The Doublemindedness of Unbelievers

By Pastor Matt Black

02 December 2007
Lord's Day evening
1 Kings 18:20-24

Introduction: Open your Bibles to the book of 1 Kings 18:20-22.

We talk a lot about the perseverance of the saints, the fact that a true believer can never ultimately fall away, though they can very well stumble. God makes the people He indwells holy. He makes every single one of the people He indwells to be holy people. Why is it that this truth is in Scripture? What is it there for, and how is it manifested? The truth of the matter is that when God the Holy Spirit comes inside of a person we are sealed. And He never leaves us! The difference between a false professor and a true believer is this: a false professor can live in sin, excuses sin, and looks to get away with sin. A true believer may sin, but he hates sin.

Elijah pulls the carpet from under false and hypocritical professors of faith in Israel. Here we have a man that is standing alone against these double-minded unbelievers in the name of the Lord. One lone prophet of the Lord against 450 prophets of Baal and the whole unbelieving nation are gathering at Mount Carmel. This is the situation we find in 1 Kings 17:20-24, “So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 22 Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let Him by God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken”.

[Prayer for guidance]

Introduction: Following the Lord means that you follow Him whether it is popular or not. You follow him even if you that which is dear to you. You follow Him even if you have to stand alone. It’s an all or nothing thing. Jesus said, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). Jesus message is to forsake ALL and follow me. He said that “every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life” (Matthew 19:29).

Jesus said it again this way. Matthew 10:37-38, “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.”

If you stand for God you may need to stand alone, but the child of God that stands alone is NEVER alone. God stands with you!! He will “never leave you nor forsake you”.

We come now in 1 Kings 18:20 to a man who was standing alone.

I. First, let’s take consideration of the crowd Elijah was in. Because you’ve got to be willing to stand alone for God whether everyone is for you or whether everyone is against you. Your principles must never change due to whether or not they are popular.

So let’s check out the crowd.

A. Prophets of Baal. So Four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal array on Mount Carmel all wearing turbans with sun symbols flashing in the rays of the sun that had been beaming on them for three and a half years without any rain.

B. The people of Israel. Throngs of people—“all the children of Israel” it says in verse 20, were gathering there on that mountain.

C. King Ahab would have been carried in a small covered chariot by his guard through the crowd.

D. Oh, one more was in the crowd. Elijah! "And Elijah came unto all the people" (verse 21). Now let’s understand something. Elijah is standing for God against the odds. He was a wanted man. There was no nation or kingdom where Ahab had not sent to take Elijah dead or alive (18:10). Ahab was among the people that day and looked upon this prophet of God as the cause of all his troubles.

The Souls Assembled

So you have all the people, 450 prophets of Baal, the prophet Elijah, and King Ahab all gathered on Mount Carmel. “One of the most dramatic acts in the whole history of Israel was about to be staged” [AW Pink].

E. But I must say that those were not the only ones assembled. It may have seemed like Elijah was alone against those prophets of Baal. But that’s because you’re looking from man’s perspective. The truth is all of heaven was behind him. Multitudes of angels were filling that mountain, though you could not see them. A multitude of the devils of hell were surely on that mountain too. Elijah was just a man like you and me, but he was a man of faith. He saw that the people of his homeland were in the bondage of he wicked one, and here was a man that would stand against them.

II. Now let us consider the challenge that Elijah faced.

Consider the prophet making the challenge. All he had was the presence and the promises of God. Verse 21 says, “Elijah came unto all the people” and he was standing alone! I think of the time of Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 22:30, God cries out, “I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.” God doesn’t need armies or great multitudes to bring change to your neighborhood. He needs one sold out person. And though God could find no one to stand in the gap in Ezekiel’s day, there was a man in the days of King Ahab. That man was the prophet Elijah.

Now let us look at the selfishness of the people challenged. Why were they on that mountain?

Now all the people came to see a show, but they had no idea what they were about to see. It was certainly said among them that Elijah was going to bring down rain from heaven. They certainly were not expecting fire! People will gather to see a show. But instead of a show, Elijah was going to deal with their sins.

All true Gospel preaching churches are built on dealing with sin and holiness, not entertainment. Entertainment never saved anyone, and it never made anyone holy. Elijah was standing on Mount Carmel to call the sins of these people to remembrance. He was there to expose the vanity in the people’s lives.

Are there vain things in your life? Are there idols that you carry with you? These people truly thought they were serving God, but they did not love God. They loved vanity and entertainment. How about you? Is there any part of your life that God would characterize as vain or empty?

Now listen to the challenge that Elijah gives. Elijah is ready to speak. Notice he says nothing to the false teachers. He knew that after this was all over they would be put to death (verse 40). We are to expose false teachers, but stay far away from them. False teachers are scorners. They make a living by twisting God’s word, and many of them are apostates and are unredeemable.

1. The tottering people. So Elijah lifts up his voice with a question to the people:”How long halt ye between two opinions?" (verse 21). The word for "halt" is totter, like a teeter totter. The people in most danger are those who have the truth but hold to it nominally and half heartedly. They were afraid of the Lord, but they loved the sinful pleasures associated with Baal and Ashtoreth worship.

2. You cannot serve two masters! Now this question of Elijah’s puts to rest the saying that all ways lead to heaven. “If the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him” (verse 21).

Luke 16:13 says, “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”

There were times when those Israelites attempted to serve both God and Baal. It had been only 58 years since the death of Solomon, and Baal worship infected the land. How did it spread so rapidly and gain popularity so quickly? One word: leadership. Everything rises or falls on those who are leading. The Bible records of these people: that they “feared the Lord, and served other gods” (2 Kings 17:33). But God will not accept a divided heart: He will have all or none. Titus 1:16 says that there are a group of people who “profess that they know God; but in works they deny Him”. But true Christians are by definition holy people. They are called “saints”.

Application (A Word to Fathers and Mothers)

Let me have a word right now with fathers and mothers. What kind of prophets of the Lord are you. Do you say you love God at church but in private promote that which God abominates? You are leading your children. You can say you love God, but do you love Him from the heart? Does your heart beat for prayer? Do you speak often of the Lord, tenderly to your children?

The Lord is a jealous God, demanding our complete devotion and affection. He will not accept a divided empire with Baal or any other god. Jesus is Lord! And He’s either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all! You may say that Jesus is Lord, but whatever you yield your heart to obey is your real master. As Romans 6:19 says, “as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness.” Paul says this is a mark of a true Christian. He’s constantly aware of the corrupt flesh his spirit inhabits and supremely concerned to yield every moment of every day to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

You are either for the Lord or against Him. There is no compromise. You must declare which side you are on. When Moses came down from the mountain and saw the people of Israel dancing around the golden calf, after destroying the idol and rebuking Aaron, he stood in the gate of the camp and said, “Who is on the Lord’s side? let him come unto me” (Exodus 32:26).

We need some godly fathers and godly mothers to stand up and say with Joshua “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).

Jesus said, “He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad” (Matthew 12:30).

3. But now let us talk about the myth of the lukewarm “believer”. There is no such thing. All the followers of Baal from Israel thought themselves to be followers also of God. The most repulsive thing to the Lord are those who are the Lukewarm false professors. They have “a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof”. Turn over to Revelation 3:15. Jesus says to those fruitless professors of Christ in the church: “I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”

Now look at what they believed. Their view of themselves was all wrong.

They believed themselves to be:	Jesus said they were:
Rich	Wretched
Increased with goods	Miserable
Having need of nothing	Poor
	Blind
	And Naked

Jesus solution for these lukewarm professors was that they need to be converted. They were lost! The fruit of true faith is radical commitment to Christ seen through:

1.) Perseverance: verse 18a, “I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich”

2.) The Robe of Christ’s Righteousness: verse 18b, “white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear”

3.) And finally, Inward Illumination from the Holy Spirit, verse 18c, “anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”

False professors halt between two opinions. “What communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?”

Are you a sold out Christian? That’s the only kind there is! There is not a subset of carnal Christians. Oh, you may be battling in an area of your life with the flesh. The battle is constant in this body of corruption.

A Challenge to Young People

Let me talk to the young people of the congregation. There are several of you who are getting ready to go into the world, and you need to make a choice to serve God for yourself. Mom and Dad are not going to be with you. If you totter and halt between two opinions, you will most definitely fall. You are not saved by what you say, you are saved by what God has done in your heart, and that shows through your life both public and private. If you have two masters you are not saved. Either Jesus is Lord of all or He is not Lord at all.

The night I got saved the preacher said “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything”, and it’s still true today.

A genuine Christian has a true heart involvement in the work of the Lord. Verse 21b, “If Jehovah be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.” “The double minded man is unstable in all his ways” (James 1:8).

So we considered the crowd, we considered the challenge. Now we need to consider the response.

III. Finally, we need to consider the response.

The Response of the People

Verse 21c, “And the people answered him not a word”. Some in the crowd were under deep conviction, and others were angry, but would not say a word. Silence is a good reaction to preaching. All were amazed at Elijah’s words. He laid it straight out there for all to see. That’s what good teaching and preaching does. Yet it is not enough to be challenged. We must be changed. We must turn to God!

The Response of Elijah.

Verses 22-24, “Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under. And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let Him by God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken” (verses 22-24). Now Baal was supposed to be the fire god, or lord of the sun, so Elijah plays to this. He gave the false prophets the preference, so that the outcome of the contest might even more obviously give glory to God.

It was a fair challenge. They had to either comply with the challenge or acknowledge that Baal was an impostor and a false god!

Conclusion: Now in conclusion, let us ask what are some of the false gods in this world? Put them to the test.

Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). The TV and media offer you rest and entertainment. This is where the rubber meets the road. Which will you choose?

Some must choose between a good job or Sunday and Wednesday nights with God’s people. Some of you will choose between the robbing God of His tithe and a few things that you don’t need. But God says “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).

But truly these Scriptures are not meant for Christians. When Elijah said, “How long halt ye between two opinions?” he was not addressing believers, but exposing false professors.

How about you? Do you truly know God, or do you love the world? You may be like Judas Iscariot—trusted by the Lord’s people. Judas carried the money bag he was so trusted. You can fool a lot of people, but you cannot fool God. You cannot play games with a God who knows every thought you think. Are you 100% sure that if you died you would be welcomed into heaven? Do you have the fruit of genuine holiness in your life? Do you love the Scriptures? Do you long to pray more and more? Do you hate sin? Do you suffer at times for your testimony in Jesus? If so, rejoice and be exceeding glad. If you said no to these things, then you need to be saved. “How long halt ye between two opinions?”