All right, let's take our Bibles
and now turn back to 1 Kings. 1 Kings chapter 17. I'd like to deal with the last
half of the chapter that I dealt with last week, the Lord had
sent a famine to Israel because the evil that was wrought by
a wicked king named Ahab. He's raised up a prophet, a prophet
called Elijah. And he's delivered this prophet
the Lord has from starvation by hiding him by a brook named
Cherith. And Elisha drank from the brook
and the Lord commanded ravens to bring meat and bread to Elijah
morning and evening. Now, when the Lord was pleased
to move Elijah, he dried up the brook, and then he instructed
his prophet to go to a place called Zarephath, and there a
widow woman was instructed by the Lord to be the means to sustain
Elisha. Well, for the period of time
when the heaven was shut up, God had promised that the barrel
of meal and crews of oil that the woman had would not waste,
it wouldn't end until the Lord sent rain. And there's where
we stopped last time. Well, picking up in verse 17
of 1 Kings 17, Verse King 17, 17. Scripture says, and it came
to pass after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress
of the house, fell sick, and his sickness was so sore that
there was no breath left in him. Now during the time of Elijah's
present, the scripture says something came to pass, obviously something
that was determined according to the eternal will and purpose
of almighty God. Things just don't happen. Everything is ordered by the
Lord. That's what Ephesians 1 11 says.
He worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. The scripture declares that Almighty
God, according to John 637, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Now how are all things gonna
be so determined that the Lord's people Providentially, they're
going to be brought to the Lord. The Lord thanked the Father in
the high priestly prayer of John 17. All power, we pray to the Father,
thou hast given me power over all flesh that I should give
eternal life to as many as thou hast given me. You know what
that means? The Lord Jesus Christ is working
everything, everything, everything. You mean even this mess that
we see in this world today, this country today? Everything. Aren't you glad for that? That's
the only comfort I got. He worketh all things after the
counsel of his own will. Nobody here by accident today,
It was all according to God's will, God's purpose. It came
to pass that this widow woman's son died. And here was a widow woman. God's means to sustain His prophet. And she believed, she believed
it. The prophet came and told her
that the Lord had promised that the little bit of meal that she
had and the little cruise of oil she had, he said, it's not
gonna end. And she believed it. And they'd
been eating every day. Every day, it was still same
amount there. On and on and on. And the Lord
was pleased. but take this widow woman's son. All right. Beloved, let us learn
that let's don't think it's strange when our paths are crossed with
sharp afflictions, even as we're striving, seeking after, following
after. Lord, we're desiring to do that. Afflictions come for the glory
of God and for the good of God's people. It pleased the Lord to
take this boy at this time. Death is universal. We're all
gonna die, Romans chapter 5, 12. Wherefore, as by one man's
sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed
upon all men that all have sinned. In this boy's death, We behold,
in type, the helplessness of our spiritual death. This boy
was dead. There was no breath in him. There
was no life in him. There was no desire in him. He
was dead. That's us. That's us by nature.
That's man born in Adam. And Scripture says that this
woman in verse 18, immediately, when she realized her boy's dead,
verse 18, she said unto Elijah, what have I to do with thee,
O thou man of God? Art thou coming to me to call
my sin to remembrance and to slay my son? Notice how quickly
the woman sought the reason. Why did my boy die? Surely, this woman was tried
and tried hard. And the temptation so gripped
her that she failed to consider that all things work together
for good. All things is according to God's
purpose. All things according to His will. Beloved, we all
struggle like that. when these troubles come upon
us suddenly and unexpectedly. Especially in the midst of what
we think is prosperity and peace. And she calls Elisha, she acknowledges
him as God's man. But she questions what could
possibly have been done that would have brought this pain,
the death of my son. Have you come to call my sin
to remembrance? I don't know what she was talking
about. She knew. She knew that the Lord had sent Elijah, that
there was a famine in the land because of the evil of a king. She knew that. Has it come to
me too? Am I suffering because of this?
She was hurting. Like all of us. She had forgotten
the past mercies of God. Now think about where she is.
Here's a widow woman, and all she's got is a little bit of
meal, a little bit of oil. She's got her a couple sticks. She's
gonna cook them, make her a biscuit, make a little cake. Me and my
boys gonna eat this, we're gonna die. And God has sustained her,
and sustained her, and sustained her. She's been there. How quickly
we forget the mercies of Almighty God. whenever the nation of Israel
came out of Egypt. And Lord, they had seen the plagues
that God had sent. They heard the cries of everybody
in Egypt, man and beast, firstborn of everybody, where there was
no blood on the door. What happened? Firstborn died.
All that was behind the door where the blood of the lamb was
placed, the Lord passed over them. He delivered them out of
Egypt. They came out. The Egyptians
had loaded them down with all kinds of jewels and things like
that, and they walked out victoriously. Came to the Red Sea. God opened
up the Red Sea. They walked across. They sang
on the other side the song of Moses. But when there wasn't
enough water, they thought, gonna have to be out in the wilderness
now. And what they did, they blamed God. Accusing Moses. What'd you do? What have you
done? The Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to save his people from their sins. Made of a virgin,
made under the law. He grew up. the Redeemer, the
Savior, will lay down his life for his people. He gonna live
for them, establish their righteousness. And then when his disciples are
out in the midst of a storm and they cry unto the Lord, carest
thou not that we perish? How weak we are to believe. How frail we are. She was ready
to just blame even herself for this death. If you come to call
to remembrance my past sin, did my boy die because of something
that I did? Oh, what a close connection there
is in our minds between death and what we deserve for sin. We just, oh, the conviction that
we're under. I want you to notice how graciously
Elijah speaks to this widow in the midst of her pain and guilt. He didn't bring up any of that.
He says in verse 19 and 20, he said unto her, give me thy son.
And he took him out of her bosom. I just can't help but think about
this. I don't know how old the boy
was, Obviously, that's still her boy. I don't care how old
my kids are. I got kids, Gabe, I think Gabe's
40 something, seven, 48, I don't know how old he is. I got three
daughters and they're all grown women. Got kids, you know what
I call them all? Baby. You mean you call Gabe
baby? Yeah. They're still my kids. They're
my kids. And you'd like that too. I don't
know how old this boy was, but he had died and his mama was
holding him. She was holding him close. And
he said to her, verse 19, give me thy son. He took her out of
her bosom and carried him up into a loft where he abode. And he laid him upon his own
bed and he cried unto the Lord and he said, oh Lord, my God,
Hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourned
by slaying her son? Beloved, let us learn here the
only place of any hope for helpless sinners. Dead, this boy was dead. The only place of any hope is
in him, in Christ. In the midst of this mother's
pain, the prophet has a picture, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ
instructs her. You entrust your son to me. To me. And by the grace of God,
she did. What else could she do? He's
dead. You got kids? You got loved ones? You got people in your family?
I do. I don't know God. What am I gonna do? I'm gonna
do just exactly what this prophet did. Call on the Lord. Ask the Lord. Lord, save my kids. Lord, save my grandchildren.
Save my family. Save those that I love. The Lord
was gonna show mercy to this woman. was gonna do something
for her that she truly needed. She was gonna see the glory of
God pictured in the resurrection, the life, being brought back
to her boy. But brethren, we often find when
the Lord is truly gonna teach us something, he takes away often
that which is most precious to us. He removes that which hinders
us, hinders us in seeing him. The Lord's going to show this
woman something. But in showing her something, he took that boy's life. He was going to show himself
to this woman. Pain that's often experienced
for our good. This mother had had a son. They had each other. She was
a widow woman. What does that mean? That means
she'd lost a husband, and he had lost a dad. And they struggled
together, and they suffered together, and they hungered together, and
they were gonna die together. That's what she planned to do.
But God, the Lord was pleased to take him from her, that he
might give her back and show her of his glory and mercy. for
how mysterious are his ways. We have hope only in our Lord
and Savior, only when we're taught that we must cast ourselves upon
the mercy of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. I want you to notice
the words of Elijah, words of faith, and consider him speaking
as our great high priest Give me, he told her, thy son. He took him out of her bosom,
carried him into the loft where he abode, and laid him up on
his own bed. What intimacy when I thought
about that. This boy's dead. And Elijah said, you give him
to me. And he carried him up into his
loft, into his room where he stayed. laid him on his own bed. What oneness there is between
us, by God's grace, between us and the Lord Jesus Christ. How
intimate he is to us and we are to him. The glorious mystery
of being personally taken. I cannot, I can't enter in the
depth of what I'm about to say. I can think it, I can try to
get my head wrapped around it, and no matter how hard I try,
the words are not gonna be adequate, I can tell you right now. I'll
go ahead and tell you they're not gonna be, so I'll just say what I'm gonna
say and then, but I try to consider God's people are powerfully found
secure in the place of where the Lord is. Took him into his
loft, laid him on his bed. Powerfully found one with him
in the place of his abode. I got to thinking about that.
Took him into his loft where he dwelt. I said, where is the
Lord? He's at the right hand of the
majesty on high. He's found in his people. Where two or three are gathered
together in my name, I'm in the midst of you. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere. This is where
I get lost. That place of oneness, that secret
place of God's mercy, And what happens here is indescribable.
I can't... God, personally, providing for
His own, every one, when we pray, it's intimate. It's between us
and the Lord. Brian had to, after he got to,
lead us in prayer. That's a hard thing. It's hard
to pray openly. It's hard because there's things
that you want to say you don't know how to say and you just
can't say. It's hard. Give him to me. He took him away, took him into
a place where he was. In that place where he ever stood
as a surety and the hope and the life and the rest of his
sheep. And then Elijah, again as our great high priest, he
who ever liveth, to make intercession for us. He recognizes the hand
of God, and he lays the case before the Lord, pleading for
mercy. And he does as we're commanded
to do, casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you.
He cares, he cares. And the scripture says, verse
20, he cried unto the Lord, he cried unto Jehovah, and he said,
oh Lord, my God, Thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom
I sojourned by slaying her son. I first read that and immediately,
immediately my mind said this. I know this, he wasn't questioning
God, I know that. He wasn't reprimanding God. Somebody
might read that and he said, well, he was almost trying to
call the Lord out. I said, no, no he wasn't. He's bearing his
heart. He's pleading on behalf of this
woman. Oh Lord, my God. as thou also brought evil, that
is suffering and hurt upon the widow with whom I sojourned by
slaying her son. The scripture says in verse 21,
I just thought this was just so beautiful. He stretched himself
upon the child three times and cried unto the Lord and he said,
oh Lord my God, I pray thee let this child's soul come into him
again. Well, I know that from that reading.
I know that when we die, our soul separates from this body. We have a soul that's eternal.
It's not gonna die. It's gonna be somewhere. And
he prayed, but he stretched himself. What a glorious revelation given
unto us as the spirit moved Elijah to stretch himself. Margin says
he measured himself. measured himself upon the child
three times. He postured, he associated himself
with that widow's son, his death. And he did so with importunity.
He did it three times. He did it, did it, did it. Oh, do we not behold the beauty
of our Lord in associating himself with us as sheep, mysteriously,
One with Him. He was made flesh. Associating Himself with us.
He was made flesh. Made in the likeness of sinful
flesh. Made the Redeemer of His sheep.
He was made sin. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. And we behold the wonder. of him being made sin for our
debt, he took our debt. He said in Psalm 40, my sins, my sins are more than
the hairs on my head. He stretched himself upon this boy. He made himself,
he measured himself on that boy. Apostle Paul wrote to Philemon,
speaking of measuring himself, being made sin, bearing our debt. Paul wrote to Philemon on behalf
of Onesimus, and he said this, if he hath wronged thee, or oweth
thee aught, put that on mine account. Lord Jesus Christ, praying. If they owe you anything, Father,
you put it on my account. You charge it to me, charge it
to me. He did, he did. Oh, the fullness of God's mercy
as our Lord stretched himself upon his people. and would say
in his obedience, being made sin for them, measure them according
to my shed blood and my imputed righteousness on their account.
Measure them according to me, according to my substitutionary
death for them. You measure them according to
me. Elijah cried unto the Lord specifically
for that boy He says, verse 21, he stretched
himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord and
said, oh Lord, my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come
unto him again. The Lord prays for his people
in particular. That's what he said in John 17,
nine. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them that thou hast given
me. Let's pray, let this boy's soul
come back to him. Scripture says in verse 22, and
the Lord heard the voice of Elijah. As the Lord said, I know thou
hearest me, thou ever hearest me, you always hear me. The Lord
heard the voice of Elijah and the soul of the child came unto
him again and he revived. Oh, what a beautiful type. Father, hearing the prayer of
the Lord Jesus Christ, the soul of the child came into him again,
he revived. You think as our great high priest,
the Lord Jesus Christ praying, Lord, those that thou has given,
they're in the world, they're not of the world. I pray for
them, I'm praying for them. How comforting. to know that
our prayers are offered unto God by the Lord Jesus Christ,
mingled with the fragrance of his incense, his merit. And God hears. And Elijah took
the child, brought him down out of the chamber into the house
and delivered him under his mother. And Elijah said unto her, see,
thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elijah,
now by this I know that thou art a man of God and that the
word of the Lord in thy mouth is true. He told
her, I want you to look. You look. See. See thy son living. See life. Look here. You know,
in closing, When it comes to the revelation of the evidence,
I want you to turn to 1 Thessalonians, and I'll make a few comments
and we'll end. When it comes to the evidence
of seeing life in one of God's people, the scripture declares in 1 Thessalonians
1, verse 4, knowing, verse 4, knowing, brethren, beloved, your
election of God. I've said before, if we could
get to the book of life, if we could get to it and find our
names written there, if you could get to it, there's the evidence
that God's shown mercy. It's in the book of life. In
the day of judgment, the books are going to be open in the book.
The book, all found written in the book. God's going to save
them. When did he write their names?
Scripture says before the foundation of the world. That's when he
wrote it. They were all there, always been there. If I could
get to the book, but I can't. But is there any evidence of
my election? Has God given us any evidence?
He said to this woman, see, look, see, the boy liveth, your son
liveth. Knowing, back in 1 Thessalonians
1, Knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. For our
gospel, how do you know? How do you know? What's some
evidence? For our gospel came not unto you in word only. It wasn't just a head understanding
of it. I know a lot of people that's
got, I mean, they understand. They understand words. They understand
what I'm saying. But there's no heart. Our gospel, the gospel of God's
free and sovereign grace. What does that mean? Salvations
of the Lord, and man has nothing to do it. Man is the recipient
of the grace of God. Our gospel came not in word only,
but also in power, in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance,
as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes. The gospel comes in power and
assurance. What do you mean? We're assured
according to the power of God's truth that salvation's of the
Lord. That's what, it comes in power.
We believe God. Where does that leave me? What
is my part in this? We're the recipients of the grace
of God. We don't have any power. God
saves His people without their help. Can I say it any easier
than that? What must I do to be saved? God's gonna save His people,
and He's gonna tell them about it, and He's gonna give them
faith to believe it, and they're gonna believe it. It comes in power
and assurance. And I'll tell you another thing.
Verse five, it came in not in word only, but also in power,
in the Holy Ghost, in much assurance, as you know what manner of men
we were among you for your sakes. They discern God's preachers
that are preaching the truth. You listen to someone that is
giving man all the honor and all the glory and all the praise,
and a believer's gonna say, that ain't right. That ain't it. I
know that ain't it. There's no way. They discern
God's faithful preachers of the gospel. Those are waking to the
joyful sound of the gospel of God's grace. And those who've
been chosen, redeemed by Christ, they follow that which is proclaimed
faithfully by the minister. He says, having received the
word in much affliction, affliction in and affliction out. They've
received the word in much affliction, much oppression, with joy of
the Holy Ghost. And fourthly, a child of God
is an example to others. That's what he says. You became
followers, verse six, of us and the Lord having received the
word in much affliction with joy in the Holy Ghost so that
ye were in samples, examples to all that believe in Macedonia
and Achaia. Your examples, examples in word,
They're examples in conversation, that is, in their behavior, in
charity, in love, in spirit, as being governed by the spirit,
in faith, maintaining confidence in the Lord, purity. From them,
the word of the Lord sounded out in every place. Those who
are alive in Christ, they love to speak of Him. You ever notice
that? You get around somebody that
knows the Lord. They don't start talking about
themselves, what they've done, how they did it, when they did
it, and how much they did it, and this, that, and the other.
Let's talk about Him. Here was a widow woman, and God
took her son. God had sent a prophet, and that
prophet, by the grace of God, told her, give him to me. Brought
him up, stretched himself over him, cried unto the Lord. Lord,
have mercy on this boy. Have mercy on this girl, on this
woman. And God did. Brought her back. What a picture
of God's grace in saving helpless, dead sinners for His glory and
their eternal good. Amen. All right.