The Man Elijah - Pastor Daniel Batarseh

That your purposes would prevail. Lord, we even by faith ask that Satan would lose his grip on the lives of people this morning and that Christ would become lord of every heart in this place. We wait on you. We look to you. We submit to you.

We believe in you, and we love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Not too long ago, a statement was made while sitting in class on more than one occasion, and it personally left a great impression on my heart. More than one teacher made this statement, and so I thought to myself that this is something that is relatively important to grasp.

It's not a deep statement. It's not a new statement really, but it's just a call to observe something. That statement was from a teacher to students that the church today can really benefit from the prophetic books in the Bible because we are living in very similar times. Let me say that again. The church today can really benefit from the prophetic books found in the Bible because we are living in very similar times.

In other words, the message and the tone found in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel are something to be embraced by the people of God in the twenty first century, and the main reason is because the spiritual climate that they found themselves in back then is a staggering reflection of our modern day setting. What was that spiritual climate during the days of these prophets who've recorded a specific message to a specific people. It was a climate of spiritual compromise. It was a climate of political confusion. It was a day in which sin was celebrated and righteousness was despised.

It was a day in which good was called evil and evil was called good. It was a day in which the people of God have been magnetized towards false prophets who declared peace and safety when there was no peace or safety. It was a day in which people found themselves routinely going to the temple of the Lord and routinely giving sacrifices on the altar, yet their hearts and their lips did not agree. And the Lord saw that. And because of that spiritual climate, there was a specific message through these prophetic books and through these prophets.

And what was that message? It was a message of repentance. It was an unpopular message. It was a message in which the people were called back to wholehearted devotion to God. It was an exposing of the double lifestyle that the people were living.

It was a bony finger that was pointed in the faces of those that knew the truth, yet rejected the truth, not through their lips, but through their lives and through their actions. It was a message that was needed, though it was not a message that was wanted. But that kind of a message that was needed back then and is very much needed today was carried by a specific type of messenger, the prophet. The prophet. The prophet in the Old Testament was a unique character with a distinct DNA.

He was an odd fellow. He had a calling with a high price and a heavy responsibility. The prophet was raised up in crisis moments as emergency men, as one preacher said it. They were like doctors that appeared when people were sick, but in the spiritual sense, they were physicians that diagnosed and offered the remedy to a spiritually ill people. The prophet had an intense relationship and loyalty to God that affected his relationships with other people.

He was God's man with God's voice to God's people, but more importantly, the prophet carried God's heart. He was a man that walked with God, that felt what God felt, that wept when God wept, that was distressed when God placed the burden of his heart upon him. The prophet lived for one purpose, to declare the word of God faithfully, with the hope of seeing the people that he was preaching to respond faithfully. And their main ministry was not foretelling as so many people think. We often hear prophet and we think, oh prophets declare what's to come in the future, though that is partly true.

The prophet in the Old Testament mainly actually pointed the people back to the word of God. The prophets, in their main message, was calling the people to go back to what the Lord had given them in the book of Deuteronomy. And from time to time, yes, the Lord would give them a sense of what is to come specifically for the people concerning Babylon and Assyria that would come and judge. But they were really just people that are saying, get back to the Bible. Go back to the book.

And the living picture of such a man, of such a prophet, one of the most well known prophets who didn't necessarily have a book written. He didn't author a book, but he still had a message and a ministry, and his name was Elijah. The prophet Elijah. Though he was a prophet in the Old Testament, the New Testament upholds him as a standard for Christians today. And so this morning, may we not distance ourselves to say, well, the prophet is a prophet in the Old Testament.

James five clearly tells us that Elijah is a picture of the way we should be praying. And so very quickly, if you could turn with me to first Kings 17, beginning in verse one. This is what the bible says. Now Elijah the Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years except by my word. And the word of the Lord came to him.

Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the Brook Cherith, which is East Of The Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the Brook Cherith that is East Of The Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

And after a while, the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land. This morning, I just wanna give a few simple observations of the type of man that Elijah was, and that we may be stirred as Christians to emulate this man and the principles that he lived by. Because this man, Elijah, brought a radical shift, not just to a neighborhood, not just to a local church, he brought an entire nation to their knees. He was a radical man that lived by radical principles. And the number one observation I wanna make here is that Elijah was a man who had a radical intimacy with God.

A radical intimacy with God. Verse one says, Elisha the Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead said to Ahab, as the Lord the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand. This is how we're introduced to Elijah. Before this, we see Ahab who made a marriage alliance with Jezebel, and she was the main force that brought about Baal worship in Israel. Ahab was recognized as one of the most wicked kings that lived in Israel's history.

And all for a sudden, unannounced, Elijah shows up. We don't know his background, we don't know where he's from necessarily, but in chapter 17, he shows up like a thunderbolt in a dark sky. And we're introduced to a statement, and that statement says so much about the man if we just read it carefully. He looks at Ahab and he says, as the Lord, the God of Israel is before whom I stand, Elijah was a man who was aware and a man who was familiar with the presence of God. He was a man who frequently met with God and he was a man that frequently walked with God.

He was conscious of the fact that no matter whom stood before him, he knew that he was ultimately standing before God. Though he stood before King Ahab, he was ultimately standing before the King of Kings. And this is the beauty about Elijah, because he stood before the Lord, he could stand before any man. And when you and I have face to face communion relationship with God, you will not be afraid of any man who opposes you. You will not be afraid about any face or any word from another individual.

This was the secret of Elijah's boldness and ministry. He stood before the Lord. He walked in communion with God. That was the source of his strength. That was a source of his authority.

That was the source of all that he was and all that he did. And very quickly, I'm gonna read to you in Jeremiah 23, where God criticizes the false prophets because they did the very opposite of what Elijah did. You don't have to turn there. I'll read it beginning of verse 16. Thus says the Lord of hosts, do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesied to you filling you with vain hopes.

They speak visions of their own minds and not from the mouth of the Lord. They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, it shall be well with you. And to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, no disaster shall come upon you. Now look what the Lord says in verse 18. For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord?

To see and to hear his word, or who has paid attention to his word and listened. Where are these prophets coming from because they're declaring a message that I did not give them? Where are these messengers getting their content from? Because they don't stand in my presence. They don't wait for me to give them what to say.

See Elijah was a true prophet because he was motivated by brokenness. And he got that brokenness by being in the presence of God. And the false prophets in his day, we're not motivated by brokenness. You know what they were motivated by? Business.

How they could gain for themselves. Their God was their belly. They sought the praise of man. And a true messenger of God today is motivated by the same thing Elijah was motivated by, brokenness. But dare I say, there are so many today that are motivated by the very same thing the false prophets were in this day, business.

Well, it's a dangerous thing. But Elijah was a man of intimacy with God. He walked with God. He knew God. And because he stood in the council of the Lord, the cost of that is that he felt like he was walking alone.

Does he not say that in first Kings 18? He looks at the people of God and says, how long are you gonna be limping between two opinions? If God is God, serve him. If Baal, then follow him. And the people of God said, what?

Nothing. There was no word in first Kings eighteen twenty one. Look Look what Elijah says in verse 22. Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I only am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Though he may not have been alone because there were other prophets hiding, he felt alone.

He walked with that burden because he walked in the council of the Lord. He continually had this conscious awareness that I am before God, I meet with God, I walk with God, and I know God. He was a man of radical intimacy. But secondly, Elijah was a man of radical obedience. Verse two says, and the word of the Lord in first King 17 came to him, depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the Brook Cherith, which is East Of The Jordan.

You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there. Verse five is the key verse. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. No questions asked. God gave him a word, he spoke the word.

God told him to move, he moved. And this was not some nice lofty bachelor apartment. Go live by a creek, and as you live by there, I'm gonna send some birds to feed you. And he goes. He obeys.

He was compelled by the word of the Lord. He was saturated with what God said. He was in tune with the spirit of God, and he found joy and pleasure in obeying him even when it didn't make sense. Ravens to feed you, ravens were filthy animals. Ravens were seen as vicious animals, but isn't it amazing that God uses God uses the things that we wouldn't use to provide for us.

Unexpected sources to bless us. And he went by faith. He trusted him. He trusted him for his food. He trusted him for his water.

And look how sensitive Elijah was to the word of the Lord in verse seven. After a while, the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land. Did he move though? He didn't move. He didn't move until verse eight.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, Arise and go. Even when his resources were dried up, even when his circumstances did not make sense, even though the very water that was giving him life was gone, it vanished, he still waited for the word of the Lord. God, I go when you tell me to go and I stay when you tell me to stay. This is a man that treasured every word and command, even if it was at the expense of his own comfort. He wasn't a man that picked and choose when he liked it.

Oh, I like when I preach that sermon in front of Ahab. I go to the Brook Of Cherith and stay there and have ravens feed me. No. No. No.

No. He absorbed all that God gave him for his life. Discomfort, comfort. Prosperity, poverty. Doesn't matter because I take joy in serving and knowing that I'm pleasing you.

A man of radical intimacy, a man of radical obedience, but he was a man of radical praying. James five seventeen tells us that Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed fervently that it would not rain and for three years and six months, the rain did not come And he prayed again and the heavens opened up and the earth received its rain. If you carefully see here in verse one, it looks like that he commanded it not to rain, but the background is that he prayed for it not to rain. And I love how it's hidden here because it speaks of prayer, prayer is hidden. It's private.

It's something that man does not see. And Elijah was that kind of a man that met with God alone and sought God. And I love how the New Testament, out of all the example, the Holy Spirit through James gives us Elijah as an example for us to take hold of when it comes to prayer. And we talked about this one Sunday morning. Why would God use Elijah as an example?

He uses not just Elijah as an example, but he uses the one specific moment in which Elijah prayed and the entire nation was affected by his prayer. Elijah prayed in a lot of moments. Why would James use that one? And I personally believe it's because Elijah was an example for James to use for the Christians to pray big prayers. To believe God for big things.

To take a hold of the promises of God and to say, God, may these things happen in my day. Now, it wasn't Elijah who whimsically just thought, you know what? I'm gonna just ask God that it would not rain. Remember, he did it according to the word of the Lord. How do we know that?

In first Kings 18 verse 36, he says, Oh Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and that I'm your servant and I have done all these things at your word. So everything that he was doing was again, according to the word of God. But But he prayed the promises, the things of God, that they may manifest in his day. And in the New Testament, James looks at believers and says, Elijah has a nature just like you and me. He's not perfect.

He stumbled at one point. He didn't wanna live at one point. So don't lose hope. Don't look at these stories and say, I can't relate to that. That's just a great story that we can all look at.

No. Pray like Elijah. Believe like Elijah. Seek the things of God for your nation, for your family. The things that seem impossible, the things that seem radical.

Elijah prayed like this. He was a man of radical praying. He was dependent upon prayer. He believed God in prayer. And this was once again, linked with the fact that he was walking with God.

He stood before God. I wanna close with one simple thought. In second Kings two fourteen, when Elijah is taken up to heaven on chariots of fire, Elisha, his successor, received his mantle and received a double anointing, but he asked one famous question in second kings two verse 14. He took the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water saying, where is the lord, the God of Elijah? God, were you only with Elijah in such a way or are you the same God that will be with me?

And it didn't take much time for God to prove that he is the same God. He is the same God of Elijah, he is the same God for Elijah and he's the same God for you and me today. But one preacher flipped the question, Not where is the Lord God of Elijah, but where are the Elijah's of the Lord God? That's a different question because he's still the same God but where are those that are willing to walk like Elijah walked? That will be men and women of radical intimacy, radical obedience and radical praying.

A man just like Elijah is needed today. We need men who have urgency in their voices. We need men who are willing to walk with the burden of God in their lives. We need men like Elijah who are compelled and broken because they stand in his presence day and night. Where's the urgency today?

Where's the conviction today? Where's the brokenness today? God is looking for Elijah's. And like Isaiah, when the Lord says, whom shall he send? He said, Here I am.

Send me. I wonder if there's somebody like that that's willing to pay the price because it's needed. It's needed as it was then. He calls a drought. Why would he call a drought?

Well one, because Baal was a deity of fertility and rain. The people worshiped Baal because they believe that he was in control of rain, of producing crops and all these different things. And here comes Elijah and he points the finger right at that. And he says, you wanna know who the real God is in control of the heavens? Yahweh is.

And there's a drought for three years. But also, it was a picture of the spiritual condition of the people. Dry, fruitless, lifeless, a desert land where there should be vibrant life. And Elijah comes in and in the next chapter, through one man, through one man saw the rain come. And may God today do the same through one, two, however many men want to do it, however many men want to volunteer their lives for such a cause.

We need not physical rain, but rain of righteousness to fall upon America, to fall upon this nation. So the question is, yes, where is the Lord God of Elijah, but as one preacher said, where are the Elijah's of the Lord God? And today we have an Elijah with us. He may not be a man, he may not be wearing camel skin with a leather belt, he actually has a little pacifier in his mouth, I believe. But today we've dedicated this service to pray for Elijah, that he might become what his name lives up for, and that he may embrace that calling, and that he may walk in that calling, that in a day where there is so much confusion, where there's so much compromise, that he would be raised up to be a voice.

We wanna pray more than just blessing that he would be a good Christian that goes on church on Sunday morning. We have a lot of those. We need some Elijah's in our day and our prayer for him will be such.