Incense and Worship - by Deoram Bolan

By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of 'our lips giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."
Hebrews 13:15-16

"Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name: bring an offering, and come into His courts. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth."
Psalm 96:8-9

INTRODUCTION

"And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." Revelation 18:22-23

The voice of the bridegroom and the bride speaks of the Lord and all His overcoming saints and those voices must be heard now. God wants to visit us in this day; but there are some places that will not hear the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride. These Scriptures are dealing in part with Babylon, which means "confusion" (man's ways). So, "the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride," I believe, refers not only to the natural Israel that God will restore, but spiritual Israel also. True Christians are the spiritual Israel of God and God wants us to be attuned to His voice and to have the songs of praise and worship in our midst. This is what delights His heart. We should be occupied with the Lord and to put Him first and foremost in our lives.

"The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the LORD is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I mill cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD."
Jeremiah 33:11

Yes, this Scripture is dealing with God's remnant coming back to the land. The remnant that are hearing His voice today are coming back to the spiritual inheritance. He is restoring joy; He's restoring praise and His voice is being heard as we learn His ways and walk in them, He will send us ministries to make known unto us His words and His truths for this hour.

We Christians are that Jerusalem in one application and we also typify Judah. Judah speaks of "praise." God wants to bear the praises coming from us as well.

INCENSE AND WORSHIP

In this message, I would like to get into some Scriptures dealing with the incense. Let us read Exodus 30:1-10, 34-38.

"And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, foursquare shall it be: and two cubits shall be the height thereof: the horns thereof shall be of the same. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, and the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof; and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it; and they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements: once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations: it is most holy unto the Lord.

And the Lord said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight. And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee; it shall be unto you most holy. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof; it shall be unto thee holy for the Lord. Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people." Exodus 30:1-10, 34-38

As we study the Mosaic Tabernacle, there are many lessons that we can learn. In this message I will not be going into anything pertaining to the physical body of which the Mosaic Tabernacle also speaks. Neither will I be referring to the Body of Christ. What I will be explaining deals with the fact that we who know the Lord and have been born from above are constituted priests and as such it is our responsibility to function at the altar of incense. When you study about the Old Testament priesthood, you will discover that the function of a priest was to minister at two altars. One was the brazen altar in the outer court and the other was the golden altar of incense in the inner court. Let me give you a Scripture to back that up:

"But Aaron and his sons offered upon the altar of the burnt offering, and on the altar of incense, and were appointed for all the work of the place most holy, and to make an atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the ser¬vant of God had commanded." I Chronicles 6:49

So the priesthood ministered at the altar in the outer court which was called the brazen altar and at the golden altar of incense in the inner court. It is interesting to see the order in which God gave the pattern for the tabernacle. Before God gave the dimensions of the Tabernacle He gave the instructions for building the furniture of the Tabernacle. Who among us today would want to build a house and would think of the furniture first? We would think of the materials of the house, the foundation and the cost of the house. That would be our main preoccupation. Then, after the house was completed, we would think about getting furniture to fill the house. But when God gave the pattern for the tabernacle, He gave the pattern for the furniture first. Now, the most important piece of furniture was the ark and that was what the Lord spoke of first.

Then, before describing the pattern for the golden altar of incense, we find two chapters dealing with the priesthood, their cleansing, their consecration and their clothing. So, after God secured a priesthood, then He spoke about the golden altar of incense. There is a reason for that.

God always puts first things first. There must be the priesthood before there can be the altar of incense at which the priesthood would minister. When we study these two altars closely, we will find that they are related. There is a relationship between the two altars. Several years ago, I read Psalm 84 and was puzzled about a verse I read therein. "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts!" (Ps. 84:1). And then the Psalmist says, "Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God" (Ps. 84:3). I never could make much headway with that verse for I didn’t know what the Psalmist was trying to say. Yet, throughout the years I kept that verse in my heart. I'm not telling you I have all the light on it, but this is how it reads:

"My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, (Notice it says altars, not altar, but altars - the plural.) O Lord of hosts, my King and my God." Psalms 84:2-3

There is shown a relationship between the altar of brass and the altar of gold. And that reveals how the sparrow and the swallow found a nesting place there. I believe those birds typify Christians. "Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God" (Luke. 12:6)? That was prophetic of the Lord Who would fulfill the ritual involving the two birds spoken of in Leviticus 14:3-8. He would be sold, killed and offered up in sacrifice.

Moses gave the law pertaining to the cleansing of the leper which involved two birds. One had to be killed in an earthen vessel over running water and the blood was collected and sprinkled on the live bird. Then the live bird was set free to soar into the heavens, typifying the Lord taking a portion of His blood, after His resurrection, into the Holy of Holies in Heaven. In a secondary application, you and I are like unto birds. The Christian is a clean bird and the Christian finds a resting place or home at the altars, symbolically speaking. Where do we get rest? He said, "Come unto Me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." That speaks of the brazen altar where He was crucified. The brazen altar typifies the cross on which Christ was crucified and His blood shed. We have peace with God through the blood.

The altar of incense speaks of the Lord in His "High Priestly" ministry. The brazen altar speaks of Him as Christ crucified, but the altar of incense speaks of Christ in a high priestly ministry for He needs to make intercession for us. So the Christian finds rest and contentment in the fact that Jesus died, and rose from the dead. Jesus lives and He intercedes for us and He makes intercession for us. The word of God says that, "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them." That is what I believe the Psalmist was talking about. He wanted to experience more of the benefits of the Cross and the benefits of the high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ. As the sparrow and the swallow find a resting place at the altars, so God wants to teach us some more about these altars because we who know the Lord are priests and we must learn to minister like Aaron and his sons at both altars. I believe this is something to be done every day.

Those priests had to minister at both altars every day and you and I must symbolically minister at those altars every day. The main ministry of the priest was not to the people. The main ministry of the priest was to draw near unto God. Our highest ministry is not ministry to one another or ministry to unbelievers, but our highest ministry is ministry towards God.

Aaron and his sons were privileged to draw near unto God. After they ministered unto God then God ministered to them then they ministered to the people. It is definitely important to minister unto others, but that is not our primary ministry. We are to minister unto God.

Let us see some Scriptures about ministering unto God; but before we do that, let us look at the inner court of the Mosaic Tabernacle. There were three pieces of furniture in the inner court. One was the table of shewbread, the other was the lampstand (candelabra) with seven branches, and then close to the veil was the altar of incense. I believe God has much to tell us about these pieces of furniture and they are again shown in the Book of Revelation. Recently, I was studying about the altar of incense in Revelation 8, and saw a need to find out more about the incense and what it typified. The altar of incense was close to the veil and it speaks of the highest ministry God has called us unto. It was the shortest piece of furniture with the longest reach. What man may deem unimportant and what man may consider small is not so in the sight of God.

I believe those three pieces of furniture speak of three kinds of ministry. The altar of incense speaks of our ministry to God. The table of shewbread speaks of ministry to ourselves. The lampstand, giving its light, speaks of ministry towards others. God wants to teach us how to minister in all three areas. Some are acquainted with the fact that the Holy Place, or the inner court, was 20 x 10 x 10 cubits which equates to two thousand cubic cubits. God has given the church two thousand years to learn to minister towards Him, to ourselves, to one another and to others. Unless we fully learn to minister in the Holy Place, we are not qualified to go beyond the veil. Prophetically speaking, in the dimensions of the Holy Place, or the inner court, we see the length of time God had given the church to learn these lessons - when then arrives the time for the opening of the veil to bring us into the Holy of Holies. What a blessed privilege is soon to be granted us!

Now, I would like to give you a few Scriptures to bring out these three aspects of ministry. After giving you these I would like to consider the incense that was burned on the altar of incense and what it means for us today and how we can burn incense unto the Lord in ministry unto God.

"By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name. But to do good and to communicate forget not; for with such sacrifices God is well pleased." Hebrews 13:15-16
Let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God how many times? Continually! How often was incense to be burned on the altar? Continually! God wants to hear our praises, beloved. In other words, God is telling us that our ministry to Him must come first, but then we are not to forget ministry to ourselves and ministry to others. Forget not: God wants to balance us. There are some who are concerned about ministry to God and they forget ministry unto themselves. And, there are others who minister to themselves and they don't minister to God. Still others minister to God and themselves but fail to minister to others. So God wants to show us how to become properly balanced in our Christian life and walk.

We could say that these three pieces of furniture correspond to worship and works and the Word. God is concerned about our worshipping Him in spirit and in truth. God wants us to feed on His Word; but God also wants us to bring forth good works (good fruits). "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in Heaven." In Matthew 5:16 we are shown, in pattern, the items of furniture. "Let your light so shine before men" or, we could say, "Let there be a combination of the candlestick and the table of shewbread, that men will be drawn to the altar of incense." But first we must know the Lord and then, by communing with Him, we can receive strength from the Word and give out what God has given unto us.

Let us now view the incense itself and we see what it symbolizes. The incense was made up of five ingredients and they came from three kingdoms; the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom and the mineral kingdom. What does it mean to offer incense unto God? I believe that incense speaks of the person and works of our Lord Jesus Christ. To give incense unto God, to burn incense unto God, means to extol the praises, the virtues and the accomplishments of Jesus Christ. To prove that to you I would like us to look at the five ingredients.

There are some words mentioned here that are not found elsewhere in Scripture: stacte, onycha, galbanum, together with frankincense and salt. Stacte comes from the myrrh sap and it flows from the tree voluntarily. Thus, it is a gum that is given voluntarily from the tree and speaks of the Lord Who came to the earth voluntarily. What pressure was put on Him by the Father to come? He came of His own free will.
Onycha was a shellfish that was found in the marshes of the Red Sea. And when the shell was burned, it gave forth a fragrant odor. The shellfish would speak of Christ's animal life. He is referred to in Scripture as the "Lamb of God." He is also likened to a grain of wheat in the vegetable kingdom; but for Him to reproduce; He had to go the way of the cross.

". . .Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." John 12:24

As a shellfish, Jesus had to be taken out of the sea. When you take fish out of water what happens to the fish? Does it live? No, it dies. Then the burning of the shell of this fish gives forth a fragrant odor.

Galbanum was a bitter substance that was found through producing an incision into the bark of a tree. It was used as a repellant against insects, reptiles and snakes.
Frankincense speaks of purity. The frankincense came from a tree that released a whitish gum. It was a gum that was white in color and when lit, there was a white color to the flame. As already mentioned, this speaks of purity.

Then there was salt. The words "tempered together" mean 'rubbed with salt'. Salt is a preservative. So, when we take all these five ingredients together, we see a beautiful picture. We see in the stacte His generating life. He came to bring forth multitudes after His own kind, but He had to go the way of the cross. When we look at the shellfish we see His redeeming life. Redemption is through the blood. When we see the galbanum, we see repenting life - that which is to repel the enemy, the serpent. His death was to defeat the devil, to render him powerless. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil." That word "destroy" doesn't mean to disintegrate. It means "to render useless, to make inoperative." To render Satan powerless is shown by the galbanum. It is the insect repellant. His death was also to silence the accusations of the enemy.

Frankincense speaks of Christ's Resurrection. He was raised from the dead by the Spirit of Holiness, we read in Romans 1. And the salt speaks of Christ's preserving life. So when we look at the incense, we see the Lord in His generating life, His redeeming life, His repenting life, His Resurrection life and His preserving life. The incense speaks of Who Christ is and what He had accomplished. God is concerned about our burning incense. To burn incense means to extol the Lord for Whom He is and what He has accomplished. Have you not noticed in the Book of Revelation that when they begin to worship the Lord and praise Him, they always speak of what He did and Who He is? The work of the Lord on the cross is highly esteemed in the heavens. Praises ascend from the lips of the saints unto the Lord, for Who He is and His ministry now as High Priest; for His Kingship, His Majesty, His Glory and His Greatness!

Only the priest could offer incense. He had to get fire from the brazen altar, put it in a censor and take the censor into the Holy Place and then pour the incense upon the coals of fire. Then he set that censor on the altar of incense and the burning of the incense caused a cloud of smoke to ascend upwards unto God. Again, then, we see the relationship of the brazen altar to the golden altar of incense.
The fire that would consume the incense first had to consume the sacrifice on the brazen altar. Jesus had to first finish the work on Calvary's cross and face the wrath of God before He was qualified to function at the altar of incense as our High Priest. And on this altar of incense was a crown. Jesus is crowned with honor and glory and He is our King-Priest after the order of Melchizedek, functioning as our High Priest in the glory. He wants us to know that as we praise and worship Him that this is pleasing in the sight of God. Many times we begin to praise and worship the Lord when we see some victories and we think, "well, the Lord heard us; because of our praises." But it is not so much our praise that matters, it's our praises mingled with His perfections and accomplishments. The Lord, as it were, takes our prayers and praises and mingles them with His wonderful Person and work. It is through Him that our prayers and praises are acceptable.

I want to show you this again. Remember that in Hebrews 13, the apostle didn't say 'let us offer up the sacrifice of praise to God continually'. What does it say? "By Him, let us offer up the sacrifice of praise unto God continually." In other words, our praises don’t amount to anything unless He helps us. Unless He takes over in this situation as our High Priest. He has that responsibility of taking our praises and making them acceptable before the Father because of Who He is and what He has done. Our praises and prayers by themselves will not accomplish anything. They are only acceptable by Him and through Him.

Let us view 1 Peter 2:5 in this context. "Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood." To do what? "To offer up spiritual sacrifices." Look at the next statement. "Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Hallelujah! See how they are acceptable? Because of the High Priestly ministry of Jesus Christ. It is through Him that we come before the Lord. In ourselves we can't have access to the Throne of God. We can only come to the Lord through His shed blood, and so the brazen altar speaks of the shedding of blood and the fire consuming the sacrifice.

Then the incense altar speaks of praise and worship ascending unto God as a cloud of smoke. God wants us to learn how to function at both altars. The way we function there, is to come every day to the Lord through the blood and present our bodies a living sacrifice unto Him. Then, as we make ourselves available to Him, we look to Him to send the fire of His Spirit to consume that sacrifice. As the Lord fills us with His Spirit, then we can reach out and worship Him and minister unto Him.
"God is a Spirit: and they who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." John 4:24

So, as the priesthood depended on the fire and the blood, so you and I must continually use the blood and depend on the fire of the Spirit. Through the blood and the fire, we can offer incense unto God. We begin to praise the Lord for Who He is and what He has done. We begin to extol Him. We begin to magnify Him. We begin to dwell on His person and His works. Don't think you are wasting time when you begin to worship the Lord like that and tell Him Who He is and what He has done. We need to appreciate that more. Sometimes we take these things for granted, but we should never take them for granted. We should show our appreciation for the Lord, how He left Heaven's glory to come here to earth, for you and for me. "Yes, thank you, Lord, that You love me and You gave Yourself for me."

As you look at the ingredients for the incense, you begin to evaluate Him - you begin to think of His person and His work. That was how the priests burned incense unto God. Incense being burned speaks of thoughts of praise ascending from our hearts unto God through the fire of His Spirit being kindled within us. And as we begin to worship and praise Him, then He tells us to get into His Word. As we begin to read, He opens our understanding and gives us what we need for each day. We needn't start with the Word first; we can first seek His face and then as we get into fellowship with Him, He wants us to get a "hearty" meal at His table, where we feast on His Word and receive that portion for ourselves that would make us strong. Having received from His table, we can then go about our daily lives to shine for Him as the lampstand.

I believe the Church is now at that point in her history that speaks of the altar of incense. The outer court leads into the inner court and the inner court leads into the Holy of Holies. There is a progression for coming into the Holy of Holies. God has given us almost 2000 years to be ready and now He wants to bring us into His Heavenly Kingdom. Therefore, when we read about the altar of incense in Revelation, we see that it speaks of the praises and worship of the saints, ascending unto God. God is mindful of the praises of His people and of their prayers. He is going to answer these prayers and He will be glorified in our praises by sending fire upon the earth. That will be fire of judgment, but we will not see the greater things unless we learn to minister at the altar of incense.

God has purposed to do a lot of things but if you and I don't pray for these things to happen, they are not going to happen; they are going to be delayed. That's why the Scriptures state in one parable, "My Lord delayeth His coming" (Matt. 24:48). That was the attitude of the unprofitable servant. Now the reason He delays is because His people are not fervent enough. This is why He is stirring us up in this day - to learn to minister at the altar of incense so that as we begin to pray, that volume of prayer ascends from the multitude of His people, and such hastens the return of the Lord. It makes it possible for His Kingdom to come on earth and His will to be done on earth even as it is done in Heaven.

You and I have a part to play in this. Truly God is sovereign but God is also working in this day through you and me. So we must not be found as unprofitable servants.

Isaiah got a touch from the altar. He saw the Lord high and lifted up and His train filled the Temple, and he saw the seraphim praising God and they were saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy." One of them had a lighted coal of fire. Where did he get it from? That shows us there is a "Heavenly Tabernacle." That messenger took that lighted ball of fire and touched Isaiah's tongue. God wants to touch our tongues in this day. He wants to cleanse us and purify us so we can be made ready like Isaiah was, to be a testimony for the Lord in his day. The angel came and ministered to Isaiah at the time when he had the vision of the Lord. God ministers to us on the basis of the accomplished work of Jesus Christ.

Incense had to be burned in the morning and in the evening. Likewise with us. God wants us to begin the day with Him and begin to praise and worship Him and end the day in the same way. The incense was to be perpetually burning. He wants us to always have that attitude of praise and thanksgiving in our hearts. Daniel was praying to God at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, according to Daniel 9, and that was the time when the burnt offering was being burnt and the altar of incense had the fire from the brazen altar being placed on the incense, causing smoke to arise. It was a time of the burning of incense. That was the time that the Lord visited Daniel and opened the prophetic word unto him. It was at the evening hour of the burning of incense.

The early church was a praising church. Before the Spirit came at Pentecost, they were found praising and blessing God in the Temple. And then the Spirit came. We are at the end of this dispensation of the "day of grace." The Lord wants us to minister like Daniel - to seek Him, to intercede and to praise and worship Him. And as we do, He wants to unveil the prophetic word to us. Daniel received one of the mightiest of prophetic subjects: the 70 weeks prophecy. That is one of the hardest prophecies in the entire Bible. There are so many different voices today trying to explain Daniel's 70 weeks. But my point is that this revelation came to him at the time when the incense was being burned.

Moreover, when Cornelius was praying, an angel came down and visited him at the same time that Daniel prayed: the time of the evening sacrifice (about 3 p.m. in the evening).

"And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing. And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in remembrance in the sight of God." Acts 10:30-31

God wants to reveal more of Himself in this day as we take the time to seek His face. The enemy will try many ways to hinder us in this respect. He'll make us so busy and seek to get our attention in so many ways that we fail to get alone with the Lord. And beloved, if we don't have that strength from the Lord, we can't stand up to the tribulations and temptations in this hour. We need to get into that secret place and put the Lord first, then He will give us the strength and energy to accomplish the other things.

Let us review another reference regarding the golden altar of incense as found in Revelation 9. This suggests to me that the Church is at the altar of incense and soon the veil is to be opened up. God is about to bring us into a greater measure of power and authority than we have ever known. In verse 13, we find these words: "And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet. Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates." Now, the thought I want to leave with you is this: the voice came from the golden altar. In other words, what God is telling us is that when you begin to see the Eastern nations rising into prominence, that is a sign that the Church will be at the golden altar of incense which will pave the way for the Lord to break through within His people to release more of His power, to bring judgment upon the earth and to make way for His Kingdom to come with power and great glory.

It has only been a few years ago, or maybe a decade ago, at the most, that the eastern nations have risen in prominence, especially the Arab nations. These nations are bound at the great river Euphrates, which speaks of the Muslim nations and Arab power. The Arabs that were once in the background are now important, particularly in the financial aspect of society. It is as if God is saying, "As you see these things come to pass, then I want to speak to My people at the golden altar of incense. I want My people to learn to minister unto Me, because as the enemy works through the Muslim nations, seeing they have followed the false prophet, I am going to work through My people, and I will manifest My power through them." I believe this shows us we are at that state in history in which the Lord is saying, "My people come into your chambers. Hide thyself, as it were, for a moment. Dwell in the secret place." As we begin to pour out our hearts unto Him, He will visit us in this day.
Zachariah, father of John the Baptist, was ministering at the altar of incense as were others previously mentioned. The people were outside praying while he was at the altar ministering as a priest in the old order. At that time, the archangel Gabriel came and said, "Fear not, your prayers are heard" (Luke 1:13). What prayers did Zachariah pray? He and his wife had prayed for a son and it seemed as if those prayers were not answered. He and his wife were old. In like manner, many of us have prayed many prayers for our loved ones. For many situations which seem not to have been answered. However, God hears our prayers. "Your wife will conceive and bring forth a son." Hallelujah!

Now, Zachariah was a 'doubting Thomas' and he had to get some judgment, but nevertheless, his prayers were heard and John was born. What God is telling us today is that as we continue to pray and seek Him, He's going to visit us and we will see the birth of the "manchild company" in this day. That's the first stage of God's end time purpose. John the Baptist was born before Jesus Christ was born and was the forerunner for the Lord. Jesus Christ cannot come back to the earth unless there are those who are birthed into the kingdom. The Lord doesn't' come back to earth as King of kings first. He first comes to receive His Bride at the midnight hour as the Bridegroom. So as John the Baptist was born before Jesus Christ came on the scene, so must the manchild be born at the midnight hour before Jesus Christ can return to the earth.

Many Christians are looking for the physical return of Jesus Christ, but they fail to see that only a segment of the body for Christ will be birthed into the Heavenlies. It is because they fail to see that Jesus doesn't come at midnight as the King. The Scriptures don't say that 'at midnight the voice was heard, behold the King cometh.' Rather it is stated: "Behold the Bridegroom cometh." God is telling us that we are at evening hour. He wants us to pray and praise and worship Him. I believe in my heart that we are going to see angelic visitations in this end-time hour. Some of God's people have had it, but I believe this is going to become more and more common among the saints who are truly ministering at the altar of incense. AJI angel came to Daniel, an angel came to Cornelius, an angel came to Zachariah and great things happened at the time of the burning of incense.

If you study that carefully, you cannot help but conclude that we are about to see a greater breakthrough of the angelic army of the Lord. Much more is going to be unveiled to us. Much more will be made known to us. No, I am not saying we should worship angels. I say we must get our eyes on the Lord. The angels are the servants of the Lord to minister unto us who are the heirs of salvation. So, the Lord wants us to minister unto Him, then He will minister unto us. He will be made known to us in the "breaking of the bread" and then as we get blessed we in turn become a blessing to those around us and to those the Lord sends to us. Let us remember the Lord. Let us remember Who He is and what He has done.

Now let me leave you with a final Scripture and thought: "Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour" (Eccles. 10:1). What is that ointment? "Thy Name is as ointment poured forth" (S of S. 1:3). We have seen that there were five ingredients in the incense. There just happens to also be five letters in the name JESUS! That Name is as ointment poured forth; but 'dead flies' cause the ointment to give forth a putrid smell.

Now consider this: Beelzebub was a name given to Satan, which means 'the lord of flies', or 'lord of the dunghill'. Satan wants to bring thoughts into our minds so that we won't give the Lord the incense. Many times Satan puts wrong thoughts in our minds so that we won't feel like praising the Lord, so that when we come to worship Him we are not giving forth that pure incense unto the Lord.

Let's reject the dead thoughts Satan brings (the dead flies) - he is the 'lord of the dunghill'. Let's resist the wrong thoughts he puts in our minds and let's yield to the fire of God's Spirit, so that we can truly worship God in Spirit and in Truth! Amen.

[Blog poster: That concludes this teaching by Deoram Bolan. For audio sermons in mp3 format online for free, please see our sermons at http://www.sermonaudio.com/source_detail.asp?sourceid=littlestreampublishing
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