Pastor opens today's class with the words from Psalm 135:15-18 "The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by human hands. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see. They have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them." We will see the truth of these words in today's study.

Elijah' Days: Most of this prophet's ministry was during the height of King Ahab in the north in Israel and King Jehoshaphat in the south in Judah. His name, Elijah, is even prophetic. In Hebrew it literally means, my God is Jehovah.

⁃ A time of great apostasy - under Ahab and Jezebel there was an attempt to get rid of any semblance of worship of the Living God and to supplant God with the worship of Baal.
⁃ A prophet of great faith (Elijah)
⁃ A man of insignificance (very little is know about him, was he even an Israelite?)
⁃ A time of great danger for believers. Ahab and Jezebel sought to destroy God's prophets.
⁃ A ministry of great impact

Elijah's ministry is recorded in
1 Kings 17-19, 21
2 Kings 1-2
2 Chronicles 21

Elijah's Ministry:
⁃ Prediction and Provision (1 Kings 17) Elijah speaks that there will not be rain or dew for the next few years. This is a direct attack on King Ahab's gods. And the drought begins. Elijah goes into hiding. There are some great stories of God's miraculous provision for Elijah during the famine.
⁃ Contest at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18-19) God tells Elijah 3 years after the drought started that he was to go to Ahab and tell him that God would send rain. Elijah confronts Ahab about abandoning God and says for Ahab and his people and 850 prophets of Baal to meet him, a prophet of God, at Mt. Carmel and offers them the choice to follow God or Baal. Elijah is severely outnumbered against 850 false prophets, but the contest begins.
⁃ The Contest - those prophets worshiping Baal were told to pray to Baal for Baal to bring fire onto their altar, but it never comes. Elijah then builds his altar of 12 stones (1 for each tribe of Israel), slaughters the bull and then covers the altar in water and at 3pm he prays to God and the fire of the Lord falls on Elijah's altar. When the people see this they fall and cry out, "The Lord, He is God, the Lord, He is God!" They destroy the false prophets, and the rains start falling.
⁃ The Aftermath - Elijah runs to Jezreel (the summer palace) where Jezebel threatens him saying she is going to ensure he is killed. Elijah becomes fearful and runs for his life. He hides in the wilderness and becomes very discouraged and depressed. He tells God that he's had enough, and to take his life. Then an angel of the Lord comes and tells him to head to Mt. Sinai where the Lord will appear to him.

Join us next week as we continue our study of Elijah!

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A study on how God uses opposition, and how to handle it. Pastor teaches us to deal with opposition through the applied truths found in the Bible. These words of God will encourage, build up, and carry us through our times of opposition!

A study of the story of Stephen, a man who understood the truth of Jesus and experienced the consequences of speaking the wisdom the Holy Spirit gave him. God is calling us today to have the faith of Stephen, to follow the Lord Jesus, to be faithful, to love our enemies, to pray for those who persecute us, and to speak God's truth in love.

Pastor examines the statement "I'm not a Christian because of all the hypocrites." Hypocrisy is play acting that one has faith, rather than having genuine faith. In this message, we see a tragic example of hypocrisy in contrast to an example of bold faithfulness. The lesson of this story is to take God seriously. It is not about having a little religion, but rather a lifetime commitment to a loving God who gives life and forgiveness to all who repent and believe in Jesus.

Peter and John were bold witnesses of the power and authority of Jesus. It is in Jesus' name alone that we find Salvation. Peter and John's courage in telling others about Jesus astonished others, and the people noted that Peter and John had been with Jesus, eyewitnesses that had spent time with Him. We, too, can spend time with Jesus and get to know Him like Peter and John did.

In the midst of cultural lunacy, craziness, confusion and deception, how are Christians to live? (Hint: It's not through a mindset of judgement.) Pastor points us to a heart of devotion and encourages us to submit ourselves to the authority of God's word, to seek an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ, to be a people of prayer, to pray for God to open people's hearts and minds, and to pray for awaking and transformation.

"If someone dies, will they live again?"

Three Basic Views
1. Oblivion - there's nothing more after this life. But Near Death Experiences (NDE's) are challenging this view.
2. Reincarnation - a view held mainly in the eastern world.
3. Afterlife - there is something beyond the grave, that our lives do not end when our bodies die. This is also at the heart of the biblical message.

Will All People Die? The answer is "No!" The Bible teaches in 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 that there will be one generation that does not, the one alive when Jesus returns. The Bible teaches a resurrection.

What happens when I die? A personal look using the Bible's Testimony:
1. Life - God is the author of life. Genesis 2:7, Ecclesiastes 3:11
2. Death - is a reality because of sin. Genesis 3:19, Romans 5:12
3. Paradise - with Christ when we die. Luke 23:43, Philippians 1:23. But this is not our destiny.
4. Raised - The dead will be raised. Our destiny and future is to be bodily raised with new bodies that are glorified. 1 Corinthians 15:22, 1 Thessalonians 4:16
5. Judgement - For unbelievers it is a time of judgement, for believers their sins were judged at the Christ so that we do not need to suffer the punishment for our sins. For believers the judgement is a time of reward. 2 Corinthians 5:10, Hebrew 9:27 A believer's life is to be lived as a thank you note to God.
6. Forever - believers will live forever in a new heaven and a new earth in new bodies with no pain, death or suffering. 2 Peter 3:13, Revelation 21:4. Our destiny is to live forever! That is why it is so important that we receive what God offers us: salvation, life, forgiveness, and assurance through faith in Jesus who died for us, rose from the grave and will return at the end of time.

For believers, death is not to be feared with dread, it is instead an assurance that there is more and that the best is yet to come. John 11:25 "Jesus said to her, 'I'm the resurrection and the life. The one who believe in me will live, even through they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'"

Do you believe what Jesus said to Martha? Will you respond to the gift God desires to bring to everyone, life forever with Him? He desires all to be saved through knowledge in the Lord Jesus Christ.

1. Sin - all have sinned and need a Savior and need to repent
2. Sorrow - realize we have sinned against a holy God, our Creator, and desire to repent. God is good and gracious and desires all repent and admit we are sinners responding with sorrow and trusting our Savior
3. Savior - the only One who can deliver us from death and the grave and a horrible future. He is the only who can give meaning to life today and meaning forever. We have a future beyond the grave.

What happens when I die? Jesus' response to that question is, "I am the resurrection and the life, do you believe this?"

Follow up questions to consider:
⁃ How would you answer the question; "What happens when I die?"
⁃ Do you believe the Bible's testimony about life beyond the grave? Why or why not
⁃ Are you trusting the Lord Jesus for your eternal destiny?

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Pastor opens with Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance."

Our class starts and ends with the story of the kings of Judah. But in between Asa's 40 year reign as a king of Judah and his son, Jehoshaphat's 22 year reign, we see the turmoil and chaos that is transpiring in Israel the northern kingdom.

Major events of Asa's Reign:
⁃ Zera the Cushite attacks (2 Chr. 14:8-15)
⁃ Azariah and Covenant Renewal (2 Chr. 15:1-19)
⁃ Treaty with Ben-Hadad of Aram (2 Chr. 16:1-6)
⁃ Hanani the Seer rebukes Asa (2 Chr. 16:7-10)

In 1 Kings 15:16-17 we read about the tension between Baasha, King of Israel and Asa, King of Judah, and how there was war between Asa and Baasha. Baasha fortifies Ramah on the main road to Jerusalem close to the border between to Israel and Judah to prevent anyone from leaving or entering Judah's territory.

Asa retaliates but instead of calling on God as he has in the past, he calls on a foreign power and gives temple adornments, silver and gold to the King of Aram and asks him to attack Baasha. Ben-Hadad of Aram does attack Israel, the northern kingdom and wins.

Hanani, a prophet comes to Asa following his treaty with Aram and says, "For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. You have done a foolish thing, and from now on you will be at war." Asa was so angry at the prophet that he put him in prison.

Asa was a good king and had sought to follow the Lord when he first ruled, but in the later years of his reign he did not call on the Lord, instead he relies on himself and others and not God.

The scriptures say, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Asa started out that way, but he did not finish that way. A lesson for us today.

Meanwhile, up north… (in Israel) we read in 1 Kings 15-16. 910-870 BC during the 40 year reign of Asa in Judah, this is how it was going in Israel.

Jeroboam's son Nadab is on the throne and he did evil in the eyes of the Lord following the ways of his father Jeroboam. Nadab rules for only 2 years. Baasha kills Nadab and rules Israel for 24 years. Baasha battles Israel because of King Asa of Judah's request. Baasha defeats Israel and kills off all of Jeroboam's family, ending the rule of Jeroboam's family and fulfilling the prophetic word given to Jeroboam. Ahijah's prophetic word had said that Jeroboam was to follow God, and if he did his family would continue to reign but if he did not it would end.

We begin to see that when a nation abandons God it invites disaster. The kingdom of Israel is in chaos. We can see it in the list of rulers of Israel over the next years:
Nadab - 2 years (son of Jeroboam)
Baasha - 24 years (kills Nadab and Jeroboam's family)
Elah - 2 years (son of Baasha killed by Zimri)
Zimri - 7 days (killed by Baasha's family)
Omri - 12 years (build new capital: Samaria)
Ahab - 22 years (Omri's son - he was the worst king of all. Marries Jezebel and establishes Baal worship) 1 Kings 16-22.

God's anger is aroused with this succession of evil kings of Israel….

…But in the southern kingdom of Judah, Jehoshaphat is king. 1 chronicles 17 870-848 BC - he was a man who sought the Lord his God. Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa. The Lord was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of David instead of the practices that we see goin on in Israel.

Jehoshaphat had great wealth and honor. He removed asheriah poles, he sent teachers out to the people of Judah to teach them about the law in the Torah and revival breaks out.

Join us next week as we meet Elijah!

Now What? Learn about God at https://www.awakeusnow.com EVERYTHING we offer is FREE.

View live or on demand: https://www.awakeusnow.com/tuesday-bible-class

Join us Sundays
https://www.awakeusnow.com/sunday-service

Watch via our app. Text HELLO to 888-364-4483 to download our app.