PREAMBLES We thank God for the Sunday School Rally this year in spite of the terrible situation the world experienced this year. Our wat...
PREAMBLES
We thank God for the Sunday School Rally this year in
spite of the terrible situation the world experienced this year. Our watchword
this year (Isa. 45:22) is a pointer to the fact that God controls/directs us by
His Word through our fathers, the Authority of this Mission.
Our central theme for this year is
GOD IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF MAN. God has indeed always demonstrated that He is
the Governor of all nations (Psa. 22:28).
We are in God’s world. In it, He demonstrates His
Word, giving people works to do in line with His eternal redemptive plan. There
are many examples of this in the Scripture. There are a lot of lessons to learn
from how God gave His Word and work to Elijah concerning 3 important
personalities—Elisha, Hazael, and Jehu in His world. May the Holy Spirit help
us in this. Amen.
A. HIS WORLD (Gen. 1&2; Job 41:11; Psa.
24:1ff; 50:12; 1 Tim. 4:4):
1.
It is His world because He created
it (Psa. 24:1ff; cf. Gen. 1&2). You are the owner of what you create/make,
hence the talk of intellectual property in the literary world.
2.
The whole world was initially on
His side until the devil who had irredeemably fallen before man’s creation and
who didn’t like it, subtly introduced sin into the world God created (Gen. 3).
3.
That singular disaster of an event
made the world a situation where God comes for His own (the world He created),
but His own rejected Him (cf. Jn. 1:11).
4.
Thank God for those who accept Him
(cf. Jn. 1:12). This immediately introduces the dichotomy in humanity.
5.
Thus, in the world God created and owns, there are 2
different categories of people, after the fall:
a.
those who cooperate with God to be His; and
b.
those who choose to reject Him.
6.
Hence, God talks about this people and My people. God’s reference to the people at Babel (Gen. 11:6)
connotes the idea of this people,
i.e. not My people. God referred to
those rebels as the/this people.
7.
In Gen. 12, God kick-started the process of raising
a people for Himself—Israel. He promised Solomon in the dedication of the magnificent
temple, If My people who are called by My name (2 Chro. 7:14). Hence,
we talk of the Jew/Gentile dichotomy.
8.
When Israel failed God, God already had the plan in
place to raise His Church (Matt. 16:16-18). It was launched at Pentecost as a
body of those who have deliberately chosen to forsake the corruption in the
world by the atoning work of Christ.
9.
Today, the dichotomy is between the
Church and the world, the latter being those who choose to reject Christ,
whether Jews or gentiles.
10.
The Church is a foretaste of God’s
eternal kingdom here on earth. It is the domain of God’s rule over those He
would eventually reign eternally in Heaven.
11.
Are you His? His cut across race,
tribes, colour, languages, and other barriers, whether in America, Europe,
Asia, Africa, or elsewhere.
B.
HIS WORD IN HIS WORLD:
1.
God has been speaking and He continues speaking
(Heb. 1:1,2).
2.
He speaks His Word to all nations.
God interferes, interjects, and intervenes in all the nations of the earth
unstoppably and unchallengeably. Why? It is His world—the world He created.
3.
However, the way He speaks to His own is different
from His Word to those who to be His enemies.
4.
God gave specific instructions (the
Word) to Elijah, both for His people and His enemies—Syria (1 Kgs. 19:15-17).
5.
Note that God doesn’t say everything He has to say,
once. He is the God of progressive revelation, hence the need for persistence
in Him. Did He tell Elijah he was only going to fulfil part of the injunctions
given Him?
6.
His Word is new every morning (Lam.
3:23). Don’t stop waiting on Him for the NEXT in God’s programme. That is the
only way to be forever relevant in Him.
7.
Toward the close of Elijah’s
ministry, Elijah couldn’t condone the immoral and corrupt practices prevalent in his time. So, he thought it better to go be with the Lord than to continue
seeing the gross
wicked acts of the people. But rather than killing him, God
commissioned him to perform some tasks before his final exit.
8.
Elijah would appoint Elisha as his
successor and Jehu as king over Israel. That concerned God’s own people—Israel.
9.
But surprisingly, God also speaks
through His own to His enemies. He sent Elijah (His prophet) to anoint Hazael,
a gentile, king in Syria.
10. Why
would God be that interested in the administration of Syria that he commanded
Elijah to anoint Hazael as king over the gentile nation?
11. All
nations of the earth and the people thereof belong to Him (Psa. 24:1-2). He is
the Governor/Ruler of all nations (Psa. 22:28).
12. Through His
intervention, interruption, and interjection, He makes His presence and power
known in all the earth, whether on Jewish or gentile soils, or, Christian or
non-Christian settings. He administers all the people and every nation.
13. Syria
is also part of God’s world, though an enemy nation to Israel. It was also
called Aram. According to the “table of nations” (Gen. 10:22-23), the Arameans
were a Semitic group.
C.
HIS WORK IN HIS WORLD:
i.
God is a worker. He keeps working. He has always
been a worker:
a.
in Creation
b.
in sustaining the
creation
c.
in redemption
ii.
His Word is His power to act (Eccl. 8:4; Jn. 1:1-4).
iii.
His Word brings His work to His
people, then and now (the Church) in the world. His Word gave Adam and Eve
something to do in His Garden (Gen. 1:28ff).
iv.
This world is where He has chosen to show the power
of His Word, and show His works (cf. Jn. 9:4,5). That is why He has chosen not
to take us away from the world even after being born again (Jn. 17:15,16).
v.
His Word gave Elijah specific work to do in His
world, i.e. to both Israel and the Syrians (gentiles).
vi.
Elijah felt frustrated because of
the threat to his life by Satan’s agents (1 Kgs. 19:9,10), but God saw his work
as for from complete.
vii.
God’s work is progressive by His Word. Whether
Elijah knew it or not, he would only be privileged to anoint Elisha as his
successor (vv. 19-21). Elisha would anoint Hazael king over Syria (2 Kgs.
8:7-15). And Elisha’s servant would anoint Jehu king over Israel (2 Kgs. 9:1-10).
viii.
God’s Word doesn’t give a man the
work he can finish alone. That is why you must keep relying on His grace and
cooperating with the God-given people around you. Do your best and leave the rest.
ix.
God’s Word through Elijah progressively gave 3
different persons (Elisha, Hazael, and Jehu) major assignments as instruments
of God, one following the other in works of judgment on God’s stiff-necked
people.
x.
The fact that these 3 instruments
fulfilled their assignments points to that God has a way of pushing His Word
and work in His world to logical conclusion.
xi.
God’s Word still gives works to
people, today. What work is He giving you to do in His world? Have you
discovered it? Are you pursuing it to conclusion (cf. Jn. 9:4)?
D.
HIS WORD FOR HIS OWN:
1.
God speaks to everyone in the world
but speaks to His world (His own) in special ways. Are you sure of how He
speaks to you?
2.
We must occupy till He returns (Lk.
19:13). Do His work given by His Word and continue working in the Word in His world.
3.
Evangelise vigorously through all means (cf. 2 Tim. 4:2).
4.
Fearlessly declare the whole truth of Christ’s
righteousness (cf. Acts 20:27).
5.
Live by the holy Word in this corrupt world; be
exemplary (cf. Col. 4:5,6).
6.
Look unto Jesus through the thick and thin of the
race to Heaven (Col. 3:1ff; Heb. 12:2).
7.
Regularly evaluate yourself based on His Word as you
eagerly await His return.
CONCLUSION
God still speaks and works in the world today. After
all, it is His world; the world He created for His own glory. We see this
clearly in the way He handled, for instance, the enthronement of Hazael in the
gentile land of Syria, by His Word that gave both Elijah and Hazael specific
works in His world. He is indeed the Governor of all nations whose Word and
work cut across all barriers.
By
Pastor Sam. Olu. Falade
CAC Assistant Sunday School Director 0806 621 2696; muelkit1@yahoo.com
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