In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of having single-minded devotion to God. He references the Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus teaches that if our eyes are single, our whole body will be full of light. The preacher highlights the impossibility of serving two masters and challenges Christians to choose between loving God or loving the world. He shares the story of George Muller's faith-filled prayer that dispersed a fog and allowed him to keep an important appointment, illustrating the power of prayer. The sermon concludes with a reference to Elijah's bold act of pouring water on the altar before God sent rain, symbolizing the nation of Israel's return to God through the burn offering.

Will you please turn to 1 Kings 18. 1 Kings 18. We will have the whole chapter, but being a long one, I will just read some portions from it. Verse 1. And it came to pass after many days that the word of Jehovah came to Elijah in the third year saying, go show thyself to Ahab and I will send rain upon the face of the earth. And Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Verse 7. And as Obadiah was on the way, behold Elijah met him, and he knew him, and fell on his face and said, is it indeed thou my Lord Elijah? And he said to him, I am he. Go so say to thy Lord, behold Elijah. And he said, what have I sinned, that thou givest thy servant into the hand of Ahab to put me to death? As Jehovah thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom whither my Lord has not sent to seek thee. And when they said, he is not here, he took an oath of the kingdom or nation that they found thee not. And now thou sayest, go, say to thy Lord, behold Elijah. And it shall come to pass when I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of Jehovah shall carry thee whither I know not. And when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he will kill me. And I thy servant fear Jehovah from my youth. Was it not told my Lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of Jehovah? How I hid a hundred men of Jehovah's prophets by fifteen in a cave, and maintained them with bread and water. And now thou sayest, go, say to thy Lord, behold Elijah, and he will kill me. And Elijah said, as Jehovah of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will certainly show myself to him today. Then Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him. Verse 21. Then Elijah drew near to all the people, and said, How long do ye halt between two opinions? If Jehovah be God, follow him, and if Baal, follow him. And the people answered him, not a word. And Elijah said to the people, I, only I, remain a prophet of Jehovah, and Baal's prophets for four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullets, and let them choose one bullet for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and put it on the wood, and put no fire. And I will sacrifice the other bullet, and put it on the wood, and put no fire. And call ye on the name of your God, and I will call on the name of Jehovah, and a God that answers by fire. Let him be God. And all the people answered and said, The word is good. Verse 30. Then Elijah said to all the people, Draw near to me. And all the people drew near to him, and he repaired the altar of Jehovah, which was broken down. And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Jehovah came, saying, Israel shall be thy name. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of Jehovah, and made a trench round about the altar, of the capacity of two measures of seed. And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullet in pieces, and laid it on the wood. And he said, Fill full pitchers with water, and put it on the burnt offering, and on the wood. And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar, and he filled the trench also with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the oblation, that Elijah the prophet drew near, and said, Jehovah God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I've done all these things by thy word. Answer me, Jehovah, answer me, that this people may know that thou, Jehovah, art God, and that thou hast turned their hearts back again. And the fire of Jehovah fell, and consumed the burnt offering, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and lick up the water that was in the trench. And all the people saw it, and they fell on their faces, and said, Jehovah, he is God, Jehovah, he is God. Verse 41. And Elijah said to Ahab, Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain. And Ahab went up to eat and to drink, and Elijah went up to the top of Carmel, and he bowed down on the earth, and put his face between his knees, and he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time that he said, Behold, there is a cloud, small as a man's hand, arising out of the sea. And he said, Go up, say to Ahab, harness and go down, that the pour of rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the meanwhile that the heavens became black with clouds and wind, and there was a great pour of rain. And Ahab got on the chariot, and went to Jezreel. And the hand of Jehovah was upon Elijah. And he girded up his loin, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel. Last night we began to fellowship on the life and time of the prophet Elijah. We mentioned that Elijah lived at the time when King Ahab was king over the nation of Israel. And Ahab was a wicked king. He led the whole nation away from Jehovah, the God, the covenanted God of Israel. The God who delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt. The God who gave them the land of promise. King Ahab led the people away from Jehovah through the instigation of his wife Jezebel. Elijah lived at such a time. He took the name of Elijah, which means whose God is Jehovah. He declared by his name that only Jehovah is God. And because he had such a public testimony, he was not able to dwell in his native land. He being a man of Tishbite, he had to cross the river Jordan, and dwell among the inhabitants of the Gilead. For how long, we do not know. Certainly, when he was hidden in the land of Gilead, he was not passive, doing nothing. He was actively engaged in prayer. And as he prayed, as he stood with God, for God's right over the children of Israel, he began to sense the judgment of God coming upon that nation. So he prayed the prayer of faith, and because he prayed, God shut up the heavens for three years and six months. He was sent by God to King Ahab to announce that judgment. And he said, as Jehovah, the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall be no rain or dew in all these years except. Elijah was a person who was so committed to God, that God was fully committed. Elijah could say, except by my word, because he had the word of God. His life was a life abandoned. His was a life that forgot himself completely. The zeal of the Lord had literally devoured that man. And after he pronounced that judgment, God hid him in torrent, cherub, and fed him with food and meat that brought to him by ravens. And when the torrent was dried up, the source of river Jordan was dried up. God sent him to Zidon, to Zarephath, to a widow. And there, with a handful of meal in the barrel and a little oil in the cruise, Elijah, the prophet, the widow, and her son were maintained for a whole year. Now the time came when God would send Elijah back again to face King Ahab. But this time he was to bring a message of blessing, not a message of judgment. Because he himself had learned that God was not only a God of judgment, but God was also a God of resurrection. He was prepared to bring a new message back to the nation of Israel. But brothers and sisters, we like to ask one question. Was there any indication that after three years and six months of drought, that King Ahab and the nation of Israel had really come to repentance? Was there any evidence? Was there any sign of their repentance? So far as we know, there was none. You did not see any sign of repentance in King Ahab. It was true that after three years and six months of drought and famine, the people began to ask questions. They began to question whether it was wise, whether it was right to leave Jehovah, their own God, and surveil the foreign gods. No doubt there must be questions in the hearts of the people. But there was no sure sign of repentance. How merciful was God! If he should wait until there was general repentance, probably he would never be able to send his blessing upon that nation anymore. Even when the people was only questioning, was only doubting, was beginning to feel something probably was wrong, God took the initiative of bringing them into recovery. So as a matter of fact, you find that God always takes the initiative. It is true that before the rain was to be given, there must be repentance. But even that repentance was brought about by the mercy of God. Elijah could very well argue with God and say, I have seen no sign of repentance. I do not feel this is the time to return. And he had every right to say that. But being a man of God, he did not question. He did not question God's wisdom. He did not base his move on what he saw and how he reasoned it out. His movement was governed completely by the word of God. Because he was a man, utterly given, when God sent him back, he went. As we mentioned last night, when God said, you hide, he hid. When God said, you expose yourself, he exposed himself. He was a true servant of the Lord. But dear brothers and sisters, you will find the way that God brought him back to faith Ahab was rather incorrect. The first time when God sent him to Ahab, he went straight to Ahab and announced the sentence of death, of judgment to Ahab and the nation. But this time when God sent him back to Ahab, God arranged that he met Obadiah first. And it was through Obadiah that he was to meet Ahab. Now who was Obadiah? We mentioned his name last night. Now who was Obadiah? You know the very name Obadiah means servant of the Lord. Now do not mix up the Obadiah here with the prophet Obadiah. You know in the Old Testament there is a book called Obadiah. It's very difficult to find because it's only one chapter. But there's a prophet Obadiah. Now this was not the prophet Obadiah. This Obadiah was King Ahab's steward. Steward of his household. Do you see quite a contradiction here? This man whose name was the servant of the Lord and whom did he serve? He was steward to King Ahab. What kind of a man was this Obadiah? The Bible told us he was a godly man. He feared God even from his youth. You know he he was almost like the rich young man who came to the Lord. You know? And the Lord looked at him and loved him. Because he kept the commandment from his youth. And here was Obadiah a grown-up. He feared God from his youth. But unfortunately he not only feared God he also feared Ahab. Why? When Elijah said go and tell your master, your Lord, that Elijah is here. He said no don't send me back. Because if you send me back to tell King Ahab and the Lord took you away and Ahab cannot find you and Ahab will kill me. Instead of fearing one he feared both. Two. What kind of person was Obadiah? When Jezebel killed the prophets of God he dared to hide a hundred prophets in two caves and fed them with water and bread. Very commendable. And yet he was not fit to be used of God to feed the prophet Elijah. Ravens are more serviceable than Obadiah. What kind of person was Obadiah? Obadiah was a double-minded man. And you remember in the book of James we are told in James chapter 1 verse 8. A double-minded person is unstable in all his way. And in chapter 4 verse 8. Cleanse your hands oh sinners. Purify your heart oh double-minded. Obadiah was a double-minded person. He was that kind of person described by our Lord in the so-called Sermon on the Mount. The Lord said if your eyes are single your whole body is full of light. If your eyes are wicked that is double-visioned then your whole body is dark. And if the light within you is darkness what darkness it must be. No man can serve two masters. You either love the one or hate the other. You respect the one or you despise the other. No man can serve two masters. But how many people accept what the law says? How many Christians accept what the law says? The Lord make it very clear. No servant can serve two masters. Impossible. But how we try to make the impossible possible. You find among God's people today there are more double-minded people than single-minded people. Somehow we feel we are wiser than God. We can serve. We love God and yet we love the world. We fear God and yet we fear man. We cannot say we do not serve God but at the same time we serve the world. And you know when a person is trying to be, is double-minded, double-visioned and try to serve two masters you know what happens? He has to compromise all the time. He has to compromise truth on the side of God and he also compromise lies on the side of man. He is always compromising. And he never pleases anyone. He thinks he is wise. Actually he is a fool. That was the kind of man Obadiah was. What a contrast he was to Elijah. Here you'll find two servants of the Lord. Both are servants of the Lord. And yet Elijah was single-eyed, pure in heart towards God. Obadiah was double-eyed. Elijah feared God. He did not fear Ahab but Obadiah feared God and was afraid of Ahab. Elijah could stand with God absolutely which Obadiah could never do. In one sense Elijah was safe because he was safe in the hand of God. But Obadiah never felt secure. Dear brothers and sisters apply this to our time and you'll find the same picture. You'll find that among God's people there are two different. As a matter of fact so far as the truth is concerned there cannot be two kinds of Christians. In the will of God there can be only one kind. Those who follow the land with us forever. But when you come down to actual situation you'll find there are more Christians who are double-minded. Obadiah could be used by God and he was. But only in a negative way to hide some profit. But Elijah served God in a positive way. He could turn the hearts of the parents to the children and the hearts of the children to the parents to prepare the way of the Lord. That's the difference. But strangely enough you'll find when God sent Elijah back to see Ahab he arranged that Elijah should see Obadiah first and let Obadiah brought the message to King Ahab. Now do you know why? I believe there is the wisdom of God there. You know Ahab was literally furious towards Elijah. When no rain or dew came three years and a half and the whole nation was in famine in starvation he hated Elijah so much he sought Elijah everywhere in his country and he saw Elijah in the surrounding nations and if the surrounding nations said Elijah was not here they couldn't find him he had to have them take an oath that Elijah is not here. You see the hatred in this man towards Elijah. Suppose God sent Elijah back to Ahab and Elijah should meet Ahab right away. You know what happened? Before Elijah could say a word. Before Elijah could bring the message the glad tidings of blessing he will be killed because Ahab was mad. He was mad against Elijah. So God used Obadiah as a kind of bridge you know to soften up the impact. Evidently when Ahab heard from Obadiah that Elijah was found he would like to go and kill him right away and then Obadiah tried to talk. So when Ahab saw Elijah he didn't kill him right away instead he said are you Elijah the trouble of Israel? Wonderful God could even use a weak vessel. In the providence of God sometimes the strong vessel needs the help of the weak vessel and of course the weak vessel needs the help of the strong vessel because bringing such a message that Elijah was here to King Ahab in a sense Obadiah had to stand with Elijah. He had to show his color and in that sense he was helped by Elijah and God used these two men to bring in the good tidings. Oh brothers and sisters I believe there is another spiritual lesson we can learn here. In the body of Christ there are weak vessels there are strong vessels. In the body of Christ there are big members there are small members but God has put us together in such a way that the strong cannot say I do not need you the weak vessels nor the weak can say I do not need your strong vessels. You find God put us in the body in such a way that whether you are weak or strong God can even use the weak as he uses the strong. Now this does not mean that we can be weak vessels. It simply means that even though we are weak being in God's hand God can still use us. So take heart brothers and sisters in this way you'll find the impact was softened. So Elijah Ahab king came to Elijah and this time it was Ahab who came to Elijah and Ahab said are you Elijah the trouble of Israel? Elijah said no you and your fathers are the travelers of Israel. You know it's human nature we always put the blame on other people when there is trouble and usually well maybe eight out of ten you'll find when you try to put a blame on other people actually it is you who creates that problem. But Elijah was not interested in semantics he refuted the accusation of king Ahab but that was not his purpose in coming. He did not come for argument try to vindicate himself no he just put it right and then forgot it. So he told king Ahab gather all the people together to Mount Carmel and let's decide whom should we serve whether we should serve Jehovah or whether we should serve Baals. That was fair enough. So king Ahab gathered all the nation of Israel to Mount Carmel with 450 prophets of Baal. Then Elijah challenged them with that challenge. Elijah drew near to all the people and said how long do we hold between two opinions? If Jehovah be God follow him and if Baal follow him. In the hearts of the people they began to waver. In the beginning they follow king Ahab into idolatry into apostasy. But after they came under judgment for three years and a half the judgment had its work upon their mind. They began to wonder, they began to doubt, they began to question. So their position now was they hold it between two opinions. They were not so sure of either. They were not sure that Baals were the right gods to serve. But neither were they sure that they should return to Jehovah. They hold it between two opinions. That's double-minded too. The whole nation was double-minded at that time and you know God just hated double-mindedness. God cannot stand such situation. Through the prophet Elijah God challenged his own people. How long will you hold between two opinions? That's not good enough. Either yes or no. Either this or that. Either you're cold or you're hot. But if you're lukewarm, God said I'm going to spew it out of my mouth. God just hates such. But we love everything that is lukewarm. So God challenged his people on that ground. This is the controversy of God with his people. The controversy of God with his people at that time was not why did you serve Baal? The controversy was why do you hold between two opinions? You cannot do that. If Jehovah is God, choose him. If Baal is God, follow Baal. God didn't mind it. God want us to stand. Either this way and do you know this happened in the history of Israel before. Even when they were in the wilderness. When Moses was on the mountain receiving the ten commandments. You know what happened on the plain? They wanted Aaron to build a god for them. And Aaron carved a golden cup. And called the golden cup Jehovah. And they began to play. Eat and drink and play. And when Moses came down, he broke the two tablets of law. He ground the golden cup into powder. Cast them on the water and asked the people to drink. Drink their own stin. Then he stood at the gate of the camp and say who is on the Lord's side? Dear brothers and sisters, God is never pleased with people who are hoarding between two opinions. God never want a double-minded person. God just hates it. If you want to serve God, stand over. If you want to serve Baal, remain. Remain there. There is no middle ground. And that's the challenge. And I believe it was not only the challenge of that day. It is a challenge of our time. God is still challenging his own people today. Why do you hold between two opinions? If you know Jehovah is God, if you know Jesus Christ is Lord, then serve him. Follow him all the way. If you do not know that, or if you think the world is your God, follow the world. How we need to hear that challenge, brothers and sisters? How we need to be examined in that light? If we are examined by that light, brothers and sisters, you may find some surprise. But how was that to be solved? How was that to be brought into an end? Elijah suggested that two bullets be taken. One for the prophets of Baal, and one for him, the prophet of God. And both were sacrificed, that bullet, as a burn offering. They to Baal, and he to Jehovah. Put the sacrifice on the wood, but no fire. And the God who answered prayer and sent down fire, he was God. And the people said, that's good. That's fair. You know, even among the heathens, they knew sacrifice. If you read the history of ancient world, or history of any race in this world, you find that all along history, people knew to sacrifice. But with the heathen, they sacrificed to appease the wrath of their God. In other words, they were always afraid their God will do some trick to them. So they had to drive their God with sacrifices, to appease their anger. That was behind their sacrifice. But the sacrifice that the children of Israel sacrificed with God, to God, was different. It was not to appease God's anger. It was to please God for his acceptance. Because burn offering is an offering devoted for the pleasure. Very different. But even though the concepts were different, both knew to offer. So that's why Elijah suggested such an offering. Elijah said, because you have 450 prophets, so why don't you do it first? So in the morning, they started this. They built their altar, and they put a bullock on the wood, and these prophets began to circle around the altar, and cry to Baal, and ask Baal to send fire from heaven. Because Baal means Lord. They believed that their Baal was the Lord of the heavens and of the earth. And if he was the Lord of heaven and earth, certainly he could send down fire from heaven. So they circled around it until noontime. There was no answer. Sometimes the enemy could call fire down from heaven, you know. That's why they dared to do it. But God overruled. They couldn't do it. So Elijah mocked them and said, well since your God is not a man, he is God, he may be meditating. Or he may be on a journey. Or suppose he is asleep. You better cry louder. So they cry louder. They jump around, and they use their sword and spears to cut themselves, as it was their custom, you know. And blood began to come over their body, and they jumped and cried until evening. No answer. So Elijah said, that's enough. He asked the people to gather around him. And you know what he did? He repaired the altar of the God of Israel with 12. You remember at that time the nation of Israel was composed of only 10 tribes. The 12 tribes were divided into two. The southern kingdom of Judah, two tribes. Judah and Benjamin. The northern kingdom of Israel, 10 tribes. But Elijah did not repair the altar of God of Israel with 10 stones. He repaired it with 12 because this was the altar of the God of Israel. Faith never takes appearance into decision. Faith always looks to God. So far as God is concerned, Israel was one nation. God was the God of Israel. No matter how divided they were, in the mind of God they were one. No matter how apostate they were, God was still the God of Israel. And faith could only stand. Dear brothers and sisters, here you'll find Elijah being a man of faith. He did not take the condition of the people as final, as deciding factor. You know, that's our problem. Our problem is we always take what we see as the final. As the fact. And we act on such fact. But faith never does it. Faith always acts on the eternal fact. Not apparent fact. The eternal fact. Faith always stands with God and God will. Oh brothers and sisters, do we have faith today? How we often hear people say, it is impossible for God's people to be one. We are divided and we are divided. And that's the fact. You better recognize the fact and live with that fact. No. Faith does not live on apparent fact. Faith lives on eternal fact. In the sight of God, God's people are one. And they are one. No matter how divided they are, they are one. They are still one. And that's where we ought to say. No matter how apostate, falling away, God's people are. Faith stands with God and say God is the God of his own people. That's faith. As a matter of fact, Elijah, when he was repairing the altar of the God of Israel. In Elijah, you do see the principle of overcomers. Elijah represents the principle of overcomers. What is the position of an overcomer of the church? The position of an overcomer of the church is he stands with God. By faith. He will never accept apparent fact as final. Never. He will always go back to God and take God's purpose as the end act on that ground. Now that is the faith of an overcomer. Elijah, though being alone, yet by faith he represented the whole nation of Israel as if the whole nation of Israel had come back to God. First, he repaired the altar. The altar of the God of Israel was broken. So he repaired it with twelve stones. You know, altar in the Old Testament is the cross in the New Testament. The way to bring God's people back. The test that will really decide that question of halting between two opinions is to repair the altar of the God of Israel. In other words, dear brothers and sisters, if there are people today who by faith will repair as it were, or bring back the cross into the life of, that is the first step. There must be people who know the preciousness of the cross. Who know the working of the cross in their lives. And brothers and sisters, everywhere you go, you find God's people are hungry. God's people are hungry. But what do they want to hear? They want to hear that God will prosper them. Will bless them. That they may enjoy. Very few are willing to hear the word of the cross. Like the disciples of old, they said, this is hard saying. And they left. But without the working of the cross, dear brothers and sisters, there can be no permanent. God may bless temporarily. Out of his mercy. But it's transient. Superficial. To really enter into the spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ, you have to accept in your lives. And whenever you find the cross begin to be accepted and begin to work among God's people, you know, you can expect fire from heaven. You know that. And after he repaired the altar, he put the bullock on the altar as a burn offering to God. Then he tell people, take four pitchers of water and pour on the bullock and the wood to make them wet once, twice, three times. Until the bullock and the wood all soaked with water. And he filled the trenches. He made it more difficult for God. How God was pleased with that. And do you know water was very scarce at that time. There was drought for three years and six months. What a waste. What a waste. Before there was rain, how many waters were poured out and wasted? Why did Elijah do such a thing? This bullock represents, represented the whole nation of Israel. Offered up by Elijah. Elijah represented the whole nation of Israel as if the whole nation of Israel had accepted the cross. And the whole nation gave themselves to God as a burn offering. And the waters were poured on it as drink offering. In other words, here you'll find the picture, what a picture of a complete return. Of giving themselves to God absolutely without reservation. Without consideration. Without counting any cost. Actually that was Elijah. But Elijah represented the whole nation. Even before the nation repented, Elijah by faith represented what a nation ought to be. Giving themselves to God. Even the most precious water was wasted. Just like Mary. Pour that pure pound of nard upon the head of our Lord Jesus. And wasted it all. Because God is worthy. And dear brothers and sisters, when such things are being done, can God refrain from sending down the fire? To consume not only the bullet, the wood, even the stone. And lick up all the water. In other words, God was pleased and he accepted it fully. Dear brothers and sisters, wherever there is such a spirit, wherever people repair the altar, accept the working of the cross in their lives, and thus are able to offer themselves completely to God without counting cost. Heaven cannot be shut anymore. Fire will come down and consume everything. Why? God accepted that. Not only fire, but rain. You know, dear brothers and sisters, I believe you, in the mind of Elijah, he saw a picture. He had a vision. The vision was when Moses built the tabernacle. After he finished building the tabernacle, and the tabernacle was erected, and all the pieces of furniture were put in order, even the burnt offering was on the brazen altar. But there was no fire yet. But when all these things was ready, fire came down from heaven, consumed the burnt offering, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, so that the priests had to retreat, because God was there. I believe Elijah saw the vision when Solomon built the holy temple. Everything was in order, and then Solomon offered the burnt offering, but with no strange fire. And when they prayed, you find fire came down from heaven, consumed the burnt offering, and the glory of the Lord again filled the temple, and the priests had to retreat. I believe in the eyes of Elijah there was such a vision. He fully expected when God's people return to God and give themselves to God in such a way, there could be no other result but fire and the glory of the Lord. And he had faith in that. Dear brothers and sisters, do we have this vision? Where is the glory of the Lord today? Where is the fire from heaven? Why is it that there is no fire and there is no glory? Because there is not that condition. The church is the tabernacle today. The church is the temple today. When we are ready before the Lord by his grace, and everything was ready, the burnt offering was on the altar. Dear brothers and sisters, you don't need to worry. What will happen next? It will come. I believe that was the vision of Elijah. And with that vision, by faith, he acted. Oh, may the Lord raise up many Elijahs. That by faith, being caught with a heavenly vision, we dare to give ourselves to him utterly, absolutely. And we don't need to worry what will come next. God will complete. That was the vision of Elijah. So after this happened, all the children of Israel said, Jehovah, he is God, Jehovah, he is God. There is no doubt about that. Because when you offer yourself to God, God accepts you. And that proves he is God. So Elijah cleared the house. The 450 prophets of Baal were taken to the stream and killed. And then Elijah told Ahab, you go up, eat and drink. Because there is the sound of the abundance of rain. Actually, there was no thunder yet. And Elijah went to the top of Mount Hamel. He put his head within his two knees and he prayed. He sent his servants to look east towards the sea. Seven times. And on the seventh time, the servants saw a cloud like the palm of a hand. And Elijah said, you go down and tell Ahab, harness your horse and run. Because there will be downpouring of rain. And sure enough, the rain came. The blessing came. You know, it's interesting. If I were Elijah, do you know what I would do? After the whole nation returned to God and said, Jehovah is God. And of course, Ahab was very happy at that time. He really, he really recognized Jehovah is God at that time. You know what I would do? I would say, Ahab, come, let's go up to the mountain and pray together. But Elijah didn't do that. He said, Ahab, you go eat and drink and I will go and pray. Because all you can do is eat and drink. He did not even ask Ahab to pray with him. Isn't that unspiritual? But that's what it is. You know, some people can only eat and drink. That's all they can do. But other people can pray. Will you rather be Ahab to eat and drink? Or will you rather be Elijah to go up and pray? You know, I remember a story and a real story of George Muller. You know, Muller, that man of faith? One day he was on a steamboat traveling from England or Scotland to Canada. He had a speaking engagement there. And when they were in the sea, there was heavy fog. So the boat, of course, was slowed down. So George Muller went to the bridge to talk to the captain, because the captain was a Christian. So he went to the bridge and asked the captain, When will the fog be dispersed? The captain said, Nobody knows. And he said, Can we arrive at the port at a certain hour? Captain said, No. Unless the fog disperse right now, there is just no way to arrive at the port on time. George Muller said, But I have an appointment there. And I have never missed an appointment. The captain said, I cannot help you. So George Muller said, Let's pray. Well, the captain, being a Christian, of course, cannot say, No, no, no, I don't want to pray. He cannot do that. So they knelt down and prayed. And George Muller prayed a sinful prayer of faith. He said, Oh God, in all my life, you have made me keep my appointment without fail. So this time, you disperse the fog and let your servant keep the appointment. Amen. The captain said, Amen. Then the captain felt being a Christian, he ought to pray too. But of course, without faith. So he started out to pray and Muller patted his shoulder and said, You don't need to pray. They got up, look out, the fog began. Dear brothers and sisters, you know, to pray on the one hand is very simple, you know, but to pray on the other hand is very deep. Elijah was a man of life passion. He prayed a prayer and heaven was shut up for three years and six months. And he prayed again. And rain came upon this earth. What makes Elijah so special? Not Elijah. God. God made Elijah so special. But because Elijah gave himself wholly to God, God was able to get through in him. You know, that is our whole problem. We have the God of Elijah and Elijah was no different from us. The God of Elijah is our God. But oftentimes he cannot get through us because we do not respond to his grace as we should. So dear brothers and sisters, here you'll find Elijah utterly abandoned and God was fully committed to that man. Whether it be a message of judgment or a message of blessing, you'll find Elijah was serviceable to the Master. So may the Lord raise up many, many in our days that are serviceable to our Master, our Christ, our King. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, Thou art the God of Elijah and Thou art our God. There is no partiality with Thee. Thy power is the same. Thy grace is the same. But Lord, we know the problem is with us. Lord, we can only tell Thee that we are willing. If we are not, make us willing. That we may not be double-minded, who is unstable in all his ways. But Lord, make us pure in heart. Single-eyed to esteem. Fully devoted to Thee and to Thy will. And Lord, we believe Thou will do the rest. And to Thee be all the praise and glory. Lord, make us like Elijah. Overcomers. Willing to pay the cost for the blessing to come upon the whole people of God. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.