October 14, 2012
Scripture:
Scripture:
358 – Tell me the story of Jesus
Prayer
Last time, we read how Elijah met Obadiah and set up a meeting with Ahab. Today we are going read about the meeting and the very exciting contest on Mount Carmel.
1 Kings18:17-39
When Ahab and Elijah met, Ahab accused Elijah for the lack of rain that they were having, but Elijah disagreed. He said there was no rain because Ahab had turned Israel’s heart away from Lord. Elijah asked Ahab to gather the Israelites and prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel for a little contest.
Once they had assembled on Mount Carmel, Elijah asked the Israelites who they were going to follow. We need to ask ourselves the same question. Are we going to follow the Lord or the world? Elijah outlined the contest rules. Both the prophets of Baal and Elijah would get an animal to sacrifice, but instead of lighting the sacrifice with fire, each would pray to their god to bring fire down on the sacrifice.
The prophets of Baal went first. They prepared their altar and then started to call on Baal. It was impossible for them to have had fire come down from heaven, because Baal was a man-made god: he didn’t have the power to set the sacrifice on fire. After half the day, nothing had happened. Elijah made fun of them: he said maybe Baal was on a journey or sleeping. It became an awful scene when prophets started to cut themselves. The prophets of Baal were not able to call down fire; it was Elijah’s turn next.
First, Elijah encouraged the Israelites to come closer. It reminds us that the Lord wants us to draw near to him. Elijah built the altar with twelve stones, one for each of the tribes of Israel. Although the twelve tribes were apart, this was prophetic of a distant day when Israel will be together again. You might think this strange behaviour when trying to start a fire, but Elijah had men pour water on the altar three times. By the time the third batch of water was poured on the altar, the altar was drenched. Then Elijah prayed to God and asked him to turn the hearts of Israel back to God. Once he finished his prayer, fire fell from heaven: it burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and all the water. It consumed everything. In comparison, Jesus took all the wrath of God in our place.
Was the question answered? Baal wasn’t able to do anything, but the God of Israel was all powerful. Elijah showed Israel who the real God was. It is important for us to remember that we each have the choice of who we will follow: the world or the Lord. I trust we each choose to follow the Lord.
Luke 16:19-21
One night Stanley McDowell was to give the gospel, but after the regular hymn and prayer he said, “Maybe we should sing another hymn; I don’t have my passage yet.” So everybody sang another hymn, and then Mr.McDowell told them, “I have my passage. Tonight, you’re going to get a message from Hell.” He had chosen this passage. It’s a sobering passage. In it Jesus has pulled back the curtains of eternity and let us know that He believes in Hell. But why did the Lord tell this story? One reason was that the Scribes and the Pharisees were only concerned with temporal things. In the Old Testament, God’s blessing on a person was manifest through his material wealth; but now things are different.
This man had more than enough to live on, and was characterized by what he wore and what he ate. Fashion and food are still important areas in the world. Of course, it’s not wrong to eat food and wear clothes; but something’s wrong when those things define you.
As a Jew, this man was supposed to love his neighbours as himself; and when you have a beggar sitting at the end of your driveway, you’d think that you’d remember to help others. Apparently, though, this man’s dogs had more compassion on Lazarus the beggar than the rich man did. This is another example of unjust stewardship. This rich man didn’t properly administer the gifts that God gave him.
The Pharisees thought that the rich were blessed, and therefore right. In their minds, because Lazarus was sick, he must have done something wrong. But when he finally died, the angels carried him to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died, was buried, and ended up in Hell.
So, who was blessed? The beggar was. Jesus didn’t say anything about the spiritual condition of either of these men because he wanted the Pharisees to judge them purely by their physical condition. Their physical condition didn’t tell much, but their afterlife did.
To be clear, when a Believer dies, he goes to an “intermediate” place called paradise. Then, at the rapture, all Believers (dead or alive) are taken up to Heaven. When an Unbeliever dies, he goes to an intermediate place called “Hades” (Hell). At the Great White Throne, all Unbelievers are thrown into the Lake of Fire. None of this has to do with purgatory; no one in Hades will end up in Heaven.
The Jehovah’s witnesses believe that only a hundred and forty-four thousand people will make to heaven, the rest of the “saved” will enjoy earth. And they’re fine with that. They don’t want to go to Heaven. They ask us, “What will you do in Heaven?” Well, what will we do? Lazarus wasn’t in heaven; and Jesus hadn’t done His work on the cross yet, so He wasn’t there. Therefore He took the next most important person to a Jew - Abraham, the father of the faithful - and said that Lazarus was in his bosom. We know that the Lord was in the bosom of the Father before coming to earth, and that John was always putting his head on the Lord’s bosom, calling himself ‘the disciple that Jesus loved’. It’s the place of closest love and blessing; and what satisfies the heart more than love? This is the place that we’ll be brought into in heaven, except with our Lord, and not Abraham!
Hymn 361 - There is a happy land
Prayer