Promises for Life’s Journey
09
March 2008
Lord's Day evening
1 Kings 19:1-12
Introduction: Open your Bibles to the book of 1 Kings 19:1-12. Tonight we are going to be reminded of the tough journey of life. It is a hard journey. At times we will feel like giving up. The flesh is weak. But we must give our all and surrender all by the grace of God. This journey of life is not only hard, it is impossible. I want to give you some encouragement to you tonight. I want to do what the Angel of the Lord did for Elijah: I want to cook you up a meal to encourage you. I want to give you four “Promises for Life’s Journey.”
Would you stand as we read our passage tonight? 1 Kings 19:1-12, “And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. 3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel [THE ANGEL OF THE LORD] touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. 6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. 7 And the Angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee. 8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
9 ¶ And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
[Prayer for Guidance]
Anybody need encouragement tonight? Elijah sure did in our passage. We need to trust the promises of God. God doesn’t lie and every one of His promises are true no matter what your finite eyes tell you.
I. We need to trust God for PERSEVERANCE in the journey of life.
We read that Elijah “arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree” (verses 3-4). Elijah had traveled about 18 miles from Mount Carmel to Jezreel. Then he took the 100 mile journey from Jezreel to Beersheeba. He didn’t have a car but made the grueling journey on foot. He had a lot of time to think on that journey. The elements were hard. He was not in an air conditioned Subaru. He was getting soaked by rain. Perhaps there were times of sun. I can’t imagine walking (and running) a hundred miles. He wasn’t completely alone—he had his servant with him. Still this was a very difficult trip. God calls us to do difficult things! Later God would have Elijah make a 200 mile journey to Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai. What exhaustion! What labor and hard work!
Beyond that, once he arrived at Beersheba Elijah left his servant in the city. He continued another day’s journey of about 15 miles by himself into the wilderness. He found a “juniper tree” which was actually a shrub that can grow up to 10 feet high. Desert travelers used this bush for shade. Elijah was exhausted. He wasn’t transported miraculously to Beersheba, but went on foot. Elijah wasn’t Superman. James 5:17 says that “[ELIJAH] was a man subject to like passions as we are”.
There is a need for great perseverance and hard work in the Christian life. There are great mountain tops, and there are valleys of devastating circumstances that come into our lives that are divinely designed to SLOW US DOWN and give us some specialized training in walking by faith! Our flesh resists these times.
Application: We are to give ALL that we have, as was shared in the Call to Worship this morning. God demands that we deny our selves in total. We must LOVE him with heart, mind, soul, and ALL our strength!! Living for God is HARD WORK!! We are to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).
There is a wholehearted diligence and seriousness in the Christian life. Whatever becomes of other things, do not neglect your soul! Is your soul secure in God? Are you certain that God knows you? Are you certain that His mighty hand is upon you and moving your life and guiding you? Are you sure? There is a wholehearted seriousness and diligence that is required. Elijah was not just on a journey with his feet. Every trial and test is a journey for the soul.
· But be encouraged, because it is “God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13). “He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).
· Job testified in Job 23:10, “he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”
The work of sanctification and contending for the faith is deadly and hard work. This morning we compared it to bearing the Cross. We give up so easily! Our resolve for holiness is way too soft! Often times we want a “flowery bed of ease”!
We are to “walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (Ephesians 5:15), constantly looking for the battle or the trial ahead, “earnestly contending for the faith” (Jude 3). We must be constantly fighting the good fight and keeping the faith. It never stops!
Paul said, “this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14).
Turn to 574 Am I a Soldier of the Cross?
Am I a
soldier of the cross,
A follower of the Lamb,
And shall I fear to own His cause,
Or blush to speak His Name?
Must I be
carried to the skies
On flowery beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize,
And sailed through bloody seas?
Are there
no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
To help me on to God?
Sure I
must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.
It is during these journeys to Beersheba that we begin to meditate and reflect and examine ourselves. Meditation and examination are to be continual attitudes that we possess in the Christian life.
This is what it means to renew the mind. Examine yourself. Examine the Word. See if they match. Constantly. This is the hard work of persevering in holiness!
So there is the promise of Perseverance. We are guaranteed to be “conformed to the image of His Son” (Romans 8:28-29), but you must give all that you got in sanctified blood, sweat, toil, and tears!
II. Secondly, we need to trust God for PROVISION in the journey of life. We see in verse 3 that Elijah “arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba”… Verse 4, finally Elijah “came and sat down under a juniper tree”. Elijah sat and prayed. He prayed as best he could. He was exhausted. Elijah didn’t sin—he told God what was on His heart. He was a man of like passions as we (James 5:17). Sometimes we do not know how to pray or what to pray for.
A. But God provides the wisdom we need through Prayer. I’m glad Elijah prayed.
James 1:5. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” Now prayer doesn’t change God, but it changes us. And if we are right with God, even though we have the puny wisdom of infants in God’s awesome sight, we ought to cry to God as a baby cries to his mother. God answers. He sent his Spirit into us in order to give us the ability to pray, therefore we ought to pray about everything and “without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
I believe as a result of Elijah’s prayer, he got to be taken up in a chariot of fire at the end of his life. I got a question about this, this week. Did Elijah go up in a chariot of fire or a whirlwind? Well he was taken up IN a chariot of fire BY a whirlwind. Many believe that this chariot of fire was an angel escort. The name cherubim is given to those who cry “holy, holy, holy” before the throne of God. Cherubim literally means “burning ones” and Psalm 104:4 says that God makes “his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire”. Let me just say that according to 2 Kings 2:11-12, that Elijah was brought up BY the whirlwind, but when Elisha looked up at him, all he saw was the chariot as Elijah was taken from the earth.
I say all that to say that God answers prayer! Elijah prayed that God would appoint him to die, and God answered his prayer. If you give all to the Lord, He will answer your prayer. And it usually isn’t exactly according to what you ask, but it is always MUCH BETTER THAN WHAT YOU ASK.
Romans 8:26 gives us some encouragement during these times when life seems to be in a jumble, and you find yourself soaking wet on the way to Beersheeba!! It says, “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”
B. We also learn that God provides the strength we need through His Presence. We need strength that is not going to come from ourselves. We need the presence of God. Jesus said, “Without me ye can do nothing”.
God showed up on the scene and personally saw to it to refresh Elijah’s soul. God allowed Elijah to sleep! Verse 5, “And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel [THE ANGEL OF THE LORD] touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.”
1. God gives us the strength of His presence personally. In verse 7, this angel was identified as the Angel of the LORD. This Angel of the LORD in the Old Testament is attributed to the pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead, the Son of God!
2. God gives us the strength of His presence with perfect timing. God knows exactly what we need and when we need it. God will provide for you. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. Sometimes you may have times where you are on the mountain top, and spiritually embarrassed with riches so to speak. Other times you may be lean. Sometimes you will be fed by ravens in the drought. Other times you will be fed by the very Son of God with sound of the abundance of rain.
3. God gives us the strength of His presence providentially. God alone knows what his purposes for us are. God is in total control, and He knows the future. Elijah didn’t have inside information on his next step when he was at the Brook Cherith or with the widow of Zarephath. He could never have known about Jezreel or Beersheba when he was on top of Mount Carmel.
Always remember that no matter how bad anything gets, God is on your side if you’re a child of God, and you are getting so much better than what you deserve! And also remember that no matter what the trial is, he always supplies you with grace sufficient for the trial. Entrust your soul to Him at every point along the way!
C. We also learn that God provides the earthly necessities we need through His Power. We read in 2 Kings 19:5-7, “as [ELIJAH] lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel [THE ANGEL OF THE LORD] touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. 6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. 7 And the Angel of the LORD came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee”. One thing is clear! Elijah was helpless! He was sleeping! What a picture of our powerlessness and God’s mighty power!
Psalm 103:14 says that God “knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.”
God saw and knew his servant’s needs. He let him rest and sleep. Then later His Angel of the Lord woke him up and there was bread and water to nourish his body. Elijah sat down, ate and drank. Who prepared Elijah’s meal? God did! It was not Elijah’s power!
Application: Neither do you have power to gain anything. Everything is a gift of God. You say I have financial needs. Fine. It is not in your power to provide those needs. You can work overtime all you want, but it is God who provides. God can put needs in your life that are beyond your ability to meet. Overtime doesn’t usually cut it on these situations. You have no other choice. You can’t meet the need yourself. There’s nothing else to do but pray and trust God to provide. AND HE WILL PROVIDE! Philippians 4:19, Paul says, “My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Can you address God that personally? My God?
You may feel like you have no strength. You feel the weariness of the journey. God will provide exactly what you need. There are times we feel the weariness of the journey more than other times. God allows that to keep us humble. But understand, He will provide for you out of nowhere. The God we serve is the God who gives Manna from Heaven!
Isaiah 41:30, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Verse 8 tells us that in the power of this provision, Elijah was to have enough strength to go to Horeb. “And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God”. Elijah went 40 days walking the arduous journey, 200 miles to Mount Horeb, or we would know it better as Mount Sinai. It is called the “mountain of God” (Exodus 3:1). There God met Moses face to face and Moses received God’s Law, the Ten Commandments there. God has a “burning bush” experience for Elijah.
III. Thirdly, we need to trust God for PROTECTION in the journey of life.
So Elijah was safe. He was guarded by the Angel of the Lord. And do you not know that you are completely safe in Jesus? He was completely safe. He didn’t have to go 15 miles further into the wilderness of Beersheba. He was safe all along the way. God was with him. But God does give us special manifestations of His presence here and there—times of renewal to remind us that we are safe in the Lord.
You have NOTHING to fear because God is with you and he will never leave you nor forsake you. Isaiah 41:10 gives us a precious promise: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”
IV. Fourthly, we need to trust God for PURPOSE in the journey of life. Elijah got up and trekked about 200 miles to the mountain of God. He took forty days and forty nights. Finally Elijah gets to Horeb, the mount of God, Sinai. And we read in verse 9, “And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? 10 And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice”. Why are you here Elijah? It’s not about the journey! It’s about what you get at the end!
It’s not about the Brook! It’s not about the Mountain top! It’s not about the great journeys! It’s not about the wind or the earthquake or the fire!! It’s about the still small voice of God!!
Conclusion: Jeremiah said it this way in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” It’s not about the journey my dear brother or sister. It is about the expected end at the end of the journey!