Life of ELIJAH: Principles of true REVIVAL 1 K 18:30-40 (Sermon 10)

Something absolutely astounding happened on Mount Carmel.

• An incident took place which had a profound effect on the life of a whole nation.

Remember the scene:

Elijah had summoned the people of Israel to meet him on Mount Carmel,

together with the 450 prophets of Baal & the 400 prophets of Asherah (1 K 18:19).

- Can you visualise the assembled crowd? People from every corner of the nation!

• 850 false prophets – A mass of humanity as far as the eye could see!

Remember what Elijah did at the BEGINNING of this HISTORIC DAY.

Elijah stood ALONE before a whole nation to proclaim the ULTIMATE QUESTION:

"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" (1 K 18:21).

Elijah’s question demanded an answer, but the people REFUSED to give an ANSWER!

• They sat on the fence, because they wanted the best of both worlds from Yahweh & Baal!

Look at the astonishing CONTRAST at the END of this HISTORIC DAY.

When the Lord God SENT FIRE from heaven (1 K 18:39):

"They fell prostrate & cried, ‘The Lord, he is God! The Lord – he is God!’"

What a TRANSFORMATION!

• From absolute rejection to joyous acceptance;
• From standing in defiance to falling prostrate in repentance;
• From stony silence to a shout of acclamation.

This transformation among the people of Israel was so remarkable that many people have called this incident a TRUE SPIRITUAL AWAKENING – a REVIVAL.

• Others say that this definition may be going a little too far.

Roger Ellsworth remarks:

"True revival leaves a lasting mark on society, but the experience of Mount Carmel

seems to have affected the people in a very temporary way. After the fire fell from

heaven … the people seem to have just melted away … Elijah never saw the end of

Baal worship in his lifetime. These hard facts indicate that what happened on Mount

Carmel was something less than true spiritual revival."

One thing is certain, for generations to come, this incident on Mount Carmel linked the name of Elijah with the RESTORATION of God’s people.

• Mount Carmel may have only had a temporary effect on those present.
• Nevertheless, it had a lasting effect on the people of God down through the ages.
• Elijah was renowned as one of the greatest prophets in the history of God’s people.
• Jesus acknowledged that Elijah’s coming symbolized the restoration of God’s people.
• John the Baptist came with the spirit and power of Elijah (Mtt 17:11-13).
• Elijah is remembered as a man who prayed earnestly & God answered (James 5:17-19)

The Prophet Malachi obviously thought of Mount Carmel in the context of Revival!

He said that Elijah will come and CALL God’s people to RESTORATION & REVIVAL:

"I will send the prophet Elijah before that great & dreadful day of the Lord comes.

He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children

to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse" (Malachi 4:5-6):

• ‘The fathers’ in this passage are the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac & Jacob;
• The Children of Israel had wandered far away from the ideals & faith of these fathers;
• The mission of Elijah will be to turn God’s people back to the faith of their fathers.

Thomas Moore links this coming of Elijah to times of revival throughout history:

"It is predicted, that before God sends wrath, he will send messengers to summon to

repentance. In every subsequent revival of religion in the Church it has been so.

In the Reformation of the 16^th Century, Elijah came in the burning words of Luther,

Calvin & Knox; in the 18^th, in the fervid spirits of the Wesleys, Whitfield, & Edwards,

and now that we are verging upon yet more fearful unfoldings of the wrathful

visitations of God on earth, we look for Elijah to come forth again in some new and

mighty awakenings of men to repentance. Indeed, to every regenerated soul there is

essentially this coming of Elijah, this summons, ‘Repent, for the day is coming.’"

From Mount Carmel we find FOUR PRINCIPLES relating to a pattern for true revival

1. God demonstrates the FAILURE of MAN-MADE RELIGIONS (v 25-29)
2. God EXPOSES his people’s SIN & CALLS them to REPENTANCE (v 30-32)
3. God forces his people to LOOK to HIM ALONE for true revival (v 32-35)
4. God DRIVES his people to PRAYER (v 36-38)

The FIRST principle of REVIVAL is that God demonstrates the

FAILURE of man-made religions (v 25-29)

- Elijah knew about this principle. This is why he gave his CHALLENGE (18:19 & 25):

"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 … Choose one of the bulls & prepare it first,

since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the

fire" Elijah’s challenge was designed to prove beyond doubt who was the true God.

• You are in the MAJORITY – let’s see if you are right.
• Let’s see whether your god is the true god or an imposter and a failure.
• This challenge was designed to prove the FAILURE of MAN-MADE RELIGION!
• It was designed to compel people to acknowledge the FAILURE of Baal worship;
• It was designed to compel people to RETURN to the Living God, Yahweh.

The Priests of Baal called on the name of their god from morning till noon saying:

"O Baal, answer us! O Baal, send fire to prove your power as the god of fire!"

At NOON, the SUN was at its height. It was at its most intense heat:

• Even at noon, Baal, the so-called god of sun & fire, could NOT send fire on the altar.
• There was NO RESPONSE – no one answered (18:26).

They prayed until the time of the evening sacrifice (18:26-29)

But, yet again, we read:

"There was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention" (18:29)

Baal clearly FAILED Elijah’s CHALLENGE of TRIAL by FIRE

The Psalmist tells us the reason for Baal’s FAILURE to answer " (Psalm 115:4-8):

"Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but

speak not … ears, but cannot hear; nor can they utter a sound with their throats.

Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them."

All man-made systems of religion inevitably end in FAILURE:

John Blanchard refers to Paul’s analysis of his days as a Pharisee (Philippians ch 3)

- He goes through various points in detail – under the following headings:

• Race – a FAILURE; Ritual – a FAILURE;

Religion – a FAILURE; Respectability – a FAILURE.

Paul eventually came to the inevitable conclusion which drove him to Christ:

"Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is

more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing

Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things" (Philippians 3:7-8).

In more modern times, the names of religious systems have changed:

• In the 1960s & 70’s it was Flower Power & Hinduism;
• Nowadays it is Islam, Bhuddhism, the pagan New Age Movement and Astrology.

Keith Davies says:

The actual names have changed, but the PRINCIPLE remains the SAME:

- All man-made religions will inevitably end in ABSOLUTE FAILURE!

The principle of Elijah on Mount Carmel remains the same today:

• People must see the failure of their own man-made systems before they will
• turn to the Living God, Yahweh.

From Mount Carmel we find FOUR PRINCIPLES relating to a pattern for true revival

FIRSTLY: God demonstrates the FAILURE of MAN-MADE RELIGIONS (v 25-29)

The SECOND principle of REVIVAL is that God EXPOSES his people’s SIN

and CALLS them to REPENTANCE (v 30-32)

Elijah illustrated this second principle of revival in a very symbolic manner (1 K 18:30-32)

"Elijah said, ‘Come here to me.’ They came to him and he repaired the altar of

the Lord, which lay in ruins. 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.’ With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord"

To understand the significance of Elijah’s symbolic action we must understand the SIGNIFICANCE of the ALTAR in God’s covenant with Israel.

• The altar was the PLACE where the priests made a SACRIFICE for SIN.
• The altar was the PLACE of REPENTANCE & CONFESSION of SIN.
• The altar was the PLACE of WORSHIP in the name of the Living God, Yahweh.

This principle has been there from the beginning:

• When Noah came out of the ark, the first thing he did was to build an altar.

• When Abraham entered the land of Canaan, he built an altar to the Lord at Shekem.

Because the Lord God appeared to him there, he built the altar as a sign of his worship.

When the Lord gave the Law to Moses, he commanded him saying:

The fact that the ALTAR on Mount Carmel was BROKEN DOWN, symbolized the WICKEDNESS & APOSTACY of evil King Ahab and the people of Israel.

• The broken down altar shows how low the worship of God had sunk in Elijah’s day!
• Ahab had built altars to the false god Baal. All Israel began to worship Baal.

This caused the altar of the Living God to be neglected and broken down.

Elijah made it clear that the broken altar symbolized the BROKEN COVENANT:

"The word of the Lord came to him (when he fled to Horeb): ‘What are you doing

here Elijah?’ He replied, ‘I have been zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The

Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your

prophets to death with the sword’" (1 K 19:10).

RESTORATION of the altar was an extremely important action:

• Elijah was teaching God’s people that they must come to God on his terms.
• Neglect of the altar depicted the wickedness & apostacy of God’s people.
• Repairing the altar depicted coming to the Lord on his terms of

repentance & confession of sin.

• Neglect of the altar of Yahweh, depicted a desire to worship Baal.
• Repairing the altar depicted a desire to RETURN to worshipping the TRUE GOD.

It is interesting to note how the altar became broken down at a time when Ahab & Israel was striving to make a syncretistic religion between worship of Baal and Yahweh.

• It is impossible to have a syncretism between a false god and the true God.
• It is impossible to serve two masters.
• If we try to marry truth with falsehood, the truth will always be neglected.

Roger Ellsworth points out that:

"Whenever the Church and the world mingle, it is not the Church which

sets its stamp on the world but the world which sets its stamp on the Church

until only the world is left."

Remember the question of Elijah:

"How long will you waver between two opinions?

If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him" (1 K 18:21).

Now Elijah is asking: – Which ALTAR will you choose this day?

• Will you choose the altar of Baal or the altar of the Living God?
• Who will you worship? Baal or Yahweh – you cannot worship both – choose this day!
• Who is the real Sovereign Lord – is it Yahweh or Baal?

Another significant point is the fact that Elijah chose TWELVE STONES:

"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’" (1 K 18:31).

Remember how Elijah was a prophet among the TEN Northern Tribes of Israel.

• Elijah was reminding them of the will of God for their lives.
• He was reminding them that all the tribes of God’s people should live in true unity.
• Elijah was exposing their FAILURE to keep to God’s Covenant with

the TWELVE TRIBES.

Remember how we saw that one sin led to another in the history of God’s people:

• Because of the sinfulness of Solomon the KINGDOM was DIVIDED.
• Because of the sinfulness of Jeroboam, IDOL WORSHIP was introduced into the

ten Northern Tribes of Israel.

• Because of the sinfulness of Ahab, BAAL WORSHIP had been established throughout the land. The false religion of evil Queen Jezebel became the national religion of Israel.

By REBUILDING the altar, Elijah was DEMANDING a RETURN to

WORSHIP of the true and Living God.

• He was demanding the true spiritual unity of all twelve tribes in their worship of God.

The rebuilding of the altar is a powerful reminder to God’s people today:

• It is a reminder that no work of revival begins unless God’s people obey God’s will.
• It is a reminder that Revival always begins with a call to repentance.
• It begins with a turning away from sin and a seeking after holiness and true unity.

Colin Whittaker, in his book entitled Great Revivals,says:

"Conviction of sin is a hallmark of genuine revival."

From Mount Carmel we find FOUR PRINCIPLES relating to a pattern for true revival

Firstly: God demonstrates the FAILURE of man-made religions (v 25-29)

Secondly: God EXPOSES his people’s SIN & CALLS them to REPENTANCE (v 30-32)

The THIRD principle of REVIVAL is that God forces his people to

LOOK to HIM ALONE for true revival (v 32-35)

• Remember how Elijah commanded the people to choose between Yahweh and Baal:

• Elijah wanted the Israelites to know for an absolute certainty that

"The Lord God, Yahweh, he is God."

• Remember the CHALLENGE of TRIAL by FIRE.

• Elijah wanted the people to have NO DOUBT that the Yahweh is the TRUE GOD.
• He wanted people to have NO DOUBT that YAHWEH ALONE possessed the Sovereign Power to SEND DOWN FIRE from Heaven.

Look at what Elijah did to force God’s people to acknowledge his Sovereign Power:

"He dug a trench around the altar … 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 the wood.’ ‘Do it again,’ he said, and they did it again.

‘Do it a third time,’ he ordered, and they did it a third time. The water ran down

around the altar and even filled the trench" (1 K 18:32-35).

Note again that Elijah draws the people’s attention to the NUMBER TWELVE:

• He commanded the people to pour TWELVE BARRELS of WATER over the altar.

(That’s about fifteen litres of water).

• This served as another reminder for the people to obey God’s will for the nation.
• But, emphasis on the number twelve isn’t really the main point here.

Elijah is drawing the people’s attention to the SOVEREIGN POWER of Yahweh.

• His MAIN PURPOSE in pouring WATER over the altar was to

eliminate all other explanations for this sacrifice being consumed.

• He didn’t want people to think that FIRE arose because of some kind of trickery.
• He wanted everyone to see that the true God needed no help, no conjuring tricks or sleight of hand. This was to be a proven 100% miracle! No doubts whatsoever!

Elijah wanted people to realize that it was HUMANLY IMPOSSIBLE for a

soaking wet sacrifice to burn.

• He made this point doubly clear by the sacrifice being placed on soaking wet wood,

on a soaking wet altar, surrounded by a deep trench full of water.

Elijah wanted people to ask themselves another question:

How can ANY GOD CAUSE this sacrifice to be SET ON FIRE?

• Let there be NO DOUBT when the fire comes, that it comes from the true God, Yahweh.
• Let there be NO DOUBT that the coming of this FIRE is truly MIRACULOUS.
• Let there be NO DOUBT that Yahweh is the GOD of the IMPOSSIBLE!
• Let there be NO DOUBT that Yahweh is the ALL-POWERFUL GOD!
• Let there be NO DOUBT that the Lord God OMNIPOTENT REIGNS in Israel!

The LESSON we need to learn from Elijah’s POURING of WATER is this:

REVIVAL cannot be produced by human schemes and human cleverness.

• Never forget that it is God’s Sovereign prerogative to send revival.
• We can certainly PRAY for REVIVAL FIRE to descend.
• We should certainly PREACH about the NEED for REVIVAL.
• But we CANNOT CAUSE REVIVAL to come by human effort alone.

Dr J Edwin Orr, the great Historian of Revival, asks the question:

"Is revival a work of God, as Jonathan Edwards insisted, or a work of man, as

Finney proposed? The Biblical answer is clear: ‘Will you not revive us again?’

cried the Psalmist ‘Revive your work, O Lord!’ requested the Prophet. Both petitions

were addressed to God. Nowhere in Scripture is there any suggestion of a programme

for self-revival. Neither denomination nor organization, nor pastor, nor evangelist,

can organize an outpouring of the Holy Spirit" (Psalm 85:6 & Habakkuk 3:2).

It has been suggested that, one reason why we haven’t seen revival in our own day, is that there is far too much emphasis on Human organizations & Human effort.

Roger Ellsworth argues:

"Perhaps the primary reason why we have not yet seen a great spiritual awakening

this century is that we have not yet reached the water-pouring stage. We have not shut

Elijah’s pouring of the water also teaches us that he had GREAT HOPE in his GOD:

• The situation seemed almost impossible.

• But, God gave Elijah hope in the midst of what appeared to be an impossible situation!

Elijah had the SAME HOPE in a Sovereign God as Ezekiel had (Ezekiel 37:3-6):

- Remember how God asked Ezekiel a question in the Valley of Dry Bones:

"’Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.’

Then he said to me, ‘Prophesy to these bones and say to them, Dry bones, hear the

word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will make breath enter you

and you will come to life … Then you will know that I am the Lord.’"

The QESTION facing these two prophets was essentially the same:
"How can a soaked sacrifice on a soaked altar ever burn?"

"How can dry bones in a valley of dry bones ever come to life?"

"How can the humanly impossible suddenly become an absolute certainty?

The ANSWER is exactly the same for each prophet:

"Hope in the Sovereign Power of a Sovereign God."

This is the SAME HOPE the Psalmist had when he became extremely downcast:

"Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your

HOPE in GOD, for I will yet praise him my Saviour and my God" (Ps 42:5-6).

The MESSAGE of the SOAKING WET SACRIFICE gives us HOPE in a time of GREAT WICKEDNESS & APOSTACY!

• Does it seem that the WICKEDNESS of our time is TOO GREAT?
• Remember that Elijah believed in God’s Sovereign Power in a time of great wickedness!
• The Message of Elijah’s water pouring comes as a MESSAGE of GREAT HOPE!
• Our Great God has the Sovereign Power to send the FIRE of REVIVAL and turn these same wicked people to repentance and faith!
• He has the sanctifying power to cause them to be holy, just as he is Holy!

Does it seem that GOD’S CAUSE is about to PERISH?

• Take courage from Elijah’s water pouring!
• Here is one man who STOOD ALONE before an evil king and the whole nation.
• His HOPE in the Sovereign Power of his God was SO GREAT, he showed the courage of his convictions by pouring 12 jars of water over his sacrifice!

Remember that great men of God, like Luther & Calvin, were in the same situation!

• Remember John & Charles Wesley & George Whitfield in our own nation!
• Remember the Revivals in Wales and the Hebrides in the first half of this century!
• Remember the Revivals in South America, Indonesia, Korea and Africa in our own time!

Read the accounts of GREAT REVIVALS and be GREATLY ENCOURAGED!

• We have the SAME Sovereign God!
• Our God has the SAME Sovereign POWER – his power has not deminished one iota!
• We have the SAME GOSPEL which is the POWER of God unto SALVATION!

Never forget that we have the same God and the same commission!

Frank Houghton reminds us in his hymn:

"Facing a task unfinished, That drives us to our knees,

A need that undeminished, Rebukes our slothful ease …"

Then in the third verse he reminds us of great men of the past:

"We bear the torch that flaming Fell from the hands of those

Who gave their lives proclaiming That Jesus died and rose.

Ours is the same commission, The same glad message ours,

Fired with the same ambition, To Thee we yield our powers."

From Mount Carmel we find FOUR PRINCIPLES relating to a pattern for true revival

This evening, we’ve looked at the first three principles:

Firstly: God demonstrates the FAILURE of man-made religions (v 25-29)

Secondly: God EXPOSES his people’s SIN & CALLS them to REPENTANCE(v 30-32)

Thirdly: God forces his people to LOOK to HIM ALONE for true revival (v 32-35)

NEXT TIME – We’ll look at the FOURTH principle of REVIVAL:

God DRIVES his people to PRAYER (v 36-38)

CONCLUSION:

It is very easy to say that we want to experience Revival in our own generation.

BUT – to seek Revival earnestly and seriously is quite another matter.

If we are to really mean business with God in terms of seeking Revival,

then we must first count the cost of true Revival.

What we have to do is to compare ourselves with Elijah on Mount Carmel!

• Can we say with all honesty - we can prove beyond doubt that all man-made religions

and all man-made systems of seeking happiness according to the standards of this world

are an absolute failure?

• Can we say that in no shape or form are we relying on man-made systems?

• Can we say that we are willing for our thrice Holy God to expose our sin –

both collectively as a Local Church as well as individually?

• Are we ready to come to the Lord in true repentance to seek his forgiveness?

- Can we say that we truly believe in the Sovereign Power of the Lord God Almighty?

Or do we merely pay lip-service and go away to do our own thing in our own way?

Ask yourself – according to Elijah’s principles of Revival depicted on Mount Carmel,

Are you really seeking Revival for our City and our Nation?