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All right, as I mentioned before this is probably my favorite chat definitely my favorite chapter in first Kings But one of my favorite chapters just overall I mean, I love this story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal and just the whole scene that's played out there We're gonna go through this of course verse by verse like we normally do but I also had the extra blessing being on the camping trip this last week where pastor Jimenez actually Preached on the first part here of chapter 18 and I would recommend if you haven't heard that I think it's up online now. You could you could find his sermon up on the internet and and listen to that I'm sure you'll be edified by it But I'm gonna actually be touching on a lot of things that he brought up because it's very good truth and knowledge there About Obadiah here gonna start reading. Let's let's jump back here to verse number one Bible reads and it came to pass after many days That the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying go Show thyself unto Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth so you remember last week we talked about Elijah praying for there to be no rain and that You know God led him to the brook and the Ravens were commanded to feed him with bread and with flesh and he was drinking of the brook until that dried up and then he went to the widow woman's house and She was commanded to take care of him there where the the the cruise of oil and the meal didn't fail For all the time that he was there so now he's getting a new commandment because now it's been many days now it's coming on like that three years at three and a half years when when that they've had no rain in the land and The word of the Lord comes to Elijah says here in the third year saying go, you know now It's time to go show yourself unto Ahab and Ahab was a wicked king And we don't get that much into all the wickedness of Ahab here But there's a lot of things that Ahab does is extremely wicked if you remember I think I think it was covered either last week or the week before Just briefly without going into detail about everything that he had done more wickedly than everyone else That was before remember about two weeks ago We went through these these extremely wicked You know Amrai and Zimrai and in those wicked kings of Israel and how things has got worse and worse and worse so Ahab is even worse than everyone else that was before him and That's Why this judgment is coming down upon the land is because of all this extreme wickedness of this no rain and everything so Now God's finally saying okay You're gonna show yourself unto Ahab verse number two says Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab and there was a sore Famine in Samaria, of course famine is a lack of food makes perfect sense when it's not raining your crops Aren't gonna grow it's gonna be a lot harder to grow food So there is a lack of food verse number three and Ahab called Obadiah Which was the governor of his house now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly For it was so when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord that Obadiah took in a hundred prophets and hid them by fifty in a cave and fed them with bread and water So we're introduced now to Obadiah Obadiah is was the governor or the like the ruler of Ahab's house so he held a position Ahab was his employer and he's and he's he holds this position with Ahab a kind of important position with him and Ahab was extremely wicked, but we're told here Obadiah feared the Lord. He feared the Lord greatly. He was someone he was a believer and Well, he actually You know took a hundred prophets when because Jezebel was trying to get rid of all the prophets of the Lord because she was A Baal worshiper and she was bringing persecution against any of the prophets of the Lord So when she was bringing persecution and having them put to death Obadiah decided you know what I'm gonna help these people out and he was high he hid a hundred prophets He said by 50 in a cave So got 50 of them to go hide in the cave and then another 50 to go hide in the cave You know when she's going through the land and trying to get rid of them So this is looked on here and you know, the narrator of the Bible is telling us, you know Which is the Holy Spirit telling us Obadiah feared the Lord greatly So we know Obadiah's heart was right with God and we see he was moved to You know help out these prophets of the Lord okay, and that was a good thing that Obadiah did but we're gonna see a little bit more about Obadiah and And and see a little bit more that we could learn from Obadiah and the type of person that he was But He definitely gets credit for doing this good deed of helping out those prophets No doubt about that Look at verse number five the bow reads and Ahab said unto Obadiah go into the land Unto all fountains of water and unto all brooks peradventure We may find grass to save the horses and mules alive that we lose not all the beast So Ahab and Obadiah are going out. He's saying you go this way I'm gonna go that way and we're just we're trying to find any grass any water anything left in the land So that our beasts don't die. I mean, there's this famine is all over the place So if we can't find some food for our animals, they're all gonna die. So that's their their mission That's what they're going out to do and then verse 6 It says so they divided the land between them to pass throughout it Ahab went one way by himself and Obadiah went another way by himself verse 7 and as Obadiah was in the way behold Elijah met him and he knew him and fell on his face and said art thou that my lord Elijah So Obadiah he feared the Lord he runs into Elijah and he's saying wow, this is Elijah Right and he falls on his face. Are you that Lord my lord Elijah? Is it really you you know, I've heard all about you in Verse 8 he says and he answered him I am Go tell thy lord behold Elijah is here. Now. This is very telling because Obadiah goes to Elijah saying art thou that my lord Elijah and Elijah answers Obadiah and says go tell thy lord referring to Ahab that I'm here and The type of person that we see that Obadiah was he was a believer But he was someone that was afraid to be a public believer. He was someone in his heart He feared the Lord in his heart, you know, he feared the Lord greatly But when it came down to making it known He didn't want anyone to know about it. He was afraid of the persecution He was afraid of the repercussions of people knowing that yes. I am a believer in the Lord. I do worship the Lord and This is the problem we have with the vast majority of Christians and it's only gonna get worse as persecution gets hotter, right? We live in a time still even right now where persecution isn't that hot and heavy Now the worst persecution that people face as believers typically comes from their own family members or friends people that you know in your life and I don't want to just completely minimize that Because it is real it is something that we experience and it's something that actually gets a lot of people scared and I even talk About what they believe because they're worried about what their family and what their friends might think of them But we see here when when Obadiah confronts Elijah and he's saying oh man You're you know, this awesome preacher is here like like is that you my lord? You know, he had respect for him, but Elijah knows like yeah, go tell your lord Because he had more fear of the man Ahab Than he really did of the Lord of God He had a lot more respect unto Ahab than he really did of Elijah Here he was he's excited to see Elijah and we're gonna see as it gets evident as we get further into this story Because look at what he says When Elijah answers him, he says go tell thy Lord behold Elijah's here. So he sends him ways and okay you go tell Ahab that I'm here What's his first thought verse number nine and he said what have I sinned that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of? Ahab to slay me What's he thinking about himself? What's gonna happen to me? Oh, how could you do this to me? You know, you're sending me. Oh, you're a great man of God Oh, I'm falling down on my face. Oh, wow. What what are you doing here? What would you know? What's God doing with you? What does he got beauty? Yeah, I need you to go tell Ahab that I'm here Oh, what are you trying to do to me get me killed? Oh you want me to go and say that you're here and he goes on to explain saying, you know We've been he's been seeking after you and every time he hears that you're somewhere, you know You're not there anymore and and he's getting oaths of the people of the land and you know and if I go and tell him that you're here then God's Gonna come and take you away somewhere else and protect you and then he's gonna kill me It's me me me what's gonna happen to me if I open up my mouth if I say anything, right? If I go and do what you're telling me to do, I'm gonna get hurt. I'm gonna be in trouble I'm gonna you know, I might die This is the attitude Unfortunately that too many believers have today they get so fearful and so scared about what's gonna happen If I actually do what I'm supposed to do We need we need to get this lesson from Obadiah and and look Is it good that he hid those prophets of the Lord in a cave and then help them out in that matter? Sure it is But I would say what are they doing hiding in a cave anyways Things wouldn't get as bad as they actually got to this point and we'll see with Elijah and we're gonna see even in the next Chapter as well, you know, he's Elijah's of the impression that he's all by himself He's all alone. You've got a man of God doing great things doing great works God. He's got God's ear He's praying to God for it not to rain. It doesn't rain. He's gonna pray for God the end of this chapter for it to rain It's gonna rain He's being being looked after he's being protected He's the only one standing up and being bold enough to say thus saith the Lord and Preaching and delivering the message that God has we know there was at least a hundred other prophets yet. He still says There's just me here Because you know why it's not that he was the only believer He was the only one standing up Everyone else was going and hiding in a cave Everyone else was going oh man, I don't know. I mean, I don't want anything bad to happen to me If I preach the Word of the Lord Now you could look at Obadiah and say well he had good reason to fear for his life and There was serious persecution Jezebel was going after and killing the prophets of the Lord, right? How much less Persecution do you face and yet you're still fearful To give someone the gospel Just to explain that. Hey, I'm a believer in Jesus Christ Yes, just yesterday. We had brother Joseph was was had a great sermon for us in the preaching class where he talked about It was this very thing about overcoming being fearful About giving the family giving the gospel to family for people that you actually know He because he was explaining it, you know, and this is true. I believe this to be true It's a lot easier to go to up to a stranger and knock on someone else's door You don't even know and preach the gospel to them sometimes than it is to talk to One of your close friends that you've known for a long time or a family member, right? Because you start fearing and wondering well if I bring this up then what's gonna happen to me, right? What's gonna happen to our relationship? What's gonna heal? What are they gonna think of me? Oh, you know he could use this example You'll maybe have a friend you've known for 10 20 years some of you've known for a long some of you grew up with And they don't know what you believe. I mean, first of all, I would say shame on you for that They ought to know why are you hiding it? Why are you living a secret life? Why are you going to church yet? Nobody seems to know about it. No one has any clue that you're a believer in Jesus Christ But secondly You have this person and you start wondering and worrying and getting scared. Well, I don't know I mean, maybe they won't want to be my friend anymore. You start having all these doubts pop up in your mind What's gonna happen our relationship my man? You might not be worried is gonna kill you Like Obadiah was worried about but you might be worried about a killing your relationship killing your friendship but you got to realize and as the credit goes to brother Joseph Freeman yesterday for preaching on this but It's true One day your friendships gonna end. I mean you're gonna die one day your friends gonna die one day and If they're not saved guess what's gonna happen? You're never gonna see that person again Do you want to have it is it really worth it to have the the Superficial friendship in this lifetime where you never bring up the gospel You never bring up Jesus Christ and you're willing to see that friend go to hell Or is it maybe a little bit more worth it to risk the friendship to gain a friend for eternity? You might lose the short-term friend, but on the other hand you might gain a friend forever That is of way more value and if you actually care about or love your friend I mean the one that you don't want to lose a relationship with anyways How could you say that you care about that person if you're not going to warn them and tell them about hell that they're facing That you know, they're facing because you know, their faith isn't in Jesus Christ That goes away for your friends family whoever you We need to overcome this fear in our lives Don't be like the Obadiah Don't live a secret Christian life There's too many people doing that. We need to be out in the open about what we believe I mean a you're given the light the light of the gospel. We need to let that light shine He didn't give you the truth. He didn't give you this knowledge He didn't give you his son Jesus Christ to hide it under a bushel To not let anyone know about it The whole point is to shine that light and to spread it in this dark perverted world and Preach the gospel and get people saved that that's the whole point and the only thing I mean the biggest thing keeping people From doing what they're supposed to be from doing what you know No, no one that's safe can listen to this sermon and say yeah, it's just not for me to preach the gospel. Yes, it is Don't lie to yourself It's all of our jobs to tell other people how to get to heaven You could sit there and make excuses all day long, but deep down inside, you know, what I'm saying is true you know, it's right and The only thing preventing you from going and doing anything about it is fear and it's a it's an unrational fear You have more fear of man than you do of God if you're not preaching the gospel to people Because you're worried about what they might think or what they might say Obadiah had somewhat somewhat of a legitimate reason to fear But even still he didn't okay. He has way more reason to fear than we do today But even his fear Was was not right and not acceptable because the Bible never teaches for us to fear man not once Not once We need to have the faith first of all that God can protect us and God's gonna sustain us and God's gonna bless us He took care of Elijah. I mean we're seeing this is evident the last chapter this chapter God is looking over those people that are standing up and saying here am I send me I'm here Lord I'm ready to be used of you God. I I'm gonna step up. I'm gonna act in faith I'm just gonna preach your word and I'm gonna let the chips fall Well, they may and I'm just gonna stand on the truth. God could protect anyone he wants to he protected Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and I got when they were faced with death He protects Elijah He pretty he kept him fed during the drought and the famine he's keeping him safe even though he's he's confronting Ahab Even when he confronts, you know the ruler of the nation the king That has the power to just Have that man executed But see the thing is he doesn't have that power unless God allows him to have that power Jesus Christ that you'd have no power over me at all Remember when Harry's grow hair to hair tries there. Don't you know that I I could set you free Or I could have you condemned you would have no power at all except that we're giving you from my father above That is where we need to have the fear in where the true power comes from If you are walking in his steps Man, what do you got to fear? Definitely not man No matter how much man might think and and puff themselves up and he even ho and hum and and get angry and and whatever else God could prevent them from doing any harm to you If God likes what you're doing and he sees that you're you're doing um, you're doing his work no problem This is a theme that we're seeing I think Elijah is a great person to look up to for that great faith and to end to see that So we see Obadiah. Let's get back into 1st Kings 18. We see Obadiah fearful. He's saying oh, well, what about me? What if I sinned what what are you asking me to do? You're asking me to go and he's gonna kill me because you're not gonna be here We don't we don't need that attitude. Let's not have that attitude of Obadiah head and Don't rely on your on your your past, you know things you've done in the past that have been good Maybe you've done something great for God in the past. You can't ride on that your whole life We need to keep doing right every day Obadiah saying and we'll see that here in a minute It's a you know, but but but didn't you know how I helped you and I hope these prophets out I did this good deed. Look you did that. However long ago Okay Right now you need to go tell Ahab that I'm here. Look what he says here in verse number 10 as the Lord thy God liveth there is no nation or kingdom Whether my lord hath not sent to seek thee and when they said he is not there He took an oath of the kingdom a nation that they found thee not and now thou say is go tell thy Lord behold Elijah is Here and it shall come to pass as soon as I am gone from thee that the Spirit of the Lord shall carry thee Whither I know not and so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find thee he shall slay me But I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth. So see he's saying In the same breath he's saying that look you're gonna be taken away and then you're and I'm gonna be I'm gonna be killed But I fear God Do you really? Verse 13 was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel through the prophets of the Lord How I hid in a hundred men of the Lord's prophets by 50 in a cave and fed them with bread and water We were told the same exact story previously by the narrator of the Bible so we know that he's not lying here he actually did it Right because we if all we had was his statement we wouldn't necessarily know I mean it could have been lying to Elijah, but we know he wasn't I mean it's told us it's it's verified. He did do this But like this is what he's relying on To show his faith and to say didn't I do this in verse 14 now thou sayest go tell thy Lord behold Elijah is here And he shall slay me And Elijah said as the Lord of hosts liveth before whom I stand I will surely show myself unto him today So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him and Ahab went to meet Elijah So now he sets up this meeting he finally that's finally enough for him to say fine I'll go and do this and thankfully Obadiah did finally go back go and tell him but you know We need to make sure we don't have this attitude. We're worried about what's gonna happen to me if I go here You know a lot of people get worried. I've had people comment even family members and You brought your family, and you know go soul winning in South Phoenix Where's like you know not the nicest area and you have a lot of crime and gang activity and things like that You went over there like yeah, I went over there You think I'm worried about what man's gonna do me and actually to be completely honest with you when I go into those neighborhoods I'm usually treated much better than I am going into the nice safe gated communities If they're a lot more willing to get me picked up and tossed out of that gate When I go into those nice areas where I don't have to worry about crime Then when I go into the ghettos well, yeah, you might have some gang bangers hanging around on the corner and They're strapped and maybe they're dealing drugs But when I walk around in that neighborhood, I'm a lot more likely to be invited in the house and given a drink of water Because the people are a lot more humble people are willing to listen And even even some of those the the thug looking guys I I'll talk to the thugs Because you know what even a lot of them listen And if you want anything to change if you expect anything to change if you don't like the situation that there's all this crime What are you gonna do hide your head in the sand or are you gonna go out there and bring them the truth? How do you expect them to change their life if they don't have Christ? Bring Him the gospel It's the only way anything good is ever going to come sit still What verse are we in here verse number 17, so we've got this meeting Sarah sit still We've got this meeting between Obed or between a hab now in Elijah Obadiah went his way and he's and he's Bringing a hab to meet him look at verse 17 and it came to pass when a hab saw Elijah that a hab said unto him Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered I have not troubled Israel But thou and thy father's house and that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and now has followed Balaam a hab knew that Elijah prayed and that it wouldn't rain He was told that So he's putting all the blame on Elijah and this is the way that people like that when you're in sin This is the most common answer they're not the most common answer the most common response to Being confronted with your sin, right? Oh, it's all it's everyone else's fault, right? Oh, this is your fault Oh everything that's happening like this is because of you. No, I have it's because of you and your sin This is actually this is actually the repercussion of you not obeying the Lord You know don't get angry at the at the man of God that's telling you This is what's gonna happen. Hey, here's the judgment. Hey, this is what's gonna happen in your life And then it comes to pass as if like they made it happen Right. Hey you go out and sleep around guess what's gonna happen You know, you're gonna get a disease you're gonna lose your your family, whatever You know God's gonna come down on you and you're gonna you might lose your job and then something like that actually happens and comes to pass No matter what you made it happen, why did you say those things I didn't make it happen You're the one that got into sin You're the one that brought it on yourself. And this is the attitude that Ahab has he's saying, you know, it's all your fault Elijah answers. No, it's not my fault That prayer wouldn't have even happened if you were doing what's right if you weren't more wicked than every other king that was before you If you're actually decided to lead this people in the way of the Lord Instead of the way of your own wicked heart and following some Devils verse number 19 now therefore send and Gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel. I love look at look at the boldness of Elijah He's speaking to the king and the king says, you know Is it you are you the one that's troubling Israel, right? He's angry with them And Elijah saying it ain't me. It's you You're the problem buddy. And now I want you go gather Israel. He's commanding the king You go gather all Israel You bring them over here and the prophets of Baal 450 and the prophets of the groves 400 which eat at Jezebel's table his wife Say go gather all these people together So I absent look at Ahab listens The you're bold you're following in God's Word. You're speaking the Word of the Lord. You got that boldness You know what's gonna happen. Sometimes you don't need to be fearing as Ahab. He'll listen to you This is what happened in the story Ahab's told what to do and he listened so Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel and Elijah came unto all the people and said how long halt ye between two opinions if the Lord be God follow him But if bail then follow him and the people answered him not a word and again This is another problem that we have in Christianity by and large today People halting between two opinions Sarah sit still People halting between two opinions Not Wanting to publicly profess what they believe There was a lot of false prophets out There's a lot of these prophets of Baal you have 450 prophets of Baal and another 400 prophets of the groves Right all preaching is bad thing. But when all Israel was gathered They didn't really want to say one way or the other Because in their hearts you knew a lot of them. They're not believing these false prophets. They're not necessarily bail worshipers But they're also not standing up for the Lord and there was a lot of people that had faith that weren't saying anything and Elijah's bringing it to a head and just saying look Which one is it? What do you believe just just come out with it? Now, I wish more people would just be honest and just come out with what they believe Sarah go sit in the back of the room right now More People need to just come out and say this is what I believe but no people are too scared today again with with You know people want to bring up. Oh, do you believe this about the Bible? Do you believe that about the Bible? Oh, can you believe you know, the big thing now when everyone gets all offended about is the homos? right the sodomites Everyone wants to love them and say oh look do you can you believe did you know that the Bible actually puts a death penalty on? It yes, I believe that. Yes. I know it says that and yeah, I'm not ashamed of it You're not gonna back me down on God. Look. It's the Word of Lord Just as much as the Bible says, you know that for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son They who so ever believed with him should not bear to ever last in life Yeah, all the Christians why jump up and down about that and proclaim that and say I love that. This is the truth I'm gonna stand on that till the day I die well Are you gonna stand on the rest of the Bible too? And not get ashamed and not get offended and not not try to make excuses for what the Bible says When God's calling out wickedness and he's calling out evil and he's saying look this is way you're supposed to properly deal with these things That the rapist needs to be put to death that the homo needs to be put to death That the kidnapper needs to be put to death. Look God's serious about this stuff Don't think that you have a greater morality than God does Because You've been brainwashed by this world into thinking that everything is okay into accepting wickedness and all forms of perversion and wickedness That is just fine. There's not a problem with it How long halt you between two opinions, which is it do you believe the Bible or not? Because if you're gonna believe the Bible you got to take it all You can't just cherry-pick what you like and what you don't like and just choose to believe these things those things that's hypocrisy You got to believe it all this statement reminds me even of Joshua, you know, unfortunately There's so many people that do this but at the very end of the book of Joshua in chapter 24 Again, he makes he makes a clear statement to him. He's saying look it's up to you I'll just read this for you turn if you like with Joshua 24 verse 14 the Bible reads now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods which your father served on the other side Of the flood and in Egypt and serve ye the Lord and if it seemed evil unto you to serve the Lord choose you this day whom you will serve whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood or The gods of the Amorites and whose land you dwell but as for me in my house, we will serve the Lord Joshua wasn't afraid to say where he stood saying look you need to determine that figure it out for yourself Are you gonna worship these other gods that can't save they can't do anything for you. Go ahead go worship them You know, I'm gonna do I'm gonna worship the Lord. I'm gonna make it known that I worship the Lord Elijah saying the same thing. He's got all the children of Israel gathered. They're saying Choose you this day. Who is it? What's right? What's the truth? Is it bail? And all these you got you got the majority there you got 450 prophets go ahead go with the crowd Or is it the Lord What Elijah does though? He sets up this event here. I love this that he's gonna say, you know what? We'll figure this out right now Notice how no one said a word beforehand Everyone's too scared to put all their eggs in one basket say well just let's just wait and see how this how this plays out Thank God there was an Elijah during this time Woe unto the people if there wasn't an Elijah With just a bunch of people too afraid to do anything Even if they were believers too afraid to say what they believe Because you know what would happen it would got worse and worse and worse the persecution we got worse and Until you got someone to stand up and fight So, I don't care what if this is popular or not, I'm just gonna preach the truth for what it is Let's keep reading here verse number 22 then said Elijah unto the people I even I only remain a prophet of the Lord But bales prophets are 450 men. So now I'm the last prophet left. There's no one else just me Just little old me here. You got 450 of you And I'm the only prophet of the Lord The odds are stacked against them and as far as numbers are concerned Verse number 23 let them therefore give us two bullocks say, okay. We'll settle this Let's get let's pick out two bulls two bullocks and let them choose one bullock for themselves You get first choice pick whichever one you like And cut it in pieces lay it on wood and put no fire under it and I will dress the other bullock and lay it on wood and put no fire under it and Call ye on the name of your gods and I will call in the name of the Lord and the God that answer is by Fire let him be God and all the people answered and said it is well spoken. So, okay. This sounds like a good idea Here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna prepare a sacrifice You pick out yours. I'm gonna dress mine We're prepared but the only thing is you can't put any fire under it, right? You could set it up. However, you want chop it up, you know, put it on your wood put it on your altars Whatever it is that you need to do Go ahead and do it But you got a little rely on your God or gods whoever you're relying on to actually Consume that sacrifice with fire So that's that's the deal he says in the God that answers by fire that is the true God and people are like, okay Let's do it So he lets them go first He says in verse 25 and Elijah said on the prophets of Baal choose you one bullet for yourselves and dress it first For year many there's a lot of you guys you guys go first Call the name of your gods, but put no fire under And they took the bullock which was given them and they dressed it and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon Saying Oh Baal hear us There was no voice Nor any that answered and they leaped upon the altar which was made and it came to pass at noon that Elijah Mocked them and said cry aloud for he is a god Either he is talking or he is pursuing or he is in a journey or peradventure He sleepeth and must be awake See how he's ridiculing them and how stupid their belief is in these false gods because they believe in idols that can't speak they can't Hear they can't do anything. I don't have any power and They're making fools of themselves Jumping up and down on the altar Oh bail and end up cutting themselves and you know doing these things that are that are like, you know self sacrificial and And when it gets really bad and this devil worship the Satan worship they end up killing their own babies Sacrificing passio the unto Molech is what we hear it from the the Canaanites what used to do They would pass their children through the fire Because that was some big sacrifice for them to show how dedicated they were to their fake devil God That they were actually committed that they would just kill their their their children And here we see him they're they're calling on an a old bail hear us and a lie Just like oh, maybe he's sleeping. You got to wake him up. Maybe maybe he went away for a little while You got to scream louder and call him back Because he knows there's no God that he knows that they don't have any power Verse 28 and they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets till the blood gushed out upon them You know when people are just cutting themselves and making all his blood gush out That is not of God. That is the satanic religion Okay, that is of the devil to be to be destroying yourself like that and causing all the you know Inflicting all this stuff upon yourself that doesn't make you any more spiritual or holy. It's actually just of Satan Let's keep reading it came to pass when midday was passed And they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that there was neither voice nor any to answer Nor any of that regarded no surprise, right? So they're there he lets them go from morning all the way until evening Do whatever you jump up and down do whatever it is. You need to do Nothing happens Nothing, they're preaching or prophesying or doing all this stuff. Nothing happens So now Elijah's realizes his turn verse 30 and Elijah said unto all the people come near enemy. Come on gather around here And all the people came near unto him and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down the altar Lord was in disarray was broken down because Of all the the persecution and in getting rid of the Lord and he says we're gonna we're gonna restore this We're gonna bring things back the way they ought to be Verse 31 and Elijah took 12 stones according to number of the tribes and sons of Jacob on whom the word of the Lord came saying Israel Shall be thy name and with the stones He built an altar in the name of the Lord and he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two measures of seed and he put the wood in order and cut the bullock in pieces and laid him on the wood and Said fill four barrels with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood now, he's proving a point Not only is the Lord going to answer by fire He's gonna answer by fire on a sacrifice that is completely drenched with water so that there is no Doubt, no question. It's not going to be one of these like somehow we got a spark to go under You know, he tricked us. He he was able to do this and God didn't do it He's saying you know what get four barrels of water and just start dumping on the on the sacrifice And then he says do it the second time and they did it the second time He says do it the third time and they did so 12 barrels of water. Just completely dousing this this this offering and He had built a trench around it too. So after he had that poured four times He fills up this whole trench was water just all over this thing water surrounding it water all over the place everywhere and It says in verse number 36 and it came to pass the time the offering of the evening sacrifice And notice he's doing this according still to when God has his offerings he's he's preparing here the an offering of the evening sacrifice an offering that is that is Prepared in a way that God wants it done Except for the water. I mean that was added as emphasis and and you know, God knows this and he's willing to perform this miracle because You know, it's it's it's definitely a good reason for it verse 36 So they came to pass the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that lied to the Prophet came near and said a Lord God of Abraham Isaac and of Israel Let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy servant and that I have done all these things at thy word Remember when I preached I think was last week and we preach this before when when the the scripture and First Chronicles that says the eyes Of the Lord goeth through all the earth Seeking for someone that's gonna that he might make himself new seeking whose whose heart is perfect with him they might make himself known and see God wants to use people so that he gets the glory and he gets a crane he gets Honor and this is exactly what Elijah now is praying unto God and say let them know This isn't for Elijah to lift himself up as this great Powerful man and look at how powerful I am and I can do this He's saying you know what God let it be known that you're God Let's let you perform this miracle Lord so that they can all see and that there's no doubt about this that Lord. You're the God He's not saying Lord. Let them fear me Lord I want to have a bunch of people following me say no We're doing all this God so that they could all see and they could all know that that there is a God in heaven And that is the Lord and he's saying that that that That they know that I am thy servant in verse 36 and that I have done all these things at thy word that I am just following you and I'm doing what you Told me to do verse 37 hear me o Lord hear me That this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou has turned their heart Back again, then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice And the wood and the stones and the dust and licked up the water that was in the trench fire falls out from heaven just Everything completely consumed gone drenched sacrifice all the water even the last of that water in that trench No doubt about who the Lord is about who the God is and When the people saw it they fell on their faces and they said the Lord he is the God the Lord he is the God and Anytime you're gonna find all throughout the Bible anytime anyone is confronted with even the slightest bit of the presence of the Lord they fall on their faces and They get real humble real quick That's why the Bible says that that every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord of the glory of God the Father I don't care how proud and boastful the the the the most boastful person on this planet that wants to mock God and ridicule people who believe the Bible one day they will be on their knees and on their face Saying Jesus is God Jesus is the Lord to glory of God the Father That will happen No Doubt and we don't have to worry about it. So when when people get their haughty puffed up attitude You don't need to you even need to worry about it. No sweat Go ahead be proud We know what's gonna happen one day and that's why knowing the terror knowing therefore the terror of the Lord we persuade men Right, we go out and try to pray. Look look man, you know, you may think this all big joke But it's not the way it's gonna be in the end you know, we try to change people's minds in our hearts, but At the end of the day it's not you know, that's gonna happen and anyone who's confronted with the Lord Realizes the power really quickly And they fall down on their face and that's what happened here these people fall down and then Elijah verse 40 says Elijah said unto Them take the prophets of Baal Let not one of them escape and they took them and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and slew them there This is a big event that happens and God uses this to get the people's hearts back right with the Lord what the oh They've strayed so far and now they're just like wow, you know what? Yeah, this is right now I'm willing to put all my eggs in this basket and say yes, I believe the Lord Because of this big but see they needed this big event to happen You shouldn't have to be waiting on a miracle from God For you to show your faith or to even have that faith in God You need it. We ought to have it like Elijah did beforehand. We know God's capable of doing all this stuff You shouldn't have to have this event to happen in your life before you actually get motivated to do something for him By thing it's interesting here too and you see this throughout the Bible and you have men of God You know, don't be deceived by the way The world's gonna try to tell you a man of God should be and what they should be like Men In the by the men of God in the Bible were men And they weren't afraid to do the dirty tasks or that do the hard things no matter what it is You have meek men you have men that are humble Elijah was humble. He gave God all the credit But when it came time to putting down those those false wicked prophets of Baal He did it He did what he was called on to do Now I'm not saying we need to go out and start killing all the false prophets out there But just get it through your head that Samuel Elijah. These are men of God That did what needed to be done according to the Lord. They're in their time You know that that this is this is what needed to be done. They weren't just some limp-wristed, you know Faggot town and you know guy that's that's just love everybody all the time no matter what They cared about people they love people Elijah cared about people he cared about the Lord more than anything But I mean you go you go through the Bible look at all the examples I preach the entire sermon on them you look at John the Baptist you look at these men men of God They weren't wimps They all had boldness to call out sin and in the call like they saw it no matter who they were talking to whether it Be a king or governor or or any random person Pharisee, whoever They're willing to say this is what God says. This is what the Bible says and Sometimes there's not a nice way of putting things It's not a nice way to tell someone that they're going to hell there really isn't Yes, but it has to be said It's not a nice way of saying look adultery is a wicked sin And you ought not to be doing that because the Bible says so Don't get fooled into people thinking like oh you're so judgmental look it's what God said is what the Bible says Now it doesn't mean you nitpick every single thing that every person does that's wrong every every sign fraction But I mean we're talking about some big things here. You don't you know You don't you don't need to worry about what other people are saying we do what's right verse number 41 Finish up here and Elijah said unto Ahab get thee up Eat and drink for there is a sound of abundance of rain so Ahab went up to eat and to drink and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel and he cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees look at The humility he cast himself down on the earth. You've got his face between his knees He's going to God now again in prayer And he's praying for that rain like we saw in James chapter 5 when it when it's referred This story is referred to in his prayer for it not to rain in prayer to rain again verse 43 and said to his servant go up now look toward the sea and He went up and looked and said there is nothing and he said go again seven times and this again shows you that Elijah was not Wondering whether God was going to hear him He knew and was expecting the answer to his prayer when he got on his face and prayed for God to send that rain again All he was doing when he sent his servant. He was just wondering like is it right now and When it wasn't he didn't say oh man. God didn't hear my prayer. I don't know what I'm gonna do. He didn't give up He prayed again. He said, you know what go again and try again go again. And he is seven times, you know six times He got the answer. No, I don't see anything God's not answering my prayer God's answer your prayers, you know, maybe you're doing something wrong look He knew and expected it was gonna happen and it took the seventh time But then it finally was there and right away he knew he was just waiting from the sea and he's and his servant came back and then he says Verse 44 and it came to pass at the seventh time that he said behold There arises a little cloud out of the sea like a man's hand. That's all he had to hear He's like, oh, there's this little cloud coming. It's kind of like a man's hand And And he said go up say unto Ahab prepare thy chariot and get thee down that the rain stopped You know, he's like this is gonna be a bit. This is gonna be a serious rain Go tell Ahab right now because of the you know He finally started to see a cloud coming and it's like it Says it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heaven was black with clouds and wind and there was a great rain and Ahab rode and went to Jezreel so that is so this huge massive storm comes and And the Bible says in the hand of Lord was on Elijah and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel And the last point here we learn from this is don't be dismayed don't be discouraged When you're praying to God, it doesn't seem like your prayers being answered Because it's all gonna come in God's time and if you're doing what God has for you do if you're walking right if you're if you're if you're doing the things that he's Asking you to do and you're listening to him and you pray to him He's hearing you. He will hear you There's all kinds of reasons why they may not happen exactly at the moment you expect it to happen But don't think that it's fall. Your prayers are falling on deaf ears When Daniel was praying he was praying to get this understanding of the vision in What chapter was that maybe nine or ten He was praying unto God and It was 21 days after when when he was approached by the angel to explain to him the vision that he had and he was told that he's like Look from the very when you were still praying That the the command came for me to come and talk to you He says but but the Prince of Persia withstood me for 21 days There was an angel sent to Daniel as soon as he started praying to God that prayer was heard and being answered the devil stood in the way and Was fighting against him and he said it wasn't until Michael the Archangel. Okay, you know Michael helped me out And now I'm here. It took me three weeks to get here, but I'm here and and I'm here's the answer to your prayer There's all kinds of things going on that we don't even know about We Don't know about so don't let that discourage you and you know, we're praying to God you're saying God things aren't happening I don't understand. You know, I'm doing what's right. I don't have any major sin in my life I'm doing what you got me to do Lord. I'm listening to you. I'm reading my Bible every day, but I need help in this area Why aren't you helping me God? There's always a reason and never ever doubt or worry that that God's not hearing your prayer because he hears you You may have to be looking for it seven times, but pray and be expectant pray knowing that God's here in your voice and And as long as your prayers according to God's will which I mean Elijah knew his prayer was according to God's will He was doing everything he was according to the Word of the Lord God had been had been communicating with them what he was supposed to be doing a Lot of lessons to be learned in this chapter We need to get that boldness. Don't be you know What Obadiah is great when he when he hid the prophets and trying to help out but we need to do more You know, it's a shame that the condition got to the way it was in Elijah's day to begin with that nobody was standing up Why would you not say what you believe Unless you're embarrassed or ashamed of it Ultimately, what what what else what other reason really is there? You're worried about something that might happen some bad that might happen to you as a result of your belief As a result of your belief Well, if your belief is in the Lord that you we already show I already showed you that that's that's kind of a silly You know way of looking at it. We need to be more concerned with what how God thinks and what man thinks and then have that faith and We have no reason to be scared of even if the prophets of Baal are 450, even if you're talking to a king It doesn't matter We need more Elijah's We need that spirit of Elijah in our church and in all all the Bible believing churches across this country And across the world Imagine what could be done with that spirit It's power eyes have a word of prayer Dear Heavenly Father Lord, we thank you so much for these great stories in the Bible dear Lord Help us to realize and understand that even though this is something that happened in the past dear God that you don't change That you're still the same God that that these things are all still possible These aren't just this isn't just dead history something that happened a long time ago that that can't happen anymore Lord You're still looking for people to use you still are looking for your name to be glorified Mightily and that the people would know that you are the Lord dear God We are fully confident that you are capable performing just as many miracles today as you ever have been as ever has been done Dear Lord, we know that you're able to do that Lord use us to bring glory and honor unto your name God help us to be that great shining light an Example to preach the Word of the Lord to preach the gospel unto the lost dear God help us never to waver at a falter Or to back down or to sidestep what what you have for us to do dear God help us to remain strong and vigilant God build this church lead people here that the same heart and the same mind dear Lord and and just Encourage us and stir up our spirits to do what's right. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen