Many years ago when I was in college preparing for the ministry, a teacher required us to read a book that was not really a part of the curriculum, but one which he felt would be very beneficial to us as young Christian men and women. The title of the book was ‘Ordering Your Private World’ by Gordon MacDonald. The primary thing I remember from that book is that who we are outwardly is dependent primarily upon who we are inwardly. MacDonald compared our inner man to a garden that needs to be carefully cultivated and attended. If the inner man is not right, the outer man will not be right either. Though we might conceal the condition of our inner man for a while, eventually the truth will come out. But if the inner man is right, then the outer man will be right as well.
Solomon emphasized this point when he wrote – “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV)
Today we’re going to look at a man who outwardly looked like he was on top of the world. As a matter of fact, this man called down fire from heaven. But just a little later, on that same day, we find this man running like a scared rabbit. As many of you now have guessed, the name of this man I am referring to is Elijah. Elijah went from the mountain top of victory to the valley of defeat and despair. The thing I want to know is why. Why did this great man of God crash? I believe it is because he failed to properly take care of the inner man.
I. Elijah on the Mountain Top
1 Kings 18:30 And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32 And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. 34 And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. 35 And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water.
36 And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. 38 Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.
A. A Mighty Man of Power
Anyone who knows anything about Elijah knows that he was a man of might power. Someone has said that he was the iron man of the Old Testament. Elijah is someone who could call down fire from heaven and he wasn’t afraid of anything. His name means ‘Yahweh is my God’ and he lived up to his name. Elijah’s the guy who went toe to toe with the 450 false prophets of Baal and won.
During his lifetime Elijah performed many amazing miracles. For instance, he prayed that it would not rain and it did not rain for three and one half years. Then he prayed that it would rain and it poured. Through Elijah’s prayers, a poor widow’s pantry never went empty. Every time she went to the barrel of meal, there was enough there to feed her and her son that day. Elijah even raised this widow’s son back to life.
When you come to the New Testament, you see that Elijah was considered to be a parallel figure to John the Baptist. Actually the Bible calls John the Baptist – ‘the Elijah of the last days.’ During the days of Jesus we find Elijah, along with Moses, meeting with the Savior on the Mount of Transfiguration. When God wanted to encourage His Son, He sent Elijah as one of His representatives. Many also believe that during the last days, Elijah will be one of the two witnesses who will appear on the earth.
Last but not least, we should also take a moment and remember his send-off to heaven. Someone recently told me that they didn’t want any sad songs at their funeral. Well Elijah’s funeral was anything but sad. The Bible says that God took him up into heaven in a chariot of fire. (see 2 Kings 2:11) Elijah and Enoch are two men who never experienced death the way that you and I will.
B. A Mighty Man of Prayer
One of the reasons Elijah was such a mighty man of power was because he was such a mighty man of prayer. Hold your place in 1 Kings and go with me to James 5.
James 5:17 Elias (Elijah) was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
I’ve often put James in the same category as Elijah and John the Baptist and Elijah. If you have ever studied the book of James you know that James is not afraid to tell it like it is. Isn’t it amazing that when James wanted to emphasize the power of prayer, he used Elijah as his example. Literally James said that Elijah ‘prayed with prayer.’ The double use of the word prayer emphasized the intensity with which Elijah prayed. We might say that when Elijah prayed – he prayed! He didn’t pray the kind of drive-by prayers that we talked about last Sunday. Whenever he prayed – he prayed and heaven moved!
18 And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.
Elijah was a mighty man of power and prayer. But notice something else very important the James says about Elijah. Elijah was also a man of passion.
James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are…
The word ‘passion’ means feelings or emotions. Some translations say that Elijah was only human. He wasn’t some superhero from out of space. He was a human being just like we are, which tells us at least three things:
1. If Elijah Could Pray Powerful Prayers – So Can We
James 5:16 … The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.
James is not trying to put Elijah up on a pedestal. He’s trying to help us see that God can use the prayers of ordinary people just like you and me.The sincere prayers of someone who is right with God has great power and can accomplish great things.
2. If Elijah Was Only Human – So Are We
There’s a mountain top experience in the story of Elijah, but there’s also a valley.
II. Elijah Down in the Valley
1 Kings 19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 2 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. 3 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. 4 But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness…
What happened? How did a mighty man like Elijah go from such a high to such a low – all in the same day? How did he go from the mountain top of victory to the valley of despair? What happened to Elijah and what’s more – could what happened to Elijah happen to you and me?
A. Elijah’s Crash
3 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. 4 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 fathers. 5 And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree…
Literally – “I quit! I can’t do this anymore.” What happened to Elijah?
B. Cause of Elijah’s Crash
1. Elijah was Physically Exhausted
It appears that Elijah was completely exhausted. He had expended a lot more energy than he realized. Therefore, when he stopped to rest, he crashed. The Bible says that he laid down under a tree and fell into a deep sleep.
…behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat. 6 And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. 7 And 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. 8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
2. Elijah was Spiritually Empty
But there was something wrong with Elijah that went deeper than his physical well-being.
1 Kings 19:8 And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.
A little R & R didn’t solve all of Elijah’s problems. There was something much deeper that was wrong with this man of God.
If you trace the steps of Elijah you will discover that he ran all the way from the northern part of Israel down to Mt. Sinai which is in the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula. An estimated distance of over two hundred miles. The Bible says that he ran for forty days. Two hundred miles is a long ways, yet is should not have taken him forty days to make the journey. So what went on during those forty days? Some say that Elijah wandered aimlessly about in the wilderness. Elijah was in a wilderness physically and spiritually.
1 Kings 19:9 And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there…
Some believe that Elijah went not to just any old cave, but ‘the’ cave where Moses stood (the cleft of the rock) as the glory of God passed by him.
… and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
God is going to ask him this question twice. Whenever God asks us the same thing more than once, it’s usually because there is something deep within us that needs to be brought out.
10 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.
a. Was Elijah’s Problem – Pride?
Was he saying, “I’m the only one who matters in the entire nation?” No. Actually he was saying, “I’ve done all that I could do and I’ve failed.”
b. Was His Problem – Self-Pity?
Look back at vs. 4 –
4 …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 fathers.
In other words, “Lord, I’ve tried and it just didn’t work and as far as I’m concerned, I’m ready to just go on home to heaven and forget all of this.”
c. Elijah’s Problem was That He Had Become – ‘Power-less’
Many of you have heard me tell this story before, but I repeat it because it’s so real and important to me. About the third year I was in college preparing for the ministry, I crashed. I didn’t commit some great moral sin that took me down. I simply ran out of gas.
I had been working full time and going to school full time and trying to raise a family. To make matters worse, one particular semester I decided to take a couple of more classes than usual, just to get finished.
I’m a Type A personality and so it took about three years for it all to catch up with me, but eventually it did and when it did – I crashed. I became so discouraged and disillusioned that I wanted not only to quit, I wanted to go somewhere and hide in a cave.
During that difficult time-period in my life I learned a couple of very important lessons about life:
1. Sometimes life can be taking a lot more out of us than we realize
2. Sometimes we can be running on spiritual fumes and not realize it
Have you ever looked down one morning and suddenly realized that your gas gauge is bouncing on E? There have been a few times in my life the gauge has gone below E and I was running only on fumes. Then there have also been a few times in life when the fumes have been gone and suddenly I found myself stranded.
Elijah has been running on fumes -spiritually speaking. He’s been going through the motions and doing all the right things, but his spiritual gas gauge is bouncing on E.
1 Kings 19: 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in 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: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
13 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 here, Elijah? 14 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 altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.
The Bible doesn’t tell us explicitly why Elijah had slipped into such a state of discouragement and disillusionment, but there’s one important thing I have noticed as I have studied this story. There seems to be an absence of prayer from Mt. Carmel on. Even there, it was more of a prayer for fire to fall from heaven and consume the sacrifice than a prayer for fire to fall from heaven and consume his life.
This I can tell you for sure. I know why I crashed those many years ago and I know why I have crashed several times since then. When my relationship with God begins to dwindle, so does my spiritual confidence and power.
Jesus said this – “men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1) I’ve studied those words very carefully and here is some of what the Lord was saying. If we don’t pray faithfully and consistently, sooner or later we’re going to crash.
The phrase ‘ought always’ means – it is necessary. We must do this. We must do it not just because Jesus said we must do it. We must do it in order to live.
“To fail to pray, is not to merely break some religious rule. It is failure to treat God as God.” [1]
If Satan can get our eyes off of God and onto our problems, he can discourage us. If he can get us to start thinking that it all rides on our shoulders, he can overwhelm us. If he can make us think that we can handle this all by ourselves, he can easily whip us. That’s why God’s people must always be praying and never give up.
III. Elijah on Mission With God
I am thankful to say that Elijah’s story doesn’t end with him in the valley of despair. God still had much He wanted to do with Elijah and therefore the Lord went to him and helped him to refocus.
I believe that the Lord had three important lessons to teach Elijah.
A. ‘You’re Not in This Alone’
1 Kings 19:18 Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him.
One of the great things about prayer is that it helps us regain our heavenly perspective. Through prayer we realize that it’s not just us trying to do something. It’s us and God and as someone has said – “You and God make a majority!”
B. ‘I’m Not Through Using You’
As far as Elijah was concerned, his ministry was all over. “Lord, I gave it my best and it didn’t work. You might as well call me home.” Yet God still had things for Elijah to do.
1 Kings 19:15And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria: 16And 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.
Another great thing about prayer is that it helps us regain a heavenly purpose. Part of the purpose of prayer is for God to speak to us and to tell us what He wants us to do.
C. ‘Before Everything Else – Make Sure That You Take Care of Your Inner Man’
1 Kings 19: 11 And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in 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: 12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
God doesn’t speak in the earthquakes and the fire. God whispers in a still small voice and we can only hear that voice in our inner man.
About the time I complete my ministry preparation at Tennessee Temple, I was selected to do an internship under the pastors of High Park Baptist Church. For a whole summer I worked under the various men in their areas of ministry. I’ll never forget a conversation I had with one of those men. I remember sitting in his office and with his Bible open he said to me – “The most important thing I can tell you is to take care of your personal relationship with God. Your integrity is the most important part of your ministry, therefore do whatever it takes to keep your relationship with God strong and your integrity pure.”
Most men and women of God who fall into moral failure do so because somewhere along the way their relationship with God becomes dull and routine. They go through the motions without any real spiritual power behind them. It is for that reason that I close with this prayer from the Apostle Paul –
Ephesians 3:16 …I pray that out of the riches of His glory, He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17 … And I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have power, (Ability) together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth of His love, 19 and to know (become intimately acquainted) the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, (same power that raised Jesus from the dead) 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (BSB)
"Seeds of Faith" 