Elijah: "More Power To Ya” Series

The life of Elijah has been a whirlwind of activity! From the time he stepped out of nowhere to confront the king of Israel, to his adventures of faith at the dry brook and the widow’s house, to his great victory on Mount Carmel and to his fall into and restoration from defeat and disuse. Elijah’s life has been tempestuous to say the least! Now, that life is about to end! Verse one of our text makes it clear that God is about to remove the prophet from this earth. He will leave here like he lived here; in a whirlwind!

I believe that Elijah sets a great example for those of us who are waiting on that time when we too will leave this world. If we were to be honest this morning, every saved person here would readily admit that they are anxiously awaiting that time when they will be home with the Lord in glory. But, what are we to be doing here, in the meantime, while we wait? Elijah shows us in this passage! As we read this account, we find there are three ways that Elijah spent his time as he waited on the whirlwind. One of these days all of our journeys will be over. Those who are saved will leave this world either by way of the cemetery or be way of the rapture. Either way, we will leave here in a whirlwind. Swept away into the presence of God. Until that day comes, we must live our lives in a way that is pleasing to the Lord and in a way that honors His will. Elijah shows us how to do just that. Let’s look in on Elijah and see the ways he spent his time as we think on the subject, Waiting On The Whirlwind.

Illustration: What if on your way to church this morning you drove up on me and my family and we we’re pushing my truck to church this morning? You stopped and asked me if I was out of gas…I said no…then you asked it my truck broke down but no I told you it was running fine. Wouldn’t you want to know why my family and I were pushing my truck instead of ridding in it? And with that I inform you that I preferred to push my truck instead of drive it. Wouldn’t you think that was silly? In truth it’s not any more ridiculous than a Christian living their life and not utilizing the power of the Holy Spirit. Many Christians today are pushing there life through human effort and struggle when all the power of the Holy Spirit is available to them.

Illustration: When a mother eagle is trying to teach its eaglets how to fly, but the baby eaglets are too afraid to jump out of the nest. The mother eagle will go and catch something the eaglets love to eat like a rabbit or something and fly right by the nest just out of reach of the eaglets to coax them out of the nest. Then sometimes when the baby eaglet comes out of the nest it fall to the earth, when that happens the mother eagle with wings spread will catch them and literally lift them up with their wings. Until they catch the air currents they call thermals. An eagle can fly anywhere from 30 to 50 miles per hour, but when they catch a thermal they can get anywhere from 80 to 100 miles per hour. And it’s effortless because they are ridding on the wind. That’s exactly how we are to live as Christians we are to spread our arms and surrender and let the Holy Spirit’s power lift us up and carry us as we surrender the Lord.

(V.1) WE NEED TO BE WATCHING AND WAITING

According to this verse, Elijah knew the precious truth that he was going to get to go to Heaven without having to pass through death. This was a privilege that had only been enjoyed by one other person in history. Genesis 5:21-24 tells that story of a man named Enoch. He was a man who lived for and walked with the Lord. When his time here was over, God simply took Enoch to Heaven, without him having to pass through death! This is the precious event that Elijah was anticipating. By the way, this is something that could happen to you and me! The Bible teaches us that there will be a future event know as the rapture. At that time, the Lord Jesus Christ will return in the clouds above this earth and He will call His people home to Heaven, 1 Thes. 4:13-18. This is a precious event that could happen to us at any moment, 1 Cor. 15:51-52, and when it does, we will go to Heaven without having to die to get there. That excites me! I think I’ll just repeat the prayer John prayed on Patmos: "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.", Rev. 22:20