Go back with me now to 1 Kings
17. This is another marvelous story
of Christ who came. He must have the preeminence.
You know that every principal person in Scripture represents
our Lord Jesus Christ, don't you? Even some of the women,
like Esther. This is another marvelous story
of Christ who came to give life to dying sinners. A story of the gospel sent through
preachers. A story of the Lord's unwasting,
unfailing mercy and grace that are in the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone texted me and said, you
know, I sent out the text and they answered, and I appreciate
that. But they answered and said, I'm looking forward to this.
And I answered and said, me too. I said, it should be a blessing. And I'm not being presumptuous,
but if you read that with me, was it not a blessing reading
that? We've already been blessed. Our Lord said, blessed are they
that read. We're so blessed to read God's
Word, aren't we? And then blessed, He said, are
those that hear it. And then blessed are they that
do it. This lady did what Elijah told her to do. And she lived. Verse 1, Elijah the Tishbite
was of the inhabitants of Gilead. He said unto Ahab, king of Israel,
As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall
not be dew nor rain these years. He didn't say how long. But according
to my word, it's not going to rain until I say so. And then
the word of the Lord came unto him, Elijah, and said, Get thee
hence, leave here, turn eastward, go east, and hide thyself. By the brook cheareth, that is
before over against Jordan. Elijah was a mysterious man. This is the first mention of
Elijah. It doesn't tell who his father or mother was. He was
a mysterious man. He appeared for a while and then
he He had himself and disappeared. Our Lord Jesus Christ, Scripture
says, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in
the flesh. No matter how much we preach
Christ, the God-man, it's still a mystery. A great mystery. Hebrews 1 says, God, in sundry
times and diverse manners, spake unto the fathers by the prophets
hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath
appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world,
who being the brightness of his glory, and express image of his
person, upholding all things by the word of his power." Elijah
represents our Lord Jesus Christ, who became flesh and dwelled
among us, became a preacher. That's what he said, didn't he?
He said, I've come to preach. Preach the truth. Declare God.
And by His Word, all things are upheld. He is the Word of God. Elijah said, it's not going to
rain unless I say so. No one's going to be blessed.
No one's going to have light. Everybody's going to die unless
I give the Word and the rain falls. And that's Christ. All
the mercy of God, the grace of God is in Christ. Christ is the
Word made flesh. The Word of God. And listen to
Deuteronomy. It says in Deuteronomy 32. This
is great. Give ear, O ye heavens, and I
will speak. Hear, O earth, the words of my
mouth. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain. My speech shall distill as the
dew. He went on to say, because I
will publish the name of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto
our God. He is the rock. His work is perfect. So this first and foremost speaks
of the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't it? The Word made flesh. Great is the mystery that God
became a man. And by His Word, He made all
things, and by His Word, He upholds all things. And the water of
life, the rain, is the Word of God. It says in Isaiah 55 that
the rain shall come down. The Word of God. Like rain, it
will not return, but it will accomplish what I've said. And
then in Psalm 72, I love this, it says, He shall come down like
rain. So this is Christ. This is Christ. And our Lord said this in light
of this story. He said, not one word of mine
shall fail. What all Elijah said to this
woman, all the promises of God were to her, and they were what?
Yea and nay? No, no. Yea and amen to the glory of
God by her. Boy, when this was over, she's
given God all the glory. And she said, that's God's prophet. If you ever hear the truth, you'll
say the same thing. You notice how Elijah said, the
Lord God of Israel liveth. The living and true God. Isaiah
preached the living and true God. In the next chapter, Have
you read the next chapter, 1 Kings 18, where Elijah stood on Mount
Carmel against 850 false prophets? One man, 850 false ones. True story. And it's that way
all through the Scripture. Our Lord said, many false prophets
have gone out in the world. Do you know that there are over
500,000 pastors in the United States of America? Now you want to tell me how many
preach the truth? Maybe there's 7,000. Like the
Lord said to Isaiah, 7,000 I've reserved for myself who have
not bowed the knee to Baal. Maybe there are. Maybe we don't
know. But what's 7,000 among 500,000? It's a small portion, like Elijah. One out of 850. When you know Him, they are known
by the God that they proclaim. And he said, and this is not
my text, but it's the next chapter. It follows. He said, the God
that answers by fire, He's God. He's God. And the God, I've got to go on
from that. I'll preach chapter 18. But this
is a fact, people. We're not trying to be narrow
or exclusive, but the Scriptures are very narrow. Our Lord's straight
as a gate, and narrow is the way. And few there be that find
it. And you know, the only reason
you find it is when the Lord finds you. This woman wasn't
looking for the prophet. He came to her. Who'd He come
to? And I'm getting way ahead of
myself, but I can't help it. Who did he come to? He hid himself from all Israel
and came to one, one widow woman with a son. He's still doing it. Do you remember
a message at the Bible conference? Jesus Christ the same yesterday,
today, and forever. This is the Lord God of Israel
that liveth and ruleth and reigneth, in whose hands our breath is
and all our ways. In Him we live. He's not a part
of our life. If we live, we're a part of His. You need to make that distinction.
This is how you know true prophets. This was a man sent from God. A man sent from God, Elijah.
His name means Jehovah is my God. His name means my God is
God. That's what his name means. The
Lord Jesus Christ. Call His name Jesus. Maybe we'll
look at that around Christmas time. Matthew 1.21. Call His
name Jesus. To Mary, He tells everybody else,
you call Him Lord. But to Mary, you name Him this
earthly name, His name means God our Savior, Joshua. What
does that mean? He shall save His people from
their sin. It doesn't come to try to save,
not come to make it possible if you'll do something with it.
No. He shall say, the Lord, He is
Lord. You don't make Him Lord, God
did. He's Jesus, Savior. He came, He saved His people
from their sins. He'll save every single person
God gave Him. Christ, the Messiah, the covenant
head, the representative of His people, the substitute of His
people. Christ, the one whom all scriptures speak of. The
one who came, the one who's coming again. The Lord Jesus Christ. That's His name. And He liveth. Read Revelation 1 for yourself. I was afraid of this. Every line, every jot, every
tittle speaks of Christ. Amazing. Amazing. The Word of
the Lord came unto him. Now, Elijah was just a man. Yes,
he was, wasn't he? The Word of the Lord came to
him. He didn't go to school to figure it out. God sent the Word
to him. And Christ said when He ascended on high, He gave
gifts to men. Some gave some prophets, some
apostles, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers. He chose
them. How shall they hear without a
preacher? Romans 10. How shall they preach except they be sent? Not apply. Sent. But he went
on to say, but they have not all believed the report. God's
people will. My sheep will hear my voice.
I'll send it to whom I will. I'll be gracious to whom I will.
This is the God of the Bible. These are his preachers sent
by him. Elijah was a true man of God.
Israel did not receive Elijah. They hated him. They hated him. I wanted to preach
on Micaiah, the prophet, right after Elijah at the same time.
But Jehoshaphat and Ahab were together, and they wanted to
do something. And all the false prophets told,
Go, go, go, God is with you. And Jehoshaphat said, Is there
a true prophet around here somewhere? And Ahab said, There is one,
but I hate him. He never says anything good about
me. And Jehoshaphat said, we better
call him. And he told the truth. And sure enough, Ahab said, bind
him and put him in jail. And they did put him in prison
for telling the truth. But what he said came to pass. Israel didn't love Elijah. They
hated him. The Lord Jesus Christ came. Truth
came. And man hated him. Why? Because
man hates God. Man hates the truth. That's not
hyper-Calvinism. That's Bible. That's Romans 3. Man hates God. He hates the truth. The only way you'll love it is
if God sends the Word to you in power. And He did to this
one widow woman. Oh, my. A man sent from God. That's Elijah. Well, our Lord
Jesus Christ was sent by God, wasn't He? With a mission. With
a message. With a mission. With a work to
do. And he did it. Did Elijah do
what God told him to do? It specifically says he did what
God said. He was obedient. Our Lord Jesus
Christ came obedient to His Father. Fulfilled God's Word perfectly.
Every jot and tittle of law. And was obedient unto death.
Even the death of the cross. And so everything God said concerning
him came to pass. It's true. This is how you know
he's the Christ. This is how you know. Now look at this. It says in
verse 3, Get thee hence, turn thee eastward, and hide thyself
by the brook Cheworth as before Jordan. It shall be that thou
shalt drink of the brook. I have commanded the ravens to
feed thee there. So he went and did according
to the word of the Lord. He went and dwelt by the brook
Cherub. That's before Jordan. The ravens brought him bread
and flesh in the morning, bread and flesh in the evening, and
he drank of the brook. It came to pass after a while,
after so many days, the brook dried up because there had been
no rain in the land. Elijah was sustained by God. We just read that. God sustained
him as a man. Our Lord Jesus Christ became
a man, bone of our bones, flesh of our flesh. He lived by faith. Habakkuk 2.4 says it, the just
shall live by his faith. Are you with me? Our Lord had
to live by faith. He never did one thing to feed
himself. He never did one miracle for
himself. Everything he did was for other
people. But God sustained him. God provided for him. He lived
as a man. Hebrews 2 said he was made in
the likeness of sinful flesh. It said for the children, he
took upon the seed of Abraham and became in their likeness.
in all points like a zealot. Tempted in all points, yet without
sin. So we have not a high priest
who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity. He
was hungry, he was thirsty, he was tired, he was weary, he lived
by faith, but he knew who would provide for him, and he did.
His Lord, his God, provided everything for him. What are the ravens? The black
ravens. Do you remember the first mention
of a raven? I've got something in my eye. I've got a log in
my eye. Do you remember the raven at the
time of Noah? After the flood? He sent out
a raven. A raven is a bird that lives
on carrion, dead flesh. It's a black bird. It lives on
dead flesh primarily. Have you ever seen a raven in
your yard? Pretty proud creature, aren't
you? Don't they strut around? They're not like doves. They're
not like robins. They're proud, black, haughty,
living on dead things. What's that? That's the people
of this world. That's mankind. That's the way Scripture describes
mankind, isn't it? Our Lord Jesus Christ became
a man and a woman, a sinful woman. He nursed her breasts and took
milk from her. He who made her was sustained by a sinful woman. Think about that. Why? Because we are. Men and people gave Him meat. Do you remember His disciples
all the time? Have you any meat? Do you have
any meat? He never once provided food for
Himself. Even when He fed all those 5,000,
it doesn't say He ate it. Does it? The Lord sustained him. Are you
getting the picture here? He lived by faith, perfect faith.
He never worried about his next meal. In fact, he told us, why
do you worry about it? He feeds the ravens and he feeds you with the ravens.
The Lord, He said, I gave Egypt for you, Ethiopia for you. You
know all these industries, all these businesses, all these things
in the world where you work, UPS, you know why God raised
that up? For that man right there. You
believe that? Not so you can receive a package. So he can
have food to put on his table for God's people. Yes. This whole world exists for God's
people. Give, he said, it shall be given
to you. Men shall give to you. He gave Israel favor in the sight
of the Egyptians. The fish brought him money for
his taxes. An ass carried him into town. I've commanded the ravens to
feed you. And so it is with God's people. God's people. Not just the prophet,
but all of God's people. Well, it came to pass, he drank
of the brook. Oh my, there's so much here,
I've got to go on. You don't understand just how
much this speaks of Christ. He drank of this brook. Listen
to Psalm 110. This is that blessed psalm. It
said, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until
I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
thy strength out of Zion. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. This woman. He's that priest
after the order of Melchizedek. And the last line, verse 7, says
he'll drink of the brook in the way. Why was that written? Because Elijah represents the
Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore shall he lift up
the head. He's going to lift this woman's head up. He's going
to lift her son up. to life. What a picture. A man sustained by God. Christ,
a man. Became a man. Sustained by God. Lived by faith. Because we have
to. We have to. What a wonder. The great provider
and feeder was fed by His creatures. Now He commanded He commanded
the ravens to feed. He commanded, are you with me?
He commanded the woman. He didn't ask. He commanded. Okay? And God has done the same
thing for His people. He's commanded these things.
The creature, He said, if I were hungry, I wouldn't ask thee.
Didn't He? We don't have fundraisers. No true church has a fundraiser. or some kind of activity to bring
people in, to bring money. No, sir. Abraham one time said
to that king, he said, I'm not going to take one dime for you
because I've lifted up my hand unto the Lord who, I said, will
provide for me. And he did. He did. God commands the sustenance,
the provision for His people. He doesn't ask. God's not a beggar.
And nor are his people. David said, I've been young,
I'm now old, I've never seen the righteous forsaken or his
seed begging bread. You know those blessed people
in Mexico? You know them? They've never
asked for a dime. But the Lord led us and other
churches to send them money. Do they need us? No, they don't,
do they? No, they don't. Do those people in Africa need
us? No, they don't. How'd they get
along without, we just heard of them. Somebody knew them a
long time before we did. Are you with me? The just shall
live by his faith. Christ had to live by faith.
We live by His faith. And we live by faith. We must.
We must depend on our God. And you can depend on your God.
He's going to provide everything for you. Well, look at this. And so much more I could have
said there. The Lord was with the beasts,
fed by angels. But a poor... And the brook dried
up. And it says in Psalm 68 that
our Lord thirsted. But anyway, here's this poor
dying widow and her son. Look at verse 8 and 9. The Word
of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee to Zarephath, a particular
place. He's sent to a particular place
to a particular person. Get thee to Zarephath, which
belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. Stay there. He stayed
there a long time. I have commanded a widow to stay
there. Our Lord Jesus Christ came to
the poor and the dead and dying. Elijah was sent to one woman
and her son. I was going to have you turn
to Luke chapter 4. Just mark that down or try to
remember it, okay? When our Lord came to preach
in Nazareth as a 30-year-old man, His message was this. This
is what He preached. There was one widow in Zarephath
at the time Elijah was on this earth. And he sent Elijah to
that one widow, a Gentile, and completely bypassed all of Israel.
He was preaching election. Sovereign election. That's what
Christ preached. The Jews heard that. And they
got angry and they tried to cast him off of the hill, but he hid
himself. That's what Christ preached,
his first sermon in his hometown. And people got angry with him. Salvation is by the sovereign
electing mercy and grace and love of our God. It's not up
to man. It's completely up to God. Do
God the Lord belong the issues of life or death? That's what
it said. This woman was not calling for
Elijah. But he came to her. She didn't
choose him. He chose her. Elect according
to the foreknowledge of God. He commanded this woman to sustain
him, and he commanded Elijah to go to her. Salvation is by
command, isn't it, Brother John? We both love Psalm 71.3, don't
we? Thou hast given commandment to
save me. I love how it says in verse 10
and 11, look at it. It says, He arose and went to
Zarephath. That's where He went, a certain place, a certain city,
to this certain woman. He came to the gate of the city.
Behold, there she is. Right where he put her. The widow,
one particular, a certain woman. She was there gathering sticks.
And he did what? Called her. And he said, Irene, this is your
story. This is the woman at the well.
See, he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He said,
fetch me, I pray thee, a little water. in a vessel that I may
drink. Fetch me. Go get me some water
to drink. And our Lord came to that well,
a particular plate for a particular person, a woman. And He sat on that well. And
behold, here she came. Okay? And He said, Give me to
drink. He didn't ask her. Elijah didn't
ask her. Give me to drink. And she said, you don't have
anything to draw with. He's not there for water. He's
there for her. And Elijah hadn't come here for
bread and water, but the Lord sent him to save this woman and
her son. A poor, dying widow, elect, fetched,
called, commanded, dead, Dying and poor. In Adam, all die. Can you quote the rest of it?
But in Christ, all may die. One way. He said, I'm the life. Look at it, verses 10 and 11.
So, verse 11, as she was going to fetch it, he called her again.
And said, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
As said, Christ commands. He's the King. He gives commandments.
He's not this poor Jesus begging people to let Him in. When people
find out who He is, they bow at His feet and they beg Him
to let them in His heaven. And nor are His preachers beggars. We don't invite people. We command
men everywhere to repent. That's what the Scripture said.
Now let's look at this unwasting barrel and unfailing cruise of
oil, okay? I keep saying, are you with me?
Why do I say that? Because I am not preaching to
hear my voice. I get so tired of hearing my voice. And if my
voice is the only voice you'll hear, you're not going to get
a thing out of it. You're not going to live. And I look into faces and eye
contact. I even call names. Why? Because
I'm talking to you. And I want you to live. And I
want your daughter to live. I really do. And there's one
way they're going to live. If they hear the Word of the
Lord. Elijah was a man. He's a sinful man. But God sent
him. And he's still doing the same.
Thank God he hasn't left himself without a true witness of his
true self. Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel
of bread in thy hands. She said in verse, look at verse
12, she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake,
but a handful of meal and a barrel, and a little oil and a crude.
Behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it
for me and my son, that we may eat it and die." Here's her confession. I don't have anything. Your God
is God. And I don't have anything. I
can't help you. I can't even help me and my son.
We're dead, as good as dead, and we're dying. We have nothing,
we are nothing, we can do nothing, and we're dying. That's where
God's going to bring every single one of His people to. That's
the point that they're going to come to. Your God is God,
and though He's who kills and makes alive, I can't make myself
live. I don't have anything. I'm dead in sin and my son is
dead in sin. He's not a good boy, he's dead
and trespassed in sin. And unless the Lord God gives
him life, he's not going to live. Unless the Lord God gives me
life, I'm not going to live. That's the point that he's going
to bring every single sinner to hear. And they're going to
hear that through a preacher. I have nothing. I am nothing.
See, Christ didn't come to call the well. Christ didn't come
to call the righteous. He didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repent. He didn't come to give people
mercy that don't need it. He came for the poor and the
needy. Blessed are the poor. Blessed
are they that mourn. Blessed are they that know what
they are and are not. Oh, how blessed. This woman is
going to live. Her son is going to live. She said, all I have is a handful
of meal. What did Boaz say to his reapers
to do for Ruth? Let fall some handfuls of purpose
for her. Everything you've ever been supplied
in your life has come from the hand of God. You say, I don't
have much. Do you have food and rainwater?
Do you? Where'd you get it? God, where'd
she get this? The Lord. And like Jacob's son,
all she has is a couple of handfuls. She's going to leave with wagons.
Wagons loaded full. Elijah said unto her, Fear not, go and do as thou hast
said, that is make a cake, but make me a cake first. Bring it
unto me, and after make for thee thy son. Make it for me first. He said, Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither
shall the crucible of oil fail until the day that the Lord sendeth
rain upon the earth. What is this barrel? Well, a
barrel is a large vessel, isn't it? A large vessel of meal. What's meal? What do you do with
meal? What do you do with meal, sir? You make bread out of it,
don't you? This was a large barrel full
of meal to make bread. You hold in your lap a barrel
full of meal. The Word of God. You've got it
right there in your lap, don't you? which speaks of Christ the
bread of life. Man doesn't live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God. And this
is a large portion. But you know what you're going
to need? You know what you're going to get every day? A handful. That's all you can take in. That's
all you can take in. But it's there. It's there for
you every day. Every day. Do you need it? Do
you need this book? Do you need this bread? Do you
live on this bread? What is this barrel? It's the
heart of Jesus Christ. Full of mercy. Full of love. Full of grace. It will never run dry. Unwasted. It will never waste. No, He doesn't waste His mercy
and His grace. It's effectual to the saving
of God's people. And He said it will never waste.
His mercies endure. Hello? That sound good to you,
widder? Monty? We've got five widders
counting for birth. Have you lacked anything yet? No, nor shall you ever. Because you have Christ. You're
in His heart. You're His beloved. He'll never
leave you or forsake you. His mercies endure forever. They never fail. They're new. Everybody say it. They're new every morning. You're going to find just what
you need. He couldn't take it all in. He could only take a
handful. And this Word of God, we need
to feed upon it now. Just a handful will suffice you
during the day. Didn't our Lord say, pray, give
us this day? Our daily bread. It's so full. Do you feed upon it? It's an
unwasting barrel of meal which speaks of Christ, the bread of
life. And it gives us these handfuls.
You come here, like the manna, you come here on Sunday, you're
going to get a double portion. I've worked a long time. You
ladies, have you ever prepared a Thanksgiving meal by yourself? Many have done it many times.
Have you? I'm sure you have. Okay. How long did it take? Eight
hours? Ten hours? Twelve hours? I spend
that much time on every message. Oh, you've got this cup. Open
your mouth. I feel it. And hopefully, it
will bless you and you'll go home and say, wasn't that good? Oh, isn't the body of Christ
and the blood of Christ wonderful? Isn't His mercy wonderful? Isn't
His grace wonderful? Isn't His condescension wonderful?
Isn't His incarnation wonderful? Isn't His person wonderful? Wednesday
night's message, you get anything out of that? They're all together
a lovely one. Isn't He wonderful? And hopefully, she's going to be satisfied from
now on, this woman. The Lord made her hungry. The
Lord made her poor. Unfailing oil. What is this?
This cruise of oil. Well, without the Spirit of God,
the word means nothing to you. Back then, and still today, in
eastern countries, they take bread and dip it in olive oil. dipping it in olive oil. Just
a little bit is all it takes. A little bit of oil is wonderful. I love olive oil. I drink a spoon
or two every morning. Olive oil. We need the oil of
God's Spirit. And you know what the Scripture
says about Christ? Thou hast anointed Him with the
oil of gladness above His palace. He is this cruise of oil. He is the barrel of meal. Christ
is all in all these things. You need the Spirit of Christ
to take the things of Christ and show you. To dip this bread
in the oil and taste and see that He's gracious. And He'll
give you life and sustain you. He'll sustain your life. You'll
say with David, thy lovingkindness is better than life. I can't
tell you how many times. Ben and I love cornbread so much. Sometimes I'll make a whole pan
up. She taught me how to make it. Best in the world. I don't
care what you ladies say. It's ours as it is. But anyway,
and I'll make a whole pan sometime and eat the whole pan by myself.
Put it in milk. Oh man, it's cornbread. And I've
been eating it and it's better than anything I know. Except
this. Except this. His loving kindness. Can you say this? This gospel
of Christ is better than life. Better than life. And it'll never
fail. He'll never fail. He shall not
fail or be discouraged. And she went, alright, look at
this. She believes Him. And she went and did what He
said. Make me a cake first, and I meant to say this. You know,
our Lord says unto us, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.
She had two, picking up two sticks. That widow, you remember the
widow? What did she bring? Two mites. Did the Lord use that? He sure did. But anyway, Seek ye first. Our Lord said there's nobody
who has forsaken houses, or land, or husband, or wife, or mother,
or father, or son, or daughter, anybody that has put me first,
who has forsaken all these things for my sake and the God of me.
He said, nobody that's done that is going to ever lack for anything.
I want to fill them. They're going to receive a hundredfold
and eternal life to come. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. And all these things will be added unto you. Forget yourself. Deny yourself,
your children, your husband, your wife, whoever it is that
doesn't know the Lord. You seek first the kingdom of
God. And you'll find. You know, the people this world
think that you ladies, that you ladies who have unbelieving husbands
or vice versa, that you come here and you give your money
to support the gospel. They think it's just terrible
waste. Terrible waste. Don't they? I
know a lady that had to give her money sitting right here
in this in his room. Had to give her money secretly
because her husband grew angry with her supporting the gospel. I'm telling you, the Lord's going
to keep that woman forever. Probably cast that fellow out
if he doesn't save him. That's a fact now. Seek ye first. First. First. Deny yourself. That means you and your family.
Seek Christ. So she went and she did. She
was obedient to the faith she believed. According to the saying
of Elijah, she did in her house and she did eat many days. And
you know what? The barrel of meal wasted not.
Neither did the cruise of oil fail according to the word of
the Lord. His commandments are true. His
word is sure. The word he spake by a man. It's absolutely true. What I'm
telling you is the truth. It's not my word. You don't have
my word on it, you have God's word on it. Okay? Seek you first,
man. Seek you first. Alright? She believes, and faith is going
to be tried. Fiery trials. She had this one
son that she loved. And he died. How did he die? The Lord took
him. When you come to Christ, when
He brings you to Himself, when He comes to you, when He reveals
the truth to you, your troubles are not going to be over. They
just begin. Your trouble with God is over. Your guilty conscience will be
over. You will have peace that no man can understand, that passes
understanding, that the world cannot take from you. No matter
what happens, nothing and no one can take this peace you have
in Christ away from you. He is our peace. He said, My
peace I give unto you. My peace I leave with you and
my peace I give unto you. Our Lord endured everything we
endure a thousand times more. Fiery trials. Not some through the water, some
through the flood, all through the water, all through the fire,
all through the flood, and all through the blood. Fiery trials. And she said, here's what she
thought, verse 18, what have I to do with the old man of God? You come, it's because of my
sin. This happened because of my sin. He slayed my son, he's going
to slay me now with grief. It's all because I'm such a sinner. Does this sound familiar? They came to the disciples and
said, there is a man born blind. They said, who sinned that this
man was born blind? Our Lord said, neither, but that
the glory of God might be seen. When this is over, through this
fiery trial, this woman is going to say, now I know! God is God! And what his preacher says is
true. Why? Because only God can bring somebody
through a fiery trial like this. That's a fact. Like Job who lost
all his children. We've got lost children. Job had ten and they were all
lost. Do you know the grief he had? Read it. He was just... He cursed it. He said, I wish
I'd never been born. What's the end of Job? Why did this happen? How'd it
turn out? You know what you're going to
have to do like Job? Wait. You wait. You'll see. This boy
died. That's a terrible grief. Probably
nothing harder than to have a daughter who's dead and sinning. I've
said many times, I can't imagine. We can't imagine if our daughter,
Isabella herself, was running the streets. We can't imagine. Every one of
our Lord's children are like that until it comes. And people go through these things.
And Peter said, the fiery trial you go through, if need be, you
go through heaviness, through manifold temptation, that the
trial of your faith that will be tried with fire is going to
be found unto glory and honor. When you get the glory, sister,
brother, sister, no matter the trial you've been through, no
matter how fiery it gets, you're going to praise God, the high
heaven, for doing that very thing. Here's what he said, give me
thy son. Cast your care on the Lord. Who
gave you that? Who gave you those daughters? The Lord. Who gave you your children? The Lord gave. What can he do? Take away. Give me thy son. You need to
see that they don't belong to you after all. They really don't. And what I hope we see is there
one thing needful for us and our sons and our daughters, that
Christ come to us. And He took him out of her bosom,
look at that, and carried him up into a loft, and there he
abode, where he abode. Elijah came and abode there with
his widowed woman. He was there. Christ is in our
midst. Yes, He is. Yes, He is, people. Yes, He is.
I can't see Him. You say, I can't see Him. I can't
either. But He's here. "...and laid Him upon His bed," look
at this, "...and He cried unto the Lord, O Lord my God." Why? That's what He said. That's what
He said. Why? What was the first thing our Lord cried on Calvary's
cross? My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? You know what this is a picture
of, don't you? Do you know what this is a picture of? Christ
crucified. He took this dead son, took him
up, laid him on his bed. cried unto the Lord for him and
stretched himself on this child, laid himself, his body on this
child three times. Brothers and sisters, what we
need and what our sons and daughters need is to see Christ and Him
crucified. We need to be crucified with
Christ, buried with Christ, risen with Christ, Christ who was in
the grave three days, but arose from that grave. You won't live,
your sons won't live unless they see Christ high and lifted up,
unless He is crucified for us, buried with us, buried with Him
and risen together to walk in newness of life. And because Elijah cried unto
the Lord, the Lord heard him. And because our Lord Jesus Christ
cried from Calvary's cross for everyone that God gave him, God
heard him. And they all lived. In Adam all
died, but in Christ all made alive. And the Lord heard. The soul of the
child came unto him and he revived. In verse 23, Elijah took the
child, brought him down out of the chamber into the house. Probably
a minute and a half. You know how you're going to
know that the Lord's done something for your children? Your dead
children are dead and they're going to come walking in this
house one of these days. They're going to come here and they're
going to be made willing in the day of His power, which is Christ
and Him crucified. And they're going to come walking
in here and they're going to sit down Alive. Revived. See? Elijah sinned. I look forward to the day. I
believe he's going to do it. The door of the ark is still
open. I believe some of these young people I keep praying for
and talking to, I believe the Lord is going to do something
for them. Why? The gospel is still being preached. The door
of the ark is still open. Christ is still with us. And
I look forward to the day saying, see? See? God's merciful. She thought, you're going to
kill me, because that's what Manoah thought, didn't he? No,
he wouldn't have showed you these things. He wouldn't have heard
these things. He wouldn't have done these things. He wouldn't have accepted the sacrifice. See? Told you so. God told you
so. And the woman said to Elijah,
verse 24, Now by this, what's that? A dead son lives by the
word of the Lord. To God belong the issues of life
and death. I know that thou art a man of
God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth. Oh yeah. It's so. This is so. Everything
you've heard is true. I hope the Lord make you need
it. Okay. Let's sing in closing. $199.
This is great. This woman could have sung this
day by day. $299. $299. See, everybody gets
the wrong number. $299. This woman could have This woman could have sung this.
If she'd be here, she'd be singing it at the top of her lungs, day
by day. Strength I find to meet my trials
here. He whose heart is kind beyond
all measure gives unto each day what he seems best.