FIRE FROM HEAVEN
I KINGS 18
Intro: The burning question.
I kings 18:21 Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”
The question is still relevant today. Throughout the ages every generation, every nation, and every person must make this decision of what God they will serve.
I Kings 18:1-2 Now it happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, “Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth.” 2 So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.
Elijah met up with Obadiah and told him to give Ahab a message.... “I’m coming!”
I Kings 18:15-16 Elijah said, “As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today.” 16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
It has been over 3 years since Elijah stood before King Ahab. At that time, Elijah confronted the King with his sins and declared the Lord’s judgement against him and all Israel.
* Since then, the nation has suffered greatly and the king has looked for Elijah to kill him and rid his nation of God’s prophet
* The Mark of God’s Servant... When God says “GO”, he goes.
Big risk here. Stand before the King to speak judgement against him.
Elijah was either a man in touch with God...... or just “touched”.
ELIJAH’S 3 CHALLENGES
1. ELIJAH CHALLENGES KING AHAB (18:17-20)
1 Kings 18:17-18 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is this you, you troubler of Israel?” 18 He said, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals.
Who is the troubler of Israel? Elijah stands up to Ahab and demands that Ahab is the cause of all of Israel's problems.
1 Kings 18:19 Now then send and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Gather your prophets for a showdown. Why Mt. Carmel?
* It was a stronghold! Large Mountain. Whoever controls Carmel, controls the Northern ½ of nation militarily and politically.
* Whoever controlled Carmel controlled the nation spiritually.
** Years earlier, the idol-worshipers tore down the altar to God and erected a great altar to Baal. Baal worship was degrading religion.
Mixture of idolatry, perverted sexuality, and child sacrifice. They worshiped the idols Baal/Asheroth. These gods supposedly controlled agriculture, the weather, and fertility.
* Agriculture- gashed themselves on altar like crop rows. Blood-
* Fertility- Virgins would have sex with Priests before marrying to increase their fertility...
* Child sacrifice was a very common demand for answered prayer.
*** USA today... Idolatry– money, sports, hobbies, possessions..
Perverted Sexuality– fornication, adultery, porn, gay marriage.....
Child sacrifice– abortions.
** If ever America needed to return to God again, it is now!
1 Kings 18:20 So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
So everyone is gathering at Mt. Carmel for the showdown.
2. ELIJAH CHALLENGES THE PEOPLE (18:21)
1 Kings 18:21 Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.
For generations, Israel has been trying to worship Jehovah and Baal at the same time. They want it both ways. They want the power of Jehovah but enjoy the decadence of Baal.
* Elijah is calling them this day to make a choice! He is telling them they can’t worship both. God will not allow it. And I believe God would have destroyed them that day if they chose Baal.
** look what it says... “the people did not answer a word.”
A picture of the church in America today. The church today is silent as our nation continues to march deeper into immorality. Even worse, church folks have become so immoral that you can’t tell the difference between church folks and lost folks.
* Drinking, drugs, immorality all the while singing “O How I love Jesus”
You can’t run with the Devil all week and stand with Jesus on Sunday! (Can’t Go to bed with Satan and wake up with Jesus)
* It’s time for America to choose... it's time for the Church to choose... It's time for YOU to choose!
3. ELIJAH CHALLENGES THE BAAL PROPHETS (18:23-29)
1 Kings 18:23-26 Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said, “That is a good idea.”
25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” 26 Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they [l]leaped about the altar which they made.
they prepared the sacrifice and prayed... no answer.
1 Kings 18:27 It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.”
Elijah begins to humiliate and taunt them.
Funniest thing in the Bible to me. Elijah tells them that maybe their god has “Gone aside”. This is a polite way of saying their god has "gone to see a man about a horse" or "is sitting on the porcelain throne". In other words, their god is away using the bathroom. That cracks me up.
1 Kings 18:28-29 So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. 29 When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.
They cry out further and mutilated themselves....
Pretty good show, but even the people got bored and realized that Baal was an impotent idol and not a real god.
It is now Elijah’s turn. His desire is to turn the people back to God!
STEPS OF A FIRE FROM HEAVEN REVIVAL (I Kings 30-40)
1. Elijah brought the people together/Near altar!
1 Kings 18:30a Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him.
near the altar of God. They realize now they had worshiped Baal in vain.
Now they’re seeking. Wondering. waiting. If we’re going to experience the fire from heaven, the church must come near to God.
2. Elijah rebuilt the altar of God
1 Kings 18:30b-32 And he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 32 So with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two measures of seed.
The altar was a place of prayer and commitment.
Elijah had to rebuild the place of prayer for the people.....
There are people here today that need to rebuild their altars.
That need to get right with God.
That need to rebuild their prayer life.
** Can you honestly say that your prayer life is what it ought to be?
3. The Sacrifice is Made
1 Kings 18:33-35 33 Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. 34 And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.
* O.T. days, God appointed a blood sacrifice to be made for atonement of sins. Priests/prophets do it on behalf of the people.
* 2000 years ago, Jesus came and fulfilled the permanent removal of our sins that is accomplished when we repent/make Him Lord. He is the sacrifice that takes away our sin.
* Today God no longer accepts a sacrifice our animals, our crops, or our belongings. The only thing we have to offer God is ourselves.
Romans 12:1 “I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.”
** Now Jesus is our sacrifice for sin/forgiveness.... we give ourselves to the Lord Jesus Christ.
** Biblically, water represents the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. Notice vs 34-35 what Elijah does to the sacrifice. He saturates it with water. Water is covering it and soaking into the sacrifice. It is filled with water!
** If you’re ever going to see God move in your life/church. We must be filled with the Holy Spirit! FILLED!!!
God doesn’t want a piece of you, HE WANTS TO FILL YOU UP!
You can’t make it on just a sprinkle of the Spirit, you must be filled
God doesn’t want just your stuff.... HE WANTS YOU!
God doesn’t want just a half-hearted song.... HE WANTS YOU!
God doesn’t want just your money... HE WANTS YOU!
Jesus gave you everything on the Cross, and He expects nothing less than everything from you! He wants All of you!
4. Prayers go up and the fire comes down
1 Kings 18:36-38 36 At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
The Baal prophets have prayed and carried on for 6 hours and nothing happened. Elijah now steps up to the altar and prays a 62 word prayer. No screaming, no leaping, not cutting himself, no theatrics at all.
** What did he pray? He prayed for 3 things:
1. That God be glorified! Our nation has turned away from God.
But Jesus says “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to Me!”
Are you lifting up the Name of Jesus? Is He glorified in/by your life?
2. That the prophet be vindicated! Elijah lived a Godly life and was hated for it. He prayed that the people would see God at work in Him and that He would glorify God.
3. That the people be revived!
* Elijah didn’t pray for rain even though it was desperately needed. He knew that the people needed revival more than rain.
Sometimes we think we know what we need.
* We think we need more MONEY..HEALTH..WILLPOWER..
But all we really need is more JESUS!
Our greatest need we have is to be exactly where God wants us to be and to serve Him with all our heart right there!
5. God Demands Purification and Commitment
1 Kings 18:39-40 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.” 40 Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.
As a people, they had to purge themselves of idolatry and turn their hearts to God. They had to rid themselves of Baal worship.
They took all the prophets of Baal and put them to death.
** The O.T. often gives a physical picture of what we must do in the spiritual realm today. We are not to go out and kill the non-Christians, the homosexuals, or satan worshipers. What are we to do today??
** God is calling you today to “put to death” the strongholds of sin in your own life. You must rid yourself of it.
God cannot transform you into a man/woman of God until you put to death who you were! And God will never take you where He wants you to go as long as you holding on to where you’ve been!
Acts 3:19 “Repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come.”
Aren’t you tired of living in a spiritual desert?
Look what happened when the people repented..........
6. The Rains Come
1 Kings 18:41 Now Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of the roar of a heavy shower.”
** God longed to bless Israel. He greatly desired to give them rain and restore them, but He would never do it until they purged the evil from their land and from their own hearts.
** Things are no different today. Our nation has turned from God.
The church has turned from God. We have ignored Him too long.
* Are you tired of living in the spiritual wasteland this nation has become? Then return to God!
