Well, good morning. It really is a blessing for me
to be here with you folk and have people know me as well as
you do. But it really is. You know, Paul,
the Apostle Paul, just could never get over the fact that
the Lord had given him such a great privilege to preach the gospel. He said that, I who am the least
of all saints, this grace was given to preach among the Gentiles,
the unsearchable riches of Christ. And as the years go by, I'm just
beginning to understand a bit more of that privilege. And so
for me to come here and preach to you is such a great privilege
for me. for those reasons, and I'm thankful. And so this morning, I'd like
us to consider a portion of scripture that I think is is one of the
most Christ-like narratives that we find in the Old Testament.
And it's a portion that's saturated with the gospel. It's the story
of the woman, The Widow and Zarephath. And I think you probably all
know it. I'm sure you all know it. And
I've preached from this portion many times. And it's always been
such a rich blessing to me. And so I'd like to draw your
attention to this passage this morning. But we'll start in Luke
4. We'll start in Luke 4 first. So go there. You know, in reading these Old Testament scriptures, these events of Elijah and the
widow of Zarephath might seem to have little significance.
And certainly that would have been the case with the people
of Israel. Because this woman wasn't even
an Israelite. And as far as they were concerned,
that was enough alone. But what, too, did this compare
to the mighty signs and wonders that God had shown in delivering
the people of Israel out of Egypt, and all the subsequent things
that occurred. So to an Israelite, these scriptures
may have seemed that this was such a small thing, such an insignificant
thing. But here in the beginning of
Luke, Jesus appears suddenly upon the scene of the nation
of Israel, much like Elijah of old, but greater than Elijah,
And he makes specific reference to this widow. I don't know if
you've thought about that. He does so at a remarkable time
and in a remarkable way at the very beginning of his ministry
on earth. So let's begin there here in
Luke chapter 4 beginning in verse 14. I made sure that it was Luke. So beginning there in verse 14,
then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee. And we should note that he's returning
after that 40 days and nights being tested in the wilderness
by Satan. And he in our place as the second Adam
triumphed over all those temptations. And this is then when we read,
he returns in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of
him went out through all the surrounding region, and he taught
in their synagogues, being glorified by all. So he came to Nazareth,
where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. And
he was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah, and when he had
opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor, he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord. Then he closed the book and gave
it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all
who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. So powerful were
the words of Christ that the entire congregation was transfixed. The living word, reading the
living word, in the power of the spirit, given to him without
measure. No wonder they were transfixed.
Can you imagine? Can you imagine hearing that
Christ, the anointed of God, preaching the gospel? And he,
21, and he began to say to them, today, this scripture is fulfilled
in your hearing. This scripture, who's it speaking
of? It's speaking of me coming with
this glorious gospel. Here he is, the long expected
prophet, David's son, and David's Lord, the anointed of God, the
Messiah, the promised savior and redeemer. These words in
Isaiah were his words. And keep going. What did they
say then? They said, is this not Joseph's
son? And he said to them, you will
surely say this proverb to me. Physician, heal yourself. Whatever
we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in your own country.
Then he said to them, assuredly I say to you, no prophet is accepted
in his own country. But I tell you truly, many widows
were in Israel in the days of Elijah when the heaven was shut
up for three years and six months. And there was a great famine
throughout all the land, but to none of them was Elijah sent
except to Zarephath in the region of Sidon to a woman who was a
widow. Now, of course, these words of Christ are full
of teaching, full of alluding to many things that are of such
great importance. But there's no question that
he is telling the people of Nazareth that they're living in a land
in a time like the time of Elijah. They're living in a land of great
spiritual drought and famine. And as such, they're perishing
and without hope in themselves. As it was in the time of Elijah,
this was brought about for what reason? Their rejection of God
and of his prophet. Look farther down to verse 28
and 29. It is hard to believe because we still don't know our
own sinful hearts. Listen. So all those in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. And they
rose up and thrust him out of the city. They led him to the
brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might
throw him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst
of them, he went his way. Nothing has changed, has it,
from the time of Elijah until the time of Christ. They're still
killing the prophets and they're about to kill the prophet. There were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah when there was this great famine, but to
none of them was Elijah sent. But the foolishness the foolishness and the wickedness
of this generation. The guilt of this generation
is so much greater. For what reason? Because in their
midst stood the Bread of Life, a never-ending superabundance
of life, a feast to satisfy the soul and to give life now and
forever. and they despised him. They turned
their backs upon him and, as we know, in the end killed the
Prince of Life. But Elijah, let's look at this
now, Elijah was sent to a woman of Zarephath, a widow. Jesus
makes specific reference to her at this time. Why would he do
that? Well, One thing for sure is we know that the whole nation
as it were can turn away from God, turn away from His righteousness,
turn away from His worship, reject His prophets, despise the only
way of salvation, but God's purpose to help and save this woman would
be accomplished. This is a great story. I just
delight in this story of this woman, this widow woman. It's
a simple story of every poor and perishing sinner saved by
grace. And if you know the grace of
God, you know that this is a story of you. It's a story of me. So turn over to 1 Kings chapter
16 this morning, 1 Kings chapter 16. Let's just refresh our minds
of the state of Israel at that time, since Christ makes reference
to this. Look there in verse 29 of chapter
16 first. And there we read, in the 38th
year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri became king over
Israel. And Ahab the son of Omri reigned
over Israel and Samaria 22 years. Now Ahab the son of Omri did
evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before
him. And it came to pass as though
it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam,
the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel, the daughter
of Ethbal, king of the Sidonians. And he went and served Baal and
worshipped him." Now, let me just pause there for a minute.
Listen to how the Word of God describes the depths of wickedness
of this king. He considered Jeroboam was a
wicked king, an evil king. But how did Ahab look at that? This is how the word of God described
it. He considered the wickedness of that king, Jeroboam, a trivial
thing, a trivial thing. And he knew how to do evil. This king knew how to do evil.
That's what's being communicated. He did more evil than all that
went before him. This was the state of the nation
of Israel at that time. And then he set up an altar to
Baal in the Temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And
Ahab made a wooden image, and Ahab did more to provoke the
Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were
before him. Now that's quite a statement,
isn't it? Quite a statement. This is the time which Elijah
entered the scene of the nation of Israel. Then God, through
the word of his prophet Elijah, we know, brings this drought
and famine upon the land. And then, according to the Lord's
word to Elijah, he sends him to the brook Cherith, and is
fed miraculously by those ravens until the brook in the midst
of this terrible drought dries up. And as you know, too, as
we've been hearing, it's not long after this that Elijah pleads
with the Lord against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed
your prophets, torn down your altars, and I alone am left,
and they seek my life. The state, the spiritual decline
of that nation was terrible, was terrible. But again, what
was the Lord's, what was the divine response, as the word
says there in Romans? But what does the divine response
say to him? I have reserved for myself 7,000
men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. Even so then, at this
present time, there is a remnant according to grace. And that
can be said in every time. Every time. And that's the case
now. I think it goes without saying
that our nation is in great spiritual decline. And this is true now as it was
true then. God's purpose in the salvation
of his people is not hindered one bit. one bit and what a blessing
it is to know that and to believe that. God's purpose of salvation
for those he's chosen isn't thwarted in any way. That's the divine
response and I try to remind myself of that all the time. This is what we're concerned
about. It doesn't matter what age we live in or what circumstance
we live in as the people of God. This is where our thoughts are
to be directed. God's purposes are being worked
out in the redemption of his people perfectly. And part of
that purpose of redemption falls upon this poor widow woman of
Zarephath. God will send forth his word,
send forth his spirit, send forth his power to save his elect from
all corners of the world. And he'll preserve them and present
them faultless before the throne of grace with exceeding glory."
That's how he describes it, with exceeding glory. Well, turn over
to chapter 17 there. And then we'll, just giving you
that background again to refresh your memories, and let's pick
up in verse 8. Verse 8. And look there, and
I would like us, as we just read through this story first, I would
like us to think of the things that are portrayed to us in this
story. I want us to see that this story
is about the thoughts and actions which are being conveyed
to us by the Holy Spirit." This passage is full of the word of
the Lord. It begins that way. Look in verse
8, "...then the word of the Lord came to him saying..." It begins
with the word of the Lord. It ends with the word of the
Lord. Look at verse 16. Verse 16, "...then the bin of
flour was not used up, nor the jar of oil run dry, according
to the word of the Lord which Isaiah spoke. It's full of the
word of the Lord. This is a passage too that's
full of faith, simple faith, and simple trust. We find desperate
need and abundant provision. We find a simple obedience and
a sacrificial generosity. We find a story full of mercy
full of goodness and kindness, a story in the midst of death,
unexpectedly full of life. This is a story full of good
news, full of hope, a story full of those things which make up
the gospel of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what's
being conveyed to us by the Holy Spirit in this. So think of these
things as I read through this well-known story. Verse 8, Then
the word of the Lord came to him, saying to Elijah, Arise,
go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See,
I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. So he arose
and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate
of the city, indeed, a widow was there gathering sticks. And
he called to her and said, please bring me a little cup of water
that I may drink. And as she was going to get it,
he called to her and said, please bring me a morsel of bread in
your hand. So she said, as the Lord God
lives, I do not have bread. Only a handful of flour in a
bin and a little oil in a jar and see, I am gathering a couple
of sticks that I may go in and prepare for myself and my son
that we may eat it and die." And Elijah said to her, do not
fear. Go and do as you have said, but
make me a small cake from it first and bring it to me. And
afterward, make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the
Lord God of Israel, the bin of flour shall not be used up, nor
shall the jar of oil run dry until the day the Lord sends
rain on the earth. So she went away and did according
to the word of Elijah, and she and he and her household ate
for many days. The bin of flour was not used
up, Nor did the jar of oil run drying according to the word
of the Lord which he spoke by Elijah." Now that's a great story,
isn't it? See, it begins. See, I have commanded,
in verse 8, I have commanded a widow there to provide for
you. The word of the Lord came to
Elijah. And that's always where salvation
begins. It begins with God. Elijah didn't
know this widow, and this widow didn't know Elijah. This woman
of Zarephath had no knowledge of what the Lord God was going
to do for her and for her son. Salvation begins with God, it
ends with God, and everything in the middle is of God. And
we need to remind ourselves of that continuously because There's
so many things that are warring against that simple truth. Salvation
is of God. But this story makes it so clear,
so clear. You know, keep your place here,
but turn over to Psalm 71. And there's a verse there that the Lord brought
to my attention Sometime back, and I'm sure I've mentioned it
to you, but turn there. Let's just read those few verses.
Psalm 71, in the beginning. God commands salvation. God commands salvation. We often
don't think about it in that way, do we? But that's what the
Word of God tells us. That's the only reason you and
I are saved. Because God commanded salvation
for you and for me. Listen in verse 1 of Psalm 71. In you, O Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be put to shame.
Deliver me in your righteousness and cause me to escape. Incline
your ear to me and save me. Be my strong refuge to which
I may resort continually. You have given the commandment
to save me. You are my rock and my fortress."
And what a wonder of grace that he ever gave any commandment
of salvation, but especially that he gave it to you and to
me. God commands Elijah to go to
Zarephath. to provide for this widow, and
he commands the widow to provide for Elijah, even though she doesn't
know it yet. Why will this widow provide for Elijah? Because God
has commanded it. Did you see what the Lord told
Elijah? See, go to this widow. Why? See, I have commanded a
widow there to provide for you. Verse 10. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate
of the city, indeed, a widow was there gathering sticks. And
he called to her and said, please bring me a little water and a
cup that I may drink. And as she was going to get it,
he called to her and said, bring me a morsel of bread in your
hand. So Elijah arose in obedience
to the Lord. We should always do that. obedience
to the command of the Lord and he goes to Zarephath. He comes
to the gate of the city and who's there? Who's there? A widow gathering
sticks. The word says, indeed a widow
was there. Now, this is always the way with
the word of the Lord. If God has said it, then what
will we find? Indeed, it's exactly how the
word of the Lord said. It doesn't matter what it is
that God has said. Turn anywhere in his word, read
what he said, and what can we have an assurance of? Indeed,
it is exactly as the Lord said, or it will be exactly as his
word said. And that's faith, isn't it? That's
faith. It's exactly as the word of the
Lord said. Why was this woman there at the
gate? Because the Lord had commanded her. But did she know this? No, no. All she knew is that
she was gathering sticks to cook her last meal for herself and
her son. That's all she knew. She had
no knowledge of the purpose of God for her. She was unaware
of the movement of the Spirit of God bringing her to that exact
place and time in which she would meet the Prophet of the Lord
sent to her and her son to save them, to speak to her the words
of life. And Elijah calls to her and he
says, please bring me a little cup of water that I may drink.
And the woman, despite her terrible circumstances and her hopeless
state, put this aside, and in kindness goes to get a little
water for Elijah." That's amazing, isn't it? That's amazing. This
stranger, who is this? Why should I do this? But the Lord has prepared her
heart and she puts this aside and she goes to get it. And as
she's going, he says, please bring me a morsel of bread in
your hand. Now, all of this are the normal
interactions of two real people in a real place, in a real time. facing the adverse circumstances
of life. And we see this type of situation
portrayed again and again in the Lord's interactions with
people all through the New Testament in His life on the earth. And
this is so often how the Lord works to save His people. Not through signs and wonders,
not through the wisdom of the world, not through spectacular
things, but through the simple actions of one person with another. And we see that so powerfully
portrayed in the life of Christ in his ministry. He went from
town to town. That's one of the reasons they
despised him. Verse 12, verse 12. So she said, as the Lord
your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour
in a bin and a little oil in a jar. And see, I am gathering
a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself
and my son, that we may eat it and die. So in response to this
request of Elijah, the woman speaks to him of her circumstances. This is what I'm facing. This
is where my life is. This poor widow was in great
want. She was in dire straits, and
she'd exhausted all her supplies in the face of this terrible
famine. You know, we don't understand,
we really do not understand what hunger means in this country
and haven't for generations. If you live in a society where
you're living off the land, subsistence agriculture, If it doesn't rain
for six months, you're in deep, deep trouble. If it doesn't rain
for a year, you are in lots of trouble. Think of this, this drought lasted
for three and a half years. It's clear that this woman had
exhausted everything. There were no means of her obtaining
food. In all likelihood, she had family,
she had friends, perhaps even some money. But when there's no food, none
of that matters. No one has food, and no amount
of money can buy food that's not there. As the Lord lives, I do not have
any bread." That was her statement. And she's gathering a couple
of sticks, she says, that I may go in and prepare it for myself,
that we may eat it and die. Such a little bit of flour, a
handful, and such a little oil that it didn't even require much
firewood to cook. Just a couple of sticks. She
was gathering these sticks to cook the last meal for herself
and her son. Now think of the heartache and
pain, the soul suffering of this woman as she thinks of feeding
her son and watching him starve to death and die. That's what
was ahead of her. And she herself starving and
dying. And the simplicity of this woman's
words just emphasize the profound nature of our need. I've seen
people in desperate straits, and you know, that's how they
speak when they speak about the straits they're in. They're just
simple words. They don't have a big story.
They know they're in dire straits. All hope has been exhausted,
and with this woman there remains only a helpless resignation of
the inevitable." Now, why had God sent Elijah
to this woman? Think of this. Why had God sent
Elijah to this woman? To provide for him throughout
the famine. to provide for him throughout
the famine. This woman who has nothing. So what will happen? This widow will provide for Elijah. Verse 13. And Elijah said to her, do not
fear. Go and do as you have said, but
make me a small cake from it first and bring it to me. And
afterward, make some for yourself and your son. For thus says the
Lord God of Israel, the bin of flour shall not be used up, nor
shall the jar of oil run dry until the day the Lord sends
rain on the earth. Elijah doesn't doubt for a second. The Lord has told him to come
to this widow of Zarephath and that she would provide for him.
So Elijah knows that this woman would provide for him for the
duration of this famine, for the entirety. This is the faith that God gives
his people. The faith which believes in the
face of circumstances which seem impossible. It can't happen. This is the faith, God-given
faith. I always think of the faith of
Abraham, who's held up before us as the father of all those
who believe. And he was the same, wasn't he? We read there that of Abraham who, contrary to hope,
in hope believed. In other words, there's no reason
for him to believe, but he believed anyway. He knew that whatever
God had promised, he was able also to perform. And this is
Elijah. This woman has nothing. She and
her son are dying, but she's going to provide for me for the
entire duration of this famine. He tells her, do not fear. Do
not fear. Go. And he gives her those good
words, aren't they? Words of good news. She might
not fully realize it yet, but he's giving her a message of
salvation that God has given him for her. And again, how does Elijah know
this? Because God had told him. He
had said, Arise, go to Zarephath. See, I have commanded a widow
there to provide for you. And the woman hears this good
news. Do not fear. The Lord God of
Israel has said, the bin of flour shall not be used up, and the
jar of oil shall not run dry until the day He sends rain on
the earth. Here is a word of life from the
dead. And with this good news comes
a call to faith. Do you see that? To this woman. Go and do as you have said, but
make me a small cake from it first and bring it to me. And
afterward make some for yourself and your son. What do you think
this woman would think? What do you think this woman
would do? Her situation is desperate. This is the last of the last
food for herself and her son. And here comes this stranger.
She meets him outside the gate. He asks her for some water. And
it's in the midst of this great famine. And he comes to her and tells
her, Cook the very last bit of flour and oil that you have remaining
and give to me first, that he may eat and afterwards
make some for herself and her son." Now, would she do that? Naturally speaking, you know
it would never happen. It would never happen. Can you
imagine a mother with the last bit of food, literally taking
the food from the mouth of her child to feed to some stranger.
It would never happen, never happen. Now what did this widow
of Zarephath do? Verse 15, she went away and did according
to the word of Elijah. How about that? Why did this woman go and do
all that Elijah had told her to do? Because she believed the
word of Elijah. She believed the word of Elijah.
And in the face of all of these circumstances against her believing,
she believed in the word of Elijah. By faith, she obeyed and went
and did according to the word of Elijah." And what great faith,
isn't it? But it's always great faith that
God gives to his people because it's not of us, it's of God.
Of course, we remember that other widow woman with that daughter. The woman of Canaan who came
out, and she too had her daughter in desperate straits, didn't
she? And again, in that situation,
it seemed that all circumstances were against her. The disciples
were against her, the people were against her. Her daughter
was in terrible straits, but we know. And it seemed too, even,
that the Lord was against her, didn't it? But in spite of all
that, she knew that Christ was going to help her. Have you thought
about that in terms of that story? You know the two people in that
story that were certain that Christ was going to help her,
who knew that? It was Christ and the woman. Nobody else did.
And what did the Lord say of her? Oh woman, Great is your
faith." And we can certainly say that of this woman of Zarephath
as well. The bin of flour. But why? Why did this woman believe? Let's remember again, she believed
because the Lord had commanded her. Do you see that? And she
and her household ate for many days. How many days? Well, from
here, the famine lasted for over two years. The bin of flour was
not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry. Here is this
woman, and she's given a never-ending supply of flour and oil, a never-ending
supply of bread, Every day. Think of that. She uses it, returns
the next day, there's flour and oil. She uses it, returns the
next day, and there is flour and oil. For the entire duration
of the famine until the Lord sent rain upon the earth. An abundant supply of the bread
of life. Why? Because this was the word
of the Lord spoken to Elijah by Elijah for this woman of Zarephath. This was the word of truth. This
was the word of life. This was the promise of God. And two, think of this. Not only
was the word not bred scarce in those days, but the word of
the Lord was scarce in those days in that land. But not for
the woman of Zarephath. The Word of the Lord dwelt with
her in the person of Elijah the prophet, in her house, until
the rain once again fell upon the earth. What honor, what privilege
the Lord demonstrated towards this poor widow. And this, of
course, is one of the many wonderful pictures given to us of Christ,
the true Bread of Life. He himself said to the unbelieving
nation, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never
hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I
said to you that you have seen me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me
will come to me. Yes, they can turn away, reject
Him and despise Him as it was in the time of Elijah. But all that the Father gives
me will come to me. Well, let's close then where
we began in Isaiah. In Isaiah. Turn to Isaiah chapter
49. Jesus was handed the book of
Isaiah, you remember, and he opened it and he read from that
glorious gospel proclamation which is found in Isaiah 61.
And he said, today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.
And hearing these words, I have no doubt, they knew that these
words were in reference to the Messiah. And hearing those words,
there were likely many in the synagogue to whose minds would
have come another prophecy of the promised Savior, which is
found here in Isaiah 49. Look there, Isaiah 49, beginning
in verse 8. Thus says the Lord, in an acceptable
time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped
you. I will preserve you and give
you as a covenant to the people to restore the earth, to cause
them to inherit the desolate heritages, that you may say to
the prisoners, go forth, and to those who are in darkness,
show yourselves. They shall feed along the roads,
and their pastures shall be on all desolate heights. They shall
neither hunger nor thirst, neither shall heat nor sun strike them,
For he who has mercy on them will lead them. Even by the springs
of waters he will guide them. I will make each of my mountains
a road, and my highways shall be elevated. Surely these shall
come from afar. Look, those from the north and
the west, and these from the land of Sinim. Sing, O heavens. Be joyful, O earth, and break
out in singing, O mountains. For the Lord has comforted his
people, and we'll have mercy on the afflicted. Amen.