Keep the Lamp Burning: Shining as God's Presence in the World

TRANSCRIPTION: CAUTION, AI TRANSCRIBED. THERE MAY BE ERRORS OR EVEN CHANGING IN MEANING. The passage I wanted to open up with is from the book of Revelation. We are studying Revelation in our Bible study. Revelation 1:20, Jesus says, "As for the mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." I don't think that the significance of lampstands is lost among God's people. We're thinking about lampstands. I want to take your mind to these Old Testament passages concerning the lampstand. And we can go back to that sacred space that's in the temple, the meeting place between God and his people. In Leviticus 24, God gives a powerful but a very simple command, and that is to keep the lamp burning continually. And this light was more than illumination. It was a symbol of God's presence and Israel's devotion. Today we are God's people under a new covenant, and this ancient instruction has something profound, I think, to teach us today. In Romans 15:4, it says, "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope." So many individuals, they take a look at the book of Leviticus and say, Oh, this is just a book full of laws for the priests concerning the sacrifices, which it is. But I think that there are still lessons that Christians can still pull from this, even today, as the Scripture says, that these things that were written in earlier times was written for our instruction. We can be instructed by these commands that God has given to his priests. And I want us to take a look at these passages in Leviticus 24 and discuss this, what Isaac Smith would call a profundity. In Leviticus 24:1-4, it reads, "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually. Outside the veil of testimony in the tent of meeting, Aaron shall keep it in order from evening to morning before the Lord continually; it shall be a perpetual statute throughout your generations. He shall keep the lamps in order on the pure gold lampstand before the Lord continually.'" Now, first off, I want to discuss this lampstand. In Morse Road, we have discussed this lampstand. This lampstand is talked about in Exodus 25. Go ahead and open your Bible there, Exodus 25. Exodus 25 discusses the construction instructions concerning the lampstand that Moses is to make, this lampstand that is to go inside the tabernacle. You remember how the tabernacle was constructed. It was constructed in such a way that there were no windows. If you were to go into the tabernacle, the only source of light that would be in there is the lampstand. In verse 31 in Exodus 25, it reads, "Then you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand and its base and its shaft are to be made of hammered work; its cups, its bulbs and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. Six branches shall go out from its sides; three branches of the lampstand from its one side and three branches of the lampstand from its other side. Three cups shaped like almond blossoms, a bulb and a flower in one branch; and three cups shaped like almond blossoms, a bulb and a flower in the other branch—so for the six branches going out from the lampstand. And on the lampstand there shall be four cups shaped like almond blossoms, its bulbs and its flowers. A bulb shall be under the first pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the second pair of branches coming out of it, and a bulb under the third pair of branches coming out of it—for the six branches coming out of the lampstand. Their bulbs and their branches shall be of one piece with it; all of it shall be one piece of hammered work of pure gold. Then you shall make its lamps seven in number; and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it. Its snuffers and their trays shall be of pure gold. It shall be made from a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils." If you were to think about how this lampstand looked, it looked something we would call today like a menorah. Again, this was the lampstand that would go in the tabernacle. Think about the amount of material that went into this, the material that went into the construction of the lamp. Now, this is just the material. It would be about $2.5 million in today's money worth of material that would go into the construction of this lampstand. This is not counting the craftsmanship that would go into the construction that went into building this. But it's the religious significance of this lampstand that would make its value immeasurable. The lampstand stood in the holy place, near the veil that separated the people from the most holy place. It was the very meeting place with God. And its light, it represented God's ongoing presence and his guidance among the people. In the 18th Psalm, verse 28, David writes, "For You light my lamp; The Lord my God illumines my darkness." The 119th Psalm, verse 105, a passage that we're all pretty familiar with. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." The lamp in the tabernacle was not just for light. It symbolizes that God sees. God is near, and his people are never alone. We read in Revelation 1:20, just a minute ago, the church is pictured as a lampstand. The church is now the lightbearers of the presence of God in this world. In Matthew 5:14, Jesus said, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden." He continued, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Think about how God wanted his lampstand to be. And he also commanded that the Israelites were to bring Aaron the oil for the lampstand. And that oil wasn't just to be any oil. He was very specific on how he wanted that oil. He said that that oil is to be of beaten olives. It was to be pure, made from beaten olives. What this goes to show us is that the offering concerning the oil of this lampstand, it wasn't a casual offering. It was an offering that was carefully prepared, and it was brought by the people for use in God's presence. So what's the difference here? Why make a difference between beaten and crushed olives? They're in the difference. The beaten olives indicate olives that are gently pounded by hand. They're pounded by hand with a pestle. And typically, it was during the time before they were fully ripe. And the oil that comes from beaten olives is different than the oil that comes from crushed olives. The oil from beaten olives comes from the drops of the juice of these first fruits. It's sometimes called virgin olive oil or first fruit oil. And because of the way that it's prepared and the time that it's prepared and the care that goes into it, it's pure. It's cleaner. It's clear from sediment. And the result of that is that the light that burns from this kind of oil is going to burn brighter, and it's going to burn cleaner. It's going to produce a minimal amount of smoke, and it's going to produce a steady flame. Contrast that with olive oil that's crushed. Now, oftentimes, oil was produced from crushed olives because it's going to produce more oil, but it was oftentimes done after the fermentation or the full ripening of the olives. But the difference is that olive oil is going to contain more impurities. It's going to be more cloudy. It's going to be less suitable for burning in lamps. It's going to produce a lot of smoke, and thereby it's going to foul the lamp itself or foul the inside of the tabernacle. What does this tell us? What this tells us is that purity matters in worship. Purity matters. The oil was for God's presence, the light of the lampstand in the holy place. And when God wanted his offerings, he wanted his offerings to be pure, not leftovers. We read in verse 2, "Command the sons of Israel that they bring to you clear oil from beaten olives for the light, to make a lamp burn continually." And it's going to take more work to do that. It's going to take more effort. This teaches us that God is holy, and those that worship him must bring their best, not what's convenient or not what's the most efficient. God wants his people to bring their best. And with the best that the people brought, it produced a clean flame, a clean flame in the lampstand. Because a clean flame is going to give bright, uninterrupted light. There's going to be no smoke. There's going to be no sputtering to defile the sacred space. This symbolizes God's everlasting presence and his truth. God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5. God expects purity in what we bring him. Not just ritualistic actions, but heartfelt devotion on what we present. In Romans 12:1, Paul writes, "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." Just like the Israelites bring oil, every member of the body of Christ contributes to the health and to the light of the church. Every member. In 1 Corinthians 12:20, Paul writes, "But now there are many members, but one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, 'I have no need of you'; or again the head to the feet, 'I have no need of you.' On the contrary, it is much truer that the members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary; and those members of the body which we deem less honorable, on these we bestow more abundant honor, and our less presentable members become much more presentable, whereas our more presentable members have no need of it. But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." Every single member of the body of Christ has something to contribute. And the thing that God expects for each member to bring ought to be of the purest quality that we have. Because, again, it's going to affect how rightly we're able to shine as his church. In Philippians 2:15, Paul says, "so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world." Think about God's regulation concerning the lampstand. God wanted his lampstand to be burning continually, continually. And this was something that needed to be tended to by Aaron and his sons, by the priesthood. The priesthood tended to the lamp daily. Guess what? Today we are priests in Christ. 1 Peter 2:9, "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." God during the Old Testament times expected his priesthood to be vigilant, vigilant in their spiritual responsibilities. Same goes for God's priesthood under the New Covenant as well. Be vigilant in our spiritual responsibilities. And this daily care, this daily care is something that we can learn from the commandment that God had given to his priest. In Leviticus 24, it points to a consistent spiritual discipline. It's something that had to be done every day. The light in the tabernacle had to be maintained every day. And it just goes on to show us that under the New Testament priesthood as Christians, there are things that we need to be vigilant in, in maintaining every single day. And this is not just a one-time effort in spiritual efforts. It is an ongoing commitment. There are certain things in life that we truly need to be devoted to every single day. In Colossians 4:2, "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving." Hebrews 10:24-25, "and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." Romans 12:11, we don't lag behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. There are responsibilities given to that priesthood. There are responsibilities given to us. And these are responsibilities that we need to maintain every day if we want our life to shine bright. Think about that lampstand. Again, in Revelation 1, Jesus speaks of his church as lampstands. I think Jesus himself, too, I would suggest that he also fulfilled that symbolism of a lampstand. John said of him, or he said of himself, first in John chapter 1 and in John 8:12, Jesus said, "Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.'" He fulfills the symbolism of this lampstand in that he brings light, the light of life to all who follow him. And as disciples of him, we are called to reflect that light, reflect the light of Christ. In 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, Paul writes, "Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we received mercy, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced the things hidden because of shame, not walking in craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but by the manifestation of truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, 'Light shall shine out of darkness,' is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ." What is one way that we can reflect the light of Christ in our lives? By preaching his gospel, teaching his others, and not only preaching the gospel, but living it out in our lives and being diligent in these things. As God told Aaron, you know, you've not to let that light go out. Keep it burning. And I think that's a profound lesson for Christians today. When we think about the things that most people when they're reading the Bible just casually skip over, keep your light burning. Again, Jesus said that you are the light of the world. What sort of light are we? Are we like a candlelight that kind of flickers? It's a small light in a dark place, but then grows unsteady when every sort of wind comes about? Are we the sort of light like what you'd find in those old kerosene lamps, you remember those kerosene lamps you'd take in camping? You know, you've got to pump them up, and you'll leave it for a while and that light will dim, and then somebody's got to come along and pump it up again? Are we that kind of light where our light only shines bright if one of the brethren is there to come along and pump us up and keep us going? Are we the sort of light that you'd find in these electric bulbs, bright, steady, being connected to that steady source of power that we can find from Jesus Christ? What sort of light are we? The point is that light, don't let it go out. It's something that needs to be maintained. Just like that lamp stand in the tabernacle, the command to keep the lamps burning continually, I think it really speaks to our spiritual lives and the offering that we bring to God. Let's bring the pure oil. Hearts free from the stain of hypocrisy, and let's tend the flame. Tend the flame with diligence, not apathy, and let's shine with the light of Christ until he returns. That's my encouragement to you. Don't let your light go out. Don't let your light go out. If you have a situation where your light has dimmed, you can rekindle it. You can rekindle it. You can repent. You can come back to God. If there's any way that we can help you, maybe it's a situation where you've never come to the light to begin with, our encouragement to you is to obey the gospel of Christ. Obey the gospel of Christ. Believe in Jesus. Repent of your sins. Confess him as Lord. Be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and be added to his church, which is the pillar of truth. Uphold the gospel. Uphold the light of the gospel. Be diligent in making sure that light is tended to, and that light is burning bright and burning clean. If you're responding to the invitation to become a Christian, you might be listening online, please reach out. Let us know how we can help. Repent of your sins. Confess him as Lord. Be baptized for the forgiveness of sins, and be added to his church, which is the pillar of truth. Behold up the gospel. Behold up the light of the gospel. Be diligent in making sure that light is tended to, and that light is burning bright and burning clean. If you're subject to the invitation to become a Christian, you might be listening online, please reach out. Let us know how we can help.