Public Opinions or Private Obedience

Welcome to Leading the Way with Pastor and the author of more than 50 books, including the newly released Never Give Up, Dr. Michael Youssef. Today a closer look at one of the most incredible scenes in all the Bible. The prophet Elijah takes on Baal, orchestrating a public showdown with the one true God. This event is so intense, Dr. Youssef feels it's prime for the big screen.

And yet it's practical and it's relevant for life in 2022. So journey with us to the top of Mount Carmel as Dr. Michael Youssef takes you to 1 Kings chapter 18. Today as we look at the very centerpiece of the life of Elijah, you're going to find him standing up in hand to hand combat. And while the masses of people, God's people, the people of Israel were indifferent, skeptical, standing there atop of Mount Carmel. Turn to your Bibles please to 1 Kings chapter 18. And as you're turning into your Bibles, I want to tell you this, that the recipe for disaster in a 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're going to find here at 1 Kings chapter 18. 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 want you to use your imagination. I want to transform you to that place on Mount Carmel where this event has taken place. There Elijah begins by confronting this weak, this wimp of a king, King Ahab, who was politically correct. He was confronting 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 Baal and 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 did he do? He turned and lashed on God fearing man Elijah. I want you to remember that it had not been rained at this point of history for three solid years and everything is turning into ashes and dust.

No crops, no food, and the country is in a disaster. But during the time of drought, God was hiding his man Elijah first in Cherith Brooks and then in Zarephath. He was hiding him, he was providing for him, he was taking care of him 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. King Ahab and his Phoenician wife Jezebel were worshipping Baal while paying lip service to Yahweh. And why were they worshipping Baal?

I'll tell you why. Because Baal was known as the god of fertility, as the god of the crops. He was the god whose worship required indulgence in sensuality. And yet when the drought came, instead of Ahab even having some doubt about Baal, what does he do? He turns around and blames Elijah, the prophet of God. And he said, you are the trouble of Israel.

I want you 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 in effect are worshipping Mother Earth Gaia. Some of them probably may go to church on Sunday and for the television camera may carry a big black Bible with them. But at the same time they are worshipping at the shrine of the flesh. They are bowing to Mother Earth and they are confusing secular humanism with Christianity. Just as Ahab and his wife Jezebel were confusing Baal with Yahweh, we are experiencing it 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 atop of Mount Carmel. The reason I said they were confused is because the Bible said they were halting between two opinions. They did not worship Baal alone. They did not worship Yahweh alone. They were worshipping Baal in the guise of Yahweh.

Mount Carmel in Israel is an absolutely an awesome sight. 1,500 feet high, King Ahab was summoned to come on top of that mountain. The confused people of Israel, they were summoned to come up to this mountain. The 450 prophets of Baal were summoned to come up to that mountain.

The 400 prophets of Ashtara were invited to come up to this mountain. And there I imagine the man of God as the masses and masses of people coming, climbing up that mountain from the east, from the west, from the north, from the south, all coming up in droves as they're going on. 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 rock somewhere, praying to God, pleading with God, receiving the assurance from God. For I can assure you, Elijah would not have dared.

He would not have dared to have done this without a mandate from the living God. This is a timeless picture. Try to put yourself there. Place yourself in that picture. See yourself standing on top of that 1,500-foot mountain. Imagine yourself standing on that six-mile chain of a mountain, standing there on the top, facing directly west. You see the Mediterranean. To your right, the ancient fortress of the city of Acor with the crusaders fought their enemies. To your left, there is a Caesarea where Paul confronted Felix and Festus and Agrippa. Right behind you, the plains of Ashkelon where Gideon defeated the Midianites.

It is an awesome sight. All these historic events, that one event of one solitary man facing 850 false prophets, probably is the most important event on that mountain. What is the point of his confrontation? You will find that in verse 21 of 1 Kings 18. The point of that confrontation is this, that Elijah cries to the confused people of God, saying to them in effect, how long will you waver? How long will you wobble?

How long will you walk with a limp? That's the literal word in Hebrew. If God is God, worship Him.

But if Baal is God, worship Him. That's what Elijah said. He was calling to make a decision between two extremes. I want to tell you on the authority of the word of God, that God wants people to be either on one of the extreme sides.

Jesus told the church in Laodicea in the book of Revelation, He said, you make me sick, you make me nauseous, you make me want to vomit. Why? Because, He said, you cannot be on both sides of the issue.

You cannot have one foot in each camp. Because you cannot stay in the middle of the road. Because they sought to please other people. They 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 with society's immorality and then call themselves religious. And Jesus said to the Laodicea, Make up your minds, make up your minds, choose either to be cold or hot. Listen to me, being moderate may be wonderful for the secular media and they will praise you for it, but it's not going to excite God about you. God wants you to be on either side.

Are you for Jesus? Are you going to sell out to Him or are you going to reject Him? You don't need to have a PhD to know that people pleasers end up pleasing no one. Compromising produces restlessness.

Indecision produces turmoil. Don't worry about what people think of you. Only worry what God thinks of you. Verse 22, Elijah said, I'm outnumbered. And you know, most of us, if we get outnumbered one to two, that's really bad.

We feel terrible. If we get outnumbered one to twenty, I mean that's a disaster of an epic proportion. But to get outnumbered 850 to one, I can't even imagine it. 850 people looking at you and saying you're wrong, what you believe is wrong. Imagine that. That's where Elijah was.

That's where he stood alone in front of 850 plus establishment, plus the leadership of the country. But you know what our problem is today? Our problem is that we constantly look for public opinion polls and then formulate our opinions. Our problem is that we are forever looking at what others are doing and then determine our course of action. That does not please the Lord.

Look back at the picture. All the odds were on the side of Baal. Yahweh had all the handicap. The central term of the contest here, of this confrontation, is the God who answers is God. Period.

No if or but. The God who answers is 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 he acts in response to his people's intense prayer. Can you imagine these confused Israelites coming up on top of that mountain standing there, watching what's going on right in front of their eyes. Baal worshipers trying to call upon Baal. The way I try to imagine him, like the religious people of our day who go to the apostate churches, who believe that there is a God but he's a million miles away. They believe that Jesus died on the cross but he's totally irrelevant to their daily living. Those who go to church once a month to get a fix on religion but then also read the horoscope just in case they miss something. Imagine them standing there wide eyes for nine hours watching.

Eight hours have passed. Eight hundred and fifty prophets of Baal calling upon Baal but there's no response. You know and I honestly believe that these prophets of Baal, that they sincerely believe that Baal was going to answer them. You know that is why I think there is nothing worse than being sincerely wrong. People say, well I'm too sincere. Nothing worse than being sincerely wrong. Nothing worse than being a deceived deceiver.

Nothing worse than being a deluded deluder. They could not get Baal to hear them. So they start dancing around the altar. They started gyrating and starting doing their thing you know. Tangoing and doing the Lombardo and all that stuff you know. This is how they get their kick you know.

I mean they were doing it all. Trying to get Baal's attention. Imagine Elijah there. It would be just absolutely wonderful for nine hours standing there quietly although he didn't really the whole nine hours but at least part of it.

Standing there quietly, patiently. I wonder what he was doing. I'm sure partly he was praying. But by noon time he just couldn't take it anymore. I mean this thing was just gone for too long.

So by verse 27 look at it. Noontime he began to taunt them saying, hey shout loud Baal is getting out of hearing of late. After all he's a busy God. He's probably on an errand somewhere. He's getting old and he's tiring very easily. He's probably taking a nap.

Let me tell you something and I'll say it very quickly and I'm going to move on. There is a word, a Hebrew word in verse 27 which means that probably he had to take care of life's necessity. That's what it means. It's like in an airplane.

You know when you go on the toilet and you see it, occupied. That's what he was. He was occupied. That's what it means. Literally. I'm going to move very quickly.

Finally when they got desperate they began to cut themselves with knives hoping to provoke Baal's compassionate response to no avail. Do you ever wonder what King Ahab is thinking standing there? I mean I go to a D and he probably says, but Jezebel told me that Baal is real.

Man alive. Give me a break. Jezebel told me. Let me ask you this. Does your God honor your trust in him and answers your prayer when you pray them in accordance with his will? Does your God answer? Listen, we all put our trust in something or someone.

We all do. If you put your trust in your material things and your children are empty, your material things will not fill them, will it? No. I submit to you that your material things will stand there as a mockery because they cannot answer. If your God is the God of rationalism that says, I think therefore I am, when you confront tragedy in life, does your God answer you with the peace that passes understanding? Does he answer you with the hope that is beyond description?

No. I submit to you that you and your rationalism will stand in mockery 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 cry out the sensuality, but when passion flame have become dust and ashes, it will not answer you. Can 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 have been patient long enough. Rough translation, you get the meaning though. Let me show you what my God can do.

I love it. He said, draw near. Come close. There are no hocus pocus in the Christian life. There are no smoke and mirrors. There are no make belief in the Christian life.

Come close. Come and see. There is no sleight of hand in the Christian life.

Our lives are open book. What a 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 the altar. Do you know why he repaired the altar? 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 after other things in life. That is why it was torn down in disrepair.

Let me ask you this. How is your family altar? What shape of repair it's in? Is it in disrepair? What's your prayer altar?

What kind of a shape it's in? Is it in disrepair? Out of negligence?

Out of being busy doing things, thinking that they're lasting? In contrast to the dry wood that Elijah allowed the prophets of Baal to use, he saturated the wood over which his sacrifice was placed. I feel sorry for these guys who had to carry water all the way up to the mountain. You know, remember, it was a drought, and there was no water, so what they were doing, they were going all the way down to the Mediterranean, coming up all the way, and then 1,500 feet up carrying the water, and he said the second time, that's not enough, go back. Third time, bring all these barrels all the way up to the mountains.

Why? Why is he doing that? Why was he saturating the wood and even having a trench of water around the altar? Because he wants to give all the odds to Baal and all of the handicap to Yahweh. 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 a few words. And as I began to focus on this, I realized that Elijah has been praying privately for three years.

He doesn't have to stand up and for hours dance around, no. Most often we miss this in our lives. It is not the length of your public prayer, but the strength of your private prayer. It is not the economy of your public words and public prayer, but the intensity of your private prayer. And that is why James chapter five said that Elijah was a great man of prayer. Probably by now some of you are saying, gosh, you know, why doesn't God do that now?

Why doesn't Michael Yusuf go down and tell the governor or the mayor, you know, bring all your bull out here and I'll call a fire from heaven. Well, you have to understand that this was a moment of time in salvation history where everything was at the stake. Everything. I mean Abraham, Moses, Joshua, David, Kingdom, everything. Everything was hanging in the balance. God doesn't work like that every day.

He doesn't work like this most of the time unless it is a moment of absolute decisive, critical, world-changing times. For when people saw the fire come down from heaven, burning everything in sight, they fell on their faces and called out and said, the Lord is God. The Lord is God.

My response is, who wouldn't? When you see a sight like that. But listen carefully. Great as this event had been in biblical history, we do not look back to Mount Carmel 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, glorified, soon coming back Lord Jesus Christ. When fire came at the day of Pentecost, men and women were changed forever and for good. And they became filled with power of the power of the resurrected Christ. We don't look back to the fire that consumed stone and wood and even water, but to the fire 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 declare to the world that Jesus is Lord. You're listening to Dr. Michael Youssef and the program known all around the world as Leading the Way. Learn ways to listen or watch at ltw.org. You know, we sometimes spend time right here letting you know about the resources available at Leading the Way, things to help you grow closer to our Lord.

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