We're going to be speaking from
2 Kings 4, verses one to seven. We remembered, I trust, that
Elisha took over from Elijah. We were speaking last night about
Elijah, and here we're going to be speaking about the man
who took over from Elijah, the prophet Elisha. Some people say
Elisha. And I say Elisha, but maybe my
pronunciation is not correct. Let's call him Elisha for the
sake of keeping it all the same. Elisha was a prophet of God. And I think that the story that
we have before us here in 2 Kings 4 is one of the loveliest personal
stories in the whole of the Bible. And I want you to think about
this story. I want you to think about these
verses. Do you know that there are just seven verses in this
story? That's all we're going to be
thinking about this morning. Seven verses, and because This
is just the kind of person I am. I thought to myself, I wonder
how many words that is. So I counted them and there are
228 words in this story. This is a short story. This is one of the shortest stories
that you could possibly imagine. And yet it is one of the most
beautiful stories as well. There is a complete history in
this story, a complete episode in the life of this family, and
here we see grace and goodness set forth by God, using his prophet
for the well-being of this lady and her sons. I don't think I
could ever write a short story as well as this short story has
been written. 2 Kings chapter 4 and verse 1
and we're just going to work down through the verses together.
Verse says, Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons
of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband
is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord,
and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. So we're given the story here
in a sense in its introduction in this opening verse. And we're
told that it was a certain woman. I always like it when the Bible
talks about a certain man or a certain woman because that
tells us that God knows who that person is. And I think that's
important because If you remember what we were speaking about last
time we were here thinking about Elisha, we were talking about
Jehoram and Jehoshaphat. I was going to ask you if you
could remember those names and then I thought I better not.
These two kings were in a battle for the life of their nation. And then immediately the next
episode is that one single lady, a widow, a poor lady, is taking
up the front position and the main position in our story. You see how God has moved from
the national affairs of Israel and Judah to the personal intimate
circumstances of this lady. I love the way that the Lord
knows us individually and he knows us as a certain man, a
certain woman, a certain boy, a certain girl. And here we're
told that this was a certain woman and she was in need. And the Lord sent Elisha to her. He left the battlefield, he left
the wilderness, he went to where this woman was. And when the
prophet came to the woman, it's a picture of the way in which
the Lord sends the gospel. to needy men and women. He sends the gospel to those
whose hearts he is preparing to receive the truth of the gospel
of Jesus Christ. This was a home in which God
was worshipped. We are told that the husband
of this woman who had died was of the sons of the prophets and
therefore here was a home in which God was worshipped and
therefore God was interested in what was happening in this
home. And I think if your mum and dad
worshipped God in your home, then you should regard yourself
as very blessed indeed. You're told something else about
this lady. She was in debt. And she was in debt to a very
hard debtor. One might wonder what kind of
man would look upon the situation which had developed in this family
of a husband who had died and think to himself, I'm going to
get my money one way or another from these people, supposing
I have to take her two sons and put them into slavery. What a
terrible man that was. terrible attitude for anybody
to have that for the sake of a little bit of money he was
prepared to take from this woman all she had and every hope that
she had, slighted it as it was her two only sons and put them
into bondage and slavery. You know sin is a hard taskmaster. and sin in a person's life will
show no pity. Be careful when you're young
about playing with sin, about indulging in sin, because it
is a very hard master and it will draw from you and it will
take from you everything that it possibly can. The second verse
says, And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? Tell
me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid
hath not anything in the house save a pot of oil. One pot of oil was all she had. Think about it, maybe like a
jar of olive oil or something that was sitting on the cupboard
shelf. It was all she had in the whole house. Everything else
was gone. One pot of oil. Elisha came to that lady because
she was in need. The Lord sent him and the Lord
was going to provide for that lady whom he cared for. The pot of oil was all she had
and yet that tells us in picture form that the Lord blesses us
in what he has given us. Think about that for a moment.
The Lord blesses us in what he has given us. Do you know that
this God, whom I follow and whom I serve, could have opened the
heavens and rained down gold coins on that lady? He could
have done that. There was a time in the experience
of the disciples that they were sent to go and catch a fish.
And when they opened the fish's mouth, there was a coin in the
fish's mouth. The Lord could have provided for this lady in
any number of amazing, miraculous ways. And we would have stood
back and said, wow. But what he did was he took what
that lady had. And we should remember that because
when we pray to God for help, sometimes that help comes in
the most inconspicuous ways. We don't see how the amazing
miracle that we hope for is ever going to be accomplished and
because we're looking for the amazing miracle to be accomplished,
the Lord does us good in ways that we're not expecting. Ordinary
ways, normal ways. We always have to have a spiritual
eye looking for the goodness of God in the small things in
life that he has given to us. The blessings that are best are
the miracles that come to us in disguise. And the Lord uses
small means, like the little rudder in the boat, to turn the
huge ship and to make the things that he wills come to pass. Verse three says, then he said,
go borrow the vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty
vessels, borrow not a few. The lady was told to go and borrow
empty vessels. How tried that lady must have
been. How troubled in her circumstances. And here her faith was being
tried. What for? What am I doing this
for? Do you know that Elisha didn't
tell her why she was doing it? He just said, go and do it. Go
and do it. Here's what I want you to do.
Go and do it. And that's how the Lord works with us sometimes.
This lady was desperate. She said, I have no time for
this. Perhaps she would have said to her sons, I don't know
what Elisha is talking about. Quick, get a few vessels. Just
give me one or two and I'll have them. And then if he says, did
you get them? I'll say, yes, here they're here. But he said,
not a few, collect a lot. If we are faithful in small things,
we will be rewarded by a generous saviour. God can do anything,
anytime, but he calls for faith in his people. Then Elisha says,
when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon
thy sons, and thou shalt pour out into all those vessels, and
thou shalt set aside that which is full. Shut the door. Sometimes we have to shut the
world out when we're dealing with God. Sometimes it has to
be that personal, intimate way in which we deal with God. God
was going to show this lady something wonderful, but it was for her. It wasn't for the whole world,
it was for her. And she was to shut that door
and shut out the world, to be shut in with God. because he,
at this stage, was her only hope. Verse 5 says, So she went from
him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought
the vessels to her. and she poured it out. She started
with that pot of oil that she had and she started to pour it
into the empty vessels. She was obedient without knowing
what the outcome would be. Elisha hadn't explained it. And
that reminds us that only God knows the end from the beginning.
He knows what he's going to do with your life. He knows what
he's going to do with my life. He knows what he's going to do
with the life of this little congregation, this little fellowship.
He knows. You don't. But you're called
to be faithful. You're called to be patient.
You're called to be obedient. You're called to look to God
and trust in him. And it came to pass, verse 6,
when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring
me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is
not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. She begins
to pour. One vessel is full. Then two vessels are full. Then three vessels, then four
vessels, then 10 vessels. She begins to pour and she keeps
on pouring and that little pot of oil doesn't come to an end. And then she says, bring me another
vessel. And her son says, there are no
more empty vessels. And then the oil stopped flowing. It flowed until there were no
more vessels. What limited God's goodness that
day? The number of vessels that that
lady had collected was the only limit to his goodness to that
lady that day. What would have happened if she
had collected 10 more jars? What would have happened if she'd
collected 100 more jars? Our Lord is sufficient for all
our needs. and this lady proved God to be
gracious to her and to her sons. Verse seven says, then she came
and told the man of God and he said, go sell the oil and pay
thy debt and live thou and thy children of the rest. The widow came back to Elisha
for more direction. What was she to do now? And that
was why she just didn't take these things on her own shoulders. She went to the man of God and
she sought more from the revelation of God. She didn't presume. Elisha hadn't told her because
he was waiting to see the effect of her faith. She had to trust
God. And God doesn't tell us what
is going to happen, but day by day he guides us. The prophet
says, sell the oil. Pay the debt, that was the first
thing. That was the most important thing. Don't have this man hanging
over you. Don't have the debt hanging over
you any longer. Pay that debt, be rid of that
man, and then live on the rest. There was immediate help here
for the woman because she was provided for with the abundance
of oil. There was sufficient help because
it paid for her debt and there was enduring help, lasting help,
because she was able to live off the rest which the oil provided. When we come to the Lord Jesus
Christ for help, he gives immediate help. He that cometh unto me,
I will in no wise cast out. When we trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ, he gives sufficient help. casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. And the Lord Jesus Christ gives
lasting help. Never fear, God's grace and God's
goodness will never run out as long as there is an empty vessel
for that grace to fill. Psalm 84 verse 11 says, the Lord
will give grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly. May the Lord open our eyes to
see the Lord Jesus Christ in these beautiful instances of
love and mercy and grace to the mourners in Zion. Amen.