This sermon focuses on the unique characteristics of the dove as a symbol of purity and the importance of being clean and surrendered to receive the Holy Spirit. It delves into the story of Elijah, highlighting his obedience to God's word and his unwavering faith in the midst of challenges, emphasizing the need for personal relationship and constant communion with God. The sermon also addresses the responsibility of ministers to truly minister unto the Lord and deliver His word without compromise, even in the face of opposition and societal issues.

A dove is a unique bird, he only marries once, he or she marry once. If he goes near anything that smells of death, he won't even settle on it, never mind eat. The raven will eat food that's rotten, you see some of them on the roads there, they're a type of raven. Somebody hits an animal and you see a big ugly looking bird scratching, they're all of the eagle and raven family. But the dove will not eat anything dead, anything unclean, it won't even put its little pink feet down on anything. That's a pretty good illustration you see, because if you're dead in trespasses, if there's flesh in you, the Holy Ghost won't come. He may come and give you a nudge now and again, but he won't abide in your heart if there's filth and corruption there. You can weep and cry and make all the confessions you like, but the Holy Ghost won't come. Anyhow, notice what it says, Get thee hence, turn thee eastward, verse 2 of 17, and hide thyself by the brook Keerith, it is before Jordan. It shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. And he went, and he did according to the word of the Lord. And you'll find that over and over and over in his life, he did according to the word of the Lord. Now, he didn't ask any directions about this thing as far as I know. Go to the brook Keerith, and the birds brought him bread and flesh in the morning and in the evening, and he drank of the brook. It came to pass after a while that the brook dried up. The brook was quite natural, the natural supply was cut off first. And then the supernatural, the bird with the food, didn't turn up. And then again, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee to Zarephath. Now, we'll have to jump over some things here, but anyhow. Let me find the verse I'm looking for here. I'll go back to verse 1, okay. Elijah the Tishbite said to Ahab, Now, here is a nobody, a man that has no home. He's a, call him a bum today, a tramp. And he stands in the presence of a royal king who can command his death, and he isn't nervous about it at all. He says, I'll tell you what, if you stand before God, you'll never kneel before men. The man who has stood in the presence of an eternal holy God will never bow the knee, never compromise. He'll deliver the word God has given to him. And go hide thyself. Now, what do you think he did all the time he was in that cave? Do you think he was collecting bugs to see how many, what variety there was there? He's no companionship. Somebody has given me a beautiful set of pictures from my office. Eagles, oh, they're gorgeous. I've only ever seen eagles fly, and they never fly, except on courting trips they fly to together. But normally, the great eagle flies alone. It's the king of the air. The lion is the king of the forest, it hunts alone. Except for certain other seasons. And if you haven't learned the lesson, learn it now while you're young. Great men walk alone. Enoch, who did Enoch walk with? God. He's not only the only one, but the distinguishing feature about him was he walked constantly with God. And one of the things, it's nice to be in a school, I went to a school once, that you may learn as much under a tree, somewhere in a field there with your Bible, or listening to God as you get sitting, listening to somebody else spoon feed you. You see, just studying the Bible will not make you a saint. It has to get in your bloodstream and work down right through you. You can store your head with knowledge, and that's good. You may learn Hebrew and Greek, which are fine. But there is no substitute for a personal relationship with God himself. Do you remember that when they appointed the priests in the old ritual of the Old Testament, then God says, separate Aaron and his sons that they may minister unto me. Now, I wonder how many of you ministered to the Lord today? Not work for him, but work with him. Not just talk to him, but it's a two-way street as we say, he talks back. This man continually hears the voice of God. The word of the Lord came unto me. Read Ezekiel and see how many times he says, The word of the Lord came unto me. It is according to the word of the Lord, verse 5. Verse 8. The word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath. Now, chapter 18. Came to pass, after many days, the word of the Lord came through Elijah and said, Throw thyself unto Ahab. Notice he had said in that 17th chapter. And verse 1. The Lord before whom I shall stand, there shall be no dune or rain these years. Come on now, come on. Would you like to wake up in the morning and the Lord said, You get to the White House as quickly as you can and tell the president there, With all the business he has, there's nothing as important as this I have to say to him. I've been with God and he's told me that I'm going to turn the key like that, I'm going to shut up heaven, that there'll be no rain. Now, come on. Do you love America enough to send her bankrupt? Is it better for a nation to go to hell fat, or go to heaven thin? You see, it's so easy to read this like this, isn't it? This wonderful little man, he goes up to the king and he says, There's going to be no rain according to my word, not God's word, my word. And he says, Here, look, I'm going to shut up heaven. There'll be no rain around until I unlock it. You see, God had said in, what, Numbers of Deuteronomy 11, If a nation commits transgressions continually, I'll shut up heaven, there'll be no rain. And what Elijah says, Look, Lord, nobody else keeps their word, you'd better keep your word. Why should people believe you if you don't keep your word? Now, you can't shut up heaven and have the crops. You can't shut up heaven without your cattle dying. You can't shut up heaven for three years without industry collapsing. But you see, these men loved God so much, they hurt when God was hurting. They didn't hurt just because their neighbors were saying, When are we going to get more food, and when are prices going to drop? When is the economy going to recover? When is inflation going to drop? How many preachers do you think will go into the pulpit this Sunday and say, Listen, America will spend another week hurting God. We've broken his commandments, we're breaking his Sabbaths, we're legalizing abortion, we're legalizing homosexuality, we're on the devil's side. That wouldn't let you be, you wouldn't become the man of the year before you got through. Most likely the deacons would chase you out of the front door. Okay, let's go to Elijah down in this chapter. What does he do? I want you to notice the people who are against him. Verse 19 of this 18th chapter. Pardon me, go back to verse 17. It came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, he said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? Do you think we've got any preachers around here troubling the devil? I hear preachers saying, you know what, one preacher's always saying, you know I preached for Jerry Falwell and I had my dinner at the White House the other week. Do you think Ahab ever invited Elijah to dinner? Huh? If you do, raise your hand, you're crazy.