04/26/2025
Are there things in our lives 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 biblical purification by fire. The first involves 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 transgressions...
“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 used fire to purify Him, and I will guarantee you that the sinful tongue that Isaiah once had 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 us to quake before God, or, more commonly, to avoid His presence altogether because of our guilt in them? We say that we live in New Testament times and there is forgiveness through grace and Jesus Christ, and this is true, but friends the fire remains, and friends it should be just as dreaded today as it ever was. Let's read the words of John the Baptist as he spoke 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 to accept our purification through the blood of Jesus and God’s grace... or are we waiting to smell the smoke? Fire destroys sin, and it can do this in a controlled manner, as was the case of Isaiah, or it can destroy completely just as John the Baptist warns us. How will we choose? Will we choose wisely and accept God’s grace and the blood of Jesus, or will we face the fire like Isaiah did and hope for the best… just a coal and not eternal fire?
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, being obedient, 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 the fire; He was purging it from Jewish practice. Pastor Oswald Chambers wrote of God revealing Himself in this story when he wrote these words...
"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. Out of the fire came a 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 will avoid standing before the fire, and our purification will come easily and lovingly from the living water rather than, at best, the cauterizing coals.
There may be sinful 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... there is a very real possibility that the consuming fire awaits us. Do we possess haughty eyes?
“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 we see truth before the fire, as Abraham did, or do we deceive ourselves? Do we accept the living water, which is Christ, and God’s grace, or choose purification by fire? These are the questions of faith that we need to consider this morning, and the outcome of our choice, this lesson, will change our lives… it will either make us righteous or destroy us.
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 choose the living water of grace which flows from your Son Jesus Christ as I face the removal of my sin. Help me Lord to choose rightly and avoid the necessity of a purging fire. Let the blood of Jesus replace the coal to my lips, and through his transformation let your truth be forevermore what passes from my mouth. In my trials of faith raise me to be more like you and hold my attention Holy Father so that when I lay something I consider precious on the altar that you will speak further... and I will hear your word. Change me Father and reveal yourself to me... let no false doctrine or tradition of man stand between us. If fire, a burning coal, is required I am ready Father, but I pray that the blood of your Son will be sufficient for me in all cases. By His stripes let me be healed, Abba, and in His words let me find your truth.
I pray these things for myself, and for all my friends, my neighbors, the strangers in my life, and even for my enemies who hate or detest me. Father, this is my prayer, that in the name of Jesus your will be done as you eradicate the sin of the world. I pray that all will hear the truth of your Word and the gospel of Jesus, and that they will thus be saved by choosing rightly, so that none will be lost. I pray that all of mankind will join the greater bride of Christ and be made eternally pleasing in your sight. Merciful and full of grace are you Holy Father, and in you we trust, and for the truth in your goodness and promises we give you all praise and glory.
Amen, Amen, Ament!!
“Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.””
John 4:13-14 ESV
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
John 3:16-17 ESV
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
Romans 3:23-24 ESV
Rich Forbes