(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

All right, well we're there in 1 Kings 17, 1 Kings chapter 17, and we've been going through this series on the times of Elijah. I know I asked this this morning, but if you could, I'm just not able to hear myself, if you could just tell me just a tiny bit, right there, that's perfect, thank you very much. Proverbs 17, and we've been going through this study in the life of Elijah, and it's actually our fourth sermon in this study, and we're still in chapter 17, and there's just a lot there to kind of go through. If you remember last week, we talked about, well when we started, we started by just talking about the incredible life of Elijah, and yet, with how incredible it was, he was an ordinary man just like us, and we learned from that, and then we also talked about prayer, and learned about Elijah from James, and how he prayed. And then of course last week we talked about those times in our lives when we were at the Brook Kirov, and we're just kind of waiting on God, and waiting on the Lord. In this sermon, what we're going to do is we're going to look at this famous story of Elijah performing a miracle, or having a miracle in his life, where God basically supplied for Elijah, and for the widow, and for the widow's son through the time of this famine. I want you to just kind of, just by way of introduction, and I'm not preaching on this necessarily tonight, but I want you to notice that what God was asking Elijah to do made no sense. It was an illogical request, because you remember he was at the Brook Kirov there, and the ravens fed him, and the brook, he drank from the brook, and the ravens fed him, and eventually the brook dried up, and he had to move on. If you'll notice there in verse number eight, the Bible says this, and the word of the Lord came unto him saying, arise, get thee to Zarephath. So remember he's at the Brook Kirov, and he's told to get to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon. I want you to notice that phrase there, which belongeth to Zidon. The reason it says that is because this Zarephath was a city of a foreign nation. It was in the nation of Zidon. It was no longer in Israel. So the Lord is asking Elijah to go from near the Jordan River, where he was staying, and to travel north up to this city of Zarephath, and dwell there, behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. Now I want you to notice just several things about this request that God is making. First of all, and this is not the sermon, this is just introduction, but the path didn't make sense. When God asked Elijah to go on this trip and to take this road and to take this path from the Brook Kirov to Zarephath, that path was an illogical path to take. It was a road that did not make sense by human standards. Now you say, well, why would that be? And you're there in 1 Kings 17, just flip one page over to 1 Kings chapter 18. And what you need to understand is that Zarephath was about 100 miles journey northwest past the Sea of Galilee from where Elijah was. And 100 miles journey is quite a journey for anybody to take, especially without a vehicle, you know, on foot. But more than that, God was asking Elijah to take a 100 miles journey during a time of famine. And of course, Elijah is the one who prayed that it would not rain for three and a half years. And we're not exactly sure how long, at least I didn't look into it, maybe it's revealed somewhere in scripture that I, but as far as I can remember, we don't know for sure how long he was at the Brook, maybe six months or something like that. We know that he's been there long enough so that the Brook dried up because there's no rain and there's no water. And now he's being asked to go on this journey during a time of famine, and we know that during this time, it was a grievous famine. Notice there in 1 Kings 18, we're going to get to chapter 18 soon, and we'll deal with the story. But I just want you to notice in 1 Kings 18, three, we have the story of Ahab, and notice what it says, and Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, and we'll talk about Obadiah later, but notice in verse five, what it says about Ahab and Obadiah. And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all the brooks. Peradventure, the word peradventure means perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. So here we see that Ahab was going with this man Obadiah, and they were basically on a journey trying to see if they could find any grass so that the beasts or the animals would not die. Now notice that this was a grievous famine where even the king is himself out there looking for water so that they can save the animals. So it's a famine of water, it's a drought obviously that's affecting all of the food and the resources that they would have. And God is asking Elijah to go on this hundred mile hike, look, asking him to go on a hundred mile hike just on its own, that's a big task. But then asking him to do it during a famine, it makes no sense, it's illogical. So I want you to notice that the path didn't make sense. But not only was it illogical because it was during a time of a famine, it was also illogical because it was during a time when Elijah is being hunted. He is a wanted man, remember he went to Ahab and said, it's not going to rain for three and a half years. And they probably did not take him very seriously at first, but eventually when it wasn't raining, they began to ask questions and they began to wonder, where is this guy Elijah? In fact, if you're there in 1 Kings, notice verse number 10, again with that story of Ahab and Obadiah, Obadiah actually runs into Elijah in 1 Kings 18. If you look down at verse number 10, and I want you to notice the little conversation they had, it says there, as the Lord thy God liveth, this is Obadiah speaking to Elijah, he says, there is no nation or kingdom, whether my Lord have not sent to seek thee, talking about Ahab. And when they said he is not there, he took an oath of the kingdom and nations that they found thee not. So Ahab has been searching for Elijah and here Obadiah says that there's no nation, there's no kingdom that he hasn't looked for you. And when he went there and they said, oh, Elijah's not here, he took an oath from them. He made them basically promise and said, if I find out that you're aiding and abetting him, this is not going to be good between our nations. So I want you to understand that Elijah was a wanted man, they were searching for him. So during the time of a famine, during the time when he's being, you know, hunted as a wanted man, God asked Elijah to go on a hundred mile journey from the brook Keerith to Zarephath and that path did not make any sense. But I want you to notice also tonight, if you go back to 1 Kings 17, 9, not only did the path not make sense, but the place didn't make any sense. Notice verse 9, arise, get thee to Zarephath, notice what it says, which belongeth to Zidon. Now if you remember, the reason that Elijah's in hiding and the reason that he's running is because Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel are hunting him down, are searching for him. Now here's what's interesting about God asking Elijah to go to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon. You're there in 1 Kings 17, flip one page back to 1 Kings 16. 1 Kings 16 and verse number 30 tells us a little bit about King Ahab and who he was. Notice what the Bible says, 1 Kings 16 and verse 30 says this, And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. That tells you a little bit about the king that Elijah is dealing with, this king Ahab. Notice verse 31, 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 Nabat, God says, it was bad enough that he continued in the sins of Jeroboam, he said, but if that wasn't enough, if that had been a light thing, notice what it says, that he took to wife Jezebel, the daughter of Ephbeel, king of the, notice this, Zidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. I want you to notice that Jezebel, who is married to Ahab, who is the king and the queen that are hunting Elijah down, comes from her home town, her national land is the land of the Zidonians, and God is asking Elijah to go to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon. God is asking Elijah to go to the home town of Jezebel, who's hunting him down. So the path is illogical, and the place is illogical, but I want you to notice, thirdly, the person was illogical. It didn't make sense, notice verse 9 there, 1 Kings 17 verse 9, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there, behold I have commanded, notice who he commanded, See, if you and I were getting this letter and we were reading this, we would hope that it would say, behold, I have commanded a multimillion, billionaire, entrepreneur, you know, Christian that loves me, there to sustain thee, right? That's what we'd want to hear. Behold, I have commanded a general with a military that will protect you and serve you. I've commanded them to, there to sustain thee, or we would want to say, I have commanded the king who's, you know, somehow magically converted to believing in the Lord of Israel, and now he is going to sustain thee, but that is not the message that Elijah got. When he got the message of what God wanted to do, he was told that he would be taken care of and provided by a widow woman, a widow woman. Now keep your place there in 1 Kings 17 and go with me to Deuteronomy 24, beginning of the Old Testament, you have Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Because today, when we say a widow, and when the Bible uses the term widow, there are two different thoughts that come into that way of thinking. See, today, a widow woman may be a very well financially off woman, you know, because of the fact that, you know, maybe she's retired, maybe she works herself or her husband worked, you know, in the world that we live in, you know, wives get pensions and they get retirement and they get benefits. In the time of the Bible, when your husband died, when the main provider died, there was no government to help you. There was no, now I'm going to get his pension plan, or now I'm going to get his retirement. Widows are often referred to, especially in the Old Testament, and the New Testament as They're often referred to in the same phrase as the fatherless, or what we would call an orphan, because in the Bible, a widow was not someone who took care of you, a widow was someone who needed somebody to take care of them. Let me just show that to you in Scripture, Deuteronomy 24, look at verse 19. In Deuteronomy 24, we basically have, and I'm going to use this term loosely, but we have the nation of Israel's, or God's welfare system. Now, when we think of God's welfare system, don't think of the welfare system in the United States of America, because the welfare system in the United States of America is you can sit around and do nothing all day, and you know, people that go off and work will take their money and give it to you. That's the way it works in the U.S., but that's not how it worked for the nation of Israel. When God established a welfare system in Deuteronomy 24, 19, notice what he says. He says, When thou cutest down thine harvest in the field, and hast forgot a sheaf in the field, that thou shalt not go again to fetch it, it shall be for the stranger, that's talking about the foreigner, for the fatherless, that's talking about the orphan, and for the widow, that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the work of thine hand. See, this is what God told the nation of Israel. He said, When you go out and you reap your harvest, if you forget a little bit, or if you drop a little bit, or if you leave some of it behind, don't go back and get it. He said, Leave that there, because God said, you know, what he would allow is for the stranger, the foreigner, or the fatherless, or the widow, they were allowed to come into this field, and anything that was left over, they were allowed to take that and live off that, and that was the way that the community and the culture took care of those that were in need. So notice that God expected them, God expected the fatherless, the widow, the stranger, to get up and actually go somewhere and actually do something, you know. But he told those that had money, he said, Hey, don't be greedy, and go back and grab every little thing. Anything you forgot, or anything that was left over, leave it there for those in need. Notice verse 20, he continues with that thought. He says, When thou beatest thine olive tree, thou shalt not go over the boughs again, it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, and for the widow. And again, the same idea, he's saying, don't take everything off the tree, don't go back and make sure that you've left nothing there. He said, if you leave a little bit, it's fine, leave it for the widow, leave it for the fatherless. Verse 21, When thou gatherest the grapes of thy vineyard, thou shalt not glean it afterward. He said, once you go over it once, don't go back again and make sure you didn't miss anything. He says, it's fine, leave it, notice, it shall be for the stranger, for the fatherless, for the widow. And here's what I'm trying to get you to understand, that in the Bible times, and in the time of Elijah, when you said the word widow, you thought of someone that needed your help, that you needed to be graceful to or merciful to, that you needed to help them out or do something nice for them. You did not think of someone that was going to take care of you, you were thinking of someone that you had to take care of. So when God gives Elijah this plan, Elijah's got to be thinking to himself, the path makes no sense, the place makes no sense, and the person makes no sense. But I want you to notice, fourthly tonight, that the plan itself didn't make any sense. I mean, it was bad enough that he was sending him on a hundred miles journey during a famine while he's wanted. It was bad enough that he was sending him to the stomping grounds of the enemy that is trying to kill him. It was bad enough that he sends him to a widow. But then he gives them this plan. It was verse 9. Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zion, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded the 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. Now look, when you see a widow woman gathering sticks, this is what Elijah would think, this is a poor woman. This is not a woman that has the ability or the resources to be able to go and buy lumber or wood to make a proper fire. I mean, she's literally on the streets trying to find anything that will burn so that she can create a fire. She was there gathering of sticks, and he called to her and said, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water and a vessel that I may drink. And Elijah's got to be thinking to himself, you know, he's got to be thinking, maybe this is one of those, like, you know, you hear about those millionaires that they've got all the money, you know, hidden under a mattress, and they live like they're poor, but they've really got resources. You know, Elijah's got to be thinking to himself, maybe this woman just does have some sort of resource or something, why God has brought me here. But he goes to her and he says, would you pray, and he says, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water and a vessel that I may drink, verse 11, and as she was going to fetch it, he called to her. So he says, hey, can I have some water, and she says, sure, and he takes that as a good sign, he says, well, she's got water, that's good, that's more than I've got, my brook's dried up. So then he called to her and said, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. She says, maybe she's got water, maybe she's got bread. Bring me some bread, please, verse 12. And she said, as the Lord thy God liveth, and I want you to notice how she says that. She doesn't say, as the Lord God liveth, she says, as the Lord thy God liveth. So she's not a believer in the God of Elijah, and we'll see next week how she does become a believer later on. But she says, 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 together steaks that I may go and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it and die. I mean, she says, I'm gathering steaks to cook up enough food to have our last meal, and then what I'm planning on doing, once we're done with that meal, is just to sit there and starve to death and die, that's my plan. And that's the plan that God sent Elijah, and it makes no sense, and it's very illogical. And you would think, God, that's not where I would expect you to send me, that's not who I would expect you to send me to, and Lord, I would expect you to have a much better plan. But I want you to understand tonight that the reason that God sent Elijah to such an illogical place, and keep your place there in 1 Kings 17, go with me to the book of Proverbs, just real quickly, Proverbs chapter number 3, Proverbs chapter number 3. And do me a favor, when you get to Proverbs, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. The reason that God stacked the odds against Elijah so badly is because God was trying to teach Elijah a little bit of trusting in him and practicing faith. See, God often tells us to do things that make no sense, things that we would look at from a human standpoint and say, that doesn't make sense, that's illogical, that's not how I would do it or that's not what should be done. In Proverbs chapter 3 there in verse 5, I want you to notice what the Bible says. It says, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. And all thy ways acknowledge him, and he, Elijah, shall direct thy paths. I want you to notice that in Proverbs chapter 3, and we're going to come back to Proverbs 3, so make sure you put a ribbon or something there, but the context of those verses we just read, trust in the Lord with all thine heart, lean not unto thine own understanding and all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path. The context to those verses are verses 3 and 4 and verses 8 and 9. And they have to do with finances. And see, God often has to remind us to trust in him when it has to do with our finances because when we deal with money, it's when we are the least apt to trust God. It's when we're the most likely to go into logic mode and to not trust in the Lord with all thine heart, but to begin to lean in our own understanding. And I want you to notice that this story of Elijah being sustained by the widow is really a financial lesson that God is trying to give us. And what I want to do tonight is as quickly as I can, I want to give you just four thoughts on this idea of financial principles from the word of God, and specifically financial principles from the story of Elijah and the widow. But I want you to notice as we begin the story that it didn't make sense. The path made no sense, the place made no sense, the person made no sense, the plan made no sense. None of it makes sense. And you need to understand that because as we study biblical principles for finances, you might realize that what the Bible teaches about finances just doesn't really make a lot of sense. But we must learn to trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. Now let me say this. At Verity Baptist Church, it's rare that I preach on finances. I don't preach on finances very much. If you've came to our church for any period of time, you know that's true, that we don't talk a lot about money around here. But when it rises in a sermon or when it comes up in a text, then we preach on it and we're not ashamed of that. We're not ashamed of preaching any part of the word of God. But it's not something we talk a lot about. It's not something... You go to some churches and every sermon has a point in there about finance. I can't remember and you can't remember. If you leave here tonight, you say, oh, it's just one of those other sermons that churches have about money. Here's the challenge I would give you. Find the last time I preached on money. Let me know when was the last sermon, the last time I preached on money, because it's not something we talk a lot about. But when it comes up in Scripture, we talk a lot. We talk about it and we don't shy away from it. So let me give you tonight four principles in regards to finances. Number one, if you can go back to 1 Kings 17, keep your place there in Proverbs 3, 1 Kings 17. Some financial principles for, biblical financial principles from the word of God. How to deal with finances in regards to the Bible. The first thing we see in the story is the financial principle of priority. The financial principle of priority. I want you to notice 1 Kings 17 and verse 13. The Bible says this, and Elijah said unto her, fear not, go and do as thou has said. Because remember, he just asked her, hey, can I have some water? She said, sure, you can have some water. Then he says, hey, how about a little bit of bread? And she says, well, here's the thing. I only got a little bit of bread left, enough for me and my son, we were going to eat it and then we were going to die. I want you to notice, Elijah's kind of a rough guy, you know? I mean, if a widow just got done telling you, I was planning on having my last meal and dying, you would think you would say something like, I'm sorry, you know, how can I help? You know, can I pray for you? But notice how he responds. He said unto her, fear not, go and do as thou has said. She just said, I'm going to go eat and die. And he's like, well, that's fine, go ahead and die, but notice what he says, make me thereof a little cake first and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. And what we learn from this story is that when it comes to biblical guiding our finances biblically, we must learn the financial principle of priority, that we must always put God first in our finances. And you say, but that makes no sense. When you've got enough to eat and die, it makes no sense. And I would say to you, and Elijah would say to you, and God would say to you, exactly. But if you want the blessing of God upon your finances, you must learn to put God first. He says, go ahead, fear not, go and do as thou has said, but make me thereof a little cake first. And Elijah was not putting himself before this woman, but it was God's plan that she would sustain him. And as the prophet of God and as the representative of God, he says, you take care of me first. And the idea there is that we should take care of God and his needs and the things that he has called us to do first. And when you do this, here's what I'm telling you. Here's what the widow woman's going to learn, that when you follow the biblical principles for finances, God will take care of you. And you say, well, how can I leverage the power of God upon my finances? Here's how you do it. You learn the financial principle of priority, which means God comes first. Go to Proverbs chapter 3. Have you kept your place there? Proverbs chapter 3. Remember, we've read those words, trust the Lord with all thine heart, lean not until thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path. Here's the context that those verses are in, verse 9. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 9, honor the Lord. Honor the Lord with thy substance, with thy resources, with the money you have, the things that God has given you. Honor the Lord with thy substance, and notice, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. The Bible, and I don't have time to develop this. In fact, go with me to Matthew chapter 6 if you wouldn't mind. I don't have time to develop this, but if you want to study this out on your own, the term firstfruits is used synonymously throughout scripture as the word tithe. When you read firstfruits in the Bible, we're talking about a tithe. And I want you to notice that a tithe, the term tithe implies 10%, and God commands that we would give to him proportionally, 10% of our income, that's what the Bible teaches. But it also teaches, and by the way, people today will say, oh, the tithe doesn't apply in the New Testament. You haven't read the New Testament, because Jesus is telling people, pay the tithe, give the tithe. He's telling the Pharisees, pay the tithe. You say, oh, well, the Pharisees weren't even saved, neither was this woman. You know, something my dad taught me a long time ago is that even unbelievers can leverage biblical principles, and it'll work even for them. You know, if you're not saved, but you just follow the biblical instructions for marriage, you know that the marriage laws that God gives us of submission and reverence, and that'll work for you even if you're not saved? You know that if you just do what the Bible says financially, you know that unbelievers can just follow the biblical, if they spank their children and spend time with their children and love their children and develop a relationship with their children, they can raise kids that love them and are, you know, the biblical principles are available for anybody. Now the sad thing is that sometimes unbelievers leverage the principles while those of us who are believers trust in our own understanding. But here, you know, we learn that we must give God first. See, when it comes to your tithe, it's not enough that you give God 10%, but you must give God his 10% first. So in your mind and in your attitude, when you say, I will give to God if I have left over, I will pay the bills first, I'll pay everything first, I'll make sure everything's taken care of. If I have anything left over, then I will give God from the left over. You're already wrong. You've already lost. You've already forfeited the blessings of God. Because in order for the biblical financial principles to work in your life, you must put God first. Matthew 6, 33. Are you there? Notice what he says, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. We're gonna come back to Matthew 6, so do me a favor, put a ribbon or a bookmark there. We're gonna leave it and we're gonna come back to it here in a minute. But I want you to understand that the context of Matthew chapter 6 is finances. I'll show you that to you in a minute. The context of Proverbs 3 is finances. We already saw that. But the Bible tells us that we are to put God first. So when it comes to your finances, number one, we must learn the financial principle of priority. When it comes to our finances, we must put God first. And we must make sure that we are giving him the priority. And you say, but what if it makes no sense? That's called faith. Faith is exercise, not when we do that which makes no sense, but faith is exercise when we do that which makes no sense, because the Bible says to do it. When we practice the word of God, even when it makes no sense. So we see number one, the financial principle of priority. Keep your place there in Matthew 6. We're gonna come right back to it. You've got your place in Proverbs 3. We're gonna come right back to it. Go back to 1 Kings 17. I'd like to give you, secondly, we saw tonight, first of all, the financial principle of priority. Secondly, the financial principle of provision. The financial principle of provision. Notice verse 14. 1 Kings 17 and verse 14. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel. So Elijah just told this woman, feed me first. You wanna have your last meal and die, that's fine. But feed me first. Put God first. Put God's word first. Put God's plan first. Take care of God first. And then he says this in verse 14, for, he says, here's why. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel. He says, when you put God first in your finances, when you honor the Lord with all thy substance and with all thy first fruits, when you put him first, he says, here's what God says he will do for you, widow woman. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that 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. See, what the Bible teaches is this, when we put God first, he will supply our needs. When we put God first, he will supply our needs. Is that not what we saw in Proverbs? Go back to Proverbs. Look at verse nine again. Proverbs chapter three, look at verse nine. Remember the context of Proverbs three is, trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thy known understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path. Verse nine, honor the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase. Put God first. Notice verse 10, so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, widow woman, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. You say, I want God to give me verse 10 of Proverbs three. Well, then you better give God verse nine of Proverbs three. You put God first. When we put God first, he will supply our needs. When we honor the Lord with thy substance and the first fruits of all thine increase, then the Bible says, so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Go back to Matthew chapter six. Matthew chapter six, remember that verse? Matthew chapter six, verse 33, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto thee. What are all these things that he's promising that shall be added unto thee? Well, look at the context. Matthew six, 31. Matthew chapter six and verse number 31 says this, therefore, take no thought saying. And when he says, take no thought here, he says, God says, I don't want you to be concerned about, I don't want you to be worried about, I don't want this to be something that's overwhelming you. He says, therefore, take, he says, therefore, take no thought saying, he says, I don't want you saying these things, is what God says. What shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For all these things do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things. What things? The things we're going to eat, the things we're going to drink, the things we're going to be clothed with, all these things shall be added unto you. I'm just here to tell you, I'm just here to tell you, if you want to leverage biblical principles for your financial well-being, here's how it works. You put God first. You honor him with your substance. You honor him with your increase. You honor him with the first fruits of what he's blessed you. And even if it makes no sense, you honor him first. And when we put God first with our finances, he will supply our need. Go back to 1 Kings 17. 1 Kings 17. Let me give you the third principle. We saw the first principle, which is the financial principle of priority. We put God first. We saw the second principle, which is the financial principle of provision. And that is, when we put God first, God will provide our needs. When we put God first, God will provide our needs. But there's a third principle, and you need to get this. See, if I was a Pentecostal prosperity preacher, this sermon would have two points, and we'd be done. Put God first. I'd be like Elijah. Put the money there first, and you go die somewhere, and God will take care of your needs. But you need to understand, there's more to it than just that. God will take care of your needs, but you need to understand how he's going to do that. In verse 14, the Bible says this. Notice what it says. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth wrath upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and she and he and all her house did eat many days. Notice verse number 16. And the barrel of meal, notice what it says. Wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word, Lord, which he spake by Elijah. Here's point number three for those of you taking notes. The financial principle of proportion. The financial principle of proportion. See, when we put God first financially, he will supply our needs. Please listen to this. When we put God first financially, he will supply our needs as we need. See, this woman, it's not like she said, okay, Elijah, sure, here's my last piece of cake. Here's my last piece of food. Here you go. And then all of a sudden, beep, beep, beep, here comes the semi-truck backing up into her backyard, just unloading crates and unloading pallets of just bread and oil. See, that's how you and I want it, right? We want to put God first and have him supply our needs, but we want God to just go ahead and deposit all of it in the account right now, God. Just go ahead and give me everything that I need. But that's not how it works, because see, Jesus, remember when he taught on that great teaching on prayer, he said, I want you to come to God every day and say, give us today our daily bread. See, God doesn't just give you everything you need for the rest of your life. You say, why? Because if he did that, you would go crazy, run wild, run away like Jonah, and he'd have to have a whale swallow you up. God will supply your need as you need. And this woman had to go to this barrel every day. She had to go to this barrel of meal every day. She had to go to this cruise of oil every day. And every day, there was enough for that day. And see, you know what I think happened? I think every day, this became an event. I think every day, she woke up, and her son woke up, and maybe Elijah woke up and said, let's go check out the barrel. And every day, they grabbed enough. And every day, there was enough for that day. Every day, it was what they needed. But there wasn't there to say, well, I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. We're just going to have to trust God for tomorrow. We're just going to have to pray that God would supply our needs for tomorrow. Go to 2 Corinthians, chapter number 8, 2 Corinthians chapter number 8. See what the prosperity preachers, what the Joel Osteen-type preachers did not tell you. They told you, put God first, and he'll supply your needs. But what they forgot to tell you is that he will supply your needs as you need. And look, whether it's your home or whether it's a ministry, we've had to learn here at Verity Baptist Church. We take on new ministries, and we start new churches or new this or new that. We just did a new mailing ministry that we're trying or whatever, and you say, do we have the money for it? We have the money to do it right now. Will we have the money to do it six months from now? I don't know. I just know this, that when you're busy working for God, God supplies the needs. When you put God first, and you honor God with your substance, and when you're increased, and you're trying to do things to further the cause of Christ, you'll just take care of it. All I'm saying is this, it just seems like every time we go to that barrel, there's just enough there to get us through for that day. And when you decide to put God first, you're not going to get a big bonus. Maybe you will get a great bonus. If you do, tied, OK? You're not going to get a big check. No one's going to show up and ring your doorbell and have some oversized check that they're going to take a picture with you. But God will supply your need as you need. When we put God first with our finances, He promises to supply your need, but He promises to do it as needed. Second Corinthians chapter 8, are you there? I want you to notice in Second Corinthians chapter 8, the context is money. It's a context of a special offering, kind of like we have our vision offering. The apostle Paul was taking a special offering to try to help out some other churches. Notice what he says there. Second Corinthians chapter 8, look at verse 1. Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. He's saying, I want you to know about, we do you to wit, means I want you to be aware of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia. Notice what he says in verse 2. How that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. The word liberality there is talking about their generosity. Verse 3, for to their power I bear record, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves, praying us with much entreaty that we would receive, notice what he says, the gift. And take upon us the fellowship of the ministering of the saints, he said, they wanted to give us a gift. And if you read the passage, I mean read the entire book of 2 Corinthians, he's talking about a financial gift that they were giving for the ministry. Now I want you to notice what he says in verse 14. He says, but by equality that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want and their abundance also may be a supply for your want, that there may be equality. I want you to notice verse 15. He's talking to people who just gave financially to the work of God. He says this, as it is written, he that had gathered much had nothing over, and he that had gathered little had no lack. Now that's a quote from the Old Testament when it comes to God raining manna down upon the children of Israel. And as they went and gathered the manna, the Bible says that they gathered enough. No one was lacking and no one had over. And then Paul is using that as an illustration to the church here in Macedonia, and he's saying that's how it's going to be when you put God first, because you put God first and you gave this financial gift. God is going to take care of you. And he said, you're not going to have over, but you're not going to lack. You say, why? Because God will supply your needs. When you put God first financially, he will supply your needs as you need. We want it all in advance, but God wants us to be dependent and trusting in him. Now keep your place there. You can lose your place in Matthew if you've got your finger in Matthew. Keep your place in 2 Corinthians. We're going to come right back to it. And keep your place in Proverbs, because we're going to go back to Proverbs. But we see the financial principle of proportion. In fact, let's go to Proverbs just real quickly. Notice Proverbs chapter 3. Notice Proverbs chapter 3. Let me just say this when it comes to the financial principles found in scripture. The goal of a Christian should never be to get rich. If you have a goal to get rich, you need to get right with God. We should not have a desire or a, it should not be our goal. It should not be our will. It should not be our desire to be rich. Our desire should be that God would take care of our needs. And if there's nothing lacking but nothing over, that should be OK with us. Proverbs chapter 30 verse 8. Notice what the Bible says. Proverbs chapter 30 and verse 8. Remove far from me vanity and lies. Notice what he says. Give me neither poverty, says God, I don't want to be lacking, but he says, nor riches. Said, I don't want to have a lot of money left over either. Feed me with food convenient. The word convenient means feeding, meeting my needs well. He says, just make sure I have enough to meet my needs. Feed me with food convenient for me. You say, why? Why would you not want to be rich? Well, he says in verse 9, he says, lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? And isn't that what a lot of rich people do? Isn't there a reason why Jesus said, you know, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven? Why? Those that are full deny God. Those that are full, F-U-L-L, sometimes become fools, F-O-O-L. They start thinking that it's because of my power, it's because of my wisdom, it's because of my skill, it's because God gave me. And here, the writer says, look, just give me food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor. You notice that, you know, and what I'm about to say is politically incorrect, but what's new at Verity Baptist Church? You know, we like to go to these poor ghetto areas because everybody is super receptive and they get saved. And praise the Lord for it. And I think we should go to those areas and get as many people saved. But you notice that a lot of those people don't come to church? You notice a lot of those people don't show up soul winning? You notice a lot of those people don't show up consistently to the Sunday services, the Sunday evening service, the Wednesday evening service? You notice that the people that God used majorly, and again, what I'm going to say is politically incorrect, but study it in the Bible if you don't believe me, the people that God used were working class people? When Jesus went forth to find disciples, he found them doing what? Fishing, doing tax collecting, you know, they were at work. And you know, I'm convinced of the fact that I'm all for reaching the poor in the ghetto, and I'm all for trying to get as many of the rich people saved as well, but you know what I believe? That God primarily uses the working class, middle class people. You say, why? Because for the most part, they're not going to be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? But for the most part, they're also not going to be, he says, or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain. See, sometimes people that are struggling financially, they blame God, and they take the name of the Lord in vain. And if you haven't watched my video on why Christians shouldn't use the word gosh, you should watch it on YouTube. I have nothing to do with the sermon, but I just thought about that because he's just taking the name of the Lord thy God in vain. And so we should not have a desire. Now let me just say this. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 6, 1 Timothy chapter 6, 1 2 Thessalonians, 1 2 Timothy, Titus, 1 Timothy chapter 6. Say, Pastor Jimenez, why do you make a video about why Christians shouldn't use the word gosh? Because everywhere I go in this movement and churches everywhere, including our church, I hear people, Christians, using the word gosh, you know, and then, you know, anyway, watch the thing. I'm not going to preach about it. 1 Timothy 6, look at verse 6. And let me just say this. In the Bible, there was many people that were rich, all right? The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. It does not say that money is the root of all evil, it says that the love of money is the root of all evil. Nothing wrong with money, but when you start loving money, that's a problem. And I do believe that God will also use rich people, and we see that all throughout Scripture where God used people of finances and resources. We see that in the New Testament. We see that just in life, just many people that are wealthy, God uses them in a mighty way to bless ministries and be able to start churches and send missions, and we understand all that. But let me just say this. Anyone that got, there's nothing wrong if God blesses you financially, as long as it's not your goal in life to be rich. Because they that will be rich fall into a snare. If you have a desire to be rich, you're going to destroy your life. But if you're just content, and God blesses you and makes you rich, well, praise the Lord for it. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with money, but there's something very wrong with the love of money. 1 Timothy 6, 6 knows what he says, but godliness with contentment is great gain. We need to learn to be godly and content. You say, well, what does that mean? What does it mean to be content? Here's what it means. Verse 7. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. We should live our lives in a way where we realize it doesn't matter what I accumulate in this world. I didn't bring it in, and I'm not taking it with me. You're not taking that car with you. You're not taking that phone with you. You're not taking that watch with you. You're not taking that house with you. You're not taking any of it with you. So it'd be better for you to focus on things that you can just send ahead. It'd be better to focus on those things that are eternal. Since we brought nothing into this world, it is certain we can carry nothing out. Verse 8. Notice what he says. Look, and I'm not going to pick on you. I'm just saying some of you need to take 1 Timothy 6, 8 and check yourselves, and check your hearts, and figure out where your covetous level is. Because 1 Timothy 6, 8 says for a Christian, remember verse 6 says godliness with contentment is great gain. What does that mean? You know what it means? You didn't bring anything into this world. It means that it's certain you can carry nothing out. God says, verse 8, here's your check. Here's your test. And having food and raiment, let us be there with content. Did you get that? God says there should not be a complaint coming out of your mouth if you have these two things, food and raiment. As far as I can tell, everybody here has raiment, praise the Lord. And as far as I can tell, nobody is starving. So when you have these, I just wish I lived in a nicer house, and I wish I just drove a better car, and I just wish, I've got shoes, but they're not the right shoes, and I've got clothes, but they're not the right clothes, and they're not the right brand. You need to get right with God, because God says godliness with contentment is great gain. Having food and raiment, let us be there with content. So the Bible says all you need to be happy is food and raiment. All you need to be satisfied is food and raiment. Now if God gives you more, praise God for it. Nothing wrong with having a nice car, nice vehicles, nice things. But you better not be desiring those things, and you better not be complaining, because you don't have those things. You say, why? Because we brought nothing into this world, and it's certain we can carry nothing out. Go back to 1 Kings 17. We talked about the financial principle of priority, and we talked about the financial principle of provision, and we talked about the financial principle of proportion. Let me give you one more, and we'll be done. The financial principle of performance. Notice verse 9. 1 Kings 17, verse 9. Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. Remember how we started the sermon? None of this makes any sense, right? The path didn't make sense. From Kiroth to Zarephath, 100 miles, there's a famine going, and I'm wanted. Makes no sense. The place didn't make any sense. Zarephath is a stomping ground in the hometown of Jezebel, who's hunting me down. It makes no sense. The person made no sense. The widow woman, she needs help. How is she going to help? And the plan didn't make any sense. So she's starving, and she's got enough food for one meal. And that one meal is going to take us through the three and a half year famine. None of it made any sense. But I want you to notice Elijah's response, verse 10. So he arose and went to Zarephath. Now look, if God came to you and said, I want you to go 100 miles while you're wanted and in a famine, to a poor person that's getting ready to starve, and I'm going to sustain you there, would you respond like this? Would it be said of you, so he arose and went to Zarephath? I want you to notice Elijah's a great man, because there's no complaint. There's no argument. There's no clarification. Can we clarify this? Are we talking about the same Zarephath? God, when you say widow and when I say widow, are we thinking about the same thing? The Bible? None of that. The Bible says, so he arose and went to Zarephath. Go back to 2 Kings chapter 8, 2 Kings chapter 8. Let me give you, let me show you this last principle of performance. You say, what is the principle of performance? Well, here's what we've learned thus far. When we put God first financially, he will supply our needs as we need when we honor him with our finances. See, we've got to take the first step. Elijah wasn't told that when you get there, the meal's not going to, you know, Elijah wasn't told, he didn't get to see it all. God just said, you just go, and Elijah said, I'll just go. I'll just follow. I'll just do as I'm told. See, when it comes to the financial thing, here's what happens. I preach sermons like these rarely, but I preach sermons like these, and some of you get convicted, and you get, you know, I got to do that, and I got to start doing that. You know, I'm going to start putting God first, and it's going to be great. I'm going to do this. But then two weeks from now, when you get your paycheck, and it's time to write that tithe bill, you're kind of like, ah, I don't know, ah, I'm not sure, and you put an envelope in the offering plate, but there's nothing in it, just so people think you put something in that. And here's the thing you're going to understand about the, you say, Pastor, do you know that? I don't know that, OK? I don't look at the offerings. But the only way that the principle financial, the biblical financial principles work is if you actually do it. Performance. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, are you there? Look at verse 10. Remember, 1 Corinthians 8, the context is about giving, right? Notice what he says in verse 10, Paul. And herein I give my advice. Paul says, here's my advice. And by the way, this is not only Paul's advice, this is my advice for you as well. For this is expedient for you, who have begun before not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago. He was talking to people who had made a commitment, kind of like our vision offering. They made a commitment to give a certain amount at a certain time, but they never actually do it. Just saying. Verse 11, he says, now therefore, notice what he says, now therefore, perform the doing of it. That as there was a readiness to will, he said, I'm not questioning your sincerity. I know there was a readiness to will. But he says, so there may be a performance also out of that which he has. He said, it's not enough to want to, that you need to actually just do it. And here's all I'm telling. Here's all I'm telling. If everything I've showed you from scripture hasn't convinced you, I'll just tell you this, that from my personal testimony, I thank the Lord. One of the things that I don't struggle with and that my wife and I don't struggle with in our Christian life is finances and tithing to God. And I thank the Lord for it. And I think part of it is because when my wife got saved at 17 years old, she was just taught to start tithing immediately. And when I was growing up as a kid, I'm thankful that my parents, my mom and dad, taught us from a very young age to just tithe. And any time we had money, we'd go to work with my dad. He'd pay us $20. And we'd put $2 in the offering plate. And I would encourage you to make sure you start instilling that in your children so that they don't struggle with it. Because some of you, when the offering plate goes by, it's like, ugh, you know, I'm not sure. And then it goes, and it's like this big, you know, just instill a giving attitude into the lives of your children. And I'm thankful for that. I'm thankful for that. But I can tell you this. That there have been times in my life when it did not make sense to give. But we did. And when we put God first financially, he took care of our needs as we needed. And he's never let us down. He's never failed. He's always been there. So if you don't trust God, just take it for personal experience. And if we took testimonies tonight, and we're not going to, but if we took testimonies, many of you could raise your hand and attest to the same thing. Now when you put God first financially, he may not make you rich and a millionaire, but he will take care of your needs as you need. But we must first honor him. Go to Luke chapter 4. We're done. I just want to show you something in Luke 4, and we'll finish up. In this story, we learn these financial principles, right? Priority, put God first. Provision, when you put him first, he will supply your needs. Proportion, when we put him first, he will supply your needs as we need. And performance, all of this works when we honor him with our finances. Let me just say this as we finish tonight, that this story is not only used in scripture, not only there in scripture, to show us these financial principles, although I do believe that's probably the primary application. But the story was also used by the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament to show God's ultimate plan for the Gentiles. And it's interesting because in Luke chapter 4 and verse 25, the Bible says this. This is the Lord Jesus Christ preaching, and this is right at the beginning of his ministry. In Luke 4, 25, he says this, but I tell you a truth. Notice what he says. Many widows were in Israel in the days of alliance. And notice what Jesus is saying. He's saying, during the days of Elijah, there was tons of widows in the nation of Israel when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land. Verse 26, but unto none of them was Elias sent, save, meaning except, unto Seraptah, that's our Zeraphath, a city of Sidon, that's our Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. It's interesting because today, you've got the dispensationalist who want to tell you, it's all about the Jews, and in the Old Testament, it's about the Jews, and the New Testament is this parenthetical time out for the Jews, and God's only dealing with the Gentiles because he's mad at the Jews, but eventually, he's going to rapture us out, and he will be back to his favorite Jewish people. And Jesus says at the beginning of his ministry, he says, you know what? During the famine, there was all sorts of widows that God could have sent Elijah to, and he did not send them to an Israelite widow. He sends them to Sidon, to a Gentile widow, and Jesus is highlighting the fact that it's always been in God's plan to reach all people with the gospel. Now, of course, the Jews of his day took it the same way the Jews of our day take it. Verse 28, and all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of a hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. He preached what the Bible says, and they got so mad at him, religious people got so mad at him, they wanted to kill him. That should make you feel better about your pastor. Your pastor, you're mad at us, all these people want to kill you. Well, they want to kill Jesus, too. We just have to preach the Bible. But it's interesting, because Jesus would reference back to this story, he would reference back to this story as an illustration about how God has always planned to send his message to all the world. And it's funny, because we see that here in 1 Kings 17, but then we just learn about that in Jonah. When God sends Jonah, an Israelite prophet, to the Gentile nation of Nineveh, it's always been in God's plan. So don't let these disciples and nationalists trick you with all these different things. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for your word, and thank you for these stories that we can learn from.