Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Keeping the Fire Burning


Keeping the Fire Burning
Leviticus 6:8-13

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. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out. Leviticus 6:12-13

When I was a boy I was always fascinated with splitting wood... I would beg Dad to allow me to help split the wood but he knew I was too young, so I was made to be content carrying arm loads of wood from the woodpile to the house and into a woodbox beside our old buck stove. One day when I was very young, I went to the splitting log and grabbed the axe... I took a big swing... missed... and split my knee wide open, OUCH!... to say the least! I may be rambling a bit but I've shared this so that I could draw your attention to the fact that every fire must have fuel; wood, paper, oil... there must be something that feeds the fire in order for the fire to continue.

I think one of our greatest failures as Christians is that so many fail to realize that God gives the flame, but it's our responsibility to keep, to tend the flame.

Our Scripture tells us that it was the responsibility of the priests to keep the fire burning on the altar.

They were responsible to remove the ashes, the waste, the old, and the expired and to add new wood. 

Today, it is our responsibility to provide fuel for the fire, it is also our responsibility to get rid of the trash, to get rid of anything that threatens to quench or hinder the flame. 

We have to see to it that every day we provide a fresh supply of wood. 

Q: The Holy Ghost comes to us as a flame that can either grow and develop and become a devouring fire… Or it can remain a small flicker, or he can actually be quenched till he cannot be seen or experienced at all.

Just being in church doesn't stoke your fire; just hearing the preaching of the Gospel does not add any Flame or fuel to your fire.

You can speak Jesus name every 30 seconds and still not have the influence of the Holy-Spirit in your heart & home.

You say how do I keep the fire burning?

1. You have to have the word, that’s the kindling
2.You have to pray (pray until the Fire falls and then keep on praying until the flame begins to consume everything in your life) Read the word, study the word, pray, praise, worship)

Oil

2 Corinthians 1:21-22 Now he which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

In times past there were those who were responsible to keep the Kings oil. Whenever the King, or the Kings household needed oil they came to this keeper of the oil, he was in charge of the oil (oil was used for almost everything) oil was necessary for cooking… Oil was necessary for the lamps to keep the lamps burning. 

Well that's what we are: we are keepers of the Kings oil. 

Oil makes the Fire burn; the oil is the fuel of the fire.

Being a keeper of the oil means: 
1. To be sure that there is always oil available
2. To be sure that the oil is always fresh
3. To keep the oil free of contaminants

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 10:1…Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour:…

In other words dead things, carnal things, selfish things, fleshly things make the anointing stink. 

It doesn't matter how saved you are if you have carnality, fleshly things, earthly things (criticism, jealousy, envy, strife, debate, rebellion, anger, selfishness, stubbornness, resentment,) it causes the oil to stink.

The Christian is suppose to produce a sweet aroma: The Spirit of Christ is sweet, and pure, and honest, and precious, and draws people to Christ.

But a carnal, selfish, self-willed, critical, stubborn, argumentive Christian drives people away.

Many years ago kerosene lamps had to be tended to, first of all; they head have kerosene then they had to have the globe cleaned from time to time, because when the wick got burned instead of a beautiful clear light, it would smoke up the globe, and finally, they had to have the wicks trimmed every so often. 

The same is true for us we have to make sure we have oil in our lamps. And we have to keep the wick trimmed we have to cut off and cut out the unnecessary, the unprofitable, the used, the old, the excess. And we have to keep the globe clean so people can clearly see the light in us, and not our fleshly nature.

Paul said… 1 Corinthians 6:12 All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
1 Corinthians 10:23 All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

Solomon said by the Spirit of God: Let thy garments always be white and let thy head lack no ointment. Ec 9:8

The garments speak of the life that you live that others can see, the outward expression of the inward possession.

If you claim to have the Holy Spirit living in you: Then your life should show it.

One of the most important ways to keep the anointing in your life is to be in position in the body of Christ.

All of our anointing comes from Christ the anointed one who is the head of the Church; He is the head of the entire body of Christ. Christ means: The anointed One

I would rather sit under a self-taught farm boy who has the anointing, than a seminary professor with more degrees than a thermometer but has no anointing.

Because Jesus said: it is the spirit that quickeneth the flesh profits nothing.
And the apostle Paul said: the letter killeth but the spirit maketh alive

The Bible says the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

That means our light, our fire, is supposed to get bigger and brighter all the time until we are completely consumed, completely on fire for God.

We were created for the fire
We were created to live in the fire
We were created to be creatures of fire
We were created to carry the fire

Conclusion:

Matthew 5:14-16 (Ye are the light of the world... Let your light so shine!)


We are Keepers of The Flame

Years ago my pastor told me of a family who lived in a small cabin nestled in a settlement. This families responsibility was to keep fire for the community... if someone's fire had gone out due to travel or another reason; they could come to this family and get an ember for their own home. History records that this family stayed faithful to be the keepers of the fire for more than 125 years.

Are we keeping the fire burning for our homes, churches and communities? Like it or not, as God's people we are responsible to keep the fire burning! 

Preached by Pastor Chad 

No comments:

Post a Comment