Scott Moore: Welcome to the "Building Faith and Family" podcast with Steve Demme.  I'm your host, Scott Moore. Thanks for joining us today. Good morning, Steve. How  are you today? 

Steve: I'm peachy. How are you? 

Scott: The same. 

Steve: This is podcast number three on this topic. We've been talking about the Holy  Spirit. We finished the blood of Jesus at the altar, and then the water in the bronze  basin. Then we began studying the Spirit. It's interesting because the more you get  into these things, and the more you chew on it, the more you see. The Bible, as a friend of mine says, "I feel like I'm scratching the surface because once  you get into it, you see these wonderful insights." 

The reason that we did the blood first was because when you come into the  tabernacle, the altar was there for the burnt offerings and the sacrifices, and that's  where the blood was shed and then there was a bronze basin before you came into  the holy place, which represents the water. I think it's the water of the word. The  water of truth. Once you come into the holy place on the side, in my mind on my left,  is the golden lampstand. 

The golden lampstand had a couple different functions, but it was to be maintained  regularly. When I think of the golden oil, I think of the Holy Spirit. When I think of the  golden lampstand, I think of the church. 

A couple times a day, I pray for the church. I pray for the church to be filled afresh  with the golden oil of the Spirit. Twice a day, the priests were supposed to be filling  up this lampstand to keep the lamp burning brightly. 

In Leviticus 24:1-4, "Jehovah spoke to Moses saying, 'Command the people of Israel  to bring you pure oil from beaten olives for the lamp that a light may be kept burning  regularly or continually. Outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting,  Aaron shall arrange it from evening to morning before Jehovah regularly. It shall be a  statute forever throughout your generations. He shall arrange the lamps on the  lampstand of pure gold before Jehovah continually.'" 

Speaking of the lampstand in Exodus 25:34-37, "On the lampstand itself, there shall  be four cups made like almond blossoms with their calyxes and flowers, and a calyx  of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out from the  lampstand. 

"Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it a single  piece of hammered work of pure gold. You shall make seven lamps for it, and the  lamp shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it."  

Today, we're going to talk about the oil which burns in these seven lamps and gives  light. Let's pray. 

Father, here we are. We're bowing. We're humble before Your word. Teach us from  Your word. Open up the scriptures to us just like you opened up the scriptures to  those men on the road to Emmaus. I pray that we'll have soft hearts and teachable  spirits, and we can learn what You have to say to us today. 

Give us at least one insight that we can, You might say, chew on the rest of the day  and take with us and have it lodged right down deep in our spirit. The Bible talks  about You writing Your word on our heart. 

We'd like to have Your word written on our heart today in Jesus' name. Bless Scott and  I to that end to cooperate in a way that will be right in sync with Your Spirit. In Jesus'  name. Amen. 

Scott: Amen. 

Steve: I feel like I missed a lot of the Bible for many years because I had never fully  embraced the foundation, which is in the Old Testament. I had read it, but I had never  given myself to studying it. 

I have a whole bunch of verses today that are from the New Testament, but they make  more sense when you recognize that for God's chosen people, the children of Israel,  there would have been a foundational, fundamental understanding they had about  this golden lampstand. 

Today, even when you go to Israel, one of the souvenirs people often bring back, they  bring back a little menorah. There's a big one right in front of the Knesset, the  government of Israel where they meet, as I remember, but this is identified with  Israel, this menorah and this lampstand. 

This was a priestly regular duty to keep the incense burning and keep those lamps  filled with oil. When you have that as a part of the warp and woof of your being and  your understanding, then verses like Zechariah 4:2-3 make more sense. "I see and behold a lampstand, olive gold, with a bowl on the top of it and seven  lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. There are  two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." The writers of scripture are assuming that we know these things because now they're  going to build on them. Even in Psalm 119:105, there's this little nugget, "Your word  is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." That's a beautiful word picture. "Your  word is a lamp to my feet." 

Now when we get into the time of the Messiah, Jesus spoke to them in John 8:12, "I  am the light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will  have the light of life." 

Matthew 5:14-16, this is pretty close to the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount.  "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone  light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all  who are in the house. 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." 

Not only is Jesus the light of the world, not only is the word of God a lamp to our feet,  but now Jesus says if we follow Him, we will have the light of life, and then He says,  "You are the light of the world." That you don't have to pray about that. You don't  have to ask God to make you that. We are the light of the world. 

Then He says, "Let your light shine before men so that they can see your good works  and glorify Your Father who is in heaven." Ephesians 5:8 continues with this thought.  "At one time, you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children  of light." 

I like how Jesus doesn't say, "I hope that you'll be the light." But you are the light, and  now let your light shine. Paul does the same thing. "You used to be in the darkness.  You are the light in the Lord. Walk as children of light." These verses help us identify  our calling, our identify. This is who we are. Then they add a command. "Let your  light shine. Walk as children of light." 

1 Thessalonians 5:5, 8-9, "You are all children of light, children of the day. We are not  of the night nor of the darkness." Skipping a couple verses. "Since we belong to the  day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet,  the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation  through our Lord Jesus Christ."  

We are children of the day. We are children of light. We are not of the night. This is who we are. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. Of course, the devil  tries to make us think, "Oh, you're not blah, blah, blah." No. Resist them with the  truth, and the truth is we are children of light. 

Peter goes further, "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people  for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you  out of darkness into His marvelous light." 

This is what God has done for us. These are facts. You might say, "Well, I don't feel  very chosen or royal or holy or..." Just read it until you believe it. We are a chosen race  and a royal priesthood. 

Matthew 25:1-4, 6-7, "The kingdom of heaven will be like 10 virgins who took their  lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish, and five were  wise, for when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise  took flasks of oil with their lamps." 

Skipping down, "At midnight, there was a cry, 'Here is the bridegroom. Come out to  meet Him.' All those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps." Now put that together  with Luke 12:35, "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning."  When you add all these verses with what we've mentioned in the last couple podcasts,  "Be filled with the Spirit." I take that to mean I need to keep my cup full. I need to  keep my lamp burning. I need to keep my flask full of God’s Oil, the Spirit. I know that we receive the Spirit by faith, and I know that we're sealed by the Spirit,  but I believe there's an up-to-date thing that we learn from the fact that the priests  had to go in there because those oil lamps burned all day. 

As they burned, they consumed the oil, and they had to be filled afresh regularly,  continually. Those are words that describe the priestly function, to keep those lamps  trimmed and full and burning. Since I'm a part of the body of Christ, I'm a part of His  golden lampstand. That's my first and big takeaway. 

When I read about verses like, "Let your light shine before men," I don't want to live in  a glass house, and I don't want to broadcast everything I'm doing, but I feel like we  have more influence than we realize. I've met people that you can see the light of God  on their face. 

They've mentioned sometimes they can see it on my face, and that's what we want.  We want to stick out. We want to be light. I know that we stick out more than we think  that we stick out because we are being transformed from within. He has and is filling  up our bowls. He has lit our lamps on fire, and I think we let our light shine more than  we know. 

That's my big takeaway. I need to stay filled with the Spirit. I need to walk in the Spirit,  sow to the Spirit, live by the Spirit, be led by the Spirit. All those verses I lumped  together in my head because I need the Spirit. If I'm not filled with the Spirit, my  lamps are not going to burn brightly, and I won't have fuel. Do you have anything  beyond that, brother? 

Scott: The part that's hitting me is where Jesus says He's the light of the world, and  then when He says we're the light of the world, like He's giving us His identity and  calling us up to the highest calling that we could have, like let your light shine. I'm  just scratching the surface, but yes. It's pretty huge. 

Steve: Think about this though, because I have these images in my head now, when I  see that golden lampstand, I see Jesus. He is the body of Christ. There's a whole  bunch of sevens identified with Jesus in Revelation, but we're part of the body of  Christ, and He is the light. He's the big light. We're the little lights. It's all one and the same, for we are connected to the golden lampstand. Connected to  Christ, and we need to be filled with His Spirit. I don't fully understand some of the  passages that I read, but I believe them. 

I embrace them, and my understanding, I believe, will increase as I need it to be  increased, but I'm waiting for my brain to catch up to my Spirit, you might say. I'm  absorbing them and believing them. By faith, you and I are virgins, but there were  foolish virgins and there were wise virgins. 

The wise ones took steps to prepare. I wish I knew exactly what the application was.  All I know is I think that if I keep reading His word, I keep meeting with other  believers, these are things that keep my lamp burning. They keep my flame bright. Scott: I've heard that parable explained as like our need for the Holy Spirit every day.  That's continually if we get depleted of communing with God, then we will be the  foolish ones in that parable. 

Steve: Jesus Himself looked got tired, and He had to go out by Himself and pray.  There are sometimes when we give, give, give, and we need to take a break, and wait  on God and let that oil trickle in. 

Steve: We wish we could just turn the switch, but sometimes we have to let God fill us  afresh. We will burn up. That's what oil does. I had thoughts of looking to see how  bright oil light was because I've never really seen an oil lamp. You know those ones  that look like the genie holds? 

Scott: Yeah. 

Steve: Apparently, they are really are clever because they do burn and you carry that  little lamp around with you. 

Scott: Wasn't that what those like camping lamps were, the ones they filled with oil? Steve: Kerosene? 

Scott: Old style. Yeah. Something like that. 

Steve: They're not camping lights. I live in Lancaster County. The plain folks have a lot  of those lights. They burn brightly too. 

Scott: Oh, not as close as we see to those kind of things. Anyway... Steve: Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your good Spirit, and thank You for this  understanding that You've given us. That light, the golden oil burns, and it burns  brightly. I pray that You will help our lamps to burn brightly. I pray that You'll trim  them when they need to be trimmed, but we ask You now that You'll fill us afresh with  Your good Spirit. 

Top us off, so to speak. Fill Your church with Your Spirit today, in Jesus' name, so that  this world, the whole world, will see that we're Your children and that we will give  light to the world. You told us that we are the light of the world, so we want our lights  to shine before men in such a way that they will see us, but glorify You, who is in  heaven. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

Scott: Amen. That's our show for this week, folks. Thanks for joining us for the  Building Faith and Family podcast with Steve Demme. If you have a question for the  show, email Steve at spdemme@Gmail.com. Thanks for joining us. Have a great week.