I.　Through His death the Lord released Himself into man as the fire of life to burn on the earth—Luke 12:49-50:

A.　The pnuematic Christ as the sevenfold intensified, life-giving Spirit is a burning fire—Heb. 12:29; Rev. 4:5; 5:6; 1:14; cf. Zech. 2:5.

B.　"We all have been burned by this fire; we have been brought together by this fire; and now we are burdened that this fire would burn many others. When the concealed glory of Christ's divinity was released, a divine fire was cast on earth to burn the whole earth. Let the fire burn on; no one can stop it"—The Issue of Christ Being Glorified by the Father with the Divine Glory, pp. 11-12.

C.　Everyone who is called of God must realize that he is a thornbush with a fire burning within him and that this fire is God Himself—Exo. 3:2-6:

1.　We need to learn one lesson: to work for God without using the natural life with its energy, strength, and ability as the fuel, but letting God burn within us.

2.　We need to be burning in spirit, serving the Lord as a slave with the fire of His life, not with strange fire, signifying natural enthusiasm, which brings in spiritual death—Rom. 12:11; Lev. 10:1-2.

II.　The fire on the altar of burnt offering should be kept burning continually; it must not go out—Lev. 6:12-13:

A.　Day by day and on many occasions, we need to offer ourselves in Christ to God as a continual burnt offering to be burned by Him so that we may burn others—cf. Rom. 12:1-2; Num. 28:3-4, 9-11, 19, 26-27; 29:1-2, 7-8, 12-13, 39-40.

B.　The Spirit causes our spirit to be burning and our gifts to be flaming; hence, we should not quench Him—1 Thes. 5:19; Rom. 12:11; 2 Tim. 1:6:

1.　We must allow the Lord to burn us and to keep us burning continually by fanning our God-given spirit into flame—2 Tim. 1:6-7.

2.　We must enjoy God as the fire of love to love Him and others with His love—2 Cor. 5:14; S. S. 8:6-7; 2 Tim. 1:7.

3.　We must have a time with the Lord every morning to have a new beginning and be revived by Him—Lev. 6:12; Prov. 4:18; Lam. 3:22-24; Psa. 119:147-148.

4.　We must call upon the Lord, stirring ourselves up to lay hold of Him—Rom. 10:12; 2 Tim. 2:22; Isa. 64:7a.

5.　We must pray-read God's Word, striking the Spirit of the Scripture with our spirit to catch the divine fire—Jer. 23:29; Eph. 6:17-18; 2 Tim. 3:16.

6.　We must be filled with the sevenfold intensified Spirit as the seven lamps of fire and the seven flaming eyes of Christ by opening ourselves to the Lord unreservedly to be enlightened by Him, burned by Him, and infused with Him—Rev. 4:5; 5:6; 1:14; Prov. 20:27; Mal. 3:2.

7.　We must always rejoice, pray unceasingly, and give thanks in everything—1 Thes. 5:16-18.

8.　We must speak for the Lord to impart Him into others, enjoying Him as our burning power for purging and motivating in God's economical move—Acts 2:3-4; 6:4.

9.　We must coordinate with one another in and among the churches to enjoy God as our sanctifying fire for His one move—Ezek. 1:4, 13; Rev. 1:20; Zech. 2:5.

10.　The burning of the sevenfold intensified Spirit as the seven lamps of fire motivates us to rise up and take action for the carrying out of God's economy—Dan. 11:32.

III.　We need to be reduced to ashes to become the New Jerusalem for God's expression—Psa. 20:3; Lev. 1:16; 6:10-11; 1 Cor. 3:12a; Rev. 3:12; 21:2, 10-11, 18-21:

A.　The burnt offering indicates that we have a heart that is absolute for God in this age—Rom. 12:1-2.

B.　The ashes signify Christ reduced to nothing—Mark 9:12; Isa. 53:3:

1.　The Lord's desire is that all the believers in Christ be reduced to ashes.

2.　Since we are one with the Christ who has been reduced to ashes, we also are reduced to ashes, that is, reduced to nothing, to zero—1 Cor. 1:28; 2 Cor. 12:11.

3.　The more we are identified with Christ in His death, the more we will realize that we have become a heap of ashes.

4.　When we become ashes, we are no longer a natural person; instead, we are a person who has been crucified, terminated, burned—Gal. 2:20a.

C.　The ashes are a sign of God's acceptance of the burnt offering as fat, something that is sweet and pleasing to Him—Psa. 20:3.

D.　Putting the ashes at the east side of the altar, the side of the sunrise, is an allusion to resurrection—Lev. 1:16; John 11:25; Phil. 3:10-11; 2 Cor. 1:9:

1.　With Christ as the burnt offering, the ashes are not the end—they are the beginning—Mark 9:31.

2.　The ashes mean that Christ has been put to death, but the east signifies resurrection.

3.　The more we are reduced to ashes in Christ, the more we will be put to the east, and on the east we will have the assurance that the sun will rise and that we will experience the sunrise of resurrection—Phil. 3:10-11.

E.　Eventually, the ashes will become the New Jerusalem—Rev. 3:12; 21:2, 10:

1.　Christ's death brings us to an end, reduces us to ashes, and in resurrection the ashes become precious materials for God's building—1 Cor. 3:9b, 12a.

2.　When we are reduced to ashes, we are brought into the transformation of the Triune God to become the precious materials for the building of the New Jerusalem—Rom. 12:1-2; 2 Cor. 3:18; Rev. 21:18-21.