The Mother of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16)

[Music] take your Bibles please in turn if you would to first Kings chapter 17 first Kings chapter 17 Elisha has made a pronouncement against the king of Israel a hab it has not endeared him to the king the Lord took care of him for a while by a river the Ravens came and fed him but then the Lord had something else for him we're going to begin reading in verse 8 and the word of the Lord came unto him saying arise get thee to Zarephath which belongeth to Simon and well 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 in a vessel that I may drink and she and she said and she and ask excuse me 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 cruise in a little oil and a cruse 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 therefore a little cake first and bring it unto me after and after make for thee and for thy son for thus saith the Lord of 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 and her house did eat many days and the barrel of meal wasted not neither did the cruse of oil fail according to the word of the Lord which he spake by Elijah there is a blessing that awaits us from this dear woman's life let's ask the Lord to show it to us Heavenly Father I pray in Jesus name that you would give us wisdom now give us your spirit lord help us to understand what awaits us here to learn from this dear woman this mother I pray in Christ's name Amen if you go to the New Testament and if you want to turn to that you're welcome to do so but if you go to the New Testament in the Book of Luke chapter 4 Jesus is speaking and he as he is up against the rulers as they're challenging him about his being the Messiah he said this in verse 25 Luke 4 but I tell you of a 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 was Elias sent SAV unto Sarepta a city of Zion unto a woman that was a widow it's great to be able to read it from this end but let's kind of stop a little bit and let's get into their skin not just her but the prophet Elijah as well III don't think Elijah fully understands understood why he was sent to the woman he's in Israel he's a prophet in Israel but he's being sent to a Gentile nation but I believe also that really when it comes to Elijah that was okay because it's where God sent him his desire was obedience not explanation and I think that's important for God's people to understand I think it's important for me to understand for all of us if God tells us to do something too often and I'm right there we want him to explain okay why Lord and then I'll decide if I'm going to do this know his desire his focus was obedience not explanation you see you do what you're supposed to do God will take care of the fruit of it what I want to give I want to give though as we look at it from their perspective as we just kind of meditate on this before we get into the real meat of the message I'd like for us to just consider some things one prophet in this story this is what you have one prophet plus one widowed woman and you've got a moment a big moment of faith you take God's person and you take that person and add whoever or whatever is added and you've got an opportunity for faith you ever struggled with your faith you ever looked at doubt I hope and pray that this is going to be an encouragement to you because you are not alone we are not alone really is what I should say how this woman responded would literally be a matter of life and death now we live in a nation that if you have no insurance yet if there's something that comes along that really threatens your life you can go to a hospital and they have to take you that was not the case here they did not have the Red Cross they did not have welfare this woman as far as she was concerned I don't know how soon I don't know how long they had been without eating but this woman like probably tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands and this time was looking at her own death shortly to come to pass this woman fought I and my son I don't have my husband anymore I and my son are going to die if this woman responded incorrectly then what she said would have come true she would have died there was no one else to help her but there was something different about this moment because it was a faith moment according to Jesus what we read in Luke 4 according to Jesus the woman was singled out for reasons known only to God now I don't know what the future holds but I do know this I'm looking at people right now that possibly down the road some time God is going to single you out for a situation that will bring glory to himself that's not crazy talk we read accounts in the Bible all the time and many many more are alluded to where people of God were taken and they literally before a world that despised their God was used to make a statement even in an account a situation like this this woman didn't know but God knew so let's stop and think about this let's stop and remember this when God singles you out there's something that he wants you to do yes but not only does he want to do something through you he wants to do something to you when you are singled out by God and by the way sooner or later if I can say this every one of us will be because we all have contact with the world when God singles you out it's not a waste it's an opportunity to bring glory to Him and we all ought to desire that amen but more than that if we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works then when that happens that working is for us not just through us remember this these faith moments are the kind that cannot and will not come in any other way what God does it must be by faith through us this was all about faith here the biggest things that come to you come to you by faith how did you get saved by what hey the grace of God came down to you and to me if you trust in Christ the Savior and you were saved not by your good looks or your good works but by the goodness of God let us never ever forget that not only is salvation by faith but also God's calling on your life by faith it doesn't matter who cuts your check if you trust in Christ as your Savior you're a child of God the most important thing is ministry this is what our speaker told us this last year during our missions conference Christian life is for ministry not everybody's going to understand that when we were gone on this trip I'm not bragging please don't misunderstand one of the things I wanted to make sure I had Trax because there's going to be people out there they're gonna receive them most likely most of them wound up in the trash but the fact of the matter is you never know when God's going to take something we were in America we were in a restaurant and I said the the waitress I spoke to her when we were done with our meal and I said listen we're from California I'm a pastor I'd like to give you something but but but please don't please understand I I'm not doing this to be presumptuous I'd really like the Regis and she said all your pastors she saw the track she says that's great I just got right with God I I was saved years ago and I got away from him and praise God I came back and now I'm in such-and-such a church I said great take this track in fact it was one of our red ones we all have something in common she said no before I give it away I'm gonna read it again myself I want to see this she loved it you know that's that's a woman that had a faith moment and God blessed and it's glory you see that's what this woman in Zarephath can teach us so when it comes to you know us salvation is by faith the working of God's God's work on our lives is by faith and then overcoming sin and Satan by faith period not through our own effort not because we can out argue the devil because we can but it's by faith but you know what these times can also be kind of scary scary yes scary because you see whatever you do and whatever I do when we wind up in a situation like this it has consequences like we said this lady she actually told the truth if she had not listened to the Prophet she was going to die there's always consequences when we come to a faith moment you might be in a faith moment this morning there is something that God has spoken to you about it could be salvation it could be how God wants to use your life but I can guarantee you this that faith moment has consequences period it does this was life or death by the way mom it wasn't just life and death for her she said I and my son it's life and death for her son as well and when it comes to the things that we choose it can often be the same way spiritually speaking and maybe even ultimately physically speaking life and death because we're being a testimony of the Grace and faith that we have in Christ or we're showing other people I can just live on my own thank you nothing to see here move along not true you're not a spectator you are not a spectator you are a participant this lady was not a spectator she wasn't going to have Elijah come and just show her some things and this is moving on Wow and okay I'll vote for that and that's it that's not true we are all participants what we have here is a moment that is marked by two things and they always come together did you hear what I just said they always come together every time you have a faith moment you have a fear moment how many of you have ever been in a situation my hand is up when God was challenging me to make a decision by faith trusting him and fear came in like a Mack truck you ever been there every time folks there is no time for a faith moment when there is not fear that is there as well every faith moment has a fear moment you act you act not waiting for the absence of fear but you act in spite of the fear you act giving the fear to the one who saves you the one who loves you and you act that's exactly what this woman did as we'll see if God tells you to do something he'll make it work he'll make it work maybe not exactly as we would like to think that it's gonna work but it'll work it'll work fear can bring a state if we're not careful of paralysis what do I mean go to second Corinthians chapter seven second Corinthians chapter seven here's Paul the mighty man of God and he says in verse 5 for when we were come into Macedonia our flesh had no rest but we were troubled on every side watch this without were Fighting's within were fears now we can have things that come along and they and they irritate us getting back to the to the time we were on the airplane yesterday and flying into Sacramento I don't know who he was but there was a guy that sat two rows back from us and he was talking like this a everybody in the airplane was interested in what he had to say and be have you ever listened to somebody I'm not kidding when they speak it reminds you of fingernails going down a chalkboard and this young lady that was sitting next to him got to hear him pontificate for over two hours now that was irritating it was so good to get off that airplane I mean say thank you lord thank you but that's that's not a battle that's not what this is talking about we're talking here about Fighting's this is this is when this is when you have a situation where you are I mean you are outright threatened you put yourself in that kind of situation and automatically within you're going to have fears you've take somebody that's called to the mission field you take somebody that's called a to ministry period it could be a Sunday School class it could be teaching a Bible study it can be giving the gospel to someone that you've so wanted to see gets saved with interferes within our fears that what Paul was going through every faith moment has a fear moment he said in his first letter to the church at Corinth in 1st Corinthians 2 3 and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling I've gotten into the pulpit like that maybe you've even come to church like that before taught a Sunday School class witness to somebody do whatever this is a battlefield like Lester roll-off used to say it's a battlefield brother not a picnic ground and we're learning that more and more and more by the way I praise God for how God's people are responding in America I rejoice in that but the fact of the matter is there's gonna wind up being more than that this world is not our home how many of you rejoice that it isn't I'll tell you what praise God like that song says we haven't really sung it much here but the time is coming when we'll drop and rise and go into the skies and praise God what he does here faith must rule we have to keep this in mind in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 18 Paul wrote this while we look on the things while we've looked not on the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporal but the things that are not seen are eternal and that's what's important so we're going to look at this story right now we're going to look at this account this dear woman has a lot to teach us I want to give you three main points and we're done number one we see the command of the Lord look again at verse 8 if you would the word of the Lord came unto him saying arise get V to Zarafa 'the which belongeth to Zion and dwell there behold I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee there there is a spot for him to go to the Lord is in command of the life of his people let's never forget that he sent command I praise God that he's in command like Israel and the wilderness their sustenance both spiritual and physical was found only in the part of obedience keep your finger there in first Kings please go to numbers chapter 9 numbers chapter 9 listen to this this is fascinating in just several verses what we wind up hearing numbers chapter 9 and verse 18 at the command of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed and at the command of the Lord they pitched as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they rested in their tents and when the cloud tarried long upon the tabernacle many days then the children of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and journey not and so it was when the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle according to the command of the Lord they abode in their tents and according to the command of the Lord they journeyed and so it was when the cloud above a bow excuse me from even unto the morning and that the cloud was taken up in the morning then they journeyed whether it was by day or by night that the cloud was taken up they journeyed or whether it was it were two days or a month or a year that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle remaining therefore the children of Israel bowed in their tents and journey not but when it was taken up they journeyed at the command of the Lord they rested in the tents and at the command of the Lord they journeyed they kept the charge of the Lord at the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses that's the Christian life well that doesn't sound I mean I want my freedom I have my freedom in Christ amen I mean we look at this and there some might be some that say well I just want to live my own life let me tell you something with the enemies that Israel was surrounded by and with the fact that they were in a desert wilderness praise God for the command of the Lord he took care he's got the same care for Elijah he has the same care for us the same care he had the same care for the woman as well and she's about to learn that God's people must see themselves here for God's purposes God's people must see themselves here for God's purposes so number one the command of the Lord excuse me number two the condition of the widow look at verse 10 let's go back to 1st Kings chapter 17 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 now here's here's something that's kind of interesting the Lord says hey Elijah I have ordered a woman with a woman to take care of you so he packs his bags and he takes off for a foreign nation but the Lord has sent him there surely this is going to be a wealthy lady she's got food she can take care he gets to there and gate of the city and the Lord says this is the lady and she's gathering sticks because she's gonna die how many of you would think that maybe just maybe the Lord kind of got it wrong that's what winds up happening to us sometimes we think along this line surely we're being sent to abundance we're being sent to security or being sent to safety wealth instead Elijah finds somebody who has given up he wasn't really expecting that we wouldn't be either but God winds outward observations would make us think that you know maybe Elijah was full of doubts and fears himself at this time but the problem is that's not exactly what the Lord was planning let's look at this situation first of all from Elijah's perspective and your hour of need God cannot only bring you to a place of sustainment but also a blessing to others Elijah being the man of God that's how he viewed it from the widows perspective she would learn this you can have nothing yet God can use you in the greatest of ways you might think you've got nothing I mean I don't have talent God doesn't use talent he uses availability how many of you have availability everybody here if you're living and breathing God can use you if you've trusted Christ as your Savior if you belong to him there can be a story written in heaven at the Bema seat of Christ that tells about you the same way Elijah came trusting in the promises of God his master has said I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee so here's a widow in a strange land who's prepared to die his heart was not resting on the condition of the woman his heart was resting on the Word of God that's what we need to see Paul came to Titus and in the same way said this Paul a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect and the acknowledgment of the truth which is after godliness in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promised before the world began think about it that hope that we have that's spiritual just like the Lord had said the widow was there no suspense no looking high and low there was nothing like that God had been arranging that because God is always previous before Elijah arrived he is always previous God has set up tomorrow for you and the next day and the next day Jeremiah said to the Lord in Jeremiah 10 oh Lord I know that the way of man is not in himself it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps it isn't we can't plan things out and see God glorified we need God the steps of both of these the widow woman and the Prophet they were directed the first one by God's command Elijah the second one by his sovereignty you might get a command on the other hand you might all of a sudden see yourself in a situation where it's like wow how did this happen and the Lord will use you there both of them Elisha and the widow woman were both used again one by command the other by sovereignty Elisha had asked her this go to the middle of verse 10 and he called to her and said fetch me I pray thee a little water in 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 now immediately what winds up happening is this we wind up seeing the character of this woman not mentioning her desperation to Elisha she just moved she's gonna help this stranger but she did say this look at verse 12 and she said does the LORD thy God liveth I am NOT a cake but a handful of meal and a barrel and a little oil on a cruise 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 you know what she didn't know but she would maybe learn later on and she knows now what she mentioned when it comes to the meal and the oil are pictures of Jesus Christ Christ being the bread of life excuse me the Holy See's is Christ in the Holy Spirit and the oil being a picture of the Holy Spirit but let's continue when it comes to this woman she's in transition she's still looking at what little she has she sees that you know what I'm in a world of hurt it didn't happen overnight but her growth would come her end was near her eyes were not on God but on the barrel and our eyes sometimes of the same way we don't realize that by command or by his sovereignty that God can use us our eyes are on our lack did you hear me our eyes are on our lack we don't have folks what it takes to live the Christian life out it's all from God you don't look at your you don't look at your barrel and see how lean I am you look at your Lord and rejoice and how much you have because he can take what little you've got and as he did in this story he made it last the Lord is rarely early but he is always on time the condemn the command of the Lord the condition of the widow and then lastly the care of the Lord look at verse 13 and Elisha said under here fear not go and do as thou has said but make me therefore a little cake first and bring it unto me and after make for thee and for thy son the heart of so many people would immediately ache for this woman the little she had she had now been asked not only to share with this prophet but make a portion for him first he wasn't being selfish this is by command of the Lord but then comes the assurance again verse 14 for thus saith the Lord God of Israel the barrel of meal shall not waste it will not waste neither shall the cruse of oil fail until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth the focus is this for thus saith the Lord every time we come in here we open up God's Word it's not what Mike Rogers says it's thus saith the Lord is your is your is your faith waning it's not what I say listen to the Word of God are you at the end of your rope as it were I have you gone down where as it you know all you have left I mean it's just you know a day or two and that's it it's thus saith the Lord folks that's where our focus needs to be if that's all you remember from this message I want you to remember that when things go south when life gets tough what will sustain you is what God says it's what he tells you when you're on your knees in the prayer closet it's how you watch him work either by command or by the situation that he puts you in in his sovereignty in either situation it's thus saith the Lord I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee who said that the preacher no God did have not I commanded thee be strong and of a good courage be not afraid neither be thou this maid for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest who said that Mike Rogers no God did thus saith the Lord a widowed woman who is in turmoil quite possibly as had what she might have thought at the very beginning her day turned upside down what she's going to find out is god is good all the time all the time you know sometimes we miss this when we get into the Word of God how many of you have ever heard the the parable of the prodigal son say Amen it's miss need the Bible doesn't say a certain man had a father and a brother it says a certain man had two sons the story the account that Jesus shared is about the Heavenly Father that we need to remember look in verse 15 and she went and did according to the saying of Elijah she and he and her house did eat many days one commentator said actually it speaks for a whole year that's exactly how they ate the barrel of meal wasted not cruse of oil didn't fail and Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit will never fail you either well this woman did what she did it didn't make sense she sees the food she sees her son but then she hears what God said and the battle goes and there's a faith and a fear moment you see God always ask you first to give to him he always asks you first to give to him God does not negotiate he wants to show you what he can do but you come to him by faith the woman was asked to give what she and her son could not live without you no you stop and think about this this woman could have limited God the God of heaven the God of heaven could have been limited by this woman's choice we do the same thing I look back with a broken heart and I think of times that I limited God because how I didn't trust him like I should have you ever been in that situation if you've limited God before say Amen we can do it but there's a would a woman that comes and she reminds us you know what you can trust him and then the Lord brings other scriptures to mind Jeremiah 32 27 behold I am the glory God of all flesh is anything too hard for me Jeremiah 33:3 call unto me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not Psalm 81 10 I am THE LORD thy God which brought thee out of the land of Egypt open thy mouth wide and I will fill it that's our God I can imagine this woman struggling and having her son look at her and say mom are we gonna eat with son I hope so but the whole thing begins to take shape and just like us I should say just like her we struggle at the very beginning but it all begins to shape to take shape I rejoice at looking back and seeing how God has sustained us how God has taken care of us and not just my wife and I but people in this church the same thing the same thing you see the God of heaven comes and because of that we can rejoice this woman was not a loser by her generosity because God was in it God was in it her little supply of meal and oil was hardly sufficient for a single meal but it turned out to last them for an entire year that's our God her willingness to minister to God's servant did just a simple thing brought her enough not only for many days but again for a year she gave Elijah of the best of what she had and her kindness to him kept God made God sustain her household you know it really is true Matthew 10 either receive of the prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a Prophet's reward that's exactly what she got that's why in fact we talked about this just a little while ago Matthew 6:33 seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness all these things shall be added unto you in closing I could just say this he who puts God first will always find God with him at the last he who puts God first or she will always find out always see it that he was there at the last as well well I tell you what that is son some sermon by a widow woman a single act what God did I'm glad the Lord directed me to this message because we're looking at some tough times coming down the road in America we're going to need to remember ladies just like this widow woman a mother who at the first saw the death of her and her son looming and instead she ate her son's ate and everybody else that was tied to her house that's blessing question you think God can bless you like that - let's pray Heavenly Father thank you for the story of a dear would a woman with heads bowed and eyes closed no one looking about you know this God that did this for this woman also gave his life for you that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life I want to ask you how many of you here know beyond the shadow of a doubt that if you died right now you'd go to heaven would you raise your hand right where you're at you me put your hand down is there anyone here don't say you know what I'm not sure I'm not going to embarrass you not going to embarrass anybody but I want to ask you are you sure that if you died right now you'd go to heaven again the same God that dealt with Elijah and the widow woman did so much for us on the cross is there anyone here that say you know I'd like to talk to somebody about what it means to trust Christ is Savior about what it means to have the assurance that if you died right now you'd go to heaven if there's anyone here like that would you raise your hand right where you're at heads are bowed eyes are closed anyone at all Christian stop and think about it there might come a time either by God's command or by his sovereignty we all line all of a sudden we wind up in a situation where we're looking at the impossible but we know we can trust God this is the answer of it all this is the answer let's just take a moment to pray and let's go to the Lord

Channel: Faith Baptist Tabernacle

Views: 2,249

Rating: 4.8333335 out of 5

Keywords: Elijah, Mother's Day, 1 Kings, Old Testament, BIble, KJV, King James Bible, Religion, God, Christ, Jesus Christ, Baptist, Baptists, faith, trust, trials, family, Holy Spirit, fear

Id: vZzAxhBRzzU

Length: 44min 29sec (2669 seconds)

Published: Sun May 13 2018