The Failure of False Allegiances
09
December 2007
Lord's Day evening
1 Kings 18:19-26
Introduction: Open your Bibles to the book of 1 Kings 18:19-26. The title of the message is “The Failure of False Allegiances”.
We come back to an amazing day in the life of Elijah. Four hundred and fifty priests of Baal were together at the foot of Mount Carmel—one prophet of God was there. Looking on were a multitude of people from the surrounding area. Elijah’s command in verses 19 and 20 was for “send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table. 20 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.” I want you to notice the group missing from Mount Carmel: the four hundred prophets of Asherah “the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table”.
We continue reading in verse 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. 23 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: 24 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 be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. 25 And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.”
I. In the people gathered we find three Postures or relationships to the truth. We see three groups of people gathered on the Mount Carmel hillside: you have the enemy, the actor, and the actual child of God.
(1) You have the actual child of God who stands all out for God. (Arms up to heaven). Elijah is the true servant of God. Sure, there were “a hundred men of the Lord’s prophets” hidden away in a cave (verse 13). God’s people are either preaching or being persecuted, but they are never at ease.
(2) You have the outright enemy of God who loves the world. (Arms crossed). Then you have those who are clearly on the side of the world and the wicked one.
(3) And finally you had the actors. (Arms up in the air with hand up). These were the undecideds. These are in the vast majority, and they are not their own group, but are a subset of the enemies of God. They had a knowledge of God. They had a profession of God. But they had not yet decided if they were going to serve Him for themselves. Serving God in Elijah’s day meant death. Serving God in any day is hard. For Elijah it meant fleeing the countryside and living even in a Gentile land for a while. For the hundred prophets of God that Obadiah cared for, it meant waking up in a cave and eating whatever Obadiah could get his hands on. These were real people. No air conditioning. No heat. Damp sleeping conditions. No showers.
Now we have this same group of people here today. Believers, unbelievers, and a sub group of unbelievers, whom I will call the “undecideds”. Which group are you in tonight? Truly which group? The undecideds have a love for God. It even seems real at times. There is emotion. Do not depend on the fact that you have an emotional feeling about Christ. Do you know Christ? “How long halt ye between two opinions?” verse 21.
There will be no Christianized pagans in heaven. There is no such thing as a Christian who loves the world. “whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).
II. Now let’s look at two Patterns of truth of truth I see in this text.
A. Truth is polarizing.
Elijah asks the question: “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him” (verse 21). Elijah makes it very plain. To waver between God and evil is to be on the edge of evil. There are no “halfway” Christians. If you are saved then you are not a half-saved person. Just like there are only two eternal homes in God’s universe: heaven and hell. There is no purgatory. Truth is polarizing. You are at all times either sinning or serving God. There is no middle ground. In other words, to say “I’m not sure about Christ” is the same thing as saying no. The majority of hell will be filled with religious people. The vast majority will not be hard core pagans. Satan and his people love darkness, that is true, but he and his people can also be angels of light. So this point tonight is not for Christians, but those who simply say they are Christians, but who are really undecided.
B. Truth is often unpopular.
Now look at verse 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”. Elijah was the last man standing for God.
· Have you ever feel like you are the only parent interested in building your home on biblical principals?
· That you are the only person on your job that cares about integrity?
· That you're the only teenager who is committed to remaining pure until marriage?
That’s sad, but it’s not a bad place to be in. But don’t expect to be applauded for doing right in this world.
If you haven’t noticed yet living out a life of truth and devotion to God is not popular. “The Devil has ever had the vast majority on his side” (AW Pink). How many churches out of all those that claim to be “Christian” churches out there actually preach the truth? How many preachers practice what they preach?
The quickest way to empty a church is to preach truth and expect obedience to Christ. People don’t go for that. Thankfully there are some large groups of Christians that serve God today, but the vast majority of enormous church buildings are filled with empty souls.
Most people are not willing to go through the hassle of following Christ. Now I want you to notice that Elijah’s sermon is directed not toward the priests of Baal, but against the vast majority of the people who had gone to worshipping both God and idols.
The majority that you will meet today are part of the undecideds. This tells us that truth cannot be judged by the numbers who hold to it.
C. Truth is productive. Elijah says in verse 22, “I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord”. True Christians are Christians for ever. They persevere. Every Christian has genuine fruit that remains! How can you tell if you are a true professor or just a Christian actor? “By their fruits ye shall know them.” You will be known by your fruit.
· A Christian may struggle with prayer, but every Christians has a prayer life.
· A Christian may struggle in the Word, but every Christian has not just a curiosity, but a deep hunger for God that can only be filled by God.
The life of one Christian living for God changes the landscape of a home, or a neighborhood, of a community. That is essentially what Jesus was saying in Matthew 5:13-14, "Ye are the salt of the earth ... Ye are the light of the world."
1. As light, our lives MUST display a visible difference. Our character MUST shine in the world, attracting the attention of those living in moral darkness.
2. As salt, our faith MUST make others desire and thirst for God. Our faith MUST demonstrate that God is real and reliable, preserved from the rottenness of this world, and that everything else is undependable.
Which camp are you in? Are you an enemy, an actor, or an actual child of God?
III. Now let’s look at the Proof of that which is true. Look at verse 23, Elijah gives the details of how this challenge would proceed. He says to the prophets of Baal, “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: 24 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 be God”. If Baal is the true God, then let him answer and let all see.
A. The true God can display his power for all to see. So let’s look at the location of this test. The battle was to occur at “Mount Carmel”. Mount Carmel provided the ideal platform for demonstrating the reality of the true and living God.
· It rises 1000 feet from the surrounding plain, leveling off to form a plateau visible from 20 miles away.
· The plateau easily accommodated the 450 priests and many hundreds of witnesses.
· When the fire from heaven strikes the altar, it would be visible for miles in every direction.
· Mount Carmel is located in northern Israel about 20 miles from the border of Zidon (the nation of Baal-worship). Elijah could not have chosen a more appropriate spot to display the powerlessness of Baal and the power of God.
So the battle is set.
B. And the prophets of Baal would have been dedicated to the challenge. Verse 24 says, “all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.” The people thought this test should be no problem for the prophets of Baal since Baal was the sun or the fire god. Baal was very much like the God of Molech, but he was also considered the god of storms, thunder and rain, land and hills.[1] To Baal’s followers, a flash of lightening was the symbol of his power. The prophets of Baal should easily be able to produce fire, if they serve the fire god. Incidentally, in Baal worship, this false god has a wife, which is Asherah, the goddess of fertility, the ugaritic version of what the Greeks later called “Diana”.
Turn over to Jeremiah 19:5. Elijah’s challenge should be easy for the prophets of Baal. Baal was the sun god. For three and a half years, the prophets of Baal had their chance. They had free reign of Israel, and surely Jezebel must have commanded them to make it rain. But they were fruitless. They should have been able to produce fire from heaven, since Baal was the sun or the fire god. Look at Jeremiah 19:5, “They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spake it, neither came it into my mind”. The worship of fire is associated with both Baal and Moloch in ancient times.
C. Finally we see the dismal results of trusting in falsehood. Look at verse 25, “And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 26 And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made.”
One of the easiest ways to convince a person of his need of God is to let him experience the failure of his own way.
1. Look at the failure of misplaced Prayer, verse 26, the false prophets “called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us.”. Dedication does not mean what you are serving is the real thing. Many people around the world are dedicated to false things.
2. Look at the failure of misdirected Passion. “Round and round that altar they went in their wild and mystic dance, breaking rank now and again to leap up and down on the altar, all the while repeating their monotonous chant, "O Baal, hear us, O Baal hear us"—send down fire on the sacrifice. They wearied themselves with going through the various exercises of their idolatrous worship, keeping it up three whole hours.” (A. W. Pink)
3. Look at the failure of misguided Expectations. These false prophets “called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered”. Depend on anything but God, and you will be disappointed!
Conclusion: We don't have to call down fire from heaven, because we are not trying to reach people who serve a fire god. In our day, people are worshipping at other altars.
· The altar of human philosophy. What is needed are Christians who reject those philosophies and build their lives on the principles of God's Word.
· The altar of false piety. Religion just for show. Or works righteousness—trying to be a good person. All the good we do fails to take away our sin.
· The altar of pragmatism. People worship whatever gets them what they want! It could be a job, it could be a relationship. People worship all kinds of things. This is utilitarian religion.
Nothing deals with our real problem—our conscience! Our sin! Our lack of holiness! There’s only one thing that never fails! We need to let people see that the eternal, unchanging truth of God's Word works where everything else fails.
Is the power of God being manifested in your life with the fruit of holiness, answer prayer, change and power in the Holy Ghost?
Closing Hymn: 400 Take My Life and Let it Be
[1] From an article “The Lost City of Ugarit” online at http://www.shunya.net/Text/Ugarit/Ugarit.htm.