Elijah Calls Down Fire [Part 2]

Pastor, author and Bible teacher, Alan Wright. The Bible doesn't teach that we're morally neutral or certainly morally good, but that every single person is self-centered. And though there might be in your mind a scale of some people who are better than other people, God doesn't see it on a scale like that.

He's perfect and holy, and we've sinned and we've gone our own way. That's Pastor Alan Wright. Welcome to another message of good news that will help you see your life in a whole new light. I'm Daniel Britt, excited for you to hear the teaching today in the series Miracle Man as presented at Rinaldo Church in North Carolina. If you're not able to stay with us throughout the entire program, I'd like to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month to Alan Wright Ministries.

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Here's Alan Wright. What happens at verse 9 is that he came to a cave and lodged in it and behold the word of the Lord came to him and he said to him, what are you doing here Elijah? You know you need to always pay attention when an omniscient being asks you a question. God knows everything, so if he asks Elijah a question, it's not because God needs information, it's because Elijah needs transformation. It's interesting within the Jewish culture, especially amongst the rabbis, there's a common practice to answer a question with a question. Once a student came to his rabbi and said, Rabbi, why is it that whenever I ask you a question, you just answer it with a question? And the rabbi said, ah, so what's so wrong with a question? You know, Jesus did this, he often did this. Somebody come in and say something like, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

And instead of immediately answering, Jesus said, why do you call me good? Because you could ask a question and it makes you think, which enables you to grow. Sometimes our children, you know, they come and they might have an assignment to write an essay or something, and since I'm sort of the writer and the family, they might come to me and say, I can't think of anything to write this essay on, and what should I do it on?

Well, you know, I could think of five good ideas right then, but instead of just saying, here's what you should write it on, and here let me give you an outline, that doesn't help this child, does it? You say, well, what are you interested in regarding this era of history? What makes you curious? What causes you to pause? What disturbs you about this subject?

What are the things that surprises you? This is how you're going to discover what you should write about. In other words, you want to ask a question because you want them to be able to grow, right? So part of this is that God wants him to grow, and I think the second part of it is he asks a question because God cares. You know, sometimes if you take time to listen, if you just ask somebody a question and just listen, you might give them the most precious gift that they have ever had, just a caring friend, somebody that says, God becomes Elijah's therapist, at least for a few moments, Elijah, what are you doing here? Tell me what's going on with you, Elijah, I'm listening, and even though Elijah's words are not accurate, and his feelings are not really grounded in truth, they're still feelings, and something we try to remind ourselves in our home is that feelings are feelings, and therefore they're valid.

If you want to tell somebody how you're feeling, we're not going to immediately seek to disqualify that, but sometimes what we need to do is just listen, and if you could listen before you tried to fix somebody, it might really help them, and you know, God does that with this, ask a question, but I think thirdly, it's a question that is designed to help Elijah admit his aimlessness at this point in his life, because the question, what are you doing here, is in the first place to say, Elijah, what are you doing? What are you doing? Well, I'm just here in this cave talking to you, God. I mean, what are you, what are you, what are you doing? Well, I won this great battle at Mount Carmel.

It was amazing how you showed up there, God. That was awesome, and then, you know, I did get discouraged, but now I've come a long journey, 40 days journey, and I've come, I've come here to Mount, I know, I know all that, Elijah, but what are you, what are you doing in this season of your life? Maybe eventually you had to kind of admit to himself, well, I'm not really doing anything right now.

I don't know what to do. Getting in touch with his aimlessness, and he's not just saying, what are you doing? He's saying, what are you doing here? You know, I always assumed that Elijah went to Mount Horeb, which is probably the same place as Mount Sinai, where Moses got the Ten Commandments, and I always assumed that Elijah went there because God had told him to, but the more I studied this text, the more I realized that that's not really the case. Elijah, when God says, what are you doing here? Elijah doesn't say, well, you told me to come here, and furthermore, as I began to study it, it says he traveled 40 days and 40 nights, which could be a figure of speech, just meaning a really long time, or it could be literal, but in either event, it was more time than what was needed for him to be able to travel there. What are you doing here?

He says. You know, it's interesting if you think about this, if you could see this on a map, you would realize that what he did was he started at Mount Carmel with this huge victory, and then he runs 17 miles to Jezreel nearby, where Ahab had a summer home, and then he gets discouraged. He goes 100 miles south to Beersheba into the wilderness, and God comes and feeds him with supernatural food, and with the strength of that food, the text says he traveled 40 days to Mount Horeb, which Sinai is at the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, 200 miles to the south, so he's now 300 miles south of Mount Carmel, but if you look at the text, where does God tell him his real ministry is going to be next? He says you're going back to Damascus. You're going to anoint a king there. He is over 300 miles away from anywhere that God had a plan for him, and what's interesting is that this whole journey down through the Sinai Peninsula that it says was 40 days, this is the same wilderness that the people of God wandered in for 40 years after they'd refused to take the Promised Land, so what has happened here is that in a journey that even if he were to go the 200 miles from Beersheba down to Mount Horeb, we know that it was expected in that time, according to an unusual text in Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 2 that says that from an area near Beersheba down to Mount Sinai that it is about an 11 days journey, and Moses has taken him 10 or 11 days to journey down there, but he spent 40 days.

What has he been doing? He's just wandering until he finds himself at a cave on Mount Horeb. Maybe he's just said to himself well this is where Moses came, this is a holy mountain, he's just going aimlessly, that's what this is a picture of is the aimlessness of the mighty prophet and how God comes to speak to him. Now we come to verse 10, Elijah said, I've been very jealous for the Lord the God of hosts for the people of Israel forsaken your covenant thrown down your altars and killed your prophets with a sword and I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away.

There's a whole lot of I and me and my language in this isn't it? I've been very jealous for the other people hadn't been but I have been and even I, I only am left and they can try to take my life away and it's an odd thing that we could become self-absorbed and aimless at the same time, but actually they go hand in hand don't they? Because when you really know where you're going on a mission from God you're not thinking about yourself so much but when you're aimless you wake up every day going what am I supposed to be doing? What's my role? What am I supposed doing? Why am I here?

What am I doing? And so God comes to him mercifully in the middle of this man's life that's without direction verse 11 and he said go out and stand on the mount before the Lord and behold the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind sounds like me like a tornado like a tornado that would have just swept him away if he hadn't been in a cave and after the wind an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake the ground shook could have been a huge rock slide everything's like it's falling apart the Lord wasn't in that and then after that a fire but the Lord was not in the fire there is a tornado an earthquake tectonic plates are shifting and a fire that is not a little campfire to warm himself by but a brush fire that is unbridled and consuming everything and its path the forces of nature demonstrating the glory and the power of God and yet God manifests all of these grand things and then reveal himself in the midst of it this mountain where Moses had met with God and the people weren't even allowed to touch the mountain because it was too holy and Moses was meeting with God this mountain where God put Moses in the cleft of a rock and all the greatness of God seen but that's not what Elijah needed at the moment Elijah already believed in the greatness of God he had seen God do great things what he needed was something altogether different it is possible to have seen the greatness of God and even be used by God for great things and feel distant from him Elijah you've experienced some very dramatic things that's wonderful but a walk with me the Lord is saying isn't about you having a Mount Carmel every day it's about you being close to my heart and me speaking to you knowing that God is powerful and awesome is important but that doesn't heal your heart something more intimate is needed that's Alan Wright and we'll have more teaching in a moment from today's important series if you yearn to see more of God's power in your life you'll love Pastor Alan's devotional journal everyday miracles it's a one-month journey through the stories of Elijah and his successor Elisha that include daily devotionals from Pastor Alan questions for reflection space for journaling and a daily prayer of faith this beautiful spiral bound book is the perfect tool to get you into the word and to build your faith day by day when you make a gift this month we'll send you Alan Wright's new devotional journal everyday miracles as our way of saying thanks for your partnership also free digital access to all the Elijah messages currently airing so please make your gift today and start looking for miracles all around you the gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries this broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support now we are in our final days of offering this special product call us at 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 or come to our website pastor Alan org today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan Wright after the earthquake of fire verse 12 but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire the sound of a low whisper what some translations have said a still small voice a little whisper and when Elijah heard it he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave and behold there came a voice to him and asked the same question what are you doing here Elijah so God got his attention with a whisper you know partly this is just a good strategy because if you want to get somebody's attention sometimes you're just gonna get it better with a whisper it reminded me of old trick I used to use when leading kids at camp and stuff and and we do a little song that lead you know trying to get ready for getting them quiet so they could listen to a message and we the old days we do this song called whose side you leaning on and you ever heard of that whose side are you leaning on and then old kids get I'm leaning on the Lord's side and then go I lean I lean I lean I lean and they all leaning on the Lord's side and then we be like whose side are you dancing on and then they just all dance out dance out dance out dance you know and then we get to this point and this is the trick who's side are you shouting on and And there's nothing that elementary age boys like to do more than shout And so they write I'll shout out shout out shout out shout out shout it on the Lord's side just let him shout And then you come to say whose side are you whispering on? whispering on the Lord's side and then I go out whisper out whisper out whisper out whisper out whisper out whisper out and then we go whose side are you sitting down on? You just trick him into listening to you Farley he just wanted to get Elijah's attention as power and a whisper whispers the voice of comfort If a mother's baby's crying you'll never help the baby by shouting at the baby but a whisper a lullaby Comforts whispers the voice of closeness So it's like if Ann and I were in some busy event out in the a Downtown area and crowds are out and she's on one side of the street I'm on the other if I need to get her attention and be like Ann Ann over here Ann You gotta have a louder voice because you're not you're not near each other but if we were just at a restaurant having dinner with friends and There's some noise all around the restaurant, but you're nearby like Ann Ann could you pass the salt? But if we have our own dinner quiet and intimate Maybe a quiet place with candlelight then your voices go lower right or closer and then that evening and Speaking to each other from our pillows you might whisper In other words, it's the language the voice that you use when you're close to someone and A whisper is the voice of intimacy because you whisper secrets This really in many ways what?

Makes a relationship Intimate is there are things that I tell you. I don't tell other people and it's not meant for other people It is a whisper because I want you to know that there's a uniqueness to my love for you and God has an intimate voice That's odd But that intimate voice of God that whisper in many ways can be more scary than any other manifestation of God and And yet in it is the nourishment that we need because we're made for intimacy with God We are as God's children on the one hand We are the people who have become enthralled with his glory and awe And yet there's a mystery of being a child of God where we are also those children That have had intimate communication from God in a relationship with God So that we're very close to him as our father and this is an unusual thing to be able to hold these in the proper Tension to know his greatness and in that sense to be in awe of him and yet to know his closeness and like he is our father he's like makes me think of you know, like you'll watch somebody that was just won the Super Bowl and 100 million people are Are celebrating the celebrity of the quarterback and then he goes and picks up his two-year-old child And the child is unimpressed with the Super Bowl victory but he's very interested in the rough face of his daddy or just wanting to be hugged or do something silly with him because What is important to him is not that my dad is the Super Bowl champion But he is my father and I just have both of these things that went on in me all the time with God I am in awe of his greatness this one Who is greater than anything I could imagine and I'm in awe but if you're his child, you're his heir and you're a co-heir with Christ and there is a part of what Christian life is all about where you can feel the heartbeat of God and hear his whisper and you are Simultaneously impressed by his holiness and yet you are so warmed by his love That you're just a little child in his arms. And that's what Elijah needed. He needed to know the closeness of God Because sometimes when you go through the most difficult seasons of life When you so want God to shout When you so God want God to fix every problem I'm telling you sometimes what God does instead is a greater miracle. He comes and whispers to you I've told the story often, but I think back and love to tell this miracle story that during one of the hardest seasons of our lives now many years ago several things came together to make it very difficult and the greatest the problem of which was Ann's little sister Mary had Received an unwelcome diagnosis of cancer that no one could have imagined That a young woman with four little children who's never smoked has lung cancer and so it advanced too far and it got into her bones and she bravely fought and The ministry of the church and the prayer and became the consuming focus of all of our lives asking God to heal her in this earth and This cancer that eventually took her life.

It was also busy trying to take away our joy and Consumed every bit of our lives. It's just one of those times in this same Season not long thereafter Ann was in a terrible car crash where somebody ran a stop sign full speed hit her car overturned it our Baby girl and one of our nieces was in there at first when I saw it I thought perhaps they were dead and gone and God spared their lives and went therapy for her leg that was injured Ministry was challenging and difficult. We were understaffed We had a very difficult season Who amongst us hasn't gone through seasons like that Alan Wright personal moment from Alan's life years He's sharing and we're gonna continue with this teaching from the series Miracle Man and today's teaching Elijah calls down fire In fact, Alan is in the studio here in just a moment with a final word today unlock the power of blessing your life Discover God's grace-filled vision for your life by signing up for Alan Wright's free daily blessing If you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement get Alan Wright's daily blessing It's free and just a click away at pastor Alan org If you yearn to see more of God's power in your life, you'll love Pastor Alan's devotional journal everyday miracles It's a one-month journey through the stories of Elijah and his successor Elisha that include daily devotionals from Pastor Alan questions for reflection space for journaling and a daily prayer of faith This beautiful spiral bound book is the perfect tool to get you into the word and to build your faith day by day When you make a gift this month We'll send you Alan Wright's new devotional journal everyday miracles as our way of saying thanks for your partnership Also free digital access to all the Elijah messages currently airing So, please make your gift today and start looking for miracles all around you The gospel is shared when you give to Alan Wright Ministries This broadcast is only possible because of listener financial support when you give today We will send you today's special offer. We are happy to send this to you as our thanks from Alan Wright Ministries Now we are in our final days of offering this special product Call us at eight seven seven five four four forty eight sixty. That's eight seven seven five four four Four forty eight sixty or come to our website pastor Alan dot org I'll reflecting on your own life and even with this story here examples of the gospel of grace all around It's when you read the Old Testament like the story we're in now and you see Elijah This this calling down a fire Which is a picture of judgment And some people go well, yeah, see that's the way God is and others ago I don't want to have anything to do with the God if that's way is right Yeah, but what we're really saying is the mercies of God because when Jesus came His disciples at one point said shall we call fire down on these people and they were harkening back to what Elijah did But Jesus didn't have them call down fire on people because Jesus himself came to be the man under fire under the wrath of God and It's a picture of God's grace so one of those kind of tough texts in the scripture that nonetheless when we're going through the difficult times and we wonder Are we under the judgment of God or we know if you're in Christ? He's taken all the judgment for you. And So it's a powerful picture. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries