A Heart Touched by Divine Fire — E.A. Johnston

The Limits of Human Strength in Ministry

I don't believe we can serve a supernatural God in the energy of the flesh. If we do so, we are bound for both mediocrity and failure. I believe we preachers can touch men's minds, but few can touch their hearts.

Divine Fire and the Spirit's Transforming Power

I believe we can teach others about God and the Bible, but only God can transform the life by His Spirit and power. I believe the missing ingredient in our pulpits today, and in our personal lives today, is the absence of divine fire.

Zechariah's Call to Depend on the Spirit

In Zechariah chapter 4 and verse 6, my Bible makes the following declaration, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. But in our churches today, friends, we carry on with our might and our power, and we wonder why there is so little transformation in the lives of our hearers.

Small-Noised Christianity and Avoided Opposition

I like the following Vance Havner quote because it sums up my message today. Vance Havner said, If we serve such a dynamite God, then why are so many of us living firecracker lives? My answer to that question is, we live firecracker lives because it's safer making a small noise.

We prefer flying under the devil's radar. But the battle is always won on the front line. But we know the cost of being on the front line and our flesh retreats from it. We're content to have a ministry of approval and appreciation.

The Cost of Preaching Sin, Hell, and Repentance

Why stick our neck out there to get it chopped off? That's why we quit preaching on sin and warning folks about hell. That's why we quit preaching man's duty of repentance and his utter necessity of regeneration.

Why upset the good deacons when it's easier to lull them to sleep? Let sleep and dogs lie and leave things as they are is our motto today. But when I study the history of revival and when I look at the lives of men God has used in revival, I see they each shared a common denominator, a fire in their belly.

Revival Leaders and Hearts Touched by Divine Fire

Men like Whitefield and Edwards and Moody and Spurgeon possess something we lack today, a heart touched by a divine fire. That's what made their preaching singular. That's why it was transformational to their hearers.

Sacrifice and Prevailing Prayer

But a heart touched by a divine fire does not come easily. God Almighty delights in sacrifice, for he sacrificed his only begotten son on a bloody cross for sinful man in agony in the garden. Jesus sweat great drops of blood at Gethsemane before he shed his blood at Calvary.

But we don't want to make the effort. We'd rather sleep like his disciples instead of being engaged in prevailing prayer that costs us something. But to have a heart touched by divine fire involves a cost.

The Great Awakening and the Price of Revival

What cost counts and what counts costs. The same flame that spread across two continents like a prairie fire in revival during the days of the Great Awakening is available to us today. But there's a predominance of teaching in our pulpits today because we don't mind reading to prepare our messages.

Prayer, Preaching, and Authority from Above

But there's a dearth of preaching today because that requires sacrificial time on our knees in prayer to touch the heart of a holy God so he can touch our hearts with the divine fire. But if lives are to be transformed here under our ministry, we need power from above and a mantle of authority so that when we preach like the Apostle Paul, we too can make a Felix tremble.

Returning to Dependence on God's Spirit

For it is not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Let us pray.