The gospel is a fire starter. The Holy Spirit is not given simply to help you preach beautiful sermons. He is there to place a flame in the hearts of men. If Christ does not set you on fire, you can not bring fire to the earth.

"Without me you can do nothing," said the Lord (John 15: 5). Jesus commanded the disciples to do nothing until they were "clothed with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). And when this power came, the Spirit revealed itself in the form of tongues of fire resting on each one of them.

Before, Jesus had sent his disciples two by two (Luke 10: 1). This reminds me of Samson sending the foxes in pairs, as these animals carried torches in an incendiary raid through the wheat fields and vineyards of the enemy (Judges 15). The disciples also were sent two by two, carrying the divine torch, incendiary for God, burning the territories of the devil with the fire of the Gospel. They were new Elijah bringing down fire from heaven.

Until the fire falls, evangelism and church activities can be very routine and boring. Essays, pulpit homilies, moral speeches, and sermons about how you think the country's economy should be driven, all this is freezing work. No divine spark sets the ice on fire. Nobody comes home inflamed. On the contrary, the two disciples who listened to Jesus on the road to Emmaus returned home with warm hearts. I'm sure he did not talk to them about politics, or offered great advice and suggestions. It could not ignite their hearts. Jesus came "to cast fire on the earth" (Luke 12:49).

Jeremy Sourdril