COLERAINE EVANGELICAL CHURCH
SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 13 JULY 2025 - MR JASON CRUISE
1 KINGS 17 VERSES 1 TO 16
Here in 1 Kings 17 we have read of the great servant of God Elijah. He comes on the pages of scripture suddenly, not with any direction. He is not like Isaiah who was named as "Isaiah son of Amoz" or Jeremiah "Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah" or Zechariah "Zechariah the son of Berechiah". For Elijah we are not told anything of his genealogy, who his parents were or who his grandparents were. One thing we do know of Elijah is that he came from a godly home with God fearing parents from the day he was born. He was called Elijah which means 'my God is Jehovah'. There are some things we want to see from Elijah.
A servant that stepped up. Here we read of a man who was bold and courageous for the Lord. He comes 900 years before the birth of our Lord. At a time when Israel was in a backslidden state. Immorality and apostasy abounds. Not unlike our day and age. Chapter 16 verses 30 and 31 "And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him." Here we read about the king of Israel Ahab who married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of Zidonians. She brought with her a false god, Baal. The land is involved with idolatory. Elijah appears before the king freely and courageously. How are you and I taking our stand in this generation in which we live, among your family and friends, among your neighbours and friends? Are we walking courageously, standing strong for the Lord? Elijah refers to the Lord - verse 1 "as the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand". Elijah tells Ahab 'you have a false god baal who you worship, I am worshipping the God of Israel. He is still sovereign over all. You are trusting in someone who is only a figment of your imagination. The one I trust is everlasting and eternal.' Psalm 90 verse 2 "Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." The one we trust in knows no beginning and will never know any end. In Buckingham Palace there have been different monarchs who lived there. In Judah and Israel there were different kings too. They all had their time on the throne but they all died. God's reign is from everlasting. He is eternal. He will never die. He lives in the power of an endless life. Verse 2 "And the word of the Lord came unto him saying." Elijah was a man who spent time in the presence of the Lord. I am sure he was a mighty man of prayer. Throughout these chapters on the life of Elijah we read these words. The word of the Lord can only come when he is in union with the Lord. He was coming to see his face. Do we hear a word from the Lord? Are we spending time with him? Have you sought the Lord today already in prayer? Have you opened up God's word that you might know a little closer walk with him? We cannot get a word from the Lord if we are not spending time with the Lord. In verses 3 and 4 we see that Elijah is obedient to the divine instruction and direction of the Lord. He was willing to obey and go where the Lord wants him to go. He was willing to obey. A stark contrast to Jonah. When the word of the Lord came to Jonah "arise and go to Nineveh". Jonah doesn't go initially. He went down and found a ship going to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. Imagine a prophet of the Lord seeking to flee from the presence of the Lord. A stark contrast to Elijah. Jonah paid the fare. There is always a price to be paid in rebellion to the Lord. Are you obedient like Elijah, to the divine instruction of the Lord? Or are you seeking to go your own way? Verse 4 the ravens brought food to Elijah in the morning and evening. What a miracle. A raven is a scavenging bird. It was the first bird to be let out of the ark. It went out and did not return. The raven fed on dead corpses floating around. Here this bird comes and brings flesh and bread each morning and evening - why - because God had commanded them. He wouldn't have been fed anywhere else. You cannot expect to know the blessing of God if we are seeking out his will for our lives as we sit still. Can we say we are being obedient to the Lord? Why did they bring the food each morning and each evening? Our God is sovereign, whether on land and sea. He is in absolute control over all the affairs of the world. Remember Mark 4 when a great storm arose while Jesus and his disciples were on the boat. The disciples rush to find Jesus who is sleeping. They ask him "carest thou not that we perish?" Mark 4 verse 39 tells us "and he arose and rebuked the wind and said to the seas peace be still and there was a great calm." The disciples then asked themselves "what manner of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey him?" Our God is sovereign and in absolute control whether through the ravens at the book or the lions in the den. There is not one thing happening today without his knowledge. Not one sparrow has fallen that the Lord does not know about today. The Lord was preparing Elijah for what lay ahead. The brook Cherith - that word means to separate or cut off. Elijah is living this separated life. Are we doing that? Living in the world but not to be of the world? Are we living that devoted life to the Lord today? The Lord was preparing Elijah for what lay ahead at Mount Carmel. So many in the bible were fully depending on the Lord. Think of Joseph who had to spend time in the prison before he went to the palace. Or David when he spent time in the cave before he went to the throne. Moses spent 40 years in the Midian desert before he led the Children of Israel through the wilderness. Paul in 1 Corinthians said he spent time in Arabia. He spent time with God being taught before he was brought to the place where he was fully depending on the Lord, before commencing the work for the Lord. Are we spending time with the Lord?
The supply that kept coming - verses 7 to 9. The little brook where Elijah had been staying now dried up. It was a miracle it had been running up to now. One of the first places to tarry as long as needed. The Lord kept it flowing. Now the Lord had no more need of it. It dried up. He would send Elijah on an 85 - 100 miles journey to Zarephath. There he was in the enemy territory. That is where Jezebel came from, the wife of Ahab. These people were worshipping Baal. Even there Elijah knew the provision of the Lord. He knew the power of the Lord. He knew the protection of the Lord at Zaraphath. His faith would be tested. As he comes to the gate of the city he meets a widow woman the Lord had spoken of. She was the breadwinner, her husband was dead. The widow is gathering sticks. She informs Elijah she had just a handful of meal and a little cruise of oil in a vessel. She is about to cook her last meal, close the door and die. If that had been you or I had come to Zarephath that day and met the widow would we have had the faith Elijah had? Elijah believes in what the Lord said. He says what he means and he means what he says. Quite often when we set out to do something for the Lord, no matter how small it may be we have doubts about our expertise, our skill, our knowledge, our finance. We will think to ourselves 'Lord could I really do this?" If we rely on ourselves we cannot do it but if we rely on God then we will be able to. "God's work done God's way will never lack God's supply" Hudson Taylor Elijah's faith was tested but his faith was strong. Verses 13 and 14, 16. What the Lord promised Elijah came to pass. The meal was always available, the oil was always there too. It did not fail. "But my God shall supply all you need according to his riches." Not all you want but rather all you need. The widow woman and her son experienced what the Lord said does happen. Ephesians 3 verse 20 "Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us," God is omnipotent. God is all powerful in 1 Kings 17 and he is still powerful and all sufficient in the days in which we live.
A son that was raised up - verses 19 to 24. Here we see that Elijah has compassion on the plight of this woman and the situation into which she finds herself. Elijah takes the young boy from his mother, carries him up to an upper chamber and cries to the Lord. How often Elijah would have cried to the Lord in the upper chamber. Have we got that place in our homes? Somewhere we can go and close ourselves off and cry to the Lord. Elijah was a mighty man of prayer. He has compassion on this woman. If we do not have love and compassion for those around us it is all futile. The apostle John in 1 John 2 verse 6 said "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." As you and I live down here on earth we should seek day and daily to become more like Christ our Saviour. He was one of compassion and love. Could this be said of you and I today? Elijah was a man of prayer. James 5 verses 16 to 18 "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit." Elijah was a man of prayer. We read of many resurrections in the bible. The Shunamite wife, Jairus' daughter, the son of the widow of Nain, Lazarus but this is the first resurrection in the bible. This son was raised to life again. There was another son who was raised again for our justification. All these people would experience death once again except the Lord. He faced death for every man but he arose the third day over sin, death and hell. We serve one who is risen again and is seated at his Father's right hand in glory. This woman has come to realise by her contact with Elijah that he is a man of God. How many people in the bible have had that said of them? Moses, Samuel, Elisha, David. In all of the New Testament there is only one referred to as a man of God. Not Paul or Peter or John or the apostle Barnabas or Silas. Timothy is the only man - 1 Timothy 6 verse 11. Those who know you and me, who we come into contact with day and daily - could they refer to us as a man of God? Those who we meet tomorrow in the work place, in our family circles - I wonder would they refer to us as men or women of God? I trust that you and I can be referred to as such. The son that was raised again. Have you put your faith and trust in the eternal God that was raised again? Do you know him as Saviour? If we know Christ are we growing in him daily? May we be like Elijah and take our stand for God in the days in which we live.
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