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Bibleline Bibleline, here God’s word on Bibleline, here God’s truth on Bibleline. Welcome to Bibleline with Dr. Ralph Yankee Arnold, pastor of Calvary Community Church in Tampa, Florida. Clearly declaring the gospel of Jesus Christ through the radio and the internet. Your regular prayers and monthly support make it possible for Bibleline to continue on the You can reach us toll-free at 1-800-576-3771. Online donations may be made by clicking on the donations link on the BibleLineMinistries.org homepage. We pray that you will enjoy our commitment to the clear gospel of Jesus Christ and that today’s first part of this two-part message will be a blessing to you and your family.

We’re talking about a man named Elijah, a man named Elijah. We have two Sunday school lessons on Elijah, and today is the first lesson on Elijah. The Bible has a lot to say about this fellow, and it seems like God is pretty proud of him. Put him in here quite a few times, and he’s going to bring him back. So why don’t you take your Bible and turn to the book of Malachi? You ever heard of the book of Malachi?

The book of Malachi? The last book in the Old Testament. Now in your notes Elijah means, my God is Yahweh. That’s who my God is. And he was a prophet and a worker of seven miracles in the northern kingdom of Israel. During the reign of Ahab, you’ve heard of Ahab, the Ahab, the Sheikah, the burning sand, well that’s not him. This is Ahab and he was king of Israel. Remember Solomon? Well, he kind of messed up toward the end of his life and God says he’s going to split the division of the kingdom afterwards and so he did.

So Israel is as northern ten tribes and Judah is the southern two tribes and Samaria is the capital of the northern ten tribes and so they had their own king and the others had their own king. What doing this time, Amory, was the king of Israel and he was a bad man, a bad king. And so there’s some things that you’ll look at in just a moment here. Elijah defended the worship of Yahweh, which is the Lord. Over that of the Canaanite idol Beyola.

He also had God perform miracles for him, which including raising the dead, bringing fire down from heaven and having himself taken up by a whirlwind. Now he’s not the author of those miracles, but God did use them to do some wonderful things. You know, it must have been something, you had the power of God on your life like that. Knowing that you’re not just a normal individual, but me, he just a man, the Bible says a like passion, like we are, but to know that you’re being used by God.

You know, that’s one of the greatest things that you can know is that God is using you. And one of the worst things in the world is thinking God is not using me. I’ve never been so disappointed in discouraged and in despair when I think there’s times in my life times in my life when God wasn’t using me. It’s like I was set aside and man, that’s just most terrible feeling in the world. And it doesn’t matter what you do, it seems like nothing works and nothing’s been done.

You ever been in that state of law where nothing’s exciting, nothing’s going on, just seems like it’s dead. You know the Lord, you love the Lord, but there’s times when it seems like nothing is happening. I know you’ve never felt like that, but I have. And so Lord, let’s just go through that. Now you’ll notice the next statement there. In the book of Malachi, Elijah’s return is prophesied. So you’re looking there in Malachi in chapter three, and he says, I’m gonna send my messenger, look at verse one, behold, I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple.”

Now this is the last book in the Old Testament before Christ comes and the Bible tells us he’s going to send John the Baptist. Oh this is John the Baptist comes right before the Lord. If they had accepted Jesus then John the Baptist who came in the spirit of Elijah would have been the fulfillment of that scripture but they didn’t. They crucified John lost his head and Jesus was crucified. And so the Bible says this, look in chapter 4.

In chapter four, in verse two, and unto you that fear my name shall the son of righteousness, arise with a heel of his wing, and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves of the storm. There’s something that’s going to happen. And look in verse five, behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Now this verse five is not when he came the first time. This is when he came the second time.

First time he came suddenly to his temple. Here he’s talking about coming back. And Elijah is going to be here. And so Elijah is going to come back. Now since we’re real close right here, look there in Matthew and chapter 17. Matthew chapter 17. And Jesus is speaking and he told his disciples, he says, some of you that are standing here are going to see me in the kingdom. Before you taste of death, you’re going to see something. But man, that would be wonderful.

God gets him and says, I’m going to show you something. Man, knock their socks off. So he says here in Matthew chapter 16, let’s look at that first of all, in verse 28 where he makes the promise to him. In verse 28, verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death. That’s a promise. You’re not going to to die. Till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Six days later he shows him.

Now six days that could be six thousand years. You know from Adam and Eve to the flood 2000, from the flood to the cross 2000, from the cross until now 2000 and we got a thousand year reign. So six thousand years and the seventh day he rests and that’s the kingdom on the earth. Just a possibility. You know, I just love stuff like that. But then he says here in verse 1 chapter 17, after six days Jesus takes Peter, James and John, his brother and bring them up into a high mountain apart and was transfigured before them and his face they shine as the sun and his raiment was white as the light.

And behold, they’re appeared unto him, to them Moses and Elijah talking with him. So Moses and Elijah are really not dead already. They’re still alive. And this is a couple thousand years later, they’re still alive. I mean Moses has been dead for a long time. Elijah not as long, but they’re still alive. And they’re not just somebody else. They have to be the same people or it’s no value. You’re going to be who you are. When you get to heaven, you are you and I am me.

And we don’t know what we’re going to look like when we get there, but we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. And he says there’ll be no male and female, there won’t be no marriage in heaven, so we don’t have to worry about that. I don’t know what the gays are going to do then. That’s not a subject. But now notice, he says, these two guys are going to show up Moses and Elijah and they showed up.

So they’re not dead. And just why we’re right here before we get to the Old Testament. Look there in the book of James, the book of James, chapter 5. James chapter 5. And you’ll notice that the Bible talks about somebody who was a mighty man of prayer. Look in verse 17. And Elias, which is also in your notes there, means My God is yah, yah, or yah, shua. But he says here in verse 17, Elijah, or Elias, was a man subject to like passions as we are.

In other words, that means that he had desires just like we do. And he hurts and gets lonely and got dispaired and discouraged and just like us. And his biggest discouragement seemed have come right after a great victory. He had just faced down O you know Ahab and the 450 prophets of Baal had a great victory and then he went into a pity party. Just pity, pity, pity himself. He said, oh I just need to die. Lord I’m the only one left.

You ever feel like I’m the only one that loves you Lord. I’m the only one. God said I got seven thousand that have a bother need of bail. And here’s the logic thinking, I’m the only one. You ever think, well, I’m the only one that going through what I’m going through. Nobody else has to suffer like I do. Nobody faces the problem like, and then you’re just pity, pity, pity. You know why I stopped having pity parties? Nobody would come.

And you’ll find out, somebody else has probably got some problems greater than yours. But he says here in verse 17, and he prayed earnestly that it might not reign, and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. He prayed again in the heavens gave reign and the earth brought forth her reign. So there’s a word of encouragement there about the a sexual prayer of a righteous man. So God was actually saying he was a righteous man.

Not that he did everything right. He’s a righteous man because he’d been made righteous. You see, it’s hard for some people to understand that. That if you think you have to live perfectly in order to be used by God, well then you can never be used. There’s nobody like that. We’re all serving God with the sole sinful nature that we got and we are up and then we’re down. We’re in and out, we’re obedient, disobedient. Trust in the Lord and smiling all the way in the next moment, we can be down in the pits.

Just like that. But not y’all, I mean, not y’all, cause y’all are. So far above all those things. So look back there at your notes. And go to 1 Kings chapter 16. 1 Kings chapter 16. And then look there at your notes here. By the ninth century BC, the Kingdom of Israel, once united in the King Solomon, was divided into the northern Kingdom of Israel and southern Kingdom of Judah, which retained the historic seat of government and focus of the Israelite religion at the temple in Jerusalem.

And Amri, King of Israel, continued policies dating from the reign of Jeroboam, contrary to the laws of Moses, that were intended to reorient a religious focus away from Jerusalem It’s kind of like having people in America that’s trying to get people away from the foundation of our country and away from the biblical principles of our country. Bringing in all this kind of wicked stuff, well this is what Israel was doing. And Judah hasn’t gotten quite as bad, but Israel has really gotten bad.

And so they did some things they shouldn’t have done. And you’ll notice the next statement, I’m right king of Israel, continued policies dating from the reign of Jeroboam. Now there’s some things that he did that were not right, but now look there in the first Kings in chapter 16 and look in verse 25 I would maybe write this verse down here in your notes. But it says in verse 25, but Amri brought evil in the eyes of the Lord and did worse than all that were before him and he was a wicked man.

So he was a wicked man. He did wrong things. Now look what he did. And these are the little bullet points that I got there. Encouraging the building of local temple altars for sacrifices. Bad move. Appointing priests from outside the family of the Levites. Bad move. Allowing or encouraging temple dedicated to the Canaanite God, Baal. Bad move. achieved a MESKET security where they marriage alliance between his son Ahab, you’ve ever heard of Ahab? And Princess Jezebel, you ever heard of Jezebel?

You know very few women today, her family has ever named their little girls Jezebel. Or do you know if anybody named Jezebel girls today? You do know 20 years old what she has to live with for the rest of her life. Somebody just calling her as a bell. But anyway, Amri did this, but there was this marriage and she was of the priestess of Baal. So you know that now he’s got to satisfy his wife and this is what God warned about.

When you marry outside and they have false religions, wrong beliefs, it’s going to affect you. And so now he’s got a humor his wife and and she is a priestess of worship of the God Beow, which is everything that’s wicked, everything God told them not to do, they’re moving in that direction. You think people would learn by now, why are we moving in the direction that other nations have gone only to be destroyed, and here’s America following suit, doing exactly the same thing.

Lot of bad decisions were done this week. But look at the next statement, under Ahab’s kingship, these tensions were eximated. Ahab built a temple for Beyola, and his wife Jezebel brought a large entourage of priests and prophets of Beyola. And that’s why you have Elijah, now going to stand up to those 450 prophets. So did she bring anybody in? 450 of them into the nation of Israel. Now the finish is placed with a little bit north of Israel. And here’s all these people coming down and they’re what they begin to teach.

And they teach the people. And see this is what the false gods have done here in America. They have taken over our schools. got into our schools, get into the college and universities, and look what we’re producing. Look at all the people that accept all this other stuff. We know it’s wrong, but they accept it and it’s like there’s no conscience whatsoever. They believe it’s right. It’s okay. But if you know the book, you know it’s not right. But yet we’re doing exactly the same thing.

You know why history repeats itself? Because people don’t learn from history. This is why they don’t want to teach history. Correct? They want to change history. They’re going all the way back to the fountain of this country. And you watch, there’s going to be a lot of decisions made to reshape America. You watch, they might want to take and change the American flag. Change a lot of stuff, why? Because it’s just, it’s their religion, it’s where they’re going. So it’s going to be a dark day.

Anyway, look at the next statement here. In the little bullet point, it is in this context that Elijah is introduced in 1 Kings 17 1. Elijah the Tishpite. He warns Ahab that there will be years of catastrophe. Drought, so severe that not even do will fall, because Ahab and his queen stand at the end of a line of kings of Israel who are said to have done evil in the sight of the Lord. Have you ever heard people say, well, as long as it doesn’t bother me?

I don’t care what they do as long as it doesn’t bother me. Do you think these decisions they made are going to bother us? Yes, it will. They can’t make the wrong decisions and they have no effect upon people. So there’s going to be some consequences coming down the road. Anyway, look at the next statement. The largest challenge is bold, it’s direct. Bail was the Canaanite God responsible for rain, thunder, lightning, and dew. And God says it’s not going to rain.

Looks like the true and living God wants to let have a showdown. Oh, that showdown did come. But God didn’t let it rain for three and a half years. No rain, no dew. And their God is the God of thunder and enlightenment and rain do. Well, their prophets could not produce what they needed. In any way, he was challenging Baal on behalf of God. So he challenged Jezebel and the priests and they have and the people of Israel. He made the statement to them.

He says when he had this great confrontation with them on Mount Carmel. He made the statement, he says, multitudes. He says, why do you halt between two opinions? There’s God, there’s Baal. If God is God, the servant. If Baal is God, serve Baal, make up your mind. And he puts it to him pretty strong. So here in the book of 1 Kings chapter 17, look what he says in verse eight. Before they get there, the drought is going on and things are going pretty bad.

So the Lord had told them what to do and how that God had miraculously provided for them. You see that in verse 3, get the hints and turn the eastward and hide themselves by the brook cherith that is beyond Jordan. And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. God told the birds to feed the man. So I mean, how much better can you get? Miraculous. I mean, God can take care of somebody even when it seems like everything else is falling apart.

You don’t know what God is going to do. But God, it seems like God always has a plan and He’s working out something. But He doesn’t always tell us, but you’ve got to just take it as it goes. And so He was to stay there and then when the brook dried up, I guess it’s time to leave. And so did He go? Then God tells them where else to go. So now he’s not in Israel. He was on the other side of the Jordan, and now he’s going up a little bit north of Israel into the Phoenician country.

So now he’s talking to a woman that’s probably not a Jew. Not of Israel, but it says they’re in verse eight, and the word of the Lord came unto him, say him, arise, get thee to zeraphat, which belonged to his item, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. Now he said, I commanded this woman to sustain. But the woman doesn’t know anything about it. God never told her. I told this woman to sustain you.

Well, he goes there, she says, what? He’ll give me something to eat. She says, all I got is enough for me and my son, then we’re gonna die. So why should I give it to you? He says, you give it to me. And below and below. Now, God commanded her? Well, only through Elijah, because she didn’t know anything about this upfront. So anyway, it does get interesting. So in verse 13, Elijah said it to her, fear not go and do as thou have said, but make me thereof a little cake first and bring another me and after make for thee and for thy son feed me first.”

Now there’s a principle here but we won’t get into that right now. But the main point is always do what God says do and then he’ll take care of the rest. Sometimes we try to figure out how God’s going to do it. Now if I can’t see how he’s going to do it then he can’t do it and he’s not going do it. So I’ve got to intervene and do it my way. And God says, no, no, no, no, you’re out of land.

So he makes this statement, he says, in verse 14, for thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meals shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail, until the day that the Lord send the rain upon the earth. Now that’s a pretty good guarantee. I’d like to have a good health insurance policy like that. I mean, he’d tell her everything. And God’s going to supply this, This is not going to run out. So she pours some oil and she needs some more, she needs some more, and it never runs out.

Let it be interesting. Buy some food, put it in a refrigerator, you can eat it all day long, all week long, all month long, all year long. And it’s still there. Now that would take America with it. I just like to put $100 in the bank and keep drawing on it, but it never goes down and it just always stays at $100. Okay, I’m actually drawing, it’s still the same. You like that part, didn’t you? I figured you like that.

So in verse 16, and the barrel of milk, waste did not, that’s the flower. Neither did the cruises of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. So the Lord told her what to do, but through Elijah. And so, see, Elijah is not told everything in advance of what he’s gonna do, it’s God leads. Then when that happens, then you do this. Well, okay, now you did that. No, no, no, not all to do this.

But sometimes we want God’s will be so laid out for so that I can pick and choose, you know, what part I’m gonna obey and what part I’m not gonna obey. What I like and don’t like. God says, this is my will for you. No, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, I can test. I think we ought to change this and this, and this is way too strong right here. We need to lighten this up a little bit. You’re just requiring way too much.

Or do you think God just says, look, you just asked for the strength and the grace to do what I want you to do. And you just leave it to me and I’ll take you step by step. But that’s the way the Lord does. We want him to reveal everything up front so I can see it all and really know. And God says, no, not going to work that away. In other words, the next thing that happens, well, boy gets sick.

He dies. And so then the woman, sheOSPalves apart. I mean, really follows apart. So look what he says here. And in verse 20, she was praising the man of God. She was just all praising the man of God because, hey, I didn’t run out of flour and I didn’t run out of oil. Praise the man of God. Well, now her son dies. In verse 20, and he cried unto the Lord and says, oh Lord, my God, has brought evil upon the widow with whom I slay in her son, because now what did you do to me?

You came into my house and you ate my food and you did all of this. And now I look at all the things that is going on. See there verse 18, just a backup, just a tad. And she said unto Elijah, what have I to do with thee? OhFrameworks, man of God, are thou coming toletico my sin to remembrance and to slay my son? Everything was wonderful and all of a sudden everything goes bad. How fast can excitement go to total discouragement?

Don’t take long, does it? Well, anyway, the child lived. And look what she said in verse 24. And the woman said to Elijah, now by this I know that thou art a man of God and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true. Now, Israel didn’t believe that. But here’s somebody else that heard the word of God and she can believe it. She saw God do something, but hadn’t Israel seen what God has done? Don’t they remember all the time when God has opened up the doors and blessed them and defended them?

Even the miracle of them as a nation to exist coming out of Egypt and across the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty-a-half God, miraculous, and then they forget all of those things. Well, chapter 18 Elijah goes to meet A.M. and go back to the towards the notes and you’ll notice that in the middle of the page, a little paragraph, after more than three years of driving famine, God tells Elijah to return to A.M. and announce the end of the drought, nor occasion by repentance in Israel but by the command of the Lord, who have determined to reveal himself again to his people.

While on his way Elijah meets Obadiah. Now there’s a little book called Obadiah, but the head of Ahab’s household who had hidden a hundred prophets of the God of Israel, when Ahab and Jezebel had been killing them. So this man was a good man, Obadiah was a godly man. And so when Ahabfarious was going to kill the prophets of God, remember they put in a 450 of the evil ones and got rid of all the good ones. You know it’s kind of like somebody getting in political office and getting rid of all the good ones and putting in all the bad ones.

And in amazing how you can always see things, nothing’s new. When you’ve got the Bible and you read these stories, it tells you how it’s going to work. does that mean that God is through just because somebody did something wrong? And it’s all over. Well, look back here. He lied on his way. He meets Obadiah. And Obadiah, well, he had just been with Ahab. And so we’ve got to find some water because we’re going to lose all of our mules.

We’re going to lose all of our cattle. We’re going to lose all of our horses. We’re going to lose our beast. So we’ve got to start searching out and find water somewhere. And so Ahab says, I’ll go this way and Obadiah, you go this way. And so they split up to try to find some water. And on their way, now Ahab, he don’t like Elijah because Elijah always prophesied against him. Well, he was wrong. But Obadiah had hidden a hundred of the prophets in two different caves with about fifty men in each one, and he was providing them with food and water.

But he went one way and when he did, he comes Elijah. Elijah says, hey, Overdye, nobody says, Oh no! He says, I want you to go tell Ahab, I’m coming to see him. He says, wait a minute. If I go tell him that you’re gonna come and see him, he’ll give me. Because you won’t show up. They look for you and they can’t find you. They say, you just go tell him. But anyway, it does. who get excited. Hello friends, thank you for listening to Bibleline, !.

And thank you to those who write in and tell us how Bibleline is making such a big impact in your lives. It’s such an encouragement when we receive your letters and e-mails. Can I ask, how is your prayer life? Does it need some help? Most Christians think of prayer as a secondary or last resort. Do you7601 that Jesus spent hours upon hours in prayerverty to his Heavenly Father, and yet we so often fail to practice prayer as a priority in our lives.

Well, during this month, for a gift in any amount, we’re going Prosecuting Dr. Arnold’s Four Sermon Series on the Power of Prayer. Perhaps prayer is a shortcoming in your life, and this teaching is surely able to help. Our mailing address is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634, and don’t forget to include your mailing address as well. God bless you and thank you again for supporting Bibleline. Thanks for joining us on Bibleline. If you are in the area, we welcome you to visit us.

The address for Calvary Community Church is 4811 George Road, Tampa, Florida, 33634. And now a closing thought from Pastor Arnold. Friend, one day it will happen. The trumpet will sound and we will be changed. caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So live today and every day. Believe in that the Lord is coming soon, just keep looking up.