Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / What If You Are Being Stalked │ Msg 312

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What If You Are Being Stalked │ Msg 312 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: I'm doing a series on what if. Unusual sermons. First
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  Speaker 1: one was, what if God chose to do something great
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  Speaker 1: through you? And we looked at Moses as an example.
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  Speaker 1: Then last time we were together, what if you suddenly
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  Speaker 1: lose everything? And we use Job, of course, as an example. Today,
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  Speaker 1: what if you were being stalked? I would venture to
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  Speaker 1: say you have never in your life heard a sermon
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  Speaker 1: on this. I like that. That means you can't compare
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  Speaker 1: my sermon to anybody else's. But I like it because
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  Speaker 1: it's all about the real world. You would be shocked
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  Speaker 1: If you knew how many in this room are being
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  Speaker 1: stalked or have been stalked, you'd be shocked. If you
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  Speaker 1: brought a Bible with you today, and I certainly hope
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  Speaker 1: you have, please locate the book of 1 Kings. 1 Kings,
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  Speaker 1: not a popular book in anyone's estimation, but an important
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  Speaker 1: one in the history of the people of the Jews,
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  Speaker 1: which the Old Testament certainly covers rather carefully. And we're
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  Speaker 1: going to look at 1 Kings chapter 19. In 1
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  Speaker 1: Kings chapter 19, we meet up with a man and
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  Speaker 1: someone is out to get him. and we will read
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  Speaker 1: of her in a moment. May we stand together for
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  Speaker 1: the reading of God's word out of 1 Kings 19.
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  Speaker 1: I'm reading from the New Living Translation. When Ahab got home,
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  Speaker 1: he told Jezebel everything Elijah had done, including the way
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  Speaker 1: he had killed all the prophets of Baal. So Jezebel
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  Speaker 1: sent this message to Elijah. May the gods strike me
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  Speaker 1: and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I
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  Speaker 1: have not killed you just as you killed them. Elijah
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  Speaker 1: was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba,
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  Speaker 1: a town in Judah. He left his servant there. Then
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  Speaker 1: he went on alone into the wilderness, traveling all day.
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  Speaker 1: He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed
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  Speaker 1: that he might die. I've had enough, Lord, he said.
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  Speaker 1: Take my life, for I am no better than my
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  Speaker 1: ancestors who have already died. Verse 10. Elijah replied, I
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  Speaker 1: have zealously served the Lord God Almighty, but the people
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  Speaker 1: of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down
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  Speaker 1: your altars and killed every one of your prophets. I
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  Speaker 1: am the only one left. And now they are trying
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  Speaker 1: to kill me too. Go out and stand before me
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  Speaker 1: on the mountain, the Lord told him. And as Elijah
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  Speaker 1: stood there, the Lord passed by. and a mighty windstorm
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  Speaker 1: hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that
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  Speaker 1: the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not
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  Speaker 1: in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake,
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  Speaker 1: but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after
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  Speaker 1: the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was
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  Speaker 1: not in the fire. And after the fire there was
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  Speaker 1: the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it,
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  Speaker 1: he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out
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  Speaker 1: and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a
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  Speaker 1: voice said, What are you doing here, Elijah? He replied again,
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  Speaker 1: I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty, but the
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  Speaker 1: people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn
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  Speaker 1: down your altars, and killed the every one of your prophets.
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  Speaker 1: I'm the only one left and now they're trying to
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  Speaker 1: kill me too. In your worship folder, you will find
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  Speaker 1: an outline for the morning message. I would like you
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  Speaker 1: to place it at Jeremiah chapter 17. Jeremiah 17. When
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  Speaker 1: you're seated, you can do that. Please be seated. Place
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  Speaker 1: the outline at Jeremiah 17, where the message will begin
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  Speaker 1: in a few moments. I was struck by the words
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  Speaker 1: that the choir sang earlier. Don't know if you noticed them,
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  Speaker 1: but we're a guilty world that was kissed by God
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  Speaker 1: in love. Did you catch that? each time at that course.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe you've never thought of the God of heaven being
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  Speaker 1: the one who loves you. We live in such a
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  Speaker 1: decadent era that the word love has even been twisted
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  Speaker 1: to mean something other than that. Love really boils down
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  Speaker 1: to seeking the highest good of another, and no one
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  Speaker 1: has ever done that for us more than our God.
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  Speaker 1: The God of heaven, the God of the scriptures, our
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  Speaker 1: creator God. When we come together in a place like this,
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  Speaker 1: it is a perfect place to be reminded that we
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  Speaker 1: are loved. Let me make it more personal. You are loved.
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  Speaker 1: You are the object Of his love. God so loved
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  Speaker 1: the world. He gave his son. His one and only son.
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  Speaker 1: That whoever would believe in him. He would not only
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  Speaker 1: love them. But would give everlasting life. And here it
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  Speaker 1: is love. Not that we loved him. But that he
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  Speaker 1: loved us. And gave his son. To pay for our sin.
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  Speaker 1: you've never responded to that love, this is a wonderful
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  Speaker 1: time to do so, or sometime through the morning. A
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  Speaker 1: good time is when we bow our heads together. Maybe
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  Speaker 1: do that now. Maybe just sit quietly for a few
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  Speaker 1: moments in the silence. God is going to speak to
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  Speaker 1: each of us today and in this time when he speaks.
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  Speaker 1: Let's be sure we are listening. For we, in every
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  Speaker 1: sense of the word, are sinners, poor and needy. Someone
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  Speaker 1: sent me this past week a wonderful old hymn sung
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  Speaker 1: in acapella without any instruments, the words, I need thee
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  Speaker 1: every hour. I need thee. We do, our Father. We
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  Speaker 1: do need you. We need you not only every hour,
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  Speaker 1: we need you every moment. We're surrounded by... the adversary
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  Speaker 1: himself who is forever stalking us, seeking someone to devour.
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  Speaker 1: We live in a wicked world, Lord. The whole culture
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  Speaker 1: has lost its way. And we've been tossed in the
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  Speaker 1: middle of this 21st century to live our lives, to
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  Speaker 1: raise our kids, and to do our jobs. And to
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  Speaker 1: find a way to love our husbands and wives and
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  Speaker 1: figure out how to go on when we've lost one
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  Speaker 1: of them or one of our kids. We're doing our best, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: to journey through this old wicked world. And in the
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  Speaker 1: midst of it all, there are folks who would do
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  Speaker 1: us harm. There are people who have it in for us.
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  Speaker 1: There are people who would follow us and harass us
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  Speaker 1: and frighten us and hurt us. you know the end
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  Speaker 1: from the beginning you're the most powerful being that's ever
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  Speaker 1: lived and you're able to guide us through it but
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  Speaker 1: we're still human and like our friend we're going to
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  Speaker 1: read about today even if we were a prophet representing
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  Speaker 1: your great nation We're still just human. And our tendency
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  Speaker 1: is to run for our lives and to live looking
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  Speaker 1: over our shoulders, to be suspicious of just about everybody
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  Speaker 1: as a result. So I pray that as we worship you,
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  Speaker 1: oh great God, that you, seeing us as poor and
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  Speaker 1: wayward sinners, will have mercy on us and will reveal
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  Speaker 1: to us what you have put in your book, preserved
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  Speaker 1: it even for this very day, that we might see
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  Speaker 1: the relevance in our lives. Enable us during this time
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  Speaker 1: to pay no attention to the watch on our wrist,
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  Speaker 1: to what's for lunch, to what we face next week,
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  Speaker 1: to what somebody said to us yesterday, to some bill
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  Speaker 1: we haven't yet paid and can't pay. And cut through
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  Speaker 1: it all, Lord, in such a way that you connect
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  Speaker 1: with us so that we see ourselves as if we
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  Speaker 1: were looking in a mirror, for indeed we are. Our desire, Lord,
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  Speaker 1: is that your message would be Span the extremes and
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  Speaker 1: for that reason we give today confident that you'll use
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  Speaker 1: every gift given for a good purpose and cause. May
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  Speaker 1: we handle these monies with unswerving integrity as we are
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  Speaker 1: accountable to you, oh God. And may these gifts be
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  Speaker 1: launched into places that will become transformed by the power
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  Speaker 1: of your truth. This we ask confidently, and these gifts
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  Speaker 1: we give prayerfully in the name of Jesus. Everybody sit.
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  Speaker 1: I need to tell you that you are living with
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  Speaker 1: a diseased heart To make matters worse, it is incurably diseased. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 1: it will never show up on your electrocardiogram. And no
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  Speaker 1: matter how fine, seasoned, experienced a vascular surgeon or cardiologist
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  Speaker 1: you may consult, there is nothing she or he can
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  Speaker 1: do to correct your heart condition. You're living with a
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  Speaker 1: diseased incurably diseased heart. Now, obviously I'm not referring to
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  Speaker 1: the organ in your chest that pumps blood. I'm referring
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  Speaker 1: to what no surgeon's scalpel can ever reach. I'm referring
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  Speaker 1: to your inner being called most often in both Old
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  Speaker 1: and New Testament, the heart. The heart. Jeremiah, the prophet,
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  Speaker 1: writes of our hearts in chapter 17 of his great
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  Speaker 1: book of prophecy. Verse nine, he puts his finger, if
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  Speaker 1: you will, on the problem. I want to analyze it
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  Speaker 1: a little bit, so be ready for some time here
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  Speaker 1: in the verse. The new American standard renders this, the
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  Speaker 1: heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick.
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  Speaker 1: The New Living Translation, the human heart is the most
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  Speaker 1: deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Every human being
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  Speaker 1: qualifies for fitting into this verse of scripture. You're a human,
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  Speaker 1: so you can be sure that your heart is deceitful.
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  Speaker 1: Interesting word. Ah-cov, A-H-C-O-B-E is the Hebrew word. When you
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  Speaker 1: put it into a proper name, it's Jacob, Yaakov, the deceiver.
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  Speaker 1: When you analyze the verb akov, you find it goes
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  Speaker 1: all the way back to a noun meaning heel, H-E-E-L.
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  Speaker 1: That part of your anatomy on the back of your foot,
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  Speaker 1: the heel. It came to mean the mark of the
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  Speaker 1: heel or a footprint when one walked in soft sand
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  Speaker 1: or wet sand. You leave a mark of your foot
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  Speaker 1: and the heel is obviously there. But there's more. Taken
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  Speaker 1: a little further over time, the etymology of the word
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  Speaker 1: turned into following on another's heel. We still have that
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  Speaker 1: expression when someone is after us. He's following on my heels.
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  Speaker 1: It came to mean to attack or assail from the rear. Ultimately,
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  Speaker 1: it began to be translated insidious or deceitful. Keep that
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  Speaker 1: in the back of your mind. I'll come back to
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  Speaker 1: it in a moment, but look further in the verse.
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  Speaker 1: It is desperately wicked, or your Bible may read desperately sick.
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  Speaker 1: Two words that come from one Hebrew term, Anush, A-H-N-O-O-S-H, Anush.
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  Speaker 1: That word is different from the other, of course, It
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  Speaker 1: is the word for simply incurable, which was translated by
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  Speaker 1: the English translators desperately sick. In other words, it can't
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  Speaker 1: be fixed, it can't be corrected, it can't be improved,
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  Speaker 1: it can't be healed. It is incurable. Well then, what
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  Speaker 1: do we do with it? If I'm born with a
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  Speaker 1: heart like this, and if I grow up with a
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  Speaker 1: heart like that, and if down deep inside me there
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  Speaker 1: are these roots of deception, which is true of every
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  Speaker 1: one of us, how can I ever understand it? In fact,
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  Speaker 1: the verse that we have just been reading asks a
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  Speaker 1: great question. Who can know it? Who really knows how
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  Speaker 1: bad it is? which suggests you and I don't and
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  Speaker 1: can't even imagine. That's why we're proud people. We think
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  Speaker 1: we're not as bad as the other or we wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: do what another did. Please, please don't go there. That's
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  Speaker 1: a waste of time. Furthermore, it's lying to yourself. We're
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  Speaker 1: all just as bad off as we can possibly be.
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  Speaker 1: What do we do with all this? Next verse. I,
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  Speaker 1: the Lord, search all things. hearts and examine secret motives. Well,
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  Speaker 1: thank goodness for that. But how does he do that? Ah,
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  Speaker 1: glad you asked. Look at Hebrews chapter 4. Okay. Hebrews
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  Speaker 1: chapter 4. Come on. I hear about four pages turning
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  Speaker 1: right now. You're thinking, oh, honey, you turn. I'm tired. Please,
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  Speaker 1: you turn. You need to see it for yourself. Hebrews 4,
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  Speaker 1: some of you who know your Bible know exactly where
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  Speaker 1: I'm going. Of course, verse 12. This is the instrument
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  Speaker 1: the Lord uses to expose to us what's in our hearts.
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  Speaker 1: Since we can't know it without his help. The word
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  Speaker 1: of God is alive. This is a reference to the scriptures,
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  Speaker 1: the written scriptures of The Word of God is alive
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  Speaker 1: and powerful. Look closely now. It is sharper than a
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  Speaker 1: two-edged or double-edged sword. Sharper than the sharpest of double-edged razors,
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  Speaker 1: we would say. How could that be? Because this book cuts...
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  Speaker 1: between soul and spirit. That's where no surgeon's scalpel can
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  Speaker 1: ever reach. You never go saying, I'd like you to
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  Speaker 1: do surgery on my soul. They'd probably say, you to
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  Speaker 1: another doctor called a psychiatrist because they know you can't
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  Speaker 1: do surgery on a soul. Oh, wait, wait. They can't.
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  Speaker 1: God does it all the time. He's doing it right now.
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  Speaker 1: And he's using the living and active spirit sharp, double-edged
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  Speaker 1: razor called His Word. Look closely. It cuts there between
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  Speaker 1: soul and spirit. Look a little further. It exposes our
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  Speaker 1: innermost thoughts and desires. There it is again. It exposes
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  Speaker 1: our innermost thoughts. You know what the Greek word is
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  Speaker 1: translated exposes? Critikos. K-R-I-T-I-K-O-S. We get our word critic from it.
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  Speaker 1: Let's use it. It is a critic of the thoughts
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  Speaker 1: and the intentions, the motives of the heart. You can
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  Speaker 1: fool me. You can fool your partner in life. You
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  Speaker 1: can fool your roommate. You can fool your wife or husband.
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  Speaker 1: You can't fool the book. You can't fool the author
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  Speaker 1: of the book. This book exposes the truth. It is
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  Speaker 1: a criticus of what? The thoughts? It is called in
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  Speaker 1: another passage a mirror. It reveals to us the truth
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  Speaker 1: about ourselves. You and I can judge words. We can
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  Speaker 1: judge actions. We usually don't know motives. I mean, juries
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  Speaker 1: sit trying to decide motives. Detectives search for motives and
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  Speaker 1: often can't find them. God's word is never at a loss.
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  Speaker 1: God never scratches his head going, I wonder what that's
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  Speaker 1: all about. He always knows. And the best part is,
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  Speaker 1: he tells us. He exposes our innermost thoughts and desires
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  Speaker 1: not to inform him who already knows it, but to
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  Speaker 1: inform us. And we realize the better we get to
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  Speaker 1: know the truth of this book, the more we understand
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  Speaker 1: our motives. And they're sort of ugly at times. Because
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  Speaker 1: they are the thoughts and intentions, get this word, of
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  Speaker 1: the kardia. K-A-R-D-I-A, we got a word cardiologist from it.
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  Speaker 1: Kardia is the Greek word for heart. We have a
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  Speaker 1: criticus of the kardia. We have a judge of the
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  Speaker 1: heart in the Lord our God. Now, he's more than that,
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  Speaker 1: but his word is the scalpel that can cut right down.
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  Speaker 1: I've had it happen in my life virtually every time
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  Speaker 1: I study. I'm like, oh. And I often say, even
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  Speaker 1: out loud alone, that hurts. Wow. That hurts. So, If
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  Speaker 1: you put all of this together, what we saw in
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  Speaker 1: Jeremiah 17 and Hebrews 4, I failed to read verse 13.
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  Speaker 1: Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is
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  Speaker 1: naked and exposed before his eyes. He is the one
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  Speaker 1: to whom we are accountable. Everything in our lives, if
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  Speaker 1: you will, is unzipped. All the buttons are open. Everything
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  Speaker 1: is exposed. He sees it all. His word, the truth,
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  Speaker 1: is able to cut deeply, and it goes into the
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  Speaker 1: area of our diseases, and that's directly connected with our footprint,
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  Speaker 1: I told you to remember, to the heel, to following
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  Speaker 1: closely on the heels of another deceitfully, we have a
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  Speaker 1: word for it, stalking. Stalking. Why is there stalking? because
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  Speaker 1: the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. How would anyone
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  Speaker 1: want to make anyone else afraid because the heart is
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  Speaker 1: deceitful and desperately wicked? Because that's true, we have stalkers. Now,
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  Speaker 1: because I have never heard a sermon on this, because
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  Speaker 1: I have never read anything written on it by another preacher,
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  Speaker 1: I decided I would do my own original work. So
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  Speaker 1: I went to various sources and then later came to
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  Speaker 1: God's word, as I will in a moment, to tell
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  Speaker 1: you more. First of all, I checked the National Center
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  Speaker 1: for Victims of Crime and I found a definition. Virtually
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  Speaker 1: any unwanted contact between two people that intends to communicate
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  Speaker 1: a threat or places the victim in fear is considered stalking.
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  Speaker 1: It is a crime of power and control. Several of
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  Speaker 1: my sources mentioned that, a crime of power and control.
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  Speaker 1: Another source gave another definition or a further definition. A
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  Speaker 1: stalker tries to control his or her victim through behavior
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  Speaker 1: or threats intended to intimidate and terrify. A stalker can
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  Speaker 1: be an unknown person, an acquaintance, a family member, or
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  Speaker 1: a former intimate partner. various characteristics in this definition. What
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  Speaker 1: happens in stalking? Threats can be stated or implied. Often
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  Speaker 1: there's persistent harassment. Following or laying in wait for a victim.
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  Speaker 1: Damaging threats all the way to damaging property. Defaming another
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  Speaker 1: person's character. Posting personal information. or spreading rumors about the victim,
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  Speaker 1: threatening mail, postal, or electronic. It can include acts of
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  Speaker 1: violence and violating another person's privacy. Electronically, it's called cyberstalking,
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  Speaker 1: and you're all familiar with it. A person who stalks
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  Speaker 1: will often ignore a restraining order. It will go all
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  Speaker 1: the way up to actual attempts at or actual acts
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  Speaker 1: of murder. Most who stalk have knowledge of the other person.
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  Speaker 1: They intend their actions to instill fear and often bodily
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  Speaker 1: injury or death to the victim. Can be deceptive and
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  Speaker 1: veiled or overt and brash. can be carried out by
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  Speaker 1: the stalker or by someone acting on behalf of the stalker.
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  Speaker 1: I have been stalked. My family has been stalked. How
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  Speaker 1: prevalent is it, since I'm not speaking now from theory
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  Speaker 1: but from experience, how prevalent? One of my very reliable
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  Speaker 1: sources says one in every six women in her lifetime
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  Speaker 1: will be stalked or has been. If you look around
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  Speaker 1: this room of hundreds of people, maybe thousands, you can
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  Speaker 1: only imagine the women in this room now being stopped.
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  Speaker 1: It's a tragic thought. It's a horrible thought. By the way,
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  Speaker 1: one in every 19 males in a lifetime is stopped.
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  Speaker 1: We sit in this room and our seats are comfortable. Well,
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  Speaker 1: pretty comfortable. Nobody around is going to hurt us. You
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  Speaker 1: have no reason to look over your shoulder. We feel
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  Speaker 1: like we're among friends, and hopefully we are. How easy
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  Speaker 1: it is for us to tread too lightly over this subject.
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  Speaker 1: This is a serious issue. It will only get worse.
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  Speaker 1: We have even read of such seen such in our
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  Speaker 1: newscasts that resulted in numerous deaths that began with a stalker.
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  Speaker 1: This explains why I've gone to the subject. You see,
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  Speaker 1: if you have never been, you're thinking, why in the
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  Speaker 1: world are you taking time for such a subject like this, Chuck,
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  Speaker 1: when there are so many other things? If you have
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  Speaker 1: been or are being stalked, you're asking, why haven't you
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: addressed this before? What can we learn from God who
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: knows our hearts because of the impact it has on us?
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: You know what that impact is? I've limited my list
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: to a very brief, I came up with from my
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: research about a page, loss of appetite, loss of weight,
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: loss of sleep, loss of inner peace, anxiety attacks, depression,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: memory loss, loss of employment, Extreme feelings of fear, anger,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: thoughts of retaliation, a need to uproot and move and
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: become anonymous, increased suspicion of others, and on a number
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: of occasions, suicide. This is not a new phenomenon. It
• 29:51
  Speaker 1: didn't start in the 20th or 19th century. It's been
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: going on as long as there has been sin in
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: this world. How long have hearts been deceitful? That's how
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: long there's been stalking. Let me show you something. This
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: is the sheet I put together in my study. It
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: came from no one else. I did the work on
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: my own. I started in the Old Testament, and I
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: thumbed my way through the New Testament all the way
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: to the book of Revelation, and I checked out stalkers.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: There are 21, I'm sure I passed by, others that
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: I didn't notice. So I'm going to be dealing with
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: this until about 2 o'clock today. No, I won't do
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: that to you. But I will read you my list.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: In case you're the type that would like to write
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: down a few examples, it will be read quickly, but
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: it will give you an example of how prevalent. In
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: the Old Testament, for example, Potiphar's wife stalked Joseph. Genesis 39,
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: and tried to get him to go to bed with her.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: She wouldn't give up. The Philistines stalked Samson, using Delilah
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: to bring him down, and indeed she did. That's Judges 16.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: The sons of Eli stalked the women who came to
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: the tabernacle to worship, and they seduced them and raped them.
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: 1 Samuel 2. Because of jealousy and envy, King Saul
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: stalked David for about 12 years, 1 Samuel 18 through 26.
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: David's son Amnon, after David became king, Amnon stalked and
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: ultimately raped his half-sister Tamar. The ugly story is found
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: in 2 Samuel 13. Jezebel stalked the prophet Elijah. threatening
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: to kill him, and he ran for his life. 1
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: Kings 19. Sanballat, Tobiah, and Gashem, the three cronies who
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: got together to make life miserable for Nehemiah as Nehemiah
• 32:07
  Speaker 1: and his stonemason were building the wall, stalked Nehemiah for
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: the longest time, at least 52 days. That's how long
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: it took him to build the wall. That's Nehemiah 4
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: through 6. All that time, Nehemiah's being stalked by these
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: men who have his bad at heart, not good. The
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: jealous officers in the days of Daniel stalked him in
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: hopes of finding corruption and accusing him of such and
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: bringing him to death in the lion's den, Daniel chapter six.
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: That's just the Old Testament. Quickly through the New. Jesus
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: was stalked virtually every part of his earthly life. As
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: a baby, Herod stalked him, Matthew chapter two, along with
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: other babies. He was stalked frequently when he became adult
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: by the Pharisees and the Sadducees and the scribes and
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: others during his ministry, Matthew 22 and John 11, just
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: to name a couple of references. Herodias bore such a
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: grudge against John the baptizer that she stalked him. She
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: wanted to kill him so badly that she had her
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: daughter do the dance in front of Herod and later
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: resulted in his being beheaded, Mark chapter 6. When the
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: great persecution swept over the church in Acts chapter 8,
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: the people were stalked and driven from their home in Jerusalem,
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: so they wound up living in Judea and Samaria and
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: other parts beyond. It's Acts 8, 1. Saul of Tarsus,
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: you remember, was stalking Christians in Damascus on his way
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: to putting them in prison and ultimately to seeing to
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: the death of some, Acts chapter 9, verses 1 to 3.
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: Saul himself was later stalked by the Jews in Damascus
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: who plotted to kill him, Acts 9, 22 to 25.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: That was when he was let down in a basket
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: out of a window so that they wouldn't kill him.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: Herod Agrippa stalked and killed early Christians, including James, and
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: arrested Peter, Acts 12, 1 to 3. Paul and Silas
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: were stalked by the Philippians, the Philippian chief officials, and
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: they were later put in stocks. and beaten, Acts chapter 16.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: When Paul writes of Alexander the coppersmith, he says, he
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: did me much harm and fought against everything we said.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: The man's reactions no doubt included stalking Paul, 2 Timothy 4,
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: verse 14. When we read of diatrophies in 3 John,
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: verses 9 and 10, he would have nothing to do
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: with the apostle John, and he was such a church boss.
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: that he forced various believers out of the church, followed others,
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: made life miserable for them, and his carnal and brutal
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: behavior could be called stalking. Finally, the Antichrist will wage
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: war against believers, and all those who do not worship him,
• 35:00
  Speaker 1: he will stalk them and bring them ultimately to their death.
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: That's Revelation chapter 13, and that's just a quick overview.
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: That's how prevalent. That's one of the reasons I was
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: drawn to the subject To my amazement, there is that
• 35:17
  Speaker 1: much written about it, and for some reason, it's never addressed.
• 35:23
  Speaker 1: Let's focus on one man the remaining time I have.
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: His name is Elijah, who is stalked by a woman
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: named Jezebel. I'll cut to the chase and say that
• 35:36
  Speaker 1: Jezebel and Ahab have no time for Elijah. Not only
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: is Elijah the one who stood toe-to-toe with Ahab and
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: said there's going to be a drought and nothing will
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: bring rain for as long as the Lord desires, and
• 35:50
  Speaker 1: that's exactly what happened. The cattle died, people died, the
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: whole earth was parched, and Ahab despised Elijah for that.
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: If you will look back at chapter 18, verse 17,
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: you will read of the occasion when Ahab stands toe-to-toe
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: with Elijah the prophet. We're reading 1817. When Ahab saw him,
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: he exclaimed, so is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: The people are in the midst of a drought, and
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: he sees him as the troublemaker. He doesn't realize Elijah
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: isn't the troublemaker. Elijah couldn't bring down a drought. The
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: drought has come from the living God who controls the
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: weather and all things pertaining to it. He says in
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: verse 18, I have made no trouble for Israel. You
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: and your family are troublemakers, for you have refused to
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: obey the commands of the Lord and have worshipped the
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: images of Baal instead. And then with that, Elijah says,
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: throws out a challenge. He says, summon all Israel to
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: of Baal. And we often forget the 400 prophets of Asherah.
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: So there are 850 prophets that follow the idols, and
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: they are all supported by Jezebel. So Ahab summons them.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: And while they are there, the prophet Elijah offers to
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: them a challenge. There will be an altar that is built,
• 37:40
  Speaker 1: and they build it, and they will cut wood in pieces,
• 37:44
  Speaker 1: and then they will not set fire to it, but
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: the Baal worshipers can call on their God, and we
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: will see if fire will fall down on this pile
• 37:57
  Speaker 1: of wood at this altar. He will even lay a
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: bull on it, on the wood, to make it an altar,
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: and he'll not set fire to it. Then he says
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: in verse 24, you call on the name of your God,
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: and the God who answers by setting fire to the
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: wood is the true God. He will be the one
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: who will bring fire. Well, you go first, says Elijah.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: So verse 26, they prepared one of the bulls and
• 38:27
  Speaker 1: placed it on the altar. They called on the name
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: of Baal from morning until noontime. Just imagine that. Easy
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: to read that in a split second. But from morning
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: till noontime, that's a lot of hours. Oh, Baal answers. Oh,
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: Baal answers. Oh, Baal answers. Oh, Baal answers over and
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: over again. One of the characteristics of idol worship is
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: the constant repetition of the same terms. And here's an example.
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: But it says there was no reply of any kind.
• 38:55
  Speaker 1: And they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.
• 38:58
  Speaker 1: By noontime, this gets funny, Elijah began to mock them.
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: You'll have to shout louder, he scoffed, for surely he
• 39:05
  Speaker 1: is a god. Perhaps he is daydreaming or is relieving himself.
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: I'll let you take that wherever you wish. Or maybe
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: he's away on a trip or is asleep and needs
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: to be waken. You need to yell louder. Elijah's having
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: a great time. He knows there's not going to be
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: any fire coming down. And all the time you can
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: imagine Ahab seething with rage against this man mocking the prophets.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: And they shouted louder and louder and cut themselves with knives.
• 39:38
  Speaker 1: That's interesting, isn't it? And with swords until the blood
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: gushed out. They raved all afternoon until the time of
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: the evening sacrifice. Still no sound, no reply, no response.
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: Then Elijah called the people and said, come over here.
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: Come over here. They all crowded around him. He repaired
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: the altar of the Lord that had been torn down.
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: He took 12 stones, each one to represent the tribes
• 40:04
  Speaker 1: of Israel, used the stones to rebuild the altar in
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: the name of the Lord. He dug a trench around
• 40:09
  Speaker 1: the altar. Notice, it makes it even more difficult. Enough
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: to hold about three gallons. He piled wood on the altar,
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: cut the bull into pieces, laid the pieces on the wood.
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: fill four large jars with water, pour the water over
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: the offering in the wood. They had done this. He said,
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: now do the same thing again. So they double up,
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: do it again. When they finished, now a third time,
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: and they did it again. Now water's running off the
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: altar that's filled the trench. And so Elijah the prophet
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: walked up to the altar and prayed simply, O Lord,
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: are God in Israel, that I'm your servant. Prove that
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: I've done all this at your command. O Lord, answer me,
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord,
• 40:54
  Speaker 1: are God and you have brought them back to yourself.
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stone,
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: the dust, even licked up all the water in the trench.
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: And when the people saw it, they fell down on
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: the ground and cried, the Lord, he is God. Yes,
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: the Lord, he is God. Elijah commanded, seize all the prophets.
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: Don't let a single one escape. So the people seized
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: them all. Elijah took them down to the Kishon Valley
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: and killed them there. That's what's happened. That's what's happened.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: After all of that, Ahab the king went home to mama, Jezebel.
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: And if I may read chapter 19, verse 1, as
• 41:40
  Speaker 1: it may have happened, Ahab got home. He told Jezebel
• 41:46
  Speaker 1: everything Elijah had done. He threw them away and killed
• 41:50
  Speaker 1: all the prophets of Baal. By the way, Ahab and
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: Jezebel are the Bonnie and Clyde of the Old Testament.
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: They are no good. You think you've seen bad leaders.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: You ain't seen nothing like Ahab and Jezebel. Nothing they
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: did was worthwhile. Nothing. And if you believe the old story,
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: if mom ain't happy, ain't nobody happy, trust me, if
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: the queen ain't happy, Nobody is going to be happy.
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: When she heard this, look at what we read. Jezebel
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: sent this message to Elijah. May the gods strike me,
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: even kill me, if by this time tomorrow I have
• 42:34
  Speaker 1: not killed you just as you killed them. That, ladies
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: and gentlemen, is called a threat. That's a threat. Now then, pause.
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: Pause right here and think. Put yourself in Elijah's sandals.
• 42:51
  Speaker 1: What would you do? If you handle it glibly, it's
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: because you've never been stalked or you've never really entered
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: into the world of stalkers. If you handle it seriously,
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: you're thinking, what would I do? She means business. She
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: ain't going to kill him. She doesn't even bother to
• 43:15
  Speaker 1: go herself. She sends a messenger, and Elijah reads it,
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: and he believes her. Now, he doesn't handle everything right,
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: but I want to give you a moment to think
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: about it, because I'm going to put you in his sandals.
• 43:37
  Speaker 1: What would you do? You're just one solitary prophet. You've
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: just seen to the killing of 450 idol worshipers. And
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: you know that she's angry and you know that the
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: king is behind her and you know they have a
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: mighty army. Well, Elijah mishandled it. How great it would
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: have been if he would have prayed, oh God, just
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: as you brought fire down on the altar Bring fire
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: down on these enemies of yours. Stop her. Keep her
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: from it. Sometime you need to act in more than prayer.
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: As you who have been stalked know, for example, as
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: soon as we found out we were being stalked, we
• 44:36
  Speaker 1: had an alarm system put in our home. We had
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: never had one before. This is another place another time
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: years ago. The first question from the Los Angeles detective was,
• 44:46
  Speaker 1: do you have an alarm system? We said, no. We
• 44:49
  Speaker 1: live in a pretty good neighborhood. No, this isn't about
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: a neighborhood. This is about a man. And I won't
• 44:54
  Speaker 1: tell you what the threat was, but it was ugly.
• 44:56
  Speaker 1: It was horrible. He said, get the home alarmed. You
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: know what the Revolutionary soldiers said when the war broke out?
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: Trust in God, but keep your powder dry. Keep your
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: powder dry. I don't read where Elijah trusted in God.
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: That's my concern. And when I look at how he
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: mishandled it, I want to do so with respect for him,
• 45:31
  Speaker 1: but with an understanding of how we can learn from
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: him how to respond. Because greater is he who is
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: in us than what? He who is in the world, right?
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: There's a greater power in the Lord Jesus Christ than
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: any other power on the planet. However, we did install
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: an alarm system. We did start paying attention to those
• 45:53
  Speaker 1: who were following us in our car. And I said
• 45:57
  Speaker 1: that to my daughters, and I reminded them since they
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: were in the threat, pay attention. Don't be out late
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: at night. Don't ever be alone. Because the threat added,
• 46:09
  Speaker 1: we know where you live, and I know who lives there.
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: That's a frightening letter to get, unsigned. And the detective
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: said to me, this is authentic. So, here is Elijah,
• 46:28
  Speaker 1: who yesterday was so strong and brave and said, oh God,
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: bring down the fire. But we read in verse three, look,
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: Elijah was afraid. You cannot have faith and be afraid.
• 46:43
  Speaker 1: So you have to somehow understand find a balance, work
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: it out before you and your God and determine what
• 46:50
  Speaker 1: is the wise thing I should do and at the
• 46:52
  Speaker 1: same time not be seized with panic or I'll never
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: sleep again. I won't eat much. I won't ever have peace.
• 47:02
  Speaker 1: I'll suspect most everybody that comes along, I'll watch how
• 47:05
  Speaker 1: many times the car goes back and forth in the
• 47:07
  Speaker 1: street out front. Every little bump in the night, I'll
• 47:12
  Speaker 1: think that it's happening. So Elijah is all surrounded with
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: bumps in the night and his suspicions and imagination, and
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: he fled for his life. Did he ever. He is
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: in Jezreel and he went to Beersheba. You check it
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: for yourself. It's a little under 100 miles. That's a
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: long ways on foot. So he went 100 miles south,
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: Israel is often marked off in boundaries of Dan up
• 47:43
  Speaker 1: north to Beersheba down south. It goes further, of course,
• 47:47
  Speaker 1: but those are the two stopping points you think of.
• 47:52
  Speaker 1: We sometimes say from Maine to California or from Washington
• 47:55
  Speaker 1: to Florida. That means the outermost point, Dan to Beersheba.
• 48:00
  Speaker 1: He goes all the way down from Jezreel to Beersheba,
• 48:05
  Speaker 1: a town in Judah, and he left his servant there.
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: And look closely, he goes further. All alone, he went
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: into the wilderness, traveling all day. What is he doing?
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: He's trying to get anonymous. A.W. Pink writes this. Alas,
• 48:24
  Speaker 1: instead of spreading his case before God, he takes matters
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: into his own hands. Instead of waiting patiently for God,
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: he acts on hasty impulse, deserts the post of duty,
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: and flees from the one who sought his destruction. The
• 48:39
  Speaker 1: man who had faced 450 false prophets now fled from
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: one woman. The man who had been faithful to the
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: Lord's service now deserted his post of duty, and that
• 48:50
  Speaker 1: at a time when his presence was most needed by
• 48:53
  Speaker 1: the people, if their convictions were to be strengthened and
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: the work of reformation carried forward and firmly established. Alas,
• 49:00
  Speaker 1: what is man? As Peter's courage failed him in the
• 49:04
  Speaker 1: presence of the maid, Elijah's strength wilted before the threatenings
• 49:08
  Speaker 1: of Jezebel, how the mighty are fallen. He's trying to
• 49:14
  Speaker 1: get so obscure that not even the armies of Jezebel
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: can find him. Not a word about trusting his God.
• 49:24
  Speaker 1: In fact, when he does finally pray, it's the wrong prayer.
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: He sat down under a solitary broom tree and he
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: prayed that he might die. I've had enough, Lord. Take
• 49:37
  Speaker 1: my life. I'm no better than my ancestors who have
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: already died. That's not a good prayer. You know, when
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: the Lord's ready to take your life, he's well able
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: to do it. He doesn't need us to pray for it.
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: He's able to handle it. He's sovereign. Remember, he's in charge.
• 49:56
  Speaker 1: How great it would have been if he said, Lord,
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: I've gone as far away as I know to get.
• 50:00
  Speaker 1: I'm in a place where nobody can find me, I hope.
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: I'm a full day away from Beersheba. and I'm under
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: this tree, and I need you like you fed me
• 50:10
  Speaker 1: at the brook. I need you to feed me, and
• 50:12
  Speaker 1: I need you to meet my needs, and I need
• 50:15
  Speaker 1: you to deal with Jezebel. But he doesn't do that.
• 50:23
  Speaker 1: He lay down and slept under the broom tree, and
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: as he was sleeping, this is a lovely part of
• 50:29
  Speaker 1: the story. I love it. An angel touched him. Elijah. Elijah.
• 50:38
  Speaker 1: get up and eat isn't that an interesting answer Elijah
• 50:50
  Speaker 1: get up it's been a long time since you've eaten
• 50:53
  Speaker 1: you've gone a long ways I've catered some bread for
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: you got it right here get up and eat He
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: looked around and beside his head was some bread baked
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: on hot stones and a jar of water. He ate
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: and drank and lay down. Isn't it great? Listen to me.
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: Isn't it great that God didn't go, shame on you.
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: What are you doing there? Elijah, I am so ashamed
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: of you. God does not shame his people. We shame others.
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: God doesn't. You know what he says? You need to rest.
• 51:43
  Speaker 1: You haven't rested enough. Can I say something a little
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: bit surprising? Sometimes a good night's sleep is the most
• 51:53
  Speaker 1: spiritual thing you can do. You think you need to
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: pray longer or you maybe need to work harder because
• 52:01
  Speaker 1: after all, that's what sincere Christians do. They don't have
• 52:07
  Speaker 1: to eat or drink. They just trust and serve God.
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: Where does it say that? He says, get up and eat.
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: Got the bread and got the water and he ate
• 52:17
  Speaker 1: and drank and the angel of the Lord came again
• 52:19
  Speaker 1: and touched him. Elijah. He said, get up, eat some more.
• 52:24
  Speaker 1: The journey ahead will be too much for you. Isn't
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: that great? Isn't that wonderful? He's loving his servant. He's understanding.
• 52:34
  Speaker 1: He's not preaching. He got up and ate and And
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: the food gave him enough strength to travel 40 days
• 52:41
  Speaker 1: and 40 nights to Mount Sinai. That is the wilderness.
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: You know how far that is? 200 more miles. And
• 52:50
  Speaker 1: it's not Hawaii. It is barren. There isn't a sprig
• 52:56
  Speaker 1: of grass. He's in the middle of Zipville. The howling
• 53:04
  Speaker 1: winds of the night, he comes to the mountain of God.
• 53:07
  Speaker 1: came to a cave where he spent the night and
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: the Lord said to him there, what are you doing here, Elijah?
• 53:15
  Speaker 1: What's going on? What are you doing in there? He
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: wanted Elijah to think about it. He says, I've zealously
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: served the Lord God Almighty as if God didn't know that.
• 53:26
  Speaker 1: Ever inform the Lord of things that he may not
• 53:28
  Speaker 1: have known? Oh Lord, you know how long I've walked
• 53:30
  Speaker 1: with you and you know how faithful I've been. Compared
• 53:32
  Speaker 1: to Frank, oh Lord, you know. I am one sacrificial servant.
• 53:37
  Speaker 1: You know, Lord, how I did this last year. Please.
• 53:41
  Speaker 1: He doesn't need any history. But he says, I zealously
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: serve the Lord God Almighty. The people of Israel have
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: broken their covenant with you, tore down your altars, and
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: killed every one of them. I alone am left. I
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: call it the Elijah complex. Every once in a while,
• 53:57
  Speaker 1: I get it. And I go out on my back porch,
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: screened-in back porch, and I close the door, and I
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: sit there, and I have a pity party. Boy, it's
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: a dull party. I'm sitting there and miserable, feeling sorry
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: for myself. But never once has the Lord zapped me.
• 54:19
  Speaker 1: He touches me and he says in so many sweet ways, Chuck, Chuck,
• 54:23
  Speaker 1: what are you doing here? And you think I've gone
• 54:27
  Speaker 1: on a vacation? You think I don't know all about this?
• 54:34
  Speaker 1: Go out, he says, stand before me on the mountain.
• 54:37
  Speaker 1: The Lord told him, Elijah stood there, and the Lord
• 54:39
  Speaker 1: passed by. The mighty windstorm hit the mountain. Such a
• 54:42
  Speaker 1: terrible blast, the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: wasn't in the wind. Wow. Then after that, there was
• 54:50
  Speaker 1: an earthquake, and the Lord wasn't in the earthquake. And
• 54:53
  Speaker 1: after the earthquake, there was a fire, and the Lord
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: wasn't in the fire. After the fire, there was the
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: sound of a gentle voice. The word is blowing in
• 55:04
  Speaker 1: the Hebrew translated here, whisper. There's a gentle blowing. Elijah
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: heard it, wrapped his face in his cloak and went
• 55:12
  Speaker 1: out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And
• 55:14
  Speaker 1: the Lord went, what are you doing here, Elijah? I'm
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: zealously serve the Lord God. He does the speech again.
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: He worked on it for 200 miles. I've zealously served
• 55:25
  Speaker 1: the Lord God Almighty. The people of Israel broke their covenant,
• 55:28
  Speaker 1: torn down your altars and killed all the prophets. Every
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: one of them. I alone have left trying to kill
• 55:33
  Speaker 1: me too. And the Lord told him, no, I've got 7,000.
• 55:36
  Speaker 1: I haven't bowed the knee to Baal. Look at that.
• 55:39
  Speaker 1: That's down in verse 18. 7,000 others in Israel. You're
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: not alone, Elijah. Please. One of the problems with self-pity
• 55:49
  Speaker 1: is that it's so wrong, so self-serving, as if it's
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: all about us. I noticed three serious failures in Elijah's response,
• 56:00
  Speaker 1: and I want to say them carefully, lest it appear
• 56:04
  Speaker 1: that I'm taking lightly what he went through. I really don't.
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: But I want to look at it objectively as best
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: I can. I noticed first he focused on the horizontal.
• 56:17
  Speaker 1: Not a word about prayer here. His fear replaces his faith.
• 56:23
  Speaker 1: He retreats instead of waiting for God to intervene as
• 56:27
  Speaker 1: he did at the altar where the Lord brought down fire.
• 56:31
  Speaker 1: He goes through it all alone. He even leaves a
• 56:34
  Speaker 1: servant there as he goes further alone. So he goes
• 56:38
  Speaker 1: through this without any companions. He prays that he might
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: even die rather than praying for strength. So he immediately
• 56:49
  Speaker 1: focused on the horizontal, which you tend to do when
• 56:52
  Speaker 1: you're being stopped. I can tell you from experience that
• 56:59
  Speaker 1: your imagination runs away with you. You start thinking that
• 57:02
  Speaker 1: you're seeing shadows out on the lawn at night. If
• 57:07
  Speaker 1: you have the ability to turn on outside lights, you
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: turn on all the outside lights, but no one's there.
• 57:16
  Speaker 1: You notice a car that goes down the street and
• 57:18
  Speaker 1: traverses again and then again, and you wonder, is that
• 57:21
  Speaker 1: person in that car? Or while you're driving, you notice
• 57:25
  Speaker 1: a car is following you a little closer than normal
• 57:28
  Speaker 1: and a little further than would be expected, and you wonder,
• 57:31
  Speaker 1: is he there? Is she there? This is what's going
• 57:37
  Speaker 1: on in Elijah's head. Let me say also, along with
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: focusing on the horizontal, the second great mistake, he completely
• 57:46
  Speaker 1: miscalculated the situation. More than once, Elijah says, and we
• 57:51
  Speaker 1: will sort of cut to the chase, Verse 10, I'm
• 57:55
  Speaker 1: the only one left. And down at the end of
• 57:59
  Speaker 1: verse 14, I'm the only one left. I'm the only
• 58:04
  Speaker 1: one serving you. The whole thing rests on my shoulders.
• 58:08
  Speaker 1: It's a feeling of being indispensable. I'm the only one
• 58:12
  Speaker 1: standing for righteousness. I'm the only one seeing things straight.
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: You may have thought to say that recently. I'm the
• 58:20
  Speaker 1: only one voting right, you think. I'm the only one
• 58:24
  Speaker 1: who sees the problem. No, you're not. No, I'm not.
• 58:30
  Speaker 1: In fact, the Lord says to him later on, you
• 58:33
  Speaker 1: remember if you know the story, verse 18 of chapter 19,
• 58:37
  Speaker 1: I have 7,000 others in Israel that have not bowed
• 58:41
  Speaker 1: the knee. You're not alone, man. I got thousands waiting
• 58:46
  Speaker 1: in the wings. I know what I'm doing. He completely
• 58:50
  Speaker 1: miscalculated the situation. Let me say thirdly, he foolishly neglected
• 58:56
  Speaker 1: his own personal needs. His own personal needs. He was
• 59:02
  Speaker 1: physically exhausted. He's emotionally spent. That's why the Lord told him,
• 59:08
  Speaker 1: verses 5 and 6, to take it easy to eat
• 59:14
  Speaker 1: and to drink what the Lord provided one of the
• 59:17
  Speaker 1: signs by the way of a mental breakdown is a
• 59:20
  Speaker 1: person's own appearance they become disheveled and they stop bathing
• 59:29
  Speaker 1: They stop showering. They stop eating. They stop communicating. Usually
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: they get alone as their world crushes in on them.
• 59:40
  Speaker 1: It's a deep depression that sets in. And finally, the
• 59:49
  Speaker 1: Lord does a wonderful thing. He sends him Elisha, and
• 59:53
  Speaker 1: Elisha comes and ministers to him as a friend. He's
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: needed a friend for a long time, and he finally
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: gets one. Now, what can you and I learn from this?
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: I hope we will learn from this. Because the sermon
• 1:00:11
  Speaker 1: may end, but the story of this sermon will live on.
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: And you may face it later or maybe sooner than
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: you think. We can learn, first of all, that we're
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 1: not immune. Let's put that down. If it could happen
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 1: to Elijah, it can happen to you and me. You
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: and I can become the face on someone's dartboard. The
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: bullseye can be on our chest in someone's target. We're
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: not immune. Remember the words, so persecuted they, the prophets.
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: Elijah wasn't the first to be persecuted. It's unwise for
• 1:00:52
  Speaker 1: you to think that all of your enemies have permanently
• 1:00:55
  Speaker 1: gone away. They will reemerge. They'll be different or maybe
• 1:01:01
  Speaker 1: some of the same. Jezebels abound. Stalkers will reappear. Don't
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 1: let the next attack surprise you. You're not immune. Second,
• 1:01:15
  Speaker 1: we're not bulletproof. That's the next thing. We're only human.
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 1: We're not superhuman. No matter your age or your maturity
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 1: or how much you've gone through, How strong you have been.
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 1: You are just a woman. You are just a man.
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 1: You still need rest. You still need nourishment. You still
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 1: need good food. You still need refreshment. You still need others.
• 1:01:41
  Speaker 1: You're just a human being. Be careful of the Elijah complex,
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 1: which says to you, I can really handle this myself.
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 1: Remember my comment, nothing is more spiritual at times than
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: a good night's sleep. Now, I, for one, believe that
• 1:01:58
  Speaker 1: sleep is overrated, but that's my problem. That's not yours.
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 1: It's how I justify getting up at 3 and 4
• 1:02:05
  Speaker 1: in the morning when my wife says, why don't you
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 1: sleep a little longer? And I tell her, well, I'm
• 1:02:09
  Speaker 1: sleeping somewhere else. Sometimes I am, and sometimes I've lied.
• 1:02:14
  Speaker 1: But anyway, I don't sleep as much as many people do.
• 1:02:19
  Speaker 1: I don't think I need as much. But you may
• 1:02:22
  Speaker 1: be the type that needs it. So we're not bulletproof. Third,
• 1:02:27
  Speaker 1: we're not alone. We're not made to fly through life solo.
• 1:02:36
  Speaker 1: We're not the only ones who are able to get
• 1:02:37
  Speaker 1: the job done. God has others who are gifted and competent.
• 1:02:43
  Speaker 1: In our paranoid moments, we start thinking, I'm the only
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 1: one voting right. I'm the only one who sees the problem.
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 1: Or Elijah, I'm not better than my fathers. I got
• 1:02:54
  Speaker 1: a question. Who said he had to be better than
• 1:02:56
  Speaker 1: his fathers? Elijah did. That's what happens when you compare
• 1:03:02
  Speaker 1: yourself with others. You'll always find someone above you. And
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 1: compared to him, oh, man. I read of a man
• 1:03:12
  Speaker 1: just not long ago that saved the best three hours
• 1:03:15
  Speaker 1: of every day for prayer. When I read that, I thought,
• 1:03:21
  Speaker 1: good night. I'm doing good for three minutes. Guy does
• 1:03:24
  Speaker 1: it for three hours a day. I'm not him. I
• 1:03:29
  Speaker 1: don't know his schedule. Maybe he built up to it.
• 1:03:35
  Speaker 1: Started with my three minutes, and he stayed at it.
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 1: I could be challenged by that, but I'm not going
• 1:03:42
  Speaker 1: to compare myself to that person. I'm not in that
• 1:03:44
  Speaker 1: person's shoes. He's not his father's. He's Elijah's. By the way,
• 1:03:51
  Speaker 1: guard against feeling indispensable. There's a lot of folks that
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 1: can get the job done. And as soon as you
• 1:03:56
  Speaker 1: and I are out of the way, there'll be somebody
• 1:03:58
  Speaker 1: else that'll step up and they can do it. That'll
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 1: help you. Feeling indispensable is a lonely journey. Here's the fourth.
• 1:04:07
  Speaker 1: We're not in charge. There's an agenda we have never seen.
• 1:04:13
  Speaker 1: Hear me. There is a plan that doesn't need our input.
• 1:04:20
  Speaker 1: There is a plot we didn't organize. There is a
• 1:04:24
  Speaker 1: script we didn't write. It's all known by our sovereign
• 1:04:29
  Speaker 1: heavenly father. He knows what he's doing and he is
• 1:04:33
  Speaker 1: not surprised that Jezebel rears her head or Ahab on
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 1: occasion in our lives. Please quit living like you are
• 1:04:43
  Speaker 1: in charge of your life. You serve a God who
• 1:04:48
  Speaker 1: is in charge of your life. One final passage, one
• 1:04:55
  Speaker 1: final verse, really, over in 1 Peter. Please turn to
• 1:04:59
  Speaker 1: 1 Peter 5. Every one of you. Okay? Some of
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 1: you haven't been looking very closely anyway, so it's a
• 1:05:05
  Speaker 1: good place for you to start. 1 Peter 5, verse 8.
• 1:05:10
  Speaker 1: I'm going to show you that you're always being stalked.
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 1: Every one of us, each child of God, every believer
• 1:05:18
  Speaker 1: in Christ, 1 Peter 5, 8. Look closely. Look closely.
• 1:05:25
  Speaker 1: Stay alert, watch out. For your great enemy, the devil,
• 1:05:35
  Speaker 1: he prowls around, peripateo is the Greek word that means
• 1:05:39
  Speaker 1: to walk, to walk around. He stalks, he's walking, he's
• 1:05:45
  Speaker 1: prowling like a lion. You ever watch the National Geographic channel?
• 1:05:52
  Speaker 1: Haven't you watched them? Don't you like to see them
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 1: kill a zebra every once in a while? Come on.
• 1:05:57
  Speaker 1: I mean, they're over there like this. And they somehow
• 1:06:00
  Speaker 1: raise their shoulder. Put their head down. I go, get
• 1:06:04
  Speaker 1: at it. Or maybe it's a cheetah. Can outrun everything.
• 1:06:09
  Speaker 1: And it's already. Ears perk up. Like a flash. And
• 1:06:16
  Speaker 1: they always get the little one. I think, that's not fair.
• 1:06:20
  Speaker 1: Could have gotten a big one. The enemy, our enemy,
• 1:06:23
  Speaker 1: the adversary prowls around like a lion looking for someone
• 1:06:29
  Speaker 1: to kata pino. Kata means down. Pino means to drink.
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 1: To drink down. We call it swallow up. His desire
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 1: is not to harass you. His desire is to bring
• 1:06:41
  Speaker 1: you down. Swallow you up. Called here, and it's a
• 1:06:46
  Speaker 1: good rendering, devour you. looking for someone to devour. It's
• 1:06:56
  Speaker 1: a stalk that's been going on ever since there was
• 1:07:00
  Speaker 1: a devil and ever since there was a human being.
• 1:07:06
  Speaker 1: I will not read it, but I have read again
• 1:07:08
  Speaker 1: the minister's fainting fits, the testimony of Charles Haddon Spurgeon
• 1:07:15
  Speaker 1: from his lectures to my students. as he talks about
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 1: fits of depression, storms in his life, people who came
• 1:07:26
  Speaker 1: against him. He even says the biographies of eminent ministers
• 1:07:31
  Speaker 1: prove that seasons of fearful prostration have fallen on most,
• 1:07:36
  Speaker 1: if not all of us. You're not alone. I understand.
• 1:07:44
  Speaker 1: Some of the hardest days in my life are Mondays.
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 1: days after Sunday that have been such elevated times, and
• 1:07:54
  Speaker 1: the enemy knows when I'm a little down. And I
• 1:07:58
  Speaker 1: remember all the things I wish I hadn't said or
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 1: did say and wish I could have said another way
• 1:08:06
  Speaker 1: or failed to say, and he does a number on me.
• 1:08:10
  Speaker 1: And the enemy goes, ha, ha, ha, you dumb boat.
• 1:08:18
  Speaker 1: You don't have it. What you're doing is not that significant.
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 1: If I believe that, I move the next step down.
• 1:08:29
  Speaker 1: And I'm on my way to being devoured. You know why?
• 1:08:33
  Speaker 1: He's stalking me. And you. Let's think about that with
• 1:08:41
  Speaker 1: our eyes closed. Bow your head, will you? Just sit
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 1: there for a few moments. Something that's been said today
• 1:08:54
  Speaker 1: has made special sense to you. It's different from something
• 1:09:00
  Speaker 1: else that was said that made special sense to somebody else.
• 1:09:06
  Speaker 1: This is a great moment for you to say to
• 1:09:08
  Speaker 1: the Lord God, help. Simple four letter word, help. Help
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 1: me in my imagination not to let it run wild.
• 1:09:24
  Speaker 1: I've been fearful a long time, Lord. Help me to
• 1:09:31
  Speaker 1: get a little backbone. Help me to learn from this,
• 1:09:37
  Speaker 1: that you're there and you're not shaming me. Help. Or
• 1:09:43
  Speaker 1: maybe your word is come. Come to my rescue, Lord.
• 1:09:51
  Speaker 1: There's never been a time in my life when I've
• 1:09:55
  Speaker 1: just said to you, I need you and I invite
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 1: you to come into me and take charge of my life.
• 1:10:05
  Speaker 1: Please forgive me. And please place me under your care
• 1:10:13
  Speaker 1: and give me the eternal keys to life abundant and
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 1: life forever. Hand me those keys, Lord. I'll take them.
• 1:10:25
  Speaker 1: A longtime friend of mine this week sent me a wonderful,
• 1:10:29
  Speaker 1: simple little four-minute message by email. It's an acapella of
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 1: a man singing, I need thee every hour. And I
• 1:10:47
  Speaker 1: sat there and tears ran down my face because it
• 1:10:49
  Speaker 1: was true. I need the Lord every hour, every moment.
• 1:10:56
  Speaker 1: I need him. So do you. So spend some time
• 1:11:03
  Speaker 1: before this day runs its course and you get into
• 1:11:05
  Speaker 1: the next week. Spend some time telling the Lord you
• 1:11:11
  Speaker 1: need him and why and how he can help. And
• 1:11:19
  Speaker 1: invite him to come in Take charge. Thanks, Father, for
• 1:11:31
  Speaker 1: being such a faithful, loving Father. For understanding us when
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 1: we run. For never shaming us when we fail. For
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 1: strengthening us when we're ready to give up. Thank you, Lord,
• 1:11:52
  Speaker 1: for the story that lives on. I pray that you
• 1:11:57
  Speaker 1: would protect that one individual right now, whoever he or
• 1:12:01
  Speaker 1: she may be. Someone has it in for him or
• 1:12:05
  Speaker 1: for her, and their lives are being made miserable. May
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 1: they have heard something that helps them press on, and
• 1:12:18
  Speaker 1: may you protect them from harm. Please do that, Lord.
• 1:12:26
  Speaker 1: I ask this in the name of Jesus, our triumphant Savior,
• 1:12:34
  Speaker 1: and all His people said.
• 1:12:39
  Speaker 2: The preceding message, What If You Are Being Stalked, was
• 1:12:42
  Speaker 2: copyrighted in 2013, 2015, and 2016, and the sound recording
• 1:12:44
  Speaker 2: was copyrighted in 2016 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All
• 1:12:52
  Speaker 2: rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial
• 1:12:57
  Speaker 2: use is strictly prohibited.