Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Neither. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 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 Nibert. I'd like to read Elijah's prayer
on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings chapter 18, beginning in verse 36. This is one of the greatest prayers
in the Bible. Verse 36, 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 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 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." Now, he is praying
for Israel, God's people. This people had been a people
whose heart had been turned in the right direction toward God
and then they had turned away from God. Now we have so many
examples of this in the scriptures where men turned away from the
Lord. Now this people was God's people
and they'd all turned in a wrong direction. Question, can a true
believer genuine, not counterfeit. Someone who has been given a
new nature. Someone who has been given a
new heart. Can a true believer turn away
from God? Before I answer that, let me
say that I do believe in the eternal security of God's elect. The Lord said, My sheep shall
never perish. My Father, which gave them Me,
is greater than all, and no man can pluck them out of My Father's
hand. I believe in the eternal security
of God's elect. No true believer can finally
fall away because they're preserved by grace. I believe I repeat,
in the eternal security of God's elect. Now, to answer that question,
can a true believer, saved by grace, given a new nature, can
they turn away from God? Absolutely. We have so many examples
of this in the Scripture. What about Jacob? He went 20
years without hearing from the Lord. No communication from the
Lord, and look at the direction he went in. What about David? Uriah, murdering Uriah and committing
adultery with Bathsheba. He went a year in hard-heartedness
and not repenting. What about Solomon? The Scripture
says his heart was turned away from the Lord. He loved many
strange women. And as far as, if you didn't know, if God didn't
tell you he was a believer, you'd think he couldn't have been a
believer the way he died. What about Lot? The Scripture
says he pitched his tent toward Sodom. And he ended up being
in Sodom. And when the Lord told him to
get out of Sodom, the scripture says he lingered and the angels
had to yank him out. Throughout the history of Israel,
they were continually turning away from God. Yes, a true believer
can in fact turn away from the Lord. David himself, the man
after God's own heart, said, I've gone astray. like a lost
sheep, seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy word." Now,
how can this be? How can a true believer, someone
who has the grace of God in their heart, someone who has Christ
living in them, someone who has a new nature, how can a true
believer turn away from God? That answer actually is quite
easy. It's called the flesh. The sinful human nature that
every believer still possesses. The lust of the flesh. The lust
of the eye. The pride of life. Pleasure. Popularity. Power. The appeal of these things can
turn the heart of a man away. The flesh is very powerful. Let me tell you how powerful.
If you're a believer, if God's done something for you, if he
saved you by his grace, you are holy. You have a holy nature
that cannot sin. That's what I John chapter 3
says. You cannot become more holy than you are right now. You will be no more holy in heaven.
than you are right now. And you say, man, how could that
be? I sure don't feel that way. Well, that's because of the flesh. You can't see that. That shows
how powerful the flesh is. Because the flesh makes you see
that all that you are is sin. You can't even see that holy
nature. Now, you're aware of it. You
believe on Christ. You look to Him. But oh, how
powerful the flesh is. Look, at your own self and see
how easily you can be led astray from God. Look how easily you
can fall before temptation. Now the only hope for someone
who has turned away from God through the weakness of the flesh
is that God would turn their heart back again. And that's what he prays, that
their heart would be turned back I'd like to read you a passage
of scripture in Jeremiah chapter 31 verse 18. I have surely heard
Ephraim. This is God speaking. God's people
are called Ephraim. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus, thou hast chastised me and I was chastised as a bullock
unaccustomed to the yoke. You've chastened me and I'm still
the same. Nothing has changed. I'm as bad
as ever, like a young bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Then
look what he says, turn thou me. Ephraim says to God, Turn
thou me, and I shall be turned. I can't turn myself. I won't
turn unless you turn me, and I'm asking you to turn me. Turn thou me, and I shall be
turned. For thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned,
I repented. What came first? The repenting
or the being turned? He says, After I was turned,
I repented, and after that I was instructed. I smote upon my thigh,
I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach
of my youth. After I was turned, I repented. So, Lord, turn me, and I will
be turned. Now, what or how had Israel been
turned in the wrong direction and turned away from God. Now
at this time in Israel's history a man by the name of Ahab was
in power. We read in 1 Kings chapter 16
beginning in verse 30. And Ahab the son of Omri did
evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.
And it came to pass, as if it had been a lifetime for him to
walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebuchadnezzar, that
he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of
the Ziodeans, and went and served Baal and worshipped him. And
he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he
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." what a wicked man
this man was who was in power, and he had established Baal worship. Now at this time Elijah was raised
up, Elijah the prophet, and we read in 1 Kings 17 verse 1, And
Elisha the Tishbite, who was of 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. Now he tells Ahab, because of
your wickedness, the rain is going to be withheld. There's
going to be a mighty famine in the land, and it's not going
to rain until I say it's going to rain. So the famine begins. You can
read about how the Lord preserved Elijah for three and a half years
during the famine. And Ahab is searching for him
at this time. He's becoming angry because he
remembers Elijah said, it's not going to rain till I say it's
going to rain. So Ahab is mad. And we read in
verse Kings 18 verse 17 when Elijah appears before Ahab and
it came to pass when Ahab saw Elijah that Ahab said unto him,
Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled
Israel, but thou and thy father's house, and that you forsaken
the commandments of the Lord, and followed after Balaam. Now
he addresses the children of Israel after this. We read in
verse 21, and Elijah came unto all the people. He said what
he's going to say to Ahab. Now he speaks to the children
of Israel. And Elijah came unto all the people and said, How
long halt ye between two opinions, two sentiments, two views? How long do you halt? How long
do you straddle the fence? How long halt ye between two
opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him."
Now, what had taken place? Baal was a false god, a false
religion, and Ahab had introduced Baal worship in Israel. Since
it was the king's religion in Israel, it could be politically,
socially, and economically advantageous to at least tolerate Baal worship. Now they had been raised up worshiping
Jehovah only, but now Baal is in Israel and they see where
it could be to their advantage to be tolerant of Baal worship,
since the man in power was worshiping Baal. And there was something
very appealing to the flesh in Baal worship. Sexual sin was
involved. Now the people were afraid to
forsake Jehovah and his worship altogether. So they said, here's
what we'll do. We'll do both. We'll tolerate
Baal, but we'll worship Jehovah. And He says to them, you can't
do that. You can't follow Baal and you
can't worship Jehovah. How long do you halt between
two opinions? And His only appeal is truth.
If the Lord be God, if Jehovah be God, follow Him. If Baal be
God, follow Him. But don't halt between two opinions. Now, you can't halt between two
opinions. Baal and Jehovah are mutually
exclusive. They cannot coexist. Free grace
and free will cannot agree. You can't halt between two opinions. God is either God, absolutely
sovereign in control of everything, or He's controlled, and man is
in control. It's either God's will being
done, or it's man's willing being done, but you can't mix the two.
Men are either dead in sins, unable to save themselves or
to do anything toward their salvation, or men have the ability to save
themselves. or at least do something in their
salvation. Now, one or the other is true,
but you can't mix the two. They can't both be true. Salvation
either comes because of man's choice or because of God's choice. But it can't be both. It's one
or the other. Either God elected a people or He didn't, but you
can't believe both. Salvation either comes because
Christ died or because of something you do. accomplish salvation,
or there's something you've got to do to make it work. But it
can't be both. God's grace is either irresistible
and invincible, or it can be resisted. But you can't mix the
two. God's people either persevere
all the way following Christ, or they can fall away. One of
the two is true, but both of them aren't true. How long Halt
ye between two opinions. You can't serve two masters.
You cannot serve the Lord and the world. And his appeal was
truth. But I think this is interesting.
After he makes this statement, the people answered him, not
a word. No response. One would think
that they would answer him at this time, but they didn't. You
see, it takes more than the power of simply hearing the truth to
be turned. It takes the power of God to
turn your heart. So let's go on reading. Verse
22. Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I, only remain
a prophet of the Lord, but the 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 you call on the name of your
gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God
that answereth by fire. And he was talking about fire
coming down from heaven and consuming the sacrifice. Now, he said,
let the prophets of Baal put their bullet down. I'll put mine
down. And the God that answers by fire,
fire coming down from heaven and consuming the sacrifice,
let him be God. And all the people answered and
said, it's well spoken. We'll wait and see what happens.
And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose ye one bullock
for yourselves, and dress it first for your many, and call
on the name of your gods, but put no fire under it. Remember,
the fire had to come down from heaven. And they took the bullock
which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the
name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any
that answered." You see, Baal is non-existent. The God of popular
Christianity is non-existent. He can't hear. He can't see. He sure doesn't answer prayer
because he can't. He's not. And they leaped upon
the altar which was made in pagan ritual trying to stir something
up like a lot of religious services, leaping around trying to stir
something up, trying to get somebody's attention. And it came to pass,
verse 27, at noon, that Elijah mocked them. He made fun of them. Should you make fun of other
people's religion? Well, Elijah did. I know the effeminate religion
of his day would frown upon that, but that's what Elijah did. He
used some scalding sarcasm toward these people. He mocked them
and said, cry aloud for he's a god. Either he's talking, I
guess he can't hear you while he's talking, Or He is pursuing? That means He's gone to the bathroom.
Has your God gone to the bathroom so He can't hear you? Or is He
on a journey? Or peradventure, He sleepeth
and must be awaked. Cry aloud to Him. And they cried
aloud, and cut themselves with their manner, with knives and
lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them, and came to pass,
when midday was past, that they prophesied unto the time of the
offering of the evening sacrifice. And there was neither voice,
nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. No answer. And Elijah said unto all the
people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near
unto him, and the first thing he did, he repaired the altar
of the Lord that was broken down. It was broken down through disuse.
They had had shrines to bail, and the altar of the Lord had
been forgotten. Now what is the altar of the
Lord for? It was for sacrifice. You see, when the people's heart
was turned in a wrong direction, The supremacy, the glory of the
sacrifice was no longer before their eyes. It had become unused. And the altar was broken down.
They didn't see the power of the blood of Christ, the power
of the sacrifice. It didn't move them. They didn't
find confidence before God through the blood of Christ. This didn't
motivate them to give themselves totally to Him through misuse.
It had been broken down. And when the Lord begins to turn
somebody's heart again, the altar is restored. He built back the
altar according to the Old Testament scripture. 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. Notice, this altar is not for
all the world. It's for Israel. The sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ is not for all men, with that exception.
It's for the elect. It's for those who believe. Now,
somebody says, why do you always make a point of that? Because
the Bible does. My only hope is that Christ's
death is successful. If you tell me that He died for
everybody and some of those people He died for might end up in hell
anyway, you've taken away the only hope I have. Oh, He brings
out the successful, effectual redemption of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, verse 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 measures of seed.
And he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces
according to the way the law of the Leviticus said to do it.
And he laid him on the wood and said, fill four barrels with
water and pour it 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. And they did it the third
time. And the water round about the ran round about the altar
and he filled the trench also with water. Now, Elijah completely
doused his sacrifice to leave no room for trickery. Now, there
the people are looking at the sacrifice, doused with water,
submerged. You couldn't light a fire under
it because water was completely surrounding it. 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, Lord Jehovah, the self-existent
one, independent, having no needs. Jehovah God, Elohim, eternal,
immutable, the one who cannot change. What you were, you are. What you are, you always will
be. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, Israel. Who are they? Sinners. Let me
tell you the difference between the gospel and all other religions. The gospel is for sinners. All other religions are for good
people. The gospel is for bad people.
The Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. He says, let it be
known. It won't be known unless you
let it be known. We're totally shut up to revelation.
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. The reason I have not prayed
for rain to come down and a famine in the land is because I am doing
what you told me to do. I have done all these things
at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that
this people may know, this people Israel who have turned in this
wrong direction. I want them to know and to love. that thou art the Lord God, and
that thou hast turned their hearts again." Now, after this prayer,
as the people were watching and looking at that sacrifice doused
with water, fire came down from heaven. 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, what did the people see?
They saw fire fall down from heaven and then they saw nothing. The sacrifice was completely
consumed. The water was licked up. It evaporated
away, the dust was gone, the stones, the rocks that the altar
was laid on was gone. There was nothing there that
demonstrated that God had accepted the sacrifice. 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. Now, did you know that merely
hearing the truth will not turn the heart back again? Remember
how at first they answered not a word? What was it that turned
their heart? First, the Lord turned their
heart. My heart won't be turned. Your
heart won't be turned unless the Lord Himself turns it. He turned the heart. And how
did He turn the heart? By them seeing His acceptance
of the sacrifice. You see, the law never works. Threatening somebody never works. That won't turn your heart again.
Free will won't turn your heart again. But here's what will turn
your heart again. When the Lord turns it and you
see the sufficiency of His sacrifice. that all you need for God to
be well pleased with you and see no sin in you and accept
you is the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. God accepted what
He did. And when they saw that, they
fell on their faces. True worship is going on now.
And they said, The Lord, He is the God. Not a God among many,
the only God. He is the God. When you see the
acceptance of the sacrifice, you see the gospel is the gospel. There is no other gospel but
the gospel of God's grace. Verse 40, 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 Chisholm,
and slew them there. Now, when your heart is turned,
you won't let one escape. Let not one sin escape. Let not
one error escape. Don't let one of them escape.
And that's what happens when the heart is turned. May the Lord turn our hearts
by a work of his irresistible, invincible grace, and by a sight
of the sufficiency and the supremacy and the glory of the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we have this message on
DVD and CD. If you call the church, write
an email. We'll send you a copy. This is Todd Nyberg, praying
that God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's
our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at toddsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
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