Meet me in Second Kings chapter 4.
And before we unwrap this thrilling chapter together, I
want to briefly mention something in light of last
week's study. Before 1868, the Moabite people
were referenced through 1 main credible source, the Bible.
Apart from the Bible, there was no credible source to give any
idea about who the Moabite people were, even if they
existed. But something happened a few 100
years ago. Again, as I mentioned, in 1868
there was a discovery that was made by Frederick Klein, who was
a missionary in the Middle East. He was traveling through Jordan
and in one particular place, D Bond Jordan, he discovered what
we know today to be the Moabite stone.
The Moabite stone is currently held in the Louvre Museum in
France. There are many replicas out
there, but I bring this to your attention in light of our study
of Second Kings because what they found on this 4 foot stone
were 34 lines inscriptions that were very similar to ancient
Hebrew and the data found on that artifact is amazing.
First of all, it was an inscription that was authored by
Mesha, King of Moab. Does that name sound familiar to
you? They should.
Just in case it doesn't go to 2nd Kings chapter 3, let's jog
our memory here. Look at verse 4.
Now Mesha king of Moab was a sheep breeder and he laid or
excuse me, he had to deliver to the king of Israel 100,000 lambs
and the wool of 100,000 Rams. So Mesha king of Israel is
identified on this slab. But more than that, he describes
how Himash, which is the God of the Moabites and his name also
is found in the scriptures, was angry with the Moabites and so
he allowed check this out the people of Israel to subjugate
them. So you have the nation of Israel
found on this slab. Moreover, you have Yahweh, the
God of Israel mentioned on this stone.
And later you read how Mesha describes human sacrifices,
which is something that the Moabites practiced, and how at
some point Hemash was pleased to give the people of Moab liberty.
Moreover, you have many cities mentioned in and on the stone
cities that we find in our Bibles as well.
Do you know when the stone is believed to have been created?
850 BC? And so I bring that to your
attention to excite your faith that there are external things
that corroborate the Bible that support the Bible, archaeology
and history. King Omri, we studied him many
weeks ago, is also found on the Moabite stone.
And so before we even begin this chapter, let me remind you that
what you are holding in your hands is real.
It's history, it's fact, It's not fables, it's not fairy tale
real events. Real people are real God.
Let's come to 2nd Kings chapter 4.
Now with that being mentioned, if you're interested to review
that more, all you have to do is Google it and I'm sure that it
will excite you. We now resume the ministry, or
at least our close examination of the ministry of Elijah as the
record of miracles connected to him continues to increase in
this chapter. There are several supernatural
episodes that are found in this section, but this evening we're
going to take up our time to focus just on the first one.
The first one is found here in the 1st 7 verses of Second Kings
chapter 4. I want us to read it together.
Then collectively contemplate on the life altering treasures that
it holds. Are you ready with me?
Second Kings chapter 4, beginning in verse one.
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elijah.
Your servant, my husband is dead, and you know that your
servant fear the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two
children to be his slaves. And Elijah said to her, What
shall I do for you? Tell me what have you in the
house? And she said, Your servant has
nothing in the house except a jar of oil.
Then he said, Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors,
empty vessels and not too few. Then go in and shut the door
behind yourself and your sons, and pour into all these vessels,
and when one is full set it aside.
So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her
sons, and as she poured they brought the vessels to her.
When the vessels were full, she said to her son, Bring me
another vessel. And he said to her, There is not
another. Then the oil stopped flowing.
She came and told the man of God and he said, go sell the oil and
pay your debts and you and your sons can live on the rest.
Lord, we really, desperately, genuinely ask for your help.
To go through these texts apart from the power and the wisdom of
the Holy Spirit is foolish and we will not be fools tonight.
We ask for Your grace to be poured out on every mind, every
heart, so that we may benefit and experience all that you have
to say through these verses. We trust You and we give you
glory in advance for how this will impact us.
Give us ears to hear what the Spirit has to say to this
church. In Jesus name we pray.
Amen. It's very tempting to go
straight to this miracle and try to unpack the message behind it,
but when reading this the other night, I could not help but be
gripped by the characters that are involved in this story.
I wonder if you were moved by them as well.
I want to highlight them to you briefly.
The first is the mention of a deceased husband who is
identified as one of the sons of the prophets.
The second being a widow. A widow who was approaching this
man of God known as Elijah with a predicament.
And lastly Elijah who seems to be the main character of this
section of Second Kings. Elijah who was again approached
with this need and how he responds to it.
I truly believe that each of these individuals offer
something to us if we are willing to not rush and just
patiently meditate to see how what is included and connected
to them can indeed sanctify us. So I want us to do that.
I want us with the 1st 2 verses. Look at each of these
individuals separately and see what we can draw from what the
Scriptures provide us concerning them.
Let's deal with this man, this unnamed husband who is also a
father who's also enrolled in the sons of the prophets.
I want you to look at verse one, and I want to ask you, and you
are free to answer if there's anything that stands out to you
about this man whom this destitute widow speaks of.
Anything stands out to you from verse one.
I'm doing this because I want us to train to how to get
revelation from the Bible and it takes careful reading,
meditation, and asking questions if we're going to get any
answers. Anything stands out to you.
Yes. He was a servant that feared the
Lord. Very important.
Absolutely. Anything else he says your
servant or she says your servant.
The widow says to Elijah, he was your servant.
Good. Anything else?
I get it. There's not much to work with,
right? But I believe there is at least
three things that we can learn from this individual.
Three things, at least three things.
The first thing is this. This man, whoever he was, he
served the Lord. He served the Lord.
As we just heard, this widow speaks to Elijah and identifies
him as your servant. So evidently Elijah knew who
this man was, had a relationship with him, And that seems obvious
because the narrator tells us that he was one of the sons of
the prophets. Now we learned not too long ago
who the sons of the prophets were.
They were a school, a band of men who were committed to
exercising and growing in their gifting, but also the study of
God's Word. And Elijah for the longest time
was the overseer of these prophets until Elijah took his
place as their leader. So we know that Elijah knew who
this man was. This woman is reminding Elijah
of that fact. But what blesses me about this
man that we don't know his name. We're not given reasons for his
death. I'm stirred, I'm certain,
because he was somebody who chose to serve the living God in
an age where the general population was apostate.
You got to remember the setting. This is an Israel.
There was only a remnant of true prophets, and the prophets of
Yahweh paid a high price not too long ago, right?
Many of them were slaughtered under the administration of
Jezebel. And yet you have this man who
was willing to give his life over to full time ministry when
there wasn't much reward with it, when the culture generally
bow down to false blasphemous gods, and at any second
persecution could break out against the true servants of
God. And yet he he still chooses to
set himself apart to honor the true and living God.
And so we see here that he was willing to serve under
circumstances in an environment that was not favorable.
That says something about this servant, which brings us to our
next point. He was not just a servant of the
Lord. He was a servant, as our sister
mentioned, who did what? He feared the Lord.
Look at that phrase again, and you know that your servant
feared the Lord. The words of this wise widow
remind us that we should not assume that just because
somebody's a dedicated student of God's Word or a full time
servant in his Kingdom, that he or she fears God.
There's a distinction being made here, is there not?
Yes, He is your servant. But let me also add this,
There's a quality about his service, about his devotion to
the Lord. He feared the Lord.
It's possible for somebody to be active in the things of God, to
be knowledgeable in the things of God, and yet be void of the
fear of God. We're actually being plagued
with that kind of Christianity Today.
Not so with this man. And we've discussed much about
the fear of the Lord in this church.
Rightfully so. But let me bring up one
important attribute that this fear produces in a Christian.
We find it in, I mean, there's many places to go, but this is
what was on my heart. We find it in Jehoshaphat's
instructions to the judges that he would raise up in Judah in
Second Chronicles 19. You can turn there if you'd
like, but I'm just quoted to you in Second Chronicles 19.
Seven. He gives these men instructions
and notice what he says in this powerful verse.
Now then, let the fear of the Lord be upon you.
Be careful what you do, for there is no injustice with the
Lord our God, or partiality, or taking bribes.
Do you catch it? Observe how being careful what
you do is closely associated with the fear of the Lord being
upon someone. When a person fears God, they go
from being careless to being careful.
Careful with their words, mindful of their actions,
cautious how they interact with the opposite sex.
Vigilant of his whereabouts, joyfully attentive about his
testimony before any audience, he finds himself standing
before, leading and dealing with an awareness of God's presence
at all times, even if he is all by himself.
Let the fear of the Lord be upon you.
Be careful what you do. People, even professing
Christians who don't fear God, they don't.
They don't care what they say, what language they use, how they
refer to God, how they represent God.
That's not that's not there. But when a person has this fear
on their lives, they are indeed very aware.
And this is not being legalistic.
It's not a being about somber. It's not being overly
introspective. It's none of that.
It's it's a way of life that springs from a heart that is
absolutely and profoundly longing to please his or her
God. That's what it's motivated by, a
fierce love that walks step by step, conscious of their God and
wanting to do everything that ultimately pleases Him.
So we can imagine then that that we don't know much about this
man. The fact that he feared the Lord
says so much about him, says so much about him.
He was the real deal. It must have been a painful
thing for those who knew Him to know that he had passed on into
glory. So number one, we know that this
man's served the Lord. More than that, we know that he
feared the Lord. Let me add this We also know
that he suffered. He suffered for the Lord.
In what ways did he suffer? What's the obvious way?
He died? He died.
That's the first thing he died. We're not told how he died.
Was he sick? Was it sudden?
Was he the victim of collateral damage?
Was he subject to the folly of someone else?
We don't know. But what we can say with
confidence is that this is a reminder to all of us that
fearing the Lord does not exempt us from painful interruptions in
life. Here's another hint that just
because someone is suffering, even to the point of an untimely
death, does not necessarily mean that such a person lacked the
fear of the Lord or is not a true servant of God.
We have a tendency to equate suffering exclusively with sin.
That is not always the case, as we see here.
This was a man who served God. This is a man who feared God.
But this is a man who was taken supposedly early and just like
Elijah's departure into glory. We may not understand the ways
of God, especially with His graduations of some of His
servants into glory, but we have to trust Him.
Is there anything else to add about this man's suffering as he
served the Lord besides the fact that he died?
Say it again. Death.
Yes, besides death. That OK, good.
So happens when you stand up here.
Sometimes you can't make out the words.
Yes, not just death, but debt. Now we are not certain if this
debt accumulated while this man was alive or if it began after
he died, but we can say this, that he was not a wealthy man.
He did not leave a generous inheritance behind for his
family. So now his family is suffering,
suffering greatly. So again, let me go back to that
point. This man chose to serve the Lord
when there wasn't much pay, when there wasn't much reward or
assistance. Remember the land, though this
was the nation of Israel was generally Pagan.
And we've seen in our past studies how true prophets of
Lord were not treated the best. And I think that reflects even
here with this man's financial situation.
It gets even more heartbreaking, right?
Because look at verse 2 again. And when Elijah asks her, what
do you have in your home? The only thing that she can
claim to her name is what? A jar of oil?
Now here's what's interesting, and Pastor Bennett can confirm
this. When you look at the Hebrew word
for jar, it's only found here in the Hebrew Scriptures and it
actually describes a flask. So we're not, we're not talking
about a bucket here. We're talking about a little
pouch of oil. This is probably what prophets
would carry with them when they were sent to anoint the king or
another prophet. We're talking about a little
pouch of oil. If that's not difficult enough,
we read of this creditor threatening this family.
In what way? She says my two children are
going to become slaves. What's wrong with this scenario?
Only until you understand the Law of Moses will this make
sense because there is a law that was given by God for those
who have incurred debt and how they should deal with that debt
and how the lender should treat such people who were in debt.
So turn with me to Leviticus for you to see with your own eyes.
Leviticus chapter 25 beginning in verse 39.
God gave instructions about those who owed money to another
and could not repay. Here's the law.
Leviticus chapter 2539 to 40. If your brother becomes poor
beside you and sells himself to you, you shall not make him
serve as a slave. He shall be with you as a hired
worker and as a sojourner. He shall serve with you until
the year of the jubilee. So knowing this now, with this
in view, what's wrong with the picture in Second Kings chapter
4? This creditor was ready to take
the sons to make them what? Hired workers, slaves, slaves.
So what's this law about really? It's about those who could not
for whatever reason, pay back what they borrowed.
And if that was the case, they have to be employed.
They have to be employed and they have to cover their debts
before they were set free or until the year of jubilee came
around, whichever came first. But the instruction here for
those who did lend money was that they could not treat these
individuals as degraded or permanent slaves.
They were to be treated with dignity and honor.
And when it was time for them to go, they had to let them go.
And so we we see this creditor who's now threatening to not
just take one son, both sons. And leave this widow all by
herself. So what I know about this
creditor is that he was not a man who feared God.
He did not honor the law of God, nor did he honor the situation
with the simple fact that this family had a father, had a
husband who was a prophet. He was a servant of the Lord.
He could care less. It's true today.
It was true back then that servants of God don't often
receive honor as they should, respect as they should.
You and I should prepare for that if we're going to serve
God. And the way to endure that kind
of treatment is to keep your eyes on a heavenly reward.
Keep your eyes on the judgement seat of Christ.
Keep your eyes on Jesus giving you the final praise and
blessing. So we learned a lot about this
man, but let me move on now to this widow.
Going back to verse one and connecting it to verse two, let
me ask this question again. Is there anything that stands
out to you about this woman? Anything?
Put yourself in her shoes. What temptations would there be?
What risk would there be for someone's faith if the more
they're one of the most prized possessions was taken from them?
Any idea? You know what stands out to me
about this woman? She wasn't bitter.
She wasn't bitter against her husband.
She wasn't resentful towards God.
How do I know that? Because look how highly she
speaks of her husband and she is willing to still inquire of the
Lord. That's not the case for many
people. It's not hard to imagine how
some in her situation would approach the situation
differently. Coming to Elijah and saying your
servant, your servant is now dead.
He's not here. He's died.
And look at what serving God gets you.
Elijah, how does God do this? We're talking about a remnant of
prophets left in Israel, and God chooses to take one of them
early. Why doesn't he take one of the
wicked prophets instead? That sounds exaggerating.
No, it doesn't. That's very possible.
Nothing of the sort with this one, though it doesn't say it
explicitly. I believe with all my heart that
it wasn't just her husband who feared the Lord.
This woman feared the Lord as well.
Not just a woman who was free from bitterness, but there's
something else that she possessed.
What was it? Somebody said it.
Humility. Sure.
Humility expressed how? Faith, she knew where to run to
in her time of great distress in this tragedy, in this calamity,
in this situation that would change the trajectory of her
life. She went to the mouthpiece of
God, namely Elijah, who represented God.
So this woman believed God, and I have no doubt that she had a
grasp on the law of God, but I wonder if she had her mind.
I wonder if she understood and applied a particular law that
speaks to her situation. Go to Exodus 2222.
It's an easy reference. And notice what God says about
widows. Exodus 22 verse 22 to 23.
She would have had access to this.
She would have understood this. She probably might have
memorized this. You shall not mistreat any widow
or fatherless child. Look what it says next.
If you do mistreat them and they cry out to me, I will surely
hear their cry. I wonder if she's acting upon
that promise. She's being mistreated.
She's being abused. She's surrounded by people who
don't honor God's law. So she goes to a man who does
honor God and she is crying out believing what that God's going
to hear. Isn't that what we're told in
Second Kings chapter 4 verse one?
Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elijah.
She believes God's going to hear her.
She might have not understood why God allowed things to happen
the way they happened, but she still believed God was good.
God was still for her. Oh, this, this woman is
remarkable. So we learned something from
this unnamed deceased husband. We learned something from this
widow. We still have one more
character. We haven't passed verse 1 and 2
yet, but it's OK. There's no rush, right?
Look at Elisha in verse two. Let me ask you the same question
again. What stands out to you about
Elisha in this particular case? Look at how he responds to her.
That will be your clue. And Elisha said to her, what
shall I do for you? Tell me, what have you in the
house? Read carefully.
Read slowly. Anything stands out to you about
that. Let me put it this way.
Is he apathetic? Is he reluctant to help this
woman? No.
You sense urgency, Don't you? Read it again.
There's desperation in his voice.
What shall I do for you? Tell me.
Whatever You in the house. So I see something about this
prophet in light of what we just learned in the previous chapter,
that he was somebody who was willing and eager to help a
single woman in private, not just kings on a national stage.
What what did we end with last week?
That Elisha was the vessel God used to deliver armies from a
foreign enemy, potentially defeating them.
And the same man who was willing to help kings was also willing
to help one that was easily overlooked.
You know, we have this notion if our service to God is not
public, if it doesn't reach out or contribute to the masses,
then it's not powerful or meaningful.
Nothing can be further from the truth.
Elijah did not dismiss the importance of representing God
before armies, but he also was willing to come to the aid of
somebody who was hurting, ignored, hidden, maybe even
despised. I just want to pause here and
actually exhort you and ask you a few questions.
Are you only willing to exercise your gifts with the knowledge
that it will be honored or recognized somehow?
Are the people in your church that you may be looking over,
looking past, dismissing because they don't have status, they
can't return aid to you in any way?
If so, crucify that concept quickly and be willing to go out
of your way. For those who are often
overlooked, let me ask you another question.
I've asked this question many times in our study of the Old
Testament. Let's see who remembers who was
the first person in the Scriptures with the title Man of
God was given to good Moses and Deuteronomy.
It's the first time the title Man of God appears and is
attributed to a particular individual.
Now what you're going to discover in the next few
chapters of our study from 4 onward is that this title Man of
God is given to Elijah many times.
And here's what's even more exciting.
There is no other named individual in the Bible where
the title Man of God is given to more than Elijah.
Now why do I bring that up? Because that reference is
granted in this context. Look at verse seven.
Once more she came and told the man of God and he said, go sell
the oil and pay your debts and you and your sons can live on
the rest. So this title, Man of God is
applied to Elijah in the context of him willing to serve a
hurting family. What's your idea of a man of
God? Someone who preaches before
thousands, who travels and does conferences?
You know how the Bible describes a man of God?
Somebody was willing to come to the aid of a widow who could not
afford her next set of groceries.
That's a man of God, according to the Scriptures.
That's a woman of God according to the Scriptures.
It's not about grandeur. It's not about platform.
It's not about likes. It's not about follows.
We need to rediscover the beauty of serving people even when
nobody knows about it. He was a man of God.
Let's continue. Let's reread verse 3.
So Elijah asks, he inquires and he learns that her resources are
very scarce. So he gives her now divine
guidance in verse 3. Then he said, go outside, borrow
vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few.
Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons
and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it
aside. Anything stands out to you about
these instructions? I mean, I'm not looking for
insight. Let's actually just break down
these instructions. What was she to do?
She was to borrow vessels. They were supposed to be empty.
And there's a very important point.
They were not supposed to be few.
As many as she can get. OK, seems straightforward, but
put yourself in her shoes again and imagine what it would feel
like to hear those words in light of the predicament that
she's in. What is the main problem at hand
here? What's the issue that they're
trying to solve? We said it earlier, starts with
the letter D debt, OK? Her problem was that whether her
husband or her after her husband died, borrowed money and could
not pay it back. And imagine how you go to this
man of God for some help and the first instruction he gives you
to relieving you of this debt is what go borrow.
It's like actually that was that's what got me in trouble to
begin with. Now you're telling me to borrow
more. This is not a lesson that
permits those who are in debt to incur more debt.
It's actually a lesson about how sometimes the commands of God
are counter intuitive, or at least they seem
counterintuitive. So what do we learn from here
that got us to be trusted at all times in all things, Especially
when your obedience involves people who may not understand
why you are doing what you are doing.
Wasn't that what was about to happen?
Because Elisha tells her, Yeah, go borrow vessels from where?
The nearest Home Depot? All your neighbors, not just a
couple, not just a few, go to all your neighbors.
Can you imagine going to every house on your street and around
the block, having a reputation of being in debt, borrowing and
not giving back, to ask people if you can borrow some of their
possessions? So this was a call to great
trust and faith and humility. You can imagine the potential
questions that these neighbors would ask.
You can imagine the potential fear of being rejected by some
of these neighbors. But it didn't matter.
And this is a reminder that when we obey God, we cannot allow
what people might say to us about us.
Doubt us. Question your motives.
All of that has to be dismissed. If God said it, you do it, and
don't try to have everybody understand why you're doing what
you were doing. Many people have been called
into the ministry, for example, and they don't get the support
of their family. They don't.
People don't understand that's OK.
Not just ministry for anything. Some people don't understand why
you're forgiving somebody who doesn't deserve forgiveness.
You obey God, doesn't matter what your neighbors say.
Some people don't understand why you come to church.
OK. Sunday.
Yeah, Friday. Who goes to Bible study on
Friday night? Well, they don't understand.
It's OK. You go to Bible study.
That's what your heart's desire is, You know, That's what you
believe God is calling you to. So she was to obey despite
misunderstandings, questions about her motives or doubts with
her intentions. But there's one more thing about
these instructions. It was the last part about it.
Not that she was just supposed to go to all her neighbors, get
empty vessels, but what? Not too few of them.
Get as many as you can. So I'm imagining here that
Elisha is expecting her and her sons to get more than just a
couple of jars and pots each. I'm thinking they have to fill
their living room, their bedrooms, the garage.
There was a garage. So you know what that would
require hard work? Knocking on doors, gathering
vessels, going back home, dropping off the vessels, going
back to get more from that one house and then go to the next.
I don't know how long this took, but I find it amazing that when
God was ready to provide for this woman, He called her to
participate in the process. We saw this back in Second Kings
Three with the three kings and their armies, that God was going
to meet their need, but He also asked him to do something in the
process. And it's no different with this
widow. Why?
Because the same rule applies to all.
And what is that law that if you want to see God move, guess
what? You must be willing to move.
God's power is designed to work alongside with our
participation. So listen whenever there's a
crisis, whenever there's a tragedy, whenever there's a
great need, you have to be willing to pray.
You have to be willing to praise.
You have to be willing to plan. You have to be willing to seek.
You have to be willing to send, must be willing to receive as
you wait on the Lord to come through and do what only He can
do. I actually want to challenge you
to look at most miracles in the Bibles and realize that even in
the New Testament with Jesus, He calls for the participation of
those involved in the need that they are seeking Him for.
And we see it here. She was working and God was
going to come and work for her. Let's read verse 5.
So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her
sons, and as she poured, they brought the vessels to her.
So an undisclosed period of time passes, and this woman and her
sons, they felt as though they had gathered enough vessels.
And their obedience continues to shine in this text because they
honor the latter portion of Elisha's instructions, which
were what look back at verse four.
It wasn't just to gather them into, gather many of them, but
to go and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour
into all these vessels, and when one is full, set it aside.
Is there any idea why God wanted this to be a private matter?
We're not explicitly told, but let me give you one major
reason. I think it was to protect her.
Was she vulnerable? Very vulnerable.
Were there vultures around her? Yeah, we got a hint of it with
this creditor willing to take advantage of her.
So I believe in part of the reason why this was supposed to
be done with closed curtains and a closed door was so that she
wouldn't be taken advantage of as she was receiving from the
riches of heaven. But besides that, we may not be
getting a full explanation. There is one undeniable
observation about the fascinating ways of God in this
situation. Here it is.
He does miracles behind closed doors.
I love to hear what God is doing in people that I know through
them for them. It moves me when I get a text or
when I meet somebody after the service or an e-mail, or even
when I watch something on YouTube and I hear how somebody
came to Christ or how somebody experienced a miracle.
It always moves me. But when studying the Bible,
especially with miracles like this, I am encouraged and called
to be stirred about what God is doing without me knowing.
In other words, He's always moving.
I just like to envision it. Here you have a woman with her
sons and they have a pouch of oil and they have these empty
jars surrounding. They can't even move an inch,
and they're just squeezing this oil out.
I mean, that's work in itself, right?
And then once one jar came to the brim with rich oil.
And listen, I believe God provided the riches of oil, just
like when Jesus provided the best wine in cana.
This wasn't cheap oil. This wasn't the good stuff.
And so she pours this out and then one son moves in, another
one brings an empty vessel. And all of that was taking place
while the neighbors cutting his grass while the others are doing
dishes. Nobody knew about it except for
this small family and the prophet who gave them the
instructions. And with this exciting thought
comes another observation. While these instructions were
unique to a particular individual, the idea of God
doing something special in seclusion is not uncommon for
you and I, you know, you might be sitting here thinking, I
would love to see God do something spectacular like that
in my life. And I'm here to tell you,
though, this is again a unique instance.
You have a similar invitation. Say, what are you talking about?
I'm talking about what Jesus said about you and the privacy
of your own home. My mind went to Matthew 66.
But when you pray, what are you supposed to do?
Go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who
is in secret and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
There are many things to take about from Jesus words here.
One of the things is that when the Lord sees you and I willing
to set time apart to leave distractions and agendas at the
door and give Him your full attention, He will reward you.
Let that be one of the incentives to get you planning
and disciplined for that time with the Lord.
He will reward that. It moves the father to see his
child stepping into that bedroom, closing the door,
stepping into that car with nobody else, with no podcast
playing and talking to him. He will reward you.
He will pour something into your life.
Can I tell you one of the rewards?
I can say with great confidence and with complete boasting in
the Lord that one of the rewards of that in my life is that He
has kept my heart soft toward Him, and He has opened my eyes
to treasures in His Word, and He has helped me solve situations
where I almost felt like Daniel and Daniel.
Chapter 2, where Revelation came in an emergency, hasn't happened
much, but when it happened, it's enough to mark you forever.
There are rewards that await us with our faith in private.
If your only interaction with the Lord is public, you're
missing out on many rewards. Many rewards.
But take this truth from Matthew 6/6 and believe that every time
you go in there, something is happening, whether you realize
it or not. Famously, if somebody once said
that prayers may not always change things that you're
praying for, but it's definitely changing you, that's what you
can always come out with. There might be delay.
They're not, might be immediate answers or solutions or
provisions. But one thing is for certain,
you getting before the presence of God will not leave you the
same. You may not notice it.
Just like Solomon's temple when they built it, they did not hear
the sound of hammers clinging against stones.
It may not be immediately perceived, but you can believe
Matthew 6/6. He will reward you.
So here's this woman with her two sons in the privacy of their
home, ready to experience a miracle.
And I'd like to believe that whenever I get before God, that
privilege in itself is a miracle.
I have an audience with the resurrected, ascended Jesus
Christ of Nazareth. If you want one thought that can
recalibrate you while you're trying to pray, but you're
thinking about your laundry, pause and remember that you are
speaking to Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who died on the cross
for your sins, who existed and walked on this earth, who
conquered death, who one day is coming back.
But also in the meantime, promise if you ask in my name,
I'll answer it. That kind of revelation will
make you less anxious about your homework that day and give some
quality time before God. Let's continue in these final
verses. Verse 6, when the vessels were
full, she said to her son, bring me another vessel.
And he said to her that there is not another.
Then the oil stopped flowing. Oh, there's so much to say about
this verse, but I want to connect it with verse 7.
Let me stop here and ask this. Imagine now in your excitement,
I mean, you don't mind. You were ready to lose your sons
to be slaves. And here you are pouring out of
this pouch oil and you're not even looking.
You're just mesmerized by this miracle.
And you ask for another vessel, and your son says there's no
more. And you look and you see the
glistening golden oil all around you.
What thoughts would come to mind if you knew that in I can use
this language, if you won the lottery, what what would happen?
What plans, What dreams, what relief, what excitement?
What, what would happen to you? Where would you go?
Who would you call? What would be your next move?
This woman is remarkable. You're saying why?
Look what she does in verse 7. She came and told the man of
God. In other words, she was such a
careful listener when Elijah told her.
Go to all your neighbors, ask for empty vessels, don't get too
few of them, and then go into the privacy of your home and
pour into it. When it's full, you'll get
another one. Fill it up.
She understood that there was no instructions after that.
And So what does she do? She goes to the man of God who
initially helped her and asked for further guidance.
But here's the picture. It's very easy to cry out to God
in your want. It's not common to cry out to
God when you got it. It's very easy to cry out to God
when you're experiencing a season of poverty.
It's less common to come before God as she does before Elijah in
your plenty. And This is why she's so
inspiring, because she's now asking, what do I do with all of
this? So here you are.
You've been asking God for a house and He gave you the house.
Now has your praying stopped? Here you are asking God for a
spouse, and He and His goodness provides a spouse.
Have you stopped crying out to Him?
Here you are asking God for a job, and He provided you that
job. Are you as eager and desperate
to get before Him when you were looking for something that would
help you and sustain you and provide for you?
This woman asks, she receives, but she doesn't stop asking and
seeking her God. She's just as eager to know what
to do in her prosperity as she was in her poverty.
Unfortunately, that is not the case with many.
They get drunk almost with the excitement of even blessings.
You remember how many lepers were healed by Jesus and the
gospel of Luke 10 of them, how many came back and gave thanks
to Him? Consider that ratio.
Make it a conviction early on that you will not just be
intense in your prayers, but you'll be just as intense with
your praise, not just in your supplication, but in your
Thanksgiving, not just when you need something, but oh, come to
God with whatever He has granted you.
Say now what, Lord? Where do you want me to go from
here? What do you want me to do with
this? You've given it to me.
You gave me this marriage. You gave me this kid, these
kids. You gave me these blessings.
What do you want from me, Lord? Now, aren't you moved by this
woman? I'm moved by this woman.
I'm moved by something else. As we close in a moment here,
notice the instructions that Elijah gives her.
Go sell the oil and pay your debts.
That's a good principle. If you and I are in debt, it
should be our duty as men and women of character of followers
of Jesus Christ. Romans 13/8 says no, Oh no one
anything. So seek to deal with those debts
as your duty. But notice what he says next.
Go sell the oil and pay your debts and you and your sons can
live on the rest. Connect us with her faithfulness
and her obedience to the initial instructions.
What if she had only taken a few vessels?
Let's just imagine, what if she only had half a room full
because she was getting tired? Or she's like, I don't want to
do this anymore. She might have been able to
cover her debts, but she might have lost the overflow.
It's one thing to be saved from debt, but if you don't have
anything to help you and sustain you moving forward, and you can
return back into debt. But she obeyed God to the extent
that she was able not just to escape this predicament, but
stay out of it. What's the lesson here?
The lesson is the importance about full obedience.
Some people are satisfied with partial surrender to the Lord.
Oh yes, they're out there or they reflect and they look at
their lives and they, they comfort and soothe their
conscience because they say, well, I'm obeying the Lord here,
here, here. I know I'm not obeying the Lord
here, but at least I'm doing something.
You might feel like you are gaining something from such a
mindset, but understand that you are robbing yourself of the full
reward of obedience when there is not full obedience.
Can I ask you something in closing?
Is there any area in your life that you are aware of where you
have not surrendered to the Lord, but you're comfortable
because you're doing this and you're trusting Him here and
you're obeying that part? You're missing out.
You may not see it now, but just like this woman, you may realize
it down the road. And I don't want you to realize
it in that way. I want you to realize it in the
positive that this is what obedience and complete surrender
has brought me to. Is there anything, any area
that's been nagging your conscience?
Seek to obey Him fully. That is the only way to know
complete blessing. More can be said, but let's
close our Bibles and now turn to the Lord in prayer.
Lord, we thank You that there is indeed a message behind every
miracle recorded in Your Word. And at this time, Lord, we pause
to reflect on these things and we ask that You would make them
real to us. Show us where they apply and
help us conform ourselves to complete obedience.
Make us true men and women of God.
Help us get a right understanding of what that means
and how to live that out. Lord, we thank you for the Lord
Jesus Christ who paid all our debt.
And even in this miracle do we have a vignette of the gospel?
We're under the law, we are in trouble, but you come and you
rescue us from it. Lord, we pray that tonight you
would receive our praise, our honour, our Thanksgiving,
because your word is alive. And every week You never fail to
speak to us. Thank you, O Lord, that history
cannot but confirm that what we have before us is the truth.
Thank you that we are in the truth now.
Lord, help us live it. Help us discover more of it.
Help us to enjoy it, to herald it, to declare it without shame.
Help us to obey it when our neighbors may not understand it.
And help us trust, O God, that you will honor us.
Help us rediscover the joys of the secret place, closing that
door, meeting with you and believing that there is a reward
that awaits us. But we honor you tonight.
We give you all the glory and all the praise, and we ask and
pray for these things in Jesus name, Amen.
Amen. If the praise team can come up,
please, I want to invite you to just
take your time to seek the Lord this evening.
And this is the purpose of these Bible studies, not just to
accumulate knowledge and interesting connections in the
Bible, but for the Word to connect with your heart.
Ultimately, if you need to take some time before we even play,
if we can just get even just a minute of gentle music to just
focus our own hearts before the Lord, and then we'll stand and
sing and give him praise, can we do that?
Don't distract anybody to your left, to your right.
Just meet with your God and we will close soon.