The Brook Dried Up

Introduction: The Purpose of Studying Elijah's Life

0:04 We come tonight to the forge in the series of studies of the life and ministry of this great, rough-hewn prophet, Elijah. Just briefly to review, we are studying his life, remember, for two basic reasons. Number one, the attainability of the pattern of his life. The scripture tells us to take the prophets for an example.

0:27 Number two, we are told in the book of James that Elijah was a man of like passions with us. So as we behold his life, we are beholding a life that was shaped, molded, and disciplined by grace. Grace which is available to us from that fountainhead of all grace, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Elijah was what he was by the grace of God.

0:52 Grace that came to him as it comes to us, imparted by the Spirit, through the mediation of Christ. The difference is that we now see this side of the full accomplishment of the objective work of redemption. We see more clearly that fountainhead, and more clearly how the grace is conveyed to us. But there is no explanation for the life of Elijah, but the grace of God, and grace and truth have ever come by Jesus Christ the Lord, and are imparted in the experience of men by the Holy Spirit.

1:25 And so it is. Anyone who would look with pity upon Old Testament saints doesn't understand either the doctrine of human depravity, nor the simple teaching of how the grace of God operates. I don't pity Elijah. I drool when I read his life.

1:42 I don't pity Moses and Abraham. I grow green with holy envy to know a little bit of the grace of Christ that they knew. And so we're looking at his life because there is a pattern that is attainable by the grace of God. And then, second, there is the parallel between his time and ours.

2:01 There were situations nationally that paralleled ours. And as we see God's answer to that generation and its need, perhaps we can see some principles which will guide us in our praying and in our labors to serve our own generation. Remember the terrible blackness of these days. The nation has sold itself to Baal worship, and with it has come every form of impurity, and all of the other moral implications and fruits and outcroppings of idolatry.

2:34 And into this scene, God brings this Melchizedek-type prophet, of whom we know nothing concerning his origin, his training. All we read is Elijah the Tishbite. God's answer to that terrible moral dilemma was a man whom he himself had shaped and formed, and now turns loose upon a nation to bring into focus this great issue. Who is God? Baal or Jehovah?

The Challenge to Jehovah's Throne Rights

2:59 And we must never forget, in all the details of this study and in all the applications, the great issue that is before us here, in the ongoing of God's redemptive purposes, is the throne rights of Jehovah. They are being challenged by Baal worship. Who will prevail? Now, in our studies, we have come to the place where Elijah, after making this pronouncement, is sent to Cherith, and there we find him, according to the record, and I'll just read it in order to bring us up to date in our thinking.

3:33 Verse 2, And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan. And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook that I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according to the word of the Lord, for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he drank of the brook.

4:05 In our previous study, we considered the command of God, the promise of God, the obedience of the prophet, and then the provision of God as he obeyed. And all was going well. Here the prophet of God receives direction. He obeys implicitly.

The Brook Dried Up: A Process of God's Will

4:20 God amends his promise in the experience of the prophet. But we read in verse 7, and this is the focus of our study tonight, And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land. It would look sort of romantic if we stopped with verse 6. Everything turned out well, and Elijah and the ravens lived happily ever after.

4:49 But now we come to the raw facts of life. Here we come to a note of tragedy. Here God says, I am going to provide for you by that brook. Your need for water met by that brook.

5:06 Your need for flesh and bread by the ravens. The supernatural and, quote, the natural supply combined to meet the needs of the prophet. But now the narrative says it came to pass after a while. Now what does this little phrase, after a while, mean?

5:24 For those who know the Hebrew language, say, that it literally means at the end of days. It could be a reference to a fixed period of time. Sometimes that phrase is used, of a year. And at the end of days is synonymous with the end of a year.

5:41 But we cannot say for certain that the period of time was a year. It's an indefinite period of time, but obviously a somewhat extended period of time. It didn't happen in just a day or two. But at the end of days, the implication being, that there was an extended period of some months, at least a number of weeks and possibly months, possibly even a year.

6:05 So the little phrase, and remember every word of God is put here for a purpose, is to set the picture that whatever comes to pass in verse 7, comes to pass by a process. The drying of the brook was not a cataclysmic thing in which God suddenly dried the brook up in an instant. He could do that. If he can send ravens, these carnivorous birds bringing flesh from who knows where and bringing food, certainly God by a word of his power can dry up a brook.

6:35 But the implication is that this drying up of the brook was a process. And so we read that the brook dried up. That which had been his natural supply, the source of his subsistence and physical existence now ceases. And the reason given is this.

6:55 The brook was made to dry up. Because there was no rain in the land. And I believe that little phrase is put there to indicate that the drying up of the brook was not a supernatural intervention of God. But it was God working out his will, then, through second causes.

7:12 You see, a brook is sustained by the water that either comes down from the mountains or that flows out of larger bodies of water. And the implication is that this was by, uh, the generation of the brooks. Jordan and as the whole water supply is cut off in that area of the land, why naturally the brook will dry up so that this drying up of the brook was not a miracle. Now can you project yourself backwards into that situation?

7:41 Here you've gone in obedience to the revealed will of God and you've stood before a king and you've thrown down the gauntlet and said, no dew nor rain but according to my word. And while the king is still reeling with this pronouncement of this strange, hairy, ruddy, rugged fellow, he turns on his heel and the direction comes, hide thyself by the brook. I'll feed you with the ravens, you will drink of the brook. Day by day the ravens come and day by day he drinks of the brook but after a few weeks he begins to notice something, that certain of the stones that once were dark and slimy as the water passed over them begin to be exposed a little bit and the sun dries them out.

8:23 He begins to bleach them and they look like some of those bleached stones in the, what do you call it, creek out here, Lois and Ralph, out there in your direction where we go trout fishing, people go trout fishing, Rockaway River where several of you were baptized. You remember a couple of summers ago, some of you I'm sure, as you drove along certain parts of 46, you could see those rocks that once were dark as they were soaked with water and the water flowed over them, beginning to be dried out until they became dry. Well, Elijah begins to see that breadth of water beginning to narrow, the banks beginning to shrink until what was a flow of water becomes just a little trickle. And perhaps some mornings he went out and actually had to dig out some of the river bed to let a little pool collect enough to have some water until one morning he was out and there's not even a thimble full in the little pools that he's made. The brook is clean, dried up. 007. but it's over a process and I believe the Holy Spirit has given us this picture of process by natural means, second causes because therein lies the lesson of the passage at the end of days the brook dried up, not supernaturally but because there was no rain in the land, the natural course of quote nature took its course until there wasn't enough for the prophet to dip in his

God's Preparation of His Servants

9:50 tongue and even wet his parched lips, sure the ravens apparently still coming with bread and coming with flesh but after a while this doesn't grow attractive to you when there's nothing to assuage the terrible thirst, nothing to wash down the bread with, nothing to wash down the flesh with, there's the picture there's the narrative there are the facts of what happened now, what are the lessons of this narrative? the great issue before us is the issue of is God is Jehovah God or is Baal God? God is going to settle that issue before the entire nation but because he's going to do it through a man, he must discipline and prepare the man for the great conquest of the purpose of God upon Mount Carmel and it's a safe principle to assert that the greatest task God has in getting his work done is in preparing vessels through whom he can do it

10:52 God's great work is making great men and great women, not great in the eyes of the world, but great in his eyes, vessels through whom his purpose can be accomplished and that generally is a long process scripture teaches this again and again we look at the economy of God and we say it's full of waste Moses at the prime of life forty years of age and all the influence and learning of Egypt behind him and the zeal and fervor and drive of his youth and God buries him in a wilderness, buries him in a wilderness years. Joseph, he sticks him down in a dungeon. His own son, he obscures him in a carpenter's shop. The mighty prophet John the Baptist, he veils him in the rugged wilderness of Judea.

11:37 The great apostle Paul, Saul of Tarsus, great persecutor of the church, he shoves him out in the backside of an Arabia for at least three years, some conjecture possibly nine years. We don't think this way, do we? Our idea is, boy, we've just got to get going, get things done. I mean, Baal worship is going unchallenged. I mean, it's all right, Lord, for you to be drying up brooks and sending ravens, but look, people are worshiping Baal under every tree. I mean, the nation's in a terrible state. Lord, why don't you get on with the job? Why don't we leap right from verse 1, as the Lord God liveth no rain, right up to the conquest of Mount Carmel. Well, you see, God's got to do something to prepare a man for that conquest. And the discipline of the drying brook is one of the ways God prepared him. Now, what were the lessons of preparation? May I suggest that there were at least three.

Lesson 1: Deepening Faith in the Living God

12:31 First of all, there is a great lesson of faith. If Elijah is going to stand upon Mount Carmel and by faith be the instrument to bring to pass the vindication of the name and character of Jehovah, then his faith must be deepened. It must be strengthened. And the only way faith is strengthened is as it is what? Tested. Faith is strengthened by faith. Faith is strengthened by being tested. And so we see in this passage a tremendous lesson of faith. Let me try to give you some of the ingredients of it. First of all, there is no such thing as faith unless our faith is rooted in, directed to, the living God exclusively. It's amazing how often we think we're believing God when in

13:24 reality we're really leaning on our own hunches. And we don't know it until God, as it were, knocks our hands away or knocks the props out from underneath us. And instead of finding beneath us the bedrock, firm foundation of the character and promises of God, we find ourselves floundering like little helpless children in an open, tossing sea. And God says, see, you thought you were trusting me when all the while you were trusting this thing and that thing. Now, isn't it interesting that God doesn't stop the ravens from coming?

13:56 This is the part that's fascinated me. For you see, as Elijah saw the ravens coming, he couldn't help. But acknowledge, this is the hand of God. Ravens just don't do this. Ravens don't bring fresh meat. They eat it. They'd hijack it on the way. God's working in that little raven's heart every day, morning and night. God's working in that raven's heart or in his gastric juices or something else to make him feel so full that he didn't want it. But whatever God was doing, Elijah was reminded, God is sending me that flesh. God is sending me that bread. I don't know where it's going. I don't know where it's going. I don't know where it's coming from, but there it comes from the raven's mouth. Whether the raven deposited on the rock and went or what, I don't know, but there it was. But that brook, well, that's just a brook. I mean, a brook's been flowing for hundreds of years. Well, sure, I mean,

14:45 the Lord made all things, heaven and earth, but I mean, God's not supplying the water in quite the same way, is he? You see, this was the natural source of supply. So what does God stop? Not the supernatural source, but the natural source. It's the brook that dries up. To teach Elijah this basic lesson, to teach Elijah this basic lesson, to teach Elijah this basic lesson, to teach Elijah this basic lesson, that our confidence is not to be in the gifts of God, nor in the natural processes of God, but in the living God himself, even when he's using very natural things to meet our needs. But the danger is that we continually forget and our confidence begins to be placed in the means instead of in the God himself. So what does God do? He just very sweetly and yet very, very, very

15:35 irrevocably and powerfully just takes that means away. And then we say, but wait a minute, the brook's dried. Yeah, it is. So if I'm going to have anything to drink, it's got to come from where? It's got to come from the Lord. So there was in this instance, that aspect of the lesson of faith, teaching the prophet that his confidence was not to be in the gifts of God, nor in the means by which God supplies his needs, but in the living God. Now, what's he going to do? He sees that brook drying up little by little, day by day. He digs out his little pool. He sees that brook drying up little by little, day by day.

16:06 Finally, that doesn't work. Nothing. What shall he do? Remember, this is a process.

16:10 If it happened all at once, then he might just instinctively fall upon his face and say, oh God, it's obvious by a stroke of divine power, you pried the brook up. Now, what would you have me do? But when the thing happens gradually, what's the temptation? To start to scheme. Start to scheme. Start to scheme and make plans. Let's see, if this brook dries up, don't I see sometimes when the sun's going down, a little bit of a glistening of a body of water? Maybe there's another. Then the words would come back to him. I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

16:44 Elijah, there's one place for you. Right there. But the brook's drying up, and the temptation no doubt came, perhaps to scheme, perhaps to question God. Didn't God say to me that you shall drink of the brook? That was his promise. It shall be thou shall drink of the brook. How can I drink of a brook that has no water? I couldn't even suck moisture from the stones. The sun is going down. The brook is drying up. I couldn't even go down. I couldn't has done it there's no indication whatever that elijah did scheme he may have been tempted no indication that he questioned god though being a man of like passions i wouldn't be surprised if he did but it is obvious that he trusted in the living god with absolute confidence that though that brook dries up if god needed to he could create a new he could open up a well if he needed to he refused to budge from the place of god's appointment or do you see the application of this to our own lives there are times when god has to teach us lessons of faith and the only way he can

17:50 do it or the way he chooses to do it is to dry up our streams there's the stream of good health by which your needs are met and though we say with our lips oh yes the lord keeps me strong and healthy so i'm able to go to work and and uh and earn a wage and pay the bills what happened what happened to me i want to ask you a very pointed question one that convicts me over and over again when i read the lord's prayer how often do you honestly pray lord give me this day my daily bread i mean honestly do you really every day acknowledge that the bread that sustains you day by day is the direct gift of god i confess to you i'm smitten in heart again and again that sometimes days pass that i do not consciously look to the lord for my provider of my most elementary needs. I look to him for grace to overcome sin. That's the ravens. I know only God will give me power to overcome sin. I know that's not in me.

18:51 I look to him for the grace and power of his spirit to work in the hearts and lives of others. I know that's not in me. But really, I look to the treasurer's slip of paper Sunday nights to meet my needs for daily bread. I'm not consciously asking the Lord. So what does God do occasionally? Oh, he lets one of the children get sick. He lets you get hung up with a good hospital bill or something else. It puts you beyond what you can see. You can meet by the normal means and the stream dries up.

19:27 And what does it do? It drives you back to the recognition that your confidence should not be in the gifts of God nor in the normal means by which he meets those gifts but in the living God himself.

19:40 Now that's painful when we have to learn that lesson. And the temptation always comes when we see the stream drying up. Oh, didn't God say my God should supply all your needs and work for me? Or to begin to scheme. Oh, the Lord's not meeting my needs so maybe I'll help the Lord along.

20:00 And once you begin to scheme and question God, you're in a losing battle. You'll put your money in a bag with holes in it as God says through the prophet to his people who are robbing him. And he says you take that money that you think you're going to advance your own cause and you'll put it in a bag with holes in it. You know how many holes God can put in our money bags, can't he, huh?

20:22 Things that sap away.

Lesson 2: The Highest Form of Obedience

20:26 Tremendous lesson of faith. If the prophet is to stand upon Mount Carmel and look at dry wood that has been soaked with water and believe that fire will come down and consume it, he's got to be a man of great faith. And his faith was being tested and strengthened here for the conquest there. So I see in the first place a great lesson of faith. In the second place, I see a very practical lesson of obedience. One servant of God has said, and I think said beautifully, the highest form of obedience is to wait by a drying brook. The highest form of obedience is to wait by a drying brook. God's last word to the prophet was this.

21:18 The word of the Lord came unto him saying, verse 3, get thee hence, turn eastward, hide thyself by the brook. No further word of direction has come from God. No new revelation. It comes a little bit later, verse 8.

21:33 And the word of the Lord came to him saying, but it didn't come while the brook was drying up. That would have been easy. The Lord had said, now Elijah, when the brook dries up, go such and such a place and the next provision. Oh, that would have been easy.

21:47 That would have been exciting. Say, well, I wonder what the next place will be like. I wonder what that widow's going to look like. I wonder what my provisions will be. He could have thought all these things.

21:55 He could have almost wished that the brook dried up. Maybe he was getting kind of bored with that situation. Looking at nothing but those ragged cliffs day after day. Maybe he was kind of getting the itch for a change.

22:05 And this would have been very nice. But no word from God. The heavens were silent and all he could hear was that last word of God. I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

22:17 Now his obedience is tested. Not just his faith, but his obedience. Will he be held captive by that word that sent him to that place by the brook? Will that word still hold him even though the brook dries until there's not a drop of water left?

22:39 Will he obey?

22:41 There's the test of obedience. To stand put by a drying brook. Oh, I'm sure I trust anyway you see some of the application of this. The place of God's provision is the place of implicit obedience.

22:57 There are times when God will put us in a situation and then the brooks begin to fall. They begin to dry up. And oh how we're tempted to get out of that situation. To kick over the traces of that situation.

23:12 To venture into another sphere of service. This happens to preachers time after time. The brook of their acceptance with their people. The brook of their popularity.

23:22 The brook of their apparent usefulness begins to dry up. And yet there's been no clear revelation that they ought to go elsewhere. But what do they do? They move off to get out of the difficult situation. And they move out of the place of blessing. The place of provision. They miss the joy of having the direction of God for the next sphere of service. This happens to people with churches. The brook of their own feeling of identity with and sympathy with and involvement in a given work begins to dry up. And rather than staying with the situation they throw it off. This happens with parents.

24:02 Fathers who are called upon to be providers. And God has led them to a certain job. But situations have arisen in which there are financial testings. The brook of financial supply begins to dry up. And there's no clear indication that God wants them to leave. To go to another place. I believe Mr. Pink brings this out in his book on Elijah.

24:21 But because of a more lucrative job. Without thinking of whether or not they're going to be under a ministry that will feed their souls. Simply for financial reasons. They leave their present sphere of contacts and ministry of a given church.

24:37 They go elsewhere only to find their souls have been blighted.

24:44 There's a very touching story in one of the books on the life of Elijah. Speaks of a British general who had some business to do in London. And he told his son to stay by the bridge while he went and did certain business. Well after he did that business he had other business that came to mind. He forgot all about his son. Eight hours later he was home. And his wife said dear where's our boy? He said oh I've completely forgotten.

25:09 I gave him directions to stay here by the bridge and wait for me till I return. He went back in the dark and there was his son pacing up and down by the bridge. His father had told him you wait here till I come. Eight hours had passed. But he stayed.

25:26 The author goes on to say what is there about this that touches us when we hear a story. Now notice his answer. Is it not because we see in such a person the highest form of obedience. That which can wait through suffering and it may be also through death at the post of duty. Even if there be no clear comprehension of the reason why such delay is required. It was quite similar with Elijah here. God had spoken until God should speak again. He would abide where he was no matter though the book broke was failing. That's what touches us. We see here's devotion to the word of another. That this young man would stay there and risk the dangers of darkness. Why? Because his father's word bound him there. So when the word of God bound Elijah to the brook nothing could release him from that brook. Not even thirst itself or even death. But the word of the living God. The word that bound him

26:19 is the word that must release him. I trust as God's people we see the implication of this for us. Whether it applies to the realm of our domestic responsibilities our responsibilities in the church, our responsibilities in any sphere. When those lines of responsibility are marked out by Holy Scripture we are to be committed to them until other scriptures rightly applied and rightly interpreted as touching that need release us to a new course of action. And then the third thing I see in this passage is a lesson regarding the judgments of God. Why was the brook dried up? Notice. Because there was no rain in the land. I ask another

Lesson 3: Embracing God's Judgments

27:07 question. Why was there no rain? And the answer is obvious as we saw in studying the first verse. Because of the sinful state of the nation of Israel at that time.

27:19 The great issue between Jehovah and Baal was coming into focus. Jehovah is supposed to be, Baal is supposed to be the God of productivity. The rain God. The fire God.

27:31 The God who operates in the realm of nature to bring natural provision. So this strikes Baal worship at its most tender point. If Baal is God then he can open the heavens. Jehovah is God. He can shut the heavens and Baal cannot open them. And so this lack of rain which led to the drying brook was a direct result of the judgment of God upon a sinful nation. That particular brook may have flowed by at another place the land of some wicked Israelite who was worshipping Baal. God judges that man by allowing the brook to dry up. But the prophet of God upon whom no judgment from God is resting. The smile of God is resting upon him. He must bear part of the result of the judgment of God upon sinners. And beloved I believe there is a very vital principle for us in this passage.

28:28 The child of God is not immune from the general judgments of God that fall upon a nation in its wickedness. But now the wonderful difference is this. What did the judgment of a drought produce in a wicked Israelite? Anger.

28:47 Toward the God that would do this. What does it produce in the life of Elijah? An opportunity to prove the faithfulness of his heavenly father. So that in that sense, and this thrilled me as I applied this passage to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Paul says in this passage, all things are yours. 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Whether Paul or Cephas or Apollos or life or death or things present or things to come all are yours. 1 Corinthians 3.22 21 and 22 All things are yours. If I am joined to Jesus Christ who is Lord of the universe, who controls all things and works all things after the counsel of his own will who has pledged that not a hair of my head shall fall without his sovereign purpose and plan and concern then even when the judgments of God are poured out upon a people the judgments of God upon others are mine to be turned for my good.

30:01 The wicked can't hurt me. It can be an occasion for me to see his smile and his hand of provision for me as his child. And so this is precisely what happened in the life of the prophet. He learned that as the prophet of God he was not exempt from the general judgments of God but that the general judgment of God upon sinful men which produced in them anger and resentment could be turned to his own prophet as his faith is strengthened as his principle of obedience is deepened by the grace of God. He learns this lesson. May I say by way of application that God's judgment is upon our own nation. Some of you I hope will remember at least a little bit about a couple of sermons I preached a few months ago. On this subject. Sometimes

30:55 God's judgment may come as it did in times in Israel in sending hail storms to destroy a crop. Sometimes it came as here by withholding rain so that there'd be no crop. One was a cataclysmic judgment. The other was a gradual judgment. Both had the same end. No crop. Sometimes God judges a nation by sending earthquakes that swallow up thousands in a moment of time. Sometimes by sending fire and brimstone as he did with Sodom and Gomorrah.

31:27 God's judgments may yet come to that upon our own nation but right now God's judgment is upon our nation by the withholding of much common grace. He's taken away wisdom from our national leadership as we read in the book of Job they stagger to and fro like drunken men. The wise men of the earth they know not which way to turn. That's the judgment of God. He's withheld wisdom from our states who face the problems of society and of the world and they have no answers. They may mouth answers but down underneath they have no answers and many of them know it. He's withdrawn common grace in the realm of education. Our education system that used to be a means of imparting some means of common grace for it was rooted in biblical principles.

32:14 The first readers, the old McGuffey reader all of the material rooted in biblical concepts. Our great schools of higher learning rooted in biblical concepts. That's all gone now. Most of it. And so the judgment of God is upon us. And so we see the so-called sexual revolution that we talked about this morning. We live in the midst of anarchy, disrespect of authority, of law. What is this but the judgment of God? And I'm sure if you think at all you see this is the judgment of God. Now as God's people are we going to be exempt from this? Is God going to somehow isolate us from all of this? No, no.

32:50 This is the drying brook because there's no rain in the land. But now the difference is where this creates frustration and resentment in sinful men. As God's people we can embrace even his judgments upon our nation for our good. Let me illustrate. What is behind the spiraling inflationary economy? One word. Covetousness. Right?

33:15 Covetousness. The wealthiest nation in the world yet we're going to strike and get more. And then when prices go up as though there's no relationship between wages and prices we'll strike again. And wages and prices will strike again.

33:29 And so there it goes. That's part of the judgment of God. Economic instability. You read about it all the way through Scripture.

33:36 This is one of the ways God produces, brings about judgment. Economic instability. God's judgment is a thumbs. Are you exempt from this?

33:46 No, you feel a pinch of it. Now what are you going to do? Are you going to complain and grumble like the world does?

33:54 Higher taxes. Part of God's judgment upon our nation for throwing out the biblical concept that poverty in itself is not an evil. That God has ordained that men rise economically by the labor of their own hands. Part of the problem we face has come about this is just a matter of political history by the paternalism of government projects which always soak up more money in graft and the rest and they get down to the grassroots where people need it and all the rest.

34:26 This is part of the judgment of God. Higher taxes. Do you feel this? Sure you do.

34:32 What are you going to do? Complain? Grumble? Let your spirit get all acidy and sour?

34:36 No. You can embrace this and thank God for the opportunity of proving him while the stream dries up.

34:46 God can teach you precious lessons of faith and trust and his provision in ways that perhaps you otherwise wouldn't know in a more stable economic time. I view the same thing with regard to the situation with families. When I talk with young couples in premarital counseling, often a thoughtful couple will say to me, but Pastor, is it really right to bring children into the world in a day like this? Expose them to all this immorality and wickedness and corruption?

35:12 Can we really justify it? I always answer with what to me is the biblical perspective where sin abounds. Grace does much more about it. And if children who are brought up in the ways of God are a testimony to the faithfulness of God in any generation, how much more in this crazy mixed up generation.

35:32 To seek, kids who have the blessing of family stability and the godly influence of parents. What a privilege to rear them in a day like this. So even the judgment of God in allowing this terrible tidal wave of anarchy and indifference to law and respect for authority. These things are ours.

35:52 And they give us the opportunity of proving the faithfulness of God in the midst of it. How wonderfully this has been demonstrated there in Vietnam. In one way or another, war is an evidence of the judgment of God. And when you read the reports of what's happening to the Church of Christ in Vietnam, it's absolutely thrilling.

36:11 Little bands of Christians were in these villages that are constantly being kicked between the control of the Viet Cong and our own allies. Many times pack up their little belongings in a sack and move off with their families to another village. And what happens? Wherever they go, as they bear witness to Christ, the Holy Spirit works.

36:30 And in some places, the missionaries, when they go back after a couple of months, have hundreds of people waiting to be baptized. What are these people doing? They're learning the lesson that all things are yours. Even the judgment of God that allows the terrible scourge of war to a believer can't hurt him. Nothing can hurt him.

36:49 Nothing. Nothing. Because all things are his in Jesus Christ. Even the ravages of war.

36:55 The judgments of God.

Lesson 4: Sympathetic Identification with Sinners

36:58 Elijah, I believe, learned that lesson. And perhaps there's one other lesson involved in here. I wouldn't be dogmatic about it. But we might call it the lesson of sympathetic identification with sinful men.

37:14 Do they know what it is to see their rivers dried up? So does Elijah. You see, there's nothing wrong with having a sympathetic heart for sinners. Our Lord had it.

37:28 When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion. They were a sheep without a shepherd. Why? Because of sin.

37:38 The effects of sin. But he didn't say, yeah, you are a bunch of rebel sinners. You deserve to be in the mess you're in. The whole message of the incarnation is that our Lord would meet the need of our sin by getting up as close to it as he could without being defiled by it. And that's the way God gets his work done. We identify with sinners. So at times some of the judgments of God will touch us. If the judgment of God is a plague, some of us may see our own children die.

38:15 If the judgment of God is economic instability, some of us may have to go bankrupt. Why? God does not exempt his children in order that they might be able to sympathetically identify with those in their sins so that when they see us in the same situation that they're in and they have nothing but bitterness to this God and they see us able to say with Job, though he slay me, yet will I trust him. They don't understand this. They say, we don't understand this. And because God has allowed us to be identified with them in the effects of his judgment, we are able to give a reason of our faith. It is in us. That's a hard lesson to learn.

38:56 That's a real test of the honesty of your prayers. Lord, save sinners.

39:01 You want them saved at the expense of having to get close enough to them in their griefs and sorrows that you'll have their ear. I find that this is one of the most searching things for me as a pastor. I've never known what it is to have to lay aside part of myself in a grave.

39:21 Some of you have known that. And though I'm not morbid about it, I wonder, Lord, will I ever be able to really be able to sympathetically identify as with a pastor last week who could? Am I willing for that? Can I really say, Lord, anything that I might be the servant of Christ that you want me to be?

Conclusion: Learning from the Drying Brook

39:41 Perhaps that's one of the lessons the Lord was teaching Elijah. So, here tonight, we've been focusing not primarily upon the great conflict that will yet come before us in several messages, that great conflict upon Mount Carmel as the issue between Jehovah and Baal is brought into sharp focus, but our attention has been upon this instrument whom God is preparing by the discipline of a drying brook, teaching him this vital lesson of faith, teaching him this important lesson of obedience, the highest form of obedience, waiting patiently by a drying brook until a fresh word from God will come to give new direction, and then learning something of the mysteries of the judgments of God and embracing those judgments with a two-fold end in view, that he might learn from them lessons for his own benefit, that he might be better able to sympathetically identify with those to whom he will minister. May God grant that as we see this man of like passions in God's dealings with him, that we shall cry to God for grace to learn those same lessons. Now, don't you go around asking God to dry up your brooks. Elijah didn't do that. As long as it flowed,

40:54 he was glad to have it flowing. But sooner or later, some brook's going to dry up. You don't need to go asking for it, but when it comes, know what to do with a drying brook. Know what to do with it. Don't ask for them. Don't be morbidly looking around the corner, going out with a micrometer and measuring each day to see if it's gone down any.

41:14 Lord knows how best to deal with us, when to teach us one lesson, when to teach us another. And so with full confidence that like his a father, he pitieth our frame, a pitieth us, he knows that we are dust, he knows our frame. Knowing that he, in his tender concern, will not allow us to be tempted above that we are able, we can with confidence seek to do the will of God. But when the drying brook comes, recognize the disciplines and the lessons of faith and obedience and the judgment of God, which he would have us learn.

41:47 Let us pray.