As we continue to look at Elijah taking a stand against his culture in his day, (which is very much like ours in America today) I want to remind us of what has happened so far:

Israel at this point was drowning in sin, the leaders were self-serving and wicked and integrity was nowhere to be found.  Sound familiar?

And in that time when right was wrong and wrong was right, Elijah, a man who stood for righteousness and the one true God was considered not only politically incorrect but also an enemy of the state!

Elijah has confronted the false prophets and the people in their worship of a pagan god.  He challenged them to a duel–they set up an altar with a sacrifice and they would see who the true god was by who answered by fire.

The false prophets and worshipers of Baal could not get a response from their god no matter how hard they tried.

Elijah then had the sacrifice and altar absolutely soaked in water.

Remember: These false prophets had worked all day for hours and hours trying to get their god to answer and they were absolutely exhausted.

The prayer that Elijah prayed took, giver or take, less than 15 seconds.  Here is what he said:

1 Kings 18:36–37 (NKJV) — 36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

All he was asking for was for God to be glorified and that is exactly what God did.

Here are the results:

1 Kings 18:38–40 (NKJV) — 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” 40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.

Don’t miss what happened.  When the people saw the true God go into action they did what they should have done.  They fell at His feet and worshiped Him and surrendered their lives to Him!

Do you notice that the false prophets still did not?  They had so hardened their hearts to the true God that even with this “proof’ before them, they would not accept it.  They died in their stubborn rejection of the true God.

Here is what I want you to take away from this:

In this day and age that we are living in, God is still looking for His people to face the culture of our day with the truth about who He is.

There is nothing that will move an unsaved person who has no relationship to God into taking the steps he or she needs to take to have a right relationship with God…

Like seeing those of us who do have a relationship with God,

• Showing it in the way we live
• Showing it in the way we trust
• Showing it in the way we obey God…

And that could be the biggest difference that we can make in the lives of lost people and in the culture today for our country.

May God’s people in this age, trust and obey God like never before.