GOD’S FIRE ONLY FALLS IF THERE’S A SACRIFICE
1 Kgs. 18:30-38
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: LAWYER’S REVENGE
1. A lawyer's dog, running about unleashed, beelined for the local butcher shop, where it stole a roast off the counter.
2. The butcher went to the lawyer's office and asked, "if a dog, running unleashed, steals a piece of meat from my store, do I have a right to demand payment for the meat from the dog's owner?"
3. "Absolutely," the lawyer responded. The butcher immediately shot back, "Good! You owe me $20 for the roast your dog stole from me this morning."
4. The lawyer, without a word, pulled out his wallet and handed the butcher $20. A few days later, the butcher opened his mail and found a bill from the lawyer. It read, "Consultation fee: $100.00”
B. TEXT
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes....32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord... 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.” [Did 3X] 36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed. 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 1 Kgs. 18:30-33, 36, 38
C. INSTANCES OF GOD’S FIRE REVEALED. The fire of God ‘s presence has been seen all down through history:
1. Abraham saw it as a burning & smoking lamp (Genesis 15) between the covenant pieces.
2. Moses saw that fire in a bush on Mt. Horeb and the bush was not consumed, Ex. 3:2.
3. The Israelites saw God’s holy fire in a pillar of fire during the nights after they left Egypt, Ex. 13:21.
4. On Mount Sinai, while giving Israel the Law, God descended in a “consuming fire on top of the mountain” Ex. 24:17.
5. MOSES (Lev. 9:24), DAVID (1 Chron. 21:26), SOLOMON (2 Chron. 7:1), and ELIJAH (1 Kgs. 18:38) all presented sacrifices and prayed and the fire of God fell on their sacrifices.
I. WE MUST HAVE THIS FIRE!
A. WHAT THIS FIRE REPRESENTS
1. There was no mistake about it when it fell -- it was the "fire of Jehovah" = miraculous fire.
2. NOT NATURAL FIRE. Natural fire works upward. This fire starts at the top and works down. It consumed first the sacrifice, then the wood, then the water, then the stones, and then the dust.
3. Stones and dirt couldn’t withstand it. Water couldn't quench it. What kind of fire was it? HOLY GHOST FIRE!
4. It represents the Holy Spirit’s anointing; God is a consuming fire! It also represents the FIRST LOVE of God’s people, for God. Many poets have described human love as a flame – an all-consuming passion.
5. We cannot properly serve God without loving Him passionately & putting Him first.
B. GOD SAID, “NEVER LET YOUR FIRE GO OUT!”
1. For about a century before Elijah's time, that fire from heaven was still Burning in Jerusalem (2 Chron. 7:1).
2. The same fire fell on the early church on the day of Pentecost. It fell because the disciples had given themselves to God. Knowing and walking with God had become their highest priority!
3. Enthusiasm means “inspiration or possession by God.” Enthusiasm is a powerful force people are looking for. “The worst bankruptcy in the world is the man who’s lost his enthusiasm.” This should especially apply to Christ-followers. We’ve found the answer! We need to be “...be aglow and burning with the Spirit” Rom. 12:11, AMPC.
4. Pete Rose (baseball great) said, “The player who has lost his passion – that man is finished!” That’s true! People will follow a fire truck, but nobody follows an ice truck. Build a fire & people will come to see you burn!
5. HEB is stacked full of food. Walgreens is stacked full of medicine. The church should be stacked full of prayer & deliverance! When people see you, they ought to see Jesus!
6. It’s like going to Church’s Chicken and ordering, and they tell you they’re out of chicken – that they have nothing but “sides.” You’d say, “What? I didn’t come here for sides! I came here for the main course – Jesus Christ!” Are you full enough of Jesus that others can see Him in you?
C. WHO IS THIS JESUS?
1. In infancy he startled a king. In childhood he amazed religious scholars. In manhood he ruled the course of nature—walking on stormy waves and hushing the raging sea to sleep.
2. He healed multitudes without medicine and made no charge for his services. He never practiced psychiatry -- yet he has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near.
3. He never wrote a book. Yet He’s inspired more books than any other man. He never wrote a song. Yet he has furnished the theme for more songs than all songwriters combined.
4. He never founded a college, but He has more students than any university system. He never marshaled an army, but He’s got more soldiers under command than any General.
5. Herod could not kill him. Satan could not seduce him. His enemies could not destroy him. The grave could not hold him. Jesus died on the Cross for our sins, and after three days, He rose again from the dead, alive forevermore! PTL!
6. God promises that if you trust in Him, you can be saved from your sins and have eternal life! Is that something you want? Don’t leave here without it!
7. 2ndly – if we want God’s fire on our lives...
II. IT REQUIRES AN ALTAR
A. SACRED SEPARATION
1. The foundation of our spiritual life is developed at the ALTAR. It’s not until we surrender OUR wills that God can implement HIS will in our lives. [My test: put girlfriend on the altar.] The altar is the place of surrender to God’s will and of union with Jesus Christ.
2. Fire is one of the best representations of the Holy Spirit, because it has warmth, gives light, consumes, judges, is explosive, and can be eternal. You can go through the motions of Christianity without the fire, but your life won’t have the power!
3. In Moses’ time when people led sinful lives, the fire of God came out from the Lord and consumed them (Lev. 10:2; Num. 11:1; Num. 16:35)!
4. SEPARATION. You can never serve a holy God if you’re living in sin. What fellowship can light have with darkness?
5. The seraphs fly around the throne. What are they crying? “Powerful, Powerful, Powerful?” NO! “Unchanging, Unchanging, Unchanging?” NO! They cry, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY!”
6. Salvation is more than a prayer. It’s leaving your old life behind and beginning a new life with God in Christ. The BHS is more than speaking in tongues. IT’S A WALK! 2 Tim. 1:9, we’re “...called...to a holy life.” 1 Cor. 1:2, You’re called a “saint.”
7. What is a Christian? One who has died to sin and begun to live a new life in Christ. The old has passed away and behold, the new has come! It’s the implantation of the divine nature that makes the Christ-life possible (2 Pet. 1:4).
B. ORIGIN OF THE FIRE
1. It was reported in 2003 that a church fire occurred in the Phoenix, Arizona. The fire marshal investigated the church fire and found the origin of the blaze was -- “the fire started in the pulpit!” He went on to say, “After the fire started in the pulpit, it spread to the rest of the church.” In a matter of minutes, the building was engulfed in flames. CAN YOU SAY PRAISE THE LORD?
2. Isaiah said that HIS fire came from the altars of Heaven (Isa. 6:6). My prayer is that holy passion will be transferred from Heaven’s altars to OUR hearts! May we all catch on fire for Jesus!
3. 3rdly, if we want God’s fire on our lives...
III. IT REQUIRES A SACRIFICE
A. A LIVING SACRIFICE
1. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service” Rom. 12:1 KJV.
2. There’s no bargain counter with God. Jesus is the Vine; unless we’re attached to Him, we’ll wither & die. In Rom. 12:1, Paul encourages us to “Give it all.” Whatever you try to keep, you’ll lose. Giving God your all is your “reasonable service.”
3. Complete surrender to God isn’t something exceptional, it’s the basic requirement for entry into the Christ-life. If we haven’t put our lives on the altar, we’re not one of His!
4. God has a plan for your life. Paul said, “I take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
B. IT’S NOT EXTREME, BUT REASONABLE
1. “Pastor, this sounds SO EXTREME!” Sure it’s EXTREME – but wasn’t it extreme for Jesus, God’s own Son, to die a cruel death for the salvation of the world? Is there anything too extreme for us to do in return? I protest your hesitancy! Extreme is what God’s called us to do.
2. Jesus said, “Follow Me!” They left their nets and boats and tax booths and doctor’s offices and followed Him! That’s exactly what the Lord Jesus has commanded us to do! We have eternal riches. What does it matter if we give up a few temporal things?
3. You may say, “It can’t be done in today’s society!” But I tell you that people all over the world are obeying God, right now, to this degree of commitment! The real question is, “Are YOU willing to do it?”
4. What would you say if in 2 years:
-All the economic systems of the world collapsed?
-We entered a worldwide depression?
-All the governments collapsed?
-There was only chaos & persecution?
5. Would your life be anchored in God? Would your faith survive that kind of test? If JESUS is your all, then losing everything else wouldn’t really matter, because you’d still have Jesus!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Some of you may be saying, “But Pastor, maybe YOU can change like that, but I could never change like that!” You’d be surprised what the power of God can do!
2. In January, 2008, a 15-year-old girl in Australia named Demi-Lee Brennan became the world's first known transplant patient to change blood types from O negative to O positive, taking on the immune system of her organ donor.
3. At first the doctors assumed someone had made a mistake, because it's always been assumed that a change like that just can't happen. Now they say she's a "one-in-six-billion miracle."
4. The blood stem cells in Brennan's new liver invaded her body's bone marrow, taking over her entire immune system. She now has an entirely different kind of blood—blood that welcomes life, rather than carrying death. "It's like my second chance at life," Brennan says.
5. Friends, IT’S LIKE THE BLOOD OF JESUS! Something similar happens to us when we ask Jesus to save us. We get the nature of Jesus in us! That nature spreads throughout our being and before long the impossible happens – we change from a NEGATIVE LIFE to a POSITIVE LIFE! When we put our faith in Jesus, he gives us His new life! [Christianity Today, 2023]
B. THE CALL
1. IN EVERY AGE GOD HAS HAD TO SEND NEW FIRE
WHY? DEVOTION HAS COOLED.
2. GOD’S FIRE WAS LIT or RE-LIT UNDER 1. Moses, 2. Samuel, 3. David, 4. Solomon, 5. Elijah, 6. At Pentecost. But later it WENT OUT.
3. GOD NEEDED TO RESTORE THAT FERVER & DRIVE OUT THE DARKNESS. NEVER LET HIS FIRE GO OUT. IT’S GOD’S WILL TO REVIVE, RENEW.
