WHAT ARE WE SAYING WHEN WE WORSHIP GOD SINGING THESE SONGS? “Refiners fire, my hearts one desire Is to be holy, set apart for You, Lord..” REFINER’S FIRE Come and show Your power in our midst today, Lord, Lord let Your fire fall Holy Spirit come and have Your way, Lord, Lord let Your fire fall Purify Your people, Set our hearts aflame Give us holy passion, Come and glorify Your name LET YOUR FIRE FALL In Christian environment, when you hear the word “fire” or “Holy fire” it is usually used metaphorically to mean passion for the Lord, zeal in serving God, excitement in sharing the Gospel, renewed commitment, revival, renewal, fervor, conviction, spiritual passion or zeal or anointing or getting serious with God. WHERE WAS “HOLY FIRE” MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE? Matthew 3:10-12 V10 – The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. V11- I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. V12- His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire. Theme of the passage is judgment: Opening line of John the Baptist, “You brood of vipers..”v. 7). “Fire” – used three times •V10 – metaphor (symbol) about burning useless tree (no fruit) •V12 - metaphor for burning useless chaff (empty grain shell) Both use of “fire” are used as symbol of God’s judgment (hell) In both cases, it’s represents judgment against people. •Verse 11 - What does “baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” mean? (1) Is it the “refining fire” which God uses to purify his people. (2) Is it referring to “like tongues of fire” during the Pentecost in Acts 2. (3) Is it the fires of judgment, same as V10 & V12? For sure this is not refiner’s fire. There is nothing here to purify. John the Baptist audience here are unbelieving hypocritical religious leaders. Now, refiner’s fire is a way of God cleansing you because you have sinned against Him. Some argue that this was fulfilled during the Pentecost in Acts Chapter 2. But there are several problems to that interpretation. 1. It doesnt say it was fire at Pentecost, it was tongues. Tongues that appear like fire; cloven tongues like as fire, like a little flame, but it was a tongue, not fire. 2. In Acts 1:5 Jesus did not mention fire at all. “For John baptized you with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” When He told them that the Father was going pour out the Spirit, He didnt say and fire. When Jesus spoke of specifically of Pentecost, He never talked about this fire. I believe there are three baptisms mentioned in Matthew 3:10-12. 1. The baptism of water for repentance by John the Baptist 2. The baptism with the Holy Spirit by the Lord 3. And the baptism of fire also by the Lord. I believe that baptism of fire is referring to fiery judgment. These are distinct baptisms. The baptism of the Holy Spirit belongs to all believers. The baptism of fire belongs to all unbelievers. The baptism of the Holy Spirit is to those with true repentance and the Baptism of fire is to those with no repentance. And this fits the context of the use of fire in the passage. If fire means judgment in verse 10...and fire means judgment in verse 12... why should fire means something else in verse 11? It fits the context. You have three parallel sentences in verse 10, 11 and 12. Every one of them ends in fire. And in each case the fire would be the same. There would be no reason to make any difference...fire means fire of judgment. Both of the metaphors in verses 10 & 12 contrast two groups: V10 - the trees that produce good fruit & those that don’t . The tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and burned (unbelievers (v. 10) V11 - those baptized by the Holy Spirit (believers) and those baptized by fire (unbelievers). Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are baptized with the Holy Spirit, those who do not believe are baptized (immersed) with fire. V12 - the wheat (believers) & chaff (unbelievers). The chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire (unbelievers) BAPTISM OF FIRE THEN IS RESERVED FOR ONLY FOR UNBELIEVERS. IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER: 1. The Holy Spirit (who authored Scripture) NEVER, ever, uses “fire” in a metaphorical sense describing passion/excitement/commitment/fervor/etc. 2. The Holy Spirit never, ever, uses “fire” in the context of cultivation of spiritual revival/renewal/fervor/conviction. 3. The only metaphorical use of fire is related to emotions of ANGER and WRATH 4. “Holy fire” refers to God’s wrath or anger. 5. When idioms and modern terminology are mixed with the Word of God and used to mean something other than what is used for in the Bible - the Scriptures are twisted. (when Lebron James scores 50 points, people say, “he’s on fire”). 6. If you pray for God’s “fire” in your life and experience suffering, God might be giving you exactly what you asked for (Psalm 66:12; Isaiah 43:2; Lamentations 1:13; Zechariah 13:9; 1 Corinthians 3:13, 3:15; 2 Peter 1:7; Revelation 3:18). When we sing Refiner’s Fire or Let Your Fire Fall, we are praying for God to make us go through intense suffering. This is something you don’t want to ask or pray for. Refiner’s fire is painful, it is stressful, it is intense, it hurts. It can be in a form of painful prolonged illness or financial distress or depression or losing something or even someone very precious to you. Why would you want God to give it to you? Better to repent and ask for forgiveness. Better just to be obedient. Let us then stop talking about the Holy Spirit in language that he never uses of Himself. Let us stop spreading lies about the Holy Spirit. If you want more love for God, how about you just ask for more love for God? If you want more passion, zeal, conviction, commitment, etc.. how about you just asking for more of those things? If you know you are living in sin and want to be more righteous and holy why not just repent and obey God’s Word rather than asking God to go through a “REFINER’S FIRE?” Don’t ask for more “holy fire” in your life; you might get it.
Posted on: Fri, 14 Mar 2014 20:26:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015