Decision Time

Let's turn again to the chapter we read in 1 Kings 18.

And we find the challenge in verse 21 that Elijah is throwing out towards Israel.

! And Elijah came near to all the people and said,

How long will you go limping between two different opinions?

If the Lord is God, follow him.

But if Baal, then follow him.

And the people did not answer him a word.

As a boy growing up, Elijah was one of my favorite characters in the Bible

because he seemed to be tough as nails.

And he seemed to be just a man who was utterly fearless and would do anything and go anywhere.

And that one mission was to serve God.

And he was, I suppose, like a lot of young boys, Elijah was a hero to us.

And I used to think it was very fitting that when God was taking, as he took Enoch,

he also took Elijah, that he was to take this incredible servant of his out of this world, never meeting death.

But Elijah, although he may appear otherworldly to us,

because sometimes when you read through Elijah,

apart from the one lapse that he had when he ran away from Jezebel,

everything else about his life was unbelievably passionate, zealous.

And you'd almost think he was kind of different to us.

But he wasn't.

James, in his letter, tells us, Elijah was exactly like you and me,

with the same passions, the same kind of character.

They're no different to the likes of you and me.

So James tells us this.

Now in this chapter that we meet here, there's a crisis has come in the land.

And the idolatry of Israel is just beginning to overwhelm the whole place.

And because of that idolatry, God has sent a drought on the land,

so that they were without water for three years.

And it's in light of this that Elijah comes to bring this challenge to Israel.

And they have to make a decision.

Now you and I know life is full of decision making.

We're always having to make decisions.

Some of these decisions are so small, we don't realize that they're actually decisions.

The likes of, what am I going to eat?

Or if you have leisure time, will I read?

Will I watch something?

Will I go for a walk?

These are the kind of sort of little decisions that we make within the day

that have no great consequences at all.

But then there are bigger choices, bigger decisions.

The likes of, when it comes to marriage, who you're marrying,

where you're going to live, the job you're going to have.

These are much bigger choices, bigger decisions.

But the biggest decision, the biggest choice that anybody could ever make

is what we do with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do we follow him?

Or do we push him away?

Do we side with Jesus?

Do we ask Jesus to be our Lord and our King?

Or do we walk away from Jesus?

Do we push Jesus aside every time that he comes near us in the Gospel or in Providence?

What is our reaction to Jesus?

Because we're always making a decision at these times,

either accepting or rejecting.

And so we find that Israel has come to this point where a choice has to be made.

Now as we read here,

Ab was searching the whole land for Elijah

because he blamed Elijah for the drought.

You see, Elijah, according to God's word,

had come to Ab and said to him,

As the Lord God lives, there will be no rain for three years.

Because Ab was leading Israel in a downward spiral of idolatry.

It was getting worse and worse and worse.

And they were going further and further and further away from God.

And so God said,

My judgment.

And this was a judgment in order to bring Israel back to repentance,

to turn again to God.

But it was doing the very opposite.

And you know,

when we look at our own country,

our own land,

can we not see a similar picture?

Because you and I were very conscious.

Things are not improving.

Despite all the advances in technology and medicine

and all these,

and we're thankful for all these advances that are being made

and do make life better.

As a nation,

it's not getting better.

It's not getting any safer.

It's not getting any wealthier.

It's not getting...

We're struggling.

Even our politicians will talk about

us being broken as a society.

And God is speaking to us

through these things.

And rather than turning to God

and repenting of where we are,

that's what should be happening nationally.

It's like digging our heels in and saying,

No, we won't.

We'll go further away from God.

And that's exactly what was happening here

in the time of Ahab and Elijah.

So chapter 18 opens here with

God telling Elijah to show himself

to Ahab because he was going to send rain.

And as we could see there,

the land was in a crisis.

There was so much drought

and people were suffering.

People would be dying because of the famine,

because there wouldn't be the crops

due to the lack of water.

And what is King Ahab doing at this point?

When his people are in a crisis,

he's looking for a bit of grass and water

for his mules and horses.

No word about the people.

All he's concerned about are his mules

and his horses.

He's looking for a bit of grass

and water for them.

And it's here we see,

here's this king who's supposed to be

caring for the people,

looking after the people.

But he's so self-centered,

so self-obsessed,

that his horses and his mules

count far more to him

than the people that he's looking after.

And you know,

it's almost like the picture

of the rich man and Lazarus.

Remember the rich man

and he had all the wealth

and he was there indulging himself

in all his finery

and the beggar Lazarus at the door

starving, full of sores

and he had no word of him.

And you know,

the sinful heart

that becomes self-obsessed,

can't see others,

can't empathize with others,

can't sympathize,

void of compassion.

And it's an awful picture

of how we can go.

Anyway,

we see here

that the time has come

there's to be a showdown.

And we've got to remember

it's a fearful thing

to be instrumental

in leading people away

from the Lord.

And it's a,

I'm not going to go bad,

I'm not making this

any political sermon

in any shape or form,

but you know,

when you think of our

our governments

and the policies

that they are passing,

the laws that pass,

everything that takes us

further away from God,

everything that pushes God

further out

is not to our well-being,

it's to our detriment.

And it's an awesome responsibility

before God

for people to do that

because one day

they're going to have to

stand before him

and to give an account

as we all have

for everything

that they've done.

Well,

the thing is,

Ahab was somebody

who had sold himself

to sin,

to idolatry.

But bad and all

though Ahab was,

he was nothing like his wife.

Jezebel was the power

behind the throne.

She was utterly evil.

She was the one

who was just,

she had a hatred

for God

and for the cause

of Christ.

And she was just

somebody who wanted

to obliterate,

out of the land,

everybody

that followed the Lord.

Bad and all

though Ahab was,

he wasn't that bad

because we find

as we look at the life

of Ahab,

there was a side

somewhere in him

because he knew,

he knew who God was.

There was a God consciousness

in Ahab

that was not in Jezebel.

And we find

that there's a period

later on

where Ahab

actually

humbles himself

before God

because of the judgment

that's going to come.

And God said,

because Ahab

has humbled himself

in this way,

I won't bring it

in his day

but in his family's day.

So you see

that bad and all

though he was,

there was this

God side,

God awareness

in his heart.

But as I said,

he was nothing

like his wife

who was the power

behind the throne.

And we see

another instance

of this

is that

the chief man

that Ahab had,

the man

who was his governor,

like his lieutenant,

his main man

in operations

was Obadiah

who was a devout

God-fearing man.

And there's no doubt

that Ahab

had to intercede

or had to plead

for Obadiah's life

when Jezebel

was doing a purge

of trying to remove

all the God-fearing people

in the nation.

So you see

there was this

side to him.

And Obadiah

tells us

there was a period

when Ahab

was killing

all the prophets,

when Jezebel

was killing

all the prophets

of God,

that Obadiah

took a hundred

prophets

and hid

fifty in one cave,

fifty in another,

and he fed them

with bread and water,

probably out of

his own expenses.

But the thing is

he tells us

in verse 13

that Ahab

actually knew

what he did.

Has it not been

told, my lord,

what I did

when Jezebel

killed the prophets?

So Ahab knew

what Obadiah

was doing.

So that shows us

that there was

this other side

to Ahab

who was totally

different

to his wife.

Anyway,

the time comes

and Elijah

meets Obadiah

and tells him,

go tell Ahab

that I'm going

to meet him

today.

And Obadiah

says,

I can't.

I can't do that

because

Ahab has searched

the whole land

and the land

is round about

and I know

what's going

to happen

because when

I go and

tell Ahab,

Elijah's going

to meet you,

the spirit

of the Lord

will take you

away.

And then Ahab's

going to kill

me for this.

But Elijah

gives his word

and he said,

I am going

to meet Ahab

today.

And it's very

interesting how

Ahab addresses

Elijah

in verse 17.

When Ahab

saw Elijah,

Ahab said

to him,

is it you,

you troubler

of Israel?

Isn't it

incredible

how sin

distorts

the picture?

The one

person

who was

capable

of turning

things,

this great

man of

prayer,

and yet

Ahab

is the one

who has

caused

all the

havoc

and yet

he blames

Elijah.

You see,

that's what

sin does.

Sin distorts

our understanding.

There's no

discernment,

there's no

awareness,

there's no

spiritual

understanding.

And we can

see it so

often what

people call

evil good

and good

evil,

and that's

the way

they look

at it.

And they

genuinely

think because

sin has

so distorted

their thinking,

they think

good is

evil and

evil is

good.

And we

see it,

we see it

in our

own

nation.

Anyway,

Elijah is

saying enough

is enough.

And Elijah

says,

you're the

one who

has troubled

Israel.

And he

said to

Ahab,

I'm throwing

down a

challenge to

you and

to the

whole of

Israel.

Enough is

enough.

And I want

you to meet

on Mount

Carmel,

all the

prophets of

Baal and

the prophets

of the

Asherah,

that would

be 850

altogether,

450

prophets of

Baal and

400 of

the Asherah.

and I

will meet

and where

there's going

to be a

challenge to

see who

is the

living and

the true

God.

And so we

find that

they gather

together,

there's to

be two

altars and

two sacrifices

and two

bulls,

one,

Elijah is

going to

sacrifice one

bull and

the prophets

of Baal will

sacrifice another.

And there's no

doubt that

Elijah in

planning for

this would

have,

or because

people wonder

where does the

water come?

Well,

Mount Carmel

is just

beside the

Mediterranean

Sea.

And there's

no doubt

that Elijah,

in order to

prove what

was happening,

would have

asked people

to bring up

water from

salt water

from the

Mediterranean

because he

was going to

soak the

sacrifice as

well,

just to

prove to

the people

what was

happening.

And so

everybody

comes together

to watch.

Now,

I wouldn't

imagine the

whole of

Israel would

have been

there,

but

representatives

from all

the different

tribes would

have been

there.

And Elijah

throws down

this challenge

to Israel.

How long

will you go

limping between

two different

opinions?

If the

Lord is God,

follow him.

If Baal is

God,

follow him.

And the

God who

answers by

fire,

he is

the Lord.

And the

people initially

said nothing,

but then when

he threw out

the challenge

again,

they said,

more or less,

they said,

this is

well spoken

or this

is a fair

challenge.

And you

know,

it's a

solemn

thought because

this challenge

that Elijah

threw out

is a challenge

that is relevant

today as well.

Probably nearly

3,000,

not far off,

3,000 years

ago,

when that

challenge

boomed out

across

Carmel,

it echoes

out to this

very day.

How long

will you

go limping

between

two?

How long

will you

go halting

between

two decisions?

If the

Lord is

God,

follow him.

And can I

say that

that's a

question that

we have to

ask ourselves

today.

If the

Lord is

God,

if you're

here today

and you

have never

yet begun

to follow

the Lord,

you have to

ask yourself

why not?

Now I

don't believe

there's anybody

in here

today who

isn't at

one level

or another

interested

at some

point.

There's some

level of

interest in

your heart

or it's

not very

likely that

you would

be here

today.

But the

thing is,

it's not

enough simply

just to

come to

church.

It's

important that

we deal

with what

we see

and what

we hear

and what

God requires

of us

because he's

our maker.

He's

the one

who we

have to

give an

account to

at the

end of

the day

and he

has made

a provision

for us

in Jesus

Christ so

that everything

can be right.

At the moment

it's all

wrong.

The Lord

alone can

make it

right.

And so he

says,

come on.

Now maybe

there are

people,

might even

be people

here today

are saying,

well you

know,

I intend

one day

to get

this sorted.

It's my,

as sure

as I'm

sitting here,

one day

it's my

aim to

become a

Christian.

I want to

get,

before I

die,

I'm going

to get

this sorted.

But right

now,

don't push

it.

Because

if I

became a

Christian

just now,

it's going

to really

interfere

with my

schedule,

with the

plans I

have.

I have

certain

things I'm

going to

do.

Can you

not leave

it another

year or

two?

And honestly,

I have

every intention

of seeing

to this,

it's one of

the things,

it's on

my to-do

list.

Well,

the thing

is,

we can't

guarantee a

day or

an hour.

And the

very fact

that today

you might

be saying,

I do

want to

be a

Christian

at some

point,

there might

come,

the Lord

might spare

you a

few years,

and in a

few years

you might

not want

to think

like that.

I sadly

know people,

and there

was a day

that they

appeared

interested,

and today

they're as

far away

with not

as far

as I

can see,

no interest

at all.

That's a

solemn thing,

it's a

challenging

thing.

So God

is saying

to us

today,

this is

absolutely

essential,

and it's

important

that we

confess the

Lord Jesus

Christ.

And can I

say to

those who

have come

to faith,

and there

might be

some here

like that

today,

you've

come to

faith in

the Lord

Jesus Christ,

you've

come to

trust him.

you love

Jesus,

but you've

never

publicly

confessed him.

We had a

communion last

week,

and that's

the time

for the

public

confession.

Because remember

what the

scripture says,

we are to

believe in

our heart

and confess

with our

mouth that

Jesus Christ

is Lord.

And Jesus

wants that

public

confession.

That's what

you do when

you come

before the

church

says,

it's not

a big

question,

all the

session

wants is

to hear

your

confession,

that you

love the

Lord Jesus

Christ,

and that

he is

your

savior.

And so

it's

important,

some people

they just

say,

I can't

do it.

Well,

think of

what Jesus

has done

for you.

Because there's

going to

come a day

when you

have to

meet him.

And he's

going to

say to

you,

think of

all I

did for

you.

And all

I asked

you to

do was

to publicly

confess my

name.

And maybe

you're saying,

oh, I'm

not worthy

to do

that.

None of

us are.

There's

not one

single

passion who

is worthy.

All the

worthiness

belongs to

Jesus.

It's for

unworthy

people that

the Lord's

Supper has

been given.

And it's

a wonderful

privilege.

church.

So,

I want

you,

if you

love the

Lord and

have never

done so,

to think

seriously and

pray for the

grace to

do that when

the next

communion comes.

So anyway,

we find,

and just in a

word,

we find that

the prophets

of Baal,

they shout,

they dance,

they sing,

they call,

and nothing

happens.

Nothing

happens.

Elijah begins

to mock

them.

I might

be sleeping.

And of

course,

nothing

happens.

They cut

themselves,

the self-mutilation,

all the process

that goes on.

And of

course,

Baal is a

dead God.

Nothing.

And then

Elijah rebuilds

the altar of

God,

puts the

slain bullock

on the top,

the wood,

everything on

there,

and then he

asks that

they'd be

soaked with

water.

and then

prays to

the Lord,

and the

Lord answers

with fire.

And the

people just

fall down

on their

faces.

It must

have been

the most

extraordinary,

awesome spectacle

that they'd

ever seen

in their

lives.

This

visual

representation

of the

power of

God,

answering

the call

of this

lonesome

prophet,

Lord,

show that

you are

God.

By sending

down fire

on the

sacrifice.

And the

fire came

down,

consumed the

bull,

consumed the

wood,

consumed even

the stones,

dried up,

nothing left,

obliterated.

And the

people fall

down on

their faces

saying,

the Lord,

he is

God.

The Lord,

he is

God.

I hope

today that

that's what

you're seeing

in your

heart.

The Lord,

he is

God.

The Lord

is my

God.

Because

the

alternative

doesn't

bear

thinking.

Now,

we find

that Elijah

orders that

they get

all the

prophets of

Baal,

and they're

taking them

down to

the brook,

and they're

slaughtered,

and people

say,

oh my

goodness,

that's

harsh,

that's

brutal.

So it

is.

But the

point that

Elijah is

so on

fire for

the Lord,

he's saying

if they

continue to

live,

they will

continue to

take people

away from

the God,

and they

will lead

people to

hell,

they're doing

the devil's

work.

And so

there is a

pictorial

representation

here of

the judgment

that faces

those who

spend their

life taking

people away

from God.

It's an

hopeful

thought.

There are

people today,

and you

know and I

know,

there are

people who

give their

lives.

God gives

them their

life,

sustains

them,

blesses

them,

and yet they

give all

their time and

energy in

trying to

lead people

away from

God.

There is

no God.

What an

end,

unless God

has first

mercy on

their soul.

But the

wonderful thing

for us

today is

the fire

of God's

wrath has

fallen on

his son,

and his

son was

consumed on

the cross

in order

that we

can go

free.

And all

we have

to do

is accept

and believe.

well will

you?

Let's

pray.

Lord our

God,

we pray to

bless us.

And we

give thanks

that you

are God

of heaven

and earth,

and that

you have

set before

us life

and death,

and you

have shown

us the

way of

salvation.

And we

pray that

we will

not have

resistant

hearts,

but hearts

that are

molded,

and hearts

that are

willing to

be

embracing

Jesus as

Lord and

Saviour.

Lord,

bless and

pity us,

shine on

us with

thy face.

Have

mercy upon

us,

we pray.

Take us

to our

home safely,

forgiving us

of every

sin.

In

Jesus'

name we

ask it.

Amen.

We're

going to

conclude

singing in

the 80th

Psalm,

Psalm

number

80,

and this

is from

the

Scottish

Psalter,

Psalm

80,

from the

Scottish

Psalter,

and we're

going to

sing the

last three

verses of

the

Psalm.

Psalm

80,

from

verse,

from

verse,

it's

verse 17,

maybe I

put the

wrong,

did I,

if I

put 19,

I'm

sorry,

it's

verses

17 to

the end,

the last

three

verses of

the

Psalm.

O let

thy hand

be still

upon the

man of

thy

right

hand,

the

son of

man,

whom

for

thyself

thou

made

us

strong

to

stand,

so

henceforth

we

will

not

go

back,

nor

turn

from

thee

at

all,

oh,

do

thou

quicken

us,

and we

upon

thy

name

will

call,

turn

us

again,

Lord

God

of

hosts,

and

upon

us

about

safe,

to

make

thy

countenance

to

shine,

and so

we

shall

be

safe.

Verses

17 to

the

end

of

Psalm

!

Oh,

let thy hand

be still upon

the man of thy right hand,

the man of thy right hand,

the son of man who

call thyself,

a

mede

strong

to

stand,

a

mede

strong

to

stand,

a

mede

strong

to

stand,

a

mede

strong

to

stand.

Oh,

hand

from

the

evil

Lord

go

back,

nor

turn

from

me

at

all,

nor

turn

from

me

at

all,

O,

do thy

quicken

us

and

we

upon

thy

name

will

come,

upon

thy

name

will

come,

upon

thy

name

will

come,

upon

thy

name

will

fall.

Hark

us

again,

Lord God

of

holds,

and

upon

us

our

save,

and

upon

us

our

save,

through

it

thy

fountain

and

to

shine,

and

so

we

shall

be

saved,

and

so

we

shall

be

saved,

and

so

we

shall

be

saved.

I'll go to the door on my left.

Now may the grace,

mercy,

and peace of God,

the Father,

Son,

and Holy Spirit,

rest and abide upon each one of you,

now and forevermore.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you.