THE KINGDOM KEYS: RELEASING HEAVENLY TREASURES - ELIJAH AS A CASE STUDY

KINGDOM KEYS: RELEASING HEAVENLY TREASURES-
ELIJAH AS A CASE STUDY
- Simon A. Kolawole

INTRODUCTION
Thanks be unto God for leading our great Convention from glory to glory and for the opportunity of this year’s session. Our theme for this year again is very relevant indeed. It challenges us to have greater expectations of what the Lord can do in our lives and ministries. The theme thus enables us to have a better quality of life and greater results in ministry as we bring heavenly treasures to bear on the many challenges we and our members face.
The truth I want to emphasize in this article is that a minister is a channel of releasing heavenly treasures and I shall use Elijah to identify some keys for a minister to channel heavenly treasures to others.
THE MINISTER AS A CHANNEL OF RELEASING HEAVENLY TREASURES
The minister is God’s representative among His people. He stands between God and His people. He declares God’s counsel to the people and he is also expected to take the people’s burdens and problems to God who is in charge of heavenly treasures and is able to do all things. He is expected to have a shepherd’s heart and to be concerned about the utmost well being of his people. Otherwise he makes himself unworthy of his position and may even incur God’s judgment upon himself (cf. Ezek. 34:9-10).
It must be stressed that as ministers of the Convention we need to grow in our awareness of this truth in practical terms of trusting God to use us to bless our people especially with reference to the miraculous. Our people need to see more of God’s reality in signs and wonders.
KEYS FOR THE MINISTER TO RELEASE HEAVENLY TREASURES
Five keys, that is, requirements can be identified from Elijah’s life which are worthy of our consideration.



1. Time with God
The sudden appearance of Elijah on the Israelite prophetic scene is an indication that he had spent quality time with God in secret. Time with God in secret leads to making impact in public. At the point where Jacob’s destiny was changed the angel told him, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed” (Gen. 32:28, NKJV). Many who cannot pay the price of seeking God’s face in secret want to display in public. As ministers, we are generally busy and thus our theme calls us to re-order our priorities so that we can have quality time for prayer (cf. Acts 6:2). The more we pray, the greater peace we shall experience, the greater results we shall have and the more we shall see God’s glory and power in our lives and ministries.
A great advantage of having quality time with God is intimacy. Elijah was one of those who had a very intimate relationship with God in the Bible (I Kgs. 17:2-4, 8-9; 19:5-18). When we hear from God, we can take steps boldly and have success and breakthrough. Otherwise, we may have uncertainty or even be plagued with fear.
2. Consecration
This is how Elijah is introduced in Scripture: “And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead said to Ahab, ‘As the LORD God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years except by my word” (I Kgs. 17:1, NKJV). The phrase “before whom I stand” shows that Elijah was confident of his relationship with God. He was consecrated to the One who called him. Here the contrast between him and the temple prophets can be seen most clearly. He had literally abandoned himself to God and His cause. No wonder God responded to him again and again. Consecration produces power. It moves God to act on one’s behalf. In the words of the hymn writer,
You have longed for sweet peace, and for faith to increase,
And have earnestly, fervently prayed;
But you cannot have rest or be perfectly blest
Until all on the altar is laid.
Oh, we never can know what the Lord will bestow
Of the blessings for which we have prayed,
Till our body and soul He doth fully control
And our all on the altar is laid.1
We must check our devotion to the Lord continually and ensure that we maintain sinsleness of heart in our service for the Master.
3. Faith
Faith is absolute trust in God that He will do what He has said. It has great power because faith honors God and God honors faith. Elijah’s declaration is an evidence of his absolute trust in God’s power to do all things. He believed God would back up what he said. This is a great challenge for us, an area of operation all of us need to develop. We need to grow in making declarations believing that God will back us up. We need to grow in faith so that we expect and affirm God’s intervention when we confront difficult situations.
Faith provides a new perspective for our lives and a different basis of operation. According to Paul Little, “faith recognizes the realities that have now been revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ; faith takes hold of them and lives in their light.”2 And emphasizing faith as a daily reality he said, “Living by faith is a day-by-day experience. Yesterday’s leftover manna cannot satisfy us today. We must continue in God’s presence everyday… it is a simple, but profound fact – and a crucial one in our lives with God.”3 We do well to pray like the disciples, Lord, “increase our faith” (Luke 17:5) because as He said, “if (we) can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” (Mark 9:23, NKJV).
4. Obedience
Another quality necessary to be a channel of heavenly treasures is obedience. Again and again Elijah was asked to take steps that do not make sense from human perspective. However, he obeyed (I Kgs. 17:5-6, 10; 18:1-2). His intimate relationship with God was an advantage in this regard. His dynamic relationship with God made him to know that God can be relied upon. He was content to leave the results to God and sure enough God fulfilled His word.
We should be ready to obey God no matter what so that we can experience more of His blessings. As J.I. Packer noted:
Throughout the Bible story it is obedience to God’s revealed will
that pleases him, and that brings his blessings of health, wealth, liberty,
security and tranquility…. Without obedience there is no pleasing of God,
and failure to please God forfeits blessing.4
As ministers we should model radical obedience to God so that we can also help our members to walk with God in obedience.
5. God’s Glory
Elijah was a man who had a great desire for the glory of God. Most especially in the contest on Mt. Carmel with the Baal prophets, Elijah’s supreme concern was to restore God’s true worship and lead the people back to God. Thus, after the people saw the great demonstration of God’s power they said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!” (I Kings 18:39).
Again and again we must check our motives for desiring the Kingdom Keys. Are we filled with a desire for our people to see God’s glory? Are we burdened with the condition of our people that we want God to use us to deliver them? Do we want our generation to see God’s power through us?
CONCLUSION
As channels, the power and the glory are not ours. God just wants to pass them through us. Our challenge is to make ourselves fit for Him to “flow” through and remove “blockages” that may hinder Him (2 Tim. 2:20-25). In concluding this article, I want us to ponder over Charles Hodge’s comments on miracles thus:
The point which miracles are designed to prove
is not so much the truth of the doctrines taught as the divine
mission of the teacher. What a man teaches may be true, although
not divine in its origin. But when a man presents himself as a
messenger of God, whether he is to be received as such or not depends
first on the doctrines which he teaches and secondly, upon the
works which he performs. If he not only teaches doctrines conformed
to the nature of God and consistent with the laws of our own
constitution, but also performs works which evince divine power,
then we Know not only that the doctrines are true, but also that the teacher is
sent by God.5
Certainly miracles impact our ministry greatly. While we need not have an obsession for them, their manifestations will affect the degree of the impact of our ministry for time and eternity. May more signs and wonders manifest in our ministries, churches and the Convention.


END NOTES
1Elisha A. Hoffman, “Is Your All on the Altar?” Baptist Hymnal ed. By Walter Hines Sims (Nashville: Convention Press, 1950, No. 350.

2Paul Little, How To Give Away Your Faith ed. By Marie Little (Downers Gove; InterVasity Press, 1988), 170.

3Little, 171.

4J.I. Packer, “Obedience” in New Dictionary of Biblical Theology, ed. (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2000), 681.

5Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology ed. By Edward N. Gross (Phillipsburg; P & R Publishing 1992), 230.