Living In The Power Of Jesus
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good Morning on the 23rd day of May. Today is the day we honor our graduates, and those who are on the next stepping stone. When I was writing this sermon, this year I would have been out of high school for 28 years! Looking back and reflecting on the many life experiences, it is truly by the grace of God that I’ve made it this far. I count that as a HUGE blessing! There were lean seasons, seasons of plenty, seasons of where things just seemed to go as normal, and seasons of drought. One thing for sure, God was there.
Our passage this morning takes into the book of 1st Kings. One feature of 1st and 2nd Kings, along with 1st and 2nd Samuel is they’re a type of character study. These type of character studies help us to find ourselves in the story. And, we’re going to enter another one as we talk a little about the Prophet Elijah. We’re going to see how Elijah is being cared for by God. For us, it’s a reflection on Jesus, which brings us to the title of our sermon this morning: Living In The Power Of Jesus.
I’d like to invite you to open your Bible with me to the book of 1st Kings to Chapter 17. Let’s open with verse number 8 and go through verse 16.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”
10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.”
11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”
12 And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.”
13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said. But first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son.
14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”
15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
Pastoral Prayer
Pastoral Prayer
Background: We come into part of Elijah’s life. Now, Elijah is a prophet, by some standards today, would consider him to be a mountain man. He’s the type of person who has spent a fair amount of time in the wilderness. Another aspect of Elijah is that he’s bold and direct. Part of this trait is he gives it straight. In the early verses of Chapter 17, this is where Elijah predicts drought. It doesn't get any straighter than that.
So we have this drought going on, which could mean resources are limited or some things could be a little tough to come by. Have you ever been in this type of situation. Yeah — sure. Some of have. What about last year? We’re still coming out of it, and some things due to COVID are on back order.
[Display Verses 8 & 9]
Coming up to verses 8 and 9, it could seem like God is changing gears, and now the sign is pointing that way. Elijah could simply return to Samaria to confront King Ahab, but we have an unexpected turn. Instead of directing Elijah to Ahab, the Lord directed him to relocate. Elijah’s essentially going into what we can call Jezebel country, which is thought to be pagan country.
If we zero-in one verse 9, there are three characteristics we can pull from this one single verse:
First, we have a commandment from God.
Second, we have God’s plan for Elijah.
Thirdly, we how God has already been working down the road, before Elijah arrives.
God’s commandment can be captured with the words “arise, go to Zarephath.” God’s pointing to the direction. There’s no second guessing with this one. This also begins to build-in the framework for God’s plan for Elijah. God’s plan is seen right here in the middle of the verse. Take attention to the words “and dwell there.” God is saying where to go, but He’s also saying when you get there, dwell there.
Now to some this could sound like a dead-end or simply a stop sign. Because after all, we don’t see direction to next node. When Elijah finally does arrive, he’s to stay there for a season. This could be the part that can be discouraging for some, especially you graduates or those who are trying to make it the next stepping stone. Many don’t like dead-ends or to come up on a stop sign. We like to go-go-go. Much of our society is built on the word go. We want to go. We don’t what to stop or come to where the trail might end.
Here’s the thing about dwelling there. Although it might seem like we’re at a stop sign, it’s important to understand that what could be perceived as a stop is bad. For Elijah this is just a season, a short period. This means, this season or delay does not mean fully stopped!
One of the great features we have of Scripture is we have to opportunity to look forward and backwards on the person life. In Elijah’s case, we can see how God will use him in a HUGE way. Elijah’s going to school, or simply put training. God’s building this man, one piece at a time.
So, as things might seem like they’re at a complete dead stop, our call is to have faith in Him, seek out the lesson — what is my Lord trying to show or teach me. And, here why Elijah can have trust and this high level of faith, it because Lord was already out there working this out in the midst of the drought, what could have seemed like an unwavering sea of uncertainty. But the Lord was there. That means, like Elijah, the Lord is there for you. Elijah trusted and believed in the Lord to provide. He didn’t know how. He had the full assurance from the Lord. Knowing the Lord will supply our need and more, this helps us to step out, not only in faith and trust, but in obedience. That’s what Elijah does in verse 10.
[Display Verse 10]
The Bible tell us “he arose and went.” Elijah moved in obedience to the direction of the Lord. It’s reasonable to assume Elijah knew the territory he was entering. And, he knows the Lord was already there working on heart of a widow.
There are times in life when the Lord directs and things could feel upside down or sideways. What about when the Lord’s provision seems short or small? There could be times when the question could come up: Lord I don’t think this is enough more might be needed. One thing for sure is the Lord always comes through in one way or another.
I can remember back before I came to belief in Jesus Christ, I found my self praying, as strange as that may sound, praying — if I could only have this, then everything would be OK. Things didn’t work our according to Richard. Instead the Lord chose to bless differently. This was one of the first challenges for me to believe in Jesus and in His provision.
[Display Verse 12]
When we come to verse 12, the widow is just pouring out her heart to Elijah; she has little to no provisions. Remember the current events, there’s a drought going on. The widow is poverty stricken, no food, only a small portion of flour and oil. For all practical purposes, this could have been the widow and her son’s last meal, since we hear she was out gathering sticks so they could prepare what the had “and die.” It’s likely she understood starvation would be in their future. This is a dire situation. We’ve been there. We’ve been there when shopping at the grocery store with a calculator because we had $40 dollars for the weeks groceries. Things can begin to look on low-side real fast.
Have you ever had that one friend or knew that one person who always looking on the positive side of things? I mean the coffee cup was ALWAYS half-full! It was never half-empty. Perhaps you know person like that. They’re always so happy, sharing positive thoughts and challenging us to look on the positive side. It doesn't rain everyday. They’re our cheerleaders. Encouraging us to keep our chin up!
Elijah does that right here in verse 13!
[Display Verse 13]
Elijah’s encouraging the widow — keep your chin up, essentially don’t let this get the best of you. The best is looking to the Lord. Elijah challenges the widow to trust and believe in the Lord. Notice what he says, “do not fear; go and do as you have said.” This means, trust in the Lord provision.
It’s interesting how Elijah says in the same breath “do not fear,” “but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me.” This can easily begin to sound selfish. After all he’s in with a widow and her son who don’t have much. Remember early on, Elijah knew the direction the Lord was pointing. He had that assurance. The call now for the widow is a call for surrender and faith.
To help shore up her faith and belief in the Lord, notice the words in:
14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’ ”
This is not only great news, but encouraging news. Elijah is essentially saying, my God is a BIG God! He will provide and sustain. Elijah was showing the widow that its possible to live in the power of the Lord!
[Display Verse 15]
Verse 15 is where we hear how the widow believed in the promise and obeyed. She was able to see how the Lord provided a daily provision.
The question might be out there: this is great. It’s a great story of how the Lord provided some many thousands of years ago. What about today? If you’re a graduate trying to determine these next critical steps, or if you find yourself in transition. Where does this theology meet life?
Turn you attention to the last verse of our passage, verse 16:
16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
Again we have three things happening here. We have:
Written testimony of living in the power of the Lord.
A promise kept, “according to the word of the Lord.
And, follow through on the part of our Lord to supply for the needs of His people.
This is not the only example of witnessing or living in the power of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In Matthew Chapter 14 in verses 13 to 21. This is where we hear about Jesus feeding the 5000. At this time, more and more people were hearing about Jesus, following him. The crowd was big. We also hear how Jesus had compassion for them, and telling the disciples to “feed them.” Here’s the thing, their allotment was limited to “five loaves of bread and two fish.” How were they going to feed all these people (a reasonable question, considering all these folks. The Bible tells us:
19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. 20 They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers.
Application
Application
From our passage in 1st Kings and now with this illustration in Matthew Chapter 14, there are three conclusions we can pull here.
In each case: there’s comfort. The comfort is the Lord provided. The Lord provided in the drought, and the Lord provided when it seemed like there simply would not be enough.
In each case: there’s encouragement. As Elijah say in 1 Kings 17:13, “do not fear.” The widow was encouraged not to fear. And, in not so many words, Jesus hints at this with the disciples, when they begin questioning — How. Jesus is demonstrating — trust me, I’ve got this. You of little faith — Jesus will calm the storm (Matthew 8:26)!
In each case: there’s a call. Both the widow and the disciples had eyes on the circumstances instead of Jesus. The call is for eyes forward to Jesus!
Whether we’re in the middle tumbleweeds and tarantulas, or wherever we might be, we can reflect on His power through the cross!
Graduates — I don’t know where the Lord will lead you. But! I want to encourage you to stay close to Jesus. Trust in Jesus! Believe in Jesus! You will always have a home in the Lord, and you will always have a home right here at FBCK!
Perhaps you’re not a believer yet in Jesus Christ. It’s possible to be Living In The Power of Jesus! That comes by belief in Him.
Do you need that power today? Then I encourage you to come to Him.
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer