Well, I want to come back this
week to our series on Elijah. We had a wonderful weekend of
proclamation of the gospel of God's grace last weekend, so
we had a week off, but now I want to come back to this account
of Elijah and back to 1 Kings chapter 18. And let me remind
you that the Bible is about... I want to know, what is the Bible
about? It's about how God saves his
people. That's what it's about. It's
God declaring to his people it's not an offer. The Bible isn't
an offer to mankind as many, many, many people maintain. The
Bible is God's declaration of how God saves his people from
their sins and justifies them for eternity. That's what it's
about. And how does he accomplish it? A Messiah must come. The
Messiah. God, the infinite God, must take
on him flesh to come and save his people from their sins. He
must come and satisfy the law, because what does the law demand?
The law demands perfection. And if the law doesn't get perfection,
the law demands death. The soul that sins, it shall
die. He came to die in the place of his people. And in his death,
he satisfied the justice of God. The law of God says, enough,
I need no more. He has died in the place of his
people. The law is satisfied for that. God must save his people from
their sins by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful
flesh to die as a substitute in the place of his people. to
die as our guarantor, our surety, that he might be our saviour.
And as God decreed, he must come by the promised line. What was
that? It was by Abraham, wasn't it?
Abram who was taken out of Ur of the Chaldees, his name was
changed to Abraham, means father of many nations, the one who
will have this huge number of people. And what are we talking
about? We're not talking about physical
genealogy, we're talking about spiritual genealogy. For all
those who have the same faith as Abraham, They are the children
of God. They are the children of Abraham,
in truth. He must come, the Messiah must come by that line. God said
to Abraham, in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth
be blessed. In thy seed. One must come from you. And you
know, we saw the account a number of months ago, when Abraham took
Isaac up to Mount Moriah, he thought his only Isaac was the
one who was going to come. He, in his fleshly weakness,
thought that, and God said, no, no, God will provide himself
a sacrifice, and that's our Lord Jesus Christ. And so he's going
to come, and we have all the patriarchs, and we have David,
and we have that line preserved from which Christ would come.
But wherever there are people, there's sinfulness. And the kingdom
of Israel was split into Judah and Israel in the north. Because
of why? The sins. God warned again and again, if
you go after false gods and after idols, I will take the kingdom
from you. And I will split it up. And I will put you into exile.
And the northern kingdoms had gone their own way. And they'd
fallen into the sins of Jeroboam, which is abandoning the true
worship of the living God, the true Christ-centered, you say
Christ didn't come till Bethlehem, way after all of this. Ah, they
worshipped God in Christ. God's people have always worshipped
God in Christ, they always looked to the one that God would send
to be the propitiation for their sins, to satisfy the justice
of God, Right from Job, writing the first words that we have
recorded in the Bible, how should a man be just with God? In the
Savior. Look to Him. Look to Him. Always. But idolatry arose. And Baal
worship arose. What's Baal worship? Oh, we don't
do things like that today, do we? Oh, yes we do. Most of what
calls itself Christianity in our land today is in truth very
little different from Baal worship. It's reasonable fleshly religion. It appeals to the senses. Oh, everybody's good in their
own eyes. Everybody does that which is right in their own eyes.
And in that society, it became more and more evil. You read
the account of the kings. One kings and two kings. You
read the account of the ones coming one after another. And
in the case of this King Ahab, it says of him that he did more
wickedly than everyone that had gone before him. The society
where the line that would bring Messiah was to be preserved,
that society had become extremely wicked. This Baal worship had
led to evil in society. It had led to corruption. It
had led to wickedness. It had led to absolutely abominable
practices. You read your Bible, I won't
say it out because it will disturb little boys sitting at the back
there. But they did terrible things in the name of their religion.
And Ahab, as if he hadn't done badly enough in departing from
the Lord, he then went and married that woman Jezebel. She was from
Tyre and Sidon. That was the center of Baal worship. He married her, this Sidonian
Baal worshipper. And she encouraged Ahab in this departure
from the God of Israel. So the question is, in this situation,
how will the true line to Messiah be preserved? Because if he doesn't
come, None of us are saved. None of God's people are saved.
He must come. He must accomplish what God had
decreed He would do, what He agreed to do in the covenant
of grace. He must come and He must come from this line because
the Word of God cannot, cannot lie. It cannot be falsified.
How will He come? answer Elijah is raised up 1
Kings 17 verse 1 we don't hear of him before but this then and
Elijah the Tishbite goes and says to Ahab there shall not
be dew nor rain these years as the expression goes cometh the
hour When the need is there, cometh the man. And this was
God's man, for this purpose. He knew the word of God, and
he knew the God of his word. He knew him. He studied it. He
prayed in accordance with it, for God had said in Deuteronomy,
if you depart to idolatry, I'll send you drought. And so he prayed.
Look at it. Look at it, Lord. Look what they've
done, look where they've gone, look what they're doing. Your
word says you'll send up, bring drought upon these people to
bring them to repentance. And God said yes, go and tell
Ahab. There shall not be June or rain
these years, but according to my word. drought for three-and-a-half
years. I don't know what the significance
is. It occurred to me the other day, you know we often see in
the Scriptures a time, times, and half a time. We often see
that in Revelation, the three-and-a-half. It's God's perfect timing. This
three-and-a-half years was for God's purpose to bring these
people to repentance and to get rid of their idolatry. Well,
Elijah was preserved in most unlikely ways. Is this not God's
way? He was preserved in most unlikely
ways. Don't go to overflowing Jordan
with all of its water, which would be the last river in the
land to dry up. Don't go there. Go to the Brook
Cherith. And don't take stores of food
with you. But I'll send some birds to feed
you, to bring you food, to bring you meat and bread. I'll send
some birds to do it. Oh, and I won't send you clean
birds. I won't send you nice, clean
birds. I'll send the food by ravens
that are unclean birds." And they fed Elijah for a year, the
first year of the drought, and then the brook dried up, because
God always brings situations to a close, because we're on
a journey. This world is not our home, we're
just traveling through. Our end, our goal, is eternity. And God changed things. The brook
dried up. The ravens stopped bringing the
food. And what did Elijah do? He looked to the Lord. What do
I do now? Go. Go where? Go to Tyre and Sidon. Go to the center, the headquarters
of Baal worship. Go where Jezebel was queen, where
she came from. Go there, for I have commanded
a rich Phoenician merchant with lots of food to feed you. Doesn't
say that, does it? I have commanded a widow woman
who has a son, and they're both about to die of starvation in
this drought. Go there, for I've commanded
her to feed you there." Do you see how God works? Just the most
unlikely situation, and God sent him there, and he was preserved.
And, you know, we saw the the account of the widow woman's
son, as if they hadn't lost everything. The barrel of meal and the cruise
of oil kept them fed and kept them nourished for all of that
time, but then in the midst of it her son died of a sickness. And why was that? Let me just
quickly remind you. It was this, the purpose of salvation
is eternal life. If a man die, shall he yet live?
That's the purpose of salvation, eternal life. And the raising
of that woman's son showed her that this is what this was for,
this is what it was about, eternal life. Well, 1 Kings 18 verse
1, And it came to pass, And it came to pass. The time ordained
was completed. The three and a half years of
drought, there was a sore famine in Samaria. It was at a crisis
point. When we read earlier about even
the king and the steward of his house, the governor of his house,
going out looking for just the merest blade of grass where they
could find some food for their horses and mules that they might
preserve the animals and keep them alive. There was a severe,
severe drought. It couldn't be ignored. There
was concern at the highest levels. Those of you that are old enough
will remember the drought of 1976. And I remember the politicians,
you know, we think, oh, we don't suffer from things like droughts.
Well, in this country, we rarely do, because look at a day like
today, it's pouring with rain, or has been. We, generally speaking,
don't suffer from it. Those of you that can remember
1976, You'll remember, that was a severe drought. In fact, the
government got so concerned, they even appointed a minister
for drought. We had a minister for drought
in our government. Don't think these are just biblical
things that happened and they don't happen anymore. We're susceptible
to such things. No. But the drought that there
was of rain is a picture of the spiritual drought and the spiritual
famine that there is in this land. Look at the churches where
the gospel was truly once preached, and look what's happened. Have
they not en masse gone over to the idolatrous spirit of this
age? Have they not en masse abandoned
the gospel as God has declared it, and gone over to the mood
and the feelings of the age? They've gone over to the idolatrous
spirit of this age. They've exchanged the truth of
the gospel for what Isaiah 28 calls a refuge of lies. They've made, it says, evangelical
religion has made a covenant with death. Oh, we're alright
in our gospel. You know, this death isn't going to touch us.
They have this kind of covenant with death. But God says it's
a refuge of lies. For they've walked out on the
truth. When they adopted that false gospel, that's when they
walked out on the truth, even places where not too long ago
the truth of the gospel of God's grace was faithfully preached.
Surely, this was God's hand of judgment here in Samaria, to
bring a crisis, to call out his people, to establish the truth
of the gospel of grace, to make it known. Maybe we need such
a crisis, the crisis of spiritual drought and of spiritual famine
in this land, to call out God's elect people. He has his people
in every age. He has, as we'll see later when
we get further on in the account of Elijah, he has his 7,000. But they need to be called out
under the sound of the preaching of the Gospel of Grace. But then,
the word of the Lord, it says, came to Elijah. The word of the
Lord came to Elijah. How did it come? I don't know.
Maybe by prayer. Maybe by scripture. Maybe by
events happening. Maybe an audible voice. Maybe
there was an appearance of Christ. None of this is recorded for
us to tell us. We don't know. But I do know
this. that God's children know when God is speaking to them.
Paul says we have the mind of Christ. God's children know when
God is speaking to them. And Elijah knew what the Word
of God was saying. The whole account seems so dramatic,
and it is! The account of Elijah is very
dramatic. Wait till next week, when we
get to the Mount Carmel incident. It seems so dramatic. It's centered
on what we would call larger-than-life strong characters. There's Elijah,
apparently fearless. There's Elijah, anointed of God.
There's Ahab, at Jezebel's behest, determined to destroy the true
worship of God. Just like today, do you know
that going on in our society, I read something that someone
sent me about the state of our laws in this land. Do you know
there is a very, very strong lobby, the word of God condemns
sodomy. Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed.
The word of God condemns it. Do you know there's a strong
movement in this country to make it a matter of law that we do
not preach that sodomy is a sin. That's what's going on in our
society. You know, it's an abandonment of the worship of God. Ahab and
Jezebel were determined to destroy the worship of God. It's no different
today. There are forces in our society
that are determined, you know, we'll have the thought police
checking what we've been preaching, and if we've been saying anything
against what God condemns in his word, which is homosexuality,
sodomy, then we can be forced by law to stop saying it. That's
the sort of thing that's going on, and it was going on there,
but Elijah stood firm. And it seems like it's all about
these really strong characters, and everybody else is just a
spectator. Is that how you feel in the kingdom of God? You know,
we had that wonderful weekend last weekend, and we had some
very powerful preaching. Do you just feel like a spectator
on the sidelines? Do you wonder what is your place
in the work of God's kingdom? And what I want to do this morning
is turn to this man Obadiah and have a look at him, just as a
little interlude in a very dramatic account of Elijah and everything
that happened. I want to look at this man Obadiah,
who was the servant of Ahab. and he was the governor of Ahab's
household. He was the general factotum,
the one who fixed everything, the one who organized everything,
to keep the royal palace running even in the midst of a drought.
This was Obadiah. Obadiah was Ahab's servant. Ah,
but he was also God's servant. Even in that place. Because I
think that this has got some powerful lessons to teach us.
So just look at him with me. His name means servant of Jehovah. but he's governor of Ahab's house,
in the midst of the center of Israel's idolatry and Baal worship. There, as Ahab's servant, the
one who was promoting idolatry and the departure from the true
worship of God, here is God's servant, Obadiah, because he
feared the Lord. Elijah, it seems, didn't rate
him highly. Elijah seems to have been a little
self-centered. I mean, we look further on in
the account and Elijah pleads with God, I, even I only, am
left a prophet of the Lord. I, you know, and we've already
read, there were those that were hidden by Obadiah in the cave. But Elijah, I, even I only, am
left a prophet of the Lord. But God's Word spends 16 verses
here in chapter 18 telling us a fair bit about this man Obadiah. And the first thing that we can
see is this. that all God's servants are useful
in his kingdom. All of them. He'd fed the prophets,
he'd hidden the prophets that Jezebel was determined to destroy.
He'd hid them in a cave and fed them with bread and water. All
God's servants are useful in his kingdom. In the New Testament
we read about the church likened to a body. You know, I've got
a head, I've got eyes, I've got ears, I've got hands, feet, legs. And what the Word of God says
in the New Testament is, should the hand say to the foot, I have
no need of you because I'm the hand, I'm so important, I have
no need of you? Of course not. We need all of
it. And the church is like a body with Christ as the head. And
all God's servants are useful in his kingdom. If you believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, If you trust Him, you've trusted
your eternal soul to Him, you've seen that He has saved you from
your sins and brought you out of darkness into His marvellous
light, you are one of the Lord's servants. And all are useful. And all are needed in the Kingdom
of God. We had that wonderful weekend
of powerful preaching. But don't think for one minute
that the most unlikely saint is any less than the main preacher. That's true. Thank God for everyone
we hear of who seeks to follow Christ. We heard of that Pakistani
man. I was delighted, I was thrilled
to hear of that in such darkness. I was so pleased to hear about
that. Everyone we hear of who we know seeks to follow Christ,
we should thank God for them. And we should esteem each other
more highly than ourselves. That's what the Word of God teaches
his people to do. All of God's servants are useful
in his kingdom. Second thing, God always leaves
himself a witness. Even in Ahab's court, even amidst
Jezebel's wickedness and determination to kill the prophets of God,
Even there, Obadiah feared the Lord. Look, verse 3, now Obadiah
feared the Lord greatly. Verse 12, he says at the end
of it to Elijah, but I, thy servant, fear the Lord from my youth.
I feared the Lord since I was a young man. He's feared the
Lord. Even there, in that situation, there is a witness for the truth
of God. Nowhere that you might be now,
wherever it might be, it might be at school, it might be at
work, it might be in a family situation, it might be in a marriage
situation, Nowhere that you might be now disqualifies you from
being God's servant there. I can tell you from my own experience
working, I've been in many, many situations where it has been
difficult to remain true to the gospel of grace, but God keeps
his people. There are things I look back
on with regret and I think I wasn't the servant and I wasn't the
witness I should have been. But don't think for one minute
that anywhere inherently disqualifies you from being a servant of God. Obadiah was a servant of God,
even though he was in the midst of this wicked palace with Jezebel,
seeking to destroy the very truth of God. You can think of other
examples in the scripture. There was Joseph, who knew God,
and knew God's plan of salvation, if I can put it that way. He
knew God's purpose in salvation. He knew that God was in control
of all things, and there he was in Pharaoh's palace. Pharaoh's
prison at one time, but there he was, a servant of the Lord. There was Daniel in Nebuchadnezzar's
palace, in that great idolatrous Empire. There was Daniel, faithful
to his God. When they gave out decrees that
you couldn't worship anybody other than the idol that they'd
set up. Doesn't it sound like today?
You couldn't do that. You were not allowed by law. You'd be
put to death. You'd be thrown into a fiery
furnace. You'd be put into a lion's den. Even in the midst of that,
Daniel prayed to his God, as he always did, three times a
day. He was a servant in that situation. You read the book
of Esther, you read about Mordecai, the uncle of Esther, in the court
of Ahasuerus, when there was such opposition to the Jews,
and Mordecai there remained faithful. There was Pilate's wife, Pontius
Pilate, who finally, against his own better judgment, agreed
to the crucifixion of Christ. Pilate's wife pleaded with him
not to do it. There was Pilate giving witness.
There were, as Paul tells us, you know when Paul was imprisoned
in Rome, in Caesar's household and he said there were many saints
there. The saints that are in Caesar's household greet you.
Read the end of Romans. The saints that are in Caesar's
household greet you. There he was in prison. Obadiah
was separated from public worship. Now there are many that listen
to this that are separated from public worship. They only had
the internet to listen to. And it's such a great resource,
but the blessing of last weekend was the physical contact people
had, face to face, one with another. Obadiah was separated from public
worship. Baal was the fashion of the day.
The temple, where true worship was, where the gospel was, where
everything to do with the way God saves his people was, was
in Jerusalem, far away. And Obadiah wasn't there, but
still, God kept him faithful. You know, I mean, I'm slightly
surprised when I hear people who are true believers saying
that they go to churches where clearly the gospel has been corrupted
and isn't being preached, as if you have to still keep going
to those places as a place of worship. I would say come out
of them, don't go there. If the truth of God isn't there,
don't keep going there. Obadiah didn't try to worship
the true God in the midst of Jezebel's idolatrous practices.
He didn't join in with them as a way of worshipping God because
he knew it was false. He worshipped God in spirit and
truth in his own heart. He feared the Lord in his own
heart. Then next, his faith was a faith that worked. at great
danger to his own life he hid the prophets and he fed them
with food you know we know nothing of what that man in pakistan
must be going through you know the the obviously we have opposition
to our preaching the gospel people don't like it especially religious
people think we've got no right to do it but as far as we know
we're not in danger of our lives that man is daily in danger of
his life in that society And so it was for Obadiah. If they'd
found out what he was doing in feeding the prophets of the Lord
that he'd hidden in a cave, he would have been executed straight
away. But he hid them and fed them with food. Where do you
think he got the food from? He got it from Jezebel's table,
from the palace, where he was the governor and servant of the
house. Why did he do it? Why did he do it? Because by
grace, by grace, by grace, he feared the Lord more than he
feared Ahab and Jezebel. That's a fact. There's a hymn
that says, praise the grace whose threats alarmed me. It could
equally say, praise the grace whose fears alarmed me. He feared
the Lord more than he feared Ahab and Jezebel. Our Lord said
in Matthew 10, 28, he said to those that were listening, fear
not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul, but rather, fear him which is able to destroy both soul
and body in hell. Let's think a bit more about
this fear, Obadiah's fear of the Lord, and then I'll be done.
In verse 3 we read it, now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. In verse
12 he says to Elijah, I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth.
What sort of fear is it when a child of God, when a believer
fears the Lord? Do you fear the Lord? Do I fear
the Lord? What sort of fear is it? It's
not the fear that God's enemies, those who reject his rule, those
who reject his gospel, they will experience a fear, sooner or
later, of God that is a terror. Listen to this, 2 Corinthians
5 verse 11, Paul says, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade
men. Hebrews 10 31, it is a fearful,
this means a terrifying thing, to fall into the hands of the
living God outside of Christ. Hebrews 12, 29, for our God is,
not was, is a consuming fire. Turn with me to Revelation 15.
Revelation 15, let me just read a couple of verses there. Revelation
15, sorry, Revelation 6, I meant to say. Revelation 6, verse 15. We have a picture of what it
will be like when the end comes. Revelation 6, verse 15. And the
kings of the earth, the rulers, not just talking about those
that are called majesty, the rulers, the kings of the earth,
and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains,
and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man,
hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains.
and said to the mountains, why? Because they were so terrified,
said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the
face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of
the lamb. The wrath of the lamb? Sounds
a contradiction in terms, doesn't it? You're not scared of a lamb?
This is the lion of the tribe of Judah. From the wrath of the
lamb, for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be
able to stand? There is a fear which is a dread,
the dread of judgment. and all mankind outside of Christ
through all their lifetime are subject to bondage through the
fear of death because they know it is appointed to man to die
once and then the judgment comes and that judgment day outside
of Christ will be a terrible day will be a day of dreadful
terrible judgment and condemnation and that's what the word says
there is a fear of the Lord that is the fear which is terror outside
of Christ, for our God is a consuming fire. But the fear that Obadiah
had, and that all God's children have, is a childlike fear of
God's children. Do you know something? I mean,
it's not popular, it's not fashionable in these days, and I know there
were harsh fathers in days gone by, and it was a bit too extreme,
but just a word to the younger ones amongst us. Just a word
to you. You need to fear your dad. I
don't mean be terrified and scared of him, but be frightened of
upsetting him. Try and make him happy. Try and
do what he says. Try and please him. You know,
that's a good thing to do, to learn respect for your fathers. Learn respect for them. That's
the childlike fear of God that his people have for him. We're
not terrified of judgment and of harm, but we should be frightened
of offending him. We should be filled with awe
and respect for him. What are we taught about this
fear of the Lord that Obadiah had and that all his people have?
Listen to this, Proverbs chapter 1 verse 7 and then it's repeated
in chapter 9 and verse 10 with just one word change. The fear
of the Lord, is fear a good thing? The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge. And then in chapter 9 verse 10,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What's that all about?
The fear of the Lord is the beginning, is the start, is the foundation. If you want to know anything
about true knowledge and wisdom, the fear of the Lord is where
you start. That's the place where you start. What is all this wisdom
and knowledge? Colossians 2 verse 3, in whom
Who's it talking about? In Christ are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowing Christ. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowing true spiritual reality and life in the Lord Jesus Christ.
It begins with the fear, the respect, the reverence, the awe
of who God really is. You see, people say, oh look,
so-and-so's got religion because there's lots of religious fizz.
and a lot of that can just be falsehood. Don Fortin was telling
us last week, and I totally agree with him, that people make such
a thing about the revivals of the past, you know, the Welsh
revival, oh, if only we could go back to those days, and I
totally agree with him that so much of that was just charismatic
emotional fizz. That wasn't truth. That wasn't
a true move. When the Spirit of God truly
comes and brings his people back to him, they don't throw themselves
in a foaming mess on the floor. That's charismatic nonsense.
No. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom and knowledge. You see, you can fake joy, it
can be a delusion, can joy, but filial fear, filial of sons,
the fear of children for the respect, the awe, the reverence
of children for their parents, that's a lot harder to fake.
You know what God's command to Israel was? Deuteronomy chapter
10 and verse 12. God says this to Israel, and
now Israel, Listen, if we're children of God, we're the Israel
of God speaking to us. What does the Lord thy God require
of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, and walk in all his
ways, and to love him? and to serve the Lord thy God
with all thy heart and with all thy soul together. You see, it's
not the fear of those who are going to fall into the condemnation
and judgment of God. This is the fear, this is the
reverence, this is the respect of those that are his children
who love him. Love him. It's fear and love
together. It's that kind of fear. It's
not the fear of dread, of punishment. Psalm 34, verse 11. Come, ye
children. Hearken unto me. Listen to me.
I will teach you the fear of the Lord." God's Word teaches
us the fear of the Lord. This is a fear, this is a reverence. It's not something that is naturally
known. God's Spirit must teach you to
rightly fear God. God's Spirit, He must do that,
as He reveals Christ to us. The fear of the Lord which He
teaches is the beginning of knowing Christ, the fear of the Lord.
It's a fear, it's a reverence that isn't naturally known. 1
John chapter 4, verse 18 and 19. Listen, this seems to contradict
it, but it doesn't. There is no fear in love, but
perfect love casts out fear, because fear has torment. He
that feareth is not made... Isn't that telling us that we
shouldn't fear God? No, it's telling us we shouldn't fear
God in dread of judgment, but oh yes, we should fear Him in
reverence and awe for His person, for who He is, for what He's
done. He that fears is not made perfect
in love. And then he goes on to say, we
love him because he first loved us. The fear of the Lord for
those who are his children is a reverence. It's a fear of offending
him. It's a fear, the scriptures talk
about, don't grieve the Holy Spirit. It's a fear of grieving
the Holy Spirit. It's not a dread of some harm
that's coming to us. It's not a dread of Christ's
judgment. When he says to those on his
left hand, depart from me, ye who work iniquity, I never knew
you, it's not that fear, it's a fear, a reverence, an awe for
our God who is our loving Heavenly Father. A fear of offending him,
a fear of doing that which grieves his Holy Spirit. The scriptures
tell us again and again, Philippians 2 verse 12, Paul says, work out,
live your salvation with fear and trembling. It sounds like
a contradiction in terms, but it isn't. We know that we're
loved of the Father, we cry Abba Father, and yet, his true people
truly reverence him with awe for who he is, for his majesty,
for what he is. God is spirit, he's creator,
he's all of these things. We reverence him, we don't glibly,
lightly. I was listening to the service
on Radio 4 as I was getting breakfast this morning, and just this kind
of attitude that there is, that us and God we're all pals together
and we can just breeze into his, you know, glibly do things the
way we want to do. No, not at all. The true people
of God fear God and reverence him. and take heed to his word,
and seek to do things that do not contradict what his word
says. Isaiah 66 verse 2, God says this,
to this man will I look, even to him Now, what does the world
do? The world looks with respect
to those that have achieved something, to those that have become something,
to those that have riches and power and authority. But this
is what the God of the universe says, to this man will I look,
even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth
at my word. Why do we tremble at his word?
Because it's God's word. It's our God's word to us. This
is true fear, a fear of grieving the Holy Spirit, who don't forget
he's the Holy Spirit of God and God is the Abba Father of his
people. That biblical fear, that biblical
reverence is the beginning, is the foundation of the Spirit's
quickening work, making a live work in his people as they learn
Christ. It's the beginning of wisdom
and knowledge, for in Christ dwell all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. As Obadiah, this is what the
word says, as Obadiah, learn this while you are yet young.
I, thy servant, fear the Lord from my youth. Learn this while
you're young. Learn this while you've got your
life ahead of you. I know we love to point to the thief on
the cross and say it's never too late. As long as there's
breath in a man or woman, there is hope of salvation, and that's
absolutely true. But don't think for one minute,
I'm going to live my life like the way of this world and have
all those experiences, and then at the end on my deathbed, I'll
come to Christ and I'll be saved for all eternity. No, no, no,
no, no. you are young. Today is the day
of salvation. You talk to those that have been
in that way many, many years, that have feared the Lord from
their youth, and their testimony will be, I know mine is to you,
how glad I am that God took me out of everything that the world
would do to me and brought me to a knowledge of his son. The
fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Obadiah then, just
an interlude in this account of Elijah. Obadiah, Ahab's servant,
but above all he was God's servant. He feared the Lord. Amen.