The Fire of God

li And the glory of the Lord appeared unto all the people, And there came a fire out from before the Lord and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering.” — Lev. ix.

There are two fires to which the soul is subject — the fire of sin, and the fire of God. There is a fire which men call the fire of hell, and there is a fire wThich they ought to call the fire of heaven; the one consumes the soul, the other consumes everything that impedes the soul. The fire of sin comes because God is absent, but the fire of God only comes when He Himself is near. So was it with this congregation at the door of the tabernacle. They beheld a consuming fire, but they beheld it not because God was far away, but because

He was verily at the door. It was only when the glory of God had appeared that the consuming fire appeared. There was no sacrifice to them, no sense of pain to them, no lifesurrender to them, until their eyes had rested on the vision of the Divine glory. But when the vision of God’s glory came the consuming fire came too; the sacrifice and the pain followed the sight of God. “There came a fire out from before the Lord.”

My soul, ponder deeply the meaning of these words, for they have a deep message for thee. Often hast thou been called to pass through the fire, and it has seemed to thee a hard thing. It has seemed to thee as if thy God had overlooked thy cause, nay, even as if thou wert under His special judgment. Didst thou forget that there is a fire which burns only the alloy, and burns it for the sake of the sold? Didst thou forget that there is a suffering which means not enmity but fellowship with thy God? Didst thou forget that he who follows closest after the life Divine is ever he who is nearest to the cross. There are sacrifices which can only begin with the Christ-life, offerings which can only be made in the presence of the Infinite Glory. The fire of heaven was God’s first gift to thee; it consumed the dross and disencumbered the precious ore. It shall ever be to thee a memory of joy, for, walking in the midst of the furnace, was One like unto the Son of Man.