The First Retreat | Dr. Conrad Vine

e e [Music] God send his L they call him Jesus he came to love he for and to my my and empty grave is there to prove My Savior Lives come on sing up because he lives PR [Music] tomorrow because he Liv all fear is gone because I know he all the pr and life is worth the living just because he Liv that Shay I sh kind woman pain to find the Lord the he was gone the grave no longer and clim on him his life is PA beyond the TR because he Liv like a face to because he is all fear is God because I love he holds the future and life is worth the living just because he Liv With Victory one now Lord a sa [Music] his he his for our Salvation he'll come with Power King of and Lord of because he Liv PR to because he all fear is God because I [Music] know he holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lives and life is worth the Living Just Because He Lives my Jesus please be seated oh that put a bit of blood in your veins didn't it thank you for singing I have to admit the north isand camp we had the song it will be worth it all some of you would have seen that online we didn't quite have the time here to develop that song the choir knows it well but but um yeah I didn't quite have the energy in the South Island to make it all happen but hey thank you for that I really appreciate it because he does live and it's something we should be singing about I mean singing is part of a camp meeting there's no doubt about it so I really appreciate it thank you well Conrad thank you again this is um your second to last meeting in New Zealand we're going to miss you um we'll put an invitation and before he goes he can come back [Music] am give glory to God don't Applause give glory to God we're we're all earn vessels amen so thank you again Conor I leave you to lead out in prayer shall we kneel together as Conrad leads thank you our dear heavenly father we thank you for the blessings of this sabbath day we thank you for the hope and the victory in the song we've just shared we thank you Father that your son indeed lives and he's making a home in Heaven above for each and every one of us today and Father we yearn for that day when the clouds will be torn apart the trumpet of God will sound the dead in Christ will be raised first and we who are alive will be C up with them to meet you in the air and so father we look forward by faith on that Glorious Day Lord we yearn for that moment when we sing with that countless multitudes praises to you before your throne and father until that day we just have a glimpse of Heaven here this afternoon I pray Lord that your holy spirit will bless us now with your with your presence I pray you'll speak to our hearts and our minds Lord give us hearts that are soft give us feet willing to walk in New Directions Lord give us tongues willing to be uh trained to sing praises to you father give us Minds that are ready to be transformed not in the ways of this world they may so they may conform to your perfect and holy will so Lord we give this afternoon into your hands protect this place of worship with your angels who excel in strength May My Words Be your words speak through me and for me and may Jesus be lifted up in all that happens here in His holy name we pray amen amen all right so good afternoon everybody it's a pleasure to see you all here again and um I just want to a remind to that at the back on the table there and by the Autumn Leaves um um Fly there we have still have the handouts from last night there's just a few left on forgiveness so if you saw the sermon last night and you want to pick up one of those handouts uh they're on the back table uh and you feel free to pick one up on your way out today so our sermon this afternoon is entitled the first Retreat and um it's interesting how when you listen to preachers at camp meetings uh you're sitting the in the back and they're talking about some of the same text that you're going to be talking about and it's just amazing how the Holy Spirit works in mysterious ways and so I heard um brother Paul preach and I'm going to talk about some of those sexs as well and yesterday I heard him preach oh no he's going to preach my sermon there and so it's interesting how the holy H Spirit works and how God impresses upon different preachers and different parts of the world these are the same texts that people need to hear and these are the text for the moment so our sermon is entitled um the first Retreat and um so I'm going to start out um as many of you know I like my history I love history and history tells us where we've come from it gives us an indication of what's going to happen in the future because human nature does not change so I want to take you all the way back to the 25th of October 1415 some of you remember this story here uh I see somebody here with his thumb up pointed at me the story goes like this uh England had a small army of 6,000 men almost entirely made of long bowman archers from Wales they had a few Knights and a few um men at arms but they had been tramping the way across northern France to no avail now they were trapped with no way back to the channel and their ships back to England they were hungry their Army had been destroyed by dentry and they had nowhere to go facing them on the other side of the field of battle at a place called Aunor was a French army rested and healthy led by the cream of the French nobility and there were over 30,000 men in that French army including over 10,000 mounted knights in full armor the French King offered the English King Henry V the chance to surrender or face certain and Swift death and Henry V that um warrior king refused and he rallied his troops with a famous speech and some of you who did Shakespeare at school will know the speech I'm about to share with you but this is uh the speech that allegedly Henry V rallied his troops with and this is what he says he said rather Proclaim it West Morland throughout my host that he which hath no stomach to this fight let him depart his passport shall be made and crowns for Convoy put into his purse we would not die in that man's company that fears his Fellowship to die with us this day is called the Feast of Crispian he that outlives this day and comes safely home will stand a tiptoe when this day is named and Rouse him at the name of Crispian he that shall live this day and see old age will yearly on the vigil Feast his neighbors and say tomorrow is St chrispian then he will strip his sleeve and show his scars and say these wounds I had on St chrispian Day old men forget yes all shall be for forgot but he'll remember with advantages what Feats he did that day and St crispin's day shall n Go by from this day to the ending of the world but we in it shall be remembered we few we happy few we Band of Brothers for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother be he n so vile this day shall gentle his condition and gentlemen in England's now Abed shall think themselves a cursed they were not here and hold their manhoods cheap while any speak that fought with us upon St Christmas's day it's a famous speech we few we happy feww we Band of Brothers Shakespeare had a away with words whether Henry V actually said these words I guess we'll never know but it's a famous speech and in the in the uring battle that tiny English army rallied by those words of encouragement and the possibility of becoming one with their King they fought and overcame the French Army the French charged repeatedly the English put their wooden posts in the grounds and they fired their long bows into the air by the end of the day over 10,000 Frenchmen were dead on the field of battle mostly knights in armor 1500 nobles were captured and then were ransomed back to the French monarchy and about 110 Englishmen died it was one of the most famous battles what we now call the Hundred Years War and the end of it was the English could Escape back to England that's all they did um but they earned to R Ransom Fortune through all the ransoms they'd earnt on that field of battle but those words of Henry V we few we happy few we Band of Brothers I think of those words when I think of missionaries and I think of those words when I think of local Adventist congregations we may be few but by God's grace we are a happy few and we are indeed a band of brothers and sisters the story of Henry V in the Battle of aenor is that words of encouragement words of comfort can inspire a small army to incredible Feats when men and women believe they are invincible God can give them the victory when men and women believe that they can indeed win the day no matter what odds are coming at them they will fight with faith and with belief sure in the final in the knowledge that one day Victory will be theirs and so with Henry V with that famous speech um we few we merry few we Band of Brothers I want to reflect this afternoon on the story of of um a missionary um an evangelist who was very discouraged in Ministry and we've come to this camp meeting here and we come from our local churches here in the South Ireland and some of our churches are large and some of our churches are small and some of our churches have got internal divisions and some of us have got challenges within our families within our marriages and some of us are sitting here we're just kind of hanging on to faith by our finger tales and so we come and we sit here in very different different different circumstances and so I want to talk today about the story of Elijah and the text are going to be up on the screen but it's the story of Elijah on Mount carel and we're going to pick up the story in First Kings chapter 18 we're going to start looking through verse 41-44 and uh this is after The Showdown on Mount carel and Ahab and Jezebel had established the worship of Baal as the official religion of Israel ba what ba the word Baal just means Lord with lowercase l r d and ba B the worships of Baal had been imported from T and sidon modern day Lebanon when Ahab had married Jezebel that princess from Southern Lebanon of today and so they had established ba worship as the official religion of Israel the worship of Jehovah had been sidelined and now bail worship was the union of church and States based around the kingdom of Ahab and Jezebel and so Ahab chall Elijah challenged Ahab and the prophets of Baal to a showdown on Mount Carmel and he says for how long how long are you going to limp between two opinions if God is if Jehovah is God worship him if Baal is God worship him but don't live in this no man's land as as we heard the other day with revelation God doesn't want you lukewarm he wants you either be hot or cold but make up your mind either serve Baal and live with the consequences or serve Jehovah and live under the consequences of that decision as well and so Elijah calls the people together and on the top of the mountain he has them build two altars and then they they C they slay some C cattle they put the cattle on the altars and Elijah covers his altar with water and then he says to the people now the prophets of Baal are going to pray and if Baal sends down fire from heaven then ba be let ba be God and if Jehovah sends down fire from heaven let Jehovah be God and the people say that's a pretty good test well uh if you've ever worked in West Africa this kind of test is not a hypothetical test there are people witch doctors in West Africa who can call down fire from heaven they can call down bolts of lightning to hit missionaries in their vehicles we had a young German missionary once she was a young lady about 18 or 19 when she arrived in benine the missionary said to her now when you walk home from the prayer meeting you pray and ask for God's protection why because the witch doctors will try and kill you with lightning and the missionary said no no no no that's not going to happen well we'll be walking behind you and we'll be praying so as they walked home lightning bolts kept straightening the ground 30 to 50 ft to the left or right all the way home that young European missionary somewhat skeptical of the powers of Darkness was a convert in that moment she understood that the forces of Darkness can indeed call down fire from heaven and so when Elijah says whoever sends down fire from heaven let him be God the people didn't say that's an unreasonable test they already knew the powers of darkness and so they didn't say they didn't dispute this they said well um they know the powers of Darkness these pagan gods are the names of demon gods and so the people say well fair fair it's a fair test if Baal sends down fire let him be God if Jehovah sends down fire let him be God and in that Showdown the fire came down on yahweh's altar not on the altar of bom so we're going to pick up the story then on the screen it says there and Elijah said unto Ahab get thee up eat and drink for there is a sound of abundance of rain so Ahab went up to eat and to drink and Elijah went up to the top of carel and he cast himself down upon the Earth and put his face between his knees so Elijah was bold in faith he was confident of Jehovah's victory over the prophets of Baal and the god Baal Elijah assured Ahab that God would restore rain to the land of Israel before any raincloud could be seen and then he turned to God in Humble and persistent prayer the Book of James describes it thus it says 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 and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the Earth produced its fruit so Elijah was a man of prayer and he would go before the king and say for there will be no rain in Israel for three and a half years that's like going to the Prime Minister and saying you're going to have have a depression for the next three and a half years an economic depression and there was a depression there was no rain for three and a half years and it's interesting in a in Elijah's persecution King Ahab sent Messengers to all the nations around and he made those kings swear and oath that they were not hiding Elijah for three and a half years ahab's Messengers going all the way across the Middle East made sure that every foreign Kingdom knew there was a prophet in Israel called Elijah because they were chasing him down and everybody knew why Ahab was chasing Elijah because Jehovah God had promised no reign in Israel for three and a half years and so the persecution of Elijah carried the message of Elijah to every nation of the ancient Middle East persecution is not necessarily a bad thing sometimes persecution is the best possible thing for the message to go forward in the last four years ago the world was divided into two groups that did not exist before 2021 the vaccinated and the unvaccinated the world just split right down the middle and that division was not known to society in 2019 or 2020 but the moment there was persecution one of by one of one group by another the whole world knew that there were these two groups in on the world on planet Earth and when there was persecution of Elijah the message of Elijah was carried by ahab's Messengers to all the nations around and so the person persecutions spread the message of Elijah far more effectively than Elijah's own preaching and we wonder how is the message going to get to the whole world in the final crisis I believe it's through the power of persecution that When The World Turns on those who keep Sabbath everybody in the world is going to have to make a decision for or against the Sabbath and so persecution is not something to be feared sometimes God allows it in his mysterious Providence because it gets the message out further you know I preached a sermon last year in Maine um which will change my life forever and um it was called regime church and it didn't go anywh it had like 50,000 views by the end of the week it's kind of like a reasonable sermon it didn't go anywhere and then a very famous preacher canceled me from speaking at his camp meeting and it went from uh I don't know 50,000 views to almost a million views within a week of being cancelled okay so I can tell you that being cancelled being banned being persecuted isn't necessarily a bad thing if what you're saying is true and if we're faithful in proclaiming the gospel we have nothing to fear from persecution because sometimes that's the quickest way God causes the message to get out and for people to make a decision one way or the other and so in this story here Elijah he he he um he prayed again and the Earth gave rain and the Earth produced its fruit and the story goes on it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind and there was a heavy rain so Ahab rode away and went to jezrael then the hand of the Lord Came Upon a and he GED up his loin and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of jezrael so Elijah ran all the way to jezrael the capital of a of je Ahab and Jezebel's Kingdom leading ahab's Chariot now why would Elijah run all the way back to jezrael do you think he was concerned that Eli Ahab didn't know his way back to jezrael no probably not do you think he was concerned that the horses would go off the trail probably not maybe this was humility in action maybe he was showing that no task is too menial for a servant of God in their moment of Triumph I don't think that was the reason I think the reason that Elijah ran to Jezreel was because he had a plan for the people of Israel they've just won The Showdown on Carmel and now he was running to the capital city with the King to make sure that the true story of Jehovah's Triumph was shared in the capital city and he runs all the way to jezrael before ahab's horses he was praying that the worship of Jehovah was going to sweep through the land Elijah was the perfect missionary he knew the language he was a cultural Insider he was respected spiritual figure across Israel he just held the most successful Outreach event in the history of humanity I mean who else gets fire to come down from heaven at an Evangelistic meeting it's pretty amazing he and he just won the stunning show down on carel and all the false prophets of of Baal had been slaughtered in the brook behind Mount Carmel surely Ahab and Jezebel would repent surely the people of Israel would rise up and turn to Jehovah Israel's conversion was in the bag or so he thought and Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done also how he executed all the prophets with the sword then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying so let the gods do to me and more also if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time and so in the story Elijah sleeps outside the city in the pouring rain Ahab goes into the city he meets his wife Jezebel and he tells her about this incredible Evangelistic success by Elijah and how all of um J Jezebel's 450 prophets of Baal are all dead and his wife is not pleased about this she's not happy you know some people are so that some people are so so so sunk in sin that nothing will convert them we read later in the story of of naboth where it says there three times in that chapter that Ahab sold himself to do sin he wanted naboth to sell his land and naboth wouldn't because it was his inheritance from the Lord but El Ahab had sold himself out to do sin he knew what was right but he' chosen the path of sin and so a jezebel sends his message to Ala I'm going to kill you by tomorrow and in his moments of stunning success Elijah lost his hold on God this is what he probably hoped was trending on Twitter that night resist Bale magger make Ahab Godly again and lock her up recent political slogans from the United States maybe that was going to um trend on Twitter across Israel lock her up referring to Jezebel of course and make Ahab Godly again and resist Bale maybe he was hoping for a spiritual Revival a Revival of primitive godliness among the Israelites and he was after that stunning Evangelistic success on Carmel surely now the people will turn to God after all all Israel have been gathered on Mount Carmel all Israel had seen the test with their own eyes all Israel had seen the fire come down from heaven surely with all this evidence they will turn to God but no that was not to be and in his moment of greatest success Elijah lost his hold on God why because after the Mountaintop experience often comes literally the valley experience so if you're a preacher and you preach on Sabbath and it goes well on Sunday Monday you have this corresponding low you're spiritually exhausted you've given your all physically spiritually emotionally and if you do an Evangelistic series for a week or two weeks it takes you a couple of weeks to recover spiritually emotionally and physically from that it is an exhausting experience stand and preach on a on a repeated basis and Elijah lost his hand on God after the surge of emotional energy the high of the Outreach series that Sabbath sermon um his he' done amazing with his Target people group they'd had amazing demonstration of God's power and nothing happened so Elijah slides into the valley of of Despair and despond and why did the movement not materialize leab and Jezebel did not repent the people did not rise up and throw off their Pagan King and destroy the gods they built in their cities it was if the confrontation on Mount Carmel had never happened Elijah had done his best there was no results he was out of ideas in Christ Church South New Zealand he done all he could and there didn't seem to be any response he was out of strength out of ideas and in his despair and depression he fled as far south from Israel as he could go even as far as in Vago and the story says this and when he saw that he arose and ran for his life you know um it's nice when people respond to the gospel it's kind of painful when they don't respond to the gospel why because you know they're choosing the path of Eternal destruction and you don't want that on anybody and every time you do an altar call on people come forward there are people who are choosing not to come forward and you're asking in your mind Lord are these people making decisions now that will literally have an eternal consequence for the worse not for the good and so Elijah he flees he's done his best the people of South New Zealand have not turned to the Lord God has turned up in a mighty way but the people just are hardened in their hearts and there is nobody to offer him any comfort so he runs to the Deep South and when he saw that says he rose and ran for his life went to BBA which belongs to Judah and left his servant there but he himself with a Day's Journey Into the Wilderness and came and sat under a broom tree and he prayed that he might die and say it is enough now Lord take my life for I'm no better than my S than my than my fathers so on the way South he falls into a deep depression and the first thing he does is he fires his servant he's not a rich man he had a servant because he was a prophet when Elijah fires his servant say you can go back to your family he wasn't just turning his back on the people of Israel he was turning his back on his prophetic Ministry his servant was an integral part of his ministry and he when he sent his servant home he says okay you need you can go home because my Ministry is done he done his best for God it simply wasn't enough there was no movement in Christ Church or Mount Carmel so he runs not just from Jezebel but he runs from Ministry and when we come to camp meetings like this some of us have gone through tough chapters of ministry and some of us come to camp meetings and we're thinking what am I going to go back to what's the church like that I'm going to go back to where there may be some divisional conflict um what's the the ministry program I'm working on that I'm going to go back to is there conflict in there um are what about the plans we've laid as a church are they really going to work or not and half the church doesn't think it's going to work the other half are kind of Going H for it what are we going to do about this and people come to camp meetings not sure what the future holds we come for a a neutral location a for Spiritual High because we know after the high of the camp meeting there's going to be a valley experience and Elijah he goes into the valley and he doesn't just say I'm running from my people he says I'm running from my Ministry he gives up his servant but he himself continues on Into the Wilderness and he comes a Day's Journey he sits under a broom tree and he prayed that he might die Samson prayed that he might die Jonah prayed that he might die and Elijah prayed that he might die we tend to think of these Old Testament prophets and judges as being Heroes of Faith but they also went through the valley of depression and Jesus was also a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief in Isaiah 53 Jesus knew what it was to be rejected even by his hometown who wanted to throw him off the edge of a cliff and so Elijah he run runs to the desert he's spiritually exhausted he's physically spent he's got nothing left to give and he asks God to take his life and the fact of the matter is that even today depression and burnout are among the primary causes of ministry failure and depression and burnout often occur when there is a dissonance between what our expectations are and what the reality really is and when we have X expectations but we have y reality that often leads emotionally to burnout depression and despair in Ministry in the United States they say that today today every month about 1,500 Protestant ministers leave the pro leave the Pastoral ministry that's not adven but in total is a net loss every month of 1500 Protestant pastors because depression and burnout are major challenges for those engaged in Ministry and the chances are in what I've seen in many churches is that 20% of the members do 80% of the work and those 20% keep going because they love the Lord and love their Community love their church but many of them are running on empty many of them are saying oh Lord just bring somebody to help me alongside me and if you're in that 20% stay I'd say thank the Lord for every day you serve the Lord but if you're in that 80% that's coasting on the tales of the work of the 20% it's time for us all to step up to the plate and to share the responsibilities of ministry in our churches because the 20% will burn out at sooner or later in our local conations and they'll just say I need to step back for 3 or four years cuz I just cannot do it anymore I've got nothing left to give and if we want to prevent the 20% being burnout let the 80% use the gifts that God has given them and if we all carry the work together then nobody goes through depression and burnout so maybe you're in the 20% pray pray the other 80% will join you and if you're in the 80% pray for an opportunity to share the work with the 20% another Factor on this is when you have a small Church um you have a small Church let's say 50 people and the church says we want to grow to let's say 100 people the the question is does do the church leaders actually really want to grow or not because in a church of 50 people you have three dominant families and those dominant families control the board and they like the power they have and if you grow from 50 to 100 the next nominating committee time those three dominant families are no longer dominating the board so if the church is to grow it means that those who are leading today are going to have to take a step back in leadership they're going to have to share leadership responsibilities with new members and some people don't want that and some people would rather be a big fish in a small pond and keep the fish the pond small and they say we want to grow but they really don't because if the pond gets bigger there's going to be other fish entering that pond with new spiritual gifts and so Elijah runs from his ministry and he gives up his servant and he goes into the desert and he's thinking Lord I've done my best let somebody else take the Rings you know I've done it I can't do anymore sister white talks about this in the book prophets and Kings she says this those who standing in the Forefront of the conflict are impelled by The Holy Spirits to a special work will frequently feel a reaction when the pressure is removed despondency May shake the most heroic faith and weaken the most steadfast will but God understands and he still pities and loves to wait patient ly to trust when everything looks dark is the lesson that the leaders in God's work need to learn heaven will not fail them in their day of adversity nothing is apparently more helpless yet really more Invincible than the soul that Fields its nothingness and relies holy on God it's a beautiful passage that those who are in the Forefront of the conflict when the conflict is passed and the adrenaline and the cortisol is drained out of the brain you go from the high to the low and God understands the physiological reaction to going from the field of battle to a place of peace and quiet afterwards there is a physiological H change happens in your brain with with the chemicals there and God understands the change that people's go through the change that people's go people go through so I want to ask you this question as we look at the story of Elijah um this story really talks about a missionary a church leader who goes through a period of depression he's burnt out he's got nothing left to give and how people respond to depression reveals a lot about their underlying worldview for those with a scientific worldview everything must be material chemical and empirical basically you just biology and for those with a scientific worldview there is nothing spiritual and they will say your depression has a chemical cause take a pill take an anti-depressant and if this anti-depressant doesn't work we'll give you another anti-depressant if that anti-depressant doesn't work we'll double the dosage if that doesn't work we'll give you another anti-depressant and so forth and so forth other people have more of a spiritual worldview and they are not sure that your problem is biological they think your problem is spiritual that's what's caused you to fall into depression they convince you have depression because you must have a cherished sin that you've yet to confess that you are not praying or studying the Bible enough or you're not faithful in your tithe and for such people to take medicine when you're depressed signifies a lack of faith in God the solution is to pray more give more and Obey more and other people view the world in psychological terms you just need to talk it out when you're depressed you just need to talk I can't judge I'm not in your shoes I can't tell you that anything's wrong in your life you just need someone to talk with and when your worldview reduces The Human Condition to either the physical or the scientific or the uh or the um spiritual or just of the psychological it never deals with the full complexity of The Human Experience it's amazing how if somebody comes to church and says I'm struggling with lung cancer there's an outpouring of sympathy for that person but if somebody comes to church and says I'm struggling with depression people think there's something wrong with you like morally like you're a moral failure they know there's something wrong with you you got depression but that something's off with you spiritually how else would you have depression and the fact of the matter is even Elijah had depression Jesus was a Man of Sorrows unacquainted with grief Jesus wept over Jerusalem that when he went as just before his crucifixion and his three and a half years of ministry was seemingly to no avail for the masses of people in that City he wondered what was my Ministry for and so depression is not necessarily a sign that you're a sinner it's it's just a sign that you've got depression I want to encourage you today if in your churches you're looking down on people who struggling with depression or anxiety um don't do that anymore the last thing people need is a judgmental Spirit when they're battling depression in their life depression can come for many reasons you may have a brain trauma in Road accident you may have lost a cherished child and you go through the normal grieving process but somehow you don't come up the other end you may have a chemical imbalance in your brain there may be a result of cherished sin in your life yes that may be the case but from the outside you don't know and so God gives us this story of one of the greatest of the prophets battling depression in this story and how does God respond to this man with depression well the first thing we see is in First Kings 19 5-6 says as he lay and slept under a broom tree that is Elijah suddenly an angel touched him and said to him arise and eat then he looked and there by his head was a cake baked on coals and a jar of water so he ate and drank and lay down again the angel of the Lord came back the second time and touched him and said arise and eat because the journey is too great for you so he arose and ate and drank and he went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights as far far as Horeb the Mountain of God and there he went into a cave and spent the night in that place so the first thing that we see in this story is God recognizes that depression has a physical Dimension and so what does God do to Elijah does he send him to a psychologist no does he tell him to read his Bible more no God sends an angel and what does the angel do does the angel say fear not Elijah repent turn to God claim the blood do you want to talk about it no he did not do any of those things he simply let Elijah rest the guy is burnt out three and a half years of Ministry of being a on the run on the most wanted list for the FBI that's not easy in fear of his life the stress of being caught and executed any moment and then he has The Showdown on carel and the whole of Israel sees that God answers his prayers and even then after Mount Carmel the people will not turn to God what is a man to do in Ministry I've given it my all I've done my best I've risked my life and the the first thing that God allows this depressed burnt out gospel worker is he simply lets him rest get some sleep get some rest in a quiet place Far From Any Interruption my grandfather used to be the the the um editor of the British messenger magazine for the union and he had a wonderful policy about getting rest he refused to have an office in the in the um in the um the the office where he worked no telephone there and he wouldn't answer any letters and he was the editor of the Union newsletter and he said if they want to speak to me they'll come and speak to me and for 20 years he had a very peaceful working life because where the office was in Grandam on the east coast of England none of the major um train rails rain rail routes go near there at all so he decided that he was going to have a peaceful working Life by no telephone and no emails and no no no letters it was a wonderful working arrangement for my grandfather but God allows this God allows this missionary this gospel worker just to rest God recognizes that Ministry has its highs and its lows and sometimes you've been serving your church for 20 years and you just need a rest and God does not condemn Elijah for taking rest he allows him to sleep the next thing that happens is the Angel remains close to Elijah and he cooks him a meal gives him a good meal and a long sleep sometimes something as simple as a good meal and a long sleep and some timeout somewhere free of any Interruption helps with the process of overcoming burnout and depression there is also a relational Dimension to the story because the angel remains close to Elijah in these three verses and then the angel touches Elijah twice to encourage him and let him know that his meal has been prepared he doesn't question Elijah's myological strategy he doesn't count his work hours or review his expense reports no he simply Cooks him a meal and offers him a gentle touch when needed and gives time and space for this exhausted gospel worker to sleep deeply and he lets Elijah know that he is not alone it's a Ministry of physical presence and sometimes in our life in our ministry we need the the we need the chance just to be alone to rest to have somebody cook a meal for us and just to recharge our physical batteries it's not a sin to recharge your batteries Jesus said to the disciples in Mark chapter 6 verses 31 and 32 after they come back from their first missionary chips Jesus hears all that they say they they say to about what they've been doing and Jesus says come aside and rest a while Jesus knows that in Ministry if you just Minister Minister Minister and you're always on the go and you never have downtime to recharge physically or emotionally or spiritually you will burn out and be useless in minist so we have to pace ourselves in ministering and with his physical strength restored and encouraged by these tangible tokens of God's blessing and God's presence Elijah travels South to mount sini now the question is why does he go to mount siia and where does he go at Mount siia the text tells us he goes to the Mountain of God and there he went into a cave now the King James says a cave and spent the night in that place the Hebrew says the cave it's the cave this is a cave we should know about because there's already been a cave that we've met on Mount siai when when Moses asked God to show him his glory and God hid him in a Clift in the Rock it's the same word in the Hebrew the cave Moses decide Elijah goes back to the last place where he knows for certain God showed up for his people and that's Mount sin I and he goes back to the cave where Moses had been hidden because that's the last place he knew where God had definitely showed up for the people of Israel and so he goes back to where God showed up in the past to where he is sure God will show up in a familiar expected and comforting way and does God show up absolutely he does it says and behold the word of the Lord came to Elijah and said to him what are you doing here Elijah can you imagine how God said that Chang the emphasis of every word what are you doing here Elijah or what are you doing here Elijah or what are you doing here Elijah what are you doing here Elijah I mean how did God ask that question I've just given you four different interpretations in just reciting in four different ways how did God ask that question of Elijah it's a good question God had sent Elijah over the Jordan to speak to Ahab he sent him back from a ahab's palace back across the brook jerith he sent him up to the Widow of zarap in southern Lebanon he sent him back to Israel then he sent him up to Mount Carmel but God had not sent Elijah to Mount Si Elijah been faithful for three and a half years and so when God says what are you doing here I never sent you here Elijah I sent you to ahab's Palace I sent you to the brook sherith I sent you up to the W Widow of zerath I sent you down to Mount Carmel I sent you back to jezrael but I did not send you down to this mountain and to this cave what are you doing here when God asked ask us a question is not because he needs to know the answer it's because we need to hear the answer for ourselves you know I I've shared in the past I had a had a battle with depression over some anger issue I had over something happened to me and I used read my scriptures the Psalms in the morning praying to find a text where they'd be cursed with a terrible disease honestly I wanted to read a text where they would be cursed with some unmentionable disorders incurable disorders painful disorders I wanted to find those text honestly I did and every time I read my Bible rather than God pointing the finger at them that God would turn the finger back at me and God would ask hard questions of me and my true spiritual condition and I would have to be faithful and honest my answers for God about what was really going on in my heart I wanted to turn my machine guns on them but the Holy Spirit turned his machine guns on me and I it was a very unpleasant experience but I'm glad that God did it for me because when God asks a question question of you in a sermon in a hymn In the reading of the word of the Lord in the morning it's important you spend the time to answer that question because he already knows the answer but we need to figure out the answers for ourselves and when we figure out the answers we realize that God is looking to grow us in a flurry of self-righteousness this is what Elijah says I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts for the children of Israel have forsaken your covenants torn down your altars and killed your prophets with the sword so he starts out by saying how great he is and he and he finishes by talking about how great he is and in the middle he says for the children of Israel have forsaken your Covenant so this bit here the middle of his complaint the people of Israel are at fault not me it's not my fault the children of Israel have forsaken the Covenant I been very zealous for you and I alone am left and now they're seeking to take my life and so Elijah is very keen to place the blame on the people of Israel he very different to Daniel in chapter 9 where he says we have sinned and he identifies with God's people this depressed broken W out gospel worker from Israel or from South New Zealand is convinced that it's everybody else's fault it's their problem they didn't do their jobs Lord they didn't show up for the Evangelistic meetings they didn't help out in those meetings I was there every single time but they didn't show up Elijah proclaims his unique faithfulness yes he's been zealous for God he's worked very hard he's done his best he's implemented the best mission strategy across all of Israel up to The Showdown on Mount carel but not one person in the entire people group had responded by implication Elijah had shown up and God had not God doesn't condemn this worn out gospel worker he doesn't interrupt him he doesn't say ah but he doesn't uh deny or Justify himself he recognizes Elijah has a psychological Dimension and he simply gives Elijah time to talk I've I've known as a missionary and when I worked with Adra was the same thing when you visit somebody for say a week the first week the first day you just sit and listen while all the P comes out you're not going to offer any solutions on day one you sit and you listen while an exhausted missionary just like tells it all and tells you all the troubles they've been going through and if you try and offer a solution on the first day nothing they're not going to hear you because all the pus is just flowing out you just got to sit and listen to it and smile say uh-huh uh-huh tell me more that's [Music] interesting and when when the P has come out then you can get to the heart of the matter but there may be a gospel word in your life who just needs someone they can sound off to without condemnation without interruption without saying ah but you didn't consider this or have you forgotten that or are you sure to interpret it that way that's the right way to say it no sometimes well all of us we need a place where we can go and just sound off let the pus flow out because the pus builds up and those boils have to be lanced one way all the other and God does not condemn Elijah in this moment he doesn't interrupt him in this moment he doesn't criticize him will justify himself he recognizes that Elijah has a psychological Dimension not just a physical and spiritual he gives Elijah time and space to slow down to stop and to talk and when God when Elijah has nothing left to say when he said all that he has to say God now turns to the spiritual Dimension and he invites Elijah into his presence The Story Goes On he then he said go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord so Elijah comes out from the cave this is the cave where we believe Moses have been standing because it's the only the cave we find in scripture and behold the Lord passed by as Jehovah passed by Moses on Mount Sinai and a great and sto and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord but the Lord was not in the wind and after the wind an earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake a fire but the Lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still Small Voice so it was when Elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and he went out and stood at the entrance of the cave suddenly a voice came to him and said what are you doing here Elijah so Elijah is hiding in the cave he's he's protected by the Rock and the wind goes by and the fire goes by and the earthquake goes by and Elijah comes out and the rocks are shattered pieces around him but Elijah is protected because he's hidden by The Rock that Rock ultimately is Christ but he's hiding behind The Rock and the rocks are shattered all around him by the presence of God but Elijah is okay there's wind there's earthquake there's fire Elijah returned to Mount Si expecting to encounter God in the tries the trud the tested and the familiar as had Moses also through winds and earthquake and a fire all were manifestations throughout scripture of God's presence but on this Retreat God had already revealed himself in different means through an angel through a hot meal through a gentle touch that is outside of Elijah's expectations sometimes God works with the the true the tried and the tested we recognize him that work in our lives and sometimes God works in brand new ways and Elijah doesn't know where God is in this story but God's already showed up in the angel through the hot meal and the Gentle Touch he just doesn't recognize the hand of God yet in this experience and now God once again does not reveal himself through the tried the tested and the familiar that is the wind the earthquake and the fire but in a new way in scripture and it is through a still Small Voice and praise God this exhausted missionary who was trying to find God in the trud The Tide The TR the tried and the familiar he was actually open to God speaking in a brand new way to him you know he was looking for the familiar but he was open to the new there's a reason why we live in a church in a trsh Christian Community because you may be cons you may be convinced that God is not present in your life you may wonder where God is in your life and you ask some brothers or sisters about this and they'll say but God did this for you just recently and God was in this thing in your life and God was at work over here and don't you think that that was God who did that for you over there when we when we exist in a church and we're going through an Elijah experience where we're burnt out from Ministry it is good to hear from the brothers and sisters around us where they see God at work in our lives because we're so consumed by our our burnout and our depression and our anxiety and the whole thing was a failure we're so consumed by that that we don't see God at work for with our own eyes but we need to hear it from our brothers and sisters yes God is at work there I noticed when I was pastoring in Minnesota we set a faith goal every year for our churches and by God's grace you always met our faith goal of baptisms but what I noticed there was that we would do ab CDE activities in the year that's what we planned but God brought people in from the XYZ and so we did our work but that that that yielded some results but most results came from X Y and Z from left field or right field from places we did not expect and it was a reminder to us that we do our bit we are faithful in Ministry in our portion of the vineyard but God brings us people that he's already working on in ways we don't understand and that way the honor and the glory goes to our heavenly father and not to us and so I want to encourage you be faithful in your chosen Ministry in your church and and and continue with it trusting that as you are as you are Eng enging Ministry for the Lost God will bring people into your congregation from places you can't imagine and the reason why he wants us to be faithful in Ministry because as we as we seek to reach the Lost God changes our hearts and our attitudes God gives us a love for the lost so when they actually turn up in our churches and our homes in our friendship circles we're ready to love them and they're not just trophies but they're people that we genuinely love but if you are laboring for the lost and you're praying for the lost and you're working 24/7 for the lost you cannot have anything but love for the lost in your heart pass and then God knows he can trust you with a broken bruised heart walking through the door and so Elijah expects God to turn up in the wind the earthquake and the fire but actually God shows up through an angel through a meal through a touch and through a still Small Voice God sometimes shows up in our lives through the unexpected through ways that we didn't anticipate but I want to encourage you when you remain in a church and you can say to people this is what I'm going through where do you see God at work in my life you'll hear some pretty amazing things from me brothers and sisters and if you are so closed in your heart and in your church life that you just say hi and bye to everybody on Sabbath morning nobody knows who you are they don't know what you're going through they don't know what they can be praying for and they have no idea how God is at work in your life and precisely when you need them the most when you're burnt out and depressed and dumb with Ministry there's nothing they can share with you so encouraging spiritual intimacy and Trust in your local congregations praying with one another letting your brothers and sisters know what they can be praying for on your behalf it means that when you have those moments of Despair and depression and burnout that the rest of the church can rally around and say but Conrad God is doing this for you and but Conrad that's where God is present in your life we often look for God in the spectacular Miracles or in amazing answers to prayer miracles May amaze us but they don't actually cause human faith God's primary mode of self Revelation is through his voice appealing to the human heart sister white puts it this way in prophets in Kings she says it is not always the most learned presentation of God's truth that convicts and converts the soul not by eloquence or logic are men's Hearts reached but by the sweet influence of the Holy Spirit which operates quietly yet surely in transforming and developing character it is the still small voice of the spirit of God that has the power to change the heart is not by eloquence or logic that men's hearts are reached that would lead to Pride it is by the still small voice of God speaking to our hearts now Elijah had to run all the way to Sinai before he could encounter the still Small Voice where do you have to go to encounter that still Small Voice how can you carve out time in your daily life where all the voices of this world are silenced and you in a place in a physical posture and a time in the day when you can actually hear God's voice I want to encourage you to be intentional about this if we're not intentional in our walk with Jesus Christ it doesn't happen it get the rush of the day hits you if you are raising children you know that from the moment you get up the moment your eyes open till they get dropped off at school every second is precious is that right for parents yes if one thing goes wrong one thing goes wrong your whole day can be thrown out the morning operation is a smooth oiled machine everybody knows exactly what they have to do exactly what time you're looking at the clock every 30 seconds to make sure I'm on track here to get these kids off to school and then the day can really begin but we heard it from our other preachers we heard it this morning in the sermon making time for God being deliberate about that allowing us to experience the still small voice of God if we're not intentional about this it's simply not going to happen the Miracle on Mount Carmel could not penetrate the hearts of the Israelites any more than the fire the earthquake and the storm could say could reach Elijah's heart what's going to penetrate and change people's hearts it God says it is my words or my spirit through my word some say you can learn a lot about God from nature but you cannot know God personally through nature I say if you want to really know God there must be Miracles and SP spectacular answers to prayer and mystical experiences religious highs on a weekly basis and I would say no the only way we can test and validate any experience or knowledge is through a prayerful reading of the word of God do not just dissect the word of God but accept them as the very word of God to you and it will change your life the this morning I heard uh in the sermon was it last night that we are not just to read the scriptures but we read the scriptures in order that God can read our hearts we're not just reading for knowledge we're reading for transformation we're not just reading so that I can better you in an argument about a doctrinal point of dispute I'm reading so that I can be more like Christ when I put the word of God down and this means a humility before God and coming before God and sometimes you literally put a timer on your cell phone you say 20 minutes you put it to the other end of the room and then you just sit and you prayerfully chew over one verse and you and if you don't keep looking at your phone because every time your notifications go off you pick up your phone and there's 20 notifications come come through it diverts your attention from the word of God so putting your timer and your phone at the other end of the room it will tell you in 20 minutes or half an hour 40 minutes or however long you have that your time is up it allows you to focus on being still in the presence of God and listening for his voice it's the still Small Voice that reaches through into our hearts Jesus reminded Us in the parable of Lazarus and Abraham that people will not necessarily believe even if they see incredible Miracles like someone being raised from the dead he says it is through the searching of the scriptures that we are to know about God and to know God for ourselves this is why we live in a Christian Community God revealed himself to Moses on sin in a fire he came to Elijah on Mount siai with a still Small Voice Martha came to see Jesus at Lazarus funeral and Jesus tells that he's the resurrection and the life Mary comes to Jesus and says the same words as Martha and Jesus simply wept what is happening here the answer is simple each one of us here today is unique and God reveals himself to each one of us in unique ways that we can understand and respond to and so that is when we come to church and we have testimony time and people say this is what God has been doing in my life well this is how what God has done for me and my family then you're sitting in the pews or I'm sitting in the pews and we think oh yeah that's how God that's what's been happening in my life now it all starts to make sense so when you have your church Gatherings have times of praise and testimony because when one person says this is how God has healed my marriage people in trouble in their marriages ah have hope that God can heal their marriage and secondly they think well maybe God can do the same for me so once again God says to Elijah suddenly a voice came to him and said what are you doing here Elijah it's the second time that God asks Elijah what are you doing here Elijah is despondent why he's overestimated his own plan he's underestimated God's grace his Evangelistic plan should have worked there should be more than just him left Elijah showed up but God didn't the truth is it was not God who let Elijah down but Elijah has let himself down by saying that his plan is the only way that God can work every time we think that God has to show up in a box he turns up in a crate God is Sovereign he doesn't work according to our preset methods if we think we put in a certain methodological process and it cost $110,000 we're going to get so many baptisms at the end of it we're reducing God to a magical worldview and magical thinking and God is Sovereign he works outside of our expectations and so God shows up to Elijah and he allows Elijah to sound off one final time and then God gives him his marching orders the camp meeting is over he's had time to have a meal he's had time to rest somebody has given Elijah a hug the angel has touched him Elijah has listened to the voice of God In the Still Small Voice in a new way for his understanding and his experience now God says to Elijah I now have a job for you and he has four jobs for Elijah four things he wants to tell Elijah and as we're about to leave this camp meeting tomorrow I believe got these these lessons these jobs apply to us today and I'm speaking particularly to the men here we men need mountains to climb to find purpose in life if we don't have a mountain to climb we just go around in circles we're aimless it's why unemployment affects men worse than it affects women because men's very identity is derived from their daily activities and so God says to this burnt out discouraged Miss he's had rest he's had relational help he's had physical help he's had food he's had emotional help there's been a touch from the angel on two occasions God has spoken to him in a new way and he says Elijah it's time to get back in the saddle and you're going to reenter the field of battle in the great controversy and there are four things you need to do Elijah and so God gives Elijah a spiritual mountain to climb when God called um Peter James John and Andrew he says you were Fishers in the lake but I'm going to make you Fishers of Men God gives men particularly in Ministry they need this we need this I need this he gives us mountains to climb so there is always something pulling us forward and if you don't have a mountain to climb get involved in Ministry in your local church and start working for the Salvation of your neighborhood you will find a spiritual Mountain that is taller and more challenging than Mount Everest and the first thing God says to Elijah is this verse here the Lord said to him go return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus and when you arrive anoint hazil as king over Syria so the first thing for Elijah is I need you to go back North but not to where you live I need you to take a detour Northeast of Israel to a place called Syria and Syria is currently ruled by a king called benh Hadad and benh Hadad is a scourge of of God's people I want you to anoint the next king of Israel's enemies called hail this is a strange commission for a prophet jaab Ahab and jezel already want him dead now he's going to anoint the the the the new king of Syria who's going to be the scourge of Israel once again Elijah is being asked to anoint um the king of Israel's greatest enemy the syrians this hazil was a pagan General later on in the book of Second Kings he would smother the king of Syria to death in his bed he would then be a military scourge of the apostate Israelite Kingdom of Ahab and Jezebel and their successors bringing God's judgment for persistent idolatry the lesson for us here is this God is Sovereign among the Nations he raises rulers and he pulls them down even Pagan Killers we are now living in Nations that are ruled by secular leaders judeo-christian leaders some of us live in communities where it's majority Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu but God remains Sovereign over all the nations where we live and where we serve God is Sovereign in your town God is Sovereign over the city council where you live he raises Mayors and he takes Mays down but God has a purpose for these people they will still work in his purposes for his ends to save as many people as possible and God says to Elijah before you go back to Israel I need you to go to anoint the next king of Syria and he's going to bring judgment upon my people what a terrible task for Elijah to do but Elijah does it the second thing that God says to Elijah is this and you shall anoint jiu the son of nimshi as king over Israel now this is getting better for Elijah because I don't he doesn't like Ahab Ahab wants to kill me so God says you you're going to anoint a successor to Ahab and uh Elijah think that's a good that's a good idea but then the answer who's going to be the next king is going to be be a chariot commander in ahab's own Army a man called jiu and if you read later in the book of of um of First Kings you'll realize that jiu was present at the murder of naboth and was participating in that murder the ji who was a killer for Ahab that's the story later on you read check it out for yourselves and so God says to Elijah there is a chariot commander in ahab's Army a man with blood on his hands a man who was there at the murdering of faithful naboth and you were going to anoint him and once ji who was anointed he was going to bring down the house of Ahab in a military cetar and he worked for Spiritual reform by destroying the temples and Priests of Baal Elijah would never have imagined in a million years that jiu would be God's instrument of spiritual Revival in Israel because he was one of ahab's right-hand killers and God says you're going to anoint that General called jiu and he's going to be the instrument of reform in Israel and after this camp meeting we're going to return to churches and to towns where God is already working in the hearts and minds of people in Strat of society that we've never met in every town where we live God is at work in the hearts and minds of men and women of power we just don't see it yet we don't know where he's at work but one day when they come into contact with God's faithful children they will reach the point of conversion as J we think of Nicodemus we think of Joseph arthea we think of the priests who believed in God after the resurrection it was not obvious to the 12 or the 11 that these people were on their side but in time they came out in favor of Jesus and they did incredible things for Jesus and there's a town in England called St Albans you have St Albans here I think I saw it on the map somewhere so there was the Roman persecution of Christians and the Christians would taken outside a Roman Fort just Northwest of London and uh the Roman soldier who was charged with the execution he was he started the execution but when he saw the demeanor of the Christians he decided to give his life to Christ and he laid down his sword and said I'm joining them and his name was Alburn that's why the town is named St Albans it was after a Roman soldier who switched sides in the middle of the executions and said I'm going to die with these Christians and he died that day you see those who are your persecutors today may be your brothers tomorrow and Elijah doesn't know this yet he just sees J Who as one of a ahab's Cavalry commanders and a man with blood on his hands but he doesn't know that that ji who is going to be the instrument of God's Revival among God's people so we're going to return after this camp meeting to world ruled by Pagan secular God rejecting rulers but God is working on their hearts as he did with hazil we're going to return from this camp meeting to towns where there are powerful men and women who appear to have nothing to do with God but God has plans for them in his future for his kingdom then God says to Elijah he says I have reserved 7,000 in Israel all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him now in First Kings 18 Elijah stands on Mount Carmel and he thinks that he stands alone but the text says that all Israel was gathered there which tells us that if God says to Elijah there are 7,000 who have yet to Bow e to bail that on Mount Carmel Elijah wasn't just facing a crowd that was kind of disinterested or kind of wavering between Jehovah and Baal in that crowd there was a silent minority who were cheering him on because there were 7,000 not yet bow the E to Bale they were cheering him on Elijah did not know they were there he thought he was on his own but there were 7,000 out there who were watching his every move grateful that God had a champion and we return from camp meeting to churches and communities where every move we make is known to those around us just as Elijah was being watched by those 7,000 wherever we serve there are people who are watching us evaluating us whose faith in Jesus is growing gradually growing because of our faithful witness to Jesus who are praying for us and they may never vocalize how truly grateful they are that we are in their Community our ministry is living Liv before men and angels between before watching worlds fallen angels and unfallen world and unfallen angels in front of community members and members of the church who may never vocalize it but are truly grateful for your ministry today and tomorrow and you may not see them you may not know they're out there but believe me they're out there in my experience wherever I go in the world people come up and shake my hand and give me a kiss people are watching and they're watching every one of us and we're returning to communities and to churches where people are watching us and many of them are grateful that when there's a difficult decision to be made you had the courage to stand up and say this is what the word of God says and they're grateful that that that the pillars of strength in the church uphold that which is true and Noble and pure in the church and they're grateful that are people willing to have the hard conversations that are sometimes necessary to keep the body of Christ spiritually healthy and there are people who are grateful you sit on a board and the treasur gives out the the financial report and somebody says this may sound like a silly question but what does this mean and half the board is thinking thank you that they asked that question cuz I don't know what it means but I don't want to admit I don't know how to read a balance sheet just a simple illustration Elijah had 7,000 people watching him you have the proverbial 7,000 watching you your ministry is before men and angels there are people praying for you there are people who are cheering on your every success there are people who are grateful that you're standing in the breach when you go back into your church and your community after this camp meeting um honor the trust that they're placing in you because they're relying on you to do something maybe they cannot do for themselves and the final thing that God says to Elisha is this Elijah is this he says and Elisha the son of shaat of Abel mahalah you shall anoint as prophet in your place that is Elijah you're not the end of the story God will have a Ministry Beyond Elijah's Ministry and it's called the ministry of Elisha as we see life from our perspective but God Point paints on a much broader canvas and Elijah you're here today and you're consumed by your problems but I need you to know Elijah that God has far longer term plans for Israel and there's a next generation of workers lining up to fill the breach and it's not going to depend just on you the world does not hinge on your success in Ministry the salvation of the world is not dependent on how faithful you are today God has other go workers in other parts of the vineyard and God will call them into Ministry in his time and in his way so Elijah go back and anoint a man called Elisha God's purposes extend beyond our seasons of ministry God has already prepared colleagues who will stand beside us to encourage and and encourage Us in Ministry hold us accountable and when we are gone like Elisha to Elijah God God will do greater things through our successors than he did through us so elishah Elijah be open and willing to minister side by side with the colleagues that God brings you particularly the Next Generation because it's his work we're doing not our own work it is God's grace that saves not our good will it is his spirit that works on heart on Hearts not our spirit and it is his sacrifice on Calvary that saves not your 80 hours a week of ministry so if you're going back to a church be praying and be intentional about succession planning where's the next generation of leaders coming from where's the next generation of Elders coming from are we teaching are we training are we mentoring are we extending the ministry vision so it's no longer all about us but it's about the kingdom of God in our local community where are the new spiritual gifts going to come from are we teaching are we equipping are we growing are we nurturing are we developing the Next Generation so that we can step back and let the next generation carry on and do greater things than we did El if Elijah one of the greatest of the prophets was told to anoint a young called L and that's going to be your successor how much more should we be finding successors for our chapters of ministry as well so prepare the Next Generation Moses prepared Joshua Jesus prepared the 12 Paul prepared John Mark Elijah prepared Elisha who are you preparing today who's the Next Generation where are they coming from so as we come to the our time is up here I want to say just three things in conclusion one is only in the rock is our Salvation secure at the heart of this story is a cave behind a rock on Mount siai Moses received a revelation of the glory of God only when he was hidden in a cliff in that rock the cave Elijah was not hit by the earthquake the wind or the fire all symbols of God's judgment because he was hidden behind the rock which itself was smitten and broken thus providing thus preserving Elijah's life life and Jesus is that rock for us today only in the rock is our Salvation secure secondly only in the Rock can we commune fully with God many years later God brought Elijah and Moses back to meet Jesus the Rock of Ages on the Mount of transfiguration Moses represents those who died and will be raised at the second coming Elijah represents those who are alive at the second coming and will be translated without seeing death and on the Mount of transfiguration both Moses and Elijah saw the rock and whom they've been hidden so they could have a relationship with God when our hearts are hidden by faith and daily communion in Jesus Christ the Rock of Ages only then will our soften Hearts be melted and we can grow in faith Grace and Truth oh that God would soften our hearts so we really can hear the still small voice of God and commune with him as a friend and finally only in the Rock abiding in Jesus Christ will our lives bear fruit for Jesus Jesus said I am the vine you are the branches John 15 those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit because apart from me you can do nothing so as we leave this camp meeting tomorrow abide in Jesus feed on his words abide in love for God in love for his word in love for his Commandments and in love one for another it's my prayer that Jesus will be glorified in the next season of ministry here in South New Zealand that we will commune fully with God that we will find our salvation with God and that we will abide in Jesus Christ so we'll bear much fruit for him and the next time we gather some of that proverbial 7,000 will be gather with us today and it may not just be on this Earth but when Jesus comes again it'll be more than 7,000 will be gathered on that sea of glass because we as Disciples of Jesus today we were based in the rock of Christ we were hidden in the rock of Christ we communed with the rock of Christ and we were we were fruitful because we abided in him on a daily basis I love the story of Elijah cuz I always run on the verge of exhaustion maybe you're running on the verge of exhaustion today the good news is that God has a concern for tired gospel workers amen he has a next chapter of Ministry for you he will walk with you and work with you he'll work on you and through you but while you're at this camp meeting take take time to rest take time to listen to the still small voice of God allow God to give you a hug and don't feel guilty about it secure in the knowledge that God's purposes for South New Zealand stretch far beyond my Ministry and yours it doesn't all hinge on us we don't carry the whole burden on our own God will work his salvation out in his ways for his children let's bow our heads and close with a word of prayer Heavenly Father we thank you for the story of Elijah that tired depressed worn out missionary that gospel worker that gave his best who carried not just 80% of the church's work but 100% of the church's work and father maybe we're sitting here today and we say Lord I've done my best I'm exhausted why can't others help me but while we at this camp meeting father I ask that in the preaching of the word through the preachers who are here in the singing of Praises in the prayers that are ascending I pray that each one of us will hear and understand your still Small Voice I pray that we would experience that Gentle Touch of Love from our heavenly father for tired gospel workers I pray father that we will have that space and time to just rest and I pray father when we leave this place it will be to a new chapter of ministry that your holy spirit will write so father send your spirit to write that next chapter right it upon our hearts write it in our churches may you be glorified as this next chapter of ministry begins in the name of Jesus our lord and savior we humbly ask amen e for