Prepared, Willing and Able. Sermon by Russell Preddie on August 2,2025.
Revelation 14:12-16.
God has given us a task. How do we do it? What is the task?
If a hole is 6 feet, how big is a half a hole? Three feet? No. There is no such a thing as half a hole. A hole is a hole.
Reflect on Matthew 20. We believe in fairness. People want fair servings at a meal, each with equal quantity. A landowner goes out in the morning and offers people a day's work for $50 for the day. At noon the landowner goes out and offers some people to come work the remainder if the work day for $50 for the day. At 6pm the landowner again went out and asked some people to come work for him for the remainder of the day for $20.00 for the day. At the end of the people the workers line up and each worker gets $50.00. The man who started in the morning says "Wait!! How does he get the same money as I do?"
This story indicates eternal life. There is no such thing as half eternal life, or it is not eternal. The story of the landowner's workers represent those who have eternal life, regardless when their life decisions were made.
Many church goers, regardless of church come for generations of church goers. Some are converted later on, God owes us nothing. He gives as a gift. As Christians everyone needs to work together regardless how long they have been at church. We notice our work, but do we notice the work of the Holy Spirit?
We are not hired. We are called.
"And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. "
Mark 16:15
"And he went out about the third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace,
and said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.’ So they went.
Matthew 20:3,4
‘"Well done, good and faithful servant". Matthew 25:21
When you get a gift, you want to open it. What if you find it empty?
God says you will receive what is right.
A boy played a trick on his sister, wrapping multiple boxes, nestled inside each other. His sister was so excited, unwrapping each successive gift, waiting to find the treasure at the end. Inside the last box she found a half eaten cookie. Disappointing? Perhaps, but despite this it was a memory the family would not forget and forge laughter for years to come.
God says He will give us what us the things that is right. If we do what is right, you will have eternal life.
God gives us tasks to do. In the vineyard there was limited time to reap grapes. Preparation was required before a harvest. The Spirit invites you to come to work in the vineyard.
“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Matthew 9:37
What are we to do? Share the gospel to those who do not have it. We need to be active to get the reward.
Idle hands will find other work. A roaring lion is not idle as he goes to find his prey.
Saints must be patient.
Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Malachi 4:5
There is work to be done in the vineyard. Elijah was a prophet in 900 BC, born in Tishbe, in Gilead. He was one who cried out int he wilderness. Elijah's name means Yahweh is my God.
Malachi was born in 445 BC. Elijah came approximately 500 years before Malachi. Yet people knew the story of Elijah in Malachi's time.
So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 1 Kings 18:20
The people in Elijah's time, on Mount Carmel, knew who the Lord was did not know the answer to a question Elijah had asked.
“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. 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.
1 kings 18:21,22
They knew who Elijah was and yet did not answer the question. Elijah asked them to make a choice - to return to God. This was Elijah's job.
Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said,
“The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.”
And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him.
2 Kings 2:15
The Spirit if Elijah was the embodiment of Elijah's work. It referred to the one with the task of Elijah, to point the people back to God, to someone with the same dedication as Elijah. From time to time, the Spirit of Elijah returns to ramp things up again. It is not Elijah literally, but someone with the same spirit and dedication to the Lor4:3d's work.
So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Matthew 16:14,15
The Spirit of Elijah is one who reminds us the coming of the Lord is soon.
And His disciples asked Him, saying,
“Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
Matthew 17:10
The people, in Jesus' time on Earth, knew who Elijah was. They remembered what Malachi had written 500 years before. They were watching for the sign, but were not working.
Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying,
“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Matthew 24:3
What signs do you want to see? Look at Lazarus and the rich man.
“There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day.
But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate,
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. the dogs came and licked his sores.
So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.
The rich man also died and was buried.
And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Luke 16:19-23
For some, even if they see the signs, they will not change their mind. If you base everything on a sign, you may miss something. Balchazzar, in Babylon, sent all his soldiers away so he could celebrate. The city, as most at that time, had four gates. His palace was closer to the wall and farther from the river that provided water, and therefore prosperity. The guards were not watching the back door by the river. They knew what signs to look for of a problem. They were guards. But they became complacent and were looking for wrong signs in the wrong places.
So it was when Jesus spoke.
Jesus answered and said to them,
“Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.
But I say to you that Elijah has come already,
and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.
Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.”
Matthew 17:11,12
Elijah cried out in the wilderness.
Do we see the signs and fail to understand them? Fail to heed them?
For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying:
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’ ”
Matthew 3:3
This is the task. There is much concern in this world. Over the last two years we see increased stress and uncertainty. God sets uo and takes down kings. All things are in His hands. The Spirit can lift us up in our faith.
Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist;
and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Matthew 3:4
John was not a rich man. His was a voice in the wilderness.
For this is he of whom it is written:
‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face,
Who will prepare Your way before You.’
Matthew 11:10
Despite stresses, God is still in charge. We can have a relationship with Him. We can be in His presence. Let us not become complacent, jealous of others, envious, or all knowing. If we complain, the crops will not be harvested.
“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
‘Prepare the way of the Lord;
Make His paths straight.’ ”
Mark 1:3
The world today looks like a wilderness. Our message is a voice that needs to be heard.
In a podcast with a messianic Jew and an orthodox Jew, the orthodox Jew explained they do not convert people because the message is one just for the Jews. The Messianic Jews explained they do share their message as they feel it is for all people.
In the time of the twelve disciples, some Sadducees believed that God's message was universal, some felt it was exclusive. There was no certainty with those who studied that resulted in confusion. They tended to use the scriptures to soothe their own purposes.
The Spirit of Elijah is not Elijah literally, but the intention of Elijah.
Many people in our world today are in the dark. Have you ever been in a dark cave? If the lights are turned off it is very dark, completely dark. If one is in complete darkness for too long, they go blind, and cannot see.
You are the light of the world.
At Mount Carmel the people became quiet even though they knew the answer.
He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah,
‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’
and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:17
In the Spirit of Elijah, turning people back to God, supporting reconciliation with God.
When walking a treadmill, you can forget you are walking if focusing on other things, if not paying attention.
The Spirit of Elijah gives direction to fulfill God's task, to show God's people there is a God, that God is not non-existent, but real.
When you believe in God you have a peace beyond understanding. When at peace, you trust yourself in His care.
“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
Luke 1:76
If we don't share the good news, who will? Don't keep it to yourself.
Are you shy? So was Moses.
There is something you can share. For farmers, there is a season for everything. There is a time to sow and a time to reap.
This world is short of knowledge. People don't know what to believe. People mistrust church when it becomes political.
We believe we get what we are entitled to. What are we entitled to? Nothing. By grace, we are given.
We give to our children because we love them and they need to grow. God will give us the right thing.
“If you love Me, keep My commandments."
John 14:14
The Spirit of Elijah is a message, a mission to bring the hearts of the children back to the Father. If we do this and fail and see no results, do not get discouraged. Some reap, some sow. Some water, some nurture.
Working in a vineyard is hard, hot work in the heat of the day. Workers persist because they have a job to do.
Here is the patience of the saints;
here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
Revelation 14:12
I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
Johnson Oatman Jr.
Do in the spirit of Elijah. Pray with gratitude and thankfulness. Gratitude for the gifts given. Thankfulness to be part of a bigger plan. Be grateful and thankful instead of complaining. If you make an agreement and breach it, you void the agreement. Don't void your agreement with God.
If we sit and wait for someone else to do it, we lose out. We miss the reward. There is half eternal reward. Eternal is forever.
I am so glad that our Father in heav’n
Tells of His love in the Book He has giv’n;
Wonderful things in the Bible I see:
This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me;
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves even me.
Philip Paul Bliss