The Promise Making and Keeping God
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Recap Series
Week 1 - The proclamation of no rain
Week 2 - Alone with God at the Wadi
Week 3 - Traveling to the Widow
Week 4 - Raising the Widow’s son
Week 5 - The Battle to show is the True God
Today - The Promise Making and Promise Keeping God
I cannot think of a better time to remember this than today…
God is the promise making and promise keeping God
He told Abraham that he would make him into a mighty nation, though he had no children, and he did
He told Moses that He would be with him and he escorted the Israelites out of Egypt and to the promise land, and he was
He told Joshua to walk around Jericho everyday, blow their horns and scream and the walls came tumbling down
today we will see God answer Elijah’s prayer for the promise of God to come about
41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”
42 So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bent down on the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.” So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
44 On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming up from the sea.” Then Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down so the rain doesn’t stop you.’ ”
45 In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. So Ahab got in his chariot and went to Jezreel.
46 The power of the Lord was on Elijah, and he tucked his mantle under his belt and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
Retell the story and give background
Elijah had just prayed over the altar and asked God to bring fire down from Heaven to show those there who the true God was
Then the 850 false prophets were captured and killed
remember, like removing a tumor, we do not want to simply acknowledge it and then go on, it must be removed
Elijah then goes to Ahab and tells him to go and eat and refresh himself
evidently, Ahab had been fasting or so caught up in the events that he had forgotten to eat, in that culture, you have a little in the morning and a meal in late afternoon, early evening, lunch would not be normal
but the key part of the verse is that Elijah says that he hears the “sound of a rainstorm”
interesting word - “Sound” it is most often translated “voice” as if Elijah was saying that the voice of God was telling him the rain is coming
Elijah then goes up to pray
he gets to a quite place where they can oversee the Mediterranean Sea.
he prays, we do not know the words
was he praying as Jesus in the Garden, under stress, was it thankful for what had just happened, we do not know as it doesn’t say
Elijah sends servant to look seven times
every time that he came back and said that there was no rain, he would send him back…
He sees a small cloud out over the sea and Elijah knows… that is it. Here comes the rain.
Elijah tells Ahab that he better hurry, the storm is coming and he is going to get stuck in the mud
Elijah then, with the power of the Lord runs out in front of the chariot and gets to Jezreel in front of Ahab
this was a normal thing in this time and place
a runner would run ahead and make announcement of the arrival of an important person
Elijah, showing respect for the king of his people does so
not waiting to see if he, himself had repented and turned to the Lord
simply honoring him and the king that he was
oh that we would be people who are this respectful and honor who God has elevated
Personal or Universal Promises
Personal or Universal Promises
I heard somebody say that there are over 7000 promises from God in scripture
there are some that say we can claim all those promises for ourselves and God will fulfill them
I simply do not see that in scripture
We must be careful what promises that we hold on to and what ones that we do not
in order to do that, we must know which ones are for us and which ones are not
personal promises
personal promises are ones that God makes in scripture that are for specific people or group of people
if you are not that person, then that promise is not for you
example - I promised to love honor and cherish my wife as long as we both shall live
that promise is not for any other woman to lay claim to
we would think it very silly if another woman told me that I was to cherish her because we were both still alive
it was a specific personal promise
3 March around the city with all the men of war, circling the city one time. Do this for six days.
4 Have seven priests carry seven ram’s-horn trumpets in front of the ark. But on the seventh day, march around the city seven times, while the priests blow the ram’s horns.
5 When there is a prolonged blast of the horn and you hear its sound, have all the troops give a mighty shout. Then the city wall will collapse, and the troops will advance, each man straight ahead.”
can you imagine the tragedy that would occur if we had a believing military leader take his troops and say this is what God told Joshua, then it must be what he is telling us
we would think that he was insane
yet we do this
14 and my people, who bear my name, humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.
this is a very specific promise given to the people of Israel when they were building the temple and God spoke to Solomon those words
He was speaking to the people of Israel, about the temple and the very specific things that had happened to their land
as he said would happen if they walked away from him
there are things that we can learn from the passage… but that doesn’t mean that the promise is ours
two things to think about with that verse
who is not pulling their weight
God owes those believers in third world countries an apology because their land has not been healed
But there are universal promises that are for everyone
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his faithful love toward those who fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.
who is this promise to
those who fear him
What is the promise
that he will remove their transgressions
he will have compassion on them
compassion - empathy with action
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight.
those who trust in the lord and in all their ways acknowledge him, he will make their paths straight
I like the KJV “he will direct your paths”
Conditional or Unconditional Promises
Conditional or Unconditional Promises
We also must look to see if there is something that we are to do in order for those promises to come about
there are some promises that require action before God will act
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
what is our part… if we confess
what is God’s part… to forgive
explain the verse...
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.
this promise, there is no condition
For those that want to give me a hard time, they could say that the condition is that you have to read the word
but there is not a certain prayer that you have to say, certain status that you have to have or a certain level of education
the word of God every time that you open it will guide you
19 And my God will supply all your needs according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
again, no condition… what do we have to do in order to receive all that we need according to his riches and glory
nothing, because as it says in the promise, it is according to HIS riches and glory, not ours
Praying for the Promises of God
Praying for the Promises of God
Why is this important and what does this have to do with Elijah
I share all of this with you so that we can fully understand what Elijah is doing here
why it is that we see Elijah praying for rain and believing or knowing that it was coming and not stopping until he saw it
remember he told Ahab, I hear the sound of a rainstorm
41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”
abundance of rain = downpour
sound = voice
Elijah is already telling them that the rain is coming because he believes and is certain about the promise of God
1 After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.”
This is a personal (not all of us are to go to the leader of the nation), conditional (if Elijah had not gone, there would be no rain), promise
so what is it that we can learn from this to pray for the promises of God
Separate Yourself
Location matters
Elijah went further up the mountain and got by himself
we must get away from the noise
Humble Yourself
Though we can go boldly go before the throne of God our posture matters
Elijah gets on his knees and lowers his head to his knees
We are not the one in charge and make demands of the Lord
think of God telling Job to, I will ask and you will answer me
Be Specific
Elijah was not asking for a simply blessings from God
he wanted rain! it had been 42 months!
Norbert praying for 2 inches of rain or 6 inches of level wet snow
Be Persistent
Elijah did not give up after the first time that he did not see a cloud
he didn’t stop after six times
we see nothing in the text that indicates that he would have stopped if there was not a cloud that time
Be Expectant
Elijah believed that the cloud that was seen was going to bring a storm
he warned Ahab that it was going to be a downpour
there was not a sense that he waited to see if that cloud was going to be the one
There was no waffling
This should be how we pray…
there is nothing special about Elijah in terms of special powers to have God’s ear
16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.
17 Elijah was a human being as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the land.
18 Then he prayed again, and the sky gave rain and the land produced its fruit.
All of this is possible because of the promise in Hebrews that our Lord Jesus will be continually interceding on our behalf
He went to the cross to pay for our sins
he rose from the grave and is alive in heaven sitting at the right hand of the father interceding for us as our high priest
if you do not know him or have a relationship with him, the only promise of scripture that is of any concern to you would be about the Lamb’s book of Life
if your name is not in it, you will be cast to hell for all of eternity
if your name is in it, then we will be called children of God and will spend eternity with our Lord Jesus