The Lord Manifests His Presence In The Fire

I am continuing to post articles on the manifest presence of God. We have already seen that He manifests Himself in the mountains and the valleys – now we find Him manifested in the midst of fire.

God is found in the fire – To reveal His Holiness

May of these examples of God’s presence-fire show the fire falling supernaturally from heaven. We think of heat (fire) rising, but God defies all natural laws as He manifests His presence in holy fire. The Lord is a holy God, and He requires that His Bride be holy also.

Deut. 4:24 For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.      (Heb. 12:29)

We will never fully know what the Lord looks like until we see Him face to face, but we do know that there is a holy fire burning before His presence. This all points to the absolute holiness of God. He is supreme in power and purity. Nothing unclean can stand in His presence.

Ps. 97:3 A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about.

           

Ezek. 8:2 Then I looked, and there was a likeness, like the appearance of fire--from the appearance of His waist and downward, fire; and from His waist and upward, like the appearance of brightness, like the color of amber.

There are special times in our lives when we need to meet the Lord in seasons of calling and consecration, and it seems as though He comes to us and reveals Himself in fire during these times.  Some of the pressures and difficulties we walk through may seem like fire. Our first response to trials can be the same as when we get too close to fire - we try to get far away. With God's fire, however we need to allow His passion and purity to be seared into our hearts. An encounter with the fire of God's manifest presence will mark us for life! Here are 7 times where we see God sending out His fire on lives that are consecrated to His service:

1. The Lord sometimes appears from the midst of fire

Ex. 3:2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.

God’s manifest presence will always call us to holiness.

His fire cleanses

2. He took the entire nation of Israel through the wilderness for 40 years with a supernatural cloud during the day and a supernatural fire at night.

Ex. 13:21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night.

God lead His people through this time of testing with His manifest presence going before them day and night – He was leading His holy people to His holy land.

His fire brings light

3. The Lord spoke to Moses from the midst of fire

Deut. 5:4 The LORD talked with you face to face on the mountain from the midst of the fire.

God’s words to us from the place of His manifest presence will bring us to a hunger for holiness

His fire builds zeal

4. The Lord sent His supernatural fire to the Tabernacle of Meeting where He started the fire at the altar of burnt offerings. The fire was then taken to the altar of incense where prayer and worship rose continually before the Lord

Lev. 9:23-24 And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of meeting, and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people,

and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.

The sacrifices on the altar were consumed by fire – they paid the price for God’s people to live in holiness. Our continual prayer and worship must be fueled from the place of sacrifice. Every aspect of our ministry before the Lord must come from holy hearts. First the fire – then the fruit; first the fire then the song of Worship

His fire starts further fire in our lives

5. The Lord sent fire down to consume Elijah’s sacrifice. In this story, Elijah was doing battle against the prophets of Baal. God proved His sovereignty by sending fire in answer to Elijah’s prayer.

1 Kings 18: 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

All false gods in our lives will be defeated by the purifying fire of God’s presence. So many of these supernatural fires fell on prepared sacrifices. We need to consecrate our lives and ministries to the Lord and call on Him to set us on fire! All the people saw the fire from God’s presence and fell on their faces before our Holy God – all the unholy priests of Baal were executed

His fire separates holy from unholy, clean from unclean

6. The Lord sent fire on Solomon’s sacrifice.  As Solomon dedicated the temple in Jerusalem he sought God with all of His heart. There was great unity among the worshipers and Solomon was fervent in prayer. This is another fire that supernaturally came down from heaven and

2 Chron. 7:1-2 When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord had filled the Lord's house.

God’s fire accompanies revival – we must have a longing for the presence of God to fall on us and ignite a passion for revival and His holy presence.

His fire is a sign of His favor  

7. The Lord sent His manifest presence on the Day of Pentecost. He came as tongues of fire into each Believer. The Holy Spirit is God’s ultimate expression of supernatural fire.

Acts 2:3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

This experience should not just be for that one day in the Book of Acts – we need to wait on God and seek His face for a Baptism of fire – to equip us as holy people for a holy task. Prior to Acts chapter two, the disciples were a weak and fearful group of men. The fire that fell upon them on the day of Pentecost caused them to be transformed into impassioned, radical witnesses for the Lord. None of us have weaknesses that are beyond the reach of the fire of God. His hand is able to touch every inadequacy and vulnerability within us and infuse us with His strengths. If He has called us, He will empower us. If He has challenged us, He will equip us. Our weaknesses are not the end of the story of our lives. This fire affected their minds, their tongues, and their hands.

His fire is the power for His holy people to live supernaturally  

A Holy life is the womb for spiritual authority.

GOD IS WITH US IN THE FIRE:

Is. 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.

In the 7 fires mentioned above, it is the Lord who manifested His presence as a fire. In each case, the Lord brought His people near and built holiness and zeal into their hearts. But…when evil men try to set fire to us for the sake of destruction, the Lord will be with us and His presence will save us as He saved Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego:

Dan. 3:25 “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.”

Dan. 3:27 And the satraps, administrators, governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together, and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected, and the smell of fire was not on them.

When we go through the fire and find God,

We will emerge with the fire coming out of us