Seeking the Lord's help for a
little while this evening, turn with me to the chapter we read,
the second book of Kings, chapter 4, and reading verse 2. The second book of Kings, chapter
4, and reading verse 2. 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. 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. Well, it has been said of this
account of this woman in such a desperate state that her meagre
resources were met by abundant supplies. Her meagre resources
were met by abundant supplies. the dear woman that she had been
left as a widow with two sons. And she had, as has been said,
a substantial debt. And the creditor was a human
iceberg. He was cold, he was hard, he
was merciless. And so here she is, that she
has this huge debt and according to the law that if she cannot
pay the debt then her two sons must be taken, must be taken
and for seven years must serve as slaves. There are those who
would tell us that once we are blessed with forgiving love and
blood, once we are favoured with faith in Christ, once we have
made a profession of faith, then all is easy. Oh, and so that's
so contrary, isn't it, to the health and wealth gospel, this
account of this woman. And friends, and you, and I,
though we have not had to walk such a pathway as she has, and
yet we've come to understand, haven't we, that we are, we do
know what it is to have troubles, to have trials, to walk out that
in the world ye shall have tribulation. But oh, to lay hold upon this,
but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Well, this dear woman, she knew
where to go, didn't she? She knew where to go. She went
to the man of God. She went to the man of God. Oh,
as we sung this morning of that hiding place, And friends, and
you and I in the poverty of our souls, you and I and you that
are laboring under sin, under the bondage of the law, that's
the place to go, isn't it? Is to Jesus, is to go to the
hiding place. Oh, and to seek, to seek mercy. Oh, to seek Him as the one thing
needful. And so she went, she went to
Elisha, and she said, 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. And Elisha said unto her, What
shall I do for thee? O friends, the door of God's
mercy stands open all day and all night. to the poor and the
needy who knock by the way. He said, What shall I do for
thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the
house? And friends, and that's how the
Lord deals with a poor sinner, isn't it? A poor sinner as he
brings them into want, as he brings them into that knowledge
that they're bankrupt, they've nothing. And they're brought
to this, nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. And so, as this account represents
to us the Gospel, the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ, we would seek, first of all, to speak of it briefly
from a providential point of view. And you'll know what it
is, some of you, as you look back over your lives, and especially
those that are older, and those of you that knew something of
the conflicts of the Second World War. And you'll remember how
your parents, your godly mother and father, perhaps it was or
perhaps they weren't so godly, but they knew what it was to
struggle and also knew what it was to fear where the scene would
end. And now in this hour, day and
generation, and those of you that are younger and those of
you that have families and various commitments and all that that
means. And there are those times, isn't
there, when those unexpected things happen and those things
happen where are we going to get to the end of the month with
this bill having come in and that bill and this expense? But he says, as the woman, as
this godly woman, she went and found out Elisha. So he says
to you and I tonight, go to Jesus. Go to the hiding place. Go to
him. Tell him. Oh, you see, this woman,
she's asked, isn't she? She's asked the question that's
going to really embarrass her, because he says to her, what,
tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she had to say, didn't
she? She had to say, I've nothing
except, she said, thine handmaid hath not anything in the house
save a pot of oil. Save a pot of oil. She sold everything. Everything
is gone to try and meet the demands of the creditor. She's in debt
and she sold everything and she's no hope, no hope outside of Christ. And so dear friends, those of
you that are tonight, that you're facing difficulties, aren't you?
That you're facing an uncertain future. And these things, dear
friends, are brought for the good of your soul. Oh, they are
indeed. They're to bring you to confess
before God. I've nothing. I've nothing. It's to lean upon Him. Oh, all of my designs, everything
that I've tried has brought me nothing. And so it's to come and name
it to Him and to say, I've nothing, I've nothing. Oh, I'm dependent
on my goodness, on my mercy, on my grace to come off of everything. And so she said, Thine handmaid
hath not anything in the house save a pot of oil. And so the dear man, he says,
well, now you go and you borrow. You borrow the vessels abroad
of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels, borrow not a few. What a strange thing, isn't it?
And the pathway that you're walking in is strange, isn't it? To reason's
eye, to your eye, as you try and reason it all out, as you
try and fathom it, it's so strange. But He brings us into these strange
pathways, dear friends, and He'll try our faith. He'll try our
faith. He'll bring us off of everything. And this seems such a strange
thing, isn't it? That I've got just this little
pot of oil. It's only going to last a day
or two. And yet, this man of God, he's
telling me to go round all my neighbours and say to them, all
these empty vessels you've got, you must have empty vessels in
your home. I'll give them to me. I'll let
you have them back. I'll borrow them. it's a humble way isn't it how
embarrassing how embarrassing perhaps you're being asked to
do something that really really great really well it's crushing
you isn't it it's crushing you oh your pride that you can feel
that any bit of pride that you had left is gone Well, dear friends, as you're
led to Gethsemane, so it'll be that you'll walk it out, and
understand thy garden is the place where pride dare not intrude,
for if it could, to it soon be drowned in Jesus' precious blood. And so He says, borrow not a
few, and when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon
thee and upon thy sons. Yes, it's going to be between
you and the Lord. The Lord will appear. He will
work wonders and shall pour out into all those
vessels and thou shalt set aside that which is full. Now friends,
you say well I'm being asked the impossible, I'm being asked
to be submissive, I'm being asked to put aside everything, the
weight that does so easily beset me and I'm finding it so hard
and I want to do this, I want to do that, I want to bring things
to a hasty conclusion, I want it to all work out for the best
in my own time And why? And this. But he says, no, no. And this
is how the Lord works with a poor sinner. It's between you and
a holy God. He says, shut the door and do
that which is seeming and is and is impossible. Oh, it's impossible
that outside of Christ a sinner will ever be saved. It's outside of Christ a sinner
will sink into everlasting perdition, yea, into hell. And so he says, he says, now
you, you do this, you borrow these vessels, you borrow these
vessels, you go in private with your two sons, you shut the door
and the Lord will work wondrously. The Lord will work wondrously. Every, every child of God, every
blood-bought child of God, everyone that is favoured with that amazing
grace of that which we sung. And dear John Newton, how he
could testify to that, couldn't he? To the wondrous grace of
God that he could truly say he was a wretch. Oh, as he dealt
in slave trading and all that went with it. And so it is that
it's this amazing grace. And so, dear friends, it is that
whatsoever he saith, as Mary said, didn't she, to those at
that first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, whatsoever
he saith, do it. He said to you, He said to you,
fill the water pots with water, fill them to the brim. But it's
not water we want, it's wine. We've run out of wine. Whatsoever
He saith unto you, do it. And friends, oh, that's the word
to you tonight. whatsoever he saith unto you,
do it. The impossible, lay everything
else aside, or bring yourself prostrate before a holy God. And it came to pass, and so she
went from him, and shut the door upon her, and upon her sons,
who brought the vessels to her. Oh, these two sons, they're in
it, aren't they? They're at the risk of being
slaves for seven years. And they bring the vessels to
her, and she poured out. And it came to pass, 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. Friend, or God knows exactly,
God knows exactly your needs and He will supply that need. He will grant that deliverance. He will grant that grace sufficient. And those sons that they'd gone
and her had gone out and borrowed just enough vessels for this
little pot of oil to multiply and multiply and multiply. And that was the exact number
to when the oil stayed. And 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. Oh, and so this is
as the grace of God, isn't it? As a sinner, as a sinner, as
a partaker, as a recipient, blessed with living faith, favored with
the grace of God, that that is forever and ever and will see
you safely through life and into heaven at last. But, oh, you
see her wise strategy. You see her strategy was come
off of self and go to the man of God, go to Elijah, go to him,
go to God, go to him. Oh, you've insufficient resource,
you have nothing. Go, go to him. for this or for help for deliverance
in this impossible trial and friends and she went to him didn't
she she went to him poor and oppressed But oh, as she went
now to tell the man of God, go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt,
and live thou and thy children of the rest, that as she was
delivered, she was delivered from being poor and oppressed,
And she went her way. She was left rich and free. Rich and free. She was delivered. And her sons, they were delivered
from having to be slaves for those seven years. Well friends, the greatest debt
that you and I have isn't it, is the mortgage, the mortgage
on our souls. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. And unless we're brought into
a concern, unless that is made a reality to us, and we understand
that we're bankrupt before a holy God, and bankrupt, bankrupt sinners,
there's only one place. And so, dear friends, it is this
to have that which the dear woman was favored with, to go, to go,
to go to Elisha, to go on your knees, to plead, to plead for
mercy. Oh, to understand that all of
your righteousnesses are as filthy rags. You have a fig leaf, righteousness! John Berridge, he speaks of the
image chamber fowl as Ezekiel puts it in his 8th chapter and
the 6th verse. He said, Son of man, seest thou
what they do, even the great abominations that the house of
Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? But turn thee yet again, and
thou shalt see greater abominations than these. Now that's when the
Lord, dear friends, He begins to show you that you're at the
end of everything, you're bankrupt. and buried he puts it like this
in the hymn 891 that image chamber foul that met Ezekiel's eye points
out the breast of every soul where lurking idols lie and then
there are three verses which you can read at your leisure
at this 891 the last verse goes may Jesus Christ disclose the
plagues within my heart and as my soul more humbled grows a
brighter faith imparts And that's it, isn't it, friends? It's humility. It's humility. It's prostrate
before the Lord. And walking in the ways of the
Lord is a humble way so that Jesus is all and in all. May Jesus Christ disclose the
plagues within my heart and as my soul. more humbled grows,
a brighter faith imparts. In the epistle to the Ephesians
and chapter two, we have there that wondrous out, that wondrous
letter to the church at Ephesus, exalting Christ, that we are
saved by grace. And Paul, in writing to them,
he says in verse 3 about that in time past we had our conversation
in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as
others, but, but, Oh, as Jesus Christ disclosed the plagues
within your heart, because of His richness in mercy, this fourth
verse in Ephesians 2, but God, who is rich in mercy for His
great love, wherewith He loved us, It was a great miracle, wasn't
it, that happened with this woman, this dear woman. But the oil
just kept pouring and pouring from this little jar. He's rich
in mercy for his great love, wherewith he loved us even when
we were dead in sins, when we were bankrupt, like this poor
woman was. He's quickened us. He's quickened
us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved and have
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding
riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Oh, I came to Jesus as I was,
weary, weary laden, weary and poor and oppressed, just like
this woman came to Elisha. But O, for by grace are ye saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of
God. And so he empties whom he fills,
and you go away full, O free, a child of God, blessed with
living faith. Oh, you favour by faith to see
Him at your substitute, your substitute suffering in your
room, place and stead. Oh, all of your vile sins imputed
to Him. The wrath of God pouring upon
Him instead of you. And so that now you trust by
His grace and by this sin atonement for your sins, atone for your
sins. That when a holy God looks at
you, He doesn't see you in your sins, He sees His own beloved
Son, He sees Christ. For by grace God's riches at
Christ's expense are ye saved through faith, and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God. There's the hymn in Gatsby's
No. 44 that speaks of the usefulness,
the lawful use of the law. And he says there, here, Lord,
my soul convicted stands of breaking all thy ten commands. And on
me justly mightest thou pour thy wrath in one eternal shower. But thanks to God, it's loud
alarms. Now, have you been alarmed? Has
the Lord been alarming you? Has he been using things? Has
he been bringing things into your life to alarm you? Bless
God if he has. Bless God if you've taken note. These loud alarms have warned
me of approaching harms. And now, that's it now, as he
said to the woman, go and borrow now, do it now. Go and borrow
vessels, not a few. Seems impossible. And now, oh
Lord, my wants I see lost bankrupt
and undone nothing in my hand I come to thee I see my fig leaf
righteousness can never thy broken law redress yet in the gospel
in the gospel I can see There's hope of pardon even for May. Oh, and so the pot of oil, the
pot of oil, those sighs, those cries, those wants, those longings,
And he says, in his own good time and way, he brings you to
where dear Isaiah was brought to declare in chapter 55, ho,
everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that
hath no money, that's it, nothing bankrupt. O every one that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and
eat, yea, come by wine and milk, without
money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for
that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth
not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear, that's it friend,
incline your ear, and Come unto me, come ye sinners, poor and
wretched, weakened, wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands
to save you, full of pity, joined up with power. He is able, He
is willing. Doubt no more. Incline your ear
and come unto me. Hear and your soul shall live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Friends, he'll supply all your
needs. He's a covenant-keeping God. As Paul finishes his letter to
the church at Philippi, and in Philippians chapter 4 and verse
19, he says, But my gods shall supply all your need. according to his riches in glory
by Christ Jesus. And in Ephesians, as he writes
to the church at Ephesus in chapter 3, and he says in verse 16, he
would grant you according to the riches of his glory to be
strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man. that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all saints. What, me a poor sinner,
numbered among the saints? Yes, this is the love of Christ
to sinners. may be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height. Oh there I was, lost and ruined,
naked, heading for an eternity in hell. But oh, he brings you,
brings you into a wealthy place. to know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness
of God's. You know, it's not my normal
practice to refer to several hymns, but all those, as I meditated
on this, these various hymns, and they seem to be, well, they
were so precious. And this one of Fawcett's 184
on the fullness of Christ, a fullness resides in Jesus our head. and ever abides to answer our
need. The Father's good pleasure has
laid up in store a plentiful treasure to give to the poor."
And he speaks of supplying his mercy and his fullness and then
he says, the fountain overflows. A woes to redress, still more
he bestows. Just like this oil, isn't it?
It kept pouring and pouring and pouring. Pay the debts, pay the
debts. And so a precious Jesus. Oh, this fountain, this fountain
open for sin and for uncleanness. And so you're brought experimentally
to see the soldier by faith. The soldier's pierced his side,
it is true. But I have pierced him through
and through. And that fountain of sin, that
fountain for sin and for uncleanness is open for me. It's open for
me. The fountain o'erflows our woes
to redress this bankrupt sinner, full of sin and disgrace, nothing,
nothing to plead. Still more he bestows, and grace
upon grace, his gifts in abundance. Oh, that is it, isn't it? Meagre
resources met by abundant supplies. Where whatever distress awaits
us below. Such plentiful graces! Yes, that's his gifts in abundance
we daily receive. That's it, friend. Oh, does that
mean then it's all going to be plain sailing? No, you're taking
up your cross. You're following a bleeding Jesus. But keep close to me, he says. Be blessed, be blessed with fellowship
with me. Be blessed with communion with
me. Be blessed with fellowship in
my sufferings. be blessed knowing that you have
not an eye priest which cannot be touched with the feelings
of your infirmities but was in all points tempted and tried
like us you are yet without sin and so he bids us to come boldly
to come boldly to the throne of grace the savior's blood to
plead and so he says whatever distress whatever it is and friends
and providence and grace, they mingle one with another, don't
they? And so whatever distress awaits
us below, such plentiful grace will Jesus bestow, as still shall
support us and silence our fear for nothing, nothing, can hurt
us while Jesus is near when troubles attend or danger or strife his
love will defend and guard us through life and when we are
fainting and when we are ready to die Whatever is wanting, His
grace will supply. And so friends, it is to be favoured
to lay our empty vessel before Christ. And He will fill to the brim
of the oil of His grace. Oh, visit Gethsemane. Come to
Gethsemane. Come and view Him. Come and view
Him in His agony. In His agony. Oh, I gather that
Gethsemane, that Gethsemane means a press for olive oil. And friends, and from that oil
press of sorrow, he will provide abundant supply of the oil of
gladness. As Isaiah again in chapter 63
and the third verse, I have trodden the wine press alone, and of
the people there was none with me. For I will tread them in
mine anger, and trample them in my fury, and their blood shall
be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. Oh friends, and so he leads a
poor sinner on. He leads a poor sinner on to
look to the end of the journey as he grants them grace. Oh,
as a precious Jesus, he's trodden down all of these enemies. Oh, the blood that flowed from
his wounds. And John sees, as he writes his
revelation, that which was revealed to him on the Isle of Patmos. And he says in the 19th verse
of the 14th chapter, "...and the angel thrust in his sickle
into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast
it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress
was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the winepress,
even unto the horse bridles, by the space of a thousand and
six hundred furlongs. And blessed be God at the marriage
supper of the Lamb, Oh, we shall see by His grace that at which
John saw, as he recorded in his nineteenth chapter and the ninth
verse, He saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called
unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said unto me, These
are the true sayings of God. And I fell at his feet to worship
him. And he said unto me, See thou
do it not, I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren. that have
the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, for the testimony
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. War his eyes were as a flame
of fire and on his head were many crowns And he had a name
written that no man knew but he himself and he was clothed
with a vesture Dipped in blood and his name is called the word
of God And so, dear friends, whilst there is an empty longing
heart, There is a continuous, a continual overflowing fountain
of salvation. Dear Amos, that he says in chapter
5 in verse 4, For thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel,
Seek ye me. and ye shall live. In verse 6, seek the Lord and
ye shall live. And in verse 14, seek good. Seek good and not evil. Seek good and not evil. That's a sanctifying effect,
dear friends. of the work of grace. Seek good
and not evil, that ye may live. And so Jeremiah, he takes this
up in his 38th chapter and the 20th verse. And he says there,
but Jeremiah said, they shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech
thee. This is it. You've got to come
off of everything, of everything. There's no deliverance apart
from Christ. They shall not deliver thee.
Obey. Obey. Just as this woman obeyed
Elisha and was delivered and was blessed with bountiful supplies,
it is to you. Obey. Obey, I beseech thee. the voice of the LORD, which
I speak unto thee, so it shall be well unto thee, and thy soul
shall live. Well, dear friends, in Isaiah
he says, doesn't he, look unto me and be ye saved. Oh, the claims of the law. Oh,
they're so, oh, they can never be met. We can never meet them. Just as this poor woman couldn't
meet her debt. but the claims of the law are
met by the infinite grace of God. He whose God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. Amen. Our closing hymn for this evening's
service is from Hymns for Worship number 145. Hymns for Worship 145. Before the throne
of God above, I have a strong, a perfect plea, a great high
priest whose name is love, whoever lives and pleads for me. Hymns for Worship 145 to the
tune 385. For the throne of God above,
I have a strong, a perfect plea, a great I breathe. ? Whose name is love ? ? Whoever
lives and bleeds for me ? ? My name is graven in his hands ?
? My name is graven in his hands ? heart. I know that while in omniscience
no tongue can meet me thence depart. When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within Upward I look and see him there
who made an end of all my sin. Because the sinless Savior died,
My sinful soul is counted free For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me Behold Him there, the risen Lamb,
My perfect, spotless righteousness, The great, unchangeable I Am,
the King of glory and of grace. One with himself, I cannot die. My soul is purchased by his blood. My life is it, with Christ on
high, With Christ my Savior and my God. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, the fellowship and the sweet communion
of the Holy Spirit rest and abide with us all, now and for evermore. Amen.