When God Calls You to Stand For Him (2)

1 Kings 18

When God Calls you to Stand for Him

I. Introduction

A. The church is beginning to be known by its problem children – Swaggart, Bakker, Ted Haggard, Benny Hinn. Where are the Billy Graham’s of the church who will stand for righteousness.

A. Context and story

B. Split kingdom – Jeroboam, Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, Ahab

II. Heed the Word of the LORD (17:1; 18:1)

A. Exegesis

1. Both chapters begin with the words, “And the Word of the LORD came to…”

2. Elijah is against the king and most everyone in the kingdom, but God is working through Him

3. Things that Elijah did

a) He spoke a curse upon the king – drought – ramifications for the king

b) Goes where God told him – Cherith and then to Zarephath

c) Fed by ravens – they get their food from dead carcasses

d) Re-confronts the king after three years – tells him that he has abandoned the commandments of the Lord – Ahab does not heed the Word of the Lord (18:18)

B. Illustration – Martin Luther

C. Application

1. Faith in the true and living God begins with listening – knowing and doing the will of God

2. What makes your ministry so different is that you call on people to take basic biblical principles of stewardship and apply them no matter how it makes them look to the rest of the world.

3. Take it one step further and realize that this world does not change apart from us heeding the word of the LORD –

4. What we are seeing in the degradation of society (politics, ethics, morals) are a result of not heeding the word of the LORD

5. Eternal differences are never made by people who do not heed the word of the LORD

III. Be a Trouble-maker (18:17)

A. Illustration – Hugh Lattimer

B. Exegesis

1. When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is it you, of troubler of Israel?” (18:17)

2. Now understand, it is not Elijah who is the troubler of Israel, but the king, himself

3. Elijah gets the distinction of being a troubler because he is the one speaking the truth

C. Application

1. One of the things I love when I listen to the show is when people call in and try to convince Dave that they need a credit card for this or that. The answer is always going to be what is right – You don’t need it

2. The same is true of us spiritually. What we need is a church, God’s people willing to stand up for what is absolutely right even if we are seen as troublemakers

3. We have a dumbed-down and puny, ineffective church with no power today because we have no troublers

a) Illustration – I have a friend who pastored a church for one week. He found out the children’s director was living with a man that she was not married to. When he confronted it, the church said that he was a trouble maker and made him leave

4. Change doesn’t come until we are willing to stand up for the word of the LORD!

IV. Be single-mindedly devoted to God (18:22)

A. Illustration -

B. Exegesis

1. When he confronts the prophets of Baal, he says to them, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is following God, follow Him; but, if Baal, then follow him.”

a) The word for “go limping” is “pasach” – same as the word for the Passover. It means to skip over something without engaging it or confronting it – they needed to decide on a god

2. Contrary to modern thought, the people of Israel did not just constantly turn completely away from God. They just wanted to get a little bit of God when that fit their need, but then they could run to Baal for all of their fertility needs.

3. They wanted whatever fit their needs

4. The way Elijah saw it, those other gods were nothing –

a) There was no voice, and no one answered AND THEY LIMPED AROUND THE ALTER THEY MADE (26)

b) There was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention

c) Elijah mocks them (27)

C. Application

1. We must remember that God is god alone

2. We must be single-mindedly devoted to him, and not to this world

V. Expect God to be amazing (18:30-40)

A. Exegesis

1. Elijah asked God to do the impossible

2. He expected that God would act upon His word and be faithful

3. Elijah expected that God’s glory would be shown in His great acts

B. Application

1. We need to believe that God can do great things, also

2. We need to pray for power in the church and expect God to change and transform lives

3. We need to pray that the church can make a difference in a world gone mad and then believe that He can!

C. Illustration - Just this past Sunday a couple from our FPU class relayed to me that they had been under conviction, because of the class, to begin to tithe. They had never been tithers before and they knew that their income to debt ratio was not going to allow them to tithe a full ten percent. They decided to start small, at three percent, and build up from there. Since the beginning of the year they have been giving their three percent faithfully (all four weeks). The cool thing is that this young military couple did their taxes and found, unexpectedly, that they are receiving an $11K return. You know what the cool thing is? Guess what their remaining debt was? $11K. Now I praise Dave and this organization for what you have done and what you have taught this family, but not even Dave could have landed them this unexpected tax return. I won’t even give credit to the IRS or the new president. You know who took care of this family? God did. That is the power that drives the Christian life.

VI. Conclusion

Henry VIII – Started the Church of England over a dispute with the pope who would not annul his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. When he did not like the truth of the church he started his own denomination

The same man beheaded his own wife, Anne Boleyn, after she could not give birth to a son.

Hugh Lattimer once preached before King Henry VIII. Henry was greatly displeased by the boldness in the sermon and ordered Lattimer to preach again on the following Sunday and apologize for the offence he had given. The next Sunday, after reading his text, he thus began his sermon: "Hugh Lattimer, dost thou know before whom thou are this day to speak? To the high and mighty monarch, the king's most excellent majesty, who can take away thy life, if thou offendest. Therefore, take heed that thou speakest not a word that may displease. But then consider well, Hugh, dost thou not know from whence thou comest--upon Whose message thou are sent? Even by the great and mighty God, Who is all-present and Who beholdeth all thy ways and Who is able to cast thy soul into hell! Therefore, take care that thou deliverest thy message faithfully." He then preached the same sermon he had preached the preceeding Sunday--and with considerably more energy.

Martin Luther

After the 95 thesis or, “Disputation of Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences”

Diet of Worms

Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Here I stand. I can do no other. Amen.