The God of Fire

Ask the Holy Spirit to give you illumination as you read the scriptures. Don't just pass over it. If there's ever a portion of scripture that you don't understand, stop and ask. Remember, you are filled with fire. You are, see, see, this is why the Old Testament saints are jealous, because they would have to go to the king. They would have to go to the priest and go to the high priest. And all you have to do is go, hey, what's the, God living on the inside of you can give you insight. Did you know that you have the cure for cancer on the inside of you? Welcome to the City Light Church podcast. Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us. If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds. As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you. Again, for all our guests, my name is Mohammed. I'm one of the pastors here at City Light Church. Welcome. We are a rambunctious bunch. We are here at City Lights. I thought about something the other day. And tell me, I feel like I'm not the only one who's ever had this thought. You ever think about the fact that we're going to get to heaven and be able to interact with the characters from the Old Testament? Like, they're not just characters in a story. Like, these are actual people that live. Like, we have archaeological evidence and things like that. Like, these people existed. They're not just stories. And... The culmination of our faith is going to be that we are going to be with Jesus forever. But there's also this thing of these same people that we've read about that have been immortalized in the scriptures are people and we're going to actually live with them. So have you ever had the thought like, what is some of those conversations look like? You got to understand some of them are going to be like rock stars in heaven. Like you get like a David, like, oh, my God, David. You're so like you slew giant. Like you stood in the midst of, you know, all these people and men and everybody was wussing out. And you were just like, what, son? I got it. What was that like? Like, like, did the Lord, like, give you like a sharpshooter scope? Like, what was it? Did you just fling it by hand? Did you fling it by the sling? How was it? Wait, hold that thought, David. I see Eli. Elijah, come here, come here, come here, come here, come here. Yo, I've been waiting to talk to you, bro. What was it like when you called down a pillar of fire from heaven and it consumed all of the sacrifice? Like, what was that light? Like, did it feel tingly? Now, here's the part that the Lord did something beautiful and he reminded me of. We're gonna be asking Old Testament saints what those stories were like, and they're going to be more excited to meet us than we are to meet them. Don't be surprised when you're walking down the block, streets of gold, like, man, this place is nice. Somebody just run up on you. Oh my God, it's Tiffany, Tiffany, Tiffany. Oh my, wow, this outfit is really cute. Okay, so what was it like? You were filled with God Almighty. The spirit of the living God literally rested on the inside of you. What was it like? And the sad part is, some Christians are gonna not know what to say. Well, he definitely did fill me, that is true. I know, I know. What did it cause you to do? Well, I definitely wore a Christian T-shirt so that I could bring attention to the name of Jesus. And in my mind's eye, I see the disappointment beginning to fall on the face of the Old Testament saints like, what year are you from? All right, maybe I need to go check out the 1900s. You want a New Testament, Old Testament? New Testament. What was it like to be indwelt with God Almighty? To be filled with the creator of all things? Well, I got great church attendance. Like I would go and then I would go home and then I would go and I would come home. Did you know that what we experience on a daily basis, the scriptures speak about the Old Testament saints longing for? Jesus himself says this, Luke 10, 23. Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, blessed are the eyes which see the things you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desire to see what you see and have not seen it and to hear what you hear and have not heard it. Peter emphasizes this first Peter one verse 10. Of this salvation, the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when he testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that not to themselves, but to us, they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you, Through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Things which angels desire to look into. Angels as powerful as they are. Principalities and powers. Rulers in the air. None of them know the feeling of being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. They look at you and they marvel. I wish I could have that. And the reason I bring it up is because I don't know that we've put enough gravity and understanding and weight to the fact that the God of heaven lives on the inside of us. And what that means for us. So today, I want to talk about the God of fire. Does that sound good to y'all? All right. Not to make it too somber, praise God. The God of fire. We have to be much more cognizant of who it is that we carry and what that means for us. Because in that vein, you know, we have at City Light always multiple audiences at one time. You got your OGs who've been saved two decades and more. You got your medium saints. five to ten, but then you got babies in the Lord who just have gotten saved. And some people who are rededicating their life after a time away from God. So there's always multiple audiences. And sometimes as you get a new crop of people who are just beginning to know the Lord, they need to be instructed in how to carry the fire. Because you might not be aware of it, but there is fire on the inside of you. But if you don't know what that means, then you would squander it. So today I have an undertaking from the Lord to talk about the God of fire. Have you ever noticed that in the scriptures that God is constantly aligning himself and comparing himself and symbolizing himself as fire? Like to the point that sometimes I'm like a little worried like Jesus, you okay? I don't want you to. You're not an arsonist, are you? And he's like, yeah, I very much am. I like things on fire all the time. Praise God. How many arsonists we got in the building today? Sound bites are going to be crazy today. Light yourself on fire. All right, stop. All right. We're going into a new place in the supernatural realm. Pastor Bo has been prepping. preening and getting us ready. First, it started with you understanding what you have the ability to do by speaking in tongues. And that opens the door so that you might take more steps into the supernatural. How many of you know it's not just about speaking in tongues? It's about you stepping into a level of ministry where heaven comes down to earth because you showed up. That is the reality of how much I want you walking in the supernatural. And I'm not talking about just being weird. Because there's been such a misappropriation by weird people on what the things of the spirit are meant to look like. The same way you were taught that speaking in tongues doesn't have to be weird. Speaking in tongues can be very beautiful. Because you're praying the perfect will of God over your life. There's no reason to have a loud decibel about it. No reason to run around crazy. No reason to grab snakes. I don't know why some people do it. Some people do it. That doesn't have to be you. Amen? But because you have the fire of God, because you get to walk in the supernatural, I need you to be more keenly aware of what that looks like. Did you know, you, Christian, you, You get to lay hands on the sick and watch them recover. Did you know that you've been a certified exorcist? Raise your hand today if you believe that you have the Holy Spirit inside of you. You've been washed in the blood. You're a Christian. Yeah, the Bible calls you an exorcist. The Bible says that you will cast out demons in his name. Huh? Moi? Twa? But we have to ask ourselves a question. Why does God keep showing up as fire in the scriptures? I believe many of you already know the answer. And I believe I said it already. But God is fire. There's two points that are going to run this whole thing. And I need you to keep both of them in your mind. God is fire. And you're called to walk a supernatural life. These two things need to be balanced. You have an invitation right now from God to leave a normal, secular, boring, dumb life for a supernatural one where you get to show the fruit of heaven. I got one person excited. Now, again, he says in the scriptures, he is the God of fire, right? And it's not occasional. Like, this is his thing. It's not random. In fact, it's God's signature move throughout the entire Bible from beginning to end. When the living God draws near, fire is there. Exodus 3, verse 2. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of the bush. So he looked and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. So Moses is just out in the wilderness, minding his own business. And the angel of the Lord appears to him as what? A flame in the midst of the bush. And he speaks to him. He has a dramatic encounter and his life is never the same again. We go further back. Let's go to Genesis 15 verse 17. And it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. Now, I have to stop at this because number one, I'm a Bible nerd. And number two, I care about you. And here's what I mean. This is one of the most beautiful illustrations of the gospel foreshadowed in the Old Testament. And I would be remiss if we didn't just camp a little bit so that we could explore that. Because if there's ever a chance for you to share the gospel with somebody, you have to take it. Some people tell me sometimes, oh, well, you know, I was having a conversation with so-and-so, and it's a person that we both know that doesn't know the Lord. And then I ask them, hey, did you offer the gospel? And then sometimes sadly the person would tell me, ah, no, it didn't feel like the right moment. It's never the right moment. I can tell you right now, it's never the right moment. But that doesn't mean that we still shouldn't share. So many of us are so concerned with what it looks like to other people that we're sharing the gospel. As if it depends on us whether they get saved or not. Get it out of your mind, whether it depends on you. I'm telling you now, I'm giving you understanding and permission. It does not depend on you. Their salvation does not depend on you. But I will say this. Them hearing the message does depend on you. If God has opened the door to give you influence, to give you a circle of influence where you can speak into somebody's life, God forbid that you wouldn't share the gospel with them. Amen? So now I get to preach, but you can't get past the gospel. It's right there. Don't you see it? You might say, well, what do you mean? I've read that before, Genesis 15. I've never seen the gospel in that. Well, here's what it was. Abram, and this is before he's Abraham. God comes to him and says, you right there? Yeah, I'm going to bless you. I'm going to bless you with so many kids, it's going to make a nation. I'm going to bless you with so many kids that even the stars in the sky won't add up to the number of kids I'm going to give you. And Abram's response was, bruh. I'm old. My wife is old. She's fine, but she's old. How? You remember the old Kanye? Everybody remembers the old Kanye. We like the old Kanye. He sat down for an interview with Sway and the great meme was born out of that. How, Sway? How? And I imagine that was Abram. You gonna bless me, mad kids? How, God, how? And God tells him, go get me a goat. Go get me a lamb and go get me a turtle dove. Now, it's funny, though, because immediately Abram is excited and he knows exactly what to do. We don't know what to do because we look at it from a very industrial side of living. They were a Gregorian style. They were farmers and caretakers of the land and animals. He knew exactly what to do. He knew that when God said, go get these animals, he was going to write a covenant with him. That means an unbreakable promise between the two individuals. So he runs. You said, get what? Pew! Get the thing, get the thing, get the thing. And he lays the animals down. And he cuts them in half. And again, you're reading this. You probably read that before and thought, well, that's strange. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you illumination as you read the scriptures. Don't just pass over it. If there's ever a portion of scripture that you don't understand, stop. And ask. Remember, you are filled with fire. See, this is why the Old Testament saints are jealous. Because they would have to go to the king. And they would have to go to the priest. And go to the high priest. And all you have to do is go, hey, what's that? God living on the inside of you can give you inside. Did you know that you have the cure for cancer on the inside of you? You got the cure for HIV on the inside of you. Oh, you didn't know. Did you know that you could lay your hands and any sick disease in a person's body would have to leave because of the presence of God that you release into them? I've seen it personally. This is something that is afforded to you as a believer because you carry the presence and the fire of God. So again, he knows what to do. He takes the pieces and he cuts it in half. And really, let me explain to you how they cut a covenant back then. They took an animal and they sliced it in half. And then they walked in between this waterfall of blood. And they did it holding hands. And the promise was this. If I don't hold up my end of the bargain, may I be cut in half as these animals. That is intense. And you might say, well, Pastor Mo, how is that the gospel? That's the gospel because the gospel is this, the good news that we are not saved by our performance. We are saved by Jesus's sacrifice. You might say, well, I still don't see that. Well, what you see is that when these pieces were cut, it wasn't God and Abram who walked through the pieces. It was God, the father and God, the son. They made an agreement because they said they knew they was like, Abram, if you make this covenant, you're going to fail. Probably within the first five minutes. Because Abram is like me and I'm like you. Because don't think for a minute that you wouldn't have failed to. When we are given the opportunity to fail, we do. Because we are imperfect. So he says, Abram, go to sleep. It's like a magic trick. Abram falls to sleep. That means that he had no part in keeping the covenant alive. in the same way that you have no part in keeping your salvation afloat. I don't care how much you pray. I don't care how many times you attend church. I don't care how many life groups you go to. You cannot save yourself. You have to lean on God, amen? So then look what happens. The sun went down and it was dark that behold, there appeared a smoking oven, that's a pillar of cloud if you didn't know, and a burning torch, fire! That passed between the two pieces. God the Father took the hand of God the Son and says, we are going to make an unbreakable covenant that Abram is going to be blessed. Neither one of those perfect individuals was going to drop the ball like Abram was. In the same way an unbreakable covenant has been made between you and God, that you didn't do anything to maintain God. God makes this covenant between himself and with Jesus so that you might receive the benefit. Can we praise God a little bit? But again, as the Bible nerd in me, I couldn't just let that go. Like, I needed you to be able to see that. Like, the gospel is there for you. Amen? I mean, for me, that's how I know I'm a Bible nerd. I'd be mad excited and everybody would be like, hmm, informative. Informative. So we fast forward. Let's go to Mount Sinai. The people of Israel, they just got delivered out of Egypt. Moses is now going to talk to God on their behalf. He has the people sanctified, gets them ready, fasting and prayer. And look what happens. Exodus 19, 18. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in... Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quaked greatly. Deuteronomy 424 does it very plainly. It says, for the Lord, your God is a consuming. And for context, let's not forget a jealous God. Well, Pastor Mo, why would you pick that verse? Well, here's the thing. I need you to see both. He is a consuming fire, but he is also a jealous God. Well, what does that mean? That means that he values your attention. And when you start giving your attention to things that, well, let me just say other things, because there are so many different things that we give our attention to. And here's the thing, not all of it is bad, but it's in relativity. It's in relation to, how about this? I'm a Knicks fan, right? Y'all all know it. The Knicks one, I was super obnoxious. I'm not going to lie. I own that. The last time they won, I wasn't even alive. How about that? I've been waiting my entire life for this. My son is five. I said, son, we're going to the parade. I woke that boy up at three in the morning. He was like, I don't think I want to go anymore. I said, you coming? He's dragging him across the city like this. Let's go. Because I said, I waited my whole life for this. I'm going to make sure you get to have this experience. Even if you can't appreciate it, you'll be able to say you were there. Nixon 5. Guess what? I can't give more attention to Nixon 5 than I do Jesus in 3. I don't care what your affection is. If it supersedes the affection that you give to God, there's an issue with that particular thing. So, oh, you might be balling. The Lord opened the door for a second job. You got, if now you can't make it to the house of the Lord to worship with the saints. Now they invite you to life group. I'm sorry, I'm too busy. I got work. Oh, you got a new girlfriend. You got a new boyfriend. You got a new fiance. You got a new husband. Yeah, I was going to come fellowship with the saints, but you know. No, I don't. The Bible says, do not forsake the gathering together of the saints as some are in the habit of doing. You are in the habit right now that you need to break. Yeah, I'm that type of friend. My friends love me, but they don't like me. Later we find when Solomon dedicates the temple, fire comes down from heaven and consumes the burnt offering. And the glory of the Lord fills the house so thick that the priest cannot even stand to minister. Again, I need you to balance the two things. God is firebending. God is calling you to a supernatural life. Sometimes you're in the house of the Lord and you go, man, that person received prayer and they fell over. What happened? Well, they couldn't stand. I'm sorry, it's not more deeper than that, but they could not stand because the presence and the power of God in that moment was too much for them to stand. We even find that scripturally. Amen. Let me read this for you. First Kings 8, 10 to 11. And it came to pass when the priest came out of the holy place that the cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priest could not continue ministering because of the cloud for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. Now, some of you might say, well, that's a lot of Old Testament, praise God. No, it's not just Old Testament. It's New Testament. Because when we jump to the New Testament, in Revelation, the risen Jesus appears to John, his old fishing buddy. And John sees him and literally falls as dead. Because what does he see? He looks in Jesus' eyes and he sees fire. Let me not be dramatic. Let me just read you the experience. This is Revelation 1, 12 to 17. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. I don't exactly understand the fashion choice, but it's symbolic of wealth and privilege. And praise God, I'll get me one too. Verse 14. His head and hair were like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes... Like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass. As if refined in a furnace. And his voice is the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars. Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. And his countenance was like the sun shining in strength. How many people know what the sun is? It's a big ball of gas and fire. He says, my Jesus, my best friend. The one on whose head I leaned. I turned around and I saw him and his eyes were on fire and his face was like the sun. And I fell like dead. I fell at his feet as dead, but he laid his right hand on me saying, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. You go to Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit falls and what do they see? Then there appeared to them divided tongues as of. And one sat on each of them and they were all filled. Oh my God. Do you get this? The fire came and they were. When the fire comes, you will be. But if you're filled, what does it mean? What can you do now? What do you have access to? Because there's a great many things that the Bible says that you can now do because the spirit of God lives on the inside of you. The Bible makes mention that you have no need that anyone teach you because his anointing will guide you and lead you. I love the inner witness that comes from the Holy Spirit that lives on the inside of us. It's that thing when you know you're going the wrong way and all of a sudden you feel a certain, you're just arrested in your spirit and you go, I can't do that. That's not good for me. I'm the only one who's ever experienced that. You know that thing. Listen, singles. When he's talking to you and he got that smile, like, yo, I just want to get to know you. I just want to treat you real good. I just want to make sure that you got the value that you really carry, praise God. Being super charming and cringe all at the same time. And your spirit is like red lights, alarm. Danger, danger, danger, danger, danger, danger. Abort, danger, danger. Run! That's the Holy Ghost. Run, run, run, run, run. I'm doing it like this because the next time you start talking to that person, because here's the thing, the Lord been giving you red flags for three weeks. Three weeks! Well, I just, we just talking. Nothing wrong with talking. The Bible says be not drunk with wine. It ain't saying nothing about tipsy. Run, run, run, run. Abort, abort. Somebody say fire. So over and over again, Old Testament, New Testament, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, God reveals himself as fire. But why? Here's the answer. His presence is fire. The sign of a real encounter with the presence of God is not emotion. I have to say that because, again, we're developing a community community. of supernatural people who walk in the supernatural. And a lot of this might be new to you. So it's good that you get this instruction now. Just because there is emotion in something does not mean that that is the authentic presence of God. I'm teaching some of you right now. If you're newly saved one year, lock in. When you encounter God, you will often feel something. Emotion is frequently present, but emotion is not proof. Not all emotion is evidence that God has drawn near. You know, oh, there's a scripture in the Old Testament, specifically with Elijah. He goes to a cave. And fire comes by the cave and wind comes by the cave and the mountains are split and God is not any of those things. But then the still small voice comes and he recognizes the still small voice as God over all the other things. But Pastor Mo, you said God is fire. Yeah, God is fire, but he lives on the inside of you. So you have an understanding of who he is and who he's not. Just because you feel a tingle, a shake, and a shout doesn't mean it's God. Because we're telling you that we want you to walk in the supernatural. We're not telling you that that's all it is. It's not just a feeling. It's the truth of his word. Understand this. The feeling can lead you to certain things. But if the feeling ever leads you to something that is unscriptural, you need to check your feeling at the door. If the feeling ever tells you to hate, you've missed it. Your feeling ever tells you to sin, you've missed it. And it's okay to miss it. I would rather you miss it in a safe environment than wreck your life. It's funny, I learned as a young preacher not to equate emotional responses to the Holy Spirit. I got saved at a Spanish Pentecostal church. A little extra. Alelucha. Gloria a Dios. But I got saved in that atmosphere. And it was like, it was highly religious. It was Pentecostal church. All the ladies wore skirts, no makeup, no earrings. Get the chandeliers out your ears. It was that type of church. It was rough. But I learned how to sincerely love God there. And I was going to the church for a few months, and then the Lord called me to be the youth leader. And then he called me to be the youth pastor. And we would have these retreats, overnight retreats. Retiro, they call it. Ayuno y oración. Vigilias, they called it. And they were just prayer and fasting sessions that lasted for multiple days. Like you would go in in the evening like 6 p.m. And you would pray until like midnight. And then everybody would go to sleep. All the guys in one area, all the girls in the other area. And these kids, man, they emotionally dysregulated. Some of them hyped up on coffee and sugar because they couldn't eat. So they got to get anything that they could in their system. Coffee cup about this big. Sugar about this much. Coffee about this much. These kids, they're hungry. They're exhausted. Emotionally dysregulated. They got the little camp crush, little retreat crush. Because if you didn't grow up in the church, you don't know. But the way that you show that you're a man of God is the amount of chairs that you can lift from one area of the sanctuary into the next. So when it was time to go to sleep, all the young men go to sleep. And that showed how holy and attractive you were to the opposite sex. It's a little bit different now, but back in the day, that's what it was. And they would call me out on day three or day four, and I would come out there and I would have the most emotional illustrations, my best stories. And I'm not going to lie to you. I could get them to rededicate their life to the Easter bunny. Because their emotions were all over the place. The atmosphere was so charged that almost any emotional appeal would have worked. And that's a danger. I'll tell you this. As much as your emotions are involved, you should be careful on how accurate your ability to hear God is. I want you to be a supernatural people that is constantly hearing from God. being directed into the right thing. But I need you to make sure that you're hearing the Lord and not your flesh and not the voice of the enemy. This is important. Some people are wrecking their lives and when they double check, they're hearing deceiving spirits because they just wanna do what they wanna do. Because if it was really about the Lord, you would go to people that you trust have the Lord. The Bible says that in a multitude of counselors, there is safety. If I know in a multitude of counselors, there is safety. Why am I calling this unsaved joker to validate what I need him to say? I want to move to Texas. I'm not calling Tiffany about that. Because Tiffany's first question is going to be, man, what the Lord say about that? That's a big move. I knew I should have called you. Look at that jump shoe. You know, she holy. Let me call up Phil or something like that. Yo, Phil, what's good? My guy, what's good? Phil don't know the Lord. I'm joking. See, you forget how many names are in there. Donovan. Let's go with Donovan. You happy about that? All of a sudden, Donovan raises his hand in the back. Hey, Donnie. It was good, it was good, it was good. Donnie don't know the Lord. Yo, I wanna go down to Texas. Yo, I was on Zillow, son. They got them big properties. You should do it. I sleep in your basement. The basement's down here. It's gonna be super big. Let's do it. I got the confirmation. I sought the Lord. No, you didn't. We need to be people that are accustomed to moving in the spirit. But this is part of the problem. We don't acknowledge that there's a fire on the inside of us. Let me ask you a question. And everybody has gone through this before because everybody here has a birthday. Have you ever tried to transport fire from one place to the next? I don't know why we all do this. We don't light the candle right by the cake. We light the candle, mad fall, and then we try to make our way over to the cake. I'll do it again. I'll do it again. I got it. Guys, guys, guys, it's time. It's time. I mean, you could have. All right. If the presence of the Lord is on the inside of you and he's a fire, how ought your life to be? If you're cognizant of the flame, if I gave you a candle and I told you, don't let it go out, that would change the way you moved around. You wouldn't move so fast. You might take your time with certain things. You know, erroneously, people often equate the Lord as a dove or a bird. Any of you have ever heard me preach before know that I hate that. The Lord is not a bird. One time in the scripture it says that the Holy Spirit came down in bodily form as a dove because a dove knows how to ascent and land with wings. Amen. But even still, we'll use that analogy. If the spirit of the living God came in the form of a dove, planted on your shoulder and you knew it was him and you didn't want him to leave, when you moved around, And you didn't want the bird to be ruffled or upset or move away. You would actually move with a certain level of intentionality. Uh-huh. Here we go. Oh, you like it up there. Praise God. I don't know where we're going to get some crackers for you, but praise God. You would live a certain way. And I'm not saying that the Holy Spirit is a burden anyway, because he is not flustered by you. He's not easily provoked and scared and moving away from you because he's seen the worst of you and embraced you and said that you are accepted in the beloved. But it's like this thing you ever had friends. They curse up a storm and you meet people and they curse up a storm until they realize that you're a Christian. And then they backtrack. So how about this? Everybody, you have conversations, you meet new people, and then it comes up what you do for a living, right? Every time that happens with me, it's a problem. Because people are like, yo, this dude is mad, chill, talking, talking, talking. What do you do for a living? I'm a pastor. And then their face drops and they turn white because here it is, I'm so chill that they have dropped 15 F-bombs, three MFers, and then they hear, he's, my bad, my bad. Yo, Rev, bro. You don't know how many times, yo, yo, Rev, come on, man. This is their stance, by the way. Come on, Rev, chill. I didn't even know you was on it like that. And it's like, And I try to calm people. I go, hey, God was here long before I showed up. The reverence that you want to keep for me being a reverend, I pray that you would keep that reverence every day of your life. Like, what's the difference? God was already here. Oh, when you put it like that. How different would your life look if you were cognizant that you were carrying the fire? What places wouldn't you go because you know you carry the fire? You know one day you're going to have to give testimony to these Old Testament folks, and they're going to ask you, what was it like carrying the fire? Listen, I raised the dead. I healed the sick. I moved in power. Or I got really nervous and never witnessed to anybody because... Is that sufficient? Things that make you go. Yeah, you're coming off it, man. There's support right there. A lot of people confuse a surge of feeling with an encounter with God, but feeling is not the signature of God's presence. Transformation is. Do you remember chemistry class? Don't get PTSD now. Come on now, I'm just very quick. You remember chemistry class? Yes. My wife rolled her eyes hard. She's a nurse, so she remembers. When something burns, what happens? It doesn't just get warmer. It undergoes a chemical reconstruction down to the atomic level. What it was before the fire is not what it is after the fire. The fire changes the very nature of the substance. The old substance is gone. Something new remains. That's why God appears as fire. An encounter with him does not leave you the same. Truly running into the God of the Bible is like getting hit by a bus. You will never walk the same again. The true sign that you have met the living God is arranged or rearranged priorities. You want to carry the fire? You want to make sure that the fire is in you? It'll change the things that you love. And worship team, you can come up and I'll close with this. Before I met God, I loved the world. I love the things of the world, the applause of the world and fitting in with the world. Then I met a holy God. And now I love his word. I love obedience to his word. And knowing him through his word and his people. You don't, and sometimes you got to say this because people, they immediately gravitate toward religion. I'm not talking about behavior modification where now you are looking at yourself. But I will say this. The Bible says that you should work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Why would it say that? Because if you've encountered the fire and you don't see any change in your life, You need to question if you've actually met the fire. And the reason I bring it up is because some people right now, the enemy is all over their mind. Look at that. You still sin. You ain't got no fire on the inside of you. You a backslider. You don't know Jesus. I'm not talking about being perfect. You still struggling, but you know where you want to go. Praise God. You got fire. You got the conviction of the Holy Ghost that tells you that you are a believer, saved and sanctified. Because again, this is not about behavior modification. This is not about trying to do better. Well, I'll try to read more. I'll try to pray more. I'll try to go every day that they're open. We're not here for your attendance. We want you to know the living God for yourself. We want you to embrace him, but be careful. If you still recognize who you were and you don't feel any change, Reach out to those that you know know God so that they can work with you to break some of these strongholds about the way that you think about life. It's funny. The worship team is not behind me. I noticed the lack of a strum on that point. I was like, I needed a strum right there because that was a hard truth. The strum always makes it feel better. You don't have to force yourself to stop doing the old things and the way that you used to be. That, again, is behavior modification. That's not what we're talking about. We're talking about having an inward witness that leads you to wanting more of the things of God. Because Christ is in you changing who you used to be. That's when the fire does its work. The old you has been consumed. Something new has been formed. That is the evidence. Not how high you jumped. Not how loud you sang or how high you raised your hands. But whether your loves have been reordered. Whether your priorities have been rearranged. Whether the things that once controlled you have lost their grip. And the things of God have taken their place. So my prayer today is this. get burned father consume us not a little warmth no momentary sparks completely consume every one of us in the fire of god let our old priorities our old loves the old self let it go up in smoke lord Help us to be the new creation in Christ Jesus. Help us to walk this new supernatural life where we are hearing from you who lives on the inside of us. Give us direction. Because you're the same God who appeared in the bush, the same God who appeared at Mount Sinai, the same God who was in the divided tongues on the apostles. So now fill us with your fire. Help us to embrace this new life Father, we ask you in Jesus' name. For anyone in the room today, if you've not accepted Jesus Christ, I want to afford you this opportunity. I'm not calling you to the front, but I do want you to have a moment where you acknowledge your faith and not yourself and not your own ability to save yourself, but in Christ Jesus alone. The Bible says that the wage of sin is death and all have fallen short of the glory of God. Everyone, you, me, everyone. There is nothing that you can do to present yourself before a holy God and be deserving of his love. But you don't have to. Jesus died on the cross in your place for you and as you, so that all you had to do was cling to him. And there would be this beautiful divine exchange. He would take on your sinfulness, all of your sins that need to be punished. They were punished, but in his body. So now the divine exchange is the perfection that he is owed for having never sinned, he wants to give to you so that you can have perfect relationship with God. Does anybody in here want that type of salvation? Just raise your hand. I see that hand. Hallelujah. You know, I really love it when he does all of this and sometimes it's just for the one. Hallelujah. So everybody, stand to your feet with me. We're all gonna say this. But for the one in the back who raised his hand, I want you to say this with an extra loud voice. I want you to acknowledge this by faith. Father God, I am a sinner. I need a savior. And I'm resting on Jesus. On his perfect life. On his perfect record. On his sacrifice. Wash me clean. Fill me with fire. Transform my life and help me to know you so I can walk in the supernatural and love like you do. Father, wash your people today and fill them with your power. Fill them with more of your life. Let them know you in a way that they never have before. that they would embrace you and that they would feel the guiding and the leading from moment to moment. That's how real you are, Lord. As real as the feet, my God, hallelujah, that are touching the ground, Lord. Let them begin to experience your presence and lead and guide them in the way. Father, we thank you for that life and we thank you for the transformation that will take place from this day forward. Hallelujah. This is the City Light Church podcast. If you've missed any part of today's message, or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com. That's citylightnyc.com. Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime. We would love to connect with you. We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you, and that you are surrounded by grace. Thank you for listening. Make sure that you subscribe to City Light Church Podcast wherever you find your favorite podcasts worldwide.