Restoring the Altar #3

keep the fire burning

Have you ever been attracted to fire - staring for hours and hours - listening to the sound of cracking and sizzling

Have you tried to make fire -

Oxygen, heat, and fuel are frequently referred to as the "fire triangle."

The 3 things a fire needs are heat, fuel and oxygen. These three elements work together to help a fire start and take over. However, if any of the three elements are removed from a fire, then it will extinguish and no longer pose a threat.

Fire is powerful - it can purify and destroy - heat -

Leviticus 6:8–13 NIV

8 The Lord said to Moses: 9 “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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 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. 13 The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.

The fire of God in heaven is never extinguished.

Sometimes on the earth, we quench that which should remain burning.

Here is the problem:

Without the altar, there is no place for sacrifice.

Since God’s fire consumes the sacrifice, it follows that there is no fire without a sacrifice.

It follows further that without the fire of His presence, there is no glory.

When the fire on our altars dies, worship becomes a ritual;

love becomes self-serving and spiritual life simply becomes religion.

There are several reasons why the fire goes out.

1) One of the first is neglect.

We are busy attending to our personal interests.

We see this in Scripture when the people of God returned from captivity to rebuild the Temple of God and grew preoccupied with building their own houses.

The Lord sent His prophets to challenge their priorities.

Today, if we want the fire of revival, we must do as Jesus said and seek His Kingdom first.

Matthew 6:33 (NIV)

33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

2) reason the fire goes out is because we worship false gods.

This was one of the main sins of God’s people in the Old Testament and caused great ruin.

Every time we exalt persons, spiritual gifts, programs, or activities above the things of God, we put out the fire.

Our God does not share His glory.

When we attempt to lift others or ourselves into glorifying roles, we must repent and praise the only One who deserves it.

3) A third reason the fire goes out is because sometimes we offer a sacrifice for the wrong reason.

King Saul lost his kingship because he offered a sacrifice he was not authorized to make.

When he saw his soldiers begin to scatter in the face of war with the Philistines, he made an offering in panic.

1 Samuel 13:11–13 (NIV)

11 “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash,

12 I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

13 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.

How many times do we decide we cannot wait any longer?

God has not appeared on our timetables; therefore, we move on—and we move out of His will.

Fear and unbelief are enemies of true worship.

Let us be diligent not to neglect the fire, worship false gods, and not be ruled by fear and unbelief.

Questions to Ponder:

Why is it important to keep the fire on your altar burning? Do you feel as if you need to pay more attention to keeping the fire of God burning?

Only God Can Start the Fire

Sometimes in our Christian walks, instead of going to God and asking Him to send His fire, we start our own fires.

We then try to fan that fleshly fire through activities, events, or programs. But human fire is very destructive.

For every human fire we start in the house of the Lord, particularly in spiritual ministry, a price must be paid directly or indirectly either today or in the future.

We see an example of this at the Tabernacle in the time of Moses when the two oldest sons of Aaron, the high priest, disobeyed God.

No sooner had the fire from the Lord fallen and consumed the burnt offering on the bronze altar, than Nadab and Abihu, planning to offer incense within the Tabernacle, went ahead and started their own fire.

We read that they were punished by death for this sacrilege of bringing counterfeit fire before the Lord. The old adage about playing with fire is true: You will eventually get burned.

Because of God’s grace and mercy through Christ Jesus, He no longer does such things under the New Covenant.

We need to remember, however, that God’s grace does not change His attributes. God was holy in the Old Testament, and He is holy today.

God was a consuming fire in the Old Testament, and He is a consuming fire today.

What is the difference between the Old Testament and current times?

Today God’s grace allows us to approach Him at His throne. But never forget: His attributes have not changed.

Our God is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore.

Thus, we must never create things of the flesh and call them things of God. We must never mix the divine with the human.

False fire is what we create when the presence of God is not real in our lives.

We avoid false fire by being sincere, honest, and true with God, by understanding, obeying, and submitting fully to His will.

Questions to Ponder: Have you ever tried to fan a “false fire” into flame? How might you express deeper reverence for God’s holiness?