Being God's Champion
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· 14 viewsThe world today is in need of champions for God and His Word.
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Sermon Series: I Alone Am Left - Being the Lone Voice for God in the Generation
20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
This is a story of a great showdown in the Bible, one favorite stories actually.
I. Background of the showdown.
Evil rule of King Ahab and his queen Jezebel.
People were caught up in worship of a false god, Baal and turned their backs on the One True God.
God brought a drought.
God raised a champion - Elijah.
Elijah confronted Ahab and told him to gather all of Israel and 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the Asherah on Mount Carmel.
Notice Elijah’s words:
“I alone am left.”
What do you do when everyone around you has turned away from God?
There are two groups here..
Those who promote evil
Those who waver between good and evil - The people of Israel
Elijah’s question in verse 21.
“But the people answered him not a word.”
In this politically-correct age, no one dares to stand for the truth.
These people are not totally sold out to false gods. But they have taken a middle stance, they have been compromised.
There is only one who dares to stand on the side of God. - the champion of God.
Do you dare to stand as the champion of God in this generation?
II. The Challenge.
23 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. 24 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.” 25 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.”
Confidence in God and His word.
Elijah’s purpose is not only to expose the false God Baal but also to bring the compromising people back to God.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation.
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
You may face the taunts of the promoters of evil.
The indifference of the wavering crowd.
You need to stand on God’s word.
One thing interesting about this is the people’s answer: “It is well spoken”.
God is sovereign, he does not need these cowardly people to be the arbiter of what is good or not. In fact, they should be believing God in the first place - they are actually putting God to the test. They are also not taking seriously God’s anointed leader and putting him just at equal par with the prophets of a false god.
God could have crushed them like he did Korah when he rebelled against God’s anointed Moses and opened the ground to swallow them right there but he didn’t.
Why?
This is a picture of God’s grace… the people are being given a chance to repent and return to him.
Christian, stop testing God. I can get away with that secret sin, I will do it one more time.. I’ll fudge the numbers on my income tax return, God understands.. it is for ministry, I’ll add some deductibles anyway He understands I worked a lot in the ministry I am just quantifying everything in cash. If there is a question in your mind don’t. Sexual sin, I’ll continue to delve — repent now because everyday that God gives is a day He shows His grace, but cut off the evil in your life before it’s too late.
III. The Showdown
26 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. 27 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.” 28 And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them. 29 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.
I spoke of the special grace of God why He is giving them a chance to turn to Him. I believe that God has done this thing through Elijah simply because He was so fed up with the evil in the land brought about by the worship of Baal promoted by the evil king Ahab and her queen Jezebel.
It is time to expose the evil and to judge it.
It took a champion of God to bring an end to the evil rule over the land. Elijah was the man who stood in the gap for a whole nation.
Why does God allow evil men to rule a country?
“A Wicked King is the Lord’s Wrath upon the earth” - John Calvin
The champion of God will not surrender, will not relent in interceding until the Lord sifts or separates His people from the evil ones - so that He can expose and judge them.
I like the picture of Elijah taunting evil. Could Satan had done something here to produce fire? Moses’ versus the sorcerers of Pharaoh.
Only God can produce fire and send it down from heaven! Hallelujah!
Even if Satan can do something fake or close to a fire,
Satan can only work as far as God allows him to do.
It was a total shutdown of Satan, a blowout - he was relegated to sit on the sidelines.
God is sovereignly in charge. He is in control (that is why we should not fear the coronavirus..
IV. The Victory
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” 32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bull 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.” 34 And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. 35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. 36 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. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 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. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.
Is the picture of God’s ultimate victory.
Characteristics of God’s victory.
People’s eyes were opened.
Evil is exposed and judged.
The land is blessed.
The champion of God is vindicated.
Picture of our final vindication from God.
Lesson from this message:
These people should have known all along. There is now no need for fire to come down from heaven.
In the same way:
We no longer need fire to fall from heaven. The miracle we need is that Jesus already rose from the grave.
That is the sad story of our time.. people look for signs.
In Matthew 16, the Pharisees and the Sadducees asked Jesus for a sign from heaven..Jesus said and evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.
What is the sign of the prophet Jonah.
Jesus said this twice about the sign of Jonah. In Matthew 12 the scribes and the Pharisees said: teacher, we need a sign from you.. just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
The Resurrection is the ultimate sign from God for men to turn to God.
This is the condemnation to those who do not accept the resurrection. Judgement of Nineveh, queen of the south...
This condemnation was specifically given to the scribes and Pharisees but I believe that this also applies to those who reject God’s offer of life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Someone greater is here. The One Who rose from the dead.
Jesus correctly said it, he said that it is a problem of the heart, that many will not be persuaded
31 But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”
This is the story of the scribes and the Pharisees - they rejected Christ. People continue to reject Christ as written by Moses and prophesied by the prophets. They rejected Jesus even though He rose from the dead - They rejected God’s salvation plan that was perfected through the resurrection of Jesus.
Be a champion for God in this evil and wicked generation.
Preview of next week.
Elijah’s voice: I alone am left, even after this great victory, this sentiment “I alone am left” stuck with him - you will see next week that he goes through a period of depression and loneliness.
We’ll talk about God’s answer when you feel alone and abandoned because you stand for God and His word.