The Elijah Generation
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This is a message that I have preached variations of many times.
When God spoke this into my heart, I was still getting my first degree at SAGU.
It has shaped the way I do ministry and my perspective on the purpose of the church.
I believe this is not a plan B for God. He has not changed His mind, His intents, or His will for His bride…
This is the plan of God. It has always been the plan of God. And when it all wraps up, it will be just as He said…
20 So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
21 Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word.
Pray
Contextualize:
Tell story of Elijah on mount caramel.
Many stories in the O.T. that give a picture of things to come such as the story of Elijah on Mount Caramel.
"Typologies"
Hebrews uses Israel in the desert as a typology of a current day people who might “miss the rest” as Israel did on the Jordan river.
Paul uses Adam as a typology of Jesus:
Romans 5:14 (NASB95)
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Elijah is a picture, foreshadowing, a typology of a what is to come.
5 “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord.
6 “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
This is the origin of the scribes saying Elijah had to come before the Christ, but Jesus’ answer to this was:
11 And He answered and said, “Elijah is coming and will restore all things;
12 but I say to you that Elijah already came, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they wished. So also the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.”
In theology, this is called “Dual Fulfillment”
He is coming, but he has already came……
I believe a fulfillment of this prophecy is found in a Generation of people that move in the Spirit of and power of Elijah as John the Baptist.
17 “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
The purpose of this Elijah Generation is to make ready a people prepared for The Lord!
Generations: Not the Kids or Youth or Young Adults… Not a generation like man would describe…
The bible says an evil generation fell in the wilderness, but Caleb and Joshua lived to claim the promise they contended for.
Caleb was 85 when he took his mountain in the promised land..
Jesus said this “generation” will not pass away until His prophecies of the end come to pass, because the scriptural use of a generation is not always based around age…
I say all that to say, when I say generation, don’t think about someone else from a different age group.
I believe we are living in the last days and we will see a generation that operates in the Spirit and Power of Elijah, just as John the Baptist.
Just like Elijah, I believe this last days people God is going to use will show up out of nowhere.…
When Elijah shows up on the scene in 1 Kings 17, we aren’t given a history or a genealogy.
He’s not part of a prominent family, he isn’t in a notable bloodline, he doesn’t enter with an entourage or accolades, he just shows up with a word from the Lord…
I believe there is a move of God that will happen and has already begun to happen in these last days and it is not going to be based around a central location, or a central personality.
This move is going to appear in places that no one recognizes, from people that have no significant history, but they have a word from the Lord……
For this people: Emotionalism, mysticism will not work any longer “Because I feel it” will not be enough for this Elijah generation.
28 So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them.
It was the custom of Baal worshippers to put themselves into extreme states of mind using emotionalism and hype and when that didn’t work they would add a physical layer by cutting themselves.
Elijah didn’t work himself up in an emotional lather. He didn’t invoke a convincing emotional display or persuasive argument.
For this generation a good argument will not be enough to persuade them.
John the Baptist operated in the same Spirit as Elijah and when his disciples came and asked what they should tell him…
4 Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see:
5 the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.
His proof was not his argument, his proof was the power!
Where now is the Lord, God of Elijah?
The entire focus of this people is to make ready a people prepared for the Lord…
In order to reach the world - this Generation will Lay self on alter as a living sacrifice.
They will die to self on the alter of God's holiness
Not my will, but Thine
There must be something that separates us from the world
Not because we dress different
Not because we don't watch movies
Not because we talk funny - pleading the blood, hedges of protection
But because there is the fragrance of His presence all around us
Because there is the evidence of prayer on our lives
Because there is the power of His Glory all about us
Woman healed of stomach issue
Peter's Shadow;
Paul's clothes
It comes from being laid on the alter of prayer, and dying to self!
Romans 12:1 – “I beseech ye therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” (ESV – “true worship”)
This is the Time to be:
Completely sold out, radical without apology, all-in beyond reproach
As the Generation who will usher in the Lord, you are to be radical about everything you do.
We must be as radical about God as the world is about sin
There must be a determination & a distinction that catches the attention of the world today
the world is tired of mediocre hypocritical believers
What is needed are some sold out, born again, tongue talkin, hand layin, devil cursing, body healing Christians that are radicle about their faith, & love unconditionally
We need some Christians that aren't afraid to stand as Elisha did and call out the impossible saying, "Where now is The Lord, God of Elijah?"
We must be radical enough to stand on the Mount Carmel of this generation and Call down fire!
-Elijah stood in front of all the prophets of Baal, and called down fire as proof of God's power
Elijah had faith God would answer
How can we reach people without believing completely what we are trying to convince them of?
It is time to move By faith: & work in the realm of the impossible
Hebrews 11:1 – “Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.”
Faith is the evidence of the unseen realm, but what is the evidence for your faith?
James says faith without works is dead.
The evidence for faith is also the very thing that keeps it alive.
Faith produces fruit in your life
Faith shapes the way you walk, and the way you talk
It is time for believers to speak with fire and authority.
Faith the size of a mustard seed - moves mountains
Your words, when paired with faith in action will cause a shift in the atmosphere
The Gospel is not simply the story of Jesus, but it is the "POWER of God for the salvation of all those who believe." Romans 1:16
4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
5 so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.
The evidence of your faith will be your greatest tool of evangelism… People want evidence…
Your faith is the evidence of an unseen realm..
Faith shown through your lifestyle
Faith shown through your speech
Faith shown through your habits
Faith shown through your love
Faith shown through God's power working through you...
How much faith would someone have if you walked up and initiated the gifts of prophecy and word of knowledge!?
Would working in the supernatural by faith not be more effective than debating the existence of God?
Jesus apparently thought so, everywhere he went signs and miracles and wonders were his sign of authority, & love was His medium of communication
It's time for the church to rise up into a radical lifestyle that pushes in prayer for the supernatural to break into the natural realm!
-Elijah stood in front of all the prophets of Baal, and called down fire!!
It is time for us, as the generation who will prepare the people for the return of Jesus to:
Call down fire
(Not physical, but spiritual. The fire of angels/ Gods presence)
Hebrews 12:29 – “for our God is a consuming fire.”
It was the fire that loosed shadrack mishack and abendago in Daniel 3.
It’s the fire that brings healing
It’s the fire that causes demons to manifest
It’s the fire that brings deliverance
It’s the fire that kills cancer
And the fire is not an option.
The fire is a life source.
The fire can only come from being in the presence of God, from experiencing the Glory of God
2 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed.
Malachi 3:2 – “For He is like a refiner’s fire…”
16 John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
On the Day of Pentecost, they were baptized in the Spirit and with FIRE.
In order to operate in power, one must be consumed with God’s fire
Once you have gone through the fire of God, you will walk in power of His might.
The time of debate is over.
We live in a time when reason means nothing, where logic is scorned, and as such people stay confused.
This world is confused about what they believe, confused about who they are, confused about their sexuality, confused about their own identity and gender.
And in they are confused because they have thrown logic and understanding to the way side.
So the time of debate is over.
“If Baal be god, follow him, but if the Lord be God, follow Him.”
If you want religion, follow religion, but if you want God, FOLLOW GOD!
If:
Homosexuality
Self-mutilation
Witchcraft
Voodoo
Abuse
Alcoholism
Drug addiction
Depression
Sexual immorality
Demonic Possession
False Religions
Buddhism
Satanism
Hinduism
Emotionalism
New Age
If these are what you want, then go for it,
If you want dead dry religion, that divides, go for it
But there is only one God that answers by FIRE!
He is more than a God of "feeling" He is a God of POWER!
When God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt, He did not prove that He was God by making the Egyptians feel goose bumps.
He did not make them get shivers down their spine,
He brought one plague after another, one miraculous sign after another,
until the magicians couldn’t replicate it
until the wise men couldn’t explain it
Until Pharaoh couldn't handle it
He’s still the same God today!
AND HE will move through you!
until witches and warlocks repent
until the fortune tellers shut their mouths
until the doctors are confused
until the cancer dries up
until the demons are cast out
until the mountains move
until poverty is cursed
and prosperity is released
until the dead are raised
until the assignment of the enemy is cancelled
until no weapon formed against you is able to prosper
until all Hell is alerted
until demons run and flee
God will do the impossible!
and He will do it through you!
CLOSING: Call Mary
The power vacuum in the church allows cults and false prophetic gifts to flourish. But there will be no contest and such counterfeits go up against this Elijah Generation that becomes clothed with heaven’s power on the Mount Carmel of human reasoning. – Bill Johnson
4 and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,
YOU are called to move in power!
12 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father.
YOU are called to be a part of this Elijah Generation.
YOU will move in power!
YOU are called to live in victory, and in a radical lifestyle that relies on the power of God!!!
YOU are to get ready a people prepared for the Lord..
Text from Pastor Thomas this morning:
And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Romans. 13:11:KJV
Alter Call for Miracles, deliverance, and salvation.