Address—Wally Dear
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We never saw a king.
Of an unsubstantiated.
Answer and answered all questions.
The Lord will provide.
Yes, it's got a strong power. Or take it when I.
Run the warrior's eye cover. Oh Lord will grow by.
I think the day and that created you.
It's where, uh, there's great strong comfort of room.
Don't care anymore, talented ramp right on my flight.
Children.
Oh, Oh my God.
What beautiful words are these the Lord will provide.
The apostle Paul could say, My God shall provide.
All you need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Could we look to the Lord now in prayer for help?
Father and gracious God, we thank Thee that Thou has brought us together today to look into Thy precious word. We thank You that the Bible has the answer, and we pray, Lord, that Thou will undertake as we opened Thy word, that it might be a blessing to each one who is present. We know that heaviness in the heart of man makes it stoop but a good word.
Can make it glad. And so we know Thy desire is that we should be glad. And we seek Thy help, as Thy word is presented, that Thy spirit might have liberty to bring it home to our heart and conscience, and that it might be that which would encourage us and build us up, stir us up, bind us up, whatever the need might be, we seek Thy help.
And thank you for these wonderful words that we have sung. In truth. The Lord will provide. So we look to thee now for thy help and give thee thanks for this time together in the precious and most worthy name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Well, it's really great.
Be with the young folks here this afternoon and I noticed that we have some that aren't so young and some who are just children, and it's great to be here with you as well.
And this afternoon?
I must say that I don't have all the answers.
And I know many here have questions.
Big questions.
And I'm not gonna stand here and tell you that I've got the answer to your question.
But I want to tell you something. I've got a book in my hand, and this book has the answer to any question that you might have.
And I believe in this book you're gonna find an answer that's satisfactory. You know, we used to have.
A believer and he drove a frozen food truck in our area.
And we used to enjoy some fellowship together when he would come by.
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But he had a sticker right on his door on the driver's side, and it said the Bible has the answer. And I never forgot that. And so this afternoon, how privileged we are.
To hold our hands the word of God which has the answer.
To any question, any problem, any issue that you might have.
And this afternoon I would like to talk a little bit about a man that was named Elijah.
Elijah.
And you might say, well.
I'm just a young person here and Elijah, he was a great prophet and how can I relate to a man like this?
But I want to tell you something over in James.
The last chapter in the book of James, it tells us that Elijah was the man.
Of like passions as we are. That means he was not a supernatural person.
He was a person like you and me, with the very same kind of feelings that you and I we have.
And so I find great comfort in reading about Elijah.
Elijah had his ups and downs.
Elijah knew what it was to be very bold.
But he also knew what it was to be very fearful.
There was times of discouragement in his life.
Elijah knew what it was to be happy in God, but there was times when he was sorrowful.
And as I think of his emotions and his feelings, I come to realize that here's a man like me.
And like you, dear young people.
Now the story I'd like to refer to concerning Elijah is found in.
First Kings.
First Kings.
Chapter 17.
First Kings, chapter 17.
Elijah.
Was living in a very difficult time.
In the history of the people of Israel.
Just like we're living a very difficult time at the present.
We find that.
Israel.
Had departed from the living God. They had turned to idolatry.
And we read about that if we back up just a little.
Perhaps it would be in order to.
Just read a little in chapter.
16 Before we go to 17 now this is what it says First Kings chapter 16.
And verse 29.
And in the 30 and 8th year of ASA, king of Judah, began Ahab the son of Omri, to reign over Israel. And Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel and Samaria 20 in two years. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of S Bale, king of the Zidonians, and went and served.
Failed and worshipped him. And he reared up an altar for Baal in the House of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab made a Grove. And Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger, than all the kings of Israel that were before him in his days. Did Heil the Bethelite Bill Jericho. He laid the foundation thereof. And I Byram his first born, and set up the gates thereof, and his youngest son of Sigurd, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua.
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The son of Nun. This gives us a little.
Background.
We find that the king of Israel has married an idolater.
Zydonia Jezebel, and as a result, the worship of Fail is introduced into Israel.
And Ahab built.
The house.
Appeal.
And he reared up an altar in that house. What a terrible state of things in the nation.
And then we read about this man, Heil.
Who rebuilt Jericho, the city of the curse?
And I believe.
That this was in direct opposition to the Word of God.
And he suffered for it, I believe, two of his sons.
Were taken as a result of this.
Act of interjection to the Word of God. Such was the state of things.
In Israel.
Israel had departed from God.
But God had not departed from Israel.
And there was a man of God in Israel.
And there were those, I believe 7000 who had not bowed the knee to bail.
And so in this state of things, there were those who were willing.
To live for the Lord, to go on for God.
And God appreciated that.
And he preserved.
His people.
In the midst of this terrible.
State.
Well, we're in a terrible state.
In many ways.
In this country, in the world.
I had a young person tell me, he said.
You know, I go to school.
And.
There's alcohol.
There's drugs.
There's sex.
And he said it's just so terrible, It really is.
And I was just talking with the father here and he's telling me that.
In the school district where they are, they have occult meetings right in the school.
And of course, I know in our area we have bullying.
And it's a big problem.
Bullying.
And sometimes bullying leads to bullets.
It's so sad to think about the violence.
That comes as a result of sin.
But you know God.
Is still at work and we're going to see how God was at work here in Israel and that's why I like to read this next chapter, chapter 17, at least part of it and see how that God comes in and provides as we sang in that opening hymn. The Lord will provide and so chapter 17.
First one. And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand, there shall not be, do nor rain these years, but according to my word.
And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hands, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook sheriff, that is before Jordan, and it shall be that thou shalt drink up the brook, and I have commanded the Ravens to feed thee there. So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord, for he went and dwelt by the Brooke sheriff, that is, before Jordan, And the Ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning.
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And bread and flesh in the evening. And he drank of the brook.
So we see that.
There was drought in the land of Israel.
And of course this was.
Predicted if.
There was departure from God. There would be consequences.
And we read about that back in Deuteronomy. I've just turned over to Deuteronomy, if you would please the chapter.
28.
Deuteronomy chapter 28 and verse 15.
But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.
To observe, to do all his commandments and his statutes, which I command thee this day, that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee. And then we have curses. But notice in verse 23. And I heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron. The Lord shall make the reign of thy land powder and dust from heaven shall it come down upon thee, and thou until thou be destroyed, and so on.
Well, I believe that this was.
The state of things in Israel departure from God. We find that Elijah prayed that it would not rain, and the heavens became his brass.
And the rain is powder and so things dried up.
And.
It was according to the word of the Lord, but you know God had his eye.
On Elijah.
And you know God has his eye upon you here this afternoon.
And upon me.
And I don't believe that the Lord ever takes his eye off of his own.
He's focused on us.
We may not be focused on him, but he is on us.
And his desire is to do us good.
And you know the Lord is near.
To his own. Sometimes we lose a sense of it.
I saw a sign driving down the road. It said if God seems far away, who is it that's moved?
I spoke to my soul.
God hasn't moved.
But I need to search my heart.
Perhaps I've gotten away from the Lord and my soul.
But you know, there's always a way back, and the Lord is always there. And if there is true repentance.
And if there is a confession?
God is there. He will forgive. I'm speaking out to believers. We don't have to ask for forgiveness.
But we do need to confess the sin, as it tells us in First John. If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And so that's the way back confession.
We had a teenager this summer.
And she thought she had really gotten away from the Lord. She wanted to get back to the Lord.
Well, you know what?
Separates us from God.
Is sin. That's what separated Adam and Eve from.
God in the beginning.
But God in his goodness.
Has provided a means whereby that separation can be removed.
Because the Lord wants us close to Himself.
That's the only way to be truly happy, and so he was willing to give his son.
And on the cross, his Son shed his precious blood, his own life's blood, as we had read to us this morning, the one who loved us and who has washed us from our sins in his own blood. This is the gift of God, and it's the blood that makes it permanent for the soul. So I believe once that sin is removed.
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It's taken away forever.
I believe that.
You know, it says that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. And some have the idea that's kind of an ongoing cleansing. In other words, when we sin.
Well, the blood of Christ is available to just wash it away. It's always there for that. But I don't believe that's the thought. The thought there is simply a statement of fact as to the value of the blood of Christ.
Just as I might say water quenches my thirst, I'm telling you the value of water. Or I might say soap.
Cleanses dirt. I'm telling you the value of soap without any reference to time and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us.
From all sin.
The value in the precious blood of Christ, how wonderful it is.
So I do believe that the blood of Christ takes our sins away once for all.
And our relationship is established with God. How wonderful that we can address Him as Father.
And the apostle John could see, behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called his children.
How wonderful. But you know what we can lose?
Enjoyment, fellowship with God.
We don't lose our salvation for the relationship.
But the fellowship, and we need the fellowship in order to be happy.
The Apostle John made it plain in his first epistle. There, chapter one, he said.
Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his son.
Jesus Christ.
And then he goes on to say, And these things have I written unto you, that your joy may be full, you can't enjoy.
Life truly without enjoying fellowship with the Father and with the Son, the fellowship can be disturbed, can be hindered by allowing sin in our life. But again, we confess to sin and be specific, whatever it might be, and the Spirit of God, I believe it will bring it before our souls that we know what it is.
That has offended.
And we can confess that and automatically we're forgiven fellowship.
Is restored well.
Elijah here was told exactly what to do.
In the midst of these most adverse circumstances, because the eye of God was upon him for good.
And the eye of God is upon you and me for good.
And he has a path for you to follow.
And he wants to make it crystal clear.
It was David, he said, teach me thy way, O Lord, lead me in a plain path. That's what God's desire is, to lead us in a plain path. And we see the instruction here that was given to.
Elijah, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Get thee hence, turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook sheriff.
That is, before Jordan, there was a place where there was water to drink. God was concerned about keeping body and soul together.
For Elijah.
And not only was there water.
But notice verse four. And it shall be that thou shalt drink up the brook, and I have commanded the Ravens.
To feed Dedic.
Oh, Can you imagine that?
Ravens, a carnivorous bird bringing food.
To Elijah.
And it tells us.
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It wasn't just bread they were bringing, they were bringing flesh. Bread and flesh.
But I noticed a little word there in verse four. It's the last word in the verse.
THERE.
There is where?
Elijah would find that which would meet his need.
I have commanded the Ravens to feed the.
There. And that is where Elijah went.
We turn over to the New Testament.
We find that the Lord Jesus give instruction.
About various.
Thanks.
When it came to.
Eating a coat to ride upon.
He told where to go.
And you know exactly where the colt was and they went and they found us, he had said.
He said it would be there and they went there and there it was.
On another occasion, there was a question of where to prepare the Passover.
And the Lord Jesus said, you go to this city, when you enter in, you're going to find a man bearing a pitcher of water.
And follow him.
Into the house and there make ready. So they did what he said.
He said go there. They went there and there they found a man. You know, the, it's beautiful to see the, uh, guidance.
Of the Lord and how he desires to.
Not confuse us, but to lead us in a plain path.
And we never do better than to follow in the path that he has marked out.
So it tells us Elijah went, and he did, according unto the word of the Lord. That's beautiful to see, a submission to God's Word.
And it brought.
That which provided for it.
Elijah's need.
Submission to the Word of God.
God spoke.
And Elijah obeyed.
I was noticing connection with Noah.
You know, back in.
Genesis Chapter 7.
God told Noah, he said come down in all the house into the ark.
And the next thing I read is and Noah went in.
And his wife, three sons and their wife. It's beautiful to see this kind of.
Submission to the will of God.
God said no come in and says Noah went in.
With respect to David, David said, you know, the Lord said to me.
Seek ye my face.
And the next thing we read is what David said. My heart said, Thy face, O Lord, will I seek.
So.
This kind of response to the will of God is very beautiful and it brings happiness into our lives. It truly does.
It's been said salvation comes by faith, but happiness comes through obedience to the word of God. The Lord Jesus said if you know these things, happy are ye if you do that.
And so we find that.
Elijah drank of the brook.
And.
Here comes a Raven.
Winging its way.
And as Elijah watched, no doubt he thought that Raven's coming my way. He's got something good in his mouth.
And there's more than one Raven, I take it, since the Ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning.
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And bread and flesh in the evening. So I had a meal in the morning.
And he had a meal in the evening.
And he was provided for.
The Lord is working miracles today as well.
Well, I read, uh, not that long ago about.
AI believe it was a mission outreach of some sort in Africa.
And they had a clinic set up and there was uh.
A nurse there.
And it can break time.
And she and her associate, they thought they'd just go out under the trees and.
Enjoy the outdoors and have their little lunch.
And I don't recall what it was, whether it was a loaf of bread or.
Fruitcake or whatever it was they were planning to enjoy together.
They set it out and then they were distracted and when they went to eat.
They found it was missing.
They wonder what happened.
We were going to have a lunch here.
And now?
What has happened? It just.
Disappeared into thin air.
And it just boggled their minds.
Well, it was sometime later.
That became one of the natives to that clinic.
And she?
Gave a very interesting account, she said. I was out.
In my community and I was so hungry.
And I was praying about the situation, asking the Lord that he might send something to eat, and all of a sudden.
Something dropped out of the year right in front of me.
And I wish I could recall the details, but it was a loaf of bread or a fruitcake or something of that nature. And she said it's just like a a gift from heaven. It fell there. And apparently a bird had dropped that. Well, you can put two and two together. You know the story now.
And the nurse, well that is amazing. Now I know what happened to my lunch.
And it was encouraging to see how the Lord works. You know, He has control over all of creation.
The fish of the sea.
The fish brought a piece of money to Peter. It's like taxes could be paid.
And of course, uh, the birds of the air and of course also the animals reference made to the cult, a cult that had never been written on before. The Lord Jesus rides upon it. And like we sing in that little children's song, when Jesus was riding upon him, he went just the way that he should.
Acquired a submissive, weak donkey. Jesus was in control.
God provides for Ravens even though you know they're unclean bird. But over in Luke's gospel, we read there about how that the Ravens.
They don't sell, neither do they reap.
They don't have any storehouse.
They don't have any farm, but God feeds the Ravens. He takes care of them.
And of course, in that instance, the Lord was seeking to bring before.
The disciples.
How much more important, valuable they are than the Ravens. So God feeds the Ravens, and hear the Ravens feed Elijah.
And so this went on for a time.
And here, Elijah.
Was in solitude.
You know God has times of solitude for us.
I believe.
These are times that are necessary.
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Now, it isn't simply being alone with ourselves.
That will help us in the service of God. No way. In fact, if we're alone with ourselves, that's maybe the worst company that we could keep.
But if we are alone with God.
Now we're talking about the best company.
And that's what Elijah really enjoyed here.
I know Howdy enjoyed the presence of God and there was fellowship with God.
And it just was that which no doubt cured his soul.
And.
There was, I believe, a real blessing.
To Elijah as a result of this solitude.
Moses in order to be effective for God. I believe for 40 years he was on the backside of the desert.
And the Lord Jesus himself spent time in the desert, I believe 40 days in the wilderness.
But he was there with God.
And if you find yourself in a place of solitude.
I believe God can use that in real blessing to your soul because you're there not just with yourself but with God. That's how it was here with Elijah.
Well, you know, time brings its changes.
And that's what happened here in verse seven, it says. And it came to pass.
After a while.
That the brook dried up because there has been no rain in the land.
Now Elijah is confronted with a new situation.
He sees the water in the brook.
Reducing down to a little trickle.
You can see what's happening. This book is gonna dry up.
Now what are you going to do?
Is she gonna be guided by sight?
Or as he could be guided by faith.
I believe there was a conflict perhaps that went on here.
He could see by his eyes the water is drying up. It's time to hit the road. I need to get on my way.
But Faith told him to stay where you're at.
Until you get a word from the Lord to go.
It speaks to my own heart because sometimes, you know, in our circumstances, we think things are maybe kind of deteriorating and we think, well, I think it's time to get out of here because things aren't looking good. Oh, wait a minute.
Do you know where to go?
Do you have a word from the Lord?
To leave.
Elijah didn't have a word to go.
He stayed where he was. He stayed put.
In time, the word came.
I'm sure Elijah realized that God was for him. He had been provided for water.
Out of the book.
And food brought in a miraculous way.
God had a plan, and so Elijah, he waited on the Lord.
Well, that was good, because in verse eight it tells us. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying.
So in our lives.
There are times when doors close.
But we need to be certain that God is closing the door.
Because sometimes.
It's not God I believe, it's Satan.
Trying to discourage.
And what may appear as a door that's closing is only the effort of the enemy to discourage us.
Well, I believe God can make it plain as to what His mind is with respect to our movements, and He desires to lead us in a plain path.
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And one day at a time, you know, that's how it was with Elijah here.
You didn't store up apparently. What the?
Ravens had brought.
But it is 8.
And there was food.
For today.
And, you know, we had the prayer there in the Gospels. Give us this day, Our Daily Bread.
When the children of Israel passed through the wilderness.
We know the manna. It came down one day at a time, except on Friday.
There was enough on Friday for two days because they weren't supposed to gather it on the Sabbath. But the point here is God provided day by day.
For his people.
And that's good.
I heard many, many years ago.
Take one day at a time.
I didn't think too much of it, but now as I've grown older, I really think that's good advice.
And God gives us strength for the day. As thy days, so shall thy strength be.
And if we can't borrow tomorrow's grace?
To de to deal with today's problems. What makes us think that we should borrow tomorrow's problems?
And deal with them today.
You know, what I'm seeing in this portion and in the next story that we're gonna read is that God takes care of his own.
But it's one day at a time.
And there's a dependence on him as a result.
And so let's just read the next story and then.
Will be done. This is very beautiful to see how God is leading in verse 9.
It says, uh, well, verse eight. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zaiden, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks. And he called her and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
As she was going to fetch it, he called to her and said, Bring me, I pray thee.
A more slip bread in nine hand.
And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake.
But a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruise and behold, I am gathering 2 sticks that I may go in and trust it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.
And Elijah said unto her, Fear not.
Go into as thou hast said, but maybe thereof a little cake 1St and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel. The barrel of meals shall not waste, neither shall the crews of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, And she and he and her house did eat many days, and the barrel of meal wasted not.
Neither did the crews of oil fail according to the word of the Lord.
Which he spake.
By Elijah.
The Lord tells Elijah.
Go to Zarephath.
And it was inside. Or at least it was close to Zidane. Perhaps it wasn't inside in itself, but.
You know.
Elijah might have said to himself, Wait a second.
Zaiden Well, that's a hot spot for veil worship.
I don't want to go there, you know, as spiritual.
Uh, sensitivity instinct might tell them I don't want to go there.
And furthermore, he was supposed to go and, uh.
Find a Gentile woman, he might say. Well, wait a second, I'm a Jew, I don't really wanna go there. It's religious instinct would tell him not to go.
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And then to have a widow woman sustaining him.
That in itself perhaps, would be rather obnoxious to his manly instinct.
But I think that Elijah forsook his own thoughts.
And he was willing to.
Submit to God's.
Instructions.
And how important that is, You know, sometimes perhaps the Lord shows us things that.
We just don't really want to do but.
I believe.
That God.
Well, how shall I put this?
Uh, God makes us willing to go. He does that.
And that's why in uh.
Philippians 4.
It says it's perhaps it's Philippines too. It's God that works in you both to will.
And to do of his good pleasure.
That's encouragement to my soul because God puts a desire in my heart, but then He gives the ability to do it.
And I think Elijah had that desire to serve and to please the Lord, and so he went.
And he found just as the Lord had indicated, and there was that little woman gathering these sticks.
And he asked of her a drink.
That's what Elijah asked. Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel that I may drink. Kind of reminds you of how the Lord Jesus.
When he was there at the Well of Sychar in Samaria.
Yes, drink of.
That, uh.
Woman.
And you know, the Lord never asked a favor of anybody, but what he always gives so much more in return, as that woman of Samaria found out. And this woman here, she said, well, I'll go for the drink. And she did.
She was going to fetch it, but then Elijah made further a request that I think pretty much overwhelmed her and stopped her in her tracks. He said to her, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.
Well, she thought she could get the water, but as far as the, uh, morsel of bread, that was asking too much. And uh, verse 12, she said, as the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil in a cruise. And behold, I am gathering 2 sticks that I may go in and trust it for me and my son that we may eat it and die. We'll talk about his depressed state of things.
What kind of an outlook did this woman hit?
Since you're going to make this little cake and sit down and her son and her were going to eat and then they were going to die. That's all they had before then. The most depressing future.
But Elijah said under her fear not.
Fear not go and do as thou hast said, but make me thereof a little cake first.
And bring unto me, and after make for thee and for thy Son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel. The barrel of meals shall not waste, neither shall the crews of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. Now I think.
Elijah said. At ease.
The mind of this woman.
He said fear not, but at first perhaps he said, well, he's telling me to fear not, but.
Is there any substance to this?
Well, Elijah explained why she was not to fear. Because.
He had received a word from the Lord that the barrel of meal it wasn't going to waste, and the cruise of oil, it wasn't going to fail.
Until the day the Lord would send rain upon the earth.
So verse 15 is to end. She went and did according to the saying of Elijah.
00:50:02
You know, in the scriptures we have so many. Fear not.
And I've been told I never searched it out but we have.
At least 365 times reference to either be of good cheer or be not, afraid or fear not, or something of that nature that would set the mind of the believer at ease.
God tells us why too. We don't need to fear.
You know, perfect love casts out fear and as we contemplate the cross, the sacrifice of Calvary.
The Lord Jesus says the Lamb of God.
Suffering there for you and for me.
As well As for God.
We come to realize in some measure His love and we know that He is for us and He's going to provide and He will.
Take care of.
Every need my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
And here Elijah said he would provide until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth. You know, I like to think of the.
Today, As for the Christian.
When we hear the shout.
The hymn writer said Heaven's morning breaks.
And glory dawns when His blessed face we see.
And that could be this afternoon. We're gonna hear a shout and we are in the night of this world. But you know, the Daystar has already arisen in our hearts and we know if we go out.
When it's still dark, we see the morning star. We know the day is coming. It's a precursor of the day. The Daystar has arisen in our hearts and we know the coming of the Lord is at hand. Of course, we know that for this world, the Sun of Righteousness is going to rise with healing in his wings.
And what a wonderful day that will be for this world.
But in the mean time, God provides for us and the meal I do believe is symbolic of Christ.
The Lord Jesus could say, he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and we can enjoy the Lord Jesus as we wait his return.
It's been said we can have as much as Christ as we want, and He is the one that truly satisfies. He satisfies the lying soul, fills the hungry soul with goodness. As far as the oil, I believe that's a type of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God remains with us.
And how wonderful to have God himself dwelling within you and me, because the Holy Spirit is God, and greater is he than you than he that is in the world.
Well, this dear woman, we find that she went and did.
As the profit commanded her.
And it might have seemed like a little thing, but really it was a big thing.
A little bit of meal, a little bit of oil. She makes this little cake, gives it to the prophet.
But you know what?
Little as much when God is in it. We turn over to the New Testament. We find there another widow woman.
We're just a little thing. She had two mites. That's all she had, and she cast both of these mites into the collection.
In the eyes of the world, it was so insignificant.
But in the eye of God.
It was just the opposite.
And you know, let's no one here say that I don't have anything.
To give to the Lord.
I really don't seem to have any particular gift. I want to tell you something.
Everyone here that belongs to Christ has a special gift.
And there's something that you can do for the Lord better than anyone else. I believe that with all my heart.
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And you might say, well, it just seems.
Whatever I do, it'd be so insignificant.
But you know, God is in the little things.
And I think of how Sampson.
How he?
Yeah, the jawbone.
He did wonders with that jawbone.
David had a sling. It was just a little sling. He did wonders with the sling.
Shamgard tells us he had Knox code.
He did wonders with the ox goad.
Singing in the children's song.
Dorcas had a needle, just a little thing, but she used it for the Lord, and she did some wonderful things for God with little things, little as much when God is in it.
And the other thing is, you know, sometimes God's doings are delayed.
Until, you might say, the last minute.
Here, in this case, this woman, she was about to eat her last meal.
But God came in in a wonderful way, and instead of her last meal being eaten, she had many more and more meals, and she continued to live.
Well, God took care of her, and I think of the disciples, how they were out.
Toiling in the night and they might have said, well, I'm just going to give up, You know, this is so exhausting.
But you know what it tells us that the Lord came to his disciples in the 4th watch. Just maybe when they were ready to give up, there was the Lord.
For them.
And I think it's wonderful how the Lord comes in.
But He does test our faith. But you can be sure He hasn't brought us into this wilderness to perish. And He's been all the way home, Savior, and He's gonna provide.
One day at a time.
And it's going to be.
Until the day.
Perhaps we could sing.
Number.
23.
#23.
How good is the God we have gone?
I, God and our Father, we thank thee that there is nothing too hard for Thee, and we thank you for thy love as we have just been singing. That is as great as thy power and knows neither measure nor end. We thank Thee for thy provision day by day. We thank thee for the Lord Jesus.
That precious savior.
Who gave himself a ransom for many. We thank you for Thy Holy Spirit too, who we know will guide us.
Directus.
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And will empower us and we feel so blessed.
Now we just rejoice this afternoon and thy goodness, Father, and we just pray that Thou will continue to undertake for thy dear people.
And we pray that I will just lead us in a plain path, and that questions might be answered through Thy precious word, uh, to thy own glory and for the satisfaction of The Enquirer. And so we ask these few things now as we thank you for this conference.
And how we have been blessed as we have been together. We thank thee for the rich ministry, the warm fellowship.
We know that now has afforded us these times as we await the shot, that grand meeting in the air. So we ask now and give the our thanks, Thy worthy and precious name, Lord Jesus, Amen.