I AM COME TO SEND FIRE

I AM COME TO SEND FIRE
Robert Wurtz II

(Luke 10:2) Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

(Luke 12:49) I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled?

God’s answer to man’s problems upon the earth is FIRE (G.W. North). If we add our passages together we find that the Lord wants to send Fire- but there are few persons that are truly on Fire to send. If Jesus Christ only sends Fire we must wonder can He safely send us? Perhaps this is why so few are sent? He only sends Fire. (G.W. North) Some send themselves, but Christ came to send Fire. The 120 in the upper room were not sent until Jesus Christ could send Fire. When the people were baptized in the Holy Ghost and FIRE- they went out, and they turned the world upside down.

The Fire of God works every time. Men and women are born and called in the Fire of God. If few are being born again and few are being called we ought to ask, “Where is the Fire?” When we pray for laborers we are really asking God to send FIRE, because this is the environment in which leaders and believers are born. What good is anyone to God without His Fire? What good is any church to God if there be no Fire (candlestick)? The only hope for this world is FIRE.

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. (Matthew 3:11)

This is a baptism of Fire. This is an overwhelming awareness of GOD and His manifest presence. There is no substitute for water and there is no substitute for fire; first the natural and then the spiritual; the same holds true in the churches of God. The churches do not need another strategy- they need the Fire of God. They don’t need more books and programs on church growth- they need the FIRE of God manifest. No doubt, FIRE has a 100% success rate. FIRE works every time to accomplish God’s purposes. Jesus came to send Fire.

Many are trying to operate without Fire and have concocted all manor of replacements. Their candlestick has been removed and they have no Fire. No fire = no light. No light = no ministry. Simple math, hard to swallow. The Fireless must know that theirs is the working of men- for man’s glory and not God’s working for God’s glory. Why? Jesus came to send Fire! God builds His Church with FIRE. Many churches today are trying to exist without the candlestick. They are going bankrupt trying to spend their way into success. There is no conviction brought about by fiery Holy Ghost preaching. In our times the whole definition of salvation has been changed. But God still calls speaks from the FIRE- just like He did Moses. If I might turn a phrase of L. Ravenhill; The FIRE has not been weighed in the balance and found wanting- it has been observed, found difficult and rejected.

Lights in This World

The Fire is the manifest presence of God working in us to make us lights in this world. In the 1st century the only light that existed was produced by fire. The sun by day was a ball of fire lighting the world. Stars are balls of fire lighting the night sky. Candles and lamps of various sorts were used for thousands of years before the light bulb was invented. The only light on earth was the light caused by fire. Christ was the Light of the world when He walked the earth. In that Light the sinners sinfulness was manifest to them. When Christ told His disciples; YE are the light of the world, a city that is set on a hill that cannot be hid (Matt. 5:14) He may as well had said; ye are the lamps and candles of this world. These were the sources of light in the cities.

But what good is a lamp without fire? What good is a candle without a flame? No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light. (Luke 11:33) This is a perfect picture of salvation, calling and ministry. God does the lighting and God does the ‘putting’. We cannot light ourselves and we cannot place ourselves. We become lights when the Fire of God consumes our lives. This is not a one night or one week ordeal. When a person is lighted of God- the Fire will remain. It will need to be tended as did the sacred Fire by the priests in the Temple- but it is not some fleeting thing that pretends to be true Fire. God called Moses from the Fire and then led Israel by the Fire. The Mountain was as if it were on fire when Moses went up unto God. When He came down from the Fire of God- the residue of God’s glory was on His face. But we are called to be more than just a people that have the afterglow of God’s presence; we are called to be LIGHTS that are burning for God.

The Altar of Fire

Solomon understood something about the Fire (G.W. North). When he was ready to dedicate the Temple he took a page out of Abraham’s life- where he offered what was dearest to his heart unto God; his son Isaac. This great man of God Abraham, probably the greatest man in the Old Testament save John Baptist, built many altars- but none were more important than this one. Abraham had so offered his son Isaac to God that he was as good as dead in his own heart. Hebrews 11 tells us that he received him as if from the dead. God often asks from us what is dear to our hearts. The rich young ruler was asked for what was dear to his heart and he turned away from Christ. Another young ruler names Saul- later known as Paul laid it all on the altar and look what God did with his life? The FIRE fell and remained in him.

We are to look to the Old Testament for instruction according to I Corinthians 10:11ff. We have the great example of Solomon who placed an offering on the same site as Abraham. He gave an extreme offering to God because he understood a principal; when the altar is full the FIRE will fall. We learn by example at the dedication of the Temple.

When the Ark was being brought in, God was returning to His house (palace as it were). The people were singing and praising God and the glory came in as much that the priests were not able to stand and minister. This is what the glory of God on a place does; it prostrates people. Solomon also knew that if the Fire of God were going to come that the altar had to be filled. No Fire = no ministry and service to God. He built a scaffold of bronze to overlook this massive altar filled with the multiplied offerings of the people. (II Chronicles 6:1ff)

Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven, and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the house. And the priests could not enter into the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD had filled the LORD'S house. (II Chronicles 7:1ff)

First the altar was built and then fully filled. Solomon offered it all to God in prayer. The Fire of God fell and consumed the sacrifice and the glory of God came again. When the glory came the priests were not able to enter. And when all the children of Israel saw how the fire came down, and the glory of the LORD upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. (II Chronicles 7:3) When the altar is finally filled God will send the Fire. When we finally have a revelation of Romans 12:1 and willingly lay ourselves utterly on the altar God will come in an awesome way. We can't hold back part of the price and expect God to believe us. The key to evangelism is Romans 12:1. When God's people so utterly lay down their lives unto God that the altar is full in God's eyes- the Fire will fall and ministry will be realized. Until then, it's all merely a flesh driven sham.