2 Kings 4:1-7 (07/13/2003)

Good morning Turn with me if you will to the book of 2nd

Kings the fourth chapter You know, the

Bible is such a such a fun book and God knows what we need and when we need it and It's amazing to me

That when we open our Bible God opens his mouth and he begins to speak to us because the Bible is not just what he has

Said but it is what he is saying And you know religion often times he gets caught up in what

God has said But we as Christians ought to get caught up in what God is saying and what he wants to say to us

So, let's let's see if we can hear him This morning. This is one of my favorite

Stories in the Bible and I guess every time I preach about a story in the Bible. I'll say that Yes, it's all good

So let's read from verse 1 down to verse number 7 and To see what the

Lord has to say to us it says now there cried a certain woman of The wives of the sons of the prophets unto

Elisha Saying thy servant my husband is dead and Thou knowest that my husband did fear the

Lord and The creditor has come unto It has come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen and Elisha said unto her what shall

I do for thee? Tell me What hast thou in the house?

and She said thine handmaid hath not anything in the house save a pot of oil

And he said go borrow the vessels of all thy neighbors

Even empty vessels borrow not a few And when thou art come in thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons and shalt pour out into the vessels into all those vessels and Thou shalt set aside

That which is full so she went That's a good thing to do

So she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons who brought the vessels unto her and She poured out and it came to pass

When the vessels were full she said unto her sons Bring me yet a vessel and he said unto her.

There is not a vessel more and the oil stayed And she came and told the man of God and he said go and sell the oil and pay thy debt and live thou and thy children of The rest, you know, it's awesome to see that God Always has a plan and it's never plan

B God's plan is always plan A Because always works he doesn't see sometimes we need plan

B don't we but God don't ever need plan B because plan

A is Enough Our father we do.

Thank you so much We're humbled by the fact that you are truly holy

You're wonderful You are the mighty God we can't help but think of how much

We need you Lord your word tells us if you were hungry, he sure wouldn't tell us.

We're humbled by the fact that you speak to us We pray that you'd help us to be humble enough to heed what we hear

Speak Lord and may this church hear what your spirit has to say to us today in Jesus name

Amen this is the story of A tragedy turned triumphant this is the story of a

Situation that seemed horrific and yet God gave the solution

Look at this woman young woman two children husband died

He was probably Seminary student if you will of Elisha a

Young preacher learning how to be a prophet and taken away by the sovereignty of God God said it's time for you

I'm ready for you and Left this woman His death left this woman in despair because in those days

Women did not have the same Standing they didn't have the same.

They didn't have the same Perspective of women in those days

Women in those times look solely to their husbands as their Her sustenance is gone

Not only that but for something we don't know what they they obviously borrowed some money to buy some

Maybe it was a house. Maybe it was some land Maybe it was a chariot who knows what it was

They borrowed money to buy something and not only she left with two children doesn't know how she's gonna feed them

But now she's got this debt to pay And also no husband imagine the emotional stress

And In those days There were certain things that made slavery, okay, you know

There were a lot of people back in the what when this country first started to try to justify the

American institution of slavery with the Bible But nothing could be further from the truth

Because what happened in the Bible times things that would cause someone to go into slavery if somebody

If somebody had a debt that they could not pay That person they owe the debt to could take them into slavery

Back in those times if they conquered a nation they could take prisoners from that nation and make those people slaves

Back in that time if there was a man who was who didn't didn't have the wherewithal to provide for his family

He could sell himself and his entire family in the slavery in exchange for somebody else taking care of So She comes to the only place she can think of to go

She comes to the man of God that no doubt that she had heard her husband talk about how much a blessing it was many times in the past and She comes to the man of God and she says

You know how my husband feared the Lord and now he's gone and and the creditor wants to take my children

What am I gonna do? Imagine the frantic emotions that must have run to the forefront of her mind and then the preacher

Said something I I would not have been a I wouldn't have imagined that the preacher would say

He said well, what do you want me to do about it? He said what sure what shall

I do for this? He lied you

Said woman examine yourself And oftentimes when problems come to us we start looking outside Ourselves for the problem for the solution to the problem that God wants us to look inside ourselves for He said what do you want me to do about it?

I think sometimes as parents one of the best things we can do for our kids when they come to us with the problem sometimes

You know He said examine yourself

I Heard one man say when somebody comes to me with the problem and they want me to give him a solution The first thing I say is well

Have you read a book to try to figure out how to fix this problem? If they say no, he says well go read a book

Have you asked somebody who's had this problem what they did? If they say no, why don't you go ask somebody?

But he doesn't just Automatically give them an answer brother Dave and I were talking yesterday in the car on the way back home

He said, you know, oftentimes when somebody came to brother Rocky and asked brother Rocky a question He didn't just answer the question.

He asked them a question. Well, why do you ask me that? And we know as we studied the scripture when

Jesus when people came to Jesus with a question oftentimes He gave them a question as the answer to their question

But we want to show people how much we know Elijah didn't take this as an opportunity to show off his intellectual

Spiritualism he said what do you want me to do? He said examine your Self, and then he said something else

He said Tell me What do you have in the house? Not only do you need to examine yourself, but you need to express yourself

You know, I've found that sometimes it's easier to find the solution to a problem when we start talking about You know, sometimes when we just keep it all inside and we're feeling it we're thinking about it

Sometimes it's just the problem seems bigger than us But as we talk about the problem It comes out from under the mic magnifying glass and it seems to get smaller and smaller and smaller

He said I want you to tell me what do you have in the house?

There is power in Words Express yourself.

That's why when people ask me how I'm doing, I say

I'm excellent as always Now that does catch folk off guard and it always makes me feel better after I say

But you know what? I've noticed it also makes them feel better Because generally speaking when folk ask you how you you're doing they're not wanting to hear a laundry list of your problems generally speaking the

Bible says Life and death are in the power of the tongue and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof the

Bible says Thou shalt also decree a thing and it shall be established under thee

And I believe a lot of folk talk themselves into doing bad and feeling bad

When they could just as easily talk themselves into doing good and feeling good. I Don't want to belabor the introduction.

So I'll keep going He said what do you have in the house?

Not only do should you examine yourself and express yourself, but you should expect more of yourself than you do of others

You know, I've discovered that all of the miserable people I've ever met in my life They had one thing in common.

They all expect more of somebody else. They do And the happiest people

I know in the world are folk who expect more of themselves than they do to somebody else

Expect more of yourself This woman came to Elisha probably Looking for an offering but he didn't give her an offering.

He gave her some options He didn't give her an offering.

He gave her he gave her some optimism He said woman your situation ain't as bad as it seems it's bad

But it's not so bad. You can't handle it It's not so bad. You won't make it through it

And he gave her an opportunity Notice what? He said tell me what has down the house.

That's what I want to talk to you about this morning. What do you have? in Think about that question

What do you have in the house? Well Let's look and see some things that this woman had in the house

That some she was aware of him some she wasn't the Bible says there cried a certain woman of The wives of the prophets of the sons of the prophets unto

Elisha saying thy servant My husband is dead. We see the first thing this woman had in the house was some relationships

Relationship with the Lord in your house You may have a grandfather cloth that was handed down from your grandfather's grandfather, but if you don't have a

Relationship with the Lord in the house. It doesn't matter You may have a safe in your house full of cash and jewels and jewelry and precious stone but if you don't have a

Relationship with the Lord in the house You may have a big -screen television

But if you don't have a relationship with the Lord in the house it does not matter

I Thank God for the relationship that we can have with the Lord in the house through Jesus Christ More important is it than the furniture?

More important is it than the food more important? Than anything we have in our house that relationship we have with the

Lord. Thank the Lord for it But not only did she have a relationship with the

Lord. She had a relationship with the leader I Noticed that when she got in trouble, she didn't go looking to Ricky Lake and Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey She didn't go to Baalzebub She Went to Elijah the man of God why because she had a good relationship with There are so many churches across our land

No doubt in other countries as well where folk in the church don't have a good relationship

What the man of God with the leadership that God is placed there and they're always causing friction and they always are

And they're always talking about I can't believe the preacher said this and I can't believe he did that But I know if this woman had been one of those kind of folk

She wouldn't have been talking to a life about her She'd have felt too guilty to talk about a life

She'd have she'd have probably been blaming in life, but she had a good Relationship with the leadership in the house some folk just some folk just can't submit themselves to anybody

But this woman she had a relationship with her

Lord and with their leader and also with her loved ones We know that she had a relationship with her loved ones because when she came to Elisha Talking about the fact that her husband had died and their children was about were about to be taken away

The Bible says she was crying There cried a certain woman. She didn't just come and say well

I cannot even begin to imagine how she must have felt

I was I was telling Either brother Dave or Charlotte I was telling them that Just two weeks ago.

One of my cousins was killed in a fireworks accident And he was a young man 24 years old

Out doing some fireworks. He exploded on me and just killed him in the head and I Went to the funeral

But when

I got there and I saw his wife It was hard She was broken

His sister was broken His mother was broken up and I tried to imagine how they must be

I Couldn't hold the tears back I know this woman who was married to this man that she loved had two small children that she loved when her husband died

She was she was just broken about it She had some relationships in the house

But we see also not only did she have some relationships. No, she said I served my husband is dead She had some reversals in the house

Y 'all y 'all saw those reversals, didn't you? She had the reversal of death

You know, I've noticed that all you have to do to have reversals in the house You don't have to do anything special all you have to do is have a house

Just keep on The reversal

Oftentimes the reversals that we have in our house come in the form of separation

Separated from something that we care about separated from something that we love separated from somebody that we love sometimes it's caused by death

Sometimes it's caused by rebellion. Sometimes it's caused by catastrophic accident. Sometimes it's caused by something outside our

Control sometimes it's caused by us Reversals She also had the reversal of debt

She said You know my sir thy servant

My husband did fear the Lord and the creditors come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen the reversal of debt

How it can bog us down, I believe that we all ought to work towards getting out of debt as Quickly as we can in these perilous times

Reversal of debt can weigh you down. It can make you feel like this like a bondman like a slave to it the reversal of debt

And like the reversals of death and debt can do it brought another reversal with it and that's the reversal of doubt

Because Her husband was gone because her children looked like they were being about to be gone

This woman didn't know what she was gonna do. She Doubted that she could do anything

She had some reversals In the house She also had some responsibilities in the house

She had the responsibility of her children Well, that's an important responsibility.

God has given us children to shape them to polish them as arrows in the quiver of a mighty man

Now there are a lot of modern -day women Children Taken away

Lot of women would think well now I can have my freedom Children taken away good riddance, but not this woman

She loved her husband, her precious husband was already gone.

She couldn't imagine living without those two children She had a responsibility

To her children. She said Elisha. I've got to do something I've got to do something to meet this responsibility to my children

I I don't know about you, but for me the older I get The more challenging it is for me to understand how to be a good parent and meet the

Responsibilities that I have to my children This woman was in a circumstance in a situation where she didn't know what she was gonna do

You know I know there are a lot of there are a lot of creditors out there Who would like to take our children to be bondmen the creditor of drugs and alcohol and lasciviousness and the wild They all like to come take all of our children snatch them out of these pews

Take them out there with the bright lights and the wild music and the wild lifestyle and never let them come back but by the grace of God We've got a responsibility to look to God for a solution to that problem and fight for the freedom of our children

She had a responsibility to the creditors Whoever this creditor was, you know, we oftentimes when we think of our creditors

We only think of we only think of Banks and Sears and Roebuck. They don't call it Sears and Roebuck anymore

Sears and JCPenney And Bells and Belts and all of that, but you know

Oftentimes we don't know who have fought to give us our freedom

Whether it be great men in history Who paved the way for peace and freedom for this great land that God has blessed above all other lands in the world

Whether it be our parents Who diligently taught us as much as they could

Even though sometimes it's not as much as we wished it had been our grandparents

It's amazing to me how easily and how quickly it seems that we forget The debt we owe to past generations who have poured things into our lives that made our lives better Do you know every time

I see somebody in a military uniform Every time I see somebody in a military uniform,

I have the opportunity to say hi to them.

You know why? Because so many people don't appreciate it It seems to me that sometimes only the people with no brains have loud mouths why don't we open our mouths and Encourage someone who's doing a good thing

Oftentimes police officers, not as much as Military men, but oftentimes the police officers.

I say I appreciate what you're doing to keep the bad guys at bay Because the fact is

I know me and While I appreciate that I'm not trying to put on a uniform and have anybody even think about shooting at me.

I don't even want to think about that I don't want to think about that. I don't want my mind to go there But I appreciate that other people are willing to make that sacrifice and if I had to I would be willing to make that sacrifice

But some people they they feel that is their purpose they just they just do it

She had a responsibility to her children's children You know Our modern -day

Christianity in America is so So Diluted by Western thinking

There are so much of the Bible that we cannot understand because we grew up in America I Was talking to brother

Dave in the car last night And I said, you know so many

Christians view selling something as being something bad

And that is so silly Because we didn't get that perspective from the

Bible. Where'd you say we got it from brother Dave? But we have been brainwashed into thinking that That's that ought to be the way it is

So selling something you'd never do that, but you know the Bible says the Bible says The he who withholdeth the corn the people shall curse him

But blessings shall be upon the head of him that Selleth it.

You know what? I you know what I received from that passage of Scripture that If we have something good

And we don't sell it to somebody we are doing them a disservice and it brings a curse to them to us

Corn is good. If you've got something good. Not only do you have a right but you have a responsibility That's now that's the way

I look at now You may not look at it that way but that that's what I see in the Bible a matter of fact We're gonna see that's what Elisha told this woman to do

The Bible says a good man leave an inheritance to his children's children My children don't even have any children yet.

So that gives me a little more time to get that inheritance ready for I'm sure gonna work on it.

I Don't want there's I want my children to have some difficult. I Want my children's children to have some difficulty, but I don't want them to have all the difficulty

I have I want to give them a little bit of a head start in their life that I didn't have in mind I believe that's my

God -given The Bible teaches us that What do you have in?

the house Well, we see something else she had she had not only did she have some relationships and some reversals and some

Responsibilities, but this woman had some regrets in the house You say regrets what what regret did she have and Elisha said unto her tell me what shall

I do for thee? Tell me what has down the house and she said thine handmaid hath not Anything in the house, you know, the

Bible tells me there's treasure and Wine and oil in the dwelling place of the rich.

I mean of the wise not of the rich of the wise treasure Wine and oil in the dwelling place of the wise but a foolish man spend if it up But we somehow seem to think that God wants us to be in poverty and desperation

Our whole life or we won't have anything to pray about. I don't have to be in poverty and desperation I got plenty to pray about Some people say well, but the

Bible says you'll have the poor always with you. I know but that don't mean I got to be This woman had some regrets in the house.

She regretted her lack of preparation This one was not ready for her husband's death.

I Mean you can't prepare fully for that, but a person could prepare financially for that But she wasn't prepared.

She had a regret of a lack of preparation You know what?

A lack of preparation always leads to it always leads to a lack of provision because they have not prepared themselves

When her husband died, they did not have what they needed and when we don't prepare ourselves today, we lack provision tomorrow

Always I'm amazed Now that I'm 42 years old and it didn't just start happening yesterday

How many things in my day -to -day life? How many times in my day -to -day life

I wished I had paid closer attention in school I Wished I said man,

I wish you know, I'd do a little writing My proofreader said to me

She said you really like those semicolons, don't you? I didn't know what they were used for She Said yeah, you like those questions,

I mean the quotation marks too Well, I just did the best I could Thank the

Lord for a proofreader But a lack of preparation always leads to a lack of provision

And a lack of provision always leads to a lack of peace now. She here she is frantic in desperation

Because of her the regrets she had in the house don't regret Tomorrow your lack of preparation today

The last thing we see this woman had in the house She said I have nothing and I haven't had nothing in the house save a pot of oil

We see that this woman had some resources in Nothing but a pot of oil

Then said then he said go borrow the vessels abroad of thy neighbor Even empty vessels borrow not a few and when thou art come in thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons and Thou shalt pour out

Into all those vessels and thou shalt set aside that which is full the first resource

They used oil for lighting their lamps they used oil to put on their skin

They had many things that they used oil for in those days. They used it sometimes as a fragrance

And so this woman had some resources in her house that she had forgotten about her was unaware or didn't even recognize them as a resource

And I'm telling you all All of us have some resources in the house that we've forgotten about all of us have some resources in the house that God has

Blessed us with we've all got some oil in the house What do you have in the house? I'll tell you what you have in the house

You've got some resources in the house You've got some oil in your house and maybe the oil that you have in your house is just the way you talk

Maybe the oil that you have in your house is that you can sing. Maybe you can paint a picture

Maybe you can write a letter. Maybe you can write a poem, but everybody's got some oil. Maybe you can sew maybe you can do craft

I don't know what your oil is, but I know you got some oil When I think about My kids have been doing for the last couple of weeks

They've been getting a booth at the flea market and getting some stuff and going out there and selling it and make a little bit

Of money now. They're not making a fortune yet They're making some They don't have to come and say dad.

Can I have five dollars? You know, it's funny sometimes When I don't have my wallet with me and I don't have my debit card

I don't have I have to borrow money from my 12 year old daughter and she has it You say where did she get it from?

She's got some oil in the house and she knows it I talked to her on the phone last night and she said dad

I've got I'm 12 years old $70 is a lot of money.

You know why it happened because she's got some oil in the house and she recognized it We've gotten trained in this

Western ideology that somebody else is gonna take care of us And when we get to thinking about somebody else taking care of us oftentimes, we don't start looking around the house for oil

That God has given us But not only did she have some oil in the house, but she also had some offspring in the house

He told her he said go and shut the door upon you and your sons and you have your sons bring you the bottles and You pour the oil and woman.

Don't you do all that work by yourself? You always walk behind them kids clean it up after you give them something to do

I heard somebody say one time children can do the most remarkable thing That is as long as they have remarkable things to do

Oftentimes we don't think of resource offspring as a resource I Think what now when

I was young But I'm not young And I'm not strong anymore

I'm old Not old Older than I was when I was young And man when we got ready to move to Pennsylvania, my brother's called me mine you need some help no, we carry

Two of my brothers will come down I Mean they're picking up stuff that I used to pick up when

I was in my 20s and I wasn't nothing I wasn't even trying to look at I Mean I'm amazed when

I see what God has done in my children when I see that my oldest son

Strong In a lot of ways he's stronger he can go longer than I can he can do stuff

I mean there's time you can't you couldn't nobody get out Our offspring are resources that God has given us

To bless us because we've blessed them their resource

How many? Parents have poured into their young people's lives when they grew they themselves grew up with nothing and they made a way for their kids

To get an education and that child went on and got that education and went on later to provide for their parents

You got the resource of offspring and this is the last point you've got the resource

Omnipotence I Want you to see what happened. This is this to me is so this is just like God This is like you mentioned in Sunday school this morning brother

Otis oftentimes. God comes through at the last minute That's what happened

The Bible says verse 5 so she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons who brought the vessels

To her and she poured out And she poured out and she poured out and she poured out and it came to pass when the vessels were full

That she said unto her sons bring me yet a vessel and he said unto her

There is not a vessel more and the oil stayed Then she came and told the man of God and he said go and sell the oil and pay thy debt and live thou and thy

Sons of the rest the more she poured out You know,

I noticed that about God when we do all we can do he'll do what he can do I like I like to do what

I can do just so I get to see him do what he's gonna do I'm talking about omnipotence in the house.

I'm I'm talking about when God gets in there and starts to work.

It's bigger than anything we could have imagined. I can remember one time Back when I was back when

I was traveling as an evangelist and I actually was right after we left the church in Brunswick Georgia and it had been maybe a month maybe two months

But I'm telling you, I don't remember being that broke in a mighty long time

I'm turning I had car payments that were due and I had school And I had a motel six refrigerator

Y 'all know the motel six refrigerator you open it up and they left the light on for you. That's all there was in there And I'm telling you

I was just broke And I can remember praying What am

I gonna do This was amazing to me this blew me away

I was there and nobody nobody there knew me except brother Joe and he didn't he didn't know me

Came back Wednesday Wednesday night they took up an offering for This lady in Texas whose husband had died and she was a widower of a preacher down in down in Houston And they took up this offering he had left behind all these medical bills and Lord said take that little bit of money

You got out your pocket and put it in that offer. I said, well, it's only $19. They ain't gonna pay that. No And the next morning

They weren't done with lunch yet How bad that's money with nobody but me and God I knew it

God nobody else had a clue And when I got done preaching they picked up an offer and there were no more people in that church when they got done with that You say what happened

Has some omnipotence in the house and God got in my plan and I didn't even have a plan

God had a plan. I came I just I was just there without a plan and omnipotence got in my house

You know, I thank God for the way he works and the way he moves and when he gets involved in your plan, you know

I'm getting ready to sell my house for about nine years now.

I paid $200 for it and we got a contract for it right now for $1 ,000.

Come on now. You say what happened? Omnipotence is in the house and God can do stuff that we can't do.

God can do something in your life that you can't do. God can make a way out of no way. God can open up a door when there wasn't even a door there.

God can provide for you and for me. I didn't realize that microphone was on. That's an omnipotence in the house.

We ought to thank God every day that we serve a God that's alive and real and he cares about what we need and he cares about our circumstances and he's able to provide for us in ways we can't provide for ourselves.

Thank God for a man of God who said what do you have in your house? She said

I'll have some oil. He said no you don't. You got some offspring. You get in there with that offspring start doing what you can do and watch

God do what he can do. What do you have in the house?

Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for your word. I pray that you'd help us to recognize some of the resources that we have.

I pray that you would help us to cherish the relationship that we have with you with our loved ones.

Help us not hesitate to say I love you today. Because tomorrow they will be gone and so will we.

Help us not to forget to say thank you today because tomorrow they will be gone and so will we.

Help us to thank you and to realize and to relish and to cherish the resources that you've given us.

You've given all of us some oil. Help us to find out what it is. And help us to begin to pour that oil out and bless others so you can pour more oil in and bless us.

Lord, I pray that you would just continue to speak to us.

And help us to recognize and open our eyes to the resources that we have in the house. With every head bowed and every eye closed, we'd say,

Brother Myron, I know I'm saved. I've got a relationship with the Lord in the house. There's no doubt in my mind about that.

I received Jesus as my savior. And as a result of that, I've got a relationship with the

Lord in the house. That's your testimony testified by a raised hand. You know you're saved.

No doubt in your mind about it. Praise the Lord. Anybody say, Brother Myron, I'm not sure, but I'd like to be sure.

Please pray for me. Anybody like that? Let's say,

Brother Myron, God has shown me some things in this message today. But I've got some resources or some relationships or something that I've not recognized.

Pray for me that I will seize it, see it and seize it. Pray for me. Anybody like that?

Praise the Lord. God bless you. God bless you. Father, thank you so much for your word.

Thank you for the truth and the power of it. And I pray that you would bless us today. And that you would speak to us continually throughout the day.