Our God Is a Consuming Fire -- 9/24/06 (Eternal Realities)

Sunday, September 24, 2006

OUR GOD IS A CONSUMING FIRE
Heb. 12:29

* Read all scriptures from the New King James.

Suppose I were to ask you to complete this sentence, "God is _________." I’m not looking for general statements, but rather scriptural quotations. I am particularly looking for nouns that describe God. You could say, "God is love." Or, "God is light." What are some others? "God is our refuge and strength." "God is my salvation." You’re doing pretty good, but you haven’t mentioned the one I am thinking of (or maybe it has been mentioned!). If the Lord tarries, I feel quite certain that we will come to it in our reading this morning.

So let’s read from the Word of God, that Word which is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, that Word which has quickened us (made us alive; Ps. 119:50). Ex. 19:9-25…
And the LORD said unto Moses, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with thee, and believe thee for ever. And Moses told the words of the people unto the LORD. 10. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes, 11. And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai. 12. And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death: 13. There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount. 14. And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the people; and they washed their clothes. 15. And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not at your wives. 16. And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. 17. And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount. 18. And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly. 19. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice. 20. And the LORD came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the LORD called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up. 21. And the LORD said unto Moses, Go down, charge the people, lest they break through unto the LORD to gaze, and many of them perish. 22. And let the priests also, which come near to the LORD, sanctify themselves, lest the LORD break forth upon them. 23. And Moses said unto the LORD, The people cannot come up to mount Sinai: for thou chargedst us, saying, Set bounds about the mount, and sanctify it. 24. And the LORD said unto him, Away, get thee down, and thou shalt come up, thou, and Aaron with thee: but let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the LORD, lest he break forth upon them. 25. So Moses went down unto the people, and spake unto them.

And then from Ex. 20:1-3…
And God spake all these words, saying, 2. I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

And then let’s move over to Deuteronomy. Here as Moses speaks to the people, he reminds them of what happened there at Mt. Sinai. Deut. 5:22-27…
These words the LORD spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them in two tables of stone, and delivered them unto me. 23. And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, (for the mountain did burn with fire,) that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders; 24. And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath showed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth. 25. Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, then we shall die. 26. For who is there of all flesh, that hath heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? 27. Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and we will hear it, and do it.

The first of the Ten Commandments is very simple. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." However, let’s also remember how the people received that commandment. God spoke it to them through an audible voice. And as that voice came from heaven, they shook with fear because Mount Sinai was on fire. As God delivered this command, He also revealed His glory and greatness. The God who commanded us not to have any other gods before Him made it clear that there was no other who could equal His glory and majesty. He stood alone as God of all gods and Lord of all lords. As a matter of fact, the people were so frightened that they made a little deal with Moses: "Moses, from now on, if you will go and hear from God for us, we will obey whatever He tells you. But make no mistake about it, we don’t want God to speak to us directly any more."

On the surface, I want to rise up and say, "That’s what we need today. We need to see the fire from Mount Sinai, that we might be blasted out of our apathetic and lazy religious comfort." But before I can speak, the Lord brings me to Hebrews 12. I suspect that most of us are far more familiar with the first part of this chapter than the last part, although I have heard Steve refer to it on a number of occasions. You remember how it starts. Heb 12:1-2…
Therefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2. Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And then we come to that word about the chastening, the discipline and correction of the Lord. Let’s read it in 12:3-11…
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. 4. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. 5. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: 6. For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? 8. But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons. 9. Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 10. For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 11. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

Now let’s come to the last part of the chapter, with which you may not be so familiar. 12:12-29…
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; 13. And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. 14. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; 16. Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. 17. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. 18. For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest, 19. And the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words; which voice they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more: 20. (For they could not endure that which was commanded, And if so much as a beast touch the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart: 21. And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake:) [this is what we read about earlier in Ex. 19 and Deut. 5; do you remember?] 22. But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, 23. To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, 24. And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. 25. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: 26. Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. (Hag. 2:6) 27. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. 28. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: 29. For our God is a consuming fire.

And that brings us to our theme for this morning – Our God is a consuming fire. I dare say that most of you don’t think about that theme too much. Yes, God is love; God is light; God is my salvation; God is our refuge and strength; but our God is also a consuming fire. For some of you, that would not have been such a big deal, if I had read it from the Old Testament. And I in fact could have read it from the Old Testament. As a matter of fact, I am quite certain that is where the author of Hebrews got it. He didn’t just pull it out of the air; he took it straight from the Word of God. Dt. 4:24, "For the Lord our God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." We read it in the Old Testament; we read it again in the New, "Our God is a consuming fire."

Let me ask you another question. We didn’t read all of the Ten Commandments, but only the first. And what is the first commandment of the Ten? "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." We know that commandment. But how well do we know it? Do we truly know it? Or, do we just pay lip service to it? Watch out for deception in this area. Modern American Christianity claims to be monotheistic, but it is not. It has many false gods, to which it bows down again and again. Though modern American Christianity professes to love and worship the true God, it has created "God" in its own image. It has fashioned a god to suit its own whims. Ezekiel 14 was addressed to Israel, but its message is absolutely appropriate for the Christianity of our culture. Let’s read Ezek. 14:1-8… (read NKJV)
Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. 2. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, 3. Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be inquired of at all by them? 4. Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; 5. That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. 6. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations. 7. For every one of the house of Israel, or of the stranger that sojourneth in Israel, which separateth himself from me, and setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to a prophet to inquire of him concerning me; I the LORD will answer him by myself: 8. And I will set my face against that man, and will make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from the midst of my people; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

No less than three times the Lord speaks of them setting up their idols in their hearts. Idolatry begins in the heart. Though it may never be expressed in the form of a physical image to which a person bows down, this heart idolatry is just as deadly.

With that in mind, come back to the truth that our God is a consuming fire. I did a little study. It’s a simple study; you can do it too. I simply took my concordance and checked out the biblical references to "fire." What I found was very revealing. My study shed light on this idea of God being a consuming fire. I found three things about God that are associated with His identity as a consuming fire.

1. He is a jealous God. I read it to you earlier in Deut. 4:24, "For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God." The link between God being a consuming fire and a jealous God is inescapable. Ps. 79:5, "How long, Lord? Wilth thou be angry forever? Shall thy jealousy burn like fire?" By the way, let me remind you of something. In both the Old Testament and the New Testament (KJV), the words that are translated "jealous" and "zealous" are exactly the same. To say that God is jealous of His glory and to say that He is zealous for His glory is to say the same thing. Actually, the word is never translated "zealous" when used of God, but it might as well be.

What does it mean to say that God is jealous? First of all, understand that this truth is repeated a number of times and is implied throughout the Bible. If we would have kept reading in Ex. 20, we would have come across it soon. Ex. 20:3-5… (repeated with slight additions in Deut. 5:8-10)
Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Look at Ex. 34:13-14, "But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: 14. For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:" Did you hear that – "whose name is Jealous"? The fact that Jealous is His name reveals that He is characterized by jealousy. That is a part of His very nature.

Now let’s read Josh. 24:15-23…
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. 16. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17. For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: 18. And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God. 19. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20. If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. 21. And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. 22. And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. 23. Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel.

"For he is a holy God; he is a jealous God" (19). Keep in mind how closely those are connected. God tells them that if they forsake the Lord and serve strange gods (if they set up idols in their hearts), then He will turn and hurt them and consume them.

Our God is a consuming fire. He is a jealous God. He is zealous for His own glory and holiness. Fire is a wonderful picture of zeal. Fire burns with zeal. If you don’t believe it, just reach out and touch the flame. The flame is never gentle. It consumes whatever it touches.

2. He is a God of wrath. Don’t ever forget it. God’s holy anger burns against sin. Num. 11:1, "When the people complained, it displeased the Lord; and the Lord heard it and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the Lord burnt among them and consumed them that were in the uttermost parts of the camp." When they grumbled against the Lord, His anger was kindled and His fire burned among them and consumed them.

Do you remember the story from Numbers 16? A man named Korah led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron. He openly claimed that Moses and Aaron were exerting too much authority over the people. 250 princes (rulers) of Israel joined Korah in this rebellion. I’ll let you read the rest of the story, but let’s just go to the end of the story. After the Lord sent an earthquake to swallow up Korah, listen now to what happened to these 250 princes who offered strange fire upon the altar of God. Num 16:35, "And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense."

Actually, that isn’t the end of the story, though it was certainly the end for Korah and the 250. What is even more remarkable is the response of the congregation as a whole. Let’s read it in Num. 16:41-50…
But on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the people of the LORD. 42. And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron, that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation: and, behold, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the LORD appeared. 43. And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation. 44. And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 45. Get you up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a moment. And they fell upon their faces. 46. And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is begun. 47. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation; and, behold, the plague was begun among the people: and he put on incense, and made an atonement for the people. 48. And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague was stayed. 49. Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred, beside them that died about the matter of Korah. 50. And Aaron returned unto Moses unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation: and the plague was stayed.
The wrath of God broke forth upon them and over 14,000 were consumed by the plague.
And let’s read from Zeph. 1:18, "Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD'S wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land." Also Zeph 3:8, "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy."

We could read many other passages, but come to John 3, lest you get the idea that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and the God of the New Testament is a God of love. There is only one God, and His wrath extends from cover to cover. John 3:35-36, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. 36. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." The wrath of God is presently resting on every person who is not trusting God’s Son. That ought to strike fear into the hearts of some of you here this morning.

Make no mistake about it, this God who is a consuming fire poured out His wrath upon the wicked who rebelled against Him. Not only so, but that same God will pour out His wrath in abundance in the end of the world. The word "wrath" occurs 13 times in Revelation, more than in any other book of the New Testament. Let’s read a few passages from Revelation. Rev 6:14-17…
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; 16. And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: 17. For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Also Rev. 14:9-12…
And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, 10. The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: 11. And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. 12. Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

And Rev. 14:19-15:1…
And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. 20. And the winepress was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress, even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and six hundred furlongs. And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

Rev. 15:7-16:1…
And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 8. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.

Rev 16:19, "And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath."

Finally, Rev. 19:11-15…
And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

Our God is a consuming fire, and He does indeed pour out His wrath. Psa 89:46, "How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?"

3. God is holy. That is, He is set apart. There is none like Him. Let me remind you that we could read many more passages about His jealousy and hundreds which speak of His anger and wrath. In all of those passages there runs another constant theme, and it is this: God is holy. No, the word "holy" isn’t present in all of those passages, but the truth that God is holy is the background against which all of those passages are set. Why is He a God of wrath? Because He is holy, and His enemies are trying to compromise His holiness. Why is He a jealous God? Because He is holy, and He is constantly zealous to preserve that holiness – both in Himself and in His people. Let’s read a little passage from the book of Nahum. As we read, notice the themes of God’s jealous, God’s wrath, and God’s holiness. Read Nahum 1:1-6…
The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. 2. God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. 3. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. 4. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth. 5. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein. 6. Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.

Who can stand before His indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness of His anger? That reminds me of those passages in the Psalms. Ps. 15:1, "LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill?" Ps. 24:3, "Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?" The answer is in the verses that follow. "He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart" (15:2). "He that hath clean hands and a pure heart…" (24:4). In other words, only set apart people can dwell in His presence. Why? Because God is holy; He is set apart.

This idea of God being a consuming fire speaks of His holiness. Go back to Exodus 3, where God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. And what did He tell Moses to do? God told him to take off his shoes because he was standing on what? On holy ground. Or go to Isaiah 6, where Isaiah caught a glimpse of the Lord high and lifted up and cried out, "Woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." And what did the holy God do about it? He sent one of the seraphim to take a live coal out of the fire upon the altar and to put it on Isaiah’s lips. And in Matthew 3, what did John the Baptist say regarding how Jesus would baptize? Matt.3:11, "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:" It is no accident that the Holy Spirit and fire are linked together. And when those who were gathered in the upper room on the day of Pentecost were filled with the Spirit, what do we read? We read that "there appeared to them [cloven] tongues like as of fire" (Acts 2:3). We could go on and on demonstrating that God used fire to speak of His holiness.

Fire can do many things, but ultimately it does two things. It purifies and it destroys. What a picture of our holy God, who is a consuming fire. Ultimately, the holy God will either purify or destroy every person He has created. Why? Because He is holy, and no unholy thing can stand in His presence. So when He wraps up the world and history as we know it, there will be only two options. Hell will be a place of eternal destruction for those who refused to submit to a holy God. Heaven will be the eternal home of those who have been purified through the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world.

Fire destroys the chaff, but it purifies the precious. That is why precious metals are subjected to the intense heat of the fire, that all impurities may be burned away. And that is why God subjects His children to the fires of trials and sufferings, that He might purify us. Jesus "gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Tit. 2:14).

Listen to this theme in double theme of purification and destruction in II Thes. 1:3-10…
We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; 4. So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: 5. Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 6. Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7. And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8. In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 10. When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.

Yes, our God is a consuming fire. For those who belong to Him, He will consume all the impurities, that they may be holy and dwell with Him forever. For those who are not His, He will consume them with the fire of everlasting destruction.
Conclusion

Now think with me for a moment. Compare fire with the holiness of God. As God is set apart, so fire is set apart. We don’t mingle with fire. We are afraid of it. Fire burns us. Yet fire is very useful, and that is why we don’t abandon it. It warms us, gives us light, etc.

Our God is a consuming fire. Fire consumes. That is why we fear it. No matter how useful fire is to us, we never lose our respect for fire. Watch a forest fire, and you are reminded of how powerful it is. Fire cannot be tamed. Though we have harnessed it for many things, we still can’t tame fire. It still breaks out and burns homes, kills its victims, and levels millions of acres of forest land, despite all we can do. With all of his technology and know-how, man cannot tame fire.

Our God is a consuming fire, but we have largely forgotten that. We think we can tame God and make Him our domestic servant. If we have a problem, we call on God to solve it. If we need answers, we ask God. But if all is well, we just leave Him locked in His cage.

Man tames the lion, the king of beasts. Though the lion is so strong and majestic, we put him in a cage and train him. He roars when his trainer tells him to roar, leaps when he is told to leap, and returns to his cage and the trainer’s command. Hear me. Modern American Christianity thinks it can treat God like that, but we must understand that God cannot be tamed. He is a consuming fire. If your God is tame, He’s not the real God. Your tame "god" is not the LORD, Jehovah, Yahweh, the God of the Bible. You might as well fashion you a god out of wood as to serve the tame God of modern American Christianity.

Now remember this. Mount Sinai was set on fire by the presence of God. God spoke out of the mount, and it was such a glorious but frightening thing that His own people asked that they not hear His voice again. Get that picture in your mind. But now remember that we have not come to that mountain, but to Mount Zion. We have come to something much greater and more intense. We have come to God, the Judge of all. Ultimately we who are true children of God have come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. So the word we are hearing is even more serious than what they heard at Mount Sinai. Now hear the word of exhortation from the Lord: "See to it that you not refuse Him who speaks." His voice will shake not only earth, but heaven also. Make sure you don’t refuse Him, because our God is a consuming fire.

But what if you are not a child of God? What if you haven’t been redeemed by the Lamb that was slain? Then be afraid, because God is a consuming fire and He will burn up the chaff. As Jesus put it, "Don’t fear them who can kill the body but are not able to kill the soul, but fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Mt. 10:28).
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I might say one other thing this morning. Some of you are wondering why such strong, serious, somber messages these past few weeks. I will tell you in the words of Ps. 30:5, "For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." The problem is that many of us aren’t willing to weep for a night. Do you see? We want to enjoy the love of God, but we can never appreciate that love until we first have a true understanding of God as a consuming fire – a God of wrath, a jealous God, a holy God.

So if you are a bit uneasy, that’s okay. I can’t fix your uneasiness. May God give us grace to come to His Word. Don’t take my word for anything; go to His precious Word. Let the Lord Himself speak to you.