Sermon Tone Analysis

*Revive Us Again (pt 6)*

*Let God Be God*

1 Kings 18

 

*Read 2 Chron**.

7:14*

*Read Revival* Fire pg 77-78

So far in our study of the *Keys to Spiritual* Revival we’ve looked at *getting rid of* our idols, confessing our sin and that we are to serve the* *Lord only.

Today we are going to look at a fantastic revival that gives us another key to spiritual revival and that key is this it’s *time to let God* be God.

In 931 B.C. the great and glorious kingdom which had lasted for about 100 years under the reigns of great people like David and Solomon was divided, split in two with two tribes to the south and ten to the north.

And guess what, things did not go that well, especially for the northern tribes.

In just *58 years they* had been ruled by seven *kings: Jeroboam*, the installer of the two calves designed to replace the worship of Yahweh (1 Kings 12:28-32); *Nadab**, who walked* in the sins of his father, Jeroboam (15:26); *Baasha**, who* murdered Nadab (15:27); *Elah**, a drunkard* and murderer (16:8-9); *Zimri**, who* was guilty of treason (16:20); *Omri**, a military* adventurer who did “worse than all who were before him” (16:25-26).

That brings us up to the seventh king, the son of Omri and as bad as the first six were *Ahab did more* evil than all who were before him.

Ahab is the one who married the daughter of the king of Sidon, the infamous Jezebel (16:30-31).

*The nation had* been won over to the worship of the Canaanite gods, especially Baal.

God had become so small, so insignificant that they barely remembered who He was.

They had again fallen into putting others above the One True God.

Again we are tempted to sit back some 3000 years after the events have happened and judge the Israelites thinking how could they keep making the same mistake over and over again.

They keep comparing God to man, forces, and nations, problems, to issues of their own invention.

But do we do that today too?

Don’t we sometimes dwell in our problems because we think they are so big that there is nothing that could help?

We need a brand new view of the living God!  God in all His fullness, all His power, all His glory!

We need to hear the shout of Isaiah in our generation: *“Say to the cities, ‘Behold your God!’”* (Isa.

40:9 NKJV)  Like us the Israelites needed revival urgently once again.

*So to shock* Israel back into thinking biblically about God, He sent a man, Elijah the Tishbite from Gilead.

Few could have come from more lowly backgrounds than this man.

Gilead was a high, stony region in Transjordan just east of the Sea of Galilee.

Elijah was a nobody.

The only fact we know about him is the name is parents gave him, meaning “Yahweh is my God.”

What a name!

And guess what?

He lived up to that name.

While a nation was going crazy over a nonexisting god named Baal, Elijah was living up to his name.

Out of nowhere he appeared and took center stage in the palace of Ahab – the henpecked husband and poor excuse for a king.

Elijah shows up and bravely announced this divine message to the weak Ahab, *“As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”*

(1 Ki 17:1)

Compare what Elijah did to say if you or I had a mess to bring to the President of the United States.

I would venture to say that we might fail to carry out our task because we might be so impressed with being in the presence of one of the most powerful people in the world.

Just being in the White House might cause us to rethink what we were going to say, but not Elijah.

He possessed a vision of God that exceeded all the trappings of other mortals.

And that is the vision we need to recapture if we are to experience the reviving power of God again.

Its time we let God be God!

*There are three* works of God that demonstrate that He is the incomparable God.

The first is that *He makes us* courageous.

To get the attention of a people that had abandoned their exclusive loyalty to their Lord, God removed from them some of the assumed gifts of life.

It is only God who can give or withhold rain.

And that is what He did in this instance to pull the Israelites back to their senses again.

And then God gave a second command to His brave new recruit, except that second command came after three and one-half years of absolute drought in which there had been neither dew nor rain.

God said to Elijah:  *After a long** time, in the third year, the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.”**

**So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab.

Now the famine was severe in Samaria,** *(1 Ki 18:1-2) 

We read that and think, so, he’s already gone there once before what’s the big deal.

*The big deal* is that Queen Jezebel was putting the Lord’s prophets to death by the score and yet he was going to see the king.

If anyone had paid attention they would be thinking here was a nobody, from nowhere, a prophet of some god and he’s going to see the king, how stupid can you get?  Doesn’t he know as soon as he walks into the palace he’s a dead man?

But you see, they were not giving the proper respect to the One whom Elijah was working for.

To the One and only true God.

Tt was God who made Elijah so bold so that he could walk before Ahab.

For three and one-half years God tried to let the events of life, especially this great drought, soften the hearts of this king and queen as well as their people.

But the reverse had happened.

The queen was infuriated to such an extent that she took up killing the prophets of God as a hoppy.

Yet God sent this prophet, His prophet back to the king.

Did you notice the condition that had to take place in order for the rain to fall?  *“Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land.”

*Our first steps in obedience are for a greater and more climactic moment of success later on.

Elijah was not only bold in facing the king, he was courageous in rebuking fellow believers as well,

*and Ahab had** summoned Obadiah, who was in charge of his palace.

(Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord.**

**While Jezebel was killing off the Lord’s prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water.)**

**Ahab had said** to Obadiah, “Go through the land to all the springs and valleys.

Maybe we can find some grass to keep the horses and mules alive so we will not have to kill any of our animals.”**

**So they divided the land they were to cover, Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another.**

**As Obadiah was** walking along, Elijah met him.

Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, “Is it really you, my lord Elijah?”** **“Yes,” he replied.

“Go tell your master, ‘Elijah is here.’

”** **“What have I done wrong,” asked Obadiah, “that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death?** **As surely as** the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you.

And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you.**

**But now you tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’**

**I don’t know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you.

If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn’t find you, he will kill me.

Yet I your servant have worshiped the Lord since my youth.**

**Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord?

I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water.**

**And now you** tell me to go to my master and say, ‘Elijah is here.’

He will kill me!”** **Elijah said, “As the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today.”*

(1 Ki 18:3-15)

The believer here is Obadiah, Ahab’s secretary of state and he is a devout believer.

Even though he lives and works in the palace right under the king’s and more importantly, the queen’s nose, he did not compromise his own principles.

He had hidden 100 prophets of God and had really thought this out for he placed them in two separate caves and provided food and water for them.

But even though he was a devout believer, Elijah had to rebuke him.

He settled all of Obadiah’s fears with a strong declaration in the name of the Lord (v.

15).

*So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah.**

**When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”** **“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied.

“But you and your father’s family have.

You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals.*

(1 Ki 18:16-18)

 Elijah basically told Ahab that he was responsible for everything that has happened and then he ordered the king to summon all of Israel to Mount Carmel for a showdown.

Not just the towns folk he wanted the state *paid 450 prophets* of Baal and the *400 prophets of Asherah*.

So Ahab did as he was told by Elijah.

*So the first* of the three works of God that demonstrate He is without equal is that He makes us courageous the *second is that* He shows us His power.

Most would look at Elijah and think is only a man but one person plus God is always a majority, and Elijah believed that!

He stands in front of all these people and confronts them: *Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions?

If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.** *(1 Ki 18:21)