In verse number one tonight, we'll be introduced to a man by the name of Elijah, and one of my favorite men in the Bible, but we'll read his introduction tonight and just see where he steps onto the scene tonight. But look at verse number one. The Bible said, 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 be no dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. How many glad that there's some promises tonight that we can rest assured on because God is still alive. As long as the Lord is living, amen, me and you have hope. I'm glad that I serve a risen savior. I'm glad that he's alive tonight, amen. Look at verse number two. The Lord came unto him saying, get thee hence and turn thee eastward and hide thyself by the brook chariot that is before Jordan. And it shall be that thou shalt drink of 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 brook Cherith, "'that is before Jordan. "'And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, "'and bread and flesh in the evening, "'and he drank of the brook. "'And it came to pass after a while that the brook dried up, "'because there had been no rain in the land. "'And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, "'Arise, get to the Zarephath, "'which belonged to Zidon, 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 sticks, and he called to her and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water and a vessel that I may drink. And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her and said, bring me, I pray, the morsel of bread in thine hand. And as she said, as the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal and a barrel and a little oil and a cruise, and behold, I am gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that she may eat it and die. And Elijah said to her, fear not, go and do as I have said, but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it unto me and make after for thee and for thy son. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail until the day the Lord sendeth 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 cruise of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you again for this evening. Lord, for the wonderful word of God, we thank you for the life of Elijah, Lord, we thank you for recording it. Lord, down for us that it might be an example and an encouragement to us. I do pray tonight that you'll have me behind the cross of Calvary. I pray that you have myself, Lord, let me just be a mouthpiece for your glory tonight. Help me to preach, God, as you desired and designed it to be done tonight. Lord, work in our hearts. Help us, Lord, to see something within these verses, God, that we desperately need in our life. We're thankful tonight, Lord, for your promises. We're thankful for your truth tonight. We do pray, God, that you continue to work in our church. We thank you for what you're doing, Lord, for somebody who doesn't know you as their personal Lord and Savior. Lord, you prick their heart, begin to draw them, convict them, Lord, and show them their need of a Savior. Lord, we're thankful, God, for a church on a Wednesday night, Lord, that we can just come and fellowship together. Lord, we ask you that you bless it. God, use us for your glory. Help us one more time. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. Now I want you to notice first of all tonight as we look at the life of Elijah, we are introduced to him right here in verse number one of chapter number 17. Up until then, we have no idea who he is. We don't know where he came from. We don't know his parents. We do know where he came from. We don't know his parents' name. We do know that he's from a place called Tishbite. or Tishba, he's a Tishbite, which is in the land of Gilead. Now a couple weeks ago we preached about is there not a balm in Gilead? Is there not a balm, a B-A-L-M in Gilead? That was that ointment and that was that, where people would go and they'd apply it to their wounds and it would heal them and it would help them to feel better. And so we know there was a balm in Gilead, but we're gonna find out in Elijah's life that there was a balm in Gilead. Elijah was a bomb. When Elijah shows up on the scene, it's like he blows everything up. He's not like everybody else. He is not quiet. He is not just one of those that he's just gonna do his thing and he's not gonna ruffle no feathers. No, when we first are introduced to Elijah, he is standing in front of the king of Israel. You gotta realize that when Elijah shows up and Elijah comes on the scene, he comes in at the time in Israel's history that it's probably at one of its lowest points, if not its lowest point, up until this point. You say, well, preacher, how do you know it was so bad in Israel? How do you know that it was so terrible, like you say? Well, if you look at chapter number 16, as that chapter ends, we are introduced to the now king of Israel. He's a man by the name of Ahab. And the Bible says that at this point, Israel has split, right? We understand they were once a united kingdom under David and under Solomon, but shortly after that, they split. We have a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. Israel's the northern, Judah is the southern. And we see here tonight that they have split. And now, when you go read your Bible, just study it out, that Judah did all right. They did better than Israel. We don't compare it to each other, right? We are comparing to God's standard. But we see here Israel just, I mean, if the wheels fell off the wagon, it would be Israel. And we see here tonight that we've now been introduced to a man by the name of Ahab in chapter number 16. And notice what the Bible says about Ahab. He's got a wonderful description. Look at verse number 30. In Ahab, look at chapter 16, verse number 30. And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. It's as if Ahab said, oh, you think that's bad? Watch this. If you think you've done terrible, wait until you see what I'm fixing to do. In essence, he takes pride not in what he's doing for God, but rather what he's doing against God. And it's interesting to think about this in that sense because he is the king of God's people. He is leading God's people. We know that way back in the book of Genesis, down through the lineage of Abraham, God promised that Israel would be his people. And here comes Ahab on the scene saying, I'm gonna be the absolute worst king there ever was in Israel. Isn't that a high standard to strive for? Every now and again, we'll ask our kids, what do you wanna do when you get older? What do you wanna do with your life? And I remember one of our kids said something like, well, I just wanna make coffee, right? I wanna work at a coffee shop. And it's like, that's really high up there, isn't it? You're striving for high success. They know there's nothing wrong with that. But we see here that Ahab, he's doing worse than any other king. Verse number 32 of chapter number 16, they have begun to believe dangerous doctrines. Look at verse number 32 of chapter 16. And he reared up for an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. Now here's God's people, and here is God's king, per se, of God's people, and now he is building an altar, and really a place to worship Baal. pagan worship, Satan worship, devil worship, call it what you want to tonight, but now he is leading God's people in that direction. That's why leadership is so important. That's why having good leaders and godly leaders, not just in the church, but in our society, in our homes, is necessary and needed. We're seeing it right now in America. We have many leaders. Very few godly leaders. And we're seeing the effects of that in our society. But that's how it was in Israel. They have begun to believe dangerous doctrines. Do you realize that under that religious system and that paganism that there were moms and dads who were willing to put their child on the sacrificial altar just hoping for good crops? and hoping for help in a financial situation, which is crazy to think about tonight, right? But that's what they're going down. There was terrible leadership, there was dangerous doctrines. Then verse number 33, we find out there's degrading morality. Look at verse number 33 of chapter number 16, and Abraham made a grove. 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. Matter of fact, in there, in chapter number 16, it says somewhere where Ahab thought of the light thing. In essence, he knew what he was doing, and he thought, well, that's really not that big of a deal. If God loves me, then he'll understand, and he'll be okay with it. Can I say tonight, we must remember that yes, God is gracious, and yes, God is merciful, but God is also holy, and God is also righteous, and those things that he's told us not to do, we have no business doing them. And we see that here, and Ahab thought it was a thing, and now there's degrading morality. You go study out those groves and those rituals that they did there, there's nothing spiritual or holy about them. The things that they would be allowed there and perform there, and this is now being called religion. This is now being called, hey, this is how we are going to worship now. And this is the scene that Abraham, not Abraham, but that Elijah walks into. Matter of fact, if our Bible stopped at chapter number 16, verse number 34, it'd be awfully discouraging. Because here's God's people in a mess. Here's God's people being leaded by a seemingly godless man, and it's created a mess. But look at chapter 17 in the first word, and. Aren't you glad that God had more to say? that God didn't stop at chapter number six. God had more to say. And not only did he have more to say, God had someone who was gonna say it. God had someone that he was gonna do. And we don't know the understanding, we don't know exactly how this, but up until this point, Elijah knew who God was. Elijah had somehow, prior to this, understood who God was and had separated his life unto him and was serving God. In the midst of all this, God said, hold on a second, I still have somebody and someone who believes the truth in his name is Elijah. We look at our society, it's in a mess. We look at our morality, it's going crazy. We look at everything that has been accepted and promoted and preached at us and to us from this world that is glorified and lifted up. It'd be high time in 2024, God said, and I got somebody down at South Haven Baptist Church that is not gonna go with it, who is not gonna play with it, but is rather gonna stand and stand for what is right. And this man's name was Elijah. And as soon as we meet Elijah, we find out real quick, he's a man of faith. He is a man who believes God. Oh, preacher, how do we know this? It's not even because he says it. Right, Elijah doesn't say, I want everybody to know I'm a man of faith. Elijah doesn't go to his Facebook and type up some, I want everybody to know I'm a person of faith. Well, how do we know tonight? Because what he does shows us he is a man of faith. We've got plenty of Christians who will say it, who will wear T-shirts, will type it up on their Facebook, how they are people of faith, but it is time that not just our declarations be of faith, but our demonstration be of faith. That which we do would show the world, hey, we believe God. We are people of faith. A real faith will always move to actions. A real faith isn't just declared, but it's also demonstrated. James said it this way, James 20, 20. But wilt thou, O vain man, that faith without works is dead. We are not working for our salvation, we are working from our salvation. So yes, what we say from our mouth is important, for we preach the gospel, we proclaim it, and we trumpet it out of our mouth, but may our lives and our actions back up what we're saying. In essence, when Elijah steps on the scene, it is not necessarily what he says that causes us to know he's a man of faith, but it's what he says and also what he does. I want to give you three things tonight, three actions that we see in this chapter that show us that Elijah's a man of faith and they ought to be three actions we have in our life if we're claiming to be people of faith. Notice number one, he made a bold statement. He made a bold statement. Now some people think that as Christians we ought not to get involved in politics. Elijah wasn't one of them people. I don't see him being political here, but you gotta realize when he walks up to Ahab, he gets right in the middle of the political mess that's going on, the spiritual mess that's going on. He goes to the political leader of the day and says, I need to talk to you. I've got something to say. I don't see anywhere where he asked permission. I don't see where he asked if he could go before. We just know he shows up and he's got his finger in Ahab's face. He is about to tell him what is going on. So a preacher, he wasn't being political either. Why? He wasn't bargaining with Ahab. He wasn't saying, well, Ahab, if you do this, then I'll do that. Or if I do this, will you do this? He's not bargaining. He doesn't compromise with Ahab. He's not looking for somewhere where him and Ahab agree. Because the reality is, there's probably not anywhere for them to agree on anything. He's not trying to compromise. He's not even trying to discuss anything. He doesn't say, Ahab, here, tell me what you think when I'm done talking. He just lets them have it. He doesn't plead or beg Ahab. He just tells them, here's what's going to happen. You deal with it. The reality is not that we do that in a mean spirit, not that we do that with a hard heart, but we gotta realize that we've somehow got this understanding that we've got to win the argument. that we've got to explain everything so that everybody understands it, that we have to convince and argue and we're trying to win a legal battle here. No, the Bible tells you and I that we are to preach the gospel, we are to proclaim the truth, we are to say, here is what the Bible says. Now you deal with it. Now you do something with it. The reality is that's what preaching is. It is me taking God's truth, putting it in your lap and saying, all right, you have fun with that. you do with what that, what I've just placed in your lap, what God wants you to do with it. Now, I don't do it with an arrogant attitude, or it's one of those things you gotta realize, when I'm dropping off in your lap tonight, God dropped off in my lap already. The same thing that the Holy Spirit's dealing with you about tonight, I've probably already had to deal with it. Right, we see that tonight, and this is what Ahab does. He goes, and he just walks up to, Elijah walks up to Ahab, and he says, here's what's going to happen. Here's what's going to take place, and it's a bold statement. What Elijah says tonight is not something he can manufacture himself. It is not something that he can do. You've got to realize tonight that Elijah had no idea what something like cloud seeding is called. He wasn't working for the Chinese government. He can't control the weather. But we see here tonight that Elijah walks up to Ahab and he says, hey, I'm gonna let you know, for three years, it's not going to rain. But that's not the only thing that he said. Because listen, right now, in the past few days, we've finally gotten some rain, amen? Finally got some rain and we're thankful for it, but it seemed like it was a week long that we hadn't had no rain. But notice tonight, not only that we didn't have no rain, but let me ask you, did you ever go out in the morning and there was still dew on the ground? I don't think there's been a day that I've been alive that I haven't went outside and there was still dew on the ground, even though it hadn't rained. But look what Elijah says right there in verse number one. Before whom I sin, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. Elijah said, I've made a request unto the Lord and he has given me his approval. And until I say so, it ain't gonna rain. That's a statement of faith, isn't it? Because he can't control the rain, he can't control the dew. You gotta realize that when you and I live by faith, we sing the song Living by Faith. We know we are to live by, that just shall live by faith. You gotta realize that when you and I say that we are living by faith, that means we are living a life that we cannot manufacture or do ourselves. Because if I could do it myself, I wouldn't need faith. If I had the ability to do it by myself, what would I need the Lord for? If I'm living by faith, that means I am living a life that only God enables and makes it possible to be lived. That's why the Bible says that without faith, it's impossible to please God. And we see here tonight that he could not manufacture it himself, but all's this, he relied on a living God. He relied on a living God, just like we talked about, I said a few minutes ago. He said, as the Lord God of Israel liveth. In essence, Elijah was saying, as long as God's still alive, he's the one that gave me the confirmation, he's the one that gave me this desire, he's the one that put it in me to come before you, Ahab, and as long as he's alive, it's gonna happen. It's gonna take place. And I could just see Elijah, he was like pastors like we are. I could see Elijah, now it's not recording the scripture, but I could just see Elijah saying, and listen, I checked with him this morning and he's still alive. He's still alive, I talked with him this morning. He's still alive, he's still on the throne. As long as he's alive, you better figure something out, Ahab, because it ain't gonna rain. And it's not gonna be any dew on the ground. You gotta realize, now in a couple, I think next week we'll talk about that great battle with Baal and the altars of fire and all that wonderful stuff, but do you realize right now in verse number one, Elijah steps on the scene and he's already challenging Ahab's God. He's already challenging Jezebel's God, that is Ahab's wife. And he's already challenging them, because here's the thing, and as he was saying, go pray to your God, see if anything changes. Go do your little dance, do your little sacrifice, and see if Baal does anything. See, because as long as the Lord God is alive, it ain't gonna rain. It ain't gonna happen. And there's gonna be no dew on the ground. Let me ask you, when's the last time you made a bold statement of faith? You stepped out on something you know you could not do, and you needed, and knew only God could do it. When's the last time you said something that caused you to rely on the Lord for the answer? I can't do this. I'm not able to do this. Elijah made a bold statement. And in that statement, he shows you and I that he is relying on the Lord. He can't control the rain. He can't stop the dew, but God can. And he's relying on him. Notice that he made a bold statement. But notice number two tonight, he experienced a bountiful sustenance. He experienced a bountiful sustenance. Verse number three through six, he goes and he tells Ahab in verse number one, Ahab, it's not gonna rain. No dew on the ground for three years, Ahab. Verse number two, God begins to speak to Elijah. Now some of the word of the Lord came to him saying, get thee hence, turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith that is before Jordan. Now let me ask you, now, if there's no rain, if there's no dew for three years, what we call that, We call that a drought, amen? Things begin to dry up, whole fields begin to burn up from the sun, crops die, animals die, rivers dry up, bodies of water dry up. If you knew a drought was coming, Elijah did, he done called it. He done said, hey, it ain't gonna rain for three years, no dew on the ground. He knew it was coming and God says, Elijah, I want you to go find the brook Cherith and hide out there. Now, I began to study this and realize that if a drought was coming, that was probably the last place you would want to go. If it was me tonight, if I knew a drought was coming, I'd figure out how to get to the Mississippi River. I figure how do I live by the Savannah River? How do I get up there by the lake? How do I get to a vast body of water that is going to take a long time to dry out? Because I want to survive. I want to make it through. But tonight God says, all right, Elijah, you done called it. I want you to go live. and stay by the Brook Cherith. Do you realize tonight that that Brook Cherith was not a body of water or a flowing river that was always there? It was there when the Jordan overflowed. In essence, it was a brook, it was like a creek, in essence, a small flowing body of water that was only present when the Jordan overflowed. Does that sound like a wonderful place to be in the middle of a drought? How many rivers are overflowing in a drought? And God tells Elijah, hey, it is time to go to the brook. You wanna know why most Christians are not going to live the faith life or live a life that is lived by faith? They are not willing to go to the brook Cherith when God says. It's time to go there. Do you realize tonight that God has a brook chair for all of us tonight? God has a place in our life that to our eyes is gonna make absolutely no sense. Because we know what is coming, we know what is coming down the pipe. God has made us aware of that. Now he said, hey, go over here and do this, do that. That don't make no sense, Lord. We're gonna find out tonight Elijah was a man of faith, and through his faith, he received a bountiful sustenance. Notice this tonight, faith doesn't always make practical sense. Hardly does it ever make practical sense. But that doesn't mean we should obey, or we shouldn't obey the command that God has given us. If the command is clear from God, then we ought to do it. You know tonight that tithing makes no logical sense? I'd encourage you to go sit down with a financial advisor and say, hey, I give 10%, at least 10% of all my income to the Lord. They're gonna say, you know what you could do with that? You know how you could invest that, how you could spend that, how you could use that? They're gonna say that makes absolutely no sense. But as believers, we don't give out of because we're afraid that if we don't, God's gonna hit us in our knees and take us out. God's not gonna extort us. God owns a cow with 1,000 hills and he don't need our money. But when you and I, by faith, trust the command that is given, the instruction that is given, it opens an opportunity for God to bless us. And we see that here tonight in Elijah's life. God said, hey, you just called for the drought, you just called for the lack of rain, the lack of dew, go to the brook chariot. The Bible says that Elijah does. Not just go there, God said, hey, I got a plan for you. Here's how I'm going to take care of you. I'm gonna do something completely and totally normal for you. Look at verse number four, and it shall be thou shall drink of the brook. Well, that makes sense. And I've commanded the ravens to feed thee. Now, let me ask you tonight, when's the last time a raven showed up at your house? Said, I've got something for you to eat. First of all, if ravens are talking to you, you got more problems than what they're trying to feed you. But here tonight, the Bible said that God tells him, hey, I've got an improbable location for you. I want you to go by the brook Jareth. Then he said, I've got an impossible provision for you. The ravens are going to feed you. And the Bible tells us in verse number five that Elijah began to question God and said, Lord, do you know what you're doing? Elijah began to ask around if God had ever done this for anybody else. The Bible said, so he went, and did according unto the word of the Lord. He was of like passions. The Bible tells us in the New Testament that Elijah was a man of like passions, like you and I. So he probably had those questions, but he just said, you know what? I'm gonna trust God on this. It makes no sense. Elijah, where you going, Elijah? We're all going up to the lake, Elijah. There's so much water up there, man. It hadn't rained in three weeks, Elijah. We gotta get by a big body of water. Where you going, Elijah? I'm going to where God sent me. Well, where is that, Elijah? You're gonna die, Elijah. Elijah, where's all your food supplies at? What are you gonna do? Oh, God said he's gonna feed me. How's he gonna feed you, Elijah? He said he's gonna bring the ravens to bring me meat and bread in the mornings and in the evenings. Ooh, Elijah, you've been spending way too much time with God. You done lost your mind. We find out tonight that Elijah had a wonderful, that the school, the prophets, whatever their name is, we'll learn about them later on, they had a wonderful, wonderful opinion of Elijah. You know why they were probably upset with him? It's because he was by faith and they weren't. We see here tonight that Elijah goes and he goes by the brook. Could you imagine that first day? He sits down, grabs him a cup of that brook water, and boy, it's tasty. About dinnertime, all right, where they at? And out of nowhere, here comes that raven. Now, here's the thing tonight. I looked this up. I said, what do ravens typically eat? I was curious. What kind of birds are they? They'll eat anything. Google said they are omnivorous. But they also eat things including carrion. What is that picture that's dead? Carcasses. Could you imagine that? Oh boy. What is that? But the Bible said that morning and evening the raven come and somehow that raven dropped it off to Elijah and Elijah ate it. The Bible doesn't say what he ate, it just said it was meat, bread, and flesh. But notice this, it was enough to sustain him. You know why sometimes we don't live the faith life? It's because we think we have some better provision than what God's trying to give us. Well, preacher, I deserve more than this. I've been doing this long enough. I ought to get this, I ought to get that. We deserve hell tonight. May that never get far from us. And here comes Elijah, and he's got bread and flesh. I've got to think about this. We thought, man, a couple years ago, Uber Eats was something new. God's been doing it for a long time. You haven't had a literal raven come into your life, but God's used a raven to feed your family. God's brought something in right on time that didn't make sense. And all you can step back and say, Lord, thank you so much for providing for me. He had experienced a bountiful substance. Preacher, I wanna see God do the improbable and the impossible in my life. Well, you're gonna have to go where the improbable location and the impossible takes place at. If Elijah didn't go to the brook chariot, he wouldn't experience this. Why, he'd have been living in disobedience. And we see here tonight that Elijah goes and God miraculously feeds him. When's the last time you experienced the Lord providing the miraculous for you? It ought not to be long. So how do you know that, preacher? Because every morning and every night, a raven came in with food. That sounds like a miracle every day, every morning, every night. Well, may we have spiritual eyes to see what God's really doing in our life, to realize how many miracles he's working out for us that we so quickly overlook. Well, we got a bad habit of focusing on the bad, don't we? Boy, everything's messed up for you, and it is. People don't lost their mind preaching they have, but God's still on the throne. You realize tonight that very well God may have dropped a raven ball off by your house and you didn't even notice it, but we got so comfortable with our stuff, haven't we? And we miss out on what God's trying to do. When's the last time you experienced the Lord providing the miraculous for you? Then notice number three tonight, his third action. He encouraged the faith of another. The Bible said in verse number nine, God, or verse number eight, the Lord began talking to him again. And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidam, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. You know why we sometimes don't live the faith life like Elijah did? It's because we get comfortable at the brook when it's time to move on. Arise. the brook had dried up, it was time to move on. And what's dangerous in the Christian life is that our brook will dry up, but we don't leave it. And we spend the next 20 years of our life telling how there was once a brook right there. Here's what I once did for God. Here's how God one time blessed me 20 years ago. I remember a man telling me one time, he said, 20 years ago, he said, or years ago, I preached and the altars were filled three rows back and the power of God was there. And I just said, well, what are you doing now? I said, but 20 years ago. I said, 20 years ago is wonderful. What are you doing now? God told Elijah, hey, time to get up, time to leave the brook and go into Zarephath, which is in Zidon. So a preacher, what's the big deal about that? He was walking into the stomping grounds of Jezebel. This is where Jezebel's from. And so here is the man of God who has declared a three-year drought in all of Israel, and all around Israel is gonna be affected by it. God puts him in the brook, he hides him for a little bit, blesses him beyond measure, gives him a wonderful son, says, all right, now it's time to walk into the enemy's camp. See, we like it when we get to the brook Cherith and we see God miraculously provide him, we're thankful for it, but then God says, all right, it's time to move on, it's time to grow up, it's time to take the next step of faith. And where are we going, Lord? We're going right into the enemy's camp. I don't know about that, Lord. And so God tells Elijah, hey, it's time to move on. It's time to go right into Zidon, into Zarephath. He said, well, preacher, what's the big deal? Jezebel is real nice. It was anything but that. She was such a wonderful lady. When's the last time you ever heard someone named after her? I've heard a lot of Davids. You've heard us from Noah's, Sarah, Rebecca. I don't think I've ever met anybody. What's your name, Jezebel? Right, carries a connotation with it, doesn't it? Someone say Hillary? One and the same, amen. Notice here, most Christians want to stay at the brook even after it has dried up. It's only for a season. The Lord had more for Elijah to do. Elijah even said, Lord, here's the thing, Elijah could've stopped right here and said, Elijah could've stopped and said, you know what? I'm gonna write me a book. I'm gonna teach people how to train ravens to come feed them. I was listening to some preachers preach on Elijah, seeing what they had to say and just listening to them and studying in that sense. I was listening to one fellow, he was on the TV at the house, and I was listening to him and it was good. I got caught outside and I let it keep playing. Before I came back in, that fellow was done. He had wrapped up, everybody went home. This other fellow came on. He said, we can look at Elijah's life and I can tell you the three words in Elijah's life that'll bring money and prosperity into your life. I said, no, sir. That's not what Elijah was about. But we see here tonight that Elijah gets up and he goes to a place called Zarephath. God was leading him away from the brook. Remember, he never leads you to leave you. He wasn't leading him away because it was time for Elijah to starve to death. He was leading him to lead him, to do another great work, and not just for Elijah, but for a little widow that lived in Zarephath. He was commanded to go and find a certain widow woman. Look at verse number nine in your Bible. It's interesting to think about like this. He said, Arise, get into this air path which belongeth to Zion, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain Here's an interesting thought to think about. Zidon was Jezebel's stomping ground, that's where she's from. If she had brought in all of that into Israel and had that kind of effect with paganism in Israel, imagine what Zidon must have been like. where there was no testimony of God, there was no temple, there was none of that going on, and yet it's a society full of paganism, and yet in the midst of all of that, and literally in the epicenter of paganism, God was still dealing with the heart of a pagan or for a little widow woman tonight, you gotta realize tonight, you said, preacher, our society has gone crazy, everybody's lost their mind, where there's no morality, there's no sensibility, there's no spirituality, but aren't you glad in the midst of all of that, God knows where we are, and God knows how to deal, I'm glad tonight that everybody else may have gone crazy, but God's still dealing with my heart tonight, and I'm thankful for that. There's a little widow woman there, and God had been dealing with her heart, I have commanded her to feed thee, to sustain thee. I wonder what this looked like. Now, we understand this lady's not only a widow, but she has a son. Now, if you know anything about kids, they're hungry. No matter what time of the day, they're hungry. Some of them kids just ate seven tacos in there and three oatmeal cream pies. And you want to get home tonight, they're going to say, I'm hungry, Dad. Mom, we got anything to eat? That's how kids are. And well, wow, I can't help but to think that maybe that mom of the Lord's been dealing with her hard about holding on to what she has because somebody's going to need it. And that little boy, Mama, I'm hungry, Mama. We know it's a drought. It's a rough time already. I'm hungry, Mama. I looked in the barrel, Mom. There's enough meal in there to make a cake. We got enough oil, mama. We can make something to eat. I'm hungry. Can I have something to eat? No, honey. Why not? I feel like the Lord is telling me to wait. To hold on. There's something more. So, honey, I can't. But, mama, I'm hungry. I'm sorry, honey, but I feel that's what the Lord would have me to do. We don't know how long this goes on, but then one day, here comes Elijah walking into Zarephath, and the Bible says in verse number 10 that he arose and went to Zarephath, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow of a woman was there gathering of sticks, and he called her and said, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water and a vessel that I may drink. And the Bible says she goes and she does that, because you've got to realize there must have been a spring, there might have been a well there, and that necessarily was hers. All right, she didn't make the water. She didn't create that, she just went and fetched it. And the Bible said in verse 11, as she was going to fetch it, he called her and said, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. And she stopped. That's what God had been dealing with her about. You better hold off on that bread and give it to somebody who needs it. You better hold off until I give you peace, and then I reveal to who it's supposed to be. Then I like verse number 12. And she said, as the Lord thy God liveth. She put two and two together there. God had been dealing with her, and here comes a man with a specific request, and the God that had been dealing with her, she attributes to his God. Look what she said right there. And she said, as the Lord thy God liveth, this must be who he was talking about. I have not a cake, but a handful of meal and a barrel and a little oil and a cruise and behold, I am gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it for me and my son that we may eat and die. I think the son had been aggravating her enough And she said, you know what, if nothing changes, we're going to dress it. We're going to eat. We're going to die. Could you imagine that conversation between a mom and a son? It's all we got left. Once we're done, we're done. This is it. A lot of us know nothing about that. Because we live in such a blessed land that we can go five minutes down the road and get something to eat. And we see her tonight that she had said, she tells Elijah, as the Lord thy God, she said, I was just about to eat that. We was about to eat it and die. Look at what Elijah said unto her. Oh, I'm so sorry. Please don't let me impose. Elijah said unto her, fear not. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. I'm not here on my own direction. I'm not here on my own intuition. I'm here because this is where God has told me to go. Fear not, and go and do as thou hast said, but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring unto me an aftermake for thee and for thy son. She literally just told me that she didn't have enough to make a cake. She said, I got a handful of flour. I don't know how big their cakes were, but obviously what she had was not enough to do it. And she said, what we did have, we was gonna go dress it, and we was gonna eat it, and we was gonna die. Now you gotta realize, she said, Preacher, why? Why would Elijah walk up in there? He should have stopped and said, oh man, please, don't, don't, don't, no, no, you go do that. You gotta realize where he just came from. He just got, God just sent him to an improbable location and gave him an impossible provision. And so he knows as much as his name is Elijah the Tespite, that God has called him, told him to go to Zidon and to Zarephath because there was a widow woman. And it's obvious that he can look at her and say, this is her. She's got the look, she's got the clothing, she's got the makeup of a widow. Obviously, this is what God's talking about. And he tells her, don't be afraid. Now, he don't go into a life story right here, but why would Elijah say it? Because he knew where he was coming from. And he thought, if God can feed me by the ravens, then no doubt, this is what God has told me to do, he's got something more than just eating and dying. And he tells her, fear not, go make me a cake, and then go make some for you and your son. This little lady, boy, she was gracious. Had it been me, I would have said, listen here, I just told you. I ain't got a handful. And I got pretty big hands. You might be able to make a cake with my handful. Well, some of you little ladies, you ain't making no cake with a handful. I'm going to go make biscuits. I'm going to use two tablespoons of flour. I don't know what you're fixing to make, but it ain't going to be biscuits. She tells him, you know, we don't have enough of that. And Elijah says, all right, just go make me a cake and make some for you and your son. But notice this, when he gives her the command, he doesn't leave it with just that. Look what he does in verse number 14. Verse 13, he tells her, go make a little cake. Verse number 14, for thus saith the Lord God of Israel. That one you just said for us, that's my God, he is my God. And as he lives, for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meals shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. If you'll do what I'm telling you to do, God will take care of you. He'll make the provision that you need. Not just for today, but until it rains again. Now, we don't know how many days this is. We don't know how many, if we're a year, half a year in, three months in. But Elijah says, listen, if you go do what God has told, as if Elijah knew God had already been dealing with her. If you do what I told you to do, which is what God has told you to do, God will take care of you. And what you have will not run out. It'll not waste, it'll not mess up until the rain fall upon the earth. And by then, everything, you'll be able to grow the crops again. You'll be able to get the oil again. Things will grow again. In verse 15, she said, Elijah, do you have a chapter and verse for that? Elijah, how many times have you told this to somebody else? Elijah, how many times have you seen this work? How many times have you, you can conduct this in your ministry? The Bible said verse 15, and she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. And she and he and her house did eat many days. Did eat many days. Look at verse number 16, the barrel of meal wasted not. Neither did the cruise of oil fail. I always wondered how'd that play out? When she'd go up, get up in the morning, and she'd start making biscuits for everybody. Notice what the Bible said, not just he, she, and her, there were other people in her house. Some people were blessed because she was willing to obey God. Her son was blessed and those in her house. In many days, they did eat. But the Bible doesn't tell us that Exactly how the barrel looked. That when she got there, all of a sudden it was filled to the top. And it wasted not until the days were over. Didn't tell us that she looked in the crews of oil and all of a sudden it was filled up again. The Bible said it didn't fail. My opinion, my thought, that every day she went there, there was some in there. As if she would take a scoop out of it and then she'd come back and it was like the scoop was put back in there. I don't think that it was filled all the way up in essence, it was overflowing, but rather she'd get up every day by faith and say, if it was there yesterday, it ain't rained. Let me go check that barrel again. And she'd show up and there was still flour in there. There was always enough. Get up the next day. Ain't no rain. Go check the barrel. Mama, it's still in there? Pour that oil real quick. Pour me a tablespoon of oil. You ain't gotta look in there, son. God's gonna take care of us. By faith, she'd pour that little cruise of oil into that little bowl, and there'd be oil in there. Day by day by day by day. You gotta realize tonight, when you and I live by faith, God blessed the fire that alights at the brook Cherith. He's the only person that I've ever known that's been fed by birds day in and day out. Outside, you know, God sent the meat to the children of Israel in the wilderness, but daily dropped off to him the brook chariot. But not only did he, but you gotta realize that when you and I live by faith, we personally benefit from it. we get to experience the blessings of God. But when you and I continue to live by faith and when God calls us from that place of comfort into that place of turmoil, that place of hostility, whatever it is, when God calls us and we come in there with the command from God and the word of God and the truth of God, God will allow us to begin to bless other people's lives. And we see that tonight, he blesses the widow's wife, who blesses her son's life, who then blesses her house's life, and it just goes on for many days after that. Our faith is not just something we declare, it is something that we must demonstrate. It is something that we must show to those that are around us tonight. Let me ask you tonight, do you have these actions of faith in your life? Not just what you say, has your bold faith in the Lord caused others to boldly trust the Lord as well? Tonight, when it comes to serving the Lord, preacher, why do you do that? Well, the Lord's put it in my heart to do it. but there's been people that God have put in my life who have been an example to me. Can't tell you how many times I've heard a man, and I'm not trying to be rude here, but he's up in his 70s or his 80s and he's preaching with everything he's got into him. I stood back and said, Lord, I'd love to do that one day. Just being my 80s, 90s years old and just still preaching the word of God, still serving the Lord and the capacity that he's given me. Tonight I'd encourage you not just to declare your faith, but demonstrate it. Show it to those around us. It was a blessing to the lady in Zarephath. It was a blessing to her son. It was a blessing to her house. It was a blessing to Elijah. Now let me ask you, are you living by faith? All preacher I am, where's your bold statement at? Where's your bountiful sustenance and provision? Where's your encouragement of others at tonight? If we're living by faith, we'll have these actions in our life.