Becoming a Godly Person

October 6th 2024

Series: Days of Elijah

Sermon Title: Elijah – Becoming a Godly Person

Topic:Journey through the life of Elijah to learn how he became an incredible man of God.

Key Passages: 1 Kings 16: 1-24

Topic: Elijah, Obedience, Miracle

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message, we will see how Elijah was crafted by hardship into a GREAT man of God.

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Sermon:

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I have been looking forward to this part of our series for quite a while.

We will spend the next four weeks studying the life of one of the most amazing prophets in the Bible.

We will study a guy named Elijah.

Elijah was a man who dedicated his life to God’s mission.

Grab your Bibles. Let’s open them up to the book of I Kings.

I Kings, chapter 16 is where we first meet Elijah.

And I am excited to dive into his life and see what we can learn! 1 Kings 16

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As you are getting to 1 Kings 16, I will give you some context of the time period that we are studying.

If you have been here for a while, you will remember that the Book of 1st Kings describes the division of Israel into the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom.

Here is a map of that

The Northern Kingdom had nineteen consecutive EVIL kings, spanning about two hundred years!

Now, let me just let this sink in for a minute.

Imagine not just nineteen ineffective leaders…

But imagine nineteen consecutive EVIL leaders of our country!!!

This was a time in which Elijah lived!

Some of you think we live in bad times.

The times Elijah lived in were far worse.

In fact, the king, at this point, was the evilest of them all, and he was married to an evil woman named Jezebel.

You have a power couple that is evil to their core, which should help you grasp the environment Elijah lived in.

The Bible says in

1 Kings 16:30, “Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him.”

Think about that for a second.

This king did MORE evil than anyone before!

And that is the environment in which Elijah lives…

PAUSE

If you look in your Bible at verses 32 and beyond, you will see that he also began worshiping false gods.

Part of worshipping these false gods involved people sacrificing their children.

They would also go into their places of worship and engage in sexual activities with prostitutes and call it worship.

And I could go further…..

But do you get the picture?

This is a VERY dark, dark time.

PAUSE

And into this dark world, God will use this guy named Elijah.

I have talked about this before, but God OFTEN uses one very UNLIKELY person to change their world and Elijah is one such example.

And I would argue that God may want to do something very similar in today's world.

God may raise up one student to take a stand for purity.

God may raise up a business leader today who will advocate for integrity in a business that lacks it.

God may raise up one person here today to go into politics … to take a stand for Godly values in politics.

God often raises up ONE person to make a big difference.

PAUSE

Let’s pick up the story.

The first time we see Elijah is in verse 1 of I Kings, chapter 17.

1 Kings 17: 1Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead,

So, we first hear where Elijah is from.

And next, we see him talking to the king.

Elijah said,

said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

Now, if this were a movie, the music would go, “bum bum bum!”

He just told the king that God told him that God was going to punish ALL the people for the evil of the kings!

Look at what he says….

He said NO RAIN….NOT just for not for the next few days!!!!

NOT just a few weeks or months…

BUT NO RAIN until Elijah says it will rain!

Now, to put that into context, we have a lot of people talking today about being in a global economic slowdown.

This would have been an economic shutdown.

At that time, the world was driven by agriculture.

No rain effectively shut everything down.

In our world, it would mean you can’t get gas at the gas stations.

It would mean that today, the banks would go belly up.

You won’t have electricity at your home.

Life, as you know it, we end. There will be people starving to death.

PAUSE

Can you imagine the tremendous faith it took for Elijah to say this to the king of his country?

Can you imagine if God called you to say something like that to our President?

What would you do?

Would you be willing to?

What if God called you to call out the sin of your boss, teacher, major, whomever…

If God called YOU to speak prophecy to someone else, would you?

PAUSE

We have no idea how the King responded because Scripture does not say.

But we do know he did not kill or imprison Elijah.

My guess is he let him go laughing…thinking Elijah was a madman.

Just like most people would today if you did!

Let’s keep reading our Bibles…. Verse 2

“2 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: 3 “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.

4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.

6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”

God takes Elijah to a place where it is just Elijah, God, and some birds.

God takes Elijah away, I believe, so that God can work on Elijah’s heart.

So, God can teach Elijah something.

We are going to see God shape Elijah.

It is almost as if God is saying, “There’s so much more I need to do in you, because there’s so much more I want to do through you.”

Here is the point, church…write this down.

Isolation can actually be a season of preparation.

Repeat

Elijah is all alone.

He has no one else to call out to in this time of hiding but God!

He is hiding in Kerith Ravine.

And interestingly enough, Kerith in Hebrew means to cut off.

It means to be cut off from the source.

To be cut down like you would chop down a tree.

And you could almost sense what God is saying here. It’s as if God is saying:

I’m going to take you through a season of reshaping.

I’m going to cut you down.

I’m going to humble you.

I’m going to teach you to be totally dependent on Me.

I’m going to humble you privately before I use you publicly.

I’m going to do something in you that’s very, very deep, so later on, you can do more than you ever thought possible.

Maybe you are in a Kerith Ravine today.

Maybe you are in a season of pain.

Maybe you feel like God has abandoned you.

Maybe you feel like you are all alone.

Maybe you find yourself asking, “Where is God?”

Where is God?

And the reality is, often God is there BUT we can’t see him because of the deep work he is doing in our lives is too painful to see through….

Sometimes, we NEED to be broken.

NEED to be cut down.

NEED to learn to depend on God.

NEED to lean into the leading of the Holy Spirit.

PAUSE

Share a person example from your life that ties to you learning to listen and follow…

I will never forget when I first decided to go into ministry. I called the Pastor I had known the longest to talk to him, my high school youth Pastor.

He told me, “Adam, that is great news, but…if you can imagine yourself doing anything else…DO IT!”

I was shocked and didn’t know how to respond.

He said, “Adam, the ministry is the hardest job in the world, and it will break you. It will hurt you. It will stretch you beyond anything you can imagine. And if you can feel the call to anything else, you will give up.” “Now, on the other hand, if that is your singular passion…you can endure anything.”

And now I have been in ministry for a long time…

And he was right!!

God has had to cut me down so many times!

Jenny and I have had to endure extended seasons of pain.

BUT…..

I have learned that ALL of it was because God wanted to do something through us…

We have to get out of His way!

He had to cut us down….

And it hurts….

I’ve been through a few Kerith Ravines.

Maybe you are in that place today.

Maybe you feel so alone.

You feel isolated….

You’re breaking….

You’re hurting…..

You’re in the Kerith Ravine.

Elijah was there for a LONG time, all alone, nobody to talk to.

How do we know it was a long time?

Because in verse 7 it says:

“7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.”

That does not happen in a few weeks.

That takes months to happen, if not the better part of a year!

For those of you who are in the Kerith Ravine, I want you to be encouraged!

You are in a season where you can become closer to God!

Isolation can lead to preparation!

God is molding you right now!

God is preparing you for something right now!

Because oftentimes…write this down…

Isolation can help us learn total dependence on God.

Repeat

That is where Elijah is in the Bible…

If God does not provide… Elisha is in trouble!

PAUSE

Now let me remind you of something…

Go back to the Bible, and let’s read verses 4, 5, and 6 again.

“4 You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

5 So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.

6 The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.”

Elijah went where God told him to go.

The ravens brought him bread and meat, and he drank from the brook.

First thing, those of you who are against meat and are vegetarians or vegans…note God brought him meat!

Praise God for meat!

There is nothing better than some steak or brisket or ribs on Sunday after church….

Can I get an AMEN to that???

If anyone is making some steak or brisket for lunch, feel free to invite me over!!!

PAUSE

God sends him to a place where, even during a drought, he has water.

He also has God’s Heavenly catering service.

These birds go out and find bread and meat, and every morning and every evening, they deliver them straight to the prophet.

Elijah is VERY clearly learning total dependence on God.

That God is his provider.

Maybe you are in a hard season to learn to depend on God.

Like this story, I heard about…. a single mom who LOVED God and lived by a Satanist who did NOT love God.

This mom would pray every day, very LOUDLY in her apartment. She would pray to God and worship Him for His provision.

She lived next door to an atheist who hated hearing her prayers through the very thin walls.

She would worship God, and the atheist would come over and say, “Lady, you’re a fool. There is no God.”

And one week, when there was more months left than money, she was crying out to God, “Oh, God, You’ve always provided for me. You’ve always been faithful. I know You’ll come through again. Oh, God, please provide food for my children.”

The atheist had had enough, so he immediately went to the grocery store, bought several bags of food, brought it back to the woman’s apartment, put it right on the front of her door, knocked on the door, ran, and hid in his apartment.

She came out. She saw the food and cried out, “Oh, God, You’re so good. Thank You so much. Oh, it’s so amazing!”

And the neighbor jumped out and said, “You fool! There is no God. God didn’t do that. I did it just to prove to you that there is no God,” and she worshipped God all the more.

And she said, “Thank You! I love how you helped provide for my needs..

And I love even more that God used the devil to pay the bill!”

PAUSE

God can provide by any means!!!

Here is the part of this passage I want everyone to take notice of, and it is how God does things throughout the Bible!

God didn’t give him two days’ worth of food. God didn’t give him a week’s worth of food. God didn’t give him a three-month supply. What did God give him?

Only what he needed for each meal!!!!

Some of you need to hear this…..

You are in a season where you’re hurting, and you’re alone, and you’re afraid, but guess what?

When we are walking with God, He delivers enough for the moment we are in.

When you’re uncomfortable and afraid, God says, “I will be your comfort for today.”

When you don’t have much, God says, “I will be your provision for today.

When you feel weak, God says, “I will be your strength for today.”

When your friends leave you, God says, “I will be your friend for the day.”

God doesn’t say I will bring you MORE than you need, but I will bring ONLY what you ACTUALLY need.

Elijah was learning to depend on God throughout the day.

God was teaching him.

God was breaking him.

Cutting him.

Humbling him.

Teaching him total dependence.

God was teaching him something that we ALL need to learn.

A key to becoming a Godly person is learning unconditional obedience.

Repeat

This is something we see in the Old Testament and the New Testament! God does not want to be second fiddle in any of our lives.

God wants us to listen to the Holy Spirit and obey His leadership!

And that is the beauty of times of isolation…

Isolation can prepare us.

Isolation can teach us to depend on God.

Isolation can lead us to obey God.

Now, let’s keep reading and learning...

7 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Now, let’s put ourselves in the prophet’s place.

It’s been a long time, and God has always provided.

Now the brook dries up….

What would you be thinking?

PAUSE

In my mind, I would be thinking…

Ummmmm….God I need water…

Did I do something wrong?

Why would YOU…GOD… allow MY source to dry up?

What I have learned in life is that we need our brook to dry up, or we will NEVER leave…

If we have everything we NEED, we might not go where God needs us to go.

Let me say that again!

Sometimes we need our brook to dry up, or we will NEVER leave...

If we have everything we NEED, we might not go where God needs us to go.

Some of you right now, you may be going, “God!!! My brook is drying up!”

I used to be able to trust in my job, but I’m not sure I can trust in my job, anymore.

GOD!!!! I used to have this nest egg—a 401K. Now, it’s a 201K. My brook’s drying up.

GOD!!! I used to have all these good friends, but now I have NONE!

GOD!!! I used to have a good marriage, but then my marriage dried up.

GOD!!!! I used to be close to you, and now I cannot feel you!

We cannot forget that God sometimes guides us by what He does not provide!

The brook dried up…. but for a reason…Let’s see…verse 8…

8 Then the word of the Lord came to him: 9 “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.”

God said, “Go, go to Zarephath…..to a widow…”

Sometimes, God calls us to do things that will not make sense!

Keep this in context….

Think about this FULL picture for Elijah…

It starts with, “Hey Elijah….go tell the most evil and powerful person in the land it will not rain until you say it is!

Then take off for this ravine, and I will provide for you.

NOW travel around 100 miles across this now barren desert land, and I have a widow that will provide for you.

Sound crazy to anyone????

PAUSE

Verse 10…. Elijah has just traveled like 100 miles cross-country…

Remember, this is during a drought, so he has likely eaten and drank little to nothing…

“10 So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked,

“Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?”

11 As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

And listen to what she says….

12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug.

I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”

She has to be thinking, “Are you the only guy who doesn’t know, it hasn’t rained, and everyone is dying?”

But look at what he says in response…Verse 13,

13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said.

But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.

14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”

I LOVE this!!!

Elijah says go back and make me a delicious baguetl!

He says if you do, the flour & oil will never run out!

You will have ENDLESS baguets!

For those of you who grew up that is why the original version of the doxology was, “Praise God from whom all baguets flow.”

LOL

Verse 15…

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.

For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keep with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

But then, one day, tragedy struck, and the son died mysteriously. And listen to what the mother said…

17 Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.

18 She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

Momma freaked out, as you would expect, and said, “Is this God’s judgment on me?

She says, “Elijah, did you come here so this would happen?”

And Elijah, because of all that had happened, because God was shaping him, did something that, to our knowledge, had never happened before in history.

Verse 19,

19 “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed.

20 Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?”

21 Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

22 The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.

23 Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”

He made a GIANT leap of faith!

He takes a dead boy and prays to God, who has ALWAYS provided for him, and says,

“God, I think you could heal this kid. I’m asking You to do it.”

And God raises a dead boy to life.

Why did he have that kind of faith???

Because he saw God do a miracle through him by stopping the rain.

Because God took him to the Kerith Ravine, where he was cut down.

God took him to a season of total dependence, where he couldn’t depend on anything at all but God and God alone.

Then, God dried up the brook so that he would leave where he was to go to where God ultimately wanted him.

So, he could perform ANOTHER miracle with flour and oil.

So, he could perform ANOTHER miracle and raise the dead back to life.

It is hard being shaped into a Godly person.

PAUSE

Come back next week and you will see even greater faith and courage!!!!

But you have to come back to see what he does!

Let me close with this….

In Verse 1, Elijah was described as Elijah the Tishbite.

He was known for where he was from.

Twenty-three verses later, he’s not known for where he’s from, but instead, for whom he’s from.

Look at how the story changes.

Verse 24, the end of the chapter, says this...

“24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

This widow says, “I know that you are a,” what? What does it say!

A MAN OF GOD!

And what flows out of a man or woman of God? What does it say?

“the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth.”

God may allow you to go through the Kerith Ravine, so one day, someone could look at you and say, “Now, I know. I see it. I see it. I see. You are a Godly person!”

And I’ll tell you right now: I praise God for all the pain and shaping I have experienced!

All the hurt and all the brokenness.

All the supernatural provision!

Because I pray that when people look at me today, they won’t say, “Oh, yeah, there’s Pastor Adam Grill, that guy from Michigan.”

But instead, “Oh, there’s Pastor Adam Grill. He’s not perfect, but we know he is a man of God.”

Life Application: Every day this week, pray to God and say, “God, do whatever you need to do in my life to shape me into a Godly person!” As a result of today’s message, I will _________________________.

Prayer:

Make sure to do salvation call!

Offering: