From His Heart

Jeff Schreve: Listen, we're talking about people being on the fence, as Elijah was dealing with people on the fence. Maybe you're on the fence of non-commitment because you've never given your heart to Christ. Or maybe you're on the fence of compromise, and you know that you've been saved, but you have just allowed yourself to get spiritually lukewarm. And you think it's no big deal. Why? Because nothing bad is happening to you.

If Baal is god, if your money is god, if your pleasure is god, if your sports are god, if golf is your god, then follow that and leave everything else behind in the church. But if the Lord is God, then you follow after Him with all your heart and you get off the fence.

Guest (Male): Long before there was a Super Bowl or even an NFL, there was a Super Bowl on Mount Carmel. Elijah the prophet of old was one of the key players. Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, we'll learn lessons from Elijah's performance there.

Back in the time of Jesus, Carmel was a fertile mountain ridge about 15 miles long in northern Israel on the Mediterranean coast. Carmel means vineyard, orchard, or garden. But it's best known as the site where Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal and Asherah. In the reign of Ahab, God used Elijah in that showdown so long ago and wants to use you and me today just like that.

God wants us to stand up for Him and have holy boldness in a world that's getting increasingly dark and wicked. The message today on From His Heart is from Pastor Jeff Schreve's eight-lesson series, Holy Boldness: Lessons from Elijah the Prophet of Fire. If you miss any lessons in this series, you can always go to fromhisheart.org and click the listen link after it's aired. Now, open your Bible to 1 Kings chapter 18 for part two of the lesson, The Super Bowl at Mount Carmel.

Jeff Schreve: Now, we're in a series on the prophet Elijah, the prophet of fire. We're calling it Holy Boldness. We need some men and women, some boys and girls to be people who will say, "I'll stand up for Jesus. I am willing to stand in the gap and be the man God wants me to be, the woman, the boy, the girl God wants me to be."

There are three lessons today. First lesson: we must not shy away from confronting people in love. Elijah had holy boldness, as we stated. Elijah didn't mind confronting people in love. Elijah confronted Ahab. When he meets Ahab, Ahab accuses him, "You're the one that's bringing all this trouble on Israel." Elijah looked at him and said, "It's not me, pal. It's you and your sins. You have forsaken God, and that's why there's no rain."

Then he says to the king, "Listen, here's what you need to do, Ahab. Gather up the people and let them know there's going to be a showdown on Mount Carmel. So let's have a contest and we're going to decide and see once and for all who God really is." Here's the thing: when you confront people and speak the truth to people in love, you need to remember this about people.

Lots of people want to ride the fence of non-commitment. They don't want to make a decision. They don't want to make a commitment when it comes to the Lord. They just want to ride the fence of non-commitment. The fence of non-commitment is really for unbelievers. They haven't decided yet to follow the Lord. Have you decided? Or are you still on the fence of non-commitment?

For believers, they like to ride the fence too, but it's a little different fence. It's the fence of compromise. It's saying, "I've got one foot in the world and one foot in the church, and I'm just playing both sides." That's exactly what was going on here. That's what Elijah told the people. He said, "Listen, why are you hesitating, limping between two opinions?"

If you're hesitating between two opinions and you're not totally sold out to the Lord Jesus Christ and you're making friends with the world, just know that you're an enemy of God because friendship with the world is hostility toward God. We need to speak the truth in love and confront people in love.

Second lesson we learn from Elijah: not only do we confront people in love, but we must not shy away from asking for a decision. When we confront people, then we ask people to make a decision. How long will you hesitate between two decisions? If the Lord is God, then you follow Him. But if the Lord isn't God, if Baal is god, then follow Baal. But Jehovah and Baal are going in different directions, so you can't follow both.

He said, "This is what we're going to do. We're going to make a decision and we're not leaving here today until we decide who the Lord really is." If the Lord is God, then you follow Him. But if Baal is god, then you follow him. Here's the thing: you get off the fence. No one is going to be on the fence after today. And the people said, "That's a good idea."

We must not shy away from pushing people and encouraging people and nudging people to make a decision concerning the Lord Jesus Christ because people need to decide. Notice this about the decision. The decision is critical because heaven and hell weigh in the balance. That's how critical it is. "What is your life?" the scripture says, "but a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away."

Not only is the decision critical, the decision is unavoidable. As much as you'd like to say, "I don't want to decide," you are going to decide. I'm going to make you decide today because that's what Elijah did. Every time we gather together, there needs to be a time of decision and to know it is unavoidable. A decision not to decide is a decision against the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, "He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn't gather with me scatters abroad." As much as you think, "I'm just going to sit on the fence of indecision," you can't. Remember this about the fence: whether it's the fence of non-commitment or the fence of compromise, the devil owns the fence. If he's got you on the fence, he's got you exactly where he wants you.

So Elijah said there's going to come a decision today. It's a critical decision, it's an unavoidable decision, and you're going to find that it's an obvious decision. In verse 25, Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it."

Then they took the ox which was given them, and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they had made. It came about at noon—they'd been doing this since morning, so it's been hours—that Elijah mocked them.

Elijah's the Phil Robertson of the prophet world. He's just salty and rugged and a different-looking guy. And so he mocks them and he says, "Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god! Either he is occupied, or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened."

I want you to notice in his mockery when he says, "for he is a god," that's kind of like a question. "Either he is occupied or gone aside." You know what "gone aside" means? It means he's in the bathroom. Maybe he's on the potty. That's what he said. He's laughing at these guys. You need to knock on the bathroom door. "Baal, come on! You've been in there all morning." Or he's just away. Maybe he's asleep.

And so how do they respond to the mockery? It's so funny. They cried out with a loud voice. They're thinking, "He could be in the bathroom." They cried out with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. It came about when midday was past that they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. That's 3:00. But there was no voice. No one answered, and no one paid attention.

Why is that? Because Baal is not god. Baal can't answer. Baal can't do anything. God, He is God. God is God. So there is no answer for all those hours. There's nothing. The decision is obvious. Baal is not god. Money is not god. Pleasure is not god. The scripture says about riches: they don't profit in the day of wrath.

When God's fire of judgment falls, I don't care how much money you have. I don't care how much pleasure you have had in your life. It doesn't deliver in the day of wrath. All those things are going to be shown to be false gods and a false hope. So we don't shy away from confronting people in love. We don't shy away from asking people to make a decision for Jesus because it's critical, because it's unavoidable, and because it is very obvious the right choice.

Lesson number three: we must not shy away from standing alone. Elijah was willing to stand alone. He said in verse 22, "I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men." One guy for the Lord versus 450 false prophets of Baal. And Elijah was willing to stand alone. Are you willing to stand alone?

We need some people who will stand alone. Stand alone in your business, stand alone in your school, stand alone in the neighborhood. You just make the decision. I've decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back. Though none go with me, still I will follow, because I'm going to stand up for Him.

Guest (Male): Pastor Jeff will return in just a moment with more about the victory we find at the Super Bowl at Mount Carmel. Today's message was one of eight in the series, Holy Boldness: Lessons from Elijah the Prophet of Fire. And one lesson we've already learned from Elijah today is that Elijah knew the secret to answered prayer.

He prayed that it wouldn't rain, and it didn't for three and a half years. Then he prayed it would rain, and it did. But how did he do that? Well, he didn't do it at all. God did. But God heard the prayers coming from Elijah's heart—a heart that was right with God. And in God's timing, He made it rain and stop. And Elijah's life was aligned with God and His word. As a result, he saw answers to prayer.

To help you discover how to have powerful prayers, we'd like to send you Pastor Jeff's series, Holy Boldness: Lessons from Elijah the Prophet of Fire, and the companion booklet, Unveiling the Mystery of Prayer. Our gifts to you to say thank you for your support this month of any amount to From His Heart. Call 866-40-BIBLE to make your gift of any amount. We'll send you the booklet and the series. That's 866-40-BIBLE. Or simply go online to fromhisheart.org and know that that gift will be helping us share these messages with the world about the power of holy boldness. Thank you so much and God bless you. Now, let's continue the lesson, The Super Bowl at Mount Carmel.

Jeff Schreve: So what happens? Look at verse 30. Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come near to me." So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, "Israel shall be your name."

So with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, in the name of Yahweh. It's "Lord" in all caps, which means YHWH, Yahweh, or Jehovah. And he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two measures of seed. That's 13 quarts. Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, "Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood."

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. And the water flowed around the altar and it also filled the trench with water. If I remember my math, that's 3.25 gallons. Everything is soaking wet. And then he prayed.

Verse 36: Then it came about at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel"—another name for Jacob—"today let it be known 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 heart back again."

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. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, "The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" Then Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal. Do not let one of them escape." So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slew them there.

What a display of God's power! Pour water all over it so no one can think, "It was just lucky, there must have been some kind of ember in the wood there." No, you douse it with water, so much water that it's filling up the trench. Everything is soaking wet. And when he prayed, then God responded.

I want you to notice something about his prayer. He says in his prayer in verse 36, "that I have done all these things at Your word." God led him. He gave him His word and Elijah followed the Lord's word. God will lead you and He will lead me as we obey His word. Obedience is so important, it's so key. You want the fire of God's revival to fall on your life? You want God to use you in a special way? He won't do it unless you obey Him.

Jesus said, "He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me shall be loved by my Father, and I will love him and will disclose myself to him." If you love me, keep my commandments. Talk is cheap. If you say you love God and you don't obey God, then God says, "Well, you're a liar, because if you really loved me, you would obey me."

Do we obey Him? Jesus said, "Why do you call me Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that I say?" If He's really the Master, one thing about being the Master is you do what the Master says. And God will bless and He will use you and He will use me as we obey His word. "I have done all these things at Your word." God told Elijah to go to Ahab. God told him to tell him there's not going to be any rain except by my word. Then God sent him to the brook Cherith. God sent him to Zarephath. God sent him back to Ahab. It was God doing all of this.

He'll lead us as we obey His word and He will reveal Himself through us as we walk with him. I love the first part of the prayer. He says, "O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant." God wants to answer that prayer. He wants us to obey Him. He wants to show Himself real to the people in your life, in your circle, in your world, that they would know God lives inside that person.

He lives inside Jeff Schreve. There's something different about him. The scripture says in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14, "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place." God wants you and me to be people that everywhere we go, people are like, "There's just something different about him, about her. There's just a different kind of aroma around them." I'm smelling something sweet. It's the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

Did you see how quickly the Lord answered that prayer? "O God, make Yourself known and let them know that I am Your servant and I have done all this by Your word." Before he could even say amen—and the purpose of it, what was it? To turn their hearts back to the Lord. How long are you going to hesitate between two opinions? You're not sure. I'm going to show you who God is and now I want you to follow Him.

And as soon as, or even before he could say amen, boom, the fire fell. And it licked up the water in the trench, it took the stones and the wood and the offering and everything. And the people were in the presence of God and they fell on their faces. "The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" Now, listen. You might be here today and you know that the Lord, He is God. But it's one thing to say that.

It's another thing to commit yourself to Him. It's another thing to follow Him. Hell is going to be filled with people who will say, as Jesus said, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name cast out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?" Then I will declare to them, "I never knew you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness." Those at the judgment, do they know that He's the Lord? Yes. "The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!" Well, great, but what have you done with "the Lord, He is God"? Have you given your life to Him?

Listen, we're talking about people being on the fence, as Elijah was dealing with people on the fence. Maybe you're on the fence of non-commitment because you've never given your heart to Christ. Or maybe you're on the fence of compromise, and you know that you've been saved but you have just allowed yourself to get spiritually lukewarm. And you think it's no big deal because nothing bad is happening to you.

Now, listen. As I was thinking through this message and I was praying this morning, I felt the Lord impress something upon my heart. I don't normally do this. But I think there could be some people today and God is saying, "If you don't get off the fence today, the fire of judgment is going to fall on you. Today is the day for you to make a decision concerning me."

Hey, if Baal is god, if your money is god, if your pleasure is god, if your sports are god, if golf is your god, then follow that and leave everything else behind in the church. But if the Lord is God, then you follow after Him with all your heart and you get off the fence. It's time to make a decision about your life.

I love it that the wood was wet and the offering was wet and the stones were wet and there was water all over. Because maybe you're here and you say my spiritual life is just totally drenched. It's just so it's lukewarm and it's damp and there's no fire. And what do I do? I've just been out of the fellowship of God for so long.

If you will turn to the Lord today—now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation—you'll turn to Him, get right with Him, come to the altar and pour out your heart to Him. The fire of God's revival can fall on you today. "Wilt thou not revive us again?" the psalmist says, "that Thy people may rejoice in Thee."

God wants the fire of revival to fall on you, on me, on us, to make an impact in this community and around the nation and around the world for Jesus Christ. As one man said, "When does revival hit? When you get in your prayer closet and close the door, you say God begin a revival in this room, in this heart." It starts here. It starts with you, it starts with me.

And we have to decide. We can't hesitate between two opinions. We have to decide. If the Lord is God, follow Him. If Baal is god, follow him. But this day, you make a decision. The song says, "Set my soul afire, Lord, for Thy holy word. Burn it deep within me, let Thy voice be heard. Millions grope in darkness in this day and hour. I will be a witness, fill me with Thy power. Set my soul afire, Lord, set my soul afire. Make my life a witness of Thy saving power. Millions grope in darkness waiting for Thy word. Set my soul afire, Lord, set my soul afire."

Guest (Male): So what about you? Is your soul afire? Listen, if Jesus is the Lord and Savior of your life, when God looks upon you, all He sees is the righteousness of His Son and not your sin. But if you've not surrendered your life to Jesus, now is the time for you to get off the fence, to give yourself to Christ completely and sincerely. Cry out to Him from your heart in repentance, in faith. Abandon your own efforts to achieve salvation any other way because there is no other way.

When you do, you'll find the freedom that comes in knowing that Jesus is Lord and you are a child of God from this day forward, assured in heaven for eternity. We hope you'll pray about going to fromhisheart.org and clicking the "Why Jesus" tab. There you'll discover a life with Christ like you've never had before. God bless you.

Well, we're out of time for today, this Monday broadcast. But I'm Larry Nobles, inviting you to join us tomorrow for the next lesson in this powerful Holy Boldness series, when we'll go deeper into how Elijah's prayer life is one that touched the heart of God and how we can discover how to enjoy that kind of relationship with God too, through prayer. Be with us Tuesday for the lesson, Answered Prayer, as we open up God's word to share real truth, real love, and real hope from His heart.