04/26/2017
Are there things in our life that the Lord must remove by fire? Do we hold on so tightly to them, or have they become so deeply rooted, that the only way to remove them is to burn them out?
I think of a couple examples this morning of purification by fire. The first is Isaiah who spoke unclean Things among a people who commonly did the same. When he came into the presence of God he realized he was sinful and the smell of smoke caused him great fear... because he felt as though God might destroy him for his transgression...
“And I said: "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!"”
Isaiah 6:5 ESV
But then something amazing happened; God purified Him with fire, and I will guarantee you that the sinful tongue of Isaiah was gone forever.
“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for."”
Isaiah 6:6-7 ESV
Do we have sins in our life that cause you to quake before God, or, more commonly, to avoid His presence altogether because of your guilt in them? We say that we live in New Testament times and there is forgiveness through Jesus, and this is true, but friends the fire remains and it is just as dreaded as it always has been. Let's read the words of John the Baptist as he speaks of Jesus...
“"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."”
Matthew 3:11-12 ESV
Are we willing and able to purify ourselves through the blood of Jesus... or are we waiting to smell the smoke? Fire destroys sin, and it can do this in a controlled manner, as was the case with Isaiah, or it can destroy completely just as John the Baptist warns us of. How will we choose? Will we choose wisely and accept the blood of Jesus, or will we face the fire as Isaiah did and hope for just a coal?
The second example of change that involved fire was in the life of Abraham. Let's read what happened in his case...
“After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you."”
Genesis 22:1-2 ESV
God was asking Abraham to offer his son on an altar and then burn his body, and Abraham set about to do so.
“When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.”
Genesis 22:9-10 ESV
But then in the face of the fire something remarkable occurred...
“But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" And he said, "Here I am." He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.”
Genesis 22:11-13 ESV
We like to use this story to reveal how true to God Abraham was, but is there something more at play here? Was God undoing a tradition of sacrifice that He was repulsed by? Human sacrifice in ancient times was often practiced, but in this case God was removing it from before the fire; He was purging it from Jewish practice. Oswald Chambers wrote of God revealing Himself in this story by writing...
"If the devil can hinder us from taking the supreme climb and getting rid of a wrong tradition about God, he will do so; but if we keep true to God, God will take us through an ordeal which will bring us out into a better knowledge of himself." - Oswald Chambers
Abraham underwent a trial by fire with his son Isaac. The experience was traumatic, but the lesson has withstood the test of time. From before the fire came truth about the nature of God... He is not only merciful, but He is blameless, and pure. If we are crooked, or in other words contrary to God, He will take us down a torturously twisted road, but if we allow Jesus to wash us clean of sin we avoid standing before the fire, and our purification comes easily and lovingly from the living water rather than, at best, the cauterizing coal.
There may be things in our lives that we resist giving up to Jesus, and if we are fortunate, God will remove them, as He did with Isaiah, but in the end... if we walk that torturous path... then the consuming fire stands before us.
“With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless; with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous. For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.”
Psalms 18:25-27 ESV
Do you see truth before the fire, as Abraham did, or do you deceive yourself? Do you accept the living water, which is Christ, or are you choosing purification by fire? These are the questions of faith that we need to consider this morning.
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your truth and the lessons you teach me each and every day. Lord, give me the good sense and unwavering faith to allow the living water which flows from your Son Jesus Christ to remove the necessity of fire from my life. Let his blood replace the coal on my lips, and let your truth pass from between them. In my trials of faith raise me to be more like you and hold my attention Lord so that when I lay something precious on the altar and you speak further... I will hear your word. Change me Father and reveal yourself to me... let no false doctrine or tradition of faith stand between us. If fire is required I am ready Father, but I pray that the blood of your son will be sufficient for me. By His stripes let me be healed, and in His words let me find your truth. I pray these things for myself, and the greater bride of Christ.
Rich Forbes