Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. Thank you. John and Robin, go
with me now to 1 Kings 18, the book of 1 Kings chapter 18. 1 Kings 18, read
with me verses 36-39. 1 Kings 18, this is Elijah praying,
verse 36, He came to pass at the time of
the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came
near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, 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. 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. 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. And when all the people saw,
they fell on their faces, and they said, The Lord, He is the
God. The Lord, He is the God. Now, our Lord Jesus Christ, in
His prayer to the Father in John 17, summed up salvation this
way. If you want to know what eternal
life is, from the very mouth of Christ Himself, He said, He
said in John 17, 3, This is life eternal, that they might know
Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast
sent. Period. That's what He said. This is
life eternal. that they might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent, period. Elijah just prayed that, didn't
he? Lord God, hear me, that they
might know that Thou art God, and when it was all over, After
the fire fell on the burnt sacrifice, which is a picture of Christ
and Him crucified. After the fire fell on the burnt
sacrifice, all the people bowed. That's the fear of the Lord.
They didn't jump up and shout and wave their hands. They bowed
before the Lord. As we read in Isaiah 45, every
knee shall bow. And they confessed with their
tongues, everyone. From the heart, they now know
the Lord, He is the God, the living and true God. Now, our Lord, this is life eternal,
He said, that they might know Thee. He's only known when He
reveals Himself. Scripture says, Canst thou by
searching find out God? No. The natural man, 1 Corinthians
2, receiveth not the things of God. Neither can he know them. They're foolishness to them.
They're spiritually revealed. God, in that same chapter, says,
makes himself known, reveals himself unto his people by the
Spirit through the preaching of the gospel. And the world
calls this foolishness. The world calls my occupation
and what I'm doing this morning utter foolishness. Granted that
most of the fellows and women that do this are fools and preaching
foolishness. Yet 1 Corinthians 1.21 says,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. Our Lord was a
preacher and he sent out preachers. He said, go into all the world
and preach the gospel. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. This is what the Lord uses. Listen
to me. In Romans 10 it says, "...whosoever shall call on the
name of the Lord shall be saved." How? "...shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed." You've got to know that He's
God. You won't call on God for mercy. You won't call on God
for pardon from sin if you don't believe He's God, holy. "...How shall they believe in
Him whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher?" And faith cometh by hearing,
hearing by the Word of God, the preaching of the Word." So, the
first thing in salvation, when God saves a person from being
dead and trespassed in sin, gives them life, is He makes Himself
known as the living and the true God. He tells this person through
the preaching of God's Word, like I'm doing this morning,
of the living and true God, the God who is God, that we just
read about in Isaiah 45. Is there anybody in here that
read that for the first time? Is there anybody in here that
read that and said, what does he mean he creates evil? Is there anybody in here that
it shocks them to read that? That's the mouth of God. That shocks the world because
Most aren't hearing these things. But this is the thing that God
first makes known unto everyone He reveals Himself to, I am God. Not, I am God if you will let
me be God. Not, I want to be your God, I
want to be your Lord if you'll let me have my way. Just let
go, let God. I'm going to try my best to contain
myself this morning. Just tell the truth, okay? Just
tell the truth. But that is such utter blasphemy.
Do you understand? You read that with me in Isaiah
45. And what the people are going
to find out in this story is God is God. That's what they
concluded was. Not we don't let Him be God or
not we need to let Him into our... That we live and move and have
our being in Him. That God in whose hands our breath
is. Let God. And this is the first thing that
God reveals to those whom He purposed to save. Calls them
His elect. That He is God. Beside Him there
is none else. Satan's not a God. Man's not
a God. God has free will. Man doesn't. Whoever does as
He will, according to His will, and none can stop His will, that's
God. That's what Ephesians 1 verse
11 says. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His will. He said that in Isaiah 45, didn't
He? I am the potter, you're the clay. Can the clay say to the
potter, you can't do this? Psalm 2 says, he that sits in
the heavens laughs, scoffs at all the notions that men have
of him. Oh, he's angry, but he laughs at the absurd notions
that men, worms, creatures, what creatures say about the Creator. Why are you saying all this,
preacher? Because it's the truth. Because this is the true God.
Because the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And as David said in Psalm 36,
the transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, all that
I see going on around me, all that I see men and women saying
about God, doing in the sight of God, tells me there's no fear
of God before their eyes. And preachers, false preachers
have told men and women so long, a lie about God. He's not holy. He's not just. He won't punish
sin. There is no sin. Nowadays, there is no sin. There's
no consequences. There's no right, no wrong. God
loves everybody without exception. It doesn't matter what you do,
where you are. It doesn't matter. You don't even have to believe.
Billy Graham even said you don't have to believe on Jesus. He
finally concluded that. Because men and women have told
people that so long, and they believe it. And David said, "...the
transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, there's no fear
of God before their eyes." In Romans 1, the whole chapter
talks about how there's no fear of God, how wrath of God was
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men who hold or suppress the truth and unrighteousness. And
they go on and on, and they take pleasure in it. Well, our story here is about
Elijah, a true prophet, and even he said of himself, I'm the only
one. In this story, I'm not saying
that about myself, but Elijah at this time, at this particular
time in Israel, appeared to be the only true prophet of God. Look at it with me in verse 19.
It says Elijah told the king of Israel, by the way, Ahab is
the wicked king of Israel. Look at verse 17. Elijah came,
Ahab saw Elijah and said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth
Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled
Israel, but thou and thy father's house in that you have forsaken
the commandments of the Lord as followed Balaam. He's saying,
I'm not troubling Israel. I'm telling Israel that they're
in trouble. True preachers of the truth are
labeled as troublemakers. They don't get along with people.
That's not true. They're lovers of men. They're
lovers of men's soul, but they just love the truth more. And
if you're a lover of men's soul, you will tell them the truth. Truly, the kisses of an enemy
are deceitful, but the wounds faithful are the wounds of a
friend. Elijah was telling Israel, they're
in trouble. Not smile, God loves you, but
you're in trouble with God. Why? For idolatry. Worshiping
a God who's not God. Not worshiping the true God.
In verse 19, Elijah said to Ahab, bring, send and gather to me
all Israel to Mount Carmel. And the prophets of Baal, 450,
and the prophets of the grove, 400, which eat at Jezebel's table."
In other words, these were all prophets, false prophets. They
were on the payroll. They were hired by. They were
hirelings. They were prophets for hire. P-R-O-F-I-T. And there were 850. One man. One man. By the way, Ahab had
some respect for Elijah. Ahab actually feared Elijah.
Would you show me a modern preacher today whom anybody anywhere has
any real respect for? I can't think of one that I know.
Herod respected John the Baptist in him. Pilate trembled in the
presence of Jesus of Nazareth. Mary, Queen of Scots, Bloody
Mary, said she feared the prayers of John Knox more than all the
armies of England. Ahab feared and respected Elijah. Why? Because this is a real man. Preacher of the Truth, 850 to
1. He said, you call all the prophets
and the preachers. You call all of them together.
Get them together. And now, all of these men, there
may have been some women in there, I don't know. Doesn't say their
gender, does it? Probably were. But they all agreed,
didn't they? There was no dissension among
them. 850 altogether. They all agreed perfectly. They all agreed to hate this
one man. They all hated the truth and this one man declared it. Nothing's changed. Can you imagine
how many so-called preachers there were on Noah's day? Have
you ever thought about that? Don't you think there were preachers
and prophets all around in Noah's day? Noah was a preacher. That's what the scripture said.
A preacher of righteousness. And he condemned the world. But
every one of them, none of them told the people. None of those
false prophets told the people, Noah's right. You need to be
in that ark. None of them. They all refuted
that. Oh no, God's not like that. God's
not like that, He's not that holy. Oh no, He has a wonderful
plan for your life. And Noah's preaching, God is angry, but God is love,
God is mercy, God is great, but in one place, one way. This is the truth, only
in Jesus Christ. Outside of Christ, God is a consuming
fire. Alright, these 850 prophets,
they were all in agreement. All in agreement. Now look at
verse 21, Elijah came and said to all the people, he preached,
how long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God,
follow Him. But if Baal, then follow him. The people answered him not a
word, nothing to say. Then Elijah read on, said, unto
the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's
prophets are 450 men. And then there were the other
400 that stayed home with Jezebel. 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 it on the fire,
but no fire under it. And I will dress the other bullock,
and lay it on the wood, and put no fire under it. Call ye on
the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord.
And the God that answereth by fire, let him be God." And all
the people answered and said, it is well. This is good. Now, when Elijah said, let him
be God, look down at verse 36. It says, he said, came to pass
at the time of the evening sacrifice, he prayed, O Lord God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art
God. That's what he's saying. Let
it be known. Let it be understood by all that
God is God. So God's going to send fire.
He's not telling them, let him let the fire fall. Let it be known. Let it be absolutely
certain in your own mind and your heart that the God who answers
by fire, that's God. Now what's this mean? Did you
read it with me? Read it again. Verse 24. Call on the name of your gods,
I will call on the name of the Lord, that's Jehovah, and the
God that answereth by fire. Let Him be God. They said that's
what. Turn with me, I want you to look
at four verses of Scripture, okay? Look at Malachi 3. Malachi 3. Do not take this preacher's
word for it. Don't take any preacher's word
for anything but the Word of the Lord. Look at Malachi 3 with
me. The God that answereth by fire. I'm going to show you four verses
of Scripture, alright? Four passages. Malachi 3, you
have it? Now this is speaking of John
the Baptist who came, the forerunner of Christ, who is the Lord, who
came to his temple. Malachi 3, 1 and 2, Behold, I
will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before
me. And the Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant whom ye 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."
Look at Malachi 3, verse 6. Look at verse 6. He said, I am
the Lord, I change not. Therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. Do you remember in Malachi 1
where it says, Jacob have I loved? That's His chosen, that's His
leg. Therefore, you're not consumed by fire. Alright, look at Luke
chapter 12 with me. This is the word of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is God manifest in the flesh,
who answereth by fire. Luke chapter 12, you have it? Luke 12, the words of the Son
of God. He said, Luke 12, 49. I am come to send fire on the
earth. And what will I if it be already
kindled? Look at verse 51. Suppose ye
that I am come to give peace on the earth, I tell you nay,
but rather division. Fire. Fire. Now one more. Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12. As said, The Lord Jesus Christ
is God manifest in the flesh. He is the one Malachi wrote of
there, the Lord who came to his temple. Who shall abide his coming? He's like a refiner's fire. And
look at Hebrews 12. It says in verse 26, His voice
shook the earth, but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more
I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word Yet
once more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken,
as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be
shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved, let us have grace, or hold fast, whereby
we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For
our God is a consuming fire." Do you ever hear anything like
that in preaching today? Do you hear preachers talking
like that? They just attribute it to old, uneducated mountain
preachers from West Virginia or Kentucky talking about hell's
fire and damnation. Who said that? Who talked about fire and brimstone?
Jesus Christ. Now let me preach this, not with
anger. And I've heard some men preach
the truth that they almost seem to relish the damnation and condemnation
of people. Let me not be that one. But it
must be said with grave concern for the souls of men and women
who are deluded, who are deceived. It must be said with grave concern
And yes, anger against false prophets who are deceiving many. How could you be a shepherd and
not be angry at wolves? Huh? And with a heartfelt desire,
Paul who preached Romans 9, who wrote Romans 9 and Romans 10,
not too clear passages at all of God's Word about the sovereignty
of God. Romans 9 that says, "...not of
him that willeth, but of him that runs, but of God that showeth
mercy." Whom He will, He hardeneth. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Remnant according to the election of Romans 9. But
He started that out by saying, I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart for Israel. He went on to say, I could wish
myself a curse for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the
flag. See, they're sincere, they're zealous, they worship God was
not the true and living God. He said, that's who I'm going
to declare unto you. And Elijah, he called the people near to
him, he called the people and said, you listen to me, don't
listen to these fellas. So God who answers by fire, you
see, oh, I had so many scriptures I wanted to share with you, but
fire is, God is a consuming fire, the scripture says. That represents
His holiness. We sang that Him. Holy, holy,
holy. That's what the angels say about
God now. The angels aren't in heaven saying,
love, love, love. They're saying, holy, holy, holy. He said there in Isaiah 45, didn't
He say, I am a just God? That's the first thing He said
about Himself. I am God. I do all things. I am sovereign. I am just. That means holy, pure. He must and He will punish sin. I heard one of these false prophets
on TV, YouTube. I was watching him interviewed
by a panel of talk show hosts. They were interviewing him. It
was that Joel Osteen. And he had made a comment sometime
before that homosexuality was a sin. So they took that and
ran with it. And around the board, they were
asking him, did you say that? Do you believe it's a sin? He
said, well, the Bible doesn't say that. And they said, well,
then you're... And one woman said to him, then what you're
saying is... They said, what you're saying
is everybody's sinners. Because he said, well, pride's
a sin, and adultery's a sin, this and that, lying's a sin.
He said, it's all a sin. He was trying to back out of
that. And so she said, what you're saying then to the people you're
preaching to is they're sinners. And he never would say that.
He said, no, I don't go there. I just try to build them up,
you know. I just want to build them up. Afraid to say what God said. Now I detest men like that. I
despise them. Making merchandise of men's soul.
That man's multi, multimillionaire. Scripture says God is holy, God
is pure, God is just, God will punish sin. Scripture says what
sin is and says God will punish it. Fire burns up draws to it. Fire burns up the chaff, burns
up that which is pure, or impure, I mean, and purifies. God is
just. How can God be just and justifier? How can God be just, holy, and
righteous, and punish sin, and yet forgive you of your sin?
Do you know the answer to that question? That's the gospel question that
That's the question that true preachers of the gospel pose.
That's what Job, the oldest book in the Bible, said. How can God
be just and justifier? How can God be just God and a
Savior? Here's the truth. Man has sinned
and come short of the glory of God and all of sin. But God is holy. It shall be
perfect to be accepted. God will punish sin. Man's a
sinner. He can't just forgive it. It's
got to be punished. Do you know the answer to that
question? Every, all through the Old Testament
speaks of a burnt offering. Every single offering. Every
single lamb and bullock and all of that was burnt. You see where I'm going? Burnt. That's Christ and Him crucified.
Our God's a consuming fire, holy, just. His Word is as a fire. And when the Word of God comes,
it burns up your self-righteousness. It burns up your works. It burns
up everything that you are. All your false notions of God,
it burns it up. Works that you did for Jesus,
like those people that are going to appear before God someday
and say, Lord, Lord, we did this, we did that. Fire burns it all
up. Our repentance, our works, our
decisions, our baptism, all of that, our opinions, our thoughts. Christ in Him crucified is the
only way that a sinner can come into the presence of a holy God.
Christ in Him crucified is the only way a holy, just, and righteous
God can have anything to do with an unrighteous, unjust, sinful
creature such as man. Christ in Him crucified. If you don't know God, if there's
no truth, there's no salvation, there's no fear, if there's no
God who punishes sin, then there's no fear. There's no consequences
for sin. But then if God is holy and just and will punish sin,
then what can be done about my sin? One thing. One way. One truth. One way of
life. Jesus Christ. Substitute. Substitution. Satisfaction. I
gotta go on. In our story here, alright? Look
at it. He said, call on your God. And
they did, and they called on, like Isaiah said, a God that
cannot save. They called, they called, they
called. Verse 26, "...they took the bullock, and from morning
till noon..." This sounds like a modern Pentecostal meeting.
It sounds like a nationwide prayer meeting to that. "...they all
called, O hear us!" There was no voice then, no answer. Well,
then they started leaping, leaping upon the altar. And Elijah mocked
them. Elijah began to mock them. People say, you shouldn't make
fun of false preachers. You shouldn't make fun of false
religion. Elijah did. Our Lord did. They're mocking God. They need to be mocked. It needs
to be seen for the absurdity that it is, the blasphemy and
the idolatry that it is. Elijah mocked them, verse 27.
He said, cry aloud, he's God, maybe he's talking to somebody,
can't hear you. He doesn't have his hearing aids
in. He went on to say, maybe he's
pursuing. If you look that up, dig it up, you'll find out what
he's saying is, maybe he has to go to the bathroom. Oh, he's mucking their God. Brethren, people, don't you hear
it today? Preachers everywhere, God has
no hand but your hand. God has no feet but your feet.
God can't do anything unless you let Him. Poor God. Jesus
is outside your heart's door. Won't you let Him in? Poor Jesus. He wants to have His way. Let
Him have His way. That's a Jesus that can't save
the flea. That's a God who cannot save.
In Isaiah 43, God said, I will work and who will let me? Who
will stop me? Can the thing formed say to him
that formed it, you can't do that, he hath no hands? The heavens are the works of
his hands, the scripture said. He said, this people have I formed. These people, I made them. They
didn't make me. They didn't let me. Salvation
comes when He let you know that I am God, and you belong to Me,
and I've made you one of My people. I've chosen you. Because I'd have lived in rebellion
the rest of the time. I'd have lived all my days thinking I
let Jesus into my heart. When I go into his presence someday
and hear him say, get out of my sight. Because you're taking
the glory. You're stealing my glory. Isaiah mocked him. Maybe he can't
hear you. Maybe he's on a journey. He's
sleeping. Let me tell you this story again. Some of you haven't
heard it. Brother Walter Groover used to tell this story. And
this goes along with that modern saying, by all preachers, God
has no hand but you. There was a boy down in Mexico
that his family was steeped in idolatry. And if you ever go
down there, you'll see they have actual physical idols everywhere. But this boy heard the gospel
and the Lord opened his eyes and his ears to know the living
and true God. God's a spirit, not an idol. Not without hands. The God in
whose hands our breath is. That Jesus Christ is God. Not
wanting, not hoping, working and willing. All right? This young Mexican boy heard
the truth. He knows God now. He went home and told his dad
about this God. He said, our God, God is God. These idols are nothing. They're
just wood, hay, and stubble, and you just imagine that they're
God. They're not gods at all. The
father got angry. Got angry with him. Get out of
here, son. I'll not have that. But one day when his father was
gone, the father had about seven or eight idols lined up on the
wall there, and he took a hammer. The young boy took a hammer and
busted the first seven idols, just busting them with that hammer,
and laid the hammer right down beside that last idol. Well, the father came in that
afternoon, and he said, who busted up my idols? And the little boy
said, that other God did it. He did it. And the father said,
silly boy, that idol can't do anything like that. I said, that's
what I'm trying to tell you. That's what I've been trying
to tell you. If it's a God who can't do anything lest man lets
Him, He's not God. And yet they attribute that to
Satan. Satan's having his will. They say God doesn't want bad
things to happen. And they happen anyway. Then what good is He? But now, if He's an all-wise
God, and things we think are evil, things we think are evil
happen to innocent people. There are no innocent people. He's a just God. He does things
that are right. Abraham pleaded with him about
Sodom, didn't he? He pleaded with him. If you can
find ten righteous people, will you spare the city? He said,
I will. I won't judge the righteous. I won't condemn the righteous.
Just ten out of a city of a million people. That's right. And Abraham
said, well, the God of all the earth will do right. The judge
of all the earth will do right. What happened? They destroyed that whole place.
He chose one man. He chose one man. And how'd that man get out of
that city? He wouldn't have come out if God hadn't been merciful,
Scripture said. And laid hold of him and said,
I chose you, you're mine, you're coming with me. O Lot, thank the Lord for sovereign
mercy. Well, so they did. They jumped
up and down and shouted and no answer. But so Elijah, and I'm
out of time, but Elijah took 12 stones. Verse 31. Verse 30. He said, Come near
unto me. Elijah said to all the people,
Come near unto me. Isn't that what our Lord Jesus
Christ said? Elijah represents Christ. As I said, Christ is all in all.
Elijah represents that prophet of whom Moses prophesied. Elijah
said, come near unto me. Christ stood in the last day
of the great feast and said, come unto me. Who came? Who came? What's the scripture
say? What does Christ say? All that
the Father giveth unto me shall come unto me. Have you come to
Christ? Yes, I have preached. You must
be chosen. You know you wouldn't have come.
You see, he gets all the glory. Come near unto me, he said, and
all the people came near unto him. He repaired the altar. Oh,
my preacher, my pastor preached a message you need to hear back
in 1958 called Recovery of the Gospel. A repair of the breach. Oh, that
false religion is broken down. You need to hear it. He took 12 stones. You see, this
gospel, the truth, is built on the foundation of the prophets
and the apostles. Jesus Christ Himself, the chief
cornerstone. And they came near unto Him,
and He built that altar, and says in verse 33, put wood in
order. You see, God does all things
according to the pattern, in order. You see, everything is
ordered in all things. And sure, it's called a covenant
that God made, not with you, but among Himself, Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit, concerning us, His people. And it says He put
the wood in order, cut the bulk in pieces. Christ said, this
is my body broken for you. Laid Him on the wood. And He
said, fill four barrels with water. Four barrels. What's that?
Water. What is it? That's His Word.
The Scriptures is the Word of God. Christ is the Word. When He was pierced, out of His
side came blood and water. That's justification and sanctification. There are three that bear record
in heaven. The water, the Spirit, and the Word. These three agree
in one. There are four Gospels full of
this Gospel. The living water, which is Christ. And it's saturated. The burnt
sacrifice is saturated by the Word of God and vice versa. Verse
34. He said, do it the second time.
They did it the second time. He said, do it the third time.
Three times. These three bear record. Four Gospels, four barrels full
of water. And these three, the burnt sacrifice. Elijah's calling it a burnt sacrifice
before the fire fell. Do you see that? He's calling
it a burnt sacrifice before the fire fell. It's not burnt yet,
Elijah. Oh, yes it is. He's the Lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning of the world. God sent Christ in time and the
fullness of time made Him to be sin for His people, a burnt
offering, put Him through hell for His people, the fiery wrath
and justice of God against sin, the punishment of God against
sin, fell on Jesus Christ on Calvary's tree against His people. His people's sins were laid upon
Him, and His people's sins were paid for. He's the burnt offering. He was the burnt offering before
He came. You ever seen that? I just saw that for the first
time. In verse 36, it says, now, it came to pass that Elijah prayed. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel,
and that I am thy servant, and I have done all these things
at thy word." You know something? You need
to know that the preacher that's preaching to you is not a false
prophet. John said, try them. How? By the Word. And I know many
men say that. But this is the acid test. They're
preaching the Word of God. They're preaching Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. He's their message. Elijah, the
whole thing was about this burnt offering. That God answers by
fire. That God is holy and can't have
anything to do with us except through a burnt sacrifice. Elijah
said, come near to me now and hear me. This is the living and
true God. Oh, Elijah, God's not that holy.
You just wait and see. Let it be known. And Israel knows. My people know. He said in Isaiah
43, I've chosen them that they might know Me. And Elijah said,
let them know that I've done this according to Thy Word. My
father-in-law was in religion like so many of you, like nearly
everyone in here, in false religion. He was sincere and a moral man,
a hardworking man, a brick mason, and looked up to by the people
in the community, and fine upstanding citizen, and moral, and devoted
to that church, and supporting of it, and liked by all. He's just an upstanding man in
that false religion. One day, after a while, the Lord
made him discontent. For one thing, the preacher that
was preaching to him was an effeminate fellow who was just mealy-mouthed,
you know, and my father-in-law was a brick mason. And I guess he got tired of this
silly little fellow. And he became discontented, and
a man that used to work with him, Ed Stephen, was a contractor,
and he told him, there's a man preaching the gospel up the road
here, named Henry Mayhem. You need to go hear him. Well,
he came. And he came, and this is his
story. He came, and he sat, and he heard this man preach, and
he didn't understand a word he said. He said that later on. He said he didn't understand
a word he said. But here's the thing that impressed him. Number
one, it was a man. He was a man's man. Not a pleaser
of men. Not a mealy mouth, mincing words,
apologizing, pathetic, effeminate, man pleaser, back scratcher,
ear tickler. But a man. And he said what he
was preaching he got from the Word of God. Everything he was
saying was from the Word of God. He said, turn here, turn there,
turn here, turn there. He said, it's from the Word of
God. He said, I didn't know what he was saying, but it's from
the Bible. Elijah said, let it be known
that what I'm doing is from your Word. Who I'm declaring is from
your Word. That this is the God of the Bible.
And I'm not making this God up. Lo and behold, my father-in-law
sat there, and after a while, his eyes were open. To know what? That God is God, and Christ is the way. The wise
Elijah said this, Hear me, O Lord, verse 37, hear me, that this
people may know that thou art the Lord God, and thou hast turned
their heart back again. If you hear this message, and
you rejoice in this message, and you believe this message,
and you believe and bow to and know that God is God, that you
didn't let Him be God, that He let you know He was God. If you
bow to and believe and love that Jesus Christ is your only hope
with this God, that Jesus Christ is your all in salvation, that
Jesus Christ is your sin atonement, your burnt offering, if you know
that and believe with all your heart that your only hope of
salvation is Jesus Christ, not your work, not your decision,
not your sincerity, not your zeal, not your religion, not
your obedience, but Jesus Christ alone, if you know that, God
just turns your heart. He's turned your heart. The heart's deceitful above all
things, Jeremiah said, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Well,
God lets His people know the plague of their heart, the sin
of their heart. And He puts the gospel in their
heart. And they begin to love this, what they once hated. So
many in this room heard this same message before, and you
didn't like it. When you first heard it, that's
not, no, I don't believe God's like that. My God's not like
that. No, your God's not. But the God who is God is. And
then finally, fire fell. The Word of God burned within
your heart, burned up the dross, burned up the chafting, burned
up, just destroyed all your past religion. And you said, like
Paul, that thing that was gained in me is lost, it's cow manure. Oh, I want to be found in Christ. I will be found in Him like that
ark because God's a consuming fire. Let me be found in Him."
God's turned your heart. And the fire fell and consumed
the burnt sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, everything
in it. Didn't Peter say that in the
last days when Jesus Christ comes, He shall consume everything,
everything. The heavens be melted with a
fervent heat." What's that? Christ. Not His people. No. Not His people. They're in
Him. They're not outside of Him. They're
in Him. And all the people fell on their
faces and they said, every single one of them, that Lord, He is
the God. He is the God. There is no other. He's the only one. And oh, thank
you, Lord, for sparing us, for not destroying us in our idolatry. You should have. Lord, you should
have. We rebelled against you. We rejected
the truth. We killed all your prophets.
You should have destroyed us. But God is love and mercy and
grace. in Jesus Christ. To all those
He reveals the truth to, blessed be His name. All right, Brother
John, you come lead us in a closing hymn. And we'll sing the first, second,
and fourth.