Daily Devotions
April 26th, 2012 by Pastor SolleyMatt 3:1-11
3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, 2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 3 For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 4 And the same John had his raiment of camel’s hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. 5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, 6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: 9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. 10 And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:
Have you ever taken note of how many things in our world today are fireproof? Flame retardant clothing for little ones, fireproof boxes to keep papers in, sprinklers in buildings, so many things that are made to stop a fire. I want to make a spiritual application this morning. The Bible says that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. (Verse 11) Have you ever wondered what happened to the fire today? The fire has gone out of the church and none can deny that. But what happened? Did Jesus change, did the Holy Ghost change, did the Bible change? We know the answer to those things is no, so what happened? Too many things that are fireproof today. Too much of the world getting into the church and the Christian. The believer in Christ has made him or herself fireproof. Too much TV, too much of the world’s music, too many things that pull one away from the Lord and settle them in the world, the believer has made him or herself fireproof. Preachers may or may not preach about Holy Ghost revival with fire but one thing is certain, they do not live it. Because they do not live it the people have no desire for it. Do you remember the days that the church was the center of everything? Or have you ever even heard of those days? I am not that old, soon to be 54, and I remember the tail end of those days. Most businesses were closed on Sundays, it was the Lord’s day, activities were not planned for Wednesday evenings, it was prayer meeting night, revival services were attended, people served and worked in the church, I went on visitation before and during my teen years. There was a fire about the church. Why is that missing today? Too many fireproof things in the believers life.