The fire meant here is the fire of sin. Sin is a fire which destroys the comfort of mankind here, and all the joy of mankind hereafter. Nothing can be more suitable to burn in a fire than a “brand.” It is not a branch just taken from the tree, fresh and full of sap; it is a brand--dry, sere timber, fit for the burning. And what does this indicate but man’s natural heart, which is so congenial to the fire of sin? As the firebrand fits with fire, so does the sinner fit in with sin. We read of a brand “in the fire.” Not lying on a heap, but burning and blazing in the fire. Does not this portray our condition? We began very early. Disobedience to parents, angry tempers, petty falsehoods,--these were the first catchings on fire of the brand. We have blazed away merrily since then. What with the lusts of the flesh, or pride, or unbelief, or some other form of departing from the living God, how many are like the firebrand, blazing and flashing in the flame! There is, however, a fair side to the picture. We have here a “brand plucked out of the fire.” Sinners these, who though they have still within them the propensity to sin, are no longer in the fire of sin. They have been taken away from it. They sin through infirmity, but wilful sin they do not commit. The fire that once burned within them has been quenched. They are rescued from that fire which once threatened their everlasting destruction. They are brands still; but brands no longer in the fire. The force of the passage seems to lie in the words, “plucked out of.” The Christian does not escape by his own free will. He is plucked out of his peril. To be plucked out there needs a hand quick to rescue. Every believer in the Lord Jesus is a trophy of the strength as well as of the mercy of God. The question of the text will bear three renderings.
I. The sense of wonderment. “Is not this,” etc. The words are spoken of Joshua, the high priest. There was such astonishment at his preservation that, with hands uplifted, the question was asked, “Is not this man just like a firebrand snatched from among the glowing coals?” This marvel is not confined to Joshua. Was there ever a man saved by grace who was not a wonder? Out of the state of our natural depravity we have been plucked, so that every man who is delivered from its sway may well say,--“Am not I a brand plucked out of the fire?” Each Christian knowing his own heart, and having a special acquaintance with his own peculiar setting sin, feels as if the conquest of his own sin by the grace of God were a more illustrious trophy of that grace than the conquest of a thousand others. There are instances so uncommon that they excite surprise in the minds of all who hear. In the cases of extraordinary conversion, one of the first is the salvation of the extremely aged. Exceptional, too, is the conversion of people who have been accustomed to hear the Gospel from their youth up, who, though not perhaps absolutely aged, have nevertheless been receiving Gospel privileges without any result. Over in the Bankside, I am told, when a man is first put inside a boiler, while the rivets are being fastened, he cannot stop long, the noise is so dreadful, but after a time the boiler maker gets so used to the horrible din that he can almost go to sleep inside. And so it really is under any ministry where the people get Gospel hardened. There have been cases of gross sinners in which this marvel has been still more exciting. Can we pass over the case of some who have given themselves up to sin, to work it with greediness? There is a wonder which I do see, but not often. It is when a self-righteous religious man gets saved.
II. Take the text by way of inquiry or hope. When a sinner’s eye is suffused with tears, and a sigh breaks forth, “Alas! woe is me!” you may say, “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” for the tear of morrow for sin is a blessed omen of mercy’s dawning. The sigh of penitence and the prayer of the seeking are evidences of grace. When the poor soul at last, driven by necessity, throws itself flat at the foot of the Cross, and rests its hope wholly and alone on Jesus, then we may say of it, “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” And when, in the midst of many a conflict and soul struggle, the heart still flings away its idols, and hopes to love Christ, and vows, in His strength to be devoted to His service, we may say again with pleasure, “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” I would invite you to think over the signs of grace, and if you see them in yourselves you may be able to answer this question with joy.
III. And what a question of defiance this is. Do you not catch the idea of the text? There stood Joshua, there stood the angel of the Lord and here stood the adversary: “If God has plucked him out of the fire, you can never put him in again.” It is a defiance full of majesty and grandeur. It reflects a gorgeous lustre on the past. If God has chosen him, dost thou think to undo the Divine decree? God hath snatched him from the fire, determined to save him. God has done that which is the earnest and the token of his perfect safety. Then, beloved in Christ, dread not all the temptations that may attack you. God will not leave His purpose half accomplished. He will not be disappointed. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The rescued brand
This is the Divine description of a justified and converted man. The words present at once to our view the sinner’s worthless character by nature, his dangerous and dreadful condition while in this natural state, and the fulness of unmerited grace and love of which he has been made the subject. Joshua was here the representative of all the true people of God. Like him, they are all “brands plucked out of the fire.” Against them all the same power of Satan is employed to resist them. In behalf of them all the same boundless grace is exercised on the part of the Lord God. The rescued brand forms the subject of our discourse.
1. How unprofitable and worthless in himself. A brand! Useless for any purposes of man; having no value annexed to it in his estimation. Is not every unrenewed sinner precisely this in the sight of God? As a fallen creature man cannot be profitable in the eye of God. No creature can ever render anything to the Creator which shall merit a continuance of blessings bestowed by Him.
2. How dangerous the condition in which this brand was found. The fire from which he was plucked refers to those everlasting burnings which are his heritage in a world of recompense. All earthly woes are temporary. These sorrows are unchangeable and eternal. Under this tremendous load the unconverted sinner now lies, condemned and perishing, as a brand burning in the fire. The wrath of God abideth on him. None can appreciate the dangers of an unconverted soul, but they who have been plucked from the fires in which it is still consuming.
3. How glorious and worthy of praise is that Divine power which can pluck this brand from the fire, and transform it into an eternal monument of love, and a vessel of everlasting holiness! In the midst of the ruin of the world, and the guilt of man, God proposes to the ungodly a reconciliation to Himself.
4. How infinite is the extent of that love, of which this brand is the object. The foundation of all our hope is, that God’s love is infinite and free. His love can pardon the greatest and most multiplied transgressions.
5. How precious is the Christian’s ground of hope, the glorious union of Divinepower and Divine love, in the work of his salvation! The same hand which plucked us from the fire will carry us to the temple. The man who has found peace with God has no enemy in the universe to fear.
6. How inestimable is this privilege of being the objects of God’s unchangeable love! (S. H. Tyng, D. D.)
Danger and deliverance
I. The danger. The brand is--
1. Fit for the fire.
2. Scorched by the fire.
3. Destined to the fire.
4. Unable to deliver itself from the fire.
II. The deliverance.
1. Its author.
2. Its completeness.
3. Its permanence.
4. Its benefits.
III. The exclamation.
1. With regard to the speaker, it expresses triumph.
2. With regard to the enemy of souls, it hurls defiance.
3. With regard to the spectators, it challenges admiration.
4. With regard to the person delivered from the danger, it demands gratitude. (G. Brooks.)
A suggestive question
Under the form of an interrogation, the language of the text is capable of being differently understood.
1. It may be considered as conveying a seasonable reproof to an insulting enemy. It is as if God said, Amidst all his imperfections and failings, thou hast nothing to do with him. I claim a property in him, and will assert it.
2. As expressive of exultation and triumph. “Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?” I rejoice in him as such. He is a pattern of My long suffering, a monument of My grace.
3. The expression carries with it the force of an affirmation. It is a brand plucked out of the fire.
I. To whom may this language be applied? To all Who are finally saved. There are some to whom it is more immediately applicable.
1. Such as great and heinous transgressions, when converted from the error of their way and turned effectually to God.
2. Old and accustomed sinners may be viewed in the same light, when they are brought to repentance and to believe in Jesus.
3. There are some whose cases were despaired of by their friends.
4. Pardoning mercy has in some instances followed upon an overwhelming sense of guilt and distressing apprehensions of Divine wrath.
II. Notice the propriety of the description.
1. A brand plucked out of the fire was once a brand fit for the fire.
2. A brand plucked out of the fire was very near being consumed.
3. A brand plucked out of the fire retains some evidence of the dangerous situation.
4. The brand plucked out of the fire is no way instrumental to its own deliverance. There it must lie and burn if some kind hand do not snatch it thence. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
The sinner rescued from perdition
Reverse this question, and ask, Is this a brand plucked out of the fire? The text was a sort of challenge to Satan to deny the riches of Divine grace in the salvation of the Israelitish Church, now rescued from the furnace of Babylon. It was a question put concerning them figuratively, for the whole Church of Jesus Christ, and for every individual member of it. Bring the question home, “Am I a brand plucked out of the burning?” Consider the importance of being able to come to a clear decision upon this point.
I. Your danger as sinners. A state of sin is a state of imminent danger.
1. Sin is destroying your bodies, and will at last destroy your souls.
2. Every sinner is in danger of the law of God.
3. The terrors of a guilty conscience are a fire.
II. The wondrous deliverance effected.
1. The sinner is delivered by Divine grace from that dreadful sentence, which is literally destruction begun in the heart.
2. The deliverance signifies to be rescued from the raging violence, the destructive power of sin in our heart.
3. This deliverance signifies to be rescued from the burning stings of inward guilt.
III. The act of deliverance. “Plucked out.”
1. Here is exhibited God’s own sovereign will and purpose.
2. The act of rescue points to the direct personal interposition of the Saviour.
3. The deliverance is to be viewed in its individual application by the Holy Spirit.
IV. The different emotions this divine and miraculous deliverance should excite.
1. Exultation. Admire the grace of God in your salvation.
2. Confidence. Learn to trust both for yourselves and for others. What cannot Divine grace do!(The Evanglist.)
The brand plucked out of the fire
It is a “brand,”--nothing better; dry, sapless, lifeless, profitless; and such is man. If a brand and lifeless, then powerless. Can a brand quicken itself to life? How can it live? It has lost the principle of life. All our efforts to restore ourselves to the dignity we have lost, and to the state from which we are fallen, are utterly abortive. How little men know their spiritual powerlessness, because they will not make trial of it. But the brand is also worthless; it is only fit to be cast into the fire; it has no utility. And such is man. It may seem a hard thing, but God says it, that the natural man is at best enmity against God. And if enmity against God, is not his moral nature loathsome? It is a brand “out of the fire”; it is black and scorched. So is every sinful son of man. The soul that sinneth, it shall die, A “brand” is fitted for the flames. It is combustible it is dried up, so as to be ready to ignite into flame. And so sin assimilates man to hell, makes him more susceptible of “the worm that dieth not, and the fire that is not quenched.” The “brand” is already scorched in the fire. It has been in the fire; it has been “plucked out of the fire.” What is hell? Sin unmitigated, unabated by the fear of God, and unassuaged by any kindlier feeling or appliance, sin consummated, sin left to itself. Leave a man to himself, and he needs no other hell. But there is hope for this brand. It is “plucked out of the fire.” Was it not grace, sovereign grace that rescued it? What is there in a brand that God should expect anything from it in return? Yet it is taken out of the fire that it might be transformed into a tree of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified. What a blessed change passes on the sinner whom God delivers! (Hugh Stowell, M. A.)
A rescued brand
Here Satan is presented to our view as the accuser of the brethren. He does his work in the court of conscience; at the bar of public opinion; and before the Divine Judge. Here Satan accused Joshua to one who was his Advocate as well as his Judge. Christ rebukes Satan; alleges God’s election; and points to Joshua as a trophy of power, guided by sovereign mercy.
I. A vivid and impressive description of Joshua’s original character as a sinner. “A brand.” A piece of wood which has been purposely prepared for burning. A sinner, as a brand, is one in every way fitted for destruction. The wicked have a suitableness to the place and the experience assigned to them by God. There is an adaptation of desert, and of character. Their experience results from their character. They have in themselves the causes of misery--a deranged system. They war with everything, and therefore are warred against by everything.
II. An account of the situation, under law, and in actual experience, in which Joshua had been. “In the fire.”
1. The brand is one plucked out of the fire, then it must have been in it.
2. By fire, understand the destruction and misery which are the fruit of sin.
3. The sinner is already under condemnation; spiritually dead; he feels the elements of misery in his breast. He feels the oppressiveness of the thought of God. He draws pain from without. He already suffers as a sinner.
III. A description of the character which Joshua now sustained. “A brand plucked out of the fire.” Such a brand has on it the marks of burning. The believer retains marks of his once lost condition. In his conscience, which still accuses. In his heart, where are the remains of spiritual derangement and death. In his body, which is mortally affected. In his moral character, which is disfigured. In his very righteousness, which is imputed. In his life, which is derived. Brands plucked from the burning shall be the eternal character of believers.
IV. The agency through which Joshua was delivered. It was not by himself. The brand retains the burning flame. Salvation is wholly of God--of grace: in its origin; its purchaser; its application. Man takes offence at this, being self-righteous. The believer rejoices in this. God has thus the glory of salvation.
V. The manner in which God rescued Joshua. He plucked him out of the fire. Indicative of haste--we thus rescue a precious manuscript, accidentally thrown into the fire. God is in haste, for man’s guilt is increasing; his depravity is deepening; he is descending with time’s flight; his fate is awful! (James Stewart.)
A brand plucked out of the fire
Satan is represented in the context as an accuser of his brethren. He brings serious charges against Joshua, the high priest. He never committed a greater folly. The Lord never fails to come to the defence of the redeemed. The Lord represents Joshua as a trophy of sovereign grace. “Is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire?”
I. If this figure means anything, it means that unsaved sinners are in the fire. “Is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire?” We are accustomed to think of hell as something in the future. There is a sense in which this is true, but it is not all the truth. It is not at death that bad men enter into hell; they are there already.
II. If this imagery means anything, it means that unsaved sinners have a natural affinity for the flame that consumes them. A brand is a piece of wood that readily catches fire. The sinner is meet for destruction. See how eagerly men yield themselves to the sins which consume them.
III. If this imagery means anything, it means that rescue from the devouring element is only possible by Divine interposition--“Is not this a brand pluckt out of the fire?” A brand in the fire will remain there until it is utterly consumed unless it is taken out. Salvation is a Divine act. “By grace are ye saved.”
IV. If this imagery means anything, it means that saved sinners retain the marks of the burning. Forgiven, saved, but scarred. Even in heaven there will be evidences of the flame.
V. If this imagery means anything, it means that delay in the matter of rescue is infinitely perilous. Plucked out of the fire. There is no estimating the possibility of sin. There is enough latent fire in any unregenerate heart to effect its ruin. The flame which is smouldering in the concealed places of human life may be even more ominous than that which blazes forth under the open heavens. These facts should have a twofold influence.
1. They should serve to awaken alarm in the unsaved, and arouse the saved to the intensest solicitude and zeal for their rescue. The human brand is not a dead piece of wood. He has reason, judgment, sensibility, will. He needs to be made to realise his peril.
2. There is no time for dallying. The service is urgent. (B. D. Thomas.)
