Interesting to note is the fact that only ashes of the sin are brought to the altar of incense and God will bring the incubator of sin to ashes.
Ezekiel 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
http://www.crystalinks.com/shc.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/158853.stm
In Jesuss ministry you will find there the promise that He will cleanse His temple twice. At the start when you first gave your heart to Jesus and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is the first cleansing. So your first cleansing of your temple by Jesus through the Holy Spirit starts your journey with Him. At the end, with what is called the latter rain there will be a greater baptism called the Baptism of Fire. In order to understand the third baptism which is of fire, you need to understand that God is a consuming fire. Sin is consumed, and if the sinner is still entangled in the sin, he too will be consumed.
Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 9:3 Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.
In that day, when the Lord returns, if you are not prepared to stand before God, the consuming fire, then
Psalm 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
If you are prepared to stand before God, washed by the blood of the Lamb, baptized by the Holy Spirit, living the new life found in Christ, prepared by His Word for this day because you have been baptized with fire, you will be changed from mortal to immortal to live with the Lord for all eternity when He returns to gather you home.
Psalm 102:26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
Baptism by fire needs to be understood in the context of what God is preparing His people for. God is preparing His people to be with Him forever. As a God of consuming fire, it is important that we are baptized by the fire, so that we can have a taste of what it is like to be before a Holy Consuming Fire God.
Isaiah 33:14 "the sinners of Zion are afraid, fearfulness hath surpassed the hyprocrites, who amoung us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who amoung us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"
It should be the hope of all believers to be able to stand in that day and say this is my God, and I shall dwell with Him forever in the devouring fire. As the next verse of Isaiah 33 indicates, it takes the upright, believing saint to walk in the devouring fire with God.
Isaiah 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
We need to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord when he returns. We need to understand that God is real and a consuming fire. Since God has not been presented in this light, it is important that you gain a imagery of reality that has not been approached by but a few writers like Paul.
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Ps 66:12 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
We shall be glad and rejoice for when we see this big ball of fire at His Coming, we will not see it as the world see it. It will not be the day of His Wrath but the Day of Our Redemption for us. It is the same fire, but for those who have been told to be afraid of the eternal fire, it is damnation they see. For those that are looking for a God who is a consuming fire, they see redemption and salvation. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will not be burned up. They will be able to live in the midst of the fire with God.
Daniel 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
We will dwell in the midst of the fire forever with our God. That is why there is no need for the light of the sun or moon in the New Heaven and New Earth, for God is our light.
Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
When that day comes, where you are face to face with God, the consuming fire, and if all your labors are burnt up and you suffer loss, but you are saved because you see your God at work in all this, then you were prepared for this by God himself. For the world does not teach you to be prepared for a consuming fire of a God.
1 Corinthians 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Isaiah 42:25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
We have that beautiful promise that it will not burn us up.
Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
Ezekiel 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. 13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. 16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. 17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. 18 Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffick; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. 19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more.
http://www.crystalinks.com/shc.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/158853.stm
In Jesuss ministry you will find there the promise that He will cleanse His temple twice. At the start when you first gave your heart to Jesus and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit which is the first cleansing. So your first cleansing of your temple by Jesus through the Holy Spirit starts your journey with Him. At the end, with what is called the latter rain there will be a greater baptism called the Baptism of Fire. In order to understand the third baptism which is of fire, you need to understand that God is a consuming fire. Sin is consumed, and if the sinner is still entangled in the sin, he too will be consumed.
Deuteronomy 4:24 For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 9:3 Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face: so shalt thou drive them out, and destroy them quickly, as the LORD hath said unto thee.
In that day, when the Lord returns, if you are not prepared to stand before God, the consuming fire, then
Psalm 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
If you are prepared to stand before God, washed by the blood of the Lamb, baptized by the Holy Spirit, living the new life found in Christ, prepared by His Word for this day because you have been baptized with fire, you will be changed from mortal to immortal to live with the Lord for all eternity when He returns to gather you home.
Psalm 102:26 They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed:
Baptism by fire needs to be understood in the context of what God is preparing His people for. God is preparing His people to be with Him forever. As a God of consuming fire, it is important that we are baptized by the fire, so that we can have a taste of what it is like to be before a Holy Consuming Fire God.
Isaiah 33:14 "the sinners of Zion are afraid, fearfulness hath surpassed the hyprocrites, who amoung us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who amoung us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"
It should be the hope of all believers to be able to stand in that day and say this is my God, and I shall dwell with Him forever in the devouring fire. As the next verse of Isaiah 33 indicates, it takes the upright, believing saint to walk in the devouring fire with God.
Isaiah 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;
We need to prepare ourselves to meet the Lord when he returns. We need to understand that God is real and a consuming fire. Since God has not been presented in this light, it is important that you gain a imagery of reality that has not been approached by but a few writers like Paul.
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Ps 66:12 A fire goeth before him, and burneth up his enemies round about.
We shall be glad and rejoice for when we see this big ball of fire at His Coming, we will not see it as the world see it. It will not be the day of His Wrath but the Day of Our Redemption for us. It is the same fire, but for those who have been told to be afraid of the eternal fire, it is damnation they see. For those that are looking for a God who is a consuming fire, they see redemption and salvation. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will not be burned up. They will be able to live in the midst of the fire with God.
Daniel 3:25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
We will dwell in the midst of the fire forever with our God. That is why there is no need for the light of the sun or moon in the New Heaven and New Earth, for God is our light.
Rev 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
When that day comes, where you are face to face with God, the consuming fire, and if all your labors are burnt up and you suffer loss, but you are saved because you see your God at work in all this, then you were prepared for this by God himself. For the world does not teach you to be prepared for a consuming fire of a God.
1 Corinthians 3:15 If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
Isaiah 42:25 Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle: and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart.
We have that beautiful promise that it will not burn us up.
Isaiah 43:2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
