Not the Status Quo Revival
from 1 Kings 18:21-41
James 5:17,18
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. {subject...: of the same nature, that is, a fellow mortal} {earnestly: or, in his prayer}
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
I. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
1 Kings 18:1
And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth.
-Elijah had been doing okay for himself, as long as he long as his presence was not known to Ahab and Jezebel. But this famine was lingering on. As he talked to God, the answer came ringing in his ears. With a bounty on his hide, the last thing he wanted to do was to have another confrontation with Ahab.
-Some of us are getting high and dry and God is saying that he is willing to visit us with revival, if we are willing to get out of our "comfort zone". We may be asked to do that thing that we have been trying so hard to avoid.
II. Did God Change his Mind?
In 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah went at the bidding of God to tell the king that is was not going to rain. Elijah was the man to say when it would happen again. This was to be a temporary withholding. The heavens were shut up for a time.
-Sometimes the blessings that we have become so accustomed to, need to be refrained a while for us to see our genuine need and also to realize how good we had it before. It also serves to remind us that God is the giver of our blessings; we didn't conjure it up on our own.
When we really appreciate it and desire it once again, the Lord is ready to send it to us according to His conditions.
III. Nuetral does NOT Exist in the Spiritual Realm
Our gospel is an "offensive gospel". We are either going forward or going backward.
1 Kings 18:21
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
-Quit flirting with the idea that you can ride the fence and still make it to heaven.
-Amoral does not exist in the kingdom of God. It is either right or it is wrong.
(amoral is the belief that somethings are neither good or bad)
-Oh that we would make up our minds to be "unmistakeable christians".
1 P. 4:17
For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
IV. Repairing the Broken and Abandoned Altar
1 Kings 18:30
And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.
-it is not just another piece of furniture
-it is a place of encounter with God
Where there is no altar, there will be no fire; where there is no fire, there will be no real revival.
Now why was this altar broken down to begin with?
Was is due to neglect? Or misuse? Or ignorance?
In Mexico, we assumed temporary leadership in a church where we brought in some altars and placed them up front. In the following service, a group of ladies came forward to sing a special. They saw this new "thing" in their way, and simply decided to move it over to the side to give them better standing room. They had no idea that is was a sacred altar with a divine purpose in the church.
V. Elijah followed the Order of God
1 Kings 18:33
And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.
The fire of revival will come when we follow God's order. Don't get the cart before the horse.
There is salvation, then the Holy Ghost, then sanctification, etc. There are some who want to sanctify a person who hasn't even got saved yet.
Prov. 14:12
There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death
2 Chronicles 7:14 -tells of an order for revival
There are some who have progressed to a certain point, but are now just spinning their wheels. They say that they still want more of Jesus, but they don't want to sacrifice the flesh more, nor become more sanctified.
There are things they don't want to quit, they don't want to leave off, they don't want to change.
Their makeshift offering placed on the altar is out of order and unacceptable.
Don't put a damper on the revival that God wants to send; quit bucking holiness!
VI. The Altar Soaked in Water
1 Kings 18:32-35
Bring your Impossibilities to the Altar; anything and everything that can be an obstacle to God's blessing.
Mal. 3:10--He tell us to prove (try) Him
Jer. 32:17--He says that there is nothing to hard for Him
Who says that fire and water don't mix? God says bring it on.
Could that water be likened to tears? Pour them out on His altar.
VII. The Fire Fell
1 Kings 18:38
When God's conditions are met and everything has been put in order, then the fire will fall; then the obstacles, the impossibilities (water) will disappear.
VIII. The People of God will become Valiant
1 Kings 18:40
Just like Acts 2, the fire filled them with boldness.
All that was not of God was destroyed.
