The Certainty of Christianity

Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,

            Are you certain that Christianity is the only correct religion?  Are you so certain that you know without a doubt that you will be in heaven?  Are you willing to say that those who have no god or worship other gods or spirits are going to hell? 

            In our society today the push to be politically correct carries over into the realms of theology.  Now scripture teaches that we are to love our neighbors which means no matter what they believe or teach, because God has given them life and Jesus did die for them.  Our society however teaches tolerance, but that is being pushed to the point that we are supposed to accept all religions as true.  College students can be confronted with the religious pluralism that to say one and only one is right is intolerant.  Of course then those who espouse such an idea are intolerant of Jesus’ claim, (John 14:6 NIV) Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 

            Much is at stake here for each of us.  For if we want to know the truth and be saved, if it is by being Islam, then we should not be Christian.  If it is by the meditation then we should be Buddhist and not Christian.  Of course in all this comes the issue of morality and what is right and what is wrong in the choices people make and how they live their lives.  Our text takes us way back into the Old Testament, but really jumps ahead to the future, to our very day.  May we consider the Certainty of Christianity! 

I.                     Two Opinions

As our text unfolds we are met with uncertainty in the hearts and minds of the Children of Israel.  God’s prophet, Elijah knew what was going on in his day.  He put it this way to the people, "How long will you waver between two opinions?”  The picture of wavering comes from the word limp.  You know how a person with a limp leans one way then the other.  So it was with the Children of Israel.  At times they leaned towards the Lord, other times towards Baal.  But who was right?  Are both valid gods?  Do both carry out blessings and curses?  Does it really matter?  Couldn’t they both be gods and both be right? 

As you study the Old Testament Baal was a name of a chief god, but also the basis for many gods.  There was Baal, Baalzebub, Baalgad, Baalpeor, and others such as Moloch Nebo, Asherah.  Could the Children of Israel not worship all of them and give offerings to all just in case one of them was right or all of them?  What difference would it make?  Could there not be tolerance and who should judge?  When Elijah had asked the question he was struck with silence. 

Wouldn’t Elijah be amazed that the world has not changed over these thousands of years?  Yet this is why this text is so important.  For if the Children of Israel struggled to know and understand the truth of who was the true God, and then people today are no different.  We will find ourselves, our loved ones and/or our friends at times struggling with faith issues. 

We might wonder how can these doubts come in or back to us.  Then we need to remember that the Children of Israel had seen many mighty acts of God in the years before, but still they struggled.

Elijah was given the opportunity to set before that generation a powerful and awesome test to answer the doubts and confusion.  The test is simple, the God who answers with fire, let him be God. 

So the test began.  What a scene it must have been?  Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. "O Baal, answer us!" they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.  At noon Elijah began to taunt them. "Shout louder!" he said. "Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened." So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

            In contrast the prophet Elijah after soaking his altar with water, simply prayed once, "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

            At that display of power and might there was no question in the peoples’ mind who was and who was not the Lord.  Do you not find it interesting if all people believe in a god and that we just know him by other names that God did not answer when they called on Baal?  If all gods are the same, what difference does it make!  A tremendous difference!  The Lord makes it clear: (Isa 42:8 NIV)  "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.

            The Apostle Paul states concerning these stories of the Old Testament: (Rom 15:4 NIV)  For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.  No doubt we would love to have the Lord remove our doubts and questions with the same display.  People did in Jesus’ time also.  Remember when he told the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, the man wanted someone to come back from the dead.  Jesus answer was, (Luke 16:31 NIV)  "He said to him, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

            We do not have to stand on the top of Mt.Carmel to see the difference between the gods of the world and the true and living God.  I would rather take you to the top of Mt.Calvary.  For it is there where the Christian sees the biggest difference in the entire world.  All other religions, all other gods, demand that the individual do something to earn the love, appease the anger or satisfy the demands.  All the religions of the world have the individual reaching up to a deity where Christianity has God coming down to man.  Only Christianity has the concept of grace, free and full forgiveness, salvation a gift from the Lord himself.  Grace is what makes the difference so that God gets all the glory and praise.  To prove his power and might and the certainty of salvation the grave of Jesus Christ is empty in Jerusalem.

            When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, "The LORD--he is God! The LORD--he is God!"  No more silence, no more fence sitting, no more doubts, no more confusion.  When we realize that the Lord is our God and we are convinced that Jesus is the only way of salvation, God lays on our hearts the work of his kingdom.  We cannot be content simply to enjoy and grace, power and love of God, we have something to share with the world.  We need to be ready to give answer with the hope that we have.  We know then that those with out Jesus will be lost.  We also know that we cannot simply let the world and its philosophies dictate our faith or our actions.  The Lord, he is God, and we are his people. Amen.