Overcoming Fear: Confidence In Confusing Times

 Overcoming Fear: Confidence In Confusing Times

Opening Illustration:

Two Sunday’s ago I started praying and thinking about this very message. Two Sunday’s ago I started reading and writing this sermon. Two weeks ago I read an interesting story about one man who became overwhelmed by fear, worry and anxiety. It is the story of a criminal. This particular criminal committed a heinous crime and he was immediately brought to the King for judgement. The King looked at the criminal and decided that he would offer him what he had offered to several other criminals before him. He gave this criminal a choice. Because of his crime, he could either choose death by hanging. The King pointed to the gallows where the rope and noose had already been tied. Then the King pointed in the opposite direction to a large, iron clad door. The door was black and had large bolts and rivets. Standing guard at the large iron door were two intimidating guards with black masks on. They were shrouded in black robes. They stood at attention with large swords in their hands. The criminal looked at the King and quickly, fearfully, choose the noose. As the rope was being fitted around his neck, the criminal turned to the King and asked, 

“by the way, out of curiosity, what’s behind the door?” 

The king laughed and said: “You know, it’s funny, I offer everyone the same choice, and nearly everyone picks the rope.” 

“So,” said the criminal, 

“Tell me. What’s behind the door? I mean, obviously, I won’t tell anyone,” he said, pointing to the noose around his neck.

The king paused then answered:

“Freedom, but it seems most people are so afraid of the unknown that they immediately take the rope.”

It offers a powerful reminder about the dangers of clinging to the familiar.

Yes, unfortunately, too many of us live our lives choosing the familiarity of our rope (aka: familiar pain, familiar struggle, familiar patterns). The truth is that we’re a planet full of folks walking around with metaphysical ropes around our necks, wondering why we feel a bit emotionally and spiritually dead to the world around us.

Point:

This morning we are going to be talking about one of the greats, the all time greats of the Bible. We will be looking briefly at an event in the Prophet Elijah’s life. Elijah boldly stood against the prevailing winds of his culture. He stood alone, by himself, against the darkness of his present world. He could have chosen the rope, the easy way out. He could have just gone with the flow, not wanting to offend anyone. Elijah choose the door. Instead of allowing fear to overwhelm him, he overcame it with fortitude and faith. 

Point:

Have you ever wondered what faith really is, how it is defined? Well the Bible gives us a great definition. Hebrews 11:1 NLT tell us that faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” 

I read another definition of faith the other day. I’ll share it with you. “Faith is sitting in the middle of the storm of your life and still being able to close your eyes and picture the sunny skies. Still being able to feel the better days coming, despite the storm all around you. That’s faith! That’s exactly the faith that Elijah displays in this story. 

Today’s Thought:

Elijah Overcame Fear With Fortitude and Faith!

Today’s Quote:

“Faith is sitting in the middle of the storm of your life and still being able to close your eyes and picture the sunny skies. Still being able to feel the better days coming, despite the storm all around you. That’s faith!

-Fearless Motivation

Background and Context:

Speaking of this story, what’s really happening here in I Kings 18:30-40? First of all, there was a famine in the land of Samaria. It was a brutal famine. People were starving. Crops weren’t growing. There was also a horrible drought. People were praying for rain but instead of rain, they received dust. The Lord told Elijah to go to Ahab the King and after the visit, the Lord promised that He would send rain. King Ahab was trying to solve the problem of starvation. He told Obadiah, not the prophet but the palace administrator, to find grass and grain from the surrounding areas to feed the starving animals. Instead of obeying the King’s direction, Obadiah goes back to the King and tells him about the encounter he had with Elijah. Elijah himself eventually makes his way to the King and the encounter does not go well. Like it does not go well AT ALL. 

When Ahab saw Elijah, he accused him of making trouble for Israel. Elijah told him that it was Ahab and his family that caused the trouble. He told Ahab since he abandoned God’s commands and started following Baal that he was the true cause of Israel’s problems.

Elijah told the king to summon all of the people of Israel at Mount Carmel. He was also to bring all of the prophets of Baal and the prophets of Asherah. Elijah met with everyone at Mount Carmel and told them to either follow their Lord God or to follow Baal. 

So an interesting thing happens. Elijah challenges the pagan prophets of Baal to a competition. Whose God is the real one true living God. Elijah and the prophets of Baal would set up two alters. They would make sacrifices on both alters and the first God to send fire down from the heavens would be the God of the people. 

The prophets agreed to the terms and the competition was on. We will pick up in verse 30 this morning. The prophets of Baal have already set up their alter. They have called upon their god from morning till noon. They begged Baal to send fire. They cried out to him. They made a huge scene in front of the King and all the onlookers. 

Elijah comically states to them, “maybe you should cry out louder. Could it be that Baal is busy talking, maybe he is on a trip somewhere, maybe he is not at home. Maybe Baal is sleeping and he needs to be awakened.”

Scripture tells us that the prophets of Baal become even more desperate. They begin to cut themselves, whip themselves, and beat themselves. They dance and shout around the alter for hours but nothing. Crickets. 

So, let’s listen to what happens next. Let’s read from I Kings 18:30-40. Im reading from the English Standard Version. 

Today’s Scripture:

I Kings 18: 30-40 ESV

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name,” 32 and with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” 34 And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a third time. 35 And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.

36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.” And they seized them. And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.

4 Lessons From Elijah’s Fiery Faith!

Lesson One: The Lesson of Equality 

Point:

Here is our first lesson. We have two different options presented to the people. The people can either choose to follow Elijah and worship Yahweh or they can follow the prophets of Baal. Elijah presents the choices to the people of Israel in I Kings 18:21 stating, “And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word.”

These are their options. Go the way of faith or go the way of the world. Now I know what you are thinking. If you were there you would have definitely gone with Elijah. No question. But put yourself in their shoes. There is only one man who is standing for Yahweh. One man calling people to go God’s way. There are 450 protest of Baal. 450. The King is a follower of Baal. They have all the social power. It is the prophets of Baal that have all the cultural currency. 

For those in attendance that day, the choice to follow God was not cut and dry. Nor was it easy and clear. There was great debate as to which religion was real. There was great debate as to whose God was the real God. The prophets of Baal had an idols and gods that you could see, hold, smell. The God of Elijah was invisible. It appeared that Yahweh was not even real. 

Im quite certain that there were plenty of people in the crowd who probably thought that none of this really mattered. For them, adding Yahweh to their collection of gods was not offensive. Yahweh was just another god in a pantheon of gods. The only problem is that Elijah the prophet was not having it. Elijah was telling the people that it was either God’s way or no way. God was not going to be happy to sit on their mantel, equally with other wooden gods or gods created from mud. 

There is a common misconception even today that all religions are the same. There is no difference between the Bible and the Koran, or the Pearl of Great Price or the Bhagavad Gita. The belief that people of all religions worship the same God, just in a different way, seems to be the cultural norm today. Behind this is the idea that all beliefs should be tolerated and that any claim to ultimate truth is arrogant.

The idea that we all worship the same God just in different ways is a fairly easy thing to say if you don’t know what different religions believe. For example, Buddhists deny the existence of a personal god, while Hindus believe in many gods. Mormonism is also a polytheistic religion, though Mormons restrict their worship to only a few gods.

Even in the three monotheistic world religions—Christianity, Islam, and Judaism—there are fundamental differences in God’s character, attributes, and especially his nature. Although all three are monotheistic, Judaism and Islam are Unitarian monotheists (the belief that the being of God exists as one person). Christianity on the other hand is Trinitarian monotheism. This is the belief that within the one Being that is God, there exists eternally three co-equal and co-eternal persons, namely the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each is a distinct person, yet each is identified as God: Father; Son; Spirit. The doctrine of the Trinity especially distinguishes Christianity from the world’s religions. In Islam, even though it is misunderstood, the doctrine of the Trinity is considered blasphemy! It is completely illogical to say all paths lead to God when even the notion of God that is held by each religion is contradictory.

Another major difference between Christianity and the world’s religions is that the world’s religions do not have a realistic view of human nature (i.e., our sinfulness) since all teach salvation by human effort or goodness. All religions, except Christianity, tone down both the bad news of our sinfulness and the good news of God’s free grace. None of the world’s religions present any good news that someone has liberated us from the reign of sin and death. In Christianity, salvation comes through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and not through human effort.

Let me state here and now, with all the boldness of Elijah, that not all gods and not all religions are created equal. Jesus is clear when he states that he is the way the truth and the life, no man may come to the Father unless they come through Him.” Jesus claims absolute exclusivity to the afterlife. Luke, in his book of Acts of the early church reminds us that, “and there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

John 14:6 ESV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

4 Lessons From Elijah’s Fiery Faith!

Lesson One: The Lesson of Equality 

Lesson Two: The Lesson of Emotion

Point:

There is no doubt that the prophets of Baal displayed reckless abandon for what they believed. They were sincere in their efforts, but like many people today, they were sincerely mistaken. Mount Carmel proved that powerfully.

We find another powerful illustration in the New Testament. Before the apostle Paul converted to Christianity, “He made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison” (Acts 8:3). The word havoc is rare in ancient writings; secular Greek literature used it to refer to the ravages of a wild boar, which gives us a vivid picture of Saul. Imagine him tearing through the streets of Jerusalem, breaking into homes, dragging people off to prison, intent on ridding the city of every last Christian. Saul was sincere, passionate, and dead wrong.

In many ways we have found ourselves in a pseudo worship world. People have equated worship to an emotional high. A fleeting feeling that is fueled by repetitive music, heavy beats, emotional outbursts, external showings and external trappings only meant to draw attention to oneself instead of giving full attention to God. Modern worship has placed an inordinate amount of time devoted not to the doctrine and theology held within a song but rather the experience and entertainment value of the worship experience. Worshippers are stirred into a frenzy with fog machines, light shows, and lasers. Don’t misunderstand me, I am all for creating an environment where a man or woman can commune with God but when we focus all of our attention focusing on the environment rather than the communion we have missed something precious, something holy, something righteous. There are Christians today who believe that they are sincerely worshipping God when the truth is that they are sincerely worshipping an experience, a feeling, or an emotion. 

We need to understand that sincere worship involves a balance of God’s Word, sacrifice and service, and communion with the Holy Spirit. Worship is not just contained on Sunday’s from 10:10 in the morning till 11:30. Worship happens everyday, every moment. Jesus warns believers in Matthew 6:5 to guard ourselves against the showy forms of worship because they aren’t real, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full." Again, Jesus is not condemning the fact that people prayed or even worshipped aloud, but that they were putting on a public display for their own benefit. Their motive—to be seen of men—was the problem. Such prayer and such worship  is not real, but empty words meant for the ears of other people. Proverbs 15:29 says, "The LORD is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous."

The Prophets of Baal were doing really worshipful things. They sang. They shouted. They raised their hands and cried. They even beat themselves hoping that their false god would be moved to action. They did these acts with all sincerity. They were sincerely in error and their worship was wasted. We must be careful that we are not worshipping at the alter of false gods too: the gods of materialism, sexual immorality, and worldly pursuits.

Acts 8:3 ESV

But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

4 Lessons From Elijah’s Fiery Faith!

Lesson One: The Lesson of Equality 

Lesson Two: The Lesson of Emotion

Lesson Three: The Lesson of Exclusivity 

Point:

Lesson Three: The Lesson of Exclusivity. The faith of the prophets of Baal were misplaced. When I was studying for this message I came across a commentary written by Dr. David Jeremiah. He spoke on this very same piece of Scripture and he was making the exact same point. Dr. Jeremiah states that “faith is not what matters most.” Wow! Did you hear that? Does that statement bother you as it did me? Well hear him out. I believe that if I read the rest of his statement to you it will make more sense. Dr. Jeremiah continues saying, “Faith is not what matters most. While that may strike you as an odd or even blasphemous statement, it’s the object of our belief that makes a difference. The prophets of Baal believed in the god they worshiped with all their heart. They had faith in him. But their faith was worthless because the object of their faith was worthless.

Some people object to the absolute truth claims of Christianity. They feel that doing good deeds or simply believing in a higher power should open the gates of heaven. But if good deeds lead to salvation, faith has no place in the conversation—it becomes a matter of works—and we can never know if we’ve done enough to win God’s favor. If believing in whatever we want could secure our salvation, Jesus wouldn’t have had to die on the cross, and most of the Bible would be untrue.

While there is only one way to God, it is available to everyone. The apostle Paul staked his life on this claim. With the blood of the saints on his hands and a contrite heart, he wrote, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). No matter who you are or what you’ve done, Jesus offers you this gift of salvation.

Romans 10:9 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

4 Lessons From Elijah’s Fiery Faith!

Lesson One: The Lesson of Equality 

Lesson Two: The Lesson of Emotion

Lesson Three: The Lesson of Exclusivity 

Lesson Four: The Lesson of Expectation 

Point:

Friend, our last lesson from Elijah this morning is this, the faith you live by better be good enough to die by. 

Faith that doesn’t bring you hope and encouragement during difficult days is a worthless faith. Notice the confidence that Elijah has throughout this entire ordeal. Never once does he waver. Never once does he doubt. He stood toe to toe, eye to eye, with nearly 500 prophets and never bowed. How and where does this confidence come from? God built up Elijah’s confidence in the quietness of a brook, the confines of a widow’s home, and the isolation of the wilderness. Later, when Elijah summoned his faith on the mountaintop, it sustained him because he trusted God.

The prophet Elijah stood before an entire nation and demanded that they make a choice. He offered no room for compromise. The children of Israel could align themselves with the prophets of Baal, or they could discard everything that opposed the one true and holy God. The showdown on Mount Carmel became the defining moment in Elijah’s life.

This week has been an interesting one for me. Late in the week I spoke to a friend battling breast cancer. She was going to the doctor for a procedure with her husband. I asked her how she was feeling about the process and she told me that she had total confidence. 

Total confidence in her doctors? Nope.

Total confidence in the hospital? Hardly. 

Total confidence in the nurses? No.

She had total and ultimate confidence God. She told me that no matter the outcome she was going to be just fine. Now that’s faith. 

A couple of days after talking to her, I spoke to a gentleman in our church who suffered a heart attack this week. He started experiencing severe chest pains and they would not go away. His dear family friend called the ambulance. When they arrived they discovered that he was having a massive heart attack. They rushed him to the hospital and immediately readied him for surgery. Several stints and a few nights stay in the ICU and now he is back at home. I visited with this brother and asked him if he was fearful when he was told he was having a heart attack. Was he afraid when they prepped him for surgery. He just laughed at the question. He told me, “Stuart God has given me more life than I deserve. If he leaves me here that’s great but if He takes me home, my life only improves.” What a perspective! Now that’s faith!

So I challenge you, which side are you on? Are you going to live for God and be His follower? Or are you going to keep living for the things that distract you from Him? “If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15, NIV). That is the challenge to all of us, and I hope we will hear it.

Joshua 24:15 ESV

“And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Abandon Fear For Courageous Faith!