WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.799 So, for just for a short time this evening, we're going to look back at 1 Kings 19, the 00:00:04.799 --> 00:00:12.040 passage that Callum read down to verse 18. 1 Kings 19, 1 to 18. I've preached from this 00:00:12.040 --> 00:00:18.679 passage before here, so I apologize if you've heard a sermon on this theme before, but it 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:24.600 is looking at it in a slightly fresh way, I hope, this evening. We just come off the 00:00:24.600 --> 00:00:29.600 back, as you said, already, of a week of prayer. We've been praying together. And I think 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:36.200 sometimes when you pray, and when we pray together, I think we're tempted sometimes to look for 00:00:36.200 --> 00:00:42.320 spectacular answers. And when that doesn't happen, or when we don't think God answers our prayers 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:48.560 at all, we're really discouraged. And we wonder why we bother. It may be that we're particularly 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:55.799 aware this evening of spiritual battles. You may be discouraged with church, or with yourself, 00:00:55.799 --> 00:01:02.320 or with the state of the nation, or with your circumstances. And maybe particularly with a 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:10.519 sense of frustration, with a lack of answered prayer in your own life, and the battles that 00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:20.879 just simply don't seem to be ending. And I wonder sometimes whether it's chapter 18 is the answer 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:25.599 we want. If you look back to chapter 18, I'm sure many of you will know what that chapter is, 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:33.879 it's when Elijah is challenged about his God with the prophets of Baal. And you know, they set up a 00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:38.359 sacrifice, and the prophets of Baal, you know, they're running around, and they're singing, and 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:44.199 dancing, and cutting themselves, and praying to their gods. And their gods don't answer the 00:01:44.199 --> 00:01:51.959 sacrifice that's on the altar with fire, which is the challenge. But then Elijah comes, and he 00:01:51.959 --> 00:01:57.519 pours buckets of cold water, and buckets of cold water on the sacrifice, and he builds a trench 00:01:57.519 --> 00:02:01.639 around it so there's water all the way around it. Then he prays to the living God that the God, 00:02:01.639 --> 00:02:07.959 living God would show himself. And God reveals himself with just this startling display of his 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:15.319 power, fire from heaven. It licks up the water and burns the sacrifice. And the living God reveals 00:02:15.319 --> 00:02:23.479 himself in answered prayer. Surely that's what we want. It's an incredible story. What a victory 00:02:23.479 --> 00:02:29.359 is one for the living God in front of all these witnesses who see and hear this prayer that's 00:02:29.359 --> 00:02:36.159 answered. Surely nobody could deny the living God then. And in our own prayers, that's what we want 00:02:36.159 --> 00:02:40.280 for people, that's what we want to see. Our friends and our neighbors and the people we've 00:02:40.280 --> 00:02:45.120 been praying for this week, and maybe been praying for, for three or four or five or ten or twenty 00:02:45.120 --> 00:02:51.719 or thirty years that they would see his power and his glory as well. Chapter 18 is the answer, 00:02:51.719 --> 00:02:58.120 right? That's what we want. We want to see fire from heaven. We want to see the power of God, 00:02:58.120 --> 00:03:04.280 and amazing answers to our prayers so that everyone will see who he is. And our motives are good, 00:03:04.280 --> 00:03:09.680 aren't they? That's what we want. Maybe that's what you want, and you're crying out to God. Well, 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:14.640 I don't, I don't understand why you're not answering my prayers. My motives are good. I want 00:03:14.639 --> 00:03:23.759 you to have the glory, and I want people to see who you are. Well, chapter 19 is the sequel. This 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:30.759 is what we have. We have chapter 18, and it's followed by chapter 19. And what are we reminded of 00:03:30.759 --> 00:03:37.519 in chapter 19? Following this remarkable victory, this amazing answer to prayer that God reveals, 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:48.760 it actually didn't make any difference. It actually made very little difference. This incredible 00:03:48.760 --> 00:03:57.640 revelation of the power and the glory of God, it didn't seem to make any difference. Ahab and 00:03:57.640 --> 00:04:04.960 Jezebel, king and queen, were still in power. They were still ruling the land and worshiping idols. 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:11.719 In fact, they were even more determined, Jezebel particularly, even more determined in her 00:04:11.719 --> 00:04:23.000 rejection of Elijah's God. It didn't have the desired effect, and she vowed to destroy him. 00:04:23.000 --> 00:04:34.079 This great revelation of God's power was useless for them, and it seemed that the whole episode had 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:42.199 been a waste of time. And Elijah saw this. He heard the threat from Jezebel to say, I'm going to 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:50.599 make you like the rest of these guys. I'm going to cut your throat. You're gone. And he recognized 00:04:50.599 --> 00:04:58.199 that nothing really had changed. In fact, things seem to be worse. And he was fearful of that. He 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:06.560 was, I'm sure, weary, spiritually discouraged. It seems that he felt like he was a failure. 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:14.360 You know, it's enough now, Lord, he says, take my life away. I'm no better than my fathers. 00:05:14.360 --> 00:05:22.240 He had real zeal for God and for God's kingdom and God's covenant and God's honor, 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:28.400 but it seemed that God didn't seem to care for it. That's what it may have looked like to him. He's 00:05:28.400 --> 00:05:33.240 broken and he's questioning. And he doesn't want to die at the hand of Jezebel. He doesn't want to 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:40.560 give her the final victory. He doesn't mind dying, but he doesn't want to die at her hand. And so he 00:05:40.560 --> 00:05:46.879 runs into the desert and asks, exhausted and alone, and asks God, just take my life. I'm no real 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:52.639 better. Things have gone desperately wrong. And the remarkable answer to prayer doesn't seem to have 00:05:52.639 --> 00:06:03.920 made any difference. Rather, he was discouraged. He didn't understand why the prayer of God, 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:10.159 his prayer and the revelation of God didn't have the desired effect. He seemed overwhelmed by 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:20.000 circumstances and by the darkness of the human heart. And he reaches out to God in that. Where are 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:26.760 you? Where are your promises? What's going to happen to the covenant that you've made with your 00:06:26.760 --> 00:06:33.840 people? There's nobody left. I'm the only one left. What will happen to the covenant? What will 00:06:33.839 --> 00:06:40.839 happen to the Messiah that you've promised? There's no line. It will be the end. What was the value 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:52.839 of my prayer? And my contention as we look at this, which is quite different, I think, from quite a 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:58.839 lot of the traditional interpretations of this passage, is that Elijah wasn't full of self pity. 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:06.839 This wasn't a believer who had let his guard down after this remarkable victory and kind of strutted 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:12.799 about and said, hey, look at me. Look what I was able to do and then didn't give God the glory. 00:07:12.799 --> 00:07:19.759 It's not that he, it's often said that he failed after this encounter with Jezebel and the prophets 00:07:19.759 --> 00:07:27.000 of Baal. And from the mountaintop experience on Carmel, he descended. He let his guard down and 00:07:27.000 --> 00:07:34.480 he's kind of in the huff with God and he's full of self pity. He's got what we would say is the 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:42.720 poor me's and that God rebukes him. I don't accept that interpretation. I don't think that's what 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:53.319 the passage unfolds to us. This is not someone who has disobeyed God in any sense, and he is not 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:59.920 cowardly, but he is someone who is wrestling with God's honour and wrestling with the way God has 00:07:59.920 --> 00:08:06.319 dealt with him, certainly. And I think we see that in God's response and in what's happening here in 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:11.800 the passage. So how does God respond? Why does it matter? Because I'm sure some of you feel like 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:17.319 that at different points in your lives. We wrestle and we battle with prayer, don't we? And with who 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:23.279 God is and the kind of answers he gives or doesn't give. And we wonder, well, wouldn't it be great 00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:31.479 if symbolic fire from heaven came down? Maybe even literal, I don't know, but at least symbolic fire 00:08:31.479 --> 00:08:35.919 for the fire of the Holy Spirit came down and opened the hearts of the people that we've been 00:08:35.919 --> 00:08:41.439 prayed for and things like that. But how does God respond here? And I think that reveals to us a 00:08:41.439 --> 00:08:51.240 little bit about the character of God, which is important for us. He gives him sleep. That's implied. 00:08:51.240 --> 00:09:01.840 It's not explicit, but we are told that he lay down and he slept under a broom tree. He allowed 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:14.080 him sleep. He was exhausted. And then he comes to him. So God comes to Elijah in verse 5. He told 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:21.879 an angel touched him, said, arise and eat. And then in verse 7, and the angel of the Lord came 00:09:21.879 --> 00:09:27.240 again a second time and touched him and said, arise and eat. So it's an angel or the angel of the 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:33.840 Lord. And we know the angel of the Lord is very often a representation of God Himself. He comes to 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:41.960 him. So God either sends his messenger or he comes himself or both. He comes to him. He comes with 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:52.080 food, sleep and food to strengthen him. And he comes with a word. He comes with a word of assurance 00:09:52.080 --> 00:10:02.720 and he says to him, arise and eat for the journey is too great for you. God knew he was going on 00:10:02.720 --> 00:10:07.320 a journey. So he was going somewhere. Okay, that's something we don't know up to this point. He's not 00:10:07.320 --> 00:10:11.240 just running away. He's going somewhere. He's not just running from Jezebel. He's on a journey 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:16.480 somewhere. He's chosen to go somewhere. And God says you need to go. It's a long way away. And you're 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:21.720 going to need your physical strength to get there and the sleep that you've had. Where's he going? 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:26.360 Well, we're told that he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that for 40 days and 49 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:33.240 days to Horeb, the mountain of God. So Elijah's going somewhere. Following what happened on Mount 00:10:33.240 --> 00:10:39.000 Carmel, he's going another mountain and he's going back to a mountain that's very significant. He's 00:10:39.000 --> 00:10:45.039 going to Mount Horeb, which is also Mount Sinai. It's just a different name. The place where 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:50.680 Moses and God revealed to Moses himself in the burning bush, where the Ten Commandments were 00:10:50.680 --> 00:10:55.039 given, where the God of the Covenant revealed His covenant with the people of Israel. This place 00:10:55.039 --> 00:11:02.319 of promises just flowed out of Mount Sinai. And that's what Elijah's going back to. He's going 00:11:02.319 --> 00:11:08.559 back to the beginning. He's stripping back things and he's going back to the beginning of the 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:15.439 relationship of God had with his people, of whom he's a prophet. And God's given him strength to 00:11:15.439 --> 00:11:22.480 go there. And interesting, isn't it? It takes 40 days and 40 nights. We've heard that before in the 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:29.279 Bible, haven't we? It's a significant number. It's kind of, it's linked in the Bible. I'm not 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:34.320 really terribly much into numerology, biblically and things like that, but there's clearly a link 00:11:34.320 --> 00:11:42.879 between this number, significant number, in its biblical context. The Israelites were 40 years 00:11:42.879 --> 00:11:51.759 in the desert. Jesus was 40 days and 40 nights in the desert. Moses was up the mountain for 40 days. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:12:00.240 There's significance and it is often related to judgment or testing or a stripping bear or a 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:11.080 renewing dependence upon God. And if you look at a map of that part of the world, Neuer was talking 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:18.519 about that part of the world, and it's probably roughly, oh, I can't remember how many kilometers 00:12:18.519 --> 00:12:22.919 it is, but I worked it out that it would be, he would be going roughly to get there in 40 days 00:12:22.919 --> 00:12:28.439 and 40 nights from where he was to Mount Horeb. It would be about six miles a day, not in the easiest 00:12:28.439 --> 00:12:36.600 of terrain. He didn't have a car. He would be walking. So God says, you've got time. I'm giving 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:47.399 you time, time to think, time to reflect, and time to consider. And then when he comes to Mount 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:53.240 Horeb, God asks an open-ended question. He says, what are you doing here? What are you doing here? 00:12:53.240 --> 00:13:00.519 Now, you could take that as a rebuke, you know, if your child had the fridge open and was eating 00:13:02.439 --> 00:13:07.240 what you'd prepared for tea. You say, what are you doing here? You shouldn't be here, 00:13:07.240 --> 00:13:12.759 or if they were in the wrong place or whatever. And that could be a rebuke. 00:13:12.759 --> 00:13:20.279 But God sent him, didn't He? You know, you need this energy for the journey. You need to 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:26.200 strength to get to Horeb. And so God's asking, He's asking an open-ended question. It's not a 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:33.399 rebuke. He's saying, look, Elijah, what are you doing here? What's the significance of you coming 00:13:33.399 --> 00:13:41.480 here? Why have you come here? He is opening the opportunity for Elijah to speak back to him. 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:49.240 Absolutely. He said, tell me your heart, Elijah. Why have you come back here following what happened 00:13:49.240 --> 00:13:57.800 on Mount Carmel? And Elijah does not whine back at God. He doesn't say, oh, it's terrible. I'm the 00:13:57.800 --> 00:14:03.960 only one left, and it's miserable, and I just want... It's not a whine far from it. He twice 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:09.879 speaks significantly of why He has come, because I've been very jealous for the Lord. He's right. 00:14:09.879 --> 00:14:14.759 He's not being cocky or arrogant. The God of hosts for the people of Israel have forsaken your 00:14:14.759 --> 00:14:18.840 covenant, thrown down your altars, killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only am 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:24.360 left, and they seek my life to take it away. He's come back to the God of the covenant on the mountain 00:14:24.360 --> 00:14:29.240 of the covenant, because the people have broken the covenant, and He's saying, what's the way forward? 00:14:30.120 --> 00:14:36.200 I have sought to do what you want me to do, and here I'm at the end of the road. I'm going 90 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:41.800 miles an hour down a dead end street, and the devil's on the sea, and I don't know where I can turn out. 00:14:43.480 --> 00:14:50.759 Are you finished with us, God? He asks that question, and God permits that question, 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:58.920 and then God reveals Himself in that very famous passage, isn't it? In that very... He doesn't reveal 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:08.599 Himself in the power of the wind or in the fire. He reveals Himself in a still small voice as we 00:15:08.599 --> 00:15:18.439 often translate it, or in a low whisper. So what happens here is God reveals Himself only in a whisper. 00:15:18.439 --> 00:15:23.399 You remember what's happened in the previous chapter? God did reveal Himself with fire, 00:15:23.399 --> 00:15:30.759 but here He only reveals it, and it's awe-inspiring. It's awe-inspiring. Because Elijah 00:15:30.759 --> 00:15:35.720 responds, we're told he responds, Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak, went out, 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:42.120 and stood at the entrance of the cave. There was this sense of the divine here in the whisper. 00:15:42.120 --> 00:15:49.000 It wasn't just in the whisper, but it was God was in the whisper. The presence of God was 00:15:49.000 --> 00:15:54.440 absolutely real. It reminds me of the... You remember the passage in the New Testament, 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:58.759 just before Jesus was taken to be crucified, and He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:03.879 and the soldiers came to arrest Him, and they were all these soldiers with their swords, 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:08.600 they were big, strong Roman soldiers, you know, they were gladiator-type men, 00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:13.080 and they're standing before Jesus, and they say, we've come to get Jesus. And He says, 00:16:13.080 --> 00:16:19.879 in that great, powerful divine revelation, I am. He just says, I am. Now, it's just a word, 00:16:19.879 --> 00:16:26.040 it's just, He may even have whispered it, but they fall at His feet, stumbling and fall. It's not, 00:16:27.400 --> 00:16:33.720 these are not Keystone cops. This is the most professional army in the world, but they fall 00:16:33.720 --> 00:16:38.840 down at His feet because He says, I am, and the only explanation is there's a revelation 00:16:38.840 --> 00:16:46.519 of His divine being as He speaks, and so here, there's nothing magical in His whisper, 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:53.560 but simply He reveals Himself. His divine presence is revealed in power and quietness. 00:16:55.080 --> 00:17:02.600 He says, I am as He speaks, and whispers to Elijah, and then 00:17:02.600 --> 00:17:13.160 He gives a revelatory word to Him, a word of judgment and a word of grace. He still says, 00:17:13.160 --> 00:17:18.039 there's judgment to be done, and He will send people to judge those who have broken the covenant. 00:17:22.039 --> 00:17:26.680 But it's also a word of grace. He recommissions Elijah, you've still got work to do, 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:33.080 you're not finished yet. This isn't the end of your story. I want you to go and to commission 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:42.360 others to serve. Annoint these kings and anoint your successor, Elisha, and also He will be your 00:17:42.360 --> 00:17:51.640 companion. He'll go with you. You need His someone. You've been alone, and He commissions Elisha to 00:17:51.640 --> 00:18:00.520 go with him. Great provision, and He also says, of course, you're not the only one. There's 7,000 00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:08.440 that have not yet bowed the knee to Baal. And so He reveals, you know, more of the story, 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:16.600 and He reveals that His perspective is the right one, and that Elijah, I guess there's a gentle 00:18:16.599 --> 00:18:23.079 rebuke in that, isn't there? Or at least there's definitely a sense in which He's saying, look, 00:18:24.599 --> 00:18:31.480 please trust in me. Please trust my promises. Please believe me. Even in the basis of what I did 00:18:32.039 --> 00:18:40.039 in the previous encounter on Mount Carmel, please trust, and He reveals Himself. So briefly, 00:18:40.039 --> 00:18:46.359 what is God like? What are we being taught from this passage? Because I don't suppose we 00:18:46.359 --> 00:18:53.319 face any of the same exact issues as Elijah, but we can associate with Him, I imagine, maybe with 00:18:53.319 --> 00:19:00.519 weirdness or depression with spiritual realities, confused about God and His promises, prayer. 00:19:01.159 --> 00:19:07.799 You may be found praying this week perfunctory. Hasn't changed anything, you don't think. 00:19:09.079 --> 00:19:13.559 You may be isolated and you feel nobody understands you, in a sense, a bit like Elijah. 00:19:13.559 --> 00:19:20.359 What can we learn from God briefly in these words? I think the first thing is, 00:19:21.159 --> 00:19:28.519 God knows and we need to know the power of darkness. We absolutely do. He knew the Israelites and 00:19:28.519 --> 00:19:37.159 they're proneness to idolatry, and they also knew Jezebel, so much so that Jesus in John 3, 19, says 00:19:37.160 --> 00:19:43.960 that men prefer the darkness rather than the light. He knows that. It doesn't matter what 00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:52.120 miracles are performed, people still prefer the darkness rather than the light, and He knows that 00:19:52.120 --> 00:19:59.960 and He appreciates that. If people only needed a flash of lightning to believe, 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:05.720 then the cross is redundant, isn't it? Across the, Corey was speaking about this morning, 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:12.120 the only way of breaking the spiritual darkness in the hearts of people is not through wind and 00:20:12.120 --> 00:20:22.200 lightning and revelations of God's power at that level, it's by the great act of crucifixion. 00:20:23.559 --> 00:20:29.640 We want drama and people will be saved, and I'm saying, no, that's not right. 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:37.880 People need to meet with Jesus Christ, and that brings me, well, I'm not quite actually, 00:20:37.880 --> 00:20:43.160 I'll come back to that, but He knows the powers of that. He knows the darkness of our own hearts 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:47.160 and the stubbornness, but He also knows what we need, and we see that from the way He treats with, 00:20:47.720 --> 00:20:55.400 deals with Elijah, doesn't He? No, we need food, we need rest, we need time, don't we? We need time 00:20:55.400 --> 00:21:00.360 to understand God's purposes, we need time to reflect and think through the way He does things. 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:08.440 We sometimes need desert experiences and the time that they allow us to work our way back to Him, 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:14.519 to strip us back to that place where we see and understand Him. He knows we need assurance, 00:21:14.519 --> 00:21:22.440 and He knows we need companionship. Isaiah 30 verse 18 speaks as He cares that we care, doesn't He? 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:27.880 He says, Lord longs to be gracious to you, therefore He will rise up to show you compassion, 00:21:27.880 --> 00:21:31.720 for the Lord is the Lord of justice, blessed are all those who wait in Him. He rises up 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:36.039 to show us compassion. He cares that we care, He knows what we need. 00:21:36.600 --> 00:21:41.480 Zef and I are 317, one of my favorite verses in the Bible. The Lord your God is in your midst, 00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:45.320 a mighty one He will say, He will rejoice over you gladness, He will quiet you with His love, 00:21:45.320 --> 00:21:50.039 He will exalt over you with loud singing. God is a God who knows and who cares, 00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:56.839 and who wants to hear, He will say to you, what are you doing here? Because He wants, 00:21:56.839 --> 00:22:03.319 it's an open-ended question, because He wants to hear your complaints and your version of events, 00:22:03.319 --> 00:22:09.639 and your imperfect knowledge of your own life and life around you. Take them to Him. 00:22:10.920 --> 00:22:16.680 He doesn't expect us to have the answers, but He will recommission us. He will remind us we've 00:22:16.680 --> 00:22:22.440 got work to do, we've got a calling as His children, and that He will never leave her for sake us. 00:22:24.440 --> 00:22:32.519 So He knows what we need and He cares that we care, and that's good. But His presence defies our 00:22:32.519 --> 00:22:37.960 expectation, and that brings me back to this whisper again, and to the need for Jesus Christ. 00:22:41.080 --> 00:22:44.600 I hope I'm not reading too much into this passage by saying that Jesus, 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:51.079 I know you can kind of take, you can make Jesus appear in every part of the Bible in a way that's 00:22:51.079 --> 00:22:57.000 not really very authentic. I don't think this would be inauthentic, but Jesus is the divine 00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:05.000 whisper. Can I say that? Is that okay to say that? Because in John chapter 1 we say that Jesus was the 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:10.839 Word, and the Word became flesh. And I think there is a significant relationship, a relation 00:23:10.839 --> 00:23:16.599 between what God was saying to Elijah and the coming of the Redeemer, God in the flesh. 00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:23.000 It was a whisper, wasn't it? He was unknown for 30 years. He didn't look any different to anyone else. 00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:30.359 He wasn't this God who was remarkable and God in the midst of His people. He was just Joseph's son. 00:23:30.359 --> 00:23:39.479 That's all he was, and he lived his life. There was glimpses of his glory, but he was rejected. 00:23:41.399 --> 00:23:49.000 And so our redemption is not by a superhero, it's by Jesus Christ, the rejected Jew on a human, 00:23:50.119 --> 00:23:58.759 on a Roman cross. A one who quietly was raised and who ascended to heaven, 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:07.000 who were only a few saw Him. Quiet, a whisper. How often have you asked the question, why didn't 00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:13.240 more people, why didn't Jesus appear to more people? Why did He die with only 12 followers? 00:24:13.240 --> 00:24:20.200 And a rag tag of people, the most unsuccessful evangelist ever was, in many ways. And why? 00:24:20.200 --> 00:24:28.120 And the gospel being that Christ reveals Himself to us in our conscience, 00:24:29.720 --> 00:24:35.960 as we put our trust in Him in very un-dramatic ways, as in our knees in prayer and the sacrament 00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:41.480 through the ordinary means of the 2,000-year-old Scriptures. God speaks through the required work 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:48.360 of the Holy Spirit in our lives, ordinary lives, lives of faith and obedience. So you go from here 00:24:48.359 --> 00:24:54.919 to here, and you whisper the gospel. That's where God speaks, that's where His power is. 00:24:54.919 --> 00:24:58.279 When you give the, you know what Jesus talks about, the cup of cold water. 00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:06.919 Unremarkable, yet the gentle but powerful loving of your neighbor, the quenching of gossip, 00:25:10.039 --> 00:25:17.799 the compassion and the care. That's where the unmistakable power, divine power is in, 00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:22.839 as we love God and as we love our neighbor in these remarkable, obedient ways, that's what 00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:27.240 will inspire worship. That's what will be the revelation, the revolution that will change 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:35.319 this world. That's when we will know Him and not just about Him. It's His quiet sovereignty. 00:25:35.319 --> 00:25:41.399 And I do believe God is speaking through this passage with regard to that in terms of our 00:25:41.400 --> 00:25:48.200 answer to prayers. What are you looking for from God in prayer? What is it? Is it drama? 00:25:48.840 --> 00:25:55.560 Is it miracles and visible power? Do we want Him to dance to our beat in answered prayer 00:25:56.680 --> 00:26:06.040 in the way that the rich man wanted Him, wanted the Lazarus to go back from the grave 00:26:06.039 --> 00:26:11.960 and appear to his brothers because something as dramatic as that would surely bring them to faith. 00:26:13.319 --> 00:26:16.519 And yet God says, no, if they don't believe in the Word and the prophets, 00:26:17.159 --> 00:26:21.799 if they don't believe in the message and in the gentle whisper of God, they will not turn. 00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:28.920 And that is important for us to remind ourselves of. And very briefly, we see also 00:26:28.920 --> 00:26:35.400 His way of sacrifice, He speaks here again in terms of the whisper and the revelation. 00:26:36.039 --> 00:26:40.840 It's not simply the cross, is it? It's that we go from here living our lives, laying down our lives 00:26:40.840 --> 00:26:49.160 for others. Servanthood, the angels, the ministering spirits, Hebrews 1 verse 14, 00:26:49.800 --> 00:26:55.480 are they not all ministering spirits? The angels sent to serve for the sake of those who are to 00:26:55.480 --> 00:27:03.000 inherit salvation. So God sends His angels, His messengers, and we are to reflect that. God comes 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:10.440 as an angel of the Lord to Elijah and serves Him, and that is how He wants us to live our lives. 00:27:10.440 --> 00:27:21.400 He wants you to be an angel for Him. Whose angel will you be? Who you serve? As you share in that 00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:30.759 task of being a ministering servant, who will you pour your life out for, for someone else's need? 00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:38.759 Whose prayers are you the answer to? Because undoubtedly, you are the answer to someone's 00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:47.240 prayers as you serve and as you recognize the incarnate nature of grace as we serve one another 00:27:47.240 --> 00:27:56.839 in the family here at St. Columba's. And He also reveals, lastly, His reality, then and now, 00:27:56.839 --> 00:28:02.599 both judgment and grace. And these are important and crucial realities for us. We don't have the 00:28:02.599 --> 00:28:07.960 full picture. We don't know in whose heart God is working. We know He's still has work to do. 00:28:08.839 --> 00:28:15.480 We know we are part of that work. We know His kingdom is coming. And He doesn't want us to go 00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:22.839 back into our caves. He wants us to recognize that we have a purpose and that we are on the side of 00:28:22.839 --> 00:28:30.519 victory and that He still has many people, for example, in this city. And so we look to serve Him 00:28:30.519 --> 00:28:38.120 and recognize that His kingdom is coming and He will return in judgment, in glory. And it will be 00:28:38.119 --> 00:28:46.759 not a whisper when He returns. And we trust Him with that. And as we finish, I quote two passages, 00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:51.639 I think which in a sense sum up the God who's revealed to Elijah here. And I hope 00:28:51.639 --> 00:28:56.359 is revealed to you in your own prayer life and in your own battles. He says in Isaiah 55, 00:28:56.359 --> 00:29:01.799 My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways, my ways, declares the Lord. For as high as 00:29:01.799 --> 00:29:06.519 the heavens, for as the heavens are higher than they are, so are my ways higher than your ways. 00:29:06.519 --> 00:29:13.720 And my thoughts and your thoughts, that's a really important perspective, as is 2 Peter 3, 00:29:14.519 --> 00:29:19.079 8 and 9. But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a 00:29:19.079 --> 00:29:24.440 thousand years and a thousand years as one day, the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise 00:29:24.440 --> 00:29:29.319 as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that anyone should perish, 00:29:29.319 --> 00:29:37.559 but that all should reach repentance. So take this revelation of God from His Word 00:29:39.319 --> 00:29:47.319 and recognize who He is and how He loves and cares and wants to hear our cries, 00:29:47.319 --> 00:29:52.279 but will also teach and help us to know Him, not about Him, but know Him better. 00:29:54.119 --> 00:29:58.200 I mean, I'm just going to pray briefly. And I mentioned at the beginning, I want to pray first. 00:29:58.200 --> 00:30:03.319 I want us to keep the momentum of the prayer week going, just for another week, 00:30:04.279 --> 00:30:11.240 but not meeting together. But can I just urge you and ask you to pray for one specific thing? 00:30:11.799 --> 00:30:17.080 Now, this may be flying absolutely in the face of all I've just said, but I hope not. 00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:22.759 And we'll leave God to provide the answer. But it's praying for a specific need. 00:30:22.759 --> 00:30:30.440 And I think it's a real need for the gospel as we move forward. It may not be what you think is a 00:30:30.440 --> 00:30:36.599 priority need, but I think in the current climate it is a specific need, which is the Esk Valley, 00:30:37.480 --> 00:30:43.319 our church plant in Esk Valley, really, it would be really good for them to have their own building. 00:30:44.359 --> 00:30:50.839 It's a great bind at this point for them. It's different in different situations, 00:30:50.839 --> 00:30:56.119 but for them just now, to not have their own building, and I think the frustrations and 00:30:57.399 --> 00:31:01.559 sometimes the difficulties of renting where they are and not always having it available, 00:31:02.119 --> 00:31:07.159 and not being able to do things during the week that they would maybe want to 00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:13.480 move on and consider and develop. So can I ask you to pray consistently this week, 00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:19.159 very particularly, that God would provide them with a building? I don't know what the answer to 00:31:19.160 --> 00:31:27.320 that is. I don't even know if it's the right prayer, but that He will make clear absolutely what His 00:31:27.320 --> 00:31:32.920 answer is to that. And would you pray that every day this week? And pray that God would provide 00:31:32.920 --> 00:31:41.320 a building for Esk Valley and that it would be just a sign of the moving forward of the work there. 00:31:41.320 --> 00:31:45.800 So please do pray for that. We'll bow our heads before we sing our parting song. 00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:53.720 Lord God, we do ask that you would bless your gospel and your truth and the revelation of yourself. 00:31:54.519 --> 00:32:01.480 We're tired very often at this time of year, weary. We may feel frustrated having prayed or not 00:32:02.039 --> 00:32:07.720 understanding why you don't seem to answer our prayers. Maybe we've been encouraged by you and 00:32:07.720 --> 00:32:13.559 by the way you dealt with Elijah and by your understanding and your sympathy and yet you're 00:32:13.559 --> 00:32:20.119 all encompassing glory. And we do pray that you would help us in the little things and the big 00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:25.559 things in our lives, little things and the big things about us as a church. And we pray for 00:32:25.559 --> 00:32:30.839 Esk Valley today as we've prayed for Harrington and Cornerstone. And we pray that you would provide them 00:32:32.200 --> 00:32:38.759 with a building. We know that a building's not the end of all things. It's not the be all and end 00:32:38.759 --> 00:32:44.599 all. We know that they've done fantastically well, worshiping and growing as a community in the 00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:51.640 Mining Museum and we recognize that. But we do feel it would be easier for them, Lord, and would 00:32:51.640 --> 00:32:57.720 enable, not so much easier, but would enable the work to progress if they had a building. And we 00:32:57.720 --> 00:33:03.000 know it seems impossible and we know that as a team they've been looking at various properties and 00:33:03.000 --> 00:33:11.640 it just seems impossible. But we cry out to you and ask that you would provide them with what they need. Amen.