Rev. David G. Bostick
02-22-09
Henry M. Morris III describes the work of God on the cross and the empty tomb using the word conservation. Knowing what the word conservation means we could say that...
"Wanting to prevent mankind from being exploited,
destroyed, or neglected, God made plans for his careful preservation and protection. His planned management included the cross to deal with the problem of sin in the world and give mankind the opportunity for eternal life and fellowship with Him. In the cross we see the authority, justness, and power of God."
Last time we talked about the conservation aspect of the full Gospel story covering two of the three important elements, authority and justness. This morning we will talk about the third element, power, which is an important part of the conservation of mankind by God in His actions on the cross.
When we think of the word power, usually one of the pictures that comes to mind is the devastation of the atomic bombs used in the second world war. The picture of power might be different for all of us. When I was in college I remember a tornado that ripped it's way through an Oklahoma City neighborhood in the late 70's. Like a lot of other people we drove over to see the devastation. There was an area, about 1/4 mile wide and at least a mile long, that was demolished. There was not a house standing, all that was left were foundations and piles of trash. I cannot imagine the power it took for all those homes to be destroyed like that in a matter of 2 or three minutes.
In more recent history we think of the great tsunami that overwhelmed Asia or the collapse of the twin towers in the 911 attack. If you follow the discoveries in the field of astronomy you learn about the great powers of the stars and their thermal-nuclear explosions. It is awesome. When you study the Bible you will see times when God's great power was displayed in many different ways. The flood waters that covered the entire globe including the highest mountains on earth is a good example of God's power. But if you really look into the details of God's interaction with His creation, most of the time, God's power is displayed in a gentle breeze or the still small voice of His Spirit.
I guess if there is a man that I would like to talk to, who has seen some of the greatest displays of God's power here on earth, it would be the prophet Elijah. By the power of God he stopped the rain for 3 years, he called down fire from heaven to consume a sacrifice, and he supervised the slaughter of more than 800 prophets of Baal. But Elijah was human just like you and I are. As we move forward this morning I would like to propose that the greatest display of God's power in Elijah's life was not in the fire that fell from heaven, or the blood of the slaughtered prophets that covered the ground. God's power was revealed to Elijah in a way that he would never forget it.
After the slaughter of her prophets, queen Jezebel has made a vow that she will kill Elijah before 24 hours passes. Elijah runs for his life. After traveling more than 200 miles in 40 days, Elijah finds himself in a cave in the mountains having a
pity party. He is diligently carrying out God's will as His prophet, but he finds himself hiding in fear and
severely depressed. God comes to him to encourage him and send him back to continue his job as God's prophet during these troubled times. In this passage we see God revealing Himself to Elijah to encourage Him.
1 Kings 19:9-18 (NASB)
[9] Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
[10] He said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
Now remember that Elijah has just come from Mount Carmel where fire from the throne of God has consumed the
sacrifice he offered to God before the people of Israel, and all of the prophets of Baal have been slaughtered. All of this incredible display of God's power and yet Elijah is depressed. You would think he would be on cloud nine.
I try to put myself in his place there on the mountain standing next to the altar as fire flows from heaven consuming the sacrifice and the altar. I cannot imagine the feeling of success that might have produced in my heart. But it is soon forgotten when Jezebel threatens to kill Elijah by the end of the next day. So God decides to show His power to Elijah in a way that he will never forget.
[11] So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending (that word rending means violently ripping the mountain apart) the mountains and breaking 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] After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
[13] When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave.
Put yourself in Elijah's place for a moment. There is a howling wind that is breaking the rocks on the mountain into
pieces. Chips of rock, abrasive dirt, and clouds of dust are flying at you from every direction. In the midst of all that there is an earthquake that rattles the very foundations of the mountain you stand on. Then a blazing fire breaks out, with intense heat turning your exposed skin to a bright red color. Smoke brings tears to your eyes and fills your mouth and nostrils as you gasp for a breath of clean air, but none can be found. Soon you are doubled over trying to get away from the blazing heat and strangling smoke. Have the circumstances of your life ever doubled you over? Have things been flying at you from every direction
until you wish you could just lay down and die? That is the place Elijah is when God comes to visit him in the cave on the mountain.
Then, all of a sudden, there is a gentle breeze. The fire quickly lays down and the air is cleared in an instant. At last, a breath of fresh air, then the realization that God is now here. It was in this moment of calm that the quiet voice of God brings Elijah back to the reality of his situation. He has been used by God in a mighty way, but in spite of the great things God has done through him, he is down and depressed, he thinks he is all alone.
[13] ...And behold, a voice came to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
[14] Then he said, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
[15] The LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael king over Aram;
[16] and Jehu the son of Nimshi you shall anoint king over Israel; and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.
[17] “It shall come about, the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, Jehu shall put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu, Elisha shall put to death.
[18] “Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
Verse 18 is very important. Look at it closely. In his depressed state God reminds Elijah that he is not alone. His reminder to Elijah is a reminder to you and I today that we are not alone, no matter what is going on in our lives. God reveals to Elijah that there are...
~ 7,000 in Israel that did not need to see the fire fall on Mount Carmel.
~ 7,000 in Israel that did not need to see the prophets of Baal slaughtered.
~ 7,000 in Israel that were faithful to God even in these dangerous times.
What power is it that can keep that many people from collapsing under the pressure to follow the crowd? I mean, I can see a few radicals that might cling to some delusions they have about a God who is going to bring better days, but 7,000 people? What power is it that can keep that many people from surrendering to the fear of loosing their very lives? No kind of display of power from nature, like a mighty wind rending the
mountains and breaking the rocks to pieces could defeat them. No great earthquake or raging fire could discourage them. The pressure of their piers and the fear placed on them that would require them to give their lives for their God could not discourage them. There was a power evident in their lives that
superseded all that. It was the quiet gentle whisper of God in their personal lives. That same power is available to you and I today in the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that comes to live within each and every individual who confesses, believes, and surrenders to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
I propose to you that it was the gentle power of God, whispering encouragement in their heart, in an intimate relationship that caused them to hold fast and stand firm. Now God comes to the great prophet Elijah to whisper encouragement in his ear. The memories of fire falling from heaven to consume the
sacrifice, the slaughter of more than 800 prophets of Baal; these were not powerful enough to keep Elijah to his task as God's prophet. It would take the gentle whisper of God's voice in his heart. Elijah strikes out to continue God's work in his troubled world.
God is not revealed in the wind, or the earthquake, or the fire. God reveals himself to Elijah in the sound of a gentle blowing. This had happened before when God revealed Himself to Moses in a similar way.
In Exodus chapter 33 Moses is having a very personal conversation with God and he asks God (vs. 18) to show him His glory.
Exodus 33:17-23 (NASB)
[17] The LORD said to Moses, “I will also do this thing of which you have spoken; for you have found favor in My sight and I have known you by name.”
[18] Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!”
[19] And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.”
[20] But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!”
[21] Then the LORD said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock;
[22] and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
[23] “Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”
The point in both of these passages is that when God revealed Himself He did it by revealing His power by showing these two men His glory.
God's power is revealed in the display of His Glory and His glory is associated in Israel with the ark of the covenant.
In one of the songs we have been singing the past two weeks it says, "here I raise my Ebenezer...", do you know where that comes from? 1 Samuel 7:12 (NASB) Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” Ebenezer was the place where the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the Glory of God, was captured and taken away from Israel. In this passage, the prophet Samuel sets up a stone (altar) to remind Israel that the presence of God is not some trinket they can carry around as a good luck charm. The first day of battle they lost 4,000 soldiers. So they decide to bring the Ark of the Covenant to the battle field in hopes that God would fight their battle for them. That day 32,000 soldiers died and the ark is captured by the Philistines and taken away.
1 Samuel 5:1-5 (NASB)
[1] Now the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.
[2] Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.
[3] When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set him in his place again.
The power of God is not seen in the spectacular events of physical displays of power that we think of today. There was no earthquake, no great storm, no apparent physical
phenomena to cause such a thing. It was just the presence of a Holy God in the presence of an idol, and the idol could do nothing but fall down in the presence of Almighty God.
[4] But when they arose early the next morning, behold, Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off on the threshold; only the trunk of Dagon was left to him.
The word cut used here, (h3772) is used in the practice of cutting an animal in two to use it as a seal for a covenant. (h3772) is a verb meaning to cut off, to cut down, to make a covenant.
[5] Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor all who enter Dagon's house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.
By the gentle presence of The Holy God, a covenant was made that does not allow the priests of Dagon or anyone who enters a temple of Dagon to step on the threshold. It is a covenant of respect for the one true God. The
sacrifice used to seal the covenant was the head and hands of the idol of Dagon in his own temple.
Today we have the gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit who would destroy the idols in our lives, if we would but listen to the gentle whisper of His voice, which is the power we need for victory in our everyday lives.
John 5:28-30 (NASB)
[28] “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
[29] and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
[30] “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
The gentle whisper of God's voice is a power that brings life into dead and buried bodies.
John 10:1-5 (NASB)
[10:1] “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber.
[2] “But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep.
[3] “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
[4] “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.
[5] “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”
John 10:22-30 (NASB)
[22] At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem;
[23] it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.
[24] The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
[25] Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me.
[26] “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep.
[27] “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
[28] and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand.
[29] “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.
[30] “I and the Father are one.”
The gentle whisper of God's voice is the power that leads His sheep in the path they should go.
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Morris, Henry M. III. 5 Reasons to Believe in Recent Creation. Dallas: Institute for Creation Research, 2008.
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