What Does the Fire Do?

Part 1

When the fire falls, we see God for who He really is. Both the Old and New Testaments reveal God to be a God of fire.

In the 20th century, we have come to teach and worship two Gods - “the God of the Old Testament,” who is holy and just and judges sin; and “the God of the New Testament,” who is loving, merciful, and gracious.

But the God of the Old Testament is the same as the God of the New Testament. At Mt. Sinai, where the law was given, God revealed Himself with “lightnings and thunderings and voices.”

Then, in the last book of the Bible, the Apostle John was given a glimpse into the throne room of heaven. Out of that throne “proceeded lightnings and thundering voices.”

What we have today is a concept of God as a gray-haired, cosmic grandfather, sitting in a rocking chair, pushing buttons, passively tolerating and winking at the sin in the world and the church.

But God has not changed since Mt. Sinai. The only difference in John’s vision is that there is a lamb next to the throne. He has given His life to satisfy the wrath of a holy God against our sin. But God is no less holy or just. He is no less a God of wrath and judgment against those who spurn the provision of the cross by sinning willfully.

When the fire falls, God comes. And when God shows up, people are more comfortable on their face on the floor than sitting in a pew. The beloved Apostle John fell back, terrorized at the vision of God. Even the seraphims in Isaiah’s vision had to cover their faces from the overwhelming view of God’s holiness and glory.

Dear friend, how long has it been since you’ve seen God? How long since you have been overcome by the awareness of His holiness and a sense of your unworthiness before Him?

What Does the Fire Do?
Part 2

When the fire falls, it consumes everything that is unholy, earthly, or temporal. The fire of God purifies, purges, melts, and devours, for “our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). God is like a refiner’s fire that brings impurities to the surface, and exposes and consumes them:

“But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap” (Mal. 3:2).

When the fire falls, sin is judged and dealt with thoroughly and uncompromisingly - not just the obvious sins of the flesh, but subtle, secret sins of the spirit, as well. Masks of respectability are pulled off, pretense stripped away, and the souls of men laid bare before the gaze of an all-seeing, all-knowing God.

When the fire comes, there is deep heart conviction and grief over sin. The intense searchlight of God’s holiness makes things once thought acceptable, to suddenly become abhorrent.

Indifference is turned to mourning. A casual attitude toward sin is replaced by brokenness and genuine repentance.

When the fire falls, the efforts and works of believers are tested. Much of what appeared to be spiritual activity is exposed to be nothing more than fleshly effort and is consumed as wood, hay, and stubble.

When the fire falls, our traditional methods and programs are all yielded to His Lordship and the Holy Spirit begins to preside in reality over the workings and operation of His Church.

When the fire falls, there is power, there is life, there is purity, there is spontaneity, there is reality.

Where is the fire of God today? Where is the evidence of His presence and power? Where is the sense of awe, of wonder, of fear in His presence? Where are the tears of brokenness and contrition?

Where are lost people falling on their faces, overcome by the reality of God’s presence in the midst of His people? What church in your community is know to have the fire of God? In what Sunday School class, home, mom, dad, or teenager is the fire present?

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