I would invite you to turn this morning in the Old Testament to our text, 1 Kings 18, verses 7-16, the first part of 16, in the New Testament to the last portion, the familiar portion of Romans 8, and our consideration of the Lord's work through His servant Elijah. Last week we began to consider that God had given him the command to leave Zarephath. As we think about especially the stories of Elijah and what are taking place here, many of us, if not all of us, including the children, know the events that all of this is leading up to. We know the events that took place on Mount Carmel. We remember the awesome demonstration of God's sovereignty and power. That's one of those episodes in Scripture, along with many, that we might say, I wish I could have seen that. I wish I had been there. It would have been amazing to see. Yeah, beloved, we can, by faith, because God has recorded it for us in His Word. The truth is, though, that in some ways, we cannot wait to get there. We cannot wait to get on top of Mount Carmel because we love mountaintop experiences, in a sense. But we can't rush up the slopes of Carmel. We need to walk carefully. And with each step, we need to realize what God is doing. And the same is true for what might seem to be kind of a strange or obscure sort of text this morning, verses 7 through the first part of verse 16. First of all, we look to Romans chapter 8. Before we do so, let's bow asking our God's blessing upon His Word this morning. Dear Heavenly Father, we do come before You, bowing before You with our heads and hearts in prayer to confess, Lord, that in and of ourselves we are weak, we are blind, we need You completely to show us Your truth, to reveal it to us. We pray that You would work in our hearts and our lives and our minds powerfully this morning by Your Holy Spirit. We thank You, Lord, that You have indeed promised to show to us the marvelous truths that You have stored for us in Your Word. And we claim that promise even this morning, that You would be with each one of us, Father, Your servant who brings Your Word, Your people who hear. May we hear and understand and believe and receive it, empowered by Your Holy Spirit, that we would hear the message that You have intended for us this morning and that You would be praised. Father, we thank You for Your precious Word. Hear our prayer for Jesus' sake and in His name. Amen. Romans 8, beginning at verse 28. Hear now God's Word. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those He predestined, He also called. Those He called, He also justified. Those He justified, He also glorified. What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, How will He not also along with Him graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is He that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died more than that who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written, for Your sake we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Turning back to 1 Kings 18, beginning at verse 7. We've just been told, so they, that as Ahab and Obadiah divided the land, they were to cover Ahab going in one direction and Obadiah in another. And picking up in verse 7, as Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground, and said, Is it really you, my lord Elijah? Yes, he replied. Go, tell your master Elijah is here. What have I done wrong, asked Obadiah, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or a kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. But now you tell me to go to my master and say, Elijah is here. I don't know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will kill me. Yet I, your servant, have worshipped the Lord since my youth. Haven't you heard, my Lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord's prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. And now you tell me to go to my master and say, Elijah is here. He will kill me. Elijah said, as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today. So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. There ends the reading of God's Word. May he add his blessing to it this morning. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, when the Lord commanded Elijah to go and to present himself to leave Zarephath and to go and present himself to Ahab, the Lord, as we said last week, was returning for His people. God was returning to demonstrate that He alone is God. And He was returning to call His people to repent of their sins and to believe on Him. Remember, He was returning not because He was wanted by the nation. not because they cried out in confession and repentance, but He was returning because of His mercy and love for His own. And as we also said last week, that pointed to the coming and to the work of Jesus Christ. The One who came for His people even though He was not wanted. The One who came even though He was rejected. But for all those who embrace Him and His saving work by faith, they are rescued from the eternal wrath and judgment of God. That is His church. And now with this text before us this morning, God reveals that the church of Jesus Christ has an important place in that battle that still rages on this side of glory. Because this history of Israel ultimately is about the battle for the church which Christ has won. And those for whom God returned, He calls them to serve Him. He calls them to be in service to Him and His Word before the eyes of a watching world. He calls them, in a sense, to take up arms for Him. And He promises to prepare them for that work. Here we notice Elijah enlists Obadiah for front-line duty. And with regard to that enlistment, we notice, first of all, Obadiah's commission. Now remember Obadiah's unique identity. Going back to verses 3 and 4, And Ahab had summoned Obadiah who was in charge of his palace. Obadiah was a devout believer in the Lord. While Jezebel was killing off the Lord's prophets, Obadiah had taken a hundred prophets and hidden them in two caves, fifty in each, and had supplied them with food and water. He had a unique identity in that on the one hand, he was employed by Ahab. He was in charge of the palace, the VIP of the palace. He was the chief steward of this most wicked king. And at the very same time, he was a child of God. The Bible says he was devout. He feared the Lord. We said his name means servant of the Lord and he demonstrated that he was a servant of the Lord at a time when Jezebel was taking a very pro-choice position in killing as many of the Lord's prophets as she could get her hands on. And he demonstrates that he is a servant of the Lord By rescuing, hiding, providing for the hundred. There is a contrast, not a contradiction, but there is a contrast between his public work for Ahab and his secret work for the Lord. And the idea that I believe we ought to have somewhat with regard to his secret work is that Obadiah was living on the edge. He was working undercover. He was, as it were, part of the Lord's underground. And notice the beauty here is that there's no evidence that he worried about the danger. He wasn't worried about getting caught by Jezebel for hiding and caring for those whom she was trying to put to death. And now we notice that he was the sovereign choice of God for his encounter with Elijah. Verse 7, as Obadiah was walking along, Elijah met him. Obadiah recognized him, bowed down to the ground and said, Is it really you, my Lord Elijah? What an unexpected surprise. His mission was to go out and find grass. And instead, he finds God's word-bearer. Or more accurately, we ought to say that God's word-bearer found him. It's as if Elijah, this fugitive who had been on the most wanted list for three and a half years, appears almost as suddenly as he had disappeared. And we're not told how Obadiah knew him or recognized him. It's possible that he was there when Elijah came to Ahab three and a half years before. We don't know how. But Obadiah recognizes Elijah and he bows before him. He shows honor for the Word of God. Obadiah knew that Elijah represented the Lord and His Word, especially as Obadiah with all of Israel had been experiencing the power of that Word for three and a half years. And by honoring Elijah, Obadiah honors the Word of God with its power to stop the rain and its power to send it again. With its power to destroy and its power to give life. That's the Word of God. Beloved, this is God's Word. No other Word will do for you and me. No other Word is as important as this Word for you and me. No other word is necessary for us as this Word. As all that is necessary for salvation, as the Belgic Confession says, is sufficiently found therein. Bowing before, submitting to the Word of God is the only appropriate response we can give because His Word alone is to govern our lives in every aspect and for every moment. We are called to place ourselves under the governing power of and in service to the Word of God which is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path and alone gives life. Because we have life. Because of God's Word by His Spirit. As Paul says in Romans 1, it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes because of the Word who has become flesh, Jesus Christ, apart from whom there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Beloved, there is no other book than God's book that is important or necessary for us. And this Word is what Satan works hard to keep us from. He knows that this is God's Word of hope. He doesn't believe it. He knows that this is the only answer for man's sin and shame. His desire is to do everything he can to keep unbelievers from hearing it and to keep believers from reading it, from hearing it proclaimed, to keep us busy, to occupy our time. Yet, beloved, this is God's Word. The Word that Elijah represented. It is the Word that Obadiah honored. And it is the word also from which he received his marching orders. Yes, verse 8, Elijah replied, Go tell your master Elijah is here. It's really an amazing commission, amazing marching orders. And what we ought to notice is Obadiah was claimed by God. God, who through Elijah was harnessing Obadiah's services in the name of Israel's God. Obadiah, who works for Ahab. Obadiah, who punches the castle time clock. Obadiah was being commissioned for more kingdom work. Along with Obadiah as believers, beloved, we work for God first and serve Him. And all of our work, what we do and how we do it, is governed by God's Word and our service to Him. And as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10.31, Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, even in the employment of Ahab, do it all to the glory of God. You see, Obadiah was not a random choice. He was not the first, no doubt, he was not the first person that Elijah ran into once he crossed the border back into Israel's land. He was not a random choice. This was not an accidental meeting between Obadiah and Elijah. It was planned by God. God claimed Obadiah. He had already used him in an undercover capacity and now he was being called to stand on the front line as it were, to go publicly before Ahab and to announce Elijah's return and to do so as a representative of the church. Obadiah was one of the faithful remnant. He was a living member of the church that Christ was already busy gathering. Indeed, the church also at that time had suffered along with all of Israel the drought. But now in the person of Obadiah, the church is being called to take a stand. To confront evil. In him, God was calling for the service of the church. God had a message for this apostate king who had the task of caring for God's people, but didn't. And that message for the apostate king was that God's Word was back. And his church, and here's the divine irony, God's church in the person of Obadiah had been right underneath Ahab's nose all the time. his church would be honored with the task of delivering that message. God's Word of redemption. God's Word of blessing. God's Word of salvation, beloved, is the same Word that preserves the church. And that Word has been given to the church to take into the world, to preach the Gospel to every creature. The Church of Jesus Christ is called to stand up for Jesus Christ. And God has promised through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. It's our privilege, it's our honor, beloved, to hear and study the Word of God over and over again. That Word of God by which we have been saved by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet that privilege and that honor comes with a duty as those who are called to represent Jesus Christ out there. We are called as God's instruments to proclaim that Word, to make that Word known to an unbelieving world. Even as Obadiah was commissioned to confront covenant breaking. Notice, he wasn't sent, first of all, to the hundred prophets whom he had spared. He wasn't sent to the 7,000 that had not bowed the knee to Baal to bring all of them comfort that Elijah was back. He was sent to Ahab again. The one who was supposed to represent God and to care for God's people, but the one who had led God's people astray. Go tell your master Elijah is here. Elijah was back to confront sin. He was back to expose it. There would be no covenant blessing until the covenant breaking had been taken care of. There is no salvation, beloved, until sin is taken care of because one will see no need for a Savior if they think they have no need to be saved. That's indeed why God's Word comes to us in His law and reminds us of our sin and misery. We need to understand how great is our sin and misery because without understanding that, by the illuminating power of the Holy Spirit, we have no need for the Savior. He's worthless, useless to us. But those who come to know their sin and misery and their desperate need and whose eyes are lifted to the Lord Jesus Christ, they see that He is the One. That the Word of God alone is the answer for man's sin and shame and desperate condition. Obadiah was called to bring the servant of Baal face to face with the servant of God And in this way, the antithesis between right and wrong, between good and evil, between what is true and what is false, in this way, the antithesis would be brought into the light of day. And Ahab was to learn that there is no room for syncretism. That is, there is no room for blended or shared worship between Jehovah and Baal, or between Jehovah and whomever. It is to be Jehovah alone. Ahab was to feel the conflict. He was to understand the antithesis. He was to hear the challenge in those few words, Elijah is here. As through Elijah, God was making His claim upon Israel. And still today, beloved, the church is called to bring that antithesis to the world's attention. To expose sin with the Word of God. That antithesis is to be clear. It is to be experienced in a sense. The church is called to bring it to the world's attention with Jesus Christ alone preached, along with the warning that those who reject Him will be lost forever. But He is the necessary salvation for those who believe. That antithesis, beloved, is to be real. It is to be lived. Believers are called to be different, boldly and confidently, as Paul says, come out from among them and be ye separate, not being consumed with or enslaved to the things of this world, but with lives governed by the Word of God, living for and representing Jesus Christ alone. And in the strength of the Lord, the church is called to fight against the work of Satan. That work of Satan by which he tries to cause God's people to compromise, To water down our faith and practice. To look more and more like. To blend in more and more with the world. To fight against the work of Satan, that work by which he tries to cause God's people to take our focus off of our relationship with Jesus Christ, that exclusive relationship. Maybe to say, well, yes, that's all fine and that's all in place, but it's okay to have relationship over here too with the world. To fight against that work of Satan by which he causes discord and infighting among God's people even in the church. Keeping the church from doing the work that God has called her to do. Indeed, Satan knows that he will never be able to separate God's people from God. Yet, he works to make our lives as miserable as he can on this side of glory. Our commission, beloved, with Obadiah is to stand openly and boldly and firmly in Jesus Christ before the world because only His kingdom is forever. That's our commission. Yet the Bible doesn't tell us it would be easy. The Bible doesn't tell us it would be safe here in this life. The Bible doesn't tell us it would be comfortable for you and I. And we see that too as Elijah's enlistment of Obadiah meets with Obadiah's complaint. Listen again to the bulk of the text, beginning at verse 9. What have I done wrong, asked Obadiah, that you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death? As surely as the Lord your God lives, there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you. But now you tell me to go to my master and say, Elijah is here. I don't know where the Spirit of the Lord may carry you when I leave you. If I go and tell Ahab and he doesn't find you, he will kill me. Yet I, your servant, have worshipped the Lord since my youth. Haven't you heard, my Lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord's prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. And now you tell me to go to my master and say, Elijah is here. He will kill me. Again, in a sense, Obadiah had not been fighting on the front line. He was undercover. But now he was called to stand publicly on the side of the Word of God and it is clear that his faith was challenged. He knew Ahab. He knew Ahab's wickedness. He knew his unbelief. He knew his anger and hatred for Elijah. He knew that Ahab would go after Elijah for one reason and one reason only, Not to repent, but to simply get that one word that would stop the drought. He feared Ahab. Ahab had searched high and low, and he had made the nations and the kingdoms promise, swear on oath, that Elijah wasn't there. And now out of nowhere, on home turf, is Elijah. It seemed too easy. You would think that it would be a relief. You would think that Ahab would be so pleased and maybe even promote Obadiah or possibly give him a big bonus. Yet Obadiah feared for his life because he was sure that God would never let Elijah fall into the wicked hands of this angry king. That he would maybe whisk him away. You know, we don't know, but it almost seems as if Obadiah thought that for three and a half years Elijah had been on the run. And that maybe he was just keeping a step ahead of Ahab as he was searching the different nations, the different kingdoms. And that maybe God had whisked him away at a moment's notice just before he was to get caught. Obadiah at this point didn't know what we know. He didn't know that Elijah had been taken care of quite comfortably for those three and a half years. But he was sure that God would never let Elijah fall into the wicked hands of this angry king. Instead, God would whisk him away to protect him, forgetting that God had been protecting Elijah. Ahab had not found him because of God's protection. Obadiah is proof, beloved, that so often we have more fear for those who can kill the body, but not the soul, than for the one who can kill both. Our faith is often challenged by our own sin or our own sinful desires. it is often challenged by the fear of man. Oh, what will he say if I try to witness to him? Oh, what will she say if I tell her that that's really not the right thing to do? Oh, how will they pick on me if I say anything about God? It's in those times, beloved, we are to recall the words of David in Psalm 56. When I am afraid, I will trust in You. What can mortal man do to me? For Obadiah, his eyes were blinded. He was afraid that Elijah would disappear again. He failed to understand that Ahab was not in control. Ahab did not call for a meeting with Elijah, but God was orchestrating all of this. Elijah was not on the run. Elijah was pursuing. He was calling for Ahab. Yet at this moment, Obadiah only saw danger for himself. And what he saw was that God was orchestrating his death. What have I done wrong? That you are handing your servant over to Ahab to be put to death. You see, beloved, it didn't fit with Obadiah's understanding of God's covenant promises as we see with His covenantal excuses. I've worshipped the Lord since my youth. Don't you know that I hid and I supported a hundred prophets? What have I done wrong? Now we ought to understand that that's not arrogance on Obadiah's part, thinking that he deserved better, but he was appealing to the covenant promises of the old covenant. We looked a little bit last week at Deuteronomy 28, where we see that Moses teaches, at least for those who are obedient, Moses teaches the Lord's favor was to come to the righteous in the form of blessings in this life for obedience, including peace and prosperity for his people in the land. And also that the Lord will not deliver His people, His servants, into the hands of the enemies. It seems as if Obadiah understood that the remnant had all suffered the drought along with the nation as a whole. He understood that the prophets who were killed were done so at the instigation of Jezebel, her wickedness. But this didn't make sense. Obadiah appeals to God's promises. Yet at the same time, he doubts God's faithfulness as if God was able to save Elijah, but not him. He doubts God's faithfulness as his lapse of faith caused him to attribute to God what didn't make sense. That he would deliver his servant into the hand of the enemy. That God would completely abandon Obadiah. Beloved, he needed to learn and be reminded that those whom God calls to his service, Again, it doesn't mean that it's going to be easy and comfortable or even safe. But it does mean that they are under the protecting hand of the living God even when they stand before the enemy. God does not surrender over to the forces of the enemy those who are devoted to Him by His grace. Obadiah was being called to trust in the one and only Almighty God as he obviously did when he had hid the 100. this is the strength of Christ's church. That church purchased by His blood. That same blood that earned our forgiveness. That same blood that conquered Satan. And for Jesus' sake, His church is placed under the protection of God's powerful Word so that our solid assurance, as Paul says in Romans 8, is that nothing, no thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And as Jesus Himself said in John 10 with regard to His sheep, I give them eternal life. They shall never perish and no one will snatch them out of My hand. Yeah, beloved, we know that this does not mean that believers won't be killed or lose their life in the line of spiritual duty. Again, think of the prophets that Jezebel did get her hands on. Think of the martyrs of the early church and the Reformation church. a demonstration indeed of Satan's hostility toward the church of Jesus Christ and the desire to wipe her out. It does not mean that believers will not face or experience hardships or tragedies of life that are unexplainable. However, even when God's people face death for their faith, even when they face the hardships and the difficulties of life, God's people are safe in His hand and not a hair can fall from our heads apart from the will of our Father in Heaven, Jesus said. Remember, when Jesus said that, He did not say that for His people, not a hair would fall from their head. He did not say that they would never experience the hardships and the persecutions. Indeed, the hair will fall. They will face troubles. But even then, it's not because it is determined by the enemy overall. The enemy is not in control. God is still in control. God does not give His people over to them. Even the death of the prophets served God's purpose. And beloved, we know that God uses means. He uses even the evil in the world. He uses difficulties. He uses our own sin to direct the path of our lives. He allows His people to be refined in the crucible of persecution and suffering and pain and even death. And it's all for our good. Not to destroy us. Not to destroy us. But to preserve those for whom Jesus died. He does not abandon. He does not hand over His people to the power of evil. He never lets go. And that's why we are able to have such comfort from God's Word that whether we live or whether we die we are the Lord's and beloved this truth in the third place was Obadiah's confidence in this enlistment verse 15 Elijah said as the Lord Almighty lives whom I serve I will surely present myself to Ahab today so Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him Obadiah went. He was confident because his fear had been conquered. Elijah made an awesome promise, an oath, an oath, and he calls God Himself, His Master, as a witness with the added instructions. Notice, not now just go tell him that Elijah is here, but for Obadiah, he says, I will surely present myself to Ahab today. thus removing all of Obadiah's fear. Ultimately, because his eyes were opened with the very words of Elijah calling upon the Lord Almighty, the Lord of hosts, as it's also translated, Yahweh Sabaoth. Now, beloved, that might not mean a whole lot to you and I as we sit here today and just hear that name. But it meant much to Obadiah. Indeed, it would have been a reminder of God's sovereignty that Israel's God is mightier than all. I don't know how to put it more simply yet more broadly than that. He is mightier than all. With that title, Obadiah is being reminded that all of the hosts of heaven, all of the forces of nature, All power is subject to Jehovah. And while Ahab, Ahab himself, he's just another creature. While on Obadiah's side was the unlimited power of God. The unlimited power of God that had already preserved Obadiah to this point through the drought and through hiding the hundred. The unlimited power of God of whom John says, He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. Beloved Obadiah's eyes were opened by faith through this very name, Lord Almighty. Just as Elisha's servant saw the hosts of heaven firsthand, you remember that in 2 Kings 6, Elisha's house was surrounded by the army, the Aramean army. His servant became afraid, and we read, Don't be afraid, the prophet answered. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. And Elisha prayed, O Lord, open his eyes so he may see. Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. Obadiah's eyes didn't see those hosts with a physical eye, but he saw them by faith. The hosts of heaven on his side. Elijah shifted Obadiah's attention away from Ahab to where it belonged, namely to the Lord, thus removing his fear. And in essence, with this powerful reminder, as Paul says, if God is for us, who can be against us? And of course, we know the answer to that. There is no one who can effectively be against us. Beloved, so often we let what we see with our eyes distract us. For example, we let high gas prices or stock market numbers or we let a growing cult community, especially Islam, and it is a fearful thing, or we let a terminal diagnosis or we let needs versus a lack of resources, we let all kinds of things that we can see take our eyes off of our sovereign God and His Word of promise. Paul tells us that that which was seen, that which is seen is temporary. But that which is unseen is eternal. Beloved, one commentator says, Someone who truly believes will no longer be afraid of any enemy once he has seen the greatness, the majesty, and the power of his faithful covenant God, his Father in heaven. Beloved, that is the power of the cross of Jesus Christ, isn't it? A demonstration of the greatness and the majesty and the power and the faithfulness of God. Jesus Christ was not defeated on Calvary, but He is victorious. He defeated. His victory is proof that nothing and no one can frustrate or foil God's plan. His victory is proof that those who are in Jesus Christ are more than conquerors. Again, there are many details and situations and circumstances that seek to remove our eyes from Jesus and distract us and cause us doubt and fear but the holy spirit with god's word brings our eyes of faith again and again to the cross and to our lord jesus christ who is more powerful than all again and again he lifts our eyes to see to be reminded that we are safe in his hands and therefore in the face of conflict and and distress and loss in this world the church is called to take the lead and point to jesus christ in the face of wickedness the church is called to stand up with the truth and fight in the face of danger and difficulty the church is called to bring God's word of comfort because what a message what a message of salvation the church has the privilege and the duty to proclaim the word of God alone Jesus Christ the only answer for sin for man's desperate condition god would confront evil and wickedness the evil and wickedness that had taken hold of and that had been embraced by his people he would confront it through elijah obadiah was commissioned to announce that confrontation and the church of jesus christ beloved believers are called to announce that jesus christ has confronted satan and evil head-on he has conquered it he is victorious and His work is perfect, it is complete, it is eternal for all who repent of their sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, placing their trust in Him alone. And God's people, His church, is able to stand on that front line, encouraged, strengthened by Him with confidence, because as Martin Luther so aptly wrote, and though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God has willed his truth to triumph through us. The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him. His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure. One little word shall fell him. Beloved, we are called to serve him on the front lines with confidence that we belong to him, Body and soul. In life and in death. Both now and forever. Amen.