I invite you to turn with me this morning once again to 1 Kings chapter 9, 19, I'm sorry. And in connection with that, Isaiah chapter 40, as we'll read beginning at verse 15 through the end of Isaiah chapter 40. Again, it's been a couple of weeks since we have considered the work of our God through His servant Elijah. we are reminded once again of really all the amazing revelation of our God that Elijah was privileged to receive. We think first and foremost of what took place on Mount Carmel, but we need to back up before that and remember how Elijah's prayers were answered to stop the rain. That was an amazing demonstration of the revelation of our God to him to be sure. How he was cared for at the brook by the birds. How he was cared for by the widow and the oil and the flour did not run dry and also through the raising of the widow's son. Many of those things are revelations from God that the people did not see. Indeed, they were privileged to witness, those who were on top of the mountain that day, they were privileged to see that revelation, the most awesome revelation of our God. And of course, we've been considering the first few verses of 1 Kings chapter 19 and we're pausing a little bit to kind of hover over these verses. It's a dark time in the story. And it's good for us to consider this dark time in depth. Not only to consider what took place with Elijah, but indeed the danger that each one of us face is we also face the temptations of the devil and as we see the evil that goes on all around us. We'll begin reading Isaiah 40, beginning at verse 15. As Isaiah has already begun to talk here about the greatness of our God, hear now the word of the Lord. Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket. They are regarded as dust on the scales. He weighs the islands as though they were fine dust. Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires, nor its animals enough for burnt offerings. Before Him all the nations are as nothing. They are regarded by Him as worthless and less than nothing. To whom then will you compare God? What image will you compare Him to? As for an idol, a craftsman casts it and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and fashions silver chains for it. A man too poor to present such an offering selects wood that will not rot. He looks for a skilled craftsman to set up an idol that will not topple. Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy and spreads them out like a tent to live in. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground than He blows on them and they wither and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal, says the Holy One? lift your eyes and look to the heavens who created all these he who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name because of his great power and mighty strength not one of them is missing why do you say oh Jacob and complain oh Israel my way is hidden from the Lord my cause is disregarded by my God do you not know have you not heard the Lord is the everlasting God the creator of the ends of the earth he will not grow tired or weary and his understanding no one can fathom he gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength they will soar on wings like eagles they will run and not grow weary they will walk and not be faint. Turning back to 1 Kings 19, beginning at verse 1. Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them. Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. I have had enough, Lord, he said. Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors. Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. He left his servant there while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. I have had enough, Lord, he said. Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors. There ends the reading of God's holy word. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a familiar chorus with the words that say turn your eyes upon Jesus look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. That's the beauty that the eye of faith sees. Seeing this life and seeing the circumstances of this life in the proper perspective. Through the eye of faith, earthly things are put in their proper place and God is recognized for who He is in all of His glory and grace. But when the eye of faith is closed, the things of earth take first place and then there can only be trouble. And that is what happened to Elijah. He took his eyes off of the Lord. He took his eyes off of all of the Lord's revelation that he had been privileged to receive and he focused on the evil that had threatened him. He became terrified to the response of the wicked through Jezebel that responds to the revelation of God and he runs and with this text we continue to see him as he is running but also we see the dangerous results as Elijah hopelessly walks or we might say runs by sight indeed verse 4 is a small verse yet it has much to teach us however there is little agreement with regard to what it teaches except that interpreters make the central point Elijah's frame of mind. What he was thinking. How he was feeling. However, there again is disagreement as to what that was. Some say that Elijah was just trying to get alone with God. That he was just trying to sort things out and that he was trying to get alone with God in order to get some help from God in order to continue strong in the Lord's service. Others say that he really wasn't afraid to die. After all, here he asks for it. And therefore, he did not really run from Jezebel out of fear, even though the Bible says he ran for his life. So others say that Elijah's actions here are not a sign of faithlessness, but they're a sign of humility. Because after all, Hebrews 11 clearly says that Elijah was a hero of faith. although James reminds us as well that he was a man like us with a nature like ours and therefore with a nature like Abraham and Moses and David and many other patriarchs and prophets who we know at times fell short of the glory of God. But with all of the differing opinions that are given, the temptation for us is to see in Elijah an example, to see him as only an example of when we face comparable situations and how to deal with them. For example, becoming despondent because of wickedness that is all around or feeling the hot breath of evil on our neck or wanting to quit and give up. Seeing Him simply as an example. And the truth is, we can find a number of circumstances illustrated here that we might be called upon to face in our lives. And we can find throughout Scripture how we are to properly deal with them. For example, when God's people are weary, we are to flee to the Lord who strengthens us. He says, cast your burden upon Me. However, here, beloved, it's not what or how Elijah was feeling that we are to focus on, first of all, but what he was doing in the context of God's history of redemption, in the context of what God was doing leading to Jesus Christ. And therefore, then, how Elijah either advanced, Or the truth is here, we might say, held back the Lord's work. And when we see what he was doing, his frame of mind becomes clear that he was despondent, he saw no hope, he was giving up. And some want to compare Elijah with Christ and to point out what they have in common, that which is similar about the two. For example, they were both triumphant. Elijah on Mount Carmel and Jesus when He triumphantly entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. And then they were both abandoned. And as we compare Elijah with Christ and look and see what they have in common, therefore then we are also to see, again as an example, of how we are to flee to the cross, our broom tree is what some say. Yes, Elijah points to Christ. Yet not by way of comparison. Not by way of what they have in common. But by way of contrast. That which they have in opposition to one another. Before Elijah learns as the Lord will teach him. Before he learns that salvation will not come by displays of power in nature. and that evil is not victorious. This morning, we noticed the dangerous result of him hopelessly walking by sight, seeing, first of all, Elijah deserting the battlefield. Deserting the battlefield, running for his life, running for his life from Jezebel. We know Elijah's mountaintop experience had been dashed to pieces by Jezebel's threat of death. He leaves Israel, he goes all the way through Judah and beyond, and he goes alone. He goes without his servant. It seems that he really thought his work was over. He had no intention of returning. He was not simply trying to get alone with God. He was not simply looking to be strengthened by God to continue on in his ministry. He had no intention of returning. He was running for his life outside of the promised land and he stops, worn out, exhausted, despondent, under a broom tree where he might find some shade and shelter in order to spend what he hoped would be the last moments of his life. He was running for his life, forsaking his office. We need to remember Elijah's special position. He was the word-bearer of the Lord. He was the spokesman for God in the holy wars of that day. He represented God Almighty. He enjoyed the blessing, as it were, of God's power at His fingertips, especially seen through that fire that came down on the mountain. God listened to His prayers of faith. Again, His prayer to stop the rain. His prayer to keep the oil and the flour from running out. His prayer to raise the widow's son back to life. And His prayer to once again open the floodgates of heaven. He was an officer in the army of God called to be on active duty on the battleground. And that battleground, beloved, was Canaan. It was the promised land. In the Old Testament, God's earthly kingdom was still limited to the borders of Canaan. That's where God graciously dwelt among His people, but it was also within these boundaries that the Lord did battle with the kingdom of Satan through Jezebel, who continued to attack. And at this time, the combat was especially heavy as the most wicked of kings and queens was ruling God's people with a desire to completely wipe them out. And when the reformation and the revival that Elijah thought had begun seemed stopped in its tracks by Jezebel, as he no longer saw what God allowed him to see, which you and I can only see by faith and understand by faith, when he no longer saw the revelation of God on that mountain, but instead only saw her, he was found going AWOL. Boys and girls, that's A-W-O-L in military language, absent without leave. He had deserted the battlefield. He had deserted that battlefield without God's order. When he had gone to Zarephath before, which was outside of the kingdom, He had gone with God's order. This time, he deserted without God's order. He deserted without God's permission. He goes AWOL because the battle was useless in his eyes. He says, I have had enough, Lord. Take my life. I am no better than my ancestors. That's hardly a prayer of faith like when he prayed for the fire to come down. When he prayed for that fire to come down by which he prayed that the Lord would reveal Himself as the one and only God. And by which He prayed that God would reveal that Elijah Himself was God's servant. By which He prayed that God would reveal that God Himself was turning their hearts back to Him. This was hardly a prayer of faith and through this prayer it's clear that by deserting the battlefield, Elijah was abandoning the sheep that had been put under his care. as later on he would make clear when he was at Horeb that he thought he was the only one left. But by letting go of God's people, Elijah was surrendering them to the forces of hell. Why? Because as he walked by sight, he was secondly seeing only loss. He was seeing only a failed reformation. What Elijah thought had begun on Mount Carmel to him now seemed like nothing more than an emotional outburst as a dark cloud of fear hid the work and the power of the Lord from his eyes. Even though he was once surrounded by those who shouted, the Lord, He is God. Now, he felt all alone in the wilderness. Again, later on, Elijah will claim to have been zealous for the Lord, but now it seemed to him that the Lord Himself was not even zealous for His own cause. And it seemed that way because of Elijah's faulty standard. I am no better than my ancestors. One translation says, I'm no better than my fathers. It's hard to know exactly who he's talking about. He could be talking about the patriarchs and prophets who came before or simply all of the people. But it seems that in Elijah's mind, all who came before had failed and he was no better than them. He had failed too. He didn't accomplish what he had hoped to accomplish. But you see, beloved, the problem is Elijah limited. He reduced the Lord's work and the Lord's mission and the Lord's accomplishment and in effect the Lord's strength to what Elijah could accomplish and to Elijah's strength. And therefore when Elijah failed, in his mind God failed and there was nothing more to do. The situation was hopeless. And therefore he makes a bold judgment, I have had enough, or also translated it is enough. To him, Israel was beyond hope in Elijah's judgment. He has no more to give. he is at the end of his rope. But again, later on, he will also make it sound as if in his judgment, God had also put up with enough from His people. That God had had enough. They were beyond hope. This proved it. The limit had been reached. They weren't worthwhile. And therefore, in Elijah's estimation, No more effort should be wasted on them. Elijah didn't see the results that he expected and therefore in essence he was accusing the Lord of failure as if to say, well, you've done all that you can, but if something as awesome as fire from heaven and the results, licking up even the water and the stones and even the dirt, if something that awesome is not enough to turn the wicked heart like Jezebel's to the Lord, then there is no hope. Yet, beloved, it seems clear that Elijah himself was no longer seeing the victory of Jehovah on that mountain. Elijah needed to learn that it would not be by an earthly demonstration of might and power, but by the Holy Spirit working in the heart, which only he can do, that men would turn to God. He didn't realize that God hadn't given up on His people, that God was still at work. he didn't realize that salvation and true reform would be conducted in God's own time, in God's own way, not according to Elijah's standard. And beloved, we must confess that we too tend to give up at times. We tend to give up when we can't seem to be convincing to others, when we can't seem to pass on our convictions and our excitements of the truth, excitement of the truth, and change the hearts of others. It becomes frustrating at times when we don't see the fruit of our faith being passed on to others. We feel like we have failed. We want to give up. What's the use? We tend to give up because at times we are scared of what the reaction might be of others, either insulting or persecuting us. And when that happens, we figure that they are hopeless. They don't deserve to be spoken to any longer. we tend to give up sometimes not out of fear, but out of apathy. An I-don't-care attitude. An apathy which causes us to determine, well, how much worship is enough? How much does God deserve? Or who ought to be included in our church? Or the kind of love or limits of love that we ought to show to each other. We try to set the standard for these kinds of things instead of going to the Word of God and seeing what God requires of us. Worse yet, we try to sometimes set the standard of who deserves to be a Christian. Who deserves to hear the Gospel message? Beloved, how often do we, by our silence or by ignoring others, keep from them the truth and the love of Jesus Christ that they desperately need? In essence, saying, I don't care about your soul. We must ask if it was left up to us, and praise be to God that it's not. But if it was left up to us, how many would be consigned to hell? Because we are not fighting. Because we have given up. Because of our apathy. The battle belongs to the Lord. Yet He commands His soldiers of the cross to be active in the fight, to be instruments in His hands in that fight which will be ongoing on this earth until Jesus Christ returns. And praise be to God that His work was not done with Elijah or even with the Apostle Paul or even with John Calvin or there would be no hope for us. Praise be to God that He did not say before bringing us to Himself, praise be to Him that He did not say, I've had enough. They are not worth it. They get no more of my time. Elijah's hopelessness is also seen finally in that we see him begging for a discharge. Begging for an early discharge. Lord, take my life. Begging for a dishonorable discharge. With regard to life, he says, enough. With regard to death, he says, take it. Take it now. From the meaning of the words, we know that he did not have the afterlife with God in mind or as his desire. Not that he didn't believe that we don't know that. That's not the point. But that's not what he was thinking about here. Unlike Paul and Philippians who desired to die and to be with the Lord, but he was content to live for the sake of the church, even if it meant that he would continue to suffer for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, but not Elijah. He just wanted to die. Sometimes when we face difficult situations, we say, I just want it to be over. He just wanted to die. He wanted to cease to exist. He wanted to escape the experience of more disappointment and sorrow. Elijah ran from Jezebel to escape with his life and now he asked to escape life itself because he did not think that even God could protect him. As someone has rightly said, those in this frame of mind are not fit for dying. They're not ready to die. And notice, in His mercy, God did not allow Elijah's foolish request, not at that time, not ever, as we know that he was taken from earth to heaven in that chariot of fire, he never saw death. God did not give up on His people, nor did He give up on Elijah, even though Elijah was asking for a dishonorable discharge and asking for that discharge selfishly. Selfishly, because the Lord's work was not done. Even though all Elijah could see was hopelessness, even though in his mind it was done, there was nothing more to be done, the Lord's work was not done because evil was still attacking God's people. His work had not yet been completed. Beloved, true faith does not judge by its own strength. True faith knows that it is the Lord's battle. True faith knows that even if we perish in the battle, God's work isn't finished, that Jesus Christ will faithfully gather all those for whom He died and He will come again and put all of His enemies away forever and ever. True faith in the sovereign God knows that evil cannot and will not win even if it costs us our life. That does not mean that it won. Faith knows that even if we fall before the forces opposed to Jesus Christ, that doesn't mean that the Lord's cause is lost. And we know that because of our Lord Jesus Christ. Indeed, we can so easily see in Elijah an example of ourselves, again in many ways, yet our eyes are to be lifted to Jesus Christ and how Elijah, as I said earlier, contrasts with Jesus. This episode points to Jesus Christ and that the Lord's work continues in spite of Elijah. Elijah, as one of many leading to Christ, whose shoes he was not worthy to tie, was no better than his ancestors, but Jesus Christ is greater than Abraham, greater than Moses, greater than David, even greater than Elijah. He is the one that we have needed. and our Lord did not flee from the battle. Nor did He abandon His people in it. He did not say when it was at its worst, I have had enough, I quit. Instead, He entered the fiercest heat and rage of that battle on the cross as He was forsaken by His own followers. He did not see only loss, but He saw victory for those He came to save. He did not beg for a discharge, but He said, Father, Thy will be done. And He willingly laid down His life only to take it up again in victory. Elijah thought that Satan's hosts were too powerful and that he was the only one left, but alone on Calvary, Our Lord demonstrated His power and strength and proved that He is victorious over the wrath of Jezebel's commander. God was not done. He was preparing Jezebel and Ahab for judgment. At the same time, preparing His people for deliverance. Elijah wanted to give up in the battle that was already guaranteed victory. It was guaranteed victory as demonstrated on that mountain. There was no greater demonstration than what God gave to Elijah and the prophets of Baal and the people on that mountain as the fire of the Lord came down and consumed the substitute and not the people. And as all the prophets of Baal were wiped out that day, he wanted to give up in a battle that was already guaranteed victory. For a time, He took His eyes off of the Lord's victory on that mountain of victory pointing to the cross. Indeed, beloved, the war has been won. Jesus said it is finished. He did not quit, but He finished perfectly and completely the work that He came to do. He conquered evil. He satisfied God perfectly and completely for your sins and mine. And the victory is guaranteed. We live in the light of the victory of Jesus. Indeed, the battle still rages until Christ returns. On this earth, the battle still rages. The battlefield has been expanded to the ends of the earth. We cannot escape the battlefield and we are not to try, but instead we are called to go forth in His service and to be strong in His might with confidence that though the church may often look defeated and often seem defeated, even though it seems like the forces of evil are strong and have gained the upper hand, yet the church is victorious and we are victorious in Jesus Christ. We have the confidence that those who resist the devil, he will flee from those who are in Christ Jesus. Indeed, we do become tired and weary, but He is mindful of our human frailties and He has promised that whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. Beloved, for those who walk by sight, the glory and the power and the might of God and the victory of Jesus are dim and the enemies of God look strong. They do not share in Christ's victory today, and apart from turning to the Lord in repentance and faith, they will not share in His victory for eternity. But for those who walk by faith, who draw near to God in faith, with their eyes focused on Jesus and the victory that He secured, to them the world looks strangely dim because of the glory and the grace of God and because, as Isaiah says, the nations are like a drop in the bucket. They are like dust on the scales compared to the one and only Almighty God. God's enemies are nothing before Him because indeed He never grows tired and weary. And those who by grace turn their eyes upon Jesus, they will renew their strength. They will soar in wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not be faint. Ours is the strength of the Lord and therefore we can go forth with this confidence crowns and thrones may perish kingdoms rise and wane but the church of Jesus constant will remain gates of hell can never against that church prevail we have Christ's own promise we live with Christ's own promise and beloved as the song says that cannot fail Amen. Let's pray together. Father, we praise Your most holy name that when our faith is often so limited, when that which we can see is often so temporary, that your vision is perfect for both time and eternity. Indeed, you have given to us the comfort to know that your way will not, cannot, and will not be thwarted by the evil one. He will not be able to snatch out of your hand even one of your sheep. Not one of those for whom Jesus came and died will be lost from your grasp. Indeed, those who reject you, Father, they will be cast away forever and ever. Jesus Christ is victorious over Satan and all of his hosts. But ours is the victory in Jesus, both now and forever. And therefore, Father, continue to uphold us, equip us, fit us with the armor of God that we might indeed go forth in Your service and be strong in Your might as soldiers of the cross of Jesus. Father, help us to stand firm. Strengthen us by Your Holy Spirit for Your glory, for Your praise, for Jesus' sake. Amen.