In Isaiah's prophecy we read the following words: "Sinners in Zion are
terrified; trembling has seized the godless
(hypocrites - KJV). Who among us can live with the consuming fire? Who
among us can live with continual burning? He who walks righteously, and
speaks with sincerity, he who rejects unjust gain, and shakes his hands
so that they hold no bribe; he who stops his ears from hearing about bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from looking upon evil" (Isa.33:14,15).
The first qualification to dwell with this consuming fire mentioned here
is: "He who walks righteously and speaks
with SINCERITY" (Isa.33:15)". That refers to those who walk according to
the light they have, in sincerity in their
private lives. They may not be perfect, but they are SINCERE. They are
not hypocrites. If there is one thing that we must fear more than
anything else in the church, it is giving people an impression about our
spirituality that is not true. Do you give others the impression that
you pray a lot, when you don't pray at all? Do you give them the
impression that you fast much when you don't actually fast that much? Do
you want others to consider you as
wholehearted when you are not? Then you are in danger of falling away -
not because you are imperfect, but because you are insincere. God
desires truth in our inward part. The hypocrites in Zion tremble,
because they are afraid of being exposed.
The second qualification to live with the consuming fire is "rejecting
unjust gain" (Isa.33:15) - in other words, being
righteous and faithful in money matters. We may have thought that the
alternative master to God is Satan. But
Jesus Himself stated in Luke 16:13 that that alternative master to God
was Mammon (money and material riches)!
No believer imagines that he can love God and Satan at the same time.
But there are multitudes of believers who
imagine that they can love money and God simultaneously. No believer
will ever fall down and worship Satan. But there are millions of
believers today who worship Mammon and who imagine that they can worship
God too. But they cannot worship God, if they are not faithful with
money. They don't realize that Mammon draws a person away from the true
and living God.
The third qualification to live with the consuming fire is shutting our
ears from hearing about bloodshed (Isa.33:15). This is more than
avoiding gossiping. This refers to not wanting to HEAR even someone else
gossiping. A God fearing man will shut his ears not only to the main
Accuser of the brethren (Rev.12:10), but to the Accuser's agents as
well! If we could look at this earth from heaven's standpoint, we would
see millions of people all over the world, tearing others to pieces with
their tongue from early morning to late at night, every day. But if you
want to live with God, the consuming fire, you must discipline yourself
not to listen to such accusations. Even if you have to listen to them in
situations where it is impossible for you to get up and walk out of the
room, you should switch off your mind inwardly from listening. Let
people around you be corrupt but why should you lose God's grace in your
life? If you are serious about living with the consuming fire, then stop
listening to all accusations. God has given us the ability to switch off
our mind from inside. Do that. Stop your ears from bloodshed.
A fourth qualification that is mentioned here, to live with the
consuming fire, is shutting our eyes from looking upon
evil. These two bodily senses - hearing and seeing - are the main
channels through which good and evil enter our
minds. We must decide what we allow to enter in. One who lives with the
consuming fire does not look upon what
will defile his spirit. Only when you allow God to consume all that is
worldly and that can be consumed in your life,
will you be able to live with Him Who is a consuming fire. Whatever is
left in you then will be incombustible!! God is
going to populate heaven with such people - who have nothing combustible
left in them. God is preparing us for
heaven. When we sing the song, "Heaven came down and glory filled my
soul", what are we talking about? We are
talking about that consuming fire coming into our soul, that burns up
everything that can be burnt up. Can we willingly say to the Lord,
"Lord, I only want those things left in my life, that cannot be burned,
so that You and I
can live in fellowship with each other forever."
For more articles by Zac Poonen go to:
www.poonen.org/zac
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