Sermon Transcript — January 3, 2004
A number of years ago I had a very good friend in the Church who told me about how he had become a member of the Church. He was someone who was looking for the truth, and what he did to find the truth was, first, to pray to God; and then he disappeared from the city where he lived and he went to the mountains. I don't know whether by loan or whatever it was, but a friend of his had a cabin in the mountains. And, so, he went to this very isolated cabin. He went into the cabin for a few days, and there was just one single item sitting on the table in the cabin. Now, you guessed it—it was a magazine. It was the Plain Truth magazine. Actually, it was the Pura Verdad magazine, because it was the Spanish edition; and this took place in a Latin American country. That gentleman became a member of the Church and still is a faithful member of the Church.
But I have a question for you this afternoon. Where would a servant of God, one who has served God zealously, go looking to find Him? Where would you go to find God? You've served Him, but you're looking to re-establish contact with Him, to be reaffirmed, maybe, after a difficult experience and time of trouble. You need to find God and you need to re-establish contact with Him. Perhaps one of the most unlikely places, maybe the place we wouldn't say, is a cave. And, yet, one of the servants of God in the Old Testament, someone whose name we know well and whose story we know well, went to a cave; and this was the prophet Elijah. He was fleeing for his life. He was a voice in a darkened world. There were people out to get him at that particular time; and he got weary. He needed a refresher, and he went to a cave. Now, I think we know that the Bible likens us and our work to Elijah; and so the story of Elijah and what he did to find God is a story for you and for me.
In Matthew 17, verses 10-12, let's just take a look at that before we go to the story of Elijah. Here are Christ's disciples asking Jesus Christ about Elijah because they were very much aware of the Elijah prophecy in the book of Malachi, which we won't take the time to read today.
Matt. 17:10-11 – And His disciples asked Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?" One of the Jewish groups was teaching that Elijah had to come first, before the coming of Messiah, according to Malachi's prophecy. Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things." Now, this is after John the Baptist and his ministry. It's over and done with. The Baptist apparently had been put to death at this point. "Elijah is coming first and will restore all things."
Verse 12 – "But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."
Now, that Elijah prophecy, you know, it's a prophecy that's fulfilled on more than one occasion. It was fulfilled in John the Baptist and is also being fulfilled in our work. So, if we look at the history of Elijah and we look at where Elijah went and what Elijah did to find God, that may be instructive for us.
I would like for you to turn with me now to I Kings 19. I was going over the overall context of this at home today. It's a tremendous sequence of events here. This takes place after what sometimes has been called the "Mount Carmel Olympics." You remember the Mount Carmel Olympics, the duel between Elijah and the priests of Baal. The numbers are actually very interesting. There were 450 priests of Baal and also about 400 priests of Asherah, I think it was, it says in the last chapter. But here in I Kings 19, Elijah has gone through this. He has seen a tremendous intervention. And you remember the story—we won't read it all—but the story about the heifer placed in a ditch and then the water poured all over it. You would think that that would be enough. You would think that Elijah would be absolutely sure; but, suddenly, he finds himself alone and overcome with discouragement. What's more, evil queen Jezebel is out to get him. And Elijah, as we are told in the New Testament, is a regular kind of a human being. He was just a normal kind of an individual, and he was overcome with discouragement.
Here in I Kings, chapter 19, and verse 9, let's see what happened as God helped him through his moment of discouragement.
I Kings 19:9 – And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Why are you hiding away in a cave after this tremendous victory? You know, you wouldn't think it would be necessary, would you? You wouldn't think it, after seeing everything that had taken place.
Then Elijah's complaint, verse 10: ..."I have been very zealous for the Eternal God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."
In actual fact, it was Jezebel, the one who was out to get him. So Elijah is feeling down and discouraged and probably a little bit depressed. You know, sometimes maybe we think, "Well, servants of God shouldn't have that kind of thing happen to them," but servants of God did. It happened to Elijah, and God helped him through it. But the surprise that follows in the next couple of verses is in what it was that God manifested Himself. I'd like you to follow me through in this because there is an object lesson here for us. A number of tremendous events take place here, but Elijah had a surprise coming to him.
Verses 10-11 – Then He said, this is God speaking, "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Eternal." And behold, the Eternal passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Eternal, but the Eternal was not in the wind.
So, suddenly a powerful wind comes by and you can imagine Elijah's reaction. This wind is so powerful it tears rocks apart. Now, I've never been in the midst of a tornado or a hurricane. Maybe some of you have. I've seen them on TV. They're frightening things, with tremendous power in tornadoes and hurricanes. And it must have been a bit of a surprise to Elijah to learn that God was not in the wind. This wasn't of God. Now, it took place, but this really wasn't the center of what God wanted to get across to him. There's another aspect to this because in the Bible, the wind is the symbol of God's Holy Spirit. The Greek word for "spirit," pneuma, and the Hebrew word, they both mean "wind." And there are a lot of people who claim to project the spirit or the breath or the wind of God. People talk about miracles on the radio or the TV. I like to listen to the radio preachers from time to time. When I'm behind the wheel, I'll tune in to them and hear some of the things that they're saying. People make a great deal, large numbers of claims about what it is and what they're doing and the fact that they're servants of God; and yet, Jesus Christ said that not every manifestation of the wind, of the spirit, is truly of God.
Matthew 7—keep your place in I Kings 19—Matthew 7, verses 21-23. It's an amazing thing that Christ says here:
Matt. 7:21-23 – "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'" People claiming spiritual gifts, people claiming the wind, the Spirit of God, motivated them. And then, a very interesting riposte from Christ in verse 23, "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"
So, not every supposed manifestation of the wind, of the Spirit, is, in fact, a manifestation, a true manifestation of God. In the future, we know there is going to come a time when most of humanity is going to be deceived by somebody referred to in the scriptures as the false prophet. The false prophet will be one who will call down fire from heaven. He will have tremendous power, spiritual power; but his power will not be of God. Hopefully when that time comes, we'll know better. I John 4, and verse 1. Not every spiritual manifestation is of God.
I John 4:1 – Beloved, John writes, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, check them out, test them, see if they're healthy, see if they're right, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
So, we are warned throughout the scriptures that there are manifestations, sometimes true spiritual manifestations, that really aren't of God. And there are times, even among God's people, when true miracles of God don't necessarily build our faith. Have you ever known anybody, somebody, perhaps who was a member of the Church, somebody who has come in contact with the Church of God, who had miracles take place in their lives? I've heard a lot of stories and I think, perhaps, some of you have heard stories. I remember a story, years ago, of a young man. He was in an Ambassador Club, and he told the most amazing story in his speech. He was talking about the fact that he was going to go to Ambassador College and he was on his knees and he was talking to God and he needed money. He didn't have enough money to go. Got down on his knees and was praying about it to God, and as he was on his knees—the way he told the story, it seemed like it was a few seconds—as he was on his knees the phone began to ring, and he described how he finished his prayer, got up from his knees, picked up the phone, and I forget all the details, but somebody on the other end of the line said, "You've got so much money coming to you." His prayer was answered within seconds. The young man, unfortunately, didn't stay. So true miracles, true answered prayers, don't always make people converted.
Even ancient Israel...if miracles made people converted, ancient Israel would surely have become the most deeply converted people on the face of the earth; but they didn't, did they? They were stiff necked; they were carnal.
So sometimes God is not in miracles. Sometimes God is not in the wind, and Elijah was still left looking. He probably thought God was in the wind.
I Kings 19, let's go back there again. I Kings 19, and in verse 11, what came after the wind?
I Kings 19:11 – ...and after the wind an earthquake, but the Eternal was not in the earthquake...
I lived in southern California for 15 years, so I experienced an earthquake or two. Fortunately, I never experienced a really big one; but I can remember some of them, and it's quite a jarring experience. You're sitting in a room or wherever, and suddenly everything begins to shake. You wonder what's causing the plates and the bookshelves to begin to shake, and then you realize it's an earthquake. They're a little bit scary. Earthquakes are mentioned in prophecy. Sometimes God is in them; sometimes God is not in them. In this case, God was not in the earthquake. Sometimes people will tell you about earthquakes. People predict, prophesy earthquakes. "I know when the earthquake will come. The earthquake will hit this part of the world on such and such a date." And people get very much into prophecy. Certain individuals feel they've got a corner on prophecy—prophecy and earthquakes and those events. The events that will precede the return of Jesus Christ are important, but I'm not sure about some of the people who claim they've got a corner on prophecy. They can motivate us; but in this case, God wasn't in the earthquake. God was yet to be found. The earthquake was not of God. What came after the earthquake?
I Kings 19:12 – ...and after the earthquake a fire, but the Eternal was not in the fire...
As that fire burned, and we're not told the details here, some kind of fire that suddenly came about, Elijah must surely have thought, "This is of God. God must surely be in the fire," because, after all, Elijah knew about Moses and the burning bush in the book of Exodus. He knew about the fire that was given before the coming of the ten commandments given to Moses; and he had experienced fire himself at Mount Carmel when the fire came down and devoured these—not the two animals but one that he had put out there, now drenched with water, absolutely soaked with water—and fire came down from heaven and devoured the animal. For all of the spectators, anybody who was unsure, it was now pretty clear. "We know who is the servant of God. The one whose sacrificial animal has been eaten up by the fire that came down from heaven." God was in all of those.
Hebrews 12, verse 29. We don't have to go there. Hebrews 12:29 sort of sums up some of the manifestations of God in the Old Testament and tells us, "Our God is a consuming fire." There is a metaphorical side to that as well. God takes what we give to Him. He takes the efforts and the service that we bring to Him, but Elijah must surely have thought that God was in the fire. But He wasn't. A fire is sometimes like peoples' words, fiery words, fiery preaching. A lot of people out there preach all kinds of things. You hear a lot of fire, you hear a lot of emotion, if you're into that kind of thing; and very often there isn't a great deal of substance. Fiery preaching doesn't necessarily equate with the truth.
Keep your place in I Kings 19 and we'll go to II Corinthians 10 and verse 10 where the apostle Paul, who was surely an apostle of God, makes an interesting little comment here. It's interesting that Paul intimates that he wasn't a terribly good preacher, but he certainly was a servant of God. Here is the complaint of Paul's detractors against him. They said:
II Cor. 10:10 – "For his letters," they say, "are weighty and powerful...oh, boy, when this guy writes a letter, you know, he really lays it on the line, doesn't he? He gets into the problem and corrects people. His letters are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak..." Paul, apparently, was not imposing, not handsome, "...and his speech contemptible. He's not a good preacher. Where does he get off thinking he's an apostle of God? He's not much of a preacher." And in the Church at Corinth there were others who were much more fiery, much better with words, much better with Greek wisdom than the apostle Paul was; but eloquence, fiery words, emotion, preachers on TV, preachers on the radio, and even fire itself doesn't necessarily prove that it's of God. This fire was not of God.
Where was God in all of this? The wind, the earthquake, and the fire. We're told through this account so far that God is in none of it. See, God is not always manifested in what's loud or dramatic or colorful or attention-grabbing. God is not necessarily in those things. And then at the end of the story—and I think you know this—is a wonderful little phrase, at the end of verse 12. God wasn't in the fire.
Verse 12 – ...and after the fire a still small voice.
It's a beautiful phrase. And it doesn't say God was IN the still small voice, but He was. That's the implication. Now, this phrase in the Hebrew is notoriously difficult to translate. I looked at a few of the other translations. The footnote to the New King James Version has "a delicate whispering voice." The New International Version has "a gentle whisper." The Tenakh Jewish Translation has "a soft murmuring sound." Not loud, not eloquent, not fiery, not powerful. The New Revised Standard Version has "a sound of sheer silence." Isn't that beautiful? "A sound of sheer silence." This is where God was. After the wind and the earthquake and the fire, a sound of sheer silence. The Keil and Delitzsch Bible Commentary has "a still gentle rustling," or "a still gentle blowing." And the Word Bible Commentary has "a gentle little breeze." God was in the gentle little breeze. God was in the still small voice. The phrase is hard to translate, but it's easy to see the implication. God was in it. He was in the still small voice, and it spoke to Elijah. The voice moved him and the voice gave him new energy when he most needed it in life, even though he may have wanted to cling onto all the rest of it, all of the fiery manifestations that he thought surely were of God. Sometimes it's the still small voice that we have to pay most attention to.
Romans, chapter 8, verses 26-27, talking about the way the Holy Spirit moves us and works with us, a similar thought to what Elijah came up against.
Rom. 8:26-27 – Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. Elijah felt pretty weak at that moment. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself, or Itself—the Spirit is not a person— makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He, Christ, makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
Again, the still small voice, that quiet voice, the way the Spirit works. God's Spirit doesn't possess people. God's Spirit doesn't force; and God's Spirit is not always dramatic.
Isaiah 30, verse 21. Isaiah 30 is a passage that talks about the millennium and it talks about a time when ultimately all of humanity will begin to hear that still small voice.
Isa. 30:21 – Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.
The still small voice is saying, "This is the way you ought to go. You know which way you ought to go. It's time to get on with the work you've got to do. It's time to get rededicated."
Now, I've got to qualify what I've said so far in the sermon. I'm not advising anybody to go around seeking to hear voices, OK? That's not what we're talking about. Don't go seeking to hear voices. And I'm also not saying that all dramatic spiritual manifestations are false. That's not what I'm saying. We've had dramatic spiritual manifestations among God's people. We are very, very grateful that God has given us healings and miracles and interventions and help in times of trouble and, you know, we share those stories. But the point of this, what I am trying to get at is that, first, first and foremost, we've got to listen to the voice, the voice of God. The voice of God comes to us sometimes in the quietness of our prayer closet. Sometimes when we are by the side of the bed and just quietly communing with God and maybe we're looking over our Bibles and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us and show us where maybe we need to have our attention drawn, in the quietness by the side of the bed. The closeness to God by that gentle quiet leading of the Holy Spirit—that was Elijah's source of strength, and that must be ours, too.
Ultimately, our source of strength comes in that still small voice—our personal experience of God, our personal relationship with God. I've got in my notes Psalm 34 and verse 8. We don't have to go there, but Psalm 34:8 talks about, "Oh taste and see that the Eternal is good."
One of the things that we do at ABC, we go over some of the proofs of the Bible in one of my classes titled "Introduction to the Bible." I think, when we get to that particular class, probably the most important unit is not the unit on archeology and not the unit on fulfilled prophecy. The most important unit is the unit on the proof of God through personal experience. And as this story about Elijah shows, the personal experience that is sometimes most powerful and most moving can often be the personal experience that is most quiet, because it is in the quietness of our personal relationship with God that we discover Him and we learn what He is like and we respond to what He does. That's the starting point. That's not the end of it, because Elijah's story wasn't over yet. Elijah was yet to be brought face to face with the Church, seven thousand who hadn't bowed the knee to Baal. He thought he was alone. He thought he was doing what He did all on his own, doing the right thing; but in that moment of discouragement, God had to sort of recharge him with that still small voice.
You know, I had a conversation with a good friend of mine a number of years ago, and the son of this particular friend had asked Dad a question, and the question was something like this. He said, "Why do we do some of these things? Why do we keep the Sabbath? Why do we stop work from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset?" And this friend of mine said, "I was about to say, 'Because the Church says we've got to,'" and then he caught himself. And he was very glad that he caught himself because this came at a very critical juncture in the Church's history. And he said, "No, we do these things because God tells us to." That's the right answer. We do what we do because God tells us to. We respond to Him. We serve Him because God tells us to. And we need to be careful. Too frequently we will say, "I do what I do because the Church tells me to or my minister tells me to. My minister says to do this," and perhaps not frequently enough or we tend not to say, "God tells me to do it. God requires it of me. I do it to honor and obey Him. I do it as a result of my study, as a result of learning about Him, as a result of seeing what He tells me to do in the still small voice."
We all need to be attuned to the still small voice in our lives. And once we've tuned in to the still small voice, that's not the end of the story. Once we've done that, then we've got to go to work. Because the story isn't over yet. Once we're in tune with the still small voice that comes from above, then we go to work among our brothers and sisters, among those who respond to the same voice. Elijah thought he was on his own, feeling very morose, very down. "There's nobody else but me," you know, and getting pretty moody and feeling, actually, a little bit suicidal. But Elijah had work to do. Let's go back to I Kings 19. Elijah had work to do. I Kings 19, let's pick it up in verse 15...in verse 14, Elijah rehearses his little speech one more time, still moody, still upset.
I Kings 19:14-15 – ..."I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, and they've done everything wrong, and I'm the only good guy around, aren't I, God? There's nobody else around. There's just me. That's why I feel so bad."
Verse 15 – Then the Eternal said to him: "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive..." He was to anoint one man at Syria and then anoint another man as king over Israel. "And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place." This is toward the end of Elijah's ministry.
Verse 17 – "It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill." There's work to be done, and the bad guys are going to be wiped out, the false prophets.
Verse 18, and here's the key thought here: "Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him." Seven thousand! That was probably a bit of an eye opener to Elijah because he thinks he's alone. He thinks he's the only one, isolated there in the cave. "Nobody else is concerned about what God wants, and what's more, there's this nasty queen Jezebel and she's determined to get me." And God says, "Look. There are seven thousand who are not idol worshipers." And the seven thousand are symbolic of the Church. Seven thousand symbolize the Church of God.
After Elijah was refreshed and strengthened by the still small voice, then God said, "Look, I've got work for you to do. Here are the people of God. Get busy. Get to work. There's service, there's help, there are things to be done among the people of God." Elijah used the strength that the voice gave him and he went to work. Refreshed, he moved on to build and to serve and to strengthen.
We must do the same. We must serve. We must build. We must contribute. But, first, we've got to pay attention to the still small voice.