WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.439 Now, if you have a Bible, a paper one, or on your phone, if you could open it to 1 Kings 18, 00:00:15.220 --> 00:00:21.400 we will begin thinking about the mission of God's people as we find it in the Old Testament. 00:00:22.019 --> 00:00:29.460 And we're going to begin thinking, big picture, about our call as people, Old Testament, 00:00:29.460 --> 00:00:39.260 New Testament, through all history, to give God glory. I guess there are two vital questions when 00:00:39.260 --> 00:00:44.079 we think about mission, when we think about any mission. We need to think about the question of 00:00:44.079 --> 00:00:50.280 identity, who am I, who are we? And we need to think about purpose, what am I here for? 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:58.320 We can think about an army mission as an example. A soldier needs to know his identity, 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:03.960 what troop does he belong to? What nation is he representing? Who is he fighting for? What is 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:09.500 he here for? Peacekeeping mission or otherwise? Who to fight for? Who to fight against? 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:20.640 Well, the mission of God's people begins with our identity, that we are called, we are saved by God, 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:31.480 we become children of God. God is our Father. We are united to the Lord Jesus by the power of God's Spirit. 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:40.780 That being our identity, what's our purpose then? Our purpose is to be a people who are sent. 00:01:40.780 --> 00:01:49.780 We are sent. We are sent into the world, Paul says, as God's ambassadors, representing him, 00:01:50.180 --> 00:01:56.799 speaking for him. That is our mission. Or we can think about the end of Matthew's gospel, 00:01:56.939 --> 00:02:02.140 where we were in our community groups on Wednesday. We are called to be disciples of Jesus, 00:02:02.620 --> 00:02:10.240 followers of Jesus, who make disciples of Jesus. Or if you know your Westminster Shorter Catechism, 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:15.560 you can think of the first question, what is man's chief end? What is our primary purpose for being 00:02:15.560 --> 00:02:22.800 here? Our chief end, our primary purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:32.580 So we are called to give God glory. And that brings us to one of the great truths that we find 00:02:32.580 --> 00:02:37.520 throughout almost every page of the Old Testament, and indeed the New Testament, that our God, the God of 00:02:37.520 --> 00:02:44.780 the Bible, is a God who has glory and therefore deserves glory. Glory, the idea of weight and 00:02:44.780 --> 00:02:50.439 worth. Now we see that all through the Bible. We can begin at the very beginning. Go to the book of 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:58.560 Genesis chapter 1. We are presented with the glory of the one true living creator God. Now go to the book 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:06.439 of Exodus. We are presented with the glory of our powerful Redeemer God, who listens to, cries for help, 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:14.539 and gets involved to keep his promises and to save people. We just read, sang rather, Psalm 96. 00:03:15.359 --> 00:03:21.599 The book of Psalms are full of God's people praising or God's people being called to praise. 00:03:22.400 --> 00:03:28.599 Psalms 93 to 100, we've been in them a few times this morning and this evening, remind us over and 00:03:28.599 --> 00:03:35.340 over of the glory of God. Our God who reigns over nations, who reigns over nature. Our God who saves, 00:03:35.340 --> 00:03:41.719 our God who deserves worship. Now we go to the prophets towards the end of the Old Testament, 00:03:41.860 --> 00:03:48.680 a book like Isaiah, prophet like Isaiah. He spends so much time reminding the people of his day of the 00:03:48.680 --> 00:03:56.819 glory of the eternal, powerful, living, gracious God in comparison to the idols they were so prone 00:03:56.819 --> 00:04:05.699 to create or to chase after. So given that our God is glorious, our mission as God's people is in the 00:04:05.699 --> 00:04:17.639 first place to see that glory, to respond to it personally, faith and obedience, to celebrate it. 00:04:18.379 --> 00:04:25.319 God's glory should cause us to have joy and worship as we consider this great God has called us to be 00:04:25.319 --> 00:04:33.180 his. And then part of our mission is also to share the reality that there is a God and he has glory 00:04:33.180 --> 00:04:37.680 and he is working out his purposes in the world and he is looking to save people. 00:04:38.740 --> 00:04:45.360 So the glory of God directs our mission, especially when we think about the glory of the gospel, 00:04:45.459 --> 00:04:50.620 this wonderful news that although we are sinners, God in his grace and love has sent Jesus to be 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:57.879 that light of the world to reveal God's light, God's truth, his salvation plan in sending his own son 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:07.300 to be that sacrifice for sin for sinners. So the glory of God is both the engine of God's people that 00:05:07.300 --> 00:05:14.939 should drive us day to day, but it's also that fuel that we need constantly to keep us moving on 00:05:14.939 --> 00:05:22.139 mission. So we don't grow cold to our God and we don't grow complacent about our mission and our 00:05:22.139 --> 00:05:27.579 calling in the world. So that's the one big truth that we need to remember, that God has glory. 00:05:28.199 --> 00:05:32.600 But then, especially in the Old Testament, but indeed in the New and indeed in our own hearts, 00:05:32.659 --> 00:05:39.319 we see there's one great problem that we need to identify, and it's the problem of idolatry. 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:45.719 One of the great tragedies when you read the Old Testament, you read the history of God's people, 00:05:45.800 --> 00:05:51.500 what did we discover? We discover a people who are incredibly privileged. God chose them by sheer 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:57.959 grace. They didn't do anything to deserve it. God acted in history to save them time and time again. 00:05:59.060 --> 00:06:03.600 God sent different people to speak to them, and sometimes he spoke to them directly. 00:06:03.600 --> 00:06:11.720 When they prayed in distress, God listened to them and protected them and kept his covenant promises 00:06:11.720 --> 00:06:19.920 to them. But despite all those privileges, we see so often God's people don't live for God's glory, 00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:25.340 and instead they turn to idols. They're called to be a light to the nations, but instead they become 00:06:25.340 --> 00:06:32.280 just like the nations. They don't live differently to attract people to the one true God. Rather than having 00:06:32.279 --> 00:06:40.500 devotion to God, they try and mix their worship between God and the false God, so they rob God of glory. 00:06:42.479 --> 00:06:47.839 David Wells, a biblical scholar, reminds us that that wasn't just a problem for back then, 00:06:47.899 --> 00:06:54.959 that's a problem very much for today. He said, the heart, no less the modern heart, is an idol factory. 00:06:55.279 --> 00:07:01.839 Something Calvin said way back in the 16th century, idolatry consists in trusting some 00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:13.060 substitute for God to serve some uniquely divine function. We are made to know God, but so often we find 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:20.419 ourselves looking for God's substitutes and asking them to have a God-like function in our lives. 00:07:20.420 --> 00:07:30.819 So the mission of God's people is to give God glory and to call others to give God glory too, but it's set 00:07:30.819 --> 00:07:38.920 against that backdrop of idolatry. And that takes us to our story today. It takes us to the story of 00:07:38.920 --> 00:07:47.819 the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 18 and this confrontation that happens on Mount Carmel. Apparently, if you go to 00:07:47.819 --> 00:07:56.259 Mount Carmel, you discover there is a great big statue there of Elijah, a reminder of this really significant 00:07:56.259 --> 00:08:04.680 confrontation as Elijah goes on this mission to confront a king and a nation, looking to call them back to true 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:14.240 worship and to show them God's infinitely great glory. So some things to consider in Elijah's story that are of 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:22.280 great relevance to us today. First of all, let's recognize the fact that Elijah lives for God's glory 00:08:22.280 --> 00:08:29.780 in a society full of idols. So we just need to get our bearings for 1 Kings 18 just for a moment. 00:08:30.420 --> 00:08:38.019 The setting in which this takes place is during the reign of King Ahab, who was a son of Omri. 00:08:38.019 --> 00:08:43.879 Some of us maybe are really good at history and we hear those names and we instantly think, oh yeah, 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:52.840 I know who that king was. But if you don't, let me read just a couple of verses from 1 Kings 16 00:08:52.840 --> 00:09:00.340 to give us a sense of their rule. This is Omri, first of all. 16 verse 25, 00:09:00.340 --> 00:09:07.360 Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord and sinned more than all those before him. He followed completely 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:14.320 the ways of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, committing the same sin that he'd caused Israel to commit so that 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:19.440 they aroused the anger of the Lord, the God of Israel, by their worthless idol. So there's Omri, 00:09:19.539 --> 00:09:24.080 the most evil king that Israel's had so far, leading the people to idolatry. And then Ahab 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:33.120 becomes king after him. Ahab, verse 30 of chapter 16, son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord 00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:38.879 than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam, son of 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:45.039 Nebat, but he also married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbao, king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:51.159 and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. So the 00:09:51.159 --> 00:09:56.139 king who is supposed to represent the one true God is worshiping false gods, then builds a great big 00:09:56.139 --> 00:10:03.919 temple to the false god Baal. And what you probably recognized in chapter 18 is that Baal, the false god 00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:08.419 Baal, comes into particular focus. He's one of those idols that the people are constantly being pulled 00:10:08.419 --> 00:10:16.779 towards. Baal, who was, importantly, I think, the god who was seen to be over the weather and connected 00:10:16.779 --> 00:10:23.919 to that the god who was over the crops and the fertility of the land. Now think about that when 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:31.399 Elijah appears on the scene, chapter 17, verse 1. First time we meet Elijah. Now Elijah the Tishbite 00:10:31.399 --> 00:10:37.399 from Tishbe and Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be 00:10:37.399 --> 00:10:43.519 neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word. So Elijah comes from nowhere, appears on 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:48.480 Ahab's court, and says to him, in effect, you think you worship the weather god? Well, my god, the one true 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:55.920 god says there's not going to be any rain. And there isn't rain for three years. Baal has no power. 00:10:56.700 --> 00:11:04.820 And after our story, after God sends fire and burns up the sacrifice, chapter 18, after three years, 00:11:05.420 --> 00:11:13.320 who sends rain, who restores crops to Israel? It's not Baal. It's the god of the Bible. So God is 00:11:13.320 --> 00:11:18.159 engaged in this battle of the gods in which there is only ever going to be one winner because there's 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:26.419 only one true God. And God has chosen Elijah. He's given him this job as prophet to announce a 00:11:26.419 --> 00:11:34.059 message of judgment on Ahab and Baal and a nation that's turned away from God and to be part of this 00:11:34.059 --> 00:11:41.139 battle of the gods that we see. And now, given all of that is true of Elijah, what about us and what 00:11:41.139 --> 00:11:46.879 about our day? Isn't it the case that as the people of God, we too are called to live for God's glory 00:11:46.879 --> 00:11:57.059 in a society in a society full of idols? There were so many problems at the time of Elijah's ministry. 00:11:57.179 --> 00:12:02.820 And isn't it true, as we look around our society, that we see so much brokenness? And we see so much 00:12:02.820 --> 00:12:13.120 moral chaos. Whether it's announcements of record levels of drug deaths in our country. Whether it's 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:19.940 the escalating rate of marriage breakdown. Whether it's gender confusion. Whether it's online hate. We 00:12:19.940 --> 00:12:30.080 see so many problems in our world. And we recognize, too, in Edinburgh and in many cities where there's 00:12:30.080 --> 00:12:37.200 globalization where we're multicultural society, there are many gods being worshipped. There are 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:48.139 many competing moral claims. And there are also many, many idols of the heart. So, in that context, 00:12:48.379 --> 00:12:53.540 not so different from Ahab's day, from Elijah's day, to be honest, what's our mission as God's people? 00:12:53.539 --> 00:13:01.360 Well, it's the same as Elijah. We are called as the people of God to live with loyalty to God. 00:13:02.139 --> 00:13:09.199 To be devoted to God. To be committed, regardless of how society is living, that we're going to live 00:13:09.199 --> 00:13:16.939 God's way. And we're going to pursue the glory of our God. Whether we're in our families or whether 00:13:16.940 --> 00:13:22.860 we're in our workplace. Whether it's leisure. And when we come to church, we want to be about the glory 00:13:22.860 --> 00:13:31.800 of God. Jesus came, John tells us, to be the light of the world. Jesus himself said he was the light of 00:13:31.800 --> 00:13:35.540 the world. But he also said to the church, you are the light of the world and you are the salt of the 00:13:35.540 --> 00:13:43.160 earth. We are supposed to, in the way that we live, in our devotion, obedience, love towards God, 00:13:43.159 --> 00:13:49.899 to show there is a different way to live. To show there is a better way to live. To be a counter 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:58.579 culture that is attractive, that is life-giving, that has Jesus at its foundation. 00:14:00.279 --> 00:14:04.939 Not to just look like everybody else and try and blend in and keep our heads down. Rather, 00:14:04.939 --> 00:14:08.419 we are to be different to the glory of God. 00:14:08.419 --> 00:14:17.779 What will that involve? Well, it must involve us being a community on mission. 00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:26.240 Remember those words from the Bible, they will know we are Christians by our love. 00:14:28.219 --> 00:14:33.459 People need to see how we live together, how we love one another, how we encourage one another, 00:14:33.460 --> 00:14:39.200 how we bear one another's burden. We can't do that unless we're actually doing those things. 00:14:39.720 --> 00:14:45.519 If we're not committed to one another, then our witness is weakened. By necessity, we are called to 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:53.540 be a community of faith and on mission. Our lives together should be seen by others. So, we need to 00:14:53.540 --> 00:14:59.900 live on purpose in community. We need to be committed to one another. 00:14:59.899 --> 00:15:08.939 It's also going to involve us at times graciously declaring and defending the uniqueness of Jesus. 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:15.759 We spoke about that this morning. Jesus isn't just a great moral teacher or some kind of moral guru. 00:15:16.220 --> 00:15:23.579 He's not just one of the prophets. He is the eternal Son of God. And He is the only way of salvation. And we 00:15:23.579 --> 00:15:26.079 need to be clear on that and we need to be ready to defend that. 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:37.240 It may well involve, and Elijah came to discover it in his life, some heat, some struggle, some opposition. 00:15:37.920 --> 00:15:46.560 We may find ourselves isolated. We may face mockery as we represent a God of glory. 00:15:46.559 --> 00:15:55.259 When all that's true, we desperately need to keep our eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus. We need to see the 00:15:55.259 --> 00:16:02.419 glory of our God so that we do not lose heart. We need to be persuaded of the wonder of the gospel, 00:16:02.899 --> 00:16:11.819 of the certain hope of eternal life, of the privilege of belonging to God, of the power of God at work in us 00:16:11.820 --> 00:16:19.460 if we are going to be on mission for Him. So just like Elijah, we're called to live for God's glory 00:16:19.460 --> 00:16:28.379 in a society full of idols. But then, and this is where we'll get to chapter 18 and the verses that 00:16:28.379 --> 00:16:35.240 we read. What do we see from Elijah? We see Elijah declares God's glory and he calls for true worship. 00:16:35.240 --> 00:16:41.279 Look with me again, if you have your Bibles at verses 16 to 18, there's that really important 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:47.320 question as Elijah appears before Ahab once again. The question is, who is the person who is bringing 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:54.840 trouble for Israel? So King Ahab, worshiping his idols, he says, well, Elijah, you're the problem 00:16:54.840 --> 00:16:59.940 because you were the one that brought God's message saying there'd be no rain. Ahab says, 00:16:59.940 --> 00:17:07.580 God's man, he's the problem. Sometimes we see that in our society. Christianity is the problem. 00:17:08.360 --> 00:17:12.480 You're so intolerant. You're so judgmental. The world would be a better place without Christianity. 00:17:12.720 --> 00:17:19.080 We hear that. We recognize that. Well, Elijah takes a different view, doesn't he? Elijah speaks for God 00:17:19.080 --> 00:17:26.200 and he says, well, the real trouble is with you, Ahab, because you've led God's people away from true 00:17:26.200 --> 00:17:33.819 worship. So they're not seeing the glory of God, rather they're following idols. And that leads him 00:17:33.819 --> 00:17:40.279 then towards announcing this confrontation, this challenge. Verse 19, summon the people from all 00:17:40.279 --> 00:17:47.600 over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel and bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of 00:17:47.600 --> 00:17:56.140 Asherah. So three aspects of Elijah's mission to see as the people gather at Mount Carmel for this 00:17:56.140 --> 00:18:04.120 great confrontation. The first thing to see is that Elijah exposes the weakness of idols. 00:18:05.259 --> 00:18:14.200 We see that first in the trouble that has come to Israel. These three years of drought were because 00:18:14.200 --> 00:18:20.160 of idol worship. They're following this false god Baal who claims he's in control of the weather, 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:29.680 but the weather God cannot make rain. There is weakness there. And then the test itself, verses 22 to 24, 00:18:30.180 --> 00:18:35.820 Elijah almost seems at pains to say, well, look, it's just me. It's almost like him against the world. 00:18:36.080 --> 00:18:41.800 It's me against 850 prophets. It doesn't seem like an equal playing field. 00:18:41.799 --> 00:18:48.759 And when he sets the test, verse 24, let's each call in the name of our gods and the God who answers 00:18:48.759 --> 00:18:55.779 by fire, he is God. People are happy with that. Again, remember, if Baal's the weather God, then he's 00:18:55.779 --> 00:18:59.599 in charge of lightning. So fire from heaven, that should be no bother to our God, so they think. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:08.220 But then the test begins. And the prophets of Baal go first and they're praying and there's no answer 00:19:08.220 --> 00:19:14.120 and they're dancing and nothing's happening. And then the taunting begins. Something you see from 00:19:14.120 --> 00:19:25.039 the prophets in the Old Testament, mockery of the folly of idolatry. What does Elijah say? Well, 00:19:25.120 --> 00:19:28.700 perhaps your God is deep in thought. Perhaps he's busy. Perhaps he's traveling. Perhaps he's 00:19:28.700 --> 00:19:34.860 inconvenienced. Perhaps he's unavailable to take your call. And the point of Elijah and the point of the 00:19:34.859 --> 00:19:41.819 Bible writer is this is a lifeless God who cannot hear, who cannot answer, who cannot act. 00:19:42.959 --> 00:19:52.079 And the truth is made plain in this test that at crunch time, the false God fails. There is no rain, 00:19:52.159 --> 00:19:58.099 there is no fire, there is no life, there is no power. And that points to a deeper reality, 00:19:59.240 --> 00:20:04.559 that at the moment of crunch time, the moment of crisis, if we are depending on something 00:20:04.559 --> 00:20:12.879 other than God, ultimately that will fail us at some point, especially when it comes to the greatest 00:20:12.879 --> 00:20:18.399 test of all, at what will give us hope, not just in this life, but also in death. 00:20:19.859 --> 00:20:27.059 Anything other than God will fail us in that moment. So, Elijah exposes the weakness of the idols. 00:20:27.059 --> 00:20:35.639 And then having done that, Elijah declares God's glory. So, this is from verse 30. 00:20:36.500 --> 00:20:41.279 After there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention, Elijah calls the people to him, 00:20:41.819 --> 00:20:49.799 and he sets about to turn them back to God. The first thing he does is he rebuilds the altar of 00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:54.639 the Lord which had been torn down. What's he saying there? He's saying to the people, 00:20:55.200 --> 00:21:01.680 there is the need for right and proper worship. We don't worship false gods, and we don't worship 00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:10.819 the true God in a false way. In taking these 12 stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel, there's 00:21:10.819 --> 00:21:19.680 that visual reminder of the God who had rescued them, the God who had kept his promises to his people, 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:33.240 who had built those 12 tribes into a nation. Israel's big problem wasn't the drought. Israel's big 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:38.759 problem was the sin that had seen them turn away from God, walk away from the God who loved them and 00:21:38.759 --> 00:21:48.420 saved them. So, there was the altar. And then there's the water. In verses 33 to 35, the altar is built, 00:21:48.420 --> 00:21:56.820 the wood is arranged, the bulls on the top, and then there's these 12 large water jars that presumably 00:21:56.820 --> 00:22:03.220 are gathered from the Mediterranean Sea, which is near to Mount Carmel, and they are brought up, and 00:22:03.220 --> 00:22:10.400 they're poured on the sacrifice. And what's happening there? He's heightening the drama. He's making it 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:19.980 impossible, humanly speaking, for that sacrifice to be lit, so that only a powerful God can do it. 00:22:20.940 --> 00:22:27.060 And then comes the prayer, verse 36. Prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed, 00:22:27.220 --> 00:22:32.420 Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel, 00:22:32.420 --> 00:22:39.779 and that I am your servant, and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, so these 00:22:39.779 --> 00:22:45.120 people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again. 00:22:47.120 --> 00:22:53.820 He wants to show them who their God is. So, he brings to their mind the glory of God's 00:22:53.820 --> 00:23:00.000 covenant promises, those promises to Abraham and Isaac and Israel, to bless them and make them a great 00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:05.640 nation and to give them a land and make them a blessing to the nations of the earth. In his prayer, 00:23:05.720 --> 00:23:12.839 he reminds them of God's faithfulness. He reminds them, too, of the glory of God's restoring grace. 00:23:13.720 --> 00:23:18.039 The people by this point know that they have wandered far away from God, but even here, 00:23:18.119 --> 00:23:22.420 Elijah is reminding them that there is a God who is willing to restore them, 00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:26.559 who will act in powerful grace to turn their hearts back again. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:33.259 And then after the prayer, what happens? We see God's glory on full display. Verse 38, 00:23:33.859 --> 00:23:38.940 as the fire of the Lord fell and burned up sacrifice, wood, stone, soil, and licked up the water 00:23:38.940 --> 00:23:49.619 in the trench. God's glory is revealed. One other aspect of Elijah's mission, and it comes early on, 00:23:49.619 --> 00:23:58.979 and we'll return to it, is that Elijah calls for wholehearted loyalty. So, they're up Mount Carmel. 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:05.199 Ahab's there. All the prophets are there, and the people are there, too. And Elijah said, 00:24:06.319 --> 00:24:13.059 how long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal is God, 00:24:13.059 --> 00:24:20.179 follow him. It's a powerful challenge. And at this stage, it's met with painful silence. 00:24:22.539 --> 00:24:29.679 Elijah is reminding us that the battle of the gods is played out in human hearts, as well as on the 00:24:29.679 --> 00:24:38.819 stage of history. Who is the one true God, and will I follow that God with undivided loyalty? 00:24:38.819 --> 00:24:46.679 Elijah is saying, divided loyalty is no better than idolatry. God demands and deserves all of our 00:24:46.679 --> 00:24:53.460 heart. And so, the question is, who is the true God? And if you know who God is, follow him truly with 00:24:53.460 --> 00:25:00.500 all of your heart. Jesus would say the same thing in a couple of places in the New Testament. He'd say 00:25:00.500 --> 00:25:10.859 in Matthew 6, we cannot serve God and money. We must choose our master and show that master loyalty. 00:25:12.359 --> 00:25:21.019 Jesus would want us to show loyalty to God. And then in Revelation, Jesus comes and brings this vision 00:25:21.019 --> 00:25:27.160 to John. And it's a message of judgment that comes on a church in a place called Laodicea. 00:25:27.160 --> 00:25:35.060 And the judgment is that they are lukewarm. They're neither hot nor cold towards Jesus. 00:25:36.620 --> 00:25:43.600 And Jesus says, so I will spit you out of my mouth. There is judgment that comes because there is no true 00:25:43.600 --> 00:25:57.140 loyalty there. So, that was Elijah. But what about us? How do we declare God's glory and call for true 00:25:57.140 --> 00:26:05.680 worship in our day, in our situation? Well, one really important way is that we must, in our own hearts 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:12.500 and by a sense of conviction, believe that God is greater and that Jesus is better, as we've just 00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:20.960 been thinking about in the book of Hebrews. I read a story this week, which is both simple and profoundly 00:26:20.960 --> 00:26:29.160 powerful and encouraging, I think. There was a lady who came to faith simply because a friend of hers 00:26:29.160 --> 00:26:35.180 spoke about the fact that she prayed to God and that God answered. 00:26:37.180 --> 00:26:43.840 Now, as Christians, especially when we've been Christians for a while, we accept that as part of our 00:26:43.839 --> 00:26:51.579 experience. We pray to God and God answers prayer. But when this news came to this lady that particular 00:26:51.579 --> 00:26:57.439 day, she broke down in tears. She couldn't believe the fact that there'd be a God who would be personal, 00:26:57.579 --> 00:27:03.459 who would listen, who would answer. And so, she wanted to know, how can I know this God for myself? 00:27:05.000 --> 00:27:10.119 She came to faith simply because she had a friend who prayed to a God who hears and answers. 00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:17.439 Now, that's a great encouragement, isn't it? That doesn't require us to be experts in evangelism and 00:27:17.439 --> 00:27:22.019 sharing our faith, but it requires us, in our everyday conversation, to be talking about how God 00:27:22.019 --> 00:27:31.539 deals with us. To believe that God is greater means that we are persuaded that in God we have a greater 00:27:31.539 --> 00:27:39.819 love. We have love from God that is sacrificial and never selfish, a love from God that is eternal and not 00:27:39.819 --> 00:27:48.000 temporary. We must be persuaded ourselves that in God, in trusting Jesus, we have a greater hope. 00:27:48.899 --> 00:27:55.480 We have a hope as we face death. As the Apostle Paul would say, death has lost its sting because death is 00:27:55.480 --> 00:28:01.500 not the end, but is for the people of God an entry into God's presence for all eternity, 00:28:03.559 --> 00:28:05.839 recognizing that God's love in Jesus never fails. 00:28:05.839 --> 00:28:13.419 We need to be persuaded and to share the fact that in knowing Jesus, we have a greater peace. 00:28:14.399 --> 00:28:18.659 To know that we have a God who is for us and not against us, who is with us always. 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:25.059 One who hears us, one who speaks to us. In the Bible, God who rules for his people's ultimate good. 00:28:26.359 --> 00:28:32.939 We need to be convicted and convinced of these realities if we are to be on mission, 00:28:32.940 --> 00:28:42.980 calling people to see that glory too. We also need to worship in such a way that we declare God's glory. 00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:48.580 We spoke about this a little bit this morning. I mean, one of the big challenges churches face in 00:28:48.580 --> 00:28:56.279 the consumer age is that idea that you can have church your way. There can be that temptation in 00:28:56.279 --> 00:29:02.019 the face of so much competition for people's attention and people's hearts to try to be relevant. 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:07.319 If we just have the right branding or the right strategy that people will come. 00:29:08.579 --> 00:29:14.480 Our need is to be fixed on God's Word and on the gospel of the Lord Jesus, 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:24.079 on worship that gives God glory, that reveals God's glory, that keeps pointing us towards our great Savior. 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:33.699 Our great need is prayer, really. Prayer that God would move in power. It's God that saves people. It's 00:29:33.699 --> 00:29:40.720 God that opens hearts. It's God who transforms lives. And so, we need to pray that God would be moving 00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:45.460 in power, moving people to become worshipers of the one true God. 00:29:45.460 --> 00:29:52.519 And again, when we think about worship, our need is that our hearts and our lives would 00:29:52.519 --> 00:30:00.620 be delighted to worship. That we'd have joy in knowing Jesus and representing Jesus. 00:30:02.380 --> 00:30:11.160 Again, a very simple but really encouraging story I read this week was of a man in his 80s who came to 00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:19.820 faith. His son-in-law is a Christian minister who'd been trying to share the gospel with him at home for years. 00:30:20.420 --> 00:30:23.540 Well, this summer, or last summer I think it was, they went on holiday. 00:30:24.180 --> 00:30:32.279 And as was their custom, the pastor and his wife, they went to church and the father was there and he went to church 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:41.480 with them. And after being in that worship service, that was the point where he realized, wow, there are people 00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:49.339 who really believe who God is. They really believe that knowing God makes a difference. They really love 00:30:49.339 --> 00:30:57.019 one another. And so, that simple act of seeing true, heartfelt worship was used by God to transform 00:30:57.019 --> 00:31:07.660 that person's life. So, we are called to worship that declares God's glory. And we are called to 00:31:07.660 --> 00:31:16.700 follow God with all of our hearts. We must be clear on our identity. Who are we? We are children of God. 00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:24.859 We must be clear on our purpose. We are here to give God glory, to be disciples who make disciples. 00:31:24.859 --> 00:31:30.899 And we need for that to transform us and give our life its direction. 00:31:33.959 --> 00:31:42.459 God must have our hearts. Jesus must have our hearts. Our great joy must be the love of God 00:31:42.459 --> 00:31:50.639 revealed to us in Jesus, that we are united to Jesus, made children of God by faith in him. And we are sent 00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:55.300 by him. And we don't go into the world by ourselves. We know that Jesus is with us by his Spirit. 00:31:58.300 --> 00:32:07.340 I came across this story from the Atheists in Kenya Society. There was a tweet that went out and made 00:32:07.340 --> 00:32:13.160 news headlines a few months ago. Their secretary resigned. And the tweet said, 00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:15.300 Seth has found Jesus. 00:32:15.300 --> 00:32:15.320 He has found Jesus.