Lock Stock and Barrel

In the days of Elijah the prophet, there was a terrible drought in the land for a period of three and a half years. Why, it got so bad, there was a famine of such severity, even the cattle were dying for lack of grain and water. Old rotten King Ahab was king of Israel at the time, and he was married to a devil of a woman called Jezebel, and the two of them were slimy bloodsuckers, leeches, feeding off of people through corruption and deceit.

If the king wanted something that belonged to you, he would murder you and take it from you, like Naboth's vineyard. It was a terrible abuse of power, much like our own corrupt government today. And to make matters worse, the people of God weren't living right.

They served God in partial obedience, partly serving God and partly serving their idol, Baal. They had a divided heart, much like the church in America today. Well, that's my little introduction, friends, to my sermon entitled, Lock, Stock, and Barrel.

You can turn in your Bibles now, friends, to the book of 1 Kings. We'll be in chapter 18. It's a well-familiar passage, where we find a narrative of things coming to a head atop Mount Carmel in a contest between the prophets of Baal and the prophet Elijah.

We pick up the narrative of this striking passage of 1 Kings, chapter 18, verses 1-20. Here now is the word of God, and may the Spirit of the Lord attend the reading of His holy word. And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Balaam.

Now therefore send and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal, 450, and the prophets of the groves, 400, which eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. I will stop here, friends, to say, here is that amazing scene before us, with the crowd gathered atop Mount Carmel before the fiery prophet Elijah, as he addresses that assembled crowd.

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him, not a word. I will stop there, friends.

Why do you think the people answered him, not a word? Why? Why did they stand there silent? I'll tell you why. Because they were guilty as charged. They were guilty as sin.

Their mouths were stopped. I ran into a coworker one day years ago, outside a restaurant at lunch, and I confronted him about stealing business from me. And he stood there completely silent, because he was guilty as all get out.

And that's what happens when you're guilty as sin. Your mouth is stopped. That's what my Bible says.

And these Jews before the prophet Elijah were guilty of a divided heart in serving Jehovah God, because they partly served their idols and partly served God, much like we do in the church today. We want our fellowship on Sunday, but we want fellowship with the world the rest of the week. We have one foot with God and one foot playing footsie with the world in a walk of partial obedience.

But partial obedience is sin, because it's no obedience at all. D.L. Moody used to say that here is a man hanging over a cliff by a chain. What happens to the man if the smallest link in that chain breaks? Down he goes, and down we go to our hog wall of sin in our worldly entertainment and lifestyle.

Listen, friend, you're either all out for God or you're not. If the Lord be God, follow him. If not, follow Baal.

You can't have it both ways. If Jesus is not your Lord, then you need to get right with God and surrender to his lordship in your life. That's the forgotten doctrine in the church today, the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Let me ask you a question, friend. Why do you think we're not seeing revival in our day? Why do you think we as a nation have not seen a national revival in over 160 years? Let me share a story with you that a Presbyterian pastor told from the 1950s. He said his denomination was hosting its annual conference, and they sent out a questionnaire to 500 ministers before the date of the conference.

And on the questionnaire were sections to list the main reasons we are not seeing revival in our day. And on the day of the conference, the moderator read the responses from the survey. He said the number one answer representing 60 percent of the respondents was the lack of revival was due to the fault of church officers.

The second category, representing about 20 percent, was the blame of not seeing revival was to be put on the church membership. And the third category was worldly society was to blame. The moderator then said he had received a letter different from all the rest.

One man had wrote he had determined it was the fault of the ministry as to why there was no revival. With this, the entire audience roared with laughter and rocked back and forth in their seats. The pastors thought that was ludicrous, but it's true.

Revival begins with the spiritual leaders of the church. If we are serving God in partial obedience, then we are in disobedience to God. And God can't bless that.

He can't send revival. Can you look yourself in the mirror, friend, and say you are 100 percent all out for God, that you are not out of step with God at all in even a little area in your life? In Amos 3.3, we read, can two walk together except they be agreed? Can they? The answer is no, you can't. You can't partly serve God and partly serve your idols.

It doesn't have to be a bad thing that separates you from God. It can be a good thing. For me, it used to be the game of golf.

I was, at a time in my life, addicted to the game of golf. Why, I played it four times a week. I couldn't wait to get out on the golf course.

Then one day, God showed me what golf stood for in my life from his perspective. G-O-L-F, golden opportunities, lost forever. What is it with you, friend? If the Holy Spirit shone a spotlight on your life right now, what would he see? Would the Spirit of God discover a divided heart? Have you ever gotten to the place in your life, friend, where you've given God absolute surrender to his will for your life? Can you honestly say right now that God has you, lock, stock, and barrel? Can you? I had to face this own thing in my own life, friend, recently.

I had to admit, God had the stock and he had the barrel, the bigger things, but I was hanging on to the lock in my life, a smaller thing, and he had the big things, but a little thing was held back. Christ gave his all on Calvary. How can we hold anything back from him? God declares, return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord.

In the book of Jeremiah, we read, And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart, and I will be found to you, saith the Lord. Friend, does God have all your heart right now? Take this time now to pray and seek him and settle it between him and you today. Listen, friend, do it so God can say of you, he is mine, she is mine, I have them, lock, stock, and barrel.