All right, 1 Kings chapter 17. That would be a good hymn to
sing after this. That's 1 Kings chapter 17. If you're like me, sometimes you struggle a little bit with
what to read in the scriptures, looking for something to read. And I can highly recommend that
you start in the book of 1 Kings. And we've been jumping back and
forth in this book, haven't we? 1 Kings, the life and times of
Prophet Elijah and his follower, Elisha, make for wonderful, profitable
reading, if you want to read that. mentioned often in scriptures,
Elijah. His first appearance is here
in chapter 17, a mysterious appearance. It seems to appear out of nowhere.
And then, in 2 Kings chapter 2, he disappears. He's taken
up on a charity. And so, Elijah is a real type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, verses 1 through 7 here. are his appearance, Elijah's
appearance and his preparation for the ministry, God miraculously
providing for him out in the wilderness, a raven bringing
him food. And this reminds me of when our
Lord was tempted by Satan at the first of his ministry in
the wilderness, and the angels came. There's so much here, but we're
not going to deal with that. But I want you to jot this down.
If you've got a pen, later on, read these first seven verses. If you don't jot this down, you're
going to miss a blessing. Read the first seven verses.
along with Psalm 110. And there are seven verses in
Psalm 110. The last verse speaks of a brook. Now, you read that along with
Psalm 110, you'll get a blessing, I guarantee you. All right. Now, our story begins in verse
eight. Our story begins in verse 8 tonight.
There was a famine in the land. If you don't know the story,
there was a famine in the land. Verse 1, Elijah appeared to Ahab
and said, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, or that
is, in the name of the true and living God of Israel. For whom
I stand, who I serve, who I speak for, there shall not be dew nor
rain these years, but according to my word, until I say so." According to Elijah's word. Boy,
this was no mere ordinary man, was it? He was and he wasn't. But it happened. This is how
you know a true prophet. You know how you know a true
prophet? It's if the word he says comes true. You know how
you know a true preacher? It's the word he preaches is
the truth. There are no more prophets. Christ
was that prophet. Don't need any more prophets,
right? He told us all that needs to
be said. Well, there was no rain and there was a drought. If you
don't have rain, you have a drought. No water, no food, no bread. And why was there a drought?
We've been studying this because of the wickedness of the people.
Ahab, Jezebel were reigning in Israel. Idolatry. All sorts of abominable practices
were taking place. And there was one prophet in
the land, one prophet, sent by God. And he spoke out against
Ahab and Jezebel and everything else going on. He was not ashamed
to call sin sin, was he? One man stood up. And again,
I bring this up, that often I think that perhaps we do too much negative
preaching. I say we, I always try to say
we, not I. Because therefore seeing we as
this ministry. I'm your spokesman. Whatever
I say, you believe. Right? I speak to you. But often
I think, well, perhaps we are a little too negative in our
preaching. But then I read verses like this,
Psalm 139.2, I was dumb with silence. I held my peace even
from saying anything good. My sorrow was stirred, that is,
I was grieved. My heart was hot within me while
I was musing. The fire burned, and I had to
speak, had to say something. Well, Elijah spoke out against
what was going on. And so it was a drought. No rain. And all of that is because of
no word. No word. The great Euphrates,
you know. No word. It was dried up. Later
on, now this was a long time ago. Later on. And the day when our Lord walked,
just before our Lord walked this planet, Israel was in the same
condition. It had been 400 years since God
had spoken. From Malachi to Matthew was 400
years. No word, no prophecy. From Malachi
to John, 400 years. A long time, isn't it? And so
it was a dry and a thirsty land, and God said, not a prophet. God sent that prophet, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who Moses wrote. Jesus Christ saved His people
from their sin, the water of life. God sent it, not... He
sent the rain that we're in. Righteousness came then. All
right, look at verses 8 and 9. This is where we begin. And all
of this is a title of Christ, but we're just going to touch
on that. Verse 8, The word of the Lord
came unto Elijah, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, or in
the New Testament, Sarephath, same city. Get thee to Zarephath,
which belongeth to Zion, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded
a widow woman there to sustain thee. Elijah must needs go to
Sarephath. He must, because there's a woman
there. There's a woman there. It says, I've commanded a woman
to sustain you, give you something to drink. Well, who will sustain
who? But this was one of God's own,
one of God's elect, and she was going to be right there waiting
on him. And behold, verse 10, he arose and went to the reptile,
came to the gate, and there she was. He didn't have to look far
and wide. There she was, waiting. But he must need to go to Sarepto.
There's a famine in the land, no bread, no water, but God sent
a prophet with the one thing he's going to do, to this one
woman. One woman. Look at Luke chapter 4 with that.
Luke chapter 4. Our Lord mentions this, doesn't
He? Here in Luke chapter 4, this
is what made the Jews mad, remember? He talked about Naaman the leper
and this widow of Sareph. Incidentally, I think we'll preach
on Naaman the next Sunday. Somebody just mentioned it in
Dinkus and it made me want to look at it. Luke chapter 4, verse
25 and 26, our Lord is speaking and says, I tell you of a truth.
Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, or Elijah,
when the heaven was shut up three years and six months. Great famine
was throughout all the land, but of none of them None of these
widows in Israel was alive just then, save under Sarepta, or
Zarephath, the city of Sidon. That is, a Gentile, a woman that
was a widow. None of them, but one chosen
woman. And what about us? Is there not
a famine in the land, as Amos spoke of? Oh, there's not a famine
of bread. There's not a thirst for water. You've been reading the headlines
recently. Poverty's at an all-time low. People are healthier than they've
ever been. Lifespan, longevity of life is
longer than it's ever been. Things are really good, aren't they? Bad times. Wicked times.
Worse than they've ever been. That's in the days of God. Well,
no bread, that's why. No word. No gospel. No water. No Christ being preached. But God sent bread to us. And lots of
water. Water of life to us. Blessed
are you. We're a chosen generation, aren't
we? Huh? A royal priesthood. Peculiar people. chosen generation. And the prophet was sent to one,
one Gentile woman. This is such a picture of sovereign
electing grace. It might as well be eight things
we're going to look at. Don't worry, I'm not going to
be until midnight. But eight things. Eight very
simple things we're going to look at here in these verses,
all right? Eight things. If you take a note,
we're going to look at the prophet, we're going to look at the widow,
we're going to look at the command, we're going to look at the promise,
we're going to look at the response, we're going to look at the blessing,
we're going to look at the trial, we're going to look at the end. Eight things, all right? All
right, the prophet. A man sent from God. Greatest blessing people can
have. Now this Elijah was just a man. I said he was more than a man. No, he wasn't. He was just a
man. James said he was a man of life and passion. He just a man. He just a man. Oh, what makes him special? God
sent him. No, he's just a man. Well, but
God sent him, and he's the only one. He's the only one. He's the only one that this woman's
going to hear the truth from. That makes him pretty special
to her, doesn't it? There weren't any others at this
place and this time, were there? There weren't any others. Chapter 18, you remember, is
where Elijah went up against 850. There were 850 false prophets.
He was the only one. Later on, God said, I have the
Word. Well, but he had the Word of God, and
that made him special. And so it is when Christ came.
They thought he was just a man. Now here was one who was more
than just a man. Here's where God, man, affects
in the flesh. The God-man. When Christ came,
oh, that's what we read, the unspeakable gift. God became
a man and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. The only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. And we heard
Him, we touched Him, we handled Him. There's only one man, there's
only one name, two, under heaven, given among men, whereby we must
be saved. Only one we're going to hear the truth from. One true
and faithful witness. That prophet will tell us all
things, and He did. And He hid it from the wise and
prudent, and revealed it unto me. Came before with us, and
revealed Himself to us. What a blessing. And you know
Christ said, he sent out his apostles and all of his preachers,
and he said, those that hear you, hear from me. Those that
receive you, receive from me. Christ has gone back to glory,
but he's not left himself without a witness. The widow back there had Elijah.
God sent me him and I him. Huh? He's not left himself without
a witness. Just men, but we sure esteem
them highly, his preachers. The one man, the only man, a
particular place and time, sent to his people. All right, the
widow. Look at the widow, verse 10. It says, He arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate
of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of
sticks. Not firewood, but sticks. There probably wasn't much wood
to go around. Sticks. Now, in verse 12, she talks about
her son. So this woman is out gathering
sticks. Her son's at home. What does
that tell you? It tells you that her son is really young. He's
just a baby. So she must be young, right? In her twenties maybe, thirties,
alright? She's got everything going against
her. If we think, and these were hard times. This was back when
women were non-members of the human race. And she had three things going
against her. She was young. She was a poor
thing. She was a widow woman. Her husband
died. A young woman. That means that
probably she left her with death. No way to support herself and
have a baby. We think we've got enough. And
it's a drought. And she's gathering sticks. And
we're going to see she's got a little cake of bread. That's it. We think we've got troubles. We think we've got it tough. God forgive us. But God sent the one thing needful,
and when he sent this, she was rich. What's the one thing needful? You say, food. No. With the word, see man doesn't
live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth
of God. And that word from the mouth
of God came through the mouth of man. Prophet, all right? With God's word. So see the word,
all right? The command. Here's the command.
Verse 10. Here came this prophet, this
chosen one. When he came to the gate of the
city, the widow woman was gathering sticks, and he called to her
and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel that
I may drink. Fetch me a little water. I pray thee is just a
polite term. If you say please, fetch me please. He didn't say please first. He
was not without etiquette and without, you know, he was polite. Fact is, this was a command,
Rick. It wasn't a request. It wasn't
him asking a millionaire to do anything. He said, fetch me,
please, a drink of water. Right? A command. God doesn't
ask anything. God doesn't ask human beings
for anything. God's no beggar. You remember
when he said in Psalm 50, he said, if I was hungry, I wouldn't
have any of that. He said, cattle on a thousand
fields of mine. If I needed money, I sure wouldn't
have even went and had a bake sale. There I go again. I'm just like a bird. That's all right. He said, the gold and the silver
and all, mine is mine. God doesn't ask anybody for anything.
Oh, this ministry won't hold up if you don't send it. Then
it's not of God. Right? God's not in it. Fetch
me! Now, God, like I said, God's
not a beggar, neither are his creatures, and he just provided
for Elijah for one year out in the wilderness, a bird brought
him to stay. You know he's not going to beg,
is his thing. A bird provided for him for a
year, and you know he knows, and I don't have to worry. Besides,
God told him, go, I've commanded this woman. I've put it in her
heart, all right? And nobody will be willing to
heal the day of His power. All right? The Word of God is
a command. Here's the point I'm trying to make. The Word of God
is a command. Everything God says is a command. It's not a request, it's not
advice, it's not counsel, it's not... It's a command, right?
Didn't Christ say, My commandments are not grievous? He that hath
my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me,
and will be loveth my Father, and so forth. Commandments, right? God's Word. Because God is so
wise, so good, you know, His Word,
they're not grievous, they're good, they're right, they're
best, and if we'd just be obedient to them, we'd see. And the reason
they're commandments, because if he asked us, we wouldn't know
it. Wouldn't we? So he has to tell us. He has
to make us realize that. And because it's a command, that
means that if we don't do what he says, it's rebellion. If unbelief
is rebellion. That's what it is. Well, this
prophet says, go fetch. That's like you'd tell a dog,
wouldn't it? Huh? I'd tell that to Asner. Fetch! Be a dog and you'll have a good
master. Right? Now what you brought up? Go fetch. Go fetch a little water. So she did. Matthew 10. Look
at this. Matthew 10. And I can't help
but think our Lord was alluding to this again, here in Matthew
10. She did. Made willing by the
word of His power. You know this was a simple thing,
wasn't it? Get me a drink of water. I said, that's nothing. It was, you know, it was a simple
thing. What? It's reasonable. Wasn't that a reasonable sermon?
A drinking water. Didn't require much sacrifice,
did it? What sacrifice did that flyer require? Nothing. Nothing. Evidently they weren't
out of water yet. You know, most of what our Lord commands of
us is very, very simple. That's what He said. I didn't
command it, so I'm not reading this. My girl was always sick. Most of them. When he commanded
us, it was very simple. Give me a drink. Or feed my sheep. What's hard about that? Give me a drink. It's not hard. It's very simple, really. It's
a reasonable service. Very reasonable service. That's
the reason God gave us what we have. Not much required of us,
especially young believers. I was thinking about what the
Lord does for young believers. He doesn't require too much or
expect too much. So here, the first thing he says
is, fetch me a cup of water, please. A cup of water. He tells us a pitch, a call, a card, and some
consideration of others, of the brethren. It's time to start
to live for someone beside you and your son. You've got to just
cut off the cold. That's not how it is. Is that
unreasonable? No, it's not. Look at Matthew
10, but look at the promise. Verse 40, He that receiveth you,
receiveth me. He that receiveth me, receiveth
him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in
the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And he that
receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall
receive a righteous man for war. Whosoever shall give the drink
want not just the prophet, but anyone who might live and want.
A cup of cold water only. In the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen. Not a difficult command, is it? Tucked up? Go get a cup of water. Well, she did. All right, but
now the commandment, back in chapter 17. But now it gets a
little more difficult. A more difficult commandment,
all right? Verse 11, chapter 17, verse 11. As she was going
to fetch it, he called to her and said, Please. I pray thee, I'm more so afraid
in your hand. Don't send it. Don't, we're not bringing it
in your hand. She's leaving to go get into
the water, and he says, wait. See, first test, simple request,
very reasonable. Bring me a cup of cold water. Okay, she starts hitting on him. And they go, bring me, please,
a sandwich. In your hand. I want you to fix
it. It's really not too tough. It's
really not a tough request, but nevertheless it did require some
sacrifice on her part. Not really much, but it did require
some. But at this time, for her it
was. Okay? Now she's commanded to
do something a little more difficult, requires a little more sacrifice. He didn't require what she didn't
have. Did it. And that's what the scriptures
say. Now imagine if we could be able
to do what we don't have. This pledge stuff, that's not
of God. You don't pledge things. Like
these false prophets say, you'll pledge. What fool wouldn't do
that? It's like investing in the stock
market, huh? Hey, I'm gonna give a million. Make it five. Write the check for five million.
If God's gonna return it with interest, go ahead, write it.
That's not a pledge. You understand the difference
between checks I was talking about? She had a little foot. How much? She did have a foot.
Right? Right? Are you listening to me?
Right? Okay. She did have a foot, alright? She didn't have much. She sure
didn't have a pretty foot like we did. All right. Now the fourth thing we're going
to look at. So that's a command, isn't it?
Did he ask her? Did he beg her? What did he say?
That's it. Bring it. In your hand. Isn't it? All right. That's a command. God's Word is a command. It's
not a request. It's not advice. It's a command.
And I'm talking to say about everything, everything. All right,
now the promise. God is not unmerciful, ungracious,
unkind, but very compassionate. Verse 14, here's the commandment. He says, well, look, let's read
verse 14. Elijah said unto her, Fear not,
go and do as I have said, and make me a cake first, and bring
it unto me, and then after, make one for you and your son. Verse
fourteen, For thus saith the Lord. Here's the promise. Here's
the promise from God. Here's the command. Here's the
promise. After every command, there's a promise. Bring it. Here's the command.
Thus saith the Lord. Just as the one is not a request,
the other is not a hope or a wish, but it's an absolute certainty.
Here's the promise. The barrel of meal shall not
waste. It shall not waste, neither the
crews of oil fade until the day the Lord sends rain. It will not, it shall not fail
to get God's Word on it. That's Senator Rodman, isn't
it? Well, now see, first is command,
isn't it? Huh? Believe. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And thou shalt do so." So wait
a minute, I've got to feel, I've got to believe. And thou shalt
do so. Didn't I tell you, he said to
Martha and Mary, if you would believe, then you'd see the glory
of God. Why wait a minute, I've got to
wait a minute. Wait a what? I stretch out your
hand, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,
but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,
but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,
but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,
but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,
but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,
but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,
but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but,
but, but, but, but, but, but, but, but, Now, he doesn't promise an abundance
of things, does he? Although we have them. But he does say that things made
for will never fail. That's it. And as good as our
God is, the way he just cut the front over, it not only will
not run dry, it runs over. Isn't that the way daddy taught
us? The promise of abundant life. Now
here's the response, fifth act. The response, look at verse 12. It will now, won't it? All right,
the response, verse 12. Here's the widow woman's response,
verse 12. Now, he said, Bring me, fetch,
bring me. She said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a
cake. I don't have a sandwich, but
I have a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruise,
or in a bottle. And behold, I'm gathering two
sticks, and I'm going to go in and dress it, or that is, make
up something to eat for me and my son, for me and my son, that
we may eat it and die." Well, that's for sure, maybe.
If that's what you do, that's what will happen. You live for yourself, you will
die by yourself. You live alone, you'll die alone. All of her arguments, all right,
here's the flesh lusting against the spirit, all right? The flesh
brings up all kinds of arguments. It always does. It lusts, argues,
fights against the Spirit. Faith is not in us by nature. Flesh is, and the flesh brings
up everything. All right? This woman seems to
have some legitimate excuse for touching me. I mean, this was
noble. This was real. But nevertheless,
for our learning, she said, well, I don't have much. She said,
I don't have enough. And it was really true. I don't have enough for anyone
else but Well, this carnal minding of
the flesh is death, Romans 8. It's death, and that's what she
states. To her own lack of memory. I'm just going on about this
meal or something, me and my son, that we may die. Well, that's
for sure. But if you'll do what I say,
neither one of you will die. You know, in coming
to Christ, Believing in the gospel seems like an easy thing, really. Think about it. Believe. Hearing God's Word? I believe
that. But following Christ, doing His
Word, requires some sacrifice. What does it require? Boner? Well, self. Didn't Christ say,
He that cometh after me, let him deny himself. And self means what? Everything made of mine. I need
my family, myself, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my self is self. There's just no two-way around
it. Let him deny himself. Think on things of others. Think
on things of others, God says, I'll think on you. Be merciful
to others, He said, I'll be real merciful to you. You can't be
merciful enough to others that I wouldn't be more merciful to
you. You give, he said, what Christ said. You give to others
what he said. I'll give so much to you you
can't get inside. Didn't he say that? Press down, shake them
together. That's what the Lord said. Sacrifice said, baby, I've just
got enough for me and my, that may be true, cast your bread
on the water side. Well, she did. She did. Against her guilt, against her flesh. by faith. Verse 15. She did it.
She went. She went. She did it for the
sake of her life, Elijah. And she and he, Elijah, and her
house did eat a full year at the end of the famine. She did, look at, I want you
to notice the words there, it says, she did according to the
saying of Elijah. Elijah. God sent Elijah to this woman
and he gave her a couple of commandments. Was it God's word or Elijah's? Huh? Right? What is it? He refused. Well, often we're required to
follow the leadership of a man. Which makes it, if he's half
a man, it makes him just scared to death. To make a move or say
a word for fear that it might be the wrong thing. to give any
advice, any counsel. But peace seeks the Lord now.
The Lord will lead me. And now, sir, I want you to stop
and think what has been commanded of you here from this point. We've got a gymnasium out there
with people. The things we are required of
the Apostle Paul here, number one, the things that Paul said,
I think not to yours, but to you, come on, turn this over. Paul said, I'm after what you
have to give to me, and I'm after you. We read there in 2 Corinthians
9, where he said, God is able now, he said, God is able to
make this liberality of power for you so that you will have
an abundance, so that you will not be bitter. And this message
is not in any way, shape, form, or fashion intended for you to
do anything to me. As a matter of fact, I'm going
to put another six months more before I go on. When the fight's
immediately over, this is not for me. I don't want or need
a raise. That's not what this is about. And I say from the depth of my
heart, what you did for Billy Groover means more to me than
all you've done for me in the last 10 years. I can tell you
that. A whole lot of stuff to do. A
whole lot of stuff to do. But what I'm saying is, no unreasonable
demands have been made here to build or expand or do carnal
things at all. It's got to be from, according
to God's Word, it's for good reason. Good, sound, biblical,
insidious reason. Right? And the first thing is,
How could you, how could you, how could you prevent it? That's too much. That's where
I'm really at. The bitch! Bring me a morsel of bread. This
is too much to ask. You don't realize how you're
going to meditate for me. Cut the cold water. That's not
unreasonable. That's not sacrificial. In fact, don't realize what you're
missing, what you're going to... Keep up our hats here. That's
where you pull it. Cut the grass. Play the bills. Play the bills. That's not believable. This is our house.
Isn't this a nice house? I hope you're satisfied with the
boys. They take care of us all. They
are just privileged. To our family. Our family. to look out and see if they're
doing it on a special account for household expenses. It's
not unreasonable. And the problem is, right, there's
a command. There's fuckin' unreasonable commands. Can you imagine that? Imagine the size of it. You've never had a business meeting,
imagine that. We'll hear that all the time. It's unreasonable. Our service has been required
here. Worldly, carnal objectives and
purposes are built on it. None, no angle, in its original
purpose. And that is accomplished. She
did eat at her house many days. What about you and your house? What about you and your house?
I'm not just talking about a physical place, not a past at all. What
about you and your house? Did you lack for anything? Do
you remember after three years with the Lord, do you remember
him asking his disciples that? Did you lack for anything? Not anymore. Ten years now, with Ms. Walters. Don't look at her all
the time. She's down to heart of nine. Your parents go through the depression,
Joe. I did. Charles, your parents
go through the depression. You're here, aren't you? Any
of your children, any of your brothers and sisters died of
starvation? What about the bread that God
has given us in this place? I don't know. It doesn't matter
anything. All the days after we expect
this barrel, we have to run dry, too. All we have to do is come
home and bring children. Make sure you bring children. The day ain't too. The first sign ain't too. Well, that's the response. Now, look at the, look back at
chapter 17. And there's a lesson that she
did after the lesson that she said today. The word says she
and thereafter did any day. And the barrel was healed when
it was done. It was in the crucible oil place. The bottom was the
barrel and the bottom was the bottle. According to the word
of the Lord which he sustained by his hand. All right, now here's the trial.
are now her cultural. Right? Meeting prophets. If you imagine what that looks
like for a year with Elijah in it. I know what it's like. I've been
there. I've sat with Elijah. Many of
them. You'll cut your fingers, and
you will too. But anyway, you imagine the conversation they
had together? Huh? The wisdom that Elijah imparted
to her and her children? God save your boy. Well, there's Kyle, but her troubles
weren't over. They'd just begun. They'd just
begun. But there's always just begun
to. Look at verse 17 through 23 and I'll read it. It says
here, verse 17 through 23, Can you pass that to these things
that the son of the woman mistress perhaps fell sick, and his sickness
was so sore that he was going to break that thing and die? She said unto Elijah, What have
I done? I've done something, haven't
I? It's because of me and my sin. You heard that before? Who didn't
say that this thing was more fun? No, man, for the love of
Satan. The ministry's already done. You hear that? Now, it's causing
me to get my son back into the business. No, that's nothing
to do with you. God deals with individuals. God deals with individual
souls. He won't save your child because
of you. He won't marry your child because
of you. And my son, he didn't really think so. But she thought
something of him. She said, Have you come to call
my sins and remembrance and slay my son? I said, No! You were
good! He said, No. On the first night he came, he said
of her, Give me my son. Commit you son to that. Oh get
this in the Lord Jesus Christ up in my heart. Huh? Huh? Give me that son. Later on there was a couple of
parrots that had one in the lion. That fly off. They didn't know
the son they had. They didn't spare him if he came
across the lion. at his mamaw's house. And we
went over home to tell mama about it. So we did. Fixed it in something
big. Fixed the light in something
big. And then that mama and daddy
said to go with that family. Even they got sons. And
he said to him, I heard you commit to your sons. He never had that. It's truth
be known, he never had 10 years. He's been on the moon. Right? So maybe he's a little old. I
don't think so, but he's pretty out there. All right.
Give me the ball. And he took him, he took him
out of her bosom, carried him up into a vault, lifted him up,
and where he robed him, laid him on his head. Oh, that's in
John in that picture of being crucified and cried. Right there's
the gospel in verse 20. Verse 20. And Elijah cried unto
the Lord, just like our high priest, cried, O Lord, my God,
why not? That's a thousand percent. Just like that. That's why I
also brought him upon goodness to my soldier and my slave, her
son. He's pleased on her behalf. He's arguing with the Lord. Dear,
this woman has done what you have told her to do for me. She's done it. Now would you
reckon this her faith?" So he says. That's what he said. Would you recommend her faith?
She's done what I told her to do. I know how I just help you. What I told her to do, something
she's done, and now this. She ain't a man now. I told her
to do this, and now this has happened. Oh, boy. Believe me. It's not over yet. This is for
the glory of God. Greater glory, you see. In the
end, we're gonna get to the end. We're going to get to the end. Well, he cried and he versed
one, and stretched himself on the child three times. Oh, what
a picture of Christ stretching himself on Calvary tree for redemption. Cried unto the Lord, O Lord my
God, I pray Thee, that this child's soul come unto Him, and the Father
forgives his sin on the cross. And what happened? The Lord heard
the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came unto him
again. He was likely dead. He was just surviving before
he revived. He was barely existing before
he died, but he was alive and was talking. He heard the Word
of God. The life is good for the child,
the body and the man, and I can tell you, look at this, this
is the goodness of our God. He gave me a son. And he was my son, my only son, and
I love him. I will take it. It works on me. It doesn't work. You can have
it. Huh? You look at it one more
way. And the mother actually looks at him and he looks at her. She's got it. Okay. Verse 23.
I am looking to deliver him unto his mother, and Elijah says,
See? See? I love saying that. There's times when I love to
say, I told you so! That's unlimited. Now here's
the, here's the end. Here's what all this was. The
woman said, Christ. Now. Not before. Not until this great
Christ. of the hardest child in her life.
And now, by faith, I know that there is an absolute assurance. I know. You're God's prophet,
and you're a man of God, and the Lord is the Lord out of your
mouth. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,
ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, There is a place. Follow what God has done for
you. And He'll do a power of God. Give Him this. Give Him this. And just wait. Just
wait. He'll show you a way. Now or
then. Now or then you'll see God. That I know by my sister, that. Don't you know that, uh, everybody
just, just, just banging the door, just banging it never before. Right. Right. Hey, Tucker. Tucker. Have a look. Have a look
at what's happened. Huh? Look at the dirt that's
come out there. Huh? And now we wouldn't change it. And some day, you know, we're going to see,
we're going to know, even if we don't know. Fetch. Fetch! Fetch. Believe me. And when the trowel comes, you
get a deep little jump. Okay. I need that. Alright, that's
good. God, Lord, you are so good, so
kind. Your yoke is easy, especially
with your young, weak delivery. You don't require us to do much. Give to us without neglecting
it. What thanks do you give? You
are our infinite thanks. That's the reason we're unprofitable
servants. Every one in here must do things. When we've done all that's required
of us, we still must say we're unprofitable servants. Because what is truly required
of us is all of us. And if we give them the money
just out of our own Lord, in the presence of this,
put this word in us for your glory, for the good of the cause
of Christ, the good of your people, the good of your people, and
for our good, you promised us good. You promised us good that's good
we do unto others. And you're so true to your word,
you do it in spite of us. We are certain and sure that
you'll do it. And God on faith will forgive
you. And we ask, though, that you
give us the faith to do what you tell us. And then stand back
and wait on the Lord and see just how true you are of your
work and your promise. The Lord enabled us to give ourselves
and our children unto Him, totally, completely, lock, stock, and
barrel, everything. Committed unto Him. Thanks be
unto God for His unfeasible gift. He gave Himself for us. It's a pride of China. It is a religion.