1 Kings 17
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Good Morning, it sure is good to be here this morning. Turn with me in your Bibles this morning to want to speak on this subject ARE YOU THERE?
I want you to notice in this passage that word, THERE. When you read that word in this passage you cant miss it its there. This is why the average person never knows the will of God for their life. When God calls, He commands, When God calls He commands. So he calls you to do something, and your trying to figure out how you can do it.
As a result most people never are THERE because instead of simply trusting and obeying what God has asked of you to do, you have paralysis by analysis. In David says “Teach me your statutes oh Lord and I will do them.”
But He didnt nkow what they were yet! You dont have to, in the Christian life you say yes before you know what the command is, because you trust the One who is calling. So God calls but when God calls He commands.
Let’s figure out whats going on in this passage this morning. It’s the darkest days in Israels history. Elijah the prophet of the living God is raised up, right now in our nation the question is this. Is it really as dark as it seems in America or is there really just that much of an absence of light.
Elijah comes on to the scene to serve the Lord, by coming against the evils of the day. The people were worshipping false gods such as baal. This was a vile sensual cruel religion where they would make immorral sexual acts part of their religious duty.
Baal was a pagan false god. What was his major attribute? To those who followed him he was supposed to control the rain and the fertility. In this account today Elijah is going to tell them its not going to rain for years but its not going to bother the people of the day why? because baal is in charge of the rain. SO THEY THINK.
So Elijahs message to King Ahab demonstrated great faith in the Lord I mean God had to speak to him to go to such a wicked force with such boldness, and were going to talk about that and what it means for you and me.
Before King ahab the other kings before him were all wicked men. Jezebel was one of the major leaders in turning people away from the true and living God. Public worship had all but vanished idolatry was widespread. Apparently the people believed that Baal lived and God was dead.
With all of this in mind, God raises up the prophet Elijah. So please read along with me in .
1 Kings 17:1
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.”
“before whom I stand”
HOW MANY OF YOU KNOW THAT IN THIS LIFE WHAT MATTERS IS NOT REALLY YOUR LOCATION, BUT YOUR POSITION.
He was aware that he was aided by God, and that He was in Gods presence.
The wicked flee when no one pursues,
But the righteous are bold as a lion.
Proverbs
The word boldness is really interesting in the Hebrew and the Greek it means freedom of speech. LEt me say something, we live in a where they call evil good and good evil. There are many people who wonder well if the church is supposed to be loving does the church need to address the moral evil of the day?
Should we speak up about the sin that congress is saying is legal? to that I’ll only say one thing: ONLY IF YOU WANT TO BE BIBLICAL!
It is our duty to expose the deeds of darkness and shine the light of Gods truth on them. That wont win you many fans but it will help you be in the will of God. Let me tell you something, when God calls HE commands we dont get to choose where God sends us or what we will do He created us with a purpose and He wants us to know what it is.
When He calls He commands you where to go!
I’m telling you I never spoke publically in Highschool I worked every angle I could not to, made it through school skipping speech class, did all kind of bonus work in order to pass with a D in the class. I graduated 74 out of 74 and I swore I would do anything in this world so long as I didnt have to speak in public.
Fast forward 9 years and I speak publically for a living 3 times a week and do special services for people, the majority of what I do is speaking in public, if you wanna hear God laugh tell him your plans.
I graduated 74 out of 74 and now I am tasked with teaching the word of God to Sunday School teachers who have been in church longer than I have been saved and teachers and professors who are much smarter than I am. GOD CALLS AND GOD EQUIPS, AND GOD COMMANDS.
As God as my witness even after I surrenderd to Gods call on my life to become a minister I did not want to come to a church that was already established let alone a traditional Southern Baptist church. I was gonna plant a church from the ground up it was really a passion of mine and then that one faithful night in Graceville Florida as I prepared to move my family to Texas to pursue my masters in church planting.
god woke me up in the middle of the night and informed me that I would be pastoring UHBC which I didnt understand but 3 days after that Rob Lightsey who was the pastor called me into his office along with another young man named Ryan Ayala and it was there he informed me that he was going to be stepping down.
GODS GOT A PLAN, AND ITS SCARY AND OFTEN TIMES IT AINT COMFORTABLE BUT IF YOU EVER GET THERE in your walk with the Lord then it wont matter where He calls youll go, whatever He says do youll do because you love Him and you want nothing more but to be obedient to Him amen?
Now Elijah the Tishbite, from the Gilead settlers, said to Ahab, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, I stand before Him, and there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!”
Then a revelation from the Lord came to him:
“Leave here, turn eastward, and hide yourself at the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan.
This is what I love about my Bible, here God tells him when to go and hide but in He tells him to show himself. Now just follow me for a minute. You need to get sensitive enough to Jesus, that you know when its time to hide and yuo know whenits time to show up.
you start hiding when its time to show up and you dont experience Gods protection.
You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there.”
Did you see that anytime, that god calls God commands.
WHEN GOD CALLS HE COMMANDS
WHERE GOD GUIDES, GOD PROVIDES
So God called Elijah and He commanded the ravens to feed him there. They brought him flesh and bread. God says He is going to deliver flesh, meat, to the man of God and He gives it to of all birds the raven.
The raven is a flesh eating animal....
I have a question to ask...
HAS GOD EVER GIVEN YOU SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE AN APPETITE FOR THATS NOT FOR YOU!
If we FAIL TO FUND THE GREAT COMMISSION, IT WONT BE BECAUSE GOD DIDNT GIVE THE RESOURCES. BUT WE KEPT WHAT WE LOVED INSTEAD OF DELIVERING IT TO THE PERSON GOD WANTS US TO GIVE IT TO.
God can trust a BIRD A RAVEN, TO DELIVER FOOD, GOD CAN COMMAND A ROOSTER TO CROW, A DONKEY TO SPEAK, A BUSH TO BURN.... But the crown of his creation HUMANS WE ARE STINGY WITH OUR OFFERINGS, BOTH TO GOD AND OTHERS.
Let me tell you something, I was sitting in my back yard the other night and I was looking at our new house. I was thinking about this place and thanking God for bringing us here. Many of you are not our friends you are our kids grandparents, and uncles and aunts. You are our family.
I stood there looking at our new house and thanking god for providing the ability for us to own a home. something I never thought I would own. As I was sitting there just a having a praise session, something happened…
Just a clearly as if He were sitting next to me God spoke and He said.... Would you sell it, if I told you to?
I was shocked and taken back, well yes Lord you know I would, if thats what you wanted… but I just got it… prayed for so long and now I have it. The Lord said again, would you sell it if I told you to.... and again I replied yes Lord you know my heart if thats what you wanted I would do it.
No response after that.
It alarmed me and I began asking the Lord what He meant by that, honestly I think He was just trying to tell me. Don’t hold with a closed fist something that I require you to hold with an open hand.
You see in life there are some things we are supposed to hold with a closed fist…meaning we are never to let go of them. the promises of God for example, who God says we are in Christ as another, but material things we are to hold with an open hand ready to give them up if that is what the Lord requires.
THIS IS THE POINT OF THE SERMON
HOLD ON LOOSELY TO THE WORLD, BUT HOLD ON TIGHTLY TO THE LORD.
thats what you see the prophet doing, where He lived made no difference, where He went made no difference, what He was going to do with his life all depended upon the guidance of the Lord.
There is no safer place than the will of God. But it doesnt always mean that the will of God will carry you to a safe place.
You will never know the will of God until you get THERE… WHERE Kyle???
You will never know the will of God for your life until you get to the place where it doesnt matter what the Lord asks of you, you ready to go, give, serve, surrender, whatever He commands of you.
Some of you are Ravens.... you have money but if the Lord asks you to give it away you give it freely, if you have dreams you are willing to lay them down in order to walk with God, some of you want so badly to live a better life and to experience the Lord, and you need to know God is waiting on you THERE.
At the place of complete surrender where you lay all that you are into the palm of his hand and say wherever He leads I’ll go, wherever He leads I’ll go, I’ll follow my Christ that loves me so. Wherever He leads I’ll go.
So he did what the Lord commanded. Elijah left and lived by the Wadi Cherith where it enters the Jordan.
Simple obedience
Let me tell you why the average person will never be THERE. They really think they can do a better job managing their life than He can.
The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he drank from the wadi.
After a while, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the land.
Now let me ask you a question, have you ever been following the Lord and you were certain that the Lord sent you there, whether it be a job, or a situation, or even a church, and it became a really dry place?
I guarantee you there is someone this morning in this room whose life is dry, and parched and withered and all you have tried to do is be obedient the the Lord, and you going through a brook drying experience.
Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Get up, go to Zarephath that belongs to Sidon and stay there. Look, I have commanded a woman who is a widow to provide for you there.”
1 Kings 17:
When God calls God commands, BUT YOU CANT SEE HIS COMMANDMENTS OR SEE HIS COMMANDMENTS TO OTHERS ALL YOU CAN SEE IS HIS CALL.
WITHOUT FAITH IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO PLEASE HIM!
Without
If were not careful we will pray and list what we need: this is the job I need, this is the girl I wanna marry, this is the amount of money i need to make, I really need some sunshine on my crops and then we close IN JESUS NAME.
But if were not careful all we have done is list our demands and then asked God to sign the bottom of the list. BUT WHAT GOD IS AFTER IS FOR YOU TO PLACE YOUR LIFE IN HIS HANDS AS A BLANK SHEET AND ALLOW THE SPIRIT OF GOD TO FILL IT IN!
So here we go again, go on over to Zerephath I have commanded a widow to provide for you there. If I had written the Bible I would have said if you go over there, there will be a millionare.
When God wanted to teach personal generosity in the Bible He chose the poorest woman in the Bible. He used the poor widows mite, but lets get it right she gave two mites. Not one, she couldnt give one, because in Judaism, the smallest offering that could be recieved was two. You had to give two as a minimum, the Bible said that Jesus was watching the offering.
1 Kings
So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow woman gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.”
When He was there and He first got there, they were gathering sticks. But when He left they were raising the dead. Most people will never experience the supernatural because they will never be obedient in the menial.
You see if youre not willing to Go to zarephath and pick up sticks forget the mircale of raising the widows son from the dead, forget God keeping on filling up here bucket of grain, forget the miracle of MT. Carmel where God reigned down fire from Heaven and showed He was the One true God.
I doubt you will ever see the fire of God fall on your life and consume everything, but when you can be faithful in the lonely places where theres nobody else when God can trust you in obscurity and adversity GOD THEN CAN CHALLENEGE AND USE YOU IN A MIRACLE.
So Elijah got up and went to Zarephath. When he arrived at the city gate, there was a widow woman gathering wood. Elijah called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup and let me drink.”
As she went to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a piece of bread in your hand.”
But she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I don’t have anything baked—only a handful of flour in the jar and a bit of oil in the jug. Just now, I am gathering a couple of sticks in order to go prepare it for myself and my son so we can eat it and die.”
Then Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid; go and do as you have said. But first make me a small loaf from it and bring it out to me. Afterward, you may make some for yourself and your son,
Now listen this is a big thing to ask this woman, if this were me in this situation I would have felt bad and i would have said ok nevermind bringing me something yall just go take care of yourself. Please dont misread this message this aint about giving your money to the Lord, it is about giving God first place in your life through your time, talent, and treasure.
God was teaching us something here, He says give me your time and talent and treasure and I’ll make sure you never lack any time talkent and treasure.
Withold from me time talent or treasure and youll never have enough of any of those three.
Now let me revisit what we talked about last week, pick a time and a place to meet with God. how many of yall are doing that? You have picked a specific time and place to meet with God early in the morning.
Let me tell you something I have watched happen in my life. When I give god His time with me first, I have more time in the day than I know what to do with, and I may have a laundry list of things to attack that day.
But when I put something first before him theres never enough time in the day to accomplish what I need to accomplish or either it never works how I think it should.
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
THERE
ARE YOU THERE
THERE IS A PLACE OF GODS PURPOSE
GOD HAS A PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE
I said at the beginning that your position is more important than your location. Listen to this.
Paul and Timothy, slaves of Christ Jesus:
To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons.
Philippians
Their position is more important than their location. Everybody says location, location, location. No position, position, position. THEY ARE POSITIONED in CHRIST JESUS, THEY WERE LOCATED IN PHILIPPI.
Gods purpose is the safest place to be in all the world, Adrian Rodgers used to say: I WOULD RATHER BE IN THE SNAKE INFESTED JUNGLES OF SOUHT AFRICA THAN IN WALTER REED HOSPITAL.
WHAT DID HE MEAN?
I WOULD RATHER BE OUT IN THE JUNGLE INSIDE THE WILL OF GOD, THAN IN THE BEST HOSPITAL KNOWN TO MAN OUTSIDE THE WILL OF GOD.
So Elijah went to Zerephath, let me tell you something. God does not give you fresh revelation until you have obeyed what He has already revealed.... THAT WAS A GOOD SPOT TO SAY AMEN
GOD IS NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU DIRECTION UNLESS YOU SHOW HIM YOU WILL LISTEN TO WHAT HE HAS ALREADY TOLD YOU!!
MY gracious I am having fun now, MANY TIMES YOU DONT NEED ANOTHER SERMON YOU NEED TO SIMPLY OBEY WHAT GOD HAS REVEALED IN THE LAST SERMON HE SPOKE TO YOU IN! THEN YOU WILL START HEARING HIM AGAIN!!
Some of you will say, I havent heard from the Lord lately, well let me ask you this, what was the last thing you heard from God and did you obey Him totally?
God’s place of purpose is not just a place of protection, it is a place of preperation. This is interesting, the word Cherith is a Hebrew word for a cutting away. you see when God calls a person He has to get osme things cut out of us first.
We cry out Lord fill me with the Holy Spirit and He says I cant. IYour already fullof yourself! you gotta repent and confess and get it out before you can get more full!
For example when God called Moses to rescue the children of Israel, He sent Him to the backside of the desert for 40 years when He came back he was a different man!
When He wanted to use the apostle John when He is going to give us the book of Revelation where does He do it, God sends him into exile, on the Isle of an island called Patmos.
2. THERE is a place of Gods power
a place of power is a place of dependance.
Nobody that knows Gods power does not know dependence
I CANT HE NEVER SAID I COULD, HE CAN HE SAID HE ALWAYS WOULD
The more he depends on God the more he leanrs gods power. I do not think the miracle of the ravens would have happened anywhere else but THERE.
You say well I came to Alabama and I nearly starved to death, well are you sure god called you here?
You see God told Elijah to go THERE to the brook Cherith, and the ravens would feed Him there. Could God have told you to go and you never went, and your supply is somewhere else?
Its not that He didnt send it, your just not there. Are yall with me?
To enjoy Gods blessing we have to be in the place of Gods assignment, He has not left it to our choosing.
Someone said what power Elijah had, NO HE HAD NO POWER HE WAS SIMPLY THERE IN THE PLACE OF POWER WHICH WAS GODS WILL.
It was there where power found Him.
Power is found in dependence upon God
Power is found in a place of dryness
God is showing His power, but where is He He is there in the middle of the borrk Cherith, during a drought.
FB MEYER says
WHY DOES GOD LET OUR BROOK DRY UP? HE WANTS TO TEACH US NOT TO TRUST IN HIS GIFTS BUT IN HIMSELF. GOD TAKES US THROUGH DESERTS MANY TIMES TO PROVIDE GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO GROW.
THERE is the place of Gods provision
VANCE HAVNER: God goes ahead of us and makes all the arrangements
God calls you to do something and you say I dont know how we will make it, I have other repsonsibilities and I just dont see how I will have time to do it. Or man we just dont have the money to go, we cant afford it.
Let me just say this you cant afford not to go.
God is responsible for our upkeep when we obey His commands, but He is not responsible for any expenses not included in his timetable.
(BCF)
God commanded
(BCF)
(REYONNA PARRISH)
(BCF)
(DR. SHERRIL)
(BCF)
(LAKE ELLEN)
(UHBC)
(GENE,SCOTTIE, DANNY, EDDIE,)
(JAN, MRS. DONNA)
(DALE)
(RQ)
(JARED)
(CHIP)
(ENVELOPE)
(AMANDA, CONNIE AND DAVE, PEGGY AND GARY)
(GAYLE, DIANE)
Why am I telling you this?
WHERE GOD CALLS, GOD COMMANDS.
Let me tell you something, everybody bow your heads and close your eyes. There is someone in this room and god has asked you to step out in faith, and you are afraid. You dont know what its going to look like. You dont know how it will work, but God has asked you to step out and believe what He has asked you to do.
Can I tell you a secret, i have never lacked anything I needed by following the Lord. BUT I HAVE TO BE WILLING TO GO THERE. WHEREVER THERE MIGHT BE.
We as a church must remember God wont call us to a place where He will not provide.
THERE ARE SOME OF YOU IN THIS ROOM RIGHT NOW, AND GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO GIIVE YOUR LIFE TO HIM THIS MORNING. YOUR AFRAID AS TO WHAT THAT MIGHT LOOK LIKE… I HAVE NEVER REGRETTED ONE SINGLE THING I HAVE LOST FROM FOLLOWING JESUS WITH MY LIFE.
HE IS THE GREATEST TREASURE YOU COULD EVER FIND
SOME OF YOU ARE BEING CALLED TO FORGIVE, AND YOU DONT THINK ITS POSSIBLE… WHERE GOD CALLS GOD COMMANDS.
