This morning, we looked at 1 Kings chapter 18, and we entitled this Elijah Grieves. And this morning we looked at the showdown between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal. And I had asked you to note the question or the statement, the challenge that Elijah gave to the nation of Israel in 1821. Where he says, if the Lord be God, follow him, and if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered not a word. And so I think from this point forward, that challenge drives what we see in the next couple chapters. We also said that the God of this world may promise to fulfill our lusts, but he takes pleasure in our harm. And we saw that by looking at the prophets of Baal and the way that they handled themselves. We also said that God had been neglected in the nation of Israel and we made application to America. And believe me, after that conversation that I had with that flight attendant on the plane, my mind started going this direction. What about America? And I began to see our situation in this passage. And it really helped me to understand that not just in this area are there individuals that are grieving because of the way our nation is going, but across this country. I believe that's happening. God had been neglected. We said in verses 31 through 36, God's worship, God's way honors God. And we saw that in the way that Elijah prepared to pray and to call down fire from heaven. And then we said that Elijah had partial victory. And that's where we're going to pick up tonight is that partial victory. And that brings us to verse or to chapter 19. And you can see what I've titled this on the PowerPoint. I've entitled this some lessons that will help us as we grieve for our nation. And so that's the direction that I'm going this evening. is taking a look at 1 Kings 19 and Elijah's grief and what he was going through and kind of learning the way that God dealt with him and how we can apply that to our lives. So there's many applications that can be taken here in this passage. These passages are so full of truth, we could concentrate on these for weeks. And I think we are, aren't we, John? We've already been two weeks into these passages and we're going to spend more time in them in Sunday school as you just kind of dissect them. So my intent is not to do a full blown exposition on this passage, but just to draw out a few principles that I think would be helpful to us. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our Father, we thank you for the truth of your word and we ask that you'd feed us this evening. And Lord, we pray that as we look at our nation and kind of compare it to what we see in scripture here with Elijah and the nation of Israel, Lord, would you also teach us the lessons that you tried to teach him and help us, Lord, to be prepared for what lies ahead, to understand that you're in control, and dear Father, to understand that we have a task to accomplish before your return. And Father, these things we pray in Jesus Christ's name, amen. In 1 Kings 18, please turn there. I've asked you to turn to 19, but go with me to 18. And let me just remind us of a couple of verses that we've looked at this morning. The one that I just mentioned, chapter 18 and verse number 21, where he says, if the Lord be God, follow him. Jump over to verse 37 of that chapter, where Elijah prays, we're in chapter 18, verse 37, and he says, hear me, oh Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God and that thou has turned their heart back again. I honestly believe, as we've talked about in Sunday School, that Elijah thought that he could turn the hearts of Israel back to God, that he thought he would do that through this showdown. And when it didn't happen, he grieved for himself and for his nation. And when you look at the verses that we just looked at, and you read through chapter 19, and you get to verse number 10, as was brought out this morning in our Sunday School class, he says this. After the Lord says, what doest thou here? He said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword. And I, even I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. You know, as Elijah answered God, the very last thing that Elijah mentioned was the loss of his own life. It wasn't first priority to him. As he responds to God, the very first thing that Elijah mentions here is, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. By the way, that very name, Lord God of hosts, that last part of hosts, is usually connected to God in relation to His control over the armies of heaven. And so it is often used to demonstrate his power and his authority in the ability to conquer or to reign. And so Elijah is making a point here. I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. You see, he was more concerned about God's honor. I believe he was in his own life. The last thing he mentioned is they seek my life. And I think he did that kind of in relation to demonstrating how the nation of Israel had rejected God. I don't think it was that big of a priority to him. And we'll talk about that more as we go along. The first thing he mentions is, I'm jealous for you, Lord. I thought this would go a certain way. And I want us to understand, Christians, that this is not an easy attitude, but this should be our attitude. And that is that we need to be more concerned about God's honor than our own reputations or our own lives. And getting a handle on that from the beginning of this will help us to understand. Keep in mind that in Hebrews chapter 11, we have God's hall of faith. We all remember Hebrews 11, right? Without faith, it is impossible to please him. And then it goes on and talks about all of these Old Testament saints that exhibited tremendous faith. But that whole chapter is full of people who have this very attitude. They're more concerned about God's honor than they were about their own lives or their own reputations. And God identifies that as faith and commends them for their faith. Now that's an aspect of faith that you and I have not seen in our country yet. Such a confidence in God, in God's direction, in God's word, in God's will, and in God's control over everything that goes on, that our own concern for our own life takes a second place because we have such faith in Him in what He's doing. And so we see here the thinking that Elijah had. Now, let's begin reading the verse number one. And let's work our way through this chapter. And my goal is not to get into a whole lot of detail. I'm gonna leave that up to John next Sunday morning. But I want us just to see some truths in this passage. And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying, so let the gods do to me and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. It's a threat to kill him. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die and said, it is enough now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my father's. And I believe as well was brought out already, That statement is his admission that, listen, I failed. I thought I could turn the hearts of Israel to God, but I'm no better than those that have preceded me. As they have not had the ability to do that, either have I. Just take my life, God. Verse number five. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him and said unto him, arise and eat. And he looked and behold, there was a cake baking on the coals and a cruise of water at his head. And he did eat and drink and laid them down again. The angel of the Lord came again the second time and touched him and said, Arise and eat because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose and did eat and drink and went on in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God. And he came thither into a cave and lodged there, and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword, and I, even I, only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. Let me pause there for just a moment. After Elijah, answers God and says, I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts. And that was his number one argument to God right from the beginning. God, it's about you. It's about your honor. God, I've done everything that I could. And after Elijah recognizes God's rightful honor and God's rightful place, he mentions his nation's departure from God. And we're talking about Elijah grieving here. I do believe Elijah was grieving for himself, but I believe he was also grieving for his nation. He says, Lord, I've been jealous for you. And the children of Israel have forsaken you. He names the different ways that they've displayed their rebellion against God. The last thing he mentioned is that they wanted to kill him. And I believe that he gives it as an evidence of Israel's departure from God, not as, God, they're wanting to kill me too. It was clear to Elijah that he had not done what he had worked so hard to do. That is, turn the hearts of Israel back to God. Now at the beginning of this big showdown, he challenged them to follow God. And before the fire fell, he asked God to turn their hearts and it didn't happen. Elijah felt like a failure because he was unable to turn the hearts of his nation back to God. Now keep in mind, I am looking at this in relation to the nation that you and I live in. He had done everything God had asked him to do. He makes it very plain. He has stood up to King Ahab and to Queen Jezebel. And by the way, we are talking about Baal worship. The very name Jezebel means Baal exalts or Baal is husband, one of those two interpretations of that name. So the very name Jezebel was given to her by her father to honor the god Baal. And so that was where she was and where her heart was. And Elijah had stood up against King Ahab and against Queen Jezebel and 450 prophets of Baal. He even got the nation of Israel to proclaim, the Lord, he is the God, the Lord, he is the God. But there was something that he experienced in verses one through three that caused him to give God this answer in verse number 10. God, they have forsaken you. And that has been beautifully brought out in Sunday School. So I don't think his concern here was for his life. He even asks to die in verse four, so I don't think that's it. I think he is experiencing a grieving that runs far deeper than a concern over his own life. You see, Elijah had given his life to fighting the wickedness. He had given his life to doing God's will, God's way. He had given his life to pointing people to the one true God. And then after this magnificent showdown that we have in chapter 18, where God proves himself over the demonic God of Baal, Elijah has to say, the children of Israel have forsaken you, God. What happened? Elijah feels like a failure. Now, The truth is he wasn't, we know that, but he felt that way. And you know what? It is so applicable to us today. The number of churches that preach the truth of God's word are getting fewer. There are still men who proclaim the truth of God across this nation. Don't get me wrong. There are good churches and God is using them. They're proclaiming the truth and we're seeing souls saved across this nation. It is happening. And those churches are not concerned with being politically correct. They will proclaim that the true problem in our nation and in our homes is sin. They will call evil, evil. They'll denounce it and they'll hold to sound doctrine. They will allow the Bible to define morality. not the politicians, all of those things are true. There are pastors across this nation, like this church here, who declared a fast and asked their churches to pray for our nation during the election, and asked for the nation to turn to righteousness, because we do understand that righteousness exalteth a nation. All of those things are happening across our nation, but those churches are far and few between, and they're getting fewer in number. And I think we understand, church, that by and large our nation, has turned from God, has it not? And much of the rebellion against God's word happens within the homes of those who call themselves God's children. Much of the rebellion, much of the sinfulness. We may not be as bad as the world, but we've adopted the world's thinking in a number of ways, and we call ourselves God's children. And righteousness is what exalts a nation, and it begins in the homes. By and large, we've seen our nation turn its back on God. And let me just clarify something here. We might as well just cut to the quick and make it as plain as we can. Being a Trump supporter does not necessarily qualify us as a righteous child of God, am I right? It takes personal righteousness. Honestly, to see our nation go down this road that it's going on hurts. And as I read it through this passage with Elijah, and I began to see the similarities between what Elijah went through and what we're seeing in our nation, it began to ring true with me. It hurts. And when that flight attendant sat next to me and began to share with me her concerns, You could see it in her eye. And I believe she actually, I believe, I can't remember, I believe she used the word hurt. And it's not just in this area. Let me say this, as a pastor, I have given my life to pointing people to God. And for everyone that stays in this church and grows, there's three or four or five that walk away and do their own thing. I know it, I see it, I've been in ministry long enough to watch it happen over and over and over again. It reminds me, Brother D'Oyly, of the conversations that you and I have had in regards to the soil and how the seed is planted in the soil and how You know, some of it is picked up by the devil, some of it starts to grow, but then it's choked down, and then of the ones that do grow on the good soil, there's 30, 60, or 100 fold that come out. That parable is so true, and it is so applicable to what we see in ministry. So I can understand some of what Elijah went through, and so I'm going to bring us to this point this morning, or this evening. Some lessons that will help us as we grieve for our nation. I remember saying from this pulpit when we started down this COVID thing, that it finally hit me, I was grieving for my nation and seeing the direction that we're going. And I'm not alone. There are many of you in here in this room that feel the same way, and I know you do. But there are some things that we can see now that God dealt with Elijah. Look at verse number four. And he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat under a juniper tree. And then working on our way down to verse number eight, and he arose and did eat and drink and went in the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights unto Horeb, the mount of God. As John pointed out in Sunday school, that was not a 40 day journey. It was just a few days that should have taken him to get there. He had plenty of time. I believe what we see is that God gave him some time to grieve. One of the things that jumped out at me in this passage is that God gave him time. He allowed him to go through this. He gave him that 40 days plus however long it was on either side of that and how long it took the Lord to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish in Elijah's life. He had some time to grieve. We do not see God rebuking Elijah for Elijah's response. We see God asking him a soul-searching question in verse number nine and in verse number 13. What doest thou hear, Elijah? Elijah, I'm asking you this question because I want you to do some introspective work. What are you doing here? God's question was gentle, but it was probing. And as much as some of us who are deeply patriotic for America are as we are, please keep this in mind, that Elijah was an Israelite. This is God's chosen people. Their feeling for their nation runs deeper than our patriotic or our American patriotism. It may be hard for us to understand, especially those that have grown up in this country and have loved this country. And we've got men within this ministry that have served in this country. And many of us probably have loved ones that have served in the country. And some probably even have some that have died in this country. And our patriotism runs deep. But as deep as it runs, Elijah was an Israelite. He was God's chosen people. There are so many things about that nation that God had worked through them. He was truly grieving and God gave him a little bit of space here. I don't think the reason for God's question was to rebuke Elijah as much as it was to remind him of who was in control. We're going to get into that as we get a little further. God's responses in the following verses help us to understand God's perspective a little bit better. So God gave him a little bit of room, allowed him to grieve a little bit. Then we get to verse number 11, and we see this magnificent verse of scripture. And he said, go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great strong wind rent the mountains and breaking pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake." Now we understand those phrases, the Lord was not in it. We know what that means. As we read through, that means the Lord did not speak to him through those phenomenal events, but God caused them. God was in them in the sense that He controlled it. And I think what we see here is that God was showing him Hey, I'm still in control. I just want you to know that I'm in control. I like some of the discussion that took place this morning in Sunday school classes as we talked through this verse a little bit. God could do the phenomenal. He did do the phenomenal. I'm reminded in America that in 2020, we had record setting wildfires out West. I'm reminded that in 2020, we had a record-setting hurricane season. I am also reminded that in 2020, we had an unprecedented response to a pandemic, COVID-19. And when I think about all of these things, I cannot help but think about this verse of scripture, how that God proved to Elijah, without a doubt, Elijah, I control this earth. I control the elements. I control nature. I control everything. I am in control. And even though God allowed Elijah to grieve, his grief was no excuse to quit. And God has proven his point to Elijah. I told you this morning about Brother Dwyer over in Uganda and how that some of the African believers think that they're in the tribulation period because they've gone through the locusts now, they've gone through COVID. And he told me, he said, I had to remind them that the rapture of the church takes place first. We're not in the tribulation period. But isn't that the way we think sometimes as individuals? We tend to interpret scripture, translate scripture in light of our limited little world of experience. And God has a bigger plan. And God says, you know what, I'm in control. Now, I think the point here is that God is showing him, I'm the one, I have it under control. God has unlimited power, he's omnipotent, but the choice to follow him is an individual choice. As I read through this, I think about it this way. It's as if God is saying, Elijah, if I wanted to force Israel to follow me, I could. You have done your part, your life is in my hands, you're safe with me. Israel has made her choice, you just need to be faithful. That's what I see in this verse of scripture. I see God just reminding Elijah, I've got the power. You know, when I think of this in relation to America, it does bring grief, but at the same time, it brings a certain level of comfort, too. God is in control, right? Absolutely. Look at verse number 12. And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire, a still, small voice. And it was so when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entering in of the cave. And behold, there came a voice unto him and said, what doest thou hear, Elijah? Isn't it interesting? Elijah withstood the wind, Elijah withstood the earthquake, Elijah withstood the fire, but all it took was that still small voice, and immediately he wrapped his face in his mantle. He could withstand the presence of the wind, he could withstand the presence of the earthquake, he could withstand the presence of the fire, but he could not stand in the presence of a holy God without covering his face. Well, what do I see in this verse of Scripture? God spoke to him through his words. a still small voice. God speaks through His Word. Now, let me say this. The displays of natural catastrophes, these displays of God's power over nature in verse number 11, were used to get His attention. Now please understand, I think there's plenty application here. They were used to get his attention, but once God has his attention, you know what God does? He speaks words. You see, God has to have your attention before he can speak to you, but he speaks to you through his word. Please understand that. Now I am relating the words of God here as he spoke to Elijah to the word of God that you and I hold in our lap. Because this is every bit as much the word of God as what these words were to Elijah that day. And let me say this, my friend, the only place we can go to get answers and truth and peace in a day of trouble or at any point in time is the word of God. Are y'all with me? It's the only place we can go. You're not going to get it from Fox News. You're not going to get it from Rush Limbaugh. You're not going to get it from any other conservative news source or any other conservative commentator. You are only going to get the peace and the comfort of God from God's word. God spoke God's words. And let me just get on a tangent for just a moment and say this. We have a beautiful display of how God uses general revelation versus specific revelation in this passage, in verse 11, 12, and 13. Now, let me explain what I mean by that. Go with me to Romans chapter 1. When I talk about general revelation, I'm talking about creation. You see, creation points us to God, but specific revelation is the Word of God, and the Word of God gives us a walk with God. General revelation gives us an awareness that God exists, but specific revelation gives us a relationship with that God. And let me show you how Paul words it. Go to Romans 1, verse 20. He says, "...for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." Do you see that? Man cannot say God does not exist. Creation cries out that there is a God. But the same man that wrote here that man is without excuse because of creation also wrote a few chapters later these words. Turn with me to Romans 10, please. Romans chapter 10, look at verse number 14. In Romans 10, verse number 14, Paul writes this. Well, let's get 13 for the sake of context. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him in whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" Now we can go through a number of different passages. We could turn to 2 Timothy. We could turn to A number of different passages, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, we could go through there and we could read about the gospel and understand that it is only through the scripture, through the words of God, that a man can learn to be saved. And so we have to have the specific revelation. The general revelation gives us an awareness of God. But the specific revelation gives us a relationship with God. And so what God does in 1 Kings 19 is He grabs Elijah's attention and says, I am the God, the creator, you cannot deny me, but let me speak to you in a still, small voice and give you my words. God wants that relationship with us, does He not? He certainly does. And in troublous times, my friend, When we see earthquakes going on and we see hurricanes going on and we see fires going on, God may be trying to get some folks' attention, but we need to be good about proclaiming the Word, right? That's the way He speaks to us. Now, part of the problem with Israel at the time was Israel had gotten so used to neglecting God, like we discussed this morning. that even the phenomenon, the phenomenal events that they had seen was ineffective in turning their heart back to Him. God wanted to speak to them. God sent His words through Elijah. God did phenomenal things in the nation of Israel to get their attention and to direct them to God's word and God's man, and Elijah tried. But they had gotten so used to neglecting God that even the phenomenal became ineffective. I see some of the same thing going on in our country. You see, God gave Elijah exactly what Elijah needed while he was grieving. He gave him his words. Let me just remind you of a few verses from Psalm 119. And let me say this. It may be good for some of us if we fasted a little bit from some of the media that is going on around us and just spent a little more time in God's word. Psalm 119 would be a good Psalm for you to read if you get in despair with what's going on around you, because it contains verses like this. Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counselors. Make me to understand the way of thy precepts, so shall I talk of thy wondrous works. I have chosen the way of truth, thy judgments have I laid before me. So shall I keep thy law continually forever and ever, and I will walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts. It doesn't matter what goes on around us. We can walk at liberty. It doesn't matter what kind of restraints are put upon us. We can walk in liberty. Why? Because we have God's precepts. Fear not what man can do unto you. God is the one who's in control, and praise God that he is. God gave his words. So God gave him some time to grieve. God showed him that he was in control. God gave him his words, and he did it in a still, small voice. Now go to verse 19, please. 1 Kings 19, 19. I have two more points, and these are going to be a little quicker than the others. In verse number 19, it says, well, let's, for the sake of context, let's back up and get verse 14. God had just asked him, what doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altar, slain thy prophets with the sword, and I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. And the Lord said unto him, go return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when thou comest anoint Haziel to be king over Syria, Jehu the son of Nimshi, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass that him that escapeth the sword of Haziel shall Jehu slay, and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which have not kissed him. So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. And Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. What beautiful imagery. By the way, I can't help but smile as I read here. As a man, I read this and you can picture 12 yoke of oxen and Elisha in there with them, pulling them, not pulling them, but directing them and right in there with this. Elisha was a man. And as much as Elijah, as you talked about, Brother Song, as much as Elijah was a man's man, and I agree with you, he was, God gave him somebody to partner with him who was just as much of a man. I don't know about y'all. Have y'all ever been close to oxen? They're big. And they are powerful. And they can be scary if you don't show them who's in charge. Not that I've ever done that, mind you. But here we have it, verse 20. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father, my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, go back again, for what have I done to thee? Then he returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave unto the people and they did eat. Then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him. Now there's a phrase there at the end of verse number 20, for what have I done to thee? In the way it comes across in English, it may come across as Elijah being a little bit of careless in his speech, but I think what that phrase is saying is, okay, you wanna go back and say goodbye to your parents, I think you really need to go back and do that because I want you to consider seriously what responsibility I have just laid upon you. And I think Elijah was communicating to Elisha that he had a job ahead of him, and it wasn't going to be easy. This is serious work, and I want you to consider it. So you better go say goodbye to your parents. And so I think he was giving him the room to do that. But what do we see in these verses? There's two more points I want to bring up. Here's one of them. God gave him companionship. You see that? God gave him companionship. I tell you what, as I read through this passage and I see that, I say, thank you, God. You know, serving God is an individual choice. There are times where we need to stand up and be firm for God as individuals. But there are times where God just knows that we need each other, right? Elisha started his ministry by ministering to one man, Elijah. Now let me ask you this question this evening. What did God give us in our period of time, in our dispensation, what did God give us to fulfill this? The church. He gave us the church. We need each other. Let me remind you of what the author of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews 10, 25. He said this, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another. Do you remember the rest of the verse? And so much the more as you see the day approaching. Do you hear that? God tells us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. He tells us to come together and exhort one another. And then He says, listen, as the day is approaching, you need to do it even more. Do you think that God understood that we needed each other in the last days? I think God understood that completely, don't you? I think that is one of the reasons why God gave us the church. God has given us everything we need to stand strong for Him and to serve Him. God has designed for us to draw strength from each other, to provoke one another, to lift each other up, and to encourage each other. That's the way God designed it. God gave him companionship. And so as we look at the days that lie ahead of us, let's remember that we need to encourage each other through this, right? Last point I want to make is this, ministry went on. You know in verse number 15 it says, the Lord said unto him, go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus. And then he gave him a job to do. Then we get to verse number 21, and Elisha went with him, and the two of them took off, and they ministered together. Ministry went on. See, Elijah's ministry went on for several years, and he did some amazing things during those years. I did a quick search to see what the estimated time was. from what the best I can tell from the time of chapter 18 where this showdown with the 450 prophets of Baal and then Elijah saying, God, would you take my life until God finally took him home in that chariot of fire was about a 10 year period of time, 10 years. That may fluctuate by a year one way or another, I would imagine, but let's take that general number for 10 years. Elijah gets to the point where he says, God, I'm grieving. God, I can't do this. God, I have failed. You've got to take my life. Look at this nation that you've put me into to minister. I cannot turn their hearts to you. I've tried as much as I can. And God gives him a little bit of space. God gives him his word. God proves to him his power. God gives him a companion. And then he says, get up and go back to work. Can you believe that? And during that 10-year period of time, Elijah did some pretty amazing things. As a matter of fact, the book of 2 Kings starts out with Elijah sitting up on a hill, 50 soldiers coming to him and saying, you're going with us. And Elijah says, if I'm a man of God, you're going to burn to a crisp right where you're at. Those are my words. That's not in the King James. That's just the way I interpret it. And you know what happened? Those 50 soldiers burned to a crisp in front of Elijah. Fifty more come. And I imagine this captain was a little less demanding, but he was still more demanding than Elijah cared for. And Elijah said, if I'm a man of God, you're going to burn. Fifty more of those soldiers burned up. Now you've got a hundred burnt corpse in front of him. The third captain comes. walks on the crispy remains of the hundred before him and falls on his face before Elijah and says, please respect my life. And would you go with me? Elijah said, I'll go with you. That happened after this point, after this point, pretty amazing things that he did. You know, the more people, as I was told by this flight attendant, more people reading their Bible, more people searching, more people looking for comfort and peace. As the days get darker, there's less time to do the work of God that we're called to do. Please understand that there are people around us that are hurting. We may grieve for our nation. We may grieve for what we see going on around us, but God has given us everything we need to carry on the task. We can't let up. We got to keep going. Do we understand that? We got to keep going. Would you bow your head with me this evening, please? Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the truth, your word. We thank you, Lord, for the example of Elijah. Lord, we thank you for the fact that you are in control, that you have given us everything that we need. And Lord, I pray that as we leave here this evening, that we would be encouraged by the fact that you are in control, that you've given us a task. Lord, that you have given us what people need. And Lord, there are people from one end of this great country to the other end that are hurting, that are longing, that are searching for peace. And Lord, we have what they need. Lord, may we see the urgency. God, may we take the tools that you've given us. May we use them, may we encourage each other. And then, dear Father, may we get about the task that you've given us to do. And Lord, these things we pray in Jesus Christ's name, amen.