“Passion” — the very word somehow stirs our inner emotions and arouses something inside us. It is amazing at how often we run across the term “passion” in our daily reading. It appears almost every day in various contexts concerning sports, politics, and regular news articles. Even movie reviews continually mention The Passion of the Christ as they compare the religiously based movies which have recently become popular. Not only is the shear frequency of the appearances of the term notable, the number of different contexts in which the word appears and the wide variety of meanings it carries are also astounding.
Let’s begin with the movie reviews and look at Mel Gibson’s use of the word. In the title of his movie, “passion” is used with its old English meaning of suffering, which we often see used during Lent and the Easter season in such terms as “the Passion Week” or “Passion Play.” This use of the term appears once in the King James Bible in Acts 1:3, “To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” The Bible in Basic English also uses this wording in Job 6:2, “If only my passion might be measured, and put into the scales against my trouble!” The Greek word pascho, which is translated as “passion” in the passage in Acts, appears fifty-two other times in the New Testament and is consistently translated to speak of suffering.
A second use of the term which often comes as a surprise is the meaning as it is used in such references as “crimes of passion,” denoting anger. This usage of the term appears frequently in The Bible in Basic English, and occasionally in other versions such as Montgomery’s New Testament, Darby’s Translation, and Weymouth’s New Testament.
Another use of the word which might seem a bit unusual is its connotation of human qualities, as opposed to any divine or supernatural character. Based on the Greek word homoiopathes, literally meaning “with the emotions of a human,” this term appears once in the King James Version of the New Testament and once in the Modern King James Version.
And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein. (Acts 14:15)
Elijah was a man of like passion as we are. And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for the time of three years and six months. (James 5:17)
The term also denotes emotion — frequently in a negative light. While the King James Version renders the term in Mark 14:31 as “more vehemently,” The Bible in Basic English translates the passage, “But he said with passion, If I have to be put to death with you, I will not be false to you. And they all said the same.” At least a dozen times each, the term is interpreted to mean either jealousy or envy.
Probably the most common idea conveyed by the word “passion” is the thought of sexual desire and lust. Though the King James Bible does not use the term when translating these passages, such versions as the Twentieth Century New Testament, Montgomery’s New Testament, the Revised Standard Version, Weymouth’s New Testament, The Bible in Basic English, Darby’s Translation, the American Standard Version, and Young’s Literal Translation use “passion” in an abundance of such passages.
Beyond the passion of marriage that gives us a purpose for getting into bed each evening, there must be a passion that drives our lives and gives us a purpose for getting out of bed each morning. The Bible in Basic English uses “passion” in a number of verses to communicate the concept of zeal or driving motivation.
Through Phinehas, and because of his passion for my honour, my wrath has been turned away from the children of Israel, so that I have not sent destruction on them all in my wrath. (Numbers 25:11)
Then the king sent for the Gibeonites; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but were the last of the Amorites, to whom the children of Israel had given an oath; but Saul, in his passion for the children of Israel and Judah, had made an attempt on their lives:) (II Samuel 21:2)
I am on fire with passion for your house (For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up — KJV); and the hard things which are said about you have come on me. (Psalms 69:9)
The passion of my soul’s desire is for the house of the Lord (My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD — KJV); my heart and my flesh are crying out for the living God. (Psalms 84:2)
And it came to the minds of the disciples that the Writings say, I am on fire with passion for your house. (John 2:17)
Notice the wording of Psalm 69:9 and its New Testament reference in John 2:17: “I am on fire with passion.” The idea of being set ablaze with passion is reminiscent of Jeremiah’s summation of how the Word of God was the driving force in his life. “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” (verse 20:9) A similar thought is suggested in the story of the two men who walked with the Risen Lord on the road to Emmaus when they summed up their encounter with Him, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32) John Wesley echoed their testimony when he chronicled a journal entry concerning his conversion to Christ on May 24, 1783:
In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.
In each of these cases something kindled a fervent motivation for a cause or purpose in their hearts. The question is, “How does this happen and what is it that can set a person’s heart ablaze with such a passion for his cause?” If we can find any consistent point in each of these examples, it would be the Word of God. For Jeremiah, it was the internalized Word; for the disciples on the road, it was the preached Word; for Wesley, it was the written Word. Certainly Phinehas, King Saul, and the Psalmist also shared this one common factor of the Word of God as a kindling force for passion in their lives. Phinehas, as the grandson of the high priest Aaron and the great nephew of the lawgiver Moses, had been raised in an environment saturated with the Word of God. Saul, as the king of Israel, had handwritten a personal copy of the Torah as his own personal guidebook for life. (Deuteronomy 17:18) David had not only studied the Word for his own correction and instruction (Psalm 119:11), he also authored a major portion of the book of Psalms. Just as passion in a marriage is kindled by our words to each other, it is God’s Word to His bride that ignites passion in our lives. Just as the way we talk to our mates determines the passion in our relationship, it is the Word which we allow the Lord to speak into our hearts that determines the passion we will have in our relationship with Him.
Some two millennia ago, the Apostle John was serving time on the penal island of Patmos when the Risen Lord visited him and gave him messages to the seven churches in Turkey which he served as overseer. It is no coincidence that each of these messages ended with the command that those who have ears should hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. It was the power of the Word of God that was to effect each church and bring about the desired spiritual result. Interestingly enough, if we look carefully at the message to each church we can discover that each letter centers around one of the meanings of the word “passion.”
The letter to the church at Smyrna speaks of the passion of suffering when it describes the church as enduring tribulation, being tried, and being cast into prison. Passionate anger is expressed in the letter to the congregation at Pergamos when God Himself expresses His hatred against the doctrine of Balaam and of the Nicolaitans and when He threatens to come personally and fight against them. Passion as human nature, as opposed to divine nature, is revealed in the letter to the church at Laodicea where the congregation was so human or carnally minded that they could not even perceive of themselves as God saw them. Their human evaluation of themselves was that they were rich, increased with goods, and in need of nothing. Unfortunately, the truth was that they were actually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. They were so caught up in their human emotions that they had actually locked Jesus out of their lives.
When Jesus addressed the church at Sardis, He found that they had works but that these works were not perfect before God. Even though they had passion in that they were working for the Lord, it seems that this passion must have originated from hearts which were less than perfect. Perhaps theirs was the negative passion of jealousy and envy. The letter to the church at Thyatira goes even one step further in addressing the negative nature of passion when the spotlight is focused on the issue of the perverted passion of lust. In this letter, the Risen Lord exposes the problem of a self-proclaimed prophetess who seduced the people into committing fornication and adultery. The favorable nature of passion as a driving force for a cause is discussed in the two remaining churches — Ephesus and Philadelphia. Although both these churches had the positive kind of passion, one had it in a positive way while the other possessed it in a negative way. The church at Ephesus had a misdirected passion in that they loved the work of the Lord but not the Lord of the work. It seems that they had invested so much of their time and energy in fighting heresy and exposing hypocrisy within the ministry that they had let the most important fire of all dwindle — they had left their first love, their passion for Christ Himself!
The other remaining church, the one in Philadelphia, demonstrates passion as God would desire it operate in the lives of His people. The first thing that we notice about this church is that the Lord has nothing negative to say about it. It is only this church and the persecuted church in Smyrna who escape accusation and correction in their addresses from Jesus. The second notable characteristic about the letter to this church is the open door which Jesus has set before them — the open door to the harvest fields of the world. But before we discuss this door, it is necessary that we consider the key which Jesus had used to unlock it. It was the “key of David,” which we have already identified as a perfect heart toward the Lord.
And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:7-13)
One other unique quality which we notice about the church at Philadelphia is that, of all the seven churches, they are the only one indicated as having any relationship to the Word of God. Not only that, they are twice commended for their faithfulness to God’s Word. (verses 3:8 and 3:10) It is obviously more than a coincidence that the one significant trait we observed when we studied the passionate zeal of Phinehas, Saul, David, Jeremiah, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and John Wesley was the Word of God! Though all seven churches are admonished to hear what the Spirit is saying, apparently only this one listened and heeded. Like David, they recognized that the key to having a perfect heart toward God was to hide God’s Word in their hearts. (Psalms 119:11) For them — and for us — the key to the kingdom is a passionate love for the Word of God.
Since the Word of God can kindle the fire of God in our lives, let’s take a look at how that fire will affect us. A good place to begin might be with the prophet Elijah as he calls that fire down on the summit of Mount Carmel.
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.
And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. (1 Kings 18:21-39)
The story of Elijah’s encounter with the prophets of Baal is one of remarkable courage and confidence in God. The prophet single-handedly and courageously took on over four hundred pagan priests. His challenge to them was simple and straight forward: call down fire from heaven. “Simple?” you may ask. Yes, simple — well at least for the prophet who understood the nature of God. You see, for some it is easy to believe in and expect healing because they understand the nature of God as Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. For others, believing for financial provision is “no sweat” because they understand the nature of God as Jehovah Jirah, the God who provides. In Elijah’s case, he must have had a revelation that his God is a consuming fire. (Deuteronomy 4:24, 9:3) Surely the prophet was aware that God had chosen to reveal Himself through fire. From the very first few pages of the Bible in such instances as when He appeared as a burning bush or as a pillar of fire each night as He led the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. Certainly, the prophet would have seen that pattern and he would not have been surprised to see the same trend recurring if he had also been able to read the New Testament in which God chooses to manifest Himself in fire from the day of Pentecost right up to the very last few pages. (Revelation 19:12, 20:9) Knowing that fire is the very nature of God must have made the prophet confident that he could call upon Him and expect Him to show up as a roaring blaze to devour his sacrifice.
The interesting thing about the fire of God is that it is not some magical characteristic of a superhero which we humans observe from afar and “oooh” and “aaah” like a Fourth of July fireworks display. Rather, the fire of God is intended to intimately affect us and permeate every aspect of our lives and ministries. One cigarette company used to advertise their products as having flavor that penetrated over, under, around, and through the tobacco. In the same way, God’s purpose is that His people would experience His fire and passion over, under, around, and through their lives.
On the day of Pentecost, miraculous cloven tongues of fire suddenly appeared about the heads of all who were gathered in the Upper Room. (Acts 2:3) This was the fire of God over them to improve them. Just think for a moment who it was that comprised that crowd of one hundred and twenty individuals. Most notable were the eleven disciples who had just a few days prior fled in terror when the angry mob appeared to arrest their Leader, abandoning Him to the bloodthirsty crowd and the murderous priestly court. Peter, their most ardent spokesman, had boasted that he would die before he would allow any harm to come to the Master; yet, he not only fled from the scene — he denied three times that he even knew Him and even added a few choice swear words to emphasize his statements. Not only were they cowards, deserters, and in the case of Peter an empty braggart and a traitor; they were also selfish sluggards who repeatedly fell asleep as their Friend depended on them for moral and spiritual support as He struggled through His agonizing prayer in Gethsemane. Additionally, they were fearful unbelievers who hid behind locked doors and rebuffed those who came with reports of the Lord’s resurrection. But, now that they had been touched by the fire of God which hovered over them, they were improved! Suddenly, they were supercharged with a new boldness which propelled them fearlessly around the world into the most hostile situations to proclaim the message of the One whom they had so readily denied. They had become men of passion. Peter, the one who had run the fastest and hardest, now stood up and publicly proclaimed to the crowd that had gathered on that Pentecost Sunday that they were the ones guilty of having killed Jesus. He unabashedly accused them of bloodguilt and demanded their repentance. What a change — a transformation — had taken place in him! The fire of God over him had done its work of improving him.
Malachi, the prophet who rounded out the Old Testament, addressed the issue of a fire that God can set under His people to remove any harmful and unwanted elements. In verse two of chapter three, Malachi talks to us about the fire which a refiner uses to purify his metal. After placing the ore in a crucible, the refiner heats the apparatus until it is white hot — almost transparent in the flames. As the temperature rises, many of the impurities reach the point of spontaneous combustion and burst into flames and evaporate before the refiner’s eyes. Other impurities simply float to the top where the metallurgist can skim them off with his spatula. This fire of God under us is a purifying fire which is intended to remove any and all ungodly thoughts, attitudes, and actions out of our lives.
When John the Baptist pronounced the coming of Jesus as the messiah; he added that although his personal ministry was one of baptizing in water, Jesus would baptize in the Holy Ghost and fire. A rather traditional Pentecostal interpretation of the concept of the baptism in fire has been a super-duper anointing which enabled the believer to run around the church, jump the pews, and shout loudly; however, even a cursory look at the context of the passages reveals that this simply is not what John was talking about. The Baptist goes on to explain, “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:12) So we can see that in reality, the baptism of fire refers directly to the practice of burning the useless chaff once it has been separated from the edible grain — a purifying very similar in nature to the refiner’s fire.
Isaiah experienced this cleansing fire when he first began to make excuses to avoid the call God had placed upon his life. When he argued with God that he could not speak on His behalf since he was man of unclean lips, a seraph touched his lips with a white-hot coal from the fire upon the altar of God. The result was instantaneous. Immediately, the prophet responded, “Here I am. Send me,” the result of a purifying touch from the fire of God. (Isaiah 6:8) He readily stepped into a passion-driven ministry.
The tobacco commercial goes on to speak of “around.” Likewise, the Lord is a fire that is around His people to prove that they are actually His people. By the time he had spent forty years tending sheep in the desert, Moses had likely lost all sense of self-worth. Having once stood at that lonely place at the top of the socio-economic pyramid as a member of the royal family of the most powerful nation on the face of the earth, he undoubtedly walked, talked, and carried himself with an air of importance and significance. But by now, any sense of importance was simply a dusty memory. But then something unusual happened to this desert shepherd; he noticed a burning bush. Unlike anything he had ever seen before, this bush continued to crackle as the flames leapt from each branch and twig, but nothing seemed to be consumed by the blaze. As he stepped forward to examine this anomaly, Moses suddenly realized that — like Alice and her magical looking glass and the children in the Chronicles of Narnia and their mysterious wardrobe — he had suddenly stepped through a dimension wall into a new reality. This fire which consumes yet doesn’t destroy is a God quality that identifies His own and sets them apart from others as a whole new breed. After his encounter with this unusual fire and the God who spoke through it, Moses — for the first time in four decades — felt significant again. At long last, he felt as if he really could be the deliverer he had tried to become so many years ago. This unusual fire assured him that he was indeed God’s man and gave him a new spiritual passion that made others take note of him. Acts 4:13 records what must have been a touch of that same fire. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
The last preposition applied to the fabled tobacco is “through.” God also sends His fire through believers to move them. A great example of this is Jeremiah who decided that he couldn’t take the heat that society was putting on him as he prophesied their impending doom. Finally, he got so discouraged that he stepped outside his office and pulled down his shingle, “Jeremiah, prophet of God.” However, as we have already seen, the record of his testimony reads, “Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” (Jeremiah 20:9) The factor he hadn’t calculated into the equation when he resigned his position as God’s spokesman was the fire that was racing through his insides. Like it did in the life of the prophet, that fire of God inside us also moves us to operate in the divine unction of God to impact our world.
That internal fire is the anointing and operation of the gifts of the Spirit which enable us to move in the power of God in this physical world. Unfortunately, many of us have felt that this fire should be reserved only for use within the walls of our church buildings. To the contrary, the book of Acts records that the fire inside the apostles burned fiercely no matter where they were. As Peter strolled down a street, people were healed just by contact with his shadow. Paul stirred up demons by simply walking through town. One rather humorous example from my own experience was the day we met a lady on an elevator at a beachfront hotel. For some reason she mentioned that she had had a terrible headache for three days, so my wife asked if she could pray for her to be healed. About that time, the door opened and we stepped out to head for the beach. A few minutes later, we heard a shout from the fifth floor as the woman realized that her pain was totally gone! It doesn’t matter if you are in your sandals and bathing suit; if the fire of God is surging through your insides, it will move you to act on His behalf at any time and any place. That fire can flare up, like the saying on the old TV show Candid Camera, “when you least expect it.”
What is probably the most startling truth that God wants us to know about His fire is that His ultimate intent is to actually transform us into that fire. According to Psalm 104:4 and Hebrews 1:7, it is His plan to make His ministers into flames of fire. He is not willing to settle for ministers who have experienced fire, but ones who are actually the fire themselves. Too long we have settled for, “Lord, send the fire,” or “Lord, let me experience the fire,” while God is expecting us to pray, “Lord, make me a fire.” God is looking for more than just what happens to us, on us, or through us; He is desiring that our whole lives and personalities be characterized by His fire. We cannot settle for being carriers of the fire, lest we lose it. Nor can we be satisfied to be on fire, least we burn up. We need to be transformed into the fire itself because there is no limit to what God will do in, through, and for us when we become His fire.
Let’s look back at the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel for some summation points. First, note the reaction of the people when the prophet initially challenged them to decide between Jehovah and Baal — they answered him nothing. In other words, they were not moved or motivated by his ministry or challenge. Next, notice how the entire congregation fell on their faces and cried out, “The Lord, He is the God. The Lord, He is the God,” when they encountered the fire. If we want God to be manifest in our world, it will only happen when His fire is demonstrable and demonstrated though us. We must be ignited with the passion of God through His Word if we want our lives to have meaning and impact — if we want to have a harvest passion.