The Tale Of Two Altars

i was saving this but he brought it up i just want to thank some of you all may remember at senior camp this year they put a cardinals hat on me i didn't appreciate it felt like i had to go and shower afterwards but ever since that the braves have just kept winning in fact they're still playing baseball can i get an amen i got one in the house so while the cardinals are on their couches taking it easy the braves yeah i see it i see it i got you we'll ignore that they're still playing baseball amen if you could turn in your bibles to first kings chapter 18 and verse 36 we give honor to brother jayden and the team everyone this this section we thank them for all of their hard work 54 000 smashing their goal what an awesome job awesome leadership give honor to bishop williford and pastor de long his family and then to all the ministers pastors in the house we give you honor as well aren't you thankful for your pastor your youth pastor whomever brought you we're thankful to the music team that did such an amazing job leading us into the presence of god and then to my family that is here i am honored to have them with me we are heading to memphis tonight to drive to see my parents and so my son noticed that i had my timer out and he said what's that for and i said well i try to time myself to make sure i don't go too long or whatever and he goes well how long are you shooting for and i said i gave him i gave him the number and he said he goes that's good that'll work that'll work for tonight so you're in good company if you just want me to hurry so we can go eat and all of that good stuff my my kids want want it as much as you do so here we go

first kings chapter 18 and verse 36 and it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that elijah the prophet came near and said lord god of abraham isaac and of 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 everything that we're doing is so that everyone else so that they will know that thou art the lord god i'm not up here for me but i'm up here so that they know that it's their god that thou has 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 aren't you thankful for a god who still performs miracles aren't you thankful that there's still a god that is above all else every problem that you deal with every situation there is a god that can see you through

i want to talk to you for a few moments with the title the tell of two altars let's pray one more time god i pray that you would touch these young people lord i pray that you would have your way in this altar i pray that you would have your way in this sanctuary i pray that you administer like never before can i get a young person that will raise their voice and say god we want you we want your fire to fall in this place lord we want your presence above all else we are in this thing together we are in this for you god we give you all praise all glory and all honor in jesus name amen you may be seated

elijah approached king ahab and instructed him to gather the prophets throughout the land elijah said unto them how long shalt ye be of two opinions why do we have this difference why do you worship one and we worship another elijah said i am only i am the only prophet that remains of the lord but bell's prophets are 450 men now let me just stop right there and camp for a minute some of us feel like we are the only ones in our school that believes truth some of us believe oh i can't start that p7 bible club because i'm the only one that goes to my school that's apostolic some of you think i'm the only one in my home who believes truth and if i and if you are the only one in your home that goes to church i commend you and i'm thankful you're my hero because you believe truth when no one else when no one makes you come to church but i've come to tell you there is a god on your side that if you feel like you can't start a p7 bible club you have someone in your corner that can help you if you believe that you just can't make it another day there is a god that can help you so again elijah says if the lord be god follow him but if bell then follow him he said let the people pick two bulls you can have the first pick pick the bull that you want and i'll take the other place the bull on the altar and lay wood on it but don't put the fire under the altar you can call upon your gods and i will call upon mine and the god that answers with fire let him be god and all the people agreed so bell's prophets took their bull and they laid it upon the altar they called on him from mourning until noon we know the story nothing happens they danced they leaped they shouted they did everything that they could in order to get this this fire to fall finally at noon when it was probably the most probability that the altar would somehow catch on fire meaning that by chance this was probably the best time of day the sun is at the right peak it's right where that if it was going to light just by an accident this was the time that it was going to happen elijah i think i think i would have liked elijah because he started sitting there and he started mocking them started making fun of them bell is taking a nap maybe bell is over here and is on vacation maybe you need to be a little bit louder so that bell will hear you so they they get louder they try doing everything that they can he tells them maybe they're maybe he's on a journey maybe he's asleep and just needs to wake up prophets keep getting louder and louder doing everything they could to get the fire to fall finally it becomes evening there's still no answer elijah says unto the people come near to me says that elijah repairs this altar of the lord that was broken down

now there's two reasons why he repairs this altar the first one is he didn't want to use their altar and if you will just imagine i have their altar over here god's altar over there but he didn't want to come over to an altar where they had been worshiping they had been crying out they had been doing everything they could at this altar to get fire to fall let me compare it to this real quick many times we spend our day at this altar we start yelling out and we start crying and maybe it's not in that way but what we essentially do when we spend all of our time on instagram and social media and everything else trying to entertain ourselves we don't see the fire fall when we get to church on a wednesday night because we've been at the wrong altar all week we want spiritual we want carnal decisions to be blessed spiritually we want to sit over here at a carnal altar and we want to watch everything we want to watch and we want to do everything that we want to do but yet we want to get to church on a wednesday night and we want to see the fire of god fall brother jaden for your son you don't need to be at the other altar we want to see the fire of god fall we want to make sure your son needs a daddy that'll be at the right altar your school needs you to be at the right altar your school doesn't need somebody who stays at this altar all day and when they come to you with a need that they that all of a sudden the fire falls we miss out we don't see that fire at the right altar because we've been at the wrong altar all week how many times do we want the fire of god to fall in our life we want his spirit to move through us we wonder why we are not used why god isn't using us why god isn't isn't there for us or why we feel so alone but yet we've been at the wrong altar we've been at this altar over here just hoping that god would use us that god i do i you know i'm not i'm not a bad person i i haven't really sinned i really haven't messed up a lot and we want god to we want his fire to fall on us we want the spirit of god to move we want we want his his touch upon our life and but yet we want to be carnal all day how many times have we heard we reap what we sow what we invest in is what will come to fruition it's the law of the harvest when we spend all of our time at the altar of bell we can't come in and expect fire to fall many of us can't get the breakthrough we need because we've been at the wrong altar we get mad and bitter with god when we're the ones that have denied him what does the altar of bell look like in your life what is it that you invest all of your time in what is it that you've missed out on that you can't get a hold of god because you've been so sidetracked with something else maybe it's education maybe it's your job maybe it's social media we can keep going down the list but you know what it is that you spend all of your time doing and achieving trying at and all of the time in the end when this world comes to an end this altar isn't going to matter this altar is going to be burnt up and there's going to be nothing left because entertainment will get us nowhere

what does the altar of god look like the altar of god is where we can find our calling we can find our destiny we can find repentance we that's where we spend our time in prayer and we spend our time by in our bibles reading the word of god having an everyday walk with god brother stafford that that's for the ministry that's for the pastor no it's for every young person to have have a walk with god it's for every young person to get on your knees and and to seek after god's face because you're walking into a field you're walking into a school that needs you to be heavenly that needs you to be a spiritual person that needs you to walk with god every day because you have the answer that they're looking for they will try everything in this world at this altar but what they really need is you at this altar because that's where the answer that is that they're seeking elijah knew he couldn't pray at their altar because bell's altar didn't have any fire it's polluted there isn't any response no one there that can heal you or protect you but the second reason elijah repaired this altar is he wanted to show that this was that this was the altar of their ancestors he wanted to revive their faith this wasn't a new way of worship that he had made up this wasn't something that he had come up with that he had created but this is what had been passed down to them this worship this sacrifice meant something this was a prayer to god who had helped their ancestors a prayer to a god who had helped them survive persecution this wasn't a made-up tradition bell represented something people conjured up on their own the spirit you have felt in this place already isn't something that we have made up the spirit that you fell from the word that you felt from the worship team isn't something that we just created with maybe machines or something that we created this this culture or we created something in this room so that you would feel goosebumps all over no this is because the spirit of god is in this place we all worshiped together a few moments ago and that was something that was real our sacrifice of praise is real this is more than a mo an emotion it's a transformation we have inherited the truth we should not take it lightly what has been passed down to us but we should hold on to it can i get an amen from a young person who says i want the truth i'm going to buy the truth and sell it not don't ever take it lightly

so elijah took these 12 stones that represented the 12 tribes of israel and he rebuilt this altar this showed that each tribe had a specific purpose every tribe was important just as every young person in this room is important until we really believe that i got two amends appreciate that i said every young person in this room is important every young person in this room has a calling every young person in this room has a destiny god wants to do something through you look at your neighbor and say god has a plan for you everyone in the kingdom of god has a purpose you're not here by mistake you're here as part of the body of christ we each bring different characteristics and strengths to the church but everyone is called to a ministry called to do something for the kingdom of god you're not here by mistake tonight look at your neighbor and say you're not here by mistake if you have found yourself thank you if you have found yourself at the wrong altar now is the time to come back to the altar of god let's say that you have spent most of your time here at this altar today let's say that most of your week has consisted of this altar maybe we can take it back a little bit further maybe there's a young person in the room that says you know what i've spent all of my time at the other altar maybe it's not bell i'm worshiping but there are some things that i've been worshiping because i've been spending my time at it see what you've got to understand is every person in this room is a worshiper in one way or another you're either going to worship but you're going to worship god or you're going to worship the world either you're going to spend all your time at one or all your time at another i've not come to say that you can't have fun understand me tonight i'm not saying that you can't go and have hobbies but what i am saying is when we spend all of our time at that altar and we haven't prayed today we haven't read our bible we haven't spoke to god we haven't walked with him there's a problem this has been passed down to us there's something we've got to hold on and i can't spend all of my time here because my family's dependent on me my school's dependent on me there are people that are dependent on me and i can't waste my time at the wrong altar

after elijah had rebuilt this altar he takes the bull and he places it on the altar he has the people fill the four barrels with water and he pours it all on the wood and on the sacrifice he has them fill four more barrels total of three different times to the point where the water had filled the trench around the altar in most circumstances i believe everyone here understands that it's almost impossible for wood to catch fire the altar is soaked and then we go back to our text and it came to pass at that time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that elijah the prophet came near and he said lord god of abraham isaac and israel in other words the god of my ancestors the religion that i grew up knowing the god that i know the god that means something the god that wasn't made up let it be known this day that thou art god in israel and i am thy servant that i have done all these things according to your word hear me o lord hear me that this people may know that thou art the lord god and that thou wast turn their heart back again and the fire of the lord fell it consumed the bird sacrifice in the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in that trench and when the people saw it they fell on their face and they said the lord he is god the lord he has got let me put it to you this way when you walk into your school when you've been at the right altar people know it people are going to be able to see hey that's somebody i need to get a hold of i need to find out what they've got going on in their life i need to find out what what that's all about because i need what they have i'm not going to go to somebody that isn't a prayer warrior and ask them to pray for me but i'm going to go to somebody that's been at the right altar somebody that can get a hold of god and what your classmates are looking for is somebody that can get a hold of god somebody that walks the walk somebody that talks the talk we had this girl in our youth group when i was growing up went to school one day something we had we had several apostolics that went to our our school and once one day one of the teachers said something about man there's a lot of apostolics that go here there's a lot of pentecostals that go here and the teacher made this comment well this girl that was on the fringe that showed up to church whenever she wanted whenever it was whenever she didn't have anything else going on on a friday night she just happened to overhear the teacher and she said well i go to that church the teacher looks at her and goes no you don't she's like yeah i go i go i go several times a month and she's like no you don't looked at her said no you don't you know why because she didn't dress the dress she didn't talk the talk she knew that there was something that was wrong with her that was different than all the other apostolics

i haven't come here tonight to beef everybody up and and to just talk talk nice to everybody and say hey we're doing what's right i've come to challenge some people that even though we may walk the walk even though we may talk to talk where are we spending our time because we can look the part and not have the fire of god in our life and i've come to tell somebody you've got to have the fire of god in your life in order to make a difference in this world we've got to have the fire god consumed this altar with his fire and what happens in our own life is that when we align it with god he consumes us with everything he consumes us and he's a part of us he comes inside of our life and he consumes every ounce of our life he wants our everything we give of ourselves to everything else teams clubs academics but i've come to tell you tonight he doesn't want your leftovers he doesn't want once you've done all of those things you can you can do a little bit here and a little bit there he doesn't he doesn't want that leftover part he wants to consume you and when you've spent your time at the right altar you don't mind giving him everything that you have you don't mind saying god i'll give that that up for you i don't mind spending some more time with you because i've been at the right altar i feel what you can do i feel your presence in my life

the reason elijah waited for nightfall is because during the day the altar without the rain could have lit could have been lit by the sun but elijah wanted to make sure that it was an impossible situation that god was going to turn into a possible situation the prophets of bell prayed and yelled and did everything that they could to have their god respond and all elijah had to do was a short little prayer that was right to the point james 5 and 16 says 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 i'm thankful for ministers in the house i'm thankful for young people in the house that can get a hold of god because they have that effectual fervent prayer i'm thankful brother jayden that your prayers that you're praying for your boy are effectual fervent prayers and i believe with you and we stand with you tonight i'm thankful for men of god that'll stand up and say i've been praying over a service that god would touch some young people i'm thankful for the pastors that are here that have been praying over their young people i'm thankful for young people that pray over their schools elijah had been preparing for this moment behind the scenes he didn't need to show off in front of everyone with annex and fake worship he had a prayer room where he had already won that battle a relationship with god it's essential to everything that we do spend time with him when no one else is watching not because your parents make you but you have a true desire for the things of god the prophets of bell they just wanted to show off they wanted to dance around they wanted to mimic everything else they wanted everyone to see what they were doing they come on sunday and worshipped while everyone else was watching but there was not any substance to their worship how do you act when you're away from god's people what are you saying and doing when no one else is watching would you be embarrassed if other people in this room knew how you were acting what alter are you investing in which altar are you at today do you love the things of god or are you going after the things of man

when we are at the altar of bell we start looking through a worldly lens you will never be complete and never feel like you belong when you try to measure yourself by this world you will never be pretty enough handsome enough funny enough you will always fall short when you're at that altar but i'm thankful for a god who says come as you are in me you are made complete in me you are perfect in me you don't need anybody else because you are how i made you proverbs 14 and 12 there is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death why because when you look with your own eyes you don't measure up we think we're going and we're doing what is right but it's not what god wants in our life god may require something of you that the world doesn't be not conformed to this world but be transformed and when we come to the altar we are transformed you should be thankful that there's an altar here today for you you should be thankful that there's an altar that whenever you mess up whenever you do something wrong whenever you have sinned whenever you haven't spent enough time with him there's an altar you can come to and say god i give myself back to you cleanse me let that fire burn we don't fit in this world we need god so i ask you again which altar are you at are you at the altar that puts other things before god or are you at the altar that puts god first what do you worship in your life if the musicians would go ahead and get ready the reason the people worshipped bell is because it is our human nature to worship something we're made to worship god but if you turn from him you will find something else to worship samson had the fire of god but messed up his life he inherited the favor of god it's possible to have this fire and to still lose out with god without a relationship with him we're destined for destruction we need to live a life full of principles and submitting ourselves to god that same fire that fell many years ago can be in your life as well if you need a miracle it's in the fire if you need a blessing it's in the fire i wish someone would believe right now that if they could get to the altar that there is a fire that will fall on them i wish somebody would stand up and say i've got to get to the altar because my school's depending on it i've got to get to the altar because my family's depending on it i've got to get to the altar to get the fire if you're a part of this church then you should have the fire of the holy ghost burning inside of you do not let go of that fire do not let it burn out in your life in order for us to get to where god needs us to be or wants us to be you have to have the fire of god in order to have the fire inside of us we have to be new creatures in god you don't get it with being at the wrong altar you don't get the fire with spending your time all at that altar of bell you can't think the same way you can't act the old way and get new results you have to have a relationship with god today marks your first step on a new journey repentance is that first step