John the Baptist, minister of the gospel and
preacher of genuine regeneration, said of Jesus that "he should baptize
with the Holy Ghost and fire," thus using a most powerful symbol to
characterize the nature of the work of the Holy Ghost. Everyone is
familiar with the action of fire; it burns everything combustible with
which it comes in contact.

CONSEALED SERPENTS.

We submit that no one can tell just how much there is in the heart that
needs to be consumed. There are things dormant in the unsanctified
heart of which the man never dreams. There are serpents coiled in
balls, and vipers spitting poison, and centipedes, and fat blinking
toads, and vampires, and lizards, and tarantulas, that we never suspect
of being in the soul. But they are there.

THE EMBRYOS OF CRIME.

It is God's mercy that says, "Be ye holy," for He knows that unless we
get cleaned out and purified the inner reptiles will poison us to
death. Every unsanctified man carries in his bosom the seeds of all
possible crimes, the embryos of all black actions. There are times when
we half believe that something of the kind is true. Did you ever stand
by the cage of a lion and watch his restless pace and feel that you had
something in you kindred to him? Many a man has gazed into the green
eyes of a wild beast and trembled, feeling a similarity of nature.
Every son of Adam feels the beast stir in him at times, until Pentecost
eradicates the bestial principle.

SMOULDERING EMBERS.

The embers from which hell-fire is kindled smoulder in the unsanctified
heart. It is dangerous to attempt to build a Christian character over a
latent volcano. A once active volcano becomes inactive. The lava cools,
the ashes settle, and the smoke drifts away. An enterprising farmer
covers a considerable space of the once fiery volcanic field with fresh
earth carted from a fertile valley. All goes well for a year or two.
The garden prospers, the vegetables are most encouraging, and the
produce is abundant. But one morning the farmer notices that smoke is
issuing from the crater at the summit of the mountain. The sky blackens
and red flames flash amid the clouds of smoke. The land is shaken with
earthquakes. Suddenly, right in the middle of his verdant field, a
great red-lipped chasm opens and blue flames leap upwards and surge
toward the sky. His crops are blasted with the "fierce heat of the
flame," and the work of years is wrecked in a moment.

BLUE FLAMES OF GEHENNA