Keep the Fire Burning!
Thesis: The fire on the altar of our hearts must be kept burning for the Lord.
Text: Lev. 6:8-14
NIV Leviticus 6:8-14
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.
Illustration: Thank God one cottage burned!
Years ago a fishing fleet went out from a small harbor on the east coast of Newfoundland. In the afternoon there came a large furious storm. When night settled in not a single fishing vessel of the fleet was in the harbor. All night long the wind blew and thunder blasted. The wives, mothers, children, and sweethearts labored all night in prayer for their loved ones out in the storm. They called on God over and over to save their loved ones. Then to add to the horror of the night one of the house caught fire. Since most of the men where on the storm tossed sea it was impossible to save the house from burning to the ground.
When morning broke, to the joy of all who labored in prayer there was the fleet safe in harbor. Everyone was home safe. Yet, in the joy filled crowd their was one sad face-it was a picture of despair-the wife of the man whose house had burned to the ground. Meeting her husband as he came ashore she rejoiced that he was alive but cried out in anguish, “Honey, we are ruined! Our home and all it’s belongings where destroyed by a fire last night!” But the man looked at her with excitement and exclaimed, “Thank God for the fire” Then all the men around said the same. The woman looked confused then her husband announced “It was the light of our burning house that guided the whole fleet into port!”
Told by Rev. W.W. Weeks
Introduction:
This illustration can be compared to the sacrificial offerings of the O.T. which where offered up for the lives of men/women. This house burned metaphorically as a sacrificial offering which saved the lives of all the men on the fleet. If it had not caught fire and burned the fleet and all it’s men would have been lost.
The surrender of a living creature was a major factor in nearly every kind of sacrificial ritual of the Old Testament.
T.S.- Lets look at the 5 sacrifices spoken of in Leviticus.
I. The Historical Background of the sacrifices for God in the O.T..
a. The five sacrifices described in Lev. 1-7:27
i. The Whole Burnt Offering – Lev. 1, called in Hebrew OLAH, “That which goes up”. In the LXX it is called the “Holocaust.”
1. We will talk more about this one in a moment.
ii. The Cereal/grain offering – Lev. 2 this one involved exclusively cereal products and wine. It’s also called the Meal offering and Drink offering.
1. These offering s are related to the present day practice of offering our tithes to the Lord. David expressed it this way in I Chron. 29:10-14
NIV 1 Chronicles 29:10-14
10. David praised the LORD in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, "Praise be to you, O LORD, God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting.
11. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.
12. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.
13. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.
14. "But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
2. These offerings where offered to the Lord in recognition of God’s sovereignty. They knew that Jehovah was the one who provided earthly blessings. So they where instructed to give their first fruits and gifts to him.
• The flour was considered the main support life.
• The oil was the symbol of richness which makes our faces shine.
• The wine the symbol of vigor and refreshment
• These taken from Psalm 104:15
iii. The Fellowship or Peace offering – Lev. 3
1. It was an offering of peace having its roots in the state of grace with it’s fellowship with God, and finding it’s culminating point in the sacrificial feast.
2. In this feast the individuals involved would partake of part of the offering being sacrificed.
a. The sacrifice was consumed by three means;
i. Part was consumed on the altar
ii. Part was given to the Priests.
iii. Part was given to the individual to be consumed in communal supper.
iv. The Sin Offering – Lev. 4-5:13
1. This was a sacrifice made to forgive by atonement through repentance for sins committed through ignorance (Lev. 4:2). This signifies general redemption.
v. The Guilt Offering/Trespass Offering – Lev. 5:14-6:7
1. This also is a sacrifice of repentance for sins, but additionally underscoring the need of restitution; thus makes it a special kind of sin offering.
2. This offering may be regarded as representing ransom for a special wrong, while the sin offering symbolized general redemption.
b. All these sacrifices were offered on the altar by the Priest and we will observe the 1st sacrifice in more detail.
i. The Whole Burnt Offering – Lev. 6:8-13
1. This offering will help understand our text today about keeping the fire burning on the altar for God.
2. The name of this offering is given because the whole item had to be consumed on the altar where the others where only partially consumed.
3. The whole Burnt Offering symbolized the entire surrender to God of the individual or of the congregation, God’s acceptance thereof, with a view to the renewal and sanctification of the entire man and consecration to a course of life pleasing to God.
4. The Burnt Offering did not cover atonement for sin, because, that was covered by the Sin & Guilt Offering.
5. The Offering was based solely on the assumption that Israel had been admitted into a covenant of grace with, Jehovah, and so it could only be offered by those who retained their standing in the covenant.
6. This Offering consisted of a male-lamb, ram, of male-goat. Offered in the morning and evening daily. It would symbolize the community of love between Jehovah and Israel, and it consecrated the altar for the other sacrifices for the day.
7. The blood of the sacrifice was used to show consecration, it is life offered to God, it consecrates the altar and the people so that they may approach God and feast with him.
8. This is ability to come into God’s presence is only made possible by the sacrifice and it becomes effective as the fire on the altar consumes the entire sacrifice. The sacrifice is to be consumed 100% and the rules are carried out in obedience.
a. Finney noted this about obedience and sacrifice, “Revival is nothing more or less than a new obedience to God!”
b. The lesson we learn from these sacrifices was that they where to be done on a consistent and regular basis with passionate obedience to the Lord being the main reason for doing it.
T.S.- This OT example has many meanings for us today lets look at a few.
II. The continual fire on the altar has significant meanings for us today (Lev. 6:8-13).
a. The first question we can ask ourselves is “How did the fire get started?”
i. It was originally started by Aaron by the instruction of the Lord. He was to offer the first sacrifice and when it started burning in Lev. 9:24 it states, “that fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the Burnt offering.”
ii. From this time forward the fire on the altar was not to go out Lev. 6:9,12.
1. The flame burned for 860 years from 1,446-586BC.
b. You may be thinking to yourself today “How do I get a fire like this started in my own heart today?”
i. 1st you have to decide to give yourself to Jesus – you need to become a living sacrifice.
ii. 2nd repent of your sins and ask for forgiveness.
iii. Then believe and let Jesus flood into your heart and watch him light the fire.
c. Our text tells us –warns us to never let the fire go out!
i. This altar fire was never to go out because the daily sacrifices constantly burning on the altar symbolized the unceasing worship of God by Israel, and the gracious acceptance of Israel by God. The ever burning sacrifice was the token of the people being in communion with God (Pulpit, 90).
ii. The idea here is to obey God’s command and quench not the Spirit (Lev. 6:13) so that the fire may not go out.
iii. When the fire went out it was because the nation of Israel had fallen into sin and where carried off into captivity.
d. This is why the fire on the altar which consumed the Burnt Offering was to carefully preserved-so that it would not go out!
i. This meant that everyday the ashes where to be removed and taken to a place for proper disposal (Lev. 6:11).
ii. Why so much maintenance? These ashes represented what would not ascend in the fire, and were a fitting symbol of the dross and corruption which attaches to all human services.
iii. Key to understand – everything which would prevent the fire from burning was to removed – daily!
e. Our text tells us in a symbolic way that the fire on the altar is the Holy Spirit- He comes from God –the Lord sent Him as a fire to our time in Acts 2. The point to grasp here is –the perpetuation of the altar-fire is to remove everything which would hinder or would quench the free action of the Spirit within us.
i. The purer we try to be, the freer will the movements of the Holy Spirit be within us. On the other hand, negligence in life must interrupt the spiritual action. Let us diligently use evry means, like the Priests who kept the fire clean and continue to clear away anything from the altar that would hinder the fire burning bright-hot and intense.
f. The 1st point is keep the fire clean but second the priests also had the duty to place the proper fuel on the fire.
i. They had to go out daily and get the firewood and fuel for it to burn intensely.
ii. In the care that the Rabbis went through for selecting fuel for the fire it is said that they would not allow any rotten sticks because they wanted proper fuel to make it burn bright, hot and intensely.
iii. They wanted only what was the best for God’s fire.
T.S.- It’s time to remind ourselves the lessons learned from the fire!
III. The Lessons from the fire:
a. The fire was an emblem of worship, of praise, supplication, prayer, and service that ascended to the most High from his faithful people.
i. It was to be a passionate worship to King everyday- That it was done on a regular basis indicated God’s desire to be worshipped on a regular basis. Not so much with fitful enthusiasm, but with steady regularity (obedience being the key).
ii. This fire burned from generation to generation and it was supplied with fuel and regularly maintained until 586 BC when it went out. When the Babylonians took over Israel they destroyed the altar-but you must remember the fire went out because they fell into sin-it quenches the fire of God!
iii. This should tells us how important it is to obey the Lord and tend our fire that he place in us. If we do not keep it clean and feed the fire with fuel it will go out.
1. We keep this fire burning by regularly attending worship
2. By daily praying to the Lord
3. By continually serving Him with out time, talents and money.
4. We keep this fire burning by studying and reading His word.
5. We keep this fire burning by keeping out the ways of the world.
6. We keep this fire burning by repenting quickly of sin and turning from it.
7. We keep this fire burning by holding on to our holiness.
a. It takes great care and hard work to keep this fire burning, if you become lazy it goes out and the covenant is then broken!
NIV 1 Thessalonians 5:6-22
6. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.
7. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
8. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
9. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
10. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him.
11. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
12. Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you.
13. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other.
14. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone.
15. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
16. Be joyful always;
17. pray continually;
18. give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19. Do not put out the Spirit’s fire;
20. do not treat prophecies with contempt.
21. Test everything. Hold on to the good.
22. Avoid every kind of evil.
b. Another importance of the fire is that it ignited other fires.
i. From it the burning coals for the golden altar of incense were taken.
ii. It was the fire foundation on which sacrifices were laid, and by which they were consecrated.
iii. Application- It our fires continue to burn for God then God will use our fires to ignite more fires until the whole country will be burning for God.
Conclusion: We must steadily and unfailingly maintain the burning fire that God has ignited in our hearts.
It must never go out!
We must not allow the ashes from the world to choke it out.
We must not allow the passions of youth to snuff it out
We must not allow the pressures of this life to extinguish it
We must not allow the distressing doubts placed there by the enemy to put it out.
We must not allow the comforts of this life to smother it out
We must not allow the deceitfulness of riches to blow it out
We must not allow the tragedies of life to flood over the fire and put it out.
We must never forget to feed the fire proper fuel!
We must daily get up and search for fuel for the fire.
We must daily put on the good fuel which makes the fire burn bright, hot, and intense.
We must feed the fire with earnest thought on His Word
We must feed the fire with regular worship to the Lord
We must feed the fire with servant-hood to the King
We must feed the fire with a daily time of prayer
We must feed the fire with regular feeding times on the Word
We must remember to keep the fire burning in out hearts for God because if it ever goes out we will die!
Altar Call:
There are three types of individuals here tonight:
1. Those of you who have never heard about the Lord and How He ignites fires.
2. Those of you who once knew and had the fire burning for the Lord but it went out.
3. Those of you whose fire is still burning but it is not burning hot, and intense because you have neglected to feed the fire and keep it clean.
HERE IS YOU CHANCE TONIGHT TO EITHER – LET THE LORD IGNITE A FIRE IN YOU! TO REKINDLE THE FIRE IN YOU! OR TO CLEAN OUT THE FIRE AND PUT KNEW WOOD ON THE FIRE SO IT BURNS BRIGHTER, HOOTER AND MORE INTENSE TONIGHT.
If this is you come forward for prayer and watch the fire burn!
