I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
I Kings 18.1-46
S: Change
C: Commitment
Th: Choose the Fire
Pr: BE ABSOLUTELY DEDICATED TO FOLLOWING GOD.
Type: Inductive
Challenge
I. Trust God [showdown]
II. Worship God alone [no syncretism]
III. Sincerity is overrated [false prophets]
IV. Acknowledge your high calling [Israel]
V. Confess the truth [Lord is God]
PA: How is the change to be observed?
• Plan to win
• Be absolutely dedicated to following God
Version: ESV
RMBC 13 April 08 AM
INTRODUCTION:
This message was well set up by the telling of the story of Elijah throughout the service, including a children’s story by the youth pastor.
ILL Devotion (H)
One day a young man was writing a letter to his girl friend who lived just a few miles away in a nearby town. Among other things, he was telling her how much he loved her and how wonderful he thought she was.
The more he wrote, the more poetic he became. Finally, he said that in order to be with her he would suffer the greatest difficulties, he would face the greatest dangers that anyone could imagine. In fact, to spend only one minute with her, he would climb the highest mountain in the world. He would swim across the widest river. He would enter the deepest forest and with his bare hands fight against the fiercest animals.
He finished the letter, signed his name, and then suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to mention something quite important. So he added:
P.S. I will be over to see you Wednesday night as long as it doesn’t rain.
Well, I am not so sure that this man was as dedicated to the relationship as he thought he was.
Today, we are continuing our series called “Choose the Fire” and we are coming to the familiar story of Elijah that you have been hearing about throughout the service.
Elijah brings a challenge before the people.
Who are they going to follow?
Will they follow God, or will they follow something else?
So, here are some lessons that he taught in this great challenge on Mt. Carmel.
OUR STUDY:
The first is…
1. TRUST GOD.
Last week, we learned that…
God is an able guide in all circumstances.
And it applies this week as well.
Three years prior, Elijah had went into hiding because he brought the pronouncement from God that there would be no rain until he said so.
The drought had been severe.
Now, the marked man, the “most wanted”, returns.
Ahab, the king, has been just waiting to get his hands on him.
Elijah, though, can trust God’s leading.
It may look dangerous, but this was the day to show himself once again.
Ahab may be blaming him, but this was going to be a day when God would be proved out.
The same can be true for you today.
You know that God is urging you forward on something, but you have been resisting.
Go ahead.
Take the step.
You can trust God.
He is an able guide.
Elijah was taking that step because Ahab had been a lousy king.
He had no backbone.
He kept listening to his evil wife, Jezebel, and as a result the nation was suffering.
So now…
Evil and injustice must be confronted (17-19).
There was going to be a showdown.
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, you troubler of Israel?” And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you have, and your father’s house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals. Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Elijah calls for a grand contest to prove that he was not the one that was troubling Israel.
It was Ahab.
It was Ahab and his gods – Baal and Asherah.
The lack of rain was their fault, not his.
So Elijah says, I will give you home advantage.
We will go to Mt. Carmel.
The very place that Baal resides.
The very place that Baal rides the thunderclouds, sends the lightning, and brings rain.
It is time to see if the Canaanite god of the sun, who claims to control the weather, has got what it takes.
We will see how your gods stack up to the competition.
This brings us to the second lesson…
2. WORSHIP GOD ALONE.
Ahab had failed to worship God alone, and so had the people.
They had allowed themselves to be sucked in to this kind of worship that committed themselves to everything and nothing at the same time.
So Elijah warns them that…
The fence is a dangerous place to sit (18:21).
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
Elijah sees where they are sitting – right in between.
They were caught.
They had hesitated.
They had been vacillating.
They had refused to be nailed down.
But Elijah said, “Not good enough!”
Their lack of conviction was a choice.
There would be no more neutral.
There would be no middle ground.
Do you find that happening to you as well?
How often are we on the fence?
Our faith is real on Sunday.
But the other days of the week, our faith is pushed to the background.
When the temptations of the world are before us, we end up giving in, instead of looking for or finding the strength to say “no.”
And it is our loss.
Whether we planned on it or not, we have adopted a syncretistic view of life.
We have a plurality of gods.
And our belief is based on convenience, not conviction.
The challenges of Elijah certainly applies to us…
It is time to give up our gods who promise everything and deliver nothing.
If you keep chasing after what does not satisfy, why do you keep chasing after it?
It makes no sense.
Yet, this is the deception we all fall into so often.
Sexuality, materialism, prestige, power, intellectualism, pleasure – all make promises, but every time, we come up empty.
The third lesson is…
3. SINCERITY IS OVERRATED.
How often have you heard, it does not matter what you believe as long as you are sincere?
That’s wrong.
And it is wrong every time.
Because…
The object of your faith is everything (27).
When the contest begins, the prophets of Baal are confident.
They have homefield advantage.
This is Baal’s place.
So they call on Baal and make a real spectacle of themselves.
They cause quite a commotion, with chants, incantations, dancing, and swaying.
But nothing happens.
And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
Elijah pulls out the sarcasm and mocks Baal.
And with good reason.
The object of their faith, Baal, is pathetic.
You see…
You can be sincerely wrong.
Sincerity is a nice trait.
But don’t base your whole life on it.
You can be a genuine person.
You can be an authentic person.
Those are good characteristics, but they don’t guarantee anything.
The prophets of Baal break out into pandemonium.
They are really going to work.
They are even cutting themselves to get Baal’s attention.
They were sincere.
But the object of their faith was unable to respond.
Our fourth lesson is…
4. ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR HIGH CALLING.
I think Elijah could easily have asked this following question…
“Can I have a witness?”
Israel was to get this right.
They were to be a witness.
They were to be a united front.
So when Elijah gathers the twelve stones, it was to remind them of that.
They were to be declaring the truth of God’s sovereignty, justice and lovingkindness.
This was a tremendously high calling, yet where were they?
We have that same responsibility.
We have a high calling.
We have the honorable task of testifying of the greatness of God, His grace and mercy found in Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit.
And when we are that witness…
We are connected to the winner (38).
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
What a scene this must have been!
The blinding flash…
The thunderous sound…
And in a moment, everything was consumed.
It was gone!
Which brings us to the final lesson…
5. CONFESS THE TRUTH.
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”
Contritely admit your failure.
The people fell to their knees.
They put their faces to the ground.
It was humbling.
They understood.
They had played with the wrong things for long enough.
It was time to admit they were failures.
They were disappointments.
They were sinners.
The same is true of us.
We goof up.
We choose the wrong gods all the time.
But God gives us opportunity to get it right.
He gives us the opportunity to experience His grace.
And then we get to…
Joyously declare God’s mercy.
When God wins, we win.
That is worth celebrating.
The other gods are worthless.
Only God is worth following.
What is your decision today?
CHALLENGE:
Our theme for this series is…
6. Choose the fire.
Last week, we spoke of following the pillar of cloud and fire.
The fire represented following God, recognizing that He is an able guide in all circumstances.
Today, the fire represents decision.
The fire represents taking a side.
The fire represents siding with God.
You see, when we are on the Lord’s side, it is all we need.
He is enough.
He is always enough.
Dallas Willard issues this stark warning to us in The Divine Conspiracy:
ILL Commitment (S)
"The Lord is my Shepherd" is written on many more tombstones than lives.
Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy
You see, we need to admit that we have a lot of good intentions when it comes to following Jesus, but our practice too often comes up short.
We are just too good at letting life happen to us instead of being deliberate in how we live.
This is why our theme for the year is…
7. Plan to win.
We need to ask ourselves hard questions.
Is it on our hearts to be effective for Christ?
Or is it more on our hearts to be comfortable and keeping our own personal status quo?
Do you know what we need to learn?
We need to learn to say no to self and yes to Jesus every time.
I can tell you that, our leadership – pastors and deacons – that our heart beats for the health of this church.
The one thing that is constantly on our heart is to increase our effectiveness.
We want to do church with an eye to win more people for Jesus.
That is our primary goal.
That is the purpose God has given each one of us.
ILL Commitment (S)
In 1904 William Borden graduated from a Chicago high school. As heir to the Borden Dairy estate, he was already a millionaire. For his high school graduation present, his parents gave him a trip around the world. As the young man traveled through Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, he felt a growing burden for the world’s hurting people. Finally, Borden wrote home to say, "I’m going to give my life to prepare for the mission field." At the same time, he wrote two words in the back of his Bible: "No reserves."
Indeed, Borden held nothing back. During his college years at Yale University, he became a pillar in the Christian community. One entry in his personal journal that defined the source of his spiritual strength simply said: "Say no to self and yes to Jesus every time."
During his first semester at Yale, Borden started a small prayer group that would transform campus life. This little group gave birth to a movement that spread across the campus. By the end of his first year, 150 freshmen were meeting for weekly Bible study and prayer. By the time Bill Borden was a senior, 1,000 of Yale’s 1,300 students were meeting in such groups.
Borden also strategized with his fellow Christians to make sure every student on campus heard the gospel, and he was often seen ministering to the downtrodden in the streets of New Haven. But his real passion was missions. Once he narrowed his missionary call to the Kansu people in China, Borden never wavered.
Upon graduation from Yale, Borden wrote two more words in the back of his Bible: "No retreats." In keeping with that commitment, Borden turned down several high-paying job offers, enrolling in seminary instead. After graduating, he immediately went to Egypt to learn Arabic because of his intent to work with Muslims in China. While in Egypt, he contracted spinal meningitis. Within a month, 25-year-old William Borden was dead.
Prior to his death, Borden had written two more words in his Bible. Underneath the words "No reserves" and "No retreats," he had written: "No regrets."
Bill White, Paramount, California; sources:
Daily Bread (12-31-1988);
The Yale Standard (Fall 1970);
Mrs. Howard Taylor, Borden of Yale (Bethany House, 1988)
Do you know what we have lost?
We have lost the concept of sacrificing anything for the cause of Christ.
When we lose that, we get concerned about all the wrong things.
We get overly concerned about where we place the drum set.
We get overly concerned about whether someone on stage is properly dressed.
We get overly concerned about what kind of coffee we serve.
We get overly concerned about the color of the choir robes or whether there should be robes at all.
And we end up spending a lot of time on controversies that do not involve our mission.
They end up having very little to do with following Jesus and much to do with what we like and prefer.
But we need to change our minds on this.
We need to allow God to change our minds.
You see, all these things will go away if we will…
8. BE ABSOLUTELY DEDICATED TO FOLLOWING GOD.
Forgive me for being Elijah-like today.
He had to challenge people to get them off the fence, and I am asking the same today.
This is choosing the fire.
It is recognizing that He is the Lord.
It is recognizing that I cannot sit on the fence.
I must choose to follow.
I must pledge my allegiance Him.
And I must be dedicated to allowing His priorities to be the priorities for my life.
After the prayer, If I Stand by Rich Mullins was sung.
For Further Study: Genesis 19.24; Leviticus 9.22-10.3;
Numbers 11.1-3, 31.21-24; Judges 6.21; II Kings 1.9-10; II Chronicles 7.12-15; Matthew 6.24; Luke 9.51-56; II Corinthians 12.9-10; Hebrews 12.29
BENEDICTION:
Do you need to stand today?
Do you need to get off the fence?
Is today the day God is calling you to be fully dedicated to following Him?
Then take a stand, right now.
Stand up for Jesus.
Go ahead, right now.
Stand up for following Him.
Right now.
Say no to self and yes to Jesus.
Right where you are, stand up!
No reserves.
No retreats.
No regrets.
Make a stand for Jesus.
If you are willing to sacrifice anything the Lord calls on you to sacrifice so that people will come to Christ, take a stand.
Right now.
Prayer
All stand…
I will be returning to the area here in front after the postlude has concluded and will be available to pray with you if you so desire.
Just because
Men’s retreat
Now may the God of peace equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
RESOURCES:
Sermons
Decker, Paul Showdown
____ Make a Decision
Other
Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament. Colorado Springs: Cook Communications Ministries, 2000.
Dictionary of Biblical Imagery. ed. Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit and Tremper Longman III. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998.
Wiersbe, Warren. The Bible Exposition Commentary: Old Testament. Colorado Springs: Cook Communications Ministries, 2004.
