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1 Kings 18 (Part 2) Bible Study (The Prophets of Baal Defeated) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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First Kings Chapter 18 is the chapter of our focus tonight.
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We already started exploring this chapter, and I have to say
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from the outset that this is a challenging chapter.
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Not necessarily because of finding the interpretation of
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such things or seeing how it harmonizes with the rest of the
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Scriptures, but because there are so many gems and jewels in
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it that I just found myself going back and forth and trying
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to determine where to end the study tonight.
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But also wrestling with the fact that there is a beauty that you
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capture when you do cover a larger scale of a context of a
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certain truth. And so we're just going to see
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where we're going to land tonight based on time and where
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we do meditate and stop on. But for now, let us read
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beginning in verse 20, the first few verses of this section.
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And as our brother prayed, no matter how you came in today and
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no matter what the message is, because this is the word of God,
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you will be strengthened. You will be strengthened.
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Verse 20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered
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the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
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And Elijah came near to all the people, and said, How long will
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you go limping between two different opinions?
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If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him.
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And the people did not answer him a word.
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Then Elijah said to the people, I even I only am left a prophet
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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
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themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood,
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and be and put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other
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bull, and lay it on the wood, and put no fire to it.
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And you call upon the name of your God, and I will call upon
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the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire.
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He is God, and all the people answered.
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It is well spoken. Father, help us with this
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passage. Help us with the rest of this
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chapter enlightened our hearts and our minds.
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Lord, draw us closer to You and an intimate level.
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Help us be conformed to the image of Your Son.
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May we glean with Your guidance all that You have intended to
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say through this preserved holy account and redemptive history.
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We look to You as our teacher and we trust in the promised
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anointing. That resides in each of us.
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In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
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If you were here last week, you know that we closed on the
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thought of a powerful confrontation between
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righteousness and evil, between a remnant and apostasy.
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But not just a confrontation. We closed at a challenge that
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would prove to be one of the greatest contest that human
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history has ever known. And the place and the parties
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that are involved in this incredible event are laid out
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for us in verse 19. Look at it very quickly with me,
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it says in verse 19. Now, therefore, send and gather
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all Israel to me at Mount Carmel and the 450 prophets of Bale and
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the 400 prophets of Ashra who eat at Jezebel's table.
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So the stage of this contest will be Mount Carmel.
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The audience will be the nation of Israel.
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Elijah will stand singularly representing the true and living
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God, and there will be 850 men representing Bale and Ashra.
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And it's important to realize that Elijah calling for this
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challenge is not something that he conjured up himself.
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This is not him emotionally or even cleverly producing
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something hoping that God is going to come through for His
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servant. No, no, no, no, no.
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We have to realize from the beginning that all of this is
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God's idea. And that's proven near the end
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of this chapter, which we should look at so that we can frame and
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understand Elijah's words and actions appropriately.
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Look at verse 36 of First Kings 18.
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It says here and at the time of the offering of the oblation,
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Elijah the prophet came near and said, Oh Lord God of Abraham,
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Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God
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in Israel and that I am your servant.
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Pay attention to this last part and that I have done all these
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things at your word. So challenging Ahab, challenging
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the prophets, the way he's going to organize this showdown is
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coming from heaven. It's coming from the mind of
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God. This is something that is not
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given to us as a record, but Elijah indicates that the Lord
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spoke to his servant says this is what I want you to do at this
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point. Now why is that important to
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understand for many reasons and for something that you and I
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have already established in our study of this man, Elijah, this
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man steadfastly submitted to the will of God, no matter what the
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call was from God. Elijah joyfully, cheerfully,
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completely complied. So if God told Elijah, I want
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you to leave the boundaries of the promised land, and I want
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you to minister to a widow and her son, they're going to take
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care of you, but I'm going to also do something through you to
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them, and you're going to reside in that house.
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Elijah did it. And if God said Elijah, now I
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want you to preach and to be the conduit through which I'm going
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to manifest my power before royalty, before a false
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religious system and an entire nation, Elijah is going to do
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it. And what we have to understand
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here again is the same theme in our study concerning this man at
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this point. God is worthy of our obedience,
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no matter the circumstance or the context that calls for
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obedience. And so that's being reinforced
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right here in the beginning. But there are so many more
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observations in this text. Look at verse 20 once again.
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So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the
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prophets together at Mount Carmel.
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Makes you wonder why Ahab would give in to this.
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He's the king. Perhaps he feels as though this
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is going to be to his advantage. I mean, numerically it makes
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sense. You want hundreds of my
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prophets, and there's only one of you.
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All right, let's do this. But then we see here also that
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Elijah came near to all the people.
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So he doesn't confront the false prophets.
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He didn't even confront Ahab. Immediately he deals with the
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nation of Israel that are standing on that platform.
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And this is what he says to them.
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How long will you go limping between two different opinions?
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And So what is he doing here? He's highlighting the poor
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condition, the spiritual state of this nation and it's a class
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pay attention to this that unfortunately many have
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comfortably enrolled themselves in and how Elijah phrases is
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this limping between two different opinions.
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So here you have Elijah who's totally sold out for the Lord.
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Then you have Ahab and his priests and prophets that are
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anti Yahweh. And then you have something in
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the middle. You have the Israelites who are
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limping between two different opinions.
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What does that mean to limp between two different opinions?
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While the same word limp is used in the very same context and the
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way it's used in the other place gives us an indication.
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So look at verse 26. This is when the false prophets
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of Bale are trying to convince Bale to answer their cry.
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Verse 26, it says here, and they took the bull that was giving
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them, and they prayed and they prepared it rather, and called
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upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, Oh
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BA, I'll answer us. But there was no voice and no
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one answered. And they limped around the altar
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that they had made. It's the same word being used.
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They limped. The concept of limping can apply
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movement, simple movement from one place to another.
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In fact, the original word there for this word limp in the Hebrew
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is actually to Passover. So movement from one location to
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the next, that's part of it. But when you look at limping
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more carefully here, it can also signify instability.
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So it's not just movement, it's a certain way of movement.
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There's an unsteadiness when somebody limps, right when one
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of their legs or both of their legs or their hips are bad, they
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wobble. Their feet are not as planted.
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And so when you see them limping around the altar, the imagery
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that you have here is that they're doing some kind of
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awkward motion. They're they're perhaps it's
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some sacred in their minds, dance.
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This is intentional. They're limping maybe out of
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exhaustion, maybe, again, this might be by design, but they're
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limping in a way in which it's showing limited movement, so to
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speak. And that's precisely what
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Elijah's trying to convey when he challenges Israel.
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He's not concerned about their movement from geographical
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location to geographical location.
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He's concerned about their movement of spiritual devotion.
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So how long are you going to pass over from one to the other
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and revisit it? How long are you check this out
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going to be content in your instability spiritually?
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How long are you going to justify you planting yourself
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somewhere that is not stable? You're unstable, actually.
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And for him to ask it in this way, how long means that they've
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been doing this for a while, and I only have been, they've been
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doing this for a while. They've been doing it without
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being disturbed by it. There's a level of
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comfortability here to remain in that kind of a condition.
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And so it is today. You have many, unfortunately,
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today who are juggling worldliness while trying to
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grasp onto godliness. And they can do so for
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protracted, uninterrupted periods of time and never be
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disturbed by it. And the fact that he says how
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long? Also remind should remind the
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people that you are willing to live like this.
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One day for Bill, one day for the Lord, mixing it up here and
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there. You're willing to do this and
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you haven't registered yet that this abnormal 3 year plague that
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you're enduring is a direct consequence to your limping.
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And so you have people, unfortunately, who fit that
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category. And the Bible here gives us a
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clue to how this kind of class of carnal compromise,
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Christianity must be dealt with. And it must be dealt with.
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There are different ways, but through Elijah, a messenger who
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lives the real thing and is willing to disturb with the
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truth those who are comfortable in that place.
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And how do we, how do we translate what Elijah is saying
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to these people? If your devotion to God is not
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wholehearted, it is worthless. Worthless.
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Worthless, Yes, worthless. God is not in heaven desperate
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for something from us. He either wants it all or he
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doesn't want anything. That's how God operates.
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That's how the economy of faith in God's Kingdom works.
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And there are so many places in Scripture.
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Whether that be. Didactically or by example or
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illustration of that truth being something that God demands of
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us? Wholehearted or nothing,
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Complete or nothing. And I had my reading this week
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in Second Chronicles and I came to one example that we can add
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to our filing. About how God truly wants
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wholehearted devotion more than anything else.
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I want you to see it with your eyes.
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And by the way, we're not going to be cross cross referencing a
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lot in this chapter. There's just so much here
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already. And time does not suffice for us
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to do that, but we will do it. At this point.
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Look at Second Chronicles 19. Here's what Jehu, a prophet,
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says and testifies about Jehoshaphat.
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This is another king. And I want you to see in verse
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three of Second Chronicles 19 what this prophet says about the
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spiritual condition of this king.
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Verse three he says, nevertheless some good is found
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in you, for you destroy the ashroth out of the land, and
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have set your heart to seek God. Hold on, what?
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Can be better than a leader with this people in their history who
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has determined to clean the land of idolatry and not just do that
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but set his heart to seek God. That's that's good.
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That's more than good. That's ideal.
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That standard is it not but notice he says nevertheless,
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meaning he said something before he says something before for him
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to qualify that there is though you have cleansed the land of
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idolatry and though you've set your heart to see God, it's
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still some good Lord. What are you after If this if
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this is some good, what does it mean?
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What are you looking for? Look at verse 2.
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Here's the correction before the commendation.
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But Jehu the son of Han and I the seer, went out to meet him
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and said to King Jehoshaphat, should you help the wicked and
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love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, wrath has gone
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out against you from the Lord. Then he goes on to say,
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nevertheless, some good is found in you.
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When I read that in my morning devotion yesterday.
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I stopped and I said, hold on, God, this you're showing.
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You're showing me what you're after.
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What's Jehoshaphat's deal? We'll read the larger context.
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And you realize that though he did cleanse the land of certain
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idolatry, and though he did set his heart to see God, he made a
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marriage alliance with Ahab. So he's not talking about what
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we know to be true for Christians, that you should love
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those even though they don't love you or love your God.
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He's not what he's talking about.
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He's condemning the fact that he was willing to be unequally
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yoked with an idolatrous king. Here's what this teaches me.
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Jehoshaphat hated some evil. Not all evil.
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Jehoshaphat hated. Some sins, not all sins, and you
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and I have to be careful in thinking that we're pleasing God
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because in our minds we've interpreted selective
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righteousness as true righteousness.
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Are there people like that? I've met them.
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They're very outspoken about certain things that the Bible
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condemns. But when it comes to other
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things that the Bible condemns, they're not as outspoken.
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They're not consistent in their conviction.
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They don't hate all evil, just some evil.
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God is not interested in that. God is not interested in that.
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This is a man who has been warranted now has been issued
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divine discipline, how he set his heart to seek God and he
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removed idols from the land. Yeah, but he still also had
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another place in his heart devoted to something else that
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God hated. So what is God after?
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This is a point that I'm trying to drive completeness.
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Completeness. And as long as your heart is in
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the place where you say whatever God loves, I will love and
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whatever God hates, I will hate. You can be sure that you are
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walking and wholehearted devotion to him.
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And Elijah here is exactly delivering that truth.
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And so he asked them, how long are you going to be limping
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between two different opinions? And let's go back to our main
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text. How did the people respond at
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the end of verse 21? And the people did not answer
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him a word. Why?
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Were they just silenced due to conviction?
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Were they unable to justify their sin, though they weren't
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really broken about it? Or is this like sheer
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indifference? They're just kind of like
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staring at Elijah, trying to figure out how he appeared after
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three years. The Bible doesn't tell us, but I
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can tell you with great confidence that their lack of
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response is not something. Good.
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And I looked at this and I and I sat back and I thought to
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myself, what an encouragement this is for you and I.
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What do I mean by that? This is a helpful example for
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those who preach the truth, counsel with the truth, disciple
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people with the truth, with a desire to win them over to
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complete devotion to the. Lord, but all you're getting is
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nothing. There's blank stares.
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I think that's more that resonates more with preachers
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than anything else. If that does happen to you,
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whether from a pulpit or in a living room setting, realize
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that even the greatest men of God experienced no response when
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what they preached or what they taught or what they counsel with
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demanded response. You do you and be faithful with
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the truth that God has revealed to you and ask you to convey to
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another and let God deal with the rest.
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There's no answer here. It demanded an answer.
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It demanded some kind of explanation.
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Nothing. They stayed in the same place.
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The way they walked into that Sunday service is the same way
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that they walked out. If you're a messenger of the
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truth in any context, leave them to the Lord.
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They will be held accountable for how they respond to the
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truth. You just give it.
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Now we come to verse 22. Then Elijah said to the people,
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I even I only am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets
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are 450 men. Is that completely true?
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Was Elijah the only prophet? Why don't we just learn last
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week that Obadiah told him, hey, I'm hiding 100 of them and I
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have this whole feeding program set up.
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So we understand that there is 100 prophets, true prophets to
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be exact. But where are they now?
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Where are they? So though numerically, literally
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that's not the case, functionally, Elijah's right.
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He's standing alone. Where are all the other ones?
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They're not there. And additionally, what else do
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you notice about verse 22? I even I only am left the
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prophet of the Lord. But Baal's profits are 450 men.
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There is an omission here. What's missing?
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Go back to verse 19. You'll see what's missing.
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And when you see it, you can let us know about it.
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There's 450 prophets of Baal, but who else is supposed to be
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there? 400 prophets of Ashra.
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They didn't show up, and it could be that they were
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suspicious of this invitation or Jezebel was very strategic and
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she also was concerned about Elijah's little plan here.
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So she had them stay back at least close to half of them.
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And we're going to touch on that next week, most likely.
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But do they ever reappear again? I think they do.
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Look at chapter 22 of the same book and verse 6.
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This is when Ahab and Jehoshaphat came together to to
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go to war. And Jehoshaphat asked Ahab if
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they've inquired of the Lord and if they could, and he does.
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So look what we see here in first Kings 22 verse six.
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And the king of Israel gathered the prophets together about 400
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men, and said to them, shall I go to battle against Rameth
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Gilead, or shall I refrain? And they said go up for the Lord
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will give it into the hand of the king.
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So I mean, I'm going to, I'm not going to touch on this too much,
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but here's Ahab and Jezebel thinking that they can outsmart
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God and hiding 400 of the prophets just in case something
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happens. Do the prophecies of these 400.
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Men end up giving good counsel to Ahab.
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No, you can't fool God. You can't sidestep him.
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But let's come back to the main point here.
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The main point is that Elijah is outnumbered and he's
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highlighting that. 450 to one, 450 of them and one of me.
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And we see here that if popularity was a metric for
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something being true, then Elijah would have extremely slim
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chances of convincing people of the truth.
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Truth is not authorized by the verdict of the majority.
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It isn't. And you have learned from
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biblical history, and I hope that you have learned from
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recent history that just because something is mainstream doesn't
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mean it's right, doesn't mean it's reliable. 450 on this side,
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one on this side, which one is going to seem more persuasive?
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And if you are persuaded towards something, my brother, my
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sister, just because it is popular, I say this in love.
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You are ripe for deception. You are ripe for deception and I
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say that with a little bit more oomph in my voice because I've
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seen too much in the past three years.
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We're Just because something shows up on TikTok a lot doesn't
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mean it should be convincing to you.
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That's unfortunately the case for so many.
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Instead, let it lie. Just testimony encourage you to
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remember that God's word is true whether many or few accepted.
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Now Elijah could have started right?
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He gives them the first round. You guys do it.
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And we could have saved a lot of time in our study and we could
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have saved a lot of time in the real estate of the Bible.
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Because if Elijah had just gone up first and fire would have
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come down from heaven, it would have been a done deal and people
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would have been impressed. But what does Elijah want to do?
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He wants them to go first to show that Bill not only is
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inferior to the true God, he's no God.
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So you guys do your thing. Take as much time as you want.
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And let's show the world that you guys believe in something
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false. And it's in this where we learn
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another lesson that I think couples with the.
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Truth that we just heard. Let's look at what they do in
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verse 25. We even read this yet Then
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Elijah said to the prophets of Bill, choose for yourselves 1
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bull and prepare it first, for you are many and call upon the
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name of your God. But put no fire to it.
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Let's not cheat here, all right? No sparks, no little gimmicks.
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Let's make this real. No fire to it, put no fire to
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it. And they took the bull that was
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given them, and they prepared it, and called upon the name of
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Baal from morning until noon, saying, Oh, Baal, answer us.
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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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Look at verse 28. And they cried aloud, and cut
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themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until
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the blood gushed out upon them. Verse 29.
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And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the
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offering of the oblation. But there is no voice.
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No one answered. No one paid attention.
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Do you want to know another pitfall that people miss when it
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comes to determining worldview? Misguided earnestness and
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passion for those who uphold a faulty view.
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Are these guys sincere? Are these false prophets
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sincere? Very sincere.
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Are they devoted? Very devoted.
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Are they passionate? Sure.
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Are they emotional? I think all their.
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Emotional stock is invested in this moment.
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These are guys that apparently really believe in what they
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believe. They really, really believe that
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Bill will actually answer them. And you and I have to remember
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also not just the popularity idea, but zeal and the different
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nation and sincerity are not the markers of a belief being
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legitimate. And you can be sincere, right,
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but you can be sincerely wrong at the same time.
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So don't allow your emotions, that's one thing.
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But don't allow the strong sentiments of others in the
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expression of their loyalty to error ever persuade you to
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believe something that's not true.
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You know why that's important? Because we're living in a time
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now that all it takes is for you to strong to feel strongly about
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something, for it to be valid. And this generation is eating it
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up. If you just cry about it, if
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your voice is loud enough, if you go to all the protests, then
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it must be sincere, it must be real, it must be true.
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Who says? What did Paul say in Romans 10
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to? He says they have a zeal for
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God, but not according to knowledge.
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And speaking about the Jews, they have zeal.
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It's legitimate zeal. It's tangible, real, observable,
26:15
feelable zeal. But it's not lined up with
26:19
knowledge, and zeal without knowledge is dangerous.
26:23
Zeal as a result and fruit of knowledge is is wonderful.
26:27
That's a gift that's warranted. But just because you feel
26:31
strongly about it and everybody else feels strongly about it,
26:34
then certainly there must be some ability to it.
26:37
You are ripe for deception. Ripe.
26:43
No, you, you put aside the feelings and you put aside what
26:46
the majority has to say, and you come to an objective standard
26:49
has been provided to mankind. And you determine truth, your
26:52
world, or your convictions based on that.
26:55
And even if your feelings may not agree with it at first, you
26:58
submit to it and trust that God will give you what you need to
27:01
uphold it, live it, and love it. So you see this really pathetic
27:07
display. It's really heartbreaking
27:09
actually, and we should be heartbroken.
27:12
But Elijah has a different approach.
27:14
Look at verse 27. And at noon, Elijah mocked them.
27:21
Saying cry aloud for he is the God.
27:27
Either he is musing or he is relieving himself.
27:30
Can you imagine that? I think your God is on the
27:31
toilet, so give him some time for he is relieving himself or
27:39
he is on a journey. Imagine that your God's on
27:41
vacation. I think you guys missed the
27:43
memo. Or perhaps he is asleep, maybe,
27:49
maybe Bill's taking a nap. So do what he must be awakened.
27:55
Is there any space or allowance for mockery for the Christian?
28:03
Because many would come to this text as a proof text to give
28:08
them authority to speak in such a way to those who believe.
28:11
Differently than you and I, That's a dangerous thing to do,
28:19
to come to a text like this. That one is not prescriptive.
28:23
It's descriptive, and to use it to try to legitimize a certain
28:28
attitude or way of speaking is not really what this text is
28:33
intended to convey. Do you realize that Elijah here,
28:38
unlike so many who in their proclamation of the truth or in
28:42
their apologetics or debate, he's not here looking to wound
28:46
these? People.
28:48
He's not here looking to blow off steam.
28:50
He's not here looking to amuse himself by using sarcasm in a
28:55
suppose it's sanctified way. Yes.
28:59
Don't get me wrong, there may be times, depending on context and
29:02
conversation, where there is liberty and how you explain
29:05
something or showcase something or highlight something.
29:08
Sure, sure, sure. But as a general rule, even when
29:11
you understand Elijah's motive behind this, it makes this a
29:15
weaker thing to rely on to justify fleshly behavior.
29:19
Why is Elijah doing this? We'll look at the surrounding
29:22
context. You read here in verse 26 that
29:25
they were crying out. Old Bill answer us And so Elijah
29:29
now wants to stir them up even a little bit more.
29:31
He wants to turn up the heat. So he uses this language so that
29:35
they can do what they can cry out louder.
29:37
They can be more intense in their display of intercession
29:41
and devotion for one simple reason, so that Israel can
29:46
notice and take note that no. Matter how loud you cry, no
29:51
matter what you do and what you do to yourself, this God will
29:54
not answer you. There's a redemptive goal behind
29:57
this. There, there is.
29:59
There is an aim here. This is not aimless.
30:01
This is not Elijah just shooting off his mouth.
30:04
This is Elijah wanting things to get more intense so that he can
30:07
prove to a watching, limping crowd.
30:11
No matter. What you do, this God Bill will
30:15
not hear because he's no God at all.
30:20
And that point we'll get across. This is a strategy.
30:24
This is not flesh. This is a man who knows what he
30:27
is doing and the way that he got into that place is by using the
30:31
words that he did. So let's see what happens.
30:35
It says here that no one answered, no one paid attention
30:41
before that there was no voice. There's something else in these
30:45
verses, right? The Holy Spirit is highlighting
30:47
something. If you go back to verse 26, it
30:49
says it there initially, but there was no voice in the middle
30:52
of the verse and no one answer. So this point is being.
30:56
Reinforce and emphasize over and over in such a small space of
30:59
time. And the reason for that is
31:01
because this is what precisely billions of people are doing
31:08
today with their idols, whether it be false gods or pursuits or
31:14
people that they've elevated to the point of worship.
31:18
There are people like these prophets of Bill who are looking
31:22
for answers in all the wrong places, who are looking for
31:26
something to satisfy and only Christ can satisfy.
31:33
And so they are running headlong into this Ave. and that arena
31:38
and this activity hoping to get answer.
31:41
And you can rightly take this text as a filter and remind
31:47
others and hopefully not, but if so, yourself.
31:50
That you will not get answers, you will not get a voice, you
31:54
will not get something that your soul alone can find in the
31:58
gospel, in the truth of God, in relationship with Him.
32:03
And what do people do? What do people do when they try
32:06
to numb the pain with drugs, when they put themselves in
32:08
situations or in environments that are sinful, When they make
32:11
their job, their goal, when they, whatever it is, fill in
32:14
the blank? What do people do?
32:15
Often times, unfortunately, the same things that these prophets
32:18
do. When they get no answers, they
32:20
think to themselves, well, maybe I have to do more.
32:23
Maybe I got to up it up again. Maybe I have to put more money
32:25
into it. Maybe I have to put more time
32:27
into it. Maybe I got to sacrifice more.
32:29
And what's the result of that? Well, you see verse 29, there
32:32
was no voice. No one answered, no one paid
32:37
attention. And, and what people often do is
32:42
they interpret the dizziness of the frantic.
32:47
And frivolous pursuits, enough to keep them occupied, not
32:53
realizing that there's hollowness in the soul.
32:57
I I. Can remember that.
32:58
I can remember that being in college, that the worst times
33:00
that I had to deal with the emptiness of my soul was when
33:03
all the noise died down and I laid my confused head on my
33:07
pillow every night in that basement apartment.
33:11
And how, how can I quiet my conscience?
33:13
Well, I just need more noise, more flesh, more sin, more
33:17
adrenaline, whatever it is. But when it came down to being
33:20
all quiet and you are on your own with your soul, that's when
33:24
it's the loudest. But unfortunately, these men are
33:30
demonstrating what so many are doing even on this Friday night.
33:33
By the way, Yeah, you're in the House of God.
33:35
You think this is normal? You think people spend their
33:39
Friday nights coming to the House of God to read and study
33:41
the Bible? No, they're countless people
33:46
right now doing what these false prophets are doing, looking for
33:51
answers in all the wrong places, looking for joy, satisfaction,
33:54
peace, and they're screaming their heads off, figuratively
33:57
speaking, and nothing's coming through.
34:00
May God open their eyes verse 30.
34:04
Then Elijah said to all the people, Come, come near to me.
34:09
And all the people came near to him, and he repaired the altar
34:13
of the Lord that had been thrown down.
34:17
Elijah took 12 Stones according to the number of the tribes of
34:20
the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying,
34:22
Israel shall be your name. And with the stones he built an
34:26
altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the
34:30
altar as great as would contain two seas of seed.
34:35
So remember. The.
34:37
Competition. You do your thing, you cut up
34:40
the bull and whatever you have to do to try to get Bill to
34:43
answer you by fire. If that happens, he's the real
34:45
God. I'm going to do the same.
34:47
But before he does anything, the first thing that Elijah does is
34:51
he builds an altar or he rebuilds an altar.
34:53
He repaired the altar, and we're told here that the altar had
34:58
been thrown down. Any idea who threw it down?
35:03
Who threw down this altar If you want the answers in the next
35:10
chapter, chapter 19 verse 10. This is Elijah speaking
35:15
elsewhere. He says he said I have been very
35:17
jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the people of Israel
35:21
have. Forsaken your covenant, thrown
35:23
down your altars. This is Israel's doing.
35:28
They're the ones who threw down this altar.
35:30
And before Elijah does anything, he rebuilds it.
35:35
What does the altar? Represent.
35:36
It represents God's standard of worship.
35:39
That's what it means. God had prescribed that these
35:44
stones that were not hewn, not touched by human hands would be
35:47
collected, that you find that law and exodus and that that
35:50
would be used as the platform for sacrifice to be made and for
35:53
communion with God to be experienced.
35:56
And so Elijah here is going back to the ancient paths.
35:59
And this is so important. Please pay attention to this.
36:03
I'm speaking to those who are passionate about God, doing
36:06
things in their lives, doing things in their local church.
36:08
Before God sends fire from heaven, before Elijah even prays
36:13
for the fire to come down from heaven, he rebuilds the altar.
36:20
You and I should not expect God to do anything from heaven on
36:24
our behalf for this ministry or your ministry unless you are
36:27
first willing to reestablish the foundation that is obedience to
36:30
God's Word. Prayer, as we're going to learn
36:34
in a moment here, does not replace obedience.
36:38
And So what does Elijah do? He he makes the first thing, the
36:40
first thing. We must go back to what God
36:42
instructed us to do before we expect anything from Him.
36:46
So you can pray all you want, fast all you want, serve all you
36:50
want. If you are not setting up your
36:52
interaction, your intercession, your supplication to the Lord on
36:55
the foundation of what He asks of you, then you're wasting
36:58
time. And so he goes back to what God
37:01
asks of them from the the simplest way.
37:03
He wants an altar. We're going to give him an
37:05
altar. This is how God wants to be
37:07
worshipped. This is he wants it from my
37:08
life. I'm going to give it to him.
37:09
And then now I can expect for him to do more.
37:14
So the second thing to notice here besides that is Elijah not
37:17
just building an altar, but he took a certain amount of stones.
37:20
How many stones? Did he pick up 12 and for what
37:24
reason? What did it represent?
37:28
Everybody's yeah, answering wonderful.
37:30
Love it. Why is that important?
37:35
KK Here's the what's that God's name?
37:38
Yes. But here's the thing.
37:39
Here's the thing. Bible study tip.
37:41
Whenever you come to text like this or any text really, make it
37:45
a habit to zoom out. Make it a habit to zoom out.
37:48
Make it a habit to climb the helicopter ladder and have the
37:51
aerial view of the context that you're studying.
37:54
He took 12 Stones, put them together to represent the tribes
37:59
of Jacob. Why is that significant at this
38:01
point in redemptive history, Ryan Because we're in a time
38:06
where the Kingdom is divided. So you have 10 tribes
38:10
representing the north. You have two representing the
38:13
southern Kingdom. And what is Elijah doing?
38:17
He is, by way of demonstration, reminding the people of how God
38:21
designed them to. Be.
38:24
You're called to be unified, you're called to be 12 tribes
38:29
called Israel, not Israel representing the northern
38:32
Kingdom and Judah representing the southern Kingdom.
38:35
And so even in this, there is correction, even in this, he's
38:38
saying, I'm here to show you not just what God demands of you in
38:42
terms of your vertical relationship with him, but what
38:44
God demands of you for one another.
38:47
And do you notice even in the symbol of worship, right, this
38:50
altar, you have the vertical reality and the horizontal
38:53
reality, and they're inseparable, in this case, is
38:57
inseparable. And it's true as a truth
38:59
throughout the Bible that if you think that you're rightly
39:02
related to God while at the same time not being rightly related
39:05
to one another, you're not really worshipping God.
39:08
So yeah, we're going to build this author.
39:09
We're going to make a sacrifice. But let me also remind you what
39:12
God really wants. He doesn't want you guys to be
39:16
divided. He wants you guys to be exactly
39:18
how he intended you to be in that's one and that's one.
39:21
And so he does this in a very powerful way and by sending this
39:26
message, unfortunately, the people didn't get it, but we
39:29
did. So he puts these 12 Stones
39:33
together, reminding them of their unified design.
39:37
And let's read what happens next in verse 33.
39:40
And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid
39:49
it on the wood. I mean, that's.
39:50
So specific, just put it in order, put the bull in pieces,
39:58
laid it out on there. He's just a little nugget,
40:01
right? If this altar represents
40:03
worship, God is a God of order. He wants orderly worship.
40:08
He doesn't want half hearted, confused, spontaneous.
40:13
And what I mean by that is unthoughtful spontaneity.
40:18
Uncalculated, unfiltered. No, no, you see here that this
40:23
is a man who is very careful and how he's about to approach God
40:28
even in this setting. So he puts.
40:31
Everything in order and notice what happens here and he said
40:33
fill 4 jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on
40:38
the wood. Elijah, things are already
40:41
difficult for you. It's 450 to one and you have an
40:45
entire nation surrounding you that in one moment can turn on
40:49
you. So you're going to make this
40:51
more difficult. Is Elijah doing this to test the
40:53
Lord? And I'll go back to the first
40:54
point. Where is he getting his orders
40:56
from Heaven. God.
40:59
So fill 4 jars with water and pour it out on the burnt
41:02
offering. And on the wood, not just the
41:04
burnt offering on the wood this wet would work well with being
41:08
ignited. No?
41:11
And he said do it a second time, OK, one time is enough.
41:15
No, do it a second time. And they did it a second time.
41:17
And he said do it 1/3. Time Elijah.
41:22
It's not Elijah, it's God. And they did it a third time.
41:25
And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also
41:30
with water. You got a little pool going on
41:32
here. Now remember you, you can't.
41:35
Look at this separated from the wider context.
41:37
This is marching orders from God.
41:41
So it's not Elijah trying to make a point.
41:43
This is God making a point. And what's the point that he's
41:47
trying to make? He is intentionally making this
41:50
more difficult so that when the fire did come and lick up all
41:55
the elements and ignite that burnt offering, it would be more
41:59
convincing that this is of God. There would be no question.
42:04
There'd be no room for a doubt. Yeah, sure.
42:07
Without it, there would still be a strong case to make, but God
42:10
wants to make this very strong point so that there would be no
42:14
hesitation to realize this is from God.
42:17
This is from God. Do you have any doubt that what
42:20
God did in this case is any different in how He operates in
42:25
your life and mine? You shouldn't have any doubt
42:28
that if Providence leads you in a place or circumstance that is
42:33
extremely difficult. Listen, if you're walking with
42:36
the Lord, he's ordered your steps, He's walking with you.
42:39
He's leading you perfectly. And that includes things that
42:43
it's a difficult thing just to begin with.
42:45
The introduction of this trial is enough.
42:47
And then as time goes on, it just becomes more problematic.
42:51
There are more layers of obstacles, and it seems as
42:54
though this is not going to go anywhere.
43:00
This is why we're studying what we're studying, right?
43:02
This is the mind of God. He's the same yesterday, today
43:04
and forever. And So what he did here and set
43:07
up for His glory, he will not do any different for you and me.
43:11
So don't be intimidated or fearful by the growing
43:16
impossibility of something and seeing, OK Lord, I don't know
43:19
how you're going to come through.
43:21
Well, perhaps He's doing it so that when it does happen,
43:23
everybody around you say it has to be God, has to be God.
43:28
So the Lord in His wisdom, depending on what it is, will
43:32
set up your life and mine in the same way.
43:34
And we should be in those moments, just as confident as
43:38
Elijah was. All right, Lord, let's see how
43:41
you're going to do this. You can't lose in the Christian
43:45
life. You can if you don't know who
43:48
God is. But if you know who God is,
43:51
there is no losing in the Christian life.
43:54
So this man says do it. They did it.
43:55
They drenched everything. Now look at this verse 36 and at
44:02
the time of the offering of the oblation.
44:04
Oblation simply means presenting something to God, right?
44:07
So all of the transitions would say at the time of the evening
44:11
sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, Oh Lord God
44:16
of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that
44:20
you are the God, that you are God in Israel and that I am your
44:23
servant, that I've done all these things at your word.
44:27
I I can't pass that first insight at verse 36, at the time
44:33
of the oblation or at the time of the evening sacrifice.
44:38
So there were set times in the temple of Jerusalem where
44:41
sacrifices were made. Is Elijah in Jerusalem?
44:48
No, he's in the northern part and he's on Mount Carmel, but
44:53
he's aware of the time of the sacrifice that would have taken
44:57
place in the Temple at this point of the day.
45:03
Elijah here wanted to offer his sacrifice at the same time when
45:06
the regular evening sacrifice was to be given.
45:10
That says something about this man's worship.
45:14
He's not near the temple. He's not even close to the
45:17
temple. But what makes us so precious is
45:20
that Elijah is a prophet working in a different place with
45:25
different people, and yet he is physically separated, yes, but
45:29
totally in tune with the will and heart of God.
45:35
I'm going to wait to give the sacrifice when God desires for
45:40
it to be given. And despite the distance, this
45:45
man wanted to be in accordance with the will of God as much as
45:49
possible. That's a true worshipper.
45:54
Unfortunately for some believers, that's not the same
45:57
because all it takes is for some believers is for changes in life
46:01
or even limitations in life to encourage them not to make
46:04
worship a priority. So what you have is a new
46:10
business venture. You have an enrollment to a
46:15
school out of state, maybe marriage, and those become
46:22
reasons to ignore what God demands of us when it comes to
46:26
devotion to him. But God honors worshippers like
46:32
Elijah. So if God desires sacrifices at
46:35
this time, then I will give my sacrifice at this time.
46:39
How? How can we translate that?
46:40
Very simply And, and in many ways, if God in his word has
46:44
shown us that he wants to be worshipped with his people on
46:47
the Lord's Day, then I'm going to worship the Lord with his
46:50
people on the Lord's Day, right? This is going to be a priority
46:56
in my life. Elijah showing the priority of
46:59
worship in his life, even in this moment, he is mindful of
47:03
the sacrifices that take place in the House of God.
47:05
And I'm going to line myself up as much as possible with it.
47:08
Do Christians think like that today?
47:11
I know many who do praise God. Many do in this place, but I've
47:16
I've seen enough throughout my journey with the Lord where
47:19
that's not the case. But Elijah is a different breed,
47:25
but he's also a man with a nature like ours, so we can
47:28
imitate him. So at the time of the offering
47:30
of the oblation, Elijah, now he prays, Oh, we can make a whole
47:33
Bible study just on how he. Prayed, but let's make rapid
47:36
fire observations. OK, you know what?
47:39
I'll ask, and if you could be quick enough, that'll be very
47:42
helpful. So let's read this together one
47:44
more time and whatever stands out to just be like, I noticed
47:46
this about that prayer. I noticed this about that
47:48
prayer. Shall we do that?
47:49
Let's read it. Oh Lord God of Abraham, Isaac,
47:52
and Israel, let me know this day that you are God in Israel, that
47:57
I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at
47:59
your word. Answer me, oh Lord, answer me
48:02
that this people may know that you, oh Lord our God, and that
48:06
you have turned their hearts back.
48:10
Anything. So many things.
48:13
Join me on the quest of revelation.
48:16
What stands out to you? Yes, brother, Full submission.
48:19
Full submission to God, Right. And even what he says about
48:22
himself, he doesn't call himself a mighty prophet.
48:24
A man, a guy goes, I'm your servant, I'm your servant.
48:27
I'm your servant. I'm still your servant.
48:29
Yes. Anything else he uses?
48:30
The covenant name, yes. Yes.
48:35
Of the covenant, absolutely. So he doesn't say the God of
48:40
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which is the common reference to God
48:45
in terms of his covenant keeping character.
48:48
Elijah's intentional saying Israel, Israel, God.
48:52
Remember Israel. Don't remember so much Jacob,
48:56
but remember Israel, what you turned Jacob to and into.
49:00
Yes, God, please, Yes. Yes, the personal.
49:09
Name of God, Yahweh or Jehovah? Yes, absolutely.
49:13
These are wonderful. Anything else?
49:18
What's that? So he's interceding on behalf of
49:21
the people. Yes, absolutely.
49:24
Well, let's look at a few things, right, Let's look at the
49:27
first thing, and that is the grounds of his request.
49:29
The grounds of his request are what?
49:31
God's character, His covenant keeping character.
49:35
So he appeals to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel.
49:38
Why is that important? Because he is praying for a
49:41
people who have not kept the covenant.
49:44
So, God, I'm appealing to your faithfulness, not their
49:47
faithfulness. I'm appealing to your goodness,
49:49
not their goodness, Lord, I'm appealing to your heart and your
49:53
promise. And we're asking you now, Lord,
49:56
I'm asking you specifically on the grounds of your character to
50:00
answer this. So if you don't know who God is,
50:03
or if you're limited in your view of God, your prayers are
50:05
going to be limited. The scope of what you can ask
50:08
God for are going to be hindered.
50:10
But the more you know about the character of God, the more you
50:13
can freely and boldly and courageously come before the
50:16
Lord and ask him for things that the person who doesn't know God.
50:19
Won't be able to. That's the grounds.
50:22
Look at secondly how he obeys before he prays.
50:27
What did he mention here? He says here at the end of verse
50:29
36 that I have done all these things at your word.
50:35
So he he shows God by way of his confession.
50:38
I am doing this according to what you've told me and up to
50:41
this point I've obeyed you. Now I'm asking you to do your
50:43
part. So let me say it again.
50:45
Prayer does not replace obedience.
50:48
And what does that look like in a day-to-day?
50:49
I mean, there's so many practical examples, but here you
50:52
are able bodied in a land of great opportunity and you're in
50:56
financial need, but you don't want to work, but you want God
50:59
to drop off money through the mouth of Ravens at your front
51:01
step every other week. No, no, no, no, Don't expect God
51:05
to work for you. He's called you to work.
51:08
He's called you to look for a job.
51:09
He's called you to make calls. He's called you to sit through
51:11
interviews. And through that you can pray
51:13
and ask God for the right thing, the right place, the right will.
51:16
And he'll do that. So prayer does not replace
51:19
obedience. And so he says I've obeyed I'm,
51:21
I'm obeying you now, Thirdly. Did you not notice how God
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centered this prayer was? It's so God centered.
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He says here what in the first, the first part of verse 36, Oh
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Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day
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that you are God. I want people to know that
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you're God. I want him to know that you're a
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God in Israel. And then he says it after here
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at verse 37. Answer me, your Lord, answer me
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that this people may know that you, oh Lord our God, that's the
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heartbeat of this man's desire. He's I want this prayer to be
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answered that people can say God is true, God is real, he is the
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living one. So when your requests are
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motivated by that pursuit, then you can know for certain that
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you are praying successfully and so.
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Why you are asking for what you're asking makes all the
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difference in determining whether or not God will answer
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that prayer. If you're concerned with the
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glory of God, you can be sure that God will be quick to hear
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and to move on that request. Lastly, though there are many
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other things in light of the larger context, you notice
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something else about Elijah's prayer.
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He says here at the end of it, another priority in his praying.
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Lord, answer this prayer. Why that you have turned their
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hearts back. I want this prayer to move in
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the hearts of these people and for them to know that in the
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manifestation of this, their hearts can come to you.
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Their hearts will come to you. You know what I appreciate about
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this request? Remember the larger context.
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What's, what's a really important need at this time for
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Israel? What was a pressing need?
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Rain. This is a crippling famine that
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they are enduring. And now it's, it's reached the
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point where it's life threatening.
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And you would think that a priority at this point is Lord,
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send some rain, right? But Elijah as a man of God
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understands something even more important than resources that
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would help the survival of this people.
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And that was their hearts being turned back to God.
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God, their hearts being right with you is better than them
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knowing a more robust economy, even healing for your body.
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Elijah understood, just like Jesus understood when that man
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came through that crashed roof, those four friends who love that
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man. And what did Jesus do before he
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healed him? He.
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Forgave him of his sins. That's more important than you
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walking. You walking with me in eternity
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is more important than you walking in this life without
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eternal life. So I'm going to forgive you of
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your sins. And here's Elijah understanding
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God turned their hearts. What good is rain if their
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hearts are still hard and then calloused?
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No, Lord, rain upon their hearts.
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And let their hearts soften. Let their hearts tenderize.
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This man just is praying with late laser sharpness here.
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He's so precise and understanding the mind of God.
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And what else does this show if he's asking?
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That they would know that you have turned their hearts back.
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You know what that shows Elijah believe that by praying,
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people's hearts can be changed. Do you believe that about
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prayer? Do you believe that about
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intercession? I get it.
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Persevering in prayer, it's exhausting.
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It can be very tiring and I know what it's like even.
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I'm sure you do too, where you feel the strength and the
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motivation leaving you. It's like I've prayed and I've
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tried. But listen, This is why we do
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this. We come under the Word of God
55:09
again to add more fuel in that place where we feel weak.
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Let me remind you that prayer can move hearts and God can
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answer your prayer because you're so concerned for his
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glory and wanting other people to witness and enjoy that glory
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that he can move on behalf of those who are not even thinking
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about praying for themselves and that God can show himself so
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strong where you can have a people who fall under knee to
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say the Lord he is God, don't lose hope.
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OK, what do we see here? They answer to that prayer verse
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38. There's no way we're finishing
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this chapter, but that's OK. We have another Friday, Lord
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willing. Then the fire of the Lord fell
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and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and
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the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench.
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Like not one thing was untouched.
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God consumed it all, and when all the people saw it, they fell
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on their faces and said, the Lord he is God, the Lord he is
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God. Is this a miracle?
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It is. It's a wonderful miracle.
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What's so miraculous about it? You would say because fire came
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down from heaven, because one man prayed.
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Can I tell you why it's even a greater miracle than that?
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Not because the fire fell down from heaven, because the fire
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fell down and not on the people. That's why it's a miracle.
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Fire falling down is a powerful thing.
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But what makes this so incredible is that when the fire
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fell, it didn't consume the people.
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It consumed everything else. You know what you have here in
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light of last Sunday's message? You have a foreshadowing.
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You have a picture, You have a hint of the Gospel.
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This fire symbolizes judgment. And who deserved judgment here?
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The people who were limping between two opinions, the people
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who torn down that altar, and instead of the judgment coming
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and evaporating them, it fell upon a burnt offering.
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And that burnt offering satisfied that fire, that
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judgment. So here's something more
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miraculous. Yeah, God sent down fire.
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It didn't fall on the people. It fell on this animal and it
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changed their hearts. And they said the Lord he is
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God. So check this out.
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God doesn't send fire down to God sends his Son.
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And the Lord Jesus Christ gets up on a hill and he becomes a
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sacrifice, absorbing the wrath of God, not just for one people
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group during a certain period of history, but for all people
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groups, for all the sins committed in history.
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And in that moment he satisfied the wrath of God.
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And how do we benefit from it? We witness it, we hear it, and
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hopefully you and I respond to it in the same way that these
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people did. And realizing Jesus Christ is
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Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.
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And I have to say this, whether you do acknowledge that now or
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not, you will one day, because here you have a people who are
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bending their knee and declaring this in unison.
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But there's a time coming where every knee and every tongue will
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confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
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Everyone will, whether they want to or not.
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I just choose to. And I hope you made that choice
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as well to do it on this side of that glorious event, to enjoy
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worshipping now. And I'll be glad then as well to
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join in that moment of worshipping Him.
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Then Elijah's going to kill these prophets.
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These false prophets are going to be slaughtered.
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And if you want to know whether that was right or not, you got
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to come next Friday. Let's pray
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with immense gratitude. Lord, we thank you for feeding
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us with Your word. We thank You for richly
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providing for us a banquet where we can feast upon the truth that
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answers our questions and our hearts desires well.
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We thank you that we are not a group in here groping for
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answers, but we sit here satisfied knowing that we have
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the truth at our disposal. We thank you for opening our
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eyes. Thank you for turning our hearts
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to you. Lord, we pray that if we might
1:00:01
be in a season of limping between two opinions, that the
1:00:05
limping would stop and we would plant ourselves on the side of
1:00:08
truth. Of true devotion to you.
1:00:14
And Lord, we pray that you would indeed deliver us from being
1:00:17
impressed or moved by false narratives because the majority
1:00:21
believe it or because they feel strongly about it and they feel
1:00:25
strongly about those who don't agree with it.
1:00:27
Lord, help us be like Elijah and knowing that one with God is
1:00:32
majority. Lord, with all these truths that
1:00:36
were shared, we just pray that they would be appropriately
1:00:38
applied to our hearts. Please Lord, may this never be a
1:00:43
lecture that just bounces off our minds.
1:00:47
Lord may take root deeply in our hearts.
1:00:51
Lord, in this moment, as we ended this study, we choose to
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worship you in light of our salvation, in light of the truth
1:00:57
that Your wrath was poured upon Your Son and not us.
1:01:03
And Lord, we can rejoice in knowing that when we deserved
1:01:07
wrath, being your enemies, You adopted us instead.
1:01:11
And we have eternal life secured, guaranteed, because of
1:01:15
that wonderful sacrifice, far greater than this bull and all
1:01:20
the other bulls that have been mounted upon altars throughout
1:01:23
history. Your sacrifice, that soul
1:01:26
singular sacrifice, satisfies forever and ever.
1:01:30
And we thank You for that truth that we benefit from because of
1:01:34
your grace. In Jesus name we pray.
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Amen. Amen.
1:01:38
What a mighty God we serve. Let's stand and worship Him and
1:01:42
honor Him and adore him together.