Jehovah is God

Driving home: For his name, my God is Jehovah, is a beautiful summary both of the secret of his life and the whole thrust of his mission.

Elijah is described as 'a Mount Sinai of a man with a heart like a thunderstorm,' conveying his rugged, powerful, and imposing presence.

in this first verse of the 17th chapter. Someone has said he comes out of nowhere just like he left, comes with a whirlwind and leaves in a whirlwind and in the chariots of God. Without any previous introduction, nothing in the subsequent history to tell us anything about this man, he comes as one servant of God says, a Mount Sinai of a man with a heart like a thunderstorm. This rugged individual described in 2 Kings 1.8 as a man, either a hairy man or a man dressed in hair, a man much like John the Baptist or one whom John the Baptist approximated, an unusual man. One of God's eccentrics, one...

5:38 - 6:54 Read in full sermon

Driving home: For his name, my God is Jehovah, is a beautiful summary both of the secret of his life and the whole thrust of his mission.

Used to contrast the modern view of names as mere 'handles' with the biblical significance of names, where they often reflect character or mission.

His very name means, my God is Jehovah. Now, whether this name was given to him by pious parents, or whether this name was given to him by God when he called him, scripture is utterly silent. But one thing is true, that we learn much about the man by his very name, and I have emphasized from time to time that biblical names generally are significant. To us, a name is nothing, but a legal title, a handle by which people can take hold of us instead of somebody else.

6:54 - 7:29 Read in full sermon

Driving home: For his name, my God is Jehovah, is a beautiful summary both of the secret of his life and the whole thrust of his mission.

The ad showing a tough man stroking little cats is used to illustrate the seemingly contradictory qualities of Elijah: ruggedness and tenderness.

But often, in scripture, a name was not just a handle by which people might be taken hold of, but it was a picture of what they were in life and in ministry. And if ever this was true, it was true of this man Elijah. For his name, my God is Jehovah, is a beautiful summary both of the secret of his life and the whole thrust of his mission. As we study the life of Elijah, we will be forced to ask again and again, whence this boldness? Whence this tremendous stature spiritually? Whence this courage? Whence this strength? Whence this regard for the glory and honor of God? Whence this largeness of ...

7:49 - 8:41 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not mistake the forbearance, long-suffering, and patience of God for His absence or death, as this leads to treasuring up wrath.

An author's conjecture is read to vividly portray Elijah's sudden, unannounced appearance before Ahab and Jezebel, delivering his message with defiance before vanishing.

Ahab and Jezebel might have been sitting in their Jezreel palace of ivory, congratulating themselves on the skill with which they had thrown down the altars of God in established Baal worship. When sudden and terrible as a clap of thunder from a cloudless sky, there swept in before them a weird-looking man with long, flowing hair. A mantle of sheepskin about his shoulders and a rugged staff in his hand, and before they could ask him who he was or why he had come, he had flung the gauge of defiance at their feet and said, as Jehovah the God of Israel liveth, there shall not be dew nor rain thes...

15:07 - 16:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Do not mistake the forbearance, long-suffering, and patience of God for His absence or death, as this leads to treasuring up wrath.

Baal idols with eyes that cannot see and ears that cannot hear are contrasted with the living God who sees, hears, knows, feels, and acts, to emphasize God's active presence.

meaning, as this God liveth. Remember we saw last week that God is dead theology was very popular then, because all of this wickedness had snowballed, and there was no evident judgment of God, and people were beginning to think maybe God is dead. That's when that man got bold enough to try to test God and build the wall of Jericho. God is dead. We can defy his laws and prosper. And so this rugged prophet announces, not only is God Israel's God still in spite of her apostasy, but he lives, and because he lives, Ahab, he's not like your idols of Baal, which have eyes but cannot see, ears but can...

18:20 - 19:29 Read in full sermon

The point: Engage in biblical praying by discovering the mind of God in Scripture and pleading with Him to bring His declared will to pass.

Prayer is contrasted with a spoiled child whimpering for toys at Christmas, to correct a shallow understanding of prayer and emphasize its biblical nature.

about biblical praying. What is biblical praying? It's discovering the mind of God is revealed in scripture and then pleading with God to bring to pass that which he has declared to be his will. You have an example of it with Daniel. He said, I understood by the books, that the people of God were to be in captivity for 70 years. So he said, I set myself to pray to the God of heaven. Prayer is not just going to God like a spoiled child in November, whimpering to his mom and dad for every little toy and trinket that he sees, hoping it'll be spread beneath his Christmas tree in December. That's n...

31:46 - 32:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin argues that Elijah's pronouncement was consistent with God's revealed word in Deuteronomy 11 and perfectly suited to the spiritual conflict of the hour: proving that…

Vivid imagery of cattle with sticking ribs, crying babies, and parents' agony is used to convey the terrible human cost of the famine Elijah pronounced.

No dew, no rain. Barren fields. Countryside. Cattle with their ravens.

34:37 - 34:47 Read in full sermon

The point: As parents, stand before Jehovah as His representative in the home to administer His rule, which will make you bold even when children are grown.

The example of parents trembling before their own children is used to illustrate a lack of spiritual boldness in parenting, contrasting it with standing before God as His representative.

You find you lack boldness in your witness? You find you lack boldness as a parent to do what you know you ought to do? Isn't that a shame? You see parents trembling before their own children.

47:27 - 47:37 Read in full sermon