Sermon Nuggets Mon March 15
Theme- Call of God
Verses 1 Kings 19:15-21
Commitment
On April 21st, in the year 1519, the Spanish explorer Hernando Cortez sailed into the harbor of Vera Cruz, Mexico. He brought with him only about 600 men, and yet over the next two years his vastly outnumbered forces were able to defeat Montezuma and all the warriors of the Aztec empire, making Cortez the conqueror of all Mexico. How was this incredible feat accomplished, when two prior expeditions had failed even to establish a colony on Mexican soil? Here’s the secret. Cortez knew from the very beginning that he and his men faced incredible odds. He knew that the road before them would be dangerous and difficult. He knew that his men would be tempted to abandon their quest and return to Spain. And so, as soon as Cortez and his men had come ashore and unloaded their provisions, he ordered their entire fleet of eleven ships destroyed. His men stood on the shore and watched as their only possibility of retreat burned and sank. And from that point on, they knew beyond any doubt there was no return, no turning back. Nothing lay behind them but empty ocean. Their only option was to go forward, to conquer or die.
There are many people so caught up in the things of this world that they do not realize how it chokes them not only of life, but of God.
What is it God is calling you to?
I believe there are three types of calls in our lives. There is the call of God unto Salvation. God calls us into His family. He calls us to faith in Jesus Christ and commitment to following Him. If you are here this morning and have never make a prayer commitment giving your life to Jesus Christ, you need to do that in order for God to have his complete way with you. You need to be saved.
There is a second call, I believe for all Christians to live lives in holiness and righteousness. We are all called to be witnesses in whatever we do and to become light and salt to our world. If you are a Christian you are called to serving him with the gifts and talents that he has given to you and in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I believe there is a third call for some. It is the call of God for special service, ministry, or witness. Some people are used of God in powerful and specific ways. Now I would like us to think of the Biblical principles of how God is using the prophet Elisha as I begin a new series throughout this summer.
I've preached on the life of Elijah who was a very different person. What kind of people does God use?
These next few weeks as we see the Prophet Elijah winding down his ministry we will see the baton of responsibility being handed to a hand picked servant, Elisha. He was a farmer. Now God had a specific and different plan for his life.
Let’s look at the heart of Elisa. We will see by his actions of sacrificing his oxen and burning his plow that there was a committed heart that said to him- There is no turning back!
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Tues March 15
15 The LORD said to him, "Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram.
16 Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet.
17 Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.
18 Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel-- all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him."
19 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.
GOD Desires a PREPARED HEART.
First I want to say that God picks and chooses whomever He desires. But there is something that is true for all. He prepares them by life’s circumstances that makes them usable.
Not everyone is desirous to serve the Lord. We have examples like Moses or Jonah, but others like Isaiah or Elisha fall into the category that get the call from God to serve in a unique manner and do not need much convincing. That is the heart that blesses the Lord and He desires of all of us.
For the next assignment Elijah needed to regain his perspective on the Lord. He was not where the Lord wanted him when he ran away and was far from the place where the Lord wanted him to be. So God needed to do an attitude adjustment.
The Lord gave Elijah a job to perform. So much of depression is frankly nothing more than self-pity, physical exhaustion, and not being in a right relationship with God. Work helps me get rid of depression most of the time. I stop feeling sorry for myself when my mind is concentrated on activity.
Now for Elijah to be used of God he had to get his heart right again. The Lord can't be served very effectively with a discouraged person. He had to show Elijah that God is still alive and well, and that he has a plan for his life an for ours. God had something for Elijah to do and notice he had something for Hazael to do, and Jehu to do, and now we see he has a plan for the life of Elisha.
God also told him that in the Northern nation of Israel there were 7,000 people who had not bowed down to Baal and whose hearts were prepared to serve God. God knows a lot more that is going on than what we realize.
From time to time I am happily surprise to hear of someone in the church whom I thought was uninvolved helped someone by giving them a card, phone call or visit. There are many people in many ways serving God. It really isn’t important that I know about that, but God knows and it is Him they are serving. There are many whose names do not get in the bulletin, published in the papers, or called to be preachers, or evangelists or missionaries, or Christian workers. I am excited that the call of God affects us all for God does have a wonderful plan for your life and wants to use you for His glory and your blessing, and the blessing of others.
Marshall Shelly says, "According to historic Christianity, the church was not structured to accomplish measurable goals. It was established by God to be something. Yet it's vital that we do ministry, and do it well, it's even more important that we be God's people" or Watchman Nee "To what are we to be consecrated? Not to Christian work, but to the will of God, to be and to do whatever he requires."
What does it mean to have a prepared heart? I believe it means three things. First it means that you are saved. God calls us to come to Christ by faith. It means giving up your control of your life and turning it over to Jesus.
Secondly I believe a prepared heart is one that is cleansed from sin. Certainly, Christians sin. Elijah needed to look at God once again and not others and himself. A prepared heart desires the Holy Spirit to search him, examine him and find the sinful ways that keep him from being useful.
Thirdly, having a prepared heart is living the way the Lord would have us live. Not just getting sin out, but living in whatever occupation we do honestly, uprightly, and in the joy of the Lord. Elisha was farming. He was industrious, and hard working. God seldom calls an idle man. Luke 16:11 "So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?"
Elisha was honoring his parents. He was showing respect and love to his servants. He was being a man of God in his normal life. God desires a prepared heart which is already serving the Lord where he or she is.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Weds March 17
GOD desires A WILLING HEART
Elisha demonstrated a willing heart by responding obediently when Elijah told him God wanted him for service. God had chosen Elisha. Elisha was chosen by God for the task some time before he was called to it by Elijah. God had decided all this before Elisha was given the opportunity of deciding.
A prepared heart is a heart that knows the Lord and is living for
Him. A willing heart is desirous to serve Him according to the gifts He has given us. It is doing what our hands find to do. If you are walking in the desire to serve our Lord then do what comes your way as being God's person. The most important part of the call is willingness to be what He wants us to be and if He should open us to a specific task He will make it known.
In the culture the cloak, or mantle, of the prophet had special meaning. Elijah threw it around Elisha and started walking away. Elisha knew what that meant. It was the outward sign of the call to come and be under the teaching and training of Elijah. The cloak of the prophet was symbolic of His spiritual power from God. This was an invitation to follow Elijah the prophet of God and follow God's call.
I was called to God at the age of 9 to be his child. I was convicted in Junior and Senior High School to be willing offer my life to do whatever God wanted me to do and serve him in wherever He leads. I remember even praying, "Lord if you want me to be a farmer, I'll be the best farmer I can be to your glory."
Can you imagine a city slicker from Detroit, not know the difference between a combine or a harvester praying something like that? God made it plain to me in High School that He wanted me to study for the ministry. I liked people. I enjoyed counseling, psychology and sociology. I did not like to speak in front of people. I felt shy and very uncomfortable about people I did not know. I had to learn by sweat, blood, and tears how to teach and preach in public. Those were not natural gifts. Administration is not a part of the pastorate I particularly like nor do I feel gifted in, but I do it because it comes with the job. I am not fond of committee work, finances, and conflict. I am not particularly knowledgeable in mechanical things, or trustee type work but I learned that is part of being a pastor and instead of resenting them, I accept them. A willing heart isn't a heart that is desirous of things one likes to do, but willing to do things that you do not like to do too if that is part of the task.
Elisha was willing to go, but first needed to bid his folks farewell. Elijah’s response seems somewhat harsh to me, "Go back. What have I done to you?"
I believe what he is saying is something like this, "I wasn't the one that called you. The Lord did. You do what you want. If you are interested in your parents more than in your summons to serve God, why not return home? I am only a messenger. You must make up your own mind. When you are certain that it is a challenge from God to devote your life to his service then respond."
I do not think Elisha's desire is wrong. He was making preparations to leave. He was to leave his family and immediate friends to become a missionary to King Ahab and others.
I think of the willingness and desirous spirit of Jim Elliot, missionary martyr. He said, "I dare not stay home while the Quichuas perish; what if the well filled church in the homeland needs stirring? They have the Scriptures, Moses and the prophets and a whole lot more. Their condemnation is written on their bankbook and in the dust of their Bible covers."
Jim Elliot's heart was willing. He knew in his heart he could do nothing else. He had to go as soon as possible, and so did Elisha
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Thurs March 18, 2010
Verses- I King 19:19-21 So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him.
20 Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. "Let me kiss my father and mother good-by," he said, "and then I will come with you." "Go back," Elijah replied. "What have I done to you?"
21 So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.
GOD desires a SEPARATED HEART
A separated heart is a heart that is separated from the cares of this world. It is separated from us the things that keep us from God's priority. A separated life is a sacrificial life. Elisha left the oxen, left parents, left his servants, left his inheritance, and separated himself to God because that was God's call for him. They can be good things, they can be acceptable things, they can be important things, but not what God wants for us now.
I feel Elisha took drastic steps when as a son of a rich farmer and having 11 other servants over his direction took the oxen and slaughtered them for the servants, family and friends to eat. Then he took his plow and burned it. He was blessed for these very things. He was a good son, a hard worker, a good employer, and faithful to the vocation of his family, but when called to a different service the temptations of staying were burned as a visible reminder that he was not to go back. He committed himself to whatever God wanted. Every man who has done any great work for God in the world has been more or less deeply impressed with this sense of special Divine call and commission.
Now remember that Elijah and Elisha were very different people. There is nothing in the Bible to say that we all act alike and serve alike. Elijah is the rugged individualist, ascetic and recluse. Elijah was the powerful prophet standing before 1,000s to proclaim the judgment of God. But Elisha was the prophet of the nation domestic, peaceable, helpful and somewhat quieter as we will remain to see. He does the same task but in a much different way with the same spirit. Elisha was not Elijah. Joshua was not a Moses, a Timothy is not a Paul, and there is no reason to be so.
All Christians are called to do service and different people have different things that are on their heart to do and must not judge another for not having that same particular burden, other than to be faithful to God.
I believe, however, each Christian must evaluate his life and ask if she is living by the priorities God would have for her. What needs to be cut out? One cannot seek to be faithful student of the word of God and spend 20 hours or more a week watching TV. One cannot know his people and spend half his time with personal hobbies. One must become disciplined, and seek those things which are above. We must not only decide the good, but the best things leaving out some of the good.
St. Francis of Assisi was born to a clothing merchant of Assisi in Italy. He was somewhat of a playboy and not very serious. He joined the army and was taken prisoner for awhile. When he was let out he was riding to Rome and in somewhat the same fashion as Paul had a vision to restore the fallen house of God. He took that literally and sold clothes from his father’s warehouses to rebuild the ruined churches. He was ruining the family profits so his father stood him before the bishop as a public act of disowning him. To which Francis stripped himself of his clothes and took on a simple tunic and turned his back on all his wealth and sought to serve the less fortunate with whom he was now identifying.
Francis went around preaching repentance and the Kingdom of God without money. Eating only what was given to him. He would imitate Christ and obey Christ' commands in absolute poverty. Others follow St. Francis and they went 2 X 2 preaching repentance signing much, aiding peasants in their work, caring for the lepers and outcasts.
I am not saying we must be like Elisha or St. Francis of Assisi. That was God’s call on their lives. But a separated heart is willing to turn our backs on things that allure us away from Christ and His prioiries for us.
Pastor Dale
Sermon Nuggets Fri March 19, 2010
GOD desires a HUMBLED HEART
We need to understand that when Elisha said yes to the call of God he did so leaving not only wealth, but responsibility as a son of a master. He was a boss and now would become a servant to assist Elijah. He was not only a learner, but in this role he would do the servant’s tasks. That is a humble position. He was willing even to do lowly things and dirty tasks, but in so doing them, learning and watching and being taught from the senior prophet.
Jesus was willing to take the towel and bowl as he washed the feet of his disciples. Paul was still a tentmaker, and a prisoner, doing menial tasks. Being in God's service not means always being respect or honored, or exalted.
It is exciting to have a ministry linking people to God and teaching eternal values and seeing lives changed by the Lord. It is significant to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ and considered worthy to do so. It is fun to watch Christians grow in their faith and begin to love the Lord and desire to know more of His Word. It is especially gratifying to see people become reproducers themselves for God's kingdom.
Jesus is once again our example when he says we are called to serve, not to be served. That is Christian maturity.
Billy Graham was having a question and answer session at seminary with a student. One young man tired of Greek and Hebrew and theology and more eager to get into the ministry, Ask, "Dr. Graham, If you were my age, with the world in the shape it is in, would you still spend several years just in training?"
His answer, "Young man, I cannot think of a better use for your time right now than developing the gifts God has given you. If you were told to go into the wood to cut down trees and were given an ax that was made of good steel but was dull, the time spent to sharpen the ax would not be considered wasted. Stay in school and sharpen your ax."
Elijah taught Elisha for some 8 years. Paul took 14 years out before preaching Timothy and Titus learned form Paul for several years. The disciples at least had 3 years of seminary training. It seems that there is a time for learning and a time for serving and a time when you must be doing both. One's gifts often seem to be in a process of developing just like our character,-we have never succeeded but we should be teaching and helping other in developing like Elijah. and we should be seeking to improve our learning such as Elisha.
The call of God requires a prepared heart, a willing heart, a separated heart, and a humbled heart. May God find that the hearts in this congregation that way, so we can say, ‘Here am I send and use me.’
Pastor Dale
