Amen biblical proof the man is supposed to make the coffee he brews. All right Man, I try that so many times and it never gets any more than that. I just need to stop, but anyway. All right, Hebrews chapter number 12, Hebrews chapter 12. And the next to the last chapter in this great book, Hebrews chapter number 12. And we're gonna read two verses of scripture here right at the end. Hebrews 12 and verse number 28. Thank you for being faithful in that house of the Lord this morning. And I'll tell you what, it is a joy to be in God's house. It's a joy to be anywhere that has air conditioning, isn't it? and praise God that we have a nice, comfortable place we can come and worship the Lord. Hebrews chapter 12, let's look here at verse number 28. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 28. The Bible says, wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. Heavenly Father, what a joy to be in your house today. Thank you that we can be here and freely assemble and worship you together today. Lord, we're so thankful for a place that we can come and have freedom and liberty to call upon your name, Lord, to preach your word, to sing songs together, to fellowship with one another. And Lord, it does our hearts good to get to be around God's people. Thank you for it. Lord, today we need the help from heaven that only you can give, Lord, to preach the word of God. And I pray, Father, you'll give us ears to hear and hearts to receive what you'd have for us. Lord, I pray that today you'll empty me of myself and cleanse me where I've sinned and failed you, Lord, and please fill me. From head to toe, please fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit. Nothing good will be accomplished through the message today unless you do it. And Lord, I pray, God, that you'll preach through me to the hearts. Most of all, if someone came in today that's not 100% sure that they're saved, oh, I pray you'll help me to make the gospel plain and clear. that you'll show them what's at stake with their soul today, and that today will be the day of their salvation. I pray, Lord, for those of us that have already accepted you as our Savior, that you'll revive our hearts today. As the old song says, revive us again. Oh, how we need it. And, Lord, I pray that your spirit and your presence will be manifest in this place today. Do something big that you'll get all the glory for, and I thank you for it. In Jesus' name, amen. Hebrews 12 verse 29 we just read said, For our God is a consuming fire. Fire is a captivating thing. We were driving down the road the other day and we looked over and just saw a big brush fire. They were logging out a bunch of trees and they just had a huge fire. I'll tell you what, that draws your attention. Fire is a captivating thing because really fire doesn't just change things, fire consumes things. The Bible says here our God is a consuming fire. Whenever I was a teenager we traveled around in evangelism singing and preaching different places across the country and many times we wanted to be in our own bed so we would just drive all night to get home from somewhere and by the time we got home the sun would be coming up the next day and one particular time I don't remember where we were coming home from but we got home and it was already morning time and it was my job to burn the trash. We would have trash that would have to be taken off to the dump. Then we would have a certain other kind of trash that we'd put in a different bag that could be burned. And we had a burn pile back in the backyard. And so I got out and I'd already slept through the night. So my parents were going to go in and get some rest. And so I went out to burn the trash. Well, my mom told me, she said, son, be careful. She said, it's real windy outside today. And so that trash, that fire can get away from you if you're not careful. And of course, as a typical teenage boy, I already knew everything. So I was like, okay, okay, I'll be careful. You know, you don't need to tell me that. And so anyway, I went out there and I got all the trash together, put it in a big pile. And man, I lit that fire and boy, oh boy, it wasn't long. I'm talking about just a few seconds, the wind picked up part of that flame, a flame from that fire piece of trash and pulled it up in the air. And right behind our yard was a big, just kind of a field that was right next to a barn that a guy that farmed the property where we lived, kept his tractors and everything. And he had a big pile of dry hay that was right there in the corner of that field. And lo and behold, I'm telling you what, that fire, that piece of fire that came up out of that trash landed right in that stack of hay. And it went up just like it had gasoline on it. I'm talking about, and immediately I thought, well, I can put it out. But I thought, I got to do something to put it out. And so I looked around, and they had just taken some shingles off of a little shed that was there. And so I reached and grabbed one of those shingles. I thought I'd just beat it out. And as soon as I did, that shingle broke, and that fire just kept on spreading. And so, man, I thought, oh, man, this is not good. And so I went back to the house, and I came in, and my mom was down in the kitchen there. And I said, Mom, I didn't want her to panic or get too excited, but I said, Mom, the fire kind of got out of control. It's back there a little bit in the field. Well, my mom flew into action. And her mom, my mamaw had given her is about a hairspray can size fire extinguisher that was for little kitchen fires that she kept under the sink. And so she reached under there immediately and she grabbed that thing and took off running down there in the backyard. And I can just about still picture my little five foot mom jumping over those flames about that high, spraying them with that little bitty fire extinguisher. It did not work. The fire just kept on spreading. I'm talking about like a wildfire just spreading across that field. Well, I went up and we had a hose there that was attached to the back of the house. And so I went up there and I grabbed the hose. But this was wintertime. I think it was February, January or February or sometime. And so I went and grabbed that hose. Man, I turned the thing on and I pulled the hose out there and I squeezed the nozzle and nothing happened. That hose was froze up. And so then I did what every logical man should do but nobody ever wants to do. I hit 9-1-1 on the phone and I called and here in just a few minutes we heard the sirens and the fire trucks came up and they put out that fire after it had burned that entire piece of that field and it stopped about that far from that barn where that guy had his expensive tractors in there. But I'll tell you what, I learned a lesson that day. Fire is something else. Fire is not something, they say don't play with fire and boy that's true. Fire is a captivating thing. And the Bible here says in our text that our God is a consuming fire. I want to talk to you this morning quickly just about four fires that we need to be aware of in the Word of God. First of all, number one is a fire for sinners. A fire for sinners. Folks, there is a place called hell. It's a real place and it's got real fire. say, oh, hell is just a state of mind. Hell is just absence from God. Hell is just a grave. Many liberals today try to say that hell doesn't really have fire. A very famous evangelist that I believe did a lot of good in his day actually came out toward the end of his life. He said, I don't believe hell has real fire. That man is mistaken. I'm telling you, because the Bible is very clear and very true. The Bible says in Revelation 20 and verse 15, whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Well, they tell us that the two most painful ways to die are drowning and burning to death. And that's what it's a combination of both of those things. The most awful thing somebody could ever imagine. And yet it's always living and yet always dying and forever and forever and forever having to burn in that awful lake of fire. Jesus himself used the words in Matthew 5.22. Jesus himself used the words hell fire. In Matthew 13 and verses 41 and 42, the Bible talks about going to a furnace of fire where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. Oh my, the Bible says in Revelation 14 and verse number 11, and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever. What an awful thing it is to think about. We love heaven, and we sang about heaven earlier, and oh, I tell ya, I'd love to raise my hand and just shout hallelujah when we sing about that. What a day that will be when we all get to heaven. What a day of rejoicing that will be, and it is a wonderful place. Oh, but my friend, heaven is not just real. Hell is also real. It's a real place with real fire where real people go, and God talked about it. Jesus talked about it in Luke chapter 16 when he told the story that's now a famous story about two men. One of them was a beggar, He didn't have anything as far as this world was concerned, but when he died, immediately he went to what was then paradise, what is now heaven. Oh, but then the Bible says the rich man also died. And the moment, the second he died, the Bible says in hell, he lift up his eyes being in torments and he cried out for just one drop of water. Oh, he would have given anything. He would have given all that he had. just for one drop of water out of this bottle right here. As a matter of fact, he just wanted the tip of a finger dipped in water to cool his tongue. He said, I'm tormented in this flame. Can I tell you something folks? That was over 2000 years ago. And Jesus told that that was not a parable. That was a real story. But I'm telling you what today, I'll tell you I'm your best friend today by telling you this hell is a real place and that man That was there burning 2,000 years ago screaming and crying for just one drink of water He's still there today. Just crying out for one drop of water, but he'll never get it He'll never get it. There is a fire for sinners. Oh, I've read and I've heard the stories about people that were so close to death and as their body, as their spirit and soul slipped from this life to the next life, they literally could feel the flames. And one particular man in New York began to scream, I'm in the flames. Pull me out. I'm in the flames. Pull me out. Oh, he had had an opportunity to trust Christ as his savior. And yet he bypassed that opportunity. and did not choose to receive the gift of salvation. He died and went to that awful place called hell. Folks, today I know this is not something you want to hear on a Sunday morning. This is not easy to preach or to listen to. But I'm here to tell you something today. It's the truth. It's the truth. If I didn't believe in a real burning hell, I'd never open this Bible and preach again. But it is real. And it is real. There's a heaven to gain. There's a hell to shun. Heaven is sweet and hell is hot. And God doesn't want you to go to hell. I plead with you today. Don't don't don't go to this awful fire for sinners this awful place called hell yesterday I texted my dad July the 19th yesterday I texted my dad and I said 56 years ago today on a hot July night A young 15-year-old boy was saved by the grace of God. And he would grow up and become one of the greatest men of God that has ever walked on planet earth. And I'm thankful to call him my dad. My dad, I've heard the story, I've heard his testimony over and over and over again. He was a 15-year-old boy. And July the 19th, 1969, he went into this little country church that was pastored by who would eventually become his father-in-law, my papa. And an evangelist named Dewey Cooper from Eastern Kentucky was preaching that night. And my dad came in there. He was already under conviction of his sin. And somebody had talked to him, a former teacher had already talked to him that day about the Lord. And he had not yet trusted Christ as his Savior. And my dad said this. He said, He said, I don't even remember what the preacher said. I don't remember a word he said. But he said, as I sat there in that building, I could visualize the flames of hell coming up in front of my face. That's called old time Holy Ghost conviction. And we need a whole lot more of that. And he said, I can visualize the flames of hell. He said, when he gave that invitation, I shot out of my seat. And I came forward and I knelt at that altar. And he said, I'd heard all of these different experiences that people have. He said, I'd heard about people that said it was like a big giant hand reached down to them or some kind of an electric shock went through their body when they got saved. He said, I was waiting for some kind of vision. I was waiting for some kind of a feeling. And he said, it wouldn't come. He said, I was on that altar. And he said, they used to call it praying through back in those days. But he said, I was on that altar. And he said, I was trying to confess every sin I'd ever committed to God and trying to remember everything I'd ever done. He said, finally, after about two hours, there was two boys on either end of what they called the mourner's bench back then, the altar. And he said, they were fanning the people, holding a fan or fanning the people that were there trying to pray. And he said, after a couple hours, he said, I stood up. And he said, right down there beside that altar, he said, tears flowing down my face. He said, I looked up at the pastor and I said, I've given God everything. And he said, the pastor looked back at me and he said, now let God give you something. And he said, in that moment, I realized salvation is not what I give to God. Salvation is the gift that God wants to give to me. And he said, in that moment, I looked up and I said, right now I receive Jesus Christ as my personal savior. And oh my, the burden of sin was lifted. He had a peace that he'd never known before. Can I tell you something? That could happen to you today. Listen, if you're here today and you've never been saved, you are on your way to this awful place called hell. The Bible says all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's nothing we can do to get to heaven on our own. Just the fact that we were born sinners and we're sinners by choice means that we are headed for that awful place called hell. But God doesn't want you to go there. And that's why he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross. Oh, listen, Jesus hung on an old rugged cross and he paid for every one of your sins. He was buried and three days later he rose again. And I'm telling you what, you can't get baptized to go to heaven. You can't be good enough to go to heaven. You can't put enough money in the offering to go to heaven. You won't go to heaven because you're a good or nice man or woman or teenager or a boy or a girl. The Bible says it's not anything we can do. It's all what Jesus did on the cross for us. And we just got to receive that gift of eternal life. That could be yours today. Oh, listen, that could be you today. You could open your heart to Jesus and trust Him as your personal Savior. The Bible says in Mark 9, verses 43 through 48, oh, Jesus is talking about whatever's necessary to avoid going to this place where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. Oh, whatever it is holding you back, if you're afraid of what somebody else might think, who cares what they think? If you're afraid of this happening or that happening, listen, there's nothing to fear but God. There's nothing to fear. But this awful place of torment, you say, why would God let somebody go there? I tell you what God, a just and holy God has to punish sin. But he punished his son already in your place. On that cross, Jesus suffered your punishment and mine. And all you can do is receive what he did as your personal savior. Oh, I beg you today. Let today be the day that you make your escape from that awful fire for sinners and trust Jesus as your personal Savior. But after we get saved, there's another fire. Number two today, we see in the Word of God a consuming fire. We see a fire for sanctifying. The word sanctifying is just a big word. It means set apart. It means to be holy unto God. It means to be somebody that God is pleased with, that God can use in the way that He wants to use us. In 1 Peter 1, verse 7, the Bible says that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." The trial of your faith. Don't raise your hand, but how many of you have gone through a trial of your faith? How many of you right now are going through a trial of your faith? Oh my, something you never thought would come. And your faith has been tried. Oh, I think about what Job said. I just read through the book of Job in this past few days in Job 23 10. After Job had lost all 10 of his children at one time in death, he had lost his health, he had lost his wealth, he had lost everything. He had suffered financial devastation, physical devastation, family devastation. You name it, Job had gone through it. His friends and his wife had turned against him. But Job said this, when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. You know, we talked just a week or two ago about the goldsmith's process for purifying gold. When they first mined that gold, it had all kinds of impurities on it. And so they'd have to put it in that furnace and heat the furnace up. And it kept getting hotter and hotter and hotter. And as they would look into that furnace, they knew when that gold was totally pure and all the impurities had been burned off because they could see their reflection in it. And I tell you folks, as a pastor, my heart aches. whenever I know of people in this church that are going through the fire. Oh my, there are people who are facing medical issues and physical issues that they live with. There are people that are going through family problems that are ripping their heart out. There are people that have had to bury a loved one and never saw it coming and their hearts are still grieving and aching. There are people going through financial difficulties and have no idea, humanly speaking, how they're gonna make it. Can I tell you something? God can use those fires, those fires. Don't give up on God during the hard time. I'm telling you what, Job said, when he has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. As we're reading about what happened to Job, whenever we look at it, we say, how in the world could he have kept faithful to God and stayed faithful to God? But because he did, we have a Job chapter 42 where we find that God turned his captivity and he got twice as much as he had before. And oh, what an example for us today. Listen if you're going through the fire today. Oh, listen, don't don't give up on God. Don't give up on God I know it's easy to faint the Bible says in Hebrews 12 and verse 2 looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the crawls despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of God for consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds and You know, folks, as a pastor, I can see people and there was a time when they had joy. There was a time when they were so excited about the things of God. But you can see them begin to get weary. As you look at their faces, you can just see they're where they're supposed to be. They're in the house of God. Sometimes their heads are down. Sometimes their faces, smiles turned upside down. And listen, I'm not picking on somebody today. I'm saying my heart aches for people like that because the devil has done his best to try to bring you down and to try to discourage you to try to defeat you. And sometimes the fire is raging and it's not the devil, but sometimes it's just things that we do on our own, but whatever it is, the fire is raging. But you know what? God can use that fire to make you come forth as gold. Don't give up on God. Don't get up on God. Oh, listen, God has a plan. Isaiah chapter 48 and verse 10, God said, behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver. I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. The writer of the Psalms, he said, before I was afflicted, I went astray. But now have I learned thy commandments. He said, it is good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy statutes. You know what? There's nothing like some good old, we don't think they're good, but there's nothing like going through some trials and some hard times to get as close to God. And God can burn off those impurities. Man, in Isaiah chapter 43 and verse number 2. Oh, I love this here. In Isaiah chapter 43 and verse number 2, the Bible, God told a promise to his people. He said, when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. I just wonder if there was three young men named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that remembered this 132 years later. Maybe they had read in Isaiah where he said, when you walk through the fire, you will not be burned and the flame will not kindle upon you. And 132 years later, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood up with a backbone like a steel beam and they looked at that King Nebuchadnezzar who said, if you don't bow down to my image, you're going to go in that fiery furnace. And they said, King, We honor you, but there's a bigger king than you are. And we're not going to bow and we're not going to bend. And by the grace of God, we're not going to burn. Oh, the king got mad and he tied him up and he threw him in that fiery furnace. Oh, but listen, it wasn't very long. He looked in that furnace and there wasn't just three men in there. He said, I see four men in there. And the fourth man looks like the son of God. But they brought those men out and they came out in a different way than they went in. When they went in, they were bound. When they came out, their bindings were off. They were loose. Hey, can I tell you something? God can use that fire to burn off some things that the world's put on you. Oh, listen, there's a fire for sanctifying. Don't give up on God. When the trials are hard and the battle is hot and the race that you run takes more strength than you've got, when it seems your endurance is put to the test and many around you have decided to rest, take one more step and stay in the race. And the Spirit of God will give you the grace. Even though you may stumble, don't fall down and die just around the bend. The finish line is insight. Oh listen, God can use that fire of sanctifying in our lives. And then number three, there's a fire for service. Not only a fire for sinners and a fire for sanctifying, but there's a fire for service. In Psalm number 39, here's how David wrote it. He said, I will take heed to my ways that I sin not with my tongue. I will keep my mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me. These next three words are a description of my school years. I was dumb. But no, he means not being able to speak. I was dumb with silence, he said. I held my peace even from good and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me while I was musing. That's not a word we use a lot today, but it just means to think deeply, to meditate on something. While I was musing, the fire burned. Then spake I with my tongue. He said, I said, I'm not going to say anything. I'm not going to say anything. All of a sudden I began to think about some things and the fire started burning. Folks, I'll tell you what, God wants every one of us to serve Him. And you know what will get us to serve Him? Where it's not a duty and it's not a job and it's not a drudgery. It's not something we have to do. It's something we get to do. And we can't wait to get up every day and spend time with God and worship the Lord. I'll tell you what, when we begin to muse and think about what God has done. You begin to think about how we were on our way to hell, to that fire for sinners, and he reached down and plucked us off that road to hell and put us on the road to heaven. Hey, you begin to think about how God has given us peace and joy and love that the world knows nothing about. God has given us a church family. God has given us a free country to live in. God has given us clothes on our back and shoes on our feet. I'm talking about food in our belly and a roof over our heads. Listen, we begin to think about how good God is and how we don't deserve to do anything but to go to hell with our back broke, and yet Jesus loved us and died But for us, we begin to think about some things. There's a fire that's gonna start burning down in there. There's a fire that's gonna start burning. And that's how it should be. The two disciples after Jesus rose from the dead, they're walking down the Emmaus road. Man, they're so depressed. As they're walking down through there, they're thinking, man, Jesus was our hero. He was our savior, we thought, and now he's died and they buried him. As they're walking along, all of a sudden, a third person joins up with them. They don't know it's Jesus. He looks over at them and he says, hey, he said, how come your faces are so sad? They said, man, what are you talking about? Are you a stranger around here? You don't know what's just happened? There was a man named Jesus. We put our entire hopes on him. And he let those Romans crucify him. And they buried him. And all this third man, he looked at them and he said, hey, you fools and slow of heart. He said, don't you think what the prophet said is going to have to come true? And boy, wouldn't you have loved to been at that Bible study. It said, beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he began to expound unto them in the scriptures the things concerning himself. Wouldn't you like to have heard Jesus preach Jesus? That would have been something else all I know is this while they began to go down through there and Jesus was preaching to him He began to tell him all about the types of Jesus in the Old Testament And all of a sudden when they got where they were going poof he was gone He vanished and they looked at one another and they said did not our heart burn within us. I While he talked with us, by the way, and while he opened us to scriptures, folks, can I tell you something? We need a heartburn today. And I'm not talking about what you have to take Tums for. I'm not talking about what you have to take Rolaids for. I'm not talking about you ate too much Taco Bell at 1230 the night before. I'm talking about a holy spiritual heartburn down in here where you realize how good God is and what God has done for us and how can we do anything but serve him. with our lives. I'm talking about a fire for service. Oh, John Wesley, one of the great leaders of the Great Awakening here in America back in the 1700s, which really, I believe, led to us having our independence and our freedom and liberty here in America. John Wesley would show up to a place to preach. Man, the bars would close down. People would get saved right and left. And somebody asked him one time, they asked this guy that owned a store, they tried to buy some alcohol. Guy said, you're not going to find any here. And the guy had already tried to buy alcohol several other places. He said, what in the world's wrong with this blankety blank place? And the owner of the store said there was a man sent from God whose name was John. He was talking about John Wesley. Somebody asked John Wesley, they said, how do you get so many people to show up and hear you preach? Here's what he said. I set myself on fire and people come to watch me burn. Folks, you know what? The ball stadiums are full. The music venues are full. Many churches are almost empty. Why is that? Because God's people have lost their fire. God's people have lost their fire. You say, I don't want to hear that. Well, it's just the truth whether we want to hear it or not. It's true. When Isaac was walking up the mountain, when Abraham was walking up the mountain with Isaac, you know that story? They're walking up the mountain. Isaac looks over at Abraham. He says, Father, here's the fire and here's the wood, but where is the lamb? Abraham answered him back, my son God will provide himself a lamb and that's exactly what he did. He provided a lamb but also God will provide himself a lamb. God himself came as a lamb, Jesus Christ. Here we are in 2025 and that question could be asked a little bit different. We have the wood. Oh Christianity in 2025 has the nicest buildings probably of any time in Christian history. We have the wood, and we have the lamb. Praise God, we have the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. But the question today is, where's the fire? Where's the fire? So many churches are cold. I'm talking about dead as last year's Christmas tree. So many churches are so dead. I heard about one church, a guy died in the service, and they brought the EMTs, and they carried out three men before they found the right one. Hey, that's pretty dead right there, brother. So many churches are so cold, there's icicles hanging off the sides there. I'm telling you what folks, God is looking for some Christianity with some fire, with some fire. That's what Jeremiah said. He got discouraged just like many of us do sometimes. I'm not trying to run you down today. I know exactly what you're talking about, facing discouragement and depression. But I'm here to tell you something. Jeremiah said, I'm not even going to preach about Jesus anymore. I'm not going to make mention of his name anymore. But he said there was a burning fire shut up in my bones. And he said, I had to go on preaching. Oh, my God, give us some fire today. Folks, I'll just be totally honest with you. You know why people don't read their Bible and pray every day? They lost their fire. You know why Christians don't hand out gospel tracts and witness to people? They lost their fire. You know why people want to try to give less to God, spend less time with God, and do less for God? They lost their fire. You know how people come in at 11 o'clock sharp and leave at 12 o'clock dull? And they sit there, and as soon as the service is over, man, if you stand out there, it's like a stampede on rawhide. I mean, they'll run straight over you trying to get out of there. And they don't ever leave their seat to come and do business with God in an old-fashioned altar. I'll tell you why that is, my friend, today. I say it with a broken heart. So many people have lost their fire. This morning, I stood in the kitchen and looked out the kitchen window at our backyard. And just a couple of days ago, I took the chainsaw and I cut down a whole bunch of limbs and I drug them back there and made about a 10-foot tall pile of limbs. I mean, huge. And I stood there looking through that window today and as I looked around at the trees, all the trees around there were just as green as they could be. Man, between all the rain we've been having and the heat and the sun and all that, I mean, these trees, if anything, you have to keep trimming them back because, man, they're flourishing and growing like crazy. But I looked on the other side of those green trees at that burn pile and already in just a couple of days, it's half brown, just getting crisp and dead. And as I looked at that pile, I prayed and I said, Lord, so many of your people have become like that pile. They're not flourishing anymore. There was a time when they were excited on fire, but they're not flourishing anymore and beginning to just dry on the vine. What's going on? I prayed and I said, Lord, so many of your people are like that now. And I'll tell you why that is. Those trees that are flourishing in green, what we see is the green flourishing part. What we don't see is way down deep below the surface. Those roots are getting down in there and getting what they need. And the reason on that burn pile that those limbs are getting dry and crispy and brown is because they've stopped getting what they need way down low in those roots. Folks, as Christians, we're the exact same way. I'm not preaching down to you. I'm talking about me too. All it takes is one or two days. Didn't take long for those limbs to start drying up once that source of the nutrients that was going down, coming up from those roots was cut off. And folks, all it takes is just a couple of days where we let this workbook go by and we get too busy to read it. And we let a couple of days go by and we get too busy to pray. And we get to where we don't care about lost souls anymore. I'm here to tell you something today, folks. I preach this with a broken heart. Hey, listen, it won't take very long before that nutrient supply, it feels like it's cut off and we begin to dry up. Oh, I tell you what needs to happen today. We need to get back in this book. Jeremiah said this book was my fire. This book is what lit the fire in my soul. Oh, this book and prayer and staying on the firing line for God. Oh, we need that fire for service. God's looking for some people that are on fire. Oh, listen, God, the devil's not a bit worried about some Christian that if you pin them down said, Hey, are you a Christian? Be honest about it. Well, yeah, I gotta say that I am devil's not worried about somebody like that, but somebody that's on fire for God They can't praise God enough for how good he's been to him somebody's on fire for God They can't tell enough people about Jesus. I'll tell you what the devil's gonna aim his fiery darts at him But aren't you glad greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world? God, give us that fire for service. And lastly, number four, we've seen there's a fire for sinners. If you're not saved today, I beg you to trust Christ and be delivered from that fire. There's a fire today for sanctifying, the fiery trials that can burn off those impurities and draw us closer to the Lord. There's a fire for service that God wants to put down deep in our hearts today and set us on fire for God again. But then number four, we mentioned this briefly last week, but there's a fire at the seat, the judgment seat of Christ. And I'm done with this. First Corinthians chapter three, verse number 11. The Bible says here in 1 Corinthians 3.11, For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire. And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. One day we're going to stand before God. And honestly, what happens now in this life is what's going to be judged there, not for our salvation. If you've been saved, that's already been judged on Jesus on the cross. But every one of us are going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ, all of us that are saved. Everything we've ever done and probably really why we did it's going to be put in that fire. And we'd already talked about that last Sunday, but if we have not lived for the Lord with our life, we've lived for ourselves. It's just going to be burned up in just a bunch of ashes. We'll get to stay in heaven because we're a child of God, but we won't get rewards. But those that have lived faithfully for the Lord, used what God has given them to bring glory to God, they're going to come out gold, silver, and precious stones. We can have something to give back to our Savior, crowns to cast at His feet. But you know what? It's going to be tried by fire. Think about that old song. By and by when I look on His face, Beautiful face, thorn-riven face, By and by when I look on his face, I wish I had given him more. By and by when he holds out his hands, Beautiful hands, thorn-riven hands, by and by when I look, or nail-pierced hands, by and by when I look on his hands. I wish I had given him more. Boy, that's so true. When we lock eyes with the Savior one day, it's not gonna matter a hill of beans how much money we had in the bank or what kind of car we drove or how big our house was. What's gonna matter is what did we do for Jesus. Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. Our God is a consuming fire. I ask you today, if you've never done it, will you trust Christ to save you from the fires of hell today? I beg you, don't let the devil or anybody or anything else keep you from it. If you've been saved today, would you trust God during the fiery trials to purify you? and to make you come forth as gold, and the fire of sanctifying. Would you pray today, God set me on fire for serving you again. We preach to the young people, and I hope you'll come back to encourage them tonight, because that's what it's all about, is getting young people on fire for God. Some of them are. Man, some of these young people out there, they're fired up. They are fired up, and I thank God for it. But folks, it's not just teenagers ought to be on fire for God. It don't matter if you've been saved for a year or two or 10 or 50. God help us every day of our life to be on fire for God. Let's pray that God will do that today so that we can rejoice at the fire of the judgment seat of Christ. Our God is a consuming fire. Would you please bow your head and close your eyes with me this morning? Thank you. You've been a very, very attentive audience. Thank you for listening today. How many can slip up your hand and say, Preacher, God spoke to my heart today? I know for sure I'm saved, but I'm going through that fire of sanctifying right now, and I want God to make me come forth as gold to learn some things that God wants me to learn so I can be a better Christian for Him. want that fire of service burning in my heart. I want to be on fire for God. There was a time when I used to be more on fire for God. I delighted more in my Bible and prayer than I do now. There was a time I cared more about telling people about Christ. I look forward to going to the house of God a lot more than I do now. I'll just be honest about it. I've kind of lost some of that fire. God spoke to my heart today. Jesus saved me from the fires of hell, but I want to be on fire for him. Would you slip up your hand today? God spoke to my heart. Would you just be honest about my hands up? Boy, I want to be on fire for God. Amen. Thank you. You can put your hands down. I wanna ask one more question today. Our heads are bowed, our eyes are closed, and whether you're a man, a woman, a teenager, a boy or a girl in here this morning, I wonder if there's somebody that would just be honest and say, I don't know 100% sure that I'm saved. I just don't, I honestly don't know about it. I don't wanna go to hell. I don't wanna go to those fires of hell for all of eternity, and I've heard this story. I know Jesus died on the cross for me, but I don't know that there's ever been a time when I just opened my heart to him and received him as my personal savior. Preacher, please pray for me today. I wanna know for sure I'm saved. I don't know that for sure. Would you slip up your hand today? Is anyone like that today? Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Anyone else like that today? I don't know for sure I'm saved, but I sure do wanna know that. Anybody else at all? Heavenly Father, I pray with all my heart, God, that you'll do a work in this invitation. I pray, dear Lord, that those of us that have been saved, Lord, that we will not faint at these fiery trials, but that we'll allow them to purify us and draw us closer to you. God, I pray, oh Lord, that you'll set us on fire for you. Please deliver us from complacency and deadness. God, I beg you to please help us to get on fire for you and to come on this altar today and get on it and say, Lord, please, please light me on fire again. As the old song says, set my soul on fire, Lord. And Lord, I pray for this one that thankfully told the truth and doesn't know for sure they're saved. Lord, please don't let them leave this place today unsure of that. Please let today be the day where they open their heart to you and trust you as their personal savior. With our heads bowed and eyes closed, we're gonna stand in just a moment. The music's gonna begin to play. If you raised your hand as a Christian, could I encourage you just to come and find a place on this altar? Whatever it is God's spoken to your heart about, would you just pour out your heart to the Lord today? If you raised your hand, you don't know for sure you're saved, or maybe you didn't raise your hand, but you don't know for sure. The Bible says, now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Please don't gamble with hell. Don't gamble with this awful fire. Don't gamble with eternity. Would you step out and come today? We have somebody ready to talk to you. We'll have people up front here that would love to talk to you if you need somebody to talk with you about getting saved today. Let's stand together.