Hebrews 12:29: “For our God is a consuming fire.”
In Matthew 9:37 Jesus said, “…the harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few.” Again in John 4:35, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” So what do these verses have to do with the fire God?
John the Baptist spoke of a fire at harvest time. Luke 3:16-17 says, “John answered, saying unto them all, l indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and will gather the wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn with fire unquenchable.”
Harvest time is getting close in our part of Eastern Washington. There will likely be a wheat fire somewhere, taking lives and destroying property. A lot of precautions will be taken to prevent this. I want us to look at the fire God for a moment. Burning the chaff is intentional, so the wheat will be pure and clean. He even fans the wheat and chaff to separate it. This applies to the righteous and the wicked. As we try to help in the harvest field of souls, we do no service to the lost when we tell them that God is a God of love, and fail to mention that He is also a consuming fire.
In our first pastorate we had a wonderful Christian lady, Verne Stewart. Her husband, Harley, wanted nothing to do with the Lord—or me, the pastor. I was encouraged to visit him when he was in the hospital. He was very sick and I thought he would welcome me, but he was very cold to me, saying almost nothing. Fearfully I asked him if he would like me to pray for him. “Whatever you want,” he answered. It was a short prayer, and I got out of there. Harley recovered and still had no time for me. A couple of years later he got sick with an illness that shortly took his life. I did not know what to say to him. Thank the Lord, his boy came to visit him. The boy smoked a pipe, and I didn’t consider him religious. He flat out told his dad, “If you don’t get straightened out you are going to Hell.” Harley believed him and was willing for me to come and pray with him. He had already made the decision, I simply prayed a sinner’s prayer with him. I will never forget how his eyes looked after that prayer—there were some tears, but his eyes sparkled like diamonds. He immediately called his family to him one by one and made them promise that they would get right with God and not go to Hell. Harley died a month later, rejoicing in the Lord.
In Genesis 3:22-24 we see God placing a flaming sword to “keep the way of the tree of life.” He did not want man to eat of it and live forever in sin. One day His Son would hang on a tree called the cross, so the obedient could escape (Revelation 22:14) the wrath of the fire God!
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