The grumbler said, "Well, the coldest place I know of is the church down the street, let's go there..." Now, that has been told as a joke on many occasions, but all the humor is drained from it, because it is the truth in many cases.
Beloved, God never meant for His church to be a cold, dead, dried up place where Christians gather each week.
For example, during the days of Elijah, in our text, when the people of God were greatly outnumbered by the devil's people, God desired to manifest Himself as the Living God. He did this by answering by fire.
We live in such a time today, when the people of God are greatly outnumbered by the ungodly, and God wants, once again, to answer by fire, and prove to this lost and dying world that He is still the Living God. If there ever was a time when we needed the revival fires burning, it is now! Why? Because of what coldness in the church brings:
I. COLDNESS BRINGS MISERY.
Everyone here has had times in their lives when they were cold. As you remember, those times brought misery to you.
One of the reasons that we hear about all the misery in the church today, is because in many churches today the spiritual temperature is below zero! On the other hand, you can go into some churches that are experiencing revival, and THEY ARE ON FIRE!
For example, look at Acts 2:1-13 where we see a church that is on fire for the Lord. We read, “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.”
The early church did not have a ten million dollar building to worship in, but they had something that the church today does not have. THEY HAD THE FIRE OF THE LORD! This was a church that was on fire for the Lord. Never in the history of the church, have we seen things as they were in the early church.
THE BIBLE TELLS US HOW THIS REVIVAL GOT STARTED.
Look at verse 1, We read, “They were all with one accord in one place.”
Illus: A third of them were not at the beach or another third home watching television. The Bible makes it clear, “They were all with one accord in one place.”
Until a church reaches this “One accord in one place”, they will never experience the “Fire of God” in their midst.
Look at verses 2-7, the fire of God fell on that congregation, and the Bible says they were ALL FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT.
The Lord had already promised in Matthew 16, after Peter had proclaimed that Christ was the Son of God, that absolutely nothing would stop His church. Look at Matthew 16:18, we read, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
The first thing that the New Testament church faced, was a language problem. The Lord was true to His Word, nothing was going to stop His church.
In Acts 2, this church was on fire for God, and the Bible says God supernaturally caused them to speak in languages that the people who had gathered on the day of Pentecost could understand.
Look at the last part of verse 6, we read, “Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that EVERY MAN HEARD THEM SPEAK IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE.”
Then, verses 8-11 reveal the many nationalities that heard the believers, of this church that was on fire for God, speak the gospel in their own language.
Look at verses 8-12. We read, “And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?”
There were two responses:
• SOME WERE CONFUSED.
Look at verse 12, we read, “And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?”
• SOME MOCKED THEM.
Look at verse 13, we read, “Others mocking said, These persons are full of new wine.”
Notice, even the opposition who were not willing to receive the truth, had to acknowledge the visible evidence, that this church was under the control of SOMETHING! They did not want to give God the credit, but they had to acknowledge something was taking place. The only thing they knew that could control a person was wine, and so they accused the early church of being full of “New Wine.”
Notice, verse 3 tells us what it was that had affected these men and women. We read, “And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of FIRE, AND IT SAT UPON EACH OF THEM.”
This New Testament church was on fire for the Lord, and the people on the streets that they rubbed elbows with, knew it. When a person discovers something great, the first thing they want to do is to share it with someone else.
The New Testament church was all in ONE PLACE, in ONE ACCORD, and they all agreed that the Lord Jesus was the greatest thing that had ever happened to them, and they were not on the streets:
• Complaining.
• Having a pity party.
• Gossiping.
They were spreading the gospel.
Listen, the evidence of being Spirit filled is in Acts 1:8. God’s Word says, “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and YE SHALL BE WITNESSES unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and the unto the utter most part of the earth.”
God says the evidence of being Spirit filled is, “Ye shall receive….AND YE SHALL BE WITNESSES…”
One of the ways you can tell a church is on fire for the Lord, is that they are sharing the glorious gospel that is in their heart with everyone they come into contact with. The evidence a church is not ON FIRE for the Lord, is that they sit around, in these spiritually cold services, and they are miserable! They know there is no reason for them to witness, because no one wants what they have. Absolutely NO ONE!
COLDNESS BRINGS MISERY! Also-
II. COLDNESS BRINGS NUMBNESS.
Have you ever been so cold that your body became numb?
Illus: A preacher was conducting a funeral by the graveside. It was freezing cold. The trees were bent over with ice and the ground was covered with snow. At the appropriate time, the preacher stepped up to read some scriptures of comfort to the family. It was so cold, that his lower jaw was almost frozen, and he could barely get the words out. He had to stop and apologize for slurring his words, because his jaw had become so numb he could hardly speak.
Have you ever been so cold that your feet were numb, and you were losing feeling in them? Listen, it is a dangerous thing when we allow ourselves to get so cold that our body starts to get numb. When this happens, we have to immediately do something about it.
Also, it is a dangerous thing when a church gets so cold that they can not feel the presence of God, or feel for each other in the body of Christ.
SPIRITUAL COLDNESS BRINGS NUMBNESS.
Some people say, “Our church is not emotional!” Well, let me ask you something, have you ever seen a corpse that was emotional? Listen, churches that are filled with SPIRITUAL COLDNESS, have done more to drive the lost from the church than anything on this earth!
Every Sunday, some churches go through their meaningless rituals. Churches, like mummies that are controlled from a force from beyond this planet, without smiles on their faces. The only time you can detect any life in them, is when they are all smiling as they walk out of church. These churches have painted such an awful picture of the church, that to get some lost folks back in church, you would have to knock them over the head and drag them inside.
The Lord told the Ladodicean church, in Rev. 3:15-16, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold not hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
WHY DID GOD SAY THIS?
Because God knows the harm that this kind of church does to the work of God.
The people in a church that is ON FIRE for the Lord, are NOT numb, they are filled with FEELINGS OF JOY! Psalm 100:1 says, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.”
Illus: Have you ever been to a state fair? If you have, you noticed it is a noisy place. Why? Because all the various rides and booths know that to attract people, you have to make some noise. So they play LIVELY MUSIC, loud enough that people in the next area code can hear them.
It works, people follow JOYFUL NOISE. The Lord said, “Make a Joyful noise." In other words, get some life in you.
HOW DO WE MAKE A JOYFUL NOISE?
• In our singing.
• In our preaching.
• In our shouting.
• In our praying.
• In our testimonies.
• In our greeting each other.
“But preacher, that will drive people away from the church.” No, just the opposite! People are driven from the church, when it becomes COLD and NUMB, and no longer has any FEELINGS!
COLDNESS BRINGS MISERY and COLDNESS BRINGS NUMBNESS. But also-
III. COLDNESS BRINGS INACTIVITY.
It is said, that before a man freezes to death, he gets real sleepy. He does not want to do anything but sleep. My, what a picture of many Christians today. They are spiritually cold, and they do not want to do anything but sit there.
We live in a lost world today, where people are going to hell by the millions, and we have Christians who are so cold, their attitude is, “Leave me alone! Don’t wake me up. Leave me alone!” They cannot help anyone, because of their own spiritual condition.
Conclusion:
There is hope for the Church today, if people will just recognize the coldness that is destroying the work of God.
Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal. He knew he needed to prove to the people who the living God was. Elijah's God did not disappoint them either. He proved to be the God that answered by fire, and today, He still desires to prove to a lost and ungodly world that He is the living God. All He is waiting for are men like Elijah of old, who will dare to stand up against the "Prophets of Baal" of our day. He desires to send His fire down to revive His Church, so that His people will be on fire for Him!
I. COLDNESS BRINGS MISERY.
II. COLDNESS BRINGS NUMBNESS.
III. COLDNESS BRINGS INACTIVITY.
But FIRE brings excitement. It will bring a crowd faster than anything we can do. You can bring 20 tons of ice, and set it in front of this building, and people will ride by and not notice. But, when a building catches on fire, people begin to stop and take notice. What God wants to do, is set some Christians on fire in this place, and then WE WILL START TO SEE REVIVAL BREAK LOOSE!
