1 Kings 19 (Part 2) Bible Study (The Lord Speaks to Elijah/Call of Elisha) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

Well, with all of that being said, it's such a joy to see you

here tonight. Meet me in the precious,

glorious Word of God in the book of First Kings, chapter 19.

1 Kings 19 · chapter mention

Last week, the object of our study was a dejected, downcast

prophet of God by the name of Elijah, and he will continue to

be the focus of our study tonight.

But what was really the frame of our study was considering the

factors that caused Elijah to experience and undergo spiritual

depression. Not that these things are the

only things that can cause us to be driven into despair, but they

are pretty significant contributors to it.

And there were four things that we received from Elijah's story.

And I want to ask you, because it's good to repeat these things

and recall these things so that they can be embedded in our

memory and in our hearts. Don't answer all four, but let's

cover all four. Can you tell me one of the four

things? And another person will mention

another one, the four things that Elijah experienced that

caused him to abandon his post as a prophet and to wander into

the wilderness. I'm genuinely asking.

This isn't rhetorical. He number one, he lost sight of

who God was and instead he he looked at Jezebel and heard

Jezebel and then that caused them to obviously crumble.

Yes, he lost sight of who God was.

Unlike Moses who did not fear the anger of the king because he

endured as seeing him who is invisible.

What a contrast yes #2 he was what OK, yes, so he was

discouraged. That was, you could say a sub

point. He was pessimistic.

Remember we that was the Third Point that he always looked at

the negative at least in this moment.

He looked at what wasn't happening.

He looked at the worst outcome instead of considering what God

had done. And if you have a tendency of

being pessimistic, you also will know a frequent cycles of

discouragement that can really debilitate you.

Yes, that's the Third Point. We have two more huge one that

we often don't consider concerning Elijah's testimony of

this low point of his life. He separated from community.

And how did he do that in his case?

How did he separate yourself from community?

Who did he leave behind when he ran away?

His servant. His servant.

He left his servant behind. The Spirit included that for a

reason. What we're going to discover

today is that God's going to bring somebody new in Elijah's

life. OK, one more very good.

There was neglect, neglect of the needs of the body and, and

this is talking about sheer exhaustion, him ignoring the

basic necessities that would keep anybody going.

And that was something that we also agreed in terms of

overlooking what can cause us to be confused and foggy in our

minds and foiled in many cases with our faith.

So that's what we looked at. But what we have to also

consider is where we ended is that God dealt with that final

cause, the one that dealt with Elijah's body, did he not?

And he did so by personally attending to this man's needs,

by coming with some sort of room service almost.

He grants him nutrition, hydration, and patiently allows

him to sleep with his weary head in that wilderness.

But that is not the extent of this mercy that we enjoyed last

Friday. God is going to continue to

overflow in His mercies toward His servant by positioning him

in a way in which he's going to receive more relief so that he

can know a more complete restoration.

Because dealing with the needs of the body is not enough.

So you have some people who overemphasize what we need to do

with this flesh and they neglect the spiritual.

And you have others who are so consumed with the spiritual that

they neglect the fact that they are a body.

And this is the vehicle that carries the spiritual activities

and experiences that we ought to have.

So now the Lord is going to deal with those first three issues

that have not been touched on yet in the rest of this chapter.

And this is important for us to consider because it's going to

show God's heart. It's going to show God's heart

for this man and wanting to see him be as efficient as possible,

as healed as possible, as restored as possible.

And it's all going to begin here in verse 8.

Let's look at verse 8 together. And he arose and ate and drank

and went in the strength of that food, 40 days and 40 nights to

Horeb, the mount of God. There he came to a cave and

lodged in it. And behold, the word of the Lord

came to him, and he said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?

He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of

hosts, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant,

thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the

sword. And I even I only am left, and

they seek my life to take it away.

And he said, Go out, and stand on the mount before the Lord.

And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore

the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the

Lord. But the Lord was not in the

wind. And after the wind and

earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.

And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the

fire, and after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

Lord, we believe this is Your word, and we believe that we

cannot unpack and know the fullness of it, lest You help us

by the Spirit. We invoke the Spirit to come to

our aid now and to help us receive all that You have

intended to say through this portion of Scripture.

We pray these things in the precious name of the

intercessor, the great high priest, the one who is fighting

for us every day. Amen and Amen.

Verse 8, this is in connection to the fact that Elijah received

a couple of meals from the Angel of the Lord, and we're told the

effect of that food, it was able to energize him for 40 days and

40 nights. And we can consider the

supernatural ingredients of this, We can look into how that

is, but I don't want us to be too focused on what this food

was more than I want to connect what this food did in terms of

his journey, the length of his journey, and the location of his

journey. So we see here that it was 40

days and 40 nights that he was able to walk into a certain

direction, the Mount of God, the Mount of Orb.

Now, if you are a student of the Hebrew Scriptures, then those

two components should ring a bell. 40 in a wilderness, 40

days or just the number 40 and mount of God, namely Horeb.

What should come to mind? Moses, Just Moses, The

Israelites. Give me give me more specific.

What about them? You're saying Moses and Hebrews?

That's a lot of things. What specifically what other

journeys does this connect to, at least thematically?

The Exodus. Thank you.

The Exodus, how Horeb was the destination immediately after

the Exodus being delivered from Egypt, but not just that, the

same mount of God was the place where the people arrived after

40 years of wandering in the wilderness because of their

disobedience and unbelief. And so this, this is supposed

to, yes, call to remembrance a different journey, one that was

monumental to the history of this people.

And it makes you wonder if that crossed Elijah's mind as he was

walking on his feet for 40 days and 40 nights towards the same

place in which God manifested his power and his glory.

And whether or not it did, we should believe that this was the

intent providentially of this journey and the location.

What was Elijah's problem at this point?

We mentioned that he lost sight of who God was.

He lost sight of who God was and even in this, could it be that

the Lord in his Providence is leading his servant to retrace,

retrace the steps of the Lord That as Elijah's walking day and

night for this duration of time, going to where everything really

started for the people in terms of their covenant with the Lord.

That the same God who delivered Israel from slavery, the same

God who was able to faithfully bring a very stubborn people

into the promised land is the same God who Elijah is serving

today. In other words, it's as though

Elijah is walking down memory lane and he's supposed to recall

God has dealt with this stiff necked people at one time and

God came out victorious. This is the same God whom I

serve. You would hope that's where

Elijah would arrive and his thinking and in his belief.

And to even add to this theme, what happened during those 40

years in terms of the people's sustenance?

Were they taken care of by God? Did they receive daily food and

drink? Yeah, God took care of them

supernaturally, just like Elijah was being taken care of for 40

days and 40 nights. So I'm convinced that this is

what providentially the Lord is trying to awaken Elijah to.

But on the negative side here is Elijah reflecting the

unbelieving people of Israel by wandering in the wilderness for

this duration of time as well. So yes, God is the God of Israel

who is able to bring a very vacillating people to where He

wanted him to go. But Elijah also is mirroring the

weak faith of the people of Israel now individually

wandering in the wilderness. And we now continue to read that

as he arrives to this location, he makes his home in a cave in a

murky hole, and it took him 40 days and 40 nights to get there.

If you actually look at a map of this time, it shouldn't have

taken that long. But on a practical note, isn't

it amazing? I mean, think about 40 days.

Imagine some of us don't enjoy walking for 40 minutes, 40 days

and 40 nights. And when he comes to this place,

the Lord is going to counsel him.

You know what this duration of time also tells us?

It tells us something about the heart of God.

God is very patient and restoring us.

He's very patient and reeling us back in and instructing us and

teaching us and chiseling us and cleansing us.

And this is also a reminder that things don't turn over so

quickly for us either that we are slow to get it.

And if you think it was slow in these four, it's only Elijah's

not going to get it, even in this conversation with God.

So he comes and the Lord asked him this very penetrating

question, but I believe it was done so gently.

He asked them, what are you doing here, Elijah?

Whenever God asks a question, I am 100% convinced it's not

because he lacks an answer. And you should be convinced of

that as well. The question was meant for

Elijah to arrive to an answer that he has not gotten yet.

And so he says, what are you doing here Elijah?

Implying what? That Elijah was not supposed to

be where he was? What are you doing here?

And the Lord wanted his servant to realize that for himself.

So you see Elijah's fear and you know these other underlying

failures encourage him to abandon his duty as a messenger

of God. The hand of the Lord came upon

Elijah so he can be driven to Jezreel and he was not meant to

leave. Their revival technically just

broke out. You would think that a people

have been revived, need further instruction and guidance,

certainly because of one moment coupled with many other issues

that caused that one moment to be bigger than what it was

supposed to be. Elijah left a people who needed

him and now he's wallowing in self pity.

What are you doing here, Elijah? What are you doing here, Elijah?

And you know what? It would do us all good from

time to time to pause and ask ourselves that question and

maybe ask somebody that you love that question.

One of my favorite reflections and challenging verses for

myself at least. You're more than welcome to use

it for your own walk. About where I am in my walk with

the Lord is the last verse of Psalm 73.

I've mentioned this to you before.

I think it's a question that you and I can ask every week.

This is what Asaph says about himself and Psalm 73, verse 28.

Psalms 73:28

But for me it is good to be where he didn't say it's good

for me to be in the temple, He didn't say it's good for me to

be around believers. Those are all wonderful things

he said. But for me it is good to be near

God. You know, that implies you can

believe in God and not be near him.

Did Elijah love the Lord? He loved the Lord, he loved the

Lord. He's about to answer in a moment

saying, I've been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts.

But even men of such caliber, Asaph, who wrote this Psalm was

a worship leader in the temple. By the way, hey, worship team or

praise team, you know, it's possible to sing and not be near

God. It's possible for me to preach

and not be near God. Just because you have a position

or a gift does not automatically promise close fellowship with

the Lord. What are you doing here, Elijah?

From time to time, pause and ask yourself, am I near God?

And if I'm not near God, you know yourself better than

anyone. Why am I not near God?

Because that's what God wants to get to with Elijah.

What are you doing here? Let's let's unpack what brought

you to this point. Because you're not supposed to

be here. So now why am I not?

Why am I not? Why am I finding myself sipping

from other cisterns more than the well of life?

Why am I getting more comfortable warming myself

around worldly charcoal fires like Peter did on the night of

Christ's betrayal? Why, why, why am I here?

Why? Why do I find myself at one

point this, what I'm watching would have been repulsive and

offensive. Now I'm enjoying why?

Why am I distancing myself where at one point you couldn't

convince me otherwise to not go to the House of God on the

Lord's day? But why am I more and more now

inclined and getting comfortable and even finding excuses to not

go? Why?

What am I doing here? And I hope you have friends and

I hope you have leaders in your life that are willing from time

to time to ask that question when it's necessary.

What are you doing? Why are you doing what you're

doing? Hey, you want to know God?

Here's God. This is the mind of God.

To ask this question is sanctifying, and it's very safe.

And he's not going to just ask it once.

So he asks him, what are you doing here, Elijah?

And here's the answer. I've been very jealous for the

Lord, the God of hosts, for the people of Israel have forsaken

your covenant, thrown down your altars and killed your prophets

with the sword. And I even I only am left and

they seek my life to take it away.

So in his confession about his condition, notice that Elijah

admits his love for the Lord says I've been very not just

jealous, very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts.

So this admission does not showcase that Elijah was weak in

terms of how he felt about the Lord, necessarily about his

conviction about who God is and what he's deserved.

But what it does reveal is that there was this appointment in

his love for the Lord. It's possible to really love the

Lord, give everything to serve the Lord, and no disappointment

in that. And that's certainly true for

this man of God. And what's really the gist of

it? He felt as though his efforts

and his stance availed to nothing.

Because he says what? I've been jealous and the people

have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars.

And guess what? They want to kill me.

They want to kill me. And listen, although you and I

can appreciate a line just honestly here and applaud him

for spilling out his soul. What he's saying is that

entirely true? Is it?

What are some things that are not true?

I just response to the Lord's question.

Yes, I'm the only servant of God in all of Israel.

You know, sometimes it feels like that when you serve God,

but that's not true. He's about to discover that's

not the case at all. What else?

There's one one other thing, the.

People didn't seem to destroy him.

That's right. So he exaggerates the enmity

that he was supposedly experiencing.

It was Ahab, mainly Jezebel, who called for his death.

But notice how he explains it. It says here for the people of

Israel, I have forsaken your covenant, thrown on your altars

and killed your prophets. And I even I only am left for

they and they seek my life. Who's the they, the people of

Israel? Was that the case?

The people of Israel weren't seeking for his life.

This one. Person you know one of the

common outcomes this is so important to to grab a hold of.

One of the most common outcomes of entertaining despondency and

a downcast spirit is that it has a way of convincingly

exaggerating the disappointments that wounded you to begin with

you. You hear it all the time and

perhaps you don't even realize it.

So you have a family who's been hurt by the church or church

that they were involved with, served with, served in, and

because of that hurt, what happens all churches now.

Are. Problems not to be trusted.

You have one sour experience with a Christian or a few

Christians. All Christians are like this and

so many other examples. How disappointment when it

simmers has a tendency for us to exaggerate the problem.

And if it's not challenged by people in your life who love you

enough to say that's not the case of the bride of Christ,

that's not the case of how ministry is.

That's not the case of how leaders in the church are like.

Yes, it might be true of some, but that's not the case.

As a general description or experience, that's not the case.

And with that, if you don't have God's objective truth and

standard and commands, and it'll be and promises and warnings

ever before you, then you will be a victim of this kind of

thinking. And it will be even more

paralyzing the more you stay there.

So we see that with this man of God.

It's amazing how the Bible unravels the way we think in

these stories and what's possible for us in those

seasons. So we see here that the Lord is

going to counsel him and the Lord is going to unpack

something for him. And how is he going to do that?

Elijah doesn't entirely answer the question.

He just kind of talks about why he is feeling the way he's

feeling. But look what the Lord patiently

does in verse 11. And he said, go out and stand on

the mount before the Lord and behold, the Lord passed by.

Reread verse 11 with me the first part and tell me if it

sounds familiar. And he said, go out and stand on

the mount before the Lord. Stand before the Lord.

That's what he's asking Elijah to do.

Elijah, come out and stand before the Lord.

By the way, just an interesting, I'm just going to throw this at

you and I'm going to come right back.

OK? Can I do that?

All right, Look again at verse nine.

There he came to a cave and lodged in it.

And behold, the word of the Lord came to him.

And he said to him, I just think that's interesting.

OK, I'm coming back now. So now you come here to verse 11

and he said, go out and stand on the mount before the Lord and

behold, the Lord passed by. Do you remember how Elijah was

introduced to us in our study of this man of God?

Go back to first Kings 17 verse one.

Now Elijah, the Tishbite of Tishbi and Gilead said to Ahab,

as the Lord, the God of Israel lives before whom I stand.

There shall be neither dew nor reign these years except by my

word. Look at first Kings 18 verse 15.

1 Kings 18:15

And Elijah said, as the Lord of hosts lives before whom I stand,

I will surely show myself to him today.

Elijah love to say that. Elijah love to publicly confess

I stand before the Lord. I am constantly and readily

available for whatever he asked me to do.

I live before his face. I stand before the Lord.

I stand before the Lord and now it's as though in this very low

point of his life, the Lord is graciously leading back to that

place that he walked away from verse 11 again, look at it.

And he said, go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord.

Elijah, I want you to rediscover that inner posture that you

deserted. I want you to stand before the

Lord again. And the aim of him now standing,

yes, physically before the Lord, but this was to get his

spiritual legs up once more, is that he would remain there.

Not just visit that place, but stay there like he was in

chapter 17 and chapter 18. I want you to park there, not to

hide in a cave, not to hang out under a broom tree.

I want you to remain before me. And he's going to do it by

providing a spectacular manifestation of himself.

And you and I read it well. He's going to whiz through with

supernaturally amplified wind and he's going to split the

earth with an earthquake and he's going to create flames that

make no sense apart from God lighting out on fire.

But. Often times people misunderstand

why the Lord's doing this. One can make the case that

Elijah needs a fresh revelation of the majesty of God, right?

He lost sight of who God was. So God's.

OK, let me just give you a quick panorama of what I'm able to do.

I'm sovereign over all nature, whether it's wind, earth, fire,

anything, rain. You just saw that I can control

all things, I can summon all things.

Everything is a subject to me that could be part of it, that

could be a perk to this moment. But notice again what the Lord

says in His word about each of these things being displayed

before Elijah, whether it was the wind or the earthquake or

the fire, different elements. What do they all have in common

according to these verses? What are we told repeatedly?

The Lord wasn't in it. The Lord wasn't in the wind.

The Lord wasn't in the earthquake.

The Lord wasn't in the fire. And strangely, we're told in the

ESV that there was the sound of a low whisper.

And Elijah, with his spiritual sensitivity at that time,

realized that's where the Lord is.

And so in reverence he covers his face and he goes to the

mouth of that cave to meet with the Lord.

Why did the Lord do this? You have to remember again what

Elijah's problem was. God is providing a very precise

prescription to the malady of his soul.

You know what Elijah felt that his preaching, that his praying,

that his protest were unsuccessful, all in vain.

I mean, you got to kind of have to sympathize with him if you

with the instrument God used to see fire come down from heaven

and subsequently rain come down from heaven in the name of the

true and living God. And the response of that is the

queen wanting to kill you. I'm certain Elijah felt what

else can we do here? What else can be done?

This is a lost cause. That's why he's like, it's

enough. Lord, take me.

There's nothing else that can be done.

What other performance, what other exhibition can be made for

the stubborn people, namely the leadership, to realize that

their own fault and that they need to repent?

You know, some preachers feel that way after they thought they

preached. A good sermon doesn't even come

close to what Elijah did. This man saw God do so much and

he thought that it would produce so much and it didn't.

What does the Lord do now in response to this?

He comes in supernatural, glorious, stunning, manifest

power, but each time it shows up, we're told the Lord wasn't

in it, the Lord wasn't in it, the Lord wasn't in it.

And then this whisper comes like there's nothing.

There's nothing impressive about a whisper, is there?

Whisper. I believe what the Lord is doing

here is He's going to teach Elijah that God's ways are not

limited. More specifically, there are

times when he can, like on Mount Carmel, do the unusual, do the

spectacular, and perform the extraordinary.

He can. He did it on Mount Carmel again.

But that's not always the case. That's not always the way He

moves to stir the hearts of people because as you see here,

the same Lord who sent fire from heaven, he doesn't do it again.

He doesn't come in the mighty wind.

He doesn't come in the earthquake.

He doesn't come in any other way apart from Him speaking softly,

gently, personally. You know what's so remarkable

about this? If you look at the sequence of

things, when it came to the wind, Elijah didn't move.

When it came to the earthquake, Elijah didn't move.

When it came to the fire, Elijah didn't budget.

But read with me again. Look at verse 12 and after the

earthquake of fire. But the Lord was on the fire.

And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper.

And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak

and went out and stood at the entrance of The Cave.

It was that small, small voice that pulled Elijah out to meet

with the Lord. What an incredible illustration

of how God works. Listen, if you're a genuine

servant of God, serving the Lord in any capacity.

Especially if. You're in a place of leadership

and public ministry. You will know the temptation.

You will know the discouragement.

You will know the lies that will try to persuade you that unless

what you do is big. Is.

Impressive is out of the ordinary.

Surprising, compelling. Riveting.

It won't be effective. Again, let me remind you that in

comparison to the wind, fire, and earthquake, a whisper is

nothing. But the whisper worked.

The whisper was the thing that brought Elijah closer to the

Lord. Here's the point.

God can use this. The.

Incredible stages. He can use large number of

things and mountainous resources.

You know what this teaches us? No matter what it is, whether

it's a Mount Carmel or a Mount Horeb, God has to be in it.

God has to be in it. So if he wants to move with

fire, let him move with fire being shot down from heaven as

long as he's behind it. But if he wants to move in a

very informal Friday night Bible study, there's nothing really.

We're grateful for this building, but it's not really

impressive in terms of other edifices, is it Our instrument?

Top notch. My Bible cover is getting ripped

up. Does God need that stuff to

touch the heart of those? Who need a?

Touch. No, you need God behind it, and

that's what we see here. God was behind that low whisper.

He wasn't behind those other things.

So don't automatically equate lavish, big, large, impressive,

worldwide, international. Don't.

Automatically equate that with God being behind it.

Can God be behind it? Yes, because you have other

people who are so skeptical they they have a skewed evaluation of

things. If it's big and if it's large

and if it's impactful, it can't be of God.

It has to be compromised somehow.

You're equally wrong. The ultimate thing you and I

have to determine is, is God behind it?

And in this case, he was behind a small whisper.

So you don't have a giant personality.

You don't have an impressive vocabulary.

I know of preachers who fumble and stumble with their words,

who don't have incredible grasp on deep philosophical ideas.

But you know what? They do have the Spirit of God

behind them. And when they got up and they

speak, you might not find them at these grand conferences, but

men, the presence of God shows up when they do.

I'll take that over any other empty thing that might be

impressive to the flesh. The lesson here is Elijah.

You think that what I did in Mount Carmel was all that I can

do. And you think that unless it's

visible and mighty and large, nothing else can work?

Elijah, I reeled you to myself with a whisper.

What an encouraging thing to know in here.

And so he's drawn out to the Lord.

And look at verse 13. And when Elijah heard it, he

wrapped his face in his cloak. You know what that is?

Reverence, reverence and went out and stood at the entrance of

The Cave and behold, there came a voice to him and said, what

are you doing here, Elijah? You want revelation in the

Bible? Ask the Bible questions, have a

conversation with the Bible. You know, you know what my

question was, Lord, why did you ask the question again?

You already asked them a few verses before.

Here's what it tells me that he wasn't satisfied with Elijah's

answer. So yes, again, he unburdened his

soul before the law, but it, it really didn't explain why he was

where he was. It didn't explain why he

abandoned his duty. So what are you doing here,

Elijah? Now you would think after the

wind and the earthquake and the fire and the gentle whisper that

Elijah would be advanced in his thinking a little bit.

He would have put some pieces together, especially with his

recent 40 day, 40 night journey to Mount Horeb.

Something must have stood together something right.

What are you doing here Elijah? And here's how he answers in

verse 14. And he said, I've been very

jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts for the people of Israel

have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars and

killed your prophets with the sword.

And I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it

away. Like copy paste of what he said

earlier. Let me.

Reinforce the truth that I opened up with.

You know what this tells me? It tells me something from God's

vantage point, and it tells me something from the human

standpoint, from God's vantage point.

As the counselor in the setting. It reminds you and I that we

have to be patient with how people arrive to the truth.

We used to be patient. God is patient.

You and I do not have the ability to manifest supernatural

strength and natural phenomena like God did.

And yet, even though God did do that, His servant still didn't

get it and he's still dealing gently with him.

There are times where rebuke is necessary.

Every person is a different case.

In this case, Elijah is not operating in the same way like

let's say Jonah, where God had to be a little bit more

aggressive with Jonah, right? He had to let him drown in the

ocean and let a whale or a big fish swallow him.

And then even after all was said and done, he had to let a plant

grow, give him shade, and then take that plant away from like

he, he had to bruise Jonah a little bit more because Jonah's

heart was different than Elijah. Elijah was very jealous for the

Lord. He, he's just broke in there.

Here Jonah was annoying. Jonah didn't want God to extend

mercy. Here's Elijah seeing God extend

mercy and he's just heart stricken because the people

didn't receive it. So God knows exactly how to deal

with each of his servants. And here he's extremely patient.

And at times you have to be two. You have to be two.

Is there any wonder why Paul told Timothy preach the word in

season, out of season? And in that same instruction, he

says with complete patience. Do you know why he said that?

Because when you preach the Word regularly, people aren't going

to get it right away. When it does, praise the Lord.

And if it doesn't, be patient. Be patient.

Be. Patient with your spouse.

You've had many conversations, I'm sure about it.

And they're, they're genuine in their hearts and wanting to

arrive there. Be patient.

Be patient with your children. They're not rebellious, yes, but

they're not getting it as quickly as you would like.

Be patient. And so we see here that the Lord

is patient, but let's look at it from Elijah standpoint.

He's not getting it. He's not getting it.

Again, we're slow to learn often times, especially when our

emotions are involved and trying to understand and register and

arrive to the right place. And so I'm just encouraged that

Elijah is, is a man with a nature like ours.

And I'm so glad that the Lord left this part in His word, but

how is the Lord going to deal with this now?

You asked the same question. You got the same answer the

first time you revealed to Elijah.

Elijah, I work in many ways. I work in ways that are very

obvious and I work in ways that are very hidden.

So don't limit to what your past experience was and realize that

I am doing a thing that is beyond what you even perceive.

But then he comes and now he says, OK, let's see if

anything's changed. Nothing's changed, nothing's

changed. He's still wallowing in his self

pity. He's still contemplating staying

in this cave and not returning to his post.

So what does the Lord do? This is fascinating, fascinating

to me. Notice what he does here in

verse 15. And the Lord said to him, Go,

return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when

you arrive, you shall anoint Hazel to be king over Syria, and

Jehu the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint to be king over

Israel. And Elijah the son of Shafat of

Abel Mihola, you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.

So he asked the question, he gets the same answer.

And what's the remedy? Now?

Get to work. Get to work, Elijah.

And that's enough. I included that last part, but

that's essentially what's happening here, Elijah.

Before this time, you know what his problem was?

He worked himself to the bone and he needed a couple of meals

and a couple of good naps before he can continue.

But that's all been dealt with now.

His body's replenished. He's refueled.

So what's the issue now that if he remains in a state of

inactivity, he will continue to introspect to the point where he

will torture himself and perhaps never return to ministry again?

You know what sometimes the solution is to overcoming

spiritual depression, a downcast spirit, dejection,

discouragement, taking your eyes off of yourself and placing them

on others who have needs. That's some good counseling.

That's some good counseling. There are times where is you

need a break, you're running on fumes, you're going to destroy

yourself, you're going to destroy your marriage, you're

going to destroy your church. So you need to step away.

This is not practical for long term longevity.

It's not going to happen. And there are other times where

it's OK. You need to stop reflecting on

this. You need to stop grieving.

You need to stop being disappointed.

There is a great field of opportunity that awaits you to

participate in. So get up and go.

You think that God did this in isolation?

No, he doesn't. Go to first Samuel chapter 16,

1 Samuel 16 · chapter mention

verse one. You'll remember this when we

studied the prophet Samuel. Look at verse one.

This is after Samuel new disappointment with another

king, not Ahab. Tell me who the king Samuel had

to deal with for many years. Saul.

Was he the most impressive king? No, Saul stressed me out when I

was studying. Saul can imagine how much he

stressed out Samuel. But this is after he said you're

done. You're no longer to be king.

And what's so terrifying about Saul's story is that he had the

throne for years after, but he lost the anointing.

He lost God's favor and enablement and his near presence

that I find out to be one of the scariest realities in the Old

Testament story of how God deals with people, that he let Saul

keep his throne and his palace, but he removed his spirit from

him. I'm not interested in preaching

if that's going to be for me, not interest.

I don't care about the pulpit. I don't if the Lord removes

himself. Why do you care to sing?

Why do you care to do anything for the Lord unless you have His

backing? Saul was left to himself and

Samuel is broken. Look at this, he was grieving

apparently in verse one of chapter 16, the Lord said to

Samuel, how long will you grieve over Saul since I have rejected

him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go.

I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have

provided for myself a king among his sons.

There's a time where mourning has to stop, whether it's the

there is a time for grieving, but there there has to be an

expiration date on it, whether that morning is caused by a

legitimate loss or from disappointment.

There are some people who never return to the local church

because they've been hurt by the local church.

There are people who never serve in ministry again because

they've been burned in ministry. That's not the will of God.

And in this case, we see that he was grieving over Saul.

And the Lord says, OK, the solution is for you to get out

of your room now, Samuel, and get your feet going because I

still have a purpose for you. And my program on the earth

hasn't ceased with one man who was unfaithful.

Get up, go. There's no different with

Elijah. There's a time where counseling

has to close and a new pattern in life has to be rediscovered

or an old pattern that was abandoned.

So he tells him it's time to go. And and here's what's so

encouraging, because what he's going to tell him in the

remaining verses is what's going to give him the strength to be

able to return to where he he was.

Here's the first thing. Come back to First Kings 19.

We already read it, but perhaps you didn't notice it.

He tells him to return to the wilderness of Damascus.

And when you arrive, he says you shall do three things.

The first thing was anoint the king over Syria.

Syria, Gentile or connected to Israel?

Gentile. What is this supposed to say,

Elijah? I have a work to do among the

Gentiles. And.

I want you to play a part in that.

What's? The next thing he tells him to

do, verse 16 and Jehu the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint to be

king overnight. Judah over Israel, the northern

tribes, the northern Kingdom. What's that supposed to mean,

Elijah? Not only do I have a work to do

among the Gentiles and you have a, a part to play in, but I have

a work to do among that apostate, rebellious, idolatrous

people that you were originally frustrated with Israel.

Not only that, because I also want you to anoint the final

person named Elijah, Elijah. And what you're going to do with

Elijah is that you're going to signal him out, and you are

going to set him apart as a prophet.

Who's going to succeed you? You felt like you were the only

prophet around. I'm telling you that I already

have one prepared. Who's going to take your place?

So even. Among the specific lane of His

service to the Lord, there was something to do.

You know what will encourage you to revisit serving the Lord if

you have been on a hiatus or been on a pause, and keep you in

that place of serving the Lord? It's realizing how much the Lord

is doing, how much is out there in a harvest, how many

opportunities await you and I. He tells Elijah, the Gentiles,

Israel, and even among the prophets.

I have things to do and I'm inviting you to it.

I'm inviting you to it. The Lord looks with those

blazing eyes to and fro throughout the whole earth to

see whose heart is blameless towards and for what purpose,

that He might show strong support to that person.

The Lord is always looking for those who are willing to serve

Him in any capacity. That should.

Excite you. That should excite you.

But that's not the only thing. Elijah is not just going to

learn that there are people to Commission and bless and

disciple. Look at verse 17 and the one and

the one who escapes from the sword of Hazel shall Jehu put to

death. And the one who escapes from the

sword of Jehu shall Elijah put to death.

Why is he telling him this? Elijah was fearful and

disappointed for the obvious reason, and one that wasn't so

obvious was the fact that you had the wicked who were able to

continue to prosper despite the rejection of the truth.

Despite all that God had done, you still had evil people

remaining in their state of evil.

You know what the Lord is telling Elijah to encourage him

to revisit that place of service and to endure in that place of

service. Elijah, there is a day where I

will deal with all the evil. Yes, in the world and even what

you experience. There's some people who get so

knocked out, the wind knocked out of them because of people

treating them the way they were treated as servants of God.

Elijah was a true genuine prophet, a man of God.

And, and how was he handled with absolute disdain.

And he was crushed by that. And the Lord wants to remind

him, I'm going to call every person into account, Elijah.

There's not one person in what they've done who's going to

escape my wrath. And I have also put into

consideration everything that somebody has done to you,

whether good or bad. Let that encourage you, knowing

that every slanderous word, every maybe physical threat, no

matter what has come your way that might have caused you to

reconsider honoring the Lord Jesus with your life.

God is going to vindicate you. He's going to vindicate you.

He will stand for you. Though your whole life people

are believing lies about you. Shouldn't that comfort you?

It must comfort you. And Elijah had a fresh

revelation of the justice of God.

Ahab and Jezebel, we're not going to get the final word.

Elijah, you do what I've called you to do.

I will take care of the things that you have no control of and

you have no right to interfere with.

I will put an end to this apostasy and you will be

vindicated because you are my messenger and you have

proclaimed my message faithfully.

Is that the only thing that encourages this man of God is

not the only thing that God gives this man so that he can

revisit that place of service and remain in that place of

service. No read verse 18 yet.

I will leave 7000 in Israel all the knees that have not bowed to

bow, and every mouth that has not kissed them.

So first. He said, look, there's a lot of

work to do, Elijah, and it's time to get to work.

It's time to put your hands to the plow again and keep your

eyes off of yourself and on others who need you.

That's important. Secondly, realize that I will

make all things right. So whether it's external

persecution or internal turmoil and you are caught in the

crossfires or you are the bullseye mark of those who

profess me but don't really belong to me, I'm going to make

everything right. Don't let those things cause you

to reconsider serving me. And lastly, Elijah, I always

have a remnant. You know what causes a lot of

people to not want to continue within?

Their boldness and their courage and their holiness and their

commitments to ministry when you see other people not doing that.

So here you are faithfully serving week after week after

week, and you're looking at others and they're fumbling and

they're flirting with the world. And here you are.

Wherever church you're part of. I pray that you're part of a

church that proclaims the truth, but you're proclaiming the

truth. Your elders are leading

according to the Bible. But what do you realize around

you that the churches that are growing and thriving and getting

all the attention are the ones who are compromising.

And if you're not careful, over time, when you feel as though

you're the only one doing it, it can mess with your head.

And what the Lord tells this man of God is something that is

universal. You might feel like you're

alone, but you're never alone. I always have a set apart

people. They may not be large. 7

thousand among, who knows, Conservatively hundreds of

thousands in the millions. Very likely 7000 isn't much, but

it's still a remnant. And that's something that you

would have to always remember. God is not just working in your

life. God is not just working in your

local church. God is doing work across the

globe. And you're part of that, yes,

but realize that there are others who are enduring what

you're enduring, suffering what you're suffering, and being

faithful as you are seeking to be faithful.

And from time to time, you know what the Lord will do.

He'll allow you to cross paths with other people who are part

of that remnant. And that's what God's going to

do for this man. He's going to allow him to meet

one of those 7000. His name is Elijah.

His name is Elijah. And I just love how the Lord

prescribes this need. One of the things that we talked

about how Elijah, Elijah rather abandoned himself from

community. And what does God do to to

rescue him? He brings not just a successor.

Listen, if God was just concerned about replacing Elijah

when he would go into heaven, he would have just called Elijah

himself, right? OK, Elijah's gone.

Let me speak now to Elijah. It's your turn.

He doesn't do that. He connects Elijah.

With. Elijah and he allows Elijah to

disciple Elijah, not just disciple but be blessed by

Elijah, develop a friendship with Elijah.

That's a gift from the Lord. If you feel like you are among

those who who you just want to love the Lord Jesus, you just

really want to obey him, that's what you want your existence to

be about. But you look at others and

they're just giving lip service or they're weak or they're

worldly and you're like, am IA minority here?

Am I, am I not reading this right?

Whatever the train of thought may be, realize that God in his

great mercy can provide someone else in your life and all you

need. Yes, you can.

You need a local church, but even one person in your life can

be enough to keep you going, to keep you going.

But notice here that the same truth that we're being told

concerning this remnant is how the apostle Paul uses it in a

very unique way concerning how it relates to us in the new

covenant. Does anybody know where this

passage is found in the New Testament Romans?

That's right. Extra point, if you know the

chapter Romans, but we're in Romans and I hear pages flipping

to Romans. That's OK, I'll wait.

I won't wait too long. Who said it?

What did you say? Romans 11, You want to see how

the Holy Spirit uses this exact passage that we've been studying

this past hour or so? Go to Romans 11 in the first

four or five verses and let's see it as we close Romans 11/1

to five, Paul writes. I ask then, has God rejected his

people? In this.

Context Who are his people? Israel.

Are we reading the Old Testament or the New Testament?

His people, Israel, are his people.

Wow. I asked that.

Has God rejected his people? By no means.

For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member

of the tribe of Benjamin. You can't spiritualize that.

OK, I've heard some people try to spiritualize Israel in the

New Testament, but you're going to have some disagreements with

Paul because he qualifies what he means by being an Israelite.

He's not talking about being a spiritual Israelite.

He's talking about being an ethnic, real descendant of this

people group. Please pay.

Attention, we're living in an age where this is debated.

First two, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew.

Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, How he

appeals to God? Look at this against Israel.

That's how fed up Elijah was. According to this New Testament

commentary, He's appealing to God against Israel.

I'm done with these people. Verse 3, Lord.

And he quotes the same passage that we studied today.

They have killed your prophets, they have demolished your

altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.

But what is God's reply to Him? I have kept for myself 7000 men

who have not bowed the knee to bail.

Verse five is so important. What's the application of it?

So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by

grace. If you pluck out verse five, you

can make it say a lot of things. But if you honor the context,

then you know exactly what Paul is trying to educate the people

in Rome about. He says, listen, I know there's

some confusion about the state of Israel and the people of

Israel related to where they stand with God because as a

nation, did they receive the Messiah or reject the Messiah?

They've rejected the Messiah. They've rejected the Messiah.

And so the confusion is around what is God going to do with

this people group? Now, Yeah, we heard that Christ

and we believe that truth that he introduced and inaugurated a

new covenant. But where does Israel fit in

this whole thing? And Paul assures them God hasn't

rejected his people. God has made some promises to

Israel that transcend and bleed into the new covenant.

The new covenant didn't nullify certain promises that God gave

to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their seed.

And he says, can I tell you one of the proofs of that?

Can I tell you remind you one of the evidence as to why God is

not finished with the people of Israel, not spiritual Israel,

the ethnic people of Israel? There is always been a remnant

of believing Jews. In.

Every generation since the inception of the church, there

has always been a people who have believed on the Messiah,

Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And there will always be a

believing community of Jewish people until it culminates to a

a national revival where the entire nation will acknowledge

that this Jesus Christ from Nazareth is the Messiah for the

Jewish people. That's found in Romans 1125,

that when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, then all

Israel shall be saved. You have to do brutal gymnastics

to Romans 11 to say that Paul is speaking about a spiritual

Israel and that the church is the spiritual Israel.

You have to do very crafty origami with the Bible to get to

that conclusion because he qualifies in the beginning.

And if you honor the context and everything really makes sense of

Romans 11. In fact, let me ruffle some more

theological feathers. Romans 9:10 and 11:00 is all

Romans 9:10

about Israel. It's not just Roman 11.

So when you look at 9:10 and 11:00, that's his.

That's his essay within a larger essay, which is really the

theological treatise of the book of Romans, where he's making a

case about God's election, his choosing of the people of

Israel. And it concludes in this

chapter. And from a personal perspective,

you you can imagine, yes, this is obviously and ultimately

inspired by the Holy Spirit. But Paul relates to Elijah, I

believe, as a minister, as an apostle, as a messenger of this

new covenant. You can see the parallel, right?

You have this man of God, Paul, who is dealing with a stubborn

people who have rejected God. And you have a remnant of Jewish

people who believe, while the rest, like Elijah's case, are

not believing. And so you can see how Paul is

confiding in Elijah. But the difference between Paul

and Elijah is this Elijah succumbed to the disappointment

of the people around him not believing.

Paul didn't, Paul didn't and I believe the reason why Paul then

at least one reason why he didn't come to the point where

he he said, you know, I don't. I stayed in Arabia three years,

I might go back and stay for a longer while is because he

understood this truth about a remnant, something that Elijah

need to learn. Paul learned in his case in the

new covenant, there is always God's not done with Israel,

God's not done. He's not finished.

He's going to prove himself to be faithful.

He's going to prove himself to be true.

He's going to prove himself to be a promise keeper and the

Savior of this. He's going to do it.

That energizes him to continue forth, that Energizer to keep

preaching and praying and believing.

So you see, when you understand these truths as well, which we

can summarize in this, Jesus Christ will be victorious.

You want to keep going? Yeah, I know.

I know it looks bleak out there. I know we would want to see

more, but in the end, it's it's all going to come back to

Christ. It's all you're on.

You're already one in Christ. And all he's asking of you, my

beloved brother and sister, all he's asking of you in this time,

with whatever time left you have on the earth is just be

faithful. Don't give up.

They'll throw in the towel. Don't walk away.

There's so much to be done. God will.

Vindicate His church, and He'll vindicate you personally.

And there's always a remnant. So let's end with these final

verses of First Kings 19. Verse. 19 Of FIRST Kings. 19 So

he departed from there, and found Elijah the son of Shafat,

who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was

with the 12th. Elijah passed by him and cast

his cloak upon him and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah

and said, let me kiss my father and my mother and then I will

follow you. I love Elijah's response.

And he said to him, go back again for what have I done to

you? There's a lot of debate about

what that means. I think a major reason for why

he says he what he says is, look, I'm just the messenger

here. This is between you and God.

God is the one who's calling you.

So you figure that out with the Lord, go back again, for what

have I done to you? And he returned from following

him, and took the yoke of oxen, and sacrificed them, and boiled

their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the

people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after

Elijah and assisted him. What a breath of fresh air after

so much disappointment in Elijah's life.

And even in our study when you had a people who were

vacillating between two opinions.

And yeah, though they did show some sign of repentance.

Who knows how long that really lasted.

And you have Ahab and Jezebel who just stone heartedly just

rejected all that God did before them.

You have this man who when he received the call of God,

listen, he was a successful businessman, 12 oxen.

That's some that's some pretty good stuff.

When he realized that God had called him to be a prophet.

He has a goodbye party. He burns everything away and he

says, I'm not coming back to this.

There's no turning back. And what does he do?

You would think that this is a demotion because the last verse

here says that. Then he arose and went after

Elijah and assisted him. I'd rather kiss my business

goodbye if it means that God's called me to this kind of a

ministry where, as we learn later on, he washes the hands of

Elijah. That's what he that's what he

goes down to that kind of a level where he will assist

Elijah. He doesn't become a prophet

right away. He becomes an assistant.

But because he knew it was God's call, he says that's greater joy

to me than any business, any money, any promotion, any

expansion. I'll do it.

I'll do it. And we are soon coming to the

story of Elijah. Here's how we're closing.

Look how many chapters we have left in First Kings.

Flip your pages and notice where it ends.

Isn't that scary? We're almost done.

We're almost done. And so we're ending our session

tonight with many thoughts that have come our way.

But let's conclude with this thought.

Lord, keep me faithful. Keep.

Me faithful, and if you are drained for whatever reason

tonight, I pray that the truth that you heard would animate you

more, but I pray that you would have enough faith to speak to

the Lord even now and say, Lord, please, I want to serve you.

And whatever you call me to serve you in, I want you to help

me remember that you will vindicate my 'cause I want you

to remind me always that I'm not in this alone, that there is a

people here and there's a people elsewhere that love you and

serve you. And though they may not be the

majority, God, help me believe that these relationships will be

enough for me to live another day to serve you with my whole

heart. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for the

blessed word of God. We ask you, oh God, with great

Thanksgiving and gratitude, to chain these golden threads of

truth around our hearts. And we do ask, O Lord, that you

would help us not just survive in our service, but thrive with

joy and strength and a contagious spirit.

So even for those who have been faithfully serving you, but they

feel as though they are losing energy and desire.

Let that change tonight. Please, Lord, let that change

tonight. Let us know the vigor of the

Apostle Paul and let us, oh Lord, realize that what you've

started you can complete and finish in US.

Lord, we ask that that would be true.

We love you, Lord, we adore you. And we ask that you would do

what no man can do, revive our hearts and keep them alive in

Jesus name. Amen.

Amen. Yes, priest team.

Thank you. I've seen a lot of people start

and they didn't live past the decade of serving the Lord where

they can't be found. It's.

Easy to start a race, and God describes this faith as a race.

How are you? Running.

Are you losing steam? Are you looking left?

Are you looking right? I hope to preach a message on

this one day, one of the strangest commands that Jesus

gives in all of the New Testament.

It's something that I'm convinced most Christians have

never done, or maybe have done once.

Jesus commanded. Remember Lot's wife.

Is that a suggestion? No, that's actually a command.

Remember Lot's wife. Think about Lot's wife.

There's so much to unpack with that, but I remember stumbling

upon that truth recently and meditating.

Lot's wife, Jesus said remember her.

Her ultimate crime was that she looked back when she wasn't

supposed to. So I want to admonish you

tonight, you can only know strength to keep running if you

stay abiding in the vine. Stand.

With me, please. And let's ask the Lord to help

us keep running this race.