Sermon Tone Analysis

*TEXT: 1 KINGS 19;9-13*

*Subject: “A CALM WORD IN CHAOTIC TIMES”*

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            IF EVER THERE WAS A UNSTABLE PERSON WHO LIVED IN UNSTABLE TIMES,

THE PROPHET ELIJAH WAS ONE SUCH PERSON.

IT WAS ELIJAH WHO SAVED HIS PEOPLE FROM THE ERRORS AND EXCESSES OF KING AHAB AND QUEEN JEZEBEL BY ACTING AS THE CONSCIENCE OF ISRAEL.

ELIJAH WAS A NO-NONSENSE PERSONALITY.

HE SAW THINGS EITHER RIGHT OR WRONG---GOD OR BAAL—THERE WAS NO MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.

HE WAS EVER CONFRONTING PEOPLE ABOUT THEIR SINS.

WHETHER IT WAS KINGS IN THEIR PALACES, OR CROWDS ON CARMEL,

HE HAD A MINISTRY OF MIRACLES, FIRE, AND THE SWORD.

HE HAD SHUT UP THE HEAVENS, HAD BEEN SUSTAINED BY RAVENS

AND BY A JAR OF MEAL AND A CRUSE OF OIL THAT NEVER RAN OUT.

HE HAD RAISED THE DEAD, CALLED DOWN FIRE FROM HEAVEN, AND BROUGHT RAIN TO THE LAND.

/Scripture honors Elijah./

More is written of him in the New Testament than of any other prophet except Moses.

/God honored Elijah./

Elijah was one of two humans who did not taste death (Enoch was the other).

And Elijah was one of two Old Testament saints (Moses was the other) who was on the mount when Christ was transfigured.

YET, THE ELIJAH WE READ ABOUT TODAY IS DOWNRIGHT DEPRESSED, DISCOURAGED, FRETFUL AND FEELING DESERTED.

HE IS IN A CAVE ON MT.

HOREB.

NOW, SOME THINGS DON’T BELONG IN CERTAIN PLACES.

HAVE YOU EVER FOUND YOURSELF SOMEWHERE AND THEN REMARKED TO YOURSELF------SEE, I DON’T EVEN HAVE ANY BUSINESS BEING HERE.

SOME THINGS JUST DON’T BELONG IN CERTAIN PLACES.

AN OVEN IS NO PLACE FOR AN ICEBALL.

A PIG PEN IS NO PLACE FOR A HUMAN BEING.

A TREE IS NO PLACE FOR A HUGE STONE.

AND A CAVE IS NO PLACE FOR A PROPHET.

CAVES ARE FOR BLIND BATS.

CAVES ARE FOR HIBERNATING BEARS.

CAVES ARE FOR WILD BEASTS.

BUT A CAVE IS NO PLACE FOR A PROPHET.

 

 

 

 

YOU EXPECT TO SEE A PROPHET IN CONFERENCE WITH GOD.

YOU EXPECT TO SEE A PROPHET IN CONFRONTATION WITH UNRIGHTEOUSNESS.

BUT THE LAST PLACE YOU EXPECT TO SEE OR EVER LOOK FOR A PROPHET IS IN A CAVE.

FOR THIS IS NO PLACE FOR A PROPHET.

  NEVERTHELESS, DESPITE THE FACT THIS IS NO PLACE FOR A PROPHET,

IT IS EXACTLY WHERE WE FIND HIM—IN A CAVE.

HE IS SENTIMENTAL.

HE IS SUICIDAL.

HE IS WEARY.

HE IS WEEPING.

HE IS WOUNDED.

LISTEN AGAIN TO THE CONVERSATION……………

KJV *1 Kings 19:9* And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD /came /to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?

KJV *1 Kings 19:10* And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, /even /I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.

SHAKEN ELIJAH WAS IN SHAKEN TIMES,

MINISTRY IN HIS GENERATION WAS TO SAY THE LEAST ROUGH.

HE FOUND OUT THE PROPHETIC PROFESSION WAS NOT AN EASY ONE.

ELIJAH HAD TO SPEND SOME TIME UNDER A JUNIPER TREE FIGHTING OFF A PROPHETIC DEPRESSION.

HAD TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH HIS OWN SENSE OF PERSONAL DOUBT AND INTERNAL ANXIETY.

HAD TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH HIS OWN SENSE OF ALONENESS, FRUSTRATION, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL PAIN.

But when pessimism gets an iron grip on us, we tend to evaluate things in the worst way.

We play down any success and magnify every defeat.

(It denies the power and will of god.)

PHYSICALLY TIRED……..

Here we are looking at the influence of his pessimism on others.

We do not live unto ourselves (Romans 14:7), and when we get down in the dumps, it will have an adverse effect on many around us.

Elijah’s pessimism deflated the momentum of the movement back to Jehovah, it discouraged the converts of Jehovah, and it delighted the opposition to Jehovah.

ELIJAH IS SHAKEN AND NEEDS HIS FAITH RENEWED…………….

THE GOOD NEWS IS THE GOD OF FAITH WAS NOT ABOUT TO FAIL;

DON’T THINK THAT BECAUSE YOU ARE IN THE FIGHT—THE FIGHT IS YOURS.

DON’T THINK JUST BECAUSE YOU ARE IN LEADERSHIP YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR HOW IT TURNS OUT.

GOD HAS HIS OWN WAY.

GOD HAS HIS OWN WEAPONS.

GOD HAS HIS OWN WARRIORS—MOST OF THE TIME, NONE OF US WOULD HAVE PICKED THE SAME PEOPLE JESUS DOES.

IF I WERE JESUS….

THE GOOD NEWS IS THE GOD OF FAITH WAS NOT ABOUT TO FAIL;

EVEN IF THE LESSON TO BE LEARNED, WAS TOTALLY UNEXPECTED.

LISTEN AGAIN TO THE CONVERSATION: