Hard Decisions
by Pastor James May
In the book of I Kings we find one of the most familiar incidents of the Bible concerning Ahab, the worst king that Israel ever had, and the Elijah, the prophet of God. Ahab had led Israel into absolute idolatry and the worship of Baal. But God had called Elijah, and appointed him as God’s messenger to bring Israel back to the worship of the one True God.
This has all the makings of a showdown that was sure to come. That showdown happened at a place called Mt. Carmel. Let us look at this incident again this morning to see what the Lord will have to say to us.
Idolatry – this has been Israel’s greatest problem from the moment that it became a nation. But Israel never made a choice, on the spur of the moment, to worship any of the idols that came into their land. They simply allowed the idols to hang around long enough until, little by little, subtly, and in an imperceptible manner, the idols became the greatest factor of their lives. The idols went from something that was just tolerated to something that was venerated.
That’s the way that idols still enter into the lives of men and women today. None of us suddenly wake up one morning and say, “today I am going to start worshipping an idol”. And yet how often do I see those who have allowed idols to hang around long enough until now those idols are the very center of their lives.
I don’t think that anyone of you would consider yourself as an idol worshipper as you sit in the church this morning, but are we idol worshippers? If we closely examine our lives, where do our loyalties stand, to what are we really committed and before what, or whom, do we bow our will and give our allegiance?
Perhaps there are some of you this morning who are already thinking to yourself, “Oh well, here we go again. This is just another sermon on being committed and dedicated to God and to His service.” Do you know what? YOU ARE RIGHT!
In many ways that’s what I am talking about this morning, but remember this, how many times did God bring a prophet like Elijah, Elisha, Ezra, Isaiah or Jeremiah before Israel to call them to forsake their idols? How many times did Israel hear the warnings? How many times did God try to reach out to them to bring them back where they should be? And how many times did Israel turn a deaf ear, and then what did God always have to do to get their attention?
Hundreds of times, Israel fell into idolatry because it’s easier to “go with the flow” of the world and fall into idolatry, than it is to “fight against the tide” and stay faithful to the God of Heaven. If you read your Bible you will find that God sent literally hundreds of prophetic messages to Israel calling them to turn their hearts back to God, and yet Israel would not heed the call. So every time they failed to listen and repent, God had to allow them to fall into captivity and become slaves to those idols until finally Israel would get enough and turn back to Him.
I can still see that same pattern working every day in the lives of the people of God who are still running from the call of God in their lives.
It’s not easy turning from idols! Turning back to God means making some really hard decisions! They are especially hard if we are still in love with the things of the world.
Finally, there came a day in Israel when there was a showdown between the idols of their heart and the God of Israel! It was high drama, even more than the “Gunfight at the OK Corral”, or “the Normandy Invasion on D-Day”, or the “Shock and Awe of the war in Iraq.” The prophets of Baal, 450 in number, were arrayed for battle against one prophet of the True God, Elijah. The odds in the eyes of man were staggering. How could one man stand alone against 450? But, in the eyes of God, this was a purely one-sided battle and the idolatrous prophets and their false gods didn’t stand a chance.
I think it’s important for us to notice here that God is still God. It doesn’t matter how many things become idols in our lives, or how much the world pulls on us to serve the things that bring pleasure to the flesh, God is stronger than all of those things and if we will decide to turn back to Him, all of those things that we think are so important will fall by the wayside.
Which perspective do we live by this morning? Are we looking at the world, seeing all the things that the world has to offer, and then trying to see past them to see if God is still around? Or are we looking at Jesus and letting all the things of the world to take a back seat? I can’t help but believe that if Jesus, and serving Him, is the most important thing in your life, then everything else just won’t matter very much. Our perspective will determine who and what we serve!
The showdown began –
1 Kings 18:22-29, "Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty 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: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on 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, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded."
Those things that have a way of becoming idols in our lives have no power that we don’t give to them. They can’t control us if we don’t let them. They can’t fulfill our deepest desires, no matter how much we pretend that they do. And, they can’t answer our cry for deliverance, or healing or salvation. We give them the power that they have to control us. We give them the priority that they do not earn.
The prophets of Baal screamed as loud as they could, cried as many tears as they could, jumped up and down, cut themselves and did everything they could to get Baal to answer but their god was no god at all, only an object of their own making. He didn’t sleep; he was dead. He wasn’t busy; he was dead. He wasn’t talking to another gods; he couldn’t talk and there was no one to talk to.
Those who truly serve the Lord Jesus Christ and who are fully committed to him will look upon the things of this world and realize them for what they are. They are gifts of God to be used and enjoyed but never served or worshipped, and they are never to take the place of God in their lives.
Those things that we often look to for answers have no power to answer. We look to our jobs for answers and the next thing you know there is no job. We look to sports for answers and we are never satisfied with them. There is always one more game to play, one more trophy to win, and yet, when we have one them, the joy is fleeting and then we are right back into the trap of winning the next one. All of idolatry is just a big vicious circle. The desire for pleasure and for more of what they offer just keeps us running in a never ending circle, consuming our energy, our time and our very lives but leaving us with nothing of any real value in the end. But we keep chasing them anyway because that’s how idolatry works.
Illustration:
Hideyoshi, a Japanese warlord who ruled over Japan in the late 1500s, commissioned a colossal statue of Buddha for a shrine in Kyoto. It took 50,000 men five years to build, but the work had scarcely been completed when the earthquake of 1596 brought the roof of the shrine crashing down and wrecked the statue. In a rage Hideyoshi shot an arrow at the fallen colossus. "I put you here at great expense," he shouted, "and you can’t even look after your own temple."
Has your idol been able to answer your need? Do you feel more loved because you hang out with your worldly friends, or do they forsake you the moment you get into trouble? Do you feel more satisfied when you have partaken of the drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, partying, sports events, or do you walk away, or wake up the next morning still longing for more. You see, they have no power to satisfy – and yet we bow before those idols every time.
Let me give you an example of what I mean.
Every Sunday, during this time of year there is a football game somewhere. There are many other entertainment and activities that we could mention but let’s just talk about football for a minute. Right now, there are multitudes of Christians who have skipped out on church, failed to bow their knees in prayer, and have not opened the Bible to read God’s Word in many days, or perhaps months. But weeks ago they planned their schedule to prepare for the football game of the week. They didn’t pay their tithes or give in the offerings, but they spent hundreds of dollars to make sure that their ticket was reserved. They planned all of the food for the tail gate party. They mapped out their course for the day. What time to get up; what time to be at the stadium; what time to drop the baby off at the baby sitter; how much time it would take to get home; and how they could best enjoy the game. Make sure to bring your stadium seat, your umbrella, your money for snack food and drinks, and make sure the car is filled with gas because the traffic will be slow.
Now isn’t that at least a semblance of what goes on?
Now let’s take a look at that same Christian in their walk with the Lord.
We don’t have time to go to church, even when there is no ball game, because there is just too much else to do. There’s mowing the lawn, keeping the house clean, running anywhere and everywhere we can think of, cooking meals and taxi driving the family everywhere. There’s the job, the home, the family, and don’t forget that there’s another vacation, or another game of the week that we have to get ready for. I don’t have time for church on Sunday night. I can’t come in the middle of the week. And on Sunday morning I’m just worn out from all the going. Jesus understands doesn’t He?
Yes, Jesus understands. He understands that your ball game is more important than He is. He understands that your vacation is more important than He is. He understands that your lawn, your job, your family, your pleasure, your fun and everything else is more important than He is. He understands that you are worshipping everything but Him! And he understands that you aren’t really a Christian at all in your heart, only in your profession! He understands that you are an idolater! You may not understand that, but Jesus does!
Are sports wrong, NO! Are vacations wrong, NO! None of these things are wrong within themselves, but when we give them the power to control our lives, when we give them the power to be the number one priority in life and when they are given the power to take the place of serving the Lord, then they become a false god, an idol if you will, and then we face the judgment of God just as surely as Israel did.
But Pastor, it’s hard living for Jesus. If I can’t enjoy life why live it? It’s not a question of enjoying life, it’s a decision to enjoy life in the right fashion and still prepare for the much longer time of eternity that will come later. Besides, I want you to keep this in mind:
It’s not always easy living for the Lord, but it always easier than living for the devil.
Living for Jesus will bring you inward peace while the world will only leave you empty and searching for more. You can get so caught up in chasing the pleasure that you don’t realize it isn’t as fun as it seems any more.
Living for Jesus will bring you joy; not the joy that the world offers where you can be excited and happy one minute and on the bottom of the pile in the next moment; but a joy that will last no matter what your circumstances are.
Living for Jesus will give you victory over sin, victory over self, victory over habits, victory over death and hell. Nothing in the world, not one idol of our own making, can give us victory over anything. We become slaves to them, pure and simple.
The drug addict can’t gain victory through drugs. The sports addict can’t gain victory over self through sports. The TV addict can’t find deliverance through the TV, not even by watching preachers on TV. The alcoholic won’t find peace for long in his alcohol. The smoker won’t find lasting peace in the smoke that fills his lungs with poison. All of those things only have power to destroy, not to deliver.
The only real deliverance is in serving Jesus!
The only real life in is Jesus!
The only lasting joy is in Jesus!
The only lasting peace is in the Prince of Peace!
The only real life is in the Give of Life, Jesus!
The only real victory over sin, death, hell and the grave, and the only source of eternal life, and the joys of Heaven are in Jesus!
The prophets of Baal did all they could do to give their idols the power to answer but those dead gods couldn’t do a thing for them.
Now it was time for the True God to step up to the plate!
1 Kings 18:30-39, "And Elijah said unto all 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. 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: 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, and 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 ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. 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 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 hast turned their heart back again. 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. 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."
Not only does God show up but Elijah gives us the full pattern for turning from idols and coming back to God.
1)He called the people to come to him, and to God!
I am calling to you this morning. If you have been caught up in the things of this world and they are becoming, or have already become an idol to you, now is the time to come back to God before He has to send judgment. He want so send the fire to bless you and consume your life for him, not to burn you forever in judgment.
2)Elijah built an altar of 12 stones, representing the 12 tribes of Israel and also to let us know that the altar is where the answer is found.
The number 12 is a number that represents fullness in the Bible. That means that all of the fullness of repentance, of forgiveness and of salvation and deliverance, is found at the altar. You can build your altar wherever you want to but I believe that God is calling His people to fall at the altar. Elijah built that altar where everyone could see to know that God would come and bring the answer. God wants your altar to be visible too. Salvation and deliverance isn’t always something that God wants to bring in the privacy of your prayer closet. Sometimes He wants us to make a profession and confession in the presence of everyone by coming to the altar in the church.
3)Elijah commanded for a lot of water to be poured on the altar, the sacrifice and to fill the trenches and wet the ground all around.
It doesn’t take much to realize that this is representative of the “washing of the water by the Word of God” that must take place in our lives. The Blood of Jesus will wash our sin away but it is that steady, constant flowing of the Word of God through us that sanctifies us, reminding us of the dirt that is upon us and in us, and teaches us how to get rid of it through repentance.
4)The fire of God fell and consumed everything. It burned the altar, the sacrifice, the water, the very dust of the ground.
Deuteronomy 4:23-24, "Take heed unto yourselves, lest ye forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make you a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, which the LORD thy God hath forbidden thee. For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God."
God hates idolatry. God hates sin. God hates disobedience. But God loves you and He wants to burn away everything from you that is unclean, impure and idolatrous.
The fire of God, through the anointing power of the Holy Ghost will burn away your desire for the things of the world. His fire will burn away your cravings for those old habits. His fire will burn your life as a sacrifice to His service. His fire will burn, and never quit burning at your altar of prayer. His fire will burn up the dirt of the world that hangs on to you. And when God’s fire burns, your whole life will change. That’s what real repentance is all about – changing – completely, fully and wholly to a man or woman that is sold out to God!
We must come to God and cry out like Israel did at Mt. Carmel, “the Lord, He is God – the Lord, He is God”!
What’s the next step? What happened next at Mount Carmel?
1 Kings 18:40, "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 Kishon, and slew them there."
What is meaning of the name Kidron? IT MEANS HARD or HARDNESS!
What a fitting name for the finish of this message! Here is where the idolatry finally came to an end when 450 false prophets were killed under God’s direction.
This is where it really gets hard for most of us. The repentance part is hard too, but it’s easier than what comes next. Crying out to God is hard, but now it gets even harder!
The hard part comes in killing those idols once and for all, getting rid of their influence in our lives, and putting them behind us.
The hard part is ceasing to give those idols first priority and putting God first! The hard part is to forsake those worldly pleasures, worldly friends and worldly entertainment, to sell out to God fully and completely.
If you are being influenced by some kind of idol of your own making this morning, then you have some hard decisions to make right now. They will be as hard as you want them to be. How hard they will be will depend upon just how much you really love Jesus. It’s not hard to give up the things of the world if you really love Jesus.
Illustration:
In our modern world, marriage has become less and less of a commitment and more of a convenience. Let me tell you what I mean. All too often we see couples get married but they refuse to give up their old friends and social activities. They will still act like two singles, doing their own thing, going where they want to go, and hanging out with their old single friends at the local bar, at parties, and other places. They want their night out with the guys or their time out with the girls. They don’t act or live like a couple that has been united as one, who must become committed and fully dedicated only to one another in their relationship.
I have a hard time understanding their ways and I wonder just how much they really love one another. When I was married, I had only one person in mind, that was the love of my life, my wife. I didn’t want to be with the guys, and she didn’t want to be with her former friends. We still had our friends but now we had each other and she was my focus then and still remains my focus today. Perhaps that’s why we are still together after 36 years while so many have fallen onto the rocks of divorce.
Why have I chosen to be only with her? Why is it that I would rather be with her than anyone else in this world? Can you see now why it’s not hard for me to choose to be with her and her only? It’s because I love her above all others except Jesus.
I believe that’s the reason that so many have problems in committing fully to serving the Lord and being faithful to church and to being around the people of God. It’s because their love for Jesus has grown cold.
If we truly love Jesus, love His Work, love His Church, love His people and love God with all our heart, mind, body, soul, spirit and strength, then it won’t be a hard decision to surrender to him and kill the idols in our lives.
How much do you Love Jesus? Do you love him more than your idols that you have made? Will your decision to be faithful to Jesus and faithful to the call of God on your life be a hard decision?
