03 Nov Who is your God?

1 Kings 18:20-40

1 Kings 18:36-40 – ³⁶ And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. ³⁷ Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 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. ³⁹ And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” ⁴⁰ And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

Anyone has trouble making decisions? I would not call myself indecisive, but I am the type of person who wants to consider all the possibilities first before I make a decision. For example, people say that when guys go shopping, it’s simple. All they do is go into a store, grab what they want, pay at the cashier, and leave. Done. Yeah, not me. Let’s say I want to buy a white shirt. I would go into a store, walk around the store, and scan the entire store first before deciding if I want to buy a white shirt. But that’s not enough. I would then go to a different store and repeat the whole process. I want to be sure I get the best white shirt for the cheapest price. How many of you are like me? All the Chinese raise your hands. Making a choice is not easy. And the higher the stake, the harder it is to make a choice. Sometimes it is easier to not make a choice. But here is the thing about not making a choice. To not make a choice is itself a choice. Do you realise that? And some of the most miserable Christians I know are those who made a choice to not make a choice.

Here is my agenda for tonight. I want you to make a choice. I want you to decide who is your God and act consistently with your decision. Sounds simple, right? It is simple, but it is very confrontational. Our text for tonight is very aggressive. It does not allow a middle ground. You are given a choice. Here is the choice. You either follow the Lord or Baal. One or the other but not both. Because the God of the Bible will not allow you to follow both him and Baal. If the Lord is your God, then he demands all of you. But if the Lord is not your God, you don’t have any reason to be here. In fact, it is best for you to ignore him altogether. Some of the most miserable Christians I know are those who serve God on Sunday and serve other gods on Friday night. I want to set you free from it. Either you fully commit your life to the Lord or go out there and enjoy what the world has to offer. Stop going to church and go clubbing instead. Some of you are thinking, “This is the first time I heard a pastor telling me to go clubbing instead of church. Is this ‘Gereja Palsu’?” But I believe this is what our text is saying to us tonight. Stop limping between two gods and choose who is your God.

Tonight, we are on our second sermon on the life of Elijah and Elisha titled, “Living by faith.” Both Elijah and Elisha lived at a time when the people of God were not following God, and God used them as his spokespersons. Their life and ministry show us what it means to live by faith. Our text for tonight is the apex of Elijah’s ministry. It is a showdown between the Lord and Elijah against Baal and the prophets of Baal. Elijah’s name means “My God is Yahweh (Lord)” and this is Elijah’s mission in life and the point of this story. There is only one true God, the Lord. The king of Israel at the time, King Ahab is not a godly king. He married Jezebel and Jezebel led Ahab and Israel to worship other gods called Baal. Baal is not a single god. Baal is a generic name for any god. So, there is a rain Baal, fertility Baal, success Baal etc. Then Elijah showed up out of nowhere, declared there would be no rain or dew at all in Israel, and he disappeared. Ever since that day, there has been a massive drought in Israel. Ahab wanted to kill Elijah, but he could not find him. Then three years later, the Lord told Elijah to show himself to Ahab. Ahab was very upset, and he blamed Elijah for the drought in Israel. And Elijah replied, “Why are you blaming me? This is not my fault. This is your fault. You are the one who sins against the Lord by following Baal. This drought is the Lord’s punishment for your sins. But if you want the drought to end, let’s have a contest at Mount Carmel. Gather the people of Israel at that place as well. Let’s settle this once and for all.” So, they all now gather at Mount Carmel. This is a contest to decide who is the true God. Is it the Lord or Baal?

I have three points for my sermon: the choice; the silence; the fire.

The choice

1 Kings 18:20-24 – ²⁰ So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 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. ²² Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. ²³ Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. ²⁴ And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”

At this time, the people of Israel have yet to forsake the Lord completely. They know that it is the Lord who brought them out of Egypt with his mighty hands. They know that it is the Lord who gave them the Promised Land. They still hold to the Law of Moses and perform all the sacrifices. But they also worship Baal for their practical needs. If they want a good harvest, they worship the rain Baal. If they want children, they worship the fertility Baal etc. So, they hold on to their status as the Lord’s people, but they live their daily lives depending on Baal. And Elijah is saying, “Stop it. You can’t do that. If the Lord is God, then he is the only God. The Lord will not share his glory with another. You either follow the Lord or Baal.” So, the choice is either Israel follows the Lord exclusively or follows Baal. What they can’t do is compromise between the two. But that’s exactly what they are doing. They are limping between the Lord and Baal. And when Elijah challenges them to choose, the people do not answer. Why? Because they don’t want to choose. They want both the benefit of being the Lord’s people and the practical blessings of Baal. Why choose when you can have the best of both worlds, right? But to not make a choice is itself a choice. By choosing to follow both, they are actually forsaking the Lord. So, Elijah proposes a contest between him and the prophet of Baal to decide who is the true God. They will each prepare a sacrifice and call upon the name of their God, and the God who answers with fire is the true God.

Let’s bring it into our living room. Here is my concern. There are many of us who confess the Lord is God with our mouths but worship idols with our lives. And by idols, I do not only mean statues of other gods. An idol can be anything we love more than God. Most of the time they are not a bad thing. An idol is a good thing that we turn into a god thing. Let me give you an example. A love relationship is a good thing. God created us with the longing for love. But what happens is we turn a love relationship into the most important thing. We are driven by our desire for a relationship, and we are willing to pay whatever the price to be in a relationship. We don’t care if that person meets the Biblical standard or not as long as our desire is fulfilled. What we are doing is we elevate a relationship above God. A relationship becomes our god, and that’s an idol. Any good thing can become an idol.

The point is we either follow the Lord or our idols. Choose one over the other. If money is what makes us feel important, then do whatever it takes to have more money. Leave the Lord out of the making money equation. If sexual fulfilment is what satisfies us, then have as much sex as possible with whoever we want. Don’t use God to cover our guilty conscience only to continue to pursue our sexual appetite. If people’s approval is what makes us feel like we are somebody, then sell our souls to please people. Do whatever it takes to make others like us. Don’t use God to increase our self-esteem when we desire others’ approval. If success is our goal, then run hard after it. Don’t look to the right and left and worry about how our decision affects others. If Baal is our god, then follow him. Don’t hold back. Go all out. Pursue sin. Stop limping. A lot of us try to be both. We want a little bit of the Lord and a little bit of Baal, and we are exhausted. Why? Because we do not experience the joy of following the Lord, but we also do not experience the full pleasure of sin. No wonder we are miserable.

The text tonight is telling us to choose. Choose whom we will follow. Is it the Lord? Or is it our idols? What we can’t do is not make a choice. Some of you have not rejected the Lord, but you haven’t chosen him either. How do I know? You are here tonight. You come to church every Sunday. But you are miserable because you are living in two worlds that don’t go together. Dale Ralph Davis puts it this way. “Elijah’s formulation assumes that theology leads to discipleship. Commitments have consequences.” The God of the Bible requires an exclusive relationship. If you want to have a relationship with him, the only option is you follow him in every area of life, or you don’t have a relationship with him. It’s like a marriage relationship. Married couples, imagine your spouse says to you, “Babe, I love you. You are the most important person in my life. And I promise to love you, cherish you, support you, and be the best spouse I can be for 364 days a year. But for just one day a year, I need you to let me do whatever I want and sleep with whomever I want. Just for one day. But I promise to be faithful for the other 364 days.” Is any spouse okay with that? Of course not. Because marriage is an exclusive relationship. The same applies to your relationship with the Lord. The Lord is a jealous God, which means he requires all your affection. He wants all of you. He allows no rival. It is all or nothing. To follow both the Lord and your idol does not work. In my pastoral ministry, I have seen again and again how some people think that they are the exception and that they can pursue both the Lord and their idols. But it is only a matter of time before they begin to lose their desire for the Lord. They might still come to church every Sunday, but they don’t love the Lord.

Let me put it this way. The greatest danger for many Christians is that the Lord is simply a Sunday hobby; He is something we do, not someone we love. Do you know what I mean by that? So, you dress nice every Sunday, put on the church face, go to church, meet lots of church people, and pretend that everything is okay. Then you come and sing about how God loves you and you love God despite knowing in your heart that you don’t. You know the church’s rhythm. You know when to lift your hand and when to stand for the reading of the Scripture. Then you listen to me yell about sin and the gospel that calls you to repentance. So, you feel guilty, and you say sorry to God. You empty your sin bucket for the week, transfer money to the church’s account to make God happy, go home, and continue to serve your idol as before. What a terrible hobby. It’s a waste of time. Just stop. It’s miserable. If Baal is God, then follow him. Go and sin as much as you can. Be the best sinner you can be. Stop being miserable half-hearted people who keep limping between two sides. It’s exhausting. Go and run as fast as you can toward sin. Because the faster you do, the quicker you will discover the empty promises of sin. But if the Lord is God, then follow him. Go all in. Love him with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. So, make a choice: the Lord or Baal. Let’s continue.

The silence

1 Kings 18:25-28 – ²⁵ Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” ²⁶ And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. ²⁷ 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.” ²⁸ And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.

Usually in every contest, you don’t want your team to be at a disadvantage. You want your team to have as many advantages as possible. But that’s not the case with Elijah. Elijah intentionally gives every advantage to the prophets of Baal. First, they are having a contest at Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel is known as Baal’s home turf. If you are a sports person, you know the advantages of playing on the home court. Home court gives you an extra edge because you are familiar with your surroundings, and you have the crowd on your side. And not only that but there are 450 prophets of Baal. So, they have 450 players on the other team and Elijah is a team of one. 450 vs 1. The odd is not good. On top of that, Elijah decides to be a gentleman and lets them go first. It means that if Baal answers by fire, Elijah will lose before he even starts. It is a sudden death contest. Why did Elijah do that? Elijah is not dumb; he is very smart. He is giving every advantage to the prophets of Baal to show the people of Israel the foolishness of following Baal and to further increase the glory of the Lord when he answers by fire. The Lord is not limited by disadvantages. In fact, the Lord loves to be at a disadvantage because he will receive greater glory when he wins. Get this. When we have the Lord on our side, it does not matter how many disadvantages we have, it does not matter how many advantages our enemy has, we will triumph.

So, the prophets of Baal call upon the name of Baal from morning to noon. They call on him for 6 hours and nothing happens. After waiting for a few hours, Elijah gets bored and starts mocking them. “Cry louder. Maybe he is daydreaming. Maybe he is checking his Instagram and does not hear you. Maybe he is taking a piss (this is the literal translation.) Maybe he is on holiday in Europe. Or maybe he is taking a nap. Cry louder.” Do you know what this is? This is the spiritual gift of holy sarcasm. Some of you excel at it. So, the prophets of Baal cry louder and they also dance for Baal. Why dance? This is the assumption. For Baal to answer and give you what you want, you need to make him happy by doing something for him. You need to perform for him. So, you dance to get Baal’s attention. And when dancing does not work, they start cutting themselves. Why? Because if performance is not enough, then you need to sacrifice yourself to please Baal. Sounds familiar? This is how you serve every other god.

Many people today still try to perform and sacrifice themselves to earn God’s acceptance. Whether it comes in the package of religion or personal idols, every false god requires us to dance and slash ourselves for them. Work harder. Do better. Obtain more. Then they will accept us. False gods always require payment and sacrifice from us, but they always harm us. Think about it. If success is our idol, we will sacrifice our integrity and do whatever it takes to climb up the ladder. If acceptance is our idol, we will sacrifice our honesty to get affirmation. If a relationship is our idol, we will sacrifice our bodies and risk our future to be with that person. Do you see? Here is the thing about an idol: the more we do for an idol, the more it demands from us. It starts as a cry out, then it turns into a dance, and then it leads to cutting. Why? Because it is never enough. Our idols cannot satisfy us and give us what we desire. They promise us a million dollars but only deliver one cent. And many Christians try to approach the Lord the same way. Do you know that Christians have their own version of crying out, dancing, and cutting? What we do is we use religious activities to earn the Lord’s acceptance. We use Christian disciplines as our dancing and cutting to get the Lord’s attention. So we go to the church, read the Bible, pray, serve, attend MC, we do all the right things not because we love the Lord, but to get what we want from the Lord. And when we don’t get what we want, we bail out. We say, “I have done everything right. I am a good Christian. I follow the rules. Why is the Lord not giving me what I want?” Do you know what we are doing? We are using our good works to control and manipulate the Lord. We think the Lord is like Baal. But the Lord is not Baal. We can’t tame him. A domesticated God that we can control is not the real God.

Listen to what happens next. 1 Kings 18:29 – And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention. After all the prophets of Baal do, after all the crying out, dancing, and cutting, there is no answer at all. Do not miss the repetition. “There was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention.” Three repetitions to emphasize the same point. Why? Because there is no one listening. The author is trying to make a point that Baal is absolutely nothing. Baal does not answer. Baal does not exist. The response from Baal is total silent. Triple zero. But the Lord is different. If Baal is nothing, nothing, nothing, the Lord is holy, holy, holy. And the Lord is not silent. The Lord is never absent. The Lord never goes on holiday. The Lord never takes a nap. The Lord is always available. The Lord is the one true God. How do we know? Let’s continue.

The fire

1 Kings 18:30-35 – ³⁰ Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. ³¹ Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” 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 seahs of seed. ³³ And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” ³⁴ And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. ³⁵ And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.

So, Elijah calls the people of Israel to gather around him. He sets up the altar using twelve stones to represent the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he puts the wood in order and cuts the bull in pieces and lays it on the wood. And then he does something very strange. He pours 12 jars of water on the burnt offering and the wood until the altar is drenched with water. Many years ago, I heard a very famous preacher preach on this passage. He said, “In order for the fire of the Lord to fall from heaven, there is a price that needs to be paid. And water is an expensive commodity due to the drought. The people of Israel had to make a costly sacrifice for the Lord to answer them with fire. So, if you want the Lord to answer your prayer, you must make a costly sacrifice.” When I heard that, I was mad, and I yelled at the YouTube video. I didn’t know why I did that since the preacher couldn’t hear me. But what he said is not right at all. Why? To say that we need to make a costly sacrifice for the Lord to answer our prayer is to put the Lord in the same category as Baal.

Let me explain the why behind the water. Does anyone have the experience of making bonfires? I do not know much about making a fire but one thing I know for sure. You don’t use water to make a fire. It’s like trying to go on a diet by drinking bubble tea. It does not work. It creates the opposite effect. Yet this is what Elijah does. Elijah shocks the people by making it harder. Water and fire don’t go together. He stakes the odds against the Lord by making the burnt sacrifice and the wood extremely wet. Why? The same reason he gave all the advantages to the prophets of Baal. Elijah wants everyone to be sure that what is about to happen can only be explained by the Lord’s power. The Lord loves to be at a disadvantage just before he wins. The greatest handicap is no handicap at all to the one true God.

1 Kings 18:36-37 – And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

Notice how short is Elijah’s prayer. The prophets of Baal prayed for 6 hours, and nothing happened. Elijah only needed 30 seconds. Do you see? The power of prayer has nothing to do with the length of prayer but the God to whom we pray. We don’t have to scream and dance to get the Lord’s attention. We just need to come to him in faith. And I love Elijah’s prayer. Elijah asks for two things. One, he asks the Lord to vindicate his own name, that there is no God but the Lord. Two, he asks the Lord to turn the hearts of the people back to him. This is important. Because revival is about to break out in Israel. People are about to repent and return to the Lord. But it all hinges on Elijah’s prayer for the Lord to vindicate his own name and for the Lord to turn the heart of the people back to him. This is such an encouragement to me. Every Sunday I stand on this pulpit, I desire to see many people repent and return to the Lord. I desire to see your heart burn for the Lord. But I am also aware of my limitations and inability to do so, and that is good news. Because if your repentance is dependent on me, I am going to die young trying to convince you to follow the Lord. I can’t do that. But there is one who can. It is the Lord himself. He is the only one who can turn the hearts of the people back to him. And that is our hope as we share the gospel with others. The Lord is the only one who can turn the hearts of the people. Our role is to ask the Lord to do what he alone can.

1 Kings 18:38-40 – 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. ³⁹ And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” ⁴⁰ And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

Despite the odds against him, the fire of the Lord falls from heaven and consumes everything. Nothing is left. No bull, no wood, no stones, no soil, and no water. Do you know what the Lord is doing? He is just showing off. And don’t miss the two contrasts. The prophets of Baal cry out to Baal and inflict pain on themselves but there is no answer. Elijah stakes the odds against the Lord, calls out to the Lord in faith, and the Lord answers. Everything that Baal cannot do, the Lord does instantly and so much more. And revival breaks out. People fall on their faces and confess that the Lord is God. What causes the revival? The fire of the Lord. Don’t miss it. The fire of the Lord demonstrates that the Lord is God, and it is also how the Lord turns the hearts of the people. The fire is a demonstration of the Lord’s power and grace. It is the Lord’s acceptance of Elijah’s sacrifice that turns the hearts of Israel toward the Lord. And when the people have seen the fire of the Lord, their hearts burn for the Lord, and they slaughter the prophets of Baal. What does it mean for us? It does not mean that we go out there and start killing people who worship other gods. But it means that we won’t allow idols to rule our hearts. We must destroy all the idols in our lives. We need to slaughter them before they slaughter us.

The question is, how? How can we be convinced that the Lord is God? How can our hearts burn with the passion for the Lord’s name? The answer is we need to see the fire of the Lord fall from heaven. There is an interesting story in Luke that seemed very random to me for many years. Luke 9:51-55 – ⁵¹ When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. ⁵² And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make preparations for him. ⁵³ But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” ⁵⁵ But he turned and rebuked them. Luke tells us that the Samaritans rejected Jesus because his face was set toward Jerusalem. This is Luke’s way of saying that Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem to be crucified. Jesus knew that he was about to die, and he was determined to die. And the Samaritans rejected Jesus because of it. To which James and John responded by saying, “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” What a bizarre response. But where did they get that idea? From our passage today. From Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal. And do you know what Jesus did? He rebuked them. Why? Because they were missing the point. Jesus was not Elijah calling down the fire of judgment. Jesus came to be the sacrifice that would receive the Lord’s fire of judgment.

This is what separates Jesus from every other god. Every other god says, “Dance for me, perform for me, and I will accept you.” But Jesus is the only God who danced and performed for us. Every other god says, “Cut yourself for me, sacrifice for me.” But Jesus is the only God who was cut and sacrificed himself for us. Every other god requires our blood, but Jesus is the only God who shed his blood for us. Every other god demands from us, but Jesus is the only God who came to turn our hearts to him. Friends, this is the gospel. Listen. Every other religion requires us to perform and there is no answer. But the gospel requires us to call out in faith and the Lord answers. Our acceptance is not by our performance but by grace through faith. We do not need to cut ourselves to get the Lord’s acceptance because the Lord already cut himself for us. Every other god does not give us an answer. They are all silent and powerless. But the Lord answers us with the greatest miracle. Jesus died on the cross on our behalf, but then he was resurrected from death. And he is right now sitting at the right hand of God, forever interceding for those who trust in him. The Lord, Jesus Christ, he is God. Do you see? We can’t just say, “I choose to follow Jesus and forsake my idol.” It will never work. Our hearts need to see the beauty of Jesus so that the allure of idols doesn’t bother us anymore. We must see the fire of the Lord fall on Jesus. It is only when we see the fire of the Lord’s judgment fall on Jesus that our hearts can burn on fire for Jesus.

Let me close with this question. How long will you limp between two sides? Make your choice tonight. The Lord or Baal. If Baal is God, then follow him. But if the Lord is God, then follow him. Be the best Christian you can be. Go all in for Jesus. Don’t put your feet on two boats. And if you are a Christian and your heart is not on fire for Jesus, maybe it is because you are still holding on to Baal in your pocket. It’s not going to work. I implore you tonight to let go of your idol and follow Jesus wholeheartedly. Only then will you experience the joy of following Jesus. So, what is it that you need to let go to go all in for Jesus? Whatever it is, I pray that you choose to follow Jesus because he is the only true God. Let’s pray.

Discussion questions:

1. What struck you the most from the sermon?
2. What happens when you try to follow both the Lord and your idol? Give some examples from your life.
3. Explain the difference between the Lord and Baal. Why you can’t think of the Lord like Baal?
4. What does Elijah’s prayer teach you about living by faith?
5. How does the fire of the Lord from heaven keep your heart burning for the Lord?