Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit · Sermon No. 1832
“Let it be known that I have done all these things at Your word.” 1Kings 18:36.
THE acts of Elijah were very singular. It had not been known, from the foundations of the earth, that a man could shut up the doors of the rain for the space of three years. Yet Elijah suddenly leaped upon the scene, announced the judgment of the Lord and then disappeared for a time. When he reappears, at the bidding of God, he orders Ahab to gather the priests of Baal and to put to the test the question as to whether Baal or Jehovah was, indeed, God. Bullocks shall be slain and laid upon the wood without fire—and the God who shall answer by fire shall be determined to be the one living and true God, the God of Israel. We might question within ourselves what right the Prophet had to restrain the clouds, or to put God’s honor under test. Suppose the Lord had not willed to answer him by fire? Had he any right to make the Glory of God hang upon such terms as he proposed?
The answer is that he had done all these things according to God’s word. It was no whim of his to chastise the nation with a drought. It was no scheme of his, concocted in his own brain, that he should put the Godhead of Jehovah or of Baal to the test by a sacrifice to be consumed by miraculous fire. Oh, no! If you read the life of Elijah through, you will see that whenever he takes a step, it is preceded by, “The word of the Lord came unto Elijah the Tishbite.” He never acts of himself—God is at his back. He moves according to the Divine will and he speaks according to the Divine teaching— and he pleads this with the Most High—“I have done all these things at Your word; now let it be known that it is so.”
It makes the character of Elijah stand out, not as an example of reckless daring, but as the example of a man of sound mind! Faith in God is true wisdom—childlike confidence in the Word of God is the highest form of common sense. To believe Him that cannot lie and trust in Him that cannot fail is a kind of wisdom that none but fools laugh at! The wisest of men must concur in the opinion that it is always best to place your reliance where it will certainly be justified and always best to believe that which cannot possibly be false.
Elijah had so believed and acted on his belief and now he naturally expects to be justified in what he has done. An ambassador never dreams that his authorized acts will be repudiated by his king. If a man acts as your agent and does your bidding, the responsibility of his acts lie with you—and you must back him up. It were, indeed, an atrocious thing to send a servant on an errand and, when he faithfully performed it to the letter, to repudiate your sending him. It is not so with God. If we will only trust Him as to do as He bids us, He will never fail us—and He will see us through, though earth and Hell should stand in the way! It may not be today, nor tomorrow, but as surely as the Lord lives, the time shall come when he that trusted Him shall have joy of his confidence.
It seems to me that Elijah’s plea is, to obedient saints, a firm ground for prayer. But to those who cannot say that they have acted according to God’s Word, it is a solemn matter for question.
I. To begin with, this is A FIRM GROUND FOR PRAYER. You are a minister of God, or a worker in the cause of Christ, and you go forth and preach the Gospel with many tears and prayers. You continue to use all means such as Christ has ordained—do you say to yourself, “May I expect to have fruit from all this?” Of course you may! You are not sent on a frivolous errand! You are not bid to sow dead seed that will never spring up! But when that anxiety weighs heavily upon your heart, go to the Mercy Seat with this as one of your arguments, “Lord, I have done according to Your Word. Now let it be seen that it is even so. I have preached Your Word and You have said, ‘It shall not return unto Me void.’ I have prayed for these people and You have said, ‘The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much’— let it be seen that this is according to Your Word.”
Or, if you are a teacher, you can say, “I brought my children in supplication before You and I have gone forth, after studying Your Word, to teach them, to the best of my ability, the way of salvation. Now, Lord, I claim it of Your Truth that You should justify my teaching and my expectations by giving me to see the souls of my children saved by You, through Jesus Christ, Your Son.” Do you not see that you have a good argument if the Lord has set you to do this work? He has, as it were, bound Himself by that very fact to support you in the doing of it and if you, with holy diligence and carefulness, do all these things according to His Word, then you may come with certainty to the Throne of Grace and say unto Him, “Do as You have said. Have You not said, ‘He that goes forth and weeps, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him’? Lord I have done that! Give me my sheaves. You have said, ‘Cast your bread upon the waters, for you shall find it after many days.’ Lord, I have done that and, therefore, I entreat You fulfill Your promise to me.” You may plead in this fashion with the same boldness which made Elijah say in the presence of all the people, “Let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I have done all these things at Your word.”