The 1998 Luzon Committee for World Christianity—it's an evangelical gathering that meets every few years—gathered to consider one subject, that of nominalism. Nominalism means in name only. The nominal Christian is one who can be called Christian really just in name, the spiritual realities that accompany true discipleship are missing from their life. Nominalism is any view of discipleship in the Christian life that says, I will follow Jesus, but on my terms and on my timetable and not on his. The only alternative to nominalism is true discipleship. following Jesus, how he says, when he says, and where he says. Jesus never pulled any punches about this. He was always completely transparent about the cost of following him. Those who teach nominalism or practice easy-believe-ism have not learned their theology or their methodology from Jesus. Listen to his clear word in Luke 9. If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself take up his cross daily and follow me. Tonight, we will see a marvelous example of what it means to follow the call of God completely and single-mindedly. Let's seek the Lord's help. Oh, blessed Holy Spirit, we will remain in our ignorance tonight unless you enlighten us. And having heard the truth, we will remain immobile unless you empower us to be more than just hearers of the word, but doers also. So take hold of our minds now and instruct us, then take hold of our feet and move us into joyful, obedient living, following hard after Christ. We pray through Jesus, our only Savior. Amen. I hope you have your copy of God's Word open to 1 Kings 19, verses 19 to 21. We first met Elijah just to remind you, if you've not been with us, let me in three minutes catch you up on the complete story of Elijah. We first met Elijah when he brought a prophetic word to King Ahab back in 1 Kings 17. And after informing the king, the wicked King Ahab of the coming drought, he disappeared, Elijah did, to a spot by the brook Cherith for three years where ravens fed him. Elijah then moved. It seems if there's been one constant, it seems like every time we find Elijah, he's moving again. He moved to the town of Zarephath near Queen Jezebel's home. And even though he resided with a poor widow and her son, the provisions miraculously never ran out. When the widow's son died, Elijah prayed and saw the son raised from the dead. Elijah was drawn out of this obscurity by the call of God to meet with King Ahab. And when they finally met, Elijah called for a national gathering around Mount Carmel, a showdown of the gods, Baal versus Jehovah. And after giving the prophets of Baal several hours to call down fire from their God, Elijah offered the right sacrifice on the right altar at the right time of day to the living God. Jehovah answered immediately with fire from heaven. All the hundreds of thousands of watchers sought and acclaimed Jehovah, he is God. Elijah ordered the killing of the 450 prophets of Baal in keeping with the provisions of the Old Testament civil law that had mandated earlier the death penalty for anyone who would lead Israel astray in idolatry. Then and only then, after that great event, Elijah prayed and the rains came. Elijah then, on that long day that we looked at, ran 17 miles back to King Ahab's palace, ahead of King Ahab's chariots, and he stood outside in the rain. As King Ahab went in, dried off, began telling his wife, Queen Jezebel, what had occurred that day, and how 450 of her prophets of Baal had been executed. Infuriated, she sends word out to Elijah, I intend to kill you the next day. So Elijah flees, remember he's a prophet in the Northern kingdom, the wicked half of Israel when Israel split in two. He's in the Northern kingdom, which never had a righteous king. And he flees in fear to the far South end of the Southern kingdom. And he goes into, we find him in 1 Kings 19 verses three and four, deep depression, he's even suicidal. The Lord Jesus, pre-incarnate Lord Jesus, a theophany, spoken of as the angel of the Lord here in verses five through eight of chapter 19, comes and gives Elijah rest and food. And Elijah treads even farther south. He goes to Mount Horeb or Mount Sinai, depending on which chapter you're reading in the Bible. There the Lord showed Elijah's might. Strong wind, earthquakes, fire, and he finally speaks very softly, recommissions him, giving him three tasks, all of which will contribute to bringing down Ahab and Jezebel. Here are his tasks. Anoint Hazael as king of Syria. Second, anoint Jehu as king of the northern kingdom, where Ahab currently is. And third, anoint Elisha as prophet in your place, your successor. And that's where we pick up the narrative in verse 19. So look there with me, 1 Kings 19, 19, Elijah gets up to immediately obey the word of the Lord. And I want you to think with me about his sequence of obedience. He's just been told to do three things. to anoint two different kings, a king of Syria and the king of the Northern kingdom. And the last thing he was told to do was to go anoint his successor, the prophet, Elisha. Notice what it is that captivates Elijah's mind, not the affairs of nations. He doesn't say, wow, kings, that's really important. I need to take care of that first. The civil realm, that's priority. No. We talked about it this morning with those believers who they know everything there is to know about the civil government, but they know and care less about the church's government. Look at Elijah's model. He goes, first of all, because he cares more about the proclamation of the word of God, he cares more about the realm of the church than state. He goes, first of all, to anoint the next prophet. Kings can wait, but the church cannot wait. The word of God and its succession cannot wait. In fact, in the Old Testament, the Lord had provided an ongoing succession of prophets for the people of God. They were the successors of Moses. We read about that in Deuteronomy 18. Almost every kingdom, when Israel split in two into the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom, almost every king in the history of the two kingdoms would have a prophet who served as his conscience. These prophets would call on the rulers of Israel to rule in obedience to the law of God. So here goes Elijah. As his first task, he's going to obey God and he's going to go anoint his successor. Look carefully at verses 19 through 21. He goes to, we just read about, by the way, where Elisha is from. You see it up there in verse 16. Elisha, the son of Shaphat of Abel, Mihalah, This is far North and East of where Elijah was at that moment. So Elijah packs up and heads straight for Elisha's town. Now, what's interesting is, Elijah has run away from Ahab and Jezebel's territory in the Northern kingdom. But to go anoint his successor, he's got to go right back into the middle of Ahab and Jezebel's territory, even though there's now a price on his head. His wanted picture is hanging in every post office in the Northern kingdom. Do they still do that at post offices? I don't think so. It's been two years or two months now since the rains came. And so as Elijah travels, now he notices all the agricultural activity, the rains have come. And so people are plowing and planting, the hillsides are green, there's water in the lakes. And notice Elijah's done with his fear and worry, his melancholy and depression, and he's back to his old familiar pattern, immediate, unquestioning, joyful obedience. He's once again content to do his calling, securing the knowledge that God is sovereign and working out his holy purposes. Another reason why Elijah obeys, look at those words in verse 19, where God has just given him a command to go and do these three things, anoint king one, anoint king two, anoint your successor prophet. Look at that wonderful transition in verse 19. So he departed from there. In other words, Elijah obeyed. Another reason why he obeys is he's no antinomian. An antinomian is somebody who's antinomous, against law, against commands. No, Elijah had read and probably memorized Psalm 119, he'd sung it a thousand times, which extols the glories and joy of obeying God's commands. He would have sung this song plenty of times in Psalm 119, where the psalmist writes, my hands will I lift up to your commandments, which I love. and I will meditate on your statutes." Do you understand that the way of obedience is always the way of blessing, always. And the way of disobedience is always the way of cursing. What is it that Christ redeems us from? Titus 2 says, every disobedient deed. How will Jesus condemn the lost on judgment day? Depart from me you who practice disobedience. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says in Matthew 5, whoever breaks even the least of the commands of God shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys shall be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. What we see here in verse 19, look at it there carefully. You need to write in the margin of your Bible. Look, immediate, joyful, complete obedience. Elijah's doing exactly what commanded him. So notice what he finds when he gets to Elisha's home area. And I wanna skip past this because this is huge. In our day, when creation mandates have been lost, you remember what creation mandates are. They're those things that God set in play in the creation before the fall. Those things that are the pillars of society, marriage, labor, Sabbath, procreation. Any culture that seeks to undermine that is simply trying to implode their own culture. Notice what we find Elijah doing when he gets to Elisha's farm. Look at verse 19. He's working doing serious manual labor. Now let me point out a couple of important details from this text in verse 19. Elijah comes from a family of some wealth. You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure this out. They have at least 12 yoke of oxen. and therefore at least 11 other men working for them as a family as plow men. This would have required serious capital investment to keep up 12 yoke of oxen and 11 hired men. 12 yoke of oxen would only have been needed if you had a large estate and so obviously Elisha comes from such a place. Now what's fascinating, look at verse 19, Elisha not only do we know he has a work ethic, He's humble, look where we find him. He's in the 12th position, the last one. He's comfortable taking the lowest place. And this reminds us of what 1 Corinthians 1 tells us. God does not call many who are mighty, but he chooses and calls the lowly. Elisha is not too good to work and work hard, plowing with serious labor. He's not sitting up in the air conditioned cab of a combine. The opportunities for the development of Christian character are many in labor. Parents, listen to me. Your children need to learn a work ethic early and often. Faithfulness, zeal, resourcefulness, responsibility, problem solving, teamwork. Those are just some of the character traits developed in work. Do you know how many positive character traits are developed in leisure? None. That's how many. Laziness is no man's honor, and hard labor is no man's disgrace. Elisha proves once again the dignity of labor, even when a man is wealthy. Look at the contrast, because this spins our head around. We think, if he comes from a wealthy family, what's he doing out working? Why, I'm just trying to figure out how I can live the life of the idle rich. Do you know why Elisha doesn't do that? Because he's a godly man who loves God's creation ordinances. He understands that we have been made to work. Let me remind you of the basic biblical framework concerning work. First of all, let me say this and correct any notion that one person in this room has. Work is good. Work is not a product of the fall. I still run into people say, you know, If Adam hadn't eaten that fruit, we wouldn't have to work. Wrong, Adam worked in the garden before the fall. God had created labor and marriage and Sabbath before the fall. Labor is a creation ordinance according to Genesis 2.15 along with Sabbath and marriage and therefore it's binding on all creatures everywhere. The desire to be one of the idle rich is an ungodly desire. The sovereign Lord's holy intention is for you and your children to work. Sloth is wicked because it robs God of the glory you might have given him through diligent labor. Sloth is wicked because it robs others. Instead of doing good to them, you're forced to take from them. That's why Paul gave an order of forbidding to even eat with those who were slothful professors. A second premise about work. Work has dignity. Why? Because God works. We see it in Genesis chapter one. And since we are made in his likeness, the image of God, we are made for work. Men will be unsatisfied and restless and unfulfilled and have no sense of dignity and purpose if they're not engaged in consistent, meaningful labor. A third truth about work, work always discloses your character. What God made in creation reveals his nature and character. Remember what's said over and over again about his work? It was good, it was good, it was very good. And what you do, reveals your character. Let me stop and ask, what does the quality and quantity of your work reveal about you and your sanctification? If Christ found you at your calling, what do you say? Well done, good and faithful servant. One final premise about work, work is to dominate. six days of our week while rest and worship fill this the first day, the Sabbath, the biblical rhythm of life. Let me keep correcting our culture. The biblical rhythm of life is not five days and 40 hours on the job. Then comes two days of my time. No. That's a product of the labor union movement and the contemporary fixation with leisure time. The scripture teaches us a holy rhythm of six days of labor, whether on the job or at home or for others, preceded by a day of rest from all worldly labor and happily spent in worship and fellowship with God's people. Elisha would have heartily agreed with the Protestant reformers when they emphasized the necessity of work. Listen to what the reformers said about work. Martin Luther in his commentary on Ecclesiastes 9, where Pastor Anderson will get to that probably about four years in his study of Ecclesiastes. But the preacher writes in Ecclesiastes 9, whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. Martin Luther said this, God does not want you to succeed without work. He doesn't want you to sit home and pray for a fried chicken to fly into your mouth. Luther had a way with words, didn't he? John Calvin wrote, Our work is the principal part of our human life and the part that means the most to God. It's a fascinating study. Look at Elisha right here in verse 19, and you find that he stands in a long line of men who were doing the exact same thing, who they were laboring in a calling diligently when God came and called them to ministry. Think, for example, Moses. Moses in Exodus chapter three was shepherding a flock of sheep. He was an 80-year-old man. He should have been cashing the Social Security checks. He was herding sheep when God called him. Gideon. was called to a ministry of overthrowing the power of Midian while he was threshing wheat in Judges 6. Matthew was working as a tax collector in Matthew 9 when Christ came and called him to the office of apostle. And Peter, James, John, and Andrew were called by Jesus as well while they were working as fishermen in Matthew 4. So once you look at the call, you're going to think this is the strangest call to ministry you've ever seen in verse 19. Here it comes, don't blink. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. That's it. Elijah walks out into the field where Elisha is busily plowing. There he is with the 12th yoke of oxen. So think of the field, it's kind of a crowded field. Here's yoke one, yoke two. Yoke three, here's Elisha in the last yoke. It's a busy field, 12 plowmen, 24 oxen out there. Elijah walks straight to him. Elisha probably doesn't even see him coming. Elijah takes off his mantle and as he walks by, he throws it on Elisha. Now mantle, for those of you who don't know, you're not up on your mantles. was the official garment of a prophet made of animal skin and hair. It represented a life of sacrifice and commitment. And you've already seen the mantle actually, look at verse 13 in our chapter. You saw it in verse 13. that Elijah, when he heard the still small voice of God, he wrapped his face in his mantle. We're going to see this mantle once again in second Kings chapter two. But when Elijah walks by, now get the field. I don't know how many of you have ever walked out into a plowed field. It's kind of rough out there, but he's walking through this field that has furrows in it. And he walks by and flings the mantle and keeps going. Throwing it over the shoulder of Elisha was a symbolic act. Summoning him, calling him to the office of prophet. It's like a conductor handing his baton to a successor or a judge handing his gavel to a replacement. It symbolizes the eventual transfer of power. This is Elisha's anointing, but it's not with water, it's with a garment. It's a wordless call, but one that's immediately and clearly understood. This morning I spoke in our exposition of 1 Timothy 3, of the necessity of a man desiring the office and having the internal call to it. But this, the tossing of the mantle on him, this is the external call. This is the call coming from the church to him. This act may have been a surprise to Elisha, but it was no surprise to the sovereign Lord. Look back at verse 16 and you can see where the sovereign Lord had already revealed his plan to Elijah and had decided all this even before Elisha was given the opportunity of deciding. So what appears to be sudden to Elisha is settled, it's decreed, it's ordained by a sovereign God. And all of this then is a picture of God's effectual call. Effectual calling means that God will sovereignly ensure that his call to salvation is heard and responded to positively in repentance and faith. That's the work of God the Holy Spirit. He convinces us that we're sinners and enlightens our minds to hear the good news and enables us to embrace Jesus as he's offered in the gospel. When God calls a sinner to salvation, he doesn't simply mail a postcard with a general invitation to stop by heaven sometime. No, God pursues the sinner, takes them by the hand and leads them to eternal life. That's what we mean by the effectual call. Here, when Elisha is called to office, that call came through another, Elijah. And when God effectually calls to salvation, the call comes through the spirit and the word and usually a preacher. The response is astounding. Look at verse 20 and 21. Elisha understands exactly what's just happened. So he stops plowing and he takes off in a dead sprint. And I'm not exaggerating. Look at verse 20, where we read, he left the oxen and ran after Elijah. He stops plowing, takes off in a sprint, mantle over his shoulders, flapping in the wind. And when he catches Elijah, he makes one request. He wants permission to engage in a proper farewell to his parents and to honor them before he sets out on a lifetime of itinerant ministry. Earlier tonight in our New Testament reading, we heard men put off following the Lord's call using some very similar sounding excuses. But unlike those men we read in Luke chapter nine, Elisha has no reluctance to follow God's call and he's not stalling. He's not slow walking. His request is about two things. First of all, look at verse 20. He wants to engage in a genuine act of respect and honor and love for his parents. And secondly, he wants to celebrate his entrance into the prophetic ministry with joyful feasting. What you'll notice there in the text, in verse 21, is he doesn't kill one fatted calf, he kills two. That's an expensive barbecue. And he wants to declare his commitment to follow the Lord, to friends and family. He wants them to be witnesses to his commitment. Now, I want you to think about Elijah. He's getting used to barbecue because just a couple of months earlier, Elijah on top of Mount Carmel had smelled the aroma. You know what it smells like when you drive by Henry's or Bucky's, right? Elijah had smelled the aroma of, you don't know Henry's and Bucky's? So sorry for you. But Elijah had smelled the aroma of a scorched bull when his altar was consumed by fire from heaven. Now, look at what we read in verse 21. He smells roast oxen. Well, in verse 21, look what it is. It's Elisha's farewell to his past life. He is burning all his bridges and his team of oxen and even the tools of his vocation. Look what he does. Look at that little word in verse 21. He took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh. using the oxen's equipment. In other words, the plow, the harness, the harrow are burned in the same fire that barbecues the oxen. Do you know what he's doing? Listen to these words and see if it sounds like a good description. Whatever things were gained to me, these I've counted loss for Christ. Indeed, I count all things loss. for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and I count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. You have a glorious picture here of Elisha. Look what he's doing. By the way, when you look at verse 21, do you know what he uses to light the fire under these two roast oxen? He doesn't use his plow, his harness, and his harrow because he has no other wood available. Elisha does this to show to everyone, look, I'm burning up the farm implements. I'm burning up my yoke of auction. I'm giving up my calling as a farmer, and I'm taking on the calling of a prophet. And let's eat steak to celebrate that, no moping around. And by doing this, Elisha is saying to his friends and family, I now have new and higher commitments and values and priorities. I am placing myself in peril by joining my cause with Elijah, but I'm determined never to look back, seek to go back, or leave the calling of God, no matter how tough things get. Mom and dad, don't leave the light on for me. That's what he's saying. Elisha is doing what the writer of Hebrews will urge in Hebrews 12 when he says, Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. Elisha's not looking back. There's no back to look to. He's burned it all up. This is what Peter and Andrew did when Jesus called them. We read these glorious words in Matthew chapter four of Peter, Andrew, James, and John. When Jesus called Peter and Andrew, we read these words. Immediately, they left their nets and followed Jesus. We read of James and John. Immediately, they left their father and their boat and they followed Jesus. And what Elisha does is a marvelous picture of what Christ calls every disciple of his to do, to follow hard after him. Every truly regenerate person is single-minded and always ready to do anything, go anywhere where Christ calls and leave anything behind if they can but have Jesus. They know that one greater than Elijah has come and his call is even higher and more demanding. And look at the punchline in verse 21. The context begin with Elijah's obedience in verse 19. And it ends, look at the end of verse 21, with Elisha's obedience, where he follows hard. Now he has the farewell barbecue, cooks his team of oxen and the implements, and he leaves. For the next few years, Elisha's discipled one-on-one. by the older man, Elijah. By the way, this is the exact same relationship that existed between Moses and Joshua, Paul and Timothy, and the ultimate model, Jesus and the 12. And what Elisha receives for the next few years is a world-class education in theology and practical ministry skills. Think of some of the things he learns. He learns, and you can't pay enough to learn this, he learns servanthood. Do you know how lowly he is taught to be? Keep one finger and let me just let you peek into the future. Look at 2 Kings 3. 2 Kings 3. 2 Kings 3.11, that Jehoshaphat said, is there no prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of the Lord by him? So one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said, Elisha, the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on the hands of Elijah. Do you know what that literally reads in the Hebrew? He was the one who washed the old man's hands. That's what his servanthood consisted of. And if you think that's so menial, no, it's not. Because you know what Elisha's Lord and yours would do? He would come and wash the feet of disciples. And one of the lessons Elisha learns over the next few years is he's in the school of Elijah, the rich kid who had everything, who had servants. now learns servanthood. He learns the lesson of Luke 16, 10, how to be faithful in small things before God entrusts big things to him. He learns the lesson of Mark 10, whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And even though Elisha has left home and family, the relationship with Elijah is so tight, the bond so strong, that when Elijah is finally taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire, do you remember what Elisha cries out behind him? My father. How do we apply this word? There are times when the believer says, I've walked away from so many things for Christ. Worldly popularity, pleasures, dreams and desires, comfort and security remind me again, is it worth it to follow the call of God? This is the exact same question the disciples had of Jesus in Matthew 19. Listen to what Peter says. Jesus, we've left all and followed you. Therefore, what shall we have? They remembered how comfortable and carefree their lives were before, before they slaughtered their oxen. What will God have for those who have left everything behind to follow Christ? Jesus said in response to Peter's question. Assuredly, I say to you in the regeneration, when the son of man sits on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will sit on the 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel. And everyone who's left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold and re inherit eternal life. One of the clearest pictures of following the call of Christ was William Borden. William Borden was the heir of an incredibly wealthy Chicago family. Borden spent a year traveling the world at 18, and then he went to Yale, where he was a celebrated athlete, then on to Princeton Seminary, where he committed his life to work as an evangelist to the Muslims. Before he left for the Middle East, Borden gave away the equivalent in today's dollars of $15 million to charitable causes. In 1913, as a 26-year-old now seminary trained and skilled in Arabic language, he left for Egypt and never looked back. It turned out to be the final year of his life. As soon as he got to Cairo, Egypt, he contracted a fatal case of cerebral meningitis. And as he lay dying, he scrawled this note to his families, no regrets for following the call of Christ. He never looked back. That's what the saga of the call of Elisha is teaching us. Respond to the call of Christ and don't look back. You'll never regret it. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you for the reminder that your call is a serious call. It's a call to come and lay down our life as we follow Christ, to take up our cross daily and follow hard after him. And so, Lord, we would not water down the requirements of the gospel, the call to discipleship and obedience. Lord, we pray that you would use this example of the call of Elisha to remind us of the high calling that every believer has, the calling to immediate obedience and to follow closely after Christ day after day. Teach us this lesson, mature us, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.