Consuming Fire

Twice in the scripture, once in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 4:24) and once in the New Testament (Hebrews 12:29) our God is described as a consuming fire. In one of the most colorful illustrations of God's power, the three Hebrew young men who would not bow to King Nebuchadnezzar's idol, an image of gold 90 feet high and 9 feet wide. They were thrown into the fiery furnace, heated up seven times hotter than usual, so hot that those that threw them in the furnace were destroyed. Even the wicked king recognized the Son of God walking with them in the fire. It is significant that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked out of the furnace without even the smell of fire on their clothing. There is no record of God walking out of the fire with them. (Daniel 3)

All the disciples were interesting. Perhaps Simon Peter was the most interesting. Peter was an old man when he wrote in his epistle, That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. (I Peter 1:7) This verse has been a stronghold to many of us in times of need. Peter was familiar with fire; because he had warmed himself at the enemy's fire when he three times denied our blessed Lord with cursing on the night of the crucifixion. Later, after the resurrection, by a fire on the seashore, Christ had asked him again, three times if he loved Him. At Pentecost it was Peter who preached the great sermons, Acts 2, when fire came down and 6000 people were saved.

The fire of God's love and passion consumed the very being of the all the disciples as they went forth to convert the world and most died as martyrs. Like the fire falling on Mt. Carmel (I Kings 18) when the prophet Elijah, demonstrated for time and eternity the consuming power of God to unbelievers. This is the day for believers to get off their knees and to stand up for the sovereign power of God to cleanse the world of impurities by the all consuming fire of love which burns in the heart of every Christian. Christ does not need cowards to carry His cross. He needs those with conviction and courage. I truly believe that 95% of faith is just raw courage. Christ, standing on the outside, looking into our church houses, would say, “What is wrong with those people?” A preacher at the pulpit does not have enough passion to preach the fullness of sin's ruin and Christ's redemption, but will just read something which he copied from the internet or some other place.

One cannot love without giving. One cannot love without serving. The greatest joy in the world this day or ever is the Joy of the Lord, found in giving, serving and worship. Paul said, “Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4)

The scariest thing for a blind person is fire, because we cannot see it (I am a totally blind, 100% disabled, medical-officer veteran of the Korean conflict). I must be so careful in preparing my food, and I often have the awful awakening experience in the middle of the night in thinking that the house is on fire. Fire is so destructive, so deadly, I do not believe one ever recovers from the fire of warfare. I can still hear two girls screaming from burns in an Army hospital after they burned in a house after fire fights. My grandparents talked about their parents telling them about homes burning, in the community on Sherman's march to the sea, through eastern North Carolina, burning houses and barns.

One of the saddest days of my life was when the barn burned on the farm, only twice in my life, in spite of all the horrors of life at that time, I saw my father cry. The other time was when my mother died. Looking at the burned barn, burned farm equipment, the thought occurred to me, “will he and my mother still be as faithful in their Christian belief?” You would never have known that anything had happened, they were singing as usual at church the next Sunday. Many times I have referred those who have gone through the fire to this verse from Peter, an old man who had experienced much. That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:7)

These days, when we hear so much about the value of gold, the importance of investing in Gold, the fire which determines our faith is much more valuable than gold. Remember, the potter uses fire to make something beautiful, and he never takes his eye off the wheel.