God is a consuming fire; and I am glad of it. Our God
is coming; and I am glad of it. He is coming in flaming fire; and I am
glad of it. He is coming in all his glory; and I am glad of it. I
am sorry that there will be anybody upon whom he will have to take
vengeance; but I am glad that the day is coming when all sin will be
swept away by our God, who is a consuming fire.
Come, brethren. Are you ready? Are you ready to meet
him in that day? If not, he says to you today, "There is a
place by me." Come today, and stand in this place by me. I
will reveal to you all my glory; "I will make all my goodness pass
before thee." And where there is any defect in you that cannot just
now bear the deeply consuming fire of this glory, I "will cover
thee with my hand" until it is all over: so that I may separate you
from all sin, and save you in that day of glory.
0, then, welcome him who is a consuming fire! Dwell
in his presence. Open up the life. Recognize the fact that he is a
consuming fire—that he is never anything else. Then rejoice in that
today. Dwell in that consuming fire today. And when that great day
breaks upon the earth, in all his glory, we shall also rejoice in
that day. Then we shall stand and say, "Lo, this is our
God." But what! with the mountains hurling through the air; every
island fleeing out of its place; the earth coming up from beneath; the
heavens departing as a scroll, with a noise that is more than deafening;
and flaming fire all around, his face as the sun, his eyes as a flame of
fire,—in all this shall we rejoice?—Yes, bless the Lord! We shall
rejoice, because "this is our God." We have seen him before;
we have lived with him; we have welcomed his consuming presence; we have
welcomed the living flame of which his eyes are as a flaming fire, that
they should pierce us through, and search out any wicked way in us. We
know what blessing and joy were brought into our lives when his
consuming glory purified us from sin and from sinning, and made us the
servants of righteousness unto holiness. And knowing what blessedness
that was, we exclaim, in the fulness of perfect joy, "Lo, this is
our God" indeed. We see him now, more fully than before. That means
more blessing still. "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him,
and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will
be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Isaiah 25:9.