“And beside this,
giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;” – 2
Peter 1:5
One experience with God, no matter how earth
shattering, how magnificent, how powerful, is not enough to coast on all the
way to a home in heaven. No blessing you
received today, will carry you for the next thirty years. There is no spiritual elixir of
invincibility. No miracle pill, or
prayer. Like a fire, you need a spark,
but you also need maintenance. Sacrifice
is the fuel that feeds the flame.
Sanctification is simply the reunion of God and
man. It is a spiritual experience,
obtained through grace, by faith; accomplished by the Holy Ghost. It can and will bring you back into perfect
fellowship with God, but it is not designed to be obtained, and then put on a
shelf like a piece of fine china. When
you are a sinner (one who intentionally disobeys a personally known law of God)
you are nothing but logs, a pile of raw material; but don’t be discourage
everyone is, until they give their life to God.
When you repent (that means you make a U-turn, away from sin and to
God), God forgives you and you feel wonderful!
Now you’re a stack of logs, the lattice and tepee looking kind. You are a ready vessel, waiting, for the
flame. When you have totally consecrated
everything and “reckon ye also yourself
to be dead indeed unto sin”; God sends his blessed Holy Ghost to set fire
to your ready vessel; he pours out his Spirit.
Now you are sanctified, now you are alive, now you are burning………. now
what do you do? The experience describe
above is a powerful, wonderful experience, but again, the initial ignition is
not enough to carry you through your whole life. You need to begin to add to your new-found
faith. God is consistent, and he will
consume whatever sacrifice you continually give, but you must continually and
diligently give. Give your all, day
after day; each morning rising with the same prayer as our Savior “thy will be done.” As you diligently add to your faith, to the
fire; it grows and dispels the darkness around it. Furthermore, it attracts those who are cold
and travel wearier, to the flame of God.
The fire of God is fed for God and burns brighter and brighter to bring
in the lost to the light of God. We all
must come to see that when we believe the debilitating misconception that the
initial flame is to be obtained, felt, and then ignored; we cease to burn long
enough and bright enough to draw many others, and we certainly decrease the
power of God in our lives. Moreover, the
flame soon goes out and we are left in utter confusion with no sure testimony. As the thorns and thistles choke the seed and
it becomes unfruitful. So, a fire that
is ignored is deprived of fuel and flames out.
By and by, the Holy Spirit is continually grieved until it departs. Grieved at a heart that no longer desires to
feed the flame of God, rather longs to consume the lust in the world.
God will set ablaze willing souls. However, without feeding the flame they will
burn out. The neglect is not solely, but
certainly one of refusal to sacrifice. Sacrifice
is the fuel that is needed to sustain and can only be added with our
consent. If you have not been set
ablaze, then please, at all cost, seek the flame of God. If you have, then feed the flame, and burn
for him who hath brought you light. As
wonderful as obtaining sanctification is, living sanctified is far better.
