 THE
ALTAR OF INCENSE AND GOD'S PURPOSE
It is not possible to separate the Altar of Incense from God's
eternal purpose because it is at the golden altar that God's purpose is experienced during
the church age. It is at the Altar of Incense that man stands with God to further God's
purpose upon the earth. God draws man into the circle of His sovereignty and man receives
his apprenticeship training for governing with Christ in the Kingdom of God. Most all the
other experiences in the Tabernacle are preparatory to this life and ministry. Man can
stand with God to get God's eternal purpose carried out on the earth. We could say that
the reason for all the other experiences is the Altar of Incense. The seven outer court
experiences in Jesus Christ do not come to a static condition at the second veil but must
continue to grow . We must continue to grow in our repentance, our deliverance, in our
salvation, in our baptism into His death and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We must
continue to grow in our consecration and our revelation of Jesus Christ. That will lead to
our growth in obedience, in our praise and worship and make us more sensitive to hear His
voice. The lack of growth in these areas is the primary reason believers stop short of the
Holy Place life and ministry. There cannot be a functioning lampstand church that stops
short of the Holy Place life and ministry. Since the sole light for the Holy Place came
from the lampstand it is logical that the Holy Place is in darkness if there is no
functioning lampstand. Since it is the lampstand that illuminates the Altar of Incense and
the Table of Showbread it is clear which must come first. If all of God's creation was
designed for the sole purpose of fulfilling God's eternal purpose, why is this such a
secret in the church? If the sole purpose of man is to do the will of God, fulfill His
eternal purpose and bring joy to God's heart, why has this not been the emphasis of the
church? All this comes to us as revelation at the Table of Showbread. What the church
needs now is a functioning lampstand to illuminate the Showbread. Then why don't we
quickly organize a lampstand church? Because the believers have been too involved in their
own plans and personal blessings to complete the foundations for the Holy Place life and
ministry. The Holy Place life and ministry is the result of a life union with Jesus
Christ. This is the reality of the vine-branch union that results in the fruit of God's
eternal purpose being completed. We can put this into perspective by seeing where the
Altar of Incense is in relationship with the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark speaks to us of
the Kingdom of God, the government of God, the presence of God, the glory of God and of
God, Himself. The ark speaks of the throne of God and all that means. It is the place
where Jesus sat down with His Father. Since the veil between the Holy Place and the Most
Holy Place was torn when Jesus was crucified, the Altar of Incense is directly before the
Ark of the Covenant. When you are facing the Altar of Incense you are facing the presence
and glory of God. You are standing in the circle of His sovereignty. This is the source of
the glory, the power and authority of the universe. From the Altar of Incense we would
expect to see Him, as He is. 2CO 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a
mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to
glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. Where else could this take place except at the
Altar of Incense? Some tremendous work is accomplished in us , subjectively, at the gold
altar. This is in addition to the objective work that is done on the earth. From these few
facts it is clear that the Altar of Incense is the key to the success of the church in
fulfilling the purpose of God on the earth during the church age, both in us and through
us! Therefore, let us gather some facts about the altar from the word of God. HEB 9:3 And
behind the second veil, there was a tabernacle which is called the Holy of Holies, HEB 9:4
having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with
gold, in which {was} a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron's rod which budded, and the
tables of the covenant. This fact obviously contradicts what is clearly said in the book
of Exodus. EXO 30:6 "And you shall put this altar in front of the veil that is near
the ark of the testimony, in front of the mercy seat that is over { the ark of} the
testimony, where I will meet with you. How can the altar be in both these places? Hebrews
says it is in the Most Holy Place and Exodus say it is in the Holy Place. Which is it?
During the time of the earthly tabernacle and the Old Covenant Law, the Altar of Incense
had to be in the Holy Place because the Levitical priests had to burn incense day and
night. Since they had no access into the Most Holy Place, except once a year on the Day of
Atonement, the altar must be in front of the second veil that separated the Holy Place
from the Most Holy Place. The reality is that God's intention was always to have the Altar
of Incense in His immediate presence. During the Old Covenant times that was not possible.
However, when Jesus was crucified the veil was torn from top to bottom so that the Altar
was now directly in God's presence, behind the veil. Even though the altar was in the Holy
Place, the incense was never for the Holy Place but exclusively for the Most Holy Place.
This fact is the basis of the revelation of the Altar of Incense. The incense is for God
alone. EXO 30:34 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Take for yourself spices, stacte and
onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there shall be an equal part of each.
EXO 30:35 "And with it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer,
salted, pure, {and} holy. EXO 30:36 "And you shall beat some of it very fine, and put
part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I shall meet with you; it
shall be most holy to you. EXO 30:37 "And the incense which you shall make, you shall
not make in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be holy to you for the Lord. EXO
30:38 "Whoever shall make {any} like it, to use as perfume, shall be cut off from his
people." The incense is not for man but for God. When we understand the incense
represents prayer etc, we see that our prayer falls far short of incense and is mostly for
us and for our benefit. Most of us have never considered that incense prayer is wholly for
God's benefit. We also will remember that too much prayer is just perfume for us to smell.
Then we may ask what is the purpose of incense prayer? It is designed to meet God's need
and fulfil God's purpose and to cause the will of God to be done on earth as it is being
done in heaven. God is now ruling according to His sovereignty and according to His
purpose. If man is going to participate in His Kingdom government and rule with Christ, he
also must rule according to God's sovereignty and according to His purpose. Man generally
prays as if he were the king and God was the servant that did man's will. That is far from
incense prayer. Nevertheless, God has ordained that man should rule over all the works of
His hands. But where is the place that man rules? At the altar of incense! How will man
learn to rule? By apprenticeship training in the Holy Place life and ministry! Man cannot
rule according to his own will or his own ideas because God has retained His sovereignty
over His creation. Man must rule UNDER GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY. Is this rulership available to
man now in this age? Yes! Where? At the Altar of Incense! "The Holy Place life and
ministry" means the functioning Lampstand for illumination, the Table of Showbread
for revelation and the Altar of Incense to enforce God's sovereignty and Christ's victory
on the earth. Why doesn't God do that Himself? Because He has given man dominion upon the
earth to rule over it for God. GEN 1:26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds
of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creeps on the earth." It is not possible to speak of a functioning lampstand church
without speaking of the ministry of burning incense. That is what the function really is.
But how will man know what to burn on the altar? That revelation comes from the Showbread.
The combination of the three is what is meant by the Holy Place life and ministry. If we
could look down on the Tabernacle of Moses from above we would see the progressive goal of
all the Outer Court and Holy Place experiences for the church age is the Altar of Incense.
Of course our eternal goal is the Ark of the Covenant which becomes a reality for the
bondservants who are overcomers and the bride of Christ. This becomes a reality following
the millennium and when the Tabernacle of God is finally formed and the first earth and
the first heaven have passed away. All the furniture in the Holy Place speaks to us of
"LIFE" and the priesthood speaks to us of "MINISTRY". Both Nadab and
Abihu were consecrated priests with the proper garments and with the anointing of oil.
They were "in the ministry". LEV 10:1 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron,
took their respective firepans, and after putting fire in them, placed incense on it and
offered strange fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them. LEV 10:2 And fire
came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.
LEV 10:3 Then Moses said to Aaron, "It is what the Lord spoke, saying, ' By those who
come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored.
'"So Aaron, therefore, kept silent. They also lost their "LIFE". God
requires a certain "LIFE" from those who come near to minister to Him. 2CH 29:11
"My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him,
to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense." This is the four
aspects of "the ministry" but we see 3/4 of the "ministry" is toward
God and only 1/4 is toward the people. Some consider "the ministry" to be 50 %
toward the people, 40 % for themselves and 10 % toward God, or some % in between. This is
the primary reason we don't have sufficient "LIFE" to support the Holy Place
life and ministry. 75% toward people is easier than 75% toward God. It is good to stop and
take inventory of our lives if we are called "into the ministry". We could say
that the Lampstand speaks of "unity for a purpose". The Showbread speaks of
"the revelation of that purpose" and the Altar of Incense speaks of the
"function in that purpose". The Lampstand was hammered out of one piece of gold
and represents perfect unity. However, perfect unity without function is beautiful but
provides nothing in the purpose of God. Revelation of the Showbread, the bread of His
presence, is exciting but if we fail to put it into action we do nothing toward God's
eternal purpose. It is clear that unity and revelation is not necessary to sit in a pew or
have covered dish dinners. The main problem with incense is that it is not burned
according to man's will but according to God's will and in harmony with God's sovereignty.
The gold altar is not the place we come to fill our pockets but the place we step into the
circle of His sovereignty to initiate the will of God for the earth. This is far above
seeking a blessing for man. Is there no incense for man's blessing? Yes! That is seen in
the brass censer. As we study the Incense and the Altar for Incense we discover that the
number 4 appears several times. The altar is the "place" for burning incense.
EXO 30:1 "Moreover, you shall make an altar as a place for burning incense; you shall
make it of acacia wood. The altar has four sides and is one cubit on each side. It has a
top, sides, horns and a gold molding. EXO 30:3 "And you shall overlay it with pure
gold, its top and its sides all around, and its horns; and you shall make a gold molding
all around for it. It has two poles with four ends for carrying. This is fastened through
four rings to support it. There are four horns on the top. There are four things that
cannot be placed on this altar. (1) strange incense (2) burnt offering (3) meal offering
(4) a libation (drink offering). EXO 30:9 "You shall not offer any strange incense on
this altar, or burnt offering or meal offering; and you shall not pour out a libation on
it. The incense is made with four elements. (1) Stacte (2) Oncha (3) Galbanum (4) Pure
Frankincense, each in equal parts. EXO 30:34 Then the Lord said to Moses, "Take for
yourself spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, spices with pure frankincense; there
shall be an equal part of each. It must be (1) perfume (2) salted (3) pure (4) holy. EXO
30:35 "And with it you shall make incense, a perfume, the work of a perfumer, salted,
pure, {and} holy. The incense was used four ways. (1) it was placed before the Ark (2) it
was burned on the altar ( morning, night and continually) (3) It was burned in the golden
censor ( on the Day of Atonement) (4) burned in the bronze censor. ( To stop the plague
and protect the people.) (1) EXO 30:36 "And you shall beat some of it very fine, and
put part of it before the testimony in the tent of meeting, where I shall meet with you;
it shall be most holy to you. (2) EXO 30:7 "And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on
it; he shall burn it every morning when he trims the lamps. EXO 30:8 "And when Aaron
trims the lamps at twilight, he shall burn incense. { There shall be} perpetual incense
before the Lord throughout your generations. (3) LEV 16:12 "And he shall take a
firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of
finely ground sweet incense, and bring {it} inside the veil. LEV 16:13 "And he shall
put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy
seat that is on {the ark of} the testimony, lest he die. (4) NUM 16:46 And Moses said to
Aaron, "Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense {on it;}
then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone
forth from the Lord, the plague has begun!" NUM 16:47 Then Aaron took {it} as Moses
had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among
the people. So he put {on} the incense and made atonement for the people. Four things were
required to burn incense (1) The altar (2) the incense (3) fire (4) consecration. NUM
16:40 as a reminder to the sons of Israel that no layman ( not consecrated) who is not of
the descendants of Aaron should come near to burn incense before the Lord; that he might
not become like Korah and his company-- just as the Lord had spoken to him through Moses.
2CH 26:18 And they opposed Uzziah the king and said to him, "It is not for you,
Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord, but for the priests, the sons of Aaron who are
consecrated to burn incense. Get out of the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful, and
will have no honor from the Lord God." All are called to pray, praise, worship and
offer thanks to the Lord. This is basic. However, pure incense, that is a sweet smelling
perfume, that ascends up to God as a vapor pleasing to Him, is the work of a perfumer and
not too common to see. PSA 141:2 May my prayer be counted as incense before Thee; The
lifting up of my hands as the evening offering. REV 5:8 And when He had taken the book,
the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having
each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
REV 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a golden censer; and much
incense was given to him, that he might add it to the prayers of all the saints upon the
golden altar which was before the throne. REV 8:4 And the smoke of the incense, with the
prayers of the saints, went up before God out of the angel's hand. The primary purpose of
prayer is to find out what is on God's heart and ask Him to do it on earth. This seems so
foolish to say such a thing. MAT 6:8 "Therefore do not be like them; for your Father
knows what you need, before you ask Him. MAT 6:9 "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our
Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. MAT 6:10 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done, On earth as it is in heaven. MAT 6:11 'Give us this day our daily bread. MAT 6:12
'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. MAT 6:13 'And do not lead
us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For Thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, forever. Amen.]' This prayer is vertical and is centered upon God and His
purpose. Debts, forgiveness, temptation and deliverance are necessary for us to serve God
and bring joy to His heart. His will being done on the earth, in the same measure it is
being done in heaven, is the foundation for the Kingdom of God upon the earth. The Kingdom
of God functioning on the earth is God's purpose and our training ground. MAT 12:28
"But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon
you. The Kingdom of God will always overcome all other kingdoms and the evidence is
manifest when the demons are cast out and the adversaries are forced to cease. PSA 8:2
From the mouth of infants and nursing babes Thou hast established strength, Because of
Thine adversaries, To make the enemy and the revengeful cease. The Kingdom of God is
functioning perfectly in Heaven. This is why it is called "the Kingdom of
Heaven". Everybody in heaven is doing the will of God. All the adversaries have been
cast out. The main focus of God's work now is on the earth. However, God gave that
dominion, rulership and authority to man. The Devil was quick to usurp man's authority but
God will not. God will work to establish His Kingdom upon the earth but since that
dominion was given to man, man must ask God to do it. The Kingdom of God will be
established on the earth wherever the will of God is being done. Every place Jesus stood
the Kingdom of God was manifest because He always did the will of God. For man to try to
pray down his own will upon the earth is nothing because that would just establish the
kingdom of man. Man has authority to rule over the earth but under the sovereignty of God
and for His purpose. Man has authority to rule when the will of God is being done. MAT 6:9
"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. MAT
6:10 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. MAT 7:21 "Not
everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does
the will of My Father who is in heaven. If we are going to participate in the Kingdom of
Heaven, doing the will of God is not an option, it is a requirement. Just to be in the
immediate family of God it is essential that we do the will of God. MAT 12:50 "For
whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and
mother." LUK 8:21 But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers
are these who hear the word of God and do it." There are two essential principles for
the church to establish the Kingdom where they stand. Doing the will of God personally and
inquiring of God for His will to be done on the earth as it is being done in Heaven. The
church acting on her own initiative, independently of the will of God, is not the
principle of the Kingdom but the principle of Satan. ROM 8:14 For all who are being led by
the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Those who are being led by the Spirit are doing
the will of God. These then are His brothers and sisters and mother or the sons of God. If
all these things are requirements for the Kingdom where do we discover these things? In
the Holy Place life and ministry! The Lampstand is the illumination, the Showbread is the
revelation of His will and the Altar of Incense is ministry function to pray His exact
will down on the earth. If only those who do the will of God can participate in the
Kingdom of God and only the overcomers can sit with Him on His throne, then it is true
that the basis of overcoming is doing the will of God personally. It is commonly taught
that Jesus' death at calvary purchased us an experiential place in the Kingdom of God.
However, we discover that only those who do the will of God participate in the Kingdom of
God. Jesus did restore to man a "legal right" to use His name and to function
under His authority and the sovereignty God has given Him over heaven and over earth. The
primary revelation we need to burn Incense at the gold Altar is that man has no autonomous
authority so he can act independently from the sovereignty of Jesus Christ, God's ideal
man. The gold of the Altar speaks of God's purpose and the crown on the top speaks of
Christ's sovereignty to rule. The Incense speaks of the prayers of the saints that inquire
of God for His will to be done on the earth. God's exact will for the moment is learned at
the Table of Showbread. It is the fire on the Lampstand that illuminates the Showbread and
the Altar of Incense. EXO 25:36 "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. EXO 25:37
"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. Man's absolute authority to burn Incense on
the Altar of Incense is his "legal right" as a member of Christ's body under
Christ's sovereignty. The Altar of Incense operates by our "legal right". Satan
was legally defeated at Calvary but he has not yet been caused to cease his work and
deception. That work has been assigned to the "Lampstand Church". Man (the
church) has no independent authority to command Satan or rule the earth. All authority in
heaven and on earth was given to Jesus. The church's sole authority is limited to His
headship over His body and under His sovereignty. The church, which is His body, then
stands in His legal position on earth. Satan is still prince of this world and the ruler
of darkness but he is a renegade king. If all authority was given to Jesus Christ in
heaven and on earth, that means that Satan has none. 1CO 15:25 For He must reign until He
has put all His enemies under His feet. Christ is in heaven but His body is on earth.
Jesus Christ will rule through His body. Where? At the Altar of Incense! A church without
authority is not His church but the true church must operate within His Kingdom and under
His government. A renegade church is operating on the principle of Satan and has no power
over Satan. The church only has authority within the permission of God's sovereignty. (1)
Altar speaks of sacrifice. (2) Incense speaks of prayer. (3) Gold speaks of God's eternal
purpose. (4) Crown speaks of ruling through prayer. (5) Horns speak of strength, power and
authority. (6) Fragrant smoke rising speaks of access to God's presence. (7) Fire speaks
of Holy Spirit's assistance. We could say that the first two pieces of furniture (
Lampstand & Table of Showbread) are summed up and completed in the third ( the Altar
of Incense). The first two are preparation and the third is function and fulfillment.
Since the primary ministry of the priests was divided between these three we may ask which
one is more important? There cannot be one without the others. It is not a matter of
importance but is a matter of balance. There is a definite connection between trimming the
lamps and burning the Incense. EXO 30:8 "And when Aaron trims the lamps at twilight,
he shall burn incense. { There shall be} perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your
generations. Both together is correct, effective and proper prayer. We cannot pray
effectively in spiritual darkness. If we put this into a statement we could say: The
Lampstand illuminates the Table of Showbread to give the immediate revelations to burn
incense. The Altar is the place we bring God's revealed will of His purposes to Him in
prayer, by faith in His sovereignty and power, that He is able to perform all that He has
spoken. The basis of the one piece of gold in the Lampstand is that the character of God,
the purpose of God and the sovereignty of God merge into one in His overcoming church. The
church cannot arrive at the reality of God's sovereignty if we ignore His character and
His eternal purpose. This is the basis of "light". It is Christ's victorious
authority and our delegated authority that is the legal basis of burning Incense. Incense
prayer is not just having a dialogue with God where we try to get God to do what we want
Him to do. It is also not just asking according to what others have asked. It is not
assuming what would be good to ask because we need it. The Showbread speaks to us of
hearing His voice, the rhema, the now word and what is on God's heart. It speaks of what
God wants to accomplish, to meet His need, at the moment. The incense is mixed and blended
to be a perfumer's mixture. Selfish and self-centered prayer is not incense. It may have a
place with the bronze censer but not at the gold altar. The perfumer's mixture may be seen
as a blending of prayer, praise, worship and thanksgiving. The result is that we become
co-labors with God. God works and we work with Him. The Incense was formulated and then
salted. Salt speaks of covenant and also of friendship and loyalty. That means that God
has ordained Incense prayer to be within His covenant and it will be answered by covenant.
God is always loyal to His covenant. If we pray down fire upon the Samaritans to burn them
up, is that Incense? No, that is flesh. Incense functions with Christ's character and
according to His purpose. JER 33:3 'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you
great and mighty things, which you do not know.' EZE 36:37 'Thus says the Lord God,
"This also I will let the house of Israel ask Me to do for them: I will increase
their men like a flock. ZEC 10:1 Ask rain from the Lord at the time of the spring rain--
The Lord who makes the storm clouds; And He will give them showers of rain, vegetation in
the field to {each} man. MAT 21:22 "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you
shall receive." If we have the revelation (Showbread) that this is the time for the
spring rain, we should ask God for the rain (Incense). Asking for the spring rain in the
fall is a waste of time. We ask and don't receive so we get discouraged and assume that
God doesn't hear. No! If we ask according to Incense, God will answer by covenant. PSA
34:15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, And His ears are {open} to their cry.
We can find tremendous promises but many of them depend upon the reality of Incense and
not upon how loud we pray. Those who stand afar need to pray louder. LUK 1:8 Now it came
about, while he was performing his priestly service before God in the {appointed} order of
his division, LUK 1:9 according to the custom of the priestly office, he was chosen by lot
to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. LUK 1:10 And the whole multitude of the
people were in prayer outside at the hour of the incense offering. LUK 1:11 And an angel
of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense. There were two
prayer meetings going on at the same time. One was inside and one was outside. The Lord
visited the one inside. The Holy Spirit is bringing the Old Testament practice together
with the New Testament reality. This is the first mention of Incense in the New Testament.
There is very little reason to mention where the Angel was standing because it is not
essential to the context. However, it clearly says that he was standing to the right of
the Altar of Incense which places him between the Altar and the Showbread, tieing the two
together. God's eternal purpose is tied together with prayer. It was at the Altar of
Incense that the angel informed Zechariah that his prayer was answered. Still, with all
that, he didn't exercise faith to believe it. This is man's part to believe. God's part is
to answer. Prayer without faith produces no smoke and makes prayer powerless. Because the
Lampstand, the Table of Showbread and the Altar of Incense are closed in on all four sides
and the top, in the Holy Place, it is difficult to speak of one without speaking of the
others. They are more or less one life and ministry. When we speak of the Lampstand, we
know that individually we have our responsibility toward the other members of Christ's
body. However, corporately, as Christ's body, we are responsible to the HEAD, Jesus Christ
and we have our responsibility toward God's eternal purpose and what brings joy to His
heart. Seeing this we could say: What will bring joy to God's heart is the Lampstand
church functioning as one body in the Holy Place life and ministry, within the revelation
of God's eternal purpose with a "now word" that she will carry to the Incense
Altar, into the circle of God's sovereignty, to offer up a sweet smelling savor for God's
nostrils because at last God's sons are functioning in harmony with God's original purpose
and His will. Jesus said "I will build My church and the gates of Hell shall not
overpower it". All this victory works within the corporate unity of the church, which
is His body. It is the Lampstand that is in view here. The believer, who is acting on his
own behalf individually as a lone ranger, may want to take individual responsibility to
serve God and do the will of God. Then he finds himself in some hopeless situation trying
to fulfill the purpose of God all by himself. He may feel that he is a free spirit and
doesn't want to be slowed down or hindered by the church. He may have been successful in
praying for the sick and casting out demons and even evangelizing. He may have studied the
word and gotten revelation and be confident that God is blessing his ministry. This kind
of "ministry" may function in the "Outer Court" sense but the free
spirit is helpless to function within the Lampstand church. He may see the problems and
pain of becoming one with the Lampstand and be melted together with the rest of the gold.
The fire of the crucible, that makes the pure gold, is just not convenient and may
interfere with "my" ministry. The problem is that he cuts himself off from the
Showbread and cannot burn incense. The lone ranger may be successful with the bronze
censer but God's purpose will be fulfilled by the church, which is His body. While he may
faithfully pray, he cannot burn Incense at the gold altar. The gospel of the giveaways and
the gospel of the bargains is the result of an outer court ministry. The "body of
Christ" does not have independent members who are free spirits or extra hands or feet
that are on special assignment away from the body. The problem with the Lampstand that is
hammered out of "one piece of gold" is that whoever participates in the
Lampstand church must forfeit his right to his own individuality and let the free spirit
fly away. The individual ambition must yield to the corporate body in order to fulfill the
purpose of God in the church age. Of course it is not possible to have a consecrated
church without having consecrated individuals. It is at the consecration offering that we
sacrifice our individuality to come into the unity of the Lampstand. The transition is
from "my salvation", "my need", "my goals', my ministry", My
happiness" and "my comfort" to the corporate body fulfilling God's eternal
purpose. "My ministry" is irrelevant when seen in the light of God's purpose.
God can quickly purify the gold when he finds truly consecrated priests. When we study the
Lampstand, it is so complicated, we will know only God knows how to hammer the one piece
of gold into a Lampstand. This is beyond the work of man and church history shows that man
has even polluted the gold. ZEC 4:2 And he said to me, "What do you see?" And I
said, "I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and
its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the
top of it; ZEC 4:3 also two olive trees by it, one on the right side of the bowl and the
other on its left side. " ZEC 4:11 Then I answered and said to him, "What are
these two olive trees on the right of the lampstand and on its left?" ZEC 4:12 And I
answered the second time and said to him, "What are the two olive branches which are
beside the two golden pipes, which empty the golden {oil} from themselves?" ZEC 4:13
So he answered me saying, "Do you not know what these are?" And I said,
"No, my lord." ZEC 4:14 Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones, who
are standing by the Lord of the whole earth." Regardless of what various commentators
say, the only ones who can fuel the gold Lampstand for the whole church age are the Spirit
of Christ and the Holy Spirit. These are the only ones who can pour the golden oil out
from themselves and into the lamps. The gold Lampstand burns the golden oil and not
candles as is sometimes taught. It is not by man's feeble ability but by My Spirit says
the Lord. These are the Sons of fresh oil. It may be true that the church is just in the
very small beginnings but we must not despise the day of small things. As in the days of
Zechariah, God can build with rubble if it is consecrated rubble.
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