 15, and 16 to see what these chapters say about your relationship with the Holy Spirit.

God bless you my friend,

— Dwight Hammond

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¹See, Topical Study, Inspiration and Authority of Scripture.