Fire in the Pulpit

By Dr. John N. Hamblin

Are you losing the spiritual 'pep in your step?' In this Christian race, are you lagging, panting, and hoping for your second wind? Rekindle your fire and fervor for Christ, with this stirring, powerful collection of messages! Inspiring titles frame each chapter—headings such as "What Keeps Me From Blowing the Bugle of Retreat," "Your Tears in God's Bottle," "Flight 93," and "It Happened at Midnight." Revive your heart for the things of God, and fortify your faith through this moving medley of sermons!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sword of the Lord Foundation
• Release date: Oct 10, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370398607

Book preview

By

Dr. John N. Hamblin

Post Office Box 1099 • Murfreesboro, TN 37133

Copyright 2005

Distributed by Smashwords

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used or reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (printed, written, photocopied, electronic, audio or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.

All Scripture quotations are from the King James Bible.

To

My dear wife, Mrs. Cari Lynn Hamblin. For well over two decades she has wonderfully kept the home fires burning while I have traveled across America preaching the Word of God. If I had 'the tongue of men and angels,' I still could not articulate my appreciation for her support, sacrifice and supplication. Thank you for being my biggest cheerleader!

Contents

Foreword

Chapter One—Fire! Fire! Fire!

Chapter Two—Leave the Ancient Landmarks Alone!

Chapter Three—Why the Believer Should be Filled with the Spirit

Chapter Four—What Keeps me From Blowing the Bugle of Retreat?

Chapter Five—Daily

Chapter Six—Flight 93

Chapter Seven—Roadblocks on the Road to Revival

Chapter Eight—Whatever Happened to Hell?

Chapter Nine—Lights Out at the Church House!

Chapter Ten—Your Tears in God’s Bottle

Chapter Eleven—When You Don’t Know What to Do

Chapter Twelve—The Most Wonderful Verse on Prayer

Chapter Thirteen—Sing the Lord’s Song in a Strange Land

Chapter Fourteen—The Prodigal Who Stayed Home

Chapter Fifteen—It Happened at Midnight

Chapter Sixteen—Burn, Brother, Burn!

Foreword

In great conferences all across North America I've been delighted to share the platform and preach alongside Dr. John Hamblin. I've heard him preach most of the material in Fire in the Pulpit. Believe me, when he mounts the pulpit, the fire is already lit in his heart, and in short order the fire materializes in his preaching.

For over twenty years Dr. Hamblin has been busily engaged as an evangelist. In a day when compromise is rampant, here is a man who has stood tall and true in churches large and small throughout the land. In a religious environment that has made teaching the norm, this man is a preacher cut from the cloth of a Biblical prophet. He preaches somewhere in the world almost every day of his life. Whether before two dozen or two thousand, he is always upbeat, always excited and always operating full throttle.

The fickle, the fainty and the flighty will no doubt be troubled by what they read here. Admittedly, it is not the watered-down soup that is standard fare in most religious publishing. It is for that very reason that we commend it to you as something we believe you should read.

It has been my privilege to know Dr. Hamblin for a good number of years. What I have discovered has been refreshing.

Personally he is a kind, polite and gentle man.

Spiritually he is a man of prayer, moral integrity and unimpeachable character.

Ministerially, he is faithful, fruitful and fervent.

Doctrinally he is theologically straight, hermeneutically solid and scripturally sound.

Evangelistically he is a testimony, a witness and a soul-winner.

Ecclesiastically he is discerning, principled and separated.

Philosophically he is stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (I Cor. 15:58).

Therefore it is my delight to recommend both the man and his message. I believe that your perusal of these pages will be edifying, encouraging and a blessing.

DR. SHELTON SMITH

Few things seem as elusive to many as the will of God. To think that the God of heaven was pleased to plot a course and prescribe a purpose for our lives is almost beyond human comprehension! God purposed for the sun to shine and heat the day, but he also purposed a plan for your life and mine. God purposed for flowers to bloom in the spring, but he also purposed a plan for your life and mine. You were a thought in the infinite mind of God. You were a stir within His divine breast. God has a plan for your life!

The will of God; what a thought! Service after service altars are lined with folks seeking it. Prayer closets find it to be a frequented petition. Often others are implored upon that they might help a certain individual discern and discover the divine plan, the distinct path that God has designed for them.

It was Dr. Bob Jones, Sr., who is quoted as saying, I'd rather be in Hell in God's will than to go to Heaven out of God's will. If I were in Hell in God's will, then Hell would be Heaven.

I've heard it said, There is but one question, 'Is it the will of God?' and that settles all other questions.

The book that you now hold in your hand is dear to me personally. I remember several years ago purchasing this particular book from the Sword of the Lord. I was drawn to this book for two distinct reasons. First, I was attracted to it because of its title, Fire in the Pulpit. I was a young preacher. I had just recently surrendered to preach and had a burning desire within my soul to be the kind of preacher that did more than blow smoke behind the sacred desk, I wanted to bring a heavenly fire with me into the pulpit.

Secondly, I was pulled to this piece because of the author. Though I had not at that time met Dr. Hamblin personally, I knew he had a proven track record of being an evangelist greatly used of God. God had already begun nudging my own heart about the divine office of the evangelist and as a young preacher I wanted to enroll myself in the classroom of a seasoned man of God who was already doing what I had aspirations of doing.

As I began to read these same sermons that you'll be reading shortly, God gripped my heart. I began to pray that God would use me in evangelism. I longed to keep the lights on in the church house! I wanted to burn, brother burn for the things of God! I was eyeing my watch waiting for the minute and hour hands to align signifying midnight! I knew that others had turned back and more may follow, but I asked the Lord to keep me from ever pressing my lips to the mouthpiece of the bugle of retreat!

This book is dear to me because God used it, along with seasons of prayer, to solidify in my heart that God's will for my life and ministry was evangelism. Almost a decade has now past. Dr. Hamblin has become more than a name on a book's spine, he's been a counselor, a cheerleader for my ministry, and continues to be a close friend. Many times we've traveled to meetings together and shared platforms and pulpits across the nation. It started with this book. It is my prayer that God will do time and time again the same thing in the lives of those who are yet to read this book as He did in my own heart and life.

As you read you'll feel as though you're sitting in a week long revival meeting! You'll be encouraged as well as exhorted. You'll be comforted as well as convicted. In a day when old-fashioned Bible preaching is in many places an endangered species, here you've found a sanctuary where that kind of sermon yet thrives! There's no debating that the title on the cover fit's the truths waiting within. If preaching is to be truth set on fire, you're about to step into the oven! Fair warning, there's going to be Fire in the Pulpit!

DR. JUSTIN COOPER, EVANGELIST

Forward penned in Swainsboro, Georgia during week-long revival meeting, January 15, 2015

Chapter 1

Fire! Fire! Fire!

"Then took they him, and led him, and brought him into the high priest's house. And Peter followed afar off.

"And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall, and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.

"But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him.

"And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.

"And after a little while another saw him, and said, Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not.

"And about the space of one hour after another confidently affirmed, saying, Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilæan.

"And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.

"And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.—Luke 22:54-62.

During the spiritual life of every believer, there will be times when he or she will be found before the glowing embers of some spiritual flame. This is true of the newest convert to the oldest member. While some of these blazes would be considered minuses, others would have to be classified as pluses.

There were three instances where Peter was drawn to a fire. And like him, we also are drawn to the same three distinct flames.

I. THE FIRE OF REPROACH

The believer can be drawn to the fire of reproach.

"But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire, and earnestly looked upon him, and said, This man was also with him.

And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.—Vss. 56, 57.

Peter followed the Lord Jesus Christ from a distance; at a large fire in the high priest's courtyard, he denied his Master.

The fervent lips that had once said, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death (vs. 33), now became the failing lips that said, I know him not.

The songwriter Robert Robinson must have known something about this narrative and his own nature, for he picked up his pen and wrote these stirring words:

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it;

Prone to leave the God I love.

Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it;

Seal it for Thy courts above.

We can be drawn to the fire of reproach.

Philippians 2:15 says, That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as world.

When the believer gets to the sad place where he is standing with the world and saying, either by word or deed, I know not Jesus, he has significantly diminished the light of his personal testimony.

The closer a Christian gets to the Lord, the more intense the light of his personal testimony shines. But the farther he gets from the Lord and the closer he gets to the world, the dimmer his personal testimony gets. It is impossible for a Christian to line up with the world and have a bright, clear personal testimony for Jesus.

Every Christian has a testimony—it's either a good, bright testimony or a bad, dim testimony. How close you are to the Lord and how far away you are from the world determines the degree of brightness.

Several years ago I held a revival in Michigan, and one night on the way home I stopped at a service station to get gasoline. When I paid the attendant, I also gave him a gospel tract. He looked at it and without the slightest hesitation said, I'm saved.

I was startled somewhat, because he had long, greasy hair and a wild, unkempt beard and an earring in one earlobe. I didn't check to see if he had pumps and a purse to go with his outfit, but I did question him about his conversion, and he gave a testimony that rang true.

Then he said, Not only am I saved, but I was also going to a fundamental Bible college because God had called me to preach. Then I broke a rule, and they kicked me out.

I asked, Which school were you attending?

He said, I'm sure you've never heard of it. It's a Bible college called the Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan.

As I walked away, I thought, Instead of taking receipts for gasoline, he ought to be somewhere preaching the Gospel.

What happened to him? He went too close to the world and ended up next to the fire of reproach.

II. THE FIRE OF RESTORATION

The believer can also be drawn to the fire of restoration.

As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread.—John 21:9.

When the apostle Peter learned that Jesus was on the shore, he put on his coat, jumped into the water and was the first to set foot on the beach.

Peter found the resurrected Christ standing before a warm fire with a delicious meal already prepared.

Now, dear Christians, do not miss the wonderful truth here. The fire represents family and forgiveness. The coals represent compassion and cleansing. The fish represent forbearance and fellowship.