Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Beyond
Sunday, the podcast that takes
you deeper into the Word of Godthroughout your week with your
hosts, pastors Lee and Jim.
It's time to inspire, upliftand dig deeper.
Beyond Sunday starts now.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Hey, what's going on?
Everybody, this is Pastor Leeand I'm here, as always with
Pastor Jim, and we are thepastors of Christ Family
Outreach Church, located inAmelia, virginia, and if you've
not yet made your way out to uson a Thursday night recharge
service or a Sunday morningchurch service, we want to see
you Come on out, say hey, I'm alistener, and shake our hands,
(00:40):
get to know us.
We'd love to get to know youand put a face to the name
Before we get going.
Just got a couple ofhousekeeping items we want to
take care of before we begintoday's episode.
Number one if you're onInstagram and you're not already
liking our page or followingour page, we want you to do so.
You can do that by reaching outto us at BeyondSundaycfo on
(01:04):
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And number two I would justlike to take a moment and say
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reach out and wanna be afinancial blessing towards the
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financial gifts go towards thispodcast and also towards our
(01:25):
church expansion project.
We've got a heart to share thegospel message of Jesus Christ
with as many people that wepossibly can, and we are excited
about building a bigger room inthe efforts to house even more
people.
We want to see as many unsavedpeople come in so that they can
receive the gospel message ofJesus Christ.
(01:47):
And, as we've mentioned on thispodcast before, you know, the
church is just like a hospital.
We are there for the sick andthose in need.
So if you feel compelled togive, if you feel the Spirit
nudging you to give towards thiswork, towards this ministry,
you can give by going on to ourwebsite at wwwcfochurchorg and
(02:08):
click the giving button in theupper right-hand corner of the
screen.
And we just want to say, bothPastor Jim and myself, we just
want to say thank you in advancefor any support that you're
able to give towards theministry of sharing God's Word
with others.
So, pastor Jim, good morning.
How you doing, brother?
Good morning.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
I'm doing well and
you know.
I just want to also add to thatto say this If you're attending
our church, you already knowthis you are our family.
But I would say also, if you'vefound yourself listening to
this podcast specifically andyou don't regularly attend our
church, maybe you have anotherchurch home.
That's great and that's amazing.
As long as they're teachingfrom the Word of God and they're
(02:47):
not deviating from that truth,I'm happy just to know that
you're in church.
But what I want to say is youare, by extension, part of our
family because you're here withus today listening to our
podcast.
So it's important for us tojust say thank you.
We really appreciate anyone whowould listen, because our heart
is simply this read the Word ofGod, talk about the Word of God
(03:09):
and advance the kingdom of God.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
Amen, amen, brother,
amen.
Let's go ahead and get going.
We're going to be reading inthe Bible today from 2 Kings,
chapter 4, 1 through 7.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Yeah, and this is one
of those passages that, when
you read about it and this isthe one that says you know what?
Wow God is always working.
Even when you don't see it, godis working, and I'm excited to
read and get into this study.
So grab your Bibles, find aquiet spot or, if you're driving
, turn the volume up and let'sget ready to explore God's Word
(03:44):
together.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
Amen, here we go,
friends.
2 Kings, chapter 4, 1 through7,.
And the Word of God, praisingto our Lord, says this Now the
wife of one of the sons of theprophets cried to Elisha, your
servant.
My husband is dead and you knowthat your servant feared the
Lord.
But the creditor has come totake my two children to be his
slaves.
And Elisha said to her whatshall I do for you?
(04:06):
Tell me, what have you in thehouse?
And she said your servant hasnothing in the house except a
jar of oil.
Then he said Go outside, borrowvessels from all your neighbors
, empty vessels, and not too few.
Then go in and shut the doorbehind yourself and your sons
(04:35):
and pour into all these vessels,and not too few.
Son, bring me another vessel.
And he said to her there is notanother.
Then the oil stopped flowing.
She came and told the man ofGod and he said go, sell the oil
and pay your debts, and you andyour sons can live on the rest.
(04:58):
I'd like to make this point,pastor Jim.
According to the Hebrew law,the creditor would be able to
take the debtor and theirchildren as slaves if he wanted
to.
The creditor could not treatthem as slaves, but they would
have to be taken as slaves inorder to work off the debt that
was owed.
(05:18):
So this is the position thewidow finds herself in.
Her husband, the provider oftheir home, he's passed away and
they have zero income enteringinto the household.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
Yeah, and that puts
her, as a widow, in a really
desperate situation.
Right, the creditors are coming, they're going to take her sons
as slaves and they're going tobe ordered to pay off all of
these debts debts in which, bythe way, they don't have money
to pay.
That's right.
So you know this verse.
It's speaking to the reality oflife's difficulties.
We don't have to just look backthen at this story to find out
(05:52):
and apply it to our lives today.
That's right.
Right, a lot of times we havedifficulties and sometimes, even
when we're faithful to God, wecan encounter these overwhelming
challenges, and I bet that shewas considering her situation
overwhelming in that moment.
But it is a reminder of thisthat we live in a fallen world,
and even the righteous right,the righteousness that God puts
(06:16):
on His people who believe in Him, can face hardships.
But as we see in this story andwe're going to continue to see
as we dissect it is that one ofGod's provision is in the midst
of their desperation.
Right, no matter how difficultyour situation may seem, no
matter how difficult thissituation may seem, god sees the
need.
The widow's faith was herconnection to God's solution and
(06:39):
, like her, we have to cry outto him when we face the storms
in our own life.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
Yeah, you know, the
mother is faced, as you
mentioned, with a debt, and it'sa debt that she cannot possibly
pay.
And because it's a debt thatshe cannot possibly pay, I'm
reminded of a debt that everyone of us Pastor Jim, yourself,
myself, everyone that'slistening we've all had a debt
that we could not pay as well.
(07:06):
And in Colossians, chapter one,13 through 14, paul writes this
he has delivered us from thedomain of darkness and
transferred us to the kingdom ofhis beloved son, in whom we
have redemption, the forgivenessof sins.
Amen, so so I had a debt in mylife.
(07:26):
I'll just make this personal.
I had a debt in my life, asdoes every other person as well,
that I could not pay, and JesusChrist is the only one that can
wipe my sins away and make meclean and whole again.
This mother has come to theplace where she realizes there's
(07:46):
a debt hanging over her thatshe cannot afford to pay.
She can't pay up, she can't runfrom it, she can't get away
from it.
This creditor has come, and soshe does the right thing.
Rather than act like the debtsare not there, she begins to
talk about it.
She begins to talk about thisproblem to Elisha and so many
(08:07):
people live feeling like they'vegot to run from this debt.
They've got to run from thisweight of sin, this sin debt,
this feeling of knowing thatthey aren't living right, but
they're still doing nothingabout it, when they should be
asking questions, asking forhelp and surrendering their life
to Jesus so they can be setfree from that debt.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
I love how you said
asking for help, because that
leads into verse 2 where Elishasays okay, you want help, what
should I do for you?
And there's this picture of God, right, what can I do for you?
Yeah, you know, tell me whatyou have in the house.
Let's look at what you have.
And then the servant saysnothing, lord, I got nothing,
(08:51):
well, except for this jar of oil.
Elijah responds by asking herwhat do you have?
And her response to me, it justshows how empty and how
vulnerable and how desperate shewas.
But then when she looks over,she says well, I do have this,
something that maybe in her eyesseems insignificant, it's just
(09:12):
a little jar of oil.
That maybe in her eyes seemsinsignificant, it's just a
little jar of oil.
But see, that's how our Godworks.
Often he works with what we have, no matter how little it may
seem.
It's different in God's eyes,because that small jar of oil in
her house was the seed of God'sprovision.
It's not about what you don'thave, it's about what you do
(09:33):
have and offering it to God forHis use.
We are simply to presentourselves useful and say Lord,
all that I have is yours.
And it may not seem much to us,but God will take it and he
will use it and he will run withit and lives will change
because of it, which is why wecan take no credit for it.
It's all honor and glory to Him.
(09:54):
We may feel like we don't haveenough to meet the needs of
ourselves, or even to help otherpeople, but God multiplies
things, even the smallestoffering, the widow that we're
talking about today.
She had faith in what she hadleft and God used all of it.
So what do you have that Godcan use in your life?
It could be a small act offaith, it could be a little bit
of talent, it can be a seeminglyinsignificant resource, but God
(10:18):
will take it, multiply it anduse it for his good.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
It took a miracle,
pastor Jim.
It took a miracle from God.
Okay for me, for you and forthe widow to get up out of debt.
And so the oil flowed for thismother, but it only flowed as a
provision from the hand of God.
So he had provided right.
God had provided the one jar ofoil already in this lady's life
(10:45):
, and then he would also providethe increase and the overflow
of oil as well to fill all ofthose jars.
A second point that I'd like totake a look at here, brother, is
the mother used what she had,and you just bought mention to
that.
She had already had a littlejar of oil, and, just like
Pastor Jim just did a moment ago, I'd like to encourage all of
(11:08):
you, if you're a Christian, touse what you've already been
given.
Let the Holy Spirit of God thatlives inside of you produce a
work and a strength on theinside of you so you're able to
face whatever is lying in frontof you.
1 Corinthians, chapter 6, 19,tells us that our bodies are a
temple of the Holy Spirit of Godliving within us from God.
(11:32):
So, friends, listen, if you'rea Christian, I want to encourage
you.
Today You've already got someoil flowing on the inside of you
, amen.
So let God take that little bitof oil that you've got and let
God use it for his glory today.
You know God, here it is.
I'm surrendering my life rightnow for your glory, and watch
what God does with it.
The mother she just had one jarand God goes on to keep filling
(11:56):
every jar that she collected.
Speaker 1 (11:59):
But you got to do the
work, you got to be willing to
do the work.
Verse three says go outside,borrow some vessels.
See, it wasn't just hey, lord,this is what I have now.
Now, multiply it.
Nope, go outside, get somevessels, be willing to put in
some work.
And then he says make sure thatthey're empty vessels and not
too few.
Elisha's instructing her togather as many empty vessels as
(12:20):
she can from her neighbors.
And I want to emphasize thatword empty empty vessels,
because God ain't going to fillvessels that are already full.
They have to be empty toreceive fresh oil, right?
So what he's saying is and thisis two parts If you come to him
with junk in your life, he'sgot to.
You have to empty that beforehim and say Lord, I want to turn
(12:43):
from that, I want you to use me, I want to repent of my sin, I
want to present myself empty toyou to fill up with your oil.
And then the second one is thisonce he fills up that oil, if
you don't go out and pour it out, he's not refilling you with
fresh oil.
See, actions speak to faith andpreparation.
The widow is asked to make aspace for God's provision.
(13:05):
She's asked to prepare herselffor something greater than what
she could even imagine in themoment.
Her faith is demonstrated inher obedience to go and gather
those vessels and it's a clearprinciple God's going to fill
whatever you make space for.
But here's the catch If we onlyask for a small amount, we may
(13:26):
only receive a small amount.
The oil stopped once they ranout of vessels.
The number of vessels speak tothe level of her faith and her
preparation, which she waswilling to invest.
If we prepare our hearts and weprepare our minds, god will
fill us abundantly.
The question we have to askourselves is how much are we
going to be ready to receivethose blessings?
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, you know,
pastor Jim, I think about how
humbled this woman had to be.
She really had to humble selfbecause here she is, she's going
door to door asking people forempty vessels.
Right, and I could only imaginewhat some people are thinking.
Because obviously the people inher area, in her town, they
(14:11):
know her husband has died, theyknow that she's not working,
she's not got a means of incometo fill these empty vessels.
You know.
So why do you need emptyvessels?
You know what are you going todo with them?
And so it's a great opportunityfor you know a testimony to be
given, because these emptyvessels that she's collecting
(14:33):
will be full.
Not only are they going to befull, we know, at the end of the
text it says that you knowElisha tells her to go out there
and sell them, you know, sothat they can have income.
You know, I've been here beforeto a degree, you know, and maybe
many of our listeners have aswell, where we've had to humble
self and go up to a neighbor'shouse and say, hey, I ran out of
eggs and I don't have time togo to the store, but you know,
(14:56):
I'm making this dish and Ireally need eggs in the recipe.
Or you know I need a cup ofmilk, or I need you know I need
some oil, you know for dinner,and you know we've run out.
You know I've been there before.
I've humbled myself and mysister and I we live in the same
and I've had to call her andsay, hey, you know I'm out of
(15:16):
XYZ, can I get some help?
You know.
So it just makes me think aboutwhat these people are thinking
and how this mother had tohumble self.
You know.
So.
Can you imagine this?
You know this lady peopleknowing her husband has died,
they know her situation, andhere she comes knocking on doors
asking them for emptycontainers.
(15:38):
You know I do wonder what typeof look she got.
You know what the neighborswere thinking.
Let me say this you expectingyour overflow may not make sense
to other people, maybe not evento some of the same people
living under your roof.
Okay, but don't let that keepyou from planning on your
overflow to show up.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
Yeah, and I love how
Elijah instructs her to go
inside because, to your point,so oftentimes when we're out in
public or out amongst otherpeople, we can get distracted
and we can miss what God wantsto do in our lives.
You see, elijah instructed herto go inside and shut the door
behind her.
Those are specific instructionsthat I don't want to just skip
(16:20):
past, because I think it'ssignifying that the work of God
is being perfected and effectivein a private space, away from
the distractions of the world,the oil flowing in the
closed-off space, not in thenoise of the outside world, and
it's a reminder of spiritualgrowth, healing and provision.
That happens in moments in thesolitude and the intimacy of God
(16:44):
.
With God we speak a lot ofhaving our quiet time and our
quiet space, and I think it's soimportant because when we shut
out the distractions and we areable to just focus on God, he
begins to pour into us in waysthat can't happen in other
circumstances.
God can pour into us anytime hewants, but I think that there's
something about shutting thedoor behind us, away from the
(17:07):
noise, away from the pressures,away from the distractions.
God is going to do His deepestwork, in those quiet moments and
it's important for us to askare we making time, that private
space with God in the secretplace, because he's going to
fill us up to overflowing inthose moments.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Yeah, absolutely, man
.
You know.
It says that she had all thejars filled and the oil only
stops flowing because no morejars were made readily available
.
It brings me to this thoughthow many times have we caused
the oil to stop flowing in ourlives simply because we have not
(17:43):
made ourselves available?
How many times have we said noto God?
You know that's it.
You know that's enough.
I stop here, I draw the linehere, because we begin to get
uncomfortable.
Or maybe we're approachinguncharted waters or territories
that God has never called us towalk through before, or maybe we
(18:04):
simply don't want to invest anymore time or resources in the
moment, you know, and so we justwe shut down, we begin to
ignore what God is calling us todo and all of a sudden we go
from a season of overflow to atime where the oil stops flowing
.
And I just want to tell you,friends, that that's not on God,
(18:24):
that's on us.
So this is the importance ofwhat you were saying earlier,
pastor Jim to make ourselvesavailable.
And we need to be readilyavailable at any and all times,
as Scripture says, both inseason and out of season.
I want my cup to fill up andrun over, as Paul says, pour me
out like a drink offering, sothat, as I'm being poured out,
(18:48):
the Spirit of God is continuallybeing poured in.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
And the oil stopped,
I think, where their faith
stopped poured in.
Yeah, the oil stopped.
I think, where their faithstopped.
You know, they only had enoughfaith to gather how many jars
they gathered and then, oncethey filled them up, the oil
stopped.
So how many vessels are webringing to God?
How much space are we creatingfor God to work in our life?
The flow of God's blessing inour life is often connected to
how much faith and how muchexpectation we have.
(19:15):
So don't stop believing ordon't stop asking.
Keep bringing fresh, new emptyvessels for God to fill up.
And you know, as we get ready towrap this episode up, I want to
just land on this final pointfrom verse 7.
The word says she came and toldthe man of God and he said Go
and sell the oil and pay yourdebts.
This is the piece, right here,I want to key in on.
(19:38):
And you and your sons can liveon the rest.
So Elisha's instructing herhere to sell the oil and pay her
debts, but then he goes live onthe rest.
Not only is her immediate crisisGod coming in delivering her
from, she's also set upfinancially to have a stability
(19:58):
in life and a provision for herfuture.
You know, the final verse isabout God's abundance in his
provision.
The oil was not just enough topay off debts.
It was more than enough.
It sustained her and her family.
God's blessing overflowed inways that sometimes we can't
even expect or even envision.
God's provision is always morethan enough to meet our needs.
(20:19):
He doesn't provide just for theimmediate crisis, he provides
for our future, and so we wantto obey God and we want to trust
God, because he will set us upfor a life of abundance.
Are you trusting God in thismoment, right now, in the short
term, or are you trusting Himfor your entire future moment?
Speaker 2 (20:36):
right now, in the
short term, or are you trusting
him for your entire future?
Yeah, you know, the mother endsup being set free from her
debts simply because of God'sprovision.
And just like we said at thebeginning of this episode,
friends, god has provided hisonly begotten son, jesus Christ,
so that you, right now, in thismoment, and for the rest of
your life, into eternity, can beset free from your sin as well.
(20:58):
Amen, father.
We just lift up every listenerout there in this moment, god,
that they would have a heart towant to line up with your word,
your truth.
Father, that they would see theneed and the purpose for being
set free from any and all debtin their life.
(21:19):
Father, that tries to hold themback, this sin debt.
Lord, we thank you that theblood of Jesus has washed clean
our filthy rags.
So, lord, we lift this day upto you and I pray, in the name
and the blood of Jesus Christ,that all that we've talked about
today day up to you, and I pray, in the name and the blood of
Jesus Christ, that all thatwe've talked about today, all
that we've read from yourscripture today, father, would
just hit good soil and take rootand we wouldn't just keep it
(21:43):
for ourselves, but we wouldshare it with other people as
well, because, just like we wereonce in debt, there's other
people out there that need thegood news of Jesus Christ shared
with them, so they can becomedebt-free as well.
In Jesus' name and blood,everybody, my friends said
together amen, amen.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
Well, we thank you
for listening to another episode
of Beyond Sunday.
Here's what I'll leave you withthis question right here how
many vessels are you willing tobring to God, not just today,
but for the rest of yourlifetime?
God bless you.