Spirit and Fire

Spirit and Fire

John the Baptist baptized with water unto repentance, but Jesus, who was mightier, came to baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Matt. 3:11. This could not occur before the day of Pentecost, but even as Jesus walked with His disciples, He said, “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” Luke 12:49.

There cannot be any divine glory in our lives without God’s fire. “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.

When God spoke to Moses about the laws and commandments of the old covenant, He was referring to the external fire and glory that was visible to the natural eye. Now everything occurs in the sanctuary of the heart, and the fire and glory that follow the laws of the Spirit of life are an eternal and imperishable glory.

When Jesus saw all the manifestations of human nature in the disciples (for example, when they disputed about who was the greatest among them), He wished that the fire that was burning in His heart were already burning in their hearts. It was this burning fire of love that united Him with all God’s will and nature—a consuming fire against all sin and impurity. “For our God is a consuming fire.” Heb. 12:29. Each one of His words is a fire and a hammer against sin. Jer. 23:29. Something of our self-life has to be consumed if there is to be room for God’s Word in our life.

In Romans 5:5 Paul writes that “the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” This Spirit and the fire of love burned steadily in his heart, and he could say, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Rom. 8:35. His love for Christ was so deep and fervent that in verse 37 he could say, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

“And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” Rev. 4:5. One of these seven Spirits of God is the Spirit of wisdom, which is first and foremost pure. Jas. 3:17. It is a lamp of fire against sin. Everything that has to do with sin is folly.

In Ephesus they could not hear what the Spirit wanted to say because the fire of the first love did not burn in their hearts. The Spirit cannot do His inner work where the fire is not burning. When Christ examined the seven churches, He found that many things could not tolerate the fire. In Corinth they had all the gifts of the Spirit, but there was envy and strife among them.

They speak much about the Spirit and the gifts in the religious world, but in the midst of all this the spirit of the world seeps in, as well as many of the things that call down the wrath of God. Eph. 2:3-6; Gal. 5:19-21. They also speak powerfully about the fire, but if it is not a fire that consumes sin, it is strange fire and God’s anger is aroused against it.

They also speak about the bride and Jesus’ return, but we can see how Jesus separates the foolish virgins from the wise. In The Song of Solomon 8:6 we can see the bride’s attitude: “Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame.”

The day will come when everyone’s work will be tested by fire. Therefore, may everything we say and do be motivated by the fervent love of Christ. Paul says that the love of Christ constrains us, and in Romans 12:11 he exhorts us not to be lagging in diligence, but to be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.

James writes that the tongue is a fire that is set on fire by hell. In this spirit and fire of Satan people can sway the masses to commit all kinds of sin and evil. Yet God be praised that our tongue can be set on fire from heaven, so that we can say what God wants to have said to people in the fire and fervor of the Spirit.

A fiery stream issues from the throne of the Lord (Dan. 7:9-10), and those who overcome will receive a place there. Rev. 3:21.

We are transformed by the Spirit and fire to partake of divine nature, in perfect oneness with the Father, the Son, and all the saints. If you put many small pieces of iron together on a board, it can appear as if it is all one piece; but when you shake the board, the pieces will come apart again. This is how it is with a humanly organized unity. Yet if we are welded together in God’s fire no one and nothing can shake us loose from each other. Then we are firmly and inseparably united with each other in an unshakable, eternal, and glorious brotherhood. God be praised!