Public Opinions Or Private Obedience

I have become more convinced than ever that history is going to attest to the fact that much of the reason for all moral and ethical disaster that we are facing in this great nation is due directly to the fact that some time ago, we have chosen conformity instead of confrontation that we have chosen consensus instead of conviction that we have chosen public opinion polls instead of private obedience to God and his loss now in my personal opinion, the Christian community is becoming like society at large. With fewer and fewer and fewer people loving God working for God. Serving God, making him known in the masses of vegetating in the pews.

I am here to tell you the race that is to be 1B1 by spectators, a prominent football coach recently described the football game was an event were about 50 people who are exhausted and tired and in desperate need of rest are playing in the field and being watched by 50,000 spectators who are resting and in desperate need of exercise. Today is look at the very centerpiece of the life of a larger Uganda find him standing up in hand to hand combat.

And while the masses of people, God's people. The people of Israel were in different skeptical standing there atop of Mount caramel turned your Bibles.

Please the first Kings chapter 18 and has you turning into your Bibles I want to tell you this, that the recipe for disaster in the nation. A church community or home.

Is this compromising leadership and confused people. That is a recipe for disaster and that's precisely what you gonna find here at first Kings chapter 18 and this is perhaps one of the most dramatic moments in biblical history. If I were a movie producer. This would be literally the epic of my production.

This is the height of drama that I could present to you but since I'm not I wanted to use their imagination. I want to transform you into that place on Mount caramel where this event has taken place there. Elijah begins by confronting this week.

This will became King I have who was grammatically correct. He was confiding this wimp of a king who was the champion of pluralism.

This wimp of a king who compromised his faith and allowed his wicked godless Queen to desecrate the nation by entertaining 850 prophets of Baylon Asherah right there being subsidized by the state. This king, who did all of this and yet when he got into trouble. He turned around and began to blame the man of God Elijah for the trouble of the nation. This man when he saw all that was going on in society when he saw the hand of judgment upon society.

What he do he turned and lashed on God-fearing man Elijah I want you to remember that it had not been trained at this point of history for three solid years and everything is turning into ashes and dust. No crops, no food in the countries in a disaster. But during the time of draft God was hiding his man.

Elijah first and Sheriff Brooks and then in Zanaflex.

It was hiding him. He was providing for him. He was taking care of them and this is a picture of God's provision of God's hand of protection for those who love him. Those who are faithful to him.

Those who put their trust in him in the midst of trouble, but look at the irony here just for a minute. As you look at your textbook at the irony here. I have been his Phoenician wife Jezebel will worshiping bail while paying lip service to Yahweh, and while they worshiping bail out tell you why because bail was known as the God of fertility is the God of the crops. He was the God whose worship required indulgence in sensuality and yet when the drought came instead of even having some doubts about bail. What does he do, he turns around and blame Elijah the prophet of God, and he said you're the trouble of Israel. I wanted to listen carefully, because I know this can be misunderstood, but I see it with my own eyes, and you have to have your eyes open to be able to see this that this is happening all around us today.

We have many of the elite in the secular media today we have so many in the entertainment industry, the political elite, many of them and affect our worshiping mother Earth, Gaia. Some of them probably my go to church on Sunday and for the television camera may carry a big black Bible with them, but at the same time there worshiping at the shrine of the flesh, they are bowing to mother Earth and there are confusing secular humanism with Christianity.

Just as Ahab and his wife Jezebel were confusing bail with Yahweh. We are experiencing today, and when the leadership leads into compromise. The public becomes confused and that is precisely what is happening at this point in Israel's history.

These confused people gathered at the top of Mount caramel. The reason I said there were confused because the Bible said they were hoping between two opinions.

They did not worship bail alone.

They did not worship Yahweh alone. There will worshiping bail in the guise of Yahweh Mount caramel in Israel is an absolutely awesome site 1600 feet high King I have someone to come on top of that mountain, the confused people of Israel. There were some of the come up to this mountain, the 450 prophets of bail was someone to come up with that mountain. The 400 prophets of Ashtoreth were invited to come up to this mountain and there. I imagine the man of God is the masses and masses of people coming climbing up the mountain from Lisa Lewis from the north and the south all coming up in droves.

As a going. I can imagine in my mind's eye the man of God. Probably hiding behind a rock and there he was in prayer. There he was on his knees behind some rocks somewhere, praying to God pleading with God receiving assurance from God, but I can assure you Elijah would not have. He would not have done this without a mandate from the living God.

This is a timeless picture tried to put yourself place yourself in the picture. See yourself standing on top of that 1500 foot mountain.

Imagine yourself standing on the 6 mile train of a mountain standing there in the pop facing directly west you see the Mediterranean feel right.

The ancient fortress of the city of any court, where the crusaders what their enemies to your left. There is a Caesarea, where Paul confronted Felix and Festus and Agrippina right behind you. The plains of Ashkelon. Where did you defeated the Midianites. It is an awesome site but of all these historic events that one event of one so lucky man facing 850 false prophets probably is the most important event in that mountain. What is a part of his confrontation. You will find that in verse 21 of first Kings 18.

The point of the confrontation is this, that Elijah cries to the confused people of God saying to them, in effect, how long your waiver.

How long will you wobble, how long would you walk with a limp. That's a little word in Hebrew, God is God worship is God worship something about me. I don't know why I don't like debating with people when it comes to the faith.

I don't believe the gospel is to be ran down the people's throats and argued about a similar Jesus said I'm the only way you cannot go to heaven without me you can go to heaven with your good works again to heaven with the money you can go to heaven depending on anything else except me if you want to go to heaven taken. If you don't want to get heaven rejecting sensor I would have to argue the point. Elijah just he was going to make a decision between two extremes and are today when somebody takes a stand and I will talk about violence and all that stuff on talk about taking a stand for the truth, he or she is called extremes. I thank God that I'm extremes I want to tell you on the front of the of the word of God that God won't people to be either one of the extreme sides. Jesus told the church allowed to see in the book of Revelation. He said you make me sick you make me nauseous.

You might not want to vomit. Why because he said you cannot be on both sides of the issue.

You cannot have 1 foot in each camp because you cannot stay in the middle-of-the-road because they sought to please other people sought to please men, but not God because they wanted to play footsie with sin.

During the week and then go to church on Sunday because they wanted to identify were societies and morality and then call themselves religious.

Jesus said to the lab to see and make up your minds, make up your minds choose either to be called or hop listen to make being Margaret maybe wonderful for the secular media and that will praise you for but is not going to excite God about you.

God wants you to be on either side are you for Jesus. Are you going to slap him rejecting you don't need to have a PhD to know the people pleasers in the pleasing no one compromising produces restlessness and decision produces turmoil. Don't worry about what people think of you only what God thinks of you. I love the lady said one time some years ago. She said you know when you're in your 20s and 30s.

You really worry about what people say of you what they think of Justin when you hit your 40s and 50s. She said are you going to discover that no longer really worry about what people think of she's additional normal.

By the time to get there 60s and 70s going to discover that people don't think of you at all wise words. James said a double minded person is unstable in all his ways. There is only one person that you need to please. There is only one person that you need to obey is only one person that you need to bow to his name is Jesus. And if you have never submitted your life to him. If you have being sitting on the fence for so long. I want to invite you to get off the fence to make a decision for Jesus Christ. He loves you.

He's been living you hear his message again and again is saying come to me stop this church entity.

Stop this religiosity that doesn't excite me at all.

What excites me when you come to me in humility acknowledge that what I've done for you on the cross was done for you receive me as a master of your life and the Lord of your life for those who know the Lord. But somehow they are caught between life of intellectual belief and indulgence. Listen to me stop wobbling between two lifestyles you're making got sick little hard and the rules does I got those words when God I wanted to hear me right. Please the decisiveness of a larger is the decisiveness of the entire word of God from Genesis to Revelation. When you are not sold out to Jesus Christ. But you claim to be his follower you are making God nauseous. Verse 22 Elijah said I'm outnumbered. Most of us if we get outnumbered wanted to is really bad. We feel terrible if you get outnumbered. 1 to 20 minutes a disaster of epic proportion. But to get outnumbered 850 to 1 unit 850 people looking at you and say you're wrong what you believe is wrong is what Electrolux is wasted alone in front of 850+ establishment plus the leadership the country but you know what our problem is today. Our problem is that we constantly look for public opinion polls and formulate our things. Our problem is that the we are forever looking at what others are doing and then determine a course of action that is not please the Lord. Dr. Ruth Brenda, together with a group of social scientists conducted a large number of test right across the country wide sample what they would do is they'll bring together 10 teenagers in a room where charts on the wall and these charts have three different links lines on them and in each room.

The tilt of a group of teenagers asking to raise their hands when the teacher points to the longest line on the chart. One teenager in each group of 10 did not know that the other nine teens have been instructed to raise their hands when the teacher pointed to the second-longest line you get the point. This lonely team frequently looked confused and puzzled, but he cast the wrong vote with all the other nine Dr. Ruth Brenda concluded, and she revealed that 75% of teens allowed peer pressure to override their own better judgment.

You know what I have a hunch. My hunch says that most adults would not fare any better look back at the picture, all the odds were on the side of bail. Yahweh had all the handicap. The central term of the contest here of this confrontation is the God who answers his God. If about the God who answers his God, our God is the God who acts most often he acts in response to his people's faith. Most often he acts in response to his people's obedience. Most often the act in response to his people's intense prayer can imagine this confused Israelites coming up on top of the mountain standing there watching what's going on in front of their eyes bail worshipers trying to call upon bail them the way I try to imagine what the religious people of our day to go to the apostate church who believe that there is a God, but he's a million miles away.

They believe that Jesus died on the cross is totally irrelevant to their daily living.

Those who go to church once a month to get a fix on religion. Also read the horoscope just in case you missed something, imagine them standing there wide eyes for nine hours watching nine hours have passed 850 prophets of bail calling upon bail response and I honestly believe the prophets of bail that they sincerely believe that there was an answer. You know that is why I think there's nothing worse than being sincerely wrong he was around.

See sincere. Nothing worse than being sincerely wrong. Nothing worse than being deceived deceiver. Nothing worse than being a deluded diluted they could not get bail to hear the so they start dancing around the altar started gyrating and starting doing the thing you know menuing and doing the Lombardo and all the stuff you know this how to get the cat you numbing them all trying to get bail's attention. Imagine Elijah very, there would be just absolutely wonderful for nine hours, standing there quietly but he didn't.

Ruth the whole man hours but at least part of it standing there quietly, patiently, when what he was doing.

She reportedly was praying probably polishing his fingernails, but by noon time. He just couldn't take it anymore.

I'm in this language is gone for too long. So by verse 27 look at a noontime to begin to talk them, saying, hey shot was getting hard of hearing of light. After all, he's a busy guy is probably on an element somewhere and he's getting old and is tiring very easily is probably taking an imitative something and I say very quickly and I'm gonna move all there is. The word Hebrew word in verse 27, which means that probably they had to take care of life necessity is what it means is like in the airplane and only on the television occupied is where was he was occupied as one means literally on the move very quickly. Finally, when they got desperate.

They began to cut themselves with knives, hoping to provoke bail's compassionate response to no avail. You will wonder what can you have us thinking, standing there nearly promises real life. Give me a break. Jezebel told me, let me ask you this. Does your God honor you trust in him and answered your prayer when you praise him in accordance with his will is your God answer this we all put our trust in something or someone will. If you put your trust in your material things and your children are emptying you material things will not fill no, I submit to you that you material things was standing there as a McRae because they cannot answer if your God is a God of rationalism that says I think therefore I am. When you confront tragedies in life.

Does your God answer you with the peace that passes understanding is the answer you with the hope that is beyond description know I submit to you that you and your rationalism will stand in McRae because it cannot answer you if your God is sensuality when you have come to the end of the road and you feel your own mortality. You can try out the sensuality, but when passion flame have become dust and ashes.

It will not answer you in your God answer you when you cry to him my God does his name is Jesus call upon him today call upon him today call upon him today. Verse 30 later in the day. Elijah said okay boys I been patient long enough rough translation to get the meaning that we show you what my God can do. I love it should draw near come close up hocus-pocus in the Christian life. There are no smoke and mirrors.

There are no make-believe in the Christian life come close.

Come and see. There is no sleight-of-hand in the Christian life. Our lives are open book order powerful testimony come close and see how good my God is see how he works. And as the sun began to sink into the Mediterranean.

Elijah took 12 stones representing the 12 tribes of Israel. And he repaired Coulter you know why he repaired the altar. Because God's altar has been torn down out of neglect God's altar has been torn down out of disinterest God's altar has been torn down out of negligence and running off the other things in life that his wife was torn down in disrepair for me ask you this.

How was your family altar. What shape of repaired sin is in disrepair is your prayer altar. What kind of shape it's in. Is it in disrepair out of negligence out of being busy doing things. Thinking that the last in contrast to the dry with the larger allow the prophets of bail to use the saturated. The word over which a sacrifice was placed. I feel sorry for these guys who had to carry water all the way up to the mountain you not remember was a drought and there was no water.

So what they were doing the going all the way down to the Mediterranean coming up all and in 1500 feet up cutting the waters of the second unless none of go back sometime real the barrels of oil per the methods why was he doing that.

Why was he saturating the world and even having a trench of water around the old because he wants to give all the odds to bail in all of the handicap to you, you would do yourself a disfavor if you miss the blessing of verse 36 I had a personal revival just over that verse all by myself. Elijah did all of this in perfect obedience to the voice of God. So when he prayed publicly.

He only prayed for a few moments. He only prayed few words began to focus on this.

I realize that Elijah has been praying privately for three years. Stand up and four hours dance around no. Most often, we miss this in our lives. It is not the length of your public prayer, but destroying your private is not the economy of your public words in public prayer with the intensity of your private prayer and that is why James chapter 5 said that Elijah was a great man of prayer, probably by now some of you are saying – you know, why doesn't God do that now. What is Michael use of go down so we don't know the Marion will bring all your bull out here now call fire from heaven. You have to understand that this was a moment of time in salvation history where everything was at stake. Everything having Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David kingdom, everything, everything was in the balance.

God doesn't work like that every day it doesn't work like this. Most of the time unless it is a moment of absolute decisive critical world changing time for when people saw the fire come down from heaven, burning everything in sight, they fell on their faces and called out and say the Lord is good. The Lord is God my responses. Who wouldn't we see a site like that. Listen carefully. Great is this event had been in biblical history. We do not look back to month, for our salvation why because we have something better. We look back to Calvary.

We look back to the empty tomb. We look back to the resurrected and glorified. Soon coming back Lord Jesus Christ.

When fire came at the day of Pentecost men and women would change forever, and for good and they became filled with power of the power of the price we don't look back to the fire that consumes stone and wood and even water but to the flyer that cleanses and purifies our lives. We don't look to the fire that consumed the sacrifice, but to the fire that consumes us with zeal to the collapse of the world that Jesus is Lord. How does he do it today.

God wants to do it by your deeper and purer in a fire that enters in and burns the dross of compromise in your life and burdens that indecision in your life that burns that the difference in your life so that you are able to confront the world.

Maybe confront one with the claims of Christ. He wants to do it through the perceptible change in your life that people can say why are you different.

He wants to do it by our display of his power in everyday living that we don't live by site.

Like the rest of the world, but we live by faith we see the unseen. He wants to do it by out exhibiting such unity of spirit, the people who can say all all they love one another.

He wants to do it by bearing fruit. He wants to do about witnessing. He wants to do it by our zeal and love for the say give me something that is the just, just give me clichés understand it in theology understand biblically give it to me in practical terms. Is and I'm going to share with you what I'd come to the Lord said, Lord, lay some personal my heart, for whom I can pray a lost person that he might, she might come to know your saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and then the moment comes that God provides. Not you engineered but God provides it and there is your confrontation not to 850 people, but one of the time when God called Elijah to do, not necessarily calling everyone of you to do, but is calling you and me confront the enemy, Satan, by confronting one person at a time and let God's final salvation come and save that person there from here who have thought probably that going to church on occasion will believing that there is a God. This the same as being saved from eternal punishment and going to heaven there is a lie and the deception that permeates our secular media that says everybody's going to heaven is not true that is not what the word of God says it is not what Jesus and if you have been confronted by these claims. For the first time in your life or probably is been a clearer than ever before. I want to urge you today say Lord Jesus Christ. I come to you. I thank you that you love me you love me enough to die for me.

I come to you receive me.

I repent of my sins, believing that the Holy Spirit at that moment comes into your life, strengthen your powers you, you have become a new creature. Don't let the day go by without telling somebody about that, but there are so many people been hearing me today who have been warming the seat of salvation for too long, you hear a sermon after sermon Bible study after Bible study. Your life is basically the same. Nothing is happening. I believe the claims of the Scriptures confronting you today stop faulting between two opinions stop wobbling stop putting 1 foot in each camp, stop sitting on the fence say Lord Jesus Christ empower me to be a laborer in your vineyard, purify me to live a holy and righteous life are precious heavenly father who know of what we made sure your supernatural power you have weave this in our mother's womb. You know us physically. You know us spiritually know us emotionally. You know us mentally.

You know us perfectly and what ever we are. We pray heavenly father that your Holy Spirit would descend deal with us individually speak to each of our hearts that all God as we confront these claims of fresh as we encounter the living God.

We will walk out of this place transformed men and women in Jesus name.

Thanks for listening to this message from Dr. Michael use that recently featured on leading the way. If you'd like to know more about us, please visit LTW.org that's LTW.Ward