[0:00] I'm going to read from God's Word now as it's found in the first book of Kings and chapter 17. I'm just going to read part of the chapter.
[0:13] It's on page 358 in the Church Bible if you're following it in that. This is the account of Elijah. We're going to be looking at part of the story of his short stay in Zarephath.
[0:26] Elijah had been on the run from the king of Israel who pretty much wanted him dead really. So he was on the run trying to save his life. God had directed him first of all into the wilderness where God had fed him by ravens bringing him bread and meat.
[0:44] But then when the brook eventually dried up God told him to move out down to Zarephath. So let's read from verse 7 down to 24.
[1:25] Elijah said to her, She went away.
[2:23] And did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry.
[2:37] In keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah. Sometime later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse and finally stopped breathing.
[2:48] She said to Elijah, What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son? Give me your son, Elijah replied.
[3:01] He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow?
[3:16] I am staying with by causing her son to die. Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the Lord, O Lord my God, let this boy's life return to him.
[3:27] The Lord heard Elijah's cry and the boy's life returned to him and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house.
[3:40] He gave him to his mother and said, Look, your son is alive. Then the woman said to Elijah, Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.
[3:57] Heavenly Father, we bow our hearts before you again this morning. Lord, we come to you and again we remember we've just been singing that song of giving thanks to you with a grateful heart.
[4:13] To give thanks to you for all that you have given to us in your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray, Lord, that our hearts may be truly thankful hearts. Hearts that rejoice in your presence.
[4:25] Hearts that remember your goodness and your grace and your faithfulness to us. But also, Lord, as we come to you this morning, we are also mindful that we are a people who have great needs.
[4:39] Lord, there are many who struggle and face real difficulties from day to day. And we would just like to bring them before you again this morning. We would lift them up in your presence and ask, Lord God, that you would look upon your people who suffer and struggle.
[4:56] And that you would give them grace and help. That you would support them and encourage them. But more than that, you would help us to do that as well. That we might encourage and support our brothers and sisters in their times of need.
[5:10] That we might practically demonstrate the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And show in practical ways that we are one in him. And so we would pray, Lord, for those who are unwell.
[5:23] Those who are recovering from surgery. Those who are struggling with illnesses. Lord, we just commit them to you and pray that you will bless and encourage them this morning.
[5:33] And if they can't come out to this place of worship, we pray, Lord, that you will draw alongside them where they are. And that you will encourage them to think that you are the God who is with them as you are with us.
[5:47] Father, we thank you that you are not limited to buildings or places. But you are in every place. And we praise you because of that. We thank you, Lord God, that as your power is in this place, so it can be anywhere and everywhere where your people are.
[6:04] And so we pray that you may be pleased to grant that healing and restoration where it is needed. We also pray, O Lord, for ourselves as churches. Lord, we thank you for putting us together in fellowships.
[6:18] We thank you that we can come together freely and openly without fear of opposition or persecution. But we can come and praise your great name.
[6:30] And, Lord, we would thank you for that freedom that we enjoy. But we're also mindful, Father, that in so many places around the world your church is being persecuted. People meet in fear.
[6:42] Some, O Lord, even this day may face the death penalty because they love you and serve you and just want to tell people about you. And again, we would pray for them this morning, Father, that you would give them that grace to help them to stand firm for you.
[7:00] That you would give them that love in their hearts for even those who would persecute them. And that they may demonstrate clearly the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray for families who are separated because of your people being imprisoned and taken away from their family situations, from their church situations.
[7:22] And again, we would ask, Lord, that you'd be near to them. Lord, we just commit them to you. We'd also pray, O Lord, for our own nation at this time. Lord, we remember that we are a people who have known such blessing over many generations.
[7:38] You have blessed us in so many ways. You've kept us a free nation for so many years. You have kept your word free to us. We've enjoyed much freedom in democracy.
[7:53] And so much, O Lord, we have to give you thanks for. But in these are days, O Lord, we see that freedom being eroded away as men turn their back upon you. And we would ask, O Lord, for our nation at this time, Father, that you may be gracious to us.
[8:10] That in wrath you would remember mercy. And that you may yet pour out your spirit upon our nation once again. Lord, we know there are many problems that this nation faces.
[8:22] But surely the answer begins by turning back to you, the living God. And we would ask, therefore, for our nation that you would grant that spirit of repentance and the turning back to seek you while you may still be found.
[8:37] We pray for our government and our rulers. We pray, Lord, that as you have encouraged us to do in your word, to lift them up before you, that you may bless them and that you may use them for the good of this nation.
[8:50] And so we would pray that you would give them a heart that longs for you, that there may be a desire for righteousness to exalt this nation and that they may see the folly of following sinful ways.
[9:05] So raise up godly men and women again, we pray, into places of power and influence, that your word may be heard and that men may seek you again.
[9:16] And we pray for your church across this land, O Lord. We pray for it today as it meets in your name. We pray that your reviving power may come upon your church, that you would fill our hearts, our very lives, our minds with you, that our hearts would be on fire for you again, O Lord, and that we would long to make you known, that we would long to share the good news of Jesus Christ with all those round about us, that we would long to point people to the one who has made such a change to us.
[9:54] And may we point people to the one and only one who can really help them. So help us to be faithful and loyal servants for you today. Be with your servants up and down our land who will be proclaiming this word of God today.
[10:08] Remember Barry over in Gisbrough, O Lord, to bless him and encourage him this morning, we pray. But for all who are preaching your word, may you can grant that spirit of power from your word to rest upon them, and that they may speak with the voice of divine authority.
[10:26] Thus says the Lord. And may you give us, O Lord, each and every one of us, those ears to hear what you are saying to us today.
[10:36] Illuminate our hearts and minds, O Lord. Help us not to think that this word is for somebody else. But let us listen to what you are saying to us as individuals, us as a church, and that you will direct us, O Lord, closer to you, and give us a clearer understanding of all that you have for us in your word.
[10:58] So may you bless us together, O God, this morning. And in all things, just get glory, we pray, because we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, this morning I want us just to think about the second part of the reading that we had in 1 Kings 17, which deals with the widow of Zarephath's son who dies, and that whole situation there.
[11:30] When you read parts of God's word, so encouraging, isn't it? For instance, if you read Romans 8, verses 28 and 29, they are fantastic words.
[11:44] They are so encouraging, aren't they? I know that God will supply everything I need, and we've just been singing here as well, I am trusting thee, Lord Jesus.
[11:55] Thou alone shall lead, every day and hour supplying all my need, I am trusting thee forever and for all. Wonderful words, aren't they? Challenging words.
[12:08] Challenging because while everything is going right and smooth and not a cloud in the sky, we can read those words and say, Amen, I believe those.
[12:19] Aren't we? And we do, and rightly so. But to be honest, life isn't always like that, is it? Life isn't all plain sailing.
[12:29] It's not all clear blue skies. The garden isn't always rosy, is it? Sometimes autumn comes, doesn't it? And winter, the dark sets in.
[12:42] Hard times press in all around us. What do we do then? Do we turn back to those verses in Romans 8 and rejoice in it and say, Yes, God is here in this mess?
[12:55] Well, we should. But the opposite tends to be the case, doesn't it? We tend to forget those promises. We forget that God really is in charge of everything.
[13:07] I came across a story. Perhaps you've heard it or read some version of it. It's about a parakeet, and his name was Chippy.
[13:19] And Chippy the parakeet never saw what was coming to him. One second, he was peacefully perched in his cage, singing and making merry on his perch.
[13:31] The next, his world was turned upside down. You see, the problems began for Chippy when his owner decided to clean out his birdcage. And she'd got the hoover and was hoovering around the bottom of the cage when the phone rang.
[13:46] And, of course, as you do, you just turn around to pick up the phone, don't you? And as she turned around hoovering hand, there was this... Chippy the parakeet had disappeared.
[13:59] Straight down the hoover. She immediately dropped the phone, of course, opened up the bag, and there's poor Chippy the parakeet, sitting in all the dust and muck. Still alive, shaking badly.
[14:12] So, being the concerned owner that she was, she grabbed Chippy the parakeet, rushed up to the bathroom, turned on the shower, blasted it with water to clean it.
[14:25] Poor Chippy is still there, sitting there shivering now, nice and clean, but shivering. And then, being the concerned owner that she was, she thought, I can't leave him dripping wet like this.
[14:39] I need to get him dry. So she went and got her hair dryer and blasted him with hot air. Poor old Chippy, he never really recovered from that.
[14:49] The reporter who was following this story and reported it in the press, rang up one day shortly after all this and asked how Chippy was doing. And the owner said this, it's hard to say, she said, because he doesn't sing much anymore.
[15:04] He just sits there and stares. And you know, sometimes we're a bit like that. We don't see troubles coming, do we? And when they hit, they hit hard.
[15:16] They shake our little world. It's like an earthquake sometimes, turning our world upside down, sucked into it, almost unaware that it was coming.
[15:29] We're washed up, blown over, startled, dazed, and when we do come out of it, we just sit there thinking, wow. Elijah here in this passage is going through a hard patch too.
[15:46] And the widow herself is going through a harder patch. But in a way, this passage really deals with a test for both Elijah and the widow. I want us to see the passage in that light because it's a both situation, not one or the other.
[16:03] You see, as we return to this story of Elijah, we see that Elijah's troubles started way back when he stood up for God, when he declared that God will not stand by and allow idolatry in his land.
[16:18] And he called the nation to repent and turn back to God. And for his troubles, he got hounded out of the nation. He had a wanted poster put up everywhere.
[16:29] The king wanted his life. He wanted him dead. And he sent out patrols everywhere looking for him. But God hid him. And again, for us as Christians, we think, well, all we need to do is stand up for God and everything will be fine, won't it?
[16:43] But you realize sometimes that the moment you stand up, you become a target. And you shouldn't be surprised about that because it happens all the time in the scriptures.
[16:56] But what makes the difference is what we do about that, how we stand despite being the target. Elijah, or other words, encouraged just to keep on trusting God and God fed him and kept him and protected him and moved him around to keep him safe until he came to Zarephath where he arrived at this woman's doorstep really as he'd gone into the town.
[17:19] He'd sat by the well. She'd come out and he'd managed to get some bread and water while the famine was going on. It was quite an amazing situation and the widow herself was just making a final meal as if it were for her and her son and was totally expecting to go home and die.
[17:38] That was it. And then Elijah walks in and says, no, no, it's not going to happen like that. God's got a different plan for you. For as long as the famine is here, God says, I will protect you, I will care for you, I will provide for you.
[17:51] Just trust me in that. And for a woman who's not an Israelite to hear that, about the God of Israel promising to do that, that must have been a big thing to ask of her, mustn't it?
[18:02] It's a big thing for anyone to say it. Yes, there's a famine but God will keep feeding me. And yet she takes Elijah at his word, does what he requests, and from that day on, the oil doesn't run out, the bread doesn't run out, and everything's good.
[18:19] until, we're told, it changes in verse 17. Sometime later, we're not told how much later this is, but sometime later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill, he grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing.
[18:40] In other words, he died. Now there are some people who don't think he actually died but fainted and became weary. But if you read those verses again, the writer is very emphatic.
[18:53] He's dead. He's not breathing. And Elijah is, I think, as stunned as the widow herself that this has happened.
[19:06] Elijah had great faith and great confidence in God, and he made those promises, and he fully expected God to keep them and stand by those things.
[19:20] Now I'm told that some of the best weather we can enjoy comes immediately before a storm arrives, because the storm tends to clear the air, and then the sun comes out after.
[19:32] For this woman, Elijah's, promise and provision, well, that was lovely. But then the storm hit. The sun will come out again later, but the storm, when it hit, it hit hard.
[19:49] And the storms of life do hit us hard. And so how does this woman respond? She says to Elijah in verse 18, What do you have against me, man of God?
[20:01] Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son? They are harsh words, aren't they? Harsh words to say to the man of God.
[20:14] You see, when Elijah first arrived, well, he was the hero of the hour, wasn't he? He was great. The day before, he was the man. Every time she looked at Elijah, she saw the oil, she saw the flowers, she saw the care and the protection of Elijah's God.
[20:31] Oh yeah, he's the man. He's the main man. He's the hero. Today, he's not the hero, he's the murderer of a son. How quickly life changes, doesn't it?
[20:43] One day, you're the best person in the world, the next person, you're the most hated person in the world. Hard for Elijah, hard for the widow, and this change of events must have shattered her completely, and to be honest, it would have shattered anyone, wouldn't it?
[21:05] She's a widow, she's lost her husband already, the only person it seems she's got left in the world is her son, and now he's gone too. And you can imagine what was going through her mind.
[21:20] In those heartbreaking circumstances, it's hard to know what to say to someone, isn't it? What would you have said to the woman? The woman has plenty to say, of course, but things might have been running through her head, as things do.
[21:39] In our minds too, questions like, why does God allow this to happen to me? If your God cares about us so much, why doesn't he stop my son from dying?
[21:54] Doesn't he have the power that he claims to have? That you claim he got? Can't your God keep his promises? Very real questions, hard questions.
[22:07] How would you answer those? Elijah, Elijah, when he talks from this passage, is a man who has great confidence in God. He knows who his God is, but he still has real hard things to deal with.
[22:23] Really does. And both the widow and Elijah appear to be at a loss in this situation. They don't know what to say or what to do. But the good thing about this story is it does give us two different ways of dealing with these things.
[22:39] It does tell us how we should respond. For one thing, we notice about the widow herself, she does seem to have a bit of a guilty conscience. If you notice that, she accuses Elijah.
[22:53] She says, what have you got against me? Have you come to remind me about my sin, the things I've done wrong? Have you just come to make me feel guilty? Have you just come to condemn me?
[23:07] In other words, she's got some sins in the background somewhere that maybe she thought nobody else knew about and Elijah's come because he's going to tell her off about them. Well, maybe that is true or maybe it isn't.
[23:23] But maybe Elijah didn't know about any of her background. The thing is, God does. And no matter how God deals with our lives, the one thing he will tell us over and over again in the Bible is this, be sure your sin will find you out.
[23:41] God will always bring it to the front. And he does so not to condemn but to bring to repentance. One day, if we refuse to repent, then he will condemn.
[23:54] There's no doubt about that either. But while we are living here in this world, the gospel message is simply this, that God has sent his son, Jesus Christ, to be the saviour, the one who will rescue us from all our sin.
[24:07] And all we need to do is turn to him. Granted, this is a long time before Jesus appears, but the message is still the same. If we're guilty, if we've got sin in our hearts, and if we're burdened by the guilt of that sin, it's no good blaming anybody else.
[24:21] You've just got to own up to it and turn to God. So for Elijah in this situation here, there is great challenge.
[24:34] And we are challenged to have that close walk with God just as Elijah does. Rather than turning the situation and blaming God for things, we need to ask what God is doing in all of this.
[24:47] So that's really what Elisha's response is. There are two things here. First of all, that we must look at is this. When God's promises seem to fail, when God appears to have forsaken us, remember this, that's all it is, the appearance of it.
[25:05] God never fails and he never lets us down and he always keeps his promises. God is so amazing that he will never, ever go back on what he said.
[25:17] Even if all our circumstances say, that's not what is not so. They may appear that way but that is only what it is, the appearance.
[25:29] For us, we only see a part of God's big picture of what he's doing. God sees the whole thing from beginning to end. We see this little bit. And so what Elijah has to do is say, I see this little bit, you see that bit, help me understand it.
[25:48] And so that's the first thing. The second thing is to this, to remember, that when we are surrounded and facing real problems and difficulties that we don't understand, the best example that we can follow is that of Elijah here.
[26:02] What does Elijah do here? Well, look at verse 19. Elijah says to the woman, give me your son. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying and laid him on his bed.
[26:16] Then he cried out to the Lord, O Lord my God, have you brought tragedy upon this widow whom I am staying with by causing a son to die? What is he doing? He's taken it to God, isn't he?
[26:28] And he's saying to God, I don't understand what you've done here, Lord. Have you brought me here just to see this woman's son die? Or is there something else going on here? What he's doing is he's simply pouring out his heart to God.
[26:44] And sometimes that's the only thing that we can do. We have no words of wisdom. We struggle with these things and the only thing we can do is say, God, I don't understand this.
[26:56] But God does understand this. And God is at work even when we don't realize that. This is an amazing prayer.
[27:10] As he prays to God. Verse 21, he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the Lord, O Lord my God, let this boy's life return to him.
[27:21] Again, what is he praying for? He's asking God to raise this boy from the dead. To give him back life. And again, that's an amazing thing because when you look back in all of history from chapter 17 before all of this, there's not one instance of God raising the dead.
[27:42] It's true, Abraham believed that God was able to raise the dead. Hebrews 11 tells us that. But he never actually saw it. Never actually happened.
[27:52] Elijah really does believe that God can raise the dead. And that's what he prays for. In my reading this morning, I was reading about the blind men who came to Jesus asking for a sight to be restored to them.
[28:11] And Jesus asked this question of them. He said, do you believe that I can do this? And in Matthew 9, Jesus said to these blind men who had come to him, let it be according to your faith.
[28:26] As you believe, so will it be done. So if in other words, if they didn't really believe, it wouldn't happen. And I think sometimes God does that to you and me as well.
[28:37] When we're going through a situation and we're praying about it, he's asking us really, do you believe I can do this? Do you believe I can make a difference in this? Do you believe I can transform this situation that is hopeless and helpless in your standards?
[28:53] Do you believe I can do anything to change that? You see, it's all very well saying, yes God, you can do that. But do we believe it? Do we really believe it in our hearts that God is able to make all the difference?
[29:09] An example could be we often pray for the revival of our nation, don't we? And rightly so. But do we believe God can do that? If we don't really believe it, it's no good praying it.
[29:23] We must believe what we're praying and Elijah believes what he's praying. And he asks God to raise this boy from the dead.
[29:33] How is it that Elijah can do that? Simply because he knows who his God is. In verse 21, he calls God my God.
[29:46] He's mine. Not that he possesses him in that sense, but he has that personal relationship with God. He knows what his God is like. He knows he is merciful and compassionate.
[29:58] He knows he's loving and kind. He knows that God acts out of compassion. And so often you see that in the life and ministry of Jesus.
[30:11] When you see in Luke's gospel where he raised the widow of Nain's son from the dead, his heart was moved with compassion. And Elijah can sense that here.
[30:23] He can't see it because the son is dead. But he can sense that there is a compassionate God behind this. And so he says, this is my God.
[30:37] And he knows that this amazing God has all power to do whatever he wants. He also knows that his God will keep his promises. He's experienced it in his life already.
[30:49] God has looked after him. God has provided for him. God has cared for him. And when we go in through difficult situations, that's the thing to do. Look back again on what God has already done for us.
[31:03] And say, God has done that for me already. He has cared for me in this situation. He has provided for me in this situation. He has led me through that situation. Will he abandon me now? Just because I can't see what he's doing?
[31:17] The answer is no. Of course he won't. He's the same, isn't he? Yesterday, and today, and forever. So Elijah has this personal encounter and relationship with God that enables him to stand firm in the tough times.
[31:38] So that contrasts really these two people here. This woman who has a faith that Elijah is the man of God but she doesn't really know Elisha's God. And Elijah is the man of God who says, I know the God of heaven.
[31:54] The woman accuses Elijah of causing the death of her son. Elijah just trusts that God is going to do something amazing. That's the contrast between knowing God and knowing about God.
[32:09] And the challenge for us is not to know about God, it's to know God, to know him personally through his son Jesus Christ. And for you this morning as you sit here and you listen to this story again, perhaps you've heard it so many times, but the question for you is do you know this God for yourself?
[32:30] Do you have that living relationship with him? Is he real? A lot of people start off when you ask this question, do you know God, what is your God like?
[32:41] And they start off by saying, well I like to think of God like this, and then all sorts of nonsense comes out, doesn't it? But the thing is, the God of the Bible has revealed himself, and he says, this is who I am, this is what I am like, this is what I expect of you.
[33:01] And over and over and over he calls us back to this book to look at who he is and what he wants of you in your life. Do you know this God?
[33:12] Well, Elijah's prayer, as we are reminded in James chapter 5, his prayer is powerful and effective, and it brings about an answer, doesn't it?
[33:23] What is the answer? Verse 22, the Lord heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down to the room, into the house to where his mother was, and said, look, your son is alive.
[33:41] Now, people stumble when they read things like this, you know, how can God do that? How can you believe that?
[33:54] In the Acts, Acts 26, the Apostle Paul asks this question, he says, why do you think it incredible that God should raise the dead? Why is it such a mind-blowing thing?
[34:06] The God of the Bible is the one who put creation into place. life to the universes. He put the stars in place, he keeps them there, he brings life to you and me, he holds everything in the palm of his hand.
[34:24] Why do you think God is so incredible that he raises the dead? Surely this God can do anything, is the argument of the Bible. Raising the dead? That's nothing, is it?
[34:36] God is amazing. And this is the God that says, I want to know you. I want to have that personal relationship with you.
[34:48] Don't be surprised when I do incredible things, he says. And we shouldn't be. So again, it comes back to the question of what sort of God do we worship this morning?
[35:00] What's he really like? Can he literally do anything? Because the story of Elijah and the story of the whole of the Bible is quite simply that God can do anything he wants.
[35:14] But if this whole episode is not to bring judgment upon the woman and possibly her secret sins, what's it all about? Why is it here?
[35:25] What lesson does Elijah want to teach? Well, I think the first thing it does is it puts the whole situation on a very personal level for the woman.
[35:38] When Elijah first came, he introduced himself and who he was and his office as prophet and who he served. But notice how the woman responds to him after her son is presented alive in verse 24.
[35:53] The woman said to Elijah, now I know that you are a man of God and the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth. There are things now she knows absolutely without any question.
[36:08] There is a certainty about her. There's an assurance that Elijah really is the man of God and the things that he's teaching really are coming from the God of heaven.
[36:21] You see, as a Gentile she would have been involved in the idol worships of the nation. But those are nothing compared to God, the living God. God. And she's just had a demonstration of the reality of the living God.
[36:37] And how important it is to know him. And she has this understanding now, this certainty, this assurance. And so when God is dealing with our lives, it's usually to teach us something about himself.
[36:51] To lead us closer to him. To lean on him more carefully and closely. I want to leave with a couple of things though.
[37:03] Yes, I think the woman was led to examine her own heart and her own ways, but not because God was judging her, but because he wanted her to come to repentance and faith. And sometimes God does that too.
[37:17] He works in our lives and things go badly wrong as far as we're concerned, but it's because God is doing something in our lives that maybe he wants to put right. And if we're not Christians, the first thing he wants to do is to bring us to faith in Jesus Christ.
[37:33] The whole picture of the son dying and being raised to life is a wonderful picture of what God does in Christ centuries later. And it's a picture of really what God is still doing now.
[37:45] Because those who are physically dead, he gives spiritual life to as well. So, lots of pictures in there. But secondly, the power of God is quite obvious.
[38:00] Today we talk about the power of God, but we don't often see it, do we? This is an evidence, says the Scripture. God is at work. God does things. He's not an idle spectator.
[38:11] He's involved. And so the third thing is that she was convinced of what Elijah said was true. But finally, for you and I, God knows what he's doing.
[38:30] Do we need reminding of that sometimes? I think so. You see, we have the plan worked out in our heads, don't we? We know what's going on. We've got our lives sorted out. We've got our calendars.
[38:41] We've got our holiday slots booked in. We know when we're going to go to church. We know when we're going to go and visit friends. We know everything, don't we? We've got it all in our Facebooks, our calendars and everything.
[38:54] But God says, no, no. I know what's going on. You don't see this coming, but here it is. And he drops something in our lap. But that's not to say God suddenly lost control.
[39:09] He's always in control. An old hymn has these words. It says, though I cannot his going see, nor all his footsteps find. Too wise is he to be mistaken.
[39:20] Too good to be unkind. God works in grace and mercy. So the first thing is to remember that God is always in control and knowing what he is doing.
[39:34] And the second thing is this, that God has a plan and a purpose that he is working towards so that even where there seems to be no life, no hope, no encouragement, God says, I can change that in an instant.
[39:50] God will send Elijah back in chapter 19, back to Israel. And part of Elijah's problem was there was nobody there. Nobody to help him. No one to support him.
[40:00] No one to encourage him. Nobody to listen to him. But God says, I know what I'm doing. Go back. And so in our own personal circumstances, we can say, is anyone listening to me?
[40:11] Is anyone taking any notice whatsoever? No. No. But God says, keep going. Don't stop. Don't give up. Don't become discouraged. Keep reading those Romans eight passages.
[40:24] Keep trusting. Keep looking. And so Elijah, when he does go back, he has that confirmation that God is with him.
[40:35] And yet he goes back and still is a very discouraged man. But that's us, isn't it? I love reading these stories in the Old Testament and Scriptures. These men are just men, just like you and me.
[40:48] With all our worries, all our cares, all our troubles. They're not super humans. They're just ordinary men filled with the Spirit of God. Used by God.
[41:00] And that's all we are today. There's nothing special about any of us. apart from the fact that God has set his love upon us and brought us to know his Son.
[41:10] And he says, amazingly, I'm going to take you and I'm going to use you for my glory. And that's what he did with Elijah and Elisha and all the other Old Testament saints and New Testament saints.
[41:24] And that's what he's doing for you. He's taking you and using you for his glory today. That's hard to imagine sometimes, isn't it? I have to look at my life and think, is that true about me?
[41:35] But yes, it is. God uses us in ways we just don't imagine. So we can take heart that the God of the Bible is the one true living God who's made himself known, revealed himself most particularly in his Son, Jesus, and says, come to him for salvation and then go and serve him in all the world.
[42:00] Is your way hard and difficult at the moment? Take heart from Elijah. Look to God. Trust him even when you can't see the way out and know that he has a plan and a purpose and will bring glory to his name.
[42:20] May he use us even today. Amen. We're going to sing our closing song which I think should be up on the screen here.
[42:30] Wonderful Grace. I know. No. I know it but may beatic.
[42:42] Let me pray. Oh, let me pray. Oh. Oh! Oh, let me pray. Let me pray. I know. Let me pray. Lord, let him see his name CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS
[43:50] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS The Lord has made us free, and all that I have, I lay out for the feet of the wonderful Savior, the Lord's King.
[44:44] Now to him who is able to exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to his power that is at work in us, to him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.