“When the Comforter Came”
Day 10, Baptized with Fire
by A.B. Simpson

“He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.” Matthew 3:11

               The mightiest physical force we know is fire. Hence from the earliest ages, even in false religions, it has been recognized as a symbol of the supernatural and even worshipped and deified. It is one of the oldest divine emblems of the Holy Ghost. We see it in the flaming sword at the gates of Eden, the burning lamps that appeared to Abraham in connection with his sacrifice, the burning bush in which God appeared to Moses in the land of Midian, the pillar of cloud and fire which led the Israelites, the consuming fire that enshrouded Mount Sinai, the Shekinah glory in the Holy of Holies, the fire that answered Elijah’s prayer and settled the test of the false and true God of Israel and many other illustrations closing with the Pentecostal flame which marked the advent of the Holy Ghost.

               We should first notice that the baptism of fire is not different from the baptism with the Holy Ghost. It is simply an expletive phrase qualifying and completing the thought expressed in the first phrase. The Holy Ghost is Himself a Divine Fire, and when He takes possession of a soul His operations are similar to the effect of fire in the natural world. The baptism with fire, however, suggests a stronger and more searching operation of the Spirit than that which is expressed by the other figure of water which John employs. Even in the Old Testament types and ceremonials we find God making a distinction between water and fire, especially in one striking passage where it was commanded that everything must be purified either by water or fire, and that if it could not stand fire it was to be purified by water. Does this imply that God deals differently with different souls according to their spiritual capacity and the completeness of their surrender to him? Is it because you are not able or willing to stand the fire that you have not received and God has had to deal with you in a less thorough and searching way?

               We have a reference to the purifying effects of fire in Malachi 3:2 “…He is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap, and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver and shall purify the sons of Levi.” Malachi is speaking of the work of the jeweler as he sits before his crucible watching the fierce flame as it eliminates the dross and leaves the silver so perfectly refined that at length He can see his face in the glowing metal. So the Holy Spirit sits down in His slow and patient work in a surrendered heart, revealing and removing selfishness and sin until at last the image of Christ shines from all our inner being.

               We have a very solemn picture of the testing fire in 1 Corinthians 3:13 “The fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.” While this undoubtedly refers to the testing fires of the final day, yet the language of John the Baptist distinctly implies that every one of us must pass through one of two fires. We must either have the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit now or that later flame of which he says, “He shall burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

               “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29), is not wholly an angry threat. Rather it is a revelation of God in His sanctifying grace and power. It is “Our God” who is a “consuming fire.” There are things in all of us that we are not able to eliminate ourselves, and we would give any price to have consumed. It is such a privilege to have a fire on which we can lay them through our great Sin Offering and to have them burn to ashes without the camp. Beloved, have you experienced the blessedness of having God’s fire burn out your inmost being? Do you know what it is to lay over everything of the flesh and self and sin on the Lamb of God as your Sin Offering, and then see Him consumed with your sin outside the camp while your soul is cleansed and emancipated and you joyfully sing, —

Oh fire of God, burn on, burn on,
Till all my dross is burned away;
Oh, fire of God, burn on, burn on,
Prepare me for the testing day.

               The Holy Ghost kindles in the soul the fires of love, the flame that melts our selfishness and pours out our being in tenderness, sacrifice and service. And the same fire of love is the fusing, uniting flame, which makes Christians one, even as the volcanic tide that rolls down the mountain fuses into one current everything in its course.

               Above all things fire is the mightiest of forces. It drives our engines and propels our commerce. It is the only thing that can move the heart of man and the Church of God. Oh, for the dynamite of the Holy Ghost;

“Oh, for a passionate passion for souls,
Oh, for the pity that yearns!
Oh, for the love that loves unto death,
Oh, for the fire that burns!”

“Praying With the Church”
Forward and Chapter 1
by Scot McKnight

                From their earliest moments, the three monotheistic faiths of Abraham – Judaism, Christianity and Islam - have all shared certain common assumptions about, and disciplines of, religious and spiritual formation. All three appoint one day each week as sacred unto God. All three require tithing. Each encourages spiritual pilgrimage. All three govern themselves according to the rhythms of a liturgical year; and each teaches the uses of fasting at appointed seasons in either the cycles of physical time or of a believer’s individual courses. Most significantly for our purposes here, however, all three have, from their very inception, assumed the practice of fixed-hour prayer as part and parcel of the observant life.

                It was understood, that is, that at set hours of each day the faithful would interrupt the business of vocational life in order to praise and worship the Almighty One, thereby not only offering an appropriate sacrifice of time and deliberate intention, but also assuring that the thoughts and actions of each worshiper had been returned to the Source from which he or she had come and to which he or she would ultimately be accountable.  In general, the appointed prayers were usually offered in the physical presence of other worshipers, whether family or co-workers or simply co-religionists; but one did not have to be in the physical company of believers to do so. Because the hours of prayer were fixed or set, one could stop whatever on was, be it alone or in company, and offer the appointed words of praise and thanksgiving, knowing thereby that one was part of the whole company of believers worshiping together across geography and circumstance before the throne of God.

                This is a potent image and a potent practice that hones the soul as surely as it hones and shapes the communion of which the soul is a member. It is still assumed today in both Judaism and Islam; in those faiths, the faithful stop and the faithful pray. It was also assumed in apostolic Christianity: Peter received the vision of the descending sheet while on the rooftop in Joppa for noon prayers. The flames of Pentecost descended on the early believers while they were gathered together in an upper room for nine o’clock prayers. Peter and John exercised the first healing after Christ’s resurrection by ministering to the cripple whom they found on the Temple steps as they made their way to three o’clock prayers….

                Fixed-hour prayer was assumed as part of Christian devotion for several centuries, in fact, until Rome fell. After that, the decimation of Roman civilization drove the dangerous and literate business of fixed-hour prayer into the safekeeping primarily of monasteries and, to some extent, of royal households. Because of those long, dark centuries when only the clergy and the privileged had both prayer books and the literacy with which to use them, fixed-hour prayer (or keeping of the offices, to use another familiar name for the discipline as it is followed in Christianity) came to be associated in the minds of the humble faithful as particular not to the Christian tradition itself, but to chanting monks and/or times of sequestered individual devotion. Nothing could have been, or could be, farther from the truth. And little could have been more detrimental, more enervating, to the whole body of Christ on earth than the loss of those diurnal rhythms of praise and thanksgiving by all believers. As a result and as a part of its own emergence and re-configuration, what post modern, post-denominational, post-Reformation Christianity now calls us to is the reclamation by all Christians of fixed-hour prayer and of the spiritual richness that comes from this most ancient and holy practice.

                Most Christians are not happy with their prayer life - they either don’t pray often enough or well enough. This book is written to help such Christians – and for those who do pray often, this book might also bring a welcoming word.

                For far too many Christians the only kind of prayer experience is praying alone in the church. This happens whenever an individual prays exactly and only what is on his or her heart. I call this praying in the church. Many Christians today, however, are turning to another kind of prayer and rediscovering its formative influences. This second form of prayer consists of set prayers that the Church has written down and prayed for centuries. The church has always prayed at fixed times with set prayers, and in so praying it creates a sacred rhythm of prayer. I call this praying with the Church. When Christians pray at fixed times with set prayers, they join millions of Christians scattered across the globe who routinely pause two or three or even more times in a day to pray what other Christians are praying.

                Christians use various terms for praying with the Church, such as liturgical prayer, fixed-hour prayers, the Divine Office, the divine hours, the hours of prayer, or the Opus Dei (“the work of God”). No matter what term we use, it is what we are doing that is important:  We are joining hands and hearts with millions of other Christians to say the same thing at the same time. By doing this, we are creating in our lives a sacred rhythm of prayer.

Ancient Fire, Enduring Flame
Chapter 2 “Keepers of the Flame”
by Robert Stearns

           The call on Israel to keep the flame day and night was a national call. It came to the whole nation and determined their national priority. In walking out that mandate, some of the functional responsibilities fell to the tribe of Levi.

          The members of the tribe of Levi were called to be priests of the children of Israel. But it is essential for us as worshippers to understand that it’s not enough to have the office, or position, of priest. Occupying the office of priest requires a particular priority, an essential demand, and an ongoing mandate.

          Let’s examine this thought for a moment. An office may exist in theory, but in reality an office never exists without function. The office of President exists in the Constitution of the United States. But until someone occupies that office and acts with executive authority, there is no functioning executive head of government.

          A car has been manufactured to move down the highway. Everything can be present – motor, gasoline, keys and every mechanical system ready to go. The engine can even be running. But without a driver the car goes nowhere.

          A worship service may be planned, rehearsed and even started. People may even be assembled or gathered in a room called a sanctuary. But worship never happens without true worshippers. Without those who have kept the flame…the passion…the fire of their hearts ablaze with the purpose of glorifying God – no worship occurs.

          All the offices of the Church may be present – apostle, pastor, evangelist, prophet and teacher. But without worship, the offices are empty and their purposes unfulfilled. What comes first? Apostle then prophet? How would the people even be there without the evangelist? Would they ever gather without the pastor? Could they ever know what to do without the teacher? Each office is important but not primary; essential, while not taking precedence over the others. Before the office necessarily comes the function – that which every office must be and do on order to be authentic.

          What is the function of the office of priest? To truly be a priest of the Most High God, we must render worship unto Him. And all of us, together, are called to be a kingdom of priests.

          We have already learned that worship is the very essence of our being, and is that which we were created to do. We know what worship is. Throughout the remainder of our time together, we will be examining how to worship God.

          The premise of this book rests on God’s instruction to ancient Israel on how to worship. Only by examining this timeless mandate can we, as those who believe in the God of Israel today, offer worship that is pleasing to Him.

The Ancient Fire

The Lord said to Moses: “Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burn offering is to remain on the alter hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar’” (Lev.6:8-9).

          God’s mandate for his people was that they become a nation of priests to continually honor and worship Him by offering up a burnt offering.

          The Lord clearly dictates to Moses that this is not a one day a week experience. Nor is it something that can be done casually whenever people feel like it. It is not a sacrifice that can be brought at any time. Rather, this sacrifice must be brought at all times.

 “The Fire must be kept burning on the altar.”

           Three times God repeats this in this passage (Leviticus 6:9-13), making it abundantly clear to His people what His priority is for them: keep the flame burning!

          They must tend the flame.

It cannot go out.

Day and night, they must be keepers of the flame.

Then and Now

           When we study Scripture, we understand the “Law of First Mention.” This Law of hermeneutics, or scriptural interpretation, tells us that the first time something is mentioned in Scripture lays the foundational understanding for that concept throughout all of Scripture. So, if we want to understand marriage, we look at the first mention of marriage. If we are to understand tithing, we look at the first mention of tithing.

          Here we are looking at worship. We are looking at the first times God calls for worship and sacrifice from His people.

          I want you to think about your concept of worship. You probably think of your Sunday morning service. Worship is most likely tied in your mind with pictures of musical instruments, choruses and hymns and a worship leader.

          But can you see and understand as you read this passage that there is a direct historic and spiritual link between what we see here in Leviticus and what we do on Sunday mornings? In other words, there is a timeline stretching throughout five or six thousand years in which the ultimate ancestor of your “worship service” is the scene described in Leviticus six.

          Aaron and his sons, the words of Moses, the altar, the sacrifice and the fire – all of these expressions have changed. They have morphed and transitioned into the various forms we associate with worship today. But the original desire and plan of God is right there: the altar, the wood, the fire, the sacrifice, the priest and the sweet aroma to the Lord.

          The root system of worship of the true and living God, the “chief end of man,” is found here as these desert nomads light their fires and receive from the Holy One, Blessed be His Name. They have been given their corporate mandate as a nation: to keep the fire of God burning, and so have we.