Good to see you all again. So
I was talking with somebody earlier
and I said, I'm glad we're friends. I got enough enemies in this
world, me being number one, but I'm thankful to call you all
friends. If you will turn to Luke chapter
12. This won't be our text, but I think you'll see where I got
my text from. There's so many hard things in this world that
we don't understand and the Lord's ways are not our ways. And how
he does things isn't the way I thought would come to pass
and how in your life too, there's things that takes place and you
say, well, how, how could this be good? We believe him, but
we don't understand things sometimes, do we? And, uh, let's think of
those, all those children down in Texas that just got washed
away. It seems like a dark thing. A
ravenous thing. And we say, how could this be
good? How could this be used? But so it is if we don't understand
that the Lord's word is still true, isn't it? Here in Luke
12, it said that there was a great innumerable multitude gathered.
That's a whole bunch of people. But he began first speaking to
his disciples. I want to talk to believers today.
Everybody else can listen in if you ain't. But I want to talk
to God's people today. And I pray he'll be with us.
My family and I, we've been through some big changes in this last
year, certainly the last two months and last week, and moving
across the country, and that can make anybody get on edge. You go through big trials in
your life, you get anxious, and you worry, and believers experience
those things. Believers get anxious sometimes,
and we worry about things, and we get troubled, and we're not
stone-cold robots, right? We're alive too. I'll give you
my bottom line up front. If you don't get anything else,
this is the point I'm trying to make. When you're anxious,
when you're troubled, when you're worried, when you just don't
know what's going on, you don't understand things, everything
seems so dark. Consider the ravens. Go outside and go look at a crow
in a field. It'll do you good. It will. Consider the ravens. And ravens
used in Providence, we're going to see today, to care for the
Lord's people. It seems something so dark and
miserable and useless. And that's what the Lord used
to feed Elijah. And then you think of those dark
ravens that's against us in a bad way, stealing our food. The Lord
uses those. And then we see all those things
in that dark ravens, those wicked hands, and that was us. that
nailed him to that tree, and he put those enemies away, and
he commands them. The Lord's in control of everything.
He's on his throne, and for his people, he shed his blood. He
was the propitiation, an accepted, bloody sacrifice for his people.
And so now, he's risen. That sacrifice was accepted.
It's finished. And so he's just working these
things out for our good, for us, we'll see later at the end.
I'm giving you the whole thing up front. At the end, we're going
to be conformed to his image. We are predestined to be conformed
to his image, to be made like Christ. That's what that word
means. You want to be made like Christ? That's what he's doing. We don't
understand it. It ain't the way we would do
it, but that's what he's doing. And so in those times when you
don't understand, those times when you're anxious and you just,
what am I going to do? Consider the rapists. The heading here
in Luke 12, we'll look at verse 22. My heading in my Bible says
teaching about anxiety, and I looked in another one of my Bibles,
and it said a cure for anxiety. So we'll see what he says here.
Verse 22, and he said unto his disciples, he's speaking to his
people, therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your
life, what you shall eat, neither for the body, what you shall
put on, the life. Now he ain't talking about your
life, he's talking about the life. Not a life, not this life, but
the life. The life is more than meat, and
the body more than raiment. The God of heaven and earth is
about to give some instruction to these believers, and he's
about to give instruction to me and you, concerning this fleshly
experience of life that we have, and how it applies to us today,
but especially how this applies through eternity. He says in
verse 24, he gives this instruction, consider the ravens. For they
neither sow nor reap, which neither have a storehouse nor barn, and
God feedeth them. That's an unclean bird. That's
something that eats dead things. They steal, they're conniving.
God feeds them. How much more are ye better than
the phallus? The cross can't even die for
his people. You consider the ravens. He told us concern in
our lives, what we're going to eat, what we're going to drink,
what we're going to wear on this body, where we're currently housed.
Consider the ravens. They don't have grain silos.
They ain't got livestock barns. But God feeds them. And he says,
how much more are ye better than the fowls? Just walk outside. They had that movie. He said,
don't look up. In Clay's time, Lord's word says, look up. Go
outside. Look at his handiwork. Look at
the skies at night if you can't sleep. Moon won't burn you. Moon
won't smite thee by night. You go outside and you look up
and look at creation. He's the God of creation. Lord
created all this. That's undeniable. He's the God
of providence. You look how everything weaves
together in your life. What brought us this morning
here to worship him. I pray this is a blessing to you, but he's
worthy to be worshipped, isn't he? He's worthy. I pray this exalts him. He's
the God of this providence, of this creation, and he's the God
of salvation. Look at what he's done. And you
go outside and you know one, if God's revealed himself to
you, to his people, consider those ravens. Go outside and
look at that. We've sat outside on a porch yesterday, looking
over at field and just watching them birds fly back and forth.
Thought one of them was going to hit us. It's coming right
at me. David said, The heavens declare the glory of God, and
the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth knowledge. There's no speech
or language where their voice is not heard. Anywhere on this
earth, God's God. And he's ruling and reigning.
Go look at an ant. Watch a bug. How in the world
does an ant drink water? You think there's too little.
All right. Starting my text. First Kings 17. I read that Lord
said, consider the Ravens. And I thought I've been studying
this passage here for about two years. This thing of Elijah and
Luke 12 made me not consider myself. But Luke 12 made me consider
the Ravens. So that's what I hope we can look at. First Kings 17. We'll begin in verse one. And Elijah the Tishbite who was
of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, that wicked,
wicked king, as the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom
I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according
to my word. It ain't going to rain, it ain't
going to be dew in the morning until I say so. That's a bold
statement. And the word of the Lord came
unto him, speaking to Elijah, saying, get thee hence and turn
thee eastward and hide thyself. by the brook Cherith, that is
before Jordan. And it shall be that thou shalt
drink of the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed
thee there. So he went and did according
to the word of the Lord. For he went and dwelt by the
brook Cherith, that's before Jordan, and the ravens brought
him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening,
and he drank of the brook. This is very short. six verses
here, but I want to just talk a bit when we consider these
Ravens, but who was the Ravens feeding? It was Elijah. I want
to look at who Elijah was, what these Ravens are, and what this
really means, what we're to see eternally through this. First
here, Elijah. Who was Elijah? You know, Elijah
was special in a way. He really was. First mentioned
here, we heard nothing else about him. It's like Melchizedek. He
just appears to show up, doesn't he? There's no history to him.
We know that he didn't die. It said in 2 Kings 2, it came
to pass as they went on their way and talked that behold, there
appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them
both. The sun and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
He's just translated. We know he was with the Lord
on that Mount of Transfiguration. You remember that in Luke 9,
it said, It came to pass, about eight days after these sayings,
he took Peter, John, and James and went up the mountain to pray.
And as he prayed, the fashion of his countenance was altered. His raiment was white. He was
glistening. And behold, there talked to them
two men, which was Moses and Elias. It's Elijah. That's the
law and the prophets. He represents the prophets. who appeared in glory. And what
was I talking about? He showed up, he was there. I
was talking to the Lord. And Moses was talking to the
Lord. And they spake of his decease, which he should accomplish at
Jerusalem. Just the way that's worded, we
don't, we can't. Everybody says, well, we lost them in death.
Death is a loss to us, isn't it? The Lord accomplished death. We ought to hold on and pay attention
to him, shouldn't we? And Elijah was there. He was
there with the Lord on that Mount of Treasures. And what was he
talking about? That death, that blood sacrifice that was accomplished.
And though he was used mightily and he was used uniquely, he
went against them 450 prophets and just mocked them by himself. There's a whole bunch of us.
How could one man be right and all of us be wrong? He was right
because he's the Lord's man. And no matter what lies came
or what the pain came, God made him stand before him. He didn't
do it himself. God used him. But he was also
just like me and you. It's appointed unto man once
to die. But he didn't die. Oh, he died and had him. I'm so prone to say things. Like
that thing, we'll see something in Romans 8 here at the end too,
Lord willing. Or two or three, that's about Whenever you got
to approach a brother that's offended you, we ain't going
to bully God in the meeting with us. He said, Lo, I'm with you
always. If I'm alone on a deserted island, ain't God with me? He
said he was. Lord used this man, Elijah, mightily,
but he was just like me and you. He was a sinner saved by grace.
He needed Christ as his substitute. Satisfaction. The Lord used James
to tell us this. He said, the effectual, fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. We ought to pray. Elijah
was a man subject to like passions as we are. Me and Kimberly was
talking about this six months ago. And I said, if we was able
to meet Elijah and be like, what was it like over here from Cherith?
I had the flu the whole time. Maybe he's sick. He's just like
us. You know, I had a toothache,
man. I had abscesses. It was horrible. I don't remember
much of it. He worried about things. He was anxious about
things. He says, a man of like compassions as we are, and he
prayed earnestly that it might not rain. And it rained not on
the earth by a space of three years and six months. If I don't remember this later
on, he got himself into this mess. This famine that's over
all the land, it was his own doing. And he knew it. And he
prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought
forth her fruit. He prayed again, Lord, I'm wrong. And God said,
yeah, you are. Here, we'll make it rain. We'll
water the earth again. God heard him. Child of God,
God hears you. How much are my property taxes?
Who cares? God hears us. That's amazing,
isn't it? He wasn't much different from me and you. And you know,
he went through about a depression. Elijah did. Can a believer go
through depression? This significant prophet that
represents the other prophets did. Turn over just a couple
of pages. First Kings 19. A child of God has more reason
to be depressed than an unbeliever. Did you know that? We ain't home. We're homesick. And the longer
we're on this earth, the darker it is. And Lord, haste the day
that my faith may be sought. We're just saying that. And we
look for his coming, don't we? Look here, we ain't going to
do anything to speed it up, but if the clouds roll back, I'll
be happy. You would too. Paul said in first Thessalonians
said, knowing Beloved brethren, your election to God, our gospel
came not to you in word only, but in power and the Holy Ghost
and much assurance. You believe God." And he goes
on to say, you sounded the gospel out and you proclaimed it. You
didn't hide it under a bushel somewhere. You told people about
it, did what you could to further the gospel. And he said, and
you turned to God from your idols to serve the true and living
God. And you wait for his son from heaven. That's proof Paul
used to say that these people were elected to God. You're looking
for God to come. We're just waiting. Come, Lord,
come, save. You have saved me. You'll save
me right now. Now, save me, Lord. Several times in the scripture,
we remember in 18, 1 Kings 18, Elijah goes against some prophets.
And there's several times that believers in the scripture are
used to be loud and bold and have a big appearance. And then shortly thereafter,
they're tremendously humbled. David had spittle coming down
his beard. Almost immediately, they're humbled in a mighty way,
too. Look here, 1 Kings 19 verse 1, And Ahab told Jezebel all
that Elijah had done, with all how he had slain all the prophets
with the sword. And Jezebel sent a messenger
unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also,
if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow
about this time. You're going to die, buddy. And
when he saw that, he arose and went for his life and came to
Beersheba, which belonged to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey
into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper
tree. And he requested for himself that he might die and said, it
is enough. Now, O Lord, take away my life,
for I am not better than my father's. Lord, take me home. I'm done. Kill me. Could a believer say
that? He just did, didn't he? Was that one heard and that
request granted? Verse 5, And as he lay and slept
under a juniper tree, behold, an angel touched him and said,
Arise and eat. Get up and eat something. The
Lord's still going to use you. This is who those raven are going
to feed. Somebody just like me. that when the Lord uses me to
be bold, as we use the word bold and clear and plain and stand
up on my hind two legs and declare something, the second I think
I'm doing something, He'll bring me down and show me it's His
doing. He gets the glory for it. And
the whole time, He sustains me. This rebel right here, this rebel
talking to you, and that's you too. Isn't this hopeful? This is good news for people
that don't deserve no good. Back in our text there, 1 Kings
17, 1. This is who these ravens were
considering the ravens. They're not bringing food to
the sharpest looking fella and the wisest and the most prudent
and the self-learned. No, just an unreal rebel. And Elijah the Tishbite, who
was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God
of Israel liveth, this is the living God. Before whom I stand,
he's a servant. There shall not be dune or rain
these years, but according to my word. He warned this wicked
king, didn't he? You know, the scripture's about
50-50 on warnings and promises. And it's our nature, it's that
old man in us that only wants to hear the promises. We need
both. We need to be warned and we need
to hear the promises. Well, verse two. And the word
of the Lord came unto him, saying," It doesn't mention that the Lord
spoke to Elijah before. The Lord didn't say, Elijah,
go tell Ahab like he did with Moses. You go tell Pharaoh. Get
up early and go tell Pharaoh. We don't read that. Now, he may
have. The Lord put it in him to do it. It's going to glorify
God, but we don't read it. But now the Lord's speaking.
He's recorded this. Verse 2, and the word of the
Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence and turn thee eastward. That's where the sun comes from.
rises in the east, that's where Christ is. You go to where Christ
is. That's good advice. I don't care
who says what. Flee to Christ and go be with
his people, wherever he's proclaimed, and you may lose everything you
own, you may end up with some kind of weird disease, it'll
do you good. Go to where he is. Turn eastward
and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that's before Jordan,
and it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have
commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did
according to the word of the Lord. He went and did it. And
the ravens came. They brought him bread and flesh
in the morning. They brought him bread and flesh
in the evening. And he stayed there and drank of the brook.
Why ravens? What are these ravens? Well, ravens are big crows. Did
you know that? Biologically, they're the same.
But they're big crows. They're a little bit louder.
And Deuteronomy says they're unclean. These are bad. They're dark. They're not to
be eaten. And they don't give bread. Did
you know that? They don't give. They take it.
People in New York City's trained crows to go and steal money off
people. Get it out of the pockets or
the tip jars and things. They take things. They don't give
it. And they're proud. They call at you and look at
you. That's where we get crow hopping. Right? Because they
kind of strut around and bounce. And they're cunning, and they
solve puzzles. That's amazing, isn't it? You
give them a little tiny simple puzzle, they're cunning little
things. Noah sent out ravens, and it didn't come back during
that flood. Why? Because they can live on
dead things. They don't have to have life. They don't have to have this
good things to eat. They don't have to have the green
things. They can eat on anything. Don't make a difference to them.
They'll feed on that dead flesh. That dove couldn't eat those
things, so it came back to the ark. That's a picture of the sin-cursed
earth. That's a picture of rebels against God. Now how can that
feed us? God commanded them. How could
these things that seem so unclean and seem so against us and horrible,
cancer, whatever, pick something. How could this be good? God commanded
it. I don't see how anybody could
be sane and not believe in a sovereign, almighty, holy God. I'd be terrified. I'm nervous enough as it is.
I couldn't imagine if Lord wasn't on his throne ruling and reigning
everything for his son's glory. And my good on top of that, like
that wasn't enough. How could I explode? I'd be in
a padded room somewhere. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee and the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
Whatever happens, we don't ask that we grieve. Job ripped his
clothes off. He mourned. He shaved his head,
covered himself in sackcloth and ashes. We mourn. We grieve. And at the same time,
we know God's on his throne. God did this. Shall a trumpet be blown in the
city, and the people will not be afraid? Shall there be evil
in the city, and the Lord hath not done it? Surely the Lord
God will do nothing, but he Revealeth his secret unto his servants
and the prophets. What secret has the Lord revealed
to us? You people that believe God and
you see this evil going on in the world and you see the evil
going on in you and you see children dying in a flood in Texas or
whatever it be in your life or somebody else's. What's the secret?
Our God is God. He's smarter than me. I don't
understand what he's doing. He's on his throne. And what
he does is right. I got to look this up. I didn't
have this in my notes. I'll read it to you. I heard Fred Evans preach
from this a couple weeks ago. And this is what believers say.
For us to show up here, completely reasonable. If you drove two,
three hours, you traveled two months to get here, completely
reasonable. I receipt you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
present your bodies a living sacrifice. Holy, acceptable unto God. Why
ain't that? Christ is. Which is your reasonable
service. What are we going to offer God?
What he gave us, his son. Everything else is unreasonable.
That's reasonable. And that's just in the body.
Come worship God. He deserves it. It's reasonable.
And be not conformed to this world, be ye transformed in the
renewing of your mind. In the body, it's reasonable.
Now he's talking about the mind. That you may prove, this is what's
going to come out of your mouth. The mouth, I don't know what's
in the heart the Lord does, but if you're around somebody long
enough, you know what comes out of the mouth, don't you? And that new man in
us will prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will
of God. We read that fast sometimes. We ought to savor it like a piece
of hard candy. and just enjoy it. It's going
to prove that good will of God. All these things that seem so
bad, the believers are going to see these things, and it's going
to prove what is that acceptable will of God. God's will is good,
and it's completely acceptable. Don't understand it? We ought
to accept it. He's worthy of that, and it's
perfect, that perfect will of God. It's perfect. I don't see
it yet, but I know Him, and He said so. That's good enough for
me. We'll keep drinking by the brook and eating the flesh, won't
we? That's a secret. If the Lord
gave you that, what a blessing it is in this life. And that's
just now. To know him now is to know him
eternally. Because he first loved us. We love him now. That's forever. And it'll be
revealed. It'll be true and pure whenever
we go home with him. When them chariots come or he
come, when I go to him or he comes for me, it don't make a
difference. I'll be with him. I'll be with him. David said, wherefore
should the heathen say, where is now their God? I saw some
of the most horrible things from them floods. People saying, they
don't know God. David said, but our God's in
the heavens and he's done whatever he's pleased. It's right because
he did it. He doesn't do what's right. What
he does is right. And he's holy. That last beatitude of Matthew,
it says, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute
you. That's dark, isn't it? Isn't that ravenous? And shall
say all manner of evil against you falsely. Somebody lie on
you. He says, rejoice and be exceeding
glad. For great is your reward in heaven
because you know God, the Lord did it. For so they persecuted
the prophets which were before you. Same thing happened to Elijah.
He's just like me, just like you. Consider the ravens. They're commanded by the Lord.
And in this instance, to feed. God commanded them to bring flesh
and bread to Elijah. In other cases, God commands
the ravens to take food away, doesn't he? He sends pestilence,
he sends famine, he sends drought. All this was physical. This is
something physical we're reading. But how can we know these things
are sure? This is a picture of Christ. This is what he's done
for his people. What were the ravens to him?
What was something dark and cunning and taking? And Peter told him,
he looked ravens right in the face. There was a day I was a
raven. And I was just looking out for number one and wherever
I could take, wherever I could steal, steal his glory and be right,
righteous in my own eyes, right? And Peter looked at him and he
said, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and full
knowledge of God, ye have taken. and by wicked hands have crucified
and slain whom God raised up, having loose the pains of death,
because it was not possible that he should be holding of it."
Go read that account of Matthew when they crucified the Lord,
and they put that crown of thorns on him and spit on him and mocked
him. How does that make you feel? My ravens ain't so bad, huh?
And that's just what physically happened. God forsook God. Everything I deserve to bear,
we don't even understand that. That was me. I mean, Todd was
talking the other day. God cannot die. He's holy and
perfect. He had to be made me to die and
then rise again. And we're risen with him. To teach us and comfort us, the
Lord gave us these things. Look over Romans 8. I'll hurry. I'm
sorry. I went too long. I don't know how long I've been
going. Romans 8. I think, because I'm
the only one that lives in my brain, so I think of the trials
I go through, and I think of the experiences I've had and
what the Lord's taught me, and I read his word, just like you
do. Here in Romans 8, verse 26. It says, likewise, the spirit
also helpeth our infirmities. Do you have any infirmities?
Do you have any troubles, trials? Do you have any ravens taking
your food instead of bringing it to you? For we know not what
we should pray for as we ought. The first thing I go to is, Lord,
take this thing from me. And my brethren will pray for
me what I want. I said, keep that trial on them
until it accomplishes what you send it to do. Until you see
Christ in it. I'm too selfish to ask that for
myself. Or, Lord, don't let a raven feed
me. I'm a germaphobe. I don't know what I ought to
ask. But he's talking that the Spirit helped with our infirmities.
And that the Spirit itself make an intercession for us with groanings
which cannot be uttered. Everything I'm praying, I don't
know what to pray. Here's what he meant. Makes intercession
for us. And, so we're talking about intercession.
And, he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is in the mind of
the spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints.
How? According to the will of God.
This is God's will. I'm thankful. He makes intercession
for us. I don't have to intercede for
myself. I don't have to know the right words. Now he's speaking
of intercession. That means going before, making
atonement, atonement, to be a representative. And, verse 28, we know, now while
this intercession is taking place, while we're in the mess of it,
we don't know what to do, we're right in the thick of it, and
the Spirit's making intercession to God for us, because it's God's
will, while that's taking place, and we don't know what's going
on, we do know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.
While we're there at Cherith, And there's famine going on.
And for whatever reason, ravens are the ones bringing me food.
Don't make no sense. It's all working for good. According
to his purpose, according to those that are called. For, because,
verse 29, whom he did foreknow, those he loved before time, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. making his people
like Christ and to look to Christ and to desire Christ and to be
able to be in his presence. We ought to be thankful for those
things. I'm too unthankful. I need to be thankful more often.
I ought to be thankful from daylight to dark of how I'm dreaming.
I should. He deserves it. I want to. There'll be a day.
Every single raven that feeds us or steals from us, no matter
the raven, if you consider what trial that be or whatever, It's
the Lord conforming us to the image of his son, to thank him,
to be eager to be with him, and to desire him. Do you want to
be made like Christ? Verse 30, moreover, whom he did
predestinate, them he also called. Whom he called, he justified.
And whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we
say to these things? If God be for us, who can be
against us? How can we know these ravens
is that God is commanding for our good to sustain us and feed
us in providence? because Christ put away our enemies,
verse 32. He that spared not his own son,
but delivered him up for us all, all those children of God, how
shall he not with him also freely give us all things? I've experienced that some. Sorry,
children. My children don't trust me sometimes,
my wife and over little things. Did you put that right where
it's supposed to go? Was that done right? Nobody's ever said,
hey, what kind of interest rate did you get on your mortgage?
Is the insurance paid up for the month? And big things, nobody
worries about. I take care of that day in, day
out. I figure out which way the toilet paper ought to be turned
on the roll. You know what I mean? Just do it my way. You'll be
all right. And I get upset, sad, whatever.
And I think, ain't that what I do, Lord? He saved me and took
care of me and I'm His forever. I'm His and He is mine. Oh, how
am I going to get a set of tires on this vehicle? Or whatever.
How's this abscess going to go away? Am I going to have antibiotics? The Lord will take care of it. He'll be all right. He's our
bread. Consider those ravens in those
troubled times. Consider those ravens that went
to Elizabeth. They brought bread and flesh, didn't they? A sinner
was used to bring me the gospel. It was. Christ is our bread. He said, Verily I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven. My father gave you
the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. That's who
that is. He's our flesh. We are one with
him, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. through his purpose,
through his purchase, and this proclamation that's given in
that new heart. He says, Verily I say unto you, except ye eat
of the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink of his blood, ye have
no life in you. Whosoever eateth of my flesh, and drinketh of
my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the
last day. As oft as ye eat this bread,
and drink this cup. Cameron made a fresh loaf of
bread yesterday. How could I not thank him? I talked to a fellow
once, I said, you think about God while you're at work? I was
like, yeah, you don't. I don't think of him near as
often as I should, as I want to, but yeah, he's in all the
believers' thoughts, ain't he? Eliza was a chosen vessel of
mercy, and from his own doing, this famine came. It's his fault. And Matthew Henry said, the Lord
used the most unlikely caterers to provide for him. That's a personal note. Not that
that means anything. Maybe I'll not listen, but I've
read and I've heard so much about Elijah. Wondering if the even
meal was going to come. And during this time, you know,
wise by the brook, if he had food fatigue, you know, you get
the same meat and the same bread day in and day out. I've read
these things. I've heard these things. You know, not once in my life that's
ever crossed my mind. I've never thought of that. Every time I've
ever read this story, I thought, well, he's on vacation. Here
he'd been working, been laboring, and he's got his feet kicked
up. Thank you, Lord. The Lord gave a year of rest
for him. Thank him. He's fed us. We don't even deserve
to drink nothing or eat nothing. He's been good. That's the way
I've always seen it. I hope that's, you all see it
that way too. There'll be a time in my life
when I'll, I'll be tired of, and birds will bring them here.
I want something other than water. I don't know. In chapter 18,
he mocks those 450 on Mount Carmel. And I thought, too, it might
have been really good food, because he said, you go summon all of
Israel and the prophets of Baal, 450, and the prophets of the
groves, 400. That's 850, which ate at Jezebel's table. And I
read that, and I thought, man, I bet them ravens was going over,
she's got this big feast out, was taking her food and giving
it to, like, we can't get these birds out of here. Where are
they going with all this food? They can't eat that much. They're
taking it to Elijah. And he can't see that going on,
can he? Boy, we got so much good stuff, and we don't see the Lord
working to give it to us. I pray make me thankful. Either way, it's more important
who sustains Elijah, not with what he's sustaining, isn't it? Psalm 33 says, Behold, the eye
of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon the hope them
that hope in his mercy to deliver their soul from death and to
keep them alive in famine. I've turned one more time, Psalm
8, and I'll close. When you're anxious, troubled,
worried, you consider those ravens. Psalm 8. Look here in verse 3. David was considering things.
Psalm 8 verse 3. When I consider thy heavens,
the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou
hast ordained, what is man that thou art mindful of him? Lord,
you think on us. And the son of man that thou
busiest him. For thou has made him that Godhead in a body, Christ. A little lower, Robert Hawker
said, a little bit of time on this earth. little lower than
angels, and has crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest
him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou hast
put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, yea, the
beast of the field, the fowl of the air, and the fish of the
sea, and whatsoever passes through the paths of the sea. O Lord
our God, how excellent is thy name in all the earth. I pray
whenever you consider those ravens, you'll consider how excellent
his name is. I pray it's a blessing to you.
It was to me. I've worked on that two years
from just Elijah's point of view and this brook and which way
it went and all that. That's considered me. What considering them ravens?
Lord told us to consider the ravens. Look at what he's done.
Thank you.