Baptism of Fire

27 July 2014
Mark 16:15-20 NKJ
15 And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is
baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who
believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if
they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. 19 So
then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20
And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the
accompanying signs. Amen.
I see Jesus as having a sense of urgency, emergency! Go, Go, Go! This is why we exist. Not to have services, barbecues,
men's and women's meetings. We do these things, but they must revolve around the right purpose. To stir each other
up to fulfill our great mission. Go, tell everyone the gospel!
The Chinese church was asked to join state church but stop preaching the gospel outside the church. Do whatever you
want inside the church and have your fellowship dinners. In our nation they're telling us do whatever you do inside the 4
walls of your church, build your buildings, have your own personal faith. Just don't spread it. Just be nice religious
people. Don't make waves. Don't intrude on others or society. I'm tired of being nice, tamed, trained to be a
domesticated caged dog.
Peter and John were threatened to no longer preach in that Name outside their house. When let go, they prayed,
Acts 4:29 NKJ
29 Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word,
The bible is good News not just good History. It's good news because when the bible is preached the bible happens. (Boy
said news is what I see on TV. What's happening now).
The gospel is news. It must be told. The gospel is only good news when it is preached. (It's like a bottle of medicine. Until
the cap is taken off and the medicine given to the patient they will die even though the medicine sets beside them on
the table.
People who only pray or only preach only walk on one leg. God has given us two legs. Preach and pray.
The working of the Word of God and the work of the Holy Spirit work in harmony together. One won't work without the
other.
Genesis 1:1-3 NKJ
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was
on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, Let there be
light; and there was light.
The Holy Spirit was hovering for perhaps a million or billion years, we don't know. But the Holy Spirit alone did
absolutely nothing with the darkness. Nothing happened. He was waiting for the Word. The Holy Spirit cannot operate
without the spoken Word. This is the principle God set up. All of America can pray 365 days a year 24 hrs a day and
nothing will happen until somebody in the prayer meeting walks out and tells someone on the street the good news.
Nothing happens until we preach the Word and I mean God's Word. God is not obliged to act in response to pop
psychology. He confirms His Word with signs following. We must preach the original gospel that the Apostles preached.
If we preach what the Apostles preached we will get what the Apostles got. TL Osborn told me you can preach a whole
series on marriage, prayer, etc. and not even get close to the gospel.

We must preach God's original dream, but we've all gone astray and are lost, but Jesus Christ died in our place, was
raised from the dead and by believing on Him we are gloriously saved. Nothing can replace this message. Jesus saves.
I have been viewed by some as old fashioned. They say the message has changed, but if we preach something else the
message has no power to save, heal and restore. The message has to include depravity, lostness of man, blood of Jesus,
surrender to His will and repentance. It's through the foolishness of preaching the gospel that God does His work. He
doesn't confirm your word but His Word. We have to give up seeming cool and hip, socially acceptable and appearing
intelligent. If we care about people we will stick to His gospel because without it people die in their sins.
Jesus new if the disciples went out as they were they would be completely useless.
So He said, "Wait in Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high". Just as the Holy Spirit cannot work
without the Word, so the Word will be powerless without the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:1-4 NKJ
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a
sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there
appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy
Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
* The church did not begin until there was a baptism of the Holy Spirit and Fire. This changes them. Hiding one day and
telling the good news everywhere with great boldness the next. I think we should compare the modern church service
with Acts 2. There was noise, fire, tongues, filled with power, drunk, supernatural gifts. We today have been used to
church services that are benign, no power, dry. Not fiery.
The first time we see "Baptism in the Holy Spirit" is in Matthew 3:11.
Matthew 3:11 NKJ
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.
John is standing in the cold, wet Jordan. This is all some Christians get. That's why they're viewed as cold and all wet.
John the Baptist introduces another baptist. Jesus the baptist. He said He will baptize you in the Holy Ghost and Fire.
John was standing in a river of water, but Jesus was standing in a river of liquid fire.
This is what happened on the day of Pentecost. Fire burns, is a flow of energy and power, consumes what it touches, is
contagious.
The burning bush burned but was not burned up. Why? Because the fuel didn't come from the bush but from the Holy
Spirit. God was sending a message to Moses that He wasn't going to use Moses' talents and ability, but God's fire was
going to do it through Him. It wasn't His power, but The Holy Ghost power in Him.
People say Rick how have you kept the fire burning after all these years? Wrong question. I don't keep the fire burning.
The fire keeps me burning. I just stay full of the Holy Ghost and He comes with fire.
Today Baptism, baptize is a religious word. 2,000 years ago it was a common word. It was used in dying fabrics. When
the Dyer lowered the cloth into the dye that process was called baptizo. When the cloth was baptized into the dye the
dye came into the cloth. And when the dyer pulled the cloth out it became evident that the cloth had accepted the
nature of the dye. It looked like the dye. It smelled like the dye. It was just like the dye. Now let me leave the dyer alone
and come to that Jesus in that river of liquid fire. He shall baptize you into the Holy Spirit and Fire. I'll tell how this
happens. He is going to dip you into that fire. You in the fire and the fire in you. Some say when I got baptized in the Holy
Spirit God anointed my lips or my right hand to pray. Do you think Jesus standing in the river of fire is just going to dip
one toe, lips, hand, ear in the fire? No! You will get thoroughly soaked from head to toe. Your personality, attitudes,
flesh, spirit, mind, thoughts, emotions, reasoning will be soaked. And when you come out you look like fire, you smell

like fire, you talk, think, walk like fire, you pray and preach like fire. Youre on fire. You don't just have the fire the fire
has you. Youre in the fire and the fire is in you. You have taken on the nature of the fire. It has dyed you the color of the
Holy Ghost. When you are truly baptized in the Holy Ghost and fire it changes you. Youre not normal anymore. Your
faith comes alive, you have joy in the midst of adversity, you pray with Holy Ghost assistance.
Acts 10:38- Raleigh Salve
Psalms 104:4 NKJ
4 Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.
Have you noticed I am a hot preacher? I know I am a flame of fire. I'm not afraid of the devil. The devil is afraid of me!
How about you? We are not the hunted, we are the hunters. "In My Name they shall cast out devils".
Today Jesus is here to baptize you into that river of liquid fire! And you will never be the same again. I guarantee it!
Some Christians remind me of people playing video games (Call of Duty). They feel like theyre really fighting a war but
it's just a simulator. They feel the rush of killing and taking ground but they are really at home in their easy chair. Some
Christians feel they are fighting the devil and winning the battle by going to meetings, hearing messages, keeping up
with what's going on in the church, but they're really fighting a virtual battle. The cross was no virtual cross, blood, it's
real. No virtual devil and demons. We haven't cast out demons until we've cast them out, healed the sick until we lay
hands on them, won the lost until we tell them.
Jesus is here! You don't have to argue with people to prove Jesus is alive. He's real. People who are alive just show up. I
don't have to convince you I am alive. I'm here. I know Jesus is alive because He shows up.
There were 500 that saw Jesus leave, but 120 in upper room. Where were the 380? In the Temple where there was a
more predictable, quieter service. Not everyone wants to be with the crowd that was drunk at the ninth hour, speaking
in tongues. But the Holy Ghost didn't fall in the Temple, but in the upper room.
Are you ready to be dipped into that river of fire? Well, it's simple. Jesus said, "Ask and you shall receive".
John 14:16 NKJ
16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever
He doesn't give you the Holy Spirit because you deserve it or pray hard enough for it, but because Jesus prayed for the
Father to give Him to you and you just receive it.
Why does God use some Christians and not others? If you have two stoves, the one hot and the other cold, and you
want to make a cup of coffee. Which one would you use? The hot one. Don't pray God use me. Pray God set me on fire
with the Holy Ghost and He will automatically use you.