Alright, 1 Kings chapter 19. I'm going to begin reading in
verse 9. And he came thither unto a cave
and lodged there. And behold, the word of the Lord
came to him and said unto him, what doest thou hear, Elijah?
And he said, I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. For
the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, though down thine
altars and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I, even I
only am left and they seek my life to take it away. 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 and earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake of fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire, a still small
voice. And it was so when Elijah heard
it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and
stood in the entering end of the cave. And behold, there came
a voice unto him and said, what doest thou hear, Elijah? And
he said, I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, because
the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine
altars and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I, even I
only am left and they seek my life to take it away. And the
Lord said unto him, go return on thy way to the wilderness
of Damascus. And when thou comest to anoint Hazael to be king over
Syria and Jehu, the son of Nimshish, shalt thou anoint to be king
over Israel and Elisha, the son of Shaphath of Abel Maloah, shalt
thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to
pass that him that escaped with the sword of Hazael shall Jehu
slay. And him that escapeth from the
sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. 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. So he departed thence and found
Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen
before him, and he with the 12. 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?
If you're going to do this, Elisha, you're going to do it voluntarily.
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 them unto the people and they did eat. Then he arose and
went after Elijah and ministered. Let's stand together now as Mike
leads us in singing our call to worship. O Lord, our Lord, how wondrous
great is Thine exalted name! The glories of Thy heavenly state
let men and babes proclaim! When I behold thy works on high,
The moon that rules the night, And stars that well adorn the
sky, worlds of life. Lord, what is man for all his
race who dwells so far below? that you should visit him with
grace and love his nature so, that thine eternal Son should
bear to take a boy Thank you. Let's turn now in our great hymns
of faith to page 229. Tell me the old, old story Of
unseeing things above Of Jesus and His glory Of Jesus and His
love Tell me the story simply As to a little child For I am
weak and weary, and helpless and defiled. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the story slowly. that I may take it in, that wonderful
redemption, God's remedy for sin. Tell me the story of an
For I forget so soon The early dew of morning Has passed away
at noon. of Jesus and His love. Tell me the story softly with
earnest tones and grave. Remember I'm the sinner Whom
Jesus came to save Tell me the story always If you will really
be In any time of trouble A comforter to me Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the same old story When
you have cause to fear That this world's empty glory Is costing
me too dear Yes, and with that world's glory Is dawning on my
soul Tell me the old, old story. Christ Jesus makes the whole. Tell me this old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Good singing. Let's continue
there on page 126. 126. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in Thee. Let the water and the blood from
Thy wounded sides which flow be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know? These four sins could not atone. Thou must save, and thou alone. In my hand no price I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. While I draw this relieving breath,
When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold thee on thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in Thee. Open our Bibles to 2 Kings chapter
2. 2 Kings 2, our pastor's ask we
read the first 14 verses. And it came to pass, when the
Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by whirlwind, that Elijah
went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha,
Terry here, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel,
And Elisha said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul
liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.
And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth
to Elisha and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will
take away thy master from thy head today? And he said, Yea,
I know it. Hold ye your peace. And Elijah
said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord
has sent me to Jericho. And he said, as the Lord liveth
and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came
to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets
that were at Jericho came unto Elisha and said unto him, knowest
thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head
today? And he answered, yea, I know
it. Hold ye your peace. And Elijah
said unto him, Terry, I pray thee here, for the Lord has sent
me to Jordan. And he said, as the Lord liveth
and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they, too,
went on. And 50 men of the sons of the
prophets went and stood to view afar off, and they, too, stood
by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle and
wrapped it together and smote the waters, and they were divided
hither and thither, so that they too went over on dry ground.
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 Elisha 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
still 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 Elisha saw it. And he 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. And he took up also the mantle
of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the
bank of Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah
that fell from him and smote the waters and said, Where is
the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten
the waters, they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went
over." We end our reading there. Let's pray. Our God and Father in heaven,
Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for this opportunity
to once again gather your people Lord, we pray that you brought
us here this morning to again hear a word from thee. Lord,
we pray you'd bless us with your presence here this morning. Lord,
we pray for our pastor as he stands in this place. Lord, who's
sufficient for these things? Lord, cause us, Lord, not to
hear the words of a man. Lord, would you be pleased to
speak through your prophet here this morning? Lord, speak through our pastor.
Let us hear that still, small voice. Lord, let us hear a word
from Thee. And Lord, take these things of
this world, or those things that so easily take up our minds,
Lord, set them aside just for a little while. Lord, let us
hear Christ. Let us hear of our Savior. Lord, we thank You for Your many
blessings. You've provided so richly for us. Lord, forgive
us when we complain. Forgive us when we find fault.
Lord, cause us to be thankful in all things. Lord, above all things, we thank
you for our Savior. We desire to know more of him. Lord, we thank you for these
many young ones you've blessed us with. We pray that you'd watch
over and protect and keep them in this world. Lord, chiefly,
that you would reveal your Son to them in mercy and grace. Now again, we pray that you'd
be with us this day. We thank you for the good report
that we've heard on our brother Don. Pray that you would continue
to bless him, Lord, get him the ability and opportunity to continue
to preach your word. Lord, glorify your name in this
place this morning. Get glory to thy name. We pray thee for Christ's sake. Amen. Who is a God like unto thee,
that pardoneth iniquity? Jehovah God, the great I Am,
forgives our sins through Christ the Lamb. Is a God like unto thee, That
hardeneth iniquity? His anger he no, retains no more,
His grace and mercy shall endure. The God of truth must punish
sin, But in His love He formed a plan. to satisfy the lost demands
for sinners numerous as the stands. Behold His love and compassion
in the death of Christ His Son. The precious sin atoning blood
reveals the love and truth of God. Who is a God like unto thee,
That pardoneth iniquity? Jehovah God, the great I Am,
forgives our sins through Christ the Lamb. He passes by the transgressions
of all his loved and chosen ones. In mercy God delights we see. He cast our sins into the sea. None can with our great God compare. He gave his son sinners to spare. His anger he Christ died and
God requires no more. Who is a God like unto me? iniquity. Jehovah God, the great I Am,
forgives our sins through Christ the Lamb. If you would, now open your Bibles
again to 2 Kings 2, passage Brother Eric just read for us. I titled the message this morning,
Where is the Lord God of Elijah? We read to open the service in
1 Kings 19, that Elijah had come and cast his mantle upon Elisha
to show that the Lord had called Elisha to be the prophet. after
Elijah. And Elisha had spent a few years
with Elijah, learning from him and ministering to him. And this
is the very way that the Lord trains his preachers, is under
the ministry of another older, wiser, experienced man. And now
the time had come that the Lord would call Elijah home and somehow
all the prophets, Elisha and the prophets in all the different
cities, they knew this was the time that the Lord would call
Elijah home. We'll begin reading in verse
9 of 2 Kings chapter 2. 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 Elisha 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 should be so unto thee. But
if not, it shall not be so. Now, Elisha here asked for a
double portion. I'm confident he's not asking
to be two times the prophet that Elijah was. God's servants are
not in competition with one another. I believe he's asking that the
Lord give him the same spirit of preaching that he'd given
to Elijah. The word portion he uses here
means mouth. I believe Elisha is asking for
two things. He's asking for the spirit of
preaching. the heart of preaching that Elijah had and also the
mouth to preach it. I believe that's what he's asking
for. So verse 11, it came to pass as they still went on and
talked that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses
of fire and part of them both asunder. And Elijah went up by
a whirlwind into heaven and Elisha saw it. And he 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 Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah
that fell from him and smote the waters. And he said, where
is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten
the waters, they parted hither and thither and Elisha went over. Now again, I'm sure this chariot
of horses or chariot of fire and the horses of fire is not
a chariot of fire and horses made out of fire. They're angels.
They're created beings, glorious created beings that the Lord
sent to gather Elijah. Just like he says he's going
to send his angels to the four winds of the four corners of
the earth to gather his elect. These angels came, they gathered
Elijah and they took him straight into heaven. He didn't die first
like any, he didn't die first. They took him straight into heaven.
Now Elijah was changed in the twinkling of an eye, he was changed
and taken into the very presence of God, just like those who remain
on earth when the Lord returns. The Apostle Paul told us how
in the twinkling of an eye, they'll be changed into incorruptible
flesh. They won't have to die. They'll
be changed. Now, all of this must have been a spectacular
sight to behold. I mean, don't you imagine? But
you know, that is not the thing that we ought to be the most
interested in trying to find out about and wanting to see
the spectacular sight of the angels came and took Elijah into
heaven. Elisha told us what we ought to be the most interested
in in this story. This is the question we all ought
to be asking. And this is the question I hope
to answer from God's word this morning. Where is the Lord God
of Elijah? Where is he? That's a far more
important question then was it angels or was it chariot of fire?
What? Much more important question.
It's more, much more important to know where is the Lord God
of Elijah. What do you reckon happened to
Elijah? You know, if you read on this chapter, some of the
other prophets said, you know, we better go search of the mountains. Maybe
this chariot of fire picked him, dropped him in the mountains,
you know. Of course not. But the question
is not what happened to Elijah. The question that we must have
answered for our souls. is where is the Lord God of Elijah?
Now, Elisha is not asking this question for information. He's
a prophet of God. He's a believer. He knows God's
location. This is a prayer. Elisha, I mean, even if you don't preach, I believe
you get some of the worry, the anxiety, the fear of heart that's
on Elisha at this time. This is a prayer. He's begging
God. He needs the same God to bless
him that blessed Elijah. Now, Elijah's gone. He ain't
coming back. He's gone. And people are not
going to hear from God through Elijah anymore. Now, if people
are going to hear from God, they're going to hear from Elisha. No
wonder Elisha's praying. I need a double portion. And
I want to apply that to us here today. on the lip of 2020. I want to apply this to us. This
is applicable to our day. I love the old writers. I love
the old preachers. It is very rare that I ever prepare
a message without reading the old writers or the old preachers.
It's very rare I feel like this is the message. I don't care
what any of them guys say. This is my message. I love the
old writers and the old preachers. We're a debtor to them. And please
do not misunderstand me. I'm not discounting them. Brother
Paul Mahan and I were together recently talking about all the
men that we heard preach over the years. And most of the ones
we mentioned are with the Lord now. I'm thankful for them. I love them. But those men are
gone. They're with the Lord. And God
does not primarily speak to his people through dead preachers
and dead prophets. I worry about folks that only
love the dead preachers and don't care nothing about the living
ones. God speaks to his people through living preachers. God
speaks to our generation through preachers of our generation.
And Elisha knows that. He knows that all of us know
we need the same Lord to bless us that blessed the preachers
and blessed his people of the past. We need him to bless us.
I need to know, you need to know, where is the Lord God of Elijah? Because without him, I can do
nothing. With him, I can do all things.
I can do all things through Christ to strengthen me. Where is he? I need to know. The songwriter
said without him, I could do nothing. Without him, I'd surely
fail. Without him, I'd be drifting
like a ship without a sail. So where is he? The scripture
answers this question. Where is the Lord God of Elijah?
The scripture tells us where he is. But I don't want us to
just see the Lord's location. It's very important that we know
why the Lord is in each of these places so that we understand
what is he doing there? What is he doing for his glory
and what is he doing for his people there? So first turn,
if you would, to Psalm 115. Psalm 115. We're going to turn to some scriptures
this morning. Savannah's got a new Bible for
Christmas. She's telling me last night,
I'm anxious to use it. Where are you going to get to put it to use
this morning? Psalm 115. Here's the first thing. Where
is the Lord God of Elijah? God's in the heavens. Psalm 115
verse two. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where is now their God? Our God's in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Where is God? He's in the heavens. And that
means that God rules in heaven. He's sovereign over everything
in his creation. He's the creator. And he rules
his creation. He rules in heaven above us. Since he rules above us, he rules
everything in this earth. Now that's where God is. But
what does that mean to you and me that our God's in the heavens?
That means he's the king. Since our God is the king, you
and I must bow to him. We must surrender to Christ the
king. We're in his hand. And he does with you and me me
and mine as he pleases. And everything he does is right. It's right because he does it.
If you and I are going to have mercy, we're going to have mercy
from his hand, the hand of the king. If we're going to have
forgiveness, if we're going to have salvation, we're going to
have it from the hand of the king. If we're going to have eternal life,
we're going to have it from the hand of the sovereign. So where
does that leave you and me? It leaves us bowing at his feet
and worshiping him and begging him to do for us what we cannot
do for ourselves. That's worship. Worship is bowing
before him, knowing I can't get him to do anything, but that
I must wait on him to do as he pleases. That's worship. The
leper that came to our Lord, came to him and worshiped him.
Saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. I'm helpless.
Jairus came and worshiped the Lord. My little daughter lies
at home. She's dead. She's dying. It's
up to you whether she lives or not. That's worship. The Lord
Jesus Christ is King. He is the sovereign Savior. He
saves whom He will, when He will. And we worship Him. No, we can't
get Him to do anything. Lord, if You will, You save me.
Now, the Lord Jesus was once on earth as a man. He appeared
in the weakness of human flesh. He allowed his creatures to take
him and beat him and put him through this mock trial. He allowed
them to take him and crucify him and kill him. But now man
didn't do that, God did. The father did that. Christ suffered
and died as the sacrifice for the sin of his people under the
hand, under the justice of his father. He died, but he didn't
stay dead. No, he arose from the dead and
he ascended back to heaven. Now, what did he do when he ascended
back to heaven? He sat down on the throne, waiting
to his enemies be made his footstool. Right now, the Lord Jesus Christ,
the man Jesus of Nazareth, who was taken in by wicked hands
of men, crucified and slain, is ascended back on high, ruling
everything that happens in this creation for one purpose, for
the salvation of his people. My dear brother and sister, if
Christ died for you, your salvation is certain because our God's
in the heavens doing whatsoever he has pleased and has pleased
him to save his people from their sin. The Lord Jesus Christ ascended
back on high because he is the successful Savior. Whatever it
is he came to do, he did it. He got the job done. Then you
can trust him to save your soul. He has really made his people
righteous. So just like Elijah, they can
come into his presence. And one day they will. Now we
know that God will bless his people. Since Christ has ascended
on high, God's going to bless his people. And he's not up there
on high, not caring what happens to his creation. You know, a
lot of kings, you know, they're up in their ivory tower and they
don't care what's happening to the people that they rule. Not
our God, not our king. No, he stoops to be mindful of
his people. Look here in Psalm 115 verse
12. The Lord who rules on highs in
the heavens have been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will
bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
He will bless them that fear the Lord, both great and small. He's going to bless them all.
The Lord should increase you more and more. You and your children.
You're blessed of the Lord, which made heaven and earth. The Lord
Jesus Christ rules on high. This is where God is. He rules
on high to bless his people with eternal life and every spiritual
blessing. All right, now look at 2 Corinthians
chapter 5. 2 Corinthians 5. Where is the Lord
God of Elijah? God is in Christ. He's in Christ. 2 Corinthians
chapter 5, verse 18. in all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation. To wit, namely, this is what
that means, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them, and he hath committed
unto us this word, the message, the gospel of reconciliation. When Christ was born, the angel
said his name is Emmanuel. God with us. This is no mere
man. This is God with us. God in human flesh. God was in
Christ because he is God. That's where God is. He's in
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's in Christ the Savior. This
is the God man. All right. That's where he is.
Now, what does that mean to you and me? What means this? The
only way sinners can be saved is if God saves them. God must
say he's the only one who's got the power to do it. So you know
what God did? God became a man. He sent his
son into this earth as a man. And he did that so a man would
be the representative of his people. Adam was the first representative. What did Adam do to us? He ruined
us, didn't he? He ruined us by his fall, ruined
us by his sin. So God became a man so there'd
be a second Adam, a second representative. And he's not going to ruin his
people. He's going to undo for them everything Adam did to them.
By his obedience, he's going to make them perfect. By Adam's
disobedience, he made us unrighteous. By Christ's obedience, he makes
his people perfect and righteous. And by his sacrifice, he puts
the sin of his people away. His righteousness that he earned
as a man under the law is perfect. So his people are perfect. The
sacrifice of Christ is perfect. So His people are perfect. The
sacrifice of Christ justified His people. And you know what
justified means, don't you? Without sin. He made them without sin. They're perfect. Because our
representative is perfect. Now the only place God's going
to meet with men, the only place God's going to do business with
men in mercy is in Christ. There's one place of mercy, one
place, and thank God he's providing it. It's in Christ. And if you
would have mercy, go to him. God's in Christ, reconciling
the world to him. So give him mercy to his people.
He's in Christ. Now go to him. He's the savior of sinners. Now
look back at the Gospel of John. Gospel of John, chapter one. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? God is in his word. John one
verse one in the beginning was the word and the word was God
and the word was with God. And you know that that is talking,
that word, the word, word there is a name. It's a capital W.
It's a proper name. This is somebody's name. It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. It looked like down verse 14
and the word. This Word who was God, was with
God, was in the beginning with God. This Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the name of the Son of God is the Word, the Word of God. Now, why would God name His Son
of all His many names in Scripture, why would He name it the Word?
Well, we use words to communicate with one another. I've spent
this week studying, preparing this message, but the only way
I communicate it to you is by using words. Well, God has purposed
to communicate with sinful men. And you know how he does it?
With his Son. That's why it's called the Word.
And you cannot separate Christ, the living Word, from Christ,
the written Word. You can't, the Christ incarnate
word and Christ the written, you cannot separate them. This
whole book, every page, every word, every punctuation mark
is written not to tell you how to live, not to tell you how
to get along with people, not to tell you how to get more stuff
in this world. It's all written with this purpose, to reveal
Christ the Savior, to reveal that Christ is the way of salvation.
It's in Him, that He is our righteousness. The forgiveness of sin is found
in him. The eternal life is in him because
he is life. If you want to know Christ, if
there's anybody here that doesn't know him and you want to know
him. Would you let me give you some advice? Take this book and read it. And beg God to show you. Christ
in it. Beg God to give you faith to
see Christ in it, to believe Christ in it. And you know what?
You may not see. You may not. But the second thing
you do is you find a man preaching it. And you'd just be shocked
how often you read the word and you're just begging God to show
you what that means. And then he gives the preacher a message
that tells you just what that means. If I wanted to know Christ,
tell you what I'd do, I'd get this book and I'd read it. And
second thing I'd do is I'd find me a man preaching it. I'd sit
and listen to him. I mean, every time he stood up
on his hind legs to preach, I believe I'd be there to hear him preach.
If I wanted to know Christ, I would. There was a day, I was a single
man, and there was a real cute girl that I wanted her to be
my girlfriend, and ultimately I wanted her to marry me. I knew
I had to take this to the steps, but I wanted her to marry me. You know what
I did? I didn't mind my business, find out where she was, and I
made it my business to be there. I'm thinking maybe, maybe something
happened. I mean, nothing stopped me. I
mean, nothing would stop me. If I wanted to know Christ, I
believe I wouldn't let anything stop me from hearing his word,
because that is where he's revealed. Life is in Christ. This word
is the living word. It's the word that the Apostle
Peter says is the seed, the incorruptible seed. This is the seed God uses
to give life to his people, spiritual, incorruptible life. It's this
word. If God's going to cause you to
be born again, he can do the seed of this word, Christ. And this word, the Bible, is
a living, is living. Now the words of it never change. Many of them, you know, you're
very familiar with. But yet aren't there times that
you hear it, you read it, you hear preached and it blesses
you like it's the very first time you've ever heard it. How
can that be? It's blessed you before. Why
is it blessing you so much like that? Like it's the first time
ever. Because it's living. This book is not just a book.
It's a person, the living person, the Lord Jesus Christ. And this
word is the only thing I need to preach. It's the only thing
any man needs to preach. Over the course of time from
Elijah's day, where is the Lord God Almighty? From Elijah's day
to today, right here on the brink of 2020. Been a lot of advancements
in the world, haven't there? A lot of advancements. Advancements
in medicine, science, industry, computers. But in all the course
of human history, There have been no advancements in preaching
the gospel. None whatsoever. We may be able
to preach the gospel more clearly. We see things more clearly than
Moses did, who wrote the first five books of the Bible, but
there have been no advancements in preaching the gospel. I preach
the very same word the apostles and the reformers preached. I
preach the very same word men like Barnard and Mahan and Richardson
and Clark and Groover preached. Same word. You know, Elisha did
the same thing. Remember we read there, when
they began to cross the river Jordan, what did Elijah do? He
took off his mantle, he folded it together, he smoked the waters,
and they parted hither and thither, and both of them walked together
over on dry ground. We read that, didn't we? Then
the Lord came, he took Elijah to glory, and Elijah dropped
that mantle, that mantle he very first ever threw on Elisha to
show, this is God calling you to be the next prophet. Elijah
dropped that mantle and Elisha went and picked it up. He used
the very same tool Elijah did. He went back and he's going to
cross back over. He took that very same mantle, folded it up and
smoked the waters. He didn't need something new. He used the
same old tool, didn't he? And that's preaching the gospel.
I use the very same word the apostles and the reformers use. I use the very same word that
great preachers of the 19th and 20th centuries use. It's just
as good in this century, isn't it? It's as fresh and powerful
as it's ever been. Human beings haven't changed.
You don't need anything but the word God, because this is God's
word. It's God's word. My words are
nothing but this word. Oh, this word is ever powerful,
giving life. All right, fourthly, look at
Hebrews chapter four. Hebrews chapter four. Where is the Lord God of Elijah?
Earlier we've seen he's in the heavens. He's on the throne.
But the writer to the Hebrews tells us that the Lord God of
Elijah is on the throne of grace, grace. Hebrews chapter four,
verse 16. Let us therefore come boldly
under the throne of grace. Now you can't come boldly to
the throne of justice. Now, But let us therefore come
bold into a throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. The Lord Jesus Christ is
King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He's on the throne. Now it's
a throne of grace, isn't it? It's a throne of grace. But let's
always remember this. Just because it's a throne of
grace, don't you dare have over familiarity with the Lord. It's still a throne. It's a throne
of grace, but it's still a throne where the king sits. And we better
approach him with that reverence and that respect, reverence that
he's due. God is a God of grace, but let's
not mistake that mean God has to give me grace. Oh, he's a
God of grace. You have to be merciful to me,
but he is always gracious to his people. In our Lord's very
first public message, this is what he told the people. He told
them, I'm the sovereign savior. I save whom I will, by grace,
not by works. And he gave him two examples,
Elijah and Elisha. He said, there are many widows
in the days of Elijah, that great famine in the land for three
and a half years. I didn't send my prophet Elijah to any of them,
but a Gentile widow. I passed every Jewish widow by. I sent my prophet to a Gentile.
And then there were many lepers in the days of Elisha, he said.
Many lepers and many Jewish lepers. I didn't heal any of them. I
sent my prophet to one man. The Jews hated the Syrians of
that time more than anybody. Not only did the Lord send his
prophet to a Syrian, he sent his prophet to the general of
the Syrian army. He sent his prophet to the head
of ISIS. And those who heard the Lord
knew exactly what he was saying. He's a sovereign savior. I'll
pass you by if I, if I so please, it'd be right. And I'm going
to save a Gentile. I'm going to save the worst of
sinners. And if I do be right, they understood exactly what
he was saying. Salvation is by God's grace, unearned, unmerited,
undeserved, saving grace, not by merit. And they hated him
for it, but sinners love him for it, don't they? That's where
God is. He's on a throne of grace, saving
whom He will by His grace, not their merit. All right, that's
where God is. What does that mean to you and
me? Christ sits on a throne of grace, sovereignly dispensing
grace to whom He will. It's electing grace. It's saving
grace, redeeming grace, calling grace, life-giving grace, keeping,
preserving grace. All of that grace is God's sovereign
grace. It's sovereign. Well, that means
nothing can stop it from saving the objects of God's grace. You
see, sovereign grace is the only kind of grace that will save
a dead, undeserving sinner like you and me. Sovereign grace is
the only kind of grace, grace that nothing can stop, is the
only kind of grace that is going to preserve weak vessels of clay
like you and me to the east. Only sovereign grace can do it.
Well, then if we were wise, we'd go to the throne of grace to
find grace and mercy to help with me. God could be gracious
to sinners like you and me. One way to find out, go to the
throne of grace. All right, next, look at Colossians,
the book of Colossians chapter one. Where is the Lord God of
Elijah? God is in his people. He's in
his people. Colossians 1 verse 27. Whom God would make known was
the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles. This
is a glorious mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of
glory. He's in his people. Our Lord
said in John chapter 14, verse 23, that if any man loved me
and my father, we'll come and make our abode with them. God
abides. He dwells in his people. Remember
when the Lord ascended right before he ascended back into
glory, he told his disciples, Lo, I am with you always, even
to the end of the world. Amen. So be it. I'll be with
you always. Now, that's where Christ is located.
He's located in his people. All right, what does that mean
to you and me? Well, Christ in his people. The apostle here
says that is our hope of eternal life. It's the evidence that
God has saved us. That Christ dwells in us. If
Christ doesn't dwell in you, you're none of his. But he dwells
in his people. That's the evidence that God
has saved us. Christ is in his people. We live
a spiritual life because Christ lives, because Christ, who is
our life, lives in us. Christ in his people means that
he'll never leave nor forsake his people. That the Lord God
of Elijah will be with us in our every trial, just like he
was with Elijah. Christ in his people means that
he'll keep us faithful in the face of so much unbelief and
hatred, He'll keep us faithful just like he did Elijah. Now,
Elijah doubted, he's pouting, you know, God said, what are
you doing up here? He said, well, I'm the only one that loves God.
I'm the only one, you know, defending the faith. I'm the only one preaching
the truth. He's pouting, you know, everybody hates me and
I'm the only one. But he was faithful anyway, wasn't
he? He was faithful. Christ in his people, he'll keep
us faithful the same way. Oh, one of the great desires
of my life is to reach the end of it. And for people who knew
me to say he's faithful. Faithful to tell me the truth.
God and his people means he'll make us bold, just like Elijah
was. Don't you often feel timid and
think, oh, I couldn't do what Elijah did. God put you before
Jezebel and Ahab, you will. He'll make you bold in your generation. God in his people means he'll
provide for us, just like he did for Elijah in the time of
famine. You in our text, it sounded like, remember we read the first
part of that, or Eric read it for us, first part of that chapter.
Sounded like Elijah was trying to run Elisha off. He said, Elijah,
I'm gonna go to this city. You stay here. God sent me to
this city, you stay here. Elisha, no, I'm going with you.
Got this. Now you stay here, I'm going to this city. God sent
me here. Elisha, no, I'm leaving you. He said, well, no, I'm going
to this city. He said, no, I'm leaving you. Elisha kept refusing. He was going to be with Elijah
to the end. Now what does that show us? God
and his people means he will be with his people everywhere
you go. He'll be with you to the end.
Elisha followed Elijah to Bethel. Remember what Bethel is, that
city? It's the house of God. Where Jacob met God. God's people
come into the presence of God in Christ. And because we're
in Christ, we'll be accepted. Then Elisha followed Elijah to
Jericho. Well, you remember Jericho? Jericho
is the cursed city, wasn't it? The only way you and I can be
delivered from the curse of the law is how? It's in Christ, isn't
it? God's people have been delivered
from the curse of the law because Christ was made a curse for us. And then this is one that concerns
us. Some of you young people might not concern you yet, but
as you get older, you begin to think about it. Some of our loved
ones may be on the verge of Jordan's banks. Elisha followed Elijah
to Jordan. What does the River Jordan represent?
Crossing the River Jordan is a picture of that. And that day comes for you, God's
child. God will be with you. He's with
his people. God's elect are going to go safely
through death and they're going to awake in glory because of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all because God's with his
people, in his people. Now look at Matthew chapter 18.
Our sixth thing is related very closely to this. God is in his people. Where is
the Lord God of Elijah? God is where his people meet
in public worship. Matthew chapter 18. Verse 20. The Savior says where two or
three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst
of them. I'm always in the midst of my
people where they gather to worship me. The apostle John of Revelation
chapter one, he got that vision of Christ He saw him in the midst
of the seven golden candlesticks. And those candlesticks represent
the seven churches. That's where Christ is. He's
found where his people are gathered together in public worship. That's
where he is. Right now, his promise is he's
in the midst of us as we are here worshiping him. All right,
but what does that mean? What does that mean? How does
that affect you and me? Well, it means this, that this public
worship, what we're doing right now, This is how God saves sinners. If you would meet Christ, this
is where you're going to meet him. In public worship. This
is how Christ is revealed to the hearts of his people. Whether
it's for the first time or the 10,000th time, this is where
Christ meets together and blesses his people. Public worship. That's how God saves and blesses
and feeds his people. That's how God comforts and instructs
his children. If you want to meet God, You
want to know God, tell you what to do. Just like I told you about
reading the word, find out where man's preaching the word and
where God's people gather together and worship and plant yourself
there. Because if you're going to meet
God, that's where you're going to meet him, in public worship,
the local assembly of his people. All right, seven, look at the
gospel of John chapter three. Where is the Lord God of Elijah?
He is everywhere, everywhere. He's everywhere at once. John
chapter three, verse 13. And no man hath ascended up to
heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of
man, which is going to ascend into heaven. It's not what says,
is it? Even the son of man, which is
in heaven. I often wonder, did Nicodemus
catch that? The son of man, standing here talking to you, Nicodemus,
is in heaven. I mean, Nicodemus couldn't understand
the new birth. It would have blown his mind,
wouldn't it? Even as the Lord Jesus was on
the earth during his earthly ministry as a man, he was in
heaven. How can that be? It's a great
big old theological word. He's omnipresent. And omnipresent,
just a great big old word, it means this, God's everywhere
at the same time. He's everywhere. I like what
Brother John Chapman said one time, God is everywhere, there's
a where. He's everywhere at once. That's
where God is, he's everywhere, all at one time. What does that
mean to you and me? Oh, it means so many good things,
so many good things. God's not everywhere at once.
just so he can see every sinful thing that we do. You know, people
use it. God's omnipresent. He can see you. I mean, I guess
he can. I mean, I know he can, but that's
not the primary reason he's everywhere at once. God is everywhere. That means he's always near his
people. I don't care where you go. He's
always near his people. He's always there to save his
people. He's always there to comfort his people. He's always
there to teach and correct his people. When you go into the
fire of furnace. Listen to me. God's already there. Not is He just going with you.
He's already there. He's with you to protect you,
to teach you, to comfort you. There is nowhere that you can
go to escape God's mercy. Nowhere you can go to escape
God's love and pity. There's no place you can go to
protect, to escape God's protection of His people. And get a hold
of this, Christ and his people are one. We are, we who believe,
we are what Christ is and we are where he's at. Don't we? We have to be if we're in him,
don't we? We're just like Christ was in heaven, well he's on earth.
God's people, even though we're on earth, are in heaven. Because
we're in Christ. Already seated in the heavenlies
in Christ. Salvation is not being just as
sure for heaven as if you're already there. Salvation is already
being in heaven. If Christ is your savior, you
are because you're seated in him. Now let that sink in for
a minute and that'll comfort your heart. All right, here's
the last thing. Look at Romans chapter eight. Where is the Lord God of Elijah? God is in every act of providence. Romans chapter eight, verse 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. Now what things work together
for good? All things, everything, all things. I don't understand
it, I can't explain it, but all things. Brother Henry in his
commentary said this, God is in every breeze, every cloud,
every moment, every heartache, every tear, and every joy. I
wish I could talk like that. God's in every breeze, in every
cloud, every moment, every heartache, every tear, and every joy. That's where God is. In every
act of providence, every event of human history, that's where
God, he's in it. God is sovereignly directing every event of human
history, whether we think it's good or it's bad. God did it
and God's in it. All right, what does that mean
for you and me? That means this, that God is
working every act of providence from his sovereign throne to
bring about the salvation, the teaching, the growth in grace,
and finally, the glorification of his people. And somehow, Everything
that happens in human time, everything, everything that's happened, everything
that happens to you in your life has to happen exactly the way,
and you can't change anything. It has to happen exactly the
way that it has happened for the glorification, for the final
glorification of God's people. You can't change a thing. It happens just the way it's
happened for your salvation. I can't explain that, but that's
what scripture says. And I'm glad it's that way. I
don't have to understand for who God is and what God is doing
to bring comfort and assurance to my heart. When a disaster
strikes, people always ask, well, where's God now? Where's God
now? What's God doing now? Well, I
can tell you where he is. He's where he's always been.
God hasn't changed. He's still on the throne, that's
where he is. And God's on the throne directing this thing to
happen exactly the way that it's happening. To bring about the
salvation of his beloved children. And that lets God's people sing
this song. I don't know about tomorrow. I just live from day
to day. I don't borrow from its sunshine,
for its skies may turn to gray. I don't worry or the future.
Well, I don't know. I'll sing a song, I don't worry
or the future. For I know what Jesus said, and I'll walk beside
him. For he knows what's in it, I
don't, but he does. I don't know about tomorrow. It may bring
me poverty, but the one who feeds the sparrow, that's the one who
stands by me. And the path that is my portion
may be through flame or flood, but his presence goes before
me. I'm covered in his blood. many things about tomorrow. I don't seem to understand, but
this is what I know. I know who holds tomorrow. I
know who holds me, my hand. Is that enough for you? Is it? It is if God's our, if the Lord
God of Elijah's our God, that'd be enough. That's enough. Let's
bow together in prayer. Our father, Lord, we thank you
that you are God alone, that the Lord God of Elijah is still
the God of his people, ruling and reigning all to bring about
the salvation of his people. And Father, I pray that you take
your words that's been preached and cause it to bring glory to
your matchless name, cause it to reach the hearts of your people,
to give us faith that we might believe and rest in the Lord
Jesus Christ that might cause us to come to Christ, to find
in him everything that we need, that it might comfort the hearts
of your sick and your sorrowing children, that it might comfort
our hearts that the Lord God of Elijah is God. He is too wise
to make a mistake. He's too good to do something
harmful to his children. Father, take your word and cause
us to rest in Christ our Savior. It's in his blessed name we pray
and give thanks. All right, Mike, you can come
lead us in song. Let's stand and sing number 431,
please. 13431. I love to tell the story of unseeing
things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story Because
I know it's true, it satisfies my longing. as nothing else can
do. My love to tell the story will
be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and
His love. I love to tell the story, for
wonderful it seems, that all the golden fancies of all our
golden dreamed I'd love to tell the story it did so much for
me and that is just the reason I tell it now to thee I love
to It will be my theme in glory to tell the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story, it
is pleasant to repeat. What seems each time I tell it,
the more wonderfully sweet. I love to tell the story, for
some have never heard. The message of salvation from
God's own Holy Word. I love to tell the story, will
be my theme in glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and
His love. I love to tell a story for those
who know it best. Seem hungering and thirsting,
to hear it like the rest. And when in scenes of glory I
sing the new, new song, t'will be the old, old story that I
have loved so long. I love to tell the story. We'll be...