Hear the warning
2 Kings 1:1-18
Good Morning
This week we remember 911- 19 years ago- Where does time go?
A time that this country was rocked and surprised by evil and terror and for a moment brought to its knees.
Shock and awe made room for a time of unity and a time to reflect back on our relationship with the God of the Bible.
As a country and as citizens of a free nation, we began seeking Him for answers.
We sang God bless America in the halls of congress and no one was objecting.
We were in our churches and we were on our knees asking God to intervene in a time of unrest.
Hear the warning from the Lord this morning- We need to go back to our roots and ask God to forgive us and revive us and to lead and direct us.
Prayer- This week has been a reminder of how much we need you and how much we depend on your goodness and mercy to see us through. We open our hearts and our lives to you and ask that you would change the heart of America to again be seeking you and obeying your principals set out in your word for us. In Jesus name. Amen.
Introduction-
Please turn to 2 Kings Chapter 1
I would like to ask you a question-
If I told you to not touch the kitchen stove because it is hot and you saw the red glow of the burner-would you touch it? Of course not because you saw that it was hot.
What if I told you to not touch the burner that it was hot and you could not see the glow of the burner- would you not touch it or would you have to touch it to see just how hot it is?
How many would get burnt because they did not take the warning that was given because they had to check it out themselves?
Most of us at some point in our lives would have to touch the burner-
It is like seeing a wet paint sign- you have to see if it is wet.
This country is going through a warning phase with God and we are testing Him to see how hot the burner is and if we will touch it or take the warning.
Today like never before we are rising a group of people called “The Nones”-
They are people with no affiliation to the subject of faith.
They would check the box “None”
They are not associated with any religious organization.
The Nones
For a group of people who proudly claim no affiliation to God, why do they have so much opinion when it comes to God?
Why are the Atheist so concerned of a God they don’t believe in?
When you were young, you may have touched the hot burners, because you did not know any better, but as you get older, you should be smart enough to learn from other people’s mistakes and not make them yourself.
It is better and wiser and quicker if we learn from someone else’s mistakes than go through it ourselves.
I have made my share of mistakes- In fact, I am close to being an expert at making mistakes. Anyone else need to wear that label today?
Mistakes take many forms- bad information, poor choices, bad judgment.
Mistakes are not necessarily sin, but they can become sin if we allow them to snowball in a domino effect and take us deeper and deeper away from God and the values we hold too.
Let me set up the text this morning-
Remember the nation of Israel is divided and had two kings.
One kingdom Israel and one kingdom Judah. They should have had one king for the nation of Israel but they were divided and had two.
Ahaziah was king in the kingdom of Israel- he is the son of King Ahab who was killed in battle and was an evil king.
Ahaziah was just like his dad and took the nation away from God.
He introduced idolatry by making golden calves and He led the nation to worshiped Baal and Asherah and it provoked the Lord to anger. (important/ see in a minute)
His father an evil king and his mother was Jezebel. Tell you anything?
“You shall have no other gods before me” Exodus 20:3
In this day and age if someone would stand out on the corner and proclaim the word of God with consequences and doom, they would be met with opposition and the press would be telling everyone how politically incorrect they were.
How that person… is in-tolerate and is only speaking what the Lord thinks!
You better know that if the Lord is the same yesterday, today, forever, that there is still a select group of believers called to deliver the hard messages for society to hear.
You better believe that God still is sending people out with the word of God and still giving others the chance to hear what is being said and change how they think.
What God thinks is the final authority on every matter and every decision you have to make.
You have a choice but it does not change the authority of the word going out.
You better know that when you make a decision- the first place to look for the answer is in the word of God and if the word says one thing and you do another, you better know that there will be consequences for your decisions.
Society today talks about polls and surveys- this is what so and so says. This is what the survey says after interviewing so many people.
Surveys may say what society is thinking but if society isn’t thinking what God is thinking than society is wrong not God.
Survey says! God is a majority all by himself!
Remember Gideon- his army was taken down by God to 300 so God could show that it was not the army of Israel- it was God who was going to get the victory!
With God all things are possible and with God few are many.
“All things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to his purpose.”
“Just as heaven is higher than the earth, my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.”
You had better be humble because the Lord will bring down the proud.
In 1 Kings Chapter 18, the nation of Israel met the prophet named Elijah-
Elijah was a man of God. He spoke for God and he spoke of God.
He did not look or act like everyone else- and he did not care. He wanted only to please God not man.
The battle between the prophets of Baal and God Almighty
Prophets of Ball (450) put a bull on the altar and called upon their god to consume it with fire.
Chanting and cutting themselves they called on Baal-
Elijah had fun with that! Elijah said perhaps he is busy, or maybe sleeping.
Morning to night they called and he would not answer.
He took their altar and repaired it. He took their bull and filled the altar with water and then called on the God of Israel
“God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you are God”
2 Kings 1:1-8 Read from the Bible
Here are the players-
Ahaziah the king of Israel was hurt not in battle like most kings of the day but at home falling through a structure problem with his roof.
He sends for counsel to the pagan god Baal to see if the injury is life threatening. To see if he will recover.
He sends his messengers but they quickly return.
They say that they met a man on the road who says go back to the king and tell him- “This is what the Lord says; “is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending men to consult Baal-Zebub.”
The king asked them what kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this-
Can you read between these lines?
Who was this man that you would not do what I told you.
You better have a good reason or I will have some new messengers starting tomorrow.
“He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist”
Probably wringing his hands and rubbing his face-
Flashbacks of the last time he heard of this guy.
That is the prophet of Israel- a man called Elijah
I know of him- I know where to find him.
Here’s where it gets good
(9) “Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company fifty men. The captain went to Elijah and said to him, man of God, the king says to come down.”
Catch the tone of arrogance and pride- the king says come down.
Saying that the king trumps man of God
(10) “Elijah answered the captain, if I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men. Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.”
Man of God one- captain arrogance zero
Somebody limped back to let the king know what happen
(11) “At this the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. The captain said to him, man of god, this is what the king says, come down at once.”
Again Tone of arrogance and pride- the king not only says come down, but come down quickly…snap snap!
(12) “If I am a man of God…here we go! Elijah replied, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” Then fire fell from heaven and consumed him and his fifty men.”
I bet the last thing he remembered was looking up.
Listen buddy, I am not a rocket scientist here but you better start believing that this prophet has some authority behind him.
Somebody again limps back to the king what happened.
(13) “So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. This third captain went up and fell on his knees before Elijah. Man of God, he begged, please have respect for my life and the lives of these fifty men, your servants. See fire has fallen from heaven and consumed the first two captains and all their men. But now have respect for my life.”
Finally someone heeded the warning.
Believed that God would do what he said he would do.
He was not arrogant and proud.
He did not say the king said come down- in fact he went up on the mountain and asked the prophet to spare his life.
He realized that he did not want to learn the hard way. He wanted to do it right the first time because he did not know if he would get a second chance.
Can you imagine the tension for those moments before the captain would be spared or lose his life-
(15) “The angel of the Lord said to Elijah, go down with him, do not be afraid of him. So Elijah got up and went with him to the king.”
(16) “He told the king, this is what the Lord says: is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? “Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die! So he died, according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken.”
As we close
Ahaziah didn’t believe in God- even though evidence proved there was a God.
He like others had hardened his heart to the things of God and it is not that they have a lack of faith- it is because they put their faith in the wrong things.
Just like Ahaziah’s mother Jezebel, he put his faith in the unknowns instead of known.
The God of Israel has throughout their history shown Himself faithful to the people of Israel.
When God speaks, he delivers.
I saw a tee shirt this week that caught my attention- “I am acting like I’m listening!” WE NEED TO BE LISTENING!
Take a minute and hear me this morning…This country is at a crossroads, you and I need to be listening to what the Lord has been saying in His Word.
We need to listen to what bible believing preachers are sharing in the word of God about turning our lives over to the Lord because there is coming a time that we will stand before the God of the Bible and answer for what we have done with His son Jesus and how we have or have not lived His truths.
This is not a doom and gloom message. It is actually a message of Hope.
It is a warning straight out of scripture and it is hope in the promises of God.
We have nine Supreme Court justices that are making our decisions for us and they are
moving this country away from the things of God.
There is a battle over the things of God verses a selfless nation that is turning its back on God.
There is a battle over the minds of our kids.
There was a prophet named Elijah that stood in the gap between what is right and godly and the direction taken by those that are godless.
If the Lord turns His back and allows us what we think we want, we are in trouble.
What better time than the week of 911.
A better time than when we are facing Covid-19.
A better time than when this country is at such unrest… to join together and pray that God would not take His hand off this country and that we would again turn our hearts toward Him.
Do you realize the power there is in the statement made by God-“
If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
Let’s pray-
