Faith, Obedience, and God's Sovereignty in Our Lives

Here are the selected quotes from the sermon transcript:

1. "God can do anything, but we sometimes, oftentimes, most times, every time need to lift our voice up in prayer. Amen. And I asked you a question along the way. I said, are you desperate enough to trust the word of the Lord? And that point of desperation oftentimes comes when we get down to the place where we just got a little. We got a little bit of this and we got a little bit of that." [00:14:46] (25 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "And so we learned that the blessing of Elijah has now become the blessing for this widow and her son. See, God can do anything, but we sometimes, oftentimes, most times, every time need to lift our voice up in prayer. Amen. And I asked you a question along the way. I said, are you desperate enough to trust the word of the Lord?" [00:15:15] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "And so today in today's message we pick up here in chapter number 18 verse number one where the scripture says and it came to pass that after many days the word of the Lord came to Elijah once again God speaks to Elijah and scripture tells us that it's been been many days and then it goes forward just a little bit more and it tells us specifically how long it's been says it's been about three years that we're in the third year now and now God tells Elijah he says listen go present yourself to Ahab now I can't think of a more clear instruction that one could get under these circumstances go he says and present yourself to Ahab God sends Elijah directly to the enemy king Ahab and as I mentioned earlier Elijah was considered in in king Ahab's kingdom he was considered as public enemy number one and we read that specifically today in verse number 10 where it was reported that there was quote no nation or kingdom where Ahab had not sent someone to hunt for Elijah but yet God directs Elijah public enemy number one to present himself to Ahab now I gotta ask you a question because I asked myself this question so if I ask myself the question I'm gonna ask the question of you does God know what he's doing" [00:19:34] (96 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "I believe that this word of the Lord to Elijah is instructive and beneficial for you and I. Why do you say that, Pastor Ed? Well, because I believe that there are those times when we need to face our modern enemies head on. I mean, we need to face our adversaries head on. We need to face our obstacles head on. We need to face our challenges head on. We need to face them directly. Don't send a delegate. No, don't send a delegate to deal with your issues. Don't send a delegate to deal with your issues. Don't send a delegate to deal with your issues. Don't send an emissary or a surrogate in your place." [00:21:37] (37 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "And why would he do that? Because God says, you go to Ahab and I will send the rain on the earth. Hallelujah. Listen, God's getting ready to make it happen. It is about to jump off right now. I mean, the time has come. It's getting ready to rain. We are in year number three and there ain't been no dew. There ain't been no rain on the earth, just like God said. But he needs Elijah to be obedient one more time. Go, he says, present yourself to Ahab and I will send rain." [00:22:55] (44 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


6. "And so, for Elijah, he's presenting himself to Ahab, and his presentation of himself to Ahab is like walking through the valley of the shadow of death. But in this case, Elijah isn't walking, he's walking through the valley of the shadow of death. He's walking to the valley of the shadow of death. He's walking directly in the presence of Ahab. And why do I keep landing on this? I keep landing on this because I want to say to you this morning this, that we have no reason to fear either the known or the unknown evil that can befall us, because God is with us. And knowing that God is with us, he will give us what we need, especially when we are living in the presence of God. We are living and walking in obedience to his word and to his way. Somebody say amen up in here this morning." [00:26:15] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


7. "And Obadiah is in a real special place. He's a person who's in charge of King Ahab, Ahab's house, meaning that he was known as a palace official, a minister of the state, if you will, and he's serving as the king's personal representative. But then almost as an aside, they throw in this phrase, and that is that Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. In other words, Obadiah was a great man of faith. This man, the personal representative of the king, this palace official, was a person of great faith. Man, that ought to be encouraging for you. You can be in some very tough situations, but don't back up on your faith. Don't give up on who you are, even when you're standing in the midst of real darkness. Stand tall for the Lord where he is. He has planted you. Amen?" [00:28:19] (71 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


8. "Obadiah decided there was a better choice to trust in his longstanding faith in the Lord than in his own emotions and in his own fears. Mount Olivet, I come to tell you this morning, I want you to be people of good faith in God. I want you to allow your faith in God to rise above your own fears and your own emotions. Have faith in God. Walk in the power of his love. His might. As I said earlier, push past your fears and push past your circumstances and trust in God." [00:39:40] (38 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


9. "And Israel at this point, they're on the fence with regard to whether or not they're going to worship God or worship Baal. And David put it like this in Psalm 23, verse 5. He said, you prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. You anoint my head with oil. And my cup runs over. I mean, this showdown here is nothing but a big banquet table that God has prepared. And when God shows up and does his thing, that's like a great anointing for Elijah where God anoints him in the presence of his enemies and his cup runs over. I couldn't think of a better banquet table to be at than one where God is going to show up and he's going to do his thing. And then this oil just overflows. It overflows in abundance. Amen?" [00:49:05] (51 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


10. "But as the sons and daughters of the most high God, we must walk in obedience and we must walk in faith to the word of God that is spoken into and over our lives. I want to encourage you this morning to be fully committed to your relationship with Jesus Christ. I mean, we just sung that song about him. What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus. And nothing compares to him. He has no rivals. He has no equals. Amen. He is God and God alone. So be committed fully to your relationship with Jesus, just like Elijah was fully committed to his relationship with God. Be like Obadiah. May it be said of you that you are a great man and you are a woman and you are a man of great faith." [00:53:36] (59 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)