The Conversion of Saul
Notes
Transcript
Intro: Theme/Topic (What’s the problem, the question, etc.)
Have you ever heard someone say something like this...
All claims to be the only true religion are like mountain climbers taking different trails to the summit of the same mountain. Each hiker can only see their trail and claims that it is the only trail that leads to the summit. Their error is that they cannot see the bigger picture — they don’t see the whole mountain.
Today we live in a world surrounded by many different religions.
The Buddhist temple off of All angles
The JW’s on all Angels
The Mosque on the corner of All Angels and Myers Corner
But more so, celebrities and media embrace and support all kinds of openness to new age and pagan religion.
In fact, many choose not to embrace or go ALL IN with any particular religion — instead preferring to take a buffet approach — taking all the parts they like the best from each of them to form their own personal belief system.
To say that any one religion is the only true one is arrogant and intolerant, like one of those mountain climbers.
Many people today believe that all religions are basically the same at their core and that they can all essentially be true. So, why decided which one is right or wrong? They don’t understand why they need to choose between right and wrong. For many choosing a religion is like choosing a flavor of ice cream — it’s whatever they like best.
But understand that the person who holds this perspective is not exempt from the arrogance they accuse others of. Because to say that nobody has a superior view is to say that YOU have the superior view. To say that no one sees the whole picture — no one sees the whole mountain — is a claim to YOU see the whole mountain.
So, how are we to know which religion is the true religion? It’s possible for all of them to be wrong, but they can’t all be right — there’s too many significant differences.
Today we’re going to be ascending Mount Carmel where the prophet Elijah challenged the prophets of a false god named Baal to a contest to prove who is the one true God.
A little background is in order before we read today’s text…
The nation of Israel under the leadership of human kings is spiraling out of control. After only three kings, the nation was plunged into civil war and divided in two. The Northern tribes went by the name Israel and the Southern tribes we called Judah.
Not many kings were good. The vast majority of them did not remain faithful to God. Judah had some bright spots with 8 good kings but Israel in the north had NO kings who could be described as good.
One of those kings was Ahab. He was a spineless king. Ahab tolerated worship of the true God but also allowed every other pagan god to be worshipped too. Then he basically marries the wicked witch of the west, a woman named Jezebel — who was determined to stamp out worship of Israel’s God and make worship of pagan gods the state religion. She had prophets of Israel’s God killed. As a result 100 of them were hid in caves.
God raises up the prophet Elijah and his mission is to show that there is only one true God — Yahweh the God of Israel. And to call God’s people back to Him.
And Elijah is the right man for the job because his name literally means “The LORD is God”!
One day (in 1 Kings ch. 17) Elijah confront’s Ahab and tells him that to rain will fall in the land — not even dew, except by Elijah’s word. Now this was a finger in the eye to Ba’al the false god of Jezabel because Ba’al was believed to be a weather god who controls the storms and brings rain.
So, severe drought plagues the land for over 3 years. Elijah goes into hiding and there is a nation wide manhunt to find him.
Then everything comes to an epic climax. God tells Elijah to go to king Ahab and tell him to assemble all Israel and all the false prophets — 850 in total at Mt. Carmel. And this is where our text this morning picks up…
Scripture
So, grab your Bibles and turn there with me now. we’re in 1 Kings 18:20-40. If you need to use a pew Bible, you’ll find today’s text on page _________. Once you’re there, please stand with me if you are able and follow along with me as I read...
So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel.
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men.
Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it.
And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.”
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.”
And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made.
And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them.
And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one answered; no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down.
Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,”
and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed.
And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.”
And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time.
And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.
And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.”
And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.
This is God’s Word.
Prayer
Father, your word is living and active, sharper than any sword and able to pierce even our souls and discern the very thoughts and intentions of our hearts. May your word convict us this morning and bring us into an even deeper joy in knowing Jesus as our savior. In Christ’s name we pray — AMEN!
Intro: Formal
In this summer sermon series "Peaks of Grace,” we’re looking at significant biblical events that happened on the tops of mountains, I’m calling this event on Mount Carmel — Mount Decision. So as we work our way up Mount Decision together this morning I’ll use 3 trail markers.
The Need for The Challenge
False Religion Exposed
True Religion Revealed
Let’s begin by answering the question: Why do we need this challenge today?!
The Need for The Challenge
The Need for The Challenge
Many wonder how this challenge is even relevant today. Perhaps even some of you in this room or watching online think this way. I mean isn’t the worship of pagan gods a bit primitive. Can’t we just choose no god at all?
If that’s you consider this — EVERYONE WORSHIPS. Even if you’re not religious — you worship something. It’s not a choice you make to do or not do. It’s like breathing, everyone does it because it’s how we were made. You don’t have to be “religious” in the proper sense of the word to be a worshiper.
Let me explain. The pagan god Ba’al in our text is a generic name for pagan deities. In fact there were many Ba’als worshiped in Israel. They had gods for everything.
For weather
The Sun
Fertility
Family
Power
Wealth
Sex
For the most part these are not BAD things — they can be very good things. But false worship happens when a good thing latches onto our hearts and becomes an ultimate thing. When a good thing that God created becomes what defines us and something that we can’t live without, that good thing becomes your functional god.
For example, take MONEY. There’s nothing wrong with money but when it becomes what drives you and the thing that you must have more of at all costs, it becomes your functional god. The sacrifices you make to this god are all the things you’re willing go sacrifice in order to get it. — This could be your integrity or even your family.
Or maybe your functional god is FAMILY. This can look different for different people.
If you’re single, you’re miserable thinking about life without a spouse and family. Why? Because a good thing has become an ultimate thing in your heart.
Or maybe you have this ideal family in your mind that you don’t have. Maybe it’s your kids or grandkids not living close enough and this makes you unhappy and bitter. Why? Because a good thing has become an ultimate thing in your heart.
Or maybe your functional god is your accomplishments. Maybe it’s advancement in your career or getting good grades in school or getting accepted to your dream college. It’s all you think about and you’ll cut any corner or make any compromise to get it. Why? Because a good thing has become an ultimate thing in your heart.
Your functional god could be the approval of others, a political party, or a gender or sexual identity. The point is that there are as many Ba’als vying for your heart TODAY as there were in Israel in Elijah’s day. So, don’t think this challenge is not relevant to us today.
But the problem in Elijah’s day wasn’t choosing Ba’al over the LORD — it was indecision. The people couldn’t decide between the LORD and Ba’al so they would pay tribute to them all.
This would be like attending services here on Sunday to satisfy the Christian God and then cheating on that test on Monday to get an “A” or to advance your career. Or compromising your morals with friends because you so desperately crave their approval.
Elijah tells the people in v. 21…
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.
Notice how Elijah describes their indecision as “limping.” They’ve got one foot in with Yahweh and the other foot in with Ba’al and it’s crippling their soul and robbing them of their joy.
Are you a Christian who struggles to find joy in following Jesus? If so, then ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart and show you if there may be some good thing that has become an ultimate thing in your heart.
At our next trail marker lets see what this contest tells us about the Ba’als in our hearts…
False Religion Exposed
False Religion Exposed
V. 26 shows the prophets of Baal preparing their offering and calling out to him from morning till noon with no answer — no voice. Then it says they LIMPED around the altar.
There’s that word again. Some translations translate this word as “dance” but it’s really an exhausted crippling dance — a limping. So, how do you know there’s a Baal in your heart? — It makes you dance! It makes you perform.
All man-made religion has a set of rules to live by to gain acceptance. These are the dance steps. Gods like Allah ask, “are you dancing hard enough? Are you keeping the commandments?” This is performing. If you dance well enough you’ll be rewarded. But how do you know if or when you’ve done enough?
Or if you’re chasing beauty maybe you become a Zumba junky chasing that perfect body. It may be a new dance but it’s still a dance. You’re still performing.
Or maybe for you it’s health, money, power, sex, success, fame, popularity,… all just different dance steps. Never knowing if you’ve done enough. And even if it appears you’ve arrived, now there’s the fear of losing it, so you keep dancing. And in your soul, you’re limping, you’re exhausted.
And there’s even a so-called Christian version of this that hijacks the name of the one true God and promises you health, wealth, and prosperity if you give enough, pray hard enough, or study the Bible more. Just more dance steps. And when you don’t get what you want the burden of failure crushes you because you must not be a good enough Christian or don’t have enough faith.
Now look where this dancing leads in v. 28 after there’s still no answer they take extreme measures to get Baal’s attention — they begin cutting themselves until blood gushes out.
So too when you still don’t have the happiness your heart seeks in whatever good thing you’ve made into an ultimate thing, you make even bigger sacrifices. You move on from dancing and start cutting.
For some taken captive by transgender ideology the cutting is literal as they pursue the body they wish they had to make them happy.
But for most the cutting is a metaphor. You cut by developing an eating disorder to get the body you want.
You cut your family by overworking.
You slash your soul by compromising your integrity.
And if you fail and you don’t get that ultimate thing that promises you happiness or if you lose it, it will crush you. It’s a merciless and cruel god.
So, if you want to find false gods in your heart, look for the dancing, the performing, and look for the blood.
Now at our final trail marker up to the summit of Mount Decision, let’s look at what sets the one true God apart from all the impostors…
True Religion Revealed
True Religion Revealed
First, the way we relate to the true God is by faith not by dancing. Elijah exercised faith by trusting God to act. We see this in v. 36, when he says that he did all that he did at the word of the LORD.
You see the prophets here had to perform to get their god’s attention and this is how it is in EVERY religion. You acceptance is always based on your performance. You obey first and then your accepted.
But the one true God of the Bible turns this religious system on its head and reverses it! The good news of Christianity is that you are accepted first! And then you obey because you want to NOT because you need to! This is grace — God doesn’t accept you because of your performance, He accepts you because He chooses to love you!
There’s this place in Deuteronomy ch. 7 where God tells the people that He chose them to be His people not because they were the largest most impressive nation. They were actually a small nation. And as a nation they weren’t winning any beauty pageants. There was nothing worldly speaking that made them attractive. Instead God says, “I chose you because I love you.” That’s it! I love you not because you performed so well — I love you because I love you!
The second way the true God stands out is that you don’t get His attention by cutting yourself for Him. He is the ONLY God in any religion who cuts Himself for you.
There’s this place in Luke’s gospel where Jesus is rejected by a Samaritan village and his disciples, likely thinking about this scene on the top of Mt. Carmel, ask Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven in judgement against this village. But Jesus rebukes them.
This is because they completely misunderstood that Jesus is not Elijah in this story — He’s the sacrifice that bore the fire of judgement!
You see every other god says, “dance for me, bleed for me. Then you’ll get my attention. Then I will accept you.”
But Jesus is the only God who makes you acceptable by bleeding for you! Other gods will crush you if you fail — Only Jesus bled out on the cross to pay for your failures!
A third way God stands apart from these false gods is that while they are utterly powerless ONLY God answers with a miracle against all odds.
Notice the setup…
There’s good evidence to suggest that Mt. Carmel was a popular place to sacrifice to Baal, if this is true Elijah is giving them home field advantage.
Baal is literally the god of weather. If anyone’s going to rain fire from the sky, his prophets must have thought this contest was in the bag.
Elijah also lets them go first giving them the most ideal time of day to offer their sacrifice — it’s during the heat of the day in the middle of a 3 year drought!
Then Elijah completely soaks his offering and wood with 12 jars of water! Kids what do we know to be true about fire and water?
Now God doesn’t just send enough fire to light the sacrifice. NO! He goes scorched earth and incinerates not only the sacrifice but the wood, stones, and even dust around the altar! You could say that God was showing off!
Now when Jesus competed in the ultimate “god contest” on Mt. Calvary notice how the odds of a miracle were stacked against HIm…
He wasn’t just killed — He was mutilated.
Then just to be sure, his side was pierced after he died and water and blood gushed out.
Then we was laid in a tomb sealed by a large stone and guarded by professional soldiers!
Now it would have been enough for God to just make Jesus’ heart beat again but NO! He's raised from the dead in power and rolled away that sealed stone. Then scares those Roman soldiers so badly they pass out and fall to the ground. You could say that God was showing off!
Not only is Jesus the only God who bled out for us but He also confirmed it in power with a miracle when He rose again against all odds!
The final way the true God stands apart from false gods is that while false gods never satisfy and always leave you thirsty ONLY God satisfies you with living water!
If you read to the end of chapter 18, immediately after this contest is over, Elijah tells Ahab to celebrate on Mt. Carmel because the sound of rain is coming! Finally after about 3.5 years the drought would be over and God would provide what Baal the god of weather was impotent to do.
And in an even greater sense, Jesus in John 7:38 promises…
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
God brought life to the ground after Elijah’s contest by ending the 3.5 year drought.
But in an ultimate sense ONLY Jesus satisfies the drought of our souls and gives us life — the life we were made for. All the false gods of this world will leave you thirsty and crush you if you fail — Only Jesus will satisfy you and forgive you when you fail!
Conclusion/Response (Gospel & Repent/Believe)
So here we are at the summit of Mt. of Decision…
When the people saw this miracle, they made their decision — they fell on their faces and said the LORD, He is God!
What about you? What decision do you need to make?
Have you been sitting on the fence, waffling in indecision about Jesus? — Has He opened the eyes of your heart to “see” and know that Jesus is the ONE TRUE GOD?
If so, come to Jesus today and trust Him who bled for you and rose again to satisfy you and give you life!
Finally, maybe you’re here today and you’ve been around the church for a while but not too serious about Jesus. Turn to Him and find forgiveness and rest for your soul.
If you’re ready to be all in with Jesus set up a time to talk with me about baptism or membership. I’d love to help you take one of these important next steps.
Prayer
Closing Song: Amazing Grace #202
Benediction
Make today the day of your decision to give your life all-in to Jesus. He alone is God who loves you not because you’re lovable or have lived up to His standards but simply because He chose to love you. This He demonstrated when He died and rose again to forgive you and give you life.
Church we live in a world exhausted from dancing and performing — looking for life and happiness. Will you tell them about Jesus this week, the only true rest for their souls?
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Romans 15:13