_AFTER THE PRAYER THE FIRE!_
"_When Solomon had made an end of praying the fire
came down from heaven._"
--2 CHRONICLES vii. 1-11.
And the fire is the symbol of the Holy God. Pure flame is our imperfect
mode of expressing the Incorruptible. This burning flame is heat and light
in one. And when Solomon had prayed, the holy Flame was in their midst.
But not only is the flame the symbol of the Holy; it also typifies the
power which can make me holy. We have no cleansing minister to compare
with fire. Where water fails fire succeeds. After an epidemic water is
comparatively impotent. We commit the infested garments to the flames. It
was the great fire of London which delivered London from the tyranny of
the plague. And so it is with my soul. God, who is holy flame, will burn
out the germs of my sin. He will "purify Jerusalem with the spirit of
burning." "Our God is a consuming fire."
Come to my soul, O holy Flame! Place Thy "burning bliss" against my
wickedness, and consume it utterly away!