Fire and Revival

Posted: 2009-03-09 07:29:43 by: David Nelson

(2-23-09)

“Our God is a consuming fire.” He wants to burn up the dross and sin in our lives and purify us as fine gold, like silver heated up seven times to keep cleansing us more and more.  He is a refining fire to change us so that we offer right sacrifices to Him. He burns with fire to destroy sin and may burn up the individual whose heart is not right or who disobeys His commands (as the two sons of Aaron the High Priest and the one who tried to steady the ark of the covenant (which was only to be touched by those appointed to carry it)). He also came to Moses and the people of Israel with fire  and smoke on His holy mountain in the Old Testament (And to Moses alone at the burning bush).

Jesus said He would baptize us with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Tongues of fire were on the heads of the anointed disciples at Pentacost. So what does the fire signify?

In our vocabulary today we have such phrases as: he has a fire in his belly (great motivation to succeed), or his heart is on fire with passion for someone or something. It says in the Song of Songs in the Scriptures that love is as a fire that cannot be quenched or put out (even by many waters).

So, do we have a fiery passion for anything or anyone? Maybe at times in our life we have been ablaze with desire for knowing God and/or His causes. It was said of Jesus, “Zeal for God’s house has consumed Him.” He was so angry and passionate about the Temple (God’s house) as it was being desecrated by dishonest money changers and God’s holy things being used for the wrong purposes. “My house shall be a house of prayer but you have made it a den of thieves.” Zeal is heat, anger, fire in your heart for God and for His holy things and ways. In the Old Testament there was a man named Phineas who burned with the zeal of God (he had the same zeal and felt the same as God). He impaled a man and a woman with a spear as they strutted before God not fearing God’s holiness and righteous commands.

Now, when you consider revival with the word fire how do these two fit together? Jesus is calling His Bride (the Church) to come close to Himself. It is a wooing into a much more intimate relationship than we have known before. This call to a deeper walk and a deeper love for the Lord will create a new zeal and fire in our hearts for the Lord. I call this individual revival. It is a restoring to our hearts the Lord’s rightful place in our desires, affections, and He becomes our supreme focus as the things of the world grow dimmer. As the famous song says, “Cast your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” This is revival fire, God restoring us to our true destiny, in pursuit of our Lord. Song of Songs sets forth this mutual attraction and pursuit of our Lord and His bride to be.

Also there will be corporate fire and revival. When a person has spent time in the presence of the Lord in prayer, spent time before His throne, a fire or anointing gets on their feet, their hands, their faces, and even our clothes. (see Exodus 30:22-33 and Ezek. 44:6-19) Moses had this experience where his face glowed from being in the presence of the Lord (but then it faded with time). But the Scriptures say in the New Testament that our anointing will not decrease as Moses’did but we will ascend from glory to greater glory by the Holy Spirit. Be aglow with the Spirit the Scriptures exhort!

When the Lord speaks to us His words become fire in our hearts and in our mouths when we speak with His anointing. (True prophetic words are like fire in our mouths and like a hammer that breaks rocks, see Jer. 23:28 and 29) It also says in I Cor. 12:6-11 that when we move in a spiritual gift it is inspired (or God breathed) by the Holy Spirit through us and it becomes a manifestation of the living God. Is this not anointed fire from heaven! Yes, it is, and when each one at a meeting flows with the fire of God from one heart to the hearts of all present, all must admit, God is in our midst, He is speaking, He is making Himself known, He is a consuming fire and we are conduits of that fire to each other.

This is corporate revival fire. It is a greater fire than just one alone (one stick burning) but it is a whole pile of sticks and logs burning in a greater fire to the greater glory of God! Yes, God vehemently yearns over the spirit He has put in us, that we might love Him alone with all our heart and soul and strength. But He also wants a people who gather around Him and flow to one another with His fire. He is in our midst, He is our King, His presence is to be manifested with His multi-faceted beauty and glory in a gathering of His precious children. The love and oneness He wants to teach us will also add to the brightness and true nature of who He is.

He has always wanted this. He wanted it in the Old Testament at His Holy mountain but the people said no, they just wanted Moses to hear and speak for God. But God still called some up to Himself and 70 elders (plus others named), and they went up, saw God in a glorious way, and ate together. (Ex. 24:9-11) God wants to be with us again in even a greater way than anything we have read about or experienced before. It is His time, He is preparing a Bride for Himself, nothing will stop Him from having a Bride without spot or wrinkle and one that is passionately in love with Him. We must hear His call (and many of you do, I know). He is building and perfecting and making a people ready for Himself. Oh what a glorious hour we live in. Please keep hearing His call and have an ear to hear, and do not say “no” today when you hear His voice. Wonderful blessings to our great God and Savior, the Father and His Son Jesus!