Keep The Fire Burning
Dale Carter Sr.
Harvest Fellowship Community Church
August 17, 2019
Leviticus 6:9, 12, 13.
The title for today’s sermon is “Keep the Fire Burning.” Many times you hear someone say, “That church is really on fire.” Or, maybe they say, “That person is really on fire for the Lord.”
We want to consider words from the Bible that should encourage us to keep the fires burning in our life for always. We can keep that fire burning with God’s help. And not just in our individual lives but in the life of this church, also.
Intro: Let’s look at our primary text now.
9 Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering, because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it. KJV
12 And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it; it shall not be put out: and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order upon it; and he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings.
13 The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. KJV
It should be our prayer that this church, other churches in our area, and all churches around this world that stand for Jesus Christ be on fire for God. May it be that we are on fire more than we have ever been. May it be that when a lost person comes by, they might say, “I don’t know why I’m here. I just felt that something was persuading me to come in here and see what’s going on.” May it be that this church is so on fire that people in this community say, “There are wonderful things happening at that Harvest Fellowship Church. Things that can’t be explained. Things that only God can do.” (A called prayer meeting on January 1st)
A pastor received a phone call late one night and he was informed that there was a fire at his church. He quickly got dressed and drove to the church. When he arrived he discovered that the church was engulfed in flames and was a total lost. He stood with other members of the church as they cried, hugged, and prayed. He glanced around and noticed a certain gentleman standing on the corner observing all that was taking place. This was a man that the pastor had visited many times and had invited to church. However, the man had never stepped one foot in the church building. The pastor was a bit taken aback. He walked over to the gentleman and said, “Well, I never saw you in the church.” The gentleman replied, “Well, the church had never been on fire before.”
Now, this is not the kind of fire we would ever wish for our church. But we should be praying for the fire of the Holy Ghost to consume this place. That fire that sat upon each of them and filled all of them with the Holy Ghost and they all spoke with tongues. And that it happen in such a way that thousands of people came to see what was happening and three thousands of them were saved. There was something going on that they didn’t understand. No one had ever witnessed anything such as this. Thousands of people had congregated in Jerusalem to celebrate the Fest of Pentecost. It was the law. It would be bad news for them that did not attend the celebration.
It was the law that brought them there but it was the Fire of the Holy Ghost that caused them to desire to have what they had witnessed. Acts 2:37. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Not one person ask what can I do but someone ask what can we do. Someone speaking for the crowd, we what that fire. We will repent, WE will summit. WE will serve the Lord. Joshua said, “As for me and MY house We will serve the Lord.”
Now, there are some questions we need to ask and try to answer as we consider this fire that is spoken of in Leviticus.
First of all, what is this fire?
Secondly, whose responsibility that this fire should not go out?
And, thirdly, how can we see that the fire does not go out?
And lastly, why should we keep the fire burning?
What is this fire?
The Scripture tells us what this fire is. Over and over in the Old Testament we’re reminded of the symbol of fire. The fire of the burning bush first appears as Moses and is drawn to it. It’s a bush burning in the desert but it’s not being consumed. Moses had often seen bushes burning in the desert but he had never seen one that wasn’t being consumed. So, Moses went over to see that bush and he heard a voice. That voice said, “Take off your shoes, Moses, for the ground on which you’re standing is holy ground.” Moses removed his shoes and began a meeting with the Lord God. Moses saw the fire, responded to it, had a meeting with God that would set millions of Jews free and eventually change the entire world.
Then, we see Moses leading the people of Israel. The Bible tells us they were led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.
Then we see on top of Mount Sinai the mountain was burning with fire because of the presence of God. And God’s voice came and called for Moses. And Moses went up and received the Ten Commandments that were written by the finger of God. They were not written on tablets of Gold as the Joseph Smith claims.
When there is “fire” in the church there will be a sound from Heaven and the church will hear from God.
Later in the Old Testament we see Elijah. He is calling on God to send down his fire. Remember the confrontation of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. 1 Kings, chapter 18. Elijah challenges the prophets of Ba’al to a duel. Both will set up an altar with a bull. Then they will both call on their god to consume the offering with fire.
Elijah says, you go first.” So, the prophets of Ba’al begin to call on their god to come and burn up the offering. But nothing happens. The Bible says they cried from morning till noon. But nothing happened.
They began to dance. But nothing happened. They began to cut themselves until their own blood flowed. But nothing happened. Midday passed and they were approaching evening.
And the Bible says in verse 29, “But there was no response, no one answered, and no one paid attention.”
Now, you might think that Elijah was being a good sport about all of this. He was probably standing on the sidelines offering encouragement and wishing them a good game. Well, not exactly. He began to taunt the prophets of Ba’al. He would say things like, “Shout a little louder! Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.” Elijah knew that Ba’al would not answer because he was no god. Elijah served the only true God.
So, the prophets of Ba’al gave up and it was Elijah’s turn.
I think that maybe Elijah may have had on his mind that nothing is to hard for my God. Now, to make things a little more impressive, he made it appear a little more difficult for God to burn the offering. He had the servants fill four large jugs of water and pour them over the offering. Then he told them to do it again. Then he told them to do it a third time. Then, Elijah prayed. He prayed, 1 Kings 18:36-37
36 …….. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
Here we see the outward presence and works of God. But the most important place that God wants the world to see His presence is like it was explained in an event that took place Emmaus Road. Two disciples who were walking had an encounter with the risen Christ said, Luke 24:32. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? KJV
Do you see what the fire represents? The fire represented the presence of Almighty God.
It wasn’t the burning bush that made the meeting with Moses holy. It was the presence of Almighty God. God Himself led the children of Israel. Elijah didn’t defeat the prophets of Ba’al. It was God Who defeated them. It wasn’t the emotional moment of the day which created the fire for the disciples. It was the very presence of Jesus Christ.
And there were others who experienced this fire.
Jeremiah said there is a fire in my bones and I have to speak the Word of God.
John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
At Pentecost, in the Book of Acts, we see the Holy Spirit coming down with tongues as of fire.
In the Book of Revelation, John had a vision of the risen Lord Jesus. He spoke of His eyes being as that were fiery. Those fiery eyes that can see into our soul and discern everything that is within. The fire represents the judging presence of Almighty God.
The fire represents God’s presence among us. When you give your life to Christ, He places a fire within you to grow and become more and more like Him. Sadly, though, that fire begins to die out. It becomes a flickering flame where once it was an inferno for Him. What’s happened?
Well, let’s consider our next question, whose responsibility is it to keep the fire burning in our hearts and in this church?
Here in Leviticus its clear that it’s the priest’s responsibility (v 12). So, it’s the pastor’s responsibility. It’s the responsibility of the church staff. You might say it’s also the deacons’ responsibility. You might even say it’s the responsibility of the Sunday School teachers. But, as New Testament Christians, we must remember what Peter said in 1 Peter 2:9. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: KJV
Every Christian is God’s priests. It was the responsibility of the priests to carry men to God and to carry God back to men. Take men to God through prayer and take God to men through His Word. And it is our responsibility then to be God’s priests. We are to pray for our neighbors and our coworkers and our family. And we are to take God to our neighbors and coworkers and family by sharing His Word.
Whose responsibility is it to carry the fire? Its mine, its yours and it’s the responsibility of us all to carry this fire and to keep it burning. Because we are all priests.
Have you ever heard anyone say, “Oh, our church is just so cold. I just don’t feel anything there anymore.” Listen folks, if you feel your church is cold, then you go in on fire and heat up that place. It doesn’t have to be cold if you’ll set it on fire. It only takes a spark to get a fire going. You warm up somebody else and let them warm up somebody else and soon your whole church will be on fire for Jesus.
Whose responsibility is it? It’s all our responsibility.
We need people of all ages to carry the fire. A church without young people might dry up. But a church without old people might blow up. Senior Adults we need you to help carry the fire because you look at life as no other age can – from the other end of spectrum. We need you to be involved because of your wisdom and experience. Young people we need you to be involved because of your energy and enthusiasm. And don’t ever use youth as an excuse not to join God in some great work. Jeremiah tried that and God said to him "Do not say, 'I am only a youth.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you.”
What’s the fire represent? It represents God’s presence.
Who’s to keep the fire burning? We are all called to help keep the fire burning. How do we keep the fire burning? How do you think our Lord feels when we don’t spend quality time talking with Him? How do you think He feels when we say a quick prayer in the morning and forget to converse with Him at any other time during the day? How do we keep the fire burning? We pray. We talk with God throughout the day.
“Lord, I feel a difficult day coming on. Help me out.” “Lord, show me where You’re working. Empower me to join You in the work You have already started.” “Lord, we need to feel your power in our home, in our community, in our church. Help us out, Lord” “Lord, here’s a lonely person. Show me how to be your servant and help him out.” As we talk with Him through the day we grow closer to Him. That’s one way to keep the fire burning – prayer.
A second way to keep the fire burning is by hearing the Word. Prayer is primarily us talking to God. I know He talks with us in prayer but it’s mostly us talking to God. So, we turn to His Word to hear from Him. That’s God talking to us. That’s part of the communication process.
Listen folks, the Word of God will keep you from sin. But, sin will keep you from the Word of God.
You’re burning with His fire will keep you in His Word. But your growing cold will keep you from it.
It should be that we spend daily time in studying God’s Word and when we come away from it our hearts are burning from having spent time with Him. “To not have time for ??? is not a time problem,” it’s a love problem.
A third way to keep the fire burning is Christian service.
Dr. Truett was once pastor at FBC-Dallas. He told the story about a young man who began to visit their church. He was very faithful and was there every time the doors were opened. As time went by, the young man began to miss a service every once in a while. After some more time he was only attending about once a month. Soon he was hardly ever at the church.
This young man went to visit the pastor one afternoon. He said, “Pastor, I don't know what's happened but I've lost that fire I once had. Can you help me?” The pastor told the young man he would like to help him. But, at this moment he had a meeting he needed to attend. But the Pastor asked the young man to do him a favor though. He said, “One of our members lives right down the street. We haven't seen him for a few days. Would you mind to walk down to his home and check on him? When you get back I should be able to spend some time with you.”
The young man found the house, knocked on the door, and heard a voice say, “Come in.” He entered the house and saw an elderly gentleman sitting by the window. He noticed right away that this gentleman was blind. The young man said, “The Pastor asked me to come by and check on you. Are you doing ok?” The gentleman said yes and he appreciated the young man stopping by. The young man asked, “Is there anything I can do for you?” The gentleman said he would like for the young man to read the Bible to him. “I believe its sitting right over here. You can turn to where the bookmark is. That's where the last person stopped reading.” The young man opened the Bible and the bookmark was at Romans 8. He began to read to the gentleman. (Read various verses from Romans 8)
Rom 8:1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. KJV
Rom 8:5-6. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
When the young man finished reading tears were flowing down his eyes. He looked at the gentleman and tears were in his eyes as well. The two hugged one another and the gentleman thanked the young man for his visit and invited him back anytime. The young man said he would like that. He returned to the pastor’s office and said, “Sir, I'm ok now. I got the fire back.”
How do we keep the fire burning? Through prayer, through Bible Study, and through Christian service. Ask God what you can do. There’s something all of us can do. And all of us don’t have to do the same thing. What God has for you to do might be something no one else is doing in this church.
There are needs all around us. Ask God to open your eyes and empower you to do the work that He has already begun. So, we have seen that fire represents God’s presence. We are all responsible for keeping the fire burning. We keep the fire burning through prayer, studying His Word, and by Christian service.
Finally, why do we keep the fire burning?
Let me give you three reasons. First, because God says so and He knows best. As long as we put our feet under His banquet table there is a greater need to do what He asks of us. And the King says don’t let the fire go out.
It’s difficult sometimes to keep the fire burning. Jewish scholars tell us that the children of Israel kept the fire burning for well over a thousand years until the kingdom was taken over by the Babylonians. Up until that time it was kept burning because they obeyed God.
The second reason we need to keep the fire burning is because there are still people living in the darkness looking for a light. And we need to take them the fire of His presence and His love and His mercy.
There used to be a day when Christians shared their faith without any reservation. In those days it only took 8 people to lead one person to Christ. Now it takes about 50 people to lead one person to Christ.
What’s happened? Has the fire gone out? No, but it’s getting dangerously low.
The number one reason we should keep the fire burning is because God said to. The number two reason we should keep the fire burning is because people are still lost and going to hell.
And there is a final reason to keep the fire burning.
How many of you here have children? How many of you have grandchildren? How many of you have great-grandchildren? Anyone here have great great-grandchildren?
You know why we should keep the fire burning? We need to keep the fire burning for those who will become behind us. After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone,
And our children sift thru all we've left behind,
May the clues that they discover, And the mem'ries they uncover,
Become the light that leads them, to the road we each must find.
May all who come behind us Find us faithful, may the fire of our devotion Light their way. may the footprints that we leave, Lead them to believe, and the lives we live Inspire them to obey. May all who come behind us Find us faithful.
We need to drop to our knees and say, “Lord, flame up the fire in me! Make me the man or woman of God that I need to be!”
