1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,080 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:28,800 Second Kings chapter #4 I want to use an Old Testament story 8 00:00:28,800 --> 00:00:33,200 tonight that I think is I just love Old Testament stories. 9 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,240 I love the Kings and the prophets, I love Elijah. 10 00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:41,640 Elijah I if I had one favorite it would probably be Elijah. 11 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:45,800 I'm more like Elijah as far as let's just call fire down out of 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,680 heaven. But I also like Elijah. 13 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:52,920 My favorite on studying about leadership would be Moses. 14 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,560 So so those are so three of my favorite characters in the Old 15 00:00:57,560 --> 00:00:59,560 Testament. Jeremiah. 16 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:02,560 I cry every time I think about Jeremiah and what they put him 17 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:05,080 through. And and I'm preaching through 18 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,480 Jeremiah right now. Think I'm on about the fourth 19 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:10,360 message. I'll probably preach about 11 20 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:12,880 messages going through the historical aspects. 21 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,920 But over here in Second Kings chapter 4, we're in the northern 22 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:21,280 tribes of Israel. And I've always said that when 23 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,320 the northern, the northern tribes of Israel never had a 24 00:01:24,320 --> 00:01:29,160 good king, never the the southern tribes of Judah, they 25 00:01:29,160 --> 00:01:33,160 would have a good king and a bad king and maybe 2 good kings and 26 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:35,520 then bad kings and they went back and forth. 27 00:01:35,960 --> 00:01:41,400 But the but Israel to the north after Jeroboam and Rehoboam, the 28 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,600 split of the Kingdom, there was never a good king in the north. 29 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:49,160 In fact, they got somebody like Ahab and Jezebel. 30 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:55,360 So when Ahab and Jezebel comes on the scene, God puts Elijah on 31 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:58,120 the scene. So I like to say we're sin 32 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:00,200 abounds, grace much more abounds. 33 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:03,440 And so we think more about hopefully we think more about 34 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:07,760 Elijah than we do about Ahab and Jezebel. 35 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:13,600 But Elijah was the the understudy of Elijah. 36 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:18,440 He's the one that comes after, of course, Elijah and Elijah on 37 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,720 the day that he's getting ready to go up in a whirlwind, he 38 00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,960 said, Elijah said to Elijah, ask what thou wilt and I'll try to 39 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,840 do everything I can to see that it happens. 40 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,640 And he said, well, I want a double portion of thy spirit. 41 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:39,680 And so anyhow, OK, I just want to make sure. 42 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:41,040 I thought I heard something down there. 43 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:47,440 So they, they, he said, I want a double portion of my spirit. 44 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:51,040 And he said, well, if you're with me and and you, you, you 45 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,520 see me go up, then that'll happen. 46 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,440 And it did. And so Elijah has double the 47 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:01,120 miracles that Elijah ever had. So it's a fascinating story. 48 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:05,800 But in Second Kings Chapter 4, we have a story that where 49 00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:08,120 Elisha is the prophet of the day. 50 00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:11,800 Now let me let me do a little bit of a background if you were 51 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:15,240 to go back to chapter 3 and I'm not going to preach through 52 00:03:15,240 --> 00:03:19,760 this, but Jehoram is the king now over the northern tribes. 53 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:24,560 Jehoshaphat is the king in the southern tribes and there's a 54 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:28,760 war between them and Moab and and then there's another king. 55 00:03:28,760 --> 00:03:32,520 I think there's 4 kings that are involved in Chapter 3. 56 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,880 So think about this. If I was going to say in world 57 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:40,320 affairs, it would be like China, the US, Russia, all of these 58 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,120 world powers, because they were the world power, they were the, 59 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:48,280 the dominant power of the day. And Elisha got involved in it. 60 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:50,600 And the way I would look at it if you go back and read chapter 61 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:55,440 3 is I would say these kings owe everything to Elisha. 62 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:00,800 So think about that world stage, world power, Elisha's involved. 63 00:04:01,160 --> 00:04:05,240 And then all of a sudden we come to chapter 4 and now God is 64 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,240 going to tell us a story about a widow woman. 65 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:11,120 So let's go ahead and stand tonight in honor of God's word. 66 00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:12,800 We're not going to read the whole story. 67 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:14,720 I'm just going to read part of it and then we're going to look 68 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:20,279 rest of it in just a minute. Chapter 4, verse one. 69 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:23,760 Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the 70 00:04:23,760 --> 00:04:30,520 prophets of Elisha, saying, Thy servant, my husband is dead, and 71 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:34,880 thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord, And the 72 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:40,040 creditor is come to take unto him my two sons, to be bondsman. 73 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,280 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? 74 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:47,480 Tell me, what has thou in the house? 75 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:52,720 And she said, Thy handmaid hath not anything in the house. 76 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:58,200 Now you know she's a Baptist. Then there's a comma, and then 77 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,040 she's like, she goes, save a pot of oil. 78 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,240 Oh, yes, I have this pot of oil in my house. 79 00:05:05,960 --> 00:05:10,000 Then he said, go borrow the vessels abroad. 80 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:16,120 Of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels, borrow not a few. 81 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:18,760 Now, let's stop our reading there because we'll want to 82 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:22,320 catch up in just a few minutes. But I want you to notice here 83 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,480 that there's a woman who's in grave trouble. 84 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:31,520 She has two sons that are going to be sold into in. 85 00:05:31,520 --> 00:05:35,200 They're going to be sold into slavery because she had a debt 86 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:39,160 that she could not pay. Now, does that sound familiar? 87 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:42,360 Having debt that we cannot pay, what do we do? 88 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,400 Well, we're going to see what happens in this story tonight. 89 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:48,360 And I believe that you'll understand, hopefully that this 90 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:51,800 is a missions story. It's just told in a little 91 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,720 different way. Lord help us tonight as we look 92 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:58,800 at the story of the widow woman with the two sons and they are 93 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:03,440 about to be sold into slavery because she has a debt that she 94 00:06:03,440 --> 00:06:07,040 could not pay and their sons were going to be taken to pay 95 00:06:07,040 --> 00:06:10,000 the debt. I pray that we might understand 96 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,440 the the principle and the application that we'll be able 97 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:18,480 to make by the end of the message in Christ's name, Amen. 98 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:22,480 You may be seated. So when you look at chapter 3 99 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:24,760 verses chapter 4, here's what I come up with. 100 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,920 God is interested in world affairs, but God is also 101 00:06:29,920 --> 00:06:34,640 interested in individuals. So while God is intervening 102 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:39,160 through Elisha in chapter 3 with with the the the king of Moab, 103 00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:44,760 the king of Israel and the king of Judah in chapter 4, a widow 104 00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:49,120 woman comes to Elisha and says I'm in trouble. 105 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,920 I have a debt that I cannot pay Now, she said. 106 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,920 Now you know, my husband was a servant. 107 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:57,240 He was a man of God. He was in the school of the 108 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,280 prophets. And nowhere in the text does it 109 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:04,880 imply that that this debt that they owed was of any kind of sin 110 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:08,080 debt or any kind of something that was wrong. 111 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:12,680 It was basically as long as the man was alive and as long as he 112 00:07:12,680 --> 00:07:16,720 was in the school of the sons of the prophet, as long as he was 113 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,680 working and doing his business, he was able to pay the debt. 114 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:23,600 But now he has died, and you know it is. 115 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:26,120 It's tragic. You, you never know when you're 116 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:28,920 going to die. Nobody knows the day they're 117 00:07:28,920 --> 00:07:30,720 going to die. But here's what you need to 118 00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:34,000 understand about death. You need to be prepared for the 119 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:37,920 day that you do die. Now, again, I love the fact that 120 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:41,480 God is concerned with world affairs, but God is also 121 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:45,640 concerned with individuals like a woman who really is. 122 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,360 If I could put it in this way, it's like she's in Bible college 123 00:07:49,360 --> 00:07:51,040 with her husband. And of course, I know what 124 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:53,960 that's like because I left the military. 125 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:58,160 I had to left a good job, got paid every two weeks. 126 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,200 I knew that the paycheck was going to be there. 127 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,600 We left the military. We drove to Springfield, MO. 128 00:08:03,600 --> 00:08:06,440 I didn't have a job. I didn't have a prosper of a 129 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:08,440 job. I didn't know anybody there. 130 00:08:08,440 --> 00:08:12,600 There was no family that lived in Springfield, MO that I knew, 131 00:08:12,920 --> 00:08:17,480 but God provided along the way. And so I, I can't even, in fact, 132 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:21,560 I'll say it like this. Sometimes preachers are allowed 133 00:08:21,560 --> 00:08:24,800 to opt out of Social Security. And I was like, I'm not opting 134 00:08:24,800 --> 00:08:29,120 out of Social Security because if I die, all my wife is going 135 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:33,039 to have is my FedEx insurance and my Social Security that's 136 00:08:33,039 --> 00:08:35,760 going to help take care of my children and my wife. 137 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:38,679 Now I'm 65 and I can tell you, I'm glad I didn't opt out of 138 00:08:38,679 --> 00:08:41,280 Social Security because I'm about to collect. 139 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:46,680 Hopefully now my, my luck is, is I'll get, I'll pay for one year 140 00:08:46,680 --> 00:08:48,640 and I'll die of some disease or some, I don't know. 141 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:52,360 But anyhow, I, I remember looking at my Social Security 142 00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:55,400 and got, I got on my personal sheet and I looked at how much 143 00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:59,520 money I've paid in the Social Security since I was 14 years 144 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,840 old. I wished I'd had that money to 145 00:09:02,840 --> 00:09:06,240 invest myself. But anyhow, I don't, I, I just 146 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,120 know this, that the first time that I got my first paycheck at 147 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:13,360 at age 14, I wanted to know who FICA was. 148 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,040 Because FICA, whoever this dude was, was taking money out of my 149 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:20,360 check. I understood taxes, but I didn't 150 00:09:20,360 --> 00:09:22,600 understand who FICA is. And if you don't know who FICA 151 00:09:22,600 --> 00:09:24,080 is, you ought to go figure it out for yourself. 152 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:28,600 So here's a woman readying her life to be in the ministry as 153 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,920 her husband prepares in the school of the prophets. 154 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,120 And she says in the text to Elijah that her husband was a 155 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,520 man who feared God as he was preparing his life. 156 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:43,440 Then the Bible says he died totally unexpected. 157 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:45,840 Of course, we don't know how he died. 158 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:50,280 We just know that he died and in a position and she was in a 159 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:54,360 position that she had a debt that was way more than she could 160 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,760 pay. Now, you understand, this time, 161 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:00,480 this culture they lived in #1 there was there. 162 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:05,120 There could have been some allowances under the law for a 163 00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:06,960 widow. But listen, they didn't live 164 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,240 under the law because they're not living in the southern part 165 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:12,440 of Judah. They're living in the northern 166 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:15,400 tribes where bell worship is prevalent. 167 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:19,080 And before bell worship was prevalent, it was calf worship. 168 00:10:19,280 --> 00:10:22,280 And after bell worship, it'll go back to calf worship. 169 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:26,040 And after calf worship, you see, there's kings in the that they 170 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:29,600 saw that bail worship didn't work, so they go back to calf 171 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:32,040 worship. Then they realize calf worship 172 00:10:32,040 --> 00:10:34,440 don't work, so they go back to bail worship. 173 00:10:34,640 --> 00:10:39,720 And it's just a bunch of idle wickedness that's going on in 174 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:43,320 the northern tribes. So there was no, there was no 175 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:48,000 provision for a woman like this. She didn't have Social Security. 176 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:50,280 She didn't have governmental assistance. 177 00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:52,840 There was no life insurance policy. 178 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,520 And listen, you go back in our history, in our early days, 179 00:10:56,880 --> 00:11:00,840 there were deader prisons. I I went to North Carolina and 180 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:04,760 went on a Baptist history tour. And there are are there are 181 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,400 there were jails back in the day that if you didn't pay your 182 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:11,320 debts, you went to jail. I always wondered, how do they 183 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,160 ever expect them to pay the debt if they were in jail? 184 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:16,720 But they really didn't care because you either paid your 185 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:22,480 debt or you went to jail. Now, this woman in this culture 186 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:27,280 was going to lose her sons to slavery and we know that was 187 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,920 prevalent also in the culture that they were in. 188 00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:36,320 Now, I would like to also say that is why God today through 189 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,120 the New Testament takes great concern for the care of widows. 190 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:45,320 And if God take great takes great concern for the widows, it 191 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,200 would be good for us to do the same. 192 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:51,960 Our church actually does that in the sense that we have what's 193 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:56,200 called a golden acre properties. We have, I believe I'm going to 194 00:11:56,200 --> 00:12:00,400 say this right, 14, we have 14 units, we have 14 apartments. 195 00:12:00,880 --> 00:12:05,160 And the pastor before me had this burden that to, to help 196 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:10,000 widows and ministry related people and stuff like that. 197 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:14,080 And so we, when I was there in the, when I was there from 1986 198 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:18,800 to 1990, we actually built the first triple fourplex that were 199 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:23,880 one bedrooms and one duplex, 22 units that were two bedrooms 200 00:12:23,880 --> 00:12:27,520 each. And I remember in 1987 or 8, we 201 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:32,760 opened those up and widows filled all six positions. 202 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,520 So there were six, there were six apartments and every 203 00:12:36,520 --> 00:12:39,240 apartment was filled by a widow woman. 204 00:12:40,080 --> 00:12:45,480 And they all went in at that time for $285 a month. 205 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,200 And the idea is that the rent would never go up no matter 206 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:51,480 what. So whatever they went in at at 207 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,120 that time, it would stay that way for the rest of their life. 208 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:59,200 When I became the pastor in 2000, there was still one lady 209 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:03,840 living in one of the apartments for $285 a month. 210 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:07,560 And I think she lived about four or five years while I was her 211 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:10,080 pastor. And when she died, she was 212 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:15,240 paying $285 a month. And you know what the idea was? 213 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,120 Let's take care of the widows. Let's help as best as we can. 214 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:23,000 But, but unfortunately, the wicked kings of Israel had made 215 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:26,600 no provision for any type of help for someone like this. 216 00:13:26,920 --> 00:13:31,840 And the situation she found herself in was a dire situation 217 00:13:31,840 --> 00:13:33,120 here. Here's what I'd like to say. 218 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:38,760 She had a debt that she could not pay, and she was distressed 219 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:41,440 about her situation. Would we agree with that? 220 00:13:42,040 --> 00:13:43,640 First of all, her husband had died. 221 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,160 I, I've pastored widows and widowers for 30 something years. 222 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:52,880 You just never, you just never are ready to lose a mate. 223 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,120 It's, it's a devastating and, but the problem was when he 224 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:00,640 died, he left a debt that was probably, as I mentioned 225 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,640 earlier, not a problem as long as he was alive. 226 00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:06,760 And again, I don't believe it was a debt of sinful living. 227 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,160 If it was, I believe Elijah would have probably told us 228 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:11,760 that. But because here's what she told 229 00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,400 Elisha and Elisha agreed with us in the text. 230 00:14:14,760 --> 00:14:19,120 You know, my husband was a good man and you know he feared the 231 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:21,000 Lord. Now here's what I want you to 232 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:26,160 grab a hold of also, by her going to Elisha, she is in fact 233 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:31,560 going to God because she knows that Elisha is the man of God. 234 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:37,320 He is the prophet of the day. He is the emissary between many 235 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,400 of the people and God. He's the one that comes on the 236 00:14:40,400 --> 00:14:44,680 scene and says, hey, thus saith the Lord, you need to, you need 237 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:48,320 to get these things in order. And then she says this, and I'm 238 00:14:48,320 --> 00:14:50,320 just going to kind of paraphrase it if I could. 239 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,880 You know, my husband was in Bible college, you know, he was 240 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,040 in the prophet school. You know, we were raising these 241 00:14:57,040 --> 00:15:01,400 two boys and you know my husband Elijah, he was looking forward 242 00:15:01,640 --> 00:15:05,760 to going out and preaching. Thus saith the Lord, and 243 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:10,320 preaching against Baal worship and preaching against Jeroboam 244 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,000 like Elijah did against Ahab and Jezebel. 245 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:16,800 You know, my husband was that kind of guy. 246 00:15:17,120 --> 00:15:21,760 And now I need some help. My husband was burdened about 247 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:24,400 our land. He was burdened about Baal 248 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:26,720 worship. He had a burden and felt 249 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:29,400 obligated to preach the truth about Jehovah God. 250 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,280 And now look where I'm at. I need some help. 251 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,880 So she makes this appeal to God through Elisha. 252 00:15:36,600 --> 00:15:38,840 And I'd like to also say praise God. 253 00:15:38,840 --> 00:15:41,400 She had enough insight to know where to go to. 254 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,200 And here her sons are about to be taken into a slavery and she 255 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,320 appeals to God. Isn't it amazing today that 256 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:55,360 people in extreme crisis and circumstances that are bad, they 257 00:15:55,360 --> 00:16:02,000 turn to everybody but God? Drugs, alcohol, psychiatrist, 258 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:08,320 psychologist, TV commentators, Psalm, Psalm readers, psychics, 259 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:09,920 and you know what all that stuff does? 260 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:13,840 It makes the problem worse. You know what? 261 00:16:13,840 --> 00:16:17,200 We need God every day. We need God every day. 262 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:22,640 So the story tells us that Eliza asked her What shall I do for 263 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:24,440 thee? Now, when I first read that, 264 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:27,640 I'll be honest with you, I thought, boy, he's like, his 265 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:29,360 idea was like, what do you want me to do about it? 266 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:31,960 Because I say that to my wife all the time. 267 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:34,680 When she tells me something, I go, what do you want me to do 268 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,120 about it? I can't do anything about it. 269 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:41,080 The idea, though, is not that that way. 270 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:46,080 That's not the idea. The idea is this God, what can 271 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:48,520 we do? What can you do? 272 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:55,240 How can I help to show this lady and her two sons that God is 273 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:58,640 real and God? How can, how can we increase her 274 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:04,079 faith not only for her, but her, for her sons and those that come 275 00:17:04,079 --> 00:17:06,280 after them? You know, listen, these stories 276 00:17:06,280 --> 00:17:10,040 were told generation after generation after generation. 277 00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,960 Can you imagine these two boys when they would have children 278 00:17:13,960 --> 00:17:16,920 and grandchildren and they'd say, come and sit and listen to 279 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:20,720 what grandpa has to say about what God did in my life? 280 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:25,160 Because if God didn't intervene, they were going to live a 281 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:27,480 destitute life. She was going to live a life 282 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:31,560 without her sons, no way to make a living, and she was going to 283 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:34,720 be in real trouble. So what did he use in this 284 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:35,920 matter? What it what is? 285 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,280 And let me say it like this, not only does God teach them 286 00:17:39,280 --> 00:17:40,880 something, He taught me something. 287 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:44,400 And if he teaches me something, he can teach you something. 288 00:17:44,680 --> 00:17:48,080 And that is he can take a widow woman with two sons that are 289 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:51,320 about to be taken away from her. And the question that he asked 290 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,480 her is what the what do you have in your house? 291 00:17:54,880 --> 00:18:02,000 And and then she says, well, nothing really, but save a pot 292 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,720 of oil. I do have this little pot of 293 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:07,560 oil. So I believe tonight as we close 294 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:11,680 out the mission conference, the question he asked her is not 295 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,600 only a good question for her, but it is a good question for 296 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:16,000 us. What do you have in your house? 297 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:19,960 Because God's not going to ask you to give what you don't have. 298 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:22,960 He's going to 1st ask you to give what you do have. 299 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,440 What do you have in your house? Now we, we know that she was a 300 00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,040 Baptist because she said I don't have anything in the house 301 00:18:32,280 --> 00:18:36,080 except the pot of oil. So Elisha gives her some 302 00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:41,920 instructions and I want you to look at verse #3 I want you to 303 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:45,440 see the instructions. Then he said, go borrow the 304 00:18:45,440 --> 00:18:48,480 vessels of abroad, of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels, 305 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,680 borrow not a few. Now let's just think about this. 306 00:18:51,080 --> 00:18:54,120 I have an imagination. I read a book one time about 307 00:18:54,120 --> 00:18:56,600 Warren, Weirsby said you need to preach with imagination. 308 00:18:56,600 --> 00:18:58,600 Or so I do. I think about these things. 309 00:18:59,120 --> 00:19:03,240 So I'm just imagining that this instruction of verse #3 he says, 310 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:04,520 now listen, what do you have in your house? 311 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:07,360 He doesn't say anything. He, he didn't say, oh, oh, you 312 00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:09,160 got a pot of oil in your house. A little pot of oil. 313 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:10,240 OK, here's what I want you to do. 314 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:13,400 I want you to go to the villages around, the neighbors around. 315 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,080 I want you to borrow vessels. Don't borrow a few bar as many 316 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:19,440 as you possibly can and just borrow as many you can. 317 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,320 So she says two or two sons. Now here's what we're going to 318 00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,000 do. We're going to go borrow 319 00:19:24,000 --> 00:19:26,600 vessels, not a few. Now, here's what I'm thinking. 320 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:28,640 The two boys are thinking. Mom's lost their mind. 321 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:30,920 She's having a nervous breakdown. 322 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:33,200 This ain't good. Dad's died. 323 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:35,440 We're about to be sold into slavery, and she wants us to go 324 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:37,400 out and borrow vessels. What good's that going to do? 325 00:19:37,720 --> 00:19:39,960 All we got's this little pot of oil in the house. 326 00:19:40,240 --> 00:19:42,240 We're toast. We're dead meat. 327 00:19:42,800 --> 00:19:45,120 But they do. Do what the man of God says. 328 00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:46,680 Let me tell you something. Do what God says. 329 00:19:47,560 --> 00:19:50,000 When God says tie, tie. When God says give offerings, 330 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,040 give offerings. When God says children obey your 331 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:54,760 parents, Children obey your parents. 332 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,560 When God tells you to do something, do it and it'll 333 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:00,600 always come out better than if you don't do it. 334 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,360 So they go knock on the door. And I like to think of them 335 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:06,280 knocking on the door and they look and a woman looks through 336 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:07,720 the little peephole. You know what I'm saying? 337 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:11,000 Look through the little peephole and, and, and the man says, who 338 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,000 is it, Martha? And she said, Jacob, it's him. 339 00:20:13,000 --> 00:20:13,800 Two boys. What? 340 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:17,080 2 boys, you know those two boys that their daddy died and 341 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:18,880 they're about to get sold into slavery. 342 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,000 Oh, what do they want? Well, I don't know what they 343 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:24,120 want, Jacob. We'll open the door, Martha, and 344 00:20:24,120 --> 00:20:27,280 see what they want. So she opens the door and the 345 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,880 two boys said, my Mama has given us instructions through the man 346 00:20:31,880 --> 00:20:33,920 of God that we need to borrow some vessels. 347 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,320 Now, let me let me tell you, when you say borrow, do you know 348 00:20:37,320 --> 00:20:39,640 what that means? That means you're going to 349 00:20:39,640 --> 00:20:41,440 return the vessel. All right. 350 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:43,720 You don't borrow something and then keep it. 351 00:20:43,720 --> 00:20:46,920 That'd be stealing. Amen. 352 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:52,080 We want to borrow some vessels. So they go into the backroom and 353 00:20:52,080 --> 00:20:54,560 they maybe get a couple of vessels that they can borrow. 354 00:20:54,880 --> 00:21:00,080 And of course they put, they put a duct tape on the bottom of it 355 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:01,920 and they put their name on it because that's what everybody 356 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,920 does when they go to a potluck supper, you know, because God 357 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,640 forbid you'd ever lose that thing you've had for 25 years. 358 00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:11,000 You know, you can never lose that pot or whatever it is. 359 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,800 So they put it on the bottom of it and they and they do this, 360 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:19,040 they go from house to house to house to house and they do 361 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,320 exactly what the man of God told them to do. 362 00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:24,600 That was the instructions they were given. 363 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:29,080 Now, how many would think with me that's, that's really weird 364 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,120 instructions. But I would say this, it's no 365 00:21:33,120 --> 00:21:36,360 weirder than God telling the church going to all the world 366 00:21:36,360 --> 00:21:38,680 and preach the gospel to every creature. 367 00:21:40,360 --> 00:21:43,640 The world thinks that's weird, but that's what the command is. 368 00:21:44,360 --> 00:21:47,640 So there's no difference really when it comes to difficult 369 00:21:47,640 --> 00:21:50,560 commandments or maybe things that are hard to understand. 370 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,240 We are not to question God. God we don't. 371 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:56,640 God doesn't owe us an explanation. 372 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,280 We're going to answer to God. He's not going to answer to us. 373 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:03,000 So, So he gives her these instructions. 374 00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:07,000 They go out into the they God gave the command and then God 375 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:10,480 enabled them, even if it seemed like a strange request. 376 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:13,600 So let's stop for a minute and see if we can understand the New 377 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,240 Testament application. Her problem was she had a debt 378 00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:19,360 she could not pay. Now we've looked at Wednesday 379 00:22:19,360 --> 00:22:22,400 night and Thursday night and Friday night saying we have a 380 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:25,960 debt that we cannot pay. Our debt is the salvation that 381 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:29,640 we have in Jesus Christ, Paul said in Romans 114. 382 00:22:30,360 --> 00:22:35,200 I am a debtor to I'm a debtor both to the Greeks and also to 383 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:39,520 the Barbarians, both to the wise and to the unwise. 384 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:42,200 Meaning you and I owe a debt to the gospel. 385 00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:45,720 You owe a debt to the gospel. I owe a debt to the gospel, Paul 386 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,640 said in First Corinthians 9/19. For though I be free from all 387 00:22:49,640 --> 00:22:52,800 men, yet have I made myself a servant unto all that I might 388 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:53,720 gain. The more. 389 00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:57,480 So the orders that Elisha gave the widow were no stranger than 390 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:01,720 the orders God has given us to go into all the world and preach 391 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:05,160 the gospel to every creature. This woman owed a debt. 392 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:09,160 She had to pay the debt, or she or her sons were going to be 393 00:23:09,720 --> 00:23:13,600 sold into slavery. Now what she did was she. 394 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:17,480 She followed the instructions, but she did it based upon faith. 395 00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:22,880 She believed God. Without faith it is impossible 396 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:28,080 to to please God. Without faith it is impossible 397 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:31,560 to please God. Faith is the substance of things 398 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,880 hoped for. What is she hoping for? 399 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:36,680 That her sons would not be sold into slavery. 400 00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,760 The evidence of things not seen this there was substance to what 401 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:45,480 God said, but she had to believe God and she had to do God and 402 00:23:45,480 --> 00:23:48,480 she had to trust God that God was going to take care of her 403 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:51,720 situation. This woman owed a great debt and 404 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:55,000 she was given instructions that really didn't make any sense. 405 00:23:55,360 --> 00:23:58,200 And we owe a debt and we have to pay that debt. 406 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,840 And we've been given instructions that by the world 407 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:04,400 standards would be strange. But by faith we are to carry out 408 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:06,720 those instructions by our faith promise. 409 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:10,280 And seeing people called a pretty tight, you owe a debt to 410 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:13,840 this city. You owe a debt to this state. 411 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:17,400 Now, when it's New England, I would say you, you know, when I 412 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,240 think about Missouri, Missouri's probably bigger than all the New 413 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,520 England states put together. It's, it's a massive, if you go 414 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:28,440 to Saint Joe, Missouri and drive all the way to the Boot Hill, 415 00:24:28,440 --> 00:24:32,120 it'll take you about 6 hours or 7 hours to drive that distance. 416 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:33,880 You can do that. You can drive all the New 417 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,320 England states in no time. You owe a debt to the New 418 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:42,560 England states. This, this area needs a good 419 00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,920 fundamental independent, Bible believing churches and then we 420 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:48,960 could look at the responsibility that we have as a nation. 421 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:52,600 Someone was telling me there's about 350 million people in 422 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:55,280 America and 1/3 of them live in this corridor. 423 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:01,000 Isn't that amazing? She had a problem, but God has a 424 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,440 plan. God always has a plan. 425 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:08,640 God's plan is, and it involved faith. 426 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:11,320 God's plan is a lot like the plan that God had for the widow. 427 00:25:11,640 --> 00:25:13,920 The debt we have is much bigger than we are. 428 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,360 However, God didn't ask her to do what she couldn't do. 429 00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:19,520 God asked her to do what she could do. 430 00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:21,480 Now we she could go out and borrow vessels. 431 00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:25,480 So they go out and borrow vessels take. 432 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:27,800 And then she said this. Look at the second instruction 433 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:32,440 found in verse #5 I'm sorry, verse #4 He says, Now when you 434 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:37,000 borrow all these vessels in verse 3, when thou art come in, 435 00:25:37,000 --> 00:25:40,960 thou shalt shut the door upon thee and thy sons, and thou 436 00:25:40,960 --> 00:25:45,160 shalt pour out unto all those vessels, and thou shalt set 437 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:49,720 aside that which is full the second so, So now they're done 438 00:25:50,280 --> 00:25:55,240 going to Martha's and Jacobs and Mary's and all the people that 439 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,200 they can gather this, this, this, these vessels. 440 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:00,480 Now they come in. He says now I want you to take 441 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:03,000 that little pot of oil because you said you had a pot of oil 442 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,800 and we all have something in fact to be truthful with you, I 443 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:09,960 think we have more than we can even imagine. 444 00:26:10,640 --> 00:26:14,200 We have more than the whole we have more than most of the 445 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:20,360 world. So he said take what you have 446 00:26:20,400 --> 00:26:23,360 pot of oil and then I want you to come in here and I want you 447 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:27,560 to pour that oil in them vessels so I can imagine they were like 448 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:29,880 clay pots. You know that you think about 449 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,400 when Jesus turned the water into wine and they poured the water 450 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,080 in it and you know all of that. So I'm thinking of in perkin 451 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:38,400 pots, you know that kind of vessel. 452 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:41,960 So they come in and they might have been small vessels and big 453 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,360 vessels and large vessels and she might have been even said, 454 00:26:45,360 --> 00:26:47,800 let's start off with a small vessel, you know, Little 1. 455 00:26:48,200 --> 00:26:51,680 So she starts pouring it in there and pouring it in there 456 00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:56,680 and all of a sudden the 1st the pot is full and she slides it 457 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:58,080 over the side. She said to her son. 458 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:00,120 Now there's three of them in the room, right? 459 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:03,120 And most people lived in one room houses in those days, you 460 00:27:03,120 --> 00:27:06,320 understand that they would have a fireplace and they would have 461 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,480 their beds. Parents would sleep on one side, 462 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:13,000 the children on the other. And so they're in this house. 463 00:27:13,000 --> 00:27:16,480 There's the doors closed because because that was instruction. 464 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:23,960 Close the door, go all the way till it clicks, lock it because 465 00:27:23,960 --> 00:27:25,520 I want God. I want you to see what God's 466 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:28,040 about to do. So the first boy, of course, he 467 00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:30,920 would take the pot and she would say to the second boy or pour it 468 00:27:30,920 --> 00:27:32,600 in here. And the woman keeps pouring it. 469 00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:34,400 They keep doing this. They keep doing this. 470 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:37,720 I mean, they, their eyeballs got to be coming out of their heads 471 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,880 by now because each vessel just keeps getting full and keeps 472 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:43,040 getting full. They come to the last vessel. 473 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:44,520 You know what happened on the last vessel? 474 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:49,400 Drip, drip. Because she said, give me 475 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,240 another vessel, Mom, there's no more vessels. 476 00:27:56,040 --> 00:27:58,560 Now, I'd like to practically think that if she had gotten 477 00:27:58,560 --> 00:28:01,800 more vessels, should have got more oil. 478 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:09,120 But at some point it stopped and she's like, Oh my, look what we 479 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:10,680 have before her. All right, look at the next 480 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:14,840 verse. And it came to pass when the 481 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:19,640 vessels were full that she said under her son, bring me yet a 482 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:21,200 vessel. And he said, hey, Mama, there 483 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:22,760 ain't no more vessels. And that's how we set in 484 00:28:22,760 --> 00:28:26,080 Tennessee. Now here it says there's not a 485 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,440 vessel more. And then I like what it says 486 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:35,040 after the and the oil stayed. So then she runs to the man of 487 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,200 God and she says, hey, this is what happened. 488 00:28:39,200 --> 00:28:43,720 What do I do now? And he said, go sell the oil, 489 00:28:45,240 --> 00:28:50,600 pay the debt, go sell the oil, pay the debt. 490 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:54,480 So she went into the Exxon on oil business. 491 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:56,800 Actually it was not that kind of oil. 492 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:00,160 We know it was olive oil, but that was, listen, you go to the 493 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:05,120 Middle East, olive oil is a very prominent product in that part 494 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:11,240 of the world. And and it, and she sold it and 495 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,760 she made money and she paid the debt. 496 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:20,160 You see, that's what we do. We take what God has given us. 497 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:26,200 We believe God by faith. We pay our debt to the gospel. 498 00:29:27,280 --> 00:29:31,000 Now let me give you a couple of things here before we close this 499 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:32,200 up, because I think you've got the ideas. 500 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:35,440 Everybody got the idea. Number one, if she'd have had, 501 00:29:35,480 --> 00:29:37,720 if she'd have borrowed more vessels than she would have had 502 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,640 she'd gotten more oil, if she'd have gotten more oil than she 503 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,440 would have gotten more money because the law of sowing and 504 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,560 reapers is a law of nature. That is undeniable. 505 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,560 So the question for us tonight is what do you have in your 506 00:29:49,560 --> 00:29:51,080 house? Now, most people might be 507 00:29:51,080 --> 00:29:52,880 sitting here thinking, well, Friedre, I don't really have 508 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:53,520 much. Really. 509 00:29:53,520 --> 00:29:56,640 What about your talents? Does everybody ever think about 510 00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,080 that? What about your job that you 511 00:29:59,080 --> 00:30:00,520 have you ever thought about that? 512 00:30:00,760 --> 00:30:04,200 How about your children? How many is willing to give 513 00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:07,640 their children back to God instead of treat instead of 514 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,920 treating them like some idol that many parents do? 515 00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,640 I'm just saying to you, I didn't realize this till after I was 516 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:17,680 called to preach. But my mom and dad, when I was 517 00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:19,880 18 months old, I was on my deathbed. 518 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:22,840 I was very asthmatic. I was born early. 519 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,480 I didn't have any lung capacity. My lungs were didn't have any 520 00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:28,320 lungs. And my wife thinks it's so funny 521 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:30,720 now because she said there ain't nothing wrong with your lungs. 522 00:30:30,720 --> 00:30:35,640 Now she says you I can't even I can't even sit in the same room 523 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:38,160 when you're talking on the phone, especially with Dave 524 00:30:38,160 --> 00:30:41,160 McCracken because you, like, you guys are like 2 old women. 525 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,760 Y'all just yap and yap and yap. I said, well, at least you know, 526 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:46,360 old women are the one that yap say man. 527 00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:51,040 And so I was 18 months old. The doctor comes in and had me 528 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:54,440 in an oxygen tent. And the doctor said you need to 529 00:30:54,440 --> 00:30:57,040 just be willing to give your son up tonight because I don't think 530 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:00,840 he can live through the night. And so my mom and dad, and they 531 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,520 never told me this till after I was saved and called a preach. 532 00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:06,240 But but they got on their knees and they just prayed. 533 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:09,760 Well, if God, if you're going to take him, just take him and use 534 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:13,960 him for whatever. And then when I was 25 years old 535 00:31:13,960 --> 00:31:17,280 and I called my dad was the last person I wanted to tell that I 536 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:19,640 was going to be a preacher because I knew this was not 537 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,480 going to go good. I'm just, I'm just telling you, 538 00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:24,200 I know my dad. We've always kind of had that. 539 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:28,600 We had AI mean it was like we were we were never like the best 540 00:31:28,600 --> 00:31:29,880 of buds. That was my brother. 541 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,960 I was the black sheep of the family and that that's but 542 00:31:32,960 --> 00:31:36,080 anyhow, I got saved and God called me to preach and then I 543 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:37,480 called my dad. You know what my dad said? 544 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:39,280 He goes well, I was wondering when it's going to happen and 545 00:31:39,280 --> 00:31:43,640 I'm like, what totally messed me up in my mind because I thought 546 00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:45,680 he was going to like, well, you know, preacher, they starved to 547 00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:47,040 death. And as you can see, I hadn't 548 00:31:47,040 --> 00:31:50,040 starved to death. God's taken care of us the whole 549 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:54,000 way, but I, I, I'm just, that just blew my mind. 550 00:31:54,000 --> 00:31:56,400 So I'm just saying, you know, why don't, why don't you don't 551 00:31:56,400 --> 00:31:58,040 wait till your kids are on their deathbed. 552 00:31:58,040 --> 00:32:01,040 Go ahead and give them to the Lord right now by faith. 553 00:32:01,040 --> 00:32:04,560 My mom and dad gave their boy to God and he said it's really all 554 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:06,120 we got. And that's, that's the reason 555 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,720 I'm preaching today. I had a knuckle that's just 556 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:12,120 under my dad. They, my dad was, he was two 557 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:15,200 years younger than my dad. And toward the end of his life, 558 00:32:15,200 --> 00:32:19,760 me and my wife went out to Phoenix, AZ and I met I, I spent 559 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:21,120 about four or five hours with him. 560 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,160 We talked about all of our family, everything. 561 00:32:23,480 --> 00:32:25,920 And not about halfway through it, I, I was like, are you my 562 00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:28,360 dad? Because you're more, I'm more 563 00:32:28,360 --> 00:32:32,040 like you than I am like my dad. And it was just, it was just a 564 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:33,800 weird thing. And I know that happens in 565 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,920 families, but he assured me that I, he was not my dad. 566 00:32:36,920 --> 00:32:39,800 He was my uncle. But I'm just telling you, if you 567 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:42,760 look around your house, I think we probably could discover that 568 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:44,800 God's been better to us than we realize. 569 00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,080 And you need to know that God is first going to hold you 570 00:32:48,080 --> 00:32:51,480 accountable for what you do have and what He's given you. 571 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:55,320 And then God's plan is for us to use what we have and then add 572 00:32:55,320 --> 00:32:58,800 faith to it. And when we we when we do that, 573 00:32:58,800 --> 00:33:02,920 God will work out his plan for His glory and for his honor. 574 00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:04,200 Well, preacher, I just don't know. 575 00:33:04,200 --> 00:33:07,240 I don't have much oil. Well, you got some oil. 576 00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:12,120 Now let's go back to the story, because remember, they were 577 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:15,320 borrowed vessels. Back to the imagination. 578 00:33:15,560 --> 00:33:19,880 They were barred vessels, right? So, Kim, two boys have to go 579 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:24,320 back after they sell the oil. They know whose it is because 580 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:26,840 the masking tape's on the bottom of the ball of the lane, and 581 00:33:26,840 --> 00:33:29,440 it's got the name on it, Jacob and Martha. 582 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:34,120 So they go knock on that door. Martha opens a little slit. 583 00:33:35,440 --> 00:33:38,440 Jacob goes, who is it, Martha? Martha goes, it's him. 584 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:41,240 Two boys. You means the ones that was 585 00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:43,840 going to be sold into slavery and they came by and barred 586 00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:44,560 them. Vessels. 587 00:33:44,840 --> 00:33:47,200 Yeah, that's them. What do they want? 588 00:33:47,200 --> 00:33:48,120 I don't know. They're outside. 589 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:49,560 Well, open the door and let them in. 590 00:33:50,520 --> 00:33:54,320 So Martha opens the door. They step in and they say, we've 591 00:33:54,480 --> 00:33:58,560 come to bring back your vessels. Now, you know what you call 592 00:33:58,560 --> 00:34:00,400 this? You call this a testimony. 593 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:04,920 They're testifying to what God has done. 594 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:08,040 And they said, well, let me tell you what God did. 595 00:34:08,800 --> 00:34:11,440 We had this little pot of oil and we poured it into these 596 00:34:11,440 --> 00:34:16,080 vessels and the oil stayed. And we sold the oil and paid the 597 00:34:16,080 --> 00:34:18,679 debt. And my mom is going to be able 598 00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:20,480 to have her two sons. And we're going to be able to go 599 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,360 out and work and take care of our mother because that's what 600 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:25,639 they did. And you should take care of your 601 00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:27,800 mother. Somebody say Amen. 602 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:30,120 So I'm just telling you that's what happened. 603 00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,560 They gave a testimony. You know what happens when you 604 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:35,520 give the faith promise or when you preach? 605 00:34:35,520 --> 00:34:37,560 We give a testimony. Let me tell you what God's done. 606 00:34:37,560 --> 00:34:39,840 I've told you several testimonies this week. 607 00:34:40,120 --> 00:34:42,360 Well, let me give you let me give you a Bible testimony. 608 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:47,080 Have you ever heard about a little boy that when there was a 609 00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:50,239 multiplicity of people and Jesus said, I want y'all to all sit 610 00:34:50,239 --> 00:34:53,199 down and there's over 5000 that need to be fed. 611 00:34:53,199 --> 00:34:55,440 And Jesus said, well what, what do we, what do we have? 612 00:34:55,840 --> 00:34:58,400 And they said not much. And they said, well, we do have 613 00:34:58,400 --> 00:35:00,200 5 loaves. This little boy's got 5 loaves 614 00:35:00,200 --> 00:35:03,320 and two fishes. All right, why don't you sit 615 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,280 down and we'll have some faith and have a word of prayer and 616 00:35:06,280 --> 00:35:11,640 we'll distribute 5 loaves and two fishes to 5000. 617 00:35:12,440 --> 00:35:15,240 Now when they, when they use the word 5000, that was probably 618 00:35:15,240 --> 00:35:18,760 just the men, which means that there was could have been up to 619 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:23,040 15,000 people there because you know, there's a mom and a dad 620 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:26,240 and 1.3 children. I always wondered how they did 621 00:35:26,240 --> 00:35:30,280 that. Well, the average is in America 622 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:33,480 is 2.8 children. I don't want an eighth of a 623 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:37,160 child. But you know what God can do? 624 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:40,560 He can take whatever, whatever you have, no matter how small it 625 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:42,880 is and multiply it to what He desires. 626 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,760 What if the widow was not willing to obey God? 627 00:35:48,120 --> 00:35:50,920 Is everybody getting this? The debt would not have been 628 00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,200 paid or children would have been sold into slavery and she would 629 00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:56,520 have lived a life of destitution. 630 00:35:57,280 --> 00:35:59,440 Instead God. God got her into the old 631 00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:03,560 business and paid her debt and she kept her children. 632 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:07,280 What will happen if we do not give what God tells us to give 633 00:36:07,280 --> 00:36:08,200 in faith? Promise. 634 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:11,560 Well let me just tell you because this is the way I like 635 00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:14,200 to put it. People will die and go to hell 636 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:18,400 because their their debt is too large for them to pay and God 637 00:36:18,400 --> 00:36:21,360 will not get the glory as He sews desires through your faith. 638 00:36:22,080 --> 00:36:24,720 Now I, I tell you, these boys probably think it when they went 639 00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:27,800 out that their mom had lost her ever loving mind. 640 00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:30,440 But it was all said and done. You know what they said? 641 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:32,240 Well, I'm sure glad Mama followed God. 642 00:36:33,480 --> 00:36:36,840 And right before their very eyes, God did something that 643 00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:46,120 nobody could even imagine. We've last last June. 644 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:48,360 We have our vacation Bible school in June. 645 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:51,840 I love vacation Bible school. It's one of my favorite weeks. 646 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:55,240 I love it. I don't understand people who 647 00:36:55,240 --> 00:36:56,880 don't like vacation Bible school. 648 00:36:57,680 --> 00:36:59,120 I love it. I do the pig game. 649 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:02,080 It's my I hope I get to do it again. 650 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:04,960 You know, I didn't get to do it this year because I had surgery 651 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:10,080 and I'm just saying we, we have, we'll go out into the community. 652 00:37:10,080 --> 00:37:12,920 We buy people. And three, we had three bus 653 00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:15,360 kids. That's what I call stuck. 654 00:37:16,520 --> 00:37:23,800 And they, they, they came on the bus and pretty, pretty hard life 655 00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:28,080 pretty hard. The family they live in is, is, 656 00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:33,560 it's, it's not ideal. It's not, you know, like we're 657 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:36,000 supposed to enjoy. And they're bus kids. 658 00:37:37,000 --> 00:37:40,880 And one of them is got to make sure I get this right. 1 is now 659 00:37:40,880 --> 00:37:46,240 1611 is 1 is 18, one is 16 and one is 14. 660 00:37:47,240 --> 00:37:52,560 The 18 year old got saved first, the 16 year old got saved next. 661 00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:54,080 This is all within a year and a half. 662 00:37:54,640 --> 00:37:58,560 And just last Sunday night I baptized the 14 year old who got 663 00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:00,840 saved. And they're sticking, They're 664 00:38:00,840 --> 00:38:04,080 coming. And Angie Schrope and the Butch 665 00:38:04,080 --> 00:38:06,400 who are missionaries out of our church and they are in 666 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:09,920 Australia, they are having their 25th anniversary. 667 00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:13,200 And they and they and they, the place that they wanted to spend 668 00:38:13,200 --> 00:38:15,520 their anniversary was, was in Springfield because her mom and 669 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:17,520 dad lived there and the church is there. 670 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:21,280 So they came home for three weeks, 2 with us and then they 671 00:38:21,280 --> 00:38:25,360 were anyhow, they come home and Angie Shrope is a bus kid. 672 00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:29,400 She, she's a bus kid now. She's a missionary's wife on the 673 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:33,200 foreign field. And when Angie saw those two 674 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:36,760 girls, she said I got to have my picture with them. 675 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:41,920 And she wanted them to know, listen, I was a bus kid too, and 676 00:38:42,520 --> 00:38:45,720 you can do it. And I've already told my wife, I 677 00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:49,680 said if, if one of them wants to go to Heartland, if we have to, 678 00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:53,480 if we have to pay for ourself, I want to make sure she goes 679 00:38:54,920 --> 00:39:01,320 because because we got a debt bigger than we can pay. 680 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:06,080 And if we can help people like that, then that's what we need 681 00:39:06,080 --> 00:39:10,400 to do. So let me ask you this, what do 682 00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:14,320 you have in your house? What is it that you can give God 683 00:39:14,320 --> 00:39:17,640 by faith? So it's not it's not just it's 684 00:39:17,640 --> 00:39:20,480 not just the story here, but there's real life stories like 685 00:39:20,480 --> 00:39:23,040 those bus bus kids. We call them bus kids. 686 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:25,080 We probably shouldn't. I don't know what else to call 687 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:25,760 them. They're bus kids. 688 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:30,000 They come on the bus. Their parents don't come. 689 00:39:30,000 --> 00:39:32,160 They don't even know who their dad is their their mom. 690 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:34,320 Their mom has nothing to do with church. 691 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:37,560 But here's what I want to and I told her I helped him one time. 692 00:39:37,560 --> 00:39:40,360 Listen to this. I helped him with a issue, issue 693 00:39:40,360 --> 00:39:42,720 helped them. And I told the mother, I said 694 00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:46,720 I'm not doing this for you. If it was just you, I wouldn't 695 00:39:46,720 --> 00:39:49,200 help you at all. I'm doing this for your kids 696 00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:53,640 because I love those kids and they have a heart for God and, 697 00:39:53,640 --> 00:39:57,600 and, and I want, I want to see God use them for his honor and 698 00:39:57,600 --> 00:39:59,520 for his glory. And you say you wouldn't have 699 00:39:59,520 --> 00:40:00,640 helped? Nope, I wouldn't have. 700 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:04,600 She's old enough to have a job. She ought to go out and get one, 701 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:07,240 and she has now. And I told her you need to get a 702 00:40:07,240 --> 00:40:09,440 job. You're you're able bodied and 703 00:40:09,440 --> 00:40:10,600 you know, you know what? You know what? 704 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:14,440 Take care of a lot of stuff JOBWORK. 705 00:40:17,160 --> 00:40:20,920 You and I know a debt we cannot play, but God has a plan, plan 706 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,760 for us to pay our debt. Give your life, give your money, 707 00:40:23,760 --> 00:40:26,360 give your talents, give whatever you have and give it to God in 708 00:40:26,360 --> 00:40:29,840 your debt can be paid. Our debt is great and our 709 00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:34,080 resources are small, but we must ask what do we have? 710 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:38,680 And if we give what we have by faith, then we can do. 711 00:40:38,680 --> 00:40:40,960 Watch God do what you can't even imagine. 712 00:40:42,280 --> 00:40:44,800 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 713 00:40:44,800 --> 00:40:47,720 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 714 00:40:47,720 --> 00:40:51,200 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 715 00:40:51,200 --> 00:40:55,800 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 716 00:40:56,080 --> 00:41:00,640 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 717 00:41:00,640 --> 00:41:03,440 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 718 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:04,640 grow in His Word.