Preached January 30, 2008 at Longview Missionary Baptist Church

When a human being is born, we call that person an infant. An infant is one who is by definition immature, or not fully grown. We reserve that term for adults or “grown-ups.”

Spiritually, we must mature and grow as well. God uses a process to help us grow from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity. This process follows a predictable, regular pattern. This is generally how God works. It is his Modus Operandi or M.O. in our lives.

Five steps in the M.O. or process:

1) Command– God reveals his will to his people and commands us to be or do something.

2) Promise– A promise is connected to the command.

● Promise can be positive or negative (ie– blessings or cursings)

● Promise can be stated or implied

● Promise can be temporal or eternal, physical or spiritual

3) Faith– The response of the person God reveals his command and promise to is one of faith. Biblical faith has two aspects to it:

● Belief

● Obedience– it is not genuine faith until there is obedience.

● Comparing Paul and James together we see this clearly.

Paul in Romans 4 tells us that Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. James tells us in James 2 that faith without works is dead, and Abraham was counted righteous by what he did.

4) Fulfillment – When we respond in obedience, God blesses us and fulfills his promise to us.

5) Repeat– the process is then repeated over and over again because this is the process of maturity, and we all must continue to mature spiritually.

We see this M.O. at work in three scenes in 1 Kings 17.

Scene 1: The Brook Cherith (1 Kings 17:1-7)

● v 1– Confronted Ahab and Jezebel

● vv 2-3 – Sent by God to Cherith
○ Command
○ Sometimes, God doesn’t want us to be in the lime-light. Sometimes he calls us to back-corners, and back-waters just to sit still and be quiet for a little while.

● v 4 – God promises to take care of Elijah.
○ Remember a drought is on, which will bring a famine.
○ God promises supernatural resources to care for Elijah.
○ God’s direction includes God’s provision.
○ Even when God gives us an order that doesn’t make sense, we can trust him.

● v 5– Elijah goes.
○ He has to believe God will do what he said he would do. Follow it up with action.
○ God’s promises often hinge on our obedience.
○ What if Elijah did not go? No provisions. Even though it was strange to go to the wilderness, that is what God said to do.
○ We must not forget our part.

● v 6 – God keeps his word and the promise is fulfilled.
○ We must trust God one day at a time.

● v 7 – Eventually, the brook runs dry. God then gives a new command. The process is about to repeat itself.
○ God sends ever increasing challenges to our faith to make it grow so we can mature.

Scene 2: To Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16)

● vv 8-9a – God now commands Elijah to go to “enemy” territory.
○ Zarephath is 8 miles south of Sidon and 13 miles north of Tyre, in the domain of Jezebeel’s father Ethbaal.
○ Gentile land, heathen land, idol-polluted land.
○ God is going to teach two important lessons though:
- Baal failed this woman. Baal was the god of the storm and fertility. Yet she is about to starve to death. Yahweh will take care of her though.
- God is judging Israel. Luke 4 tells us there were plenty of widows in Israel, yet God chooses to give mercy to a heathen widow in Zarephath. Don’t presume on God’s grace (Israel) and don’t limit God’s grace.

● v 9b – God promises the widow will take care of Elijah.

● vv 10-14 – Elijah acts on faith and obeys, but this time it is more difficult. The widow protests.
○ Faith is now challenged. Not easy.
○ Elijah doesn’t back down. Faith must often be persistent.

● vv 15-16 – God takes care of Elijah and the widow. God fulfills his promise.
○ When we obey, others often experience blessings too!

Scene 3: With the Widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:17-24)

● The widow’s son dies and she is left grieving.
○ She is confused. She was doing what God wanted her to do, and now this happens.
○ But God is helping to grow her in her faith.

● v 19– Command– Elijah tells her to bring the boy

● Promise– the implication is that Elijah will take care of it.
○ They believe God can and will do something about this.

● Faith– the woman brings the boy to Elijah
○ Both Elijah and the woman exercise faith, asking God to act on their behalf.

● Fulfillment– God raises the son.
○ The woman declares her faith (converted)

● And though the text doesn’t tell us, we know God will continue to work in the life of the woman.

● In Chapter 18, the command comes once again to Elijah to go back to Ahab. The process repeats itself

Conclusion

Command >> Promise >> Faith >> Fulfillment >> Repeat

This is how God works in our lives. The key for us is to exercise faith in God and obey him whenever he commands us.