The Thirsty Soul
Scripture Reading: I Kings 18:20-46
20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount
Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two
opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him
not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s
prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them
choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it;
and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call
on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers
by fire, He is God.”
So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”
25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it
first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”
26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of
Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one
answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either
he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be
awakened.” 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and
lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when midday was past, they prophesied
until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one
answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him.
And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve
stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the
LORD had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 32 Then with the stones he built an altar
in the name of the LORD; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two
seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood,
and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.”
34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third
time,” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the
trench with water.
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the
prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this
day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at
Your word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD
God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the
stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the
people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is
God!”
40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So
they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of
rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he
bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant,
“Go up now, look toward the sea.”
So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”
44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s
hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go
down before the rain stops you.’”
45 Now 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 Jezreel. 46 Then the hand of the
LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of
Jezreel.
This week we continue with our study of the words Messiah gave us from the cross.
Last week we discussed how sin, by its very nature, separates us from God. Today,
we begin by looking back to quite a difficult time in Israel's history. Just to give you a
little background, more than two years prior to this, Elijah had told Ahab that it would
not rain in Israel unless Elijah said so because Israel had gone after Baal. Ahab's
fathers had led Israel astray and he had led them even farther. This is a place
where translating YHVH as the LORD gets a little strange since Baal translated
actually means lord. So, it's good to understand that Elijah is actually saying the
name of God; what we have come to pronounce as Yahweh. Which, by the way, is
why we always say the LORD Yahweh when we see the all caps.
So anyway, more than two years have passed since the drought began so the
nation is in a time of famine brought on by the lack of water. In verse one of this
chapter it says that it is the third year so at least two years and less than three years
have passed without any sustaining rain. Ahab calls Elijah the troubler of Israel, but
Elijah turns it around and puts the blame where it belongs; on Ahab and his fathers.
As the passage begins, Elijah lays it out for the people of Israel. How long are you
going to waiver between two opinions. Will it be Yahweh or Baal? Today, we have a
similar choice. Will it be Yeshua or the world? Which of these two will lead us and
guide us in our daily choices? It's really easy to say we follow Jesus but if we do, our
choices should show that. We can't waiver between serving Yahweh in some things
and serving the world's system in others. We can say, following Him is what's most
important but then if we make our priority having a certain style of clothing or car or
cell phone, what are we really following?
We're not going to get to much into the account of the prophets of Baal and their
sacrifice or the Elijah and his sacrifice. Suffice it to say that Elijah wins, big time and
the false prophets of Baal lose, big time! We're going to move on to the end of the
drought. Finally, Israel makes the right choice. Yahweh is God and now they know
it! They had been thirsty for some time and they thought the that the reason they
were thirsty was because Elijah said it wasn't going to rain but in reality it was
because sin separates us from God, and they had been steeped in sin for quite
some time. The fact that sin separates us from God is what we established last
week. But here's what made them thirsty; when apart from Him, we all thirst for the
things of God.
Psalm 42:1-2
1 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
Each and every soul pants for God but most people have no idea what they're really
craving. Most people attempt to fill it with everything but God. People attempt to
satisfy that thirst with friends, possessions, drugs, alcohol, sexual relationships;
everything and anything, but guess what? When it's all said and done, you're
always still thirsty. You can have a perfect night, be the life of the party, end up
going home with the most attrractive one there and guess what? You're still thirsty
in the morning. Why do you think so many people who seem to have so much suffer
from depression or even commit suicide? They get to the point where they have
everything they ever thought would satify that thirst and realize they're still not
satisfied. They still feel empty. It's like drinking soda. Did you know that soda
actually dehydrates your body? It's very deceptive because you'll be really thirsty
and you'll drink the soda and it will be cold and seem so refreshing but because it's
really taking more water out of your body, you will just be thirsty again sooner than if
you had had water.
John 4:13-18
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but
whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to
draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five
husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
You see, this woman had obviously been very thirsty. She seems to have been
searching for satisfaction in men having been married five times and now being with
a man she wasn't married to. Having five failed marriages is quite extreme even
now. I can't imagine the life she would have had to lead in a time when divorces
were rare that would take her through five divorces. But I know what is for sure,
when Yeshua offered her that living water so she would never be thirsty again, she
was sure ready for it. She didn't ask Him what He meant. She didn't ask what it
would cost. She didn't even throw out some little comment about Samaritans and
Jews as she had before. She just asked Him to give it to her because she knew that
she was thirsty and had not been able to find a way to truly satisfy that thirst.
Yeshua told us what we would need to do to get this living water.
John 7:37-38
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone
thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out
of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
So this should mean that everyone who has come to Messiah is always satisfied,
right? That sure would be a great way for the world to see what they're really
missing, wouldn't it? That's they way it should be, but unfortunately many believers
are not living in the abundant life they should be living in. Their mouths may say
they're living for Jesus but there life still shows that they're living for the world.
They're still thinking like the world which is why it's so important for us to change the
way we think.
Romans 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may
prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
As long as we're going to the world's well trying to be satisfied, we will be thirsty.
Just like that soda may make us feel like we're satisfied, so the things of world will
seem satisying...temporarily. But Jesus showed us from the cross that we can not
be satisfied with the things of this world.
John 19:28-29
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might
be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a
sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. Then in Matthew's
account it says: Matthew 27:24 - they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But
when He had tasted it, He would not drink.
Yeshua knew that He was thirsty for the things of this world. Because He'd had all
the sin of the world laid on Him, He was thirsty because for the first time in His life He
was separated from the Father. It was His soul that was thirsty. The gall that was
mixed with the wine was a drug that was intended to dull the senses. Jesus could
have taken what the world had to offer and been comforted for a moment but He
knew that wasn't what he was craving. From the cross He was showing us that we
can never be satisfied with anything the world has to offer us. Let us recognize that
no matter how tempting, the things of the world will never be truly satisfying. Only by
renewing our mind and seeking after the things of the kingdom, will we ever be really
refreshed.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: April 22, 2007
Scripture Reading: I Kings 18:20-46
20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount
Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two
opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him
not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s
prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them
choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it;
and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call
on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers
by fire, He is God.”
So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”
25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it
first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”
26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of
Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one
answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either
he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be
awakened.” 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and
lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when midday was past, they prophesied
until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one
answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him.
And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve
stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the
LORD had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 32 Then with the stones he built an altar
in the name of the LORD; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two
seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood,
and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.”
34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third
time,” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the
trench with water.
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the
prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this
day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at
Your word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD
God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the
stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the
people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is
God!”
40 And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!” So
they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there.
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of
rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he
bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant,
“Go up now, look toward the sea.”
So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”
44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s
hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go
down before the rain stops you.’”
45 Now 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 Jezreel. 46 Then the hand of the
LORD came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of
Jezreel.
This week we continue with our study of the words Messiah gave us from the cross.
Last week we discussed how sin, by its very nature, separates us from God. Today,
we begin by looking back to quite a difficult time in Israel's history. Just to give you a
little background, more than two years prior to this, Elijah had told Ahab that it would
not rain in Israel unless Elijah said so because Israel had gone after Baal. Ahab's
fathers had led Israel astray and he had led them even farther. This is a place
where translating YHVH as the LORD gets a little strange since Baal translated
actually means lord. So, it's good to understand that Elijah is actually saying the
name of God; what we have come to pronounce as Yahweh. Which, by the way, is
why we always say the LORD Yahweh when we see the all caps.
So anyway, more than two years have passed since the drought began so the
nation is in a time of famine brought on by the lack of water. In verse one of this
chapter it says that it is the third year so at least two years and less than three years
have passed without any sustaining rain. Ahab calls Elijah the troubler of Israel, but
Elijah turns it around and puts the blame where it belongs; on Ahab and his fathers.
As the passage begins, Elijah lays it out for the people of Israel. How long are you
going to waiver between two opinions. Will it be Yahweh or Baal? Today, we have a
similar choice. Will it be Yeshua or the world? Which of these two will lead us and
guide us in our daily choices? It's really easy to say we follow Jesus but if we do, our
choices should show that. We can't waiver between serving Yahweh in some things
and serving the world's system in others. We can say, following Him is what's most
important but then if we make our priority having a certain style of clothing or car or
cell phone, what are we really following?
We're not going to get to much into the account of the prophets of Baal and their
sacrifice or the Elijah and his sacrifice. Suffice it to say that Elijah wins, big time and
the false prophets of Baal lose, big time! We're going to move on to the end of the
drought. Finally, Israel makes the right choice. Yahweh is God and now they know
it! They had been thirsty for some time and they thought the that the reason they
were thirsty was because Elijah said it wasn't going to rain but in reality it was
because sin separates us from God, and they had been steeped in sin for quite
some time. The fact that sin separates us from God is what we established last
week. But here's what made them thirsty; when apart from Him, we all thirst for the
things of God.
Psalm 42:1-2
1 As the deer pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and appear before God?
Each and every soul pants for God but most people have no idea what they're really
craving. Most people attempt to fill it with everything but God. People attempt to
satisfy that thirst with friends, possessions, drugs, alcohol, sexual relationships;
everything and anything, but guess what? When it's all said and done, you're
always still thirsty. You can have a perfect night, be the life of the party, end up
going home with the most attrractive one there and guess what? You're still thirsty
in the morning. Why do you think so many people who seem to have so much suffer
from depression or even commit suicide? They get to the point where they have
everything they ever thought would satify that thirst and realize they're still not
satisfied. They still feel empty. It's like drinking soda. Did you know that soda
actually dehydrates your body? It's very deceptive because you'll be really thirsty
and you'll drink the soda and it will be cold and seem so refreshing but because it's
really taking more water out of your body, you will just be thirsty again sooner than if
you had had water.
John 4:13-18
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but
whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to
draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five
husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
You see, this woman had obviously been very thirsty. She seems to have been
searching for satisfaction in men having been married five times and now being with
a man she wasn't married to. Having five failed marriages is quite extreme even
now. I can't imagine the life she would have had to lead in a time when divorces
were rare that would take her through five divorces. But I know what is for sure,
when Yeshua offered her that living water so she would never be thirsty again, she
was sure ready for it. She didn't ask Him what He meant. She didn't ask what it
would cost. She didn't even throw out some little comment about Samaritans and
Jews as she had before. She just asked Him to give it to her because she knew that
she was thirsty and had not been able to find a way to truly satisfy that thirst.
Yeshua told us what we would need to do to get this living water.
John 7:37-38
37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone
thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out
of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
So this should mean that everyone who has come to Messiah is always satisfied,
right? That sure would be a great way for the world to see what they're really
missing, wouldn't it? That's they way it should be, but unfortunately many believers
are not living in the abundant life they should be living in. Their mouths may say
they're living for Jesus but there life still shows that they're living for the world.
They're still thinking like the world which is why it's so important for us to change the
way we think.
Romans 12:1-2
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a
living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may
prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
As long as we're going to the world's well trying to be satisfied, we will be thirsty.
Just like that soda may make us feel like we're satisfied, so the things of world will
seem satisying...temporarily. But Jesus showed us from the cross that we can not
be satisfied with the things of this world.
John 19:28-29
28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might
be fulfilled, said, “I thirst!” 29 Now a vessel full of sour wine was sitting there; and they filled a
sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and put it to His mouth. Then in Matthew's
account it says: Matthew 27:24 - they gave Him sour wine mingled with gall to drink. But
when He had tasted it, He would not drink.
Yeshua knew that He was thirsty for the things of this world. Because He'd had all
the sin of the world laid on Him, He was thirsty because for the first time in His life He
was separated from the Father. It was His soul that was thirsty. The gall that was
mixed with the wine was a drug that was intended to dull the senses. Jesus could
have taken what the world had to offer and been comforted for a moment but He
knew that wasn't what he was craving. From the cross He was showing us that we
can never be satisfied with anything the world has to offer us. Let us recognize that
no matter how tempting, the things of the world will never be truly satisfying. Only by
renewing our mind and seeking after the things of the kingdom, will we ever be really
refreshed.
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: April 22, 2007
