I'd like for me to turn back to that passage which we read together in 1 Kings, then chapter 18. And I'd like to speak to you today on the whole subject of people halting between two opinions and not making their mind up as to whether the Lord is true or not. You know, some of the people we meet during the course of our evangelism are hardened atheists. We try to tell them about God and try to tell them about the Bible, but they're just not interested in listening to what we have to say. They've already made up their mind that they don't believe in God at all, and they're not interested in even considering it for a moment. It's not that there's not enough evidence all around them to convince them that God is real and that God is true. They can see God's handiwork on display in all the things which he has created and made. You know, many atheists go on holiday and they can admire the glorious scenery which they can see with their own eyes. They see the hills and the mountains and the trees and the valleys and the beautiful flowers and the glorious sunset. They admire these things and they enjoy these things. They can see how all of the animals have been designed and created and they can see how their own body works and functions so they are fearfully and wonderfully made. Then they can look up into the heavens and they can see the sun and the moon and the stars and all the things which God has made. They can learn something about the greatness and the vastness of Almighty God and how powerful He is and how wise He is. The reason why people don't believe, the reason why people say that they're atheists today is because it's kind of fashionable for a person to do so. The previous but one Prime Minister said that he believed in God, but he was terrified to say publicly that he believed in God, because people regarded him as being a little odd. You know, 50 or 60 years ago, it was the norm for a person to believe in God. And it was the norm for many people to confess that they were Christians. Now it's almost a thing that a person is embarrassed or ashamed to admit. If a person's a Christian in the workplace, they feel kind of a little embarrassed about it. They hide their lights under a bushel. They never speak to their colleagues about the laws, or about the church, or about the Bible. It's part of their life which they like to keep covered up. People today can see the evidence that there's a great creator all around them, but they don't want to change their lifestyle, so it's much easier for a person to say, well I don't believe that God exists, and therefore they're not responsible or accountable to anybody at all. As soon as somebody stands up and says, well, I believe in the existence of God, well, the next question they need to ask is, well, if you believe in God, you need to find out what is God like, and how you might be at peace with Him, and how you might have a relationship with Him. But there are many people today who are slaves to sin, who've got no interest in changing their lifestyle, they've got no interest in repenting of their sins or living their life for the Lord. They want to live for sin and self and to justify their position they say, well we believe that God doesn't exist at all. They don't want to be responsible to a power greater than themselves. However, many people, perhaps most people, don't actually fall into that category. A far greater number of people, in my experience, are much more open-minded about things. They may call themselves agnostics. They want to know what the truth is, but they just don't seem to be able to find out what's true. They say, well, I'm not sure if there's a God at all. I'm not sure if we can rely upon the Bible or the Quran or one of the other holy books. I'm not sure what is true. They've got an open mind. There are people who want to know whether God is real. There are people who want to know whether the Bible is factual or not. Many people want to know whether there's life after death. Does life have some type of meaning or purpose? Why have we been born into this world? What's the point of our existence on this planet? And many of these people are very sincere and they listen carefully to what we have to say and you can be sure that they're carefully considering it. They believe deep down in their hearts that life isn't a meaningless existence in this world, that we live, that we grow up, that we settle down, we have jobs and eventually we age and we die and that's the end of our existence. No, there must be more to it than that. Life must have some type of meaning, some type of purpose. But they're at a loss as to what that purpose is. There are many people out there who long to know what the truth is and the way to go, but they're just not sure of the answers at all. Well, there were many people like that in Elijah's day. They were more or less blowing with every wind of doctrine. The Baal worshippers would come along with their message and they'd be easily persuaded by them. The prophets of the Lord would come along with their message and they would say, well, maybe it's true what Elijah and his fellow prophets were saying. And Elijah says to them in verse 21, how long will you halt between two opinions? If God is God, then follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. They seem to be hovering between the two. At times they seem to side with the law. They were interested in what the prophets had to say. They were very receptive to the law of Moses. They wanted to find out as much as they could about it. But then they were easily swayed to follow after idolatry as well and veil worship. And Elijah said, it's now time to make your mind up. Don't be sitting on the fence forever. Declare your colours one way or the other. Think through these important issues. Come to some type of conclusion. Don't be halting between two opinions for the rest of your life. In my old church there was a couple living across the way from the fellowship and an elderly couple, they weren't believers, they didn't come to the church. But one day the husband passed away and the wife didn't know of any other churches, so she came across to the pastor and asked if he would take the funeral service. He paid a visit to this lady and just to gather some information to put into his funeral address, he wanted to gather some information about the person who had died. And he said to this lady, did your husband believe in God? And she said, well I don't really know, we never talked about it, he never mentioned anything like that at all. And it seems a shame that a person who'd been on this earth for 80 years, he never really thought about whether he believed in God or not. One of the most important issues which a person ever has to address in their life, they go through life and they spend 80 years and they never sit down and ask themselves, do I believe in God? Do I believe that God is real? It's something which is just put on the back burner and never talked about or discussed. That same person probably knows all the players in their favourite football teams, all the characters in their favourite soap operas, things which are meaningless when it comes to eternity, but when it comes to do they believe in gods, this person says, well, they've never really thought about it at all. Well, it's time today for people to make up their minds. They can't be sitting on the fence forever. Eventually, the passage of time will come when they must die and they must meet their maker. And then it will be too late for them to decide for Christ. It will be too late for them to flee from the wrath to come. If a person dies in their sins without Christ and without salvation, they will perish in a sinner's hell. People need to work out what is true and give themselves wholly and fully to it. Now, there are some people we meet who seem to be very agreeable to what we have to say and very receptive to what we have to say. They nod their heads in approval. But what we want is to hear these things from themselves, from their own lips, to say that that's what they believe. You know, we can tell them the ABCs of the gospel and they will say, oh yes, I believe that, oh yes, I agree with that, But after they meet us, they could meet another group of people with a completely different message five minutes later, and they would be like nodding donkeys again there. They would seem to be in agreement with what they were saying too. Well others say, well, you know, I believe in God, but not like what you do. Or neither would I call myself an unbeliever, as if there's some type of middle group. Those who don't fully embrace the Christian faith, but those who aren't altogether hostile to the Christian faith. Those people who are open-minded. For Jesus said that if a person is not for him, then they are against him. There's only two camps. You are either positively for Christ, or else you must join with one of his enemies. There are many people out there today who like to sit on the fence and not declare their colours one way or the other. But there are only two camps, you're either saved or you're lost. You're either in Christ or you're in your sins. You are either on the narrow road which leads unto life or you are on the broad road that leads to destruction. Well, Elijah wanted to prove to these people that the Lord was real. He wanted to demonstrate that they ought to love the Lord, and serve the Lord, and follow the Lord, and obey the Lord. And that's why he had this trial on Mount Carmel. He wanted the people to turn away from sin, and to turn away from idolatry. Well, there were 450 of Baal's prophets, 450 of Satan's men, and 400 prophets of the groves as well. And there was Elijah, he stood alone as the sole representative there of the Christian faith. Now just because somebody's in the minority today, that doesn't mean that they are wrong. Believers are heavily outnumbered wherever they go by the ungodly, but praise God, believers are on the victory side. You might be the only Christian in your neighbourhood, you might be the only Christian in your workplace. You may be working amongst a hundred different people, and you might be the only person in that office who has repented of their sins and accepted Christ. And some people will say to you, well, why are you believing in this old-fashioned book? People don't believe in these things anymore. It might have been okay in Victorian days, but we're living in the 20th century now. People are not religious anymore, we're living in a secular society. The majority of people by far, many scientists and lecturers and professors, they don't believe in God anymore. Why are you holding on to some type of old-fashioned idea? But Elijah felt himself to be very much in the minority. There were hundreds of prophets of Baal, but there was only one person willing to stand up for the laws. And we might be very much alone and isolated in our circumstances, but praise God the Lord is with us. You know, it's nice to come to church and to be amongst other believers, but sometimes we've got to go to various places where the ungodly reign supreme, and therefore it's much more difficult and much more challenging telling people that we are Christians and telling people how important it is that they should trust in Christ as well. The world may be against us, the media may be against us, the government may be against us. But praise God, we have the Lord on our side, and with God, we are in the majority. Give us two bullocks, Elijah said. Let them choose one and cut it in pieces, place it upon the wood. I'll do the same with the other. You call upon the names of your gods. And I call upon the name of the Lord. And the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. Well, the people thought this was a fantastic idea. This will sort out all the uncertainty one way or the other. People will know without doubt who the only true and living God is and that person they will serve. Well, the prophets of Baal were allowed to go first. They took their bullock and they slew it and they dressed it And they called upon the name of their gods from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us! But there was no answer at all. They were absolutely desperate, particularly with the eyes of all the people upon them. They were desperate for fire to come down from heaven to consume their sacrifice, but nothing was happening. In their desperation, they jumped up on top of the altar and leapt upon it, and they even started cutting themselves with knives and inflicting terrible wounds upon themselves so that all the blood was gushing out upon them. Surely Baal would see their sacrifice and their self-denial and all the sufferings which they were subjecting themselves to, and surely Baal would come to the rescue and respond to their cries, but there was no answer whatsoever. What does it say about the idols elsewhere in the Psalms? Eyes they have, but they see not. Ears they have, but they hear not. Mouths they have, but they speak not. Those that make them alike unto them, and so is everyone that trusteth in them. There was just silence. And Elijah was watching these people all the hours that they were crying unto their gods and Elijah started to mock. Is your god talking perhaps? Or maybe he's pursuing, maybe he's running after somebody. Or maybe your god has gone on a journey and he's just not there when you're crying out to him. Or maybe your god has gone to sleep and he needs to be woken up from his sleep. And maybe he's in a deep sleep and you're not crying loud enough to wake him up. Well, they cried for hours to Baal. The afternoon came and went until the time of the evening sacrifice, and still nothing happened. It was no good. Nothing was working at all, and eventually, through exhaustion, during the evening time, they would have to admit defeat. Their bodies were covered in blood and their voices were probably hoarse with all the shouting and screaming unto their gods, but it was to no avail. Nothing was working and all the people who were agnostics, who were halting between two opinions, they were looking on in wonder and amazement. All these prophets of Baal who said that Baal was the only true and living God, why wasn't Baal answering their prayers? Look at the sacrifices and self-denial that they were making. They were totally committed to their cause. And a person has to be pretty devout and sincere if they're willing to take knives and stick knives in themselves so that the blood is gushing out upon them. That's how much they were committed to their cause. But all their attempts to get their gods to answer by fire, for them sadly ended in abject failure. Well, the gods of this world may have a large following today, But they can't give people joy or assurance or peace or everlasting life at all. These people cut themselves with knives, and it was painful. The blood was gushing out all upon them. But they got absolutely nothing back in return. And the gods of this world may seem to offer much, but they will always be a desperate disappointment in the end. People live today for money, for the media, for merchandise, for immorality. And everything else that a person puts in the place of Almighty God, which is idolatry, will always be a terrible disappointment in the end. It cannot deliver them at all from the penalty and the power of sin. Neither the wages of sin, which is death, and when a person appears before God on the day of judgment, or the idols which they served in this world, will be of no use to them at all. Well isn't it true in this world, people living their lives without God have got no real peace in their lives at all. They've got no assurance about where they're going to spend eternity. Some people in false religions will make big sacrifices like the people of Baal made. They will actually inflict physical pain and hardship upon themselves. But it will be of no use. These things cannot erase a person's sin. These things cannot reconcile a person to Almighty God. No matter how hard a person tries, no matter how hard a person denies themselves, a person cannot get any assurance through their works, because they could always do more, and maybe some of their works are not sincere enough, and therefore they can never have any peace in their hearts. Well, we shouldn't be surprised that the gods of this world are a disappointment. The works of men's hands, the products of a person's imagination, have been a terrible letdown. Well, no, it was Elijah's turn. And he took 12 stones, each one representing one of the tribes of Israel. And he made an altar then unto the Lord. And he made a great trench about it. He prepared the wood, he prepared the bullock, he cut it in pieces, and he laid it all upon the wood and dressed it. Then he said, fill four barrels of water and pour it upon the burnt sacrifice and upon the wood. Then he told them to repeat the procedure the second time, and then to repeat the procedure the third time. Well, during a time of drought and famine, water would naturally be in very short supply. And to pour water upon this sacrifice was indeed a big cost for the people. But if it helped to convince the people that the Lord was the only true and living God, then it was something which was worthwhile. You know, a person's soul today is of great value and we should be willing to do all that it takes to point somebody to our Lord and Saviour and to heartily recommend the Lord Jesus Christ unto them. Well, having poured all the wood upon it all, trying to get the wood to light in those circumstances would be virtually impossible. Now, trying to light a match in the open air is sometimes very difficult. As soon as you light the flame, a gust of wind may extinguish it almost immediately. But trying to get the wood to be consumed by fire, which has been completely saturated in water, is impossible. Water is used to extinguish fire. If you were given the task of setting fire to something, the last thing you would do was to soak that thing in water beforehand, for water and fire are opposites to each other. But Elijah got these 12 barrels of water, each representing one of the tribes of Israel, which showed that he was a man of faith, And he would prove that this miracle which was about to happen was of the Lord. For no man would be able to produce fire in those circumstances. People today can only be saved by a miracle of God's grace. It's not through their works that they can be saved. It takes a miracle of God for them to understand the way of salvation and what they must do to be saved. The day that you came to know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, the light of the glorious Gospel shone into your heart. Maybe you're the only person who's converted in your family. Why is it that you're the only person saved? Do you know better than the other family members? It's because the Lord in His abundant, matchless grace reached down from heaven and did a wonderful miracle within your heart. And when we go out with the good news of God's salvation today, we pray earnestly to the Lord to do that wonderful, sovereign, hidden work within people's hearts which we are unable to do. You know, Paul says, I can sow the seed and Apollos can water the seed, but only God can give the increase. So he that does the sowing is nothing and he that does the watering is nothing. And all the glory, all the praise, and all the honour goes to Almighty God. And Christians today will say, it's only by the matchless grace of God that I've been saved. It's nothing to do with myself, nothing to do with my works. If it wasn't for the fact that God in his sovereign grace reached down and had mercy upon a sinful wretch as I, I would still be in my sins today, and I would still be on my way to a sinner's hell. Well, when the time of the evening sacrifice drew nigh, these people had been praying earnestly to their false god and nothing happened. So Elijah prayed earnestly unto the Lord. He knew that he had no strength and no power of himself to consume the sacrifice. But God did, and therefore he was holy and totally dependent upon him. Now when we pray today, we're acknowledging our dependence upon Almighty God. A person who prays little is a person who has little faith. Now do you ever wonder how much faith you've got? You can find out by asking yourself, how much do I pray? How much do I depend upon God? How much am I trusting in God? Nobody can say that they're strong in faith when their prayer life is a shambles. If a person really believes in the power and the grace of God, they will get down upon their knees every day and they will seek God earnestly in prayer. Prayerlessness is a sign that a person is lacking in faith. But Elijah was a man who knew what it was to pray. And in the book of James we're told that Elijah was a man of like passions. He wasn't some type of super spiritual saint on a higher spiritual plane that we know nothing of. He was a man of like passions, like what we are. He had the same weaknesses and infirmities as what we do. In the next chapter, for instance, when he realised that Jezebel was after him, he fled for his life. He was absolutely terrified. And he was so depressed that he wanted to die. He had enough of life. Yes, Elijah was very much a person like ourselves. Yet at the same time, he was a person who believed that the effectual servant's prayer of the righteous man availed much. He really believed that prayer could change the situation. And he was a person who was often found seeking the Lord in prayer. He wasn't afraid to pour much water upon the sacrifice. So he believed in a miracle working God and people would see that the God he worshipped was able to consume the sacrifice though it was saturated in liquid. A person doesn't have to pray a very long prayer in order to be heard. We were looking on Wednesday about vain repetitions in the Sermon on the Mount. These prophets of Baal, they were crying unto their gods all the day long from the morning time to the evening time. They were probably hoarse with all the shouting, but it made no difference at all. Elijah just prayed a short prayer and immediately the fire of God fell and the sacrifice was consumed. Some of the best prayers in the Bible are only short prayers. The publicans said, God be merciful to me a sinner. It was only seven words. The thief on the cross said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. These people were broken, penitent, sincere, and the Lord was pleased to hear and to answer them. Well, Elijah prayed and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that I am thy servant and that I have done all these things at thy word. Elijah wasn't following his own agenda. It wasn't his own idea to have this trial on Mount Carmel. This is what God wanted him to do. He had done these things at God's word. And if we want God's blessing to be abiding upon us, we must do things the way that God has declared in the scriptures. We must seek to be obedient unto Him. And the Lord would eventually honour Elijah as being his servant. "'Hear me, O Lord,' he says. "'Hear me, that the people may know "'that thou art the Lord God, "'and thou hast turned their hearts back again.'" Now Elijah didn't pray to get some glory for himself. He doesn't say, Lord hear me so that the people might recognise that I'm a great prophet of the Lord and that my reputation might be intact. No, Elijah was a very humble man. He wanted all the glory and all the praise to God. He was praying earnestly to the Lord that people might know that God was real and that their hearts would be turned back to God again in repentance. That's what Elijah wanted more than anything else. And when we share the good news of God's salvation with others, we pray that God would open their eyes and reveal the truth to them. We don't want any praise or glory for ourselves. We want people to bow their knee to God and to take the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Saviour. We want to give the Lord Jesus all the glory, the praise and the preeminence. While spiritual things are spiritually discerned, it's only the Lord who was able to reveal himself to the people. And in the same way, it's only God who can reveal himself to people today. When Jesus said to his disciples, who do men say that I am? They said, well, some people say Elijah, Jeremiah, one of the prophets perhaps. And then he said, well, who do you say that I am? And it was Simon Peter who said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus said that flesh and blood have not revealed this unto you, but my father, which is in heaven. God has revealed himself to us who are saved, We didn't discover it ourselves through our own efforts, through our own wisdom. It was only through a miracle of God revealing the truth of his word to us. You know, people can come along to church today. We can speak to people in the open air today. We can knock on doors today. We can tell people for hours about the way of salvation. We can use all manner of illustrations to bring home the point to them. but we are wholly dependent upon God to open their blind eyes. It's something which we are unable to do ourselves. Well, the Lord reveals himself to people through creation. We can see his handiwork on display all around us. God reveals himself to us through his word, the Bible. We can find out what God is like, all his glorious attributes, and how we can be at peace with him through reading this book. And God reveals himself to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, his son, who is the image of the invisible God. Want to know what God is like? Well, read about the character of the Lord Jesus in the Bible. Two people can be sitting in a church service. One person's greatly moved and inspired by the message, and the other person's completely unaffected. But why is that? Well, maybe the Lord is dealing with the one and not the other. We came to know the Lord as a result of his grace and goodness towards us. Well, Elijah prayed this prayer, not for his glory, but for God's glory. He longed to see the people turning back away from their sins and crying to God for mercy and forgiveness. He longed for people to be saved and he longed for backsliders to be restored. Well, do we have a love for souls today? Do we care about the people that we come into contact with? Do we care about our relatives who are still in their sins? Do we care about our work colleagues who are strangers to the grace of God? Well, we ought to care. Elijah was concerned about the people he longed for them to be saved. Paul says, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Do we have a love for souls? We ought to have a love for souls. Every Christian should go out this coming week and we should be interested in bringing the good news of God's salvation to the ears and to the hearts of others. We should always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us. And we should pray earnestly to God that he would save people, that he would call people and that he would lead people to himself. This sign from heaven would be for the benefit of the crowd, for them to realise that there's a God in heaven with whom they had to do. It's not true that all the roads lead to God in the end, or that we're all worshipping the same God, albeit we're calling him by different names, as many people suggest. God has no respect for idolatry in the Bible. It's a great sin which needs to be repented of and put away. We love people in false religions, and we desire that they might know the truth of God's words. But we have no respect for their teachings at all, neither did Elijah. There's only one true and living God, and only one way to God, through the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us upon the cross. We cannot convince people of that glorious truth, but only God can, and we pray to that end. There was a man out preaching in the open air once, and somebody came up to him and says, well, you know, how do you know that God is true? I can say to these people that I don't believe in God, I'm an atheist. And he set these people a challenge. And he said to these people, I'll spend the next two minutes mocking, blaspheming and ridiculing God, and if God is real, then he will strike me dead within two minutes. And all the crowd said, oh yeah, yeah, we'll watch and see what happens, you see. So this man was looking up towards heaven and waving his fist, and he was cursing and blaspheming God for the space of two minutes. At the end of two minutes, everybody was watching to see if anything would happen, and this man was stood there, and he said, well see, the Christian faith is not true, the Bible is not true. You know, I've been cursing God and asking Him to come and slay me, but He hasn't, so if there's a God, then of course He would have done that. And a woman chipped in from the crowd and says, what a fool you are. Do you really believe that the infinite patience of Almighty God is something that can be exhausted within just two minutes? If a person wants to know that the Bible is true, they can seek God for themselves and the Lord has promised that he will reveal himself to them. Well, the fire from the Lord came and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up all the water that was in the trench. The fire destroyed it all. There was no delay. He didn't have to cry out to God for hours, neither did he have to take some knives and cut himself in order to get God's approval. The Lord did a wonderful and a glorious miracle before the people And the people realised that there was only one true and living God, the God of heaven, and Elijah was his prophet. This God was worthy to be worshipped, honoured and adored. Well, the people responded by falling down upon their faces and they said, the Lord, he is the God, the Lord, he is the God. The people had been sitting on the fence for such a long period of time and halting between two opinions, but they would be like that no more. They knew that God was real. They knew that the God of Israel was the God that they should worship. And they wanted to serve and follow him from now on. Well, as for the prophets of Baal, Elijah rounded them all up and slew them all. They've been leading the people astray with all their lies and deceits. They've influenced the people towards idolatry and sin. They would not be allowed to lead the people astray any longer. No mercy was to be shown to these people. These weren't people who were sitting on the fence, they were positively against the Lord and therefore false religion would be purged from the land. They would no longer be allowed to ply their trades and couldn't be permitted to leave vulnerable people astray with their lives anymore. Well, the way was now open for Elijah to pray to the Lord, which he did at the end of this chapter, that God would send the rain. and for the famine to end. Well, people said to our Lord in the New Testament on one occasion, show us a sign from heaven that we might believe. Herod hoped that he might see some type of sign from Jesus or some type of entertainment show. But these people were not sincere. You know, they just wanted to see some miracle in order to interest the flesh. They weren't interested in repenting or embracing the Lord as their God at all. They have no interest in changing their behaviour. And people today haven't changed. They see posters advertising signs and miracles and healing crusades and so forth. And they go along hoping to see something which will interest the flesh in some type of theatrical environment. But these people that Elijah was speaking to were probably more sincere. They were people with an open mind. They wanted to know what was true. They wanted to know if God was real. And this wonderful sign was done for their benefit, that they might realise that there's a God in heaven, and he's the person that they should embrace and accept as their saviour. Well, there are a lot of people out there today who would love to know the truth. What type of advice can we give to them? Well, first of all, we give them God's words. God's word is truth and we ask people to read God's word carefully and prayerfully and to make up their own minds. God will speak to people through his word and when we were saved we were either listening to a message or listening to somebody sharing the gospel or we were reading God's word directly. God spoke to us through the scriptures. Then we encourage people to seek the Lord to come to a place of worship where the Bible is preached and that they might pray to the Lord that he would reveal himself to them. And then we tell people to apply God's Word to their daily lives, and they will find from their experience that God is true. Jesus said, if any man will do my will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God. Those who follow the Lord know that God is real. Those who follow the Lord know that the Bible is true. For we have found it working in our own lives. We have found God to be faithful and true to all of the promises which he has given to us in this book. And we have never been disappointed. Some of us may have been Christians for 20, 30, 40 or 50 years. And we look back over that time and say, yes, God has been faithful. God has been good. We've got no doubts at all that the Bible is real and that the God we worship is the only true and living God. Yes, our lives have been transformed by God's grace. We've seen it ourselves. God has opened our eyes. so that we might see what life is all about. And we hope and pray that God would open the eyes of others, particularly those who are halting between two opinions, those agnostic people who want to know what is true and what is the right way to go. We have a fantastic message to share unto others today. Do you pray every day for opportunities to share your faith with others? Do you pray every morning, Lord, give me the opportunity to speak to somebody about Christ today? Maybe upon the bus, maybe upon the tube, maybe at the bus stop. Maybe in the workplace at our tea break. Maybe amongst relatives and family gatherings. May I have the opportunity just to speak to one person about the way of salvation? Do you pray for openings and opportunities? Do you really care for souls and long for people to be saved like Elijah did? Well the Bible says we ought to. Either the Christian faith is false and we should dismiss it completely, but if you believe that the Christian faith is true, then surely you owe it to yourself to devote all your time and energy to following the laws. Why would a person want to be a half-hearted believer? If they believe that the Bible is true, that God is real, why would they want to give just a small portion of their lives in God's work and God's service? There was a man many years ago who was about to be executed for the crimes which he had done and he was being led to the gallows to be hung and there was like a little parson who was reading out of a prayer book some cold and formal prayers and verses from the Bible in such a cold, formal and monotonous way. And just before this man was to have the noose placed around his neck, he was asked if he had any last words. And he said, yes, I do have some last words. He said, if I believe as this parson says he believes, That the difference between being saved and being lost is accepting and receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. If I really believed that heaven was real and the only way to get there was through people repenting and embracing the cross of Christ as the sole grounds of their acceptance before God, then even if the the ground was full of broken glass, I would get down upon my hands and knees and I would crawl the length and breadth of this land, pleading with people to be saved and earnestly entreating them to turn to Christ for their salvation before it's too late. Many people who heard that sermon from the condemned man were greatly moved and greatly challenged and greatly affected by it. If we believe today that sinners need to be saved, that Christ is the only hope, the only answer, surely we have an onus to share God's word with others and to bring the good news of God's salvation to their ears and to their hearts and pray earnestly to God that he would change them and transform their lives and show them that He is real, and that we might have the joy, like Elijah did, to see people turning to God. And these things should bring us so much more joy than anything else in the world today. You know, there are some happy events which we rejoice about, but don't we long to see people being saved? People coming along to the church, not to get some type of financial benefit or practical benefit, For people who come onto these premises wanting to know what they must do to be saved, somebody who's concerned about their sins, somebody who wants to have peace with God and to have assurance that they have everlasting life. Well, we have the message that people need. May God give us the courage, give us the grace, give us the boldness and a great love for souls to go out into the streets and lanes of this city and to cry, Behold, behold the Lamb. May the Lord be pleased to bless his word to our hearts this morning.