Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybert. I've entitled the message for
this morning, Halting Between Two Opinions. Our text is found
in 1 Kings 18, verse 21. And Elijah came to all the people
and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be
God, if Jehovah be God, follow Him. And if Baal, follow him. Now, it would be helpful if you
can get a Bible and open it to 1 Kings 18. We're going to be
looking in 1 Kings 16, 17, and 18. But I could say this story begins
where everything begins. God's will, God's purpose, God's
counsel, all things are of God. This was all determined by God. But we could also see that this
happened when King Ahab brought Israel to an all-time low. Let me read about this in 1 Kings
16, verse 30. And Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil in the sight of the
Lord above all that were before him. This was the most evil king
up to this point in Israel's history. And it came to pass
as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of
Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel, the
daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidians, and went and served
Baal. and worshiped him. Now, did you
notice how he said he considered it a light thing to walk in the
sins of Jeroboam? Jeroboam was the man who brought
the division between Israel and Judah. And he did not want the
children of Israel to go to Judah, to go to Jerusalem to observe
the Passover because he thought that would cause them to be loyal
to King Rehoboam over Judah rather than him. So he made two new
Passovers, one in Dan and one in Bethel. And he put two golden
calves in those places and said, this is where you can observe
the Passover. It will be easier and more convenient for you to
do this. And this is called the Sin of Jeroboam, the measuring
stick of sin, 17 times. First and second Kings we read
of the sin of Jeroboam, and this is where Ahab began. This was
his starting place. And he went to even greater lengths
of wickedness. Verse 32, and he reared up an
altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove, and Ahab
did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all
the kings of Israel. that were before him. And there
were a lot that had provoked the Lord to anger, but none like
Ahab, this wicked man." Now, at this time, Elijah appears
on the scene. I Kings 17, verse 1, "'And Elijah
the Tishbite, who was in the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto
Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, Before whom I stand,
there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to
my word. It's not going to rain unless
I say it's going to rain." And rain was withheld for three and
a half years. Elijah. His name means Jehovah
is God. And I'm sure that provoked Ahab
who was worshiping Baal as God. And Elijah is generally considered
the greatest of the prophets, the Old Testament prophets. Do
you remember when the Lord was transfigured before Peter and
James and John on the Mount of Transfiguration and his face
shined as the sun and his raiment became white as light? Who was
speaking with him there? It was Moses and Elijah, the
law and the prophets. The Old Testament ends with a
prophecy of Elijah coming back. Those are the last two verses
of the book of Malachi, the last book in the Old Testament. And
we know that was fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist.
The Lord used Elijah to illustrate God's sovereignty and salvation.
In Luke 4, He said there were many widows during Elijah's day,
during that great famine, and God passed by every one of them
and sent Elijah to a Gentile woman, this widow that He was
used by God to sustain him and her son through the cruise of
oil and the barrel of meal that didn't waste. Miracle took place. It was never empty. Well, this
was done to illustrate God's sovereignty and salvation. James
uses Elijah as the example of prayer, the effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much." And he was talking about
the fact that Elijah prayed that it might not rain, and it didn't
rain. And when he prayed three and
a half years later for it to rain, the rain fell down. He is also said to be, in the
book of James, a man of like passions. with us. He wasn't
any different than you and I in the sense that he had a sinful
nature like you and I have, and he had the same struggles you
and I have, but you know he was taken up into heaven without
ever dying in chariots of fire. Elijah, this very special man. Now in chapter 18, Verse 1, Elijah
had been in hiding after he told Ahab that it wasn't going to
rain. You may remember that he stayed
for about a year at a brook, and ravens would bring him food
every day. And then his time with the widow
woman and the crews of oil and the barrel of meal that never
ran out. It was inexhaustible. was in
hiding for three years because Ahab wanted him dead. Ahab was
blaming him for all of this. But we read in 1 Kings 18 verse
one, and it came to pass after many days that the word of the
Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, go, show thyself
unto Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth. So in verse 17
of the same chapter, this is when he meets Ahab. And it came
to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art
thou he that troubleth Israel? Now, Elijah wasn't a problem.
Ahab was. The reason the rain was withheld
was because of Ahab's wickedness, and he brought the entire nation
into Baal worship. That's why rain was being withheld,
but he blames Elijah. Are you he that troubles Israel?
You cause all this suffering and trouble and so on." Verse
18, and he, Elijah, answered, I've not troubled Israel, but
thou and thy father's house in that you forsaken the commandments
of the Lord and thou has followed Balaam. Now, listen to this carefully. Here's what we're going to do.
He says this to Ahab and he'd introduced Baal worship into
Israel. Now therefore send and gather
to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel." The whole population of Israel
was called upon to this event. And the prophets of Baal, 450,
and the prophets of the groves, 400, which eat at Jezebel's table. Jezebel was his wife. So Ahab
sent unto all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets
together unto Mount Carmel. Now think of the size of this
crowd at this time. And Elijah came unto all the
people, this crowd, and said, how long halt ye between two
opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. If Baal, follow him. Now his only appeal was truth.
That's it. That's the only appeal that's
needed. If Jehovah is God, follow him. If Baal, follow him. But don't try to do both. Do
not halt between two opinions. Now, there are so many areas
where there's so much gray between two differing views. And the
older I get, the more I see that. There's so much gray, so little
is black and white. But in the gospel, there is black
and white. There's no negotiables. There's
no gray areas. There's no way we can halt between
two opinions. Now, when he's talking about
halting between two opinions, he's not talking about the struggle
that everybody experiences, particularly the believer, between good and
evil, the flesh and the spirit, right and wrong. Every believer
is constantly dogged by sin because he's still a sinner. That's not
really what he's talking about. When he's talking about halting
between two opinions, he says there's no middle ground between
grace and works. That's what the issue is. That's
the issue of the gospel, the grace of God or the works of
men. I want to read a passage from
Romans 11 where Paul is actually dealing with Elijah, and he says
in Romans 11, verse 2, What ye not what the scripture saith
of Elijah, how that he maketh intercession to God against Israel,
saying, Lord, they've killed thy prophets, they've digged
down thine altars, and I'm left alone, and they seek my life.
But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved
to myself seven thousand men which have not bowed the knee
to the image of Baal. Even so then, at this present
time, there is a remnant, a small number, according to the election
of grace." Did you hear that word? The election. of grace."
Now, this is not an election like, I'm voting this way and
the other person's voting that way. This is God electing a people
before time began to be saved. According, Paul said in Ephesians
1, verse 4, as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world. Now, he goes on to say in verse
6, and if by grace, If election really is by grace, all of salvation
is by grace. If by grace, then it's no more
works. You can't blend them. You can't
mix them. Otherwise, grace is no more grace,
but if it be of works, then it's no more grace. Otherwise, work
is no more work. Now, there's no middle ground.
grace, or works. The way of Cain, bringing his
best. The way of Abel, only coming
through the blood of the coming sacrifice. Salvation is by what
Christ accomplished, or salvation is by what you do. Can't be blended,
can't be mixed. Salvation by God's will, or salvation
by man's will. There's no middle ground. There's
no mixing of the two. Salvation by law or salvation
by gospel. Salvation of man or salvation
of the Lord. Salvation by man's word, salvation
by God's word. There's no mixing. Salvation
by man's choice or salvation by God's choice. There can be
no mixing. Salvation ultimately dependent
upon what you do Or salvation ultimately dependent upon what
Christ has done. There is no mixing. Believing in Christ or believing
in yourself. Resting or working. Christ or
the world? Now, the children of Israel were
halting between these two opinions, Baal and the Lord, and they thought
there could be advantages by following both. So they tried
to do both, and Elijah says, you cannot do that. Now, look
at the response to the people in verse 22. or the end of verse
21, and the people answered him not a word. Why didn't they answer? They didn't know what to say.
They were not convinced. Then said Elijah unto the people,
I, even I, only remain a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets
are 450 men. Now he's looking at all of Israel.
He knows they're not convinced. He says, I'm the only prophet
of God, here are 450 prophets of Baal. Let them therefore give
us two bullocks, and let them choose one bullock, one 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 under wood,
and put no fire under it. Call on the name of your gods,
and I will call on the name of the Lord. And the God that answers
by fire, let Him be God." Now, what he's talking about is fire
coming down from heaven upon the sacrifice. I'm going to put
the sacrifice on the altar. They're going to put their sacrifice
on their altar. And when the fire comes down
from heaven, the God that answers by fire, He is God. And all the people answered and
said, it's well-spoken. We like that. We want to see
what's going to take place. And Elijah said unto the prophets
of Baal, Choose you one bullet for yourselves, and dress it
first for your many, and call on the name of your gods, but
put no fire under it." The only way the altar could be, or the
bullet could be sacrificed, they accepted it and put on fire as
if the fire comes down from heaven. And they took the bullet which
was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of
Baal from morning until noon, saying, oh, Baal, hear us. But there was no voice. nor any
that answered. And they leaped upon the altar
which was made. Why didn't he answer? Because
he was a non-existent God. Perhaps when they started leaping
and dancing on the altar, they would get his attention, but
you can't get the attention of a non-existent God. Now picture
these men praying, leaping, screaming for their God to answer them. They're praying to a non-existent
God. Now look at Elijah's response to this. Verse 27, and it came
to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them. He made fun of them and
said, cry aloud. Maybe you need to cry louder
so he'll hear you. Cry aloud for he's a God, either
he's talking, maybe he's talking to somebody else. That's why
you need to cry aloud and get his attention. Or he's pursuing,
and that actually means maybe he's gone to the bathroom. Or
he's in a journey. He's on vacation. Or perventure,
he sleepeth and must be awaked. He is making fun of their false
god. And in reality, a false god deserves
to be made fun of, because it's trying to come in competition
with the living God, and it's non-existent. Elijah used biting
sarcasm. Now, I realize some people would
say, you shouldn't do that. Well, Elijah did. And this is
inspired by God, the Holy Spirit, what is taking place. And they
cried aloud. After Elijah said this, they
thought, man, fellows, we got to cry louder to get his attention.
And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manor
with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them.
And it came to pass when midday was passed, and they prophesied
unto the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, there
was neither voice, nor any answer, nor any that regarded." Why? Because their God was non-existent. Any God that is not the God of
the Bible, with all of the attributes that the Bible reveals concerning
Him, is a non-existent God. Verse 30, And Elijah said unto
the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near
unto him. And he repaired the altar of
the Lord that was broken down. Now this is very significant.
During this time of Baal worship, the altar of the Lord, where
the sacrifice was no longer central, it was no longer important, it
was broken down. Maybe they tore it down, maybe
it just fell in through disuse, but they didn't see the essential
need of the atonement Those sacrifices pointed to the atonement of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and there's nothing as important as the atonement
of Christ. He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. This is God's eternal purpose,
the atonement of Christ. God made the world for Christ
to come and die and put away the sins of the elect and make
a way for God to be just and justify the ungodly. That's God's
purpose. Now, when false religion is in
control, out the window. No one sees it's important, but
Elijah is going to bring them back here. And look what he says,
verse 31, And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number
of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of
the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be thy name." Now, he made
an altar, reared back up this altar, made of 12 stones, representing
the 12 sons of Jacob. You see, the atonement was for
Israel. It wasn't for the Hittites and
the Amalekites and so on. It was for Israel, his people. Now, what Israel represents is
the true Israel, God's elect, those the Father gave to Christ
before the foundation of the world that He came to save. He
said, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which you've given me. Now understand, the atonement
of Jesus Christ was for God's elect. EVERYBODY HE DIED FOR
MUST BE SAVED. THERE WILL NOT BE ANYBODY IN
HELL THAT JESUS CHRIST DIED FOR BECAUSE HE PUT AWAY THEIR SINS.
AND WE'RE GOING TO SEE JUST HOW MUCH HE DID THIS AS WE GO ON
READING. And with the stones, those 12
stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord represents
his attributes, the person behind the name. And he made a trench
about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of
seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in
pieces, laid him on the wood, and said, fill four barrels with
water, and poured on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. And
he said, do it the second time. And they did it the second time.
And he said, do it the third time. Did it the third time and
the water ran round about the altar and he filled the trench
with water. Now, why did he do this? Well, first, somebody says,
where'd the water come from if there wasn't any rain? It was
by the ocean. This was ocean water doused down four times. And what Elijah's doing is showing
this ignition of fire doesn't come from man. This is not trickery. The only way this can be caught
on fire is if fire comes down from heaven and that God answers
by fire. He made sure they were going
to see there's no trickery involved. Verse 36, here is his prayer. And it 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 Israel,
the covenant God, let it be known this day that thou art God in
Israel and that I am thy servant and I've done all these things
at thy word. The reason I prayed for it not to rain is because
you told me to pray. for it not to rain." Everything
I've done, I've done at Thy Word. Verse 37, hear me, O Lord, hear
me, that this people may know that Thou art the Lord God. and that thou has turned their
heart back again. Now in this 63 word prayer, he
says, I want them to know, and that means more than cognitive
knowledge. I want them to love that you
are the Lord God of Israel and that you're the ones, the one
that have turned their hearts back. Now look what happened,
verse 38. Now, all these people have heard this prayer of Elijah,
and suddenly, from heaven, a fire falls down. Verse 38, 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. Now, they were looking at this
bullock on this altar made of 12 stones, doused with water,
with a trench around it, with water in it. All of a sudden,
fire from heaven fell, and there was nothing left. The sacrifice
was consumed. The stones were consumed. The
water was licked up. The dust was gone. There was
nothing left. This represents God's acceptance
of the sacrifice. Now, believer, When Christ died
on Calvary's tree, if you're a believer, your sins are gone. There are none. You stand before
God without sin. Christ bore that sin and put
it away in His sacrifice, and you stand before God without
sin. This represents God's satisfaction
with the sacrifice. Now, the only thing that satisfies
me is seeing what God's satisfied with. God is satisfied with what
His Son did. Are you? I am. I'm satisfied
to stand before God based wholly on what Christ has done for me
without any reference to my works. That's the only thing I have
satisfaction in, what God has satisfaction in, His Son. Now, let me tell you about another
time that fire came down from heaven upon the sacrifice. It's
when the Lord Jesus Christ was hanging on Calvary's tree, bearing
the fire of God's wrath. But here, something different
happened. The sacrifice was not consumed
by the fire. but the sacrifice consumed the
fire. The Lord drank the dregs of God's
wrath completely dry and they're gone. The sacrifice consumed
the fire. Now that's the satisfaction of
the Lord Jesus Christ and everybody in him, everybody he represented. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. Now let's go on reading. Verse
39, and when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces. That's worship. And they said,
the Lord, he is the God. The Lord, He is the God. Baal's no God. The Lord, He is
God. They were convinced when they
saw the acceptance of the sacrifice. You know when you're gonna fall
on your face before God? When you find out what Christ
has done is all that's needed to bring you into heaven. You'll
fall on your face and you'll worship as well. And Elijah said
unto them, take the prophets of Baal, Let not one of them
escape. And they took them, and Elijah
brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. Now the fire of God fell, and
there's someone else that fell. All the prophets of Baal, all
false worship, let not one of them escape. If Christ is all,
all else is nothing. Put it to death. Let not one
of them escape. It's what the scripture calls,
purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Any hope other than Christ, put
it to death. It's not real. Don't let one
of them escape. Look to Christ only, always. Verse 41, this is when the rain
fell. And Elijah said unto Ahab, get
thee up, eat and drink, for is the sound of abundance of rain. The rain comes because of the
accepted sacrifice. God's grace will rain on all
who are thirsty for acceptance through Christ. Oh, may the Lord
give us the grace to see God's satisfaction with Christ. we're satisfied too and we rest
in Him. To receive a copy of the sermon
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