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Well, you can turn with me in 
your Bibles to the book of 1 Kings, 1 Kings chapter 18. 1 Kings chapter 18, God willing 
we'll return to John's gospel and our study in Ephesians toward 
the end of September. This morning we're going to consider 
the contest at Carmel, and basically the prophet Elijah challenges 
the false prophets of Baal and Asherah to a God contest. I want to read beginning in chapter 
18 at verse 1. And it came to pass, after many days, that the 
word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, 
present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth. 
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab, and there was a severe 
famine in Samaria. And Ahab had called Obadiah, 
who was in charge of his house. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, 
for so it was while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the Lord that 
Obadiah had taken 100 prophets and hidden them, 50 to a cave, 
and had fed them with bread and water. And Ahab had said to Obadiah, 
go into the land to all the springs of water and to all the brooks. 
Perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and mules alive 
so that we will not have to kill any livestock. So they divided 
the land between them to explore it. Ahab went one way by himself, 
and Obadiah went another way by himself. Now as Obadiah was 
on his way, suddenly Elijah met him. And he recognized him and 
fell on his face and said, Is that you, my lord, Elijah? And 
he answered him, it is I, go tell your master Elijah is here. 
So he said, how have I sinned that you are delivering your 
servant into the hand of Ahab to kill me? As the Lord your 
God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where my master has 
not sent someone to hunt for you. And when they said he is 
not here, he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they 
could not find you. And now you say, go tell your 
master Elijah is here. And it shall come to pass, as 
soon as I am gone from you, that the Spirit of the Lord will carry 
you to a place I do not know. So when I go and tell Ahab, and 
he cannot find you, he will kill me. But I, your servant, have 
feared the Lord from my youth. Was it not reported to my Lord 
what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord? How 
I hid 100 men of the Lord's prophets, 50 to a cave, and fed them with 
bread and water. And now you say, go tell your 
master Elijah is here. He will kill me. 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. But 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 bulls and let them choose one bull for themselves. 
Cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under 
it. And I will prepare the other 
bull 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 bowl 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 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. 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 he 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 twelve 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 sails 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, and 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 Kishon and executed them there. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
gracious God and Holy Father, we thank you for the Lord's Day. 
We thank you for the fact that this creation does declare the 
majesty and the righteousness of God Almighty. We thank you 
for the fact that the Bible, special revelation, reveals to 
us that mercy and that grace, the riches of grace, which are 
to be found in our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask now that you would 
be glorified as we gather in this glad hour, We pray that 
the Holy Spirit would guide us as we consider this passage of 
Scripture, that we would learn the lessons well that we see 
in 1 Kings 18, and that You would affect us for good, and further 
conform us unto the image of Your beloved Son. And may it 
not be the case that there's a divided allegiance in our heart 
with reference to the living and true God. Please forgive 
us now for all sin and all transgression, and cleanse us in that precious 
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, And for any and all who've come 
here this morning dead in their trespasses and sins, we pray 
that today would be the day of salvation, that you would open 
hearts to receive the truth as it is in Jesus. And we pray in 
Jesus' name, amen. Well, as we come to this particular 
passage of scripture, we find ourselves in the ministry of 
the prophet Elijah. And I think it's very important 
for us to set it in its immediate context. If you go back to 1 
Kings 16, you'll notice that the man Ahab becomes Cain. Went back a little bit further, 
I don't want to bore us or spend too much time, rather, with the 
entirety of the book, but 1 Kings 12 reports the division of the 
kingdom. So basically you had a united 
monarchy, and then there was this division. The northern tribes 
rebel against the southern tribes, and then there is this split. 
So you've got the ten northern tribes of Israel, and then the 
two southern tribes of Judah. So that happens in 1 Kings 12. 
And then there's a historical report on the kings of the North 
and the kings of the South. And that's what we find here, 
specifically in chapter 16. And there was a 22-year period 
of a man by the name of Ahab. If you drop down to 1629, I'll 
read. It says, in the 38th year of 
Asa, king of Judah, Ahab, the son of Omri, became king over 
Israel. And Ahab, the son of Omri, reigned over Israel in 
Samaria 22 years. Now, Ahab, the son of Omri, did 
evil in the sight of the Lord. And then notice what our author 
tells us, more than all who were before him. So Ahab is not the 
king of the year. If he has that coffee cup, he 
bought it himself. He was a wretch. He was rebellious. He was a godless man. And that's 
what the author is telling us. Notice in verse 31. And it came 
to pass as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk 
in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, who up to this 
point in time was the benchmark of evil in terms of the monarchy 
in Israel. So it was a small thing. With 
reference to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, Ahab wants 
to out-Jeroboam him. He wants to out-sin him. So it 
says, that he took as wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king 
of the Sidonians, and he went and served Baal and worshipped 
him. Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, 
which he had built in Samaria. So he initially first goes up 
to her territory to worship Baal. And then he builds an actual 
temple for Baal in Samaria, which is in the confines of Israel. 
Again, this man is wicked. And then we notice according 
to chapter 17 at verse one, and Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants 
of Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel stands before 
whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years except 
at my word. So there's a famine, there's 
a drought, there is a problem in the land. In other words, 
the godlessness of Ahab is repaid by Yahweh in terms of drought. But before we go on, look at 
what it says in 17.1. Out of nowhere, we don't get 
any biographical sketch. Elijah was from, you know, he's 
a Tishbite. He was married to Mrs. Elijah. 
He had several children and they enjoyed farming. He enjoyed the 
occasional game of tennis. No, he's just dropped right into 
our laps. He parachutes right in to the narrative. Notice in 
verse one, Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead 
said to Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom 
I stand. So I think we should learn from 
this before we engage in chapter 18 that God has answers to the 
evil that exists. As I said, Ahab is a wretch. 
He follows on the heels of his father Omri and these other kings 
in the north that were vile. In fact, Ahab increases that 
wretchedness in terms of co-opting Baalism from outside of Israel 
and brings it right in there to the northern kingdom. But 
in the midst of that, we might be inclined to get a little bit 
discouraged. We might get a little depressed. 
We might read this litany of kings in 1 Kings 16 and say, 
man, does anybody have it together? Does anybody have any wherewithal? 
Does anybody have any righteousness whatsoever? Well, here comes 
Elijah the Tishbite. He is dropped by God, not literally 
into this particular situation, but it reads that way. In fact, 
one man, Wallace, makes this observation, for to see him, 
Elijah, appear thus, in other words, so suddenly, reminds us 
that we need not despair when we see great movements of evil 
achieving spectacular success on this earth. For we may be 
sure that God, in unexpected places, has already secretly 
prepared his counter-movement. God has always his ways of working 
underground to undermine the stability of evil. God can raise 
men for His servants, service from nowhere. Therefore, the 
situation is never hopeless where God is concerned. Wherever evil 
flourishes, it is always a superficial flourish. For at the height of 
the triumph of evil, God will be there, ready with His man 
and His movement and His plans to ensure that His own cause 
will never fail. reminiscent of our Savior's words 
in Matthew chapter 16, I will build my church and the gates 
of Hades shall not prevail against it. So as we look at 1 Kings 
chapter 18, it's set in a context of gross idolatry, godlessness, 
and wretchedness, but we see the divine response through the 
ministry of the prophet Elijah. So I want to look at two things 
this morning. First, the meeting with Ahab in verses 1 to 19, 
and then secondly, the contest at Carmel in verses 20 to 40. But notice, with reference to 
the meeting with Ahab, chapter 18 tells us that God, verse 1 
tells us that God is going to end the drought. So verse 1, 
"...and it came to pass after many days that the word of the 
Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go present yourself 
to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth." So it's been a 
three-year dry period. It's been a three-year period 
of scourge based on the sins of Ahab. And now God the Lord 
is going to rectify that, and again, He does so through the 
ministry of this prophet Elijah. Now I don't want to spend too 
much in this meeting with Ahab in verses 1 to 19, but there 
are a few tidbits we ought to appreciate as we see how Elijah 
interacts with first Obadiah and then Ahab. Notice Ahab and 
Obadiah first, verses 3 to 6. So verse 2, Elijah went to present 
himself to Ahab, and there was a severe famine in Samaria. And 
then notice in verse 3, we have Ahab and then this prophet called 
Obadiah. And I want you to observe something, 
that God's men operate in different ways. I'm always a bit off-put 
by those who think that there's one standard in terms of a prophet, 
one standard in terms of a pastor, one standard in terms of a particular 
church. God is about the division of 
labor. He's got Obadiah behind the scenes, 
and then he's got Elijah challenging the false prophets on Mount Carmel. Just because Obadiah doesn't 
have the ability that Elijah does, doesn't mean that Obadiah 
is defective. It doesn't mean that he's inferior. 
He is effecting change from his position of ability. He is effecting 
change in the manner in which God ordained him to do so. And 
you need to appreciate that in the passage. He's not set forth 
as a lesser prophet because he doesn't stand up on Carmel and 
challenge the false prophets. No, he is a prophet of God, he 
is committed to the glory of God, he just works a bit differently 
behind the scenes. So notice in verse 3, Ahab had 
called Obadiah, who was in charge of his house. Now Obadiah feared 
the Lord greatly, for so it was, while Jezebel massacred the prophets 
of the Lord, that Obadiah had taken 100 prophets and hidden 
them, 50 to a cave, and had fed them with bread and water. And 
Ahab said to Obadiah, go into the land to all the springs of 
water and to all the brooks. Perhaps we may find grass to 
keep the horses and mules alive so that we will not have to kill 
any livestock. So they divided the land between 
them to explore it. Ahab went one way by himself 
and Obadiah went another way by himself. It's the author showing 
us. The author is showing us the 
severity of this drought. Typically, when bad things befall 
a particular nation, the kings and the governing authorities, 
they still get theirs. They still have running water. 
They still have electricity. You have to go through brownouts 
and blackouts, but they're going to be just fine. Well, in this 
instance, it's so severe and it's so harsh that even Ahab 
has been affected such that they have to go out and search for 
a place where they may find some liquid, where they may find some 
water. And now we have Obadiah and Elijah meet together in verses 
seven to 15. And essentially Obadiah says, 
I don't wanna go to Ahab and tell him that you're present. 
Because that doesn't usually work out well for the persons 
who go tell Ahab that you are present or not. So basically 
Obadiah is expressing his fear of the king. Now he does fear 
God, but he doesn't then not fear man. He's trying to operate, 
he's trying to work in such a way as to prolong his life so that 
he can be a benefit to these other prophets. And with reference 
to the works in each of these particular men, I like what Davis 
says. He says, sometimes Yahweh attacks 
evil with the in-your-face style of an Elijah, right? He does 
that, but not everybody's an Elijah. Sometimes he does it 
with a John the Baptist outside the city confines preaching about 
the brood of vipers that are coming to him. Other times he 
does it through the faithful witness of somebody behind the 
scenes. We cannot expect for the men of God to all be cut 
out of the same swath. Men of God are different. Men 
of God are gifted by God for particular things. And you see 
that here with Obadiah. So David says sometimes Yahweh 
attacks evil with an in-your-face style than Elijah, and sometimes 
he frustrates it by the simple subversion of an unobtrusive 
agent. So after they discuss, he then 
does go tell Ahab that Elijah is present. I want to look at 
this, and then we move to the contest. Notice Ahab and Elijah 
in verses 16 to 19. 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? Have you ever heard things out 
of people's mouths that are so outlandish and just so horrific 
and so not anywhere near truth that you wonder, how do they 
not just burst in flames? How do they not just explode? 
I mean, how could you say something that wrong? How could you be 
that contrary? How could you have the wherewithal 
to look at an Elijah and call him the troubler of Israel? Notice 
how Elijah responds to that. It ain't me that co-opted Baalism. It ain't me that brought Baalism 
to bear upon the Northern Kingdom. It isn't me that brought in this 
corruption and this evil and this idolatry. That's precisely 
how he responds to this charge. Is that you, O troubler of Israel? 
Verse 18, 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." You see what he says here. Let's 
settle this. Let's see who it is that is in 
fact the troubler of Israel. Is it the one who calls for fidelity 
to Yahweh, to the covenant God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? 
Or is it the one who has co-opted Baalism and brought it into the 
Northern Kingdom? And don't miss this reference 
to the 400 prophets of Asherah who sit at Jezebel's table. If 
I were to ask you the simple question, say Justin Trudeau 
phoned you up and said, I want you to come over to my house 
and I want you to eat dinner. And he puts on this wonderful bounty 
and this glorious fare. Who paid for that meal? Well, 
indirectly, you did. He didn't work at Walmart. He 
didn't earn a paycheck. It wasn't something that he brought 
to the table, pun intended. This is state-sanctioned false 
prophecy. This is state-sanctioned idolatry. This is state-sanctioned godlessness 
and irreligion. The fact that these 400 prophets 
of Asherah sit at Jezebel's table indicates that Jezebel, along 
with her husband, Ahab, are financing these false prophets. And they're 
financing these false profits off of the backs of the covenant 
people. Again, they don't have other 
jobs where they go make money and then they buy sumptuous fare. 
They are subsidized by the coffers, by the taxes, by those things 
excised at the threat of coercive government. So that's the stage. It has been set. Let's move now 
to the contest at Carmel. Three things. First, the challenge 
by Elijah in verses 20 to 25. Second, the response of the false 
prophets in verses 26 to 29. And then finally, the display 
of God's power in verses 30 to 40. But notice with reference 
to the challenge. Look at the setting. Verse 20, 
so Ahab sent for all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets 
together on Mount Carmel. This is home turf advantage for 
the false prophets. Mount Carmel is not, you know, 
the Mount Horeb where God met with the children of Israel. 
Mount Carmel is in Paganville. Mount Carmel was close to Phoenicia, 
which was Baal country, and it had an altar to Yahweh in disrepair. If you look at verse 31, it says, 
or verse 30, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was 
broken down. So at one time, Yahweh was worshipped 
there, but that had fallen into disrepair. Now it's the place 
where Baal is worshipped. Davis says in Egyptian records 
from the second millennium BC, Mount Carmel is called Holy Head, 
suggesting it was a sanctuary. In the annals of Assyrian king 
Shalmaneser III, Mount Carmel appears as the mountain of Baal 
of the promontory. So in other words, this is a 
symbolic place, it's a significant place, and I suspect it's the 
place where Ahab wants Elijah to die, where Ahab wants Elijah 
to meet his own maker, so that he can show the supremacy of 
Baal over Yahweh. That's the situation that Elijah 
faces when he comes to this particular situation. Notice the challenge 
that Elijah lays down in verse 21. 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. Now, probably 
it wasn't only Baal or only Yahweh. One of the things that's condemned 
a lot in the Old Testament is what's called syncretism. I don't 
want to, you know, scare you with any big words, but syncretism 
means a little bit of this and a little bit of that. We want 
to worship Yahweh because he calls us to fidelity, but we've 
heard this Baal is the storm god, and this Baal is able to 
rain, and this Baal is able to fertilize our crops. So we're 
going to add Baal to Yahweh just to sort of cover our bases. So 
see what Elijah is saying. You need to repudiate Baal wholesale 
and serve Yahweh. But if you're so committed to 
Baal, then repudiate Yahweh. It's one or the other. He lays 
down this particular gauntlet. He lays down this particular 
challenge. And I think this is an appropriate 
time to get practical. Brethren, it's not that we're 
just adding Jesus to our already completed life. It's not just 
that he's presented as the last benefit that will help you in 
your full life. It'll just make your life a little 
bit better the way a good Coca-Cola on a hot sunny day does. No, 
it's Jesus. What does Jesus say? He was not 
with me, is against me. Jesus says in the passage that 
our brother read in the area, you can't serve God and mammon. 
You can't add one God to another God and think that everything's 
going to be okay. Seek first the kingdom of God 
and his righteousness, and then these things will be added unto 
you. In other words, it's a question of allegiance. It's a question 
of priority. It's a question of primacy. And 
that's what Elijah issues with reference to the false prophets 
of Baal and to the children of Israel. Now notice in terms of 
the challenge, the Lord had purpose to end the drought. But without 
this public event, who do you think they're going to give the 
wind to? The storm God, right? This is there so that when the 
rain falls, nobody can scratch their wicked heads and say, wow, 
isn't Baal wonderful? Praise Baal from whom all blessings 
flow. This God contest is going to 
shut that down. This God contest is going to 
shut their mouths. This God contest is going to 
demonstrate that Yahweh is the true and the living God. So the 
drought is going to end, the God of heaven and earth has already 
purposed that, but he wants to make sure that the children of 
Israel learn the lesson as to why it ended. Now notice, the 
fact is, is that Elijah is greatly outnumbered here. He is greatly 
outnumbered here. It's 450 prophets of Baal and 
then 400 prophets of Asherah. We have no sort of conviction 
or thought that the prophets of Asherah are necessarily there. 
But for sure, there are these prophets of Baal. Now, when Elijah 
offers up this challenge in verse 21, "'Choose you this day whom 
you're going to serve,' as does Joshua in Joshua chapter 24, 
why does he do that? Why wouldn't they just follow 
Yahweh? Why wouldn't they just say, of 
course we serve the living and true God. Of course we serve 
the God who made, the God who governs, and the God who redeems, 
and the God who brought us into covenant sort of unity with Him. 
Why this challenge? Again, I'm gonna lean on Davis 
here. Davis reasons why they might want to follow Baal. First 
of all, Baal has royal sanction. Ahab and Jezebel are in the basket 
for Baal. You're going to follow your king 
on this. You're going to follow his wretched wife on this. If 
Ahab wants to change directions religiously in the nation, then 
you better follow your king. As well, they had the appeal 
of tradition. This wasn't the first time that 
Baal had been worshipped by Israelites, Judges 2 tells us. As well, the 
relevance to felt needs. I think this is a reality, and 
I think this is why people go a-whoring after false gods. They think that the god can meet 
their need. They think in a situation like 
this, well, if Baal is the storm god and we stand in need of rain, 
then it makes perfect sense to express our needs to Baal and 
to hope that he will rain on our crops. So the relevance of 
felt needs. This is a sinful and a horrible 
thing that even good people, Christian people, can fall prey 
to. We hear about this thing or that thing that is not God, 
and we go after it thinking that it can satisfy our felt needs, 
the relevance of felt needs. As well, it might have been the 
appeal to sensuality. We have a mixed audience, we 
have young people here, but suffice to say that one of the reasons 
or one of the ways that Baal was worshipped was through fornication. The idea being is that when the 
worshippers fornicated, the idea was is that Baal would then take 
Asherah as his consort and they would fornicate and thus there 
would be rain and it would fertilize the land. So Elijah lays down 
the gauntlet with reference to this. Notice that the people 
don't respond according to verse 21b, but the people answered 
him not a word. Why is that? Probably because 
they feared Ahab and they feared Elijah too at this point. Who 
does he think he is? He's upsetting the apple cart. 
There might have been a class of people there in Israel that 
said, you know what? Why are you messing with the status quo? 
Why are you disrupting the situation? Why are you calling for religious 
fidelity? We have a bigger problem. Namely, 
we need water. We need this drought condition 
to end. See, they thought outside of God. They thought outside 
or apart from God. And they thought that they lived 
in some mechanized universe. If you found the right God, then 
the right God could fix your needs. So they answer him not 
a word, probably out of fear of Ahab and a fear of Elijah. And then notice the specifics 
of the contest. Verse 22, Elijah's not being 
dramatic. He's speaking hyperbolically. 
He knows that Obadiah is a faithful man. He knows that Obadiah has 
hidden prophets so that Jezebel couldn't get her fangs into them. 
But in verse 22, he says, I alone am left a prophet of the Lord. 
But Baal's prophets are 450 men. And then the contest is quite 
simple. Take two bulls for sacrifice. Then there is this prohibition 
against fire. That's the contest. The Baalists 
put their sacrifice on the altar, and then the Yahwist, which is 
Elijah, will put his sacrifice on the altar, but don't put any 
fire under it. Now, brethren, if Baal is the 
storm god, this ought to be easy, right? What does the storm god 
send? He sends rain, but lightning 
too. This seems specifically particular 
to the skills, the abilities, and the gifts that Baal as a 
subclass deity might possess. In other words, what's his job 
description? Well, I'm over the storm. Well, 
they're not to be easy peasy for you to send down lightning 
and consume that offering, consume that sacrifice. So the details 
are quite simple in terms of the actual contest. And then 
that brings us now to the response of the false prophets in verses 
26 to 29. So the false prophets agreed. Yeah, this sounds right. 
Verse 25, now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose 
one bull for yourselves and prepare it first for your many and call 
on the name of your God, but put no fire under it. So then 
they call on Baal, as you would be want to do, right? It's time 
for sacrifice. It's time to see. It's time to 
show yourself, Baal. This is, after all, a God contest, 
and we're going to call upon you to put in an appearance so 
that we know that you're true, so that we can confirm that you're 
true, so that all these Israelites will, in fact, choose this day, 
that they will no longer halt between two opinions, that they 
will rather follow Baal wholeheartedly and serve him as he is fit and 
ready for. Notice in terms of their response, 
so verse 26, 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. It's easy to read stuff like 
that and not pay much attention to it, but when was the last 
time you got up early and prayed till noon? I'm not here to guilt 
you. I'm not here to lecture you. 
I'm actually convinced that God wants you at work and serving 
and earning your way in this world. But in terms of religious 
devotion, we can't fault the bailiffs for not having an attention 
to religious devotion. From morning until noon, they're 
engaged in this. From morning until noon, they 
are trying to try and prove they're God, that he is in fact God, 
and they show this kind of fervor. Again, not here to browbeat you, 
and you should be in church every time it's open, but you should 
be in church every time it's open. If the bailiffs can come 
before something fake, If the Baalists can give their fervor 
and attention to something that isn't real, and we serve the 
triune God of absolute glory, majesty, and power, we serve 
the God who made, the God who governs, and the God who redeems, 
we serve the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't 
that require demand? And isn't it our privilege to 
engage with whole soul fervor and commitment? He who is not 
with me is against me, our blessed Savior says. And if he has saved 
us by his grace, through faith in his blood, then what does 
that mean in terms of practicality? Choose this day. How long will 
you halt between two opinions? So notice, they call upon Baal. Verse 26. They say, O Baal, hear 
us. But there was no voice, no one 
answered. Then they leaped about the altar 
which they had made. They leaped about the altar, 
or limped about the altar. In other words, they increased 
their fervor. They increased their devotion. They increased 
their approach to this God so that He will act in their favor 
and send fire down upon their sacrifice. Now notice, in terms 
of the mocking by Elijah, it's just here that in the New Covenant 
Church we say, well, you know, that's not Christian ethics. 
We can't ever point out the folly of idolatry. We have to be very 
careful that we always approach as nice, always super kind. Why is kind and nice contrary 
to truth? Why is kind and nice contrary 
to being like our Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ turned over 
the money changers tables. Jesus Christ drove out the beasts. Jesus Christ had that zeal for 
God that consumed him. And here is prophet Elijah comes 
to mock these false prophets. Again, you may not be used to 
this. Well, we're just not supposed to mock people because that's 
not nice. Well, brethren, dare I say it? Some of your Bibles may present 
to you is not nice. especially when we get to the 
end at the Brook Kishon. You're gonna lose your mind then, 
but right now, notice what Elijah does in the face of these false 
prophets who are revealing their religious fervor. So notice at 
verse 27, 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 he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened. Or he is busy. Commentators tell 
us that this probably means he is defecating. He's mocking. A brother this morning in the 
confession study read from Isaiah 46. It talks about Bel and Nebo 
stooping down. It doesn't mean to hear the prayers 
of faithful Babylonians. It means that the cart that they 
were on was sort of rock and they fell. See, these gods are 
fake, they're false, and when people worship fake or false 
gods, it's not inconsistent to mock them as a result of that. 
In fact, listen to the commentator Matthew Henry. He says, the worship 
of idols is a most ridiculous thing, and it is but justice 
to represent it so and expose it to scorn. Now brethren, I'm 
not suggesting order, you know, go home today, Amazon.ca and 
order a bullhorn and walk up and down your street and tell 
everybody what a fool they are for worshiping their false gods. 
But I am suggesting that when an Elijah the prophet stands 
up and mocks a false god, we need to be very careful about 
impugning him as not being nice. It's not representing our Lord 
well. It's not representing Jesus the way that Jesus would want. 
Jesus speaks glowingly of Elijah in the New Testament. John the 
Baptist is that covenantal sort of revelation of Elijah the Tishbite. So it's not that Jesus doesn't 
approve of Elijah's conduct here. Elijah's fighting the battle 
of Yahweh Most High. Now notice, they intensify their 
efforts in verses 28 to 29. Again, it's something interesting 
about the human psyche. They can be shown they're wrong, 
and instead of admitting that, and instead of owning it, and 
instead of confessing it and forsaking it, what do they do? 
They double down. They get more vociferous, they 
get more committed, they get more engaged. Again, brethren, 
I think at times the proponents of false religion show us up. We have a negative example and 
we're put off religion like really much, you know, things aren't 
going the way we think it should. And so therefore we're not going 
to serve the Savior the way that He calls us to serve Him. Do 
you see what's happening here? So they've already called upon 
him from morning until noon. They've been mocked by the prophet 
Elijah. And instead of repenting and owning their sin and their 
wickedness, they double down. Look at verses 28 and 29. So 
they cried aloud. Now they cut themselves as was 
their custom with knives and lances until the blood gushed 
out on them. Now it moves from the ridiculous 
and folly to a frenzy that's actually sad. Pathetic, isn't 
it? That someone would serve a false 
god with that kind of rigor? That someone would be that committed 
to falsehood and lies? That somebody would actually 
cut themselves and rain blood upon themselves from themselves 
to try to invoke their god? What was fun or a funny thing 
in terms of Elijah mocking them, they now double down into this 
outright frenzy. And then notice in verse 29, 
and when midday was passed, they prophesied until the time of 
the offering of the evening sacrifice. So you get that again, they spent 
a day in the presence of Baal, invoking him to send his fire 
and to consume their sacrifice. This wasn't a 10-minute shot 
in the dark here. You know, Baal, if you're there, 
send down fire, and we'll know that you're true, and then we 
can all go home and praise Baal from whom all blessings flow. 
They're committed to this all day long. Then notice how the 
narrator ends this subsection. He says, "...but there was no 
voice, no one answered, no one paid attention." Again, our brother 
in the confession study read from Psalms 115 and 135. the gods of the nations, the 
gods of the heathen. They have eyes, but they don't 
see. They have ears, but they don't hear. They have mouths, 
but they don't speak. They have noses, but they don't 
smell. Why is that? Because they're fake. They're 
not really there. It's a conception. It's a figment 
of man's imagination. We are religious beings. This 
evidences that. It's not the case that we're 
atheists, that we're just these blank slates. No, man has a religiosity 
about him because God made him in his image. But what he does 
with that religiosity shows and describes his depravity, his 
sin. He doesn't seek the true and living God. He seeks that 
which is not God. And he does so with great earnestness 
and with great attention and here with a frenzy. But there 
was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention. Listen 
to A.W. Pink. He said, the altar stood 
cold and smokeless, the bullock unconsumed. The powerlessness 
of Baal and the folly of his worshipers were made fully apparent. 
The vanity and absurdity of idolatry stood completely exposed. 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. Now, when I endorse Elijah mocking 
the false prophets, I'm not suggesting that we do so in order just to 
show that we're smarter or that we're wiser or that we're better 
than them. If they see their futility and 
they see their folly, then hopefully we can point them to the one 
who meets their need for blood atonement. The idol doesn't bring 
this. Baal doesn't bring this. Asherah 
doesn't bring this. It is a fool's errand to invoke 
Baal for redemptive benefit. That's what A.W. Pink underscores 
in this particular place. And that brings us finally to 
the display of God's power. Verses 30 to 40. Notice the preparation 
by Elijah. First we read in verse 30, then 
Elijah said to all the people, come near to me. I like that. 
Come near. Let's get intimate. Let's get 
acquainted. Let's do this. Elijah is there, 
again, not just to parade the fact that he is the true prophet 
of living God. He wants the benefit of Israel. 
He wants them to stop with Baal. He wants them to stop with Asherah. 
He wants them to stop with the futility of ideology. He wants 
them to come near to witness what it is that he's going to 
do so that, again, it will demonstrate the glory of the living and the 
true God. So notice he repairs that altar in verse 30, and he 
repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And then 
verse 31, Elijah took 12 stones. One commentator points out that 
was probably a dig at these rebels. Again, it was the northern tribes 
that rebelled against the southern tribes. What had God intentioned? It was intentional for a united 
monarchy, all 12 tribes serving Yahweh as they were supposed 
to do. So that Elijah does this, it 
is symbolic and it underscores or highlights that there's been 
defection in all of Israel and that it's embodied primarily 
at this point in the northern kingdom. So he builds the altar, 
takes the 12 stones, and then he douses the sacrifice and the 
wood. Now, for those of you who say, 
well, why would he waste all that water in a time of drought? They were pretty close to the 
Mediterranean Sea, so that's where the water comes from. It 
wasn't that everybody was licking their lips while he's pouring 
all of this precious liquid all over the altar and the sacrifice. They were near the sea, they 
got seawater, they put that on the altar. Do you see what he's 
doing? He's stacking the deck. Now, I realize sometimes people 
might not know what that means, especially the kids. What does 
that mean, stacking the deck? Well, imagine, kids, if you were 
going to play a game of cards, whatever your favorite card game 
is. And you took that deck of cards, and you move things around 
so that you deal your opponent a bad card, and then you get 
a good card. And then you deal your opponent a bad card, and 
then you get a good card. That's called stacking the deck. 
It's making things go in your favor. It's making things sort 
of happen that will benefit you. Elijah stacking the deck against 
the living and true God. He's not stacking the deck for 
the living and true God, he's stacking the deck against the 
living and true God. Why? Because when the fire comes 
down and consumes that sacrifice, no one will be able to say, this 
was a fake, this was a fraud, it was all set up, Elijah's a 
huckster, he's just a showman, he's just a magician. No, he 
is stacking the deck so that when the fire comes, everyone 
will know that it was Yahweh. So Elijah could have been understood 
to be working against Yahweh for these reasons. The God in 
question, Baal, has power over lightning. He's already said, 
let it be fire that consumes the sacrifice. As well, the false 
prophets have the home field advantage. They're not at Horeb. 
They're not on Sinai. They're not in the Mount of God. 
As well, they got to go first. That's always beneficial, right? 
They got to go first. I mean, it seems obvious and 
easy. If Baal's up there, and he's 
real, and he's the storm god, he should be able to, you know, 
get us home by breakfast. And then the dousing of the sacrifice. What does that do? Well, I don't 
need to convince you that that's not normally what happens, that 
wet stuff burns, right? Listen to Davis again. He says, 
the Israelites were not witless. They knew wet stuff doesn't burn. 
Elijah had stacked the deck against Yahweh so that when his fire 
came, there should be no other explanation except that it was 
an act of God. You wouldn't be able to sort 
of evade this. You wouldn't be able to argue 
against this. You wouldn't be able to say, well, you know, that 
wasn't really what happened on that fair day. So he stacks the 
deck, tells them, gives them the instruction. It is thoroughly 
doused. And then that brings us to the prayer offered by Elijah. 
And I want you to note the brevity of his prayer. I'm not saying 
all prayers should be brief. No pastor in their right mind 
would say that. But not every prayer that's effective is an 
hour long, or in this case, all day long. Is there something 
in us that thinks it's our zeal that activates God's power? Well, 
if I fast and pray for 40 days and 40 nights, God will know 
that I mean business. I'm all for fasting and praying. 
I'm not for manipulating God, though. Baal is manipulatable. Baal, you can put his arm behind 
his back and give it a crank and then he must perform. Well, 
in the minds of the Baalists. Yahweh's not that way. He's not 
a vending machine. We put in the proper amount, 
we push the appropriate button and we get out the blessing that 
we think is ours. Brethren, be careful of this 
mindset that turns prayer and fasting and other acts of piety 
into a mechanism by which we bind God's hands. But I prayed 
over this for so many years. Have we ever thought, what does 
that What do we expect? Oh, well, they're good, you pray. 
Well, then let me give it to you, right here, right now. As 
if the ticket to getting things from God is our zeal, please 
don't leave this morning and say, Butler's happy with us not 
having zeal. Have zeal. Pray fast. Do the things that God commands 
you to do. But be very careful of approaching it the way that 
a bailist approaches bail. Be very careful for thinking 
that, you know, I've got to pray for six hours or God's not going 
to hear me. I've got to pray for, you know, a month or God's 
not going to hear me. I've got to pray for this amount 
of time or I've got to go to this amount of Bible studies 
or else God's not going to hear me. God is far better to us than 
we deserve. God is not beholden to us in 
terms of our technique or approach. God is gracious. God calls us 
to engage in prayer, to engage in fasting, to use those means 
to be sure. But we're not to do it to try 
to bind Him to perform for us. And I think that's the contrast 
that I want to bring out in terms of the brevity of Elijah's prayer. 
He doesn't pray all day. He doesn't pray from morning 
till noon. He certainly doesn't dance around the altar. He certainly 
doesn't gash himself with a knife and lance and then pour out the 
blood on him. He doesn't engage in that kind 
of folly and frenzy. Why? Because the power in the 
story is not Elijah. The power in the story is the 
living and true God. And it's Elijah that is his instrument, 
it is his means, it is his prophet, which is to demonstrate that. 
So in contrast to this time of frenzy on the part of the prophets 
of Baal, Elijah offers up a very simple prayer. Notice what he 
says, 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 Israel, 
let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and I am 
your servant and that I've 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. So it's an effective prayer. 
In fact, he's the benchmark of effectual prayer, according to 
James in James chapter 5. The effective, fervent prayer 
of a righteous man avails much. Who's in James' sights there? 
It's Elijah the prophet. Again, I'm not suggesting that 
Elijah didn't have longer seasons of prayer. I'm not suggesting 
that there weren't times where he fasted and prayed all day 
long. I'm not suggesting that he didn't engage in that kind 
of rigor relative to acts of piety. But here, it's just not 
so. It's a very simple prayer to highlight the true and living 
God. See, the Baalists could say, 
well, when it came to us lancing ourselves and bleeding on us, 
that was the decisive moment. When we did that, Baal stepped 
in. When we showed that we were serious, 
then Baal came to deliver us. See, that's not Elijah's purpose. 
Elijah does three simple things in this particular prayer. He 
first highlights the glory of the covenant God. You are the 
Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. That's his purpose, that's 
his desire. I want the Israelites, I want 
the Baalists, I want the Asherites, I want all of them to know that 
you are the living and true God. As well, he wants the confirmation 
of his prophetic status. Look at what he says, that you 
are God in Israel and I am your servant and that I have done 
all these things at your word. He's not doing this for his ego, 
he's not doing this so that, you know, I can be vindicated 
by all my fellows that look down on me and and thought ill of 
me, and they sort of just relegated me off to the margin. He's not 
doing it for that, but he wants the people of Israel to hear 
the word of the living and true God. He is the prophet for the living 
and true God, therefore his veracity, his confirmation as a prophet 
is absolutely crucial and necessary for their well-being going forward. 
And then notice he ends on the note of their good, their benefit. He wants them to learn proper 
theology that he alone is the true and living God, but he wants 
them to be blessed as a result of that. See, what we know about 
God or what we believe about God affects what happens in terms 
of our lives before God. He says in verse 37, 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. 
In other words, it's a God contest Elijah wants to win, not for 
his glory, not for his adulation, but for the glory of the God 
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He wants this to confirm his 
prophetic status so that the children of Israel will know 
that God alone is Lord and that knowing that they will have blessing. They will be turned back from 
their useless idolatry to serve the one in whom there is blessing 
and joy and happiness and delight. And then, of course, the power 
displayed by God. Notice in verse 38, then the 
fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice. If you were 
here on the Wednesday night studies, we saw in the book of Leviticus, 
after the detailed legislation concerning sacrifice in chapters 
1 to 6, and then the priesthood being set aside in chapters 7 
to 8, The children of Israel then present up a burnt offering 
unto Yahweh, and that's what happens at the end of Leviticus 
9. Fire comes down from the presence of Lord to consume that sacrifice. Here it demonstrates the power 
and glory of God. Here it demonstrates that He 
alone is God, that Baal is a fake, that Baal is a fraud, that Asherah 
is worthless. But it also is an act of grace. 
When God sends fire down on that day here in 1 Kings 18, what 
is He telling Israel? He is telling them, I am here. You can come to me. You don't 
need to go after Baal. You don't need to go after Asherah. 
I am the living God. This was an endorsement of what 
you see in the Levitical system when that fire comes down and 
approves or consumes their sacrifice. In other words, there is forgiveness 
with thee that thou mayest be feared. The fact that the fire 
does come, the fact that the fire does consume, underscores 
the fact that this God of glory and power and might and singularity 
is the God of grace and love and mercy and kindness and accessibility. We can come to Him through a 
smoking altar, through a bloody knife. We can come to Him through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. We can come to Him through the 
means by which He is ordained, namely the redemption that is 
bought in the blood of our Savior King. So this was a demonstration 
of His Godhood, but it was a demonstration of His Saviorhood and the fact 
that He receives sinners unto Himself. And then that ends, 
or we end then, on the punishment of the false prophets. Verse 
40, and Elijah said, well, let's back up just a minute. Look at 
how the people respond in 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. So if you were just, you know, 
looking at it, you know, utilitarian way, he won, right? It was obvious. You couldn't evade that. You 
couldn't escape that. You couldn't leave there and 
say, well, I'm not sure who won. The decisive victory was Yahweh's. The decisive victory was the 
living and the true God. Even the hard-headed, stubborn-hearted, 
bail-in-their-hearts Israelites couldn't evade that. They had 
to conclude with the only conclusion that was available, namely that 
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 
Kishon and executed them there. Now, the biblical warrant for 
that is Deuteronomy chapter 13. I'm not advocating that pastors 
today find all the dirty, rotten bailiffs and cut them up down 
by the Brook Kishon. I'm not suggesting that at all. 
But in terms of Old Covenant law, this was the punishment. 
This was the judgment for false prophecy. Again, we hear that 
and we say, that's pretty harsh. And we hear about Calvin and 
his episode in Servetus. And I think we've probably got 
a lot of that wrong. But if you notice anything about 
church history, there was a man by the name of Servetus that 
was executed for denying the Trinity at the time that Calvin 
was sort of a main man in Switzerland. And what happens? Everybody blames 
Calvin. Again, you can blame Calvin all you want. But one 
thing I want to underscore is that, at least in that day and 
age, they understood the perniciousness of denying the Trinity. They 
understood the danger in Elijah's day of false prophecy. See, what 
happens today, if you go get your arms set, you fall out of 
a tree, and you break your elbow, and you go into the doctor, and 
he missets it, or he misrepresents it, or he does something wrong, 
what do you do? You sue him. Why? Because there's consequences 
for being a quack. There's no consequences today. 
And again, I'm not advocating this. Please don't go home and 
Facebook, Butler wants false pastors to be executed. That's 
not what I'm suggesting. But there's no consequences for 
being wrong at the place where you need to be most right. And 
when it was false prophets, they solicited the people to idolatrate. And again, Deuteronomy 13, you 
can read it for yourself, old covenant law, had a stipulation 
in place so that false prophets would be executed. Elijah is 
operating within the confines and in the boundaries of God's 
law. And as the prophet of God, he has that authority, he has 
that ability, he has that right under God to engage in this activity 
that makes the church blush today. Well, in conclusion, we ought 
to appreciate, first and foremost, the futility of idolatry. The 
futility of idolatry. I've already mentioned Psalm 
115, verses 5 and 6. They have mouths, but they do 
not speak. Eyes they have, but they do not see. They have ears, 
but they do not hear. So here's the problem, as the 
psalmist continues with reference to idolatry. If you give yourself 
to an idol, guess what happens? You become very well adjusted, 
life is great, your kids love you, your wife loves you, and 
everybody's happy. No, no, not at all. You know what happens 
when you take on idolatry? You become like them. You become 
as dumb and as deaf and as mute to the Baal that you worship. 
So after highlighting, they have mouths but they do not speak, 
eyes they have but they do not see, they have ears but they 
do not hear, the effect of idolatry upon the worshiper is given in 
verse eight. Those who make them are like them, so is everyone 
who trusts in them. Do you want to be like Baal? 
Do you want to be like Asherah? Don't we talk about godliness, 
being godly? What's the point? Well, the point 
is, is that when we believe by grace the gospel of our salvation, 
when we come into that sphere of saving relationship with our 
God, we become like Him. Not divine. We don't ever participate 
in the divine essence. We don't become divinity. We 
don't become creator. We don't become infinite. But 
we participate in godliness. The idolater participates in 
ungodliness. You can read Paul's commentary 
on this in Romans chapter one. What happens with reference to 
man who knows God exists, but does not honor God as God, nor 
is he thankful to God? Does it work out well in the 
rest of Romans for that wretch? No, not at all. God gives them 
up. God gives them up. God gives 
them up. In other words, when you pursue 
idols, good doesn't come as a result. There's no benefit. There's no 
help. There's no Baal coming to our rescue. It is an exercise 
in futility. So listen to the prophet's question. 
If you are sitting here this morning and have not come to 
the Lord Jesus, how long will you falter between two opinions? 
If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him. In other 
words, stop following those things that are going to take your soul 
into everlasting destruction. It seems like good, solid counsel 
that arises from the passage. The way of escape is through 
Christ the Lord, the one who came, the one who lived, the 
one who died, the one who was raised again, so that all who 
look to him in faith will have everlasting life. Whoever calls 
upon the name of the Lord, Paul says in Romans 10, will not be 
disappointed. You're always going to be disappointed 
with Baal. You're always going to be disappointed with Mammon. 
Have you looked around the world recently and said, how many more 
billions of dollars do people need? I don't know a lot about 
money. I don't know a lot about, you 
know, a million dollars. Well, I think now it's not as 
good as it was. When I was a kid, a million dollars 
was everything, right? A million dollars. That's probably 
chump change nowadays. But I would imagine when you 
get up to like 10 million or 20 million or a billion, it's 
probably a chore to actually spend that money. You just don't 
know that many people to confer good gifts on. You don't know 
that many causes to be charitable to. So it becomes a task and 
a chore. And then you think, they want 
more? You want 10 billion, 20 billion? You can never get satisfaction 
from the idol. It never delivers. There's never 
a payoff. There's never a peace with God 
through our Lord Jesus Christ. There's never the reality that 
my sin or the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part, 
but the whole is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. 
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Don't keep after the idols. Don't keep pursuing stuff. Don't 
keep pursuing lust. Don't keep pursuing anything 
or everything that gets between you and the living and the true 
God. Come to Jesus. Faith in Him is 
everlasting life, justification by faith alone. Repentance is 
there with that faith. You turn from your sin, you come 
to the Savior, and you are forgiven, and you receive a righteousness 
that avails with God Almighty. It's glorious, it's wondrous, 
it's beautiful, it's blessed, it's satisfying. You can say 
with Paul, we have peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
You can't say that with Baal. You can't say that with Asherah. 
You can't say that with Mammon. As well, notice in the passage 
the demand for total allegiance to God. That text in verse 21, 
I think that's what most of us sort of associate this God contest 
with, is Elijah's challenge. How long will you falter between 
two opinions if the Lord is God? Follow him. But if Baal, follow 
him. This is a condemnation of idolatry 
and syncretism, but it's a commendation of fidelity to the Lord God Most 
High. Davis again says, this is no 
mere academic question. Elijah's formulation assumes 
that theology leads to discipleship. Commitments have consequences, 
right? If you're gods, if you look to 
the Lord Jesus, if you are true disciples of our blessed Savior, 
you're going to follow Him. And again, it's not going to 
be perfect. It's going to be sinless. It's not going to be 
without any blemish or error. We stand in need of grace each 
and every day and moment, but it will nevertheless be an allegiance 
to God Almighty. If Matthew 6.33 means anything, 
it certainly means we're supposed to seek Him first and His kingdom 
and His righteousness and know then that all these other things, 
bread or food, clothing, a worry-free life, not worry-free to the point 
where you don't get up in the morning, but if we want those 
things, where are our priorities to be? It ought to be with God 
most high. Listen to Matthew, Henry. 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 
is dangerous halting between. Those halt between them that 
are unresolved under their convictions, unstable and unsteady in their 
purposes, promise fair but do not perform. They begin well, 
but they do not hold on, that are inconsistent with themselves 
or indifferent and lukewarm to that which is good. The heart 
is divided, whereas God will have all or none. And I want 
to end here, brethren. I always think about this, and 
it may seem sick and twisted, but I think there's a biblical 
warrant for it. Traveling. I may die. I may never 
come back. And if I said to one buddy the 
other day, if so, I'll see you on the other side. I said it 
to our brother Adrian. They're going to be traveling as well. What 
would I leave the church if I was going to leave and I never were 
to see you again? This is one of those passages. This is one 
of those texts, this is one of those commendations that God 
Most High is worth everything. Christ is altogether lovely. He is chief among 10,000. Don't 
tarry if you're an unbeliever. Come to Him and be ye saved, 
all the ends of the earth. For I am God, He says, and there 
is no other. God is about saving sinners. That's what he does. You cannot 
read the Bible and then conclude, well, I don't really think his 
heart's in it. That's exactly where his heart is expressed. 
Listen to Jesus with reference to Zacchaeus, the son of man 
came to seek and to save that which was lost. How could you 
ever think that's not what he's about? If you are an unbeliever 
here today, please look to Jesus in faith. That's my final admonition. Now, God willing, I will be back 
to visit you again with that admonition. But for the church, 
be faithful, be tenacious, hold fast, steadfast, and do not depart. I'm convinced it's not an either-or, 
Baal or Yahweh. It's a Baal and Yahweh or Yahweh. They wanted to marry their religion 
with the religion of the land, and they thought in that they 
were covering their bases. God Most High can take good care 
of every need you have. In fact, the apostle rehearses 
that in Ephesians 1, blessed be the God and Father of our 
Lord Jesus Christ, who has, this is a past tense verb, who has 
blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places 
in Christ. In other words, he's done the 
best, the most decisive. He who did not spare his own 
son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with 
him freely give us all things? Brethren, remain faithful, hold 
fast to the word of God and be unswerving and unwavering with 
reference to your commitment to the God of absolute glory 
and power and majesty. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in Heaven, we thank You for Your Word, we thank You for Your grace, 
we thank You for what we learn here concerning the fact that 
You are indeed the true and living God, the God of power, the God 
over creation, to be sure, the God that can consume a sacrifice 
with fire, God who reveals through that fire grace and approach 
to God. Through that means He has ordained, 
namely, the blood of His own dear Son. I pray that You would 
bless this local church, that You would encourage all the brothers 
and the sisters here I pray that you would save sinners and add 
to your church such as should be saved, and we ask through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. You can turn in your hymn 
books to 568 and we'll praise God, the triune God, with the 
doxology. is ♪ Praise Him above ye heavenly 
host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ The Lord bless you and keep you. 
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. 
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. 
God, may this be true for each of us, and may we glorify and 
honor you. And may you help us to be faithful 
in this present evil age, and may we as a church shine the 
light of the gospel in this community. Go with us now, we pray in Jesus' 
name, amen. Please be seated for a brief 
time of meditation.