Tis Not the Season to Be Discouraged — Carter Conlon

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Elijah’s Discouragement and God’s Still Small Voice

First Kings Chapter 19, please.

Old Testament. If you don't have a Bible, you may want to just lean over and share with somebody else beside you. It is not the season to be discouraged. I want to say that again. It is not the season to be discouraged.

Every year here at Times Square Church, especially New York City, Christmas comes around and everybody nosedives right into the sidewalk spiritually. I know because a lot of people are alone and Christmas doesn't have a fond memory perhaps for you.

But it's not the season, according to the Word of God, to be discouraged. As a matter of fact, it's a season to be greatly encouraged. It's a season to receive and to have strength from God. Father, I thank you, Lord, for this Word today.

Thank you, Jesus, that you'll take me even as tired as I am, Lord, and you'll quicken me. And God, you'll give the ability to clearly convey your heart to the people that are gathered here today. Thank you for this, Lord.

Thank you for the joy of your presence. Lord, truly there's joy in this house today. Quicken me, quicken everyone who's in this audience, and we may all have a heart to hear what you have to say. We thank you for it in Jesus' name.

1 Kings chapter 19, beginning at verse 11. Now this is the Lord in the Old Testament speaking to a man called Elijah. Elijah was a very zealous person for the things of God. 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, or broke them in other words, and broken 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.

And after the earthquake, a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a small, still voice, a still, small voice. And it was so, and 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 to him and said, What doest thou here, Elijah? If I can put it in modern day terms, God came in a whisper, and he said to him, Elijah, what are you doing here? Now this is a story about a discouraged man.

He was so discouraged, according to the scriptures, that at this particular season of his life, he would rather die than go on living. And I think this is a plague, actually, in our generation. We see so many young people now that seem to have lost heart and lost hope, because they don't see any reason for living.

They don't see a purpose for the future. And it's really one of the modern day tragedies of our times. I suppose you could look at Elijah and say that he was exhausted from running. Actually, he was running in the wrong direction.

Because just a short time before, in chapter 18 and verse 46, when he was running in the right direction, and that means the direction that God was leading him, he had been given a supernatural strength to the point that he could outrun a speeding chariot that was heading to a city called Jezreel.

Verse 46 says, The hand of the Lord was on Elijah, and he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab, who was the king of Israel, to the entrance of Jezreel. Now folks, this is the incredible reality of a true relationship with God.

God walks with those who walk with Him. He restores, He gives strength, He gives heart, He gives hope, He gives provision. The supernatural life of God becomes intertwined with the natural life of man.

And we become, as the scripture says in the book of Corinthians, a new creation. We become a new person. We don't become religious. We become a new person. We become free from the entrappings as it is of our naturalness.

That is what we are without God. And God comes into our life. And we begin to know and we begin to be given strength. And as happened with Elijah, we can outrun things as it is that used to overpower us.

Praise be to God for the strength that comes when you and I make the choice to walk with Him. David said in Psalm 18 verses 28 to 30, The Lord will enlighten my darkness. For by thee I've run through a troop, and by my God I've leaped over a wall.

In other words, David says, I've triumphed over all that has tried to stop me from what God wants me to be. As for God, he says in verse 30, His way is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler, that means a shield, a defense, to all those that trust in Him.

Blessed be God. How many here this morning, you've come to Christ and you're not the person you were even a year ago or a month ago. There's constant change coming into your life. You're living in the miraculous now.

Folks, even for me to be standing in this pulpit is no less than a miracle. From where God took me from and the fear that oft times, especially of people and public speaking that was part of my life and my heart.

I stand knowing the miraculous power of God. I know that I'm not here by any natural ability I have. I know I stand by something that God gave to me the moment I made the choice to walk with Him. Now, how many times in your lifetime have you had moments where you and I knew that with God, surely all things must be possible.

The Human Struggle to Do What Is Right

There's a moment in every life. Whether or not you know Jesus Christ intimately, perhaps you go to church. There might be something that somebody says. It might be just a divine moment because people do have those where seemingly God comes and begins to whisper into your heart.

And you know that all things are possible. There's just this momentary window that opens before you. You and I begin to realize that God, there's no limitation to what can be done when you are at the center of a person's life, especially of my own life.

But then we end up like the apostle Paul describes in Romans chapter 7. I'm just going to read it to you, verses 14 to 24. Paul says, we know the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not.

And that which I would, I do not. But what I hate, that I do. I then consent to the law that it is good. Now it's no more I that do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing.

For to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not, that I do. Now isn't that the human condition? We're living at this time of the year where the New Year's is coming upon us shortly.

And I don't know how many here have done like I did over the years. And you make a resolution. I'm going to be a better husband. I'm going to be a better father, better wife, better friend. And oh folks, how long does it last?

I know that I should do this. I know that I should love those. Because I'll read it in the Bible. You know, I'm going to love that person that hates me in the office. I'm going to do all of these things and it's in my heart to do it.

But 10 minutes after 12, my resolution is gone. I'm right back to the way I used to be. And that's what Paul is talking about. I know what to do. And I want to do it, but I can't find the power to do it.

And Paul ends the chapter with a lament in a sense in verse 24. He said, Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? In other words, who will deliver me from this condition?

This condition of wanting to do right but seemingly an inability to find the power to do it. Now thank God it doesn't end there because in verse 25 he says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Now Paul knew something and it's conveyed of course very clearly in the scriptures.

And so we often know what to do and even for a moment we want to do it. Only to find that we can't finish what we started. And that is the human condition. We want to do, but there's this, Paul said there's this inner nature in us.

That seems to be fighting against the good that we know to do. And this inner nature is so strong, how do we overpower this thing? We form our deepest and best resolutions, but the first time that button is pushed in our lives we explode one more time.

And then just like Elijah, we sit alone in dark places and filled with despair. We think that God must be disappointed in us. How many have ever been there? How many are there today? You're just sitting in a place where you say, surely God must be disappointed in me.

Even to the point of being angry with me for what we've done or what we haven't done. How we have lived or how we have not lived. We wonder deep within ourselves, what will God say to me? And what will happen one day when I stand in his presence?

Will he destroy me? Will he be angry with me? I know that I've not lived right. I know that the things that I've done don't correspond to the way this book says I should live. And even my own conscience convinces me that I've not lived in the right way.

So what will happen then when I stand before God? Now, Elijah had failed. Elijah had been given the commission of the Lord and he'd gone the other way. And how many people have done this? We were born, the scripture says, for the purposes of God.

We were created in the image of God. We were created for God. We were created to worship God. We were created to bring glory to God. We were created to know God. We're the only thing of God's creation that has the capacity to accept or reject Christ.

As our savior and God as our creator. And we think that he must be so disappointed in us. And God now calls him to account as it is. Now, this is how people feel. This is how, oftentimes, people with good intentions feel.

Who really, really wanted to do good for a season but couldn't find the power to do it. That's exactly what happened to Elijah. Wanted to do good but all of a sudden, I think he outran the Lord. I think he just ran a little too fast.

And sometimes we run too fast. We don't wait to hear what God is speaking. We don't trust him for his strength. We don't go day by day trusting him for direction in our lives and run a little too fast.

And end up in places that we have no strength to stand. And that's exactly what happened to Elijah. He ended up in a place where he had no power to stand because he really had outrun God. Now the Lord calls him to account.

Just like you and I today. The Bible says that there is a day of accounting before God. There is a day where every man, woman and child ever born, ever given breath by God, will stand before the throne of Christ and give an account of their life.

Have you wondered sometimes what that's going to be like? What would it be like to stand there? Depending on how we have lived and what's been in our hearts. And he said to him, go and stand on the mountain before the Lord.

God said to Elijah, get up. Get out of the entrance of this cave and stand before me. Now Elijah was an Old Testament prophet. And in the Old Testament he had known and he had experienced. And he had been part of the vessel of bringing God's judgment into nations and peoples that were disregarding the holiness of God.

I am sure Elijah at this moment expected the justice of God to come all over him. Just like many people do, even that I'm speaking to this morning. And now he says, behold, the Lord passed by in a great and strong wind.

Rent the mountains, a wind so powerful that the mountains were torn asunder as it is and broken pieces the rocks before the Lord. Now here's what God was saying. Elijah, I have the power to break you in pieces.

That's who God is. Did you know this morning that God has the power to break you in pieces this very moment. The Lord brought you and I into existence by the word of His mouth. If He decided that He had enough of you this morning, He'd just speak your name and you would just disperse into a hundred billion molecules into the atmosphere and you're gone.

God has the power. He created the universe by the word of His mouth. He simply spoke and the universe came into existence. He said, let there be light and there was light. He said, let there be life and there was life.

Let there be birds and there were birds. Let there be animals and there were animals. He formed a piece of clay on the ground and breathed into it and said, let this be called man. And man became, the scripture says, a living soul.

The only thing of God's creation that was created to live eternally with God. In the image of God, as the scripture says, which means that we have in us the nature of God. Although when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, that nature was turned into corruption.

And it's this corrupted image of God as it is that Paul is speaking about. It's this corruption in us where we still know what to do, but the corruption in us, Paul calls it the law of sin, is stronger than our good intentions.

And we don't know how. Paul says, I have a heart that wants to live for God, but I have a body that seems to be against everything that God is. It's a place of death that I live in. And Paul says, who will deliver me from this body of death?

How will I get free from this grip? And now God comes to Elijah and he shows him this incredible power. I could break you in pieces in a moment and God would be justified for he created us. And he has the right to destroy us if he saw fit.

But then the scripture says, but God was not in the wind. In other words, I could, but it's not in my heart to do so. And after the wind came an earthquake, the Lord was saying to Elijah, I could shake you to pieces.

I could expose your failures for everyone to see. God could do it today. He could put a video screen of every life here, of everything that you're doing in secret, of everything you've ever done. He could display it for everyone here to see.

And you know what would happen? We'd all fall on our faces because there's not a righteous person in here, apart from those who have been given this forgiveness through Jesus Christ. The ground would become level all of a sudden.

I could shake you. I could expose your failure, but that's not what I intend to do. He was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And God was saying to Elijah, I could consume you in a moment.

But that's not why I've come to you, Elijah. Now, Elijah, being an Old Testament prophet, would not be familiar with what's going to happen. This is something he'd never heard before. It's a part of the character of God he'd never seen.

And after all of these things, which were displays of the power of God, and the power of God to judge failure, and the power of God to judge sin, and the power of God to judge those who have dishonored his name, there comes to him a small, still voice.

As a matter of fact, in the original text, it means a voice that was crushed and crumbled and bruised and beaten in pieces and made into the dust. You see, what was happening is God was giving now Elijah a glimpse into what is called the New Testament.

The Lord said, I could destroy the earth. I could shake the earth to pieces. I could expose its frailty and its folly. I could destroy it and be completely justified. But it's not in my heart to do this.

Because I created every person on this planet in my image, and I love them with a passionate love, and I'm not willing to lose any that have been created for me. And after this, a small, still voice. And this small, still voice said, what are you doing here, Elijah?

What are you doing here? Listen to me for one second. In the gospel of Luke chapter 2 and verse 7, it talks about something that happened 2 ,000 years ago. The same God who came to Elijah came to all of us.

Here's verse 7, Luke chapter 2. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not. Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

God’s Mercy Revealed in the Incarnation

Now think about this for a moment. The God who created us and created this universe and could destroy it simply with the thought of his mind. He doesn't even need a word of his mouth. With the thought of his mind, he could destroy the entire creation.

And instead of doing so, with all of his might and all his glory and all his power and all of his righteousness, what does he do? He comes down to planet earth in a cave, in a little town called Bethlehem.

And when all of the festivities are going on and all of the complaining about taxation is happening, all of the people are disgruntled about the fact that they're having to move around, families are being displaced, selfishness is abounding.

Even a woman who's in labor, nobody will give up their bed. The inn closes its door. Can you imagine if you were God and you'd come to the earth and you go down to your own people and you find the door, there's such a selfishness now in humanity, they won't even open the door to a woman who's in labor.

And yet, how does God manifest himself to the world? I want you to picture with me for a moment in this cave, with all of this activity going on, the small, still voice of a baby, hallelujah. God incarnate, God become a man.

Because he was not willing, it was not in his heart to destroy his creation. And so he didn't come as a wind and a fire and an earthquake, although he could have. He could have come in the clouds. He could have come with billions of angels.

He could have come with a display of power that would shake humanity to its core. But instead he comes as God incarnate, God become a man. A small, still voice, I can hear it in my ears, this little baby crying, which is the voice of God for you.

God so loved the world, John said, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in him should not die in their sin or perish, but have everlasting life. God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.

We deserve the wrath of God for the way we live. We do deserve it. But God in his mercy poured out his wrath on his own son. You see, that's what Paul says, who will deliver me from this body of death?

Well, God Almighty had to do it himself, because you and I could never do it. Who could deliver Elijah from his despair? Who could pull him out of this place of self-loathing and actually wanting to die?

Who could bring him out? The wind couldn't do it, the fire couldn't do it, the earthquake couldn't do it. The small, still voice of God brought him out. Isaiah 53 tells us very clearly, it pleased the Lord.

In other words, it was the Lord's will to bruise him, that's his own son. All we like sheep have gone astray, but the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. The scripture tells us clearly that by the beating he took the stripes, it says in King James, we are healed.

Paul said, who will deliver me from the body of death? By his beating that he took for you and I on the cross, we are healed. We are set free from the power of sin. We are set free from this death. We are set free to be new creations in Christ Jesus.

We are set free to sing songs of praise. We are set free to find purpose and meaning in life. We are set free to leave our past behind us and trust that when God says, I forgive you, we are forgiven. It's gone.

The scripture says, as far as the east is from the west, that's how far I will take your sin away from you. Thanks be to God it didn't come to me in the manner I deserved. Bless the Lord. And not only this, he said that he would walk with us and give us power, spiritual power to win the victories that each of us are called to win.

He said in John 16, he said, you will have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and your joy no man will take from you. Folks, this is not a season to be discouraged. If you know God, if you even want to know God, this is a season to have joy.

That's why the angels sing joy to the world. On earth, peace and goodwill to all men. On earth, peace, peace with God. Hallelujah. He said in verse 24 of John 16, hitherto or up to this point, you have asked nothing in my name.

Ask and you shall receive that your joy might be full. Ask me, God says, ask me for what you need. If you need forgiveness, ask me for forgiveness. If you need strength, ask me for strength. If you need a hope for the future, ask me for a hope for the future.

Ask and your joy shall be full. What are you doing here, Elijah? And I speak to some in this place this morning. You know the scriptures, you have at least a minimal knowledge of God. And the voice of God comes to you and says, what are you doing here?

Why are you sitting in despair when you have the one who is there and he's for you, he's not against you? He came and died on the cross that you might be forgiven your sin and I might be forgiven mine.

And we might have a new life in Christ. Bless God. And he promised us power. All the power that Elijah saw that was exterior, the Lord has promised to us. The wind of the Holy Spirit is ours. The fire of the Holy Ghost is ours.

The power of God coming into us and shaking everything unlike him that can be shaken, that only that which cannot be shaken might remain. Bless God. The power of God coming into an earthen vessel and recreating us from the inside out.

Religion is man's attempt to recreate himself from the outside in. It doesn't work. We don't have the power. Christ said, no, you trust in me for your salvation. I'll give you the power. I'll come into your life in the power of the Holy Spirit and I will change you from the inside out and you will know this is a supernatural life.

This is not a natural life. You ask and I'll give it to you. Bless God. That is the Christian life. God says, you get into this book and see the promises and then you ask and I'll give it to you. Hallelujah.

I've lived this. I've walked this, folks. This is not just a theory. This is not just religious pie in the sky. I've walked this. And many in this house have walked this. This is real. This is God's life.

This is God's love. This is God's provision. This is God's power for you and for me. You don't have to sit in despair. You and I don't have to sit in sorrow. He says, come and walk with me, Elijah. And when he called him out, the scripture says Elijah was so taken aback, he wrapped his face really in shame before God.

He was not familiar with this tenderness of God. And God calls him out and it says that Elijah wrapped his mantle around his face and stood at the entering end of the cave. And then the Lord told him, he says, now go, return.

And he says, you're going to anoint a king over Syria. You're going to anoint another king over Israel. You're going to anoint another prophet called Elisha. There was so much that God wanted to do through this life.

And there's so much that God wants to do through your life. He says, come and walk with me, Elijah. Through you, I'm going to touch the lives of other people. And they, too, will know victory. And they, too, will become all that I have intended them to be.

Bless God. I will touch you. I will empower you. And I will flow through you. In Matthew chapter 11, verses 28 and 29, Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I'm meek and lowly in heart. And you shall find rest for your souls. Hallelujah. Blessed be to God. It's not a season to be discouraged. It's a season to know God.

Knowing God and Walking in His Faithfulness

If ever there was a season to know God, it's now. Hallelujah. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God. Thanks be to God. I have seen the faithfulness of God. I've watched him. You see, as he changed my heart over the years, it's given me courage to believe for you, for others.

And those who truly walk with God, we don't bring you a theory about God, but an experience with God. Now, I can tell you how good the water is. I can tell you how fine the food tastes. But until you dive in and come to the table, you will never know for yourself.

The only way you can get in to the life of God is to admit that you need a savior. It's to say, I've not lived the way I should. God, I know that. I've tried a few times, but I can't do it. I can't. There's something in me too strong.

I can't make my way into the life you have for me. The Lord says, I know you can't. That's why I came and died for you. That's why I allowed myself to be beaten for your failures and put on a cross for your wrong that you've committed against the person that I created you to be.

And now, he says, if you'll open your heart to me, I will come in. He said in the book of Revelation, I'll sit down with you. We will eat together. You'll begin to know me intimately. And you'll begin to live and see this outworking of my life within your life.

It is really a supernatural transaction. It's a miraculous thing. Christ coming into a person's life and changing us and making us brand new. I don't know how else to say it. That's what Christmas is about, folks.

Let them fight over Christmas trees in some department store. I really don't care. Let them have their plastic camels in the public squares. It doesn't matter to me. You see, you can't touch Christ. He's alive at the right hand of almighty God and he lives in the body.

The Altar Call and a New Life in Christ

I'm going to give an altar call this morning. It's very simple. What are you doing here? Why are you living in despair when you have Jesus Christ who's for you? Why would you live in failure when Christ can give you the power to be a new person?

Why would you live under the weight of sin in your past when you can have a brand new future and a clear and clean present? Why would you sit in discouragement as a Christian when the Lord says, I want you to walk with me.

There's much yet I need to do through you. Elijah, it's time to get up. Now, Elijah could have stayed on the mountaintop. He could have backed back into the cave. And many people do that. They'll come to a service like this and hear and say, I know that's the voice of God.

I feel it in my heart. And then just back right into the cave again. Go back. And some folks just find it more comfortable to despair than to step into victory. I feel sad for you. But for those who can hear what the Holy Spirit is speaking, you can have a new life today.

You can have purpose and meaning. And you don't have to go through any season with your head hanging down anymore. God loves you. He's not against you. He's for you. Praise God. As we stand, I'm going to ask the orchestra to come.

And the choir is going to sing for a few moments. And if God is speaking to you, Annex 2 as well. You might want to make your way over here today. There's only a couple hundred there. We'll wait for you.

We're going to open these altars. And if the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, you want Christ as your Savior. Or you're living in despair when God has given you victory. I'm going to ask you to make your way to this altar.

We'll just pray together. I'm not going to ask you to do anything foolish. We'll just pray. And you'll go out a different person. Let's stand together. Let's take some time to worship. Make your way to this altar, please, if the Holy Spirit is drawing you.

How many in the balcony, the sanctuary, and those who are still in the annex would like to make the greatest decision that you'll ever make as a living being on this planet? And it's the decision to admit that you need a Savior and to open your heart to what Jesus Christ did for you 2 ,000 years ago.

He didn't die for a vain display of glory or to prove some theological point. He died because He loves you. He passionately loves you. And He was willing to give His life and pour out His own blood on the ground that you might come back to Him again, not just for time and not just for hope in the years that remain you, but forever.

You were created to live with God forever. How many today with an upraised hand here at the altar and in the sanctuary would be willing to say, Lord Jesus, I want You as my Savior today? Just raise your hand unashamedly.

Look at this. Look at this. Raise your hand. I want You, Lord. I want You into my heart. We're going to pray a prayer together. And then I'm going to pray for those who have come to the altar who are discouraged.

Pray with me and pray out loud for those who are here. Maybe you didn't even have the courage to raise your hand, but you can pray it anyway. God knows your heart. He sees your heart. Pray this simple prayer with me.

Lord Jesus, I am a sinner. I've lived in a wrong way. I violated Your laws. And You would be right to judge me. But instead, You put the same judgment that I deserve upon Yourself. You took my punishment on a cross.

And You died for me. I'm deeply grateful, Lord. On the third day, You were raised from the dead by the power of God as evidence to me that if I trust in You, I too will be raised out of the power of death and the power of sin into a newness of life that only God can give me.

Thank You for loving me. Thank You for caring about me. Thank You for speaking tenderly to my heart. Today, I open my heart to You, Jesus. And I ask You to come into my life and be my Lord and my Savior.

Because You died for me, I will live for You. You will give me the strength. You will make me a new person. And I will live to give glory to Your name. Oh, Jesus, I love You. I haven't said this for a long time.

But I love You. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Thank You, Jesus. Now, for those that are discouraged, I'm just going to pray for you. What are you doing here, Elijah? For the Christian person especially who knows Christ, what are you doing here when God's got so much for you?

He said, come on, let's walk together. And He spoke tenderly to Elijah. Let's go. We've got kings to anoint. We've got prophets to raise up. There's so much to do. He says, I'm going to do it. You've just got to walk with me.