Click here to download in pdf format.
Sermon Notes of Rev.Dr.I.J.W.Oakley (20-8-1995 Guisborough Evangelical Church)
The Bible is so honest in dealing with its characters –
and not least the men and women of God. We see them in their relationships with
God, triumphs, achievements and conquests. But we also see them in failures,
disappointments, sin and mistakes. Nothing is hidden, concealed or whitewashed.
Think of Abraham, Moses, David, Job, Peter, James, John, and Paul, indeed all
the disciples. And here in 1 Kings there is another name to add to the list of
failures – Elijah.
Elijah was the man of God, who
knew God in the secret place, who single-handedly challenged the whole nation of
Israel to come to a decision, who defied Ahab and the Baal prophets. Now
suddenly his career takes a downward and shameful turn. Out of the will of God,
he is scared out of his wits, and so depressed that he simply wants to end it
all and die.
This week we will consider Elijah’s failure, where it leads him and how to avoid and deal with this situation. Next week we will look at how God deals with His failed and depressed prophet, raises him up and recommissions him to further service.
What a contrast there is between
the end of chapter 18 and the beginning of chapter 19. The power of the Lord
came upon Elijah (1 Kings 18:43), soon followed by Elijah was afraid and
ran for his life (1 Kings 19:3), because of Jezebel’s threat to kill him
that day. What a run! He must have run across the hills of Samaria, through
Judea, going south, to the point where the pasturelands of Palestine fade into
expanses of Arabian Desert, and then to Beersheba. There he left his servant,
and ran further into the desert wasteland for another day.
Just when the tide was beginning
to turn, people were declaring for the Lord and turning back to Him, when the
forces of the false religion were crumbling, when the nations needed the leader
who had tipped the balances onto the right side, Elijah runs out of the
situation, running for his life. He should have been taking the lead to complete
the work of reformation. It is scarcely believable that this man who proved God
at brook Kerish, and at Zarephath, and who stood alone on Mount Carmel, defied
the king and all the Baal prophets, and challenged the nation, called down fire
from heaven, could be running for his life because a woman threatened him. The
one who had shown such enormous courage, running like a frightened rabbit.
What a warning! We can fail at our highest point.
Courageous Elijah became an abject coward. Bible saints often failed just where
we might have expected them to succeed. Abraham is called the father of those
who believe, yet his faith failed him when he entered Egypt, and lied to Pharaoh
about his wife (Genesis 12:12f). Moses, the meekest man on the earth, lost his
temper with the people and lost his opportunity to enter the Promised Land
(Numbers 12:3; 20:7-13). John the apostle of love, in a moment of intolerance,
wanted fire to come down from heaven and destroy a Samaritan village (Luke
9:54,55).
This is warning to us not to say
“I would never do that”, “I wouldn’t fall to that temptation”, “I
wouldn’t fail there”. Without the immediate assistance of God and at times
filled with own importance, there is no telling what we might do. The reason for
Elijah’s failure was that he took his eyes off the Lord and could think of
nothing else but this woman Jezebel and her threat to his life. Immediately
after triumph on Mount Carmel, when God was so near, and had vindicated His
servant in an amazing way, Elijah took his eyes off the Lord.
The hour of triumph can be the
hour of greatest danger. Be on guard after a great triumph. See the lesson in
the life of Christ. Straight after His baptism, when the Father had acknowledged
Him and the Spirit had descended on Him, He went into the desert and immediately
the Devil struck Him – though in the Lord’s case, he was completely
triumphant (Matthew 3 & 4).
If such a man as Elijah failed,
can we afford to be self-confident and careless? If we take our eyes off the
Lord, and forget Him, fixing our eyes on our circumstances instead, we will
fail. Recall the twelve spies who went to spy on Canaan. The ten who reported
back seeing giants in the land had forgotten the Lord and His power and His
presence (Numbers 13:31-33; 14:8,9). And Peter, who began to sink once his eyes
left the Lord and fixed on the waves (Matthew 14:30).
Once we take our eyes off the
Lord we take matters into our own hands. We act impulsively on the spur of the
moment. We become no different from the man of the world. We are as weak and as
helpless as if we were not Christians at all, miserable and joyless. Things can
go from bad to worse. Plunged into darkness and despair, demoralized and
pain-stricken, off balance, we lose poise, and become inconsistent in character.
Future service and usefulness is in danger.
There has been plenty of
wreckage in ministries, on the mission field, and among Christian workers to
underline the danger once we take our eyes off God. People have given up,
standards have slipped, people occupying vital roles in the church at one time
are nowhere now, and there is darkness and despair.
If our own lives are in our own hands at the moment, and we are going ahead regardless of the Lord, we are in great danger. We may take a step that could shatter our future usefulness and influence in the work of the Lord. As children we may be forgiven, but as servants we may never be reinstated where we used to be. “The best of men are only men at their best.”
Now we come to the pathetic
sight of Elijah under the juniper broom tree. In such despair, sense of shame,
feeling of weakness, he simply asks to die. I have had enough Lord, take my
life. I am no better than my ancestors (1 Kings 19:4). He had just given up.
Everything was on top of him.
Many of us know dark hours of
the soul. When we feel like that, we say silly things because we feel so low,
and are all mixed up, irrational. Elijah had lost his faith in the experimental
sense. He had tasted the bitter fruits of self-will, and cut himself off from
the source of spiritual refreshment. Elijah was not the only one plumbing the
depths of spiritual depression and despair. Many men of God knew this feeling,
though not necessarily because of failures like Elijah with self-will and eyes
off the Lord. It affected the giants, not the spiritual pygmies. Job was in such
despair that in his suffering, grief and bereavement he cursed the day of his
birth (Job 3:3). Jeremiah also cursed the day he was born (Jeremiah 20:14). My
tears have been my food day and night (Psalm 42:3). Oh that I had wings
like a dove. For then I would fly away and be at rest (Psalm 55:6).
Peter must have been filled with
the same despair and utter misery when he realised what he had done in denying
Jesus. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter… And he went outside
and wept bitterly (Luke 22:61,62). How he wished the ground would open up
and swallow him. What an utter failure he had been. Others down through church
history have felt the same despair, so we must not be surprised if we also
suffer from deep depression.
This can arise from various
reasons – physical causes, intense loneliness, lack of fruitful service, or as
in Elijah’s case, from sinful disobedience and crushing failure. A small coin
can be held up to the sun to block out the light. So a small thing can upset and
unbalance us. We can be weary in the Lord’s work, exhausted spiritually and
physically, and want to give it up. We need to be aware when these feelings
arise that we are not alone. It has happened to the greatest men and women of
God. We are not unique. We need to find out the cause and seek to have the
matter put right. We know ourselves, our temptations and weaknesses, our
physical condition, and the Devil can play on all of these factors.
The Psalmist helps us find relief: Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God (Psalm 42:6). The Psalmist was depressed; he had forgotten God and his relationship with Him was in the wrong place. Hoping in God means remembering who God is, what He is and what He has done and pledged to do.
Next week we will see how God dealt with the situation
and restored Elijah. But for now we are going to think more about Elijah and the
mistake he made which led to his exhaustion and depression. One sin indulged can
have devastating consequences. It can wreck our usefulness. Sometimes it is
possible to be fully restored and recommissioned, e.g. Peter. But not always,
e.g. Moses, who missed out on much blessing. Paul’s great fear – I beat
my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself
will not be disqualified for the prize (1 Corinthians 9:27).
We may not fail as Elijah had done, but there are plenty
of other snares, especially for those in leadership. Self can intrude in so many
ways – desire for praise, for prominence, to be first, insist on doing it our
way, jealousy, comparing ourselves with others, other failures more gross and
obvious which are not unknown, even in Christian circles. One false step, act of
disobedience, one desertion of our post, outburst of passion, and we may never
be the same again.
There are many danger signals in
Scripture for us to take note of and solemn warnings for us to heed. This should
humble us and make us more distrustful of ourselves. It should impress on us
that strength is in the Lord alone, and without Him we can do nothing. We need
to be alert to the reality of pride and self-sufficiency which is always very
close to the surface. Often need to look into the mirror of revealed truth and
ask, “Lord, is it I?”
Be very jealous of anything
which divides your heart from the Lord. Realize your only hope is in the Lord as
you view these perils and dangers strewn all round your path. He is able to
keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without
fault and with great joy (Jude v24). Our constant cry should be, Uphold
me and I shall be delivered (Psalm 119:117).
Grace is promised only to the
humble. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). You
who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the
salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Peter 1:5). Do
not be arrogant, but be afraid (Romans 11:20). Be distrustful of self
because it is pride and self-sufficiency which stifle the life of faith. Paul
was ever in danger of this; therefore he was given a thorn in the flesh, to
keep me from becoming conceited (2 Corinthians 12:7), lest he should become
puffed up because of his wonderful spiritual experiences.
Robert Murray McCheyne, “My only safety is to know and feel and confess my helplessness that I may hang on the arm of omnipotence.”
