Sermon 19 of 26 in a series on Old Testament Vistas. This sermon on 1 Kings 17-19 was presented on April 3, 2011, at Palm Desert Church of Christ, by Dale Wells

1. OldTestamentVistas

2. Background One kingdom becomes two

3. United Kingdom Saul David Solomon Rift at Shechem Rehoboam rebuffs people Jereboam anointed king

4. Divided Kingdom Addressing the Jerusalem problem Golden calves Festivals Priesthood Syncretism Dan Bethel

5. The Standard of Judgment No room for compromise

6. Jeroboam Was Bad Enough 1 Kings 14:7-10 NIV Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'I … tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes. You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have provoked me to anger and thrust me behind your back. "'Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. …

7. Ahab Was Even Worse 1 Kings 16:30-33 NIV Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.

8. Enter Elijah Move over John Wayne!

9. Elijah “Yahweh is my God”

10. 1 Kings 17:1 NIV Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.“ James 5:17-18 NIV Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

11. Mt. Carmel Showdown Yahweh meets the enemy on his own ground Yahweh beats Baal at his own game Dan Mt. Carmel Gilead Bethel

12. 1 Kings 18:21 HCSB Then Elijah approached all the people and said, "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him." But the people didn't answer him a word.

13. The Contest Which god will light the fire?

14. The Contest Which god will light the fire? "Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!"

15. Elijah’s Message in the New Testament No room for compromise!

16. Jesus Does Not Allow Compromise Matthew 6:24 NIV "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

17. Jesus’ Warning to Thyatira Revelation 2:19-23 NIV I know your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance, and that you are now doing more than you did at first. Nevertheless, I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads my servants into sexual immorality and the eating of food sacrificed to idols.

18. Jesus’ Warning to Thyatira I have given her time to repent of her immorality, but she is unwilling. So I will cast her on a bed of suffering, and I will make those who commit adultery with her suffer intensely, unless they repent of her ways. I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.

19. Jesus’ Warning to Laodicea Revelation 3:15-16 NIV I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.

20. The Time for Compromise is Past Fence-straddlers need not apply!

21. Stop Loving the World 1 John 2:15-17 ISV Stop loving the world and the things that are in the world. If anyone persists in loving the world, the Father's love is not in him. For everything that is in the world-the desire for fleshly gratification, the desire for possessions, and worldly arrogance-is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world and its desires are fading away, but the person who does God's will remains forever.

22. Our Goal is to Be Like Jesus 1 John 3:2 NIV Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

23. Deny Ourselves Mark 8:34 NIV Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

24. The Cost of Discipleship Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our Church. We are fighting today for costly grace.

25. The Cost of Discipleship Cheap grace means grace as a doctrine, a principle, a system.

26. The Cost of Discipleship Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner.

27. The Cost of Discipleship Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession

28. The Cost of Discipleship Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

29. The Time for Compromise is Past 1 Kings 18:21 HCSB … "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him." … 1 Kings 18:39 HCSB When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, "Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!"