1. The Type of Person God Uses

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I’m a disciple of Jesus. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past is redeemed, my present mades sense, my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, with slight walking, with small planning, with smooth knees, with colorless dreams, with tamed visions, with mundane talking, with chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my compassions few, my guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity.

I won’t give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop,m proclaim till all know, and work till He stops me.

And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me- for my colors will be clear!

This statement sums up the whole ministry of this great prophet Elijah. Elijah took a mighty stand for God in the midst of the plague of unbelief that spread throughout the land of Israel. Today we are going to begin a series on this man. I have called this series: Taking Our Stand for God. 1 Kings 17:1 As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. Notice that phrase, Before whom I stand. 1 Kings 18:15 And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. The point is this: Elijah stood for the Lord because he believed he stood BEFORE the Lord. He realized God lived; God was not dead. Elijah knew he stood before the Lord, therefore he could stand for the Lord and he could also stand before men without fear.

And Elijah the Tishbit, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead,
ELIJAH: The LORD is God; Jehovah, not Baal is God! TISHBIT: Means a STRANGER or SOJOURNER GILEAD: Rough or RUGGED
Here comes a rugged stranger clothed with camels hair, armed with a heart zealous for God’s Word and a faith in the living LORD God; he bursts on the scene with amazing suddeness and dramatic boldness as a grown up prophet!
What were the times like? We find a sad line of kings who did evil in the sight of the LORD:

You might say, how could Israel become so Apostate? Because after the reign of Solomon and during the reign of Rehoboam, the one nation was divided into two separate nations: Judah and Israel. Because the capital of the united empire, Jerusalem, was in Judah, the kings and people of Israel did not worship in Jerusalem, the true place of worship. Jeroboam instituted a new religion of idol worship in Northern Israel. He did this to keep his hold on the people. You don’t need to go to Jerusalem anymore! Jeroboam set up his own priests, feast days, to counterfeit the worship of the true God. False religion prevailed in the northern kingdom. Religion in open defiance against God. Spiritual idolatry permeated the entire northern kingdom. Not one king in the Northern Kingdom of Israel was a good man. Every one was evil in God’s sight, because they did not put faith in God’s Word and offer sacrifice in the One temple that God had ordained: Jerusalem.

It is not sufficient to be religious! False religion is idolatry, and the idolatry of unbelief spread like a pestilent plague throughout the land.

Jeroboam: Instituted a new religion. Nadab , son of Jeroboam, did evil in the sight of the Lord, 1 Kings 15:26, killed by Baasha who took over. Baasha did evil in the sight of the Lord, 1 Kings 15:34, he killed all the remaining seed of Jeroboam, the first wicked king of Israel. Elah, the son of Baasha, reigned two years. He was a drunk who got murdered by his servant Zimri. 1 Kings 16:8,9. What Baasha sowed upon the house of Jeroboam, he reaped from Zimri. Zimri reign only for one week; he was a ?weak king? but in that week he mass murdered all of Baasha’s sons in order to secure his power. It backfired He committed suicide when they made Omri king in his place, burning down the house he inhabited. When he saw power slip from his hands, he ended his own life. Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him, 1 Kings 16:25. He reigned for six years. His son was Ahab, who did even worse than Omri! WHY? He introduced false pagan religions into Israel which mixed with their counterfeit religion. A bad thing has now gone worse. You see these kings had no right to the throne, for God promised it to the seed of David of the tribe of Judah. They rebelled against God to make themselves kings. It was pure politics, a seeking for power.

So here were all these kings, some reigning for two years, one week, killing each other, and some killing themselves. Now here comes Ahab and Jezebel. What a nice couple! They go to ?church together!? Ahab reigned for 22 years, he brought political stability to Israel.

Ahab and his wife Jezebel were deeply involved in the political game of power and ambition. In fact, their marriage was not based on relationship; it was a political alliance. They were not married for love, but for power. They were both extremely aggressive; but Jezebel was far more cruel and crafty than the often weak Ahab. She would do whatever it took to build her power base, include murder innocent people. But they were popular. They were well liked. They were even religious: VERY RELIGIOUS. However, they did not worship the One True God. They worshipped Baal. Baalism has three features that perhaps you would be interested in:

They worshipped the CREATION. They were obsessed with the Environment. In 1 Kings 17:1 Elijah is not giving Ahab a weather report; Elijah is challenging the false god of Ahab with the truth. Baal worshippers believed Baal was the supreme god; the god of the sun, the god of the land, the god of thunder and lightening and rain. Baal worshipers worshipped the creation over the true Creator.

They sacrificed their children: Human life was sacrificed to appease the anger of Baal. Life was cheap. They would sacrifice their children in the fire. Others would bury their children in the foundation of a house or wall. In 1 Kings 16:34 the Scripture indicates that Hiel buried his sons in the foundation of the city. Hey, let me put it this way: Ahab was pro-choice. Life was cheap. Let me kindly say today: Abortion is murder. What difference is it if you kill someone today or six months from today. No difference at all. Yet the pro-choice policy in our nation says you can kill a baby in the first

They tolerated anything but the truth. Baal worship in the Bible was permeated with moral relativism and humanism. It was a popular religion because it was acceptable and ?hassle-free.? It was a religion of TOLERATION. The only thing that could not be tolerated were those who held to truth. You see, truth is narrow. In order to keep peace, Ahab tolerated anything in order to keep from the reputation of being intolerant. HE WOULD NOT WANT ANYONE TO THINK HE WAS NARROWMINDED! He did what was convenient and comfortable. If you don’t think Baal worship is the religion of America, think again. Toleration. Convenience. Tolerate anything but the truth. The true prophets were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, ortmented, they wandered in deserts, and in the mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth; and the world was not worthy of them (Hebrews 11:37,38).

In spite of all these rebellions, God in His grace sends one of his choice prophets of all time! This is truly amazing love! Amazing patience! Look at Elijah confront Ahab with God and judgment.

Let me give you the sermon in a sentence: There are three character traits of the person God will use. You and I need these three things in our life if we are going to stand for our Savior in our city and culture.
Courageously Confronts the Enemies of God, v.1

Where did this stranger from the mountains of Gilead get such boldness? I will tell you: PRAYER over the WORD.

Elijah had the utmost confidence in God’s eternal promises, then he claimed them in prayer, believing with all your heart!

James 5:17 Elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months., but he claimed God’s promises in private prayer and therefore stood unashamed and bold before man. The secret to public power is private power in prayer.

Awareness of God’s Personal Presence: Elijah was Convinced that God is alive. The hightest reality to Elijah was the invisible God! He lived with the constant consciousness of God’s personal presence! God is ever-living! Jesus Christ rose again and lives forevermore. The Lord God Omnipotent reigneth! Are you convinced that God is alive? We will never stand for the Lord if we are not sure He lives. Psalm 18:46 The Lord liveth and blessed be my Rock, and let the God of my salvation be exalted!?

Confidence in God’s Eternal Promises: Elijah was convinced God’s Word was True: Why would Elijah tell Ahab it was not going to rain? Where would he get such an idea? At this point, I do not believe God spoke audibly to Elijah. Elijah was just reading, studying, and believing the Hebrew Scriptures. He got it from Scripture: from the Law of Moses: Deut.11:16,17 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the Lord’s wrath will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the Lord gives you.

Deut. 28 tells the curses that would come upon Israel if they did not obey God. One of these curses is that the heaven would be brass over them and the earth would be like iron, not yielding fruit. Your only rain will be the powder of dust! A DUST BOWL!

When the economy is great, man has a tendency to neglect God. Do you know how quickly our economy can deteriorate? Don’t put your trust in a good economy, but trust in the goodness of the Everlasting God!
Worse than your physical suffering, your financial problems, your difficult circumstances, is your UNBELIEF, your IDOLATRY, your lack of OBEDIENCE to the LIVING GOD. In love God allows a drought in order to cut the cancer of unbelief from the people He loved.
Humbly Obeys the Commands of God, v.2-6

God speaks very clearly to Elijah. God speaks very literally to Elijah. It is up to Elijah to obey, simply, immediately, and humbly.

CHERITH! Cherith means cutting place, for God will cut away the dross and excess baggage from Elijah’s life. God cares more for Elijah’s character than his comfort. Before God can use Elijah to minister to a nation, God needs to minister to Elijah. Before God can work THROUGH us, He must work IN us.

Elijah does not ask WHY. He does not argue, Lord, I am strong, I can protect myself, I can feed myself, I am ready for action. God says, leave the centerstage and go to a quiet place.

God calls Elijah away from the palace to a lonely place. God is preparing His prophet for Mt. Carmel; before Elijah is ready for TRIUMPH ON Carmel, he must experience TRIALS AT Cherith. God prepares Elijah for battle: you don’t learn how to be a soldier and survive on the battlefield by bubbling around in a Jacuzzi and ringing for room service.

Notice three great benefits to obedience to God: Protection: hide thyself? Purposes: by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. Provision In order for Elijah to eat, he had to go THERE. This cutting place. This secret place. Elijah may have wanted to go preaching his message all around Israel, but God tells him to go THERE, and so Elijah obeys immediately and humbly.
If God says GET, then GET; if God says TURN, then TURN; if God says HIDE, then HIDE! As Nike says, just do it!
If God is going to use us, we must obey right away His Word. If Elijah was going to Know God’s plan, purpose, and provision, he had to go THERE. That is the place where God said, I will feed thee.
Without obedience, you will never, never, never know His plan, purpose, and provision!

God has all sorts of resources that we have never considered. Would Elijah have thought of Ravens bringing him bread and meat twice per day? Not a chance! Our God is Sovereign over all, and He takes care of those who seek first His Kingdom.

Prov. 3:5,6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart?
Patiently Wait for Direction from God, v.7

And it came to pass? In other words, things happened beyond Elijah’s control. As Elijah abides by the brook it dries up. The little stream is now a stagnant puddle, then finally dried mud. What does Elijah do? He stays put, for God had promised I will feed thee there. He patiently waits for direction from God. If Elijah stayed he would die of thirst; if he left, he would die of hunger!

Elijah could say, WHY ARE YOU ALLOWING MY BROOK TO DRY UP? I am just answering your prayer! You prayed for it not to rain, and God answered His prayer!

What happens when your brook dries up? Does your faith dry up, does your joy turn into a stagnant puddle? Does your love for the Lord dry up? Do you start scheming, or do you wait patiently upon the Lord? Do you know why God allows our brooks to dry up, so we will learn patience. Have you ever prayed, Lord help me to be like Jesus, or Lord, make me holy. Give me a thirst for righteousness? Then you have a financial trial, or physical struggle, and you say, God what are you doing? The answer may be, He is making us more like Jesus! God uses trials to conform us to the image of His Son!
We must be patient in the unfolding plan and purpose of God for our life. Do not rush God. We are often in a greater hurry than He is!
Waiting is a trial, but remember that we grow through patience.
David said in Psalm 34:19, Many are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

James 1:3,4 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

James 5:11 Behold we count them happy which endure!
Has your brook dried up? Are you at the end of your rope? Do you feel like you are at a dead end? Remember that God knows the best pathway for you. Give yourself totally to Him. Pray over the Word of God. Claim His promises. Get to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and not just know about Him.
The type of Person God Uses

1. Courageously Confronts the Enemies of God
2. Humbly Obeys the Commands of God
3. Patiently Waits for Direction from God