Lessons About Life of Obedience and Giving

Prayer for Divine Teaching and the Purpose of Scripture

0:02 In the light of our study this morning, the Apostle could say to the Thessalonians, you have no need that I write unto you concerning the subject of brotherly love for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another. Let us pause for a moment of prayer that we shall not merely be taught of men hearing the words of the preacher, that we shall in our deep heart of hearts be taught of God by the Holy Spirit through the ministry of the Word. Let us unite in prayer to this end. Our Father, we acknowledge again

0:45 that there is a world of difference, yea, an eternity of difference between merely being taught of men and being taught of Thee through men.

0:56 And so as we come now to consider this portion of Your Word, we plead from the depths of our hearts, that the Spirit of God, my Teacher be, showing the things of Christ, to me, O Lord, speak with that voice that has no lack of speak, we pray, and give us grace to run the way of Thy commandments when You shall enlarge our hearts. Hear us in this our prayer, through Christ our Lord. Amen. As we find ourselves involved in some of the details of the life of the prophet Elijah,

1:42 let us never forget that God's dealings with him in some of these rather unusual circumstances of life were all of us. They were all part and parcel of God's preparation of His servant to be the instrument through which He would bring about the vindication of His name and His character before the people of Israel. In a very real sense, all of these situations, by the brook Kirith, with the widow of Zarephath, with the dying child, are but God's preparation for the conquest of Mount Carmel. But because God has recorded these facets of the prophet's life and experience what we might say the common, everyday, mundane situations of his life,

2:26 they are here for our prophet. And I hold before you again the text with which I've introduced our study the past few nights, the passage in 2 Timothy in which the apostle declares that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Some portions the doctrine is clear, when we come to a text of scripture that says by grace are ye saved through faith, that's an explicit statement of doctrine. We may find statements of doctrine, but when we read what we call the historical sections, the biographical sections,

3:10 the doctrine is there clothed in the flesh and blood of the relationship of men to men and men to things and men to circumstances, but the doctrine is there. And it is our responsibility, our responsibility to dig out the doctrine. In some places the correction is very explicit when scripture says let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you. That kind of correction is very explicit.

3:38 In these biographical sections the correction will not be explicit, it is implicit, it is there, but it must be dug out. And so I hope that as we study this portion for the doctrine, for the reproof, for the correction, for instruction in the way of righteousness, we are not only receiving some immediate blessing from the text, but I trust perhaps we are learning more how we should study these portions to dig out the doctrine that is there, to dig out the reproof, the correction, and the instruction. We are presently considering the prophet as he is now found with the widow of Zarephath, God's instrument of provision at this point in the history of the prophet's life.

Review of Lessons on God and Faith from Elijah's Story

4:20 Last week we read the paragraph and considered, first of all, some of the lessons we learn about God himself in this particular paragraph, verses 8 through 16. And we saw that in this there is a tremendous statement of the absolute sovereignty of God. We saw that we have a statement of the trustworthiness of God, of the fearful judgments of God, and the inscrutability of the ways of God. And then we closed our study by considering some of the lessons about the life of faith that are found in this paragraph.

4:53 Faith must be tested and tried in order to grow. Prophet, if he is to believe God, that tremendous conquest on Carmel must come to Carmel a man strong in faith. And just as the muscles of an athlete are made strong for the contest over the long months and weeks of day by day training, so whenever one of God's servants rises to the occasion of a conquest of faith, it is because there have been many little disciplines of faith along the way. And so in this paragraph we see the Lord testing the faith of the prophet as he tests our faith in order that it may grow and be strengthened.

5:34 And then we saw under the heading of the life of faith, faith must have a word from God to plead.

5:42 Elijah had this word from God to plead, I will sustain thee there with the widow. And this woman, this widow woman, had a word from God through the mouth of the prophet, the cruise of oil shall not fail, nor the barrel of meal. And she could believe God because she had a promise from God. And in the last place we saw that faith must be exercised in the path of obedience.

6:06 These promises which faith pleaded before God were pleaded while the feet were planted in the path of obedience. And when you try to plead a promise in some by-path of your own choosing, you're guilty of the grossest form of presumption. And many people say it doesn't work. God just doesn't.

6:26 Fulfill his promises for me. Well, that's tantamount to blasphemy. What you mean is you're trying to plead the promise in a course of disobedience and you're abusing the promise rather than pleading it. Now, there are two other areas in which there are some tremendous doctrines and particularly some instruction in the path of right living in this paragraph, namely some lessons about the life of obedience and some lessons about the life of giving.

The Biblical Context of Obedience

6:54 First of all, then, what lessons are there in this paragraph about the life of obedience? As we consider the subject of obedience as Christians, we must always set it in its proper biblical context. Without faith, it is impossible to please God, Hebrews 11, 6. So then, any obedience which we speak about as the fruit of the Christian life, as a part of the Christian life, it's always assumed that that obedience has its roots in faith.

7:28 Faith, it is impossible to please God. And any semblance of obedience that isn't rooted in faith in Jesus Christ is just dressed-up sin. That's all it is. Faith is always the mother of obedience and she is never childless.

7:47 True faith is never barren. True faith is never childless. She always has her children. And one of those children is obedience.

7:56 So then, our Lord describes his own people as those who hear his voice and who follow. And he says, Obedience that springs from a motive of love that is rooted in the free forgiveness of God. Now, it's that obedience that I'm speaking about tonight. Not an obedience by which we gain the favor of God, but an obedience that springs from having received his favor through his grace.

Examples of Implicit Obedience to Divine Authority

8:21 Now, will you notice these two incidents of obedience in this paragraph. Verses 9 and 10. The Lord says to the prophet, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth, to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to sustain thee.

8:40 So, to Zarephath. Beautiful simplicity.

8:54 To Zarephath. This is the principle of obedience as seen in the life of the widow woman. Down in verses 13 and 15. And Elijah said unto her, Fear not, and do as thou hast said, but take me thereof a little cake, and bring it forth unto me, and afterward make for thee and for thy son.

9:16 Verse 15. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. Two examples.

9:26 Implicit obedience to the revealed will of God. Elijah had a direct word from God. And the word of Jehovah came unto the prophet saying, Arise and go. He obeyed.

9:40 Had what we would call an indirect word. The prophet was the mouthpiece of God. So when he spoke, he spoke with divine authority. So in both cases this obedience was directed by a word of divine authority.

9:56 In one case directly from the Lord, the other case indirectly through his prophet. But in both cases, this obedience, and the only obedience which I'm speaking about, is obedience which is directed by a word of divine authority. No one has any right to bind the conscience of a Christian to any word, but the word of the living God. Tradition does not bind the conscience of a Christian.

10:26 Don't you ever let any preacher, this one included, bind your conscience with anything but scripture. Don't you let any loved one, any person, bind your conscience with anything but scripture. But once the voice of divine authority speaks, you had better allow your conscience to be bound. For that's the living proof that you are a child of God.

10:47 For every true Christian says, at least in some measure, with Martin Luther, my conscience, is held captive to the word of God. A man whose conscience is captive to the word of God, coming directly from the Lord. Here's a woman whose conscience is held captive to the word of the Lord coming through his prophet. Now will you notice at least three characteristics of the obedience of the prophet and the obedience of this widow.

Characteristic 1: Immediate Obedience

11:14 And I believe God has put this example here that we might be corrected, that we might be instructed in the way of righteousness. Well, you notice in the first place there's every indication that the obedience of Elijah and the widow was immediate. The indication of procrastination. Once the mind of God was known, as Elijah watched that brook dry up, he was not going to move till God spoke.

11:45 He that believeth, scripture says, shall not make haste. He that hasteth with his feet sinneth, we read in the Proverbs. So Elijah was not going to scheme. He wasn't going to make up his own message from the Lord.

11:57 No, he waited by a drying brook. But verse eight says, and the word of the Lord came to him. And verse nine gives us the record of that word. And verse ten indicates, so he arose.

12:13 And as long as the heavens were brass, there was no clear directive. He waits. He's not going to run. He's not going to frit about.

12:20 He's not going to try to help God and scheme and plan. But once God speaks, he leaps, he leaps to obedience. We have the same mood and feeling as we read the account of the woman. She's already parted from Elijah.

12:34 Apparently he saw her from a distance and he said to her, woman, go fetch me a little water, he says he called to her, the indication being she was off at least a few feet or a few yards away, and as she starts to the house to obey, he calls again and gives her a clear command. Go make a little cake for me first. And it says she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, obedience. And I submit to you that any thing less than immediate obedience is really disobedience.

13:06 Delayed obedience is the psalmist said in Psalm 119 and verses 59 and 60. I thought on my ways and turned my feet unto thy statutes, I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commands. Now, let me elaborate on this. What happens to us?

13:30 The word of the Lord comes to us, giving us some directive in some area of our own lives and experience. It may not be as it was with the prophet concerning geographical guidance or material provision, but it's a word of divine authority, that's the principle in this passage. When a word of divine authority comes, whether it comes putting its finger upon a sin saying, deal with that, whether it comes dealing with a course of obedience into which we're to walk, some practice or virtue of the Christian life that we've neglected and God says, do this, what do we do? Well, if we're the children of God, we can't with a high hand say, God says something.

14:11 So what? Can't just sweep it aside with a high hand. Our Christian conscience won't let us do that. But what do we do?

14:19 We say, well, Lord, I thank you for speaking to me about that issue. Now, that's your word and it's speaking to me. But Lord, manana, tomorrow. In other words, what we're doing is we're maintaining the semblance of submission while maintaining the attitude.

14:39 Of stubbornness and rebellion. And that what we're doing if we don't give to God immediate obedience when he speaks to us, we're saying, yes, that's a word of divine authority. But waiting circumstances which keep me from obeying it. Oh, I don't mean to just as it were, clamp my hand over your mouth and say, shut up, Lord, don't talk to me about that.

15:04 No, we wouldn't have the gall to do that. Maybe some of us would, some of us wouldn't. And so what they say is, all right, Lord, you've spoken. But.

15:15 No, not so the psalmist, but the psalmist recognized the principle that because of the corruption of the human heart and the remains of sin within, if we do not immediately run in the way that God has spoken about, if we do not move our feet into that area where God has lined out his will for us, then the conscience by degrees becomes insensitive until finally we can almost forget what the Lord has said to us. The psalmist, the psalmist, the psalmist, the psalmist pierced us in a Sunday school class.

15:54 A word has come from the Lord, either directly as we've been reading his word or as the word has been read or indirectly as one of his servants has been expounding that word. And God has nailed an issue in our lives. And we said, Lord, I've got to do something about that tomorrow. Augustine said when he was keeping his concubine in his conscience, terrified him.

16:20 Lord, deliver me from this. Now, sometime later, principle of obedience, that the obedience that marked the life of the prophet and in a real sense, from the human standpoint, secured the continued blessing of God upon his head. And likewise with the widow was that obedience that was immediate. And then in the second place, notice that the obedience was apparently unquestioned.

Characteristic 2: Unquestioned Obedience

16:52 In both cases, the commands were strained. They involved personal self-denial with the prophet, the command, as we saw last week, meant that he had to traverse at least one hundred and twenty miles of howling wilderness and mountain passes. He had to go into Sidon, the very place where Jezebel's father ruled as a king, had to expose himself to all those dangers. The command of the Lord through the prophet to the widow meant that she had to take the last remaining bit of sustenance that stood between her and her son and absolute destitution of anything, the last handful of meal and the last few drops of oil.

17:31 And he says, give it to me first, a very cruel, on the surface, a very cruel command. And yet there's every indication that the obedience they rendered was not only immediate, but it was unquestioned. No indication that Elijah questioned. The word of the Lord came, said, go to Zarephath, and so he went.

17:50 The word of the Lord came and said, make for me first, and so she did. This kind of obedience is rooted in the clear conviction of the character of God as a God of love, wisdom, and faithfulness.

18:08 How did this woman know about Elijah's God? I don't know. But when she saw him there at the gate, notice what she said. Verse 12, as Jehovah God liveth.

18:19 No indication he'd even carried on a conversation with her. He just yelled to her from a little bit of a distance. Notice. And I believe the Spirit of God has put these little words here to try to give us a somewhat accurate picture of the situation.

18:33 Verse 10, he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, a woman was gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, Fetch me, I pray thee. Don't you get the picture that she's off a little at a distance?

18:43 And he calls to her, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water. And she says, Is the Lord thy God? How did she know that he was a servant of God and a prophet? I don't know. Bible doesn't tell me, but she knew it.

18:55 I've got a sneaking suspicion that the way she knew is that the reputation of this fellow, when the heavens have been shut up now for at least a year, had gone out through that whole area. And when people ask, Well, how come this drought? And being in the area that had some relatives down there, Jezebel's father, no doubt the word had gone out into this whole area. That's my own conjecture.

19:16 And they said, Well, who is this prophet? They were tracking him down. And they said, You can always tell him he's a wild looking fellow. He's a hippie looking kind of a fellow.

19:25 Bushy hair, camels, camel's skin, garb around him, hairy man. And perhaps just his peculiar physical appearance. She said, This is the prophet of God. Maybe there was the look of authority in his eyes, the sound of authority, his voice.

19:42 I don't know. But she recognized that this was the prophet of God. And there seemed to see at least some elementary factors of faith in this woman. She said, As the Lord thy God liveth.

19:55 She didn't call him her God, but she knew that his God was alive. And those shut up heavens and those parched lands, her near starving son, were proof that this man's God was alive. Because he had said, As the Lord God liveth, before I stand, no rain. And there had been no rain.

20:11 She got the message. That man's God was alive. And if he's alive and he speaks in the name of that God. Remember, he did speak in the name of God to her.

20:21 He said in verse 14, For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel. She reasoned that God's worthy to be trusted, worthy to be obeyed. And so she rendered unquestioned obedience and she went in and she took the last remaining sustenance that she had and made, first of all, a cake for the prophet.

20:43 Isn't it true of us that when the path of obedience is marked out for us so often, the first thing we do when we see that that path involves difficulties, instead of focusing our minds upon the character of the God who marks out the path, we begin to ask questions. Why that path? Isn't that the question we ask? We look at the path and say, why this path?

21:09 Doesn't seem, oh, listen to me. The reason the prostrate obedience was that when God said, there's the path for you, my servant, there's the other path, he didn't look at the path and say, why that path? He looked up and said, who is the God who commands me? He's the God of love, concerned for his children, the God of omnipotence, the God of power, so that as I walk in that path, that God sustained me.

21:40 He was preoccupied with the God who marked the path, not with the difficulty of the path that God marked. There's all the difference in the world, all the difference in the world. And it's only that that will enable us to render unquestioned. Obedience, this is seen so beautifully in the life of Abraham.

22:02 And since it's in the context of this whole matter of unquestioned obedience, as it involves faith in the character of God. Notice what it says of Abraham in Hebrews 11 verses 17 to 19. By faith, Abraham, being tried, offered up. Isaac, God told him, offer up Isaac, thine only son whom thou lovest.

22:26 And he did it. Now, what? Processes of thought in the mind of Abraham as he walked up to that mountain to plunge the knife into the breast of his only son. Yea, he that gladly received the promises was offering up his only begotten son, even he to whom it was said in Isaac, shall thy seed be called, accounting that God is able to raise up even from the dead, from whence he did also in a figure receive him back.

22:58 You see, as he walked up that mountain, he was not preoccupied, why does God ask me to tread this path? No, God had said, that's the path. Take your son and kill him. So what does he do?

23:09 He fools his mind with thoughts about the God who marked that path. And he says, if God tells me to walk that path, he's able to raise up my son. If that's what he needs to do, hallelujah, he can do it. So when the path of obedience looks difficult, child of God, fill your mind, not with thoughts of the difficulty of the path, but with the greatness of the God who's marked it.

23:33 You see, he's the God who's redeemed me. Could he ever mark a path with a hand of hate, of cruelty, the one before whom not a sparrow falls without his concern and knowledge. And so if we would render unquestioned obedience, as did the prophet and as did this woman, we must fill our minds with thoughts of the character of our God. And then in the third place, I see another factor of their obedience.

Characteristic 3: Complete Obedience (vs. Partial Obedience)

24:11 It was not only immediate, unquestioned, but Elijah didn't get three quarters of the way to Zarephath and then get cold feet. He went straight on to Zarephath. And this woman didn't say, well, I'll split it up half and half and give to the prophet maybe half of what's remaining. The implication seems to be that she took her remaining meal and remaining oil and used it all up for the prophet, complete obedience, complete obedience.

24:41 Again, just as delayed obedience is disobedience, so partial obedience is disobedience. And we render partial obedience for the same reason we render partial obedience for the same reason we render delayed obedience. We want to do enough of what God requires to salve the conscience. But you see, it's the remaining area of disobedience that is the real witness of the disposition of the heart when the will of God is made clearly known.

25:11 That is a revelation of our real character. And I want to show you a clear example of this. So that's not my speculation that makes this statement. In First Samuel, chapter 15, we have an example of the fact that the prophet

25:26 is of incomplete obedience, contrasting the obedience of the prophet and of this widow. And this example substantiates my statement that whenever there is incomplete obedience, what is left undone is an evidence of the basic disposition of the heart.

25:45 God's will is clearly revealed to Saul through the prophet Samuel. Notice the first couple of verses of First Samuel 15. Samuel said unto Saul, the Lord hath sent me to anoint you to be king over Israel. Verse 2, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way when he came up out of Egypt.

26:08 Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have and spare them not. Unless you don't understand what all means in this context. He says, let me get specific. Slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

26:28 Destroy everything that lives. So Saul gathers the people together. He goes down amongst the Amalekites. And what does he do?

26:36 Verse 7, And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah as thou goest to Shur that is before Egypt. And he took Agag, the king of the Amalekites, alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings and of the lamb. And all that was good and would not utterly destroy them.

27:00 But everything that was vile and refuse that they destroyed utterly. Now, the will of God was clear. Slay everything. The partial obedience was very clear.

27:11 They destroyed most everything, but spared the best both of men and of beasts. The word of the Lord comes to the prophet. Verse 10, The word of the Lord came to Jehovah, came to Samuel, saying, It repents me that I've set up Saul to be king, for he is turned back from following me. And he didn't say, and he has done half of what I said.

27:34 He said he hasn't performed my commandments. And so the next morning, Samuel goes out to meet the king. And what does the king say? Verse 13, Samuel came to Saul and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord.

27:57 How did God look upon it? You see, he looks what we'd call seven-eighths obedience at the essence of obedience. That will do. Now, how did God look upon it?

28:07 Verse 14, And Samuel said, What meaneth then the bleating of the sheep in mine ears and the lowing of the oxen, which I hear? And Saul said, Oh, they brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, etc. Now notice, Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I'll tell thee what the Lord has told me. Then he says, When you were small in your own eyes, etc., I raised you up.

28:30 Now notice verse 19. What does God charge Saul with? Wherefore, then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which is evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord.

28:46 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have done what he told me. Then anyway, then he goes on to say, Look, the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag the king, and I destroyed the Amalekites, but the people took of the spoil, etc.

29:06 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? And what was obeying? Doing everything that God said. Behold, to obey, that is to do everything he says, is better than sacrifice. Rebellion.

29:24 Obedience. Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and terrorism, because thou hast rejected the word of God. That's how God looks at you. Oh, what corruption in our hearts, beloved, that we rationalize like this prophet did, saying, Well, if God tells me these six things, if I do five, that's all that matters.

29:49 What we're saying is I can conveniently do the five, so I'll do them to salve my conscience. But it's that sixth thing that really makes demands upon me. And I'm not prepared to obey at personal cost. And it's that sparing of the sixth issue that reveals that the heart was corrupt in the performance of the five.

30:09 That's why God says to Saul, You've utterly rejected my word. You've utterly rejected it. Oh, the obedience of Elijah and this woman was obedience complete in terms of the revelation that God gave at that particular. He told us as his people with equal authority, Let all...

30:33 Let all bitterness and wrath and clamor and anger and evil speaking be put away from me. And we say, Lord, most of it. But I've got a right to keep a little bit for so-and-so.

30:46 No, you don't have a right to keep bitterness to anybody.

30:51 Well, I'll let all anger and bitter spirit and evil speaking be put away from before all my brethren in the Trinity Church. Because if they saw it, they might not think too much of me. And before my friends at work, because if they saw it, they might not think too much. But my wife and my kids, they can think it.

31:10 Who says? Let all bitterness and all evil. Isn't that what Scripture says? God says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth.

31:23 And one of the great problems we face as God's people is this whole matter of incomplete, partial obedience, which in the sight of God is the essence of rebellion to his revealed will. It is this kind of obedience that our blessed Lord rendered to the Father, and at times it cost him. In Gethsemane. In Gethsemane, the rendering of this kind of complete obedience cost him sweat drops of blood.

31:49 The idea that some say, well, if you're simply abiding in Christ, you'll just sort of find it easy to do all the Lord says. If anyone ever abode in perfect relationship to the Father, it was the Son of God. And yet doing the will of the Father brought him into the deepest kind of agony anyone has ever experienced. He sweat as it were great drops of blood.

32:09 And what was the context? Not my will, but thine. He had behind him a whole life of obedience.

32:18 Successive acts of obedience. And now the crowning act of obedience was going to the cross, there to bear the sins of men. The Lord Jesus said, Not my will, but thine be done. If you're a child of God, you won't walk long before you'll have some personal Gethsemanes.

32:37 There'll be times when to render complete obedience will cost you dearly. But the scripture says, He that saith he abideth in him ought himself so to walk. Even as he walked. It'll cost you intimate friends.

32:51 That's why Jesus said, He that loveth father, mother, brother, sister more than me is not worthy. If your obedience means the severing of the dearest ties, a child of God says, I must obey. My allegiance is to my Father and to my Savior. There are times it'll cost you lusts and passions and appetites as dears, right hands and right eyes.

33:14 And Christ said, Pluck them out. That's what the Lord asks of us. That's what we see illustrated in the life of the prophet. The life of the widow.

Lessons About the Life of Giving: Prioritizing God's Cause

33:27 Well, I hurry on now to touch briefly on the subject of the lessons about the life of giving. These are really two separate sermons. Neither one of which was complete in itself. And I hope to get all this in last week as sort of four little sermonettes all in one.

33:42 But let's look at the principles for they're here in the passage. And I could not with good conscience move on to the next paragraph and the instance of the dying son or the dead son without seeing the tremendous lesson about the life of giving. Now, as I mentioned the word giving, immediately you think of dollar signs. This is not a plea for money.

34:02 I'm talking about giving in the broader context, the whole principle of giving that underlies the entire Christian life. It applies to money, but it implies more to yourself. As we read in 2 Corinthians 8, 5, it says there that they gave themselves unto the Lord and then of their substance. Now, notice the narrative carefully.

34:26 Will you pick up the thread of thought? At verse 12, the prophet has said, please go in. He didn't even say please, did he? He just said, bring me, I pray thee.

34:34 Well, that's the way of saying please. Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And she said, as the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in the jar and a little oil in the cruise. Behold, I'm gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it for me and my son that we may eat it and die.

34:54 What she's saying is, oh prophet of God, I can't give you a little bit of bread because the only thing that stands between me and my son and death is a little handful of meal, a little bit of oil, and put together one little cake. There's death between my death and my son's death, this little bit of provision. Now the prophet's going to tell her to do something that on the surface I mentioned earlier seems absolutely cruel. Elijah said unto her, fear not.

35:24 Yeah, it's easy for him to say. He's been fed meat and bread morning and evening for a whole year. Probably fleshed out pretty good. May have lost a little weight coming across the desert, but he's been eating good.

35:36 He's been living high on the hog, as we'd say. For morning and evening, flesh and bread. Right in the middle of the drought, right by a nice cool stream. And now he says to this woman who's got just a little bit of meal and a little bit of oil standing between her in starvation and her son in starvation, fear not.

35:55 If she was like some of us, she'd say, yeah, that's good, pious talk for you, preacher. It doesn't work for me. Fear not. Fear not.

36:03 And do as thou hast said, that is, make something for your son, but make me thereof, there's the key to the whole principle, first and bring it forth unto me, and afterward make for thee and for thy son. Make for me first and afterward for thee and thy son. Now who was Elijah? Remember, he was the prophet of God.

36:32 And in a real sense, the representative of God, upon whom the vindication of the honor and glory of God rested at that point in the history of Israel. So in essence, he's saying, put the cause of Jehovah first, the cause of your own belly and the belly of your son. And then he gives her a wonderful promise. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, the jar of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.

37:07 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and she and he and her house did eat many days. Now I can't prove this because scripture doesn't state it very clearly. But the whole implication of this passage and then taking other portions where the principle of how God deals with men is brought into focus, my own conviction is this, I can't say the word clearly teaches it, this is conjecture. I throw it out for you to accept or reject.

37:33 That when she went back and took out the little handful of meal, it left that barrel empty. And when she emptied out that little bit of oil, that was it. And that as she made that cake, here was the issue. If I give this to the prophet, all that stands between me and my son's starvation is a bunch of words from the prophet.

37:59 But if I keep this for me and my son, I've got a little cake, but I can't claim those words because they all hinge upon this principle, make for me what? So here's the issue. Shall I have a little tangible supply that I can see and touch and then die? Or shall I give up what I can see and touch to lay hold of what cannot be seen and cannot be touched?

38:29 And it's my own conviction that it's when she faced that issue and said, all right, I'll give up what I can see, a little meal, a little oil, for a bunch of words, and I'll stake my life and the life of my son upon those words, that as she went to the prophet, then the Lord performed the miracle and when she came back, she saw some meal. My own feeling as to how it happened, at least it can fit without twisting. I'm not twisting anything here. And the principle, you see, that God was testing her faith and teaching her this principle of giving.

39:09 And what is that principle? Here it is. It's the principle of Matthew 6, 33. First, the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things.

39:28 It's the principle that Jesus enunciated again and again. He that would save his life shall lose it, but he that will lose his life for my sake in the Gospels, shall save David. It's the principle that God is ever and again bringing His children to the place where He strips them of every tangible means of resting and of comfort and supply. For what purpose?

39:51 That they might prove His word. As long as she had a little bit of meal left, she couldn't prove the word of the prophet. She had to give up what she could see to prove the unseen God and the validity of His promise. Snatched away, as it were, her little bit of meal then, that she might feed upon a provision that was far more adequate, not only physically, but I'm confident that the prophet wasn't there for a period of a whole year just playing Scrabble with her every night.

40:24 I'm sure he preached to her about the true and the living God and about sin. And there's some indication of this in the next paragraph, that he began to probe very deeply and her conscience became awakened. And she not only came to have her physical tummy filled and her physical temporal needs met, but probably became a true child of that Israel within Israel. Isn't it interesting that God would teach this principle of the life of giving?

The Principle of Giving: Losing to Gain

40:53 That in losing ourselves, we find ourselves. In giving up that which to us seems to be the last thing to stand between us and poverty, we come into riches by a widow in the New Testament and also by a widow in the Old Testament and by a widow in the New Testament. For you have that record in the 12th of Mark and in the 21st, chapter of Luke, about that widow woman who went up to the temple and she cast in her two mites. And the Scripture says very explicitly when she threw in those two mites, those two smallest coins, they would be like someone giving two pennies in the offering plate.

41:29 Scripture specifically says when she did this, she gave in all of the living that she had. Verse 4 of Luke 21, For all these, that is, these others who were giving, did of their superfluity, that is, of their overflow, cast into the gifts, but she out of her want did cast in all the living that she had. In other words, the only thing that stood between this widow woman in poverty and starvation, humanly speaking, were these two mites. Just like this woman had the little bit of meal, the little bit of oil, and they gave up all.

42:05 Would it be that this woman, obviously a godly woman, this widow in the New Testament, was at that very time pleading, in the fullness of Psalm 146, verse 9, where God says the Lord preserveth the widows? Where He's called in Psalm 68, 5, a judge of the widows? Or could it be that that very morning she thought, as she went up to the temple of this very instance of the widow of Zarephath, and said, Lord, if you could do it for her, you've said that we're not to come before your courts empty, we're not to come up to your temple without an offering, and Lord, that's all I have left. As that woman gave to you first, Lord, can I trust you to be the same God to me?

42:49 I wonder if maybe that widow of Luke 21 hadn't that very morning taken encouragement and learned the principle. I'm not saying she did, but it's a possibility, for if she were a godly woman, which she seems to have been, she had her life of faith sustained and strengthened the same way we do, through the Scriptures. And being a widow woman, she no doubt had found much comfort from this widow of Zarephath, and had learned the principle, that you and I must learn. God's promise is attached to the command, give to me, Matthew 6, 33, seek ye first the kingdom of God, there's the command, then the promise,

43:32 these things shall be added. Now, when you disobey the command to seek first the kingdom, what promise can you plead when you have material need? This woman had first of all made a loaf for herself and her son, would she have any right to plead the promise that the prophet gave? The barrel shall not fail and the crew shall not fail, not on your life.

43:54 It's only as she gave first to the prophet, that she could go back on her way saying, Lord, you said that barrel will not fail, I left it empty, there must be meal, and she found meal. God in His mercy sometimes lets us go on creating our own oil and our own meal, but what a price we pay. And then we never know the joy of seeing that supply, which has the touch of the supernatural. I commend for your serious reading the first chapter of Haggai and the third chapter of Malachi.

Consequences of Neglecting Giving: Holes in the Bag

44:27 Here the people of God had forgotten this principle. There the temple of God was lying in ruin. The people said, oh no, we've got to first of all get established in the land, we've been in captivity and we've just gotten back, and we've got to first of all take care of our own roof and our own walls. Doesn't the Bible say, for man provide not for his own, he's worse than an infidel.

44:46 I've got to have good security for me and my family, then the house of God. You know what God said to them? Among other things, He said, in the meantime, you know what you're doing? You're putting your money in a bag with holes in it.

45:02 God says, if you won't give me what belongs to me, I'll see to it that what should normally meet your needs will fall short. And God says He would curse their flocks and curse their lands, and He'd bring added expenses upon them. He said, it's just like you're putting the money you're saving for yourself in a bag with holes in it. And God says, I poke the holes.

45:21 But He said, if you give to me first, and build my house, and be concerned about my kingdom, I'd sew up your bag, and I'd bless your crops, and bless your health, so they'd take less money in the bag to meet your needs. And beloved, God will do the same with you and me. I see it happening right in this assembly. God put, I've had people tell me this.

45:47 My own parents never forget it. My dad, who knew better, with a growing family, working on a machine. That's how he started, worked his way up to where he is, and is executive now in Schick Electric Shaver. He said, well, I have to work Sundays to provide for the family.

46:07 And God saw to it that every penny that he ever earned working Sundays went out in added medical bills. They could almost count it to the dime. They put their money in a bag with holes in it. If you and I fail to give to God that which is His due, if we fail to seek first the kingdom, God will seek to it, and we get holes in our bag.

46:30 He's not going to let you get away with that. If you're His child, He loves you too much to do it. So you might as well stop fighting God. He's got too much power to punk holes in it.

46:39 I don't care how cold in your bags, I don't care how thick you make the bottom of your bag with leather covering, but I'll punch holes in it. And He does it again and again and again. But I say the principle applies not only to money, though it does apply there. The principle applies in yourself.

Giving of Self and the Secret of Comfort

46:56 Let me illustrate. You say, boy, I really need some relaxation and diversion. So you've got a day away plan. Then a need comes up where you can minister to somebody else.

47:07 You've got to deny yourself. What are you going to do? God says, give to me first. Wonder of wonders when you get absorbed in meeting the need of another.

47:20 God graciously, time after time, meets your own need in ways that you've never expected. There's a wonderful poem that I read in one of the commentators in preparing for tonight, and I want to share it with you. I'm not much of a poem reader, but this captures this principle of the secret of giving in the life of a Christian. Is thy cruise of comfort failing?

47:43 Rise and share it with another. And through all the years of famine, it shall serve thee and thy brother. Love divine will fill thy storehouse, or thy handful still renew. Scanty fare for one will often make a royal feast for two.

48:02 For the heart grows rich in giving. All its wealth is living grain. Seeds which mildew in the garner, scattered, fill with gold the plain. Is thy burden hard and heavy?

48:18 Do thy steps drag wearily? Help to bear thy brother's burden. God will bear both it and thee. Numb and weary on the mountains, wouldst thou sleep amidst the snow?

48:32 Chafe that frozen form beside thee, and together both shall blow. Art thou stricken in life's battle? Many wounded round thee moan. Lavish on their wounds thy balsam, and that balm shall heal thine own.

48:51 Is the heart a well left empty? None but God its void can fill. Nothing but a ceaseless fountain can its ceaseless longing still. Is the heart a living power?

49:05 Self-entwined, its strength sinks low. It can only live in loving. And by serving, love will grow. Turn to Isaiah 58.

Isaiah 58: The Promise of Provision for the Generous

49:19 As we see that principle so beautifully set forth here in the prophecy, of Isaiah, God declares in verse 1 to the hungry, Give me first, and satisfy the afflicted soul. Then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thine obscurity be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in dry places, and make strong thy bones. And thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters fail not.

50:03 All that is conditioned, upon what? Upon this principle. Draw out thy soul to the hungry. Give to me first.

Applications for the Church and Individuals

50:12 And God says, all your own needs be met. May I make several very pointed applications in closing tonight? Here we are, an infant church, with no building of our own yet. We thought we just about had a piece of land, present, and the providence of God seems to slip through our fingers.

50:34 And we're taking the responsibility to see a church started up there in Pennsylvania, committed ourselves for at least fifty dollars a month. Isn't that ridiculous? To be pouring out money to support another work, and we don't even have our own church? Why, it's obvious the way you build your own church is you just let the world go to hell for a while.

50:57 Let the cause of Christ elsewhere come to a point of stop. And you save all the money you can, and you pinch every penny you can, and you build up a large building pump, and you go on building! That's the way you curse a church. That's the way you curse a church.

51:12 More than one church has been cursed, by that philosophy. No. What do you do? Give to me first.

51:18 The Lord has commanded us to take the gospel to every creature and build churches. Hasn't He? Do you say, now, just hold that in suspension till you have all your own needs met? No.

51:29 He says, you get with it. If you're a church, you ought to be concerned about planting other churches, even before you've got your own building. And I'm absolutely confident, as we apply that principle, not recklessly and foolishly, and get ourselves strapped beyond what would be reasonable, but as we apply it to the extent that we're taking at least a tithe of our general income and pouring it out to see the kingdom of God extended elsewhere, God will fulfill that promise! God will supply funds for us beyond what we could ever amass by hoarding our little bit of meal and storing up our little bit of oil.

52:06 Man, let's get rid of it so we see God fill the barrel and God fill the fields. That's far better. And that's the way the work of God is done so often in our day. Purely naturalistic ways.

52:20 Groups come in and analyze all your families, all your income. Hey, listen, that's fine if you're operating a business. The Church of Christ is not a secular business. It's the dwelling place of the living God, the miracle-working God, the God who says, operate on this principle.

52:35 Lose your life for my sake in the Gospels, and losing it, you'll find it. It's your treasury for the Gospel, and God says you'll find it. It's been said so often that it's trite, but it's true. No individual, no church ever outgave God.

52:51 We ought to be a marvel to the world. As God's people, we should be proving again and again the principle that this woman proved. It's true of us as individuals. You get a raise, you get an increase of salary, first temptation is to think, well, I can get this, this, this, and this.

53:14 No, the first thing ought to be, Lord, how much of this ought to be regularly increased in extending your kingdom? The thought that ought to come whenever there's an increase of salary. The thought should be, give to me first, Lord, how much of this do you want me to invest in your kingdom? Is that the way we think, or do we think in terms of, well, I can get me a little more meal, a little more oil, for me and for my child?

53:41 Remember, this woman, at this point, if she had put the needs of her son before the demands of the prophet, she would have been guilty of a gross form of idolatry. There are some of us who may not be selfish for ourselves, but we're idolatrously selfish for our children. We're going to make sure we've got everything stored up for them. They're not going to have it hard.

54:03 Who says hardship is a curse? It might make a real man or woman out of them. I thank God I had to work my way through college. I learned lessons of discipline, of time, and of interest that kept me from a lot of trouble, a lot of trouble.

54:19 Oh, may God teach us this principle, so clearly set forth in the life of this woman as she encountered the prophet of God. Child of God, are you rendering to the Lord that obedience that is immediate, unquestioned, and by God's grace are you proving this principle of the life of giving, that as we seek first the kingdom, everything else is added up to us? The disciples were so hungry, and they said, the only way to get our physical need met is to go on into town and buy some bread.

55:03 Jesus said, no, I've got some other business to take care of. And after he had drawn out his soul to that woman in a state of physical weariness, some of you perhaps don't know what that is. Some of you I know do. Drawing out your soul to people in need is draining.

55:22 To give of yourself to the need of another. But Jesus did it. And when the disciples came back and said, Lord, we've got bread, we can...

55:30 Jesus said, I've got bread to eat that you know not how. In drawing out his soul to that needy woman, the Father refreshed him physically. And as we are drawn out, so often you've said this, Wednesday night many of you say, I can't go to prayer, I'm tired, I've got to stay home and go to bed early. But you've sought first the kingdom, and what happened?

55:49 Well, you went home just like you'd had three hours sleep. And yet, wonder of wonders, we have to fight that battle almost every Wednesday night all over again, don't we? The way of sight is before us and the way of faith. There's the principle.

Closing Prayer for Obedience and Faith

56:02 May God make us aware of it and then we'll see it in many, many areas of our lives. Well, let's pray. Ask the Lord to help us to walk in the light of this, His Holy Word. Blessed Lord, we thank Thee that Thou art utterly trustworthy.

56:21 Forgive us when we've looked at the path that You've marked out for us and asked why, instead of looking to You and feeding our souls upon the wonder of who You are. Forgive us, Lord, when we've hoarded our little bit of meal and our little bit of oil. We know that we've robbed ourselves of the joy of seeing that supply which only You can give and which cannot be explained except in terms of the operation of the mighty God. Lord, we believe that You are the God of Elijah, alive today.

57:02 Be to us the same God that You were to that widow woman. Give us her obedience, her faith. Give us the faith and obedience of the prophet that we might face all the vicissitudes of life and the confidence that we are Yours and Thou art ours. And in that relationship there can be no lack.