Morning. It's quite a long section, but it's full of drama. It's a very exciting event that takes place on Mount Carmel.
So we're going to pick up the reading from 1 Kings chapter 18 and verse 16. 1 Kings chapter 18 and verse 16.
So let's hear God's word to us. We're going to read down to verse 39.
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab then went to meet Elijah.
When Ahab saw Elijah, he said to him, is that you, you troubler of Israel?
I have not made trouble for Israel, Elijah replied, but you and your father's family have.
You have abandoned the Lord's commands and have followed the Baals.
Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel and bring the 450 prophets of Baal
and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table.
So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel.
Elijah went before the people and said, how long will you waver between two opinions?
If the Lord is God, follow him.
But if Baal is God, follow him.
But the people said nothing.
Then Elijah said to them, I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left.
But Baal has 450 prophets.
Get two bulls for us.
Let Baal's prophets choose one for themselves and let them cut it into pieces, put it on the wood,
but not set fire to it.
I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood, but not set fire to it.
Then you will call on the name of your God and I will call on the name of the Lord.
The God who answers by fire, he is God.
Then all the people said, what you say is good.
Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose one of the bulls and prepare it first,
since there are so many of you.
Call on the name of your God, but do not light the fire.
So they took the bull that was given to them and prepared it.
Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon.
Baal, answer us, they shouted.
But there was no response.
No one answered.
Now jump down to verse 30.
Then Elijah said to all the people, come here to me.
They came to him and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down.
Elijah took 12 stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob,
to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, your name shall be Israel.
With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord.
And he dug a trench around it, large enough to hold two seats of seed.
He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, laid it on the wood.
Then he said to them, fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.
Do it again, he said.
And they did it again.
Do it a third time, he ordered.
And they did it a third time.
And the water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed,
Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel,
let it be known today that you are God in Israel
and that I am your servant and have done all the things at your command.
Answer me, Lord.
Lord, answer me.
So these people will know that you, Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again.
Then fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil
and also licked up the water in the trench.
When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried,
The Lord, he is God.
Well, what a drama on the mountain.
Well, we're going to pray and then we're going to look at God's word together.
Let's pray and ask for his help.
Father, we thank you for your word, the Bible.
We thank you for these events, these true historical events,
which happened so many years ago but written down and recorded for us
so we can learn about you and know what you are like.
And we ask that you would give us understanding of your word
and how it applies to us today.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Well, I want to start with a question.
God is.
How would you answer that question?
God is.
Well, the Irish Times conducted a survey asking people that very question
and here's what some of them responded with.
One said, God is a person to me.
Another one said,
If anything, God is disconnected at this point.
A student answered,
God is sovereign of the universe.
He has the right to tell us what to do because he is the creator.
Another person said,
God is asleep.
When things go too far,
maybe he'll wake up.
God is what humans want to be.
Another,
God is me.
Another student says,
God is,
there is no God.
God is everything around us.
So it seems there is a variety of opinions as to who God is.
But can we definitively know who God is?
Well, I think that's the big question being asked of the text,
the reading we just had from 1 Kings.
We're going to look at three things this morning.
Here's the first question we're going to ask.
Who is the true God?
Remember what's been going on in the account of 1 Kings.
You might just flick back a couple of pages to the very end of chapter 16.
And there we've been learning that Ahab is king over all of God's people.
And as king,
part of his leadership was to make sure that people worshipped only God.
The God who loved them.
The God who made them.
The God who had made promises to them.
The God who entered into a relationship with them and was committed and loyal to them.
But, and here's the problem.
Look at verse 31 of chapter 16.
He, that is Ahab,
not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat,
but he also married Jezebel, daughter of Esbal, king of the Sidonians,
and began to serve Baal and worship him.
Now, we might be used to Baal.
But Baal at that time was the big God.
The God of the weather.
So if you wanted rain for your crops,
well then you simply called on Baal.
And it would rain.
So they hoped.
But God was not going to let his people wander away from him.
He was jealous for them.
He loved them.
God was like in a marriage relationship with them.
He didn't want to let them go.
So God confronted Ahab through his prophet Elijah.
Chapter 17, verse 1.
Now Elijah, the Tishbite from Tishbe in Gilead, a prophet of God, said to Ahab,
As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve,
there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except my word.
Chapter 18, verse 1.
After a long time, in the third year, so three years later,
the word of the Lord came to Elijah,
Go and present yourself to Ahab,
and I will send rain to the land.
You see, God was sending a very clear message to Ahab and his people.
There is only one true God.
There is only one God who controls the weather.
The God who made everything and the God who rules everything.
I am the God who provides all that you have.
So worship me.
Chapter 18, verse 2.
So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab,
and on his way, if we were to read on,
Elijah meets this character called Obadiah,
who is also a follower of God,
and Elijah sends Obadiah to arrange a meeting with Ahab.
Let's pick it up again in verse 16.
So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him,
and Ahab then went to meet Elijah.
When he saw Elijah, he said to him,
Is that you, you troubler of Israel?
You see, we've got to remember,
the last time Elijah had met Ahab
was when he had told him,
God says no more rain for three years.
Now three years have passed,
and there's been a terrible famine,
and things are really difficult,
Ahab is really angry,
and so he's not best pleased to see Elijah.
But let's be clear whose fault it really is.
Verse 18.
Elijah says,
Remember God's command?
I am the Lord your God.
You shall have no other gods before me.
It's not that there are lots of other gods.
The Bible makes this exclusive claim,
there is only one true God.
Here's a verse from Deuteronomy.
Acknowledge and take to heart this day
that the Lord is God.
In heaven above and on earth below,
there is no other.
So God is making it abundantly clear
that he is the only God.
But it seems Ahab is of the opinion
there are other gods.
He worships the Baals.
You see, Ahab has not only rejected God,
he's replaced God with his own gods.
And isn't that exactly what we do?
We exchange the true God
for our own gods.
We mightn't have a little idol of Baal
in our garden that we go and talk to
and say,
Gosh, don't like those clouds.
Baal, could you remove those clouds
and send a bit of sunshine?
We mightn't do that.
But we have got our own little God substitutes.
Richard Keyes is an author
and in a book called
No God But God,
he explains it like this.
Here's a quote.
He says,
When we cease to worship God,
we do not worship nothing.
We worship anything.
We do not just eliminate God,
we erect God's substitutes
in his place.
So let me ask us all a question.
Who or what is your God?
What is your God?
Well, I think there's two ways
to help us to identify
who our God is.
First, ask ourselves this question.
What do I most fear losing
in my life?
What thing or person
that you have in your life,
if you lost it,
if it was taken away from you,
it would devastate you,
it would break you?
What if your husband
or your wife
was taken away?
Or what if tomorrow
you went in
and you discovered
you had no more job?
Or if you lost your health?
What is the one thing
that you most fear losing
in your life?
Another good question
to ask is this.
What do you most want
in your life?
What occupies your mind
when you wake up
in the morning?
Or as you lie in bed at night
and everything else is gone,
it's just you and your thoughts.
What is it that you think about
and you most desire
in your life?
Is it more money?
Is it deeper sexual pleasure?
What is it that you most want
in your life?
You see,
whatever we fear losing,
whatever we most want in our life,
whatever occupies our thinking
and our striving,
that's your God.
that's what you worship.
For Ahab,
it was Baal.
For us,
it may be the God of money,
the God of success,
the God of sex,
the God of body image.
Well,
Elijah has a plan.
He arranges for all the people
of Israel
and all the prophets of Baal
to come and meet them together
on Mount Carmel.
Verse 20.
So Ahab sent word
throughout all Israel
and they assembled
the prophets
on Mount Carmel.
Now,
Mount Carmel
wasn't just any
ordinary hill
in the area.
It was like
the cathedral
of Baal worship.
This was
Baal territory.
This is kind of
where
he was.
And this was
going to settle
things once
and for all.
On this mountain,
they were going
to discover
who the true God is.
Verse 21.
Elijah went
before the people
and said,
How long
will you waver
between two opinions?
If the Lord
is God,
follow him.
But if Baal
is God,
follow him.
But the people
said nothing.
They couldn't
make up their minds.
In other words,
he's saying,
Pick your God.
Choose whoever
and whatever you want.
And when you've
chosen your God,
follow him.
But remember,
the God of the Bible
is an exclusive God.
You can't
pick your own God
and then have
the true God
in case of
an emergency.
So like,
I'll forget about
the God of the Bible,
I'll have my own God,
but if I get into trouble,
I'll go and give him a call.
No,
choose
the God
you're going to follow.
And we can't
have this
different kind of God
that we have on
Monday to Saturday
and then come Sunday
we change to
kind of the
holy religious God.
It doesn't work
like that.
if the Lord
is God,
if the Creator
God
is God,
follow him.
But if
Baal or your
own God
is God,
well,
follow him.
Make your choice.
You see,
the God we choose
is the God
we're ultimately
going to follow.
The God that we
desire,
the things that we
long for,
the people that we
most want,
they're the ones
and the things
we're going to trust
and submit our
life to.
But be careful.
Whoever we follow,
whatever we follow,
will demand our
loyalty
and demand our
obedience
and will want
all of our time
and our
energies.
So who is it
going to be?
The point is,
we all have a
God that we
worship.
the question
is,
who is the
real,
true God?
Well,
second,
God is claiming
that he's the
true God.
Well,
how do we know
who the true
God is?
How can we
work that out?
Well,
let's go back
to Mount Carmel
because Elijah
has a test.
We can call it
the truth test,
verse 23.
Elijah says,
get two bulls
for us.
Let the
Baals,
let the
Baals
prophets choose
one for
themselves and
let them cut
it into pieces,
put it on the
wood,
but not set
fire to it.
And I will
prepare the
other bull and
I'll put it on
the wood,
but not set
fire to it.
Then you call
on the name
of your God
and I'll call
on the name
of the Lord
and the God
who answers
by fire,
well,
he's your
God.
And all
the people
said,
sounds good
to me,
pretty obvious.
But why
fire?
Why call
down fire?
I thought
this was all
about the
rain that had
stopped and
the rain that
was going to
come and
who controlled
the weather.
Well,
fire was
always a
sign of
power and
the sign
of presence
of the
God.
fire.
When fire
showed up,
certainly as we
read through
the Bible,
God is
present in
power.
Remember the
burning bush?
Remember the
fire on the
mountain as
Moses went up
to speak with
God?
Even for
Baal worshippers,
fire from
heaven was a
sign of
power.
fire.
So the
test was
really simple.
The God
who answers
by fire,
he's the
true God.
So the
prophets of
Baal go
first.
Verse 26,
they took
the bowl
that was
given to
them,
they prepared
it,
put it on
this altar,
and then
they called
on the name
of Baal.
From morning,
that's from
about six
in the
morning,
till noon.
Baal,
answer us!
They shouted,
but there
was no
response.
No one
answered.
They began
to dance
around the
altar they
had made.
After six
hours,
noon,
Elijah began
to taunt
them.
Shout
louder!
Surely
he is a
God.
Perhaps
he's deep
in thought.
Maybe
he's
planning out
his day
and you
need to
get his
attention.
Or perhaps
he's busy.
Literally,
maybe he's
sitting on
the toilet.
You need
to go and
get him.
Or he's
travelling,
he's away
on his
holidays,
maybe he'll
come back
later.
Or maybe
he's sleeping
and he's
got to be
wakened up.
So they
shouted
louder and
slashed
themselves
with swords
and spears
as was
their custom
until their
blood flowed.
Midday
passed and
they continued
their frantic
prophesying until
the time of
the evening
sacrifice.
But there
was no
response.
No one
answered.
No one
paid
attention.
Four
hundred and
fifty prophets
dancing for
twelve hours
on the go.
All getting
worked up and
blood pouring
from their
bodies.
But at the
end of it
all, end
of verse
twenty-nine,
no response.
No one
answered.
No one
paid attention.
Baal
doesn't
answer
because he
doesn't have
power.
Baal
doesn't
answer
because
Baal
doesn't
exist.
Baal
is just
a name,
an imagination,
a made-up,
make-believe
God.
When I
was small,
I used to
wear a
little black
Zorro
mask.
I put it
on and
I changed.
I was
invincible.
It gave
me powers
like you
never knew
before.
It even
enabled me
to swim.
I couldn't
swim without
it but
put the
Zorro
mask on.
I could
swim.
I could
fend off
baddies,
fight sea
monsters.
I could
do
anything.
But it's
all made-believe.
And that's
what our
gods are
like.
It's like
a mask.
They're
just
imaginations.
We have
believed
what Satan
said to
Adam in
the garden
right at
the beginning
of the
story of
the Bible.
Satan
came to
Adam and
said,
you can
be like
God.
You can
be God.
Forget about
the true
God.
You be
God and
decide what's
right and
what's wrong.
And people
ever since,
we've all
done it,
we continue
to fall
into the
same trap.
The
apostle Paul
in the
New Testament
picks it
up and he
makes it
crystal clear.
He says,
the God
of this
age has
blinded the
minds of
unbelievers so
that we do
not worship
the true
God.
You see,
the gods
we make,
whether I
am God
and see
myself as
God,
or whether
we think of
nature as
being God,
or even if
we say there
is no
God,
it's all
a lie.
Now Elijah
steps up.
And to
demonstrate who
the true
God is,
look what he
does in
verse 33.
He arranged
the wood,
cut the
bull into
pieces,
laid it on
the wood,
then he
said,
fill four
jars of
water and
pour it on
the offering
and on
the wood.
Do it
again,
do it a
third time,
and they
pour water
on,
gallons of
water,
all onto
the altar,
and everything
is soaking
wet.
Have you
ever tried to
light a
fire when
everything is
wet?
I mean,
if this is
going to
burn,
it's going
to need
some fire.
There's no
tricks,
there's no
sleight of
hand here.
Verse 36,
at the time
of sacrifice,
the prophet
Elijah stepped
forward and
prayed,
Lord,
the God of
Abraham,
Isaac,
and Israel,
this is the
promise-making,
promise-keeping
God,
who says,
I will be
your God
and you
will be
my people.
Let it
be known
today that
you are
God in
Israel and
that I
am your
servant,
have done
all the
things you
have commanded.
Verse 38,
then the
fire of the
Lord fell
and burned
up the
sacrifice,
the wood,
the stones,
and the
soil,
and it
also licked
up the
water in
the trench.
And when
all the
people saw
this,
they fell
prostrate and
cried,
the Lord,
he is
God.
The
Lord,
he is
God.
I mean,
it's utterly
convincing.
It's
undeniable.
And in
case there
are any
doubts
lingering,
just jump
ahead to
verse 45,
because
remember,
God had
said no
rain,
and then
he said
he would
bring the
rain.
Verse 45,
meanwhile,
the sky
grew black
with clouds,
the wind
rose,
a heavy
rainstorm
came on,
and Ahab
rode off
to
Jezreel.
I mean,
what more
proof do
we need?
God
said no
rain,
and there
was no
rain.
God
said let
there be
rain,
and there
was rain.
God
said let
there be
fire,
and there
was fire.
You see,
the gods
of our
making are
powerless.
there is
only one
true
God.
Listen to
the writer
of Psalm
115.
I have it
on the
screen there.
Why do
the nation
say,
where is
their God?
Answer,
our God
is in
heaven.
He does
whatever
pleases
him,
but their
idols are
silver and
gold made
by human
hands.
They have
mouths,
but cannot
speak,
eyes,
but cannot
see,
they have
ears,
but cannot
hear,
noses,
but cannot
smell,
hands,
but cannot
feel,
feet,
but cannot
walk,
nor can
they utter
a sound
with their
throats.
Those who
make them
will be
like them,
and so
will all
who trust
in them.
There's
only one
true God,
the God
who made
the heaven
and the
earth,
who rules
all things
and all
people.
He is
the God
that we
should
worship.
So,
third
question,
what does
this true
God demand
of us?
If God,
the creator
God,
the God
of the
Bible,
who makes
promises
and keeps
them,
what does
this God
demand of
people like
us?
Well,
to answer
that,
let's
look just
briefly
at three
things.
First,
look at
the way
the prophets
of Baal
call on
their God.
Verse 26.
They
called on
the name
of Baal
from morning
till noon.
Baal,
answer us,
they shouted,
but there
was no
response.
no one
answered,
and then
they danced
around the
altar they
had made.
They're simply
just trying to
get their
God's
attention,
and when
their God
doesn't
answer,
then they
just up
the performance,
don't they?
Verse 28.
They get
more excited.
They shouted
louder,
and then they
flashed
themselves with
swords and
spears,
and cut
themselves
until their
blood
flowed.
Now isn't
that what we
think God
sometimes demands
of us?
If I pray
enough,
if I'm
ecstatic
enough in my
worship,
then God
will hear me
and God
will answer
me.
If I
serve more,
if I
sacrifice
more,
if I
give more
money and
give more
of my
time,
if I
stop doing
bad things
and start
doing good
things,
then God
will see
my
performance
and he'll
respond to
me and
he'll
bless me.
Maybe we
don't believe
in this
religious God
at all,
and we've
got our
own kind
of God
and we're
striving
after money
and success
and work
and all
that does
is just
demand more
and more
of our
performance
and do
more and
work harder
and give
more of
your time
and leave
your family
behind and
just go and
do your
own thing.
And then
things will
be good.
But all
we're doing
is cutting
ourselves like
the prophets.
We end up
killing ourselves
by our
performances.
In some
cases,
literally
working
ourselves
to death.
and we
try and
do so
much.
If only
I could
pray more
and read
my Bible
more,
then God
will bless
me and
do good
things for
me.
You see,
the true God
does not
answer us
or respond
to us
on the
basis
of our
performance.
That's
not how
God
works.
We're not
singing our
songs here
today and
doing what
we're doing
in the hope
that God
is going
to listen
to me.
So how
does God
respond to
us?
Well,
it's not
performance.
Look at
how Elijah
comes.
Verse 30.
Then Elijah
said to
all the
people,
come here
to me.
They came
to him
and he
repaired
the altar
of the
Lord which
had been
torn down.
Verse 32.
With the
stones he
built an
altar in
the name
of the
Lord.
The altar
of the
Lord was
the way
God had
prescribed
for people
to come
to him.
You see,
to turn
away from
God to
other
gods,
well,
it would
mean death
and separation
from God.
It would
mean punishment.
So through
the sacrifice
on the
altar,
reconciliation
took place.
The people
could be
reconciled
to God.
Look at
Elijah's
prayer,
verse 37.
Answer me,
Lord,
answer me,
so these
people will
know that
you,
Lord,
are God
and that
you are
turning
their hearts
back again.
Then the
fire of
the Lord
fell and
burned up
the sacrifice.
Do you
see what's
going on
here?
As the
fire came,
the fire
fell on
the sacrifice.
The fire
should have
fallen on
the people,
instead it
falls on
the sacrifice.
You see,
sacrifice is
what is
required to
know the
true God.
Something or
someone must
take our
place.
Either the
people are
going to
burn up
or the
sacrifice
burns up.
And isn't
that the
same for
us?
Sacrifice
must be
made if
we are to
know and
enjoy the
true God.
But here's
the point.
It's not
our sacrifice.
It's God's
sacrifice.
You see,
the true
God,
who's
spoken,
who did
all of
these things,
came to
us in the
person of
Jesus Christ.
As Jesus
walked his
life on
the earth,
people pointed
and said,
there's God.
He did
what only
God could
do.
But not
only was
he God,
he came to
be the
sacrifice for
us.
He climbed
the mountain
to the
mountain of
crucifixion.
He laid
down his
life on
the altar
of the
cross and
the fire
from heaven
fell on
him.
The
judgment of
God fell
on Christ.
Christ took
the punishment
that we
deserve for
rejecting him
as the one
and only
true God.
The
separation
that we
deserve for
ignoring God
and living
life on
our own
way.
Christ took
the blame
for that.
The fire
should fall
on us.
But God
takes the
fire for
us when
Christ died
on the
cross.
The wrath,
the judgment
of God
fell on
him.
You see,
the true
God does
not demand
our performance.
The true
God gives
himself for
us in
sacrifice.
He gives
his life
for us.
So what
does this
God demand
of us?
It's not
performance.
It's not
sacrifice
because God
did the
sacrifice.
The only
way to
come to
God is in
repentance.
Verse 37,
which is
really the
key to this
whole section.
look at
his prayer.
Answer me,
Lord,
answer me,
so these
people will
know that
you,
Lord,
are God
and that
you are
turning their
hearts back
again.
When we
look at
the God
who sacrificed
himself for
me,
who gave
his life
for me,
then the
only right
response is
to turn
our hearts
back again.
That's what
repentance is.
Repentance
means turning
from going
one way
and turning
to going
the other
way.
Turning our
backs on
the things
that we
long for
and the
things we
fear losing.
And instead
we run to
the true
God who
gives us
what we've
always needed
and that
we can
never lose.
The God
who made
us and
who loves
us and
provides for
us.
The God
who listens
to us.
We don't
have to
shout and
make a lot
of noise
for God
to listen.
He delights
in listening
to his
children.
The only
way we
will ever
turn our
hearts back
to God
is to
gaze in
wonder,
not at the
altar on
Mount Carmel,
but to
look at the
Mount of
Crucifixion
where Jesus
Christ,
the God
man,
died for
us.
To gaze
in wonder
and look at
the sacrifice
of Jesus
who died
for me,
who gave
his life
for me,
so that
we might
know and
enjoy this
God.
Where fire
no longer
burns,
but grace
and mercy
and love
and generosity
and kindness
and compassion
and eternal
treasures to
come are
all ours
because of
what he did
for us.
Who is
your God?
We must
follow our
God,
but be very
careful.
The God,
the true
God,
is the one
who gave
his life
for you.
to ignore
that
is to put
our place
self
in the
place of
the fire.
Or will
we instead
receive that
forgiveness,
that welcome
and know
him and
enjoy him,
the God
who delights
in us.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray
together.
Let's pray