Dr Paul Allen

The story of the contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal, found in 1 Kings 18:17-40,  is one the most amusing stories in the Bible.  To give you some background, King Ahab, of the northern kingdom of Israel, married a heathen woman named Jezebel, who henpecked and corrupted him to allow the worship of Baal and Asherah, a pagan fertility god and goddess.  This did not sit well with God, who appointed Elijah, a prophet, to confront Ahab. God sent numerous troubles on Israel due to their unfaithfulness, but Ahab blamed Elijah. Elijah became such a thorn in Ahab’s side that the king (or more likely, Jezebel) sought to kill him. Elijah challenges the prophets of Baal to a contest Finally, Elijah called for a showdown between himself and the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah on Mount Carmel to prove who was the true God. Boy, talk about being outnumbered! He then told the king to assemble the people of Israel so they might ...

Dr Ted Tripp Most think Jesus taught about peace, love, gentleness, and heaven. They probably would not cite these words: “I came to cast fire on the earth and would that it was already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on, in one house, there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.” (Luke 12:49–52) Consider three words in Christ’s statement. DIVISION Christ’s audacious claims produced division. He claimed to be sinless (John 8:46–47), to be the only way to God (John 14:6), to forgive sins (Luke 5:20–21), to give eternal life (John 6:40), to share the glory with the Father (John 17:5), to be the heavenly King (18:36–37), and to be the One who would judge the world (Matt. 25:31–32). These are polarizing claims. According to C.S. Lewis, they force the conclusion, “Either He was and is the Son of God...

“The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” ( James 3:6 ) The word for “hell” in this verse is gehenna, and this is the only one of its 11 occurrences in the New Testament that is not a direct quote from the lips of Christ . Since the tongue is not a literal fire and since its misuse can in effect make it a “world of iniquity,” this passage suggests that hell itself is the ultimate world of iniquity that has made the uncontrolled tongue an extension of itself. The Bible speaks of this future hell as a place of “ everlasting fire , prepared for the devil and his angels” ( Matthew 25:41 ). However, if these were fires such as we have here on Earth , it is difficult to see how, as Jesus said, God will “destroy both soul and body in hell” ( Matthew10:28 ). Fire would destroy the body, but what about the soul? The fire of hell may include some ...

1 Pet 1: 6-7 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ . 1. TRIALS RESULT IN YOUR FAITH BEING PROVEN Peter is referring here to the process of assaying metal – of evaluating, testing or proving its genuineness. Anybody can claim to have faith, but many people’s cheap faith crumbles under scrutiny, proving that it is not genuine faith. In Matthew 13:20-21 Jesus mentions this type of faith: “As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.” Fake faith was revealed when persecution arose. It’s like a fake Rolex – it...

“Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.” ( Jeremiah 20:9 ) When God’s Word really becomes a part of one’s soul, that one can never be the same again. As dejected Jeremiah said in his imprisonment: “The word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily” ( Jeremiah 20:8 ), he testified; so he said: “I will not . . . speak any more in his name.” But he could not quit! God’s Word was burning in his bones, and he must let it out. “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” ( Jeremiah 23:29 ). The psalmist David had a similar testimony. “I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow was stirred. My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue” ( Psalm 39:2-3 ). When the resurrected Ch...