Fire and Glory

Fire and Glory

“The sight of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain in the eyes of the children of Israel.” Ex. 24:17.

All the glory of the Lord is revealed by fire. The glory that we have among us—the blessed fellowship in the Spirit, glorious brotherhood, the power of God, and wisdom, joy, and peace—all this we have received by going through the fire. Therefore we have learned to value the fire of the Lord and to rejoice in it. The Lord is a consuming fire, and it is impossible to press into fellowship with Him without entering into the fire. This is how it must be in the church: we must not have fellowship with anyone except in the fire. We can only melt together by the holy fire of the Lord, and this oneness will endure for time and eternity. An older brother said at the Easter conference that when you weld two pieces of steel together they need to be heated by fire until they become white-hot. Then when they are joined, they are joined for good. This is how we are made one by the fire of God. Lukewarm people can never have fellowship with one another.

The natural man, with all his peculiarities and habits, with all his vanity and honor seeking, etc., has to go into the fire if he is to experience transformation to divine nature. Whether this transformation occurs quickly or slowly depends on his attitude of mind. However, most people shrink back from this fire and are never transformed. Many people throw away precious time by remaining on the periphery for years without really daring to go into the midst of the fire.

This transformation does not take place instantly. However, if we want godliness with all our heart, and we love the truth, we will let God’s fire pass over us for our refining and cleansing in our daily fiery trials—whether they be great or small. Then we enter into the fire where Christ and the saints have gone before us. If we enter there, He is not ashamed to call us brethren. Together with these brothers He will present Himself before His Father’s throne, which is a fiery flame and from which issues a fiery stream (Dan. 7:9-10), and He will praise God in their midst. Heb. 2:12. These brothers are born in the fire; they are at home in the fire and shall sit on these fiery thrones together with Christ.

“Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice, to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.” 1 Pet. 4:12-13.

There is still much left in all of us that needs to be consumed; so let us not be amazed and think it strange when we come into the fire through the many trials, but we should rather know that this is the only way to true joy and everlasting rejoicing.

The fire dwells in us to the extent that it has done its work in us, and to this same degree we have become witnesses of the fire. There is a need for many such fire-witnesses in these last days.