TALK TWENTY. BAPTIZED WITH FIRE John the Baptist said, when speaking of the work of the coming Messiah, “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” The symbolic tongues of fire which sat on the believers on the day of Pentecost represented a very real something which from henceforth would be manifested in their lives. It is not my purpose here to enter into an explanation of the Baptist’s words. I wish to speak only of the fervency which fire represents as it should characterize our lives. The life that has in it no fervency has little or nothing of God. The soul that is vigorous in God is a soul full of power. We need to be “on fire” for God, and there are three ways in which this fervency should manifest itself. A Burning Love. We need a fervent love. It is the foundation, as it were, of all Christian fervency. If our love lacks fervency, it lacks the vital element that makes it effective. If our love for God is kindled into a burning passion, it will put him before all else. His will and desire will be the delight of our hearts. His service will be no task, to sacrifice for him will be easy, and to obey him will be our meat. It will make our consciences tender toward him. What he loves we shall love, and whom he loves we shall love. If our love is fervent, we shall love truth, and we shall love it as it is worthy to be loved—above our own opinions or ideas and more than the teachings of men. We will not sacrifice it or deny it for ease or comfort or to please others. We shall strive to make our lives conform to it. We shall labor with all our strength to spread it over the world. If we love the truth, we shall be missionaries whether we are at home or abroad. Love begets labor. A fervent love of the brethren glows in the heart that is full of God. It will burn up criticism and backbiting. It will burn up division and strife. It will destroy jealousy and envy. It will make peace in the home, in the church, and in the individual heart. A thousand troubles come when love grows cold: the eyes see no more as they once saw, the ears hear no more as before, the tongue talks differently, and the heart feels differently, the glow dies out of the eyes, the tenderness leaves the touch, sympathy wanes in the heart, and there is ashes for beauty and heaviness instead of praise. When the first love is left, when the divine fire is quenched, out of the life has gone its richness, its transfiguring beauty; and what is left?