REAL
FIREWORKS
BREAD
36 At the
time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel,
let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and
have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will
know that you, O Lord, are God,
and that you are turning their hearts back again." 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice,
the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this,
they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord--he
is God! The Lord--he is God!” 1 Kings 18:36-39 (NIV)
15 See,
the Lord is coming with fire, and
his chariots are like a whirlwind; he will bring down his anger with fury, and
his rebuke with flames of fire. 16 For with fire and with his sword the Lord will execute judgment upon all men,
and many will be those slain by the Lord. Isaiah 66:15-16 (NIV)
6 God is
just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are
troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed
from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish those who do
not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with
everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the
majesty of his power. 2 Thessalonians
1:6-9 (NIV)
7 When
the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the
nations in the four corners of the earth--Gog and Magog--to gather them for
battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the
breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he
loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived
them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false
prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and
ever. Revelation 20:7-10 (NIV)
8 But do
not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand
years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in
keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not
wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will
come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be
destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be
destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live
holy and godly lives 12 as you
look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about
the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
13 But in
keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new
earth, the home of righteousness. 2
Peter 3:8-13 (NIV)
10 By the
grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone
else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11 For no one can lay any
foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this
foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for
what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with
fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives,
he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself
will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Seek, O believer, that every good thing
you have may be an abiding thing. May your character not be a writing upon the
sand, but an inscription upon the rock! May your faith be no ‘baseless fabric
of a vision,’ but may it be built of material able to endure that awful fire
which shall consume the wood, hay, and stubble of the hypocrite. May you be rooted and grounded in love. May
your convictions be deep, your love real, your desire earnest. May your whole
life be so firm and strong, that all the blasts of hell and the storms of earth
shall never be able to remove you.” Charles Spurgeon
“Every sermon, every Bible
lesson, every word of testimony, and every verse of Scripture is a warning,
calling us to repentance and revival.
Our God is a consuming fire, and a day of judgment is coming. We must not neglect the warning, and today’s
church must not forget that our message includes the ministry of warning.” Robert J. Morgan
“For eighty-six years I have served Him. He has never done me wrong. How can I blaspheme my King who saved me? The fire you threaten burns for a time and is soon extinguished; there is a fire you know nothing about—the fire of the judgment to come and of eternal punishment, the fire reserved for the ungodly. But why do you hesitate? Do what you want.” Polycarp
“Who
else has the answer to the frailty of life, the reality of death and the
certainty of judgment than Jesus, who by His death destroyed him who holds the
power of death and frees those whose lives are enslaved by the fear of death?” Alistair Begg
“No matter what
happens in life, remember this: You have a Savior. As a Christian, you have
been saved from death. You have been saved from eternal punishment and hell.
You have the hope that when you die, you will go straight to heaven. That is
the most important thing about the Christian life. There is a Heaven waiting
for you. You have a Savior.” Greg Laurie
“Often hell is portrayed as a place of punishment and
heaven as a place of reward. But this concept easily leads us to think about
God as either a policeman, who tries to catch us when we make a mistake and
send us to prison when our mistakes become too big, or a Santa Claus, who
counts up all our good deeds and puts a reward in our stocking at the end of
the year. God, however, is neither a
policeman nor a Santa Claus. God does not send us to heaven or hell depending
on how often we obey or disobey. God is love and only love. In God there is no
hatred, desire for revenge, or pleasure in seeing us punished. God wants to
forgive, heal, restore, show us endless mercy, and see us come home. But just
as the father of the prodigal son let his son make his own decision God gives
us the freedom to move away from God's love even at the risk of destroying
ourselves. Hell is not God's choice. It is ours.” Henri
Nouwen
HEART
SAVOR
- · Our God is a consuming fire.
- · It is Jesus Who saves me from my sin. I am saved by His righteousness.
- · It is Jesus Who makes me strong, firm and steadfast.
