1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long halt you between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal… 1. Now, from this stirring incident, I learn that we must be prepared like Elijah to stand alone for God. Examine the biographies of great men, and you will not find a brighter example of sanctified courage than that which shone in the man of God on Carmel. Think of it! One man against a whole nation! Here was a Reformer, who had the patience of the ox, the courage of the lion, the eye of the eagle, and the intelligence of the man. Prince Bismarck once said in a characteristic epigram, "We Germans fear God, and nothing else in the world." This was especially true of Elijah, the Whirlwind Prophet, who struck Ahab pale with fright. Fearing God so much, he feared man so little. He was as a mighty rock standing alone in the midst of a stormy sea, braving and outliving the tempest. Take your stand for God wherever you may be, either in the office, or the shop, the workroom, or the home. You, like Elijah, have a Carmel. See that you play the man, and quit yourself right bravely. 2. From the incident on Carmel I also learn that the most of men are desirous of worshipping God and Baal at the same time. This is what the Israelites wanted to do, for you must know that the worship of idols was not proposed as a substitute for, but an accompaniment to, the worship of Jehovah. They wanted to do an impossibility — to amalgamate opposites. This God would not have, and will not allow to-day. Men must be either one thing or the other. Religions diametrically opposed cannot both be right. Things which are contradictory cannot be reconciled. You cannot have an altar to Baal and an altar to Jehovah standing side by side. Mark Antony is said to have yoked two lions to his chariot, but there are two lions which can never be yoked — the Church and the world. Yet men everywhere are trying to win the smile of the world and the" well done" of Christ. They want to serve God and Baal at the same time. 3. From my text I gather the further lesson that all men are called upon to make a choice between God and Baal. "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him." This searching remonstrance uttered by the solitary witness on Carmel is perhaps still more impressive in the original, for one rendering gives, "How long limp ye on two knees?" He likens them to a cripple hobbling along, first on one knee and then on another. Another translation gives the quest!on thus, "How long hop ye on two sprays?" like a bird which keeps hopping from bough to bough and is never still, and consequently never builds a nest. 4. Our text also clearly shows that God has given to us the power of choice, which power involves tremendous responsibility. We are endowed with the power of will, and are not to be like those derelicts that go floating about in the Atlantic and never reach any port. God asks us to take the evidence for and against, and then deliberately decide whether or not He is to be our king. 5. And in this matter God has not left us without evidence of His superiority over Baal. Still the infallible test is "The God that answereth by fire let Him be God." If you will sit down and compare the claims of God and the claims of Baal, you will soon see which God has the sole right to your worship. If we translate Elijah's speech into nineteenth-century English, it simply means this, Will you have Christ or Barabbas; God or self?, God can do what Baal cannot! An eminent evangelist once declared in a newspaper controversy that he was prepared any day, at a few hours' notice, to summon five hundred witnesses, ready to declare upon oath, if need be, the truth of that Gospel of Salvation from the power of sin which every week he preached. To-day the cry rings forth, "The God that answereth by saved men, let Him be God." There can be no comparison between the claims of Christ and the claims of the world. 6. I beg you to observe that God calls for immediate decision. You are this day to decide between God and the devil. Some of you have been halting till your hair has grown grey. How much longer are you going to fly from bough to bough? (W. C. Minifie, B. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. |
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