How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions?

Introduction: Elijah's Thirteenth Message and the Setting on Mount Carmel

0:03 Let us turn again this evening to 1 Kings chapter 18, 1 Kings chapter 18, as we come to the thirteenth message in our studies of the ministry and life of this great man of God, Elijah.

0:31 1 Kings chapter 18, and the focus of our study tonight will be particularly upon verses 19 through 21.

0:46 Elijah, standing before Ahab, to whom God has now ordered him, says, Now therefore send and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal, 450, and the prophets of the groves, or the Asherah, 400, which eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets. He brought the prophets together unto Mount Carmel, and Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If Jehovah be God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him.

1:38 And the people answered him, Not a word.

1:45 The whole story of the life of this man of God began with the utterance as recorded in the first part of the seventeenth chapter, when standing before King Ahab, he declares that there shall be neither dune nor rain, but according to his word. The order has come from God at the end of three plus years to go and stand before the king with the promise that God would once again send rain to the earth. That directive comes in the beginning of the eighteenth chapter as we studied it some weeks ago. And on his way in obedience to the command of God, he meets this unique character Obadiah, the lesson of his life we have considered. He meets Ahab and the lessons of his life we have considered. And now the time is drawing near for this conflict and conquest upon Mount Carmel. Just as the years of seclusion in a Judean wilderness were God's preparation of John the Baptist.

2:52 For probably only six months of active ministry. Some thirty years of preparation for six months of ministry. So these three years in which the land has been feeling the smarting sting of the judgment of God have also been a post-graduate course of preparation for the prophet Elijah for this hour of conflict and conquest upon Mount Carmel, at which time God will vindicate his name. He will overthrow the worship of Baal in the space of a few hours.

3:27 And so we now find the prophet encountering Ahab on the very threshold of this great encounter upon Mount Carmel. Consider with me in the first place, as we find in verse nineteen, the command of the prophet. Then we shall look in verse twenty at the obedience of all those embraced by the command. And then in verse twenty-one, the question and challenge of Elijah.

The Prophet's Command to Ahab: Gather All Israel and the Prophets of Baal

3:51 And in the fourth place, the indicting silence of the people. The command of the prophet. Verse nineteen. Now therefore 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.

4:16 There are two things to be noted in the command of the prophet given to the king. Imagine. The hunted prophet standing before the sovereign and treating him like a subject, and he says in the first place, I want you to be very clear as to who is embraced in the command. Now therefore send, that is, give out messages and send messengers unto, first of all, all of the children of Israel.

4:47 That is, the ten northern tribes that comprise that area that is called Samaria. Now does this mean that Elijah was commanding every single last Israelite man, woman, child, sick, well-aged, infirm, to come to Mount Carmel? It would be a wrong use of the word of God to infer that that's what he meant. The term all, many times, is used indiscriminately, especially when it's talking of great crowds.

5:17 We read in Matthew three, five, that all of Jerusalem and all of Judea went out into the world to the baptism of John. Well, it's obvious that not every single individual went out to his baptism, for later on our Lord indicts many who resisted the message of God through John and would not go out to be baptized of him. And so all we need infer from this is that Elijah is commanding that a goodly representation from all of the ten northern tribes be present at this showdown upon Mount Carmel. Whether more specific orders were given?

5:52 That representatives should be selected, or whatever the group would be, Scripture doesn't give us any data. But one thing is clear, that no segment of those ten northern tribes that apostatized to Baal worship was to be exempt from this public vindication of the name of God and this outward demonstration of who was the true God. It was God's design to vindicate his name before the entirety of the ten northern tribes. And then, with a biting distinction, the prophet acknowledges that he doesn't even look upon those imported prophets as part of Israel.

6:31 He says, gather all Israel, and there's another group, too. And that's the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of the Asherah, the female representation of heathen idolatry that was in vogue at this time, and says, gather them as well. It's interesting. It's interesting that he won't include them as part of the people of God.

6:54 Though by their giving of themselves over to idol worship and by their absorption of the teaching of these prophets and priests of Baal, the prophet of God still acknowledges that there is a distinction between the people of God and these apostate prophets, or these prophets of false gods. And it's obvious that the royal household was to be present as well, Ahab himself, we read in verse 22. Verse 41, after the vindication of God's name, that Elijah on Mount Carmel gives a command to Ahab. Now it's interesting that there's no record of Jezebel's presence.

7:33 And it would not be surprising at all if she absented herself at this time. She was perhaps the most outspoken of the enemies of the prophet of God, even more so than Ahab. And Ahab even gives this little jive. He doesn't say, the prophets, they eat at your table, Ahab, but they eat at Jezebel's table.

7:53 That imported witch from up there, inside him, she's the one who is instrumental in sustaining these false prophets. So much then for who was embraced in the command. And now notice where the encounter was to take place. The prophet says, gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel.

The Strategic Location of Mount Carmel

8:17 In this command, the name of Elijah was to be mentioned. The people were to know that they were coming together, not just at the request and command of the king, but they were coming together at the command of the prophet to have dealings with the prophet and with his God. And the specific place was to be Mount Carmel. Now, does scripture give us any information as to why this would be the peculiar place where the showdown would come to pass?

8:49 Well, I believe scripture does. It does at least give us some strong hints as to why Carmel would be the place chosen. First of all was its central location on the west coast of Samaria. If you look at the area bounded by the ten northern tribes, it was about 40 miles north and south, 35 miles east and west.

9:09 And if you were to look at it like this, Carmel was right smack in the middle on the west coast by the Mediterranean Sea. And so it was centrally located. There was a matter of...

9:20 There was a matter of strategy here. If people were to arrive relatively at the same time from all the parts of the kingdom, this was a place that was relatively equidistant for the numerous tribes.

9:34 But not only that, the prophet would be able to be close to the seashore and see the gathering clouds, as we read later on in the narrative, the clouds that would gather as they collected moisture from the seas and then would come and drop their rain upon the land. And it would be a strategic place from that standpoint. Another reason, if Jezebel's anger was then as it was later, this was far enough from the court of the king that the people could meet in safety without the tauntings of this wicked queen. And then there were other reasons.

10:06 And I'm reading now from a section of a book that was a help to me and trying to bring before my mind's eye the whole scene of this encounter. And I think this will be of interest to you, and so I will read it at this time. On the shores of the Mediterranean, and immediately to the south of Acre, there's a range of hills stretching out for five or six miles, terminating in a somewhat rugged and precipitous piece of land that juts out into the water. If you look at a map of the Bible lands, you'll notice that the west coast of the land of Israel comes down with relatively few jags until you come to Carmel, and then there's like a hook that sticks right out into the water.

10:46 And it was at this precise place. Now, what was it like? The exact spot where the events narrated in this chapter occurred has been thoroughly identified and preserves in its name El Muraka, which means in Hebrew, the sacrifice, a memorial of this very event. A man who has given himself to describing Bible lands for the elucidation of Bible truths has made this observation.

11:13 At the eastern extremity of the ridge, where the wooded heights of Carmel sink down into the usual bleakness of the hills of Palestine, there is a natural terrace of rock. It's encompassed by dense thickets of evergreens, and upon it are the remains of an old and massive square structure built of large, huge stones. This is El Muraka, and here, in all probability, stood Elijah's altar. The situation and environment answer in every particular to the various incidents in the narrative.

11:48 A short distance from this terrace is a fountain, whence the water may flow. They have been brought, which was poured round about Elijah's sacrifice and altar. The terrace commands a noble view over the whole plain of Ezraelion, from the banks of the Kishon, down at the bottom of the steep declivity, away to the distant hill of Gilboa, at whose base probably stood the royal city of Jezreel, to the 850 prophets ranged doubtless on the wide upland suite just beneath the terrace, to the multitudes of the people of Israel, to the multitudes of people, many of whom may have remained on the plain. The altar of Elijah would be in full view, and they could all see in the evening twilight that the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water. The people then, trembling with fear and indignation, seized at Elijah's bidding the prophets of Baal, and Elijah brought them to the brook Kishon and slew them there. On the lower declivities of the mountain is a mountain, called Tel El Kousis, the hill of the priest, which probably marks the very scene of the execution. May not the present name of the Kishon itself have originated in this tragic event, as it is called Narel Moketa, the river of slaughter.

13:10 The prophet went up again to the altar, which is near, but not upon the summit of the mountain. And while he prayed, he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. The sea is not visible from the terrace, but a few minutes' ascent leads to a peak, which commands its whole expanse. And the modern name of the whole range of Carmel is Jebel Mar Elias, the mountain of Elijah.

13:32 So can you get the picture? This height, probably 1,500 feet, it's estimated, and on the slopes, this terrace where the altar was erected, the people and the priests below the prophet, and there to the other side, the wide expanse of the Mediterranean, an ideal setting, for this tremendous dramatic event where God will vindicate his name and throw over the worship of Baal in a moment of time. So much, then, for the command of the prophet. Who was embraced in it?

The Obedience to the Command: Israel Gathers

14:06 The particular place to which they were ordered. Now will you notice in verse 20 the obedience of all embraced by the command. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, that does not mean, again, every last individual, but the message went out into all of the ten tribes and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. The people came from that entire area, 40 by 35 miles.

14:37 They didn't hop in their cars, nor did they catch the 827. So apparently a period of days must have passed, first of all, for the messengers to go out. They couldn't turn on the television and hear on the 7 o'clock news, or they couldn't turn the 8 o'clock news on, or they couldn't turn on the 8 o'clock news and hear Henry Gladstone say, all you Israelites, come to Carmel. None of this.

14:58 So there's a time element involved. We read over this, and because we can read through it in 15 seconds, we somehow assume this may have happened. Probably in this interim period, Elijah is once again alone with his God. There's great suggestion later on that probably during this time, God gave him specific directions as to how he was to encounter Baal and Baal worship and to overthrow him.

15:22 He didn't throw it in the way that he did, for he says, I have done all of these things at thy command. Let it be known. So get the picture. Elijah shut up with his God.

15:33 The news going out into all the regions of Israel that the people were to gather not just to Carmel, but gathered unto Elijah at Mount Carmel. They had learned, probably all of the Israelites, that in a peculiar way the terrible drought which they were experiencing was identified with the words of the prophet Elijah. And can you imagine some of the thoughts that went through their minds? Here the messenger comes saying, I come in the name of King Ahab.

16:05 The king commands us to gather unto the prophet Elijah at Mount Carmel. What went through the minds of the people as perhaps in a given community they said, well, you go and you go and we'll stay here and take care of the children and the cattle and the other things. And over here in another community, you go, and you go, and from all over the kingdom they begin to move a tremendous movement to that seacoast place, Mount Carmel. Perhaps some King Ahab might have been amongst them would come out of a motive of desperation.

16:36 If you've been in a drought for three years, you'll try anything. And even if it means appearing before this strange man who's held the key of heaven in his pocket for three years, you're willing to do it. You're desperate. And when people get desperate, they do strange things.

16:51 Others may have been moved by motivation of anger. They wanted to at least have the joy of setting their burning angry eyes upon this man and mumbling under their breath some curses and some anathemas. Others may have been moved simply by inquisitiveness. A crowd gathers a crowd, and as they see people moving through their towns, for those coming from the farther regions, passing through some of the main areas of traverse, and they say, where's everybody going?

17:20 Oh, they're... Praying the command of the king.

17:22 Well, maybe they said, let's hop on the bandwagon. Something's going to happen. Maybe they were just curiosity seekers. Others, I would like to believe, were in a state of awakening.

17:34 They had seen the futility of all the sacrifices offered to Baal to bring rain during those three years. For in a peculiar way, he was to be the god of productivity, the god of fire. And so as they prayed and they saw the sacrifices and did all the priests of Baal said and still no rain and the advancing effects of the drought, perhaps some of these began to have their confidence in Baal shaken and began to feel some pangs of conscience for having cast off the worship of Jehovah. I would like to believe that there were some who came out of a motive of being awakened and perhaps hoped to hear from the word of the prophet some word of promised mercy as well as a word promising coming rain.

18:17 Then, of course, there was that 7,000 that we find about later, who had not bowed the knee to Baal. I wonder if they, through this long period, had not been crying to God to vindicate his cause. All their neighbors and friends bowing down to Baal and at great personal price, probably many of them, they refused to bow the knee to Baal. And if that's true, they were a praying people.

18:41 No man receives grace to resist the times in which he lives who isn't drawing that supply of grace from the throne of grace. But I can well imagine that these people had been pleading for God to vindicate his name, and when the message comes, gather to Elijah upon Mount Carmel. Can you imagine what happened in their hearts? Lord, will you do it now?

19:03 Will it be the time when you'll turn back all of this abominable idol worship? There were the 7,000. And then can you imagine the thoughts of the prophets of Baal? Oh, how false prophets hate the showdown with a true prophet.

19:20 As long as they're left alone, in company of each other to confirm one another in their delusion, all is well, but how they hate the presence of a true prophet. That's why the Pharisees and scribes were the most inveterate enemies of our Lord. As long as they were to themselves, and could be a mutual admiration and mutual delusion society, all was well. But let the Son of God or John the Baptist stand in their midst.

19:44 They couldn't stand it. Couldn't stand it. And now they're, as it were, trapped. What can they do?

19:52 They profess to be prophets and priests of the God Baal. And the prophet summons them to come, and the king affirms that command and puts his royal stamp upon it. And I can imagine how they came with heavy foot and dragging feet. But come, they must.

20:11 But now behind all of the various motives of desperation, of anger, of just inquisitiveness, or awakened spirit, or hope and longing, or downright resentment, or whatever it was, there is no answer for verse 20 and what it says, that they came to Mount Carmel, but that God in His sovereign power had determined to vindicate His cause at this time, and He who holds the hearts of all men in His hands moved them to Carmel. So much then for the command and the compliance with the command. Now consider what is the core of our message tonight. Verse 25.

Elijah's Piercing Question and Challenge: 'How Long Halt Ye Between Two Opinions?'

20:54 The question and challenge of the prophet Elijah. 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, follow him.

21:14 The first thing I want you to notice with this question and challenge of the prophet is that he delivered it in close proximity to the people. The American standard renders it this way. And Elijah drew near unto all the people. The people were already gathered.

21:34 And you know what happens when a great mob gathers. There is all the talk and the buzz and the murmur. And I imagine some were asking, Where is the prophet? Is he going to stand us up?

21:43 Here we have been commanded to come. Where is the prophet? The people are already gathered and out from this place of seclusion, wherever it was, moving with the majesty of a man, a man of God, comes one man to stand against a nation, a king and 850 prophets. And what a strange looking man.

22:09 He is called a hairy man, as he is described in 2 Kings. A man dressed in very unorthodox clothing. And can you imagine what happened amongst the buzzing, murmuring, milling crowd when over the brow of that hill stepped this mighty prophet of God? And if you have attended a concert, this is the closest thing that comes to my mind.

22:30 During the intermission or prior to the beginning of the concert, everyone is murmuring and there is that buzz and the rest. But the minute that conductor steps through the wings, here is the conductor coming. God's man. Who in that sense, because he is God's man, holds a nation in his hands.

22:49 850 prophets in his hands. And it is time now to issue the voice of God, the word of God to them. Now, what did they expect? Well, I imagine they expected the prophet to open his mouth and say, O Israel, rain has not been coming.

23:10 Rain has been withheld. Dew has been withheld. But now, according to my word, there shall be rain. No doubt his prophetic utterance had been well circulated.

23:22 There shall be no dew nor rain, but according to my word. Is it now? Will now be the hour when this prophet, who is locked up heaven, will open it with his word? But Elijah recognizes that before the effects of God's judgments are to be removed, the cause of God's judgments must be rectified.

23:46 The shut heavens were in effect the cause of their sin. Before God will change the fruit, the root must be dealt with. And so Elijah completely bypasses the issue of rain, completely bypasses the issue of the drought, and as the man of God, concerned with the things about which God is concerned, he presses this question to the multitude. And I'd like to know what it must have sounded like for a man with no amplifiers to speak in such a way that these milling multitudes, probably thousands, could all hear him with distinctness.

24:30 And as the prophet draws his breath, and he'd have to draw a big one to speak to that crowd, and he begins to open his mouth and say, and they hang upon his words, there's no promise of rain, no pronouncement of blessing, but a question that pierces them to the heart. How long? Go and ping, halting between two opinions. Like a trumpet with burning eye and with heaven's authority, he presses a question upon the conscience.

25:03 Now, what does this question mean? In the first place, we've got to answer the question, what are the two opinions or the two sides? This question has to do with why or how long these people will go limping or halting or hopping between two sides. What were the two sides, the two opinions?

25:24 Very obviously, on the one hand, the worship and service of Jehovah God, the God who had called His people Israel out of Egypt, who had established Him in the land, who had set kings over them, who had given to them His holy law, the God of Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets. This is the God. This is the one side. And then mutually exclusive, without any mixing of the two, without any overlapping, is the worship of Baal, the God of things, the God of the heathens, this Sidonian God who had been imported by Jezebel and the false prophets that she brought with her. Now, what did it mean to halt or to limp between these two opinions? This word can be translated to hop like a bird from twig to twig. And one author in his commentary actually paraphrases it that way.

26:26 How long do you hop from opinion to opinion like a bird from twig to twig? Now, you've seen a little bird out in the backyard, and he's on a twig, and he no sooner gets his wings tucked in close to his side, then flip-flip-flip-flip, boom, he's over on another one. Tucks his little wings in and then flip-flip-flip-flip, and he's over on another one. Elijah says, how long?

26:48 How long are you going to hop from Jehovah and his service to Baal and his worship, from Baal and his service to Jehovah and his worship? It's the picture of a person unsettled in his religious principles, the principles that govern his life and his conduct. At one time, they avow allegiance to Jehovah. When you hear the people of God at the base of Mount Sinai, the law is delivered and they cry out as they enter into covenant with God, all that the Lord commanded we will do.

27:25 Then we see them a few years later, giving themselves over to the worship of Baal so that God must shut up the heavens and withhold the dew as a stroke and evidence of his displeasure, and his holy wrath. At times, they almost repudiated Jehovah and joined themselves wholly to Baal. Other times, it's as though there's almost a complete purging of Baal worship, but still some of it remains, and identifying with Jehovah. Until you had this terrible state described in 2 Kings 17, one of the most disgusting verses in all of scripture.

28:07 And it's speaking particularly of the, of the end of this chapter, of the beginning of next chapter. Samaritans, that is, those of Samaria, the ten northern tribes, 2 Kings chapter 17 and verse 41, so these nations feared the Lord and served their graven images, both their children and their children's children, as did their fathers, so do they unto this day. They feared the Lord and served Baal.

28:48 They hopped from opinion to opinion.

28:56 Now, after giving this question, how long are you going to go on in this state of religious hopping, unsettled principles of worship and of life, he then gives these words of challenge. Notice them. If Jehovah be God, follow him. If Baal, then follow him.

29:20 What is Elijah saying? I believe this is the essence of his challenge. He said, you people have enough sense to know that if there be one true and living God, he is supreme as creator, law-giver, sustainer, redeemer. And if God is that, an absolute supreme one, then he deserves your unreserved allegiance and service.

29:46 is God, deserves unquestioned allegiance. So he says, if Jehovah is that, supreme creator, preserver, sustainer, redeemer, the one with absolute claims over you, then the only thing that is sane is that you follow him. That is, abandon yourself to his claims. Commit yourself to his ways. At any cost, bring every aspect of life under the direction of his revealed will. But on the other hand, if Baal is God, if you owe your existence to him, if you owe your sustenance to him, if you owe your redemption to him, if he be God indeed, then give him what he deserves. Don't hop away from him. Stick on that branch of Baal worship. If he's God, stay with him.

The People's Indicting Silence and God's Abhorrence of Indecision

30:43 There's the key. The challenge that he utters to the people. Now will you notice their response? And they answered him, not a word. Oh, how the prophet went right to the heart of their problem and exposed it. Why couldn't they answer a word? Because they liked twig hopping. For if they were to say, no, Jehovah is not God, we've given ourselves to Baal, now Elijah, leave us alone.

31:16 They didn't dare do that. They had seen enough the past few years to put some cracks in the concept that Baal was God, to shut heavens. No do. All the prayers and sacrifices to Baal, no answer from heaven. No, we can't wholeheartedly avow ourselves as the worshipers of Baal.

31:39 We're not really convinced that he is the supreme God. Elijah, you profess to be Jehovah, Jehovah's servant. You say you have the key. You have the key in your pocket, which means Jehovah is preserver, controller, sovereign of all that is. And we see some evidence of that. And yet, we're not ready to divorce ourselves from Baal and cry out in one voice, Jehovah is God, we will follow him. They answer not a word. They like this condition of hopping. They like it.

32:12 And the very question Elijah pressed revealed the state of their wicked hearts. They wouldn't say Baal. They wouldn't say Jehovah. Now, you see the crux of the issue. And this brings me to what to me is the most vital principle in this entire section that we're dealing tonight. And I hope you listen carefully. Nothing is more abhorrent to God than indecision and vacillation in religious commitment. And nothing is more common or comfortable to men than the attempt to maintain.

32:52 The state of vacillation and indecision. Those are the two principles. You got them? Nothing is more abhorrent to God than indecision and vacillation in religious commitment. However, nothing is more common or comfortable to men than the attempt to maintain indecision and vacillation. And in a peculiar way, that's the crowning temptation of people who are not religious. The people who have the revelation of God in Holy Scripture. The heathen lands from which the prophets of Baal came knew nothing of Jehovah. Elijah's question would be meaningless

33:40 to them. They only knew of Baal and to Baal they gave themselves. Like those in Romans 1 who worshiped and served the creature, they give themselves to Baal worship. This is the peculiar temptation of people like ourselves who are exposed to God.

Scriptural Evidence of God's Abhorrence of Vacillation

33:59 The claim that we are born to the revelation of the true God in His claim. It is our peculiar temptation to want to hop from the worship of Baal to the worship of Jehovah. Now I want to expand those two principles and apply them to our own hearts and minds by God's help. I said that nothing is more abhorrent to God than indecision and vacillation.

34:24 How do we know it? We know it from the question of the Prophet. When will this miserable state of affairs go on? When will this miserable state of affairs go on? It's because God has The prophet is simply reflecting in human terminology and through a human personality the abhorrence of the heart of his God. He said, you people, hedge-hopping from Baal to Jehovah, how long? How long? How long?

34:47 But we need not build the case simply on this question and what it seems to infer. But may I quickly take you through several other portions of Scripture that reveal God's abhorrence to this state of indecision and vacillation. There is that well-known verse, we don't even need to turn to it, in Matthew 6, 24, where Jesus said, No man, no man can serve two masters, for either he will love the one and hate the other, or hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

35:24 You cannot serve the living and the true God and mammon. That is, thing. That is a modern form of Baal worship. Our Lord said there is no place for indecision and vacillation.

35:39 You love me totally and supremely, or you love mammon totally and supremely. There is the word of our Lord in the 12th chapter of Matthew in the 30th verse. He that is not with me, that is, he that is not committed to me on my term, is against me.

36:03 He that is not with me. No neutrality. 2 Timothy 3 and verse 5, speaking of one of the characteristics of apostasy, you have this very incisive word. Holding to the form of godliness, but denying its power.

36:26 Wherever apostasy reveals itself, often its first indication is holding the form of Jehovah worship, but in reality, no power to deliver men from the practice of Baal worship. Holding the form of solitude. words, but not experience their liberating power. And then, of course, the classic expression of that comes to light in the almost crude words of the risen Son of God, who with eyes as a flame of fire discerning the state in the Laodicean church, says in Revelation 3, and I read now from verse 15, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. Now notice, I would, this is my wish, thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth. Spew has become sort of a nice old English word. He's saying, I'll vomit

37:33 you. He says, this vacillation, indecision, religious indifference, the attempt to maintain neutrality is so sickening to me, I'll vomit you out. Those are the words of the Son of God. So I submit that nothing is more abhorrent to God than this hopping between two opinions. Jehovah is God. Oh, yes, on Sunday, I would not be found at a heathen temple, lifting up my hands, and I would not be found at a heathen temple, lifting up my hands, and I would not be found at a heathen temple, lifting up my hands, and I would not be found at a heathen temple, lifting up my hands, and I would not be found at a heathen temple, lifting up my hands, to some idol of wood or stone, nor would I be found in a liberal church, lifting up my hands to some Christ who is not God, but merely a good man, but a limited man at best. Oh, no, I would be a Jehovah worshiper on Sunday. Don't let him bother me on Monday, where his word would shape and mold my ethics of business, where his word would shape and mold my associations at school, and where his word would shape and mold my associations at school, and

38:49 where his word would shape and mold my associations at school, and at work, and at play, my thoughts in the home, my words on the telephone. I'm willing to worship Jehovah. Just let him leave me alone. Monday through Sunday, Saturday, how long go ye halting between two opinions? Is Jehovah God? Then follow him, not only Sunday, into his temple, his people's assembly to worship, but Monday into the place of employment, and there, at any cost, I will be found.

39:20 At any cost, live out the ethic of his word. There in the home, in relationship with brother, sister, husband, wife, at any cost, in the thought life, in what I listen to and don't listen to on the radio, in what I see and don't see on the television, how I spend my time in the totality of life, the totalitarian claims of Christ come to all of his own, and he says, He that loveth father, mother, brother, sister, more than me, is not worthy of me. He that forsaketh not all that he hath, be mine. Now, beloved, that means what it says. We'd better check the whole Bible out. Jesus said the only attitude that is fitting with professed discipleship is the recognition that nothing, nothing belongs to me.

40:20 The air that I suck into my lungs. The heart that beats, the mind that thinks, the energies that labor, the check that comes, the rug on which I walk, the home into which I move, it is all his. To be used for his glory, to be the vehicle through which praise is brought to him, and he says, if you forsake not all that you have, that is, if you do not relinquish all selfish, sinful claims to the totality of life, you cannot, you cannot be my disciple. One of the most terrible.

41:02 One of the most terrible things that happened in Israel was the attempt to amalgamate Jehovah worship with Baal worship. We read about it in 2 Kings. They feared the Lord and served their idols. Beloved, I think one of the greatest tragedies that has come to the evangelical church is this same thing repeated.

41:19 An attempt to amalgamate the worship of Christ with all the conveniences of Baal worship. And so we have a Christianity with no true self-denial, no reproach, no buffeting of the body. No recognition that all that we have, that nothing that we have is our own. We have a convenient Christianity that lets us take all the blessings we would like from Christ, while treating footloose and fancy-free all the demands of a true allegiance to Christ.

41:53 And I submit to you, that's an amalgamation of Jehovah and Baal.

41:59 And Jesus said, I'd rather you'd be all Baal or all me. Did you know what happens? At least people who are gung-ho Baal worshipers are having fun. They're having a little fun for a little time.

42:14 They'll go to the hell of Baal worshipers, but at least, if that's any comfort, they've had a little fun on the way.

42:21 But those who try to worship Jehovah and Baal and give a divided allegiance, they know no delights of their worship of Jehovah. For the Lord Jesus does not put the jewel of true delight into any other heart but that which is utterly abandoned to him. So there's no joy from the Lord. And yet, because the conscience is so conditioned by the demands of Jehovah, they can't give themselves wholly over to Baal worship, and so they just toy with enough of Baal to make them hanker for more.

42:54 And yet, they're convicted if they have more, so there's no enjoyment of Jehovah, no enjoyment of Baal, and yet they go to the same hell as gung-ho Baal worshipers. That's why the Lord would rather have us hot or cold. I wonder if there's a little touch of pity here, that the Lord is saying, all right, if Baal's God, then at least worship him. Suck a few pleasures.

43:13 Paul seems to say that. He says, if all we have is this life, let's at least have a little fun now. Eat, drink, but tomorrow we die. Isn't that what he says?

43:21 He says, let's at least suck a few pleasures. But, beloved, if the Bible's true, if you're eternity bound, if you will spend eternity in the presence of God or the presence of the damned in hell, and if the demands of Christ are what they claim to be, totalitarian demands, forsake all that you have,

43:43 then some of us better do some serious examination. Examination of heart, for we're hopping between two opinions.

The Futility of Divided Allegiance: No Joy, Same Hell

43:51 Maintaining enough of Jehovah to sad the conscience, yet dabbling in enough of Baal that we know no delights in a vital relationship with the Lord.

44:04 Oh, I plead with you, if Christ is God incarnate, if he indeed is the Lamb of God who hung upon a cross and in that terrible hour took into himself all the arrows of his Father's wrath, until he was so swallowed up that he cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And if it's the sins of pride and covetousness and coldness of heart and indifference to the claims of Christ that made him die, then I plead with you, if he's God, then follow him. That means abandon yourself to him. Without reservation, I give myself to thee.

44:49 It is all. That I can do.

44:55 I say, on the other hand, if Baal is God, if things are your satisfier for time and eternity, young people, if pleasures are what they say they are, the real key to life, then give yourself to them. Go ahead and give yourself to them. Suck a little sweetness now.

45:21 For God abhors religious indecision and vacillation. Oh, I know we can call it the times. We can call it. The pressure's weak and call it everything under the sun.

45:34 You say, well, the Lord understands. He sure does.

45:37 And he hates it.

The Common Comfort of Neutrality and a Personal Illustration

45:40 And then the second principle that I enunciated, nothing is more common than the attempt to maintain neutrality. They answered him, not a word.

45:50 Not a word.

45:53 Not a word. You see, we don't like to be pressed with a question like this, do we? How do you feel when you're pressed with a question like that? How long are you going to hop?

46:03 When are you going to settle down, sold out, 100%? Lock, stock, barrel.

46:11 Mañana. Come on.

46:15 They answered him, not a word. We don't like that. Because you see, it gathers, as it were, all of the light and focuses it upon the issue. If Christ is what he claimed to be, then I must give him all that he demands of me.

46:31 And then I'll receive from him all that he's promised to me.

46:36 But they answered him, not a word. I shall never forget when this passage came so forcibly to my mind. It was about 12 years ago. No, no, not 12.

46:51 Ten years ago. And I was preaching in a little church up in Connecticut. I knew something of the history of that church. And it had been one of the most saddening displays of Jehovah Baal worship that one could see.

47:08 Externally orthodox, but oh, the Baal worship that abounded.

47:14 And the pastor called me there for a series of meetings when I was engaged full-time in the itinerant ministry. And I remember preaching. And I remember preaching there all week on the theme of what is real Christianity, what's a real Christian. And I contrasted the kind of Christianity most of them had and professed to believe in with what the Bible taught about true, saving Christianity.

47:37 And I was conscious of the Lord's help as well as great opposition of the powers of darkness. And only a man who's preached or someone who's entered deeply into the school of prayer knows what I'm talking about. The devil's as real to me as this pulpit on which I'm resting. I've not seen him with my eyes.

47:53 But I don't need to see him. Anymore than if someone was behind my back with his hands around my neck, I wouldn't see him to know he's there.

48:01 And there was that consciousness of conflict. And at the end of that week, on a Sunday morning, I've never done this before, never did it before, and I've never done it since. I came down and stood in front of the pulpit and I said, Now you people have listened, many of you, all week to what real Christianity is. And you've seen that what most of you have is false.

48:18 And I'm going to ask you to do something this morning. I believe this is a crisis time in this church. I want all of you who say, This is the attitude of your heart this morning. Oh God, I'm sick and tired of this sham.

48:31 I'm tired of this hopping from opinion to opinion.

48:36 And I'm willing to come and stand on this side of the church with the pastor and say, By the grace of God, I want real Christianity at any cost. No longer to take with an easy and a high-handed attitude those demands of discipleship. To take up the cross, to follow me, to cut out right eyes and pluck off right hands. Come right now and stand with this pastor.

48:59 Pastor who'd wept over that congregation and they sat, nobody moved.

49:04 I said, All right, those of you who've been listening all week and the anger of your heart has come to a boiling point. And you said, If that's Christianity, I want nothing to do with it. I said, All right, come on, get up this morning and come and walk right out that back door.

49:18 Be honest enough to say, If that's Christianity and that's what's going to be preached in this place, I don't want it. I said, Would you please, right now, get up out of your seat and move out that door. Nobody moved. I turned to this passage and I said, You're just like the children of Israel.

49:35 Beloved, I don't claim to be a prophet nor the son of a prophet. But God wrote Ichabod over that church.

49:43 And as I've tried to trace back its history, there's been nothing but blight and drought ever since. But you see, those people didn't want to be committed just like them. Beloved, just like some of you, I fear, I've travailed in soul over this message because some of you, there's evidence so little, decision, and principle in your professed Christianity. There are times when my heart rejoices when I see what seems to be the fruit of some true following of Jehovah.

50:22 And just when my heart would be elated, I see you bowing down to Baal and willing to make sacrifices for your flesh at the expense of the Spirit.

50:37 Whereas I see others much younger in their profession of faith, outstripping some of you in spiritual experience by yards and miles.

A Plea for Decisive Commitment to Christ

50:49 Because the issue has been faced. Jesus is God. I shall be healed. So I plead with you in the name of God, as Elijah did, how long hop you between two of me.

51:15 If Jesus is God, sit before his cross tonight until something of the agony that he bore for that cursed sin of indecision breaks in upon you. And melts the hardness of your heart, sit before the fires and torments of hell until something of the horror of indecision breaks out of that fiery pit and strikes dread to your spirit.

51:44 Sit before the glories of the redeemed in the life to come. Behold them in the presence of their savior. All sorrow and death and tears forever gone until you say whatever I've got to bear down here to be one of them. It's worth it.

Closing Exhortation from Mr. Kuhlmacher: The Absurdity of Halting

52:05 I close by reading from one of the great old masters in Israel,

52:12 whose spirit felt something, or my spirit felt something akin to his as he considered these words. But if Elijah were now preaching amongst us, would he not still have to deliver many a severe warning about halting, wavering, and instability? Surely he would not long endure to witness the double-mindedness and indecision that prevails amongst, professed Christians. Certainly we see some decided characters on the one side and on the other, on the path of death as well as on the path of light and life.

52:49 But oh, how many borderers who halt between two opinions, who practically at least doubt which master they shall serve. And oh, that the generation of these halting ones did not constitute the majority among us, but alas, it is not so. The decided living unto God is surely no common thing. But what, dear brethren, is our supreme happiness?

53:15 Is it not to enjoy fellowship with the Father and with His Son? Isn't this the one thing needful? Let the Lord be your treasure. Let Him be your supreme love.

53:25 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, until that world can be demonstrated to be your supreme good. If human existence be confined to this present, life merely, and if we have nothing beyond it to look for, then let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Let us walk in the ways of our heart and in the sight of our eyes. For why should we then lose time upon an imaginary thing such as the world to come?

53:52 But if this is not our rest, if there be a world to come and eternity hereafter, what means our loitering upon the way, our settling down in the land of our pilgrimage? Be therefore pilgrims and strangers decidedly, lay aside every sin, everything that would impede your progress, esteem all such things as dross and dung, that you may enter in at the straight gate, and that the word eternity may not at last be a word of thunder to you. Surely it is well worth to sacrifice all other cares to this one, of escaping eternal punishment and becoming partakers of everlasting happiness, to act half as children of time and half as children of eternity, brings with it entire death. Do you hear it? To act half as children of time and half as children of eternity, brings with it entire death. If the word of God be true, submit yourselves to it in all things, even in those which are so opposed to our corrupt nature and wayward desires.

54:57 Believe it heartily, my hearers, both in its promises and threatenings. But if you are wiser than God, then show it decidedly. Only do not halt, for that's irrational and absurd, and do not mix light and darkness. So the words of Mr. Kuhlmacher.

Final Challenge: Answer the Question

55:18 And so I close my exhortation tonight in the words of the prophet.

55:24 And I trust the Spirit of God will apply them to many of your hearts. How long are you going to hop between two opinions?

55:35 Is Christ God?

55:38 Then follow Him. And all the pregnancy of that word.

55:43 If baby, then follow Him. The prayer of my heart is that God will give us those who are so following Jehovah that those who want to fear the Lord and worship Baal will find this place just too uncomfortable.

56:04 Too uncomfortable.

56:08 How are you tonight? Comfortable or uncomfortable? I just hate to have it put that straight and clear. Yes, I know you do.

56:15 So did they. They answered Him not a word. May God grant that the history written in heaven, and we'll find that you've answered a word. That in the secret place with God this night, you've said, Oh God, you are my creator.

56:31 Oh Christ, you are my redeemer. You have absolute claim to me. Lord, forgive my twig hopping.

56:42 May God grant that this will be so. Let us pray.