The uniqueness of genuine Christianity is found in the refiners fire. When a precious substance is tested by fire the only thing that is burned up is the dross. The purity of the substance is brought to the fore by the intensity of the fire. The crucible is our lives, our families our reputations, our place in society and our religious affiliations. This is the place of testing where the fire is applied. The fire shall discover the dross. It will be separated from the precious substance and in the end all that shall be left is the essence of who we are in Christ.

The very first believers stepped directly into the fire. The word believe in the Scriptures is very different from what we now perceive it to be. It is no mere mental assent to some abstract truth. In the context of John chapter three verse sixteen “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,’ that word believe means to put one’s trust in, to commit fully to, to have faith in the object, to entrust one’s spiritual well being and life with it. You see how big that word believe is? And to those who truly did all that, they were born again. And immediately they stepped into the crucible. The fire burned upon every aspect of their lives changing everything and in so many cases costing everything including their lives.

The giving up of everything that you know, starting with your lives, is the entrance to the Kingdom of God. It is a baptism of fire. Those who are baptized in this fire are known by their love of God and their all consuming desire to please Him. They have an eternal perspective because they have glimpsed eternity and such a glimpse is a burning fire in their spirits. A flame that never dies. A light that causes this world and all that it has to offer to be at best, shades of grey. God has His witnesses, His saints, His children in every village, every town and city, every nation and kingdom in the world. No matter the rise of gross darkness, God’s children burn with the same fire that covered the children of Israel by night in the desert.

The fire and the cloud was leading them to the river Jordon and over into the promised land. Our fire is leading us home. Through a desert no doubt where all around us is death, but in Christ we walk in light and life. John the Baptist dwelt in a wilderness and in that wilderness was ministered to and received revelation. And the revelation was this “repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.” We saints today stand in the midst of a great wilderness, a place of famine and drought. The people starve for lack of Spiritual food, the Word of God. And they die of thirst for lack of living water. Yet we do not hunger neither do we thirst. He ministers to us. What is our message coming out of the desert? “Repent for lo, the Lion of Judah, the Christ returns.” The first messenger to come out of the desert with revelation had his head cut of. The world recoils at such a message and they turn their fury upon the messengers.

Every genuine saint has a fire upon him and in him. He or she burns with indignation for the name of Jesus. They burn with indignation that His name is trampled in the streets. They burn with indignation that the truth has been turned into a lie and that the foundations are being destroyed. The wicked bend their bows and take aim for the heart of the righteous. Yet the shield of faith covers the righteous heart. For those who trust in God with their whole hearts, who believe in Him have armor that the enemy cannot prevail against. The Lord our God sits upon His throne and sees the works of men. Soon He will send a different kind of fire. Not the baptism of fire that purifies the hearts of saints, but a storm which no man has seen before that rains down fire upon the heads of the wicked. If a man is wise he would flee the fire to come and run into the crucible of the new birth.