Don't Look Back, Look to God

As we begin today, I want to return to a theme from a previous sermon I gave. I guess it was the last sermon I gave here. Regarding a theme, I touched on how it is now time to plow and sow. My reference was to the ancient calendar in Israel that the Feast of Tabernacles marked the end of the harvest season, but it also marked the beginning of the next planting season, time to plow and sow. They immediately began thinking about the next harvest, coming in spring, the barley and the wheat and oats and other things. My point was to remind us that sometimes we may come back from the Feast of Tabernacles and feel full and spiritually. We can just coast for a while, and we need to pedal, pedal, pedal, or pass over. We've got a couple of months, so we have to wait for that. That's just not the way it works. We have to be plowing the hard ground of our hearts. We need to be working with God's Word and His Holy Spirit to be allowing God to sow that good seed in us as much as we can, so we can be growing, producing that good spiritual fruit that we read about in Galatians 5, 22, and 23.

Part of what happens with these farmers anciently and what needs to be going on with us, we have to stay focused. We have to be aware of what our task is ahead of us. If we want to achieve that goal of a good harvest, if we want to become first fruits in God's kingdom, receive salvation, we have to keep working. We have to stay focused on our calling and where God is leading us.

To produce more of this Godly fruit in our lives, we must be striving more diligently as we can to practice God's way of love and faithfulness. Doing those words of praise to God, doing those good works we read about in today's scripture of the day, and that requires of us a greater focus on what we might call a singleness of mind in action. We must train ourselves not to be hesitant about committing ourselves entirely to God in His way of life. We mustn't fear letting go of our ways, of our self-centered ways, our old habits, and, yes, our old sins. My thesis today, my purpose today, is to encourage us to become more single-minded in our faith and our commitment to our Heavenly Father in Christ, His Son.

My purpose is to encourage us to become more singly-minded in our faith and commitment to our Heavenly Father in Jesus Christ. We're going to be looking at a number of examples from scripture today, including back in the book of 1 Kings. The title of the sermon is, Don't Look Back, Look to God. Don't Look Back, Look to God. Being entirely devoted to God with that singleness of mind and faith is not a new idea. Not a new idea at all. If you turn with me and look back at Deuteronomy 6, and then we're going to go to Matthew 22, but in Deuteronomy 6, verse 5, we see that Moses taught, inspired from God, he taught the same principle, the singleness of mind and purpose we are to have towards God. This is what he taught the children of Israel, Deuteronomy 6, verse 5, and we're familiar with it.

He said, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.'" It's very similar to what we read then in Matthew 22, verses 36 through 40.

Matthew 22, verses 36 through 40. And these words are recorded as being of Christ.

He was asked by one of his followers, the disciples, perhaps, maybe someone trying to cause trouble and catch him.

But it's been written down for us to help us keep our focus. Christ taught his followers to have the same singleness of mind and devotion to God. Matthew 22, 36, he was asked, "'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?'" Verse 37, Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" This is the first and great commandment, Jesus said. And the second, it's like it, "'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'" And on these two commandments, hang all the law and the prophets.

The law and the prophets was a phrase, sort of a shorthand, referring to what we now call the Old Testament. The Old Testament. What does God's instruction mean for you and me?

It means that God's law, which defines God's way of life, which is love, that God's way of life, love, must permeate every aspect of our lives. From our internal thoughts, our motivations of our hearts, outwardly moving in, in our words, our actions, and our behavior.

We are to be singularly, entirely devoted and faithful to God in His way, with an unwavering mind of without doubting, without compromising in God's law or His way, we must believe and do what He says, that it all takes great wisdom, and wisdom takes experience and good judgment, and it takes a lifetime of diligent effort, a lifetime of diligent effort.

And so we're not all there yet. We're still learning. We're still growing in these ways. But total devotion to God is what we should be aiming for as we live out our lives. And yes, we do have various goals and lives in our life. We have different priorities, and we also have numerous and varied relationships.

But what this means is, the stingleness of mind and thought towards God, is that God must be our foremost priority in life. God must be our most important relationship. We're here in Matthew. Let's look at Matthew 10, 37. Matthew 10, verse 37, 39. Let's recall how Christ explained what I was just stating there. He puts it this way, Matthew 10, verse 37.

He said, He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He's putting our priority of relationships, even our most dear, loving family relationships, in proper perspective. He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Verse 38, and he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.

We have our challenges. We need to be obeying. We need to be making sacrifices. In verse 39, He says, He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it. He's setting our priorities for us. He's telling us what our relationship should be. He's not saying we don't love our families. We stop taking care of people and all that. But he says, just make sure that God remains the foremost priority in our lives.

And that means whenever we're faced with the choice between God or something else, God must come first. When it comes to doing what man says or what God says, we must do what God says. It sounds really simple, doesn't it? It's a simple equation. The challenge is doing it. That's where God will step in and give us the help and strength, the guidance, the intervention we need. And we are grateful for that.

Now, the Bible does give us examples as well as of individuals who devoted themselves to God. And it also includes examples of individuals who did not devote themselves to God. In Luke 9, if you'd please turn there with me, in Luke 9, verses 59-62, I just want to refer to several individuals who are unwilling to make a lifelong commitment to following Jesus Christ.

And it sets for us something to think about, examples to consider when we need to think about what we're doing, our relationship with God. Luke 9, verse 59. And then he said to another, follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. And Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God. Jesus was not being callous. He was not being heartless. When you understand the customs of the day, it is very unlikely that this man actually needed to bury his father at that very moment.

If that were true, he would not have been there. The custom of the day was when a family member, a relative, died, they pretty much stayed home seven, eight days. I needed to look that up. Can't remember if it was eight days. I want to say it was eight days. Where they had a mourning period. They didn't go out. They didn't travel or do anything like that.

What this is really about, it seems he apparently wasn't willing to commit himself totally to discipleship at that time. It wasn't a convenient time for him, perhaps. And he really wanted to be with his father more at that moment.

Now let's continue verse 61. And another also said, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my home. Now this individual also had qualms about leaving his family. Perhaps he also desired a more convenient time to follow. Verse 62, Jesus said to him, No one, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. It's a very good figurative language, image there about our need to be singularly focused on God. These verses help to teach us that we must be willing to put aside all of our other priorities and relationships in order to make following God that most important thing in our lives.

Plowing, if you don't know, some of us have plowed. Some of us wrote a till. Some of us know these things. Plowing requires focus and diligent effort. If you don't pay attention to what you're doing in your plowing, you're going to end up with really crazy looking rows. When a farmer plows, and I've done a bit of it in my younger years, you set your mind, you set your eye on a point far distant, and you set your tractor.

We had four-wheeled mules when I grew up. Well, it was a 1945 Farmall H. Two tires here and two in front because it's like a tri-ship. But you set your side on where you want to go, and it's usually a straight point out, and you plow straight that way. If you let your plow sure go too deep because you're not paying attention, you're going to bog down. If you lift it up too high, the plow sure too high, you're going to scrape the ground.

There are many times I did not pay attention, and my father had a correct me on it. I learned after a while how to make nice straight rows. But you have to plow, you have to look straight ahead to what you're doing. Now, some of you may not be into plowing. Some of you may not be your thing. Imagine driving your car forward down Highway 80 out here while you're looking out the back window. Not looking in the mirror. Some of you could probably try doing that. I don't know. But looking backward out the window. I wouldn't do that. Here's another one. How about getting your hair cut by someone who's looking up at the ceiling?

I want them to watch my ears. Well, they couldn't watch my ears because they're looking at the ceiling. It just doesn't make sense not to be focused on what you need to be doing. In our lives, and our following Christ, trying to be more like Christ and Father, we need to be focused on where we need to be, where we need to be going, what we need to be doing. We must be diligent to resist temptation, resist sin. We must avoid compromising and our obedience to God. Our goal that we're headed to is salvation. And let's not forget that we are being judged now.

We're being judged now for how crooked our rows are. We need to be very aware of that. We don't want to... We won't make it, you see, to salvation if we're looking the wrong way, if we're looking away from God. Now, I want to switch our attention a little bit here. To go back to this reference Jesus made about hand to the plow and looking back. A number of scholars believe that Christ was eluding, quite possibly eluding, to an Old Testament account about a young man who actually left his plowing behind. He turned his back on his plowing in order to serve God.

A little bit different take on that. And we're going to look at that. Let's be turning to 1 Kings 19 and verses 19-21. 1 Kings 19.

And this account is actually going to lead us to other lessons in the book of 1 Kings about our need to be looking towards God and not being distracted.

So 1 Kings 19, verses 19-21. The young man I'm referring to, and scholars point out, the one who was plowing, that young man was Elisha. Elisha. Now, Elisha seems to have been from a wealthy family. He seems to have come from a comfortable lifestyle. And we can sense that when we understand just how many oxen they had out there in the field with him.

He was plowing, you see, when Elijah approached him. And I'm going to try hard to keep the distinction between Elisha and Elijah. I'm struggling with some kind of cold, and I don't want to mess that up, so you can help me with that. He was plowing when Elijah approached him, verse 19. Here's what we read. And so he, that means Elijah, departed from there. And we're going to see where there was. There is actually Mount Sinai. So Elijah departed from Mount Sinai, and he found Elisha, the son of Shabbat, who was plowing with 12 yoke of yachoxon before him.

And he was with the 12th. And that's why they think he came from a wealthy family. Imagine having 12 tractors out there. That's quite the field. And then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. The mantle would have been his cloak, a heavy robe, something like that.

Now, to us, that doesn't really make sense. Was he a coat tree? No, he's not a coat tree. There is great significance in him throwing the mantle on Elisha. In Elisha, you see, understood the significance of what Elijah was doing. Throwing the mantle upon Elisha was symbolic of a special calling to serve God. Putting the mantle on Elisha signified that Elisha was being invited to come under the protection, you might say, of Elijah. It suggested sort of a father-son relationship.

That Elisha would, in effect, become like a son to Elijah, and Elijah would train him as he would a son. This is a special calling, ultimately, from God. It's what we're going to see.

And so, his reaction, though, Elisha's reaction was similar to what the young man said to Jesus that we read earlier. Let's look there. Verse 20 now.

And Elisha left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.

And Elisha said to him, Go back again, for what have I done to you?

That phrase is interesting. For what have I done to you?

Elijah's response, what have I done to you, seems to indicate that it wasn't Elijah's doing.

This wasn't Elijah's doing. This was God's doing. It indicates that Elisha's calling was not of Elijah's doing, you see, but of God's. And it was, as we'll find out. Elisha was being called out. This is the early years. He would eventually take Elijah's place as the prophet of God, as God's prophet. In verse 21. So he says that to Elisha, In Elisha turned back, verse 21, Elisha turned back from him, and he took a yoke of oxen. He did not go back to his family, if you read this. In Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them, and boiled their flesh, using the oxen's equipment, and gave it to the people and the eight. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant. And so Elisha chose, rather quickly it seems, to commit himself to God. And he did it rather decisively. He killed the two oxen, and used the wooden yoke to cook the meat.

And instead of going back to tell his parents goodbye, he butchered up the oxen, fed the people.

And why? We don't know exactly. It could have been a celebratory meal, a celebration meal of some sort. Some suggest maybe some sort of thank offering to God. But what we do know is it's certainly marked the moment when he turned away from plowing fields, and made a commitment to serve God and Elisha, God's prophet. His commitment took faith and courage, too, by the way.

This was not an easy thing to do in some ways, because at that time, King Ahab and Jezebel were ruling in the Kingdom of Israel. And if you may recall about King Ahab and Jezebel, they were terrible persecutors of God's faithful people. And it wasn't so many weeks before this that Jezebel had threatened to kill Elijah. I'll talk a little bit more about that in just a minute.

Now again, in time, Elisha would be anointed prophet in Elijah's place.

And the rest of his story, the rest of Elisha's story, can be found in 2 Kings chapters 2 through 13.

And if you haven't read that in a while, I recommend you do. And what you will find is that those chapters, the history about Elisha, confirms that he did forsake his plowing.

Instead of plowing the earth and fields, he plowed, and so you might say, other fields to the service of God and to working of God, wherever God sent him. And by the way, Elisha never looked back.

He did not look back. He stayed focused on serving God. Now Elisha's response was the opposite, however, of how many of the Israelites in his day and age had been responding to God.

Several months before he met Elisha, Elijah had confronted King Ahab and his many priests that bail on Mount Carmel. You may recall that event. At that time, Elijah also confronted the Israelites for being double-minded towards God. So the events recorded in 1 Kings 18—let's turn back a page or so in your Bibles, perhaps—the events recorded in 1 Kings 18 concluded three and a half years of drought. It marked the end of three and a half years of drought when there was neither dew nor rain in Israel. We're having terrible drought in some parts of the country right now, even though winter sometimes brings rain in this country. It's not doing it in many places. And so for three and a half years there had been drought, which God had done according to Elijah's prayer because of all the evil ways of the Kingdom of Israel. The rains would only return upon Elijah's prayer. King Ahab and Jezebel, his wife, meanwhile continued to promote the worship of Baal. Baal was known as the god of storms and rain and fertility. He hadn't been doing anything for three and a half years. And Asherah was a fertility goddess associated with the stars.

But King Ahab and Jezebel, they supported this pagan worship, the Canaanite gods, and they committed terrible wickedness, and they did persecute God's faithful ones.

In 1 Kings 18, let's read here, chapter 18, verse 17 through 20, God sent Elijah to confront Ahab.

And again, we're looking at this for what we can learn about this concept of being single-minded towards God, or looking back, being double-minded, things of that nature, in contrast. 1 Kings 18, 17, Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, Is that you, O troubler of Israel? He's a troublemaker.

But Elijah answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's house have, and that you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and have followed the bales.

Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table.

So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel.

And there would be, you see, kind of the old western movie style, there is going to be a showdown of sorts on Mount Carmel. But it wasn't really a showdown, because there is only God. There is no Baal, there is no other God. And at that time Elijah also confronted the children of Israel for doubting that God is God. Let's look now continuing verse 21, as they take time to gather the pagan prophets. Verse 21, and then Elijah came to all the people and he said, How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is Lord, follow him. If Baal, then follow him.

It's logical. But the people answered him not a word. The people were double-minded.

They were double-minded. We should never want to be double-minded when it comes to God. If you hold your place here, let's learn more. What does double-minded mean according to Scripture? Hold your place here, please. Let's turn back to James chapter 1, verse 5 through 8.

James 1, verse 5 through 8. Double-minded, as we see here, as James uses it, is applied to those whose faith in God is unstable. It's wishy-washy. They go back and forth. Sometimes they obey God, then they don't obey God. Sometimes they just can't decide.

James 1, 5 through 8. They are unstable due to doubt. There we read James 1, 5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting. For he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord, for he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. The Greek word double-minded here is the Greek word is dupsukos, meaning too spirited. Just like the ancient Israelites, they have two opinions. They couldn't make up their mind who they were going to commit to as faith in following. Vastillating means wavering, uncertain, constantly doubting. The word is also used in James 4 verse 8. There we read, Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. To draw near to God we should know means we must resist temptations. We must be repenting of sin. We must believe and follow what God tells us to do.

We might remember it this way, don't doubt, but do. Don't doubt what God says, but do it.

And so, double-minded people are filled with doubt, unsure whether God exists, unsure if they need to keep God's ways. Now, let's go back to 1 Kings 18.22.

So, what we see, because they are of two opinions, it seems like one day they want to follow God, the next day they want to follow Baal, they can't decide. Clearly, they are double-minded. To use the term maybe some of us are familiar with, they are double-minded fence sitters. You ever heard of a fence sitter? Have you ever set on a fence?

Not barbed wire. That won't work. How about one of those board fences?

It's not a very comfortable position to sit in. I know.

Figuratively and realistically, it's not a good place to sit.

Being a fence sitter is an uncomfortable position to be in, and it is unacceptable to God.

And so, these Israelites were indecisive. They were leery of committing.

Looking back one way, this side looks good. Maybe we'll do it this way. Oh, well, this makes sense. Maybe we'll do it this way. Back and forth. Back and forth, indeed, they are like a wave tossed by the wind. But here, Elijah offers them a way of figuring it out. Continuing verse 22, And then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left a prophet of the Lord.

But Baal's prophets are 450 men. Therefore, let them give us two bowls. Here's the contest, you might say, which is really not going to be a contest.

There's no way God would lose this. Therefore, let them give us two bowls, and let them choose one bowl for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. And I will prepare the other bowl, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. And then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers by fire, he is God. So all the people answered, the defense sitters, they said, yep, yep, that sounds good. It is well spoken.

Well, the 450 prophets of Baal did their part, and they staged, and you read through this as we're going to, they staged what we might call a rather frightening and at the same time ridiculous spectacle, in trying to compel their God to come down and perform for them. Verses 26 through 29 now.

So they took the bowl which was given to them, and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning, even till noon, saying, oh, Baal, hear us. But there is no voice, and no one answered.

Well then they leaped about the altar which they had made, and so it was at noon. Elijah mocked them, and I think we could hear Elijah doing that. And so it was at noon that Elijah mocked them and said, cry aloud, for he is a God. Maybe he's busy doing other things. Gods do that. Perhaps he is, either he is meditating or he is busy. Now the English Standard Version, I'm sorry, but I gotta say this, the English Standard Version suggests that it could be translated, not he is busy, but he is relieving himself. Maybe he's got the door shut and he's in the bathroom and he can't hear you. And the language is generic enough. Maybe euphemisms are being used, and that's why they say that. But that could fit into the mocking tone Elijah might be using.

And he said, well, perhaps he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened. Of course, none of these things are true of the true God.

In verse 28, and so they cried aloud. It must have made him angry. So they cried even louder, and they cut themselves as was their custom with knives and lances until the blood gushed out of them. That's why he said it must have been a rather frightening scene and ridiculous at the same time.

And when midday was passed, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, probably about three in the afternoon or so. But there was no voice. No one answered. No one paid attention. I think it's safe to say that the prophets of Baal were single-minded in their efforts. They were single-minded. They were focused. But they were focused on the wrong thing. There's nothing there. They uselessly called upon a God that has never existed. Only God is God.

So Elijah said to work, of course, verses 32-38, And then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two sias of seed. And he put the wood in order, cut the bold in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, Fill four water pots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. And they did that three times. Verse 35, And so the water ran all around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near. And he said this. Simple prayer.

Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. You see, they've been looking the wrong way, away from God.

Verse 38, And then, then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

Now when all the people saw it with their very eyes, they fell on their faces, and they said, The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God! Imagine this chant, and they meant it.

And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!

And so they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook, Kishon, and executed them there.

The fence-sitters got off the fence.

The fence-sitters got off the fence.

Now if you continue reading, and verse 41-46, later that same evening, Elijah gave a simple prayer to God for rain, and God answered, In the three and a half years of drought, no rain nor dew, it ended. It ended. All this so quickly.

Imagine how exhilarating and how inspiring this must have been for Elijah.

He must rejoice in God's overthrow the prophets of Baal.

450 priests. That would have been pretty much the entire system of of religion, leaders of that religion in the kingdom of Israel. Imagine how he rejoiced, knowing that the hearts of the people have been turned back to God. It must have been what we might call a spiritual high.

And he, Elijah, had been privileged to have had such a critical part in it all.

At the same time, as exhilarating, at the same time, as probably humbling to him.

And now, after this spectacular proof of God's presence and power, wouldn't you think that Ahab and Jezebel would have repented?

Wouldn't you think that they would have fallen into line and worshipped God?

Normal people, maybe?

Perhaps that's what Elijah expected, too.

But the fact is, and we've seen it in our own more recent histories, the world, this country, we have seen that the human heart can be a terribly, a terribly hard and wicked thing.

And so it was with Ahab and Jezebel, especially Jezebel, it seems.

Let's continue in our next chapter, 1 Kings 19, verses 1-4.

Look at their response. It was not what Elijah had expected.

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he executed all the prophets with the sword. And then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as a life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.

That was a death threat.

And of course, he was woman enough to follow through on it. A wicked woman. Elijah's reaction? He ran. He ran. Verse 3-4. And when he saw that, the message or stance, he arose and ran for his life. And he went to Bursheba, that's about 90 miles away from where he probably was up there in Jezreel Valley. He went to Bursheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.

But he himself, on a day's journey, we'd say farther into the wilderness. And he came and sat down under a broom tree, and he prayed that he might die. And he said, It is enough. Now, Lord, take my life. Take my life, for I am no better than my father's. His father's, his ancestors, are dead, and he feels no better than they are. He had had enough. He ran to save his life from Jezebel. His courageous faith simply seemed to evaporate. And he was so discouraged that he prayed that God would take his life. Have we ever felt that way? There's been times I felt that way. Maybe you have, too. So what happened? What had happened?

Had Elijah taken his hand from the plow?

Had he looked a different way? Had he turned his back on God? Was he being double-minded, flip-flopping? No. No. That wasn't it at all. That wasn't it because he never rejected or turned away from God.

In fact, we pay attention to what he does after he runs for the Southlands. What he actually does is he kept going to God, first in prayer and then literally, physically, walking, traveling another 40 days and 40 nights as we're going to see until he's standing before God at Mount Sinai. He never turned from God. But something happened. Elijah had experienced a moment of severe trial, a testing of his faith, a severe trial and a testing of his faith.

His reaction, you see, was very much like that of Christ's disciples, if you think about it.

His reaction is like Christ's disciples who fled when he was arrested.

His faith was shaken, but he did not turn from God. He did not doubt God. There's things he doubted, but it was not God. Perhaps we can relate to that as well. God responded with compassion, verses 6 through 8. We see how God sent an angel to minister him, twice giving him bread and water.

Elijah slept a lot. It could indicate that, obviously, he was probably physically exhausted, but also emotionally exhausted. Perhaps in shock. Strengthened by the food the angel gave him, he journeyed for 40 days and 40 nights until he reached Mount Horeb. Another word for Mount Horeb. Another name is Mount Sinai. That was another journey for him, but another 250 miles from Brashiva to there. And then, as we read at the end of verse 9, he gets to Mount Sinai. God calls to him. God talks to him. In verse 9, God asks Elijah, he asks, What are you doing here, Elijah? In what sense? Maybe why have you come so far? Why have you come to me? And Elijah poured out his heart to God, it seems. He says in verse 10, he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord, God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenant, they've torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword.

I alone am left, and they seek to take my life. Now, I don't know the tone he set this in.

Tone doesn't get translated very well. Black and white on pages, it can be, but it doesn't seem to be here. How did he say this? With anger, an accusatory tone, tears, shock, shame? We don't know. All those are possible. But when you look at the words, what we can see is that it seems, at least to me, that fear and doubt was at work in him. But it was not doubt about God. The doubt he had, the fear he had, was not regarding God. It was about him and what he had perhaps not done.

Elijah's thought that he had failed God. He thought his zealous efforts were useless.

In fact, it seems he thought that Jezebel had won. He thought Jezebel had won.

And very importantly here, he thought that he alone remained of God's faithful. He felt like an exile, all alone in the world. The only one he seemed to think that still feared God and worshiped God.

Now, we've heard many times from this stage about the enemies of faith. Fear, doubt, anxious care, and human reasoning apart from God. Those enemies of faith can shake anybody's faith.

And it happened to Elijah. And it happens to us.

But again, it's important to note that God never abandoned Elijah. And God will not abandon us.

He will not abandon us.

We keep ourselves singularly focused on God. Where we're going, our goal of salvation, he will not abandon us. We have to do what he says. We have to do our own with his help, course, corrections, that he will not abandon us.

And so with loving compassion, God then acted powerfully and yet gently to correct Elijah's understanding and also to encourage and strengthen his faith.

He needs some intensive care here, some intensive spiritual care.

God had to teach him that God does not only work in astonishing, spectacular, and observable ways, such as the fire coming down and the rain coming from prayer, but God also works in ways we human beings do not see and do not know and understand.

And so then, verses 11 through 12, then God said to Elijah, he said, Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, and behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks and pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.

And then after the fire, a still, small voice. And so it was when Elijah heard it, he heard that still, small voice. Notice what he did. Then he wrapped his face in his mantle, and he went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.

Now many have wondered, well, what's the significance of him wrapping the mantle over his face?

Different ones have different opinions. Some suspect it could be the sense of dread. He's covering his face. He's unworthy to stand before God. It could have been representative of humility.

It could have been representative of contrition, repentance, shame.

I don't know. What would you do? What would I do if we went out and stood before God in the moment of crisis in our lives? But it's interesting how Elijah, as it were, expected God to appear in those other powerful displays of power. Instead, God came to him, and Elijah knew that it was God when he heard the still, small voice, that quiet, small voice. And so Elijah answers God's questions, question again, and with the same words. But I wonder now, after God's displays of his power, his might, and also that little voice, I wonder if perhaps Elijah's tone, how he said his reply, may have been a little more humble, perhaps a little more contrite and teachable. Again, how would we speak to God? Verse 14, he said, I have been very zealous for the Lord God of Hosts, because the children of Israel forsaken your covenant and torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they seek to take my life.

Now, if you think about what he said here, most of what he said was true. Except for one thing. Of course, he doesn't know it. Neither do we till we read further down.

Elijah assumed that assumptions are dangerous things.

We learn that quite a bit growing up, don't we, in moving along in life. Assumptions can be wrong. Elijah assumed that he only was left of those who worship God.

In a great part from what he says here twice now, his assumption seems to have been a key part of his shaken faith. It seemed to be a part of his doubt about his efforts in serving God. If he is doing such a great job for God, how can I be the only one left worshiping him?

Well, then God revealed something Elijah never knew. He revealed one of his own, one of God's quiet works that he God had been doing all along that Elijah never knew. Verse 18, God tells him, he says, yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, in every mouth that has not kissed him. Seven thousand people.

He was not alone. Now imagine how that revelation must have hit him.

How quickly he must have realized, well, I was wrong. I shouldn't have said that.

But at the same time, imagine how reassuring that must have been for him.

It suggested that maybe I wasn't such a failure in serving God after all.

Maybe I did have some impact on another person's life I never knew about.

Maybe my sacrifice and efforts to be a light of God's way of life did make a difference. I never knew that. Just like we don't know what we're doing, how it's going to impact other people. Elijah learned that no one, not even he, knows all of the works of God.

Then verses 15 through 17 tells us that God gave Elijah more work to do. God was not done with Elijah. He gave Elijah three commands to fulfill with regards to three people, Hazael, Hazael, and Jehu, Jehu, and Elisha. Now these men, all in due time, would accomplish God's will to bring about an end, an end of Ahab in their dynasty, an end to Jezebel.

And they'd bring about their efforts. They'd end Baal worship in Israel.

Surely, again, Elijah's heart knowing that he would continue to serve God, whom he worshipped and obeyed, whom he continued to be singly focused upon.

And then shortly after that, shortly after Elijah left Mount Sinai, fortified with God's reassurance and instructions, that he came upon young Elisha, plowing with a yoke of oxen.

That was the rest of the story.

Now we don't know, but Elisha's wholehearted commitment to God's service, I suspect it might have encouraged Elisha to see that kind of commitment in a young man. Don't we like to see commitment of people when we're old and we wonder, is someone going to take my place some day? Is someone going to keep serving some day when I'm not here? Is a great congregation going to continue? You ever do that? You ever think like that?

I wonder if Elijah did. And so I suspect seeing Elisha's wholehearted commitment to God, I would like to think that that really must have encouraged and reassured Elijah as well.

In addition, God had just told him that Elisha one day would be anointed prophet of God in his place.

It had a bit of a good feeling knowing that God's work would continue because it wasn't Elijah's work, no more than it's my work or your work. This is God's work.

We are privileged to know that. We are privileged to serve. We are privileged to serve one another in this congregation.

We are privileged to have chileoke in a senior dinner in December, in a regional family weekend in February. We get to serve. We get to help. We get to grow. We get to train and help train ourselves and help train others. It's good knowing that there's continuity and God is still doing some quiet works and they're wonderful works and marvelous works and spectacular works, but they're not voices easily seen or appreciated.

It's also interesting when you read the rest of the story of Elijah.

We can read the rest of the story of Elisha. The scripture reveals that they both remained ever faithful to God. They never turned. They never turned from God. They always remained faithful.

And so, yes, we can learn a lot about faith and our commitment to God from their example.

We can even learn something's important from the not so good example of those fence-sitting children of Israel. We don't want to do that. What we learn is that we must place God in His way first and foremost in our lives. We must learn to believe God and to love God with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength, mind, every fiber of our being. And as we do that, and keep striving to do that, and doing the best we can to do that, we will become more single-minded, more resolute in our faith and commitment to our Father and Jesus Christ, His Son. We will maintain our focus on the goal.

And then when the unexpected things do happen in our lives, and they will happen to us more likely, when our lives, suddenly for a moment, no longer seem to make sense. Everything turns topsy-turvy.

And then those things that test our faith, like fear and doubt and discouragement, those things will not cause our devotion to God to waver. As long as we persist steadily and true with God, all will be well.

As long as we persist steadily and true with God, all will be well. And that is the great confidence we have in God.

Before we close, I'd like for us to turn to Hebrews chapter 10 and read just a few lines here.

I'd like for us to read some very reassuring words from Hebrews chapter 10, verse 35 through 39.

Hebrews 10, 35 through 39.

These scriptures echo what I've been trying to say today.

Hebrews 10, 35.

The writer of Hebrews states, Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward and reward to salvation.

For you have need of endurance so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.

For yet a little while, just a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry.

Now the just shall live by faith.

But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.

But we are not of those who draw back.

We are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

Those words are for us and many others like us now, past now, and in the future.

In a little while, Jesus Christ will return, and we will receive everlasting life, salvation, and the kingdom of God, if we endure and always look to God.

And so let's not look back.

Let's not look back, but look ever forward with single-minded faith, commitment, and devotion to God our Father and Christ Jesus, his Son.