Battle on the Mountain

September 24, 1989 PM

1 Kings 18:21

And Elijah came near to all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him. But the people did not answer him a word.

What is God saying to His church these stressful days? How can we hear from Him? [The background for our text is a story:]

It was a brilliant, sunshiny day. There was a cloudless sub-tropical sky. On a flat mountaintop overlooking the sea several thousand people were standing silent, intent, totally engaged in the matter at hand. No one was looking around at the scenery for there was a confrontation going on- a battle!

It was NOT a battle of God versus evil. That is no contest.

And it wasn't really a battle of Elijah versus the false prophets of Baal (although that was very interesting.) But there was a very real battle that day. The battle was in the hearts and minds of God's people. They had never really settled it once and for all for themselves:

WHO GOD WAS; and
WHO GOD WAS TO THEM!

They knew their sacred stories. They had their doctrines down cold. They knew all about Moses and the Exodus and the pillar of fire and cloud. That was part of their tradition. History. They were proud of that.

But they also knew how their neighbors lived. They didn't want to be behind them in any way. They knew the Canaanites insured the comfort and success of their way of life by the worship of Baal. Somehow along the way God's people had all but forgotten that Jehovah God had promised to be a Father to them.

Now Baal had failed. They were miserable. The drought had lingered. The land had come to ruin. It had come to a showdown.

Elijah called to them: HOW LONG WILL YOU HANG BETWEEN TWO OPINIONS? And they answered Elijah not a word. WHAT A PREGNANT SILENCE!

I. SOME TIME OR ANOTHER WE ARE ALL ON THAT MOUNTAINTOP

The question comes: When are YOU going to decide for yourself about God?

Who IS God? Who is God TO ME?

Our false prophets and empty idols have failed. It is time for God's people to declare their faith.

[URGENTLY, EVEN PASSIONATELY]

II. WE ARE CALLED TO WORSHIP GOD AND REJECT IDOLS

The difference between an IDOL and the true God is: PEOPLE USE IDOLS TO GET WHAT THEY WANT. But the true God IS TOO BIG TO BE USED!
An idol demands sacrifice and promises rewards, but the motivation remains self-centered and self-serving. The true God says: I AM HOLY! I AM JUST! I AM LOVING! AND I WANT YOU TO BE LIKE ME! God, too, demands our sacrifice, and promises eternal life. But the motivation of true worship tends to lift us out of selfishness and into God-serving.
Most of us today are not "into" literal idol worship; we do not have little figures that we worship. But there ARE modern idols that we have to decide once and for all to forsake:
1. Worship of EMOTION. "Gratification now!" We want what we want to make us feel good and we want it now. Religious people want to FEEL GOOD and feel happy NOW! So what is so bad about that? ONLY that when you or I let some emotion dictate how we shall act- when we reject holy discipline and demand immediate everything- we deny the God who IS, and we declare that for us some other, lesser god is calling the turns.
  If we FEEL spiritual we are "up." If we FEEL bad we are defeated. Feelings make good servants. Feelings are NOT unimportant. Feelings always mean something. But feelings make horrible masters. We cannot afford to serve them. And we can master them with God's grace and help.
2. Comfort and ease is a dangerous idol. We are so spoiled in our culture that we think it is the blessing of God that we do not have to work hard at anything, especially serving God. But God has not promised us an easy time!
3. The subtle worship of SELF! A MOST DECEPTIVE kind of idol is the worship of our own IDEAS OF WHAT IS RIGHT AND WRONG. We reject AUTHORITY, and we want to be our own God and give our own version of the Ten Commandments.
  We have a strange occurrence these days of people who have a "private faith" that permits them to be one thing "in their hearts" and then to live a completely different thing in the marketplace or in public. We want to grow personally. We want to develop and "be somebody." But at the same time there is less and less loyalty to any group or organization, even to a local body of the church of Jesus Christ. The idol of our culture says "If its right for you, do it!"
  [Eternity magazine wrote a few years back that Dr. A.W. Pink, a noted author who wrote a lot about the glories and wonder of the local church for the last 30 years of his life worshiped at home because he couldn't find any local church that suited him.]
  Regardless of what we think, there are objective truths to be believed and to shape our lives. the Ten Commandments have never been changed to the "Ten Suggestions."
  And there is no holiness that is not social holiness.
  This MOST INSIDIOUS idol of all says that the good, orthodox, Bible-believing Christian can fail to surrender his or her will AND SIMPLY OBEY GOD WHEN GOD'S CLEAR WILL IS KNOWN.
  [We rationalize and explain away every kind of sin and sinful living. We live like the world and do business like the world and entertain ourselves like the world and become almost indistinguishable from the world, and when crunch time comes we wonder why GOD has failed!]
The battle is on: God is waiting! Silence prevails!
"How long can you waver?" asks the prophet. We don't have to be smart or powerful or good looking to carry the work of Jesus Christ forward to victory. But we do have to be faithful and obedient!
I'm not arguing for simplistic answers, or saying that it is ever easy to know God's will or easy to be all-out for Him. But I am saying that God's people can settle it once-for-all that they belong to Him, and that HE IS GOD! It will not be a matter of debate every time a decision arises: SHALL I OBEY THIS TIME OR NOT?

CONCLUSION:

Every individual— every generation— has to settle these two questions, the questions God's people had to decide there on that sunny mountaintop.

That day God's people turned back to Him! And God was gracious to them! The drought was broken.

BUT THE BATTLEGROUND IS STILL THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF GOD'S PEOPLE:

WHO IS GOD? and
WHO IS GOD TO YOU?

Don't make any mistake about it: God is going to win!

But who is God to YOU?

Not just "Whom do you 'believe God to be?'

Nor even "Whom do you INTEND to follow?"

Sooner or later you will have to settle the question once for all! I challenge you to settle the question NOW! By a decisive act of your will, as the Holy Spirit deals with you, you can say with the people that day a long, long time ago on Mount Carmel. "THE LORD, HE IS MY GOD!"

And if you want Him to be— if you INVITE Him to be— and are willing to WALK WITH HIM DAILY— he will give you victory and joy and a genuine sense of accomplishment.

He will become the LORD OF YOUR EMOTIONS!

He will be the LORD OF YOUR MIND!

And as you trust Him, He will be the LORD OF YOUR DECISIONS!

What is God saying to His people? What is God saying to the world?

To His people God is saying: Be holy, for I AM holy.

Don't rely on what you know, or how good you are. "Holy" means set apart to Me! Make certain that you belong to ME!

Don't walk away from me, and I won't leave you! Isaiah 41:10.

To the world God is saying: I love you. I am going to set things right.

God is concerned with the world situation. Either He is God, and in control and over-ruling, or He is not God at all. We choose to believe with all our hearts and lives that He indeed is God, and that He is OUR God- HE IS GOD TO US!

God is concerned with the wide world— BUT ALSO—

God is concerned with YOU! ! !

Prayer

#14 O God, Our Help in Ages Past

Benediction: I often use a benediction from the last chapter of Hebrews. This morning I want to use it again— but I want to "lead up to it" by reading what comes before; perhaps this is what God is saying to His church today:

Hebrews 13:1-21

Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you. Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience, in all things willing to live honestly. But I beseech you the rather to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner. Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.