Keep the Sacred Fire Always Burning, Pt 2 (01/20/2002)

Park Meadows Church

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Today, we're going to finish our study of the scriptures on what it means to keep the sacred fires always burning.

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Let's pray, Father. We ask now that you bless the word of God. You've promised in your word that you will always bless it.

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Help us as a church to be the pillar of the truth and to stay within the bounds of your scriptures.

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Help us to be in the truth. Help us to teach this, realizing that you are among us this morning.

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Help us to respond to your word in such a way that would be pleasing to your heart. We ask it in Jesus' name.

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Amen. One of the duties we have as believer priests is to keep the sacred fires of the altar always burning.

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And today, we'll have the privilege of looking at more things that this pictures for us.

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All the things that happen in the Old Testament, the Bible teaches us in at least two scriptures in the New Testament that they're given as types, sample, in samples, pictures of the spiritual truths that God has brought to us, that he has revealed to us.

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We don't want this to be a doctrinal lesson today, but it's filled with doctrine. But hopefully the conclusion of the message today will be practical as we talk about walking with our

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Lord and what it means, what all this pictures. Let's read the verse that we read last week in Leviticus chapter 6, verse 12, a couple of verses here.

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And the fire upon the altar shall be burning in it. It shall not be put out.

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And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning and lay the burnt offering in order.

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There's an order in which the offering is supposed to be placed on the altar, in order upon it.

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And he shall burn thereon the fat of the peace offerings. The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar.

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It shall never go out. What is this picture for us? Well, last time we talked about the different types of animals that can be offered in these offerings.

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We talked about the ox, which pictures patience and enduring obedience. We talked about the sheep or the lamb, which pictures unresisting self -death.

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We've talked about the goat, which pictures the fact that our Lord Jesus was numbered with the transgressors.

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For us, it pictures the fact that our sins were in his body on the tree.

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And we talked about the little turtle dove or the pigeon, which pictures innocency, being poor in spirit.

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He became poor that we might be rich. Now, all of that, the conclusion of that message is the fact that we don't naturally have any of those attributes.

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We don't have any of that in the flesh. And the only way that we have any of that to offer is in Christ.

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And because he's made us to be a new man at the point when we were born again.

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He's created within us his own nature. He's rebirthed us.

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He's actually re -gened us and given us the spiritual genes of the Father. And all of that we think about is the fact that he did.

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It's his finished work. He has accomplished so much on the cross. One man wrote that 33 things come to us because of the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

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But he admitted that there were probably many, many more that he hadn't counted. Today, we want to talk about some aspects of this.

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As you picture the altar and the fires of the altar continually burning, a smoke going up before the

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Father, a sweet -smelling savor going before the Father all the time, never to be stopped.

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Let's look at a few more things this can picture for us. I'd like to take a few moments to go into the

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New Testament. If you would, turn to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 8.

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Now this offering, as we discussed last time, had some aspects.

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Leviticus chapter 1 talks about it as well. Verse 3 talks about the fact that it was a free will offering.

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And it was an offering to be brought before the Lord. And the priest placed his hand upon the head of the sacrifice.

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And that's a picture of faith. By faith, we become identified with the

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Lord Jesus. And by faith, all of these beautiful attributes that were pictured by these animals, the perfect obedience and so forth, by faith, we are identified with the

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Lord Jesus. He lived a perfect life that we might have his righteousness and so forth.

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And his death was substitutionary. We are identified with him in his death.

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It has to be that way. Even these beautiful attributes, the patience, the self -denial and so forth, they have to be substitutionary.

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They come from him to us. One thing we didn't get to last week is the last aspect of this that's seen in this chapter 1 in the end of verse 4 and following.

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And that is that it also does something to the Father, not just for us.

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We're not the only ones that benefit from what Jesus did on that altar, which was the cross.

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In Ephesians 1, verse 5, it says, Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.

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So this gift was accepted by the Father. This gift of Jesus Christ, of his life given on the cross, was accepted.

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That stands for the doctrine that we call propitiation. God was satisfied with the death of his son as the payment for the sins of all of his people.

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And we see all of these things are pictured. Every time these offerings were made, and they were made constantly, and the fire never went out.

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There was an order of this. I'm going to get to 1 Thessalonians, believe it or not, chapter 5, verse 8.

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It takes you a while to find it, so I'm giving you time to find it. I don't want you to be embarrassed or anything, so keep looking.

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But in Leviticus 1, it continues, and it gives an order of the sacrifice. I've alluded to that a couple of times.

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It's interesting in verses 6 and 7 that the head was placed on the altar first.

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And then the fat. And then the inwards and the legs. And if he had hands, the hands.

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He didn't have hands, but it would be pictured. Our feet and our hands are pictured here as that which serves

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God. And then the ashes that are left. There's an interesting, specific thing that's done with the ashes.

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And all of this creates a sweet -smelling savor to the Lord. And this animal was always killed on the north side of the altar.

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I've been to Golgotha and seen it. Now, why theologians debate about it, I do not know.

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I think it's because the Catholics for so many years have said that the place of the cross was in this certain.

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They have a building built around where it was supposed to be, but they were wrong. Historically, they're wrong.

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Archaeologically, they're wrong. Spiritually, they're wrong. That they're wrong about the place.

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Because if you go just outside of the old gates where the old wall of the city was. To a place and look to the north.

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You will see, still today, a hill that has eye sockets.

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And a little nose place and a mouth. And it looks exactly like a skull.

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It's the place of the skull. And this is where the Romans crucified people. And this is where our

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Lord Jesus Christ was offered. And it's still there just as plain as day. I have photographs

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I took with my own camera. At a particular angle where it's just almost like someone built that to look like a skull.

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Which someone did. And they debate, theologians debate about where it is and where he died.

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There's no debate about it. If you go over there today, if you have the courage to go there today. I'm glad I went back when

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I did in the 80s. I didn't have too many car bombings the week I was there back in the 80s.

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It was after I got back home. They were doing it even back in those days. But if you could see that place, there would be no debate in your mind where our

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Lord died. Where that altar was. Where that cross was placed.

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And so the killing of the animal was done on the north side of the altar.

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Which pictures the fact that the cross was on the north side of the city outside the gates. And all of these things are pictured.

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The ashes are always placed on the east side of the gate. I mean of the altar.

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Because the Lord Jesus will be coming back from that direction.

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And Judah, the line that Jesus is from, was always camped on the east side in the wilderness tabernacle.

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All of these things, more than we can ever discuss, are all pictured by the fact of this altar remaining burning.

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Now have you found, I'm the only one that hasn't found 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 yet. So let me find it.

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And we'll read it. If you're familiar with Ephesians chapter 6, it talks about some armor that's put on.

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Now this armor is pretty easy to understand most of it. It deals with spiritual warfare. The only one

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I had trouble understanding most of my saved life was why do you have to put on the helmet if the helmet is salvation.

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That would almost be like I lose my salvation and then I have to put it back on every morning. And then I can lose it again and then

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I put it back on. And we know that's not true by the multiplied thousands of verses in the Bible that teach eternal security.

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So that doesn't fit. And one day the Lord showed me this verse in 1

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Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 8 and 9.

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And let's read it together and explain what it meant about putting on the helmet.

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We get a little additional information. It's not really the helmet of salvation that we place on our heads every day.

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It's the helmet of the hope of salvation. But let us who are of the day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

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For God hath not appointed us to wrath but to obtain salvation by our

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Lord Jesus Christ. That's a verse that's used out of context a lot.

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But we see clearly in the context that this is talking about this helmet, the hope of salvation.

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It is a helmet that we need only to wear in this life, in this earth, in this battle. I love the hymn, hold on, this hymn that Roger led us in this morning.

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A lot of times I'm not as familiar with some of the other verses. Get down past about the first chorus and I'm not familiar with it a lot of times.

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But had you ever noticed this in Stand Up for Jesus? This day the noise of battle, the next the victor's song.

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What a line! I never noticed that in this song before. By the time I get to the fourth verse

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I'm ready to sit down. I want to get to sit down so I'm not thinking about the words. And look at that.

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This day the noise of battle. That's what we're in. The next day, the victor's song.

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Stand up, stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long. He encourages us to fight because he says it's going to be over really, really fast.

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Battles don't last long, especially the kind in the Bible days. You have a group of several, maybe 30, 40, 50, 60 ,000 men on each side.

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They look at each other across the pasture if they're fighting in Texas. It would be a field over in Europe, I guess.

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They look at each other. They rattle their sabers a little bit. Holler a few obscenities at each other or whatever they do.

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And then they run at each other. And then in about an hour there's less than half of them left and they go home.

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And the ones that get to go home sometimes would sing together as they marched home a joyful song of victory from the battle.

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But the battle did not last very long. The preparation may have been long. The march to get there may have been long.

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The fears of thinking about it and all of the thoughts and planning may have taken time.

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But the battle itself was over very, very quickly. And there's only one victor when it's over.

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And that's the Lord Jesus. Satan thought he had it when he was on that cross.

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He thought he had won the victory. But before the day was over he was trembling. And that battle was won by the

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Lord Jesus. And we're on that side. Now this hope, this helmet of the hope of salvation is all about the battle that has been finished.

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When we think of the finished work of Jesus that all the little animals we studied last Sunday pictured.

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That has been finished. But there's an interesting convergence in the

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Bible. It's difficult for us to comprehend. We deal with the sovereignty of God and we deal with the responsibility of man.

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And we have a difficult time putting the two together. Except for Brother Otis. He seems to have it figured out.

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One morning he asked in Sunday school. He said, David, do you know God's perfect will for your life tomorrow, next week?

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And I know I feel just like you do, Greg. When he asked me a question, just like the rest of you, I'm going, oh.

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Wish he'd asked that one to the other guy. Sometimes it's best to be the first one because they don't use up all the answers yet.

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You know what I mean? So he said, can you know God's perfect will next week for your life?

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Well, the correct answer to that would be, yes, I can. I'm in his perfect will and I know it. That would be the politically correct answer in Christian circles, wouldn't it?

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But I tried to give the right answer. So I thought for a moment and I said, you know what, I really don't. I don't know his perfect will for next week.

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Now if he'd have said for the next five minutes, I probably could have said yes. We'd sit here and listen to Brother Otis teach.

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Right now I'm in the right place at the right time. But he said, next week. So I said, no. And he said, so that means next week you're going to get up and do what you want to do, aren't you?

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And I said, yes, sir. And he said, so you're responsible. That's simple to Brother Otis, but to me it's not simple.

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About the time I think I've got it figured out on the sovereignty of God side, I start looking at the responsibility side and start saying, how does this fit?

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Well, we get a little insight into this as we picture this altar burning. As we picture the work of the priest, if we think of the human priests for a moment, that carried on this work and were never to let the fire go out.

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And then we picture God's part in all that's pictured there as well in the sacrifice itself.

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Now when we look at this helmet, we can see the two come together. We can see the sovereign will of God.

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We can see the finished work of God on the cross. We can see the grace and the mercy.

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We can see God's propitiation that everything about God's wrath and anger and justice against sin was perfectly fulfilled in the cross in Jesus Christ.

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We can see all this in the finished work. We can see even the fact that He placed our sins in His body on the tree so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

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We see the imputation. Remember what that means? That's the accounting term. God the

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Father took all of our sins and imputed them or placed them upon Jesus. And He took

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Jesus' part we leave out. He took His righteousness and imputed that to us.

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That's why by faith He sees us as if we've never sinned. Well that's what we call positional truth when we study it theologically.

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There are certain things that you and I, after we're saved, we simply can't change.

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And one of those is our salvation. We can't get rid of it. Not that we would want to.

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He's given us a nature that's kind of like our physical nature doesn't want to die. We think about it's great to go but don't want to go right this minute.

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Physically we have that strong nature to want to live. Spiritually when

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He saves us we have a nature that wants to walk with the Father and with the Lord Jesus Christ. We would never want to lose that.

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But you know what? Even if we tried we couldn't. Because there is a positional truth there that we have now been baptized into Christ and we are seated in Him in the heavenlies right now while we're seated here.

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And there's also positional truth that everything that He accomplished on that altar which was

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His cross has been finished and applied to our lives by faith and we can't change that.

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But isn't it interesting that He instructs us in the light of all that? In the light of all that He has done and finished and completed and all that we have positionally the fact that we are a son of God positionally we can't change that.

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No man can change it. Nothing in the universe can change it. The end of Romans chapter 8 proves that very clearly.

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Nothing can change it. He still told us to put the helmet on every day. Do you see where the responsibility comes in?

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We're not responsible to keep ourselves saved but we are responsible to remind ourselves that we are saved.

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And to reckon it to be true and to live that way. And when we put that helmet on or without the helmet we're certainly not ready for battle.

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But we go out thinking we're ready for battle just because we're saved. God's made us to be a soldier and we think we don't have to go through boot camp and learn how to use the weapons.

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One of the greatest, probably the most important weapon, one of the most it's not the most important weapon but one of the most important weapons we have is to remember to put that helmet on and what does it go on?

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It goes on our head. What was the first part of the animal that was laid on the altar? The head.

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You know when you're first saved you have a hard experience or you didn't get saved but you know what happens real early on in the game is you start filling that head up and renewing the mind.

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You start taking scriptures and putting it in there and you leave off some of the garbage you've been into out in the world and you start renewing the mind and it goes to the mind and the mind is very, very important and that's one of the first offerings that has to be given to God after we're saved is the head.

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If we don't get that brain changed around to think right we can't live a godly righteous life in the experience realm.

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So even though Jesus has finished it all for us on the cross he hands us the helmet and says put it on every day.

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And so that brings a lot of understanding to this passage in 1

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Thessalonians. There's a lot to that helmet. That helmet represents a great doctrine among the

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Baptists and the Presbyterians but I believe the Baptists have made it more famous than anybody and that's the doctrine of eternal security.

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The Presbyterians call it eternal security. The Baptists call it once saved always saved. And it's the helmet.

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Listen with me as I read through a little journey through the scripture. Psalm 37 and verse 23.

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The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way and though he fall.

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Will we fall sometimes? Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the

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Lord upholdeth him in his hand. It's eternal security.

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But we're supposed to put the helmet on and remember that truth. And we think we know these things so well we don't need to worry about it on a day -to -day basis.

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Wait till you get in battle. See if you don't think you'd like to have something to protect your head.

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Psalm 37, 28. For the Lord loveth judgment. That's not the gospel.

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That's not good news for the world. You understand what I'm saying? For this world that we're living in right now that is bad news.

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But there's some good news in this verse for the saint. The Lord loveth judgment and forsaketh not his saints.

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They are preserved. How many of you ladies make preserves? I mean, raise your hand if you know how to make them.

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Okay, how many of you men know how to eat them? Alright, so we're all in unity today. I love this word preserved.

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It is found time and time again in these types of scriptures. The Lord loveth judgment.

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There's going to be a day when all judgment is poured out upon this world. And the saints that are still here at that time the

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Bible says there's preservation. Even Jesus said in the same passage where he said after the tribulation of these days shall

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I send my angels to the four corners of the earth to gather my elect. Right in that same passage he says not a hair of their head shall be hurt.

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There's amazing preservation for the saints. Even in the midst of God's judgment.

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There's just a little comma here in the English. In the Hebrew there is no comma. There's just perhaps a pause as it's read but it's all in the same breath.

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For the Lord loves judgment and forsaketh not his saints even in the midst of judgment.

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They are preserved forever but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off.

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Psalm 94 14 For the Lord will not cast off his people neither will he forsake his inheritance.

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Psalm 97 10 Even ye that love the Lord hate evil he preserveth the souls of his saints.

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You see that preserves being made again. He preserves the souls of his saints he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked one.

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Psalm 125 1 A song of degrees they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed but abideth forever.

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Psalm 145 20 The Lord preserveth there's our preserves again all them that love him but all the wicked will he destroy.

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Proverbs 2 8 He keepeth the paths of judgment look at how often this is in the same sentence.

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You see the judgment of God the wrath of God on the unbelieving and in the same verse and preserveth the way of his saints.

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Amazing. He keeps the paths of judgment and at the same time preserves the way of his saints as they're walking through this land through this battle.

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He preserves our way. Proverbs 4 18 But the path of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

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You can't get dimmer and dimmer around here. Not if you're his. You see these who spring up and give a great testimony and next week they're not there.

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Next month they're gone. Next year you don't see them anymore and they're back in the swine pit. They didn't get it, did they?

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You know what they had? They had some growth because they had some moisture and they had some encouragement but you know what they lacked?

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Root. They didn't have any root. The root is Jesus. They weren't really saved because those who are really saved they shine like a light and that light gets brighter and brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

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That's the promise to you. Remember when you think of this little altar and the fire is burning continually.

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It is not to go out and in fact that was a human model. A physical picture.

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In the true spiritual realm it cannot go out. It will not go out and that's why they were supposed to picture the truth by not letting it go out on the earth.

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When they did let it go out it was blasphemy because it destroyed a type of a true thing.

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The altar can't go out because when Jesus died once all that he accomplished on that cross 33 things plus another couple of millions.

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All that he accomplished on that cross is finished. You are identified with it by faith.

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It is yours and it is mine and it is the father's and it's all been finished and it can't go out.

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Not only that but in time as we walk through time continually as we studied in Sunday school this morning when we sin he is our advocate with the father.

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So God has both the positional side of it covered by the perfect finished sacrifice and he has the experience side covered by the living savior and it meets somehow in Jesus.

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Proverbs 12, 7 The wicked are overthrown. Look at this. Always in the same verse in these

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Old Testament verses. This is frightening. The wicked are overthrown and are not.

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That's from our vantage point. They don't disappear and go away. They stay alive in hell but from our vantage point they don't exist anymore.

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From God's vantage point perhaps maybe he forgets them. You know God can forget things when he chooses to.

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Have you figured that out yet? He forgot your sins didn't he? Wouldn't it be awesome if these people are cast into this place and it's a real place and God makes us forget about it and he makes himself forget about it.

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What hope would they have? I don't know if that happens. I'm just conjecturing about the part about him forgetting.

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Maybe he won't but the thing is from our point of view as the saints of God they are not anymore.

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They are gone. They've been overthrown and they are not including Satan himself at that point but the house of the righteous shall stand.

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Do you see the term security? It's pictured by what Jesus accomplished on that altar and by what he's accomplishing now.

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Isaiah 43 .1 But now thus saith the Lord that created thee O Jacob and he that formed thee

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O Israel fear not for I have redeemed thee I have called thee by name thou art mine.

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That's why you can't be lost. Everything that was pictured on that altar was done for God's elect for his children throughout all of time.

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Isaiah 51 .11 Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto

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Zion and everlasting joy shall be upon their head they shall obtain gladness and joy and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

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Kind of fits that song doesn't it? The battle is short and then the next day we're singing the songs of victory.

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Isaiah 53 .10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin he shall see his seed he shall prolong his days and the pleasure of the

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Lord shall prosper in his hand finished work of Christ. Jeremiah 33 .3

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The Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love therefore with loving kindness have

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I drawn thee. Well that pictures the whole thing. You go back into eternity past as we call it because we can't talk without time.

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You go back into eternity past a time when there was no time theoretically but I think there was some sort of sequence there because they had a council but I don't want to get into that this morning but what

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I do want to get into is this at that place before time began before anything physical was created even the angels you were already his you belonged to him the

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Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love everlasting goes in both directions there's no way that he could love you with an everlasting love if he hadn't known you with an everlasting knowledge he's always known you you've always been his if you're his today so therefore with loving kindness have

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I drawn thee there came a point in time when he called you to himself he drew you to himself if all of that is true how could you lose your salvation

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John 4 14 but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up to everlasting life the definition of everlasting means you can't stop

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John 5 24 barely barely I say unto you he that heareth my word and believeth on him that sent me already has everlasting life well if he already has it and it's everlasting how could you lose it you gotta defy one of the definitions you either defy the definition of everlasting or you defy the definition of have and shall not come into condemnation but is passed already from death unto life

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John 6 58 this is the bread which came down from heaven not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead but that he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me

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I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand my father which gave to me is greater than all no man's able to pluck them out of my father's hand

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I and the father are one John 11 26 whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die believest thou this

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John 17 6 I have manifested your name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world you see it's no accident that you're sitting here this morning the father gave you to his son as a love gift thine they were you see you were gods before you ever got saved did you know that you may not have known it but the

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Bible speaks it so clearly thine they were and thou gavest them me that means to me and they have kept thy word one of the great symptoms of salvation you love the word and you used to hate it before you got saved now you love it and now

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I am no more in the world but these are in the world and I come to thee holy father keep through thy own name see the word keep is so important it's the father who keeps us through his own name those whom thou hast given me that they may be one as we are

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Acts 13 48 and when the Gentiles heard this they were glad and glorified the word of the lord and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed it was no accident

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God had it in control God is a sovereign God and we do have the finished work of Jesus and it has been applied to all of his own in the beautiful chapter in Romans chapter eight who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect and this should be in a question in the form of a question

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I believe could God that justified you how could anyone lay something to your charge could

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God who just is the one who made you right in the first place who is he that condemneth is it

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Christ it's Christ that died rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us you have the positional and you have the experiential he is living right now making intercession he's already died taking care of the sin problem he lives and makes intercession taking care of the fellowship problem when we do sin who shall separate us from the love of Christ tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us for I am persuaded that neither life nor death nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creation shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it till the day of Jesus Christ and the

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Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men even as we do toward you to the end that he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God even our

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Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst of all of his saints and very

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God of peace sanctify you wholly and I pray God that your whole spirit your whole soul your whole body be preserved blameless into the coming of the

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Lord Jesus Christ faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it not us that does it it is he that does it but of which cause

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I also suffer these things nevertheless I am not ashamed for I know whom

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I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which

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I have committed unto him against that day but this man because he continueth ever hath an unchangeable priesthood pictured in this continual fire that we're not supposed to ever let go out it cannot go out spiritually wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto

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God by him seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them now the

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God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ to whom be glory forever and ever amen all the things he requires you to do he then works in your life to cause you to do them 1

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Peter 1 3 -5 blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope that's the helmet by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled that fadeth not away that's reserved in heaven with your name on it who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time he that has the son has life he that has not the son of God has not life these things have

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I written to you that you may know that you have eternal life the helmet keeps us safe the helmets keep us thinking right the helmet gives us courage to go into the battle because we can't lose our life we cannot take a blow to the head that would cause our soul to be lost forever the helmet is all important this fire in the altar pictures both that which

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Jesus has accomplished and a helmet that must be put on by us a responsibility this helmet if you look at it

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I'm sorry this altar it's always supposed to be burning if you look at it in Matthew 16 24 pictures a cross that Jesus died upon but also a cross that he instructed us to carry have you ever wondered what he meant when he said to bear your own cross a lot of commentators have written well it means we're going to be sick sometimes and we have to live through that we're going to have tribulation sometimes we have to live through that that's not carrying the cross bearing the cross the cross was the altar the cross and us bearing the cross is the same thing that the

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Old Testament priests were instructed to do when they were told to use the fire burning when

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Jesus told us to bear our own cross and to follow him the bearing of the cross could not be separated from the following of him because it has to do with an ongoing moment by moment relationship of being in him on that cross on his cross being in him, being connected to him so it's a helmet that must be put on it's a cross that must be carried but it's also a relationship that must be maintained and this is where we close this morning because doctrine is no good if we can't apply it the way it's applied how do we keep the fire burning if that's our job as a priest well we can't really offer the sacrifice anymore, it's been offered once for all time and Jesus Christ was then set at the right hand of the father and it was finished but what we can do is have an ongoing personal intimate relationship with the one who is on that cross and the one who is risen 1

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Corinthians 12 13 says for by one spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be

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Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bound or free and have been all made to drink into one spirit 1

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Corinthians 6 16 and 17 says for two sayeth he shall be one flesh that's in the physical and in verse 17 says but he that is joined unto the

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Lord is one spirit that's a spiritual oneness a spiritual unity the duty of priests is to keep the fires burning, our duty today is to make sure we put on the helmet and remind ourselves of what was accomplished on that cross and also that we carry, we bear our own cross which really is his cross and we are in him and then most important of all is to be one with him in an ongoing moment by moment personal relationship a relationship of oneness it's interesting,

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John 736 when Jesus talked to the Pharisees he said what manner of saying they said to him what manner of saying is this ye shall seek me and ye shall not find me and where I am thither you cannot come that's what he told

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Satan's seed but look what he told us in John 12 if any man serve me let him follow me and where I am there shall also my servant be he told them where I am you cannot come and he told us where I am you shall be, how can you be there if you're sitting here only if you're one spiritually and so it is our duty it is our responsibility to make sure that we bring ourselves to that place in the morning when we wake up during the day as we walk and do our duties in this life we have to maintain that spiritual oneness and that connection with the

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Lord Jesus or we let the fire go out so to speak, it's a picture but so to speak now the benefits of that altar can't go out it's position,

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God's done it we can't change it but the benefit in time as we walk today and tomorrow we might lose some of that benefit if we don't remain connected we don't remain one with him that's why he instructs us to put on that helmet, the helmet of the hope of salvation the helmet that reminds us everything that he's done for us and then to be one so that as we're reminded we make that connection as we walk throughout the day the fire is burning in our hearts it's our duty to keep it burning that smoke that's created by that fire is a sweet savor to the

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Lord and we are very remiss as priests believer priests if we let that go out for any moments of time let's stand and have prayer together

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Father we thank you for your word, we thank you that you have given us these beautiful types and pictures all the way from the little animals and the specific attributes that the animals had that are all pictured, pictures of what the

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Lord Jesus Christ was and what he has done for us and Father we thank you that you give us the continual burning of the altar which pictures the eternal state of the

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Lord Jesus at your right hand as our advocate, as our intercessor and you instruct us to take part as believer priests and to have our minds where they will remember these things and be forefront on our minds every day and you take us even on a deeper realm beyond our minds to our very spirit which is connected with your spirit and one in a relationship that the world can't know anything about Father help us to maintain that not only that you maintain our salvation but that we might do that which would maintain our fellowship and keep the fires of the altar burning continually walking before you with our hand upon the head of the offering and with all of the wonderful, beautiful perfect attributes of the

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Savior imputed to us Lord help us to see these things and reckon them to be true and walk today and tomorrow as if they are because they are