Turn back with me to 1 Kings
19. 1 Kings 19. The prophet Elijah, we looked
at this this morning, had said to the Lord, When God asked him,
What doest thou hear, Elijah, in 1 Kings 19, verse 13, Elijah
repeated what he had said in verse 10. He said, I have been
very jealous of the Lord God of hosts, because The children
of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, thine
prophets they have slain with the sword, and even I only am
left, and they seek my life to take it away." The Lord answered him, and the reason
I know that God answered him was in the book of Romans, and
we'll read it in just a minute. Paul said that the Lord answered
Elijah when he said that, but God's answer is found in the
18th verse of 1 Kings 19. And the Lord said, Yet I have
left me 7,000 in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed
unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." Elijah
said, I'm the only one left. I'm it. Everybody else is forsaking
you. And the Lord said, I've got a
people. I was sitting right here a minute
ago, and I began to think. of that answer, turn with me
to Romans 11. And let's read this, Romans 11. Romans 11, verse 1, the apostle Paul writing, he
said, I say then, hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite of
the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast
away his people, which he foreknew. What ye not, or know ye not,
what the scripture saith of Elias," and this is what we just read,
how he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord,
they have killed thy prophets and digged down thine altars,
and I am left alone. They seek my life, but what sayeth
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.
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 work. Otherwise grace is no more grace,
but if it be of works, then is it no more grace. Otherwise work
is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained
that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it,
and the rest were blinded. According as it is written, God
hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should
not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day. And David
saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling
block, and a recompense unto them. Let their eyes be darkened,
that they may not see, and bow down their back always." Now,
as I was thinking on that passage of Scripture, Paul the Apostle,
under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, says, at this
time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. God
told Elijah when Elijah said, I'm the only one left. Now, I
understand, I understand, we, knowing what we know about the
gospel of God's free grace, man's inability. Man is incapable in
himself of reconciling himself back to God. The Spirit of God has revealed
to us that God has a people. He told Elijah, he said, I've
got 7,000 in Israel that have not bowed the knee to Baal. Israel
is a nation. Now, I know that at this time,
at this present time, God's got a people. Now, let me tell you
what is encouraging to me. We come together, we assemble
ourselves together. We come together for the purpose
of preaching the gospel, the message of Almighty God's purpose,
the glory of God found in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ,
how God has purposed that He is going to save His people.
God has a people. He has chosen the means of preaching. He has a people, a remnant. Who
knows? There may be some tonight in
this place that God is going to call out by His Spirit and
reveal His Son to them. Who knows? It may be tonight. I pray that God might be pleased
to bless this Word to our encouragement and to the founding and securing
and establishing. But who knows? It may be one
of your children. Who knows? It may be your husband,
your wife, your son, your daughter, your mom. Who knows? Tonight,
God's got a people. That's encouraging. If this was
just a message that I was going to preach, and I know this, I'm
going to do the best I can, I'm going to try to convince you,
and the Lord wants to save you if I can convince you and if
I can work you up a good movement or something like that. But I
know this, God has promised, I'm going to have a people. I'm
going to call out my people. Tonight could be it. This could
be it. This might be the last time that
this message is ever preached in this pulpit. Who knows? God
might be pleased. This might be it. There's going
to be a time, one of these days, it's going to be the last time.
For somebody, there's somebody, it's going to be the last time
they may ever hear it. I don't know. But I know this. Almighty God promised. I've got
a people. Elijah said, I'm the only one
left. The Lord said, No, you're not. No, you're not. Out of 7,000, God, by His own
determinate counsel and choice, selected, chose. And I don't
know who they are. Who knows? Maybe some out of
Fairmont. God, in His providence and power,
moved upon them, told them, you'll be in Katie Baptist Church. You'll be there. You're going
to hear the gospel. I'm going to bless that gospel
to your heart and call you out. Paul said, when it pleased God
to reveal His Son in me, Paul wasn't looking for Him. Paul
made up his mind, I'm going to go get those of this way. Now
I've got these letters of authority, I'm going to bring them back,
put them in jail. But Almighty God has a people, a particular
people, He selected some to be the recipients of His distinguishing
grace in salvation. I may be looking at some of them. That just encourages me. God's
immutable, unchangeable act is set forth, and this is the way
He said it, in an everlasting covenant. He chose a people. He viewed them, selected them,
set His affection on them in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ, their surety. And He purposed that His Son
would redeem and everlastingly save those that He had chosen. Now that's the truth. That's
the truth. God has predestinated, that is,
He has determined beforehand their course of life. Now, listen
to me. Wherever you are right now, wherever
you are, whatever stage in life you are, wherever you are, this
is exactly where God has purposed that you're going to be. This
is exactly where the steps of a good man are ordered by the
Lord. There's nothing by chance. Not
one thing. God has predestinated the way
by which He's going to bring His own to Himself. This is not
luck or bad luck or no luck. Almighty God has determined,
this is where, this is where I've got to be, this is where
you've got to be. He has predestinated to bring His own to Himself through
His chosen means of grace, these that He has chosen, He will without
doubt, without fail, irresistibly call them by His Holy Spirit,
and they will be willing in the day of His power to call upon
Him, to cast themselves upon His mercy, to come to Him, come
to Him by faith, And He will, without question, show them mercy. He has imputed their sin. This is what Brother Scott was
talking about. He has charged their sin to His blessed Son,
their guilt to the Lord Jesus Christ, their substituted Calvary. And those that He calls, gives
a heart, those that believe, He has charged them with His
righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ, those that He has eternally
purposed to save. God Almighty is going to glorify
them in the person of Christ Jesus our Lord. Election is a work of Almighty
God without any addition of man's effort If man's hands be upon
it, it is polluted and tainted by the filth of human self-righteousness. Listen to these scriptures. I'll
just read this to you. 2 Chronicles 6, 5 and 6. The Lord said, Since the day
that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose
no city among all the tribes of Israel to build a house in
that my name might be there. Neither chose I any man to be
a ruler over my people Israel, but I have chosen Jerusalem that
my name might be there and have chosen David to be over my people
Israel." Do you think Jerusalem just happened to be a place that
just maybe seemed to be a little bit more holy? You know, a little
bit more spiritual. Maybe just some folks got together
and they thought, well, let's build us a city. And let's get
a place where we can just build us a church and we'll just make
it to where, that's where God's going to meet with people. Why
did they meet in Jerusalem? Because God said, that's where
I'm going to put my name. Do you want to know why Katie
Baptist Church is right here and has been here almost 50 years?
because Almighty God has chosen to put His name in this place,
and that's exactly the reason that this church is still here.
It's not because a bunch of folks got together and said, well,
we've decided that we're going to have a place where the gospel
can be preached. Oh, I know that outwardly it
appears that, and it is so. God has made some folks willing
to stay here and support it, support a pastor, support missionaries,
But it is Almighty God that chose to put a place here and kept
it in Katy, West Virginia. You know how big Katy, West Virginia
is? I don't even know where the lines
are. The sign is right back there, and somebody told me it was right
down here at a store. Katy, West Virginia. But I'm
going to tell you something. To those that believe, In Katy,
West Virginia, they'll admit it's a blessed place. I chose
to put my name there. In John 15, verse 16, this is
what the Lord said. You've not chosen Me. I have
chosen you and ordained you that you should go forth and bring
forth fruit, that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever
you shall ask of the Father in My name, He may give it you. Why? For His sake. You didn't
choose me. People said, I chose the Lord.
Well, the Lord said you didn't. He said He chose you. We call
on the Lord because He called us. We love the Lord because
He loved us first. We did call Him, choose Him,
after He chose us. The Scripture says in 1 Corinthians
1, 27 and 28, God hath chosen the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise. God hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things that are mighty and the
base things of the world, and things which are despised hath
God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught things
that are that no flesh should glory in His presence, but of
Him are ye in Christ Jesus. Of God? Of God are you in Christ
Jesus. God chose you. God chose you
in Christ. God put you in Him. Who of God? Who of God? That is, the Lord
Jesus Christ. But of Him, God. Are ye in Christ
Jesus? Who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption? Is it according
as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. God
Almighty has a people. Elijah said, I'm the only faithful
one left. I've not failed you. The Lord
said, I've got 7,000 that have not bowed the knee. And at this
time, there's a remnant. There's just a small remaining
piece. That's what I look that word
up, remnant. That's what it means. It means
a small remaining piece. You ladies that sow, you know
what a remnant is. What have you got? That's just
a little piece left over. What have you got? You've just
got some remnants. My mama made a quilt one time out of remnants.
The most beautiful thing I ever saw in my life. You know why?
Because my mama made it. God's got a remnant. The most
beautiful thing that you've ever seen in your life. You know why?
Because of God's. He made it. I chose Him. Rest
assured, the only hope for mankind is that God has purposed to save
a people. Isaiah 1-9 says this, Except
the Lord of Hosts had left unto us, and this is exactly where
it says it, unless except the Lord of Hosts had left unto us
a small remnant. We should have been as Sodom
and should have been as Gomorrah, unless God would have left us
a very small remnant. Seven thousand that haven't bowed
to Baal, haven't kissed him, but those that Almighty God has
purposed to save, they shall bow to the Lord Jesus Christ
and kiss the son, lest he be angry." That's what Scripture
says. Kiss the son, lest he be angry. God had promised to Elijah
that he had a people. He called those people in time. He did. The Scripture says now,
back in 1 Kings chapter 19, verse 18 said, I've left me 7,000
in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, every
mouth which hath not kissed him," verse 19 says. So he departed. Why did he depart? Well, look
back up in verse 15. The Lord said unto him, right
after verse 14, that's where Elijah said again how faithful
he had been. And the Lord said unto him in
verse 15, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus.
And when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria,
and Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel,
and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-me-olaha, I think, shalt
thou anoint to be prophet in thy room." Now, you know, if
you notice this, God is saying, now, this is going to be the
king here, and this is going to be the king here, And this
man right here, you're going to know him to be a prophet.
Almighty God rules. He raises up one and abases the
other. This man will be king. This man
won't anymore. This man will be my prophet.
That's what he said of Paul. He's a chosen vessel unto me
to preach to the Gentiles. I chose him. I set him apart. Therefore, God had told Elijah,
I want you to go and anoint this one and this one and this one.
And so verse 19, So he departed thence, and found Elisha the
son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before
him, and he with the twelve. And Elijah passed by him and
cast his mantle upon him. So he, that is Elijah, departed. You know, as we were looking
last week or so at the Book of Jonah, which said if the only
thing that we see in this is just a mere historical event,
then what does that really have to do with us? But if we see
the gospel, if we see the miracle of God's grace, if we see how
God calls out His people, who knows? God, as I said a while
ago, may call out another one. But if He does, this is the way
He is going to do it. I want us to consider just for
a minute how God calls out His people. God said, I've got a
people. I've got them. He told Elijah to go, and the
Scripture says, verse 19, and he departed. Christ, the Word
Himself, the Scripture says, was made flesh. In the beginning
was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And
the Word was made flesh and tabernacled among us, dwelt among us. Christ
Himself departed, came from heaven, made in the likeness of sinful
flesh. God sent His own Son into this world that He might condemn
sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled
in us who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. Christ
said in John, 638, for I came down. Elijah departed thence
when God told him to. I want you to go right this way.
I want you to go. Christ said, I came down from
heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent
me. As Elijah was sent by Almighty God, here's a picture of the
Lord Jesus Christ sent. That's what Christ said. I came
to do the will of Him that sent me. And verse 39 of John 6 says,
This is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which
he hath given me, that is, the remnant. He's got a people, I
have a people, the elect. I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up again at the last day. As Almighty God sent Elijah
into the wilderness of Damascus, Christ himself was sent into
this world to seek and to save that which was lost. So he departed. That's what it says. So he departed
thence. And he found Elisha, the son
of Shaphat. He found him. You know, the good
shepherd knows his sheep, and he knows where they are. You
know why he knows? Well, number one, he is the omniscient
God. He knows all. I know my sheep.
I know them. And He knows where they are.
Why? Because He has predestinated
them. He has ordered their steps. They
are exactly where He put them. He put them just exactly where
He wanted them because in time He is going to call them out.
He knows where to find them. He knows His sheep. He knows
them by name. I tell you where they are. They
are just like Mephibosheth. They're in Lodibar, in the wilderness. Go into the wilderness. That's
what God told Elijah. You go into the wilderness of
Damascus, and you anoint Elisha. You go into Lodibar. Go into
that place, in that wilderness of sin, miserable and naked. That's where they are, dead in
their trespasses and sins, just like David told his servant concerning
Go fetch him. Go get him. Go get him and bring
him to me. You go, Elijah. Elijah, I'm the only one faithful. I've got 7,000. Here's one that
I want you to go get. You go. He finds them in rebellion
and ignorance of himself. He finds them because he searches
them out. Isaiah 62, 11, Behold the Lord.
hath proclaimed unto the ends of the world, Say ye to the daughters
of Zion, Behold, thy salvation cometh." Now listen to this.
He's saying this to the daughters of Zion, to the elect, to the
remnant, to those that he's everlastingly loved. This is what he says to
them. This is what I say to the remnant. I don't know who they are, but
I can say this to the remnant. to the chosen, to those that
God is going to give a heart to hear Him. Behold, daughter
of Zion, thy salvation cometh. Behold, His reward is with Him,
and His work is before Him. And they shall call them the
holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. And you know what you
are going to be called, remnant? Thou shalt be called sought out. A city not forsaken. This is
the message that we set forth. Daughter of Zion, the Lord cometh. Your salvation cometh. You that
are called sought out. The Spirit of God will take that
to God's people. And He will give them a new heart.
And they'll hear a new mind, new ears, new tongue, new mouth
to call upon Him, cry out to Him. They will cry out because
you give them the heart to cry out. And he'll tell them, this
is who you are, sought out. Elijah, I want you to go and
anoint Elisha. And he departed. And he found
him. He was plowing with twelve yoke
of oxen before him, just exactly where God purposed that he was
going to be. And the Scripture says in Elijah, passed by him,
passed by him. It makes me think of the words
of our tender Lord found in Ezekiel. I won't read it, but you've heard
it before. When he passed by, the Lord says,
I passed by and I saw you when you were in your own blood. The
navel wasn't cut, you weren't salted, you weren't swaddled. He says, when I passed by, I
looked on you and I said, live. Now was the time of love. Scripture
says that Elijah passed by him. That's where Elisha was. Elijah had to go to him. The
Lord of glory came to us, left to ourselves. We would never
go to him. You think about that. Whenever
he found you, what were you doing? You weren't looking for him,
I can tell you that. You weren't seeking after him.
No man seeks after God. He said, I came to seek and to
save you. that which was lost. When God
passed by, He saw us polluted in our own blood. He is here
presented as a traveler in a foreign country and discovers the plight
of that helpless child found in Ezekiel, nasty, unwashed. When Christ comes in power to
His own, it is the time of love. Elijah, I want you to go and
you find Elisha. You anoint him. As Elijah passed
by, the scripture says, he cast his mantle upon him. Christ, as he passes
by, and he passes by whenever he pleases to pass by, whenever
he is pleased to move, he does so by his Holy Spirit. The scripture
says the Spirit of God is like the wind. God Almighty's Sodom
blows wherever He pleases to blow. And if He's pleased to
take this Word and bless it to the salvation of one of His own,
He will. He'll take this Word and He'll
bring it to that person in power, and it won't be in word only.
And they'll hear it. They'll hear it in their heart.
And they will believe it. And they will know Him as their
known. He'll call them out. He'll pass
by and cast his mantle, spread his skirt. That's what he did.
He put that mantle over him. Almighty God spreads His skirt
of love. That's the sense in which it
is. But to those that believe, He covers them with the robe
of His righteousness. When Elijah cast his mantle upon
Elisha, it's a picture of our calling, God revealing Himself
to me. That was a special When Elijah
went by and took that mantle and spread it over Elisha, he
knew just exactly what that meant. He knew what it was because of
his answer that he gave. He talked about it just a minute.
He was going to go and talk to his mom and dad and tell them
about it. Elijah knew what that was. He knew it was a call. And when God's people are called
out, they know it. They hear Him. Christ says, My
sheep, hear my voice. They hear me. They follow me.
Let that call be marvelously empowered from above. There is
no effect. You know, we talk about an effectual
call, a general call and an effectual call. The gospel is preached. Well, unless God brings it in
power, it is just a general call. Same message preached. To one,
it's a general call. Anybody thirsty? If any man thirsts,
that's what Christ said. Anybody thirsty? You know those
that weren't thirsty? Anybody need a drink of water?
Well, I'm just not thirsty right now. Check with me later. Maybe
I'll get thirsty after a while. Come back later. Maybe it will
be a little bit more convenient time. That's what one man, you
know, Paul was preaching to him. Almost! Oh, it convinces me to
be a Christian. To be almost convinced is to
be not convinced at all. Almost! Try me another time.
Maybe I'll have a little bit better time. I'm kind of tied
up right now. I'm getting a little late. Oh,
listen. When He comes in power, His people
hear their heart is in flame. Did not our heart burn within
us as He opened unto us the Scriptures? as He revealed Himself to me.
Oh, did you hear what He said? Some of you know what I'm talking
about. You hear the Gospel and you think, oh, I've heard that
before. But you know what? That's just like brand new to
me. I hear it and I've heard it and
I love it. And would you tell me just one
more time? Tell me about how He called me. Oh, I remember
that. In fact, I think I hear Him even
now calling. Lord, I come. I've come. Lord,
I come. My people come. His people come. And they come. They came this
morning. They come again. He threw that
mantle upon Him. When God is pleased to call out
His own, then and only then is that Word alive. Oh, how the heart is made willing
to follow after Christ just like Elijah, did Elijah pass by him? Didn't say anything to him. Asked
his mantle upon him. The Spirit of God moves mysteriously. To some they hear nothing, but
to those that are called, they hear him. They hear his voice.
The Lord says, they hear my voice. Have you ever heard it? Some
say, yeah, I've heard it. They said, What does it sound
like? He said, Well, you just have to hear it. You just have
to hear it. If he calls you, and the Scripture
says in verse 20, And he left the oxen, and he ran after Elijah. You know, when God Almighty in
power calls His people out, they come. They follow. They follow
after Him, just like those two disciples of John. They followed
after the Lord, and they said, Lord, where dwellest thou? He
said, Come and see. And they went, and they went.
The soul smitten with his love comes after him. Little did Elisha
think why he plowed in that field that he would be called to such
a high order. What a position! God's people,
that's where they are. Oh, and the effect of that call,
he left the oxen and ran after Elijah. Elijah, after he called
him, Elijah said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother,
and I'll follow thee. He said unto him, Go back again.
What have I done to thee? Consider, consider this call. And he returned back from him,
took the yoke of oxen, slew them, boiled their flesh with the instruments
of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then
he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him." Do
you know when Almighty God calls out His own, do you know what
they do? They burn all their bridges,
all their bridges of false religion, false hope. I'm not going back. By His grace, I'm not going back.
I can't go back to that. I can't do it. Here we're brought
back to behold the perseverance of God's people, the irresistible
grace. God said, I've got a people,
Elijah. I've got a people that are chosen
by grace. I want you to go and anoint Elisha. And Elijah, the scripture says,
he left, was chosen by grace, was sought by grace, and he found
Elisha. We are found by grace. He put
his mantle upon him. We are called by grace. And you
know what? We come by grace, and we remain
by grace. May God add his blessing on the
setting forth of his marvelous power in wonder in the person
of his blessed son.