If The Lord Is God, Follow Him

If the LORD is God, Follow Him

October 8, 2008 Wednesday Service

Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK

Rick Boyne

Message Point: Follow God by Faith, Obedience, and Sacrifice

Focus Passage: I Kings 18:22-40

I. FAITH

-belief and trust in God

-Elijah showed his faith in God as he went back to Ahab knowing that they were killing prophets

-Also he was outnumbered 850:1-450 prophets of Baal, and 400 prophets of the groves

-Hebrews 11:6 “For without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him”

-Faith will grow as you begin to get confident in his Word

-Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him. But the just shall live by his faith.”

II. OBEDIENCE

-Willing to do what one is told

-Acting upon what God has said

-Luke 11:28 “But he said, More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”

-When we walk in obedience, that’s when the blessings begin to flow

-To be successful and victorious, you must pay the price of being obedient

-James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

-Elijah was obedient. When God told him to go to Ahab he went. When he was told to have the contest, he did it. Everything was at God’s command. (I Kings 18:36-37)

-God doesn’t want carefulness, he wants obedience

-When God tells us something, we need to do it without hesitation

III. SACRIFICE

-Hebrew: offering, wholly dedicated to God

-To give up something of value

-Sacrifices were to make atonements for sin

-Hebrew: To make amends, to reconcile the relationship

-God wants us to sacrifice our ways of sin, pride, selfishness, and our fleshly desires

-God wants us to lay our flesh on the altar, so he can light it up

-Burning flesh has a nasty smell, but it is a sweet smelling savor to God

-The fire didn’t come until the sacrifice was laid on the altar and the victory wasn’t won until it was there to.

-When we lay it down he will consume it completely

Invitation: