In the book of Romans we read:
- "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which
is your reasonable service." (Romans 12:1)
Another way of saying this is found in the Gospel of Mathew:
- "Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Matthew
4:10)
- "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his
servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience
unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:16)
The essence of all this can be briefly summarized.
To believe God is to agree with His Word, is to obey that word, is to
serve Him, and is to worship Him.
Not to believe God is to agree with Satan, is to obey Satan,
is to serve and worship Satan! ("He that is not with me is against me;
…." (Matthew 12:30))
So to disobey God is actually to worship Satan!
All of us find ourselves sometime doing one and then the other. Although we love and follow the Lord Jesus Christ, yet there is sin in our lives.
- "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man.
"But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
"O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans 7:22-24)
- "And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between
two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow
him. …." (1 Kings 18:21)
Elijah's answer was to call down fire in the sacrifice, let that be our answer today. Calling down fire is to intercede for revival! "The God that answereth by fire, let him be God."
The altar Elijah built is rich in symbolism. The wood represents the cross, the flesh on the wood is our flesh on the cross, the water poured all over and around the altar is our tears of repentance at the judgments of the Lord, and the twelve stones for the twelve tribes speak of the divisions within the Church. All of this is consumed by the fire that falls from heaven. This is the all consuming fire. God himself. When He comes with such awesome presence, all the other stuff will be gone. Our tears will end; the judgments will end; and strife and division in the Church will end!
So as surely as the sacrifice on Mt. Carmel is a type of revival, it is also a promise of the Lord's deliverance from the two opinions. It shows that death to the flesh can bring us all into unity. Then we will get the sin our of the camp and give no place to the devil. Then we will fully enter into the kingdom of God, and walk in the promises. Then we can proclaim only one opinion. The Lord is God! Jesus is King of Kings! Or as it says in Isaiah: "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!" (Isaiah 52:7)
Then we will see the harvest. Amen!