Experiencing God's Powerful Words

As we begin, I am sure we are all aware in different ways of the power of words. Words positively

! Words positively can move us to tears. The beauty of a story or a poem perhaps. But words can also move us to tears as we experience someone's anger or abuse.

Words can affect the course of our lives.

Perhaps the wise guidance from a trusted friend leads us to a path of study or work that has gone well for us.

Or negatively, the cutting comments that a child experiences might strip them of worth and affect the course of their life negatively.

The power of words, in part at least, is related to the one who is speaking.

If we imagine ourselves as children for a moment, if you had a brother or a sister who said to you, stop that thing you're doing, stop it.

Depending on your mood, that may have some effect.

I suspect if parents say stop it, it has, should have a greater effect.

But if a policeman invites us to stop something, then absolutely we're going to stop.

The power of words are also connected to how much weight we allow them to have in our lives.

And again, we will know this.

There are some times we receive comments, perhaps criticism, perhaps praise, and we pay close attention.

There's this huge positive sort of impact on us.

Other times, words might come and they're like water off a duck's back to us.

That's true with human words.

And we all have that kind of experience.

But if that's true with human words, how much more powerful are God's words?

And therefore, how much more weight God's word should have in our lives?

And one of the things that the Bible does is to speak for itself about its power.

God's word is powerful.

Think about some of the familiar descriptions the Bible gives.

So we have in Ephesians 6, that description of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Hebrews chapter 4, God's word is living and active, piercing to the division of soul and spirit.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

Those famous prophetic words from Isaiah, where God declares his word never returns empty,

but always accomplishes its purpose, whether that purpose is judgment or salvation.

Or Jeremiah 23, God says, my word is like fire.

God's word is powerful.

Just by way of our own reflection, when was the last time you really felt the weight of God's word?

When you felt compelled by what you read towards a new obedience to God's command?

Well, this section that we're reading, it can feel like a kind of an in-between,

those great miracles of Elijah being provided for, the widow's son being raised,

and then we've got this great confrontation.

But in this section, the spotlight really shines on the power of God's living word

in contrast to that powerless silence of the idols.

The power of God's living word will direct the prophet.

It clearly gives courage to an administrator.

It challenges a wicked king.

It calls for obedience.

It calls for belief.

It calls for repentance.

And so we're going to hear it speak.

And we're going to hear Jesus speak as we get into his word.

And as we begin to hear Jesus, the living word speak to us,

as he would bring by the Spirit his word to bear on each one of us,

will we let it cut deep to have its impact?

Will we let it burn within us so that God's desired purposes would come to pass in our lives also?

So what we're going to do is we're going to think about each of the different human figures in the story

and think about different aspects of how God's word comes to them.

So first of all, thinking about Elijah, recognizing that God's powerful word calls for obedience.

So there is in Elijah's story this pattern of call and response.

We first meet him in chapter 17, verse 1,

and he is called by God to go into Ahab's presence to announce

that there's going to be no dew, no rain falling.

And then he again is called in verse 3 of chapter 17 to go to a ravine,

because God's going to look after him there.

And then in verse 9 of chapter 17, again, he has to go to the widow's house to be provided for.

And in each time, he responds with obedience.

And now we come to chapter 18, verse 1,

He hears the call, he responds with obedience.

He's going to go back into the king's presence.

He's no longer living in a different country in the background.

Now he's going to deliver God's word to the king.

And with these words, two different famines are going to be over.

So he announces, God says, I'm going to send rain.

So the physical famine is going to be over.

But now as God's spokesman speaks in the public sphere,

the famine of hearing God's word is also over.

However, the other great need for the king, for the nation, is to hear God speak.

This came, this book came to a group of people who also were outside of Israel.

They were living in exile.

And this message, as it would come to them, would speak hope for them,

having lived in rebellion, having now been sent into exile,

that they were invited to hear and to respond with obedience to the word of God.

So as we continue in Elijah's story, though, here,

we recognize in verses 7 and 8 that Elijah is moving back into the country

and he encounters Obadiah.

So obedience leads him to have this discussion with Obadiah.

We discover that Obadiah has been on this task for the king.

He's been searching for grass, for the animals.

And he's also been part of this search team looking to find the prophet

in order, I think, to get rid of him.

And we'll come back to Obadiah.

But Obadiah is a striking character because he works for an evil king.

But clearly he serves God as his true king.

You can even hear it in the way that he speaks to Elijah.

Is it really you, my lord, Elijah?

There's respect there versus Ahab.

Oh, is that you, troubler of Israel?

But as Obadiah and Elijah begin to have this discussion

and Elijah says, listen, I've been told to present myself to the king,

we get that sense that Obadiah is desperately worried.

Well, what if the spirit, Elijah, takes you away?

Clearly he understands that God's spirit has been protecting Elijah from Ahab.

And so he's always evaded his capture.

And Obadiah is saying, well, listen, if you disappear again from the public view,

then it's my neck on the line.

But notice what Elijah says towards the end of their conversation.

Verse 15, 16.

As the Lord Almighty lives whom I serve,

I will surely present myself to Ahab today.

Why is he going to do this?

Why is he going to take the risk of going into the presence of the angry king?

Because he serves the Lord Almighty.

God said, appear before the king, so he is surely going to present himself.

And so you get this picture of Elijah as the prophet of God,

the man of God,

who absolutely takes his marching orders for his life from God's word.

Even if it involves risk,

because now he's back in public,

and he knows that Ahab wants nothing to do with him,

he is going to obey.

There is one voice that holds sway in Elijah's life,

and it's the voice of God.

And wonderfully, because he responds to God's word in obedience,

and we'll see this next week,

God is going to be glorified within the nation.

He's going to be shown to be the one and only God,

the one true king,

the only one who deserves obedience and worship,

the one whose authority should never be ignored.

There's this wonderful demonstration,

in part because of Elijah's obedience.

A couple of very basic points of application for ourselves.

The first, God's people are always called to obey God's word.

It's a pattern you can trace all the way through scripture.

Think about someone like Abraham.

Abraham is told,

leave everything behind and go to the land I will show you.

And in faith, he obeys.

Or we can think of Moses.

Moses, who gets the message,

Moses, I've chosen you to be the man to go and speak to King Pharaoh

and to set my people free.

And again, somewhat reluctantly, but with faith,

Moses goes.

At a very different level,

we've met a widow

who is told by God through the prophet Elijah,

go and make a meal for my servant in faith that you'll be provided for.

And again, she goes.

You know, trace it to the New Testament.

Think about the command that Jesus gives to his disciples.

Go and make disciples of all nations.

And the book of Acts records them doing exactly that.

That God will always call his people to obey his word.

And one of the striking things,

when you think about those stories and so many more,

in none of those stories,

is obedience, a comfortable thing.

That there is always that sense where faith has us living on the edge.

Where we really need, instead of trusting ourselves

and living in our comfort zones,

we need to trust God's presence,

God's power,

God's promises.

Faith says,

come what may,

God's word has the most weight in my life.

That regardless of how I will be received,

I will submit to Jesus,

the living word,

and to the authority of the Bible.

Because we've come to discover its truth and its power.

To quote from Abraham Lincoln,

who famously said this of the Bible,

I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man.

All the good from the Savior of the world

is communicated to us through this book.

When we get that,

then we understand the call to obey.

So just think at where we are right now,

where you are in your own circumstances.

How is God's word calling you to go?

Maybe it's go and deal with that sin in your life.

Or maybe it's go,

put things right with that family member,

or that friend.

Maybe it's the call to go to your job,

or to your school,

as an active witness for Jesus.

Maybe there's someone that God's put on your heart,

and the message is,

go and bring them words of hope,

and comfort,

and encouragement.

But whoever God's word comes to us,

and compels us,

calling us to obey,

will you and I say,

to do your will I take delight.

So God's people are always called to obey God's word.

But I want to say secondly,

that God's people obey for a particular reason.

We obey because of love.

And I think that's really important to say.

You know,

Jesus makes the connection with his disciples.

In a couple of years,

he says,

you are my friends,

if you obey my commands.

And then,

he puts it even more starkly,

if you love me,

keep my commands.

So there's this connection between love for Jesus,

and obedience to his word.

So,

in other words,

our obedience is not some kind of dull duty.

What we're talking about here is not moralism.

It's not,

I'm trying to find God by doing enough good works.

I'm not trying to get into favor with God

by some form of obedience.

Rather,

Christian motivation is different.

Because God has already found us.

Because God has loved us first,

we respond with obedience.

We let God's grace and kindness to us

mobilize and motivate us to glad obedience.

We listen to the word of the gospel.

The gospel that introduces us to the reality of Jesus,

the Son of God,

who fully,

perfectly obeyed God's word and God's will.

An obedience that led him to the cross at Calvary.

Where he would suffer and die.

Facing the judgment for all the sin,

all the wrongs that we have done,

so that by his act of saving mercy and goodness and love,

you and I can hear words of pardon,

words of welcome.

And Jesus rose from the dead,

and has sent his spirit to live in the hearts of his people,

so that now in the gospel,

we also have a motivation to obey,

and a new ability to obey.

God has, in effect,

performed a spiritual heart transplant,

so that now instead of being hard towards him,

we can respond in love and truly obey.

To change the imagery,

he has performed a prison break.

He has broken the chains of sin that held us captive.

Now that we are no longer slaves,

again, we are enabled to obey.

We have freedom to obey.

We have freedom in the gospel,

and our gospel freedom

is expressed in joyful obedience.

Jesus doesn't set us free

so we can live however we want to live,

regardless of God's word.

Rather,

Jesus sets us free,

the Spirit sets us free,

so that we might gladly obey.

To give us that desire we never had before,

now I want to live a life that pleases God,

because of all that he has done for me.

Now I want to love God by loving my neighbor,

because God has loved me and saved me.

And so perhaps for us,

the daily prayer of faith becomes,

speak, Lord.

Your servant is listening.

And perhaps before we open our Bibles,

we pray those words from Psalm 119,

open my eyes to see wonderful things in your word,

and give me that desire to obey.

So God's powerful word calls for obedience.

But now we're going to turn to Obadiah,

and we're going to think about the fact

that God's powerful word also calls for belief.

And a belief in a context that can be very challenging.

Just to help us to get into the setting a little bit,

you maybe saw in the news this week

that one of the fringe events that was happening at Summer Hall,

so just down the road,

it made the news.

There was a Herald newspaper event,

and Kate Forbes, the deputy first minister,

was invited for a long-ranging interview.

And the day after that event,

Summer Hall announced

that Kate Forbes would never be invited back.

For the safety and the well-being

of every other fringe performer,

she was not welcome.

Maybe you're asking,

well, what did she talk about?

And actually, there was no problem

with the content of the interview.

The problem lies in the fact

that she has views on gender

and gay marriage that come from the Bible

that are beyond the pale to some people.

And so,

Summer Hall felt compelled

to say that Kate Forbes was no longer welcome.

I mention this in part

to remind us

to pray

for followers of Jesus

who are in positions of power.

And for people working in politics

and local government

who find themselves

working sometimes

in hostile religious atmospheres.

Because that's exactly

where Obadiah finds himself.

So here is Obadiah.

He's the administrator for Ahab.

Ahab is an awful king.

And Obadiah is a man of God

who's having to figure out,

how do I work

faithfully for God

working for this guy.

And in so doing,

he stands in line with

Joseph

in the book of Genesis.

He stands in line with

Daniel

as believers

in the one true God

who find themselves

serving pagan kings

in a hostile environment.

And they are called

to believe God's word

even when that is

profoundly challenging.

One of the things

that this section

does for us,

we don't meet Obadiah

really much in the Bible,

but it shows us

in this little scene

that he's very different

to his boss,

Ahab.

So we already

notice that he calls him

my lord,

Elijah.

Ahab calls him

the troubler of Israel.

Look at how he is introduced

in verse 3,

Obadiah was a devout

believer in the Lord.

Whereas we've already been

introduced to Ahab

and we discover

that he's been

one of the worst kings

leading them away

from true worship.

We discover too

that Obadiah

has been practicing

a very costly faith.

Look at verse 4,

while Jezebel

was killing off

the Lord's prophets,

Obadiah had taken

a hundred prophets,

hidden them in two caves,

fifty in each,

and had supplied them

with food and water.

And he tells Elijah

the very same thing

in verse 13.

It's costly

in the sense that,

remember,

this is a time of famine.

So resources are scarce.

Water is hard to come by.

Food is hard to come by.

But he is,

out of his own pocket,

looking after

a hundred prophets

in two different caves.

And he's doing that

at a time

when the queen,

Jezebel,

is looking to hunt down

and kill prophets.

This is costly faith.

And that's really brought out

as well in that conversation

between Elijah and Obadiah

where we discover

he has an all-or-nothing faith.

Because he obviously

has a legitimate fear

for his life.

Ahab, his boss,

is obsessed with

finding Elijah.

He's going not just

within his own country,

he's going to different countries,

asking the leaders there,

asking the officials,

have you seen this man?

If you have,

hand him over.

He absolutely hates

Elijah

and what Elijah

represents.

And so he is on

this mission

to destroy him.

I couldn't help

thinking of Star Wars.

It's like

the dark side

in the Star Wars,

always hunting down

the Jedis,

the rebels

across the galaxies.

That's the kind of picture

you get of

Ahab.

Ahab.

And Obadiah

understands

that if God

does in the present

what he's done

in the past,

rescuing Elijah,

keeping him safe,

Obadiah will die.

But,

look at verse 16.

Knowing all that

to be true,

Obadiah went

to meet Ahab

and told him.

And Ahab

went to meet

Elijah.

He believes,

he trusts,

he goes.

A couple of things

from Obadiah's story.

One is this,

that where

you work

or where you study

may well become

a battleground

for your belief.

Think about

your own experience

as a Christian

in school

or uni

or the workplace.

And I imagine

for some of us

the situation

will be

we are isolated,

the only Christian

in our office

or in our work group.

And that can be hard.

Sometimes it's because

of the challenging

conversations

that are all around us

and we get swept up

and perhaps

it's the language

that's used,

perhaps it's the gossips

that's shared,

perhaps it's just

the out and out

hostility to faith

that is expressed.

But maybe

the battleground

for belief

in our workplace

will be

to do with

our moral integrity

and maybe

the pressure

to cut corners.

Maybe it'll be

to use AI

to cheat

the system.

Maybe we just

live with high levels

of stress

in our workplaces

and that can affect

our ability

to treat

others well

and with patience.

Sometimes the hardest

place to be a Christian

is where we work

and sometimes

if we're honest

we may wish

we were like

those prophets

hidden in a cave.

Here's 50 of them

and they're clustered

together

and it's dangerous

but at least

they've got one another.

But most often

our experience

is going to be

engaging

with a world

of work

as the place

where we're going

to bear witness

for Jesus

and the difference

that he made.

Or that's what

our calling

is going to be.

And probably

related to that

and certainly

we see it

in the story

of Obadiah

as we seek

to be faithful

disciples of Jesus

we will understand

that discipleship

often comes

at a cost.

It's here

in our story

there are prophets

who are wanting

to serve God

and they are being

opposed

and some of them

are being killed.

There is an authority

figure

who is determined

to silence

God's voice.

There are people

who do not want

God's authority

coming near

and you and I

will work

and live around

people with that

same kind of attitude

and therefore

part of

our call

to obedience

is about

carrying our cross

about sharing

in the sufferings

of Christ

in being willing

to accept

rejection

and opposition

and to help us

in that

we need to consider

Jesus

Jesus

the great prophet

the true

holy son

of God

the savior

for the world

but what was his

experience?

He was despised

he was rejected

and in the end

people cried out

crucify

and so Jesus

as he came

seeking to be

the light

of the world

he came to

experience

the hatred

of the world

towards the

holy God

and as his

body

as the body

of Christ

some of the

slings and

arrows that were

aimed at him

will come

our way

also

and it's one

of the things

that Jesus

did for his

disciples

the night

before

he went

to the cross

if you have

a bible

you can turn

to John 16

and John 17

but as

Jesus

concludes

his words

of encouragement

and teaching

for his

disciples

there at the

end of

John 16

John 16:33

verse 33

he says

I've told you

these things

so that in me

you may have

peace

in this world

you will

have trouble

but take

heart

I have

overcome

the world

and he

prays

in chapter

17

for his

disciples

for his

followers

in this way

my prayer

is not

that you

take them

out of the

world

but that you

protect them

from

the evil

one

so as we

go to our

workplace

to our

places of

study

to places

where we

perhaps find

ourselves

opposed

we claim

these

words

that in

Jesus

we overcome

because he

has overcome

that in

Jesus

we are

protected

by our

father

as we

have that

call to

believe

God's

word

and we

go

to work

so so

far we've

seen that

God's

powerful

word

it calls

for

obedience

it calls

for

belief

but the

last thing

and this

takes us

to the

story

as it

relates

to Ahab

God's

powerful

word

confronts

us

now I

imagine

that nobody

sitting here

today

enjoys

being

confronted

nobody

likes to

be shown

to be

in the

wrong

whether

we're

children

whether

we're

adults

if a

parent

confronts

us

with wrong

or a

teacher

or a

boss

we don't

like it

it

challenges

our

pride

it

challenges

our

sense

that we

are in

control

it

might

even

challenge

our

sense

of

identity

for

wrongdoing

to be

exposed

by someone

else

and

naturally

speaking

that's

how the

human

heart

chooses

to respond

to God's

word

as it

comes

near

and

King

Ahab

shows

us

that

it

shows

us

that

without

the

gift

of

faith

without

God's

spirit

working

in us

and

changing

us

as

people

we

naturally

resist

when

God's

word

comes

and

rubs

up

against

us

and

it

takes

a

work

of

God

to

bring

humility

and

repentance

and

faith

so

just

to

remind

ourselves

about

this

guy

Ahab

he's

a

truly

terrible

king

we met

him

in

chapter

16

there's

this

list

of

really

bad

kings

and

he

is

the

bottom

of

the

barrel

and

he

has

turned

his

own

heart

to

idols

and

he

turns

the

nation

away

from

the

worship

of

the

true

God

to

worship

false

gods

chapter

17

verse

1

that

turning

away

from

God

has

led

him

and

by

extension

the

nation

under

God's

judgment

the

rain

is

withheld

his

response

is

not

repentant

it's

not

to be

humble

rather

it's

to look

to get

rid

of

Elijah

remember

Obadiah's

words

chapter

18

verse

10

as

surely

as the

Lord

your

God

lives

there's

not

a

nation

or

kingdom

where

my

master

has

not

sent

someone

to

look

for

you

he

literally

wants

to

shoot

the

messenger

while

he

accuses

Elijah

of

being

the

troubler

of

Israel

ultimately

it's

Ahab

who

has

brought

trouble

on

Israel

the

spiritual

trouble

of

turning

their

backs

on

God

one

of

the

pictures

that

you

get

of

the

word

pictures

of

the

shepherds

of

the

kings

of

Israel

is

that

they

were

called

to be

the

shepherds

of

God's

people

to

lead

the

people

in

true

worship

but

you

get

this

picture

of

Ahab

in

verse

five

what's

he

looking

for

he

was

a

kind

of

shepherd

of

a

sort

but

what

he's

giving

his

attention

to

is

finding

some

grass

to

keep

his

horses

and

mules

alive

there

seems

to be

more

concern

with

his

animals

than

with

the

subjects

that

he

rules

over

he

is

more

bothered

about

finding

some

good

grass

than

he

is

about

taking

seriously

the

reality

of

God's

wrath

God's

settled

hatred

towards

what is

sinful

and evil

and so

we discover

clearly he

is not

repenting

clearly his

heart is

hard

towards

the

judgment

of

God

and that

climax is

with Elijah's

words in

verse 18

and 19

I'm not

the

troubler of

Israel

you and

your

father's

family

have

caused

trouble

why

well

firstly

you've

abandoned

the

Lord's

commands

secondly

you've

followed

the

Baals

so

they've

abandoned

God

and he

set up

alternative

gods

and so

now

the

scene

is

set

for

this

great

showdown

summon

the

people

from

all

over

Israel

to

meet

me

on

Mount

Carmel

bring

the

450

prophets

of

Baal

the

400

prophets

of

Asherah

who

eat

at

Jezebel's

table

and what

we're

going to

see

next

week

is that

the

one

true

God

is

going

to

be

revealed

the

one

true

God

is

going

to

get

glory

for

himself

but

what

we

see

in

Ahab

in

many ways

like

Pharaoh

before

him

is a

king

who

is

hard

hearted

he

hears

God's

word

very

clearly

and

he

wants

nothing

to

do

with

it

and

because

of

that

he

comes

under

God's

judgment

and

God

is

going

to

use

that

judgment

as

part

of

his

purpose

to

display

his

greater

power

and

authority

ultimately

to show

to

Israel

to show

to Ahab

and to

show

to us

that

it's

God's

word

it's

God's

actions

that

demonstrate

that

he

and

he

alone

deserves

our

worship

as

we

close

a

couple

of

implications

from

Ahab

and

this

part

of

the

story

first

to

recognize

that

the

church

needs

a

prophetic

voice

part

of

our

calling

as

the

church

of

God

is

to

speak

clearly

against

what

is

evil

and

against

what

is

unjust

that

we

take

what

we

understand

about

God's

character

about

the

horrors

of sin

that we

discover

in the

Bible

and we

apply

them to

our

current

context

and so

the

church

needs

to be

able

to

speak

clearly

to

acknowledge

where

injustice

and evil

is

happening

whether

that's

human

trafficking

whether

that's

the

evil

of

the

porn

industry

whether

it's

the

evil

of

the

euthanasia

bill

each

of

these

when you

think

about

it

is

a

devaluing

of

people

made

in the

image

of

God

and so

the

church

must

always

have

that

prophetic

voice

and the

wisdom

to know

how to

speak

God's

timeless

truth

into

our

ever

changing

world

but at

the

same

time

our

voice

must

also

speak

the

gospel

we

speak

judgment

and

salvation

like

the

gospel

does

recognizing

that our

culture

has a

lot

confusion

or

this

morning

a

lot

of

anxiety

we

recognize

people

have

deep

longings

in

their

hearts

they're

looking

to

find

meaning

and

hope

and

purpose

we

are

invited

as

the

people

of

God

to

speak

of

Jesus

the

way

the

truth

the

life

to

bring

good

news

in a

world

marked

by

hurt

and

confusion

but

also

each

one

of

us

needs

to

hear

and

to

respond

in

obedience

and

belief

to

Jesus

the

great

prophet

to

let

his

words

speak

unlike

Ahab

Jesus

is

the

good

king

he's

the

good

shepherd

so

concerned

for

his

people

in

our

spiritual

lostness

that he

both

lays

down

his

life

and he

calls

us

powerfully

to

himself

he

is

the

true

prophet

the

greater

than

Elijah

who

would

confront

and

who

would

conquer

the

forces

of

evil

at

the

cross

the

same

Jesus

who

began

his

ministry

saying

the

kingdom

of

God

is

near

repent

and

believe

the

good

news

the

one

whose

word

has

the

power

to

take

us

from

our

natural

hostility

or

indifference

to

God's

word

to

cause

us

to

hear

its

beauty

and

truth

and

life

giving

power

and

to

respond

with

God