HOW TO GET THE FIRE TO FALL
The Church Has Never Been On Fire Before
One Night At Almost Midnight, We Heard Tile Sirens Roar, Everybody In The Neighborhood Was Looking Out Their Door. Then In Bathrobes And Curlers, They Gathered Round To See, The Church Was Going Up In Flames, It Burned ’Til Way Past Three. Now The Preacher Looked Around, Then He Stood Up To Report. This Is The Biggest Meeting That We’ve Ever Had Before, Most Of You Have Never Come To Church, And I Was Wondering Why? They Looked At Him And All At Once, They Gave The Same Reply. They Said, "The Church Has Never Been On Fire Before,
The Church Has Never Been On Fire, Before
Now That The Flames Are Burning, There’s Something To Come For. But Please Just Try To Understand, The Church Has Never Been On Fire Before. It Seems That Folks Now In Our Day And Time Are Trying To Build The Church On Programs And Promotions And Sometimes It Seems To Work. But If You’ll Listen Very Carefully A Lesson May Be Learned, That If The Church Will Only Get On Fire, They’ll Come To Watch Her Burn. Oh! The Church Has Never Been On Fire Before;
The Church Has Never Been On Fire, Before.
But, If The Flames Will Start To Burning
There’ll Be Something To Come For. Then Folks Will Never Say Again The Church Has Never Been On Fire Before. Now The Preacher Learned A Lesson, That Night The Church Burned Down. He Got On Fire For Jesus, And He Prayed Revival Down, And The Church Will Never Be The Same, They’ve Caught The Fire Too. And The Folks There In That Neighborhood Have Changed Their Point Of View. They Said, The Church Has Never Been On Fire Before, The Church Has Never Been On Fire, Before, But Now The Flames Are Burning And There’s Something To Come For, And Folks Will Never Say Again
The Church Has Never Been On Fire Before.
1 Kings 18:22-40 Then Elijah said to them, "I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire — he is God." Then all the people said, "What you say is good." 25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire." 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. 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 was in ruins. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, "Your name shall be Israel." 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 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." 34 "Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. 36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." 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. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD-he is God! The LORD-he is God!"
40 Then Elijah commanded them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!" They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
I. Stand for God
a. V. 22"… I am the only one of the LORD’s prophets left,…”
b. It is not always easy to stand for what is right.
c. Mark 13:9 "You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
d. We must take an active and vocal stand for our God.
e. Elijah STOOD alone for God.
The poet William Blake wrote a poem about Pentecost. Part of the poem says: Unless the eye catch fire, God will not be seen. Unless the ear catch fire, God will not be heard. Unless the tongue catch fire, God will not be named. Unless the Heart catch fire, God will not be loved. Unless the mind catch fire, God will not be known.
II. Call on God
a. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the LORD. The god who answers by fire — he is God."
b. In His name is all power
c. Matthew 26:53 Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?
d. Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
The story is told of a group of women that met for Bible study. While studying in the book of Malachi, chapter three, they came across verse three which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." This verse puzzled the women and they wondered how this statement applied to the character and nature of God. The following week, one of the the women called up a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him while at work. As she watched the silversmith work, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire, where the flames were the hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot, then she thought again about the verse, that "He sits as a refiner and purifier of silver." She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the entire time the silver was being refined. The man answered yes, that not only did he have to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on it the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, "But how do you know when the silver is fully refined?" He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that’s easy - when I see my image in it."
III. Trust God
a. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
b. John 12:36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that you may become sons of light." When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
c. There are three kinds of Christians:
i. Row-boat Christians—struggling in their own power; stop to rest for a while, only to find that the current has taken them back where they started.
ii. Sail-boat Christians—let the wind do all the work; enjoy the high moments, But what happens when the doldrums come?
iii. Steam powered Christians—take the water of the Word and combine it with the fire of the Holy Spirit and there is constant power no matter what the conditions!
IV. Worship God
a. 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD,
b. We are commanded to worship Him
c. John 4:23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician and philosopher. In his writings, which were entitled Pensees, he traces the logical progression of his thought on many subjects. But something happened to Pascal which was beyond logic and rational thought. After his death, his servant found a piece of paper sewn into the lining of his coat. Here, in part, is what he wrote: The year of grace 1654. Monday, 23 November, . . . From about half-past ten in the eveninguntil about half past midnight. …FIRE! The God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob. Not of the philosophers and intellectuals….Certitude, certitude, feeling, joy, peace . . .joy, joy, joy, tears of joy. . .Renunciation, total and sweet. Complete submission to Jesus Christ. . . The God whom Pascal encountered was not the God of the theologians and scholars, he was the personal God of the Bible. When the true Pascal met the true God there was true surrender — complete submission — not as a slavish thing, but as one gives oneself to a love. There was passion in Pascal’s experience that he described as “FIRE.” This fire is the presence of God, whom the Bible tells us sits on a burning throne (Daniel 7:9), lives in everlasting burnings (Isaiah 33:14), is surrounded by flaming angels (Isaiah 6:2) and is himself a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24).
V. Obey God
a. 36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.
b. Luke 11:28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
After the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, The Chaplain of Bourbon Street, Bob Harrington, was asked by the governor of Oklahoma, to come be a spiritual prescence. After a few days there, one officer approached the Chaplain and said, "A few hours ago, one of our fire fighters found a young girl who was still alive, and he brought her out. He went back in the building about 2 hours ago, and he hasn’t come back out yet." They asked if Bro. Bob would put on a fire suit and go in the building to see if he could find the guy. Bro. Bob put the suit on and started in the exposed pile of rubble. He spotted the fire fighter. Not wanting to startle him he quietly said, "This is Bro. Bob Harrington. Son I just wanna come and pray for you, and get you in to take a break." As the chaplain moved closer to the fire fighter, he heard him mumbling. Just mumbling something over and over and over. As he finally got close enough to touch him, he could understand the man’s words. He was saying,"Just one more, just one more just one more." The man didn’t want to leave until he had found, "Just one More." Is the church willing to stand in the middle of Hell and destruction for, "JUST ONE MORE."
VI. Represent God
a. . 37 Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again."
How Chicago Fire Started On October 8, 1871, at about eight-thirty in the evening, a lantern in Mrs. O’Leary’s barn, presumably kicked over by her cow, ignited the great Chicago fire. The woman was milking her cow; and there was a little lamp of oil, a little flickering flame. The cow kicked over the lamp; and the flame kindled a wisp of hay, and another wisp, until all the hay in the stable was on fire, and the next building was on fire, and the next and the next! The fire spread over the river to the main part of Chicago and swept on until within a territory one mile wide and three miles long, there were only two buildings standing. the little flame from that lamp had laid Chicago in ashes!
b. As youth we sang the song “Pass It On”, it begins …It only takes a spark to get a fire going …
c. We are to carry His word to others.
VII. Profess God
a. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD-he is God! The LORD-he is God!"
b. 2 Chron. 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Elton Trueblood, the Quaker scholar, once compared evangelism to fire. Evangelism occurs, he said, when Christians are so ignited by their contact with Christ that they in turn set other fires. It is easy to determine when something is aflame. It ignites other material. Any fire that does not spread will eventually go out. A church without evangelism is a contradiction in terms, just as fire that does not burn is a contradiction.
