LBC Sermons & Messages

I Kings 17:1b

What motivated Elijah to take a stand for God. Dan 11:32, may give us a clue, “but the people of God will display strength and take action”. From the book of James, we discover that Elijah was a man of prayer. Prayer is the outflow of our relationship towards God and reveals that we believe God is greater than the problem, that God is real and alive, that He is not indifferent to what is going on, and it reveals our desire to sees God’s purposes accomplished.

As a result, Elijah appears befor king Ahab and proclaims this message to him. The message is in three parts and reveals to us what type of man Elijah was

First, Elijah was convinced of the reality of God,“as the Lord, the God of Israel lives”. Psa 33, states that “the Lord looks from heaven .. and sees all”. For some sixty years, the nation has defied and ignored God with no apparent consequences and this has resulted into some false thinking about reality of God. We today need to heed the warning given in Eccl 8:11-13

Secondly, Elijah was committed as being God’s representative, “before whom I stand”. He was fully aware of God’s presence, of His plan, and of His provisions. As such Elijah was totally loyal to God in contrast to the disloyalty of the nation nof Israel. For us today, other must see our loyalty to Christ by the way we conduct ourselves in every area of our life.

Thirdly, Elijah was confident of the authority of the scripture, “neither shall there be dew or rain … except by my word”. He did not make this up, but was quoting from Deut 11 and 28, what God had said thru Moses would happen if the nation disobeyed God’s law. For sixty years they had and now Elijah was announcing that the line was being drawn. Do our lives reflect the authority of the scriptures by the way we live. John 13:17 and Luke 11:28, states blessing on those who hear and obey the word of God.

Elijah saw the dangers, but he also saw the promises of God and did what was necessary. So must we today.