I invite you to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 6 as we read beginning at verse 11 through chapter 7 verse 1, 2 Corinthians 6, beginning at verse 11. When you have found that, then I also ask that you turn to our text, the portion for our consideration as we continue our consideration of our God's ministry through His servant Elijah in 1 Kings chapter 18. 1 Kings chapter 18 as we consider verses 30 through 35, but we'll read through verse 37. First of all, 2 Corinthians chapter 6 beginning at verse 11. Hear now the Word of God. We have spoken freely to you, Corinthians, and opened wide our hearts to you. We are not withholding our affection from you, but you are withholding yours from us. As a fair exchange, I speak as to my children. Open wide your hearts also. Do not be yoked together with unbelievers, for what do righteousness and wickedness have in common, or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people. Therefore, come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you. I will be a father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. 1 Kings 18 We'll also back up to verse 27. As you know, this is on Mount Carmel. Elijah has issued the challenge to take place between Baal and Jehovah. Baal's prophets have prepared the altar for Baal. Verse 27, At noon Elijah began to taunt them. Shout louder, he said. Surely he is a god. Perhaps he is deep in thought or busy or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened. So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears as was their custom until their blood flowed. Midday passed and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response. No one answered. No one paid attention. 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 seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bowl 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 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, are God and that You are turning their hearts back again. There ends the reading of God's Word. May He add His blessing to it. And I know that some of you are thinking again as you've expressed to me, ah, we still didn't get to the fire. We want to get to that fire. And we will. But there is so much for us to consider in God's Word in preparation for that great climactic act. And I do promise you that we will come down Mount Carmel a whole lot quicker than it took us to climb up Mount Carmel. But beloved, for six hours, Baal's prophets screamed. They danced around the altar. They cut themselves until their blood flowed. They pleaded with Baal, working to get a response from this false god as evidence that he might have heard them. But there was nothing. There was no answer. Boys and girls, kind of like when you shout into an empty well or down a long, empty hallway and all you hear is the echo of your own voice because there is no one else there. Baal's prophets were shouting into emptiness. There was no answer because there was no one else there. He couldn't answer. But really, there was a sort of an answer and the silence wasn't there. That silence shouted loud and clear that Baal is not God. However, that same silence did not yet prove that Jehovah is God. We might say that He did not win this contest by default. An answer by fire was needed that would prove the reality and the reliability and the truthfulness of Jehovah. And of course, living in the age that we do, having the Word of God before us, we know what's going to happen. We know that there will be a wonderful display of the power of God not through the negative results of Baal, but through the amazing revelation of God Himself. Beloved, in the same way, the Christian religion isn't proven true and right by the constant failure and unreliability of false religions. But the Christian religion is proven true and right because of the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ and His saving sacrifice on the altar of Calvary and the benefit of that applied to the hearts and lives of believers by the Holy Spirit through that precious gift of faith. Baal's prophets were out of time. They had failed. Baal had failed. So now Elijah, the prophet of the Most High God, begins ministering to the people as through him the Lord gathers His people around the twelve stone altar. An altar which was the symbol of enmity. The symbol of reconciliation. And also the symbol of unity. And before we consider these symbols this morning, It's good for us to be reminded of the details that are included here. It's good for us to be reminded of the necessary work of preparing this altar before Elijah would call on the name of the Lord. Israel's worship of God. Israel's hope in God. Israel's communion with God was centered around the altar of sacrifice. It is there where God's people approached Him. It was the center of their religious system. Elijah wanted the people to pay close attention. Notice he did not simply dust off and use the altar that had been prepared for Baal because that altar was contaminated with the stench of idol worship. And as well, in the past, in her history, God had given to Israel careful instructions on the proper way to build an altar, including the kinds of stones to be used. No stone was to be used that had been touched by a tool. instructions for how the wood was to be placed or how to cut and arrange the sacrifice. Elijah did everything according to the prescription of God. As well, he prepared this altar and the sacrifice from three in the afternoon onward during the time of the evening sacrifice at the temple in Jerusalem. The time when God's people would gather around that altar for worship to approach God. Verse 30 says, Then Elijah said to all the people, Come here to Me. Drawing them away from Baal's altar, Come here to Me. They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord which was in ruins. And we're told then that he rebuilds it with twelve stones. He digs a large trench around it. When everything was in place, he does the unthinkable, something unheard of. He has twelve large jars of water poured all over it, all around it, that even the trench that he dug was filled with water. There would be no mistake. Elijah was not playing tricks. He would use no hidden fire that we talked about last time. It was the most unlikely of situations. All would know that the only way this water-soaked sacrifice could ignite would be by the fire from heaven. These are the details, and in these details, beloved, we see this twelve stone altar as, first of all, the symbol of enmity. Maybe you notice what appears to be somewhat of a contradiction. In verse 30 again, it says, He repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins. Maybe we thought that Jerusalem was the only place to sacrifice, always. The Old Testament Scriptures repeatedly warned against offerings in high places. So what was this altar? The inspired writer calls it simply the altar of the Lord. So that it would not be confused with altars to Baal or altars of illegitimate worship such as Jeroboam set up in Bethel and in Dan. It is possible and even probable that this altar dated back to the time before the temple was built and even to the time of Samuel. if not even before that. In 1 Kings 3, when Solomon asks for wisdom, in verse 2 we read, the people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places because a temple had not yet been built for the name of the Lord. As well, 1 Samuel 9, when Samuel anoints Saul as the first king in Israel, it tells us that Samuel himself made use of the high places. We know that the patriarchs, Abraham and Jacob and others, built altars to the Lord. since the split in the nation into the northern ten tribes in the southern kingdom of Judah, it's possible, we don't know for a fact, but it's possible that the true God-fearers in that northern kingdom, at least for a time, continue to use these because it was impossible and even dangerous, especially with a tyrant like Jezebel, it was impossible to participate in worship in Jerusalem. But Elijah indeed seems to support the use of these altars in chapter 19, verse 10, when he laments, I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. No contradiction, this was an altar of the Lord. Yet this altar was an altar, a symbol of enmity, which we understand as we consider the purpose of the Lord's altar. The purpose of the Lord's altar, very simply, is where the worship of God took place. Again, where His people approached Him. And especially where the offering of atonement for sin was made to God. And therefore, the altar of the Lord was a symbol of the need for reconciliation, to be reconciled with God because of sin. It was a symbol of God's acceptance of the blood of another. It was a symbol of the forgiveness of sins and of communion and fellowship with God. It pointed to the people's confession of their need for Him and the sacrifices that were offered to God represented prayer to Him. And as that sacrifice was accepted, that represented answered prayer. This was the sign that Elijah chose for this contest. the sign of proper worship that magnifies the holiness of God. That was the purpose of the Lord's altar. Yet, there is a message of this ruined altar. It was a symbol of enmity. A symbol of Israel's rejection of God, of the terror and the break in Israel's life away from God, of their departure from Him. of broken communion with Him. On behalf of Israel, we might say it was a visible message that in their minds they had no need for atonement. They had no need for forgiveness. That they did not depend on God. It was a symbol of Israel's alienation, separation from God, a symbol of the apostasy of the covenant people and of the misery and ruin into which this nation had sunk. A symbol of Israel's sin. But, beloved, also a symbol of the danger of syncretism. The blending of worship. When you waver between two opinions, as Israel had been doing, between God, Jehovah, and Baal, when you try to mix the worship of Jehovah with idols, there will be nothing left but idolatry because the Lord will not share His glory with another. As Jesus clearly said, you cannot serve two masters. Either you will love the one and hate the other. And as Paul says again in 2 Corinthians 6, do not be yoked together with unbelievers for what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? And of course, the answers that Paul expects is absolutely nothing. They have nothing in common. When you try to mix the worship of Jehovah with anything else, the only thing that's left is idolatry. when Christians compromise with the world in ways that are disobedient to God. That does not draw the world to God. That does not make the world more like Christians. But it only makes Christians more like the world. It only makes believers to be drawn away from God. But God deserves and God desires exclusive allegiance. By turning to the ruined altar, Elijah is pointing the people to the correct answer to the question, Who is God? By turning to the ruined altar, he is pointing them to their need for forgiveness, their need to be reconciled, which could only take place at the altar of the Lord. The altar of the Lord was a symbol of God's grace. For there was no other way to Him, there is no other way to Him than through the blood of atonement. and it points to His mercy in accepting a substitute. And therefore, to forsake the altar was to break communion with God. It was to cut off the path to reconciliation with Him, that path which was absolutely necessary. And ultimately, it was to deny the work of the great High Priest and sacrifice to come, even Jesus Christ, who would be the final sacrifice for sin. who would fulfill all sacrifices. Dear people of God, today too, to break with and to forsake the true worship of God is in essence to say, I don't need Jesus Christ. Sincere worship by its very nature is a recognition of the greatness, the majesty, the holiness of God as we have sung and heard sung this morning. And of the worthiness of God to be worshipped and to be obeyed. Sincere worship by its very nature is a confession of Christ's saving work and our need for it. It's a confession of the continual nourishment and strength that the Holy Spirit promises to give through worship and of His enabling power to live for Him. There is so much worship today that is neglected. So much that is seen as no longer necessary. so much that is canceled. And of the worship that does take place, so much of it centers on what pleases me or on some sort of self-help techniques or on how to be a better person, but not. It does not center on our only hope in Jesus Christ and what is to be our response to it. But of course, this goes beyond corporate worship, doesn't it? In Christian family, we used to speak of the family altar, not the little devotional magazine, but gathering around the family table to join around the Word of God to instruct our children in the Gospel of Jesus Christ to rejoice in His redeeming love and His bountiful grace. How many of our family altars have been broken down? In how many of our homes is the sound of worship no longer heard because of worldliness and pleasure and busyness and prosperity which have silenced the sounds of devotion? To forsake God's worship is to say, I don't need Him. I don't need what He has to give. Yet, beloved, our lives are to revolve around, be founded on worship because God Himself calls us to worship and promises to bless and strengthen and encourage His people through worship. The ruined altar was a solemn witness that the people had departed from the Lord. Elijah's repair of it was a rebuke to the people, but at the same time, the repair was also a confession of sin on their behalf. At that altar, God would bring His people back to their first love. As Elijah says a little bit later, 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. The Christian's first love is Jesus Christ who has redeemed us. Who was slain for us. And that's one of the major reasons why we worship on Sunday, on the Lord's Day, on the day of His resurrection. We come together to praise and thank God for who He is, for what He has done. And we come together on the Lord's Day which He has set aside for us. We come together after being bombarded throughout the week by the world and by Satan's fiery arrows of attack and temptation. We come together to be revived and encouraged by our covenant God who says, fear not, you are mine. You are mine. The twelve stone altar was a symbol of enmity, but also it was secondly a symbol of reconciliation. Reconciliation with God. Again, through His word bearer, the Lord gathers His people to His altar, the only place where God and man might be reconciled. That was God's promise to those who come to Him with a broken and a contrite heart. That place where as the substitute sacrifice was given, as the blood was shed, man's guilt was removed before God and as God's fire accepted it, pointing to the fire of God's wrath upon that substitute, God's wrath was removed from upon man. Reconciliation by God's grace for man who needed a substitute, for man who was totally undeserving, Israel totally undeserving. But God was calling His covenant violators to be reconciled to Him, to embrace Him by faith, believing that He forgives for the sake of another. Calling them as well to restore proper worship of Him, exclusive worship. Only at the altar do God's covenant people meet with His mercy and grace because there is no other way to Him than through the blood of atonement and through the sacrificial service of which the altar speaks. Pointing forward to, found ultimately and only in Jesus Christ who has reconciled His people with the Father through His sacrifice of Himself through His own precious blood. Poured out. He took our place. And we are reconciled to God. Those who trust in Him are brought back into favor with God. We belong to Him. Never to be unreconciled. And therefore, we no longer offer bulls and goats and lambs which were insufficient. Their blood wasn't enough, but pointed forward to Him and pointed forward to His once-for-all perfect and complete sacrifice. we now worship around His Word and we worship at His table as He nourishes our faith with the truth of His finished sacrifice. With the truth of His promised forgiveness for all of our sins. With the truth of His guaranteed eternal life. And as those who have been reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, we are called to respond by offering our lives as a living sacrifice, It's holy and acceptable to God, as Paul says in Romans 12. And along with reconciliation with God, this altar then, finally, was the symbol of unity. Unity among God's people. Unity seen in the twelve stones. Those twelve stones represented all of Israel. All twelve tribes. Even though at this time in history, the nation was politically divided into the ten northern tribes of Israel. And that's who Elijah was dealing with right now. and then the two southern, known as Judah. These twelve stones did not just represent the ten tribes, because in the eyes of the Lord, they were still one. Verse 31 says, Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob before the split, to whom the word of the Lord had come saying, Your name shall be Israel. The name Israel belonged to the entire nation, to all twelve tribes. the twelve stone altar, beloved, was to remind the people of Jehovah's revelation in the past, the revelation of His glory and power and majesty and grace, which was witness in the deliverance of the nation of Israel from Egypt. And a reminder of the memorial of it in Joshua chapter 4, after Israel crossed Jordan, They were told to build a memorial of 12 stones to tell their children in the future of all that God had done for them in the past. Pointing back to the glory and the power and the wonder and the grace of God. And this 12 stone altar was also a call back. To call Israel back to obedience to and to the service of God as it pointed back as well to Exodus 24 before going up Mount Sinai to receive the tablets of stone with the law, Moses built a twelve stone altar. He offered a sacrifice and he made the people swear to live by the law of the Lord, which was for their good. And the people responded, all that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient. The call of Mount Carmel was for Israel to be bound once again to the true God who had bound Himself to them. It was a call for unity with God's people and separation from the world as Israel through Elijah was drawn away from Baal's altar to gather around the Lord's altar upon whom they depended. Yet this separation from the world, this unity of believers could not be accomplished by Elijah. It could not be accomplished by the sacrifice of a bull. The work of dividing that which does not belong together, namely, God's chosen people and the wicked world. And the work of uniting God's people through repentance and faith could be accomplished only by the great final sacrificial Lamb, Jesus Christ. And therefore, we know that Elijah's repaired altar, it could not free the guilty people, but it cried out for the altar of Calvary the power of the cross of Jesus Christ put an end to all physical altars, to all formal sacrifices because there Jesus Christ shed the only precious, perfect blood to make that once for all atonement for those who would believe on Him by the grace of God. It is there where the wrath of God that was to be against us was poured out upon Him where He endured it all and paid for our sins, removing that wrath from us, bringing us into harmony with God. The cross of Jesus is the altar of enmity. It is the altar of reconciliation. The altar of unity as He took our enmity against and hatred for God upon Himself and there He reconciled us with God and through the cross of Jesus, all believers by faith are united in Him. And beloved, though His people are scattered far and wide throughout time and throughout place and throughout denominations, all are united in Him by faith one day to be gathered by Him in the eternal city described in Revelation 21 as having twelve foundations with the names of the twelve apostles inscribed on them. Twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes and twelve angels standing by. those who refuse to offer their sacrifice of worship to God alone for Jesus' sake, but instead find comfort in the gods of this world, whatever they may be. For example, the God of humanism that finds its hope in man, or the God of materialism that finds its comfort in things, or the God of hedonism that looks only to pleasure. They will suffer the holy wrath of God's fiery hell for eternity. Hell is indeed a real place. God's wrath against sin is indeed very real. And that is a revelation of God that we should never want to experience. But for those who forsake themselves and forsake this world and humble themselves before the Lord Jesus Christ, in Christ alone is our only hope. In Christ alone is the forgiveness of all of our sins. In Christ alone is that perfect, complete, and forever favor with God. In Christ alone, we are separated unto God and called to live separately and distinctively throughout life in this world so that others may know that we belong to Him. And so they might know what He means to us. Beloved Elijah prepared the twelve stone altar and Israel, gathering them around for God's revelation of fire as the Lord would be asked to accept this sacrifice. Our God gathers His people around the cross of Jesus. And by faith we have seen His revelation of Himself through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice has been accepted for us. He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, the cross says. No one comes to the Father but through me. And therefore, one day, beloved, our faith will become sight. And as we worship the one and only true God of our salvation in the context of corporate worship in church and with our families or in spirit with fellow believers, may we keep our eyes focused on that revelation that is yet to be revealed, that great revelation when Jesus Christ comes again on the clouds of glory whom we shall see face to face. On that day, every eye will see, without a doubt, He who is God. Amen. Let's pray together. our great God and Heavenly Father we pray oh Lord that by your spirit it would always be our heart's desire to worship you in the splendor of your holiness for indeed you alone are worthy of all worship and honor and glory and praise you who have provided for your people that which we desperately needed but could not provide ourselves you have provided through Jesus Christ your Son we praise your holy name that as your people we are no longer the objects of your wrath but indeed we are the objects the possessions of your pleasure those in whom you delight for Jesus' sake. O Lord, that is still so hard for us to imagine because we know our sinful hearts, we know our struggle with sin, yet we thank you and praise you for your promise to continue to work that powerful work of sanctification in the hearts and lives of your people even as you prepare us for that day when you bring us spotless in Your presence. Prepare us for that day, O Lord. And until that day, receive, accept the worship we bring to You. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.