Exposure of False God

Elijah's Challenge and the People's Response

0:02 The prophet enters into this conflict with the 450 prophets of Baal and possibly added to that 400 of the prophets of Asherah. He has already issued the challenge. The people perhaps expecting to hear a word of promise from the lips of the prophet that reign will now come. Instead they have a challenge that cuts them to the quick.

0:28 As the prophet says, if Jehovah be God then serve him or follow him. If Baal be God, follow him. How long go ye limping between these two sides? The people were not prepared for this.

0:39 They had come together for a promise of mercy. They did not come to receive a challenge of moral commitment. And so they answer him not a word. And so he delineates the sides.

0:49 I, even I, only am left. I am reading now from verse 22. The prophets of Baal are 400. And then he sets out the course of action.

0:59 Two bullocks. Two sacrifices.

1:04 Two gods are going to be addressed. Let them call upon their God. I will call upon the name of Jehovah. The God who answers with fire, let him be God.

1:14 And the people answered and said, it is well spoken. And as we considered in our last study, though they were not prepared to commit themselves on an issue of moral decision, they were quite prepared to see a show. Oh, we'd love to see a show. That's well spoken.

1:29 We want nothing to do with answering the question, is Jehovah God, then declare ourselves, shall this God declare ourselves? But if you promise to give us a show, Elijah, why we'll go along with that. And so the time for the show has come. The time for God to vindicate his own name and his own cause.

The Prophets of Baal Begin Their Ritual

1:49 And I begin reading tonight with verse 25. And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, choose you one bullock for yourselves and dress it first for year many. And call upon the name of your God, but put no fire. And they took the bullock which was given them and they dressed it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, oh, Baal, hear us.

2:18 But there was no voice nor any that answered. And they leaped about the altar that was 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 has gone aside or.

2:37 He is on a journey or peradventure he sleepeth and must be awakened.

2:43 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances till the blood gushed out upon them. It was so when midday was passed that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening oblation. But there was neither voice nor any to answer nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me.

3:12 And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was thrown down. And Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob unto whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah.

3:32 And he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order. And cut the bullock in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.

3:49 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time.

3:58 The water ran round about the altar and it filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening oblation that Elijah the prophet, came near and said, O Lord, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.

4:38 Then 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 that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, Jehovah, he is God. Jehovah, he is God. And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal.

5:02 Let not one of them escape. And they took them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slew them. And Elijah led them there.

Prayer for Illumination and Sermon Outline

5:14 Let us look to the Lord in prayer and ask the assistance of his spirit as we seek to study this portion of Holy Scripture. Our Father, our hearts thrill at the sheer power of the written word of God.

5:34 What majesty, what beauty bursts forth from the pages of this book as we see thee in sovereign power vindicating thine own name and cause. And we are grateful that you are not locked up within the pages of this book. That you live today. That Elijah's God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, is our God as well.

6:02 And because of this, O Lord, we come, even as Elijah came, and we plead as he pleaded, that in this hour there may be not fire from heaven. Lord, this is not our need in this hour. But, O, how we need light. How we need illumination.

6:18 How we need the assistance of the Holy Spirit. O, hear and answer us, our God, and give us that needed assistance. As we would study your word together, we ask through Christ our Lord. Amen.

6:38 This section, which I have read, beginning with verse 25 and going down through verse 40, breaks down very naturally into, what we might consider as three divisions in the narrative. The first is what I am calling the false God exposed. There is a detailed exposure of the false God, Baal. This begins with verse 25 and concludes with verse 29.

7:07 That will be all we'll study tonight. But so that you see that in relationship to what follows, you have then, in verses 30 through 39, the true God vindicated. There is the negative, the exposure of the false God. Then the positive, the vindication of the true God, climaxing in that great confession of this nation that had given itself over to the worship of Baal.

7:31 Jehovah, he is God. Jehovah, he is God. And then the sequel to it is, verse 41, the false prophets slain. Those who led the nation into the worship of this false God are then judged by the true God who is vindicated.

Elijah's Orders and the Prophets' Obedience

7:48 Vindicated in the second part of this section. So as you think through this part of the chapter, you have the false God exposed, the true God vindicated, and then the perpetrators of the doctrines and worship of the false God, the false prophets, are slain. Now let us consider in detail what is here in the record concerning the exposure of the false God, beginning with verse 25. Verse 25 sets before us the orders, And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first, for ye are many,

8:29 and call on the name of your God, but put no fire under. I trust you feel this passage. This is one of the benefits of going into somewhat of a detailed study of any given portion. You expose your thought processes and your whole emotional life to the mood and feelings.

8:50 To the feeling of the passage of Scripture. And as I've often encouraged you, try to read the Scripture, not only with your mind active, but with your emotions turned loose, as it were, to follow in the direction that the Spirit of God would lead you. Don't be afraid of your emotions. Be scared to death of them if you rinse them loose from the guidelines of Scripture.

9:11 But I'm scared to death of a Christianity that acts like I'm nothing but head and bone and blood and muscle. I have an emotional structure. And God, in redemption, lays hold of it and sanctifies it. For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

9:29 And if you're a stranger to joy in the Holy Ghost, you've got no grounds to claim you're acquainted with righteousness. So, don't be afraid of your emotions. Try to feel the passage. God gives us these details in order that we might have the message conveyed to us in the totality of its impact.

9:48 And as you read this passage, you get the impression that somebody must have promoted Elijah to general or king of the nation. Here is the nation gathered before him. Probably not all of the individuals, but great representative segments. Even the king and his royal court are here at this scene.

10:05 And the whole mood of this passage is that Elijah, the man of God, is the general and the king. Everybody else is his servant. And so he says to these prophets, who'd love to see him dead, he starts giving orders to them. And he says, this is what you're to do.

10:20 You choose a bullet for yourselves and dress it first. For ye are many. Do you catch something of the mocking politeness of the prophet? Since you people have the advantage of numbers, I'll let you go first.

10:35 So you take your bullet. You choose whichever one you want, so I won't be suspected of rigging the bullet that I choose. And this is what you're to do. You're to dress it, that is, prepare it, lay it upon the altar.

10:48 And then you are to call upon the name of God. The name of your God. But you're to put no fire under. And there before the scrutiny of the multitudes and of the prophet himself, there would be no opportunity for the tricks that are so often accompanied with heathen religious rites.

11:09 Where some of these men schooled in the arts of sleight of hand can fool and dupe the unsuspecting people. But the prophet reminds them there'll be none of that foolishness in this situation. And for the first time, the prophet says, there'll be none of that foolishness in this situation. And for the first time, these prophets are stripped of all of their rigamarole and all of their trickery, and they're trapped, as it were.

11:27 If they say, well, no, we won't agree to this, they're already exposed. If they say, yes, we do agree to it, they're going to be exposed. They're caught. There's nothing they can do.

11:36 God has wisely, in commanding the prophet, as he says later, Lord, let these people know that I've done these things at thy command. What a beautiful display of the wisdom of God. That when God's time was right to back these men in the corridor. So.

11:50 If they move this way, they were caught or this way, they were caught. God's time has come and God knows how to track down and make fools of those who would flaunt his holy law and reject his revelation. Now, why did Elijah say you fellows go first? Well, these people agreed to it.

12:11 So apparently they thought it was a good thing. I would imagine that from their standpoint, this is why they agreed to it. Maybe some of them had. So.

12:21 Been given over to a spirit of deception that they actually thought that their God would bring fire. And if so, they would be glad for the issue to be settled. If fire comes from heaven, as the prophets of Baal pray, why, then Elijah will never have an opportunity to even vindicate the true God. The case will be settled.

12:38 Everybody can go home and give themselves over in a wholehearted way to the worship of Baal. From their standpoint, perhaps some of them hoped that this would end the issue early. But. More likely, it was just to save face.

12:53 There was nothing else they could do, as we've already suggested. From Elijah's standpoint, he says, you fellows put your offering on first and pray first because he's so absolutely confident of the outcome. He's so confident, having come from the presence of God with direction from the living God. He wants the folly of idol worship to be displayed before the entire nation.

13:18 He is, as it were, chomping at the bit for this opportunity. This opportunity to show to the people of Israel who've become so sottish and foolish in their idol worship, the absolute stupidity of worshiping the kind of God that has got to be somehow aroused in the hour of this greatest crisis by six hours of hollering and carrying on like madmen. And he wants the people of Israel to see the absolute stupidity and irrationality of this kind of Baal worship. And also from the standpoint that there'd be no room.

13:51 There'd be no room to cry unfair. Suppose Elijah had come first, and in answer to his prayer, fire had come down from heaven. You see, the prophets of Baal could always say, ah, yes, but if we had been given our chance first, our God would have sent fire. So God, in his wisdom, is directing the prophet to shut up every single avenue of excuse.

14:09 May I say, my dear friend, God's going to do that again in another day. There's a day when every artifice, every winding avenue of excuse and escape and rationality, will come to an end. May I say, my dear friend, God's going to do that again in another day. There's a day when every artifice, every winding avenue of excuse and escape and rationality, will come to an end.

14:23 May I say, my dear friend, God's going to do that again in another day. There's a day when every artifice, every winding avenue of excuse and rationality, will come to an end. May I say, my dear friend, God's going to do that again in another day. May I say, my dear friend, God's going to do that again in another day.

14:29 When God raises his hand and says, that right now, the sermon is not to make you wrong, but to the end of your life, Cook Angela of Listeny on the devotional children's church. excess, and they began, perhaps, to believe their own lie. You know, you tell yourself a lie long enough, you actually begin to believe it. And then Scripture says, God gives men over to a spirit of delusion that they will believe a lie, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. Now God says, the time

15:09 has come for me to wrench the lie from their hands, to vindicate my cause, and when God's time comes, nothing can thwart it. That same God is the God with whom you and I have to do. May God grant that none of us shall go to the judgment, unclothed in the righteousness of Christ, to have that kind of a God take in hand, to back us into the corner with our guilt, until there will be wrung from our own lips the confession, O God, thou art righteous, in damning me to eternal perdition. So the orders are given. Now, verse 26, the first part, gives the record of how the orders were obeyed. And they

The Silence and Inactivity of Baal

15:50 took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. Now try to take yourself there to that level spot on the side of Mount Carmel, that flat, notched-out spot, the spot this side, the ascent of which would then overlook the sea, and see these heathen prophets, noted for their fine garments and for their complicated rituals, the more religion departs from the simplicity of divine revelation, the more involved it becomes

16:32 with that which appeals to the physical senses. Never forget that. There is beautiful simplicity in the way of truth revealed from heaven. And the more truth is disregarded, and the soul goes out of religion, the more it must shore itself up with that which appeals to the senses, to the eyes, to the ears, to the nose. And so these prophets of Baal,

16:57 with all that would impress the senses in their fine vestments and in their religious rigmarole, can you picture them now surrounding that bullock? And then they cut it in the way that their heathen dictates would direct them. And they lay it upon the altar, and then they begin, Scripture says, to call upon the name of Baal from morning until noon. And if we mark morning at somewhere around nine o'clock, as the Hebrews would reckon it, until noon, this is telling us that for three hours, they would be able to call upon the name of Baal from morning until noon. And if we mark

17:27 morning at somewhere around nine o'clock, as the Hebrews would reckon it, until noon, this is telling us they then began to petition Baal with this simple petition, O Baal, hear us, or as the marginal reading has it, that word apparently could be translated, answer us. O Baal, answer us. Now, who's doing this? Four hundred and fifty heathen prophets gathered before that entire multitude of Israel, and for three solid hours the petition goes up.

17:57 O Baal, hear us. O Baal, hear us. O Baal, hear us. O Baal, hear us. O Baal, hear us. O Baal,

17:58 hear us. O Baal, hear us. O Baal, hear us. O Baal, hear us. O Baal, hear us. Until I wonder if the

18:10 whole crowd had to actually fight a hypnotic state by the mere repetition of that petition over and over and over and over again. Now, for those of us who have no acquaintance with heathenism, it's hard for us to understand that. We read in the book of Acts of a similar situation when Paul came to Ephesus, as recorded in Acts 19. There was this hubbub in the city over the overthrowing of the worship of Diana. It says, for the space of two hours the multitude cried, Great is Diana, God of

18:41 the Ephesians. Great is Diana, God of the Ephesians. Great is Diana, God of the Ephesians. I've said it three times. It's only taken six seconds. Imagine, for two hours. Two hours. Here in this case, for

18:54 three hours, the cry goes up, O Baal, hear us. O Baal, answer us. Can you picture the great multitudes? Some of those given over to Baal worship, looking for the slightest spark to somehow burst forth upon that altar, straining their eyes as the sun rises to its zenith, trying to see if there's anything other than sunlight upon the sacrifice, just hoping with each petition, maybe this next one will tip the scales in the affection and in the intervention of our deity, and some fire will come. O Baal, hear us. The eyes

19:33 are strained, looking for a little spark. Try to picture some of the others, some of that 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal, not yet prepared to declare themselves when the call went forth that Jehovah be God, serve him. And as they see the futility of this petition, they say, O Baal, answer us. O Baal, hear us. The eyes are strained, looking

19:53 for a little spark. Try to picture some of the others, some of that 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal, not yet prepared to declare themselves when the call went forth that Jehovah be God, serve him. And as they see the futility of this petition, they say, perhaps their faith begins to mount. And with each petition, their confidence begins to rise. Baal is no God. Baal is no God. O Baal, hear us. He is no God. O Baal, hear us. He

20:09 is no God. And then picture the prophet. Can you see him? Can you put your mind to work?

20:17 What's he doing all this time? Well, I think what burst out of him in the next verses gives some indication of what the prophet is doing. And then picture the prophet. Can you see what the prophet is probably doing? He's not going to allow them any sleight of hand

20:29 to stick a few little sparks. Oh, no. I can picture the prophet with his arms folded, watching them as they dance about that altar. His fiery eyes scrutinizing all of their activity.

20:43 They can't find a way to fool and dupe the people. The prophet watches, his own confidence and expectation deepening. His own spirit increasingly filled with the power of the righteous anger against the folly of Baal worship as he sees them go on for three hours. They obey the orders. The orders are given in verse 25. Verse 26 tells us the orders were

21:12 obeyed. The next unit of thought is the beginning of the exposure of Baal. Notice the latter part of verse 26. But there was no voice, nor any that answered, and they leaped about the altar that was made. There was the silence and inactivity of Baal. Scripture tells us that an idol is

Divine Mockery and Frenzied Activity

21:38 nothing, 1 Corinthians 8 and verses 4 and 5. But the spirit of the devil, which operates to lead men to idol worship, is deceptive. He would have longed to have broken forth with some lying signs and wonders. And there are times when God permits satanic activity that Scripture calls signs and wonders. In

22:02 Revelation 13 or 13.10 it speaks of the beast causing fire to come out of heaven. Job, the instance in his life where God gave permission to the devil to do everything but touch his own life and body, and fire came and consumed some of his own possessions. But in verse In this case, because the honor of Jehovah was at stake, God did not give that permission to any of the powers of darkness, and Scripture is eloquent in its simplicity.

22:32 There was none that answered. No voice, no fire. And so they're going to move from mere petitioning to their frenzied activity. Notice, And they leaped or limped, danced upon or about the altar that was made.

22:56 Apparently standing about the altar and their petitions availing nothing, they say, well, perhaps our God is not going to be moved by our words, so we'll give him something of the activity of our bodies. Our voices don't call him to attention. Perhaps if he sees us in great motion, this will bring an answer. So they begin to leap in some kind, a kind of heathenous ritual about the altar, and this could well have been the very mark of some of the, or the very reflection of some of the things that mark the worship of Baal as history has given us some record of it, with its immoral and indecent exposure of its prophets as they work themselves up into this kind of frenzy.

23:41 Then the exposure continues from the silence and inactivity of Baal to the frenzied activities of the prophets, of Baal to the withering mockery of the prophet of God. And it came to pass at noon, when the sun was at its height, as one has very poetically said, their deity slowly drove his golden car up the steep of heaven and ascended his throne in the zenith. The sun was at its highest peak. It was surely the time of his greatest power, and he must help them now, if ever.

24:18 But all he did was to tan, to a deeper tint their eager, upturned face. And so at noon, at the very point when the sun was at its highest peak, when the dramatic hour had come for Baal, the god of productivity, the god of the natural forces, to vindicate himself, the prophet comes with this withering sarcasm and mockery. Elijah mocked them. Are you shocked by that?

24:47 May I suggest that you ought to trace out the whole thought of divine mockery that's found in Scripture. Let me give you several suggestions of this. The second psalm says, He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.

25:03 Speaking of the determination of men to cast off the yoke of divine government, they say, let's cast away his cords from us. Let's do as we please. So God over us, to command us, to direct us, to be accountable to, let's break his bonds asunder. Now how is God disturbed by all of this?

25:23 It says, He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. Have you ever seen a little pipsqueak come up to some big burly guy and get smart with him and stick his tongue out and see the guy look at him and go, oh, come on. That's the picture.

25:38 Ever see a dog out on a night when there's a full moon, yelping at the moon? You ever see the moon twitch and get nervous?

25:51 Nah, poor little doggy can't yap till he's hoarse. That's the picture Scripture gives us. Our great God, not frustrated, not in any way, intimidated. Divine mockery, not only here in the prophet, but in Psalm 2, in Proverbs 1, 24 to 28, God says, I will mock when your fear cometh.

26:13 He says to a people to whom He has extended the arms of His mercy and His grace, because you would have none of the proffered mercy, when the hour of your calamity comes, I will mock you.

26:26 We find in Isaiah 44, the mockery of the prophet as he's exposing the folly of idol worship. He says, look how foolish. Here a man goes out, cuts a tree, takes some of the wood, and he uses it for fire in his stove, and he cooks his meal. Some of it, he uses to make himself a little crib, and then what he's got left over, he makes himself a little god.

26:47 He mocks the folly of idol worship. There is a place for mockery. When that to which men have given themselves is so absolutely irrational and foolish, sometimes God stoops to use mockery to show the irrationality and the stupidity, and senselessness of idol worship. Now, how does he mock?

27:10 Notice his words. And Elijah mocked them and said, Cry aloud, for He is a God.

27:21 One of the things inherent in all concepts of deity is that the deity responds to the cries and supplications of those who are in allegiance with Him. Granted, the heathen concept of prayer is wrong, but I know of no heathen religion that doesn't have the concept that the deity is to be addressed in prayer. So Elijah says, All right, He is a God. Then certainly His ear will be open to your cry.

27:53 Now, the specific aspect of his mockery. Though He is a God and His ears are open, there may be some problems. Perhaps He is talking, musing. This is the word for meditate that is used in psychology.

28:07 Psalm 119 in several places. Perhaps He is wrapped in thought. He is talking to Himself. You remember when we studied the word meditate in connection with Psalm 1, that the two words used, the one used most frequently, has the idea of talking to oneself.

28:23 You are in such intense concentration that you are talking to yourself. You are cogitating. You are mumbling over your plans or the thing you are going to do or the thing you are trying to get into your cranium here. Now, he says, Granted, He is a God.

28:35 And for three hours you have been petitioning, but perhaps He is so wrapped up in thought at this point. Could it be the thought of how He is going to vindicate His own name and His own cause before all the people of Israel that you have got to shake Him loose from His mental concentration? We who are parents find we have to do this at times with our children. You say to them, Joel, Joel, Joel.

29:00 What daddy? See? Or whatever the name is. You know what we are talking about.

29:04 They get wrapped up in the thing they are doing. And so you have got to speak loud. Louder till your voice breaks through. That is the picture here.

29:10 Oh, He is a God. And as a God, He certainly hears. But right now, so wrapped up that He is talking to Himself, He is musing quite a little louder. Maybe that will cause Him to turn His ear and hear your petition.

29:24 Then the next thing he says, Or perhaps He is gone aside. Literally withdrawn to a secret place. For what purpose? Scripture does not mention.

29:36 Scripture does not tell us. It could be the picture of someone withdrawing to work over a particular problem. It could be the picture of someone withdrawing, as was necessary in the days before present sanitation, to take care of nature's necessities. And I would not put it beyond the prophet to use it here.

29:55 And some of the expositors have actually suggested that this is what the prophet is saying. Since you have got a God who is made in your own image, maybe His human characteristics are such that necessity is upon Him to be added. Absent for a little bit. So call upon Him and He can hear you in the place where He is withdrawn.

30:15 Or He says, perhaps He is gone on a journey. Maybe there is some other realm of the world that is wholly occupying His concern at present. And though you have called for three hours, your voices have not reached Him. He is out somewhere on another errand.

30:30 So call a little louder. Maybe the vibrations of your voices will extend a little bit further and reach Him in that area of the universe where He may be at present. And then His mockery rises to a pit when He says, or peradventure, He is taking a nap. When was this?

30:53 High noon.

30:57 He says, maybe your God is just so weary with running all these affairs during the early hours of the morning. He is taking a little siesta.

31:09 And He sleeps so soundly because He is so wearied from all of His activities. You better wake Him up.

31:16 Do you see the mockery that He cast into the world? Do you see the mockery that He cast into the world? Do you see the mockery that He cast into the world? Do you see the mockery that He cast into the world?

31:18 What a withering mockery to show the absolute folly of the worship of this false God.

Self-Mutilation and Ecstatic Utterances

31:35 What does this do?

31:37 And this is to me one of the most pathetic parts in the whole of this narrative.

31:43 We find that after this withering mockery, instead of saying, Oh, Elijah, you're right. How can this be a true God?

31:54 They take His words literally and they raise their feverish activity to a higher pitch and so scripturally the Scripture says, And they cried aloud. Where have they been for three hours? Crying out, Oh, Baal, here's...

32:09 And the prophet mocks them. And so stupid and insensitive have they become in their worship of this false God that they do begin to cry aloud.

32:22 Maybe He is meditating. Well, we're going to rouse Him. Maybe He is in a place of seclusion. We'll reach Him.

32:29 Maybe He is on a journey. Our voices now must summon Him. Maybe He is sleeping. We'll now awaken Him.

32:37 Still there is no answer. So they move then from the feverish crying and the feverish dancing to mutilating their own bodies. And they cut themselves after their manner with knives and lances till the blood gushed out upon them. If you don't like blood and gore, don't read this portion because here it is.

33:03 They've worked themselves up into this feverish pitch until now they take swords and lances and begin to pierce themselves until not just a little blood trickles here and there. The wording is vivid. The blood gushed out or poured out upon them. Since their deity seems unmoved by their petitions, by their actions of dancing about the altar, since he's unmoved by their intense volume, then perhaps their own life blood will show their devotion to Him.

33:32 So they're willing now to let their own blood be spilled to somehow persuade their deity to hear their cry.

33:41 This is one of the characteristics of their religious ritual for it says after their manner or after their custom. And this apparently was so ingrained in the heathen worship that when God was giving His law to His people, He expressly forbade any cutting of themselves. Deuteronomy 14 and verse 1. Someone who has had the privilege of observing some of these things firsthand in their rather present counterparts left this record for us.

34:12 Dr. Van Lennep has the following passage illustrating the self-torture of the Baalitish priest. Quote, Our modern dervishes indulge in these practices only on special occasions as for instance when a procession is organized and proceeds to the suburbs of a town to pray for rain or for deliverance from some public calamity. Then they exhibit some of their fanatical performances calling upon God and cutting themselves with knives and swords so that the blood runs or piercing their almost naked bodies with wooden or iron spikes from which they hang small mirrors.

34:47 They sometimes become so exhausted with pain and the loss of blood as to faint away so that they have to be borne off. Some of you have seen movies of what are called the flagellantes in certain parts of South America who have incorporated pagan practices into an apostate Romanism and on certain feast days they will take their leather straps with the pieces of glass tied at the end and continually whip their backs until their backs are nothing but a mass of pulp and of blood. Why are they doing this? It's obvious they're dead in earnest because their concept of their God was such as to be so foreign to the true God of Israel that the prophet wants all to see

35:31 how different the contrast how different the God who hears the simple cry of his servant from those who must give themselves over to this kind of faith. And then the account goes on to say and so when midday was passed that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening oblation. They prophesied. The word is used with great latitude in scripture and I don't have time to go into it but it's not speaking of prophecy in the sense that Elijah was a prophet and prophesied and Jeremiah but it's speaking of a frenzied kind of ecstatic utterance that sometimes went into babblings and other times

36:15 was involved in praise and prayer to the deity that was being addressed. This kind of prophecy again is common to heathen worship so much so that Paul had to warn the Corinthians who were greatly enamored with the gifts of ecstatic utterances and with prophecy he said I remind you that no man speaking under the impulse of the Holy Spirit will call Jesus accursed indicating that because of their proximity to heathen temples there in Corinth they had seen people under the power of this evil spirit who would become as it were another person and would prophesy and give forth these ecstatic utterances and many times of course under the impulse of such spirits would speak blasphemies.

37:00 There's the account of the exposure of the false deity as it begins and comes to its crisis and then the exposure is complete in verse 29 where we read and it was so when midday was past that they prophesied but there was neither voice nor any to answer and now something else is added nor any that regarded. Previously it is said that there was no voice nor none that answered. Verse 26 to that is now added this little phrase nor any that regarded literally nor any that paid attention seeming to indicate

37:45 that after six solstices and solid hours of everything from this rather organized choir of chanting to bail to the frenzied dancing to the feverish pitch of activity and these ecstatic utterances and the gushing out of blood the people have finally come to the place where they're even getting tired of the show so that the prophet says draw near to me the exposure has been complete the people have been forced to acknowledge at least with their heads though it's a little bit more obvious with many of them there had been no transformation of divine grace in the heart God as it were by the very evidence placed before them forced them to acknowledge that this bail

38:30 who was being addressed was a nothing this bail was not the true God. Six solid hours the people had stood and watched this show they had had their wish and now the false godly is exposed. The time has come for the true God to be vindicated and the Lord willing next week we pick up the narrative at verse 30 where Elijah says to the people draw near unto me and the true God will be vindicated. Now those are the facts you who come here regularly know I never stop with just the facts I want us to consider now as we seek to see the message of this portion to our own hearts to ask the question what's all this say to me?

The Folly of Idolatry

39:14 That's a rather disgusting story has some elements in it that aren't pleasing has some real life drama in it if you can't read that and get excited there's no hope for you. If you can't read that and sense something of the pure drama of that situation but sensing the drama of it doesn't necessarily mean you'll leave here a better person. What does this say to you? What does it say to me?

39:41 May I suggest there are three things that come through to my own heart with some measure of conviction and power and I share them with you. First of all we see in this section the absolute folly of yielding allegiance to anything or anyone but the true and the living God. As I mentioned earlier in the message it seemed as though Jehovah could be repudiated without consequences. Ahab was a rather successful king in terms of his political management of things and some years went on when Baal worship and prosperity seemed to go hand in hand and he was a man and he was a man and that terrible drought

40:26 began to cast some question on the whole issue. Well maybe we can't worship Baal and get away with it and now the exposure is complete here upon Mount Carmel. The hour of crisis had come in the purpose of God and Baal was shown to be the nothing that he was and I suggest to you as I did earlier but I want to do with greater emphasis now if you sit here tonight yielding allegiance to anything or anyone but the living and the true God the hour of exposure is coming for you. What is your Baal?

41:03 What is it to which you are yielding allegiance?

41:08 Is it prosperity?

41:11 Pleasure?

41:13 Standing? Station? Before men? What is your Baal?

41:17 What is the thing to which you give your energies? It may be even with the feverish pitch of these false prophets. What is the thing to which you are giving your blood, your life? If it's anything less than the living God as revealed in Jesus Christ you're guilty of the grossest form of folly.

41:41 How foolish to yield allegiance to anything or anyone but the living and the true God.

41:50 If I could by mockery show the folly of giving yourself to anything no matter how noble or no matter how degrading in the eyes of men the most noble pursuit be it seeking to clothe and cleanse and heal the bodies of men elevate the thoughts of men no matter what that ambition is if it's anything less being in a vital saving relationship with Jesus Christ it's a form of Baal worship and it's the essence of folly and the irrationality.

42:26 I ask you tonight what is your God?

42:30 Who is your God? You see before these people would be weaned from Baal they had to see the folly of Baal and I say to you if you're coming intent with Baal you'll go on with Baal and if you find yourself beginning to be discontent with your Baal seeing the foolishness of living simply for sense and the world of time oh what a wonderful indication that is that there may begin there may be beginning in your heart a work of God's grace and his mercy. Nobody ever just walks down the street a Baal worshipper and somehow in the spur of the moment says well I think I'll fall down before Jehovah. The process may be short or long but the first work

43:15 of the spirit of God is to expose the folly of our Baal worship. That's conviction of sin.

The Folly of Heathenish Concepts of Prayer

43:22 If you've not had the folly of your Baal worship exposed don't you talk about being a true worshipper of Jehovah as revealed in his son. Secondly I see in this exposure of Baal worship the folly of heathenish concepts of prayer. Remember the whole issue engaged at the start of this paragraph was this choose a bullock call upon the name of your God and all that follows the three hours of chanting the dancing about the altar the lancing of themselves the prophesying all of that was part and parcel of their concept of what it means to call upon the deity.

44:04 Why did they think these long hours the noise and the dancing and the self-mutilation would somehow help in getting an answer? Because the gods of the heathen are impersonal reluctant tight-fisted deities whose reluctance must be overcome by long prayers by mutilation of themselves. Christ our Lord Jesus clearly indicated this in the Sermon on the Mount when he said in verses 6 7 and 8 of chapter 6 when ye pray use not vain repetitions as the heathen do for why do they use repetitions why do they pray for six hours crying out louder and louder and louder for he says

44:49 they think they shall be heard for their much speaking in other words they look upon the deity as one who's walled in with a great wall of reluctance unconcerned and somehow the multiplicity of our petitions and the volume of them and the intensity of them will act like a battering ram against that wall of reluctance and break it down and somehow reach in and come away with some little pittance of blessing from this reluctant deity oh how often you and I are heathenish in our concepts of prayer because we've got a defective view of God we think of the God who has sought us who chose us in eternity

45:33 who has pledged to keep us until the day of Christ we pray as though we really didn't believe his heart was toward us in love and his hand oh the love given to us in bounty let me prove this to you alright what is one of the things that appeals among other things this is not a blanket condemnation of Pentecostalism and some of the related movements so please don't interpret it as such but what is it that appeals to the whole idea of people that have to pray and pray and pray and pray until God will give you this blessing this is something that strikes a response in the natural heart because by nature we have heathenish concepts of God

46:17 we've got to somehow through our sweat and our many petitions and our agonizing and our groaning bend God to dispose a blessing upon us see now let me get more closer to home what is it that many times in a prayer meeting makes us feel well really much hasn't been accomplished simply because we have not been able to rise to a normal level of emotional involvement in prayer and we haven't quote felt the presence of God and we haven't felt the spirit of prayer and we come away discouraged oft times when we have our own time with God it's not a matter of unconfessed sin or areas where we're dodging on issues but as we pray

47:02 because we don't as it were have a great emotional involvement in our praying we somehow feel well God really hasn't heard you see we're like these prophets we feel that unless I can add to my petitions based upon the word something of the blood of my own emotional energy God won't hear me who said that? where'd you ever find that in the Bible?

47:25 this has been a great hindrance to my own prayer life time after time am I communicating or isn't this a problem you have? am I all by myself here? huh?

47:39 see we're heathenish in our concepts of prayer listen you come by the grace of God with clean hands and a pure heart and plead the promises the measure of your emotional involvement has nothing to do with God's faithfulness to answer bless God if you get a glory fit while you're praying wonderful I'm not going to begin that I get one myself once in a while when it's easy to say bless the Lord oh my soul and all that's in within me listen when that comes don't fight it don't be afraid of it if you get so blessed you want to clap your hands and say hallelujah do it that's alright you get some scriptural warrant for that

48:23 oh but what about those times when you couldn't clap your hands if your life depended on it and you couldn't say a hallelujah without it just mocking you are God's promises less sure is his covenanted promise to hear your cry less certain let's get rid of that heathenish concept of prayer because the devil uses that to send us into a spiral of discouragement and then for fear that maybe it'll be the same way when we come to pray the next time we don't pray and then we're really in trouble because our prayerlessness then exposes us to the counterattacks of the devil we need to get rid of these heathenish concepts of prayer now if it's your thoughts of God scripturally based thoughts of yourself

49:07 scripturally based and powerfully applied your concern for others that produces the emotions of awe of joy of grief or of sorrow don't be afraid of those emotions don't look upon them as something sinful when it says Jesus was moved with compassion that has something to do with emotions when it said he wept that has something to do with emotions when it says he rejoiced in his spirit that has something to do with emotions and so don't fear the emotions but my plea to you dear people tonight is this don't have heathenish concepts of prayer that unless you add to your prayers scripturally based

49:52 offered from clean hands and a pure heart then you think well God can't hear me because I'm just not really with it I hope that will be a help to you and you'll think of this passage and say I don't want to be like those priests of Baal and I think it's one of the mighty powerful contrasts of this whole passage it seems to be very little emotion in Elijah's prayer at this point I think he'd spent all his emotion in all the conflicts previous and just a simple plea that God would vindicate his name third principle that I see in this passage is this the folly

The Folly of Frenzied Religious Activity

50:35 not only of worshipping anything but the living God the folly of heathenish concepts of prayer but the folly of frenzied religious activity if you were standing off a little bit further from this crowd where you couldn't have heard what the issues were and you heard this crowd praying for six hours you'd say boy those people really know how to pray they know how to persevere six solid hours when have you prayed six hours been a long time since I prayed six hours they're really with it long prayers expenditure of energy can't do much more than let your own blood out self-denial perseverance but they had

51:19 all that activity with no fire from heaven because it was activity that did not have the authority of heaven upon it Elijah said God send fire why that this people may know that I have done what I have done at my command let the fire fall upon God directed activity and I submit the fire of God falls nowhere else and one of the saddest things in evangelical church today is feverish activity that has no fire of God because God never ordered it fever that is costing people their own blood the expenditure of energy of life itself but no fire

52:04 of God upon it why this activity that was never ordained of God never ordained of God oh if God can teach us the lesson as a church that the only activities for which we can plead the gracious assistance of the Holy Spirit and the seal of the approval of the God of heaven are those activities which are directed by the precepts and principles and precedence of the word of the living God this book is not only the only rule for faith but also for what for practice and if there's one of about a hundred messages I'd like to preach all over this country to all of my dear friends in Christ it's that message

52:48 this is not only the rule of faith what we believe but the rule of practice what we do within the church one of the greatest temptations that comes in this day of feverish bail lightish activity in the evangelical church is to try to run a counter show see when you've got a show like this going on to get that crowd you've got to really produce something I mean this show had just about everything then there's a three ring circus and it's sad but that's what's going on right now tonight the three ring circus and many evangelical churches I know there are places I could name people go to their own churches

53:32 Sunday morning and then they check the papers to see which evangelical church is going to run the best show Sunday night and so off they go the big name speaker here the latest in musical group here the latest in gospel clown or bell ringer or train horse or something else over here in all seriousness I trust we hear the message of this and that we shall never be found as a church described here in the picture of the priest of bail full of feverish activity no fire from heaven because it was unauthorized activity

54:17 whereas the prophet of God doing what he did at the direction of God simply particularly in the midst of all of us and God comes and vindicates I've been told if you don't give altar calls and you don't have fascinating musical programs to get people in and altar calls to get people to really close the thing with Christ how are people going to get saved you mean just preaching the word and praying and God will save people and if some of you would stand to your feet right now tonight and say that's precisely how God saved you through the ministry of this assembly

55:00 you got next to a life that said there's something real in Christianity and that life whetted your appetite and then that life that individual that person a group of persons said well I'd like you to come along with me where my life is nourished and fed and you came under the preaching of the word and God wounded you and pierced you and revealed his son to you and you sit here tonight a monument of his grace