Good to see everyone again. Midweek service here. If you would be, turning to our familiar portion in 1 Kings 18. We continue tonight in the study of the life of Elijah. This will be the twelfth lesson in the series. It will be the first part of a message entitled, Elijah's Meeting with Ahab. We have just finished the completion of his meeting with Obadiah. Now then, he's going to meet again with King Ahab. We'll read verses 1-6 of 1 Kings 18, and then jump down to verses 17-20. It came to pass, after many days, that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go show thyself unto Ahab, and I will send rain upon the earth. And Elijah went to show himself unto Ahab, and there was a sore famine, or severe famine, in Samaria. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, for it was so when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord that Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifty in a cave, fed them with bread and water. And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go unto the land, unto all fountains of water, unto all brooks, peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beast." So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it. Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. I'll jump down to verse 17. It came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he the trouble of Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel, but thou, and for thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and thou hast followed Balaam. Now therefore send and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred which eat at Jezebel's table. So they have sent unto all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together unto Mount Carmel. I hope you're beginning to sense there is a climactic part coming in our story. And it's going to be a fascinating thing when we see all of it unfold. Keep your Bibles open there in chapter 18 if you will notice first. In verse 1 we have another major change occurring in our story of Elijah. If you remember back in chapter 17 and verse 1, Elijah is called out of obscurity to appear before the most wicked king in the history of Israel. And he came to announce to Ahab a message of judgment. It was, quote, thou shall not, there shall not be dew nor rain, but according to my word, end quote. After delivering his message, then God removes Elijah from public view by sending him into seclusion by the remote brook Kireth for about a year. and then in the widow's house at Zarephath for about two and a half years. And in both places, Elijah's physical needs were supplied in miraculous ways. And in those events, Elijah is learning to trust in God. This is going to prepare him for his conflict with the false religious leaders at Mount Carmel. Now in chapter 18 and verses 1 and 2, God's time has come when he will bring Elijah out of seclusion to begin his public ministry. He must go by God's command now to confront Ahab with his sins. Nearly three and a half years have now passed without rain. and the effect of the drought has reached catastrophic proportions. Life for many people was now stretched to the breaking point. As Elijah travels to meet Ahab, devastation was as far as his eyes could see. Try to picture it. The brooks had dried up. And the fields seem to have been burned up by the wrath of God. There are no laborers out in the fields, for there's nothing to harvest. The marketplaces have been shut down, for there are no products to trade. All the birds have left the land, as there's nothing left for them to eat. And the only birds that are left are those who are feeding upon the decaying carcasses of the dead animals everywhere. The stench of death is throughout the land. You can smell it. How many of you raised on a farm? You ever smell a dead horse or a dead cow? Well, try to visualize this is wherever Elijah's going. There's death everywhere. To help picture the scene, just recall the scenes that you have seen on television of the effects of drought and famine in the regions of Africa. Flies and boils on the faces of dying children and adults. with rib bones protruding through their skin. The situation now is so desperate that Ahab must take personal action to find food for his livestock and his horses, which make up his military strength. The importance of horses to Ahab is reflected in the records of Shaman Eser III, king of Assyria who lived between 859 and 824 BC. And in his chronicles, or his records, he mentions that at one time Ahab had sent or loaned him 2,000 chariots to help defend himself against an invading Syrian army. Now picture that. That's quite a military accumulation, as a horse would be needed to pull each chariot. The military under Ahab is dependent upon his horses. And as he loses his horses, he loses his military strength and becomes vulnerable to invaders. Ahab has seen not only his economy collapse and his military power diminished as well. All of us are familiar right now that what happens to an American president if the economy doesn't go well. You can imagine the discontentment that is existing in Israel with The devastation, it's everywhere. And they are unable to do anything about it. The leader always gets blamed. And during this time, now, he is sending out his soldiers to try to locate Elijah, who he believes is the cause of all of this devastation. And meanwhile, Jezebel is taking out her wrath on the remaining prophets of God that are left in the land. So Ahab is concentrating on locating Elijah. He is going out into the different mountainous regions and the warlords there and requiring with a vow on their part, have you seen Elijah? And they have not been able to locate him for three and a half years. And Jezebel is trying to finish out the worship of God in the land by removing all of his representatives from the land. Disease, discouragement, depression, death, and anger are flooding the land of Israel. It is now, into the midst of this terrible scene, walks the man who is being blamed for it all, Elijah. Through the drought, God has demonstrated the weakness of Baal, the so-called rain god. He has also revealed his wrath upon the nation's sin of turning away from him and establishing the worship of Baalism. Now through the sending of rain, God would show that he alone was the living God of all creation to whom the people must worship and obey. And Elijah is now called upon by God to press the issue of whether the people of Israel will repent and follow Jehovah or whether they will continue to worship the false god of Baalism. Elijah, one man, has to go before the nation and confront the national leadership about who is God. You see what we're building up to see? It's going to be a battle of the gods. Who is God? Remember, Elijah's name is, The Lord is my God. At this point in the story, now we again meet Ahab, and discover that despite all of his sufferings, he has not repented, nor has he turned to the Lord. He is deeply troubled about his physical life and his loss of earthly comforts. While he could think upon his troubles, he would continue to ignore his sins which were the cause of his troubles. Now reflect on that. An ungodly person under stress and suffering can focus on their troubles. but they will not focus on the sins in Ahab's case which was causing his troubles. I make this note, as long as unbelieving sinners can obtain food and water, that is earthly comforts, they will remain at ease in the practice of their sins. Herein is a great biblical principle revealed. Now get this, this will be our main principle tonight. Sinful men will not repent and believe here regardless of their external circumstances unless God is pleased to sanctify the internal heart. If God blesses a sinner with His goodness, the sinner will not acknowledge God unless God also sanctifies his heart. He'll take the credit for his own blessings. Turn over to Romans 2 and verse 4. Prosperity will not convert a person. In Romans 2, 4, Paul states, Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the what? The goodness of God leadeth thee to what? Repentance. The goodness of God is designed to lead a person to repentance. That is, he is being long-suffering and forbearing toward the rebel, and yet the rebel will not respond to the goodness of God unless God by His Spirit works within. Paul goes on to say in verse 5, But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasureth up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Do we see the principle here? The prosperity of God being poured out upon a people will not bring about their repentance. So it is a mistake for religious people to think if we can just be good and bless other people and help them prosper, then they'll become Christians or they'll follow the Lord. Not so. It takes a work of sovereign grace within the heart. It's not the externals that convert the heart. It is that God must work through the externals, but He must then work within the heart to make it effectual. in our own land, the United States of America. The more that God has shown his goodness upon us and prospered our land, the more that God has faded from our view. If ever there should have been a nation that would have been filled with the glory of God and people loving God, it ought to be the United States of America, with the prosperity, that has been shown toward this land. And yet the more prosperous we have become, the further we've drifted away from God. Now, in contrast, neither will suffering and deprivation bring about repentance unless God accompanies it with a sanctification of the heart. The scenes of judgment depicted in the book of Revelation confirm this. The goodness of God will not cause a person to repent unless God converts the heart. Neither will the severity of God bring about repentance unless God works in the heart. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 9 and verse 20. Here we have some scenes of judgment. Revelation 9, 20 and 21. Here we read, And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repenteth not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood, which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk, neither repenteth they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts." No matter how many plagues God poured out, and no matter how severe the plagues were, it did not bring about repentance. Look on over in Revelation chapter 16 and verse 8. Follow up with the same illustration. Revelation 16, verse 8. And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. And men were scorched with great heat. Now what is their response? Humility? pleading for mercy, look, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues, and they repented not to give Him glory." Notice it is God who is in control of the famines. It is God who controls the plagues. And yet men, in spite of the suffering that they are exposed to, Become bitter and angry against God and do not repent. Verse 10, And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast, and his kingdom was full of darkness, and they gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their swords, and repented not of their deeds. Do you see where this is connecting in with Ahab? Three and a half years, no repentance. Pain, suffering, sores, and yet they blaspheme God and refuse to repent. Look down in verse 20, same chapter, 16. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found, and there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent. And men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the plague thereof was exceeding great." God has blessed America with great prosperity. as she has forgotten and forsaken him. But let us not mistakenly think that the present judgments of God which are upon this land are in themselves sufficient to bring our people back to repentance and turn them to God. Without a powerful work of grace in the heart, no one will turn from their love of self unto the glory of God. I have pastor friends that bring up at various meetings that it looks like the only way that God is going to turn this nation around is to bring it down to its knees and send different afflictions upon the land. where things become desperate. I remind them, no brethren, you can bring all of that and it will still not bring people back to God unless God accompanies those judgments with an internal work of the Spirit. It will only lead to more bitterness, more anger against God. So we cannot hope for a renewal of men based upon God's goodness in prospering them. And we cannot hope upon a renewal of men unto God based upon God's severity of His judgments upon them. Then what is our hope? Do you see why we call ourselves a sovereign grace church? This is why we are what we are, because our only hope is in the sovereign grace of God to elect Jews to bring, whether He prospers or whether He afflicts, to bring people to Himself by an internal work of the Spirit. That's our hope. It's not by might, not by power, but by what? My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. That's why we do not look to games and gimmicks and manipulations to try to influence people to come to God. My, if what you have just heard will not bring people to God, then a dog and pony show won't. We must double up our praying. Oh God, send forth revival. As our song leader led us tonight, revive us again. That's our only hope as a country, is for God to burst forth in a powerful work of His Spirit. The longer the drought continues, the harder the hearts of Ahab and Jezebel become. Now, as Elijah was traveling to meet Ahab, that's in chapter 18, verses 1 and 2, Ahab is traveling to meet Elijah, chapter 18 and verse 60. The thoughts, try to picture yourself, the thoughts running through each of their mind must have been very numerous and sobering. What are you supposed to be thinking about? Elijah could have been wondering what Ahab would do when his officers would surround him. Remember, he'd been looking for him. He's angry. He's upset. He's got the sword. Do you suppose he was uneasy and fearful? No, I don't think so. Because he knew that the one who had so faithfully watched over him and supplied his needs during the long drought would not fail him now. He could say with David in the 56th Psalm and verse 11, In God have I put my trust, I will not be afraid what men can do. Unto me. That's a tremendous verse. He could also calm his fears or his spirit with the words of Proverbs 18, verse 10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe. I go to meet the King in the name of the Lord. And who I represent, he's a safe tower. And he's taken care of me by the brook, the widow's house, and he'll take care of me by sending me to Ahab. I believe that Elijah also might be thinking that since God is going to send the rain, and has not God told him He's going to? Alright, God's going to send the rain. that Elijah must be concluding that the people must be going to repent and overthrow Baalism. Would it not be logical, David, to assume that since God had withheld the rain as a sign of judgment, that he would not restore the rain until the worship of God was restored in the land? And since he was Elijah, God's prophet, whose prayers were controlling the rain, then Ahab couldn't kill him. Do you get it? If I'm God's spokesman, and I prayed and shut up the heavens by my word, and God said, now then, we're going to open the heavens, And you're going to go and confront Ahab, then Ahab's not going to kill me because God's not going to send the rain unless the people change. Until there is a confrontation and Baalism is overthrown, there'll be no rain. And I'm the one that he's using. Ahab's not going to kill me. There is a way of looking at things logically. They don't always work out. according to our logic. But this is, I'm sure, how Elijah was thinking. And I think that this will help us to understand later on, when after the climactic contest on Mount Carmel is over, and Elijah is thinking, now then, Baalism is destroyed and the people will turn back to Jehovah. Instead, Jezebel sends out notice Veiled is still the state religion. And this time tomorrow, Elijah, you're going to be dead. And, Elijah, please. This will help us to understand his fight and his anticipation of God winning the victory in a dramatic way, where the whole land would be restored to the worship of Jehovah. Now in contrast to Elijah's thoughts as he's going to meet Ahab, Ahab's state of mind must have been far different. While his anger against Elijah was intense, yet he must have been half afraid to meet him. The very fact that Elijah was seeking him out must have made him uneasy. Remember, Elijah is saying to Obadiah, go tell Ahab, I want to see him. You say, well, that wouldn't make any difference to Ahab. He's got him in his hand. But remember, this is the man who walked into his courtroom before his throne and said, I control things. I'm taking over. Ahab's mind is perhaps uneasy as he travels on down the road to meet Elijah. After all, this was the man whose prediction concerning the rain had been so accurately fulfilled. He'd been warned by the prophet of the consequences that would come if he continued in the support of Baal worship. It had been demonstrated before his very eyes that the idols which he and Jezebel worshipped could not provide the reign which was so desperately needed. I mean, he can't deny these realities. Beloved, his conscience is convicting him. It's stirring him up. I'm going to meet a man who has shut up heaven, and he's wanting to talk to me. Ahab had every visible evidence that the Lord God of Elijah was the sovereign ruler of heaven and earth. He could not escape the reality of the man before he would soon stand. Beloved, catch this. Wicked men may be bold in the presence of others, but they are fearful when their own consciences accuse and condemn them. They may be very brazen outwardly, but men know there's a God. There's a God. There's a God. There's a God. And that conscience works to that effect. Such was the case with King Herod in the New Testament. You remember that, Brother Tim? Herod's relationship that he had with John the Baptist? Don't turn there, but over in Mark 6, 26, we are told, quote, Herod feared John knowing that he was a just man and holy, unquote. Herod was the one that was in control of John, but he feared John. Ahab controls Elijah, but he fears Elijah. He's had the evidence of what this hairy prophet can do. Also, do you not recall, though Paul was his prisoner, Felix, the Roman governor, trembled before Paul when he, quote, reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. End of quote, Acts 24, 25. Felix had Paul as his prisoner, and yet when Paul preached to him, he trembled when Paul talked about being right with God, self-control, and coming judgment. Wicked men may appear to be very brazen, but inwardly they are cowards when their consciences are stirred up. And beloved, we must take advantage of that. That's why we must not fear men. They ought to fear us. If God be for us, who can be against us? Let men fear us rather than we fear them. Now, one would have hoped that after all that's happened to Ahab and his people, that he would have approached Elijah with a humble spirit, sincerely desiring to receive spiritual instruction from him. One would have hoped that, but such was not the case. Upon seeing Elijah for the first time in three and a half years, He hurls forth the accusation. You're the one that's troubling Israel. You're the troublemaker. How different this was from the greeting that Obadiah gave Elijah, where he said in 1 Kings 18.7, Is that you, my Lord, Elijah? Incidentally, I'll bring this out next week as I had to cut this off at this point. I'd hoped to get the whole thing in one lesson tonight, but you know me, if you've been around, I can't squeeze things in any tighter. Chuck Swindoll, I gleaned from him, I'll bring this out next week too, when we deal with the Troubler of Israel. He brings out that the Hebrew word here for Troubler is also used in other cases to describe a snake, an asp, or a viper. And what Ahab's really saying, you sorry snake in the grass. I've been looking for you for three and a half years. You're the troublemaker. You're the cause of it all. You sorry snake. But Obadiah meets Elijah and says, Are you my Lord, Elijah? Concluding lesson tonight, the two greetings of Elijah by Obadiah and Ahab reveal another biblical truth. Namely, the spiritual state of a person is revealed by how comfortable they are in the presence of one who represents God and His authoritative Word. Did you get that? Do you want me to repeat it one more time? The spiritual state of a person is revealed by how comfortable they are in the presence of one who represents God and the authority of His Word. The Word of God is a searching thing. And if you're not right with God, you're not going to be comfortable around those who love the Word and proclaim the Word. Obadiah loved Elijah. Ahab hated him. And brother Jim, the more spiritual a church becomes, the more offensive it becomes to the world. You would think that the more spiritual a person is, the more attractive they would be. Would you not? But who do we have as the greatest example that that's not the case? Jesus Himself. He who went about doing good, healing the sick, helping the blind to see, the deaf to hear, feeding the multitudes. And yet, when it came to the end of His ministry, only a handful of disciples left. And the more closer that he came to the cross and the spiritual nature of the kingdom that he came to establish was becoming known to the people, the more they fell away. Will you also go away? No, Lord, only You have the words of life. Don't forget that. Don't become discouraged. that when you seek to know God better, that you find that you lose more friends and relatives. Let a person get saved in a family and you think that that would be good news for the whole family. In some cases it would be, if the family is all Christian. But in other cases, it produces strife and division. Am I right? A mother is turned against the daughter, and the father against the son, the brother against the brother, sister against sister, just because one comes to knowledge of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I repeat again, the spiritual state of a person is revealed by how comfortable they are in the presence of one who represents God and the authority of His Word. Let's close in prayer. Father, continue to lead us on this journey through the life of this prophet of yours, whom you raised up to minister in perilous times, in difficult times, devastating times. We marvel at him and we do so because we see you at work in his life. Help us to learn these lessons and apply them in our own lives and our dealings with our fellow man. Thank you again that you're a prayer-hearing God. and that we have the same access unto you that Elijah had, that you hear our prayers and are pleased to answer them according to your ordained purposes. Send us to our homes tonight, and we'll give you praise for the affairs of this day. In Christ's name, amen.