We're going to continue our study
in the life of Elijah tonight. The name of the message tonight
is Forsaking All. Last week we looked at the call
of Elijah, which we're finished looking at tonight. And last
week we saw, here's Elijah, he's working in the fields. He's plowing
with the 12th yoke of 12 yokes of oxen, along with his father's
servants in the field. And all along comes Elijah, and
he casts his mantle upon him, and he just keeps walking. Now,
as I read about that further today, I guess in the Hebrew
it brings a sense that he actually crossed into the field. He didn't
just walk by and cast his mantle on the ground. No, he cast his
mantle on Elijah. So he went up to him and cast
his mantle upon him and just walked away. So Elijah, he's
not even looking to be called by God, is he? He's not looking
to be called by God. He's working in the fields. He's
doing what he does every day, working on his dad's farm, not
looking to be called by God, laboring in the field. And God
called him with an unexpected and unsought after call. That's
what he does to you and I too. When he calls us, we're not seeking
it, right? He just calls us. Yeah, he just
calls us. And we have examples of that,
beloved. We have Paul on the road. He's looking to go and
slaughter Christians, throw them in jail. There's his call. Saul,
Saul, why persecutest thou me? My, oh, my. We're going to see
tonight, John and James and Peter. They're fixing their nets. Two of them are working with
their dad. He says, follow me. They just leave the nets and
everything. and they follow him. Totally unexpected, unsought
after. Last thing they're thinking about
is following somebody because they're working on those nets
and those nets were their livelihood, right? Well, Elijah's working
in the fields doing what is his livelihood, plowing. And let
us remember that the effectual call of God is not up for an
optional response. Now God makes us willin', doesn't
he? And we follow him in the day of his power, and we follow
him. But God's call's not up for an optional response. You
ever think of that in our own lives, when God called us? He
drew us with cords of love, didn't he? And we look back now and
we know it was all him. It was all his work, from beginning
to end and everything in between. It was all him. My, oh my. God calls men and women according
to his choosing. And do you know we're all servants
of the Most High? We're all servants of the Most
High. We've all said, bore my ear, Lord. I'm yours. What would
make a rebel want to do that? Somebody who would say, no, I
don't want nothing to do with God. And all of a sudden he's
like, bore my ear. That's just the grace of God.
That's just the grace of God in Christ and Him alone. That's
the only reason a man, way a man or a woman will ever do that.
And then claim to be, right, a servant of God, a slave of
God, right? My. My, and I'll tell you what, we're
the freest slaves that ever lived, aren't we? We're the most blessed
servants that ever lived and the most free servants that ever
lived. We are. We have such a liberty in Christ.
It's absolutely amazing. So the call of God's not up for
an optional response. We're just receivers of the grace
and mercy of God. He works upon us, doesn't he?
And we are made willing. We are. We lovingly run to Christ,
but only after we're born again by the Holy Spirit and given
faith to believe. Oh my. God has even called men according
to his choosing to call others to belief of the truth. A gospel
preacher is a man who's called by God, right, to proclaim the
gospel to other men and women. I can't make you believe, I can't
save you, but I can tell you about one who can save anyone
who comes to him. That's true, isn't it? He says,
all that cometh to me. He'll give you rest. Why do men
not want to come to Christ? Why do men and women not want
to come to Christ? Because of our sin. Because of
our pride. That's all it is. You know, I
remember somebody saying one time he was, it was one of our
preachers, and he was talking to someone up in Great Falls,
Montana. And this young man said, he said,
you don't know what I've done. He said, you don't know how much
of a sinner I am. And the preacher said, well, no, but I know you're
self-righteous from what you just said. Right? It's our self-righteousness
that makes us say that. Christ can save to the uttermost
all who come to him. My oh my. We are living examples
of that. The apostles are living examples
of that. Paul's a living example of that,
right? Countless people who were renegades and rebels by heart
who murdered and killed and he saved. Paul was a murderer, right? And so was David. But what? They
were saved by the grace of God, weren't they? Someone said, well,
who did David murder? Well, he had Uriah sent to the front lines,
knowing that he'd perish. My! We're all guilty. See, that's
why the law, what we've been looking at in the Galatians study,
the lawful use of the law is to bring us to Christ. It's the
schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. It shuts the mouth of every single
person in this world. Every son and daughter of Adam,
it shuts their mouths. My oh my. So here comes the effectual
call of God by the God, the Holy Spirit. Can anyone resist the
power of God, the Holy Spirit? See how petty men are when they
say, well, it's all up to you. God's decided this way, and the
devil's decided this way, now it's up to you. What? So God
doesn't have more power than the human and the devil? Let
me tell you, God's almighty. He's sovereign. And no one can
resist his will. He don't need no counselors.
He don't need no one telling him how to do things. He's absolutely
sovereign. Except, as some people say, except
over man. No, no. Is he not, if he's not
sovereign over all, he's not God then, is he? He's God. We're
just a bunch of atoms, right? He keeps us together. Is it hard
for him to draw a man or a woman to him? Oh, it's amazing. God's
call is an irresistible, invincible call. It cannot be stopped. And when the gospel is preached,
the Holy Spirit uses the preaching of the gospel, right? And he
moves, and he draws by his almighty power lost sinners to Christ,
they're born again. It's all by His power. By an
operation of God, we're born again. Right? Given faith to
believe. And then we say, Lord Jesus,
save me. Save me, Lord. Oh my. Isn't it wonderful? We become
willing servants of God. Willing servants of God. And
then there's a general call that goes out to all the world, right?
See, there's two calls. There's an effectual call. I
like to call it the irresistible, invincible call. And then there's
a general call. The general call goes out, right?
Repent. Turn to Christ. For the kingdom
of heaven is at hand, right? Out it goes. The gospel goes
out from here into all the world. And each message is, turn to
Christ. Turn to Christ. Sinner, friend,
there's only hope in Christ. And it's just one sinner telling
other sinners where to find bread, right? And this call to salvation
is in no way dependent upon man. If it was, we'd all be doomed.
Every one of us. That's why it's an invincible
call of God. An effectual call of God. My
oh my. He's just plowing in the field.
And all of a sudden Elijah comes, puts his mantle on him, and just
walks away. Elijah knew exactly what that meant. We're going
to see. He knew exactly what that meant. Oh my. How does God make
the unwilling willing? How does he do that? How does
he turn a rebel by nature into a worshiper of the Lord Jesus
Christ? Turn, if you would, to Colossians
chapter 2. Oh, he does this with an effectual, invincible call,
beloved. An irresistible call in which
we're made willing in the day of God's power. Again, this is
when we're born again. You must be born again. First you're born
again, and then you're given faith, right? Look at this, though.
You know, we're born again because of an operation God did in us,
brother. Isn't that amazing? It's amazing what a physician
is right. My, look at this Colossians 2 verses 8 and I included verse
10 in here because this is just dynamite. Just dynamite. Look at this. We're going to
read from Colossians chapter 2 verse 8 all the way to verse
15. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him
dwelleth, look at this, all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,
and you, now that's you and I, what are we? You're complete.
That means you can't add anything in the Greek. In the Greek that
means fell to the brim. You can't add another drop. You're
complete. Nothing we do. Nothing we do. Just complete.
Finished. Complete. And you, put your name
in there. Are complete in him, in Christ. Which is the head
of all principality and power. Look at that. He's absolutely
sovereign. So can anyone resist his call? Oh no. In whom also
ye are circumcised, look at this, with the circumcision made without
hands, that's being born again, in putting off the body of the
sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ. Now here we go. He's
going to tell us a little bit about it. Buried with him in
baptism, wherein ye are also risen with him through the faith
of the operation of God. You must be born again. Look
at that. My oh my. Operation of God. Does that say man's decision?
It says operation of God. As Dave said, the great physician
operating. Who hath raised him from the
dead. So the same quickening power that was used to raise
Christ from the dead is the same quickening power that's used
to raise us from our spiritual deadness, beloved. You've heard
me say that, I'm gonna keep repeating it. And you being dead in your
sins in the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, born again. Heaven forgiven you, here we
go, I love this, all trespasses. I mean, I mean everyone. Any
you can remember and any you can't remember. They're all gone.
They're all gone. If a certain sin haunts you from
your past, it's washed in the blood of Christ. Believe it.
If you're a believer, believe it. It's gone. It's in God's
eyes. You remember it. Why should I remember it if God
don't remember it anymore? See, Satan will use things like
that. It weakens us. He will. We have a foe. He will. You know, Luther said this, and
I like this. Whenever Satan reminds you of your past, remind him
of his fiery future. That's what Martin Luther used
to say. My oh my. He's got an end, doesn't he?
Oh my. Oh my. Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, that was contrary to us,
took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. And having spoiled
principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in it. Now in that call we saw there,
in that call, that operation, is there any man that can resist
that, the operation of God? Is there any man or woman who
can resist the operation of God? And say, no. If they're one of
the elect, not one. Not one. Why do men and women
go to hell? Because of their sin, yeah, and
unbelief. Because of their sin and unbelief. What does God have
to do for a man or woman to go to hell? Leave them alone. What
does He have to do for us to go to heaven? Everything. All
of it. From beginning to end. Isn't
that... And we acknowledge that, don't we? We acknowledge that.
He has to do everything. Now turn with me if you would,
with that as our introduction, turn with me if you would to
1 Kings chapter 19. We're going to read that first section before
in verse 15 to 18 that we read before, then we won't look at
that again. Now I'm going to, here's a little information.
1 Kings here, this is the first portion that Elijah's name is
mentioned in the scripture. And after the call of Elijah,
he's not mentioned again in 1 Kings. He doesn't show up until 2 Kings
then. So there's a gap of period of time that some commentators
believe that he was involved with Elijah, establishing the
school of the prophets. And we're gonna see by what he
says at the very end, and what he does here, he said at the
very end of verse 21, it says, then he arose and went after
Elijah and ministered unto him. He was subservient to him. Isn't
that amazing? He was to be the next prophet
after Elijah, and here he is being subservient to Elijah.
Who does that picture? Who said, not my will be done,
but thine, Father. Isn't that amazing? The Lord
Jesus Christ, right? He becomes subservient to the
Father. It's just amazing. My what a picture of Christ there.
My oh my. And later on we're going to see
that Elijah calls him father. They became so close. He calls
him father when he gets taken up into heaven in a chariot.
My oh my. So let's start in verse 15 here.
And the Lord said unto him, that's Elijah, Remember he's in the
cave, thinking he's the only one left. Go return on thy way
to the wilderness of Damascus, and when thou comest anoint Hazel
to be king over Syria, and Jeru the son of Nimshiah shalt thou
anoint to be king over Israel, and Elijah the son of Shephath
of Abel, Mihollah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
I'm glad I don't have to say that name again for a while now.
So I always take my time. Did you notice over that name?
Oh my. And it shall come to pass that him that escapeth the sword
of Hazel shall Jehu slay, and him that escapeth the sword of
Jehu shall Elijah slay. Yet I have left me seven thousand
in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed on the bale, and
every mouth which hath not kissed him. Now I was reading Spurgeon
on this, and I got some gem off him. He was talking about how,
here's Elijah earlier in the chapter, and he's like, oh my,
I'm the only one left. I'm the only one left. There's no one
left but me. And the Lord tells him, and again he didn't even
count Judah, he says to him, there's 7,000 in Israel who haven't
bowed the knee. Now notice what Elijah does.
Look at verse 19 at the very beginning, so he departed. So
here he is before this, before the Lord tells him there's 7,000
that haven't bowed the knee, he's just down in the mouth,
isn't he? What joy must have flooded his soul, beloved. When
he found out, when he found out that his prayer had been answered,
that he was going to have a successor, right? How that must have revived
his spirit, because remember he said, Lord, just take me home.
Yeah, he was so down, he said, just let me die, right? Well,
the Lord kept him around for a little longer, didn't he? We
know that. We're going to find out that in our next study. because
we're going to look at the taking up of Elijah to heaven, but he
found out, oh Elijah is going to be my successor. So I must
have filled him with joy. And then when he found out that
there were 7,000 who hadn't bowed, do you imagine the joy that flooded
his soul? I'm not the only one, hallelujah!
Praise God! That's how we feel when we hear
some of the Lord saving someone, don't we? Praise God! Back when
Kevin's dad got saved. Oh my, Kevin Carpenter's dad
got saved. Oh my, we were weeping. It was wonderful. The Lord saved
his soul. You guys have been praying for
him for probably 30, 40 years. And the Lord saved him. Oh my,
it's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. Goodness,
goodness. So how this must have just revived
him and refreshed him to know how it must have delighted him
and how it must have also amazed him that God had kept the remnant.
And how encouraging is that? See, when I get up and preach
the gospel to you guys, first and foremost, here, right? And
then the gospel goes out, we don't know who it's touching
out there, beloved, but we know it won't return to God void,
don't we? So you get a blessing out of
it when I'm right here preaching with you, and then maybe someone
else will listen to it, and they'll receive a blessing too. It's
the Spirit's work. It's all His work. And they're
refreshed that there's a gospel church there. My. I don't know
much, but God's taught me a little bit about Christ, and the little
bit I know, I'm going to tell you about it. And when he reveals
more to me, I'm going to tell you about it. Brother Zane's
been giving me some nuggets, I gotta preach on a couple of
those down the road there. But oh my gosh, but it fills
us with joy, don't it? When we were at the house there
Sunday, just talking, man, just talking about the Lord. It was
wonderful, absolutely wonderful. We went out for lunch that one
time, just sit there and fellowship together, and it's so sweet,
isn't it? Isn't God good? He gives us people
who we can love and care about, and they love and care about
us as well, because we're family, beloved. We have a bond in Christ
that no one else has outside these doors, except they be in
Christ. Then they know what it's like.
And you know, someone from another church can walk in here, right?
Like Zane said when he first came, he goes, man, it's wonderful.
I'm in a room full of people. They all believe like I do. And
it just fills your heart with joy, doesn't it, brother? You're
rejoicing, you know? Go out in the world and try to
talk to somebody about Christ. I'll tell you what, if you talk
to an unsaved guy, he's just going to tell you that he don't
want to hear it. But then if you talk to a religious person,
why? They're going to just give you a whole bunch of different
things. You will get a hundred different views from a hundred
different professing Christians out there. It's crazy. I picked
up a magazine that was in the box today, and it said, hope
with this new government in Israel that they're going to rebuild
the temple so the Jews can offer sacrifices again. See, dispensationalism
believes that. They believe the temple has to
be restored so sacrifices can be done again. But what have
we learned? We've learned Christ is the final
sacrifice, right? He's the substance. There's no
need for any kind of sacrifices. As a matter of fact, if anyone
offered a sacrifice of an animal to God, it's an abomination in
his eyes. Because the Lamb of God's been
slain. He's already been slain. The true sacrifice. The one sent
by God. Right? The one who is our Redeemer
and our Savior. No one needs to offer any other
sacrifices up. I guess folks don't believe the
words, it's finished, it's finished. It's like there was a movie out
there, it was a funny movie, and this guy said, well, he's
dead. And his wife said, no, he's mostly
dead. Well, finished means finished. It means you've reached the end
of the line. There is nothing, as I told you in the Greek, it's
perfect. You cannot add to perfection. But oh, we men, we men. And I
was in that group. I totally believed all that stuff.
Until one man asked me the same question I just mentioned to
you. He said, why would there ever need to be any more sacrifices,
Wayne? And I had no answer for him.
And then he told me. He told me what I always say
to you guys. It's an abomination to God. Man, you talk about shaking
those dispensational false refuges of lies, man, they were just
crumbling before my eyes, man. Oh my gosh. My God, our God,
He's a great God, beloved. He's a great Savior. There's
no need for any sacrifices. He's the one sacrifice for sinners. Oh my. Look at this though. So
how joyful He is. There's no need for Him to say,
I'm the only one. There's no need. There's 7,000
more of us. My, could you imagine how, if we were in his situation,
we felt, I'm the only one. No wonder he was despairing.
And God comes to you and says, there's 7,000 more of you. Oh
my, and look at his response. 7,000 more who have not bowed
their knee to Baal, but are for Jehovah, right? And look at his
response here. This is wonderful. We see how
this cheered Elijah and comforted him. Because what did he do?
Right away he goes back to his work. Right away. Without uttering
another word. We do not read again of his spirit
failing. Look at the first words of verse
19. So he departed with us. He just gets up and he just takes
off. Now he's going to go backwards. He's going to go see Elijah first.
He was supposed to go see the other two first. But he's going
to go backwards. he's gonna go see he's gonna
go see Elijah first look at this so he departed thence and found
Elijah the son of Shephet 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 and he left the oxen and
ran after Elijah and said let me I pray thee kiss my father
and my mother and then I will follow thee And he said unto
him, Go back again, for what have I done to thee? And he returned
back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled
their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the
people, and they did eat. And I heard one commentator say,
He said, A yoke of oxen that feed an army. That's a lot of
food. But look what he does. He gives
it away. He gives it away. Isn't that wonderful? Then he
arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him. So last
week we looked at how Elijah departed, found Elijah, cast
his mantle upon him. This was the call of Elijah.
Again, it was unexpected, unlooked for on Elijah's part. But on
the Lord's part, it was long ordained. He knew him before
he was in the womb, before he was even conceived. He was one
of his people from before the foundation of the world. We saw
in Jeremiah, when we went to Jeremiah chapter 1, that he was
ordained by God. He says, before you were in the
womb, I knew you. Why? Now that's comforting, isn't
it? That's comforting for us. See,
that's why the Lord said, I've loved you. I'm going to paraphrase
this, before you loved me. He knew us before we ever knew
him. My, my, oh, my. And so we see now he casts his
mantle upon him. And this was a sign that Elijah
was to be his successor. And now the prophetic mantle
was probably of special character. In Zechariah, we're told that
the prophets shall not wear a rough garment, a hairy mantle to deceive. And in 2 Kings 1.8, if you want
to turn there, 2 Kings 1.8, we're not far from there. So here we
go. 2 Kings 1a, it says, and they answered him, he was a hairy
man with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said,
it is Elijah the Tishbite. In the New Testament explanation
of the description of John the Baptist, if you want to tear
in there, Mark chapter 3, it bears out the idea that he wore
a mantle as well. Notice in our text there in 2
Kings 1.8, it said, with a girdle of leather. Look at this in John
the Baptist, Matthew 3, verses 1 to 6. In those days came John
the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea. What did
he preach? He preached Christ, didn't he?
Look what he says here. And saying, repent ye, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. He's coming. He's coming. The
long-promised one. He's coming. He's coming. For
this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying,
the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way
of the Lord, make its path straight. And the same John had his ramet
of camel's hair and a leather and girdle about his loins, and
his meat was locusts with wild honey. Boy, you see him, you
think, that guy's crazy. That's what the world thought,
right? That's what the world thought. What do they think about
believers? Crazy, right? Well, trust me,
I've been told that before, many times. Oh my, my, look at this. He has a letter and girdle about
his loins and meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out
to him to Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region round about
and were baptized of him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
My. Now turn back to 2nd Kings. 2nd
Kings. We'll read in chapter 2. The
mantle which Elijah took. So Elijah put the mantle on Elijah,
but it appears that Elijah gave it back to him. Because it's
on Elijah when he's going up to heaven. But we're going to
see what happens to it. It falls off. Yeah. Look at this
in 2nd Kings chapter 2. Oh my. We see that this mantle,
which Elijah he's going to take it up after the departure of
Elijah and Elijah had possession of it when he divided the waters
as well of the Jordan which caused the son of the prophets to proclaim
the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha so here 2nd Kings chapter
2 verses 9 to 16 and it came to pass when they were gone over
that Elijah said unto Elisha ask what I shall do for thee
before I be taken away from thee And Elijah said, I pray thee,
let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, thou
hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me
when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. But if
not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they
went on and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire
and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder. And Elijah
went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elijah, now look what Elijah,
we see how their relationship, look at this. And Elijah saw
it and cried, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the
horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more. And he took hold
of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. He took up also
the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood
by the bank of the Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah
that fell upon him and smote the waters and said, where is
the Lord God of Elijah? And when he had smitten the waters,
look what happens, man. Oh, my. You talk about the power
of God. When he smitten the waters, they
parted hither and thither, and Elijah went over. That Jordan
just divided, and he walked right across dry land. My, oh, my. And look at this. And when the
sons of the prophets, which were to view at Jericho, saw him,
they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elijah. And they
came to meet him and bowed themselves on the ground before him. And
they said unto him, Behold now, there be with thy servants fifty
strong men. Let them go, we pray thee, and
seek thy master. So they wanted to go search for
Elijah. Lest peradventure of the Spirit of the Lord have taken
him up and cast him upon some mountain. So they're thinking,
oh my goodness, they're thinking, well, God just took him up and
then tossed him on top of a mountain. What? Oh, what man can come up
with, right? God took him to heaven, didn't
he? Oh my! Oh my! No, we can't help it. It's just who we are. Just look
at this. Oh my. Lest perevention of the
Spirit of the Lord is taken up and cast upon some mountain,
or in some valley. He's either on the top of that
mountain over there, or he might be in the valley on the other
side. Oh my. Like Dave said, we can't help
it. Just men. Oh, we're just men. Or into some
valley, and he said, he shall not send. Oh my. But look at that. When Elijah
cast his mantle upon the shoulder of Elijah, it was symbolic. It
was a symbolic act that he was now one of the members of the
prophetic band chosen by God. Chosen by God. Let's go back
to 1 Kings chapter 19 again. I just wanted to read that in
light of the mantle. Something that was worn, right? Now let's
look at 1 Kings 19 to 21 again. So he departed thence and found
Elijah. So after he found out that there's
more that haven't bowed their knee, there's more servants of
Jehovah. He's encouraged. And he found
Elijah, the son of Shepheth, 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. And he left the oxen
and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me pray, let me, I pray thee,
kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee.
And he said unto him, Go back again, for what have I done to
thee? And he returned back from him,
and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and 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. Now, notice the call of Elijah
here, and notice his reaction to God's call. We know he's made
willing to follow that call by God, by God's grace. And notice,
though, he didn't shrink away from it. He didn't shrink away
from it. He didn't shrink away from the sacrifice that he's
now called to make. And it was a sacrifice for him,
beloved. The scriptures declare that he left the oxen and ran
after Elijah. So here he is, he's plowing in
the field. Elijah puts a mantle on him. He looks at that mantle
and he runs after Elijah. Oh my. And note the swiftness
of the reaction to the call, in any absence of being reluctant
to answer that call. When God calls a man or a woman,
I'll tell you what, there's no reluctance to come to Christ.
I like what old Rupert Reinhardt used to say, he said, a team
of wild horses couldn't keep a believer from coming to Christ
when the Holy Spirit regenerates them and draws them to Christ.
You can't be stopped because it's the Spirit that's making
you go. And it's wonderful. It's a work of God. It's an operation
of God, as we saw earlier. He's being made willing, beloved.
Elijah's being made willing in the day of God's power. He runs
after Elijah. My oh my, my oh my. Notice Elijah's humble spirit. He takes the servant's place
and he asked permission. I'm going to go back to my mom
and dad, give them a kiss. He asked permission. Let me, I pray
thee, kiss my father and my mother and I will follow thee. My oh
my. And he said unto him, go back
again for what have I done to thee? What a humble spirit. Our
Lord was humble, beloved. He was meek and he was humble.
And he was full of grace and full of truth and full of mercy.
Oh my. And the nature of Elijah's request
shows us that he was not a man lacking in natural feelings.
He loved his mom and his dad. He loved his family. He was warmly
attached to his parents. And far from being an excuse
to delaying the call, it was proof of his promptness in accepting
it. He said, I just need to give
my mom and dad a kiss. He was very prompt. But then
they had a feast, probably a feast of the parents saying, praise
God, our son's called to be a prophet. Isn't that wonderful? My, my
oh my. And what this shows too, when
he says, I'm going to go back there and I'm going to do this,
it shows that he's ready to break from his family ties. He's actually
ready to break from all that he considers precious in the
world. He's going to answer this call willingly, isn't he? Because
he's being made willing in God's power. And he's breaking away
from his natural ties with his mom and dad to serve God in this
call. And we're going to see by what
he did with the oxen, he's no longer tied. He's no longer tied
to the things that were precious to him. Well, they were a wealthy
family. They were a wealthy family. Of
that many oxen, they were a wealthy family. Servants plowing all
through there too. Yeah, they were a wealthy family
below it. Oh my. Elijah, we see, he's ready to
break away from home and family to a life of self-sacrifice.
And we know peril too, right? He's going to follow someone
who the ruler wants to kill. My, he doesn't even bother counting
the cost. He's serving God. He's serving
God. It's wonderful. We do that as
believers, don't we? We serve God. Our family who
aren't saved, they may say things to us, but I'm going to serve
God. I'm going to serve the Lord. My, oh, my. He was in easy circumstances
in life. He was a hard worker, we can
see, because he's in the field with the servants. But I'll tell you
what, he had a good life. He had a good life. And he was
probably heir to all that. We don't know if he had more
brothers and sisters. Don't even tell us that. But he was probably,
he was probably in line to get part of that farm. Part of that
wealth. My oh my. He had a quiet, pleasant country
life. with the miracle of God's nature
all around him. He'd just look up in the heavens
and say, oh, look what the Lord's done. He'd look all around him
and say, look what the Lord's done. Just like you and I, right?
We say that all the time. Man, those storm clouds today,
they looked magnificent as they were rolling in. Just incredible. And God's in control of all that.
He's in full control of all that. My, And when the Lord calls his
people, we're called to serve, beloved. Turn, if you would,
to Matthew chapter 4. Matthew chapter 4. Our call by
God involves sacrifice. I remember a fellow I knew, he
used to say, boy, when the Lord saves a young man or a young
woman, we need to tell him, buckle in. It's going to be rough for
a while. You're gonna have joy in your
heart, but you're gonna face some stuff, aren't you? We've
all experienced that, all of us, whether it be from family
or friends, right? We've all experienced persecution
from the world. My, oh, my. Look at this. Boy, when the Lord calls his
people, they don't hesitate. Look at this, Matthew 4, verses
18 to 22. And think of Elijah's call as
we're reading this too. In Jesus walking by the Sea of
Galilee, he saw two brethren, Simon and Peter, and Andrew.
Or Simon called Peter and Andrew, his brother. Cast them out, and
they were into the sea, for they were fishers. They were fishermen,
just ordinary fishermen. And he said to them, follow me,
and I'll make you fishers of men. Now did they say, well,
hold on, Lord, I got to make a decision. Yeah, I got to put
my hand up. They didn't say any of that stuff,
did they? Look at their response. Straight
away. That means right away. That means instantaneously. What'd
they do? They left their nest. That's
their livelihood, beloved. That's probably the only thing
that they've known to do for their whole lives. They grew
up probably, I would imagine, well, we're going to see the
next one, their dad was a fisherman too. Vicky's dad was a fisherman,
captain of a boat. Her brother's a captain of a
boat, or will be soon. He's getting his own boat license
and all that. It's just something you do. Their grandpa was a fisherman. It's just something you do. My
oh my. Look at this. And going on from
fence, he saw two brothers. He saw other two brothers, James,
the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, in a ship with Zebedee,
their father. So here they are, they're fishing
with their dad. Imagine the dad's reaction. Oh man, imagine the dad's reaction. Look at this, here we go. Men
in their nets, and he called them. And they immediately left
the ship and their father and followed him. Could you imagine
the first return to the house? But they'd be saying, hallelujah,
dad, we met the Messiah. He called us. The one you saw
calling us on the beach. He's the Messiah. He's the long
sought after Messiah. My, they were fixing this. So again, they're working on
their livelihood, right? Elijah's in the field. He's doing
his livelihood. He's plowing, beloved. He's doing
that which his dad did, and now he's doing it. These folks here,
they just left. They just left. We're going to
see Elijah did the same thing. He just forsook all. They forsook
everything. They just left. Could you imagine John's mom and James's mom saying
to their husband, where did the boys go? This man walked up and
said, follow me, and they just left. Oh my. Oh my. Isn't it amazing? Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
14. When Paul was stoned at Lystia, the Holy Spirit had these words
recorded about the tribulation of believers in this world. See,
we will face tribulation. And tribulation for you may be
different for me. But we will face tribulation
for our faith. We will. We will. My oh my. Look at this. Acts 14 verses 19 to 23. And there came thither certain
Jews from Antioch and Ithoam, who persuaded the people, and
having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he
had been dead. So here they come. Here come
those false Jews. They hate Christianity. They absolutely hate Christ. And now they hate anyone who
falls. And they really hate Paul, because he was their champion.
And now he's preaching Christ. Oh, man. Look at this. As the disciples stood round
about him, he rose up. They thought he was dead. He
raised right up. and came into the city, and the
next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. Look at this. What's he do? So he gets stoned,
and they think he's dead. They bring him out. They drop
him on the ground. The disciples come around. He gets up. He's
alive. What's he do? Does he go and hide somewhere
and say, oh, they stoned me. I'm not going to go out there
again. What's he do? This is magnificent. And this
is only by the power of God, beloved. This is a man transformed
by God and called. What does he do? And when they
had preached the gospel to that city, what did he say? I must preach
Christ and Him crucified. When they preached the gospel
to that city and had taught many, they returned again to Lystia.
Well, there they're going back again. and to icon them in Antioch,
confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them, look at this,
to continue in the faith, right? And that we must, through much
tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. Tribulation comes to
everyone, every believer, in various forms, in various forms,
but it will come. But, you know, praise God. Praise
God. The little wee bit that we endure
here is nothing compared to the glories that await for us now. And think of how much they persecuted
our Savior. Think of how much they persecuted.
He was hated without a cause. And when they had ordained them
elders in every church and had prayed with fasting, they commended
them to the Lord and on whom they believed. And we know they
just off they went to the next place. So we're going to have tribulation.
So consider who Elijah is now going to follow, right? Elijah
has come up and put his mantle on him. And consider now who
Elijah's going to follow, because he's going to be his servant
for a while, right? They're both going to serve God. He's cast his lot in with Elijah.
He's not a popular hero, is he? There was just a bunch of bear
worshippers that were killed, and Jezebel's like, I'm going
to kill that man. Not if God doesn't like you. My oh my. And Elijah, he had
powerful enemies, didn't he? King and Queen of Israel. Those
are powerful enemies, beloved. And they more than once made
attempts on his life. In past and probably in the future.
And they both knew that dangerous times were ahead. But they both
knew that God would protect them. They both knew they were in the
hand of God, just like we know we're in the hand of God. See,
believers live in dangerous times no matter what years they've
lived through. The believers during the times
of the book written to the Galatians, they were suffering for their
faith. 1 Peter and 2 Peter are written to saints who are being
persecuted for their faith. Believers, we've always had trouble
in this world. The world hates us, beloved.
It does. My, oh, my. So, there's possibilities
that they're going to face persecution in the future. And some would say, well, Elijah
should sit down and count the cost. God's people don't do that.
We just follow Christ. Because we've been called with
an invincible call. An irresistible call, beloved.
God's called us. God's called us. would be despised,
would be rejected of man, all because of Christ. But by the
grace of God, we joyfully and willingly, knowingly, accept
the tribulation we're faced here. It's just a short time. Our life's
like a vapor. That means our tribulation, we're
going to go through just a vapor, beloved. Just a vapor. My oh my. And remember that it
was on religious grounds that Jezebel was persecuted in Elijah. was on religious grounds. My. And it's so. With the false prophets
of Christendom, and devotees of false religions, they hate
God's true preachers. They hate God's true people.
They do. My oh my. But what does God's
people have for one another? Nothing but love. We love one
another. We even love our enemies, don't
we? Yeah. Not always easy to do. But we
do. My. And nothing, think of this,
nothing but the love for Christ and his people will enable Elijah
to triumph over these things. It's the same for us. No matter
where we find ourselves, whether we're being persecuted for our
faith or whether we're not, It's the love we have for Christ that
will help us overcome those situations. Because He's put that love in
us, beloved. What a hope is, as we looked at on Sunday. What
a hope we have in Christ. What a hope. My oh my. Scripture says, let's look at
verse 21 now. And he returned back from him
and took a yoke of oxen and slew them. This is Elijah going back.
He took a yoke of oxen and slew them, boiled their flesh with
the instruments of the oxen and gave them to the people and they
did eat. Then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto
him. Notice he took the yoke of oxen, slew them, boiled their
flesh. And he says, we're going to have a feast. And he's just
giving this food away. No charge, it's free. Ah, it's free. What's salvation? It's free,
right? Oh, it's free. Free, it costs
Christ, but it's free for us, beloved. Oh my. And two yoke
of oxen will feed a lot of people. Christ is the bread of life,
right? Oh, there's a multitude that no man can number who feasted
on the bread of life, haven't we? By faith. Look into Christ. Look into Christ. Elijah's forsaking
all that is dear to him. All that is dear to him. I know
a brother who was told by someone who was dear to him, it's God
or me. How would you feel if someone
who was close to you asked you that question? Is God or me? Always. Always. No matter what,
it'll always be God. It'll always be God. My oh my. For the believer, Christ
is everything. He is everything to us. He's
our all in all. Right? He's everything. And He has to be that way. Because
in Him, He gets all the preeminence, beloved. All of it. And Elijah has this great feast
and he forsakes everything that's dear to him. He slays the oxen
that he was using for his living. And then it says he boiled their
flesh with the instruments of the oxen. Everything that was
dear to him, he's forsaking it. He gives his parents a kiss and leaves them. All for the service of God. And after the great feast, it
says, then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto
him. What wonderful words. And he
does all this by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. How do
we keep on keeping on? When things happen in our lives
and we, we, we, we, we sometimes say, Lord, I don't know. I don't
understand what's going on here. We're kept by the power of God. Grace upon grace upon grace. And he increases our faith, doesn't
he? Oh, it's wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. So
here, divine grace, as it will in every believer, has subdued,
subdued every lost And it will conquer every prejudice, it will
overcome every difficulty. That's what grace, that's what
divine grace will do. Now we go through those difficulties,
but divine grace will conquer it. It will. Mine. And here before us we see evidence
of God's effectual call. Elijah's heart has been made
willing to fall right after Elijah and forsake everything he counts
as precious. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11, the Hall
of Faith. Hebrews chapter 11. Look at this, in light of what
we're reading right now. This is incredible. In light
of what we're reading, verses 24 to 26. Hebrews 11, verses
24 to 26. Here we have a picture of the same thing. Hebrews 11, verses 24 to 26. By faith, Moses, when he was
come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
So he'd come to age and he refused to be called. Do you know some
think that he could have been in line to be the next Pharaoh? Because supposedly the Pharaoh
at that time had no son. And so he was probably next in
line. Think of this too. That little
boy had been taken in and raised in the finest schools that Egypt
had to offer. All that stuff. And look what it says. He refused
to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God. Look at that. He could have lived in ease,
beloved, for the rest of his life. He could have had his feet
up for the rest of his life. Nope. Chose to suffer with the people
of God. Look at that. Then to enjoy the pleasures of
sin for a season. See, sin is only pleasurable
for a season. It really is. And we get enamored by it, because
we're humans. But it's got a sting to it, man. And it's only pleasurable for
a season, that's all. Just for a season. It entraps
us. It binds us up. Praise God, Christ
broke all them bonds, didn't he? We're free! The law don't have no hold on
us. The justice of God don't have
no hold on us. It's all been satisfied in Christ. It's wonderful. Look at this, esteeming the reproach
of Christ, right? God's people are reproached by
this world. They want nothing to do with
us. I've got two brothers in the flesh that want nothing to
do with me since the Lord called me to preach. Now, when we get
together, we say we love each other, but that's it. We don't
hardly talk at all. They live three hours away. They haven't been here in eight
years. Should I be down in the mouth
about that? No. That's just the reproach of Christ. But you know
who I have now? Brother Zane, right? Brother Bri, Brother Dave, Travis,
Neil, Jim, Brother Dan. I got more brothers
than I can count. That's why I always tell you
guys, you're my family. You're my family, beloved. It's amazing. My oh my. So he esteemed the
reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt.
So think of that. Now, God had taught him something,
hadn't he? Because Egypt during this time
is extremely wealthy. It is extremely wealthy. Now
they went and just handed their gold to the Israelites, right?
All by God's doing. But they were wealthy. And he
saw, he saw that Christ was more valuable than all those royalty
riches. Is that not so with you and I? He is the fairest 10,000th of
my soul, isn't he? He is more valuable than anything
upon this earth. And we've been redeemed by his
precious, precious blood. Oh my. So, and look at this. This is interesting, isn't it? Moses was in the Old Testament,
right? Who's he esteeming better than
all the riches of Israel? What does it say there? What
did the Holy Spirit have Paul write down there? Esteeming the
reproach of Christ? Who's his faith in? Messiah. Christ. There it is. Right there. It's wonderful. Great are the riches and the
treasures in Egypt, for we respect unto the recompense of the reward.
Christ is his reward. He knows that there's no greater
treasure in this world than Christ. There's no greater treasure than
Christ and him alone. Now let's go back to our verse
in 1 Kings chapter 19. We're going to now read the latter
part of this verse. So Elijah, he's going to forsake
everything. We're going to see it right here. And not only does
he forsake everything, but he puts himself as servitude to
Elijah. Look at this. And he returned back from him,
and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and 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." Look at those words. He arose
after he's kissed his mom, he's kissed his dad, he's forsaken
everything. He killed the oxen that he was
plowing with, the instruments being boiled up. And what's he do? He goes and
follows Elijah. And notice too how Elijah is
willing to take a role of a subordinate. Because what does he do? He arose
and went after Elijah and ministered unto him. Do you know, Vicki
and I were just talking today, and I was talking to a brother
out west, he called me, and we were talking about how we as
God's people, we have teachable spirits. The unsaved people don't
have... I didn't have a teachable spirit
before the Lord saved me. But we have teachable spirit.
We desire to learn about the things of God. We don't vault
ourselves over each other. Do we? You know, even as part
of the leadership in the church, we don't vault ourselves over
anyone else. We're all the same. I told you guys before, I'm a
servant to the church. Yeah. Yeah, under shepherds. Under shepherds are but servants
to the church. We're not the Lord over anyone. We're to lead,
right? But there's no Lord over anyone. He's the Lord. Yeah, we follow
the Lord. All of us follow the Lord. We
follow Him. But here's Elijah. He's willing
to take a subordinate role in a place, willing to become a
servant and subject himself to the will of another. Oh, there's a lesson here for
us. Who do we say? What's that song
we sang on Sunday there? I love to be controlled. Remember?
I was a wandering sheep. Right? Now we say, Lord, do with
me whatever you will. Whatever you desire for me to
do, you have me do it, Lord. Isn't that amazing? We weren't like that before,
but now we are. Now we are. Oh my. Look at this. They rose and went after Elijah
and ministered unto him. He's willing to take a lowly
place. He's objecting himself to Elijah's
will. And that's what serving is. That's
what serving is. One who places himself at the
disposal of another. We place ourselves at the disposal
of God, right? We're made willing. Then we say,
God, do with me what you will. I just want to learn more about
you. More about you. That's all. My, we put ourselves at the disposal
of another, and now we take orders from someone else, don't we?
My, oh my. And we're desirous of promoting
the Lord's interests. We wanted nothing to do with
it in a natural state. Now we want to promote it. Take my life, Lord, let it be
consecrated, Lord, for thee. Mine. Do with me what you will,
Lord. And is this not what occurs in
every believer's lives? This is what's occurred in our
lives. Are we not willing servants of
our great God? Are we not willing servants now
of Christ? Bore my ear, Lord. I'm yours. You bought me with a price. Your
precious, precious blood. I'm born again by thy power,
the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Oh my. And what do we now desire to
do? We desire to glorify God. In everything we say and do,
we desire to glorify God, don't we? What's the chief end of man? To glorify God and to enjoy Him
forever. That's what we desire to do. That's what we desire
to do. My oh my. And then remember,
remember who our Lord was subservient to. Our Lord came down here not
to do His own will, but to do the will of the Father. He put
Himself in subservient position. We see Christ in this picture
too, in a subservient role. Not my will, but thy will be
done. My, oh my. Turn if you would,
we're going to close with this, and this will bring that forth.
I believe this portion in Isaiah 42 will bring forth what I just
said about Christ being subservient to the Father. Look at this.
Look what the Father says about the Lord Jesus Christ here in
Isaiah 42. We'll close with this portion
of Scripture. We'll read from verses 1 to verse
9. The Father says, Behold my servant,
whom I uphold. Singular, right? Servant, whom
I uphold. Mine elect. You know, Christ
is the first elect. We're chosen in Him, aren't we?
Henry Mann used to say that, we're chosen in Christ. Mine
elect, in whom my soul delighteth. He only delights God, the Father
only delights in us when we're in Christ. See, he doesn't delight
in anyone outside of Christ. Whom my soul delighteth, I have
put my spirit upon him, and he shall bring forth judgment to
the Gentiles. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. A bruised reed
shall he not break. Now we're like bruised reeds,
beloved, we're bent over, not broken, and he won't break us. He binds us up. He binds us up,
beloved. Oh my. Nor in the smoke and flax shall
he not quench. That's the smoke when you're
trying to start a fire there. And that smoke just starts, that
smoke just, little smoke coming. He won't quench it. He won't
quench it. That's us too. He won't quench
it. And he shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. And he shall not, what? Fail. Christ didn't fail, did
he? See, when people say that Christ
died for everybody, they're preaching a Christ who failed. But that's
not the Christ in the Bible. Look what it says here. And this
is confirmed by his words when he cried, it is finished. It
says here, he shall not fail, neither shall be discouraged.
He was not discouraged. He had his eyes and his face
set like a flint to Jerusalem, beloved. He knew exactly what
he had to do. My, people say, well, poor Jesus. Our Lord came
to die. He came to go to that cross and
He knew that's the only way we could be saved, beloved. Oh my. Look at this, this is wonderful.
He shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he has set judgment in the
earth, in the isles to wait for his law. Thus saith God the Lord,
this is a, that's Jehovah, Elohim Jehovah, that he that created
the heavens and stretches them out, he that spreadeth forth
the earth, and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath
unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein. I, Jehovah the Lord, have called
thee in what? Righteousness. He's called us
in Christ. We're called in Christ, beloved. Called thee in righteousness,
and we'll hold thine hand, and we'll keep thee, and give thee
for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.
Here we are to open the blind eyes. That's us. To bring out
the prisoners from the prison. We were in the prison house of
sin, beloved. We've been bought out. We're set free. We're set
free in Christ. and them that sit in darkness
of the prison house. We weren't only bound up in sin
in the prison house of sin, we were in pitch black. We had no understanding of the
things of God. We were in total darkness. And God called us into
the glorious light of his son, beloved. Oh, it's wonderful.
Look at this, and I'm not sitting in the darkness of a prison house. I, the Lord, I am the Lord, there
it is. That is my name, and my glory
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Behold,
the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare,
and they spring forth, I tell you of them. Oh my, beloved,
what a wonderful portion of scripture right tonight. May God use it
to glorify his name. May he bring souls to him through
the preaching of the gospel. And may we think upon these things
this week and rejoice at the truth that we've looked at tonight.
Heavenly Father, we thank thee. Oh, thank you, Father. Thank
you for this wonderful picture that we saw today of your invincible,
your invincible calling, your effectual calling that none can
resist. And oh Lord, we thank you that
you make us willing in the day of your power, because otherwise
we never would come to you. And oh, we thank you that you've
taken us out of the prison house of sin, out of the prison of
darkness, and brought us into the marvelous light of your dear
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Saved us by thy mercy and thy
grace, regenerated us, given us faith to believe on Christ.
We're so thankful, Lord. Oh, we're so thankful. As we
sing this closing hymn, let us sing it with joyful hearts of
what you've done for us. Oh my, it's well with our souls. It's so well with our souls when
we're in you, Lord Jesus. We praise your name and thank
you for your mercy and your goodness. In Jesus' name, amen. Please take your hymnals to page
256. It is well with my soul. When peace like a river attended
my way, when sorrows like sea Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught
me to say,