For example...
Illus: A seventeen-year-old girl made Elvis Presley not just an entertainer, or a mortal. She made him an idol and she literally worshipped him.
It is a matter of record that she has seen his movie:
• “LOVE ME TENDER” 107 times.
• “LOVING YOU” 110 times.
• “KING CREOLE” 91 times.
• “JAIL HOUSE ROCK” 79 times
• She has twelve scrapbooks of him.
• She has 40,000 pictures of him.
• She actually moved from New Orleans to Memphis to be near him..
This woman may be a extreme, but she represents the many “Creature Worshippers” across America.
But no man is worthy of worship, only God the Creator is worthy of worship
As we look at the idols Americans worship, we can certainly relate to how Elijah must have felt when he stood before the prophets of Baal.
Those people were also “creature worshippers.”
The only difference was that the creatures they worshipped included creatures they made with their own hands.
As the false prophets called upon their idols to send rain, Elijah had to be thinking, “These people are pitiful! If this is all they have to worship, they are in bad shape!”
They were in bad shape, and Elijah probably was not in the mood for pitying them at that time.
Before America, and other nations, ever get straightened out, they will have to find a whole different kind of role model to hold in high esteem.
I believe one of the best places to find great men and women who qualify as role models is in God’s Word.
The great prophet of God, WHOSE NAME IS ELIJAH, of our text is actually one of the greatest men who ever walked on this earth!
Let me show you THREE reasons why Elijah was a great man of God:
• Why he should be held in high esteem.
• Why he is a good role model for our young people and adults alike.
First, he knew about…
I. THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
Illus: A young boy was waiting after church for his family. The pastor saw him standing around and struck up a conversation.
Since the boy had just come from Sunday school, the pastor decided to ask him some questions to determine just how much the children were learning there.
• He said, “Young man, if you can tell me something that God can do, I’ll give you a big shiny apple.”
• The boy thoughtfully said, “Pastor, I will give you a bushel of apples if you can tell me one thing that God can not do.”
HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT GOD?
Elijah knew a great deal about God.
Look at verse 37. We read, “...thou art the Lord God...”
Notice, Elijah says in this passage:
- “I am not God; THOU ART GOD!”
- “These idols are not God; THOU ART GOD!”
Elijah knew WHO GOD WAS! He said, “...THOU ART THE LORD GOD...”
He was saying, again, that he was not God and the idols the false prophets bowed to were not God, but that the true, living God is God-- “THOU ART GOD!”
Illus: To his credit at one of Elvis Presley’s concert we are told that one woman that worshipped him as God wanted to show her love for him she bought the whole first row of seats just for herself.
After one of his song she stood with the crowd and started screaming that he was THE KING and he looked back and yelled back to her “I AM NOT THE KING, JESUS CHRIST IS THE KING!”
WHO IS GOD?
• God is the Creator of everything!
• God is Omniscient He knows every thing
Through the centuries idols that men worshipped have come and gone, but GOD is God, and IS GOD STILL TODAY!
Illus: One atheist made it known that he did not believe in God. He would take God’s name in vain and says some of the most vile things that come out of the mouth of a human.
One man confronted him and said I UNDERSTAND YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THERE IS A GOD?
The atheist said, “You are right, there is no G…D.. God?
The man said if there is NO GOD WHY DO YOU CURSE HIM?
• The most WISE MEN on earth are the men who KNOW GOD IS GOD!
• The most FOOLISH MAN on the earth that God has created is the man who is dumb enough to believe that all this just happened.
Illus: A pastor was confronted by an atheist in a public gathering. The atheist, wishing to embarrass the pastor, said loudly, “There is no God.”
• The preacher said, “Friend, what you said is not new--the Bible said that more than 2,000 years ago.”
• The atheist said, “I did not know the Bible stated that.”
• The preacher said, “Yes, it does in Psalm 14:1, ‘The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God...’”
• Then the preacher said, “But there is a great difference between that fool and you. He was quiet and modest and said it in his heart, but you have blurted it out so that everyone knows what a fool you are!”
God says it takes an absolute fool to deny His existence.
The normal routine of life should be enough to convince the most hardened skeptic THAT GOD IS CREATOR OF EVERYTHING.
• The sun rises.
• The sun sets.
• The seasons come in uniform succession.
• The uncontrollable weather constantly reminds us.
All these things are simple proofs that a man can plainly see that that there is a God.
David saw it. Psalm 19:1-3 proclaims, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.”
Creation has its own voice. It speaks day and night, declaring the glory of God.
All people have to do is look and listen.
If they will, then they can see the POWER of ALMIGHTY GOD. For example-
Illus: It was not too many years ago that God used Mt. Saint Helens, in Washington state, to reveal His greatness.
That blast got the attention of geologists and people all over the world.
Mt. Saint Helens had stood 9,700 feet high. Then it happened.
• There were three eruptions.
• The third eruption blew over 1,300 feet off the northern side, leveling it off at 4,400 feet on the northern side of the mountain.
• Rivers of boiling mud and ash were sent down the mountain side at the speed of 80 miles per hour.
• A crater was formed that was two miles long and a mile wide.
• One of the famous geologists of our country said there had not been a volcanic blast of this magnitude in the last four thousand years.
• Pundits claim it was over five hundred times that of an atom bomb.
• So much ash was belched forth by the force of the eruptions that some of it literally fell all over this country.
• Such force was exerted that the ash was forced 50,000 feet into the air. That is almost 10 miles straight up!
Every now and then God uses something like this to remind people that He is THE POWERFUL, EXISTING GOD!
Illus: The most devout atheist when God sends a tornado or a vilolent hurricane every thing get quiet and fearful.
He reminds us that WE ARE NOT GODS--HE IS GOD!
We live in a society where men place so much value on worldly things, but these things are destined to change. History teaches that people continually change. NOTHING IS SECURE! NOTHING REMAINS THE SAME.
• The car has replaced the horse and buggy.
• Computers have replaced typewriters and more.
• Electric lights have replaced kerosene lanterns.
• Electric pumps have replaced the hand pumps and buckets in wells.
• Jet airplanes have replaced prop planes.
• Gas and electric heaters have replaced the coal furnaces.
• Asphalt roads have replaced dirt roads.
• Fax phones and E-Mail are fast replacing the mail man.
The society we live in is the result of six thousand years of civilized mutation. This is an EVER CHANGING WORLD.
BUT THERE IS ONE WHO NEVER CHANGES--THAT IS THE LIVING GOD!
He tells us in His Word for I am the LORD GOD AND I CHANGE NOT!!!
False gods have come and gone, but we can say with Elijah of our Creator, “...thou art the Lord God...”
-God is God today.
-God will be God tomorrow.
-God will be God forever!
Elijah said, “...THOU ART THE LORD GOD...”
God has been good to America.
Illus: We can look back through history and see the Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Greeks, Romans, etc., who have given us much of our culture and arts, BUT WHERE ARE THEY TODAY?
The only time they are mentioned is in history classes.
Some of them no longer exist as a nation, and those who do exist are not so significant as they were hundreds of years ago.
America is making many of the same mistakes they made. We are forgetting GOD IS GOD!
God will not tolerate this very long!
One of the things that made Elijah the great man of God was HIS KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
Again he said, “...thou art the Lord God...”
The second thing we want to look at that made him great was-
II. HIS KNOWLEDGE OF HIMSELF.
Look at verse 36 of our text. He said, “...I am thy servant...”
Now I know many folks who will say the same thing. They will look to the Lord and say, “I am thy servant.”
However, there is a big difference. When Elijah said it, his actions backed his words.
Illus: Suppose you hired a servant and all he ever did was walk around the house saying, “I am your servant?" Yet...
• The house was a mess.
• The dirty dishes were stacking up.
• The carpet needed vacuuming.
• The windows needed washing.
But all you had was a person who walked around saying, “I am your servant.”
If that were the case you probably would say, “Then serve!”
Illus: That would be like the man who says, “I am a...
• FISHERMAN,” but never fishes.
• GOLFER,” but never plays golf.
• BALL PLAYER,” but never plays ball.
• SKIER,” but never skies.
• TENNIS PLAYER,” but never plays tennis.
If we tell God “I am Your servant,” then we should serve Him!
The word “servant” has become a dirty word.
Illus: When many hear that word, “servant,” they equate it with “slavery.”
Then they think it is something we should abolish.
However, the word “SERVANT” IS NOT A DIRTY WORD. Every day we serve in some capacity.
• If you are in the military, you are serving your country.
• If you are an employee, you are serving the company you work for.
• If you are a tax payer, you serve all Americans by providing taxes to operate the government.
We may prefer to call ourselves soldiers, employees, and taxpayers, but in reality we are SERVANTS.
If it was not for people who do these things, this country would be in a mess.
One reason the work of Christ is not more effective is because many Christians do not KNOW WHO THEY ARE!
Elijah said, “I am thy servant...” He knew WHO GOD WAS and WHO HE WAS. (God’s servant)
Also, look at-
III. HIS KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S WORD.
Look at verse 36b, “...I have done all these things at thy word.”
As a nation we have more Bibles than any other country. How sad it is that very few seem to realize why God has blessed us with these Bibles.
God’s Word is to be READ and OBEYED!
It is not to be...
- Dusted off every now and then.
- Ignored.
- Rejected.
- Diluted down.
- Compromised.
IT IS TO BE READ AND OBEYED!
Elijah felt he had the right to ask God to send fire down from heaven.
He said, “...let it be known...that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.”
When we READ and OBEY the WORD OF GOD we bring happiness and success to our lives.
Illus: The “Chicago Daily News” told the story of the success of the Standard Oil company in their discovering oil in the Middle East. One of the Directors of the company was reading Exodus, chapter 2, of God’s word which speaks of the mother of Moses making an ark of bulrushes and covering “...it with slime and with pitch...”
The director reasoned:
• That if there was “pitch” (asphalt, from root word meaning: “To liquefy."
• Also, bitumen, meaning: “asphalt found in a natural state.") there then there must be oil, and, if there was oil there in Moses’ time it would still be there.
The company sent geologist, Charles Whitshatt, to investigate and discovered oil there.
Those who search the Word of God for ways to please the Lord will find something far more valuable than oil.
Can you say, with Elijah, “...I have done all these things at thy word”?
Conclusion:
As I close this sermon I want you to pledge allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ.
This country is in a mess today but the Bible tells us…
Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
What kind of man was he?
What kind of a person are you? I hope and pray that God will make us like the Man Elijah.
What kind of man was he?
I. HIS KNOWLEDGE OF GOD…“...thou art the Lord God...”
II. HIS KNOWLEDGE OF HIMSELF…“...I am thy servant...”
III. HIS KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S WORD…“...I have done all these things at thy word.”
