Answer by Fire

Answer by Fire

When Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and spoke to the men of Athens, he noticed that they were very religious in all things. They had even set up an altar with this inscription: “To The Unknown God,” whom they worshiped. Acts. 17:23.

Like the men of Athens, there are also many people in our days who are very religious and who worship an unknown God. They worship God in a manner of their own choosing—to the satisfaction of their flesh. They are so zealous in this service that they do not have time to learn to know the true God. We must take care to have fellowship with the Lord in everything we do. He has intimate fellowship with those who fear Him, and He will show them His covenant. Ps. 25:14.

God is not pleased with sacrifices of my own choosing, but with a broken and contrite heart. We shall bring only the sacrifices that God requires and which He has approved. If we do this, we can be sure of His acknowledging answer by fire in our hearts. We will receive an answer as Elijah did on Mount Carmel. He called out, “Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” This prayer pleased the Lord. Elijah did not sacrifice or pray for his own gain, but that the people might learn to know the Lord and that His name might be glorified. Then we read, “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.” 1 Kings 18:37-38.

Just as Elijah called out with all his heart for an answer by fire from the Lord, so we, too, must call out for such an answer from the Lord. Let us not do anything indifferently. May we always stand before the Lord’s face, having our hearts cleansed from an evil conscience. May our intentions be pure and noble in everything that we do. May we not do the good simply because we are commanded to do so, but out of love, a love that does not seek its own. Let us never vacate our place at the altar of fire. Let us lay down our own honor on this altar: our pride, vanity, youthful dreams, our hopes in this world, etc.—in short, everything that can be burned. Then let us call out to the Lord with all our heart for an answer by fire, and we can be sure that He will not fail us. The fire will consume the sacrifice with everything that is around it: the water, the stones, and the dust. However, we will also experience peace like a river in our hearts. The Sun of Righteousness will arise for us with healing in His wings, and we shall go out and jump like stall-fed calves. Mal. 4:2.

The fire on the altar had to be kept burning; it was not allowed to go out. Lev. 6:9. There is always enough in our life to keep this fire going if we are willing to sacrifice everything as God’s Spirit reminds us of it. No flesh can live on the altar; it must die. He who loses his life shall find it again. If we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him. In other words, there is only one way to life and glory: the way of suffering and death. However, there are few who are willing to take up this position at the altar all their life and be law-bound to Christ so that they never will live according to their lusts. The majority of believers seek out other ways. They want to serve God in their own way. They bring the sacrifices that suit them. Such people only smile when we speak to them about suffering and battling, because this is something they know nothing about in their service for God. Consequently, God’s fire is absent. Such people will soon become empty and dry, and preachers in particular will do anything to arrange a fire so that it is not so easily noticed by others. As a rule, people are quite adept at doing this in the assemblies. They think up the most unbelievable things to maintain their current membership numbers. If God does not acknowledge their efforts with an answer by fire, they ask the county commissioner, the mayor, and other notables to gather with them to get their blessing for their church. But this is where the two sons of Aaron should be a serious warning for us, for time and eternity. They offered profane fire before the Lord, and for this they were slain. Lev. 10:1-2. May this be an exhortation for us to greater seriousness. We need to understand that it is useless to advance on any way other than the one which God has ordained for us. Let us dwell by the eternal flame, by the consuming fire, so that the Lord can refine us as gold and silver. Then we will not need to worry about being acknowledged by people. God acknowledges us, and that is sufficient. He cares for our honor, our progress, and everything else. We know whom we believe; we know the God whom we serve and worship. Neither devils nor demons can move us in our faith. It is as it says in a song: “They lived in lowly places, but when they came in sight, there was no ruler in the land who moved them by his might.”