THE SPIRIT AND POWER OF ELIAS

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: LUKE 1:10-17




INTRODUCTION:


  1. Elijah (Elias) the prophet is mentioned thirty times in the New Testament (cf. Luke 1:17).
  2. Speaking of the life and ministry of Elijah the prophet, F.B. Meyer said, "What may not one man do in one brief life, if he is willing to be simply a living conduit-pipe through which the power of God may descend to men? There is no limit to the possible usefulness of such a life. There, on the one hand, is the oceanic fullness of God; here, on the other, are the awful need and desolation of man, guilty, weak, bankrupt, diseased: all that is required is a channel of communication between the two; and when that channel is made and opened, and kept free from the silting sand, there will ensue one great, plenteous, and equable flow of power carrying the fullness of God to the weary emptiness of man" (Elijah, and the Secret of his Power).
  3. R.G. Lee, in his great sermon, “Payday – Some day,” said this about Elijah the prophet, “He was God’s tall cedar that wrestled with the paganistic cyclones of his day without bending or breaking. He was God’s granite wall that stood up and out against the rising tides of the apostasy of his day. Though much alone, he was sometimes attended by the invisible hosts of God. He grieved only when God’s cause seemed tottering. He passed from earth without dying – into celestial glory. Every where courage is admired and manhood honored and service appreciated, he is honored as one of earth’s greatest heroes and one of heaven’s greatest saints. He was a seer who saw clearly. He was a great heart who felt deeply. He was a hero who dared valiantly.”
  4. Elijah, along with Moses, met with our Lord up on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:3).
  5. After they came down from the mountain, the disciples asked our Lord, "Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come?" (Matt. 17:10).
  6. Our Lord answered them and said, "Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them" (Matt. 17:11, 12).
  7. Then the next verse says, "Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist" (Matt. 17:13).
  8. John the Baptist ministered in the spirit and power of Elijah, but my emphasis this morning will not be on John the Baptist.
  9. Elijah was one of the greatest prophets who ever lived, but my emphasis this morning will not be on Elijah the prophet.
  10. Mark the words "spirit and power" in Luke 1:17.
  11. This morning I would like to preach about the spirit and power of Elijah, and the spirit and power of John the Baptist -- that is, the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power that is available today.

 

I. THE POWER COMES WHEN CERTAIN CONDITIONS ARE MET

  1. Ephesians 5:18 is an important command -- "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."
  2. In order to be filled with the Spirit, there are some conditions that must be met. For example, Ephesians 4:30 says, "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God."
  3. The Holy Spirit is easily grieved because He is sensitive. Are you?
  4. First Thessalonians 5:19 says, "Quench not the Spirit." One of the emblems of the Holy Spirit is fire. Are you guilty of quenching the fire?
  5. When Christians get cold and worldly they put out the fire of spiritual fervor and power.
  6. Our Lord said, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:13). Therefore, we must desire to be filled for the glory of God.
  7. We must be cleansed vessels. God will not fill an unclean receptacle with His Holy Spirit.

Emptied that Thou shouldest fill me,
A clean vessel in Thy hand;
With no power but as Thou givest
Graciously with each command.

Channels only, blessèd Master,
But with all Thy wondrous power
Flowing through us, Thou canst use us
Every day and every hour.

  1. F.B. Meyer said, "We must be prepared to let the Holy Spirit do as He will with and through us. There must be no reserve, no holding back, no contrariety of purpose. The whole nature must be unbarred, and every part yielded. There is a law in physics that forces work in the direction of least resistance. Let us present no resistance whatever to the working of the Holy Ghost. He who resists least will possess most. God gives the Holy Ghost to them that obey Him (Acts 5:32)."

 

II. THIS POWER RESULTS IN BOLDNESS

  1. Alexander Maclaren said, John the Baptist's "characteristic, like Elijah’s, was ‘power,’ not gentleness. If the earlier prophet had to beard Ahab and Jezebel, the second Elijah had Herod and Herodias. Both haunted the desert, both pealed out thunders of rebuke. Both shook the nation, and stirred conscience. No two figures in Scripture are truer brethren in spirit than Elijah the Tishbite and John the Baptist."
  2. It is interesting what Maclaren said: the characteristic of John the Baptist and the characteristic of Elijah was ‘power,’ not gentleness (cf. Matthew 3:7-10).
  3. Speaking of John the Baptist, our Lord said, "What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet" (Matt. 11:7-9).
  4. Consider the boldness of Elijah the prophet (cf. I Kings 17:1).
  5. And consider the boldness of John the Baptist (Matt. 14:4).
  6. That same boldness is available today because when a Christian is filled with the Holy Spirit God gives him a holy boldness (Acts 4:31).
  7. A boldness to win souls (Acts 1:8). God not only fills men like Elijah and John the Baptist with the Holy Spirit -- He wants to fill every child of God with the Holy Spirit.
  8. Ephesians 5:18 is a command -- "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit."
  9. This command has never been repealed.
  10. This command has often been ignored.
  11. This command has often been misunderstood.
  12. Ephesians 5:18 literally means, "Keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit." This should be continuous, not sporadic.
  13. "Be filled" means to allow God to fill us. And if God fills us there will be the fruit of the Spirit (cf. Gal. 5:22-26).
  14. Genuine Christ-likeness is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is His "fruit." Note that these graces are not said to be the fruits (plural) of the Spirit; they are "the fruit (singular) of the Spirit."

 

III. THIS POWER RESULTS IN PRAYERS BEING ANSWERED

  1. Consider the prayers of Elijah (James 5:16-18).
  2. And consider John the Baptist. Luke 11:1 says that as our Lord was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."
  3. Referring to the prayers of Elijah, James 5:16 says, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
  4. James 5:16-18 describes effectual fervent prayer, that is, prayer that is energetic and earnest.
  5. A.T. Pierson said, "The idea is that such prayer has about it supernatural energy" (George Muller of Bristol).
  6. That word "effectual" is found six times in the New Testament, and it always refers to the power of the Holy Spirit.
  7. In I Corinthians 16:9, Paul said, "For a great door and effectual is opened unto me," referring to the Holy Spirit opening doors of ministry.
  8. In II Corinthians 1:6, Paul refers to "salvation, which is effectual."
  9. In Ephesians 3:7, Paul describes the "effectual working" of God's power.
  10. Elijah knew that God was going to hold back the rain because Elijah knew the Bible (James 5:17). That is one of the great principles of effectual prayer (cf. Deuteronomy 11:13-17).
  11. This warning from the book of Deuteronomy would explain how Elijah knew God would shut up the heaven, and then end the drought and send rain (cf. James 5:18).
  12. Elijah believed that it was God’s will to send rain, and he also understood that he needed to pray, or the rain would not come.
  13. James 4:2 says, "Ye have not, because ye ask not."
  14. It was God's will that it would rain, but the rain would only come if Elijah prayed. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).
  15. We see here effectual prayer, fervent prayer, earnest prayer, intercessory prayer, persistent prayer, and also believing prayer. Elijah said to King Ahab, "Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain" (I Kings 18:41), but it had not rained yet.
  16. Then Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, "and put his face between his knees," and he prayed (I Kings 18:42).
  17. Then Elijah said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And the servant went up, and looked, and said, "There is nothing."
  18. And Elijah said, "Go again seven times" (I Kings 18:43). First Kings 18:44 and 45 says, "And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man's hand."
  19. And he said, "Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain."
  20. And while we consider the prayers of Elijah and the prayers of John the Baptist, consider the energetic and earnest prayers of the apostolic church (Acts 4:31).

 

CONCLUSION:


  1. Many years ago, General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, analyzed the chief dangers of the twentieth century.
  2. He said they were: religion without the Holy Spirit; Christianity without Christ; forgiveness without repentance; salvation without regeneration; politics without God; and Heaven without Hell.
  3. I could preach all day on these six dangers, but I have focused this morning on the first -- the danger of "religion without the Holy Spirit."
  4. We need the same power of the Holy Spirit Elijah had, and the same power of the Holy Spirit that John the Baptist had.


| Customized by Jun Gapuz |