When Determination Turns To Discouragement
Who Are You? • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 31 viewsWhen the determination of a prophet turns to discouragement God steps in to show that he never wavers.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Intro
Intro
Much time had passed since Elijah the great prophet had first come on the scene. He had come to proclaim a drought because of the evil king Ahab and his special kind of evil wife Jezebel who promoted the worship of the false God Baal.
Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.
When Elijah comes on the scene he announces what it is that God is going to bring about a drought that will end up lasting over 3 years. &
1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.”
25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land;
After the announcement he must hide. God provides for hi by having ravens feed him.
The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening; and he drank from the brook.
When the water dries up because of the drought, God uses a poor widow with a sick child to provide for the prophet.
12 So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”
13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ”
God then uses Elijah to raise the widows son back to life when he dies of an illness.
21 And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” 22 Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.
While Elijah was in hiding Jezebel had been killing many of God’s prophets. But when Elijah returns to call an end to the drought by God he has a competition on Mount Carmel. Elijah, the prophet of God versus 450 Baal prophets.
22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the Lord; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men.
Baals prophets fail miserably in the challenge and then Elijah calls on God to do the impossible and God does just that!
38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”
The drought ends, the prophets of Baal are killed, and victory seemed imminent. But it was not.
1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” 3 And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, “It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!”
Elijah had been faithful to God and did many wonderful works yet now he is in a place to where he wishes to die. He’s tired of being tired. Every time that he has been obedient to God there was another problem waiting for him. Now Elijah KNOWS that his luck has run out because the mighty prophet assassin by the name of Jezebel is out to get him! This prophet, once determined to accomplish the work of God, is now discouraged to the point of death.
From Mountain High to Wilderness Low
From Mountain High to Wilderness Low
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 kings 19:9-13
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
When faced with dilemmas in life do we return to the place where we know God to be?
Elijah returns to Mount Horeb (Mt. Sinai)
The place where Moses and God showed out.
Do we return to where we first met him?
The Bible
Sunday Worship
Other Christians
We cannot hear from God where he is not present.
10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
Elijah led a faithful life and still was on the run!
The people who forsook God were not
Why does God allow people who oppose Him to do better than those who obey?
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
1 kings 19
Strong Winds, Earthquakes, Fire
Forsaken covenants, broken altars, killed prophets OH MY!
Elijah is broken, the very people he was to speak God’s word to were rejecting him and God!
God had acted in miraculous and very strong ways in the days of Moses but when he tells Elijah to come behold Him he is in none of those things!
“still small voice”
Are we focused enough to not miss the small voice/silence?
1 Kings 19
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
10 So he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
11 Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
14 And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”
Elijah is asked by God to know himself. V9
Elijah feels alone V10
He is the only one left to stay faithful to God.
Verses 11-13
God tries to teach
When We Go From The Mountain To The Valley
When We Go From The Mountain To The Valley
When we cease to see God active in our lives
Do we abandon His word?
Are we listening for the voice of the Lord?
Is our focus outward (other people forsaking God) instead of inward?
Are we going back to our mountaintop experiences?
Elijah went back to the place where God began the covenant relationship with His people.
Do we go back to where we began?
Are we putting God in a box?
Strong wind, earthquake, consuming fire
Could it be possible that God can work through more than great miracles?
Are we refusing to hear God?
Elijah heard God but he wasn’t listening.
Taking in audible sound but not processing it...
How long are we going to stay in a place that God doesn’t mean for us to be?
God Doesn’t Sleep
God Doesn’t Sleep
When Elijah hit rock bottom he heard the word of God.
Are we sticking with God in times of sorrow?
Elijah spoke to God about what was going on with him. V10
Do we talk with God about our problems?
Elijah’s was distracted by the Children of Israel and Jezebel V10
Is focus lost on the minute and finite instead of the great and infinite?
Elijah felt alone V10
Are we ever really alone with God?
When God presents himself are we paying attention? V11-13
Behold the Lord V11
Mountaintop Experience (He’s at Mount Sinai, the place where he showed out with Moses for the Children of Israel)
When we run into trouble do we go to where we found God in the first place?
Strong Winds, Earthquakes, Fire V11-12
Is our expectation of God accurate?
Is it possible that we can bottle up and put a limit to the ways in which God works?
“a still small voice” “sheer silence” V12
Are we missing the greatness of God due to our standards?
God wants us to know our purpose V13
Are we expecting God to spoon feed us?
15-
15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.
1 kings 19 15-18
15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria.
16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.
17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.
18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Can we mature with God?
While Elijah has been busy with the business of God, God had never stopped being God!
He molded Hazael to be king over Syria, Jehu to reign as king over Israel, and Elisha to take the place of Elijah!
While we slumber God is in strategy mode! Setting things in order that are unseen!
17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill.
1 kings 19 17
God is showing Elijah that he has no need to worry about Jezebel. Any enemy of Elijah has to deal with multiple people before it is said and done!
God says He can “Touch” anyone from afar!
18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
If it isn’t enough that God has leaders who are set to fill in important roles God says...
Elijah you are not alone in the fight against the false God Baal! I have reserved 7,000!
God shows Elijah in his discouragement that while he may have thought that he was the one to overcome the worship of the false God Baal, he was just a stairway to the next level. Elijah became discouraged because his problem was not solved in his time. Elijah was the spark that propelled the movement of the elimination of Baal.
We Ought To Go To Sleep And Let God Work!
We Ought To Go To Sleep And Let God Work!
In our lives we experience success in God and through God. He allows for us to have things, do things, and experience things that we never could have imagined for ourselves. But in the moments when we see failure we become discouraged! We do not hear God! But the whole time we were experiencing our highs and lows God was looking out for your next highs!
Are our plans in line with God’s plan?
Like Elijah we may see an end for ourselves, but God has bigger plans.
At times we may feel danger but God has set up a hedge of protection around us from doing actual harm.
What is actual harm?
Is feeling defeated and being defeated the same thing?
When we are in grasp of loneliness have we missed the community?
Conclusion
Conclusion