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[Music] welcome to everyone for our call to worship you can turn in your Bibles to Psalm 146 Psalm 146 I'll begin reading in verse 1 praise the Lord praise the Lord O my soul while I live I will praise the Lord I will sing praises to my god while I have my being do not put your trust in Princes nor in a son of man in whom there is no help his spirit departs he returns to his earth in that very day his plans perish happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help whose hope is in the Lord his God who made heaven and earth the sea and all that is in them who keeps truth forever who execute justice for the oppressed who gives food to the hungry the Lord gives freedom to the prisoners the Lord opens the eyes of the blind the Lord raises those who are bowed down the Lord loves the righteous the Lord watches over the strangers he relieves the fatherless and widow but the way of the wicked he turns upside down the Lord shall reign forever your God o Zion to all generations praise the Lord Amen well please turn with me in your Trinity hymnal to number 133 hymn number 133 will stand as we sing together [Music] amen well let us pray Our Blessed God and our Holy Father we gather together on the Sabbath day to call upon you to come through the Lord Jesus by the spirit to the Father and we pray that God would be all in all in this place we would ask that you would indeed be glorified and worshiped and praised as we pray and as we sing and as we look to Holy Scripture may you be enthroned upon the praises of your people hear and may you indeed be honored and our assembling together we confess that you are the true in the Living God you are the God from everlasting to everlasting that you are most high and most glorious and most wondrous you are the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has indeed saved us by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone and we extol thee O God and bless thee for your kindness in your mercy we thank you for the gospel of our salvation the fact that the Lord Jesus the second person of the Trinity would come into this world and take on humanity that he's identified with us he has all the essential properties and comedy common infirmities of man and yet without sin we thank you for His perfect life of obedience to the law his death at Calvary is a sacrifice and a substitute and we thank you that he rose again on the third day and our Father we pray that wherever this gospel is preached wherever these facts are rehearsed the Holy Spirit would attend and would take these truths and apply them to the hearts of sinners we would pray even tonight Lord God that this would be the day of salvation that you by your power would draw sinners unto the Lord Jesus effectually call them cause them to come out of the darkness into marvelous light confessing with those soldiers at the cross truly this is the Son of God we ask that you would encourage each and every one of our hearts she would strengthen us with might and the inner man that we would know the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit in this place of worship tonight that God would be all in all we ask that you would forgive us now for our sin and our transgressions when we look at that holy law that revelation of who you are we see our own waywardness we see as the hymn writer said our proneness to wander the proneness to leave the god that we love we confess our iniquities and our transgressions now looking only to the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in which we have redemption in which we have cleansing so please apply that even now Lord God and thank you for the promise of Scripture that if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness we ask that you would look with favor upon this congregation should strengthen us spiritually help us to be a faithful and obedient people help us to take seriously the Word of God our Savior said if we love him we will keep his Commandments God we only shamefully confess to you that we don't keep the commandments as we ought so please enable us and help us to comply with Holy Scripture to love you and to love one another we ask that you would look with favor upon those in our midst with temporal with physical challenges we know there are many that have chronic illness there are many who suffer on a daily basis and we commit them to you into the word of your grace and pray that you would uphold them she would strengthen them that you would help them father to persevere in the midst of these trials may they learn a lesson even from the Savior who was a man of sorrows and one acquainted with grief a son who learned obedience even through suffering and our God in a particular way we pray for our brother dawn we pray that he would get a date soon that he could go and and hopefully get some lasting benefits and lasting trip for his his maladies we just ask God in heaven that you would undertake on his behalf we ask that you would bless other churches in our community how we thank you and praise you that we're not alone in Chilliwack we ask that you would look with favor upon the churches that do indeed preach the gospel we pray that you would prosper them and bless them and add to their numbers and and cause their ministers to be faithful men that are given to proclaiming the truth of Christ and him crucified we pray for churches throughout Canada we would ask that you would send forth your Holy Spirit she would revive your people that you would cause us to be a people of your word a people who think your thoughts after you as revealed in Holy Scripture and cause us to be in prayer for sinners and for the civil authority and for a world events we have many many blessings here in Canada so we look around the world we see that so many do not have these privileges we pray for those in other countries that suffer for the cause of Jesus Christ we pray for those lands that are steeped in Islam where the people of God are so often targeted we would pray father that you would bless your saints and these nations she would cause them to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation and give them the boldness to hold forth your word of truth be pleased to send forth your glorious gospel throughout the earth and may Christ indeed seed the travail of his soul and be satisfied may he have dominion from sea to sea as prophesied in the scriptures and may a multitude from every tribe and tongue and people in Asia turned from their useless idols to the true and the Living God and Lord be merciful to those in high places be merciful to civil government we know this is a difficult calling it's a demanding calling and yet father we know that then men often don't seek wisdom from on high we pray for those in high places that you would put the fear of God in their hearts that they would kiss the son lest he be angry and they perish in the way when his wrath is kindled but a little may they learn the message from Psalm 2 that blessed are all those who who trust in him blessed are those who seek their refuge in Christ Jesus God if men in high places will not be converted we pray they would be restrained by your mighty arm she would keep them from continuing down paths of wickedness and evil and corruption we see the sins of abortion and euthanasia and sodomy not only sanctioned but oftentimes subsidised even with federal monies god this is absolutely criminal and we pray against it we pray father that you would change arts you would cause your people to cry out to you that father little babies would be protected in their mothers wombs elderly folk and infirm persons would be protected those who engage in abject wickedness would be would be stopped Lord God be merciful in your wrath remember mercy and we pray for your gospel to go forth for we ultimately trust not in politics but we trust in the sovereignty of God Most High continue with us now bless our time as we worship together and we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen we'll turn with me in your Trinity hymnal again to him number 21 hymn number 21 will stand as we sing together [Music] [Music] before our scripture reading this evening you can turn to the Prophet Hosea Hosea chapter 8 Hosea chapter 8 it's in the larger context of covenant breach the Prophet is indicted upgrading reproving the nation of Israel for their sin and rebellion against the living and true God they were given a mandate on how they were to conduct themselves as a people and they break that covenant and therefore God sends prophets to call them back to repentance and faith and then God sends judgment or chastisement to cut them off in their sin beginning in chapter 8 at verse 1 set the trumpet to your mouth he shall come like an eagle against the house of the Lord because they have transgressed my covenant and rebelled against my law Israel will cry to me my god we know you Israel has rejected the good the enemy will pursue him they set up Kings but not by me they made Prince's but I did not acknowledge them from their silver and gold they made idols for themselves that they might be cut off your calf is rejected O Samaria my anger is aroused against them how long until they attain to innocence for from Israel it is even this a workmen made it and it is not God but the calf of Samaria shall be broke into pieces they sow the wind and reap the whirlwind the stock has no bud it shall never produce meal its if it should produce aliens would swallow it up Israel is swallowed up now they are among the Gentiles like a vessel in which is no pleasure for they have gone up to Assyria like a wild donkey alone by itself excuse me Ephraim has hired lovers yes though they have hired among the nations now I will gather them and they shall sorrow a little because of the burden of the king of princes because Ephraim has made many altars for sin they have become for him altars for sitting I have written for him the great things in my love my law but they were considered a strange thing for the sacrifices of my offerings they sacrifice flesh and eat it but the Lord does not accept them now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins they shall return to Egypt for Israel has forgotten his maker and has built temples Judah also has multiplied fortified cities but I will send fire upon his cities and it shall devour his palaces amen well this is a constant refrain throughout the prophets as they continue to call the sinful people of both Israel and Judah to repentance this idea of forgetting God and it's an intriguing thing because Israel was the Covenant people of God certainly they didn't forget about him entirely they didn't have no consciousness whatsoever of Yahweh of Israel they would go to Temple they would go through the sacrificial process they would engage their lives in terms of that cult but they had forgotten God they lived as practical atheists and the Lord God calls them on this for Israel has forgotten his maker so we need to remember we ought to be mindful of the fact that the people that are in the covenant community can nevertheless suffer spiritual amnesia they can live their lives as if there is no God they can live their lives as if there is no divine ruler in their lives and we need to be mindful of that certainly the the letters to the churches in Asia Minor remember that Ephesus is upbraided because they had lost their first love and they left their first love again I don't think they abandoned the thought of Christ what so altogether they weren't completely unconscious concerning Jesus but their lives were marked by a lack of love for Christ so in all of our busyness and in all of our religiosity and all of our external performance or observance we ought never to forget the heart of the matter and that is to not forget God but to love God to prize God above everything else to see him as the the bride sees him according to the Song of Solomon he's all together lovely Andes chief among 10,000 our priority structure ought always to be aligned with Matthew 6:33 but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you God must be the priority of God's people and it's unfortunate that we have to remind ourselves of that but we do have to remind ourselves of that God the Lord even gives us the supper as a means to remind us as a means to constantly set before us the broken body of our Lord the shed blood of our Lord so that we do not forget our God will let us pray our Father we thank you for your word we thank you for the prophets we thank you for their message and we see their relevance even for today give us grace and our busyness give us Grace and our religion not to forget our God not to forget our maker not to forget our blessed Lord Jesus Christ who is indeed altogether lovely who is chief among ten thousand who is the bridegroom that that is most desirable may you increase our love and our affection and our devotion to the Lord may you increase our our desire to learn the things of God and scripture may we be a people that are hungry and thirsting after righteousness and again forgive us that this is not always the case wash us in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ fill us with your Holy Spirit and cause us to indeed pursue you and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord amen well for our final hymn you can turn to hymn number 79 again in the Trinity hymnal hymn number 79 will stand as we sing together [Music] and with me in your Bibles to second Kings chapter 4 2nd Kings chapter 4 this morning I mentioned that the hope of the Christian is the resurrection of the body and I mentioned that God is an earthy God in other words God is not at war with flesh he's not at war with nature he doesn't have a problem with the created order it's sin that God opposes and so as Christians our hope is not just in the intermediate state when we die our souls go to be present with the Lord but our hope is in that final day the resurrection where God brings bodies back to life reunites them with souls and ushers them in to the presence of God Almighty well as an illustration of the earthiness of God second Kings chapter four highlights four miracles done by the prophet Elijah four miracles that apply to two persons that are not of note they don't even have their names given to us they are essentially nobodies and nameless and yet the Lord God in His mercy through the prophet Elijah ministers to their needs he ministers to their real-life earthy needs so it's a long chapter but I do think it's important to read it in its entirety then we'll look at the mercy of God in the Ministry of Elijah beginning in chapter four at verse one a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha saying your servant my husband is dead and you know that your servant feared the Lord and the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves so Elisha said to her what shall I do for you tell me what do you have in the house and she said your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil then he said go borrow vessels from everywhere from all your neighbor's empty vessels do not gather just a few and when you have come in you shall shut the door behind you in your sons then pour it into all those vessels and set aside the full ones so she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons who brought the vessels to her and she poured it out now it came to pass when the vessels were full that she said to her son bring me another vessel and he said to her there is not another vessel so the oil ceased and she came and told the man of God and he said go sell the oil and pay your debt and you and your sons live on the rest now it happened one day that Elijah went to shoot him where there was a notable woman and she persuaded him to eat some food so it was as often as he passed by he would turn in there to eat some food she said to her husband look now I know that this is a holy man of God who passes by us regularly please let us make a small Upper Room on the wall and let us put a bed for him there and a table and a chair and a lamp stand so it will be whenever he comes to us he can turn in there and it happened one day that he came there and he turned in to the upper room and laid down there then he said to go see his servant call this Shunammite woman when he had called her she stood before him and he said to him say now to her look you have been concerned for us with all this care what can I do for you you want me to speak on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army she answered I dwell among my own people so he said what then is to be done for her and gauzy answered actually she has no son and her husband is old so he said call her when he had called her she stood in the doorway then he said about this time next year you shall embrace a son and she said no my lord man of God do not lie to your maidservant but the woman conceived and bore a son which when the appointed time had come of which Elijah had told her and the child grew now it happened one day that he went out to his father to the Reapers and he said to his father my head my head so he said to his servant carry him to his mother when he had taken him and brought him to his mother he sat her on the sat on her knees till noon and then died and she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God shut the door upon him and when and she called to her husband and said please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys that I may run to the man of God and come back so he said why are you going to him today it is neither the new moon nor the Sabbath and she said it is well and she saddled the donkey and said to her servant drive and go forward do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you and so she departed and went to the man of God at Mount Carmel so it was when the man of God saw her afar off that he said to his servant gehazi look the shunammite woman please run now to meet her and say to her is it well with you is it well with your husband is it well with your child with the child and she answered it is well now when she came to the man of God at the hill she caught him by the feet but gauzy came near to push her away but the man of God said let her alone for her soul is in deep distress and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me so she said did I ask a son of my lord did I not say do not deceive me then he said to go hozy get yourself ready and take my staff in your hand and be on your way if you meet anyone do not greet him and if anyone greets you do not answer him but lay my staff on the face of the child and the mother of the child said as the Lord lives and as your soul lives I will not leave you so he arose and followed her now Gavazzi went on ahead of them and laid the staff on the face of the child there was neither voice nor hearing therefore he went back to meet him and told him saying the child is not awakened when Elijah came into the house there was the child lying dead on his bed he went in therefore shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord and he went up and lay on the child and put his mouth on his mouth his eyes on his eyes and his hands on his hands and he stretched himself out on the child and the flesh of the child became warm he returned and walked back and forth in the house and again went up and stretched himself out on him then the child sneezed seven times and the child opened his eyes and he called Gavazzi and said call this Shunammite woman so he called her and when she came in to him he said pick up your son so she went in fell at his feet and bowed to the ground and she picked up her son and went out no Elijah returned Gilgal and there was a famine in the land now the sons of the prophets were sitting before him and he said to his servant put on the large pot and boil stew for the sons of the prophets so one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild one a wild vine and gathered from it a lap full of wild gourds and came and sliced them into the pot of stew though they did not know what they were then they served it to the man tewi now it happened as they were eating the stew that they cried out and said man of God there is death in the pot and they could not eat it and he so he said then bring some flour and he put it into the pot and said serve it to the people that they may eat and there was nothing harmful in the pot then a man came from BHEL shil Isha and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits 20 loaves of barley bread and newly ripened grain in his knapsack and he said give it to the people that they may eat but his servants said what shall I set this before 100 men he said again give it to the people that they may eat for thus says the Lord they shall eat and have some leftover so he set it before them and they ate and had some leftover according to the word of the Lord amen let us pray father we thank you for the written word we thank you for the typical significance here of Elijah the Prophet we see him pointing very clearly to the Lord Jesus Christ both men went about doing good how we thank you for the fact that you care for us spiritually you care for us physically that you are a God who is sovereign over all things and may we be encouraged tonight as we see that the Lord does provide the Lord does take care of his people and certainly as a people here we can testify that this is surely the case you've blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in crime you give us each day our daily bread you load us daily with benefits as the psalmist said and we confess that truth and we thank you for it do forgive us again for our sins fill us with the Holy Spirit and guide our thoughts now according to the scripture and we pray in Jesus name Amen well as we look at this particular section will note the Ministry of the prophet Elijah he was in fact a prophet of God who succeeded who came after a lie jot the prophet remember in chapter 2 of second Kings Elisha is taken up into heaven by a whirlwind and Elijah receives his prophetic mantle the end of chapter 2 we already see two particular miracles one of healing and one of cursing which indicates or symbolizes that Elijah stands in the tradition of Moses the Word of God contains both blessings for obedience and cursings for disobedience in chapter 3 the Moabites rebel against Israel now that's certainly a large thing it's a large scale issue or problem or difficulty and so God utilizes the Prophet Elisha once again to go and help in this sort of international affair so we see God's hand in the big things the big matters that affect the world God is certainly sovereign and present but chapter 4 brings us down to the reality that God is a God of the details or God is a God of the small matters also it's not just Moabite rebellion but it's destitute women it's not just Moabite rebellion but it's hungry prophets it's not just Moabite rebellion but it's people who stand in need of their daily bread the Lord God ministers to people in the major matters and he ministers to his people in the minor matters and in this entire section not only in chapter 4 but all the way into chapter 6 Davis makes this observation now we enter a segment of Elijah's ministry in which he shows that Yahweh's power is triumphant over debt verses 1 to 7 death verses 8 to 37 drought verse 38 to 44 disease versus chapter 5 verses 1 to 27 and difficulty in chapter 6 verses 1 to 7 essentially what we find is the mercy of God most high to his people in need so we'll survey not every jot and tittle but just to get the sense of these four miracles and then we'll close with some concluding observations in the first place note this widow's oil in verses 1 to 7 she has a two-fold problem notice in verse 1 a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha saying your servant my husband is dead and you know that your servant feared the Lord and the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves so she has a dead husband and dad to a particular creditor now know where she goes in her needs she goes to the Prophet Elisha she goes to the Word of God this is a great pattern a great paradigm a great example for the people of God when we're facing debt death calamity difficulty hardship whatever it may be not our first recourse isn't to run to the bank but it's to run to the throne of grace it is to seek help from God Almighty and that is precisely what she does with reference to this present crisis your husband my husband is dead and you know that your servant feared the Lord that means he was a faithful prophet he was a faithful minister of the word of truth and as a result he was no rich man you're not going to get rich in the prophetic ministry if you tell the truth you're not going to get rich an Old Covenant Israel if you are a faithful prophet Elijah wasn't rich Elijah wasn't rich the school of the prophets that Elijah founded those men were not rich because they were truth tellers the men that were rich in the prophetic ministry were the court prophets they were the ones that were yes men they were the ones that would tell the King whatever the King wanted to hear but if you were a faithful prophet you were not a rich man and so now this man is dead and now this woman owes a great deal of money and the creditor is coming to take her two sons as slaves notice verse 2 says so Elijah said to her what shall I do for you tell me what do you have in the house now go back for just a moment in Chapter three I've already mentioned this Moabite rebellion in Chapter three well the king of Israel wants an audience with the prophet Elijah and notice in chapter three at verse beginning in verse 11 Jehoshaphat 'is the king of the south the southern kingdom of Judah is there no prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of the Lord by him so one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said elisha the son of shaphat is here who poured water on the hands of a lie Jah love that he poured water on the hands of Elijah a genuine John the Baptist didn't John the Baptist say that Jesus must increase but I must decrease John the Baptist was not craving power he was not craving position he was not craving prestige he was not craving a position of integra of high level within the kingdom of God no he was a servant to the Lord price no Asia before he becomes the successor of Elijah was more than happy pouring water on the hands of Elijah more than happy being a servant to Elijah now notice verse verse 12 and Joshua fat said the word of the Lord is with them so the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him then Elisha said to the king of Israel what have I to do with you go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother the king of Israel said to him no for the Lord has called these three kings together to deliver them into the hand of Moab now this is the man Jawara you see what elijah does john has a need Ahura has a matter of international significance and joram wants to fetch prophetic a prophetic word with reference to the Moabite situation well i should as he want to hear him lashes more than content just to send him away he tells them very specifically fetch the gods of your father Ahab and your wicked mother Jezebel but here in Chapter four this nameless Widow gets an audience with the Living God this nameless Widow gets the ear of God most high when she is facing death and debt and she calls upon the Prophet the Prophet in verse two says what shall I do for you it's not just the big things that God is concerned about but he's concerned with the little things as well notice her inadequacy she only has one jar of oil the Prophet then says I want you to go get all the empty vessels that you can that you can get from your neighbors I want you to go into your house and start pouring the oil she does that and what does God do he multiplies the oil God is caring for this particular woman God is concerned for her in her need and notice the principle at the end there in verse seven at the end of verse seven it says she came and told the man of God and he said go sell the oil and pay your debt and you and your sons live on the rest this is an evident manifestation of that New Testament principle of Ephesians 3:20 that God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think she has a present need but God supplies such that she has present provision and enough for the future again an insignificant nameless woman a nobody as far as Israel is concerned and yet God the Lord through the prophet Elijah comes and ministers to her need no I'm not suggesting that when you're facing debt you're always going to have a prophet show up at your door and say go to your neighbors get their vessels and watch the oil flow I'm not suggesting that that's bad exegesis to rip things out of context and say well here it is health wealth and prosperity whenever you get vessels the Lord is going to cause the oil to flow I'm not going to make that application but I am going to encourage you with this reality that God is concerned even for the mundane things that affect Kingdom citizens in this world and I think there's a world of encouragement in that particular principle that God is concerned about our daily bread that God is concerned about our daily needs that God is concerned when his people are destitute that God is concerned for the widow that God is concerned for those in debt that the Lord most high can be entreated and the Lord Most High oftentimes brings great relief not only the relief for the immediate situation but relief for the future situation as well now note secondly the Shunammite son so large block of narrative will just break down the main points first the kindness of this woman she ministers to the prophet Elijah he is a man of God he is a faithful preacher of the word she sees this she recognizes this so she says to her husband let's build him in office let's put up bookshelves let's I'm just kidding this is the first instance of a pastor study it's a place for him the labor and the word and doctrine it's a place for him to rightly divide the word of truth it's a place for him to find relief and comfort and stuff and some degree of peace and blessing in an otherwise hostile world sure that things were not good for Elijah on the international level I mean he tells kings I don't want to talk to you he tells Kings to go and ask the false gods of of Ahab and Jezebel I'm not the I'm absolutely convinced that the powers that be were always looking upon Elijah favorably so this shooter might woman extends kindness and goodness and mercy to him and then Elijah wants to pay it back not quid pro quo not in some sort of a divine transaction but he wants to do her a solid he wants to do something kind for her and she says no I'm good I'm fine everything's all right I'm gonna remain here with my people now note jaha's e makes the observation that she is childless she does not have a child notice in verse 4 of 14 what then is to be done for her this is Elijah to gauzy the house II answered actually she has no son in and her husband is all so he said call her when he had called her she stood in the doorway then he said about this time next year you shall embrace a son now this is intriguing because it's not an isolated situation in the Bible there is a sort of conspicuous motif of the barren woman who has given a child by God there are a series of barren women in the Bible who are given a child by God and just a few to remind you in Scripture you have the case of Sarah the language that is used here is the same sort of language used in Genesis 18 you have the situation concerning Rebecca she was 20 years barren until pregnant you have the situation facing Rachel you have the situation facing mrs. manoa we don't know her first name so we'll call her mrs. manoa the mother of Samson you have the situation facing Hannah you see this biblical motif the previously barren woman is visited is visited by God and given children and then of course you have Elizabeth in Luke chapter 1 now there is a notable difference between those barren women that were given children and this barren woman that was given a child those other barren women who gave birth to children gave birth to significant children in other words they were man that would rise up and do significant things in the kingdom of God basically you have Isaac and Jacob they are necessary for the preservation of the covenant people Joseph preserves Israel in Egypt these are all the children that gain as a result of this barren woman that got pregnant motif then you have Samson who effectively judged Israel samuel who say hannah gave birth to was a prophet and a kingmaker and then John the Baptist announced the savior the Lord Jesus Christ but what if this shunammite woman her son doesn't do anything significant for the kingdom at least that's recorded we could have done some great things but it's just not recorded yet what's the point what do we learn from God here sometimes he just does nice things for people there's no end game there's no deliverance for Israel as a result there's no Samson slaying Philistines on the field of battle God returns the favor of this Shunammite woman by giving her a child Robert alter says this is also the only Annunciation that does not lead to the birth of someone destined to play a significant role in the national story the boy is never named and he remained no more than the son of a prosperous farmer Davis says what's the point in other words why this large block of narrative now certainly there's theological lessons to be gleaned and certainly there is the demonstration of Elijah's faithfulness and things that we learn therein but when Davis asks or Davis says what's the point he says that sometimes Yahweh gives such a gift not because he will fulfill some great redemptive historical function but simply because he wants to make a woman happy with a child sometimes it's far simpler than he imagined I would God do this I could see us you know in the drawing board scratching our heads what was he gonna go maybe it's just because God's nice when I say nice I don't mean nice the way men are nice you know that's kind of an anemic word I'm nice it sounds kind of weird when we say it like that God's kind he's good this son of the Sheena mite underscores that reality very very beautifully the notice the story takes a turn the son dies it's intriguing isn't it God gives a gift and that gift dice and see the health wealth prosperity gospel really is wrong I mean if ever there was a boy destined to not get sick if ever there was a boy destined to be healthy at wealthy and wise if ever there was a boy destined to always have the smile in favor of God it would be this boy but it's not the case brethren the boy dies he says verse 19 my head my head so the father tells the servant carrion to his mother verse 20 when he had taken him and brought him to his mother he sat on her knees till noon and then died and she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God shut the door upon him and went out and she called to her husband and said please send me one of the young men and one of the donkeys that I may run to the man of God and come back see again I think we see in all of this her faith in the Living God her faith in Yahweh of Israel her recourse not to the mortuary not to make the particular arrangements but she puts the child back up in his room and then she fetches the man of God perhaps she had heard of the widow at Zarephath perhaps she had heard of the Ministry of Elijah the Prophet perhaps she had known that she's going to step out in faith hoping that Yahweh would indeed resurrect her son and restore him to life and bring him back to her so she goes she meets with Ghazi Elijah says to Ghazi I want you to talk to her when she says it as well I don't think she's lying to Ghazi I think the point is she doesn't want to talk to Ghazi she doesn't want to deal with Ghazi she wants the man of God she wants Elijah the Prophet and intriguing as well is verse 27 notice verse 27 now when she came to the man of God at the hill she caught him by the feet but Ghazi came near to push her away but the man of God said let her alone for her soul is in deep distress and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me it's an intriguing statement the prophet of God is not omniscient the prophet of God only knows what God gives him to know the prophet of God doesn't know a twosie with reference to the life of Israel's problems or the problems of Israel's life he doesn't know these things and instead of acting in a in an inconspicuous way rather in a in an uninformed way he says let her alone God hasn't revealed this to me I need to determine what the situation is before I can act and there is a great principle again the whole story isn't about this principle but it certainly principle the church needs to listen to we need to get the facts before we make application we need to understand a situation before we can speak to it the proverbs are clear the first to plead his cause seems right till his neighbor comes and examines it proverbs are clear that you know for a man to answer a matter before he hears that it's foolishness - and it's rash Nats Elijah needs the facts he needs the data he needs the information before he can prescribe a course of action and that is precisely what is in view verse 28 I think we get something of her distress and of her grief did I not did I ask a son of my lord did I not say do not deceive me you see the people of God cry out with agony and the prophets of God don't rebuke them you see that in Elijah when he heals the raises the son of the woman at Zarephath you see this sort of a thing when the people of God expressed their sorrows and they express their grief the prophets don't upgrade them the prophets join them in expressing that grief back to God it's a beautiful and a wonderful thing they don't just tell them buck up they don't just tell them you need to get better they don't just tell them everything's gonna be alright they enter into the trenches and they agonize with those who agonize so then he tells gauzy to go to take the staff this isn't magic it's not hocus-pocus it's prophetic act it's prophetic parable it's its symbolism but anyways he tells Ghazi to take the staff and to go and to lay it on the dead boy now notice specifically we see Elijah's inadequacy I only point that out because that's the foil for Yahweh's adequacy note his inadequacy he sends Ghazi with a staff as well he doesn't have all the knowledge according to verse 27 now he remedies that in verses 33 to 35 look at what happens look at what goes on verse 32 when Elijah came in the house there was the child lying dead on his bed he went in there for shut the door behind the two men and prayed to the Lord so the staff was ill informed he didn't have all of the knowledge he sent to hasi on this particular mission and it didn't work so what's a prophet to do he's to call upon Yahweh he is to go to the source of power and healing he is to go to Almighty God I'm not suggesting that he didn't before I'm simply suggesting that this is underscored in the tax the staff did not work what works is prayer what works is calling upon God I don't mean works in a pragmatic sense put in your you know your prophet pennies and out comes your blessing that whole motif or that whole idea is is absolutely destroyed in this particular passage we see he doesn't uh heal the boy on the first go-round it's not the case that a woman has a need she puts under prophetic penny and out comes her prophetic blessing that's not the way it works but Elijah turns unto the Lord and he gave or to NAT prayer and then verses 34 and 35 he goes he lays upon the boy again this is acted parable it's prophetic symbolism there's no power no magic he doesn't have sort of electricity flowing in his body and some you know superstellar way and he lays upon the boy and there's some transfer no it's simply a prophetic image it is symbolism he lays upon the boy he's prayerful to the Lord and the Lord restores the life of the son and before we leave this particular miracle let us all learn something of this shunammite woman in verse 37 so she went in fell at his feet and bowed to the ground then she picked up her son and went out now I think the picking up of her son and going out is pretty simple to understand her son who was dead is now alive her son who was dead is now breathing her son who his dad has sneezed seven times after having been dead but it's what she does before this that I think as the people of God we need to be mindful of so she went in fell at his feet and bowed to the ground what does that suggest to us I would submit that it suggests thankfulness gratitude Thank You Elijah for intervening in my particular situation thank you ultimately to God for raising my dead son gratitude is something pressed upon the new covenant believer in a whole host of places we are to be a thankful people remember that incident in Luke's Gospel where Jesus heals the lepers and only one comes back to say thank you Jesus notices that I'm not saying Jesus is up there watching you if you don't say thank you for that mm you're gonna get it I'm not suggesting that necessarily but Jesus says didn't I heal more and yet there's only one who comes back to bring glory to God brethren with the abundance of blessings that you and I have received it can sort of become routine it can sort of become old hat we have never lived in a situation where we can't walk upstairs and put a glass under the tap and fill it with water we have never lived in a situation where we have been without food we have never lived in a situation where there's not price mark or superstore or Walmart I mean our biggest complaint is that there's their Walmart and the next town over is bigger than ours how much bigger Walmart's can we possibly have we don't want to drive all the way to abbotsford to costco they need to put a Costco in Chilliwack I mean there's property there's land I don't know what what they're dragging their feet from I don't like those crowds it at Costco on on a Monday morning it's just terrible it really is and just illustrating the point here we've never been without so when we have been in a day inundated and blessed upon blessed and upon blessed we forget to be thankful we've just lived with our hand out and God has continued to fill it and we say thank you anymore we don't express gratitude you see this in our prayer closets you see it in the public prayer meeting I'm not suggesting I'm listening for this all the time but when we run right to God and ask for things and we don't spend a time we spend a bit of time with adoration first you know that acronym acts really is effective and adoration heads up the list contrition thankfulness all those things that ought to be typical in the lives of God's people when they come to the throne of grace so just examine yourselves on my normal basis now you know I've said before if you fall down a whale well and your foot is wrapped up in the Rope bucket and you're hanging there it's okay to just say God deliver me from this well but that's acceptable but in your normal ordinary prayer lies what is the first matter of business God give me or God thank you for having given me adoration brethren thankfulness and gratitude this woman displays it now note thirdly this purification of stew the situation presents itself he returns to Gilgal and there was a famine in the land now that's never good news in the biblical narrative famine in the land probably doesn't mean just in Gilgal famine in the land probably means Israel wide famine in the land is indicative of God's judgment famine in the land was promised by the Lord in Leviticus 26 in Deuteronomy 28 for when Israel went whoring from God when they rejected him when they rebelled against him when they did what hosea describes they had forgotten him so God would impose famine conditions there would be drought there would be no food there would not not be that sort of daily provision and so were met with that particular situation notice Silesia returns to Gilgal there was a famine in the land now the sons of the prophets were sitting before him and he said to his servant put on the large pot boil stew for the sons of the it's these schools of the prophets were founded by Elijah and this gathering together was probably for mutual edification for exhortation for encouragement and of course for a nice big pot of stew and so Elijah tells the man to put on the stew pot verse 39 so one went out into the field to gather herbs and found a wild vine and gathered from it a lap full of wild gourds and came and sliced them into the pot of stew though they did not know what they were now most likely this was a particular plant a particular type of gourd which produced a small yellow melon that acted as a very strong laxative and a large quantity could be fatal matthew henry makes this observation on verse 39 I think it's perceptive the sons of the prophets it seems were better skilled in divinity than in natural philosophy and read their Bibles more than their herbals this fellow didn't know what he had fetched and he didn't know what he was throwing in the stew pot he didn't know that it would provide death no the lesson here isn't make sure you have a guide when you go out to pick gourds so you know what manner of food you can put into your pot the underscore or the underlying lesson is that God oftentimes overrules even foolishness on the part of his people that God provides a way that this stew doesn't kill them shows us that even in the midst of the Prophet who goes out and finds some you know renegade Gordon Chuck's it into the stew pot that should realistically kill everybody who ingests it God nevertheless overrules that and God nevertheless provides for them a delicious bowl of stew that would not end in their death now with reference to the flour that's not magic flour something you got to learn about the prophets in the Old Testament they were not magicians they were not you know full of sort of implements that that help them advance Yahweh's cause a lot of the things that they did were simply symbol they were earthy representations very similar to baptism and the supper you see God is not a gnostic God is concerned for his people and he knows that more often than not physical things help help us to learn spiritual lessons so there was no magic within the flower it was simply symbolic of the fact that God is taking care of the stew for these people and then notice the last statement of verse 41 and there was nothing harmful in the pot praise God for His goodness to his soup eating prophets finally note the provision for 100 men verses 42 to 44 this first statement in verse 42 is actually an encouraging word if the famine of verse 38 alerts us to bad things in Israel the fact that there was a man who came from bale Silesia and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits that's encouraging it tells us that not every Israelite had gone the way they have jezebel bale and the calves it tells us that there were faithful ones still in Israel because this man from bale shelita takes his first fruits and he brings them to the man of God he had to bypass probably a lot of idolatrous locations for idolatrous worship he had to travel and traverse renegade territory with reference to this particular mission so he comes he brings this food to Elisha and then Elisha says at the end of verse 42 give it to the people that they may eat now it's simple mathematics according to this man in verse 43 but his servant said what what shall I set this before one hundred men how in the world are we all going to eat and like the disciples when the Lord Jesus says what do we have in terms of vittles what do we have in terms of food what do we have in terms of the ability to feed these people the Lord we only have a few loaves and a few fish and Jesus says I want you to distribute it I want you to pass it out I want you to make sure that everybody each and everybody is satisfied we certainly see Jesus and Elijah here don't we I think we see a lot is in Elijah all throughout this particular section but conspicuously because Jesus on two occasions fed a great number of people with a very little bit of food he did it to 5000 people he did it to 4,000 people and Elijah the Prophet is going to do it with Andhra people and so he tells the man verse 43 give it to the people that they may eat for thus says the Lord see this is the power this is the emphasis this is the means by which miracles are accomplished because Yahweh has said they shall eat and have some left over so he said it before them and they ate and had some left over again punctuated by that statement the end of verse 44 and according to the word of the Lord so those are four somewhat simple miracles simple in terms of the ability to understand them difficult if man was called upon to multiply oil and raise a dead son and you know get the stewpot clean or get the the stew itself clean so that there's not death in the pot and provide for all these people but for God it's a simple act and for God it is a demonstration of his mercy in the Ministry of Elijah just a couple of observations with reference to these miracles in the first place the Lord is not only concerned with the big stuff affecting nations but also with the small stuff of everyday life death debt drought disease difficulty God is concerned for those particular things again he's not always gonna meet your needs in the same way that he met these needs he's not a formulaic God he's not Bale he's not entreated the way Bale was if you did enough on the ground then bail would reign upon the earth and the way that bail was entreated was through fornication it was through copulation the worshipers would engage in fornication and with that hopefully primed the pump so that bail would engage in likewise Kondo with one of his consorts and as a result he would then bring rain upon the earth it was a formulaic God you put in the particular coin you pull the handle and out pops your blessings God is not that way we cannot manipulate him we cannot make him perform we cannot make him do anything he is free he is sovereign he is omnipotent but we can certainly see in 2nd Kings chapter 4 sort of his tendencies can't we we can sort of see his character we can sort of see that he is for not only putting down a Moabite rebellion in second Kings 3 but he's also for feeding a destitute woman and keeping her sons out of slavery he's also for raising a dead son so that a Shunammite woman can be happy he's also for making sure his profits don't ingest poison rather than a good bowl of soup and he's also for providing for many with a few provisions I submit that this appreciation that God is not only concerned with the bag but also with the small goes a long way for the people of God as an antidote against worry an antidote against worry I think we're given to carnal anxiety or worry Matthew chapter 6 isn't Jesus used little things to comfort his people doesn't Jesus use the insignificant to call his people to not engage in worry doesn't he say look at the birds look at the lilies look at the things around you if God feeds the one and he closed the other is he gonna let you Kingdom citizen die this is an antidote to worry it's also an antidote to fear we are not to fear the creditors we're supposed to be responsible and pay our debts brethren but we're not supposed to fear creditors we're not supposed to fear the various things that plague us on this earth we are to fear God we are to fear the Lord secondly the Lord is not only concerned with and sometimes he's not in the case of Elijah in Chapter three but he's also concerned with no bodies a nameless Widow a nameless shunammite nameless prophets and a nameless 100 men I think that's good news as well isn't it I think it's typical or symptomatic of the Christian believer to say well well I'm not Paul so God's not gonna hear my requests I'm not Spurgeon so God's not going to bless this sermon I'm not Amy Carmichael so you know I'm just some regular woman just some housewife so you know God is for the nobodies apparently in this passage God is Pro nameless people and God gives us this evidence by giving them what they needed thirdly the Lord is not only concerned with the direct advancement of his kingdom but he delights in showing kindness in the midst of the kingdom you can see how even the stewpot advances the kingdom the prophets all died the kingdom doesn't have the Word of God so even in that sort of insignificant thing we see kingdom advancement we don't really see kingdom advancement with the widow and a royal and her two sons and we really don't see kingdom advancement with reference to this shoot of mine sometimes God just does good things for people isn't that something we you know I think that's at least for me if things are going well I'm maybe it was my Roman Catholic upbringing I'm always waiting for the Whammy to come you know I'm always waiting - well why are good things happening I'm gonna fall I'm gonna fail I'm gonna you know get hammered know just enjoy the good remember many years ago and the boys were little we're standing outside or at Six Flags Magic Mountain and we're about to ride this roller coaster called Goliath and as the name would suggest it's a monster it's a beast that first Hill is you know it's even more than you know vertical and I think was Mike I said you ever think God puts us up in positions like this cuz he's gonna smoke us and he meant by that we're gonna cry you know fall off and die on Goliath not a great thing to muse on right before you get a step onto this thang but but I think that certain people are like that I blame Roman Catholicism in my upbringing is this this this constant fear that God is only doing good things so that he can get me and hopefully graduating from that thought process as I live and move and have my being but we ought to just thank God that he does good things that he's just kind why is it that he gave you this you know promotion and and this responsible me because he likes me okay it's just good Yahweh is good Scriptures underscore that over and over again Yahweh is good but she says about Iceland and in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe he's not tame but he's good that's our God God is good sometimes he just gives widows oil and he gives women children we see as well the Lord not only grants grace in the provision of food but he does so in and exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think manner in both instances where things are multiplied it's not only for the present situation but it's for the future provision when the woman fills up her containers it meets her immediate need and she has enough for the future when these prophets eat or when these hundred men eat this bread from the man from bale selicia they not only fill their belly for the present but they have leftover stored up for the future that is God's tendency and then as well we ought to learn and appreciate with reference to the Ministry of Elijah the Lord not only rules his people from on high but he sends his prophets to mingle to mix to run amongst them and to be a source or a conduit of God's blessing for the people in God's kingdom so those are some lessons concerning the miracles I just want to end on the typical significance of the prophet Elijah I mean when we compare say 2nd Kings for and five to the Ministry of Jesus say Matthew chapters 8 and 9 after his instruction and his teaching and his declaration on the Sermon on the Mount Jesus then shows forth his power his majesty and his excellence by going about doing good by being a miracle worker among the people again to advance the kingdom to confirm who he is to demonstrate what he's about so you look at Elisha you ought to think Jesus when you look at Elisha in second games you ought to consider the Lord Christ even the resurrecting power that our Lord Jesus possesses remember we saw that this morning at the death of Christ the graves were opened three days later the bodies or many bodies of the Saints were raised up and then they went into the holy city and appeared to many Jesus is powerful Jesus has victory over the grave and over death well Elijah even manifests that when Elijah is dead he is buried in a particular tomb and there's an instance in 2nd Kings chapter 13 where a man is lowered into that tomb a dead body and that dead body coming into contact with Elijah lives it's really amazing again Elijah is typical of our Lord Jesus but there's one thing Elijah doesn't do that Jesus does do Elijah can point sinners to Israel's God he does that in 2nd Kings chapter 5 he not only heals the the man name and from his leprosy but namin is healed by the grace of God and becomes a Confessor of Yahweh so Elijah's typical significance is consistent across the board except in the one peculiar trait that is only our savior's it is he who will save his people from their sins so let Elijah point you to Christ let these types and shadows show forth Jesus as a miracle worker and one who does good but realize it's Christ alone who saves it's Christ alone who forgives it's Christ alone who he the soul its Christ alone through his life his death his resurrection that brings the forgiveness of sins its Christ alone in which or through whom which we have forgiveness even redemption through his blood so if you are not a believer tonight its Christ to whom you must look Elijah is a dazzling prophet Elijah is a wonderful human being but Elijah cannot save you from your sins only Elijah's Savior even the Lord Jesus can do that well let us pray our Father we thank you for your word and we thank you for Jesus in the Old Testament and we thank you for Jesus in the New Testament and Jesus now in throne at the right hand of the majesty of God on AI and we thank you that he ever lives to make intercession for us and we thank you that he saves sinners even now as they come to him in faith we thank you for his current session and we look forward to his return again and glory to judge the living in the dead may it be the case that all of us tonight would be clothed in his righteousness that all of us tonight would be looking to him in faith that all of us would know the forgiveness of sins and that righteousness that does avail with you go with us watch over us help us to have a good week to glorify to honor you and help us to be a thankful people that express adoration and and gratitude to the living in the true God we ask these things through Christ Jesus our Lord amen we'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed