Can what you are living for answer your prayers? Maybe you live for sport, maybe the centre of your affection is all family or career, maybe you live for the good that you can do in the world. That’s what you’ve said and that’s marvellous, but I’m asking you this question. Can that answer your prayers? Welcome to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith. I’m David Pick and Colin, the obvious answer to that question is no, but why is it such an important question to ask? Well, at some point we’re all going to come to a place where we need the God who can answer prayer and we’re looking at the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel and he makes this great challenge, you know, if Baal’s God then follow him, but if the Lord be God then follow him. And the prophets of Baal go through this whole rigmarole of calling on Baal and the tragedy of the thing is no one answered. The Bible keeps repeating this, there was no one there, no one answered. There is no one to correspond to this name on which they are calling. But if you call on the Lord, the Bible says whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Why? Because there is a God to correspond to this name who is able to save. That’s the wonderful good news, there’s someone I can pray to and he’s able to answer. So, join us in the first book of Kings chapter 18 and verses 20 to 40 as we begin the message, A Line in the Sand. Here’s Colin. Can what you are living for answer your prayers? That’s the question. Can what you are living for answer your prayers? Maybe you live for sport. Maybe the centre of your affection is all family or career. Maybe you live for the good that you can do in the world. That’s what you’ve said and that’s marvellous but I’m asking you this question. Can that answer your prayers? Philip Ryken again has this very helpful comment. He says, some people worship success, selling their souls to climb the corporate ladder but there is one thing your career cannot do, it cannot answer your prayers. Some people, he says, worship pleasure, pampering themselves with rich food, exciting sporting events, the latest music. They live with as much luxury as they can afford and as much sensuality as they can get away with but there is one thing that food and concerts and travel and pornography cannot do, they cannot answer your prayers. Some people, he says, thirdly, worship personal beauty, giving priority to their outward appearances. He says, as churches empty, health clubs flourish but there is one thing that cosmetics and fitness cannot accomplish, they cannot answer your prayers. So I’m asking you this question. As you think about your life, what’s at the centre of your life, can what you live for answer your prayers? Because you don’t want to be in the position where you find yourself crying out into the black hole of silence, early confidence, growing distress. And I want you to notice this as we just follow the path of these prophets of Baal, ultimate disaster. Notice verse 40, just jumping down to the end there, Elijah brought them, that is the prophets, down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there. Now hear me carefully. Elijah was in a very different position from ours today. He was a prophet. That meant he acted under direct revelation from God. He also acted to bring in what was specifically commanded in Israel by God in relation to false prophets. You can check it out in Deuteronomy chapter 13. The special role of prophets was so important that God said that the death penalty would apply specifically to anyone who was a false prophet, that is anyone who used the platform of speaking with authority to the people of God in such a way that he took them away from the living God himself. That was specifically given in the Old Testament to God’s covenant people, Israel you can check it out in Deuteronomy chapter 13. There were actually relatively few crimes for which the death penalty applied in the Old Testament, surprisingly few, but this was one of them because it was of such strategic importance. The weight that God placed on those who were given the privilege of publicly speaking in the name of God and someone who did that falsely. Deuteronomy chapter 13, God makes the severity of that very, very plain indeed. Well now, we have seen that Elijah functions as a Christ figure in this story many times. We pick this up, you know, he brings the promise, he asks for a great sacrifice of the widow, he raises the widow’s son, he points to the great day of resurrection, here he points to the great day of judgment. And the awful end of these prophets down at that Kishon Brook, it makes me think of the words of Jesus. This is New Testament, Matthew chapter 9 and verse 42. Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, to sin, Jesus says it would be better for that person that a millstone be hung around their neck and that they be thrown into the sea. There is a day of judgment that is clearly pointed to here. And what a clarity of warning for any person who teaches the people of God to abandon the God who has called them. Well, here is really the broad road that leads to destruction. It’s very clear. It starts out with early confidence. False religion always is full of early confidence. But get down the path a little bit and you will find growing distress. The darker side will begin to appear. And ultimately, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, ultimate disaster. Now, let’s shift the focus now from these prophets of Baal and that tragic and dark story. And let’s now look at Elijah. Now, I want you just to pick up here some contrasts that are very, very striking as we follow the story. I’m taking it up now in verse 30. Notice the contrast between the power of God and the force of numbers. There’s been all these prophets who’ve been there, but the power of God has been absent. Now, notice how things change. Verse 30, Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. Try and imagine now this one man stepping forward after all this noise and all this energy that’s eventually drained itself out. One man opposed by so many and he repairs the altar of God. It doesn’t indicate that a single person helped him. He seems to have lifted every one of these twelve stones into place himself. Now, everyone else just watching. It’s very significant it was twelve stones. We’re told here according to the number of the tribes of Israel. Remember in the north where Elijah was, the ten tribes had separated themselves from the promise that had been given to the line of the descendants of David, the promise of a Messiah. And so by putting up twelve stones rather than ten, Elijah was making a very, very strong statement. And then he pours all this water over the sacrifice. You say, where did the water come out? It hadn’t rained for three years. Tarmel is very near to the sea. It’s right by the coast. They would have brought up all this seawater. No use for drinking but perfectly good for drenching. And three times we have these large amounts of water being poured over this sacrifice. Several commentators pick up how wonderful this is because it really restrains those who otherwise would have suspected some kind of trickery. There are always so many who want to doubt. And the water is poured on. And then Elijah, he seems so alone just reading this story. In fact, verse 22, you’ll notice he says there his line, I even I only am left a prophet of the Lord but Baal’s prophets are 450. But think of it this way. 450 prophets of Baal. Baal is zero. There’s no one there. 450 times zero is zero. One man plus the living God. More than all that stand against him. If God be for us, who can be against us? So there’s this great contrast between the power of numbers and here now we’re about to see the power of God. The altar of God’s being rebuilt. Twelve stones. You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and the message A Line in the Sand. And we’ll get back to the message very shortly. Remember if you ever miss one of our messages or if you want to go back and listen again, you can always do that by going online to our website, openthebible.org.uk. There you can download any of our previous messages from the website. Now Open the Bible is only able to stay on this station and on the Internet because of the generosity of our listeners. People just like you. And if you’re able to set up a new donation to Open the Bible this month, we’d love to send you as a free gift the book The Fight by John White. It’s a very practical handbook for growing in the Christian life. And it’s our free gift to you if you’re able to set up a new monthly donation this month. Details on the website, openthebible.org.uk. Now let’s get back to the message. Here’s Colin. Second contrast. Notice confident faith. This is so helpful. Confident faith contrasted with relentless activity that had been going on. All this frenzied activity of the prophets of Baal exhausting themselves, lacerating themselves. And Elijah’s prayer is just so remarkably simple. The contrast is so striking. They had prayed for hours and hours and hours, working themselves into an awful state. And Elijah’s prayer, you read it out there, it couldn’t have taken as much as a minute. Notice two things about it. Verse 36. He knows very clearly who he is praying to. It is the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Israel. The God of the Old Testament Scriptures. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Not God as I would like him to be. Not God as I imagine or like to picture him. Not God out of some storybook. The God of the Scriptures. He knows who he’s speaking to. And what he asked for is very plain and straightforward. Verse 37. 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. You know, I wonder how many Christians are really hooked on the idea that more activity is the path to more blessing. You ever felt that treadmill running in your life? Trying to have more faith? Trying to have more feelings, more intensity? Remember how Jesus said that it is pagans who think that they are going to be heard because of their many words? And then how Jesus so beautifully said, well, when you pray, just pray like this. And was there ever a simpler prayer than the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray? After all this self-flagellation and self-mutilation of the prophets of Baal, what a relief to see a man who knows God and trusts God. Which would be nearer the picture of your Christian life? Trying to live a form of the Christian life that’s a sort of evangelical Baalism? Would you be marked by a confidence that comes to a person who knows God and trusts God? Boy, that comes to my own soul like a huge relief. Huge relief. Notice the contrast thirdly between answered prayer and the silence that had gone before. Verse 38, 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. Friends, think about that. Can you imagine the intensity of a fire that not only licks up the water and evaporates it, not only burns the drenched wood and this soaked sacrifice, but even burns the stones and the dust. The incredible divine conflagration. And think about this wonderful truth. This fire of God falls on the sacrifice, not on the people. Not on the people. That always makes me think about Calvary and it is so wonderful where the judgment of God is being poured out and there are all these people around another hill. And the judgment of God that falls does not fall on these soldiers who have nailed Jesus to the cross, nor does it fall on these people who have been mocking and taunting and calling for him to come down from the cross. The judgment of God falls at Calvary. What? On the sacrifice, not on the people, so that there may be room for the people to be saved. One more thing I want you to see from this story and then we’re through. And it’s simply this, and I hope it will be an encouragement to you today. The response of the people. I want you to notice verse 39. And all the people saw it. That’s the fire from heaven. They fell on their faces and they said, The Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. Now I want to pose for you this question. And I want you to think about it with me. Think about an unbelieving person who you would love to see come to Jesus Christ. And I want to ask you this. If you could do one of two things, call down fire from heaven, or share the gospel with them, which would you choose to do? And which do you think has within it the greater power? That’s my question. Now I know, of course, the natural response is to say, Well, of course I would want to call down fire from heaven, because if I could do that, I could call down fire from heaven, and here’s this unconverted person I’ve been praying for, and they saw that, they would have to say, Well, now the Lord is God, the Lord is God, and so forth and so on. And you may be saying, Well, now isn’t that what we need today? Nothing is more powerful, you may say, than miraculous answers to prayer, right? Not so fast. Here’s the thing. The people fell on their faces and said, The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God. But in the very next chapter, what we’re going to find is Elijah saying, I, even I, only, am left. Indicating that the fire at Mount Carmel did not lead to any lasting change in the lives of the people. Matthew Henry makes this comment, and it is very important. He says, Some, we hope, had their hearts turned back, but the generality of them were convinced only, not converted. Convinced, not converted. They said, The Lord’s God. You see that now. They’re convinced. But they were not converted, and the evidence that they were not converted was that there was no change that significantly followed in the nation from these events at Mount Carmel. That’s the striking thing. Nobody is saved by miraculous signs. An amazing answer to prayer may convince a person that God exists, but it will never in and of itself incline the heart of that person to come to him. That is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians in chapter 1, you remember this, Some seek miraculous signs. But we preach what? Christ crucified. Why? Because only the gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified has the power to change a person’s heart. Only the gospel can do this. So think about this. Because our danger is to constantly underestimate the power of the gospel that has been trusted to the church. The gospel that we want to run. More powerful than anything. Three years of judgment on the entire nation didn’t change the hearts of the people. The miraculous demonstration of God’s mighty power in fire from heaven didn’t change their hearts either. Understand and learn this then, that the human heart is not changed by judgment or by power, but only by the redeeming love of God poured out through the dying and rising of Jesus Christ applied into the human heart by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let’s get this fixed in our minds. What brings people back to God? The passage of time won’t do it. Judgment poured out on a nation will not do it. So you pray for the nation. What’s going to bring the nation back to God as we pray for our nation? Will it be God’s judgment? No. Will it be some miraculous signs and wonders? No. What will it be? It will be the gospel running in this nation. That’s why we’re committed to this. It’s of huge importance. That’s why Paul says, I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. So let me end by giving you again this gospel today. Jesus Christ gave his life for you and on the third day he rose again in triumphant power. He gave his life for sinners and he reaches out to all of us today ready to forgive. The Holy Spirit who he gives to all who come to him is ready to change your mind and your heart and implant new desires within you and to make you a new person. You can be today more than a person who believes in God. You can be a person who has the life of God within you. That life is offered to you by Jesus who laid down his life and then took it up again and is able to give this life to you until the day when you will share his life forever in glory. And the gospel brings you to a point of decision. This risen Lord Jesus Christ bids you come and follow him to yield your life to him as your Lord and your master and then to receive this new life from him as your saviour and as your friend. Don’t leave this church today limping between two opinions. I plead with you. You say, well, I don’t know. What would that mean for me? What’s that going to cost? I don’t know. Great English sportsman by the name of C.T. Studd who was a wonderful Christian put it this way. He said, if Jesus Christ be God and died for me, no sacrifice is too great for me to make for him. What a powerful reminder today of what brings people back to God. It’s not the passage of time. It’s not the miraculous signs and wonders. It’s not even calling down fire from heaven. It’s the gospel that brings people back to God. And if that is true, which it is, then what a powerful reminder that we ought to be sharing the gospel. You’re listening to Open the Bible with Pastor Colin Smith and the message A Line in the Sand, part of our series The Surprising Influence of a Godly Life. And remember, if you ever miss one of our messages, you can always go online to openthebible.org.uk. There you can download any of our previous messages, go back and listen again. Open the Bible is able to remain on this station and on the Internet because of the generosity of our listeners. This month, if you’re able to begin a new monthly donation to Open the Bible of £5 or more, we would love to send you the book The Fight by John White. Colin, give us a sample of this book. It is warm in the way that it’s expressed and it’s very practical in taking us through what it means to live the Christian life. So, for example, in his chapter on prayer, which I think is just outstanding, he gives several principles as to how we can grasp God’s will in prayer. For example, he says it’s always God’s will that we praise him. It’s always God’s will that we open up the longings of our hearts and speak to him, tell him how it is. It’s always, he says, God’s will that we pray for our enemies. He applies that scripture really powerfully. He says it’s always God’s will that when we don’t know what his will is, we should ask. Really practical. Wisdom given in a warm and a fatherly way. Anyone who reads this book is going to be helped to grow in the Christian life. Again, the book is The Fight, and it’s our gift to you when you set up a new monthly donation to Open the Bible of £5 or more. You can find details of this offer and lots more information about Open the Bible at openthebible.org.uk. For Open the Bible and Pastor Colin Smith, I’m David Pick, and I very much hope you’ll join us again soon. Do you ever struggle in your prayer life? You know, most Christians do at some time or another. Discover seven Ps for effective prayer next time on Open the Bible.