The Life of Elijah #3: Resurrection
CCEA
School of Discipleship
September
21, 2025
Introduction
Have all the guys go to one side of the room, the gals to the other.
Meet one person you don’t know. Guys
with guys, gals with gals. Share one thing you could pray for each other.
Homework
How many of you read the chapter (4) for today?
Can two people share with us one thing you were encouraged by?
How are you doing with your Bible memory verse? Anyone want to give a try
at reciting it?
(James 5:16 NKJV) Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much.
James 5
Before we get into 1Kings, I want to again do a little exegesis on the next
verse we will be memorizing – James 5:17.
I want to help lay a better foundation for your Bible memory work.
Last week we dug into:
(James 5:16 NKJV) Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much.
This week our homework will be adding another verse to our memories…
(James 5:17 NKJV) Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly
that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six
months.
I just want to point out a few things in this verse that I find helpful…
:17 a nature like ours
homoiopathes – from homoios (of same nature, like, similar) and pascho (to be affected, to feel)
Put together, this word means “experiencing similarity in feelings or
circumstances, with the same nature”
Paul used this word when the crowds in Lystra wanted to sacrifice animals
in worship to he and Barnabas for having healed a man …
(Acts 14:15 NKJV) and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men
with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from
these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the
sea, and all things that are in them,
If Elijah was really like we are, and God responded to Elijah’s prayers, then
we can pray too.
:17 he prayed earnestly
The Greek here is made up of two words, one a noun, one a verb, and both
are words for “prayer”.
he prayed – The “verb” simply means “he prayed” (proseuchomai,
aorist)
earnestly – The noun is the word for “prayer” (proseuche).
It’s in the “dative” case, and here it’s a “Dative of Means” – we could
translate it “by prayer”, or …
“He prayed by means of prayer” or “He prayed using prayer”
Just in case you wonder how Elijah was able to influence the weather … it
was by praying.
He didn’t use magic beads in his prayer.
He didn’t pray with flagellation, and beat himself
while praying.
He prayed with … prayer
I think you’re going to find that if we are honest with ourselves, we can
tend to talk a little bit more about prayer than we actually
pray.
We say, “I’ll pray about that”, or “I’ll be praying for you”.
What we really need to be doing is praying.
(Psalm 34:4 NKJV) I sought the Lord,
and He heard me,
And delivered me from all my fears.
1Kings 17:17–24 Resurrection
We’ve followed Elijah through some of the “prophet training” he’s endured.
He experienced “cutting” back at Cherith.
He experienced “refining” at Zarephath.
And there are still more tests ahead…
Illustration
I had the toughest time of my life!
First, I got angina pectoris and then arteriosclerosis. Just as I was recovering from these, I got tuberculosis, double
pneumonia and phthisis. Then they gave me hypodermics. Appendicitis was
followed by tonsillectomy. These gave way to aphasia and hypertrophic
cirrhosis.
I completely lost my memory for a while. I know I even had gastritis,
rheumatism, lumbago and neuritis. I don’t know how I pulled through it.
It was the hardest spelling test I’ve ever had.
:17 Now it happened after these
things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And
his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him.
:17 became sick – hala – be or
become sick, weak, diseased, grieved, sorry
:17 there was no breath
breath– neshamah – breath
This Hebrew word when used in reference to a person generally signifies the
breath of life. It is frequently found in combination with ruach (“wind,
breath, spirit”) and seems to be the same as nephesh (“life, soul,
creature”).
There are even more words that are translated “breath”, but I just want to
focus on these three.
The Spirit of God is referred to as ruach.
(Genesis 1:2 NKJV) …And the Spirit (ruach) of God was hovering over the face of
the waters.
You can see some of these words when God created Adam.
(Genesis 2:7 NKJV) And the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath (neshamah)
of
life; and man became a living being (nephesh).
Here are ruach and neshamah
together
(Isaiah 42:5 NKJV) Thus says God the Lord, Who created the
heavens and stretched them out, Who spread forth the earth and that
which comes from it, Who gives breath (neshamah) to the people on it, And spirit (ruach)
to
those who walk on it:
Hundreds of years after Elijah, when Ezekiel had his vision of dead, dry
bones, as he began to prophesy, the bones came together, flesh came onto the
bones …
(Ezekiel 37:9–10
NKJV) —9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath (ruach), prophesy,
son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and
breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into
them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
The four words underlined are all forms of ruach (wind, breath,
spirit)
Ezekiel saw a day when the nation was like dry bones, without “life” or “breath”,
until God breathes on them.
Remember these pictures for the end of our study.
:18 So she said to Elijah, “What
have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to
remembrance, and to kill my son?”
:18 What have I to do with you…
You will see this phrase or forms of it throughout the Bible.
This is a Hebrew “idiom”, used to express a strong denial or difference of
opinion between two people.
This exact Hebrew phrase is found in:
(Judges
11:12 NKJV) Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the
people of Ammon, saying, “What do you have against me, that you have come to
fight against me in my land?”
(1 Kings
17:18 NKJV) So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with
you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to
kill my son?”
(2 Kings
3:13 NKJV) Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What
have I to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of
your mother.” But the king
of Israel said to him, “No, for the Lord
has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of
Moab.”
(2
Chronicles 35:21 NKJV) But he sent messengers to him,
saying, “What have I to do with you, king of Judah? I have not come
against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God
commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is
with me, lest He destroy you.”
The Hebrew idiom מָה־לִּי
וָלָךְ (māh-llî wālāḵ,
“What do we have to do with each other?”) is commonly employed to express
emphatic denial (cf. 2 Sam 16:10) or differences of opinion between the persons
involved (cf. John 2:4).[1]
The woman is thinking: After all she has done for Elijah, this is her
reward, her son dying?
Note: When you serve the Lord, you are not exempt from going through
difficult, horrible times.
Quiz Alert
Lesson
1. Life at home
Sometimes the most difficult place to live out your faith is at home.
Play Video: Gorilla Parenting – be sure to read the comments above the
video…
This house that belongs to the widow is where Elijah lives.
For now, this is his “home”.
It’s one thing to be able to cultivate your walk with God away from
everyone else in your own prayer closet (Cherith). It’s one thing to stand
before a crowd of people and speak words that move (Carmel).
But it’s quite another to live out your faith at
home.
It’s especially hard when the people in your home see a
different person than the one that stands in front of a crowd.
F.B. Meyer writes,
Indeed, we shall show the reality and thoroughness of our religion, when
it is no longer a garment to be put off and on at will, but when it pervades
us, as life does the organism in which it is contained. The truly religious man
will be as sweet in irritating gnat-stings as in crushing calamities; as
self-denying for a child as for a crowd; as patient over a spoiled or late meal
as over an operation which summons all his manhood to the front.[2]
Paul wrote to Timothy about qualities to look for in a pastor or elder:
(1 Timothy 3:2–5
NLT) —2 So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He
must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and
have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be
able to teach. 3 He must not be a heavy drinker or be
violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. 4 He must manage his own family well, having children who respect and
obey him. 5 For if a man cannot manage his own
household, how can he take care of God’s church?
There are more than a few qualities listed here that zoom
in on the home.
Paul also told Timothy not to be too quick to appoint
someone to leadership – and I’ve learned over the years one of the reasons is
because issues at home are rarely apparent in a person’s life initially.
Pay attention to how Elijah navigates this difficulty at home.
He does not act defensively.
He doesn’t respond to her with angry words.
He will take this problem to God.
He won’t even take credit for what happens in the end, he’ll simply say,
“See, your son lives!” (vs.23)
:18 bring my sin to remembrance
Sometimes when you are walking close to God, others may feel conviction
because they are not walking close to God.
The phrase reminds me of what we’ll see next week when Elijah meets again
with Ahab:
(1 Kings 18:17–18
NKJV) —17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is
that you, O troubler of Israel?” 18 And he answered, “I have not
troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have
forsaken the commandments of the Lord
and have followed the Baals.
Ahab is angry with Elijah, but it’s Ahab’s sins that have
caused so much trouble.
Again a few chapters later, after Ahab has murdered Naboth to take control
of his vineyard,
(1 Kings 21:20
NKJV) So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he
answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil
in the sight of the Lord:
Very early in His ministry, Jesus had been teaching from Simon’s boat. After teaching, Jesus tells Peter to toss his
nets into the water for a catch…
Play Video: The Chosen 1.4 – Fish Catch
What I find interesting is that after they get the fish
into the boat, Simon Peter doesn’t respond with “thank you”, but …
(Luke
5:8 NKJV) When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down
at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!”
Illustration
A well-known professional golfer was playing in a tournament with President
Gerald Ford, fellow pro Jack Nicklaus, and Billy Graham. After the round was
over, one of the other pros on the tour asked, “Hey, what was it like playing
with the President and Billy Graham?” The pro said with disgust, “I don’t need
Billy Graham stuffing religion down my throat!”
With that he headed for the practice tee. His friend followed, and after
the golfer had pounded out his fury on a bucket of golf balls, he asked, “Was
Billy a little rough on you out there?”
The pro sighed and said with embarrassment, “No, he didn’t even mention
religion.”
I think there’s something about being in the presence of
godly people, even the Son of God, that makes us aware of our sin.
Let’s switch gears a little on this verse…
Quiz Alert
Lesson
2. Whose fault?
There is a tendency when we go through difficult times to ask, “What have I
done to deserve this?”
Sometimes we blame ourselves, maybe even a secret sin for what’s happened.
Sometimes we blame the sin of others for what’s happening.
And sometimes … it is your fault.
Illustration
Oklahoma City:
Dennis Newton was on trial for the armed robbery of a
convenience store in a district court when he fired his lawyer. Assistant
district attorney Larry Jones said Newton, 47, was doing a fair job of
defending himself until the store manager testified that Newton was the robber.
Newton jumped up, accused the manager of lying and then said, “I should have
blown your (expletive) head off.” The
defendant paused, then quickly added, “if I’d been the one that was there.” The
jury took 20 minutes to convict Newton and recommended a 30-year sentence.
Mr. Newton deserved that sentence.
When you’ve done bad things like this … it is your
fault. If you suffer consequences, it is
your fault.
Yet understanding tragedy may not be as simple as being someone’s fault.
Jesus and his disciples encountered a man who had been born blind…
(John
9:1–3 NKJV) —1 Now as Jesus passed by, He
saw a man who was blind from birth. 2 And His
disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that
he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither this man
nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.
Jesus will go on to heal the man, putting clay on his eyes
and telling him to wash in Siloam.
Later on, this man was badgered
by the Pharisees because Jesus had healed him on the Sabbath. They told the man Jesus must be a sinner to
do something so horrible…
(John
9:25 NKJV) He answered and said, “Whether He is a sinner or not I do
not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.”
We owe that line “I once was blind, but now I see…” to
this man.
This man who at one time everyone thought there was some
secret sin behind his difficulty.
Sometimes difficult things happen and you don’t know why
The book of Job is all about “the problem of evil”.
Why do bad things happen to good people?
Job’s friends were convinced that it was all Job’s
fault. Even Job himself wondered what he
had done wrong.
But the truth was – God was kind of “proud” of Job. God wanted to show the universe (and Satan),
how a godly man will react under difficult times.
David wrote,
(Psalm
103:10 NKJV) He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us
according to our iniquities.
Jeremiah prophesied of a future day, a new covenant between God and man.
(Jeremiah 31:34
NKJV) No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his
brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,
says the Lord. For I will forgive
their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
Isaiah wrote,
(Isaiah
43:25 NKJV) “I, even I, am He who blots out
your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
:18 and to kill my son?
to kill – muwth – kill, have one
executed
Pretty harsh words coming from this woman.
She’s accusing Elijah of murder.
Watch how Elijah responds.
:19 And he said to her, “Give me
your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried
him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid
him on his own bed.
:19 he took him out of her
arms
She was apparently carrying him when she
confronts Elijah.
:19 laid him on his own bed
Pretty personal interaction.
Most people don’t want anything to do with a dead body.
:20 Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought
tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?”
:20 he cried out to the Lord
cried out – qara – to call out,
utter a loud sound, shout
This isn’t a quiet prayer. It’s a
loud prayer.
Elijah is a man of compassion. He’s
not some cold, unaffected “holy man”.
:20 have You also brought
tragedy …by killing
Look at the words Elijah uses in his prayer …
tragedy – raa – to be bad, to be
evil
by killing – muwth – kill, have one
executed
Elijah uses the same word the woman used.
Quiz Alert
Lesson
3. Prayers of complaint
Elijah is going to have his own “complaint”, but he doesn’t argue with the
woman, he takes it to God.
There is a sense in which God can handle your complaint.
Yes, there may be a time when we cross the line, such as the Israelites constantly
complaining in the wilderness.
But God can handle our complaint
I have a module in my Logos Bible program called the “Psalms Explorer”. It
gives a kind of visual representation of all 150 Psalms. The biggest group of
Psalms fall under the category of “Lament”.
A large part of those Psalms are about “complaining”,
like …
(Psalm
74:1–2 NKJV) —1 O God, why have You cast us
off forever? Why does Your
anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture? 2 Remember Your congregation, which
You have purchased of old, The tribe of Your inheritance, which
You have redeemed— This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.
(Psalm
88:1–3 NKJV) —1 O Lord,
God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You. 2 Let my
prayer come before You; Incline Your ear to my cry. 3 For my soul is full of troubles, And my life
draws near to the grave.
(Psalm
142:1–2 NKJV) —1 I cry out to the Lord with my voice; With my
voice to the Lord
I make my supplication. 2 I pour out my complaint before Him; I declare
before Him my trouble.
I’ve done my fair share of funerals over the years.
Sometimes I will add this point into the message, taking
a look at how Jesus handled Mary and Martha at their brother Lazarus’
death.
When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, he first encounters Martha:
(John
11:21–22 NKJV) —21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if
You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now
I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
Next Jesus encounters Mary:
(John
11:32–33 NKJV) —32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus
was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had
been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her
weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and
was troubled.
The reason I share these verses at funerals is because sometimes a part of
our grieving includes anger, it’s a natural thing.
And for a time, we too may blame God for the death of our
loved one.
But if you pay attention to the story of Jesus and
Lazarus, Jesus doesn’t rebuke Martha or Mary.
He grieves with them.
And then He raises Lazarus from the dead.
God can handle that season when you don’t understand and but complain
instead.
But don’t stay there too long.
Remember that God is for you. He’s
not against you.
Learn to trust Him in the difficulty instead of blaming Him for it.
:21 And he stretched himself out
on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord
my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.”
:21 he stretched himself out
on the child
Again, most of us don’t want to touch a dead body, let alone stretch out on
top of one.
Sometimes at funerals there is an “open casket”.
The top portion of the deceased can be seen in the casket.
Sometimes the family will allow people to pass by at the end to “pay their
final respects”. As the pastor, I often
stand up front next to the casket.
There is an occasional person who will go up touch the deceased, sometimes
even kissing them.
But most people don’t come too close.
In fact, probably half of the people at a funeral won’t walk up to see the
body.
Talking about funerals…
Illustration
Three good friends were driving along on the
highway one Saturday: a doctor, a teacher, and a lawyer. All
of a sudden, a brand-new SUV cut them off. In an
attempt to miss the shiny big vehicle, the driver swerved to the left
and hit the median. The car flipped several times and all three friends died
instantly.
They all found themselves in line waiting to get into Heaven. The doctor
asked the others, “Hey, what do you want people to say at your funeral? I want
them to say, ‘She was a great doctor, and she never let down any of her patients.’”
The teacher said, “I want people to remember me as a great educator, so I
would want to hear people say, ‘She was a wonderful teacher, a great role model
for children, and she changed countless lives throughout her career.’”
Then the lawyer said, “I’d like people to say, ‘Look! He’s moving!’”
That’s what people are about to say about this little boy…
:21 on the child three times
At this time in the Bible, no one has ever been raised from the dead. It
seems that Elijah has the intention of raising this child from the dead, but it
doesn’t happen the first time or the second time. He has to
repeat this three times.
:21 let this child’s soul come
back to him
soul – nephesh – soul, life, mind
That’s one of the words that’s connected to “breath” and “spirit”.
Quiz Alert
Lesson
4. Short prayers
At this point, Elijah has uttered two prayers:
(1 Kings
17:20 NKJV) Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord
my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by
killing her son?”
There are ten words here in the Hebrew.
(1 Kings
17:21 NKJV) And he stretched himself out on the child three
times, and cried out to the Lord
and said, “O Lord my God, I pray,
let this child’s soul come back to him.”
Here there are only seven words uttered by Elijah
Do these prayers work?
Yes they do.
It’s okay to keep your prayers short.
Solomon wrote,
(Ecclesiastes 5:2 NKJV) Do not be rash with your mouth, And
let not your heart utter anything hastily before God. For God is
in heaven, and you on earth; Therefore let your words be few.
Some people take this to the extreme and say they don’t
want to “bother God” with their prayers, that “God has enough prayers to listen
to”.
That’s not the point.
The point is that we ought to have such respect before God that we get
to the point.
Have you ever had a conversation with a person who doesn’t
know when to shut up?
They don’t seem to realize that you don’t have a lot of
interest in the thing they are going on and on and on about. And they usually
don’t let you get too many words in edgewise.
Don’t misunderstand me, God is interested in what
you have to say. He loves it when you talk to Him. But when you are talking to
God, get to the point.
Jesus said,
(Matthew
6:7–8 NKJV) —7 And when you pray, do not use vain
repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard
for their many words. 8 “Therefore
do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before
you ask Him.
Some folks pray as if they are informing God about the
situation.
They will tell a story to God about how this need came to
be.
God knows way more about the situation than you do.
Other folks have this notion that God is some sort of
robotic surgical instrument, and they must direct God to the precise place in
the body to operate, remove the tumor, suction any excess blood, and suture the
wound.
God knows way better what to do than we do.
Just ask.
:22 Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the
soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.
:22 the soul of the child came
back to him
soul – nephesh – soul, life, mind
:23 And Elijah took the child and
brought him down from the upper room into the house, and
gave him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives!”
:23 See, your son lives!
Quiz Alert
Lesson
5. Resurrection
We serve a God who has conquered death.
The things that we see as impossible are not impossible to God.
Up to this point in history, we have no record of anyone coming back from
death.
Yet there were hints at it in Scripture – things that had already been
written before the time of Elijah.
One of the earliest books written was Job.
(Job
19:25–26 NKJV) —25 For I know that my Redeemer
lives, And He shall
stand at last on the earth; 26 And after my skin is destroyed, this
I know, That in my flesh I shall see God,
David wrote this.
(Psalm 16:10 NKJV) For You will not leave my soul in
Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
The apostles would quote this when they talked about the
resurrection of Jesus.
Yet at this point in history, there have been no recorded examples of
people coming back from the dead.
After this, there would be quite a few. (the verse references will be in my
notes)
Elisha raised the son of the Shunammite woman he was
living with. (2Ki. 4:32-36)
(2
Kings 4:32–36 NKJV) —32 When Elisha came into the house,
there was the child, lying dead on his bed. 33 He went in
therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. 34 And he went
up and lay on the child, and put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes,
and his hands on his hands; and he stretched himself out on the child, and the
flesh of the child became warm. 35 He returned and walked back and
forth in the house, and again
went up and stretched himself out on him; then the child sneezed seven times,
and the child opened his eyes. 36 And he called Gehazi and said, “Call
this Shunammite woman.” So he called her. And when she
came in to him, he said, “Pick up your son.”
Elisha’s bones raised a man from the dead (2Ki. 13:20-21)
After Elisha had died, another dead man was thrown into
Elisha’s tomb, and this man was revived.
(2
Kings 13:20–21 NKJV) —20 Then Elisha died, and they buried
him. And the raiding bands from Moab invaded the land in the spring of
the year. 21 So it was, as they were burying a
man, that suddenly they spied a band of raiders; and they put the man in
the tomb of Elisha; and when the man was let down and touched the bones of
Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.
Jesus raised a widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:14-15)
(Luke
7:14–15 NKJV) —14 Then He came and touched the open
coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man,
I say to you, arise.” 15 So he who was dead sat up and began
to speak. And He presented him to his mother.
Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter (Mark 5:41-43)
(Mark
5:41–42 NKJV) —41 Then He took the child by the hand,
and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is
translated, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 Immediately
the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. And they
were overcome with great amazement.
Jesus raised Lazarus (John 11)
(John
11:43–44 NKJV) —43 Now when He had said these things,
He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who
had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was
wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Peter raised a woman named Dorcas (Acts 9:40)
(Acts
9:40 NKJV) —40 But Peter
put them all out, and knelt down
and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened
her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
Paul seems to have been raised from the dead after being
stoned in Lystra (Acts 14:19-20)
(Acts
14:19–20 NKJV) —19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium
came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and
dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. 20 However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and
went into the city. And the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.
Paul raised a young man named Eutychus, who had died after
falling asleep during one of Paul’s sermons (Acts 20:9-12)
(Acts
20:9–12 NKJV) —9 And in a window sat a certain young
man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by
sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down
from the third story and was taken up dead. 10 But Paul
went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, “Do not trouble
yourselves, for his life is in him.” 11 Now when he
had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till
daybreak, he departed. 12 And they brought the young man in
alive, and they were not a little comforted.
Yet all those resurrections would be temporary.
Each of those people would eventually die again.
Jesus’ own resurrection would be different. He would rise from the dead,
never to die again.
He ascended into heaven and is now seated at God’s right hand.
(1
Corinthians 15:20 NKJV) But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits
of those who have fallen asleep.
So after Jesus, when we are
resurrected, we too will never die again.
There will be some very important “resurrections” ahead of us.
The next is the Rapture
(1
Thessalonians 4:16–17 NKJV) —16 For the Lord Himself will descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet
of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who
are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus
we shall always be with the Lord.
When I talk about “resurrection”, I’m talking about
bringing a dead body back to life.
As a person, you and I are “spirit” beings that never
die. A resurrection is when we get a new
physical body.
There will be more resurrections after Jesus returns (but Bob will be
covering those pretty soon).
The last resurrection takes place at the Great White
Throne.
In the end, everyone will be raised from the dead.
Believers are raised with a body designed for heaven.
Unbelievers will be raised with a body designed for the
lake of fire.
:24 Then the woman said to
Elijah, “Now by this I know that you are a man of God, and that
the word of the Lord in your
mouth is the truth.”
:24 by this I know
I would have thought that she knew after the flour and oil didn’t run out
that Elijah was a “man of God”. But she says she didn’t know it until her son’s
resurrection.
Quiz Alert
Lesson
6. Talk and Walk
Some people are all talk.
And that often only gets you so far…
Illustration
A little old lady answered a knock on the door one day, only to be
confronted by a well-dressed young man carrying a vacuum cleaner. “Good
morning,” said the young man. “If I could take a couple of minutes of your
time, I would like to demonstrate the very latest in high-powered vacuum
cleaners.”
She said, “I’m broke and haven’t got any money!” and she proceeded to close
the door.
Quick as a flash, the young man wedged his foot in the door and pushed it
wide open. “Don’t be too hasty!” he said. “Not until you have at least seen my
demonstration.”
And with that, he emptied a bucket of horse manure onto her hallway carpet.
“If this vacuum cleaner does not remove all traces of this horse manure
from your carpet, Madam, I will personally eat the remainder.”
The old lady stepped back and said, “Well let me get you a fork, ‘cause they cut off my electricity
this morning.”
But the real issue is with this lesson “Talk and Walk” – is there any power
in what a person says? Does their life match the things they say?
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians,
(1 Thessalonians 1:5 NKJV) For our gospel did not come to you
in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much
assurance, as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake.
Later he wrote to the Corinthians,
(1 Corinthians 2:4 NKJV) And my speech and my preaching were
not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power,
(1
Corinthians 4:19–20 NKJV) —19 But I will come to you shortly, if
the Lord wills, and I will know, not the word of those who are puffed up, but
the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not
in word but in power.
Jesus said,
(Matthew
5:16 NKJV) Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Please don’t misunderstand me.
It is important that we share the message of the gospel.
We need to let people know that Jesus died to pay for
their sins.
That message is powerful, even if it’s
coming from someone with a messy life.
But the impact that a godly life has is immense.
One last lesson…
Quiz Alert
Lesson
7. Raising the dead
I wonder if there isn’t going to be some sort of picture going on at a
different level, almost as an allegory or a parable.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe this was an actual historical event. God
raised the widow’s son through Elijah.
Sometimes the things that happened to the prophets were to give lessons or
illustrations to the nation.
I’m not sure I’d like to have parts of Isaiah’s ministry, like the time God
asked him to walk around naked…
(Isaiah
20:3–4 NKJV) —3 Then the Lord said, “Just as My servant Isaiah has walked naked and
barefoot three years for a sign and a wonder against Egypt and Ethiopia,
4 so shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians as prisoners
and the Ethiopians as captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their
buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt.
God often used the prophets to be living illustrations of the messages they
were to deliver. You’ll see this in the
lives of Jeremiah and Ezekiel as well.
Isaiah’s family had a prophetic tone …
(Isaiah 8:18 NKJV) Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me! We are
for signs and wonders in Israel From the Lord of hosts, Who dwells in Mount Zion.
When Ezekiel’s wife died, God told him
(Ezekiel 24:16 NKJV) “Son of man, behold, I take away
from you the desire of your eyes with one stroke; yet you shall neither mourn
nor weep, nor shall your tears run down.
This was to be a picture of how the people in Babylon were
going to react when they hear of the destruction of the Temple – they won’t be
bothered.
So what if what is happening to this boy is a teaching
moment, a picture of what is going on in Israel.
Israel has been following after Baal and has
become “sick” … so much so that there doesn’t seem to be any “breath” in them.
Remember us talking about the “breath” of the boy being gone?
Remember Ezekiel’s vision of bones forming a body and God breathing on
them?
That too is a picture of resurrection, not of a boy, but of
a nation.
When we get to our next chapter (1Kings 18), we will see
the nation become spiritually “raised from the dead” after Elijah calls down
fire from heaven.
What about things that are “dead” around us?
People who don’t know the Lord
A struggling marriage
Perhaps our nation
What are the lessons from Elijah that we could apply?
Attitude
Elijah didn’t argue with the woman.
He might have “argued” with God, but to this widow woman
he showed compassion.
Presence
Elijah didn’t hesitate to get close to this dead child.
He laid on the child
I wonder if we need to be careful not to withdraw too far
from those around us who are “dead” to God.
How are they going to know about a God who gives life if
you’re not there to tell them and demonstrate it with your life?
Prayer
Some of this prayer may have seemed like complaining, but
Elijah’s prayer also got to the point, a short prayer.
Remember the verse we’re going to memorize?
He prayed with prayer.
When the nation of Israel joined in Korah’s rebellion (Numbers
16) against Moses, a plague began to break out and people began to die.
Moses asked Aaron the high priest to take a censer (a tool
used in prayer) and rush into the middle of the plague – a picture of praying
for those who are dying.
We too need to be praying for the “dead” things around us.
We serve a God who raises the dead.
Prayer
Quiz
From the lecture (10pts):
1. Life at home
2. Whose fault?
3. Prayers of complaint
4. Short prayers
5. Resurrection
6. Talk and Walk
7. Raising the dead
Homework
Read Swindoll: Chapter 5: The God Who Answers by Fire
Memorize/review James 5:16-17
(James 5:16–17
NKJV) —16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one
another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous
man avails much. 17 Elijah was a
man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain;
and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months.
Blessing