1 Kings chapter 19. We read those first eight verses, and we'll look at some more of
these verses in a moment. But I'd ask you this morning,
do you ever look around at all of the very blatant wickedness
going on in this world at this present hour with all of the
decline like it is? Do you just ever ask yourself
that question What is this world coming to? Well, I can tell you. It's coming to an end. And these things are the things
in Scripture that God tells us will characterize this end, this
end of the age. the most base, godless leaders
ruling the people. He says in the last days, scoffers,
many false prophets, general idolatry and false religions
on every hand, perversions, that we cannot hardly imagine, which
are simply the result of rejected truth. You just read Romans chapter
1, maybe 2 Peter chapter 3, where we find that it says concerning
all these perversions, because they rejected light, rejected
the truth, God gave them over to a reprobate mind. And we need not be surprised
what men and women do or what we would do if God gives us over
to a reprobate mind. And it was very much like this
Maybe a little different scale, but very much like this in Elijah's
day. And now he has run, and we find
him hiding, sleeping in a cave. But God wakes him up. And here he makes a very plain
and honest confession. And his confession reflects the
feelings of many a believer, many a prophet, many a preacher
in every age. Every age. Verse 9 says, that when he came
hither unto the cave, and lodged there, and behold, the word of
the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou? I can imagine Elijah feeling
in light of all that was going on. What's the use to try anymore? What's the use to try to tell
men and women what God says anymore? And He is, as is always the case,
just one of a few. He feels that too. Verse 10. And he said, I have been very
jealous for the Lord God of hosts. One reason why men and women
are so tolerant of whatever might be said or preached or written
about God is because they're not really jealous for the glory
and the character and the word of the living God, of the Lord
God of hosts. For the children of Israel have
forsaken thy covenant, thrown down at 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. But what appears outwardly does
not really show what God is doing, and neither does it show how
He is working. Because we naturally expect God
to work in a great outward display of His power in what might be
called earth-shadowing ways or with loud pronouncements. But that's not the way He works as we find revealed in the following
verses. Verse 11 says that God commands
him to go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by,
and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and break in pieces
the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire."
Those are the things we might naturally expect. And I'll be
honest with you, those are the things sometimes I might desire. But he says, the Lord was not
in it. And after the fire, a still, small voice. And it was so, when
Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went
and stood in the entering in of the cave, And behold, there
came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou hear, Elijah?"
Elijah is saying, what's the use? I've had enough. It's all about over. And it's because of what appears
to be outwardly that Elijah the prophet is discouraged and afraid
and just plain tired. The Lord commands us not to be
weary in well-doing, but we do get that way. And so now Elijah
hath withdrawn and he's taken refuge in this cave, and again,
He states again his feelings in light of all the circumstances. Verse 14 again, and he said,
I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, because
the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, those who go by
the name of God's people. They 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." But if you notice here in these verses, where we have read prior to this
that the Word of the Lord came unto the prophet. It seems like this is different.
If you look back in verse 9 again, It says, "...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..." And this may well be what theologians
call one of those theophanies, one of those pre-incarnate visitations. of the Son of God. He is the
Word, you know. And He is the Living Word. And He comes to Elijah now in
light of all these circumstances and situations of decline, and
He says to Elijah, giving him new instructions, It says in
verse 15, "...and the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way
to the wilderness of Damascus." That was real encouraging, wasn't
it? Sounds like out of the frying
pan into the fire. out of a land where people profess
to know the living God, out into a wilderness, the wilderness
of Damascus, where the very heathen live. And when thou comest, anoint
Hazael to be king over Syria, And Jehu the son of Nimshah shalt
thou anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat
of Abel-Meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room, and
it shall come to pass that him that escaped the sword of Hazael
shall Jehu slay, and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu
shall Elisha slay." Then he tells Elijah something
that is both instructive and also encouraging. Look at what he says in verse
18. Yet I have left me seven thousand
in Israel, all the knees of which have not bowed unto Baal, and
every mouth which hath not kissed him. What had Elijah just said? He had just told God two times
that all the prophets of God had been slain except Himself. There was no one who believed
God on the earth or stood to His Word except He alone. I'm the only one left. We're the only handful that there
is left that truly believes God. But when I say instructive and
add to that encouragement, If you think about it in light of
what the Scripture tells us about all men and women by nature,
how can there be any encouragement knowing the natural condition
of sinners? How can there be any ray of hope
knowing how they all appeared to be in Israel at that time,
and even how men and women are in this day. I was reading
where Paul said to Timothy concerning the last days in which he said,
perilous times shall come. Do you think we're there? When
a man arms himself with every kind of weapon he can get his
hands on and attacks a police station in a big city? I'd say we're there. And he says to Timothy, writing
there, he said, in the last days perilous times shall come. We know that. But he says at
the same time this. He said, men will be lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God. They love pleasure. Whatever delights this flesh,
Whatever for a moment satisfies this natural way of thinking,
this flesh, they love that more than God. They love things more
than the Word of God. They love events more than the
worship of God. Lovers of pleasure more than
lovers of God. And when you add to that, how
can there be any encouragement knowing that God has already
said, no man can come to me except the Father which hath
sent me draw him. How can we ever expect anything
different when He tells us that the carnal mind, the natural
mind, is enmity against God? How can there be anything to
encourage when we know that the state of man naturally is that
they are all dead in trespasses and sins? How can there be any encouragement?
When we already know that this decline that characterizes this
age, when men wax worse and worse, how can there be anything to
have a hope in if we know it's irreversible? So much that goes
on is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. This world is coming to an end. And it's coming to the coming
of the Lord of glory. Why does it carry on? Why does God, who is thrice holy,
perfect, righteous, All that is good. Why does He sustain
this earth, this world in which we live, and carry it all along? If it had been left up to Elijah
in his day, he'd have wrapped it up right then. And if it had been up to me at
a number of times in the last 35 years of my life, especially,
I would have wrapped it all up. And I'd say like the bride says
there in the end of the Revelation, even so come quickly, Lord Jesus. Why does He sustain it? Why does God carry on this earth
and allow all these things that are carrying on in this world? Well, because He says in verse
18, "...Yet I have left Me seven thousand in Israel." And the
marginal rendering of this is God saying, I will leave. That is, I will leave, I will
let remain, I will reserve a remnant. I have left me seven thousand
in Israel. And all the knees which have
not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him,
he has a remnant." And that word, remnant, we know means not the
whole. It may be the goal of modern
religion, supposedly, to win the world for Christ. That's
not God's goal. But a remnant is part of the
whole. It's a representative part of
the whole. And what was said to Elijah in
this day in which he lived and spoke and prophesied, this is
true in every age and of every people, whether they are Jew
or Gentile." How do we know that? Because we've already seen them
pictured in the Revelation. We've already seen them, the
saved of the Lord, singing and giving Him glory. It says, "...and
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,
and to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue."
and people and nation. In every age, in every place,
as it has pleased the Lord, in His sovereign grace, He had reserved
Himself a people." And that's why we find out about the Lord
Jesus Christ in His coming, that He is named as He is Jesus, the
Savior, because He has come to save His people from their sins. Isaiah says it like this, except
the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant. We should have been as Sodom,
and we should have been like unto Gomorrah." What do you think about Sodom
and Gomorrah? Well, there is a lot that we
could think about, but there is one thing in particular that
we're to think about with regard to that situation and those people,
and that is this one thing. Though He brought judgment upon
those nations and destroyed the bulk of those people, He saved
somebody too. He saved a whole lot. And this is exactly what Paul
is saying over in the book of Romans chapter 11. Turn over
to Romans chapter 11 and listen to what the Apostle Paul is saying
in his day. Verse 11 begins, I say then,
hath God cast away His people? They had for the most part rejected
the Lord Jesus Christ. And they were at that very hour,
the majority of them, rejecting and resisting the gospel of Christ
that Paul and the apostles preached. So Paul asked this question.
But he asked, get led by the Spirit, so you and I might hear
the answer. Hath God cast away His people? God forbid. He says, for I also
am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin. Now he was an Israelite, first
of all, after the flesh. But more than that, listen to
what he says, "...God hath not cast away His people which He
foreknew." And guess what he uses for the example? He uses
Elijah. And he says this, "...What ye
not, or do you not know what the Scripture saith of Elias,
how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord,
they have killed Thy prophets, and dig down Thine altars, and
I am left alone, and they seek my life." He reminds us of just
what Elijah said. But then he says, but what saith
the answer of God unto him? What did God say in response
to what Elijah said, what he felt? He says, I have reserved
to myself 7,000 men who have not bowed the knee to the image
of Baal. He quotes the very same thing
Elijah said. So we're made to know that what
took place in Elijah's day and what was recorded of Elijah,
that wasn't just exclusive to his day. It's the way it is in
every age. And then he continues in verse
5, "...even so then, at this present time also, There is a
remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then
it is no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace, otherwise work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that
which he seeketh for, that is, national Israel, but the election hath obtained
it, and the rest were blinded." In other words, the true people
of God, in the midst of that nation of Israel. These who are
part of this remnant according to the election of grace, they
did as in every age before them and every age after them, they
obtained that. How did they obtain it? By grace. By grace. You see, as it was in Elijah's
day, so was it in Paul's day, and so it is in our day. And even though things appear
outwardly the same God-hating and Christ-rejecting and truth-despising
world, even so, even so then at this present
time." You know, the Lord, the Spirit,
has given us His Word. And that written Word He makes
alive and writes in such a way so that whenever it is read, written to the people of God
in whatever age. So when we open our Bibles this
morning and we read about Elijah and that situation in his day,
and Paul speaks of it in his day as being exactly the same,
then we read these words, even so then at this present time, right now. There is right now,
at this present time, also a remnant. Not the whole. Not this universalism
that we read so much about and hear preached. Not the whole,
but a remnant according to the election of grace. And as long as this world stands,
As long as God in His good will and purpose has ordained and
established that this Word will go forth, it's going to say the
same thing and it's going to be the same situation. There
is at this present time, oh, there is at this present time
the most awful leadership in the whole world that's ever been. There is in the whole scheme
and face of the religious world the most idolatrous and unbiblical
messages and acts being committed that's ever been. There is morally
the greatest vileness and wickedness that's ever been on this earth
to this measuring degree. But there is also, at this present
time, a remnant according to the election of grace." So that what Elijah says, or
rather God says to Elijah in verse 18 of chapter 19, 1 Kings,
when he says, yet, isn't that the same as what Paul is saying
here when he uses the word, even so? This is the way it is. This is the way it appears. This
is all we can see. This is undoubtedly real. Yet, even so, at this present
time, there's a remnant according to the election of grace. In other words, if things are
the way they are, and they are the way they are because Men
and women are the way they are. Not your circumstances. Not the
environment. We know that because man first
fell in a perfect environment. But because men and women are
the way they are, the circumstances and things are the way that they
are. So why would we ever imagine
that anybody In this state and shape and condition, this blindness,
this spiritual deadness, in this society and all these things
going on, why would we ever imagine that anybody would ever know
God? That anybody would ever be saved? Why will some believe
and trust God? They will. This remnant will. But it is not because they are
somehow uniquely good in themselves. Paul describes them as being
by nature the children of wrath, even as others. And it's not
because they have that so-called imagined free will, but it's because of something
God does. When Elijah was spoken to and
taught once again the absolute truth of God's free and sovereign
grace, he began, he says, yet I. That's where it begins. That's
the only reason any sinners ever will be saved. That's the only
reason there will be a church which is called the Body of Christ,
over which He's the Head. That's the only reason there
will ever be that Body that is described as His Bride, He being
the Bridegroom. Because of something God does. You're hopeless. except for what
God does." I'm hopeless except for what God does. There would
not be one person in this building who really believed the truth
this morning were it not for something that God has done. Elijah said this, I'm the only
one that's left. There's nobody who believes the
truth. There's no one who's interested
in the gospel. There's no one who has a concern
for their eternal souls. And this earth is coming to an
end. And so God says to Elijah, Yet
I. That's the way it appears. That's
the way it is as far as the majority is concerned. Yet I. have reserved
to myself seven thousand." Paul calls it the election of grace. Christ says, I will leave a remnant. A remnant according to the election
of grace, according to my own choosing, and not based on any
foreseen merit in them, or action by them, or choice in them, but
all because of grace." That's the only salvation there
is, is salvation by grace. You might look at me and measure
yourself by me and stand a head taller. I hope you do. Or you may measure your life
and what you've done in the light of what a multitude of people
have done and imagine yourselves as being totally better off and
better than they are. But the best you can do The best
you can muster up on your best day, the best works, the best
righteousness that you can muster up on your best day, will not
in any part save you. Not Christ's work joined to your
work will save you, because it's all of grace. How many people
in this world use that word every day? They talk of grace, and
salvation by grace, and all these various things, and yet they
have no idea of what the Bible speaks of when it speaks of grace. When he says we are saved by
grace, that means that there is nothing in us and can be done
by us. Everything in salvation must
be apart from us and by another, the Lord Jesus Christ. But there
is nothing that really naturally offends us any more than that.
That preacher, he can say and talk about sinners all he wants
to, but I'm not a sinner. At least I'm not as bad a sinner
as so-and-so is. Well, so what? It's like one
flea imagining that he's a centimeter or a millimeter taller than another
flea. We're all fleas. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. He's declared the whole
world, Jew and Gentile, guilty before Him and Himself. And most
everyone is going to perish. I didn't say that. I didn't invent
that. He said it. Are there few that be saved?
There are few. But all those who are saved are
saved by His grace. by His grace. Paul writes and
he says this, and he speaks in that first chapter of Ephesians
about this grace, this grace that finds itself exhibited in
election. That word election means out-chosen. Out-chosen. They're not going
to perish with this world. Paul describes these people as
being delivered from this present evil world. The word church. Christ purchased the church with
His own blood. What does that word church mean? It's the Greek word ekklesia.
It means called out. These people have been separated.
from this world. They've been separated from Adam's
fallen race. They've been saved from the wrath
of God. And all because of the Lord Jesus
Christ and God in grace placing them in Christ. You see, when the Lord sees me,
He doesn't see what you see. You can see the sorriest, Most
pitiful human being in this world, and I wouldn't argue with you,
not one bit. But he sees me in Christ. He
sees all his people in Christ. Why? Listen to Paul. Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings. One's not going to get more and
the other get less. One can't gain more and the other
lose more. Why? Because it's grace. "...who have blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." You see, you either get all or
nothing. And the Lord's people get all
because they get it all in One who represents them, in One outside
of themselves, the Lord Jesus Christ, blessed us with all spiritual
blessings. You won't get one blessing outside
of Christ. Oh, you say, the Lord's blessed
me. Got a fine family, got a nice home, got my bills paid, got
a little bit of money in the bank. Those things will prove
a curse to you apart from grace. Chosen us, blessed us, it's all
spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus according as He has chosen
us in Him before the foundation of the world by electing grace. He said, you
have not chosen Me, But I've chosen you." All these people
talking about, you've got to make a choice. You will, and
it will be the wrong one every time. Well, you need to accept
the Lord. You're going to accept the Lord
of glory. I don't think so. He's the one
who has to make us accepted. Paul writes to the Thessalonians,
he says, "...but we are bound to give thanks always to God
for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto He called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."
He purposed this people out of Adam's fallen race to be saved
by Him, by His grace entirely, and therefore for His glory entirely. Grace assures that you and I
don't have anything to brag about. We were saved. We were like a
drowning person. who had to be rescued by another. We had totally worn ourselves
out. We're sinking under the water,
going down for the third time. We've struggled all we can. We
have to be rescued. You still think you can help?
You think you've still got a chance to make heaven's glory apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ? You're lost. You know nothing
about God's grace. Look back over in Romans chapter
9. Romans chapter 9. saying in Romans
chapter 9 beginning in verse 10, giving us an illustration
of grace. And not just grace, but sovereign
grace. You see, that's the only kind
there really is. God is the absolute sovereign ruler of the universe.
His grace is like Him. His grace is His to give or to
withhold. He says, as this sovereign, I'll
be gracious to whom I'll be gracious. He gives us this illustration
by the Apostle. Verse 10 of Romans 9. And not
only this, but when Rebekah also had conceived by one, even by
her father Isaac. She conceived twins, by the way. For the children, being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, according to this out choosing,
might stand not of works, but of him that calleth. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger." Well, under the
traditions, The younger was always to serve the elder. That's not
grace. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What? That's right. And men and women shake their
head. They cannot imagine that God would ever hate anybody.
But if they ever find out the true character of God in His
holiness, they'd be brought to imagine and wonder how in the
world He could ever love any sinner like Jacob. What shall
we say then? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." how good Jacob was. As a matter
of fact, he may have been more, and I think probably was more
of a scoundrel than Esau was. So why did God choose Jacob? Why did God determine to have
mercy on Jacob? This is something that you and
I, if we ever are saved, are going to have to be confronted
with and bow to. And that is because He would The only reason that will ever
be found for the salvation of this remnant according to the
election of grace will be found in God alone. He would. He just would. You say, I don't
know if I like that. I love it. Because about anything
could be said or done to give a multitude of reasons why he
shouldn't save me. And the devil could say to him a
thousand times a moment, why in the world would you save that
scoundrel? And by the way, all of God's
elect are called the sons of Jacob. The conniver, the supplanter,
the crook, You say, I'm not a crook. Yes, you are. If you're seeking
to be accepted by God based on your own self. Some little decision
you made, some little work you've done, some little thing that
you've abstained from doing, some things that you can say,
well, at least I've not done what they've done. So what? It's just because he would. So you might say that when God
can find no reason to save us, or no reason to save anybody,
He just retreated into this glorious sovereignty, where as God, He
does what He will. And He says to this sinner here,
and that sinner there, this remnant, these out-chosen of His grace,
I'm going to be gracious to him. I'm going to be gracious to her. I'm going to show mercy to them
because I will. In verse 27, Paul quotes Isaiah
again. He says, Isaiah also crieth concerning
Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved. I don't care how bad it gets.
I don't care what the ratio becomes of godless, unbelieving people
in this world. I don't care how wicked men are.
I don't care the age and the time. A remnant shall be saved. You say, if it's so bad, why
would you preach? Because a remnant shall be saved. You might not be. Somebody is. He said, My sheep, hear My voice. In Romans 11, again in verses
5 and 6, He says, Even so, then at this present time also there
is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by
grace, then is it no more of works. Otherwise, grace is no
more grace. But if it be of works, then it
is no more grace, otherwise work is no more grace." You see, to
use an illustration just in nature, oil and water, they don't mix. Stir them up, they'll just divide. Neither will works and grace.
Neither will this business of you do your part and God will
do His. No. It's going to be either all grace
or all works. It won't be a mixture of the
two. And it's not by any works of righteousness which we have
done, Paul says, but according to His mercy. He saved us. Grace. Paul quotes Elijah's words. Verse 4, "...but what saith the
answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven
thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal."
Well, that's why he saved them. They didn't bow to Baal. No.
That's evidence that he saved them. They have not finally and
fully bowed themselves to a God who isn't God. What does he say? He's reserved them. How? By redemption. He said, I reserved them to myself. That is, they're mine and for
my glory and for my purpose. I reserved to myself 7,000. Do you really imagine that there
were exactly 7,000 at that hour? I don't think so. 7,000. As a matter of fact, the number
7 itself in Scripture, it seems to be God's number. And it symbolizes
perfection and completeness when He says there are 144,000. Actually 144,000, that's a definite
number that's given for an indefinite number of His people. But given
to show that He's going to save every one of this remnant. There
won't any be absent. There won't any be lost. It's
not His will, He says in 2 Peter 3, in light of all this, Rejection
and all. It goes on, he says, because
he's not willing that any of them should perish, but that
every one of them should come to repentance. They have not bowed their knee
to Baal. Baal was an idol. And so is every imagined God
in the minds of men and women, and every imagined God who is
not the true God. Now I tell you, you read this
book, you don't have to read many verses before you find out
people in our day are in trouble. Paul says there's one God. Just one. That's all there is. If you ever stop and think of
it, there can only be one God. And He's got to be God over all. No, these will be brought to
bow to the truth, to bow to the Lord Jesus Christ, to believe on Him, to plead His
blood as the only way of putting away their sin, to plead His
righteousness imputed to them as the only righteousness by
which they can stand accepted before God. They're not going to kiss Baal.
They're going to kiss the Son, as the psalmist said, lest He
be angry. They're going to kiss that One
in whom mercy and truth are met together, and righteousness and
peace have kissed each other. They're going to look to Christ
crucified. And in their hearts, every other
boast will be excluded, and their hope will be in the grace of
God as it is in the crucified Christ. In Isaiah, he says, the
remnant shall return, even the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty
God. God brings judgment as He did
in the day of the flood. But there was a remnant that
he kept safe in the ark. He brought judgment in the day
of Sodom and Gomorrah, but there was a remnant locked. That's always the way it is. And there is even at this present
time a remnant according to the election of
grace. I want to be in that remnant. I want to be found, as Paul says,
in Christ Jesus. If I'm found in grace, I'll be
found in Christ. Viewed, accepted, beloved, righteous, awaiting eternal glory by grace. I've told you often about how that the church, the true
church, is like pictured in Scripture as being a building. Paul and
Peter call us living stones if we be in that building. God putting
in these living stones according to His choice and will and purpose
in His Son. Then He says there's a day. There's
a day comes when the last stone, the capstone, is placed in that
building. The last one of these sinners
saved by grace and called out by the Gospel. The last stone
is put in that building. And you know what he says? He
says it's with shoutings of grace, grace. The last stone in this
building is there because of the first stone in the Abyssus
building. The same thing. Grace, grace. Even. Even so. There's hope if one's not dead
and gone. There is even so at this present
time, this terrible time it seems, a remnant according to the election
of grace. They are being saved. Because
God, in grace, has purpose to save them. That's why we preach
the Gospel. He'll call them out, bring them
from themselves and their false refuges, and they'll trust Christ
alone. And I'm thankful it's that way. Our Father, this day, Give all
glory and honor to Your Name. We praise You and thank You for
that grace that we read about, that where sin abounded, grace
did much more abound. That grace that rules and reigns
in righteousness. Grace that is in Christ through
His suffering and death for our sins. Grace that gives, and grace
that brings, and grace that keeps. Grace in Christ. Call out your
people. For we pray and ask all things
in your glorious and gracious name. Amen.