David Diga Hernandez - The Fire of Evangelism: Having a Passion for Lost Souls

The fire of the Holy Spirit, is the key to passionate evangelism. The fire of the Holy Spirit is the key to a love for souls. When was the last time that you shared the gospel with someone who didn’t know Jesus? When was the last time that you shared Christ with your family or your loved ones, your neighbors or your friends, your coworkers or fellow students? That fire for evangelism, that passion for souls, that burden for the lost comes only by the Holy Ghost. Exodus chapter three says this, one day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God. So Moses now is going into the presence of the Lord. Verse two, there the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement though the bush was engulfed in flames. It didn’t burn up. «This is amazing». Moses said to himself. «Why isn’t that Bush burning up? I must go see it».

Now here, I must interject that fire, biblically speaking is a symbol for the presence of the Holy Spirit. Often when you see fire in the scripture it symbolizes the presence of the Holy Spirit. Verse four says this. When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush. «Moses, Moses»! «Here I am»! Moses replied. «Do not come any closer,» the Lord warned. «Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground. I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob». When Moses heard this, he covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.

So here Moses is having an encounter in the presence of God. He’s standing in the very glory of God Almighty. Of course, the Holy Spirit present there also. And in this encounter, Moses is transformed, in this encounter, Moses has his perspective shifted, his mentality changed. Verse seven says this. Then the Lord told him, «I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. Verse 10 says this. Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people out of Egypt».

After Moses has this encounter with the Lord, suddenly he’s no longer living for what he was living for. Suddenly new purpose appears. Suddenly a destiny unfolds before him. And he begins to see what God sees. He begins to hear what God hears. You see, the Israelites en slavery to the Egyptians, is a prophetic picture. The slavery of the Israelites, that’s a prophetic picture of people in sin. Sin is a harsh master. Sin keeps people in bondage, sin strips people of their dignity, sin snuffs out the divine spark within every man and woman who sins. Sin is slavery. If you don’t think sin is slavery, just try to stop. Just try to stop on your own. You can’t do it. So here we see that when Moses comes to the presence of God, when Moses stands in the glory of God he is transformed in many ways. Firstly, his perspective changes.

No longer does he see the mundane every day things in his life. Now God has called his attention to people in bondage. When you come into contact with that fire, when you come into contact with the presence of God, God will shift your perspective. He will take your focus off of you and he will show you what he sees. When you stand in the presence of God, when you’ve truly had an encounter in his glory you begin to see what God sees. What has God’s attention begins to have your attention? What has God’s ear begins to have your ear? Moses is standing there in the midst of this burning Bush. That’s a prophet prophetic picture of the fire of the Holy Ghost.

You wanna know how you know if you’ve truly come into contact with the fire of God? The fire of the Holy Spirit, doesn’t just produce passion, doesn’t just produce excitement. It doesn’t just produce what we call revival. The fire of the Holy Spirit is a divine light in you that consumes you and causes you to see and causes you to hear the lost who are bound by sin. Verse nine, I wanna read it to you. Look, the cry of the people of Israel has reached me. And I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. The cry of the lost has reached the ear of God. So then Moses having this encounter in the glory of God, Moses coming into contact with this burning bush, is symbolic of you and I coming into contact with the true fire of the Holy Spirit and Moses being sent as a deliverer to those who were bound by the Egyptians. That’s a prophet prophetic picture of you and I being sent to a lost and dying world. The Holy Spirit is the fire of evangelism. And once you’ve come into contact with that true fire, you burn for souls. The passion for souls is in you. The boldness to preach the gospel is in you. I don’t care what your personality type is. When you’ve come into contact with the fire of the Holy Ghost, it gives you boldness to declare the truth.

Now, the reason we lack in our passion for lost souls, is because we lack in our fire of the Holy Spirit. And the reason we lack in our fire of the Holy Spirit is because we are not coming into contact with his presence. That’s a true mark. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been standing in a crowded place, looking at the seas of people walking by. maybe at a mall, maybe at an outdoor event, doesn’t matter. When I see large crowds of people, I can’t help but wonder where they’re going when they die. I can’t help but wonder about their eternal destinies. What are their stories? What are their sins? What are their bondages? What do they need to be healed from? And where are they going when they die? It’s a holy burden. It’s a holy heartache that the Holy Spirit gives to you.

Now let me show you something in Acts chapter one, verse eight. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses telling people about me everywhere in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. What did this power do? Or the people who received it? The power of the Holy Spirit was received and then what happened in their lives? They became witnesses. When you come into contact with that fire, you become a witness. The words begin to pour out of you, you become like Jeremiah. It’s like fire, shut up in your bones. You have to preach it. You have to declare it, why? Because A, you wanna please the Lord and you wanna be obedient to him and B, you care about souls. If you want to restore your passion for the lost, if you want to have boldness in your evangelism, if you wanna see true power demonstrated as you share the gospel, then you need the fire of evangelism, the Holy Spirit himself. How do you get that my friend, it’s simple. You must spend time in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Like Moses was led to this mountain, so you and I are led to the mountain of God. So you and I are led to the mountain of prayer, the mountain of devotion to God’s word. And we must go there. For there in that secret place, we will encounter the fire of evangelism, the Holy Spirit himself. God help us to burn for souls.