THE WOOD’S NEVER TOO WET FOR REVIVAL
1 Kgs 18:21-39
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: HOW TO GET ATTENTION
1. George Phillips of Mississippi, was going to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the shed. George started out to the shed, but saw some men in the process of stealing things.
2. He immediately phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?" and George said, "No." Then they explained that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply lock his door and an officer would be there when available.
3. George said, "Okay," hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again. "Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now because I've just shot them all."
4. Then he hung up. Within a few minutes, three squad cars and an ambulance showed up. Of course, the police caught the burglars red-handed.
5. One of the policemen said to George: "I thought you said that you'd shot them!" To which George replied, "I thought YOU said there was nobody available!"
6. It might be God is trying to get our attention too!
B. TEXT
21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. 22 Then Elijah said to them….23 “Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets 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.”
26 Then they [the prophets of Baal] called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “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!... 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 had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes….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 twenty pounds 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: “LORD, the 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, LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, 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. 41 And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain. 1 Kgs 18:21-39
C. THESIS: WHAT IS REVIVAL?
1. What is Revival? Well the dictionary defines it as:
a. An awakening, in a church or community, of interest in and care for matters relating to personal religion.
b. An evangelistic service or a series of services for the purpose of effecting a religious awakening
2. I look at Revival as a time to look toward spiritual renewal and purpose in the lives of Christians.
3. This sermon should move people to revival and affirms the fact that no matter how dead we think we are or how wet our wood may be, God can still light a fire within us!
4. Title: “The Wood’s Never Too Wet For Revival!”
I. THE SITUATION LOOKS BLEAK!
A. BLEAK IN ISRAEL
1. The wetting of the wood that was supposed to catch fire parallels the state of Israel which, with Ahab the most wicked king & Jezebel the murderess ruling and the people all compromising and idolatrous, Israel was anything but ready to burst into the flames of revival.
2. But no country and no individual is past being reclaimed by God. If he can save Nineveh and Saul of Tarsus, God can save anyone! The wood is never too wet for revival!
B. OUR CURRENT DECLENSION
1. Now if you’ve looked at the Polls, you know that America is in trouble. Only 18% of Americans now go to church and only 3% of those 18-25 go to church.
2. The situation appears to be mirroring Europe. We’re in serious trouble!
3. Despite these grim facts, I believe we’re poised for another Great Awakening, not just in The Assemblies, but in churches all around the world.
4. But to turn this thing around we need get on Fire for God. We need the all-consuming Fire of God’s zeal! Folks we’ve got to quit playing church and start living Jesus!
5. Ever heard the saying “If that don’t light your fire your wood’s wet?” Your wood can’t get too wet for God to light it!
II. ELIJAH CONFRONTS COMPROMISE
A. GOD’S PEOPLE COMPROMISING
1. We find the people of Israel straddling a fence: worshiping Yahweh and worshiping Baal.
2. Elijah comes out of hiding and confronts God’s people. He also challenges the 450 Baalite prophets to a showdown.
B. GOD’S PEOPLE MUZZLED
1. In verse 21 (read text) the people of God didn’t say a word.
2. People ask where God is. And we stand silent. It looks like our fire has gone out and our wood has become wet. We can’t even see a spark or a flicker.
3. We’re scared to tell people where we stand for fear of exposing ourselves as politically incorrect.
4. Wake up people, we gotta start acting like people of God. Sadly, we’re in a position much like the people of Israel; we need to speak up for what we believe.
C. VERY BAD ODDS & THE PROPOSAL
1. Anyway, back to the underdog Elijah who is badly outnumbered 850 to 1.
2. In our naturalist way of thinking, that’s not good odds. But Elijah has - what we would call - an Ace in the hole; he has God in his corner.
3. Elijah asks for 2 oxen and some wood. The Baalites are allowed to go first and present their bull to Baal, without any fire.
4. And Elijah says tell you what ya’ll call on your god and I’ll call on the name of Yahweh and whichever God answers by fire, he is God. All the people thought that was a great idea.
III. GODS PUT TO THE TEST
A. ELIJAH HECKLES THE IDOLATERS
1. So Elijah tells the prophets of Baal, “There’s a lot of ya’ll, you go first.” They prepare the altar, place the ox on it, and start to dance around and call upon Baal.
2. They dance around hopping and hollering till about lunch and then Elijah comes out and says “What’s wrong? Yell a little louder! Maybe he’s taking a nap, or on a trip. Who knows, maybe he had to go to the bathroom, call louder.”
3. Well those prophets of Baal began to call louder and even cut themselves and whip themselves, but to no avail. 4. The scripture said they did this till the time of the evening offering which would be around 3 p.m. and received no answer, no voice, and no fire.
B. ELIJAH’S TURN
1. Then it was Elijah’s turn. He called everyone to him and rebuilt the alter of the Lord with 12 stones, one for each tribe of Israel.
2. Then he dug a trench around it, he placed the wood and cut up the oxen then said “bring 4 barrels of water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” He did this 3X. The water flowed around the alter and even filled the trench up. 3. (Now mind you they were in a three year drought because of Elijah’s so water was probably a precious commodity)
C. ELIJAH LOOKS LIKE A FOOL
1. Now put yourself in the shoes of the spectators, they are probably thinking “What is this dude doing? He’s just making a fool of himself, wasting water, nobody wets the wood down before you light it on fire! This is never going to burn with all that H2O.”
D. THE OUTCOME
The fire of the Lord came down and consumed everything, including the water. The people of Israel had an encounter with God and started to worship Him.
IV. PARALLEL TO TODAY
A. RESPONSE TO THE PROBLEMS
1. That’s what we need in our churches today: an encounter with God, and to have the all-consuming fire of God come on us and become contagious.
2. We listen to all these statistics that the church is declining, we look around and see some empty pews and we start having a little pity party and accept survival as our goal. NO!
3. We may feel like we are outnumbered and out flanked. We may think the wood’s too wet, but the Word assures us tonight that nothing is impossible for God.
4. Friends we need to realize that we can’t do it on our own. Elijah wasn’t by himself; he had God on his side.
5. Elijah built the altar and prayed expecting something supernatural. Elijah prayed expecting God to show up and show off.
B. ELIJAH’S ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD’S FIRE
1. Elijah anticipated the fire
Elijah expected the fire
Elijah wanted the fire
2. When you get that fire in you, it’ll transform you. You’ll start to think differently, and start to walk differently. When the fire of the Holy Spirit gets into you things become kingdom-oriented.
3. You get a yearning to witness to the lost, you begin to love others more deeply, and people start to notice. They want to know what you got and where to get it.
C. THE HOLY SPIRIT CAME TO BRING FIRE!
Jesus gives us this type of fire Luke 3:16 & Matthew 3:11 John answered them all, "I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
D. REVIVAL STARTS WITH EXPECTATION
1. We have got to quit playing church and get serious about what God would have us do. Revival starts with each individual person.
2. In order to be consumed by the fire we must have an encounter with Jesus Christ. We need to start showing up expecting an encounter with God every time we enter the doors of our churches.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION: THE BLACK DEATH & THE GREAT FIRE
1. In 1665 the residents of London were dying by the hundreds or thousands each day. The bubonic plague was spreading from house to house because of the unsanitary conditions. Rats and fleas spread the germs throughout the city.
2. Almost 30,000 people died, almost a third of London’s population at the time. This plague was so bad experts say the entire population of London would have died if it had not been checked.
3. But on September 2, 1666, the Great Fire of London broke out and burned uncontrollably for five days. Most of the structures in Medieval London were wooden, and almost the entire city was reduced to ashes.
4. But when the fire finally died, the people discovered many of the rats and fleas had been killed in the fire and the epidemic of the Black Death was halted. The fire cleaned the city of the impurity that was killing its people. Thank God for fire!
B. THE CALL
1. We can look at all these statistics and numbers and let it discourage us. But they are dealing in the natural.
2. The great thing is this, we don’t deal in the natural, and we have a God that allows us to expect the supernatural. It’s time that we show up anticipating the fire, it’s time we start expecting the fire, and it’s time that we start wanting the fire.
3. It’s time for us to be on fire with love and compassion for others and meet them wherever they are with that all-consuming love that only Christ can give us.
[This is a rewrite of Jeffrey Sims’ message of the same title]
