Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. In the account of the temple
dedication, we read that fire from heaven came down to consume
the offerings upon the altar. Just as there was not the sound
of a hammer heard in the construction of that temple, so no man was
able to kindle such a fire as fell that day. This was not the
first time God revealed himself in a heaven-sent inferno. When
the tabernacle was first set up, he consumed the offerings
from off the altar, nor would it be the last time. Who can
forget the showdown between Elijah and the priests of Baal? Elijah
issued this challenge to them, and call ye on the name of your
gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord. And the God
that answers by fire, let him be God. Then after many hours,
God was pleased to manifest his glory by the very fire that Elijah
described. Then the fire of God fell and
consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones,
and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
This was indeed an unquenchable fire, because it was not kindled
by men. Yet because of the innate depravity
of men, it was not many years before many turned back to the
worship of Baal and sought out many inventions, preferring to
worship and serve the creature more than the Creator. Christ
is that fire sent from heaven, which not only consumes the offerings
which were placed upon the altar by His own hand, but was Himself
both the offering and the slayer of the sacrifice. It shall ever
remain a mystery to our wandering minds that he would subject himself
to the same law whose condemnation it pleased him to place his elect
bride under. He who thought it not robbery
to be equal with God made himself of no reputation and humbled
himself under the debt of sin which his people owed. Yet he
being a high priest forever over the house of God, he entered
in once into the holy place, and obtained eternal redemption
for his bride, who is the object of his everlasting love. This
will be the subject of the praises and the worship of the saints
throughout the ages to come. And they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book, to open the seals thereof, for
thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred and tongue, and people and nation. Having redeemed
his people by his own blood, he is currently engaged in manifesting
the glory of his kingdom by the gathering of them from the four
winds. If he cut off and shut up or gather together, then who
can hinder him? Men love the orderly ways of
their religious services and delight in their rituals. Yet
when the Lord is pleased to visit his possession, all of those
things become as numb, and nothing but that worship which is of
the hidden man of the heart will suffice. This is because this
worship is that which is kindled by His Spirit, and can be neither
extinguished nor aided by the works of the flesh. When the
Lord visits His temple, He is pleased to perform a complete
work. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. This is no reformation nor renovation of the flesh, but
this is a totally new creation which heretofore did not exist
in any form known to men. This is that which the Lord spoke
to Nicodemus about, that which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not
that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. When the Lord
performs a work, he will carry it through to completion, being
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. There
is no shadow of turning with him. He knows those who belong
to him, and he shall neither slumber nor sleep until his wheat
is safely garnered. Unless a man had been there on
the day when the fire of God fell in Solomon's temple, it
would be difficult to comprehend it. And even those who were there
could hardly recount it without being overwhelmed by the majesty
of it, rather than the intricate details of exactly how it took
place. So it is, when God visits His
temple and brings His own from darkness to light, they may not
be able to recount or explain every detail of His dealing with
them. But they can confess one thing I know, that whereas I
was blind, now I see. While all our hearts and all
our songs join to admire the feast, each of us cry with thankful
tongues, Lord, why was I a guest? Why was I made to hear thy voice
and enter while there's room, when thousands make a wretched
choice and rather starve than come? t'was thy same love that
spread the feast that sweetly forced us in, else we had still
refused to taste and perish in our sin. If you would like a
free transcript of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.