Now, 2nd Kings chapter 4 verses
1-7, I'm entitling the message, The Empty Vessels Filled. Elisha instructed this poor destitute
woman to go and gather up all the empty vessels she could find
and that her sons could find and bring them into the house
and fill them all with this oil that God would supply. It must have been special oil. It must have been a great value
because she sold it and paid off her debt and then lived on
the rest of it. Everything that God supplies
is the best. Everything that God gives, He
doesn't give hand-me-downs, He gives the best, the best of the
best. How do we know that? God so loved
that He gave us the best, the Son, God the Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now we see in this chapter, 2
Kings chapter 4, more miracles that God does by the hand of
this man, Elisha. Remember, his name means God
is salvation. Remember, he is also known, and
I didn't know this till I started looking at it more closely, he's
known by the Bible commentaries of the old writers, he's known
as the Miracle Prophet. The Miracle Prophet. Does that
remind you of another prophet that was a Miracle Prophet? Many
miracles are recorded about his ministry, at least a dozen or
so, maybe more. Four of them are given here in
this one chapter. But all of the miracles that
God did by Elisha, all of them foreshadow the ministry of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what makes it so glorious
and so interesting. But all the miracles of Elisha
pale in comparison, don't they, to our blessed Redeemer's ministry. Elisha had a great ministry.
God blessed him. But the Lord Jesus Christ, there
is none superior to Him and His ministry. Our blessed Redeemer's
ministry, the Word says of Him, the last verse in John 21, the
last chapter, He says, suppose all the miracles that the Lord
performed, if they were all written, remember what it said, the world
itself could not contain the books of all the miracles of
our blessed Savior. If everyone were recorded, We
couldn't, you just read through the gospels and miracles after
miracles after miracles and all those physical healings and all
those things are all a picture of our spiritual healing in Christ. Now remember the amazing stories
we read about in the Word of God are not given to entertain
us, although they are most interesting, they are entertaining, nor are
they given to stimulate our curiosity or amuse us, but rather they're
given for one reason, to teach us the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Remember Romans 15, 4? Whatsoever
things were written for time were written for our learning
that we through the scriptures might have hope, comfort, and
peace. Our Lord said to take my yoke
upon you and learn of me. He's a great teacher. I want
to sit at his feet and learn, don't you? Acts 10 43, to him, give all
the prophets witness. Elijah, Elisha, Ezekiel, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, they all bear witness to the glory and beauty and grandeur,
majesty of the blessed Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the
story I'll give to you first, and then we'll learn some gospel
lessons from it. Here is a poor widow woman seeking
help from God through the prophet of God, a poor destitute widow
trying to provide for her family And the creditor is about to
foreclose on her property and leave her completely homeless
and destitute. Now there cried a certain woman
of the wives of the sons of the prophet unto Elisha, saying,
Thy servant, my husband, is dead. And thou knowest that thy servant
did fear the Lord, and the creditor is come to take unto him my two
sons to be bondmen. Now Elisha said to her, What
shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in thy
house? And she said, Thy handmaid hath
not anything in the house except one pot of oil. Then he said,
Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty
vessels, borrow not a few, and when thou art Come in, thou shalt
shut the door upon thee, upon thy sons, and shalt pour out
into all the vessels, the empty vessels, and thou shalt set aside
that which is full. And she went from him, and did
exactly as he said, and it came to pass." How did it come to
pass? And it came to pass by the power
of God, by the will of God, by the purpose of God. Here's a
poor widow woman seeking help destitute and she comes to the
source. She comes to the right place.
She came to hear the instruction from the prophet of God. Now the story itself is interesting
and it is certainly full of good instruction. The servant of the
Lord, this man that was the husband to this widow who feared the
Lord, who was among the sons of the prophets, he was not like
Elisha, but he was a prophet. He was one of those 7,000 who
did not bow the knee unto Baal. Some think that this man who
died, this prophet who died, his name was Obadiah. who hid,
remember in 1 Kings 18, Obadiah hid 50 prophets in the cave from
the rain and the terror of Ahab and Jezebel. Obadiah took what
means he had and made a refuge for those prophets to hide in,
50 of them, and they took care of them. Now the Lord has called
him home. Now Obadiah is gone. And this
woman came and cried to Elisha for mercy, and help in time of
her need, the creditor was about to enslave her two sons and leave
her in complete poverty. Elisha asked what he could do
to help her. Just tell me, he says in verse
2, what do you have to supply your need? And she said, I have
nothing but one pot of oil. No doubt I'm thinking it was
probably cooking oil or some kind of special oil. Now Elisha
instructs her to gather in all the empty vessels, not a few,
as many as you can find and borrow and go into your own house with
your son, shut the door, pour out from your one vessel into
the many vessels. Now here's what's quite amazing,
and here's what faith does. Faith believes God. Faith acts upon the Word of God. This woman was obedient to the
Word of the Lord and was blessed. She didn't ask, well, how's this
going to happen? She didn't come to Elisha asking
many questions. She believed the word of the
Lord. She believed the Lord would supply
her need. And they filled the vessels that
were borrowed with the oil that God supplied. And no doubt, it
was the best oil. No doubt, it was worth a great
price. She was able to pay off her debt,
had oil left over to provide for her family, as it says in
the last part of verse 7. Elijah said unto her, Go, sell
the oil, pay the creditor, pay off the debt, and live thou and
thy children of the rest. A miracle was performed. A miracle of God. It's a miracle
of mercy, but also one of the Lord's power, wasn't it? This
came to pass. It didn't come to pass by luck,
fate of chance did it. When it says there in verse 6,
and it came to pass. It came to pass because God said
it would happen. He said, I've spoken it, I will
do it, I've purposed it, it is done. He spake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. some gospel nuggets to glean
for us. Here's the first thing. I've
got six of these I believe. Being a believer, this man was
one who feared the Lord and served the Lord. God said he did. Being
a believer does not exempt us from trials, heartaches in this
life. The trials and heartaches in
this life are many, aren't they? Man that's born of woman, few
days and full of trouble. The older you get, the trials
seem to bear a little bit heavier upon you. You know, the greatest
trials that Abraham had were in his sunset years. This man feared the Lord and
served Him, yet he died in poverty and left his family in poverty.
left his family in debt. But the Lord did not forsake
his family, did he? Being a believer does not mean
that we shall have the riches of this world. Poverty is no
sign of disfavor. Wealth is no sign of the Lord's
favor, is it? Not at all. I like what David
said. David said, I would rather be
a doorkeeper in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the
tents of the wicked." Now here's the exact quote, Psalm 8410.
For a day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I'd rather be
a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents
of wickedness. I would rather be pinched with
poverty and know the Lord in saving mercy, wouldn't you? I'd
rather be pinched with poverty and know the Lord in saving mercy
than to have plenty and not know the Lord in saving mercy at all,
wouldn't you? I'd rather die penniless and
know the blessed Redeemer as to live a rich and sumptuous
life and not know the Lord Jesus Christ. We're gonna leave this
world. This flesh is back to the dust
and God's people are going to be with the Lord forever. There
is a verse over here, hold your place here, find Proverbs 30.
Proverbs 30, there's 31 Proverbs, but turn to Proverbs 30. And we find these words, Proverbs
30 verse 8. Remove far from me vanity and
lies. Proverbs 30 verse 8. Remove far
from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food. convenient
for me." What is that food convenient for me? The gospel, Christ the
bread of life. Lest I be full and deny thee
and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and
take the name of my God in vain. I don't want poverty. I don't
want riches. I want Christ. I want Christ. Here's the second thing. what
good resources the Lord has given unto us when we are in great
need. This poor widow woman brought
her burdens to the Lord. You remember our Lord said, in
this life you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have
overcome. She sought help where help could
be found. She came to the prophet of God. who had the word of God, the
truth of God. We too, as believers, we have
a great prophet to come unto for all help in our time of need. The Lord Jesus Christ says unto
his people, he said, all you who are laboring and heavy laden,
come unto me. I will give you rest. Again, he says in Hebrews chapter
4, Come boldly to the throne of grace, that you may obtain
mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. What good resources
the Lord has given unto us! Ho, every one that is thirstiest,
he said, come to the water! Come, buy, eat! Wine and milk
without money, without price. The Lord has also given us his
inspired word to encourage us, to comfort us, and to instruct
us in the way of salvation. What is that way of salvation
that comforts us? Turn over here to Isaiah 40.
Isaiah 40. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 1. Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. What comforts a sinful
heart? Christ put away our sin. by the
sacrifice of Himself." And we have good comfort in the Word
of God through the Word of Truth. Turn over to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2 verse 16, Now our Lord Jesus
Christ Himself, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 16, Now our Lord Jesus
Christ, himself, and God, even our Father, who hath loved us,
and hath given us an everlasting consolation, and good hope through
grace. Comfort your hearts." That comforts
our hearts, does it not? He loved us. He's given us everlasting
comfort, consolation, and a good hope through grace. Now comfort
your heart. Establish you in every good word
and every good work. The Lord has given us resources. What good resources? Let's make
use of them. He has not left us alone as this
widow woman was not left alone. He has not left us alone. He's
not left himself without a witness. We are instructed to bring our
burdens to the Lord. Turn to Psalm 55. When we were going through, I've
said this, told you this story before, but it bears repeating.
The Lord has not left us alone. He's not left us without a witness.
He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Psalm
55. Have you got this circled, verse
22? When we were going through all those floods, I can't remember
if it was the 9th flood or the 10th flood, someone sent me an
envelope and it had just a little piece of paper about this big. I got it stuck on my computer
in there. But it had this verse written on it and I found such
great comfort. And in the midst of all that
mud and smell and sweat and toil and burden and heartache, it
weighed heavy on me. Did on you too, didn't it? Verse
22, cast thy burdens upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous
to be moved, not moved away from Him. That gives us great comfort,
doesn't it? And then we've studied this in
1 Peter 7, casting all your care upon Him. He cares for you. Oh, may God give us grace to
do so. He said, My grace is sufficient
for thee in the time of trial. Now here's the third lesson.
The Lord provided a miraculous miracle and means to deliver
her and to bless her family. And the Lord our God has so generously
and wondrously provided for his family, his elect, his church. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. He bought us with his own blood.
We are his family. He will not neglect his own. He wouldn't be our faithful husband. If He called our husband, our
Redeemer, He wouldn't be our faithful husband if He left us
and forsook us and neglected us. We've studied this verse
and quoted it over and over. He said, I'll never leave thee,
I'll never forsake thee. He will not neglect his own.
When the Lord went away, the resurrected Lord, just before
he ascended to glory, remember what he said to his disciples?
Go and preach the gospel, knowing I have all power in heaven and
earth. Go preach the gospel and remember, lo, I'm with you always,
even to the end of the earth. The Lord provides for the birds
of the air, the fish of the sea. Shall He not much more provide
for us? Yes, He has. He's called Jehovah
Jireh, the Lord will provide. Turn over here to Matthew 6.
Look at these verses here in Matthew 6. Matthew chapter 6. Matthew chapter 6. Let's begin reading verse 28.
Why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
Matthew 6, 28. How they grow, they toil not,
neither do they spin. Yet I say unto you that even
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass of the field, which
today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much
more clothe you? What does he clothe us with?
the robe of righteousness, the garments of salvation, O ye of
little faith. Therefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat? What shall we drink? Wherewith
shall we be clothed? For after all these things do
the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knoweth
that you have needed these things. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, That's Christ. And all these
things will be added unto you. Therefore no thought for tomorrow,
for tomorrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof. The Lord will give sufficient
grace in the day of heartache, in the day of trial. Now, here's
the fourth lesson, another valuable lesson for us, and maybe this
is a key lesson. The vessels that the widow was
told to gather were to be empty vessels, empty vessels. There would be no need for oil
to be poured into full vessels, would it? Elisha didn't instruct
her to go to all your neighbors and have them fill up pots of
oil and then you take those full pots. No, you go gather empty
vessels and bring the empty vessels into your house. You see the
Lord saves and fills empty vessels. We have this treasure of the
gospel in earthen vessels, why? that he might receive all the
honor and glory." 2 Corinthians 4 verse 7. Sinners who have been
stripped and laid in the dust, who are emptied of any righteousness,
any goodness before God, He came to save sinners. Empty vessel. He came to save sinners, not
good folks. Good folks don't need a savior. The Lord Jesus Christ died. He
said, when we were yet without strength, Christ died for the
ungodly. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that the Lord Jesus Christ came to
save sinners. You see, there are some men Now,
I know what I'm talking about here. There are some men that
are too good for salvation. There are some that are just
too righteous. They're just too full of pride
and self-glory. There are some men that are too
good for salvation. You see, salvation is for empty
sinners, guilty sinners in need of mercy. The publican cried, Lord, be
merciful unto me, the sinner. I read this here recently. A
man once said to Charles Spurgeon, Charles Spurgeon preached over
in England back in the 1850s, 1860, 1870, had a wide, wide
ministry. His tabernacle in that day held 5,000 people. that was so designed, that tabernacle,
that the sound just echoed through the chamber. He was a man that
the Lord blessed greatly in his ministry. A man once said to
this well-known, versed, blessed preacher of the gospel, he said,
Don't you think, Mr. Spurgeon, that the greatest hindrance
to salvation is our sinful self? To which Spurgeon replied, no,
I don't. The greatest hindrance to salvation
is our righteous self. That's the problem. That's the
problem, our righteous self. No man is too bad to come to
Christ, but there are many too good. Oh, well, I used to be
a sinner. Really, where are you now? You
see, He fills empty vessels. He clothes naked sinners. Graces
for the guilty, mercies for the miserable. He came to lift the
beggar from the dunghill, remember? In 1 Samuel 2. He came to lift
the beggar from the dunghill and to set him among princes.
The Lord saves. He came to seek and to save the
lost. If there were no sinners, there would be no need for the
Savior to come, would there? They complained when the Lord
called Matthew. We're gonna see this in Luke
chapter five on Sunday. The Pharisees and Sadducees,
they complained when the Lord Jesus Christ went home with Matthew
the publican. And they said, why does your
master hang out with sinners and publicans and these wretched
man? And the Lord overheard them,
and He said, they that are whole do not need a physician, but
those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous,
but sinners, sinners, sinners, to repentance. If there were
no guilty ones, there would be no need for the Lord's atonement
for our sin. If righteousness comes by the
law, no need for Christ to die, is there? Paul said, I do not
frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness comes by the
law, then Christ is dead and vain. Here's the fifth thing,
empty centers, empty vessels were completely filled. And when
they were all completely filled, as it says there in the last
part of verse six, when there was not a vessel more, the oil
stopped. Now this is a good and real picture
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He completely fills empty
vessels. And this oil in Scripture is
always a picture and type of the Holy Spirit. He fills us
with the Holy Spirit and He fills us completely. That which is
born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the Spirit
is Spirit. You remember, of His fullness
Have we all received grace for grace? In Him was all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. We're filled up in Him. Nothing
needs to be added to His justifying righteousness, does it? Matter
of fact, we count everything else lost and done and ruined
that we might win Christ and be found in Him. Nothing needs
to be added to His justifying righteousness. He is the Lord,
our righteousness. Nothing needs to be added to
His sacrifice for our sins. Christ completely put away our
sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Nothing in my hand I bring, simply
to the cross of Christ I claim. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He completely saves us by his
grace. Totally, completely, and forever. We do have the treasure of the
gospel in earthen vessels. We're complete in Christ, completely
justified, completely made holy in Christ Jesus. Now, here's
the last point. When all the vessels were filled,
the oil stopped. As it says there in verse 6 and
verse 7, she went and paid off the debt and had plenty left
over. And the point being, you cannot
exhaust the Lord's mercy. The barrel is bottomless. You cannot exhaust the storehouse
of mercy. It's always full. It's always
full. How many years have fishermen
been catching fish out of the ocean? I mean, that's been going on
for thousands of years and yet, It's still full. How come? He opens his hand and he supplies
the need. We have in Christ crucified complete
payment for our debt, complete satisfaction to the law of God,
the justice of God has been made by the obedient death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. His obedience unto death. Now,
someone might think, well, is the Lord Jesus Christ enough
to pay off all our sin debt? Is He enough? If He's all you've
got, you've got enough. Is He enough to pay off our sin
debt? Yes. Is He enough to cause us to live
forever with Him? Yes. All grace now and glory
forever. If you have Christ and are one
with Him, you have everything that God has given to His church
and you have it forever. Remember that verse that we had
on a radio program last Sunday? Ecclesiastes 3.14. Whatsoever the Lord doeth, it
shall be forever. Nothing shall be put to it. Nothing
shall be taken from it. God doeth it that men should
fear before him. The God of all grace. Let me
just turn and read this and I'll let you go. The God of all grace. He will keep us, the God of all
grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus,
after that you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish,
strengthen, settle you, to Him be glory and dominion forever
and ever." And then it says, Amen. Amen. Empty vessels filled. And He fills us continually with
His grace.