Open up your Bibles to the book of First Kings. We're going to be looking at the life and the work of Elijah, the prophet, perhaps the greatest of the Old Testament prophets. You think about, some names that stand out, Isaiah and Jeremiah, but to the Jews of the first century, one of the ones that would have stood out the most in their history was Elijah. Because of his boldness, because of the things that, through the power of God, he was able to do. He was a man who came upon the scene at a time in the northern kingdom of Israel when wickedness was at an all-time high.
Think about the comparisons between that nation, in that time, and our nation in our time, and there are a lot of parallels that can certainly be drawn. We're living in a time when sin is something that has kind of been de-emphasized. The old moral values based on the Bible, have been, by and large, by our society, and by our world, been discarded. In fact, if you try to cling to, or appeal to, the Bible for authority you're considered to be someone who is a bigot, a racist, and a hateful person. The very opposite of what Christians are called to be is what we're viewed as in this society.
We look at a world in which, drunkenness is celebrated, and promoted. We live in a state where marijuana is legal to buy, sell, and partake of for recreational purposes. Homosexuality and all these various, transgender ideas, the LGBTQ whatever, that seems to be what is running our society today. Sin is now politically and socially acceptable. To speak against sin has, of course, never been popular, but it is certainly now even more unpopular than ever. Even within the church preaching against sin is something that is not very popular.
And so, we look at a world in which sin and aberrant behavior, things that used to be considered deplorable abominations, are celebrated, and, if you don't celebrate it along with them you're the problem according to the world.
In Elijah's day and ours also perverse religion was one of the widespread sins that he, the prophet courageously stood up against. Idolatry was prominent and the government-sanctioned religion in Israel at the time of Elijah had become the worship of Baal. There were very few bold children of God left who dared to faithfully practice and follow God.
In fact, at one point, Elijah thinks he is the only one left. And it's then that the Lord tells him that He has yet 7, 000 in all of Israel that have not bowed the knee to Baal (1 Kings 19:18). But you think about this 7,001 people out of an entire nation where the only ones who had not bowed down to Baal. God's children, in every age, history just repeats itself over and over again. There's nothing new under the sun. Things aren't any different today than they were then. People are still people. And people are still prone to follow whatever catches their attention at the moment. And so as God's children, we're to call and to preach the gospel to boldly get people to turn away from sin.
You know, the gospel is the good news that Jesus died so that we don't have to die in sin. But we've got to stand up against sin, and we've got to urge people to turn away from sin. That has always and ever been the cry of God's children towards those in the world, is to turn away from sin, even when it's not popular. And we live in a time right now where it's not popular.
Elijah Boldly Faced King Ahab
We look at Elijah, and I want to look at his example, first of all, Elijah was bold when he faced King Ahab. He announced sin. He announced that there was going to be punishment for sin.
- Ahab’s Wickedness - 1 Kings 16:25-33; 17:1
- Elijah boldly preached - 1 Kings 17:2-18:1; 18:17-18; 19:1-3
- Others who followed his example.
- John the Baptist - Matthew 14:3-4, 10
- Stephen - Acts 7:51-53;
- Paul - 2 Corinthians 11:23-28
- John - Revelation 1:9
- Christians must follow Elijah’s example. - Mark 16:15-16
- Romans 3:23; 6:23; 1:7, 15
He boldly stood up and faced King Ahab.
Elijah Boldly Defeated the Prophets of Baal
We see also he defeated King Ahab and the prophets of Baal. You know, he was a bold warrior for God.
- A bold warrior for God - 1 Kings 18:17-40
- Others who were bold:
- Joshua - Joshua 24:15, 31
- Paul - Acts 13:6-11
- Christians must follow Elijah’s example
- John 18:36-37
- 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
- Ephesians 6:10-17
And so, he was a bold warrior for God who stood up to spiritual wickedness in high places.
Elijah Boldly Preached Despite Personal Peril
Also, we see that he boldly preached even in the face of personal peril. The first time he fled was at the direction of God.
- He fled twice - 1 Kings 17:2-24; 19:1-21
- Others were persecuted/killed.
- Apostles and Prophets
- Hebrews 11:32-40
- 1 Thessalonians 2:14-15
- Stephen
- Acts 7:51-53
- Jerusalem Christians
- Acts 8:1-4
- Apostles and Prophets
They ran with a purpose. They ran away to save their lives but they also preached the gospel everywhere they went. You know, when we live according to God's word and we live in this society that is surrounded by so much wickedness we're going to put ourselves in peril. We can put ourselves in peril of being arrested.
We Must Be Bold in Facing Sin
God has not promised Christians an escape from peril in teaching and preaching the gospel. But rather, he assured us that we are going to be persecuted.
- We will face persecution. - 1 Timothy 3:12
- God will be with us! - Matthew 10:28; 1 Corinthians 10:13; Romans 8:28
- We are called to proclaim God’s Word. - Mark 16:15
- We are not of the world. - 1 Peter 2:9; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 15:58.; James 4:4
When we stand up for the truth, and when we stand with God, we are going to stand in opposition to the world that is around us. Jesus on another occasion said, "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, For so did their fathers to the false prophets." (Luke 6:26).
We urge you today to stand up to sin. If you're living in sin right now, we urge you to turn away from sin, repent, change your mind regarding sin, and change your actions to walk a new path. Jesus died for every one of us.
We have got to believe in Christ. We've got to believe that He is the Son of God. We've got to understand the purpose of His sacrifice. He died for our sins. How do we respond to that wonderful sacrifice that was made on our behalf? We turn away from sin. It is our sin that put him on the cross. We can't live in sin anymore. We need to confess our faith, our belief, and not be ashamed, and bold in proclaiming Jesus Christ as our Lord.
And then we need to be baptized to have our sins washed away. That's obedience to Christ's word. He said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." (John 14:15). He commands that we be baptized to have our sins washed away. We urge you today if you have not put on Christ in baptism, to be baptized, to be saved today, to turn away from sin, to wash away those sins in the waters of baptism.
If you're a Christian who has been once more brought into captivity to sin, we urge you to turn away from that, to repent, to come home. If you want to become a Christian, if you want to study more about becoming a Christian, we urge you to let us know in some way. We're here to help you. We want to go to Heaven. We want you to go to Heaven. Contact us, we would be honored to assist you.
