1 Kings 19:9-21
Elijah • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Intro
Intro
Last week we left Elijah on the mountain of God
But before he got there, he had taken himself away from everything and put himself into the desert alone.
While he is there he prays to God,
1 Kings 19:4b
It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers
But the Lord doesn’t answer
Never before in Elijah’s story have we read of a prayer that God doesn’t answer
Yet, he doesn’t answer this one
Elijah is in this deep pit of despair, wrestling with his depression and struggling
Then Elijah wakes up to an angel who visits him twice with food, and the second time tells him to eat because the journey is too great for him
Where is he going?
To the mountain of God
We understand these kinds of feelings, we see the difficulty in life and how easy it is for us to find ourselves in the pit
Whatever that pit is:
It could be depression
Despair
habitual sin
emotional overload
loneliness
whatever it is, it is something that drives you into yourself to the point of deep despair, wondering “where are You, God?”
Even Elijah asks that the Lord would take his soul away from him because he is struggling so greatly
But God doesn’t answer
For the first time, God doesn’t answer
Yet, He sends an angel, a messenger to help strengthen Elijah on his journey back to the mountain of God
The Mountain of God
The Mountain of God
Read 19:9-10
Elijah, even after forty days of fasting, being left to himself to think of what has happened still is in a dismal state.
He is not doing well
Giving a three-fold answer to God
I have been zealous for You
The people have turned away from You
I am all alone
Elijah is missing so much
The people bowed to the Lord on Mount Carmel, he’s not alone
Yes, they did tear down God’s altars but they had turned back to Him again
Elijah is not done with his emotional dismay
Yet, the Lord meets with Him
What are you doing here, Elijah?
This question is a reproof for Elijah
I asked it to you all last week, too
Are you where you are supposed to be?
Or are you in the wilderness?
Maybe you have had moments where you have been on the mountaintop, but recently you are not where you want to be
You’re struggling, and in that struggle you have run from the people of God into the wilderness, to worldly things or to sin for comfort and stability
What are you doing here?
Even in Elijah’s dismay the Lord doesn’t abandon him
The question is a reproof, but it is not an act of punishment against Elijah
Elijah is brought to the mountain of God where he hears His voice asking what he is doing, which should direct him to the realization that he is not where he should be
Yet, he answers in a way that demonstrates his heart is not where it should be in this moment either
Of course, the Lord knows this because He measures the heart
But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
When I ask you, “What are you doing here?”
What will your heart show?
Are you where the Lord has called you to be? Or, are you wandering in the wilderness, stuck in deep dark dismay?
I have good news for you if you are here, the Lord sought to meet with Elijah
He wants to meet with you today too
I. The Lord Seeks To Meet With His People
I. The Lord Seeks To Meet With His People
Elijah comes to the mountain of God and what happens?
And behold, the word of the LORD came to him
Do you remember the Hebrew word that I taught you last week?
Hinney
It means “behold”
Do you remember how many times we have seen it so far?
and behold an angel
and behold food
and behold the word of the Lord
In Elijah’s dismay and his prayer that the Lord would take his soul away from him
Behold the word of the Lord came to him
Calling Elijah
The Lord seeks to meet with you too, He desires for you to remain close to Him
But God doesn’t only speak to Elijah, He passes by him
Read 19:11-14
The Lord passes by Elijah
Go onto the mount and stand before the Lord!
and Hinney the Lord passed by
And a great wind rendered the mountain
tearing it apart, breaking rocks and stones to pieces before the Lord
But the Lord was not in the wind
And an earthquake rumbled
Shaking the mountain at its roots
But the Lord was not in the earthquake
And fire rained down on the mountain
But the Lord was not in the fire
And after the fire, the sound of a low silence
Or, the sound of a silent whisper
at this faint voice what is the response?
Elijah covered his face
At no other point in the theophany did Elijah cover his face
Not in the wind, not the earthquake, not in the fire
Here, in the silent whisper he covers his face, we are in the presence of the Lord
And Elijah goes out to stand at the entrance of the cave
and Hinney there came a voice to him and said,
What are you doing here, Elijah?
The Lord will show up in many mysterious ways, He presents Himself to Elijah here in a silent whisper
But forty days prior He burned the entire altar on Mount Carmel for everyone to see
Yet the mission remains the same
II. My Circumstances Change, God Doesn’t
II. My Circumstances Change, God Doesn’t
You may be in the disparity of wilderness, but the Lord wants to meet with you
I told you last week to return to the mountain of the Lord
Meet with Him, pray, read His word, spend time with Him and you will discover that He has not changed
Though the circumstances of your life may change and life will get more difficult and darker, or perhaps it has gotten lighter the Lord is still there with you continuing to lead you further into communion with Him
Do you know how I know this?
Because,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”) For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
The first point that I gave to you tonight was that God wants to meet with you
He does, so much so that Jesus would come and die so that you and I could live in communion with Him
You see, your sins separate you from Him, they keep you within yourself
And the Lord is a God of justice and because of that wickedness and sin must be punished
But
He is also a God of mercy
And in that mercy, Jesus Christ came, suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried; and on the third day rose again
He atoned for the sins that you hadn’t even committed yet
All so that you could live with Him!
You need to go to Him
And if you have never done that, then tonight is the night
The Lord wants to meet with you
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Who desires all to be saved
But there is only one way and that is through Christ
Paul tells us that
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
The Lord sees you in your distress and difficulty and desires to meet with you and if you have never made that decision then pray with me now
Lord...
The Lord wants to meet with His people
Those who are brand new to the faith and have recently made commitments
Like the people of Israel atop Mount Carmel
And those who have known the Lord for some time but may be lost in the wilderness
All of us should make it a practice to hear the question asked
“What are you doing here?”
God asks Elijah again after this amazing display of His power and Elijah responds in the same way that he began with
He is not done in his misery
But the Lord isn’t done with Him
Read 19:15-18
God is not done with Elijah, instead He gives Elijah a new commission
This is the address to Elijah’s complaint
Elijah says that he has been very zealous for the Lord
God sends him back into the mission field
Go, return is the statement preceeding the work that is going to take place
Elijah is still feeling these things but the Lord sends him back into the fight against Baal, he sends him back out to battle
There are three states of anointing
The first is Hazael over Aram which was not part of Israel, mind you
The second is the anointing of Jehu as the new king of Israel
Finally, it is the anointing of Elisha who would help Elijah in his ministry going forward
Of these three, only Elisha is anointed by Elijah, the other two are anointed by Elijah and as his successor we see the original prophet standing behind each appointment
Then the Lord gives him insight to His plan
And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
God tells Elijah of the end of Baal and what would one day happen
The process that began with Elijah would be finished by others, but it would be finished.
Elijah was not doing well, but the Lord gave him a new perspective on ministry
He wasn’t the plan itself, he was a part of a much larger plan
I am not the plan, I am a part of the plan that the Lord has for each of you
What then should we do?
We move from dismay to destiny
We return to the mountain of God, we return to Him, praying, studying His word, spending time with Him
And we remember that ministry is about the other
We know the Lord wants to meet with us, but what does He want us to do next?
Pastor B, I get the part that God wants to meet with me, but what do I do after that, what does He want me to do next?
After the resurrection of Jesus He ascended into heaven
But before the ascension He gives instruction to His disciples
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
I love that last part, I am with you always
This is the great commission and it is for you too
This commission was not only for the eleven, it is for all the followers of Christ
Your mission is to go to the people around you and show them the love of Christ
Elijah is sent back out into the mission field
You too are being sent out into the mission field
People don’t worship Baal anymore
But they worship something
In your time in the wilderness you probably experienced some of the idols that people worship
And it’s time that they return to the Lord
He wants to meet with them just as He wants to meet with you
And you might just be the step that the Lord uses to bring His people back to Him
Don’t miss the call tonight
Go, return to your schools and the Lord will show you the people that you need to talk to
And here’s a hint, it’s like everyone
But you don’t need to go alone
You have people that go to your school too that are Christian, some of them are with you right now
Do this together
With a friend group or a team that you are a part of
share the Name of the Lord
and when they start asking you about this stuff, invite them to the house of God, if you haven’t noticed there’s a lot of space left in this room. Let’s see what the Lord will do through you right here
Pray
