Sermon Nuggets Mon Feb 22
Theme – Preparing for Revival
Verses- I King 18:16-40 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals.
Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
Preparing for Revival-
This month we have experienced international Winter Olympics where there has been competition among the best athletes in the world in the sporting field. It has been awesome to see those who accomplish individual feats as well as those who work together whether it be bobsledding, hockey, couples ice skating or relays.
I too often think, however, of the time, effort, sacrifice and money put into these events and folks who commit their whole lives to win an award. It is a great achievement from a worldly view and I don’t want to minimize that, for the lessons they learn in competition are noteworthy for the rest of their lives. It is a positive way to exercise commitment, excellence and disciple.
Unfortunately we usually hear stories of cheating, political pressures, and drug use where rules are not followed, but the desire to win at all costs overrides the purpose of the sport. But what about eternal things?
Today we begin looking at the passage of the conflict between God and the false gods. Elijah is used to call out Ahab and the nation to revival. The power of God is going to be demonstrated in a most dramatic fashion. The goals are far more important than gold, silver or bronze. It relates to eternal life of their souls. It is not enough to be declared a winner, but after is said and done the only thing that lasts for eternity is the spiritual preparations we make now! The conflict isn’t with men it is with Satan and God.
Revival begins by exposing sin.
After Obadiah ran into Elijah he feared for his life for it was king Ahab, his master who wanted to kill anyone who still worshiped Jehovah. Although Obadiah was feeding and hiding true prophets, he knew anyone who knew of Elijah’s whereabouts could suffering death also.
Elijah was more concerned for God’s glory than he was for his own life. He had no fear and when he presented himself to Ahab the king begins his verbal attack. “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” But Elijah counters with confronting him with his real sin. "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals.’
All the trouble was on the head of Ahab ( and Jezebel). Most will blame other people for their own shortcomings and sins. Ahab did not want to own up to his evil.
Yet we all need to have sin exposed to have the power of the Lord revealed. We have all sinned and unless we face our sin we are limited to see the power of God. We cannot make God into our image or our ideas; we cannot replace him with anything else.
Ahab abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed false gods. He led others astray. Political power and pleasures kept him from taking God seriously. We don’t worship idols of stone and wood, but whatever comes before God in our lives is an idol.
Even though his sin is exposes he does not repent. So Elijah set down the requirement for the contest. If they wanted rain so badly, lets see who it is that can bring the rain. Since Elijah was the only one who God appointed to pray for the return of rain, Ahab agreed to this contest. He followed the instructions by calling the prophets of Baal and Asherah, over 850 who eat at the table of Jezebel.
People easily extinguish the fire from God by being pressured by the crowd. They compromise their faith commitments and ignore the truth for worldly things. Soon evil is thought of as good and God’s voice is harder to hear. His word is ignored. Fellowship of other Christians are lacking. Sin has a slow, but powerful way to dimming our eyes to the Lord. We need revival.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues Feb 23- Choices
Verses- 1 Kings 18:21-25 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, "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."
Call to Commitment
Elijah went up before the people and must face them now too with their sin. “How long will you totter between two opinions?” The problem is you cannot live two lives with God. Elijah knew where he stood. The false prophets knew where they stood. But many of the people were fickle. They were going along with the crowd, doing what was easy.
Elijah was calling them to make a choice- either serve the Lord God Jehovah with all your heart, or follow the falsehood of Baals and Asherah, wood and stone. For revival to come in power our hearts need to come clean with the place we give the Lord in our hearts and lives. The call to commitment is to be devoted to the Lord or not. Make a choice as to whom you will serve.
Many will try to have God in their live along with other things that are not consistent with a godly heart. I am not talking about falling short, I am talking about making conscientious choices. Many will have Jesus in their lives, but other things that go against His will and word and think that is OK. Today the choice seems more with Jesus or the world.
I talked to fellow in the Twin Cities that was into the occult practices. He told me he does white magic, not black magic. He told me he believed in God and Christ and he will also use Ouija boards and taro cards and séances to get direction for his life and others around him. He felt good about that since he doesn’t want to hurt anyone but help them. He failed to see the inconsistency of using “spiritual” powers that the Bible calls the enemy.
Even in Hinduism most have no problem making Jesus a god along with the cow, a monkey or a piece of stone or wood. He is one among many gods they worship. But that is not the Jesus of the Bible. That is not the God of the Bible who declares “I will have no other gods before me.” With God there is nothing else. He is not the one among many. He is the only one to wants our hearts. A choice has to be made. Who are you going to serve?
It is so easy to go along with the crowd. It is so easy to be uncommitted and be neutral. So many want both worlds; they want to be in the world and carry on in sinful deeds and be involved with lord as well.
We see it in the church, where homosexuals are forcing denominations to perform same sex marriages (blessing services) or risk losing those adherents to a church that will. When Elijah came to Mount Carmel that day, the middle ground disappeared. Lets expose the false gods once and for all. The contest of which “gods” would consume the fire was to be a determining factor which people needed to see God’s power.
If you chose God you are blessed with the refreshing rain of heaven, if not your heart becomes hardened and you wind up committing sins you would have never dreamed possible. To be a Christian in the days ahead will continue to expose the choices we make if Jesus is our Lord or not. It will be revealed those who refuse to bow to public pressure and political correctness when it comes to faith matters.
For it has already been written in the book of Revelations- "And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds Feb 24
Verses- 1 Kings 18:26-35 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.
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."
So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.
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.
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.
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, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed.
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."
"Do it again," he said, and they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered, and they did it the third time.
The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.”
Call to Truth
Lies need to be exposed before revival can occur. Satan is the father of lies. It is so easy to slip into the mold of little white lies, gossip, to outright believing lies because we fail to look at truth. We have been blinded. False cults grow upon lies. They ignore the truth of God and follow their own schemes ideas and delusions. Elijah proposes the contest to expose the lies to all. If God is the true God then follow Him. If Baal and Asherah are true then follow them. Let’s see where the true power lies? Which ever deities can consume the sacrifice with fire reveals true power.
I think the reason Baal worshippers accept the conditions is they believed Baal controlled the weather and he was the sun God. Who can better send fire than the sun god? They cut the sacrifice open and called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “O Baal, answer us”, they shouted, But there was no response. And they danced around the altar they made.
How can people believe in gods made from stone and wood? How is it people will fall for Horoscopes or read tea leaves? Spiritual powers of Satan are real, but they are liars. Most of what pagans fall for are not even real, but their own imagination.
Some people are told the lie that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. Baloney! It makes a difference that you believe. A mother may be very sincere in her belief that when her child is sick she goes into the medicine cabinet and pulls outs Tylenol. Only it is dark and she mistakenly pulls out another bottle of medicine that does the child damage. She sincerely believed it would help but the child almost died because she was sincerely wrong.
These people dance and to prove their sincerely even put up the bodies and tortured themselves trying to appease the god of Baal with blood.
Elijah gets in some wise cracks now. He mocked them, out of a righteous anger. He is upset with the extremes of their charade. The Hebrew phrases are rather strong in the original language. One person told me the actual phrase “your gods must be busy”, means “your gods must be on the toilet.’ Elijah is literally blaspheming the false apostate religion. With all their actions there was no fire.
People may sincerely believe their religious rituals and practices will save them. Sincerely believe that going to church will get them into heaven. They may go through all the motions, but there is only one way, it is turning your life and heart over to Jesus Christ, admitting that you are a sinner and confess it, repent of it and accept Christ to come into your life and make you a new creature.
Recognizing the lies also requires the truth of who God is and what He wants of us. It is not wanting God to do what we want, but accepting and following what He wants. There is a need to rebuild the altars.
Altars symbolize prayer, fellowship with God. They point to dying to self, and yielding to the will of God. The fact that the altar was in a state of disrepair was a powerful symbol in and of itself of how far the people had gotten from God. Our text says the altar was broken down, and I believe there were two reasons for this people have ignored God and they have created what appeals to their own pleasures and wants.
Prayer is a key to keep God on His throne and us on our knees. Our society has done what it can to eliminate true prayer from any public arena. As it was in Elijah’s day so it is in our own. The national prayer altar has been broken down. The foundations of Christian principles have been removed.
This week I see that the chapels built in hospitals in the Twin Cities, which were central to health care as people would come and pray and services were held. Now all religions symbols are being removed even from chapels so as not to offend anyone. The altars are being broken down.
What is happening in the churches? Man made programs are replacing prayer. "My house shall be called a house of prayer", was Jesus’ declaration, but of how many churches is that true? The personal altar has also been heavily under attack. I wonder if a snapshot could be taken from heaven’s point of view, what would most people’s personal prayer altar look like? I think to our shame the word "broken" would be an accurate description of the state of affairs.
The first thing Elijah does as a man of prayer is repair the altar of the Lord that was broken down. The text also states that he took 12 stones, one for each tribe of Israel. I believe that he did that to say that individually they have a call from God to the place of prayer and communion with God.
The call to truth is exposing the lies and rebuilding prayer to the only true God. The Psalms could pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Ps 139:23-24
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs Feb 25
Verses- 1 Kings 28: 36-38 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.
Praying for Power
Now Elijah calls the crowd to come to him. They watched while he repaired the altar of God that as significant for it was dedicate and devoted for sacrifice to the Lord God Jehovah. And Jezebel and Ahab and the prophets of Baal had torn it down and left it for ruin. The stones represented the whole nation of Israel and the sons of Jacob. An animal was sacrificed for the sins of the people.
Since the nation was divided into two kingdoms the altar helped them realize that they were brothers. God did not desire two Kingdoms, but one. Spiritual unity is found in the worship of the only God.
Furthermore, Elijah makes sure no one can accused him of trickery. He had jars filled with water poured over the altar, animal, and wood. Ironic, isn’t it that water was the very thing they were praying for and now it was used on the altar. It wasn’t just one dowsing it was done three times.
That is when Elijah came before God in powerful praying for power from on high.
When Hudson Taylor went to China as a missionary he was sailing between the southern Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra, there was a knock on his cabin, “Mr. Taylor, we have no wind. We are drifting toward an island where the people are heathen and I fear they are cannibals.”
“What can I do?” Taylor asked.
“I understand that you believe in God. I want you to pray for wind.”
“All right Captain. I will, but you must set the sail.”
“Why that is ridiculous there is not even the slightest breeze. Besides the sailors will think I am crazy.” But he agreed.
45 minutes later he returned and found the missionary still on his knees. ‘You can stop praying now we’ve got more wind than what we know to do with.”
Confident praying also prepares for an answer. When God’s will is in it and it pleases Him, His power is seen even in miraculous ways.
Elijah’s prayer was more than anything to glorify God, not himself. He acknowledged himself as a servant, humble and the one obedient through whom God chooses to work. He was pointing the people to the reality of the true God and reminded them of the covenant made to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Notice that Jacobs name was changed to Israel and he identifies the name to match the name of the countrymen so they don’t miss it. He is their God, not some stone or wood. Convincing them that God is alive and also that he responds obedience according to the commandment of God.
Compare the length of the prayers. The Baal worshippers started in the morning and they danced and bellowed from morning until noon and continued even cutting themselves until evening. Nothing happened. But after things were in order Elijah prepared for the power of God calmly but distinctly got on his knees and prayed the simple prayer. It didn’t depend on length or works of man, but praying to the right God for the right reason.
Then the fires of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, and stones and the soil and also licked up the water in the trench. The dramatic power of the Lord was witnessed by all! It was as if the lightening bolt from heaven streamed down at the target.
The power of God was unleashed at the prayers of Elijah. The sacrifice was accepted. The true God was revealed.
We delight in seeing the extra ordinary power of God displayed. By God grace miracles happen. The greatest miracle of all was when He came to die for our sins and rose again for all to see that there is not God but the Lord God Jehovah.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri Feb 26
Verses- 1 Kings 18: 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.
Returning to God
The was the miracle of fire consuming the sacrifice. People saw the power of God and the lies of Baal. They saw truth compared to the falsehood. They were convicted of righteousness and judgment.
The fire fell and there was a purging in the camp. The fire had a direct and dramatic impact on those under its influence - they forsook their sin! The strongholds of Satan broken and their resistance was torn down. What Satan had spent a lifetime building up was pulled down in a few moments through a man who was consecrated to God, and living in holiness.
I am sure today someone would make a movie or TV special of the reenactment of the event full with drama of the uniqueness of Elijah, the evil characters of Ahab and Jezebel. They would delight in the costuming of the 850 prophets and the simple and ruggedness of the one lone prophet of God. We would have movie trailers and with the wonder of pyrotechnics explosions high into the air with fireworks would be astounding.
But there is no entertainment that day. There is the uncovering of the rot and sin of hearts far from God. There is the holy purity of the fire from above. There is a fear of the eternal one whose power in a second is no match for anything mankind can conceive.
The natural disasters of earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornados, volcanoes are reminders of a glimpse of the one who speaks and sun and moon and stars are formed. WE forgot who He is and who we are.
The sacrifice was required for their sin. The bull was killed and slain to forgive their iniquity. One man and God made the majority that day. WE have seen those odds in the Bible repeatedly. David couldn’t believe people would fear the giants when there was God. So the shepherd boy in faith took those stones and slingshot and toppled Goliath.
Joshua and Caleb the minority report among the 10 spies did not look at the problem but the potential because of their faith in God who said it would happen. Gideon was not strong in the faith. In fact he was full of doubts and low self esteem, but the mighty God convinced him of the success over the multitude of the Midianites. 300 overtook numbers the couldn’t count with no weapons but a torch, a trumpet and a pitcher.
No man, no woman can conceive those miracles. God invades at his will to show us Himself. What is our response? How long before the reality wears off and we return to ruts of doubt, disbelief and sin?
But the revival was a returning to God. It was destroying what they once worshipped at the altars of Baal and destroying those things (and ones) that led to sin and fell on their faces in wonder and worship returning to the Lord God Jehovah. He was gracious to show His presence and the willingness to forgive.
Get rid of what takes first place in your life if it is not the Lord. The time seems short. Satan has had His day. But God is calling hearts to Himself.
We long for the returning to God and His glory to be seen in our land beginning in our life, our homes, our churches, our country. Revival is by the power and presence of God returning to the One to whom we belong.
Pastor Dale
