We're going to be in 1 Kings chapter 18 today, taking a little step away from Jonah this morning.
I wasn't sure what this was going to look like as far as our setup.
I wasn't sure if we would have a screen or a live stream broadcast or any of that.
Thankfully, people got together and made that happen.
And I'm grateful for the team who showed up this morning.
We were up here. I did not look like this.
We were just getting everything ready and over at the church, bringing some things over.
And I'm grateful for that group as well.
So we're taking a step away from Jonah this morning and we'll finish our series on Jonah next Sunday.
So make sure you're in your place for that.
But Jonah chapter 4 will be next Sunday.
Today we're in 1 Kings chapter 18.
I'm going to ask you, just so nobody falls asleep on this, if you can,
If it's not too difficult for you where you're sitting, if you're able to just join us in standing,
let's read 1 Kings chapter 18 together.
You follow along as I read.
I'm reading from the New Living Translation.
Later on in the third year of the drought,
this is happening in God's people of the nation of Israel.
So the Lord said to Elijah, great prophet,
Go and present yourself to King Ahab.
Tell him that I will soon send rings.
So Elijah went to appear before Ahab.
Meanwhile, the famine had become very severe in Samaria.
So Ahab summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of the palace.
Obadiah was actually a devoted follower of the Lord.
Once Jezebel had tried to kill all the Lord's prophets.
And Obadiah had hidden 100 of them in two caves.
So 50 prophets in each cave had supplied them with food and water.
So Ahab says to Obadiah,
We've got to check every spring and valley in the land to see if we can find enough grass
to save at least some of my horses and mules.
Great King Ahab there really worried about his people.
Actually, he's worried about saving his own horses and mules.
So he says in verse 6, it says,
They divided the land between them.
Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself.
As Obadiah was walking along, he suddenly saw Elijah coming toward him.
Elijah, Obadiah recognized him at once and bowed low to the ground before him.
Is it really you, my lord, Elijah?
He asked.
Yes, it is, Elijah replied.
Now go and tell your master, Elijah is here.
Oh, sir, Obadiah protested.
What harm have I done to you that you're sending me to my death at the hands of Ahab?
For I swear by the Lord your God that the king has searched every nation and kingdom on earth from end to end to find you.
And each time he was told, Elijah is here.
King Ahab would force the king of that nation to swear to the truth of his claim.
And now you tell me, go and tell your master, Elijah is here.
But as soon as I leave you, the spirit of the Lord will carry you away to who knows where.
When Ahab comes and finds you, he cannot find you.
He will kill me.
Yet I have been a true servant of the Lord all my life.
As no one told you, my lord, about the time when Jezebel was trying to kill the Lord's prophet.
I hid a hundred of them in two days and supplied them with food and water.
And now you say, go and tell your master, Elijah is here, sir.
If I do that, Ahab will certainly kill you.
So he's stressing out, right?
Elijah, you're sending me to my death because I know you're not going to wait around for him to come kill you.
Please don't do this.
But Elijah says in verse 15, I swear on the Lord Almighty, in whose presence I stand, that I will present myself to Ahab this very day.
So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come.
And Ahab went out to meet Elijah.
When Ahab saw him, he explained, so is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?
Elijah says in verse 18, I have made no trouble for Israel.
You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshipped the images of Baal, this false god, instead.
Verse 19, now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel along with the 450 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.
Let's pray.
God, you're about to tell an incredible story of how you won today.
I pray that you would win today, today, and in our hearts, and in our church, we'll give you all the glory in Jesus' name.
Amen.
You may receive it.
Thank you for standing so long.
Verse 20.
We had to set the stage here, and now we're going to preach through the rest of this passage.
This is one of my personal favorite Bible stories that we find in the Old Testament.
Elijah on Mount Carmel.
And we have some lessons that we can take away from this today that I believe will help all of us and help our church.
So we left off.
King Ahab, wicked King Ahab, had been seeking to find the prophet of God because he didn't worship the one true God.
He worshipped Baal, this false god, this idol that had been made by man, and they lifted him up as though he was their creator.
He was their God.
And so, of course, they resisted and rejected anyone who was worshipping and telling others to worship the one true actual God, Jehovah.
And so, Elijah was public enemy number one in Ahab's eyes.
He'd been searching high and low for him.
The word was out, bring the head of Elijah to King Ahab.
So then Elijah says, King Ahab, here I am.
Come find me.
And he came.
And Elijah stayed there and waited for him.
And then Elijah issues a challenge.
He says, go and bring all 450 prophets of Baal to meet me here.
So what happens?
Verse 20.
Ahab does more than that.
He obeys, actually, Elijah's request to summon all of Israel.
He says, Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and those 450 prophets to Mount Carmel.
Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, how much longer will you waver?
Wavering between or hobbling between these two opinions.
If the Lord is God, follow him.
But if Baal is God, follow him.
But the people were completely silent.
Do you see this?
These are God's people.
These are God's chosen people.
He's been walking with them, protecting them, leading and guiding them from their very beginning.
But they have allowed people to sway them.
They have allowed others to come in and get their attention off of the God who has always been there, never left, never failed.
But they have allowed themselves to be seduced or drawn away by other false gods.
King Ahab was a Baal worshiper.
And Israel followed right along with him.
So Elijah says, we're going to have a showdown.
We're going to get together and we're going to win this battle and this battle once and for all between Baal and the one true God.
So he issues a challenge.
Some of you, I know Israel, want to worship God.
Some of you know that God is real and Baal is not.
But you're on the fence.
You're sitting there and you won't make a decision because you don't want to be looked at in the wrong way.
You don't want to have the wrong label attached to you.
You don't want to be unpopular.
You don't want to be canceled.
Think we find ourselves in a similar situation in the world in which we live today?
It is certainly not popular to be a Jesus follower today.
And there's all kinds of reasons for that.
But one of the biggest reasons is the struggle between light and dark.
Between righteousness and unrighteousness.
Between truth and lies.
Between good and evil.
It's the same struggle that was happening back in Elijah's day.
As he was facing off against King Ahab and these prophets of Baal.
And I believe this challenge from Elijah is still good for us today.
How long, church, will we waver between two opinions?
If God is God, then follow him.
If man is God, if we are God, if the social culture of our world today is God, then follow it.
But if not, then follow God.
So what happens?
Let's read it.
The people would not make a decision.
They were silent.
They were sitting back and waiting to see what happened.
So, Elijah says in verse 22,
I'm the only prophet of the Lord who has left.
But there's 450 prophets of Baal.
So, bring two bowls.
Remember, this was the time of animal sacrifices.
We talked about this a couple weeks ago.
This was before the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ himself,
had come down to be the final sacrifice that would ever be needed.
So, we don't advocate animal sacrifices at all.
But back then, before Jesus came,
that's what they did to show repentance of their sins to their gods.
So, Elijah says, bring two bowls.
We're going to sacrifice them.
The prophets of Baal can choose whichever one they want.
And they cut it into pieces and they lay it on the wood of their altar.
So, we've got an altar of Baal over here.
They've got the big stones.
They've got the wood on top that they're going to burn.
They put the animal on top of that.
And then they're going to burn that up and offer it as a sacrifice
out of repentance for their sins to their god, Baal.
So, he says, you can do that, but don't set fire to it yet.
Hold off.
I will prepare the other bowl and I'll lay it over here on my altar, on my wood,
and I will not set fire to it yet.
Then, verse 24, call on the name of the Lord your God.
Your God.
Call on the name of your God.
And I will call on the name of the Lord God himself.
The God who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God.
Sound fair?
Well, the people would agree with you because all the people agree with you.
So, verse 25, this is one of the most dramatic stages that we get to see set in all of life.
Verse 25, Elijah says to the prophets of Baal, y'all go first.
There's many of you.
Choose one of your bowls, prepare it, call a name of the Lord your God, your God,
and do not set fire to the wood.
Baal's going to do that.
So, they prepared one of the bowls and they placed it on the altar.
Then, they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon time, shouting,
Oh, Baal!
Answer us, Baal!
But, there was no reply of any kind.
Anybody surprised?
No?
Me neither.
But, they hadn't wrapped their heads around that yet.
So, they keep shouting.
They dance all around the altar that they had made.
Oh, Baal!
Baal, we love you, Baal!
We worship you, Baal!
Baal, you're the most awesome Baal we ever did know.
We love you.
We give our hearts to you.
They probably had their own worship songs to Baal.
They were having a little worship concert out there, singing to Baal.
They were getting their worship on.
But, y'all, nothing was happening.
Baal, show yourself real.
Burn this fire.
Send fire down.
Burn this altar up.
Burn this bull up.
Show this doubter, doubting Elijah, that you are real.
You are God.
So, they did this until around lunchtime.
And then Elijah's had enough.
And he starts making fun.
And he says, about no time, Elijah began mocking them.
You'll have to shout louder.
Surely, he's a God.
Perhaps he's daydreaming.
Perhaps he's in the bathroom.
We don't know.
They all might be otherwise indisposed right now.
You'll have to shout a little louder and get his attention.
So, they redoubled their eyes.
I mean, they're screaming at the top of their lungs.
What does it say next?
They raved all afternoon.
Maybe, Elijah says, maybe he's away on a trip.
Maybe he's asleep and you'll have to wake him up.
Elijah says, have fun at this point.
And what happens?
They shouted louder.
And following their normal custom,
they cut themselves with knives and swords
until the blood gushed out.
Y'all, what kind of a religion was this?
Jesus does not ask us to cut ourselves.
Actually, he says, your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.
You're supposed to take care of it.
He does not require you to do anything like that.
So, these guys are following this religion
that is literally causing them bodily harm.
So, they're trying to show their devotion to faith
by cutting themselves,
making themselves bleed and hurt.
So, they raved all afternoon
until the time of the evening sacrifice.
But there was no sound,
no reply,
no response.
Can we pause the story here just for a second?
Y'all will never do
what these prophets are doing.
I'll never do what these prophets are doing.
But you know what we do?
We try and try
to make something else our God
instead of Jesus.
And we devote ourselves to it
and we keep going back to it
time and time again
thinking it will give us hope,
thinking it will give us fulfillment,
thinking it will give us joy,
whether it's an unhealthy appetite
that we have
for alcohol,
for drugs,
for prescription drugs,
for pornography,
whatever it is that scratches the itch
that you just can't give it up
because you're devoted to it.
Just like these prophets
were devoted to their false God.
But I can promise you,
just like Baal was never going to answer them,
whatever that pursuit is,
other than God,
it will never fulfill you.
It will never give you
what you're looking for.
It will never provide
what God promises
to provide for you.
It might be family.
You might have an unhealthy obsession
with family.
It might be a toxic relationship
that you just can't give up.
It might be toxic traits
that you portray toward others.
And that's just how you've been
for so long,
you feel like you just can't change.
This is just who I am.
And you're all in on being that person.
It will always hurt you.
It will never help you.
It will never give you
what you're looking for.
So I don't think anybody in here
is going to go worship Baal.
But there's a whole lot of other things
besides God himself
that you and I do worship
on a daily basis.
Maybe it's sports.
Maybe it's living the dreams
that you never saw fulfilled
through your children.
Whatever it is,
don't let it become God
in your life.
because that God
will always let you down.
It'll never fulfill you.
So,
let's pick up the story.
Elijah finally
was done with it.
Verse 28.
I'm sorry,
verse 30.
Then Elijah called
to the people.
He said,
My turn.
Come on over here.
Y'all come over here now.
They all crowded around him
as he prepared
the altar of the Lord
that had been torn down.
Man,
this was significant.
God's altar
had been torn down
as the nation turned
toward Baal worship.
And Elijah takes this opportunity
to build it back up.
He said,
This is where we're going
to offer sacrifices
to the one true God
who actually hears us.
So,
he builds it back up.
He takes 12 stones.
One to represent
each of the tribes of Israel.
And then he uses those stones
to rebuild the altar
in the name of the Lord.
And then he dug a trench,
big hole in the ground,
all the way around the altar,
big enough to hold
about three gallons.
Then he piled the wood
on the altar,
cut the bowl into pieces,
and laid the pieces
on the wood.
Now,
he's not done yet.
This story's about
to get crazy.
Then he said,
Fill four large jars
with water
and pour the water
over the offering,
the bowl,
and the wood.
Now,
how many people in here
know how to build a fire?
How many of y'all
have watched that show
on Netflix
called Alone?
Yes,
I'm all about it, man.
It is great.
This thing about to go off
before.
Hey,
there we go.
We need those in the church.
That's pretty cool.
Yeah,
so I watched this show
called Alone.
Holly watched it with me some,
and it's these people
who get dropped off
in this remote location,
and they've got to survive.
They've heard the people
and spread out
into different areas,
and whoever survives
the longest wins
this massive amount.
So,
they're all out there
survivalists.
They know how to do it,
but it's amazing
to watch these people
start breaking down.
These people who are
so confident going in.
I've got all the skills.
I've got all the training.
I know what I'm doing out here,
and sometimes they can't
build a fire
for whatever reason.
Sometimes the wood
gets too wet,
right?
Sometimes their shelter
falls apart.
Something bad happens,
and they're just done.
They tap out.
They go on.
You can't build a fire
with wet wood,
right?
Everybody know that?
Like,
if you're trying
to build a fire,
find tri-wood.
The older,
the better,
right?
You can't build a fire
with wet wood.
What does it do?
It just smokes,
right?
It's not going to work.
So Elijah's trying
to burn this stuff up,
and he says,
let's pour water
all over it.
That'll make it better.
He's proven a point,
y'all.
So,
that's what happens.
They did it.
They poured water
all over the offering
in the wood,
and after they'd done it,
he said,
do it again.
So they'd go
fill up the jars again
and dump water
all over it again.
And when they were finished,
he said,
do it a third time.
So he went.
They went and did
as he said,
and the water ran
all over the altar
and filled up
that trench
that he had dug.
He knew what he was doing.
This altar,
this bowl,
this wood
is completely drenched,
soaked through.
And at the usual time
for offering
a leading sacrifice,
Elijah,
the prophet,
walked up to the altar
and prayed,
O Lord,
God of Abraham,
Isaac,
and Jacob,
prove today
that you are God
in Israel
and that I
am your servant.
Prove that I have done
all of this
at your command.
O Lord,
answer me.
Answer me
so these people know
that you,
O Lord,
are God
and that you
have brought them back
to yourself.
And what happens?
Immediately,
the fire of the Lord
flashed down
from heaven
and burned up
the bull,
burned up
the wood,
the soaking wet wood,
burned up
the stones,
and burned up
the dust.
It even
lit up
all the water
in the trench.
and when all
the people saw it,
they fell
face down
on the ground
and cried out,
The Lord,
He is God.
Yes,
the Lord
is God.
For the sake of time,
we'll stop there.
But listen,
my testimony
to you
is that
the Lord
is God.
The Lord
came through
for Elijah
that day
and the Lord
will come through
for you.
Now,
He may not always
come through
the way you ask Him.
He may not always
come through
just as He did
for Elijah
when Elijah
builds up
this altar,
lays out the plan
and says,
God,
now it's your turn
and God came through
just as Elijah
had hoped.
But I can promise you
the Lord
is God
and the Lord
will prove
that He is God
time and time again
all throughout
the pages of Scripture
time and time again
all throughout
the history of church
all around this world
and time and time again
in the history
of your lives
of my life
God has come through
God has made Himself
real
God has proved
that He is
the one true God
and there is nothing else
that makes God
want to prove Himself
more
than His people
calling out in faith
and saying,
God,
show that you are God.
Show to a lost world
without you
that you are God.
listen,
that gets God's attention
that makes God work
that makes God
come through
that makes Him intervene
last Sunday
we talked about
how God can do
anything
God can work
on hard hearts
God can turn
hard hearts
just like He did
with the men of them
just like He did
right here
for these
Baal worshipping
wandered far away
children of Israel
and He can do it
for you
maybe you've wandered far
maybe your heart
is far from God
maybe this is your
first time to church
in a long time
maybe you've been
coming to church
for a long time
but your heart
has still wandered
far away
God can bring it back
God can get your attention
call out to Him
today
just as Elijah did
call out
to God
today
and the fire
will fall
the fire
will come through
God will show
Himself real
in your heart
would you bow your heads
with me?
God, I don't know
what people need
from you today
Elijah needed
a big old
flashy miracle
maybe there's people
that just need
a reminder
that you are real
that you are present
that you are with them
God, whatever it is
show yourself
real today
turn our hearts
away from Baal
turn our hearts
away from whatever
Baal substitute
we have put into
our lives
turn our hearts
away from our
selfishness
our pride
our ego
our dishonesty
our fear
whatever it is
our addictions
God, turn us
from that
and turn us
back to you
you didn't give up
on your people
you didn't give up
on them just because
they turned their backs
on you
you used your prophet
to get their attention
and say
no
God is God
Baal is not God
God, use your scriptures
once again this morning
to get our attention
to remind us
that you are
God alone
you will always come
to
churches
Jared plays
would you keep your heads
bowed
would you remain in your
seats
and let's enter into
a time of prayer
before we leave this place
and we go back to our day
would you let the music
wash over you
let the preaching
of your word
convict you
where the Holy Spirit
wants to point
your attention
every man
woman
and child
in this room
man it's an entertaining
story
what does it mean
for me
it means there's
something in your life
it's probably
has a bigger place
than God
it's an idol
we've kind of given up
something in your life
that's distracted you
from your love
and your commitment
to the one
true
almighty God
and he wants to
remind you today
that he is real
he is powerful
he can do
anything
maybe you need
God to intervene
I know I need
there's things
in my life
I need God
to intervene
I need him to step in
and show that he is God
and maybe you have
the same thing
God at this moment
right now
convict hearts
draw people to yourself
we'll give you
all the glory
there's someone
here today
who doesn't know
that they're a child
of God
I'm going to ask you
to slip your hand up
right now
and say I'd like to
give my life to Jesus
today
before we leave this place
I'd like to give my life
to Jesus
would you slip your hand up
and I'll pray for you
thank you
church is there anybody
else who would say
I need prayer
God's working on me
about something
would you just pray
for me
God's working with me
right now
would you slip your hand up
and I'll pray for you
thank you
God you see those hands
you know what's going on
going on in our hearts
God
make yourself
so real to them
in this moment
show us how big you are
how kind you are
how gracious you are
and how powerful you are
so much more powerful
than anything else
for you
.