"And not yet has it been made visible
what we shall be. We know absolutely that whenever it is made visible, like ones
to Him we shall be, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has
this hope continually set on Him is constantly purifying himself just as that
One is pure." [1 John 3:2-3, Wuest].
AS HE IS-the word "IS," a
verb form indicative of the verb BE, which refers to a state of being, for IS
serves as a connecting verb meaning, TO COINCIDE IN IDENTITY WITH. Oh to see Him
as He is, and to become identified in His state of being. What a tremendous
vision the holy Spirit unfolds, and while it staggers the imagination, yet the
heart can cry out, whatever GOD has purposed, may it be fulfilled in us
according to the riches of His grace given us in Christ Jesus.
"It is after all only by
faith that our minds accept as fact that the whole scheme of time and space was
designed by God― that the world which we can see is operating on principles that
are invisible." [Hebrews 11:3, Phillips]. It is a hidden work, wrought in the
"inner man," invisible for the most part to those who would try and see what
"fruitage" they can discover as the result of our vision. But there is a CHANGE
being wrought in God's chosen, and in His own time HE shall pull back the veil,
removing this present veil of flesh, to then manifest HIS SONS, who shallbe identified in His substance, which
is spirit; identified in His state of being, which is oneness; identified in His
form and expression, which is light in all of its ascending vibratory
manifestations; and to be identified in HIS ENERGY FORCE OF FIRE.
FIRE― holds within its
nature an invisible principle, we can tell about it in its action and
mannerisms, but to completely define it, leaves one at a loss. It has been
stated however, in a scientific writing, that FIRE RESTORES ALL THINGS TO ITS
ORIGINAL STATE. This we rejoice in, and how we desire to be identified in that
energy force which is restoring all into its original state, and developing it
to its highest potential in God's purpose.
Deity is manifested through
FIRE, as kinetic energy (energy on the move) , which is coordinated with
equilibrium of BALANCE which is the CENTRE between every pair of opposites, to
stand unchanged and unmoved between the absolute and the conditional, between
the finite and the infinite. Jesus Christ must be, for us, the SUPREME CENTRE,
to provide for us that perfect BALANCE AND HARMONY in all things. He alone can
control the divine interplay between good and evil, or between whatever the two
opposites are. He is able to move in both the negative and positive realms, and
yet blend them together to work out His own purpose, and bring it to full
victory without permanent loss or destruction.
Fire, in its manifestation,
is closely linked to light, but it is also balanced in its operation by the
ONENESS OF GOD, and is not divided in its work, part to do evil, and part to do
good, for IN HIM EVERY THING WORKS INTO GOOD. It is only when He allows a
temporary perversion of fire that it brings forth a certain negative
consequence. But even this is ultimately used to work out HIS purpose. "Surely
the wrath of man shall praise Thee: the remainder of wrath shalt Thou restrain."
[Psalm 76:10]. He restrains all that will not serve to work out His purpose, and
ultimately redound to His praise. What, for a time, seems to be working only
evil, shall ultimately be turned into good, else He simply does not allow it to
exist. He controls all! HE IS GOD!
Our usual thought of fire,
and especially under the false, traditional concepts of "everlasting hell fire,"
was that it was a purely negative force, working only for evil and destruction.
But God is not divided in Himself, He is a consuming fire, and not with a dual
nature, for He is ONE― His action of fire towards the believer is for
purification and restoration. His action of fire towards an unbeliever is for
the same purpose, conditioning and preparing that one for good results, when,
having been purged of all selfhood's rebellion, they bow and receive Christ as
their Saviour. THE FIRE DOES NOT SAVE THEM, it helps to prepare them for His
salvation, but JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAVIOUR, and no man cometh unto the Father
except through this One who is The Way, The Truth, and The Life.
"Our God is a consuming
fire." The word "consuming" from the Greek word "katanalisko" meaning TO USE UP
UTTERLY. Heretofore we have been too carnal to have been entrusted with very
much of this energy force of God, for like the disciples, we would have been
tempted to misuse the fire. And when His disciples, James and John saw this,
they said, "Lord, wilt Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and
CONSUME them, even as Elias did?" [LUKE 9:54]. And Jesus told them that they
knew not what spirit they were of, to want to use God's energy force for
destructive purposes only. In due time, those who were not following Christ, as
the disciples observed, will probably be dealt with BY FIRE, but not for the
purpose of destruction, but for purification and ultimate restoration. HE will
consume all the rebellion of self, saving the sinner, but removing the sin.
There is a blessed control in His nature of love, so that He will consume what
needs to be consumed, but will also build and restore the one thus being dealt
with so severely, even by His process of fire.
"But if ye bite and devour
one another, take heed that ye be not CONSUMED one of another." [Galatians 5:5].
How much of our fiery indignation towards others in the past was only to consume
them, but not for the purpose of seeing them brought out of their present state,
purified and lifted into a higher realm? "If any of you do err from the truth,
and one CONVERT him; let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the
error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of
sins." [James 5:19-20]. Praise the Lord!
The third usage of the word
"consume" as found in the scriptures, is in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, "And then shall
that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall CONSUME with the Spirit of His
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." Here is a very
interesting factor, when man, in his carnality would use fire, and try to
consume, it works negative results, but when GOD moves upon the scene, to
consume the evil, it works into a glorious purpose of GOOD. When the Lord comes
to deal with all of the anti-christ system, and the anti-christ spirit which
usurps position, HE shall CONSUME with the Spirit of His mouth. Now, if this
word "consume" meant to utterly annihilate, then the following statement of the
verse would be useless, for it reads on, "AND shall destroy with the brightness
of His coming." One cannot "destroy" something which has already been consumed
in the sense of being annihilated. The word "destroy" used here means TO MAKE OF
NONE EFFECT. You cannot make of "none effect" something which no longer exists.
Therefore we must examine this a bit closer to comprehend the scope of its
meaning.
The Hebrew word for
"consuming" as used in connection with this, from the Old Testament references,
is "akal" meaning TO EAT, DEVOUR. This speaks of a whole process of ABSORBING
INTO ONESELF, not an annihilation, but to change its form completely, and ill
the case of fire, restoring back to rightness. When Jesus comes upon an
individual, as a consuming fire, it is to absorb INTO HIMSELF all of that which
was out of harmony with His purpose and character, and to restore all such
elements back into good. HE ABSORBS US INTO HIS LIFE, and while we do lose our
own self-life, in all of its ego-rebellion, we find that we have a NEW LIFE on a
much higher plane, fulfilled in HIS MORE ABUNDANT LIFE.
Now, all processes of
development in the Word are connected with fire, for all sacrifices were
accompanied with fire, and perfection is promised through fire. Our whole
concept and attitude need to be changed, girded up to the truth, so that we can
view fire for its positive aspects, and not just according to the negative
viewpoints we have held in the past.
In the study of fire
itself, we find that fire works through combustion, which is a PROCESS
ACCOMPANIED BY THE EVOLUTION OF LIGHT AND HEAT. Praise God, this easily relates
to the spiritual process whereof we speak. In our present state, subject to the
bondage of vanity, on this grossly material plane, we are moving on a very low
vibratory level. But as the fire of God works in us, it raises us to higher
degrees and planes of light, that we may "walk in the light, as He is in the
light." Wherein then is the loss? We only lose our carnal mind, that we might
possess HIS MIND, and we exchange the realm of darkness for the realm of light.
"From
sinking sand, He lifted me,
With
tender hands, He lifted me,
From
shades of night to planes of light,
0, praise
His name, He lifted me."
The most familiar of all
the processes of fire, is when the Oxygen of the atmosphere combines with the
combustible material. Oxygen is a beautiful type of the Spirit. Introduce the
SPIRIT OF GOD into any given situation, and He will burn out all the dross and
restore back into pure spirit form again. Now, sometimes we pray for the Lord to
hasten His work within us, but let it be remembered, the more rapid the
combustion, the greater the heat! We would like to be changed into His image,
but we don't like all the intense heat of the tremendous fiery transition.
"Who among us shall dwell
with the devouring (consuming) fire? Who among us shall dwell with the
everlasting (age-abiding) burning?" [Isaiah 33:14].
Nevertheless, we rejoice to
know that FIRE IS REMEDIAL IN ITS PURPOSE!
"For everyone shall be
salted (seasoned) with fire." [Mark 9:49]. Or as the Moffatt translation gives,
"Everyone has to be consecrated by the fire of discipline."
That which has been
thoroughly processed by the fire, need fear the fire no more, for once the dross
is gone, only the form is changed to higher degress. Solids become fluid,
liquids become vapour, and as we go through the fiery trials, it is only to
bring us into a higher SPIRITIZED STATE OF BEING, where we shall redound to the
praise and glory of God.
"And the sight (appearance)
of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring (consuming) fire... in the eyes of
the children of Israel." [Exodus 24: 17].
When HE shall appear, we
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. The climax of the
fire-process, as He comes suddenly to His temple, shall reveal us in a new state
of being, truly to become the glory of the Lord. And remember, beloved friend,
if we are not being changed by degrees now, through every day and its allotted
travail, we will not want to see Him when He appears, for His appearance is like
a consuming fire, and we will not be ready to endure the full force thereof in
one climactic moment. But if we are now BEING CHANGED from glory to glory, then
His coming to us will be the rightful climactic conclusion to the process which
has been working in us up to that moment.
There shall be a tremendous
climax to this long transitional process, and He shall have HIS OWN prepared for
that day, while the rest shall not, yea, durst not behold Him until they
likewise have been fully prepared.
There are some specific
areas which are to be dealt with by the fire, and so we shall examine them,
beginning with Deuteronomy 4:15-16, 23-24. "Take ye therefore good heed unto
yourselves; for ye saw no manner of similitude on the day the Lord spake unto
you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire. Lest ye corrupt, and make you a
graven image... which the Lord thy God hath forbidden thee. For the Lord thy God
is a consuming fire."
Praise God, the FIRE shall
utterly consume ALL ARTIFICIAL IMAGES that the true reality might remain. The
combustion process brings forth light. Thus the very devouring process which
works within us to bring an end to all false imagery, also works to bring forth
a greater and
clearer revelation of our true God.
Only fire can end the images of carnal concept and then develop the true
reality. Thus, all graven images become the fuel for the fire, and as they are
consumed, the energy released is used to build and birth in us the true
revelations of God.
"Then said he unto me, Son
of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark,
every man in the chambers of HIS IMAGERY?" [Ezekiel 8:12].
The prophet was shocked, as
he was led through a hole in the wall, to behold all the creatures portrayed
upon the walls, creeping things, bestial things, as in the chambers of their
imagery they corrupted their concepts of God. "Thus they changed their glory
into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forgot God their
Saviour..." [Psalm 106:20-21].
Man, who was to be in the
image and glory of God, has so perverted and distorted that image in his own
concept, that it has brought him to utter disgrace and humiliation. One cannot
change GOD'S GLORY, for He is truly unchangeable, but we, who are to become the
expressions of His glory, can become exceedingly corrupt and perverted. Man is
to become AS HIS GOD, and if your God is only an OX, or a creeping thing, then
that is what you are to become, to be as your God is. 0, how we need the fire to
cleanse our imagery, so that we might have a true revelation of our God, and
then what we are to become as we become ONE IN HIM.
Christendom has had a very
limited concept of God, and so has been their redemption. The more we limit God,
the more we limit our own change. Praise HIM, all the many distorted caricatures
of our God, of His purpose, of His grace, of His love, all shall be made to pass
through the fire, until all the distortions shall be consumed, their burning
heat to only be used to bring forth a new vision, that adequate revelation of
HIS CENTRAL SUPREMACY, which will balance everything previously distorted.
Next, we read, "Who can
stand before the children of Anak! ―as a consuming fire HE shall destroy
them..." [Deuteronomy 9:2-3].
Anak― meaning, giant, or
long-necked. Thus the children, the offspring, the fears and doubts,
imaginations and ideas of the giants, the all-out-of-proportion, exalted
flesh-ego, when dealt with by the fire, shall distress us no more. Seems we have
had a lot of giants in our lives, things which were mushroomed all out of
proportion, mole hills that suddenly became mountains, which produced fears and
doubts and greatly distressed us. All this is the product, the offspring of the
carnal mind, but the fire is able to deal with it completely, and consume the
whole. Carnal imaginations will run wild no more. Supposed thoughts will not
take form in us, and we will not impute sin to others, nor falsely charge them
with guilt. There is no need to be-labour the point here, but if there is any
thing in our lives which has become a giant to us, and we seem not to be able to
overcome it, just let the fire of God handle it, and new victory will be ours.
"Nadab and Abihu ...offered
strange fire before the Lord... and there went out FIRE FROM THE LORD and
devoured (consumed) them." [Leviticus 10:1-2].
The consuming fire of God
swallows up and takes care of all the "strange fire" of perverted desire. 0, men
have offered up so much strange fire unto the Lord. How often we have seen these
strange fires ― "Lord, you move and bless this work, etc." when what was really
meant was that they wanted God to bless THEIR work, to help build THEIR
kingdoms, and enhance THEIR reputation. It was a fire, an energy force that was
all out of balance to His true purpose and working. But we pray God to purge our
desires, and bring us into that one desire, TO DO, AND BECOME HIS WILL.
Even in the matter of our
daily living, we often get a fire of desire for a new car, a new house, this or
that, and so we pray earnestly for them. We quote all the scriptures which say
He will give us the desires of our heart, and we wrap it up with a praise by
faith that He will do all that we ask, and then we present it to the Lord-a
strange fire. But God is able to consume all the strange fires of fleshly
desire, until we want nothing else but His perfect will, and whatever He
provides for us.
I do not say that it is all
wrong in itself to desire these natural things, for He does graciously provide
all our earthly needs. But there is a difference in holding all these desires,
even those which HE implants in us, before Him, so that they are kept pure, and
not suddenly turned into coveteous desires which energize us to work day and
night to obtain, and so we forget God, and have no time to serve Him. When HE
puts within us some desire for a certain natural thing, then we can offer that
desire right back to Him, and wait for Him to fulfill it in His own time and
way, and it does not become a perverted desire, to burn as a strange fire in us.
It is an interesting process to see how the FIRE OF GOD can handle all of our
natural wants and wishes. The fiery trials work in us, until all these things
lose their importance, and our desire for them vanishes away. This is expressed
so beautifully in a verse written by a dear friend :
"Petty things of transient fancy,
earthly baubles made of clay,
Seem the things I thought important in
my recent yesterday,
Houses, lands and passing treasures all
have taken second place,
All else fades to crumbling ashes in
the beauty of Thy face."
Praise God, when all else
is burned out and gone, the pure fire of a divinely implanted desire will burn
on until it has developed into glorious reality. He is able to replace the
perverted desire with a pure desire, and then fulfill it. God does not give you
a desire for something of Himself which shall not someday be consummated in
glorious reality.
"And say to the forest of
the south, Hear the Word of the Lord, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will
kindle a fire in thee, and it shall devour (consume) every green tree in thee,
and every dry tree." [Ezekiel 20:27].
The Scripture often speaks
of Israel's idolatrous worship as being under "every green tree, and upon every
high hill." Thank God for the fire which shall consume every present religious
program of man, and all those dead, past programs, with their hangover
traditions. Now a "dry tree" still carries the form, but there is no life in it.
And far, far too long have we been encumbered with the dead "forms of godliness"
which have neither life nor power in them. A "green tree" still has a bit of
life, and there are some present movements which even have some "spiritual life"
in them, but they are man-oriented and directed, they serve to satisfy the
flesh, and there is no need to become taken up with all of these GREEN TREES
that we begin to sing and dance our songs beneath their branches, and forget to
follow on to know the Lord in His
fulness.
Often, it is well nigh
impossible to see the "light of heaven" because of the denseness of the forest
of tradition and carnal pride of religious men, as they exalt their little
flourishing programs, which are being used of God to help some on a certain
level, but which are not leading on into the deeper realities.
Seems that the more we want
to come into spiritual maturity and the fulness of God, the more we battle the
"dry tree" with its old forms of worship and tradition. Or we get confused by
the splendor of certain "green trees" which are still with us. Then people
wonder why, if God is blessing a certain thing, we do not desire to run with it,
and lend it all of our support. BUT THE GOOD IS OFTEN AN ENEMY OF THE BEST, and
our heart has caught a glimpse of the realities to come, so that we cannot, we
dare not come into bondage under any present green tree.
There are
so many dry trees, programs that have died, served their purpose and now are
empty, but their dead forms still clutter up the ground. And there are plenty of
green trees around yet, trees of man's planting-and methinks there is much in
each of us yet which still tries to plan and direct the move of God, trying to
channel the working of the Spirit according to our ideas. But the fire of God is
able to consume them all, and bring us into the full outworking of the sovereign
will of God. By His grace we are determined to be in that place in our spiritual
development where we can readily let go of even the green trees, to follow on as
the Spirit sovereignly directs our pathway. We do not condemn either the past
programs, nor the present ones, what God uses He uses, but all shall pass
through the fire, and anything that has been as an idolatrous worship shall be
consumed. When there is nought in us left for the fire to consume, we shall
become one in, and with the fire. Yes, we are a people with a purpose-and part
of that purpose is to become ONE WITH HIM WHO IS A CONSUMING FIRE, so fully
purified ourselves that we can become part of the fire used to restore all
things to their original state. Parabolic, or mystical as this might seem to be,
there is a vital truth in it, and may the Spirit of God work it to the full
within each of His apprehended ones, those called to become the first fruits of
His new creation, for He "maketh His angels spirits; His ministers a flaming
fire." [Psalm 104:4].
CONSUMING FIRE
Consuming
fire that now burns,
Devouring
all the flesh that spurns
The move
of God, which now returns
To fuse
us into one with God.
Energy
force― His power divine,
In
perfect balance to align
Each soul
that thou dost now refine
Into the
harmony of God
Restoring
to our first estate,
Thou
didst become the narrow gate
Leading
into the way that's straight,
For our
returning into God.
Consuming
fire― this we know,
That
though we're caught within thy throe,
Ere thou
art finished, we shall grow
Into the
image of our God.
And so we
do not fear thy ways,
Nor
shrink from thy consuming blaze,
For thou
dost turn our loss to praise
Acceptable unto our God.
A friend,
and not a foe, thou art,
Thus on
the altar of our heart
Remain
with us, to now impart
The
glor'ous triumph of our God.
Until in
Christ we, too, shall be
Fulfillment of the mystery―
A living,
bright reality,
Consuming
fire of our God!
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