Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The Lord had many followers during
the early days of His ministry. Multitudes flocked to Him in
order to see the wonders wrought by His hands and to eat of the
food which He seemed to bring out of thin air. But as time
went on and the searching and convicting nature of His message
began to sink in, more and more of them fell away and walked
no more with Him. Some began to fear the Jewish
leaders who despised Him, and some simply could no longer abide
His message which took away a man's reason to hope in his own ability
to deliver himself from certain destruction. Religious men love
instruction which encourages them to perform deeds, pray prayers,
and carry out acts of devotion which they assume are pleasing
in the sight of God. They like checklists of do's
and don'ts by which they can compare themselves to others.
They grow hostile, however, when they are told that they have
no power or ability to do anything which would gain them favor in
his sight. They love the doctrine of predestination
as long as they think that they are the predestinator. The same
is true of the doctrine of election. As long as men are assured that
they are the ones who choose God, they feel quite satisfied.
But let someone point out that the scripture says that God is
the one who does the choosing, and they grow angry. We see this
illustrated in the reaction of the Jews when the Lord told them
of the widow and the leper. And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. They
were so angry that they would have thrown the Lord off of a
cliff had he not hid himself from them. There will always
be a contrast between those who are caused to bow in submission
at his feet and those who are left to their nature to balk
when confronted with his absolute power and dominion and his right
to create some vessels unto honor and some to dishonor as it pleases
him. There are some lessons we can
learn from Elijah's visit to the widow's house which illustrate
the manner in which the Lord is pleased to deal with those
who are his elect. Elijah was sent to this widow
whose circumstance was no different than many of the other widows
which were in Israel at the time. The elect of God are sinners
of the same sort and type of those who perish, and it is only
God who makes them to differ. There is no indication that this
woman had done anything to make herself worthy of such a visit,
even as none of the elect are shown grace for any other reason
than that they have been made the recipients of His mercy.
Elijah was sent to this widow because she was highly favored
among all the widows which were in Israel. God is pleased to
send his messengers to declare the good news of the gospel to
those whom he has predestined to hear it. As Luke writes, as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed. The Lord said,
My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. Elijah
came to this widow in the midst of her poverty and took away
the last thing that she had confidence in. The health and wealth preachers
would have us to believe that Elijah went down to her house
with a sack full of groceries to help her in her time of need.
Yet he came there empty-handed and commanded that she give him
her last bit of food, and in so doing stripped her of even
the little that she had. So does the Spirit of God when
he visits one of his own. Elijah increased the widow's
poverty in order to give her a gift she could not have imagined. She had no idea that he was about
to supply her with a continual supply of bread. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the bread of heaven, which if a man eat, he shall
never again hunger. He is pleased to come and feed
his sheep and they shall never perish. And I will bring the
blind by way that they knew not. I will lead them in paths that
they have not known. I will make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them
and not forsake them. Elijah was sent to a widow whose
heart the Lord prepared. The Lord told Elijah, Arise,
get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell
there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain
thee. This is the same fashion in which the Lord sent Paul to
preach to Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended
unto the things which were spoken of Paul. The Lord ordained to
apply his blessings upon her house in preparing her heart
and causing her to be obedient. Elijah continued to bless this
widow by abiding in her house. When her only son was dead, he
restored his life, lest she should be swallowed up with overmuch
sorrow. God does indeed subject his own to manifold trials, but
he is faithful to deliver them. There is no temptation taken
you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful, who
will not suffer you to be tempted above that you're able, but will
with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may
be able to bear it. If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.