Every Service to God must be Based on the Fire from the Altar of Burnt Offering

Our God is a consuming fire, Christ came to cast fire on earth, the Spirit is seven lamps of fire burning before God’s throne, the Triune God is burning in resurrection to call us, the word of God is like fire burning in us, and our serving God should be based on the fire from the altar of burnt offering.

As believers in Christ we are all serving ones, and we should serve God by realizing that the basis of our work is the fire from the altar of burnt offering. When we come to God, He as a fire burns in us to remove any impurity and evil thing, and to energize us to serve Him with His fire.

As the burning One, God is holy – holiness is His nature, and whatever doesn’t correspond with His holy nature He will consume (Heb. 12:29).

The Lord Jesus came to cast fire on earth; He was baptized with the baptism of His death so that His human shell would be broken, and His divine life was released to be cast on earth as fire to burn men, burn in men, and cause men to be burning for God.

We all as believers in Christ caught the fire of the divine life; within us we have God’s life, and within this life there’s the divine fire burning. This fire is the impulse of our spiritual life, an impulse which comes from the Lord’s released divine life.

We can and should serve God based on this fire, the fire that comes from God, and not from our own endeavor, ability, knowledge, or zeal. Our God is the burning Triune God, the God of resurrection, who wants to take us, the sinful and ugly thornbush, as the seat for His flame.

He wants to burn in us and yet not consume us, just as the flame was burning on the thornbush in the wilderness but it didn’t consume it (Exo. 3). May we allow the Lord to burn in us, and may we allow His word to energize us from within to speak for the Lord, serve the Lord, and preach the gospel!

As those who Desire to Serve God we must Know that God is a Consuming Fire: He Burns and Energizes!

Those who have a desire to serve God must remember that our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:29). When God comes to the earth, fire comes to the earth. When God enters into man, fire enters into man and burns in him. The degree of burning may be different, but every believer experiences being burned. God is not cold. He is fire that energizes and burns. Those who draw near to God experience the burning. God is a consuming fire, and His eyes are like a flame of fire (Rev. 1:14). Whoever touches Him will be burned. (Witness Lee, The Service for Building Up the House of God, p. 28)

A blacksmith puts a piece of iron into the fire in the furnace, and after a while this piece of iron glows with fire – the fire and the iron become one. Initially the iron was put in the fire, but then the fire gets into the iron.

As we spend time with the Lord, the word of God as fire comes into us, burns in us, and becomes one with us; we then burn with this fire coming from God. Wherever we go we will bring the divine fire, because we and the fire are one: God came into us and we are mingled with God as the consuming fire.

The fire that burned on the altar of the burnt offering came down from the heavens (see Lev. 9:24). Everything was set up on the altar, but the service to God cannot begin until the fire comes down on the altar. The fire that burns the sacrifice is not from the source of man or a natural source, but a fire that came down from the heavens to consume and burn the sacrifice.

First, we need to have the altar: we need to offer God our consecration; then, upon the altar we have sacrifices, and the fire will descend. After coming down from the heavens, that fire burned continually upon the altar (Lev. 6:13).

This continual burning of the fire indicates that God is always willing to receive our offering through fire; God’s fire is always ready to burn. We need to cooperate with God; He initiates the work, He burns in us as the fire, and we need to cooperate by maintaining the burning of the fire.

This divine fire, the burning Triune God, enables us to serve God and even to sacrifice our lives (Rom. 12:11). As those who have a desire to serve God, we must know that our God is a consuming fire that burns and energizes.

When God comes to earth, fire comes to earth, and when God enters into man, fire enters into man and burns in him. The only service that is pleasing to God is with the divine fire burning in us and energizing us.

Lord Jesus, our desire is to serve God in a way that is pleasing to Him; cause us to realize that our God is a consuming fire that burns and energizes! Lord, we consecrate ourselves to You and we give You the first place in all things; we put ourselves on the altar so that You as the fire may come in and burn us and energize us to serve You! Oh Lord, we want to cooperate with You by maintaining the divine fire burning in us in our service to God. Save us from any man-made or natural fire: may the divine fire be burning in us in our service to God!

Every Service to God must be Based on the Fire from the Altar of Burnt Offering

Up to the time of Lev. 9, the children of Israel left Egypt, crossed the Red Sea, received the law, built the tabernacle, and set up the altar, but the service did not begin; the service of the priests began after Lev. 9:24, when the fire descended from the heaven and burned the offerings.

We need to realize that every service to God must be based on the fire from the altar of burnt offerings (see Lev. 9:24; 16:12-13; 6:13; 10:1-2). Just as the service of the priests started when the fire descended from the heavens on the burnt offering altar, so we as believers in Christ cannot serve Him unless the divine fire burns in us.

The fire from the burnt offering altar is the fire coming from God. The priests’ service was to maintain the fire on the burnt offerings burning continually, to burn the incense, and the high priest made atonement once a year for the people; all the service of the priests is based on the fire from the altar, which was to burn continually, to be brought into the Holy of Holies, and to be used for the atonement.

Fire is from God: He casts fire on the earth, and when we offer God our consecration, the fire will come; the amount of consecration we offer on the altar determines the intensity of the fire. Our service to God must originate from the fire on the altar of burnt offering, and our service must be the issue of the burning of this fire.

We shouldn’t do things for God simply because there’s a need, we have the ability to do them, or we have a burden to do them; we should not have a personal agenda and purpose to carry out while serving God, but we should go because God sends us to go, we should do this or that because God in us leads us to do this and that, and we should let the fire from God burn in us.

Without the divine fire, everything is on hold, and no service can be offered to God; our service must come out of the burning of God’s fire (Exo. 3:2, 4, 6). May the vision of the burning thornbush control and govern our service to God!

We need to realize that we are not “beautiful henna flowers” or “roses”; rather, we are worthless thornbushes with a priceless treasure within, and the Triune God of resurrection burns in us. We cannot rely on ourselves or trust in our natural ability; we need to let the Burning One burn within us and upon us, so that He may energize us.

Fire is the source of energy: in order for our service to be full of energy, our service must pass through the fire on the altar (Lev. 6:13). In the physical world everything that moves needs energy, and energy is produced through burning; in order for our service to God to be full of energy, our service must pass through the fire on the altar.

This fire is not a strange fire, a fire from man or of the earth, but a holy fire, the fire of God and of heaven. This divine fire should be the energy, the driving force, the impulse within us; if we have this fire, our service will be out of God and not out of ourselves (Luke 12:49).

Lord Jesus, bring us to the realization that our service to God must be based on the fire from the altar of burnt offering. May the vision of the burning thornbush be a governing and controlling vision to all our service to God. Oh Lord, we are worthless prickly thornbushes but we have a priceless treasure within: the burning Triune God of resurrection! May our service come out of the burning of God’s fire and not from ourselves or any natural fire. May the fire on the altar of burnt offering be the energy and driving force within us in serving God!

References and Hymns on this Topic

• Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by brother James Lee for this week, and The Service for Building Up the House of God, pp. 19-20 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Service for the Building up of the Church (2016 Spring ITERO), week 6 / msg. 6, The Basis of Service — the Fire from the Altar.
• All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # First the altar, then the fire, / If no loss, there’ll be no gain; / If our all has not been offered, / To the throne we’ll ne’er attain. / If to sacrifice we’re willing, / All forsaking, God t’obey, / He to us will be committed / And thru us His pow’r display. (Hymns #279)
  # The fire from heaven, which came down / To burn the offered Son, / Becomes the fire to incense burn, / As fragrance to God’s throne; / The sweetness we experience / Through Christ’s inclusive death, / Is sweetness unto God through our / Ascending, praying breath. (Song on the fire coming from God)
  # “Keep the incense burning” / On the altar fire; / Feed the flame, Lord Jesus, / Till Thy whole desire / Shall in us, Thy children, / Find free course, and be / Breathed through lips anointed / For this ministry. (Hymns #790)