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REVIVAL LET DOWN
I Kings 19:14-18
Sunday Night Sermon
June 21, 1998
Fair Avenue Baptist Church
Elijah wins a great victory for the Lord against the prophets of Baal. He prays down fire from heaven. What a great day.
But just a few days later he is running from Ahab and Jezebel.
A great victory over the enemy,
Then running from the enemy.
See if this describes you. You go to Teen Camp and hear the preaching and the Word of God speaks to your heart. You listen to the Holy Spirit and go to the altar to make a decision for the Lord.
That decision might be for full-time Christian service,
or to give up the wrong music,
or to read your Bible more,
or to go soul winning,
or whatever that decision might be.
Camp was so much fun.
The spirit was good.
You enjoyed the singing.
The preaching spoke to your heart.
It seemed like it would be so easy to serve the Lord now.
Devotions every night.
It seemed like it would be easy to come home and do something for the Lord.
And then you got on the bus to go home.
It was a good trip, even if it was hot, really hot.
And you really intended to do right.
You intended to go soul winning.
You were going to read your Bible.
You were going to pray.
But it was a struggle less than 24 hours from camp.
And here we are on Sunday night, 48 hours from camp,
and it is already hard to live for the Lord.
Now, you’re home.
Mom and Dad are just a little different from Mike Ray.
Your home is just a little different from camp.
On Thursday night you had the victory,
You were just like Elijah,
On Sunday night you are finding it hard.
Just like Elijah.
You’re suffering Revival Let-Down.
How about this one?
You go to the God Save America Conference and hear some outstanding preachers such as Keith Gomez, Bob Smith, Ron Gearis, Jack Hyles, and others.
The singing is great,
The preaching is great,
The AMENS are everywhere,
You found yourself saying “AMEN,”
You found yourself shouting “AMEN,”
The Spirit of God seemed almost everywhere,
And you really enjoyed being there.
You got fired up,
Determined to do something for the Lord,
You were excited,
You just knew you had the victory,
But then you came home.
The singing wasn’t quite as good,
The preaching certainly wasn’t as good,
It was kind of quiet with a lot fewer AMENS.
And now you’re suffering from Revival Let-Down.
Elijah won a great victory,
And then just a short time later he thought he was the only left who was serving God.
You go to Teen Camp,
There are a whole lot of teenagers who are right with God,
Serving the Lord in their church,
They want to do right,
They listen and pay attention,
A large majority are on the right track.
But back home it is a little different.
In fact, it is just the opposite.
Most do not want to live for the Lord.
The Spirit of God is not in control.
You go to a preaching conference,
You go to Pastor’s School,
You are surrounded by a very large percentage of people on fire for the Lord.
You hear the shouting,
You hear the AMENS,
There is so much in common.
But back home it different.
Most people are not on fire for the Lord,
Good people, but not excited about the Lord’s work,
Not nearly as many AMENS,
And you feel like something is wrong.
You’re suffering from Revival Let-Down.
Elijah won a major victory,
Then he suffered a severe defeat.
We’ve had teenagers who won a major victory at Teen Camp,
Then they’ve suffered a defeat.
We’ve had people get fired up for the Lord,
Turned their life around,
Been excited about the Lord,
Started serving the Lord,
Excited about church,
Excited about the Lord’s work,
But they have now suffered a defeat.
How does this happen?
Three things:
1. You Fail To Keep God First
2. You Are Ignorant Of Satan’s Devices
3. You Fall In Love With The World Again
1. You Fail To Keep God First
Matt. 6:33
Deut. 4:29
It is so easy to fall back into our old routines and fail to keep God first.
He is there,
He wants our love and devotion,
But it is so easy to forget Him.
Our job gets first priority,
Our hobbies get first priority,
Our family activities get first priority,
Our extra job gets first priority.
And where we once had the victory,
Now we have defeat.
1. We fail to keep God first
2. We Are Simply Ignorant Of Satan’s Devices
II Cor. 2:11
I Peter 5:8
I Thess. 3:5
Simply put, Satan is smarter than we are and because we fail to keep God first, old Slewfoot sneaks in and gets us.
He knows our weaknesses and will immediately start attacking us there.
And since we failed to keep God first, Satan’s devices get us.
And the Tempter comes and tempts us,
And we have failed to keep God first,
And now the labor is in vain.
The Devil won the victory,
And God took another defeat.
(a) The Temptation of Money
I Tim. 6:10
Prov. 15:27
Whether you’re a teenager or adult, the love of money will get you.
The love of money will cause you to fail to put God first,
it will cause you to put that job ahead of God and His church,
and it will lead you astray.
That love of money will eventually trouble your house.
You’ll neglect your children,
You’ll neglect your wife,
You’ll neglect your spiritual life,
And it will get you.
(a) The Temptation of Money
(b) The Temptation of the World
II Tim. 4:10
Demas was a fellowlaborer with Paul according to Col. 4:14 and Philemon 24.
But the world got him,
The temptation of the world got him,
And it gets many a good Christian.
And that leads me to my last point.
1. We fail to keep God first
2. We are ignorant of Satan’s devices
3. We Fall In Love With The World Again
I John 2:15
I Cor. 7:31
Rom. 12:2
II Tim. 2:4
When the Word of God tells us not to love this world, it means exactly what it says.
When the Word of God tells us that the fashion of this world will pass away, it means exactly what it says.
When the Word of God tells us that we are not to be conformed to this world, it means exactly what it says.
When the Word of God tells us not to entangle ourselves with the world, it means exactly what it says.
WHY?
Because God knows that the world will get us if it can, and it often does.
You got excited about the things of God,
You put God first,
You wanted to do right,
BUT,
We fail to keep God first,
We are ignorant of Satan’s devices,
We fall in love with the world again.
And we end up away from God.
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