IT'S TIME TO THROW A PARTY

By Rev. Harold Mauldin

I Kings 18: 21-24

It's time to throw a party! God is looking for someone who is not ashamed to worship Him. God is a God of praise. God is a God of worship. If you want to see God do great things then you must be willing to throw a party.

A party is defined as a body of persons, an organization of people acting together; a person involved in some action.

Elijah was a party animal. He knew how to get things fired up. Our churches need revival. Our youth need excitement. We need some people to start a worship service that really gets God's attention. It's time to throw a party.

In I Kings 18: 21-39, we find a party taking place. Gathered at this party were 450 prophets of Baal and Elijah. Elijah was a man of God. He knew what it was like to live in a drought. He knew what it was like to live in a cave. He knew what it was like to be hated and hunted. But most importantly, he knew how to party!!

Hey Pastors, if you want your youth to get excited, you need to get excited. The pastor needs to be the best teacher, preacher and leader in the church. Every once in a while you need to stop, drop and throw a party. Shout to the Lord! Leap! Run! Sing and just get downright crazy for the Lord. David helped revive an entire nation by throwing a party when the Ark came back to town.

Elijah said, "How long halt ye between two opinions?" Hey, if God is God, serve Him. If the things of the world are, then serve them. Make up your mind. Elijah had a plan. He knew that God was a God of fire. It's not enough to know God is fire. You gotta know how to bring the fire down. Ya gotta know how to party.

In order to get God's attention you need two things. You need an altar and you need a sacrifice. The altar serves a three-fold purpose. It leads us to death, burial and resurrection. In the Old Testament, every man of God knew how to build an altar. The first thing Noah built when he got off the ark was an altar. The altar is where we die out. It leads us to burial (Baptism), for we are buried with him in baptism to walk in newness of life (resurrection). An altar needs a sacrifice on it to be effective. God is attracted to sacrifice. The best way to party in God's eyes is to be the sacrifice. The word revive means to bring back to life, to renew or refresh. A revival without an altar and without sacrifice is not worth having. The last thing we need in a revival is a bunch of party-poopers. Get up, get moving and throw a party.

It's easy to build an altar, all it takes is wood, nails and brains. But to sacrifice, it's gonna cost. It's like a battery. You have the negative and the positive to make it work. You need people in your church that are grounded for God. They are stable and are always there when ya need them. You also need some lively stones in the church: people that are always looking for a reason to rejoice. Thank God for Paul, he knows doctrine. But we also need Elijahs who know how to party.

We need to learn the call of God. Ya got a problem? Call on God. Need a miracle? Call on God. Need a friend? Call on God. Need a fired-up party? Call on God. He will answer by fire. If you want God to get fired up, you need to get fired up.

Elijah was giving an invitation to a demonstration. He had total confidence in God. Remember, Elijah was at the end of a water drought. He had not seen rain for 3 1/2 years. Why didn't he ask for rain instead of fire? Because it's not enough to get baptized ... ya need fire. John the Baptist said, I indeed baptize you unto repentance, but one greater is coming who will baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.

The false prophets tried to get Baal to send the fire down. Never ask dead people to send fire down. To get a good revival fire started, you need an altar, and a sacrifice. After the prophets of Baal finished their stuff, Elijah took over. We need anointed men of God to lead us. There is a Laodicean church arising. A true church will want to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and follow the man of God as well.

There are six things Elijah did when it came time to get God's attention in the party. The first thing he did was to gather the people in. We must be in one mind and one accord for God to send the Holy Ghost fire. Sinners need to see our God in action. It is only seen through us as we praise God.

The second thing Elijah did was to repair the altar that had been broken. Where is your altar today? Do you have one? Is it being used or is it broken down? Do you need to repair your altar? Oh, by the way, a true altar is always built on biblical order. Elijah took twelve stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel. The altar must be built on the Rock. It must be done in Jesus Name.

The third thing Elijah did was to dig a trench. Will your life hold water? Is your altar prepared for an overflow? Are you prepared to throw water on your altar in the middle of a drought? Do you really think God can consume you even though you think your dreams are washed away? Before the fire can consume us, we must be washed by the word.

The fourth thing Elijah did was to cut the sacrifice. Present your bodies a living sacrifice. God is drawn to broken people. Lay it all down on the altar and watch God consume it.

The fifth thing Elijah did at this party was to water the altar down. God cannot consume us if we are not willing to be washed. Baptism prepares us to walk in the fire. Elijah knew God was not limited to wet wood. He made the water, He made the wood, He made the sacrifice and He is the all consuming fire. Get fired up.

The last thing Elijah did was pray. Prayer changes things. Prayer changes people. Prayer will bring down fire. Notice that the prayer was not long or drawn out. Why? Because prayer from the heart is what God responds to. It's the spark that ignites the fire. Most revivals are started behind closed doors. It's the prayers in private that start the parties. Be a party animal ......party often.

God consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the dust. The fire also licked up the water in the trench. Let the Lord arise, and the enemy will be scattered. The enemy was destroyed that day because God consumed the altar.

The Bible says in James 5: 16-18, confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. 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 3 1/2 years and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit.

We are like Elijah today. We can start a firestorm. Throw a party. Get excited. Let Heaven come down to earth.

In Acts 16: 16-26, We find a couple of party animals, Paul and Silas. They were men of God who were going to pray. Remember, prayer is a key ingredient to a party-like atmosphere. A woman followed them many days saying these men were servants of the most High God who showed the way of salvation!! Nag Nag Nag!!!! She tried to ruin a good party. Paul finally had enough and rebuked the spirit in the woman. Then the party really got started.

They were called troublemakers (party animals). They teach customs which cannot be received (party animals). They beat them and threw them into the inner prison. Turn out the lights, the party's over... no way !!! You cannot put out a real fire, even in the darkest hour. Even in prison we can praise God.

Stop focusing on your problems and start looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Paul and Silas were in the inner prison, in bondage but they had a song!!

They prayed, sang praises and made the jailhouse rock!!! Then they invited God (by worship) and the whole jail started shaking and quaking from the presence of God. God knows how to crash a party.

Get free!! Start a party! Revive your church. Revive your spirit. Let's throw a party. Lift Him up above the earth and He will draw us to Him ... it's time to throw a party!!!