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his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, I thank you for tonight you God for this house Lord and I ask that you be with our hearts God. I just pray that you use tonight's sermon to to touch our hearts God and change our lives God. Be with our pastor God and strengthen him and from the very spirit Lord we love you. Jesus let me pray. Amen. Amen. All right we're there and uh first kings chapter number 18. You're gonna have to turn me up a little bit if you don't mind. First kings chapter 18 and uh don't think that because I'm losing my voice we're not going to preach tonight all right um kind of reminds me I was I said this morning reminds me of the early days back when I was when we first started the church I would lose my voice every Sunday night you can I remember my wife would make these teas and things every you know because I because I'd leave the music in the morning I'd do the announcements I'd preach I'd leave the music at night do the announcements preach about time the service was over my voice was gone and then the goal was for me to recover my voice for the Wednesday night service you know and then you know and then on Wednesday night I'd preach and then try to recover my voice back for the for the service so I'm saying that to say this that uh I'm still going to preach a full sermon tonight all right so just because uh my voice is a little weak don't worry about in fact let's just all go to my house you know I'm just kidding and that's uh just like the old days all right uh first kings 18 look at verse one there that was this and it came to pass after many days now if you remember last week we talked about at the end of chapter 17 we saw elijah resurrect the first resurrection in the body and in the bible where elijah resurrected the widow's son from the dead and we talked about how to have personal revival in your life when things die when you die spiritually when churches die spiritually how do we revive them and we took some practical lessons there from elijah now we're moving forward in the story and here it says it came to pass after many days that the word of the lord came to elijah in the third year so if you remember the uh the famine lasted three and a half years so we're actually in the three and a half year mark here where the famine is getting ready to be over and the bible says that the word of the lord came to him saying go show thyself unto ahab because if you remember for the last three and a half years elijah has basically been hiding from ahab at the commandment of the lord the lord has been commanding him to hide himself from ahab now later on in the series we're going to see uh elijah hiding himself but the lord has not commanded him to hide so you know nothing wrong with hiding if god commands you to hide but when you're supposed to be out there boldly preaching and you're hiding that's not a good thing either and we'll look at that later but here he says go show thyself unto ahab and i will send rain upon the earth and elijah went to show himself unto ahab and there was a sore famine in samaria so remember there's been no rain no dew for three and a half years people are dying animals are dying things are dying notice verse three and ahab called obadiah now obadiah is the character that we're going to look at uh look at tonight i want you to notice what the bible says about obadiah ahab called obadiah which was the governor of his house now when the bible says that obadiah was the governor of his house he's saying that obadiah was the governor of ahab's house what that means is that obadiah was the like the steward of the house he was in charge of the house same thing as joseph remember joseph he was in charge of the household of potiphar and he basically ran everything for potiphar this man obadiah was the governor he he ran the household for ahab the king now you know that's a that's a pretty you know it'd be like the chief butler you know in the white house that runs the entire household for the president it's a pretty high up there you know prestigious job that this man has but he has it for a wicked king and ahab called obadiah which was the governor of his house but i want you to notice what the bible says about obadiah now obadiah feared the lord greatly and the verse goes on there but i want you to notice that obadiah was a believer obadiah was saved that's what you and i would say he was a follower of jehovah god in fact the bible says that he feared the lord greatly he loved god and you know and in this passage what we see in obadiah is we see a believer and i think obadiah was probably as far as men are concerned was a good man and he was a saved man and he feared the lord but he was a carnal christian he was a compromising christian and tonight what i want to do is i want to just teach you some lessons and the title sermon is this characteristics of a carnal christian and when we're when we use the word carnal that's a bible word we won't run references you can look those up later if you'd like but the word carnal is the word carnal refers to the flesh when we're talking about a carnal christian we're talking about a christian who's not walking in the spirit but they are walking in the flesh the word carnal means flesh if you speak spanish you know that the the spanish word for for flesh or for me is carne right you go down and you order a carne asada burrito right or whatever and that's what that word means when we're talking about a carnal christian we're talking about a christian that is walking in the flesh a christian that is worldly a christian that is living for the world and and here's what i want you to understand and here's kind of the point of of tonight's sermon i want you to use the sermon tonight as we go through and i'm going to give you four characteristics of a carnal christian i want you to use these as a test and ask yourself are you a carnal christian do these characteristics apply to you are you someone that could be characterized as obadiah or are you someone that could be characterized as elijah notice verse 3 first kings 18 and verse 3 the bible says this and ahab called obadiah which was the governor of his house of ahab's house now i'll die for the lord greatly for it was so when jesabel cut off the prophets of the lord because if you remember when when uh when elijah pronounced that there would be no reign or do for three and a half years jesabel took it upon herself to basically kill not just elijah but all of the prophets of the lord and it says here when jesabel cut off the prophets of the lord notice what obadiah does and i'm not going to talk about this right now we're going to come back to it but notice what he does that obadiah took in a hundred prophets and hit them by 50 in a cave and fed them with bread and water look at verse five and ahab said unto obadiah go into the land unto all the fountains of water and unto all brooks paired venture that word means perhaps he's saying perhaps i want you to notice what the bible says here perhaps we notice that word we that's ahab and obadiah perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and the mules alive that notice what it says we that's ahab and obadiah lose not all the bees so i want you to notice as we begin tonight the first characteristic of a carnal christian is this a carnal christian or carnal christians have mixed loyalties they are not fully in for either side because if as we look at obadiah i want you to notice you you look at him and you say oh he's on ahab's side and ahab called obadiah which was the governor of his house right look at in verse five it says pair venture we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive that we lose not all of the beasts and you say well obadiah must be on the bad side he must be on the wrong side he's on the side of god's enemies but i want you to notice he's also on the side of god's friends because look at verse four for it was so when jesabel cut off the prophets of the lord that obadiah took 100 prophets and hit them by 50 in a cave and fed them with bread and water here's what i want you to understand obadiah is part of the time helping ahab helping jesabel helping them wage war against the prophets of the lord and part of the time he's helping the prophets he's aiding the prophets he's undermining ahab and he's undermining jesabel you say that doesn't make sense but here's what you need to understand a carnal christian will have mixed loyalties they will not be fully sold out to any any one side they'll play for the wrong team half the time and they'll play for the good team half the time they'll be loyal to the world half the time and they'll be loyal to the things of god half the time and it's interesting because as you as you notice leaders in the word of god they're often trying to get people to choose a side in fact next week we're going to talk about how to accomplish great things for god and we're going to study the great passage there of the showdown in mount carmel but i want you to notice in first kings 18 and verse 21 and you can just turn me down just a little bit if you don't mind you can turn me down just a little bit first kings 18 21 notice what the bible says this is we're fast forwarding to mount carmel but i want you to notice what elijah says to the people that was what it says that elijah came unto all the people and said notice what he says 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 you can see the frustration in elijah but he's not only dealing with this in in regards to obadiah but he's dealing with it in regards to the entire nation of israel and he's asking them he's saying how long halt ye between two opinions that's what he's saying why don't you choose a side why don't you pick a side why don't you decide you're going to just sell out for god or why don't you decide you're going to sell out for the world but pick a side pick a side go to joshua chapter 24 joshua 24 you're there in first kings 18 keep your place there that's our text for tonight we'll go to joshua 24 look at verse number 15 we see joshua the great leader saying a similar thing to the children of israel joshua 24 in verse 15 says this and if it seemed evil unto you to serve the lord notice what he says similar to elijah he says choose you this day whom ye will serve whether the gods which your father served that were on the other side of the flood or the gods of the amorites in whose land you dwell but as for me and my house we will serve the lord see joshua said look you can't decide which way you want to go you can't decide whether you want to just give yourself over to the world or whether you want to give yourself over to god and joshua says i've decided he said as for me in my house we will serve the lord but he says why don't you choose you this day whom you will serve elijah said how long are ye between two opinions go to revelation chapter 3 last book in the bible should be easy to find revelation chapter 3 you say how does this apply to us tonight and you know what as i look on the landscape of christianity today you know what i see i see a lot of christians with mixed loyalties they don't want to choose a side they don't want to decide they kind of want to come and be a part of something like this but they kind of want to keep their foot in the world they kind of want to get sold out and be a soul winner and be three to thrive and and read the bible but they also just want to just keep their connections and quit and keep their attachments and here's what i'm saying if that's you tonight will you just kind of feel like you're pulled in both directions you're not sure which way to go you may be a cardinal christian your problem might be that you've got mixed loyalties and you need to just choose a side now what i'm about to tell you may sound like it's non-pastoral advice but i want you to notice that it's the advice that god gives us revelation chapter 3 verse 14 and unto the angel church of the laodiceans right we've been looking at these churches in asia a lot in all of the sermons recently jesus said these things saith the amen the faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of god and i want you to notice that where it says these things say the amen it's an interesting thought there because the word amen means that i acknowledge and i agree with what's being said when a man in a church service says amen to the preaching what they're saying is that i agree and i want to put my two cents in to say that i agree with what's being said and you know men ought to say amen you know if you like the sermon if you like what's being said you know encourage the preacher every once in a while and say amen now the bible says let the women learn in silence without subjection so the women aren't supposed to say amen all right they're not supposed to speak during the preaching hour that's what the bible teaches if you don't like it that's what the word of god says all right now you know you say pastor we want to encourage you to then you know get a hankie or i don't know you know uh do something but but don't say amen but the men should say amen but here's what's interesting you know amen is basically my approval i agree amen i agree with what's being said i agree with what's going on and what's interesting that whenever jesus uh uh you know is given a description before one of these churches in asia the description has to do with what he's about to teach them and he says the bible says unto the angel of church of the oseans right these things saith the amen here's what that means at the end of the day it is only jesus's approval that we're looking for see when i get to the end of my life when i stand at the judgment seat of christ and god looks at what i've accomplished in my life the things done in my body whether they're woodhane stubble or gold silver and precious uh uh stones you know when i get to the end of my life all that will matter is that jesus looks at me and says amen i approve of you i approve of your life and notice what he says unto the angel right these things say at the amen the faithful and true witness the beginning of the creation of god i know thy works now notice he's saying the one who's going to give you the approval of your life he says i know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot you can't choose a side you can't decide whether you want to be in or out you can't decide whether you want to be cold or hot you can't decide and here's what jesus is saying he's saying choose you this day whom you will serve he's saying how long he between two opinions he says look i know thy works that thou art neither cold nor hot i would thou that's what he says people often debate about what's the good side the bad side is the good side cold is a bad side cold is a good side hot is bad side hot some people say they're both good or they're both bad or they're whatever it's just an illustration but here's what's interesting he says i would he said you know i would rather i would rather instead of you being lukewarm he said i would that were cold or hot he said i'd rather you be on the wrong side completely than on both sides partially so then because our lukewarm and either cold or hot i was feeling out of my mouth here's the non-pastoral advice that i probably shouldn't be giving you but i'm going to give it to you anyway if you find yourself pulled between the world and money between the world between god and and money or god and pleasure or god and whatever idol you've made up in your mind that you want to serve and that you're often upset about and depressed about and and you'd rather be there and go there that's what god says god says go ahead and just give yourself to pleasure like solomon go ahead and just give yourself to the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes the pride of life see how that turns out for you here's what god is saying when a christian is half in half out he says that makes me sick he said so then because our lukewarm and either cold nor hot i will spew the out of my mouth here's what he's saying choose a side choose a side and today you have christians who who they say well i want to be on the side of god and then you and then you preach certain things they're like well i don't know about that i don't know about all that sodomite preaching i don't know about all those dress standards i don't know about all you know all those i don't know that i agree look if it's in the word of god why don't you just get sold out and say if god said it that's good enough for me if it's in the bible that's all i need you know we used to say if god said it i believe it and therefore you know it's true but the truth matter is if god said it it's true it doesn't matter if you believe it or not but here's what god says is why don't you just get sold out and look just in life why don't you just get sold out why don't you just get sold out some of you are like half in and half out all the time trying to decide i want to stay in this thing i want to stick in this thing why don't you just decide for once in your life i'm going to choose a side because a carnal christian will never excel here's why remember what jay remember jacob said to son rubin he said unstable as waters thou shalt not excel james said a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways if you're just constantly trying to decide am i king james or not am i for soul winning or not do i believe in eternal security or not am i for separation if you're just constantly look you will fail as a christian because you're as unstable all your way neither just choose just decide and by the way let me just say this if there are things that we teach here at verity baptist church that you're not in 100 agreements with shut your mouth no no you don't need to air that you say well why not we believe that before you got here we didn't change things up on you when you got why when i got here half the church was a bunch of homos and then pastor went crazy no no we've been preaching against the homos since you got here we've been preaching that women should not wear pants since you got here we've been preaching the king james bible since you got here we've been preaching soul winning since you got here we've been having sunday night services since you got here wednesday night service and all of a sudden well i don't know we should be doing then you just shut your mouth why don't you just choose a side and shut your mouth why don't you just decide i'm in or i'm not and if you say well i don't know well choose you this day whom you will serve decide because a carnal christian has mixed loyalties they're not fully in anywhere they're not fully given to anything they're kind of helping the enemy half the time and then they're kind of helping the man of god half the time and they're not accomplishing anything go back to first kings 18 first kings 18. i said number one tonight a carnal christian they have mixed loyalties and look i don't want i don't want to see you go off into adultery i don't want to see you go off into all sorts of sin i don't want to see you do that but here's what god says god jesus said you know why don't you pick a side he said i would not work cold or hot at least i know where you stood at least i know where you stand why don't you notice not only does a carnal christian have mixed loyalties but a carnal christian places a priority on the temporal over the eternal notice what's happening in the story verse two and elijah went to show himself unto hav and there was a sore famine in samaria the bible says here that there was a sore famine that there was a strong famine and i want you to notice and you know this already but people were dying in fact just go back to first king 17 we saw this story earlier but notice what it says in first king 17 and verse 12 first king 17 and verse 12 says this and she said this is the widow woman remember we met the widow woman as the lord thy god liveth i have not a cake but an handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruise and behold i am gathering two sticks that i may go in and dress it for me and my son that we may eat it and die people are dying during this famine this woman is getting ready to serve her last meal make her last meal and die and i want you to notice what oba dai is doing while people are dying why don't you notice what oba dai is doing go look at first kings 18 verse 5 first kings 18 verse 5 and they have said unto oba diah go into the land unto all fountains of water and unto all brooks peradventure we may find grass to save the widow woman no men and women that are dying children that are dying no that we may save the horses and the meals alive that we may not lose all the beasts i'm thinking why don't you why aren't you cutting up those meals and horses and maybe you know at least feed feed something to these people but you see what a carnal christian does you know what carnal christians do they place a priority on the temporal over the eternal see they look at a human being with an eternal soul and they'll say no i'm not going to spend my time trying to invest in a soul that will spend eternity somewhere in heaven or hell i'm going to invest my tribe trying to save the meals and the horses trying to save my possessions trying to save my things and here's what i just said a carnal christian when they have to decide between the temporal and the eternal they will choose the temporal every time a carnal christian prioritizes the temporal every time a carnal christian puts more emphasis on that which they possess which they hold which they see than on that which is god's go to second corinthians chapter four second corinthians chapter four and while you go there let me say this i realize in this story please listen to me i realize in this story that ovidiah because this is what somebody will say somebody will leave a stupid comment somewhere well ovidiah was just doing his job listen to me very carefully there are some jobs that christians should not have you think god was pleased with ovidiah working for ahab you think god was pleased with ovidiah working for jezebel we have this thing in america and in christianity that like you know our money you know we serve the almighty dollar and you know talking about money and talking about it's like the it's like the golden cap that you can't touch and even christians today just bow their knee to money and worship money and worship their jobs and you can't tell someone no christians are not worth their no that's not a job for christians no that's not look listen to me carefully there are some jobs that christians should not have i mean let me just help some of you guys out some of you young men looking for jobs out there let me just give you we're going to take a break from the sermon let me just give you three principles for choosing the right job when you go to find the job it should be an honest job say pastor what do you mean by that it should not be a sinful job no christian needs to be working at a bar i mean is that's that right is that radical christians should not work at a bar christians should not work at a casino christians should not work at a club christians there's just some places that christians shouldn't work but today you know you're like well pastor now you're getting all too you know radical no no no there's some places christians doing work you know what if you're looking for a job look for an honest job well they say they're hiring at the weed dispensary get right with god well they said they're hiring at the liquor store no you know what it should be an honest job but let me say this when you're looking for a job you should look for a job that allows you to prioritize god if you're going to go get yourself a job that's going to keep you from church for the next seven years you need to get right with god i i literally know people right now right now who are depressed and discouraged because they took a job against the advice of godly people and they're just depressed i haven't been to church in a year and a half and it's like yeah well yeah we told you that and you're backslitting and you're worldly and you're serving mammon there's some look i'm not saying that what people do are back let me just tell you something help your kids with this you know i don't you know i don't want my kids to be surgeons oh well surgeons i mean they're highly respected and they make a lot of money yeah they never go to church either i don't want my kids to be in air traffic control well pastor you matters don't you know air traffic controllers make 120 000 a year yeah they never go to church either you understand what i'm saying go ahead and serve money if you want and like solomon you'll say i hate my life there are some jobs you say pastor what kind of jobs do you you know encourage christians to get here's the kind of jobs i encourage christian the kind that you can work from nine to five monday through friday and they allow you to prioritize god because in case you forgot that's why we're here job your job is a tool that allows you to provide for your family and serve god and when you get those mixed up and your life becomes about work and money you're a carnal christian because the carnal christian will always if they have to decide between the temporal and the spiritual they'll choose a temporal every time it should be an honest job it should be some of you kids listening i don't know if something you can do josh and joel are you listening where's josh and joel are you listening you know you you young kids are you listening when you go and look for a job it should be an honest job don't work for ahab it should be a job that allows you to guide and let me say this it should be a job that allows you to spend time with your family if you're taking on a job that you just never see your family for weeks and weeks or you're just never around or all you do is show up and go to bed and wake up in the morning and you know days go by before you have a conversation with your kids you need a different job you need to understand what the priorities are of a christian and the priorities of a christian are god wife husband family that's it you put god first and you put family first and you know and you say well well you know pastor you want me to work at home depot or loaves you know i'd rather work at loaves and be right with god and have some job that pays me two hundred thousand and i don't see my wife and i don't see my kids and i don't go soul wedding and i don't spend time with god there's just some jobs that christians shouldn't have i make it am i making my point but see the carnal christian see the carnal christian will walk out here i can't believe he would say that yeah because you're carnal that's why because the carnal christian will prioritize the temporal over the eternal every time i'm just here to tell you i'm not saying surgeons are bad people i know you know next week some surgeon is going to walk in as a visitor and you guys are going to say stuff to them i'm not saying they're bad people i'm not saying they're certain jobs they're not bad people but they're just not jobs that christians should have because a job the christian house should be an honest job should be a job that allows you to prioritize god doesn't the Bible say beseeching first the kingdom of god doesn't the Bible say that in all things he should have the preeminence and it should be a job that allows you to spend time with your family because that's why you're here look if church if church ever got to the place where i couldn't spend the time that i need to spend with my wife and kid i would resign because god placed me here you know to pastor but you know what god placed me here to pastor after he placed me here to be her husband and their father and we as christians need to just get our priorities straight carnal christians will have mixed loyalties they'll not be fully in on either side they'll be lukewarm they'll just kind of go here and they're kind of go there carnal christians will place their priorities on the temporal over the eternal and look you just if you got a job with ahab put in your two weeks and resign because there's just some jobs that christians shouldn't have number three go back to first kings 18 if you're not there notice verse six so they divided the land between them to pass throughout it ahab went one way by himself and obadiah went another way by himself and as obadiah was in the way behold elijah met him and he knew him and fell on his face and said now i want you to notice the wording here notice what it says elijah met him and he knew him and fell on his face and said here's what he said art thou that my lord elijah this is obadiah he says art thou that my lord the word lord means boss you're my boss he's looking at elijah the man of god he's saying are you my lord elijah are you my boss elijah are you the man that got placed in my life for me to take orders from spiritually my spiritual leader elijah and i want you to notice how elijah he doesn't take a lot from people verse eight he says and he answered him i am he said are you my lord elijah he said i am go he said i got attached for you go and then he says this tell thy lord elijah is here i want you to understand what's going on here obadiah says elijah my lord elijah says i'm not your lord if i was your boss if i was your spiritual leader you give me the lip service that i'm the spiritual leader that got placed in your life if you were listening to my preaching you wouldn't be working for ahab he said go tell thy lord here's what he's saying ahab's your lord you you can say you can say that you're following god and you're following the man of god and you're following the things of god but he said i know the truth that your lord is ahab and i've got a message for him go tell thy lord behold elijah is here i said number one carnal christians have mixed loyalties number two carnal christians place priorities on the temporal over the eternal but number three carnal christians say one thing and do another carnal christians will say the right things but they'll do the wrong thing go to matthew 15 first book in the new testament should be fairly easy to find matthew 15 when you get to matthew just put your finger there put a ribbon there or something because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it matthew 15 verse 7 hypocrites well did isaias prophesy of you obadiah saying notice what he says this people drive nigh unto me with their mouth and honors me with their lips but their heart is far from me so you can sit there and say oh yeah jesus is my lord or you know very baptist church that's my pastor you know what forget all that are you following what the bible teaches are you actually taking your orders from ahab in the world because carnal christians carnal christians will say one thing and they'll do another thing they'll talk about how man i'm gonna start tithing but they never actually do it i'm gonna start soul winning but they never actually do it i'll see you on wednesday night pastor but they never actually show up they say one thing they do another they say one thing but their actions reveal another and here you have obadiah saying my lord elijah and elijah says i'm not your lord ahab is because he jesus said see jesus does not jesus does not take for granted that we love him see the bible takes for granted that god loves us for god so loved the world but then jesus says this if ye love me keep my commandments you say how can i prove my love for god keep his commandments well what if i tell him i love him but i don't keep his commandments then you don't love him you're paying lip service to him you're calling him lord you're saying he's in charge but really you're in charge or the world's in charge or ahab's in charge because a carnal christian will say one thing and they'll do another keep your place there in in matthew go back to first kings we're talking about carnal christians carnal christians have mixed loyalties they're not fully on any one side they're not they they they they play on the world's team and then they play on god's team they try to be on both teams and you know what jesus said he says i will spew thee out of my mouth i would thou work cold or hot carnal christians place a priority on the temporal while people are dying obediah is looking for horses for grass for horses and you know what as people are dying and going to hell you know what carnal christians do they golf they garden they hike they they they go camping they do you said none of those things are sinful but if you do those things and you don't go and preach the gospel they are sinful i'm not saying you have to go on saturday morning we got sunday you know so what do we have thursday so when you tell us when you want to go we'll try to make it happen we you go wherever you want whenever you want here's what i'm saying if you're busy doing all sorts of temporal things and walking by the lost and just don't care you're a carnal you're a carnal christian carnal christians are willing here's point number four carnal christians are willing to serve god please understand this they're willing to serve god but they're not willing to sacrifice for god look at first kings 18 and they have called obediah which was the governor of his house i want you to know something else says obediah feared the lord greatly and it's true obediah really did fear the lord and we know that because in verse 4 for it was so when jessabel cut off the prophets of the lord that obediah took in hundred prophets and hid them by 50 in a cave and fed them with bread and water look obediah wanted to serve god if he could help he wanted to help if he could help save a hundred prophets of the lord he did it he the bible says he took him to a cave he hid them he fed them he wanted to serve them he wanted to serve he wanted to serve god's people he wanted to serve god this was you say what because obediah feared the lord greatly but i want you to notice something that the bible tells us about this obediah look at verse seven again and as obediah was in the way behold elijah met him and he knew him and fell on his face and said art thou my lord elijah and he answered and said and he answered him i am go tell thy lord behold elijah is here and he said notice over that response what have i sinned that thou wouldst deliver thy servant into the hand of ahab to slay me he says elijah why are you asking me to go do this errand for you you know if i go and tell ahab that elijah's here he's gonna kill me and the question i have for ahab i thought elijah was your lord is this how you takes orders from your boss he says oh okay well go tell your go tell ahab that i'm here and he's like i'm not gonna do that and that shows you that carnal christians do say and do not but here he says he says you know if i go and tell elijah and tell ahab that elijah's here he's gonna kill me look at verse 10 as the lord thy god liveth there is no action no nation or kingdom whether my notice how those statements reveal his heart my lord talking about ahab have not sent to seek thee and when they said he is not here he took an oath of the kingdom and nation and they found me not here's what he's saying ahab has been looking for you everywhere he's gone into foreign nations looking for you and when they when you were not found he made them swear that they were not aiding and abetting you that if they that if you were found there he would see that as an act of war he would see that as an act of aggression and now verse 11 now says go tell thy lord behold elijah is here you say well what's the big deal here's the big deal here's what you need to understand ahab has been looking for elijah for three and a half years and if obadiah his governor shows up and says hey um elijah sent me a message saying that he wants to meet you the first question that ahab is going to ask how do you know elijah and if you knew him if you knew if you can communicate with him why haven't you done so we've been looking for see obadiah was afraid that he was going to get associated with elijah see obadiah is fine with serving the lord he's fine with helping the prophets of the lord he's fine with hiding the prophets of the lord and giving them water and giving them bread he's fine with serving the lord he just doesn't want to sacrifice for the lord he just doesn't want to suffer for the lord he just doesn't want to lose his job for the lord look at verse 12 and it shall come to pass as soon as i am gone from thee that the spirit of the lord shall carry thee whether 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 for my youth he said did obadiah really fear the lord well look the narrator who's the holy spirit tells us that obadiah feared the lord greatly the narrator here obadiah himself says that he sir that he he said thy servant fear the lord for my youth so i'm not doubting that obadiah feared the lord here's what you need to understand obadiah feared the lord he just feared the world more he feared god he just feared ahab more he was more afraid of ahab than he was of god he was more afraid of what ahab would do to him than what god would do to him verse 13 was it not told my lord the what i did when jessabel slew the prophets of the lord how i hidden hundred men of the lord's prophets by 50 in a cave and fed them with bread and water and now thou sayest go tell thy lord behold elijah is here and he shall slay me see obadiah had his limits he was willing to serve the lord but he's not going to sacrifice for him he was willing to serve the lord but he's not going to suffer for him he was willing to serve the lord but he's not going to lose his job for him go to matthew chapter 10 matthew chapter 10 see obadiah feared the lord greatly but he feared the world more obadiah feared the world greatly but he feared the lord more and and you know what go back to keep your place there in matthew 10 go back to first kings 18 let me show you something real quickly matthew 10 and then go back to first kings 18 there are carnal christians today who they don't mind serving the lord they'll serve the lord but if they have to suffer for the lord that's a different story and what's interesting to me is that a ha you know obadiah here is the specific example is i don't want to lose my job you know it's funny because back in 2016 we had a big protest and we had we had people who served the lord they didn't mind serving the lord man they would go soloing with us they'd show up on sunday morning and sunday night wednesday night they'd lead the music they'd preach sermons they'd serve the lord but protests news cameras i i gotta get out i can't lose my job okay obadiah and people say pastor how many times are you gonna bring that up you know if you don't like me bringing it up you might as well just go somewhere else because i don't aim on not bringing that up for a long time i mean god wrote it in his holy word about obadiah you say pastor what do you think about all the people that quit church during the protest because they were afraid they'd lose their job here's what i think they're carnal they're worldly you say well i think they feared the lord they may have but they feared the world more i think they loved god they might have but they loved themselves more i think their heart no their heart was desperately awakened above all things who can know him and and so is yours obadiah said i'll serve i'll give i'll do it as long as it's secret as long as nobody knows but if it's going to cost me something then count me out i know i said you're my lord elijah but i'm not going to do what you ask and you say well what do you call that a carnal christian matthew chapter 10 look at verse 28 matthew chapter 10 verse 28 and fear not them which kill the body i want you to understand the context jesus is talking about not fearing people he says fear not them which kill the body now why would jesus tell us not to fear them would kill the body here's why because all the world can do please listen to me all the world can do to you is kill you that's the worst they can do you understand that worst thing the world can do you say pastor aren't you afraid you know you're maybe you're getting a little too exposure out there what if you go on tv and then people recognize you and then we get protesters again well some of you'll cut out because you're carnal you say well you know all right you know what what aren't you afraid you know people are threatening to sue you somebody just this week was threatening something out of you i don't even know them they're threatening to sue me over something i'm like i don't even know who you are the ambassador what do you say we go through to you i say get in line you know take a number join the club they've got matching coats not the ushers all right not the ushers you know you say what what do you tell me there's a facebook group from i don't know you know you say are you afraid fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul notice he says but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell are not two sparrows sold for a farthing and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your father but the very hairs on your head are all numbered for notice what he says verse 31 don't miss this fear ye not therefore look i want you to understand the context the context is don't be afraid don't be afraid fear ye not therefore ye are of more value than many sparrows that's the context to verse 32 whosoever therefore shall confess me before man i will confess him also before my father which is in heaven but whosoever shall deny me before men him will i also deny before my father which is in heaven now i don't believe that this passage is a salvation passage because the bible teaches that once you're saved you're always saved you know you have everlasting life so look if you coward out and you know cut out on god he's not going to take your salvation from you you say pastor what do you think this passage is referring to i believe it's referring to to the rewards that god is going to give you here's what he's saying obadiah it doesn't matter how much you serve god it doesn't matter how much you do for god it doesn't matter that you hide the hundred prophets in the caves and feed them with bread and water for three and a half years all of that is nice but you're going to get no rewards for that in heaven because whosoever shall deny me before men him will i also deny before my father which is in heaven and here's what's interesting first kings 18 look at verse 13 notice obadiah was it not told my lord was it not told my lord what i did when jezebel slew the prophets of the lord here's what i want to over die overnight you can't have it both ways you can't be a secret service christian and make sure nobody knows and my family doesn't know and my co-workers don't know but then you want elijah to know look you can't have it both ways either everyone knows or nobody knows and you know it's funny and you think you know you you you you think or you bring this up but it's hilarious when the 2016 protests i mean you know our staff brothers like he's not here you can ask him our staff i mean phone calls and text messages that men's preaching night that i was there can you pull it down i don't want to lose my job okay obadiah but when you get to heaven don't ask was it not told no it wasn't told actually don't you know no i don't know but all the time that jesus said i don't remember that all i remember is that you denied me before men all i remember is that you would not take see you want to serve but you don't want to suffer and therefore you'll not get rewards for either john chapter 7 let me give you one example of this we're done we're almost done john chapter 7 when you're like professor maybe you shouldn't lead the music john chapter 7 look at verse 11 matthew mark luke john john chapter 7 verse 11 then the jews sought him at the feast and said where is he talking about jesus and there was much murmuring among the people concerning him for some said he is a good man others said nay but he deceived the people verse 13 how be it this is what we're talking about no man spake openly of him why for fear of the jews they were afraid to be associated with him i'm not saying they weren't saved i'm not saying they're not on their way to heaven but what i am saying is this that whosoever therefore shall confess me before men him will i confess also before my father which is in heaven that's what jesus said but whosoever shall deny me before man him will i also deny before my father which is in heaven and carnal christians carnal christians are willing to serve but not willing to sacrifice they're willing to serve but not willing to suffer they're willing to serve but they don't want it to cost them anything and therefore they forfeit all rewards and they're going to get to heaven one day and say was it not told my lord and jesus said i wasn't your lord your job was your lord your flesh was your lord your will was your lord you were carnal you were carnal first kings 18 let's finish this up notice verse number eight and he answered him i am go tell thy lord behold elijah is here excuse me not verse eight look at verse number 13 i'm sorry verse 14 and 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 the only way you could get obadiah to do it is if he gave him you know his word that he wasn't gonna look it's not gonna cost you anything okay so obadiah went to meet ahab and told him and ab went to meet elijah and it came to pass when ab saw elijah that ab said unto him art thou he that troubleth israel and i don't want to get into this because we're going to get into this next week but it's interesting how ahab blames elijah for the famine doesn't that sound familiar we're always shifting the blame we're never willing to take responsibility are he says are thou he that troubleth israel i love elijah just doesn't take you know anything verse 18 and he answered i have not troubled israel but thou and my father's house and that ye have forsaken the commandments of the lord and that was followed balaam now therefore sending gathered to me all israel into mount carmel and the prophets of bale 450 and the prophets of the grove 400 which eat at jezebel's table we're not going to get into that next week we're going to get into the showdown at mount carmel when god answers with fire and we're going to learn how to accomplish great things for god but i just want you to notice the three characters in this story we have obadiah who we learned about tonight who was a faithful man he had faith he feared the lord he was saved he feared the lord but he feared the world more and we have obadiah who was faithful and fearful but to contrast him we have elijah who's faithful and fearless who's faithful to the things of god and is not afraid of what man should do until is willing to sacrifice is willing to suffer is willing to do whatever he needs to do for god and then you have ahab who's both faithless and fearless he's faithless and he's fearless in his faithlessness and this is the world we live in you've got the world out there who has no faith and they have no fear and they're just running wild and crazy worshiping the world and worshiping satan but then we have christians some are faithful and fearful some are faithful and fearless which one are you professor how will i know how will i know i'm glad you asked here's how you know ready here's how you know do you have mixed loyalties are you half in half out because if you have mixed loyalties you're not really like elijah faithful and fearless you're actually more like obadiah faithful and fearful do you place priorities on the temporal over the eternal you don't like it when pastor preaches about money and work and prioritizing god well then unite you're probably not elijah who's faithful and fearless you're probably more like obadiah who's faithful and fearful do you say one thing and do another you pay lip service to god and and say he's my lord but then you follow your real lord ahab then i don't think you're like elijah faithful and fearless i think you're more like obadiah faithful and fearful and if you're willing to serve but you're not willing to suffer and if you're willing to serve but you're not willing to sacrifice and i don't think you're elijah you may be faithful but you're fearful and you should get