Ep 68: The Only One Left

0:00 Well, good morning, I'm Daniel Dalp and this is for your Sunday Morning drive, the short podcast with the goal of providing some motivation, some drive and encouragement on your way to worship and helping you recenter your mind on those spiritual things on a hectic Sunday morning. We are brought to you by the Ministry League network of podcasts. Ministry League offers many great shows and wonderful podcasts that are designed to encourage the church. All of their resources can be found at ministryleague.com. They are all free and they can also be found on their app. As always, thank you for tuning in this morning or whenever you listen. And if you do have a moment, go ahead and leave us a rating and review wherever you listen and share us with a friend. That's the best way to help us grow.

0:40 Let's go ahead and get the show on the road this morning. This is episode 68, the only one left. Let's go to church. Are we there yet?

1:24 The call that you're hearing is that of the Hawaiian Kawaii 00, and if it strikes you as a melancholy sound, I would have to agree with you. You see, that recording was the last known male of the species recorded on the Isle of Kawaii in 1987, and it hasn't been heard since. It's a sad and haunting relic of an extinct species that was driven to its demise by the introduction of non-native predators and habitat loss. And it was the last one, and now it's just gone. But the reason I bring this up is because sometimes it seems as if we think that God's people are just as endangered as that Hawaiian bird. That we are an endangered species for whatever reason.

2:06 Sometimes we think that Christians and Christianity is on the brink of extinction, or maybe on a personal level that we are the only ones left. Now, first of all, let's highlight the lack of faith in that line of thinking and maybe even the arrogance. But of course, I don't want to discount how dark the world around us is and how sometimes the devil likes to trick us into thinking that he's won. And it reminds me of Elijah and the way that he felt even at his great victory over the prophets of Baal. It seems that the threats of Queen Jezebel threw him into such a great deep despair that he thought the same thing he says in First Kings 1910. I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant, torn down your altars, and killed your prophets with a sword. And I alone am left and they seek my life to take it away. I alone and left to me it feels like he's saying, God, I've done so much in your name and for your cause, but no one else around me is faithful.

3:10 I'm the only one left. This is it. God, however, gently rebukes Elijah in verse 18. He says, yet I will leave 7000 in Israel. All the knees that have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him. Not so alone after all, it seems and friend, do we need that reminder from God today? Let's say for just a moment that in a hypothetical world our fears of being the only one left are realized. What's the worst case scenario? I think we can find some wisdom in the last words that Moses spoke to the Lord's people and they gave comfort to them, and I think they can still ring true to us today. Deuteronomy chapter 31, verse 6, Moses says be strong and courageous.

3:54 Do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you, and he will not fail you or forsake you. We serve that same God, and He still loves his people just as much. But what does this mean for us practically? Well, maybe we don't just blast our swan song out into the ether like the Kauai 00 and just hope that others hear it. Perhaps we are more purposeful than that, more strategic. Maybe we're more attention oriented to build up those relationships to bring others to Christ. Maybe we don't let fear have a place in the presence of our God. Maybe we trust in God a little more and take a look around us at all the good, faithful Christians that we are surrounded by.

4:37 And instead of discounting them, we talk to them, we encourage them, we grow close to them. Because, friends, while we need to take the work of the church seriously, this arrogant attitude of fear and this alarmist thinking when it comes to the God that we serve and the church that Jesus died for, that kind of thinking, well, it's for the birds. Well, those are my thoughts for your Sunday morning drive. Now it's time to hear yours. You can always leave responses to our discussion questions on our website at for Your Sunday Morning dr.com. Our discussion questions for this week are why do we so often feel alone?

5:19 Are we taking the call to build up believers seriously? How close are you to your brethren? If you're not as close as you want to be, why is that? And are we thankful that God is faithful?