Elijah: His Mission

Elijah's Mission: Settling the Question 'Who is God?'

0:03 Now, if you will please follow as I read several portions of the 18th chapter of 1 Kings, the 18th chapter of 1 Kings. For over three years the heavens have been shut so that no rain has been sent upon Israel, and as the time draws near for the great issue to come into sharp and national focus, the

0:43 great issue of who is God, Jehovah or Baal, we read in verse 1 of 1 Kings 18, And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, show thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth. And now down to verse 18.

1:11 Sorry, verse 19. Now therefore, Elijah speaking to Ahab, Send and gather. To me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the Asherah four hundred, that eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel.

1:36 And Elijah came near unto all the people, and said, How long go ye limping between the two sides? If Jehovah be God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

1:59 In our studies thus far in the life and ministry of the prophet Elijah, having considered the situation in Israel at the time of the life and ministry of this great man of God, and having for the past two mornings considered Elijah the man, we now turn to a contemplation of Elijah. His mission. In other words, we are addressing ourselves to the great question, what was the main burden of the ministry of the prophet Elijah? For what purpose did God equip and send to Israel at this particular time in Israel's

2:42 history this particular man, Elijah? In the history of redemption, what was God doing at this particular time in the history of redemption? What was God doing at this precise point? The answer to that question is very simple.

2:57 We have alluded to it several times this week, although I have not paused to demonstrate the validity of the assertion. We shall do that this morning. But the basic issue that is before the nation at this precise point in its history is the issue to be resolved in the answer to this question, Who is God? Baal?

3:20 Whom the nation now officially calls God? Baal officially worships Jehovah. Now I say that this is the great issue and therefore the great burden of the life and ministry of Elijah for three reasons. Number one, because of his name.

3:41 In our previous study we saw that his name means my God is Jehovah or Jehovah is God. And so the very name by which the prophet is identified sets the foundation for the name of God. It sets forth the critical issue before the nation at this time. Everything focuses around this great man, the mention of whose very name brings the national issue into sharp focus.

4:10 Here is a man who says by life and ministry that Jehovah is God. Regardless of what Ahab may say, regardless of what Ahab may do, regardless of what the prophets obeyed. Now Baal and the Asherah may say or do, here is a man whose name is a constant prod in the conscience of the nation to the effect that Jehovah and not Baal is God. And then I say that this is the great issue for this second reason.

4:41 The nature of the particular judgment which is central to this whole story of the life of Elijah. The central incident in his life is this matter of the heavens and the earth. The heavens and the earth. The heavens and the earth.

4:52 The heavens and the earth. The heavens are being shut for over three years and then the heavens being opened after this public confrontation upon mount Carmel. Now God chose the issue of the famine not only because it was proper to do so in terms of the curses of the covenant. For you remember God had told his ancient people when he entered into formal covenant relationships with them that if they would turn to other gods, one of his chastisements would be the shutting up of the heavens, he would not send rain upon the land.

5:29 But since Baal was supposedly the god of productivity and fruitfulness, this judgment of famine as a result of no rain was in a special way calculated to bring the issue into sharp focus. If Baal is God, then let Baal open the heavens and become what he's supposed to be, namely the God who brings produce and therefore fruitfulness and productivity. And so the very central incident is an eloquent declaration of the critical issue before the nation.

6:09 And then thirdly, the specific focus of the great confrontation again and again indicates that this is the great issue before the conscience of the nation of Israel. Who are the combatants in this great confrontation? Verses 18 and 19 of chapter 18. And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in which ye forsake in the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed the Balaam.

6:40 Therefore send and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal 450 and the prophets of... of the Asherah 400.

6:54 The main combatants upon Mount Carmel are to be the false prophets of the false gods and the true prophet of the true God. Notice the nature of the challenge in verse 21. How long go ye limping between the two sides? Here is the issue before the national conscience.

7:14 If Jehovah be God, follow him. If Baal, then follow him. Then notice the terms of the test. In verse 24.

7:24 You call upon the name of your God. I will call upon the name of Jehovah. And the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. You see the repeated emphasis upon the real issue?

7:36 Gather the prophets of Baal and the true prophet of God. These are the combatants. What is the issue or the challenge? If Baal be God, follow him.

7:47 If Jehovah, follow him. What are the terms of the test? The one that answers by fire. He is God.

7:54 Notice the burden of the prophet's prayer in verses 36 and 37.

7:59 What is he concerned about? He prays, O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God. Verse 37. Hear me, O Lord, hear me that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God.

8:20 And then, of course, the climactic intervention. Of God in verse 39, what is the effect of it? And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah, he is God. Jehovah, he is God.

8:35 And so when I have said through the week that the great issue for which this man of God was raised up is the issue of settling the question, is Jehovah God or Baal God? I was not making an unfounded assertion. His name? The nature of the particular judgment upon the nation and the specific focus of the great confrontation all bear down upon this one great issue, who is God?

9:09 And this is why Elijah stands in that unique position in which he stands in the history of redemption. Moses was the human instrument by whom the nation was brought into form of God. He was the true, eternal covenant relationship with Jehovah. Now they had just about divorced themselves from that relationship by a wholesale worship of Baal and Elijah and his successor, Elisha, become the human instruments through which there is sufficient restoration to covenant fidelity to preserve that nation from absolute extinction until Messiah should come.

The Personal Nature of the Challenge: 'How Long Go Ye Limping?'

9:53 And this is why you find Moses and Elijah in that unique position as we see them in Luke chapter 9. So then, the mission of Elijah was to settle the question, who is God? But you see, he was not going to settle this by a theological conference, the pronouncements of which would be recorded in a theological journal and read by a few academic eggheads at their leisure. Listen, the issue, who is God, was not to be debated in the halls of Ahab's palace.

10:29 It was not to become the subject of dialogue under a tree somewhere, couched in theological terminology. No, no. The issue, who is God, is to be settled openly, publicly, and in the most dramatic way. But furthermore, it is not only to be settled.

10:52 It is to be settled openly, publicly, and dramatically. But it is not going to be settled in a detached, non-personal way.

11:04 And the focus of our study this morning is this text, which shows that this great issue was not a nebulous national issue applying to everyone in general, but to no one in particular. For when the prophet gathers the nation together, His first words are words which ran this issue home to the deepest fibers of the individual conscience of every member of the nation. Listen to his words. If the Lord be God, follow Him.

11:46 If Baal be God, then follow Him. And it is verse 21 of chapter 8. It is the text with which I have lived and slept and wept in recent days, and by the help of God's Spirit, the text which I trust to open up to you this morning. Now, my proposal is to give a brief exposition of the text itself, and then, for the bulk of our time, to see the very pertinent application of that text to us gathered here at this Reformed Baptist, in the context of the text.

The Objects of the Challenge: Israel's Divided Allegiance

12:27 Notice in the text three very simple and natural divisions. First of all, we have the objects of the challenge. To whom was Elijah speaking? Then, the substance of the challenge.

12:41 What did he say? And then, the response to the challenge. How did the people react? First of all, then, the objects of this challenge.

12:49 When Elijah said, How long go ye limping between the two sides? To whom was he speaking? Well, back up to verse 19, and you will have your answer. Speaking to Ahab, he says, Now therefore send and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal, and the prophets of the Asherah.

13:14 So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. The objects of this challenge are not The prophets of Baal. The prophets of Baal have already decided that Baal is God, and they wholeheartedly follow him with undivided devotion. The depths of that devotion is very manifested in the unfolding story of what happened on Mount Carmel.

13:51 They are willing literally to let out their life's blood for Baal. The objects of the challenge are not the prophets of Baal. prophets of the Asherah obviously didn't show up. They probably had a suspicion of what might happen. And obviously the man Elijah is not the object of the challenge. He's already

14:13 decided who is God and his name is a constant monument of that reality. My God is Jehovah and I stand before him. I serve him. No, the exclusive objects of this challenge were the ten tribes of Israel. Now when the text says that all Israel was gathered to Mount Carmel,

14:39 does it mean every man, every woman, every boy, every girl, every inhabitant of the ten northern tribes? That's very unlikely. At least a few of them were probably sick. Some may have been just having given birth to children and were home taking care of them. But the

14:56 word is used in the sense that we read in Matthew 3 that all of Israel was gathered to Mount Carmel. All of Israel was gathered to Mount Carmel. All of Israel was gathered to Mount Carmel. All of Judea and Jerusalem, all of Jerusalem went out unto John the Baptist. That is, there

15:06 was a very strong representation from every single tribe of the ten northern tribes. Ahab was obviously there because in 19.1 it is said that Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done. He was an eyewitness to everything that transpired upon Mount Carmel.

15:31 Now follow closely then. The objects of this challenge were the nation, or was the nation, of Israel. That people who had entered into covenant with God upon Mount Sinai, or upon the slopes of Sinai, to whom the oracles of God had been entrusted, who knew something of the revealed way of access to God, who were the recipients of a sacrificial system in a priesthood that was acceptable to God, to whom the oracles of God had been entrusted, who were the recipients of a sacrificial system in a priesthood that was acceptable to God in that period of redemptive history. And so they come together from an area that is some 40 miles long, north and south, and 35 miles wide, east and west. And can you picture

16:15 now something of what must be transpiring when the scripture says, Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel. Here they are, the people who are feeling the pinch of this famine. And as they discuss the matter, they say, Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel. And as they discuss the matter, they say, Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel.

16:31 It doesn't matter. It is national knowledge that this man, Elijah, the prophet, is the cause from the human side of this famine. Word has gone out that a man named Elijah has made a pronouncement to the king that there will be no dew nor rain, but according to his word. And so this man, Elijah, has become sort of a mystery man. And word goes

16:56 out that Elijah has sent out a summons through the king that all of us are going to be able should gather to Mount Carmel. Can you picture something of the subject of discussion as they gather in groups and make their way from these various places, some of them coming two or three days' journey to gather upon Mount Carmel? No doubt there were some who couldn't wait to come and who had hearts filled with venom and hatred and said, when I get my hands upon that cursed prophet responsible for the death of my child, responsible for the hardships this famine has brought upon us, when do I get my hands upon him? Maybe some of them on the way were plotting as to how they'd end the life of this prophet. Perhaps

17:39 there were others who just were curiosity seekers. What kind of man must it be who can shut up the heavens and put the key in his pocket and proclaim that only he will unlock it in his own time? Perhaps there were some of those 7,000 who, when they heard this, had their hearts leaped with expectation. Is it now that God, the true Jehovah, will vindicate his name? Has the time come when

18:07 God will roll away the reproach of the nation and make it possible once again for those of us who worship Jehovah to do so openly and boldly in the knowledge that our lives will not be threatened? Well, whatever thoughts may have gone through their minds, the group to whom the challenge came was this group. Not the better group. Not the better group.

18:29 Not the better group. The Baal worshippers characterized by the priests and prophets of Baal who've already decided Baal is God and they live accordingly. Not the Elijah who is wholly committed to Jehovah, but these people with great privilege, with a tremendous heritage and background and great opportunities. In the second place, notice the substance of the challenge. You

The Substance of the Challenge: A Question and a Command

18:56 have first of all a question and then a command. Now try to picture it. The time has come when Elijah perceives that sufficient numbers from the various tribes have gathered. And the moment of truth comes. And when you read the history of this, apparently

19:14 it was relatively early in the morning. But the sun rises, and as the burning Palestinian sun beats upon the heads of these multitudes gathered, suddenly there stands in the midst a rugged, hairy man whose eye burns with the fire of the fire of the fire of the fire of the fire of the fire. The sun rises with a fierceness matched only by that burning Palestinian sun. And as he rises, does he begin to lift his hands to pronounce blessing? Does he begin

19:45 to invoke God that rain should be sent? No, no. The first words that leaped from his mouth and to be heard by multitudes, probably numbering into the thousands. Here was no mumbling prophet who muttered into his own mouth to take the blessing.

20:03 beard. Here was a man who, conscious he was sent of God, opens his mouth, and the first words that the nation hears from his lips are the words of this challenge, which come in the form, first of all, of a question, and then of a command. The question, how long go ye limping between the two sides? While in his perceptive commentary translates the Hebrew, how long do you limp upon both sides? The two sides, of course, are the worship

20:45 of Jehovah and the worship of Baal. And though the precise figure involved here is not clear, it seems to be something like this. A man who is limping is a man who, who cannot move with alacrity, who cannot move with vigor in any direction in which he turns. And the picture is not someone who limps from one side to another side, but who limps no matter what side he's on. You see, they are not really of Baal, as the prophets

21:22 of Baal are. In step, after Jehovah, the question of the prophet is, will this abominable state of divided allegiance, of divided allegiance, of divided allegiance, of divided allegiance, mark the nation of Israel? For you see, they could not wholeheartedly follow Baal, because all of the privileges they had as the nation of Israel had so conditioned their consciences

22:05 that they could not abandon themselves to Baal worship. You see, in the bosom of every Israelite was an amen corner, as there is a bosom in every one of us, an amen corner in the bosom of every one of us. Amen. When they would hear the assertion bound up in Elijah's name, Jehovah is God, there was an amen in the rest, and it was that haunting amen, Jehovah is God, Jehovah is God, Jehovah is God, that every time they would abandon themselves to the worship of Baal, there was the restraint of a conscience enlightened by special revelation, by the special dealings

22:49 of God in their national history. They could not utterly forget the Red Sea. They could not utterly forget the thunders upon Sinai. They could not utterly and totally forget the open river at flood tide when the nation was brought over into that land. They could not forget utterly the walls of Jericho.

23:10 They could not forget the priesthood and the office of the prophet and the raising up of David and Solomon. And so you see, the conscience, because of the pressure, of that situation of great privilege, caused them to leap whenever they would follow Baal. But on the other hand, when they would seek to move in the direction of conscience and follow Jehovah, there was the constraint of their unregenerate nature. For you see, it's convenient to worship Baal. He makes no claims that demand holiness of life.

23:48 Jehovah says, Be holy, for I am holy. Baal says, Be holy, for I am holy. Jehovah says, Be holy, for I am holy. Baal says, Be holy, for I am holy.

23:53 Baal says, Be earthy, for I am earthy. Baal says, Be earthy, for I am earthy. And so with Baal worship, the form of licentious living was very, very compatible. And so with Baal worship, the form of licentious living was very, very compatible.

24:04 When they would follow Jehovah, they only lived. Why? Because there's the constraint of unregenerate nature that drags them in the direction of the convenient life. And the question raised by this mighty prophet is, how long will this abominable state of spiritual limping last?

24:29 Mark you as an angel. Mark you as an angel. Mark you as an angel. Mark you as an angel.

24:31 Mark you as an angel.

24:33 Then the substance of the challenge moves from a question to a command. Look at it. If Jehovah be God, follow him.

24:43 If Baal, then follow him.

24:50 The substance of this command is essentially this. Since there can be but one true and living God who is creator of heaven and earth and Lord of the same, provider and sustainer who shuts heaven or opens it, then there's only one being who's worthy of being followed and served with religious homage, with devotion, with zeal. And if he is indeed creator and sustainer and ruler, then it's only right that the creature created and sustained and ruled shall render undivided allegiance to him. And so the command that is issued by the prophet is this.

25:29 If Jehovah is that God, then follow him. That is. Abandon yourself to him. Enter into a relationship in which he is loved with all the heart, all the mind, all the soul, and all the strength.

25:50 If Baal is God, don't go following him limpingly. All the homage and all the worship and all the devotion that is due to a God. You see, the command is calculated to put to death this double-mindedness. That marked the nation so much for the objects of the challenge, the substance of the challenge, a question, a command.

The People's Response: Silence and Neutrality

26:15 Now look thirdly at the response to the challenge. The latter part of verse 21. And the people answered him not a word.

26:28 Unwilling to give to Baal all that Baal deserves, if he's God, why? Because there's the restraint of a conscience enlightened by the word of God. Unwilling. Unwilling.

26:43 Unwilling. Unwilling. Unwilling. Unwilling.

26:44 Unwilling. Unwilling. Unwilling. Unwilling.

26:45 Unwilling. Unwilling. Unwilling. Unwilling.

26:45 Unwilling. Unwilling. Unwilling. Unwilling.

26:47 Unwilling. Unwilling. All that is his due because there is a nature under the constraint of its own love of sin. And they seek to maintain a posture of bland neutrality.

Application: The Challenge to the Privileged Hearer

27:03 They answered him not a word. Now that's the brief exposition of the text as I understand the mind of God to be found in that text. Now what does all of this say to us? Well, let's go back over the text in the three divisions and see what it says to us. Who were the objects of this challenge? Not people

27:22 from Sidon who knew nothing but Baal worship. The objects of this challenge were not those imported priests of Baal who had been born into a culture where there was nothing but Baal worship, who had been reared in a situation where there was nothing but the so-called truth of Baal. The objects of the challenge were those individuals of the nation of Israel who alone could limp between two sides because they had an exposure to the two sides. Those in the heathen nations knew nothing but the worship of the heathen gods apart from that

28:07 which is seen in creation which constantly bears witness to the true God. But here are the people of Israel who knew nothing but the truth of Baal. The objects of this challenge are the people who have that blessed privilege of the knowledge of God that comes by special revelation, the word through Moses, the word through the prophets, of people who had seen the mighty works and deeds of God, who have in their hearts, as we mentioned, that Amen corner that said, Yes, the God who speaks in the prophets and in Moses is indeed the true God. Oh, do you see the application to this conference? I doubt I'm speaking to

28:44 anyone. I'm speaking to you. I'm speaking to you. I'm speaking to you. I'm speaking

28:44 to you. I'm speaking to you. I'm speaking to you. I'm speaking to you. I'm speaking to

28:45 the prophets of Baal this morning. If I am, they are very, very few. I doubt I'm speaking to men and women, boys and girls who've known nothing but sheer, unadulterated paganism. I'm speaking to people who, by very virtue of your presence at this conference, make it known that you've had the privileges parallel to the nation of Israel. For many of you,

29:12 the word of God has been as much a part of your life as the food that mother and dad have put upon the table from your infancy. The knowledge of the God of the Bible revealed in Christ and His salvation. Such terms as forgiveness and reconciliation and regeneration and justification and sanctification. These terms have been the stable food upon which you have fed your mind Sunday by Sunday and day by day at family worship. And you know

29:43 what's happened? Your conscience, your conscience bears an amen to all that you've heard of the true and living God. All that you've heard this week, it's the greatest ally we have in the heart of a sinner, dear preachers, is conscience. And when we thunder the word from this book, we have an ally in the breast of every man unless he's been utterly abandoned by God. And I'm speaking to a people who are the objects of this challenge.

30:13 Men and women, boys and girls, whose consciences are so enlightened by the truth of God, whose consciences have been enlightened by the sight of the works of God. You see what God has done in the transformation of a brother, a sister, a mom, a dad, a friend. You cannot deny that there is such a thing as true religion. Oh, you've seen your share of hypocrites, but you've seen some people that you know are real.

30:45 What is your problem this morning? Your problem is, by virtue of that proximity to the word and to the church, you cannot abandon yourself to the worship of Baal. You can't give yourself to the foul language that the other fellas and girls in the block give themselves to. You can't give yourself over to pornography with the abandonment with which some of your buddies and your girlfriends do. And if you do sneak a copy of Playgirl or Playboy or Hustler or whatever you want,

31:17 you're going to get a fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going

31:18 to get a fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going to get a

31:34 fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going to get a fine. You're going to get a fine.

31:44 That's the most important thing about dealing with dual individuals that carry one another. Think about it. Think about it. Think about how can we stop people from believing what the real real real relationship between you and a intellectual friend.

31:47 It is not about whether you fall for the dad or you're my greatest personal enemy. It is not about whether you take the job or not. The real real relationship you need is where you do your job. And I know that Brazil highs 10 or 12 times right now let's get to 5 degrees of school, there were times when I almost wanted to curse the fact that I had been born in Israel, that I had been reared in a home where the word of God was constantly poured into my head. I had to sit, albeit in the midst of poor preaching, but at least there was

32:07 a belief in heaven and hell, and sin leads to the latter, and only repentance and faith in a changed life will lead to the former. And when I would go out with my buddies and see the abandonment with which they could sin, oh, surely they had a little backlash of conscience the morning after, but I couldn't even have the luxury of a few hours of suspended abandonment to sin, and conscience would scream, so that I did what? I limped when I tried to follow Baal. My unregenerate nature said, follow Baal, everything, and when I tried,

32:45 I always limped, and what was it that crippled my legs? It was the knowledge of God. Received by special revelation. It was the knowledge of the reality of true religion seen in my own mother and father. I couldn't run after Baal! Everything in my heart wanted

33:07 to, but I couldn't. And times when conscience got stirred up, and I said, oh, I've got to be done with this miserable existence, I'm going to follow Jehovah. And I would even pray at times with tears into my heart, into my heart, come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and resolve to take him as myself. I was seeking to run, and plead with him to blot out my sins. I found that I could

33:28 not run after him. My legs were lame. Why? Because I was seeking to run, having never received a new heart. I was seeking to run on the sheer strength of resolve, in a tormented

33:43 conscience. But since there was no evangelical repentance in faith, there was no love to Christ, no indwelling spirit, so I made some very, very earnest efforts to follow Jehovah, Jesus, by always living. That's exactly where many of you young people are today. That's exactly where some of you adults are today.

The Exasperation of 'How Long?'

34:08 The word of God to you in this conference is, How long? Link ye between, or upon, the two sides. Moving from the objects of the challenge, I come to the substance of the challenge itself. And, in the name of God, Elijah's God, I ask you the question he asked. How long are you

34:32 go on, are you going to go on limping? You dear children, listen to me. How long are you going to go on limping? How long are you going to go on limping, you teenagers? Come

34:45 on, be honest. You know you can't abandon yourself like those other kids who have not the knowledge of God that you have. Tend to go on limping upon the two, Baal and Jehu. Young men, graying men and women, you could never be satisfied with anything less than a ministry that preaches the word of God. You see, that's the thing that's even a mystery

35:14 to you. Even though you're not a follower of Jehovah, if you go into a church where they play games and fool around and have entertainment evangelism, you're sick and you'll even argue about the wrongness of it to people who try to defend it. Why? Because of that ally of God in your bosom that says, yes, a qualitative preaching, God-honoring worship is right and true. But you limp, you limp in your attempts to follow Jehovah.

35:42 And you're limp because your heart has never been changed. How long? How long? You've come through, some of you, two, three, four, five years of wonderful preaching in your church.

35:53 Two, three, four, five, six, seven years of loving instruction from a mom and dad who teach you the word of God day after day and week after week and who catechize you and pray for you and shed tears for you. How long are you going to go on limping between Baal and between Jehovah?

36:20 You've sat under a sound ministry, an earnest ministry, a prayerful ministry, a spirit-anointed ministry. You can't even figure out why in the world you're coming back. For when you come, you're miserable. And when you stay away, you're miserable. With the people of

36:39 God, you're miserable. Because you know you don't have what they want. With the people of the world, you're miserable. Because you can't abandon yourself to sin. Oh, my friend,

36:50 how... There's an element of time. And there is a whole...

37:16 Holy exasperation in the spirit of the prophet. He says, how long?

37:23 Make God grant that I feel something of that holy exasperation while multitudes perish who have never once heard the name of Jehovah Jesus, who have never once heard that he died on the cross for sinners, who've never once heard there is a sanctifying, life-giving spirit. There is such a thing as full and free part. There is such a thing as the declaration of acceptance with God, the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. They've not heard that there is such a place as heaven, and you've heard it without number. And how long?

The Command: If Baal Be God, Follow Him (and Face the Consequences)

38:10 How long? That's the question I press upon your conscience. And in the name of Elijah's God, I press a command upon your conscience, and it is this. If Baal be God, then follow him.

38:26 If Jehovah be God, then follow him. And I want to reverse the command, and I think you'll understand why as I unfold the thoughts upon my heart. If Baal be God, follow him. Follow him. If the limping allegiance to Baal be allegiance to what is truly God, then why

38:50 do you limp? Go ahead and give him your full allegiance. You children, if you're going to worship the Baal of ambition, you want to be some body, then go ahead and give yourself to that Baal. At least you'll have something in this life to show for it. As long as you're limping after Baal, you have nothing to show

39:12 for your Baal attachment. And the prophet says, if Baal be God, follow him. If the Baal of sensual pleasure is the God that you want to worship, then give yourself to him. At least you'll have the titillation of a few nerve endings for a few days before you sink into hell. If the Baal of popularity is the God that you want to worship, then give yourself

39:34 to him. If the Baal of prestige, if the Baal of any carnal ambition is God, then follow that God. But now listen to me. You better be prepared to live with the consequences of that attachment. And where do we see the consequences of wholehearted attachment to

39:51 Baal? We see it in this very narrative in what is said about the priest of Baal. For remember, they're really following him wholeheartedly. And the results of following Baal in this narrative are two. Look at them. Number one.

40:06 You better be prepared to have no God to hear you in life's necessities. And secondly, no God to draw near to you in death. You're going to follow Baal? Then listen to me, young people. Listen to me, man, woman, boy, girl. Face honestly the implications of whole-souled

40:25 abandonment to Baal. And the first one is no God to hear in life's necessities. Look at verse 25. And Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose you one bullet for yourselves and dress it. For ye are many. Call on the name of your God, but put no fire under. And

40:43 they took the bullet which was given them and dressed it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. Here was one of life's pinching, pressing necessities. They need Baal to intervene and bring fire upon that sacrifice. And so their crescendo of intercession rises.

41:07 And now they will be called to Baal. O Baal. O may God burn these words into our hearts. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped about the altar which was

41:25 made. And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing or he's gone aside or he is on a journey or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awakened. And they cried aloud.

41:39 Pharaoh now noticed the self-destructive nature of Baal worship. Instead of their God coming to succor them in their time of need, their God demands their own life's blood.

41:54 They cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances till the blood gushed out upon them. Blood, the symbol of life, the life of the flesh is in the blood and there is spattered over every prophet of Baal the living symbol that Baal can't eat, he can't fly. And it was so when midday was past that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening oblation. But there was neither voice nor any to answer

42:34 nor any that regarded all dear children listen to me.

42:41 Man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward. And though life is relatively simple for most of you, not all of you, but for most of you, some of you children have known more real suffering in your young lifetime than many of us adults have known in ours. But most of you, life's pretty simple. Dad and mom worry about paying the bills, putting food on the table, filling up your hollow legs, putting clothes on your back, providing for you.

43:09 But all children listen to me, that's not going to go on forever. You're going to face your own portion of trials in life. There's going to be calamity. There's going to be sickness.

43:20 There's going to be heartache. Some of you are going to get jilted weeks away from your wedding. The young man's going to get cold feet. The young woman's going to cast her eyes upon someone else.

43:31 And you're going to have life's troubles. And in the midst of life's troubles, the instinctive response of any soul that is not wholly abandoned by God, creator and creator and sustainer of God. The language of the scripture, call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will answer thee. But my friends, listen, if you follow Baal, you better be prepared to have no God to hear in the time of your calamity.

44:04 You better be prepared to go through life worshiping that which rather than giving life and sustenance and health in calamity, bleeds life and demands death. The way of a transgressor is hard. The way of a transgressor is hard. And as the command comes, if Baal be God, serve him.

44:30 Oh, dear young people, face it. Face it realistically. If you choose to serve Baal, you must have no God to hear your cries in your time of necessity. And you look at the sobering words of verse 40.

44:46 You'll have no God to draw near to you in death.

44:51 And Elijah said unto them, Here they are, one moment full of life and animation, dancing about the altar, crying and praying, and a moment later they make the brook Kishon red with their blood in death. Look, take the prophets of Baal, let none of them escape. And they took them and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there from the slopes of Carmel. Oh, listen, from the slopes of Carmel to the pit of eternal burning.

45:31 From the slopes of Carmel to the pit of eternal burning. For Elijah was but the instrument of the judge of the world, Jehovah. Acting in the name of Jehovah, he gave, as it were, a preview of the last day in which every Baal worshipper will have known Jehovah to come and to be his daysman, to be his advocate, to plead before the bar of eternal justice. But look at the contrast with that one true worshipper of Jehovah, from Mount Carmel.

The Command: If Jehovah Be God, Follow Him (and Experience His Grace)

46:09 What did he have? In the day of his necessity, he had a God who could hear his cry. Oh, look at the beauty of the contrast. We read in verse 36, And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening oblation that Elijah the prophet drew near and said, O Jehovah, the God of Abraham, of Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, that I am thine.

46:38 O my servant, that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art God and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell. Oh, the privilege of access to God.

47:00 Not just daily, Elijah knew that. The Lord God before whom I stand. But oh, to know that access. In times of calamities to which we can repair.

47:16 When?

47:20 Look at the contrast. If Baal be God, follow him. But be prepared to have a brassy heavens in your time of need. If Jehovah be God, then follow him.

47:30 And as you follow Jehovah Jesus, he, according to the very language of the scripture, brings us to God. He is the way to the Father. It is he who by his sacrifice has opened heaven and the throne that once was. It was dark and foreboding is now welcoming and sweet.

47:50 It is the throne of grace. And look at the contrast with Elijah's death. We read in Second Kings, chapter one, chapter two and verse one. These words, Second Kings two and verse one.

48:06 It came to pass when the Lord would take Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal, verse 11, and it came to pass as they went and talked. Behold, there appeared a chariot of fire not to consume him. Horses of fire, which parted them both asunder. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

48:31 And the next time you see him, he comes down from heaven with the Lord Jesus upon another mountain where the glory of his Redeemer is shining through the veil of that humanity for just a few moments of time. And he appears with Moses, speaking with the Lord Jesus concerning his death, which was about to be accomplished at Jerusalem. Now, listen to me, kids. You don't like to think about death, but you are going to die.

49:03 Look at your hands right now. Don't look at the picture. You look at your hands. In a few short years, maggots are going to eat in the flesh of those hands until in your casket there's going to be left nothing but some bones.

49:16 And if the Lord delays his return, those bones will eventually disintegrate and there'll be nothing but a little pile of dust. And when that concrete vault, if someone is foolish enough to spend the Lord's money for it on your behalf, when that concrete vault has disintegrated, you will be nothing but indiscernible mingled with the dust of the earth. You're going to die. But death isn't the end of you.

49:51 The real you, joined to a resurrected body, is going to live somewhere forever with the priest of Baal in hell or with Elijah and his savior in heaven. If Baal be God, follow him. Young man, young woman, adult. If Baal be God, follow him.

50:11 But remember, here are the implications. Know God to hear you in its necessities. God to be with you when life ends. But now the other part of the command, if Jehovah be God, then follow him.

Jehovah Demands Whole-Souled Allegiance

50:30 In other words, if Jehovah is God, then he's worthy of nothing less than whole soul allegiance. And it's an interesting thing that throughout the Old and the New Testaments, there are few things God abominates more, that God hates with more pure hatred than religious indecision and double mindedness. Listen to the language of the very first commandment. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.

51:01 With all thy soul, with all thy mind and with all. What does that mean? It means that everything that I am as a creature, since it comes from him as my creator, is owned in love and worship and service, though because of my fall in Adam, I am both unable and indisposed to give him that. The glory of redemption is that when our eyes are open to behold the glory of God in the face of Christ and when we come by the spirit to understand that he died for us, not just for our sins, the scripture says he gave himself for us,

51:45 just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Ye were redeemed, not just your soul. You were redeemed, and it makes you you. Everything that makes you you that run away, which is the object of redemption.

52:10 And it is that which flows back through the gracious operations of the spirit unto Jehovah Jesus. And the Lord will not tolerate anything less than that. My friends, one occasion when it was popular to follow Jesus, a big bunch of people all gathered together and we read in Luke 14, 25, Jesus turning and seeing the multitude said unto them, any man come to me. Hate not father, mother, brother, sister, and his own life also.

52:42 He cannot be my disciple. What is he saying? He's saying I'll tolerate no rival to my affection. What did he say in Revelation three?

52:54 He said, I'm sick and tired of the condition at Laodicea. He said, you're neither cold nor hot. You're limping. You're limping.

53:05 You're not running in pursuit of the kingdom of God.

53:15 Have a little bit of warmth. You like some of that coffee at the end of the pot. Blah. You're not hot, and gospel noise, and what does head of the head of the church say, because the lukewarm to vomit you out.

53:51 The Lord Jesus said there's something that nauseates. He was never nauseated by the sight of a sinner in the depths of sin. He was moved with compassion. The Republicans, harlots move with compassion.

54:07 He's never nauseated by whole soul devotion. Even when that devotion is in time clouded by remaining corruption. He wasn't nauseated when Peter denied him. He looked upon him with a look mingled with compassion and rebuke.

54:22 And then he lovingly on the shores of Galilee restored that man to bonds of deep affection. Then what nauseates him is a principle of lukewarmness as the characteristic of the soul. The reason Peter denied so vehemently is that he loves so vehemently.

54:45 It takes great hearts to commit great sins. It's David who loves you. That it can sin so vilely that in the covenant of grace, those sins, though they may bring the chastening robbed or covered in the blood and righteousness of Christ, but the sins of lukewarm, limping half saints make the Lord Jesus want to vomit.

The Resolution at Mount Calvary, Not Carmel

55:22 If Jehovah be called, serve him. Now, where is this issue to be resolved for you? As a congregation gathered here this morning, as I draw the message to a close, to contrast the challenge of verse 21 of First Kings 18 in Elijah's day was answered upon a certain mountain called Carmel. And it was to be determined by a sacrifice consumed by fire.

55:56 You remember the terms of the agreement? The God that answer it by fire, let him be God. And if he's God, then the command is still there. You see, everything that follows takes its clue from verse 21, you people will not answer.

56:12 You will not affirm that Jehovah is God and therefore worthy of whole soul's allegiance. All right, then God will, as it were, condescend to your obdurate in penitent your assistance upon greater evidence that God that answers by fire. Let him be God. Why?

56:30 To the end that seeing him as God, you may follow him. So the issue was to be settled on a certain mount called Carmel. In terms of a sacrifice consumed by fire, but in pressing the issue upon the conscience of this congregation this morning, if Baal be God's servant, if Jehovah be God's servant, I would not direct you to Mount Carmel. I would direct you to Mount Calvary.

57:01 And I would not say that the issues to be resolved while gazing upon a man made altar in terms of an animal sacrifice and literal fire consuming the sacrifice and the word and the water in the trenches. But, oh, I would point you to Mount Calvary. And I would ask you to contemplate this great issue, not in the sight of a literal altar, but the altar of heaven, not in terms of an animal sacrifice, but the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, not in terms of literal fire that consumed the literal carcass of a animal, but consider the fires of the judgment

57:43 of the God of heaven as those fires eat into the soul of the Son of God. Until in the agony of that awful reality of bearing the sins of his people, he cries out, my God, my God, why has thou abandoned me? Oh, my friend, if Jehovah be God, then serve him. And how do we know he's God?

58:13 We behold his name and his character, not upon Carmel, but upon Calvary. He is the judge of the universe. How do we know it? There's no explanation for Calvary.

58:27 If God is not the judge of the universe, committed to uphold the righteousness of his law, then he has committed the most cruel act upon the face of the earth. Multiply the concentration camps of Hitler and the gas chambers. And they are as kindness compared to Calvary. If God is not just, if God is not holy, if God is not the lawgiver and upholder of the dignity of his law, why should he bruise the only sinless man whose feet touch the earth?

59:10 Why bruise him into that horrible

59:18 that rung from the soul of the Son of God, a cry that eternity will not be able to exegete or expound? My God, he was abandoned, my friend, because Jehovah is God. And as the creator of his creatures, he demands that they be holy. And he has threatened that if they are not holy, he will punish that unholiness with death.

59:42 And Jesus Christ took upon himself all the liabilities of those for whom he came to bring salvation. And with all those liabilities attached to him, he goes to the cross. In obedience to the Father, in willing subjection to his will. And the Father brings upon him in the language of Isaiah 53.

60:04 He brings upon him the stroke due to us all. It pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put his soul to grief when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. It is at Mount Calvary that Jehovah is God.

60:24 You see, Baal lets you cheat in school. And get away with it. Baal lets you cheat on your wife, if not with your body, with your eyes, and with your desires, and get away with it.

60:37 He allows you to lie to mom and dad and get away with it. Baal allows you to break the moral law of God with impunity, but not Jehovah. You behold the Jehovah, who is God upon Mount Calvary. And you know that he's just and he's holy.

60:54 But you know that he's the God of infinite. What could ever constrain God to such self-sacrifice? We often think what it must have meant for Jesus Christ, Jehovah Jesus, to feel the pain and the agony of the consciousness of divine wrath poured upon him. Have we considered what it meant to the son, to the father?

61:18 The father who said, this is my son, my beloved, in whom I'm well pleased. The father who was on the other end of the statement of the Lord Jesus when praying. He said, I know, Father, thou hearest me always. Is it irreverent to speak of the pain, the self-inflicted pain of the father?

61:41 Jehovah, Father, the drop of the wrath of God, O Christ, what burdens bowed thy head. Our load was laid on thee. Thou stoodest in the sinner's stead, its bear all ill for me. Death and the curse were in our cup.

62:14 O Christ, was full for thee. Thou hast drained the last dark drop, tis empty now for me. That bitter cup, love drank it up. Now blessings draft for me.

62:34 Jehovah bade his sword awake. O Christ, it woke against thee. Thine open bosom was. Now sleeps that sword for me.

63:03 Jehovah, the son who willingly undergoes bruising. Jehovah, the spirit who is sent from the very Christ who was raised in the power of that spirit to do what? To take away that which makes you limp after Jehovah. As long as you're following Jehovah is the external conscience alone.

63:32 You'll never run after Jehovah. All you Christian homes, hear me this morning. Don't you make any progress in the things of God. They're never precious to you.

63:46 I'll have times when we have no love for the word, no love for a prayer. All of us, the most Godless will say amen to that. You make no progress in love to God, love to his word, love for holiness. You go from meeting such as we've had here.

64:00 Spend 30 seconds thinking upon the lofty, profound, majestic thoughts that have impressed upon your conscience. You can go right out to foolishness and play and be glad to dismiss these holy things from your mind. Why? Because you're limping after Jehovah.

64:18 Under nothing but the external rearward pressure of an enlightened conscience. And what you desperately need is the spirit of Jehovah to give you a new heart. And then what will happen? You will run in the way of his command.

64:38 Your heart will run out after him.

64:45 But basic, sometimes stronger and more sometimes almost utterly obscured. Yes. I will put my fear into there. Your heart and they shall not depart from me.

65:04 God will make you love holiness and talk about the Savior and conversation about his kingdom as much as you love to play ball, as much as you love to jump and play, to run and jump and play and talk about your girlfriends and boyfriends. But my friend, if you know nothing of that same delight when it comes to speaking of the Savior, seeking his blessed face, you know nothing of the life giving power of the spirit. If Jehovah be God. There are some of you young men and women who break your mother's and father's hearts.

A Call to End the Limping

65:47 And you know why you break their hearts? Not because you're running around the neighbor kids high on boats. Some of you may be. That'll break their hearts.

65:54 But for most of us, that's not what breaks our hearts. You know what breaks our hearts? That we see you're limping.

66:02 Jehovah is constraining you.

66:12 This business. That that takes years. I've seen 10 and 12 years with quick feet in the paths of Jesus because they've had a sight of who he is and the love of Christ is constraining. That's it.

66:32 What about some of you adults? Why are you limping? Come on. Why are you limping?

66:40 Give your tithes, have your conscience. And you'd never think of increasing your proportion of giving. Why? Because your conscience was conditioned growing up that keeping back the tithe might mean that God will make you lose your job and send sickness.

66:52 So just from the standpoint of self-preservation, you've been paying God off back here where he can serve here to put into the kingdom of God, you're limping, limping, limping. Why? Your giving is driven only by a natural conscience under the pressure of Christian privilege. That's why you come to church just Sunday morning.

67:30 You don't go to prayer meeting. Why? Because you give up every semblance of being a Christian if you didn't come Sunday morning. So you sad your conscience by showing up Sunday morning, putting your tithe in the plate.

67:41 There's no real hunger. For more, it would cause you to come Sunday night, Wednesday night. Why? You're limping, you're limping.

67:51 Why is your mouth not open to rebuke sin, to pass out that track, to speak boldly a word in season and at times even out of sin? You're limping. You've got nothing but what these Israelites had.

68:11 May God, the Holy Ghost, burn into the conscience of this entire gathering the challenge of the prophet Elijah. How long? How long will you limp upon the two opinions? May the command burn its way into our hearts.

68:31 If Baal be God's servant, I would you were cold. If Jehovah be God's servant, I would you were hot. What was the response of the people? They answered him, not a word.

68:50 Oh, how we love to maintain that limping posture. Will you be like the Israelites who answer the word or have you seen a sight of Jehovah, Jesus, Jehovah, the Father, Jehovah, the Spirit, that even now your heart says, oh, God, you are the one true and living God, you made me. And in Jesus Christ, you've come to me, not with the judgment I deserve, but with a bonetide offer of pardon and acceptance sealed in the blood of the God man, oh God, I will take that pardon.

69:33 And in taking the pardon, I will resign myself to the one who secured. Oh, may God grant that in this place today, boys, girls, men and women will no longer limp upon the two sides. But may we be a society of Caleb who wholly follow the Lord.

70:01 Let us pray, Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jehovah, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, we would worship you as God. We thank you for the vindication of your nature and all of your attributes upon Mount Calvary for the display of pure and infinite wrath, for the display of amazing love,

70:42 for the demonstration of almighty power in the open to all blessed Jehovah. We say from our hearts, you are God. We worship you. We love you.

70:57 And we would ask this day that in grace and you will put to death in many hearts this cursed limping upon the two sides. Oh, may there be holy resolve to serve and to follow you, the living and the true God. Hear our prayer, oh, gracious God, to the end that your beloved Son may delight to see the fruit of his own suffering in many boys, girls, men and women

71:37 in this place who this day consciously and with great joy say here, Lord, I give myself to thee, tis all that I can do.

71:52 Amen.