PRINCIPLES FOR RECOVERING THE FIRE OF GOD
1 Kings 18:36-39 "And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. 38Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God."
• I want to direct your attention to a fire today. We find it burning in the pages of 1 Kings 18, specifically verses 36-39. In this chapter we find the story of Elijah, the prophet of God confronting the wicked prophets of Baal. For those who may not be familiar with this story, allow me to give you a quick “thumb-nail sketch” of what is taking place.
• King Ahab:
1. Was the reigning king in Israel
2. Scripture informs us that Ahab “did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.” (1 Kings 16:33)
3. He had turned his people from the worship of God to the worship of Baal, a heathen god.
4. Because of the wickedness of Israel, God had caused the heavens to be closed for 3 1/2 years.
• Elijah:
1. Announced that “there would be no dew drop on any flower for years, no rain cloud to cross the sky for years, no rains to drench the land for years. All skies would be pitilessly brass.”
• Israel
1. In the midst of a devastating drought.
2. There was no fruit on the vines.
3. Terrible famine plagued the land.
4. The refreshing drops of rain no longer quench the thirst of a parched land.
5. The long-term drought resulted in kingdom-wide starvation .
That was the situation after three and a half years of drought and famine. There was no food to satisfy the hunger or water to quench the thirst. People were dying in record numbers because of the hard-heartedness of their king.
• We find in 1 Kings 18 the prophet Elijah emerging from 3 1/2 years of seclusion to challenge Ahab, king of Israel. In meeting with this evil king, the prophet assures him that the long drought and famine is a result of the sin of the children of Israel. Elijah states: "If God is God, serve Him! If Ba’al, then serve him!" But how is this to be determined? Simple!! There is to be a head-to-head confrontation between the 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah, the prophet of the most high God! The terms of the contest are set forth in vv 23,24:
“Now bring two young bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without putting any fire under the wood; and I will prepare the other young bull and lay it on the wood on the Lord’s altar, with no fire under it. 24 Then pray to your god, and I will pray to the Lord; and the god who answers by sending fire to light the wood is the true God!”
As we examine our text this evening, there are four principles of the fire we need to notice. First. . .
THE FIRE WAS NECESSARY FOR THE PEOPLE’S SURVIVAL
• God never condones apostasy and idolatry for long!
1. There is a point where His mercy is turned to judgment.
2. There is a line drawn that when crossed, He will say “It is enough.” Not long after giving His people the Law on Mt. Sinai God warned them:
Deu 30:16-18 “I have commanded you today to love the Lord your God and to follow his paths and to keep his laws, so that you will live and become a great nation, and so that the Lord your God will bless you and the land you are about to possess. 17 But if your hearts turn away and you won’t listen--if you are drawn away to worship other gods-- 18 then I declare to you this day that you shall surely perish; you will not have a long, good life in the land you are going in to possess.”
• People forgot command of God.
1. Began doing own thing.
2. Forgot ways of God.
3. Turned from the true God to worship of Baal.
4. Became cold and indifferent to things of God.
• Needed something to turn them back to God.
1. Something to remind them there was still God in heaven.
2. Something to shift their attention from selves to God.
3. Something to stir their soul.
4. Something to revive them.
That something was an encounter with the fire of God!
THE PEOPLE PLAYED A PART IN BRINGING THE FIRE
Somebody said “You don’t get anything for nothing!” I believe this is true in the spiritual realm as well. We don’t just sit idly by and expect God to heap great blessings on us. As I’ve said before, the action of God is generally preceded by the action of man. Man prepares -- God provides. It’s a simple formula.
I want you to look at verses 32-35:
“ [Elijah] . . . used the stones to rebuild the Lord’s altar. Then he dug a trench about three feet wide around the altar. 33 He piled wood upon the altar and cut the young bull into pieces and laid the pieces on the wood. "Fill four barrels with water," he said, "and pour the water over the carcass and the wood." After they had done this he said, 34 "Do it again." And they did. "Now, do it once more!" And they did; 35 and the water ran off the altar and filled the trench.”
• Human action was required before God would send His fire.
1. God could have sent fire to Mt Carmel & destroyed all.
2. God is omnipotent -- all powerful.
3. Yet we see God responding to the actions of His people. There was something they had to do!
• Carefully notice the Prophet’s actions:
1. Elijah repaired altar, using 12 stones. (vv 30-31)
2. Elijah dug a 3 foot wide trench around the altar. (v 32)
3. Elijah placed wood upon the altar. (v 33)
4. Elijah cut up young bull into pieces and laid them on the altar. (v 33)
Up to this point Elijah had worked alone.
• People are commanded to take action:
1. In the latter part of verse 33, there is a change in action. Here, Elijah commands the people to fill four barrels with water and pour it on the sacrifice. They were to repeat this process three times.
2. Don’t miss the significance of the people’s actions. It is very interesting they were commanded to fill barrels with WATER and POUR on the sacrifice. The irony is that Israel was in the midst of a DROUGHT, and yet the people were commanded to pour water on the sacrifice! Don’t miss this: They were instructed to put the their most precious possession on the altar of God if they were to experience God’s fire. You see, God’s people thought the thing they needed the most was water, while what they actually needed was the FIRE OF GOD!
Sacrifice on the part of the people is necessary to see the fire of God!
• Man prepares -- God provides.
The fire of God came in response to the efforts of the people of God!
THIS FIRE WAS GOD’S FIRE
• verse 38: “Then the fire of the Lord fell. . .”
1. Not some contrived fire.
2. Not a fire of the people’s making. Yes, they had a part in bringing the fire, but the fire that came was not their fire --- it was God’s Fire!
• May I tell you this evening that God didn’t need any help. He
1. Didn’t need for Elijah to rub two sticks together to start a fire
2. Didn’t need for Elijah to strike flint to make a spark.
3. Didn’t need for Elijah to pour kerosene on the altar, in order that the fire would burn more intensely.
4. Didn’t need Elijah to use a magnifying glass to concentrate the sun’s rays upon some dried leaves, in order to start the fire.
• This was God’s fire!
• In Verses 26-28 the Prophets of Ba’al felt they needed to help their god along. When he didn’t answer, they “leaped upon the altar. . . and . . . cried aloud, and cut themselves. . . with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.” Yet verse 29 tells us “there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.”
Indeed Ba’al needed help, but God almighty doesn’t need the assistance of man. All He required was for the people to do as He commanded!
• You see, a “contrived fire” might have charred the pieces of the young bull lying on the altar. God’s fire “consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.”
• In the predicament God’s prophet found himself, a “contrived” or man made fire would not suffice!
1. Those gathered on Mt. Carmel would never have been convinced by a man-made fire.
2. They could tell difference between the man-made and the Divine.
3. They knew what had the touch of God upon it.
4. They knew what was real and what was a “show.”
5. This was a life or death situation. The souls of a nation were being weighed in the balances.
6. They had to experience God’s Fire -- the illuminating; consecrating; penetrating fire of Heaven. Nothing else would do.
They needed God’s Fire!
THE FIRE OF GOD CHANGED THE PEOPLE’S PERSPECTIVE
I want you to look with me this evening at the beautiful prayer of Elijah found in verses 36-37. This prayer reveals something of the heart of the prophet.
“. . . Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again."
• Did you hear his concern and compassion for the people?
1. He was saying “Lord, send the fire to convince these people that you are the true God and turn them back to you.”
2. He was concerned for God and concern-ed for God’s people.
3. He wanted to vindicate the name of God, and at the same time rescue his brethren -- the people of Israel.
• I see the prophet Elijah standing with one hand in the hand of God and the other in the hand of the people, reconciling them together.
• Elijah didn’t request the fire of God for some carnal exhibition of power.
1. He wasn’t interested in seeing some supernatural “fireworks” display.
2. He was more interested in the results of the fire of God.
3. He knew that when the fire comes, people would be changed!
A. Lives would be restored
b. Families would be mended
c. Dreams would be revived.
When God’s fire comes men’s spirits will be freed from the awful bondage of idolatry. When God’s fire comes, the enemy will be destroyed. O, Lord ---send the fire. Your fire. Your consuming, changing, restoring, victorious fire!
• He did! And just as Elijah had prayed, God’s fire changed the people’s perspective. Verse 39 tells us that the “people fell on their faces and said ‘The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is . . . God.”
It’s amazing to me how one’s perspective changes when they fall on their face before God!
• When the fire of God fell, the people were reminded of the blessings of old.
1. Reminded of how they were protected in the wilderness by the pillar of fire.
2. Reminded of the promises of God.
3. Reminded they were the chosen people.
4. Reminded that God had said “Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” [De 31:6]
The people’s perspective changed when they saw the fire of God!
CONCLUSION
