Elijah, Man of God

Pastor Matt Davis – Elijah, Man of God All right. So this week is an awesome week for me. I finish up my first real sermon series. And I don't like sermon series at all. I feel like... I feel like sermon series is cheating. Because you can pick just a book or whatnot and go through it. And I don't feel like we get to go through as much scripture that way. But at the same time, it's been a decent journey through the series and learning about The One God and how Elijah's life was to prove that. So this week, we're going to finish this. We're going to wrap up what we started, the question is: how many gods are there? And if there's only one which one? And I think we're going to finish at a perfect time. I wanted... I didn't realize this when I started the series that... God would know, yes. I didn't realize we were gonna finish the week before Easter. And as soon as I realized that Easter was next week, I was telling Shawnee last night, I said, "Why don't we just call last week's sermon, the end of the series, we'll call it done, so I can do Palm Sunday today." And I was like, "No I'm not. I can't do that." But I wanted to, because I usually preach Palm Sunday. So I, on one hand, I wanted to do that. But on the other, I realized, it's actually kind of cool. We're going to end the series proven The One God, one week before we get to preach God crucified. So now that we know that we're going to go on to conclude our discussion about The One God, my mic is on, it's a little late now if it wasn't, now that we're gonna conclude it, we then get to jump feet first into discussing what he did for us. So this is cool for me. This week, we're going to be in Second Kings, chapter one. This will be the last chapter in which Elijah plays any form of big role. In fact, there'll be next chapter, chapter two, and we won't get there today, but in chapter two, Elijah, in the first half of the chapter is taken up in the chariot of fire. So this is the last major thing that Elijah gets to do as a prophet of God. And he once again, will show The One True God through his actions and through his life. I'm gonna read verses 1-17a, and I know our Bibles aren't broken up into verse A, B, and C. But the first portion of verse 17. It says "Then Moab rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease. But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed. And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back? And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words? And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite. Then the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down. And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly. And Elijah answered and said unto them, If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight. Behold, there came fire down from heaven, and burnt up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties: therefore let my life now be precious in thy sight. And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king. And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? therefore thou shalt not come down off that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken." This is a cool story for several reasons. I like the story because it portrays the power of God; but it portrays the forgiveness of God. Last week we read of Elijah's downfall, his his pity moment, which took place immediately after his victory on Mount Carmel; he went to Jezreel. He was expecting the victory right? He was expecting for king Ahab to do away with that Jezebel but instead he finds Jezebel giving orders and the order she is given is "Let the gods do so much more to me if I have not killed Elijah by this time tomorrow." Now Elijah has a much different personality in that chapter on this chapter last chapter that we read Elijah gets fearful he says "They're gonna kill me." It's like he, he forgot all that has happened and he flees for his life he goes out into the desert he lays under a tree and he just says he cries out to God "Oh pity to me!" He's like "Woe is me, God kill me now! Woe is me they seek my life." You know it's funny because the whole reason he fled was to save his life and then he gets out there and cries "Woe is me! Just strike me down get rid of me." And then God says "No." and God feeds him; God gives him a chance to just get it out then God feeds him again and then God says "You know, why don't you come to the mount of the Lord. Why don't you come to Mount Sinai, Mount Horeb." And it takes him 40 days to walk there and in that 40 days Elijah didn't find any consolation; he didn't find any peace. Instead he came up with a whole list of things to complain about to God and when he gets to the Mount of God he twice gives the same pitiful account to God. So he had this downfall moment he has become broken; he's... Elijah has become ineffective. Well we talked about the grace of God last week a little bit. We talked about how were all the other gods would get... they would become filled with wrath that Jehovah did not; instead Jehovah sent his angel to make food for him, to comfort him, but then all the way at the end when Elijah does not turn from his ways, when he doesn't turn from his pity, God essentially tells Elijah "I'm done. I'm done with you." No that's not what God meant. God's not done with anyone until we go home but he tells Elijah to go find his replacement. He's like "It's time to go get your replacement. It's time to move you out of ministry and move a replacement in. Somebody who's not broken, who's not hardened." So what makes today's account cool and we're going to talk about this is, you can see that despite his failures, and his downfalls, despite anything that he has done that's offensive to God, you can see that he is still a man of God, you can see that God still cares about him, that God still loves him and still protects him. And you can see that even in broken people like Elijah, Elijah is broken beyond measure right now, God can work through him. And that is what we're going to talk about today, compared to the other gods. So this begins with the king turning to the false gods. In verse two... Got to scroll all the way back up because I scroll down to verse 17. Verse two says, "And Ahaziah fell down through a lattice in his upper chamber that was in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, and said unto them, Go, enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron whether I shall recover of this disease." So what's what's cool about this is there is no Baalzebub, the god of Ekron, this was changed. See this here, the original god was seen as a god fertility. But the writer who wrote this, mocked this god and put Baalzebub, which means the lord of flies. That was not his name. This is a mockery. And we'll discuss here in a few minutes, that our God will not be mocked. You don't mock our God and get away with it? So the first sign of this false god is that he can be mocked. He can be mocked in what's he gonna do about nothing. So I do find this interesting though the writer let us know what he thinks of this god, the god of flies, and the reason behind that was as to say, he cannot keep the flies away from his sacrifices. So he is up on, he's up on the roof of his home. He's doing whatever he's doing. He's walking. It says that he fell. And initially, it.. his fall has caused him to be sick. A lot of commentators think that he fell onto the street, all the way down... He likely fell into his bedroom, his upper chamber, and the lattice. They often had skylights in these homes. And the skylights are covered by lattice. And this lattice by this point in time, would have been rotted and weak. And he would have been walking around and step through and he had fallen. And when he had fallen, what does he do? He didn't learn from his father Ahab you know, surely, even if he was a child, he was alive when Ahab and Jezabel's prophets got consumed by fire. When 450 men got slain, right? They didn't get consumed by fire... the... the sacrifice did and the altered did and the water. They got slain up the sword. Surely he would remember when these so called gods cannot be bothered to accept their sacrifice. Surely, he could have remembered when these gods could not be bothered to save their prophets who are slain by the sword, who had no power? Surely, he would have remembered the power of the Lord displayed that day. But he didn't learn from it. Just like his father. He says, "Go and inquire on the god of Ekron." He says "Let's not go to our God. Let's not go to the Lord Jehovah." He says "I want you to go to Ekron. And I want you to talk to the god of fertality whether or not I will live." You have to wonder his punishment was death. And you have to wonder had he gone and prayed to Lord Jehovah would he have survived? The thing is he, he solidified his death when he went to the idols. We must not turn to idols in our life. There is no idle, there is no god, not money, not an animal, not a planet, a job, there is no god in our life that can save us, provide for us, give us vitality, save Jehovah; save Jesus Christ. There is no god when we get sick that we should go pray to save Jehovah. And when we go and worship the idols and pray to the idols, we will secure nothing for ourselves but misery. No, when we want to be provided for we go to our job, we ask our job to provide, what do you get, you get misery, okay? Because when you look to money as your source of Providence, you become enslaved to it. What happens when the money you had is gone? You got to go back and get more. And when that's gone, you got to go back. You become a slave to it. What happens when you go to drugs and use drugs as your source of happiness? You become enslaved to it. When drugs is your great... gateway to joy, to happiness, to power, to whatever, you become enslaved. There is but one God that we can go to. And being enslaved to is a good thing. When we go to the Lord Jesus, when I run out of money, when that job fails, whatever happens in life happens. It's not a worry, I'm not enslaved to the money. Sure, I do need money to pay my electrical bill. However, God's actually shown that to be inaccurate. I have received in the past 12 months, three electric bills for $0. I'm not enslaved to money. I'm not the preacher that will get behind here and say "If you follow Jehovah, you will be made rich and wealthy beyond your imagination," because I'm not enslaved to money. I don't need to be made rich and wealthy beyond my imagination of monetary gain. It's not my god. I will tell you that you will be rich beyond what you could imagine. Because the riches and wealth that we get is heavenly. Its blessings that can't be described. It's not monetary. Although in many cases, God will bless you with money. You know, you, you need a car, I needed a car, everyone remembers this. And God blessed me with the money for it. But I'm not enslaved. When I get sick, I'm not enslaved to the pills. And I will admit, I've used them. I've taken antibiotics. I've taken medication, but I'm at God's mercy. It's God that provides and sustains me. When I need joy in my life, I don't use drugs. I go to the Lord. My joy, my hope, is Jesus Christ. Every need can be met in him alone. I don't need these other things. And so it is nice right now, Shawnee has been out of work almost three weeks and we're not worried. I know she'll get another job. Because that's what I feel that that God is saying. But even if she never got another job again, I wont to be concerned. Because my God can provide; He's big enough to provide. My God is big enough to say, "If I want you to be in this church, and pastoring it and I," you know, he said "I'll have your wife take care of you." But he's big enough to also say "Hey, I want your wife by your side, in ministry. I want you together." He's big enough to take care of it. So he got sick, and he did not learn. From his past. He did not learn from his father and his grandfather and he is seeking false gods. He is seeking a path to misery. He is seeking what cannot be found except for in the Lord. So Elijah is commissioned. Elijah... Elijah has got to go and he's got to grab Elisha. He's got to anoint the king of Syria. He's got to anoint The King of Israel still. And as this is going on, the Lord says, "Hey, I need you to do something for me." He commissions Elijah, to go and confront the king. In verses three and four, it says, "But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the Tishbite, Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say unto them, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that ye go to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And Elijah departed." So He says, "I want you to go and I want you to intersect these people. And I want you to say to them, is it not because there's not a god in Israel?" Now, what this means is, have you forgotten about your way? Have you forgotten about the God that lives in your nation? The one that brought you out of Egypt, the one that conquered your enemies? That's healed your nation. Have you forgotten about me? But you've got to go and chase these idols? Have you forgotten about the living God, that you have to go and chase idols made by men? Gods made by men. Now it says, the angel of the Lord and I don't touch, I don't talk about this a lot. I usually tend to kind of skip over it in my messages. The Angel of the Lord is code for Christ preincarnate. So when you read angel of the Lord in the Bible, it is talking about Jesus Christ himself before his carnation in the Old Testament. So Jesus Christ appeared to Elijah. And he said, "Go and meet the messengers." How cool is that? Well, when we read about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and Daniel, the Burning Furnace, it says one like the Son of Man or an an.. one...That is Jesus Christ who appeared on the furnace. When we read about Jacob, who wrestled with the angel of the Lord, Jacob wrestled with Jesus Christ. I find that pretty amazing how frequently Christ shows up, not just as a foreshadow, but personified. Jesus Christ shows up personified to Elijah. So why do we sin today? Why? Why do we chase these things that we chase today? Is it ? Is it because Jesus failed on the cross that we do what we do? You know, we're just as guilty is, as this king who had a living God and went and chased after things created by men. So why is it that we seek after the pleasures of sin? Now has the gospel of God lost its power that we seek another gospel? Just as they had a living God in Israel, we to have the same LIVING GOD today. That I think we have a better God today. It's... He's the same God. But today, we have a God who died and came back. What are we enslaved to? Because anything that were enslaved to was a god in our life, it's a god that we need to get rid of; that we need to cast aside. And we need to say it's the gospel of Christ on which I hang. Because it's the gospel of Christ that has paid our debt. So Elijah, he confronts him and he says, "Go back, tell the king you have forsaken the Lord and you will not get up off that bed. But you will die." Now, God, He will not be mocked. So this is Elijah's authority. They didn't know who Elijah was. They had no idea now, the king knew. The Kings had run-ins with Elijah before. The king's met him. He's had run-ins. The king remembers what Elijah did to his father's men. But this speaks to the authority that comes from God it says in verses five through eight, "And when the messengers turned back unto him, he said unto them, Why are ye now turned back? And they said unto him, There came a man up to meet us, and said unto us, Go, turn again unto the king that sent you, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Is it not because there is not a God in Israel, that thou sendest to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron? therefore thou shalt not come down from that bed on which thou art gone up, but shalt surely die. And he said unto them, What manner of man was he which came up to meet you, and told you these words? And they answered him, He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said, It is Elijah the Tishbite." This this speaks of authority that comes from God. You know, if he were a prophet of any other god they would have ignored him why because no other god can give you that authority. There's no other... no other god or thing that can embolden a person so much that when they speak people are forced to obey. If... now this this has disappeared today. It's not that the authority has disappeared, it... people's belief in gods in general have disappeared; and without the belief... The thing is they just have given them different names. They're still god's to people. They're still false gods. They just don't call them gods because the belief in the supernatural is largely faded but back then when everyone believed in a god or a plurality of gods they recognized his authority but they didn't recognize him. That's unique about God. When God wants you to do something, and you step forth and do what He wants you to do, He won't just empower you to do it; He'll give me the authority to do it. And I like this because one thing, when i came... when I entered into ministry know... before I sat under Troy, I sat under another pastor in Milford where I got saved and he spoke with an air of authority that I wanted to speak with. And as I start feeling called into ministry I'm like "Man, I can't speak like that." It's like, I don't have that type of authority; of that authoritative presence. I still don't really feel like I have that same air that he did, which I think is good. Every preacher must have their own air about them. But as I entered in I remember shaking my first couple of times being here, but as I got into I learned something, I learned that God gives that authority. I used to think "Man, I don't have that authority. I don't have what he had, what... or what he has." He's... he's actually lost it right now. He's kind of gone down by the wayside and I won't get into that but when I was sitting under him, "I don't have it," and then I realized: it's not a talent; it's not a skill that you acquire. Authority is nothing that you can just acquire. Authority is given. So when God commissions you to do anything in His name, He also sends with you His authority and His authority is always recognized. It's not always obeyed. The king certainly did not obey his authority but it is always recognized. So just remember when God commissions you to do something outside of your comfort zone and you're like "Man, I don't have that," you will. You will have it because it's not something that comes with experience; it's not something that comes that... easier the more you do it. It's an authority given when God says "I want you to go and do something." That authority given is what comes up behind you to back you up that says to the world or to the congregation or to whoever that I, God not me God, that, just clarify when I say I'm speaking for him, that I God, have commissioned him. I have given him the power and so he comes behind you and he backs you up. Now I will tell you from experience, the more you grow in your faith, the more you trust in that. But you don't gain it, you're given it. So they go back, they obey, they go back, and they tell him. And here's what's cool, the king recognized it. He was a hairy man and this is what he said. And the king knows that's Elijah. What's cool is you can tell who is working for God, the people working for God, they're known. And they're known by that authority, by God's authority. Because when you're working for God, you can't be forced to sit in the middle. When you're truly doing what God has called you to do, you cannot be in the gray area, you cannot just say, I have no opinion. Because you are forced, if you're really working for God, to stand on his side on everything. And you get known for that. So Elijah is known for opposing the false gods. Elijah is known for speaking boldly. And so Elijah is the only one known for speaking boldly right now. And so when they're turned away, the king recognizes this is Elijah. Now, here's what's sad is how many pastors today, they are commissioned to preach the gospel, they have been commissioned by God, but they address it on the opposite side of the aisle? They preach the gospel, not boldly, not with the authority, but they preach the gospel through lying vanities. They preach the gospel as to try and get popular to try and draw in big crowds. They often forsake their own mercy in doing that. In Jonah were told that in going after their lion vanities, they forsake their own mercy. Now, they don't know they don't know the name of the man, but they felt the supernatural ring. It's Elijah. It's the man who is constantly working miracles, the man who's constantly doing wonders in the name of his God. And that, that we know, he's not doing miracles in the name of Baal or Baalzebub or Jezebel. He's doing miracles in the name of Jehovah. He's turning sinners in the error and their ways and this is unique, because there's no one else going around doing it. I'm not just talking about in the name of Jehovah. But then there's no one else going around in the name performing these miracles and wonders in the name of any other God. And Elijah is known. Now God will not be mocked, the king was mocked. The King became offended at this. But he didn't get offended that his men got turned back, he got offended that he was told he was going to die. When Elijah predicted his death, he became offended and angry with him. So angry that he says, "I want you to go and arrest Elijah, I want him." He says, "I won't be mocked." But he will. Verses nine through 12 says "the king sent unto him a captain of fifty with his fifty. And he went up to him: and, behold, he sat on the top of an hill. And he spake unto him, Thou man of God, the king hath said, Come down.And Elijah answered and said to the captain of fifty, If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty." By the way, I would have frozen up right there. A Captain of fifty, was around to remember the last time Elijah call down fire from heaven. I would have frozen out and been like I am sorry, but he didn't. So it says fire came down from heaven, and it consumed them and then he sends another. Verse 11, "Again also he sent unto him another captain of fifty with his fifty. And he answered and said unto him, O man of God, thus hath the king said, Come down quickly." So the last time he comes in, says, "Thus saith the king come down." And now the king's angry, his captain and fifty men have been consumed. So the second one he comes, and he says, "Come down quickly. It's urgent. Get down here." So he says, "If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee and thy fifty. And the fire of God came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty." Why are they being consumed? I read a lot of commentary on this. I read a lot of opinions on why were they consumed. They were just telling him to come down and go to the king, right? What was it that they were doing that warranted their death like that? You know, was Elijah's life in any danger? It could have been, but who's in control? God is. A lot of people have tried to justify this on Elijah. Like Elijah was high and mighty, but what is it that they're saying? They're saying, thou man of God. In this are doing two things. First is they aren't addressing him respectfully like this man of God come down. They're mocking him. They're doing this in a mockery tone. Oh, thou man of God. Hey, you that you man of God? Hey, you. Yeah, this is... Yeah, this is a mockery. And it's not just Elijah, they're mocking when they're doing it that way. It is the very name of God that's being mocked. It is his holiness. It is his authority. They are mocking God. And that is the behavior that warrant to them to be consumed. The second thing that they're acknowledging, when we read in the Old Testament, man of God, that is actually a phrase that means prophet. So they are acknowledging in their actions, that he is God's prophet. But in their same acknowledgement of him, they are mocking him and mocking God. Remember, God will not be mocked. He will not be mocked. And I know a lot of people who when you say God will not be mocked, what... what do they start doing immediately? I start mocking him dancing around. Well, what's he gonna do about it? Let him strike... My brother said this. He started shouting His name in vain cursing Him and everything, like, see if He were real He'd strike me with lightning right now. And I actually uttered, I'm like, Oh, God, please strike him. I uttered that because I wanted God to to show him. I want the God to be put on display right there. Unfortunately, back then I was also a Mormon and I was wrong in worshipping the wrong God myself. But that's what they do today. They they start dancing, mock, and "hehe what's he gonna do?" Well, we're in the New Testament, we're in a period called grace. But if you think if there's any fiber in you that thinks you can mock him right now. He will not be mocked. You might think you're getting away with it. Let me tell you something, He will have that final say. Because even when you're dead and you lived a long life, you lived to 105, you died peacefully, do you think you escaped it? When you think you escaped? Remember God is gonna pull you back out of that grave one day. He will not be mocked. If you want to talk about what makes our God different in the closing of the series, he will not be mocked. So God is realized, okay, this, this third Captain comes in verse 13, "And he sent again a captain of the third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up, and came and fell on his knees before Elijah, and besought him, and said unto him, O man of God, I pray thee, let my life, and the life of these fifty thy servants, be precious in thy sight." He did not mock him. He came and he fell before him and he respected the name of God. He said let my life be precious. He said I acknowledge your authority. And let me tell you something every man of God has the authority of God behind them. When God gave warnings about the way you treat his men, his mouthpieces, that did not just apply to the prophets. That applies to anyone God sends. Today He doesn't sound prophets, He sends pastors; He sends missionaries, but that applies to them. He doesn't quite act the same way He did in the old testament because we're in a different period but that applies. So he gets down he says... he comes and he respects him and he says "Please spare me. Let me be precious. I'm only delivering a message to you." He says "I believe. I've seen." He says "Fire came down from heaven and burned up the two captains of the former fifties with their fifties, therefore that my life now be precious in a sight." So he can he says "Look, I acknowledge, I've seen, I believe." He's like don't take my life but hear my message. He says "Because I also don't want my king to kill me." See the difference in the way we approach God, is the false gods they don't retaliate; they can't retaliate; they don't exist but in our creation. But the living God of this world He exists, He lives. He will be respected and not mocked. So God has realized. He comes in he realizes it so look what happens: "And the angel of the Lord said unto Elijah," So Christ comes back and says "Go with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king." What does this show us? This shows us something; and it shows us something more than just the fact that he respected God. It shows us that God's in control. When God said go with him Elijah knew. Elijah said, "It's safe." He says, "My God's in control." He says, "Last time I got fearful before the government authorities I fled from. But he says, "But my God is in control." Let us remember that when God tells us to go and we look and we go "God that's suicide." God is in control. This is the last thing that I have to say in the series "One God; Which One" is God is in control. He is in control of the earth. He's in control of the cosmos. He is in control of creation. There is no other god that exercises the control that God does for He alone is sovereign. When he said "Go," Elijah kknows I can go down there and I am under the protection of the Lord and he could say as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said "And even if not, even if even if the Lord does let us burn up, it's His will. We are under His protection and His authority not yours." And so Elijah went down to the king and repeated the message and what a turnaround by the way; from just a few weeks ago where he's cowering for his life to now he's standing boldly. The Lord is in control. The kings is then punished in verse 16, "And he said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou hast sent messengers to enquire of Baalzebub the god of Ekron, is it not because there is no God in Israel to enquire of his word? So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken." While God's in control and this goes in line with that, God's words will not return empty. When God says, "Therefore saith the Lord, I will do x, y, and z," it will be accomplished. In summary, as we as we end this, this started with Elijah being sent to a widowed woman and the word of the Lord said, "I will multiply that flour and oil through the famine." The Lord of the... the word of the Lord return not empty but day after day they put their hand in that flower pot and poured out a handful of flour; they poured that oil and another drop came out. The word of the Lord raised that boy to life in the next chapter. Actually same chapter, just next sermon. We learned that He is the God of the outsider. Where all other gods, they require you, you know, let's count how much money you payed in to tithing? Okay how much money did you make this year? You didn't pay enough. I'm not your god. Oh, how many times did you make it to church this year? You missed one too many. Not your god. How many good deeds did you do today? Did you do at least 199? No? Can you do everything I command of you? No I'm not your god. We learn that He's the God of the outsiders. Where these other gods, those are the questions they ask. They say, "Oh if you can't pay that, that 10% of tithing. I'm not your god. Oh if you can't do 100 good deeds today I'm not your god." Our god says," Where you fail, I forgive." He says, "Where you don't belong I will include you." He says, "I don't care that you're white or mexican or black. I don't care that you're young or old. I don't care if you're married or single or widowed. I don't care if you're rich or poor." He says, "I care about you respecting me, you acknowledging me." He says, "Because the reality is we're all outsiders." He says, "So I'm the God of the outsider. I accept everyone. I accept the outcast. I accept the male and the female. I accept everyone because my family only has one requirement and it's one requirement everybody can meet: that you're not worthy." He's like, "All you have to do is accept me." That's an easy requirement, at least on paper. Somebody asked me last night, I'm actually going to pull it up because it ties right into this, on Quara not, so unless you follow Quara you're not going to see this but they asked me on Quora last night they said, "Do you think if somebody is honestly searching for the truth," and i'm not going to get it to pull up. "If somebody is honestly searching for the truth that they will find it provided they submit to it?" What do you think my answer was? The answer's no. Any chance at all I can get it here? I think I can get it on this one. That phone's just being stupid. Yep, I got it. I wasn't planning on this but it just came to me. My content. "So if you are a spiritual, or religious person, do you believe every honest truth seeker will eventually find it and happiness, either on this life for the next, assuming they can form their lives to those truths?" Here's the answer: no. Because honestly seeking the truth does not always mean you will accept it. And it doesn't always mean that you're searching for the correct thing. For example, I know many people who are searching for the smoking gun to the big bang and they're honestly looking for it. They're seeking diligently; they're searching for what they deem the truth but if there is an absolute reefer... refusal to accept the existence of a god then you're not honestly seeking the truth. You've already shut out. You're only seeking what you deem to be the true. A famous example is the person who asked for a single witness of the resurrected Christ then when you point out the 500 who all saw him risen and felt His nail prints and felt the gash in His side, they say except for those. In other words they want a witness other than the witnesses. I know many who are honestly seeking but seeking is not enough. The reality is everyone who talks with me as heard the truth because Jesus is the truth. I tell that to everyone. It's not finding the truth that is the issue, it's accepting it. Because accepting the truth means more than just believing that Jesus is God in the flesh, died and rose again. it means accepting that you are a sinner; accepting that you cannot save yourself; accepting that your ways are wrong. It means that you allow him to be Lord over your life not just admit that he is Lord. The majority of people they, they will find the truth. They'll hear it, but they reject it. That's the reality of the world we live in. But we learned of the God, the God of the outsider. We learn of the God the reviver. Know, there is no other God throughout world history who has raised someone to life, save Jehovah. We learned of the Lord who is God in the third week when He alone could respond to the cries of the lone prophet. Where the other gods they couldn't hear the 450 prophets who are gashing themselves; who are dancing, and singing, and shouting. But that's what they require. And they say, "Maybe if you cut yourself deep enough, or long enough, maybe I'll give you joy. I don't guarantee it but maybe. But rest assured, if you don't do it I'll give you misery." Right? Where our God says, "I will give you peace, I will give you security. I will give you everlasting life, if you just admit me as Lord and allow me Lord over your life." We then learned of God the Comforter last week. We learned of the God who even when we fail, even when we turn on Him, He is never far behind us. We can, we can turn away from him and start walking, and walking, and walking, and the moment we turn around again, He's right there. He followed us the whole way. We learned that the God who doesn't get wrathful with us every time we fall, but He comforts; He sends His angel to make food. He says, "Let me restore you." And today we see Elijah restored. We see that despite the downfall, God responds to him as a man of God, He doesn't respond to him as "Oh, you're the quitter." He responds to him as the man of God and sends fire from heaven for him two more times. And we see Him as God Sovereign, the one in control. If there is, if you've had that question, what is the right God? Who is the right God? It is Jesus Christ, Lord Jehovah, Yahweh. He is the One True God, there is no God, like Him; there is no God before him; no God beside him. But he is the God. And next week is Easter Sunday. So when you come back, next week, we're going to talk about the One God. You know, all the other gods, they require you to do for them. All other religions it's what can you do for the god? And how much can you do? But in Christianity, the one true God, that's what I did for you. So next week, we're going to talk about what he did for us about His death, burial, and resurrection; what He experienced because He loves you, because He is the one true God. And He wants to give you eternal life. If you have asked that question, and you've come over the last five weeks, to realize that what you've been looking for is right in front of you, that you have found it now and that you're ready to accept it because I said, finding it's not enough, it's accepting it. So if you're ready to accept that He is Lord over your life, and that you're a sinner who's offended Him. But He says, "I died for you and love you and will forgive you." Then just let Him into your life today. Let Him in and know the one true God for yourself. ***Let's pray***