Vindication of True God

The point: Beware of any professed servant of Christ who doesn't want you to get near to him and know him as he really is.

Baptism and the Lord's Supper are presented as object lessons, similar to Elijah's actions, teaching essential spiritual truth through physical activity.

This is not peculiar to the old economy, for the only two ordinances imposed upon the New Testament church are object lesson ordinances, that of baptism and the Lord's supper, where we take into our hands and with physical activity of the elements of the bread and the wine or the water set forth in object lesson form essential spiritual truth. And so he calls the people unto him, first of all because he does not fear exposure, he has nothing to hide, and secondly because he would teach them by object lesson as well as by verbal precept. And before we move on then to the activity of the prophet...

5:42 - 7:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of any professed servant of Christ who doesn't want you to get near to him and know him as he really is.

A warning against ministers who preach well but do not stand up to close scrutiny in their personal lives, contrasting with Elijah's transparency.

He said, I not only commend my truth to you, I say, come near and look at the life in which the truth is couched. Beware of any professed servant of Christ who doesn't want you to get near to him and know him as he really is. I'm not talking now of an over-familiarity that breeds contempt. I'm not talking of the buddy-buddy concept of the ministry prevalent in our day.

7:05 - 7:28 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Elijah systematically repairs the thrown-down altar of the Lord, using twelve stones to symbolize the unity of Israel. He builds it 'in the name of Jehovah' and digs a trench…

Martin shares his personal struggle with an interpretation (Elijah building two altars) that no commentator supports, highlighting the difficulty of novel interpretations.

It was not simply the decay of time. And then it seems as though, after repairing that altar, verse 31, and Elijah took twelve stones and reared an altar, or built an altar, in the name of Jehovah. Now I checked every single commentator I have, and not one of them takes that view. Well, I'm scared to death if I come up with something that no one else has ever come up with before.

10:42 - 11:09 Read in full sermon

Driving home: So that thrown down altar was to the eye of the prophet a living symbol of the state of the hearts of the people of God. What happened in that altar had happened in the hearts of these multitudes.

Used to explain the possibility of the Hebrew narrative structure where a simple statement is followed by a more detailed account, applying it to the altar building.

So the possibility, and I won't make a point of the other, though if I could prove he built two altars, I think there's a tremendous point to be made. Because Elijah apparently knew that the altar he was building was going to be consumed. And he still wanted that monument to the historic flow of God's dealings with the people of God to be there. But the other possibility is that you have, and you have this in Hebrew poetry, where you have this recapitulation like you also have in Genesis 1 and 2.

11:09 - 11:37 Read in full sermon

The point: The way back to the open heavens is the way of repairing the altars that have been broken down, renewing covenantal vows with the living God.

Imagines the people watching Elijah calmly collect and count the twelve stones, gradually realizing the significance of the number for the tribes of Israel.

There must be a reestablishment of covenantal relationship with the living God. Elijah was setting before them a principle that stands on the face of Scripture that in the life of every individual child of God, any church of God, any nation, the way back to the open heavens is the way of repairing the altars that have been broken down. The way back is the way of renewing covenantal vows with the living God, coming by way of an acceptable sacrifice until that relationship to God is once again what it ought to be. Now assuming that the next verse tells how he repaired the altar, what is the sign...

14:39 - 15:51 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Elijah systematically repairs the thrown-down altar of the Lord, using twelve stones to symbolize the unity of Israel. He builds it 'in the name of Jehovah' and digs a trench…

Invites the audience to imagine the people's confusion as Elijah, after the frenzied Baal worship, calmly digs a trench, wondering if he has lost his mind.

Here are the people. They've seen this show with all of its frenzy and now they wonder from frenzy to folly what is the prophet doing? No frenzy, but has he lost his mind? Has this six-hour show taken its toll upon him?

18:09 - 18:24 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And this is characteristic of the true servants of God. Once they know the mind of God they can move forth carefully to do what God has said.

Used to vividly describe the appearance of the drenched bullock sacrifice, with hair matted and wood dark, to help the audience visualize the scene.

Can you think what it looked like? You've seen what your dog looked like after you give it a bath and before you dry it. The hair on that bullock, flat against its skin, matted with the water. The wood dark as it's drenched with the water.

22:02 - 22:18 Read in full sermon

Driving home: And this is characteristic of the true servants of God. Once they know the mind of God they can move forth carefully to do what God has said.

Describes archaeological findings of heathen altars designed with hidden systems to create the illusion of fire, explaining why Elijah doused the sacrifice to eliminate suspicion of trickery.

Well apparently he does this so that he'll eliminate all suspicion of trickery. Someone who's done some work in excavating some of the heathen altars of eastern land says that some of them were fascinating for the system of pipes and funnels that would come from other places up from the earth or from behind where the altar was built so that they could, these heathen priests, could by this trickery give the semblance of creating fire and then fire would be blown, you know, the effect of a flu and a draft and they would put a fire at one end of it and it would be sucked through and look like it ...

23:09 - 24:07 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Elijah prays a God-centered, simple, earnest, and brief prayer at the time of the evening oblation. He addresses Jehovah as the covenant-keeping God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel…

Connects the timing of Elijah's evening sacrifice to the ultimate evening sacrifice of Christ on the cross, and the rending of the temple veil.

And so again the prophet seeking to show by object lesson the essential unity of the people of God at the precise time when a lamb was being offered at Jerusalem, there in Samaria, there on Mount Carmel, the prophet is offering up this offering unto the living God. At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice and wherever you find the evening sacrifice mentioned in Scripture, you must allow your mind to go down to that time when the final evening sacrifice was made for it was precisely at the time of the evening sacrifice that the Lord Jesus hung upon the cross and the wrath of a holy ...

26:03 - 27:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Examine if the passion of your life and prayers is God-centered, not selfish, especially when praying for loved ones.

A story about a Scots woman who says she 'shoots up a volley to the Lord' when she prays, illustrating the brevity and earnestness of Elijah's prayer.

Elijah by Mendelsohn he captured this thing beautifully where there is repetition but without repetition but without repetition but without repetition without any sense of vain repetition but a rising tide of earnestness the prophet is all fire and earnestness as he pleads with God his prayer is God centered simple, earnest and notice it's brevity no three hour chant no six hour show I'm trying to think who told me this oh John McConaughey he knows a Scots woman who says when I pray I just shoot up a volley to the Lord we shoot up a volley to the Lord I love you I like that Elijah shot up a vo...

36:42 - 38:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of the present itch for the so-called miraculous and the delusion that visible supernatural displays will do the work of changing hearts.

Compares the unforgettable nature of witnessing the fire on Carmel to telling future generations about a significant personal event like having wisdom teeth pulled.

Many of them had not been weaned in heart from the worship of faith. Well, you say, if actually seeing with your own eyes, and that's so hard for us to really understand what that must have been like. You talk about telling your grandchildren about having your wisdom teeth pulled. This would be something you'd tell your great-grandchildren.

46:19 - 46:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of the present itch for the so-called miraculous and the delusion that visible supernatural displays will do the work of changing hearts.

Critiques contemporary ministries that promise healing for money, driven by the delusion that visible supernatural displays will convert people.

We're not firmly entrenched in this because we live in the day of small things. Some of us may be caught up in the present itch for the so-called miraculous. There are men policing the children of God of millions of dollars whose whole pitch is if people can see eyes open and ears unstopped, they'll really be followers after God. I get their literature all the time and it's enough to sicken you.

47:30 - 47:56 Read in full sermon