Untitled Sermon (6)

Good morning.

Today we continue our conversation and examination into the God’s purpose for us as a body of believers.

We started this journey by learning what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Then we pressed on and saw that if love God with our everything, He will lead us to love those who the world neglects and mistreats, i.e. the Untouchables.

And now we move forward with on our spiritual journey following Jesus in a series called, The Called: Life Lessons from the Life of Elijah.

Now, if you think about it, to go from loving God with our everything, to loving the untouchables in the world, there are a few steps between location A and location B, so to speak.

So, while we are moving our conversation forward, we are actually looking at what we need to be doing as move from loving God with our everything to loving the lost among us.

We will start our investigation in , and you can turn there now if you have your Bible. Incidentally, if you don’t have a Bible, please raise your hand and we will bring one to you that is yours to keep. We also have children’s Bibles if you are in need of one. You can always get a Bible from us at our Welcome Center anytime. Seriously, take as many as you want, they will always be free to you.

So, in this series called, The Called, we will see 5 principles, 5 purposes, for 5 steps that take us from loving God to loving anyone and everyone else.

All too often, we major on loving God, but we falter at loving others, and many times, its because we have either skipped, neglected, or are somehow oblivious to what we are about to examine over the next few weeks.

The first step, then, is understanding the Purpose of Obedience.

In other words, other than making God smile, and other than us choosing God instead of sin, what does obeying Him accomplish?

How does obedience work through our lives to accomplish God’s purposes for our lives?

Let’s pray.

To set up the scene, its important to know that God is introducing Elijah to us in contrast to Israel’s current king, Ahab.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 4: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job a. The Accession of Ahab (16:29–34)

a. The accession of Ahab (16:29–34)

29–30 Ahab’s twenty-two year reign (v.29) marked the depths of spiritual decline in Israel. No more notorious husband and wife team is known in all the sacred Scriptures (cf. 21:25–26). Ahab built on his father’s foundation, not only in bringing Israel into the arena of international conflict, but causing it to serve and worship Baal (v.30).

31–32 Ahab was a man of complex character. The remainder of this chapter makes it clear that he was unconcerned with true, vital faith (cf. 21:20). Not only did he participate personally in the sins of Jeroboam, but having willingly married Jezebel, he followed her in the worship of Baal-Melqart, officially instituting and propagating Baal worship throughout his kingdom.

34 An example of his spiritual infidelity is seen as he granted to Hiel of Bethel the authority to rebuild Jericho as a fortified town, despite Joshua’s long-standing curse. The undertaking was to cost Hiel the lives of his eldest and youngest sons, in accordance with Joshua’s prophetic pronouncement (Josh 6:26).

The subsequent chapters of 1 Kings show that Ahab was selfish and sullen (20:43; 21:4–5), cruel (22:27), morally weak (21:1–16), and concerned with luxuries of this world (22:39). Though he could display real bravery (ch. 20; 22:1–39) and at times even heeded God’s word (18:16–46; 20:13–17, 22, 28–30; 21:27–29; 22:30), nevertheless he was basically a compromiser as far as the will of God was concerned (20:31–34, 42–43; 22:8, 18, 26–28). The divine estimation of his character stands as a tragic epitaph: “There was never a man like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the LORD”

And so it is under the incredibly evil king Ahab that Elijah is called by God to be His prophet. Let’s pick up in .

1 Kings 17:1–16 ESV

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now 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 first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

Let me sum up what we just read so we are clear as to what this meant at the time.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 4: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job 1) Elijah’s Call (17:1–6)

In those dark times God raised up a light, the prophet Elijah. Reared in rugged Gilead, Elijah was a rugged individualist, a man of stern character and countenance zealous for the Lord. Elijah sought Ahab and delivered the Lord’s pronouncement. In contrast to those who were not gods, whose idols Ahab ignorantly worshiped, the living Lord, who was truly Israel’s God, would withhold both dew and rain for the next several years.

Already the drought had lain on the land some six months (cf. Luke 4:25; James 5:17 with 1 Kings 18:1); now the reason for it all was to be revealed to Israel’s apostate leadership. The message was clear: Israel had broken the pledge of its covenantal relationship with God (Deut 11:16–17; 28:23–24; cf. Lev 26:19; 1 Kings 8:35). Therefore God was demonstrating his concern for both his people’s infidelity and their folly in trusting in false fertility gods like Baal. No rain! There would not even be dew until God’s authentic messenger would give the word! Unknown to Ahab, Elijah had agonized over the sin of his people and had prayed to the Lord for corrective measures to be levied on his people. Accordingly Elijah was God’s logical choice.

2–6 To impress the message and its deep spiritual implications further on Ahab and all Israel, God sent Elijah into seclusion. Not only would Ahab’s frantic search for the prophet be thwarted, but Elijah’s very absence would be living testimony of a divine displeasure (cf. Ps 74:1, 9). Moreover Elijah himself had much to learn, and the time of solitude would furnish needed moments of divine instruction.

Obeying God’s directions implicitly, Elijah walked the fifteen miles from Jezreel eastward to the Jordan River (v.5). There in Kerith, one of the Jordan’s many narrow gorges, Elijah took up his residence. Alone and relying solely on divine provision, Elijah was nourished by the available water of Kerith and by ravens sent from God (v.6)

1 Kings 17:1–16 ESV

1 Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” 2 And the word of the Lord came to him: 3 “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. 4 You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” 5 So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. 6 And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now 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 first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 4: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job 2) Elijah and the Widow at Zarephath (17:7–24)

7–16 When the heavy rains of late autumn and early winter, which were needed to prepare the earth for cultivation, failed to materialize (v.7), God set the second stage of caring for his prophet into operation (v.8). He sent him to a certain widow of Zarephath in Phoenician Sidon, Jezebel’s very own homeland (v.9). On arriving there, Elijah was led to the widow whom God had mentioned (v.10). The prophet put a severe test before her (vv.11–14). If she would first bake a small loaf for Elijah before seeing to her family’s needs, God would honor her faith with a supply of flour and oil so long as the drought should last. Taking the prophet at his word, she obeyed; and all came to pass even as he had promised (vv.15–16).

The incident must have served not only as a source of great comfort for the simple, godly non-Jewish woman (cf. Deut 10:18–19), but also as a strengthening to Elijah’s faith in God’s providence (cf. Ps 37:3–4; Isa 41:10). The episode also stands impressed in the pages of history as a lasting memorial to the availability of God’s full provision to all who believe, whether Jew or Gentile (Matt 10:41–42; Luke 4:25–26).

The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 4: 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job 1) Elijah’s Call (17:1–6)

1) Elijah’s call (17:1–6)

1 In those dark times God raised up a light, the prophet Elijah. Reared in rugged Gilead, Elijah was a rugged individualist, a man of stern character and countenance zealous for the Lord. Elijah sought Ahab and delivered the Lord’s pronouncement. In contrast to those who were not gods, whose idols Ahab ignorantly worshiped, the living Lord, who was truly Israel’s God, would withhold both dew and rain for the next several years.

Already the drought had lain on the land some six months (cf. Luke 4:25; James 5:17 with 1 Kings 18:1); now the reason for it all was to be revealed to Israel’s apostate leadership. The message was clear: Israel had broken the pledge of its covenantal relationship with God (Deut 11:16–17; 28:23–24; cf. Lev 26:19; 1 Kings 8:35). Therefore God was demonstrating his concern for both his people’s infidelity and their folly in trusting in false fertility gods like Baal. No rain! There would not even be dew until God’s authentic messenger would give the word! Unknown to Ahab, Elijah had agonized over the sin of his people and had prayed to the Lord for corrective measures to be levied on his people. Accordingly Elijah was God’s logical choice.

2–6 To impress the message and its deep spiritual implications further on Ahab and all Israel, God sent Elijah into seclusion. Not only would Ahab’s frantic search for the prophet be thwarted, but Elijah’s very absence would be living testimony of a divine displeasure (cf. Ps 74:1, 9). Moreover Elijah himself had much to learn, and the time of solitude would furnish needed moments of divine instruction.

Obeying God’s directions implicitly, Elijah walked the fifteen miles from Jezreel eastward to the Jordan River (v.5). There in Kerith, one of the Jordan’s many narrow gorges, Elijah took up his residence. Alone and relying solely on divine provision, Elijah was nourished by the available water of Kerith and by ravens sent from God (v.6).

Purpose of Obedience

Obedience is how we stay in God’s favor in our relationship with Him

Clearly, Ahab did not have favor with God, and after some time, God disciplined the nation of Israel. But at the same time, God wanted to restore His favor, so He called Elijah.

When we disobey, while those who believe in Jesus do not lose their salvation, because remember, it was the work of Jesus that paid for your sin, not your work, even so, we can fall out of God’s favor. We can fall out of regular fellowship with God.

Just like when we have strained relationships with our loved ones, we always love them, but the relationship is altered by the sin and strife that is apparent.

Obedience is how God activates His purpose for our lives

Elijah was a loner who lived an isolated life. He was rugged and used to the outdoors.

Yet Elijah’s purpose was activated when God called him out of his self-appointed isolation and into his God-appointed mission.

I say self-appointed because God would also send Elijah back into hiding, but this time, that isolation was according to God’s purposes, not Elijah’s choice.

Obedience demonstrates that we have died to our old selves

One of the unhealthy epidemics in American church today is that too many of us try to live our new lives in Christ, while hanging on to our favorite parts of our old lives.

We think that we have to make following God and serving God fit into our pre-made plans and our pre-existing life.

But this is not serving, this is doing the church, or God, or your community a Christian favor.

Doing God, or anyone else a favor in the name of Christianity does not grow our humility because it keeps us in the driver’s seats of our own lives.

Sure, we let God ride shotgun, but we have our lives all neatly laid out, and the delicate balance and order that we have cannot be altered. Besides, God wouldn’t do that after all, would He?

Well, God has given us example after example after example of how He demonstrates His purposes through people’s lives, and in which one, or ones, did God give someone a pass for “already having plans?”

In fact, in the New Testament, when Jesus did call people to follow Him, and they said, “sure, just let me go back and do this or that,” what did Jesus say?

Luke 9:62 NIV

62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

What does putting your hands on the plow mean?

Putting your hands on the plow is a proverbial expression that signifies undertaking a new business. In this case, putting our hands on the plow means that we have decided that we are going to commit our lives to God. We believe that God will save us when we repent of our sins, get baptized, and receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.

Jesus lived in an agricultural age where His audience is very well familiar with what Christ exactly means. For a plowman to be successful in His work, he must concentrate on the job he started. He knows that the only way is forward and not being distracted by the things left behind.

In case the plowman starts to look back, his plow line would become crooked. If that happens, the field he is plowing will not yield a full harvest.

Why would he become unfit for the kingdom of God?

We are commanded to bear much fruit. When we keep on looking back, we won’t be able to plow our field properly and because of that, we will not have plenty of harvests.

God called us out of this world and once we responded to that call, we must never try to go back to the world. However, because of the many pleasures this world could offer – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – we tend to look back and be regretful of our calling.

When this happens, we are preventing ourselves from bearing much fruit. When God calls us to His church, we are expected to give our whole heart. We are called to love God with all our hearts, soul, and mind. Looking back prevents us from doing this.

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Worst of all, we might even let go of the plow and go back to our old sinful ways. A man who did not finish the job God has given him will not be fit for God’s kingdom. How can God entrust the rulership in His Kingdom if we haven’t done our part?

The story of Elijah and Elisha

When Christ made this statement, His audience knew that Jesus was referring to the story of Elijah and Elisha.

God commanded Elijah to anoint Elisha as a prophet who will be his successor. Elijah found Elisha “plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before Him” (). Elisha immediately let go of his physical plow and to hold the spiritual plow that God has called him to do.

Elisha’s response was incredible. He “took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen’s equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant” (verse 21).

In an agricultural society, it is unthinkable to kill your only source of income. Elisha is ready to forsake everything just to answer the call of God! He made it clear to everyone that he doesn’t intend to go back to his “old life.”

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This is the type of commitment God expects from us, Christians. We must be ready to let go of everything if we are to obey God’s will for us. And isn’t the letting go that’s the hardest to do the letting go of our own control? But our lives can only have one Lord at a time, so only one being is in control of your life at any given time. The good news is when we put our complete trust in God, He will never forsake us nor leave us. We can have the assurance that God will supply all our needs.

Are you still looking back?

If we are still looking back at our old ways, we must reconsider our priorities in life. If we regret answering God’s calling, then we might be in danger of being counted as unfit for the kingdom of God.

We must fully be CONVINCED that the best way to live this life is doing God’s will and purpose. Yes, this world may entertain or give us pleasure, but these pleasures are only temporary. God is the only Source of TRUE blessings – blessings that will last forever.

So let us not exchange our spiritual calling to something temporary and physical. Therefore, let us do our best in “forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead!” ().

Obedience highlights where we find our security

Think of the woman of whom Elijah asked for bread.

Obeying God’s Word was more important than feeding herself and her son.

This is more than just not doing soccer this year so we can serve God the way He wants us to, this is choosing between the most meager of meals and obeying the Living God.

This woman made a bold declaration that her security was in God, not physical bread.

And isn’t interesting how often God made bread out of nothing?

He did it here for the woman and her son, He did it before this with the Israelites in the desert, He did it twice in His earthly ministry. I don’t know about you, but I am picking up a pattern here...

Obedience exposes where we find our identity

It takes guts to come out of nowhere, with no real leadership credibility, and tell everyone that God is about to discipline you for your disobedience.

Today, we would dismiss this person out of hand.

You’ve got to be sure about who you are to do something like that.

Elijah was.

Furthermore, we need to realize that wherever we put our identities, is often the same place that we get our marching orders from.

In other words, whatever we identify ourselves with, usually marks how we live our lives.

That’s why its so critical to understand that, as Christians, our identity is found in Jesus Christ alone.

Why is this?

Because saying that our identity is found in one thing or another is another way of saying who or what we belong to, that is, who or what owns us.

Obedience doesn’t always make sense, but it always makes room for God to work in and through our lives

Throughout the passage we read this morning, and in every example of God commanding His people and they actually obey Him, we read a similar pattern of happening:

God makes a command that defies the common logic of the moment

Believers respond in obedience, though sometimes they remark about the illogical nature of their impending action

Then what happens?

Do the efforts of the believers get the job done?

No.

God connects the dots. He makes a way where once there was none.

He feeds a poor, starving family for a week after they have used the last of their food.

He feeds 10s of thousands of people using nothing more than a boy’s sack lunch.

He causes a haul of fish so great that it almost capsizes a boat to come from a place in the water where there were no fish

Now, in saying this, it doesn’t always mean that just because God’s purposes work out, that the results that we want will always work out.

There can still be pain, loss, confusion, etc., even when God’s purposes come to fruition.

God has the right to move the pieces on the board in any way He chooses, whenever He wants to.

The question is, will we obey God and allow Him to do what only He can do so that His purposes, even at the expense of our preferred results, might be accomplished?

And perhaps most amazingly, God can make life where once there was only death.

The Bible is clear that before anyone is made alive in Christ, by Christ, that they are dead in their transgressions. Dead. DEAD.

Not slowing down. Not in a coma. Dead.

And do you know how God was able to make us alive?

He came in the person of His Son Jesus Christ, and He obeyed God, and the Bible says He even became obedient to death on a cross.

And by doing so, Jesus satisfied God’s wrath for sin, and now, if we will humble ourselves and believe in Jesus Christ alone, Jesus will bring about life in us, where there once was only death.

I want to share with you from Scripture, the next thing that happens in this narrative as we close. (Bring band back here).

1 Kings 16:17–24 ESV

17 So Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 And when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over him with fire and died, 19 because of his sins that he committed, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and for his sin which he committed, making Israel to sin. 20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and the conspiracy that he made, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? 21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. 22 But the people who followed Omri overcame the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died, and Omri became king. 23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, and he reigned for twelve years; six years he reigned in Tirzah. 24 He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and he fortified the hill and called the name of the city that he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

1 Kings 17:7–16 ESV

7 And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. 8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now 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 first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.

1 Kings 17:17–24 ESV

17 After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 And she said to Elijah, “What have you against me, O man of God? You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance and to cause the death of my son!” 19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. 20 And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” 22 And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.” 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”

With the passing of time, the widow’s son, who was rescued from starvation and drought through Elijah’s miracle, fell fatally ill. Elijah took the boy and carried him to his room. Elijah plead with the Lord for the boy’s life, and he followed such prayer with active faith, stretching himself out on the boy three times.

God would grant the boy’s life be restored, and Elijah returned the son to the woman.

Elijah had struggled to understand God’s purpose in doing this.

Why save this family, and then allow the son to die in a different way?

The woman thought that she was being punished for her past sins, but such was not the case.

God’s purpose became evident.

The woman’s sin was not the issue, but the testing had come in order that her newly found faith might be brought to maturity.

The LORD was not only the God of the Jews, but the God of all the living (since the woman was not a Jew), and more importantly, God was not just the God of all the living, but He is the God of resurrection.

It was our disobedience that brought death into the world in the first place.

And it is our disobedience that stifles our relationship with God, and our ability to receive His blessing and be in His favor.

In our disobedience we become slaves to our preferences, slaves to our activity calendars, slaves to our jobs, slaves to our favorite sins, slaves to our political ideologies, slaves to sin.

But through obedience the power of sin has been broken, and the power of death has been blown apart.

Through obedience we are alive.

Through obedience God can work His purposes in and through us, so that through obedience other can be made alive and God can work His purposes through them.

Through obedience we are not who sin says we are, we are who God says we are.

Let us strive to obey His great and good commands for our lives everyday.