Well, I invite you to turn once again to 1 Kings chapter 18. 1 Kings chapter 18. We will read together, picking up again at verse 30. Reading through verse 40, considering specifically verses 38 through 40. Again, Baal's prophets have had their time, there are six hours of frantically trying to move Baal to respond. We pick up the Word of the Lord at verse 30. Then Elijah said to all the people, Come here to Me. They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, Your name shall be Israel. With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seers of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces, and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, Fill four jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood. Do it again, he said, and they did it again. Do it a third time, he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench at the time of the sacrifice. The prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed, O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that You, O Lord, our God, and that You are turning their hearts back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God! Then Elijah commanded them, Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away. They seized them. And Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. There ends the reading of God's holy Word. May He add His blessing to it this morning. Well, beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, by appearance, there is much that is similar or was similar on Mount Carmel that day between the worship of the idol and the worship of Jehovah. Each had an altar. Each had prophets. Each had sacrifices. Each had prayer, at least of some sort. But that's where the similarity ends. Yet, what a difference between the prayers offered and the answers given. Baal's prophets, as we know, shouted. They danced. They cut themselves for hours trying to work for an answer from Baal, trying to motivate Baal to respond to them, and he only proved himself powerless. He only proved himself as nothing. But Elijah prays in faith. Elijah prays with total dependence upon the mercy and the good pleasure of God for his answer. And Elijah's goal, understand, was for more than just fire itself. but elijah's goal was that through the fire his goal was god's glory his goal was god's revelation of himself as the covenant god thereby confirming elijah as his servant his goal was the restoration of israel that the lord would turn their hearts back apart from any of that this fire would have been nothing more than like a spectacular fireworks display with a beauty that is forgotten by the time, the smoke clears. However, the biggest difference that day was between the responses, wasn't it? There was Baal's deadly silence on the one side, while Elijah received Jehovah's revelation by fire. And that revelation by fire, beloved, was first of all a demonstration of divinity, a demonstration of Jehovah's divinity. Now we know, of course, that all throughout the episode with the soaked altar, completely soaked up altar, we see Elijah's confidence by faith. Elijah was confident in the Lord's past revelation and that he would send fire as he did in past history, as we said a couple of weeks ago, to reveal his presence as he did as he revealed himself in the burning bush or in the pillar of fire or as he did when he accepted sacrifices and offerings of the people on occasion throughout history. As well, Elijah had confidence in the Lord's very being himself. That he had confidence that Jehovah was not doing any of the things that Elijah had mocked Baal for doing. He had confidence that Jehovah wasn't busy with more important matters. that he wasn't away on vacation, that he wasn't tending to his own personal needs. He had confidence that he wasn't asleep because he had confidence that Jehovah is a God without limitation. And he had confidence that Jehovah was busy as covenant God working through his servant Elijah who again prays, verse 36, O Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that You, O Lord, are God and that You are turning their hearts back again. That all of that would be revealed to them through this fire. And the Lord answers with an answer that could not have been more complete. the Lord answers with power that could not be matched and His answer was a demonstration of divinity, of His divinity which was called for by the very contest itself the God who answers by fire He is God the fire by itself was just a sign pointing to the power behind the fire it was simply to be a confirmation of who the true and living God is And Elijah, like David in Psalm 29, knew that there's only one possibility. As David says, the voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. Yet we might ask, what kind of fire was it? That's a strange question. It is. But you know what? Theologians have been debating that for a long, long time. Some say it was lightning, like we know. Some say, well, maybe it was more like the tongues of fire over top of the heads of the disciples at the time of Pentecost. What kind of fire was it? We don't know. Except to say that it was a miraculous, supernatural kind of lightning that fell from a cloudless sky. Remember, there were no clouds. And it was a sign to draw the attention of the church throughout the ages and it was supernatural as it not only consumes and burns up the bull and the wood, but also the stones and the soil and the water. Now, we know that stones and dirt and water do not make very good kindling for a fire. In fact, soil and water are used instead to put out the fire. This was not a man-made fire. Yet, if that still was not enough to convince them of the divinity of Jehovah, His divinity was confirmed by the order of the burning. Again, we know from experience that fire burns from the bottom upward. The flames point up. The smoke goes up. When you barbecue, you don't put the meat under the source of the heat. You don't put it under the fire. You put it above so that it gets cooked. The Lord's fire burned downward. The bowl first. Then the wood. All the way down to the water in the trench. It was not the burning wood that consumed the bull as would ordinarily take place. There was absolutely no sort of coincidence at all as the Lord ensured that no one, you know, remember the false prophets, they would use tricks. He ensured that no one would tamper with the special character of this heavenly fire. It was a clear demonstration of the divinity of Jehovah, proof that He alone is God. And this fire served to confirm past revelation. On the one hand, Israel should not have needed any further revelation from God. Yet through this revelation by fire, the Lord preserved the richness of all of His revelation of word and deed which He had ever given to Israel. At this time, the very life of Israel, the church was in danger of complete destruction because of Israel's rebellion. In danger of being cut off. But by this revelation, God, as it were, was bringing back to life all of His previous revelation. He was reminding Israel of His identity and He was confirming His covenant faithfulness in preserving a people for Himself. Beloved, no doubt that sight on that day was beyond belief. That's why we love this story. We can be sure that it was indescribable. A story told throughout the generations, even as we still love to hear it today. Yet again, it's not the fire itself that is to be focused on, but the One who sent it. This revelation by fire consuming the altar and the sacrifice pointed to God's greatest revelation of Himself through Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection which we see by faith. Jesus Christ is the revelation of God in both word and deed. He is the One who confirmed the Word of the Lord through the prophets who spoke of this One to come. He would be a revelation of God Himself. Confirmed the Word of the Lord through the prophets such as Isaiah who spoke of Emmanuel, which we know means God with us. and has spoke of the child to be born, the son to be given, who would be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He confirmed the Word of the Lord through the prophets, and He is the One whose resurrection, His death and resurrection, that resurrection is the awesome deed of God accepting Christ's sacrifice of Himself for sin. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is proof of the power of Christ's work on the cross, of its sufficiency, of its completeness, that it is finished. It is proof of the power of God to save. Which, like this revelation by fire, secondly, is a demonstration of grace. Just as on Mount Carmel, nothing was left of the altar and the people were left face to face with the might and the majesty of God, we too are brought face to face with the might and the majesty of God in Jesus Christ. The might and majesty of God to conquer death and earn life. A demonstration of the grace of God. Jehovah's revelation by fire is a demonstration of the grace of God confirmed by Israel's confession. Verse 39, When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, The Lord, He is God. The Lord, He is God. Well, indeed, that's what they had asked for, wasn't it? Through this revelation, Jehovah not only confirmed Elijah as His prophet, but He also proved that He alone is the living God whom Israel was to serve. And falling down in worship before Him was reminiscent of their ancestors with the very first sacrifice of atonement that was offered. As in Leviticus 9, verse 24, we read, Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people sought, they shouted for joy and fell face downward. The people were no longer wavering between two opinions, but they were literally shouting, The Lord, He is the God. He is the one and only and real God. They responded to his answer by echoing in word what they witnessed in Revelation. There was no other conclusion they could make, beloved. The proof that he is God was beyond dispute. But you know, the people's confession itself was a demonstration of God's grace. The people were not to be credited for this confession. It was an answer to Elijah's prayer. In verse 37 again, Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that You, O Lord, are God and that You are turning their hearts back again. This confession was evidence of the power of the irresistible grace of God to work in hearts and lives. And this has been the most beautiful confession of the church throughout the ages. The Lord, He is God. And it is to continue to be the confession of Christ's church. It is the confession that parents promise to teach their children when they present them for baptism, as Dave and Janet have done. To teach their daughter about the sovereignty and the majesty and the power of God. To teach her, as we have promised to teach our children, about the Lord Jesus Christ, the good news of the Gospel, and the power of His saving work, and that the Lord, indeed, He is God. This confession of the people was proof that God's revelation by fire had brought the necessary division on Mount Carmel. There had been that syncretism. There had been that blending of worship. There had been that confusion in the minds of God's people. There were prophets of Baal and the people of God. Elijah had set the boundaries when he rebuilt the altar of the Lord, of the covenant God. And the Lord was the boundary for His people. and he himself confirmed that boundary by consuming his altar at the time of the sacrifice in Jerusalem and not consuming Baal's altar. The Lord's fire, beloved, demonstrated the foolishness and the dangerousness of syncretism by burning away, we might say, the bond connecting Israel with Baal by separating the people of the covenant from the people of the darkness. The power of God's grace drew his people away from Baal's altar, pointed his people toward the altar of the gracious revelation of the Lord, the living God, and God's demonstration of grace was ultimately in that His grace was revealed in that His fire did not consume an unholy and an unworthy people. It did not consume an unholy and an unworthy people. The fire that day was not a fiery ball of God's wrath. I suspect that if it had been, that the whole top of Mount Carmel would have been turned into an altar and all of the people would have been consumed as a burnt offering and not just a bull. But the fire of God passes by the people and it sets the altar of the Lord ablaze accepting the sin offering prepared by Elijah in the place of the people. And this fire of the Lord accepting that sin offering was a message of reconciliation. The Lord's revelation by fire was a demonstration of grace to Israel that there was still forgiveness. That there was still reconciliation with God for them. He accepted the bull and He gave them a glorious confession. And He glorified Himself through the truth of their confession, a confession sounding forth in the midst of an idolatrous people, a confession that leaves all who hear it without excuse. The Lord, He is God. Beloved, the consumed altar proclaimed the gospel by pointing to Christ's sacrifice on Calvary, that sacrifice upon which God's wrath was poured out, that sacrifice which was accepted by God. On Mount Carmel, the fire of God's wrath shot right past a guilty people, accepting the bull, which pointed to Jesus Christ, the perfect substitute for sin and the focus of the fire of God's wrath against sin. The cross of Jesus and His work accomplished. There is the dividing line between believers and unbelievers, between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light. The cross of Jesus is a demonstration of God's grace through Jesus Christ in securing the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God for those who believe. And this comfort, beloved, belongs to those who have been brought to the cross and who by the grace of God have received a new heart to sincerely confess the Lord He is God with the assurance, as Paul says in Romans 10, verse 9, if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, that it is finished, that He has accomplished all that you need, you shall be saved. A confession, beloved, that is evidenced in the believer by the fruit of faith. The fruit of faith striving to fight against sin and idolatry with a life committed to God alone. Yet, this revelation by fire also points to the other side of the division. In the third place, it was a demonstration of judgment. A demonstration of divinity. A demonstration of God's grace for His people. But also, a demonstration of judgment. In His grace, God accepts a substitute for His people. But it was also a revelation of wrath. His wrath as a consuming fire because sin's wages must be paid. His wrath as a consuming fire against those who were unmoved, against those who kept guilty silence. Against them, the fire of grace becomes a fire of judgment against Baal's prophets. Not the fire literally consuming them, but a fire of judgment against the prophets as the Lord prepared His people to begin a revival, to take a stand for Jehovah, to eliminate the cult of Baal from the land. A consuming fire against Baal's prophets who would rather shout and dance and offer their blood to Baal in order to earn their way. But we see here, beloved, that those who reject God will bear their own punishment. They will not escape it. In verse 40 we read, and Elijah commanded them, Seize the prophets of Baal. Don't let anyone get away. They seized them. And Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there. It may seem cruel, huh? But this demonstration of judgment was a demonstration in righteousness. It was not Elijah's personal revenge against Jezebel for the death of the Lord's prophets. It was God's Word. It was according to God's law. In Deuteronomy 13, Moses speaks of those who worship other gods and who seek to lead God's people away from Him to worship other gods. And he says how they were to be dealt with. He says, Do not spare Him or shield Him. You must certainly put Him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting Him to death. And then the hands of all the people stone Him to death because he tried to turn you away from the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Moses did that very thing we see in Numbers 25. The prophets of Baal had tried to turn God's people away from the God who had delivered them from Egypt. With silence, Baal's prophets reject the very same revelation. Think about it. They were standing there. They saw everything that happened. They saw the fire come out of a blue sky and consume the altar, the stones, the dirt, and the water. Everything. They heard the people shout, The Lord, He is God. They were given the exact same revelation and by their silence, in essence, they confessed, He is not God. And therefore, beloved, this was judgment of necessity. Because they and their false religion were like a malignant cancer that must be totally eliminated, cut out and destroyed or it will remain a deadly threat. The power of corruption had to be broken. The service of Baal had to be dealt a death blow. The Lord's revelation by fire charged the children of grace to execute the fiery wrath of God against the children of Satan for the preservation of the nation. from whom the Messiah was to come. The Lord Jesus Christ, who on the cross broke the power of sin, who dealt Satan, the service of Satan, a death blow. Our beloved idolatry today is no less sinful, it is no less dangerous. Yet we no longer fight against it with the physical sword. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 4, the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they, the weapons we fight with, have divine power to demolish strongholds. We have been given the armor of God and we are called to take up the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, to fight against that which is false. To hold up the light of the truth against that which is false. To proclaim the Lord Jesus Christ, He is God. To stand firm as Christ's sacrifice guarantees that Satan will not overpower the church. He will not have his way among God's people. To stand firm knowing that vengeance belongs to the Lord. Yet we are called to examine ourselves and just as Elijah worked to remove the evil from the nation, we, illumined and empowered and equipped by the Holy Spirit, we are to unsparingly judge ourselves as to whatever evil might be in our lives and to cut it out. To get rid of it in the strength of the Holy Spirit. And to not provide a home in our hearts to any of the rivals of the Lord our God, but a home for the Holy Spirit alone. And this revelation, this demonstration of judgment, beloved, will be fulfilled in Christ when He comes again in His second coming. Indeed, it was secured in His first coming as all for whom He died are preserved in Him. But when He comes as the Judge, those who rejected Him, they will be cut off from the mercy and the grace of God forever. To suffer His burning wrath forever. And again, just as the prophets of Baal, not one will escape. All who reject the Lord Jesus Christ. All who truly wanted nothing to do with Him in this life will have nothing to do with Him then except for His judgment of His wrath. He will come as the exalted King to judge the living and the dead and that will be the ultimate judgment from the very one whose infinite love was rejected. His love revealed and His willingness to bear the judgment that was meant for us. Our beloved, as the church of Jesus Christ, as believers, we are called to preach the good news of the love of God through Jesus Christ. We are called to preach the good news of the only hope for anyone. It's only in Him. There is no other hope other than the Lord Jesus Christ. So many are looking in other places. So many are looking here and there in God's of their own making. And we are called to preach the good news that we have been given. That we have embraced by the grace of God. But we are called to preach it not to the exclusion of warning those who reject the call. That warning must go forth because their end is so dangerous and so horrible apart from Him. Indeed, one's faith is not based on the fear of hell. One does not believe in Jesus because they're afraid to go to hell. But one believes by the grace of God because of the provision of Jesus Christ because of the good news of His salvation and all that He has done. But we are called to warn those who reject Him so that if it would be God's will, He would bring them to a living hope in Jesus Christ because God's promise is still sure. It is still guaranteed today, His promise that my grace and my grace alone is sufficient for you. He is the one and only God who provided the only way to Himself through Jesus Christ, who bore God's judgment so that we might enjoy His grace. He is the one and only God who cares for our whole life. He is the one in whom we have confidence of His love and protecting hand forever. He is the one of whom our whole life is to testify He is God. Oh, beloved, may that be the storyline of your life and mine. Indeed, Judgment Day is coming. But praise be to God that in Jesus Christ, we have the assurance and we look forward not to the judgment of God's eternal wrath but we look forward to the judgment of God's eternal favor as He will say you forever shall my love and my glory know Amen let's pray together Father, we are indeed amazed as we consider the powerful and the majestic revelations of Yourself which we read about in Scripture, which You gave through the fire consuming the altar on Mount Carmel, through the flood, in so many ways. Yet, Father, there is no greater demonstration than the cross of Jesus to show us by faith the truth of who You are, that indeed You are God, that You are the Savior, that You alone are powerful to save. And, Father, we are humbled and oh so grateful that You have used Your power and strength for our benefit to save us for Yourself. that You might bring us to Yourself in glory one day. Indeed, Father, we look forward to that day. And until that day, may a clear testimony and confession of the truth of who You are and our Savior Jesus Christ sound forth from our lips and be seen in our lives day by day, moment by moment. We do pray, Father, that You would continue to work powerfully. We know that You continue to gather Your church together. We pray that many, by your power and strength and illuminating Spirit, would be brought to the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake. In His name we pray. Amen.