1
00:00:01,140 --> 00:00:02,860
Welcome to Harbor West.

2
00:00:03,070 --> 00:00:04,520
Good to see all of you guys this morning.

3
00:00:04,650 --> 00:00:05,340
My name is Justin.

4
00:00:05,540 --> 00:00:07,340
I'm one of the pastors here at our church.

5
00:00:07,710 --> 00:00:12,740
And if you have a Bible, you can grab it now and open it up to the book of 1 Kings.

6
00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:13,680
1 Kings.

7
00:00:14,100 --> 00:00:17,320
If you need a Bible, there should be a Bible under the chairs in front of you.

8
00:00:17,350 --> 00:00:19,140
We're going to be in 1 Kings chapter 16.

9
00:00:19,700 --> 00:00:23,920
And in those Bibles under the chairs in front of you, that's on page 308.

10
00:00:24,340 --> 00:00:26,160
We are going to open God's word now together.

11
00:00:26,460 --> 00:00:30,400
We're going to read it together, study it together, and seek to believe it together,

12
00:00:30,650 --> 00:00:34,700
and then live it out together as a community, a family of faith.

13
00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:40,380
The book of Kings was written about a dark time in the history of God's people.

14
00:00:41,240 --> 00:00:47,020
The Bible is all about how the God who created everything perfect also created us to uniquely

15
00:00:47,130 --> 00:00:53,960
and specially image him in his world, but we wanted to live our own way, and so we rebelled

16
00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:55,440
against him as our king.

17
00:00:56,180 --> 00:00:57,960
We tarnished creation's beauty.

18
00:00:58,150 --> 00:01:02,560
We brought about the consequences of decay and death and separation from God.

19
00:01:03,020 --> 00:01:09,480
But God chose to restore creation's beauty and promised to send a rescuer to reverse the curse of our rebellion.

20
00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:17,620
And the way God chose to do that, to bring the rescuer, was to first choose a people to be his people and represent him in the world.

21
00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:22,340
And through this people, the nation of Israel, God would send the rescuer.

22
00:01:22,740 --> 00:01:29,140
But at this point in the book of 1 Kings, those people are not acting at all like God's representatives.

23
00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,000
They aren't representing God well at all.

24
00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:40,620
The nation has split in two, and the northern kingdom has had 19 kings in a row who were wicked kings and didn't care about God.

25
00:01:41,340 --> 00:01:44,860
And now in 1 Kings 16, we get to the worst king of them all.

26
00:01:45,140 --> 00:01:51,500
A king who didn't just ignore God, but who actively led people to worship dead idols.

27
00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:58,460
Idols. We're going to be talking a lot about idols in the book of 1 Kings. What is an idol?

28
00:01:58,860 --> 00:02:06,040
An idol is anything we depend on to give us blessing, guidance, or help instead of depending

29
00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:14,120
on God. And man, we are all tempted to worship and serve idols instead of God. Romans 1 talks

30
00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:19,540
about how humanity, all of us, we're a people who exchange the truth of God for a lie that's just

31
00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:27,260
are bent and we worship and serve what's been created instead of the creator. And the crazy

32
00:02:27,350 --> 00:02:32,200
sad thing about that is that when we do that, when we worship created things, that means we are

33
00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:39,540
worshiping something infinitely less strong and beautiful. Psalm 96 says it this way up on the

34
00:02:39,550 --> 00:02:44,840
screen. It says, for all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols. All the things we choose to

35
00:02:44,860 --> 00:02:50,540
worship and elevate and worship as if they were God. They are worthless idols, but the Lord made

36
00:02:50,540 --> 00:02:57,620
the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him. Strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

37
00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:05,040
See guys, that's what this series is going to be about. This series that we're calling Ultimate.

38
00:03:05,730 --> 00:03:13,120
It's going to ask the question, who are we going to choose to worship? Who are you going to choose

39
00:03:13,140 --> 00:03:18,380
to worship. We're all worshiping something. We're all going to choose to worship something. And the

40
00:03:18,540 --> 00:03:25,500
question is, are we going to worship the worthless idols of our own making or are we going to worship

41
00:03:25,580 --> 00:03:34,140
the ultimate king in his splendor and majesty and strength and beauty? Who are we going to worship?

42
00:03:34,780 --> 00:03:41,420
Good answer. Let's pray and get into it. And so God, we thank you that you meet us where we're at.

43
00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:46,940
We thank you that you meet us just like you met your people here in 1 Kings

44
00:03:47,140 --> 00:03:54,020
in a place where they had elevated some worthless idols to worship in place of you.

45
00:03:55,720 --> 00:04:00,280
That you met them, that you called them back because you want life for them.

46
00:04:01,700 --> 00:04:08,000
And so God, meet us in any ways that we've allowed some worthless things to creep into our lives

47
00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,740
and we've started to give ourselves to them.

48
00:04:12,300 --> 00:04:16,160
Give ourselves to worthless idols that can't deliver.

49
00:04:18,359 --> 00:04:22,960
God, would you give us the grace to turn around and run to you, our refuge, our strength,

50
00:04:23,460 --> 00:04:26,600
and worship you as the ultimate king that you are.

51
00:04:27,900 --> 00:04:31,280
We pray that you would guide us through this series and through our time today in your word.

52
00:04:31,410 --> 00:04:32,840
In Jesus' name, amen.

53
00:04:34,300 --> 00:04:34,360
Amen.

54
00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:36,800
All right, let's look at chapter 16, verse 29.

55
00:04:38,900 --> 00:04:44,880
Ahab, son of Omri, became king over Israel in the 38th year of Judah's king Asa.

56
00:04:45,660 --> 00:04:49,020
Ahab, son of Omri, reigned over Israel in Samaria 22 years,

57
00:04:49,340 --> 00:04:52,380
but Ahab, son of Omri, did what was evil in the Lord's sight,

58
00:04:52,740 --> 00:04:54,240
more than all who were before him.

59
00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,660
Then, as if following the sin of Jeroboam, son of Nabot, were not enough,

60
00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:02,660
he married Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbel, king of the Sidonians,

61
00:05:02,900 --> 00:05:06,140
and then proceeded to serve Baal and bow in worship to him.

62
00:05:06,780 --> 00:05:10,280
He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria.

63
00:05:10,700 --> 00:05:12,520
Ahab also made an Asherah pole.

64
00:05:12,980 --> 00:05:18,400
Ahab did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

65
00:05:20,140 --> 00:05:24,000
King Ahab decided to go against God's plan and marry someone who didn't worship God.

66
00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:26,140
And the results for Israel were severe.

67
00:05:27,660 --> 00:05:31,940
Jezebel brought her favorite idols into Israel and built temples for them.

68
00:05:32,220 --> 00:05:37,040
And because Israel had all these terrible kings before Ahab, who'd been leading them away from God already,

69
00:05:37,500 --> 00:05:40,520
the people just accepted these new idols and began to worship them.

70
00:05:40,860 --> 00:05:42,240
And it got dark.

71
00:05:43,460 --> 00:05:47,780
Jezebel's favorite Baals were supposed to give the people prosperity and protection,

72
00:05:48,180 --> 00:05:50,320
but these idols demanded sacrifices.

73
00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:56,280
And so people in Israel would begin going to the Baal temples to serve these false gods.

74
00:05:56,540 --> 00:06:02,100
And one of the things they required is that people sleep with temple prostitutes as a way to appease the Baals.

75
00:06:02,980 --> 00:06:06,740
And eventually, people in Israel even began performing child sacrifices.

76
00:06:08,900 --> 00:06:09,800
In verse 34, it says,

77
00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,020
During his reign, he all the Bethelite built Jericho.

78
00:06:12,420 --> 00:06:15,060
At the cost of Ebrahim, his firstborn, he laid the foundation.

79
00:06:15,300 --> 00:06:19,200
At the cost of Segub, his youngest, he finished its gates according to the word of the Lord

80
00:06:19,540 --> 00:06:21,540
that he has spoken through Joshua, son of Nun.

81
00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:25,480
See, God promised Joshua that if anyone tried to rebuild the city of Jericho,

82
00:06:25,620 --> 00:06:26,460
that they would be cursed.

83
00:06:26,670 --> 00:06:29,480
And instead of listening to God and fearing God's judgment,

84
00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:34,100
Ahab went forward with wanting Jericho rebuilt at great cost,

85
00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:36,480
the cost of these two children's lives.

86
00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:42,000
He was fine sacrificing children's lives so that he could openly defy God.

87
00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:48,120
A few years after this, Jezebel was behind having hundreds of prophets and priests of God murdered,

88
00:06:48,700 --> 00:06:53,440
slaughtered because she didn't want any other spiritual voices in the land other than her own cult leaders.

89
00:06:53,960 --> 00:07:00,500
King Ahab and Israel have abandoned God, and now they're fine with prostitution, child sacrifice, and the slaughter of hundreds.

90
00:07:00,820 --> 00:07:08,860
When we elevate our idols to be supreme in our lives, and we serve them as ultimate, it can lead us to some dark, deep places.

91
00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:16,260
They've drifted so far from God, and the beautiful way that God designed them to live.

92
00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:22,360
The whole nation was declaring with one voice, Baal lives, and Yahweh is dead.

93
00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:28,860
and it was all because of what they valued most in life. They desperately wanted prosperity.

94
00:07:29,450 --> 00:07:34,760
They wanted the land to be as fertile as possible for there to be as much rain as they could get so

95
00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:40,840
that they could be as rich as they could be. And so they turned to these idols believing that they

96
00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:46,039
would do, that these Baals and Asherah would do a better job at getting them what they wanted in life

97
00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:47,240
than God would.

98
00:07:50,020 --> 00:07:52,060
What do you desperately want in life?

99
00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:54,800
What do

100
00:07:54,800 --> 00:07:57,000
you just desperately want and wish you had?

101
00:07:57,340 --> 00:07:58,880
What is ultimate for you?

102
00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:02,580
Here's how you could probably know.

103
00:08:02,700 --> 00:08:05,160
Here's a good way that's helped me figure that out for myself

104
00:08:05,340 --> 00:08:06,160
is to ask the question,

105
00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:08,520
what do you dream about in your free time?

106
00:08:10,780 --> 00:08:11,700
When you have free time,

107
00:08:11,840 --> 00:08:13,380
when you have nothing else that you need to be doing,

108
00:08:13,820 --> 00:08:14,580
need to be thinking about,

109
00:08:14,660 --> 00:08:15,880
where does your mind go?

110
00:08:16,180 --> 00:08:20,340
What do you dream about? What do you start scheming at and planning at? What do you want to spend your

111
00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:25,900
time investing in when you have nothing else to work on? What are you grinding away at?

112
00:08:26,880 --> 00:08:32,380
For so many people, the answer to that is money. It's money. Man, how can I get more money? How can

113
00:08:32,380 --> 00:08:40,039
I create some more passive income? How can I invest in some new ways? What can I do so I can get

114
00:08:40,500 --> 00:08:44,740
more and finally get to whatever the benchmark is? But you know that benchmark keeps moving up,

115
00:08:44,820 --> 00:08:49,100
right? But how can I finally get there? Maybe that's where your mind goes in your free time.

116
00:08:49,220 --> 00:08:54,020
Maybe for some, it's relationships. You spend all your time trying to find someone, trying to find

117
00:08:54,380 --> 00:09:00,440
a friend, trying to find a spouse. Maybe for some, it's sex. You spend your free time daydreaming,

118
00:09:00,740 --> 00:09:07,320
looking at things that will entice you. Maybe for some, it's experiences or lifestyles. Man,

119
00:09:07,380 --> 00:09:11,499
this was the one for me over the last year. I found myself in my free time when I have nothing

120
00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,660
that I need to be doing. Like the family's asleep. I got all my work done for the day.

121
00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:18,880
There's no movies I want to watch or anything. I just got free time. You know what I found myself

122
00:09:19,100 --> 00:09:24,160
doing is getting on Airbnb and just looking at different homes around the world. Like just

123
00:09:24,560 --> 00:09:28,620
anywhere. I just look at these awesome homes and I just daydream. I'm like, man, like what would it

124
00:09:28,620 --> 00:09:33,460
be like to live there? Or what would it be like to own that home and rent it out? Or I see one and

125
00:09:33,460 --> 00:09:36,879
I'm just like, okay, that's it. I got to figure out a way to get to Iceland and pay this people

126
00:09:36,900 --> 00:09:41,360
$1,000 a night to live in this ice hut. Like I just, I'm so obsessed with

127
00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:42,220
experiences.

128
00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:43,260
I just

129
00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:49,780
want all these experiences. And that can become an idol for me. Because what we dream about in our

130
00:09:49,880 --> 00:09:56,640
free time is usually what we end up serving all the time. What we dream about in our free time

131
00:09:56,900 --> 00:10:02,720
is usually what we end up serving all the time. Whatever it is that we desperately want in life,

132
00:10:02,780 --> 00:10:09,120
We either end up turning to idols to get it for us, or we turn the thing itself into an idol,

133
00:10:09,410 --> 00:10:14,260
and it becomes an ultimate thing in our lives. Ahab and Israel, they made their decision, man,

134
00:10:14,380 --> 00:10:20,020
we want prosperity. That's ultimate. We want to have our best life now, and so they served

135
00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:26,900
these false idols. And God sends a prophet to meet his people who've turned away from him.

136
00:10:27,420 --> 00:10:32,740
A prophet is just a representative, someone to speak to the people for God and tell them

137
00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:37,140
they've gone the wrong direction and that they need to come back. In fourth grade, I had a friend who

138
00:10:37,180 --> 00:10:41,480
was a prophet for me. His name was Adam. And I had to have him go talk to the girl I was dating, Lydia,

139
00:10:41,740 --> 00:10:45,920
and say, hey, Justin's only been good to you. He gives you cosmic brownies at lunch. Why are you

140
00:10:45,970 --> 00:10:50,480
going after this Rick guy? Come back to Justin, right? Yes, that was his mission. He went and he

141
00:10:50,900 --> 00:10:55,900
was sent on that mission and he failed. He was a terrible prophet. But this prophet, man, he goes

142
00:10:56,140 --> 00:11:02,520
straight to the top, right to King Ahab. And his message is clear. There is only one ultimate king,

143
00:11:03,720 --> 00:11:06,100
and you need to turn around and bow to him.

144
00:11:06,330 --> 00:11:07,460
Chapter 17, verse one.

145
00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:12,240
Now Elijah, the Tishbite from the Gilead settlers said to Ahab,

146
00:11:13,400 --> 00:11:16,760
as the Lord God of Israel lives in whose presence I stand,

147
00:11:17,130 --> 00:11:19,740
there will be no dew or rain during these years

148
00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:21,420
except by my command.

149
00:11:23,620 --> 00:11:24,000
Elijah.

150
00:11:26,840 --> 00:11:27,820
When you read the New Testament,

151
00:11:27,830 --> 00:11:30,200
you see that people revered Elijah, man.

152
00:11:30,290 --> 00:11:32,320
Even hundreds of years after he lived,

153
00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:34,580
He was seen as the greatest of the prophets.

154
00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,500
People would ask Jesus, man, are you Elijah?

155
00:11:37,890 --> 00:11:38,920
Come back to life.

156
00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,340
Elijah bursts onto the scene right here when things are dark, when they're bleak,

157
00:11:44,620 --> 00:11:47,500
and he boldly speaks into the brokenness of his time.

158
00:11:47,830 --> 00:11:49,260
And it all starts with just his name.

159
00:11:50,100 --> 00:11:53,720
His name, the word Elijah, it means the Lord is my God.

160
00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:58,960
Even in his name, he's proclaiming there is one God, only one God,

161
00:11:59,300 --> 00:12:00,680
that we should bow our knee to.

162
00:12:01,000 --> 00:12:05,700
And Elijah's whole mission was to show people that God has no rivals.

163
00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,220
No one and nothing can compete with him.

164
00:12:10,340 --> 00:12:11,440
That's why I look at his first words.

165
00:12:11,590 --> 00:12:16,400
The first words of the prophet Elijah, as the Lord God of Israel lives.

166
00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:21,260
Man, that's something we are going to see over and over in this ultimate series,

167
00:12:21,580 --> 00:12:23,500
studying through the lives of Elijah and Elisha.

168
00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,640
We're going to see it over and over, is that the ultimate king is alive.

169
00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:30,360
The ultimate king lives.

170
00:12:31,060 --> 00:12:37,840
The God of the Bible isn't like the idols we make, the dead Baals and Asherahs. He's alive right now.

171
00:12:38,980 --> 00:12:42,140
That's what we've been seeing coming through this Easter season, right? Not even death

172
00:12:42,580 --> 00:12:46,860
could defeat him. He experienced death and showed that he's more powerful than it.

173
00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:53,760
God is alive. And this ultimate living king is the giver of all life.

174
00:12:55,320 --> 00:12:59,320
In this agricultural society, a drought was a death sentence.

175
00:12:59,920 --> 00:13:01,500
Rain was everything, right?

176
00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:04,460
Without rain, the crops wouldn't grow and people would starve.

177
00:13:04,510 --> 00:13:05,960
And so Elijah's highlighting this.

178
00:13:06,260 --> 00:13:08,600
It's not Baal or Asherah who gives life.

179
00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:09,620
It's God.

180
00:13:11,300 --> 00:13:12,880
And the beautiful thing about that is this.

181
00:13:12,970 --> 00:13:16,800
The ultimate living king wants us to have life to the fullest.

182
00:13:17,960 --> 00:13:18,700
That's God's heart.

183
00:13:18,860 --> 00:13:20,160
That's what he wants for his people.

184
00:13:20,500 --> 00:13:22,420
Like look at what Psalm 1611 says.

185
00:13:22,510 --> 00:13:24,740
This is one of the verses we just love here at our church.

186
00:13:25,260 --> 00:13:28,120
It says this, God, you reveal the path of life to me.

187
00:13:28,980 --> 00:13:30,880
In your presence is abundant joy.

188
00:13:31,620 --> 00:13:35,620
At your right hand are pleasures, are eternal pleasures.

189
00:13:37,420 --> 00:13:38,220
So look at those words.

190
00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:44,320
Do you see in those words, God's heart for you?

191
00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:48,400
God's heart for you is this.

192
00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:51,060
He says, I've revealed the path of life to you.

193
00:13:51,340 --> 00:13:54,860
I think for a lot of us, we feel like, man, we're on this path of life that feels

194
00:13:54,880 --> 00:14:00,680
pointless, where am I going? Or I'm just heading toward like constant conflict and struggle. And

195
00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:05,460
maybe there's a little offshoot trail. Like if I could just find it, that's a better path that

196
00:14:05,540 --> 00:14:10,400
leads to something better. But for the most part, I just feel like I'm on this path of life that I'm

197
00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:15,980
on right now and might never get off it. We feel like maybe God's path to joy is hidden. And he

198
00:14:16,100 --> 00:14:21,480
makes it clear here, man, I'm not hiding the path of life to you. I've revealed it. I'm making it

199
00:14:21,500 --> 00:14:28,420
clear. God's not hiding from us. He's calling us, it says he's not calling us away from joy.

200
00:14:28,780 --> 00:14:34,860
He's drawing us closer to abundant joy. In your presence is abundant joy. And isn't that what we

201
00:14:34,980 --> 00:14:42,700
all want in life? We all want lives that are filled with true abundant joy. Maybe we think

202
00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:47,240
it's in things that if we got it, it would work, but God knows, no, those aren't the things that

203
00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:49,180
They're going to bring you true, lasting, abundant joy.

204
00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:50,580
But that's what we want.

205
00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:51,880
We want abundant joy.

206
00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:57,480
With him, it says, we have the greatest life possible, eternal pleasures.

207
00:14:58,140 --> 00:15:00,780
And so, man, maybe you've always thought that if God is really out there,

208
00:15:00,940 --> 00:15:02,420
that he's probably not on your side.

209
00:15:03,460 --> 00:15:06,060
He probably doesn't care about you or how life goes.

210
00:15:06,300 --> 00:15:09,780
But something we're going to see just over and over again in this series

211
00:15:10,100 --> 00:15:14,880
is that there is an ultimate king who wants abundant life for you.

212
00:15:15,980 --> 00:15:17,180
That's God's heart for you.

213
00:15:17,940 --> 00:15:18,720
God is for you.

214
00:15:18,900 --> 00:15:20,120
He is on your side.

215
00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:23,480
But here's the wild thing.

216
00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:27,700
Elijah's announcing that God is going to withhold rain.

217
00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:30,940
God's going to withhold life right now.

218
00:15:30,940 --> 00:15:33,000
He's going to shut everything down.

219
00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:36,480
Life as they knew it in Israel was about to come to a halt.

220
00:15:36,740 --> 00:15:39,660
And we find out later that this is what Elijah prayed for.

221
00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,740
He prays that God would bring a drought.

222
00:15:44,500 --> 00:15:44,740
Why?

223
00:15:46,100 --> 00:15:47,880
Why would Elijah pray that?

224
00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:49,660
That doesn't seem like that's God's heart.

225
00:15:49,780 --> 00:15:55,080
Why would Elijah pray that God bring a drought into the land to make everybody's life difficult?

226
00:15:57,780 --> 00:15:59,460
I was traveling several years back.

227
00:15:59,540 --> 00:16:02,640
I was traveling on the mission field to hang out with some missionaries.

228
00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:06,840
And I was hanging out with some pastors in the country that I was in.

229
00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:09,160
And we were talking, just talking about a bunch of things.

230
00:16:09,320 --> 00:16:12,860
And they came up to me and they said, hey, we've been praying for you.

231
00:16:12,980 --> 00:16:17,040
We've been praying for you and for other pastors in America and Christians in America.

232
00:16:17,460 --> 00:16:20,280
We've been praying that God would send you some persecution.

233
00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:22,900
And I was just like, oh, what?

234
00:16:24,740 --> 00:16:25,260
Say it again.

235
00:16:25,740 --> 00:16:26,300
What is it?

236
00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:30,100
They were like, yeah, we've been praying that God would send you some persecution in America.

237
00:16:30,210 --> 00:16:33,940
And I'm like, oh, why?

238
00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:35,640
Why are you praying that?

239
00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:37,720
Like, that's a terrible prayer.

240
00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:39,780
Why are you praying that God would do that?

241
00:16:40,780 --> 00:16:42,540
And the pastors were like, well, because we've been around.

242
00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:44,400
a lot of American pastors lately

243
00:16:45,100 --> 00:16:45,940
and a lot of American Christians

244
00:16:47,050 --> 00:16:48,320
and we see how weak your faith is.

245
00:16:50,420 --> 00:16:51,780
We see how you give God

246
00:16:51,830 --> 00:16:53,340
just a tiny little slice

247
00:16:53,590 --> 00:16:54,660
of the pie of your life

248
00:16:54,900 --> 00:16:55,520
and of your heart

249
00:16:56,050 --> 00:16:56,720
and that you give your life

250
00:16:56,790 --> 00:16:57,880
to so many other things

251
00:16:58,040 --> 00:16:58,540
and you care about

252
00:16:58,610 --> 00:16:59,300
so many other things

253
00:16:59,660 --> 00:17:00,940
and God kind of gets your scraps

254
00:17:01,300 --> 00:17:01,780
and we know

255
00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:02,760
because we've experienced it

256
00:17:02,820 --> 00:17:03,500
that persecution

257
00:17:03,980 --> 00:17:05,160
will make you bow your life

258
00:17:05,500 --> 00:17:06,060
completely to God

259
00:17:06,180 --> 00:17:06,740
and give your life

260
00:17:06,959 --> 00:17:07,439
completely to him

261
00:17:07,760 --> 00:17:08,680
and it'll strengthen your faith

262
00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:09,839
like you never could have dreamed of

263
00:17:10,140 --> 00:17:10,819
so we're praying that God

264
00:17:10,829 --> 00:17:11,699
would bring some persecution

265
00:17:11,720 --> 00:17:12,620
to Christians in America.

266
00:17:13,380 --> 00:17:17,300
And I was like, oh, okay.

267
00:17:19,020 --> 00:17:19,380
Keep praying.

268
00:17:21,839 --> 00:17:22,860
Because that's what Elijah prayed.

269
00:17:24,380 --> 00:17:27,380
Elijah knew that sometimes we need to be shaken up.

270
00:17:28,180 --> 00:17:30,420
Sometimes we need to see what Elijah knew

271
00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:32,960
is that physical suffering that's caused by a drought

272
00:17:33,440 --> 00:17:36,400
is not as terrible as spiritual drought.

273
00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:39,820
And that's what God's people were going through.

274
00:17:40,500 --> 00:17:46,160
He's praying that God would shake their lives up to wake them up about how they're giving their hearts and worship to false idols

275
00:17:46,430 --> 00:17:51,740
so that they don't miss out on the true abundant joy and eternal pleasures that God actually offers.

276
00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,700
And man, this is another thing that we're going to see over and over throughout this series.

277
00:17:57,030 --> 00:17:59,020
The ultimate king is in control.

278
00:18:00,220 --> 00:18:02,340
The ultimate king is in control.

279
00:18:03,720 --> 00:18:05,620
Speaking on God's behalf, Elijah says,

280
00:18:06,020 --> 00:18:10,460
there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command.

281
00:18:11,070 --> 00:18:14,940
See, God's people were beginning to believe that the bale of nature was in control.

282
00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:20,200
They'd been sacrificing to a dead God in the hopes that rain would come and they'd have life.

283
00:18:20,410 --> 00:18:25,840
But Elijah's making it clear, only the ultimate king is in control of what we need in life.

284
00:18:27,540 --> 00:18:30,940
And man, maybe you're in a spot today where you have some big needs in your life,

285
00:18:31,140 --> 00:18:33,260
some heavy things happening in your life right now,

286
00:18:33,360 --> 00:18:36,420
and you're wondering if there's a God out there who's actually in control of it all.

287
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,120
Not a God who just knows about it and cares about it,

288
00:18:39,260 --> 00:18:41,680
but a God who's actually in control of it.

289
00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:47,880
Elijah's here to tell us and show us that there's one ultimate king

290
00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:50,120
who's in control of all of it.

291
00:18:51,880 --> 00:18:54,400
But God wants Elijah to experience it for himself.

292
00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:55,900
Look at verse 2.

293
00:18:56,520 --> 00:18:58,500
Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah,

294
00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:04,180
Leave here, turn eastward, and hide in the wadi sheriff where it enters the Jordan.

295
00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:06,140
You are to drink from the wadi.

296
00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:09,000
I've commanded the ravens to provide for you there.

297
00:19:09,220 --> 00:19:10,960
So he proceeded to do what the Lord commanded.

298
00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,380
Elijah left and lived in the wadi sheriff where it enters the Jordan.

299
00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:17,900
The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening,

300
00:19:17,980 --> 00:19:19,740
and he would drink from the wadi.

301
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:22,780
That seems kind of wild.

302
00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:27,280
Like God calls Elijah to make this bold, incredible statement to King Ahab,

303
00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:31,640
kind of like a calling out, like a call to the mat, like let's fight. And then God just takes him

304
00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:37,240
away. Elijah goes into hiding. And what we find out is that because God wants to do unbelievably

305
00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:43,260
great things through Elijah, he's first got to do some stuff in Elijah. And so he calls Elijah to a

306
00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:50,220
time of preparation. It's a time where God's going to teach Elijah just how much God himself is in

307
00:19:50,460 --> 00:19:57,260
control of Elijah's life. You see guys, before we can do great things for the ultimate king, we've

308
00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:03,700
truly experience that he is the ultimate king of our own lives. And so first, God takes Elijah's,

309
00:20:03,900 --> 00:20:10,140
well, takes away Elijah's reliance on his friends and family. He tells him, go be alone.

310
00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:16,200
Whatever Elijah's about to go through, he's not going to be able to depend on anyone else. If he's

311
00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:20,860
turned his father or his mother or his siblings or his neighbors or his friends into idols, if he's

312
00:20:21,060 --> 00:20:25,240
leaning on them and depending on them for his stability and comfort in life, God is saying, no,

313
00:20:25,460 --> 00:20:30,500
I'm going to remove that. And it's just going to be you and me.

314
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:38,640
There's a group of 12 pastors that I've been in a cohort with for the last five years. And we

315
00:20:38,910 --> 00:20:43,460
meet together monthly on like a Zoom call and just kind of pray for each other, encourage each other.

316
00:20:43,760 --> 00:20:48,740
And then twice a year, we get together. We meet up and we spend three days just praying together,

317
00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:54,040
catching up, trying to just work through some issues and problems together that we have in life

318
00:20:54,060 --> 00:20:58,080
and ministry. It's been a really healthy, beautiful thing. We meet in different places where these

319
00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:04,380
pastors have churches. And so one year, about a year and a half ago, we met up in Alaska. And the

320
00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:07,840
guy who leads our cohort, he came to us one day and he said, hey, we're all going to go. We're

321
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:12,220
going to do something together. We're going to do this Japanese practice called Shinrin-yoku.

322
00:21:12,940 --> 00:21:16,280
The Japanese have this practice, Shinrin-yoku, and we're all going to go do it together. It's

323
00:21:16,360 --> 00:21:20,620
forest bathing. We're going to all go forest bathing together. And we were all like,

324
00:21:21,900 --> 00:21:26,860
no, probably not going to do that. And he was like, no, let me explain it. And basically the

325
00:21:27,070 --> 00:21:32,880
practice is this, is that it's a call to intentionally get away regularly and just be

326
00:21:33,190 --> 00:21:39,100
in nature. Just have time where it's just you out in nature, not with any devices, not with anything

327
00:21:39,340 --> 00:21:43,700
man-made, just out in nature. And he said, so we're going to go do that and spend some very alone

328
00:21:44,380 --> 00:21:49,740
time with God. And so he said, okay, followed him up to a glacier. We all spread out, like

329
00:21:49,860 --> 00:21:54,040
probably super dangerous with all the bears and whatever is in Alaska, but we all spread out to

330
00:21:54,140 --> 00:22:00,780
where we couldn't see or hear anyone else. And I had to surrender my phone, my watch, the granola bar

331
00:22:00,840 --> 00:22:05,720
in my pocket. Like I gave it all away. I got to a space where I could only see nature and there was

332
00:22:05,900 --> 00:22:10,380
nothing on me to distract me. And I thought I was going to die out there. I didn't even have my

333
00:22:10,580 --> 00:22:19,820
granola bar, right? It was the most terrifying 30 minutes of my life that we were out there. All

334
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:26,060
half hour of Shinrin Yoku, I look back on it even now, a year and a half later, all the time,

335
00:22:26,710 --> 00:22:32,700
with such fondness. Because I think God did more in my life in that 30 minutes than maybe he'd done

336
00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:38,860
in a couple years. I prayed for things during that half hour that I hadn't prayed for in I

337
00:22:38,940 --> 00:22:45,159
don't know how long. I asked God questions during that half hour that I'd never asked God before in

338
00:22:45,180 --> 00:22:53,580
my life. And sometimes it just takes us getting away from all the things that distract us, all the

339
00:22:53,580 --> 00:22:57,800
things we allow to distract us, or all the things we've given permission to distract us, all the

340
00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:03,200
little idols that tend to pull our attention and time and focus and energy away from God. And so

341
00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:09,560
God's taking Elijah away, takes away his reliance on some things. The second thing he takes away is

342
00:23:10,040 --> 00:23:15,080
Elijah's reliance on himself. Like Elijah's a capable dude, able to do what he needs and get

343
00:23:15,080 --> 00:23:19,360
what he needs, but not now. God calls him to be beside this wadi that just is kind of like a brook.

344
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:24,560
It's not a river. It's a small offshoot of a river, and those dry up first during a drought, right?

345
00:23:25,220 --> 00:23:29,360
There's no food out there. There's uncertainty about if he'll get water each day. Everything

346
00:23:29,620 --> 00:23:35,100
Elijah used to trust in is now gone, and God is teaching him this, you can completely trust in me.

347
00:23:36,460 --> 00:23:40,660
See guys, sometimes God may have to bring us to a place where we're actually confronted with that.

348
00:23:41,860 --> 00:23:44,440
Do I truly believe that I can trust in God for everything?

349
00:23:44,890 --> 00:23:48,900
See, for some of us, we've built lives where we build other things into our lives where we say,

350
00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,060
man, as long as I have my money, I know I'm going to be okay.

351
00:23:51,210 --> 00:23:52,760
As long as I have my family, I know I'm going to be okay.

352
00:23:53,020 --> 00:24:06,420
As long as I have my health, I know I'm

353
00:24:06,460 --> 00:24:13,800
food for that day. See, God's doing all of this to teach Elijah that the ultimate king

354
00:24:14,780 --> 00:24:20,280
provides for us. The ultimate king is a provider. That's another thing we're going to see over and

355
00:24:20,490 --> 00:24:26,520
over again throughout this series. Our God is a God who provides for us. Philippians 4 says it

356
00:24:26,520 --> 00:24:32,179
this way in verse 19, my God will supply all your needs according to his riches and glory in Christ

357
00:24:32,220 --> 00:24:38,860
Jesus. Here's what that means. If you have it, if you have it in your life right now, it's because

358
00:24:39,220 --> 00:24:46,040
God provided it for you. If you don't have it, it's because the ultimate king of the universe,

359
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:50,800
who has complete wisdom and control and love for you, knows that it wouldn't be good for you to have

360
00:24:50,860 --> 00:24:59,220
it, or at least not have it right now. Because our God is a God who provides all that we need.

361
00:25:01,160 --> 00:25:05,200
This morning I was in a rush, kind of getting our kids out of the house, so I wasn't late for

362
00:25:05,380 --> 00:25:09,780
service and could actually preach the sermon. And my son looked up to me in the flurry of getting

363
00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:13,480
shoes on and stuff, and I guess I'd said no one too many times, or I don't know, it's all kind of

364
00:25:13,480 --> 00:25:18,200
a blur. But he looked up at me, he goes, you guys, which actually means me and my wife, so he wasn't

365
00:25:18,240 --> 00:25:24,160
just picking on me. But he said, you guys never let us have anything cool like phones and iPads

366
00:25:24,260 --> 00:25:30,240
and Kindles. You guys only give us things like shoes and socks. And I was like, yep.

367
00:25:31,380 --> 00:25:34,800
we're only giving you what you need man put them on and get in the car like we got to go like

368
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:42,240
come on but he recognized something we're providing what he needs and nothing more we know that the

369
00:25:42,380 --> 00:25:49,660
things he doesn't need right now and listen we have a God that knows the things we don't need right now

370
00:25:51,720 --> 00:25:56,040
and I think one of the things that throws us off so much our joy our contentment our rest is that

371
00:25:56,040 --> 00:25:59,220
we look at a lot of things we don't have and we say God I know better than you

372
00:26:01,460 --> 00:26:05,460
I think I need this in order to be content and happy and you haven't given it to me and I know

373
00:26:05,710 --> 00:26:10,300
better instead of sitting back and looking at Philippians 4 and saying man God's supplying all

374
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:15,720
my needs according to his riches there's nothing he won't give me that he doesn't know I need right

375
00:26:15,840 --> 00:26:22,100
now God's got the riches to do it he will provide it if he knows we need it but then this third thing

376
00:26:22,310 --> 00:26:26,220
happens during this time of preparation that's gonna God's gonna actually take away Elijah's

377
00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:31,920
comfort now. Verse seven, after a while, the wadi dried up because there had been no rain in the

378
00:26:32,060 --> 00:26:38,600
land. Yes, Elijah's been in a season of dependence, but it's been comfortable. God's been providing

379
00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,860
for him. Food and water have been showing up. The other prophets of Elijah's day didn't have any

380
00:26:43,180 --> 00:26:47,580
meat. They only had bread and water, but Elijah's getting meat out here from these ravens. So even

381
00:26:47,580 --> 00:26:52,360
in this crazy dependent season, he's been pretty comfortable, but now the comfort is gone.

382
00:26:53,300 --> 00:26:54,620
The provision is gone.

383
00:26:55,260 --> 00:26:56,800
The brook is dried up.

384
00:26:58,280 --> 00:27:01,080
The Hebrew word sheriff, it's the name of the brook there.

385
00:27:01,320 --> 00:27:02,360
It means to cut down.

386
00:27:02,610 --> 00:27:05,960
And that's exactly what God is doing in this preparation season for Elijah.

387
00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,360
He's cutting down Elijah's dependence on earthly things.

388
00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:12,500
Teaching Elijah that everything that he has comes from God.

389
00:27:13,820 --> 00:27:17,720
As long as we depend on earthly things, our health, money, relationships, skills, abilities,

390
00:27:18,010 --> 00:27:20,040
we won't depend on the ultimate king.

391
00:27:20,620 --> 00:27:24,920
And God loves us too much to continue to let us depend on false idols.

392
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,780
He puts Elijah in a situation where he can feel his own weakness

393
00:27:30,860 --> 00:27:33,440
so that he can find his strength in God.

394
00:27:34,600 --> 00:27:37,760
And when he does this, this weakness that he feels, the drying up of the water,

395
00:27:38,060 --> 00:27:40,720
it actually leads Elijah to go do what's next.

396
00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:46,460
It leads Elijah to leave this place, the body sheriff, and go do what God has next for him.

397
00:27:47,100 --> 00:27:49,780
See guys, sometimes God guides us by what he doesn't provide.

398
00:27:51,299 --> 00:27:56,940
God knows that what Elijah needed was for this brook to be dried up, to feel even more dependence

399
00:27:57,110 --> 00:28:01,540
on God. So he'd cry out to God and say, what's next, God? And God could tell him, here's what I

400
00:28:01,670 --> 00:28:08,860
have planned next for you. Where has God made you feel weak right now? Where do you feel weak in life?

401
00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:15,160
Maybe you feel some weakness financially. You're like, man, I just, I don't know how we're going to

402
00:28:15,300 --> 00:28:17,940
make it. I don't know how we're going to get through this next season. I don't know how we're

403
00:28:17,960 --> 00:28:25,620
going to get through this next month. There's just a weakness financially. Maybe you're single and

404
00:28:25,620 --> 00:28:29,940
you want to be married and it just feels like, man, I'm in this time where I feel the weakness of not

405
00:28:30,020 --> 00:28:35,360
having something I desperately want. Maybe God's removed an opportunity from you that you thought

406
00:28:35,500 --> 00:28:40,300
you'd have. Maybe there's some skill that you lack that you desperately want, but maybe in all these

407
00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:45,039
things or whatever it is for you, that is the exact weakness that where God wants to grow your

408
00:28:45,060 --> 00:28:51,120
dependence on him. Maybe it's in that exact weakness where God wants to propel you forward

409
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:58,820
to what he has next for you. But man, that can be scary. The idea of complete dependence on God,

410
00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:03,320
like Elijah's having to experience, the idea of God calling us forward into something new,

411
00:29:03,580 --> 00:29:07,860
that had to be super scary for Elijah too. The brooks dried up. How's he going to survive? Where's

412
00:29:07,860 --> 00:29:12,860
he going to get water? He's all by himself. He has no one and nothing. This could feel like a rock

413
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:18,260
bottom type of life situation. When that brook dried up, Elijah could have cried out, God, where are

414
00:29:18,420 --> 00:29:24,540
you? You led me out here. I thought this is where you wanted me. Where are you now? And that's what

415
00:29:24,620 --> 00:29:29,160
we're tempted to cry out when life gets really difficult too, right? God, where are you? Why aren't

416
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:35,460
you showing up? What do I do now? But think about where God has actually been through this whole

417
00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:43,840
experience. He's been speaking to Elijah. He's been guiding Elijah. He's been providing for Elijah.

418
00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:49,400
Man, God has just always been present right here with Elijah. And that's another thing we're going

419
00:29:49,400 --> 00:29:54,020
to see all throughout this series in the lives of Elijah and Elisha. The ultimate king never leaves

420
00:29:54,140 --> 00:30:00,600
us. He's always there. He's always present. Yes, it may be difficult like it was for Elijah, but God

421
00:30:00,540 --> 00:30:07,240
is right there even through this season of preparation. I ran into someone in our church

422
00:30:07,460 --> 00:30:13,140
this week and she has had a wild year. Her life has just been turned upside down. Life looks so

423
00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:17,800
different right now than what it did a year ago. And so I ran into her, you know, kind of just

424
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:22,480
randomly out in the community and I just was talking to her and I was like, now how are,

425
00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:26,880
is one of those kind of like, how are you really questions? It's like, how are you really doing?

426
00:30:28,040 --> 00:30:31,840
And she answered it, and then I had to run back and write it down because it was too good.

427
00:30:31,900 --> 00:30:33,500
She said, man, I'm in a good place.

428
00:30:34,420 --> 00:30:39,120
It's a bummer that I had to go through the last year to get here, but I'm stoked that I'm here now.

429
00:30:41,500 --> 00:30:44,720
She went on to explain about how she's just literally been experiencing God's presence

430
00:30:44,940 --> 00:30:47,380
through this season of incredible dependence on him.

431
00:30:48,100 --> 00:30:49,360
Listen, guys, God won't leave you.

432
00:30:50,760 --> 00:30:51,680
He'll never abandon you.

433
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:57,320
He's promised to stay with us, to constantly be with us, fighting for us.

434
00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:01,760
And we're going to see that over and over again in the lives of Elijah and Elisha.

435
00:31:02,940 --> 00:31:06,860
Because what God's really showing us through Elijah and Elisha's lives,

436
00:31:07,090 --> 00:31:09,260
through this event in the darkness of Israel's history,

437
00:31:09,330 --> 00:31:11,280
through the books of Kings, through the whole Bible,

438
00:31:11,670 --> 00:31:13,780
what God is really showing us is this.

439
00:31:15,020 --> 00:31:18,320
He is the ultimate king who has no rival.

440
00:31:20,100 --> 00:31:20,920
He has no rival.

441
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:26,380
We are prone to believe, like Ahab and Israel, that God does have rivals,

442
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:30,940
that other things can compete with him and possibly give us more than he can.

443
00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:34,720
But what we're going to see just over and over is that God has no rivals at all.

444
00:31:35,620 --> 00:31:40,360
No one else and nothing else can even come close to our ultimate king.

445
00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,860
Every false idol demands that we serve them and then they'll bless us.

446
00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:49,540
The ultimate king served us and blessed us even when we hated him.

447
00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:56,640
Every false idol rewards the strong, but the ultimate king comes down to help the weak.

448
00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,020
Every false idol demands that we sacrifice to it.

449
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:08,440
The ultimate king gave his whole life in sacrifice for us, simply because he loves us.

450
00:32:09,840 --> 00:32:13,520
Because while we were lost in our rebellion against him, the ultimate king made it possible

451
00:32:13,550 --> 00:32:18,160
for us to have new life, life to the fullest, by providing exactly what we need.

452
00:32:18,200 --> 00:32:30,180
He did send the rescuer, his son, Jesus, to take on the consequences of our rebellion and defeat death for us so that we can live forever, proving that he has no rival in this world.

453
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:39,380
God knows us more deeply than we know ourselves, and yet he loves us more completely than anyone else ever could.

454
00:32:40,380 --> 00:32:45,780
There is no one else who can even compete to be on the throne of our lives.

455
00:32:47,420 --> 00:32:55,760
And God is going to show us again and again how it's the greatest news in the world that he is the ultimate king.

456
00:32:57,380 --> 00:32:57,860
Let's pray together.