Session 2 Sermon 4

Thanks to all who made it out in the rain and in the middle of a three-day weekend.

Message

"And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:" (1 Kings 18:3).

Review

The major points to date:

1. Sermon 1—Elijah enters his work of reformation (restoration)
   
   1. The transition found in 1 Kings 17:1 and 1 Kings 18:15—"As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand" to "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand"
      
2. Sermon 2—Command and promise
   
   1. The "I am" and the "I will"
      
3. Sermon 3—Sore famine in Samaria
   
   1. By definition: Great hunger in the watch-station
      
   2. There are times when the Lord's visitation results in famine versus plenty
      
      1. By the way, most people think God visited Israel at Mount Carmel when Elijah prayed over the waterlogged sacrifice and fire fell from heaven, consuming the sacrifice and the altar. But God's visitation had actually happened three and a half years earlier when Elijah appeared before Ahab. God's visitation was the famine. The fire of God consuming Elijah's sacrifice was but the imminent outflow of God's visitation. Sometimes we pray for a visitation from God, expecting for fire to fall.
         
      2. When a famine hits our life, we don't realize God has just answered our prayer. Circumstances suggest that God has forsaken us, but in actuality He has just visited us. Let's not be like the Jews of Jesus' day who came into judgment because they did not know the time of their visitation (Luke 19:44). God's visitation does not always come packaged the way we would have expected. Sometimes His visitation is a famine. The famine is His way of bringing us to desperate dependence and great spiritual thirst. So if you're in an especially dry time spiritually, perhaps it's because God has visited you! Here's a word of encouragement: If God has visited you with famine, get ready, fire's a-comin'! (Bob Sorge, The Fire of Delayed Answers, Oasis House)
         

Introduction

In my preparation time I simply could not embrace the continual commentary that labeled Obadiah as either a weak follower of Yahweh or a type of a backslidden believer. Such remarks unsettled my spirit based on what was written of him in the inspired Word.

Obadiah was:

1. The governor of the king's house (like Joseph was over Potipher's)
   
   1. Trust to be sent out looking for water and pasture
      
2. Obadiah by definition, serving the Lord
   
3. He feared the Lord greatly (v. 3)
   
4. Respected and reverenced the prophet Elijah (v.7)
   
5. A concern for personal sin (v.9)
   
6. A personal testimony of a fear of the Lord (v. 12)
   
7. Hid 100 prophets (v.13)
   
   1. 50 per cave; fed bread and water
      

Working out our salvation

I believe the downbeat definitions of Obadiah are attributed to a wrongful comparison with Elijah. Paul plainly states it is not wise to compare ourselves among ourselves (2 Corinthians 10:12) and that we are to exercise our gifts according to the grace given us in proportion of our faith (Romans 12:6).

1. For the Romans hearing Paul's letter it meant they were not to usurp apostolic authority or to personally attempt to exercise their special function;
   
2. for Obadiah it was to function as a trustworthy governor and hider of prophets, not to usurp the authority of Elijah the prophet;
   
3. for us it means we are to confine ourselves to our functions according to the measure of faith; that is, according to the extraordinary endowment of confidence in God that has been given each of us.
   

In these first three verses of First Kings eighteen we see in Elijah, Obadiah, and Ahab the three offices created by God to meet the spiritual and material needs of his chosen people: the prophet, priest, and the king.

1. The prophet was one who represented God before man
   
   1. Hindsight, insight, and foresight
      
2. the priest was one who represented man before God
   
   1. compassion for other men
      
3. the king was one who ruled for God
   
   1. a follower of God's laws who enabled men to do so as well
      

Thus, to define Obadiah through the definition of a different office (gifting) cannot accurately portray his life. As we continue to study the spirit of Elijah this session and make the appropriate applications that does not mean each of us will individually operate as Elijah did. Just as both Obadiah and Elijah had specific roles in God's plan for that day, so too each of us have specific plans and general practices (humility and love/service and their techniques) as outlined by the Word—Romans 12:6-21.

1. How to deal with one's friends (12:9–13, 15–16)
   
   1. Love and honor them (12:9–10)
      
   2. Show them your zeal and joy (12:11–12)
      
   3. Share with them (12:13) 
      
   4. Mourn and weep with them (12:15)
      
   5. Live in harmony with them (12:16)
      
2. How to deal with one's foes (12:14, 17–21)
   
   1. Bless them when they persecute you (12:14)
      
   2. Let God repay them for the evil done to you (12:17–19) 
      
   3. Give them food when they are hungry and water when they are thirsty (12:20–21).
      
      

Wuest Translation of Romans 12:9-21

"Love, let it be without hypocrisy. Look with loathing and horror upon that which is pernicious. Stick fast to that which is good. In the sphere of brotherly love have a family affection for one another, vying with one another in showing honor; with respect to zeal, not lazy; fervent in the sphere of the Spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in the sphere of hope; patient in tribulation; with respect to prayer, persevering in it continually; with respect to the needs of the saints, being a sharer with them, eager for opportunities to show hospitality. Be constantly blessing those who are constantly persecuting you; be blessing and stop cursing. Be rejoicing with those who are rejoicing, and be weeping with those who are weeping; having the same mind towards one another, not setting your mind upon lofty things, but associating yourselves with lowly things and lowly people. Stop being those who are wise in their own opinion, requiting to no one evil in exchange for evil, taking thought in advance with regard to things that are seemly in the sight of all men. If it is possible so far as it depends upon you, with all men be living at peace. Do not be avenging yourselves, beloved ones, but give place at once to the wrath, for it stands written, To me belongs punishment, I will repay, says the Lord. But, if your enemy is hungry, be feeding him. If he thirsts, be giving him to drink, for doing this, you will heap burning coals of fire upon his head. Stop being overcome by the evil, but be overcoming the evil by means of the good."

Close

Remember that none of these services and techniques, none of these gifts given by the Lord can be accomplished outside of Jesus Christ. Just as He fulfilled all three of the Old Testament offices of prophet, priest, and king so too does He enable us to fulfill all He has given us: "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

 

 

Session 2 Sermon 2

What a powerful night in the Spirit! Words fail to describe the exhilaration in our spirits as His liberty and freedom reigned throughout the service. Thank you Lord for the ministry You preformed last night!!

Message

1 Kings 18:1

Command and Promise

I am and I will

1. Elijah enters upon his work of reformation
   
   1. Three and one-half years symbolic of "want and suffering"
      
   2. Real drama was about to begin
      
      1. Ravens and brook not real drama
         
      2. Widow's oil and barrel not real drama
         
      3. Raising son from the dead not real drama
         
   3. The answer to the original prayer was about to begin
      
      1. Our prayers may not be answered in just the "order" that we think they should be…but they will be answered when prayed according to His will—command and promise.
         
2. For the answer to take place Elijah had to grasp the principle of Command and Promise or the Lord's I am and I will
   
   1. Moses
      
      1. Exodus 6
         
         1. I am (2, 6, 8, 29)
            
         2. I will
            
            1. Bring you out from under burdens of the Egyptians
               
            2. Rid you of their bondage
               
            3. Redeem you with an outstretched arm (v. 6)
               
            4. Take you to me for a people
               
            5. Be your God (v. 7)
               
            6. Bring you into a land
               
            7. I will give it you for an heritage (v. 8)
               
   2. Joshua
      
      1. Joshua 1:7-9
         
   3. Gideon
      
      1. Judges 6:14-16
         
   4. Elijah
      
      1. 1 Kings 18:1
         
3. When there is a command and no promise it becomes necessary to try and see whether our own strength can fulfill the command which is contrary to His will and Word.
   
4. Golden Nuggets "Promise"
   
   1. The first one is, "He hath said, 'I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee' " (Heb. 13:5). The translation says, "He hath said." But it is intensive in the Greek. "He Himself hath said." That is, the Lord Jesus Himself personally made this promise. The word "leave" is not from the usual Greek word which means "to leave," but from a word which means "to uphold" or "sustain." In the Greek there are two negatives before the word "leave," presenting a very strong negation. The promise is, "I will not, I will not cease to uphold or sustain thee."
      
   2. The second promise is, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37). Here again we have two negatives before the verb: "I will not, I will not cast out." The words "cast out" are from one word made up of two words, the word "to throw" and a preposition meaning "out from within." That is, our Lord is speaking of those who are in salvation, in the Father's house. He gives us a double-strength promise that He will not throw us out of that house. But there is another word in the Greek which does not appear in the English, the word "outside." Literally, the promise reads, "The one who comes to Me, I will not, I will not throw out into the outside." Imagine a heavenly Father throwing His own child out. That is exactly what the Greek word means. This word "outside" is found in Revelation 22:15, where it is translated "without." The New Jerusalem is spoken of in the previous verse, but "without," that is, "outside, are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." We have the solemn promise of our Lord that the Christian will never be ejected from the Father's house and thrown into the outside where those are who have rejected His grace.
      
   3. The third is, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you" (John 15:7). The words, "ye shall ask," are in the you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto imperative mood, which makes them a command, and are to be taken in the sense of "I command you to ask." "Abiding" implies fellowship with the Lord, "nothing between myself and my Saviour," and dependence upon Him. To those who thus abide, God issues the gracious command, "ask whatever ye desire." It is more than a command. It is a challenge. It is as if God said, "You meet the conditions, and I challenge you to ask, and then see how faithful and able I am to answer your prayer." The word "desire" implies a desire that proceeds, not from deliberate forethought, but from inclination. This is a perfectly safe command and promise, because when we live in close fellowship with Jesus, our desires and our inclinations are His desires and His inclinations.
      

 

Session 2 Sermon 1

Our return to the sanctuary was blessed by His presence through vibrant worship and the unction in seeing the "Lord of hosts." It was a great night to be in church.

Message

Returning to The Spirit of Elijah

In preparing for the new session and thus tonight the first study book I opened began with "Elijah enters upon his work of reformation"

Last session we looked at Chapter 17, highlights

1. Hatred of corporate sin
   
2. Lessons learned by Elijah
   
   1. Content in obscurity (patient)
      
      1. Move when God says move and stand when He says, "stand"
         
   2. Stand before God, then stand before man
      
   3. Dependence on God
      
   4. Fellowship with man in suffering
      
   5. God's plan bigger than originally thought
      
3. Which takes us to tonight's focus—another lesson in Elijah's training—an even greater revelation of God!
   
   1. "As the Lord of God of Israel lives, before whom I stand…" (1 Kings 17:1).
      
   2. "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand…(1 Kings 18:15)
      
      1. Recognizing the Lord of the battle
         
         1. Psalms 24:8-10 (8) Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. (9) Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. (10) Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.
            
      2. Letting God arise
         

Worship continues

 

1. Hatred of corporate sin
   
   1. Cannot be coddled—by mercy and truth is iniquity purged
      
   2. Judgment must first begin in the house of God
      
2. Greater revelation of God
   
   1. Job 25:3 Is there any number of his armies? and upon whom doth not his light arise? (Bildad, the Shuhite)
      
   2. His provision
      
   3. His encouragement
      

Close