But before I read the entirety of the chapter, I really felt the Lord putting it on my heart before I preached, just to exalt in the goodness of Christ, and to publicly thank you all for how good you've been to us, and you've demonstrated to us the love of Christ. Yesterday, when we were driving to Mark's, it just dawned on me how spoiled I am as a pastor, and I mean that. You might be thinking that there's a secret or ulterior motive in this. There isn't. I thank God for you guys. You have been very good to me. I know I've been arrogant and ignorant very often and I've been harsh and not the world's greatest shepherd. You've borne with me as I've learnt the ropes of pastoral ministry and I'm learning. And I just wanted to thank God for you guys. I really do. just thinking about other ministries and thinking about the other ministries I've been involved in, with churches that are splitting over the stupidest things, churches that are focusing on non-gospel issues. I praise God that you guys love the Word, that you bear with a long-winded preacher, that you're trusting that God is using this eldership who preaches long sermons and reads three chapters of scripture during the morning service, that you actually trust us. You have no idea how much that means to me and Marvin, that a congregation trusts us. And I praise God for you. It's going to be a long sermon, but even without that, I still want to say, God is good. You definitely have fulfilled Galatians 6. You have borne our burdens. For Christine and myself, you have no idea how many people came alongside us with prayers, with meals, with tears. Huge amounts of money from people who probably couldn't afford to give it for the funeral of Talitha. You guys are awesome and demonstrate to me over and over that God is working in your hearts because this is not natural. It is not. Naturally we're selfish idolaters and I'm reminded over and over God is doing a great work in this church in spite of its leadership often. Praise God for His faithfulness. First Kings, this is the Word of God. After many days, the Word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will give rain upon the earth. So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. And when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water. And Ahab said to Obadiah, go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys. Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive and not lose some of the animals. So they divided the land between them to pass through it. Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself. And as Obadiah was on the way, behold, Elijah met him. And Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, Is it you, my lord Elijah? And he answered him, It is I. Go tell your lord. Behold, Elijah is here. And he said, how have I sinned that you would give your servants into the hand of Ahab to kill me? As the Lord your God lives, there is no nation or kingdom where the Lord has not sent to seek you. And then he would say, he is not here, that he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation that they had not found you. And now you say, go, tell your Lord, behold, Elijah's here. And as soon as I have gone from you, the Spirit of the Lord will carry you, and I know not where. And so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find you, he will kill me, although I, your servant, have feared the Lord from my youth. Has it not been told my Lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord? How I hid a hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water? And now you say, go, tell your Lord, behold, Elijah's here, and he will kill me. And Elijah said, as the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, I will surely show myself to him today. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab. and told him. And Ahab went to meet Elijah. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, Is it you, you troubler of Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel. and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, how long will you go limping between two different opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal is God, then follow Him. And the people did not answer Him a word. So Elijah said to the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord. But Baal's prophets are 450 men. Let two bowls be given to us, and let them choose one bowl for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire on it. And I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire to it. And you will call upon the name of your God, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. And the God who answers by fire, He is the true God. And all the people answered, It is well spoken. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, Choose for yourselves one bull, and prepare it first, for you are many. And call upon the name of your God, but put no fire to it. So they took the bowl that was given them, and they prepared it, and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, answer us! But there was no voice. No one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. And at noon, Elijah mocked them. saying, cry aloud, for He is a God, is He not? Either He is musing, or He is relieving Himself, or He is on a journey, or perhaps He is asleep and must be awakened. So they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom, with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on, until the time of the offering of the oblation. But there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, come near to me. And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. Elijah took 12 stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be your name." And with the stones he built an altar in the name of Yahweh. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seers of seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood. And he said, do it a second time. And they did it a second time. And he said, do it a third time. And they did it a third time. And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. And at that time, of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel, and that I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your Word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know You, that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offerings, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and cried, the Lord, He is the true God, the Lord, He is the true God. And Elijah said to them, seize the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape. So they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook of Kishon and slaughtered them there. And Elijah said to Ahab, go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down to the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, go up now, look toward the sea. So he went up and looked. And said, there is nothing. And he said, go again, seven times. And at the seventh time he said, behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea. And Elijah said, go up, say to Ahab, prepare your chariots and go down lest the rain stop you. And in a little while, the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode and went to Jezreel, and the hand of the LORD was on Elijah. And he gathered up his garment, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." I'm just going to pray for God to bless this word. Father, thank You for Your Word. I pray now that You would send Your Spirit, even the way Obadiah recognized the Spirit upon Elijah. Father, I pray that the same spirit of prophecy would fall on me, and that I would rightly divide the Word of Truth. And that the people, having heard the Logos, having heard the Living Word of God, having seen Christ, might fall on their faces, metaphorically, and I pray, literally, fall on their faces and cry out, Jesus, He is God. He is the true God. This will take a miracle, but with faith like Elijah, we believe that you, the sovereign creator, sustainer, and judge of the earth, can do as you please. And I thank you, Father, Son, and Spirit, that you are greater than the fallen will of any man or woman in this room or in this world. Father, please show us your holiness, and please show us your mercy. May they intersect at the cross, I pray. In Christ's name, Amen. If you weren't here two weeks ago, let me start the sermon the exact same way I started it two weeks ago. God hates idolatry. If you disagree, then you probably weren't listening. to what I just read. You probably did not hear that Elijah slaughtered 450 prophets of Baal. So, in my long-wittedness, if you fall asleep or fall in and out of consciousness, please understand that if you are dabbling with idolatry, I want you to understand how God sees it, and what God does with idolatry. What are you doing with all the idolatry that presents itself to you, that bombards you every single day, every time you turn on the internet, or the TV, or go for a drive, or go for a walk in the park? What do you do every time a flyer comes into your mailbox? What do you do with the idols that beckon you? What do you do with all of the bales that hearken unto you, and seek your affections, and your time, and your money, and your love, and your devotion. What do you do with them? I want you to understand, God hates idolatry. We saw it in 1 Kings chapter 17, and if that's not enough, He wants to emphasize it, and reinforce it into the minds of the readers, and even more into their hearts, that God does not play games with idolatry and idolaters. I want you to understand that if you are a servant of the Living God, you have been called to the same ministry as Elijah, a prophet who preaches in season and out of season. I'm going to paint for you a picture of what Elijah is stepping up against, and he actually trusts that God is on his throne. When he uses the word Yahweh Tzaveot, the Lord of hosts, or as the NET translates, the Lord who is ruler of all, He actually believes it. He actually believes that these people, if they do not turn away from their idols and towards the true and the living God, their slaughter is the least of their worries, because God is a consuming fire. God is a jealous husband. God does not want the hearts of His people whoring after false idols and gods. For those of you who are married, like me, Imagine coming home and seeing your wife being ravished by another man. Yeah, imagine that. If you're not filled with wrath and you do not love your wife. If God is not filled with wrath when He sees His people flirting with idols, He is not a loving God. Why do I hate things like abortion? Because I love life. Why do I hate injustice? Because I love justice. Why do I hate murder? Because we love life. Why do we hate all these things? Because we love. Why does God hate idolatry? Because He's miserable and because He loves His people. I want you to understand that. A lot of people will read this and they will think that God is some kind of of God who is having a temper tantrum, and He's just really, you know, emotional, and that He's just this God of hatred. They don't understand that this God of hatred is a God of hatred, because He's first and foremost a God who is love. And He understands far more than our fallen minds, that idols bring death and slavery. Remember when I quoted John in chapter 2, verse 8? Those who cling to, those who worship, those who devote themselves to false idols, vanities of uselessness in the Hebrew, those who worship idols forsake, forfeit the grace, the chesed that could be theirs. He would not be a God of love if he let his people dabble in idolatry. Because when we play around with idols, we forsake the grace, the mercy, the sovereign love that we could enjoy. God loves His people in Samaria so much that He lets this take place. If God did not love His people, He would have let them continue on in this downward spiral. Please don't see God as being angry and nasty in 1 Kings 18. Pray to God you will see that He is merciful and full of grace. These people were not owed by God that He would come down and reveal Himself to them in sovereign majesty, glory and fire. They did not have a claim on Him to do this. They had turned away from Him. The only thing they had to do with God in 1 Kings 18 is wrath. And if any of you are saved this morning, Pray to God, you will understand the same thing. He did not have to come and meet you in His sovereign majesty, opening your eyes to behold the beauty of His wrath and electing love on Calvary, when the Son of God died on a cross, not just for mediocre sinners, but for whoring idolaters like you and like me. people who were more intoxicated with the vanities of the world, with things like money and comfort and pleasure, than we were with the Creator who made us and who died for us. I was thinking of Romans 1. What happens to the idolaters in Romans 1? They exchanged the glory of the only true and the living God. And they exchanged that infinite glory for things that were made with human hands. Things of nature. Things that come from within man. And three times God, in His sovereign justice, hands them over to the idols of their hearts. What is the difference between Romans 1 and 1 Kings 18? Electing sovereign love. You should be weeping within if you're a Christian right now. It struck me yesterday. Why was I not Romans 1? Why did God not let me go on my adulterous loving path? Why did He not do that? And rather why did He send someone into my love who had the audacity to tell me That I am worshipping vanities of nothing. That if I die outside of Christ, I will perish in my sins and suffer the wrath. Why would God send me someone, and even more, why would God reveal Himself to me as a consuming fire? I will never know. Why is God continually breaking down the idols of my heart? Why is He constantly loosening the fetters of my heart that so often want to incline itself That's all that the world offers me. Why? We're debtors of mercy Christians. That's why we worship Jesus Christ on Sunday and Monday through Saturday. This is why we gather, to celebrate the work of redemption. Because we were God-hating idolaters, just like these people in 1 Kings 18. And in bounteous and bountiful and infinite mercy, God intervenes. Pray that would never leave your hearts. Pray that would never cease to radically work on you. Because if you forget this, you will not worship Christ with the glory He deserves. So we have here Elijah coming to King Ahab. We recall King Ahab has been the wickedest king Israel has ever seen up to this point. You think Jeroboam's bad? Ahab takes it worse. And we saw it two weeks ago, the downward spiral of wicked king after wicked king after wicked king after wicked king. And all of a sudden, God sort of slows it down. He sort of puts it into slow motion. And we're going to focus on Ahab, but even more now, we're going to focus on Elijah. We just have these snapshots of all these wicked kings, and all of a sudden we have all these chapters that focus mainly on the Word of God, and what happens when wicked people turn away from the Word of God, and what happens when wicked people turn to the Word of God. I want you to see not here just God condemning idolaters in 1 Kings 18, I want you to see that God is saving wicked idolaters in 1 Kings 18. Okay, so there's going to be two things that happen based on how you respond to the Living Word of God as seen most fully in Jesus Christ and His Gospel. You will leave here more condemned in your idolatry, or you will leave here saved from your idolatry based on how you respond to the revelation of God given to you this morning. Please don't play games with that. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is like the sun. And it has varying effects on varying materials. What does the sun do when you put a block of ice out in your front yard on a sunny day? It melts it. What does the same sun do to clay? It hardens it. I want you to understand here that we're not here to play games this morning. I pray to God that the Sovereign Spirit will come and melt your heart as you see Christ. Pray to God you would not be hardened like Pharaoh. I pray that Elijah and his prayer would be answered. Lord, where are the people who worship you? And Paul interprets and says, God has the last remnant so that we might all be found in God's electing purposes this morning. It's great that Paul, choosing of all passages in Romans 9-11, that he would choose passages like this. Because without God's electing grace, None of us have any hope. You might disagree with it, and you might think that somehow you can come to Him on your own. I wonder which translation or what Bible you're reading. Because these people were very happy in their sins until God intervened through the voice of a prophet. These people were not looking for Yahweh that day. Yahweh came to seek and to save that which was lost. So Elijah comes before him. God has been speaking to him. We see later on in the chapter that Elijah says, I've just obeyed what God said to me. So obviously what happens is that God told Elijah, go and see Ahab. And Elijah's probably thinking, um, he hates me. And he's killing all of your prophets. But we remember what happened in the last chapter. Isaiah saw a great and glorious picture of Yahweh. Remember the three miracles that basically undermined the idol or the false god Baal? Isaiah prophesies that a drought is going to come upon the land of Israel in accordance with Deuteronomy 28. in accordance with 2nd Chronicles 7, in accordance with David and Solomon. What they said, if you keep turning away and hardening your heart against God, the Living God, Yahweh, you're gonna see that the sky is gonna become like copper, and the ground is gonna bear no increase for you. So Elijah goes in 1st Kings 17 and says, drought's coming. Did the drought come? Yes, because we learn that God's Word shapes, directs, sustains history. Isaiah 55, 10. Good verses to memorize. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there, but instead water the earth, causing it to bring forth and to sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so also, so in the same way, is the word that goes forth out of my mouth. It will not return to me empty, void, nullified. Instead, it will accomplish all that I purpose. It will succeed in all which I send it to do. Elijah has seen that God's Word does not return to him void. Elijah said, drought has been declared by God. Does the drought come? Yes. So we have the severe famine that is the result of it. But Isaiah actually is sustained sovereignly by my favorite bird, by ravens, by crows. Not every day that people are fed by crows. I'm taking it that the creator of the universe is ordering it according to his word. I'm taking it that God commanded that raven to feed his obedient prophets. Next miracle comes when he meets a pagan in Zarephath, right? It's in Phoenicia. That's the heartland of Baal worship. God is picking a fight in enemy territory. Remember Baal? He's the God of fertility. He's the God that brings rain and that brings increase in produce. He's the God these pagans are calling upon to give them food. And Yahweh says, I will provide a pagan in Baal's territory with all that she needs throughout the famine. Second miracle, Elijah was there. Right? Elijah takes God in his word, watches God deliver. Elijah takes God at His Word, watches God deliver. The woman takes God at His Word, watches Him deliver. Finally, the woman's son dies. Elijah prays out to God, God hears him. Elijah takes God at His Word, God delivers. You see the pattern of chapter 17? This is why a prophet can stand before a murderous king. you go and you tell Gaddafi that he's going to die in his sins. You're not going to do so unless you have a high view and high experience of seeing God's sovereign hand work. And that His Word is greater than the hardest heart in all of the world. That's why I stand in this pulpit after Sunday after Sunday. I don't do it for the money, you know that. I don't do it for the fame, you know that. I'm not a health, wealth, prosperity creature. I'm not doing a threat. Why would I have the audacity to proclaim in season and out of season the Word of God? Because I actually believe the Word of God has great power. That the Word of God and the hearing of it brings faith and regeneration. Elijah actually took God at His Word again. I want to encourage you Christians, take God at His Word. It happened to us again last week. I'm not going to get into details. We felt a huge conviction upon God just to obey Him, to honor Him. At great cost, or so we thought. We took God at His word. God delivered. God crazily delivered. On Monday I took my guitar into Longham Equate and they offered me $1200 for it. And I was going in to take it in, to have them buy it. And Christina, in sovereign grace, said, we need to trust God. Have you prayed about it? Went home, called the dude at Mother's, Michael's his name, and said, I'll bring it in on Wednesday. My wife actually believes God's going to do a miracle. No word of a lie. No word. Those are the words I said. She's waiting for God to do a miracle. We've seen God do it over and over. That's one of the beauties of being A pastor who does not make six figures, or even half of six figures, or even near. We watch God provide. Oh, step out in faith. Be a man like Elijah. Prophesy. Trust that God will accomplish all that he purposes to do. His word will succeed, but that word has to leave your mouth. Do not fear man. Trust in God. Fear of man brings a snare. The fear of God hates wickedness. So he comes before him. He shows himself. And on his way he meets a steward. Probably the main steward or overseer or manager of the king. Notice that the king is not looking for Elijah. The king is like every other fallen human in this world. He is trying to solve the curse of God with his own wisdom. Three years a famine is happening. Not once is he like Hezekiah who says, let us go to the temple, let us seek Isaiah, let us seek God's face in repentance. Obadiah, go and look. Maybe we can find a little brook that hasn't dried up. We need to keep our horses and our donkeys, the king's horses and donkeys for war. So he's trusting in himself to defend himself with his own horses and chariots, and he's trusting in himself to alleviate the curse of God. The problem is, we can't! Please tell your friends, who are trying all these different ways to make it to heaven, that they will not make it to heaven outside of trust and faith in Jesus Christ and His death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension and His second coming. This is exactly what the world does. How did the world react to what happened in Japan? I'm not against, you know, stabilizing their nuclear reactors and all the things, but I never ever saw once, when I was reading the news or on the internet, that there was a unity in their country, crying out to the True and the Living God that He would have mercy on them. That they are crying out to Him in repentance. And the thing is, a lot of Christians jumped on suit. How many people cried out to the Living God? Ahab knew what he was supposed to do. Keep your finger here in 1 Kings 17. Here's a verse that we love. You've heard it before. 2 Chronicles 7. This is Solomon's prayer. Remember Solomon and his many kings removed before the Northern and the Southern kingdoms split because of idolatry. Let me start in verse 11. So this is Solomon praying. I'm applying this to the Northern Kingdom. 2nd Chronicles 7. Solomon dedicates the temple. BOOM! The fire comes! Fire represents Yahweh's divine manifestation. Okay? So the fire comes and this is how Solomon responds. I actually believe all of the Word of God is inspired by God, the Holy Spirit, and there's unity. So we have a link of fire, famine, and then repentance. Ahab missed the third part of the equation. Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord in the king's house. All that Solomon had planned to do in the house of the Lord and in his own house, he successfully accomplished. Then the Lord appeared to Solomon in the night and said to him, I have heard your prayer. Okay, this is what happens when you come to God with a clean heart and faith. He hears your prayers. I've heard your prayer. and have chosen this place, namely the Temple in Jerusalem, for myself as a house of sacrifice. Verse 13, listen. When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain. Verse 14. If my people who are called by my name humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. So this world is under the curse of God. What are we doing about it? Are we giving them man-made remedial solutions? Or are we telling them that they need to turn to Jesus Christ in faith and repentance? And God will bring to them restoration in ways they could have never imagined. There is a greater drought going on in this world than physically represented in Samaria. It's a drought of people who are far from God, whose souls are withered and dry and parched, and whose hearts are hardened. And the only solution is the Word of God fulfilled in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please be like Elijah and say, you are a fool for trying to solve the problem and dilemma you are in, in your own strength and effort. You can prepare all the horses and chariots you want for battle. You can store all the stuff you want. It is not going to remedy the problem you are now in. So, he sends his servant to Obadiah, and Obadiah is sightseeing, looking for some watering holes for the horses. And, along the way, he meets Elijah. Just to set in the context here, He meets Elijah and he's scared because he knows Ahab wants to kill Elijah. If Obadiah has seen Elijah and Elijah doesn't come back with him, he's like, I'm a dead man. This is how much Ahab hates the prophets of Yahweh. Because those prophets of Yahweh are a thorn in his heel. They're a pebble in his shoe and they annoy him. And he wants to get rid of him. And it's funny, so that when Ahab ultimately is confronted by Elijah, like the world, he blames the man of God for his problems. And it's easy for us to look at Ahab and say, man, that guy is wicked. You probably have forgotten what manner of person you were before Christ saved you. And how you look down your nose on everyone who was worse than you. You've forgotten that you were like Ahab. And you blamed everything and everybody except yourself for the problems you were in. The sins you committed, you'd blame on someone else. And the circumstances that arose out of them, you would blame on God. And yet God loves His people enough to send Elijah to confront this idolater, to say, you, you are the one who is troubling your people. You are a wicked king. You do not love your people, and your prophets do not love others, because they are turning people away from life. Let me find the verse here. Verse 17. Verse 18. I have not troubled Israel, but you have. and your father's house. How? How do these religious people trouble the land? Notice that Ahab looks like he's a worshipper of Yahweh. He's not completely forsaken Yahweh, he's just added to Him. So when I'm reading this, I'm reading it in the lens that this is an indictment against the majority of evangelical Christianity and churches in North America. Elijah is condemning a religious person who with one prayer worships Yahweh and with the other prayer worships Baal. How do these religious people bring about wrath? What is the reason? Because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. The two go hand in hand. How many people have I met who call themselves Christians? They abandoned what God commands and they turn to what the world offers. This is the worst thing for the world! It's half-hearted, fake Christians! If you don't believe me, go and try sharing the gospel with someone who is dead in their sins and calls themselves a Christian. Oh, I accepted Jesus into my heart. Why don't you follow Him? Why are you still intoxicated? with the ways of the world. Now I'm not talking about listening to rock and roll music and dressing differently. Why are the affections of your heart no different than the world's? Why do you find comfort and solace and your identity in the exact same things that the world do? I was on Twitter last week and there was this girl in Lethbridge. I don't know how the Lord, maybe just He directed me there for an illustration. I'm a Christian! Don't knock me! I looked at all of her tweets. I would have never thought she was a Christian. She's just like Ahab. She's blaming all of the people like Elijah who actually have the balls to stand up and say, God is God! Trust in Him, turn from your sins or you will perish. I've heard a lot of Christians attack God's true prophets like that. And Elijah has the audacity to stand before this prophet killer and say, you are the problem! You, Pansy preachers, are the problems. You, Joel Osteen, are the problems. I have no problem mentioning these because Ahab is mentioned. You are leading multitudes of people who think they can worship God and the world. You are leading them to hell. And God hates idolatry and loves His elect so much, He is sending me to stand here before you, perhaps to die. It's not so much the pagans that I'm worried about that are troubling the world. I'm not so worried about the atheists and all the people of false... I'm more worried about people who call themselves Christians and who do not keep the commands of God and follow after all kinds of vinyls. That's who I'm worried about. Elijah is sent to Ahab. He's not sent to confront all the people about... He's confronting a man who apparently professes faith in the Living God. A lot of you have friends who halt between two opinions. You're a prophet. Here's a quote from a Puritan named Cotton Mather. 1650's to 1700. out in the Massachusetts, New England area. And he says that it is the design and purpose of the office of the minister of God to do one thing, to restore the throne and dominion of God in the souls of men. It's exactly what Elijah is sent to do. These people profess faith, and yet God's throne and dominion has not taken up residency in their heart. Elijah, you have been set apart to go and to preach. Not an ear-tickling message where people heap up prophets and teachers to meet all of their felt needs. Elijah, go and tell this man he is endangering the whole country. I have a lot of preachers who don't like me. Because I've actually had the audacity to say, what you are doing is encouraging sin in your congregation. It's alright. I emailed Tony this weekend. I said, or was it another guy? There's another pastor perhaps. I said, that's alright. Every prophet that the Lord has ever sent has been hated by the people. Think the people like Moses? Try reading the Pentateuch again. They murmured and complained, and more than once they took up stones to take care of him. You think they like Elijah? Do you think they like Isaiah? Or Jeremiah? Ultimately, do you think they like Jesus Christ saying, woe to you hypocrite? You're full of dead men bones? Do you think they like that? And Elijah takes God at His word. Because without God's word, these people have no hope. Elijah condemning their idolatry and telling them to turn to God they have no hope. The worst thing a Christian can ever do is to keep his mouth shut when a world is wallowing in idolatrous prison. God loves these people so much that he sends his prophet to go and to be ridiculed and mocked and made fun of and potentially killed. Does God love the world? John 3.16 says He does. Did Jesus Christ come to condemn the world? He came to save the world. How is He saving His world in the New Covenant? Through His Spirit bearing messenger, the Church, the Holy Church who preaches the Gospel of Jesus Christ. How will they believe if someone is not preaching Romans 10? How will they hear? This world is condemned. Let me just add An addendum. The world is not innocent in their condemnation. You will read this passage in one of two ways. God is just. Man is fallen and deserving. You will read it as a Christian. Or, secondly, you will read it as a pagan. That man is innocent and God is unfair in this. If you read it the way you should, that John 3 verse 18, it's two verses after verse 16 by the way, it says that people are now condemned if they reject Christ and are not found in Him. If you read in the same chapter in verse 30, it talks about the wrath of God again. Why are we not preaching? Why are we not declaring from the housetops that Jesus saves? Jesus is a way, He is the way, the truth, the life. You can come to the Father either through Jesus or Baal, or Allah, or Joseph Smith, or Mary, or your own good deeds. John 14.6 does not say that. There is no way to come to the Father but through the Son. There is no name given under heaven by which man must be saved. Jesus Christ. Or that God would raise up Elijah. You think he preaches, I'm thinking you. Your life is at work. You take God at his word, actually believing his word. You've tasted, you've seen. Step out in faith. So, he picks a fight. He presents to them a challenge and, to be quite honest, if I was a worldly gambler, I'd take it. You're fighting us in our home territory, right? Mount Carmel. It's notoriously known as a center for Baal worship, right? So it's like, you're playing us in our own stadium. Not only that, but we believe that Baal is the god of thunder and fire. So that's good. You know, you see in chapter 20 that they think Yahweh is just the god of the planes. So they have all these things. There's 450 of us. There's one of you. We're set. You get to go first. Elijah says, bring it. Yahweh is the only true and the living God. He's going to pick a fight. And He's going to humiliate you. And I pray to God that in your humility you will turn to Him. And not harden yourself. So we've read it. We see all that goes on. They select a bull. You know, they set up their altar. They cut it up. You know, and they start dancing. And they start invoking the name of Baal. There's a problem. Remember in Canaanite mythology, when there's a drought, what is that attributed to? The fact that Baal is dead. They actually believe that, right? Baal is the god of fertility, so when things are flourishing, he's alive! And then when there's the season, you know, like off all winter, there's no rain. Well, if he's the god who brings harvest and there's no harvest, we in our idolatry, We have to come up with something. This is what idolatry is. We make God into the image we want Him to be so He can serve us. Just so you know, idolatry is not just standing before graven images. Idolatry is an imagination of what you think God should be for you. Okay, so Baal lets them have their orgies, Baal lets them live in their wanton, licentious living, Baal lets them do what they want, right? They can have their cake and eat it too. They're like, ah, well, we have to make something up, which is what religions constantly do. Baal has died. That's it! He's in the netherworld. He's been there a long time. It's been three years. You see how blinding idolatry is? The atheists say to us, you guys are so blind. You just accept wholesale what you receive. And I always liken it to me trying to explain to a blind man how beautiful a tree is, or a flower, or my wife. And he's like, you fool! There's no tree! This is just like these idolaters here. Three years! Three years he's been dead and Elijah has declared it. Chapter 17, verse 1. Drought's coming. Yahweh says drought's coming. Baal can do nothing. Why do they not repent? Isn't it just common sense? You look at the world and you say how glorious Christ is and all you have to do is repent and believe. the two most impossible things it is for a fallen man to do of his own volition. Why? Because dead men cannot do things that alive men can do. If you disagree with me, please read Ephesians chapter 2. Lazarus, smarten up man, there's been a drought for three years! Oh wait, he's dead. I can't reason with a dead man. So, this God has been dead, roaming around in the netherworlds. Right? Ena, another God they had to invent, has not raised Him up. Mot is winning. That's another God. This is just how idolatry works. And they don't turn. So, Elijah, in God's sovereign providence, comes. And He's going to reveal, declare to them who the true and the living God is. They haven't learned their lesson. Chapter 17. They deserve condemnation, but God is merciful. God is gracious. God abounds in steadfast love. He is not willing that any should perish. And so He sends His prophet to show them once again, right? You think they'd get it after three, four times? He has to show them again who the true and the living God is. So they gather at Mount Carmel. Elijah is decidedly the underdog here, according to the eyes of humans, of course. Verse 21, Elijah came near to all the people. He's talking to the people now. Not so much the prophets. He's talking to those who call themselves Israelites. What does he say? How long will you go limping between two different opinions? Play on words. You can literally translate, how long will you go limping on two crutches? I'm basically saying you have to choose. You can't have both. I'm basically saying that when you limp this way, it hurts you. It's a play on words. Why are you limping between two opinions? You're like a man whose legs are all ruined. This is what idolatry does, people. If you want Jesus and you want the world, it's not good for you. You're a cripple. Right? Everyone remember what syncretism is? It's mixing of gods. A little bit of Yahweh, a little bit of Baal. Or maybe for us in North America, a little bit of Jesus, a little bit of yoga. Right? I'm cool with some of what the Catholics do. I'm down with that. You know, they can worship Mary. A little bit of Jesus, a little bit of health, wealth, prosperity. I got my fire insurance. God will let me live and do whatever I want. It's idolatry people. And it makes me furious that it's preached in most pulpits every Sunday. They preach a man-centered message where God does everything to make you happy and wealthy and healthy. And all you have to do is accept Him into your heart. That's what the Jews were doing. We want the God who is the God of fields and fertility, because we don't want to be hungry. So we want that, but we want to hedge our bets a bit. I don't know if that's the right saying. So we take a little bit of God. We're just, we're playing it safe. And Christians sometimes do that. Well, why don't you believe in Jesus too? Or when we go to India, I'll add Jesus, just in case. It's all or nothing. Please tell people you know who call themselves Christians, it's all or nothing. You're all in or you're all out. Jesus says He came to bring division. If you follow Jesus, you follow Him with everything you've got or you don't follow Him at all. Sorry, that's just what the Bible says. James chapter 4 says it like this in verse 6. This is what it says. I'm not talking to you. I'm just saying this is what James says. You adulterous people. It's linking idolatry to idolatry. You adulterous people. Do you not know that love of the world is enmity with God? Therefore, if you would desire to be friends with the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Does it get any more clear? That's precisely what Elijah is saying. Pick the world or pick God. I think that's the predominant idol of this world is the world. Just either live full out in sin, love the world, or actually take Christ for who He is. None of the games. It does more damage. It cripples you and it cripples the testimony of the church. Right? I have no problem. People just leave and they want to live instead? Good! The world knows you belong to the world! But if you want to call yourself a Christian and live like the world, that cripples you and it cripples the testimony of the Church. And Elijah says, like Joshua does, choose this day who you will serve. Right at the end there, about to enter into the land, choose. 1 John 2 says it like this, I think in verse maybe 11 or 14 or something like that. It says, you cannot love the world and you cannot love God at the same time. For what comes from the world does not come from the Father. The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, pride in possessions is not from God. James 4, 1 John 2, Old Testament, New Testament, I think it's very clear. You take all of God or none of Him. And you quit playing games. I'm not saying anyone here is. If the Spirit is convicting you, this is what the text says, okay? If the Lord is, literally you could translate the true God, there's a definite article. If Yahweh is the God, so some translations say, if Yahweh is the true God, follow Him. Doesn't that make sense? If Yahweh is the true God, follow Him. If Baal is the true God, follow Him. Follow the true God. Don't follow both, because there can't be one, there can't be two one true Gods. Catch that? I don't know. I'm not very good at math, but there can't be two one true gods. So pick which one is. And by the way, I'm going to demonstrate for you once again. who the true God is. So they set up their stuff, and these guys, they start dancing, and screaming, and invoking. They're like the pagans of Matthew 6, where Jesus says, don't pray like them! Who think that for the multitude of their word, somehow they're going to coerce God! And then life starts to mock them. This is not a license to start mocking people. This happens, I agree, but it is not a green light or a license to start doing so. It rarely happens in scripture. I think he's doing this to show them how foolish their ways are. I don't think he's jeering at them. Because he says a whole bunch of things that they actually believe. Let me find it here. So they call upon the name of their God. They start limping. Verse 27, cry aloud for he is a God, isn't he? Like, shouldn't God's hear? That's, you know, if I was making a resume, that's one of the good ones, that God is powerful, but God also hears. Okay, so Elijah's saying, if he's God, he should hear you. Unless, perhaps, he's a little busy. Either he's musing, I think the NLT says daydreaming. I just love that. It's like Baal's daydreaming while they're calling upon him. Or he is relieving himself. Right? He's away. So it can be translated that maybe he's out at the outhouse, or hunting, or doing something, and he's indifferent. He can't hear you. Maybe he's away. Maybe he's in the port-a-god potty. Small g, right? No, he's just saying, like, why doesn't he hear you? Obviously. Right? Maybe the fan's too loud. Our fan downstairs is super loud. Maybe for a good reason. Or he's on a journey. Or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. If you read Canaanite mythology, all these things were possibilities. Right? One of the gods, I forget what her name was, was looking for Baal, and was like, sorry, dude's hunting. Well, if He's hunting, how can He hear the prayers of His people? And that's exactly what Isaiah is saying. He's not the omniscient, transcendent God who has the ability to hear every prayer of all of His people, who sees and knows everything. Not just sees it, but He knows the intentions of the heart. Why are you trusting in this idol? It does not, cannot deliver you. It never delivered anyone in the previous chapter. Why is it going to deliver you now? Why do you put your trust in money, people? Why? Why do I? This is just a stark reminder. Like eagles, it will fly away. Set not, flip not your eyes upon it. Don't put your trust in man. Don't put your trust in your job. These aren't bad things. Don't put your trust in anything but Christ. I love my wife, but if I don't put my trust in her, she can't always hear me. Even this morning, like, I'm not sick. I can't hear you, the band's too loud. Why would I put my trust in her? But so many people in this world do. They put their trust in their university degrees. Brent, don't put your trust in your university degree. You might die tomorrow. Some people who are just really gifted. My brother is one of the most gifted. He's coming soon. I want you and him to jam. He lost the tip of his finger. Don't put your trust in these things, as good as they are. They will not hear you at all times. They will not come to your aid. They will not rescue you. And ultimately, they will not remove your sin. So, you mock them, and they still don't get it. So, what do they do? They do what mankind does. They just try harder doing the same stupid things. That's what insanity is. Trying to get the same result, doing the same thing over and over and over, just ranking it up a bit. Maybe I'll do another 50 Hail Marys. No, I'm not taking shots. Read about what happened in the Reformation. This is what incited Luther. Oh, maybe that temple wasn't high enough to climb up on my knees. Muslims try more and more and more and more things. Maybe we'll lash our backs a little more. It doesn't work. They're vain idols who can't hear. You can cut your arms off. He's not going to respond any differently. They cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances. I want you to understand that in the Hebrew, they've really got a party going on here. A lot of translations say they work themselves up into an ecstasy. And I would just caution us all against what a lot of people think is spirituality when it's closer to idolatry. I got saved in a church. It was quite charismatic. I'm not taking shots on it. They thought it was quite spiritual to bark instead of talk about Christ. They thought it was quite spiritual to laugh with holy laughter. rather than look what God says in His demands of holiness. They're running around, ecstasy is going on, ecstatic. These people were outside of their minds. It happens in many churches, and they think it's spiritual. It's ridiculous. Pagans do that. God's people keep His commandments, and honor Him, and reverence Him, and point others to Christ and His sufficiency, and what He has done on the cross for sinners. That's spirituality. Spirituality is not being louder than the guy beside you, or trying to be a little more ecstatic, doing something more marvelous. It was like a competition when I went to the church, and I felt like this. Me and my Christ, I thought, wasn't enough. Maybe I need to jump higher, yell louder, speak in a new tongue, say something, prophesy. It doesn't work. I got everything I need in Christ. Why would I preach to people anything else? I just want to warn you. I know I'm going late. Whatever. Spirituality is not always this. I want to show you what spirituality is. Elijah prayed to God once with faith. You can't twist God's arms. He's not like the idols of your heart. Why do we try to please these idols like this? Because we invented them, and it makes sense to us! Right? The idol comes from our mind, therefore how we appease Him also comes from the mind. It's futility! God says this is what He answers. Elijah was a man of like passions. And yet God heard him. The effectual prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5.16. Elijah doesn't have to do backflips and invoke Yahweh. There's a high view of Him. Come near to Me, He said to the people. They drew near. He repaired the altar of the Lord. Significant. This needs to happen in North America, by the way. The altar that most Christians talk about has fallen by the wayside and it needs to be repaired. He does not offer a sacrifice upon an altar that is broken. First things first. Maybe I'm reading into it, Christ needs to be first. Before we preach anything, before we pray anything, the altar needs to be repaired. Christ needs to be central. We don't gather, by the way, we don't gather at church because it's a fan club or a religion. We gather here to worship the risen Lord Jesus Christ, who has granted unto us life through His death and resurrection. First things first. A lot of people don't like that in churches. I'm fine with that. They're just not going to like it where their altar is repaired here. He lays down 12 stones. This is just reminding the people of God's covenant. God made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob became Israel. Jacob's sons became the 12 tribes. He's reminding him, think about what God has done. The promise he made to Abraham that he would save a people for himself in the promised land through the seed. Elijah's preaching through this. Those 12 stones are significant. You belong to Israel. God is jealous for the one he entered into covenant with. Israel is your name, not Baal. Israel is your name. That means a lot. Just like a good rebuke to someone who calls themselves a Christian. You say, you're a Christian. That's enough of a rebuke. Say you catch me living in sin. You're a Christian, Ryan. Your name is Israel. Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten that you are God's chosen? I don't need to guilt people. If you are born again, you need to say, you're a Christian. You say Christ is your Lord. That should break the heart. That's all it takes. Ryan, you belong to Christ. What are you doing? Builds an altar in the name of Yahweh. That's huge. Makes a trench. It's just great. And then in a drought, of all times, dump some water on it. Not just once, not just twice, three times. Um, what's, what's one of the characteristics of a drought? There's not very much. The people are like, um, thirsty. This is Elijah's trust in Yahweh. God told him to do this. Remember that. He trusts more in God than he trusts in natural resources. Ahab's looking for any water he can get. Elijah says, I'll use all that water up. You want me to sell my house? Become a missionary? I'll do it. You want me to sell all I have? I don't have much. You want me to do that? You're actually calling me to do that. I'll do it. When you do crazy things like this for the name of God, He honors His name and people see it. Why don't people see very much of Christ in North American Christianity? It's because we're so comfortable. We make every excuse. We would have been here. Elijah! The water! The water! I'm trying to discern if that's my little girl freaking out or not. Step out. When God's calling you to do something crazy, He will back you up. Has He backed up Elijah in the past? Will He back him up again? Has God backed you up in the past when you just did the most Incredulous, I don't know that's the right word the most crazy thing He asked for me many times Many many times Talk to that Muslim Downtown Toronto talk to him Dude got saved So they pour all the water around and at the time of the offering of the oblation and So Elijah knows what's going on here. It's following the protocol that Yahweh laid down in the law, the Torah. The prophet named Elijah came near and he said, Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I'm your servant and that I've done all the things at your word. Answer me. Oh Lord, answer me, repeated in Hebrew for emphasis, that this people may know that you are Lord. They had an intellectual ascent, that they might know you the way Adam knew Eve. The way you foreknew your people. Please answer me that they may know you. not receive you into their heart, or walk an altar, or sign a card, or even get baptized at a whim, that they might know you. O Yahweh, our the true God, that you have returned their hearts back to yourself. Hebrew word for returned is the same Hebrew word for repentance. Or that they might know that you in your covenant love are granting them repentance to turn. Back to you. Is there a big pause? Verse 37 to 38. The. Vav. That's Hebrew. Then. Then the fire. These clowns were dancing around and having their parties and lashing themselves all morning into the afternoon. Effectual prayer of a righteous man who knows the will of God who prays according to the will of God who believes in the will of God Who has faith even the size of a mountain seat or of the mustard seed can see mountains move? That's Elijah's prayer boom the fire of the Lord fell consumed everything Just so you know it's supernatural right. It's not like it's got like a little Zapper or something like that. They're pulling a magic trick on them Stones being consumed That's pretty hot. It would have been molten laying around there. Licked it up, even the water that was apparently wasted. The reaction of the people. What do people do when they truly see God? Not just hear about Him and yeah, yeah, whatever. What happens when the Spirit of God moves and people are confronted with the reality of the Holy God? They fall on their face. If you don't believe me, what happened to Isaiah? What happened to Ezekiel? What happened to John in Revelation? You get on your face. You don't have a conversation. You cry out, woe is me. I repent in sackcloth and ashes. You are the true God. I've been playing games with you. Have mercy on me the sinner. You confess that Yahweh He is the true God, that Yahweh, He is the true God. You confess that Jesus Christ is not just a good man, or a good moral example, or a good teacher, or a good rabbi. When God reveals to you who He really is, you cry out that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, the Father, Philippians chapter 2. How much does God hate idolatry? Verse 40, And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape. Why? Because idols are like cancer. Why the killing when the people coming into the promised land read in Deuteronomy? Because they're going to lead you astray with their idols and their foreign marriages. Why get rid of all of them? Because they will pop up like weeds if you don't deal ruthlessly with them. I know it's late. How do you deal with idols? If you fear God, how do you deal with these? I know we all fall, trust me. This time is rigged. But what is to be our desire? Is to be ruthless. to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit, Romans 8, 13. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. And they seized them. Elijah brought them down to the brook Eshon and slaughtered them there. Just read through the Bible. This is not condemnatory, despite what the liberal commentators say. I read of Phineas. You remember when Moses laid down the law with their idols, and one Israelite dude thought he would be on top of things, and he actually brought in a pagan and slept with him in the tent? What did Phineas do? He took his spear and he what? Made a shish kebab. And God commended him, and actually the curse of God was averted through Phineas, and a covenant was made with him. If this does not show how much God hates idolatry, I don't know what does. Now, do we do this now? No. But knowing how much God hates idolatry, we get on our faces, and we cry out that God would have mercy on us, our country, and the world. Because the ultimate end of idolaters is death. And it's a sick game that idols play. Here's a verse from Habakkuk I found. What profit is an idol when its maker has shaped it, a metal image, a teacher of lies, for its maker trusts in his own creation, when he makes beasts with idols. Idols don't deliver. They promise the world, and they deliver hell. They promise life, they deliver death. That's why God is ruthless with idols. I'm not going to preach the last section, I'm just going to give an overview. When does the rain come? After the idols are purged. After the idolatrous teachers are purged. After the people repent, in the language of 2 Thessalonians 1-10, turn from their useless idols towards the true and living God. God said, the rain is coming. We always sing, Oh that you would bring showers of blessing. 2 Chronicles says that the people who are called according to my name, humble themselves and repent and turn from all their wickedness, then I will hear them from heaven. That's how it is. If you cherish iniquity in your heart, if you cherish idols in your heart, Psalm 66, 18, will God hear you? The Word of God says no. So how are you going to deal with some of the idols? Maybe you don't have any. Maybe you're different from me and probably everyone else besides you. You're going to cry out and say, You eradicate the idols of my life, no matter what. They bring death, you give life. You are God. Oh, that refreshing times of healing may come. Oh, that your water might flow. Oh, that the drought that I am going through might cease. Turn to Jesus. Every idol will offer you nothing but a drought, spiritually, and for the rest of your life, in wrath. Are you a Christian? Biblically? I pray to God you are. I hope that I've showed you that you're in the living God and you'll quit playing games if you're not a Christian. And if you are, you will worship with a fresh vigor who God is and what He has done. Close. God demonstrated His greatness, His weightiness, His glory in bringing fire down from heaven. I want to quickly present to you a far greater exhibition of His glory from something that came down from heaven. Not fire, but a lamb. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, born of a virgin, came from heaven to earth and manifested precisely the glory of God that not even fire from heaven could do. And rather than consuming His enemies, He died for them. That's why we sing, Hallelujah, what a Savior. I don't trust in God ultimately because I've seen fire come from the sky. I trust in God because He has imprinted on my heart that Jesus Christ came into this world to save me as a sinner. And this is the true glory of God that has come down from God for man. And that seeing the glory of Jesus Christ, you might say, He is God. He is God. And not just saying that, but turning from your idols and turning towards Jesus, who loved you and gave himself for you. What a Savior we have. He loves you too much to let me preach to you a 25 minute sermon that will take you years. If hell was not real and eternity was not eternity, I would have done that. Your supper, your lunch might be a little cold. I'm cool with that. Father, you've been good. Father, help us to love this world. Help us Lord to pray against the idols. which are really demons, as Paul says. But Lord, help us to understand that if Kelvin is right, our hearts are idol factories. And things like greed are called idolatry by Paul. Please continue to purge them. Grant us a biblical fear of you. So help us to see the cross where your wrath and your holiness met up with your mercy and grace and love. Change us and use us to change this world, I pray. Give us the faith of Elijah. Help us to take you at your history-shaping, forming, directing word, believing it will not return void. Help us to believe that every knee will bow before Jesus. ours and everyone else's. Help us to live in light of this reality, I pray. If any are here who are not saved, or may have thought they were but aren't, may they hear the word from the word. Today is the day of salvation. Receive not the grace of God in vain. I pray this in your name, Jesus. Amen.