What It Means to Be On Fire
Proverbs 30:15, 16
Proverbs 30
· 15 There are three things that are never satisfied, yea, four things say not, It is enough:
· 16 The grave; and the barren womb; the earth that is not filled with water; and the fire that saith not, It is enough.
Intro: There are three things that are never satisfied. Four things that never get enough.
· The grave. The barren womb. The ground that is not filled with water.
· And the fire that never says I’ve had enough. The more wood you put on a fire, the more it burns.
A sign that you are “On Fire”…is when you cannot get enough.
· Never satisfied with where you are spiritually.
· Never satisfied with what you’ve accomplished for the Lord.
· Never satisfied with the souls you’ve led to Christ.
· Never satisfied with the number of people you’ve reached.
· Never satisfied with what you’ve learned about the Scriptures.
· Never satisfied with the number of seeds you’ve sown.
· Never satisfied with the glory and honor you’ve brought to the Lord.
A person that is “On Fire…”
· Will never get upset at those that throw wood on their fire.
· Will not get uncomfortable whenever anybody starts talking about being on fire.
· Will not be intimidated around other people that are “On Fire.”
· Will not ever tell someone that is throwing wood on their fire to mind their own business.
· Will not ever be guilty of avoiding people whose primary job it is to throw wood on fires.
· In fact, those people will be some of their greatest friends.
· Will not be best friends with a person that throws water on people’s fire.
· Will not hang out with people that run down people that throw wood on fires.
I. A Fervent Spirit
· Acts 18:25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
· Romans 12:11 Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;
The key to being ON FIRE is to have a fervent spirit.
This means you’re not a deadhead.
This means you’re not half-asleep.
This means you’re not disinterested, disengaged, complacent and cold-hearted.
You are on the edge of your seat; anticipating; excited; motivated, easily fired up concerning spiritual things.
II. A Fervent Mind
· 2 Corinthians 7:7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more.
Paul was thrilled to hear of the church of Corinth’s fervent mind toward him.
Because he felt the same way about them! See verse 3 – “…ye are in our hearts to die and live with you…”
Keep in mind – this was after they had already received First Corinthians.
Paul rebuked them and reproved them and corrected them and shamed them repeatedly in his first letter.
But in his second letter, he mentioned how that they had an “earnest desire and a fervent mind.”
They had gotten right and were ON FIRE!!
Look down at verse 10, 11.
2 Corinthians 7
· 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
· 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
They didn’t get bitter. They didn’t accuse Paul of having a bad spirit or of yelling at them.
They didn’t cut him off and throw away his years of investment in them.
They got right and they repented, and they had a fervent mind toward God’s man.
Why? Because they were ON FIRE!!!
III. A Fervent Worker
· Titus 2:14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
ZEALOUS: one burning with zeal, a zealot
This is a person that gets excited about doing something for God.
They get a thrill when they get asked to serve or work or labor or minister.
They give it 150% and they get there early.
They work hard and they work with joy and they work with a great attitude.
They are zealous of good works.
They are burning with zeal.
These people don’t burn out. They just burn!!!
They are not trying to see how to get out of work.
They do not wait on other people to step up and do it.
They roll up their sleeves, they clear their calendar and they dig in.
Why? They are ON FIRE!!
They are ZEALOUS of GOOD WORKS!!
IV. A Fervent Giving
· 2 Corinthians 9:2 For I know the forwardness of your mind, for which I boast of you to them of Macedonia, that Achaia was ready a year ago; and your zeal hath provoked very many.
This passage of Scripture is referring to their example in the area of giving.
ZEAL: excitement of mind, ardour, fervour of spirit
Their zeal in giving had inspired others to get on board with giving.
Paul said their zeal had provoked “very many.”
V. A Fervent Prayer Life
· James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
· Colossians 4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God.
A person that is ON FIRE will have a prayer life.
They will pray for others. They will pray effectual prayers.
Epaphras was described as “always labouring fervently for you in prayers.”
Show me a person that has a fervent prayer life and I’ll show you someone that is ON FIRE!!!
VI. A Fervent Love
· 1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
· 1 Peter 4:8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
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