“Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, ‘So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.’ Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
“But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, ‘It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers.’ And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Arise and eat.’ And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, ‘Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.’ And he arose and ate and drank and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.
“There he came to a cave and lodged in it. And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He said, ‘I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.’ And he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mount before the LORD.’ And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He said, ‘I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.’ And the LORD said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.’” [1]
Becoming another casualty in the worship wars or a wounded healer who suffers the wrath of some unthinking church member may send you on a journey that God never ordained. Such a journey could happen to you; it happened to Elijah. It has happened to many who have gone before you; unfortunately, it will happen again. Church goers can be cruel, horrendous in destroying those with whom they disagree. Professing Christians can perpetuate some of the most jaw-dropping abuse and not even be aware that they are being abusive.
Those engaged in full-time ministry are especially susceptible to such assaults from fellow Christians. Don Whitney, speaking to an assembly in a major US seminary, once cited a statistic indicating that only one of every twenty ministers remains in ministry until retirement. “Despite all the commitment with which they begin the race,” he said, “despite all the investment of time and money to prepare, despite the years spent in service, despite the cost of retooling and redirecting their lives, nearly all will leave the ministry.”
If that particular information doesn’t shock you, it should! The thing is, while that statement was made concerning people engaged in or preparing to be engaged in full-time, professional ministry, it generally holds true across the spectrum of church life. Each Christian is appointed to service within the Body of Christ. Likewise, each follower of the Risen Saviour is expected to stay at the task which Christ has assigned. The church is not a venue for observing a performance; the church is a living entity composed of men and women who have been redeemed and equipped to serve one another in the midst of a broken world.
On the several occasion that I have initiated services that would eventuate in the formation of a church, I have advised those gathered during initial services to take a good look at one another, noting those who are present. Then, I solemnly advise them that within a year, more than one-half of those present will no longer be worshipping with us.
Despite the common perception held in the world, Christian service is demanding. In addition to the usual causes of attrition from participation in the advance of the Faith—moving because of work, death in the family and other matters that might reasonably compel someone to move from the area, the demands of a nascent congregation on the move will drive many away. The work is too much, people want fewer demands than the new church allows or there will be casualties arising from the wounding as believers stand on the front lines of the Faith.
I’m speaking today to people who want to serve the Lord. I have no doubt that most of you want to honour God. Were I to ask you to indicate your willingness to enter into the struggle against the wicked one, almost every one of you would lift your hands and shout your affirmation. You want to serve God and you want to stay in the battle. However, when we accurately assess the demands, few of us can say that we will stay at the task.
In Luke’s Gospel, the Saviour cautioned those who indicated their desire to follow Him, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
“Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear” [LUKE 14:26-36].
Well, that is somewhat discouraging! Doesn’t Jesus want to make following Him easy so that more people will do so? Rather than making joining Him and His cause easier, the Master is clearly saying, “Count the cost! Plan ahead in this business of serving the King of Glory. Anticipate what is coming.” You must never forget the admonition that has been delivered by the Wise Man, “There is no discharge from war” [ECCLESIASTES 8:8], and we are engaged in war.
Contemporary church servants search for an easy route to be a follower of the Saviour. Jesus invited people to follow Him; however, He never said that following Him would be easy. Jesus said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” [LUKE 9:23]. Serving Christ begins with crucifixion of one’s self. Following the Master will mean the death of personal desire, the self-immolation of pride. Sacrifice of one’s own aspiration will be the price of pursuing the Master.
Jesus warned those who would think to be disciples, “[Those in the world] will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake” [MATTHEW 24:9]. Do you still want to be a follower? Following the Saviour is not all glory and praise and exaltation of the self. Praise, honour and glory await His return, but the cost is far different at this moment. We have this promise, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” [JOHN 16:33b].
DIVINE SERVICE IS DEMANDING — Service before the Lord is far more demanding than people might imagine. You cannot serve Christ and His people without giving a part of yourself. Don’t misunderstand and think that I am speaking only to those engaged in full-time ministry, so called, such as pastoral service, missionary endeavour and evangelistic efforts. Because you are a child of God, the Spirit of the Living God gifted you with a gift or with gifts that were meant to be employed to the praise of Christ’s glory. You cannot fulfil the purpose for which you were saved, serving the people of God, without giving something of yourself.
Elijah was unlike most of the prophets we meet in the Word of God. He was dark, brooding, curt in his speech, cutting in his assessment of people and of situations. Elijah is that righteous man who always had prayer answered, according to the Book of James. Whenever a follower of the Christ prays in power, that person is praying in the spirit of Elijah. This man Elijah experienced grace and power repeatedly. He was fed by ravens and taken in by a Gentile woman, always directed by the Living God and reaping the benefit of obedience to God. Elijah was used of the LORD to raise the dead. At his word, a judgement of drought came upon Israel; and at his word, rains of forgiveness showered down. And yet, at a crucial moment, driven by fear, Elijah forgot all that God had done through him. Exhaustion, fatigue took control of his life, and fearing for his life, he ran in an effort to preserve his life.
Soon after surrendering to serve Christ the Lord, I discovered something of the demands of divine service. I’ve spoken of this before, and I’m speaking of it again, in part because I was forced into a defining moment not of my choosing. I was ministering in a prison farm after an hour from the community in which we then lived. I would attend services in the church in which we had come to faith, and then ride my motorcycle down to the prison farm where I would preach to those incarcerated there. God began to bless the ministry I rendered, and soon, men began coming to faith in Christ the Lord.
As these men professed Christ, we baptised them in the prison stock pond. The warden stood guard, a hog-leg .44 strapped to his hip and a Winchester Model 94 chambered in .30-30, the same firearms that he carried as the prisoners came to the services each Sunday. When prisoners were released from the work farm, it was natural that I would bring them to the church I was attending. That was when the problems began.
The pastor, the man whose preaching had been instrumental in establishing me in the Faith of Christ the Lord, informed me that these people just didn’t fit with the congregation. He recommended that I speak with Brother George Pryor, pastor of the New Birth Baptist Church over on Marsalis Avenue in the South Oak Cliff area of Dallas. The New Birth church was a black congregation. Not knowing any better, I did trek over to visit with Pastor Pryor, asking him if he would receive into his own congregation the men I had led to faith. Pastor Pryor was very gracious to me then and in later years as we had opportunity to work together in several situations. However, on this particular day, one of the things he said has stood out in my memory ever since. He leaned back in his chair and simply said, “My young white brother, if you’re going to fish in my pond, keep what you catch.” Well, that was straight enough, and I understood quite well what the Pastor was saying.
When I reported back to my pastor, I had no idea of the conflict it would generate in the church. Within a few days, my pastor called me in—he wished to ask a few questions that he felt I should answer. The questions seemed simple enough: Would I ever pastor any church other than a Baptist church and would I ever baptise a black man? My answer was based upon the things he had taught from the pulpit. I assured him that I would never pastor any congregation that was not biblical, and that excluded a fair number of “Baptists.” I would never baptise a black man unless he had a profession of faith in Jesus as very God.
Brother Ed was near tears as I responded to his unholy dicta. His words were measured, “I knew you would answer that way.” He continued by informing me that the church would withdraw fellowship from me and my wife. Moreover, he informed me that he had phoned every church he could think of and that I would never preach again. “Brother Ed,” I responded forcefully, “if there is any steel in my spine, you put it there with your preaching. If you can close a door, then God didn’t want that door opened. But if He has opened a door, you are fighting against God and it will be impossible for you to close that door.” He laid his head on his desk and began to weep, saying, “I told the deacons that is what you would say.”
We didn’t know where else to go, so we went over to the New Birth Baptist Church where we were graciously received and treated with Christian kindness. I was being schooled in the fact that divine service can be demanding. If you will stand with the Master, you can anticipate paying a high cost. There will always be individuals, even some whom we love in the Faith, who will do all that is humanly possible to hurt you because you put God first.
Jesus warned, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” [MATTHEW 10:34-38].
Elsewhere, the Master warned those who would follow Him, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” [LUKE 9:23]. Deny yourself? Take up your cross? Follow Christ? That doesn’t sound as if Jesus is calling us to a life of ease and peace.
More germane to the account I have just related are these words of warning from the Master. “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you” [JOHN 16:2-4a].
The lesson I learned at that time is a lesson that has been emphasised repeatedly in a surprising variety of situations among the churches both in the United States and in Canada. Divine service is demanding. It seems as if the wicked one has manipulated far more of the professed saints of God to imagine that they are in control of God’s people than we might ever imagine. The conscientious follower of the Master is certain to clash with these self-appointed mandarins of ministry as they attempt to run roughshod over the faithful.
THE HUMAN COST OF DIVINE SERVICE — Parishioners have sometimes said to me that they could never speak before a congregation. This is normally said in the context of a discussion that at some point has included a comment that I speak with seeming ease. I’m glad you are unable to see my heart. There has never been a time that I approached the pulpit without fear. I tremble at the thought of misleading those who listen, at dishonouring the Lord who appointed me to this service through some clumsy phraseology or a poor turn of words, at somehow misrepresenting the mind of the Saviour. I tremble at the thought that some who listen may turn from pursuing the Lord as result of something I say, because I have somehow failed in either word or deed.
Perhaps you’ve never given particular thought about speaking up for the cause of Christ, though I suspect that each of us has been hesitant about witnessing for Christ at one point or another; however, we recognise that living “Christianly” can be challenging in our fallen world. Consider the things that cause Christians to fear—abortion, gay marriage, transgender acceptance, hate crime laws, the potential for a one-world government, political instability. All these issues, and more, have unsettled Christians during the past several decades. Add to these issues the rather insistent drumbeat of pending doom caused by blood moons, Armageddon and Joel Osteen. When we haven’t something to actually fear, we will create something fearful!
A preacher who once enjoyed quite a large following used to say that preachers should always preach against sin, and if they couldn’t find a sin to preach against, they should preach against chocolate bars! He held the opinion that generating fear would create followers; and the immediate growth in attendance for the congregation he served seemed to lend validity to this view. The congregation grew rapidly, including large numbers of people coming to hear him. After his death, the crowds dwindled rapidly, indicating that people were drawn to that man’s personal charisma rather than being drawn to the message he presented. It is difficult to see what he taught qualifying as a biblical position. I’m not dismissing the challenges we face as followers of the Master, but I’m cautioning that our responsibility is to keep our eyes on Him and not on the dangers through which we navigate our lives.
Let me admit that there is much that could cause us to be fearful, but fear is never an appropriate response for the individual who has faith in the Risen Son of God who conquered death, hell and the grave. At this present time, churches are experiencing a measure of fear in light of shootings at a Baptist church in Santa Fe Springs, Texas and a shooting at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. These incidents follow shootings at a Baptist church in Fort Worth, Texas and at an AME church in North Carolina. Increasingly, religious institutions are targets of deranged people who are intent on killing and intimidating religious people.
In response to these dangers, real or perceived, some churches are instituting procedures for an armed response to attack. Let me say that this is a serious problem, and one which I don’t have a final answer for. What I do have is a passing knowledge of what is written in the Word of God. Let me challenge you by asking you to review an ancient response to a very real danger.
The current climate of fear reminds me of a time during earlier years of my service among the churches. A man had become quite popular as he moved among the churches with a message calling the churches to be afraid. He claimed to have intimate knowledge of witches infiltrating the highest levels of government in the United States, and claimed that these witches—illuminati, as he called them—had even infiltrated the churches. His response to what he claimed to be a very present danger was for the Christians to arm themselves and to retreat to desert places where they were to prepare for a great battle.
My question then, and my question now, is “Where do we find warrant to live in fear? Where do we find warrant to retreat from the world?” We are taught in Scripture, “Of course, we are living in the world, but we do not wage war in a world-like way” [2 CORINTHIANS 10:3 ISV]. This understanding is predicated upon the prayer offered by the Master during His High Priestly prayer. “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world” [JOHN 17:15-16]. Shouldn’t we heed the words Jesus spoke before that prayer? “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” [JOHN 15:19].
Recall a time when the LORD God had stirred the heart of Cyrus, King of Persia, to authorise worshippers of the Living God to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. Later, Artaxerxes, who followed Cyrus to the throne, entrusted to those who would return the treasures which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away to Babylon so many years before. Ezra the priest was appointed to lead a delegation returning with these treasures to be used in the worship of the LORD God. The treasures would be carried on a long trek through dangerous territories. The danger of robbery, of attack by brigands, of death for those on the journey was very real.
Ezra could have asked the king for an armed force to guard them as they journeyed to Jerusalem. He knew that the king would authorise such a force if he requested it. However, I take note of the manner in which Ezra faced the danger. “I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, ‘The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.’ So, we fasted and implored our God for this” [EZRA 8:21-23a].
God heard the plea of His people, and He answered. Thus, Ezra wrote in the TWENTY-THIRD VERSE: “He listened to our entreaty.” God listened to the plea of His beloved people! And He listens to the cry of His people in this day because He loves them. Ezra will follow this brief statement by speaking more pointedly of God’s protection. “The hand of our God was on us, and he delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambushes by the way” [EZRA 8:31b]. Every day of our lives we make the same choice that Ezra made—whether to live up to the claims we make for our Lord, whether we will live by faith. What a terrible statement we Christians make to the world when we live in fear!
We will do well to refresh our memories of the promises that are ours in Christ Jesus. “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” [2 TIMOTHY 1:7]. That is a great promise, and if we live in fear, it dishonours the Lord who redeems us. Elsewhere, an unknown writer was prompted by God’s Spirit to testify for the sake of God’s holy people, “[God] has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So, we can confidently say,
‘The Lord is my helper;
I will not fear;
what can man do to me?’”
[HEBREWS 13:5-6]
I have often said that fear is a normal part of the human condition. [2] That is true! However, a normal part of our supernatural condition when we are born from above and into the Family of God is boldness! Courage to face the very real dangers is a mark of the child of God. We need to remember that we are spiritual beings who happen to inhabit a body of flesh for this brief moment we call “now.” We are not physical beings who happen to have a spirit. Underscore in your mind this truth: we Christians are spiritual beings who happen to inhabit a body! Therefore, it should be obvious that if we are walking in the flesh, we will experience fear—overwhelming fear. However, when we are walking in the Spirit, we will walk in boldness, living courageously. The faithful do not live in fear. Period!
Have we never read the promise of the Psalmist?
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.”
[PSALM 23:4]
God cannot be pleased when His people live in fear; fear demonstrates that we have ceased trusting Him! Underscore this point—fear demonstrates that we have ceased trusting God!
THE APPOINTMENT TO DIVINE SERVICE — God appointed Elijah to serve as His prophet. God appointed him despite knowing that Elijah would one day hit the wall—hard! And God has appointed you, even though He knows your weakness. Here is the wonderful truth: God knows your limitations, and He still appointed you to His service. Here is another truth—there is no such creature as a Christian, a Christ-follower, who has not received appointment to holy service.
It is immaterial what position may be in view, divine service is demanding; and because it is demanding, we must never assume that the appointment to Christian service is an appointment to a life of ease or a life of pleasure. We imagine that the preacher has the hardest job, but the appointment to be a faith warrior—a prayer warrior, or the appointment to be an encourager is equally demanding, if that appointment is fulfilled with holy commitment. Because He loves you, God will demand that you give Him your best service.
We need to focus on this truth in order to encourage God’s people. Each of us will experience at some point disappointment in our response to challenges we might face. Each of us will realise that we come up short at some point. We will be subject to depression when we do come to that point in life. However, rather than focusing on our failure—failure that each of us has experienced, we should focus on God’s mercy and grace. He chose us knowing our weakness and knowing that we would experience failure. What is vital for us to recognise is that He chose us. We must never forget this truth. Remember the truth that the Master spoke: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you” [JOHN 15:16].
Here is an essential truth that must never be forgotten—divine appointment exposes us to attack. It is said that Satan never attacks a sleeping saint. There is some truth to that. A man whom I greatly respected used to say, “If you don’t want any trouble, don’t say anything, don’t do anything, don’t be anything.” The moment you begin to attempt any work for the cause of Christ, you will face opposition. Do not expect that when you hoist your flag that everyone will salute that flag—many will begin to shoot at it.
When others are attacking us, we are subject to fear. We’ve already established that fear arises from failure to trust in the LORD our God! We begin to focus on the shots being fired at us rather than our God, the One who holds us in His great hands, and we begin to fear. To rebel against God, or to fail to believe in Him, sentences one to live in fear. Focusing on the turmoil about us rather than focusing on God sentences us to fear. We can even fear nothing!
Do you imagine it is strange to claim that people can fear nothing? Recall this warning that was delivered to the people of God. “As for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. The sound of a driven leaf shall put them to flight, and they shall flee as one flees from the sword, and they shall fall when none pursues. They shall stumble over one another, as if to escape a sword, though none pursues. And you shall have no power to stand before your enemies” [LEVITICUS 26:36-37]. God was warning of the consequences of disobedience. Notice in particular that He warns that the people will flee at the sound of a leaf blown in the wind. He warns that people will flee even when no one is pursuing them. They will be powerless before their enemies. Oh, yes, people can live in fear of nothing.
Contemporary Christians have trembled at “blood moons,” shuddered at “Illuminati” supposedly occupying the highest positions in government, quaked at Middle Eastern skirmishes and the instability those clashes brought, shivered at the latest person identified as the antichrist! It is almost as though followers of the Master look for something about which to be frightened! Funnily enough, we act like sheep! Frightened at every sound, ready to flee from every shadow, ready to stampede whenever we see another sheep running, we are easily startled into flight. Now that I think of it, we are sheep! We are His flock!
We who are members of His flock must always look to the Shepherd and see where He is going and ensure that we are following Him. If He is standing firm, then we are to stand with Him, allowing Him to protect us. We have this promise:
“The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
[PSALM 18:2]
There is comfort in that verse! My rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God. My shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. He is my protector!
Jezebel's declaration that Elijah would die was the moment when fear gripped Elijah. Into that mind once permeated with the Word of God, into that life once governed by an unshakeable faith in Almighty God, into that bosom where a prophet's heart beat with strength and confidence and courage there arose the deadening emotion of fear. And when he saw that, Elijah began the journey toward the dark cave. The one who said to the widow of Zarephath, “Do not be afraid,” now trembled with fear. It happened to Elijah, it can happen to you.
While the unravelling of Elijah's commitment began with the voice of an accuser, his journey was initiated by fear, characterised by desertion and full of loneliness. Elijah's steel confidence melted under the heat of a threat voiced by a godless hater of Yahweh and all His servants. And just as Elijah deserted the Promised Land and God's chosen people, preachers can desert the ministry and still be in the ministry. Preachers preach sermons that are somebody else's sermons. Preachers attend meetings and their hearts are not there. They pray only in public. They minister only when called upon and when necessary to preserve the flow of their income. They are gone. They are not really there.
In a similar manner, those who are not appointed to be preachers can cease serving when they are still serving in the ministry to which God appointed them. They deliver testimonies that legitimately belong to others, because they have no current statement revealing God’s work in their lives. They go to church, but they have ceased being the church; they say prayers, but they have ceased praying. They are not even certain that God still answers prayer, because it has been so long since they had an answer to prayer. Their Bible sits on a shelf in their living room, but dust on the cover belies their statements that they read this holy Word. They are still busy at the business of the church, but their heart is no longer in their work. The elements for communion are prepared, the building is cleaned, the grounds are maintained, meals are delivered to the shut-ins, prayer meetings and Bible studies are attended, but they are not really there.
The resulting loneliness when you are fleeing in fear means that you are alone in crowds, alone in church meetings and even alone in the pulpit. The journey that is too great can be ended only through God's provision. God can revive his prophet and redirect his ministry. Sometimes the message of God comes through the Word of God and the message is via the Holy Spirit speaking to the discouraged saint. At other times the message comes by way of a messenger. If you find yourself on a journey that is too great, look for the messengers that God will send.
Elijah's forty-day journey was strengthened by the messenger and by the meals that God sent. God's provision was enough. When you find yourself on a journey too great, when you find yourself afraid, deserting your call, lonely, barren, depressed, broken, begging God to let you die, avail yourself of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. That begins the journey back.
Elijah journeyed to the mountain with revived strength, distinguishing the voice of God. It is not as it once was. The ministry is not the same. Elijah is not the same. But his ministry is revived through the person of Christ. And his ministry is redirected to the accomplishment of the purposes of God. I have been on both journeys. I like this one better.
RESTORATION AFTER CRASHING — God was not finished with Elijah; God had work for him. Therefore, the LORD commanded Elijah, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place. And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death. Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” [1 KINGS 19:15-18]. “Elijah, I have work for you. Get a move on.”
Child of God, you are important to the divine program, but you are not indispensable. Just as the LORD still had work for Elijah, so you may be certain that He has work only you can do. God had need of Elijah, but there was an unseen host of those who still held to faith in the LORD. We may argue that they should have been bold and stood with Elijah, but God saw matters differently. God saw that they had not bowed the knee to Baal; God saw that they had not compromised. His people serve according to His command, not ours. God could still use Elijah, and God would use those who had not boldly stood with the man of God.
Elijah was restored to service, and his latter service was perhaps more consequential than his former service. God is in the business of accomplishing great things with broken people. Believers among the churches of this day will do well to hear again the opening words the Apostle penned to the Church of God in Corinth. “Consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” [1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-31].
I cannot tell you what God has planned for you. I do know that as one who serves Him, your times are in His hands. Moreover, He will use you. In fact, your greatest service may well be in the future. Your past does not define you in terms of your value to God in His ministry. He is well able to restore you after your crash. The past does not define you. You determine to serve God from this time forward.
Here is the tragedy of modern church service. By the criterion of far too many contemporary churches, Elijah had no future in service to God. He was fearful, and he ran for his life. He botched the thing we imagine he should have been doing because he was frightened by threats against his life.
I am aware of a man who won’t come to services because one individual worships in the assembly. “I can’t worship when I see that individual seated in the service,” the man says. Then, the man has granted power to someone that should have no authority over him! We are now living in a society in which social justice warriors have driven the culture from the biblical basis that once prevailed to something utterly foreign to the mind of God. We of an earlier day came to faith in an age when the message of the Faith had permeated society. We were taught to forgive people if their lives reflected a growth toward righteousness; we weren’t concerned what they might have been, focusing rather on what they had become.
The idea of forgiveness is absent from the modern agenda. A governor can never be forgiven for a childish prank thirty years ago. It is unimportant that he has not demonstrated negative traits in his life since that time while investing his life in making society better through service to his fellow citizens. A man must be punished for decisions made forty years before today. His life will be destroyed because there can be no forgiveness for things he might have said or actions he might have taken that were inconsequential at the time.
These events are bad, but the same attitude invades the congregations of our Saviour, and the people of God silently acquiesce because they are ignorant of the will of Christ. Professing Christians cannot forget that a fellow saint once stumbled. Though the stumble was decades in the past and the believer has led an exemplary life since that time, she must be punished. By the criterion of modern assemblies, Saul of Tarsus would not be welcomed—he persecuted the church of Jesus Christ. Simon Bar-Jonah would not be permitted to exercise his gifts—he once denied knowing Jesus. Mary Magdalene could never enter into the congregation of the Lord—she had once harboured seven demons until Jesus cast them out. Rahab should never have been permitted to be mentioned in the lineage of our Lord—she was once a prostitute.
When we begin to hold the past against the people of God, none of us should be permitted to be called by the Name of the Son of God! How humbling the Word of the Lord. “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you.” If we stopped reading there, we would be compelled to admit that no one seated here today is worthy of being called by the Name of Christ the Lord. However, the Word of God continued to clarify the issue: “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” [1 CORINTHIANS 6:9-11].
I can’t speak for other churches, but I do address this congregation. My plea is that each of you put into practise the admonition of the Apostle, who wrote, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you” [PHILIPPIANS 3:13-15].
Stop living in the past. Refocus on what truly matters. We are taught, “Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” [HEBREWS 12:1-2].
Hear the Word of the Lord and apply it in your own life. “As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand” [ROMANS 14:1-4]. We are not looking for perfection; we are seeking godliness. May God grant it. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] E.g. Michael Stark, “Of Whom Shall I Be Afraid?” (sermon), 11 November 2018, https://newbeginningsbaptist.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Psalm-027.01-03-Of-Whom-Shall-I-Be-Afraid.pdf
