FIRE!
“Fire fall down on us, we pray… As we seek you, Fire fall down, Fire fall down on us, we pray…”
The above lyrics are from a worship song by Hillsong United and in their live concerts the above chorus is often repeated for a good few minutes.
There is a common theme in some contemporary worship music to call down fire from heaven. However, theologically, is this really what we want? And how should we respond?
It is likely that the reference to fire comes from Acts 2, during the upper room event where the fire was a representation of the Spirit's arrival and to confirm the Apostles' message through the sign gift of languages (tongues).
However, this upper room experience has today been removed from its context and reduced to something strictly experiential.
Furthermore, the event of Pentecost is a non-repeatable event, and assuming that you can call down fire from heaven is not only unbiblical, it is an act of manipulation.
In Leviticus 10, fire rained down from heaven and consumed sacrificers and worshippers alike symbolizing God’s holiness and His judgment against unauthorized worship.
When John the Baptist spoke of "baptism with fire" in Matthew 3:11, he was referring to judgment rather than an anointing. In context, John contrasts the baptism of the Holy Spirit with a baptism of fire, which symbolizes God’s purifying and consuming judgment. This "fire" represents the separation of true believers from the unrepentant, as John emphasizes by mentioning the “winnowing fork” and the “burning up of the chaff.” Thus, the reference to fire here is a solemn warning of judgment rather than a symbol of spiritual empowerment.
The next time fire appears from heaven, it will consume the entire universe in judgment. Scripture tells us that while the world was once judged by water, it will ultimately be judged by fire, with all elements burned in fervent heat (2 Peter 3:10).
Therefore, calling down fire from heaven is not an appropriate expression for worship, as it overlooks the true biblical meaning of fire as a symbol of judgment rather than empowerment. Rather than invoking fire, our worship should reflect a desire for God’s presence and His Spirit’s guidance, grounded in reverence and truth.
GLORY!
The word "glory" is also used in a lot of charismatic worship services without really understanding its meaning.
Often statements are used during worship such as “drunken glory,” “heavenly glory,” or even having a “glory cloud” appearing as a form of glittery dust from ventilator systems.
The Hebrew word for glory is kavod. It is what makes God weighty and what makes our thoughts about Him cause us to fall to the ground in worship.
The word “glory” is used basically in two different ways, the intrinsic glory of God and the ascribed glory of God.
God's intrinsic glory consists of all His attributes and it is the fullness of His eternal being. The intrinsic glory of God is the sum and substance of all of His perfections. There is nothing we can do to enhance or diminish that intrinsic glory. God is the God who was, who is and who will be forever. He is immutably the same through the ages. God's intrinsic glory is composed of His divine attributes such as His holiness, transcendence, independence, rule, sovereignty, righteousness, love, mercy, omniscience, and omnipresence.
Then there is the ascribed glory which is the glory that we give to God by praising and worshipping Him. Simply put the more we understand His intrinsic glory, the more we will ascribe to Him glory.
Therefore, a low view of God leads to low worship. On the other hand, a high view of God leads to high worship and high living.
We have a scene in the Bible where Moses himself wanted to see the glory of God, and God does show him a visible display of His glory—but it wasn’t the full revelation. Instead, God allowed Moses to see only a glimpse of His “back” (Exodus 33:18–23), as no one can see His face and live. This wasn’t because it was impossible for God to reveal Himself fully, but rather a reminder of His profound holiness and the limitations of human beings in fully grasping His divine essence. As John Calvin noted, God “accommodates Himself to our capacity,” giving us only what we can bear. This encounter deepens our reverence, showing that even a partial display of God’s glory is more than we could endure.
Thus, when charismatics shout that they have seen the glory of God, we can only wonder how they aren't dead yet.
God's glory could only be revealed in the world (in a way that would not cause death) in Jesus Christ, veiled in human flesh.
Even when Jesus was transfigured on the Mount of Transfiguration, God had protected the disciples and they went into a coma instead of dying when they saw the unveiled glory of Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:6 beautifully expresses the veiled glory of Christ: “For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”
This verse reveals that God’s glory, which is too overwhelming for humans to witness fully, has been graciously revealed to us in a way we can comprehend—through the person of Jesus Christ. In Christ, God’s glory is “veiled” in human form, allowing us to see and know Him without being destroyed by the weight of His divine presence.
Just as God accommodated Moses’ limitations by showing only a glimpse of His glory, He now reveals Himself through Jesus, who embodies the fullness of God in a way that human beings can approach and understand. Through Jesus, we gain a true knowledge of God’s glory without the overwhelming effects that direct exposure would bring. This is the ultimate expression of God’s glory that we can behold safely—His character, wisdom, and love made manifest in Christ, who is both fully divine and fully human.
Fill Me Up
A famous Jesus Culture song has a repetitive chorus that says "fill me up, God, fill me up."
However, when we measure this phrase against Scripture, we will find that the theology behind it is misleading.
We don't experience a filling of the Holy Spirit as though we get more of Him. The whole issue is that the Holy Spirit gets more of us as we willfully submit to His will in sanctification. This song reflects a reversed understanding of the Holy Spirit’s role in a believers life.
In Ephesians 5:18, we are to be “filled” by the Holy Spirit, not filled up with more of the Holy Spirit. When we talk about being filled with more of the Spirit we essentially have a incorrect understanding of how the Holy Spirit works in sanctification. The process of sanctification or spiritual growth involves us surrendering more of ourselves to His influence, not necessarily receiving an “extra” does of the Spirit.
In order to be filled by the Spirit, we don't need to repeat a chorus. What we do need is to die to ourselves, resist temptation, mortify our flesh, let the Word of Christ richly dwell within, buffet our bodies and make them our slaves, confess our sins, repent of our sins, turn away from our worlds, and love Christ. These are the practical things that accompany being filled with the Spirit.
