The Fire of God 101
Thesis: The fire of God must be kept burning in our lives because that is what helps to sustain our body, soul and spirit. His fire enables us to live a life of blessings but if we let the fire go out, we will not be able to survive. We must guard our hearts and tend to the fire of God in our lives.
Scripture Texts:
Leviticus 6:8-13: 8The 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. 10The 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. 11Then 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. 12The 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. 13The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.
We also find this warning in the New Testament!
I Thess. 5:19: “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire!”
Illustration- from survival shows like “Alone” “Port Protection” “Survivor” – I have noticed in watching these types of shows how the host emphasizes over and over the importance of being able to build a fire and keep it burning. Their emphasis is on the importance of fire to sustain life in the wild. Fire is essential for survival in this cold dark world! The fire of God is also essential in keeping our spiritual life alive and active for the Kingdom of Heaven. Fire is needed for physical survival and spiritual revival!
Introduction:
Life is sustained in the wild and in this world by fire – God’s fire also sustains our spiritual-soul and body in this life. It’s important to know about “The Fire of God” because it is linked to God’s presence and His Glory. Fire is important to life – Have church say, “We need the fire!” - it’s an essential element for life both physically and spiritually.
Most of us know physical fire keeps us warm, allows us to cook food, to boil water to purify it, it provides heat and light in the darkness. It can also be your distress signal in the wild. Fire can be used to defend yourself against wild animals in the wild. Fire is the most valuable resource for survival in this world in which we live. We need to make sure we know how to build a fire and how to keep the fire burning to sustain our physical needs.
In the Survivor Show if you don’t know how to build a fire you have already lost!
The key to survival in this world is fire and the ability to keep it burning is some knowledge we need to know.
But spiritually as well as physically fire is essential to our spiritual life and fire is spoken about in the Bible 549 times, and it used as a symbol of God’s presence, God’s glory (about 99x) and it is used in reference for a vibrant spirit filled life, it is used to burn up sin, it consumes the sacrifices to God, and it purifies the soul.
So, the Bible draws our attention to the importance of “The Fire of God!”
In the book of Leviticus God offerings are consumed by the fire on the altar - the fire on the altar was to be hot, fueled, maintained, cleaned out and used daily! God said in our text today 3 times to “Keep the Fire Burning!” “It must never go out!”
The lesson for today is “The Fire of God” should be burning on the altar of our hearts because today we are His temple - it’s “The fire of God” which sustains our spiritual life.
God uses the metaphor of fire often in Scripture to express the purpose of His holy fire! The Bible also tells me that God appears as of fire - like in the burning bush to Moses in Exodus 3.
Listen to some other verses about “The fire of God”:
• The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God' (Deuteronomy 4:24).
• Exodus 24:17: To the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.
• Isaiah 66 says the LORD will come with fire.
• Daniel 7:9-10 describes the Ancient of Days and shows His throne is a fiery flame with a fiery stream coming forth before Him.
• Luke 3:16: John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
So how well do you think “The fire of God is burning in the hearts of Christians today in America?”
Barna identifies from a recent survey of Christians that our Christian Society in America lacks “The fire of God” burning hot and intense in their hearts. He notes 3 paradoxes in American Christian faith. He stated that after studying survey reports which revealed a pattern of paradoxes, contradictions and deception in people’s attitudes, opinions and beliefs related to their Christian faith.
He states, “Until these misunderstandings and misperceptions are addressed, it will be difficult for churches and individuals to focus effectively on faith development.”
Barna highlights the paradoxes in the Christian Church:
1. In one survey it revealed that Christian’s view of success had little to do with their Christian faith. “The Success Paradox” is a spiritual problem among Christians. Out of the survey only 7% listed spiritual wholeness and development as a factor to produce a successful life. The rest cited family and personal accomplishments determining their success.
2. “The Commitment Contradiction” – In a survey American Christians stated that their “religious faith is very important” in their lives but these same studies revealed that less than half of the people who describe themselves as Christian described themselves as “absolutely committed to their Christian faith.” Barna noted, “He suggested that many Americans may have fallen in love with faith (religion) rather than the object of their faith. The Lord Jesus Christ!”
3. “The Deceptions Regarding Truth” Americans believe there are truths that exist (In the Bible), but they also showed and contended that there is no absolute moral truth. “This is one of the great deceptions of our age,” Barna pointed out! He explains the problem, “Embracing relativism under the guise of Christian faith facilities comfort with sin. By claiming the authority to determine right from wrong (My own choice), we crown ourselves the kings and queens of reality (And we dethrone God) …What an affront it is to God for us to claim His name and protection but to resist His moral truths based on our human feelings.” He says the problem is, “American Christians are most likely to base their faith on feelings, deception teachings and emotions than on a relationship with Jesus and a knowledge of His Word – The Bible.
This brings up a huge concern that I have with Christianity today in America, the study suggests we have people claiming to be Christians but there is no “fire of God burning in their hearts” the fire which is to guide us and direct us to truth.
The problem is these Christians in name only - need to know how to build “The Fire of God” in their hearts. Their faith needs to affect their Spirit, Soul, and Body and this only happens when our faith is based on a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. So, we must know in the church how to build a fire and how to sustain a fire from God in our lives. It’s a matter of life and death!
Jim Cymbala in His book "Storm" shares a huge concern of his - he sees the fire of God going out in the life of the church in America.
He states:
WARNING NO. 1 – WE’RE NOT AS BIG AS WE THINK: A quick Google search will reveal some surprising statistics about Christians in America. For example, one website says that 246,780,000 people (79.5 percent of the population) in the United States are Christians. That’s a huge percentage of Americans who claim to be followers of Christ! But is it true or a bogus number? If nearly 80 percent of the population were Christian, wouldn’t we see the effects of that in culture? Let me ask the question in a different way. Are eight out of ten people in your school, office, or community Bible-believing, churchgoing followers of Jesus?
He also states, "To get an accurate count of Bible-believing Christians in America, Dickerson looked at four studies by four different researchers who had four different motivations and used four different methodologies to calculate the number. Their unanimous conclusion was that “the actual number of evangelical Christians is shockingly between 7 to 8.9 percent of the United States population, not 40 percent and certainly not 70 percent.” That’s right, only 7 to 8.9 percent of America. The truth is that the number of real believers in Jesus is in a massive decline, and that decline is happening much more rapidly than we have thought.
This brings up a concern that I have that suggests we have people claiming to be Christians but there is no fire of God burning in their hearts to guide them and direct them. They are Christians in title but there is no personal connection to the Lord. They are not experiencing the presence and the reality of Jesus. The problem is these Christians need to know how to build God’s fire in their hearts. They need a class on God’s Fire 101 and how to allow God’s fire to affect their Spirit, Soul, and Body! God’s Holy Fire blazes in our hearts when our faith is rooted in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. So, we need to know how to ignite this fire, tend His fire and sustain a fire from God in our lives.
Question: “Are you with me Christian Hills?”
I. The Fire of God 101 – Igniting the fire of God on the altar of our hearts!
a. If we want to ignite the fire of God in our hearts, then we must start with learning what the Bible teaches about fire starting 101. So let us start by looking at Leviticus and the story of God’s consuming fire coming out of the Tabernacle and consuming the 1st burnt offering for the nation of Israel which was being offered up to the great “I Am.”
i. Leviticus 9:4b: “Present all these offerings to the LORD because the LORD will appear to you today.’”
ii. Leviticus 9:6: “And Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded you to do so that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.”
iii. Leviticus 9:22: “After that, Aaron raised his hands toward the people and blessed them. Then, after presenting the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the peace offering, he stepped down from the altar.
1. Notice Aaron followed the directions of the God – He obeyed Him and did make the offerings as instructed by the Lord!
iv. Leviticus 9:23: “Then Moses and Aaron went into the Tabernacle, and when they came back out, they blessed the people again, and the glory of the LORD appeared to the whole community. 24Fire blazed forth from the LORD’s presence and consumed the burnt offering and the fat on the altar. When the people saw this, they shouted with joy and fell face down on the ground.”
b. There are four steps to igniting “The Fire of God” – it’s part of our class101 today - we need to understand, experience, and know how to ignite “The fire of God” – remember His fire represents – His presence and His glory in our life.
i. The 1st step in “The Fire of God 101” is you must know how to ignite “The Fire of God” so let’s look at (Leviticus 6:8-13; 9:24).
1. Warning – Danger - Illustration of a firestorm gone wrong– My own personal experience with improperly starting a fire at boy scout camp!
a. I watched others do it all wrong and it cost me dearly.
b. My Story: The Day of the fire storm! I was at Boy Scout Camp when I discovered the terrible damage a fire storm could do to my life. It was a lazy afternoon, very hot and dry. John and I were sent back to camp to start dinner for the guys. When I got back to camp, I discovered that the campfire looked as if it had gone out. So, I decided to rebuild the fire to get it ready for our meal. So, I gathered firewood and placed it on the coals and tried to get it to burn. It would not start so I decided to pour some Kerosene on the wood figuring it would help get the fire started sooner so that John and I could start dinner sooner for the troop. So, I poured the Kerosene on the wood and all of a sudden, the fire ignited. It then traveled up the liquid and into the can I was holding in my hand. Within seconds the can exploded in my hand sending burning Kerosene streaming in every direction and most of the burning fuel landed on my lower right leg and it burst into flames.
c. It was so surreal I looked down as the heat started piercing through to my leg and I began screaming. I was 12 years old, and my leg was burning out of control. I screamed for help and threw myself to the ground. I began to roll and roll and the more I rolled the more the ground burst into flames around me. I rolled into a tent it caught on fire. I was screaming because of the pain and crying out for help. I started thinking this is it I am going to burn to death and right at that moment another Boy Scout came to my rescue. John had a blanket in his hand, and he grabbed me and wrapped it around my leg to put out the fire. Once he put out my leg, he then proceeded to put out the tent and the burning ground around us.
d. I lay there in shock and disbelief and the horrible pain started getting worse. John held me and asked me to hang in there because he was going to get help. He ran like the wind for about a mile to the first aid headquarters in the park. I laid there all alone on the ground thinking, “Why did I do that!” then the thoughts crept in, “Is this it!” It seemed as if I laid there forever.
e. The Rangers came and the troop leaders came as fast as they could. They cut my jeans off and started cleaning out my badly burned leg. As they pulled the blanket off my leg part of my jeans and burnt flesh came off with it. I screamed in pain. I heard one man get sick and throw up and another say, “Oh my Lord!” I was burned from my ankle to just above the knee. I still remember the awe full smell rising off my leg. All I could do was moan and cry because of the excruciating pain inflicted by this fire. All I could do was keep asking questions, “What happened?” “Where did the fire come from?” “Why did this happen to me?” I was stunned by how quickly I had caught on fire.
f. It took the troop leaders 4 hours before they finally got me to a hospital. It was a horrible 4-hour trip from the mountains to the hospital. As I rode in a truck I just moaned as my driver, a Boy Scout leader just encouraged me to hang in there, I remember he turned his Air Conditioning on to the floor section so that cold air could blow onto my leg. My flesh was hanging off and I was wishing for a miracle as I looked at my deformed leg. I thought this could not be my leg. When we arrived at the hospital the doctors started to work on my leg immediately. They cleaned it up and put salve on it then wrapped it with burn wrap.
i. Learn to start “The Fire of God” the right way – Warning” do not offer up unholy fire to God – doing things your way not His way – Why? It will burn you up see - Leviticus 10 - The Sin of Nadab and Abihu:
1. Leviticus 10: 1Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu put coals of fire in their incense burners and sprinkled incense over them. In this way, they disobeyed the LORD by burning before him the wrong kind of fire, different than he had commanded. 2So fire blazed forth from the LORD’s presence and burned them up, and they died there before the LORD.
g. Step one is do it God’s way not your way! Follow His directions!
ii. So, a key to Fire 101 step 2 - Is you must know how to prepare the area where the fire will be ignited. They tell us that before the match is struck you need to gather the firewood necessary for fueling the fire. You will need to prep the area, and make sure it is clean of debris – you must have the proper types of resources on hand to properly build and fuel the fire.
1. You cannot just dump diesel fuel on hot coals!
a. Bad idea!
2. In Leviticus the Lord gives detailed instruction on how to prepare for the fire on the altar. They were to prepare the area for the fire. They needed to make sure everything was ready for the fire.
a. Leviticus 1-9 gives all the details needed for preparation.
i. They were to build a fire pit - the altar for the sacrifices. They were to build it to God’s specifications not what they thought.
b. The area around the altar was to be kept clean and free of contaminates.
i. The priests where informed how to serve and sacrifice to the Lord prior to the fire. They received their instructions and learned the proper procedure.
ii. Altar must be prepped and kept clean.
c. Then there needed to be the gathering of the fuel for feeding the fire.
i. The rabbis tell us that the Israelites made sure they choose the right kind of fuel for the altar fire. They gathered only certain types of wood for the fire. It had to be wood which was not rotten but a fuel source that burned very hot and intense for a long period of time to consume the offerings. The firewood was placed on the altar in preparation for the fire igniter. And the sacrifice was as specified by God placed on the altar.
1. Aaron the priest prepared the fire and with the fire ignited offered up sacrifices for His sin. Then they prepared the whole burnt offering and something different happened! Leviticus 9:24 tells us how the “…fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the Burnt offering." This fire now started would be ignited by God’s fire and it was not go out and be used daily to offer sacrifices up to the Lord. This fire now ignited symbolized the continual worship of God by the ceremonial sacrifices and because of these sacrifices they had communion and connection with God.
3. Application: For the fire of God to be ignited in our hearts we need to prepare the area of our heart and soul for the fire – It needs softened by repentance – cleaned out to God – it needs prepared!
a. We do this by first dealing with our soul's connection with God - repenting of our sins and cleaning the area for the fire. The flesh must die!
b. The next thing we do is to place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ trusting that He will send His fire out from His presence to ignite the flame of life in our heart and purify our hearts – giving us the gift of holiness. God will see His fire into your heart – soul and Spirit. He will!
c. Our body soul and spirit are cleansed by the fire, and we are ignited or set un-fire for God by His Holy Spirit.
4. We need to make sure we know how to prepare the area that will receive His fire. This area lies in our heart - soul - spirit. Then once we have prepared our hearts and the fire is ignited by Jesus, we need to feed the fire the right stuff and make sure we keep it clean (or pure).
iii. Step 3 - Once the fire is started by the Holy Spirit it is imperative that we properly feed the burning fire (Leviticus 6:9, 12; I Thess. 5:12-24).
1. In the wild when you have your fire burning you must feed it proper fuel for it to continue to burn hot and intense. If you use wet wood or damp wood or the wrong kind of wood it can put your fire out. The Israelites carefully choose their firewood so that the fire would burn hot and intensely. It needed to be hot to consume the daily sacrifices. They would place their sacrifice on the altar as instructed by God.
a. They say a good fire builder will always gather 3x the amount of wood they think they will need because they will use it all. Sacrifices may take more effort than you may think!
i. Romans 12: 1-2: A Living Sacrifice to God:
1. 1And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
b. They needed properly seasoned wood to maintain the hot temperature for the fire on the altar to consume the sacrifices.. Remember it had to consume the sacrifice on the altar daily and throughout the day. So, this necessitated a very hot intense burning fire.
i. Once the fire of God is burning in our hearts then comes the process of feeding the fire and cleaning out the burnt-up debris of sin. This is our responsibility to keep the fire burning and keep it cleaned out.
1. You need the Bible to keep the fire burning!
2. You need fellowship to keep the fire burning.
3. You need to praise God regularly to keep the fire burning.
4. You need to feed yourself the Word of God to keep the fire burning!
5. You need a church to keep the fire burning!
6. You need sacrifices to God to fuel the fire!
2. Application: The fire of the Lord needs to be kept hot and burning in our spiritual lives by us feeding the fire of God in our hearts the proper fuel. Sacrifices are part of this worship to God.
a. In I Thess. 5:19 it states, “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire.” Question: How does a fire get quenched? Answer: Don’t give it proper fuel. The proper fuel for keeping the fire hot and burning is fuel which is not rotten. A fuel source which is not contaminated.
b. I Thess. 5:12-24 lists the things that will put out the Spirit’s fire, so we need to make sure we don’t use these things as fuel for God's fire on our heart: 12Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.16Be joyful always; 17pray continually; 18give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 19Do not put out the Spirit’s fire; 20do not treat prophecies with contempt. 21Test everything. Hold on to the good. 22Avoid every kind of evil. 23May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
c. Our Scripture text lists several things that will quench the fire of God.
i. Respecting one another (even leaders in the Kingdom) is proper fuel for God's fire in our heart to burn hot and bright. But disrespect for leaders is rotten fuel (12,13a)
1. Respect for other servants of the Lord is proper fuel but disrespect of others kills the fire of God in our hearts.
ii. Living at peace with one another is proper fuel for the fire - while living in disharmony or dissension is rotten fuel (13b).
iii. Idleness is another way to put out the fire. The truth is doing nothing-not placing the proper fuel on the fire will put the fire out (14a). Doing nothing – neglecting the fire will permit it to go out.
iv. Patience with others is proper fuel for the fire. Impatience is improper fuel for the fire. It will put the fire out in your heart if you do not have patience with one another (14b). Patience adds fuel to the fire!
1. This is connected to how you talk about others behind their back! Are you negative – you are killing you’re the fire of God in you!
v. Kindness to one another with forgiveness is proper fuel for the fire whereas un-forgiveness and revenge and unkindness will quench the fire of God in or lives (15).
vi. Being joyful is good fuel for the fire. Whereas crabby, grumpy, angry spirits will quench the fire of God (16).
vii. Prayer feeds the fire of God; prayerlessness quenches the fire of the Holy Spirit (17).
viii. Giving thanks to God is proper firewood whereas not giving thanks, having an entitlement mindset is not proper firewood (18). Not giving thanks is like throwing wet wood on the fire. Ungrateful, complaining hearts put out and hinder the fire on your heart.
ix. Treating the prophetic gift of God with disrespect will put out the Spirit’s fire (20). This refers to disregarding God’s means of using ministers to preach His word. When God uses others in a prophetic way that aligns with Scripture. When people disregard the Word of God and blow off God’s truth for their own truth, they put out the spirit’s fire.
x. Holding on to that which is good is also proper fuel for the fire whereas holding onto evil will quench the spirit’s fire (21, 22). We are to avoid evil, so it does not put out the fire of God. Evil and sin will always quench the spirit’s fire.
3. We need to make sure that we tend the fire in our hearts and feed it the right fuel so it will burn hot for Him. But we must also remember to keep the fire clean.
iv. The 4th step in Fire 101 is you need to keep the fire cleaned out (Lev. 6:11)
1. It’s imperative that the ashes left over from the fire of God be removed daily. Sacrifices will leave debris which needs to be removed!
2. In fire maintenance 101 step 4 we are told by the experts to make sure we regularly clean out the ashes left over from the fire so that it will stay burning. If these ashes are not removed daily, then the fire will choke out.
a. The fire experts tell us to have an ash bucket right there and shovel handy so we can remove the ashes when they pile up, so it won’t choke out the fire. Do it sooner than later is the key.
3. These ashes will eventually choke a fire out by not allowing oxygen to get to the fire. It’s important that some air gets to the fire to help it burn. It needs air – fire does breathe!
a. God’s fire breathes too – it’s alive!
b. In Leviticus we are told they had to clean out the ashes and the debris not consumed in the fire. They had to clean out the ashes daily so the fire could properly burn and breathe. This meant the discipline of cleaning the fire out every morning. They were then instructed to take the ashes out of the camp and dispose of it properly.
c. The fire which was empowered by the Holy Spirit in our hearts also needs to be cleaned out daily.
4. Application: If we do not regularly clean out the ashes left over from our sacrifices to God it will eventually choke out the Spirit’s fire.
a. Psalm 24:4-6: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.5He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.6Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. It’s important to know if you want to keep the fire burning in your heart then you need to keep it cleaned out. You do this by keeping the garbage of the world clean out of your life.
i. How are you cleaning out the fire!
b. The way you maintain the fire is by keeping it cleaned out, then the next step is to step back and let it do its job.
i. Moses learned to tend the fire and he let God speak to him through the fire (Exodus 3).
ii. Hebrews 12:29: “God is a consuming fire.”
1. Let it consume your heart and burn in your life and watch what happens when God is set ablaze in your temple and your heart.
iii. Jeremiah 23:29: “Is not my word like fire,” declares the LORD, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?
iv. Jeremiah 20 – Jeremiah had the fire in him, and he let it come out of him. He said he had to let it out!
v. Deut. 4:24: For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
1. The fire of the Lord is doing what is required of it and we need to have patience and just watch the fire burn forward for the Lord.
II. The Fire of God leaves - When the Fire of God goes out spiritually in your life – you will experience a dark age or a dark night of the soul! Don’t let the fire of God go out.
a. Keep the fire burning because if -The Fire of God- goes out then you are letting go of your holiness – you are rejecting Jesus’ sacrifice and releasing His gift to you – the reality is you are embracing sin – This will always kill “The Fire of God!” God will never bless sin! Any sin!
i. The fire on the altar in Leviticus 9:24 burned for 860 years it burned from 1,446 BC to 586 BC. It went out when Babylon over ran the Temple in Jerusalem.
1. The Lord tells us that Israel was overrun by Babylon because they had embraced evil, they had worshipped other gods and idols and became detestable in the eyes of God. They fell into sin over and over and rejected the ways of God.
a. They had been warned over and over about forsaking God and embracing sin – they rejected God’s presence and embraced idolatry! They did not obey the Word of God! But God had warned Israel what would happen if they rejected Him and His ways:
i. I Kings 9:1-9: The Lord Appears to Solomon 1When Solomon had finished building the temple of the LORD and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2the LORD appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3The LORD said to him: “I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 4“As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’ 6“But if you or your sons turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8And though this temple is now imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 9People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the LORD brought all this disaster on them.’”
ii. Ezekiel tells us how and when the Spirit of God departed the temple in Jerusalem: “Then the glory of the LORD moved away from the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim” (Ezekiel 10:18).
1. Why is the Spirit of God leaving and the fire going out?
a. Ezekiel 8: “6And he said to me, “Son of man, do you see what they are doing—the utterly detestable things the house of Israel is doing here, things that will drive me far from my sanctuary? But you will see things that are even more detestable.”
2. Ezekiel 10 - The Glory Departs from the Temple: 1I looked, and I saw the likeness of a throne of sapphire above the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim. 2The LORD said to the man clothed in linen, “Go in among the wheels beneath the cherubim. Fill your hands with burning coals from among the cherubim and scatter them over the city.” And as I watched, he went in. 3Now the cherubim were standing on the south side of the temple when the man went in, and a cloud filled the inner court. 4Then the glory of the LORD rose from above the cherubim and moved to the threshold of the temple. The cloud filled the temple, and the court was full of the radiance of the glory of the LORD. 5The sound of the wings of the cherubim could be heard as far away as the outer court, like the voice of God Almighty when he speaks. 6When the LORD commanded the man in linen, “Take fire from among the wheels, from among the cherubim,” the man went in and stood beside a wheel. 7Then one of the cherubim reached out his hand to the fire that was among them. He took up some of it and put it into the hands of the man in linen, who took it and went out. 8(Under the wings of the cherubim could be seen what looked like the hands of a man.) 9I looked, and I saw beside the cherubim four wheels, one beside each of the cherubim; the wheels sparkled like chrysolite.10As for their appearance, the four of them looked alike; each was like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 11As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the cherubim faced; the wheels did not turn about as the cherubim went. The cherubim went in whatever direction the head faced, without turning as they went. 12Their entire bodies, including their backs, their hands and their wings, were completely full of eyes, as were their four wheels. 13I heard the wheels being called “the whirling wheels.” 14Each of the cherubim had four faces: One face was that of a cherub, the second the face of a man, the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of an eagle. 15Then the cherubim rose upward. These were the living creatures I had seen by the Kebar River. 16When the cherubim moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the cherubim spread their wings to rise from the ground, the wheels did not leave their side. 17When the cherubim stood still, they also stood still; and when the cherubim rose, they rose with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in them. 18Then the glory of the LORD departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. 19While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground, and as they went, the wheels went with them. They stopped at the entrance to the east gate of the LORD’s house, and the glory of the God of Israel was above them.
3. Ezekeil 11: Promised Return of Israel: 16“Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Although I sent them far away among the nations and scattered them among the countries, yet for a little while I have been a sanctuary for them in the countries where they have gone.’ 17“Therefore say: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will gather you from the nations and bring you back from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you back the land of Israel again.’ 18“They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 21But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.”
4. What made Israel the people of God different from all other people was the presence of God dwelling among them (Exodus 40:34–35).
a. What distinguishes us from all other religions today is the presence of God in our lives.
b. “The nation of Israel was not special because of their wealth, power, land, or military, they were special because the one true God made His home with them. From the tabernacle in the wilderness to the temple in Jerusalem, God’s presence with His people was a sign that in and through them, He was restoring creation to His original intention. God’s presence was essential to them being who God called them to be.”
i. The above adapted from https://hereadstruth.com/2022/03/08/gods-glory-leaves-the-temple/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThen%20the%20glory%20of%20the,40%3A34%E2%80%9335).
c. Without His presence, they would be like all the other nations around them – hopeless without God – vulnerable without God – lost without God.
d. We need Gods fire because with it we have His presence!
iii. That tragic reality is exactly what Ezekiel is shown by God. Ezekiel 10 describes this as a kind of reversal of 1 Kings 8. Instead of the temple being prepared for God’s arrival, coals are scattered as a sign of destruction before God’s departure.
1. Then, the glory of the Lord leaves (His presence). The temple is no longer filled with God’s glory (The Fire of God has departed); the people no longer enjoy God’s presence.
a. They have rejected God, so God leaves because He is holy!
i. The above adapted from https://hereadstruth.com/2022/03/08/gods-glory-leaves-the-temple/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CThen%20the%20glory%20of%20the,40%3A34%E2%80%9335).
b. Quote: “It’s easy for me to respond to a passage like this by thinking how foolish the people of Judah were. If I’m honest, though, my sinful heart shares in their folly. I too, can ignore God and look for life in what is not God. The human heart is prone to drift from God.”
i. If we drift too far and allow evil to invade our hearts we too will suffer when God’s presence departs.
ii. We are God’s temple today but the Fire of God on our altar needs to be kept burning, needs to be fueled with proper fire and needs to be cleaned our regularly.
iv. Critical point to Remember - God will never bless sin - never!
1. They had departed from God’s way and followed the path of evil through idol worship. The result is they embraced evil and put out the fire! If we do the same, we will get the same result.
a. Leviticus repeatedly said: We need to remain Holy, and it is God who makes us holy – so when God gives it to you (holiness) you need to hang on to it for dear life!
i. Leviticus 19:2: 1The LORD said to Moses,
2“Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: ‘Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy.
ii. Leviticus 20:7,8: 7“‘Consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am the LORD your God. 8Keep my decrees and follow them. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
iii. Leviticus 22: 9: 9“‘The priests are to keep my requirements so that they do not become guilty and die for treating them with contempt. I am the LORD, who makes them holy.
iv. Leviticus 22:32-33: 32Do not profane my holy name. I must be acknowledged as holy by the Israelites. I am the LORD, who makes you holy.
33and who brought you out of Egypt to be your God. I am the LORD.”
b. Fires go out when we fail to manage the fire and the same is true for The Fire of God – The Holy Spirit!
i. We are responsible for God’s HS fire and keeping if from being quenched in our lives!
1. It’s nobodies’ fault but your own if you allow the Fire of God to go out in your temple!
III. When God returned to His Temple in Acts 2 – it had been about 638-640 years later after His Spirit departs the temple in Jerusalem spoke of in Ezekiel 10:
a. The return of God’s Spirit to His temple’s – But God does come back not willing to dwell in a building anymore but in the altar of the heart of His people “His Church.”
i. He came back in a noticeable way like when He left Jerusalem in Ezekiel - By His wind (the roar of the angels wings), By the visible appearance of His glory and presence and it notes He glowed like fire!
ii. Acts 2: The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
1. 1When the day of Pentecost came; they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. 5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God–fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
2. GOD returned to Jerusalem and the world because the Lamb of God - had been offered for the sins of the world – so God’s fire came to dwell in His temples.
a. It came as:
i. Mighty Rushing Wind
ii. Fire resting on the apostles!
1. God dwells in the individual temples of each person.
a. 1 Cor. 6:19: You surely know that your body is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives. The Spirit is in you and is a gift from God. You are no longer your own.”
iii. Speaking in new tongues sharing about the goodness of God and praising God in tongues of others.
b. The Holy Spirit takes an active role in the life of the believer filling them and empowering them to do the work of the Kingdom of Heaven.
i. Quote: Jim Cymbala from the book “Spirit Rising-” “A church without the Holy Spirit will produce a Spiritless Church filled with Spiritless people who have no power to change the world, the culture or themselves. A Spiritless church will become political and deceived when the Spirit is absent or ignored! “
1. Scripture: Matthew 7:7“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
2. This promise by Jesus is also relevant to receiving the power and presence of the Holy Spirit!
c. Personal Illustration of asking – seeking - knocking: The School of the Holy Spirit!
i. When I first became a Christian, I had a strong hunger to read the Bible from cover to cover. To study it and to dig deeper so I could grow spiritually. I had prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to teach me the truth of God’s Word and show me things in the spiritual realm. The Scripture verse which echoed in my heart and mind was 2 Timothy 3:16-17: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
1. I wanted to know the Word of God – I wanted to know the Word of God because I wanted to know God more personally! I wanted to open to the Holy Spirit to teach me! And guess what the Holy Spirit started teaching me!
ii. As I studied the Bible, I picked up a book by Salem Kirban called, “Satan’s Angels exposed.” I no longer have the book - I most likely gave it away to someone on my journey - so I thought let’s see if I can get another copy.
1. So, I went on the internet - I was shocked to find that the book is out of print and still in demand so it’s selling for between $80-100 dollars on eBay and amazon.
2. So, I did not buy one to show you –it’s far too expensive for a visual - but here is a picture of the book the Holy Spirit used to take me to His school of learning and growing spiritually:
a. Some of the subjects and topics covered in the book were:
i. Jehovah Witness
ii. Mormons
iii. Moonies
iv. Rosicrucian
v. Occult
vi. Satanism
d. The Fire of the Spirit of God is the Holy Spirit – and Jesus wants us being His temple – being Holy – so the Holy Spirits presence lives within the altar of our heart.
i. John 14:15-18: 15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
ii. John 14: 26: “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
iii. Acts 1:4-5: 4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
e. Question: Why did Jesus send the Holy Spirit to us Christians? John tells us why! Answer: So that we could “Be Christ Like” and be empowered to “Do the work of the Kingdom of Heaven.”
i. We need the fire of the Spirit of God if we desire to change this fallen world around us!
Conclusion:
What do we need to know from this message?
We are responsible for keeping the fire burning on the altars of our heart for the Lord. No one else is! As the fire is burning, we need to feed the fire, keep it clean then watch the fire burn. The fire will lead us to offer daily sacrifices for the Lord in a time of worship. It will require us to feed it proper fuel and keep it clean. We need to use this fire to keep us safe, secure, warm and to use it to cook our spiritual fuel. It is to be used to purify our hearts and lives.
Why do we need to do this?
We need to do this so that we stay strong for the Lord as a witness to the truth and His Word. If we do these others will see us burning and want to be ignited too. The fire will spread to others as we do what is required of us. We must decide to guard and tend to the fire on the altar of our hearts. If we do it will spread like a firestorm.
What do we need to do?
I believe we need to make a commitment to the Lord that we will keep the fire burning on the altar of our hearts. And we need to pass this fire onto others.
Challenge card commitment card:
Question: Are you willing to make a commitment to Jesus by filling an index card, “How you will personally keep the fire burning in your life?”
I believe some of you need to pray and make a commitment to the Lord. Maybe it’s an area of your life that you promise to do or not do to keep your fire burning, then come and put your card on the cross!
