UP GOES THE MOISTURE, DOWN COMES THE RAIN
Job 36:27-28; 1 Kgs. 18:43-44
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: WHOPPER OF A LIE
1. A young boy came home from his first day of school and confessed to his father that he told a lie. The father asked why he did it.
2. The boy said, "Well, dad, when they asked me where I was born it seemed so sissy to say “The Woman's Hospital,” so I said the “Yankee Stadium."
B. TEXT
“For He draws up drops of water, which distill as rain from the mist, which the clouds drop down and pour abundantly on man” Job 36:27-28, NKJV. “Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.’ The seventh time the servant reported, ‘A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea’” 1 Kgs. 18:43-44
C. THESIS
1. We’re going to see that the laws that govern rain are very similar to the laws that govern revival. For it to rain there has to be evaporation, condensation, and then precipitation.
2. Since this is so, we may be confident that if we fulfill the conditions of revival, God will give the same results as He did for our spiritual fathers in scripture.
3. The title of this message is “Up Goes the Moisture, Down Comes the Rain!”
I. SIMILARITIES: WATER & HOLY SPIRIT
A. PROPERTIES OF WATER
1. ITS USES: water quenches thirst, sustains life, purifies & cleanses, moves things, and generates power.
2. ITS FORMS: water exists as a vapor, as droplets, as a liquid, & as ice. Water is required for the growth and fruitfulness of all life.
3. WATER ACROSS THE WORLD, MOVES IN A CYCLE
a. The cycle begins by evaporation. Heat over the oceans causes the water to evaporate. The more water evaporates, the higher the humidity; the higher the humidity, the more likelihood of rain.
b. The next cycle is condensation. This is when the water in the air gets more and more concentrated until it begins to form droplets. Massive clouds form and begin moving out over the land.
c. The third part of the cycle is rain. When humidity reaches a set point it will rain. Also, contact with strong winds, temperature changes, or electrical storms, can jar the droplets into forming large drops which fall to the earth. The water goes into rivers and then back into the sea.
B. SIMILARITIES: PHYSICAL & SPIRITUAL RAIN
1. DROUGHT – is a picture of spiritual barrenness or judgment on sin.
2. RAIN is paralleled by revival or the Holy Spirit outpourings (Elijah prayed & it didn’t rain, then did). The Bible speaks of “former & latter rains” equivalent to spiritual outpourings.
3. My West Texas Experience. Out there the air near the surface gets so dry that I’ve seen large clouds come over and watched the rain fall, but it never reached the ground. So the humidity near the ground has to increase in order for the rain to reach the ground! So rain is not just conditional on heavenly conditions, but on earthly ones too!
II. IMPLICATIONS FOR REVIVAL
A. APPLICATION TO PRAYER
1. So in the physical, there must be moisture present and rising, in order for the forming droplets to fall and reach the ground. The moisture must not only be forming above, but must be forming below too!
2. The principle is: “Up goes the moisture, down comes the rain.” It’s true in the spiritual. Prayer is what needs to go up, for the Holy Spirit to come down.
3. The “heat” of our prayers will cause evaporation, sending our spirit’s desire heavenward to God. Send up praise, send up worship, send up thankfulness!
4. God says, “Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for [it is] time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you” Hosea 10:12.
5. So revival must be SOWN in prayer and praise before it’s reaped in outpourings of the Holy Spirit.
B. THE CONDENSING OF PRAYERS & PRAISES
1. Condensation is that mysterious process whereby God collects water until the cloud is full. It is similar to the formation of the shekinah presence of God.
2. In Ex. 40:34, God’s presence formed a cloud in response to Moses’ OBEDIENCE in setting up the tent & priesthood.
3. In 2 Chron. 5:12-14 the Presence appeared in answer to obedience, sacrifices, and praises of the people. 12 All the Levites...were...playing cymbals, harps and lyres. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets 13...in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord....the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service...for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.”
III. WE NEED REVIVAL IN OUR DAY
A. THE DESPARATELY NEEDED RESULT: RAIN!
1. Our time is just like when Elijah was praying on Mt. Carmel, Israel was in a terrible condition. They had turned away from God and gone into sin.
2. The blessings of God had evaporated and a terrible plague of drought had ruined the entire country. Their businesses had closed, there was turmoil in their streets, their economy was in a shambles.
3. And all of this was the result of them forsaking God and not seeking Him. Into this picture steps Elijah, who convinces them to turn back to God with all their hearts, which they did. But there was still no rain.
B. SENDING UP THE MOISTURE
1. Elijah started interceding, praying, for God to restore the blessings to Israel, but it was so spiritually dry, that Elijah had to keep praying and praying.
2. As he prayed, the evaporation began. The spiritual humidity began to rise. He prayed more fervently and the spiritual droplets began to form in the heavenlies. He prayed and prayed six times over!
3. He reached his seventh time of prayer and this time he shook heaven by his prayer of faith, his passion, and his Holy Ghost anointing. That’s when God’s cloud became visible, even to his servant. Once God had been moved, there was no way to stop the deluge! You must run before it in victory!
C. THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT
1. What goes up must come down, will come down! (Are you excited about what will be coming down?)
2. It’s time to send up prayers, to send up praises, to charge the spiritual air with strong winds, temperature changes (cold to hot), and electrical storms – an order to jar the droplets loose from the heavenly clouds to fall to the earth!
3. “And Elijah said unto Ahab, ‘Get up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain’” 1 Kgs. 18:41. Elijah had faith God was going to bring revival; he could hear it in the spiritual realm! Praise God!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS. # 1: The Irish Revival
1. In the mid-1800s in the town of Kells in Northern Ireland, four men met each Saturday night for intense prayer. The whole night was devoted to prayer.
2. Shortly afterwards, there was a powerful revival. Courts adjourned for lack of cases. Jails were closed for lack of criminals. Policemen formed quartets to sing in churches because they had nothing to do! [Up moisture, down rain!]
B. ILLUS. # 2: His Hand is Bigger
1. A young boy went to the local store with his mother. The shop owner, a kindly man, passed him a large jar of suckers and invited him to help himself to a handful. The boy acted shy and asked the owner to get them for him.
2. So the shop owner pulled out a handful for him. When outside, the boy’s mother asked why he had suddenly become so shy and wouldn’t take a handful of suckers when offered.
3. The boy replied, "Because his hand is much bigger than mine! I knew that if I let him get them, he would take a lot more than I could!” It’s the same if we let God choose our portion of blessings too!
C. ALTAR CALL
1. How many of you realize you may have been sending the wrong things heavenward (Complaints instead of praises)? You may having been sowing the wrong things. Let’s repent.
2. How many want to start off anew sending up the moisture so the rain can come down?
3. Let’s stand and intercede for our country, our churches, our families, and for Christians worldwide. May God send revival in answer to importunate prayer, in Jesus name!
