Are You Willing - Part 3

The fire burn. Yesterday I took the prophecy of Jeremiah in account. Do you know he mentioned 41 times he mentioned fire? They put him in a pit, didn't burn the fire out of it, destroyed the fire. I think it was Amarishol's son I think that wrote a hymn that, a verse of the hymn he wrote says this, waters cannot quench it, floods can never drown, substance cannot buy loves of priceless crown. Oh the wondrous story, mystery divine, I am my beloved and my beloved is mine. The fire is unquenchable. The fire of hell is unquenchable. The fire of the Holy Ghost is unquenchable. I know a lot of opposition against the second blessing. I challenge you to find me a man that has made history in God's kingdom who somewhere didn't have a second crisis after he was born again to the spirit of God. The founder of the Quakers said he found something in him that wouldn't keep peace and he wanted to get rid of the thing in him that wouldn't keep, was always troubling him. William Booth said I found that I ebbed and flowed until one day I, the Holy Ghost came in his fullness. And then he wrote that marvelous battle hymn that the modern salvationist doesn't know. They marched, the Salvation Army was a penniless organization. It went into 70 countries in 90 years, not 70 cities, 70 countries. Men and women left their castles in England. Professors left their professions. University people went, why? Because there's a fire. They could see that fire as clear as Israel could see that pillar of fire at night. The Holy Ghost is here. And old William had them going, singing, marching down the street, thou Christ of burning cleansing flames send the fire. Thy blood bought gift today we claim, send the fire. Look down and see this waiting host, give us the promise Holy Ghost. We want another, I'm not sure we want it, we need it. You see, the thing between where you are now and the baptism of fire is a cup. I better get to it or I'll talk too long. Verse 22, Jesus answered and said unto her, ye know not what ye ask, are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink? Remember again, he said, I have a baptism to be baptized with. He'd been baptized in Jordan, he wasn't talking about that. The man who introduced him to the world said, I baptize you with water. The baptism is external. When he comes he'll do something internal. He'll baptize you with Holy Ghost. The literal Greek is, he shall baptize you with Holy Ghost fire. Not with the Holy Ghost and with fire, you can't separate them. God is a consuming fire. He shall baptize you with Holy Ghost fire. But you see, there's something between here and there. Some of you haven't been here before, but I'm glad to see you. But let me say this, I say it often. I don't know where you are spiritually. There's not a man who's walking with God that doesn't know he could have been further up the road than he is if he'd really taken care. If somebody had taught him when he was born again. Do you know what happened? He was born and he was put in a refrigerator. There's a dear old, the last of the line amongst the Baptists I think, Vance Havner, he wrote the foreword for my last book, he's a great character. And he said some people, where he lives up in Greenville, where is that, South Carolina? Oh, he said they're still living in the last century. He said the man came selling refrigerators, they didn't know what they were, they still had iceboxes. And he said, well this is what you do with a refrigerator. You take this plug and stick it in, but they didn't have any electricity. So it didn't help very much. But in his drawl, I couldn't imitate, you know, he said, you know, oh in my country, we've got the biggest refrigerators in America. They've got steeples on them. Now I didn't say that, a Baptist said it. Mr. Chadwick used to say to us, gentlemen, wind soles, don't bring them to birth and put them in a refrigerator. The church never had more equipment than she has now, she never had less power, never less anointing, never less of the miraculous, never less than the omnipresent God. As I've said before, when did you last tip to Sunday morning breathless, awed by the awesomeness of God's majesty, God's glory, God's omnipotence? We know what's going to happen. Stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down. Now the choir will sing, sing a bit longer. Now the box is coming, drop some offering in it. And now we're going to have another song. You know, if we'd spent as much time teaching people to pray as we've taught the choir, we would have set the world on fire. What's the good of having all the machinery in the world if you have nothing to drive it? I don't care whether you've come on a, I'm going to say a skateboard, no, if you've come on a Volkswagen tonight or a Rolls Royce. We're all dependent on one thing when we're sitting in the car. We turn the switch and if there is no spark, there you're finished. Your car may be insured, it may be the cleanest car, it may be in wonderful condition, but it needs a spark to drive it. But look at all the equipment in the church. If the fire of the Holy Ghost really came upon the church today, we could shake the world in six months, without a shadow of doubt. You know not what you ask. I wonder how often God says that to us. As I've told you many times, I say privately in my press, I don't want to get to the judgment seat, with maybe trillions of eyes looking on me. I'm here, Jesus is there. And everybody that's lived since Adam is going to see me come up for trial. I do not want God to say to me in that day, son I had many things to tell you but you couldn't bear them. I've got a new saying and I'm always pushing it down people's throats now. When are we going to get serious about being serious about revival? We're not serious about it. I got a big brochure this week. Oh I don't know how many big celebrities are going. The man that's running the thing, I want you to come as my personal official guest and I'll pay all your fare and I'll pay your hotel fees and everything. And it said so and so is going to speak and there's going to be a special session. Don't get this often so I'll give you the address if you want. There's going to be a special session maybe twice or three times in the week to teach puppetry. And then it goes on to say we're going to teach mimes. I'm not being facetious. Can you imagine the men coming out of the upper room teaching those rebel priests and crowd puppets? Coming with their faces painted white and their hands and clowning? Dear Lord with enough clowns outside the church why bring them in? Why should the world take us seriously when we don't take God seriously? Come on! Are you able to drink the cup and be baptized with the baptism that I should be baptized with? What's a cup? Skip to chapter 26 please in Matthew and verses 39 and yeah 39 to 42. Here's the baptism for you. He went a little further and fell on his face and prayed saying oh my father if it be possible let this cup pass from me nevertheless not as I will but as thou wills. And he cometh through his disciples and finding them sleeping said