What to Do When True Revival Comes
09
March 2008
Lord's Day evening
1 Kings 18:41-45
Introduction: Open your Bibles to the book of 1 Kings 18:40-45. What we are talking about tonight is the tireless work that precedes and endures during a revival of God’s presence. We are never allowed to get an easy chair. We are called to “fight the good fight” and to keep the faith until we see God’s abundant blessing. The title of the message tonight is “What to Do When True Revival Comes”.
I Kings 18:41-45, “And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43 And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. 45 And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel”.
Context: As far as the eye could see from atop Mount Carmel the entire country was drought stricken. A three and a half year drought has all the people starving, and tens of thousands have die. The nation is in complete chaos and shambles. The rain had ceased because of the idolatry of the people.
I. And the first thing God does during a revival is to send Fire, not rain. Why is that? It is not until people have understood the FEAR of the Lord that they will receive the blessings of God’s RAIN from heaven.
The prophet Elijah was used of the Lord during this time of unbelief to crack the hard heart of unbelievers. He prays a fervant prayer and what happens? God rends the heavens and sends down fire. And as amazing as that miracle of fire was on Mount Carmel, more amazing than that was what took place in the hearts of the people. The people’s hearts were given over to the Lord!
We have to understand a heaven sent revival begins in utter fear and terror, not in syrupy happiness. When people first meet God all is NOT happy. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). The people had just learned that God has absolutely no tolerance to anything or anyone that contradicts or opposes His nature. He is holy. He is never to be taken lightly. “Our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29). And you know that God has fallen when sinners are no longer light and happy. When young and old are crying out for God’s mercy and dealing with sin seriously, then God’s presence has fallen.
So we see the first thing we need to have in a revival is Fire.
II. The second neccesity we see in a continuing revival is Fervancy. We read in verses 41-42, “And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42 So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel”.
We see those truly moved by God in the revival and those not.
A. Ahab is feasting on this world.
Ahab was obviously concerned about feasting and just glad to be alive. Ahab must have stood by there wondering if he was going to be next as Elijah excecuted the 450 prophets of Baal. Ahab is sent off for a meal. He hadn’t had anything to eat all day long.
B. By contrast, Elijah is fasting, but feasting on the power of the world to come. Elijah has no desire to eat earthly food. Elijah’s food is to “do the will of the Father”, the one true and living God. Elijah is a God-focused man. So much so that he almost wears his body and his mind out in the next chapter. He is a man that is crucified to this life. So while Ahab goes to feast, Elijah continues to fast and so he goes up to the very top of Mount Carmel to pray.
But Elijah was not looking around for an easy chair. His day has been a busy one to say the least. Most of us would have been looking around for a nice comfortable place to lie down so we could rest up. But not Elijah!
1. Application for the Hypocrite: Elijah was bothered not by how much money his people could make. He was not concerned how big of a house he had. He wasn’t worried about how big his SUV was. He was fervent about holiness. He was bothered that most of the professing believers up until this point were actually children of hell.
Some of you tonight are more concerned about your friends on Facebook than the fact that you are an enemy of God. You may think you are better than those in the world because you attend church and are from Christian families. You are in greater danger than they are. God has given you the most precious thing in the universe, the Gospel—and instead you have put that aside in exchange for a Play Station. How many hours have you spent on FaceBook and on that Play Station? And how many hours of God’s truth have you totally ignored and mocked? Your laptop and your cell phone and your Play Station will not help you one bit on the Day of Judgment when Beelzebub, becomes your eternal roommate!
I can tell you right now if you are a Christian. It is a fool proof test. What satisfies you more, an hour of agonizing prayer or an hour of trifles? That tells you who your God (or god) is. I will stand by that test until we meet at the Judgment.
2. Application for the Christian: Isn’t it amazing to be a Christian? You are not bound to this world by food and drink and the desires of your flesh! You are free from sin! And so while the false professors of this world are looking for satisfaction in the vanity fairs of this world, you know that your meat is to do the will of God. I want to give you hope in a hard time in world history. “Because iniquity is abounding, the love of many is waxing cold” (Matthew 24:12). But do not allow your fervency to dim or waver. Hear me now. Some of the people I have trusted most in various churches have wavered and fallen deeply into sin. Some preachers have even fallen away from the faith. Let the Ahabs of this world feast on this world. That is all they have. The only way to stay fervent is to keep feasting on the Word of God and on the Presence of God!!
Transition: Oh, how I want God go come and visit us. And he may bring fire from heaven. And there may be a great terror and fear of the Lord. People may flee to the foot of the cross for mercy. But remember that at the greatest victories, Satan is ready with his armies of doubt causers and confusers to bring on demonic and satanic attack.
So what will continue a revival? We’ve just spoken of fire and fervency. Now the third ingredient is faith.
III. The third necessity we see in a continuing revival is Faith. We read again in verse 41, “And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.”
A. A person with great faith is marked by great expectations—they expect great things from God. While the land of Israel is a desert, while it is parched as far as the eye could see from Mount Carmel with NOT A CLOUD in the sky, Elijah says in verse 41, “there is a sound of abundance of rain”. He says to Ahab, “You’d better get out of here and go faster in your chariot, because if you wait, it’s going to rain so much you’re going to have to turn your chariot into a boat!” Verse 44, “Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.” If you ask God believing, you ought not be surprised that God will answer. As James 1:6 says, we are to “ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” Dear friends, if God can part the Red Sea and give a baby to a 90 year old woman and a 100 year old father
B. A person with great faith is marked by great dedication—Verse 41, while Ahab got “up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth,” Elijah didn’t hang around to hear the praise of men! He wanted the well done of His God. This was not a time of celebration for Elijah, but for a more intense battle. He was expecting satanic attack. Instead of walking off into the sunset to savor his amazing victory for God, Elijah goes straight back to work again to see that the rain comes like God promised it would. There is no quitting place for the Christian. We do not arrive to where we stop ministering God’s spirit this side of eternity, There will never come a day in your walk with God in this life when you will have the opportunity to sit down and do nothing! It is not time to rest, but to “fight the good fight” and to “finish your course”! The day when our labors are over will come, but not until we see Jesus face to face.
C. A person with great faith is marked by great intercession—when God moves, His people don’t say, “Good we’ve got an answer”. No! They pray harder!! Elijah never stops praying. Verse 42, “So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees,” He had prayed for the rain to stop for three and a half years. Now that the fire had come and God’s judgment had come and dealt with sin, Elijah prays for the blessing of the abundance of rain! Elijah was such a man of prayer that God chose him to appear with the Lord Jesus Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration when the Lord (Matthew 17).
D. A person with great faith is marked by great communion with God. Elijah did not seek the well done of the crowd, but instead he withdrew from the crowds and “went up to the top of Carmel.” The top of Mount Carmel was a very lonely and solitary place. If we are going to see revival and see it continue, we must, as Hebrews 10:19 says, have an audience with “the Majesty on high”, and we must as “enter into the holiest”. We must get away from this distracting world around us and get alone with God.
E. A person with great faith is marked by great mortification of self. Look at verse 43, “And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44 And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.”
I imagine that we are a lot like Elijah’s servant. We go once and are disappointed that we didn’t get the answer. God makes us wait so that we might die to self. We must follow our Saviour to the cross. If you die to self, you will gain whatever you ask in prayer. It was hard for that servant to go and look for rain over and over again. But Elijah insisted that the servant go until the answer came. Elijah persisted in prayer. He was dead to self. To not give up is to die to self. Your flesh is weak! Your flesh wants to quit praying. But death to self is holiness. Prayer robs the flesh of getting the immediate satisfaction that it wants.
IV. The fourth necessity we see in a continuing revival is the Fountain of God’s working. Look at verse 45, “And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.”
The fire had fallen, and now Elijah prayed until the rain came, until God rent the heavens and sent down rain and not fire! My friend, it is normal in the Christian life to see God Himself at work!! It is you praying for heaven to be shut up until the fire of God’s judgment comes down in the hearts of the lost. You must begin with your own family. Pray that God would shut up the heavens to your children until they come to know the Living God. And then when they are converted the rain will come. Those who were once so hardened like the parched ground of Israel will be softened with the sweet rain of the Holy Spirit. They will grow and change!
Conclusion: What was it that ended the revival of the Great Awakening? Jonathan Edwards said it was spiritual pride and complacency. They lost their Fire, their Fervancy, the power of Faith, and the Fountain of God’s sweet Holy Spirit and constant working.
Is God working in your life? We will not have an altar call tonight. The altar is your home. Parents, I want to plead with you to talk to your children. If they know not Christ, they need to hear that from you. They need to know that you know they are uncoverted. Why don’t you begin to lay out the sacrifice for God to consume it by confronting lost people in your home, and in this church. We’ve got to begin here. And I’m praying that when God does move in this congregation, that we will know what to do. We must not go home to feast, but we must continue on the top of Carmel with our heads between our knees praying for the rain to come!