Well, we'll get started here
in just a couple minutes. I have to make my way up to where
my seat is. Let's see. No, I don't think so. I'm not,
I don't know why I'm not seeing that we're doing a, oh, here
we go. Yeah. all this is on. All right, we should be live
and with sound. And anybody that normally watches
us probably won't recognize exactly where we are. But I'm sitting
in front of our regular pulpit. We're meeting in the church building
today. But I set up a table. And yeah, there we go. It's working. And oh, Hang on
just a minute. There we go. I didn't want to
hear myself coming back, but I wanted to be able to monitor
it. But anyway, we set it up here in the church because we
can't meet and rest home anymore, and I wanted to go ahead and
put a table out because that's kind of handy to have a table
in front of you. And also we're able to use our regular live
streaming system. It seems no matter where else
we go, the upstream isn't quite fast enough. And you get when
the picture drops out or the sound drops out or something
like that. So this should, anybody that's watching should be able
to get it just as good as they get it, you know, on Sundays.
Okay, if you want to open your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 18. First Kings chapter 18. There we go. Before we get started, let's
ask the Lord's blessing. Our gracious Father, who do we
have to go to other than you? What good can we hope from any
other source than from you? Lord, we know that in us, in
our natural selves, is nothing good. And therefore, Lord, we look
to you for all good things. We look to you for spiritual
understanding. We pray that by your spirit you would reveal
your son to us in the things that are laid out in the lesson
this evening. May this be a glory and an honor
to our Lord Jesus Christ and may it be a blessing to our hearts. In Christ's name we pray it.
Amen. Now last week Just about all I got done was you know the
run up. Because we've been we hadn't
met so long I kind of backed up and did a review and made
some general remarks about the state of the situation there
in Israel and we barely got into verse forty one but let's read
verse forty one through forty five or forty six. And Elijah
said to Ahab, go eat and drink, for there is the sound of heavy
rain. So Ahab went off to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top
of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his
knees. Go and look towards the sea, he told his servant. And
he went up and looked. There is nothing there, he said.
Seven times Elijah said, go back. The seventh time the servant
reported, a cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the
sea. So Elijah said, go and tell Ahab,
hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.
Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds. The wind rose. A
heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of
the Lord came upon Elijah. and tucking his cloak into his
belt. He ran ahead of Ahab all the
way to Israel. I'm sorry, Jezreel. Jezreel now
there is a dual lesson in this part of Elijah story and actually
we can always particularly in the Old Testament scriptures
we can get a dual lesson we can get what they call a practical
lesson just some instruction about our lives as believers
in the world as we see examples of believers in the past and
we also have a picture of the gospel and gospel preaching here
in this story of Elijah now a New Testament scripture that is closely
tied to this James in speaking of prayer points to this particular
story as an illustration and in James chapter five beginning
halfway through verse sixteen James says the prayer of a righteous
man is powerful and effective Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would
not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half
years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth
produced its crops. Now we've already noted three
prayers that Elijah prayed. I'm sure he prayed many more
but three recorded in the scriptures and that was the first prayer
when he went to Ahab to announce that there would be no more rain
and that he prayed and the rain stopped. And he said there will
be no more rain until I say so. And then he prayed for the son
of the widow in Zarephath. Remember her son died. And she
said Well is this a reward I get for doing you good. And so he
prayed for the boy and the Lord heard his prayer and returned
his life to him. And then his prayer on Mount
Carmel just a few verses before what we're looking at this evening
after he had set up the altar. and you know the priests and
prophets of bail had and some from asterisk I think also were
there but anyway they danced around and cut themselves and
called out their God nothing ever happened and Elijah prayed a prayer that maybe
last twenty to thirty seconds long very simple and stood back
and the fire from heaven fell and burn up the offering burn
up the wood burn up the stone and vaporize the water in other
words when God was done there was nothing left there and so
as a prophet he addressed all of the people
But in as much as it was Ahab's court that he announced God's
judgment on Israel, it is to the king in particular that he
announces the end of the judgment and the beginning of God's saving
them from drought and famine. We have a picture here of the
order of the experience of salvation. Now we went over this last week
but I want to go over it again. The main reason we went over
it last week I was just anxious to say it you know because I
enjoyed studying it. So you're going to hear it again
because I thought it was good. We have a picture of the order
of our experience in salvation and also a picture of gospel
preaching. Now I say the experience. of
salvation our salvation is eternal. How do we know that. Well because
our salvation is of God and God is eternal. You know people say
would you believe in eternal justification. Everything God
does is eternal because God is eternal. Things in fact that
prayer that our Lord taught us to pray where it says thy kingdom
come by will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The word
translated done now sometimes that's all it means but I don't
think that our Lord was saying you know praying that people
would start behaving on earth like they behave in heaven. The
word translated done there is the word often translated to
create or to give birth to to make real. And so what I think
our Lord is saying is those things that are already real up there.
you know we're thinking of heaven in terms of God where God exists
it's all done because there isn't this flow of time with him and
so the Lord is saying what essentially what you have ordained bring
to pass make it real here just like it's already real up there
and in the book of Revelation which everyone you know wants
to call that a book about the end days and it does have some
to say about the end days but that's not its primary point
but it's speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ under the title the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. So wait a minute that
was just two thousand years ago that he was crucified. Yeah on
Earth but it was real in heaven and then became real on Earth.
Now our salvation all of it is already real in heaven isn't
that a comfort I know we've got to go through the process we've
got to mark off our days and months you know until we're in
his presence from God's perspective it's already done And Henry used
to say. And he was referring to the scriptures
where it says we are seated together with him in the heavenly places
from the book of Ephesians he said I hear people say I'm as
sure of heaven as if I'd already been there a thousand years and
he says I've been there longer than that. In Christ we've been
there since Christ was there. Since he's the lamb slain from
the foundation of the And we were in him. We've been there
all along from God's perspective. But our experience of salvation
begins at a point in time. Everybody's experience of salvation
starts here. Now, you know, I do believe that
those who die in infancy or never have with enough to understand
what's going on you know when they die they don't perish it
would be very difficult for me to believe that God did that
and you know while I absolutely despise the practice of abortion
I also know this I think I read you know sixty two million since
Roe v. Wade that's sixty two million
of the Lord's people You know they may have only been you know
what they like to say you know it's just a massive sale. Well
yeah that's what I am too. But they belong to the Lord and
that's the way he took them home. And so anyway. The. There is a time. between your
conception and your death when God enters your experience. I could say he enters your life
but that phrase is so misused by people in the greater evangelical
movement because they say ask God into your life and what they
mean is for God to come in and fix up your life and make it
better. Well Christ isn't in our life. The Bible says Christ
who is our life. and not just you know the the
day to day life that we live I mean our actual life is from
him and he lives in us so I say he you know God encounters us
or confronts us in our experience that's what Paul meant when he
said in Galatians chapter one when it pleased God to reveal
his son in me Now when Paul took off from Jerusalem to go up to
Antioch and he had papers in his hand to arrest and persecute
Christians he had no idea of God's schedule he had a schedule
you know here an appointment book you know tomorrow be in
Antioch and God's appointment book said later today be on the
road to Antioch and meet Saul and God did and Saul came face
to face with the Lord Jesus Christ and God revealed Christ to him
because that was Christ he said Lord who are you and he said
I'm Jesus who you persecute And so Paul met the Lord Jesus on
the road to Antioch now our meeting with the Lord Jesus is not nearly
so dramatic. I don't I don't even know anybody
else in all the world that has had as dramatic a confrontation
with the Lord Jesus. You know like that. And you know
Paul says I'm an example of a believer. And so people think well I've
got to have an experience like Paul I remember an evangelist
from my youth his name was Ralph neighbor I don't know altogether
what he believed but I remember one thing he said in a message
it stuck with me and you know they'd given the invitation which
was common in that form of religion and revivalism and he was talking
with one of those that came forward. And of course he was trying to
lead them through the program. But she said you know and so
she had prayed the prayer that she'd been told to pray. And
when she was done. He said Well God save you. She
says. Well I don't know. He says Well what do you mean
you don't know. And he said Well it wasn't like with Saul. He
said Well what do you mean. So well he saw a light and Ralph
neighbors said Well look up there's a light. OK. Now you've seen
a light. and yeah we don't need to see
lights like that we don't need that kind of confrontation that
is so dramatic in our experience but we need indeed to have come
in contact with the Lord Jesus Christ we need to have to have
bowed before him you know so much of what passes for evangelism
these days there's nothing of submission to it In fact, it's
almost like you're saying, okay, Jesus, you can save me. And boy, I'm doing such a good
favor for Jesus. No, Jesus is a Lord. He doesn't need us. It's amazing
he tolerates us. But to think that he would come
to us and work in us to will and do of his good pleasure to
bow before him call him Lord and believe on him from our hearts
and then he wipes away all our sins as though they never exist
that's an amazing thing to think about but there you know I see
from time to time an argument come across Facebook on people
preaching against lordship salvation And I know what they mean. But you know people give the
awfulest titles. To forms of doctrine. Because
quite frankly friend there is no other kind of salvation than
lordship salvation. Because he's the Lord. And Paul
says if you will confess with your mouth Jesus to be Lord.
You know people say we'll make Jesus Lord your life you can't.
God already made him Lord of your life. Now we acknowledge
it we confess it we submit to it and we're actually happy for
it. But nonetheless if you don't see him as Lord. You know nothing
of his saving work. Because it's as the Lord that
he says. Peter on the day of Pentecost
said no. You know all the house of Israel that this Jesus whom
you crucified God has made to be Lord and Christ which in modern
terminology you can said Lord and Savior because Christ is
a savior but that was the essential meaning but you'll notice Peter
puts Lord right out there because without the Lord if he's not
the Lord he can't say if he's not in control he can't say he
may have good intentions he may be a kind hearted individual
and we may pat him on the back say well good try appreciate
your efforts but he's not the Lord he can't say he's the Lord
and he's also the savior the shepherd and so God Christ comes
to us at some point in our lives not by any kind of experience
that I could define for you and so you can say oh I had an experience
like that Because, you know, like Paul had one kind of experience.
Think about Philip, I believe. No, excuse me, Nathanael. When
his brother saw him under the fig tree and said, we found the
Messiah, man from Galilee. Nathanael said, can anything
good come out of Galilee? And he said we'll come and see.
And so Nathaniel comes towards the Lord and the Lord said Behold
a true Israelite in whom there is no God. And he said I. And he said Well you know Nathaniel
said Well how do you know me. He said Well before Andrew got
to you I saw you under the fig tree. But wasn't any big bright
light. He didn't get knocked down to
the ground no scales coming from his eyes a couple of late you
know it was and easy shall we say conversion nonetheless it
was somebody recognizing the Lord Jesus for who he is now
we have this experience of it and this experience follows the pattern
of the showdown there on Mount Carmel. First there was the fire,
and for us, first there is Christ and Him crucified. That's what
the fire represents. First there was the fire. Then
there was confession. Remember, the people said, Jehovah,
he is God. Jehovah, he is God. And while
we may not use the word Jehovah, when we say Jesus is Lord, we're
essentially saying the same thing, because the name Jesus means
Jehovah is my salvation. And so Jehovah is God. And then came the rain. That
is, the experience of judgment lifted and blessing poured out.
Now, all these spiritual blessings in the heavenly places, they've
been ours since before the foundation of the world. But we began to
receive them after we confessed his name, after he gave us eyes
to see, eyes of faith to see and understand. Christ in him
crucified and gave us a mouth and a heart to confessing. And
then we experience the blessing. And then we can also see that
the goodness of God did not depend on what the Israelites did. He
did not send rain because they believed. And how do we are. How do we know that. Well for
one thing. God had already sent Elijah. To pray for the rain. I mean that's what this whole
thing was about. The done deal in God's mind. Not only that. After they said Jehovah is God
Jehovah is God you know. It's like they had a revival
meeting everybody got excited lots of people made decisions
you know. But there never was any general revival. among the
Jews. So obviously what happened on
Mount Carmel didn't stick. Something to think about. Well
it shows it shows us the spiritual nature and that's why outward
displays never produce inward results. Look at all the miracles
our Lord did. Our Lord raised Lazarus from
the dead and they still wouldn't believe. And so. But anyway it. Nonetheless it made the point
for people like you and me. We read the story and it has
that effect on us. You know an inward effect. But
you know the Lord Jesus once said to the Pharisees. He said
You don't believe me because my word is not in you. That sounds
kind of strange doesn't it. God puts his word in us. By His
grace and that's why when we hear it. Oh we recognize it. And so anyway. He didn't send the rain because
their confession was heartfelt. He didn't send the rain to them
because he foresaw that they would be faithful because they
weren't. It seems like pretty much nothing
changed. He sent the rain because he is God who is gracious. Now,
folks that don't like the sovereignty of grace, You know they say all
know God's got to leave it up to us it's only fair that he
let us choose. Well it may be fair but it's
going to get that me nor that pattern will end with every one
of us in hell. God blesses his people because
he is gracious all give thanks unto the Lord for he is good
and his mercy endures forever. That's why you and I are still
drawn breath. That's why we aren't in hell right now because his
mercy endures forever now. before Elijah prayed and here's
the example of preaching before Elijah prayed before there was
prayer or rain Elijah heard the sound of a heavy rain now we know there wasn't any
rain to hear why because later He goes out, goes up to the top
of Mount Carmel, begins to pray, asks his servants, said, go tell
me, look towards the sea, tell me what you see. He said, well,
I see a cloud like the size of man's hand. Well, there's no
rain coming out of that. But Elijah said, I hear the sound
of abundance of rain. Why? Faith comes by hearing. And we can flip that right around.
Hearing comes by faith. When the preacher goes out to
preach. He is he is telling things that he hears that others don't.
And he's telling things that he sees and others don't know
believers here and see them. But the unbelieving world doesn't
that's why they think he's a fool. You know someone said in a community
where everyone is blind. The one guy who can see is considered
a fool. Because he's talking about things
that nobody else can even relate to. It takes a work of grace. Called the new birth. New birth
isn't something we initiate the new birth is you know I was listening
to a preacher and. Claimed to be sovereign grace
but then he was talking about being born again because we believe.
You know no that's not the way it works. You can't believe until
you're alive spiritually alive. But God gives us that life. And then we see and we hear what
the preacher has been hearing and seeing all along and telling
us and we were scratching our head. And for that reason we
shouldn't shouldn't be surprised when we tell people what we believe
and they don't seem particularly interested. But Elijah went out
and before he prayed for rain before one drop of rain had fallen.
He said I hear the sound of a heavy rain. OK. Now verse. Forty two it says
so I have went off to eat and drink. Now in that you talk about
a hard heart. He has just seen those prophets
utterly fail. Elijah succeed and then all those
prophets get slaughtered. And then Elijah said, hurry down
to your house. I hear the sound of a heavy rain.
And he just goes back and has something to eat and drink. That's
all he's interested in. You know men by nature are like
brute beasts. Food. Water. All there about. Things of the flesh. But Elijah
climbed to the top of Mount Carmel bent down to the ground and put
his face between his knees. Now. That's not told to us as
though that's the kind of posture that we have to adopt every time
we want to pray. Our Lord didn't. In Gethsemane he groveled in
the dirt it says. And they pray at tables and all
that but what we do see here is you know a posture like that
is a very submissive posture. Now he was he was bold with a
hat he said there'll be no rain except at my word. But when he
comes to God he's not making demands. Paul said make your
requests known to God. You know this whole name it claim
it business. Of course you all probably don't
watch any of those shows and good for you for not wasting
your time with them but you name it claim it. You know because
God's going to promise so we can name what you want and claim
it. Claim it. We come before him in the name
of Christ and we're bold to come. and we're bold to plead the promises
and we know that everything he's promised he will do. But sometimes
we're praying for things that he hasn't promised. There are
things that we think would be good. Well we you know we don't
go in there and say well I'm claiming this. You might as well
claim it all you want but you're not getting it. You know. So
he bows down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
Then he says go and look toward the sea. He told his servant.
and the servant went up and look there is nothing there he said
seven times Elijah said go back and I don't know what I mean
if that means there's a total of seven times looking or a total
of eight because after he went once he told him go back seven
times I don't know but the seventh time and we know what the Bible
means when it uses the word seven is talking about completion fullness
perfection I I get away or stay away from the word perfect because
we think of perfect meaning flawless you know morally pure and that's
not what the word means it just means complete And so the seventh
time the servant reported a cloud as small as a man's hand is rising
from the sea. Now this is at least seven times
that Elijah has prayed because I assume that each time he prays
again and sends the servant back. Now a couple of lessons here.
First of all. You know our Lord said when we
pray not to engage in vain repetition but one of the brother preachers
one time I heard he said not all repetition is vain repetition. What our Lord was talking about
in vain repetition is these people that just have practice prayers.
I'll give you an example when Catholics say the rosary. I can't
remember what it is every site and Hail Mary mother of God full
of grace but it's almost something like that I don't know you know
and then they move one be they say it again they think that
by every time they say that you know they're gaining a little
something with it. No that's a vain useless repetition of
a prayer as near as I can tell we are
allowed to pray for something we want as often as we want. as frequently as we want until
God either gives it to us or gives us a sense of satisfaction
that we're not going to have it. It's never wrong to ask if
you ask in submission. And by using the number seven,
you know, I look at that and I say the Lord had already appointed
amount of times. You know, and when. And why God
would make us ask multiple times. You know you can ask him when
we get there. But I think that the Lord's answer is pretty good
even so it seemed good in his sight to do so. You know. We'd sometimes we pray for something
the answer comes right away sometimes we pray for it hundreds of times
and maybe never receive. But whatever it was at the appointed.
Time. To answer. Cloud comes. So Elijah said go and tell a
have. So you know evidently a have. It's not like he went all the
way back to Jezreel to eat and drink. He just stepped over to
the side. Four hundred fifty dead bodies
later. Prophets up there praying charred remains of a of a sacrifice
over here and he's going to eat and drink. But he says you go
tell a have. hitch up your chair and go down before the rain stops
you and he's kind of saying a have what I told you earlier I wasn't
kidding I heard the rain and it's a heavy rain and if you
don't get going your chariot wheels are going to get stuck
in the mud and you're going to be out there in the middle of it now one thing
I like is that rain is a symbol of God's We have so much blessings
in Christ. We're stuck in the mud. Which, you know, it said we're
sin to the bound. Grace did super abound. It says
of our Lord that he, you know, that the law came by Moses, but
grace and truth through Jesus Christ. And then it says, and
from his abundance, his overflow, have we all received grace after
grace. I because we're flesh we always
look for blessings that are natural blessings and we keep forgetting
about the wealth of spiritual blessings that we have. And we're
just a little group and I know that there's more that would
be here if they could but here we are on a Wednesday night.
Why are we here. You know how blessed it is to want to be here.
What a glorious blessing it is to have a desire to hear the
scriptures and to find some comfort and some inner strength from
them. Not everybody does a lot of people go to church and they're
just beating time. They're going to church because they think
the more they go the better chance they got to get in heaven. Believer
goes to church and thinks he is in heaven. That is if the
preacher that's preaching preaches the gospel. But these great blessings
in Christ. and said Meanwhile is while Elijah
was talking or the servant was you know on his way to tell a
have that message that little cloud big as a man's hand in
the sky grew black with clouds and I've seen storms come in
pretty quick but it's not as quick as this one seemed to be
coming in you know when the Lord is ready to do something It happens. We wait patiently for him. You
know we wait patiently for his return. And his return is not
going to be a long drawn out affair. When he comes boom it's
done. It said grew black with clouds
the wind rose a heavy rain came on. Now there's a little illustration
here the cloud grew black with clouds. And normally when we
think you don't think of black clouds it looks like doom I remember
one time when my parents were visiting early after I. Moved
here I mean we we already lived out there but. A storm came from
the West. and I mean the blackest cloud
I have ever seen and it seemed so low I could almost reach up
and touch it and hear it come across that field behind my house
and I actually you know just as a reflex kind of put my head
down. I ran in the house. I'd never seen anything like
that scared me to death. It looked like it had weight
to it and clouds like that your black clouds. We always think
of them in terms of judgment. And you know when we first encounter
the gospel its first message to us is judgment. Because you
can't tell the good news until people know what the bad news
is because the good news is a remedy for the bad news. That's why
we don't start with God loves you. In fact I in you know evangelistic
style preaching I never say that because the apostles never did.
Those are words for believers. what we tell them is of God who
he is in his majesty in his holiness his righteousness his justice
that he will by no means clear the guilty and that looks like
black clouds and the wind rose the spirit of God is likened
to a wind when I'm not going to say who it is
I tell you I know these Old Testament stories but I forget who's in
them. But the Valley of Dry Bones. And he said can these bones live
and the prophet said I don't know Lord you know. And he said
well. Tell these bones here the word
of the Lord. So he did. And he said all the bones gathered
together and made skeletons. And flesh joined to him and everything
but. And you know preachers can do
that. I can preach the word of the Lord I can get people to
be Orthodox I can get bone attached to bone and make them outwardly
look like believers. But today. And then what did
he say. Pray to the spirit. Oh spirit
and remember both Greek and in Hebrew the words for spirit breath
and wind are all the same word. say blow on these bones that
they may live and they did and then when our Lord talks about
the new birth he says the wind blows where it wants to and you
can't tell where it's coming from and you don't know where
it's headed you can't call it you can't stop it and so the
sky grew black but then the wind rose And often we, you know,
people hearing the preaching of the gospel, the sky grows
black with judgment over top of them. They feel oppressed
in the way to the sin. Then the spirit comes, the wind
rises up, takes the things of Christ, shows them to them, and
a heavy rain came. Those clouds that looked like
they were going to kill had been sent by God to bless. that him that begins God moves
in a mysterious way his wonders to perform he plants his footsteps
on the sea and rides upon the storm and there's another stanza and he
says. The saints of God, fresh courage,
take the clouds you so much dread are full of mercy and shall drop
in blessings on my head. And that's what's going on here.
The trials that God sends in our lives, they look like big,
heavy, dark, condemning clouds. But the spirit joins himself
to the trials because the spirit's the only one that can make any
of this stuff good for us. And in time, those dark clouds
drop mercy and blessing on us. And if not in this life, in the
next, it's always going to end up in great blessing. And so
Ahab rode off to Jezreel. Then the power of the Lord came
upon Elijah and tucking his cloak into his belt, He ran ahead of
a head all the way to Jezreel. They have road on a horse. About
twenty five miles almost as long as a marathon. And Elijah outran
outran his horse. But it says the power of the
Lord came upon Elijah Elijah hadn't been practicing you know.
And building up his stamina. You know preachers. Prophets
People of God to whatever degree they are testifying They are
doing things that they really can't do But the Spirit of God
comes upon them and Not even that they feel it or anything
it's just things happen And you know there's been times when
I'm preaching and I feel as though you know I've told people it
feels like you know God's trying to put too much current through
too small a wire. I'm about to explode or melt.
But then nothing happens. Another time I stand up there
and I feel dead I feel like I got nothing to say. And God makes
things happen. That's God's way. He works when
there's no reason to think He will, or even no reason to think
He has. and I'll just close with this
story as an example of that and this was back in two thousand
seven and I can remember the year because it was a year that
Ben was in Nashville and Sherry was with us I don't even remember
what message I preached I don't remember what the title of it
was or what the text of it was but I had it just got this deep
burden about People within the congregation that kept coming
kept coming kept coming and then would never confess Christ. And
I remember saying I feel like we're in a burning building and
I'm going to each of you saying the buildings on fire the buildings
on fire and you're nodding your head saying Amen but you won't
leave. You know and of course I pointed
out you know baptisms way we confess and we're not saved by
being baptized but why won't you confessing you know what
what's the deal here and I got done preaching didn't really
think I'd said anything worth saying felt very disappointed
very discouraged and I went home And we had evening services at
that time I believe and I thought you know I was one thing back
then if I preached what I thought was a bad one Sunday morning
I thought well I got another at bat tonight. But by now we're sitting out
on the back deck and the phone starts ringing. And by the time we were
done it was six seven eight people want to confess Christ. And I
thought it was nothing. Well it was nothing for me. Lord
moved me to say what needed to be said. But it wasn't any power
out of me. So. The prayer of a righteous
man is powerful and effective. All who believe are righteous.
Our prayers are heard. Our prayers mean something to
God. He listens and in wisdom and goodness answers in the best
way. OK. You want to go back and turn
off the stream. Good to see everybody. Huh. No
I wasn't painting.