SOUND OF ABUNDANCE OF RAIN

Go, eat and drink, for there is a sound of a heavy rain 1 Kings 18:41 (NIV)

Elijah just had a deadly contest with the wicked powers of his generation. Men who deceitfully turned the people of God into all manner of idolatry and immorality such as are paralleled in the church today. Men who raised up altars of Baal in place of the holy altar of God, deceiving and being deceived by demon spirit themselves. Elijah won the great battle of gods on behalf of Jehovah by praying down fire and as such brought sanity and revival to the land of Israel. The people themselves bearing witness to this by declaring The Lord He is God, The Lord He is God

Shortly after this contest, Elijah the man of God declared to Ahab the king of Israel to go and eat and drink for there is a sound of abundance of rain. This is quite an absurdity in a land that has not had rain for the three and a half years. A land whose livestock have died due to lack of water, and whose economy is in ruin as a result of this great judgement from God as a punishment for their idolatry.

The church today is in a similar state of draught and famine. Famine of what? Famine of the Truth. The church no longer makes a dreadful impact in the world. We have lost our protestant possibilities and have assumed the detestable state of compromise. The word of God no longer guides our thoughts, words, and actions. True faith has become a thing of the past. Faithlessness manifesting as worry and hastiness have taken over the calm and confident nature a believer ought to manifest. Demon casting and demon chasing has taken over in the church, making the church to harbour more demons in her members than they ought to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

It was in this kind of situation that Elijah rose up to declare abundant rain upon the land. Are there no sons of God to do the same upon the church of today? Elijah did not declare it and went to sleep like many prophetic utterances received over dishes of delicacies. The man of God simply went to the mount of Carmel to pray until the hand of God as a cloud moved upon the situation. The resultant effect of his agony on the mount was the heavy rain that poured on the land, bringing in a refreshing hope of survival.

The church of Christ needs such a refreshing rain now to restore the church to the fullness of what God had designed us to be in Christ Jesus and to sweep in the sinners into the kingdom of God. God is not looking for another Elijah in our time to cast down himself on mount Carmel again, this is because the Author and Finisher of our faith had for once did that on mount Gethsemane and has brought us the refreshing rain of the Holy Spirit, He had for once also defeated the principalities and powers and made a public show of them, triumphing over them on the cross just as Elijah did triumph over the prophets of Baal.

Nevertheless, in view of the promise of both the former and latter rain on us, we need to arise not just to agonize again, but to live in a restful trust of what had been done. Elijah did not stop at the promise but he went further to cast himself down on Mount Carmel. In like manner we need to cast down ourselves in restful trust on God until we experience the restoration he had promised.

Without doubt, Christ is coming back for a glorious church, without spots or wrinkles. A church where true brotherly love as shown in the book of Acts shall be evident. Every man having all things in common, eating their meal with joy, taking care of the needy to the extent that the needy seized among them. This is wonderful! This was never an account of heaven, before we become disillusioned; it was simply the glory of the former rain. If the former rain was this glorious as to erase need among the early apostles, how mush more will the glory of the latter rain supersede in splendor, sighing and weeping will not only be wiped off in heaven, but we shall have a foretaste of such glory during the latter rain, an experience of the power of the age to come.

Elijah was instrumental in bringing the abundant rain on Israel. The apostles were instrumental to bringing the former rain at Pentecost. Who shall be instrumental in bringing down the former and latter rain this end time? Who shall be able to say, here am I lord, send me. Such a man must be ready to let go of the influence of the material and fixes his gaze upon the spiritual. He or She must also be prepared to purge himself of the Old Testament lifestyle and take up the New (Luke 5:36-39). Many of Gods children who could have stood for the truth in this end time are already entangled in the quagmire of material pursuit above the pursuit of the divine. It is therefore not a surprise that we are yet to experience the restoration promised in Acts 3:20 Without doubt there is a sound of abundance of divine rain, but who shall stand for God and for the Truth to ensure the fulfillment of these realities? Here is where the remnants of God are called for, His children who like the 7000 prophets have not bowed down to Baal and to the materials. The banner must be raised and the standard lifted.