Elijah Part 4: Dear Children, Keep Yourself From Idols

Elijah Part 4: Dear Children, Keep Yourself From Idols

Today we find ourselves in 1 Kings chapter 18 at perhaps one of the most famous confrontations that you’ll find anywhere in the Old Testament: Elijah’s showdown between him and the 450 prophets of Baal.

You will recall that Elijah was commissioned by God to tell King Ahab that there would be no rain until Elijah said the word. That was three years ago. In the meantime, God has looked after Elijah, feeding him through ravens in a ravine, and then taking him to a widow who lived in the land of the Sidonians, outside of Israel. During that time, Ahab has organised an enormous but unsuccessful man-hunt to find, Elijah, because he needed Elijah to end the drought. And then, one day, Elijah just turned up and announced that he wanted to speak to Ahab because he wanted to confront Israel because it had abandoned the God of Abraham of Isaac and Jacob and followed Baal instead.

The story is very dramatic; we hold our breath as we listen to the ebb and flow of the narrative that ultimately leads to the demise of the prophets of Baal as God demonstrates in the most spectacular of ways, that He is God. We sit back and we reflect on those foolish Israelites – how could they be so stupid as to abandon the God who brought them out of Egypt, who brought down the walls of Jericho and who descended in glory onto the temple that Solomon had built for Him, in full view of all the people of Jerusalem?

And then we realise that this story speaks into our own lives too. Our idols may not be made of stone, but they are just as powerful and draw us away from God, our creator. Our idols, the things that we pursue above God, are maybe more subtle, but they have the same effect because they replace God and call us to serve them instead. 

This is a powerful message that speaks to the problem of humanity: we want something other than God to be our god. Elijah’s confrontation with the prophets of Baal give us the chance to reflect on the extent to which we honour the first commandment in our own lives: “You shall have no gods before me.”

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Today we find ourselves in 1 Kings chapter 18, perhaps one of the most famous confrontations that you'll find anywhere in the Old Testament. Elijah's showdown between himself and the 450 prophets of Baal. You will recall that Elijah was commissioned by God to tell King Ahab that there would be no rain until he said the word. That was three years ago. In the meantime, God has looked after Elijah, feeding him through ravens in a ravine and then taking him to a widow who lived in the land of the Sidonians outside of Israel. During that time, Ahab has organized an enormous but unsuccessful manhunt to find Elijah. Because he needed him to end the drought. And then one day, Elijah just turned up and announced that he wanted to speak to Abab because he wants to confront Israel, as it had abandoned the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and Jacob, and follow Baal instead. The story is very dramatic. We hold our breath as we listen to the ebb and flow of the narrative that ultimately leads to the demise of the prophets of Baal, as God demonstrates in the most spectacular ways that he is indeed God. We sit back and we reflect on those foolish Israelites. How could they be so stupid as to abandon the God who brought them out of Egypt, who brought down the walls of Jericho, and who descended in glory into the temple that Solomon had built for him, in full view of all the people of Jerusalem? And then we realise that this story speaks into our own lives too. Our idols may not be made of stone, but they are just as powerful and draw us away from God, our Creator. Our idols, the things that we pursue above God, are maybe more subtle, but they have the same effect because they replace God and call us to serve them instead. This is a powerful message that speaks to the problem of humanity. We want something other than God to be our God. Elijah's confrontation with the prophets of Baal give us the chance to reflect on the extent to which we honour the first commandment in our own lives. You shall have no gods before me. Let's listen to Dean.

SPEAKER_00 2:23

This is it, this is the showdown. The setting has been has been set. It's come to this, the moment that we've been waiting for. We've looked to, as Elijah's gone to King Ahab and he's challenged him, he's stopped the rain for a number of years, and now it's come to this point. Elijah's been hunted during all that time. They've tried to find him to try and turn the water back on, but they've failed. And so finally he comes to face the king and to confront all that he stands for. This king has instituted the worship of Baal, the god of life, the god of fertility, the god of thunder, and lightning is a god of all sorts of things, but he's been unable to bring life or fertility or rains from the thunders or lightning from heaven. And so they've hunted him, but they haven't been able to find him, and now he comes. And we find this in 1 Kings chapter 18. He comes to finally face the gods down, to face Ahab down, and to truly point to the one true God. We read it, it starts in 1 Kings chapter 18, where it says, after a long time. Oh, sorry, I've got on to Paul, we can get up to get to the right point. But it says, after a long time, he comes to the word of the Lord comes to Elijah, go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land. And so he goes to present himself to Ahab. As he comes to him, a man called Obadiah, not the guy who wrote the book of the Bible, but another one who's walking alone and he meets him. Obadiah recognized him, he bows down to the ground and says, Is it really you, my lord Elijah? This Obadiah is an interesting character. He doesn't get much airtime in the Bible, but he is someone who's been faithful to God this entire time. He's taken prophets who have been hunted down, of the prophets of the Lord, and hid them in a cave, and he's fed them with water and bread each day to sustain them. They're no mean feat. All the while balancing this act of working for King Ahab, who sent him out and to search for Elijah as he did. And as he sends out all these people to search for Elijah, they have to come back and report if they found him. And many of them over this time have done that, and they've said we can't find him. And Ahab starts to get suspicious, and he says, I want you to swear to me that you haven't found them. They will have to swear this oath, we have not seen Elijah. Um, that we're not we're not hiding him from you, that if we'd found him, we would have brought him to you. And he sees Elijah and he bows down and says, Is it really you? Wow, I can't believe I finally found you. But now he's torn, he's a man who's faithful, he doesn't want to hand Elijah over. And so Elijah says, Yes, he replied, Go tell your master Elijah is here. What have I done wrong, ask Obadiah? That you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death. It's a strong response, but hopefully you can start to see why it might be so strong. If I go to Ahab and say, Oh, I spotted Elijah, and Ahab goes, Well, where is he? And I say, Well, I left him out there. Ahab's going to kill me. If I see you, I'm meant to bring you to him. I'm not meant to leave you where you are. I'll be put to death if I go with this report and don't have you with me. Elijah replies, as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today. Hobadia thinks that he says, The Spirit will take you away. You're good at hide and seek. We know this. We haven't been able to find you for years. The God will take you away and hide you. And Ahab and Elijah says, No, not this time. This time I will present myself to the king. And so that's exactly what he does. He presents himself to the king, and we're told that he goes to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah, and when he saw Elijah, he said to them, Is that you, you traveler of Israel? And so he replies, I've not made trouble for Israel. But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the Lord's command and have followed the bales. You have followed this God who demands that you sacrifice children to bring the rain. You have followed this God who demands blood sacrifice in order that he might work on your behalf. And you've allowed this to rain, this cruelty, this brutality, this genocide, these young children's lives being taken in the name of your God. You're the one who has brought trouble on this nation. Our God turned off the water so that you would turn back to him. We are not creating trouble. We are announcing that you cannot continue in this way. Death is the only result of the way that you are going. And so now he says, Summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel and bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah. They never actually make it if you read on, but he asked them to come who eat at Jezebel's table. Little hint there, they eat at Jezebel's table. All the while that the people have been suffering and starving, these prophets have had this nice little circle where they have been well fed and cared for. They have had food provided for them. Jezebel has made sure that these people have been sustained. Well, all those people out there died, they have been provided for. What's more, if you think about it, they've been taking these children, sacrificing them all the while they're being well fed. So people are starving. They're giving up their children to hopefully solve the situation, only bringing further death into their families. All the while that they're sat in luxury, well cared for, eating at Jezebel's table, provided for. It's a real horrific sort of exploiting of the situation and then adding further pain and suffering into it. So he demands to stand in front of these, a showdown with them. So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him, but if Baal is God, follow him. I don't know why Ahab allows this. Perhaps it's because he can get rid of Elijah, but he might make a martyr out of him. But if he can get rid of Elijah and expose his God, then he deals with the whole problem. So he comes and agrees to this showdown and they meet with him. And Elijah gives this challenge. If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal is God, then follow him. Don't jump back and forth, but that's the word is hover or waver, but it's sort of jumping back of it, one foot in, one foot out, going back and forth. It's the same word that gets used later when they dance around the altar. They're jumping from one foot to the other, back and forth between one option and another. He says, if God is God, then serve him. But if these other things are, it's not a problem, serve them. The choice is simple. Just don't serve a false God. He goes on, and the people, they say nothing. No response. But they do agree, and so Elijah says, Here's what we're going to do. I'm the only one of the Lord's prophets left, but Baal has 450 prophets. So it's one versus 450. This should be easy, Ahab thinks. 450 for one man. He doesn't look much, he's not eaten well, he's he's he's he's a small man in his eyes. 450 should be able to topple him. So he says, get two bulls and let Baal's prophet choose one for themselves. They get first pick, choose the one that looks the most flammable, and then cut them into pieces and put them in on the wood, but do not set fire to it. So they get the bull and they put it on the wood. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood and not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your God, and I will call on the name of the Lord, the God who answers by fire, he is God. This is the challenge. Remember, Baal is the god of lightning and thunder. So it's it the balls in his court. If he can't provide fire, then who can? It's like saying the God Poseidon, if he can create a wave, then he's God. Or the God Aphrodite, if he can make someone fall in love. This is his home turf. Mount Carmel is his home turf. Elijah's made it as easy as possible for Baal to act, as easy as possible for him to prove that he is God. You choose the bull, you we're on your home turf, we're in your home stadium, you get to call on your God and let him do the thing that he does best, and then if he does it, then we will prove that he is God. And so this is the setting. It's all very dramatic, it's all built up to this. But the whole point of it is that Elijah is going to expose idolatry and establish that there is one God who we can know and we can serve. And just like in Elijah's day, that contest, that ancient contest that goes back to the very first story we have in our Bibles, still affects the daily decisions that we make today. There's a book in the Bible, One John. Um sorry, it's not on there. Let me go back. Um, in One John, it's a great book if you want to read it. It's got the wonderful lines like God is love, these wonderful things that we hold to be true, the lines that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness. It's the book that gives us we love because he first loved us. These wonderful sentiments and ideas that we hold and treasure. And the very last line of that book, 1 John 5.21, says this. He's ending the book with this. Dear children, that's not how you end a letter, that's how you start a letter, but he ends it. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. After all these wonderful things he says, the thing he wants ringing in their ears as he leaves, almost like an unfinished thought, but this is the last line. Dear children, keep yourselves from idols. Idolatry. It's the very heart of the human problem. Some people say pride is is the root, but pride comes from this. The idolatry, it's this place where we come to, where we say, I don't want God to be God. I want someone else or myself, but I want someone or something else to be God. I want someone or something else to take charge, to be the thing that I give my allegiance to, the thing I look to for security and safety, the thing that directs my paths and gives me meaning, the thing that gives me joy and happiness. I'm going to put my weight and my trust and my faith in this rather than God. It's a very simple idea, but the the outcome of it or the symptoms of it are all around us. You shall have no other gods before me. It's the very first rule in the Ten Commandments. Martin Luther said that you don't break any other command before without breaking that one. That you don't lie without first making something else a God. See, when you lie, you lie to protect yourself, to protect your reputation, to make yourself look good. That means that you are now God. And you are lying to protect your God, yourself. You're making up things so that the reputation or the glory of your God is on it. See, you can't lie without breaking the first command. You can't steal. So you steal, you're saying, I need something, that belongs to me, it doesn't belong to you, I deserve it. I it I'm worthy of this. So I'm taking it for myself. You've made yourself God. And so you take something and give it to yourself because you are worthy of all things that people can have or that they shouldn't have. Murder. I am worthy of deciding who lives and who dies. I have the right judgment, I have the mindset, I'm able to do this again. You see, everything that we do comes from a place of I am God, I've put myself in the place where I am on the throne. Or perhaps something else. Sometimes it is ourselves, sometimes it's other things. This thing is the thing that will give me meaning. Whether it be jobs or homes or hobbies or I don't know, activities that we do. Money's a famous one, sex is another one, power is another, these things that we say, this is where life is found. This is where joy and meaning and connection is found. And I will do everything to get this. I will sacrifice everything to get this. I will sacrifice good things, things that I'm meant to be doing to have this, because this is most important. And Ida, was anything in your life more important than God? It can be a bad thing, things that destroy us and hurt us, but it can also be good things that turn into ultimate things. A family, a career, anything that captures our heart. These are good gifts, don't get me wrong, all these blessings, they are good things that God gives us to enjoy, but they aren't things given that we would worship them. And there is there is a subtle shift that takes place where something good that we enjoy and savour and give thanks to God because we have it, to something that we say, I must have this, because this is my security. It's back to Elijah with the ravens. That it isn't the ravens who provide for Elijah, it's God who provides for Elijah through the ravens. It's not our homes that shelter us, it's God who shelters us through our homes. And that's the distinction. When we make the good thing ultimate, that becomes our security. If I don't have this, then I'm done for. But those who worship God say, if I don't have this, then God will provide through another means. Because I worship Him. It's those of us who perhaps more subtly, we wouldn't ever say these things out loud, but we'd say, Jesus, you are a pretty decent guy, I'll give you that. But you aren't giving me everything I want in order for me to really, really enjoy life, and I wonder if you really love me. So I'm gonna add this thing to my life because it offers what I'm not getting from you. The danger of this is that false gods will fail eventually but demand consistently. The story goes on. Oh, sorry, that's an illustration of what it might look like. It's one of these things you can scribble on a napkin. The first is self on the throne, and all the things in your life that they're disordered and chaotic. They're things that are important that shouldn't be, things that aren't important that should, that our life is disordered. The other is when God takes the throne, we are not on the throne, he is. And when we do that, then these things fall into place. They become good and wonderful gifts of God, blessings and responsibilities he has entrusted us with. But they have their right place. In this story, we see that they've done it in a very obvious way with Baal. The thing that it talks about in Romans, that they exchange the truth of God for a lie and worship and serve created things rather than the creator. Things that they've made, this Baal God that they've created, they make this thing and they worship that. Romans says this is the heart of the problem. This is the very first, going back to the very beginning, this is what we did. We say, God, we want we want this, but we don't want you. We want your gifts, but we don't want you. We want we want to have all these things, but not you who is the source of all these things. And it's not that God folds his arms and goes, well, fine. If you don't want me, then I don't want you either. It's that we are not created to live in this way. Life does not work in this way. We are created for God to be king, for him to be on the throne, and us to be his children who love and worship and serve him. And when we don't, it's not that God gets in a huff about it, it's that he says there is only death outside of this. If I'm the source of life, then you can run to these things, but there's no life in them. If I'm the source of everything that is good, then you can run to these things, but they will dry up, they will shrivel, they will, and they will keep demanding of you. And so we read that in the story here that Elijah, they say he comes, says, Come here, and they come to him. Sorry, I missed a bit of nine. Let me go back. Sorry, Paul, would you be able to take us back? The Baals that they they come and they they start crying out to God. They call on their baal, they call on him to come down and set fire to their altar. And he's silent, there's no response. So it says they start to dance around and they start to shout and they they call out from morning till noon. A long time they keep going and going, answer us, but there's no response. No one answers. See, this false God doesn't give anything, but he demands more. So they dance around even more, and at noon Elijah begins to taunt them. He says, Surely he is God. Perhaps he is deep in thought or busy or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened. Uh it's our very middle class translation. The word busy there is in the Hebrew, is maybe he is relieving himself. Maybe he's on the toilet. Maybe you've caught him, he's been caught short. You see some of that, I love it because you see some of the personality of Elijah. He starts teasing them. Maybe he's fallen asleep. Come on, be a bit louder. Shout, this God, he needs a bit more, he needs a bit more for you to serve him. Keep dancing, and so they keep going. They shouted, they slashed themselves with swords. Maybe he needs blood and spears. There's their custom. Blood is flowing, and they keep their frantic prophesying. He demands more and more and more. Eventually, if they'd been allowed to continue, perhaps they would have got some children and started sacrificing them. And while we look at that and we are repulsed, this is the truth every single idol. It asks and asks, but never gives. It demands and it demands. You have to do more. If money is your God, you have to work and work, and it will keep demanding and keep demanding, and it will never provide you joy and peace that you look for. And if you don't find out the truth of that, ask people who have money. Because they say uh it doesn't. It provides some level of lifestyle, but it doesn't provide meaning and purpose. Relationships, if you demand too much of another person, they cannot, they cannot complete you. I know um, what's it, Tom Cruise said that, that you complete me, this that you are my my other half, that you are the one that I need. They cannot do that. No human being can do that, they're not strong enough. And if you put that weight on them, you crush them. But you feel like you've got to, it's this idea we keep going to these things and they keep demanding, and eventually they take everything but give us nothing. And Baal is no different. And our idols, however they may look today, as obvious or subtle as they may be, they do the same for us. They keep taking and they keep taking and they never give us what we wouldn't what we need. God comes to show them something different, so there's no response, it says no one answered, no one paid attention, there was nothing there. Elijah's made it as easy as possible for their God to show himself. I'm gonna have to jump ahead, Paul, to the next bit. Because what Elijah does is he then takes the stage. He says to the people, Come here to me, and they come to him. He repairs an altar, so there must have been an altar there at some point, but it's been torn down because God has been rejected. He rebuilds it. He then takes twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, Your name shall be Israel. He reminds them of their identity. This is who you are, this is who you were made to be. You weren't made to worship these gods, there was no life in them. You were made to be his child, you were made to be his family, you were made to be his people, he named you. You are him, this is your identity. Remember who you are. Remember who you were made to be, you are image bearers of God, of Yahweh, not of Baal. As good and grand and glorious as he may sound, you weren't made in his image, you were made in the image of the one living God. And so he takes the stone and he builds an altar in the name of the Lord. And then he goes a bit further. He digs a trench around it, large enough to hold two sears of seed, and he arranges the wood, he cuts the ball to pieces and lays it on the wood. Then he says to them, fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering. And on the wood, there's our water blown. Pour it, pour it on the wood, four large jars. Then he says, Do it again. And then he did it again. Then he says, Do it a third time. Anyone do the mass? Three times four. Back to twelve again. There's twelve again. This is your identity, this is who you are. These twelve tribes were gonna soak this thing. The water runs down the altar and fills the trent. This is as easy as I've made it for Baal. Now I'm gonna make it as hard as possible for God to show himself. And at the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and he prayed. Didn't dance, didn't slash himself, didn't shout, he prays, Lord the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord. Answer me so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again. Nothing more, nothing less, a simple request, Lord, would you would you do and show yourself that these people might know that you are God? And then the fire of the Lord fell and burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the soil, and also licked up the water in this drink. God sets fire to the water, it all burns up. There's nothing left. And when the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, The Lord, He is God. The Lord. He is God. God has proven Himself. He has shown that He is the one true God. That these idols are nothing but that He is the one who will provide. And so He does so. They see the prophets of Baal, they don't let any get away, and they bring them to the Kishon Valley and they are slaughtered there. Now I know that's for our modern sensibilities that you think, well, that feels a bit unfair. That's that's a bit extreme. Remember, this is a time with no police force, no jurisdiction, no, no courts or anything for people to be trialed. One writer, one scholar put it a bit like this: when the Nazi Germany fell, those closest in that inner circle were tried in the Nuremberg trials, some of them sentenced to death. These are dangerous people who have ended the lives of countless others and innocent lives. And so this is the justice of God falling on them for what they've done, for the harm that they've inflicted and would go on to inflict, whether they would continue. Now I know we would say, well, there needs to be a trial and things. Remember, these things don't exist. This is a brutal time where this is necessary to stop this spread, this idea, this teaching from going on and more innocent lives being taken. And then he says, Go eat and drink. And then there is the sound of heavy rain. God has proven himself, and Baal has finally been brought down, and the nation is saved and they are brought back. People turn back and their hearts are brought back to God. God who exposes the idols. And that's what happens to all of our idols in the end. They get exposed. All the things that we put our weight on, all the things that we lean on, eventually they come to nothing. They show themselves what they are, unable to save, unable to provide. We call on them and there's nothing. But when they fall, as they inevitably do, whether you're a believer or not, all idols will fail you. But here we see that God offers something different. In that moment, as they fall and as they fail us, God comes and says, I will give you back your identity. I will give you back your priorities. I will restore and rebuild the things that you have lost, the things that you need to put back into your life that you may be whole again, to rebuild the altars that have been destroyed. For some of us, it's the altar of daily worship or the altar of obedience, the altar of trust, these simple things that we do, not because they are the main thing, but they're the altars we build that we ask God to set fire to. These little practices, these bits of wood that we build up thinking, is this enough? This daily time where I bring myself to God, me, me searching his word, me praying to him, me gathering with others, all these little things that we think, is there anything in this? They're all bits of wood. If we allow them to be stacked, God will set fire to and reveal himself in them. A God who establishes our identity, who says who we are and calls us by name, tells us how he has made us and how he formed us, that you are my child who I love. And because of what I've done for you in you, I'm pleased that you are not someone else's, that you you're not made to run after these things, you are made to know and walk with me. And these idols have twisted you and turned you and made you into less than what I made you. But I want you to be, in the words of what of John, born again, a new creation, where you are, where I am on the throne because that's where I am meant to be, and you aren't because you were never meant to be. That weight was always too great for you. And now, as you live for me, while they put to death those who had propagate these teachings, now we are called to put sin to death. Strong language the New Testament uses that it says, kill sin or it will kill you. Kill these things that are going to demand everything and give you nothing because they will put you down. You need to learn to give it to God, who gives everything that we need. And it starts with a very simple, doesn't start with anything extravagant, it starts with God, answer me so that I can know you that you are Lord and turn my heart back to you. God isn't calling on you to impress him, he's calling on you simply to return to him. Because only the true God answers with fire, and only the true God answers with grace. Elijah prays a simple prayer, no frenzy, no self-harm. But his prayer, if you remember, is that the people will know that you are God and that you are turning their hearts back again. See, this whole thing, although it's a grand show and a great display of God's glory, it isn't really about the fire. God isn't showing the fire to flex his muscles and show there, see, showed you who's boss. He does it so that their hearts would be turned back to him. He does it to recapture them because of his love for them. He wants your heart, not your attendance, not your traditions, not your Sunday mornings, but your heart. He wants you to return to him. And if you notice at the end of the story there, after the fire falls, after their hearts are turned back, then the rain begins to fall. God answers with fire, but he also answers with rain. He answers with power, but he also answers with grace. The goal here, although I've set it up in that way, wasn't just to win a contest, it was to pour out his grace on people who needed it. It was to bring his refreshing and his healing and his restoration to a world that was parched, thirsty, hungry. That's always God's goal. Not to show himself, to show off. We're told that about Jesus. Although he was God, he didn't use his godness to his advantage. But he becomes humble, luring himself to a man more than that, to obedience, more than that to death, more than that to death on a cross, so that he would capture our hearts and bring them back. This is what God longs for. Their hearts would turn back to him because we are made for him, and we are not satisfied until we find him. And so we find ourselves standing at that crossroads. How long will you waver? There are things that you are following, things that you have made center that's that aren't giving you anything. They're demanding everything, but they're giving you nothing. How long will you be satisfied with your comfort? Maybe you are, maybe you're getting something from it, like Jezebel's prophets at the table, you're getting a bit of security. Money can do wonderful things and take you to wonderful places, but it can't give you what you really want. Power can give you great things, influence and impact and legacy, but it can't give you what you really want. Nothing can. It's unable to, it doesn't have it in it. But we will waver until we finally realize that truth and then come back to God. Are you trying to serve God and fill in the blank? If you don't want to know what the blank is, there are a few ways that you can you can work it out. You can ask yourself the question I want more than anything, I need I'm taking refuge in, I fear, and whatever comes to mind maybe a hint of a thing that's demanding everything but giving nothing. When you put God in that place, you realize that you don't have to build up your God. And that's the truth of all scripture, a God that you have to build up, a God that you have to sustain, a God that you have to work for and give everything for because he's nothing without you, is no God. What we discover is that the God that we follow, the one true God, he doesn't need you to dance, doesn't need you to scream louder, doesn't need you to bleed, because he has come and he bled for you. Doesn't need you to give him anything, he will come and give everything for you. He doesn't need sacrifices, he becomes the sacrifice for you. And he does so that now as he calls you, he's calling for your heart. He comes to show you his lavish love, that your heart would be turned back to him, that you might cry out, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. And when we give to him and when we serve him, we do so not because we have to bolster him or build him up, but because he has captured our hearts. And it's now not us trying to serve or give him anything. We just we are his. I'm not trying to offer him anything anymore. I am his. My whole life is a living sacrifice, but it's not a sacrifice that pays for anything, it's a sacrifice of thanksgiving and praise. A sacrifice that says, You are worthy of all that I am. I see it, you are on the throne, you are Lord, and I am not. And it's a way of saying it with my lips and with my life and with my choices. My heart is his. That's the desire, and that's what is accomplished by Elijah. But his story doesn't end. We'll continue it in a couple of weeks' time as God continues to deal with God's people, to continue to restore them because the work isn't fully done, although it's a great crescendo. There is still more. And it's true for us. There is a point where we say, Lord, you are God. But then there is still a work to do. There are idols that cling on. There are voices. I've shared it before. I know what missionary, um, when they came back from some of their work, they were talking to people and they were telling about the people's houses there, the huts that they lived in. And in each hut, there was a little room, and in the room, there's sort of a little shrine, a box where uh something was placed, an idol, and it was lit up with little candles, so like this glowing box in the room, and they'd come to this thing and they'd ask it for wisdom and guidance, and they'd ask it to provide rain and sustenance, and they'd turn to this thing, a thing that they'd made with their own hands, and they're looking for it to provide life, and it never provided, but it demanded and demanded and told them what to do and told them where to go, but it was destroying them, and they said they watched this, and then they came home and they went to their living room, and in the corner of the living room was a little box that glowed, and little faces appeared on it, and it spoke and told them what to think and what to believe and how to live, and it and it demanded and demanded and told them this is what you should worry about, and this is how you should live, and this is what you want, and this is what will give you happiness, and this is what will provide. We all have it. That's that's the subtlety of idolatry that you think about ancient practices and and and paganism and all that sort of thing. No, it's far more subtle. It's the little voices each day that says, This will give you what you want, this will make you happy, this will provide, this will make you full and whole, this will make you beautiful and wonderful, this will make people love you, this will make you everything you wanted to be. It offers everything, provides nothing, but keeps demanding and demanding and demanding. And it is no way to live. It only results in death, it only results in us dancing harder, cutting ourselves deeper to try and get what it can never provide. And God says, I will do that for you. I will cut myself, I will give myself, I will sacrifice myself, I will lay down everything so that you will know my heart and that I might have your heart. And when you have that, you will know that all these things they are wonderful gifts. Again, don't get me wrong. Blessings of God, most of them. Things that God has provided to sustain us and provide and work through us, but they are not God's. They are worthless in that sense. They cannot do what we want them to. But in their right place, when he is on the throne, all these things fall into place. All these things, career becomes a wonderful responsibility God has entrusted me with. Work becomes something that I do to the glory of God. Family becomes a blessing that God has provided for love and companionship and fruitfulness and joy. Hobbies become blessings, trivial things that just there for us enjoyment. There's a wonderful verse that says, God has given us all these things for our enjoyment. To enjoy, just to enjoy it. Taste and flavor, food, all these things, they all fall into place and you go, oh, now it feels this is how it was meant to be. These aren't they aren't demanding, they aren't pulling my heart, they're in their right place because God is in his right place. And so that's the challenge of today. It's Elijah's words. How long will you waver between the two? Because one offers you everything and provides nothing, one gives everything and says, even once I've given everything, then everything else becomes better. Everything else falls into place. How long will you hover between the two? I can't highlight your idol, the Holy Spirit will do that. He will point and show you what it is that's weighing too heavily, that that's too much control you've given it, too much power, too much influence. You need to let it go. And in its place, rebuild the altar. Relearn your identity, that you might give to God what is His and receive from Him everything you've ever needed. Let's just pause and be still with that thought, shall we? As we close. Father, we just take a moment to pause and to ask ourselves that that examining question, God, what is it that I'm really serving? Who is it that I am I'm serving as God? Not just with my words, but with my choices, my trust, my time, my heart? Where is it that I run for refuge? What is it that gives meaning and purpose to my life? As we consider these things today, Father, would you show us where our hope has been put in a false God? In a voice or in something that we thought would come through for us but won't ever come through. Something that we thought would provide, but could never provide. Something we thought would give us all that we wanted, but has fallen short and been silent again and again and again. And as that thing comes to mind, as it is exposed before us, Lord, we just want to walk away from it. We want to leave it. We don't we don't want it to take that place. We want to dethrone it and put you on the throne of our lives. Today that invitation is clear. Return to you. You who provides all that we need. We thank you, God, that that fire doesn't falls for to show your power, but that the rain falls to show your grace. We thank you, God, that we don't we don't provide, you provide. We don't have to sacrifice, you are the sacrifice. We don't have to bleed. You bled for us. In this moment, we don't need to perform or prove anything. We just, like Elijah, we we whisper that prayer. Father, may we know that you are God, and may our hearts return to you. The Lord, he is God. The Lord, He is God. So we come to you, Lord. Who else could we go to? You alone have the word of eternal life. You alone have power and grace in abundance. You alone have demonstrated your love once and for all. You alone call us by name, know everything about us, and yet still move towards us in love. You alone can provide. And so we turn our hearts back to you, Lord. As we go, continue to expose the idols, the voices that creep in, promising everything and delivering nothing. And continue, Father, to open our eyes to see that you are the God who does what is impossible. Not setting fire to wet wood, that's amazing. But changing hearts, that is a miracle. Turning hearts that have gone hard, returning hearts that have got angry, returning hearts that have gone cold. Bringing them back to life, that is your greatest miracle, Lord. We pray that you'd be doing that now as we turn to you. We thank you, Lord, that you are on the throne. We thank you that we can kneel before you not in terror, but in awe and wonder, in gratitude and in praise, in joy and in delight. You alone are worthy of the throne. Take your place, Lord Jesus. In our hearts, in our lives, take your place. You are King, and we are not. May we live out the truth of that. In our words and our actions and our choices. The Lord He is God. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 40:21

We hope that you've enjoyed listening to Dean's thoughts today. If anything that he has said has challenged you or raised questions that you'd like answers to, please don't hesitate to contact us and ask for a chat. You can find our details on our website, which is leobc.co.uk, as well as on the information that we have posted with this podcast. Alternatively, if you live in our area, you're very welcome to join us on Sunday morning at 10 30 to hear things first hand. We'd love to see you there.