“The Route To Revival”
Text: I Kings 17:8-22; Malachi 3:2-3
8And the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, 9Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Sidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee. 10So he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 11And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. 12And she said, As Jehovah thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in the jar, and a little oil in the cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. 13And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it forth unto me, and afterward make for thee and for thy son. 14For thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, The jar of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that Jehovah sendeth rain upon the earth. 15And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16The jar of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spake by Elijah.
17And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. 18And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? thou art come unto me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son! 19And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into the chamber, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 20And he cried unto Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? 21And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah my God, I pray thee, let this child’s soul come into him again. 22And Jehovah hearkened unto the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
(slide 9) 2But who can abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap: 3and he will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in righteousness.
(Slide 10) 2But who will be able to stand up to that coming? Who can survive his appearance? He’ll be like white-hot fire from the smelter’s furnace. He’ll be like the strongest lye soap at the laundry. 3He’ll take his place as a refiner of silver, as a cleanser of dirty clothes. He’ll scrub the Levite priests clean, refine them like gold and silver, until they’re fit for GOD, fit to present offerings of righteousness.
I. Introduction
The story is a familiar one. Elijah has prophesied that there will be no rain. Famine is always a precursor and a setup for revival. There is a famine in the city. Examine the landscape of the city and I believe there is a famine. Hear about great churches, but don’t hear about great change. Hear about great programs, but don’t hear about great people. Same people who are a part of these great churches & programs still struggling with drink, drugs, homo, habits. I don’t want just a great church I want to see great change.
But as always God protects and provides for his messenger. God gives instructions for Elijah to go to the brook Cherith. At this brook God provides food and drink for a short period of time. Most commentaries estimate that Elijah resided here about 6 months. Then the Word of the Lord comes to Elijah and instructs him to go and DWELL in Zarephath. Notice the Word from God was not pass through Zarephath. Elijah was instructed to dwell there. You will remember that it did not rain for 3 ½ years. Therefore, if the commentaries are correct Elijah lived in Zarephath for approximately 3 years.
It was poetic justice that God told Elijah to go to Zarephath since this was Jezebel’s, the very one hunting him, hometown. Goes to the root of the issue, not just the symptom. Some of you have been dealing with symptoms and God wants to get to the root!
When God hides you no one can find you. Your enemy can’t find you. The promotion can find you. Your distractions can’t find you. Your friends can’t find you. While there Elijah meets and stays with the widow. And she brings him drink and meal. You can’t bring revival to someone until you first experience revival yourself. Elijah could produce revival because he had it. Too many of us are trying to get everyone else revived when we haven’t been revived.
In the course of the 3 years the widow’s only son dies. You will remember what Elijah did. He lay on top of the boy 3 times and on the third time the Word says that the boy revived. Revival comes to the widow’s house. Why this widow? Luke says there were many widows in Sidon. Why did Elijah choose this one? Obdedience and desperate. The question is this morning how bad do we want revival? Are we willing to be obedient and are we really desperate? How hungry are you? Your hunger determines to what lengths you are willing to go to get food! I don’t know about you but I want to be the church, the preacher, the person chosen. I want revival to come to my house!
II. Quick Lessons
(Slide 11a) a. What you make happen for others God will make happen for you.
Woman needed provision but made provision for Elijah first. Some of you need something in your life then you must make that happen in someone else’s life first. Some of you have a dream that you want to see come to pass, make someone else’s dream come to pass first.
(Slide 11b) b. Provision can find you rather than you finding provision.
It is when you are obedient to God that provision will overtake you. I have never seen the righteous forsaken or begging for bread. Some of you are working every angle but the right angle to get provision. You are working every trick in the book. You are pulling every string. Why not stop and obey? Obedience is better than sacrifice. Do what God says to do and provision will overtake you!
(Slide 11c) c. If you put God in a box you will find yourself in a dry place.
Just because water came out of the brook for a period or season doesn’t mean God will always produce nourishment there. Stay at the brook when God has said go and you will get thirsty. Understand that God’s ways never change, but His means do! Move with Him. Remain flexible. Remain mobile! Some of you are going to a dry well to try to get a drink. You have boxed God up.
II. Dwell
We like to dwell on the revival part of this account. We want our God to be a God of revival. We long for our God to show up as a Reviving Fire. We long to see those devastated and destroyed physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually come into this revived experience. But we must remember that there is always a route to revival. You can’t just show up at the last portion of this account and get revived.
You must first dwell in Zarephath. Why is that so important? Until you know what Zarephath means it is not important. Remember Elijah was instructed to dwell in Zarephath. Not just to pass through or stop over for a visit or a one-night excursion. He was instructed to take up residence there for a period of time. (Slide 12) Zarephath means “smelting, refining, and dyeing.” I am here to declare that the end result we long for which is “revived” can not be found or experienced until we first learn to dwell in Zarephath. We must learn to stay “there”. In that dark place. In that painful place. In that midnight place. In the dyeing place. In the dry place. In that place God has developed to form and fashion us. Too many times we leave the dying place, refining place too soon!
(Slide 12b) We must not only recognize, but embrace the fact that our God never shows up as a reviving fire until He first reveals himself as a refining fire.
In fact, we are told in Malachi that before we are made righteous we must meet God as a refiner’s fire and a fuller’s soap. The word there for (Slide 12c) fuller’s soap comes from the root of the Hebrew term “to tread” and refers to the common method of cleansing clothing by treading them by foot.
Prior to revival our God will always refine us. He will tread out of us the things that are impure. He will walk all over and stomp out every sin, every thought, every tendency, every personality flaw, every spot, every blemish, and every wrinkle.
He will call us to die before he will call us to be revived. We don’t like that concept. We don’t mind a quick stop at the altar, we don’t mind a quick visit into repentance, but we don’t like to dwell there. We want a “suddenly” work of refining. I want to tell you that this is a process that we must dwell in.
Refining is defined “reduce to a pure state”. This process takes time. Everything that is not righteous and pure must be reduced. Stronghold must come down. Walls must be broken. Pet sins must be destroyed. The reason most of us never experience revival is because we won’t stay in the fire long enough to be refined. The heat has to be turned up.
Ask David or Joseph about dwelling in Zarephath. They may have never actually visited the city of Zarephath but they understood the process. From the time David was anointed by Samuel as king 20 years of keeping sheep, singing for a mad man, and running for his life passed before he actually ascended to the throne. From the moment that Joseph sees the dream until the time he walks into power in the palace he is faced with 12 years of pits, prisons, and pain. What was happening in the lives of these men during these times? What was taking place? They were being refined. They were experiencing the smelting heat of the refiner’s fire. They learned to dwell in the refining place. They didn’t just take a quick trip through. It took time. They were being prepared for revival.
III. Application
Acts 3:19-21 tells us that prior to there ever being a period of refreshing or restoration there must first come a time of repentance.
(Slide 13) 19Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord; 20and that he may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus: 21whom the heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, whereof God spake by the mouth of His holy prophets that have been from of old.
There must come a time of refining and burning away before revival can come.
So rather than complaining about your station in life (Job, home life, situations, hard times, small ministry, no recognition, platform, forgotten, the pit) realize that you are dwelling in Zarephath. Don’t despise the refining process.
Out of Zarephath can come revival. Out of Zarephath can come a Word of life.
Our prayer must change from God get me out of this, to God turn up the heat so that the impurities in my life will rise quicker so that I will be pure and ready for revival.
“Jesus Christ is unique, and one cannot be in his presence and not reveal the man he really is. Jesus pulls each person from behind his mask. In the exposure of that bleeding love on the cross, men become what they really are.
You may think you are wonderful until you stand in the presence of the One who is purity itself. It is the pure light of God that pierces a man. You can keep up your pretense of being holy until you stand in that light. Then immediately there is nowhere to hide, all your masks are torn away, all your hollow smiles fade. Revival means to be exposed for what we are. The presence of the Lord is revealing.” BISHOP FESTO KIVENGERE (C. 1920– )
And I would add that his presence is not only revealing but also refining.
“Repentance hath a purifying power and every tear is of the cleansing virtue; but these potential clouds must be still kept dropping; one shower will not suffice; for repentance is not one single action but a course.” Robert South
If you truly desire to be revived you must dwell in Zarephath. You must stay in the heat until all the imperfections are removed. You must stay hidden there. You must dwell there. You cannot get in a hurry. You cannot abandon Zarephath and expect to be revived. There is a course to revival. There is a route and it will always lead through the refining, smelting, and dying place.
Very simply – allow God to have access to every area of your life. Nothing off limits. Nothing that isn’t susceptible to His washing and His rebuke. Examine everything in your heart, mind, and soul. Lay them bare before Him. Allow Him to tread that stuff out of you and begin to ask for revival.
IV. Closing
Where are you dwelling? Are you begging for revival but bypassing Zarephath. You can fast and pray all you want but until we follow the route to revival we will never experience revival. We must be refined. We must die.
Why preach about dying on the first service in a new building? Because I am praying that this become a killing place. A dying place. A place where will get walked all over by God. Do I want this to be a place of revival, a place of life, a place of deliverance, a place of miracles? Absolutely! But I realize that for this to take place we must first die. We must first have all the imperfections of our life removed.
What needs to be washed out of you? What needs to be trampled out of you? What is keeping revival out of you? I invite you to meet God in Zarephath this morning. It won’t be a feel good thing. It won’t cause you to necessarily want to dance and shout. However, it will cause you to be ready for the revival that God desires to send our way!
