0:00 I tell you, these are some of the most important things that God has ever shown me. I say that about just nearly everything I teach, but it's because everything I teach is really, really important. And I only share things that are coming from my life, things that God has spoken directly to me. I'm not just listening to somebody else and pariting something I've heard them say. These are things that God has spoken directly to me. It's made a huge difference in my life. You know, often when I teach about these Old Testament examples, I'll refer to First Corinthians 10:es 6-11. And I won't turn over there and read that, but basically it's saying that all of the things that are written in the word of God were written for our learning so that we through them might learn not to be covetous, not to murmur, not to
0:47 complain. So everything that was written here was written for us. And I have learned through the life of Elijah some of the most important lessons that God has ever taught me. And it this is exactly what those verses 1 Corinthians chapter 10 are talking about. So let me turn over to first kings chapter 17 and in verse one it just it says and Elijah the Tishbite who is of the inhabitants of Gilead said unto Ahab as the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand there shall not be due nor rain these years but according to my word. And let me just point out some things here so that you get the full impact of what's happening. But if you were to go
1:32 into the previous chapter, it says that um Ahab and his wife Jezebel were some of the most evil people that had ever run the nation of Israel. It says in uh this is in First Kings 16:30. It says, "And Ahab the son of Omai did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him." And it goes on to say that part of what they did, they killed all of the true prophets of God. And anybody who is a worshshiper of God, they would persecute them, even sometimes kill them, but they killed all of the prophets. And then they had forbidden the worship of the true God of Israel. And they turned the people to Baal worship. And Jezebel, the wife of
2:19 Ahab, the king, she actually had 400 prophets that ate at her table. 400 prophets of Baal and 450 prophets of the grove. So a total of 850 people that she funded from the government treasury and supported this Baal worship. And so they had totally turned away from God, made it illegal to worship God. And in the midst of that situation, Elijah walked right up to the king, right up to the man who was killing any person who claimed to be a prophet of the Lord. And he said unto him, he says, "As the Lord God of Israel liveth." Now remember that the worship of God, the God of Israel, had been forbidden. And yet he walks up
3:05 and just says, "As as thus saith the Lord God of Israel." That would be comparable today to there are people who are trying to rewrite the history of the United States. Of course, you know, this program is seen all around the world and so I know that there's people watching in other nations, but if you aren't aware of it, America was founded as a Christian nation. I can guarantee that. And I've just been reading about George Whitfield and Jonathan Edwards and people. And I guarantee you there was a great awakening in the United States in the early 1700s. And I forget the exact number of times now, but it's like 30 or 40 different times in our founding documents, messages from the Bible were referenced.
3:53 It didn't necessarily give a reference number, but they were quoting sermons from this great awakening. America was founded as a Christian nation. And yet there are people today who are trying to rewrite history and to say, "Oh no, we were systemically racist from the beginning." That is an absolute lie. That is a lie and a misrepresentation of history. But today, because of all of these people, these ungodly people that are coming against our Christian foundations because they don't want the restraints that Christian morality places on society. And so there are people today that are saying that America was never a Christian nation and things. Well, see this this is comparable to what Elijah did right here. Elijah went to a man who had
4:40 forbidden the worship of the true God of Israel. And I guarantee you, Israel was founded by God just as surely as America was founded by God. And instead of of cowing to them and not saying anything to offend them, Elijah walks right up and said, "As the Lord God of Israel saith." This would be like today going up and say the God of this Christian nation, the foundation of this nation is a Christian nation. Boy, that just infuriates the ungodly. But it's the truth. And so Elijah is experiencing or exhibiting a tremendous boldness right here to just walk up to the man who's killed all of the prophets of God and forbidden the worship of God and says, "As the Lord God of Israel liveth,
5:29 you know, it didn't matter what Ahab said. The truth is that God was the God of Israel." And at this time, he had not judged them and he had not sent them into captivity. And so Elijah was speaking the truth. And that's what we've got to do today. We've got to speak the truth. And it doesn't matter what the ungodly say and how they are trying to change things. And we don't need to be apologetic for speaking the truth. We need to say that this is a Christian nation. It was founded upon Christian principles. Our forefathers were godly people. You know, uh, Benjamin Franklin is often credited as being one of the least godly, uh, of all of the founding fathers. And he did, as far as I
6:16 understand, again, you know, we're reading things through the eyes of other people who've researched it. From what I understand, he did have an extrammarital affair. He did father some children out of wedlock. I'm not saying he was a perfect person, but did you know I just got through reading about George Whitfield? And George Whitfield and Benjamin Franklin were friends. George Whitfield stayed in his home. Benjamin Franklin printed all of his sermons and gave him tremendous amount of exposure and Benjamin Franklin helped build a theater to handle the crowds because none of the churches were large enough for the things. So Benjamin Franklin, probably one of the least godly people that were founding fathers of this nation, definitely embraced and received
7:04 the the revival, the great awakening that was going on at that time. Anyway, I don't want to get off on just American history, but I I see this that see this is exactly the way that Elijah did it. Today, there's many ministers that would cow and they would just say, "Well, let's not talk about the Christian heritage because there's some people that are saying that that's not true." And so, let's just not make that a a source of contention. It's the truth. And we need to speak the truth. Just like Elijah came and said, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel." Well, praise God. We need to speak today about the truth of the founding of this nation. And so he said, "As the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand, there shall not be due nor rain these years,
7:50 but according to my word." And did you know people think, "Well, where did he come up with that? Did he just get this straight from the Lord?" It's possible that God spoke to him directly. I'm not saying that that's impossible. In the 19th chapter, you'll find that God did speak to him in an audible voice. But did you know that this is actually just an enforcing of I believe it's Deuteronomy 11, but it says that if you ever turn away from the Lord, then he will send a drought in the land and that your crops won't work and things like this. And so it was already spoken in the word of God. Well, the people had turned away from God. They were worshiping a Baal, a false god, and they had outlawed the worship of the true God. And so it's very possible that all
8:37 uh Elijah did was just read what the consequences were written in the word of God and he came and pronounced it. Now it's also possible that God spoke to him directly or it's also possible that God spoke to him through the scriptures that were already written. But my point in bringing this out is that people say, "Well, if God was to give me a word, well, this was a scripture. This was what the results would be of them forsaking the Lord. And Elijah just came and spoke and enforced the word of God and spoke that because you have forsaken the worship of God, there is not going to be due or rain in the land until I say so. Did you know it takes humility to say something like that?
9:23 Some people would look at that and think, well, that's pride. You're sitting there saying that you just control everything. you than control the weather. No, what it was? It was the word of God that gave a prophecy about what would happen if people forsook the Lord. And it takes humility for us to put oursel on the line and to say something like it's not going to rain or have due until I say so. Because you are putting your reputation, you are putting everything on the line. Plus, these were people that were killing all of the prophets of God. He had already put his life at risk. Now he's putting his reputation, he was putting his claim that he was hearing from God at risk. There's a lot of people that they will get into their prayer closet and they'll pray and they'll ask God to do something
10:10 and they'll pray and then if something happens positive that, you know, was similar to what they were praying for, they'll come out of the closet and said, "I was praying for that." Anybody can claim that you're praying for it after you see these things come to pass. But for him to come and to say these things in advance took a lot of faith on his part and a lot of humility to submit himself to the word of God and trust God because there was no guarantee in the natural that any of this was coming to pass. And let me just make some other points right here. I've got a I'm wanting to get way on down into this chapter, but these are really important things for you to see because they have direct application to our situation today. You know, if he would have just
10:58 uh seen in the word of God this quotation from Deuteronomy that if you forsake the Lord, then there's going to be a drought and God won't send rain and your crops will fail. And if he had just read that and have said, "Well, I'm believing for this." But if he hadn't have been bold enough to go to Ahab and speak it, then three years later, three and a half years later, when this drought had just basically brought the entire nation to their knees, and I mean they were in desperate straits, if Elijah would have stood up then said, "Well, see, this is what I prayed for." People would have dismissed that and thought, "Well, anybody can say that." But because he said it when they weren't having a drought, because he prophesied it in advance, because he was bold enough to speak the word of God when
11:44 there wasn't any physical proof that what he was saying was going to come to pass. Then when the drought did devastate the nation, as you go on and read here, especially in the 18th chapter, you'll find out that Ahab had sent to all of the surrounding nations and had taken a pledge of the kings there and that a that Elijah was not dwelling among them. He had searched for him. And when Elijah came back on the scene in the 18th chapter, Elijah basically was in control because he was bold enough to speak the word of God when there was no proof that what he was saying was coming to pass. Boy, that has great applications. Andrew will be right back after these
12:30 messages. Hello, this is Andrew Wamik and I just want to thank you for watching us on YouTube and I want to encourage you to share. This will help us reach more people. Also, you can tag someone. We have people that listen and write and correspond with you and we would encourage you to do that. We'd also like to see where everybody is watching this from all over the world. And then also, we would like to ask you to partner with us. There's a spot right there on the screen that you can check and uh you can designate a certain amount, but it costs a lot of money to do the things we're doing. And we would encourage you to please join with us. I believe that you'd be blessed and you would be a big blessing to us. >> And now here's Andrew.
13:16 you know, after the uh second election of President Trump in the United States, uh he was elected in what was it 2016 and then um he uh Biden became president in 2020 and then in 2024, Trump was elected again and he has just come out with a vengeance and he is attacking this DEI, all of the woke stuff, uh the uh homosexuality, the transgender gender, men and women's sports. He is just making some major major changes and things in our society are turning around now. There is plenty of push back. The ungodly have been emboldened by all of the things that they've been able to
14:02 accomplish and they aren't just going to lay down and take it. So, there is a huge conflict going on in the United States right now. But we are we have turned around and we are beginning to move in a positive direction. in a godly direction and President Trump is a big part of that. Anyway, the reason I mention that is because now people are coming out of the woodwork and beginning to say, "Well, I never was really in support of that DEI and men and women's sports and things." I just saw one guy interviewed on Fox News and this guy was talking about that I forget the exact time but it was back during the Biden administration that they came out with these transgenders and is it okay for them to
14:48 participate against women because men have a biological advantage. And anyway, he was one of those who said absolutely it is perfectly normal. It is right. we need to do this. And then I saw him interviewed just this last week and he was saying he knew in his heart that it was wrong, but it was just so much pressure on him that he submitted to the pressure. But now he says he's changed and he's coming out and saying what common sense would say. Well, I'm glad that he's finally come around and acknowledge this. But my first thought is, you wimp, you you chicken that you wouldn't stand up and speak the truth when it wasn't popular. And I tell you, it makes me mad. I'm glad that these people are finally acknowledging what
15:35 has been truth all along, but it makes me mad that people were wimps and wouldn't stand up and speak. You know, I I'm not saying that I'm the perfect example, but I stood up against the governor of Colorado. He sued me twice and I sued him twice and he threatened to put me in jail and we we had a war room and we had ways that I could hide and sneak around in case they came to get me. And I stood up against the governor and I'm not saying I did it perfectly, but I am saying that where were all of these other people that are now coming out and saying it when it's popular. I tell you that's just pitiful. One of the things that I see right here, see about Elijah, he stood up at the king who had been killing prophets and he walked up and said, "Thus sayaeth the
16:22 Lord God of Israel." He was not afraid to identify that nation with their real truthful roots. And he stood up and spoke and he spoke the word of God boldly. Man, we need people like Elijah. As we go on with this story, if you were to get my entire teaching here on lessons from Elijah, it talks about him calling fire down out of heaven in the 18th chapter, in the 19th chapter, having the Lord appear unto him and on and on it goes. Elijah is the guy that in Second Kings chapter 2 actually got caught up into heaven in a whirlwind. He never died. He never physically died. He was just caught up into heaven. One of only two people that the Bible records that happening to. Elijah was a powerful man and this is something that we need
17:09 to emulate is this attitude. You need to stand up and speak the truth. And I just know in my heart that there are millions of people watching this. We have a potential of 6 and a half billion people that can watch our broadcast television. Now on YouTube and all of the internet things, our website, there's many more than that. But we have six and a half billion people. I don't know how many watch, but there's certainly millions. And there are millions of you who know in your heart what true morality is. You know that you can't just change your gender. You know that marriage isn't between two women or between two men. And you know things, but you won't stand up for it. And yet,
17:56 you would love to have the results that Elijah had. You would love to see fire come out out of heaven. You would love to see a revival where all of these 850 prophets of Baal were killed and that the people cried out, "The Lord, he is the God. The Lord, he is the God." That's what's written over in First Kings chapter 18. There are many of you that would love to have this uh result. There are many of you who are praying for it, praying for a great revival and an outpouring of God. And you will spend great time in your prayer closet praying and even fasting. But you'd never speak up at your work. You'll never stand for the truth around the water cooler. You would never speak something in your church that might get you in trouble. There's people that
18:43 would never say anything that might cost you your job or cost you a promotion. And yet you want to see the power of God demonstrated. That's not the way that it works. You don't wait until the drought has brought the nation to the knees and then you stand up and say, "Well, I prayed for this." No. If you're praying for something, stand up now and speak the truth. I tell you, this is powerful and this inspires me. And he didn't know what the results of this was going to be. If you read on in verse two, it says, "And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, this is after Elijah had already spoken boldly to the king. Then the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Chirth, that is before Jordan, and it shall be that thou
19:29 shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there." Now, I've got a lot more things that I'm going to be saying about this, but let me just point out that he didn't have this word from God about God protecting him and providing for him during this drought until he had already acted on the first word that God gave him. And this is just one of the greatest lessons that you could ever learn. And you can learn it at Elijah's expense. You don't have to learn it through your own hard knocks. And that is that God isn't going to show you step one through 10 and give you everything and show you the total end results. He'll just show you things one step at a time. And you
20:16 have to be faithful to take those steps one at a time as God shows them to you. That is really important what I've said. And yet there's a lot of people see that if the Lord says for you to do something then you sit there and you start evaluating now if I do this what's going to happen and you start looking and if there's going to be pain associated with it if there's going to be rejection if you might lose your job somebody might reject you then you start questioning where you're going to do this that's just wrong you know I had my leadership just this last week we were talking about something and I had to make a decision a major major your decision on some things and they were telling me now if you do this this could be the result
21:01 this could happen. They started showing me all the scenarios and I appreciate them pointing things out and bringing it to my attention. But did you know what I told them? I said, "Look, this is not the way I run my life. I'm going to do what's right, what God tells me to do. And I don't care if it hair liips the devil. I don't care what the results of it are. I am going to do what God tells me." and they just kind of disarmed them. But there's a lot of people that honestly they evaluate, will I do what God tells me if this could cost me something? That's a terrible way to live your life. You just need to make a decision that I am going to do what's right and I don't care what the consequences are. I will always default and do what's right. And I see that with Elijah. He came and
21:49 spoke the word and it was only after he had obeyed the first thing that God told him to do that God told him about the provision and about how he would protect him. Man, that's awesome. That really ministers to me and encourages me. So, I'm out of time today. I'm going to continue to teach on this, but let me offer you this book that I have on Elijah. It's Lessons from Elijah. I have CDs, DVDs, a USB that will all have the audio and the video on there. And then I also have a study guide on that. But specifically, what I'm beginning to get into is covered in this little book entitled Welcome to Your Place Call There. And I tell you, this is a powerful, powerful teaching. And God has used it mightily in my life. I know it
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