Was it their intellect, their education, their wealth, possessions, appearance, social status or talent? Or was it a definable something that is freely available to all mankind? I trust that this morning we will discover part of their secret. It is, of course, impossible in one sermon to analyse the lives of several people; so I have chosen just one man for close scrutiny - Elijah the Tishbite. Why have I chosen Elijah? The answer is because Elijah is like a spiritual icon who calls to mind everything a last-day servant of God should be. To me Elijah is one of the greatest believers that ever lived: and though he never wrote a single book in the Bible, Elijah's message is what the Scriptures are all about. The Elijah message concerns every soul on earth, especially believers living in the closing days of this age. In this sermon I will briefly mention well-known facts concerning Elijah and then attempt to look behind the man at the special possession that made him great the - Elijah Message!
2 Kings 1: | 8... He was an hairy man, and girt with a girdle of leather about his loins. |
2 Kings 1: | 15: And the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, Go down with him: Be not afraid of him. |
1 Kings 17: | 9: Get thee to Zarephath ... behold I have commanded a widow
woman there to sustain thee ... 10: So he arose and went to Zarephath ... 13: And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said; but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it to me, and after make for thee and for thy son. 14: For thus saith the Lord God of Israel. The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. |
1 Kings 17: | 15: And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and she,
and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16: And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which He spake by Elijah. |
James 5: | 17: Elias 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. 18: And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. |
1 Kings 18: | 17: And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab
said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
18: And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. |
1 Kings 17: | 18: And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? |
The world is fast approaching a state that existed in the days of Elijah. Sexual perversion is now the norm. Fornication, Adultery and Homosexuality are openly advocated by the many modern priests and priestesses. Sin has become fashionable! But don't be deluded: these sins are simply a sophisticated 20th century version of Baal and Ashtoreth worship! What is even more tragic is that the collapse of sexual standards is reflected in the church's rejection of Yahweh's weekly and annual Sabbath days which are the divinely appointed memorials of the Creation.
The keeping of Easter (Ashtaroth's fertility festival) and Christmas (The birthday of the Sun god) are high level examples of Astaroth and Baal worship! These are stunning facts, which you must know and take heed to. (If you have not already done so, be sure to read our booklet, The Festivals of the God of Israel, which is available online.)
Numbers 31: | 8: And they slew the kings of Midian, beside the rest of them that were slain; namely, Evi, and Rekem, and Zur, and Hur, and Reba, five kings of Midian: Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword. |
2 Peter 2: | 4: For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5: And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6: And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly; 7: And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: 8: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) 9: The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished: 10: But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. 11: Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. 12: But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; 13: And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; 14: Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 15: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness. |
Ephesians 6: | 12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. |
1 Kings 17: | 21: And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and
cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this
child's soul come into him again.
22: And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23: And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. 24: And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth. |
Malachi 4: | 4: Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I
commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and
judgements.
5: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: 6: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. |
John 1: | 19:... Who art thou ... Art thou Elijah? 20: And he confessed and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. 21: And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he said, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No. 22: Then said they unto him, Who art thou? ...What saiest thou of thyself> 23: He said, I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. |
Matthew 3:1-12 | ... A voice ... Prepare ye ... Repent and be baptised ... Bring forth fruits worthy of repentance ... Every tree that not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. |
Revelation 13: | 11: And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and
he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 12: And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13:And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast ... |
verse 4 | ... and he requested for himself that he might die; and said 'It is enough, now O Lord, take away my life ... |
verse 4 | ... for I am not better than my fathers. |
verse 6 | ... And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals,
and a cruise of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid
down again. 7: And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. 8: And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. |
verse 11 | "... And, behold the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind
rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the
Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind and earthquake; but the
Lord was not in the earthquake. 12: And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 13: And it was so, when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering of the cave. And behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here Elijah? |
verse 15-17 | Anoint kings and a successor (Elishah). |
verse 18 | Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which has not kissed him. |
2 Kings 2: | 9: ... Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away
from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit
be upon me. 10: And he said: Thou hast asked a hard thing. |
John 3: | 13: And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. |