NOTE: I TOOK AN OIL LAMP AND LIT IT JUST PRIOR TO READING THE TEXT AND ALLOWED IT TO BURN THE ENTIRE TIME THAT I PREACHED THIS MESSAGE. THE EFFECT WAS VERY GOOD ESPECIALLY WHEN I GOT TO THE POINT ABOUT THE WICK AND THE OIL OF THE LAMP.
Exodus 30:7 KJV And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.
l. INTRODUCTION -- THE KEEPER OF THE LIGHT
In 1998, Teresa and I took our kids on a short vacation to St. Simon’s Island off the coast of Georgia. It would turn into one of the most memorable vacations that we would take over the course of the years. It was there that we begin to chase lighthouses scattered along the coastlines of America. To this date we have visited in the neighborhood of thirty different light houses and been able to climb 12 to 15 of them. The St. Simon’s Lighthouse was the first one that we visited and climbed. The passing of years has proved to me that St. Simon’s Island is probably one of my favorite places to go and unwind.
As we “chased” lighthouses, we have discovered numerous stories about those who were the light-keepers. Perhaps the most arresting story was discovered in September of 2001. I am going to relate that story to you.
In 1898, a hurricane straddled the coastline of South Carolina. A keeper of the light, Adam Fripp along with his daughter ran the harbor light. During those days the light keeper usually would have to climb the tower (which is quite a challenge for the physically unfit like myself) with a five gallon container of kerosene oil as fuel for the light. Adam Fripp fought the storm for two days. The wind was of such strength that the tower seemingly began to sway in the onslaught of the storm. During the first day of the storm, he went up into the tower and did not return to the keeper’s quarters in a timely fashion. So his eighteen year old daughter became worried about her father and climbed the tower during the storm to check on him. When she reached the light platform she found her father had collapsed on the deck in the throes of a heart attack.
She understood that her father would not be able to live through the storm. However, in his final minutes of life she told him how much she loved him and to keep the faith that he would make it through the storm. Intuitively, something told her that his life here was limited. So the waning last few minutes of his life he gave her some very important instructions. Never let the light go out. . . . . no matter what. With that final commission to his young daughter, Adam Fripp died keeping his light. His daughter managed to pull him inside the light tower on the top of the steps and he would lay there for several more days before help arrived to bring him down the steps of the lighthouse to a proper burial.
So committed was his daughter to the cause, that for several days, isolated, alone, afraid, she lugged the heavy five gallon fuel container up the stairs and stepped over her fallen father to “keep the light.” She poured the fuel into the light so that it could provide safety for ships. His charge of keeping the light functioning was something she took to heart. She would die two years later from her own grief over her father. But during the storm, when she was needed most to keep the light, she fulfilled the role of service.
On that wall of the lighthouse I noticed the following rules given in the early days of the U.S. Coast Guard being designated for the Keepers of the Light. They are listed as follow:
Instructions to Lighthouse Keepers
• You are to light the lamps every evening at sun-setting, and keep them continually burning bright and clear till sun-rising.
• You are to be careful that the lamps, reflectors, and lanterns, are constantly kept clean, and in order; and particularly to be careful that no lamps, wood, or candles, be left burning anywhere so as to endanger fire.
• In order to maintain the greatest degree of light during the night, the wicks are to be trimmed every four hours, taking care that they are exactly even on the top.
• You are to keep an exact account of the quantity of oil received from time to time; the number of gallons, quarts, gills, consumed each night, and deliver a copy of the same to the superintendent every three months, ending 31st March, 30th June, September, and 31st December, in each year, with an account of the quantity on hand at the time.
• You will receive no tube-glasses, wicks, or any other article which the contractors, Morgan and Company at New Bedford, are bound to supply, which shall not be of a suitable kind; and if the oil they shall supply, should, on trial, prove bad, you will immediately acquaint the superintendent therewith, in order that he may exact from them a compliance with their contract.
• You will not absent yourself from the light-house, at any time, without first obtaining the consent of the superintendent, unless the occasion be so sudden and urgent as not to admit of an application to that officer; in which case, by leaving suitable substitute, you may be absent for twenty-four hours.
Those guidelines are very precise. Everything about the parameters of the keeper were concerned with one purpose. . . . . to keep the light functioning. The priorities of his life were centered around the light. The keeper was not responsible for attempting to control the storm, only keep the light. He was not responsible for cursing the darkness, he should only keep his light. He was not to concern himself with the thickness of the fog, he should only keep his light. He was not responsible for the ship nor the sailors, just the light. It was his main focus. In other words, he had to keep the main thing, the main thing!!! Adam Fripp died of a heart attack taking care of his responsibility.
ll. THE LAMPSTAND
A. It’s Construction
Exodus 25:31-40 KJV And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. [32] And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: [33] Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. [34] And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. [35] And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. [36] Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. [37] And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. [38] And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. [39] Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. [40] And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
-When one thinks about a candlestick there is usually thoughts of wax and wicks and burning candles. But in the Tabernacle of Moses, this “candlestick” was more of a lamp than a candle.
-Candles burn by self-consumption but a lamp will burn because of a fuel source. The golden lampstand could really very much be like one of the old fashioned kerosene or coal oil lamps.
-The lampstand had no specifications as far as a measurement as the other items of the Tabernacle. The only other piece of the furniture that did not have measurements was the Brazen Laver.
• We cannot measure the light of God which is to be revealed in the Church for time and eternity.
• We cannot measure the cleansing power of the Water of the Word.
-When gold is removed from the quarries in the earth, it is frankly good for nothing. It is only when it is placed in the refiner’s fire and forge that the gold can be refined and it’s real value can be added. (I preached a message several years ago about this process, “Molded Or Beaten Gold.” The difference between the Ark of the Covenant (beaten gold) and the golden calf (melted or molded gold).) The fire is painful but necessary to remove all of the impurities.
-After the gold has been placed into the hands of the goldsmith, it then has to fall to the hammers and manners of the goldsmith. This process is painful also but necessary. Yet, when the work is completed, it is a thing of rare beauty.
-This process is quite typical of the way that God will work with His church. The Spirit purifies and sanctifies by the rituals of rough fiery trials, temptestuous testings, and soul gripping sufferings. Every bit of it has a final purpose. . . .
Job 23:10 KJV But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
1 Peter 1:7 KJV That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
-There are two great truths to keep in mind when we are “under the gun” so to speak:
• Nothing touches me first that has not already gone through the hands of God. God is sovereign and He is not surprised.
• Everything that I endure is to help me to better serve (scatter light?) into the lives of others. God knows the ultimate value of the painful experience.
-What of great men without painful experiences? What of great men without trouble?
B. It’s Command
Leviticus 24:2 KJV Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually.
-The lamps were to burn continuously, they were to never go out. In order for this to happen, the oil had to be on a constant supply with an un-ending inflow of oil into the reservoir. This is especially true of the Church in the end-time, there must be a constant intake of oil.
-Every true Church will be challenged by this present generation to lessen the light and to use inferior oil:
Philippians 2:15-16 KJV [15] That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; [16] Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
-There is something that every individual must understand: We are going to show up everyday. This lamp is going to have fuel everyday. It is going to burn everyday.
Matthew 11:12 KJV And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
lll. THE MINISTRY OF LAMP DRESSING
-The maintenance of the light was inseparably associated with the service of the altar. Every morning that Aaron and his priestly sons were about their work, they were to burn incense while they were dressing the lampstand.
-The altar of incense has always been significant for it’s relation to prayer. This second altar was the place of divine communion. The first altar was a place of sacrifice and the second was a place of communication.
-As the lamps were being taken care of, prayer was being mixed with the atmosphere. So the careful tending of the light was always in relationship with the altar of prayer. If we are not careful, the art and agony of prayer is going to be lost among our lamp tending.
-It happened time and again to those in Scripture who thought that they could rely on their own thoughts, talents, and strengths:
• Achan lost his family because he thought he would get wealth without blessing.
• Samson died among the Philistines because he became careless with the secret place of his anointing and power.
• Uzziah allowed his position as king to lead to presumption that cost his health (leprosy) and his position (he died away from the palace).
• Judas let his hunger for financial gain override his obligation to his real source of hope.
-We cannot get along without prayer. . . . no matter how important or how holy or how sacred the task may be.
A. The Oil as Fuel
-There are several factors specifically related to the fuel that will affect the efficient burning of fuel in the lamp.
1. The Type of Oil for the Lamp
-The type of fuel is important. It had to be exactly as God ordered it to be. You will find the particular ingredients necessary by looking in Exodus (25:6; 27:20; 35:14, 28) and Leviticus (24:1-4).
-In a series of Scriptures, one notes that in the Tabernacle there is oil for light and oil for anointing. The oil for anointing was carefully constructed from a mixture that the priests were responsible for (Exodus 30:22-33).
-However, there was also oil that the people were responsible for and that came from pure olive oil that had been crushed. They were to bring this oil to the priests and they were to continually fill the Lamp to provide light in the Tabernacle.
-The oil for the holy lamps and the bread on the table of showbread were the only two things that the people could bring inside of the Tabernacle. (This is another message for another day!!! However, the bread had to come from the fine flour that had been ground up.)
-This is a very powerful concept to understand. The people were actually providing the fuel for the light. We can come and go into the place of worship and leave all the responsibility of oil bearing up to others. Or we can decide that every time that we come into the house that we are going to bring some oil with us to provide for light.
-The priesthood had an anointing oil but it was different from what the people brought. The anointing oil of the priest served several purposes:
• It was employed in the anointing of the Tabernacle and its furniture (Ex. 30:26-29).
• It was used for the consecration of the priests (Ex. 30:30).
-The oil that you bring in here with you when you come to worship will cost something.
• It will not be exuberant worship.
• It will not be considered encouragement.
• It will not be full of inspiration.
• It will not be contrived.
• It will not be worship that is just participation.
-When you bring some oil into the house, you bring with you all of your hurts, your worries, your difficulties, your troubles, your unanswered questions, your doubts, and your weariness.
-When worship (not praise) pours out of us, worship which reaches beyond these circumstances, we enter into a Gethsemane of crushing. The olives must be beaten before the oil can flow out of it.
-Remember what was said earlier in this message: If we are not careful, the art and agony of prayer is going to be lost among our lamp tending. That is why it is crucial for prayer to be mixed with any part of the suffering that may be occurring in your life.
-If prayer is not mixed with the action of lamp dressing, the light will suddenly be overcome with carnal understanding and human will. Prayer is crucial in the teeth of the trial!
2. The Purity of the Oil for the Lamp
-The purity of fuel is important. The oil to be used for the lamps had to come from the olives that had been picked from the tree. There could not be any forgotten twigs or tiny amounts of dust on the olives because this would corrupt it.
-This oil for the lamp could not go through the normal process of the olive press. The olives had to be taken and beaten instead of pressed.
-The reason for this was when the olives were “pressed,” there were tiny bits of the olive that would become mixed with the oil and would actually discolor the oil, which would corrupt its purity.
-You cannot let your provision of oil, you cannot allow the pressure of the moment, and you cannot decide to retaliate when your supply of oil is beginning to be filled.
• Jealousy will stop the flow of oil.
• Anger will stop the flow of oil.
• Bitterness will corrupt the oil.
• Wrath will spoil your portion of oil.
• Malice will hinder the production of oil.
• Chasing after trinket gods will hinder the flow of oil.
• Mental and emotional garbage will stop the flow of oil.
• A brutal temper will damage your oil.
• Cutthroat competition will wreck your oil supply.
-You must maintain the purity of the oil by your all consuming love for God and His Church.
3. The Level of the Oil for the Lamp
-The proper level of fuel is important. When the fuel is allowed to go out, the wick is going to be totally consumed and will be wasted in a fiery heap. An empty lamp with a burning wick will also potentially be damaged.
-The most revealing illustration for an end-time church comes from Matthew 25. There one finds the parable of the five wise and five foolish virgins. There was a midnight oil crisis.
• They all knew that the Bridegroom was coming.
• They all had regard for Him for they were present to wait for Him.
• All had their lamps burning for they all trimmed them.
• They all slumbered and slept.
• The all heard the same cry at midnight.
-It was not until the coming of the Bridegroom that the difference began to develop. The lamp was the turning point in the parable.
• In outward things they were all alike.
• The difference was internal.
• The wise were motivated by love and principle.
• The foolish were motivated by impulse and emotion.
-The difficulty was that their lamps had totally consumed their oil.
-It is imperative for the Church to always keep the lamps full of oil. . . no matter what the cost may be. An atmosphere of revival must prevail. A hunger for holiness must continue. A desire for prayer must consume me. . . . The oil must be in the lamp.
B. Keep the Wick Trimmed
-The dictionary defines the word wick as: wick: n. A bundle of fibers, or a loosely twisted or braided cord, tape, or tube, usually made of soft spun cotton threads, which by capillary attraction draws up a steady supply of the oil in lamps, the melted tallow or wax in candles, or other materials used for illumination, in small successive portions, to be burned.
1. An Illustration from the Past
Oil lamps once played a major role in the early days of colonial America. The vast majority of homes in those days had a lamp that usually had a glass reservoir with a wick and chimney. The company that manufactured the lamp would give specific instructions concerning its care.
-From the “Directions for care of B & H Lamps”:
• When filling for the first time or putting in a new wick, allow the wick to become thoroughly saturated before lighting it for the first time.
• Don’t cut the wick, turn up the wick so that the charred portion is exposed. Rub evenly from left to right to remove the char.
• Re-wick about once every two months, if the lamp is used every evening.
From the “Instructions for Use of Angle Lamps”:
• Trim the wicks right or this lamp will not burn right.
• Trim the wicks until there are no points on the flame and you will get a big round brilliant flame.
• Cut off the corners of the wick. This prevents smoking and makes the flame round.
• Remember, keep trimming the wicks until there are no points, and you will have a large, clear flame.
-The state and condition of the wick was crucial to the success of the light.
• An untrimmed wick will produce too much smoke.
• A thinly trimmed wick will not allow very much light.
• A charred wick will hinder the performance of the lamp.
C. Keep the Lamp Burning Continuously
-One will discover that one of the most enduring and perhaps challenging problems of our own walk with God will be to stand the test of time. As time passes, there may be a tendency to have a waning relationship with God.
-Wise is the man who learns how to overcome the gradual deterioration of spiritual things! The Lord affirmed in John 15 that there would be some fruit that remained. The only true fruit of the Spirit is that which does not wear out with the advancing of time.
-This is why it was crucial for the lamp in the Tabernacle to never go out. Our light has to remain in a constant state of readiness.
-If you walk out of here tonight and return ten years later, I pray that you find the same things:
• Fervent prayer.
• Heartfelt worship.
• Distinctive separation from the world.
• Passionate preaching.
• A focus on reaching our world and not satisfying ourselves.
• Worship that is more than just a whim.
-I pray that if you were to have some cause (moving away, job transfer, out of state school requirements, etc.) to leave and not return for years that the light at the lamp would still be so brilliant and powerful that it could still change a life.
lV. CONCLUSION -- WHY DRESS THE LAMPS?
-In Babylon, God used the Lampstand in a very powerful and significant way:
Daniel 5:1-6 KJV Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. [2] Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. [3] Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. [4] They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. [5] In the same hour came forth fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. [6] Then the king’s countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.
-The handwriting on the wall told of the great fall of the Babylonian kingdom. In the very last days of this generation, God is going to exalt His Church and use them to overcome the final Babylonian system.
1 Peter 5:13 KJV The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you. .
-Peter informs us that there was a lampstand in Babylon in his days. There is a Church in this Babylon. . . our Babylon is not necessarily a geographical location as much as it is a “spirit of the age.” But God is going to use this candlestick to give light to a generation that desperately needs to see!
-Babylon is revisited again the book of Revelation and is destroyed. Rising out of the calamities of Revelation is a pure bride, whose garments are spotless and white, a light that has literally overcome the kingdom of Satan.
-However, the book of Zechariah has something to say about the candlesticks also:
Zechariah 4:1-14 KJV And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep, [2] And said unto me, What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: [3] And two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left side thereof. [4] So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? [5] Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. [6] Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts. [7] Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. [8] Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, [9] The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. [10] For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the LORD, which run to and fro through the whole earth. [11] Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? [12] And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? [13] And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord. [14] Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
-The light of this Church is going to shine into the whole world.
-Notice that on both sides of this Lampstand were two olive trees that had a continuous supply of oil for the light.
-Notice from this passage:
• The great mountain becomes a flat plain.
• There is strength coming to the hands that started the foundation.
• The day of small things cannot remain forever.
• The Church does not run on human might, power, talent, or programs but on the sheer strength and power of the Spirit.
• The light of God will totally overcome this earth in the final days.
-That is why it is so important for the oil to stay pure and the lamps to remain trimmed.
Philip Harrelson
July 26, 2006
barnabas14@yahoo.com
