Don't Let the Fire Go Out
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· 1,204 viewsWe must never let our fire for the Lord go out!
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Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good evening and welcome back!
Tonight we are going to go all the way back to the Old Testament into the Book of Leviticus, looking specifically at chapter 6, verses 8-13.
And if you know anything about Leviticus, it deals a great deal with the giving of the Law to Moses and Moses disseminating that Law to the Israelites.
And in this passage of scripture we find Moses giving instructions to Aaron and the priests on how to handle the burnt offering.
And we are going to find Moses paying special attention to the burnt offering and expressing his expectation for Aaron and the priests to also pay special attention.
And in a nutshell, what Moses tells Aaron is that when someone brings a burnt offering to the Lord that offering must remain on the fire all night to ensure that the offering is completely consumed.
The next morning the priest that is on duty must first put on his holy garments and then he must clean the ashes of the offering off the altar.
He was to take special care of even the ashes because it was still considered a holy offering to God.
After he has gathered up the ashes, the priest was then to change back out of the ceremonial clothes into his regular clothing and then the priest was to carry the ashes outside the camp to dispose of, to a place that was ceremonial clean and set apart.
However, throughout this whole process the fire on the alter was to never go out.
The fire was to burn continuously and never be extinguished.
The priests were to take such care of this that each day they would gather wood to put on the alter to make sure that the fire kept burning.
The fact that the fire must burn continuously was so important that Moses ends the section with reiterating to them that the fire must burn at all times and that it must never go out.
So, let’s take a look at the passage and then get into the meaning of it a bit more.
Again, Leviticus 6, starting in verse 8 . . .
Scripture Focus
Scripture Focus
The Lord said to Moses: “Give Aaron and his sons this command: ‘These are the regulations for the burnt offering: The burnt offering is to remain on the altar hearth throughout the night, till morning, and the fire must be kept burning on the altar. The priest shall then put on his linen clothes, with linen undergarments next to his body, and shall remove the ashes of the burnt offering that the fire has consumed on the altar and place them beside the altar. Then he is to take off these clothes and put on others, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a place that is ceremonially clean. The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.
So, What Does that Have to Do With Me?
So, What Does that Have to Do With Me?
Now, normally you are used to me breaking down a passage verse by verse, but tonight we are not going to be doing that.
I’ve already told you what the passage was about and what it deals with—the burnt offering, and how the fire for the burnt offering must never go out.
So, I guess that’s the end of it, we can pack up and go home.
Not so fast.
In both verse 9, verse 12, and verse 13 of the passage I just read, Moses makes a point to tell them that . . .
The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.
And that is the point I want to focus on.
The fire continuously burning and the fire never going out.
And I am not talking about the Old Testament altar of burnt offering, I am talking about our fire, our flame for God.
And the question for us is, has our fire gone out?
Is our fire still burning?
And when we look at it in those terms and there are several things that come out that really parallel our relationship with God.
The first thing was that this deals with the instructions to Aaron about the sacred altar of God and the sacrifices that were to be made on that altar.
Now, we know that in the old days they had a physical altar that they were to make sacrifices on.
Today though, we have no physical altar, but we ourselves are the altar.
And here’s the proof . . .
Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?
And . . .
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.
And as the Temple of God, we are the residence of God through the Holy Spirit.
And not only are we to take care of the temple God has given us, we are also to worship God within the Temple—within ourselves.
Here in Leviticus the altar was set up in the tabernacle but later when they built a temple, the altar was in the temple.
The same holds true for us.
We are now the temple of God and in us is where the sacrifice is to be made.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
We need to listen to the words of Paul here.
We are to present ourselves to God as the living sacrifice.
That sacrifice is to be HOLY which is acceptable to God.
It is Holiness that what makes our sacrifice acceptable to God.
We are not to go about things the way the world does but rather we are to be transformed by Christ into the image of Christ, which is the perfect will of God.
So, just that we care clear on this, we are the altar in which God dwells.
And we are to offer ourselves as the sacrifice.
But what if we don’t have anything we think is worthy, anything to sacrifice?
Well, God doesn’t ask for stuff—God asks for us.
And when there is nothing else we can offer, we can always offer the sacrifice of praise to God.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.
So, that is the first thing, but what about the second?
The second thing that sticks out in this passage, is how the priest handles the burnt offering.
Again, the priest was to first put on his ceremonial clothing.
This clothing consecrated the priest and set the priest apart.
These garments acted as a covering of the corruptible flesh with the incorruptible will of God.
And just like the priests we should be sanctified, set apart and prepared to offer our sacrifices to God.
We are . . .
to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles with the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
And . . .
Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.” In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
We are to give ourselves fully to God and become those instruments for noble purposes made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good.
Now, the third thing has to do with the ashes and how the priest dealt with them.
When the priest was cleaning them from the altar, while in the presence of the altar, the priest was wearing his "sanctifying clothes" but even after they are gathered and the priest takes them away from the altar he still cares for them in a special way.
The priest first changes back into his regular clothes, because the ceremonial garments are just for the altar and tabernacle.
Then he carries those ashes to a place that has been deemed ceremonially clean.
The memories of the past sacrifices are not just cast off and done away with.
They are taken to a special place designated just for them and even though the offering is gone and a thing of the past, the memory of that offering remains and lingers.
Not only does it linger but the effect is never erased.
Those burnt offerings were for a reason and they were lifted up and presented to God and God honored those sacrifices and those offerings.
The same is true with us.
We offer our praise, or worship, or service to God as a sacrifice and He does not forget it.
Those offerings are laid up in a special place and when the time comes we will receive the reward for those offerings.
For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.
And . . .
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
And, the fourth and final thing is the fire itself.
God pays special attention to the fire.
In our passage from Leviticus God tells Moses, three times that the fire must never go out.
This tells me that the fire is vitally important.
The power to receive and to offer the sacrifice is in the fire.
And, just as they have a fire to offer sacrifices in the Old Testament we have a fire meant for us and that is the baptism of the Holy Spirit, or what Nazarenes call Entire Sanctification.
The words of John the Baptist:
“I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
And as Luke records in Acts . . .
He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
And . . .
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
And . . .
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Altar/Challenge
Altar/Challenge
But I am afraid, some have the same problem we see described in Acts 19 . . .
and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
The thing is some of us may have never heard of the Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost.
We may have never been taught that the power and boldness to stand for God comes from the Holy Ghost.
It's okay it is never too late.
All we have to do is submit to God and ask . . .
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
So, tonight, how's your fire?
You are the priest and it is your job to be sure the fire never goes out.
Has your fire went out?
Is it growing dim?
Maybe we need to gather the wood, stoke the fire, be obedient to the Lord.
Let’s pray . . .
