Many thanks to Gordon for his welcome again. Nice to be with you again tonight in the Bible class. And we do thank you. We appreciate you coming out so well for these Tuesday nights. Our study is spiritual survival in a society without standards. That's what we're looking at these Tuesday nights, and I don't think we need to argue the point that we live in a society without standards. We only have to look around us. We only have to look at the television and the newspaper and we seem to be living in a day of wall-to-wall immorality. That's how I would describe it, wall-to-wall immorality. Nothing seems to be too shameful now or too sinful to bring before us, and that's the day and age in which you and I find ourselves. We took as our preface for this the book of Judges And we saw the claimant that prevailed in the book of Judges. And you remember how that God's people turned away from the Lord and sinned. And my God judged them. And he raised up 12 people known as the Judges, 11 men and one woman. and these people came at different times over a period of 400 years and delivered the people from the enemy that came in around them and my that was the days of the judges because the people got away from God. And I said in the first study that you can write three words over that day in which the judges the word departure, and the word disobedience. My, they got away from God and says, in fact, it says that they forgot, they forgot the Lord. Decline, departure, and disobedience. And we can write three words over the days in which you and I find on disobedience. the point that we're seeking to make and the the teaching that we're trying to get over is that you and I have got to live in this world in which we find ourselves today. You and I have got to live in it. Your children, your young people have to grow up into it. They have to face all these things. When they go out to school, when they go to with the things that are growing up around us which are sinful and certainly unholy. And we're asking the question, how can we survive as Christians in such a day and age? Because remember that the Lord has us down here as his lights, as his witnesses, as ambassadors for Christ, and how can we make a mark for God in such a sinful generation? And the first two weeks, we looked at two men who lived in a society without standards. You remember, we went away back to the beginning of the Bible in the book of Genesis and we saw the days of Noah and the way back there. My it says that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and the imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and the world was so sinful a way back there that God judged it. God into that antediluvian world. And there was a man who lived just before the flood called Enoch. And it says of Enoch that Enoch walked with God. He walked with God in that age and in that day. And so we looked at Enoch and we saw that here was a man who lived close to the Lord. Here was a man who went through life with God In Hebrews 11, we read that by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and before his translation, he had this testimony that he pleased God. In that dark day, Enoch pleased God. So if we want to make a mark for God and make an impact for God, then we need to seek to walk with God so that we might please God. In the message last Tuesday, we went to a different period, and we went to the days of Daniel. And you remember Daniel as a young lad of between 14 and 16 years of age was taken with his people down to Babylon and into captivity for 70 years. And we looked at Babylon, and we saw that it originated from Nimrod, the mighty hunter. And this man was a rebel against God, a rebel who rebelled against God. And from him came this city of Babylon, which was full of idols. Daniel lived there. And we saw that Daniel lived in a society without standards, society that worshiped the gods of the sun and the moon and all these other gods. You remember we saw in Daniel that in Babylon he was a man who had principles. Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's meat, or with the wine from his table. He was a man who stood for his principles. He was a man of purity. When they sought to find fault with Daniel, they couldn't find it. He was a man of prayer. Daniel was a man of prayer, the little chorus says. Daily he prayed three times, and he was a man who was preserved, because when Daniel was put into the den of lands, it says, that the Lord was with Daniel, and God shut the lion's mouth and brought him out, and Daniel, my, survived in a society without standards. So it can be done, friends, it can be done. Now, I want to move tonight to a different period of time, and we want to see another society that was without standards, and we want to see a man again who survived in such a day as he lived, and I'm sure we can learn many lessons from this man tonight. And we're turning to 1 Kings 18. The first book of Kings and chapter 18. And it says here in verse, taking up the reading at verse 17, says, It came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and that has followed Balaam. Now therefore send and gather to me all Israel unto the Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal 450 and the prophets of the groves 400 which eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together onto Mount Carmel. Elijah came unto all the people and said, how long halt you between two opinions of the Lord be God follow him? But if they'll then follow him and the people answered, not a word. Going on to verse thirty. It says, and Elijah said unto all the people, come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him, and he repaired the Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench about the altar, so great as would contain two measures of seed. and he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and let him on the wood and said, fill four barrels of water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood and he said, do it the second time and they did it the second time and he said, do it the third time and they did it the third time and the water ran around about the altar and he came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that a legend of the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces, and they said, the Lord, he is the God, the Lord, he is the God. And we know that God will bless the reading of his word. We find at this time in Israel's history, there was barrenness in the land. Ahab, the king, had taken on to him a wife called Jezebel, and they introduced the worship of Baal, and led the people away from Jehovah to follow after Baal. And so it was a day of spiritual departure. The people of God had got away from God. They followed after Beal. It was a day of spiritual decline. My divine standards were neither preached nor practiced. And when God's standards are not kept, then moral decline and spiritual decline and social decline sets in. It was a day of spiritual defiance. because when we turn back a page into chapter 16 and verse 33, it gives us a little bit more insight about Ahab. It says that Ahab made a grove and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. So this man, my, he did more to provoke the Lord to anger than any who had gone before him. He defied the God of heaven. He defied the God of Israel and led my Israel away from God. It was a day not only of spiritual departure and spiritual decline and spiritual defiance, it was a day of spiritual darkness. because of the moral and spiritual condition of the nation, God sent a drought and it neither rained nor was there dew for three and a half years. So I trust that you're getting the same spiritual spiritual decline. And when we apply this to our day, my, there's a spiritual barrenness in the land. Yes, we as a nation have turned to idols. We've got away from God. Many years ago in the House of Commons in London, It was not an unknown thing for the Scriptures to be referred to. But if you're referred to the Scriptures today, you would be laughed at because a big lot who's there don't even believe in God, nor have they any time for the Word of God. My dear friends, my many have turned to wilds. We have departed from the ways of God We have departed from the word of God. No longer does the first day of the week or Sunday mean anything to many people. By today, it's a day for the golf course, for the shops, for wishing the car, or whatever it is, but for the majority, it's certainly not a day for God, nor his house, nor for his word. And that's the day in which we live. I don't need to emphasize that tonight. And you know, the fact of the matter is this, that there's a barrenness on our land barrenness. Yea, God, it seems, has shut up the heavens. We seem to be living in a day of spiritual drought and spiritual dearth. Now, I move around a lot more than I did before I retired. You come to your own church here, and I'm sure you thank God, or you should thank God, for my being able to come where the Word of God is preached and the gospel is proclaimed. But I move around a lot more today, and I believe that there's a dearth. There's a spiritual dearth. upon our land. My dear friends, I wonder, have we lost our vision? It seems today, have we lost our love for the Lord? Have we lost the vision for souls and for the desire of God's Word? wonder have we as individuals lost our first love. But when we compare today to the day in which Elijah lived in Israel, my, we see how the two compare the one to the other. You know, Way back in the book of Psalms, if you just keep your finger in there and turn to Psalm 106 for a little moment. Psalm 106. And this is known as a historical, as a historical Psalm. Psalm 106. And we find here that The psalmist remembers how God blessed Israel and delivered them from bondage. And he says in verse 13 of Psalm 106, it says, verse 12, then they believed his words and sang praise. They soon forgot his works. They waited not for his counsel. You know, God had blessed them, and they could sing praise to him because of his works, but they soon forgot. They soon forgot his works and waited not upon his counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert. looked for other things as they traveled through the wilderness, and it says he gave them their request. God gave them what they wanted. Remember, there was a time when they wanted a king, and God gave them a king, and he gave them Saul. And what a disaster that turned out to be. But it says here, they lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert. He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul. He sent leanness into their soul. And dear friends, we need to be careful what we ask God for, because he may give you what you want, but he can send leanness into your soul. And we find here that Elijah came and he challenged the prophets of Baal. We're back again in 1 Kings chapter 17. We find that Elijah comes and he challenges the prophets of Baal here. And you remember he says to them here that, you take a bullock and I'll take a bullock. I'm dead. cut him in pieces. I'm down in verse twenty-three here of first Kings eighteen. He says, cut him in pieces and lay it on the wood and put no fire under it and I will dress the other bullock and lay it on the wood and put no fire under and he says, you call upon the name of your gods and I will call upon the name of the lord and the god And so they agreed. And so Elijah said to the prophets, choose ye a bullock, and they did that. And they did as Elijah had said. And it says that they called upon God from morning, called upon the name of Beal, verse 26, from morning even until evening, saying, O Beal, hear us. But there was no voice nor any that answered. and they leaped upon the altar which was made. And then we find it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked him. Why, Elijah mocked him and he said, cry aloud for, you know, either he's talking or he's pursuing or he's in a journey. Peradventure he sleepeth. must be away. And they cried aloud and they cut themselves after their manor with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them. And you see, friends, here's these false prophets, and they're calling upon their God and Elijah's challenging them to prove that their God lives. He's challenging them to prove that their God can hear them. He's challenging them to prove that God can come and answer their cry. And we find, we see their falseness and we see their failure, and we see their feebleness, and we see their folly, the folly of these idols. And we see their effort, and their energy, and their excitement, and their emotion. And you know, there was no answer. There was no fire. There was no power. in verse 40, verse 30. And Elijah said unto the people, come near unto me. And so Elijah now, it's his turn to call upon his God. Elijah says, come near unto me. And the people came near unto him. And it said he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. You know, friends, the first thing that confronted Elijah that day was the broken altar. The altar of the Lord was broken down. And the broken altar was a terrible indictment upon the people of God, it was an indictment upon their spiritual state at that particular moment. You know, the altar was the place of worship in Israel, and the fact that it had broken down, my, would tell us that it was not being used. It was being neglected, it hadn't been visited. It was grown up with weeds. The weeds of neglect had grown around it, and it's easy to see that the people were away from God and were out of touch with God. Brethren and sisters, we need to take a breath and ask ourselves this question. Is there broken altars in our lives? Is there broken altars? Has the weeds of apathy grown up around our spiritual life? Or neglect the weeds of neglect? Has the weeds of lukewarmness got into many churches today? Have we become like lead a seal was of old? My dear friends, have we been Are we neglecting our prayer life? My dear friends, we see here broken altars, broken altars. My, the people were so far away from God that they had forsaken the altar and forgotten God, and they were out of touch with God. And we look around us today, and we look out on our nation, and we see the many broken altars. But then we see here that Elijah seems seeks to do something about it. We see here, my Elijah sought to lead the people back to the place of blessing. And he began by repairing, repairing the altar. He repaired the altar of the Lord that had broken down. That's the first thing he did. He put right that which was wrong. And that should be the place of beginning for all of us. That's the place where blessing begins. That's the beginning of the road to blessing, to put right that which is wrong. Dear friend, if we want blessing from heaven, and we want God's presence and God's power in our lives, then we need to put right the things which are wrong in our lives. I don't know what things are wrong in your life, I only know what things are wrong in my life. And it's my responsibility to deal with those things, and it's your responsibility to look at yourself. My dear friends, if the altar of our quiet time has been neglected and broken down, we need to repair it. Likewise, our prayer life, we need to put right the altars that have broken down. So here's this man, this prophet, and my, there's barrenness. and their sinfulness, and the people have followed Beal, and followed Ahab and Jezebel, and now this man is rising, and it seems out of nowhere, and he's seeking to make a mark for God, and he's seeking to turn the people around from their folly, and bring them back to the God of their salvation, and he begins by repairing the altar. And then we see in verse 31 to 33, it goes on here, and it says, Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, onto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and let him on the wood. And the second thing we see here is that he's obeying the word. He's obeying the word. You see, he took 12 stones and made an altar. Now the nation of Israel was comprised of 12 tribes. At that particular time, they were divided. There was the ten tribes, and there was the two tribes. But Elijah saw them as one, and he built an altar and put the wood in order. took the bullock and cut it in pieces and put it on the altar. And you see, when Elijah did that, he was following the pattern that was led down by Moses in the law. He just wasn't doing it, you know, any welly old way. He was following a pattern that was led down in the law by Moses. If you just keep your finger in there and go over into the book of Leviticus, Leviticus chapter one. And here at the beginning of the book of Leviticus, we have the offerings, the teaching of the offerings. And of course, chapter one is about the burnt offering. And it's very interesting what it says about the burnt offering. Verse seven, Leviticus one, verse seven. And it says, the sons of Aaron, the priest, shall put fire upon the altar and lay the wood in order upon the fire. And the priest, Aaron's son, shall lay the parts, the head and the fat in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar. But his inwards and his legs shall he wash in water, and the priest shall burn all on the altar to be a burnt sacrifice, an offering made by fire of a sweet savour unto the Lord. And you see, Elijah was following the pattern that was led down in Leviticus by the law of Moses. He was putting things in order according to the Word. Putting things in order according to the Word. Elijah was following the Word. He was following the word. Brethren and sisters, we've got away from the word now. Every man wants to do that which is right in his own eyes. That's where we are today. Sometimes even in church life, people ignore the word. my but but this man Elijah he was following the word following the pattern let down in the word and I believe that in the New Testament church not the New Testament church needs to follow the pattern let down and the New Testament for God has given us a pattern. It's in His Word. The Holy Scriptures, the Bible, is the final authority for everything in the church. We get our authority for church life on church worship in the Word. in the Word, not by some handbook that came from a committee or a number of people. But my dear friends, the Word of God is important. The Word of God is important. Yes. You see, we ought to be living according to the Word. That is if we want to survive. and make a mark for God in this dark world. We need to be living according to the word. We need to be worshiping according to the word. Why we spread a table in Baptist churches every Lord's Day morning? Why? Because it's according to the word. It's according to the word. Yes, we need to be living according to the Word. We need to be worshiping according to the Word. We need to be serving according to the Word. In other words, brethren and sisters, we need to get back to the Word. We need to get back to the Word of God. And my, if we could only get back to the Word of God and seek to follow it, I'm sure we would see blessing. I'm sure we would. So we see here, here's Elijah, and he's in this period, this land of Israel, and they followed Baal, they've gone after Baal, and he's seeking to bring the people back. He's seeking to make an impact for God. And so we see him repairing the altar and obeying the word. And then it says here in verse 35, verse 33, it says, and they put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and led him on the wood. And we see him now taking the bullock, cutting it in pieces and putting it on the wood on the altar, on the top of the altar. And we see him now exalting the sacrifice. exalting the sacrifice. You know, these sacrifices, these offerings that we read about in the Old Testament by the offerings in Leviticus, the burnt offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering, and the meat offering, and the peace offering, and all these other offerings, they were all typical of that one offering. They were all pointing to Calvary. were all pointing to the cross, all pointing to the cross. And he placed the sacrifice at the very top of the altar. He exalted the sacrifice. Dear friends, we need to keep the cross in view. We need to exalt the sacrifice. We preach Christ crucified. God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. My dear friends, we need to bring people to the cross. We need to let them see the one who died on yonder tree at Calvary, bleeding and dying and shedding his blood and finishing the work. And we need to let them see that through that sacrifice, a provision was made that'll meet their need for all eternity. It's sad to say, many churches today have no gospel meeting, or it's being phased out, or some reference is made about being saved, or the cross, or whatever. I'm not here to criticize tonight everybody to their own, but I'm here to say what I believe and what the Bible teaches us. And I believe that every New Testament church should have an evangelistic outreach. I believe there should be at least one meeting every Sunday where it's evangelistic, where the gospel is preached. and where Christ is presented, and where souls are brought face to face with a mighty, living, wonder-working Savior, is able to transform their lives and give them hope for this day and age in which we live. My dear friends, here's Elijah repairing the altar, obeying the Word, exalting the sacrifice. Then it goes on here in verse verse thirty-three at the end of it, it says, and the burnt offering on the wood and and he said, do it the second time, fell four bottles of water, verse thirty-three and poured it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood and he said, do it the second time and they did it the second time and he he said, do it the third time and they did it the third time and the water ran around about the altar and he filled the The flooding of the offering on the altar with so much water made it impossible for any fire but divine fire to consume it. It was saturated with water, and it made it impossible for any fire but divine fire to consume it. You know, friends, my, he was trusting in the Lord. In this, we see the greatness of the prophet's faith. His faith was in God, alone. He wasn't looking for gimmicks or for sideshows or for anything like that. My, it's God that we need to move. in our deaths. God, we need to move. Then it says here, verse 36, and it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near. He drew near. He drew near to God. Yes, Elijah the prophet drew near. and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that our God in Israel and that I am thy servant and that I've done all these things at thy that this day, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou hast turned their heart back again. And we see him now, we see him now seeking the Lord's face in prayer. He had done everything that he personally could do. He repaired the altar. He's obeying the word according to the order of God's word. He's exalting the sacrifice. He's flooding the altar and trusting the Lord, and now he's seeking God's face, and he's crying to God to come in and to move and to send the fire, and the answer is prayer. My dear friends, Elijah came to the Lord, and he asked God to intervene. And he's praying, Lord, let it be known that thou art God, God in Israel. He's praying for revelation. Lord, would you reveal yourself and show that you're God in Israel. That bill is a falsehood. That bill is a nonsense. That these prophets have led your people astray and he's asking God to intervene and to show his people and to bring them back to that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I've done these things at thy word." And he's praying for glorification, praying that God would be glorified. He says, Lord, just show them that I'm just your servant. That's all. I've done these things at your command, at your word. And he says, Hear me, O Lord, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again." And he's praying for restoration, to turn them back again. Now we see Elijah's earnest prayer here. He's meaning business for God. And as we've gone down it, we see him repairing the altar, putting things right which are wrong, We see him obeying the word, following the pattern laid down in the word. We see him exalting the sacrifice. We see him trusting the Lord when he flooded the altar. And it says here, verse 38, then, then, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, he is the Lord God. The Lord, he is the God. Dear friends, we see here that Elijah experienced the power and the blessing of God. He experienced a visitation from God in heaven. My, it's very interesting to contrast that with what happened on the day of Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Ghost came, baptized every believer into the church, and my, the church went forth with power and the blessing of God upon it. My dear friends, tonight, We need a visitation of the Spirit's power. My, we need God to come. We need God to work. This land needs a visitation from God. I was at a conference not so long ago, maybe a few months ago, People were talking about why we don't see so many people saved now, and why there's not so much growth in the church, why young people are not coming forward to be baptized, and all this, and different speakers got up and they suggested things that might help things. And then one man got up and he said, Brethren, Today, I agree with all the things that these people have said. I agree with what they've said, but he said, I just want to say this. The thing we need most of all today is for God to come. We need a visitation of the Holy Spirit of God. That's our only hope. That's our only hope. Have I asked for a show of hands tonight for all those in the meeting who wanted to see revival in their day before death took them when the Lord came for them. I believe every hand in this meeting would go up. Every hand would go up. We all want it. Brethren and sisters, It begins by repairing the altar, putting right the things that are wrong, repairing the altar, and it continues with obeying the Word and getting back to the Word, getting back to the Word. And there needs to be the exalting of the sacrifice and trusting in God. And there needs to be this fervent prayer that goes up to heaven. You remember the four men at Kells, my Jeremiah Minele, James McQuilken, Robert Carlyle, and John Wallace. And they gathered on that Friday night and prayed for God to come and visit Ulster. And he came. And it happened. Oh, for the floods on a thirsty land. Oh, for a mighty revival. Oh, for that sanctified, fearless bond waiting to heal its arrival. Dear friends, here was a man who lived in a society without standards. They followed Baal, they worshiped Baal, they pursued God, but here was a man, Elijah, who made his mark for God and made an impact in that day in such a way that through God's visitation, the people were brought back from the falsehoods of Baal. to the living God of Israel and God was glorified. Oh, that we might have that experience. Oh, that we might make our mark in our day and that we might see God work as he did on that day. May God bless his word to our hearts tonight. Amen.