In the Old Testament, the enslavement of the Israelites is a prophetic picture of humanity in sin. The human race wallows under the oppressive darkness of sin. Sin strips all of its prisoners of dignity, divinity, and destiny. Deep within, the soul of every person cries out for freedom, for deliverance. And we serve a God who can hear those cries.
Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law when he came to encounter the Holy Spirit. 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. 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.” 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. (Exodus 3:1-6, NLT)
Here we see the fire, the Holy Spirit’s presence, appear before Moses. A voice speaks from the fire. Then, God declares His ability to see and hear the suffering of His people:
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” (Exodus 3:7, NLT)
Moses then discovers that God had chosen him to be used as the instrument of deliverance.
The fire of Heaven, the Holy Spirit, burns for the salvation of the oppressed. He can hear their cries.
There is no one on earth more passionate about the winning of the lost than the Holy Spirit. He desires to break the chains of sin from every soul. He is the Spirit of Evangelism.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me every- where—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8, NLT)
What happens when the Holy Spirit comes upon you? The same thing that happened to Moses when he encountered the fire of God. The same thing that happened to the early Church that spread from Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. They became witnesses. They became vessels of deliverance.
A sign that you have experienced a true encounter with the Holy Spirit is a passion to win souls. After coming into contact with the fire of God, Moses was determined to see God’s people go free. Up until that time, he had spent decades in the mundane.
All it takes is one touch from the Lord, a single moment with the Holy Spirit, to set your heart ablaze for the lost. When you spend time with the Holy Spirit, His heart becomes your heart, His desires become your desires. You begin to see what He sees. You begin to hear what He hears.
Can you hear the cry of the lost? Can you hear the cry of the drug-addicted, longing to be free from self-hatred and bondage? Can you hear the cry of the broken families, searching for a reason to hope again? Can you hear the cry of the suicidal, the self-righteous, the fearful, the perverted, and the prideful? Can you hear the cry of a sin-bound people?
The Holy Spirit can. And when you come near to Him, your being also will be set aflame with a passionate love for the lost soul. You will burn with a holy dedication. You will become burdened with divine compassion. Your heart will ache with spiritual anguish. Everything in you will live to see just one more soul set free.
Like Moses, you’ve been appointed as a deliverer. You’ve been sent to a people. You’ve had contact with a fire. The Holy Spirit is the Fire of Evangelism.