Repentance: The Fire Must Be Kept Burning | Pastor Tim Notz | 7/5/2026

Jul 05, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When the Fire Dims to Embers

The altar fire in Leviticus symbolizes God’s presence—a flame requiring daily tending. Sin acts like water poured over burning wood, reducing passion to faint smoke. Believers must guard against complacency that lets the fire dwindle. Just as priests replenished the altar each morning, disciples must feed their spiritual lives through prayer, repentance, and Scripture. A smothered flame leaves cold ashes, but obedience fans revival. [43:46]

“The fire on the altar must be kept burning; it must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire… The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out.” (Leviticus 6:12-13, NIV)

Reflection: What “water” have you poured on your spiritual fire this week through compromise or neglect? How will you intentionally feed the flame today?

Day 2: Sackcloth Hearts in a Selfie World

Nineveh’s repentance involved sackcloth, ashes, and corporate humility—a stark contrast to modern pride. True repentance rejects performative gestures and confronts the heart’s divided loyalties. Just as the king of Nineveh traded royal robes for grit, disciples must exchange self-sufficiency for brokenness. A nation shifts when its people stop justifying sin and start grieving it. [49:26]

“By the decree of the king and his nobles: Do not let people or animals taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways.” (Jonah 3:7-8, NIV)

Reflection: Where have you disguised pride as strength or excused sin as “progress”? What requires sackcloth honesty in your life?

Day 3: The Altar Before the Ballot

National healing begins not with political campaigns but with knees on church floors. Revival spreads when believers prioritize spiritual altars over earthly platforms. The church’s compromise—not external opposition—fuels cultural decay. As Nineveh heeded a prophet’s warning, disciples must model repentance before demanding it of others. [13:10]

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven… and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV)

Reflection: When have you prioritized complaining about culture over interceding for it? What personal “wicked way” needs turning today?

Day 4: God Sees What You Swipe Left

Proverbs 5:21 strips away the illusion of hidden sin. Every rationalized compromise, every secret scroll, every bitter thought lies bare before God. The Ninevites understood divine scrutiny—their repentance wasn’t triggered by shame before people but reverence before God. Authentic faith lives as if heaven’s spotlight never dims. [17:56]

“For your ways are in full view of the Lord, and he examines all your paths. The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast.” (Proverbs 5:21-22, NIV)

Reflection: What habit or thought do you assume God overlooks? How would living “in full view” change your next 24 hours?

Day 5: Fueling the Flame Daily

The altar fire required morning-by-morning obedience, not annual grand gestures. Spiritual vitality demands daily choices: opening Scripture before social media, worship over worry, forgiveness over grudges. Like priests removing ashes, believers must discard yesterday’s failures and today’s distractions to keep the flame undimmed. [44:03]

“Do not quench the Spirit… but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” (1 Thessalonians 5:19-22, ESV)

Reflection: What “ashes” from past mistakes still smother your fire? What one daily habit will you commit to fanning the flame this week?

Sermon Summary

Jonah’s word comes a second time, and the city of Nineveh believes God. The king steps off his throne, trades robes for sackcloth, sits in dust, and calls everyone from the greatest to the least to fast and cry out. God sees their turning and relents. That text sets the plumb line: repentance turns judgment, because belief in God’s word produces fear of God and a change of ways. The contrast lands close to home. Pride now struts in public. Sin no longer blushes. Culture flaunts what God forbids and dares heaven to answer. God is patient, but He is also Judge. His holiness will not lie.

The diagnosis runs deeper than politics. A party cannot save, and media consumption cannot sanctify. Jesus alone is Savior. Jehovah Jireh remains the provider, not big government dressed up as savior. When government swells and rejects God, liberty shrinks, but God’s care does not. Scripture exposes the real crisis: national healing starts at the altar, not the ballot. The church’s own compromise opened doors for darkness. Prayer is the most powerful protest on earth, but prayer with sin stuffed in the closet hits a ceiling. Sin cuts off fellowship. Repentance opens the line again.

Second Chronicles 7:14 still stands. If God’s people humble themselves, pray, seek His face, and turn, He hears, forgives, and heals. Judgment begins with God’s house, so humility must begin in God’s people. Humility rebuilds homes too. When believers own their part, admit their faults, and refuse to kick a fallen brother, grace moves.

Truth cannot be rebranded. Softening sin builds crowds, not disciples. The apostolic line still holds: God made Jesus both Lord and Christ. By His blood alone He saves, but as Lord He commands obedience that protects like a father’s hand at the curb. Holiness means difference. A believer’s life at work should say there is Someone else inside. The body is His temple. Daily cross-bearing is not optional.

Leviticus’ altar fire becomes the picture for life in the Spirit. The fire must be kept burning. Sin throws water on the flame. Repentance fans it back to life. Feed it with the Word, prayer, worship, and the fellowship that keeps the coals hot. James calls compromise what it is: spiritual adultery. Friendship with the world makes an enemy of God. Yet grace floods the humble. Tears over sin are not a wet blanket. They are the doorway to being lifted up in honor. The blood of Jesus alone washes clean, and consistent obedience keeps the flame burning bright.

Key Takeaways

1. Repentance begins at the altar National healing does not start with elections but with God’s people bowing low. Nineveh turned because it believed God’s word and humbled itself from throne to street. When the church trades outrage for intercession and confession, heaven listens. God still promises to hear, forgive, and heal when His people turn. [20:12]
2. Do not quench the Spirit Leviticus’ altar fire pictures the Spirit’s presence in a believer. Sin douses that flame until only a pilot light remains, but quick repentance reignites it. Ongoing fuel from Scripture, prayer, and worship turns a flicker into a blaze. A hot heart is not accidental; it is tended daily. [44:03]
3. Jesus is Savior and Lord The blood of Jesus alone forgives, yet the same Jesus claims the believer’s obedience. Cheap grace and softened truth cannot free; lordship does. His commands protect like a father pulling a child back from traffic, not like an egotist imposing rules. Holiness looks different on Monday at work. [34:26]
4. Humility invites judgment and mercy God starts His house-cleaning with His own people, and He gives grace to the humble. Owning sin, not blaming spouse or culture, opens the door to restoration. Confession rebuilds marriages and churches faster than defensiveness ever will. Tears over sin are the path to being lifted up. [28:54]
5. God, not government, provides Jehovah Jireh remains the source behind every skill, job, and paycheck. Socialism’s promise to replace God with government is a false refuge that shrinks freedom when it rejects Him. Trust shifts from screens and structures back to the Shepherd who feeds and leads. Provision is a Person before it is a program. [10:24]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:14] - Heart for the nation, call to repent
[02:23] - Jonah 3 read aloud
[03:53] - Title: The Fire Must Be Kept Burning
[04:45] - Pride without blush, flaunted sin
[08:09] - Only Jesus can save
[10:24] - Jehovah Jireh versus socialism
[13:10] - Healing starts at the altar
[19:34] - Repentance is our only hope
[21:41] - Secret sin and double life
[28:27] - Judgment begins with God’s house
[34:26] - Jesus is Lord and Christ
[42:19] - Keep the altar fire burning
[44:03] - Do not quench the Spirit
[56:26] - Confession and new life prayer

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Jonah 3:1-10 (ESV)
1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, three days' journey in breadth. 4 Jonah began to go into the city, going a day's journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” 5 And the people of Nineveh believed God. They called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them. 6 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. 7 And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, 8 but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” 10 When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Observation Questions

What specific actions did the king of Nineveh take to lead his people in repentance (Jonah 3:6-9)?
According to the sermon, what modern cultural attitudes contrast with Nineveh’s response to God’s warning (e.g., “pride struts in public,” “sin no longer blushes”)? [04:45]
How does Leviticus 6:12-13 describe the importance of maintaining the altar fire, and what does the sermon connect this to spiritually? [43:07]
What does James 4:4 identify as spiritual adultery, and how does the sermon apply this warning to believers? [45:55]

Interpretation Questions

Why do you think the Ninevites’ collective repentance (from the king to the lowest citizen) moved God to relent from judgment, even though they were a pagan nation?
The sermon states, “National healing starts at the altar, not the ballot.” What does this imply about the relationship between spiritual repentance and societal change? [13:10]
How does the analogy of “quenching the Spirit” through sin (1 Thessalonians 5:19) align with the Leviticus altar fire imagery? What happens when sin “throws water on the flame”? [44:03]
Why might humility be described as the “doorway to being lifted up in honor” (James 4:10), especially in the context of personal or corporate repentance?

Application Questions

What area of your life (thoughts, habits, relationships) might require the kind of radical humility the king of Nineveh demonstrated—stepping “off the throne” to repent? How could you take one practical step this week?
The sermon warns against “secret sin stuffed in the closet” that hinders prayer. Is there a hidden struggle or compromise you need to confess to God or a trusted believer to “reopen the line” of fellowship? [22:24]
How can you intentionally “feed the fire” of your spiritual life this week (e.g., specific time in Scripture, prayer, worship, fellowship)? What distractions or “water” (sin) do you need to avoid? [24:58]
In what ways might friendship with the world (e.g., priorities, entertainment, values) subtly influence your choices? How can you cultivate “holiness that looks different” at work or home? [37:06]
The sermon emphasizes trusting God, not government, as provider. What practical step can you take to shift reliance from systems (e.g., finances, security) back to Jehovah Jireh? [10:24]
When have you seen confession and humility restore a relationship or situation? How could this principle apply to a current tension in your life? [30:58]

Sermon Clips

60s

#OnlyJesusSaves

“``Political correctness, cultural reform, economic growth, or a particular party will not solve our problems. I I know that there's a lot of probably people in this room of a particular party, probably Republican mostly, but Republican party is not going to save us. President Trump is not your savior. He's not my savior. I'll say it again. We have only one savior. His name is Jesus. Period. He's the only one that can save you and I, that can save this nation, and he's the only one that brings us hope. He's it. And it's amazing, but if you're watching the media at all right now and you need to be at least to some degree, you do not need a constant dose and hours of watching the media. You do not need that. That's not healthy.”

69s

#FanTheFlameFaith

“Amen. That's right. When we sin, imagine a fire on the inside of you. You know, you've been in church all day and you got this fire going and you go home and sin and now it's like like water just you're dumping a little bit of water. Most of the men, some of the ladies in here, you've had your barbecue pit, and and you know what it's like when that fire starts going crazy, the grease is on fire, and you'll take some water and you just put it out. And that's what happens in your heart whenever we sin, and the longer you let that sit there, the lower that flame is gonna go. And very quickly, this is what I love so much about God, that very, very quickly, when you repent, that flame instantly starts to go and it will begin to grow. And if you start feeding it, that fire on the inside of you can become raging, raging. To where people at your workplace or at school or at home, they're just like now they're really saying, What is different about you? What changed? Why do you feel so light? Why are you on fire today? Like, they might even use that word, who knows?”

47s

#RepentQuickly

“And and the quicker you get rid of your sin, the less it can grab a root down inside of you, and then it's not so hard to pull out if you if you immediately can can repent of things. That's what made David so great. David did some really stupid things, but he could repent so fast. And you may look at that, well, he shouldn't have. Well, yes, he should have actually because that's actually what God wants from you and I. He wants us to be able to repent fast. I don't care if you did something really, really, really wrong, really horrific, you can repent in a moment and he will receive you back. It's incredibly powerful.”

45s

#CleanHeartOpenPrayers

“The bible is very clear that when when you have sin in your life, your prayers, God does not hear them. That's like, I don't want that in my life because I do a lot of praying and I seriously, I don't want sin blocking my prayer. And I've had to stop myself before and say, God, wait, you're not even hearing me right now. I can tell there's stuff in me. God, I need to repent right now. And as soon as I repent, I love God so much this way because as soon as I repent, his forgiveness is there and he starts to put it back together and suddenly there's an open line of communication between me and God. I can pray. I can talk to him.”

55s

#GetPersonalWithGod

“Again, again, I'm going tell you, the greatest way to get over your sin, I'm gonna say it in a harsh way, is not to go to CR. It's not even so much to come to church. Those things are crazy important. Okay? Don't misread me here. But you need to get with God personally. need to take time to be with him. You need to open up the word. You need to examine your own heart and say, God, I'm a mess. I'm a mess. I'm a believer in you, but I'm I'm a mess. I've allowed this thing to go on in my life for too long, and then you've got to do the heavy lifting to get it out of your life.”

66s

#ChurchMustPray

“If we aren't awake, if we aren't on our knees praying, if we aren't believing, if we aren't calling out, if we aren't doing our job, this nation will continue to slip backwards. It really is the church's responsibility. Whether or not you're in the government can matter and it doesn't matter. Prayer can change anything. But if we're not willing to pray, if we would rather just kind of go through the motions and just kind of watch Fox and watch the different news stations and just say, well, you know, that's what's going on, there's nothing I can do about it, and just go on and carry on with life, and we never stop and we never pray and we never stand in faith for our nation, We never we never say, God, forgive us, God. And I get it, you can't necessarily say, God, forgive our nation for our entire nation because we're all made up of individuals. But you also see here in Jonah that it is possible for an entire nation to repent. It is possible.”

72s

#KeepGospelBold

“So, in our nation, in our church, however you want to look at it, we're never going to see revival through redefining Our nation has tried to redefine sin I don't know how many times now. The church trying to soften the gospel so that we can have larger crowds, rebranding truth, blending the word with culture to make it more relevant. We're so worried about gathering people that will bend the gospel, will change it just enough to make it a little more palatable for everybody because we don't want to offend. Well, the word does offend and that's not our goal, but when you preach the truth, it is going to offend somebody who is not walking in the truth. But it is the truth that will set them free. Not making it soft. Making it soft will not set them free. They will like you, but it will not set them free.”

62s

#HumilityHeals

“Oh, you want to see healing? Admit your faults. Admit your faults to one another. Humility powerful, I'm telling you. And it brings life to you, it brings freedom to you. It's crazy, but we think that being humble and following God and all that, like we lose our rights somehow and we don't have freedom. Oh, it is completely the opposite. When you walk in humility, it is the greatest feeling on the earth because it's not all about you. And it's about other people and you care about other people and so I care so much about Tina and guess what? I know for a fact, she cares so much about me not just because she tells me that she loves me and I tell her that I love her, but because we can apologize to each other. We probably do it a lot.”

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Repentance: The Fire Must Be Kept Burning | Pastor Tim Notz | 7/5/2026

Devotional

Day 1: When the Fire Dims to Embers

Day 2: Sackcloth Hearts in a Selfie World

Day 3: The Altar Before the Ballot

Day 4: God Sees What You Swipe Left

Day 5: Fueling the Flame Daily

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Repentance: The Fire Must Be Kept Burning | Pastor Tim Notz | 7/5/2026

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