1 Kings 19: The Hope of God’s Sovereign Election

1 Kings 19: The Hope of God’s Sovereign Election

By |

This past Sunday evening, I preached a sermon on 1 Kings 19 focusing in particular on verses 14 and 18. I chose this text because of the unique encouragement it offers Christians living in cultures that have rejected the Lord. In such a context, it is easy to become discouraged or feel like you are alone. God’s response to Elijah in 1 Kings 19 is the perfect encouragement for such feelings: God is still active in sovereignly saving people for His own glory even in the darkest of cultures.

The video of the sermon is given below with the link to the audio file.

Link to 1 Kings 19 sermon audio

Outline of the Sermon

Because I only had one week to prepare this sermon on top of full time Master’s classes and caring for a 2 month old, I decided to use the Puritan Sermon structure. This structure particular shines when preaching a couple verses. In my case, because I knew I wanted to focus on two verses in 1 Kings 19, the structure was ideal. It enabled me to develop the following sermon outline in less than an hour. Then I had the rest of the week to fill out the outline.

  1. Introduction
  2. Initial Analysis
    1. Context of 1 Kings
      1. Overall Context of 1 & 2 Kings
      2. Immediate Context of 1 Kings 19
    2. Defining Key Terms in verses 14 & 18
  3. Exposition
    1. See the Darkness of the God-hating Culture
      1. Israel had broken God’s covenant
      2. Idolatry was rampant
      3. God’s messengers were being killed
      4. Wicked leadership
    2. Notice Elijah’s Wrong Perspective
      1. Elijah is hiding in a cave afraid for his life
      2. He is questioning the effectiveness of his zeal for God
      3. Elijah views himself as completely alone
    3. Meditate on God’s Response
      1. God promises Elijah victory in the end
      2. The prophetic line will continue
      3. God is preserving a remnant of true worshipers
        1. The 7000 not a majority, but not a small number
        2. These people not known by Elijah, but known by God
        3. The 7000 have not fallen into the sins of the culture
      4. Effect on Elijah: goes out in obedience
  4. Summary of text and the reality it points to
    1. Elijah despaired in a godless culture but God reminds Him that He has preserved a believing remnant
    2. God’s servants should never despair because God sovereignly elects a believing remnant for Himself even in the darkest of cultures
  5. Implications
    1. Faith and trust in God’s sovereign election should give you indestructible hope
    2. Labor faithfully for God in a godless culture even when you don’t see fruit in the present
    3. God has a remnant from every tribe, tongue and nation who will believe in Christ & the Gospel
    4. Where have you slipped into Elijah-like thinking?
  6. Conclusion

Check out the Tools page to look through resources I use to prepare my sermons and study a passage. To listen to other sermons I have preached, head over to the Preaching page. Share and subscribe below and be sure to follow The Average Churchman on Instagram if you haven’t already.

Comments are closed.