How would you feel if you knew,
and I mean, we know this, but I mean, if we could live in it,
that God is ever watchful over us, that he never leaves us nor
forsakes us, that before we go to him in prayer, he already
knows what we're gonna ask for, and he's already provided for
our needs. That's our God, beloved. That's
our God. We're going to see that tonight.
We're going to see his special providence at work for his children. And
it's amazing. It's absolutely amazing. I'll
tell you. Our God is so great, so glorious,
so full of glory. Turn, if you would, in your Bibles
to 2 Kings, chapter 8. This passage will show us the
special providence of God towards his children. And I mean every
one of us, Brother Dave. That's you, me, Brother Zane. Sister Linda, Brother Brian,
that's all of us. God's special providence is set
upon his people and all who listen to this who are of the Lord's
people. God's special providence is set upon us. There is never
a time when we're out of the eyesight of Christ. Never. There's
never a time when his watchful eye is not watching over us in
love. in love, beloved. And keep in
mind that our fallen Adam plunged us into spiritual death, but
we're restored in Christ by the regenerating power of God the
Holy Spirit. We become spiritually alive again.
Adam was a living soul. We were born because of the fall,
dead in trespasses and sins, but now we're born again. We're
made alive, aren't we? and the saints in glory are more
alive than they've ever been. They're fully experienced being
in the presence of Christ face to face. We will see tonight
though God's special providence delivering his people and then
restoring us. Restoring us in Christ Jesus
our Lord. As this narrative unfolds we'll
see a picture of God watching over and caring for his people
and restoring them and giving them even more than what they
had. And I'm not talking material blessings, I'm talking spiritual
blessings. Spiritual blessings. Do you know
God's sheep can never become a goat? And a goat can never
become a sheep. Now we don't know who God's sheep
are, so we preach the gospel to all, right? But if you're
a sheep of God, you've been a sheep of God for eternity. And God's
love has been set upon you in Christ from before the foundation
of the world. We will see again a display of
God's special providence tonight, at work for one of his sheep,
and she's called the Shulamite woman. One of his sheep, one
of God's sheep chosen in Christ from eternity. May God, the Holy
Spirit, illuminate the scriptures and teach us the things of Christ,
that we might glorify him more. we might lift up our mouths and
praise more to him. Look at 2nd Kings chapter 8 verses
1 to 6, this will be our text tonight. Then speak Elijah unto
the woman, that's the Shewamite woman, whose son he restored
to life, saying, Arise, and go thou in thine household, and
sojourn wheresoever thou canst sojourn. Now there's a reason
here. For the Lord, that's Jehovah, hath called for a famine, and
it welled. What's it say? It shall. You
know, I looked up that word last night. Do you know that word
shall? Dave, this will knock your socks off. It's used in
over 6,000 verses in the Bible, and it's used 9,062 times, I
think it was, the word shall. Then I was talking to my buddy
Jake last night, and he said it's a legal term. It's a legal
term. It's used when Zane, say you
have a construction site, you're going to build me something,
and in a contract you say I shall do this for a weighing. It's a legal term. Now think
of this, God made a covenant, didn't he? He's legally bound
by his word, by the word shall. He's legally bound to that everlasting
covenant. That's security, isn't it? Dave,
we can't mess enough. Because the Lord Jesus said,
the angel said, call his name Jesus, for he shall save his
people from it. He saved us, didn't he? He saved
our souls. Word's true. It's binding. God's
honor's at stake. Isn't that wonderful? Sealed,
amen. Sealed by his blood. My, that's
wonderful, isn't it? Look at that. And it shall come
upon the land seven years. So it's going to come. God says
it's going to come. It's going to come. It shall come. And a
woman arose and did after the saying of the man of God. And
she went with her household and sojourned in the land of the
Philistines seven years. And it came to pass at the seven
years end that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines.
And she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for
her land. And the king talked with Gehazi.
Remember him? Yeah, he's got leprosy. You know,
you can't touch a leper, it's forbidden by the law, but you
can talk to a leper. So the king goes and talks to
the leper, Gehazi. Goes and talks to him. The servant
of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, all the great
things that Elijah hath done. And it came to pass, as he was
telling the king how Elijah restored a dead body to life, behold,
the woman, whose son he had restored to life, cried to the king for
her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My lord, O king,
this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elijah restored
to life. Right there. This is her. And when the king asked the woman,
she told him. She testified. She told him, this is my son. Elijah, by the power of God,
he was returned to life. So the king appointed unto her
a certain officer, saying, now that officer there, most commentators
believe he was a eunuch. because eunuchs served the kings
during those times and they became eunuchs so that they could serve
the king without being worried about children or heirs or anything
like that. And so when he assigned a eunuch
to her office, this man had no ambition for any riches. He's
there to serve the king. And the king tells him to go
and serve her, he's going to go serve her. Look at this though.
Remember, she left and all, we don't know what happened, but
somehow her land was, somebody else had her land now. Some commentators,
Tim James, I was reading Tim, he thinks, well maybe there was
a family fight, you know, after they left, she took off, the
family just said, hey, we're taking over the farm. You don't
know, we don't know. It's not, it's not there. But
we know that she doesn't have possession of the farm right
now, or the land that she has, the house. Look at this though,
look at this. This is amazing. Remember how
we fell on Adam? We have it all restored in Christ
and more, even more. Look at this. And when the king
asked the woman, she told him. So the king appointed unto her
a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, everything
that was hers, and all the fruits of the field, since the day that
she left the land, even until now. She left the land seven
years before. She's getting seven years worth
of things from that property. Restore it unto her. Just restore
it. Just give it to her. Oh my! What a picture of us in
Christ, beloved. We have restoration, spiritual
life. We were dead in trespasses and
sins. Now we have spiritual life. What do we have in Christ? Everything.
Even more than what we had before. Even more. It's absolutely wonderful. Now this passage we'll look at
tonight, it's not to be viewed as a chronological order to the
previous chapter. The word then does not put the
time frame directly after the trampling of the death of the
king's servant. When the seven years of famine took place, it's
not clearly set. We don't know. We don't know
when it's clearly set. In a chronologically The chronological report runs
in this manner. The first two verses take place
prior to the seven years of famine. prior, then spake Elijah unto
the woman whose son she had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go
thou in thine household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst
sojourn. For the Lord hath called thee
for a famine, and it shall also come upon the land seven years. And the woman arose, and did
after the saying of the man of God, and she went with her household,
and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
So that's the setting of it right there. The first two verses deal
with before the famine. Before the famine. The next four
verses take place after the famine. And the two verses that reveal
the words of Elijah as he informs a Shemite woman of the coming
famine instruct her to leave Samaria for another land for
seven years. Seven years. And again, verse
three to six takes place after the famine, when she returns
home. And tonight we will see the wonder
work and power of God, beloved. And I want us to think in our
lives, I want us to think in our lives, how God delivered
us before we were even saved and since we're saved. Oh my. Now, I know there's a whole bunch
of times he delivered us we don't even know. But I want us to ponder
that. How many times, Brian, did the
Lord deliver us from things we didn't even know? And then there's
a few things we do know, though, where we can look back now and
go, oh my gosh, look what the Lord did. I could have ruined
my life here. He took care of the whole time.
Before I was saved, I could have ruined my life. Absolutely ruined
my life. He took care of me. And then,
after I'm saved, now we start to become more conscious of God's
absolute sovereignty, of His providence in our lives. And
it's so exciting, because we can look back with faith in Christ
and go, my goodness. We know nothing happens by chance
or luck, right? There's no such thing as luck
in this world. It's God's providence. That's what it is. See, men just
want to rob God of the glory. That's all. Natural man wants
to rob God of the glory. That's why he worships these
statues and stuff. My, the Egyptians, they had human
bodies with animal heads on them as their gods. They took the
thing that was created and worshipped it over the Creator, giving the
glory to a piece of stone rather than to God. See, now that's
true of religion, right? It wants the glory. It wants
the glory. But grace It changes everything. We now, don't we Brother Zane,
we give God the glory for everything. He's the one who's worthy of
our praise. And only Him, no one else. No
one else at all. My, we're see too that God hears
the cries of the righteous. You ever cried out to God, beloved?
He hears our cries. And how are we righteous? We're
not righteous on our own, are we? We're righteous in Christ. And he hears the cry of the righteous.
He hears the cries of his people. My, oh, my. Don't ever think
God don't hear our prayers, because he hears them all. Don't ever
think that God doesn't know about every tear we shed. Don't think
that God doesn't know about the great heartaches in our hearts
sometimes. He knows everything. And he's right there, the great
physician, ever taking care of us, holding us in the everlasting
arms, the scripture says, upholding us My, what a Savior! What a Redeemer! And think of
this, too. God hears our cries just as He
heard the cries of Moses and the prophets. He hears our cries. Just as He heard the cries of
Peter and Paul, James, John, saints of all we don't even know,
He hears the cries of His people right now. And he's interceding
for us, the Lord Jesus Christ, in heaven right now. Right this
second. Right this second. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, it's
wonderful. Turn, if you would, to Lamentations,
chapter 3. We can be sure of divine intervention.
Do you know that God intervenes in our lives every day? You know
that? You may say, come on, Wayne.
How does God intervene in our lives every day? Zane, you and
I were talking about this yesterday. Yes, he did. His mercies are
new every morning, aren't they? Every morning, his mercies are
new. Every morning. Look at this. Lamentations, chapter
3. Zane and I were talking about
this yesterday. We were working on some stuff at the church here
today. We were having a grand time. Or yesterday. We were having
a grand time. And this is something we talked about here. Are you thankful, Dave? that
God's mercies are new every morning. What a blessing. Yesterday's
manna is not for today. That's why they had to get new
manna every day. And look at him. He feeds us. He sustains us. Gives us sustenance
every day. Look at this. Oh my. We can be sure. We can be sure
that the day of divine intervention is most certainly not past. Because
again, we can look back on our lives and see what God's done
in our lives. My oh my. He watches over his people every
single day. Look at this. Lamentations 3,
starting in verse 22. It is of the Lord's mercies,
it's of Jehovah's mercies, that we are not consumed. The fact
that we're not consumed is mercy. Is mercy. Because his compassions
fail not. Look at this sister, verse 24. This is wonderful. They are new
every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. Great
is the faithfulness of God. Look at that. Our God's faithful. He's faithful. And His faithfulness
is great. Great! And look at this. This is what every believer says
now. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul. Therefore I will
hope in him. Oh my. Look at that. Who's our
hope? Who's our hope? My oh my. Our hope's Christ, isn't it?
We don't have any other hope than Christ. There was a time
when we hoped in ourselves, or hoped in something we could do.
We take absolutely no hope in ourselves. My oh my. You know, as we grow in grace,
do you know what the Lord teaches us? How we're so dependent upon
him more and more and more. And how little we know. He teaches
us how little we know. My oh my. If you ever run into
somebody who thinks they know something, they don't know nothing. You ever run into people, religious
folks, and man, they think they know so much, so much, they don't
know nothing. My oh my. You know, I've been
preaching now for 15 years, and I feel like I'm just starting.
I'm finally starting to learn something, Dave. I'm finally
starting to learn something. My oh my, isn't that amazing?
Is it so for you? Man, we come, we listen to the
messages, and we get so fired up, it's like brand new, isn't
it? It's like brand new. That's wonderful. That means the Holy Spirit's
teaching you, and guiding you, and directing you. Because that's
Him doing that, not the preacher. I'm just a mouthpiece, eh? Norm,
do-do-do-do. That's all I'm doing. I'm blowing
the trumpet. I'm reading the report of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if the Holy Spirit takes
it and blesses your heart, I say, hallelujah. Oh, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. He must increase,
and I must decrease, right? That's what we all say, isn't
it? That's what we say. Oh my. Look at this though. The Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. Therefore will I hope in him. The Lord is good unto
them that wait for him. To the soul that seeketh him,
it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for
the salvation of Jehovah, of the Lord. And you know what?
Salvation's of the Lord, isn't it? Right? Sister Linda, you
teach Gavin that salvation's all of Christ, from beginning
to end. Same thing I preach in the pulpit,
because that's the only salvation. There's no salvation anywhere
else. Not in anything we do. No, we can't be saved by anything.
And that is something that God teaches us as He's drawing us
to Him. He reveals to us our need, doesn't
He, by the same? Are you needy brother? Yeah,
so am I. Oh man, I'm so needy. I'm so
needy. My oh my. Now we've learned in
our past studies, remember our past studies? We've learned how
precious this Shelomite woman is to Elijah. She noticed him
going through town and she started to feed him. Remember at first
she started to feed him? And then she said to her husband,
let's build a chamber in the house so that he can stay with
us. Now, you know how sweet it is
when we get together and fellowship together? Imagine that with those
two. They feel the same thing we do when we get together. We're
feeling the same thing they did. That love for God, that ability
to be able to sit and talk with someone about what you believe.
to have someone else believe the doctrines of grace, and you
can talk with them, and you can rejoice and praise God for saving
us, because we couldn't save ourselves, and for choosing us,
because we never would have chose Him. And for the precious, precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that washes away all our sins,
cleanses us from all our sins. Oh, we quietly wait for the salvation
of the Lord. Again, she fed him, she took
care of him. And remember, Elijah asked her,
what do you want in return for what you've done for me? And
she said, I dwell among my own people. She's content. You know,
only God can make us content. Only God can make us content.
Because we are restless by nature. We are restless by nature. What
did she again, what did she mean when she said, I dwell among
my own people? She meant she was content. She was happy with
what she had. And therefore she asked for nothing
in return. And then remember the same fellow that talked to
the king, Gehazi, he told Elijah, well, she don't have no child.
And Elijah said, you're going to have a baby. Who made him
say that? Jehovah, God made him say that. And he made it come
to pass, didn't he? And then we learn that the young
man died. Oh, the son of promise. And she
told Elijah, I didn't ask for this. I didn't ask for this.
But Elijah raised that child from the dead by the power of
God. By the power of God. All according
to the sovereign will of God. Keep that in mind. All according
to the sovereign will of God. As we read this again, remember
this is all coming to pass according to the sovereign will of God.
If you're saved tonight, listening, or who will listen, it's because
of the sovereign will of God. Isn't that wonderful? It still
fills me with awe. It's absolutely incredible. Look
at verses 1 and 2 again. Then spake Elijah unto the woman
whose son he had restored to life, saying, Arise, and go thou
and thine household and sojourn. Wheresoever thou canst sojourn,
for the Lord hath called for a famine. And it shall also come
to pass or come upon the land seven years. And the woman arose
and did after the saying of the man of God. And she went with
her household and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven
years. So we see the love and care that Elijah has for the
Shiromite woman. He warns her. God's told him
there's going to be a famine, and he tells her. And God said,
that famine shall come to pass. There's a great day coming, isn't
it? There shall be a judgment day. It's coming. It shall come. We saw in the book of Acts study,
the angel said, this same Jesus shall come again. Well, he's
going to come again as a judge, isn't he? As a lion. As a lion
of the tribe of Judah. He's coming again. not as a lamb,
but as a lion. And a woman arose and did after
the saying of the man of God, and she went in her household
and sojourned in the land of the Philistines seven years.
Now this famine seems to only have affected Israel. It's not
affecting the lands around it, just Israel. And it may have
come about because the Israelites, they've gone off into idol worshipping.
They're worshipping the gods of the heathen, who aren't gods.
who aren't gods. They're pieces of stone. They're
figments of man's imagination. And that's what they are. My oh my. We'll see that this
regard that Elijah shows for this woman, and according to
Providence, sets up a picture of what Christ has done for his
people. Now the Scriptures, many people have been moved around
in the Scriptures, in the Word of God. Think of Joseph. He was sent off into Egypt from
Israel. Then his family was moved from
Israel to Egypt. And then think of Abimelech and
Naomi. My, think of Moses taken from
the land of Israel to sojourn in the wilderness for a while.
My oh my. And then go back to Egypt and
then get to the promised land and he can't enter because he
struck the rock twice. Which that rock was a picture
of Christ and Christ can only be smote once for the sins of
his people. So he couldn't enter into the
promised land but I'll tell you he's in glory right now. Oh my. Brother Tim James brings forth
that God's ordained people are immortal until their course runs
out. What does that mean? Well that means it's appointed
unto a man once to die. We can't die until that appointed
time of God. And we cannot miss that appointment.
Can't reschedule it. I do that with the doctors all
the time. Can't do that. Can't reschedule this appointment.
listen to what Job says and in turn if you want to Hebrews 9
while I'm reading this Hebrews 9 and I'll read Job 14 14 it
says if a man dies shall he live again if a man dies is he going
to live again all the days of my appointed time will I wait
until my change come my oh my coming to change brother there's
coming to change for God's people isn't there the minute we drop
this veil of This this ten of flasks man. We're changed aren't
we? Oh man Corruption shall put on incorruption My oh my what
a day. That'll be a oh my I'll tell
you what we're all yearning for that aren't we? Oh, we're yearning
for that now look at this in Hebrews 9 Hebrews 9 verses 24
to 28. This is wonderful Hebrews 9, 24-28. For Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself. That's
where he is right now. To appear in the presence of
God for us. He's interceding for us, beloved. My, at the right
hand of God. Remember, Stephen saw him standing
at the right hand of God, nor yet that he should offer himself
often. His sacrifice was once for all
his people. One time, it's finished, as the
high priest enters into the holy place every year with blood of
others. For then must he have suffered since the foundation
of the world, but now once, in the end of the world, hath he
appeared to what, Dave? Put away sin. He put our sin
away. How? By the sacrifice of himself. My, what a Savior! What a Redeemer
is Jesus Christ our Lord! And as it is appointed unto the
man once to die, but after this the judgment. There it is. There's
that appointment. No one's going to miss that appointment.
So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. He bore
the sins of his people. That's us. We who are born again
bore the sins of God. My, this is what he's done. To
bear the sins of many, and unto them that look to him shall he
appear the second time without sin unto salvation. We are going
to see him, beloved. We're either going to see him
the day we die, or if we're alive, when he comes, we're going to
see him in the clouds. And then we'll see him face to face forever.
Could you imagine just gazing into the eyes of Christ? Oh my! It will be wonderful, won't it? It'll be absolutely wonderful,
beloved. We think we have joy now. My, where do we see him? Where do we shout with the saints
in glory? I mean, they're shouting. My,
my, oh my. Now we see in verse 2, let's
go back to 2 Kings chapter 8. We see in verse 2 that the Shehomite
woman, she arose, listened to the man of God, and went into
the land of Philistines for seven years, just like he told her.
So she was obedient to God's command. She believed God. She believed, number one, that
there was going to be a famine. And she believed God and went into
what he told her, go into the land. God's warning her through
Elijah, isn't he? She's obedient. So off she goes.
It says, and the woman arose and did after the saying of the
man of God. And she went with her household
and sojourned. See, it wasn't just her. It was
her household. And sojourned in the land of the Philistines
seven years. She believed God. By God-given faith, she believed
God. She believed God, and she obeyed
Him. Now, in our natural state, we
don't obey God, do we? But after the Lord gives us faith
to believe, ah, my, by God's grace, we obey, don't we? We
obey. Do you sin more than you want
to? Yeah, we do, don't we? Oh, if we could never sin again,
we'd be so happy, but we're just sinners saved by grace, right?
But oh, my, we sin more than we want to. So she believed God
by God-given faith. And she believed that God would
bring her back at the appointed time. And Deuteronomy, our Lord
said to Israel, I brought you out, and I will bring you in.
He brought us out of the world, brother. He's going to bring
us home, brother. My. He will. Yeah. He who began that good work.
He's going to finish it, isn't he? Amen, brother. He's going
to finish it. Oh, my. So then what's the life
of God? The life of the child of God
is what? It's a display. It's a display of God's providence
being worked out in our lives. You know, scripture says the
steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord. How are we good?
Only in Christ, right? The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. That cake mix, Dave. That's exactly
what that's talking about. Good and bad, everything we went
through, mixed all in in our lives, for our good. And there
ain't an ingredient left out, is there? No. And it's made,
and the icing's on the cake, and there's our life, all mixed
together, for our good, and for His glory. Ain't that amazing? My! No! Just amazing. It seems too wonderful, but it
isn't. It's just more and more wonderful,
isn't it? Oh, my. So the life of a believer of
one of God's people is, again, a display of God's providence
at work and the working out of His will, His eternal will, too,
and His purpose in our lives. We see it in the scale of our
lives. We see it in our brothers' and sisters' lives, too, don't
we? And we rejoice, don't we? We rejoice at the great things
God's done. My, from the womb to the tomb, from the cradle
to the grave, God's people's steps are ordered by the Lord.
Isn't that wonderful? We are saved by accident or on
purpose? Yeah, there you go, brother. You're saved on purpose,
God's purpose. So was I. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my. So now we see she makes
a choice. She goes into the land of the
Philistines. But remember that as God's people, nothing that
happens in this world catches God by surprise. He knew what
she was going to do. He knew where she was going to
go. A friend of mine in Oregon said this. He said either God
restrains us from sin, where He releases us. My oh my. And when we fall into that sin,
we learn a lesson, don't we? And we come crawling back to
God. But He's never left us. He never left us. It's us who
plunges into sin. Remember the Song of Solomon?
Oh, you remember? Remember the bridegroom? He's
looking in the window at her. And she's slumbering in sleep.
He's looking in the window and she arises and he's gone. You
know, he's not left. He's still watching him. She
can't see him, but he's still watching. Oh my. Lord's ever close to us. He don't
leave us. He don't forsake us. He protects
us. My oh my. We're always brought
back, though. When we wander off, we're always
back. I like what I heard DJ Ward say
today. I was listening to old DJ today,
and he said, again, he said, he said, folks worry about, well,
maybe I'm not a sheep, maybe I'm a goat. And he said, well,
let me tell you this. If you're a sheep of God, you
won't be anything else but a sheep of God, and God's not gonna let
you go. He's not gonna let you go. He's gonna bring you back.
if we wander off, because sheep wander, don't we? Now we can
still be in church and wander in our herd, can't we? My, but
he always brings us back. He's a good shepherd. He's wonderful. My, you know, we're thinking,
we're out there thinking, oh, we're all alone, and he just
comes over and lovingly takes us into his arms. I found you. I found you, my little sheep.
You're mine. I bought you. Come on. You're not going to follow me.
I'm going to carry you with everlasting arms underneath us. Isn't that
wonderful? Oh, it's so glorious. It's so
glorious. I'm going to tell you. This human
right woman, what did she find among the Philistines? Well,
she found food and sustenance. And there's a famine in the land
of Israel, and by God's divine providence, she's led, she's
led, she's, oh, I choose to go to, I choose to go to the Philistines. She's being led by God, beloved. Oh my. And while she's in there,
she's in the land with his idol worship and everything, and God's
keeping her and holding on to her, and she's worshiping God. Now, Some folks, well, why did
God take her to a land where there are a bunch of heathens?
Well, you know what? Israel had went off and followed
heathens, too. They were acting like heathens
themselves, going after all these idols. God puts her in a place
where she got food the whole seven years. And he takes care
of her, and he keeps her. He keeps her. My, what a picture
of us. God keeps us, doesn't he? He
got his hand upon us, keeps us. And so by special providence,
special divine providence, he found sustenance, food for all
of our family in the land of the Philistines. Here we are. Here we are, thousands of years
later, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000 years later, reading and learning by
the teaching of God, the Holy Spirit, of how God cares by this
illustration of the Shulamite woman. He's teaching us. He's showing us. I'm gonna take
care of you. You're mine. What was that verse
you quoted me yesterday? You remember, brother? Okay,
there was one about how he keeps, you know, the one in Isaiah,
I think, Jeremiah. Yeah, Jeremiah. What was that?
Jeremiah what? What was it again? Do you remember
the verse? shall not leave. Look at that.
He puts fear in the heart of his people. You got it there
brother Dave? Yeah. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with them and I will not turn away from them to do
them good but I will put my fear in their hearts and they shall
not depart. Amen. Look at that. Isn't that
wonderful? They shall not depart from it. Look at that, there
it is again. So this lady, this Shemite woman, was in the land
of the Philistines, and she's one of God's, and so what's God
going to do? She won't depart from me, even though she's in
the land of heathens. Look at us in the world, beloved.
Why don't we go off and wander off? Because we're kept by God. And he said, he said, Brother
Brian, you're one of his. He said, Brian, you shall not
depart from me. Whoo! My! Ah, it makes your soul
want to sing, doesn't it? It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Oh, my goodness. Absolutely wonderful. So God protected her while she's
in this land of idolatry. And it's a place where she could
still worship God, though. She could still worship God.
And she's able to worship in Samaria, where Israel, this time
again, it was steeped in idolatry. So it was no different than the
Philistines area. They were falling off the bail
and all these other gods that weren't gods. And I know, because I was in
religion too, and I was worshiping statues and all this stuff. And
I still wonder, how did I do that? Well, it was because I
was so depraved, right? And think of this, though. To
know the living, true God, well, to think you know him, And then
go after an idol? Worship an idol? That's a piece
of stone? It shows you they didn't really
know God, did they? Remember, not all Israel is Israel. Oh
my. God's people are spiritual, aren't
they? He has a remnant. He had a remnant
back then, just like I was talking to someone today, and they're
like, man, there's hardly any good churches anymore. I said,
well, God's still got a remnant. Come and hear the gospel. He's
still got a remnant preaching the gospel. So God protected her. This woman
was a woman of faith. Turn if you would to Titus. Titus
chapter 3. This woman was a woman of faith.
And the only thing that made her to differ from the other
women in Israel at that time, you know what it is? It's God.
God. Who's the only one who made us
to differ? God. Genesis 6.8 says this, But Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. That's the only thing that made
Noah to differ. That's the only thing. He found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. Look at this in Titus chapter
3, starting in verse 4. But after the kindness and love
of God our Savior toward man appeared. You see that? The kindness
and love of God appeared. God manifest in the flesh, the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. That's who came. Not by works of righteousness
which we have done. Look at that. This is being stressed
by Paul, isn't it? Not by works of righteousness
which we have done. That's imperative, isn't it?
But according to what? Whose mercy? God's mercy. His mercy. He saves us by the
washing of regeneration. You must be born again in the
renewing of the Holy Ghost which he shed on us abundantly through
Jesus Christ our Savior. That being justified by His grace
we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Look at that. Justified by His grace. We found grace in the
eyes of the Lord. That's the only thing that made
us different from all these people in the world. My oh my. So let we who are the redeemed
of the Lord often remember the multiple times that we've been
delivered by God. My, and let's give God all the
glory for it. Let's praise him as those thoughts
come to mind. Let's praise him for those wonderful
deliverances. Look at verse three now in 2
Kings chapter eight. It came to pass at the seven
years end that the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines,
and she went forth to cry unto the king for her house and for
her land. So in verse 3 again, we see the
Shemite woman is safely brought back into the land by God. Safely
brought back. By God's divine providence, she
now returns home. And we see that her home has
been taken from her. We're going to see that coming up. So she's
going to go seek the king's help. She's going to go cry to the
king for the return of her house and land. Let's read verses 4
and 5. And the king talked with Gehazi,
the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee,
all the great things that Elijah hath done. And it came to pass,
as he was telling the king, how he had restored a dead body to
life. that behold the woman whose son he had restored to life,
cried to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi
said, My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son,
whom Elijah restored to life. Watch and wonder here. The wonder,
work, and power of God appears before us here and reveals this
wonderful purpose of God in His grace and mercy towards His people.
Remember the cry of Hannah? She cried, He killeth and He
maketh alive. He brings low and raises up.
Well, she's bought low, isn't she? She's lost her house. Oh my, she lost her land. She's
bought low. But you know what? God is going
to raise her back up. You know, we were bought low in the fall,
brother Zane. Oh, we were bought so low in depravity and sin. But we've been raised up in Christ,
brother. Oh my! We've been raised up in
Christ. It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. And we see how, again, how she's
being bought low and now she must cast herself upon the will
of the King. We cast ourselves upon the will of the King, don't
we? Oh yes, we do. And watch and wonder. Watch and
wonder as God's grace is manifest to this Shumite woman in verses
four to six. This Shumite woman comes to the
king. Now, he don't know nothing about her. He's talking to Gehazi
and asking Gehazi about the wonders that God performed, or that Elijah
performed by the power of God. He's about to learn that one
of the ones who is the object of God's love and grace and mercy
is coming to him. Coming to him. My oh my. He's also about to learn that
she's an object of God's eternal love by the miracles which have
been done in her life by the miraculous power of God. And
unknown to her, Gehazi's talking to the king about her. The king,
he's just inquiring about the things Elijah's done. Well, tell
me about what Elijah's done. Well, let me tell you about this
Shulamite woman. She had no children. She built a chamber for Elijah
so he could stay there. Gehazi was with him, traveled
with him. We stopped in there. And she fed us. And she didn't have nothing.
And Elijah asked her what she wanted. And she said, I don't
want nothing. I'm content. And I told Elijah, you know, she
don't have no child. And Elijah said, you're going to have a
son. And you know what, King? She had a son. The king's probably
thinking, why? That's amazing. And he says,
and you know, sir, that son died. And Elijah, by the power of God,
restored that son to life. Imagine the king, he'd be hanging
on his chair. Really? Yeah. And remember, Gehazi
is an eyewitness and an earwitness of this. He heard it and he saw
it. Right? Isn't it amazing that
God is using this servant of Elijah after he's been cast away
and now he's testifying of the great things that Elijah did. Isn't that amazing? My, I think
he knows he was wrong. My oh my. My oh my. Again, it was forbidden. It was
forbidden for a leper to come in contact with an Israelite.
But they could talk to him. They could talk to him from a
distance. So the king seeks to question Gehazi. He's the servant
of Elijah. And again, Sheomite woman doesn't
know that the king is talking to Gehazi about her. She has
no clue that he's relating the story of the Sheomite woman.
And that's her. So she's going to the king. Let's
read verses 4 and 5 again. And the king talked with Gehazi,
the servant of the man of God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee,
all the great things that Elijah hath done. It came to pass as
he was telling the king how he had restored a dead body to life
that behold the woman whose son he had restored to life cried
to the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said,
my lord, oh king, this is the woman and this is her son whom
Elijah restored to life. Now the king had no idea that
he was going to be persuaded to show mercy to this woman.
He didn't even know her. He didn't even know her. Who
persuaded him? Who persuaded him to show mercy? Who moved in the hearts of the
Egyptians that they gave Israel all their gold and jewels? Amen,
brother. Jehovah did that. He's at work
again. He's always at work, beloved.
He's always moving for the benefit of his people. Always. It's wonderful. So here, Gehazi
is telling the king, and the king had no idea he was going
to be persuaded to show mercy and grace to this woman. But
just watch, again, at what God does. He gives her favor in the
eyes of this king. My oh my. You and I, beloved,
have found grace in the eyes of the Lord. I've learned over
the years that if you want the right information, you go to
the source, don't you? I had some folks a long time
ago tell me, oh, don't go talk to that fella. He's bad news. He's not preaching the gospel.
You know what I did? First thing I want to do is go listen to
his message. That's how I am. People tell me, don't go meet
that fella or don't go talk to that fella. You know what I'm
going to do? I'm going to go to the source. That's what we
should do, right? My, oh, my. And so what does
this king do? He wants to know the truth about
Elijah. Well, he goes to someone who was right there, doesn't
he? He goes to Gaza. My, oh my. And he witnesses to the wondrous
things that Elijah's done. Gehazi had seen Nahum healed
from leprosy. His eyes had been opened up to
see all those chariots and angels all around them, when that huge
host of the enemies were all around them. And Elijah said,
there are more for us than against us. Oh, he's so good. If God be for
us, who can be against us, right? Oh, my. Look at this in verse
5 again. Let's read it. And it came to
pass, as he was telling the king, how he had restored a dead body
to life, that behold, the woman whose son he had restored to
life cried to the king for the house and for her land. And Gehazi
said, my lord, oh king, this is the woman, and this is her
son, whom Elijah restored to life. Now think about the prodigal
son, beloved. He'd wasted everything he had.
He was coming home. He said, I'm going to be a servant
for my dad. I'm going to be a servant for my father. My father's servants
eat better than I'm eating right now. I'm eating pig stuff and
husks of corn. And he didn't even make it home,
did he? Before his father ran out to him and said, put the
ring on his finger. Bring forth the best robe. Let's
clothe them in that best robe. My son has returned. My son has
returned. You know, there's joy in heaven
every time, every time a believer is born again. Oh my! Isn't that wonderful? Oh my! And he didn't even make, that
prodigal didn't even make it home and his dad's kissing him.
He's so in love with him, he's like, oh my son, my son, my son. And what this dear woman of God
didn't know is that all her requests had already been heard by our
great God and provided for. He knows our hearts. He knows
things even before we speak them. He knows our needs. And he always
takes care of his sheep. I have seen it time and time
and time again, beloved, in my life. And I'm sure you have too.
It's been absolutely amazing. So we see here the ruling grace
of God on display. See, God's sovereign. His rule
is sovereign. He rules over everything. He
puts kings into power, doesn't he? He puts prime ministers and
presidents into power. That's what he does. But we see
the ruling grace of God over overriding and touching this
heart of this king, so that he would have compassion on the
Shulamite woman. He didn't even know her. He'd
heard about her from Gehazi, but he didn't know her. He'd
never met her, until she'd come running up. And Gizaizai finishes
the report, and suddenly, the story is supported now with a
visual aid. The actual woman, who he was
talking about. Right? And the son! And the son,
too. She'd never cried out to the
king for help, but her estate was settled before she even asked
for it. You know how? By the grace of
God. By the grace of God. I ask you, beloved, isn't this
wonderful? Isn't this great? Isn't this true? For every born-again,
blood-washed saint of God, isn't this true for all of us? The
Lord Jesus Christ saved us at Calvary's cross by the shedding
of his precious blood, all according to the will and mercy and grace
of God. We say hallelujah, right? Amen. Now let's look at verse 5 and
6. And it came to pass, as he was
telling the king how he restored the dead body to life, that,
behold, the woman whose son he had restored to life cried to
the king for her house and for her land. And Gehazi said, My
lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Elijah
restored to life. Oh, look at this next verse,
how this pictures the gospel, beloved. We fell in Adam and
we're restored in Christ. We have more now than we've ever
had before. We have all spiritual blessings
in Christ. All the promises of God are yeah
and amen in Christ. And look what it says here, verse
6. And when the king asked the woman, she told him. She just
testified of what God had done through Elijah. So the king appointed. He didn't even hesitate. He appointed.
He appointed what? A certain officer, saying, restore
all that was hers and all the fruits of the field since the
day she left the land, even until now. My, oh, my. Everything she
lost in those seven years was restored, and her house and her
land given back to her. This picture is when the elect
of God hear and understand, when they hear of the great work accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ, by the one who is the true prophet,
the true priest, the true king, the Lord Jesus Christ. He accomplished
the work of salvation for us. It is finished. It's done. Before we cry for mercy, before
we come to Christ, what do we hear? We hear that Christ already
died for us. that all we lost in Adam is being
restored. And by the regenerating power
of God, the Holy Spirit, He becomes the lover of our soul, doesn't
He, brethren? He becomes our all in all. My, oh my. And secondly, when the elect
of God hear the gospel, the report of the finished work of Christ,
grace just bubbles in our hearts, doesn't it? It just fills us
with joy. Oh my, what a wonderful salvation.
And it flows from God like streams of living water to us. We're
thirsty. And we're filled by Christ. Oh
my. And when hearing of the great
works of Elijah, the king immediately sees who the recipients of the
miracles done by God are. He sees her face-to-face now.
Gehazi has identified her. This is the woman. This is the
Shemite I was just telling you about. And finally, in verse
6, the king asked the woman, and she told him, she told him,
this is my child. This is the child that I was
promised by God. This is the child that died.
I was there when he breathed his last breath. And by the power
of God, Elijah restored him to life. God gave him back to me. Oh my, and he that was dead yet
lives. Beloved, we that were dead now
truly live. We're this body, we're going
to shed this body one day, but we're going to live for eternity
in the presence of God. Let's read verse 6 again. And
when the king asked the woman, she told him, So the king appointed
unto her a certain officer, saying, Restore all that was hers, and
all the fruits of the field, since the day that she left the
land, even until now. We see the king assigned her
a servant, a eunuch. Brother Tim James says, and other
commentators say it was a eunuch. One who had no concerns of heirs,
but only concerned with serving her, serving the king by serving
her. His job was to restore all that
was lost by royal command. What does Christ do for us by
royal command? He restores all that was lost.
Oh, it's wonderful. I'll tell you what. It just gets
better and better, doesn't it? It's wonderful. Wonderful. So by royal command, he restores
all that was lost. And what a picture of the gospel
of grace. See, the gospel preacher, we're
not called to seek a following. We're called to point people
to Christ. That's what we're called to do. And from this pulpit,
by the grace and mercy of God, will proceed Christ and him crucified
for sinners. The only hope for sinners is
the Lord Jesus Christ. So she was even to receive the
fruit that was gathered while she was in a foreign land. And
one of the grand themes of the gospel is restoration. We fell
in Adam, right? But the believer in Christ is
restored. We've been redeemed. We've been
restored by Jesus Christ our Lord. And we're called heirs
of God and joined heirs with Christ. So the years of sin and
loss, the years in Lodabar. And we were in Lodabar. That's
the house of no bread. That's where we were when God
found us. Same place Mephibosheth was. And God said, go fetch him. That's called fetching grace.
Who fetched us? The Holy Ghost did, didn't he?
And brought us to Christ. And now we say, oh Lord, why
you have mercy on a dead dog like me. And you know what the
King says to us? What David said to Mephibosheth,
fear not. Praise His mighty name! Praise
His mighty name! What a Savior! What a Redeemer!
My, and we have all spiritual blessings now in Christ Jesus
our Lord. And all, again, let me say it
again, all the promises of God are yea and amen in Him, for
the believer. My, praise be the God, the God
of all grace, the God of all mercy. Praise God for his son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise God, the Holy Spirit,
our great comforter and our teacher. And praise God for the Father,
who is bound by the word shall to the everlasting covenant of
grace. And we shall not perish. He will keep us and take us home,
beloved. And all we can say is, Praise
his mighty name. My, oh my.