Contest of the Gods Part 1

Introduction

Alright. I don’t feel like I need to give much of a recap as far as where we are in this series on Elijah called Provision & Glory.

We’ve talked a ton about God’s provision, and last week we began to shift the focus to God’s glory.

We’ve spent 5 messages on Elijah so far…and those have all been what I consider the pre-show.

Now, i’ve got a sports illustration here for you. Bear with me.

I’m not a huge sports guy…I mean I like sports and there are certain teams I follow…but I’m not the kind of guy that has ESPN running in the background while I do things. I don’t watch sportscenter…I don’t listen to sports news shows…I follow the team, a few of the players, and I root for specific things to happen. Pretty basic.

I don’t know a ton about the sports world, but what I do know is that before every big game…there is a pre-show. Some of ya’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s the show that is about what’s to come next. The guys and gals sit around and discuss different aspects of the coming event…the different players involved…and then they try to predict the outcome.

There’s some stuff that sportsfans learn from them…and oftentimes what is discussed in the pre-show, affects what fans know and how they view the upcoming event. Did you catch that? Oftentimes…what happens in the pre-show, affects what the fans know, and how they view the upcoming event.

That’s how I view where we’ve been the past five messages. 1 Kings 17 has given us the pre-show. It’s introduced the opponents…given us some info about each one…and it’s begun to build the tension. The tension that happens between two opposing forces…two people set to do battle.

Here’s what I mean.

We’ve learned in 1 Kings 17 that there are two opposing Gods…Yahweh (the one true living God) and Baal, the pagan God of rain and fertility.

We’ve Got these two Gods…and the people that represent them. The players of the team. We’ve Got Elijah (representing Yahweh), and then we’ve got Ahab and the prophets (representing Baal).

Their first confrontation, didn’t go well for Ahab and Baal. Elijah shows up on the scene out of nowhere and just straight up says, as the Lord lives…ain’t no rain happening in these lands. And then “boom” just like that Elijah’s gone.

Elijah goes where God tells him to go, he lives off of food the ravens bring, he ends up living with a widow and her family, and that’s what we’ve covered in talking about God’s provision. That’s where we left off....

But now we see in 1 Kings 18…some time has passed. More specifically…THREE Years have gone by. Three years of no rain…nothing to grow the crops, to feed and water the livestock. Nothing to bring provision to all of Israel. I co do a whole message on that alone. How God called Elijah to bring a drought…and yet made Elijah live in that drought and man…so much we could learn about God’s character in that…but no…we’re gonna move on.

Three years have gone by…and you can only imagine the anger and tension that have built up for King Ahab and the followers of Baal. Their God has essentially been useless…blown over by a man named Elijah, who then disappeared for three years…causing tons of heartache and anger. And Ahab, as we see in 18…blames Elijah.

It says as much in Chapter 18. I’m gonna summarize a bit of it for us...

God calls Elijah to go back to Ahab, for the drought is going to end. That’s the very beginning of 18.

Meanwhile, the land is so dried up that Ahab’s last resort is for him and one of his servants to split up and try to find some kind of provision for their livestock.

Secretly, Ahab’s servant that is sent (Obadiah) is actually a servant of God… and he runs into Elijah and says that King Ahab has spent years looking for Elijah to kill him. So we can clearly see that bitterness and anger in King Ahab.

Elijah talks to this servant and says…go…call King Ahab…it’s time for this showdown.

And here it is…the two sides finally meet again. The representative of God…and the representative of Baal. Toe to toe. And what does Elijah say and do? Let’s look at it.

And as we do…feel the tension between these two. Feel the conflict.

1 Kings 18:17–19 ESV

When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

So Elijah means business. Don’t glance over who he wants at this showdown....he wants ALL of Israel. The whole nation, he wants them to see what is about to happen with God and his Glory. And not just that…he wants those who oppose God to see it to.

So here’s an encouragement from that…a point of application.

Give God An Audience

So…this situation is about to get ugly. Elijah’s gonna do some calling out…we’re gonna see the Prophets of Baal howling, crying, and even beginning to cut themselves upon the altar. Not a pretty site…sorta gruesome…not something that I’m sure people love to recall…certainly not something that we would love to recall.

But what does Elijah do? He calls attention to the mess…he calls attention to what is going on…he calls attention to a situation in which he knows God is going to do some work.

And I want to ask you tonight…what kind of person are you when it comes to the things going on in your life? In this whole situation with Elijah…we are talking about the people of God, worshipping idols. that’s an ugly and embarrassing thing…and Elijah is putting it on display because he know God is going to do something to show his glory.

How often do you allow the ugly things in your life…the things happening to you, or more relevant....the things you are worshipping…how often do you put those on display for someone else to see and for the Lord to make it a story that reveals his glory?

Now, some of you don’t have a problem with this…but a majority of you do. A good chunk of you, and the church in general live lives that are too private.

You know, we’re not afraid often to say our opinion on something, we’re not afraid to let someone know if we disagree with them, we’re not afraid to show certain parts of our lives on social media…but it tends to stop there. Before it gets too personal…or truly personal. Because we don’t want to risk our idols getting put on display for the world to see.

I want to encourage you tonight…open yourself up more. Allow others to see what is going on in your life. Become an open book that allows people to see the story of God unfolding in your life.

Like, if you’re facing something rough…let people know. And not just in a way that you’re complaining about it, but in a way that let’s them see how God is going to work it out.

One of the things that I treasure most about mine and Brittany’s adoption story…is this sign that we have hanging on our wall at home. You’ve probably seen it if you’ve been over...

It says “One faithful God. One Happy Family.” You know, everyone can see the happy family part. Even when we were adopting and celebrating that…everyone could see that we were happy. But…if we hadn’t been open and honest with everyone about where we were, how we were doing, our story of infertility…if we hadn’t open our lives, including the ugly parts, up to our friends, family and church...then the statement of “one faithful God” would have meant a lot less to people…and to us. Being open about the hardships and pitfalls of infertility allowed others to full see God’s glory and provision in our lives....it allowed others to see God’s faithfulness in it.

It’s something I treasure and it’s something that I want for you.

So for you, allowing others to see the pitfalls…the idols…the rough patches…the ugly stuff....allowing others to see those things allows God to receive even more glory for what he’s doing in your life. Now, I’m not saying type out every issue on facebook or insta…but what I am saying is open up to those close to you. Your friends, family, and most certainly the church. Let them see God work in your life…you’ll be amazed at how much more you recognize God’s work in your life when others recognize it. When others are able to point at something they see in your life and help you see it to.

Elijah is creating this audience to put God’s glory on display. He’s about to go through some ugly things…the people of Israel are going to feel real uncomfortable…but God will receive more glory because of it.

Give God An Audience…an audience of those who will see him at work in your life.

That’s an encouragement from this passage, but it’s not the main point of the passage…let’s look a little more.

I’m going to do a lot of explaining as we read it…it’s a bit longer of a passage.

1 Kings 18:20–29 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. Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 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. 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.” And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.

Here’s the second things to be encouraged in...

Your Idols Are Powerless

I know that doesn’t sound encouraging…but it is. Because the idols in our lives having no eternal power means that eventually they will fail and pail in comparison to the one who has the true power…who is deserving of the true glory.

Also, understanding that our idols are worthless…and receiving that truth right now…could be the thing that causes us to desire to turn from them right now.

Listen…I highly doubt any of you are literally bowing down to an altar you’ve made in your bedroom…but that doesn’t mean that idols don’t exist. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t Gods we bow to. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t things that we treat as if they were our God.

I’mma leave it there tonight. Just a thought…just a taste…because next week is the big show. Next week is where idols fall. It’s where God’s glory is on ultimate display. Next week is the pinnacle of Elijah’s ministry…and it deserves some forethought…and some buildup. So we end there tonight.

Here’s what I want you to leave with…questions of application.

Where can I put God’s work in my life on more display?

What the the things that I’m giving the glory to? What are the things that have godly power of me right now?

Just thoughts…just things to struggle with. No need for full answers yet…we hit more of that next week.