February 11, 2004
Title: Repairing the Altar (Preparation for revival)
Text: 1 Kings 18:30
Introduction
1. One day, a lady asked Billy Sunday "why do you keep having revivals...when they don’t last"?
instead of answering her question directly, he asked her a question...
"why do you keep taking baths"?
2. Obviously, there are some things that you can’t do once...and your done.
You can’t eat just one great big meal and then never eat again.
We are created for a regular intake of nourishment...
I SUPPOSE you could just take one bath...
and then never bathe again...
but I imagine that before long...
the filth would affect your health...
and I am fairly certain it would affect your relationships with other people!!
3. Another one of those things that needs to be often repeated is REVIVAL!
No matter how strong you are as a Christian...
As we go through the various routines of living...
we accumulate "dirt" along the way...
I have recently taken up running as a way to improve my health...
I have run on various trails...roads...and paths...
and no matter where I run...or how carefully I run...
I cannot help but pick up some sand...dirt...
and when I run on trails...some spiderwebs...
from time to time.
So, one of the first things I do when I finish running is to take a shower...
and wash off the debris that I’ve picked up along my run.
And that’s how it happens in life as well...
we are trying to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us" Heb 12:1 (NIV)
and we accumulate filth along the way...
It may not be that we have delved into deep, dark sin...
but the dirt of the world has begun to affect us.
And we need to take a spiritual "shower" as it were...
to get cleaned up...
and that’s where revival comes in.
4. With our revival scheduled to begin on Sunday...
I want to draw your attention to something that is KEY to whether we will experience revival...
and that is our altar...
perhaps you see our altar as just another piece of church "furniture"...
You can see that our altar is in good repair...
it is clean...
But tonight...we need to realize that our "altar" is broken....
and if we want to experience a great revival...
we need to repair the altar.
And tonight, we will learn from God’s Word just how to do that.
Read Text: 1 Kings 18:30
Body
1. The Story
A. This is a very common story from God’s Word...
in fact, I have preached on this spectacular event to you before...
Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest...
each of them will prepare a sacrifice on the altar...
and the God who answers by fire...
then He will be the God who they would worship.
B. The "Baalites" went first...
they cried out to baal for hours...
baal was silent.
Elijah said, "Maybe you need to yell louder...
perhaps he’s sleeping,
you need to wake him up"
the baalites cried all the louder...
even resorting to cutting themselves...
all day long they cried and cut and bled...
and baal was silent.
C. Then Elijah went...
as he prepared the sacrifice...
he had them dump 4 water pots full of water on the sacrifice...
and then he had them repeat it 3 times...
for a total of 12 pots of water dumped on the sacrifice.
Then Elijah prayed a simple prayer...
and you know what happened...
God answered with fire...
burning up the sacrifice...
the wood...
and all the water.
And then the people fell on their faces and worshipped God.
2. Reparing the Altar
A. But, before Elijah takes his turn...
God’s Word tells us something very important...
and yet, it’s so quick, just one verse...
that if you aren’t careful...
you will read on into the rest of this exciting story...
and miss out on something that God has for us.
B. Before Elijah can proceed...
verse 30 tells us that "he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down"
before he could make a sacrifice for God upon the altar...
before God has the opportunity to answer his prayer in a spectacular/miraculous way....
before the people experience revival...
and all fall before God in worship...
Elijah had to repair the altar.
C. God’s Word doesn’t tell us what happened to the altar...
to come to its current state of disrepair...
perhaps it happened simply by neglect...
you’ve heard the saying, "use it or lose it"...
many things just have to have regular use...
or they begin to deteriorate.
Think about Diane’s talent for playing the piano...
maybe you just think that she plays so beautifully for Church...
and she never needs to practice.
But what you don’t see...
is many times, throughout the week...
Diane will come to church...
and practice the piano...
she knows that if she doesn’t keep up with it...
then, her talent would begin to deteriorate.
If we neglect the altar...
then our spiritual lives will begin to deteriorate...
D. On the other hand, there were times in Scripture where we read that the altar of God was torn down.
One time, God appeared to Elijah, and Elijah said, "The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." 1 Kings 19:10 (NIV)
Perhaps this altar that Elijah repaired was one that the Israelites had previously torn down.
The Israelites had rejected God...
and before they could experience the outpouring of God’s power in their lives...
the altar had to be repaired and used.
E. The same holds true for us...
if we have rejected God...
and turned away from Him...
effectively tearing down the altar...
then we need to repair the altar...
and begin to offer sacrifices once again.
3. Application:
A. If we are to experience revival in our church...
then we need to repair the altar and offer sacrifices on it.
no, we aren’t going to prepare a bull or a lamb and sacrifice a sin offering on this altar...
Jesus has already paid the ultimate sacrifice for sin...
so that animal sacrifices are no longer needed...
But there are still sacrifices that need to be made.
I see 3 sacrifices that need to be made if we are to experience revival in our church...
and these sacrifices are in order...
1. First, is the sacrifice of repentance.
Psalm 51:16-17 says: "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." Psalms 51:16-17 (NIV)
When we have neglected the altar of God...
or we have rejected God...
we need to bring a sacrifice of repentance...
we need to bring a broken and contrite heart...
we need to bring our sorrow for not living like we should.
Revival WILL NOT come....
if we sit back...
arms crossed...
unwilling to say, "I’m sorry" for what I have done.
then I guarantee that you will not experience revival...
you will not see God come in the power of His Presence in your life...
you must make rebuild the altar and make a sacrifice of repentance...
for God to come and bring revival in your heart.
2. The 2nd sacrifice is the sacrifice of ourselves...
Romans 12:1 says, "I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship" Romans 12:1 (NIV)
After we have brought a sacrifice of repentance...
we are still not ready to experience God’s revival...
first, we need to sacrifice ourselves to God...
we need to offer ourselves as a "living sacrifice"...
once an animal sacrifice had been offered...
that was it...
the animal was unable to go on and fulfill any purpose...
but we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice...
we sacrifice of ourselves...
our talents...
our time...
and gifts...
and we give them to God...
for God to use to build His Church.
We can come to the altar and tell God, "I’m sorry for what I have done"...
but if we are unwilling to give ourselves to God’s use and service...
then revival will not come.
That’s what happened with the rich, young ruler.
He came to Jesus and wanted to know how he could have eternal life...
Jesus told him to keep the 10 commandments...
the man told Jesus, "I have kept these commandments since I was a young boy"...
then Jesus said, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions" Matt 19:21-22 (NKJV)
This young man was unwilling to sacrifice himself and all that he had to God...
We must have the attitude expressed in that song...
"whatever it takes to draw closer to You, Lord...
that’s what I’ll be willing to do"
And it is a sacrifice...
if it was just a walk in the park...
I’m sure many more people would be Christians...
as it is, many people CALL themselves Christians...
but they are unwilling to SACRIFICE themselves...
so that God is unable to use them...
and thus, their Christianity is only in their own minds...
because God Himself doesn’t recognize them.
3. 3rd, the must be a sacrifice of praise.
Hebrews 13:15 tells us, "Therefore, through Jesus, let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name." Heb 13:15 (NKJV)
Isn’t that a powerful verse?
We must CONTINUALLY offer a sacrifice of praise to God...
CONTINUALLY...
that’s what makes it a sacrifice...
because it is certainly easy to praise God when He is blessing and blessing...
and answering prayer after prayer...
but what about when times are tough...
what about when our prayers seem to go unheard...
do we STILL give our praise to God?
After we have offered the sacrifice of repentance...
and after we have offered the sacrifice of ourselves...
we need to offer God the sacrifice of our praise....
I like that phrase, "the fruit of our lips"....
We’ve been studying the fruit of the Spirit on Sunday nights...
and when the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts...
then there is something evident in our lives...
it doesn’t come from our own efforts...
it is the fruit....OF THE SPIRIT...
with that thought in mind...
when the Holy Spirit resides in our heart...
then the fruit of our lips will be praise!!!
Through the power of the Holy Spirit...
after we repented...
after we have presented ourselves to God...
then we lift up our praise to the Lord...
day in...
day out...
when times are good...
when times are bad...
God is good...
all the time...
Praise His Name!!!
Conclusion
1. I’m sorry to tell you this evening...
but some of you have let the altar of God fall into disrepair...
perhaps through neglect...
perhaps through rejecting God...
but for whatever reason...
you need to repair the altar...
Perhaps you need to offer a sacrifice of repentance...
it’s never easy to admit when we are wrong...
but, we must repent before we can experience revival...
2. Perhaps you have repented....
but you have been unwilling to sacrifice yourself...
to give yourself to God for His use...
If you want to experience revival in your life...
you must be willing to offer yourself as a living sacrifice to God.
3. Perhaps you have repented...
and you have given yourself to God...
but you haven’t been able to sacrifice praise to God...
or maybe you ARE able to praise God when times are good...
but; now that you are going through difficulty...
you aren’t able to bring a sacrifice of praise...
If you aren’t able to bring a sacrifice of praise to God...
then revival won’t come for you.
4. But; when you repair the altar...
and when you bring these 3 sacrifices to God...
then God will respond in a miraculous way...
and revival will come in such a powerful and incredible way.
5. Let me ask you tonight,
what’s the condition of the altar in your life tonight?
has it been neglected?
have you torn it down in anger or bitterness?
Or is it in good repair?
(I got the idea for this sermon from "The Vance Havner Notebook", compiled by Dennis Hester. pp. 21-22.)
