FROM THE CANDLESTICK TO THE THRONE
Part 103
MINISTRY FROM THE GOLDEN ALTAR
(continued)
“And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him
much incense, that he should offer it
with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before
the throne. And the smoke of the incense, which came with the
prayers of the saints,
ascended up before God
out of the angel’s hand” (Rev. 8:3-4).
So many truths come pouring into
the soul from this wonderful vision, and the understanding of these mysteries is
of eternal importance, for until they are fulfilled experientially within us we
will be ineffectual in our ministry as the priesthood of God. I would draw your
attention to seven specific items in this beautiful scene. There is an angel, an
altar, a golden censer, incense, fire, prayers, and smoke. We must be very
certain about the identity of each of these objects! The imagery is drawn from
the typical tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness. The setting is the “holy
place,” the location of the golden altar in the tabernacle. It was stationed
just before the veil of entrance into the “most holy place” of the throne of God
upon the ark of the covenant. Here it is viewed as standing before the throne of
God in the heavens of God’s Spirit!
The scene opens with John
announcing that “another angel came and stood at the altar.” More literally the
Greek indicates that “another angel came and took his place at the altar,”
indicating that he had the right to be there, that it was his appointed place to
exercise authority. This symbolic angel John saw standing by the altar, having the golden
censer in his hand, ministering in the holy things of the altar, is none other
than our great high priest of the heavens, the Lord Jesus Christ; for this
“angel” occupies the place of the high priest in the temple worship (Heb. 8:1-2;
9:11). This is not a created angel as some contend, for a created angel is never
portrayed as a priest. But this angel stands before the altar and officiates as
a priest! A mere angel has nothing to do with our prayers, but our blessed Lord
has, for our prayers are offered in His name. Nothing can be plainer than this!
The fire upon the altar is the energizing, quickening,
transforming presence and power of God Himself who “is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29). The purpose of the fire was to
consume and transform every sacrifice placed upon the altar. The fire was God
Himself! The golden
censer represents each
member of God’s elect, for the fire of God resides in the life of every man and
woman who has been baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire.
The prayers offered upon the altar are the effectual prayers
of those saints who minister as priests in the Spirit and by the Spirit. Now there are
multitudes of prayers that are daily offered up to God. You can go to any church
and hear many prayers. People pray under all kinds of circumstances. In times of
distress, trouble, and crisis, everyone prays! Not every prayer is prayed
in the Spirit
and by the Spirit. There are all kinds of prayers, Roman Catholics
chanting their “Hail Marys,” Moslems on their faces on their prayer rugs five
times daily, repeating their prayers to Allah, prayers going around and around
on a Tibetan Prayer Wheel, and written prayers pushed into the cracks between
the stones of Solomon’s temple at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Let us stand
assured of this important fact: If there is not some other ingredient added to all those prayers, they have no value as
priestly prayers, no spiritual power whatsoever, they will
never get off the altar they are offered upon, they will never ascend any higher
than the head of the person offering them, and they can not penetrate through
and beyond the veil into the throne-room of God! Apart from the unction of the
Holy Ghost they are merely words!
This brings us to the
incense. In a number of places in scripture
incense is used as the symbol of prayer. David cried, “Let my prayer be set
forth before Thee as incense” (Ps. 141:2). Here in John’s vision of the ministry
at the golden altar, however, there is a difference! The incense is
not the prayers of the saints, but is offered up
with the prayers of the saints. This concept
is most interesting. It suggests that the prayers of the saints were lying on
the altar and the angel came with the incense to cense the holy things. Incense
mingled with the prayers of the saints can only be prayer mingled with prayer! PRAYER OF A HIGHER, PURER TYPE
INTERMIXED WITH THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS! Can we not see by this that the
incense is the activity of the Holy Spirit in our prayers as we pray “in the
Spirit” and “with the Spirit,” for “the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which
cannot be uttered…He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of
God” (Rom. 8:26-27).
When the Holy Spirit comes to our
aid, moving mightily within our spirit, is when the incense is
added to our prayers! The anointing of the Spirit gives
life and adds power and efficacy to our prayers! Let us consider these significant
words, “And there was given unto Him much incense, that He should offer it with the prayers
of all saints.” Not just a little incense, but a full and abundant anointing
that is sufficient for every need — not only for our situation and calling, but
for all creation. The incense-anointing offered upon the altar of our hearts is
the power of the Spirit which animates, motivates, enlivens, activates,
instigates, and energizes every prayer that is prayed in the Spirit and by the
Spirit.
There in the holy place the high
priest burned the incense which ascended from the altar and wafted its way
through the veil, permeating the presence and throne of the Lord. Those who work
in our office here in El Paso understand how easily incense penetrates from
realm to realm, because there is an incense shop two doors down from our
offices, and those people burn incense for hours at a time. They are two doors
away with another business between, but the incense so penetrates through the
ceiling and the walls until some days it is almost suffocating in our office.
Incense permeates! When the incense was burned in the holy place nothing could
keep it out from the most holy place. The incense, before it was crumbled over
the live coals was a cold, hard substance; but the fire transformed it into a
spiritual essence that penetrated through the veil, under
the veil, and around the veil, entering right into the presence of God and the
majesty of His throne in the Holiest of all! The deep spiritual meaning of this
is that when our prayers are offered by the quickening of the spirit and power
of God, nothing can keep those prayers from their destination, and nothing can
prevent them from being answered!
Finally, the smoke of the incense, which ascended up with the
prayers of the saints, bespeaks of the fragrance of our prayers which ascends up before God as a
sweet-smelling savor — that which is well pleasing and acceptable unto the Lord!
The message is clear — prayer is not priestly prayer unless it is in the Spirit and by the Spirit! The power of God as holy fire is that which
energizes the prayers of God’s Royal Priesthood! Now anybody can “pray.” Anyone
can utter words and make requests of God. But God pays no attention to many
prayers! Prayer is a
spiritual activity!
There must be a spiritual
operation in prayer, an
anointing, a quickening, an energizing that comes out of the very spirit of the
high priest within us, which also gives unction, force, validity, authority, and
power to the prayer! Without the fire and the incense of the altar the prayer is
of no essence, cold, hard, lifeless, barren, sterile, spiritless, dead,
meaningless, and unprofitable.
One of the greatest truths ever
revealed concerning sonship prayer was penned by the apostle Paul in his letter
to the Romans. “LIKEWISE the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities (weaknesses,
lack of understanding): for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but
the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the
Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of
God” (Rom. 8:26-27). It seems to me that for centuries our eyes have been kept
holden to many of the great truths of scripture. Without a doubt, very few who
have read these beautiful words of Paul have truly understood what they read.
Generally, it is taught that the Holy Spirit will cause us to intercede in
prayer, praying for our own or other’s needs, when we lack the understanding of
just what we should ask for. There is certainly a measure of truth in that,
however, the intent of this passage is to show that the Holy Spirit will cause
the saints to make intercession, not for their own earthly needs, or the
physical and natural needs of their brethren and friends, BUT FOR THE
DELIVERANCE OF BOTH THE SONS OF GOD AND THE WHOLE CREATION FROM THE BONDAGE OF
CORRUPTION!
The word “LIKEWISE” in verse
twenty-six is a conjunctive adverb which joins the subject of true intercessory
prayer with the subject preceding it. The subject of the entire eighth chapter
of Romans is the manifestation of the sons of God and the deliverance of the
whole creation. Paul explains that the creation is in a sort of universal
travail for the manifestation of God’s sons, because that is creation’s
hope for deliverance from the whole dreadful realm of
corruption, sin, and death. Then he shows that we ourselves, who have and enjoy
the firstfruits of the Spirit, which is but a foretaste of the blissful things
to come, do groan inwardly as we wait for the redemption of our bodies from the
power of corruption and death, which will reveal our adoption, our placement as
sons, or our manifestation as the sons of God with power to deliver creation.
The underlying theme is the
groaning!
Creation groans! We, the future manifest sons of God,
groan!
Then follows the little conjunctive
adverb — LIKEWISE! “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities…the Spirit itself maketh
intercession for us
with groanings which
cannot be uttered
(by man)…because He
maketh intercession for
the saints according to the will of God.” Oh, the wonder of it! Creation groans,
we groan, and likewise the Spirit Himself groans for the same
thing on a plane beyond
our ability and understanding!
The prayer which the Holy Spirit
would pray through all the elect is that prayer which corresponds to the groans
and travail of every created thing! Most of us spend much of our prayer time
praying for our own temporal needs, rather than allowing the Holy Spirit to pray
through us with groanings which cannot be uttered, the transcendental prayer for
the manifestation of the sons of God and the deliverance of the whole creation.
A very basic and fundamental truth is stated when Paul says, “…for we know not
what we should pray for as we ought.” It would indeed be a gigantic step forward
toward maturity and perfection in Christ if all of us would allow the truth of
this to permeate our beings. This truth would unquestionably revolutionize our
spiritual life, for the fact is that WE KNOW NOT WHAT WE SHOULD PRAY FOR AS WE
OUGHT!
Oh, we think we know! Even when we think we don’t know, it is
often because we are in a quandary between two or more things. “Should I keep my
present job, or change to another?” “Should I buy a new house, or remain where I
am?” “Is it God’s will to heal me now, or does He have an unknown purpose in my
suffering?” It is nearly always about natural things! It is evident that with so much
pettiness and self-centeredness in our praying, we do not know what we should
pray for as we ought. I dare say not one believer in a million truly knows what
he should be praying for! The truth is that in about ninety-five percent of our
praying we are praying wrong, we are missing the mark — we don’t really realize
the high and holy things that are important to the heart of God and His great
purpose of the ages, and therefore consequential for the whole creation that
groans in bondage — so we continue to pray for things that are trivial in
contrast to the transcendent purposes of our Father! Armed with this
understanding of the truth that we do not know what to pray for as we ought, we
will yield our wills to the will of God and allow the Spirit to pray for us,
making intercession “with groanings which cannot be uttered.” And the Spirit
travailing through us would intercede FOR THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SONS OF GOD
with the resultant deliverance of the whole creation! There is no other subject
in Romans eight!
When it is asserted that the Holy
Spirit makes intercession “FOR the saints” and “FOR us,” this is construed by
many to mean that the Holy Spirit prays for us to the end that God will bless us and meet our
needs, or the needs of those about us. But there is another meaning more
consistent with the subject of the chapter. If you were to say, “I am going to
the hospital to pray for Sister Jones,” and I were to respond with, “I will go
FOR you,” — what would I mean? Obviously, my intention would be to make the
visit to the hospital IN YOUR PLACE, and pray for Sister Jones IN YOUR STEAD. In
like manner, if the whole creation is groaning and travailing for the
manifestation of the sons of God and the deliverance of creation from corruption
that will come through them, and if we ourselves are groaning within ourselves
for this very same manifestation and deliverance, surely it follows that if the
Holy Spirit, too, is making intercession FOR us with that kind of groanings
which cannot be uttered, such intercession is IN OUR PLACE, that is, the Spirit
is interceding IN OUR STEAD, lifting the whole cry and groan and travail of both
creation and ourselves INTO THAT HIGHER DIMENSION OF SPIRIT! Oh, how He “helps our weakness!” But dispossess yourself, my beloved, of the notion
that the ministry of the high priest before the altar and the work of the Holy
Spirit in our prayers is an outward scene in some far-off heaven somewhere. Oh,
no! The spirit of our heavenly high priest is right here within each of us!
These are inward realities!
This wonderful ministry takes place right here within the holy place of
our soul and the most holy place of our spirit, IN THE TEMPLE OF GOD WHICH WE
ARE!
On the plane of
spirit the groanings are not able even to be
uttered, for they are in some marvelous way the groanings of
spirit rather than the cry expressed verbally
out of our natural understanding. He that searches the hearts knows what is the
mind of the Spirit, that is, there is communication on the
plane of mind, in that wonderful realm where mind
communes with mind and spirit communes with spirit, beyond utterance. Thus the
deepest desire and longing of the physical universe, the saints on earth, and
the spirit realm are ONE! Creation groans, and we groan, audibly, and the
blessed Holy Spirit groans on our behalf and in our stead with those unutterable
groanings of divine mind, for we know not how to pray for this glorious
deliverance as we ought. Oh, the mystery of it!
People write to me all the time and
say, “Bother Eby, pray for this, pray for that, pray for the other thing.” We
used to call those “prayer requests.” In our meetings in former days we always
“took” prayer requests. Some folks didn’t want to reveal what their prayer
requests were, so they gave in an “unspoken request.” We had no idea what we
were praying for, so we just asked the Lord to “meet the need.” I’ve come to the
place in my walk in the Spirit where I have had to turn from all that! I have
discovered a greater reality and a higher order in the Spirit, and I simply
cannot pray for everything people ask me to pray for. Sometimes brethren don’t
understand that. “You’re a son of God, and you can’t pray for me?” they
question. Well, Mary and Martha sent for Jesus when Lazarus was sick and He
couldn’t go. While Lazarus lay dying Jesus stayed another three days in the
place where He was, restrained by the Spirit from going to minister to Lazarus
or even to pray for him. You see, Jesus could only pray for those things the
Father directed Him to pray for, and He could only minister to those whom the
Father showed Him! He couldn’t pray according to the desire and request of Mary
and Martha, nor could He pray according to His own will and desire. As a
manifest son of God He could only do those things He saw the Father doing, and
He spoke only those words He received from His Father. That is so different from
the old-order church way of doing things!
The following words by George
Hawtin bear eloquent testimony to the truth of which I now speak. “How often
have you heard Christians dreamily say, ‘I wish the Lord would send us a
revival.’ ‘I wish the Lord would save my husband.’ ‘I wish the Lord would heal
my body.’ ‘I wish the Lord would send us a good rain,’ or some such thing. Then
they will make request in the congregation desiring people to pray that these
wishes of theirs, which they call prayer requests, will be answered. Then when such requests go
unanswered for years we wonder why the Lord did not hear us. Why should He hear
us when the request is born, NOT OF HIS SPIRIT, but OF THE NATURAL MIND? There
is far too much rushing into God’s presence with our boots on, far too much
lifting up of unholy hands, far too much stepping where angels fear to tread,
and far too little preparation of the heart in waiting for the Spirit of God to
put the YEARNINGS OF THE ALMIGHTY in the spirit and on the lips of man” — end
quote.
There must be an administration of the Spirit in prayer. When we pray apart from the
anointing we are as a sounding brass and a
tinkling cymbal. The anointing is the incense that is added to our prayers! Within ourselves we
are weak and helpless. With our carnal understanding and desires we know not
what we should pray for. It is certain that many times we have prayed for what
seemed good to us, but was actually contrary to the
mind of the Lord and the will of God in the matter. We will never understand the
ignorance of the carnal mind by which men ask God for all the worldly things
their carnal hearts desire. Well did the apostle James write, “Ye ask, and
receive not, because ye
ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (carnal desires)” (James 4:3). That’s why I rarely ask for
things! I have said to the Lord, “Father, if it
would please you, I would thank you for providing such and such.” If it would
please the Father to give me a million dollars I would be very blessed! But I
leave all such carnal desires in the hands of my Father. Sometimes He has been
pleased to bless me with wonderful things, and often He withholds things that He
knows would be to my detriment. The simple but powerful truth is just this —
we know not what we
should pray for as we ought!
Every called and chosen son of God
is learning in this significant hour that if we pray a prayer, speak a word, or
do anything that is not
energized by the holy fire of God upon the altar, and mixed with the incense of
the Spirit’s supplications Himself, it is all vanity of vanities. This is beyond any
chance of contradiction the
central truth
in intercession! Learn, O man of God, to fellowship with Christ, rejoicing in
the Holy Spirit, communing with the Father, becoming one with Him in all wisdom
and spiritual understanding, hearing His voice and beholding His works in and by
the Spirit, walking in His will and doing His bidding, and you will then be
qualified to enter upon that precious ministry of priestly intercession as a KING-PRIEST OF THE MOST HIGH GOD!
We can accommodate, placate, and please the people by praying for all the things
they request, but that does not mean there will be any smoke ascending up before
God, nor does it indicate that it will produce any results! Spiritual prayer
originates with God in our spirit. It is His word in our spirit that ascends
from the altar of our souls — He lights the incense by the energy of His
quickening life — all this activity takes place within the temple of God which
we are!
The same truth applies to our
praise and worship! What ignites real praise and worship is the
fire upon the altar of God in our hearts! There was an
unspeakable glory manifest in the spirit of worship that came to the Lord’s
people at the time of the great Latter Rain outpouring of the Spirit in the late
1940’s and the 1950’s. There was the living stream of the song of the Lord as the people stood at the golden altar of
incense and worshipped the Father in the Spirit and by the Spirit for untold
hours at a time. What glory rested upon the people of the Lord! What power
flashed forth from the Holiest of all! There was the fire of God that energized and empowered the worship, it came
from the altar of God out of the holy fire, and there was a divine fragrance
that ascended with it!
But you know, my beloved, the day
came when we didn’t need the fire any more. We learned how to do it! It mattered not whether the high priest was
standing in the holy place by the altar; it made no difference whether there was
any fire in the censer, or any incense added to our worship. We knew how to
worship and we could just turn it on and turn it off any time we wanted. Soon
there was no fragrance ascending from our worship, it had become just another
form that we knew how to perform by rote. I must be perfectly honest with you! I
have heard much so-called “spiritual worship” through the years that was not
generated by the fire of the Holy Ghost and there was no fragrance, no glory
attending it whatsoever. At times, though the people felt blessed by the
performance of it, in my ears (and I believe also in God’s) it sounded more like
the braying of donkeys or the yelping of coyotes, than the celestial sound of
the Spirit.
Jesus was the firstborn Son of God
and He knew the Father in a measure and on a realm no man had ever known Him. He
has taught us, His younger brothers, that “they that worship the Father
must worship Him in spirit.” Then He added, “For the Father
seeketh such to worship Him.” John beheld this same
Christ of God standing at the heavenly golden altar in the realm of spirit and
He held a golden censer, and there was given unto Him much incense, that He should offer it with the prayers of all
saints upon the golden altar that was before the throne. Oh, what divine wonders
are these! The incense was offered with the prayers of all saints, not just those on this side of the veil, but those
on the other side as well! There is a deep and mighty cry arising out of the
hearts of all God’s chosen ones in both realms, the visible and the invisible,
for the fire of God that has quickened us in the depths of our being to be
cast into the
earth-realm and reveal the glory of God to creation. The smoke that John saw ascending before
God is something which is energized by the fire of God upon the altar of our
hearts. It is divine! It is spontaneous! It cannot be worked up! It cannot be
instigated by man! Only the fire of God can release it! There is no need for us
to do anything. It is that which is sovereignly ignited by the blazing Holy
Ghost fire of God from the inner sanctum of being!
“And the angel took the
censer, and filled it with
fire of the altar,
and cast it into the earth: and there were voices, and thunderings,
and lightnings, and an earthquake” (Rev. 8:5).
It must have been a tremendous
revelation to John to see the scene which immediately followed the ascension of
the spiritual prayers of God’s elect! When you read the book of Revelation, you
will find that it is based on a pattern that first something happens in heaven, and then as a consequence, certain events take place on earth. Here the angel (Christ Jesus) takes the censer
(our lives) and fills it with fire (the Holy Ghost fire of God) from the altar
(the place of spiritual praise, worship, and prayer), and casts it (the
fire-filled censer) into the earth (the souls or human identity of both
believers and mankind). What a picture that is! May the blessed spirit of wisdom
and revelation from God grant us eyes to see what is happening here!
As our prayers, praise, and worship
ascend in the Spirit, the
very coals from the altar that released the fragrance of the holy incense
of our spiritual ministry is CAST INTO THE EARTH! The spiritual and divine fire of God which takes
the cold, hard substance (incense) and transforms it into a spiritual fragrance
that wafts its way to the throne and brings pleasure to the very nostrils of
God, is cast into the earth-realm and mighty powers are released
in the earthlies! There are
voices as the word of the Lord is released, there are
thunderings as the power of God is manifested, there
are lightnings as the illumination of divine truth
flashes within the consciousness of men, followed by a great
earthquake as the carnality of man, and the
kingdoms of man, are shaken to their very foundations. Oh, yes! The earth-realm
of our own life, and that of the world of mankind about us, is powerfully
changed and transformed by the activity of the Spirit that is cast into their
midst out of the heavens of our spiritual ministry in the heavenly temple of
God! Oh, the wonder of it! As God moves us to minister unto Him in the Spirit He
is urging us to do what is necessary to enable things to happen as they are
supposed to happen in the earth-realm. As we pray in the Spirit, the fire from
the censer of our lives is cast into the earth! That fire produces the day of
the Lord! As we learn the holy purpose of our ministry in the high realm of the
Spirit in these significant days, there comes that deep inner consciousness that
somehow we are participating in a tableau and drama of history! We are bringing
the day of the Lord upon the earth!
The fire in the censer which the
high priest carried was put there to reveal the great truth that it is the fire
of God that brings change in any realm. The fire of God brings the spirit of
purification and transformation into the lives of men. This is not an action of
judgment, as we think of it, but rather an action of purification! It recalls
the action of the angel in Isaiah’s inaugural vision, taking burning coal from
the altar and touching Isaiah’s lips (Isa. 6:6-7). Beholding the manifest glory
of the Lord Isaiah cried, “Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of
unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” But the
coal placed on Isaiah’s lips does not mean Isaiah’s judgment or destruction;
instead it is good news, for the angel says, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips;
and thine iniquity is
taken away, and thy sin
purged.” Purification does not come easy! Hot
coal burns,
as does the cauterization of an
infected wound. Surgery might take away a part of us in order to make us well;
we may not want to lose anything, but pain and loss may be necessary in order
for us to experience actual healing.
Most commentators, when viewing the
fire cast into the earth, interpret it as divine judgment or punishment. They tell us that fire bespeaks wrath, torture,
and destruction of the wicked. Those who tell us this say that fire is the
common and exclusive figure of divine terribleness toward the guilty, the chief
torment of the lost. If the action of the high priest at the altar of prayer, praise, and
worship — casting fire into the earth — is a prophecy of the pouring out of the wrath and
vindictiveness of God upon the world of mankind, then the type is
incomprehensible! If the fire is vengeance, the one pouring it out upon the
earth should be represented as a warrior or a judge — not the compassionate, merciful, interceding HIGH
PRIEST! The fire of the
altar is the very fire of
God Himself! It is
the fire of His glory and
majesty! It is the fire
that purifies,
transforms, and glorifies God! What fire is in the natural world, the Holy Ghost
fire of God is in the spiritual world of men. Fire warms, beautifies, protects,
glorifies, refines, purifies, and consumes. Purification is neither judgment nor
punishment — purification brings SALVATION! Aren’t you glad!
Before ascending back to heaven,
Jesus said, “I came to
cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled!” (Lk.
12:49). To which He added: “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am
constrained until it be accomplished” (Lk. 12:50). Just what Jesus meant by this
fire He did not explain. However, He did say that as yet it was not kindled,
even though He longed for it to be kindled, and that before it could be kindled
He would first have to undergo a baptism of suffering leading to His death. Now
by the Spirit we know what Jesus meant! He was speaking of the pouring out and
release of the Holy Ghost fire, glory, and power of God in the world following
His death, resurrection, and ascension. It began on the day of Pentecost! “And
when the day of Pentecost was fully come…suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it
filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as of
fire, and it sat upon
each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost…” (Acts 2:1-4). This
is where the Holy Ghost fire of God was first cast into the earth by our great high priest at the golden altar in
the heavens of the Spirit! When Jesus said that He came to “cast fire into the
earth” He was alluding to the very thing John saw in his wonderful vision on
Patmos! The firstborn Son of God initiated this fiery, purging, refining,
empowering, and transforming work of the Spirit in the earth, and the body of
Christ, the “many brethren,” the “many sons brought to glory,” shall consummate
this great ministry of reconciliation, redemption, transformation, and
restoration!
I don’t know who penned the
following words, but I found them recently among my papers and found sweet
confirmation in them. “Jesus is speaking (Lk. 12:49) of our own little inward
earth and world. He longed for us to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It is the
fire of the Holy Spirit within that burns up the chaff and tares of our own
natural and carnal mind. Every wicked thought and injected imagination shall be
cast down and destroyed. Everyone shall be salted and purified with fire! All
mankind goes through judgment, now or in the ages to come. Fiery judgment is
God’s method to bring to perfection that which was saved by the blood and life
of Christ. When God’s judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world
will learn righteousness! Such judgment is for instruction,
correction, and revelation. By the work of God’s Holy Spirit fire all things
will be set right!”
Throughout the book of Revelation
we see our God as a consuming fire! God’s action in fire, like His action in
grace, is pure, harmonious, balanced, directed towards the purging that leads to
transformation and wholeness. The eternal fire is the Truth, the Righteousness,
the Love of God; in a word, it is the nature of God. Any careful reader of the
Old Testament will be aware that fire is often used therein as a symbol for the
presence and manifestation of God! Moses beheld Him as the fire in the burning
bush, which burned but was not consumed! He came down upon mount Sinai in the
midst of the people of Israel as a blazing, burning fire that scorched the
mountain! He dwelt as fiery majesty upon the mercy seat in the Holiest of all!
“Our God is a consuming fire,” says the scripture,
and the apostle adds, “God
is love.” God IS! God
is fire and He is love. He is light and life. Fire represents the divine process
of cleansing. Divine judgment by fire is not unto destruction, but unto
redemption! Fire appears terrible only to the man who is unprepared to pass
through it. Yes, our God is a consuming fire, and there is comfort and hope and
blessing in the thought! When we yield to God’s love, and open our hearts to
Him, He enters into us, and becomes within us a consuming fire; not to
ourselves, but to the carnality within us. So that, in a very deep and blessed
sense, we may be said to dwell with the devouring fire, and to walk amid the
eternal burnings. Nothing is more certain than the fact that the fire of God has
already been cast, and shall yet be cast, into the world of each of us! Not to
destroy us, but to purge our land. Only the dross must be removed!
Now that fire — the very power, the
anointing, the divine energy in the heat of our spiritual prayers, praise, and
worship is cast into the earth-realm — into the soul life, into the carnality,
natural consciousness, and human identity of mankind. The Christ within does
this! It is truly the Christ! The censer is our life as a vessel, placed upon
the altar of the Lord. The fire is the power of God transforming the sacrifice.
The incense is the ministration of the Holy Spirit in our spiritual ministry of
prayer, praise, and worship. The high priest is the Christ within His temple
performing all this wonderful work in our lives. And by the power of God we, the
members of the Christ body upon earth, are fulfilling this same ministration on
behalf of all who “dwell in the earth-realm.” We pray in the heavens of the
Spirit of the Lord and the power of God is cast into, and released in the earth!
With these truths fresh upon our
minds let us look at the work of fire throughout the book of Revelation. In the
very first chapter we find the glorious Christ standing in the midst of the
churches and “His eyes are as a flame of fire” (Rev. 1:14). The Christ’s eyes of
fire, and the eyes of fire of every son of God who shares His glory, are eyes of
the very same fire that is revealed throughout the Revelation. There are not two
or five or ten different fires! There are His eyes of fire, and there is gold
that is tried in the fire (Rev. 3:18), and it is the same fire! The fire of the golden altar which is cast
into the earth is the same holy, refining fire of God and when it is cast into
the earth mighty commotions take place! By that fire all carnality is consumed
from the sons of men, that God may be glorified in the earth-realm even as He is
in the heavenlies! There are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,
which are the seven spirits of God (Rev. 4:5). These seven spirits of God are
“sent forth into all the
earth.” Is it not clear
that the work of the seven lamps of fire sent into “all the earth” is but
another picture of the fire from the altar that is “cast into the earth”? It is
the same fire! It’s activity is in the same sphere! It accomplishes the same
thing! The Lamb has seven eyes and the seven eyes are the seven-fold spirit of
God, thus they are likewise the eyes of fire which are also the seven lamps
burning before the throne! (Rev. 5:6).
You see, it is all the same fire of
God in different administrations! There is a sea of glass mingled with fire
(Rev. 15:12), a people who have become within themselves an untroubled sea of
tranquility, peace, and transparency, made so by the processing fire of God.
All the restlessness and agitation of the carnal mind and the flesh have been
burned out of them! There is fire that is cast upon the earth and burns up the
trees that grow out of the earth (Rev. 8:7), consuming the carnal manifestations
and works that grow out of our earthly, fleshly nature. There is a fire that
destroys the religious sham of Mystery Babylon (Rev. 18:8), not consuming the
people, but destroying the apostate system that enslaves them.
Then we are shown a great lake of
fire for all the adversaries of God — death, hell, the beastly fleshly nature,
the soulical false prophets, and all who do iniquity (Rev. 20:10-15). What are
we meant to understand by this lake which burns with fire and brimstone? We know
only too well the use the church systems have made of this conception through
the ages! It has been given some horrific connotations and given a distorted
view of the character of God. The crude idea that an all-wise, all-knowing,
all-righteous, and all-loving Creator would decree endless torture in undying
flames for any of His creatures does dishonor to the name and glory of our
precious Lord Jesus Christ, and it is incredible that the compassionate Saviour
of mankind could ever have intended us to read into His words the notion that He
will use that wonderful Holy Ghost fire of His glory to torture billions of
souls throughout eternity!
The consuming fire of God is as
eternal as God Himself; it is, because He is! It is that which was from the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be, world without end. Our Father dwells in the light that no man
can approach unto. No
man! That is, no
carnal, fleshly nature or being! Who shall stand when He appeareth, for
He is like a refiner’s fire! Oh, if there be one thing for which we ought to
rejoice and praise God without ceasing, it is that eternal fire which will burn
up all the foulness and rottenness, all the wickedness and cruelty, all the
deception, shame, and wrong from which our souls have ever suffered. It is not
evil which will have the last word, but righteousness; not sorrow, but joy; not
hate, but love; not death, but life; not damnation, but salvation. When the love
of God is shed abroad in the heart, heaven is there. When any other spirit is
dominant, hell is there. It is not God who changes when we pass from one to the
other, it is we who are changed by the eternal fire!
When all that has held us captive in chains of darkness is consumed by the fire
of His love, we see Him as He is and reality breaks forth!
Do you long to truly affect and
impact the earth-realm, my friend? Do you want to hear voices and thunderings
and lightnings and see a mighty shaking and change in the earth? Does your heart
yearn for God to move in mighty spirit-power to bring forth the word of God in
such authority and with such illumination that it will shake all the kingdoms of
the flesh and all the soulical powers of man, bringing a glorious change and
transformation? How our heart cries for this!
Our Lord Jesus has taught us to
pray that great sonship
prayer in which are
included these words, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” Is it possible — faintly, vaguely,
possible for God’s will to be done in earth in the same totality and
completeness as it is
done in the heavens of God’s Spirit? In heaven the will of God is done absolutely,
totally, completely! But on earth — you know about Osama bin Laden, of course,
you know about Fidel Castro, the Islamic Fundamentalists, the Chinese
Communists, the gangs, pedophiles, drug lords, and godless humanists. If you
take the terrorists into account, and all the vulgar movies, the divorce rate,
the crime rate, the sexual immorality, the crooked politicians — do you still
think the will of God can be done in earth as it is in heaven? I’m going to tell
you something. You’re dreaming; it’s wishful thinking; you’re whistling in the
dark; you’ve got your fingers crossed hoping for the best —
unless you know which earth the Father’s will has to be done in first,
completely! It is significant to note that neither Luke nor Matthew records
Jesus as asking for the Father’s will to be done ON the earth, but rather, IN
earth. “In earth” does not mean the outer world of mountains, hills, valleys,
rivers and oceans, nor yet the outer world of governments, organizations,
institutions, cities, farms, and buildings. Man himself is the earth! “The first
man is of the earth, earthy…as is the earthy, such are they also that are
earthy…and as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the
image of the heavenly” (I Cor. 15:47-49). “But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels…” (II Cor. 4:7). “Dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return.”
My interest is not “Thy will be
done in earth…” and earth is that which is outside of me, farthest away from me,
over which I have no control. The cry of my heart is, “Thy will be done in
this earth that I am” with the same totality and completeness
and absoluteness as it is done in heaven. And when God’s will is done in this
earth that I am, and that earth which
you are, and the other earth that your family,
friends, and neighbors are, soon it will take care of the whole earth, within
and without!
We’ve heard all our lives that
“prayer changes things.” But do you know that’s not really true? Do you see what
the prayer did? “And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of
the saints, ascended up
before God out of the
angel’s hand” (Rev. 8:4). The prayers went up before the presence and the throne of God! They
became a sweet-smelling savor in the nostrils of the Lord! That means that the
prayers were pleasing and acceptable to God, both an expression of His very own
heart, and a proper participation in His great purpose of the ages. That’s what
the prayers did! That’s
all that the prayers
did! But now notice. These prayers are not only answered, but answered in full.
The censer which held the incense and the prayers is the same vessel which now
is filled again with fire from the altar, and in equal measure, to the brim. As
the prayer has risen from the earth, so
descends the fire! Mount Carmel becomes the
universe, and every member of God’s elect a prophet Elijah. The fire is cast
into the earth, into the souls of men! It is not the prayers that change things
on earth — it is the
fire! As a result of the
prayers being accepted by God, the same fire that energized the prayers is the
fire that is cast into the earth-realm of men’s souls! It is the power of God to
change men! The prayers do not change them, but the
fire sent in response to the prayers!
I have shown with great detail
earlier in this series how it is that in the book of Revelation the “earth” is
the symbol of the world of mankind’s soulical life. Collectively it is in the soulical works of man,
especially in the religious realm, where the expression of the
soul is confused with the life of the
spirit. Our vision of heavenly things has been
so distorted due to our looking through physical and soulish eyes! You have
sometimes seen a window made of fluted glass, and you know that if you look at
the street through this window everything will be distorted. The passers-by and
the automobiles will appear to be warped and distorted in absurd and ugly ways.
Nevertheless, you know that these things are really quite alright in themselves,
and that the distortion arises from your seeing them wrongly. In like manner,
the pure eyes of our regenerated spirits have had to filter through the fluted
shell of our carnal minds, and the marvelous things of the realm of God’s Spirit
have been distorted into myriads of carnal doctrines, traditions, rituals,
concepts, interpretations, methods, and religious systems and exercises.
This distorted vision of heavenly
things is really what we know as “Christianity” and “the Church.” It is a
seeing, but a false seeing. It is a knowing, but a false knowing. Over the
hearts of all unquickened and untransformed men and woman, as well as vast
multitudes of the Lord’s own people who have not truly been transformed by the
renewing of their minds, there hangs an impenetrable veil of
carnal understanding and spiritual darkness that keeps men blinded to the glory
of Truth and Reality in the Spirit. Even in the reading of the scripture the
veil is over their eyes, and they sit in blindness and outer darkness until
their minds are
completely renewed by the quickening, energizing, purifying fire of God! Then and only then does the light shine
upon them! Then and only then do they begin to see all things as they really are
and discern all spiritual things! Then and only then do they understand the
incredible darkness and dreadful void of the carnal mind with all its delusions
and distortions!
No greater tragedy can overtake a
man than that, after he has been illuminated by the light of Christ, and made a
partaker of the life of the Spirit, he should then mingle his affection with the
emptiness of earthly things and not set them entirely on things which are above,
where Christ sits at the right hand of God. The children of God are so occupied
and busy with soulish zeal and carnal efforts! They are running here and there,
busily initiating religious activities of all kinds, as though the Lord could
not get along without their officious help. One would think that the Lord is not
as interested in His own Vineyard as they are! They are organizing, and bringing
together all kinds of machinery to run the Lord’s business; they are inventing
intricate and clever systems to get men saved, and to entertain them so that
they will remain saved! Everybody feels that they should be “doing something
for God.” This sounds reasonable to the
natural mind; so men mingle the thoughts, schemes, ideas, plans, purposes,
ambition, skill, and zeal of the carnal mind with the new inclinations and affections of the
spiritual mind; consequently Christians rush about in
every direction like ants on an ant hill, doing this and doing that, going here
and going there, organizing this and organizing that, promoting this and
promoting that, praying, preaching, scheming, planning, toiling, giving their
money, working themselves into nervous wrecks, even neglecting their families
and homes, cultivating the vineyards of others while letting their own
experience remain shallow and on the surface. They find no time to wait on God
in earnest, to sit at His feet in intimacy of fellowship and vital union, to
learn of Him. They spend little or no time in coming
to know the Lord of the Vineyard! Without
exception, this barrenness and void in our lives is sure proof that we are in
need of God’s dealing hand. Therefore, let us leave everything that we can
leave, and let us get still before the altar of God that He may speak to us and
work in us, and for us, and through us, to His glory. Then shall we go forth
with the presence and power of God upon us, and while we shall be used of Him
with those around us, we shall have learned to watch for His movings and
dealings upon our souls, and to always yield to Him to work in us first. Then
shall our hearts become truly pure, unmixed with soulish zeal and scheming of
the carnal mind. Then shall we be sons indeed, kings and priests of the Most
High God! J. PRESTON EBY Please send any inquiries or
requests to: Kingdom Bible Studies
PO Box 371240
El Paso, TX 79937-1240
All writings are distributed on a free-will
offering basis. FIRE CAST INTO THE EARTH