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Monday, 20 October 2008 20:26 |
And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the congregation, and came out, and blessed the people: and the glory of the LORD appeared unto all the people. And there came a fire out from before the LORD, and consumed upon the altar the burnt offering and the fat: which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces. Leviticus 9:23-24
The daily morning and evening sacrifice of the Old Testament was a whole-burnt offering, and it was a critical part of maintaining their spiritual life as one people for God. But the fire for these daily sacrifices was started by God himself - and the sacrifice was to be fully consumed by the fire, every time it was offered. There was to be nothing left but red-hot coals. Once God started that fire (as noted above in Leviticus 9:23-24), it was the responsibly of the people to make sure that that same fire never went out. And they continued this morning and evening whole burnt offering daily as part of their regular worship.
This sacrifice is representative of the experience of sanctification that we need today.
The fire God started back then represents in type the fire of the Holy Ghost that we need in our heart and soul today. It is the burning love of God working in the heart that consumes self-will and our own selfish purposes as it did the whole burnt offering in the Old Testament. We must present ourselves as a holy and complete sacrifice before God in order for him to send the burning love of the Holy Ghost into our hearts and lives.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1
We cannot present a "holy" and "acceptable" sacrifice to God, if there is still sin working in our life. We must fully repent of all sin, meaning, we must fully turn away from all sin for good - and ask God to forgive us of our sins. Then we are ready: and once we have really, with a godly sorrow, turned away from sin, we will find serving him this way a "reasonable service".
You see, the Old Testament method of worshiping God has been removed, so now we are to be that "whole burnt offering", offered on the spiritual altar. Therefore we cannot be sanctified unless we are holy and sin free; all sin must be repented of and forsaken.
Sanctification is a work that can only be done by God - when he sends the fire of the Holy Ghost down. But then, just as with the Old Testament sacrifice which was done daily, we need to daily continue to submit ourselves before the Lord, devoting ourselves to His will and way. This is why it is good for a true Christian to daily have time to get away to pray and seek the Lord in devoted thanksgiving, and to present our burdens before the Lord for those we know who are still lost in sin.
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