[0:00] 1 Kings chapter 18. We've been looking at Elijah and Obadiah.
[0:16] Last Wednesday night we talked about Obadiah and his secret service. Doing everything kind of...
[0:28] You should have the other one on there because of Wednesday night. Yeah. The one that... Yeah, the one from first... Well, it's hireling and prophet.
[0:43] Sneak peek at where we're going to be going on Sunday school. I was ready for today and this afternoon, but I'm going to save that for next week.
[0:54] So Obadiah was kind of... We talked about the secret service stuff and the fact that he feared the Lord greatly, but like we were talking about today, he feared the Lord greatly, but nobody knew about it.
[1:08] You know, he wasn't... He was hanging out with people who did not love the Lord. He was going all that direction. We talked about who his sovereign was and Elijah said in 1 Kings 18 verse 8, he says, I answered him, I am, because he asked if he was Elijah.
[1:26] And then he said, go tell thy Lord. Behold, Elijah is here. Elijah says, your Lord is Ahab. You're following him. You're doing what he asked. And Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.
[1:37] The Bible tells us that. But he had trouble sometimes separating who he loved with who he served at times. And so he says he was a governor of Ahab's, which meant he was in control over his house.
[1:55] We talked about that. And he... We asked, you know, different questions we can ask ourselves about who is it we're serving? Who is most important in our life? And we talked about his secret.
[2:06] You know, he had hid 100 of the prophets by 50s in different caves. He had gone out and made sure that they were fed his deeds.
[2:17] You know, he wanted to make sure that they got fed and they had water and everything. Apparently paying for it himself so that they would be safe. He did a lot of good things and a lot of good things for the Lord.
[2:30] But he hid who he really was. He did not tell people. He... In Romans chapter 10, verse 11, it says, For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
[2:46] He said, God says, if you're really truly his, you're not going to be ashamed to let people know that you belong to him. Mark 8, 38. Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in glory of his Father with the holy angels.
[3:05] And we talked about the fact that Obadiah compromised on a lot of different things. And so we talked about the fact that as a person in Christ, he should be different than other people.
[3:25] Second Corinthians 5, 17. Therefore, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Behold, all things have passed away. All the things have become new. So he should live for Christ.
[3:36] Titus 2, 14. Who gave himself for us that we might redeem us from all iniquity and purify himself a peculiar people zealous unto good works.
[3:47] We're a peculiar people. Like I talked this morning, we're the nonconformist saints. We don't hang out with the others. We don't do things with the others. We go on our own. We go the way the Lord wants us, not on our own.
[3:59] So we talked about the fact that in 1 Peter 2, 11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
[4:14] So we're to follow God. We can't serve two masters. He greatly feared God, but you can't fear God and serve Ahab. Especially when you look at Ahab. Remember we talked about the fact that Ahab is the worst of all the kings that Israel had.
[4:30] And they were all bad. And Ahab was the worst. And yet here's Obadiah trying to link between the two. Which brings us to letter C on my outline up there.
[4:43] His service. His service. Let's have a word of prayer. And we'll talk about that. Do you have any father? I pray that you would just be with us. Lord, as we look into your word, as we look at the two lives here.
[4:56] Comparing Elijah and Obadiah. Lord, Obadiah did a lot of good things. But he also hid a lot of things. He was also kind of undercover about a lot of things.
[5:09] Lord, that could describe a lot of Christians today. They do a lot of good things. They do a lot of things to serve you. They give to causes and things that are important to you. But they hide who they really are.
[5:22] Lord, help us not to be like that. Help us to show who we really are to those around us. Lord, help us to learn from these two men's lives. In Jesus' name. Amen. His service.
[5:34] Look at verse 5 and 6 of chapter 18. 5 and 6. It says, And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks.
[5:46] Peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and the mules alive, and we may lose not all the beasts. So they divided the land between them to pass throughout.
[5:57] Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. So he's going out, and he's serving Ahab, and he's going to make two big mistakes, two big errors.
[6:14] First, he's going to be employed by the wrong people. He's working for Ahab. He's trying to do what Ahab wants. And secondly, he's going to be engaged in the wrong activity, which kind of, you know, you follow the wrong people, you're probably going to go the wrong direction in the things that you do.
[6:31] And so here's what Obadiah is doing. And notice, remember the scenario here of what's going on. Three years, no rain.
[6:43] Three years and no rain, what does that mean for the people? Limited food. Limited water. People are starving. People are thirsty. People don't have things.
[6:54] And what is Ahab and Obadiah doing? Did you catch that? Go find some fountains of water or go find some brooks or go find something so that we can keep the horses and the mules alive.
[7:08] People we don't care about. Let's keep the horses and the mules alive. They should have been looking for things to help the people. As king, he should have been looking for things to help the people.
[7:21] There's a lack of compassion in the thing that they're doing. There's a lack of caring in the things that they're doing. And a matter of fact, hold your finger there in 1 Kings 18.
[7:32] Go with me to Deuteronomy 17. Deuteronomy 17. I want you to see something.
[7:42] God's talking about when you choose a king and stuff and everything.
[7:55] Verse 15 of Deuteronomy 17 says this. Thou shalt in this any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose, one from among thy brethren, shalt thou set king over thee.
[8:09] Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. but he shall not multiply horses to himself nor cause the people to return to Egypt to the end that he should multiply horses for as much as the Lord hath said unto you ye shall henceforth return no more that way did you know one of the things that kings were not supposed to do multiply the horses unto themselves no don't do that and yet what are Ahab and Obadiah doing trying to find ways to take care of the horses keep them going I'm not sure could have been part of it because God always said I'm going to fight for you they didn't need him don't trust in horses and chariots right so I don't know but anyways they're looking for horses and Elijah is trying to save a nation he's trying to get people back on track with God so he's doing the right thing in 2 Corinthians 6 17 it says wherefore come out from among them and be ye separate saith the Lord and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you
[9:35] God says separate yourself from that it is bad from that it is not part of what I have for you and he says don't touch the unclean things keep your hands pure see as I said this morning we don't like to think about it but there are a lot of negative things in the Bible God says don't do this and don't do that I know people say oh the Bible is just do's and don'ts do's and don'ts yes but God says you want to be blessed you want my hand upon you you want to there are some things you have to do so here's Obadiah he thinks he's doing the right thing he's trying to do the right thing for what God has you know I imagine he thought that he was serving God and the position he was in but again compare him to Joseph and Daniel has a big difference in the way they handled the positions that they had I mean Joseph and Daniel were second hand men to the kings as well but they handled it in a totally different way you know you can't improve the world by coming down to its level you can improve the world by going lifting it up 1 Corinthians 15 33 says be not deceived evil communications corrupt good manners remember Lot
[11:02] Lot pitched his tent towards Sodom Lot went into Sodom Lot established a home in Sodom Lot was known in the gates of Sodom what does that mean in those times the government was run at the gates of the city so the government took place there Lot was among the government of Sodom did Lot change Sodom at all by going there no I'm going to go to Sodom I'm going to do this and I'm going to do that and I'm going to do that 2 Peter 2 7 says Lot it says Lot it says Lot it says Lot it says Lot Lot did not bring them up they brought Lot down and so often that happens we think we're going to do this and we're going to do that and we're going to do the other thing and you go back and you read
[12:09] Genesis 13 through 19 it talks about Lot and what happened there you see it did not work well for Lot anything's happened yep doesn't work that way nope it doesn't work that way number 3 Obadiah's selfish service Obadiah's selfish service verses 7 through 16 I'm not going to read all those for you we read them before about what Obadiah and Lot and the conversation they had basically Elijah says go back and tell Ahab you found me whoa wait a minute you want me to tell him I found you he's been looking for you everywhere he's been taking other kingdoms and saying trying to find out if you're hiding there and taking oaths from them that you weren't there he said you want me to go back and tell him
[13:11] I found him you want me to die or something you want me to be killed Elijah says I'm not going anywhere I will be right here he says no no no I know God's going to move you somewhere else no I will be right here tell Ahab I'm here so look at verse 7 he says in verse 7 and Obadiah was in the way behold Elijah met him and he knew him and fell on his face and said art thou my lord Elijah he identifies Elijah he knows who Elijah is by his dress by his face he's probably seen him before he's meeting him and he's quick to show reverence did you notice what he did there it says yep he fell on his face before him he showed reverence to him but think about it where was Ahab he wasn't around would he have done that if Ahab had been around doubt it exactly but he did it there he identifies he knows the identification of Elijah but then he makes an indictment of Elijah look at verses 8 and 9 and he answered him
[14:22] I am go tell thy lord behold Elijah is here and he said what have I sinned that thou wouldst deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab to slay me wait a minute whoa whoa whoa you want me to get killed you want me to die he's saying look Elijah you're gonna you're gonna wind up getting me killed by showing up if I go back and tell him I found you you know I'm thinking okay he goes back and tells Ahab he's fond of me Ahab's thrilled okay now I know where he is I can go take care of him but Obadiah's thinking that Ahab's gonna think I knew where you were all along and I didn't tell him no that's not what he thought you know look at verse yeah verse 9 there again he says Ahab is gonna kill me I will fall down and I will worship not worship I will fall down and show reverence to you when nobody else is around if I go tell Ahab he's gonna kill me notice that God has given
[15:32] Elijah a mission God has told Elijah remember we looked at that back in the beginning of the chapter it is time to reveal yourself to Ahab it's time to go show yourself to Ahab and Elijah's going okay I will do that I will do whatever you ask me to do notice the difference between the two Elijah you want me to do that says he went Obadiah I want you to go no that's not my job I'm not doing that uh uh notice the indifference here verse 9 again and he said what have I sinned that thou shouldest deliver thy servant unto the hand of Ahab to slay me as the Lord thy God liveth there is no nation nor kingdom whether my Lord hath not sent to seek thee and when they said he is not there he took an oath of the kingdom and the nation that they found thee not and now thou sayest go tell thy Lord behold Elijah is here and it shall come to pass as soon as I am gone from thee that the spirit of the Lord shall carry thee whither I know not and so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find thee he will slay me but I am thy servant
[16:44] I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth was it not told my Lord that I what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the Lord how I hid a hundred men of the Lord's prophets by fifty in a cave and hid them I fed them with water and bread and now thou sayest go tell thy Lord behold Elijah is here and he shall slay me Elijah haven't you heard about what I did with the hundred prophets haven't you heard how I saved them and put them by how would Elijah know that nobody's talking especially Obadiah so how would Elijah know that necessarily because he didn't hide Elijah Elijah's been hiding out on his own didn't you know this no Obadiah didn't know that because nobody told me especially you you know it's interesting Obadiah is being kind of hypocritical by hiding the things in his heart and trying to then say well didn't you know this well no because you've been hiding it
[17:57] God though is going to always make things come to the surface things are always going to be come to being found out and in Luke chapter 6 verse 45 it says this a good man out of good treasure of his heart bring it forth that which is good and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bring it forth that which is evil for out of the abundance of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh Obadiah have you been speaking truth have you been speaking the things that people need to hear Matthew 5 17 do not do not yet understand that whatsoever in at the mouth goeth into the belly and is cast out into the drop but those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and they defile the man for out of the heart proceeded evil thoughts murders adulteries fornications thefts false witness blasphemies these are the things which defile a man but to eat of unwashed hands defile it not he says look the things that come out of our mouth come out of our heart are you careful about the things that are going on in your heart
[19:13] Obadiah yes he's doing some good things but he's also trying to hide it all so what's it going to come out of his mouth I'm trying to hide all this so the things that come out of his mouth we're not going to be necessarily truthful notice his personal fears first of all his first objection about what Elijah is telling him has to do with the fact that he's afraid that he's going to be put to death if he goes and talks to Ahab about what's going on you know he believes God feared God greatly it says but did he believe God and that he was able to protect him did he believe God that God would take care of him did he believe God that God was going to be able to take whatever challenge that Ahab would throw at him you know you come to a place in your life sometimes we go through things we face things and we get to the point where we we don't believe God can take care of things we don't believe God can meet needs when you get to that point it's time for a checkup start looking do I believe
[20:26] God or not do I trust him or not when we stop trusting we start looking for other things ways of doing things ourselves it's an indication of what's going on in our heart so number two his pathetic faithlessness faithlessness he's telling us look Ahab's looking for you in every country he's looking for you all over the place those kingdoms were made to take an oath look at verse 12 again and it shall come to pass as soon as I am gone from thee that the spirit of the Lord will carry thee whether I know not so that I can come and tell Ahab and he cannot find thee he will slay me but I thy servant fear the Lord from my youth but he's not fearing him right now he's not fearing God right now he's fearing Ahab he's not going to go tell Ahab he's not going to show Ahab he's afraid that God is going to let him down he has been so indoctrinated in Baal worship by Jezebel and others that he's doubting what God's going to do he's not trusting what God's going to do when you reach that place in your life you're in serious trouble when you get to that place where you're saying
[21:53] I don't think God can handle this I don't think God can take care of this and a lot of Christians get there as things happen in our life as they go through tough times I don't know if God can do this I don't know if God can handle this now we would never say that out loud but we think it in our heart notice his past fruit look at verse 13 he said Elijah said as the Lord of hosts liveth before whom I stand I will surely show myself unto him no that's 15 I went 13 I was not told my Lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets and I hid them he's relying on past okay yes you did that you did a good thing but that was then this is now what are you going to do now Obadiah how are you going to handle things now you know does God think that
[22:55] Obadiah has done enough already that he's you know okay you can back off God's never going to say okay you can back off you know I've been talking about retirement at different times and stuff even then do I back off from doing what God wants me to do or do I keep working for the Lord even if I do that you know how do I keep going you know I've taught Sunday school for years it's time for somebody else well it may be true in some ways it may be but it doesn't mean God's done with you I look at things from the viewpoint is a lot of the guys that I fellowship well with who are pastors around our 60s and 70s and stuff where's the younger generation who's going to take over because if I don't retire sooner or later I might die according to the Bible you know it's appointed in a man wants to die so I think it's probably coming down the pike somewhere who's going to take over who's going to be there you know
[24:07] I've thought that in years I look at our country now and one of the things I have always thought of is like people I kind of looked at D. James Kennedy from down in Fort Lauderdale Florida Jerry Falwell Adrian Rogers different people these guys are passing off the scene Billy Graham who's taking their place and then you're going I don't know and that's the problem there's going to be people coming along going to have people ready to take over and do things Obadiah was not ready Elijah's kind of alone Elijah's about to go to the top of Mount Carmel he's about to go face 450 prophets of Baal up there on Mount Carmel 450 prophets of Baal
[25:08] Elijah and God 450 prophets of Baal where's Obadiah Elijah where's Obadiah see there's either that or Ahab did kill him one or the other we're not sure but you know people will tell you they love the Lord but you learn to home up a whole lot more about what they really think by what you see oh yeah I love the Lord yes I do this and I do that and I do but what do you see coming from them people say they love their church bunny's going to like this one people say they love their church but where are they on Sunday afternoon where are they on
[26:14] Wednesday night they love their church but you don't see it in the attendance and stuff I love my church but I'll get some other things I need to do we need to be careful so are we going to be like Obadiah Elijah or are we going to be like Elijah going to obey God and follow him keep our eyes on him are we going to keep our eyes on the things going on around us and make excuses and compromise and do those things he loved God from his youth he says he loved God greatly but he loved him enough to stick with him in every issue of life that was the question and I still went to a quarter till so all right whenever I tell you I'm going to let you out early I lie so