Elijah, a Man Like Us - Calvin Fisher 9/22/2021

thank you all for being at a church tonight and it's an honor to be before you bring in the word and get myself situated here but it's honored to be before you um under under the circumstances so um me and ryan and the same boat with each other so it's okay well we're gonna tag team and we're gonna do this together we're gonna be all right [Applause] i want to bring your attention to the book of james the book of james and i'm just going to read one verse james 5 and 17. and the bible says that elias or elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months um and i guess just to put into context verse 18 says and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit so today i just want to just simply talk to you about elijah man like us elijah a man like us so let's pray jesus thank you lord for letting us be able to gather together in your presence in your house to be amongst your people to hear your word to be edified to be strengthened o lord lord i pray that as we look through your word today that you would strengthen our faith that you would help us to be the people that you've called us to be you've called us to be saints you've empowered us with your spirit and lord i pray that we will heed the guiding of your spirit to fulfill that calling lord i pray that you would help us tonight in jesus name i pray amen you may be seated so elijah a man subject to like passions as we are so he was human just like me and you this um being asked to talk before you and praying to the lord what should i bring to your people and you have lots of things that come to you and then there's there's something that just sticks and so all night just um the lord dealing with uh dealing with me about uh this uh word to you and first the lord deals with you it has to affect you first before it affects anyone else um you you have to be bought into the word before you can get someone else to be bought into it if i was going to try to sell you shoes and i didn't believe the shoes that i was selling then i'm not going to be a very good shoe salesman but if i believe in what i am selling you then you're more likely to buy so the word that we have today the lord has been uh dealing with me with that and it really started about four months ago and i'm going to we have a great pastor great teachings from this pulpit and he had a he had a message titled um being holy being human you guys remember that being holy being human and so that's the lens i want to look at tonight with elijah um through that lens of he was human just like you and me but james of out of all people he picks he picks elijah so let's let's look into what we have here so the purpose is to encourage you that you don't have to be an elijah type figure of doing all these miracles and works a super holy person holier than thou to be used of god but god can use and he's looking to use regular people like you like me to do extraordinary things that's always been god's plan using the ordinary to do the extraordinary why does he do that that no flesh can glory in his presence all the glory belongs to him all the honor belongs to him so we can't lay claim and say well yeah i did that in there i i i played that keyboard real good and man they started running and i i i taught this and i i said i inflicted my voice this way and this person was edified it's not about us it's not about as brother john said these these clay pots these earthen vessels but it's all about the treasure that's inside that so when we look at james james romans through jude this is what we call the epistles the epistles is the writings to the churches to believers the purpose of that is to edify to strengthen the saints of the church it's not talking about how to get saved because they already were saved and they knew how to get saved so um so we talk about roman road of salvation and um that's um you want to know how to get saved we want to go to acts and see how they did it but that's another that's another topic but the epistles are about to saints um and so justification justification is just as you had never sinned that happens when you repent your water baptized in the name of jesus and you're filled with the spirit that's where each in each one of those components the blood is applied you're repenting of your sins the blood is applied you're baptized the blood's applied the holy ghost you're filled the holy ghost the blood is applied so justification can happen pretty quickly you can come to this altar right now you can throw your hands in the air and you can repent of your sins and god can fill you the holy ghost we can take that old man and bury him under water and justification acts 2 38 but then we have the rest of that sermon right we have the other the flip side of that coin sanctification sanctification being set apart holiness and so we spent 10 weeks holiness apostolic identity right so that's god just setting us apart and that's a lifelong process there is not a point where you oh i'm holy i have arrived and the person who says that they have a long way to go they have not arrived so the person who realizes that hey i got a lot of work that is the person on the journey of sanctification i'll ask some of my uh quizzers and those who um i get in contact with especially if we're studying uh a particular book i like i said what is your first calling is it missionary is it evangelist is it to be a pastor or preacher what is your first calling the first calling romans chapter 1 and verse 7 to all that be in rome beloved of god called to be saints that is your first calling and that is the calling that you have to make sure make your calling election sure that is the first calling called to be saints so before someone can stand in ministry before they can stand in a pulpit and say thus saith the lord they have to have a secret place where god can communicate with them where god is working on them where god is doing that sanctification process making him and molding him into his image so sanctification a lifelong process so it's no wonder that the majority of our new testament is these epistles written to these churches from romans to jude um how we live a life pleasing to god we're called to live a life empowered by the holy ghost separated for his purpose so we can never lose sight that even though we're on this sanctification journey we are still human we are still fragile flesh so in james chapter 5 verses 13-20 james is teaching about the power of prayer now the point is um we have to touch on prayer since this is the context of the passage um but i'm going to be spending total time about prayer james is talking about the power of prayer prayer is that discipline that jesus addressed in matthew chapter 6 that he didn't say when you pray or if you pray but when you pray so it's not an option of if you want to be a successful uh believer a a sanctified believer you don't just have the option of well i'll pray today or i'm not going to pray today or i'm not no that's that's part of that's your new life your life is communication with god i see couples here um you you can't go home to your significant other your husband your wife and just not communicate you cannot communicate what's going to happen if you don't communicate you're gonna you're gonna be instead of sitting next to each other you're gonna be sitting on one end and then they're going to be sitting on the other end uh so there's that communication so jesus taught when you pray not if you pray and so it's not optional but it's the expectation so james is talking about addressing corporate prayer is any among you sick is any merry is any afflicted let him call for the elders of the church let them pray over him anointing him with oil calling on the name of the lord the prayer of faith shall save the sick the lord shall raise him up and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that ye may be healed the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much so he's talk the context is corporate prayer so we come together in a corporate setting and we pray one for another um so we did that um earlier and we'll continue to do that um because there's always people in need there's always prayers that need to be lifted up for our brothers and sisters and that's why as the body of christ we do that bear you one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of christ the bible says so james is talking about corporate prayer but before you can be effective in corporate prayer what comes first private prayer closet prayer secret prayer you shut the door you lock it prayer and people don't know what's going on on the inside prayer but when you come out and when you do your everyday business your father who sees in secret rewards you openly so there has to be that private time with god that private time is that power that god wants to give us to be effective we've come we've come to services before where the service is is nice and brandon is playing the keyboard just right and um the people are running the hours jumping up and down and praising god and um you feel that urge to i can take on the world i can pray for anybody i'm i'm i got my hand i got where's the oil and i'm gonna do this here and to the little [Music] and then i'm going to go over here and then i'm going to get on the chair and then do this and we can get excited and enthusiastic and all that and that's and there's a time and place for that but the person who you really want praying for you is that person with the gray hairs the person with the knees that you can see the calluses on their knees where they've been at they've been in prayer that person that when they come to you and they come to you on the side and say i've been praying for you um i know the situation i've been praying for you that that is the effectual fervent prayer that james is talking about so james when he's addressing this audience he doesn't want us to have the preconceived idea of just elijah just being this far out prophet and he was one of the greatest prophets i mean who appeared before jesus on the mount of transfiguration he's one of them and then the other one that even the pharisees said there's no prophet like moses um but james makes it simple for us he says that he was a he was a man but as the prophet though if you were to compare james or elijah as the prophet well none of us can measure up i mean let's look at some of the things he did he's one of the greatest miracle working prophets in the old testament so the prophet that said to ahab as the lord thy god as the lord god of israel liveth before whom i stand there shall neither be do nor rain these days but according to my word now notice this is the first instance uh first kings 1 and 17 where elijah comes on the scene and this is the first thing he says now remember james in 5 and 17 he says that elias was a man's subject or like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain but the first verse in first kings doesn't tell us about his earnest prayer so where was he praying where do we get this prayer part it's that secret closet it's that secret closet god was developing the man of god in that secret place and then god said okay i'm really ready to reveal you at this time you go say this word to ahab just this one word and then having to shut up no rain no do just by this one word so he prayed earnestly in a secret place and then god manifested that openly elijah the prophet is the one who said to the woman of zeraphat for thus saith the lord of god of israel the meal the barrel of meal shall not waste neither the cruiser or oil fell until the day that the lord send of rain upon the earth and the barrel mill wasted not and the crews of oil did not fail elijah the prophet did this elijah the prophet he's the one who raised the widow's son from the dead he stretched himself upon the child three times and the lord heard the voice of elijah and this child was raised to life elijah the prophet did this elijah the prophet is the one who called down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice the wood the stone the water at this contest with bail his fire comes down and wraps everything up and then israel the lord he is the god the lord he is the god what a display of god but elijah the prophet is the one who did that elijah the prophet is the one who ended the prop the drought and said to ahab prepare thy chariot and get thee down that the rain stopping not and then on top of that he un he outruns the chariot elijah the prophet so not only does he open up the windows of heaven again but then he's out running chariots elijah the prophet is the one who called down fire from heaven so they send a captain in his 50 and they say uh thou men of god um you need to come down and elijah well if i be a man of god let fire fire come down and consume um you and your 50 and them they're consumed they send another captain is 50 and guess what happens now man of god come down oh i'm a man of god okay well let fire come down if i'm a man of god and then guess what happens consume him and his 50. the third one was pretty smart he said okay i i don't want it to go the same way this uh so he said hey just be merciful to me and then god cut him a break there but this was elijah the prophet and let's not forget that it was elijah the prophet who parted the jordan river and walked on dry ground elijah the prophet all these exploits the greatest prophet one of the greatest prophets in the old testament but i don't know about you i i can't um recall the last time i raised someone from the dead now i can't i'm i can't recall the time where um i could call down fire from heaven i have to admit that there are times that i did want fire to come down from heaven but god and his wisdom did not allow that so they haven't that hasn't happened for me i i'll go on the nature walk and do my little jog and walk and buy the chattahoochee river and i haven't been able to take a shortcut and walk on dry land that hasn't worked out for me yet so in that instance you know elijah me there's a night and day difference not even close with all these miracles he's doing and let's not forget that you know if he's able to multiply food you look in my cabinets and you will say hey elijah needs to come in here and multiply some food for this person he needs a miracle but james is not talking about elijah the prophet he's talking about elijah the man subject to light passions as we are now when he says subject to light passions it just means he's human he's flesh so yeah he was this great man of god that was used but let's not forget it was god that was using him that was performing the miracles through him you take god out of the picture what do you have you have just a man so elijah the man he knew how it was to be in obscurity remember first kings 17 he comes on the scene um can we pull up first king 17 17 1. first kings 17 1. so a little um little bible trivia and the word of the lord came unto him saying verse 2 let's keep going down no ravens um drinking the brook i'm sorry i gave him the wrong passage so uh eli elijah's introduced as the prophet and he is introduced as elijah the tishbite now if you read your old testament how are people usually introduced you remember how elisha was introduced elisha the son of theft but elijah it's just called elijah the tishbite so it's very odd it's very uncommon rather that scripture does not link who he was the son of so he knows about obscurity and then to top it off a tishbite get your concordance out tishbyte hit it hit it in there how many times does it pop up okay it pops up with elijah but who are tishbites where do they come from they they come from the land of gilead the the inhabitants that's where the bible says but we don't know anything about them um if you want to get outside the bible and read the um apocry and all that stuff then you might learn a little something about that but we can't rely on that but so we don't know tishbite elijah the tishbite we don't know who he's the son of and he just comes on the scene and just here i am thus say of the lord there shall not be rain or do except by my word and then all right bye and then he goes hiding again he knows how it is to be in obscurity so this sunday or this past sunday we honored people who served in roles that don't always stand in the light we honor people who take attendance but people taking attendance are making a difference in the kingdom of god so thank you thank you for the chips staff that come in after kids and cleans up and vacuums thank you your father who sees in secret will reward you openly the seeds that you're sowing you're sowing seeds and so it's going to blossom it's going to come into something that you never thought it would be some people i've talked to in um taught classes and um i'm not the greatest teacher um but they'll come to me and say that you made a difference and that that just blows me away um that this guy calvin fisher um that shouldn't be standing here before you today um could have a difference in somebody i tell people about you know when we're teaching a new life class and brother gear i love it when we teach new life and you're talking about water baptism and then you see the light bulb go off and then you're sitting in service and then you see them just walking down the aisle in that robe and they decide i'm going to get baptized and knowing that no one else has to know you don't have to stand up and say yeah hey that's me yeah we talked about baptism yep they got it i saw the light bulb go we don't have to do that it's just we can we can sit there and smile and say um god gave the increase i'm just a fellow laborer with god in his kingdom elijah the man he knew how it was to be in security in obscurity he was a man's subject to like passions as we are elijah the man he knew what it was like to feel afraid and discouraged elijah's one of the few people in the bible that wanted to end his life this guy wanted to commit suicide one of the few people he's in good company because the other people were renowned people as well i mean if you want to count jonah i mean jonah was kind of yeah i'm going to just go this way god and god had to now you're going to go back this way you're going to do it this way but jeremiah jobe james talked about joe but just a couple verses in james 5. he's in good company he said god it's enough i i i'm no good um i'm trying to do this work for you i'm being zealous for you and it's it's enough i just take my life isn't it interesting that he was running for his life from jezebel but then he asked god to take his life he could have just stayed and let jezebel do the work for god let god but god did have a work for him it wasn't at that time and it wasn't to take his life but it was for him to be one of two to not see death isn't that amazing how just the paradox i love the the paradox of the bible but he was one that was afraid he was discouraged you would think after this contest with baal and killing these prophets 450 and then another 400 and then you would think israel would just turn and uh just turn in repentance toward god and it didn't happen that way and so elijah just being discouraged is and then a little messenger comes to elijah and says hey jezebel said if you stay in town you're going to be like one of those prophets so i would i would head out of town and so he headed out of town and so he was discouraged he knew what it was like he knew what it was like to not measure up you ever felt that way ever felt god i'm in way over my head god i are you sure you picked the right person for this uh god do you know who i am i don't know if i can do this the psalmist felt that way the psalmist said in 42 oh my god my soul is cast down within me therefore while i remember thee from the land of jordan from the hermanites from the hill mizar so you feel that way what do you do you get a call back to remembrance those things which god has done in the past elijah yeah you are in over your head because i'm god and i got a great plan but you got to remember that through you i allowed widow's children to be raised from the dead through you you were you were fed by ravens elijah yeah you're in over your head because i'm god and you're a man and i'm using you for my glory for my purpose so you may be troubled on every side but don't get distressed you may be perplexed but don't despair you might be persecuted but never forget that you're never forsaken you might be cast down but don't let it destroy you that's what ii corinthians tells us it's okay to be human while pursuing holiness elijah the man knew how it was like to have to be ministered to the minister needed to be ministered to we you can't stand before people you can't consistently serve and serve and serve without having the anointing oil flowing back into you it has to be a flowing if you're just you you have you have ditches on both sides if you're just uh okay i'm gonna receive everything um and nothing is flowing out of you you become a cesspool you begin to stink you become one of those stinky christians you know the ones that they always wondering about uh daniel and his visions and what that means for 2028 and how that's interpreted with cryptocurrency that's a no so you you take everything in but you're not giving anything out and the other ditch is you're just you're giving and you're giving and um you're not getting any reservoir for yourself and so then you get burnt out and so there's times where if you look at the ministry of jesus he worked a great miracle what did he do he went he went apart himself alone apart he's he's baptized in the jordan river by john the baptist and what does the bible say immediately anon and mark immediately the spirit drive of him into the wilderness obscurity so there has to be that place where you're in that secret place again there goes that secret place again but then where the holy ghost can minister to you where you can get times of refreshing that come from the presence of the lord where you can be more effective in ministry you can't just burn yourself out and then as paul would say you've ministered to others and yourself be a castaway what good is that so he knew how it was to be having to have to be ministered to so i stand before you because our staff is ministering to a family in need our staff is um ministering to someone who's has some hurt that minister to perhaps your children 15 years that work and then now they need and so is it a hard thing to pray for them absolutely not absolutely not that's what the body of christ does we bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of christ um and so that's why um i'm here before you that's why you can be up in the morning two three o'clock in the morning just making sure that you're hearing from the lord and be able to give something relevant to his people to help out the body of christ in whatever way possible that's what we do it's not just about us but it's about one another so he knew what it was like to be ministered to in romans chapter 11 verse 2 look at elijah's intercessory prayer intercessory prayer god have not cast away his people with you for new want you not what the scripture says of elijah or don't you know what the scripture says of elias how he make intercession to god against israel so you can you can say that's really more of his complaint not intercessory his complaint to god and this is the complaint lord they've killed prophets they've dig down nine auditors and i am left alone i'm all by myself all alone me and only me and they seek my life well what does god say to him but what saith the answer of god unto him i have reserved for myself eli elijah said it's about me i i'm zealous for you i'm jealous for your god and i'm serving you and i'm left alone and they seek my life and god said let me broaden the picture for you it's not about you i got seven thousand seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to the image of bell nor have kissed him it was just a couple of chapters ago he was talking to obadiah and he knew that obadiah hit the prophets so how is it amazing that we want to have our pity party we just we become oblivious to things that are obvious we want to have this um woe is me and i gotta keep on keeping on and i don't know if i can make it and we gotta open our our eyes and that's what god does to us he says hey you need to open your eyes isn't that what he did with job oh job you got some questions okay i got some questions too let's let's gird up your lawyers like a man that's what he said right and he questioned him and job what did job have to do job said this i got to put my hand over my mouth i have i have spoken too much but elijah's intercessory prayer and then the answer that god gave him the answer that god gave him was i got more on my side there are seven thousand that have not bowed the knee to the image of baal elijah the man knew what it was like to pray the first time and nothing happened james 5 and 17 our texts right what are we talking about we're talking about the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man a veil of much so when i picture these great saints in the bible i think that they can just come out on the scene and say well they'll save the lord it's not going to rain and then it doesn't you don't see the background of that where they have to pray fervently and then it doesn't happen they stretch themselves upon the child the first time nothing happens they do it the second time nothing happens he knew what it was like to does god hear me is am i sure am i sure i heard from god when when he rained down fire from heaven and consumed the sacrifice and then he's telling ahab hey there's going to be some rain coming and then he goes up into the mountain what does he do he gets in the most uncomfortable prayer position head between his knees and he says to a servant go out to the sea and take a look first time he prays what happens nothing the servant said king james there is nothing new king james there is nothing 2021 nada nothing goes back the second time now imagine being the servant here you go here's hey go out again see if there's uh something no hey nothing all right i'm gonna pray some more comes back again all right go out again and see nothing seven times he does it seven times imagine you being the servant how would you feel the sixth time elijah it's no come on one more time hey elijah there's this size is a cloud the size man's hand it looks like a man's hand okay let's let's get ready to go and then guess what happened it was raining but he knew what it was like to pray and not have an answer the first time that's the fervency in prayer that's the teaching throughout the bible about prayer luke chapter 18 jesus taught a parable to this end that men ought always to pray right and not to lose heart not to give up don't be a wimpy christian and say well i i pray for them um last sunday and nothing happened so i get i guess it must not be the will of god what did what did jesus say when the son of man cometh will he find such faith upon the earth you got to keep being persistent keep going keep don't give up how bad do you want it don't give up keep praying keep getting on your knees yes that lost one their loss but are you just going to give up on them and say well i'm not going to i'm not going to pray for them anymore because nothing's happened god is storing up those prayers the bible says in psalms he keeps all those tears are they not in thy book the psalmist says all those tears they're recorded in revelation the prayers of the saints they're all stored up so don't give up don't be weary and well-doing for in due season shall reap if we faint not let's stand elijah was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed that it might not rain and rain on the earth by the space of three years and six months and he prayed again that heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit i want to encourage you tonight too you can be human you can be human like elijah and god can still use you you can serve in obscurity and god is making influence in people's lives you can get discouraged you can be afraid but god can still use you he can still strengthen you he can say hey be of good courage be strengthened and he can use you for his glory and for his honor i i want to pray and i want to pray that that god would just kind of cast the idea of that you have to be this super this super christian this super demagogue of a human just just ordinary that's what that's what god is looking for he's looking for someone just ordinary like god i may be insignificant but if you if you want to use me you can use me isn't that the song we sang if you can use anything lord you can use me take these hands take these feet he can use he can use you he can use you you yes you you don't have to stand before a crowd and think that while i'm not standing before the crowd what significant do i have you could be that barnabas that is always encouraging and bringing people to the light jesus thank you lord for your word thank you that as we heard before that we have this treasure on earth and vessels that the excellency of the power may be of god and not of us i thank you lord that you gave us the example of elijah that he was a man and he was subject to light passions as we are he was human just like us but god that's what you're looking for you're looking for willing human sanctified vessels set apart for your use set apart for the master's use lord i pray that we would cast ourselves in your hands to do your will and to do your work o lord jesus we all have a place in the body of christ lord i pray that we will find that place and we will serve you acceptably with reverence and godly fear thank you lord for the holy ghost which comes alongside us to help us to lead us and to guide us to make intercessions with groanings which cannot be uttered when we don't know what to pray we have your spirit that dwells in us if you want to come to this altar and pray for just a couple moments [Music] human but something that god can use human [Music] but something that god is just looking to say hey if you just open yourself up to me i can change the world through you elijah you may not [Music] have a name of the son of so-and-so but you can be one of the greatest prophets that people will read about thousands of years later [Music] you teaching that sunday school class no one may have never ever known that you taught that person but you're teaching that next evangelist that next pastor that next person to bring revival thank you lord jesus [Music] if you can use anything lord you can use me take my hands lord take my feet touch my heart [Music] me [Music] and touch my heart [Music] is [Music] lord you can [Music] use my [Music] if you heart use anything lord you can use anything lord you can use [Music] me if you can use anything lord you can use me [Music] thank god that he can open our eyes to broaden the picture for us i want you to notice something in first kings chapter 19. it i i've this is one of those things you you read over and over and over again and then god just puts it in perspective so elijah is complaining and he says i only are left alone and they seek my life to take it away this is the second time he says this and the lord said unto him go return thy way into the wilderness of damascus and when thou cometh anoint hazel to be king over syria he told elijah i want you to anoint this guy to be king over syria and jehu the son of nimshi so with the son of anointing him to be king over israel and elisha the son of shaphath of abela thou shalt anoint to be prophet in thy room you know shall come to pass that he that escaped the sword of his eld jehu shall slay and he that escaped the short of jehu elisha shall slay yet i have left seven thousand in israel all the needs which have not bowed to bow bale even in every mouth which has not kissed him if you know your bible elijah did not physically anoint iselle who did that elijah did not anoint jehu who did that god was pointing to the future hazel let me bring it back a little bit further closer to home jehu let me bring it even closer to the person you elijah are going to anoint the person you elijah are going to mentor the person you elijah that is going to have a double portion of all the things you've done he's going to have a double portion of your spirit elisha so elijah may have felt insignificant he may have felt discouraged he may have felt that i'm not i'm not doing anything but god said hey hazel he's in the future jehu he's in the future but the man that you're going to be mentoring the one that when he comes on the scene is here's elisha the son of um shepheth who poured water on the hands of elijah that's the one you're going to mentor so you never know who you're affecting who you're changing who you're mentoring god says brother walker i want you to anoint this person three generations from now you're never going to touch them but you're going to touch your brother gill you're going to touch your brother john turner that's the picture god has god says hey i got further plans than that and even to bring it even closer elijah seven thousand haven't bowed the knee right now and so going after that it was the double portion came after the discouragement being caught up into the whirlwind imparted by chariots of fire and horses of fire came after so it's okay to be human but after that the anointing the empowering of god you let god have his way and god says okay i got something for you now thank you lord thank you lord that you can empower us with your spirit and that you can affect the generations to come by the work you're doing in us right now lord i pray that as we go out and do your work that lord that we remember that our labor is not in vain in the lord that whatsoever we do we do it hardly unto you o lord jesus lord we're just vessels we're just human but we're pursuing holiness we're pursuing sanctification o lord jesus lord have your way in us i pray that you bless us help us o lord jesus to be your people in this earth in this last day o lord in jesus precious name amen [Applause] we can fellowship and as always as you know that if you've never been baptized in the name of the lord jesus christ for the remission removal of those sins it's a great night to start start today start right now why not what else you got to do you can receive the holy ghost tonight get get the power of god living in you you've been struggling and trying to how am i going to live for god and you're trying to do willpower willpower you for people have heard me say it before willpower is not enough power you've got to have holy ghost power living in you you get holy ghost power living in you you're going to be overcome those habits you're going to be able to live the overcoming life that god intended for you to live amen let's fellowship with one another in jesus name oh you