FORM WITHOUT THE FIRE!
Background of the story:
At the time of I Kings 18, the King of Israel was a man named Ahab, and he was married to a Philistine woman who is known her wickedness - Jezebel.
Jezebel’s evil influence and Ahab's leadership led the nation of Israel to fall into paganism."
1 Kings 16:33 states that Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.
Oh they apparently still prayed to God however they also worshipped some wicked pagan gods called Baal
So - because of their disobedience - God sent Elijah to tell King Ahab that he and the nation of Israel would be punished with a drought. There would be no rain or the next three and half years.
At the end of that 3 ½ years, God sent Elijah back to King Ahab:
I kings 18:1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land." So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.
I kings 18:4 says that Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets
I kings 18:15 states, “Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today"
I CALLING NAMES I Kings 18:17 Ahab meets Elijah and says is that you, you
troubler of Israel
Anytime there is a renunciation of sin. Someone is not going to like it.
Anytime a Gospel preacher goes against the tide of popular culture
trends and stands solely on the word of God someone is not going to
like it.
Any time a man of God waves the blood stain banner of the cross and points the way for sinner to come only through Jesus, someone is not going to like it.
Anytime the prophet of God holds up the standard of Gods word and calls sin – sin, someone is not going to like it.
Anytime the man in the pulpit proclaims the proclamations of “prepare ye the way of the lord” there are those who are bent on living after the lust of this world that are not going to like it.
Gods messengers are called to stir the waters of this hell bent generation and with a bible in one hand and the grace of God in the other preachers need to mount the pulpits and preach with the boldness of John the Baptist, and trouble or cities with the word of God.
To much preaching is preached without conviction, without compassion, without correction, without Christ.
The preacher is told in 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of
season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine
Acts 4:31 they spoke the word of God with boldness
Acts 6:4 but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word
Acts 6:7 Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly…
Acts 13:49 And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region
Acts 19:20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed
II THE CONFRONTATION:
Ahab and offered a challenge. Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. All of Israel gathered at the foot of the Mountain and they heard Elijah confront them with these words:
I KINGS 18:18 18 "I have not made troublor Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table."
So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.
Elijah did not come to comfort but rather to confront. The kind of preaching we need to day is that which comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comforted.
III.THE CHALLENGE v. 20 How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him
MATTHEW 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things
will be given to you as well
MATTHEW 6:24 24"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money
You are either fully on Gods side or you are not. The bible knows nothing of begging disciples to serve Jesus. The word k knows nothing of pleading with Christians to come to church. Don’t waver between two opinions If the Lord is God, follow him, but if the call of this wicked world is your God, follow the world, but don’t hang on to both. that is paganism to the core!
Johnny Unitas was born Pittsburgh: In High School he was a –QB He Broke ankle-Unitas wanted to go to Notre Dame, he was told you are too small. He goes to the University of Louisville. He has a Fantastic Soph year. However his Sr year-BAD. Tried out for Steelers-got nothing but bus fare home. Unitas Worked in Steel mill-supporting his Wife and family-Played semi-pro ball $3 a game. Unitas hired Boys-to Shag balls: while he threw the football through the tire tied to the tree, throwing the foot ball-thousands of hours.
Unitas paid the price. The Baltimore Colts called and –Signed him for : $7000yr after a $1.56 phone call. George Shaw-Broke his leg-and Unitas got to play Known as Mr. Quarterback. Unitas achieved 3 NFL champs, 1 Super Bowl, Hall of Fame COMMITTED!
IV. THE ODDS 450 TO 1
I KINGS 18:22 Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire—he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good."
God is not looking for a house full of lukewarm half-committed followers. He is looking for a sold out ,sanctified, consecrated committed soldier.
Someone said, you and God make a majority, No God is the majority
Get on the winning team….Get with God.
You do not want to venture out on the road that if filled with the majority.
V.THE TEST
Prophets of Baal build their alter
I KINGS 18:25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
THE TAUNT
I KINGS 18: 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention
Elijah builds a unique alter
Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come here to me." They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the LORD, which was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs [a] of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, "Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood." Do it again," he said, and they did it again. Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
Elijah made it absolutely impossible for anything to happen other than what God alone could do. You don’t put water on a sacrifice you want to burn, it just doesn’t work that way
Elijah had the goods, he had the genuine article, he was a real man of God. He had no fear that water would stop a genuine move of God.
The prayer of a righteous man.
I kings 18:36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
C.H. Spurgeon once said, "Prayer pulls the rope down below and the great bell rings above in the ears of God. Some scarcely stir the bell, for they pray so languidly; others give only an occasional jerk at the rope. But he who communicates with heaven is the man who grasps the rope boldly and pulls continuously with all his might."
Elijah prayed earnestly that it might not rain.
James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
The story’s told of the western town that had experienced a hard drought. One of the local churches held announced special prayer meeting one night to pray for rain. On that night, the church building was packed, but the preacher told them to go back home. There’d be no prayer meeting that night – because no one had come expecting to have their prayers answered…NO ONE HAD BOTHERED TO BRING AN UMBRELLA.
We need to remember: It is not the arithmetic of our prayers, how many they are;
nor the rhetoric of our prayers, how eloquent they be;
nor the geometry of our prayers, how long they be;
nor the music of our prayers, how sweet our voice may be;
nor the method of our prayers, how orderly they may be;
nor even the theology of our prayers, how good the doctrine may be - which God cares for.
It’s the fervency of our prayers/ the constant faithfulness in prayer that wins the day and unleashes the power of God.”
VI FORM WITHOUT THE FIRE
Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stone and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. I KINGS 18:38
1.I ask the question this morning, is there any fire in the church.?
2.Is there a burning desire for the things of God.
3.The alter is a place of sacrifice –is there any fire in your sacrifice?
4.Is the Holy Spirit burning in your soul?
5.Are you consumed by the work of God on this earth.
Too many have the form without the fire
1.The stone have been carefully laid
2.The wood has been properly laid
3.The sacrificed has been secured
4.We have the form….but where is the fire?
5.Churches today committed to orthodoxy but no fire
6.Too many dried up preachers, preaching dried up sermons to dried up members in dried up
churches and I ask where is the fire?
7.Illustration: I have never seen a fire here before.
8.Yes get the form right –but make sure the fire is there
9.July 4th we have come to see a great display…everyone is there but no fire works…are lives
changes, are people being transformed, our sinners becoming saints, is there a move of God?
Today’s preachers would want to write a book about, "The day the fire fell." Or they would want to make a TV special out of it, at a minimum they would put glossy photo’s of the day the fire fell all over their newsletter while asking for funds to keep their ministry going.
For Elijah fire was not a means of self-promotion, fundraising, or a photo-op, for him it was a catalyst for men and women to repent and be broken before God. It was a means that sin could be purged from the camp.
V11. THE GRAND FINALE
I KNGS 18;39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD -he is God! The LORD -he is God!" Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. GET ON THE WINNING TEAM!
