ES019 Choose!

Rev. Ian M. Thomas

Oldfield Free Church (Baptist)

Special Services • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago • Presented 5 years ago • 17:15

1 Kings 18:20–39

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1 Kings 18:20–39 NIV

20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. 22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.” 25 Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” 26 So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. 29 Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention. 30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.” 34 “Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. 35 The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. 36 At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. 37 Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. 39 When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

Decide! V.21

Here comes Elijah who has got Ahab to bring all the people together on the massive mountain called Carmel and there is one thing on his mind…to turn people’s hearts and minds back to God. We know, also, that it was on the mind of God to turn the hearts and minds back to Him according to verse 37.

Now the key to all this is verse 21. Decide! Choose! Come on now – choose! It is said that making no decision at all is the wrong decision! And this was the problem with these people that Elijah was talking to. They had been going along with whatever without really deciding whom they were going to serve.

We sometimes think that plurality and syncrecity is a present-day phenomenon - that is, it doesn’t matter what you believe even if it is in nothing or it is a mishmash of this religion or this belief according to how we personally put things together. I have what I believe and you have what you believe. This is no different to the time nearly 2900 years ago in Elijah’s day. His point is as is mine today: it matters what you believe and whom you serve.

And now you have to decide. Will it be your personal belief or belief in the true and living God who has revealed Himself through Jesus Christ? This is a call to people to be in relationship with this God, a God of the old ways whom people of the past served well in Wales to today’s people who do not yet believe.

For Elijah on this particular mountain he asked the question: Who will you serve? Today, here I ask you: who will you serve?

In Elijah’s time people served a god called Baal who represented a satisfaction of the mind, of economic well-being and sexual desire. That doesn’t sound too different to today. The priests of Baal would have sex with his followers and supposedly the powers of Baal would be transferred to you and the sun and the rain upon the crops would bring prosperity. Today we cut out Baal and cut to the chase for money, sex and fun are the new gods of this age. But as Mick Jagger said: I can’t get no satisfaction. It leaves an empty hole that nothing can fill.

The call is going out to serve the living eternal God who gives life in all its fullness.

Choose!

Of course, if God is not real then why bother with morality at all? why not live for money, sex, fun and entertainment even if there seems to be no purpose.

But if God is real then judgement is coming and we have to answer for everything we have done.

How will you choose what is right unless you are told?

I think that the fact of Jesus being born and dying and rising again is sufficient evidence. And I really mean evidence. And what of all the changed lives through the centuries and all the amazing things that have been done through Christians.

And this is what people needed that day on the mountain. They needed evidence to move from complacency about what they believed to become people of one God. What happened?

1 Kings 18:38–39 NKJV

38 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. 39 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!”

This sudden realisation that God, who is Almighty and awesome in power, could easily destroy them changed them radically: The Lord, He is God! And this God is our God!

Wake up call to the Church

But is this decision just for those who are not yet part of the Church? Was Elijah’s challenge not to those who were God’s people already? Then as an extension of that the challenge is for us: who are we going to serve? who is going to get priority? who is going to be loved more?

In the letter to the Laodiceans in Revelation chapter 3 we are told about a lukewarm Church. They were told to choose. You cannot be both for the world and for God. This is a daily decision so who will we serve this day? Isn’t the Lord our God, GOD?!

We need to be zealous for the Lord seeking full commitment to Jesus and His ways instead of an easy believism that has no evidential change in our lives.

Boldness v.36-37

Last week was Pentecost when the Holy Spirit baptised the Church and we since are filled with God therefore we need to express boldness.

Boldness is having faith in what God has said to us,

confidence in His Word,

confidence in Jesus who was raised from the dead,

confidence to see God be true and confirm His Word with signs and wonders – and why not?

If God speaks and we know He does why not have confidence that God will speak to people other than ourselves today?

Why not have confidence that God will back Himself up –

why not have confidence that God says that I will build my church and simply believe it for the Kingdom of God is not about words about His power.

We cannot prove God’s existence through some scientific or mathematical method – but He has given us His Holy Spirit to enable us to do his works and having been sealed with His Holy Spirit we are to make disciples and that means calling people into a holy relationship with God.

This means becoming people of action, for God is not going to lift us out of our armchairs and comfort – he expects us to get up – God goes with the goers, God works with the workers. When we step out in faith in God then we are on solid ground.

We will only see God work in ways that we hear about around the world when we are obedient to His word – and throw off the things that shackle us – when we are committed to His way, to His Kingdom then He will move in power. How do I know? Because God promises it.

God has proven time and again to me over the 33 years I have been a Christian – God works when we go – it’s when we stay in our comfort zone that nothing happens. Being obedient to God’s word is going to bring awkward moments, is going to bring hardship, is going to bring humility rather than egotism, boldness instead of fear, joy instead of sadness for the joy of the Lord is our strength – we can trust God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us and if God can raise Jesus from the dead and His Spirit lives in us then nothing is impossible.

Be bold, be strong, for the Lord your God is with you. Be on fire for the Lord for it will become contagious.

When Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedren when the lame man was healed they said: We cannot but speak about all that Jesus has done.

Sometimes we forget how great God is despite the songs we sing. Know that God is on our side if we seek to do His will.

Hudson Taylor said:

The Key to the Missionary Problem Chapter V: The China Inland Mission and the Power of Believing Prayer

“God Himself is the great source of power. Power belongeth unto God.… Further, God’s power is available power. We are a supernatural people, born again by a supernatural birth, kept by a supernatural power, sustained on supernatural food, taught by a supernatural Teacher from a supernatural book. We are led by a supernatural Captain in right paths to assured victories. The risen Saviour, ere He ascended on high, said to His disciples, ‘Ye shall receive power when the Holy Ghost is come upon you.

Elijah sought the glory of God, heard his commands, obeyed with boldness, and sought to turn people’s hearts back to the living God – the God who can answer by fire, if He so chooses.

None of us are Elijah – but we are all called to be bold, be strong, to side with God and seek to turn others to him. Let us put our trust in the God who raised Jesus from the dead and can answer by fire!

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