Eternal Fire Protection
Luke 9:59-60 says, “And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.
Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.”
The question is, “What’s the cost of following Jesus?” Most have not counted the cost. These people are represented by the rocky soil in the parable, where the seed is the word of God and the rocky soil is those who receive the word but they have no depth of fertile ground. Because they had no depth of soil, the seed sprouted but the sprout quickly withered when the sun came up. When the roots are heated and cannot dig deep into the soil for coolness and rest from the sun, then the plant will be scorched and die.
In Hebrews, the only way to enter into God’s rest is by faith and not by sight. If we’re walking by sight, we will never rest. Rest is only in Him. Therefore according to Jeremiah judge righteously, not according to what our eyes see and our ears hear. For that which is seen is temporary, but that which is unseen is eternal. To rest in God sometimes means that we will not be comfortable in the things of this world. Our comfort is in the rest of the Holy Spirit and not in the comfort of the flesh. God warned Israel in Deuteronomy, that when you enter the promised land and gain wealth, don’t think that by your own strength you’ve been blessed. Remember that God has given it to you. Israel was driven from the land of promise because they never allowed the land to rest according to the sabbath rest that God designed. When Israel was led through the desert by the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, God sustained them. God prepared the way before them. When Israel strayed from God’s protection, they were outside of God’s mercy, grace, and rest.
Jesus reminded his followers to count the cost. Following him must be the priority in life. Everything else we must “hate” in comparison to loving him and following him. Then our joy will be in the Lord and not on the things of this earth. No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. Like Lot’s wife who looked back longingly at Sodom and Gomorrah, those who are not committed to seek first God and his Kingdom will suffer destruction and loss.
In Isaiah 25: 7-8, it says that something will be swallowed up and destroyed. “And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the vail that is spread over all nations.
He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.”
Two things shall be swallowed up. The first is the Vail that separates us from God. This is the shroud that covers up God’s glory. For who can endure the “everlasting glory of God’s consuming fire?” Psalm 24 says, the one that shall live and endure in the presence of God is “he that is righteous and walks in the way of the righteous.” The Vail that separates mankind is the grace and the mercy of God. Without the vail all men would be consumed by the fire of God’s glory.
Death is the second thing that will be swallowed up. Death and destruction is the result of sin. It causes “corruption” in this world. Without the covering of death, we would face the fire of God’s glory without a “vail.” We can either be prepared or unprepared for the fire. We need to change our works from combustible material: wood, hay, and stubble, to incombustible material: gold, silver, and precious stones. Therefore put on the Lord Jesus Christ, our robe of righteousness. Clothed in his righteousness we are protected us from the consuming fire of God’s glory. Death to the old nature of sin and death gives us the opportunity to be clothed in the robes of the righteousness of Christ. The decision to accept Jesus as Lord and savior will allow us into God’s eternity. For the old nature of sin and death was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live (in the spirit,) yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the one who loved me and gave himself for me.
The conclusion of Hebrews 12 says, “Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
For our God is a consuming fire.”
The lyric to a great hymn says, “On Christ the solid rock I stand, All other ground is sinking sand… Clothed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne!
May God richly bless you,
Your brother in Christ,
Michael