I'm reading this morning from
the book of 1st Kings chapter 18. This is the story of Elijah,
the true prophet of God, against 850 false prophets. One true
prophet against 850 false prophets. And this story reveals the difference,
the glaring difference between the true God, the God of the
Bible, and false god that most men preach and declare and most
people believe. In verse 17, it says, It came
to pass when Ahab, that's the king of Israel, Ahab saw Elijah,
that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? Now Ahab had great respect for
Elijah. He feared Elijah. The true prophet,
the true preacher, though hated by men, he's known and respected. because he's a man of integrity,
and a man of honesty, and a man of boldness, and preaches and
speaks with authority. Herod feared John the Baptist. Herod greatly respected him,
though he didn't believe what he preached. Pilate trembled
in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Bloody Mary, Queen Mary
said, she said she feared the prayers of John Knox more than
all the armies of England. but the false and phony preachers
of my day. They're feared and respected
by none, silly, effeminate cheerleaders of a lesser God. But a preacher
of the truth, a preacher of the true God, is a man who should
be at least respected by those who hear him. And he's not a
troublemaker, although people think he is. Here's the fact
of the matter. Israel was in trouble with God
because of their idolatry, because they'd left the worship of the
living and true God, as is America and the world today. We're in
trouble with God. Why? Because man has left the
worship of the true and living God, the way to God. As God said
in Noah's day, God looked down and said, all flesh had corrupted
His way. And He says the whole world is
full of violence. Oh, how that describes the day
in which we live in. Well, here's the story. In verse
18, Elijah answered Ahab and said, I have not troubled Israel,
but thou and thy father's house. You've forsaken the commandments
of the Lord. You've forsaken the word of the
Lord. You've followed another God. And so he issues a challenge
to the king of Israel. He says, Send and gather to me
all Israel. Gather all the people unto Mount
Carmel. And the prophets of Baal, 450,
and the prophets of the groves, 400, which ate at Jezebel's table. That's 850 false prophets, 850. And yet Elijah was one man sent
by God against so many. Can one man be right and so many
be wrong? So Ahab sent unto the children
of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. Now
these were 850 false prophets that were on the king's payroll. They were hirelings. They were
being paid by the king to tell him, to tell the people what
they wanted to hear, not from the Word of God. Well, Elijah. Elijah, like Noah, did not preach,
God loves everyone, but rather God is angry with the wicked
every day. And He has and He will pour out His wrath. Now
let me preach this message this morning, as they preached it,
with grave concern for the souls of men. Not in anger at people,
but angry with false prophets, angry with the idolatry of our
day, the sin of our day, but not with anger against people,
but rather grave concern, a grave concern and fear for the souls
of men. Let me preach with boldness,
but not meanness, authority, but not arrogance. Let me have
the heartfelt desire of Paul, the apostle who said, I could
wish myself a curse for my kinsmen, my brethren according to the
flesh, but they're ignorant of God, he said. In verse 21, Elijah,
came unto all the people and said, How long halt ye between
two opinions? How long? If the Lord, that is
Jehovah, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of
the Bible, if the Lord be God, follow Him. But if Baal, if another,
then follow him. The people didn't answer a word. Then said Elijah unto the people,
I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord. He says, I am here
to tell you, thus saith the Lord. Not what I think, not what you
want to hear, but what God's word said. I'm here to declare
the true and living God, the God who is God, not the God you
must let be God. That's no God at all. But the
God who is God, the God in whose hands your breath is and all
your ways. The God who reigns and rules
among the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest
thou? The God who is the potter and
we're the clay. The God who works all things
after the counsel of his will, not man's will, his will. He
says, I am a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men.
He says, I'm here in the name of the Lord. I'm here to declare
unto you the Lord. So he said. He says, let them,
let these false prophets give us two bullocks, let them gather
together two bullocks, choose a bullock for themselves, cut
it in pieces, put it, lay it on the wood, no fire, no fire
under it. And I will dress the other bullock
and lay it on the wood and put no fire under it. You call on
the name of your gods. I'll call on the name of the
Lord and the God that answereth by fire. Let him be God. Let it be known. The God who
answers by fire, he said. Let it be known that he is God."
And all the people answered and said, this is well spoken. Well
spoken. And so Elijah said, the God who
answers by fire. The God who answers by fire.
He is the God. What does this mean? Malachi
chapter 3, listen to this, just before the Old Testament is the
last book called Malachi. And he says in prophecy of Christ
who's coming, of John who was the forerunner of Christ, the
prophet, the last prophet, the last Old Testament prophet. Malachi
3, I read, I send my messenger, prepare the way before me and
the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple.
the messenger of the covenant, whom we delight in. Behold, he
shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the
day of his coming? Who shall stand when he appeareth?
For he is like a refiner's fire." Who is he talking about? He's
talking about the Lord Jesus Christ who came. Now, some people
may say, well, this is the God of the Old Testament. The God
of the New Testament is different. He has changed. The God of the
Old Testament was angry. And God poured out His wrath
upon sinners. But the God of the new, because
of Jesus, is love and mercy and grace and doesn't want anyone
to be damned. That's not the God of the Bible.
That's not what God says about Himself. In Malachi 3, verse
6, just before the New Testament, one of the last things He says
is in verse 6, I am the Lord, I change not. I change not. So this God was manifest in the
flesh, and His name was Jesus Christ, the Son of the Most High
God. Let me read to you what He said
about Himself. This is the One who came as a
refiner's fire. Now He said in Luke 12, 49, He
said, I am come to send fire on the earth. I am come to send
fire. In Hebrews 12, the last verse
says, Our God is a consuming fire. People, that means, that
God is holy, God is pure, God is just, God is angry with the
wicked, God must and will punish sin. He will burn up the dross,
the impure, the wickedness. Well, how can God be just and
holy and punish sin and yet be merciful and love and gracious?
Through a burnt offering, through a sacrifice, and that sacrifice
is Christ and Him crucified. Back in the story in 1 Kings
18, The false prophets called on their God. They called on
their God and there was no answer. There was no fire that fell.
Oh, they had much enthusiasm. They leapt on the altar. They
jumped up and down. They cut themselves. They cried
aloud. There was no fire fell. The sacrifice
was not consumed. People, the fire that religion
talks about today, acquire the fire, that's getting all worked
up and on fire for the Lord. They cause their children to
pass through this fire, but there's no answer from God, no answer.
How can God be just and justify? Why did Christ come and die?
Why? Why is there no talk today? No
speaking of wrath and judgment against sin. Why is there no
talk about a God who will punish sin today and the need for Christ
and him crucified to bear our sin? This is the message of the
cross. This is a message of the true
prophet. In our text, Elijah repaired the altar. He put things
in order, put the wood in order. Verse 33, there's an order to
be had in the worship of God, according to God's Word. And
he laid that bullock on the wood and filled four barrels with
water. That's the gospel, the four gospel. The water being the Word of God,
that full of the mercy and the love and the grace and the truth
of God as it is in Christ. In Christ. This is all about
Christ. What Elijah is about to do is all about the burnt
offering. The fire's got to fall on the
burnt offering or else it will fall on the people. See, God
should have poured out His wrath upon these people. But here's
the mercy of God. Here's the love of God. Here's
the grace of God. Here's the answer of how God
can be just and justifier, is that the wrath of God must fall
upon us or on our substitute. And it came to pass, verse 36,
that Elijah called on God and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac,
and 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. That what I'm doing is according
to the Word of the Lord, the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That what I'm doing is preaching the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Word of God as it speaks of Christ and Him crucified,
the Word incarnate. Oh, let the people know that
what I'm saying and what I'm doing is according to God's Word. Let them hear Thy Word, O Lord. He said, 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. Oh, I preached this
morning, hoping, praying that the Lord will make this people
who hear me to know that He is the living God, the true God. We're in His hands to do with
as He will. Christ on the cross will tell
us who God is, what man is, what God thinks of sin. why Christ
came, how we may get to God, how God makes scepter. So the
fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering. People, the
Gospel of Christ is the only answer, the only way God will
speak to sinful man. And when the people saw it, what
did they do? They fell on their faces. The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And they all confessed
with their mouth, The Lord, He is the God. The Lord, He is the
God, and He's only known through Christ crucified. It is my earnest,
heart's-felt desire that you know this God, the living and
true God, and that you will bow to Him and believe Him and trust
the Lord Jesus Christ as your only salvation. If you like what
you're hearing, come thou with us. We'll do thee good. Come
and worship God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus. Put
no confidence in the flesh. Look unto Him and be you saved.
All the ends of the earth for He is God. There is none else. Until next Sunday, may the Lord
bless His Word to your heart. Amen.