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.
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
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
