Well, that was a fitting song
we sang. I love that song. Hallelujah, what a savior. That's
one of my favorites. One of my favorites, brother.
I love that. Okay, tonight again, we're gonna
start a new study on the miracles of Elijah, or the life of Elijah,
the Tishbite, who was appointed by God to be the successor of
Elijah. And more miracles were wrought
by Elijah than any other Old Testament prophet. I didn't know
that until I looked this up for the study. More miracles were
done by him than any other prophet in the Old Testament. In fact,
the narrative of his history consists of little else than
a record of supernatural acts, miracles which are performed
by him through the Holy Spirit of God. And remember, it is the
Holy Spirit of God who's riding these miracles and confirming
him as a prophet of God. This should not surprise us as
the character of Elijah's mission in ministry was in keeping with
Israel's condition at that time. At the time when Elijah comes
on the scene, just as when Elijah came on the scene, Israel is
in gross idolatry. They have followed the heathens
all around them. They have turned away from the
one true God And their state was a state where idolatry held
sway. And for so long that the true
and living God was no longer known by the nation. Almost similar
to when Christ came, right? When Christ came, his own received
him not. The nation of Israel received
him not. They were so full of traditions and the commandments
of man. They were so far away from God.
So a similar time is occurring through Elijah's ministry and
through Elijah's ministry as well. But there's a big difference
between the two prophets. We're gonna see later on, there's
a lot of similarities, but there's also contrast between the two
prophets of God. And let us always remember, let
us always remember, no matter how bad it gets in this world,
God always has a remnant, always. He'll always have his preachers
preaching the gospel, that gospel will go around the world, and
he always has a remnant of the elect, his people. We live in
a time when there's a lot of religion in this world. a lot
of false religion, a lot of religion even in the name of Christ that
is false religion. And how do we know that? Well,
we know that because these religions tell you what you have to do
along with the finished work of Christ to be saved. Anything,
anything, I don't care how sincere the people are, anything that
adds to the finished work of Christ, something you or I have
to do, is a false religion. Period. It's what Spurgeon calls
a groundless hope. A refuge of lies. That's what
it is. And it'll lead to the damnation
of one's soul if they continue in that condition. So there was
a remnant. There was a remnant. Elijah,
we're gonna see here in a little bit, turn if you would to 1 Kings
chapter 19. We're gonna see here that Elijah,
he's thinking, I'm the only one left. I'm the only one left. But you know, the Lord always
has a remnant. And this is for our teaching too, right? God's
got a people scattered all over this world, beloved, through
the time that we're in. And his people are scattered
all through time, right? And he's gonna get every single
one of them. How shall they hear without a preacher? Well, do
you know that when I'm reading the book of John, John's preaching
to me? When we're reading the book of
Kings, the writer's preaching to us. When you read the book
of Jeremiah, Jeremiah's preaching to you. Isn't that wonderful? But there's also the gospel must
be declared too, right? And that's what we do as gospel
preachers. We declare the gospel of salvation in and through the
perfect, finished, sinatoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the sinless sacrifice sent by God to save his people from their
sins. And we will see, we will see
here in this study, the awe-inspiring displays of God's power by supernatural
manifestations of his justice and mercy alike. And God, when
Elijah was here, judgment fell upon the nation of Israel, right?
It fell upon the nation of Israel. Oh my, he manifested his judgment,
didn't he? He sure did, but he also manifested
his mercy because there was always a remnant. There was always a
remnant, beloved. And we're going to see that the
manifestations of these supernatural acts of the Holy Spirit of God
through Elijah are set before the people of
Israel for them to recognize the supremacy of God. And that
can only be recognized, of course, by God's grace and mercy. By
God's grace and mercy. Let's turn again to 1 Kings chapter
19. Here we will see the first mention in this chapter of Elisha. He's mentioned nowhere else.
This is the first place he's mentioned in the scriptures is
in 1st Kings chapter 19. Now the setting of this scripture
is God had just rained down fire upon the sacrifice Elijah had
put before the false prophets of Baal. And the people then
had went, after they saw that, they went and slayed all the
prophets of Baal. And I'll tell you what, that
lit up Jezebel. She was so mad, she was madder
than a wet hornet, let me tell you that. She was mad, she wanted
to kill Elijah. Now Elijah had just, just saw
a mighty miracle, right? Just saw a mighty miracle. This
is why, see, Elijah's just like us. He's a man susceptible to
fear just like anyone else. And we're going to see, he's
afraid. He's afraid because Jezebel said, I'm going to kill him.
Now, that will only happen if God allows, right? And God says,
fear not him who can destroy the body, but fear him who can
destroy both body and soul in hell. We're to fear God first
and foremost, right? And I'm not throwing anything
on Elijah because we'd all be in the same way. Oh my. So Elijah's worried about this,
about Jezebel wanting to kill him, and he asks the Lord to
take him home. We're going to see that. Robert
Hawker brings forth that when Elijah asked the Lord to take
him home, we see Elijah's short-sightedness. His short-sightedness. He's looking
at the here and now. He's not looking. God just did
a mighty work. But he's looking at the here
and now. He's looking at, she wants to
kill me. And he's trembling. Oh, my. So this shows us the
short-sightedness of Elijah in the circumstances. He believes
that he's the only one left alive. He's like, Lord, there's no one
else. There's no one else but me. Oh my. No one else who believes
in the true and living God. Now God, God will always have
a people, won't he? Aren't you thankful? He'll always
have a people. So we see again the short-sightedness
of Elijah. My oh my. You know, here have
a people from the beginning of time till the end of time. And
every time in between. And we don't know, we don't have
a clue when the Lord's coming back. We have no idea. But we
know every day we're getting closer. Every day we're getting
closer. Right? We know that for sure. We know that for sure. And he
may come at us, come for us at our death before he, before he
returns to this earth. But we know he's coming and we
believe he's coming. Oh my. So let us learn from Elijah's
short-sightedness from our own as well. knowing, again, that
our great God is sovereign over all. Let us not tremble at things
we see in the news or things we hear on YouTube and all this
other stuff. There's so much fear mongering
out there. And just all fear-based. You know, God says in the scripture,
He's not giving us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love
and of a sound mind. See, but we're all susceptible
to this, aren't we? Because we're flesh. So let us
learn from Elijah's short-sightedness, because we can be the same way.
Let us learn that God's sovereign over all, even in this situation
where Jezebel says, I'm gonna kill them. Well, not unless God
allows it, right? And we know, one thing we know
for sure is God protects his people, doesn't he? And we know
the end of Elijah, man, he wasn't killed by Jezebel, he was carried
up. carry up in chariots of fire.
And what happened to Jezebel? The dogs licked the blood on
the ground where she fell. Oh my. Oh my. My oh my. We know her end. Let's
start again now in reading in 1 Kings chapter 19 where again
see the first mention of the scripture about Elijah is in
verse 16 but let us go back to verse 9 and go to verse 18 to
see the context of the verses that we'll be looking at. 1 Kings chapter 19 verse 9, And
he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there. And, behold,
the word of the Lord came unto him, and he said unto him, What
doest thou hear, Elijah? And he said, I have been very
jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have
forsaken thy covenant, throwing down thy altars, and slaying
thy prophets with the sword. And I, I only, and I only am
left, and they seek my wrath to take it away, Lord. Oh my,
oh my. I'm not in any way passing judgment
on him because we'd all be the same way. I know that, I know
we would. My, oh, my. And he said, go forth and stand
upon the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by
in a great and strong wind, rent the mountains and break in pieces
the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind.
And after the wind, an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake, a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire, a still small voice. Now that shows us God's
sovereignty. And that shows us God's sovereignty.
And he said, and it was so when Elijah heard it, a still small
voice, that he wrapped his face, he wrapped his face up, wrapped
his face up, he wrapped his face in his mantle. I found out that
the mantle there is a big coat. It's a big coat. And so he wrapped
his face up like this. Oh my. Wrapped his face up and
went out and stood in the entering in of the cave. And behold, there
came a voice unto him and said, what doest thou hear, Elijah? Why are you sitting in this cave? Why are you sitting here fearing
what's going on? That Jezebel wants to kill you,
right? And he said, again, I've been
very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, because the children
of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, throwing down thine altars, and
slaying thy prophets with the sword. And I only, even I only
am left, and they seek my life to take it away. Man, he's wallowing,
isn't he? Oh my. And the Lord said unto
him, look at this. Go return on the way to the wilderness
of Damascus, and when thou comest, anoint Haziel to be king over
Syria. And Jeru, the son of Nimsi, shalt
thou anoint to be king over Israel. And Elijah, the son of Shaphat,
of Abel-mehola, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And
it came to pass that him that escapeth the sword of Hezrael
shall Jehu slay, and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu
shall Elijah slay." Now look at this. Here's Elijah. He's saying, I'm the only one
left, Lord. And now they're trying to kill me. They're trying to
kill me. Look what the Lord tells him
here. This is wonderful. Again, the Lord always has a
remnant, doesn't he? 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." And then one commentator said,
let us not forget, all in Judah. He's just talking about Israel
here. All in Judah as well. And who's going to come out of
the tribe of Judah? Yeah, the lion of the tribe of
Judah. Oh, my. Isn't that wonderful, beloved?
Oh, it's wonderful. 7,000. Elijah's like, I'm the
only one. The Lord says, I got 7,000 of
you. 7,001. Oh, my. Oh, my. Isn't that wonderful, beloved?
That's wonderful. So we see Elijah in verse 10
and 14 thought he was the only faithful servant left of the
most high God in Israel. But again, let us always remember
that even in our time, right here, there's a remnant according
to the election of grace. God always has a remnant according
to the election of grace, and they will hear the gospel, and
they will be born again by the Holy Spirit of God, and they
will be given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
they shall be saved. Oh my. 7,000 in verse 18, that had not bowed
their knee unto Baal, Again, who knows how many he had in
Judah? And let us remember that the
remnant, the remnant is of the Lord's preserving. We're part
of the remnant. God preserved us. He's the one
who chose us. We're kept in our generation. We're a witness to our generation,
beloved, of the great things that Christ has done for us.
out of a tribe, tongue, kindred, and nation. And Peter wrote that
we're called out of our chosen generation. Every generation that's been
upon this world, there's always been a people of God. And all
the way up until the last generation, there will always be a people
of God. That's wonderful. So gospel preaching
is never in vain. We know that for a fact because
God has a people. And the gospel is going out from
here to all over the world. And there's some probably who
are hearing the gospel for the first time, never heard it before.
And we pray, oh Lord, please save them. That's our prayer,
isn't it? Oh Lord, let thy gospel go forth in power. Save your
sheep. Oh, we pray. My oh my, and we'll
give him all the glory. We'll give him all the honor
and praise for it. He's the only one worthy. And the Lord Jesus
Christ died on Calvary's cross to save a people that the Father
gave him. And again, they're scattered
all through time, beloved. All through the ages of history. And they are a people of his
choosing. They are his seed. They are his body. They are his
bride. In Christ Jesus has purchased
us with his precious, precious blood. They're precious. We're precious people to God. Preserved by his almighty power.
So let this truth warm our heart. God's always had a remnant. He's
always had a people who are precious to him. The Lord Jesus Christ
paid for their sins, purchased them with his precious, precious
blood, and they shall be saved. Like Brother Henry used to say,
we're on the trail of God's sheep, beloved. Right? That's what we
are. We're on the trail of God's sheep.
Oh, my. Precious people to God. Oh my. And again, you always have a
remnant all the way to the end. They're called a remnant according
to the election of grace. And notice that grace is shown
here along with judgment in verse 16, beloved. And Jew, who the
son of Nimel shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel, and Elijah
the son of Shaphat of Abel, Abel mihola, shalt thou anoint to
be prophet in thy room. Oh my, my, the Lord graciously
preserves Hazel to still be king over Syria. He shall punish Israel
though, won't he, for their idolatry, and he will place Jeru as king
over Israel. And he shall punish the house
of Ahab for all their rebellion. For all their rebellion and all
their wickedness. And leading the people of God
astray. And also Elijah desired to have
his service for the Lord be closed. Look at verse 4 of 1 Kings 19. But he went a day's journey unto
the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and
he requested for himself that he might die. And he said, it
is enough now, Lord. Take away my life, for I am not
better than my father's. Well, God mercifully provided
a successor. in Elijah. Look at verse 16. And Jeru, the son of Nimshi,
shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel? And Elijah, the
son of Shephet, of Abel-meholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet
in thy room? He answered his prayer. Now Elijah's gonna live
for a little bit longer, but he answered his prayer, didn't
he? He actually lived to see his successor. My, oh, my. And take note of verse 13, when
Elijah wrapped his face in his mantle. And it was so, when Elijah
heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out
and stood in the entering in of the cave. And behold, there
came a voice unto him and said, what doest thou hear, Elijah?
Why are you sitting in this cave? Why are you sitting here mourning
in this cave because Jezebel wants to kill you? Oh, you know what's being brought
forth here? He's being subdued. He's being ostrich and beloved.
He's now full of reverence for our great God. Oh my. Turn if you would to John chapter
8. John chapter 8. Oh my. But you know that, oh my, actually don't turn to
John chapter 8 yet. We're not going to go there yet. We'll be going there in a little
bit. But you know it's a great thing when a sinner, when a sinner
is bought to know their sin, and to be in awe of God, and
to be in awe of God, and to say I can't defend my course, I'm
guilty. And this occurs in our walk many times, doesn't it?
And we know that if a man pleads guilty in a court of law, then
he's punished. But at the judgment seat, now
think of this. So in our court system, if a
man pleads guilty, he's convicted, right? But you know, at the judgment
seat of the gospel, whoever pleads guilty is forgiven. Let us marvel at the wondrous
fact that we who are God's people proclaim our guilt before the
Lord Jesus Christ. And what do we receive? Mercy. Mercy from our great and glorious
God in Christ. Now the ministry and mission
of Elijah was the same in character as that which God did in Egypt
by the hand of Moses. As at that time, Jehovah was
almost unknown entirely by the Egyptians. The Egyptians didn't
have a clue who he was. But he was almost entirely unknown
by Israel. They started following the Egyptian
gods. But let us remember again. Now
we're going to go back to this. God always has a remnant. According
to the election of grace, he always has a remnant. When they
were in Egypt, he had a remnant. Oh my. And we know not all Israel
was Israel, right? That's speaking of the spiritual
aspect of the Israel of God. My oh my. The favored descendants
of Abraham had sunk low, as low as the heathen. following after
their gods. And again, this is the same thing
that's occurring that occurred in Egypt, and it's the same thing
that occurred during the time of Elijah and Elisha. Do you
know that the Israelites wouldn't have followed Moses if God hadn't
done all those miracles? They wouldn't have followed him.
They would never have submitted to him as their leader. But they
were convinced by divine displays of the majesty on high, beloved.
Moses didn't rot those miracles. They were wrought by God. Now
he was used by God, but God was the one who wrought those miracles,
just as we're going to see with Elisha. He was used by God, but
the miracles were performed by God. Do you know it's a miracle
every time the Lord saves one of his people? You know the same
power is exercised in raising us from our dead state as it
was exercised in raising Christ from the grave? Same power. That's amazing, isn't it? That's
absolutely amazing, beloved. Oh my. And Moses was a prophet sent
from God, but how reluctantly they owned his authority. At
one time, with Korah, they said, after the Lord opened the ground,
not Moses, and swallowed up Korah and his rebel band, they said,
you killed God's men. And the Lord said, move away.
And who interceded? Moses and Aaron. My, oh my. Pictures of Christ, beloved.
Pictures of Christ. And think of this. Think of the
miracles that were wrought in the conquest of Canaan. God wrought
four miracles in the favor of his people. One in the water,
right? In the crossing of the Jordan,
it split right open. Right? One in the earth and throwing
down the walls of Jericho. One in the air and destroying
their enemies by hail. and one in the heavens by slowing
the course of the sun and the moon. My, therefore the nations of
Canaan were furnished with clear proof of Jehovah's supremacy
that the God of Israel possessed universal dominion. And this
is the one who said to Elijah, go, there's my prophet, Elijah. The one who has universal dominion
over all. He's no local deity, because
back then they had local deities back then. No, he's the most
high God. He's the one true living God. My, oh my. Reigning over all
nature, and that's true today just as it was back then, beloved.
He's still ruling and reigning, doesn't matter what men say out
there. Scoffers, we were one of them at one time. It don't
matter, because he rules and reigns right now. And we, by
faith, we believe it. And we know it's true, don't
we? It's a fact. And just because we believe it,
don't make it a fact. It's already a fact, brother.
Amen. That's right. It's a fact. He reigns and rules
right now, beloved. My, my oh my. Turn now, if you would, to John
chapter eight. Dave, you already got it sitting there, right?
Yeah. Now the missions of Elijah and Elijah were, they formed
two parts of one whole. The one supplementing the other.
Though there was again striking contrast between them. We have
before us an illustration of the spiritual significance of
the number two. The number denotes, number one
denotes there's no other, there's only one. One true living God,
right? Only one. In three persons, but
only one true living God. No other. No other. Two affirms that there is another
and therefore a difference. Now, Elijah and Elijah were different
in personalities, just as every preacher of God is. But they
had the same message. Although, Elijah was judgment,
and judgment fell on the nation of Israel. We're going to see
with Elijah its manifestations of God's mercy and grace to his
people. Oh my. So two witnesses there,
right? And our Lord said in John 8,
17, he says, it is also written in your law that the testimony
of two men is true. Now let's read that whole portion.
Let's read from verses 18 to 16. So the testimony of two men
is true. So Elijah, Elijah and Elijah,
they had the same message. God is sovereignty. There's only
one true living God. Oh my, the God of Israel. Let's look here, John 8, 13.
The Pharisees, therefore, said unto him, Thou barest record
of thyself, thy record is not true. So here they are, they're
thinking, they have no idea that they're talking to the God-man.
They have no idea that they're talking to God incarnate in the
flesh. And they say to him, you bear witness of yourself. They say, oh, we know your mom
and dad. No, they don't know his father. His father is in
heaven. In the man Christ Jesus, his
mother is Mary, but God has no mother. Right? Oh my. My God, the Son does not. There's a false religion out
there that says that Mary is the Queen of Heaven. That's so
full of baloney, it's not funny. Don't believe that. It's a lie
from the pit of hell. Jesus answered and said unto
them, Though I bear record of myself, yet my record is true.
for I know whence I came. I know where I came from, right? And where do I go? Now look at
that. See, this shows us his deity. These little words here,
I was thinking about this, these little words here show us his
deity, right? He says, I know where I came
from, and I know where I'm going. He knows why he's here, right? I remember a long time ago someone
told me that Christ had to learn why he was here. Are you kidding
me? He's God. He's God. He didn't have to learn nothing.
He grew in wisdom and stature, but he didn't have to learn nothing.
He's God, beloved. He's God. He says at 12 years
old, I must be about my father's business. At 12 years old. But look what he says here again.
It shows us. It shows us that he knew why
he was here. For I know whence I come and
whither I go, but ye cannot tell whence I come and whither I go.
He's saying, you don't know I was sent by the Father. And you don't
even know where I'm going afterwards. After I've completed the mission
that I'm sent here to do, they have no clue. See, their loss
is white goose in a snowstorm, aren't they? They have no idea. Oh, my. You judge after the flesh. I judge no man. See, they were
judging who he was in the flesh. Do you remember the tabernacle?
It looked like all the other tents that were out there. But
what was inside? Pure gold. This tent? He looks like all
other men, doesn't he? But what's inside? In him all
the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, beloved. And and yeah,
you're gonna go. That was showing him the amount
of transfiguration when he revealed just a little bit. Hey, all my
my beloved. Now, now let us rejoice that
we know him. We know where he came from. We
know where he went and we know where he is now and we know why
he came to save his people from their sins. He says, and yet,
if I judge, my judgment's true. Now, he will be the judge at
the great white judgment throne. And his judgment will be true.
Will be true. My, they don't know who they're
talking to. For I am not alone, but I and my father that sent
me. There it is again, Dave. I saw
that today, and I was like, there it is again. That sent me. There
it is again. Now he's going to tell them here
what I quoted earlier. It is also written in your law
that the testimony of two men is true. Right? Elijah and Elijah, yeah. I am
the one that bear witness of myself, and the Father again
that sent me, beareth witness of me. So he bears witness of
himself, he's God incarnate in the flesh. And not only does
he bear that witness, but the Father bears witness. Remember
what the Father said? This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. Oh, my beloved. And then there's also, there's
a threefold witness in 1 John 5, 7, for there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost,
and these three are one. My, oh, my. So, my, but here
he's telling us about the two-fold witness, right? That the law
talks about, right? That the law talks about. And
then, then said they unto him, where is thy father? Jesus answered,
ye know neither me nor my father. See, they're thinking Joseph.
And he says, you don't know me and you don't know my father. my oh my my oh my look at look at the
uh i just remembered this look at verse 58 or no let's
go a little further up let's go a little further up Verse
54, Jesus answered, if I honor myself, my honor is nothing.
It is my Father that honoreth me. Again, he's speaking of the
Heavenly Father, of whom you say that he is your God. And
well, he's just finished telling them over here in verse 19, you
don't even know. You don't know me, and you don't
know the Father. Yet, ye have not known him, but
I know him. Oh my! And if I should say, I
know him not, I shall be a liar. like unto you. Oh my, but I know
him and keep his saying. Now look at this. Oh, this is
because they vaulted Abraham so high. He says, your father,
Abraham, rejoice to see my day. And he, and he saw it and was
glad he trusted Christ beloved. Oh my. Then said the Jews unto
him, thou art not yet 50 years old and has thou seen Abraham? Now here it comes. Jesus said
unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was,
I am. There it is. He's just told them
who he is. What's their reaction? You think
they'd bow down before him, right? No, they start picking up rocks.
Then took they up stones to cast at him. But look at this. But
Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple, going through
what? The midst of them. And so passed by. It was not
his time to die, beloved. This is our God. This is our
Savior, beloved. My, oh my. Let's go back to verse
20 then of John chapter 8. It says, These words speak Jesus
in the treasury as he taught in the temple. And no man laid
hands on him, for his hour was not yet come. I just read a little
bit about this treasury. It's a very public place. So
Christ never hid. Wherever he preached, he preached
in public. He preached before people. He never hid. And note in John 8, 16, we see
the Father sent Christ into the world, and we know the reason
for that, to save his people from their sins. Also note in
verse 18, the Father bears witness of the Son with the Son as well. And our Lord Jesus Christ was
not appealing to the law to vindicate himself, but rather to condemn
those who rejected his claims and denied who he was. See, our
Lord doesn't have to vindicate himself. He's God. He spoke these
words for their condemnation. Oh my. He was bringing forth
the law they claim to believe. accepts the testimony of two
men as being true. And he said, I bear witness of
myself, and the Father bears witness of me. And then at the
end of that chapter, he says, before Abraham was, I am. My,
oh my, beloved. What a great king we have. What
a great savior we have. He bears witness of himself,
and the Heavenly Father also bears witness of him. So this
is very important. Now turn, if you would, over
to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. Again, just setting
up the two witnesses in the sense that Elijah and Elijah, they
have the same message, different personalities, but they have
the same message. Both sent by God. My, oh my. Look at this in John chapter
5. Let's read verses 30 to 40. I can of mine own self do nothing,
as I hear I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not mine
own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me. Again,
there it is again. If I bear witness of myself,
my witness is not true. There is another that bear witness
of me, and I know that the witness which he witnesses of me is true. He said unto John, and he bear
witness unto the truth. But I receive not the testimony
from man, But these things I say, that ye might be saved. He was
a burning and a shining light, and you were willing for a season
to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness
than that of John. For the works which the Father
hath gave me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness
of me. They bore witness of who he was.
He's God, that the Father has sent me. There it is again. And
the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of
me. Ye have neither heard his voice
at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding
in you. For whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Look at that. They did not believe. Yeah, look
at this. Search the scriptures, for in
them you think you have eternal life. And there they which testify
of me. And you will not come to me that
you might have life. See, that's natural man right
there. That was our state before the
Lord saved us. I'll not have this man rule over
me. And now what do we... Oh, Lord, take my life, Lord. and let it be consecrated, Lord,
for thee. O Lord, let me pour my life out
for you. My, O my. All through the scriptures
we find two persons linked together to present a contrast. Cain and
Abel, or contrast. Abraham and Lot. Ishmael and
Isaac. Jacob and Esau. And then, or,
on the other side, two bearing witness to the truth, such as
Enoch and Noah, Moses and Aaron, Caleb and Joshua, Naomi and Ruth,
Ezra and Nehemiah, and again, the two we're gonna look at are
Elijah and Elijah. Oh my. Do you know our Lord also
sent his disciples by twos? Isn't that remarkable? So this
linking together of two men in their testimony for God contains
valuable instruction for us. It hints boldly at also the two-foldness
of truth. There's a perfect harmony and
a perfect unity between the two great divisions of the Holy Scripture.
Perfect harmony. Some folks say, well, the Old
Testament was for the Jews and the New Testament is for the
believer. The whole Bible's for the believer.
The Old Testament testifies of Christ. It says, someone's coming.
Someone's coming. And the New Testament says, he's
here. He's here. Remember, when we
went through that study in Colossians, it said the Old Testament was
shadows and types, and Christ is a substance. Like when we
walk along, and Brother Dave, if you were waiting for me up
front there, and I walked up, you'd see my shadow come around
first. That's not the substance. That's just the shadow of who
I am. And then comes the substance. All those Old Testament pictures
and types were just shadows, beloved. There's the substance,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. So the Old and New Testament
are in total harmony together. And that's very apparent to a
thoughtful reader of them. Now looking at Elijah and Elijah,
it may appear that there's more resemblance than contrast. Both
were prophets. Both dwelt in Samaria. They were
comforted with much the same situation because Israel had
fallen into gross idolatry. So they had the same similar
situation going on. The first miracle performed by
Elijah was identical with the last one brought by his master.
The smiting of the waters of Jordan with the mantle. so that they parted asunder.
At the beginning of his ministry, Elijah had said unto Ahab, the
king of Israel, as the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom
I stand. And when Elijah came into the
presence of Ahab's son, he also declared, as the Lord of hosts
liveth before whom I stand. And Elijah was entertained by
the widow of Zarephath and rewarded her by
restoring her son to life. So Elijah was entertained by
the woman at Sheom and repaid her by restoring life to her
son. Again, all by the power of God. All by the power of God. And as striking as the arguments
in their lives, or the agreements in their lives, there's contrast
as well. Elijah appeared suddenly and
dramatically before the people without a word being told of
where he sprang from or how he had previously lived. He just
appeared on the scene. But of Elijah, we're going to
see the name of his father was recorded. We saw that in the
reading with an account of his occupation at the time. We're
going to see next week that he's working in the fields. He's working
in the fields. He has no clue, no clue at all
that God's going to call him to be a prophet. No clue at all.
Just like gospel preachers, we have no clue at all. And then
God calls us to the service. Oh my. My oh my. The first miracle of
Elijah was For the space of three and a half years there should
be neither dew nor rain according to his word. Remember? There
was no rain. But the first public act of Elijah
was to hill the springs of water and to produce an abundance of
water. We're going to look at that. And one of the most noticeable
features of Elijah's life was his loneliness, dwelling apart
from the apostate masses of the people of Israel. But in contrast,
Elijah seems to have spent most of his life in the company of
the prophets, teaching in their schools. In a different manner in which
their earthly service terminated is even more marked. One was taken to heaven in a
chariot of fire. And the other fell sick in old
age and died a natural death. So the contrast, we see contrast
between the two of them as well. In the principal contrast between
the two prophets appears in the character of the miracles wrought
by them and connected with them. The majority of those provided
by Elijah were associated with death and destruction and judgment.
My oh my, whereas by far the greater of those attributed to
Elijah were works of healing and restoration. If the former was the prophet
of judgment, the latter was the prophet of grace. So if Elijah was a prophet of
judgment, then Elijah is a prophet of grace. If the course of one was finally
closed by a whirlwind, removing him from the scene, a peaceful
dove would be a more appropriate emblem for Elijah. Elijah's ministry
consisted largely of divine interventions. We're going to see miracles wrought. Supernatural miracles. Interventions in a way of mercy.
Interventions manifesting God's sovereignty. His sovereign goodness
rather than his judicial dealings. No wonder F.W. Cromacher said
Elijah represents Christ. full of grace and mercy, full
of great pictures, pictures Christ. My oh my. Again, he commenced his miracle,
his ministry by the miracle of blessing and healing the death-dealing
springs of water. We're going to look at that. And what immediately followed
was the establishment of Elijah's authority, the symbol of his
extraordinary office, all done by God, according to his sovereign,
majestic, mighty acts. And the work of Elijah was chiefly
a protest against the evil of the nation of Israel. Again,
they'd fallen into gross idolatry. Well, the work of Elijah was
an almost continuous testimony to the readiness of God to relieve
the distressed and respond to the call of need. Wherever that call came from,
a contrite and believing heart. Beloved, is that not how our
Lord is with us? Let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace that we may obtain grace to help in time
of need. Mercy. We don't receive judgment. We receive mercy, beloved, every
time. Christ wants us to bring everything
to him, no matter how small it is. We think, well, surely God
can't be interested in nothing that's so small. Take it to the
Lord and pray. Give it to him. If it's a burden
to you, give it to him. Give it to him. Oh my. Oh my. God responds to the cry of his
people, doesn't he? Oh my. The call of his sheep. He's the great shepherd of our
souls. And his name is the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, he came,
he came to this earth the first time as a lamb. Came to this
earth as a lamb, full of grace and mercy to save his people
from their sins. And in Elijah, we have a picture
of our Lord's incarnation. And we who are the born again,
blood washed people of God rejoice that our Lord Jesus came to save
us. by redeeming us with his precious,
precious blood. And we eagerly await his second
coming, don't we? His return. But you know what
he's going to do when he comes back? He's going to judge the
nations in righteousness. We who are the people of God
say, come quickly, Lord. Oh, take us out of this world. Oh my, but rejoice, beloved God. Our Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us, that
the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that we might receive the spirit of promise through
faith. And that faith, that faith is
in Christ. Now we're clothed in that perfect,
spotless righteousness of Christ. We're safe from judgment. We
are safe from judgment, beloved. Absolutely safe, just as Noah
and all who were with him in that ark, they were absolutely
safe from that flood all around them. They were perfectly safe in there.
Oh my, our sins were judged at Calvary's cross, beloved. That wrath do us. I was reading
Spurgeon this week, and he said this. He said, the vials of God's
wrath were poured out upon his head. That wrath is due you and I.
Poured out on our Savior, beloved. And he endured it all. And then think of these words,
it is finished. I have completed the salvation
of my people. having obtained eternal redemption
for us. It's done. It's done. That's why the scripture says,
just look and live. Look and live. I was talking
to someone a couple weeks ago and he said, it's that simple?
You mean there's nothing I got to do? I said, no, just look
and live. That simple? I said, yeah, by
faith, just look and live. I know if that person looks by
faith, it's God given faith, isn't it? My, my, it's wonderful. So we're clothed in the spotless
righteousness of Christ. We're safe from the judgment
to come. All our sins have been judged, bought, and paid for,
beloved. by the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary's Cross when he redeemed
his people from their sins. And Elijah was engaged mostly
with the Lord's prophets and his people. Therefore, his acts
were mainly those of blessings and manifestations of divine
mercy. And this is comforting for us, an assuring lesson for us and
we who are Christians today. Even in this season of apostasy.
There's false churches all around, isn't there? But there's some
who are preaching the gospel because God will always have
a remnant. Always. Always. He's always going to
have a people. And they're going to, they want
to hear the gospel. So here call men to certain places. Place them there by his divine
sovereign power. Give them a message to preach, and God will do the saving. Just look and live. So what comfort
we can have, even though we look around and see the world in wickedness?
It was in wickedness during Elijah's time, too. The world's the same. It's never changed. It's never
changed. And when the Lord lays his rod
heavenly upon the nations, let us remember that he will never
forsake his people. No matter what comes, he'll never
forsake his people. But he will appear unto us, we
who are his redeemed, we who are precious in his sight, he
will appear to us as the God of all grace. And Elijah learned, didn't he,
that God is a very present help in trouble. We're going to see
one miracle that he does, where his servant comes in and there's
all these armies, this army had encircled where Elijah was. And he said, they're all against
us, Elijah. And Elijah prayed to the Lord, asked him to open
his eyes. Oh my, there was a great host of the Lord all around them.
I can't round about them. And he does the same for us,
beloved. Hallelujah. What a Savior is Jesus Christ,
our Lord. Heavenly Father, we thank Thee
for allowing us to have this time to get together, this time
to be together and look into Your Word and sing praises unto
Thee for Your goodness and mercy and grace to us. O Lord, thank
You for saving our souls. We pray that as this message
goes forth, as it goes out into the Internet, that You'd use
it for Your glory, Your honor, and Your praise. O Lord, we pray.
that you would draw your lost sheep to yourself. Oh, save their
souls, we pray. May someone hear this message
that's never heard the gospel before, and may you give them,
oh, give them faith to believe. May they be born again by the
Holy Spirit and give them faith to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we will rejoice, O Lord. We will rejoice in Jesus'
name. Amen.