At Mt Carmel, Elijah the prophet faced-off against the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah. Most importantly, he was there to give an ultimatum to the Israelites as to who they should serve. The scripture reads in 1 Kings 18:17-40:

"^17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, ^e“Is that you, O ^ftroubler of Israel?”

^18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, ^gin that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have followed the Baals. ^19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on ^hMount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, ⁱand the four hundred prophets of ³Asherah, who ⁴eat at Jezebel’s table.”

^20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and ^jgathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. ^21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ^k“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, ^lfollow him.” But the people answered him not a word. ^22 Then Elijah said to the people, ^m“I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; ⁿbut Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. ^23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. ^24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord; and the God who ^oanswers by fire, He is God.”

So all the people answered and said, ⁵“It is well spoken.”

^25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”

^26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, ⁶hear us!” But there was ^pno voice; no one answered. Then they ⁷leaped about the altar which they had made.

^27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry ⁸aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” ^28 So they cried aloud, and ^qcut themselves, as was their custom, with ⁹knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. ^29 And when midday was past, ^rthey prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was ^sno voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.

^30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. ^tAnd he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. ^31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, ^u“Israel shall be your name.” ^32 Then with the stones he built an altar ^vin the name of the Lord; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. ^33 And he ^wput the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and ^xpour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” ^34 Then 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 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled ^ythe trench with water.

^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 ^zGod of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, ^alet it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that ^bI 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.”

^38 Then ^cthe 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, ^d“The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”

^40 And Elijah said to them, ^e“Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook ^fKishon and ^gexecuted them there."

The prophet Elijah, asks them to make up their minds as who is God. In verse 21, it reads :

"^21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, ^k“How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, ^lfollow him.”

This is the very message that the spirit of the End Time Elijah has been given to challenge The Church or Body of Christ.  The Church has been taking each way bets regarding the Holy Spirit and His Divinity, His Person, and His role in The Church. In practice, just as the Israelites at Mt Carmel, they are between two opinions.  The time has now arrived for the decisive decision regarding the Holy Spirit. It will sharply divide those who will be made ready as the Bride of Christ and those who will be rejected like the prophets of Baal and Asherah.

When they cry out "Lord, Lord did we not serve you and cast out devils in your Name". Jesus will reply "I never knew you" because you rejected the One Whom I sent in My Name to prepare My Bride for My Return.

Isaiah, the prophet, inspired to write the words "Prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight His paths".  These words were going to be proclaimed by John the Baptist as the forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.  John the Baptist did not do any miracles unlike Elijah the prophet.  Yet Jesus and the Scriptures recognise that John the Baptist preached in the spirit and power of Elijah. Why was this?

It was the message proclaiming the imminent appearance of the Messiah as well as the powerful uncompromising message of repentance. 

The message of repentance, like that of Elijah to the children of Israel on Mt Carmel, was an uncompromising call to return to the Living Lord God. John the Baptist was not sent to the Gentile nations but to the Jews challenging them to return to the Living God and to live lives  consistent with repentance.  Note that In both these instances both prophets were sent to the Jewish nation not to the Gentiles.

The End Time Elijah message is an uncompromising call to the spiritual Israel, consisting of all Christians, to repentance.  It is not a call to unbelievers to be saved. It is a call to God's household, the Bride of Christ, to repent and return to the One Whom Christ has sent into the world to guide them in to all truth.  The Holy Spirit, Who has been rejected by the Church for 2000 years must now be restored as Lord and God over the Church as required by The Lord Jesus and The Heavenly Father

Those leaders who accept the Lordship of The Holy Spirit will be led to repentance and then intercession and worship resulting in a genuine large scale, lasting, overflowing revival within their local church that will impact their communities and beyond. The Holy Spirit will either remove those leaders who reject the offer of The Holy Spirit to become Lord of their local church from their positions or The Holy Spirit will allow that church to die.

Those Christians who refuse to recognise and worship The Holy Spirit as God will be treated by The Lord Jesus as part of the World.  Those who call themselves Christians have to contend with how they have treated the 100% alternative Helper sent by The Lord Jesus. There is an implied warning (highlighted) from The Lord Jesus Himself from John 14:15-18 below that those who cannot receive the Holy Spirit are of the world and therefore have not part in His salvation plan. This is a believers only entitlement.

"^15 ^s“If you love Me, ⁴keep My commandments. ^16 And I will pray the Father, and ^tHe will give you another ⁵Helper, that He may abide with you forever— ^17 ^uthe Spirit of truth, ^vwhom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you ^wand will be in you. ^18 ^xI will not leave you orphans; ^yI will come to you. "

The Lord Jesus also further emphasised the importance of the Holy Spirit in distinguishing between believers who would be rejected and those who would be allowed to enter the wedding feast. In the parable of the wise and foolish virgins we read

 "1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming;^[a] go out to meet him!’ 7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour^[b] in which the Son of Man is coming." Matthew 25:1-13 

You will notice that they were all virgins. They were all ready for the wedding feast in terms of clothing and carrying the lamps. The ONLY difference was the LACK OF OIL for the lamp.  The oil is symbolic of The Holy Spirit throughout the Bible. The oil provides light in the darkness and it is the life in the spiritual realm.  Very significantly, The Lord Jesus Christ, through the parable showed that it was possible to be ready in every other way as well as be given the invitation to the wedding feast and yet be reject at the time of the wedding because one does not have the Holy Spirit.  The Epistles also clearly teach that The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our salvation.

Ephesians 1:13-14

"13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who^[b] is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory."

2 Corinthians 1:21- 2

"21 Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, 22 who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. "
 

For this reason, the end-time spirit of Elijah calls upon all born-again believers to ensure that they obey the commandment of the Lord Jesus Christ to be baptised in the Holy Spirit and fire (the oil for the lamp) in order to be ready for when the messengers from Heaven declares, "Behold the bridegroom is coming: go out to meet him" Matthew 25:6

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Cross References 1 Kings 18:17-40