God is a consuming fire; and I am glad of it. Our God is coming; and I am glad of it. He is coming in flaming fire; and I am glad of it. He is coming inall his glory; and I am glad of it. I am sorry that there will be anybody upon whom he will have to take vengeance; but I am glad that the day is coming when all sin will be swept away by our God, who is a consuming fire.

Come, brethren. Are you ready? Are you ready to meet him in that day? If not, he says to you today, "There is a place by me." Come today, and stand in this place by me. I will reveal to you all my glory; "I will make all my goodness pass before thee." And where there is any defect in you that cannot just now bear the deeply consuming fire of this glory, I "will cover thee with my hand" until it is all over: so that I may separate you from all sin, and save you in that day of glory.

0, then, welcome him who is a consuming fire! Dwell in his presence. Open up the life. Recognise the fact that he is a consuming fire—that he is never anything else. Then rejoice in that today. Dwell in that consuming fire today. And when that great day breaks upon the earth, in all his glory, we shall also rejoice in that day. Then we shall stand and say, "Lo, this is our God." But what! with the mountains hurling through the air; every island fleeing out of its place; the earth coming up from beneath; the heavens departing as a scroll, with a noise that is more than deafening; and flaming fire all around, his face as the sun, his eyes as a flame of fire,—in all this shall we rejoice?—Yes, bless the Lord! We shall rejoice, because "this is our God." We have seen him before; we have lived with him; we have welcomed his consuming presence; we have welcomed the living flame of which his eyes are as a flaming fire, that they should pierce us through, and search out any wicked way in us. We know what blessing and joy were brought into our lives when his consuming glory purified us from sin and from sinning, and made us the servants of righteousness unto holiness. And knowing what blessedness that was, we exclaim, in the fullness of perfect joy, "Lo, this is our God" indeed. We see him now, more fully than before. That means more blessing still. "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." Isaiah 25:9.