Louie Giglio - Desperate, All Consuming Fire
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We want You, God. I want You, God. That’s what this collection is about. And there are moments when we’re creating space for that. We had a day of prayer a few weeks ago. We’re going to have another day of prayer coming up in a few weeks that you’re going to hear about, and you can come in the morning, midday, or after work, and come into our house with the people of our house and seek God. And we’re going to do more and more of that in the future. But the key is that we understand you don’t need to put something new in your flow to seek God.
What we need to do is to put a desire for God in all the things that are already in our flow. In other words, when you wake up in the morning, the first thing you do is think, «I want You, God.» When you’re walking into the gym tomorrow, you’re walking through the gym door going, «God, I want You.» I do want bigger biceps, and I do want better fitness, and I do want the community and my brothers and sisters at the gym, but I want You, God. I want You in this gym today.
You’re in the carpool drop-off line, and you’re thinking, «God, I want You.» You’re in your morning chair going, «God, I want You.» You’re walking into that business breakfast, and on your mind is, «God, I want You. This guy needs You. This lady needs You. Make me available to You today at this breakfast. Not just to network and to take a step towards doing a deal and building a business. God, I want You at this breakfast today. I’m desperate, God, for You in my life.»
On that Zoom call, and you’re clicking «join meeting,» and you’re like, «God, I want You. God, I want You.» You’re on the commute; you’ve got time. You have 45 minutes. You have an hour and 10 minutes. «God, I want You. I want You.» That’s an attitude. That’s a posture of the heart. And that’s where God wants us to be.
He wants us to understand that when God comes, everything that is not God is consumed in the light of His glory. Do you want that? Do you want God in such a way that when He comes, everything that is not God is consumed in the light of His glory? We see this in the Jezreel Valley in Israel on Mount Carmel, this showdown between Elijah and all the prophets of Baal. And we see what God is inviting us into today. And it’s beautiful and powerful to give you a little bit of the backdrop on this story.
We can’t really get all the way down into it today for time’s sake, but Ahab is the king in Israel, the northern kingdom. And Ahab’s terrible. He’s terrible like his father was terrible. And he’s married to Jezebel, and she’s worse. Her intention is to kill all the prophets of God, and she is on a mission to do that.
She is the antichrist in the Old Testament. She is against the prophet. She is against the word of God, against the knowledge of God. And she has the ability because of her leverage with Ahab to literally wipe out all the prophets of God. She has her own prophets, the prophets of Baal, this idol that is worshiped among the people; the prophets of Asherah, another idol that’s worshiped among the people. Ahab and Jezebel are a one-two punch of terrible leadership and spiritual decay. But there is a prophet, Elijah, and he is fierce in his desire to see God glorified among the people.
So he has this encounter with Ahab, and this is a miracle encounter because he should die, but God is going to save him. We’ll pick it up in verse 16. This is First Kings 18. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah. And when he saw Elijah, this is Ahab the king, he said to him, «Is that you, you troubler of Israel?» And Elijah replies to him, «I’ve not made trouble for Israel, but you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals. Now, summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel.»
Now, I just would say again, a footnote really fast. I’ve been to this place. This is real talk, okay? This is not some Bible story. This is a real place. You can go there. I would recommend that you do. I would recommend that you save up your money, travel to Israel, go to Mount Carmel, stand on the spot that we are reading about today, and know that God, the God of all creation, is still moving in the earth just like He did on this day on Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel is in the valley of Jezreel. Just a little footnote again. In this valley is a place called Megiddo. And a lot of this comes from the language of Armageddon.
Many people think that it’s all going down in the Jezreel Valley; that Armageddon is going to happen right there. You can go stand and look over the valley and imagine that it might all come down right here. But it’s all coming down right here today. It says, «Meet me on Mount Carmel and bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.» So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
Elijah went before the people and he said, and obviously, you’re going to see what the message for all of us is today right in the text. He said to the people, «How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, follow him.» But the people said nothing.
Then Elijah said to them, «I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has 450 prophets. So get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood, but not set fire to it. I’ll prepare the other bull and put it on the wood, but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your God, little g, God, and I will call on the name of the Lord, the God who answers by fire. He is God.»
So before this gathering is over, we’re going to be introducing the idea of God coming as fire. Not coming politely and saying, «Hi, I’m Yahweh. How are you today?» but coming in all of His glory and consuming everything that’s not God. This is how God moves. God does not move into situations and go, «Oh, okay. Yeah, can I just get a little edge on the table there? Hey, how’s everybody doing?» No, He comes in in His glory. And He says, «I’m not sharing My glory with anybody. It’s all Me all the time. That’s how I’d like to come.»
Does anybody still want God? Because we say, «God, I want You.» But what we’re really saying to God is, «I have reserved a solid third of my table for You, and I would love it if You would come to my table.» He’s like, «Get rid of your table. I don’t need a table. I want to come fully in power.» And then all the people said, «What you say is good.» In other words, we’ll see who comes by fire. And whoever comes by fire, that’s going to be how we’ll know who is God.
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, «Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your God, but do not light the fire.» So they took the bull given to them and prepared it. And then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. «Baal, answer us!» they shouted, but there was no response. No one answered. And they danced around the altar that they had made.
At noon, Elijah began to taunt them. Now, it’s not typically good to taunt people as a follower of God, but every now and then, there’s a moment, and this is one of those moments. «Shout louder! Surely, he’s a god! Perhaps he’s deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.» So they shouted louder. They slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.
So man, we have a mess here. We have people shouting and dancing and slicing themselves and bleeding everywhere, yelling up into the heavens. But then midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response. No one answered, and no one paid attention. Let’s just inject a little message here. Baal was the god of fertility and the god of the weather. One of the main things necessary in this time and space was weather.
This was an agriculture-based world. And Elijah had spoken on behalf of God to Ahab, if you just back up a chapter, and said, «It’s not going to rain in Israel until I say so.» Three and a half years have now passed and there has been a complete drought in Israel such that Ahab is under incredible pressure. And that’s how this story actually unfolds. Ahab is out looking at every spring and every cave and every place there was a little creek bed looking for anywhere any amount of grass is growing. This is the condition that Baal has put them in — the god of weather, the god of rain, the god who brings down what we need for our sustenance and to live.
Nothing. And he’s not answering. He’s not paying attention. He doesn’t want to respond to our cries, our dancing, and our prophesying, and all of our ritual. Why? Because he can’t. Psalm 115: «Not to us, Lord. Not to us, but to Your name be glory because of Your love and faithfulness.» Why do the nations say, «Where is their God? Our God is in heaven.» And we’re going to see this in just a moment. And He does whatever pleases Him. But their idols, their Baal, their Asherahs, they are silver and gold made by human hands. They have mouths, but they cannot speak. They have eyes, but they cannot see. They have ears, but they cannot hear. Noses, but cannot smell. They have hands, but they cannot feel. Feet, but cannot walk. Nor can they utter a sound with their throats. Those who make them will be like them. And so will all who trust in them.
No response. No one answered and no one paid attention. And God is asking us today to take stock. Is there an idol that you’re depending on, counting on, putting your trust or hope in? Yes, I love God, but I also need this. And He’s saying, «Today, you need to make a choice.» Elijah said to all the people, «Come here to me.» And they came to him, and he repaired the altar. In other words, he built back what was the altar which had been torn down.
He took 12 stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, «Your name shall be Israel.» In other words, he took them back to who he had called them to be. He took them back to their true identity in Him. And with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seas of seed. He arranged the wood, he cut the bull, and he laid it on the wood. And then he said to them, «Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.» And they did that. «Do it again,» he said. And they did it again. «Do it a third time,» he ordered. And they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the time of the sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and he prayed. Now, just give you the scene here. The altar has been rebuilt and restored. The stones, remembering who we are, have been put in place. The wood is there. The bull is there. The trench is there, but it’s all soaking wet. Once, soak it all. Twice, soak it all. Three times, soak it all. Elijah is doubling down. He is totally putting everything out there. And now he prays. It’s not the longest prayer in the world, but he appeals to the thing God loves the most. «Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command. Answer me, Lord. Answer me so these people will know that You, Lord, are God, and that You are turning their hearts back again.»
This gets the attention of heaven. And then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil, and also licked up all the water in the trench. Can you imagine this? When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried. That means they fell on their faces and they cried, «The Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God.» Duh. And then Elijah commanded them, «Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away.» And they seized them, and they had them brought down to the valley, and they slaughtered them there.
Then Elijah said to Ahab, «Go eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.» And Ahab went off to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel and he bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees. He did not go on a «hey look at me» parade. And he said to his servant, «Go look toward the sea.» That’s toward the Mediterranean. And he went and looked. «There’s nothing there,» he said. Seven times Elijah said, «Go back.» Nothing there. Go back. Nothing there. Go back. I’m telling you, there’s nothing there. Go back. «No, there’s still nothing there.» Go back. «I can’t, I didn’t see anything.» Go back.
The seventh time the servant reported, «A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.» So Elijah said, «Go tell Ahab, hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you, before the road turns into a mud pit. Get on out of here.» Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds and the wind rose. A heavy rain started falling. Baal couldn’t provide rain for three and a half years. But now here comes the rain. And Ahab rode off to Jezreel. That’s the main town up the road about 15 to 20 miles away.
And the power of the Lord, it’s one of my favorite verses in the Bible, came on Elijah, as if it wasn’t already on him. And he tucked his cloak into his belt. And he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel. How powerful. God comes down in fire, consumes the whole sacrifice. It’s time to go. The rain’s finally coming. The drought is broken. Ahab’s in his chariot, you know, heading back to Jezreel. And here comes Elijah with his cloak tucked in his belt like, «Hey, what’s up, man?» Forrest, you know, Gump over here, you know, just running alongside the thing all the way 15, 18, 19 miles to Jezreel.
A couple of takeaways. Number one, and I want us to really start here: Elijah was a man like us. That’s what James says, James 5:17. This is not a mythological character. Elijah is not someone out of a Marvel movie. Elijah was like you -skin, bones, flesh, humanity. In other words, what happened through Elijah did not happen because he was some amazing superhero. It happened because he was available to God.
The second thing that I want us to note today is that to want God requires a choice. This is what Elijah said to the people in verse 21. He said, «How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, follow him.» In other words, we talk about revival, spiritual awakening, desperation, wanting God, wanting to see a move of God, wanting to see our city saved. All those things are good things, but they ultimately come down to the same root. Are we willing to choose God? Or are we still wavering between «I do love God, but I also love my idols „?
„I do love God, but I’m also dependent on X, Y, and Z.“ „I do want God, but I don’t want to get rid of my mistress.“ Somehow I’m managing to waver between both things, and right now that seems like it’s working. And God is saying, „How long are you going to go back and forth? Are you going to waver?“ That word „waver,“ by the way, is a very interesting word. In this context, and in the verse where it talks about the prophets of Baal dancing around their sacrifice, it’s the same word.
In this word, there can mean to skip, like, „Hey, look, we’re skipping around the altar and we’re all excited about what our god’s going to do,“ but it more specifically means to limp. How long will you limp back and forth from God to the stuff you have over here that you' re counting on? To God, but also love my reputation. To God, but you know I’m really, really counting on what’s in the bank right now. To God, but I love this pleasure in my life.
The picture is not of health and strength and power. It’s a picture of someone limping back and forth between two things. And God is saying today, „How long? How long are you going to do that?“ The third thing that I think comes out of the text is that to want God is to be all in. Elijah was all in. He did not have a plan B. If fire did not come down, he dies on Mount Carmel.
There are 450 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at the table of Jezebel, and you’ve got one guy standing here against all of them. If God doesn’t come through for Elijah, there is no plan B, and he doubles down. „Do it again. Soak it again.“ This is not going to be slight of hand. No one is going to walk away and go, „Oh, I know how he did that. I saw it when he put the wood down there. I saw it. He put a little fire starter in there and had a trigger in his pocket under the belt of his cloak. When he pointed up in the sky, and everybody looked, that’s how it all happened.“
He said, „No! Do it again! Everybody see that? Do it again! Everybody see that? Do it again! Does everybody see that the whole trench is full of water? Great. Now, God, I’m asking You, please, for the sake of Your name, come and show that You are God and turn the hearts of all these wicked people and all of Your people, Israel, to You.“
We were in a gathering with some friends a few weeks ago, talking about the future of Passion, Passion City Church, opportunities for our movement, and Shelley closed out that time by saying to everybody, „This is the time to double down.“ I hope we don’t lose this Kairos moment in America. Things fade so fast. Headlines change so fast. Now we’re on to this thing. Now we’re distracted by that thing. Now the government’s shut down. Now this is happening. Now these negotiations are going on. These tariffs are in the news, and we just ask, „What’s tomorrow?“ Some other thing, some other conspiracy.
Now we’re all talking over lunch, „What about that? Well, what about this? Well, what about the other?“ I’m telling you, we are still in a precious and precarious moment in the history of our nation where something could break out spiritually that we have not seen in our generation. And we cannot just get distracted by the next thing when we have an opportunity to double down right now on our faith. And it’s not about a person and Elijah; it’s about Elijah’s standing up.
Put your stake in the ground and double down. That doesn’t mean you have to be doubly loud or doubly annoying or have a double opinion. It means you stop wavering between two things, you decide on one thing, and you go all in with no plan B. If God isn’t God, I am toast. If God doesn’t come through, there is no coming through. If God isn’t a promise keeper, then I am out on a limb with no net. If God doesn’t do what He says He will do, then I am a fool because I’m doubling down.
I’m doubling down on my consecration. I’m doubling down on my convictions. I’m doubling down on my commitments and my investments. I’m doubling down on rebuilding the altar of God in my life, remembering who God called me and named me to be. And I am putting everything on the altar. And I’m saying, „God, You can have it all. You have it all. It all belongs to You anyway. I belong to You. My future, my family, my life, my reputation, it all is Yours, God. I just want You to come through and show in and through my life to the people around me that You are God.“
To want God is to be all in. And I’m asking today, are you all in? Because God is all in. That’s the fourth thing that just blew me away out of this text. This word „waver.“ You can’t study this text and not get focused on this word. It’s the word, be pronounced in Hebrew „pach.“ It has this meaning to skip over. It has this meaning to limp. And the skip over part of it is seen in Exodus 12, where the angel of death comes and passes over the home that has the blood on the doorposts.
Same word. We got people dancing around an altar on Carmel. We got people limping between two things that they haven’t made up their mind yet. And then we have an angel skipping over, passing over. That’s where you see it in the word „Passover.“ Same word. How long will you waver between two things? Because I am not wavering. God is saying, „I made a decision in Egypt to pass over the homes of those who had the blood of an innocent and perfect lamb without blemish over their door, knowing that I was going to make a final sacrifice of putting My Son on the altar to pass over all the sins of humanity.“
We came to worship a God today who’s all in, and the only response to Him is to be all in. It’s interesting; Elijah was so bold. But when he got back to Jezreel after the marathon run-where he outran the chariot of Ahab — Jezebel got the report of what went down on Mount Carmel. She said, „Let it be true of me what happened to all my prophets when they took him out in the valley and killed them all, unless I have the head of Elijah by tomorrow night.“
And she had such a powerful demonic spirit on her life that it intimidated Elijah. This light and dark are real that we’re living in. By the way, I’ve bumped up against the spirit of Jezebel a few times in my life, and it is a powerful demonic spirit. It makes people afraid. And Elijah, after seeing the fire come down, hears about Jezebel’s threat and he just hightails it into the desert, ends up meeting God out in the desert, and he’s telling God, „I’m the only one left. I’m the only prophet left. I mean, here I am now. You know, she’s trying to kill me, and I’m the only prophet left that’s been faithful to You, God.“
And God says, „Hello. Elijah, I got 7,000 prophets in Israel. I got 7,000 people in Israel who have not bowed to Baal, and they have not kissed the idol. I have a remnant. You’re not the only one.“ And I just want to highlight that today as we close. Some of you are right at the edge, wavering between two things, and you’re thinking everybody else in my world has gone with the world, and I’m the only one holding out. And God just wants to remind you today, no, you’re not the only one holding out. You’re not the only one at church today. You’re not the only one leaning toward God. You’re not the only one wanting to be holy.
You’re not the only one wanting to live in the light and not the dark. You’re not the only one wanting to choose the ways of God and not the ways of this world. You’re not the only one. There’s somebody in your neighborhood probably who’s saying, „I’m the only one.“ And you’re like, „No, you’re not the only one. I’m the only one.“ And they’re like, „Oh, no, neither one of us are the only one.“ God’s got a remnant. He’s got a remnant in Atlanta. He’s got a remnant in every nation among all people.
He’s got a remnant in North Korea today. He’s got a remnant in Sudan today. He’s got a remnant in Yemen today. He has a remnant all over this earth right now of people that are saying, „God, we are counting on You.“ And He wants you to hold on, not to give up, not to faint. Go look seven times. You said, „Louie, I’ve looked five times.“ Go look seven. Go look again. Keep looking. Keep looking. Keep looking. Keep looking. Keep looking. Because I’m telling you, it’s going to rain. God’s going to keep His promise to you. The fire is going to fall.
Do you want the fire to fall? Near where we live, we pass pretty often a brand new house. It’s really beautiful and amazing. And in the front yard of their house is this old chimney. Everybody knows one of these somewhere in your neighborhood or around where you live probably. And so, here’s this beautiful yard and the driveway and the basketball court and the driveway and the beautiful house. And then right out in the front yard is this huge chimney just standing there. Obviously, the house burned down, but the chimney stayed.
And I was thinking about that chimney and that fire. The fire was supposed to be in the chimney, but somehow the fire got out of the chimney or another fire happened in the kitchen or somewhere else; we don’t know the story, but the whole house burned down except the chimney. And I believe we’re in a moment where God’s fire will fall and where the only thing that’s going to remain is a refined church that was meant to hold the fire in the first place.
Everything else will be gone. Everything that is not God will be gone. But there will be a chimney and a fireplace because the church was built to hold the fire. God have mercy on us. I love being in church today, but I want the fire to fall. Do you want God? Do you want God? Even knowing that when He comes, everything that is not God will be burned away by the light of His glory.