As we begin, I am sure we are all aware in different ways of the power of words. Words positively
! Words positively can move us to tears. The beauty of a story or a poem perhaps. But words can also move us to tears as we experience someone's anger or abuse.
Words can affect the course of our lives.
Perhaps the wise guidance from a trusted friend leads us to a path of study or work that has gone well for us.
Or negatively, the cutting comments that a child experiences might strip them of worth and affect the course of their life negatively.
The power of words, in part at least, is related to the one who is speaking.
If we imagine ourselves as children for a moment, if you had a brother or a sister who said to you, stop that thing you're doing, stop it.
Depending on your mood, that may have some effect.
I suspect if parents say stop it, it has, should have a greater effect.
But if a policeman invites us to stop something, then absolutely we're going to stop.
The power of words are also connected to how much weight we allow them to have in our lives.
And again, we will know this.
There are some times we receive comments, perhaps criticism, perhaps praise, and we pay close attention.
There's this huge positive sort of impact on us.
Other times, words might come and they're like water off a duck's back to us.
That's true with human words.
And we all have that kind of experience.
But if that's true with human words, how much more powerful are God's words?
And therefore, how much more weight God's word should have in our lives?
And one of the things that the Bible does is to speak for itself about its power.
God's word is powerful.
Think about some of the familiar descriptions the Bible gives.
So we have in Ephesians 6, that description of the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Hebrews chapter 4, God's word is living and active, piercing to the division of soul and spirit.
Those famous prophetic words from Isaiah, where God declares his word never returns empty,
but always accomplishes its purpose, whether that purpose is judgment or salvation.
Or Jeremiah 23, God says, my word is like fire.
God's word is powerful.
Just by way of our own reflection, when was the last time you really felt the weight of God's word?
When you felt compelled by what you read towards a new obedience to God's command?
Well, this section that we're reading, it can feel like a kind of an in-between,
those great miracles of Elijah being provided for, the widow's son being raised,
and then we've got this great confrontation.
But in this section, the spotlight really shines on the power of God's living word
in contrast to that powerless silence of the idols.
The power of God's living word will direct the prophet.
It clearly gives courage to an administrator.
It challenges a wicked king.
It calls for obedience.
It calls for belief.
It calls for repentance.
And so we're going to hear it speak.
And we're going to hear Jesus speak as we get into his word.
And as we begin to hear Jesus, the living word speak to us,
as he would bring by the Spirit his word to bear on each one of us,
will we let it cut deep to have its impact?
Will we let it burn within us so that God's desired purposes would come to pass in our lives also?
So what we're going to do is we're going to think about each of the different human figures in the story
and think about different aspects of how God's word comes to them.
So first of all, thinking about Elijah, recognizing that God's powerful word calls for obedience.
So there is in Elijah's story this pattern of call and response.
We first meet him in chapter 17, verse 1,
and he is called by God to go into Ahab's presence to announce
that there's going to be no dew, no rain falling.
And then he again is called in verse 3 of chapter 17 to go to a ravine,
because God's going to look after him there.
And then in verse 9 of chapter 17, again, he has to go to the widow's house to be provided for.
And in each time, he responds with obedience.
And now we come to chapter 18, verse 1,
He hears the call, he responds with obedience.
He's going to go back into the king's presence.
He's no longer living in a different country in the background.
Now he's going to deliver God's word to the king.
And with these words, two different famines are going to be over.
So he announces, God says, I'm going to send rain.
So the physical famine is going to be over.
But now as God's spokesman speaks in the public sphere,
the famine of hearing God's word is also over.
However, the other great need for the king, for the nation, is to hear God speak.
This came, this book came to a group of people who also were outside of Israel.
They were living in exile.
And this message, as it would come to them, would speak hope for them,
having lived in rebellion, having now been sent into exile,
that they were invited to hear and to respond with obedience to the word of God.
So as we continue in Elijah's story, though, here,
we recognize in verses 7 and 8 that Elijah is moving back into the country
and he encounters Obadiah.
So obedience leads him to have this discussion with Obadiah.
We discover that Obadiah has been on this task for the king.
He's been searching for grass, for the animals.
And he's also been part of this search team looking to find the prophet
in order, I think, to get rid of him.
And we'll come back to Obadiah.
But Obadiah is a striking character because he works for an evil king.
But clearly he serves God as his true king.
You can even hear it in the way that he speaks to Elijah.
Is it really you, my lord, Elijah?
There's respect there versus Ahab.
Oh, is that you, troubler of Israel?
But as Obadiah and Elijah begin to have this discussion
and Elijah says, listen, I've been told to present myself to the king,
we get that sense that Obadiah is desperately worried.
Well, what if the spirit, Elijah, takes you away?
Clearly he understands that God's spirit has been protecting Elijah from Ahab.
And so he's always evaded his capture.
And Obadiah is saying, well, listen, if you disappear again from the public view,
then it's my neck on the line.
But notice what Elijah says towards the end of their conversation.
Verse 15, 16.
As the Lord Almighty lives whom I serve,
I will surely present myself to Ahab today.
Why is he going to do this?
Why is he going to take the risk of going into the presence of the angry king?
Because he serves the Lord Almighty.
God said, appear before the king, so he is surely going to present himself.
And so you get this picture of Elijah as the prophet of God,
the man of God,
who absolutely takes his marching orders for his life from God's word.
Even if it involves risk,
because now he's back in public,
and he knows that Ahab wants nothing to do with him,
he is going to obey.
There is one voice that holds sway in Elijah's life,
and it's the voice of God.
And wonderfully, because he responds to God's word in obedience,
and we'll see this next week,
God is going to be glorified within the nation.
He's going to be shown to be the one and only God,
the one true king,
the only one who deserves obedience and worship,
the one whose authority should never be ignored.
There's this wonderful demonstration,
in part because of Elijah's obedience.
A couple of very basic points of application for ourselves.
The first, God's people are always called to obey God's word.
It's a pattern you can trace all the way through scripture.
Think about someone like Abraham.
Abraham is told,
leave everything behind and go to the land I will show you.
And in faith, he obeys.
Or we can think of Moses.
Moses, who gets the message,
Moses, I've chosen you to be the man to go and speak to King Pharaoh
and to set my people free.
And again, somewhat reluctantly, but with faith,
Moses goes.
At a very different level,
we've met a widow
who is told by God through the prophet Elijah,
go and make a meal for my servant in faith that you'll be provided for.
And again, she goes.
You know, trace it to the New Testament.
Think about the command that Jesus gives to his disciples.
Go and make disciples of all nations.
And the book of Acts records them doing exactly that.
That God will always call his people to obey his word.
And one of the striking things,
when you think about those stories and so many more,
in none of those stories,
is obedience, a comfortable thing.
That there is always that sense where faith has us living on the edge.
Where we really need, instead of trusting ourselves
and living in our comfort zones,
we need to trust God's presence,
God's power,
God's promises.
Faith says,
come what may,
God's word has the most weight in my life.
That regardless of how I will be received,
I will submit to Jesus,
the living word,
and to the authority of the Bible.
Because we've come to discover its truth and its power.
To quote from Abraham Lincoln,
who famously said this of the Bible,
I believe the Bible is the best gift God has ever given to man.
All the good from the Savior of the world
is communicated to us through this book.
When we get that,
then we understand the call to obey.
So just think at where we are right now,
where you are in your own circumstances.
How is God's word calling you to go?
Maybe it's go and deal with that sin in your life.
Or maybe it's go,
put things right with that family member,
or that friend.
Maybe it's the call to go to your job,
or to your school,
as an active witness for Jesus.
Maybe there's someone that God's put on your heart,
and the message is,
go and bring them words of hope,
and comfort,
and encouragement.
But whoever God's word comes to us,
and compels us,
calling us to obey,
will you and I say,
to do your will I take delight.
So God's people are always called to obey God's word.
But I want to say secondly,
that God's people obey for a particular reason.
We obey because of love.
And I think that's really important to say.
You know,
Jesus makes the connection with his disciples.
In a couple of years,
he says,
you are my friends,
if you obey my commands.
And then,
he puts it even more starkly,
if you love me,
keep my commands.
So there's this connection between love for Jesus,
and obedience to his word.
So,
in other words,
our obedience is not some kind of dull duty.
What we're talking about here is not moralism.
It's not,
I'm trying to find God by doing enough good works.
I'm not trying to get into favor with God
by some form of obedience.
Rather,
Christian motivation is different.
Because God has already found us.
Because God has loved us first,
we respond with obedience.
We let God's grace and kindness to us
mobilize and motivate us to glad obedience.
We listen to the word of the gospel.
The gospel that introduces us to the reality of Jesus,
the Son of God,
who fully,
perfectly obeyed God's word and God's will.
An obedience that led him to the cross at Calvary.
Where he would suffer and die.
Facing the judgment for all the sin,
all the wrongs that we have done,
so that by his act of saving mercy and goodness and love,
you and I can hear words of pardon,
words of welcome.
And Jesus rose from the dead,
and has sent his spirit to live in the hearts of his people,
so that now in the gospel,
we also have a motivation to obey,
and a new ability to obey.
God has, in effect,
performed a spiritual heart transplant,
so that now instead of being hard towards him,
we can respond in love and truly obey.
To change the imagery,
he has performed a prison break.
He has broken the chains of sin that held us captive.
Now that we are no longer slaves,
again, we are enabled to obey.
We have freedom to obey.
We have freedom in the gospel,
and our gospel freedom
is expressed in joyful obedience.
Jesus doesn't set us free
so we can live however we want to live,
regardless of God's word.
Rather,
Jesus sets us free,
the Spirit sets us free,
so that we might gladly obey.
To give us that desire we never had before,
now I want to live a life that pleases God,
because of all that he has done for me.
Now I want to love God by loving my neighbor,
because God has loved me and saved me.
And so perhaps for us,
the daily prayer of faith becomes,
speak, Lord.
Your servant is listening.
And perhaps before we open our Bibles,
we pray those words from Psalm 119,
open my eyes to see wonderful things in your word,
and give me that desire to obey.
So God's powerful word calls for obedience.
But now we're going to turn to Obadiah,
and we're going to think about the fact
that God's powerful word also calls for belief.
And a belief in a context that can be very challenging.
Just to help us to get into the setting a little bit,
you maybe saw in the news this week
that one of the fringe events that was happening at Summer Hall,
so just down the road,
it made the news.
There was a Herald newspaper event,
and Kate Forbes, the deputy first minister,
was invited for a long-ranging interview.
And the day after that event,
Summer Hall announced
that Kate Forbes would never be invited back.
For the safety and the well-being
of every other fringe performer,
she was not welcome.
Maybe you're asking,
well, what did she talk about?
And actually, there was no problem
with the content of the interview.
The problem lies in the fact
that she has views on gender
and gay marriage that come from the Bible
that are beyond the pale to some people.
And so,
Summer Hall felt compelled
to say that Kate Forbes was no longer welcome.
I mention this in part
to remind us
to pray
for followers of Jesus
who are in positions of power.
And for people working in politics
and local government
who find themselves
working sometimes
in hostile religious atmospheres.
Because that's exactly
where Obadiah finds himself.
So here is Obadiah.
He's the administrator for Ahab.
Ahab is an awful king.
And Obadiah is a man of God
who's having to figure out,
how do I work
faithfully for God
working for this guy.
And in so doing,
he stands in line with
Joseph
in the book of Genesis.
He stands in line with
Daniel
as believers
in the one true God
who find themselves
serving pagan kings
in a hostile environment.
And they are called
to believe God's word
even when that is
profoundly challenging.
One of the things
that this section
does for us,
we don't meet Obadiah
really much in the Bible,
but it shows us
in this little scene
that he's very different
to his boss,
Ahab.
So we already
notice that he calls him
my lord,
Elijah.
Ahab calls him
the troubler of Israel.
Look at how he is introduced
in verse 3,
Obadiah was a devout
believer in the Lord.
Whereas we've already been
introduced to Ahab
and we discover
that he's been
one of the worst kings
leading them away
from true worship.
We discover too
that Obadiah
has been practicing
a very costly faith.
Look at verse 4,
while Jezebel
was killing off
the Lord's prophets,
Obadiah had taken
a hundred prophets,
hidden them in two caves,
fifty in each,
and had supplied them
with food and water.
And he tells Elijah
the very same thing
in verse 13.
It's costly
in the sense that,
remember,
this is a time of famine.
So resources are scarce.
Water is hard to come by.
Food is hard to come by.
But he is,
out of his own pocket,
looking after
a hundred prophets
in two different caves.
And he's doing that
at a time
when the queen,
Jezebel,
is looking to hunt down
and kill prophets.
This is costly faith.
And that's really brought out
as well in that conversation
between Elijah and Obadiah
where we discover
he has an all-or-nothing faith.
Because he obviously
has a legitimate fear
for his life.
Ahab, his boss,
is obsessed with
finding Elijah.
He's going not just
within his own country,
he's going to different countries,
asking the leaders there,
asking the officials,
have you seen this man?
If you have,
hand him over.
He absolutely hates
Elijah
and what Elijah
represents.
And so he is on
this mission
to destroy him.
I couldn't help
thinking of Star Wars.
It's like
the dark side
in the Star Wars,
always hunting down
the Jedis,
the rebels
across the galaxies.
That's the kind of picture
you get of
Ahab.
And Obadiah
understands
that if God
does in the present
what he's done
in the past,
rescuing Elijah,
keeping him safe,
Obadiah will die.
But,
look at verse 16.
Knowing all that
to be true,
Obadiah went
to meet Ahab
and told him.
And Ahab
went to meet
Elijah.
He believes,
he trusts,
he goes.
A couple of things
from Obadiah's story.
One is this,
that where
you work
or where you study
may well become
a battleground
for your belief.
Think about
your own experience
as a Christian
in school
or uni
or the workplace.
And I imagine
for some of us
the situation
will be
we are isolated,
the only Christian
in our office
or in our work group.
And that can be hard.
Sometimes it's because
of the challenging
conversations
that are all around us
and we get swept up
and perhaps
it's the language
that's used,
perhaps it's the gossips
that's shared,
perhaps it's just
the out and out
hostility to faith
that is expressed.
But maybe
the battleground
for belief
in our workplace
will be
to do with
our moral integrity
and maybe
the pressure
to cut corners.
Maybe it'll be
to use AI
to cheat
the system.
Maybe we just
live with high levels
of stress
in our workplaces
and that can affect
our ability
to treat
others well
and with patience.
Sometimes the hardest
place to be a Christian
is where we work
and sometimes
if we're honest
we may wish
we were like
those prophets
hidden in a cave.
Here's 50 of them
and they're clustered
together
and it's dangerous
but at least
they've got one another.
But most often
our experience
is going to be
engaging
with a world
of work
as the place
where we're going
to bear witness
for Jesus
and the difference
that he made.
Or that's what
our calling
is going to be.
And probably
related to that
and certainly
we see it
in the story
of Obadiah
as we seek
to be faithful
disciples of Jesus
we will understand
that discipleship
often comes
at a cost.
It's here
in our story
there are prophets
who are wanting
to serve God
and they are being
opposed
and some of them
are being killed.
There is an authority
figure
who is determined
to silence
God's voice.
There are people
who do not want
God's authority
coming near
and you and I
will work
and live around
people with that
same kind of attitude
and therefore
part of
our call
to obedience
is about
carrying our cross
about sharing
in the sufferings
of Christ
in being willing
to accept
rejection
and opposition
and to help us
in that
we need to consider
Jesus
the great prophet
the true
holy son
of God
the savior
for the world
but what was his
experience?
He was despised
he was rejected
and in the end
people cried out
crucify
and so Jesus
as he came
seeking to be
the light
of the world
he came to
experience
the hatred
of the world
towards the
holy God
and as his
body
as the body
of Christ
some of the
slings and
arrows that were
aimed at him
will come
our way
also
and it's one
of the things
that Jesus
did for his
disciples
the night
before
he went
to the cross
if you have
a bible
you can turn
to John 16
and John 17
but as
Jesus
concludes
his words
of encouragement
and teaching
for his
disciples
there at the
end of
John 16
verse 33
he says
I've told you
these things
so that in me
you may have
peace
in this world
you will
have trouble
but take
heart
I have
overcome
the world
and he
prays
in chapter
17
for his
disciples
for his
followers
in this way
my prayer
is not
that you
take them
out of the
world
but that you
protect them
from
the evil
one
so as we
go to our
workplace
to our
places of
study
to places
where we
perhaps find
ourselves
opposed
we claim
these
words
that in
Jesus
we overcome
because he
has overcome
that in
Jesus
we are
protected
by our
father
as we
have that
call to
believe
God's
word
and we
go
to work
so so
far we've
seen that
God's
powerful
word
it calls
for
obedience
it calls
for
belief
but the
last thing
and this
takes us
to the
story
as it
relates
to Ahab
God's
powerful
word
confronts
us
now I
imagine
that nobody
sitting here
today
enjoys
being
confronted
nobody
likes to
be shown
to be
in the
wrong
whether
we're
children
whether
we're
adults
if a
parent
confronts
us
with wrong
or a
teacher
or a
boss
we don't
like it
it
challenges
our
pride
it
challenges
our
sense
that we
are in
control
it
might
even
challenge
our
sense
of
identity
for
wrongdoing
to be
exposed
by someone
else
and
naturally
speaking
that's
how the
human
heart
chooses
to respond
to God's
word
as it
comes
near
and
King
Ahab
shows
us
that
it
shows
us
that
without
the
gift
of
faith
without
God's
spirit
working
in us
and
changing
us
as
people
we
naturally
resist
when
God's
word
comes
and
rubs
up
against
us
and
it
takes
a
work
of
God
to
bring
humility
and
repentance
and
faith
so
just
to
remind
ourselves
about
this
guy
Ahab
he's
a
truly
terrible
king
we met
him
in
chapter
16
there's
this
list
of
really
bad
kings
and
he
is
the
bottom
of
the
barrel
and
he
has
turned
his
own
heart
to
idols
and
he
turns
the
nation
away
from
the
worship
of
the
true
God
to
worship
false
gods
chapter
17
verse
1
that
turning
away
from
God
has
led
him
and
by
extension
the
nation
under
God's
judgment
the
rain
is
withheld
his
response
is
not
repentant
it's
not
to be
humble
rather
it's
to look
to get
rid
of
Elijah
remember
Obadiah's
words
chapter
18
verse
10
as
surely
as the
Lord
your
God
lives
there's
not
a
nation
or
kingdom
where
my
master
has
not
sent
someone
to
look
for
you
he
literally
wants
to
shoot
the
messenger
while
he
accuses
Elijah
of
being
the
troubler
of
Israel
ultimately
it's
Ahab
who
has
brought
trouble
on
Israel
the
spiritual
trouble
of
turning
their
backs
on
God
one
of
the
pictures
that
you
get
of
the
word
pictures
of
the
shepherds
of
the
kings
of
Israel
is
that
they
were
called
to be
the
shepherds
of
God's
people
to
lead
the
people
in
true
worship
but
you
get
this
picture
of
Ahab
in
verse
five
what's
he
looking
for
he
was
a
kind
of
shepherd
of
a
sort
but
what
he's
giving
his
attention
to
is
finding
some
grass
to
keep
his
horses
and
mules
alive
there
seems
to be
more
concern
with
his
animals
than
with
the
subjects
that
he
rules
over
he
is
more
bothered
about
finding
some
good
grass
than
he
is
about
taking
seriously
the
reality
of
God's
wrath
God's
settled
hatred
towards
what is
sinful
and evil
and so
we discover
clearly he
is not
repenting
clearly his
heart is
hard
towards
the
judgment
of
God
and that
climax is
with Elijah's
words in
verse 18
and 19
I'm not
the
troubler of
Israel
you and
your
father's
family
have
caused
trouble
why
well
firstly
you've
abandoned
the
Lord's
commands
secondly
you've
followed
the
Baals
so
they've
abandoned
God
and he
set up
alternative
gods
and so
now
the
scene
is
set
for
this
great
showdown
summon
the
people
from
all
over
Israel
to
meet
me
on
Mount
Carmel
bring
the
450
prophets
of
Baal
the
400
prophets
of
Asherah
who
eat
at
Jezebel's
table
and what
we're
going to
see
next
week
is that
the
one
true
God
is
going
to
be
revealed
the
one
true
God
is
going
to
get
glory
for
himself
but
what
we
see
in
Ahab
in
many ways
like
Pharaoh
before
him
is a
king
who
is
hard
hearted
he
hears
God's
word
very
clearly
and
he
wants
nothing
to
do
with
it
and
because
of
that
he
comes
under
God's
judgment
and
God
is
going
to
use
that
judgment
as
part
of
his
purpose
to
display
his
greater
power
and
authority
ultimately
to show
to
Israel
to show
to Ahab
and to
show
to us
that
it's
God's
word
it's
God's
actions
that
demonstrate
that
he
and
he
alone
deserves
our
worship
as
we
close
a
couple
of
implications
from
Ahab
and
this
part
of
the
story
first
to
recognize
that
the
church
needs
a
prophetic
voice
part
of
our
calling
as
the
church
of
God
is
to
speak
clearly
against
what
is
evil
and
against
what
is
unjust
that
we
take
what
we
understand
about
God's
character
about
the
horrors
of sin
that we
discover
in the
Bible
and we
apply
them to
our
current
context
and so
the
church
needs
to be
able
to
speak
clearly
to
acknowledge
where
injustice
and evil
is
happening
whether
that's
human
trafficking
whether
that's
the
evil
of
the
porn
industry
whether
it's
the
evil
of
the
euthanasia
bill
each
of
these
when you
think
about
it
is
a
devaluing
of
people
made
in the
image
of
God
and so
the
church
must
always
have
that
prophetic
voice
and the
wisdom
to know
how to
speak
God's
timeless
truth
into
our
ever
changing
world
but at
the
same
time
our
voice
must
also
speak
the
gospel
we
speak
judgment
and
salvation
like
the
gospel
does
recognizing
that our
culture
has a
lot
confusion
or
this
morning
a
lot
of
anxiety
we
recognize
people
have
deep
longings
in
their
hearts
they're
looking
to
find
meaning
and
hope
and
purpose
we
are
invited
as
the
people
of
God
to
speak
of
Jesus
the
way
the
truth
the
life
to
bring
good
news
in a
world
marked
by
hurt
and
confusion
but
also
each
one
of
us
needs
to
hear
and
to
respond
in
obedience
and
belief
to
Jesus
the
great
prophet
to
let
his
words
speak
unlike
Ahab
Jesus
is
the
good
king
he's
the
good
shepherd
so
concerned
for
his
people
in
our
spiritual
lostness
that he
both
lays
down
his
life
and he
calls
us
powerfully
to
himself
he
is
the
true
prophet
the
greater
than
Elijah
who
would
confront
and
who
would
conquer
the
forces
of
evil
at
the
cross
the
same
Jesus
who
began
his
ministry
saying
the
kingdom
of
God
is
near
repent
and
believe
the
good
news
the
one
whose
word
has
the
power
to
take
us
from
our
natural
hostility
or
indifference
to
God's
word
to
cause
us
to
hear
its
beauty
and
truth
and
life
giving
power
and
to
respond
with
God