BIBLICAL FATHERHOOD--THE GREAT NEED OF THE WORLD 4f) 11e) "ON FIRE" ARROWS continued

11e) "ON FIRE" ARROWS continued again.

The primary purpose of the Holy Spirit fire is to purify and cleanse us of all that is unclean, fleshly, and worldly. This fire is often manifested through fiery trials. 1 Peter 1:7 says, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ."

On fire arrows represent God's people who are going through, or have come through the fiery trials of persecution or affliction, and have allowed their faith in Christ to be purified. These are the ones who are red hot in love with Jesus. They are red hot in their obedience to be His true disciples. They are red hot to proclaim His message of salvation to a lost and dying world.

Although we shy away from the idea of welcoming fiery trials, yet I am forced to think that the hotter the trial, the hotter the arrows will be on the other side of them. Have you ever thought that in order for God to heat up the church He must lovingly allow it to pass through the fiery furnace of trials and afflictions? This true doctrine is supported by what the Children of Israel faced for 40 years in the wilderness after leaving Egypt.

Jesus Christ, after His baptism, was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted and tried for 40 days (Luke 4:4). We notice in Luke 4:14 that Jesus returned from the wilderness "in the power of the Spirit." Obviously, the wilderness experience did Jesus no harm. On the contrary, it endorsed His power.

The lesson to learn from all this is that God's arrows, in order to be on fire, must of necessity go through the fire. The fire of the Holy Spirit will always burn up the self life. Sin and the flesh always hinder the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Be encouraged.

Colin Campbell