You are called to be a living sacrifice, surrendering your flesh and your plans to Him completely. When you stop trying to control the outcome and simply offer yourself, God is ready to light your life on fire with His power. Take this moment to kneel and say, "God, I am Yours," and watch Him move.
What's up y'all? This is Gabe Mullins with the Real Church podcast. This week's message is titled fire from heaven. It's a deep 1, but I believe it will really bless you. I pray that your ears would be open and that the Holy Spirit would speak directly to you through it.
Enjoy. Alright. Thank you, guys. Welcome to Real Church. And, like the video said, my name is Gabe Mullens.
We're not gonna do the first series of Advent. We're gonna do a different message and the message is titled Fire From Heaven. And, I'm really excited about it. But, first, I do want to honor a couple people that are here. And again, you don't have to applause, maybe we can snap.
How about that? That'll be perfect. So, my dad and stepmom, it's Roger and Jill are here. He's enthusiastic. He was clapping.
And then also, my wife's parents, Oh, 0, okay. So yeah. Thank you. Yes. For the snaps.
Awesome. Alright. Good. So, guys, I got a message to give you today, and it's it's a bit of a heavier 1. It's pastor David said I I can preach on whatever I like.
And if it were up to me, I would've gotten up here and probably just total told a few jokes for a while and been done. But I had to listen to the Lord, and the Lord put this message on my heart. And so I want you to just prepare your hearts for that. Prepare your hearts and just kinda "buckle up" because *God*'s got some some things to say this morning to us, and it's gonna be very good. But it's a little heavy, and it's just heavy on my heart.
So that's a little a little warning there. Why don't you turn to first Kings verse or chapter 18 if you have a bible? And if you have a phone with a bible app, you can take your time to get there. I'm gonna give you a little prep for this. This is 1 of my favorite stories in the Bible.
This is an Old Testament story, and it's the story of Elijah. And some of you know it. I've heard some people say, oh, I'm excited because they love this story because this is a "sweet story". And I'm gonna read it all to you, and it's kinda long, but I want you I want you to go ahead and go there. So, Israel let me just give you some back end.
Israel was supposed to be a nation who was dedicated to God. Israel was supposed to show others what it looks like when you're in covenant relationship with God, and what it looks like when you and God are walking together as a nation. And, at the time, there they had fallen away. They had a king called king Ahab, and the bible says king Ahab was 1 of the most actually, he says he was the most wicked king that Israel had ever had up until that point. And Ahab was married to Jezebel.
Now, Jezebel, you may have heard that word before. If you don't know the story, you may have heard that word because we still use that term today. Oh, that late that woman was a Jezebel. What that typically means is not a compliment. It means that that woman probably tried to seduce a married man.
Typically what it means. It means that that well, that's exactly what it means. So, Ahab and Jezebel were married and leading the nation of Israel. Now, they were doing 2 main things. Okay?
And, this is the 2 reasons why, it was very wicked times in Israel. Number 1, they had set up prophets of Baal all throughout the nation. So, those prophets of Baal, b a a l, Baal was the demonic god that they worshipped. I mean, essentially, they thought it was a god, but Paul Paul says that we know that Gentiles *worship* demons and not gods. So when when you have when you have a nation that's worshiping these Baals, they're actually doing demonic worship.
Okay? And they had set up prophets of Baal all throughout the country. The other thing that they were doing is they had, killed prophets of the Lord. So 1 thing that you'll notice is that, they didn't just live in harmony. We we weren't just doing, prophets of God and prophets of Baal in the same nation.
There's only 1 or the other, and that's always how it is in our lives. That all there can only be 1 king. There can only be 1 lord. There's only 1 person that you serve, and they never live in harmony. So, were killing God's prophets.
And, why were they doing that? Because devil the devil always wants to kill the voice of the Lord in your life. The devil always comes to steal God's *word* out of your life. You know, Jesus said, man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. We know that the word of God in your life is more valuable even than bread.
So that's why this morning, want you to pay particular attention when we read the word of *God* because it's gonna be valuable to you. So let's go ahead and read it. So buckle up. It is a long section of scripture, but it's a story. And I'm gonna kinda tell it as we go.
I would ask if you, can to just sit back, either read it in your in on your bible or read it on the screens. It'll be on the screens. Or just close your eyes and let me read it for you. Okay? So 1 Kings-18, we're gonna start with verse 17.
Then it happened when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him now remember, Elijah is the prophet of the Lord, 1 of the only few that are left. Is that you, oh, troubler of Israel? That's what Ahab said to Elijah. And he and Elijah answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and had followed the Baals. Now, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table.
So, Ahab sent for all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people and said, how long will you falter between 2 opinions? If the Lord is God, **follow him**. But if Baal, follow him. But the people answered him not a word.
Then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Therefore, let them give us 2 bowls, and let them choose 1 bowl for themselves, cut it up into pieces, lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it. And I will prepare the other bowl and lay it on the wood and put no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I'll call on the name of the Lord. And the God who answers by fire, he is God.
Let me just have you guys say that. The God who answers by fire. He is God. Alright. Fire from heaven.
Alright. Let's keep going. So all the people answered and said, it is well spoken. Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose 1 bowl for yourself, prepare it first. You guys are many, there's 450 of you, and call on the name of your God, but put no fire under it.
So they took the bowl which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon saying, oh Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, no 1 answered. Then they leapt about the altar which they had made. And so it was at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, "cry aloud". This is why I love the Old Testament right here.
Elijah mocked them, cry aloud for he is a God. Either he's meditating or he's busy or he's on a journey, but perhaps he's sleeping or must be awakened. Shout louder. So they cried aloud. Listen to them.
And they cut themselves as was their custom with knives and lances until the blood gushed out of them. And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering in the evening, but there was no voice, no 1 answered, no 1 paid attention. Now it's Elijah's turn. Then Elijah said to all the people, come near to me. So all the people came near to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down.
And Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come saying, Israel shall be your name. So he built the the altar exactly how God wants the altar built. Then with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold 2 seahs of seed, and he put wood in order, cut the bowl in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, fill 4 water pots with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. Then he said, do it a second time, and they did it a second time. And he said, do it a third time, and they did it a third time.
So, the water ran all around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham So, he's praying now. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, oh Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are God, that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. Verse 38, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
Now, when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. And Elijah said to them, seize the prophets of Baal. Do not let 1 of them escape. So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.
Whoo. Amen. So I'm gonna just pick a few verses out of this that I wanna kinda highlight. Let's just go through this story. So the first verse, let's get that up there.
First verse should be, yeah. Verse 21. There you go. So if the Lord this is when Elijah was saying, if the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.
But the people answered him not a word. Now I wanna I wanna I wanna under I want you to understand that everything pastor David's, dad said when he was here preaching, everything in the Old Testament tends to be a reflection, physical representation of a spiritual reality in the New Testament. See, we're past Jesus now. And a lot of what was happening in the Old Testament, a lot of especially what the prophets did was a physical manifestation of something that spiritually happens now. So the people answered him, not a word.
So, what I want you to understand by this is this is the same in Christians' lives. In our lives, if we are living with sin or with something that's that that we're constantly not giving to God, we become very apathetic towards God. What does that mean? Kinda careless. We answer him not a word.
I mean, Elijah's up there and he's saying, if God is God, follow him. If Baal, then follow him. And the people are just kinda like They know they answer him, not a word. This is exactly how a Christian becomes when when they're living with sin in their lives. And I know this from personal experience.
When I was younger, I dealt with, pornography as a big issue in my life. For many years of my young adult life. And, all the while, I wasn't I wasn't living in the world. I was actually a Christian. I was coming to church.
I was sitting in the pews. And, yet, I had this sin that was so common in my life. It was almost like a household pet. And I would have seasons where I was doing better, and then I'd have seasons where I was doing worse. And no matter what I tried to do, I couldn't break it.
I couldn't I couldn't stop it. I couldn't I couldn't get out of it. And that manifested an *apathy* towards the Lord. Because what happens? I mean, it's the same thing that happened in the Garden Of Eden.
Like, Adam and Eve, they sin. And what do you what do you wanna do when you sin? Hide from God. That's what they did. They kinda wanna recoil and hide from God.
And so you have this relationship that's supposed to be the most intimate relationship in the world, you and the Lord. And, yet, you carry into that relationship something that, wars against God. And how can you have intimacy in that relationship? How could a husband have intimacy with a wife if they if they are dabbling in pornography, for instance? That's an analogy.
How could how how could there be intimacy with someone when you cheat on them? Right? So I think we all understand that. So it becomes very hard to become passionate about *God* when we carry a sin with us along the way. The people answered him not a word.
That's called apathy. Let's go to the next verse. So they cried aloud and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances until the blood gushed out on them. It's a pretty violent verse. As was their custom.
These people were worshiping the devil, and it was their custom to harm themselves. Isn't that interesting? See, the devil wants you to harm yourself. And it's it's very it's very interesting because the devil will actually, especially in in our lives now, will actually create a problem in your life. He will actually **manufacture something** in your life that that ought not to be there, and then he will provide the solution for that very thing.
Let me give you an example. First of all, people do still cut themselves with with, even to this day in depression. It's, it's a way that they can find relief. So, the devil puts depression on you or tries to bring depression onto your life, and then, he offers a solution that harms you. It's as simple as that it's as simple as a big you ever see someone become anxious, you know, maybe they had a bad conversation with a family member and they become anxious and the next thing you know, they whip out a pack of cigarettes and light it up and I "feel better".
Feel better. Okay. Calm down. The devil's satisfied as long as you keep hurting yourself. Something that the devil wants you to do.
See, with pornography, I experienced loneliness, And, that was something that wasn't for me. It was never for me from the beginning. You see, if I, if I believe the word of God, if I believe that Jesus said, lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age, then why is it that I was feeling lonely? I didn't have loneliness. The devil has loneliness.
Jesus is not with the devil till the end of the age. So, when the when the devil puts that on me, I feel like it's mine, but it's not mine. And, if I would believe the word of God, then I could get rid of it. Because, I would say, you know what? I'm not lonely.
Because Jesus is inside of me. I actually have access to the Father through Jesus. I can actually go and have a more intimate relationship with the Lord God who created me than even my future wife that I would have. It's the same with, you know, low self esteem, and then you overeat. It's these things.
The devil wants to create a problem and then solve it. He wants to get you on the front end and on the back end. But but the devil is a liar. *God* let's talk about God for a minute. We're in church.
**God wants to be** the cure. Okay? So, let me let me explain this for a second. God doesn't wanna be the medicine for your 1 problem. God wants to cure you.
*God* wants to heal you from the inside out. See, medicine, you take medicine to get by with your disease. Right? Like, you take medicine to hopefully make it through. Maybe it becomes more manageable.
And, when your disease is something like anxiety or depression, then you maybe you even medicate with God. So as you get anxious, you turn on some worship music and maybe you start to feel better. But God doesn't even wanna just be the medicine. A cure eradicates the very disease that exists in your body to begin with. A cure makes you never have to go back.
That's what we sang about this morning. Look where my chains are now. Way back there. And, as someone who dealt with that for years, Almost took a drink in my microphone. As someone who dealt with that for years, I get to look back and say, "look where my chains are now".
And you get to too. And if you're dealing with something like what I've mentioned, I'm mentioning specific things for a reason because the Holy Spirit wants to speak to you on your specific things. And I'm not saying everybody's got specific things. Some people are living, like where I'm at now. But, I want you to examine yourself and and think, is there something that's holding me back, that's kept me apathetic towards the Lord that I'm ready to give up, that the Holy Spirit's pointing on to me today?
Let's go to the next 1. So, this is the prayer that Elijah prayed. So, the prophets of Baal jump, leap about, cut themselves, yell, scream, holler, nothing happens. And, Elijah steps up and prays 1 prayer. I want you to pay particular attention to the to the form of this prayer.
Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, oh Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. Notice that there's no selfishness in his prayer. Notice that there's no, there's no, boy, Lord, I just made fun of them. It'd be really good if you showed up now.
He wasn't nervous. He wasn't selfish. He wasn't even thinking about himself. So, I want us to start elevating the level of our prayers to this level. And, I'm talking about a level where you're more concerned about God receiving *glory* than anything else.
Second to that, you're most concerned about others knowing God's *glory* more than anything else. Think about how Jesus taught us to pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, *holy* is your name. Start it off just like that. Our Father is in heaven, holy, because that positions yourself and positions your heart to start seeing things appropriately.
I used to deal with this when I would pray for people for healing. Pray for somebody for healing, and literally, while I'm praying, I'm in my head, I'm thinking, what am I gonna say when they don't get healed? I don't know if some of you can relate to that. Because I would be nervous, and I would feel stupid, and what do I how I gotta explain? And, it's a wonder my prayers never got answered.
I got exactly what I expected, them not to be healed. But, if I would elevate my prayer to a level where I can say, *Lord, I want your glory* to be known in this person. I want your first of all, want you to be glorified by this person. And I want this person to know your glory at a level that they've never known. Suddenly, why does your prayer get answered like that?
Suddenly, it's because you align yourself with God's will. You're actually praying such a higher level prayer than than when you simply are just praying, oh, Lord, let this foot ache go away or whatever. It's such a higher level prayer because God and this is why God is all about healing. I I gotta talk about this for a second. So this is why God is about healing because he want he is the cure.
I can't emphasize it enough. He it's the we don't come here as a crutch. People think, oh, the church is a crutch. Right? Like, for people that don't that that just can't get by in life.
So it's like they come, they make it and some people have done that for years. And that's why we need a midweek service. Right? Because they can barely make it through the week before, oh, finally Sunday, and I get my fix again, pretty much. But the pro the the problem with that is that's never how God designed it.
*God* designed it for intimacy Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday morning, evening, in your car, in your shower. I've had some of the most glorious times in my shower that is like, I close it, I'm off, I got the water, and it's the Lord. He's like waiting for me in the shower. It's like, there's an intimacy level that is available to you with God. There's an intimacy level that's available to you with God that that is on a whole another level.
And, when you get in into that level of intis intimacy, you are unable to even you can let go of the things that you were dragging behind. *Healing* is for today, and it's for you. If you think that the depression is yours, if you think, oh, well, I just struggle with panic attacks, I promise you, you don't struggle with panic attacks. The devil struggles with panic attacks. You, get affected by panic attacks.
Okay? You may be affected by depression. I'm not washing away the the the feelings or the or the struggle. But, what I'm saying is, that's not God's will for you, and God will eradicate it. Eradicate it to where it doesn't have to come back.
He's the cure. He's not the medicine. So let's elevate our prayers to a higher level. Let's go to the next slide. I got just a couple more.
Verse 39. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. Do you see what what changed? Before they said, they said nothing.
They answered him not a word. But when the fire of God fell, it seemed to burn up their apathy. The next thing you know, they're crying out, the Lord, he is God. Now you gotta imagine, this is this is something that really happened. I mean, they're standing around an altar, the whole nation on a mountain, And from heaven, a tornado of **fire falls**.
And think about what they had just seen. Water pouring the water on, pouring the water on, like, thinking, well, man, this is gonna be impossible. How is this gonna happen? *God* loves oh, let me just say this. God loves when we think that there's no way out and he wants to show up.
*God* loves God absolutely loves showing up when when we are at our wit's end, when we can't do it any longer. See, that water represents human effort. Right? If we were to put water on the fire, it it's like you're doing the opposite of what what's gonna you're you're actually decreasing the chances that there's gonna be a fire. And you continue water, water, water.
And that's actually what is happening the more and more we try in our own effort, in our own work to to get out of this sin or to or or or to or to battle off depression or, you know, just put on a smile face or whatever. You know, it's like pouring water on a fire. And you're going, why is it that I don't burn for God like I used to? Or why is it that I'm not on fire for him with the passion that when it when it when I first met him? And it's because as you've tried to do it yourself, you've actually just been "pouring water on the altar".
And it's more and more looking less and less likely like it's gonna ever go back to what it was. But in this story, *fire* fell from heaven. Nobody lit the fire. It didn't just poof, go on fire. It came from God.
And, God did that for a reason. He wants you to know that it's his fire that lights you on fire for him. It's by his spirit. He says, not by might nor by strength, but by my spirit, says the Lord. So, fire falls.
It's hot on their face. It's probably like an explosion. It's probably terrifying. And they all fall on their faces and scream, the Lord is God. Okay.
The Lord is God. The Lord is God. Uncle, I surrender. Come on. Some of you guys some of you guys have my humor.
You're like, is it heavy or is it light? I don't get it. *God*, I don't know. It's just how I am. The Lord, he is God.
So the fire of the Lord burned up the apathy of the people. And why? See, I I'm a big fan of the fear of the Lord, honestly. I like that the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But, it's not the spirit of fear that that should terrify you, and leave you in that terror.
*God* has always when whenever you see people fall on their face, God always says, be not afraid. Be not afraid. He likes to pick you up out of that fear. The initial reaction can be fear to God. But he is a loving father, and he's so his heart is so after you.
And he wants to pick you up out of that fear. But in order to move into the those deeper levels of worship, you need to understand, who God is. And he's big, and he's awesome. And notice how the fear of the Lord led these people to worship God. The terror of what just happened brought them into worship.
And that's what should happen with us. That as we experience God on bigger levels, it should bring us deeper into worship, and it'll take us to deeper places with him. Let's go to the next 1. And Elijah said to them, seize the prophets of Baal. Do not let 1 of them escape.
So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Berkishon and executed them there. So I am I'm struck by "divine moments". I was thinking about this. I've been thinking about this for, like, months. How God works in divine moments.
It's like all of Israel was plagued with this disease of demonic worship, and it was affecting the entire nation. And it wasn't like *God* had Elijah go 1 x 1 and start, you know, tearing down their altars or or doing something. I mean, was in 1 moment, 1 moment, the fire falls, the people repent, and they're completely cleaned out from the prophets of Baal. See, Elijah could have said, well, alright. Now, you guys all believe that the Lord is God, so let's go back and live.
Just try to ignore the prophets of Baal. Just try to get along. No. He took them all, seized them all up, and killed them. And, that's what God wants to do with these things that that that the devil has been harassing us with in the church.
That's what he wants to do. He wants to round it all up, take it down to the brook, and kill it. Notice that the people repented, and in 1 day, were immediately cleansed of all their issue. Unbelievable freedom that came in a divine moment. See, it's like this is how God works.
Like, a a a bird grows and grows and grows in its nest, then it gets pushed out of the nest and it falls, and it either doesn't make it or it flies, but it's designed to fly. And when it flies, it never becomes a land animal again. It's like a divine moment, you know? Or a tulip. All year long, just looks like a weed.
And in 1 divine moment, in a week, it blooms. It's like, this is how God operates. There's divine moments in our lives, and this is a divine moment right now. You aren't here by accident. And some of you, the Holy Spirit is speaking directly to your heart through this message.
And it's an opportunity. It's a divine moment. It's an opportunity to be be cleansed of some things. Let's get the band. So like I said, everything in the Old Testament is a picture of the new.
So we don't have, altars anymore. You wanna know why we call this the altar? That we call this the altar. You've heard pastor David say that. This is the altar.
Meaning, we kneel here and spend time with God, and that's called the altar. And, we don't have bowls for sacrifice anymore. Right? Why we don't do that? Paul says in in Romans that, let us be become as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing unto God.
See, there's no longer the sacrifice, you're the sacrifice now. This is why Jesus said, "pick up your cross" daily and follow me. Because, it was your responsibility to sacrifice your flesh, and it's God's responsibility to bring the fire. Your goal, your your responsibility, Man, I I feel I feel the Lord moving on this. It's heavy.
Your responsibility was never to bring the fire in your own life. And some of you even have wondered, why is it that I just can't open the Bible or it just it bores me or I come to church a couple times a year or whatever. But you're and you've tried to churn up passion for the Lord, and it's never really churned up. And that's because it's not your job to light the fire within yourself. That's God's job.
Your job is to be the sacrifice. Your job is to surrender. Your job is to say, God, I'm yours. I give you me. And that's when the fire falls.
That's when the fire lights up your life. And next thing you know, you become bold for God where you weren't before. You become able to get up on a stage and preach a message like this when you would never have been able to do that before. And you become passionate for God, and you burn for him, and you and nobody's gonna get in the way of you and your Bible because you because it's the most valuable thing in the world to you. And your closet space, and your alone time with God, and you're caught talking to yourself, but you're not talking to yourself.
You're *praying* because you you you never stop this conversation with God because you're burning with passion for him. Why? Because he lit you on fire. See, you poured water on the altar. You kept pouring water on the altar as you tried and tried and tried.
But God brought the fire, and it licks up the dust, and it eats up the rocks, and it licks up the fire it flicks up the water. It's good, man. It's so good.
Thank you for tuning in today to the Real Church podcast. I pray that you "walk away" from today *encouraged* and with a deeper understanding of how much God loves you. If you'd like to "connect with us", we can't wait to reach out to you and pray for you. You can go to www.realchurch.us/connect. And then also, if you would like to give to what God is doing in and through our ministry, you can do so at www.realchurch.us/giving, or you can text any amount to 84321, and then just search in the link that comes up.
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