Title: Burn Baby Burn!
...m God. It was the place that things were consumed with the holy fire from God to be no more. It was the place where the sacrifice was placed and consumed. It is a place of surrender a place of submission whereby we lay down our own agendas and lives to be totally consumed and committed to Christ. In the temple there were three altars: 1. The Burnt Offering Altar (the brazen Altar) – which symbolizes the sacrifice for sins 2. The Altar of Incense (the golden Altar) – whereby spices were continually burned with the fire taken from the brazen altar – which is symbolic of prayer/praise offerings to God 3. The North Altar – which was the one to supply the means for kindling the other two altars The Priest: He was very necessary to maintain the fire upon the altar. It was his job to keep the fire going. Understandably the fire on the altars were continually in use for the children of Israel, everyday there were offerings being sacrificed to the Lord, the priest not only had to perform these but he also was responsible for keeping it going throughout the night – which required some extra care and attention. It was good house-keeping for them to keep it burning all the time rather than to let it go out and try and rekindle it again – this is much harder considering that God started the fire in the first place, if it went out they could not have expected it to be kindled again. Not only did he do these tasks but he had to make sure the ashes were carried out when the offering was consumed and then he was to clean the altar. By keeping the altar clean the fire would burn brighter and better. Fire needs oxygen to fan into flame and thus the reason for keeping it clean – without any rubbish in the way it is possible to have a pure flame. Everything which would prevent the fire from burning had to be removed – daily! The same is true of us. We must maintain the fire of God within us. It is necessary for us to keep alive the fire or first love of God within our lives. We can do this by continually offering ourselves to God a fresh. Maintaining the fire of God within is something that will take effort and extra care and attention. It is not possible to start a fire and expect it to continue to burn with intensity without some care and attention. Take a cane fire for instance…it is lit all the way around, the flames are intense, they are huge and there is a massive amount of heat that radiates from them. It is also very hard to miss, the flames are huge and can be seen for miles, there is also a crackling noise that is very piercing that it creates and the smoke signal is a massive ball of black and grey smoke that lingers in the air for hours…but even though the fire is bright, the noise can be heard and the after effects seen for a period of time the flame actually runs in a short burst of frenetic energy that burns back on itself and the flame is extinguished within maybe 20mins. Not very long lived. Why? Because there is no new fuel added to it and also the already burnt cane remains so no new air can get to the flame to rekindle it and it goes out. And so it is with our ‘fire”, if not maintained, refueled and expressed it too will burn out. Acrostic: F – Fire We need the fire of God in our lives no doubt about it. God promises to start the fire within us: Matthew 3:11 "I'm baptizing you here in the river, turning your old life in for a kingdom life. The real action comes next: The main character in this drama - compared to him I'm a mere stagehand - will ignite the kingdom life within you, a fire within you, the Holy Spirit within you, changing you from the inside out”. Fire will also purify the intentions of our heart: Proverbs 27:21 The purity of silver and gold is tested by putting them in the fire; The purity of human hearts is tested by giving them a little fame. I – Intensity It is possible to keep the intensity of the fire burning brightly with some care. Hebrews 6:11-12 And now I want each of you to extend that same intensity toward a full-bodied hope, and keep at it till the finish. Don't drag your feet. Be like those who stay the course with committed faith and then get everything promised to them Phillipians 2:12 What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you've done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I'm separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God The intensity of our love for God should never be quenched by circumstance or feelings. We are ...