Elijah: Prophet Of Courage And Confrontation
Sermon #7
1 Kings 18:41-46
A PROPHET'S WORK IS NEVER DONE
Intro: The prophet Elijah has just been used by the
Lord to accomplish a great miracle. He has just prayed
a simple prayer and God has opened the heavens and
sent down fire, proving Himself to be Lord of all. Elijah
has just seen the people of Israel bow before God and
proclaim their faith and allegiance to Him. Elijah has
just killed the 450 Baal prophets. His day has been a
busy one to say the least. Most of us would have been
looking around for an easy chair so we could rest up.
But not Elijah!
You see, the land of Israel has been languishing
under a three and one-half year drought. Because of
the drought people are starving, tens of thousands have
died and the nation is in a desperate condition. Of
course, there has been no rain because of the idolatry
of the people. Now, they have repented, the Baal
priests are dead and it is time for God to open the
heavens and send down the much needed rain.
So, instead of walking off into the sunset to savor his
victory over evil, Elijah gets to work again to see that the
rain comes like God promised it would. He teaches us
the lesson in this passage that there is no quitting
place. There will never come a day in your walk with
God when you will have the opportunity to sit down and
do nothing. Many are doing just that, but it isn't
because there is nothing to do. It isn't because the
Lord is allowing them to sit idle either. They sit
because, unlike Elijah, they have never learned the
truth that a child of God's work is never done!
We have all heard the old saying, "A man may
work from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never
done." That is a true saying for many women! The
same can be said about a servant of the Lord as well.
When a person has arrived at the place where they are
totally sold out to the will of God for their life, they will
never stop serving until He calls them home. Let's join
Elijah in the aftermath of his great victory on Carmel
and learn the lesson that A Prophet's Work Is Never
Done. There are three characteristics displayed by
Elijah in these verses that teach us how we can stay
busy in the Lord's work all the time.
I. V. 41 ELIJAH THE PROMISE CLAIMER
(Ill. The rain - Elijah knew rain was coming. How?
The ear of faith hears what the eye of flesh cannot
of see! When a man reaches the place where the
din of the world is shut out, he can hear the caravan
of God's blessing before it ever appears in his sight.
Ill/ Jacob and his sorrow over Joseph. He was so
caught up in his grief that he never heard the
wagons coming. It wasn't until he saw them with his
eyes that he knew what God had done, Gen. 45:25-28. Blessed is the man who doesn't have to see to
believe - John 20:29.)
(Ill. In this verses, we can see that Elijah was a man
who believed the promises of God. He believed
them so much that he was willing to claim them and
live in them. Someone has taken the time to count
them and they tell us that there are over 7,000
promises in the Bible. However, only a fool thinks
he can claim all of them for himself! Some were
personal promises made to individuals, others were
universal promises made to all. Mark 16:18 is an
example of a personal promise that some are trying
to make universal. It just won't work! Joshua 6:3-5
is another personal promise given to a specific
people at a specific time for a specific purpose. You
have no right to claim it for yourself now!
However, I can claim Romans 10:13; 1 Thes.
4:16-17; Phil. 4:19; Psa. 103:11-13; Pro. 3:5-6;
Matt. 7:7-8; John 14:13. Do you see the
difference? Do you see the danger in trying to claim
a promise that was not given to you?
There are other promises in the Bible that are
either conditional or unconditional. If I am going to
claim a conditional promise, then I must meet all the
conditions. For instance, Matt. 21:22 says, "And all
things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer,
believing, ye shall receive." If that promise is
going to work for me, then I must pray in absolute
faith. It is conditional. However, Psalm 119:105,
which says, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and
a light unto my path." Is an unconditional promise
and is given without strings attached.
In these verses, we see that Elijah is claiming a
promise that is both personal, and conditional, 1
Kings 18:1. With that little primer on promises in
mind, let's see how we can be active as a promise
claimer.
(Ill. His confidence was based on:
A. The Precious Word Of God - In 1 Kings 18:1,
God told Elijah to confront Ahab and He would
send the rain. Elijah did as he was commanded,
and he knew the rain was coming. Elijah
believed God when God said something.
(Ill. Friends, we serve a God Who is able to keep
His promises - Rom. 4:21; Matt. 5:18; Heb.
6:18; Eph. 3:20.)
B. The Perfect Will Of God - In 1 Kings 17:1,
Elijah had been God's instrument to bring the
drought upon the nation. Elijah knew that the
drought had been sent because of the idolatry of
the people. The rain had stopped because the
people were worshiping Baal instead of Jehovah.
Now, the Baal prophets were dead, the people
had repented and had returned to the Lord God.
Elijah knew it was time for the rains to return.
(Ill. When God's will had been revealed about a
matter, it is settled already. It will be done!
Then, some may ask, "Why bother to pray about
it?" Because, God's promises are not given to
restrict our prayer life, but to energize it! When
God reveals His will in a matter, we have
direction, purpose and power in prayer. We can
pray specifically about a situation with the
confidence that God will so as He has purposed
and willed. Take Phil. 4:19 as an example.
There, God has show us that it is His will to meet
the needs of His children. This verse, coupled
with Matt. 6:25-34, tells us that God will supply
the needs we have. Therefore, we can pray with
absolute confidence concerning the needs that
arise in our lives.)
C. The Prior Work Of God - Elijah knew that he
could trust God to send the rain because of all
that he had already seen the Lord do.
Remember, he had already witnessed the
faithfulness of God at the brook, in the barrel,
with the boy, in the bull and over Baal. He
has seen the Lord work many miracles before
and there was no reason to think that God could
not continue to move in power and glory.
(Ill. I would just like to remind you that God has
not changed! He is still the same God today that
He has ever been, Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8; James
1:17. Think of all the promises He kept and the
power He demonstrated in the past, (Noah, 3
Hebrews, Daniel, Manna, Red Sea, Water from
Rock, Empty Tomb, etc.) What He has been
able to do He can still do! In fact, I believe that
we have never even seen the fullest extent of
His power revealed! If He can save a sinner
from Hell, then He can do anything, Luke 1:37!)
(Ill. There is work to be done by those who will labor
in the area of claiming God's promises and taking
Him at His Word.)
I. Elijah The Promise Claimer
II. V. 42-45
ELIJAH THE PRAYER WARRIOR
(Ill. In these verses, we can se a major contrast
between Elijah the prophet and Ahab the king.
There reactions and actions in the aftermath of the
events on Carmel reveal much about the condition
of their hearts. Our main focus this morning is
Elijah, but let's try to glean all we can and look at
these two men for just a moment. Notice what they
did, it reveals who they are.)
A. Ahab Went to His Feast - As soon as this
powerful manifestation of God is concluded,
Ahab's first thought is to feed his flesh. He
heads up to his pavilion to eat and drink. There
appears to be no conviction, no concern over the
dead Baal prophets, no hint of sorrow or
repentance. Ahab cares for nothing but Ahab.
He is a sad figure and this is revealed by noting
some truths about his attitude and his actions.
1. Ahab was weak in all this. Notice him
ordered about by Elijah. Why weak? He was
totally controlled by his flesh!
(Ill. Those who live in the flesh may talk big
and act strong, but they are, in fact, the
weakest of men. The true strong men is one
who rules, not is ruled by, his passions.)
2. Ahab's focus after such a stirring meeting
reveals the true condition of his heart.
Instead of bowing before the Lord in
repentance and sorrow, Ahab walks off to
feed his flesh.
(Ill. Like so many who attend church, their
bodies are there, but their hearts and minds
are thousands of miles away. You see, our
hearts are revealed by what we think about
during service, where we rush off to after
service and by what we get the most excited
about. Some can't even sit through an entire
service! By the way, you attention span
for spiritual things is a barometer of your
spiritual growth! Some folks can't seem to
sit still through a 45 minute sermon, but they
can sit for hours and watch a ball game or a
race. It's all a matter of your priorities! This
sad state of affairs is seen clearly when one
compares the interest in prayer meeting as
opposed to an eating meeting!)
3. Ahab is never confronted by Elijah
concerning his sins. Why? Ahab wouldn't
have heard it! Ahab had not come to the
place where he could see the condition of his
own heart.
(Ill. So it is in the church today. The preacher
preaches on sin and people sit unaffected,
unmoved and act as though the message
were given to everyone but them. That is
why lots of folks can continue to live their
lives in rebellion to the Lord! They simply
cannot see the condition of their own heart.
Oh, they can see the sin in their neighbors
life! They can see where the message
affects someone they know. Yet, they
cannot see how they might be wrong in their
own life. Jesus has a word for folks like that,
"And why beholdest thou the mote that is
in thy brother's eye, but considerest not
the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how
wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull
out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold,
a beam is in thine own eye? Thou
hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of
thine own eye; and then shalt thou see
clearly to cast out the mote out of thy
brother's eye.", Matt. 7:3-5. Got any Ahab's
here this morning?)
B. Elijah Went To His Father - While Ahab
wandered off the feed the flesh, Elijah climbed to
the top of Carmel to meet the Father. Even
though the Baal prophets were dead and gone,
there was still work to be done. It was time for
the man who believed God to call on His Name
and finish the task he had been given. I want to
examine Elijah's prayer so that we can learn
more about genuine faith praying. But, before
we do that, I just want to point out a couple of
truths that need to be mentioned as we contrast
these men this morning.
1. Why did Elijah go to the top of the mountain
alone? Why didn't he invite Ahab to join
him? Because those who are spiritual must
separate themselves from those who are cold
spiritually! If you allow yourself to be
influenced by those who are cold in their walk
with God, they will lower your spiritual
temperature.
2. Just like Ahab, Elijah hadn't eaten or drank all
day. Why didn't Elijah go have nice meal
before he prayed? Because he was like
Jesus. He had meat that others knew
nothing about, John 4:31-32. That is the
difference between the mediocre believer
and the spiritual giant! The mediocre
believer allows the needs and desires of the
flesh to come ahead of God. The spiritual
giant, on the other hand, thrives in the
presence of God. Nothing thrills the spiritual
giant any more than getting alone in the
presence of God and feeding on Him!
(Ill. Now with that in mind, let's spend a few
minutes looking at Elijah's prayer. How he
prayed can help us to be more effective prayer
warriors for the glory of God.)
1. He Was Humble - v. 42b, He bowed himself
before the presence of the Lord. The man of
God had stood tall as an ambassador of
the Lord, now he bows low as an
intercessor before the Lord! It would do us
good to remember that God does not exist
merely to answer our prayers or fulfill our
wishes. He is God and he will honor the
person who comes into his presence humbly,
1 Pet. 5:5-6; James 4:6; 10. (Ill. All we need
do is remember the condition and that will
help us to be humble in the presence of the
Lord.
2. He Was Specific - v. 43, James 5:17-18
tells us that Elijah was very specific in his
prayer life. He did not waste time on mere
generalities, but he prayed in faith specifically
naming the things that needed to be done.
God honors this kind of praying! If you do
not pray specifically, you will never know
when the ord answers your prayer! Pray
specifically about the things you want to see
done!
3. He Was Earnest - Elijah was sincere about
his prayer, James 5:16-18. He did not take
a spiritless attitude toward his prayer life, but
he prayed with fervency. His soul was
moved with the need of the people. He felt
the pressure of the thing he prayed for! May
the Lord deliver us from flippant prayer that
avails nothing! May the church regain the
desire for availing, fervent prayer! Prayer
that moves the soul and lines our will up with
that of the Heavenly Father. After all, that is
the purpose of prayer: to bring us to the
same place God is at already in regard to our
request!
4. He Was Persistent - v. 43, eight times the
servant is told to go and look toward the sea.
Seven times there is nothing there. Yet,
Elijah kept praying and kept believing. He
did not allow the outward circumstance affect
his inward assurance that the answer was on
the way. He was persistent! Sometimes, like
Elijah, we will experience delays in answers
to our prayers. Why is this? One writer said
it this way, "Ii s not that God is hard to
persuade; it is that He will have us mean
what we say." There are times when God will
answer prayer immediately. However, there
are times when the answer is delayed.
When those times come, God would have us
continue faithful in prayer, waiting on His
answer. Let us learn to be patient! It is in
perseverance in prayer that the flesh is
brought low ans faith allowed to soar to its
highest heights! God would have us never
give up! If he has put something in your
heart, pray until it becomes a reality!
5. He Was Expectant - v. 41, 43 - Elijah kept
praying and kept sending his servant to look
to the sea. Why? Because he was operating
in faith in the promise of God. He knew the
rains were coming. He was expecting big
things from God! (Note: the word for "rain" in
verse 41 refers to a heavy downpour. Elijah
was expecting big things from a big God!)
If we are ever going to see real success in
our prayer lives, we must learn to pray with
expectancy! We must pray and believe that
God will do what He has promised to do,
Mark 11:24, "Therefore I say unto you,
What things soever ye desire, when ye
pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye
shall have them." Nothing cripples faith
nearly so often as the sin of unbelief, James
1:6-8; Heb. 11:6; Rom. 14:23.
6. He Was Answered - v. 44 - On the eighth
trip, the servant saw a little cloud rising out of
the sea. When this news is brought to Elijah,
the prophet knew that God's answer had
come. His prayers had prevailed and God
was sending the rains!
Friends, we serve a God Who still
answers the prayers of His children, Jer.
33:3; Isa. 65:24, 1 John 5:14-15. He would
have us know that real, faith praying is not a
waste of time! God honors the prays of His
people, because the prayers of His people
honor Him!
(Ill. It is easy to see the contrast between these two
men. If you were perfectly honest this morning
which of these two men best describes the life you
live?)
I. Elijah The Promise Claimer
II. Elijah The Prayer Warrior
III. V. 46 ELIJAH THE POWER RUNNER
(Ill. We are told that when the rains came, Ahab left
in his chariot. After three and one-half years of
drought, a torrential rain would turn the ground to
mud in no time. Therefore, Ahab wanted to beat the
rain back to Jezreel. His iron chariot wheels would
bog down in the mud and cause him problems
traveling. As he went, suddenly ,he heard the
pounding of sandals against the muddy ground.
Ahab looks over just in time to see Elijah pass him
and run in front of him the 18 miles to the gate of
Jezreel. I am reminded of those old Roadrunner
cartoons. I find this to be very humorous!)
A. The Source Of His Power - After the strenuous
activity of the day, how did Elijah possess the
ability to run that far that fast? The Bible says
that "The hand of the Lord was on Elijah."
When a person is enabled by God, he can do
things that are beyond the scope of ordinary
men! He gives strength, stamina and ability to
those who will walk in His power. As Paul said,
"I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me.", Phil. 4:13. While Ahab
was bogged down in the mud of sameness and
mediocrity, Elijah ran with hand of God upon his
life and excelled! What a difference! I don't
know about you, but I want the power of God on
me!
B. The Secret Of His Preparation - we are told
that Elijah "girded up his loins". That is he
wrapped his mantle about him and tucked the
end of his robe into his belt and ran. Why the
preparations? If he has tried to run without
girding his loins, he would have been tangled up
in his garments and would have fallen. He
cleared every possible obstacle so that he could
run better. What a lesson for those who want to
run with God! Let us heed the words of Paul in
Hebrews 12:1-2, "Wherefore seeing we also
are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let
us run with patience the race that is set
before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and
finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was
set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand
of the throne of God." If we will run well, we
must rid our lives of those things that would
hinder our progress. All the weights, all the sins,
all must fall by the wayside if we will run with
patience and power the race we have been
given! What needs to be removed from your
life?
C. The Strategy Of His Purpose - What is the
significance of this event? Ancient kings were
always preceded by a runner. This runner would
announce the approach of the king and clear any
obstacles that might hinder the kings chariot
from traveling the road. When Elijah ran ahead
of Ahab, he was making a statement. Elijah was
in effect saying, "Ahab, I am a man of God and
I hate sin and idolatry. However, I respect
your office and I am willing to submit to you
as my king, as you submit to God as yours."
Elijah wanted Ahab to know that his stand
against Baal was nothing personal, it was just his
zeal for the Lord! For Elijah, this was a
statement of humility! He simply assumed the
role of a servant.
There is just this thought for us this morning:
God's work in our lives will never make us cocky
or mean! There are those who have been used
of the Lord after a fashion, who become lifted up
in pride and feel that they are better than others.
A true servant is always humbled by God's
activity in his life. This humility is always
revealed in a desire to serve others first, Mark
10:44, Matt. 23:12. Do you understand what I
am saying? God's work in your life will not lift
you up, but it will cause you to see your own
unworthiness before God. It will produce within
you a desire to serve in His name! It is to be
noted that Ahab did not offer Elijah a ride in his
chariot. The sinful can only think of themselves.
The saved servants are forced to think of others
first. What a difference!
Conc: The battle had been won, but the work was not
finished! Elijah still needed to claim some promises,
prayer some prayers and run on for the glory of God.
My friends, there is no room for quitting in the family of
God. If you are tired and weary and contemplating a
season of spiritual retirement, may I encourage you to
reconsider this morning? There is still work to be done.
Promises must be claimed, prayers must be prayed,
God still wants His people to run with patience the race
of life for His glory. If there is a need in your life today,
will you bring it to the Lord? Whether it is a need for
salvation, repentance, rededication, help in a situation
or whatever, God has all you need. Will you come?
