Make up your mind!

Introduction & Road Map

All preaching should call the hearers into a crisis of decision revolving around the decision: "Who is this man?" As Jesus Himself put it, "Who do you say that I am?" Without this question, all preaching loses its urgency. - Fleming Rutledge

Hebrews 11:24–26 ESV

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.

PSA: Elijah was following God

1 Kings 18:36 ESV

And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.

1King 18:

Ministry is dangerous; it requires and may cost your life

Elijah and Obadiah

1 Kings 18:9 ESV

And he said, “How have I sinned, that you would give your servant into the hand of Ahab, to kill me?

Elijah and Jezebel

1 Kings 19:1–2 ESV

Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”

Jesus

John 15:18 ESV

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

Matthew 10:16 ESV

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.

James

James 3:1 ESV

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.

Baal is nothing

IDK who your Baal is

Money

Politics

Your Job or career

Dreams of what you wanted in life

Dreams of what you wanted in life

Your spouse or kids

Sports

Your social media image

It doesn’t matter; they’re all the same

1 Kings 18:26 ESV

And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.

Baals can distract, but CAN NOT satisfy!

1 Kings 18:27 ESV

And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”

Baals cannot be anything but what they are; mute and incapable idols with no real power

God is everything

1 Kings 18:38 ESV

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.

God is NOT what you want Him to be, but He iS everything that the Baals are not;

He is a CONSUMING fire!

He is THE Sovereign of the universe

Isaiah 40:21–23 ESV

Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.

He is the satisfaction of the believer’s heart

Psalm 23:1–3 ESV

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Psalm 42:1–2 ESV

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?

Make up your mind!

Make up your mind!

1 Kings 18:20–21 ESV

So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 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.

1 Ki 18:20-

Decide before the crisis

Is YhWh God?

Then follow Him

The gospel

The Lord knows when to refresh you

1 Kings 19:5–6 ESV

And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again.

Luke 4:18 ESV

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,

The Lord knows when to send you

1 Kings 19:14–15 ESV

He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” And the Lord said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria.

Matt 28:

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The Lord knows how to unite us.

1 Kings 19:18 ESV

Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

1 k

1 cor 10:16

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 ESV

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.

People of God, make up your mind. If YHWH is God, then let us follow Him to the forsaking of all others. Today the Lord stands ready to bind your wounds, to give us marching orders, and to do the impossible; to make us one people in Christ.