The Church As A Kingdom Revealing Church Series

THE ELIJAH CHURCH IS A KINGDOM REVEALING CHURCH

INTRO: This is part of a series using the life of Elijah as a picture of the last day Church. It is also a stand alone sermon.

1 Kings 17:7-24 Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.” “As surely as the LORD your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.” Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the LORD sends rain on the land.’” She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the LORD spoken by Elijah. Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?” “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the LORD, “LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!” The LORD heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”

Ever nation has an immigration system and a travel policy. To go to most countries you need a passport. When travelling, if you get into difficulty, that passport gives you certain rights at your countries Embassy. At the Embassy will be an Ambassador, who represents his country. That Ambassador has diplomatic privilege and the Embassy is deemed to be a part of that countries soil even though it is in a foreign place. It is the same in God's Kingdom we are His Ambassadors and His representatives, we should reveal the customs and culture, of God.

Elijah had visited the Court of King Ahab he had spoken on behalf of God. He made his trip from obscurity, and in Ahab's court had declared war. Now Elijah had gone through the desert School of learning. He had learned communion, he had drank from a spiritual rock and feasted on manna. He had his flesh cut away. It was time to move on.

Timing is always an issue with us, when to move, where to move! Ecclesiastes 3:1-11.

Time is a period allotted for a specific purpose. Eternity is in our hearts - God knows the beginning from the end yet in the natural world we function in time periods. It is one thing to know Gods Word it is another to walk in it. It is one thing to say we believe, it is another to act in faith. At Zarephath Elijah's faith was to tested, the natural was going to be transformed by the supernatural. Zarephath was a place where the impossible became possible.