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And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the LORD:
and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath
done in trespassing therein. And the LORD spoke unto Moses,
saying, Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the
law of the burnt offering: It is the burnt offering,
because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the
morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it.
(Leviticus 6:9-13)
What makes a congregation successful? The Pastor, music
ministry, children's and or youth ministries, outreach
ministries, user-friendly facilities? No doubt all of these
contribute to the success of a local congregation. But these
elements only catch the attention of people because of their
visibility. Behind the scenes yet burning ever so brightly
should be the fire of the altar. The offerings of repentance
constant and the joy of salvation a result. "And he said unto
them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every
creature." (Mark 16:15) The church has be commissioned to go
into all the world but rather than going the church has welcomed
the world into the church. The condition of the modern church
today is sad and in need of an altar.
Ironically today's altar, "the old fashioned altar call" was
unheard of until the nineteenth century. It first came into
being by the influence of Charles Finney, the pioneer of modern
evangelistic methods. In Finney's crusades seats at the front
were reserved for those who, after the sermon,. would respond to
the challenge to come to the Lord's side. Those who were thus
"anxious" for their souls were invited to walk forward to the
"anxious seat" where counsel and prayer would be given them.
While I have no real problem with today's modern altar call,
true repentance (the fuel for revival) takes place in the
context of obedience to God (Genesis 12:1-5). For Abraham it was
in this process of obeying God's prompting to go to the land of
Canaan that the fire on his altar kept burning. Wherever father
Abraham went he built altars to the Lord God. (Genesis 12:7-8;
13:18) The altar represents true worship and involves:
surrender, sacrifice and service. Abraham would have used raw
stones (not touched by man's strength and skill) to represent a
yielding to God's strength and not trusting in his own strength.
(Exodus 20:25)
We know the we have an altar which is in Christ (Hebrews 13:10).
Through His blood we have access at any time to Him and we must
make place everyday for application of His blood. There must be
an altar of personal consecration in our lives. This is the
altar of personal encounter with God (Genesis 12:7) who teaches
us His ways. Every day we must set aside time to come to our
personal altar where we read His Word, worship Him in song and
pray. Here we will encounter Him afresh and He will teach us His
ways. If we don't have such a time we must make it today!
The place of burying all other idols (Genesis 35:4) which
precludes the covenanting to follow Him only (Joshua 24:23-26).
Jacob buried idols at the foot of this tree by the altar as did
the people under the guidance of Joshua (who also erected a
stone of covenant here). As we come daily to our personal altars
before the Lord, he will reveal "idols" in our life that need to
be buried. These are things we have placed before God and may be
our personal interests (television, computer, sports, e.t.c.)
or even other people who we "idolize". In these quiet moments at
the altar with God we can bury these idols and be cleansed by
the blood of Jesus. (John 4:12, 21-23) This altar was the same
place that Jacob later built a well which existed in Jesus'
time. Indeed it was here that Jesus said we must worship Him in
Spirit and in Truth! We will find this personal altar to be a
place of great personal refreshing. Abraham came unto a place
called "Shechem" which means "the shoulder or a place to carry
burdens". Shechem was located between two mountains, Mount Ebal
(Barren) and Mount Gerazim (Fruitful). The Hebrews used to
proclaim God's blessings for obedience on Mount Gerazim and
curses for disobedience on Mount Ebal. As we build this altar
the Lord will bear our burdens and keep us from the barren,
cursed life to live a fruitful, blessed one.
Shalom (Peace) |
