Acts 2:1–4 — “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place… And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
The Bible gives us a powerful picture of the fire of God when the Holy Ghost came upon the believers on the Day of Pentecost. There was a sound from heaven, a rushing mighty wind, and “cloven tongues like as of fire” that appeared and sat upon each of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak as the Spirit gave them utterance.
When we talk about fire, this is the kind of fire we need to settle back upon each one of us. We need the fire of God in our individual lives, in our homes, and in our churches.
The theme for this year’s Victory Leaders Band department is “Authentic Fire.” That defining word—authentic—is important because authentic means not false or imitation.
There is a difference between something that is real and something that only looks real. Something can resemble the genuine article without actually being the genuine article. That is why we need to examine not only whether there is “fire,” but whether the fire is authentic.
God does not desire an imitation of His presence. He desires the real thing.
Authentic Worship
This brings us to the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4.
Jesus had traveled through Samaria and came to the city of Sychar, where He encountered a woman at Jacob’s well. What began as a conversation about water eventually became a conversation about worship, truth, and the very nature of how people approach God.
The woman raised a religious disagreement with Jesus:
John 4:20 — “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”
The Samaritans worshipped at Mount Gerizim, while the Jews worshipped at Jerusalem, particularly at the temple.
Essentially, the woman was asking Jesus:
“Which group has the right place of worship?”
Jesus’ answer moved the conversation beyond the question of geography.
He said:
John 4:21 — “Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.”
Under the Old Covenant, Jerusalem had a unique place in Israel’s worship because God had established the temple there. But Jesus was pointing toward a change that would come through His own work.
The focus of worship was going to move beyond an earthly geographical location.
This would become especially significant through Christ’s death. When Jesus died, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom. Access to God was no longer centered upon entering an earthly sanctuary.
Jesus was preparing this woman for a new understanding of worship.
The issue was no longer simply:
“Where should we worship?”
The greater question was:
“How are we worshipping God?”
Sincere Worship Is Not Necessarily Authentic Worship
Jesus then made a remarkably direct statement:
John 4:22 — “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.”
Jesus distinguished between Samaritan worship and Jewish worship.
The Samaritans were religious. They worshipped. They had a religious tradition and believed they were serving God.
But Jesus told them that they worshipped “ye know not what.”
That teaches us something very important.
Sincerity alone does not make worship correct.
A person can sincerely worship God and still have an incomplete or incorrect understanding of God and His revealed truth.
It is possible to be sincere and still be wrong.
That is why authentic fire cannot simply be measured by emotion, excitement, or religious activity. Something can look spiritual and still not be according to the truth God has revealed.
Authentic worship requires more than sincerity.
It requires truth.
Jesus said that the Jews knew what they worshipped because God had entrusted them with His revealed Word, His covenant, the Law, the prophets, and the promises.
And Jesus reminds the woman that “salvation is of the Jews.”
This did not mean that salvation was limited to Jewish people. Rather, God’s redemptive plan was being carried out through Israel and would ultimately be fulfilled in the Messiah who came through Israel.
The promises made to Abraham pointed toward a blessing that would reach all families of the earth. The prophets pointed toward the coming Messiah. The Scriptures pointed toward Christ.
And Jesus was that Messiah.
So when Jesus said, “salvation is of the Jews,” He was pointing to the fact that God’s revealed plan of salvation had come through the people and promises God had established.
Spirit and Truth
But Jesus didn’t leave the woman with a discussion about Jews and Samaritans.
He brought the conversation to something much greater.
John 4:23–24
“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Notice the words Jesus used:
“True worshippers.”
That tells us that there can be worship that is not true worship. There can be religious activity that is not authentic. There can be sincerity without truth. And there can be truth without genuine spiritual worship.
Jesus requires both.
We must worship in spirit and in truth.
Spirit speaks to the genuineness of our worship—the worship that comes from within and is enabled by the Spirit of God. Truth speaks to whether our worship agrees with what God has revealed.
We cannot choose one and leave out the other.
We need spirit and truth.
And that brings us back to the theme:
Authentic Fire
When we speak about authentic fire, we are talking about the genuine work and presence of the Holy Ghost working together with the truth of God’s Word.
We need the real thing.
We do not need an imitation of the fire of Pentecost. We need the same Holy Ghost power that filled those believers on the Day of Pentecost. We do not need to manufacture something that looks spiritual. We need God to genuinely work in our lives.
We should certainly learn to recognize the difference between authentic fire and wildfire. We should know the difference between something that comes from the Holy Ghost and something that is merely emotional, human, or imitated.
But our response should not simply be to become afraid of anything that looks like fire.
Our desire should be to have the real fire of God burning in our lives.
Let the Fire Fall Again
On the Day of Pentecost, the fire did not fall upon a select few while everyone else watched from a distance.
Acts 2:3 says, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.”
Then verse 4 tells us:
“And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost.”
There is something powerful about that word “all.”
God wants His people filled.
He wants our worship to be more than routine.
He wants our service to be more than obligation.
He wants our relationship with Him to be more than something we inherited from previous generations.
We don’t just need fire. We need authentic fire.