The Nautical Hour | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter Week 2

well thank the Lord is it the Lord good to us and we feel the wonderful presence of God there in our homes as we're worshiping and magnifying the Lord Jesus Christ let's go before the Lord right now in prayer we have many needs here at First Apostolic church we have several that are that are battling with that dreaded disease called cancer they call it the big sea but uh the thing about it is we know the big sea and it's not cancer it's Christ we're going to pray tonight that the healing power of God will move through this place and will move through your home tonight we pray for all of the needs just lift your hands right there in your home father I pray for all of the needs of the First Apostolic Church here in Maryville Lord I pray for every person that is battling a disease within their body I pray Lord for those tonight that are faced god with decisions that they need to make I pray for the heartbroken this evening Lord I ask you Lord to move upon these wonderful people that make up First Apostolic Church God you are our healer you are our way maker tonight Lord I agree with my brothers and sisters I agree upon touching this Lord that you would move upon it and God that we would have deliverance and that we would have guidance tonight we give you the praise and we give you the honor in Jesus wonderful name we pray amen and amen last Wednesday evening I taught a Bible study entitled the nautical hour I would like to continue that tonight for one reason is I didn't get finished last Wednesday night and I want to finish up tonight on the nautical the nautical hour we are currently uh in our 21 days of prayer and fasting and although the weather outside has caused us not to be able to meet in the auditorium from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. of the mornings there has been many that's been praying around our County been praying in their homes praise God a snowstorm cannot stop the church from having prayer and I do praise God for that and I look forward this weekend to announcing when we will resume back in the auditorium in our early in our early morning prayer the chronical hour is a book that's been written on prayer and it tells of years ago when the sailors on the Open Sea uh before GPS and all the modern things we have now the only way that they could navigate their vessel their ship was by the Stars they had to find a certain star or a certain group of stars and it would tell them it would tell them the location but in order in order for the Sailor to know the direction that he should sail in he had to have the Horizon he had to be able to see the Horizon and the only time of the day that you could see both the Stars where you were at and the Horizon where you were wanting to go is called the nautical hour it's just before day it's the hour just before the sun breaks a sailor could see the stars it was dark enough to see the stars but it was light enough that he could see the Horizon now last Wednesday night we talked about the early morning hour of how that Jesus rose early of the morning and went to pray several scriptural passages that emphasized men and women of God doing great acts of worship that began that began in the morning we made the statement that he that rules the morning rules the day and uh that's one of the reasons that we are having our prayer time early of the morning because we want to put God first in 2024 we want to keep God first and so the first thing of the morning we have been meeting and we have been praying and we have been reading our the Bible because we want to tell God God in 2024 it is you first God it's you first in 2024 and of course we uh we talked about the early morning morning hour and how important it is to rule the morning and and Rule the Day and the second point of this message is where are you at where are you located it's very important it's essential that if you want to find a location that you have to know you have to know where you are at and that's a uh can be a painful question to ask yourself where am I at spiritually where where am I at spiritually now I want to know that question in my own life for a reason it's impossible to know where I'm want to go if I don't know where I'm at it's impossible to have directions to go to where I want to go if I can't first be honest with myself and ask the question where am I at spiritually because church that's really all that matters in our lives not where we're at necessarily financially not where we're at necessarily with our friends where are you at in your relationship with God I find in First Kings chapter 19 and my prayer is tonight my hopes is that we can look at this entire chapter and gain some insight from a great man of God called Elijah in First Kings chapter 19 and verse number one the Bible said and Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done and wherewith all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah saying so let the gods do to me and more also if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time and when he saw that he arose and went for his life and c and came to bash Sheba which belongeth to Judah left his servant there but he himself went a Day's Journey Into the Wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now oh Lord take away my life for I am not better than my fathers and as he lay and slept under under a juniper tree behold then an angel touched him and said unto him arise and eat and he looked and behold there was a coold bacon on the coals and a cruise of water at his head he did eat and drink and lay him down again now Elijah had just challenged Ahab and Jezebel's Prophets The false prophets of God the false prophets of the Gods of this world Elijah had challenged them to break the drought Elijah started off by saying let's build an altar and the god that answers by fire let's let him be God of course the uh Story Goes that Ahab and Jezebel's uh false prophets uh built an altar and there all day long they cried cried out to bail they cried out to their gods to answer by fire all day long and nothing nothing happen they they there's no fire no answer from heaven but Elijah at the end of the day Elijah steps out and Elijah prays a 58w prayer to God and at the end the 58 words the fire from Jehovah God the fire from almighty God came down from heaven licked up the water that had been put in the trench there it licked up all the water and there it consumed the sacrifice the people begin to cry out the Lord he is God the Lord he is God now Elijah knew the Elijah knew that God had spoken that God had spoken clearly God had spoken God had spoken so powerfully from heaven in the fire but he knew as long as Jezebel's prophets were alive that there would still be the voice of the false prophet and so Elijah ordered for all the prophets of Baal all the prophets of Elijah all the prophets of Jezebel to be gathered up brought them down to the brook keson and there he said don't let any of them escape and there at the brook Elijah put all of Jezebel's prophets put all of Jezebel's prophets to death he told Ahab that he need to get home in his Chariot that it wouldn't be long that the streets would be muddy because it hadn't rained in three and a half years and he said you need to get on down you need to go home because it's going to rain and the streets are going to fill with mud and the Bible talked and said that the Bible tells us that Elijah went to the top of Mount Carmel there he got down on his knees and he prayed again and a cloud appeared and the Thunder and the rain came came and and uh the the three and a half years of the drought were broken God had spoken by fire and God had spoken by the rain and rain was falling rain was falling in Israel what a happy time that must have been what a joyous time I can I I can see people I see little children out in the streets playing in the rain I can see men whose tongues were parched from the drought I can see them Gathering water in their hands I I see Smiles upon their faces as the god of Heaven Jehovah has answered and by fire and the god of Heaven Jehovah has answered by by the rain I can see such a joyous time but there was one woman in the Kingdom that wasn't happy and her name is Jezebel she wasn't at all happy about what had happened because she had to admit that her Gods had failed her her Gods had let her down but instead of confessing her sin instead of coming and thanking the man of God Elijah for exposing how weak and false the prophets of Baal she decided that she would put to death she would make herself a God she would show that Elijah may have been more powerful than my prophets but I'm more Pro I'm more powerful than Elijah she sends a messenger to Elijah's house the messenger simply tells him Elijah you have less than 24 hours to live you have less than 24 hours to live for Jezebel will sin and she will take your life and you will join the other prophets in the brook kesan you will die right along right along with them now I don't want to be harsh I don't want to uh it's easy to to be a uh what is it called a mon Monday morning commentary it's easy to it's easy to sit in the bleachers and say this is what I would do but one would think after Elijah had so much faith in God that he could literally call for there to be a challenge the god that answers by faith fire he could pray pray 58 words fire would come down he could go to the mountain and pray and Rain would come down one would think that Elijah could step out and say the god that sent the fire and the god that sent the rain can be the god that can protect me of Jezebel if if if if Elijah had stayed where he's at he he could stay where he's at it could have been a tremendous testimony that God God was not only more powerful than the prophets of Baal but God was more powerful than this wicked woman named Jezebel but lest I be too harsh judging my brother Elijah he allowed fear to grip his heart the Bible said when he saw that when he heard that when he heard that news that he arose and ran for his life he ran for his life he got a servant and he started running as far away from Jezebel as he could he started running as far away from the land of Israel as he could he ran and he ran and he ran and he left his servant he left his servant and he went another Day's Journey and he sat down under a juniper tree he sat down under a low growing tree and there he requested for himself God go ahead and kill me God go ahead and take my life as a matter of fact he started it off by saying God it is enough I'm done I'm finished I'm over it God I can't take it anymore God I can't handle this pressure anymore God I call fire down from heaven God I I pray in the rains come and God there's still one that's after me by the name of Jezebel and I God it is it is simply enough now I want to stop there for a moment and I want to give us all an admonition let us never leave the sight of where God is moving let us never allow the voice of Jezebel the voice of the enemy to cause us to remove ourselves from the place where the fire of God Falls and from the place where the rain from Heaven comes don't allow the enemy regardless of how disappointed that you may be regardless how upside down your life may be I want this evening as your pastor to tell you stay in the church stay in the house of God stay in the place where the fire of God God falls upon the altar stay in the place where the rain comes and causes the growth of good things it is the devil's good pleasure to get you to run from the place where God is moving and where God is working don't allow fear because I don't want to say to God it is enough I'm over it I'm finished I'm done I want to say as Jes Jesus Christ did on the cross it is finished I have run my race I have finished my course and there's a crown of righteousness laid up for me but Elijah he allowed fear to move him away from where the rain was falling to move him away from where the fire was falling to move him away where people were talking about the rain and people were talking about the fire to isolate him to get him to be all all by him all by himself he sat down under a juniper tree and he told God he said God it is enough he said uh he said I'm the only one serving you God I'm the only one I'm the only one living for you God will you just simply God go ahead and will you take my life and Elijah exhausted from the long journey Elijah fell asleep sleep only in a few moments or an hour or so to be nudged and awaken by an Angel and when he looked he saw that there was a cake that was being baked on the fire and he saw that there was a a little bottle of water there the Bible says that he he got up and he ate and he drank and he he went back to sleep for a time and he said the angel came and touched him again and he said now this meal he said you got you you got to eat because you got a journey ahead of you and and you need this meal to get you to the place that God wants you to be you you you got to get to the place now what the point that I would like to make right here here's a man that's running from God here's a man that's gotten so low in his faith from God he'll later tell God that he's the only one serving him and really Shining Light on God like God I'm the only one serving you and even myself I am wanting I am wanting to die but I'm so thankful on this Wednesday evening as you're gathered there in your homes I am personally thankful that when I have made the wrong move when I have gotten away from the place of the fire and the place of the rain that God didn't give up on me oh Hallelujah God didn't give up on me some of you watching tonight you've allowed the voice of Jezebel to run you away from the church you allowed the voice of Jezebel to run you away from the place where the fire and the rain is fallen and there you are requesting for yourself to die and you've fallen asleep sleep only to be awakened by a merciful loving God that's saying I still love you I still care for you You' still got a work to do Elijah go ahead Elijah go ahead and eat and drink and the Bible says in verse eight and he arose and did eat and drink and went in the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights and came to HB the Mount of God H what a meal that is he went in the strength of that meat for 40 days and 40 nights and came to the place that God wanted him to be brothers and sisters tonight I want you to know when the Bible says taste and see that the Lord is good what we need in 2024 we we need the meat of God's word that gives us strength to do what we can't do on our own we need the meat we need the meal of God's word that can help us overcome things we can't overcome on our own you've tried it you've tried it for years and you find yourself just going in circles but 2024 is going to be different you're going to begin to eat from the good word of God you're going to put God first in your life with early morning prayer and you're going to go in the power of that devotion 40 days and 40 nights till you come to the Mount of God to the Mount of HB let's look at verse n he came thither unto a cave Elijah did and he lodged there and behold the word of the Lord came unto him and he said unto him what doest thou here Elijah now just look at that verse for a moment you got your Bible open what doest thou here that that's verse number nine what doest thou here watch what God is saying to it it's a question Elijah what are you doing what what are you doing here remember on the Open Sea the only way that I can know where the Horizon is at is to know where I'm at I've got to know where I'm at the first step where am I at Elijah what are you doing here now this question that God ask is really saying Elijah you are in the wrong place Elijah you shouldn't be here in a cave by yourself you need to be back dancing in the streets with those that are glad the drought is over you need to be you need to be back pasturing in the streets of those that witness the death of Baal and his his his prophets and and you need to be back where the fire is falling what are you doing here you're in the wrong place and I want to say tonight that if you're not serving God if you're not attending the house of the Lord Faithfully if you're not being challenged to pray and read your Bible if you're not if your life is not being improved by other believers that are around you you are in the wrong place if you're all by yourself and you have no interaction with other believers even God himself said it's not good for man to be alone even the wise man Solomon talked about a man who would fall being all by himself and there was not another there to pick him up if you're by yourself tonight and you're not connected to other believers in the house of God then what are you doing what are you doing doing here Elijah now that's a question what are you doing verse 10 First Kings chapter 19 and verse 10 and he said Elijah answered God I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts for the children of Israel have forsaken thy Covenant thrown down thine altars slain thy prophets with the sword and I even I only am l and they seek my life to take it away now now wait a minute Elijah that might have been what they did they may have been guilty of that but say Elijah who was it that gathered up the prophets of baale and brought them to the brook kesan for you to for you to execute them who was it Elijah that when the fire fell they uh they fell on their faces proclaiming with great faith the Lord Lord he is God the Lord he is God isn't it amazing that when we get out of the place that we should be at we get selective memory we only remember the bad things Israel did Elijah's only telling the bad things the the things wrong that Israel did he's not telling he's not telling the good things that had just previously happened don't don't allow your mind to be that way don't allow your mind to only remember the hurt that you got remember the help that you got don't allow your mind to only remember the bad things that happened in your life or the bad things that you did there's some good things Israel gathered those prophets together Israel rejoiced but Elijah isolated out of the place he should be in Elijah is just remembering and telling of the Sin Sin of Israel look at verse number 11 with me and God said go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord and behold the Lord passed by and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and break in pieces the Rocks before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind and earthquake that the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake a fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still small voice and it was so when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entering of the cave and behold there came a voice unto him and said what doest thou here Elijah now Elijah God tells him to go stand at the the mouth of the cave and he did and several powerful things took place oh an earthquake an earthquake and wind that was so strong that it could bust the rocks of the mountains into pieces and and the earthquake and after the earthquake of fire but all of these very powerful things it states but the Lord wasn't in the earthquake the Lord wasn't in the wind and the Lord wasn't in the fire you see sometimes we can live our lives waiting for what we perceive to be powerful we can live our lives with events in our minds waiting for events to happen that are powerful earthquake and a an earthquake in my life and fire because God would be in these great things God wasn't in any of them but God was in the still small assuring voice he was in that small voice I want you to know tonight that I am not looking for the earthquakes of my life anymore I I am not looking for the wind the power of the wind I'm not looking for the power of the fire but oh God in 2024 Lead Me by your small still reassuring assuring voice that I'm with you I'll never leave you you are mine and I am I'm yours I will be with you surely goodness and mercy shall be with you and follow you all the days of your life oh Church Rejoice with me in your homes tonight stop waiting for some super thing earthquake or super thing fire to take place in your life to get you to get back to where you need to be allow that still Small Voice I love you child I am for you child I will forgive you child I will give you another chance child I'll never leave you I'll never forsake you don't you want that God prodical Son the prodal son he wanted to go back to his father's house but do you know where that decision was made he found out where he was at he wasn't in the land to do what I want he wasn't in the land of if it feels good to do it he wasn't in the land of joy and excitement that he thought he was going to have he was in a pig pin and in that pig pin he came to himself he said here I am here I am here is my location right now I'm in a pig pin but my father's his servants on the horizon he had a nautical moment he had a nautical hour he said over there on the horizon just over the hill my father's house and in my father's house my servants his servants have bread enough and despair I know where I'm at and I know where I need to go the Bible said that the Lord the Lord was in that steel that steel Small Voice and when he wrapped his mantle around his face and stood at the entering into the cave and verse 13 God once again came a small voice came a voice unto him and that voice asked that same question what doest thou hear Elijah in other words once again you're out of place Elijah you don't you're you're you're not isolated I never called you to isolate yourself Elijah you're not where you need to be you're not the place you need to be and once again God asked the question what are you doing here and once again Elijah want to talk about why I'm there God wasn't asking why are you here God is asking what are you doing here God is not asking you tonight why are you where you're at God just simply want you to think what have you accomplishing there what's being done with your life where you're at are you getting any better where you're at are things getting better in your life he said listen to Elijah again in verse 14 and he said I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts because the children of Israel have forsaken thy Covenant thrown down thine altar slain thy prophets with the sword and I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away again look at that look at that verse again how being I isolated plays with your mind the children of Israel wasn't trying to take Elijah's life one woman named Jezebel was not everybody was against Elijah only one woman you see when we isolate ourselves when we remove ourselves from the house of God from the place of Revival from the place of of of of baptisms from the place of Miracle signs and wonders when we when we remove our ourself our mind begins it's everybody that's after me it's everybody that's trying to kill me verse 15 watch how God answers him and the Lord said unto him go return on thy way to the Wilderness of Damascus and when thou comest anoint haziel to be king of Syria and jahu the son of nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel and Elisha the son of shapath of Abel Miah shalt thou anoint to be the prophet in thy room follow this closely it shall come to pass that him that Elijah I have left me 7,000 in Israel all the knees which have not bowed unto baale and every mouth which hath not kissed him in other words here's what God Said Elijah go back to doing what you should be doing Elijah go back you got to anoint Kings you've got to anoint you you're you you you've got to anoint the man that's going to take your place you've got to anoint Elisha in in other words you're requesting to die under a under a juniper tree now follow this now your plans are to die under a juniper tree Elijah my plans are to come and get you in a fiery Chariot with horses and take you to heaven my plan is not for you to for for people to say he died under a tree my plan is for people to say he left this world in a chariot of fire and Horses of fire don't you know that God's got a greater ending for your life than you have he's the author and the finisher of your faith why don't you just submit yourself to God tonight and let God take the pen and let God write a different ending to your life let him write a different end ending to your life well before God let him go the Bible said God said by the way you've been complaining you've been complaining that you're the only one serving me you've been complaining that you're the only one living for God Elijah if you just look around if you just stayed in the land of Israel there was 7,000 I have 7,000 that's never bow their knee nor kiss the mouth of bail you just didn't associate yourself with the right people you know as I'm bringing this Bible Lesson to an end tonight I want in 2024 as never before to connect and Associate my life with people that are going to make me a better man spiritually a better man as far as being a husband a father grandfather and a pastor I want to associate with people that's going to make me better and uh God's got them they're in God's house they're here in the house of the Lord they'll be here Sunday morning Sunday night worshiping the Lord they'll be here to help to help pick you up tonight they'll be here to to help you and of course Elijah went on his way and there he thre his mantle upon Elisha Elisha is going to do Greater Works than Elijah did she he's going to do greater Miracles he's going to ask for a double portion of the life that was on Elijah there J Hugh and the others they they took over and their their Ministry was going to be one of getting revenge on sin you know if you want to Revenge your life tonight if you want to get back at the days of deception that led you far away from God get back and stay in the house of the Lord well three things number one the early morning hour the nautical hour the early morning hour the second know where you're at you'll never know how to get to where you want to go if you don't know where you're at and number three knowing where you want to go can I challenge you to have have a vision for your life in 2024 can I challenge you tonight can I challenge you tonight that in 2024 that you have a place that you want to go in God maybe it's you want to establish a daily prayer life what a great thing what a great what a great vision what a great desire to want to be able to end 2024 and know that you now have a daily prayer life what a great vision what a great vision as we've been given a Bible reading program to take us through uh the New Testament in 2024 what what a great vision at the end of this year that we've read the New Testament through what a what a what a great what a great vision what a great vision what a great vision that it is that you would want to get back to working in the house of God what a great vision that you want to look around and say I would like to I would like to be a worker in God's house I I I would like to be on the staff I I I would like to be busy somewhere in the house of God that by the end of 2024 you find yourself on staff of First Apostolic Church you find yourself working in the house of God what a great vision for 2024 not one of looking at yesterday I blew it I messed up my life is over it is enough God but a vision of I know where I'm at now but I not only know where I'm at I know where I'm going for the Bible says without a vision the people perish would you join me right now in prayer as we end our Bible lesson tonight and would you just pray a prayer with me that God I want to have a vision for my life Lord in 2024 God you know the flaws that I have in my spirit God you know the flaws God that I have in my life and oh Lord by the help of the Holy Ghost Lord I want God for those flaws to be corrected God I want Lord to get back to working like I've never worked before God I want to get back to giving and sharing like I have never given and sharing in all of my life God I I want to get back busy in the house of God God I want to get that peace back that I had when I was a worker in your house God whether it's uh uh whether it's pushing a broom or singing in the choir teaching a Sunday school class or preaching in the pull pit God I want to get back to that place Lord Lord I want to feel the new robe that you'll put on me God I want those shoes Lord I want that ring Lord God I want those things God help us right now as we pray as a church Lord help us God to have a vision of where we want to be in 2024 in Jesus name amen God bless you see you Sunday morning at 10:00 may the Lord bless you may the Lord keep you may the Lord of Heaven cause his face to shine upon you