Well last week, we saw the triumph
of sovereign grace over idolatry. With Elijah on Mount Carmel,
there were the prophets of Baal, the peddlers of false religion,
the peddlers of easy believism, the peddlers of the sort of religion
that human nature thinks, oh that's reasonable, yes we'll
have some of that. as opposed to the religion that is true
of God, which is that God saves his people by his sovereign grace,
by Christ coming and dying for a specific people, particular
redemption is absolutely central to it. We saw the triumph of
God's sovereign grace over idolatry in false religion. What is idolatry?
Idolatry is anything which is not the truth of God. Any religious
concept that we have where it's a figment of our own imagination
in the flesh, that is idolatry. Is idolatry just ignorant heathen
tribes bowing down to some totem pole that they've made? Not at
all. Idolatry is rampant. It's all around us today. It's
in the human heart. The human heart always likes
to think, what's God like? I think God's like this, or will
I think God's like this? Our own opinions. That's idolatry. That's what it is. And in the
days of Elijah on Mount Carmel, the fire descending on that sacrifice,
and you know it vaporized the sacrifice. It's symbolical of
salvation accomplished. This is the difference. The religion
of idolatry call itself Christian, Evangelical, Reform, Calvinistic,
whatever it wants to call itself, it doesn't accomplish its objective. The salvation of God does. The
fire descends. He accomplishes the salvation
of his people. The sacrifice is consumed. You
know, the sacrifice is consumed. Christ, our sacrifice, our Passover,
is sacrificed for us. And all of the justice of God
consumed him and accomplished the salvation of his people.
And he made complete satisfaction by it to the law of God. Why
do we come boldly before the throne of grace? Why do we do
that? Why do we know that we can? Because
salvation is accomplished. Are you fit to stand in the presence
of the living God? It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God, for our God is a consuming
fire of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. How can you come, a
sinner, you, boldly before the throne of grace, you can come
when you look at that sacrifice and see Christ has made complete
satisfaction to the law. He's fitted his people. He's
given us the adoption of sons. And as there on Mount Carmel,
Baal's prophets were killed. They took them down to the brook
Kaishon and killed them. Now obviously in these days we're
not advocating that anybody get swords out and start killing
people, literally. But the truth of God must slay
the error of false religion. It must happen. All around us
where it is. Why are we intolerant? You know,
there are primary things which are the absolute primary essentials
of the gospel. And then there's a whole lot
of other stuff that's secondary practice. you know, whether women
wear hats, or whether we have open or closed community, these
are all secondary things, they don't matter, really, ultimately,
but the key things of the gospel, the central points of the gospel,
that God saves by sovereign grace, that Christ only died, specifically
only died for the people the father gave to him before the
beginning of time, they are un-negotiable, we cannot compromise one little
drop on any of those primary things. And just as Baal's prophets
were killed, we must kill that error which tries to teach us
otherwise, and tries to teach us just to be reasonable with
people. We will try to cause offense to no man, we will try
to be most reasonable, but when it comes to these things of the
gospel of God's grace, absolutely no compromise whatsoever. Sovereign grace and particular
redemption cannot coexist with free will Arminianism, whatever
color or shade of it. It cannot And there are many
today who claim they once stood for the truth, who are in the
business of compromising with free will thinking religion.
They say they're four and a half point Calvinists. You know, they
believe in this, they believe in of the tulip, you know, the
five points of Calvinism. But they say, oh, they're four
and a half points. They won't quite go so far as limited atonement. They won't quite go so far as
particular redemption. They won't go quite that far.
But they're still our Christian brethren. No, they're not. No,
they're not. No. No. I once had an American
preacher, I liked it, he said, we only count in whole numbers.
We don't do four and a half, we only do five. Whole numbers,
whole numbers. We cannot compromise. Would you
drink a glass of water with even one little drop of cyanide in
it? Oh, it's only got one drop of cyanide. Surely that's alright,
only one drop of cyanide. No, you wouldn't, would you?
You wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. We will not touch false
religion. However much like the truth it
sounds, it's got that one drop of poison in it, which is man's
free will. We won't do it. Drought, in the
days of Elijah, had humbled the people. Elijah prayed for it
not to rain. Why? Because the people had gone
over to idolatry. And the drought had humbled the
people. The famine was sore. And it had
brought a repentance of sorts. And when the fire fell on Mount
Carmel, the people, Israel that was gathered there on Mount Carmel,
they acknowledged, they said, the Lord, Elijah's God, He is
the Lord. He is the true God. He alone.
The truth was demonstrated to succeed where idolatry's falsehood
was shown to fail and idolatry's prophets were slain. But there
was still no rain. The fire fell. But there was
still no rain. So what happened? This is what
people in religion will tell you. So Elijah prayed jolly hard. And because he held an all night
prayer meeting, God was forced to do what he asked. That's what
they'll tell you. This is what many would tell
us in religion. Elijah prayed jolly hard. And because he held
an all-night prayer meeting, God was forced to do what he
asked, you know. If he hadn't stayed up all night
praying, then God could have got away with it. But no, no,
no. He forced him. He twisted God's arm up his back
and he had to do What's the message of that? This is the message,
and it's a false message. God rewards his people for their
works. God doesn't. God is a God of
grace. He doesn't. They say, oh, but
surely to obey is better than sacrifice. Isn't that the message
of this book? No it isn't. The scripture, you
know what the message of the scripture is? The scripture speaks
of Christ. These are they, these scriptures
are they that speak of me. It's the message of the salvation
of his elect accomplished. This book is not a recipe book
for people to earn God's favour, You want to earn this is that?
No, it's a message about Christ. It's written for our learning,
upon whom the ends of the earth are come. So what does it say
to us today, in 2015? What does this account of Elijah
on Mount Carmel say? We experience literal droughts
and floods, don't we? There's nothing more variable
or unpredictable than the weather in this little island of ours. An American once asked me, he
said, what's the best time of year to come to Britain for a
holiday, for the weather? I said, I haven't got the foggiest
idea. He said, well, you've lived there for over 60 years, surely
you know. I said, no, every year's different. Who would know? Last
June, if I remember rightly, was a beautiful June. This June
is turning out to be Pretty cold and wet in parts with the odd
hot day, isn't it? Today is a very, very grim day
out there. We've got no idea. We experience
droughts and floods, literally. We don't like the rain, but I
tell you what, when it stops, like it did in 1976 for a long
time, wow, we needed it. We were desperate for it. People
were praying for rain, it was so dry, everything was dying,
trees were dying. We don't like it, but we desperately
need it. But this isn't speaking to us
about literal drought and rain, it's about spiritual drought
and rain. That's the message for us today.
It's about spiritual drought and rain. Let me tell you, let
me talk to you a bit about spiritual drought and rain. Turn back to
Deuteronomy. Now if you can't get there quickly,
it doesn't matter, I'll read these out. But Deuteronomy chapter
11 and verse 13. I'm going to read down to verse
17. And this is where in the law of Moses the consequences
of walking away from God and his patterns and types for how he
would be worshipped. You know, if the people departed
from them, this would be the consequence. He says, and it
shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments,
which I command you this day, to love the Lord your God and
to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul, to do
the things I've said in the worship of God, to worship God in the
way he said, that I will give you the reign of your land in
his due season, the first reign, and the latter reign, that thou
mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil. And I
will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest
eat and be full. Take heed to yourselves, that
your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other
gods, and worship them. Idolatry, idolatry. And then
the Lord's wrath be kindled against you, and look what he'll do,
and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the
land yield not her fruit, unless ye perish quickly from off the
good land which the Lord giveth you. literal rain, literal drought,
in response to the people's, Israel's faithfulness, in respect
of the worship of God which in the Old Testament, and in the
tabernacle, and the sacrifices, what was it about? It symbolized
the gospel. All of that was to symbolize
the gospel. The tabernacle worship symbolized the gospel. All of
it, none of it in itself, cleansed sin. The blood of bulls and goats
couldn't take away sin, as Hebrews tells us, but the blood of Christ.
It pointed to the blood of Christ. And as they enacted those things,
God said, yes, that's right. This is the pattern. Walk in
these ways. This is the pattern because Christ,
our Passover, will be sacrificed. for the sins of his people. And
as they stuck to that requirement that God laid upon them, they
got their rain, and their crops grew, and when they departed
from it, the heavens were shut up. The Old Testament worship
and commands symbolize gospel truth. Now, what about in our
day? Amos, the prophet, spoke of a
day when there would be a drought and a famine, but not of literal
rain. Listen, Amos 8 verses 11 and
12, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send
a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the Lord. That's the famine. Is that
not the famine that we see all around us in society, in religion
today? A famine of hearing the words
of the Lord. And they shall wander from sea
to sea and from north even to the east. They shall run to and
fro to seek the word of the Lord and shall not find it. God will
send a drought. God will send a famine. Are we
not living in days when there is a drought and famine of his
word? And then, by the same token,
he promises blessing. Ezekiel chapter 34. Ezekiel chapter
34 and verse 22 to 26. Therefore, says God, therefore
will I save my flock. He's talking about saving them
from those that are pushing and shoving them and treating them
badly in false religion. Therefore will I save my flock
and they shall no more be a prey. And I will judge between cattle
and cattle. Of course, you know, that prey
there means something that gets caught by something else to be
eaten. They shall no more be, not talking about praying to
God, that prey, P-R-E-Y. And I will judge between cattle
and cattle. And I will set up, listen, this
is God's promise, I will set up one shepherd over them. We
have one shepherd, don't we? Who is the good shepherd? Our
Lord Jesus Christ. And he shall feed them, even
my servant David. Oh, isn't it David, David, Christ
came in the line of David. This is who he's speaking of.
And he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And
I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David, a prince
among them. I, the Lord, have spoken it,
and I will make with them a covenant of peace. and will cause the
evil beasts to cease out of the land, and they shall dwell safely
in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them
and the places around about my hill a blessing, listen, and
I will cause the shower to come down in his season. There shall
be showers of blessing." God promises his people showers of
blessing, showers of blessing. So as literal drought and rain
were what God said would happen in response to Israel of old's
faithfulness to the symbolism that represented the true gospel
of his grace, the commands of the Lord, the way of worshipping
him, in a way that represented his true gospel, so in our day,
spiritual drought and spiritual rain, showers of blessing, are
in response to gospel faithfulness in not political Israel, but
the Israel of God, which is the church of God, the people of
God. A drought of hearing the words of the Lord is one consequence
of walking away from that gospel faithfulness. A drought of hearing
the words of the Lord, of hearing gospel truth. And you would say,
look around this land of ours, where is it preached today? It's
so few and far between and spread so thinly. The number of people
that listen to us on the internet, that have no local church where
they can go anymore, even when they did 20 or 30 years ago,
now they don't, because there is such a drought, there is such
a famine of hearing the words of God. It really does happen. You cannot find it. Look at the
traditional places where you would have expected, you know,
30, 20, 30 years ago, there are places where the truth was proclaimed
faithfully, and today, completely gone over to error and falsehood. And then showers of blessing?
What are showers of blessing in our days? What are showers
of blessing? Showers of blessing are when
God sends revival for his church and for his people. And it's
not as many, you might have heard of the revivals, the Welsh revivals,
you know, a lot of people harp back to the Welsh revivals of
a hundred to two hundred years ago and oh what wonderful times,
oh that we might have a revisitation of those times and I was reading
something that Don Fortner wrote about this And he said, some
of the signs of those revivals were things like this, convulsive
weeping, people falling on the floor and foaming at the mouth
and being carried out on stretchers and being committed to get them
out of the way of society. You know, that's not the signs
of revival. That's not the signs of God coming
down in power and speaking to his people. That's the signs
of what we know today as Pentecostal charismatic foolishness. It's
irrational. It's unstable. It's not soberness. It's not what Paul calls for
in the people of God. No, that's not the signs of true
revival, but we do know from the book of God What are the
signs of true revival when God deigns to come and bless his
people? you know what, you read about
it again and again, if you read the account of the kings you
keep reading of one who did evil in the sight of the Lord more
than all that had gone before him Ahab was one such king did
evil in the sight of the Lord more than any that had gone before
him and you see it again and again especially the kings of
Israel in the north and the kings of Judah it would be a bad king,
a bad king and then occasionally there would be a good king who
did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and when he
did that which was right there was revival amongst the people
of God. And we can tell from those times
when God came what are the biblical signs of true revival. And here
are four. There was a return to the word
of God. You know when Hezekiah, wasn't
it? No, Josiah. Josiah found the book of God
that nobody had been reading for years and years and years,
and he found it in the temple, or he had it found and brought
to him. There was a return to the Word of God. There was a
return to the true worship of God, the correct true worship
of God according to what the Word of God said. Worship that
represented sovereign grace. Worship that represented particular
redemption. Worship that represented the
cleansing of sin by the shedding of blood, the remission of sin.
Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin.
True worship was re-established. We are the true circumcision
who worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
have no confidence. There was a return to these things.
And along with the return to the word of God and correct doctrine
of salvation, there was a tearing down of all that that was false.
A tearing down of idols, of idolatry, as in the days of Hezekiah and
Josiah and Judith, and the removal of false doctrine. And this one
won't go down well in this politically correct day, but do you know
what else always went along with those true revivals in the Old
Testament? Sodomy, homosexuality was removed
from the land. You can't say that today. Politically
correct. Somebody will go and get the
thought police and you know, you'll be prevented from preaching
such things. You know, they're trying, they're
trying to have it made a public offense under the law of this
land to preach what this book says about those things. Well,
they can do what they want. God is on the throne. God is
on the throne. You see, it happened. in the days of Asa in 1 Kings
15, in the days of Jehoshaphat in 1 Kings 22, in the days of
Josiah in 2 Kings 23, in Ezra's revival when they came back from
captivity, sodomy and homosexuality was removed. What a day we live
in. I tell you, we live in a day
where this has been turned into almost a moral crusade of that
which used to be regarded as completely wrong according to
the word of God is now regarded as wholesome and good and a blessing
in so many ways. What a day we live in. What a
day that's calling out for true revival. How God's true church
longs and thirsts for showers of blessing and revival to come
down. And God has promised it to his people. We read it before,
didn't we? In Ezekiel 34. Showers of blessing. Oh, that there might be showers
of blessing. But also in our days, not just then. Turn with
me to Revelation, and if you can go to this, I know I've often
referred you to it, but I think it's a very, very significant
passage. Revelation chapter 11. Revelation
chapter 11, and verse 3. And while I'm turning you there,
let me commend you. If you look on Free Grace Radio
or Sermon Audio at Don Faulkner's sermons, I commend you a sermon
that he preached on this called The Great Revival, very recently. So verse three. And I will give
power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand
two hundred and threescore days clothed in sackcloth. These are
the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before
the God of the earth. And if any man will hurt them,
fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies.
And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days
of their prophecy, and have power over waters to turn them to blood,
and to smite the earth and all the plagues as often as they
will. And when they shall have finished their testimony, The
beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war
against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their
dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which
spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was
crucified. And they of the people, and kindred,
and tongues, and nations shall see their dead bodies three days
and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in
graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over
them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because
these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
And after three days and an half, the Spirit of life from God entered
into them, and they stood upon their feet, and great fear fell
upon them which saw them. What's that talking about? It's
talking about the days in which we live, you know. It's the days
in which we live, and the two witnesses, obviously, symbolically,
they're Elijah and Moses. Elijah had power to shut up heavens.
Moses had power to turn the River Nile into blood. But they're
just symbolical of preachers of the gospel of God's grace.
God will give power to his witnesses, and they shall prophesy. How
long? 1,260 days. What's that? Three and a half years, more
or less, give or take a day or two. Three and a half years.
A time, times, and half a time. Three and a half. Do you notice
later on, three and a half days dead, three and a half days lying
in the street, three and a half. Did you notice that? What's it
say? It's symbolical language. God
is saying, it will seem like a long time. And then it will
seem like a doubly long time. And then it will seem like another
long time, and right in the middle of it, when God's purposes are
accomplished, he'll cut it short. Three and a half. Three and a
half years. 1,260 days. These are the olive trees. Olive
trees? Olive oil. Olive oil. Oil? The
Spirit of God. In Revelation, the olive trees
and the oil speak of the Spirit of God. They're bringing the
Word of God by the Spirit of God. And two candlesticks. Lights. Lights. Set your lights. The
light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Lights. And if
any man hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth. You know
the the sword if we speak of Christ with the sword of the
Word of God coming out of his mouth that that sword which cuts
asunder which which goes right to the core right to the heart
and They have power in prayer and prophecy over the things
of the earth power to turn waters into blood to stop the the heavens
from raining as literally happened in the days of Elijah and Moses
and The beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit overcomes
them and kills them. All in the purposes of God. Does
it not seem that we are living in those days now? It's got all
the marks of it. Where are the prophets? Where's
the voice of the true Church of God in these days? Is it not
lying dead in the streets? We've seen it. Those of you that
are of my sort of age and older, we've seen it. The world I grew
up in as a little boy and a teenager is a completely different world
to the one we live in now. Completely different. I don't
think there's ever been such a big change in hundreds and
hundreds of years that have gone before in terms of the way society
looks on things. The prophets of God are lying
dead in the street for all practical purposes. It would seem They're
killed. And look, they lie in the street.
And look what that city is called where they lie, verse 8. Sodom
and Egypt. It's all speaking of the world.
and of rebellion against God, and of that which God hates and
opposes. And they of the people, kindreds,
and tongues, and nations, shall see." The people rejoice over
it. They have parties. They send gifts to one another,
verse 10. You hear it. You hear the comedy
programs on the radio. And you hear the comedians with
their perverse way of life. rejoicing over the fact that
the truth of God has been put to death, has been got rid of,
has been stamped down. But listen, who is on the throne
of this universe? Our God. Fear not, he says to
his people. Verse 11. It seems like it's
going on a long time, doesn't it? But after three days and
a half, a long day, two more really long days, and then it
seems as if it's going to go on forever, but half a day later,
God comes, and the spirit of life from God enters them. And
they stood on their feet, and the great fear came upon them.
That's speaking of revival coming. God has promised his people revival. In Elijah's day, this was the
message. Depart from God's truth of salvation,
and you will have drought, and you will have famine. But return,
and there will be blessings of rain. Today, There's been a wholesale
departure from the true gospel among many who claim to be the
Israel of God, the true church of God. There's a famine and
a drought of truth. We live in a parched and barren
spiritual desert. If you look around this country,
that's what it's like. Elijah reestablished truth and
destroyed error. We must preach truth and stand
fast in the truth of the gospel of God, but still no rain. Still no rain. He did that which
was right, but there was still no rain. We can preach the truth
of the gospel of grace, but there's still no revival blessing. What's
needed? What's needed? What's needed? What did Elijah do? What did
Elijah do in 1 Kings chapter 18? Just turn back there with
me now. What did Elijah do? Yes, he'd
put to flight all the error. The people said, the Lord, he
is the God. The Lord, he is the God. And
he told After the prophets were killed, Elijah said to Ahab,
you need to go and eat and drink and get on your way because the
rain is coming. But there was no rain. So Ahab
went up to eat and drink. And what did Elijah do? Look
at verse 42, 1 Kings 18, 42. Elijah went up to the top of
Carmel and he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face
between his knees. What's this saying? He went to
pray. He'd done everything right, but
there was still no rain. He went to pray. And he said
to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea. And he went and
looked and said, there is nothing. And he said, go again. And how
many times did he say it? Seven times, go and look. No,
there's nothing. And it came to pass at the seventh
time that he said, the little boy he sent, he said, behold,
Can you imagine? He's on this mountain about a
thousand feet high, sticking out into the Mediterranean Sea,
surrounded by this lovely bloom, but everywhere else is utterly
parched. There's not a blade of grass
anywhere. It's bone-dry, absolutely bone-dry. And the sky is an azure
blue sky, and there's not the slightest hint of a spot of rain
anywhere. And he sends his servant seven
times, go and look, is there, no there's nothing. He prays,
he prays, he prays. Go and look, is there any, no
there's nothing. And on the seventh time, the
young boy comes back and he says, there is, there is actually,
he says, there arises a little cloud, just a little cloud, out
of the sea. It's so small, it just looks
like looking at a man's hand a long way up. And he said, go
up. and say to Ahab, prepare thy
chariot and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not." There
was only a tiny little cloud there. Now, it wasn't enough
for Elijah to preach truth and destroy error. He had to pray
to God for the drought to end. Ezekiel 36, 37, thus saith the
Lord God, Listen to this, listen to this,
take it to heart. I will yet for this be inquired
of by the house of Israel to do it for them. God will be prayed
to. He's determined to do it for
them, but he will have it that his people pray to him. James
5, 17 and 18. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much. A man made righteous in Christ.
Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are. And he prayed
earnestly that it might not rain, and it rained not on the earth
by the space of three years and six months. prayed again on Mount
Carmel, and the heaven gave rain. What prompted the prayer? What
prompted the prayer? Well, it says of David, 2 Samuel
7 27, therefore hath thy servant David found in his heart to pray
this prayer. God's spirit put it there, the
desire to pray, the thought to pray. God's spirit does it. And
in Solomon's prayer, in 2nd Chronicles that we read in verses 26 and
27 Elijah knew this scripture because it was already written
when Elijah lived He knew that God's Word said he prayed in
accordance with God's Word He'd read these verses when the heaven
is shut up and there is no rain because they've sinned against
thee yet if they pray toward this place and confess thy name
and turn from their sin when thou dost afflict them then hear
thou from heaven and forgive the sin of thy servants and of
thy people Israel and when thou hast taught them the good way
wherein they should walk, and send rain upon thy land which
thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.' It was determined
prayer. Elijah went and prayed determinedly,
in accordance with God's word, fervently, effectually, but not
without persistence. Importunity is the biblical word
for it. Keep asking. Jesus said in his
parable in Luke chapter 11 and verse 8, he said, like the man
going to ask bread of his neighbor when he gets a visitor. And he
says, oh no, go away, I'm in bed, it's too late. No, I'm not
giving you any bread. And he keeps asking. And Jesus
says, he gives him the bread. Not because he's his friend and
neighbor, but because of his persistence. He keeps on asking,
he keeps on asking. And in 1 Kings 18, 42, how many
times? Go again, seven times, seven
times. Pray, is there any answer? Go
and see, is there any answer? No, there's nothing. Oh, what
do we do? Give up? No, pray again. Go and look,
is there any answer? No, no answer. Oh, pray again. Pray, pray. according to God's
word, claiming the promises of God. Go and see, is there any
answer? No, there's nothing, still nothing. What does he do,
give up? No, go and pray again. How many?
Seven times. What does seven speak of? Remember,
numbers in the Bible have symbolism. The number seven speaks of perfection,
God's perfection. For the number of times that
he prompts, keep on persistently. How often should you pray for
gospel light to shine into lost relatives, lost colleagues, lost
neighbors that you know? How often? Keep going, seven
times, whatever that number means in your case. Where? Together,
when we meet. You know, this meeting is a worship
service, but we pray in it. It's a prayer meeting. We have
prayer meetings. This is when we pray, we bring
our requests before God. You pray, you come in a spirit
of prayer. In your families, at home, pray. Pray together.
When you're alone. When you're alone, you might
be on a train journey, you might be in your room alone, wherever
you are, pray, Lord, you have promised revival blessings when
gospel truth is upheld. Please, be pleased to send showers
of blessing that your word promises. And that prayer is answered,
verse 44. A little cloud, just a little cloud. Very, very small
beginnings. but the portent of floods to
come. Verse 45, a great rain. There was a great rain. And a
great rain means a great rain. I was once in a car with Henry
Mahan coming back from Pikeville to Ashland, Kentucky and boy
did it rain. It rained so hard you could barely
see the end of the, they would call it the hood, the bonnet
we would call it, the cover of the end. You could barely see
that it was raining so hard and Henry called it a dandy rain.
This was a big rain. This was a dandy rain. It rained
and it rained. It made up for three and a half
years and it kept on raining. Little cloud, a portent of floods
to come. We live in days of such extreme
spiritual drought, don't we? It's what we've all got used
to. Can we imagine what would be if God sent spiritual rain
again in these days? If he sent down showers of blessing,
that the gospel would be preached, You wouldn't have to go more
than 10 miles and there'd be another fellowship of God's people
where there was a man raised up to proclaim the gospel of
God's grace. Wouldn't it? It would just be
like the dead prophets coming to life in the streets, wouldn't
it? Standing on their feet and speaking
with power. Wouldn't it? Can you see anything? Can you see anything? Any little
cloud at all? I'm asking myself, can we see
anything? Is there a little cloud? I referred earlier to Don's message
on Revelation 11. Don thinks that Revelation 11
is happening today and I'm very inclined to agree with him. The
prophets are rising up on their feet. Think about it. Free grace
radio preaching. Has the true gospel preaching
of God ever gone so widely around this earth as it is doing in
these days via the internet? Publishing good material. Apparently,
I didn't know this, There is such a thirst in different parts
of the world to get their hands on good material, such as Don's
daily readings book. The orders for that book are
colossal all around the globe. A thirst for truth in unlikely
places. Why not here in the UK in 2015? What must we do? Stay faithful
to gospel truth. Absolutely no compromise. Not
even with one drop of error. No compromise. Be ruthless with
error. Don't get alongside it and try
and make friends with it. Be ruthless with it. Show it
up for what it really is. pray to God to send his promised
revival. Habakkuk, let me just close with
a couple more scriptures and then I'm done. Habakkuk chapter
3 and verse 2 says this, O Lord, this is the prophet, O Lord,
I have heard thy speech and was afraid. O Lord, revive thy work. in the midst of the years, in
the midst of the years make known, in wrath remember mercy." Is
that not our prayer? Should we not pray that? In the
midst of these years of such drought, O Lord, revive thy work,
in wrath remember mercy. Isaiah chapter 43, let me refer
you there. Isaiah 43 and verse 25, God says
this through the prophet. He says, I, even I, am he that
blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake. Is that talking
about salvation accomplished? And will not remember thy sins.
Is that not salvation accomplished? Then he says this. This is what
God says to his people. Put me in remembrance. Put me
in remembrance. Let us plead together. Declare
thou that thou mayest... Do you know what God's saying
to his people there? I'm the God of salvation. He says this.
Remind me of it. I'm constantly saying to Christine,
will you please remind me to do such and such a thing? And
half the time she forgets just as well as I do. But God says
to his people, I've saved you completely. Remind me about it. This is what we need to do. Remind
our God. He tells us to. Remind him of
what he's done in accomplishing salvation. Pray that he will
send these blessings, these blessings of spiritual revival, of his
word going and running. And it's not just about truth.
It's not just about standing for truth. It's about praying
for it. Elijah did everything right,
but there was still no rain until he prayed. Amen.