07/06/2026
Nathaniel Brown
Here is my sermon for the Fifth Sunday After Trinity. The text is 1 Kings 19:11-21.
Grace to you and peace, from God our Father, and the LORD Jesus, Who is the Christ. Amen. Dear saints, your Old Testament for today is a sad story that you might be familiar with. In your Old Testament today, Elijah seems to give up. So today, you are going to hear what is going on to have Elijah want to give up on everything, and how God provides for Elijah. So let’s dive into the text.
Dear saints, in order to understand why God’s prophet Elijah is so eager to give up, you need to go a couple of chapters back. The holy prophet Elijah was sent by God to the people of God of the northern kingdom of Israel, and to warn them that their lack of repentance and their idolatry was going to have God afflict them here in this life. And the first major sign of this was a drought happening until the holy prophet Elijah had heard from God and God declared the drought over. God was going to have the land be barren because of His people’s idolatry. So Elijah faithfully tells this news to the wicked king, Ahab, and his wife, Jezeba-al, and Scripture tells us how wicked Ahab was. He built an altar to the false god Baal and worshiped the wooden image. And Scripture continues and says that Ahab did more to anger God than any of the kings of Israel who came before him. To say that this king is wicked is a massive understatement. Elijah says this message, and then flees to one of the rivers that flows into the Jordan, and there, a raven would feed him every day. Very shortly after this, God tells Elijah to go to Zarephath and there, the widow’s flour and oil would not run out until the famine was over. And in the chapter before your text today dear saints, you can read that for three years, there was no rain, and that King Ahab has been searching for Elijah, and he has even gone to different nations to ask if Elijah was there. You can probably assume why Ahab wants to find Elijah. He wants to kill the prophet who said rain would not come, or maybe torture him to have Elijah say the rain is coming back. Ahab is seeing the destruction that his sin is causing, and yet, he is so comfortable in his sin that when he sees Elijah at the end of those three years, he has the audacity to say that Elijah is the troubler of Israel. King Ahab was told his sins caused this, and yet, he says that the one whom God sent to Ahab, that being the holy prophet Elijah, that Elijah was the one who troubled Israel. And Elijah doesn’t pick a fight, he simply reminds King Ahab that his idolatry is the cause of the drought, but God is challenging the false gods that were being openly worshipped, and so the 450 prophets of Baal and the 450 prophets of Asherah need to gather on Mount Carmel. And on Mount Carmel is where God proves that He is the true God, by sending fire down from heaven to consume the altar that had been drowned three times with water. The false gods of Baal and Asherah are proven to be false, and the holy prophet Elijah even mocks their god as not hearing them because he must be in the bathroom. Elijah then kills the false prophets, and tells wicked King Ahab that now it will rain. Elijah then runs to the new capital city and outruns King Ahab’s chariot because of how much rain was falling on the earth. Ahab tells Jezeba-al all that happened, and she promises to destroy Elijah if she sees him. Elijah flees and makes it to Mount Sinai. And dear saints, all of that is the necessary background to understand your reading today better. Elijah has just had God prove He is who He says He is. And yet, in your text today, immediately after, Elijah seems to be giving up. He says that the people of God have all bent the knee to the false god, and torn down the altars of the one true God, and he alone is left as the faithful of God. And God says to Elijah that Elijah is to anoint a new king of Syria, and a new king of Israel, and Elijah is also going to anoint his replacement prophet. God also reminds His holy prophet that there are seven thousand in Israel, who are the remnant of God’s true believers. God pulls Elijah out of his spiritual depression, and reminds him that His Holy Spirit has left some believers scattered throughout the people of God. So Elijah anoints Hazael as king of Syria, Jehu as king of Israel, and Elisha as his prophetic replacement.
Dear saints, you may be wondering how this true dramatic story of Elijah connects with you, or more importantly, connects to Jesus. In your text, Elijah is on the mountain of God, Mount Sinai, and he feels the strong wind, and yet, God isn’t there. Nor is God in the earthquake or the fire. But God reveals Himself in the still small voice. And because Saint John says that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, almost every time that you see God speak in the Old Testament, you can say Jesus is the person of the Trinity who is speaking. So Jesus is on a mountain with Elijah, and He says that His believers, the true believers of the Church are protected. And dear saints, this should remind you of another time that Jesus is on a mountain with Elijah, that being the mount of transfiguration. On that mountain, Saint Luke tells us that Jesus is talking about His exodus, that is, His death, resurrection and ascension. And the death of Christ is when Jesus saves and rescues His Church, His resurrection is when His people gather to celebrate, and as you heard at the end of the Easter season, Jesus needs to ascend to the Father to send the Holy Spirit to have His people have faith in what He does. Dear saints, your Old Testament today is a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do on the mount of Transfiguration, and Jesus tells Elijah, and you today, that even among the people of God, Jesus Himself will ensure that there are always true believers in the one true God.
Dear saints, this reading that you have from the first account of the kings beautifully points to Jesus, and His death and resurrection. But you may be wondering how any of your text directly applies into your life. And there are three people you might realize you are similar to today. The first, sadly, is wicked King Ahab. He is part of the people of God, but he is comfortable in his sin. He thinks that Jesus won’t be mad at him for worshipping the gods of his making. And when the holy prophet Elijah says he is sinning, Ahab calls Elijah the troubler of Israel. And as you can see in your text, Elijah wants to give up, in part because of Ahab’s unfaithfulness. And throughout the Gospel accounts, Jesus says that the unbelievers are mixed in with the believers in the visible Church here on earth for example, the parable of the weeds. And we just talked about that in our Tuesday night Confessions study, which all of you are invited to. But if you are one of those that is comfortable in your sin, and any attempts from your brothers in Christ in the pews next to you, or even the Pastor that Jesus has appointed to call you to repentance, just like Ahab refused to listen to Elijah telling him to repent, Jesus knows your heart. If you are relying on your position in the Church or in your life, as Ahab relied on God favoring him as king of God’s people, Jesus knows and He is the king that all kings will bow their knee to on the Last Day. Or if you are telling God’s faithful people who want the gifts of God given in a certain way or certain frequency that they are the troubler of God’s people, if you see yourself doing any of these things, then Jesus has these words to say to you. I know your heart, and like Ahab, you are the actual troubler of Israel, and like the Pharisees that trusted in being a good enough person in the world’s eyes, and yet their hearts were far from Me, you also are white-washed tombs that look good on the outside, but inwardly are nothing but dead inside. There is still time. Repent of your sin and of the harm you have brought to My people.
Dear saints, certainly most of you don’t fit into that first category. You know that Jesus bled and died for your sins to be taken away from you. And yet, you sometimes get discouraged. Like the holy prophet Elijah, sometimes you see the destruction of the family and other godly things in the world. Maybe you are feeling the effects of someone who is like wicked King Ahab in your life, and as Elijah prayed to Jesus, complaining that he was the only one faithful left of all of the people of God, you feel as though the people who claim God’s name are not faithful. You see the world devoting themselves to many false gods, from mammon that the world loves to clink together, to sports, from convenience and thereby killing children in the womb or adults when they are to old, to anger and self-righteousness, and your prayers are filled with tears saying you are the only one left, Jesus knows your pain and sorrow, and Jesus says these words to you today. I know the world is dire. Even within the people who claim My name, great wickedness abounds. And yet, even here in the middle of nowhere, I, Jesus, have kept some who are faithful, and not everyone has bent the knee to Baal or the other gods of this world. Remember that I have brought you into faith with My death and resurrection, and I will save for Myself a remnant even today.
Dear saints, there are some of you who have despaired about the issues of this world, but you are able to put that despair aside, and you fully trust in Jesus to work all things to His good that He has prepared for those who love Him. You are like Elisha in your text. Dearly beloved saints, in your text, Elisha knows the same state of faith in Israel that Elijah does. And yet, when Elijah throws his cloak on Elisha, Elisha doesn’t despair because there is no one who isn’t an idolater, he simply says let me say goodbye to my parents. And for you, dearly beloved saints, you know that Jesus has fully forgiven your sins, and you rejoice in His gifts to give that forgiveness to you. Jesus has asked you to follow Him, and you do. To you, Jesus rejoices in your faith, and wants you to help those of the faith who are despairing, just as Elisha did for Elijah in your text, and in the chapters after. And for all of you, the people of God, I urge you to test what I have said directly against what Jesus teaches you today as recorded in First Kings. Amen.
I will bless the LORD, who hath given me counsel. I have set the LORD always before me: because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Amen. See less
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