The Oil of God's Grace
Notes
Transcript
INTRO
Happy Mother’s Day!
We want to think about a mother who sought God’s grace
2 Kings 4:1-7 where we will read about the Oil of God’s Grace
DISCUSSION
God’s Grace Needed (1)
Widow—desperate---needed God’s grace
If she had a smartwatch that measured her stress level, it’d be flashing red at her!
My husband who served you and feared God is dead
Collector is about to take my two sons into slavery—debt slavery common and legal in Israel (Lev 25:39-41)—but could anything be worse for this widow?
So she seeks help from the man of God, Elisha
We need God’s grace in desperate times
You may not be on the brink of losing your children while grieving your spouse’s death, but w/e struggle you have in your life right now (grief, financial, marital, parenting), you need God’s grace, and you get it by asking for it (1 Jn 5:14-15).
How often do we fail to seek His grace?
“God can give us a great many things that we do not wish, but He cannot give us His best gift, and that is Himself, unless we desire it. He never forces His company on any man, and if we do not wish for Him He cannot give us Himself...For instance, He cannot make a man wise if he does not wish to be instructed. He cannot make a man holy if he has no aspiration after holiness. He cannot save a man from his sins if the man holds on to his sin with both hands, like some shellfish with its claws when you try to drag it out of its cleft in the rock. He cannot give the oil unless we bring the vessels of our hearts opened by our desires.” Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture: 2 Samuel–2 Kings 7 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 346–347.
Jam 4:2—yet ye have not because ye ask not
God’s Grace Offered (2-4)
Elisha offered God’s grace to this desperate widow
Elisha asked what she had in her house, and all she had was a small flask of oil—
“Ask” (borrow)vessels—any size container
When was the last time we offered God’s grace to one in need?
Though she went to Elisha she didn’t really ask.
We have trouble asking and sometimes offering: “We’d all like to feel self-reliant and capable of coping with whatever adversity comes our way, but that’s not how most human beings are made. It’s my belief that the capacity to accept help is inseparable from the capacity to give help when our time comes to be strong. It can sometimes be difficult to ask for support when we need it, but having someone we can count on to stick with us through the tough times can make those times much more bearable.” Fred Rogers, Life’s Journey’s According to Mr. Rogers, p 109.
Mt 5:41-42 “And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.”
God’s Grace Obtained (5-6)
God’s grace was obtained by the widow by acting on the prophet’s plan.
We can obtain God’s grace by acting on His Word Tit 2:11-12; Acts 20:32
God’s Grace Given (7)
This widow sought God’s grace and it was given
She is told to sell the oil and pay the collector
This oil will continue to sustain her
If we humbly seek God’s grace, it will be given to us (Mt 7:7-8 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”
Jas 4:6; 1:17
EXHORTATION
In what area of your life do you need God’s grace?
“Bring Him your every care
if great or small
whatever troubles you
oh, bring it all
Bring him the haunting fears
the nameless dread
thy heart he will relieve
and lift up thy head”