Turn with me to the book of Luke,
chapter 21. Luke 21. Luke 21, verses 1 to
4. And he looked up and saw the
rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw
also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said of a truth, I say
unto you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all. For all these have of their abundance
cast in unto the offerings of God. But she of her penury hath
cast in all the living that she had." Let's pray together. Our Father, this afternoon we
thank you for the privilege to be able to pray. and Lord, to
be able to ask your blessing upon the preaching of the Gospel.
I pray for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and for the good
of your people. Lord, bless the Word this evening.
These things we ask for Christ's sake. Amen. When the Lord was on the road
to Emmaus. He met two men that were walking
down the road and he listened to their conversation. Knowing
what they were talking about, obviously, he asked them to tell
him what was going on. And they questioned his knowledge
of the events that had happened locally. They told him in so
many words, you obviously are not from around here, it's concerning
Jesus of Nazareth. We thought that surely he was
the one promised. We thought he was the Messiah.
and three days ago he was crucified. And then the Lord told them,
He said, O fools and slow of heart to believe all that the
prophets had said. And then the scripture says that
beginning at Moses, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them
in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." Now this
is what he told them. If you see me in the scriptures,
then you see right. If you don't see the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ in the scriptures, You don't see right. It doesn't matter what you see
in the scriptures. If we don't see the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have missed the gospel. For the gospel is concerning
God's Son. That's all we want to hear. Abraham told The Lord told Abraham,
I want you to take your son, your only son, and you offer
him unto me for a burnt sacrifice. And Moses, Abraham, the next
day got son Isaac to the servants. They took off and the Lord told
him, he said, I'll show you. where I want you to sacrifice
your son." And third day, he saw the place. Spirit of God
obviously told him, this is the place right here. And Abraham
told the two servants, he said, I want you to stay here. The
lad and I are going to go yonder, and we're going to worship God.
And so here's Isaac, and he's got the wood. He's got the fire. Where's the lamb? And Abraham
told him, he said, my son God will provide himself a lamb. Now here's what you're listening
for every time you hear the gospel. Every time you hear somebody
preach. Where's the lamb? That's all I want to know. If
I don't hear of the Lamb, then whatever is preached has missed
the glory of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Where is the Lamb? So I pray that this evening that
we might behold the Lamb in this precious passage of Scripture. I know, I understand that there
are some things taught in this scripture concerning Almighty
God and His people that are worthy to be mentioned. I know first
of all, concerning the Lord, we know that Almighty God sees
and knows all things. We know that. The Scripture says
that the Lord saw the rich men casting their gifts into the
treasury. And He saw also a poor widow
casting in her gift. Now here's what we know based
on what we are told in this passage of Scripture. All things are
naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Do you know what Almighty God
knows about us? Everything. What about everybody
else? Everything. There is not a creature
that's ever been born on this earth that Almighty God does
not know everything. He is the omniscient God. And not only did he see what
they were doing, the scripture says that he observed the attitude
of their giving. Mark's account of this event
reveals that not only did he see that they were putting money
in the offering box, but he knew the motive behind what they were
doing. Mark 12 41 of this account says,
and Jesus sat over against the treasury and beheld how the people
cast money into the treasury. The thing that I know about his
words was this, he knew what they were doing, he knew how
they were doing it, because he knew the financial state of every
one of them. He knew the balances on all of
their accounts. He knew what was going on. Psalm
11 verse 4 says, The Lord is in His holy temple. The Lord's
throne is in heaven. His eyes behold. His eyelids
try the children of men. That is, His eyelids behold the
intention of everything that we do. We might fool each other,
but we're not fooling God. He knows. So not only does the
Lord behold the actions, He beholds the intent of the action. 1 Corinthians 10.31 says, Whether
therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the
glory of God. Now let me just go ahead and
just be honest with you. I'm greatly embarrassed. I know
just enough about myself to where I can truthfully say, I want
to do that. I want to do it. But how to perform
that which I would, I fail miserably. I'm not making excuses for my
sin. I'm not. I'm just telling you. I would desire to do this, whether
I eat, whether I drink, whatever I do, to do it to the glory of
God. Now I know this based on this
revelation in these Scriptures. There were many that had thrown
in more cash. But obviously based on the Lord's
Word, He said, verse 3, of a truth, I say unto you, this poor widow,
hath cast in more than they all, for all these have of their abundance
cast in unto the offerings of God. But she of her poverty,
her penury, hath cast in all the living that she had." They
had given out of their abundance, but it wasn't, according to the
Lord's Word, what they gave is what they had left. That's what
he was saying. Now, humanly speaking, concerning
what this woman did. Now, the scripture says that
this poor widow had cast in two mites. Two mites did not equal
a half a cent. It was just two little Widow's
mites. They're just... Jean gave me
one. It's not even as big as the end
around my finger. It's a little old bitty thing.
It's just a little bitty... and that's everything she had. Now let me ask you something. Don't you think that she realized
She might need that money. Didn't she realize that that
was all she had? That was all she had. Didn't she have sense enough
to plan ahead? Don't you realize if you give
everything you got, you're going to be at the mercy of somebody
else? Yeah. Here is the spirit of faith that
is truly found in God's elect. Her gift, though, you know, it
was to everybody else is the rich people's giving, it was
trivial, it was just, you know, and despised, you know, I mean,
seriously. If somebody throws in two cents
in that money box back there, what is it really going to amount
to concerning the expenses of this assembly? I mean, you know,
to keep these lights on and that air conditioner running and keep
this building up and every time something breaks, fix it and
just the expenses of, you know, what is two cents going to matter? But two cents, blessed of God, is everything. Like I said, five loaves and
two fish, what's that? When there's 5,000 men plus the
women and children. This woman gave all that she
had. She absolutely was poor materially,
I understand that, but rich in faith. She gave that which she
had, but isn't this a picture of every believer, first of all,
seeing themselves spiritually? What do we have to give to God. What are we going to give to
the Lord? There were ten lepers, ten lepers
that were walking down the road and the Lord healed all ten of
them. And the scripture says that one
of them came back and this is what he gave the Lord. Thank
you. Thank you. The Lord said, weren't
there nine others? Isn't it sad when we realize
what Almighty God has done for us, considering the glory of
God in the redemption of our souls? And again, I'm going to
just tell you right now, I'm guilty. how little I find myself
thankful. Thankful. This was all she had. We realize what we are as being
born in Adam and we behold something of the glory of God to reveal
to us our need of Him. And the Lord said, Matthew 5,
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Poor in spirit. What does that
mean? That means I can't do anything.
I can't do anything. Do you know what I need? Here's
what I need. for me to have any hope of salvation,
I need the Lord to elect me. I need the Lord to look upon
me in mercy. I cannot elect myself. I need for the Lord Jesus Christ
to answer for me. You talk about spiritual poverty. I must be found in Him. Kevin, how am I going to get
there? To be found in Christ? I'm a bankrupt spiritually. How am I going to be found in
Christ unless Almighty God from before the foundation of the
world puts me there? How am I going to do that? I need to have my debt settled
before God. I need for Almighty God to deal
in absolute justice and judgment. I need for God's wrath to be
spewed out on another, on my behalf, or I don't have
any hope. God's just, I know that. You
say, well, you can do the best you can. It ain't gonna cut it. I need for God Almighty to keep
me, Neil. If God doesn't keep me, I know
what I'm going to do. I'm telling you. I'm telling
you. I know what I'm going to do.
I'll leave. And I've witnessed some that
God's left to themselves to leave. And that's scary. What if he doesn't keep me? I'm
gone. This woman was a poor widow. And she put in two mites. I wouldn't doubt for one second
that she put them in there so carefully. Just real quietly. Don't make any noise. Don't want
anybody knowing that I just put in two mites. But the Lord saw
it. Do you think that that woman
had any earthly idea that Almighty God was watching her? She had no idea, I'm sure, that
Almighty God was going to record this in scriptures. putting a record of her giving
two little old bitty pieces of money that didn't amount, humanly
speaking, to a hill of beans, but she gave what she gave as
unto the Lord. And God Almighty honored it. Hearken, my beloved brethren,
hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith,
and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that
love Him? You that know Him, just be honest
now. Do you have anything to offer?
Really, what do you got? By the grace of God, we can say
this tonight, I'm just thankful that He allowed me to thank Him,
to bless Him, to praise Him. Oh, what we learn about ourselves
from these four passages of Scripture, these four verses in this Scripture. But found within these four verses,
and this is what I want to make a few comments on concerning
where's the Lamb. I want us to look at the glorious
declaration of God's gift to a people that He has everlastingly
loved in Christ. This woman is a beautiful picture
of the Lord Jesus Himself and His willingness and faithfulness
to finish the work given Him by the Father Now let's just
look at these verses for just a minute. I'll make a few comments
and I'll be done. Verse 1 says, He looked up and
saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. Now here is this world's religion
and attitude. This world's thoughts of being
able to please God by their ability. The scripture says concerning
the church at Laodicea, this was their attitude, I am rich
and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And the Lord revealed their true
state, and He said, Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Is it not a miracle of God's
grace that the Lord would reveal to a man his spiritual poverty? Safest place you'll ever be to
be found a spiritual beggar at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. But before the Lord called you
out of darkness, did you realize man's poverty? I thought I was something. I
thought I knew everything. And the older I get, the more
I realize how silly and stupid I really am. I don't know anything. And the scripture says, and he
saw, verse 2, a certain poor widow casting in feather two
mites. A poor widow woman. Oh, what
a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. I could not read
this passage of scripture and my heart not be drawn to Him. Listen to this scripture, 2 Corinthians
8-9, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though
He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through
His poverty might be rich. Oh, the poverty of the Lord Jesus
Christ, humbled Himself, made Himself of no reputation. I mean, we're talking about the
one that the seraphims with six wings, two of those wings they
cover their eyes, two of those wings they cover their feet,
two of them they fly and they cry, holy, holy, holy. The whole earth is full of his
glory. Him, that's right, humbled himself. The Lord said concerning that
poor widow, again a beautiful picture. of our precious Savior. He said of a truth, I say unto
you that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all. You know what she gave? Herself. She gave herself. This is all
I've got. This is all of it. Gave all she
had and held nothing back. And the Lord knew it. We're not
told in this passage of scripture, somebody came up and said, I
don't know if you knew this or not, but that's all she had.
I know her personally. He knew her. She did what she did out of love
for God, for His glory, His blessed name. Again, In that attitude, and
I know it's a picture, I know it's a type, I know it's a shadow,
but what a beautiful shadow. The Scripture says concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, for I do always those things that please
Him. Faithful. Faithful. This is my beloved Son, and whom
I'm well pleased. You hear Him. concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ and His giving, greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Let me
ask you this, what did He keep back? Nothing. He gave Himself. For all these have of their abundance
cast in unto the offerings of God, but she of her penury, her
poverty, hath cast in all the living that she had. Man, in his fallen nature, trusts
in himself. You know that's the way we are.
I'm just talking to all of us now. This is just the way we
are. We find ourselves trusting The
Lord blesses and gives us a little something, you know, and we start
setting our eyes upon it and start getting a little bit of
false security and, you know, I'm telling you, but for the
grace of God, it'll steal our hearts completely. And you know
it will. Scripture says in Proverbs 11,
20, he that trusteth in his riches shall fall. Marvin, you better
listen. You better listen. But this poor
widow, a woman just like the one of whom she was a precious
picture, was one that the Lord took notice. No one, I don't doubt for a second,
would have given her a second look. She was just a poor widow. There was nothing that she could
probably be found to be in their midst but a nuisance. I really don't even have time
to give you the time of day. But concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ, this is what Scripture says, Isaiah 53, 2 and 3, He
shall grow up before Him. The Lord saw this woman and watched
her and commented on her faithfulness, on her giving, the giving of
all. He shall grow up before Him.
Before who? Before the Father. The Father
saw Him as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground. He has no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see Him, there's no beauty. that we should desire
Him. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it
were, our faces from Him. He was despised and we esteemed
Him not." You know, every time we find in Scripture a spirit
of sacrificial giving. According to man's thinking,
It's a lack of common sense. I'm talking about when you see
sacrificial giving. Sacrificial giving. Man will
look at that. Woman came to the Lord and she
had an alabaster box. She took that alabaster box.
It was precious ointment, 300 pence worth. You remember those
fellows in scriptures, they came out and they were hired, you
know, to go out in the field, in a man's field, and you know
how much he paid them a day? One penny. That was a day's wages. One penny. One day's work. One penny. Three hundred pennies
worth was that alabaster box. That was the value. Three hundred
pence. Three hundred. Not far from a year's wages.
And she took that precious ointment and she anointed the oil with
it. Remember what happened, what the disciples said. What was
this waste for? The Lord said, you leave her
alone. Why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work
upon me. Verily I say unto you, wheresoever
this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall
also this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial to
her." I mean the poor of this world. What honor the Lord has bestowed
upon faithfulness. A woman poured all the ointment
she had. She could have taken that ointment
and smelled good for a long time. But she poured it on the Lord.
This little woman right here, two mites. a widow in Zarephath. The scripture says that Elijah
came to her and told her to make him a little cake. She said,
look, I've got a handful of meal and a little oil. She said, that's
all I've got. I'm going to make me and my son
a little cake and then we're going to eat it and we're going
to die. That's what we're going to do. And Elijah, by the Spirit
of God, told her, he said, you make one for me first. That was
Almighty God that told Elijah to tell her that. And granted
that woman faith to believe. She made Elijah a little cake
and scripture says, until it rained, the meal never stopped
and neither did the oil. There was always enough. One
more little cake. Almighty God has spoken on her
concerning this woman as she is found to be a glorious picture
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But in closing, let me tell you
of the greatest offering that was ever given concerning the
glorious sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I told
you that, humanly speaking, men look at sacrificial giving and
they see that as being a lack of good sense. That's what the
world thinks of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. It
says to the Jews, the Jews stumbled at it. The Jews expected the Messiah
to come, set up an earthly kingdom, and the Lord Jesus Christ gave
himself as a sacrifice for his people. They stumbled at that.
The Greeks considered the Lord Jesus Christ the message of redemption. If you can't prove this by science
and math and everything, they were great thinkers, then that's
foolishness. But I tell you, the glorious
sacrifice that every believer rests his soul upon is set forth
here. For he, that is the Father, hath
made him sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. He gave all. He gave Himself. And we in Him live. May the Holy Spirit cause us
to behold the glory of our precious Savior as we behold in those
four verses of Scripture the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ
as he allowed this woman to be set forth as a beautiful type. Her poverty, his poverty. Her giving, she gave all, he
gave all. May the Lord bless the word of
our hearts for Christ's sake.