And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandment of the Lord, thou hast followed Balaam. Thank you, may be seated. So let's just do a little review, if we could. Elijah shows up on the scene, supposing there's a half a year drought going on. And Elijah stands before Ahab and he tells him that there's going to be another three years of drought. and with drought comes famine. So next thing you know God takes Elijah away and he brings you the brook chariot and he's there by the brook chariot and God sustains him with food from a raven. He eats bread in the morning along with meat and then the same thing at night. And so God takes care of him, and the famine is on, the drought is on, the famine is beginning. And next thing you know, we find where the Bible tells us that God drives up the brook and then moves him to a town called Zarephath. And Zarephath, he meets a widow woman there, and she has a little boy, and of course, they're starving. She has just enough meal to make a cake. They're both gonna eat and just starve to death. That was their plan. And, you know, thank the Lord we've never been in a situation like that before in our lives. Now maybe someone has, but I would venture to say most of us, if not all of us, have really never been in that situation where there was a famine going on. But God takes care of the man of God. He says to the woman, he says, you feed me and the Lord God will feed you and take care of you. And the Bible says the meal was always there and the oil was in the bottle and the vessel of God took care of them. And so next thing you know that the woman's son dies. Everything's going great and all of a sudden in the left field the boy dies and she blames Elijah right away and he blames God right away and then he gets in his right mind and he goes before God humbly and makes things right and asks God to raise the boy. And sure enough God answers his prayer and the boy's resurrected. So there is an authentication on Elijah's ministry that he is the man of God. And the woman calls him that. Well next thing you know you find where God leads Elijah now to go back and speak to Ahab three years have passed or close to it. And he runs into Obadiah. Obadiah is the right-hand man of Ahab. Ahab is a Baal worshiper. We're gonna look at that in just a little bit. And he's worshiping false gods. And next thing you know, he runs into Obadiah, Obadiah's right-hand man. He claims to be a Bible-believing Christian. But he's a compromiser. And we spoke about compromise last week, I believe it was, that we can wind up compromising our own lives, our marriage, our children, our lives, and wind up really messing things up in our lives as far as our relationship with the Lord and the repercussion of things. We used specifically the man Lot, and how Lot compromised with God, and all over a dollar. And I'll tell you something, gentlemen and ladies, that we can really mess ourselves up with money if we're not wise. And money can grab a hold of our hearts. It can be a power trip. It can control us. And God brings money in our lives for a couple of reasons, take care of our families, to take care of the work of God, and to help our fellow man. But man gets it all messed up. Lots of times, the last thing is the house of God. But God gives you money to take care of, to give you tithe in your offerings to God, to worship God. God gives you money to take care of your family. You say, well, I'm taking care of my family and gonna be set for generation after generation after generation. Well, is that what the Bible says? I'm not saying don't pass something on to your children, but be careful what you pass on to your children. As much as money can be a blessing, money can be very destructive. You don't believe that? Go drive out in the Hamptons and talk to people out there. who've been destroyed by money. Their parents left them money, they raised the children with no character, and their lives have been just shipwrecked. Go out to Hollywood and go talk to people in California, Los Angeles, and the wealthy areas out there and see how many people have been destroyed by money. So money can be a great blessing, but money can be very destructive. Why? It can deceive the heart. Paul warns Timothy in the book of Timothy, he said, warn them that are rich. that they're not controlled by their riches. Charge them that are rich. That they would trust God and not their money. And so we have to be very careful with money. And you say, well, who are you talking to? I'm talking to all of us. $100 can become overwhelming to a young person. I got $200 in my pocket. You got $200 in your pocket? Is it yours? Yeah, it's mine. And right away, they're feeling big about themselves. I got $200. Well, I say to them, go out grocery shopping with your family, see how long that lasts. $200, that'll get you down one or two aisles. So we have to be careful. It's for everyone. We have to be careful with money. Money can be very destructive. So Obadiah compromises, and he's saying, well, I took care of the prophets of God, and I did this, and I stood up. But he compromised to be the right-hand man of a Balite. To be the right-hand man of a false king, an idolater, you have to compromise somewhere. So we read about Obadiah and it's done, he's over, just 10, 15 verses. The whole life of Obadiah is done, but Elijah's still standing, God's still using Elijah, why? Because he didn't compromise. He didn't. And that tells us something about our lives, the importance of just obeying the scriptures. And it's taught right here. Notice, if you would, verse 18. The Bible says in verse 18, the statements made about, from Ahab, he's accusing Elijah of troubling the nation. And Elijah answers, verse 18, he said, I have not troubled Israel, but thou, in thy father's house, in that you have forsaken, what? the commandments of the Lord, and has followed Balaam. That's compromise. It's as simple as that, beloved. It's just forsaking the commandments of the Lord. That's why we say, what does the Bible say? If the Bible says it, that settles it. There's no discussion. The Scriptures say you stand on the Scriptures. You know, well, I got this boss, I got this neighbor, I got this relative, I got this friend, I've got this, you know, person, you know, whatever the thing is, it doesn't matter. See, we're all gonna, every knee is gonna bow and every eye and tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord when it's all said and done. So what we need to do in our lives is bow. day in and day out to the Lord Jesus Christ. What does the Lord want for my life? What is God's will for my life? What does God want me to do? How do I live my life? It's all in the revealed will of God. God tells us to get the scripture, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, to pray, to walk in the spirit, to witness for Christ, to live a holy life. These are all just, this is Christianity 101. And he said, I've been to a lot of churches, they don't say those things. Well, maybe they're not churches. Not every church is a church. Anyone ever hear of a quack doctor? I mean, every so often in the news, you see this guy had a shingle hanging outside his, you know, MD, you know. You find out he never went to school, he was a fake. He was fraudulent. Well, there are a lot of churches like that. They're fraudulent. They're not real churches. Jesus didn't start those churches. They're man-made. Just like they're false preachers. I are not one. But they're false preachers. There's false Christians. There's false Bibles. You say, well, how do you suppose? No, just read your Bible. God's Word tells you what to believe and how to believe it and how to live and all these wonderful things. So we pick it up here now and Ahab was an idolater and he was an evil king. We have to understand that. Idolatry is evil because it turns its back on the living and true God. So any kind of idolatry, whether it's false gods, whether it's family members, whether it's the world, materialism, money, whatever it may be. Whatever is an idol, whatever comes between you and God is an idol. And whatever that is, it's evil. God doesn't want us to have idolatry. He tells us to flee idolatry. So he's a wicked man. He married a wicked woman. What was her name? Jezebel. That's not a name you want to name your daughter. All right? Not a good start. His worship is of false gods, and what he does, he leads the nation to worship false gods. As a king, he was inept as a leader, and he caused a lot of problems in the nation, but he didn't solve problems. See, that's so important as a leader, gentlemen, that we want to be problem solvers in our marriage, in our family. And I realize sometimes that problems are so big that you need help. There's nothing wrong with that. So if you have a plumbing problem at your house, some of you guys say, I'll fix it, and you get in there, you're fixed. Some guys are clueless. I remember when I took the test to join the Air Force, my mechanical ability was like a 26 or 27. I knew what tools were, but I didn't know how to use them properly. It just never made sense. I could figure things out, but I didn't know how to do it. And so I'm not, if something goes wrong, I'm calling someone. Because I can't do it. And there are times in our lives where the problem is greater than our pay scale. And there's nothing wrong with calling in help, that's why God gives you a pastor. To help you in marriage, to help you in your family, to help you in life, sometimes with your finances, whatever it may be. So God gives you a man of God. And what a good gift that God gives us. And I'm not talking about me, I'm talking about the office. that God would think so much about his children that he said, I'm going to designate someone to know the Bible so well that they can help people as they go through life. What a blessing. So we find here that Ahab was a Baal worshiper, and Baal was by most in ancient Canaan and Phoenicia, he was the supreme God. But he had different, there's different versions of him. So primarily he was the fertility God. And mark it down, idolatry always goes to immorality, always. It's always involved with immorality. And it was believed that he helped to produce crops and people. To the Canaanites, they considered Baal to be the most powerful of gods. He had a sister named Ashtroth. Remember, we've heard her name before in our studies. She was a fertility goddess. And it was considered, he was considered, Baal was considered with the Canaanites to be the sun god. And now, Baal worship was rooted, and this is what we're headed for, with idolatry and with sensuality. And it always involved a ritualistic prostitution in the temple. And so, you have to understand that God is against idolatry. God never told us to make pictures of him or statues of him. And people say, I've talked to plenty of idolaters, well, it helps remind me of God. Well, I've used this illustration before. If someone moved into your house, would you know it? Well, sure you would. There's another mouth to feed, and another toothbrush in the holder, another towel and washcloth, and another set of sheets and bedding, and someone else occupying a room, and a seat at the table, and all these different things, you would know. Well, if God moves into your heart, You don't need to have idols to remind you. I've never, since I've been saved, I've never said, oh, I gotta put up a picture of God so I can remember. The Bible tells us when you get saved, the Spirit of God comes in your heart and you're sealed until the day of redemption. You don't need a reminder. He'll remind you He's there. To whom the Lord loveth, He won't. God's always working our lives, helping us, correcting us, chastening us, making us grow in the Lord. So let's look at some verses here. We want to go to 1 Kings 16, please. 1 Kings 16, verse 31. The Bible says in verse 31, it came to pass as it had been a life thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. And he took to him a wife, Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbal, king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. And he reared up an altar. for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove, and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. How did he provoke God to anger? Talk to me. Idols. Idols. So you want to provoke God anger in your life? Have idols in your life. Brother Bruce, would you close that door there for me, brother? Thank you so much. Notice with me, if you would, the book of Judges, chapter three. Judges chapter three. And... seen the nation of Israel and the book of Judges. They're in the judgment of God. It's right after the book of Joshua and Judges chapter 3. And notice, if you would, verse 7. Judges 3 in verse 7. And the Bible says in verse 7, And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God, and served Balaam and the groves. So this was a continual problem in Israel. God had warned Israel before they went into Canaan land, which is now Israel. He warned them of the false gods. That's why he told them, go into Canaan and clear out the land. And that's why they were a battle for the land in Jericho and Ai and throughout the land. And remember Caleb said, I want that mountain. Why? He wanted to clean out that mountain. But the problem was, you find a book of Joshua where they didn't finish the work and judges. They left some Canaanites there. And next thing you know, the Canaanites started growing, started maturing and developing. And next thing you know, they started spreading throughout Israel. God told them, go and clean out the land. That was their land. God gave it to them. And they didn't do it. So next thing you know, the Canaanites are worshiping again, and some of Israel was deceived. And they wound up worshiping Baal, a false god, a make-believe god. There's only one God, beloved. There's only one. There aren't many gods. There's not, oh, there's God, Jehovah God of the Bible, the God of the Jews and Gentiles, and then there's Allah, he's a god, and then there's Krishna, the Hindu god. There's only one God. These others are fictitious. They're all made up. But we have to be careful about not those gods. I don't think anyone worshiped those Krishna or Allah. But I say to you, we Baptists have to worry about the gods of our heart. Whatever it may be. Anything that comes between you and God. So Israel had sinned against God this way. Notice back to 1 Kings chapter 18 verse 28. And the Bible says, and he cried aloud and cut themselves after their manor with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them. So here is a description of the Baal worshipers. Now aren't you thankful you don't have to come to church and start cutting yourself and bleeding and ranting and raving and so on? Isn't that great? I've told you before, I remember years ago in Port Jeff Station, I didn't learn this one in Bible college, where a family came to us and they came out of a deliverance ministry. And so they went on to tell me that they went to church every Sunday to throw up. I guess people like to do that. I don't know, not me. If I can get through something, I'm getting through it without doing that. Who wants to do that? But they said every Sunday, go to church, a preacher cast a demon out of me, which was not true, and we'd throw up. So just like you have tied them ropes around, if you need one, they had barf bags around. Isn't that great? It's just like the devil to make such perverse things. to have people get involved with all in the name of Christianity. It's just a lie of the devil. That's why it's so wonderful to be a Bible-believing Christian. Just do what the Bible says. Amen? So we find here the priest of Baal, they appealed to their God in their rites of wild abandonment, which included loud, static cries and self-inflicted injury, trying to appease their God. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible, God is love. We have fellowship with God through His Son, Jesus. And we're to worship Him, how? In spirit and in truth. Now again, notice verse 28 here of 1 Kings chapter 18. And notice the Bible says, and they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them. We're going to get to that next week. But I just want to tell you, there's the man of God, Elijah. And I don't know what he was doing. I have no idea what he was doing. But I'll tell you, he wasn't doing that. Maybe he was standing to the side. Who knows? Maybe he was picking his teeth. Maybe he had his arms folded. Maybe he was just watching. Maybe he was laughing. Look at this. Do you believe this? Maybe he kept looking at the nation of Israel that was there and just dismissing the whole thing. It's foolishness. I want you to understand this, beloved. If it's not in the Bible, it's wrong when it comes down to worshiping God. There aren't different types of Christians. There aren't different types of Christianity. There's one. Ephesians 4.4 says there's one faith. Not many different faiths. Not many different roads to God. There's one. Now how many is one? One. I was telling someone the other day, I've said it before in church, when you come to that sign outside and you're leaving the parking lot, you're going out the west side, there's a red sign there that has eight sides to it. And that's the words STOP. What does that mean, Marcus? Say it nice and loud. Stop. Does it mean roll? What does it mean? Come to a complete halt. That's the science. I don't always do it, but that's what you're supposed to do. And if you don't, then you've broken the law. Right? Okay. So God tells us how to worship him. There aren't many different ways to worship God. There aren't many different ways to heaven. There's one way. There's one belief system. It's the Bible. What does the New Testament say about the New Testament church? That's what we're to follow. And you've got all these different beliefs and women preaching. Well, God's called me to preach. No, he didn't. Probably calling you to salvation. That's probably what he's calling you to. It's just ludicrous. Got apostles in the church. Where does it say that? Paul was the last one, and when he died, the apostleship was over. There's no need because we had the word of God. These men who are apostles were emissaries for God for a time period, just like the gifts for a time period. They're going to cease when that which is perfect has come. That's the Word of God. So all this is religion. And if people just stay in the boundaries of Matthew 1 to Revelation 22, 21, you're going to have a New Testament church. You're going to believe right. And that's what people need to do. So we find here that Ahab is a wicked man, he's a wicked king. He has led Israel to worship a false god. Of course it's a sensual god, they all are that way, false gods. Chapter 18 tells us in the third year of the drought that Elijah goes to Ahab and confronts him. And Ahab has been out looking for grass for his animals. Now people have been dying, it's a famine on. And he's concerned about his horses and his mules. See, how do people do that, preacher? Turn with me to Romans chapter one, please. Romans chapter one. I want you to see this, beloved. I said to someone recently, I said, when someone reveals himself to you, who they are, believe it. All right? Believe what they are. Believe what the Bible says. How many times have you heard people say, I can't believe that person would do that. Some heinous crime. I can believe it. Do you know why I believe it? I don't care what culture they're from. Let me tell you why I believe it. I believe Mark 7, that every heart is evil, murder, adultery, immorality, blasphemy, pride. That's what God says in the heart. So when someone does something evil, it's in the heart. And that's why child rearing should be learning to restrain yourself, restrain your child, self-discipline. That's what the Bible says. Now, notice Romans chapter one, we pick it up here in verse 21. Now watch what God says. I mean, this is the answer to our generation. Because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God. All right, so Nietzsche said, Nietzsche or whatever, however you want to say the name, he was a philosopher, a dysfunctional man, you know, just an evil man, a sensual man. He lived with his mother because he wouldn't work. And you know what he said? He said, God is dead. Now I would think if that was true, which it's not, because God can't die because he's eternal life, he's life. He destroyed a generation of young people. So the devil came out with the bad music, rock and roll, came out with bad philosophy, throw away all morals, and then he comes out with the idea God's dead. So when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. Now notice what the Bible says, neither were thankful. And then you have a generation of malcontents. Now, I don't know if you follow the news. I don't watch as much. I've stopped. I did. I got more important things to do. I'm not saying don't watch news. I'll watch it once in a while, but I'm not watching all the time. But I'll tell you this, beloved, They've been interviewing these people who are marching and burning and stopping other people from freedom of speech and attacking people. They're liberal. And they're asking why they're doing it and they can't give a straight answer. They can't. You say, what happened to them? Some of them are reprobate. That's what happened, beloved. The Bible's true. They're unthankful. They're ingrates. They think that the world should be like the devil plans it, a one-world government, a one-world religion, which is humanism. That's what they think. They think everything's gonna be better then. There's no common sense, there's no reasoning with them. And so they're unthankful, everyone's their problem but them. But became vain in their imagination, their foolish heart was darkened. Professed themselves to be wise, they became what? Fools said there is no God. So now they're atheists. They're agnostics. They're fools. They're denying evidence. They're denying the proof. And so, and change the glory of the incorruptible God into an image, made light to corruptible man, to birds, to four-footed beasts, to creeping things. So what do people worship? They worship not the Lord God or the Bible, they worship, you know, make-believe gods. They worship Mohammed. You go into a Muslim country, say something evil about Mohammed, say Mohammed's a jerk or whatever you want to say, and you'll lose your head. They'll burn you. They'll drown you. They'll kill you. They'll stone you to death. Why? Because they worship a man. If you came to someone in the church and said, you know, Pastor Raff, you know, he's a sinner, I would say, amen. I am a sinner. I'm saved by grace. What do you think, I want to defend myself? Do you think I want people to start worshiping me? I'm not to be worshiped. I'm a man like any other man. I'm no different than anyone else. So the idea is this, is that we're not to worship man, four-footed beast, what the Native Indians do. They worship animals. Worship the bird, the bear, my brother, the coyote, and all these different things, idolaters. People do in the Far East, worshiping false gods, things. What happened? We're now a nation of extreme animal lovers. I'm not against animals, beloved. I know I have a little stick up here I fool around, but I'm not against animals. I don't want to see animals hurt. But I have to tell you, if a squirrel comes in front of me and I hit it, I don't feel bad at all. I'll probably stop and get a cough and rejoice. It doesn't bother me. I remember one time we were flying to a vacation Bible school, Friday night meetings. We had a vacation Bible school all week long. Now, I had to run to town, run back, and I'm flying down these roads in North Dakota. I was probably doing about 75, 80, these back roads. You wouldn't even see another car, let alone a house. And I'm flying to get to this little town. And I see a bunch of birds. I didn't purposely do this. I'm not out to kill birds. But I'm telling you, one got a late start. I never hit one like that before. I think that one got stuck in the grill or something. So anyway, it happens. But when a whale comes on the shore, oh, the whale. I don't think twice about it. I say, oh no, the beach is going to be closed, and things are going to stink up the place, and they're going to drag it out to sea. It's part of life. People, animals, born animals die. I don't feel bad. Now, if you had a pet you've had for 15 years and, you know, Moochie or whatever the thing that dies, you know, it happens. I know you feel bad about it. I'm not condemning that at all. But I'll tell you, if we had, back 50 years ago, those geese had been gone three weeks ago. I would have hired brothers and sons and said, hey, listen, we want to come over here and just take care of them, get them out of here. But now we have to be careful. Oh, I saw them beeping the horn. I saw them beeping horns at geese. Could go to jail for a year, yeah. I just saw a guy killed a cat, and I'm not saying it was right. I'm not defending him. He's going to jail for three years for killing a cat. I'm not suggesting you kill cats, but I'm just saying that this is a crazy day we live in. But I've got my rights for abortion. It's my body, so kill humans, protect animals. See how perverse that is? That's because of idolatry. That's not a Christian heritage. That's idolatry. And how do they do it? It doesn't matter how you do it. You can tear it apart, just burn it to death with a saline solution. Who cares? Throw it in the garbage pail while it's still breathing. Oh, that happens all the time. They're not dead yet, and they're moving around in a garbage pail, a human being. But a woman has a right. Do you see how perverse idolatry is? When they knew God, they glorified and anointed God. So then they go into all sorts of immorality and perversity, and then all of a sudden, you know, they wind up having all sorts of problems. So they take drugs, they take alcohol. I mean, this is our generation, beloved. It's a generation of idolaters. So he was inept as a leader, and second of all, we find where he was insensitive to the nation. So while he's trying to feed the animals and protect the animals, his fellow human beings are just dying. from thirst, dying from the famine. Now I want to share three things with you about this study here this morning. Let's go back to our text in 1 Kings chapter 18. And the first thing we see is verse 17. And notice the confrontation. You know the story Obadiah meets Elijah. Elijah said, go tell Ahab that Elijah's here. He said, well, you know, he's trying to get out of it. He wants to compromise. I don't want to deal with Ahab. I don't want to face him. He may find out I'm not a Christian. So Obadiah goes off the scene, and then verse 17 came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, art thou he that troubleth Israel? Now you think about this, beloved. Think about it. Ahab, the idolater, is saying that the Christian is the one that's troubling Israel. So here Elijah is being blamed for the problem. And this is what happens in Christianity. That's what's happening over in Muslim lands where Christians are being exterminated. exterminated, just like you'd kill ants and roaches and rats and whatever the vermin is, whatever the insect is in your house, you don't want it there. That's what they're doing to Christians in other lands that we're doing business with. See, we're allowing that, and it's happening. You can't teach that in a public school. That's gonna bend their minds to teach them Ten Commandments. Meanwhile, in public schools, not every one of them, but many of them, they're teaching how to wear a covering for the girls. That's allowed. They're teaching how to pray to Allah in public schools throughout our land. But see, it's all right to blame the Christian for everything, but the pagan belief, the idolatrous belief, is right. And see, this is what's happening in our world, the Christians being blamed. But it's nothing new, beloved. We've always been blamed for these things. And so we find here that Israel is being troubled by the idolatry. What happened? Ahab provoked the Lord God. We find that God was upset with Israel over idolatry. And remember this, there's nothing new under the sun. Right is always right, but our day, right is wrong and wrong is right. They've inverted everything. So think about our arguments today in our society. So I just, last night before I went to bed, I checked my email and there it was, right on Yahoo, a big picture of this guy who's a transgender. He's a boy, and he won the girls wrestling match. Well, I wasn't supposed to. Of course he did, he's a guy. If you lose to a girl, hey, that's not allowed anymore. Women and men are equal, everyone's equal, everyone's equal. Not everyone's equal, beloved. There are men who are stronger than other men. We have some very strong men here. I'm not equal with them. They're stronger than I am. There's guys who outrun other guys. We're not all equal, beloved. Now before God, we're all the same, we're sinners. But not everyone's equal. There's some people who are light years away from your ability. And you may be light years away from others' abilities. Is that not true? What a sick world. What a sick world. I mean, we can't even figure out what bathroom to use. I mean, are we that sick? We are. We are. Let me tell you this, and I'm trying to be as discreet as possible. So there's a Cuomo as our governor, but there's also a Cuomo who's on CNN. An article came out where he was rebuking a father for not preparing his daughter, who's 12 years old, to accept males going into the locker room because the males think that they're females. And he was rebuking the father. He has not prepared her for life. In other words, it's all right for her to see him as he's getting changed in the locker room. Now, I don't know about you, but that's insanity to me. What is wrong with Como? What's he been doing? What's he taking? What's wrong with him? That's perverse. That's why we have separate rooms. Why? Because men and women are different. Is that not hard to figure out? I mean, to me, it's pretty basic. But all this idolatry we had in our country has turned us to perversity. And I ain't changing, beloved. I want you to know that as your pastor. You ever want to come in and say, well, we need to put a third bathroom in here for transgender. I'm out. I'm out. I'm not going to be around a bunch of idolaters or sick thinking people. I'm not going to do that. And I don't care what society is. It doesn't matter to me. I don't care what the laws are. It doesn't matter to me. You think I'd put one in my house? I'm not doing it. It's sick. It's sick. Right is wrong. Wrong is right. You know, down through history, Hitler blamed the Jews. Jews had nothing to do with it. He went after them. Nero blamed the Christians. The devil, who's the source of all this, is the accuser of the brethren. We're not the problem in this world, beloved. We're the solution. The problem is idolaters. And so, Elijah's accused of being the one who troubleth Israel. We find here that the preacher, many times, is accused of troubling the family. So let me just get this off my chest real quickly. People say, oh, you know, you said this to my son, you said this to my daughter, and so on and so forth. I take full responsibility. Well, they were hurt. Well, let me just invert that, all right, because doors can swing both ways. I can't say everyone in the church, but I can tell you there's been a lot of people who've said bad things to my kids. They never apologized. But the preacher says something to your child to correct them, and you know that I'm not over the top with correction, to warn them, to challenge them. Oh, the preacher, my son, my daughter, my wife, my husband, oh, they're mad at you because of what you said. So, I know this is not a Bible verse, but there's something in life that, you know, it might be good for them to consider and deal with it. I don't go around troubling people in the wrong way. I go around trying to help people. Now, there are people who want help and they come see me. There's people who shy away from me. Why? They don't want help. They'd rather have their idols. They'd rather keep doing it their way. Their way doesn't work, it never works. Our way doesn't work, the Bible way always works. Bible way always works. Sometimes it's hard, but it always works. And so, you know, they shy away from me. I cause problems. I haven't caused anyone any problems, beloved. If your child is troubled spiritually, that's your fault. It's not my fault. Amen. You know, I appreciate the amens, but whether they said it or not, it's true. But that's what happens in the church. People get mad, oh, you know, he said that to my son, he said to my daughter, he said to my wife, my husband, my parents. My parents were so offended when he came in and said blah, blah, blah. All right, so what do you want? You want to, I'll write this sermon and I'll just send it out to everyone, make the corrections, I'll bring it back, retype it with all the corrections, I'll preach what you want. I'm gonna preach the truth, beloved. Doesn't matter. And I watch for people's souls. And if I see something that maybe is a fad or going a certain way, I'm gonna say something. I'm gonna say something. Why? Because I'm watching for souls. Because I've seen people raised in truth, maybe not raised that way at home, but raised in truth in the church, in the school, and go cause their lives to be shipwrecked. And I'm gonna do everything I can to stop them. and that there's certain ways people and certain things you're doing, I'm gonna say something. Now, if that's not your type of church, look, there's a lot of churches out there that they don't say anything, but they have three services. And they'll probably have music you like, maybe a little rock and roll. Maybe they'll have Christian rap. Amen? Just like Peter and Paul and James and Thaddeus are rapping. I mean, all that ludicrous. Look, truth is not always easy, but truth is best. Amen? And put the blame where it belongs. That's what needs to be done. Cain was told by God that sin lieth at your door. Cain was the one that killed Abel. God didn't kill Cain. God didn't kill Abel. Cain killed Abel. It was Cain's fault. His anger. So the word troubleth is one who stir up something or cause a disturbance. Ahab was accusing Elijah of being a snake in the grass. And people are their own worst enemy. They get themselves in trouble by disobedience to God's word. Now think about that. Think about the times you've gotten off the rail. How did it happen? By obeying God's word? No, by disobeying God's word. Something real simple. How did the whole human race fall when Adam just obeyed God by eating a piece of fruit? He was a piece of fruit preacher. What's the big deal? God said, don't do it. That's the big deal. People get themselves in all sorts of messes by just disobeying the word of God, whatever it may be. Disobeying has not been in their right roles. Disobedience by having issues with the man of God. I mean, these are things that people have. But I'm going to tell you something. I'm going to say 40 years. I know this much. I didn't always agree with my pastor. I didn't always agree with him, but I didn't verbalize it. I didn't go around telling people, I don't agree with him. I didn't do that. Kept my mouth shut. Why? Number one, he was older than I was in the Lord. He had done more for God than I could dream of doing. And also I'm gonna correct him, I'm not doing it. I trusted God. I looked to God to provide all things and take care of me. And it's worked out all these years. I'm a blessed man. I have a blessed family. And I have a blessed church. So the best way is God's way. You want to play the blame game? Go stare in front of the mirror and start there. That's all you have to do. Just stand there and look at it. That's probably the one you're going to have to correct. The second thing we see is not only confrontation, but condemnation. Notice verse 18. And he answered, I've not troubled Israel, but thou, in thy father's house in that year, forsaken the commandment of the Lord, and thou hast followed Balaam. Well, here's the root of the problem. The condemnation. He condemns, you know, Ahab condemns Elijah, and Elijah says, no, it's not my, you're the one in trouble. You're the one brought in idolatry with your father. And you turn people to idolatry. It's real simple, but it's not hard to figure out. But here's the thing about Elijah I want you to see. He went right back at him in a very nice way. He said, I've not troubled Israel, you've troubled it. Now that's why it's important to know the truth. Why? The truth makes you free. And the Son of God has set you free, you're free indeed. You need to think right. You need to think right about yourself. You need to think right about your situation, your marriage, your children, your life, the worship of God, the house of God, your responsibility to God. You've got to think right. And if you don't think right, you're gonna foul yourself all up. You're gonna cause great harm to your life, to your children. to your grandchildren. Now, you may think, well, I think my way's right. Does it line up with the Bible? Well, not exactly. It's wrong then. It's wrong. End discussion. Make it right. It's that simple. It's not hard. It's not hard. You know what's hard? It's getting yourself all messed up because of sin. That's hard. But getting yourself right is not hard if you humbly admit to it and look at it and say, I'm the one who troubled my marriage. I'm the one who troubled my family. I'm the one who troubled this situation. I'm the one who caused the problem. And make sure it's real. Don't blame yourself for something you didn't do. I love the way Elijah answered. He said, cool, calm, and collected. No, no, no, that's not me, bud. It's you. You brought idolatry in this nation. You've turned people's hearts against God. You're the one that troubled this place. And last of all, we see the challenge. And that's verse 19 and 20. So Elijah brings a challenge. to Ahab, and he tells them very plainly, he said, you call all the prophets, false prophets of Baal, I think it was Ashtroth maybe, I'm not sure, there was another goddess there, not all of them showed up, but 450 false prophets of Baal showed up. And we'll see that next week, the showdown on Mount Carmel. Amen? And so anyway, I trust that's been a blessing to you. Father, thank you for this time. We pray you'd give us a great service at 11 o'clock hour. We pray your presence. Help us, Father, to realize that these things are so simple that we have to keep Jesus, Lord of everything in our lives. And if we have that attitude of wanting to do it, we'll do it. I just pray we'd be careful. about judging things the wrong way, and help us be responsible, help us be honest, help us be humble about our lives and about our relationships and about the problems. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, let's take 10 minutes. Thank you so much. Shake hands with the visitors, please.