Which Side Are You On? | Waiting on God

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Learn more and sign up at harvest.org. God energizes us as we wait upon Him. Maybe the reason you're so tired and worn out and depleted is because you haven't taken time to just wait on the Lord. None of us likes to wait.

Like when we're on hold, hearing that annoying music repeat over and over again. Or when we're in line at the grocery store or the airport, or in the waiting room at the doctor's office, and a name is finally called and we go to the exam room to wait some more. Today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out when we wait on God, it can renew us. We'll see some great miracles took place through the prophet Elijah after a time of waiting on the Lord. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 18. That's right after 1 Kings 17 if you don't know where to turn.

The title of my message is Which Side Are You On? And we're talking of course about Elijah the prophet. And it's a series we're calling Elijah the Power to Stand. And we're looking at how one man's life made a difference and Israel had gone off the rails spiritually and morally.

Whenever you go off the rails spiritually, you'll go off the rails morally too. And that's exactly what they had done. Instead of worshiping the true and living God who had been so good to them, they turned to false gods.

They turned to idols. And specifically, in their case, they turned to Baal and Ashtoreth. And in fact it was Jezebel the queen who brought the worship of Baal into Israel. Ahab was a spineless man who was really manipulated by effectively the wicked witch of the west. Jezebel.

So they're in charge and everything is going the wrong direction. Enter Elijah who enters the picture with boldness and courage and throws down the gauntlet. I wonder if some of you feel like you're the only one around who speaks up for your faith. Maybe it's in your family.

Maybe it's in your workplace or your campus or your neighborhood or wherever. But you feel all alone. And that's probably how Elijah felt.

He actually wasn't the only one but he felt like it at times. So we're going to read now one of the most well-known stories in all of the Bible. This is where they're up in Mount Carmel. This is bigger than the Thrilla in Manila. This is bigger than the Rumble in the jungle. Jungle. Not jumble.

There's no jumble. These are fights from days gone by if you don't know what I'm talking about. This is the shootout at the Carmel Corral. This is where Elijah stands up on Mount Carmel and throws down a challenge and says, Let's ask the real God to answer us by fire. An appropriate challenge considering the fact that Baal in theory was the God of the elements. The God of the sun. The God of the rain. The God of everything. And so let's go ahead and just let God answer us himself. Fire from heaven. Can you imagine if you had the power to call fire down from heaven? Elijah did. And he used it on two occasions.

One is on Mount Carmel. The other is when a king sent a captain of 50 soldiers to arrest Elijah who was up on a hill. And the captain said, Elijah, man of God. The king says, come down from that hill right now. Elijah says, if I'm a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 soldiers. Well, he was a man of God. And fire came down.

Now another poor guy is tasked with doing the same thing. He comes up to Elijah up in the hill and he says, oh man of God. The king says, come down from there. Elijah says, if I'm a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50 soldiers. He was still a man of God.

They got torched too. The third guy is like, hi, sir, Mr. Elijah. Look, I'm just on my job here.

I already heard what happened to the other guys. Would you pretty please come down? Here's pictures of my family. Look. Elijah says, okay. Because then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, go with him.

So he had this ability. Man, if I had the ability to call fire down from heaven, there would be some torched people on the freeway. Right? The crazy things people do coming over eight lanes, right? Or tailgating you the whole time. Or the things that people do. And there would be some torched people using cell phones too.

Especially people using cell phones on the freeway. Which is the reason they do a lot of the crazy things that they do. In fact, an interesting story in the New Testament. James and John, aptly described as the sons of thunder, were upset because a certain city in Samaria was not hospitable to Jesus and the disciples. And they said, Lord, shall we call fire down from heaven on them as Elijah did? Jesus is like, oy vey, guys.

Come on. I didn't come to torch people. I came to save people. And then he said, you don't even know what kind of spirit you're of to make a statement like this. But Elijah never used this ability for a personal purpose or to vent his anger. He did it when the Lord called him to do. Where did Elijah get this courage that he had?

Reviewing back in something I gave in the first message, if you're taking notes. Number one, Elijah stood continually in the presence of God. Elijah stood continually in the presence of God. He said to King Ahab, as the Lord God lives, 1 Kings 17, 1.

As the Lord God lives, before whom I stand, there will not be rain, but according to my word. He served a living God and he was aware of the fact that he constantly was in the presence of God. And when you stand in the presence of God, you will not bow before any other person.

Proverbs 28, 1 says, the righteous are as bold as a lion. Secondly, Elijah was a man of prayer. James 5, 17 says, Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain and it did not rain in the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed and the heavens gave rain and the earth produced its crop. It was Elijah's prayer in private that was a source of his power in public.

Let me say that again. It was Elijah's prayer in private that was a source of his power in public. That's where he got his courage. Thirdly, Elijah knew scripture and acted on it. There's a statement given to us in Deuteronomy 11 where God warned if Israel turned to idols, he would send a draught to their land.

And so he knew what the word of God said, so what he did was based on scripture. Fourthly, Elijah faithfully delivered the message. This is not an easy message to deliver. Hey everybody, you're going to experience a great draught and many of you are going to die. You've been a great audience. Good night. God bless.

Mic drop right now. Who wants to give a message like that? And in the same way it's hard for us sometimes to tell people what the Bible says about final judgment and how Christ is the only way to the Father and maybe we have a discomfort with certain areas of scripture, but if we want to serve the Lord and represent him, we need to give his truth and not edit it or varnish it or whitewash it or anything else. Also, number five, Elijah was a man of faith and obedience. So after he throws down the gauntlet in the court of Ahab and Jezebel, the Lord says, okay, let's go. You're leaving. And he sends him to a little brook called Cherith. He has to go off the grid. Action man has to be quiet because this is an outdoorsy kind of rough and tumble kind of guy and now he has to go and basically be silent and wait on the Lord. He could have complained.

He could have said no, but he did exactly what God called him to do. You know, we live in an instant gratification culture today, don't we? You download everything. You want to read a book? Just download it. Have it in a few seconds. You can get your news real time on the feed, on your phone.

You can send a text and food is on the way. You want to watch a movie? Remember the days Blockbuster? We'd go on Blockbuster and rent these things called video tapes. Remember the statement, be kind, rewind. Remember that?

It's like ancient history. Then there were DVDs. Oh, DVDs. And so you could get an account with Netflix and they would send you a DVD and then you would watch it and you would return the DVD and so forth and then it became downloadable and now everything is downloadable.

Who even looks at DVDs anymore? So we are used to getting things quickly, immediately. Amazon, same day delivery. Whatever you need you can have it now. So it's hard. Well God says to us, slow down. But God has this timing. You know when you see a work of God that is working it is always the right person in the right place at the right time.

And just as important as the will of God is, is the timing of God. We read over in Isaiah 40-31 They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Notice that God energizes us as we wait upon Him. Maybe the reason you are so tired and worn out and depleted is because you haven't taken time to just wait on the Lord. To just sit before the Lord.

You are always on the go, always moving, always active. And sometimes it is good to just sit. And that is what Elijah did for a prolonged period of time. Then the Lord said, now I want you to go over to some widow's house and ask her for free food and live there for a while. And he did it and he obeyed the Lord. And God was getting him ready. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment.

Whenever you send us an email, letter, or post a comment on social media we read every word. Pastor Greg, I've been listening to A New Beginning since 1980 when I first came to know the Lord. Although I never visited Harvest Christian Fellowship until recently I would always listen to you and appreciated your steadfast unmovable and faithful teaching of God's word. I'm grateful for your continued love for the lost. May you continue with the grace of God, Pastor Greg. How have these daily studies touched you and your family?

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Do it today while you're thinking about it. Again, that's Greg at Harvest dot org. And now Pastor Greg continues this fascinating section of scripture in his message called, Which Side Are You On? So now we come to 1 Kings 18 verse 2 and we're introduced to a man named Obadiah. Meanwhile, the family had become very severe in Samaria. So Ahab summoned Obadiah who was in charge of the palace.

And then we have this very important statement. Obadiah was the devoted follower of the Lord. Once when Jezebel had tried to kill all the Lord's prophets Obadiah hid a hundred of them in two caves. So Elijah's making his way to the palace and here comes Obadiah who's in charge of the palace of the king. But then this detail is added because we could quickly say, Oh, in charge of the palace of the king, that's a wicked king.

This is a corrupt man. Oh no, it says he's a devoted follower of the Lord. God often places his people in positions of significance. Think of Joseph there in the court of the Pharaoh giving him advice. Daniel before two kings advising them as well. Nehemiah, the cup bearer of the king who had the king's trust. Who was able to take that position he had and use it for God's glory and help to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. And the king even funded it.

It was amazing. And so God will often place his people in these important positions. I think sometimes we think, you know, when you become a Christian now you need to serve the Lord and you probably should be a pastor or a preacher or maybe work in a church staff or at least just go hang around at the church all day and criticize other people, right?

No, no. God has a calling for many people. God has not called us to isolate but to infiltrate. Listen, we need Christian teachers in our schools today, right? We need Christian doctors. We need Christian businessmen. We need Christian lawyers, especially Christian lawyers.

We need Christian mayors and congressmen and senators and Christians in politics. God puts people in amazing places. How about Alice Cooper, right? I've written a book, you know, Lenin, Dylan, Alice and Jesus. Is it possible that God can place his men in the middle of rock music to be an influence on other people?

The answer is yes, by the way. And Alice told me that he shared the gospel with Johnny Depp. He told me that he gave a Bible to Marilyn Manson. I said, did he burn it or anything?

He said, oh no, he was thankful to get it, you know. So not everyone's called to be an Elijah. Some are called to be an Obadiah. We might say, well, they're compromisers.

Why do you say that? God put them there and the Bible says he was a deeply committed man to the Lord. Think of Queen Esther. You can see she was a compromiser. She was in a beauty contest. That's sinful.

Really? Well, looks like the Lord had his hand on all those events. And she ultimately became the queen.

And it's an interesting thing. She didn't walk in and say, hey everybody, I'm Jewish, just in case you didn't know. She kept it to herself until she needed to use her influence for good and ended up saving the Jewish people because God had put her there for such a time as this. Some of us are called to be Elijah's. Some of us are called to be Obadiah's.

But every one of us is called to use our influence for God's glory wherever we are. You know, it's an interesting story when Jesus was talking about how John would live on longer and how Peter would die. Peter didn't like what he was hearing. And he said about John, well, what about him? And Jesus said, what is that to you? Follow me. And sometimes we're like, hey, what about him?

Well, I don't agree with that. Hey, the Lord says, what's that to you? You follow me. Don't worry about how well someone is doing it somewhere else or if they're not meeting your expectations and just make sure you're using your life to bring glory to God where the Lord has placed you. Stay in your lane and focus.

Focus. All right, so Obadiah goes back and says to Ahab, guess who's back? Elijah, the prophet, he's kind of hard to miss.

He's that hairy dude with the crazy clothes and the wild look, yes. He wants to talk to you. So Ahab can't wait to confront Elijah. 1 Kings 18, verse 16. So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come and Ahab went out to meet Elijah and when Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, so is that really you, troublemaker of Israel? Elijah replied, I didn't make any trouble for Israel. You and your family are the troublemakers for you've refused to obey the commands of the Lord and you've worshiped the images of Baal instead. We'll stop there.

Interesting statement. Ahab calls Elijah the troublemaker of Israel. It's for troublemakers from a root word that means one who wreaks havoc or brings a pestilence or is a plague. The Hebrew word is snake. Ah, snake in the grass, Elijah.

The one that's caused all the chaos. You're like a walking plague, man. Why are you even here? Elijah says, I'm not the walking plague, you are. You're the one that brought this upon yourself.

And I just think about the differences life made. We need more troublemakers like this today, right? Because the church is the only hope for America. The church, you say, why do you say that? Because the church established by Christ himself is the restrained force in the world today. You know, I mentioned earlier that we're called to be salt and light in the world and salt in the first century was used as a preservative.

It was used to stop the rotting of the meat. And in many ways the church stands and we speak out against what is wrong. We speak up for what is true. And the anti-Christ can't even be revealed until the church is caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Because we're told in Thessalonians, he who now restrains will continue to do so until he is taken out of the way and then that wicked one will be revealed whom the Lord will destroy with the brightness of his coming.

It's speaking of the work of the Holy Spirit through the church. We're the restraining force. Imagine if we were suddenly taken from this earth overnight how easily evil could spread rapidly, quickly with no one speaking up, no one saying a thing.

And so you can see how our influence is so needed in our culture. So Elijah says, okay Ahab, here's the deal. 1 Kings 18, 19. Summon all of Israel to join me on Mount Carmel along with the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Ashtoreth who are supported by Jezebel. Elijah likes these odds.

850 to one. Bring out all your false prophets. Let's get up there on Mount Carmel.

Tell Israel to show up. You know, bring their popcorn and milk duds and let's do this thing. Let's have it out. Let's have this battle right now. It was the battle of the gods.

Here's what amazes me. Is Ahab agrees to this. Now why would he think he had any advantage over Elijah? Baal, his god of the elements of the weather was kind of a dud, right? He had not brought the rain when Elijah said it would not rain. Why did he think that Baal would be able to send fire from heaven?

Why would he agree to this thing and put all Israel up there to watch it? Simple answer. I've said it before.

I'll say it again. Sin makes you stupid. This is the biggest mistake of Ahab's life. To agree with this idea. 1 Kings 18, 20. So Ahab summoned all of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. Elijah stood in front of them and said, how much longer will you waver hobbling between two opinions if the Lord is God, follow him.

If Baal is God, then follow him. But look at this. But the people were completely silent. Their silence was deafening.

Why? Because they worshiped many gods. And they did not want to stop. So hey, let's go. Let's see who has the real God. Well, the best part of this story is yet to come. Pastor Greg Laurie will have more from this encounter between God's prophet Elijah and the 850 prophets of Baal and Asherah.

Be sure to keep listening to A New Beginning. You know, it really speaks to a similar choice we each have to make for ourselves. Who are we going to choose to be our God?

The real God, the God of heaven and earth, wants to have a relationship with us. But it comes down to a choice. Pastor Greg, some people have never made a choice.

Maybe they think it'll just all work out in the end. But this isn't something to gamble with, is it? No, this is one area of your life you want to be sure about. Where you're going to spend eternity. The Bible says these things we write to you that you may believe on the Son of God and that you may know that you have eternal life. Listen, I know I have eternal life. I know I'll go to heaven one day.

And I hope that doesn't sound boastful. And if it does, I'm boasting on what God has done for me, not on what I've done for God. The reason I know these things is because I've turned from my sin and I've put my faith in Christ, you see. And if you do the same, you can have the same hope. You just need to call out to the Lord, an adventurous sinner, and ask Jesus Christ to forgive you and come into your life. The Bible says whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Will you call upon him right now? I'm gonna pray a simple prayer. And I'm gonna ask you to pray this prayer after me, if you would. So if you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die, if you want to know for certain that Christ is living in your life, then pray this prayer with me.

Just pray these words, Lord Jesus. I know I am a sinner, but I know you are the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. I turn from my sin now, and I choose to follow you from this moment forward as my Savior and my Lord, as my God and my friend. Thank you for hearing this prayer. Thank you for answering this prayer. And I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. And listen, if you have just prayed that prayer with Pastor Greg and you've meant those words sincerely, the Lord has forgiven your sin, and you're now a Christian. And we want to help you get started in this new life of faith. Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believers Bible.

It's in an easy-to-understand translation, and there are scores of features to help a new believer build a solid foundation. So get in touch and ask for the New Believers Bible. We'll send it out free of charge. Just call us at 1-800-821-3300.

You can call any time 1-800-821-3300. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. Well, it's such a joy to make available a brand new book from author Max Lakato called What Happens Next? It's a wonderful book about the last days.

Each page is so full of inspiration and insight. Max, let me ask you, what's the one thing you'd say to those who know they have just a short time left? What do they need to know about what's coming? Well, first of all, say yes to Jesus. The purpose of this life is to decide where we're going to spend the next life.

And so just say yes to him. Just make sure that your name's written in the book of life. And then embrace the brevity of this life.

You know, it's going to fast quickly. I talk to people all the time as they're getting older. They're thinking, oh, I've got to get this done before I die, or I want to do this before I die. And they're in such a sense of almost despair because they feel like their time is running out. Hey, if your hope is in heaven, you're going to have plenty of time to do everything that's wonderful, so don't you worry about that.

Go ahead and embrace the brevity of this life, and then get excited about the beauty of the next life. One time when I turned 60 years of age, I took a big rope, and I had my daughters over there all at the house. And I took a rope, and I threw it over our balcony. And I said, let this rope represent my whole existence, my eternal life. And I gave each one of them a marker. And I said, now mark on this rope the duration of your father's life. And they looked at me and gave me a quizzical look. And then they began to nod.

And one of them said, Dad, I can't make the dot small enough. And that's really a picture of this life. I know it can be a challenge. I know it can be rough. But it's going to pass quickly. The apostle Paul talked about these brief and momentary struggles are not worth comparing with the glory that awaits us. So if your days are coming to an end, get excited. Get excited. Not about how you use the rest of these days on earth, which is important, but how excited, how wonderful it's going to be the minute you close your eyes on this life and you begin your eternal life. I remember hearing Billy Graham say once what the greatest surprise of life has been for him and his answer was the brevity of it.

And you've just addressed that. And we want to be ready for eternity. And we've got a book that's going to point you to the ultimate book, which of course is the word of God. And this new book by Max Lucado is titled What Happens Next? Max has described this as prophecy 101. So if you've always wanted to study this topic of the end times and know more about the Antichrist and Armageddon and the tribulation period and the second coming and the millennium and the rapture, this is the book that you want.

What Happens Next? Prophecy 101 by Max Lucado. And we have a copy waiting for you. And we'll send it to you this month for your gift of any size. Make sure you get a copy. You're going to love it.

Yeah, that's true. It's such an encouraging resource on a topic that can be a little daunting. Max has said he wants people to be prepared, not scared. So get in touch with your investment in the work of this ministry. And we'll thank you with a copy of Max Lucado's new book, What Happens Next? Just call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime. That's 1-800-821-3300.

Or just go online to harvest.org. Hey, everybody. Greg Lori here. You know, making a will is something people often put off, but it's really important to plan ahead. In fact, it's so important, we've designated the month of August as National Make a Will Month. That means that this is the perfect time to start thinking through your estate planning, and I'm happy to announce we've partnered with our friends at Free Will to make it easier than ever. Free Will is an easy-to-use estate planning tool that allows you to make planned gifts to organizations of your choice. It's a creative opportunity to support the work that we're doing here at Harvest Ministries as we preach the gospel and teach God's work. So as you make your plans, I hope you'll consider investing in this ministry, helping us to continue to bring God's Word to our generation.

You can learn more at freewill.com slash harvest. Well, next time, more from our study of the life of Elijah and his encounter with the prophets of Baal. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher, Greg Lori. This is the day, the day when life begins. A New Beginning is a podcast made possible by Harvest Partners, helping people everywhere know God. If this show has impacted your life, share your story, leave a review on your favorite podcast app, and help others find hope.