Sermon notes from Sunday 19 July 2015
1 KINGS 19 VERSES 19 -21
Nobody gets really inspired by
half-heartedness. If a thing is worth
doing it is worth doing well. Being a
Christian is relatively easy in this country that has let us become half-hearted
in many ways. There is nothing half-hearted
about the gospel. Jesus summed it up by
saying in Luke 10 verse 27 “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, with all thy soul and will all thy strength and with all thy mind; and
thy neighbour as thyself.” I challenge
anyone to stand and look at the cross and say Jesus was half hearted. He didn’t do anything that he wouldn’t ask us
to do himself. As he hung bearing the
weight of my sin and the whole world he was the total opposite of half-heartedness. Look at a man in the Old Testament who wasn’t
half-hearted but wholly committed to the cause.
A sign. Elijah comes walking
along and finds the man God told him to anoint to follow after him as a prophet
– Elisha. He was ploughing in the
field. We are not sure if he knew who
Elijah was but he comes along and puts his hand on his shoulders and then
appears to walk on ahead. It is strange
but Elisha seems to know exactly what it means.
Later we find Elisha wearing the mantel that Elijah wore. It seemed to mean everything. I wonder am I speaking to someone who is
going about their life as normal but something has changed in your life
recently. God has been calling you and
people have said things to you and you wonder “how did he know to say that?” You know deep down inside that God is
speaking to you. Was Elisha interested
in God? Maybe he had been praying asking
the Lord to show him what to do. Maybe
he wanted something more from this life.
God sent him a sign. I think that
is why he ran. Relieved, overjoyed. Are you in the position that you feel there
has to be more to life than what you have at present? There is a greater plan to life indeed. There is the possibility of life to the full,
a purpose and plan for you found in Jesus and nowhere else. Sometimes we use signs as excuses to not
doing anything until we receive another.
Do not delay any longer.
A sacrifice. Maybe it is a
celebration, we don’t know for sure.
Elisha would have to leave home and maybe that was a time of
sadness. One thing for sure – God was in
it. Why else would he have sacrificed
the oxen? He knew God was in it. In the book of Romans 12 we are told to put
our lives on the altar as living sacrifices.
Elisha wanted to get everything together and he knew this separation
would be difficult. He wanted to
celebrate with his own family to share what God had done or him. Maybe you don’t want to sacrifice something
in your life. You cannot give something
up and it is holding you back. It is a
solemn serious decision to make and it has eternal consequences. Eternity in heaven with Christ or eternity in
hell. When you come to Jesus and say “I
believe you died for me” you exchange the personality of your sin for the
freedom o life in Christ. It is a solemn
thing and it has big consequences. There
might also be an element of sadness. For
Elisha he was leaving behind a way of living to pursue a different
pathway. When you give your life to God
it will be a time of celebration. Your
debt would be paid and you will discover God has your best interests at heart.
A sell out. Elisha was totally
sold out for God. He was not coming
back. He killed the oxen he was
ploughing with, burned the yokes they were on and gave it all up. He was going and not turning back. That was a huge step or him to take. He was ploughing with 12 yoke of oxen which
suggests they were a wealthy family.
Elisha went back to say goodbye to his family. He was leaving behind an inheritance. Christianity is not something you can have a go
at for a while and see how it turns out.
Luke 14 verse 25 “and there went great multitudes with him and he turned
and said unto them If any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and
wife and children and brethren and sisters yea and his own life also he cannot
be my disciple. For which o you intending to build a tower, sitteth not down
first and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that
forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” You have to be willing to give it up. Elisha was going and not coming back. If you are looking to be a disciple, to know
Christ, to know peace in your heart you are going to have to be willing to give
it all up. I challenge you to look at
Christ hanging there on Calvary, think of the whipping and scourging he took,
the mocking as they spat on him, the thorns that were pushed onto his head and
the nails driven into his hands. Have
you sold all out, willing to give all up like Elisha?
A servant. Elisha leaves all
behind to become a servant. He went
after Elijah and ministered unto him.
When you become a Christian it is all about being a disciple, following
and serving Christ. Every day is a new
opportunity to learn more about His word, about God the Father, to serve God
and others every day. Elisha gave all he
had to become a servant of Elijah. It
takes humility to serve. We don’t read
anything about Elisha until Elijah was taken up to heaven. He had to spend time as an apprentice. It takes patience to serve.
Elisha was given a sign – is God
speaking tonight as he has on numerous occasions in the past? When Elisha got his opportunity he took it
and ran. He didn’t wait for any more
signs.
Elisha gave a sacrifice – what will
you have to give up for Christ?
Elisha was a sell out – we need
to be willing to give all not counting the cost.
Elisha became a servant – Michael
Jordan a very famous basketball player said “I always believe you should put in
work and the results with come. I don’t
do things half-heartedly because I know if I do that then I can expect
half-hearted results.”
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