| 5. The combustibility of the source must be strong.
Newspaper will do very well as a source to kindle wood, but a magazine will not because its paper has other things added to it which make it burn poorly. So too, false doctrines about salvation mixed with true will always hinder someone's way to God. Paul said "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect." - 1 Corinthians 1:17. It was the atonement that Christ brought, and all the consequences of that (that He did all the work to save someone) which was the heart of true doctrine, the Gospel of Christ which is to be brought before a man as a 'source' to kindle him. Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." 6. A reflector of the heat is helpful to nourish the fire; a fireplace or stones set around the campfire. As the fire should be surrounded by things that also hold heat, so a Christian should seek out his fellow believers that they might "...consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:" Hebrews 10:24 A final thought. The story is told that as Charles and Susannah Spurgeon sat together by the fire one night, Charles was arrested by a whistling sound that was coming from the wood. He told his wife that it reminded him of her. She had been bedridden for many years with a chronic illness, but had used the time to send the Christian materials her husband had written to any minister of the Gospel whose address she could get her hands on. Most of these men barely were able to feed themselves and their families, and so did not have the means to own any other book beside the Bible. Spurgeon noted that many men from all the corners of the globe had reason to thank God for Charles' own dear wife, and her illness. As the log, Spurgeon said, only whistles its fair tune because of the pressure that the fire is exerting on it, so you my dear have been made to sing a sweet song to God by your infirmity. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 Give me the love that leads the way, The faith that nothing can dismay The hope no disappointments tire The passion that will burn like fire, Let me not sink to be a clod: Make me Thy fuel, O Flame of God. -Amy Carmichael |
| For Our God is a Consuming Fire (Continued)... |