ETERNAL TREASURE - WHO CAN DWELL WITH THE FIRE?

 

"Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with the everlasting burning? He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppression, that shaketh his hands from holding bribes that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil" (Isaiah 33:14-17).

FIRE IS A METAPHOR for God in the Old and the New Testaments. Other metaphors for God are Shepherd, King, Fortress, Redeemer, Provider, Healer, Righteousness, etc. Who shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who shall dwell with God? The person who keeps the commandments in Isaiah 33:15 is the person who dwells with the devouring fire.

Consider the parallel between fire and the commandments in these verses of Scripture and fire on Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments (Exodus 19:18-20:17). The Ten Commandments were given to Israel for them to dwell with the devouring fire.

However, we cannot start obeying the commandments and dwell with the devouring fire; we must die before we can dwell with the devouring fire. We have sinned, and the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). But God in His mercy has provided a way by which we can die, live, and dwell with the devouring fire.

         

In the Old Testaments, it was an innocent animal that died as a substitute for the people’s sins. In the New Testament, it was Jesus Christ who died on the cross as a substitute for our sins. When we repent of our sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we die to sin and are resurrected to walk in newness of life (Romans 6:1-12). We then receive the Holy Spirit—the devouring fire.

There are two different lifestyles in verse 15: one obeys the commandments and dwell with the devouring fire, and the other disobeys and doesn’t dwell with the devouring fire. But on the other hand, the one who disobeys also dwells with the devouring fire. Those who obey the commandments dwell with the fire of the Holy Spirit. Those who disobey dwell with the fire of anger, revenge, greed, covetousness, lust, and self-gratification—works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21).

Fire puts out fire; sometimes forest fires are extinguished by starting a backfire. When the forest fire reaches the backfire, the forest fire is extinguished. There is no fuel to feed it. In like manner, the fire of the Holy Spirit puts out all the other fires in our heart; but other fires can put out the Spirit’s fire.

A furnace has a thermostat; when the room gets cold, a fire is ignited in the furnace. If the fire of the Holy Spirit is burning in our heart, other fires cannot start. But when we neglect the Holy Spirit, we get cold spiritually; another fire is ignited in our heart. In 1 Thessalonians 5:19 (NIV), Paul wrote to the Thessalonian. “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire” (1 Thessalonians 5:19 NIV).

Obeying or disobeying the commandments in Isaiah 33:15 reveals the kind of fire that is burning in our heart. Repentance is changing the fuel that causes us to burn. The person who dwells with the devouring fire has changed from disobeying the commandments to obeying them.

Saul of Tarsus burned with the fire of anger, vengeance, and judgment against the Church. When he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, the source of his burning changed. And he started dwelling with the devouring fire (Acts 9:1-30).

When a person dwells with the devouring fire, someone else will try to extinguish the fire. The history of the Christian Church is a record of people trying to put out the fire of the Holy Spirit. Religion and government together and separately have tried to put out the fire. It is ironic that they often use fire to put out the fire of the Holy Spirit.

Hugh Latimer dwelt with the devouring fire. “He became one of the leading spokesmen for the Reformation in England and was made Bishop of Worcester in 1535. However, his reformed views led to charges of heresy, and he endured two brief imprisonments during times when Henry reacted against reform.

“Arrested during the persecution of Reformers under Queen Mary, Latimer, along with Nicholas Ridley, were burned at the stake in Oxford on October 16, 1555. As the fires were lit, Latimer cried out to his companion, ‘Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God’s grace in England as I trust shall never be put out!’” Two hundred years later the Wesleyan Revivals swept throughout England christianity.com.

Excerpted from Faith Sings God's Song by Robert P. Holland