A PROMISE FULFILLED-sermon outline

The Principles of Fulfillment

A PROMISE FULFILLED

Memory Verse: Matthew 24:35 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

1 Kings 18:1-2, 20-46

1 After a long time, the word of the Lord  came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria….. 

20 So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel.21 Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions?  If Yahweh is God, follow Him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I am the only remaining prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us. They are to choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and place it on the wood but not light the fire. I will prepare the other bull and place it on the wood but not light the fire. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh. The God who answers with fire, He is God.” All the people answered, “That sounds good.”25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Since you are so numerous, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first. Then call on the name of your god but don’t light the fire.”26 So they took the bull that he gave them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “Baal, answer us!” But there was no sound; no one answered. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made. 27 At noon Elijah mocked them. He said, “Shout loudly, for he’s a god! Maybe he’s thinking it over; maybe he has wandered away; or maybe he’s on the road. Perhaps he’s sleeping and will wake up!” 28 They shouted loudly, and cut themselves with knives and spears, according to their custom, until blood gushed over them. 29 All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down: 31 Elijah took 12 stones —according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name ”— 32 and he built an altar with the stones in the name of Yahweh. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons. 33 Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.36 At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet approached the altar and said, “Yahweh, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that at Your word I have done all these things.37 Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that You, Yahweh, are God and that You have turned their hearts back.”38 Then Yahweh’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “Yahweh, He is God! Yahweh, He is God!”40 Then Elijah ordered them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let even one of them escape.” So they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the Wadi Kishon and slaughtered them there. 41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.” 42 So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bowed down on the ground and put his face between his knees. 43 Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.” So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.” Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”44 On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming from the sea.” Then Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down so the rain doesn’t stop you.’”45 In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. So Ahab got in his chariot and went to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord c was on Elijah, and he tucked his mantle under his belt and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

INTRODUCTION:

Proverbs 14:34 says “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.”

Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.

1 Kings 16:30, 33 30 But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight more than all who were before him…. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.

1 Kings 17:1

1Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbea in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

Matthew 24:35 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

 THE PROCESS OF A FULFILLED PROMISE

1. The Command. 1 Kings 18:1-2

1 After a long time, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria. 

Hebrew halak  to go, to travel, to walk  to come, depart, proceed, move, go away

Hebrew ra’ah  to see, look at, inspect, perceive, consider, to look at, to appear, present oneself, to be seen, to be visible, to be exhibited to, to look at each other, face.

Psalm 119:89 Your word, O LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens.

2. The Condition. 1 Kings 18:1-2

1 After a long time, the word of the Lord  came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria. 

Deuteronomy 18:22 "When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him"

Galatians 6:7-9 7Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Genesis 8:22 "As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."

Malachi 3:10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

3. The Compliance.1 Kings 18:1-2, 15, 41

1 After a long time, the word of the Lord  came to Elijah in the third year: “Go and present yourself to Ahab. I will send rain on the surface of the land.” 2 So Elijah went to present himself to Ahab. The famine was severe in Samaria… 

15. Elijah said, "As the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, I will surely present myself to Ahab today."…

41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”

John 15:14 You are my friends if you do what I command.

Matthew 7:17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.

4. The Conclusion. 1 Kings 18:45-46

45 In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. So Ahab got in his chariot and went to Jezreel. 46 The power of the Lord c was on Elijah, and he tucked his mantle under his belt and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

41 Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”

Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

CONCLUSION:

Romans 3:4 …Let God be true, and every man a liar. As it is written: "So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge."

Psalm 89:33-34 33but I will not take my love from him,

Nor will I ever betray my faithfulness.

34 I will not violate my covenant

Or alter what my lips have uttered.

2 Corinthians 6:2 For he says, "In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you." I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.