Introduction:
Why Should I Stand for the Truth? (1 Kings 18:1-46)
- Because fear of man will crush my Fear of God . (1 Kings 18:1-16)
Proverbs 29:25 - The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.
- Because I have a responsibility to Others . (1 Kings 18:17-19)
Galatians 6:1 - Brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.
Colossians 4:5-6 - Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
- Because God's glory is too great for me to Stay Silent . (1 Kings 18:20-37)
- Because God will honor me if I Honor Him . (1 Kings 18:38-46)
John 12:26 - "If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will be my servant also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."
Luke 9:26 - "For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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Turn your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 18.
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1 Kings chapter 18.
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And while you turn there, I wanna ask you a question.
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Who has ever watched the show What Would You Do?
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Nobody.
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A handful.
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For those of you who don't know what the show is, it's a hidden camera show that has been hosted by a journalist named John Quiones for 18 seasons, 161 episodes.
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And this hidden camera show documents the reactions of real people as they come across various moral dilemmas, illegal activities, and other confrontations, but they don't realize that everything that is happening is staged by actors and being recorded for television.
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And the main hook of the show is to put you into the shoes of the person under the microscope that week and ask you some hard-hitting questions.
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What would you do in this situation?
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How would you respond?
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You come across a little girl who's being verbally berated by her dad, both of whom are actors, but you don't realize that.
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Would you just mind your own business and move on?
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Or would you step in and help the poor girl?
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You're in one of the aisles at Walmart and you see a woman stuffing merchandise into her large purse.
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Would you just laugh it off and keep shopping?
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Or would you report it to a manager?
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You come across a gang of teenagers savagely bullying a homeless man.
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What would you do?
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Would you pretend like you saw nothing?
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Or would you step in and potentially risk the wrath of the teenagers being redirected at you?
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You know, this show has caught some astounding responses in both sides of the spectrum.
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admirable bravery, and embarrassing cowardice.
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Some episodes, men and women rise to the occasion and become the heroes of the episode.
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And other people are very embarrassed in front of millions and millions of viewers.
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You know, this morning, we're in the second week of our latest series, Just Like Us, The Life and Ministry of Elijah.
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And you are about to have your own hidden camera experience.
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as you watch Elijah handle public idolatry, intense conflict, and the greatest contest of all time.
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You will clearly see what Elijah did 3,000 years ago, and in the process, you will have to grapple with questions, the same questions that John Kiyonese asks at the end of every single episode.
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What would you have done?
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How would you have responded?
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Would you have stepped in or would you have stepped back?
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So before we continue, let's go to the Lord in prayer.
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Please pray for me that I'll be faithful to proclaim God's word and I will pray for you that you'll be faithful to receive it.
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Father, we thank you for this opportunity to worship you, to come to your word, to hear from you.
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That's why we're here, Lord.
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Well, I pray that we would hear from you.
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I pray your Holy Spirit would convict us, challenge us, and he would build us up all in the same time.
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We ask all this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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So last week we were called to obey the Lord and do whatever his word commands us to do.
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This morning we will receive the call to stand for the truth in a world that strongly opposes it.
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We are called to be bold servants of the Lord who oppose ungodly ideologies, who call for repentance and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
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You may hear this and think, eh, I don't think this sermon is for me.
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I'm all for obedience, but I'm not an outspoken Christian.
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My faith is really important, but it's very private to me.
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I don't like to make it public.
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Well, that sounds very convenient, but that doesn't sound very biblical.
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According to scripture, God is a personal God, but he is by no means a private God.
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Your faith is meant to be lived out behind closed doors and in public.
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Again, you may be thinking, I'm not really sold on this yet.
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I believe in the truth, but why should I stand for the truth?
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That's a great question.
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Why should I stand for the truth?
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As you seek to answer that question together this morning, be diligent to focus your attention on how Elijah stood for the truth.
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At every turn in 1 Kings chapter 18, honestly evaluate how you would have responded back then and how you will choose to respond right now to what is happening in this world and in your life.
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So why should I stand for the truth?
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Because fear of man will crush my fear of God.
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Because fear of man will crush my fear of God.
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Let's read verse one of chapter 18.
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After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, go, show yourself to Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth.
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So long after the miracles at Zarephath with the widow and her son, Elijah is finally called back into active duty.
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The drought and famine has lasted for three and a half long years, but it's finally about to come to an end.
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And while Elijah travels, we are given a quick update on what's going on with King Ahab in verses two through six.
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So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab.
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Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household, Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.
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And when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.
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And Ahab said to Obadiah, go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys.
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Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive and not lose some of the animals.
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So they divide the land between them to pass through it.
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Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.
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So things are looking very bleak for Ahab's kingdom.
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But per usual, he's handling things his way rather than God's way.
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He seems obsessed with finding a solution to his problems anywhere and everywhere besides God.
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He seems far more concerned with saving animal life than human life.
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Does that sound familiar to you at all with something that's happening on the West Coast right now?
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Ahab has the worst and wrong priorities.
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In these verses, we also meet Obadiah, who serves as Ahab's chief of staff.
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Obadiah may serve the king, but his ultimate devotion is to the Lord.
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We are told that Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.
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And this is proven by his brave actions of saving faithful prophets and hiding them and feeding them in caves.
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Faithful prophets that Queen Jezebel wants to shish kebab for resisting her and her false gods.
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And if Obadiah is found out, he will also be murdered along with those prophets who didn't make it into his cave protection program.
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In verses seven through 16, Obadiah comes face to face with Elijah.
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Let's read that together.
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And as Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him, and Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?" And Elijah answered him, "It is I.
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"Go and tell your lord, behold, Elijah is here." And Obadiah said, "How have I sinned against you "that you would give your servant "into the hand of Ahab to kill me?
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"As the Lord your God lives, "there is no nation or kingdom "where my Lord is not sent to seek you." And when they would say, "He is not here," he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation that they had not found you.
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And now you say, "Go tell your Lord, behold, Elijah is here.
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"And as soon as I have gone from you, "the spirit of the Lord will carry you, I know not where.
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"And so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, "he will kill me, although I, your servant, "have feared the Lord from my youth.
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"Has it not been told my Lord that what I did "when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, "how I hid a hundred men of the Lord's prophets "by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water?
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"And now you say, go tell your Lord, "behold Elijah's here and he will kill me." And Elijah said, "As the Lord of hosts lives "before whom I stand, I will surely show myself "to him today." So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him Ahab went to meet Elijah.
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You know, some scholars are not huge fans of Obadiah.
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They think he is a wimpy wuss who whines to Elijah.
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And I think that's a really unfair accusation because Obadiah looks a lot more like us than Elijah, right?
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Isn't it easier to relate to Obadiah?
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Elijah is this tough, intimidating guy while Obadiah is just a regular dude who has jobs, bills, and a to-do list.
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He's trying his best to honor the Lord during his daily routine.
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But Obadiah is also stressed out about working with Elijah because he can't envision a scenario where this team up ends well for him.
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You know, Obadiah reminds me a lot of my dog, Murdoch.
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I actually have a picture of him on the screen, I think.
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There he is.
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You know, we have a golden retriever.
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He doesn't exactly check all the boxes in the wind column.
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He can bark at the worst possible times, like when my kids are napping.
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He gets really jumpy at my parents' house.
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He is stunned that other people exist in our neighborhood and have the audacity to walk past our house.
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And he can be a bit of a scaredy cat sometimes.
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But at the end of the day, Murdoch is very loyal to our family.
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He plays gently with my kids, He even tries to protect them.
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Murdoch is a flawed and imperfect dog, but he is also a faithful and dependable servant who realizes that he is not the master of the house.
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Like Murdoch and the rest of us, Obadiah is a flawed and imperfect servant who doesn't always get it right.
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Does Obadiah experience the fear of man?
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Yes.
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Does he have worries and anxieties?
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You bet.
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Does he struggle to believe in Elijah's plans?
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Of course.
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But at the end of the day, Obadiah is a faithful servant of the Lord who is loyal to God and not to Ahab.
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Obadiah follows Elijah's instructions and goes to the king.
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I want you to understand something.
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You will wrestle with worrying about what other people think about you.
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You will be weighed down with the desire to please other people at the expense of pleasing God.
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To be clear, it's a good thing to care about your reputation but this good desire can easily dominate your heart and your mind.
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If you live to please others, you will constantly be disappointed.
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Public opinion is like a twisty and curvy rollercoaster that goes up and down, left and right.
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One day, you're the best thing since sliced bread and the next you are the worst person that someone has ever met.
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You know, one pastor from several hundred years ago once wrote, "If you live in the mouths of men, you will die in the mouths of men." Solomon puts it this way in Proverbs 29, 25, "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe." Living to make everyone else happy is a dangerous trap.
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Don't fall for it.
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Choose the better and safe path, which is the fear of the Lord.
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You may be wondering, what does it even mean to fear God?
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Fearing God means that you have a deep and reverent respect for his position, his power, and his promises.
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A deep and reverent respect for his position, his power, and his promises.
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When you fear God, you submit to him as your rightful master instead of all the King Ahabs in your life who are calling for your attention and devotion.
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The fear of God sets you free from the fear of man while the fear of man crushes your ability to fear God.
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Whose approval matters the most to you?
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Whose approval matters the most to you?
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If your number one goal in life is to make your spouse happy, neither of you will be happy.
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Neither of you will experience God's best for your marriage.
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But if you both share an ambition to please God, you will grow closer to one another and the Lord.
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If you are obsessed, consumed, with the congratulations of your manager, your boss, you will be tempted to cut corners and sacrifice time with your family to advance your career.
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Moms, if you are obsessed with looking like a great mom on social media, you will quickly become burned out and depressed.
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But if you find your identity in Christ and entrust your little ones to the Lord, those chains of measuring up and being the best will begin to loosen.
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Just imagine what your life would look like if you cared far more about the unchanging view of God than the constantly changing opinions of other men and women.
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Imagine how much more bold and effective your witness would be if you feared and respected God above everyone else.
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So why should I stand for the truth?
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Because I have a responsibility to others.
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Because I have a responsibility to others.
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Let's see what happens when Elijah and Ahab and arrive at the reunion set up by Obadiah.
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In verse 17, "When Ahab saw Elijah, "Ahab said to him, 'Is it you, you troubler of Israel?'" So what's the first thing that Ahab does when he sees Elijah?
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He doesn't repent, he doesn't say I'm sorry, he doesn't ask for help, he points the finger and blames Elijah.
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"Oh, look who it is, the source of all my problems.
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"Look around at what you've done.
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"This is all your fault." So Ahab's finger pointing reminds me of life at my house sometimes.
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I'll walk into the family room, discover snacks ground into the carpet, toys everywhere, drinks spilled on the couch, and I'll ask, "Who did this?" And one of my kids will immediately throw the other under the bus.
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And then the accused will point a finger at the accuser, "No, you!" And I'll go back and forth like that.
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"No, you, no, you, no, you!" We're not much better as adults, are we?
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We are experts at passing the buck, of assigning blame, of playing accusatory hot potato so that consequences do not fall in our laps.
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My problems are everybody else's fault, and I'm just a poor victim.
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But we are often guiltier than we care to admit, and far less innocent than we claim to be.
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Elijah smacks away Ahab's pointed finger, and boldly tells him the truth.
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In verses 18 through 19.
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And Elijah answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you have, at your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.
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Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table.
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Elijah has a prophet.
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Elijah has a responsibility to tell the king what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear.
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Elijah holds up a mirror to reveal the true source of Ahab's problems, Ahab himself, his own foolish idolatry.
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Ahab has no one to blame but himself.
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And please don't confuse Elijah's bluntness for hatred.
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This is the most loving thing he could do for Ahab.
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It is loving to tell someone the truth while it is unloving to allow someone to stew in his or her own self-deception.
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Let me ask you, is it loving for me to just let our friend have his fly down or have a little something something hanging out of his nose?
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And not saying anything.
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Is that the loving thing to do?
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No, in those moments it's awkward to say anything I value my own comfort over my friend's well-being by not saying anything to him at all.
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But if I truly love my friend, I'll grab him, put an arm around him and say, "Hey dude, "Kennywood's open, there's a bat in the cave.
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"Sorry to say it, but I can't not say it." In all seriousness, you may think that you are being loving and kind by not pointing out the obvious sin problems of a Christian friend.
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You may think that you're loving by shrinking back yet again from telling that Christian family member about Jesus.
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But in those moments, you are choosing to love yourself more than that person.
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Instead of standing up for the truth, you are shrinking back in laziness and indifference.
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Like Elijah, you too have a responsibility to tell others what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.
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It can be hard to tell people that they are dead and their sins need to be brought to life by faith in Jesus Christ.
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But you cannot share the good news of Christ without also sharing the bad news of sin.
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It's not my favorite pastime to tell another believer something that he or she does not want to hear.
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But I'd much rather feel the sting of awkwardness now than the ache of regret later.
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This may be obvious, but it needs to be said.
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Don't make these already hard conversations even harder by being a jerk.
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I've heard so many prideful Christians pridefully bragging about how often they get turned down for faithfully sharing the gospel, and I always think to myself, I don't think you're being rejected because of your faithfulness.
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I think you're being rejected because of your jerkiness.
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I wouldn't blame the Lord and his gospel, "Blame yourself." The Apostle Paul tells us clearly how we should talk to Christians and non-Christians alike.
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Galatians 6, one, "Brothers, if anyone is caught "in any transgression, you who are spiritual "should restore him in a spirit of gentleness." Colossians 4, five through six, "Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, "making the best use of the time.
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"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you want to answer each person.
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So be strategic, but not compassionless.
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Be bold, but not rude.
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Be a loving friend, not a spineless pushover.
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Take responsibility and be willing to graciously engage in tough conversations.
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Why should I stand for the truth?
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because God's glory is too great for me to stay silent.
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Because God's glory is too great for me to stay silent.
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So verse 19 ends with Elijah throwing down the gauntlet and setting up the greatest showdown of all time.
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Let's watch the pregame show unfold in verses 20 through 21.
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So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered their prophets together at Mount Carmel.
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And Elijah came near to all the people and said, how long will you go limping between two different opinions?
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If the Lord is God, follow him.
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But if Baal, then follow him.
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And the people did not answer him a word.
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The Israelites are mixing the worship of false gods with the worship of the one true God.
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They view their beliefs like a buffet line.
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You can pick a bit of this, a little bit of that, and a side of what's over there, and all these things can coexist on the same plate.
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That may be fine and dandy at the Golden Corral, but it doesn't fly with the Lord.
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He is an all or nothing God.
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He wants all of you or none of you.
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And Elijah tries to knock them off the fence and make them make a decision.
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But the Israelites still don't know who to choose.
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They don't know who the real God is.
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Maybe you're in the same boat as the Israelites this morning.
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You are trying to enjoy the best of both worlds.
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You come to church occasionally, you enjoy fellowshipping at harvest, but you still have another foot in worldly living.
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You may think that proximity to the church and the Christians gives you eternal security, but it doesn't.
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Choose today whom you will serve.
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Stop limping between two opinions.
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Stop going back and forth.
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Make a decision.
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Who will you serve?
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Jesus Christ and his perfect ways or yourself and your own sinful desires?
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If you choose Christ, God's righteous wrath for your sin will be taken away and eternal punishment in hell will no longer be in your future.
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If you choose Christ, adoption to the family of God and undying relationship with the Lord will be yours forever and ever.
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Make the choice today because you don't know if you get tomorrow and there are no second chances after this life.
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Since the people of Israel refused to make a choice, Elijah puts it in Yahweh or Baal's court to actually answer the question in verses 22 through 24.
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"Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, "but Baal's prophets are 450 men.
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"Let two bulls be given to us, "and let them choose one bull for themselves "and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood, "but put no fire to it.
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"And I will prepare the other bull "and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it.
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"And you will 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." Do we all understand the rules of the competition?
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Are we good?
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Thumbs up if you're still listening awake.
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We all get it?
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All right, good.
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Baal is given first crack at this in verses 25 through 29.
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"Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "'Choose for yourselves one bull, "'and prepare it for yourself first, for you are many, "'and call upon the name of your God, "'but put no fire to it.' And they took the bull that was given to them and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal for mourning until noon, saying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice and no one answered.
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And they limped around the altar that they had made.
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And at noon, Elijah mocked them, saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a god.
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"Either he is musing or he is relieving himself, "or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep "and must be awakened." And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom and lances till the blood gushed out upon them.
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And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation.
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But there was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention.
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What a pathetic display.
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Prophets of Baal cry and scream and dance for hours and hours and hours, nothing.
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Then cut themselves to the devotion, nothing.
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This proves that passion and belief means nothing if the object of your passion and belief is made up and non-existent.
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And Elijah can't help himself.
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Baal may be silent, but he's not.
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He's saying, hey guys, raise the volume.
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Maybe he's napping, or maybe he's sitting on his toilet throne.
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And I'm not saying that, Elijah actually said that.
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Sometimes the only righteous response to wicked beliefs is holy mockery and satire.
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Sometimes the insanity of destructive beliefs must be picked apart and ridiculed instead of tolerated and ignored.
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These guys step up to the plate, take a massive swing, strike out.
27:22-27:28
Next up is Elijah and his God up at bat in verses 30 through 35.
27:31-27:34
Then Elijah said to all the people, come near to me.
27:34-27:38
And all the people came near to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down.
27:39-27:48
Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came saying, Israel shall be your name.
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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 seers of seed.
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And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood.
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And he said, "Fill four jars with water "and pour it on the burnt offering on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time." And they did it a second time.
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And he said, "Do it a third time." And they did it a third time.
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And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.
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And at the same time, at the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "Oh Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, "let it be known this day that you are God of Israel." "and 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, "that you have turned their hearts back." How much shorter is his prayer than the prayers of the prophets of Baal?
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A few sentences versus a few hours of worthless nonsense.
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Elijah makes this heart as humanly possible for this altar to catch fire.
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He wants God's inevitable answer to be as clear-cut as obvious as possible.
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He wants there to be no doubts.
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He wants there to be no accusations of unfair play when God sends the fire.
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Elijah can't sit on the sidelines and do nothing.
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Elijah can't be silent because God is too great and he is too worthy.
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You know, we all love to talk about that which interests and excites us.
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to talk about something that we love.
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If you don't believe me, grab someone at your service who loves to hunt.
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Ask him or her about deer season, and you will get an earful.
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You'll get a phone full of gory pictures in your face.
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Grab a grandma at your service and ask about her grandkids.
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Again, you'll get an earful and a phone full of less gory pictures in your face.
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We can all go on for hours and hours and hours about a topic that interests and excites us?
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Does God interest and excite you?
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Does the gospel of Jesus Christ captivate your mind and thrill your heart?
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Do you love to talk about the Lord, his word, his ways?
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Would you rather talk about anything else?
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There is no one and nothing greater than our God.
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He is a loving Father who cares for us more than we can possibly imagine.
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He is a gracious Savior who forgives us of our sins and invites us into a relationship, a friendship with Him.
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While the idols, the false gods that we so often choose to worship over Him offer us nothing but silence, heartache, regret.
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So why should you brag on the Lord?
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Why should you share the good news of Jesus Christ?
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Why should you stand for the truth rather than stay silent?
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Not because you have to, and it's a chore to check off the to-do list, but because you want to, and it is a joy to carry out.
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It is a joy to experience, because you are fully convinced that Jesus Christ is worthy of the praise and adoration of every single person you come into contact with every single day.
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Why should I stand for the truth?
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Finally, because God will honor me if I honor him.
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Because God will honor me if I honor him.
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Let's see God's answer to Elijah's prayer in verses 38 through 46.
31:42-31:49
"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.
31:49-31:59
"And when all the people saw it, "and they fell on their faces and said, "'The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God.' "And Elijah said to them, 'Seize the prophets of Baal.
31:59-32:02
"'Let not one of them escape.' "And they seized them.
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"And Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon "and slaughtered them there.
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"And Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go up, eat and drink, "'for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.' "So Ahab went up to eat and drink, "and Elijah went up to the top of the Mount Carmel, "and he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees.
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And he said to his servant, "Go up now, "look toward the sea." And he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And Elijah said, "Go again," seven times.
32:31-32:48
And at the seventh time, he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand "is rising from the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, "prepare your chariot and go down, "lest the rain stop you." And in a little while, the heavens grew black with clouds and wind and there was a great rain.
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"Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
32:51-33:01
"And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, "and he gathered up his garment "and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." So we have our answer.
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The Lord annihilates the bull, the altar, and the water around the altar.
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The fireball from heaven.
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You know, this altar wasn't just an object of competition.
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This was a sin sacrifice.
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to the Lord that was lighted on fire by God.
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The Israelites have sinned against God, so Elijah offers this sacrifice and God lights the match.
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And the Israelites watching this awesome display finally recognize which God is real.
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They bow down and worship the Lord.
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God is vindicated as the one true God, while Baal is proven to be a dumb statue.
33:50-34:01
On the flip side of the coin, Elijah is vindicated as a man of God who speaks the truth of God while the prophets of Baal are exposed and proven to be men of lies who only speak foolishness.
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Elijah was labeled as the troubler of Israel, but now he is celebrated while the prophets of Baal are slaughtered.
34:10-34:17
And God keeps his word and sends rain upon Israel as Elijah prays.
34:18-34:23
You know, Elijah is literally and metaphorically on the mountaintop in this moment.
34:23-34:30
This is one of the highlights of his life, and we'll discover next week that a low point follows immediately afterwards.
34:30-34:35
But for right now, Elijah must be overjoyed at this victory that God has won.
34:36-34:40
Elijah honors God, and in return, God honors Elijah.
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As followers of Christ, we are offered a very similar pattern in scripture.
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John 12, 26, Jesus says, "If anyone serves me, "he must follow me, and where I am, "there will be my servant also.
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"If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." And Jesus gives the exact opposite promise in Luke 9, 26, which Pastor Jeff already read.
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"For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, "of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory, in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
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Are you ashamed of Jesus Christ?
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Do you hide the fact that you're a Christian at work in your neighborhood 'cause you're worried about what would happen if people knew?
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If you're ashamed of Jesus Christ now, Jesus Christ will be ashamed of you later.
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If you serve Jesus Christ now, he will applaud you later.
35:41-35:48
If you know and love Jesus Christ, if you faithfully serve him, you will be misunderstood, insulted, and slandered right now.
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But a day is coming when you'll be rightly understood, praised, and celebrated.
35:54-36:01
A day is coming when people will see God for who he truly is, and you will be seen for who you truly are.
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Faithfulness to Christ requires a dedication to delayed gratification.
36:10-36:16
Are you willing to be hated and belittled by the world right now because you know God approves of you?
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Are you willing to be lied about right now because you know that God knows the truth about you?
36:23-36:31
Are you willing to be rejected and turned down for your faith when you stand for the truth because you know that great glory is awaiting you?
36:34-36:47
You know, it's so easy to walk away from chapter 18 of 1 Kings thinking, Well, Elijah's standoff for the truth was so important, it was so intense, the ways I'm called to stand up for the truth don't seem very important.
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We so often feel that way because we so often forget that we are in the middle of a spiritual war.
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This war isn't fought in a mountaintop somewhere with dramatic music playing in the background, with fireballs coming down from heaven.
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This war is fought in our homes, our communities, our churches, and our own hearts.
37:11-37:24
The battles of this war are seemingly minor conversations with your loved ones or acquaintances, small moments with your kids that add up over time, or decisions that may not seem like a big deal.
37:25-37:29
We have a choice to do the right thing or the easy thing.
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How you stand up for the truth, how you fight this war matters.
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It matters to God and it should matter to you.
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Just like Elijah, you too are a servant of the Lord.
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You are a soldier in his heavenly army.
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And by doing your small part, you are partnering with the Lord to advance his kingdom and to advance the truth of his word over the lies of our enemy.
37:59-38:02
So you've seen what Elijah did nearly 3,000 years ago.
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You have been reminded of what is expected of you right now.
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Let me close by asking the same questions that we started with.
38:14-38:14
What will you do now?
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How will you respond?
38:18-38:22
Will you step up or will you shrink back?
38:23-38:23
Let's pray.
38:25-38:34
Father, we thank you that the same God who sent down fire on Mount Carmel 3,000 years ago is still on the throne.
38:35-38:37
He is still ruling and reigning.
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Lord, help us to trust you.
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Lord, help us to love you so much that we can't help but tell everyone about who you are and what you have done through the person and work of Jesus Christ.
38:53-39:01
Lord, if there are people here who are shrinking back and are afraid of what others might think, Lord, give them a spine of steel.
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Lord, give them confidence that comes from your Holy Spirit and your word.
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And for others of us in this room, Lord, who don't know who to choose, who are still unsure about Jesus, Lord, I pray that you would show them the reality of what Christ has done.
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And for the very first time, they would place their faith and trust in him alone for salvation.
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Lord, you are great, you are glorious.
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Let us never stay silent.
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Let us always stand for the truth.
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We ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Kings 18:1-46
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why can’t our faith be just private and not public?
How do you see yourself struggling with the fear of man right now and how is it negatively affecting you?
Who is the Lord calling you to honestly share the truth with right now?
Why don’t we talk about God, His Word, and the good news of Jesus as often as we should?
Breakout
Pray for one another.