Would you turn back to First
Kings? Chapter 18. Look once again at verse 37. First Kings, Chapter 18. 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've entitled this message,
The Heart Turned Back Again. And it's my prayer that the Lord
will be pleased to cause this to happen to every one of us,
even this morning, that He would turn our hearts back again. Now, this people was Israel,
and they had been a people whose hearts were in the right direction
toward God, and they had turned away. How many times does that
happen in the history of Israel? They turn away. The Lord turns
them back and they turn away. Now, can a true believer, saved
by the grace of God, given a new heart and a new nature? Being born again of the Spirit
of God, can a true believer turn away from God? I want you to think about that.
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. Someone whom God has elected,
that Christ has died for, that God the Holy Spirit has given
new life to, they cannot fall eternally. They can't do it.
Christ said, I give unto my sheep eternal life, not temporary,
eternal life, and they shall never perish. It's impossible
for someone that God has saved to finally fall away. Now, if you take that away in
any degree, you take away the only hope I have, because the
only hope I have is that what Christ did is all I need to make
me fit for heaven. And that's the hope of a believer.
Yes, I believe in the eternal security of God's elect. But
yes, a believer can turn away from God. And we have so many
examples of this in the scripture. Jacob went 20 years without hearing
from the Lord. He turned away from him and went
20 years with no divine communication. What about David? After the sin
with Bathsheba and Uriah, He got himself into such a hardened
condition that there was no repentance until God, over a year later,
sent the prophet Nathan back toward him. What about Lot? The scripture says he pitched
his tent toward Sodom. There's a lot in that statement.
He pitched his tent towards Sodom. And you know what happened to
him as a result of that? He ended up living in Sodom and
all the things that came upon him because he had turned his
heart away from God. But there's a passage of scripture
I want you to look at me with. Turn to First Kings, Chapter
10. I mean, First Kings, Chapter
11, excuse me. But King Solomon loved many strange
women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites,
Ammonites, Edomites, Zidians, and Hittites of the nations concerning
which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, You shall
not go in unto them, neither shall they come in unto you,
for surely they will turn away your heart. after their gods. Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had 700 wives, princes,
and 300 concubines, and his wives turned away his heart. Now, this was the son of David. This was the man that God said,
I won't let my mercy depart from him. And he didn't. But in his
experience at this time, his heart was turned away. Let's
go on reading. For it came to pass when Solomon was old that
his wives turned away his heart after other gods. And his heart
was not perfect with the Lord, his God, as was the heart of
David, his father. And Solomon went after Ashtoreth,
the goddess of the Zidians, and after Milcom, the abomination
of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight
of the Lord. Now, this is the same man who
wrote the Book of Proverbs. This is the same man who wrote
the Song of Solomon. This was the wisest man to ever
live. Look what direction he goes.
And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord and went not fully
after the Lord. Oh, may God deliver me from that.
A part time half-hearted, going fully. I want to go fully, don't
you? Well, he didn't, as did David,
his father. Then did Solomon build an high
place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that's before
Jerusalem, and for Moloch, the abomination of the children of
Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which
burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods. And the Lord
was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the
Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice." So
here we see a believer, a real believer, whose heart was turned
from the Lord. And we have so many instances
of this in the Scriptures, of true believers, their hearts
being turned away. The man, after God's own heart,
said regarding himself, I've gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant. Seek me, I'm
lost, I've gone astray, it's all my fault. Seek me out and
bring me back in. Now, how can this be? How is it that a believer, someone
that God has actually done something for, someone who has the grace
of God in their heart, someone who has a new heart, a divine
nature, someone that Christ has died for, how is it that a real
believer can be turned aside like this? How is it that they
can go in the wrong direction? How can that be? It's really
very easy to answer. It's called the flesh. The flesh. fallen, sinful nature. The lust of the flesh, the pleasures
of sin, the lust of the eyes, being concerned about what other
people see rather than what God sees, the pride of life, the
lust for power, self-righteousness. There's such power in the flesh. What do you mean by power in
the flesh? Well, I can tell you how powerful the flesh is. This
is how powerful the flesh is. Now listen, every believer, do
you know that right now you're as holy as you're going to be
in heaven? I want you to listen to that
again. Right now, this very instant, you are as holy as you'll be
in heaven. Holiness does not know of degrees. Holiness does not increase. right
now, you're as holy as you'll be in heaven. And we sit there
and think, how can that be? That shows how powerful and strong
the flesh is. It's the flesh that makes us
think, how? Flesh, sinful flesh. You look at your own self and
see how easily you can turn away from God. be led astray and fall
before any temptation. You look how easy that is for
you. Yes, a believer can be turned
in the wrong direction. And the only hope for somebody
like this is that God would turn their hearts back again. You
know that, don't you? The only way you'll be turned is if the
Lord God Himself turns your heart back again. Turn with me to Jeremiah
chapter 31 for a moment. Jeremiah chapter 31. Verse 18. This is God speaking and He says,
I have surely heard Ephraim. Ephraim was the son of Joseph,
and quite often Israel is called by God Ephraim. This is how he
refers to his people, Ephraim. Read the book of Hosea here in
Jeremiah. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself. He felt miserable. He felt all
alone. He couldn't be happy in this
wrong direction he was in. I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning
himself thus thou has chastised me. And I was chastised. And nothing happened. I'm no
different. I'm like a bullet unaccustomed
to the yoke. Even in your chasing of me, it
hadn't done anything for my heart. I'm still the same. All your
chasing hadn't done me any good. I'm still as bad as ever is what
he's saying. Now look what he says next. Turn
thou me. And I shall be turned. For thou art the Lord my God. Turn me. I can't turn myself. Turn me. And I shall be turned
and do it because you're the Lord my God. Look what he says
in verse 19. Surely, surely. After that, I
was turned. I repented. Now, which came first? The turning or the repenting?
The turning came first, didn't it? After I was turned, after
the Lord turned me, 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. This all happened when the Lord
turned him." Now, what had happened to Israel? You think of Elijah
speaking to the children of Israel and saying he wanted them to
know in his prayer that the Lord had turned their hearts back
again. What had happened to the children
of Israel to where their hearts started going in the wrong direction?
We'll turn back to First Kings, Chapter 16. This is the time that Ahab was
in power, King Ahab. Let's begin in verse 30 of First
Kings, Chapter 16. 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 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
worshipped him. 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." Now, thus we have Ahab, the most wicked king to ever
live. And here's how the Lord responded
to him, verse 1 of chapter 17, and Elijah, 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, God directed
him to say this, but he says to Ahab, because of your wickedness,
there will not be any rain in this land until I say there is
rain. Now, can you imagine? I'm sure
Ahab thought, well, what can he do? And he didn't take it
that seriously. But a year later, There's no rain. Two years later,
a mighty famine has hit the land and there's no rain. Three years
later, still no rain. This place was a dust ball. They
couldn't grow food. There's no water for their animals.
No rain, according to Elijah's word. Now, can you imagine how
angry Ahab was with Elijah? If he say it would rain, it would
rain, and he's not doing it. And look at the misery that's
being created by him not praying for rain. Three years and six
months later, and you think of that three years and six months
without a drop of rain, three years and six months later, Elijah
appears, according to the word of the Lord. Look in chapter
18, verse 17. 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, in that you have forsaken
the commandments of the Lord and has followed Balaam. Now
therefore, send and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel.
And the prophets of Baal, 450, and the prophets of the grove,
400, which eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent unto all the children
of Israel and gathered the prophets together into Mount Carmel. And
Elijah came unto all the people and said, How long halt ye between
two opinions? Two sentiments. Two views. Two ideologies. How long halt
thee between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not
a word. Now remember, Israel had been
brought up to worship Jehovah exclusively. They knew that Baal
worship was forbidden. But Ahab, the king, had brought
in Baal worship, and there were things that were attractive about
Baal worship. Since it was the king's religion,
it could be politically advantageous. It could be economically advantageous. There were advantages to being
a bell worship, there was just much in bell worship that was
appealing to the flesh. Now, they were afraid to forsake
the worship of Jehovah. They've been brought up with
it. In a sense, they believed they were afraid to forsake that
worship. So they said, here's what we'll
do. We'll do both. We'll do both. We'll keep both
doors open. Elijah says you can't do that. Baal and Jehovah are mutually
exclusive. They cannot coexist. You can't do both. No man can
serve two masters. You can't do both. You can't
walk with Christ and the world. It cannot be. You either love
the one and hate the other or else serve the one and not hold
to the other. You can't do both. You can't have the world's religion
and the religion of grace. They can't coexist. Sovereign
grace is not going to walk with one's religion and free will.
It can't be done. You can't bring them together.
You can't halt between two opinions, not really. You really only believe
one. How long halt ye between two
opinions? And Elijah's appeal was simple. He just gave him the truth. If
the Lord be God, serve him. If Baal be God, serve him. He
just gave the truth. You can't halt between two opinions. You can't have both. You can't
do it. And notice what it says in verse
21. And the people answered him,
not a word. Now, one would think they would
have answered Elijah at this time, but they didn't. You see,
it takes more power than simply hearing the truth to turn the
heart back again. You can hear the truth all day
long and it's not going to turn your heart. They answered him,
not a word. They didn't respond at this time.
They heard and they remained silent. Not a word. Verse 22. 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
bullets, and let them choose one bullet for themselves, and
cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under.
And I will dress the other bullet, and lay it on the wood, and put
no fire under. And 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. He's talking about fire coming
down from heaven and consuming the sacrifice. The God that answers
by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and
said, it is well spoken. And Elijah said unto the prophets
of Baal, verse 25, choose you one bullet for yourselves and
dress it first. You go first for your many. And
call on the name of your gods, but no fire under it. 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. You see, a non-existent God can't
answer, can he? The God of man's religion is
a non-existent God. Can't answer. And they leaped
upon the altar which was made. I guess they had a charismatic
service trying to work things up, leaping around the altar,
jumping up in some kind of pagan ritualism. They leaped trying
to get something going. Verse 27, And it came to pass
at noon that Elijah mocked him. He made fun of him. He used such
biting sarcasm at this time. Look, Elijah mocked him and said,
cry aloud, for he's a god. Either he's talking or he is
pursuing. You know what that means? Perhaps
he's going to the bathroom. That's exactly what that means.
Now, somebody says, how could a true prophet use language like
that? Good sarcasm. Good sarcasm. Or he's in a journey. Or peradventure, he sleepeth
and must be awaked. Can you see the sarcasm he uses
with their God? Now, I know that the effeminate
religion of our day would disapprove of this. But this is Elijah,
the greatest of the prophets. Verse 28. 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 past, and they prophesied unto the time of the offering
of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither a voice, nor
any to answer, nor any that regarded, that people saw the reality of
Baal worship." Verse 30. And Elijah said unto all the
people, come near unto me. Now, remember, these are people
who have been halting between two opinions, between two sentiments. He says to these people, come
near unto me. And all the people came near
unto him. And the first thing he did was
he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. Through disuse, through neglect,
this altar that was used for the sacrifice, the supremacy
of the sacrifice in worship. The only way I can approach the
living God is through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
it's uppermost. It's not just a doctrine, I believe.
It's my life, the sacrifice upon the altar, the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. When they were halting between
two opinions, The altar was broken down through disuse. You see,
when someone is in this hardened state, they can't see the supremacy
of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. It just becomes
a doctrine that they either agree with or don't agree with rather
than the everything. His death is everything. It's
everything in my salvation. It's everything in my motivation,
his death, what he accomplished on Calvary Street. So the first
thing he did is he repairs the altar, which had been broken
down through disuse. You know, I think about. What
breaks something down? What breaks the house down? Being
empty and not used, you know, a car that is not driven, what
happens? I bought a car once in 1983,
Pontiac Parisian. I bought it 1987 and it only
had 11,000 miles on it. And I thought this is the best
deal. You know, I mean, four years old and it's only got 11,000
miles on it. Hadn't been driven any. Worst
car I ever had. I've spent more time cursing
myself for buying that thing. I put so much money in it. Finally
just got rid of it. When my heart is divided, I'm
not putting into use faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not. I've lost the supremacy of his
sacrifices, everything. Let's go on reading. 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, remember this sacrifice.
where the altar was built up, and it's so important for us
to understand this and remember this. It's for Israel only. The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's just for those who believe. It's just for God's
people. It's just for God's elect. It's
the definite, successful, particular redemption of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And here's the point. Here's the point. Now, understand
me. Listen real carefully. Everybody listen to this statement.
Jesus Christ did not die for everybody. He didn't shed his
blood for everybody. He just didn't do it. He shed
his blood for the elect. Now somebody says, why make an
issue of that? I'll tell you why I make an issue of that.
Because his blood is successful. If he could die for somebody
and they wind up in hell anyway, his blood didn't do anything.
This is the point. His successful, definite atonement
for his elect. That's my only hope. And it's
brought out once again after the altar is repaired. He tells
who that sacrifice was for. Now somebody Preaching that Christ
died for everybody and wants to save everybody and has made
salvation available for everybody is somebody who's halting between
two opinions, someone who's not preaching the gospel. He brings
out once again, this is for Israel, 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 according to the instructions of the book
of Leviticus. And he cut the bullock in pieces,
just the way the Bible said, and laid him on the wood. I can
see he's not in a hurry at this time. He's letting them know
he's doing everything according to the scriptures. And then he
says, 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 altar and filled the trench with
water. Now picture this in your mind. This thing is completely
doused down with water. Completely. Completely. Why did he do that? No trickery
involved here. No trickery involved. That's
why I did this. And then in verse 36, we had
this 63 word prayer that is one of the greatest prayers in all
the Word of God, 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, Jehovah Elohim. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, Lord Jehovah, self-existent, independent with no needs. I love thinking of him like that.
You know, he has no needs and he doesn't need you and he doesn't
need me. He's the independent one, dependent
upon None Elohim eternal. He cannot change what he was. He is what he is. He will be. And he's the Lord God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob. He's the Lord God of sinners.
He's the Lord God of sinners. You know, this is what I love
about the gospel. A lot of stuff I love about the gospel, but
maybe this is it's essentially and fundamentally a sinner's
religion. All other religions are for good
people. The gospel is for bad people. People like Abraham. People like Isaac. People like
Jacob. Let it be known this day. Revelation. Nobody's going to
know you unless you're pleased to make yourself known. We're totally dependent on Him
to reveal Himself to us. Now, Lord, reveal Yourself to
me. Let it be known. This was His
desire. Let it be known. Reveal Yourself. Let it be known this day that
Thou art God in Israel, that I'm Thy servant, and that I've
done all these things, including keeping the heavens from bringing
down rain. I've done this at Thy Word. I
want all to know. that you're God, and I'm your
servant, and I've done these things at thy word. Verse 37,
Hear me, O Lord, hear me. Note the passion in his voice.
Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know. Not simply have the right information,
but they may know and love. You know, this word Adam knew
his wife. That doesn't mean he just had
cognizant knowledge of her. It means he entered into an intimate
relationship with her. This word know means more than
just having proper information. That they may know and love that
thou art the Lord God and that thou hast turned their hearts
back again. Let them know That you are the
one who has done this now question. How can a heart be turned back
again? That's real easy to answer by
the Lord turning it back again. Is this your prayer? Lord, turn
my heart back again. Now look in 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, can you imagine that? Here
they are. They've heard those lines of
prayer and they still haven't made any response. They still
have answered not a word. I mean, they're stuck where they're
at. And all of a sudden, fire from
heaven comes down. and consumes the sacrifice. They
see, I guess they hear the hissing of the water being licked up
and the dust and stones, everything's gone. And all of a sudden after
that fire from heaven has fallen, what do they see? There's nothing
left. The sacrifice was completely consumed. And what did they see? God's
acceptance of the sacrifice. That's what they saw. God's acceptance
of the sacrifice. Did you know that merely hearing
the truth will not turn your heart back again? Remember how at first they didn't
answer. Now, what is it that turns the
heart to things? And this will turn your heart,
this will turn my heart. What turns the heart? Number
one, the Lord. The Lord. Now you know, if you're
a believer, you know the only way your wicked heart will be
turned is if the Lord turns it, don't you? You know that. Number
two, seeing the accepted sacrifice. You know, the law never turns
the heart. Your will never turns you around. Your resolve never turns you
around. But you know what turns you around?
Seeing God's complete acceptance of the sacrifice and how that
you are accepted in Him. The Lord said, this is My beloved
Son. He didn't say with whom I'm well
pleased. He said, in whom I'm well pleased. And all in Him are accepted. Now, when you see not just you
feel guilty and you feel like you need to be turned around,
you see, you'll just stay that way. I'll just stay that way.
But when you see God's acceptance of you. In the sacrifice, the
accepted sacrifice, that's when your heart will be turned when
the Lord turns you and what he uses to turn you is to see the
glory of his sacrifice completely accepted. 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, Jehovah, He is
the God. Now, the definite article the,
is very important here. Not Jehovah is a God. Or not Jehovah is a better God,
a better God than Baal. But Jehovah is the God, the only
God. The gospel is the gospel, not
a gospel, not a better gospel. Not a more enlightened view of
another one. It's the only gospel, the gospel
of God's grace. All this halting between two
opinions disappears when you see the Lord turn to you and
His acceptance of the sacrifice. The Lord, He is the God. The
Lord, He is the God. Verse 40, And Elijah said unto
them, Take the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape. Not a one. No allowances whatsoever. Don't let one of them escape. Spare no sin. Don't make allowance. Spare no error. Don't make allowance. Let not one of them escape. Not a one. And they took them, and Elijah
brought them down to the brook of Chisholm and slew them there. And that was a great slaughter,
wasn't it? A great slaughter. Let not one escape. Go back to verse 36, let's look
at this prayer in closing. Elijah. The prophet. 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, 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 has turned their
heart back again. The Lord answered that prayer. And it is my prayer and your
prayer. That he do that again this day. That our hearts would be turned
back again. Let's pray.