Elijah on Mt. Carmel I Kings 18:26-39

Elijah boldly proclaimed his faith in God. One event in his life that we are all familiar with was his victory over the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel. It is recorded for us in I Kings 18. Read I Kings 18:26-39. 

To appreciate the challenge made to the prophets of Baal to meet on Mt. Carmel we should review the events that led up to it beginning in I Kings 17.

Elijah had been told by God to tell King Ahab that because of his sins and those of the nation He was going to withhold rain from the land. I Kings 17 details Elijah’s life following that and the attempts of Ahab to find and punish him because of his prediction. God protected Elijah so Ahab was unable to find him. 

Read I Kings 18:1. The prolonged drought of almost 3 years had brought famine to the land and instead of repentance on the part of Ahab he had become more and more angry with both God and God’s servant Elijah. God’s intention, as with all His chastening  was to bring sinner to repentance. That was not the case with Ahab. He was furious and wants Elijah’s head. See the response of Ahab’s servant to the prospect of telling Ahab that Elijah wanted to see him. Witnessing for Jesus or calling sin, “sin” in our society can be dangerous. Like Elijah, our obedience is expected by God.

Read I Kings 18:16. I’d love to know what the emotions of that meeting involved. I wonder what Ahab thought. Remember that the prophet is the one seeking Ahab. I suspect that Ahab was the one who feared and maybe rightfully so.

Read I Kings 18:17. What a picture of the human heart! Ahab was the sinner, but he tried to blame Elijah. Genesis 3 records the same response of Adam when he sinned. We need to accept responsibility for our sins and honestly confess them to God. We cannot make excuses and Elijah would not accept them from Ahab either.

Note the accusation. You are the one who troubles. Is anyone ever troubled by your righteous presence? Amos was accused of this according to Amos 7:10. In Luke 23:5 we read that Jesus was accused of the same thing. In Acts 16:6 we read that Paul and Silas were accused of disrupting things in Thessalonica and in Acts 17:6 we read that Christians in general were accused of turning the whole world upside down. The church needs to be so active for justice and righteousness that we literally turn our community upside down for Jesus.

Read I Kings 18:18. Elijah called sin “sin” and puts the blame where it belonged. Our society blames sin on everything but the sinner. There is always an excuse and seldom personal responsibility for sin.

We read in verses 19-20 that Elijah demanded that Ahab call the people together. The very fact that Ahab agreed is an indication of how serious the drought was and perhaps the realization that he could not ignore Elijah. So, we read that Ahab did as he was told.

Read I Kings 18:21-22.  Elijah issues two challenges. First, he challenges the people to decide between Jehovah and Baal. He said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” If ever there was a message that needs to be proclaimed in America it is just that. If Elijah were here today, I believe he would say to America, “How long are you going to play church? If God is God, then live for Him each day. If you think you can make it without God, go ahead and try but stop trying to be both a Christian and a full-fledged, card-carrying person of the world.”

Elijah then issued a challenge to the false prophets. Read I Kings 18:23-24. It was a legitimate challenge since Baal was the god of fire as far as the people are concerned and if anyone can send down fire from the sky it should have been Baal. 

I Kings 18:26-29 records that Elijah watched the uselessness of false gods, who, according to various places like Psalm 135:15-18, can neither hear and speak and certainly cannot respond to prayer requests. So, we read in verse 26, “There was no response; no one answered.” 

Read I Kings 18:27 on Elijah mocking them. One of Elijah’s taunts literally says, “Maybe he is sitting on the toilet.” The world is always making an excuse for sin and the failure of false gods to do as it claims they can. Just a little more or whatever will turn the tide.

I Kings 18:28 is a picture of “works” at its wildest that do no good. Read that verse. Few Christians are that committed. We hear people say it does not matter what you believe as long as you seriously believe it. This proves that is not true. They fully believed Baal could answer but he didn’t because he couldn’t. 

I Kings 18:30-39 records what happened when Elijah took his turn. In verses 30-33 we read that Elijah carefully prepared the sacrifice exactly as God had told His people to prepare for worship. The we read that Elijah asked that 4 large jugs of water be poured over the sacrifice. This was repeated twice more so a total of 12 jugs were poured on the wood. If you have ever tried to light wet firewood you know what adding 12 large jugs of water to that sacrifice meant. The water made it impossible to ignite apart from God.

Read I Kings 18:36-37. 

The time of his prayer is important to note. It was the very hour that worship should have been taking place in the Temple.

Likewise, the reason for his prayer is important. His concern was the glory of God, not his. Too often we do things for their own glory and God does not honor that. Elisha’s call for fire to come down from heaven would be answered because its purpose was God’s glory. Read Luke 9:51-56. 

Read I Kings 18:38. What a powerful answer. Nothing was left. We worship and serve a powerful God.

Sinners assume they control their own destiny and not even God can touch them. The encounter on Mt. Carmel, however, is a testimony to both the total helplessness of idols whether they be made of wood or stone or if they are well thought out philosophical gods versus the real power of God. Only the true and living God can answer our prayers and vanquish our enemies.

I assume you know the rest of the story. Seeing God’s power led to belief. People seeing God’s power in our transformed lives will know He is truly God. 

Elijah believed God even though Ahab didn’t, so without a sign that it was going to rain after 3 years of drought, he told Ahab that it was going to rain. How did he know that? Because God promised it and that was all he needed. And it rained!

Wish you could be an Elijah? Listen to what James wrote in James 5:17, “Elijah was a human being, even as we are.” The story of Mt. Carmel is not a story about Elijah but about Elijah’s God. And He is our God and can work through us in the same way if we want and allow Him to do so.

Psalm 37 God Will Have the Final Say

Introduction: For 2000 years the church has taught that if we follow Jesus and seek to do His will and to live the way we should, we will be blessed. The church has taught that the one who walks in the ways of the Lord will be blessed. We believe that righteousness counts with God. But when we look around, that doesn’t seem to be reality. We ask if it’s really worth it. 

All around us we see the obvious contradiction to the notion that the righteous are blessed and the ungodly are blown away like the chaff. It is clear that the guys on the top are often not the ones with the least scruples. They are often the ones who have walked all over others to get there. Having nothing to do with God does not seem to have hurt them. 

That very same issue was on the mind of King David when he wrote the 37^th Psalm. He saw among his own people, and in the nations around him, those who were seemingly well off yet were in no way trusting God. So, David asked God, “Is it really worth it? Is it really fair? 

As God worked in the mind of David, he sensed God saying, “Don’t look about and see evil and desire it. Don’t envy those who have pushed their way to the top without regard for others. Don’t envy the seeming success of the wicked because in the end they will have nothing you and the man or woman of God will have everything.”

Overview: Three themes run throughout this Psalm:

1. God cares for the righteous.
2. While the wicked appear to succeed for the moment, their long-term success is doomed. (8, 22, 28, 34, 38)
3. While the righteous might fall from time to time, God still holds onto them. Their ultimate destiny is secure. The faithful will inherit the land (9, 22, 28, 34).

Read Psalm 37:1-2. It is natural to envy those who seem to be getting ahead and appear to have it all. One of the sins of most of us is covertness and when we see all the wicked have it is easy to want it ourselves. Satan then quickly tells us we can have it, but at a small price. God has a different message. Read Proverbs 24:19. 

David wrote, “Do not fret” 3 times in this Psalm, in verses 1, 7, and 8. Literally “Don’t get all worked up.” The verb David used is very strong and is sometimes translated “don’t burn with anger.” David was saying, “Take your eyes off the wicked and put them on God.” The wicked are, “like the grass they will soon wither.” The wicked have shallow roots and shrivel up when difficulties come. Their success is very temporary.

In Psalm 37 we have 1 negative instruction, “Do not fret” and 4 positive instructions, “trust, delight, commit and rest.” If we follow the positive, we won’t be tempted to fret.

Read Psalm 37:3.Instead of envy, the believer’s life is to be characterized by trust. Trust or faith is always the starting place for any relationship with God. The wicked have put their trust in themselves and what they have. How different it is for believers. An individual trusts in God when he takes God at His word and is willing to walk by faith the road that he cannot always see. He knows that God has promised to be with him at every turn in the road and in the end the road leads home.

The difference between a religious man and a true Christian is the issue of faith, of trust. A religious man goes through all the practices and exercises of faith but has never personally committed himself to the Lord. He has never placed his trust in the one who has promised eternal life to all who believe. 

There is a difference between religion and Christianity, between knowledge about and possession of a truth, between going our own way and trusting in God and the provisions of the Cross. David wrote that the one whom God can and will bless is the one who has examined the facts, considered not only what appears to be reality in the world around but has seriously considered the truths of God’s Word.  

David added to trust, the phrase, “and do good.” Faith is not passive. It is active. So, David added “do good.” John Calvin said, “Faith alone saves but the faith that saves is never alone.” Real trust is seen in one’s actions. Real trust is going to make a difference in the way we act, the way we live. The very nature of real trust is that it impacts life. It impacts the way we act before Him. Read James 2:18 and then James 2:22. 

That command is followed with the promise that those who truly trust and do good will, “dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.” For David, that imagery was the Land of Promise and carried two ideas. First, the Promised Land, and in particular the Temple, was where God dwelt, and he wanted to be with God and know His presence with him. 

Second,in David’s mindthe land was the place that flowed with milk and honey. It was a land where God’s blessing was evident. In a much deeper sense, it was a picture of dwelling in a place prepared by God for each of His children. It was the place of His presence where His provision is sufficient. 

Read Psalm 37:4. Before one makes a commitment to the Lord, he really wants little to do with God. Before one makes a personal commitment to God, one often sees God as harsh and legalistic. When one makes that commitment, however, his whole attitude changes and he discovers a God who loves him beyond imagination and gives a peace that passes understanding. He discovers God desires only his best and asks him to do only that which leads to real joy and blessing. And with that discovery he delights in his relationship with God.

The root word “delight” originally came from a word that carries the idea of pampering or living in luxury. It reminds us that if we allow Him to, God wants to pamper us. The word challenges us to live in the luxury of what God provides. The key is not necessarily more of the things which the world seeks and will do anything to achieve, but wanting more of God in our lives, wanting the richness of fellowship with Him. When we delight in God, we seek our happiness in Him. And that comes with a promise as follows, “He will give you the desires of your heart.” The promise that we will get the desires of our hearts is given because when we delight in Him, we will only desire what He desires for us. That He will provide. 

Read Psalm 37:5-6.  “Commit your ways” is not a repeat of the trust in verse 3. Most commentators translated this phrase as “roll one’s way or burden onto God.” Read I Peter 5:7. When we look at those around us we see many who ignore God and God’s commands seem so successful. Difficult times will come and then they will not have what is often called “an invisible means of support.” It may seem at times like following God is holding us back but when difficult times come, we can cast our concerns onto Him. Read Matthew 11:28-30. 

Read Psalm 37:4. Being still can be seen as “be silent” and carries the idea of being patient as one waits for God to work. 

That is followed “do not fret when people succeed in their ways.” We are not to fret over the wrong that doers seem to be getting away with it. We need to relax and give God time because in the end, when the big picture is done, we win. 

What a beautiful picture these verses portray of the individual who, instead of glorying in evil, chooses to yield Himself to God knowing that this is wisest. Think about the key words here, “trust, delight, be committed, and be still.” They are the phrases that characterize the life of one who refuses to sell himself out for momentary pleasure and success. They picture one who looks instead beyond the moment into eternity and chooses to sell himself out to the creator, preserver, judge, ruler of the universe. In doing that we discover we truly have what the world seeks and believes is important. 

I John 4:7-21

No short passage in the Bible says more about God as being a God of love, what that love means to us, and the importance of our loving one another than I John 4:7-21. 

Read I John 4:7. Note that John introduced this section on love by referring to those whom he is addressing as “Dear friends” or literally as “Beloved.” John was practicing what he was preaching. 

John then wrote was that as Christians “let us love one another.”  In the Greek that is an imperative or command and not a suggestion. That command occurs directly 3 times in this paragraph, (verses 7, 11, and 21) and indirectly in several other verses. Here it is a command to love one another. In verse 11 John used a similar phrase to express a duty or obligation we have as Christians to love. In verse 12 John used that expression to declare that loving others is proof that God lives in us.

John added “for love comes from God.” The love John was writing about here comes from God and therefore, is not an innate or natural quality of man. John used the Greek word “agape.” It was a Greek word for love that had very little use or meaning in everyday Greek until the church took it over and poured into it the idea of God’s love, of unselfish love. 

The emphasis is not on our developing an attitude of love but of receiving the love that comes only from God. Once we receive God’s love, we must express it to others in the same ways that God expresses it us. 

One who loves with an “agape love” demonstrates he is a genuine Christian and serves as a testimony to the world that he knows and God of love.

The phrase “born of God” was clearly explained in John’s Gospel when he recorded in John 3 the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus. The new birth is a supernatural experience brought about through the ministry of the Holy Spirit in response to our faith in Jesus.

Read verse 8. The opposite of knowing God and loving is not to love and thereby demonstrate that one does not know God. Since God is love and His love nature indwells all who belong to Him, a failure to love is proof that one does not know Him.

The reason not loving is proof that one is not a genuine Christian is that “because God is love” all He indwells via the Holy Spirit have His love. Love is not just a characteristic of God but part of His essence. He does not just love; He is love. 

Read verse 9. The statement that God is love is displayed in God giving His Son to us. Love requires giving, which God did. His love in us requires that we too give. The emphasis is both what and why God’s love provided salvation. God sent His Son as a by-product of or consequence of His love.

John went on to explain the purpose for which God gave us Jesus. It was so “that we might live through him.” God gave His Son that we might be blessed, that we might have what we did not deserve, could not earn, but desperately needed. John developed the idea of life because of and in the Son in chapter 5 of this letter where we he wrote that life is found in Jesus because, according to 5:20, He Himself is life. 

Read verse 10. “Agape” love or the love of God, loves even when it is not deserved and gives irrespective of the cost. God loved us and in an historical setting demonstrated that love.

A key theological term is introduced here with the words “atoning sacrifice.” It means that we have the guilt of our sin removed so the anger of God against sin is removed. The emphasis of the word used here to describe what God did is how it places the emphasis on God and not what we do to achieve life. Read how Paul expressed that in Ephesians 2:13.

The picture of God’s love which is to be the pattern for our love shows it is expressed and offered regardless of the merit one might feel another has for it. God loved us while we were yet sinners. For the world, love is often offered to those who seem to deserve it, but agape love is offered to all. God’s love is also steadfast. It not only comes to us without merit, but it goes on forever. There will never be a time in all eternity when we are not loved by God. Read Romans 8:31-29. Agape love is not withheld if the recipient fails in some way but is always steadfast and sure. God’s love does not have a limit of how far it will go. God does not distance Himself from us when the price gets to a certain point, or the connivance level reaches a given point but rather He is always there for us.

John got to a key lesson in verse 11. Read that verse. God’s love for us places upon us an obligation to love in return, and not just to love God but to love those whom God loves. John pointed to the love God has shown as an example of the way we are to love. The argument is simple. Because God is love and therefore loves, so too we must love, not because He compels us to love but because of an inward compulsion that comes from His presence within us. Read Romans 5:5. 

In the Bible love is a verb. While we generally define love as a noun that describes something we have, the Bible most often uses it as a verb to show how we act. For us love is something we feel, whereas in the Bible it is how we live. 

One of the truths of Scripture is that as Christians we are to reflect God in our actions. In Scripture, when we are given a characteristic of God, we are told to imitate that characteristic in our daily living. For example, we are told in Leviticus 6:36 that because God is holy, we are to act in a holy way. In Luke 6:36 we are told that because God is merciful, we are to act in a merciful manner. Here we are challenged to love because God is love. Once we belong to God by faith, we are to reflect His character in all we are and do. 

Before we were born of God, we did not have His loving nature within and therefore could not love in the way He loves. When we are born again the Godlike nature is given back so we have the capacity to be what we could not ever be with our sinful nature. God is not only love, but He is also the source of all true love so that wherever that true love exists it comes from Him. 

Notice that John wrote “God so loved us.” The little word “so” is an emphatic word in the Greek and is designed to stress the fullness of it as Jesus did in John 3:16. God’s love for us is an incredible love and we are to love others in the same way.

Read verse 12. While we have never seen God as such, still He lives in us and therefore we really can know Him. Proof that God really lives in us is seen in how we love others.

We see God in those who reflect His character, and in particular His love. The adage that many who will never read the Bible will read the lives of Christians must be seen here. The strongest argument God has for who He is and what He can do is the life of a transformed individual whose life is so attractive that the world wants to have. The only explanation for such a life is Jesus in Him. Nothing shouts “God loves you” louder than His love flowing through us to others.

The message of John is that we are to love because God is love (8, 9). He has loved us (10, 11) and in our loving, God is able to bring His love to completion in and through us (12).

Isaiah 6: 1-8

Isaiah 6 is a text that has gripped the hearts of men and women since Isaiah first wrote it. 

The text can be nicely divided into three points:

1. We begin by seeing God for who he is.

2. Seeing God for who He is forces us to see ourselves for who we are.

3. And recognizing who we are and what He has done for us forces us to say, “Here am I. What do you want me to do for you Lord?”

Isaiah began this chapter telling us that it was the year that King Uzziah died. The significance of that is that Uzziah had been king for 50 years and at least until the end they had been extremely good years. But then he was gone, and all kinds of uncertainty faced the nation. The big question was, “Where do we go from here?”

The reign of Uzziah had been marked by ups and downs spiritually but he is generally viewed as a good king and Israel certainly prospered under his reign. He was the most important king since Solomon and Israel had enjoyed a lot of blessing under his leadership. For the majority of people, Uzziah was the only king they had ever known. Now he was dead. The future was truly as uncertain as ours often appears to be. 

Isaiah went into the temple and there God spoke to his heart. Isaiah went into the house of the Lord because, like probably everyone else he wanted to know where to go next. Isaiah went to God’s house undoubtedly looking for encouragement and guidance and there he discovered something we all need to be reminded off. The earthly king on whom they had depended was dead but the Heavenly King from whom all blessing come was alive and on His throne. He reigns forever and of His rule there will be no end. One’s security lies not in men but in God. 

First, Isaiah saw God. And what a picture he saw; 

a) He saw His Permanence: He was on the throne; an earthly king had died but God was still alive and on His throne.

b) He saw Him Exalted: high and lifted up.

c) He saw a little of His glory: The description of the covered Seraphim in verse 2 and the phrase “full of glory” in verse 3 express this important truth.

d) He saw His Holiness: The angels declared not one, not twice, but three times that He was holy. It is critical that we recognize the holiness of God.

e) Isaiah saw a little of His Power: The Lord of Hosts was a military term that spoke of strength. As a name for God, it denotes incredible power.

f)  He saw His Authority: Isaiah tells us that the door post shook when He talked.

g) And Isaiah saw something of the potential wrath of God against sin. He tells us that the temple was filled with smoke, a symbol used in the Old Testament to speak of judgment.

Isaiah described what he saw when he came into the presence of the almighty God who was on the throne. That was what Isaiah needed. 

I encourage you to read and reread this passage often to see again and again the glory of God. God is great, powerful and majestic. One of the unique characteristics of God is that He is both transcendent or distant and imminent or close at the same time. At one and the same time He is a Holy God whose face we cannot see and live and yet He is “Our Father who is heaven.” He is all-powerful yet close enough to be felt at all times. 

Isaiah saw a God full of Glory. Nothing will impact our confidence in God or our commitment to Him more than regularly coming into the house of God and focusing not upon our needs, or our problems, but upon Him as He really is. Look anew at Him and see how marvelous He is. 

Notice Isaiah’s response to the vision he had of God on the throne. In view of the holiness of God he cried out, “Woe is me, I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips (literally a sinful being) and I live among a people of unclean lips (that is sinners).” One of the inevitable results of coming into the presence of God is the realization of how sinful we really are and how much we need to be forgiven and cleansed. If, as we usually do, we compare ourselves to others around us we always seem to come out looking pretty good. When we come before the holy God, we realize just how sinful we are and how unworthy we are of His love and His blessing. 

As soon as Isaiah acknowledged his sinfulness, God acted to cleanse him of it. Isaiah 6:5 is a marvelous picture of the cleansing that God offers to all who acknowledge their sinfulness. Read I John 1:8-10.

In the Old Testament the cleansing was tied into the altar and the sacrifices made there. When we come to the New Testament the cleansing is tied not to the temple sacrifices but to the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. The sacrifice of Jesus is sufficient for all men in all times. But it must be accepted.

Having been cleansed, Isaiah discovered that he now had a responsibility to God to serve Him. It is important to note the order. We must first be right with God and then we are given the privilege as well as the responsibility of serving. We are not made right before God by our willingness to serve or by the things we do as we serve. Being made right is always a work of grace as Paul declared when he said we are saved by faith through grace not of works. But once we have experienced the forgiveness of God, we will want to serve Him,

The call of God and Isaiah’s response is recorded in v.6. Notice that God did not force Isaiah to serve. God did not even demand it of him although in the New Testament we are commanded to take the gospel into all the world. God will not force us to love Him, to accept Him, to worship Him, to serve Him but He does extend the invitation. The decision is ours. “Who will go for me?” And Isaiah, in light of the vision he had seen of God and of the cleansing that he had received responded, “I will go for you. I will do as you would have me do.” 

If you read the rest of the chapter, you discover that God explained a little more fully what was implied in Isaiah’s acceptance. His ministry would be anything but easy. He would see little, or no success and he would suffer greatly as a part of his service. Serving God is not necessarily convenient and certainly seldom without a cost. In light of who God is and all He has done for us can we refuse to accept or even begin to suggest that the price is too much? He asks us to be faithful, not successful the way many define success. 

What a beautiful chapter! It gives us insight into Isaiah as a man whom God would use in Israel and gives us a challenge for today and the days that are ahead. God wants 3 three things of us.

1. He wants us to see Him as He is.

2. He wants us to then see ourselves as we are and to acknowledge our sinfulness so He can forgive us.

3. He wants us to serve Him in some way out of love and thankfulness for so great a salvation so He can reach at least a remnant with the salvation that was provided for on the Cross.