is sovereignty in action. Our
text in 1 Kings chapter 17 is mentioned by our Lord in Luke
chapter 4 in his very first public message he ever preached. And
this is given to us to teach us about God's sovereignty and
salvation. Look at what our Lord says in
Luke 4 verse 25. But I tell you the truth, many
widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven
was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was
throughout all the land. But unto none of them, none of
those Jewish widows was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city
of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. Now look over in 1 Kings
chapter 17. This is what our Lord was referring
to. And he's told us this story,
this picture is given to us to teach us God's sovereignty and
salvation. And I want us to see God's sovereignty
in action in five different ways this morning. First, I want us
to see how God sovereignly provides for his people. First Kings 17
verse one. 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 Jireth, that is before Jordan.
And it shall be that thou shalt drink of the brook, and I have
commanded the ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did
according to the word of the Lord. For he went and dwelt by
the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And the ravens brought
him bread and flesh in the morning and bread and flesh in the evening.
And he drank of the brook. Now God sent a severe famine
in Israel because the people once again had fallen into idolatry.
And it was a very severe famine. It didn't rain for three and
a half years. But during that time, God provided for his prophet
in a very miraculous way. David said, I've been young and
I'm old, yet I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his
seed begging bread. And even though there was no
rain for the three and a half years, for all the time Elijah
was there by the brook Cherith, it rained with water. He had
plenty to drink all the time he lived there by that brook.
And while Elijah was living there by the brook, ravens, of all
birds, ravens, brought him bread and flesh twice a day. Elijah
had plenty to eat all the time he was living there. Job said
ravens forget to feed their own babies. They just forget about
their babies. They forget to feed them. But
those ravens never forgot to feed Elijah. because God commanded
them to. This was a provision of God in
a supernatural way. And it's an illustration to us
of God's sovereignty over creation. Everything that's going on in
this world today, as much as it troubles us, is under God's
direct control. This is happening according to
his express will. And God uses things of creation,
even things we may think are detrimental. He uses those things
to provide for his people. But there's a more important
lesson here, and this will comfort the hearts of God's people. This
famine God sent in the land is the famine that the prophet Amos
prophesied of. Not a famine of bread, a famine
of the word of God. In Amos 8 verse 11, God promised
a famine, not of bread, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
Now let me ask you, does anything describe our day more than that? Does anything describe our day?
We have a famine of the word of God. Not a famine of religion,
a famine of the word of God. And that is frightening to God's
people. To think, what would my life
be like if I didn't have a place I could go worship? What would
my life be like if I didn't have a place I could go hear the gospel,
meet together with my brothers and sisters and worship? It'd
be miserable, wouldn't it? But even in this day of great
famine, God's not gonna leave his people starving for Christ.
God's gonna send them a prophet. And here in 1 Kings 17 is where
we first meet the prophet Elijah. The Jews considered Elijah to
be the greatest prophet. And you know, we don't know much
about Elijah. We don't know his family history. We don't know
who his parents were. We don't know where he was raised.
We don't know where he come from. He just suddenly appears here
in chapter 17. But do you know where Elijah
came from? Really doesn't matter. What matters
is about the prophet. This is what matters. Who does
he preach? Who does he believe? The name
Elijah means my God, Jehovah is he. And that's who Elijah
preached. That's who he believed. He preached
Christ. He believed Christ and he lived on Christ. A believer
not only believes Christ, but we live on Christ. And that's
what's pictured, living on Christ, as Elijah hid here by the brook
Cherith. God told Elijah, you go there
and hide by the brook Cherith. That's a picture of the believer
hiding in Christ. The word Cherith means cut. That's
where a believer hides. We hide in those wounds, in the
cuts and the wounds in the body of our Savior, the blood and
water that flowed from those cuts. That's where we hide. And
as he's there hiding in Christ, he's living on Christ. And look
over in John chapter six. Twice a day, the ravens brought
Elijah bread. And you know that's a picture
of Christ. Christ the living bread. In John six, verse 47. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread
of life. Your fathers did eat man in the
wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am
the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of
this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the light of the world."
That's a picture of Elijah living on Christ, the living bread.
And the ravens, they brought him bread and they brought him
flesh. That flesh is a picture of Christ, our sacrifice, the
sacrifice that believers eat. Look down at verse 53 of John
six. Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you,
except you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood,
you have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life, and I'll raise him up at the last
day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and
I in him. As the living Father has sent
me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat man
and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. Now, that's a picture of the
believer's union with Christ. You know, we eat flesh, or we
eat bread, you know, we eat. It goes into our body and becomes
one with us. It's in us. And that's what our
Lord's saying, that faith receives Christ so that he's in us. He's
formed in us in the new birth. And it's the believer's union
with Christ. Now, look back at John chapter
four. What about the water that Elijah was drinking as he was
there by the brook? Well, you know, that's a picture
of Christ, the water of life. In verse 13 of John chapter four,
Jesus answered and said unto her, whosoever drinketh of this
water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I
shall give him shall be in him, a well of water springing up
unto everlasting life. So there's Elijah hiding by that
brook Cherith. He's living. on Christ and everything
he's eating and drinking there is a picture of the believer
living on Christ. What a wonderful time for Elijah.
I mean, you just think of him. He's there by this brook. He's
got everything he could possibly want. He's got peace and quiet. He's not out there fighting Ahab
and Jezebel and false prophets. He's peace and quiet. He got
plenty of water to drink, plenty of food to eat. It's wonderful. Why would Elijah ever want to
leave there? He doesn't. He wouldn't ever want to leave
there. I mean, you just think what a peaceful, wonderful life.
But now God in his sovereignty is going to move his prophet
to where his people are in his time. It's the second thing I
want us to see. God sovereignly sends his prophet
to his elect. Look at verse seven in our text,
first Kings 17. And it came to pass after a while that the brook
dried up because there'd been no rain in the land. And the
word of the Lord came unto him saying, arise, get thee to Zarephath,
Sarepta, which belongs to Zidon and dwell there. Behold, I have
commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. Now Elijah never
would have left that comfy spot by the brook unless the Lord
dried up the brook. Now, when the Lord dries up our
brook, When your brook dries up, it might be a job. It might
be friendship or whatever situation you're in. And it ends. The brook's dried up. Don't be
too upset. The Lord did this on purpose.
He dried up the brook on purpose. When one situation ends, when
the brook dries up, what's the Lord doing? Well, he's closing
this door. So this one will open and we'll never leave the brook
and go to the next place unless the Lord drives up the brook.
See what I'm saying? The Lord's just closing one door so he'll
open another one. Think about those Jews in Jerusalem,
those who believed. After our Lord was crucified,
he rose, he ascended back to glory. There they are, they've
got the gospel, all the apostles are there, they have all things
common, they're just all together, they worship, they just, what
a wonderful time. But the gospel wasn't just sent
to the Jews, was it? So what had to happen? God had
to dry the brook up. He dried that brook up by sending
persecution to Jerusalem so those believers would leave Jerusalem
and go out all over the world so that they'd go preaching the
gospel of Christ to God's elect who are scattered throughout
all the world. That's what God did to Elijah when he dried up
the brook Jireh. He dried it up so Elijah would
know it's time to go. And he's gonna go to a specific
place. He's gonna go to Sarepta, a Gentile
city, a place full of Gentiles. And he's gonna go to preach the
gospel to an elect lady there in that city. Now, the Lord didn't
send Elijah a year ago. He's probably by this brook about
a year. Well, he didn't send him a year ago because his sheep
wasn't ready yet. She wasn't at rock bottom yet,
but now she's hit rock bottom. And now that she's at rock bottom,
God's going to send his prophet to her. He's not going to let
her starve to death. And like I said earlier, there is a famine
of the word of God in our day. But you know, God's still sending
his prophets. He's still sending his preachers
out to preach to his elect because he's not gonna let his people
starve to death spiritually. God will feed them, now he'll
see to it. And it'll be done in such a way, we know he did
it. God sovereignly sends his preachers to his people. And
here's the third thing. God sovereignly, he sends the
preacher and he sovereignly prepares the hearts of his people to believe
and to receive the word of God. In verse nine, he said, arise,
get thee to Zarephath, which belongs to Zidon, and dwell there.
Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee. God commanded
the ravens to feed Elijah, didn't he? And now he's commanded this
Gentile woman to feed Elijah. God sovereignly does things in
such a way that we know he did it, so he'll get all the glory.
Now if you and I were arranged in this situation, you know what
we'd do? Or at least I know what I'd do. I would think if God's
gonna feed his prophet, he's gonna send him to a Gentile city,
he's gonna have a Gentile sustain his prophet, I would think God
would send Elijah to a rich Gentile. Somebody's got plenty, you know,
he can, they've got plenty to give Elijah and feed Elijah and
sustain him. But that's not the way God does things. God's gonna
use a widow woman who doesn't have anything. This woman doesn't
have anything. Yet God's commanded her to sustain
his profit. Why would he do it that way?
So when she sustains him, everyone knows it wasn't of her ability
and her power and her resources, this was God. God used her to
sustain his profit. And you know, this woman, she
doesn't have enough for herself and her son, much less Elijah.
Yet God commanded her to sustain Elijah, didn't he? She doesn't
even know it yet. Not yet, she doesn't. But God's
already begun preparing her heart to believe and to obey when the
prophet comes. And you know, this is the way
God still works with his people today. He prepares the hearts
of his people so that they'll receive the word and they'll
believe the word and they'll look to Christ when they hear
it preached. Well, how does he do that? How does God prepare
my heart to believe Christ and to receive Christ? Well, he does
it by making me need Christ. He does it by taking away everything
else we could hope in. Now we're ready to receive Christ.
Look at verse 10. So he rose 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 mine hand.
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 oil and a cruise.
And behold, I'm gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress
it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die. Now, when this famine started,
this woman, she had some resources. She had, you know, some food
saved up or she had some ability to go get some food, you know,
for her and her son. But by this point, the famine's
lasted long enough. She's completely helpless. She's
used up all her store. Her cupboards are bare. She doesn't
have any more money, any more resources to go buy any more
food. She can't get any more. She's a widow woman. She doesn't
have anyone to provide for her. She doesn't have anyone to protect
her. All her hoarded resources are exhausted. She's got just
barely enough meal and just enough oil so she can make two cakes. That's the last two cakes of
bread she can make. She's going to eat one, her boys
can eat one, and then they're going to starve to death. That's
a bad situation, isn't it? I mean, what a bad situation.
But that is spiritually the exact situation God brings all of his
elect to. God must show us we're helpless. He's got to show us. We don't
have the means to provide anything that we need. We don't have the
ability to provide anything God requires of us. We don't have
anybody to provide for us. We don't have anybody to protect
us. There's nobody to protect us from God's wrath against our
sin. Adam put us in this place of great spiritual famine and
we've got no resources left. And when we see ourselves as
helpless and hopeless, when we see I'm gonna die, this is it,
I'm gonna die. Now the Lord has prepared our
heart to receive Christ and to believe Christ and to obey his
word. Now God's prepared our heart
to look to Christ and to finally depend on Christ for everything
that we need. Now here's the fourth thing. God sovereignly gives faith to
his elect, and he does it through the preaching of the gospel.
Look at verse 13. 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 bearer of meal shall not waste, neither shall the
cruise 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 and her house
did eat many days. Now, you imagine being this widow
woman. How would you react if you were
her? Here you are in this situation. You just got enough meal and
oil left to make two cakes. Just enough for one serving for
you and one for your child. And then you know you're going
to starve to death. That's it. Oh, I'd be so sad. If I was in that situation, I'd
be so sad. You'd feel under so much pressure. This is your child. You're going
to watch starve to death? I'd be depressed. And then this
man you've never seen before says, make me a cake first. I'd say, who do you think you
are? I'm going to take care of me and mine first, you're on
your own. That's the way the flesh talks
isn't it? I'm going to take care of me and mine first, you're
on your own. But that's not the way faith
talks. Now listen, saving faith is not blind. It's not just,
well, I'm throwing all this out here because, you know, this
man I've never seen before said no. Saving faith is not blind. Faith believes someone. Faith
knows someone. And because faith believes someone,
there's certain things that we believe and that we'll do. The
Apostle Paul said, I know whom I have believed. And because
I know whom I believed, I committed everything to him. And because
I know whom I believed, I'm persuaded. I'm absolutely confident he's
able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. You see, faith believes Christ. Faith believes the word
of God. This woman just didn't give Elijah
the last food she had without any reason. She had reason to
give Elijah the last food she had. She gave Elijah the last
food she had because she believed God. Elijah said, you give me
a cake first for, verse 14, thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
the burial meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil
fail until the day the Lord sends rain upon the earth. And you
know what? She gave Elijah the last food
she had because she believed God. She believed the word of
God. Why was she willing to do that
and give Elijah the last food she had? Why was she willing
to do that? What would it take to make you willing to take food
out of your child's mouth and give it to somebody you've never
seen before? God made her willing. God had commanded her to sustain
Elijah, hadn't he? And she obeyed. She obeyed because
God gave her faith. And that is exactly how all of
God's elect react to hearing the gospel. to hearing the word
of God sooner or later now. You might go a long time and
suddenly you hear. And when God makes you hear,
you obey. He makes you willing. And you
believe Christ. And you commit everything to
Christ. Because God's given you faith
in Him. God has made you willing in the day of His power. He's
made you willing to come bow to Christ. He's made you willing
to come to Christ and rest. He's made you willing to come
to Christ to be your all. You know why you come to Christ?
Because He said, you come to Me, I'll give you rest. Are you
thirsty? He said, come to me and drink.
Well, you come because he said. You see what I mean? He said,
are you a sinner? Come to me. I'll wash your wire
in the snow. I'll forgive all your sins. So
you come. You come because he said, because of the word of
God. Now, when Elijah came to town,
he didn't know who God sent him to, did he? God just said, there's
a widow woman there. I've commanded to sustain thee.
Well, he gets to town. be any widow. There are lots
of widows. I mean, our Lord said there are lots of widows, didn't
he? Which one is the one supposed to sustain me? Which is the one
I'm supposed to go to? Well, the only way Elijah knew
he was talking to the right woman is she obeyed. And when she gave
him a cake first, he knew that's the one. This is the widow God
sent me to. God's preachers today were sent
to preach. We're to preach the gospel and
we're gonna preach to God's elect. God's elect are gonna hear. They're
gonna believe. Well, how do we know who God's elect are? We
don't. They don't have a mark on their
forehead. We don't know. So we preach to everyone. But
we know we've found one of God's elect. We know we've found one
of God's sheep. when they believe the word of
God. The only way we can ever know, am I one of God's elect? Did God choose me? The only way
I'll ever know that is if I believe Christ. If I believe the word
of God, I'm one of God's elect, and you are too. Look at 1 Thessalonians
1. See if this isn't what Paul says
here. When the apostle said, make your calling and your election
sure, how can you do that? How can you make your election
sure? By answering this question. Do I believe the gospel? Do I
believe Christ? Look here, 1 Thessalonians 1
verse 4. Knowing brethren beloved, your
election of God. Well, how did Paul know that?
Did he have some special revelation or how'd he know that? He knew
that because they believed the word of God. Look at verse five. I know your election of God for
our gospel came not unto you in word only. but also in power,
and in the Holy Ghost, and much assurance, as ye know what manner
of men we were among you for your sake, and ye became followers
of us and of the Lord, having received the word, in much affliction,
with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were examples to all
that believe in Macedonia and Achaia." For from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place. Your faith to God were to spread
abroad so that we need not to speak anything." That's how we
know we're one of God's elect. We believe the word of God. In this matter of faith, Christ
is first. Christ is first. He's preeminent. The faith that God gives puts
Christ first. Elijah said, give me a cake first. Before you make you a cake, before
you make your son a cake, you give me a cake first. That's
what faith does. The faith that God sovereignly
gives puts Christ first. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness. All this other stuff, be attitudinal.
You seek Christ first. Faith that God sovereignly gives
puts the glory of Christ first. It's not my glory and my recognition,
it's His glory. What is best for the glory of
Christ? What's best for the glory of
His gospel? What's best for the church? That's
what saving faith seeks. True faith doesn't seek honor
that comes from men only. True faith seeks honor that comes
from God only. Look at Matthew chapter 13. True
saving faith puts Christ first. It'll sell out to have Christ
because you must have Christ. Matthew 13, verse 46. Verse 44, excuse me. And again,
the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure, hidden afield.
The witch, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof
goeth and sells all that he has, so that he can buy that field.
And again, the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant man
seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great
price, he went and sold everything he had, and he bought it. He
was willing to sell everything he had because he must have that
one pearl. That's what saving faith does.
True saving faith must have Christ and will sell out the heaven.
Everything else is secondary. And then true saving faith, faith
that God sovereignly gives, acts. Faith always serves. And someone
might wonder, are you telling me to serve God first and look
after me and mine second? That's exactly what I'm saying,
because that's what God's word says. You seek God first, you
serve him first, and God will provide the rest. Just do it
God's way, in obedience to him, not trying to get anything for
now, not trying to earn a reward, you just, you be obedient, and
you'll never be sorry. Think what the law said. Didn't
the law demand the first fruits go to God? Won't faith, lovingly and willingly. Do more than the law? Absolutely
it will. Seek Him first. Think of others
first. Think of Christ and His people
first. Faith looks on others better
than themselves. And faith serves based upon what? The Word of God. Faith is willing
to put myself last. Really? What human being is willing
to do that? those that God made willing.
It's God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of his
good pleasure. The evidence of God-given faith
is obedience to God's word. And then here's the last thing.
God sovereignly gives his elect Christ. He gives every one of
them Christ because Christ is enough. Christ is all we need.
Look at verse 15 in our text. And she went and did according
to the saying of Elijah. And she and he and her house
did eat many days. Now my center reference there
says a full year, but if you look at the time of this, it
had to be two years. And the barrel of meal wasted
not. Neither did the cruise of oil
fail according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah.
Now every day, this widow, she made food, didn't she? She must
have made three cakes every day. And every day, she exhausted
all of her meal and all of her oil. She went to bed at night
and she looked, it's empty. There's no food for tomorrow.
But every morning she got up, there's more meal and more oil.
Every day, she had to depend upon the word of God. All our
resources are gone. The only way she knew there's
gonna be food tomorrow is God's word. That's the only thing she
had. You know, the Lord didn't give
her a huge pile of meal and a great big huge barrel of oil that would
be enough if you rationed it out, would last two years, did
he? He just gave her enough for today. You know why he did that? She's gonna depend upon him every
day. Where's my next meal coming from?
whether my cupboards are full and the refrigerator's full or
whether it's empty. I can tell you where my next
meal's coming from. It's coming from God's goodness.
That's where it's coming from. She had to depend on God every
day, and that's the life of a believer. Didn't the Lord teach us to pray,
give us this day our daily bread? And that applies to physical
things and spiritual as well. See, faith is always for right
now. Faith isn't yesterday's faith. It's not tomorrow's faith. The
question is always, do I believe Christ right now? Not, did I
believe Him every years ago or not? Am I intending to come to
Him and believe Him tomorrow? Do I believe Him right now? Am
I looking to Christ right now? Look to Him. He's enough. Every day, He's enough. The meal
that this widow woman had, That's a picture of Christ, his body
broken and ground as a sacrifice for his people. And the oil that
she had, just enough for today. That's God the Holy Spirit that
gives us faith in Christ. The meal is Christ's work for
us and the oil is God's work in us. And that's all she had
every day, those pictures of Christ. And that's all you and
I need. Every day, Christ is enough. And when tomorrow comes, don't
worry about tomorrow, but when tomorrow comes, I promise you,
Christ will be enough. He'll be just exactly what you
need. We've got to look to Christ and depend on him every day.
Yesterday's faith won't do me any good. Any more than yesterday's
manna would do me any good. Yesterday's manna, if I try to
save it, it's gonna breed worms, isn't it? Yesterday's faith can
do the same thing. I don't look back to some experience,
however many years ago it was, and say, well, yeah, I'm saved
because I was baptized. No. I look to Christ today. He's all I need right now. Now you trust in Christ. You
trust in him to supply all the grace, all the life, and all
the forgiveness that you need. He's enough. And you know what?
He'll never run dry. That's one brook, that's one
fountain, God'll never dry up. He'll never dry up the fountain
of Christ. Now God's sovereign, isn't he?
He's sovereign over everything in creation. God sends rain where
he does and withholds it. He sends enough rain to flood
over here and he withholds rain so it'll dry out over here. And
God does that. to accomplish his purpose of
redemption for his people. I have no idea why in some sections
of this country it's flooding and in California I have this
horrible drought. But I do know this, it's accomplishing
God's purpose somehow. And God's directing the path
of his people. He's preparing their hearts and
when their heart is prepared, when their brook is dried up,
he's gonna cross their path with a preacher. and God's gonna give
them faith to believe. Somebody else won't. Some other
widow woman won't give the last meal and all she has, but God's
elect will, because he's prepared her heart. Now you and I are dependent on
that God, that sovereign God. He's got to do that for us. Then why don't we ask him for
it? He's the sovereign. Why don't we beg him to do it?
He's sovereignly able to do everything we need. He's sovereignly able
to do everything that we cannot do for ourselves. Then why don't
we beg the sovereign for it? We'd be wise if we would, wouldn't
we? All right, I hope the Lord bless that to you.