HEB 12:27 The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe,HEB 12:29 for our "God is a consuming fire."

===

In the side room, Rev Thomas Koh was back from Paris, and he shared with us the many spiritual needs of the Chinese in Europe. In the whole of Europe, Rev Koh said that there are probably less than 30 ordained ministers for the Chinese. Even among the English or native-speaking Europeans, church attendance had been poor. So ironically, it is time for Asia to send missionaries to Europe. Dr Tong and Rev Koh spoke briefly among holding rallies in Europe, and they said simply that the LORD will lead if it is His will. This aspect of the Stephen Tong ministry is most interesting, in that there are no massive committees, no long hours of endless discussions and debates, no profound declarations. Most intriguing would be the fact that they hardly talk about expenses at all (as opposed to other ministries I know of, where finances always take center stage). The only thing there was a quiet conviction that we trust that the LORD will move us and show us the vision, and we will move when He does. And that simple conversation between the two servants would likely result in many lives being touched in Europe when the rallies are held later this year and the next.

Although last week the same passage was discussed, the servant of God felt that the very last verse was so important that he needed to spend another session just expounding on the concept of God being a consuming fire. Dr Tong started by reminding the people that true spirituality is not dependant on what one says or knows. It is also not about living a life in our spiritual realm. Many people think that if they live their life based on the needs of their flesh, they belong to the flesh; and if they live their life based on the needs of their spiritual being, they are spiritual. No so, Dr Tong declared. True spirituality comes only when we submit ourselves totally to the will of God, not to our own will, spiritual or otherwise. It comes when we are able to seek to please God in every aspect of our lives, and when others see God whenever they look at us. True spirituality is when we do everything as if we are doing it for the LORD and not for men.

The author of Hebrews gave a very concise reason why we should do that, because 'God is a consuming fire'. We all know that the Old Testament shows us a God who is authoritative, powerful, and even frightening in His wrath. We are not able to get close physically to this God. Yet the New Testament shows us that the same God is compassionate, merciful and loving; coming in human flesh to grant us His grace in salvation. But both the Old and New Testament are consistent, except that different aspects of God were the focus. The revelation of God being a consuming fire is present in both OT and NT. In Deuteronomy 4:24, we read 'For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God'.

In Greek philosophy, fire, or 'heraclitus' is linked with the eternal way. While fire is eternal and unchanging in that manner, fire itself is constantly on the move. If you were to take a million photographs of a flame, none of the photographs will be identical with another, because the flames are constantly changing, dynamic in nature. The Chinese philosopher Confucius seemed to have had the same idea, when he wanted to lean the YiJing, a Chinese philosophy based on the mathematical variations based on the factor eight, because it describes endless variations in nature. But the Bible already declared this some hundreds of years before YiJing or any other religious scriptures of the world.

God is an eternal fire, and the first creation of this fire was light. Fire produces light. God lives in the light, and is the Father of light (James 1:17) who commanded the light to shine forth into darkness (2 Cor 4:6) that we may leave darkness and live in the light. So we are called children of light (Eph 5:8) and shine for our LORD.

Dr Tong said that there are many things we can learn about how God is related to fire.

1. Fervency: Fire is the source of heat and energy. Wherever light goes, heat is brought a long with it. Therefore, when we act like children of light, we are to also serve Him with energy and zeal, for this is pleasing to Him.

2. Blockage: As the consuming fire, God uses fire to destroy elements of failures among His creation. The very first act of God moving against mankind was seen in the garden of Eden. After the fall of Adam and Eve, God commanded a cherubim to guard the garden against the return of man. The cherubim used a flaming sword for that purpose (Gen 3:24), so we see fire as the means to prevent and block man from returning to grace.

3. Destruction: At the same time, the Bible tells of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around. In this incident, an interesting point can be found in Genesis 19:24: "Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of the heavens." Here, the first LORD referred to Christ in a pre-incarnate form (thelogical term: theophany), appearing to Lot and commanding fire from the heavenly Father to destroy the cities.

4. Calling: The LORD used fire to call His people. When Moses was first called by God, he saw the burning bush from whence the LORD gave him the great task of the exodus. Why would God call us from the fire? This is because fire is the most effective cleansing agent there is. Every ancient healer knew that by passing their instruments through fire, all germs would be destroyed and the instruments made clean. No filth can possibly exist in fire. The calling of God is holy and pure, and all servants of God should know that God's calling is not to be taken lightly at all.

5. Law: The laws of God were given to men via the fire. Although the OT was established upon the sacrifices and blood of the animals, the laws were given through fire, and not blood. Moses proclaimed to the people that the LORD will descend on Mt Sinai in clouds, smoke and fire, and the sight will be so terrifying that no one is to get close to the mountain or they will be stoned to death (Exodus 19). After Moses met with God in the fire and received the laws, his face shone so brightly that he had to cover his face with a veil (Exodus 34:33) because the glory was too much for the people to bear.

6. Guidance: The LORD guided His people after that with pillars of cloud in the daytime, and flames in the night time. He is our God who is with us day and night. We should never forget that even when the sun sets, He is not sleeping and His eyes are always upon us. In the midst of darkness, His flames shine and illuminate our life. Day or night, smooth or rough our journey may be, He is always with us to guide us.

7. Cleansing: When God judges His servant, He uses fire to destroy false servants of His. The Bible tells us that the 2 sons of Aaron were serving God in an irreverent manner, serving Him with unauthorised fire and fire came down from the LORD and consumed them both (Lev 10:1,2). The question is not whether we are fervent in serving the LORD. The question is what our fervency is based on. Do we serve God with fervency based from the enthusiasm of the world, or is our ministry based on holiness, fired up by holy fire? Do we serve God out of interest, or because our friends are in the ministry, or our lover is there? If so, our fervency will disappear when circumstances change, and trials come.

Aaron's sons must have felt that as sons of the first high priest, they had special privileges. Ironically, on the day that they were ordained, a day that was supposed to be the most glorious day for the household of Aaron, they were consumed by the fire of God, turning the day into a day of humiliation. Dr Tong warned the people that God detests nepotism, the idea that one has special privileges in church just because he has parents who are bishops, pastors, elders or church leaders; or because one is a pastor, seminary graduate, or supported the church financially. The LORD will consume all these filth with His holy fire.

Dr Tong elaborated upon what unauthorised fire was. Fire for the LORD was supposedly to be from the most pure oil, which is olive oil. In the revealed wisdom of God, olive oil is the cleanest of all oil (compared to peanut, vegetable and certainly lard), even good for our heart and our health. So we should know that God has His purpose and reason for His commandments, and we need to be obedient to Him, not thinking that we need to help Him out in our ministry.

8. Consuming: God uses fire to consume true sacrifices to Him. Sacrifice is therefore linked with fire-like fervency. It means that we ought to give our all to God without any reservation. We ought to give our all to God for Him to completely consume us.

9. Revival: God uses fire to revive His people. When the prophet Elijah was sent to revive Israel, he battled with King Ahab and his 400 false prophets at Mr Carmel. This bold prophet was so poor that he had to be helped by a widow at Zaraphath, compared with the rich false prophets of the king. Dr Tong reminded the people not to give money to organisations that preach erroneous messages, lest they have a part in their evil teaching by sustaining their ministries. In the entire episode of the Mt Carmel encounter, the false prophets could do nothing against the true servant of God. Elijah prayed to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob although all three were long deceased(1 King 18:36), indicating that the servant of God does not simply pray the 'prayer of the times', but is consistent in the understanding that God is eternal. Fire came down from heaven to consume the sacrifice, reviving the Israelis.

Dr Tong pointed out something that is often missed out by the casual reader. Elijah asked that the sacrifice be drenched in water not once, but three times. This is significant because they had a drought that lasted three and a half years, and water would have been more precious than gold. The people must have thought him mad, but the true servant of God does not compromise with the voices around him, but would simply be obedient to God regardless of the circumstances. Dr Tong declared that many churches fail because we have brought in secular democracy into the church, binding the hands and feet of the servants of God. The true servant would not bow to the circumstances, or the voices of the world because he hears only the voice of God.

10. Suffering: We see that God is with His suffering servants while they are in fire. It does not matter how hot the fire is when we are going through trials, because our God is a consuming fire that is even hotter than anything else. A person who lives in the tropics would not be afraid of the heat because he is used to it. Daniel's friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were able to withstand a furnace which was heated up seven times its original temperature (Daniel 3:19). They were accompanied by a fourth person, the God who is a consuming fire and who is with those who suffer for His name sake.

Dr Tong said that the three persons did not kneel to the idol because:
a. They have already knelt to the LORD: Anyone whose knees are knelt before the LORD would be able to stand firm against the world, money, evil powers. We bow to the devil because we do not kneel before the LORD.
b. They know that the idols are nothing compared to their faith. So they would never compromise downwards. They understood that what they had was far greater than what the world could offer - idols that can be burnt away.

All the examples above show us the relationship of God with fire in the OT. In the NT, we too see many examples linking God with fire. Jesus Christ was anxious for the temple of God as if on fire, tongues of fire appeared over the disciples during Pentecost, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus felt their hearts burning after Jesus preached to them, John the Baptist said Christ will baptise with the Holy Spirit and fire, and many more references to fire.

Dr Tong ended by reminding the people that Hebrews and Psalms declared that "He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants" (Hebrews 1:7, Psalms 104:4). We need to really recognize that our LORD is a consuming fire, and be prepared to be called by Him via fire, be cleansed by Him via fire, be led by Him through fire, to give of ourselves and serve Him burning with fervency, see Him through our trials of fire, and be a servant that has the energy of fire. We need to heed the warning that our God is not to be taken lightly, for He is indeed a consuming fire.

Disclaimer: This summary does NOT represent the official position of STEMI (Stephen Tong Evangelistic Ministry International), and is the personal opinion of the author, expressed without prejudice. Expressed opinions are meant for academic discussions only.