(Men God Made) Elijah — Willie Mullan

Passing world is done, when hath sunk yon radiant sun, when the pearly gate I gain never to go out again. Then, Lord, shall I fully know, not from then how much I owe. I don't think that everybody knows that Murray MacShane wrote this thing.

That great godly Presbyterian. Mind you, this is one of the great hymns. This man blazed his life out for God. Just think of the words as you sing them this evening. Six hundred and sixty, please. I'm quite aware, you know, that Albert took you up onto Mount Carmel and did it very well and very wonderfully.

And I don't want to do that this evening. There are one or two lessons of Elijah in the school with God that I want to sort of undermine. And there's a class, a special class in the school that Elijah got into that I think we would need to sit beside them this evening and find out a few things for ourselves.

And we're at 1 Kings chapter 16, please. Just want to lay the foundation. Want to look at the scene when Elijah appeared. Verse 29, 1 Kings 16, 29,. And in the thirty of each year of age our king of Judah began Ahab, the son of Amrit, to reign over Israel.

And when you say reign over Israel, you mean reigning over the ten tribes. Always keep that in your mind. Because Israel was divided into two kingdoms at that particular time. And the ten tribes were usually called Israel and the two tribes were usually called Judah.

And the ten tribes had a palace for the king up in Samaria of course. And the two tribes had the palace for the king in Jerusalem. And this is Ahab coming to the throne to reign over the ten tribes. And Ahab the son of Amrit reigned over Israel in Samaria.

You notice that, don't you? Twenty and two years. And Ahab the son of Amrit did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. That's a terrible indictment, isn't it? That's just telling us that this was the most wicked and evil and sinful king that had sat upon the throne in this land since the kingdom came to Israel.

An evil man. And it came to pass as if it had been a right thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Esbel, king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal in Washington.

I want you to see what's going on in the land. Just setting the scene before Elijah appears. And there was darkness settling down upon the nation like a tidal wave settling down. It was a flood tide of evil.

Not only Ahab, but Jezebel beside him on the throne. And not only Ahab and Jezebel, but you'll find that both of them went and served Baal and worshipped him out in the open, you know, putting God out of the country.

Yeah. It was a dark day for Israel. A very dark day. Darkness had settled down like a flood tide. Remember that Baal was the sun god, the god of fire. Sun god. They worshipped Baal. Can you see the nation?

Can you see the darkness? Can you see the wickedness? Can you see the sinfulness? And that sets the stage. That's the scene. It'll do us. And chapter 17 begins like this. And Elijah, the teach-byte, becomes like a flash.

Oh, no introduction sort of anything. Oh, it doesn't tell you what tribe he belongs to, and it doesn't tell you who his father was, or who begat him, or who didn't beget him. No, it just says Elijah, the teach-byte.

And that gives us just all the news that we need for the moment. I think this was the signature that Elijah really enjoyed. He was called the teach-byte. And when I was in Palestine, crossed the Jordan one day, went away down in the land of Gilead.

Sometime when you're in Palestine, and I know that some of you are going soon, maybe you look across the Jordan if you don't get across it, and you'll find the Golan Heights easy enough. That's quite simple.

Now, if you come south from the Golan Heights, you'll find you're down in the land of Gilead. It's pretty rough country. It's all bulls, long grass, rough country. Not set for anything, only rearing sheep.

Very rough, mountainous sheep, just like that. But there's a little place, only the ruins are there now, of a little village that was called Fish Bay at one time. And it was there that Elijah was brought up.

Now, if you know the land properly, you know about the Jordan coming down, and you know about the Sea of Galilee, and you come right across here, you'll find the Golan Heights. You'll find that that fortune belongs to the half tribe of Manasseh.

If you come down on this bank of the Jordan, you'll find that that fortune belonged to God. And it leads me to think, and many other scholars have thought, that this man belonged to the tribe of God. Doesn't tell you he does.

You could argue with me, and you can refuse to accept this. But I'll tell you that he had every characteristic that a Gardite ever had. Let me show you something about the Gardites. Come to 1 Chronicles, chapter 12, first book of Chronicles, and we're at the 12th chapter.

Elijah’s Lionlike Character and the Gadites

And this has given you a whole catalogue of all the people that came to help David when he was being hunted in the wilderness by Saul and his army. You remember how King Saul hunted David. And we're at 1 Chronicles, chapter 12, verse 1.

These are they that came to David to zigzag while he yet kept himself close because of Saul upon a pitch. And they were among the mighty men, helpers of the war. These men came to help him. And it gives a lot of names.

It says in verse 8, and of the Gardites, they separated themselves unto David into the holds of the wilderness, men of might, men of warship for the battle that could handle shield and butler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the wolves upon the mountains.

And then it begins to give the names. Now I just want you to notice two things there. I want you to notice their faces. Their faces were like the faces of lions. And I want you to notice their fleetness.

They were as swift as the wolves upon the mountains. And when I take you to see Elijah this evening, I think you'll come to the conclusion that without any doubt he had the face of a lion. And I think when you see him running before Ahab's chariot, and he ran from Mount Carmel right down to Jezreel.

And if you like to measure it sometimes, it's just exactly 30 miles, and he never stopped for a breath. So he was as swift as the wolves upon the mountains. And I'm taking it he was a Gardite. When it gives the names of these Gardites, in verses 9, 10, 11, 12, and so on, it says this, verse 14,.

These were of the sons of God, captains of the hosts. One of the least was over an hundred, and the greatest over a thousand. These are they that went over Jordan in the first months, when it had overflown all his banks.

You see, he was over the Jordan, and in Gilead, in Chisholm. And all of a sudden, all of a sudden, all on his own. He hasn't got an army with him or anything, you know. This fellow's leaving this rough, stony, wilderness country.

And he's coming to the Jordan, and it's overflowing its banks now. And they didn't have a boat, so he must have swum across. Because he was a Gardite, and the Gardite word means an overcomer. And he certainly overcame.

And so, putting all the things together, I'm pretty sure that he belonged to the tribe of God. Doesn't really matter. I can see that he had the face of a lion, and I know he was as swift as a roe upon the mountains, and I know he overcame the Jordan because he crossed the Jordan.

Elijah’s Solitary Ministry

Well, let's get back to 1 Kings, and we're at chapter 17, and it's a dark day, and an evil man is upon the throne, and Baal is being openly worshipped, and the darkness is deepening upon the nation. Mind you, it was a day not unlike our own.

I know there are schoolmasters in the meeting tonight, bless you for coming. But when you hear of schoolmasters going to the minister of education to ask permission to teach boys formal sexuality in school, where are we going to?

You'd like to tell me, because I will tell you that when I was being brought up as a boy, rough and ready, had that been mentioned by a schoolmaster in the school that I went to, the master would have killed him.

And what's going to happen to our boys? There's a darkness settling on this nation. I don't know where it's going to end. I feel it won't be Elijah that will come, it'll be the other Elijah that will come, if the Lord is coming.

I can't see no other way out of it. Anyhow, this big countryman, and I feel that he was a big, gay, muscular, strong, fearless, sinewy, countryman, and he left the heart of history, and crossed the grassland on his own, and swam the Jordan, and went up the streets of Samaria, and somehow he got into the palace.

Don't ask me how he got in. I don't know. I only know he got in, and he meant business too. So here we are, verse 1 of chapter 17 of 1 Kings, and Elijah the peacemaker was of the inhabitants of Gilead.

Said unto Ahab, he faced the face with him. I don't know where he got the permit to get in. Don't ask me. I don't think he bothered about that sort of thing. But just listen to this countryman talking to this evil king.

Just listen to him. Said unto Ahab, as the Lord God of history liveth. He's sort of challenging Beal now, isn't he? He's talking about the Lord God of history. Oh, I can see him leaning forward. As the Lord God of history liveth, before whom I stand.

Took time to put that bit in. He let this old, wicked king know whose he is, and whom he fears. And in this dark day of time, we nailed our colors to the mask. As the Lord God of history liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be Jew nor ring.

As he had only said, there shall not be ring. Be a big mouthful, wouldn't it? But when you say there shall not be Jew nor ring, he's pretty sure about what he was about to say. He may have been wrong looking.

And maybe like some of us, he didn't have very much academic standard, you know. He's a mighty man. He's looking into the king's eyes and just doesn't want you to get this straight and say it now. But there shall not be Jew nor ring.

Now watch this bit. These years. Boy, that's a big thing to say if he had said it for a day or two. These years. Stop at the ring for years. This lean, robbed, old company man is determined to bring this nation to its knees.

He said this, as the Lord God of history liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be Jew nor ring these years. But according to my word, isn't it? Brave, fearless, courageous. You talk about the face of a lion.

Did you allow the face of a lion to do that? Of course, I think that they have laughed at him. See this company man standing on the marble tires of the palace. And the king's got a block around here and the whole nation's behind him.

And everybody votes for him because he's brought in dear worship. It's a bit handy, this dear worship. Have a look at this thing. Laughs him out of court. If I want you to get the hold of this, I want you to get this bit that this man was a solitary, single-handed seer all his days.

This fellow never had anybody with him. No counsel behind him. No company. And let me sort of say this to all the young preachers coming up, you know. This is sort of out of the ordinary. Don't forget that.

This is not just exactly the way God always has it. Don't forget that. I know that down through life God has had one or two solitary, single-handed figures. But it hasn't been God's way. When our Lord Jesus was sending them out, I can tell you this, he sent them out two by two.

I shall tell you that bit. And I can tell you this, when Abraham was going and he was the father of the faithful, I can tell you he was afraid to go along. He took a lot with him. Made a mistake, of course.

Took the wrong man. I can tell you that Moses, the mighty leader, that he wouldn't go until God allowed Aaron to go with him. I can tell you that Joshua had Caleb beside him all the days of his life. Let me say this to you.

I can tell you that David, this mighty man, probably the greatest, the most mighty of all the warriors, I can tell you he was never without his mighty men around him. I can tell you that when Paul went out, that the Holy Ghost sent Barnabas with him.

John Mark, and eventually Timothy, and Titus, and Sardinians. And I can tell you that Luke, the old physician, was with him to the end of the day. Only Luke is with me. And I can tell you when he was standing in the court alone, and he said no man stood with me, he was looking round the court for a face.

So this is not the usual thing. Don't be getting this into your mind. God is one of two solitary characters. And I think you need to be born and bred for this before you can take this role at all. So please don't copy it.

I think the solitary figures, the men who can stand alone and stay alone and be alone, I think they're strange and queer, Jesus. And whether you like it or not, I'm one of them. I can get up at six in the morning and open that book, and I can be found in that book at six at night without any bother.

It is no bother to me. I can say this before God tonight. My greatest and happiest moments on this earth are the moments when I'm alone with God. Not everybody can do that. And you are not expected to do that.

There's just one or two of us queer keepers about. Misunderstood all the time. Eligible. Never needed anybody. Loneliness didn't bother me. Loneliness will never bother me. If the enemy arrested me and I got ten years with this book, I can manage it quite easily.

They will never know how much good they're doing me. Now that's the unusual, of course. Other creatures find it hard to sit in and pray to this and that and the other. So this is not just the cut and dried thing.

This is an out of ordinary queer caricature. Sometimes I think that God fitted me for this in my early days. You see, I slept out for three and a half years under the starry sky of night for three and a half years.

The young man heard me sway down on to the hedge and stuck my knife in the ground. And sometimes prayed. I trust it wasn't prayer. Sometimes I prayed that something would come along and tackle me so that I would tackle loneliness.

It's terrible. Don't covet that. Because that's terrible. I never knew what fear was. And I can see this man did. Oh I know we've got lessons to learn here tonight but we'll get round to them. We'll get round.

Elijah at Cherith and Zarephath

Yes, the lone ranger. He was alone when he walked into the palace. And then God said to him when he came out through the gates that day, God said in verse 3, get thee hence and turn thee eastward and hide thyself by the brook sheriff.

Isn't that nice? You know he went down to the brook and I know where it is and I know the spot and it's just a little tributary that runs into the Jordan and you have to almost creep in under the branches.

And I did creep in under the branches and sat there and looked through the branches. And this is where he sat for six months. Spent for six months. Very easy. Don't be bothered about the problem. No problem for a boy like this.

He can stay there as long as God wants him. He has no problem like that. None at all. Then you see when the brook dried up. Sit listening one day and the brook is running slow now and it dries up. Ah you can apply that you know the brook will dry up on the whole lot of us.

And for some of you older saints the brook's beginning to run dry isn't it? And the partner you used to lean on is not there now. The brook's running dry. You look up through the trees you know and the Lord's still there.

But he could stay there on his own. Don't bother. Then the Lord said I'm sending you to Sariphat. And you just get up and go. See what the Lord said in verse 9. Arise and get thee to Sariphat which belongs to Sidon.

You know where Sidon is don't you if you know the map. You know the Mediterranean coast. Oh they're shooting out of Lebanon now and Sidon is there. We widow woman there. He says I'll send you up there.

And you know it says here so he arose verse 10 says and went to Sariphat. Don't bother at all. Stayed with the widow woman for 3 years. And then of course God changed it all. And God tells him now the plans up for 3 years and 6 months now.

Want you to go and see Ahab again. Get him to take the nation to Mount Carmel. And all these prophets eat 150 of them and let Sabbath go down. And he's on his own. You know he's not looking round for an army or anything.

Oh not at all. Went and saw Ahab said now bring it 150 prophets to Mount Carmel. I'll meet you there. Mind you it was a big thing wasn't it. Very wonderful. And I want you to get the scene you know. You should see Mount Carmel.

As far as I know a lot of you are going to the far east in the not too far distant future with Mr. and Mrs. Gardner. And if I'm not mistaken you're going to have your dinner there or your lunch on Mount Carmel.

What are you having? Lunch. Going to have their lunch. I assure you that Elijah wasn't there for a picnic. But it's alright for the Baptist to go. It's quite alright. Yes you're going to go there. Well it will be pleasant to be there.

And just use your eyes when you're there and imagine the crowd. The whole nation there. And eat 150 prophets. And then Elijah's going to challenge them on his own. Want you to get this. Verse 21. We are at chapter 18 now.

The Contest on Mount Carmel

Verse 20. So Ahab sent on to all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together on to Mount Carmel. And Elijah came on to all the people and said along halted between two opinions. If the Lord be God, follow him.

And if Baal, then follow him. Then said Elijah on to the people. I even I only remain a prophet of the Lord. But Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty. Let them therefore give us two bullocks. Let them choose one bullock for themselves and cut it in pieces.

Lay it on to the wood and so on. Verse 24. And ye shall call on the name of your God and I will call on the name of the Lord. What's this bitch? And the God that answereth by fire. Let him be God. That's a fair challenge isn't it?

Well if Baal be the sun god you have the best of the bargains sort of style. If you gods of fire are gods, alright. Let's have it on that basis. The God that answers by fire. It was a pretty fair challenge.

And they can't turn them down can they? Can't you see the fearlessness of this man? It's lion like character it is there yet. Verse at the end of that verse 24 all the people answered and said it was well spoken wasn't it?

On his own standing on the top of a rock. When you get up there you'll find there's a very big rock and I have a feeling that he stood there because you could see over the whole crowd and there were no microphones or anything like that.

He was just shouting. And Elijah said on to the prophets of Baal choose you one bullock for yourselves and dress it first and call in the name of your God and put no fire under. They took the bullock that was given them and they dressed it and called it in the name of Baal from morning even until noon.

And all Baal hears and so on. Came to Baal at noon and Elijah mocked them. He's getting real cold with it now. Gonna really talk to them now. This was a fearful day you know. And he said cry aloud for he is a God.

Either he is talking or he is pursuing or he is in a journey. He's just mocking these people. And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their manner was nice and so on. Verse 13. 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.

The Altar, the Sacrifice, and the Fire of God

I was broken down you know. If we're going to have the Lord on our side there might be things that we would need to put right. A lot of little things you know. I'm sure this nation has a lot to put right.

Why when we listen to this TV of ours and the things that goes on. In fact I'm not so sure whether we should have it or not. And he built the altar. Got the stones and built the altar. And then he made a trench in verse 32 just for to take water.

Because he's going to make sure there's going to be no argument about this. You see his faith is really wonderful. He put the wood in order and put the bullet in pieces. And he got them to fill barrels with water.

Because there's been no argument among the critics. Say well there's been three and a half years drought. Where are they getting the water from? The whole land's blistered. It was bringing the whole nation to its knees.

Well if you're up there with a good heart of guide and I have a feeling you will be. He'll take you just a little bit up the hill and there's a spring there that's been flowing water for countless hundreds of years.

And even in the driest seasons it's just pouring out just the same. I don't think there's any problem about the water. And the altar was built and everything was put right. Verse 36 the kingdom passed at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near.

And don't forget it does say Elijah the prophet because an old fellow tried to argue with me about this once. Came near and said Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel and that I am thy servant.

And that's all he wanted. He's playing this game pretty fairly isn't he? He's challenging the nation. There are 850 prophets around them. 450 of them belong to Beel, the sun god. And here he is trying, let it be known this day that thou art God and that I am thy servant.

And that birth of Jesus says then, just then, the fire of the Lord fell. I was itching. And the people knew exactly from that moment, knew exactly that the Lord, he was God. He was turning the nation back.

Elijah, National Judgment, and the Church Under Grace

Now there's a little thing here that I want to say that verse started. And Elijah said unto them, to the nation, take the prophets of Beel, let not one of them escape. And they took them and Elijah brought them down to the brook Icon and slew them there.

Somebody asked me on one occasion, has he really got the authority to do this? I think we've got to be very careful with this. Remember he belonged to the nation of Israel. And remember the king upon the throne at this particular time.

Remember that he was getting away from God and he was bringing in false worship. And the darkness had invaded the land and he had brought Jezebel to sit upon the throne and the nation was getting away from God.

Now remember the nation of Israel was given this land of Palestine. Don't let's forget that it was their land. Now let's remember that we belong to the church tonight. And you must not confuse nation and church.

You see the church of Jesus Christ has got members in every country. This is not our land. We're just passing through here. And we don't need to get too excited. You know that our members are the church of Christ in Russia tonight, and in France, and in Germany.

And we're not striking for a bit of land. We're marching to Zion. And in this day of grace God doesn't expect us to pout for land. God is saying to us tonight, avenge not yourselves. Give place to God.

Avenge Jesus mine. I'll look after the affair. So make a difference. But Elijah had to fight. You see when Germany came to take our country, our subjects of the nation. We have a right to stand up and fight for our land.

My father laid down his life for the land. And my brothers too. But that's quite a different thing from mixing up the church and nation. Don't do that. We're under grace and grace is telling you avenge not yourselves.

Rather give place to wrath. Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. It's a different thing altogether. But Elijah had the authority. Now that God had stepped into the arena and let the enemy see he was taking back the nation and he was going to clear up the mess.

Then Elijah's on God's side isn't he? And he did slay. And he had the right as a national subject to fight for his land. That's a different thing. Now we come to the test of the thing. You see it says in verse 46, we're at chapter 18, verse 46.

And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah. And he girded up his loins and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. I want you to get that. Now when you're up on Mount Carmel and you're thinking about these things, just try to measure how far it is from Mount Carmel to Jezreel to where the palace was in Philel.

You know you're going to travel right along the whole plain of Armageddon. And I'll tell you what it is before you measure it. It happens to be 30 miles. Now I want you to get that this fellow, he runs before the chariots.

Run before Ahab. Remember Ahab's in a chariot. And remember they moved these chariots along in those days. And he's running fast. And of course I think he was a Gaddite and he was a swift as the rose upon the mountain.

And he ran the whole 40 miles and never stopped for a breath. Now we come to the great classroom now that I think God wants every one of us into. The lessons to be learned here. Watch this. We're at chapter 19.

Elijah’s Fear, Exhaustion, and the School of God

And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done. And with all how he had slain all the prophets with the swords. And Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah. He was just outside the palace somewhere. Saying so let the God do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow but this time.

And when he saw that he arose and went for his life. And came to Beersheba, it's a good bit away, which belonged to Judah. Iran also took the ten nation kingdom down into Judah. Left his servant there, he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now Lord take away my life for I am not better than my fathers.

And everybody wants to know what happened to him. This fellow was a mighty man of God. This fellow had faith. This fellow had stood alone. This fellow had faced 860 prophets. This fellow had bearded the lion in his own den.

What is wrong now? Ah there's something wrong all right. And this is the classroom in the school now that all of us would need to sit in on. Elijah's in a different class. You know I want to show you something.

Let's go over to Matthew's gospel and we're at chapter 4. Matthew's gospel and we're at the fourth chapter please. The Lord Jesus Christ is in the wilderness being tempted of the devil. Verse 2 and when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights he was asked the words and hungered.

Remember he was perfectly human. And of course he was hungry after fasting 40 days and 40 nights. And when the tempter came to him he said if thou be the son of God command that these stones be made bread.

So this was a serious temptation. But quickly our Lord Jesus answered from the book of Deuteronomy. It is written man shall not live by bread alone. But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

That's why it's very important to be at the Bible class. Because it's part of your truth you know. Very much it is too. Now the devil comes back again. Verse 5. Then the devil takes him up into the holy city and sets it on a pinnacle of the temple and says unto him if thou be the son of God cast thyself down.

For it is written. He's quoting the things of the faith. This is what the Lord Jesus said it is written man shall not live by bread alone. And the devil is quoting it is written. He shall give his angels charge constandingly.

And he's quoting from the 91st Psalm. Of course you would know this. That if the devil quoted it correctly he would be quoting truth. No he can't quote truth. He left a very special phrase out of the 91st Psalm there.

He's not quoting it correctly. And this is something that you've got to always remember. When someone starts quoting scripture you just watch it. Because that's the time you're on your guard more than ever.

Walked into a big office one morning going by the glass truck where the director was. He knocked the glass. I knew him. He was no good. He said I want to talk to you about the Lord Jesus. Do you know what's come over you?

And I knew there was going to be a battle here. And I know he's going to get the worst of it. And I need to do it now. He's asking me in here. He said there was a woman taken in a go three months. That's right.

In the very act I should have said. That's right. He says it is written. Very close. You just watch you know. You need to be as cunning as the devil himself. There it is. He's going to quote now. It is written she should be stoned.

And your Lord wouldn't stone her. He wouldn't obey the book. Rather than hear from my testament. Bring it up. Put it on the desk. You find me where it is written she should be stoned. I knew he couldn't find Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.

I knew that. But there's nothing like putting them in a fix. I'm determined to love them. Yes he's going to start a battle. Let's have it right. He says you know right well I don't know. I know right well you don't know.

You're as ignorant as the paper on that wall. Oh well I don't think I should pull punches should I think Elijah had a bit of a go at them. I'm going to mock a bit. Yes I was trained to do that. I said I shall tell you before we go any further it never said it anywhere in this book.

Who said it in this book? It said in this book that both of them should be stoned. If she was taken in adultery in the very act they took the man. What did they do to him? They let him go didn't they?

I'll tell you why they let him go. He was a Pharisee like themselves. One of themselves. Let him go go back Alex. Bring the woman in. And society has a way of hurting the woman. You know what the old judge said when they were trying the prostitute?

He said to the jury and when you're in the jury room thinking of what she's done remember there's a man to blame and the man might be your son. Don't let's throw stones too quickly now. You see the devil won't quote this book properly.

Not a bit of humbleness. Now what I want to get over in the class room where Elijah sat is this. You see Elijah had obeyed God and he had done the thing right and he had gone to the most and he had won the game.

That's the question. He may be going too far. You see I know this and I want to tell all you young men this. That's sure. If the devil can't keep you back he'll push you on. Says to the Lord Jesus alright you want Nicholas Gorm's bed.