Rev. David Holwick P The Life of Elijah, #3
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
May 6, 2007
1 Kings 18:20-39
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I. Beyond the shadow of a doubt.
A. How can we know our faith is true?
1) There are many different ideas out there.
2) Others are willing to die for their faith, even kill for it.
B. We want proof from God.
1) I wanted it. I sought a miracle from God.
2) So did the skeptics at the time of Jesus. Matt 12:38-40
Some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him,
"Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."
He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a
miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the
sign of the prophet Jonah.
For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly
of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and
three nights in the heart of the earth.
a) They wanted a sign before they would believe.
b) He told them the only sign they would get was a
resurrection.
c) That is quite a sign -- if you get to see it personally.
C. The Israelites didn't want a sign.
1) They were perfectly content to sit on a fence.
2) They had Baal, and they had God, and everything was right
with the world. Except for the drought!
D. The Mother Of All Confrontations.
1) One man against 850.
2) But that one man had God.
3) Who would win?
II. Elijah presents the challenge.
A. Face-to-face with King Ahab.
1) Ahab tries to get the upper hand, calls him the "troubler
of Israel." 18:17
a) Maybe the drought is because Elijah has dissed Baal.
2) Elijah gives as good as he gets.
a) Ahab's idolatry is the cause of the drought. 18:18
3) Name-calling is exciting. But what does it solve?
a) Elijah takes it to the next step.
B. The summons to Mount Carmel. 18:19
1) The mountain is a high point in the north.
a) Mediterranean on one side, a large plain on the other.
b) It contained an abandoned Israelite shrine.
c) Representatives from the whole nation came.
2) Elijah sums up the issue.
a) Joshua's challenge many years before: Josh 24:15
"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then
choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,
whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the
River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land
you are living.
But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
b) Elijah's update: 18:21
1> If the Lord is God, follow him.
2> If Baal is God, follow him.
3> But you cannot waver. There's no middle ground.
III. The contest.
A. Elijah stacks the deck - against himself.
1) He notes that he is outnumbered by hundreds to one. 18:22
2) The other side gets to choose the first bull.
3) They get to pray first.
4) He gives them all day to get results.
5) And they get dry wood!
B. Baal doesn't do well.
1) The prophets call on him from morning to 3:00 p.m. 18:26
2) They danced. 18:26
3) They cut themselves with knives. 18:28
This kind of conduct would be unusual in a Baptist church
but it fits what we know about ancient Baal worship.
(and many other Middle-East religions)
The Shiites in Iraq do this on a regular basis.
To celebrate a holiday honoring a 12th century hero, the
Muslim men shave the front of their heads, put on a
white sweatband and white shirt, then bang their
heads with knives and swords.
All the time they are chanting and running in mobs through
the streets.
It shows they're very dedicated, just like the priests of
Baal.
But dedication alone can never prove you are right. [1]
C. Elijah makes the most of the opportunity.
1) He taunts the opposition.
a) He mocks Baal as a typical human, absent-minded,
busy or traveling.
1> (Some think one of the expressions is another way
of saying, "He must be in the bathroom.")
b) Dead gods don't answer.
1> Baal was supposed to be a god of fire as well as
storms.
2> But as verse 29 says, he gives no response, doesn't
answer, doesn't pay attention.
2) Elijah reminds the people of their past.
a) He gathers twelve stones, one for each tribe.
1> At least, they USED to have twelve tribes.
2> Now it was more like 2+10.
b) He rebuilds the ruined altar.
3) He makes his own task harder.
a) The altar and sacrifice are drenched with water. 18:33
1> Not once, not twice, but three times. 18:34
b) He prays all of 60 seconds. 18:36
4) Fire comes down and burns it all up.
a) Lightning? There are no clouds in the sky.
b) A match? One scholar guesses that the water was really
gasoline that Elijah ignited.
1> How would they get water during a drought?
2> Easy - springs on the hill would still be flowing.
3> And hundreds of false prophets would have noticed
cheating.
IV. It is time to acknowledge God.
A. The people come to a unanimous decision - God really is God.
1) The opposition is eliminated. 18:40
2) Rain falls. 18:45
B. Moderation has its limits.
1) Winfred Moore, a Southern Baptist, had a grandfather who
often used this proverb:
"Son, there's nothing in the middle of the road but a
yellow line and dead possums."
#426
2) Main theme in this passage: you can't be neutral about God.
a) You are on his side, or you are against him.
b) There is no middle ground.
3) Syncretism doesn't work either.
a) Syncretism is making a religion by adding lots of
faiths together.
An example from this week:
Daniel Lorenz is suing a Wal-Mart in Texas because
they fired him over his religion.
While he stocked the shelves at night, he wore a
Muslim headdress, a Catholic priest's shirt, and
a giant crucifix necklace.
He says his religion, the Universal Belief System,
requires this get-up.
It turns out Mr. Lorenz invented the religion himself
in 2001.
Wal-Mart says he usually wears normal clothes outside
the store.
Lorenz admits this, but says his religion is
"ever-evolving."
That's the great thing about syncretism: you get to
make it up as you go along.
b) Elijah: you cannot combine the God of the Bible with
any other gods.
V. The challenge today is the same.
A. We must have convictions about what we believe.
1) There is too much wishy-washy-ness.
2) What do you really believe?
3) Are you willing to stand up for it, especially when it is
challenged?
4) Do you have any idea how to defend your faith?
B. Atheism throws down the gauntlet.
A radical new website is gaining popularity by challenging
people to deny the existence of God.
It's run by an atheist who was raised Catholic and claims he
"became a born-again Christian when he was 13."
Brian Fleming told ABC's "Nightline" program back in January:
"I loved Jesus and he was my best friend and I talked to him
and God all the time.
I have to admit that they never talked back to me....
I think some people would say that God does talk to them and
I think they're not being honest with themselves."
Now Fleming is part of a website called blasphemychallenge.com.
They are giving away 1,001 copes of a DVD about their views.
There's only one catch: they want your soul.
(The website literally says that.)
It's simple. You record a short message damning yourself to
Hell.
You have to use the words, "I deny the Holy Spirit."
You upload the video to YouTube, and then they send you a free
'The God Who Wasn't There' DVD.
All the DVDs have been given away....
Matt Barber, policy director for cultural issues at Concerned
Women for America, says that by arrogantly rebelling against
God's authority, the website actually acknowledges God's
existence.
"Scripture tells us that the reality of God's existence is
written on the heart of every man, woman and child," Barber
says.
"Man's rebellion against the Creator is no new thing.
It's a time-honored tradition among those who prefer to view
the world through the prism of moral relativism."
#33908
C. Which side of the challenge are YOU on?
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[1] From older sermon by me, "The Great Contest", October 14, 1984,
Kerux Sermon #22017 (slightly updated).
# 426 "The Only Thing In the Middle of the Road," by Winfred Moore,
Biblical Evangelist, September 1988, p. 15.
#33908 "The Blasphemy Challenge [2 articles]," by Regis Nicoll,
http://new.crosswalk.com/news/weblogs/rnicoll/?adate=12/21/2006~
#1459286, December 21, 2006.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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