BUILDING AN ALTAR OF FIRE

Building An Altar of Fire 

An altar is a raised area in a house of worship where people can honor God with offerings. It is prominent in the Bible as "God's table," a sacred place for sacrifices and gifts offered up to God.

A) THE  ALTARS  OF  GOD

We are the New Testament altars of GOD under Grace.

The First Altar Mentioned in Bible – Genesis 8:20 (Amplified bible)

“And Noah built an altar to the Lord and took of every clean [four-footed] animal and of every clean fowl or bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”

Abraham built four altars as he journeyed out from his homeland to where God led him.  He went by faith as God revealed Himself to him there he built an altar.

Hebrews 13:10 (Amplified Bible)

We have an altar from which those who serve and worship in the tabernacle have no right to eat. The Altar of Jesus Sacrifice

Hebrews 13:15 (Amplified Bible)

Through Him, therefore, let us constantly and at all times offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, which is the fruit of lips that thankfully acknowledge and confess and glorify His name.

 

B)  WHY BUILDING AN ALTAR?

Rebuilding the Altar so the fire of God can fall.

Luke 24:49 & Acts 1:8 – As they were waiting in the upper room for 50 days the day of Pentecost came and the Spirit of God came down upon the disciples as they spoke in tongues.  Their tongues are like fire. God says you shall be baptized with the Spirit and fire.

Acts 1:3  “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.”

 

C) THE ALTAR OF FIRE

1 Kings 18:30-32

30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.

450 Prophets already had their turn and they cried, cut themselves with knives, danced. They barked liked dogs and hollered, but nothing came. When all the dancing, shouting, yelling, clapping and jumping was over, there was NO fire.

Then it came to Elijah’s turn to cry unto God to send the fire. Elijah had to convince the nation that Jehovah was still alive and in business. V.24, “the God that answer by fire – let Him be God.” That’s what church’s needs. The church of Jesus Christ set on fire with His love. And nothing will make any difference in your life. You can try your pills, alcohol even therapy – nothing will meet your need. You can preach until your blue in the face and you can pray and put on your sincerity – nothing will make any difference in your ministry and in your life, only the fire of God.

D) THE REAL ALTAR IS IN THE HEARTS OF GOD’S PEOPLE

              Psalm 139:23-24

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

Psalm 139:23-24; Jeremiah 2:11-13; Hebrews 10:9-18; 1 Peter 2:4-5; Hebrews 13:15-16

My altar is in my heart. Your altar is in your heart and that’s where the fire of the Lord burns. God commanded the priests at the tabernacle in Lev. 6:12 and this was His commission to the priests – “the fire shall be ever burning upon the altar it shall NEVER go out!” The same principle is in the New Testament tabernacle – the church. The fire must always be burning and it must be burning in the morning, noon, evening and night. That’s the mission of the church. That’s how we shine forth as light in the darkness.

IS YOUR ALTAR  BROKEN DOWN?

He went to where God required an altar and the altar was broken down. Everyone could see it was broken down and the first thing Elijah did was repair it. The altar is the heart. What needs to be repaired?  A broken heart?  A hardened heart?  An unforgiving heart?  A critical heart?  A doubtful heart? Those things can hold you back. God is the God of the heart.

We offer the three sacrifices on the "heart altar": prayer, praise, and worship?   Our zeal and passion for God.

MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY