A Man Of Conviction Series

ELIJAH—A MAN OF LIKE PASSIONS

06 A Prophet of Conviction

TEXT: 1 Kings 18:17-20

1 Kings 18:17-20 KJV And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? [18] And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. [19] Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. [20] So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

I. INTRODUCTION—CONVICTION

-Conviction in the heart of a man of God will do things to him that causes him to be a clarion voice to all of those who oppose the works and ways of God.

-Conviction:

• Gives a man boldness.

• Helps him have the power to say ‘no’ to the mob.

• Adds strong passion to what he believes in.

• Gives him energy to climb uphill against the odds.

• It will cause disregard for the enemies of your beliefs.

• Will force a man to defeat his own discouragements within so he can build up without.

• It will cause you to have pity on the poor souls who never even taste what conviction will do for them.

Winston Churchill—You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.

Howard Zinn—You can’t be neutral on a moving train.

Dr. Bein Sufficient—That people do not believe in you or in your ideas does not necessary mean that you are not good or that your ideas are not good enough. The problem is not with you but with them. For every great invention, we have today encountered this opposition. If you, therefore want to be great you must learn not to live your life based on the opinion of others but on your convictions.”

Orison Swett Marden—Wanted, a man who will not lose his individuality in a crowd, a man who has the courage of his convictions, who is not afraid to say "No," though all the world say "Yes.”

Orrin Woodward—Courage results when one's convictions are bigger than one's fears.

Glenn Beck has just released a new book in the last few weeks entitled It Is About Islam. He gives a good overall history of Mohammed and the quest the Muslims are on in our present age. He offers the plan through documented examples about the twenty-year plan that radical Islam has with its intent to take over the world. As he marches through all of their accomplishments beginning prior to September 11, 2001 and presently to the ISIS caliphate that has come from the Muslim Brotherhood, you have to witness the fact that the Muslims have one intent in mind—control of the world. As I have been reading this book, I have found myself asking hard questions about the American church and its apparent weakness for the overall advancement of the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ. What I mostly see is a very worldly church that has bought into the idea that the job of church leaders is to provide an atmosphere of self-help and entertainment for those who give a half nod toward the Lord.

As I have read the book by Beck, I have started reading some of the Rukmini Callamachi. She is a Romanian American journalist who writes for the New York Times and has worked there since 2014. She has spent much of her reporting on Islamic extremism. About two weeks ago, I read an article (Isis and the Lonely Young America, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/28/world/americas/isis-online-recruiting-american.html?_r=0) she wrote about a young woman who lived in a very remote part of Washington State. Through the efforts of radical Muslims, she and her cousin were converted through social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Skype. The story was unbelievable and despite the intervention of this 20-something year old woman’s grandmother she was considering buying a one way plane ticket to Austria where she and hundreds of other young women were to be transported to the nation of Syria to be brides for Muslim Brotherhood soldiers. One writer explained that these young women had no idea the terror that was awaiting them in that place.

-What was it that had caused these young women to be duped? They had run into people who had strong convictions that overwhelmed their own

II. 1 KINGS 18:17-20

A. 1 Kings 18:17-18—Israel’s Real Troublemaker

1 Kings 18:17-18 KJV And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? [18] And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.