"WICKS"

Exod 25:31-32  And thou shalt make a candlestick [of] pure gold: [of] beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:

Exod 25:37-38  And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, [shall be of] pure gold.

• One staff with six branches protruding from the sides.


John 15:5  I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

• We are the branches.
• Six branches.
• Six is the number of man.
• Man was created on the sixth day.
• That is why the mark of the beast (man-worship) is 666.

• Six branches on the vine makes a complete unit of SEVEN.
• Seven always meant "complete" in the Bible.
• Without Jesus we are incomplete.

• The gold was not melted and poured into a mold.
• It was hammered and beaten.
• Without this candlestick, one could not have light to see while in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle.

• He was whipped and buffeted.
• And because of that we can see His light.
• We can be branches in Him.
• He said, "I am the light of the world" (John 9:5).
• And He also said, "Ye are the light of the world"  (Matt 5:14).
• He and us together are vine and branches giving light, like the candlestick.

• Each lamp had WICKS on them.
• Olive Oil was added to the wicks, and the fire burned the olive oil.
• The Olive Oil and the Fire speaks of the Holy Ghost.
• The gold is Jesus Christ.
• But there are the wicks.
• What does the wicks represent?
• YOU AND I.

• Literally, the wicks were immersed, or baptized (Greek meaning of baptized is "immersed").
• The wick is soaked in oil.
• That would allow the oil to burn on the wicks.

• And we are meant to be set ablaze with the fire of His Holy Spirit.

When such oil is all over a wick, the part that burns is the oil.

• But the wick carries the oil.
• And the wick CHARS in the process.
• The wick keeps charring until the fire cannot burn brightly any more.
• The Pure Olive OIL is not the problem.
• The Pure Gold is not the problem.
• As the wick chars, impurity collects.
• WE, the wicks, ARE THE PROBLEM.

• The oil may be pure olive oil (Ex. 27:20).
• But a charred wick stops the light from shining.

• So the wick had to be dressed.


Exod 30:7  And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it.

1Sam 3:3  And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God [was], and Samuel was laid down [to sleep];

• They would trim the lamps.
• The ashes and the char from the wicks were carried away in golden dishes.
• And a fresh new supply of oil was applied at the same time.
• The Bible mentions snuffers and snuffdishes.


Exod 37:23  And he made his seven lamps, and his snuffers, and his snuffdishes, [of] pure gold.

• Only unnatural light from the candlesticks.
• The holy place where the candlesticks were, was a room to be traversed immediately before one entered the Most Holy Place behind the veil, where God's Presence actually dwelt.
• There is a message here.
• As you come near to God, you need illumination from His Spirit because natural illumination (opinions of God) cannot help you.
• The wicks were then lit in the evening time.
• Then extinguished again in morning.

• Tongs lifted up the wick to a fresh position for the oil and the fire to burn upon them brightly again.

Repentance.

• We repent so that we can burn brightly again.
• Repentance removes our charring corruption that sneaks up on us all in a world where there is so much sin.

• You participate through doing your part and staying clean of char.
• God does His part and sends His Spirit to us, and fire comes upon us.
• The oil flows through us.
• But we must keep ourselves in the right place.
• An odour and smoke result if we are not in the right place.

• A wick that is raised too high than it should will cause more smoke than light.

• A wick that is too low than it should be will either have the fire extinguished or cause a bad odour to fill the room.

• Smoke and odour and soot will be removed and the light will burn brightly.

Matt 25:1-4  Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, and five [were] foolish. They that [were] foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.

Matt 25:6  And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.

Matt 25:7  Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps.

• Why?
• They had to have the lamps burning brighter than they were.
• Trim the wicks.
• Also time to put on more oil if necessary.

• We must be the best believers we are able to be and receive the Spirit of God.
• I cannot give you the grace that God gave to me.
• You have to obtain grace from God yourself.
• The wise could not give their oil to the fools.

• There is a proper time to ensure your fire is bright and will stay bright.
• But it became too late for them to do so.

The whole picture started out fine.

• But the fools did not complete their parts.
• They did not go all the way and ensure the fire keep burning.
• We must prepare to go all the way with Christ, and not just start a journey with Him not considering the end and not ensuring we make it all the way.
• Many start a christian life with no thought as to what they will do when persecution arises.
• They take no thought about what they will do when hard times come.
• Will they keep living for God?
• They only take thought for a moment.
• Their true commitment to Christ is not there.

• We cannot live and burn on what we did for God yesterday.
• We may have kept ourselves trimmed yesterday, but became careless and are not presently keeping ourselves trimmed and brightly burning.
• You are charred as you work for Him.
• You WERE used by God, but you must cut off that part of the past and put yourself, like a wick, into the place to be used some more today.

• The wood that bore the fruit will never bear fruit again.
• We cannot live on last year's dedication.
• We must always be dedicated to God.
• Always trimmed and ready to burn brightly.

• When that is desired, you are not concerned over a trimming.
• We don't like trimmings.
• We tend to want to ride on an experience we once had.
• It is not comfortable to think that what we once had is not good enough for today.
• We must be in the proper place to burn right now.

• But they stop serving God when trouble comes.

• We should not have to GET it, but should be USING IT already.

• But they let it ride.
• Do you know your lamp is dimmer than what it once was?
• Do something about it!