# 4 in series
Revival–Light the Fire
(Elijah’s Fire from Above)
1 Kings 18
INTRODUCTION
There was a man who was going skydiving for the very first time. He had taken all the lessons and now it was time for his first solo jump. He leaps out of the plane but he panicked and couldn’t remember how to open his parachute. As he was falling rapidly to the earth he suddenly met another guy who is going UP! He seizes the opportunity and shouts, “Hey buddy, do you know how to work a parachute?” The guy shouts back, “No! Do you know how to light a propane stove?”
Illustration taken from Raymond Perkins @ sermoncentral.com
• God has chosen fire to be the symbol of his presence.
• Throughout history, Revival has always been associated with fire.
• To ask God for Revival is to pray for Fire From Above.
• No one knew how to start a fire like Elijah!
• Ahab became King of Israel, his infamous wife was none other than Jezebel.
• Ahab was a terrible King. He led the people to worship Baal and Asherah, the gods of his wife Jezebel.
• “Ahab did more to provoke the Lord to anger than did all the Kings of Israel before him.” 1 Kings 16:33
• Elijah, a prophet of God, cursed the land because of Ahab’s evil. 1 Kings 17:1
• For three years it did not rain and God again came to Elijah.
• God told Elijah to go to Ahab and confront him. He promised that if he did so, it would rain.
• When Elijah confronted Ahab, Ahab blamed Elijah for his troubles. 1 Kings 18:17
• Elijah explained to him where the real problem was. 1 Kings 18:18
• Elijah made Ahab a “proposition.”
• Bring all the people to Mount Carmel along with the prophets of Baal & Asherah.
• When they were gathered, Elijah urged the people to make a commitment. 1 Kings 18:21
• Elijah challenged Baal himself. Have his prophets place a bull on the alter and let Baal set fire to it himself.
• The pagan prophets cried and cut themselves but there was no answer.
• Elijah made fun of them. “Maybe you should pray louder. Maybe he is busy or traveling or sleeping. Maybe praying louder will wake him.
• Nothing worked and now it was God’s turn.
• Elijah rebuilt God’s altar, dug a trench around it, prepared a bull and drenched all of it in water.
• Elijah then called on God to show His power.
• Elijah called for God to send fire from above and the fire not only consumed the sacrifice, but the wood, the altar and the dust around it.
• After seeing this amazing display the people fell on their knees and proclaimed “The Lord he is God! The Lord he is God!”
• In this time of great moral decline, Revival Broke Out!
We must get on our knees like Elijah and pray for a personal and congregational Revival!
It is not church people are looking for, PEOPLE DON’T UNDERSTAND CHURCH.
What people are looking for is God and they will come to God when they see Fire From Above in our Hearts!
In this Awesome display of Revival, God shows us that he wants his people to 1. Confront Sin, 2. Be Committed and 3. Be Converted.
MAIN BODY
I. Confront Sin
A. God sent Elijah to confront Ahab with his sins. 1 Kings 18:18
B. If we want to experience revival and enjoy God’s presence we must first confront sin.
1. Our own sin. Acts 17:30
2. The sin of others. Matt. 18:15–17; Luke 17:3
II. Be Committed
A. Elijah called the people of Israel to commit to God 1 Kings 18:21
B. Revival will only come to those who first commit themselves to God.
1. Matt. 4:10
2. Matt. 6:24
III. Be Converted
A. Upon seeing the presence and power of God the people realized their evil ways and acknowledged God. 1 Kings 18:39
B. Revival is the result of true repentance and conversion. 2 Cor. 7:10
CONCLUSION
A man who works in the main branch of a large bank told this story. Employees in the branch banks call him when they have problems with their computers. One day he got a call from a woman in one of the branch offices who had this question: “I’ve got smoke coming from the back of my terminal. Do you guys have a fire downtown?”
If we allow God to do his will. If we Confront sin, if we Commit ourselves and if we are truly Converted then people will be see the smoke and begin to wonder if there is a fire.
Hebrews 12:28–29
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
