May it please Almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in his word. Let
us turn to the first book of the Kings, chapter 18, and we'll
read verse 39. The first book of the Kings,
chapter 18, and reading verse 39. And when all the people saw it,
they fell on their faces. And they said, the Lord, he is
the God, the Lord, he is the God. We have here in this 18th chapter
of the first book of the Kings, a unique account, a very glorious
account and yet a very solemn account. And what we recognize
is that there was Israel, a people that had been wonderfully favored
and wonderfully blessed for many years, and now for the most part,
had forsaken the Lord God. And not only had they forsaken
the Lord God, but the Lord had brought a drought upon the nation.
Three years they'd been without rain. And we would have thought,
perhaps, that such a situation would have had an amazing effect
upon the people. But it would seem that they were
continuing in their sinful state, and instead of bowing down and
worshipping the true God, for the most part, they turned aside
from that God who brought wonderful deliverances to them, and they
were worshipping Baal, that God who was no God, and yet the one
who they came to, who could have no true benefit for them. Well, I believe such accounts
are interesting for us all as a historical fact, but may the
spiritual reverence of it that come to us and that we may realize
and examine ourselves as to how we stand and whether we are a
true worshiper of God or not, or whether we are indeed like
those that Elijah came and spoke to. You may remember as we read
together, he came to the people and he said, how long, haught
ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And what was the result of that
statement? Well, the people answered him, not a word. There was silence. My friends, how relevant and
how true that is today. If we look around, how many people
today are silent? And many people sit on the fence. They don't want to testify that
they are worshippers of the true God. Or, on the other hand, are
not believers at all. Now, Elijah here, as we read,
he thought, and it's recorded a number of times, he thought
he was the only believer The only believer, there were none
others, no one else that feared God. He was the only one. And yet, you know, as you and
I read on, and you can read it if you go home and read the 19th
chapter, you will find that the Lord tells Elijah that there
were still 7,000 that had not kneeled down and bowed down to
worship Baal. So sometimes we can come to a
false judgment. We can look around perhaps and
think, well it doesn't seem to be anybody else. Well we can
perhaps sometimes misjudge that. There may be many who perhaps
we don't realize are in fact believers. We may narrow the
field down too greatly and think that we're the only ones. Elijah was to be told very clearly
that it was still 7000 that had not bowed down to Baal. Well, we trust and pray that
there may be in our nation still today many who do not bow down
to evil gods, but perhaps many who are true worshippers who
we are not aware of. But the relevance really of this
account was to direct the people to the great need there was to
turn back and to truly worship the Lord God. And Elijah, as
we read, prayed a very short, very simple, but very important
prayer. And again, we do have prayers
recorded in the Word of God, and we should be thankful for
it And here, Elijah, he didn't beat about the bush. He didn't
waffle around. He spoke very directly. And he
said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known
this day that thou art God in Israel, and I am thy servant,
and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me,
O Lord, hear me. that this people may know that
thou art the Lord God and that thou hast turned their heart
back again. Well, he wanted a very clear
revelation from God and the people would be affected by it and would
turn back to the true God. You see, Israel had been gloriously
favoured and I'm sure you know You go back in history to realise
how they'd been in Egypt and the Lord had gloriously brought
them out of Egypt in a wonderful manner and had been with them
through the wilderness, sinners as they were. The Lord had been
gracious to them and had been with them when they came into
the land of Canaan and then had been with them for the most part. through the various reigns of
kings, some good, some evil. But nonetheless, there had been
a gradual turning away from God. There had been a gradual turning
away and serving Baal and no doubt other gods and not serving
the true God. But what a mercy it was that
God raised up Elijah. a man of God, someone who he
would use to demonstrate still that there was a God in heaven. There was a God who did hear
and answer prayer. And what a blessing for us today
if we are brought to that position where we do realize There is
still a God in heaven. And so the Lord graciously allowed
Elijah to bring before the people this test of a sacrifice with
no fire. And the view was that he would
pray that God would indeed answer by fire. Because this is what
he said, he said, Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I, only
remain a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Let them, therefore, give us
two bullocks, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and
cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under
it, and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood,
and put no fire under it. And call ye on the name of your
gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord God, and the
God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people
answered and said, it is well spoken. So there was this test,
which was to be applied to see who was the true God. Lord was very gracious, wasn't
he, in hearing Elijah's desire that this should occur. And then,
of course, we read together how Baal's prophets endeavored to
get Baal to hear their prayer. But there was silence. There
was silence. There was no effect. There was
neither voice nor any answer, nor any that regarded. because they were worshipping
not a true God and worshipping a false God, a false God who
could not do anything. And many people today worship
a false God. And the great and important question
for all of us is really as to whether you and I are worshipping
a false God. And you may say, well, I don't
worship a false God. I worship the true God. Well, we need carefully to examine
ourselves as to whether we are worshipping the true God or worshipping
a God of our own imagination. You see, we can sometimes imagine
that we are worshipping the true God. We may think that we're
worshipping the God of the Bible, and we can therefore believe
that we are doing that which is right, but in fact, we may
not be worshipping the true God. You may say, well, just explain
that. Well, we may be worshipping the
God of our own imagination, because It's like this. We may have come to God. We may
have got a plan. And we want God's to work to
that plan. And we believe, perhaps, that
our motive's a good one. We may think our motive's right.
We may think that we're praying in a right way. But in actual
fact, it may not be true. We may be, in actual fact, worshipping
what the Athenians were, the unknown God. Because if we come
to God truly in prayer, we are not to come dictating to God. Some people dictate to God. They tell God what to do. Whereas God is high and lifted
up. And if we have a right understanding
of the true God, we will seek that His will may be done and
that His name may be honoured and glorified. See, the purpose
of our lives, as I often say to you, and how true it is, our
lives are for the honour and glory of God. They're not so
that you and I can pat ourselves on the back and say, Of course,
I prayed for that and God answered it. We are to come at knowledge
in the Lord was kind and gracious and merciful and didn't deal
with us as our sins deserve. Because if God deals with us. As our sins deserve. There would
never be any answers. There would never be any answers.
What a mercy it is, therefore, to come and be given a right
concern, a right prayer, a right prayer. And you know, a right
prayer really begins in a very simple way and in a way that
the Lord Jesus taught his disciples. And he gave that wonderful example
of the publican, somebody who was despised and yet somebody
who had the life of God in his soul and came and prayed from
his heart. It wasn't just a formulated prayer
in his mind, thinking, well, I've got to pray this way to
impress the people. I've got to come in this way
and demand that God will do this. He came very simply and said
this, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. It's good, isn't it?
If you and I realize the reality of true prayer, And he said,
God, be merciful to me. He didn't say, well, God, be
merciful to that man and that person. He wanted God to be merciful
to him. My friends, what a good thing
it is when you and I come like that, recognizing that we need
mercy. We don't then dictate to God.
We come seeking that he will be merciful to us. And if we
come really in that true and honest way, And we're told, blessedly,
in the New Testament, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You see the wonderful form and
pattern that we have laid before us in the Word of God. And we
have these glorious prayers which are recorded in the Word of God.
for our instruction and for our direction, so that we may come
in a right way, seeking that the name of our God may be honoured
and glorified. And you see, Elijah came, hear
me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art
the Lord God. That's what he desired. These
people might know that he didn't put a lot of conditions. He didn't
say, I want it formulated in this way. I want this to occur. He just prayed very simply that
the Lord God would come and apply his word and appear for him in
this glorious way to demonstrate wonderfully that he was the God. What lessons there are for us
to learn on that. in the Word of God and how often
we're dim and slow of understanding. But there we have this wonderful
occasion because here were the people, they didn't know what
to think. They were halting between two
opinions. He told them, he said, if the
Lord be God, follow him. And if Baal, follow him. The
people were silent. They answered not a word. And
so here was this great concourse of people up on Mount Carmel. And here was Elijah, a man of
God, faithfully declaring the things of God, recognizing the
great need there was that this people might turn away from Baal,
might turn away from the things of this world, turn away from
the things which were not right and seek unto the true living
God. It was important in those days.
My friends, it's important today for us as we live upon this earth
and as we have the need. Well, you know the account, we
read it together. There was the bullet placed on
the altar and the prophets of Baal endeavoured to make this
dead God speak. Of course, there was no life.
No life. And so Elijah then came and said
unto all the people, come near to me. He wanted them to come
and observe carefully what was occurring. And all the people
came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of
the Lord that was broken down. You see, the people hadn't been
worshiping in a right way. No, they'd forsaken the true
God. Oh, my friends, may you and I
not forsake the true God. But may we be those who are referred
to as the true worshippers, who worship God in spirit and in
truth. It wasn't a false way. In spirit,
that means with our heart, with our whole heart, concentrating,
in our prayers to our God, as though it's no one else there.
We're just praying to God, just ourselves. And sometimes I think
that would make a big difference if we realized we were praying
to God. We're not praying to the people
so that people might turn around and be listening to what's being
said and think, well, the man's praying against me or for me. Pray to God. Pray to God. God knows what you and I need. God knows how he will answer.
And God, my friends, sometimes answers in a very different way
to what we anticipate. But he answers in that way, which
brings honour and glory to his great and holy name, so that
poor sinful man won't be able to glory. No, we have to acknowledge,
as we have here, the Lord, he is the God, the Lord, he is the
God. And so these prophets of Baal
endeavoured to make their God here, which, of course, he didn't
because he couldn't because he was dead. And then we have the
account of Elijah. He asked the people to come near
and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. You know, perhaps we've turned
away from God. Perhaps we've forgotten how we
should worship. We followed our own way. And
worship has become a very formal thing. Hasn't really entered
into our hearts. It hasn't been like those Greeks
of old who came to Philip and said from their hearts, sirs,
we would see Jesus. So that's the reality of religion. They weren't asking about anything
else. And it says, we would see Jesus. How have we come today? How have we come like that, sir? We would, I would see Jesus.
I want to see the blessed saviour by living faith. I want to rejoice
in what he's done in this great and finished work. I want to
know that I have an interest in his sin atoning death. I want to know that he has died
to atone for all my sins. Real religion is personal. And my friends, it is so and
we're thankful it is. But you and I must stand before
God. Here were all these people then on Mount Carmel. And Elijah
had brought them together close so that they would be able to
see. And he'd taken the stones and he'd, and according to the
number of the tribes of Jacob, unto whom the word of the Lord
came saying, Israel shall be thy name. He didn't forget, you
see, the origination of these things. 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 measures of seed. And he put the wood on the altar
and cut the bullock in pieces and laid it upon the wood and
said, fill four barrels with water and pour it on the burnt
sacrifice and on the wood. And you might ask, well, how
did that occur? It was a time of drought. There was no water.
Well, they weren't very far from the sea, so they could easily
have gone and and taken and brought water from the sea. So there's
no problem with that situation. So they filled the four barrels
and he said, do it the second time. And they did it the second
time. And he said, do it the third
time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran about,
ran about the altar and he filled the trench also with water. And then the, it's significant
here, a small detail you might think, but it's important. And it came to pass at the time
of the offering of the evening sacrifice, the time when Israel
had been instructed to make a sacrifice unto the God morning and evening. It wasn't just on odd occasion,
morning and evening, they were to bow down and worship the true
God. And so here it was, the time
of the evening offering, the evening sacrifice. Then Elijah
the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and
of Israel. He spoke very clearly and very
powerfully and directed them to remember, here was the God
that he was worshipping, the God had delivered, blessed Abraham,
blessed Isaac, delivered and blessed Israel. Yes, he wanted
them to recognize that this was the true God, the real God, the
almighty God. Let it be known this day, this
day, the appointed time, let it be known this day, there was
a need, there was an urgency. It's good, isn't it? When this
is so in our lives, when we have a great need and urgency, that
we need God to appear this day. And so he came and said, and
let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that
I am thy servant, and that I have done all these
things at thy word. That's an encouraging statement,
isn't it? You see, it wasn't his words. It was the words that
God had indicted into his heart, the plan that God had given to
him. And therefore he was able to
say that I have done all these things at thy word. Oh, how relevant that is. To
think that we do things, that we pray things at thy word. It's the word from God indicted
into our heart. Yes, I've done all these things
at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that
this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and thou hast
turned their heart back again. How relevant, how necessary. It was then, so it is today. We might pray exactly the same.
that this people, that all of us may know thou art the Lord
God. How important that is. I wonder
if I was to ask you this morning, do you know? Do you know that you're worshipping
the Lord God, the true God, the creator of all things? You realize
the wonderful blessing and wonderful favor that is, that thou hast,
hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou
art the Lord God and that thou hast turned their heart back
again. I wonder whether we have the
evidence of God turning our heart. Whether we've been perhaps living
our life to please ourselves done what we wanted to do, we
may have offered what we thought were prayers, they may have been
because just following our own ideas. Has God been with us? Has God been directing us? Has
God been speaking to us? Has God been demonstrating to
us that He is the God? Well, here was this great concern
that thou has turned their heart back again. It wasn't just a
head knowledge. It was the innermost being, the
soul, the heart. And that's the relevant thing
for all of us today. Not just a natural knowledge,
but that which is in us, which God speaks to us. which God has
done within us, so that we have the realisation that God has
spoken. Indeed, that God has made us
spiritually alive. And we can say, one thing I know
that where I was blind, now I see. Not naturally, but by the blessed
work of the Holy Spirit to praise and honour and glorify God. Well, did the Lord hear? Did the Lord answer? We know
the wonderful answer, do we not? Then the fire of the Lord fell
and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and
the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench. You see,
God doesn't do things by half. Didn't leave the people in any
doubt that this was the answer to the prayer of Elijah to prove
to them that he was the true God that he was approaching to.
You see the demonstration of God. What a wonderful thing it
is. And it's wonderful still today
when you and I have this realization of the demonstration of the power
of God when he convinces us of our sin before a holy God. It's not what people say. It's
what God does, because when God does it, it has an effect and
the effect will be to make us flee to Christ for forgiveness,
for flee to Christ, for mercy. And, you know, this is the blessed
work of the spirit. We can be sure the Lord will
hear our cry. Lord, reveal thyself unto me
as thou does not unto the world. I need a personal revelation. These people needed a personal
revelation and it was so clearly set before them. And we're told
then when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. And they said, the Lord, He is
the God. The Lord, He is the God. It's a very important picture,
isn't it, here? The people were prostrate before
God. Prostrate before the Almighty
God, the presence of the Almighty God. And it's good when the Lord
brings us to that position, where we are prostrate before God,
the ever-living God, the ruler of the universe, the King of
kings and Lord of lords, and the God who does hear and answer
prayer because of the effect it's had upon us in our hearts. And we're then able to say and
remember in this right attitude prostrate before God. And what did they say? The Lord,
he is the God. The Lord, he is the God. Well, I trust that all of us
may have been able to say this. If we haven't, then we will be
able to say this because we will have to say it before we pass
out of time, into eternity. The true God is a living God. Not like Baal, no life. The true God is the living God. And the church of God, the true
church of God, will have the wonderful evidence in our hearts
that this God is indeed alive today. And this is the true God
who hears and answers prayer. And we should be thankful to
know there is therefore a God in heaven. And there is a glorious
savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who intercedes for us, who hears
and answers our prayer. Not like the prophets of Baal
praying to the unknown God. Yes, they did a lot, didn't they?
It was just mere, just from their minds, there was no effect in
their hearts. They went to the extent of cutting
themselves, so the blood poured out, but there was no reality
in their prayers. They weren't praying to the true
God. What a blessing for us today
if we indeed pray to the true God. Now, my friends, come back
to the 21st verse where Elijah said, How long hold ye between
two opinions? How long? If the Lord be God,
follow him. But if Baal then follow him,
it really means this is one true God who we should follow. Or
there's a false god who we have been following. Who are we following
now? Who are you following today?
Are you going to be like these people? An answer, not a word. Won't it be a great blessing
then? If you may feel like that, answer not a word. You may not
be sure. You may not be sure. But what a wonderful blessing
if the Lord appears. And like these people, really
what happened was their captivity was turned from not knowing to
the time of blessing when they were brought to that place to
prostrate themselves before the Almighty God and to be able to
say, the Lord, He is the God. The Lord, He is the God. All my friends today, may we
be able to say from our heart, the Lord, he is the God, the
Lord, he is the God, because if we do and if we can, then
we shall be numbered amongst the the true worshippers of God,
not those who just have a form, but just as you may pretend and
just do not pray in a right way. But to come. seeking that God
will have mercy upon them, that God would indeed bless them indeed,
and then you see how the Lord gloriously appeared, didn't he?
Wonderful, wasn't it? They couldn't say they deserved
it, and you and I won't be able to say we deserved it, but we
shall be able to say the Lord is merciful, the Lord is gracious,
Lord didn't cast me off. I deserved to be cast off. You won't come thinking that
God has a need to look upon you. You will realize you're unworthy.
And because of that, you see, when God does come and show us
himself and what a blessing it is if he reveals to you the glorious
Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, as that one who has taken away
your sin, all your evil thoughts, all your wrong attitudes, and
cast them behind his back forever, cast them into the depth of the
sea to be seen no more forever. Oh, we have a very kind and gracious
God who does not deal with us as our sins deserve. But oh,
may you bow down and worship the Lord Jesus Christ and be
able to come and say, yes, he is my God. He is the one who's
given his life that I might receive life. That one who suffered so
greatly to atone for my sins. And here I am. A sinner saved
by grace. Oh, friends, rejoice in the Gospel,
rejoice in the great work of salvation, rejoice in the work
of the Saviour, rejoice in the Word of God, rejoice that we
have an account like this, where we see how God gloriously answered
the prayer of Elijah. He was an ordinary person, but
God called him. God instructed him. and God blessed
him and he was just the instrument used on this occasion to bring
this glorious light of the gospel. into the hearts of so many. We
don't know how many, but it does say when all the people saw it,
they fell on their faces. It must have been an amazing
change, wasn't it? And they were before an arrogant
people, and now viewing the power of God. And my friends, when
God opens our hearts to receive the truth of God, it's the power
of God. nothing less. And what a blessing
it is to be a partaker and a recipient of the power of God who brings
life into our soul so that we may be able to come and echo
the words that Israel did on this amazing day and say, the
Lord, he is the God, The Lord, he is the God.