Kings chapter 17. First Kings
chapter 17. The name of the message tonight
is called the inexhaustible barrel. The inexhaustible barrel. And tonight we'll look at the
prophet Elijah being sent to the widow of Zarephath and we'll
see that she was a object of divine love by God's choice,
by God's method, and by God's faithfulness, just as every single
one of God's elect are. Every one of His people. Look
at 1 Kings, and we'll read verses 8 to 16. And the word of the
Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which
belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded
a widow woman there to sustain thee. So 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. And he called to her and said,
fetch me, I pray thee, a little water and a vessel that I may
drink. And as she was going to fetch
it, he called to her and said, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel
of bread in thine hand. And she said, as the Lord thy
God liveth, I have not a cake. but a handful of meal in a barrel,
and a little oil, and a curse. And behold, I am gathering two
sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that
we may eat it and die. And Elijah said unto her, fear
not, go and do as thou hast said, but make me thereof a little
cake first, and bring it unto me, and make after for thee and
for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the
crease of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth
rain upon the earth. And she went and did according
to the saying of Elijah, and she and he in her house did eat
many days. And the barrel of meal wasted
not, neither did the crucible of oil fail, according to the
word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah." Now amidst God's
judgments and wrath, mercy, God remembers mercy. Mercy. Divine love is visible when it
shines in the midst of trials and judgments. And as the Lord
preserves his people, divine love is manifested and magnified. And God's love and care for his
people is an oasis for them. It's an oasis for God's people.
We're living in this world and seeing God's judgments fall,
because we do. We see God's judgments fall and
pass amongst others. But we also see God's love and
faithfulness for his people. We see it all the time. And it
is a great comfort for His people when He tries our faith. And He does. He tries our faith. We come to know through trials
of our faith, we come to know that He is ever supporting us
and that He is ever with us. And the promise of I'll never
leave thee nor forsake thee becomes very real for the believer. Very
real. And it's usually amidst the trials
and troubles which we go through in this life. In the passage tonight, we'll
look at three main points. The objects of divine love, the
method of divine love, and the grace of God, the method of divine
love, or the grace of God in its dealings, and the faithfulness
of divine love. Now in the East, during biblical
times, the people kept their corn or their meal, the flour, in earthen jars, earthen
vessels. They kept their corn in earthen
jars to protect it from insects, to protect it from insects which
would swarm, and to protect it also from the heat of the sun.
They lived in a desert area. And so they kept their corn and
their flour in earthen vessels. And what in our text is called
a barrel here is one of those vessels. The Hebrew word for
barrel is translated jar, large jar, portable, so they could
carry it around if they wanted to. But this is what they kept
their corn in or their flour in to protect it. And it's also
genuinely of earthenware, a jar for domestic purposes, a barrel
or a pitcher. So the meal, which is in our
text is actually flour in Hebrew, in the barrel was run very low,
and there was only a handful left. There was only a handful
left. Yet, this handful was multiplied
by the power of God. The same way that the loaves
and fishes were multiplied by our Lord. It's a miracle. It's a miracle. It was multiplied by the power
of God, and it was so sufficient that it fed three people. Elijah,
the widow, and her son. Look at verse 8. And the word
of the Lord came unto him, saying, Now turn, if you would, one chapter
over. The land of Israel had fallen into idolatry. Turn, if
you would, to 1 Kings 16, verses 29 to 34. The land of Israel
had fallen into idolatry. And we see in the latter part
of chapter 16, verses 29 to 34, and we note that Ahab is ruling
and that he has brought forth Baal worship. which his wife
Jezebel, the son of the king of the Zidonians, worshipped. Look at 1 Kings 29-34. And in the thirty-eighth year
of King Asa, king of Judah, began Ahab the son of Amri to reign
over Israel. And Ahab the son of Amri reigned
over Israel and Samaria twenty and two years. And Ahab the son
of Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord. Above all that were
before him he was worse than any other king. And it came to
pass as if it had been a light for him to walk in the sins of
Jorbaim, the son of Nabat, Nabat that he took to wife Jezebel,
the son of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, and went and served
Baal and worshipped him. So now he's worshipping Baal,
and he's brought that idolatry to Israel. And it came from Jezebel. And
he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he
had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a grove, and Ahab
did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all
the kings of Israel that were before him. In his days did Hael
the Bethite build Jericho. He laid the foundation thereof.
I buy a ram, his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof, and
his youngest son, Seagub, according to the word of the Lord, which
he spake by Joshua the son of Nun." So the nation of Israel
is now infected. It's now infected. They've turned
from the living God to worship Baal. But let us always remember
that God always has a remnant according to the election of
grace. Always. And you see that, for further
study, if you want to see that in 1 Kings 19.18. 7,000 there were that had not bowed
the knee to Baal. So God always has a remnant.
He always has a remnant. Now note, Elijah had been fed
by the brook Cherith and would not leave until God had told
him. And we see that in turn again now, if you would, to Chapter
17. verses 1 to 7. And we're looking at this to
set up what is going to occur in our text tonight. 1 Kings
17, verses 1 to 7. And Elijah the Tishbite, who
was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God
of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew
nor rain these years, but according to my word. And the word of the
Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward,
and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. So he was told by God to go to
this brook. Now look what happens while he
is there. And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook,
fresh water, and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
Another miracle. Ravens are gonna feed him. They're
gonna bring him food. So he went and did according
unto the word of the Lord, for he went down by the brook Cherith,
that is before Jordan, and the ravens brought him bread, just
like God said, and the ravens brought him bread, and flesh
in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening, and he
drank of the brook. It's another miracle. But look what happens in verse
7. And it came to pass after a while that the brook dried
up, because there'd be no rain in the land. Now Elijah is told,
in the next verse, to go to a city that is under the dominion. Now,
this city, Zarephath, that he's commanded to go to, is under
the dominion of Jezebel's father, the king of the Sidonians. He's
told to go into enemy territory. But remember, God is absolutely
sovereign. And God sends his prophet into
the very city where his enemy is, the heart of of Baal worship. But what a picture. Think of
this. What a picture we have here before us. Of the election
of grace, including Jew and Gentile. He's told to go to a Gentile
city. What a picture. He's told to go to a widow. A
Gentile. A Gentile. And it's by the command
of God. And of course, he's God's prophet.
He's gonna obey the Lord's command. Look at verse nine. Arise, get
thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold,
I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. Now let
us see in our text here, and the ones following, the objects
of divine love. The objects of divine love. God's
sheep, God's people are of his choosing. God is the one who
chooses his people. Scripture is very plain about
that. And Christ died upon the cross to purchase those people
by the shedding of his own precious blood. Now none of God's sheep,
when they're born into this world, know that they are the objects
of divine mercy. We have no clue. I didn't have
a clue. We didn't have a clue when we
come into this world that we were objects of divine mercy.
We had no idea. Growing up, we had no idea that
we were objects of divine mercy. But God knew. He knows. He knows his people from eternity.
He's God. He's God. If he didn't know his
people from eternity, he wouldn't be God. But he's God. Until the Lord converts His sheep,
they don't have a clue who He is. They don't have a clue they're
divine, they're objects of divine mercy. But when the Lord says
them, oh, it's revealed to us that we are objects of divine
love, objects of divine mercy. And we find out from Scripture
that we were chosen in eternity in Christ, objects of divine
love and mercy from eternity. And think of this, if it's from
eternity, which it is, then it's based nothing upon us. It's all God's choosing, and
it's wonderful. It's absolutely marvelous. Turn,
if you would, to Luke, Luke chapter four, and we will see in the
gospel of Luke the divine love which is manifested in our text,
because it speaks of our text in Luke chapter four, verses
24 to 26. And he said, verily I say unto
you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you
of a truth. Many widows were in Israel in
the days of Elias, when heaven was shut up, three years and
six months, when great famine was throughout all the land.
So there was many widows in the land of Israel during the time
of our text. But look at the next verse. But
unto none of them was Elias sent. Elijah wasn't sent to them. Save unto Sarepta, a city of
Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And that's speaking
of our text tonight. He was sent to the widow of God's
choosing. Of God's choosing. Because the
text says, It says there were many widows in the land of Israel
in verse 25 and 26, but unto none of them was Elias sent. This is God's distinguishing
grace right here before us. And mark, mark, beloved, how
sovereign is the choice of this widow, even in our text. Arise, get thee to Zarephath,
which belongeth to Zion, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded
a widow woman there to sustain." Sovereign mercy, sovereign choice. Many widows in Israel, and yet
God has mercy upon this Gentile woman, this Gentile widow. Oh, but let us remember this,
that God's eye has been upon her since eternity. And if you're a sheep of God,
God's eyes been on you since eternity. That's something for us to just
ponder, isn't it? She's one of the Lord's sheep.
And what a picture of divine love. I ask you this, can anyone
understand the mysteries of divine election? I can't. I'm learning, but I'm
just scratching the surface. It's marvelous to think that
God has loved the believer in Christ from eternity. To think
that his love and mercy has been set upon me from eternity, a
sinner. It's wonderful. It's wonderful. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 15. Matthew chapter 15, we're looking at another object
of divine love and mercy. A woman who is in the land of
Canaan, a Gentile, just like the widow in our text. And what
a manifestation of divine love and mercy is on display in this
text here coming up. Matthew chapter 15, verses 21 to 28. Now think of this too. God's eye has been set upon his
people from eternity. Just keep that in mind as we
read these texts, because that's the truth. Matthew, chapter 15,
verses 21 to 28. Then Jesus went thence and departed
unto the coast of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a woman of Canaan
came out of the same coast and cried unto him, this is a Gentile
woman, remember, saying, have mercy on me, O Lord. Now notice
what she calls him. She calls him Lord. She calls
him Lord, beloved. Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou
son of David. Oh, she's being taught something.
She's being taught something by the Holy Spirit of God. She
calls him Lord, and she calls him thou son of David. My daughter
is grievously vexed with the devil, but he answered her not
a word. And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Send her away, for she was crying after them. And they're getting annoyed. Look at this answer. But he answered
and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. Then came she and worshipped him saying, Lord, help me. Lord, help me. But he answered
and said, it is not meet to take the children's bread and cast
it to the dogs. And she said, truth, Lord. Again, she calls him the Lord.
Yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the master's
table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great
is thy faith. This is one of the sheep from eternity. Be it
unto thee, even as thou will. And her daughter was made whole
from that very hour. And she said, truth, Lord, yeah,
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from the master's table.
She was in complete submission to the Lord. Oh, my. And she's an object of
divine love and mercy, and that's a manifestation right there of
his love and mercy. And this happens to every one
of God's saints. God has mercy on whom He will
have mercy. And God has hid these precious truths. Turn, if you
would, to Matthew 11. God has hid these precious truths, God's
electing grace and God's divine mercy and love from the wise
and the worldly wise and the noble of the world. And He's
revealed them unto babes, which He calls His people. In praise
of His mighty name, we know from our calling that not many wise
after the flesh Not many mighty, not many noble are called, but
God has called the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, that the glory goes to the Lord. Now, foolish there
doesn't mean dumb people. It doesn't mean that. I like
what Brother Henry Mann, but it means common people. Common
people. That's me. That's me. You save common people. He saves
those who are needy, and he shows us our need. Look at Matthew
11, verse 25 to 26. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank the old Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, has revealed
them unto babes. He reveals them unto his sheep,
unto his people. Even so, Father, for it seemed
good in thy sight. So now remember, there was many
widows in Israel, but he didn't send Elijah there, did he? No,
he sent them to the widow of his choosing. He sent them to
the widow of his choosing. Oh my. Now some men hate the doctrine
of divine sovereignty, but I'll tell you this. I'll tell you
this. Those who are called by grace,
those who are saved by the grace of God in Christ, those who are
saved by sovereign divine mercy, they know that if it had not
been for God's sovereignty, they never would have been saved.
I know that. I know that. I never would have
come to Christ unless He drew me to Him. Because I know I had no interest
in Christ before the Lord saved me. I was too busy taking care
of self. And I was so full of self-righteousness
and so full of pride. but God humbled me, and that's
what he does to his people. He brings us low, doesn't he?
He brings us low, and he brings us to the feet of Christ. Oh, we who are saved love divine
sovereignty, love divine mercy, marvel in divine love. Let's look at verses 10 to 12.
Again, it's proclaimed that this woman is a widow. So he rose
and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city,
behold, the woman, the widow woman, was there gathering the
sticks, and he called to her and said, fetch me, I pray thee,
a little water and a vessel that I may drink. And as she was going
to fetch it, he called to her and said, bring me, I pray thee,
a morsel of bread in thine hand. So this widow woman we're gonna
see is an object of God's divine mercy. And she said, as the Lord
thy God liveth, she calls him Lord. She's a Gentile woman,
but yet God has revealed himself to her. And that's amazing. She lives
in the land of idol worshipers. That's where I was. And she said, as the Lord thy
God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal. which
is flour again, and a barrel, and a little oil, and a cruz,
and behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and
dress it for me and for my son, that we may eat and dine. Now ponder how undeserving this
widow is. She's no Ruth, she's no Jael,
she's no Hannah, but she dwelt, and to put things on top of that,
she dwelt in a land where they worshiped idols, and she had
probably been raised up in idol worship, no doubt. But yet God
has mercy on her. God has mercy on her. God has
revealed himself. Obviously, she says, is the Lord
thy God livid? And she knows who Elijah is. And note her condition. Note her condition. Notice the
condition this widow was in. Her husband's died. Her husband's
died. From what we can see, no inheritance. And now she's suffering through
a famine, which has fallen upon not only the land of Israel,
but also this area too of the world. And it's also fallen upon all
her neighbors as well, but her husband has been taken from her,
he died. So she has misery on top of misery.
She has nothing. And the fact that she's gathering
sticks to burn as firewood means that she can't
even afford to have anyone else gather it for her. She doesn't
have any servants. And she can't even afford to
pay someone to go out and gather sticks for her. And one commentator
said, her son is obviously so weakened that he couldn't help
her because he would have probably been out there helping her. But
he must be at home almost dying. And they're getting ready to
eat their last meal. There's only a handful of flour,
a handful of meal left. This is where sovereign grace
finds us. Right? In the depth of spiritual poverty
and misery. And it's all because of our sin.
This is where Sovereign Mercy and Grace finds us. We are bought
to an end of ourselves before we come to Christ. And think
upon this. As long as we have a full barrel
of our own merits, God will have nothing to do with us. There's
a lot of people out there who have a full barrel of their own
merits, supposedly. So long as the crease of oil
is full to overflowing by our own works, One will never taste
the mercy of God. Never. For God will not fill
us until we are emptied of ourselves. And this is the condition that
grace finds us in right here. Right here. Remember the leper?
We preached on the leper in Matthew. He was full of leprosy. And he said, Lord, if thou wilt,
thou can make me clean. And he said, I will. And he was
made clean. This is the condition that God
finds us in. That sovereign grace finds us
in, that the Holy Spirit finds us in when he draws us to Christ. We are spiritually poor and desolate
by sin. And then God has mercy upon us.
Now the drought and famine in Israel, again, has extended to
this area, obviously, we see that. But in the midst of God's
wrath and judgment, God's mercy is on display. God's mercy is
on display to his people. He extends mercy to his people.
Now Israel had renounced God and was worshiping Baal, and
God in his providence had allowed Jezebel to go to Israel, and
she had taught them Baal worship. He allowed that to happen. He allowed them to follow false
idols and allowed them to plunge into idolatry. He left them to
themselves. What does God have to do for
a man to go to hell? Leave him alone. What does God have to
do for a man to be saved? Everything. Salvation is of the
Lord. He must save us. He must save
us. He must. But here amidst the
famine, we see God providing for the objects of his love.
So let us ponder and keep an eye to Christ here, beloved.
of how God has provided for us all we need in Christ because
He is our inexhaustible barrel. He is. Christ is. And only in
Him do we have forgiveness of sins and only in Him are we complete.
Notice there was a taking before there was a giving. Look at 1
Kings verses 10 to 15. So he rose and went to Zarathoth,
and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow
woman was there gathering the sticks, and he called to her
and said, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water and a vessel that
I may drink. And as she was going to fetch,
he called to her and said, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of
bread in thine hand. Bring me water and bring me bread. And she said, as the Lord thy
God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal, and a
barrel, and a little wall, and a cruise. And behold, I am gathering
two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son,
that we may eat it and die. And Elijah said unto her, fear
not. Beautiful words. Beautiful words. That's what
the believer, the believer can stand before God and hear, fear
not, because we are clothed in the precious, spotless righteousness
of Christ. Fear not. The law has no demands
upon us. The wrath of God has no demands
upon the believer in Christ because it was all poured out upon Christ.
All poured out on him. That's why we have such freedom
that we don't know how free we are in Christ. Again, we don't
go out and go crazy. We don't do that because the
love of Christ constrains us. But oh, the freedom that the
believer has in Christ. And Elijah said unto her, Fear
not, and go and do as thou hast said, but make me thereof a little
cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and
for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the
cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain
upon the earth. And she went and did according
to the saying of Elijah, and she and he in her house did eat
many days. So verse 10 we see fetch water,
verse 11 we see bring me a morsel of bread. Now think of this,
give me that water which your son and you so much require. She doesn't have nothing. Give away a portion of that last
little cake which you intend to eat and die. So there's a takin' before there's
a givin'. And this is a demand rather than a gift. And beloved,
the gospel says, repent and believe. Repent ye therefore and be converted
that your sins may be blotted out. And it is Christ and Christ
alone who we believe. And the scriptures also declare,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Spurgeon
said this, but the sinner under conviction says, I cannot repent.
It's beyond my power. I cannot believe. I would that
I could. But this is beyond my reach.
Has God asked me to exert a strength which I have not? Does he demand
of me that which I cannot give? And notice, though, the woman
here did that which she was commanded to do. God's grace makes the
unwilling willing. And when God says to a sinner,
believe, if that sinner believes, It's not by his own power. It's not by the sinner's power. It's by grace, which goes with
the command. And grace enables you to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and grace is a gift from God. It's
a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And
God, when He gives us grace, He gives us faith, and He gives
us repentance, that we might say salvation is all of the Lord. It's all of grace. It's all Him. It's all Him. And it's all by the power of
the Holy Spirit of God. And we see the whole Trinity
in action in the salvation of a sinner. God the Father chooses
the sinner in Christ in eternity. Christ comes to this world and
purchases that sinner by his own precious blood. And in the
time of love, God the Holy Spirit regenerates those whom Christ
died for and they're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Salvation
is of the Lord. Period. There's no argument about
it. It's his doing. That's one thing
I don't even debate with people. I don't like to debate anyways.
I just proclaim the truth and let it sit. But salvation of
the, when men bring up salvation by their decision or by their
works, I won't have nothing to do with it. Salvation's in the
Lord. All of grace. All of grace. So grace enables you to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and God's people are born again by
the Holy Spirit and they are made willing to flee to Christ. And they believe on him. By the power of God. That he
alone may receive the glory. That he alone may receive the
glory. It all goes to him. And note the method here before
us was very trying for this widow. The prophet tells her to give
me a meal and give me water, and she only had a handful of
meal. That's trying. One commentator brings forth
that the barrel afterwards was never filled or empty. Thus,
it is the inexhaustible barrel. There was never more than a handful
of meal, one of the commentators brought out. Now think of this. Let us see a teaching here before
us. We who are the redeemed of the Lord. God
gives us what we need daily. Daily. He gives us manna, grace,
sufficient for each day. For each day. Strength for the
day. Daily grace for daily trials.
Daily grace for daily trials. And His mercies are new every
morning. every morning to his people.
And his people marvel that this grace and mercy comes to us in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ alone. We just marvel. And let
us see wisdom here. If the barrel had been full,
one commentator said she may have been robbed or even killed
for it. She must depend upon God every
day. Every day. So we must, beloved, we must
depend upon God every day. We have just enough faith, we're
given just enough faith for the trials we go through. God gives
us grace and strength to keep our hearts focused upon Him. It is He who sustains us. And
it is He who day by day gives us grace and gives us a love
for Christ. And that's why His grace is sufficient
for us every day. Another commentator brings forth
that another reason she did not get all the meal at once in quantity,
because quantity breeds worms. So too much for the believer
can breed a worm called pride. We start to rely upon our own
strength, our own doing. And we got to admit it as believers,
we're just as susceptible to that as anyone else. Who's our worst enemy? Self.
It's mine. It's mine. I was talking to a
dear brother in Christ, a dear preacher brother, and he said,
I'm going to make a sermon on that, but I don't know, he says,
that'd be an awful rough one to preach, just on self all the
time. My goodness, because we'd all just be on the ground. But oh, what peace the believer has in
Christ. What peace. This daily grace which is given
to us. Helps us to not rely upon ourselves,
but to rely upon Christ. And he gives us what we need
each and every day. Better to have fresh manna every
day than to store it up and have it go warming. Better to have
fresh water from the Rock of Ages every day. When there is never more than
a handful of meal, Now think of this too. When there's never
more than a handful of meal, it keeps us pleading with God.
It keeps us coming to God. It keeps us coming to Him. It
keeps us relying upon Him. Because we all have, and we are
all susceptible to relying upon ourselves. Because we still have
this flesh right here that we battle against all the time.
all the time. But the Lord tries our faith
sometimes and puts us through things to keep us relying upon
Him. And who do we give thanks to?
The Great Shepherd, God. He is our shepherd and our provider.
Now let's consider our last point, the faithfulness of divine love. Note in our text, verse 16, the
faithfulness of God towards the objects of his divine love. And
the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the crucible fail,
according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. Now note, in wonder and awe,
the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the crucible fail,
according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. There was always a handful of
meal. Now let us just stand in awe.
This is a miracle. The same way as the ravens feeding
the lions. It's a miracle. We see here God's
faithful provision to the objects of his love. People all around
him were dying. They were perishing. People in
Israel would perish because of the famine. And God's faithful provision
here is not just for the widow to feed her son, but also for
Elijah. Three mouths to feed, beloved.
Three mouths to feed, and it did not fail. It didn't fail. There'd be no
rain for three and a half years again many had died, but but
her son the widow and her son and Elijah It's a miracle it's
a miracle of God's grace and God's provision and The only
reason that they're provided for is because they are objects
of divine mercy and love That's incredible. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
49. And then put your finger in Lamentations chapter 3. Isaiah
49 and Lamentations chapter 3. Now remember, she took from the
barrel every single day. And it was never exhausted. That we who are redeemed remember
that no matter what our need is, God is faithful and He gives
us what we need. Not always what we want, but
He gives us what we need every day. Every day. And I've said it many
times, we can look back in our lives and see His faithfulness
to us. And we always see it after we go through the storm. Sometimes
when we're going through the storm, we don't always see it,
because we're looking at the circumstances. But he always
takes care of his people. Isaiah 49, verse 14 to 16. But Zion said, the Lord hath
forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget
her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son
of her womb? Yea, they may forget. Yet will
I not forget thee. God says that to his people,
I'll never forget you. Behold, look at this, I have
graven thee upon the palms of my hands. Thy walls are continually
before me. Do you remember when Zacchaeus
was up the tree and the Lord called him by name? How did he know his name? It was engraved upon the palms
of his hands. He's one of his sheep. He knows
his people. Let us think this too. God's
continuous provision for his people. Look at Lamentations
chapter three. Do you know that his manna is
new every morning? For yesterday's manna is not
for today. And we feast upon the manna of
his word and the manna of his grace, which points us to Christ,
who is the bread of life. He's the bread of life. Look
at Lamentations chapter three, verses 21 to 26. This I recall
to my mind, therefore have I hope. Read this if you're going through
a time of despair. Look at this. This I recall to
my mind, therefore I have I hope. So he's recalling. Is of the
Lord's mercy that we are not consumed because his compassions
fail not so the Lord's compassions never fail. They are new every morning. Great
is thy faithfulness. We've seen that tonight. in our
text, God's faithfulness to Elijah, to the widow, and to her son.
And it is great. His faithfulness is great. Great
is thy faithfulness. And the Lord is my portion, saith
my soul. This is a redeemed one saying,
the Lord is my portion, saith my soul. Therefore will I hope
in him. The believer don't hope in anybody else but Christ. There
was a time when we hoped in ourselves. Away with that we say, now we
hope in Christ and Christ alone, nowhere else. 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 the
Lord. You who are a child of God, you who are redeemed of
the Lord, again look at what you've already been through. Look at what he's taken you through.
And you know why? It's all because he's faithful.
It's all because he's faithful to his people. Have you, have
you quit? Others may have stopped. No, he's kept you. And his word
says this, when thou passest through the waters, I will be
with thee. I'll be with thee. And through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Isaiah 43. We who believe have daily needs
because our trials and troubles are innumerable. But he is ever
with us. He is faithful. He is our faithful
God. He's watching over us, and our
barrel of meal will never be empty. Our crews of all will
never fail, because He is faithful according to the Word of God.
Turn, if you would, to Psalm 94. Psalm 94, and then put your
finger in Hebrews 6. These will be the last scriptures
we're looking at. Psalm 94, verses 17 to 18. Unless the Lord had been my help,
Psalm 94 verse 17, unless the Lord had been my help, my soul
had almost dwelt in silence. When I said my foot slip at thy
mercy, O Lord, held me up. Oh, I don't think we'll know
this side of eternity, how many times the Lord has held us up.
My goodness. In a multitude of my thoughts
within me, thy comforts delight my soul. Have you ever been atop
of a mountain or a tall hill? You always have a better view
of the valley, don't you, when you're in the top of a hill or
on top of a mountain? You can usually see, on top of
the mountain, you can see the whole valley. Top of a hill,
if it's by some valleys, you can see the whole valley. Turn to Hebrews 6 and let us
climb the mountain of faith in Christ and look at His oath and
His promises to us. Because we always have a better
view upon the mountain than in the valley. And the valley is
the different things we go through in this life. Look at Hebrews
6, verses 13 to 20. For when God made promise to
Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself. saying, Surely I will bless thee,
and multiply, and I will multiply thee. And so after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise. Verse 16, For men verily swear
by the greater, and an oath for confirmation to the end of all
strife, wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto
the heirs of promise, that's his people, that's his elect,
the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath. that
by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to
lie, we might have a strong consolation, hope, a hope, strong hope, who
have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us.
Which hope? We have as an anchor of the soul.
I ask you, who's the anchor of your soul? Well, we who believe,
cry, it's the Lord Jesus Christ in Him alone. He's the anchor
of my soul. He's my hope. He's my hope. He's the anchor of my soul. And
look, both sure and steadfast. He'll never fail. He'll never
lose one of His sheep. He'll get all His redeemed, all
He purchased upon the cross. He'll get them. They'll be born
again by the Holy Spirit of God. He'll not lose one. Not one. in which entereth into the veil,
and enter into that within the veil, whether the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus made an high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. Now there may only be a handful
of meal and a drop of oil for us, but let us remember, it's
enough. Because Christ is our inexhaustible
barrel. And it is in him we trust. And in Him we have grace. We
have grace upon grace. We sang that Psalm. All I need. Is it so for you? I pray it is. I pray the Lord will make it
so for you. If it isn't, He must reveal Himself. And He,
for the believer, is all we need. Now let us conclude with this.
The widow was an object of divine love. And we saw how divine love
operated in her life. And we consider divine faithfulness
to her. And let we who are redeemed remember it's the same for us. It's the same for we who believe.
Because all we need is found in Christ Jesus our Lord. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
come before Thee in awe of what we have looked at tonight and
the miracle which You wrought. And Lord Jesus, we know that
You only give us what we need. And Lord, we are needy people.
Each day we need thy grace and you give it upon to us. And we
know from the scriptures that thy mercy and thy compassion
shall never fail towards your people. And that your mercies
are new every morning. May we who believe marvel in
these precious, precious truths. And may we leave here thinking
upon thee who is our inexhaustible bearer. that all our sins are
forgiven in thee, that all we need, all that a sinner needs
is found in thee, Lord Jesus. And we pray that you would use
this message for your glory and for your honor and for your praise. In Jesus' name, amen.