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1 Kings 17 (Part 1) Bible Study (Elijah Predicts a Drought/Obedience) | Pastor Daniel Batarseh · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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Lord, with so much noise in the world, we are thankful for a
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place where we can be still and be even sometimes silent in your
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presence. Lord, we ask that you fill us
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with the Holy Spirit so that we can be fully attentive and
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energized to receive from Your Holy Word.
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None of us. Are worthy to experience your
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graces. But that's exactly what grace is
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all about. You long to pour out your
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spirit, your truth, on those who are humble and contrite.
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And so we pray, Lord, that you would make us aware of your
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goodness. Every moment that passes in this
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Bible study, clear our thoughts from the clutter of confusion
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and distraction, maybe even tiredness or whatever it is that
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would hinder or put obstacles for this truth to be deposited
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in our hearts. Deliver us even now so that we
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can receive everything the way you intended it to be received.
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We glorify you tonight as a body and we give you praise for this
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study In Jesus name. Amen.
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We'll turn in your Bibles to 1st Kings Chapter 17.
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And before we break open this chapter together, I believe it
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is important to recapture the spiritual condition of the
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nation of Israel that we explored last week.
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As a summary, Israel has now tolerated idolatry in a whole
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new level. Bill worship was not just
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prevalent, it has been deemed as the state religion and this
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initiative was campaigned by King Ahab yes, but it was
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ultimately due to the influence of his demon worshipping defying
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domineering wife named Jezebel. She was the mastermind behind
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this and this imported, imported false worship created an
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atmosphere so deplorable, so widespread, that King Ahab
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gained the reputation of being the vilest king in Israel's
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history. A temple of Baal was built not
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in some random place, but strategically in the capital of
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Israel. Samaria, and things in Israel
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are looking bleaker than ever. You have the Levites and a
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majority of the true worshippers of God vacated.
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They have left the land. They have migrated to the
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Southern Kingdom. You have a government with
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spiritual leadership that is increasing in perversion.
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You have the common people that willingly invite the curses of
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God in their pursuit of idolatry.
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And at this point, the worship of Jehovah is virtually on the
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brink of extinction. And as you and I have studied
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Chapter 16 and witnessed the spiraling direction of this
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nation, you're left to wonder, I'm sure, What will God do at
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this point? How will he intervene, if he
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will not intervene at all? Will he send sweeping judgment?
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That's something we would expect.
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Will he put a halt to this by doing something so catastrophic,
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so obvious, that no matter who you are, you would not be able
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to withstand his fury? That's what we might do.
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But instead what we see God doing in this chapter that we
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are ready to study is that he raises up a man of God.
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He raises up a prophet who are powerfully confront the powers
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that be. And the man who will be
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commissioned for this awesome task is named Elijah.
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Elijah is someone who is going to have an incredibly strong and
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convicting ministry, and as incredibly profound his ministry
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will be as in your face as it will be as as obviously
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captivating as it is. Do not confuse the boldness and
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the courage and even the things that take place throughout his
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ministry as anything less of an expression of manifestation of
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the mercy of God. Elijah appearing the way he
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appears, yes, though he is rugged, a little rough on the
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edges. Though he is commissioned to
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confront all this corruption, this is nothing short of God's
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grace because through Elijah, he's going to manifest himself
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in a very unique way and he's going to compel this people to
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come back to the true and living God.
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Elijah, listen, not only played an influential role at this
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critical point in Israel's history, but he's actually
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mentioned, as you know, in significant ways in the New
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Testament, especially in the gospel accounts.
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Elijah is an important character in the word of God.
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And as important as he is, you might be surprised to realize
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that he didn't write a book. He wasn't like Isaiah.
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He wasn't like Jeremiah. He wasn't like Ezekiel, where
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God has preserved their writings for the rest of human history.
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Elijah didn't have any recorded teachings or prophecies.
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Nevertheless, it does not discount the absolute importance
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that he played in the spiritual renewal and survival of Israel's
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covenant with God. Interestingly, there is nothing
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mentioned of Elijah's lineage or his heritage.
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Nothing. On top of that, we don't even
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have the record of his call into the prophetic office.
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In fact, when you read chapter 17, his introduction in the Word
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of God seems abrupt. He flashes on the scene like
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this lightning strike that cuts through the backdrop of moral
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undisturbed blackness. It's almost shocking.
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It's almost startling. And if you've studied the life
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of this man before, then you know that he is indeed a very
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distinct, again unique servant of God.
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He almost reads like a superhero of some kind, and because of
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that, you might be tempted to admire Elijah from a distance.
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You and I, even in the context of a Bible study, might be
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willing to simply examine and study him as a rare specimen in
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redemptive history. But even in the New Testament,
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we are explicitly encouraged to look at Elijah and to actually
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draw from his life, encouragement and example for
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your walk with the same God that Elijah served.
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In other words, we're not looking just at someone to again
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pick apart and see some clever connections with his story with
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the rest of the Bible, you and I right away have to bend our
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hearts and posture it in a manner in which we are ready to
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receive God's provision for practical instruction through
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Elijah's life. If you're not ready here to say,
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OK, what is it that God wants me to learn about me becoming the
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Christian I'm called to be through Elijah's example?
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You're at the wrong Bible study. You're at the wrong Bible study.
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We're not here to watch a movie, so to speak, and get emotionally
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stirred up and maybe impressed by some things we're here to
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say. OK, Lord, furnish me now through
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First Kings 17/18/19. Yes, through the rest of the
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book, but especially in this episode of First Kings where
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we're dealing with this amazing man of God named Elijah.
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And so let's begin now with that brief summary of this man.
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Again, it's brief because there's little mention of him,
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but all is there. So much to learn about him.
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And so if you were expecting to come through this chapter in its
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entirety in this Bible study, we can't.
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I'm sorry, not at least with me can't with me.
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I'm I was too hard. It's harder to complete it in
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one setting than it is to at least stop at verse 7.
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So let's read the 1st 7 verses together and then let's take our
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time to examine it for our equipment.
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Verse one. Now Elijah, the tishbite of
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Tishbi in Gilead said to Ahab, As the Lord the God of Israel
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lives before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain
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these years, except by my word and the word of the Lord came to
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him. Depart from here and turn
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eastward, and hide yourself by the brook careth which is east
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of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook,
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and I have commanded the Ravens to feed you there.
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So he went and did according to the word of the Lord.
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He went and lived by the brook careth that is east of the
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Jordan. And the Ravens brought him bread
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and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening.
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And he drank from the brook, and after a while the brook dried up
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because. There was no rain in the land.
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Elijah arrives before Ahab and he declares A prophetic message
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in the. Name of the Lord.
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But in that message he makes these statements in connection
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to the name of the Lord. That is worth pausing and
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meditating on. There are three elements to what
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Elijah says with the authorization of the Lord's
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name, that we should pay attention to and simmer on in
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order to understand the mind of God and the mind of God in the
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servant of God. What are the three things?
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At least point out a couple things that we see here in
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verse. One that is noteworthy after
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Elijah says that as the Lord and we fill in the blank, What are
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some components to this that that are important and relevant?
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What are the titles and characteristics that he makes to
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the Lord? Oh, good one is one of them is
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the Lord lives as the Lord the God of Israel lives.
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That's important. So let's put that aside.
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There's other things before him being the living God, we skipped
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over something. The Lord what?
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The God of where? Israel.
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So see that seems to be such a a normal thing for prophets to say
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that we kind of might skip over it.
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No, it's incredibly powerful in the context of Ahab being the
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king of Israel, which we'll get into another moment.
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The other thing might be a little bit more difficult to to
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pluck out, but I think there's something there when he says
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before whom I stand. So let's look at these things
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separately as the Lord one, the God of Israel.
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That's important. Who is the king of Israel at
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this time? And who did Ahab and his wife
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try to declare the God of Israel to be?
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Not Yahweh Baal. And so now you have Elijah, who
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now confronts this king. And he says, as the Lord, let me
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sharply remind you who the true and living God of Israel is.
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It's Yahweh. So this is not accidental.
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This is strategic. And again, that might not
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impress you and I as Americans who still have the freedom to
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express ourselves and to even confront and challenge other
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beliefs and world views. But may I remind you the high
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cost of speaking in this way and dealing with those who had
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opposing views of this time? Look at chapter 18, verse four.
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And look at what this government did to those who claim to be
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associated with the Lord in First Kings 18 Four.
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And when Jezebel cut off the profits of the Lord, you know
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what cut off means not canceling your membership.
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Cut off means cutting you off from the face of the earth.
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Obadiah took 100 prophets and hid them by 50s in a cave and
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fed them with bread and water. So Elijah's ministry arose
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during a time where if you were a messenger of God, if you were
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a preacher, if you were a pastor, so to speak, if you were
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on staff at a Bible college, wherever you were, whatever you
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did, if you were associated with the true living God and preached
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His Word and taught it, you risked your life.
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And if you weren't killed, then you were hiding in some cave for
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an undisclosed amount of time. You know what got me thinking?
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If you have a man like this who was willing to speak so
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courageously, where he could have his life taken from him
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before he even finished his declaration, why are we so
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afraid to speak up in the name of God in a time like this?
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We don't have any threat of risking and losing our lives.
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But people are afraid for losing.
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What? What are you afraid of losing
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For speaking the truth. Oh, I'm telling you, you're
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going to learn, and you're going to learn this every single time.
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We study this man in this study First kings.
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We need more Elijah's. If there was a spirit of Elijah,
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yes it was on this man. Yes it came upon Elijah and a
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double portion. Yes, it was on John the Baptist.
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I know those are unique moments in history, but the principles
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and the convictions of this man I'm sure can be copy pasted on
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those who desire it. This man had something so
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awesome about him by declaring he is the God of Israel.
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Additionally, this introduction shows something about the mind
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of God, because God is the one who commissioned him to do this
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and to say this. Notice what happens here in an
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age of compromise. You don't want to learn about
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God that in a time where there is rebellion and confusion and
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outright even persecution, you don't get quieter about the
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truth. You don't turn down the volume.
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No, you have to be willing to confront, listen specific
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falsehoods. You have to be able to speak out
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on things that people are contorting and twisting where
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God has already revealed the truth about.
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Notice he says, the God of Israel.
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Why? Because what was the issue of
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the day? They claimed that the God of
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Israel was not Yahweh, it was bail.
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And Elijah was willing to pinpoint that and say you're
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wrong right there. So he wasn't being general with
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his convictions. He was being very specific.
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And so if this culture is confused about anything, you
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know what your duty and mine is as the church to speak out on
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those things specifically not to paint it with a broad brush, not
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this tiptoe around it when it is necessary.
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And when we are called upon to give an answer, we must be able
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to say yes. This is what you're saying about
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humanity. This is what you're saying about
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life in the womb. This is what you're saying about
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gender. This is what you're saying about
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whatever the case may be. And here's what God says about
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it. That's what Elijah shows us
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right away and not just Elijah. Elijah's not running here rogue.
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He's not just trying to cause something because he has this
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desire on his own. This is God commissioning him to
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do this. And I learned from this man.
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I learned something about God that he desires for us in a time
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like this, to speak out on particular issues and to strain
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those issues in the consciousness of men with God's
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word. And if you have any doubt that
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that's God's strategy in times like this, then consider
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Elijah's name. Elijah's name is a message in
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itself. Elijah simply means what Yahweh
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is God or Yahweh is my God. So never mind a sermon to
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preach. Every time you called about
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Elijah, you might have been convicted in a time where
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everybody believed and was starting to believe more and
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more. That bail is God.
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Whenever you called Elijah, whenever Elijah was summoned,
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you were being reminded, oh, Yahweh is God.
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So even the man's name was something that was fashioned by
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God to illustrate this point, that in an age of compromise,
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you speak out, you don't coddle, you don't pamper, you don't
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tiptoe. That's not what we called been
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called to do. So that's the God of Israel.
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But there's a second thing. As the Lord, the God of Israel,
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second part lives. He's the living God.
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And I'm here to remind you, Ahab, that he is the living God.
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Now why would he need to say that?
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Perhaps this was something that the people of Israel adopted
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over time? Because remember first Kings 16,
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where we saw one succeeding king after the next doing deplorable,
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vile, evil, despicable things, and there seemed to be little
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considerable consequences for them.
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There wasn't like major history turning interventions.
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And I wonder if because of that stretch of time where one king
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after the next was more evil than the one before, and there
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seem to be little things happening as a result of it.
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Perhaps the people of Israel began to believe that Yahweh was
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inactive. Where is he?
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But you and I remember that at the end of chapter 16, when he
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out rebuilt the city of Jericho, God's curse was manifest.
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And it's right there where Elijah appears, because Elijah
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now is about to tell Ahab and Israel what you saw with Jericho
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is only the beginning. There's a lot more coming now.
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And so this was a reminder to Ahab, contrary to popular
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belief, Yahweh's alive. And put on your seat belt, Ahab.
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You're about to witness it for yourself.
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So he was ready to demonstrate that.
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But look at the third thing. This thing moves my heart every
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time I read it, Elijah says, As the Lord, the God of Israel
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lives before whom I stand. That is a statement that
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describes the practice and position of a ready servant.
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There are a couple of other examples in the scriptures where
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that phrase before whom I stand indicates that you are in a
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posture, ready to be sent, ready to perform anything of the
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person that you were standing before and has authority over
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you. And Elijah here is claiming that
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I stand before this living God who is the God of Israel.
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And this is more than a confession, A fearless
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confession of this devotion that he has to the true God.
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This also is a man who is telling Ahab that I am a person
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who lives in the presence of God.
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In other words, he's saying that I abide.
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I dwell. I live my day-to-day with this
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conscious acknowledgement that. God is the God of Israel and he
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is the living God. I live before God.
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I live before the Lord. And I have no doubt that this is
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a major component to his fearless stance in a time like.
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This you see? Before, before this, you had all
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this corruption, all these leaders, all this craziness, and
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all the while you have a man who is living before the presence of
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God, and now he comes to the most wicked king of them all,
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and he can say, I will not bow before you.
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Implying that because I stand before God you will not fear
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kings if your if your perception in life, if your view is
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constantly with the king of kings ever before you.
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If you have that filter, you can even stand before leaders who
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with the snap of their finger can get rid of you.
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I stand before God and because I stand before God I can stand
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before anybody. I stand before God because I
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stand before God. I don't have to kneel before you
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or before your gods, no matter how much of A price that is.
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That's the secret. So now we continue.
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He gives this introduction. Look at this.
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We're still in verse one. The second part of verse one.
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As the Lord, the God of Israel lives before whom I stand, there
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shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.
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Here it is. Ahab.
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This has gone on for too long, and I'm here to tell you.
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And I adjure you, and I'm here to promise.
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You that God is going to bring a drought and this drought is
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going to last for years. Why a drought?
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Out of all the things we've seen God do many things as
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demonstrations of His judgment by why specifically a drought?
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While history tells us that Baal was recognized by the
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Phoenicians as a storm. God.
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And so the population believe that Baal was the one who was
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sovereign over the heavens and He was the one who dispensed
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rains and withhold rains, and he was the one who enriched the
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lands and ultimately was the source of their livelihood, of
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their economy. And so this is how Bale was
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recognized. And now you have Elijah, who's
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saying here, I want to tell you something, in the name of the
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Lord, the God of Israel who lives, and I'm the one who
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stands before him, It's not going to rain, OK?
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Your God is the God of the storms.
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Prove it. Drought for a few years.
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Call me when things change, and that might be a helpful extra
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biblical insight into this encounter, but you don't even
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have to go there because the Bible itself tells us why a
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drought came and why a drought would be issued.
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So turn into your Bibles to Deuteronomy Chapter 11 and
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notice what God said in his law as one of the warnings that
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would come about for the disobedience of his people,
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specifically in worshipping other gods.
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Look at Deuteronomy 11, verse 16 with me.
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Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and
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serve other gods and worship them.
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Then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and He
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will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the
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land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the
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good land that the Lord is giving you.
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So again, here is a prophet who's doing what true prophets
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do, reminding people of what they have forsaken, and that is
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the word of God. And in the same way, in the last
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part of verse of of chapter 16, rather God's Word concerning
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whoever rebuilds Jericho will be cursed, proving that God's word
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was alive. Here you have Elijah now
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doubling down on that saying, listen, every part of God's word
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is alive. So didn't you not learn from
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Joshua chapter six? They didn't have chapters and
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verses. By the way, do you not learn
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from the mouth of Joshua that whoever rebuilds the walls of
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Jericho would lose the life of their first born and their
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youngest? And now I'm here to remind you
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of something that you overlooked.
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Ahab, God already warned you hundreds of years ago that if
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you were to worship other gods that he will make the heavens
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brass and there will be no rain and you will perish off the good
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land. So God's word is alive because
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he is the living God, and he means what he says.
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But there's something more going on here, something more than
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this historical drought being connected to a previous passage
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in the Bible. I submit to you that the reason
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why there is a drought is because of another factor, not
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just because of a prophetic declaration based on the word of
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God. You ready for this, but because
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of a. Praying, man.
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You know where I'm going with this, do you not?
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Maybe you don't, but you remember James, Chapter 5.
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And what did James by the Holy Spirit add to the story?
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In terms of commentary, James 517 tells us Elijah was a man
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with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might
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not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain
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on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven
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gave rain and the earth bore its fruit.
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I've always known this passage as early as I can remember.
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Reading James, but maybe you haven't considered this.
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People tend to go to this passage to teach believers in
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the New Covenant how to be a man of prayer, how to be a woman of
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prayer, among other places, and it's a right place to go.
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James uses Elijah as an example to encourage the believers.
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But based on Deuteronomy 11, I have another insight about
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Elijah's praying. When Elijah prayed that there
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would be no rain, he didn't pull that out of his own head.
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This isn't just him determining what he thought should happen.
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If if you if you see it that way, then you might take this
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text to mean something that it's not intended to teach.
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That if you really pray fervently enough, if you walk
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righteously enough, you can ask God for even nations stopping
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calamities and God will answer. Do you realize what Elijah's
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doing? Elijah's not praying again out
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of his own desires, out of his own will.
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Elijah is praying knowing what the Bible says.
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He knew what Deuteronomy 11 said.
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So he is praying. What the word of God.
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His prayers are based on what God had revealed.
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His prayers are in alignment with what God said would happen
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and should happen if the people were to turn in idolatry.
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So if I may use this language that when Elijah prayed in
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secret for this drought, what he was essentially doing with his
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prayers was seeking to awaken the arm of the Lord to manifest
26:18
and make this thing happen because God said it would
26:21
happen. And So what Elijah is
26:24
essentially doing, based on James in connection with
26:26
Deuteronomy 11, he's asking the Lord Lord take the warning that
26:30
is now at the point of just inscription in the law and
26:34
invade reality with it, make it come to pass.
26:41
And God heard that. So Elijah's praying was totally
26:46
bathed. It was submerged in the will of
26:49
God. So this isn't inviting us to be
26:53
creative with our request and ask for crazy things that have
26:56
no binding on the scriptures. I'm no binding what God already
26:59
revealed. No Elijah.
27:01
Elijah has his feet planted on what he knows to be the rock of
27:05
truth and he says, Lord, now I'm calling upon you to do what you
27:08
said you would do. Would you do it for your name's
27:11
sake? And that helps us to know again
27:16
that James not speaking about praying.
27:17
Random request if you're fervent enough.
27:20
But you know when I meditate on this further, I thought to
27:22
myself, how does one even get himself to pray like that?
27:27
Like the obvious answer is know what the scripture says and that
27:30
will fuel and frame your prayers to be more effective.
27:32
That's obvious. But how does a man even get to
27:35
the point where? Because remember, James is
27:39
telling us Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.
27:41
In other words, you you can't read Elijah's story and have
27:44
excuses saying what do you mean? This guy was a prophet.
27:48
This guy raised their dead, this guy did this.
27:50
I understand that. But in the things that you and I
27:52
are called to imitate and other servants of God, there are no
27:57
excuses. He, he he he had temptations
27:58
like us. He had passions like us.
28:01
And so one I I learned from this that he, he he prayed based on
28:04
the word of God. But how do you even get to that
28:07
point to even say, you know I'm going to pray and ask God, based
28:11
on the scriptures to do something as big as what Elijah
28:14
prayed for? Do you know the Bible actually
28:19
tells us? How do you?
28:22
Do you want to know what the secret is for a person to look
28:25
out into America right now and be so moved by the decline and
28:29
the perversion that you say? You know I have to pray and ask
28:33
God to do something in my generation?
28:36
How? How do you even start that?
28:39
It's one thing to say, OK, church, we're going to pray for
28:41
a weekend and then in that meeting to be stirred for the
28:44
weekend and then after that we can just to go back to things as
28:46
they were normal. But how do you how do you get to
28:49
a place where as an individual your heart can be so burning for
28:52
this to be made manifest that you pray about it consistently
28:55
until it comes through? Go back to First Kings.
28:58
I argue it's because of something Elijah confesses about
29:01
himself and 1st Kings chapter 19.
29:07
Look at verse 10 First Kings 19, verse 10, he said.
29:16
I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts.
29:26
I believe that is where it all started with Elijah.
29:28
Even before his praying he was so jealous for the name of the
29:34
Lord. He was so jealous, for God's
29:36
sake, because he saw all these people turning their backs on
29:38
the Lord, worshipping false idols, and that jealousy so
29:42
rumbled in his soul. It's so burned his bosom that
29:44
he. He came before the Lord and he
29:47
said, Lord, you need to do something.
29:49
I am jealous for you. That's why I'm praying.
29:51
Would you intervene in this for your name's sake?
29:55
So this man's fervent prayers for the Lord to act was not to
29:58
vindicate his ministries, was not so that he can be known as
30:01
one of the greatest prophets in the world.
30:03
Was not so that he can be praised, Was not so that he can
30:05
be seen as a history, a hero in church history.
30:07
None of that he confesses. I am purely jealous for God.
30:16
It's amazing what a holy jealousy can do to a person.
30:19
You remember Phineas Wright, Phineas putting a stop to a
30:22
plague because he was jealous for the Lord and God even
30:25
admired Phineas for that. He was jealous for my name's
30:28
sake. What does it mean to feel
30:30
jealous for the Lord? So when you when you hear God's
30:33
name being blasphemy, and you see people defying his law, and
30:36
you see even in some cases Christianity and Christendom
30:39
compromising more and more, what does that do to you?
30:43
It should do something to you, should cause something in you to
30:46
be like. How can they do this?
30:51
How can this be done to the Lord, My Lord, my precious
30:55
Savior? How?
30:57
And that shouldn't cause you to be more self-righteous.
31:00
That shouldn't cause you to point the finger at others.
31:02
No, no. Before anything else it should
31:04
cause you to come before the Lord They blasphemy your name at
31:09
work. Lord, every time I go to work,
31:11
they out of all the thousands of millions of names that they use,
31:16
they blasphemy your name out of all the books that they can
31:19
mock. My family mocks the Bible and it
31:22
burns in my heart. And now I'm asking you to do
31:26
something in my life, through my life, in their lives.
31:29
Where you can make yourself known.
31:33
That's Elijah's secret to prayer.
31:35
The word of God in one place, but a heart that's feeling that.
31:39
A heart that's so in love with the Lord's glory and so devoted
31:43
to his 'cause that when you see anything violated, it causes you
31:48
to come before him, saying, Lord, do something.
31:51
You might not be a mighty conference speaker.
31:53
You might not be a George Whitfield or Jonathan Edwards
31:55
that brings sweeping revival in the land.
31:57
But you have your own world and you have your own part of God's
32:02
vineyard where you can come to a place where you feel this and it
32:06
causes you to be a man or a woman of prayer.
32:08
I'm reminded as I was studying this of Psalm 119, verse 126,
32:11
just in case you think that I'm speaking about an isolated case.
32:15
Psalm 119, verse 126. I remember hearing this in a
32:18
service many, many years ago when I first said and it's been
32:21
imprinted on my mind, especially in the days that we're living
32:24
in. It's been resurfacing.
32:26
Listen to this. It is time for the Lord to act.
32:29
Why? For your law has been broken.
32:33
Not an awesome verse. Lord, you need to do something
32:38
because they're breaking your law.
32:40
And just in case you think that that's a tone of a
32:42
self-righteous Pharisee, read around that verse and you
32:45
realize that this man even confesses streams of tear comes
32:50
down my eyes because they have broken your law.
32:52
This is a broken man. This is not an unexplainably
32:57
angry man. This is not a man who is just
32:59
looking for a fight. This is a man who has a tender
33:01
heart and even can't help himself in describing the word
33:04
of the Lord. Saying Lord, I see how precious
33:06
and awesome and wise your word is and hear a bunch of people
33:09
breaking it. Will you do something about it
33:13
to show yourself true? That's what the psalmist did.
33:16
If he was David, that's what David did.
33:18
That's what Elijah did. That's what Phineas did.
33:19
That's what the greatest men and women of God have done when they
33:24
first established in the hearts by the working of the Holy
33:26
Spirit of jealousy for God's name.
33:29
You can't work that self. Yourself into that?
33:32
That's got to be Holy Spirit inspired A final note about
33:37
Elijah's praying before we move on.
33:40
We're still in verse one and two here.
33:43
Actually, just one. Elijah's praying is connected.
33:49
To his powerful public ministry. In other words, you see how he's
33:53
unshakable in his stance publicly.
33:57
Do not forget that it started with fervent prayer in private
34:01
living and receiving from the Lord, and honest and humble
34:05
supplication is an overlooked secret to a powerful public
34:11
ministry. Elijah, according to James, was
34:14
praying, and because he was a praying man, he could be a bold
34:18
preaching man. Let's go to verse 2.
34:24
The clock is not my friend tonight.
34:27
And the word of the Lord in First Kings 17 verse two came to
34:31
him. Depart from here and turn
34:35
eastward and hide yourself by the brook Kareth which is east
34:39
of the Jordan. So as quickly as Elijah entered
34:42
into the scene, he exits. He shows up out of nowhere.
34:46
It gives a brief prophetic message and the Lord speaks to
34:49
him and says not get out of there, says the part, Turn
34:54
eastward. And hide yourself.
34:58
Why did Lord instruct him to escape?
35:00
I thought things were just getting started.
35:02
I mean, you called out the king. You would think.
35:04
All right, here we go. Round one.
35:07
No again. Just as quickly as he enters, he
35:10
evades. And I believe there are multiple
35:12
reasons for it. It's an indefinite amount of
35:16
time. The obvious one is for his
35:18
protection, because we're going to learn in the next chapter
35:20
that Ahab is so infuriated with this declaration that Elijah
35:24
makes that he calls for a national hunt, not just a
35:27
national hunt for an international investigation.
35:30
Imagine being that wanted even asked, the neighboring people
35:34
say, is Elijah hiding in your country?
35:35
Like that's how intense Ahab is and looking for Elijah to get
35:39
rid of him. So protection is the obvious
35:41
one, and I'm sure we can make many other safe speculations
35:45
that there is obviously provision.
35:46
Remember, there's a drought going on and the Lord's going to
35:48
take care of his servant. And not just provision.
35:52
But there is also a theme in the Bible that when the Lord takes
35:55
one or more of his people into the wilderness, that wilderness
35:59
season, if I can use that language, is often associated
36:02
with preparedness or preparation.
36:05
That God hides you. He clothes you and He makes you
36:10
obscure. And he brings you into isolation
36:12
to mold you for something that's to come.
36:16
And that's what you can say about this.
36:17
But one thing that is for certain is that this withdrawal
36:22
was a great call of faith on Elijah's part.
36:28
I want you to go somewhere. A palace.
36:31
A palace for the prophet. Some would preach that.
36:33
Yeah. OK, not a palace.
36:36
What about a home? Just like a nice, humble home.
36:39
Not even a home. Elijah, I want you to make your
36:44
residence your primary residence in the wilderness, and I want
36:49
you to do it during a drought. And so this man is about to do
36:56
something that perhaps would cause you to feel a little
36:58
uncomfortable or jerk. You know, you might think, well,
37:02
look, it's a hidden brook. That's a gift.
37:03
But how long would a hidden brook last?
37:05
With a devastating drought that would suck up all the life from
37:09
the earth. So Elijah hears this and we
37:13
don't get any reaction from him. But I wonder what the average
37:16
person might have felt hearing that you're supposed to go to
37:18
this brook and I'm going to have some birds feed you every day.
37:25
But notice the instruction was an optional.
37:28
He says depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself.
37:34
Why you shall drink from the brook, and I've commanded the
37:38
Ravens to. Feed you there.
37:40
So like many of God's commands, we might be tempted to question
37:43
His leadership as we look at the Word and we look at our
37:47
situation and we think there are better options in my mind than
37:50
what I know God says I should do, like talk to that person
37:53
that has done something to me or or give in this certain manner
37:56
or serve in the certain degree. I rather do ten other things
38:00
than in this example. Go to the Brook Kareth and wait
38:04
there every day for a Raven Butler's to come and drop off my
38:07
lunch. That sounds uncomfortable.
38:14
Often times obedience does make you feel uncomfortable.
38:17
But remember again, look at the language here.
38:19
Look, I want you to underline one word in verse 4 if you can.
38:22
If you do, if you're an underliner, verse 4 you shall
38:25
drink from the brook and I have commanded the Ravens to feed
38:28
you. He didn't just say feed you, he
38:29
said feed you. Where?
38:30
There. There.
38:35
In other words, Elijah, if you want to experience my provision,
38:38
you're going to have to go there.
38:41
If you want to experience my supervising grace, then you're
38:43
going to have to pack up your bags and go where I tell you to
38:46
go. And the principle from that is
38:49
simple, that the assurance of God's provision, protection,
38:53
blessing, call it what you want, is only reserved in the place of
38:57
obedience. No matter what you think about
39:01
the command and how it fits to your situation and how
39:04
inconvenient or impractical it may seem, God can only work and
39:09
move in that place where you choose to be, And that is the
39:13
place of obedience. Go there and I will meet you
39:16
there. Stay in the lane of obedience.
39:20
Keep yourself there and you will know God's blessing and as long
39:25
as He abided there, He was safe. As long as you remain in the
39:29
place of obedience, you are safe.
39:31
But there's more to learn from this.
39:33
Notice the two objects of provision.
39:35
Look at verse 3 again. Depart from here and turn
39:38
eastward and hide yourself by the brook.
39:40
Careth. Sounds pretty normal, right?
39:45
If I'm going to drink from something, I can see myself
39:48
drinking from a bubbling and streaming.
39:52
Body of water, and that's a picture of God's natural
39:55
provision in life. The Brook careth is is a picture
39:58
of God pointing out the obvious in our day-to-day.
40:02
But we should never disconnect even the practical providences
40:06
of God any less of his goodness toward us.
40:10
So go and just drink from this Brook and God gave you a job,
40:14
and you use that money to buy food and you use that money to
40:17
pay your utility bills so that you can have clean water and
40:20
running water. And you should never think for a
40:22
moment. No matter how used to it you
40:24
are, no matter how it's even just routine, that God is the
40:26
one behind that grace in your life.
40:28
Being experienced go by the brook.
40:31
I'm I'm going to provide you something that's just there and
40:34
it's going to benefit you. That's God.
40:37
What's not normal is Ravens. Coming as room service.
40:45
And that is a picture of God's not his natural provision, his
40:47
supernatural provision. And when God sees fit in your
40:51
life, he can do something out of the ordinary to make his
40:55
goodness known in your life. And that is what we see here.
40:58
We see two ways in which God provides for us naturally,
41:02
supernaturally. You look at the people of Israel
41:05
when they came out of the wilderness once they came into
41:07
the land of promise. And what was the description of
41:10
the promised Land? It was flowing with what?
41:12
Milk and honey. Once you see them coming into
41:15
the Promised Land, according to the book of Joshua, the manna
41:18
from heaven stopped. The man of heaven was
41:21
appropriate when they were in the wilderness.
41:23
That is a daily supernatural provision.
41:25
Once they came into a land that was fruitful and A and A and
41:29
abundance, that reigning of heaven stopped and they had to
41:32
get their hands to work and provide for themselves, though
41:34
God was still behind that natural provision go by the
41:37
brook. So yes your job and and you
41:41
being able to have enough in your coverage and and pay for
41:44
this and pay for that, that's God.
41:45
And when God needs to, He can do something out of the ordinary.
41:51
And there are many reasons why the Ravens are not normal.
41:56
There are many messages about these Ravens coming to Elijah
41:59
that you and I should pay good attention to.
42:01
The first thing is this that forgot to provide the Ravens to
42:04
deliver his lunch. And his dinner, Well, breakfast
42:09
and dinner, it's two meals a day, was a demonstration of how
42:14
he is absolutely sovereign over every created thing.
42:18
So let me remind you what God says about the Ravens himself.
42:22
It's in Job 38 verse 41. In Job 38 verse 41, after a
42:27
string of statements of God being unlike anything else and
42:30
anyone else, he says here in Job 38, verse 41, who provides for
42:35
the Raven? It's prey.
42:40
When it's young ones cry out to God for help and wander about
42:45
for lack of food. What's the answer?
42:48
God. God is the one who provides for
42:50
the Ravens. And with this in the background
42:52
of your mind, you come down to the story of Elijah and you you
42:56
realize the expansiveness of God's character and how he
42:59
meticulously sustains every stitch of the universe.
43:03
Because we see here that the God who provides for the Raven its
43:06
food, now uses Ravens to provide food for his servant.
43:12
So I'm going to provide the Raven its food, and then the
43:14
Raven is going to. I'm going to choose a couple of
43:16
Ravens, maybe, and now they're going to provide Elijah his
43:19
food. The way you're supposed to feel
43:23
about this is that God's resources are unlimited.
43:25
God's means of providing for me are absolutely endless.
43:29
Let me prove it to you. Go back to First Kings 17.
43:31
So he says here I'm going to command the Ravens.
43:34
Notice the word command. I've commanded the Ravens to
43:36
feed you there. Now, we're not going to touch on
43:37
this verse, but it's worth looking at.
43:39
Look at verse eight of First Kings 17.
43:42
Then the word of the Lord came to him.
43:44
Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell
43:47
there. Behold, I have commanded a widow
43:49
there to feed you. I could command the Ravens if I
43:54
want to feed you, Elijah. And this season is done.
43:57
The Ravens are retiring, so go to Zarephath.
44:00
And I've commanded a widow to feed you.
44:02
But it doesn't end there. Go to 1st Kings 19.
44:08
Look at verse 4. But he himself went a day's
44:12
journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom
44:15
tree, and he asked that he might die, saying it is enough now, Oh
44:18
Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my father's.
44:22
And he lay down and slept under a broom tree, and behold, an
44:25
Angel touched them, and set them arise and eat.
44:31
How much more proof do you need? It's pretty clear, right?
44:35
Here is 1 servant. And here are a manifold ways of
44:38
God taking care of him. All right, Elijah, go to the
44:40
brook. I'm going to send rave.
44:41
You OK? Ravens are done.
44:42
I'm going to send a widow. OK.
44:43
The widow is that I'm going to send an Angel.
44:46
Why are you so afraid of tomorrow?
44:49
Why are you so anxious? Why you have a God?
44:56
Who could command anything and anyone to serve his purposes in
45:00
your life and to sustain you? I know you want the Ravens to
45:06
bring grapes and wine and charcuterie boards, and no, he
45:13
brought him bread and meat. OK, so don't get frustrated when
45:17
luxury doesn't come your way, but he will sustain you and he
45:21
will give you the necessary fuel to be his servant.
45:27
But a second. Reason why this promise about
45:29
Ravens is so demanding of one's trust is because of the nature
45:32
of the instrument itself. In two different places in the
45:36
Bible, we were told that Ravens are unclean animals.
45:38
Not only are they unclean in one place, we're told that they are
45:41
an abomination. Wow, out of all.
45:45
The animals. You would think that in the
45:46
catalogue of the clean animals God would use to help his
45:49
servant, but no, he picks one from the list that they were not
45:53
supposed to eat. The lesson there is not that God
45:57
uses sinful things from time to time to get things done.
46:00
No, no, no. Because the prohibition with
46:02
Ravens is that they weren't to eat it, but to receive food from
46:04
them is no problem. The idea and the lesson here is
46:06
that God can use unexpected means to provide for you and to
46:11
bless you and to make His way and His will come through for
46:15
you unexpected. No Jew would expect if they were
46:19
to think how God was going to provide for me, in this case
46:22
Ravens doing his bidding. But that's the point because you
46:27
know how most Christians think about God moving in their lives
46:30
and providing in their lives. Will that be encouragement or
46:32
any other thing either God will do it directly in my life or God
46:36
will use? Christians, broaden your view of
46:40
how God works. You know God can do things that
46:43
you don't even see coming. God can use people that you
46:46
never thought. You know the Scripture says that
46:49
even the wrath of man will praise God.
46:54
Have you seen the hearts that God has influenced and moved to
46:58
do his will, who he's anointed, what empires, what governors to
47:07
fulfill his 'cause? I can tell you of stories,
47:10
listen to this, of unbelievers who have been answers to my
47:13
prayers in times of need, not Christians.
47:16
God has used Christians all the way through, and he still does.
47:18
But I can tell you of times where God is.
47:20
Shocked me and demanded more praise for me when an unbeliever
47:24
stepped into my life like a Raven and dropped something in
47:26
my hands where I said How did this happen?
47:29
You don't even believe in the same God that I believe in.
47:32
Why? Just so you can give God more
47:34
glory and so be open. And don't fail to.
47:41
Connect the Lord and things that you might not connect with the
47:44
Lord. So we see these Ravens coming
47:48
and look at the reaction of verse 5 S the first verse of the
47:51
first few words of verse 5. So he went and did according to
47:55
the word of the Lord. Don't you love that?
47:58
No questions, no like Lord so. I'm How are Ravens going to do
48:02
this? Exactly how long am I supposed
48:04
to Lord? Don't you know that I prayed for
48:07
a drought? You answered it.
48:08
And that water is not going to last very long.
48:11
So do you have, like an expiration date for me to be
48:13
here? Nothing.
48:19
All right, Go to the brook careth and Ravens will feed me.
48:21
I'm going. He didn't know how long he was
48:23
going to be there. He didn't know how long that
48:24
brook would last. Didn't know how the Ravens are
48:26
going to provide. But he did, according to the
48:27
word of the Lord. Obedience is sometimes
48:30
intimidating. But again, it is only there that
48:33
we can expect God's blessing. And that's why we're told that
48:36
Elijah look so he went and did. According to the word of the
48:39
Lord, he went and lived by the brook careth that is east of the
48:43
Jordan. I'm going to live here.
48:45
If God told me to go there, then I'm staying right here.
48:48
I am placing my tent here. I'm abiding here.
48:51
I'm dwelling here until God says otherwise.
48:57
But a quick note before we move on and conclude our study.
49:01
You already learned something about this man's character.
49:03
Even in these first few verses. Elijah's genuinely admired to be
49:07
a mighty prophet who stood before crowds of false prophets
49:11
and even a vacillating nation. And and even if he stood alone,
49:17
he felt like he stood alone. He just called everything out.
49:19
He preached. He prayed in public.
49:21
That's what he's known for, like this champion of the faith in a
49:24
day of apostasy. A preacher, right?
49:27
And good. You should admire him for such.
49:29
But notice that this man was not just a preacher of the word.
49:31
He didn't just come to Abe and says as the Lord lives, he he
49:34
didn't just declare the word of Lord, he did the word of the
49:36
Lord. Look at verse 5 again.
49:39
So he went and did. He did, according to the word of
49:43
the Lord. Those are the best kind of
49:45
preachers. The preachers that don't just
49:48
speak powerfully and and speak convincingly and winsomely know
49:51
the preachers actually do what God says.
49:54
And that's the kind of man that we are dealing with.
49:56
He did according to the word. He didn't just tell others to do
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it, he himself did it. And so don't be inspired by
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Elijah purely from the standpoint of public ministry.
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No. Appreciate this man for his
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private obedience when the Lord spoke to him individually.
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Says you go. There he goes.
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All right, Lord, I'll obey you. In fact, I would say that's more
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attractive than anything else. If a man preaches from that
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place, oh, they are the most effective servants of God.
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He did, according to the word of Lord.
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Now look at verse 6. And the Ravens brought him bread
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and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening.
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Bread and me. Not just bread, not just me.
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You know what I mean? He probably made sandwiches.
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Meat sandwiches in the morning. Meat sandwiches in the evening.
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And look at this. And he drank from the brook.
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Beautiful. How the Lord took care of him.
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Something happens in verse 7 and after a while the brook dried
50:59
up. Because there was no rain in the
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land. The brook dried up.
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Didn't the Lord know that the brook was going to dry up?
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Think the Lord was surprised? Oh, sorry I sent you there.
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I didn't know that the brook was going to dry up.
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No, he obviously knew the brook was going to dry up.
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It makes you wonder why we're not told how long Elijah was
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there by the brook. I wonder if it became common to
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him. I wonder after a few days that
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he expected the Ravens to come drop it off Like it.
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The shock factor was gone. Right?
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Like just the Ravens coming another day drinking from the
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brook. And then at a certain point that
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body of water began to lessen and diminish and you began to
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see the earth. And there's now became a few
51:51
puddles here and there. Why would the Lord go through
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all this effort, call this man to go in this direction, stay in
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a place in a drought only for this to be the consequence?
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In fact, look at verse 8 quickly and notice that the Lord spoke
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to Elijah with the next set of instructions only after the
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brook dried up. Then the word of the Lord came
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to him. You know your first exposure to
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Elijah and how he related to Lord should teach you many
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things, including this. God enjoys leading you and I
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step by step, step by step. You know, by the time Elijah
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revisits and confronts Ahab once again, it'll be three years.
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So between this and the rest of the chapter where he lives with
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this widow, he goes to Ahab. And it will be after three
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years. You know what?
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Most of us would really like, you know how most of us think
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God acts in our lives? That in the beginning of
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something He would give us the full schedule?
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Here's how most of us would like God to lead us in our lives.
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I need you to go to the Brook. Kareth Ravens will feed you
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there every single day. At some point, probably after
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two months, Elijah. Expect that brook to dry up.
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And once that brook dries up, I'm going to send you to
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Zarephath and Sidon. I know it's shocking.
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It's not in Israel, but I'm going to send you there.
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There's a widow. She's, she's already set at the
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right time. I'm going to tell her to provide
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for you. You're going to go there.
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She's going to have everything ready.
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You might have to challenge her a little bit, but she's going to
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receive from you. Then you're going to be there
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for a little bit. It's going to be wonderful.
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But then her son's going to die, and then you're going to raise
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him from the dead. I'm going to show my
53:27
resurrection power, even in that trial.
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And then what's going to happen is you're going to come before
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Ahab and it's going to be a little scary because all his
53:32
prophets are going to be there. But I'm going to tell.
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You It sounds silly and we're like, you know, we're laughing,
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but we're like, I kind of want that, though I do want that.
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That sounds really good. That's not how our God works in
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life. That's not how God leads you.
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That's not He enjoys leading you step by step because he wants
53:57
your faith to grow in every season.
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That's what he wants. And the only way that faith is
54:05
going to grow and mature and stretch and be more shiny and
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strong is if you don't get the full schedule, If you ever feel
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like God has maybe maybe getting a little bit more extra special
54:20
attention to this person or that person around you and who you
54:23
are feeling like you're at a crossroads or you're abandoned
54:25
and something just taken from you.
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Whatever the case may be with no answers, remember that God
54:29
treated Elijah that way, so you're in good company.
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Go to the brook. Not going to tell you when to
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leave. You know, like he could have
54:40
told them. Elijah heads up.
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The brook is going to drive. Don't be scared.
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No. He waits till the thing dries
54:44
up. Then he speaks to him.
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So even in that moment, I wonder what Elijah felt.
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It makes you wonder that for God to do this is a reminder for
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Elijah. Refocus and realign your faith
54:59
in me, ultimately. Not in this Brook, not in the
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Ravens, in me. And I think there's something
55:07
here that is so important that I believe resonates with every
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single one of us. And I'm ending here.
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There's something here so important because as we see,
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God's leadership as his Providence does lead us, and
55:19
sometimes in moments, he can make it so clear what you're
55:21
supposed to do. I believe God can do that.
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Who am I to say he can't? We tend to be tempted in times
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where we enter into a place where we believe.
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This is where obedience has led me.
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But here's now a challenge, and here's now an obstacle.
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And here's now something being if I can use this drying up, You
55:41
know what we're tempted to do in those moments?
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We've all entertained the thought.
55:45
At some point, you were in that place.
55:48
You were comfortable, you were celebrating the fact that God
55:51
brought you there through obedience, and now you're
55:54
wondering because of something that doesn't make sense.
55:56
Did God really lead me here? OK, let me help you relate it to
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life. You've prayed, you've sought
56:07
God. You waited on God, and you feel
56:09
like this is what God provided for you.
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And here you are now, and there's some kerfuffle.
56:13
There's some issue. There's some problem.
56:15
That's uncomfortable. Did God really lead me to this
56:18
Logo church? I'm I'm beginning to have second
56:20
thoughts about it. Here you Are you ready for this?
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Is this really? The person I'm supposed to be
56:28
married to, Is this the state that I'm supposed to live in?
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Like, for the first six months I was like, yeah, God brought me
56:37
here. And look at this wonderful
56:39
church I'm a part of and look at this group of friends.
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And if something happens, maybe you experienced your first
56:43
winter in Chicago. Am I supposed to be here if
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obedience brought you there? If you've prayed, if you like
56:55
Elijah, we're walking in alignment with God's will.
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You have no reason to doubt, no reason to question, and don't
57:02
allow these things to cause you to think otherwise.
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Not that Elijah did, but I think it's a wonderful illustration of
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where we might be tempted to do that.
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In those moments, remember Elijah and this moment of his
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life. The brook dried up not because
57:19
of disobedience, but because of his obedience.
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And this would ultimately do what?
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What? What would that do?
57:28
Cause him to depend on the Lord once again.
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He depend on the Lord all that time.
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And now he's going to depend on the Lord in a new way.
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And you know what? Let me make this very practical
57:36
and very personal to all of us when I thought about this this
57:39
afternoon. And all the different.
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Scenarios where that could be true right of being tempted to
57:45
rethink and reconsider God's leading in our lives.
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Look at us as a church. In the season, think about it.
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One person who's been part of this church that doubts that God
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brought us to four Seven O 1 N Canfield Ave. two years ago.
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God brought us here, no doubt about it.
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But what are we experiencing these days?
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If I can borrow. The language of first.
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Kings 17 The brook is drying up, isn't it?
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The brook is. Drying up.
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And it's getting challenging. But you know what shouldn't
58:16
cause you to fluster, shouldn't cause you to doubt, shouldn't
58:19
cause you to rethink. If God really LED us here to
58:22
begin with, you know God did leave us, lead us here.
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And God used not Ravens, not unclean things, not questionable
58:31
things, but a beautiful, gracious Polish congregation to
58:33
host us. And what's What are we to do
58:36
with? This I believe.
58:37
We're to do with it, if we can borrow the inspiration of First
58:40
Kings 17 and that point of Elijah's life that as things are
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drying up and we're thinking it's getting a little
58:46
comfortable and we're looking at, we're like it's a drought
58:48
out there too. All of that was just preparing,
58:53
Elijah. For the next thing.
58:57
If God brought Elijah up to that point, you think he's.
58:59
Going to let him shrivel up in the desert with that brook?
59:03
No, he doesn't. If he's brought you this far,
59:06
he'll bring you until the end. If he brought you this far, he
59:10
will begin a good working with you.
59:12
It's faithful to bring it to completion.
59:14
Let's pray. What a mighty God you are.
59:30
Elijah. Was a man.
59:32
With a nature like ours. Thank you, Lord, that you have
59:38
given us. Even in the New Testament.
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The invitation to draw inspiration from this man and
59:46
thank you that your word. Declares that these former.
59:48
Things that were written were written for our encouragement.
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Lord, we sit here today reminded of your faithfulness that you
1:00:00
are a God. Who takes greatest?
1:00:01
Delight in the faith of your people, and you put us in
1:00:04
predicaments and circumstances that would demand faith.
1:00:10
And Lord. We are here, yes, as a Church
1:00:12
experiencing something so similar.
1:00:16
And Lord. There is a very high chance
1:00:18
that. Many people in this room right
1:00:20
now who are going through their own challenges wondering, Lord,
1:00:24
what's next? May we be like Elijah, who did
1:00:28
not move until they knew what you had to say.
1:00:34
And we pray that you give us the ears to hear, the eyes to see
1:00:37
the right counsel, to receive clarity in the word of God, to
1:00:43
know how to make the most calculated and obedient move
1:00:47
possible. We love you, Lord.
1:00:52
Wow, there is no one like you and we thank.
1:00:57
You that you are the God. Who lives?
1:01:01
And we ask, Lord, that at the conclusion of this Bible study,
1:01:04
you would help us gird up our loins.
1:01:06
You would strengthen our knees so that we, like Elijah, can be
1:01:10
servants who stand before you, ready to do what you
1:01:13
commissioned us to do, whether it is convenient or scary,
1:01:19
profitable in the moment or not. Help.
1:01:21
Us Lord, be this. Bold, courageous people that you
1:01:25
want us? To be and to believe that you're
1:01:28
going to take. Care of us along the way, we
1:01:31
just. Sit in silence now, reflecting.
1:01:33
On these truths pouring out our hearts before you in Jesus name,
1:01:38
Amen. Yeah, the praise team can come.
1:01:43
I want to encourage you to do something just in holy
1:01:45
reverence. Just sit in your Pew and if you
1:01:49
want to remain seated while they play and sing the final song,
1:01:52
you can't do that as long as you are engaging with the Lord.
1:01:55
But even before we play right away, let's just I want to do
1:01:59
this. At least I hope you'll join me
1:02:00
in that. I want to just pause and sit
1:02:02
there and reflect on a few things with the Lord.
1:02:05
Express my heart to Him, and we can collectively express our
1:02:09
heart to Him and song. Can we do that just a minute or
1:02:12
two? Let's do that together.