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Please turn with me in your Bibles 
to 1 Kings chapter 1. I'm sorry, 1 Kings chapter 18. 
1 Kings chapter 18, we're going 
to look at Elijah on Mount Carmel. I hope a familiar passage of 
Scripture, one I believe that is very instructive and one that 
is very encouraging to us to see the power of God Most High. We're just going to focus on 
this particular contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal. The remaining portion of the 
narrative is quite instructive as well, but we do not have time 
to look at that this evening. But I do want to pick up reading 
in First Kings chapter 18 at verse 15. We're kind of jumping 
right into the middle of a particular section. Basically, what is going 
on is that Elijah asks Obadiah to go and tell Ahab, the king 
of Israel, that Elijah wanted to see him. Ahab was the king 
at that particular time. He was a very wicked man. And 
so I'll just pick up reading in 1 Kings 18 at verse 15. Then Elijah said, As the Lord 
of hosts lives before whom I stand, I will surely present myself 
to him today. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab 
and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. Then it happened 
when Ahab saw Elijah that Ahab said to him, Is that you, O troubler 
of Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled 
Israel, but you and your father's house have, in that you have 
forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the 
Baals. Now, therefore, send and gather 
all Israel to me on Mount Carmel. the 450 prophets of Baal, and 
the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab 
sent for all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets 
together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people 
and said, How long will you falter between two opinions? If the 
Lord is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him. The 
people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, 
I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets 
are 450 men. Therefore, let them give us two 
bowls, and let them choose one bowl for themselves. Cut it in 
pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. And 
I will prepare the other bowl and lay it on the wood, but put 
no fire under it. Then you call on the name of 
your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord. And the 
God who answers by fire, he is God. So all the people answered 
and said, It is well spoken. Now Elijah said to the prophets 
of Baal, Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, 
for you are many. And call on the name of your 
God, but put no fire under it. So they took the bull which was 
given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of 
Baal from morning even till noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice. No one 
answered. Then they leaped about the altar, 
which they had made. And so it was at noon that Elijah 
mocked them and said, cry aloud, for he is a God. Either he is 
meditating or he is busy or is on a journey, or perhaps he is 
sleeping and must be awakened. So they cried aloud and cut themselves, 
as was their custom, with knives and lances until the blood gushed 
out on them. And when midday was passed, they 
prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. 
But there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid 
attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, 
come near to me. So all the people came near to 
him and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. 
And Elijah took 12 stones, according to the number of the tribes of 
the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, 
Israel shall be your name. Then with the stones he built 
an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench around the 
altar large enough to hold two sieves of seed. And he put the 
wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood 
and said, fill four water pots with water and pour it on the 
burnt sacrifice and on the wood. Then he said, do it a second 
time. And they did it a second time. And he said, do it a third 
time. And they did it a third time. 
So the water ran all around the altar. He also filled the trench 
with water. 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 Israel, 
let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and I am 
your servant and that I have done all these things at your 
word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that 
you are the Lord God. and that you have turned their 
hearts back to you again. Then the fire of the Lord fell 
and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, 
and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 
Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and 
they said, The Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God. And Elijah 
said to them, seize the prophets of Baal. Do not let one of them 
escape. So they seized them. And Elijah 
brought them down to the Brook Tishon and executed them there. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we 
thank You for Your holy scriptures. We thank You for Your power that 
is displayed from page to page. And God, we thank You for the 
rich history that we have. And we pray now that Your Spirit 
would be upon us and that You would guide us in our understanding 
of this passage, that You would help us, Lord God, to be committed 
fully and solely to You, our God. And we would pray even now 
that You would forgive us for our sins. Forgive us, Lord God, 
that our attention at times is divided. We confess our sin. 
We confess our remaining corruption. And we plead with You to wash 
us afresh in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray 
now that You would be glorified in our time together. And we 
ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. I want to first introduce 
a couple of the people that are in this particular passage. You 
probably are familiar with them. This is a familiar portion of 
scripture. But as I said, King Ahab reigned 
in the 9th century B.C. from about 874 to 853. As I mentioned, 
he was a godless man. A wicked man. You've heard of 
his wife, Jezebel. And here you see that she welcomed 
false prophets at her table. This means that they were state 
supported. They were sanctioned by the government 
itself. They were receiving welfare. 
They were receiving food from the wife of the king. Then we have Ahab and notice 
how he presents himself or how he mentions in verse 15, as I 
read, says, Elijah said, as the Lord of hosts lives before whom 
I stand. I don't think that's accidental. 
I think it is to highlight his divine or the divine sanction 
behind it. In fact, go back to chapter 17 
at verse one. This is where he is first introduced. And Elijah, the Tishbite of the 
inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel 
lives, before whom I stand. The author has just recounted 
several kings and their godlessness and their wickedness. And as 
one man, Ralph Davis, has said, whenever evil flourishes, it 
is always a superficial flourish. For at the height of the triumph 
of evil, God will be there, ready with his men and his movement 
and his plans to ensure that his own cause will never fail. So even though there are ungodly 
kings, unrighteous men at the helm, God sends Elijah the Tishbite, 
this one before whom he stands. And then as we focus in on the 
particular narrative that we're looking at tonight, Baal was 
the storm god. He was the one that was entreated. 
They wanted him to be fertile such that he would bless the 
land. They would do this, as we see 
in this passage, by cutting themselves. Other times the people, Baal's 
worshippers, would actually engage in sexual activity to try to 
coach Baal in to sexual activity so that he would then be fertile 
upon the land. Very wicked, very ungodly. They did not have a let go, let 
bail theology in that particular day. They sought with all their 
might to make him perform so that they could receive the benefit 
of this storm God. Now, it existed previously to 
this particular account. In fact, you'll see it in the 
book of Judges. But it was given official sanction 
here by King Ahab of Israel. And I want to look at specifically 
this contest under three considerations. First, the challenge of Elijah, 
verses 20-25. Secondly, the response of the 
prophets, verses 26-29. And then thirdly, the display 
of God's power in verses 30-40. But notice first the challenge 
of Elijah. The people are summoned. Notice 
what he says here. Verse 20. Ahab sent for all the 
children of Israel and gathered the prophets together on Mount 
Carmel. Remember, the prophets here are 
850. There's 450 of Baal, but there are 400 of Asherah, who 
is the female counterpart to Baal, the ones that they would 
entreat to have relations so that this fertility would come 
upon the land. But also notice that the people 
are reproved here by Elijah. He knows the score. He knows 
what's going on in Israel. He doesn't come to tickle their 
ears. He doesn't come to prophesy falsely. He doesn't come to say, 
peace, peace, when there is no peace. In an interesting twist 
of events, Ahab actually identifies Elijah as the troubler of Israel. Elijah says, I am not the troubler 
of Israel. I am the one who has come from 
the Lord to reprove the real troubler of Israel, the king 
who is leading the nation into defection, the king who is leading 
the nation into apostasy, the king who is leading a nation 
into turning their backs upon the living and the true God. 
And so he gets right to the point. He says in verse 21, Elijah came 
to all the people and said, how long will you falter between 
two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him. That's the question each and 
every one of us must ask ourselves. Are we truly servants of the 
Lord Jesus Christ? Are we truly seeking first the 
kingdom of God and his righteousness? Are our loyalties divided? Do we give a little entertainment 
to Jesus and then do we seek Baal for practical matters? Do 
we give a little nod to the Lord of glory and then worship our 
money? Do we give a nod to the Lord 
of glory and then worship our families or worship our stuff 
or worship ourselves? Elijah's question has relevance 
for the 21st century. It has relevance for our particular 
ears. How long, he says, will you falter 
between two opinions? How long are you going to continue 
to be divided in your loyalty? How long are you going to entertain 
Jesus in the parlor and the devil in the basement? How long are 
you going to spend your last on those things which do not 
satisfy? And then his conclusion is quite 
legit. He says, if the Lord is God, 
follow him. But if they'll follow him. Don't 
be divided. Now remember, the nation is being 
indicted specifically for idolatry. They are giving themselves to 
the worship of the storm god Baal. They have become like the 
Canaanites around them. They have participated in a godless 
form of worship, in a godless form of discipleship. In fact, 
Ralph Davis comments on this summary statement. He says, this 
is no mere academic question. It's not just trying to teach 
a theology class here at Mount Carmel. He says Elijah's formulation 
assumes that theology leads to discipleship. Whoever you acknowledge 
to be God is the one whom you follow. When you acknowledge 
the Lord Jesus Christ, you need, as we heard this morning, to 
let your conduct be worthy of the gospel. That doesn't mean 
sinless. It doesn't mean perfect, because 
on this side of glory, it will never be sinless or perfect. 
But it does mean undivided. It does mean give him all your 
heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. 
Don't apportion up your resources. Give a little bit to Jesus and 
a little bit to Baal. Don't divvy up your attention 
and your time to give a little bit to Jesus and a little bit 
to Mammon. No, you need to give all to the 
Lord God Most High. He goes on to say commitments 
have consequences. We need to keep that in mind. 
Our professed commitment to the Lord Jesus has consequences. We are fooling no one when we 
live the life of an idolatrous hypocrite. We are fooling no 
one when something other than the Lord God Most High gets our 
attention, gets our affection, gets our money, gets our resources, 
gets whatever worship that we bring to it. So the prophet's 
statement here is most relevant for us in our generation. How 
long will you falter between two opinions? Turn for just a 
moment to 1 John, chapter 5. 1 John, chapter 5. Just to show you that this isn't 
confined to the Old Testament. 1 John, chapter 5. A letter that 
is written to encourage believers. A letter that is written with 
the expressed purpose spelled out in 1st John 5, 13. These 
things I have written to you who believe in the name of the 
Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life and 
that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. 
Just as he ends his gospel with a thesis statement, a purpose 
statement, he does here with this first letter. He has written 
to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. It's not writing 
to the pagan. He's not writing to the heathen. 
When he writes, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just 
to forgive us. He's writing to believers. He's 
writing to those who have been bought with a price, those who 
have been redeemed by the Lamb of God. He speaks of truth and 
of righteousness and of love throughout this epistle. Now, 
notice the last verse, how he signs off in this letter. Little 
children, again, Christians, keep yourselves from idols. Amen. It's an amazing statement. John, don't you know we're blood 
bought? John, don't you know we're believing on the son of 
God? John, don't you know that we pass from death to life? Don't 
you know that? Because we love God and we love 
brethren. He says, little children, keep 
yourselves, guard yourselves, watch over yourselves from idols. What's the implication? We are 
prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love. for 
any of us to say, well, that'll never happen to me. We haven't 
reckoned seriously with the Scripture. We haven't reckoned seriously 
with our own depravity. We haven't taken into account 
remaining corruption and its power. If we feed it, if we give 
in to it, we will be idolaters. We will be bowing down before 
Baal. We'll be lancing ourselves. We'll 
be dancing in a frenzy around an altar. Or we'll be engaged 
in sexual immorality so that our false God will answer us. How long? Will you falter between 
two opinions? If Jehovah is God, serve him. If Baal is God, serve him. And then the prophet sets forth 
this contest, this contest to demonstrate who it is that is 
God alone. Notice in verse 21, the people 
answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, 
I alone am left the prophet of the Lord. But Baal's prophets 
are 450 men. He basically says, get two bowls. 
You cut up your bull, set it on the altar, call upon Baal, 
and let's see if he delivers. Let's see if he's in. Let's see 
if he'll answer. Let's see if he'll call down 
or bring down fire to consume that sacrifice. Conversely, Elijah 
says, I will cut up a bull, I will lay it on the altar, and I will 
call on Jehovah to see if he answers. So the challenge is 
to follow God. The contest is stated. And it's 
very important for us to understand that Elijah is unique here in 
redemptive history. You're not supposed to go gather 
all the false prophets in Chilliwack and invite them into our church 
and establish such a contest. You're not supposed to kill a 
bullock and lay it on the fire or lay it on the altar and pray 
to God that he'll consume it. This is a unique event in redemptive 
history. We are not to repeat this. We 
are not to engage in this. Though certainly we learn principles 
from Elijah's contest that we ought to implement in attacking 
the unbelief of our particular day. Now notice the response 
of the prophets. Verse 26. So they took the bowl 
which was given them, and they prepared it and called on the 
name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, O Baal, hear 
us. This is conspicuous now, but 
there was no voice. No one answered. Then they leaped 
about the altar which they had made. It's amazing. They are so committed to this. They actually walk by faith. 
These false prophets took Elijah's challenge. They cut the bullock, 
they lay it down on the altar, and then they call on Baal. They 
are, in a sense, at least putting their money where their mouth 
is. They've engaged in this particular contest. But there was no voice, 
no answer. Remember the description of idolatry 
in Psalm 115. Sometimes I think we should sing 
that psalm. It's in the Psalter, but it's 
quite long. But it says that they have eyes and they don't 
see. They have mouths and they don't 
talk. They have ears, but they don't 
hear. And then what's the psalmist 
say in 115 verse 8? Those who worship them will be 
like them. Remember God's indictment upon 
the children of Israel. Having eyes you will not see. 
Having ears, you will not hear. You've become like that dumb 
idol, spiritually insensitive, spiritually dead to the very 
voice of the living and true God himself. This idol cannot 
answer because he's not the real deal. And so what happens at 
this particular time? Elijah mocks them. This is what 
I think we can learn from the prophet. I don't think we should 
be ungodly or uncharitable or unrighteous when it comes to 
this disposition. The unbeliever must be challenged. 
We often let them assume an offensive position and attack Christianity 
and try to show us up to be the idiot. Oh, you worship God who 
created the world when science has proven otherwise. We immediately 
take the defensive posture and then we kind of, I don't know 
what to say. What's Paul say in 1 Corinthians 
1? Where is the wise? Where is the 
scribe? Where is the disputer of this 
age? Has not God made foolish the 
wisdom of the wise? Look at what the prophet does 
here. Verse 27. And so it was at noon that Elijah 
mocked them and said, cry aloud. Now, I have this picture in my 
mind. Maybe it's inaccurate, but when 
I read this and I think subsequent generations of Israel was to 
read this, they were to sort of envision the prophet here. 
Cracking up. Laughing. Where is he? Cry aloud. He's not hearing you. You haven't reached his ear yet. 
See, it depends on the frenzy. It depends on your activity. 
It depends on your response. Baal's not going to operate until 
you activate him. So you need to cry aloud. He 
says, for he is a god. Either he is meditating... He's 
cracking up. This is crazy. Later, at the 
fall of Israel, the northern kingdom of Israel, later on in 
1 Kings, I'm sorry, 2 Kings 17, the record is there of the fall 
of the northern tribes. And then it tells us that there 
was great idolatry in the land. See, what Assyria would do would 
sow other peoples, would put other peoples in the land to 
keep the people off kilter and to take away any power or unity 
that they might have. And there's a long description 
there of people making gods. and worshiping these gods that 
they have made. Isn't that just futile? Giving 
your religious worship to something that you create? Idolatry is 
madness to the core. Idolatry is the most horrific 
thing that a man, a woman, a boy or a girl can engage in. And 
Elijah is pointing out the folly of it. Cry aloud, for he is a 
god. Either he is meditating or he 
is busy. I think sometimes we as Christians 
view our God that way. Well, I'm not going to pray to 
him because he's got so many people to listen to. He's kind 
of like the old telephone operators taking out things and putting 
it here. And hang on just a second. Let me put you on hold. I'll 
get to you when I have time. That's not the God of the Bible. 
He is omniscient. He is omnipotent. He is omnipresent. He is always available, always 
accessible. We can bring our petitions to 
Him 24-7. The gods of the heathen are not 
that way. And Elijah challenges them here. 
Or he is busy. Or he's on a journey. Maybe he 
took off to the Bahamas for a time. Maybe he's resting in Barbados. 
Maybe he's enjoying a bit of R&R at one of the latest timeshares. Again, he's mocking them. He's 
showing them their futility. It be akin to me saying to an 
idolater today, you worship that money. Can it save you? Pray 
to it. See if it answers you. You worship 
that that person. Sometimes we get into a relationship 
with other people and instead of a healthy, godly, Christ exalting 
relationship, we become idolaters. Is that person going to save 
you? Can that person cleanse you from your sins? Can that 
person secure for you everlasting life? Elijah is mocking to show 
the futility, the emptiness, the ungodliness and the absolute 
folly of idolatry. Notice what he goes on to say. 
He is on a journey or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened. His alarm clock hasn't gone off 
yet. Maybe he reached over and hit the snooze button. You guys 
need to step it up a bit. This is what he's doing. You 
need to get real about this. So what do they do? They go from 
a simple crying aloud and a leaping about the altar, they take it 
up a notch now. Look at how they respond. It's 
pathetic. It's wretched. It's heartbreaking 
to see men this committed to their emptiness, this committed 
to their futility. So they cried aloud and cut themselves, 
as was their custom, with knives and lances until the blood gushed 
out on them. It's a wretched scene, isn't 
it? They go from crying aloud, to 
leaping about the altar, to cutting themselves and gushing blood 
all over their bodies, so that their Storm God will hear them, 
so that their Storm God will send fire, so that their Storm 
God will consume their bullet, and they can prove that they 
indeed are following the true and the living God. Look at the 
extent idolaters go to to worship their God. As our brother said 
this morning, we can get so worked up about the Beatles. We can 
get so worked up about the Canucks. We can get so worked up about 
any old thing whatsoever. Idolaters like this can go from 
morning until evening punctuating their religious fervor with the 
gashing of themselves. And when it comes time for church, 
It's hard for us to keep our eyes open for an hour. Shame 
on us. We have the true and the living 
God. We ought to be throbbing. We 
ought to be delighted. We ought to be entering into 
His presence with gladness and joy and thanksgiving. If idolaters 
do this for that which is not God, can't we keep our eyes open? Can't we get excited to consider 
the great truths of the Incarnation? Can't we get excited that in 
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the 
Word was God? And that that Word tabernacled 
amongst us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten 
of the Father, full of grace and truth? I mean, these poor 
wretches are calling upon nothing. They are bleeding. They are cutting. They are spending an entire day 
in frenzy And we, we don't even get up to read our Bibles at 
times. We have a book with the record of the most glorious truths 
ever, the truths of redemption. We don't know systematic theology. 
We don't know any theology. We couldn't find a verse to prove 
the deity of Christ if our lives depended upon it. And by we, 
I don't mean us specifically, though I don't think I'm out 
to lunch on this, but we generically, evangelical and Reformed churches, 
Man, we ought to get fired up, not like the heathen, cutting 
ourselves. God doesn't call us to do that, 
but certainly calls us to enter into his gates with thanksgiving 
and his courts with praise. Certainly calls us to use our 
minds and focus upon those great redemptive truths and let them 
affect us in such a way that we will let our conduct be worthy 
of the gospel. These poor wretches engaged in 
this sort of an activity for their God, which was no God. 
For them, unfortunately, theology mattered. They actually cared. They are a reproach in some ways 
to reform evangelical Christianity in our own day. We don't do this 
much for our God. And he saved us. And again, don't 
go from here saying, Pastor Butler said I should cut myself and 
bleed all over me. That's not the point. Pastor 
Butler said you should read your Bible and pray and think about 
these great truths and glorify God most high. If the heathen 
will do this, what are Christ's people doing for the very truth 
of the gospel? And then notice verse 28, sorry, 
verse 29. And when midday was passed, they 
prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. Here it is again, but there was 
no voice. No one answered. Now no one paid 
attention. Why? Because there was no one. Baal is the figment of man's 
imagination. Baal is a god of human devising. Baal is a god to whom they would 
give honor and praise so that they could get stuff. So that 
they could have crops. So that they could have fertility 
in the land. So that they could get. It was 
all a practical arrangement. A.W. Pink said, the altar stood 
cold and smokeless. The bullet was unconsumed. The powerlessness of Baal and 
the folly of his worshippers were made fully apparent. The 
vanity and absurdity of idolatry stood completely exposed." It's 
a great lesson that day. You left this contest saying, 
Baal ain't the real deal. They called. They cried. Elijah mocked. They got more 
fervent. They cut themselves. They bled 
on themselves. And this wasn't like a five minute 
deal. This wasn't an hour and a half 
on a Sunday morning and an hour 15 on a Sunday night. This was 
from morning till night. But there was no one. No one 
heard. No one answered. No one paid 
attention. He goes on to say, no false religion 
is able to send down fire upon a vicarious sacrifice. No false 
religion can put away sin, bestow the Holy Spirit, or grant supernatural 
answers to prayer. Tested at these three vital points, 
they one and all fail, as Baal's worship did that memorable day 
on Carmel. Try as men might to deny the 
living and true God and seek out other gods, they will never, 
ever prevail. And that leads us thirdly and 
finally to the display of God's power. Elijah prepares the altar, 
verse 30. He prepares the sacrifice and 
he douses it with water three times. Let's sweeten the deal 
a bit. Let's make this more difficult. 
Let's make this more interesting. Not that he's a betting man, 
but let's make this a little bit more interesting. Get some 
water and douse the sacrifice. Make it wet. Make it saturated. In fact, dig a trench around 
it and fill that up with water. Because when this goes down, 
as Elijah knew it would, he didn't want anybody to say, hey, Elijah's 
a good magician. Elijah knows how to manipulate 
the crowd. Elijah knows how to play with 
smoke and mirrors. Elijah knows how to engage. No, he orders these things to 
be done. And then notice 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. He didn't come 
near and dance. He didn't come near and leap. 
He didn't come near and lance. He didn't come in a frenzy. He 
didn't come in chaos. He came in subdued, holy submission. He came in prayer. It wasn't 
a long prayer. It wasn't a 20-minute prayer. 
It wasn't a 30-minute prayer. People weren't nodding off while 
he was praying. It was short. It was sweet. It 
was to the point. As Spurgeon says, let us go through 
the gates of heaven and boldly present our petitions and come 
on back. That's what he does. Notice. 
Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. This is a mighty 
gun in the armory of prayer. A rehearsal of the covenant keeping 
activity of our God. When God hears that he is the 
covenant keeper of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, he blesses. Not every time, obviously. I'm 
not getting into a whole theology of prayer here. But this is what 
the prophet does. He prays, no leaping, no crying, 
no cutting himself. He prays to Abraham, Isaac and 
Jacob. He says, let it be known this 
day that you are God in Israel and I am your servant. And that 
I have done all these things at your word. There it is. God 
doesn't call us to go to Mount Shem and challenge the prophets 
of whoever. He is working in accordance with 
the word of the living and true God, the God before whom I stand 
sent me on this errand. He sent me on this task. He says, 
Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you 
are the Lord God and that you have turned their hearts back 
to you again. Fire comes down. God answers. He's not Baal. He is the true 
and the living God. He sends fire down upon the altar. And notice it consumes the burnt 
sacrifice, verse 38, and the wood and the stones and the dust. And it licked up the water that 
was in the trench. Every bit that was put there, 
the fire licks it all up. What is God showing and demonstrating? But His power, His majesty, His 
excellence, His solitariness. He is not one of among many gods, 
but He is the one true and living God. He is independent. He is untouched. He is the one who has sovereign 
power at His disposal. Verse 39, Now when all the people 
saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, The Lord, He is 
God. The Lord, He is God. You couldn't 
come away from that event and think otherwise. You couldn't 
come away from that event and say Baal is God. No, it was a 
very clear depiction of the futility of idols and of the power of 
the living God of Israel. And then notice his instruction 
there in verse 40. Elijah said to them, seize the 
prophets of Baal. Seize the prophets of Baal. Do 
not let one of them escape. So they seized them. And Elijah 
brought them down to the Brook Tishon and executed them there. You see, this is a unique time 
in redemptive history. We're not to execute the false 
prophets. In fact, I'll read a quote from 
Ralph Davis on this. He says, this Kishon slaughter 
was not an act of personal revenge, but of capital punishment. You 
need to keep this in mind as you read this particular account. 
This was not an act of personal revenge. Elijah's mad at these 
prophets. I'm going to take you out. No, 
it was a capital offense in line with the law. Elijah was carrying 
out the sanctions of Deuteronomy 13. You can read that later and 
see that it's very clear. Seduction to apostasy was a capital 
offense. Those who will Israel to worship 
another God, whether a successfully wonder-working prophet, a member 
of one's own intimate circle, or the citizens of a whole town. 
Those people forfeit their lives. Remember, Israel was a theocracy. What we call church and state 
functioned as one. And here Elijah simply carries 
out Israel's constitution, the provisions of Jehovah's covenant 
law relating to solicitation to apostasy. The problem is not 
God's lack of refinement, but our lack of sanctification. We read this and we go, oh, the 
horror of it all. And we start to call into question 
the goodness and the graciousness of God. Well, Davis is spot on. The problem is not God's lack 
of refinement, but our lack of sanctification. If our thinking 
were holy, we would understand such texts. The nasty episode 
of the Kishon or at the Kishon testifies that we have little 
horror of sin and calls evangelical Christians in particular to repentance. Seduction to apostasy was met 
with the sword. And that is precisely what Elijah 
orders in this particular instance. So we learn from this passage 
a few lessons and then we close. The first is simply this. The 
truth is not democratic. The truth is not democratic. In other words, if there's 450 
prophets of Baal, there's 400 prophets of Asherah, the temptation 
is to side with them because there's only one Elijah. And 
it can't be the case that so many people are wrong. Well, 
it most certainly can be the case that so many people are 
wrong. The bigness, the largeness of 
an institution, be it a cult, be it a philosophical system, 
any sort of a so-called truth system, is not measured by its 
size. It's about the truth. There may 
be times when we are called to stand alone. We may have to dare 
to be a Daniel. We do not side with the multitudes 
when God's truth is at stake. Now, we don't go kill people, 
we don't execute false prophets, but we need to be willing to 
take a stand for the truth. When certain doctrines come into 
attack, what is the church to do? Retreat? Say, we don't want 
controversy? We don't want problems? No. We 
contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered 
to the saints. We fight error. We fight heresy 
with the truth of God's Holy Word. That doesn't mean with 
preferences. Some of us differ on some peripheral 
things. Let's not always fight about 
those things. But when we threaten or doctrines 
are threatened that affect the Christian religion, when the 
doctrine of justification as it is repeatedly coming under 
attack, we don't say, but they're such a big church. They must 
be doing something right. Not if they're compromising biblical 
exegesis. Not if they're compromising the 
truth. Truth is not democratic. If 450 people believe something 
and one believes another thing, the truth is not dependent on 
the majority. If the king and court and a host 
of others believe a lie, that does not make it true. And I 
realize sometimes this is powerful. You talk to somebody, but how 
can it be that so many people are wrong? Well, it's unfortunate, 
but there's precedent right here in 1 Kings 18. There's precedent 
throughout the Scripture. Truth is not voted upon. Truth 
is not shapeable. Truth is not moldable. Truth 
is not something we deal with. Truth is something that God has 
given. It is a revelation of His mind, and our response is 
to take it, to believe in it, and fight for it. Secondly, we 
need to understand something here about the utter depravity 
of man. You say, where do we see that? 
Well, you see it in the prophets of Baal, for sure. Do you see 
it in the children of Israel? Do you think Baal worship stopped? 
You would hope so, right? I mean, you would think it would. 
If you saw that display on that day, you would think that's it. 
They may worship other gods. They may bow down to Mammon. 
They may make poles, or they may construct rocks, or they 
may whatever it may be. But they're certainly not going 
to let Baal back in Israel. They didn't. It was a perennial 
problem. Prophets had to keep denouncing 
it. The prophets had to keep telling them to repent from Baal 
worship. There was a revival shortly after 
this, and Baalism prospered again until it was crushed by Jehu. 
Jehu, you remember him, the second king. He brought the heat down 
upon Baalism. It was then revived again under 
Adaliah, 2 Chronicles 17. Josiah crushed a temple of Baal 
in his reign, and Jeremiah even pronounces judgment against it. 
This is several hundred years later. Man's heart is wicked. The heart of man is deceitful 
above all things and desperately wicked. Who can understand it? 
We need to realize that the people that we see in our world are 
given over. They are prone to wander, prone 
to leave God, prone to follow the idols. We need to preach 
the way Isaiah the prophet did. Isaiah 55, he said, oh, everyone 
who thirsts, come. He challenges his contemporaries. 
He says, why do you spend your wages for that which does not 
satisfy? You may know an idolater, may 
not be worshipping Baal, but he may be worshipping himself. 
Come alongside of him sometime and say, why do you spend your 
wages on that which does not satisfy? God made us for himself. God made us so that we'll commune 
with him. And you are cheating yourself. You are worshipping, 
you are bowing down to an idol. Do not do this. Come to the living 
and true God. I might issue that challenge 
to some of you people here today. Why? Why are you spending your 
wages on that which does not satisfy? Why are you throwing 
it away? Why are you investing in something 
that is futile? Why are you investing in the 
bank of Baal when when you call upon him? No one hears. No one 
answers. No one pays attention. When Jesus 
Christ has said, come to me and I will in no wise cast you out. 
Come to me and I will give you everlasting life. Jesus describes 
himself as the bread of life. You eat of me and you'll never 
hunger. He describes himself as the vine. He describes himself 
as the door. He defines himself as the way, 
the truth and the life. He says that all those who come 
to the Father by me will have life. Why do you spend your wages 
on that which does not satisfy? Thirdly, we need to see the necessity 
of allegiance toward God. Allegiance, not just partial 
allegiance. The Puritans, the Reformers, 
I think it was probably Calvin, referred to Coram Deo, living 
in the presence of God. Be like Elijah. Elijah here defines 
his existence in this way. Before whom I stand. His wasn't a Sunday, Sabbath-only 
Christianity. He stood before the Lord. He 
walked before the Lord. His life was lived in reference 
to the Lord. He was God-centered and God-oriented 
in everything, such that he could describe himself as the one who 
stands before the Lord. Do you and I do that? Can we 
do that? Does Coram Deo define you? Are 
you always living in the presence of God? Are you always conscious 
of God? Again, note what I'm not saying. 
Are you sinless? Are you perfect? That's not the 
issue. The issue is when you sin, when you engage in ungodliness, 
you flee back to that Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew Henry said it 
is a very bad thing. to halt between God and Baal. 
He who is not with Christ is against Him. There's no third 
place. Jesus said that very clearly 
in Matthew 12 and verse 30. He who is not with Me is against 
Me. There's no third position. Sometimes 
I think young people get it in their heads. Yeah, I'll become 
a Christian later on. Sometimes older people, they've 
heard the message all their lives. I'll be a Christian later on. 
I'll try to live in this third place. I'll have a foot in heaven 
and a foot in hell. No, that's not the way it is. If you are not with Christ, you 
are against him. He goes on to say we cannot serve 
Baal and God, Mammon and God, ourselves and God. God alone 
is worthy of our total allegiance. He goes on to say the service 
of God and the service of sin, the dominion of Christ and the 
dominion of our lusts. These are the two thoughts which 
it is dangerous halting between. Those between them that are unresolved 
under their convictions, unstable and unsteady in their purposes, 
promise fair but do not perform, begin well but do not hold on, 
that are inconsistent with themselves or indifferent and lukewarm in 
that which is good. Their heart is divided, whereas 
God will have, notice this, all or he will have none. God's claims 
on us is total. What's Paul's argument in 1 Corinthians 
6 when the Corinthians are engaged in harlotry, engaging with harlots? What's his argument? You were 
bought with a price. Glorify God with your body and 
your soul. He didn't just purchase part 
of you, just didn't purchase the inner man. He purchased your 
organs as well. You need to restrain them. You 
need to govern them. You need to watch over them. 
You are not to halt between two opinions. You are not to engage 
in such ungodliness. Christ will have all or he'll 
have none. We cannot engage in this sort 
of Christianity. And then the last lesson I believe 
this passage displays is the power in our Christianity comes 
from God. It doesn't come from our moral 
persuasion. It doesn't come from our great 
arguments. It doesn't even come because we mock the false prophets. 
Those are means. God uses them. But we need to 
see when the fire came down, it was from the sovereign God 
of Israel. When we go out from this place, 
when we live in light of the Christian gospel, when we witness, 
when we testify, when we talk to people, when we try to persuade 
idolaters to come to the true and the living God, we need to 
realize our dependence is upon God Most High. We need to realize 
that it is impossible with us to change the heart, but with 
God, all things are possible. And if you don't know Christ 
tonight, again, the message is very particularly directed to 
you. How long? How long will you falter between 
two opinions? If God is God, follow him. If 
God is God and we have seen in the scripture that he is, follow 
him. Believe the gospel. Believe in 
the doing and the dying and the rising of Jesus. Believe on Him 
alone who can save you from your sins. The Scripture is clear. 
You have sinned against a holy God. You have not done what He's 
called you to. You have broken His law. And 
this isn't you, you, you. It's all of us. We're all in 
this boat. We've all strayed. We've all gone a-whoring from 
the true and living God. The Scripture says that we have 
offended in many ways. We have broken every law. We 
have broken every commandment. You may think yourself a pretty 
good person. The Scripture tells us otherwise. 
The only remedy is to believe on the Lord Jesus, who lived 
and who died and who rose again so that sinners could have everlasting 
life. Well, let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank you for this account in 1 Kings 18. We thank you for 
this marvelous display of the power of God. And I pray that 
we would take these things to heart, that we'd examine our 
own selves, Lord God, under the light of Holy Scripture, that 
we would seek to root out any bad things, any idols in our 
own lives, any lack of commitment to You, Father, I pray that You 
would just search us out, try us, cause us to repent, cause 
us to flee again to the Lord Jesus, to find mercy and forgiveness, 
and to go in the fear of God and to serve You with all our 
heart, soul, mind, and strength. And I pray that You would go 
with each one of us now in this coming week, and I ask in Jesus' 
name, Amen.