Many a times you hear someone say, “That church is really on fire.” Or, maybe they say, “That person is really on fire for the Lord.”

We want to consider words from the Bible that should encourage us to keep the fires burning in our life for always. We can keep that fire burning with God’s help. And not just in our individual lives but in the life of the church, also.

Let’s look at our primary text now…

Leviticus 6:9-13

Many a times you hear someone say, “That church is really on fire.” Or, maybe they say, “That person is really on fire for the Lord.”

We want to consider words from the Bible that should encourage us to keep the fires burning in our life for always. We can keep that fire burning with God’s help. And not just in our individual lives but in the life of this church, also.

Let’s look at our primary text now.

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.

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.

It should be our prayer that this church, other churches in our area, and all churches around this world that stand for Jesus Christ be on fire for God. May it be that we are on fire more than we have ever been before. May it be that when a lost person comes by, they might say, “I don’t know why I’m here. I just felt that something was persuading me to come in here and see what’s going on.” May it be that this church is so on fire that people in this community say, “There are wonderful things happening at that church. Things that can’t be explained. Things that only God can do.”

A pastor received a phone call late one night and he was informed that there was a fire at his church. He quickly got dressed and drove to the church. When he arrived he discovered that the church was engulfed in flames and was a total loss. He stood with other members of the church as they cried, hugged, and prayed.

He glanced around and noticed a certain gentleman standing on the corner observing all that was taking place. This was a man that the pastor had visited many times and had invited to church. However, the man had never stepped one foot in the church building. The pastor was a bit taken aback. He walked over to the gentleman and said, “Well, I never saw you in the church.” The gentleman replied, “Well, the church had never been on fire before.”

Now, this is not the kind of fire we would ever wish for our church. But we should be praying for the fire of the Holy Spirit to consume this place. And that it happens in such a way people will be drawn to this place.

Now, there are some questions we need to ask and try to answer as we consider this fire that is spoken of in Leviticus. First of all, what is this fire?

Secondly, whose responsibility is it that this fire should not go out?

And, thirdly, how can we see that the fire does not go out?

And lastly, why should we keep the fire burning?

First of all, what is this fire? The Scripture tells us what this fire is. Over and over in the Old Testament we’re reminded of the symbol of fire. The fire first appears as Moses sees a bush burning in the desert but its not being consumed. Moses had often seen bushes burning in the desert but he had never seen one that wasn’t being consumed. So, Moses went over to see that bush and he heard a voice. That voice said, “Take off your shoes, Moses, for the ground on which you’re standing is holy ground.” Moses removed his shoes and began a meeting with the Lord God.

Then, we see Moses leading the people of Israel. The Bible tells us they were lead by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

Then we see on top of Mount Sinai the mountain was burning with fire because of the presence of God. And God’s voice came and called for Moses. And Moses went up and received the Ten Commandments that were written by the finger of God.

Later in the Old Testament we see Elijah. He is calling on God to send down his fire. Remember the confrontation of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. In the book of 1 Kings, the 18th chapter, Elijah challenges the prophets of Ba’al to a duel. Both will set up an altar with a bull. Then they will both call on their god to consume the offering with fire.

Elijah says, You go first.” So, the prophets of Ba’al begin to call on their god to come and burn up the offering. But nothing happens.

The Bible says they cried from morning till noon. But nothing happened. They began to dance. But nothing happened. They began to cut themselves until their own blood flowed but nothing happened. Midday passed and they were approaching evening. And the Bible says in verse 29,

“But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.”

Now, you might think that Elijah was being a good sport about all of this. He was probably standing on the sidelines offering encouragement and wishing them a good game. Well, not exactly. He began to taunt the prophets of Ba’al. He would say things like,

“Shout a little louder! Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and needs to be awakened.”

Elijah knew that Ba’al would not answer because he was no god. Elijah served the only true God. So, the prophets of Ba’al gave up and it was Elijah’s turn.

Now, to make things a little more impressive, he made it appear a little more difficult for God to burn the offering. He had the servants fill four large jugs of water and pour them over the offering. Then he told them to do it again. Then he told them to do it a third time. Then, Elijah prayed. He prayed,

“O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. “Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. And then on the Emmaus Road, the two disciples who were walking and had an encounter with the risen Christ said, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Do you see what the fire represents? The fire represented the presence of Almighty God.

It wasn’t the burning bush that made the meeting with Moses holy. It was the presence of Almighty God. God Himself led the children of Israel. Elijah didn’t defeat the prophets of Ba’al. It was God Who defeated them. It wasn’t the emotional moment of the day which created the fire for the disciples. It was the very presence of Jesus Christ. And there were others who experienced this fire. Jeremiah said there is a fire in my bones and I have to speak the Word of God. John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

At Pentecost, in the Book of Acts, we see the Holy Spirit coming down with tongues as of fire.

In the Book of Revelation, John had a vision of the risen Lord Jesus. He spoke of His eyes being as that were fiery. Those fiery eyes that can see into our soul and discern everything that is within. The fire represents the judging presence of Almighty God. The fire represents God’s presence among us. When you give your life to Christ, He places a fire within you to grow and become more and more like Him. Sadly, though, that fire begins to die out. It becomes a flickering flame where once it was an inferno for Him. What’s happened? Well, let’s consider our next question, whose responsibility is it to keep the fire burning in our hearts and in this church?

Here in Leviticus its clear that it’s the priest’s responsibility (v 12). So, it’s the pastor’s responsibility. It’s the responsibility of the church staff. You might say it’s also the deacons’ responsibility. You might even say it’s the responsibility of the Sunday School teachers. But, as New Testament Christians, we must remember what Paul said in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light..”

Every Christian is God’s priests. It was the responsibility of the priests to carry men to God and to carry God back to men. Take men to God through prayer and take God to men through His Word. And it is our responsibility then to be God’s priests. We are to pray for our neighbors and our coworkers and our family. And we are to take God to our neighbors and coworkers and family by sharing His Word.

Whose responsibility is it to carry the fire? Its mine, its yours and it’s the responsibility of us all to carry this fire and to keep it burning. Because we are all priests. Have you ever heard anyone say, “Oh, our church is just so cold. I just don’t feel anything there anymore.” Listen folks, if you feel your church is cold, then you go in on fire and heat up that place. It doesn’t have to be cold if you’ll set it on fire. It only takes a spark to get a fire going. You warm up somebody else and let them warm up somebody else and soon your whole church will be on fire for Jesus.

Whose responsibility is it? It’s all our responsibility. And people can tell as soon as they walk in a church if its on fire or not.