False and True Fire

“And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire unto the Lord.” Lev. x:i.

THAT a difference there is between fire and fire!

What a difference between the fire that warms the hearth and cheers the home and the devouring flame that consumes the dwelling and leaves the homeless household shivering in the darkness and the cold!

What a difference between the lightning stroke that shatters the tree, or strikes down some fugitive from the tempest that has taken refuge beneath its branches, and the same lightning when it has been caught in the electric battery or conveyed along the conducting wires as the motive power that runs our factories, carries our trolleys or conveys our messages.

Just as great is the difference between the true fire of the Holy Ghost and the flames of wild fanaticism and strange fire which the devil is kindling as his counterfeit wherever God is working.

I. The true fire is kindled at the Altar of Sacrifice. The false fire ignores the blood. There is much religious fire to-day which is merely the so-called ‘’enthusiasm of humanity,” or the emotion stirred bp eloquence, art, or zeal for some human cause and some selfish interest. It is not enough to believe in the Spirit, for spiritism and spiritualism all do this; but the true Spirit always comes in association with the blood.

2. The true fire is always found in the golden censer which represents the priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. While the altar represents His earthly sacrifice, the censer represents His heavenly intercession. Only through His name and mediation can sinful man find access to the presence of a holy God.

3. The true fire is kindled by the Holy Ghost and comes down from above. The false is earth-born and comes from mere human emotion, intellectual culture, heart stirring eloquence, or selfish zeal. It may even come from a spirit of fear and a guilty conscience.

4. The true fire is fed by the fuel of God’s Word. The strange fire depends upon human reasoning or interior revelations which come only from the igmis fatiins light of our own imagination.

The world is full of this kind of light and flame. We have the revelations of Spiritualism, the dreams of Theosophy and the fatnus fooleries of Christian

Science. The desire of many people for a religion of feeling and a life guided by impulse rather than conviction and truth is the beginning of the same process and sure to lead eventually to the most dangerous delusions. There is no surer test of any religious experience than the simple Word of God.

5. The true fire not only descends from heaven, but goes back to heaven in a supreme purpose to glorify God, whereas the strange fire always seeks to exalt and promote the glory of some man or woman.

The more truly we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the more will we forget ourselves and seek the glory of Him that sent us. Whenever you see a religious movement or a religious leader trying to promote his fame, to demand his rights, or to pose upon the stage of sensationalism and spectacular popularity, you may well say, ‘’strange fire.”

6. True fire purifies, while strange fire manifests itself in unhallowed forms of sinful indulgence and excess. The fire of the Holy Ghost instinctively seeks out every sinful thing and all that is of the flesh and the world and consumes it by a divine necessity.

7. The true fire warms and blesses, melts the heart into tenderness and inspires the soul with love. The false fire leads to criticism, division, censoriousness, harshness and judgment. James and John are the types of the latter seeking to call fire down from heaven to consume the people who refuse to honor and agree with him.

The fire of God is gentle, tender, loving, patient, free from self-assertion, strife and harshness, ready to make concessions, easy to get along with, and a.•^ sweet as it is strong.

8. The true fire works along the ordinary channels of duty while the false fire is apt to be eccentric, abnormal and extravagant. The true fire does not take people out of their place, but fits them better to fill it. It makes the mother a better mother, the pupil a better scholar, the employee a more faithful servant, the artisan a more skillful workman, the business man more efficient in his calling, the worshipper more regular in his pew and systematic in his contributions, and the Christian, whatever his place in the secular and spiritual world, more simple, practical and efficient in every sphere of duty and place of service. When people are struck with the false fire they become eccentric.

9. The true fire energizes and makes things go. The false fire is satisfied to watch its own blaze and hear its own report.

The Holy Ghost always puts the go in us and turns our blessing the multiplied blessing of our fellowmen.