The Holy Fire Series

Over the years, I have written several articles about the holy fire of God. In this post, I would like to provide links to this series of articles, so that you have them all in one place. I recommend reading one of them per day over a period of twelve days. The final post has a link to a five-book series called Baptized by Blazing Fire, by a pastor named Yong Doo Kim. Since it will take you more than a day to read through those five books, I have saved it as the best for last; I trust you will be edified by it, and you won't regret having read it.

Where there is no fire there is no light. Therefore, as the apostle Paul said, "Don’t put out the Spirit’s fire!" (1 Thes 5:19). Now here are the links to the posts in my Holy Fire Series:

Holy Fire Baptism
Songs of the Holy Fire

Living Sacrifices in Consuming Fire
The Three Elijahs
The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer
The Refiner's Fire
The Burning Ones
The Happy Hunters on Fire
Keeping Your Lamp Burning
Covenant Prayer

Testimonies of the Baptism with Holy Fire
The Holy Fires of Hell
Baptized by Blazing Fire -- a Korean church's testimony

Holy Fire: Keep Me Burning,

Attribution notice: Scripture taken from the Holy Bible New International Version, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image may be subject to copyright, used per Fair Use Act for commentary and educational purposes only.
 
Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, I also recommend reading my article Baptized with the Spirit. You may access the Main Directory for this Seeking the Lord blog for more articles like this, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Living Sacrifices in Consuming Fire

Dear God-seekers,

Many of you who love the Lord Jesus have embraced His promise in Scripture to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire, and have actively sought Him to receive the promise by faith. I commend you for this, and the Lord will surely answer your prayers. However, one thing I continue to find is how opposed the enemy is to this promise. Even within the Church there are people who speak against it. It's no wonder, because so many are not spiritual men, but are operating out of their natural man. As Paul said,

"But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." (1Co 2:14)

So I realize that not everyone who reads this is going to accept it, but for those who can accept it, you will receive the promise of God. As for us, we will continue to preach the cross of Christ, and also the cross for every one of His followers. "And He was saying to them all, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.' " (Luk 9:23)

Meanwhile, there are many who profess His name and yet do not deny themselves or take up their cross daily. They may think they are following Jesus, but they are only fooling themselves. The Lord can see right through to their hearts and knows the true condition of it.

Offer Your Bodies a Living Sacrifice on the Altar
The text I want to focus on today is from the apostle Paul's epistle to the Romans in the twelfth chapter, in which he said: "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." (Rom 12:1).

That is an admonition to each one of us who professes to follow Christ. Through the apostle, the Holy Spirit urges us to present or offer our bodies a living and holy sacrifice to God. Indeed this is our spiritual act of worship. This is what Jesus meant when He said, "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (Joh 4:24)

Consider the animal sacrifices that were offered to God under the Law of Moses. They were laid on the altar and consumed by the fire. When you read Romans 12:1, keep that in mind, because it represents what you and I are supposed to be doing. We are supposed to offer our bodies to God to be placed on the altar of sacrifice and consumed by holy fire. Yet how many believers actually do this? Have you done this yet? And if you have done so, are you still on the altar or have you jumped off because the flames were too hot?

Most of us have an aversion to pain and loss. So when we place our bodies on the Lord's altar for Him to consume, we are prone to want to jerk ourselves off the altar once the flames begin to lick us. But we must not do that. Instead we must remain there and let the holy fire of God envelope us completely until self is consumed and all is of God.

This is further proof from Scripture that the Lord desires to baptize each one of His disciples in holy fire, as I have written about in Holy Fire Baptism and Refiner's Fire, as well as The Burning Ones, The Three Elijahs, and The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer. I call it The Holy Fire Series. "Therefore, anyone who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit." (1 Thes 4:8, NIV78). As I proved in Songs of the Holy Fire, saints have been singing about the holy fire for centuries. Even to this day we continue to sing those hymns, as well as new songs about the fire of God in our lives. The remnant saints still desire the fire.

Bereans or Blasphemers?
Meanwhile, the enemy is busy spreading disinformation and lies about this to the Church. One site that I saw claimed to be Berean researchers, which gives the impression that they search the Scriptures daily like the Bereans to see if these things are true. They have styled themselves to be a site that is exposing heresy in the Church. And one of the things they sought to expose was the holy fire as a supposed heresy. They said many insulting things about the fire of the Holy Spirit. And one claim they made was that the fire of God is not for any believer, but only for the wicked. They also claimed that the expression to be "on fire for God" is a Pentecostal/Charismatic one, and should be avoided or removed from the vocabulary of those who love the truth, because they consider the Pentecostal doctrines of the faith to be false teachings.

Such people should consider the things I have said in this article and the other articles about the holy fire. But it seems that no amount of information will convince some of them, because they have made up their minds that it is evil. Don't they realize they are insulting the Holy Spirit when they do so? They are in danger of blaspheming the Holy Spirit, because some of them are claiming or implying that the holy fire is not from Him, but from the devil. As I have written in Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, they are in great danger of committing this unforgivable sin, when they attribute an act of the Holy Spirit to the devil. My friend, don't follow such people! They have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof (2 Tim 3:5).

Filled with Fire
I don't know about you, but I want to be filled with fire. As I was writing this in my office, my children began to sing the old hymn, Search Me O God, which they had selected in order to start their school day with prayer and worship, although they did not know that the Lord had led me to write this article. The lyrics say in part:

"O Holy Ghost, revival comes from thee.
Send a revival, start the work in me."

and

"Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name."

This is what we should be praying: for the Holy Ghost to fill us personally with fire. Revival comes from Him. How could someone say that this is from the devil and that it is not Scriptural to be on fire for God? Such men do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. They are agents of satan -- wittingly or unwittingly, who seek to put out the Spirit's fire. They quench the Holy Ghost.

Test. Don't Quench
However, the apostle Paul clearly warned, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil." (1 Thes 5:19-22, NIV78). Of course, we are supposed to test everything to ensure it is from God. The devil has his agents, too, who are imparting things that are demonic, and they can use the same terminology that the Bible uses. So don't assume that everything called the fire of God is really from God. You must test the spirits, and one way you do so is to look at the fruit, as I have already written in my article, Testing the Spirits of False Prophets.

Once you have tested the spirits and know that something is of the Spirit God, then you hold onto that which is good. You don't throw it out just because the devil has a counterfeit version of it. He can only counterfeit that which is genuinely from the Lord. His powers come from God, who is the One who originally gave satan his power. The gifts and calling of God are not revoked. So the Lord has not revoked the devil's powers that he had when he was originally created as a holy angel. However, the devil now uses his power for evil in rebellion against God, and since we must avoid every kind of evil, we must be vigilant and watchful, and test all things. Then avoid the evil and embrace the good.

As for me, I'm crying out:

Come, Holy Spirit, with all 

Your omnipotent and enabling power!

Fill me from head to toe;

Engulf me this very hour!

Set my mind on what You desire;

Grant me more of Your holy fire!

Putting it All Together
If there is no fire, there can be no light. But where there is light, there will also be fire. Indeed, there is abundant evidence in the Word of God that there is such a thing as genuine holy fire, which God intends for every disciple of Christ who asks for it. It's a gift that is available for the asking, the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire. John the Baptist said, "As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." (Mat 3:11; cf. Lk 3:16).

As the Lord taught us, when you ask the Father for a gift, expect Him to give it to you. He said:

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened. Now suppose one of you fathers is asked by his son for a fish; he will not give him a snake instead of a fish, will he? Or if he is asked for an egg, he will not give him a scorpion, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?" (Luk 11:9-13).

If you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then offer your body today as a living sacrifice to God, holy and acceptable, which is your spiritual act of worship. This is the message of the cross. Lay your body on the altar and ask for God's holy fire to consume you wholly. Then receive from God what He has promised you in His Word. Receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Attribution Notice: Most Scriptures taken from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), unless otherwise noted, where other verses are from the Holy Bible NIV. All lyrics to the hymn Search Me O God are in the public domain.

Author's note:  If anyone does not receive this instruction, do not associate with him. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like my other posts called The Holy Fire Series, Holy Fire Baptism, The Burning Ones, The Happy Hunters on Fire, The Refiner's Fire, Songs of the Holy Fire, The Three Elijahs, Covenant Prayer, and The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer. For more articles of mine, please see the Home page of this blog. You can access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Songs of the Holy Fire

It amazes me sometimes how opposed to the holy fire people can be, especially Christians. It proves just how much the devil hates the holy fire, which I wrote about in my previous article, Holy Fire Baptism.

Yet those same people who say it is unbiblical have probably been singing songs about the holy fire for years, and they never had a problem with the lyrics. But now that it is being emphasized as an important baptism to receive, they have rejected it. Let me share some of these wonderful lyrics about the holy fire that have been put to music over the years.

The Old Hymns
We'll first start with the hymns, since they were the oldest and came first.

Search Me, O God
In Search Me O God, James E. Orr wrote in 1936:

"I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy word and make me pure within;
Fill me with fire, where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name."

See lyrics to the song here.

I Surrender All
In I Surrender All , written by Judson W. Van DeVenter in 1896, it says,

"All to Jesus I surrender;
Now I feel the sacred flame.
O the joy of full salvation!
Glory, glory, to His name!"

Come, Jesus, Lord, with Holy Fire
Charles Wesley (1707-1788), the brother of John Wesley, wrote in his song Come, Jesus, Lord, with Holy Fire:

"Come, Jesus, Lord, with holy fire,
Come, and my quickened heart inspire,
My conscience purged by blood;
Now to my soul Thyself reveal,
Thy mighty working let me feel,
Since I am born of God."

Faith, Hope, and Love
The last verse of a hymn called Faith, Hope, and Love, written by Neal A. McAulay (1854-1928), and composed by Charles H. Gabriel, says:

"O God of grace, inspire my love!
Fill my cold heart with holy fire,
That I may live each passing day
As my Redeemer doth desire."

My Faith Looks Up to Thee
I especially like this song, My Faith Looks Up to Thee, written by Ray Palmer in 1830, because my wife chose this one as her bridal procession song at our wedding, to which she walked down the aisle. It goes like this:

"May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart,
My zeal inspire!
As Thou hast died for me,
Oh, may my love to Thee
Pure, warm, and changeless be,
A living fire!"

The Fire is Burning
A hymn called The Fire is Burning, written by Johnson Oatman Jr. (1898) and music composed by George C. Hugg, has the repeating line, "And my soul is burning with the fire." The refrain goes like this:

"O the fire is burning, yes, ’tis brightly burning,
O ’tis burning, burning in my soul;
O the fire is burning, yes, ’tis brightly burning,
O ’tis burning, burning in my soul."

As one of the lines in the songs says, "God's love is like a heavenly flame." Is the fire brightly burning in your soul? Does the flame consume you while you pray?

O God of Burning Altar Fire
The first stanza of an old hymn called O God of Burning Altar Fire, written by Amy Carmichael
and arranged by Robert A. Schumann, says:

"O God of burning altar fire,
O God of love’s consuming flame,
Make pure the flame of our desire
To win the lost to seek Thy Name."

Revive Us Again
The last line of the hymn Revive Us Again, written by William Mackay in 1863 says,

"Revive us again;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above."

I Will Praise Him
One of the lines in the hymn I Will Praise Him, written by Margaret Harris in 1898 says:

"Then God’s fire upon the altar
Of my heart was set aflame;
I shall never cease to praise Him
Glory, glory to His name!"

O For That Flame of Living Fire
An old hymn called O For That Flame of Living Fire, written by William H. Bathurst in 1831, says:

"O for that flame of living fire,
Which shone so bright in saints of old!
Which bade their souls to Heav’n aspire,
Calm in distress, in danger bold."

God Sent His Mighty Pow’r
A hymn called God sent His mighty pow’r, written by Delia T. White and musically composed by William James Kirkpatrick (1838-1921), says:

God sent His mighty pow’r
To this poor, sinful heart,
To keep me every hour,
And needful grace impart;
And since His Spirit came,
To take supreme control,
The love-enkindled flame
Is burning in my soul.

’Tis burning in my soul,
’Tis burning in my soul;
The fire of heav’nly love is
burning in my soul;
The Holy Spirit came,
All glory to His name!
The fire of heav’nly love is
burning in my soul.

Before the cross I bow,
Upon the altar lay
A willing off’ring now,
My all from day to day.
My Savior paid the price,
My name He sweetly calls;
Upon the sacrifice
The fire from heaven falls.

No good that I have done,
His promise I embrace;
Accepted in the Son,
He saves me by His grace.
All glory be to God!
Let hallelujahs roll;
His love is shed abroad,
The fire is in my soul.

My spirit, soul, and body
Another hymn called My spirit, soul, and body, written by Mary Dagworthy James (1810-1883)
and musically composed by Phoebe Palmer Knapp (1839-1908), says:

"I’m Thine, O dear Lord Jesus,
Washed in Thy precious blood,
Sealed by Thy Holy Spirit,
A sacrifice to God. My all is on the altar;
I’m waiting for the fire;
I’m waiting, waiting, waiting;
I’m waiting for the fire."

Revive Thy work, O Lord
A hymn called Revive Thy work, O Lord!, written by Fanny Crosby (1820-1915) and musically composed by William Howard Doane (1832-1915), says:

"Revive Thy work, O Lord!
And every soul inspire;
Oh, kindle in each heart, we pray,
The Pentecostal fire!

Revive Thy work, O Lord!
Exalt Thy precious name!
And may Thy love in every heart
Be kindled to a flame!"

​Keep the Incense Burning
A hymn called Keep the Incense Burning, written by Margaret E. Barber (1869-1930) and musically composed by Edgar Walser, says:

"'Keep the incense burning'
On the altar fire;
Let thy heart’s petition,
Let thy deep desire,
Be a cloud of incense
Wreathing God’s own throne,
Till His will among us
Shall be fully done.

'Keep the incense burning'
On the altar fire;
Feed the flame, Lord Jesus,
Till Thy whole desire
Shall in us, Thy children,
Find free course, and be
Breathed through lips anointed
For this ministry.

'Keep the incense burning'
Though thy faith be weak;
Though in words thou canst not
All thy longing speak;
Silent heart-petitions,
Spirit-taught, will be
Gloriously answered;
Wrought by God for thee.

'Keep the incense burning,'
Hourly let it rise,
Till from opened heavens,
Till from flame-swept skies,
Fire shall fall and kindle
All hearts to a flame;
Making us a glory
To our Savior’s name."

Send the Fire
Another old hymn called Send the Fire, with words by William Booth (1894) and music by Frederick Booth-Tucker, hearkens back to the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. It refers to the baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire as a blood- bought gift and goes like this:

"Thou Christ of burning, cleansing flame,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
Thy blood bought gift today we claim,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
Look down and see this waiting host,
Give us the promised Holy Ghost;
We want another Pentecost,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!

God of Elijah, hear our cry:
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
To make us fit to live or die,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
To burn up every trace of sin,
To bring the light and glory in,
The revolution now begin,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!

’Tis fire we want, for fire we plead,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
The fire will meet our every need,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
For strength to ever do the right,
For grace to conquer in the fight,
For power to walk the world in white,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!

To make our weak hearts strong and brave,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
To live a dying world to save,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!
O see us on Thy altar lay
Our lives, our all, this very day;
To crown the offering now we pray,
Send the fire, send the fire, send the fire!"

What a wonderful prayer that song makes, as we cry out to God for the holy fire.

Contemporary Worship
Now that I have shown you some of the old hymns that sang about the holy fire, let's look at the contemporary worship songs next.

Oh Lord, You're Beautiful
One of my favorites is the song by Keith Green, Oh Lord, You're Beautiful, in which he sings:

"Oh Lord, please light the fire
That once burned bright and clean
Replace the lamp of my first love
That burns with holy fear"

What a beautiful prayer that you can pray to God, as you seek the fire of God. It's bright and clean, the lamp of your first love for Jesus, which burns with holy fear.

Fire of God
Then there is the Vineyard song called Fire of God written by Craig Musseau. In this song, Eddie Espinosa sings:

"Fire of God, burn away what is not holy
Jesus, take our hearts and make them new."

That's what the holy fire does inside of us, it burns away what is not holy.

Refiner's Fire
One of Brian Doerksen's songs called Refiner's Fire says:

"Purify my heart
Let me be as gold and precious silver
Purify my heart
Let me be as gold, pure gold

Refiner's fire
My heart's one desire
Is to be holy
Set apart for You, Lord
I choose to be holy
Set apart for You, my Master
Ready to do Your will

Purify my heart
Cleanse me from within
And make me holy
Purify my heart
Cleanse me from my sin
Deep within"

Brian Doerksen, the writer of this song, said: "This song was both a gift, because the inspiration came so strong, as well as a challenge to me over and over again. It’s really about the bride getting herself ready and desiring purity for the wedding day ... and when I struggle with temptation I find this song is on my lips and helps bring me back to my deepest desire ... to be set apart for God."

I also encourage you to listen to this brief excerpt with Brian about how the Lord inspired him to write this song.

Holy Fire
Another Vineyard song is called Holy Fire. It says:

"Holy fire from heaven
Descend to us we pray
Let us burn again
Holy fire from heaven
Consume our hearts today
Let us burn again, let us burn again."

Lord, Light the Fire Again
Here is another Vineyard song about the fire of God:

"Don't let our love grow cold
I'm calling out
Light the fire again

Don't let our vision die
I'm calling out
Light the fire again

You know our hearts, my deeds
I'm calling out
Light the fire again

I need Your discipline
I'm calling out
Light the fire again

I am here to buy gold
Refined in the fire
Naked and poor
Wretched and blind I come
Clothe me in white
So I won't be ashamed
Lord, light the fire again"

Light the Fire in My Heart Again
Another Vineyard song called Light the Fire in My Heart Again says:

"So light the fire in my soul
Fan the flame
Make me whole
Lord, you know where I've been
So light the fire in my heart once again"

Holy Spirit Come With Your Fire
An English Christian devotional song says:

"Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, come with Your fire
Holy Spirit come with your fire
Holy Spirit come with your fire
Come, Holy Spirit, let Your fire fall
Come, Holy Spirit, let Your fire fall
Let Your fire fall
Let Your fire fall
Let Your fire fall."

All Consuming Fire
A Hosanna Integrity song written by Randy Wright and sung by Kent Henry called All Consuming Fire says:

"All consuming fire
You're my heart's desire
And I love You dearly, dearly Lord
You're my meditation
And my consolation
And I love You dearly, dearly Lord."

Zion, Holy Mountain, Holy City
A song by Ann Liddell called Zion, Holy Mountain, Holy City says:

And I have counted the cost
I want to leave all this behind
I want to drink from your cup
And be baptized in your fire.

O Lord, Tell Us What You Need
A song by John David Coupland called O Lord, Tell Us What You Need says:

"Oh Lord, tell us what You need.
Oh Lord, we’ll follow where You lead.
You own the Sun, the Moon, the sky, the rain,
The hills and valleys call Your name,Yet still there is one thing that You desire.

Till every heart that beats is truly Yours,
And every tongue that speaks is truly pure,
There burns within Your breast this holy fire.
We are Your desire.
Alleluia, alleluia."

Refiner's Fire
There is another song called Refiner's Fire written by Randall Dennis and Jon Mohr, and sung by Steve Green, which goes like this:

"There burns a fire with sacred heat
White hot with holy flame
And all who dare pass through its blaze
Will not emerge the same
Some as bronze, and some as silver
Some as gold, then with great skill
All are hammered by their sufferings
On the anvil of His will

Chorus:
The Refiner’s fire
Has now become my souls desire
Purged and cleansed and purified
That the Lord be glorified
He is consuming my soul
Refining me, making me whole
No matter what I may lose
I choose the Refiner’s fire

I’m learning now to trust His touch
To crave the fire’s embrace
For though my past with sin was etched
His mercies did erase
Each time His purging cleanses deeper
I’m not sure that I’ll survive
Yet the strength in growing weaker
Keeps my hungry soul alive"

Holy Fire: Keep Me Burning

I have written and produced a song called Holy Fire: Keep Me Burning, several years after initially writing this article.

Verse 2:

Let holy fire consume my heart, 

The Spirit's flame You'll now impart.

Lord, You came to cast fire on the earth, 

You brought my soul to a second birth.

Like the pillar that guided by night,

Make my heart Your dwelling of light.

Bridge:

Though the world rejects the holy flame,

Let Your fire in us remain.

In holy fear we kneel in awe,

Before Consuming Fire enthroned.

Spirit of Grace, O holy flame,

Kindle a love that bears Your name.

Putting it All Together
As you can see, the holy fire is not a new idea that someone recently came up with, nor is it a false teaching from some strange heretic preaching doctrines of demons. It is a wonderful gift of God that is promised for all the saints who truly love our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and follow Him. The saints have been singing about this for centuries, as well as praying for it and receiving it. If you are a disciple of Christ who has never received it before, I encourage you to ask and receive today. If you have already received the holy fire, then let me encourage you to keep crying out for more until Jesus comes back for His Bride. As you do so, I hope these song lyrics will help you.

Author's note:  If you enjoyed this post, you may also like my other post called Holy Fire: Keep Me Burning, Holy Fire Baptism, as well as The Burning Ones, The Happy Hunters on Fire, The Refiner's Fire, and The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer. These are all part of The Holy Fire Series, where you will find more edifynig articles about the holy fire. You can access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Attribution Notice: All lyrics are property and copyright of their owners. All lyrics provided for educational and commentary purposes only. 1) Oh Lord, You're Beautiful, written by Keith Green, Copyright © Universal Music Publishing Group; 2) Fire of God written by Craig Musseau, Copyright © 1990 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing. All rights reserved. International copyright secured., 3) Holy Fire, written by Steve Mitchinson and Brian Doerksen, Copyright © 1998 Vineyard Songs (UK/Eire), International copyright secured. All rights reserved. To reproduce this music setting for church usage, both a Church Copyright Licencse and a Music Reproduction License are required. To obtain a license or for further information visit www.ccli.com; 4) My Faith Looks Up to Thee is in the public domain; 5) Search Me O God is in the public domain; 6) All Consuming Fire copyright© 1987 Integrity's Hosanna! Music; 7) Refiner's Fire written by Brian Doerksen, copyright © 1997 Mercy/Vineyard Publishing. All rights reserved. International copyright secured; 8) O For That Flame of Living Fire is in the public domain; 9) Refiner's Fire written by Randall Dennis and Jon Mohr, 1989 © Jonathan Mark Music; 10) The Fire is Burning is in the public domain; 11) O God of Burning Altar Fire, is in the public domain; 11) Faith, Hope, and Love is in the public domain. See The Sale of Christian Music and Art -- A Robbers' Den?

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Keeping a Good Conscience

I want to talk to you about something we don’t hear much about any more, which is the conscience. This is one of the faculties of perception that God has given to each human being. Not only do we have our five, natural senses, which enable us to taste, touch, see, smell, and hear, we also have the ability to know right from wrong. We have this ability to consider whether something is good or evil and be conscious of it. In other words, we can be aware of what we are doing or thinking, and at the same time know if it is morally right or wrong. It’s like a built-in heat detector or fire alarm, which God gave us for our protection.

Bearing Witness to Right and Wrong
You conscience will bother you when you have sinned. “It came about afterward that David's conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul's robe.” (1Sa 24:5)

Your conscience will tell you when you have done what is right and when you have done what is wrong. “In that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,” (Rom 2:15). Your conscience either defends you or accuses you.

Your conscience will testify to you whether you are telling the truth, once the Holy Spirit has enlightened it. “I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit,” (Rom 9:1)

Your conscience will also bear testimony to you, when you have conducted yourself in holiness and godly sincerity, so that you can be confident that you have done so. “For our proud confidence is this: the testimony of our conscience, that in holiness and godly sincerity, not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you.” (2Co 1:12)

Keeping a Good Conscience
You can be sure that you have a good conscience. “Pray for us, for we are sure that we have a good conscience, desiring to conduct ourselves honorably in all things.” (Heb 13:18)

We should live our lives with a perfectly good conscience. “Paul, looking intently at the Council, said, ‘Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.’" (Act 23:1)

You have to keep a good conscience, meaning you have to hold it or possess it. It does not stay good on its own. Some people have rejected a good conscience and become shipwrecked. “Keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. (1Ti 1:19).

“And keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.” (1Pe 3:16)

Love should come from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” (1Ti 1:5)

We should always maintain a blameless conscience before God and men. "In view of this, I also do my best to maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men. (Act 24:16)

We must serve God with a clear (pure, clean) conscience the way the apostle Paul did. “I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,” (2Ti 1:3)

Deacons should hold to the mysteries of the faith with a clear conscience. “But holding to the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience.” (1Ti 3:9)

A Clear Conscience Does not Acquit You
While Paul emphasized the fact that he maintained a clear conscience, he acknowledged that it alone did not mean he was innocent. He declared that Christ was His judge. “For I am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this acquitted; but the one who examines me is the Lord.” (1Co 4:4). Therefore, while a clear conscience is important, it does not guarantee you are innocent. You must still stand in judgment before the Lord, and He will examine you.

Tending to Your Own Conscience
One reason we submit to both secular and spiritual authorities is for the sake of conscience, and the other reason is to avoid wrath. “Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.” (Rom 13:5)

However, even when we submit to authorities, we may still suffer under them unjustly. If we endure it for the sake of conscience, this is commendable. “For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.” (1Pe 2:19)

Your conscience can be weak, when it is not properly strengthened by God’s grace and the knowledge of the truth. And committing sin will defile any conscience. “However not all men have this knowledge; but some, being accustomed to the idol until now, eat food as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and their conscience being weak is defiled.” (1Co 8:7)

A weak conscience can also be strengthened by the bad example of a fellow believer. Once a weak conscience is strengthened in such an ungodly way, it will be able to commit sin without being offended. “For if someone sees you, who have knowledge, dining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, if he is weak, be strengthened to eat things sacrificed to idols?” (1Co 8:10)

We don’t want to sin against the brethren by being a bad example, wounding their weak conscience, and thereby strengthening it in an ungodly way. This is a sin against Christ. “And so, by sinning against the brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.” (1Co 8:12)

Sometimes it is better not to know too much about the prior history of the meats we eat, or else we may learn of something that prohibits us from eating it, and that our conscience would be offended if we ate it with that knowledge. So don’t ask questions about the meat. “Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking questions for conscience' sake…If one of the unbelievers invites you and you want to go, eat anything that is set before you without asking questions for conscience' sake.” (1Co 10:25,27)

However, if you find out about the prior history of the meat, because someone tells you, and realize you are not supposed to eat it, according to the Word of God (Act 15:28-29), then you should not eat it. The reason you should not eat it is both for the sake of conscience and for the sake of the other person. As Paul said, “But if anyone says to you, ‘This is meat sacrificed to idols,’ do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for conscience' sake;” (1Co 10:28)

Tending to the Consciences of Others
When Paul said that you should not eat it for conscience’ sake, he meant that you would be sinning if you ate it, since the other person knows you are not supposed to eat it, and if you do eat it, their conscience would be emboldened in an ungodly way by your bad example. Paul said, “I mean not your own conscience, but the other man's; for why is my freedom judged by another's conscience?” (1Co 10:29)

Live your life in such a way so that you can commend yourself to every man’s conscience in God’s sight, meaning you avoid sin, shameful secrets, and the mere appearance of evil. “But we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.” (2Co 4:2)

Your Conscience Can Become Seared
You need to take good care of your conscience, and don’t ignore it, because it can become seared from repeated overheating, and then it won’t work correctly any more. “By means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron.” (1Ti 4:2). Once a person’s conscience has been seared, it is like when an animal has been branded. Just as the animal hide that is seared by branding with a hot iron cannot be restored to its original condition, the conscience cannot be restored back to its original condition after it has been seared, except by a miracle of God’s grace. This is a fatal mistake, because without a properly functioning conscience, a person cannot even repent. And if they cannot repent, they cannot be forgiven.

Your Conscience Can Become Defiled
We understand the dangers of being contaminated with nuclear radiation, but do we understand the seriousness of tainting the conscience. People who are defiled and unbelieving have contaminated their consciences. “To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.” (Tit 1:15)

Relationship Between Baptism and Conscience
There is a connection between water baptism and conscience. Which comes first, baptism or a purged conscience?

In speaking of Noah’s ark and the flood, Peter said, “Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him. (1Pe 3:21-22)

Peter said baptism is “an appeal to God for a good conscience.” The Greek word for “appeal” is “eperotema” meaning “an inquiry: - answer.” (Strongs). Water baptism is an answer to God for a good conscience. An answer is something you give in response to something else.

John Wesley said it best like this in his comments on 1Pe 3:21-22: “That is, through the water of baptism we are saved from the sin which overwhelms the world as a flood: not, indeed, the bare outward sign, but the inward grace; a divine consciousness that both our persons and our actions are accepted through him who died and rose again for us.”

The KJV says, “The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:” (1Pe 3:21). This is a correct translation. Baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God.

It is not “a question to God,” as other versions incorrectly state. For example, the YLT refers to baptism as “the question of a good conscience in regard to God” and the ASV refers to it as “the interrogation of a good conscience toward God”.

The Blood of Jesus Purges the Conscience
It is the blood of Christ that cleanses, purges, or purifies your conscience, not water baptism. “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Heb 9:13-14).

As the sprinkling of animal blood formerly cleansed the flesh of the worshipper, the blood of Christ now cleanses your conscience. One must obtain a purged conscience before water baptism.

We do not receive a purged conscience from water baptism, but from the sprinkled blood of our great high priest, Jesus Christ.

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Heb 10:19-22)

Without the blood of Jesus applied to our hearts and the waters of baptism applied to our bodies, we would not have confidence to enter the holy place; we would not be able to draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith. It is the sprinkled blood that purges our hearts from an evil conscience, and it is the water that washes our bodies. That is the proper, Scriptural order – first the blood-sprinkled conscience, then the washing of the body. Therefore, when a person is water baptized, it is the godly, biblical way of responding to the cleansed conscience he has already received.

Putting it All Together
While God has given us each a conscience, through which we are conscious of right and wrong, we have all defiled it through sin before coming to know Christ. There is none righteous. But when you repent and give your life to Jesus, His blood purges your conscience. You are not guilty, because you’ve accepted the atonement, not only because of a purged conscience, but because of destroyed records. In His great mercy, God forgives all your past sins, destroys all the records of them, and remembers them no more. This is a miracle of God’s amazing grace in your life.

Once you have received a good conscience through repentance and faith in Christ, then you should be baptized with water. That is an outward ceremony expressing the grace that you have experienced in our heart. It’s the answer of a good conscience.

But then you need to keep a good conscience all your life from that point forward. Now your conscience must be trained by and taken captive by the Word of God. You need to take care to maintain a clear conscience toward God at all times, so that it does not become defiled.

Going against your conscience is neither right nor safe. Neglecting your conscience, and ignoring its warnings, leads to it eventually becoming seared. In that case, it no longer works correctly, and we lose the benefit of its protection. That’s why you need to listen to your conscience, acting according to its dictates, and always do what is right. If at any point you commit a sin, you should immediately repent and receive a cleaning in our conscience once again. This will help to keep it in good working order, functioning properly as it should, so that you can live a blameless life before God in Christ and make it to heaven.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, where noted. The "Washed by the Blood" painting © 2012 is by Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist. 

Author's note: I also recommend reading Repentance That Leads to Life, Bowing Low in Worship, Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Ask for the Ancient Paths, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, Should you fear the Lord?, Ezekiel Moses Testimony of Heaven and Hell, The Judgment Seat of Christ, Tattoos and Body Piercing, Divorce -- Three Divine Revelations, Alcohol and Cigarettes -- Ten Divine Revelations, Rock, Rap, and Reggae Music -- Six Divine Revelations, Godly Attire and Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations, and The Book of Life. You may access the Main Directory for this Seeking the Lord blog for more articles like this, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org

The Three Elijahs

Elijah Oil Painting by Boris Vallejo

Today I’d like to look at three "Elijah" prophets in Scripture.  You probably knew there was at least one Hebrew prophet Elijah, who lived on the earth and served God during the reign of King Ahab.  He is the Elijah whom the three disciples saw with Moses there on the Mount of Transfiguration, talking with Jesus (Mt 17:3).  In addition, many of you are aware that a second Elijah has already come.  But I want to show you that there is still another Elijah.

“And He [Jesus] answered and said, ‘Elijah is coming and will restore all things; but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that He had spoken to them about John the Baptist.”  (Mat 17:11-13)

Note that Jesus said, “Elijah already came,” and “Elijah is coming.”  By this He showed that there are two prophets.  In addition to the original prophet Elijah, there are two prophets who come in the spirit of Elijah, but do not necessarily have his name.  He acknowledged that Elijah had come, which the disciples understood that He meant John the Baptist, who came in the spirit and power of Elijah (see Lk 1:17).  But He also said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things.”  Since Herod had already beheaded John the Baptist (Mt 14:8), who did Jesus mean when He said that Elijah is coming to restore all things?

This is what the prophet Malachi spoke of when he said, “Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,’ says the LORD of hosts.” (Mal 3:1).  This is a double prophecy, referring to both the first and second coming of Jesus Christ.  There is yet to come in the spirit of Elijah a prophet who will prepare the way for the Lord before He returns.

Malachi prophesied for the Lord: "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse." (Mal 4:5-6).  That was the end of Malachi's book of prophecy and the final portion of Scripture written before Christ.  I believe this final Elijah will restore the hearts of God’s children to the Heavenly Father before Jesus come.

I believe that just as the first Elijah had a holy fire ministry, as did John the Baptist, so will the final Elijah have such a ministry.  Elijah called down holy fire upon the sacrifice on top of Mt Carmel (1Ki 18:37-38), when  he prayed, “'Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that You, O LORD, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.' Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench." Later on another occasion, he also called down fire upon the captains and their fifties (2 King 1:10).

John the Baptist was a fiery preacher like that, who said, "The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." (Mat 3:10-12)

So we know that the final Elijah will also have a holy fire ministry.  Just take a look at the coming ministry of the two, last-days witnesses in Revelation. “And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.” (Rev 11:5). 

As we look at the prophets Elijah and John the Baptist, we can see that the only people who were hurt by them were the wicked and the ungodly.  The poor, the humble, and those who repented of their sin were not harmed in any way.  The same can be said of the last-days witnesses.  The only people who will be harmed are the ones who want to harm them.

My wife and I have pondered whether there will be just two such witnesses, or a whole company of people who will move in the spirit and power of Elijah.  We tend to believe that while these two witnesses in Revelation 11 will operate in Jerusalem, there will be many others operating like that around the world.

An Important "After-Word"
I originally posted this article on September 13, 2013, when the Lord gave me this message.  However, today on October 30, 2013, I received further revelation, as I read the book of Revelation.  I had just read the verse that says, "Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying in midheaven, saying with a loud voice, 'Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!'" (Rev 8:13)

And having read that verse, I was actually looking for a prophetic word that John Paul Jackson once received and shared in an interview with Sid Roth, in which he said that 2012 would be a year of woes. However, the Lord led me to the following video recording of an interview between Paul Keith Davis and Terry Bennett, a prophet of the Lord.

Amazingly, this interview was conducted on September 3, 2013, and covers the same subject that I have covered in this article.  They discussed the coming days along with the subject of Elijah and the Bride of Christ.

From 4:00 to 5:10 in the video, Terry Bennett mentions that Elijah has appeared to him in person on numerous occasions.  At 7:45 he says that in at least one instance, Elijah appeared to him with the Lord and the angel Gabriel.  He was told that the Bride must be made ready for the Lamb, and that Elijah is being released.  This means the actual, original prophet Elijah is being released by the Lord to carry out his end time ministry.  In a recent conference, brother Terry said he has seen Elijah return to earth in a chariot of fire. This explains why he has been appearing to brother Terry and others.

Brother Terry was also told by Gabriel that the time for the release of the Spirit and power of Elijah has arrived.  It was explained to him that this Spirit and power will be upon a worldwide company of men and women, whom God has invited to operate in the Spirit and power of Elijah.

He said that God's invitation to be the Bride extends to all, but it requires total consecration. As James says, the double-minded man must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.  Note that the Scripture says the Bride must make herself ready, and one primary reason the Holy Spirit has been given to the Church is to enable this.  "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready." (Rev 19:7)

The ministry that will occur in connection with the the Spirit and power of Elijah, and the Bride making herself ready will be a very atypical (unusual) time for the Church in most arenas.   This is not going to look like business as usual in the Church. 

The Lord did give a warning to brother Terry that this ministry is not about drawing attention to Elijah or any man.  There must be great humility in all of this, just as Elijah had during his original ministry.  The Lord said that if the message is not about pointing people to the Lamb who is coming, it's going to be judged. The message must direct people to the Lord. 

Brother Paul Keith said at around 16:00 in the video that he believes it's not OK not to believe the Word regarding fullness.  I agree completely.  Some have rejected what the Word says about fullness in Christ, which includes healing and holiness, as well as the baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  The Lord paid a great price at Calvary to make these possible, and it's not OK with Him if people reject these.

This all reminded me of what brother Neville Johnson said in a conference I attended exactly one year ago, on October 31, 2012 in Sheffield, England.  He said that on June 22, 2012, the Lord woke him at 3:00 AM.  He started to pray. Suddenly, people came into his room. It was the Lord and other people -- Elijah and Moses.

The Lord said to Neville, “The day has now come when you will see great anointings come to the earth. Tell my people they are the sent ones to this generation. I am about to release my true apostolic anointing. Many angels are about to come to the earth. They will come and bring this anointing.” Truth will come like never before.

The prophet Elijah said to Neville, “The Spirit that was upon me when I was on the earth will be upon men once again, and He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse."  He quoted Malachi 4:6 about this. The church is to reveal the heart of the Father to this generation and show them what God is like." He spoke about redemptive judgments coming to the earth. When God’s judgments are in the earth it will bring righteousness.

God showed him some of the terrible things coming to the earth, and Neville emphasized that we must be there to tell people why they are happening.  Neville said the foundations have been eroded: holiness and the baptism of fire. When a person is baptized in fire, there is an absolute change in their life. The old is burned right out. They need a baptism of Holy Spirit and fire. This is exactly the same message the Lord has been speaking to me and my wife, and which I have been preaching, so this bears witness to my spirit.

I would like to encourage you to watch the Paul Keith Davis and Terry Bennett interview at this link.

Putting it All Together
My friends, it’s time to seek the Lord. Consecrate yourself wholeheartedly to Him. Let the holy, Refiner's fire do its perfect work in you.  Ask the Lord to purify you from everything that will not pass through the fire as purely from Him.  Love the fire of God!  Ask the Lord to baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire, as John the Baptist said He would do (Mt 3:8).

If there is anything in your life that is not right with God, get it right with Him.  Clear the way for the Lord, because He is about to return in the glory of His Father with His angels, and he is coming for a Bride without spot or wrinkle.  He will reward every person for his own deeds (Mt 16:27).  Without holiness no one will see the Lord (Heb 12:14)

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Boris Vallejo Elijah Oil Painting Original Art (1981). Boris Vallejo presents this stunning vision of Elijah, the prophet of Israel during the ninth century B. C.

Author's note:  I invite you to also read these related articles of mine: Holy Fire Baptism, The Burning Ones, Baptized by Blazing Fire, The Refiner's Fire, Only the Holy -- Three Shocking Testimonies, The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer, Healing is in the Atonement, Covenant Prayer, Baptized with the Spirit, and Your Rewards Are Based on Your Practice. You can also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Happy Hunters on Fire

Charles and Frances Hunter

Charles and Frances Hunter, the Happy Hunters, were known around the world as the most anointed and energetic healing evangelists during their generation.  They ministered in 49 nations around the world.  In one service they saw 100 people get out of wheelchairs!  They had an incredible anointing for healing and the baptism with the Holy Spirit. 

On October 16, 1984, the Happy Hunters ministered at a church in Rotterdam, Holland, called Kom en Zie.  On the final day of the conference, they ministered the baptism with fire.  Here are some excerpts:

Charles said that the baptism with fire “burns sin out of people’s lives…Only the holy will see God.  Jesus said He would be back for a Bride without spot or blemish…God is again sending fire upon the earth. Many scores of times in the past two years, God has sent fire in.  When people begin to say, ‘I want to be perfect like Jesus is. I want to be crucified with Christ. I want to live a holy life.  I want only to please Jesus.  When people come to do that, many times God has let the people see fire in the spirit realm.” 

He went on to cite some examples from Hawaii.  He said, “On the island of Maui, a woman ran forward and said, ‘I’m frightened!’  So they asked, ‘Why are you frightened?’  She replied, ‘Laying over the whole audience there is an orange flame of fire about two inches thick!’ God sent His fire down to burn the sin out of people’s lives.”

He continued, “On the island of Oahu, in a church, the glory cloud came in…it looks like smoke, and fills the room.”  The smoke was up in the balcony, and the Lord told Charles that He was healing the people in the balcony first.  So Charles began to point to the people in the balcony and command healing upon them.  Afterward some people said that they could see lightning come out of his hands when he did that.  He said that this was fire of God.  Frances then read from Habakkuk, “His radiance is like the sunlight; He has rays flashing from His hand, And there is the hiding of His power.” (Hab 3:4)

She said, “There are many who speak in tongues, but do not have any fire in them.”

Charles said, “In a congregation in Florida, when we asked Jesus to baptize everyone with fire, we saw that there was an angel for each person.”  He said that the angels each had a wire of fire that was screwed into each person’s head.  Jesus told Charles that He was “electrocuting everybody and burning out self.”

Charles said, “The baptism of fire sends fire through every part of your body.  It gives you a love for God and a hatred for evil like you never have before.”  After he imparted the baptism of fire to the congregation in Rotterdam, he said, “God said, ‘I am a consuming fire.’ And because God lives in you, expect fire to come forth from within you.  If you have been baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire, then not only will you have power, you will have fire to burn the sin out of people.” 

Then he said that while they were all singing in the Spirit and he prayed for the Lord to baptize them with fire, he saw little flames coming off their fingertips, and something like “raindrops” of fire coming down upon them.  Frances said she felt like her whole body was on fire.

Putting it All Together
In these last days right before the Lord returns, He is baptizing His people with fire once again.  Let me encourage you to pray, "I want to be perfect like Jesus is. I want to be crucified with Christ. I want to live a holy life.  I want only to please Jesus." Pray, “No matter what it takes, Lord, I need the baptism of fire. Just do it."  Then expect Him to do it!

Attribution notice: Scripture quotation taken from the NASB.

Author's note:  If you enjoyed this post, you may also enjoy my post called The Burning Ones, as well as my other posts called Holy Fire Baptism, Songs of the Holy Fire, and The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer. You can access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master. Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

___________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Burning Ones

On May 20, 2012, I wrote a blog about being Baptized with Fire. Later I found an excellent teaching on YouTube about the baptism with fire by a man I didn’t know.  All I knew about him was that he was from something called the Academy of Light, because he didn’t say his name in the video. But I thought his teaching was so good that I added the YouTube video of his teaching to my blog on the Baptism with Fire.

Later in October 2012, I was attending a conference in Sheffield, England at the Bushfire Basecamp church.  On the brochure for the conference, they were also advertising another upcoming conference with a man named Neville Johnson.  Someone invited me to attend that conference, so I looked up his name on the Internet.  I discovered that he was with the Academy of Light, and that sounded familiar to me. Upon further research, I discovered that this is the same man from the Academy of Light in Australia, who produced the video I had seen on the baptism with fire.

Neville Johnson

The Lord made a way for me to go to the Neville Johnson conference for only about a quarter of the cost! So I prayed about it and spoke with my wife. We both felt that I should go to the conference.

At the conference, which was called “The Burning Ones,” Neville said that he left England in 1974, and this is his first time back since then.  A couple months ago in his lounge room in Australia, the Lord walked in the door at 5:00AM. He had a torch in hand and said, “Nevelle, I want you to take this torch to England as a symbol of what God’s going to do. He’s going to light a fire.” Then He handed him the torch.

Neville's grandfather was a preacher in the Welsh revival, which Rees Howells was a part of.  He said to us at the conference that many of the old foundations have been eroded, such things as holiness and the baptism of fire. The early Pentecostal had a baptism of fire that came with the baptism with the Holy Spirit.  But the charismatic movement, as good as it was, did not have the baptism of fire.

When a person is baptized in fire, there is an absolute change in their life. The old is burned right out. We’re living among a demonized generation. They need a baptism of Holy Spirit and fire to get the demons out. The seraphims are coming. The name ‘seraphim’ means ‘spirits of burning.’ The demons can’t stand the Holy fire. God’s going to restore holiness back to the church.

On the second evening of the conference, Neville spoke about the baptism with fire. Here are my notes from that evening meeting on November 2, 2012.

Moses said, “Show me your glory.” What is the glory?

God will come and transform us completely. He told Moses, “I will make all my goodness pass before you.”

Every desire and every emotion in you radiates a light and sound. You are always transmitting. It’s the same with the Lord. All of the goodness and glory that comes from Him emanates from Him in the form of brilliant light.

The Lord came to Neville two years ago. “Tell My people, the seraphim are coming. Get ready, the seraphim are coming.”

On July 1, 2007, he was caught up in a vision and saw the Lord picking up sticks and putting them in piles. The Lord said, “You want to help Me?” So Neville helped Him. Then the Lord blew on it and it burst into flames. Then he got a satellite-level view of the earth and saw the fires breaking out on the earth, and fires were coming out on the earth, and the fires were coming together (merging). There was very little smoke.

Then he was back at ground level. People were in the fire, worshipping. Their faces changed. Neville asked, “Lord, what is this?”

The Lord replied, “The seraphim are coming. I’m going to baptize my people in fire. And when I’m done with them they will be completely new creations. They will arise and go forth across the land. I will do this. I’m about to start cleaning up my church and cleaning up My people.”

“What are the seraphim?” Instantly he was in heaven and saw these huge creatures enveloped in fire. They stood before the throne. They gave off a sound like a blowtorch. The Lord said again, “Tell my people the seraphim are coming.” Our God is a consuming fire and He consumes the dross in our lives.

All that happened to the three Hebrews in the fire was that their bondages came off. Likewise, our shackles (strongholds) are going to come off.  We lack the baptism of fire.

If you want to be changed, say, “Lord, I want it. Let the fire come.”  When it’s over, He will have a vessel that He can fully inhabit. If you want to hear Neville's testimony of being baptized with fire, you can listen to it here.




We are followers of Jesus. He was baptized in water. He was baptized in the Spirit. And then on the Mountain of Transfiguration, that was the baptism of fire.

When Neville saw the people come out of the fire in the vision, they were glowing. They were totally changed. There was a purity about them which he could not describe. They were vessels that the Lord could fully inhabit.

The Lord is coming to His people (in His people) before He comes for His people.

The Lord said, “Not only are the seraphims coming but the cherubims are coming, because it is a time of favor for the UK.” The Lord was very serious.

There’s coming a war in Israel that will trigger a new move of God in the church.

Stay open to God. Harden not your hearts. Ten spies came back with the wrong report.

Pray, “No matter what it takes, Lord, I need the baptism of fire. Just do it."

Don’t tell me it’s not worth trying for! Don’t tell me it’s not worth dying for! I will give my all for the Lord!

Cherubim are carriers of the glory of God. During worship at the conference in Sheffield, he was caught up and saw myriads of angels in the heavenlies being prepared to invade this nation (UK). He heard what they were being told.

Neville told us about Ed Miller, who was a missionary to Argentina.  If one person got saved, they were having revival.  It was hard ground. So one day he quit doing the normal traditional missionary thing. Instead he just sought the Lord for several months.

When God suddenly came in response to prayer. From that day on everything changed. A million ultimately came to Christ. Royalty from surrounding nations came to Argentina.

It doesn’t take a lot of people to start a fire. “Seek Me while I may be found. Call upon Me while I am near.”

March 28, 2008. Neville was praying and he was transported to a beach. There was a little mist on the water and a boat slowly coming into land. It was a sailboat. A man holding a rudder steered it right up onto the beach. The man said, “You want to come fishing?” The man had a refined face but it was rugged. It had an otherworldly glow. He agreed, pushed the boat off, and jumped in over to the side the water was teaming with fish. The man threw the net over and pulled it into the boat full.

The man looked at him and said, “My name is Peter.” With that he threw the net out again and it was filled. As soon as the fish hit the deck, they became people. He thought the boat would sink. But Peter said, “Look at the boat.” It had gotten bigger. It became the size of a cruise liner. The Lord told him, “On Peter’s first fishing trip the net broke. But on the second one, the net did not break. So it is in your day…The net will not break.”

Peter said, “The great cloud of witnesses are watching this generation with great joy. What the early church began, the end time church will complete it. Your generation will overcome death. You will accomplish in one generation what hundreds of generations have longed to see. The end is now in sight. The finishing line is now in view. What began at Pentecost will finish in your day in Tabernacles.

The very words of Peter shook him. Peter looked at the people and said to Neville, “See how the boat has grown? The seed of the early martyrs will blossom in (Neville’s) generation. We have been waiting to see this day.”

Peter looked at Neville and said, “Tell the Christian leaders of your day that if they seek to profit from this harvest and build their kingdom from it, they will be destroyed. This harvest is holy. This is precious. If you cause any to stumble, you will be destroyed. Your Purity of heart is required to gather in the harvest. It is the Lord’s harvest not your harvest. The Lord has waited for his harvest.” He quoted from James about the farmer who waits for the harvest.

Peter said, “Don’t be impetuous like me. “Be moved and led by the Spirit. Follow the Lord of the harvest. True sons are led by the Spirit.”

We must determine not to do anything or to harm the harvest in any way.

Peter ended by saying, “The time is short.” And Neville was back in his lounge room.

In China the little children got the holy fire of God and they were running around with buckets of water trying to put out the fire on each other. There were caught up to heaven and saw the Great Tribulation.

The children will grow rapidly. The Lord is accelerating the growth. You will train them.

If you become love, God will give you the power to love. Be conformed into His image. Consecrate yourself. Then the fire will purge and cleanse you.

When he went to America recently his wife told him he would be given a watch. When he walked into the church his watch stopped. So he went to the pastor’s secretary and asked if she could go out and buy him a cheap watch to use. Just then the pastor walked in and said the Lord told him to give him a watch. He presented the gift to him.  When he opened it he found a Rolex watch! He later took it to a jeweler and it was valued at $10-12K.

The watch is a Mariner’s watch for divers, rated for depths up to 2,000 feet. The Lord said to him, “It’s time to go deeper.”

When he finished speaking, he imparted the anointing to us to fulfill our destiny.

On the following night, he said, “God wants to pour out His Spirit first upon His people to restore all those years the cankerworm was eaten. After that He will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh.”

He read from Joel 2, “So rejoice, O sons of Zion, And be glad in the LORD your God; For He has given you the early rain for your vindication. And He has poured down for you the rain, The early and latter rain as before.” (Joe 2:23)

"It will come about after this That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and daughters will prophesy, Your old men will dream dreams, Your young men will see visions. Even on the male and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days.” (Joe 2:28-29)

He then explained that the former rain is the fire of God, which will restore you. And after that will come the latter rain on all flesh (worldwide). There will be two outpourings, first upon God’s people, then upon the unsaved, which will be the main harvest. Raising the dead will become so common. There will be wonders in heaven and earth.

Neville is right that we've lost that element the early Church had: "I will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." And God is now going to restore that. This is how the Lord is cleaning up His Church and get us ready to reap the final harvest.  God is going to restore holiness back to the Church!  He will have His Bride without spot or wrinkle.

Pray, “No matter what it takes, Lord, I need the baptism of fire. Just do it." Cry out for it with all your heart and expect Him to do it.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Author's note:  If you enjoyed this post, you may also like my other post called Holy Fire Baptism, Songs of the Holy Fire, The Happy Hunters on Fire, and The Fiery Sufferings of the Believer. You can access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." "Revival" painting © 2012 Danny Hahlbohm, all rights reserved by the artist.  Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.