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Sermon #B684 - Call Down Fire
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Dr. Byrd: We want to get right
in the word of God. I've been
excited all week long,
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ready to preach the word from
the Lord. And so we want to get
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right in and I want to invite
you to take your Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 1 Kings
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18:20, and I am going to read in
your hearing from the King James
version of the Bible.
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1 Kings 18:20, the word of God
says, "So Ahab, second to all
the children of Israel,
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gathered the prophets
together unto Mount Carmel".
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Verse 21, "And Elijah came
unto all the people and said,
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"How long halt ye between two
opinions?". If the Lord be God
follow him; but if Baal then
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follow him. And the people
answered him not a word. Then
said Elijah unto the people.
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I, even I only, remain a prophet
of the Lord but Baal's profits
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are 450 men". Verse 23, "Let
them therefore give us to
bullocks. Let them choose one
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bullock for themselves, and cut
it in pieces, and lay it on wood
and put no fire under and I will
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dress the other Bullock and
lay it on wood, and put no fire
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under: And call ye on the name
of your gods, and I will call on
the name of the Lord.
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In other words, I will call on
my God. And the God that
answered my fire, let him be
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God. And all the people answered
and said, it is well spoken".
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Verse 25, "And Elijah said unto
the prophets of Baal, "Choose
you one bullock for yourselves,
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and dress it first; for ye are
many; and call on the name of
your gods, but put no fire
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under. They took the bullock,
which was giving them and they
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dressed it. Called on the name
of Baal from morning even until
noon saying, "Oh Baal, hear us".
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But there was no voice, nor any
that answered. And they leaped
upon the altar which was made.
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And it came to pass at noon that
Elijah mocked them and said,
"Cry aloud for he is a god.
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Either he is talking, or he is
pursuing, or he is in a journey,
or peradventure he sleepeth,
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and must be awaked. And they
cried aloud, and cut themselves.
And after their manner with
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knives and lancets, till the
blood rushed out upon them. And
it came to pass, when midday was
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past, they prophesied until
the time of the offering of the
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evening sacrifice, that there
was neither voice, nor any to
answer, nor any that regarded".
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Verse 30, "And Elijah said unto
all the people, "Come near unto
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me". And all the people came
near unto him. And he repaired
the altar of the Lord that was
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broken down. Elijah took twelve
stones, according to the number
of the tribes of the sons of
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Jacob, unto whom the word of the
Lord came saying, "Israel shall
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be thy name". And with the
stones he built an altar in the
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name of the Lord. And he made a
trench about the altar, as great
as would contain two measures of
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seed. And he put the wood in
order, and he cut the bullocks
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in pieces, and laid it down on
him on the wood and said, "Fill
four barrels with water,
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and pour it on the burnt
sacrifice, and on the wood". And
he said, "Do it the second
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time", and they did it the
second time. And then he said,
"Do it the third time",
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and they did it the third time.
And water ran around about the
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altar; and he filled
the trench also with water".
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Verse 36, "And it came to pass
at the time of the offering of
the evening sacrifice,
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that Elijah the prophet came
near, and said, Lord God of
Abraham, the God of Isaac,
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the God of Israel, let it be
known this day that thou art God
in Israel, and that I am thy
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servant, and that I have done
all these things at thy word.
Hear me, O Lord, hear me,
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that this people may know that
thou art the Lord God. Thou the
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Lord God, and that thou hast
turned their heart back again."
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Verse 38, "Then the fire of
the Lord fell, and consumed the
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burnt sacrifice, and the wood,
and the stones, and the dust,
and licked up the water that was
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in the trench. And when all the
people saw it, they fell on
their faces. And they said, "The
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Lord, he is the god.
The Lord, he is the God".
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Today, I just want to praise God
and preach the sermon call down
fire, call down fire.
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God bless us now as we go into
your word, for this with your
spirit. Anoint us with your
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grace. O Lord, right now preach,
and speak, and teach through the
airwaves of the Internet,
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the airwaves of the television.
And we give you glory in this
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place. We give you
honor in this place.
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We give you praise right now in
this place for what you are
giving ready to do to your
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spoken word. Hide behind your
cross, forgive me of my sins. It
is in Jesus name we pray, amen
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and amen. Call down
fire. Call down fire.
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As of yesterday, there have been
over 26 million coronavirus
worldwide, and 870,000 people
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have died. In the United States
alone we suffered over 6 million
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cases and 191,000 deaths with an
expected 30,000 additional
deaths before this month should
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end. Now, we are the most
industrialized nation in the
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world. With the most financially
prosperous nation in the world.
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But yet we have the highest
number of coronavirus cases in
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the world and the highest number
of deaths in the world by any
country. That is the coronavirus
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pandemic. But there is another
pandemic, and this pandemic is
the racism pandemic.
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It seems that every other day
another injustice comes to the
forefront. One day,
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it is Ahmaud Arbery. The next
day, it is Breonna Taylor. The
next day, it is George Floyd.
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The next day, it is Jacob Blake.
And now, it is the new
revelation of Daniel Prude,
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a black man who was having a
psychotic episode but died after
police officers in Rochester,
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New York place a mesh hood
over his head back in March.
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When brother Prude tried to
rise, the officers forced him
face down on the ground.
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One of them was pushing his head
to the pavement. He was held
down by the police for two
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minutes and he had to be
resuscitated. He died one week
later at the hospital.
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His death however did not
receive widespread attention
until this past Wednesday,
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when his family released raw
police videos of the encounter
from police body cameras,
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which they just obtained
through an open records request.
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In the words of Will Smith,
"Racism isn't getting worse. It
is just being now recorded".
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We are dealing with the
coronavirus. We are dealing with
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racism. And God has called
me today to call down fire.
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Now, our text is situated at a
time when the nation of Israel
was also suffering from a
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pandemic. But this pandemic was
not the result of some type of
virus. This pandemic was because
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of a drought. There
was a famine in the land.
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Now, you will remember that
Israel had been saved from evil
oppressive systems in Egypt.
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After their freedom from Pharaoh
in Egypt, after being in the
wilderness for 40 years,
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things were going well the Bible
says until the times of the
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judges. The Bible says the times
of the judges were another
generation rose after them who
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did not know the Lord or
the work he had done for Israel.
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The situation became worse
under a king by the name of Ahab
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and his even more wicked evil
wife Jezebel, who force idolatry
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on God's people and murdered
almost all of the Lord's
prophets. And because of
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Israel's rebellion, this drought
had been prophesied by Elijah.
God told Elijah to tell Ahab, to
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tell Jezebel, to tell the entire
nation of Israel that because of
Israel's rebellion to God,
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God was going to
stop rain from falling.
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Now in our text, three years had
passed since Elijah's first
prophetic announcement.
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And for three years, the people
had seen lake after lake, creek
after creek, stream after
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stream, and well after well dry
up until there was hardly any
water to be found anywhere in
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Israel. As a result, the people
everywhere were hungry,
especially those people who
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lived in rural areas and those
who did not have enough very
much to start with in the first
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place. Farmers who had done
their best to make a living in a
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good year, now had to turn to
the corrupt government of Ahab
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for some handouts. It was a
time of chaos. It was a time of
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confusion. It was a time of
violence as landowners were
doing their best to keep people
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from stealing the little water
that they had left in there
creeks and streams.
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It was a time of protests as
people all over the nation
demanded that something be done.
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And just like most government
leaders, Ahab looked for a
convenient scapegoat.
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Because when things are going
bad, you have to blame somebody.
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I wish I had time. Ahab chooses
to blame God. He didn't blame
his predecessor. He He blamed
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God. He didn't believe in God.
Ahab and his wife Jezebel,
believed in Baal and Ashtoreth.
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So, Ahab instructed the
Israelites to forsake their God
for Baal and Ashtoreth, the gods
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for rain, blessings, and
prosperity. But none of their
prayers to Baal or Ashtoreth
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were working. And they would not
work because Baal and Ashtoreth
were not God. Baal and Ashtoreth
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were fake. They were man-made
Gods. But I believe I've got a
witness in this place that knows
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God is God. And it was God who
said in his first commandment,
"Thou shalt have no other gods
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before me". So, Elijah goes to
Ahab and he challenges him and
the prophets of Baal
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and Ashtoreth to an all-out
spiritual battle. Elijah says,
"Your god's against my God".
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I wish I had a witness in his
place. The venue for this battle
would be Mount Carmel.
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And right in front of Mount
Carmel if you study history,
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you will discover there was a
wonderful metal with thousands
of people could gather
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and look up at the mountain and
view the battle that was about
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to take place. When the day for
the battle arrived, everyone in
the land would come, and they
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come and they show enough
came. Now the crowd, you need to
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understand, was made up of three
groups of people. Group number
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one was Elijah and he was all by
himself in his group. The second
group was the 850 prophets,
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450 prophets of Baal and 450
prophets the Bible says of the
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grove. And the third and final
group was made up of the
majority of the people who were
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present, but they were wavering
between two opinions. Now if you
were in the crowd on that day,
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you might have felt bad for
Elijah. For here is Elijah all
by himself going up against 850
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prophets. All by himself going
up against all those other
people. In our everyday
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vernacular, Elijah was about
to get jumped. One against 850.
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But let me remind somebody today
that every mighty move of God
that has happened in the
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Bible never started with a
committee. It never started with
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the board, but it always started
with one person. One person
could turn the city upside down.
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And so now, Elijah utters his
famous words in verse 21, "How
long he halt between two
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opinions? If the Lord be God
follow him, but if he be Baal
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follow him". And the Bible says
and we often forget this, the
people answered him not a word.
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I am going to get
to that in a minute.
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Now, Elijah's question, how long
indicates that the Israelites
had already taken too long to
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make their decision for God?
Three years had passed without
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rain and they still had
not decided to repent of Baal
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worship. Let me put a kickstand
right here and let me ask you
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today church. How much of the
coronavirus will we have to
experience before we get right
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with God? How many people are
going to have to die before we
get right with God?
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How much racism will we have to
experience before we repent and
get right with God?
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Political turmoil, racial
hatred, and civic unrest are
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before us. And let me be clear,
it is not just black people with
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the unrest either. Stop
believing that lie. The man who
killed the two people last week
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in Kenosha, Wisconsin was not
black. He did not live even in
the same city. He did not live
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in the same state. He crossed
state lines and it was not to
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bring about peace. Don't you
believe that lie because you do
not bring about peace with an
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AR-15 style rifle. Peace was not
his intent. If he wanted peace
he should have stayed home and
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prayed. Are you
hearing what I am saying?
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We've got mess in front of our
eyes and some of us are still
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playing church. Still not
studying the Bible. Still not
praying. Still not tithing.
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Still not giving an offering.
Still keeping up mess. And I
want to know how long?
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How long will you start to speak
up your mind to serve the Lord?
Don't put off choosing Christ.
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Tomorrow is not promised. You
don't know if you have another
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day to decide. Today is the day
of your salvation. How long he
hope between two opinions?
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If the Lord be God, then follow
him. The word halt here is a kin
to the word waiver,
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which is a transliteration of
the word limp. The people cannot
make up their minds.
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So what are they doing? They are
limping. They are wavering. They
are staggering back and forth.
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They stagger to the left. They
stagger to the right. They are
wavering. They cannot walk
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straight. How long he halt
between two opinions? If the
Lord be God, follow him. If he
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be Baal, follow him. But here is
the last sentence of that verse:
And the people answered him not
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a word. Elijah's asking, "Who is
on the Lord's side?", and nobody
answers. It was silent.
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Silence suggest complicity. To
be silent means you don't
disagree with what is going on.
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You are silent. You are
complicit. Things can be wrong,
but you don't say anything.
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That is why in the times in
which we live, the church has
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got to speak up. The church has
got to speak up against what is
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wrong. God needs to meet the
church to be a voice and not an
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echo. Elijah says, "Okay.Tell
you what, your 450 prophets of
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Baal. Your 400 prophets of the
Groves. All 850 of you. To end
this drought you call on the
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name of your gods, and I will
call on my God. And the god that
answers by fire, let him be God.
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And the god who wins is the
God whom Israel will serve".
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Everybody agrees. Now, let the
battle begin. Now let me take
you back to our three groups
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and let us do it inductively
which means we are not going to
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one two, three. Let us go three
two, and one. Remember now in
group number three, there are
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people who are gathered on Mount
Carmel and some of them do not
believe anything is going to
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happen because after all
thousands of people have been
praying to Baal, Ashtoreth,
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and everything else they could
pray to for three years and
nothing has happened.
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So in their minds all that was
going to happen would be a big
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show by Ahab and Jezebel's
850 prophets that will result in
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nothing, and a big show by
Elijah that would also result in
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nothing because of the last
three years had taught them
anything else. It was that there
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was no God, no savior, no
deliver. And so, in a few more
months none of this would matter
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anyway because they all would
be dead. But then there is group
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number two. These are those
who followed Baal and Ashtoreth.
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They were excited because
finally they will get a chance
to prove to everyone that the
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God of Heaven was a fake. They
would finally be able to get rid
of this old man Elijah.
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And after this
showdown on Mount Carmel,
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no one in Israel would even dare
to call upon the name of the God
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of Heaven. Again, this was going
to be their moment to shine.
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But here is group one, Elijah by
himself. No praise team, no
musicians, no choir,
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no pastors, no elders,
deacons,deaconesses, no big
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banners, or no large
congregation of worshipers
following him. Elijah was all by
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himself. But the man of God was
not scared. The man of God you
see had an ace in the hole.
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He had a secret weapon. He had
God in his corner. He had God on
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his side. Don't you ever forget
that you plus God are always a
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majority. I wish someone was in
this place. Elijah by himself
against 850 prophets of Baal
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and Ashtoreth says, "There's
a lot of y'all". Excuse my
00:19:03.87\00:19:09.68
Southern slang. So you go first.
So they prepare the altar. They
place a bullock or an ox on it.
00:19:09.71\00:19:17.59
And they start to dance
around it and call upon Baal.
00:19:17.62\00:19:21.66
They began to worship Baal
with Ahab and everyone else will
00:19:21.69\00:19:26.16
gather together. They sang. They
prayed. They praise. They sang
some more. They prayed some
00:19:26.19\00:19:34.17
more. They yelled. They danced.
They sang some more. They yelled
00:19:34.20\00:19:40.08
some more. They dance some more
but nothing happened. Not a
cloud appeared in the sky.
00:19:40.11\00:19:46.78
Not a sound of thunder was
heard. Not a drop of rain fell.
00:19:46.82\00:19:53.59
Nothing happened. The only thing
that happened was the noise that
00:19:53.62\00:19:57.66
they were making. So at lunch
time, Elijah comes out and he
says, "Look, what is wrong?
00:19:57.69\00:20:04.37
Maybe Baal's taking a nap. Maybe
he is taking a trip. Maybe he is
gone to the bathroom.
00:20:04.40\00:20:10.97
Why don't you all yell louder?".
00:20:11.01\00:20:13.61
And so they go and do something
outrageous hoping to get Baal's
00:20:13.64\00:20:18.35
attention. They take out some
knives and they start cutting
themselves trying to show their
00:20:18.38\00:20:23.49
gods that they are 100%
committed. They began pouring
their own blood, human blood on
00:20:23.52\00:20:29.29
the altar. So now we have
singing, we have praising, we
have praying, we yelling, we
00:20:29.32\00:20:35.50
have dancing, and we have blood
dripping everywhere. It was
crazy. It was outrageous.
00:20:35.53\00:20:41.97
Surely, now, Baal and Ashtoreth
would come to their rescue, but
00:20:42.00\00:20:49.84
still nothing. The Bible says
they continued all day long
singing, yelling, praising,
00:20:49.88\00:20:54.65
jumping up and down, cutting
themselves for hours, but
through it all no clouds, no
00:20:54.68\00:20:59.15
thunder, no rain, no answer, no
voice, and no fire from heaven.
00:20:59.19\00:21:02.06
Elijah has had enough of their
show. He has allowed them to
prove that their gods,
00:21:02.09\00:21:08.66
lower case G, were nothing but
stone and wood. He has allowed
them to make fools of themselves
00:21:08.70\00:21:18.01
because if you give folk enough
rope, they will hang themselves.
Are you hearing what I am
00:21:18.04\00:21:22.41
saying? It was time for evening
worship. And so, Elijah tells
them to stop. They've had enough
00:21:22.44\00:21:31.75
time. It is now his turn. He now
begins to set up his altar. He
takes twelve stones
00:21:31.79\00:21:39.53
because as he builds his altar,
he is reminding the people of
Israel of the time when God
00:21:39.56\00:21:44.43
rescued the twelve tribes from
Egypt and gave them the promised
00:21:44.47\00:21:48.57
land. He reminds them that all
twelve tribes had a commitment
00:21:48.60\00:21:53.61
on Mount Sinai, that they would
serve God and God alone. He
reminds them that the reason
00:21:53.64\00:21:59.61
they are in this mess is because
of Ahab, Jezebel, and the people
who have forsaken the God of
00:21:59.65\00:22:06.62
Heaven and Earth. What does he
do? He does like we used to do
with our ten efforts. He digs a
00:22:06.65\00:22:14.36
trench around his altar. He puts
wood down. He cuts up the oxen
and then says,"Bring me four
00:22:14.40\00:22:21.00
barrels of water, and pour the
water on the offering and pour
the water on the wood". He does
00:22:21.04\00:22:26.84
this three times. The Bible says
the water flows from around the
altar and the water fills up the
00:22:26.88\00:22:33.48
trench. Now imagine if you were
there watching all of this. The
people were probably thinking,
00:22:33.52\00:22:37.62
what is this man doing? What is
this guy doing? He is making a
fool out of himself wasting
00:22:37.65\00:22:46.73
water. Nobody wets wood
before you light a fire.
00:22:46.76\00:22:51.07
Elijah invites the people
to join him now in this worship
00:22:51.10\00:22:55.90
service. It would not be the
kind that had been going on for
hours, but all that cut and
00:22:55.94\00:23:01.11
shouting. But his service is
just a prayer. And he recites
his prayer in verses 36 and 37.
00:23:01.14\00:23:07.38
He says, "Oh Lord, God of
Abraham, God of Isaac, God of
00:23:07.42\00:23:15.59
Israel, let it be known on this
day that thou our God in Israel,
and I am thy servants
00:23:15.62\00:23:26.17
and I have done all these things
at thy word. Hear me, O Lord.
00:23:26.20\00:23:32.67
Hear me that this people may
know that thou art the Lord God
00:23:32.71\00:23:38.85
and that thou has
turned their hearts back again.
00:23:38.88\00:23:43.55
Notice this prayer of Elijah
was not a condemning prayer,
00:23:43.59\00:23:48.19
but it is a prayer inviting
Israel back to God. It is a
prayer for God's grace and
00:23:48.22\00:23:55.10
mercy. It is a prayer asking
heaven to invade earth. It is a
prayer of salvation.
00:23:55.13\00:24:01.50
And just as soon as Elijah prays
his prayer, immediately the
Bible says something happens.
00:24:01.54\00:24:09.98
The heavens open up, and the
Bible says that fire comes down.
00:24:10.01\00:24:15.18
Now, let me remind you that
whenever fire comes from God,
you know God means business
00:24:15.22\00:24:20.16
because fire symbolizes the
presence, the power, and the
00:24:20.19\00:24:24.76
glory of God. God revealed
himself by fire to Moses in a
00:24:24.79\00:24:28.36
burning bush. When the children
of Israel were in the wilderness
seeking to escape from mean ol'
00:24:28.40\00:24:33.50
Pharaoh, God let them buy a
pillar of cloud by day and a
pillar of fire by night. Fire
00:24:33.54\00:24:40.01
shows God's presence, his power,
his protection. When Solomon
dedicated the temple in
00:24:40.04\00:24:45.08
Jerusalem, fire fell down
from heaven and the glory of God
00:24:45.11\00:24:49.68
filled the place. When John the
Baptist testified of Jesus who
was to come after him,
00:24:49.72\00:24:54.12
he John said, "I baptize with
water unto that repentance, but
Jesus is going to come".
00:24:54.16\00:25:00.43
There is a greater one that is
going to come, and he is going
to baptize with the Holy Ghost
00:25:00.46\00:25:05.27
and with fire. And when Jesus
cleanses this Earth at the end
00:25:05.30\00:25:09.84
of the millennium, it
won't be by water but by fire.
00:25:09.87\00:25:13.31
God speaks through fire. God
makes himself known through
fire. God lets his power known
00:25:13.34\00:25:21.28
by fire. God's fire consumed the
sacrifice, the water, the
stones, and even the dust.
00:25:21.32\00:25:30.26
And I just stopped by to tell
somebody that in 2020, we need
00:25:30.29\00:25:38.13
God's fire. We need God's fire
to come down. We need God's fire
00:25:38.17\00:25:46.07
to make God known. And in the
name of Jesus, through the
intercession of the Holy Ghost,
00:25:46.11\00:25:51.15
I am calling God's fire down.
God of Abraham, God of Isaac,
God of Jacob, God of Israel,
00:25:51.18\00:26:01.26
come down to this Earth. Come
down to Huntsville, Alabama.
Come down to New York City.
00:26:01.29\00:26:07.56
Come down to the West Indies.
Come down to Africa. Come down
to Asia. Come down. I call down
00:26:07.60\00:26:17.24
fire. Stop the coronavirus. Stop
evil. Stop racism. Stop police
00:26:17.27\00:26:25.48
brutality. Stop oppression. Stop
poverty. Stop injustice. Stop
ignorance when it comes to
00:26:25.51\00:26:33.92
injustice. Stop cancer. Stop
envy. Stop jealousy. Stop lying.
Stop gossip. Stop mess. Stop
00:26:33.96\00:26:44.67
confusion. God send your
fire. Let your fire fall.
00:26:44.70\00:26:49.07
I bind every demonic spirits
that seeking to gain entrance in
somebody's life right now.
00:26:49.10\00:26:55.08
I rebuke every antithetical evil
spirit that is warring against
God's power in somebody's
00:26:55.11\00:27:01.35
life right now. I rebuke every
addiction, every ungodly habits,
every alcoholic spirit,
00:27:01.38\00:27:08.06
every drug spirit, every
perverted spirit, every suicidal
spirit, every depressed spirit.
00:27:08.09\00:27:15.26
I command every foul spirit, in
the name of Jesus, to get out.
00:27:15.30\00:27:21.44
And I call fire down, God's fire
down in your house, on your top,
in your car, in your dorm room,
00:27:21.47\00:27:28.94
in the community, in the church,
I call fire down on this campus.
00:27:28.98\00:27:36.62
In the name of Jesus,
God send your fire now.
00:27:36.65\00:27:40.82
Thank you very much for tuning
in to this week's Breath of Life
00:27:40.86\00:27:45.09
broadcast. We hope and pray that
you've been blessed by Dr.
Byrd's inspirational message.
00:27:45.13\00:27:49.73
If you would like to hear
this sermon in its entirety,
00:27:49.76\00:27:52.33
please feel free to visit
us at www.breathoflife.tv.
00:27:52.37\00:27:58.11
Or, call us at (256) 929-6460.
00:27:58.14\00:28:11.25
Dr. Byrd: Pain, loss, trama,
00:28:11.29\00:28:20.36
in life we
experience these things.
00:28:20.40\00:28:23.73
My wife and I have a story,
00:28:23.77\00:28:26.63
we have a
testimony of how we lost
00:28:26.67\00:28:30.84
our first born daughter
in a horrific car accident.
00:28:30.87\00:28:37.61
We have this new sharing
book, its en-titled “Gone.”
00:28:37.65\00:28:42.75
And, in it I
want to share with you
00:28:42.78\00:28:46.25
how God has helped me,
00:28:46.29\00:28:48.89
how God has helped my
wife, how God has helped us,
00:28:48.92\00:28:53.70
as we had to endure the fact
that our first born daughter is
00:28:53.73\00:29:01.40
gone. www.breathoflife.tv
00:29:01.44\00:29:08.04
[END]
00:29:08.08\00:29:23.09