Finishing Strong: Elijah

Below is a transcription of the sermon...

We’re in the book of 1 Kings. 1 Kings 17, if you will. 1 Kings 17. And we started a series a couple of weeks ago just on the subject of people that finished strong. People that finished strong. And that’s who we want to be. We want to be Christians that do not just start well, but we finish well. Great finishers are the famous ones in the Bible. Great finishers.

And tonight, the character that will be studying for just a little while is that of Elijah. Let’s say his name together. You’re ready? “Elijah.” In fact, we got a couple in our church, I think, and so that’s good. And he had a successor, the one he trained, called Elisha. So, two different names there.

Elijah. And just a little background on him: the Jews believe—and this is a tradition and a legend—that Elijah shows up in Israel in the house of everyone when they circumcise their son. And so it was this mysterious thing. They always just said, Elijah shows up at this point because this is when a leader is beginning.

When Jesus was on the cross, you ever remember when he said “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani”? He said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” People said they didn’t hear him clearly. They said, “He calleth for Elias,” and they were referring to Elijah. They said, “Hey, on the cross, that Man on the cross is calling for Elijah.” They didn’t hear him right, But that’s what they thought. Kind of interesting. Someone said, “Who is Jesus?” And they said, “Well, He reminds me of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet.” Someone else in the Bible said, “He reminds us of Elijah.” Why a great man of prayer, and so what a compliment for Jesus to be commented about—for someone to say, Elijah reminds me of Jesus and Jesus reminds me of Elijah. And I thought, you know, that’s a wonderful thing.

Now why is this man so important? Elijah is the one the one of two men that appeared on the mountain with Jesus—Moses and Elijah. That was him. Some people believe he’s going to be one of the two witnesses. The Bible doesn’t say in Revelation. There’ll be two witnesses after we leave and the tribulation takes place. Many think it will be Moses and Elijah because of the miracles that they’re doing. So that’s just a little of the background here.

With that said, look down please, in 1 Kings 17, and we’ll just begin. It says, “and Elisha the Tishbite…” and that refers to where he was from, this place called Tish. “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.”

Let’s pray, and then we’ll just jump in here. Father, bless now the time we have. Thank You for the Bible. Thank You for all these rich lessons to help us with life. And I pray that some things that are said tonight… We’re not here to entertain or just teach facts or places or what names mean. We’re here to draw closer to Thee and see how are we to live our lives. I pray that You would help us finish strong like this man did. Please. In Jesus’ name we ask, Amen.

So here it is Chapter 17. He appears out of nowhere. It doesn’t say anything about where he was born. Doesn’t say anything about his parents. Doesn’t say anything about his childhood, his teenage life. It just said, “And Elijah Tishbite…” He just kind of appears. He’s much like the Old Testament version of John the Baptist. John the Baptist had that coat of camel’s hair. He had a grasshopper sticking out of his mouth. He just shows up. He’s preaching, “Repent!” That was a lot like Elijah.

Elijah was one who preached very boldly. He’s the one that stuck his finger at Ahab’s nose and said, “You’re the trouble with Israel, not me.” He was just very, very bold. Also, he was the one that pronounced judgment several times. He said he said that Jezebel is going to be eaten by the dogs. He’s quite the guy.

So, he just shows up and pronounces this. But here’s a key phrase in verse one: “before whom I stand.” And that phrase is repeated several times in the description of his life. He simply says, on a regular basis, “I stand before God and I spend time with God. Before whom I stand.”

And someone said, Well, if you kneel before God, you’ll stand before men. And so, if we’ll spend time with God, will have no trouble standing up for right. And so, we see this repeated “before whom I stand.” He’s bold. And at the beginning of his life, God ends up teaching him many lessons, teaching him many lessons before he does great things, and it’s interesting because it says here… notice down at 1 Kings 17:2–3 “And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, 3. Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.”

So, for three years, God says, “Go hide yourself.” He said, “There’s a certain place I want you to go, and you’ll just kind of be in hiding. No one’s going to see you. You won’t have a public ministry. It’ll all be private.” Kind of interesting. See, sometimes we want God to show us to others. And God says, “No, I need you to hide yourself.” We’re not talking about hiding from people or hiding from wrong. I’m just saying any time God used someone, he kind of put them in the back 40 for a while, kind of unseen as He worked on them before He ever revealed or showed them. Get this: Moses, forty years in the wilderness than forty years leading. Jesus—thirty years before He ever did a miracle, before He ever preached the sermon–preparatory years, and then a three year ministry. Joseph—thirteen years before he ever became the prime minister, and so forth.

He says, “Hide yourself, then show yourself.” That’s what Bible college is. For a young person, it’s a place. “Hey, go hide yourself for four years, and learn what you believe, and figure it out. Get prepared before you have anything to say.” And so, He says, “Go hide thyself.”