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Baal and the Love of Money, Power & Prosperity
November 2, 2025 · 47 min
Without a doubt, the biggest threat to ancient Israel’s worship of Yahweh was the rival demon-god Baal, regarded as the chief of all Canaanite deities. The allure of Baal worship was the promise of profit and prosperity. I’ve chosen four words that tell the story of the showdown between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and frame our role in modern culture.I. Courage (vv. 16-17)II. Contest (vv. 20-40)III. Confrontation (v. 21)IV. Cause (v. 36)Talk with God: Meditate on Matthew 6:24 and ask the Lord to reveal the areas of your life in which you’re trying to “serve two masters.”Talk with others: Encourage a fellow believer to keep their eyes on Jesus, no matter what they’re walking through this week.Talk with kids: Why was it wrong for Saul to make the burnt offering?
Series Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig Audio Podcast
Skip Heitzig ministers to over 15,000 people as senior pastor of Calvary Church in Albuquerque. He reaches out to thousands across the nation and throughout the
November 2, 2025 · 47 min · Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig Audio Podcast
Without a doubt, the biggest threat to ancient Israel’s worship of Yahweh was the rival demon-god Baal, regarded as the chief of all Canaanite deities. The allure of Baal worship was the promise of profit and prosperity. I’ve chosen four words that tell the story of the showdown between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and frame our role in modern culture.I. Courage (vv. 16-17)II. Contest (vv. 20-40)III. Confrontation (v. 21)IV. Cause (v. 36)Talk with God: Meditate on Matthew 6:24 and ask the Lord to reveal the areas of your life in which you’re trying to “serve two masters.”Talk with others: Encourage a fellow believer to keep their eyes on Jesus, no matter what they’re walking through this week.Talk with kids: Why was it wrong for Saul to make the burnt offering? ...more Show the full description Show less Without a doubt, the biggest threat to ancient Israel’s worship of Yahweh was the rival demon-god Baal, regarded as the chief of all Canaanite deities. The allure of Baal worship was the promise of profit and prosperity. I’ve chosen four words that tell the story of the showdown between the prophet Elijah and the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, and frame our role in modern culture.I. Courage (vv. 16-17)II. Contest (vv. 20-40)III. Confrontation (v. 21)IV. Cause (v. 36)Talk with God: Meditate on Matthew 6:24 and ask the Lord to reveal the areas of your life in which you’re trying to “serve two masters.”Talk with others: Encourage a fellow believer to keep their eyes on Jesus, no matter what they’re walking through this week.Talk with kids: Why was it wrong for Saul to make the burnt offering?
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0:00 Welcome to Calvary Church with Skip Heitzig. Thank you for joining us today. As we walk through life, we begin to realize that not every monster lurks under the bed. For centuries, demons0:12 and dark spiritual forces have been downplayed as entertaining mythical figures, while insidious and destructive sins have been disguised as fun and freedom. This message with pastor0:24 Skip will expose the hidden idols and dangers of our culture and reveal the true freedom that is found in Christ alone.0:35 Welcome to our scary series. Monsters in the closet, would you turn on your Bible this morning to the 1 Kings in your Old Testament, 1 Kings chapter 18. 1 Kings chapter0:47 18. Now I realize as we are doing this message this morning on Baal and the love of money, power, and prosperity, that this0:59 probably has little to do with a congregation like you that is so generous over the years, have given to so many projects we have done to reach out to this community. Community. And we1:11 do thank you for that. But we are in this series, and I wanted to point something out in 1 Kings, chapter 18. To begin, I just want to show you an album that I brought.1:23 This is Bob Dylan. This is his second of 3 Christian albums that he produced. This 1 was in 19 80. It's called Saved. That's the name of the album, Saved, S1:35 A V E D. He wanted to announce to the world that he was saved. And there's the title song, the title cut is called A Satisfied Mind. I always thought Dylan1:47 wrote it. And then I found out it was written back in the 1950s by 2 authors, Red Hays and Jack Rhodes. And
1:59 Dylan did a copy of it. He did a cover of it. It's his opening song, as I said. It's not really much of a song. It's just sort of a chant on his album.
2:10 But here's some of the lyrics. Satisfied Mine. How many times have you heard someone say, if I had his money, I could do things my way? But little they know that
2:22 it's so hard to find 1 rich man in 10 with a satisfied mind. Once I was waiting in fortune and fame,
2:34 everything that I dreamed for to get a start in life's game, then suddenly it happened. I lost every dime. But I'm richer by far with a satisfied mind.
2:46 Money can't buy back your youth when you're old, or a friend when you're lonely, or a love that's grown cold. The wealthiest person is a pauper
2:58 at times compared to the man with a satisfied mind. When my life has ended and my time has run out, My
3:09 friends and my loved ones, I'll leave. There's no doubt. But 1 thing's for certain, when it comes my time, I'll leave this whole world with a
3:21 satisfied mind. I remember that well. I'll leave this whole world with a satisfied mind. Well, Satan is the god of
3:33 this age. And there's 1 thing he does not want you to have, and that is a satisfied mind. In fact, Satan and all of his demons work really hard to get people on Earth very, very
3:45 unsatisfied. That's why there's even a commandment, thou shalt not covet, because that's just part of human nature, is it not, to be dissatisfied.
3:57 Proverbs 27 tells us, hell and destruction are never full, so the eyes of a man are never satisfied. Today, we're going to
4:09 look at the worship of a God that gave the children of Israel lots of problems. His name was Baal. Baal, B A A L. That's
4:21 our anglicized pronunciation. The actual Hebrew pronunciation is Baal. But it's weird for us to do that every time, so I'll probably just say Baal for
4:33 most of this message. So we're going to look at a very important contest with the prophet Elijah and the prophets of
4:44 Baal or Baal in 1 Kings 18. Before we do, let me just show you that this concept shows itself in the New Testament
4:56 under a different title, and that is the title mammon. 4 times Jesus uses that term, the term mammon, an Aramaic word for wealth.
5:08 Jesus said, no 1 can serve 2 masters. He'll hate 1 and love the other, or else he'll be loyal to 1 and despise the other. You cannot serve
5:21 God and mammon. Now, as I said, mammon is usually interpreted as just another term for wealth or prosperity or materialism.
5:34 But some scholars, including Gregory of Nyssa, fourth century, John Chrysostom, fifth century, Peter Lombard, twelfth century.
5:46 Throughout the centuries, people have actually understood mammon to be a demon. Medieval theologians assigned 7 arch demons to the 7 deadly sins,
5:58 and mammon was regarded as the demon of greed. Now all of that is conjecture, but it's interesting that throughout history, behind
6:10 prosperity, greed, wealth, the love of money was this idea that it was induced by demons. We're going to look at the monster of
6:21 the love of money, power, and prosperity through this lens of Baal worship. Now, as I mentioned, the worship of Baal was very prominent in the Old Testament.
6:33 It only shows up in the Old Testament. 90 times the Bible mentions the worship of Baal. It's in 19 books of the Old Testament. 1 Kings 18
6:45 represents the peak of that false worship system when King Ahab, who is married to his wife by the name of
6:57 Jezebel. They're very infamous couple. It was a marriage made in hell. Ahab and Jezebel kind of fostered this idea of false worship of Baal.
7:09 And they themselves were into it. So this chapter is when there's a face off between Elijah the prophet, very, very bold, in
7:21 your face kind of a guy, as he comes and approaches King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. I'm going to give you 4 words that are in your worship folder, 4 words
7:33 that sum up this story and 4 words that frame our role in the culture we live in. The 4 words are courage,
7:45 contest, confrontation, and cause. First of all, courage. Elijah, as you will see, was a man of great courage. Verse 15, let me take it
7:57 to that verse. 1 Kings 18 15, then Elijah said, as the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I
8:08 stand, I will surely present myself to him, that is King Ahab, today. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab
8:20 and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. Now, quick note, Obadiah is not the prophet Obadiah. Obadiah is a guy that worked for King Ahab. So Elijah goes to
8:32 Obadiah. Obadiah goes to Ahab. Ahab now and Elijah meet together. That's verse 17, then it happened. When King Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said
8:44 to him, is that you, oh troubler of Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel,
8:57 but you and your father's house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals.
9:09 Here's a prophet who is very courageous. He speaks truth to power. And it's a very dangerous proposition because if you know anything about King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, they just killed people
9:20 they didn't like. So for the prophet to just say, you know what? You're the problem, not me, is putting himself out there. It's courage. Spurgeon used to say,
9:32 never preach just to be understood, but rather preach so that it's impossible to be misunderstood. That's Elijah. It was impossible to
9:44 misunderstand what he was trying to get across. Now why does King Ahab call Elijah a troubler of Israel? Here's why. 3 and a half
9:56 years prior to this meeting, Elijah proclaimed that it would not rain. So for 3 and a half years, there's been a drought. There's been a
10:08 famine. Back in chapter 17, he said, as the Lord of Israel lives before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years
10:20 except at my word. Now, love that he said that little phrase, before whom I stand. When he says that here, he
10:31 says in verse 15 or in verse yeah, 15, as the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, there is the key
10:44 to courage. If you can stand before the Lord, you can stand before anybody. Or maybe I should put it a different way. If you bow before the Lord, you can stand before
10:55 anyone. It's because Elijah stood before his God and bowed before him and worshiped that he was able to stand up to King Ahab, before whom I
11:07 stand. Now you should also know that this 3 and a half year drought wasn't something Elijah himself caused. It was just something he himself
11:19 proclaimed. He proclaimed a judgment on the people of Israel that God had promised back in Deuteronomy chapter 11. God said in that passage, look, if you obey
11:31 me, I'm going to water your land with abundant rain. I'm going to prosper you. I'm going to take care of you. But if you turn from me and forsake me and disobey me, it's not going to rain. Part
11:42 of my judgment will be I will withhold rain from you. So he sends a drought. And let me just say that a drought is like the perfect
11:54 judgment God could send because Baal worshippers believed that Baal, their god, was in charge of giving them rain and controlling the sun and bringing
12:06 fertility. And archaeologists have actually found depictions of Baal holding in 1 hand a thunderbolt, as if to say, I control the weather.
12:18 So it hasn't rained for 3 years as part of the judgment on Baal and the Baal worshippers. But this king wants to blame Elijah. Is that you, oh troubler of
12:29 Israel? Have you noticed that unbelievers make dumb choices sometimes and then want to blame God for the choices they make? Or because they
12:41 can't see God, they blame you as God's representative for the choices they make. It's not God's fault and it's not your fault. It's their fault.
12:54 That's sort of like, getting drunk, running into the traffic, getting hit by a truck, breaking your leg, and then suing the truck manufacturer and the driver for your condition.
13:06 So this blame shifting going on here, you know how far back it goes? It goes all the way to the garden. Right? That's exactly what Adam did
13:18 when God said to Adam, what have you done? And Adam said, it's the woman that you gave me. So it's actually your fault. It wasn't my idea. It was your idea.
13:30 But Elijah is courageous. Now just a word about this god Baal, Baal. The name Baal means Lord, but he
13:42 was regarded as the chief of the gods, the supreme god. He was worshipped by most of the Canaanites and the Phoenicians, that country what is modern day
13:54 Lebanon, just above Canaan. And sometimes in your Bible, it appears in the plural. There's an S at the end, Baals. Because different
14:06 regions worship Baal in different ways, sort of like we have denominations in Christianity. You you got Baptist, you got Methodist, you got different denominations. There were like
14:18 denominations of Baalism, where 1 group would emphasize 1 attribute of Baal over another. Another group would worship another attribute of God or emphasize
14:30 that over yet another. So there was Baal of Peor, Numbers 25, Baal Berith, Judges chapter 8, and a number of local areas that
14:42 added the name Baal to their town. So it was Baal this and Baal that because they're worshipping a different attribute. Something else,
14:53 FYI, some traditions held that Baal was the son of Dagon, D A G O N. Now some of you know what that is.
15:04 Dagon was the chief god of the Philistines. And isn't it interesting that in the New Testament, Jesus refers to Satan as
15:17 Beelzebub, Beelzebub. So he links Satan to Baalzebub, which was 1 of the
15:29 gods worshipped by the Philistines. At any rate, this god Baal was the storm god, the fertility god. He sent rain. He helped crops to grow. He gave
15:40 people children, they thought. And so he was, in essence, the god of wealth and prosperity. So 3 and onetwo years of a famine
15:52 in the land was quite an embarrassment to the god Baal and his followers. Question, what drew
16:05 the people of God to worship Baal? Why on earth would the children of Israel worship the false god of Baal? Easy
16:16 answer. It was the promise of prosperity. It was the promise of wealth. These were simple farmers, the children of Israel. They're out there tilling the land. They're out there working
16:28 the land, working hard. And when times got tough, they were tempted to invoke the powers of the local god that people said would give them wealth and
16:40 prosperity. You want to know how he was depicted? Baal was depicted as a bull,
16:52 a bull. Often it was a bull with a it was a man with the head of a bull and the horns of a bull. Sometimes he was
17:03 bearded. Sometimes he was not. Sometimes he had a helmet. Sometimes he didn't. Sometimes he was just portrayed as a bull. Okay, let's just keep that up for a minute.
17:15 That is an ancient small bull that was found that depicts the god Baal. What I find interesting and it might just be coincidental that 1 of the most
17:27 popular sites in New York City is the symbol of the American stock market that looks like this. Again, it could be coincidence, but here is
17:39 a molten image of a bull. Think golden calf for just a moment. This is a charging bull, almost 12 feet tall, 16 feet long.
17:51 And isn't it interesting, when our economy gets really good, when the market surges, they call it a bull market. And we
18:01 even jokingly refer to the dollar as the almighty dollar. That could all be coincidental, maybe not. Maybe Satan really isn't all that creative
18:13 after all. He just sort of reimposes himself in another culture. But I want to have you listen to the words of 1 of our presidents, Abraham Lincoln, who said to the people
18:25 of his time, quote, We have been recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven. We have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity. We
18:37 have grown in numbers, wealth, power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. That is what the
18:49 prophet Elijah is saying to King Ahab, the King of the people of Israel. You might have prosperity, but you have forgotten God. To make matters even worse,
19:00 there is now a gospel out there called the prosperity gospel that actually has made chasing after wealth and prosperity and money a sign of
19:12 godliness. The Bible warns against that, but it's out there. So that's the first word, courage. The prophet comes to the king, points his prophet finger in
19:24 his face, and basically says, you have forgotten God, and it's your fault that this has happened. Second word is the word contest. The prophet
19:36 Elijah calls for a contest, a battle, battle of the gods. It's Elijah's idea. Look at verse 19 of chapter 18.
19:48 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the 4 50 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at
20:00 Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent for the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people and said, how long will you
20:12 falter between 2 opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal, then follow him. But the people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the
20:24 people, I alone am left, a prophet of the Lord. But Baal's prophets are 4 50 men. Therefore, let them give us 2 bowls. Let them choose 1 bowl for
20:35 themselves, cut it in pieces, lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. And I will prepare the other bowl, lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. Then, here's the
20:47 contest, you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord, that is Yahweh, and the
20:59 God who answers by fire, he is God. So all the people answered and said, it is well spoken. Now this is a fair contest,
21:11 right? If Baal is supposedly the 1 who controls the forces of nature, the sun, the rain, etcetera, lightning bolt in his hand, fire from heaven, then this is a fair contest.
21:22 It's a battle of the gods. And the place is perfect because it is Mount Carmel. It is the highest point on a mountain range that goes from the Mediterranean to the
21:34 Valley of Armageddon. It's 1 of the high places in Israel. If you go with us on a tour to Israel, usually on day number 2, about midday, we are on top of Mount Carmel, and we're
21:46 reading this chapter. The idea of worshipping on a high place was the idea of dominance. If you control the highest places, you dominate the land. So they worshipped on the high places.
21:58 Moreover, the Phoenicians who worshipped Baal believed that Mount Carmel was the sacred dwelling place of Baal. Because if
22:10 you ever go there and see it, it's just green. It's fertile. And they would look at Mount Carmel and say, this is because Baal has blessed this place so abundantly. So I just want you to get
22:22 this picture. The reason they're on Mount Carmel is Elijah the prophet is giving the Baal worshipers a home field advantage. We're playing on
22:34 your turf with your audience. In fact, in verse 19, look how many there are, 4 50 prophets of Baal, 400
22:46 prophets of Asherah, and how many with Elijah? None. It's just 1 against all of them. He is outnumbered. It's 1
22:57 against about 1000 of them. But that's not how he saw it. This was not a contest of numbers in Elijah's mind. This was a battle between
23:09 the truth and a lie, between worshipping God and a demon. He was so black and white, so clear cut. I love what Martin Luther used to say.
23:21 Martin Luther said, with God, 1 is a majority. Elijah knew that he was in the majority. He had God on his
23:33 side. He was after the glory of God. Daniel and his friends stood in Babylon alone. Paul stood in Ephesus
23:44 alone. Joshua stood before the people of Israel who were wavering alone. But let's continue our story. There's a lot of it, so I don't want to take too much time. Verse
23:56 25, now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose 1 bull for yourselves, prepare it first, for you are many. And
24:08 call on the name of your God, but put no fire under it. So they took the bowl, which is given to them. They prepared it. And they called on the name of Baal get this from morning until noon.
24:20 That's like a 4 hour church service, at least. And they were saying, oh, Baal, hear us. But there was
24:32 no voice, no 1 answered, And they leaped about on the altar which they had made. So it was at noon this is my favorite verse in the whole chapter. So it was at noon, Elijah mocked
24:44 them. And he said, cry louder, for he is a god. Like wink, wink. Either
24:57 he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he's sleeping and you've got to wake him up. So they cried
25:09 louder, and they cut themselves as was their custom with knives and lances until the blood gushed out on them. And so it was when midday was
25:20 past that they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. So the 4 hour worship service is now like 6, 8 hours. But
25:32 there was no voice, no 1 answered, no 1 paid attention. Elijah waited till noon before he started mocking them. Why noon? Because noon is when the
25:44 sun cross es the local meridian, and in the right season of the year, the sun is at its highest position, greatest strength. And if Baal is the god of the sun, and the rain, and
25:55 prosperity, then he should be able to be reached at noon. But Elijah mocks them. And he says, maybe he's traveling. He's on a journey. And the Phoenicians believe that
26:07 whenever they traveled by sea, that Baal would accompany them on their journey. But there's a word that I just want to point out to you because it's hardly ever translated correctly
26:19 in scriptural translations. And that's the word busy. Do you see that in that verse? For he's meditating or he is busy. I think the Bible translators just didn't want
26:31 to translate it because it was such a delicate term. It actually means this, literally. Maybe he's relieving himself. How's that for a mockery? Maybe your God is on
26:43 the toilet. That's the actual translation. He's relieving himself. He's busy. Now, the reason he's mocking isn't because he's
26:55 just a mean person. He knew that nobody's going to answer because nobody's there. There is no god named Baal. If anything, there's
27:07 just a demon behind that worship. But they called on this god all day long. And I've noticed that everyone has some
27:19 God that when life is really bad and the bottom drops out, they will call in distress, they will call on that God, only to find nobody's on the other line.
27:31 Nobody's on the other end. Nobody picks up. I remember years ago when I worked in hospitals in radiology, I was on call. I came in. There was a woman in
27:43 the ER. She was on a gurney, a stretcher. And she was in a bad physical way. But what I noticed is that on the stretcher were a pile of books, and they were all religious books. There
27:55 was a Bible. There was a book on new age beliefs. There was a book on crystals. There was all this. And all those books contradicted all the other books in the pile. But it was as if she's saying, I'm in
28:06 distress, and I'm holding on to whatever's out there for help. It reminds me of the story of the soldier in the foxhole. It was during a war.
28:18 He jumps in the foxhole, and he has on his neck a chain. And on the chain is a cross. And next to the cross, a Star of David. And next to
28:30 the Star of David, a crescent moon for Islam. And next to the crescent moon, a little Buddha, and so forth. Just a series of all these different charms. And a soldier jumps in next to him, sees the
28:42 things dangling on the chain, says, what is it exactly you believe in? And the soldier said, I don't know. But in my condition, I can't afford to make anybody mad. Right? He's just calling on
28:54 whatever's out there for help. But let's continue the story, and we'll finish it up. Verse 30, then Elijah said to all the people, come near to me,
29:06 after their shenanigans. So all the people came near to him, And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And Elijah took 12 stones
29:18 according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord had come saying, Israel shall be your name. Then with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench
29:30 around the altar large enough to hold 2 sails of seed. And he put the wood in order, cut the bowl in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, fill 4 water pots with water.
29:42 And pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. And then he said, do it a second time. They did it a second time. He said, do it a third time. They did it a third time. What's he doing? He's stacking the odds against
29:53 him. He's making the sacrifice wet because things that are wet can't burn. Most people think it's about to burn. So the water ran all around the
30:05 altar and also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said,
30:18 Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done these things at your word. Hear me.
30:30 Oh, Lord, hear me that this people may know that you are the Lord God, and you have turned their hearts back to you again. Then the fire of the Lord fell
30:41 and consumed watch this the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the
30:53 water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, He is God.
31:05 The Lord, He is God. What a contrast. Elijah's simple, calm prayer, what a contrast to the frenzied,
31:17 emotional nonsense for hours that these false prophets were going through. Elijah does things decently and in order,
31:30 calmly. He takes 12 stones that represent whom? Tribes of And puts it on a little altar. Does that remind you of last
31:42 week's message when they went through the Jordan River and they took those 12 stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel? Why is Elijah doing this? He's reminding the audience of their history.
31:54 Remember, he is saying to them, as I put these stones 1 upon another, remember what God has done for you in your history. Think back to all that the Lord has blessed you with.
32:07 So when it's all done and God honors his prayer and consumes the sacrifice, the people are just blown away. And they shout out their
32:19 belief. They reaffirm their belief in God. They say, the Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God. By the way, in essence, they're chanting Elijah's name because the name
32:31 Elijah means the Lord is God. Yahweh is God. So that's the courage and that's the contest. Let me give you a third word, confrontation.
32:44 I want to take you back to verse 21. This is right before the contest. He approaches the people of Israel. Verse 21, Elijah came to all the people and said here's the
32:56 question how long will you falter between 2 opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow
33:08 him. But the people answered him not a word. He is issuing a confrontational ultimatum. He's confronting
33:19 them. He's challenging them. And he says, how long will you falter between 2 opinions? Literally, it means, how long will you limp between 2 twigs or
33:31 hop between 2 forks. You come to a fork in the road, you don't know which road to take. So you go, I'm going to go to the right. No, wait a minute. Maybe I'll go to the left. Yeah, but if I go to the left, then can't go
33:43 to the right. So maybe I'll go to the right. But then I might miss out, so you don't know which way to go. So when he says this, he knows he's dealing with a crowd that is undecided,
33:55 unresolved, uncommitted, and wavering, not taking 1 side, God, or the other side, Baal. I don't know which
34:06 to choose. I kind of like them both. Here's what you need to know about this. It's not like Israel was totally apostate in saying, I don't believe in God.
34:19 I don't worship Yahweh anymore. What they were saying is, I want to worship God, but I'd also like to worship Baal. I kind of want to do both. I want to follow God and worship God, but I really want the wealth
34:31 and prosperity that will come from following Baal. So I'd like to combine the worship systems together. It's called syncretism, syncretism. And that is a very popular way
34:43 of worshipping today. Today, people's way of worship is like smorgasbord theology. You stand in line, you go, oh, I'd like a side of Christianity.
34:55 I'll hold the guilt, please. I'd like a little bit of new age spices and a little bit of self help ideology and throw it all in, mix it together, and I'll make my way of worshipping God. That's what they were
35:07 doing. So Elijah is calling on them to make a choice between 1 or the other and then go all
35:18 in with that choice. Make a choice and go all in. Worship God or worship Baal. Make up your mind. Quit going back and forth. I want to make the same appeal.
35:30 Don't take the name of Jesus on your lips while you deny Him with your life. Let's make a choice. Be a Christian. Be a real Christian. And a real Christian
35:42 is 1 who surrenders his or her life to Jesus. Or to put it in the words of James one:eight, a double minded
35:54 man is unstable in all his ways. Now this confronting ultimatum, this
36:05 confrontation, is very much like that of Joshua who stood before the people of Israel back in Joshua 24. And he said, choose this day whom you will serve,
36:17 whether it's the gods that your fathers worshiped on the other side of the river or it's the true and living God. But for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
36:29 Make a choice. I've made my choice. I'm going to serve the Lord. Elijah's challenge is like that. Elijah's challenge was like the challenge Jesus himself gave
36:41 when he taught the Sermon on the Mount. Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, Matthew 6, Matthew 7. At the end of Matthew 7, Jesus says this, enter into the narrow gate,
36:54 For wide is the gate that leads to destruction, and many people go that way. Enter into the narrow gate. He didn't say admire the gate. He didn't say ponder the gate.
37:06 He didn't say add the gate to other gate like options. He said enter it. Go in. Make a choice. I remember a poem I heard years
37:18 ago, and it was written by a guy named James Addison Alexander. I bet you've heard it. There is a time we know not when, a line we know not
37:29 where, that marks the destiny of man twixt sorrow and despair. There is a line, though by man unseen, once it has been
37:41 crossed, even God and all His love hath sworn that all is lost. So it's time to make a choice.
37:54 You make a choice, and you'll discover your choice will turn around and make you. And what you choose is all important. Think of flies and fly
38:05 paper. It makes a big difference which side of the fly paper that fly decides to land on, right? Life will either be good or very bad.
38:19 So confrontation is the third word. And the fourth word we'll close with this is cause. Cause. What is it that caused this prophet
38:31 to risk his life, approach King Ahab, and call for a contest against the prophets of Baal? What is it that brought that motivation? What caused it? Well,
38:43 go to the end of the chapter. Go to verse 36. Let's look at that little prayer. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and he said,
38:55 now here's his prayer. Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, that I have done all these things
39:08 at your word. Verse 37 is the heart of it. Hear me, oh Lord, hear me that this people may know that you are the Lord
39:19 God and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. This is in his prayer. This is his motivation. He
39:31 wanted God to be glorified. He wanted God to be known again in Israel. He wanted the people to turn back to God. That's his heart. That's his motive. That's the cause for which heShow more
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