Last Sunday we collected an Easter Offering for World Evangelism. The idea behind it was that thousands of churches around the world collect an offering, twice a year, and the money is used to support the hundreds of missionaries around the world.
• And two people from our own congregation are making plans to leave their family and their home and travel to Spain in order to support a mission organization that reaches out primarily to Muslims.
• All this effort and we’re just one tiny speck in the Christian world.
• Collectively I can’t imagine all the time, energy and money that is used in the efforts to bring the Good News of Jesus around the world.
• And then there are all the efforts of evangelism in local churches. Churches like our own have spent hundreds of dollars promoting various efforts; one example we did was the Alpha Course – trying to let people know about Jesus.
And the questions we need to ask ourselves, as individual Christians, as a local church, as a denomination, and as the Church globally, is “why bother”. Why do we bother with all this effort? Is it really necessary? Does it matter if they hear the name of Jesus?
• I mean, it’s one thing for church to be a place to meet friends and have some spiritual nourishment, but what’s the deal with “missions” and “evangelism” and that sort of thing?
• Why not “live and let live”? Why aren’t we content with “You do your thing, I’ll do my thing”?
• Isn’t it all the same in the end? I mean, what makes YOUR faith system better than anyone else’s?
• Does it really matter? Aren’t we all going up the same mountain, but on different paths, but we’ll all get to the top together and when we do we’ll find people of all religions celebrating together?
I want to tell you about a mountain top experience this morning. I think it’s a real eye opener and it explains why we spend so much time and energy in missions, whether it’s world missions, or ministry in our own neighbourhood.
It all started with a drought. Ahab was the King of Israel and according to 1 kings 16:30, “Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before Him.” Verse 32 says Ahab “did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.”
That’s not exactly the reputation you want to have. It’s a far cry from “Good and faithful servant…”
• Nevertheless, God’s response was a drought, so He sent Agent Elijah to deliver the message.
• Elijah reported to Ahab that there would be no rain for three years, except at his command (1 Kings 17:1), and then he did what any sensible prophet would do, he ran off to hide from Ahab.
• I suppose it’s only fair. If the feet of him who brings good news is lovely, then the head of him who brings bad news could very well be in danger. So after delivering the message, Elijah skips town.
• Sometime during the third year the Lord told Elijah to go back to Ahab and tell him that the rain would be coming. So off went Agent Elijah, to Ahab, this despite the fact that Ahab’s less-than-lovely wife was busy killing every prophet of the Lord she could find.
• Elijah meets Ahab and after a few formalities they agree to a rendezvous atop Mount Carmel.
• It must have been quite a gathering because not only were Ahab and Elijah there, there were 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah; and all the curious people who were interested in seeing what was going on.
Poor Elijah seemed greatly outnumbered. 850 to 1. That’s quite the odds, especially when they’re against you!
They were going to have a contest. It was kind of like a grown up version of “my dad’s bigger than your dad”. There would be two sacrifices and the God who answered would be proven to be the true God.
• This is where the story gets really exciting. Let’s pick up the story in 1 Kings 18:21-40 [READ]
Wow. What a story. What a powerful lesson for us today; in an age when so much is relative, in an age when we tend to think we can make up our own reality; this lesson from history clearly shows us, that when you get to the top of the mountain, the path you took makes all the difference in the world.
Think about it. If the Lord God, the God of Israel, was in fact the same god that the prophets of Baal worshipped – just with a different name, then there wouldn’t have been a problem on mount Carmel.
But the difference between Yahweh (the name of the God Elijah worshipped) and Baal is not just a difference in name or terminology. The two are worlds apart. In fact, they are entire “worldviews” apart.
• We’re not talking about different paths up the same mountain; we’re talking about different mountains.
• Yes, there are similarities in religions. Just like you have two eyes, and a northern pike has two eyes. Look closely, [show photo] that doesn’t make the northern pike your father; it makes it your lunch.
• And to suggest that faith systems that are entire worldviews apart can go hand in hand is to put aside rational thinking and adopt wishful thinking, because the difference is not just in name or even in ritual, the difference is the entire worldview. At the core, they are completely contradictory to one another.
It might be a nice thought that all religions lead to the same God, but it simply isn’t true.
• Buddha or Mohammed will not take you to heaven; not if the Bible is true.
• Self-realization or self-actualization will not bring you to God.
• Yoga or Yogi will not bring you closer to God.
You might think that makes me narrow-minded. You might think that makes the scriptures narrow-minded, and you are absolutely right.
• The fact is, I am very narrow-minded. Take for example the fact that I have only one wife. There are lots of men and women that I care about, there are lots of wonderful, godly women in this world, but there is only one woman whom I have devoted my life and my love to. There is only one woman with whom I am one. I guess that makes me narrow-minded! Is that a problem? Not at all. It’s God’s design.
• There are some things in life that are very narrow. Jesus himself said "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
And indeed, only one person was on the right path on Mount Carmel.
• The world wants to give you many choices; pick and choose what you like from each religion, kind of like ordering a sandwich at the local Subway restaurant… “I’d like some of this and some of that…”
• We are so consumer orientated that we’ve even come to believe that God needs to be whatever we want him to be. Isn’t that nice!
• God doesn’t give you that choice at all. He certainly didn’t give it to the prophets of Baal.
Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me" (John 14:6, NASB). That looks very narrow to me.
• If these words of Jesus are true (and I believe they are), then there is NO OTHER WAY to the Father.
The apostle Peter echoed these words, "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4:12, KJV).
I have a set of keys here (show keys). One of these is for the front door of the my house.
• You could try all the keys you want, you won’t get in without using the right key.
• There is also only one key to get into heaven; and that is faith in Jesus Christ.
• It is only by faith in Jesus Christ that you will ever come to God.
• "For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Who is the God in your life today? Are you your own god? Do you create your own god from an assortment of gods? Or is there something in your life that has become like a god to you?
• The Lord God said, we are not to have any other gods before Him.
• Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is god, follow him.”. Jesus warned, “no one can serve two masters”. We can’t sit on the fence.
• The god we serve will make all the difference in our eternal destiny. It does matter.
• We can’t have two gods. If the Lord is God, we must follow him. There is no other way.
• May the Lord help us to have a single-minded focus on Lord, our God.
This message is available in both video and audio format at our church website.
