10/4/2015 The Word Of God Obeyed Pastor Josh Sheldon

which is on page 698 of the Deuteronomy Bible. When we arrive at this passage, please stand up for the reading of God's Word.

In the third month, after the children of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on the same day they came to the wilderness of Sinai.

For they had departed from Bethlehem, had come to the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness.

So Israel camped there before the mountain. And Moses went up to God, and the

Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel, You have seen what

I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself.

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice, and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people, for all their work is

Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.

So Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before them all these words which the

Lord commanded him. Then all the people answered together and said, All that the

Lord has spoken is true. So Moses brought back the words of the people to the

Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I come to you in the fifth cloud, that the people may hear when

I speak to you, and believe you forever. So Moses told the words of the people to the

Lord. Then the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people and concentrate on today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes, and let them be ready for the third day.

For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Sinai and the sight of all the people. You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying,

Take heed to yourselves that you do not go up to the mountain or touch its base. For whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death.

Not a hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or chopped with an arrow. Whether man or beast, he shall not live.

When the trumpet sounds long, they shall come near the mountain. And please turn to Luke 9, 51 -62.

Now came to pass, when the time was come for him to be received up, that he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, and sent messengers before his face.

And as they went, they entered the village of the Samaritans to prepare for him. But they did not receive him, because his face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.

And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?

But he turned and rebuked them, and said, You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.

For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.

And Jesus said to him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the

Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Then he said to another, Follow me.

But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Jesus said to him,

Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.

And another also said, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.

But Jesus said to him, No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, except for the kingdom of God.

Amen. You may be seated. Lord, we just come before you now, and we worship you as a holy

God, one who is above anything that you have created here on earth, and in the heavens above.

Lord, you truly are the Father, and I pray that we would humble ourselves as a clan.

And I pray that you would be with Pastor Josh right now, as he brings the message, that you would strengthen him both physically and spiritually, that you would remove any distractions, or any difficulties that he might be facing, that you might give him a clearer thought, a clearer speech, that he would speak your words to us,

Lord, that you would have us to hear. I pray that you would prepare our hearts, Lord, and that through this message, we might have a living and active word, that as the psalm says,

Lord, that we would have the almighty seed, Christ always living in us.

And I just pray this in your holy name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Joseph. Well, from the mount,

God speaks to Moses, and reveals through Moses to Israel his will for them, the law.

And we heard Israel respond there, all that the Lord has commanded we will do.

Everything God is saying through Moses, we will obey. And of course, we know in their history, as we go from that point forward, that the times of obedience were few, and far between.

The times they obeyed, were actually kind of sparsely obeyed. All that the

Lord has said we will do, this is the commitment they made for themselves, for their children, and for their children's children.

And there from Sinai, God promised blessings for those who would obey, and curses upon those who would not.

God spoke from this mountain, revealing himself to his people, who gave their word to obey.

And this morning we're going to come to the prophet Elijah, who's going to climb another mount, and make some resolution for the disobedience that had come for the many years after the time at Mount Sinai.

All that the Lord has said we will do, we will obey his commands, we will be his people.

The first commandment they heard, was you shall have no other gods before me. And here in 1 Kings 18, in this whole study of the times in which

Elijah prophesied, we find that this is immediately broken. And they might say, well we didn't have that God before God, he was just along with God.

Which brethren, is no better in God's sight. If we listen to the words of the

Lord Jesus Christ, when he was asked, what is the great command? He said this, you shall love the Lord your

God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. All, all, all.

Meaning that the first command then is implicitly obeyed, because if all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is given over to God and him alone, there's no room for another

God. So from the mount, the law, now we're going to come to Mount Carmel, where there are violations of that law, our innocence resolved.

After three and a half years in this Gentile land, when we last were with Elijah, he was in the land called

Zarephath, a city called Zarephath, in the land of Sidon. He was there for three and a half years during the drought, which he himself had prayed for.

And we'll pick up just the first couple of verses in chapter 18 of 1 Kings. And it came to pass after many days that the word of the

Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth.

So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab, and there was a severe famine in Samaria.

The drought, you see, this drought that Elijah had prayed for, the prayers of a righteous and fervent man avail much, we learn from the book of James.

Elijah having prayed for God to enact his own will as revealed in Deuteronomy chapter 28, that he would bring drought upon a land where the people were disobedient, this was the drought that Elijah had prayed for.

And now he finds this drought will soon be over. You go present yourself.

I'm going to send rain, is what the Lord is saying. God will again allow the rain, and with the rain, he will allow the crops that had failed these past years.

Now, not all at once. The skies will be opened as promised because God's word never fails, but only when the relief can be attributed to him and him alone.

And we'll see this as we develop what happens. We all know about this famous confrontation of Baal at Mount Carmel against the prophets.

Let me rephrase that. Famous confrontation of Elijah at Mount Carmel against the prophets of Baal.

We need to see that one of the things God is accomplishing in the way this is all arranged and the way this is done is that when the drought is over, according to God's word,

God Almighty said the drought will soon be over. And we will see that he and he alone can be attributed as having done this.

Elijah obeys without hesitation. Elijah does what, in Exodus 19,

Israel had promised to do. All that the Lord has said we will do, Elijah obeys here without hesitation.

Going from Zarephath, where he had been for those years with the widow and her son, being miraculously provided for by the bin of flour and the jar of oil that would never fail to be replenished each day they went.

There in Zarephath, the home ground of this God that these people worship, that's where he was from and being infused into Israel, he obeys without hesitation and goes back to Israel.

Now in verse 10 of this chapter, a man named Obadiah, who we'll come to fairly soon here, he's going to tell him how

Ahab has been searching everywhere for him. Ahab has been looking everywhere for Elijah to capture him.

It's undoubtedly a death warrant. It's issued in the hope that the prophet's death would appease Baal and bring fertility back to the land.

And it's very certain that Elijah was aware of this. Yet, he goes.

He goes in immediate and unquestioning obedience to the word of the Lord. Go to this land that does not worship me as they ought.

Go to this land where the king is not only a powerful king, but he's your enemy.

You go. Without question. He goes.

You might think forward to Ananias in the book of Acts when he's told you go to Paul for he is my chosen instrument to bring the gospel to the

Gentiles. And Ananias says, wait a second. Don't you know the violence this man has done to the church?

Can we paraphrase and say, Lord, he's going to kill me. And Jesus says, no, you go. We have none of that here from Elijah.

He packs his things as it were and goes. And he goes so immediately that maybe he didn't pack his things.

He just goes. And praise God, brethren. Praise God for faithful men who do as God commands without question, without hesitation, without any equivocation.

Elijah had been at the lonely brook Cherith where by the word of God he was to depend upon ravens to bring him food.

And then he goes to Zarephath which is the center of this enemy God dependent upon a poor, starving, ready to die widow but not really dependent upon her at all but God's daily provision as we said a moment ago.

And now back to Israel to face the king so determined to kill him and continue his promotion of false god.

And Elijah just goes. Praise God for men and I say for women who follow the word of God without question, who do

God's will. All that the Lord has commanded we will do. We have a great example here already in Elijah.

God says go and he goes. It's one of the reasons I had Luke read to you.

Luke chapter nine up to verse 51. You just heard it a few moments ago.

And we read how when it was time for Jesus to be received up to go to Jerusalem and there to face his crucifixion that he simply turned and went.

Why did the Samaritans not show him hospitality? We're not going to take that apart right now but let's understand that Luke says because he was determined to go to Jerusalem he had no time to waste.

He had not a footstep to spare in accomplishing God's will.

It's no accident that Luke wrote what we just spoke of there so soon after Jesus' transfiguration because on that mount the disciples saw

Moses and who? Moses and Elijah talking to Jesus about his soon to come departure.

The actual word that Luke uses is his soon to come exodus which he would accomplish. Well Elijah in his determination to turn his face and go to where God had pointed him

Elijah is the forerunner. Jesus is the exemplar but Elijah the forerunner.

Thank God for men who turn and steadfastly follow God's word. You know

Luther stood on God's word at Worms when he said unless I'm convinced by scripture and reason I cannot and will not recant because acting against one's conscience can

I say parenthetically one's conscience as it is informed by the word of God and by prayer and by submission to his spirit that conscience not the conscience that we have that we make up for ourselves not our own self -righteous conscience a conscience informed by God's will to go against that conscience is neither safe nor sound.

God help me. Amen. What did Luther expect? He expected to be burned at the stake much as Elijah might have expected to be killed immediately by Ahab.

Thank God for brave men like Luther who are steadfast for God and who would anticipate even to be burned at the stake in order to propagate the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness that God has wrought in him.

Ephesians 4 .11 speaks of the gifts that God has given to the church apostles, prophets, evangelists pastors, teachers men with feet of clay just like Elijah's men with a spirit like Elijah's as James tells us and some even with the courage of a

Luther excuse me nothing with anything like Jesus none who accomplished anything like he did.

Luther brought us what? The cry of the reformation ad fontes back to the sources. Elijah we'll return to in a moment but what do these men who are steadfast for God bring us?

These men who turn the direction that he points them and will not turn back. Jesus brought us salvation.

Elijah the forerunner Jesus the exemplar here. If we carry on in 1

Kings 18 the next few verses the author takes a moment to kind of catch us up on events in Israel.

What is this context to which Elijah is returning? What's been happening there? Let me go on.

Beginning at verse 3. And Ahab had called Obadiah who was in charge of his house.

Peren. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly for so it was while Jezebel massacred the prophets of the

Lord that Obadiah had taken 100 prophets and hidden them 50 to a cave and had fed them with bread and water.

And Ahab said to Obadiah go into the land to all the springs of water and all the brooks perhaps we may find grass to keep the horses and the mules alive that we will not have to kill any livestock.

So they divided the land between them to explore it. Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself.

This is where Elijah finds his first contact who of course is Obadiah. He's searching for water.

Water that is scarce because of his because of Elijah's prayer. What is

Obadiah? He's a chief of staff of sorts for the king. He's a high ranking official in the palace.

We learn that he fears the Lord greatly but he's sort of a closet

Christian because he needs to keep his faith to himself. His king's land was suffering because Obadiah's God had listened to Elijah's prayer and sent this calamity.

And we have to assume if it were known that he worshipped this

God or he was a friend of that particular prophet who had called God to bring this upon the land he'd almost surely be killed along with the others that Jezebel had already massacred.

With a courage that must rank with the best he hid 100 prophets from slaughter and provided for their food.

Obadiah should go into sort of a hall of fame. I say fame not faith because the hall of faith is

Hebrews 11 and that's too good a name for it to play around with it. Let's put him in a bit of a hall of fame.

Can not Obadiah having hidden these men at great risk while Jezebel is without restraint massacring

God's true prophets. Cannot he go alongside the

Hebrew midwives who ignored Pharaoh and saved the Hebrew children alive.

Can he not be ranked with Jehoshaba the woman who rescued young Joash from Athaliah's murderous rage.

How about Ebed -Melech who was King Zedekiah's servant the one who rescued Jeremiah from the pit when the mire went up to his armpits.

Ebed -Melech means servant of the king. He's the one who rescued him. Does not

Obadiah's courage in saving these prophets rank with Daniel and his friends who preferred to be eaten by beasts and burned by fire rather than bow down to an image.

Or Nehemiah who ignored the death threats against him and continued and then finally finished rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem.

Obadiah this first man that Elijah finds when he returns to Israel. He was a brave and a godly man and he was the first to learn that the word of God had returned to that forlorn land.

He was the first to see the return of hope. Now read of this as we go on beginning at verse 7.

Now as Obadiah was on his way suddenly Elijah met him and he recognized him and fell on his face he says is that you my

Lord Elijah? And he answered him it is. Go tell your master

Elijah is here. So he said how have I sinned that you are delivering your servant into the hand of Ahab to kill me?

As the Lord your God lives there is no nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to hunt for you. And when they said he is not here he took an oath from the kingdom or nation that they could not find you.

Now you say go tell your master Elijah is here and it shall come to pass as soon as I am gone from you that the spirit of the

Lord will carry you to a place I do not know. So when I go and tell Ahab and he cannot find you he will kill me.

But I your servant have feared the Lord from my youth. Was it not reported to my Lord what

I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord how I hid 100 men of the Lord's prophets 50 to a cave and fed them with bread and water?

And now you say to me go tell your master Elijah is here. He will kill me. Then Elijah said as the

Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand I will surely present myself to him today.

So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. Now what's he doing?

He's out minding Ahab's business. Well his business but it's really his master's business.

And all of a sudden he's facing Elijah. And the conversation starts very simply he says is that you?

And the answer is just as direct yes now go do what I tell you to do. And when he hears what he must do he has these two grounds upon which he objects.

First he put his own life at risk when he protected the Lord's prophets. In verse 13 he is sure that this was reported to him.

Did you not hear? Don't you know what I've already done? Don't you see? Haven't you been aware of the good work that I did and am still doing?

He's asking really haven't I done enough? Why do I have to risk my life?

Why do I have to risk my job? Why do I have to go and make Ahab angry with me? Elijah I've served the

Lord from my youth and I put my life on the line to save 100 of them.

He is as we were speaking of a little bit ago. Isn't he sort of claiming his own self -righteousness?

I wonder how Jesus might have answered that. Didn't our Lord say in Luke chapter 17 verse 10 that when we have done our duty we should say

I am an unprofitable servant. I've only done that which is required of me. His first ground is

I've done enough. And we all feel like this sometimes don't we? That I've sung in the choir well we don't have a choir here but you take my point.

I've come to the work days. I show up at all the meetings. I obey my husband.

I love my wife. I've done all my duty. Haven't I done enough? The answer is from scripture no.

No. What is the limit of our service? The limit of our service is what

Christ did to bring us into his service. He's claiming his own self -righteousness in a way.

His second ground is that should he go to Ahab and then Ahab can't find Elijah he's going to be executed as a traitor.

He'd be treasonous. Then not only is he dead but also the prophets who were under his watch would probably perish.

And in verse 12 he theorizes that the spirit of God might carry him somewhere as he did when he sent him to Cherith and then to Zarephath and now here.

Remember this meeting was totally unexpected. Suddenly there is Elijah. It's like he didn't see him coming.

Is that you? How'd you get here? What's going on? It was sudden.

It was without warning. As though God had simply transported him there as he did for example Philip in Acts chapter 8.

And he knew that once Elijah went somewhere else he was ducidly hard to find.

So in short what's he saying? I've done enough and this is too risky. He just wants out of this whole adventure.

Now Elijah has no time for arguing. He has no room for compromise. He has commandeered

Ahab's servant to do his not Ahab's but his Elijah's bidding. And the oath he gives

Obadiah settles it. He swears by Yahweh Tzva 'ot the

Lord of hosts. The Lord God at the head of the heavenly armies. And he swears by that that Ahab and Obadiah will be safe.

When he first met Elijah he took an oath in the name of the Lord God of Israel that the rain would stop.

And here the oath looks ahead to what's coming. The Lord has come to do battle against his opponent.

The Lord has come to do spiritual war of the severest sort. And so Elijah swears to him in that name.

The martial name of God. In the name of the Lord of hosts Yahweh Tzva 'ot

I will appear before Elijah. You go and do what I tell you. You see we all have fears to overcome.

Few of us are concerned that we'll be killed because of our faith and because of our service to Christ. Certainly not impossible not in these days.

But unlikely. As the author of the Hebrew puts it and this applies to all of us.

You have not yet resisted to bloodshed. Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. He also feared

Ahab. The question is which fear is going to rule the day? Now if your faith is in Jesus Christ if you have repented of your sins and fled to the cross for forgiveness then you are one who we could say fears the

Lord. You fear the Lord. If you believe in Jesus Christ you must by definition be one who fears the

Lord. And we all have other fears. Fear of failure.

Fear of taking chances. Fear of public speaking. Fear of, fear of, fear of.

Which fear rules the day? Which fear rules the moment?

Well the first part of this at verse 16 actually told us where Obadiah finally landed.

And my guess is he landed there very quickly. Just by how short the conversation is and the personality of Elijah that we've been seeing throughout this short study we've been in.

I think it was pretty quick. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab. Just that simple. Is that you?

Yes. Go to Ahab. Tell him I'm here. The objection. Elijah says no.

I swear to you in the name of the Lord of hosts I will be there. And off he goes. He went to meet Ahab. He knew that Elijah was

God's true prophet. He knew that the word of the Lord was to be obeyed. He knew that if Elijah swore he'd be there he'd be there.

God demands no less from all his children than this. A settled confidence in his word that all hazards be put at risk for obedience above all else even life itself.

Let's not look at this and say well that was them then. That they had a special spirituality or they were more superstitious they weren't as modern weren't as thinking of people as we are.

It's all nonsense. These were people, sinners men and women with feet of clay just like the rest of us and obedience for them was no easier than for us.

Obadiah at the risk of his life but in trust in God's word standing on the promise of God trusting that God was speaking through the prophet obedience above even life itself.

We'll continue. Chapter 18 beginning at the second half of verse 16.

And Ahab went to meet Elijah. Then it happened when Ahab saw

Elijah that Ahab said to him is that you O troubler of Israel? And he answered

I have not troubled Israel but you and your father's house have in that you have forsaken the commandments of the

Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table.

So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel.

You know the first part that I read which is the second half of verse 16 that should have been a little bit of a stunning statement for us.

When you read that you have to stop and take notice of what the scripture is saying there.

What do we notice? Ahab obeys the word of the

Lord through the prophet. Wicked King Ahab submitting himself to the word of God.

This idolater infusing Baal worship in favor of his wife who brought it to Israel and when

Elijah says here's what we're going to do you're going to come and meet me. Obadiah says

Elijah is as it were commanding your presence oh king.

What does Ahab do? He obeys. Think of the power of the word of God.

Think of the strength of a prophet who can declare that word with such confidence and a man like Obadiah who will trust and obey and then a king.

A king. We know he was wicked. We know he was a pagan idolater.

We also know he was very powerful militarily. He was a very able and strong leader in a strictly worldly sense.

He obeys the word of the Lord. He doesn't know the Lord. He knows Baal. He doesn't worship God. He prefers figurines.

God's word never fails. When he sends it it accomplishes his purposes. The will of God.

Brook's no resistance. Brook's no alternative. Even with great kings even with great kings who would have nothing to do with him if they could.

Proverbs 21 one says the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord like rivers of water he

God he turns it wherever he wishes. Didn't King Nebuchadnezzar the greatest king of his day didn't he acknowledge this when he prayed that God removes kings and he raises up kings?

He also said God does according to his will in the armies of heaven no one can say to him what have you done?

In Acts 2 23 speaking of Jesus' arrest and crucifixion Peter said that the men who did this were acting in what?

According to the predetermined purposes of God. This includes the crowd who said no crucify him let his blood be on our heads and our children's heads.

This includes the Pharisees who turned them over to Pilate. This includes Pilate who caved to the

Pharisees will. Whose will were they following? What were they obeying?

They were obeying the inalterable irresistible going to accomplish what it is sent for word of God.

I think just those few words and Ahab went to meet Elijah they should say so much to us about the

God we worship and this word that we have all scripture is given by inspiration of God and it's profitable to us.

All scripture ultimately is obeyed. Ahab does what most of us have done at one time or another when he's confronted by his sin he deflects it back to the one who confronts him.

He says to Elijah you troubler of Israel that's what he called him and that's quite an accusation.

I mean Elijah last spoke to Ahab in verse 1 of chapter 17 and that's just a few paragraphs for us but that was three and a half years before this meeting was the last time these two met.

You remember how quick that meeting was. As the Lord God of Israel before whom

I stand lives there shall be neither dew nor rain these years except at my word and off he goes to the brook

Cherith. That was three and a half years before this meeting. All he said was that according to God there's going to be a drought and he's out of there.

He hasn't been there in Israel stirring up trouble. He hasn't been there in Ahab's reign fomenting rebellion.

One simple proclamation. That's it. Yet Ahab knew that he that Elijah was the one who was heard by God when he called for this drought.

Now can you feel his insanity? I mean Ahab's insanity? He believes that Elijah is

God's prophet. He believes that the drought is as it were Elijah's fault.

He's seen for himself that the famine was severe. He's seen that Baal can do nothing about any of this yet he refuses to humble himself under the mighty hand of God.

He knows that Elijah prayed for the drought. How do we picture him?

Is he still on his mighty war horse? Spear in his hand? Sword buckled to his side?

He calls him the troubler of Israel instead of coming off the horse and bowing down before God.

Not Elijah, before God and seeking repentance. But he knows that Elijah by the power of God called for this.

This is all of us. Without Christ we are only different from Ahab in our relative positions in the world because we're not kings.

Think of it. He knows where the calamity came from. It came from God. He knows it is God's judgment against his, against Ahab's idolatry.

And now he has right in front of him the one man God will listen to and bring an end to his nation's misery.

But he will not repent. He will not humble himself. The most difficult duty the gospel calls us to is humility.

Abandoning self -righteousness. Abandoning self. It's all of us.

He will not repent. Stubbornness wells up. Pride overcomes reason. Humility is eschewed and only arrogance remains.

There's something very similar towards the end of our scripture, towards the end of the Bible. Very, very similar to this.

It's in Revelation chapter 16 and verses 10 and 11. Now, however you look at the book of Revelation, futurist or preterist or idealist view, we have in these two verses a summary of man's obstinacy.

As I read these two verses, think of the power of the gospel that overcomes this in all of us.

Think of the power of God that brings life to dead souls. Because what

I'm going to read to you is dead men's souls. Listen to this.

Then the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the thrones of the beast, and his kingdom became full of darkness.

And they gnawed their tongues because of the pain. They blasphemed the

God of heaven because of their pains and their sores and did not repent of their deeds.

Do you see Ahab there? Do we see ourselves there without the mercy, without the grace of God, without the regeneration of his

Holy Spirit to give us faith to believe? And just a hint of humility. Do you see that in there?

Where was their suffering from? It's from God. Why did

God send this suffering to them? Because of their evil deeds. How can it be stopped?

Repent? But that's too hard. That harms our pride.

To repent means to admit sin, which is the worst sin of today's modern world. If you're raised in this ethos that surrounds us, there's hardly anything you can do that's worse than to admit sin.

Though the Gospel, the Scripture, as you might expect, says there's nothing better you can do. What happens when we confess our sin?

It reduces one of this age's greatest idols, which is self -esteem. And repentance is not a natural thing.

It's a gift of God. Not by works of righteousness we have done, but according to His mercy, through the washing and regeneration of the

Holy Spirit. Proud King Ahab obeyed the

Word of God by submitting to Elijah's summons. But would he submit to God by repenting?

By falling down before God? Having known the judgment of God?

Having admitted that it was from God? Like those men in chapter 16, it's almost like the worse the suffering got, the more certain they were that it was from God, the more they blasphemed

His name. Proud King Ahab obeying the

Word of God by submitting to Elijah's summons. And he obeys again when he agrees to Elijah's demand for this contest between his

God and the true God, between Baal and between Yahweh. Let's press on.

In verse 21, Elijah came to all the people and he said, how long will you falter between two opinions? If the

Lord is God, follow Him, but if Baal, follow him. But the people answered him not a word.

Then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.

Therefore let them give us two bulls and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it, and I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire under it.

Then you call on the name of your gods and I will call on the name of the Lord and the God who answers by fire,

He is God. Pretty fair contest. 450 against one.

Though as Goliath should have trembled, these 450 should be much more circumspect about entering into this, but they are who they are.

And the terms are the same. We're both going to do the same thing. We both get a chance to call on our God and let's just see what happens.

It's really what he's saying. And all the people answered and said it is well spoken. In other words, okay, that will settle it for us.

How long will you limp along, he asks. How long will you falter between two opinions?

The word is really limp. They're not walking. They're not striding. They're not hiking. They're not running. They're limping.

They're getting nowhere. Many of you see me, you know I have multiple sclerosis if you don't know it.

And one of the effects it's had is my left leg just will not obey commands to walk rightly. And one thing that happens when you limp, it's really hard to go straight.

You actually end up going in circles. Now I've said before you don't want this disease if you don't have a sense of humor.

You have to be able to smile at yourself a little bit. But it illustrates really what Elijah is saying here.

You're limping along. You're faltering. Choose one. Choose the other. Don't have one with the other because Baal would be no happier to be with Yahweh than the other way around.

Just choose one. You're limping. One thing that happens when you're limping is you go in circles. You're not getting anywhere.

You're faltering. You see, they hadn't ultimately abandoned Yahweh. They had mixed him with these other gods, this growing pantheon.

The first command, you shall have no other gods before me. that's in tatters here. Unless they think that they're okay having other gods only with but not before.

Remember what we said at the early part of this message. According to Jesus Christ, the great command is to love the

Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength.

No room for anything else. Not before, not beside, not along with, not number one but I'll keep these others.

This is such an abject lack of faith as can hardly be described. It means that they don't think

God alone is God. They might think he's the chief of all gods, but that's really not enough.

That falls infinitely short of the biblical confession of God, the only true and living

God. It says they answered him not a word. Shame left them silent.

Shame, again. Think of shame in the modern world. Think of shame in the ethos that's outside these walls, outside the scripture.

What does shame do? Well, shame would crush your self -esteem, which it does.

Praise God that shame crushes our self -esteem. You see, shame is a good thing if it leads us somewhere.

Shame is good if it leads us somewhere. It's like worldly sorrow brings only death, but godly sorrow brings repentance.

And what does Paul mean when he says brings repentance? He's speaking of life in Christ. He's speaking of eternal life by the promises of God.

Shame is a good thing if it leads us somewhere. Don't worry about your self -esteem. Don't worry about feeling good about you.

That's a lie from the pit of hell. Be shamed for your wicked deeds.

Be with Israel. When Elijah faces them and says, How long will you falter? How long will you limp along?

You've got this piece of wood and you've got Yahweh. When are you ever going to decide? And they answered him not a word.

They were ashamed because of the men with their families behind them, the families that they've led into this atrocious way of worshiping, looking down at their feet, embarrassed, sweating, saying,

I hope he doesn't ask me a question, moving behind another guy so he's less obvious.

They're ashamed of themselves. Don't fight shame. If you sin before God, if in your spirit you know you have, don't fight the shame.

Don't force your self -righteous deeds over it and make yourself feel good about yourself. Let the shame lead you to repentance.

Let the shame lead you to the cross of Jesus Christ. Let the shame be turned by God giving you faith into rejoicing.

Peace that passes all understanding. Ezekiel 36 and verse 31 says,

Then you will remember, being then after God has taken out the heart of stone, given a heart of flesh, regenerated the soul, shown you

Jesus Christ, placed you in Him and said you are forgiven your sins, then, now that you have an answer for your sins, which is

Jesus, then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds which were not good and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominations.

Do no harm to the text if I say you will be ashamed of yourself in your own sight. And God goes on,

Not for your sake do I do this, says the Lord God. Let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways,

O house of Israel. For whose sake does God do it? For the sake of His name. For whom does

God do this? Grant repentance. For the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross that repentance might avail something.

Don't fight shame. Follow it. Follow it to the foot of the cross. And there

Jesus Christ suffered the shame that we are due. Cursed is anyone who hangs on a tree, says

Deuteronomy. Hebrews 12 .2 says that Jesus endured the cross despising what? Despising its shame.

Don't fight shame, but thank God for Jesus Christ who bore the shame that our sins deserve.

Israel couldn't answer simply because they were ashamed. They knew they had done wrong in following other gods.

Even if it was their king who ordered them to do it. They had no answer. But I do.

And if you know Jesus Christ, you do. We answer our shame by pointing to Jesus Christ who bore it.

Because of Him, I don't. Because of Him, if you have Jesus, you don't have shame before God either.

And don't think, no, my sins, pastor, you don't know how bad a thing I've done. Yes, I do.

All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There's not one of us who can stand before God on our own righteousness.

And there's not one of us who has failed, who has not sinned.

Not one. And all sin in God's sight is odious. All sin.

Any sin. Break the law at one point, says James, and you've broken the entire body of law. So if you wish to rank them, which you shouldn't, but if you wish to rank those laws of God, don't say, well,

I've only done a few of the small ones, and I've kept away from the big ones. All sin.

Jesus Christ bore it all in Himself. Well, God's word has been obeyed here.

Elijah obeyed it by leaving Zarephath and returning to Israel. Obadiah obeyed it when he delivered

Elijah's summons to the king. Ahab obeyed it first when he came, and again when he agreed to the terms for the contest.

We're thinking here, among other things, about just the power, the certainty of God's word.

There's one other group that submits to God's word, to God's will. And this might surprise us, but the prophets of Baal followed

God's word. They obeyed just like Ahab, just like Obadiah. Beginning in verse 29, now

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, now they're there at Mount Carmel, and I can't take enough time to picture for you this whole thing.

And certainly it's not every living soul of Israel is there, but Israel is completely represented, and all the prophets of Baal are there, all 450.

And he says to the prophets of Baal, he's commanding now. This is all in the command voice. Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many.

And call on the name of your God, but put no fire under it.

I'm gonna stop for a moment. The charlatans of the day had this trick where they would take logs that were very dry, they would burn up very quickly, and they'd hollow them out and fill them with tinder that was also very dry.

Then they had a way of getting a spark in there. I don't know how to describe it, but the whole thing, poof, a sudden flame, and it just amazed people, and people would fall down and worship whatever god they were advocating at the moment.

So they put no fire under it. We're gonna use logs here. No tricks.

So they took the bull. In other words, they obeyed the word of God through the prophet. They took the bull which was given them.

They prepared it, and they called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us.

But there was no voice. No one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made. And so it was at noon.

I know we love this part. I mean, every Sunday school student knows this part, right?

At noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he's meditating, or he's busy, or he's on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.

So they cried aloud and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances until the blood gushed out on them.

And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice.

No one answered. No one paid attention. False prophets of a false god, 450 of them, all of them, obeying this one solitary prophet.

They leaped at his command. And that leaping is the same word we talked about before. They limped at his command, limped before their god.

They came at Elijah's beck and call. They prepared the bowl when

Elijah told them to. They danced when Elijah demanded they dance. They cried out loud to their god when

Elijah said, you must do this. The irony of the whole thing seems totally lost on them.

Now we could spend a lot of time joining Elijah mocking them. But Elijah did enough,

I think, for all of us. And too often, when this is preached, it becomes downright funny, this mockery.

Because one translation actually says, maybe Baal is out relieving himself. And then we all smirk and smile and think of how stupid it is to follow a god like that, especially in the face of Yahweh.

But brethren, it's not funny. We don't have a humorous situation here. These men have been deceived.

I'm speaking of the Baal prophets. They've been deceived. And we all know what's about to happen. They're going to be executed.

They're going to be executed. They're going to lose this contest. We already know that. They're going to pay for their sins with their lives.

They're going to be marched to the Brook Kishon and be killed. And they have no hope. Their god is shown to be false.

And why do we not laugh at this? Why do we not join in the mockery? For one reason, these men are in hell, eternally ashamed for their iniquities.

It's just not funny. Elijah was mocking them, but that's a far different thing than joking.

The word here for mocking is found only here. It means to mock or it means to deceive.

And the noun is found only once in Job 17 .2. I won't read that now. I only make one point from this.

We have in our Bibles 66 books. I won't count the chapters and the paragraphs. 66 books written over a few thousand years.

We have history from creation to the return of Christ. This word's used twice.

Once as a verb. Once as a noun. And I just admonish all of us in our conduct with each other, our conduct with the world at large, let us be mockers as often as the scripture.

Twice. In all those thousands of years. I would suggest we avoid it altogether.

He tells them to cry louder in case he's away, in case he's busy. But there was no voice.

No one answered. No one paid attention. I would like you for a moment to be very, very quiet in here.

I sort of expected, if I asked for this, this is when the kids would cry out. The air conditioners would kick on.

If you're really warm, it's because I forgot to turn them on this morning. Be as quiet as you can.

I want you to listen very, very carefully. I don't mean the birds out here.

But do you know what you're hearing? What you're hearing is

Baal's answer. Nothing. You're hearing nothing at all because this

God that they're worshiping, they're dancing around, they're limping around before, He is nothing.

He doesn't exist. He's a figment of their own imaginations. He's a piece of wood or stone or some type of precious metals.

He's nothing. He's whatever we make

Him out to be. I'm very convinced that that's what idols are. They're us.

And we just say, here's what I'm gonna allow you to be and what I will allow for you to tell me to do.

That's the voice. What you just heard. Nothing.

But now it's Elijah's turn. Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me.

So all the people came near to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the

Lord had come, saying, Israel shall be your name. Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the

Lord, and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seals of seed. Then he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood and said,

Fill the four waterpots with water, and pour it on the sacrifice and on the wood. Then he said,

Do it a second time, and they did a second time. Then he said, Do it a third time, and they did a third time. So the water ran all around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water.

And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said,

Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.

Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God and that you have turned their hearts back to you again.

Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, The Lord, he is

God. The Lord, he is God. No tricks, no shenanigans, no hollowed out logs filled with tinder.

The fire came from above. No doubt that Elijah didn't do it. Not with all that water.

And with all that water, and with them, the Baalists, now standing aside helplessly watching, no doubt that they had nothing at all to do with it.

After all the drama, Elijah, in quiet confidence, prays for God to bring his people to their senses.

And this he did, consuming everything, not just the bull, but also the water, also the wood, the stones, the dust, everything, gone.

And now they believe. Now they see the error of their ways. Now they set themselves to follow the Lord. The Lord, he is

God. The Lord, he is God. No better confession could be made, no simpler confession than this.

The Lord, he is God. And who is that Lord? He is Jesus Christ, exemplified in all of this.

Now they believed. We serve a God to be obeyed, as God to be worshipped.

Not a figment of our imagination, not one who's out on a journey, or resting, or maybe busy with a fancy dinner.

Not a God like that, but a real, living, true God, and the only God, and a

God who answers. If you need fire to fall from the sky before you will believe, then

I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. I can't promise you, I cannot guarantee you that it's not going to happen, but I don't think it will.

I don't think it will. Even Jesus' disciples, in what was read to you from Luke, they were rebuked when they wanted to play

Elijah and call down fire on the unhospitable Samaritans. Jesus says, you don't know what manner of spirit you are of.

The Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. Elijah asked for God to consume the offering for life, not for death.

He wanted Israel to return to the font of life, not to see them destroyed. That's the spirit of Elijah, to bring life.

God once spoke from a mountain, which is Sinai, with thunder, with lightning, with threatenings, condemning any living thing that dared even touch the mountain.

He gave us law. He promised blessings for obedience, promised curses on disobedience.

And now on another mount, God speaks. Mount Carmel. And there, what did

He speak? He spoke forgiveness. He condescended to show Himself in order that men might repent.

And from their hearts, they make that confession, that the

Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God, and no other. Who is that Lord?

It's Jesus Christ, the one before whom every knee shall bow and every tongue confess to the glory of God the

Father. It was forgiveness that was spoken. The law was spoken from Mount Sinai.

They're from this mountain, forgiveness. God spoke from another mount when

Jesus stood before Israel and blessed them with the beatitudes. When He gave them God's law.

When He stood and told them, here is God's will for you, that you should be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Much as at Sinai, did not in the sermon in the mount, when

Jesus stood on that mount, did He not promise blessing for obedience and pronounce the curses, the depart from me you who practice lawlessness,

I never knew you, for disobedience. And yet again, from another mount, once again

God spoke by His Son, by Jesus Christ. If on the sermon, on the mount where Jesus gave the sermon, there's another mount.

If that sermon on the mount where the law was given corresponds to Sinai, then there's another mount that corresponds to Carmel where forgiveness was proclaimed.

It's a hill called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull. The place where Jesus Christ was crucified.

On Calvary's mount where He suffered the penalty that we are due. And while He hung on the cross, with His last gasping breath, the

Savior cried out to God, Father into your hands, I commit my spirit and He breathed His last.

These prophets received no answer. We did a little experiment a little while ago, there's no answer.

God, the God we worship, the God I proclaim to you this morning is a God who answers.

He answers. Not with fire from the sky, but with something far greater.

When Jesus Christ said into your hands, I commit my spirit, what was the answer?

It was the resurrection. Not fire from the sky, but Jesus Christ rising up from the grave.

He resurrected Him. The answer is He raised Him from the dead. The men, they pleaded for Baal to answer, but he didn't.

He couldn't. Our God answers. If you call out to Him, He answers.

If you're hearing the cry now for repentance, if it's stirring your soul and you will go to God and say,

God, I repent of my sins and wish Your forgiveness. If that's from your heart, if that's with a faith that God has given you, because only

God can give a true faith that isn't mixed with our own self -righteousness. I tell you,

God answers. We know this answer by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The final answer to all of our sin.

Ask Him for faith to believe. Without faith, it's impossible to please God. Whoever comes to Him must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek

Him. But God, unlike these others, the God of our

Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a God who answers. Amen? Lord God, thank

You for Jesus Christ. Thank You for the cross where like Carmel, forgiveness was preached, but Father, on the cross, so much greater.

An end to our shame. An end to having to look up but not be able to answer a word.

Father, because Jesus Christ has covered all our sins with His blood, I thank

You, Lord, for the faith You've given to believe. I pray, Lord, that You would grant that faith to others that today would be the day of salvation for many.

I thank You, Lord, that You are a Father that when we cry out to You, when Your children cry out, as Jesus says, will

He not speedily answer those and give them the Holy Spirit? I thank

You for all this, Father. I pray You continue to be with us as we continue in worship. In Christ's name, Amen.