When Solomon had made preparation for revival by prayer, then came the peculiarity of revival--fire! The fire came down from heaven. There are all kinds of fire these days. There are strange fires. There are man-made fires. We don’t want those. We want the true fire of God to break us and make us.
Fire illuminates. It shines on the sacred page. The Holy Spirit, the fire, shines upon the Word and the Word becomes real. It lives and we have something to say because it is living. Sermons live because the fire has fallen on us and upon the sacred page and enlightened the page and we understand. It’s become something we grasp and then others grasp it too. Fire illuminates, and fire warms our hearts. It’s wonderful when the Holy Ghost falls upon a group of people and there’s a warmth.
The fire cleanses. "He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver..." (Malachi 3:3). At some potteries where fine bone china is produced, at an early stage that beautiful, dainty cup is placed in the flame which goes right through that cup and burns and removes and destroys all unwanted matter. When we sit under the ministry of the Holy Ghost and the fire falls upon us, the fire goes right through us. It’s a dynamic cleansing. God comes to us and cleanses.
Fire unifies. Sunday school picnics are useful and good and you get to know people on that level, but that won’t unite the church. The thing that unites the church is the fire of God falling on the congregation, the fire coming down and causing our hearts to melt, causing us to weep in His presence.
Fire attracts. There is something wonderfully attractive about the fire of God resting upon a person, the light of the Lord upon him. Fire melts. What a wonderful thing it is when God comes down and melts our hearts.
I remember when I was just a young worker in the field of evangelism and we were in a big tent. I was on the platform playing an instrument. An old man was preaching on the names of God and he got to El Shaddai. He spent an hour and ten minutes preaching on El Shaddai. God was with him, and God suddenly came down on a thousand people. The fire fell! About three or four or five hundred of them sought God. They came out to the front and they took up all the space. The aisles were full; some knelt right where they were. I’d never seen anything like it in my life. I was just out of Bible College and was just learning about the works of the Holy Spirit. Here, suddenly, I saw people seeking God.
A respected man, a former preacher, came walking among the people, wherever he could get a place to put his feet. He found a place on the mat right in front of me and knelt down, and I heard him pray. He said, "Lord, forgive me for having something against Brother L____ all these years." Brother L____ was the farmer upon whose farm that convention was being held. Brother L____ was sitting right there and he heard it. He got up and walked toward him and knelt down in front of him. Putting his arm across his shoulders he said, "Lord, forgive me for having something against this brother for all this time." God was uniting; God was melting our hearts. I looked in amazement at God’s mighty working.
Dear friends, how often do we have that kind of thing in our churches? When God comes down you know it! When God comes down the power of God is sensed, and you know your heart is broken.
I remember another occasion when we were working in a tent. It was hot and the tent was pitched out in the hot sun. An old man was preaching on the gates of Jerusalem--the water gate, the sheep gate, etc., and every morning it went on. They had prayed into the night for God’s moving, but the circumstances of the day meetings were impossible. It was so hot. People sat there trying to keep their eyes open. He droned on and on about the gates. Eventually he said, "Amen."
The leader of the meeting got up and he said, "Perhaps God has spoken to you this morning. We’re going to sing a hymn, and if God wants you to seek Him, you come while we sing this hymn." So we sleepily opened our books and began to sing, droning along and suddenly--I can only describe it as "the Holy Ghost fell upon the congregation." Suddenly God came! Suddenly everyone was aware of the presence of God. I looked in amazement--people sobbing, people weeping, people coming forward, people kneeling just where they were all over the place.
I was at the back. I sat with my face in my hands and wept. My heart was broken in the presence of God. The heat was still there. The impossible condition was still there, but God had come in spite of the impossible condition. God had descended upon the place; the fire of God had fallen. What changes of lives took place that morning. God had swept in. Oh, for such meetings, "When God comes down our souls to greet, and glory crowns the mercy seat!" Oh, that our hearts would break in the presence of God and that we would meet Him with all our hearts, finding Him wonderfully sufficient to satisfy all our needs.
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Colin Peckham (1936 - 2009)
Was Principal of Faith Mission Bible College, Edinburgh. Mary Peckham (nee Morrison) (1932-2010) was born on the Isle-of-Lewis and was converted in the 1949 revival. She spent fourteen years in evangelistic ministry, seeing true revival on two occasions in her ministry, before marrying Colin in 1969. They are both survived by three adult children and two grandchildren.A life of blessing and fullness stretched before me; a life to be maintained as a constant walk in the Spirit by the vital elements of faith and obedience. On Monday 9th November 2009 at his home in Broxburn near Edinburgh, Scotland, Rev Dr Colin Peckham was suddenly and quietly called home to be with the Lord. There was a service of thanksgiving at Charlotte Chapel, West Rose Street, Edinburgh on Monday 16th November 2009 at 10.30am.