Turn with me, if you would, this evening for a short time to the first portion, once again, that we read in 1 Kings chapter 17. 1 Kings chapter 17, and reading verses 15 and 16. 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. 1 Kings chapter 17, verses 15 and 16. Now, as you know, this morning we began by looking at verse 14. Verse 14 reads, The Lord God of Israel, thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. We see there a promise that is given. We saw how that promise was from the Lord, the Lord God of Israel, Jehovah Elohim. We see that only the Lord God could fulfill such a promise that was given, that during the time of the rain, the barrel of meal would not waste and the cruise of oil would not fail. Only the Lord God could give such a promise, for no one else would be able to fulfill such a promise. We see how this promise was personal to this woman. It was a personal promise. What a wonderfully appropriate promise to her at this time. She was going out to get a few sticks to make a meal for the last time. And God's promise met her very need. The very thing that she needed was a barrel of meal and a cruise of oil to sustain her during the time of the drought. It's exactly what she needed. It was meeting her personal need. We see something of that in the feeding of the 5,000 and the feeding of the 4,000 that we read of. How the Lord in the wilderness there met the need of the crowd that were there, he fed them. So we see it was a promise that was given by the Lord, a promise that was personal to her. But we also saw how it was an unbelievable promise, an unbelievable promise, a promise that surpassed her expectation. She would never have imagined that day when she got up. but she expecting it to be her last day and that of her son. The last meal, she would never have imagined that by the end of that day, she would have the promise that the barrel of meal would never waste and the cruise of oil would never fail. It's an unbelievable, an unbelievable promise. And we saw how that is equally true with regards to the gospel. They are unbelievable promises that God has given to us in Jesus Christ, but yet they are promises that are to be believed, because it is the Lord God of Israel, Jehovah Elohim, who has uttered these promises, not just Elijah. Unbelievable promises. And all she had to do was put Elijah first. You saw that, didn't we, in verse 13? Make me thereof a little cake first. So all she had to do is put Elijah first, and she would have great blessing, unbelievable blessings. And all we do is put Christ first, and we, too, get unbelievable blessings, an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, glorious blessings of the gospel. When we came to this morning, we never got the five points. We got the fourth point, and that was these blessings were all sufficient blessings. They would last until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. These were blessings that would never fail her during the time of the drought. The Lord would never fail her. during the time of drought. They were all sufficient. They would last right through until all was well. And once again, we saw the promises that the Lord's people have in the Lord Jesus Christ are all sufficient and unending. They will take you through this life, through death itself, and into eternity. So these are wonderful promises, all sufficient promises. So these are the first four points. We saw that it was the promises given by the Lord, Jehovah Elohim, promises that were given to her, meeting her very need, promises that were unbelievable, and promises that were all sufficient to see her through. And there was one fifth point. that we never got to this morning and we want now to deal with before we go on to the next verses, and that is the blessings that she was promised were temporal blessings. They were temporal blessings. They were the barrel of meal and the crews of oil. The barrel of crews and the barrel of meal and the cruise of oil. Wonderful blessings, temporal blessings. How many temporal blessings do we receive every day of our lives? Temporal blessings of homes, family, friends, food, shelter, all the different blessings that we receive from the Lord, and we take all of these temporal blessings so often for granted. And the blessings that were promised so often in the Old Testament were indeed temporal blessings. Children of Israel were promised the land of Canaan. What a wonderful blessing. The land of Canaan. And how often do you find that they were given great victories over their enemies? Over the Moabites and over the Canaanites. How they came in over into the Promised Land and the walls of Jericho fell down. Great blessings that they had in the Old Testament. Blessings that were received as they were faithful to God's Word. So it is that Ahab himself is denied many of these blessings. The king of Israel is denied these blessings because of his unfaithfulness. The lack of rain on the land was a reminder to them that to rebel against God would bring God's judgment upon the nation. But so often these blessings, these temporal blessings, even the blessings that this woman received was a reminder of God's faithfulness, how God is faithful. God is faithful to his people. The blessings that they received were temporal blessings. And these blessings were there to remind them that however well they may be and obedient they were, they could never find God's favor simply by these temporal blessings and by that obedience. They are reminded in all that they have in the giving of the law, that that law is a schoolmaster to bring them to Christ. They had to look to Christ. And yet this woman is being reminded all the time, every day that she gets up, She is reminded, not of her own faithfulness, but she's reminded of God's faithfulness. Every day she rises. Every meal she sits down to. Every time she goes to the barrel, and the barrel is never wasted. Every time she goes to the cruise of oil, and the cruise of oil never fails. She's being reminded of God's faithfulness. Not her own, but God's faithfulness to her. And my friend, is that not true today, that we are reminded that it's not the temporal blessings that come with the gospel. It's not just the temporal blessings that we see in the gospel. These temporal blessings of the land of Canaan were but foreshadowing the day when Christ would come and he would bring with him all the blessings from God the Father. All the blessings of the gospel. Think of what Paul writes when he writes to the church at Ephesus. To the church at Ephesus, he speaks about the blessings of the coming of Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. We look today not for these temporal blessings that were just a foreshadowing of the coming of Christ. The land of Canaan, my friend, no, that's not sufficient. It's all the nations of the world that belong to Christ, not just the land of Israel. That was just a foreshadowing that the day would come when all the nations would belong to our King. And every spiritual blessing that you could ever want is to be found with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord blessed this woman because of her obedience with temporal blessings. But my friend, the Lord gives us today in the Lord Jesus Christ all spiritual blessings, all the blessings of the covenant of grace, and they are in heavenly places. My friend, what we seek today is to come to the Lord Jesus, to come to the Lord Jesus, and you find with Him there is every single blessing that you would ever require. The barrel will never waste. The cruise of oil will never fail. The bread of life, the spiritual bread, which is Jesus Christ, will always be there, will always satisfy. and his blood, it is always there. It is sufficient for every single believer in this world, every single believer that there ever will be. What would it matter, my friend, supposing you would gain the whole world, but you would lose your soul? You could gain all the worlds, you could gain all the kingdoms of the world, but lose your soul. But my friend, in Jesus Christ, there are all spiritual blessings to be had. So while this woman reminds us that it is from the Lord God that she received these blessings, they were personal to her. They were unbelievable blessings. and they were unending and all sufficient blessings, we're reminded that she only received the temporal blessings. But in Jesus Christ, we receive all spiritual blessings with the coming of the Lord Jesus. That brings us then nicely on to verse 15, because the first point that we have today is the promise that is given. the promise that is given. That's the promise that we've just been speaking about, the five points about this promise. But then there is the obedience given, not just the promise that's given, but the obedience that is now given by this woman. We find that in verse 15, and she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and she and he and her house did eat many days. What would we like to say about that and in verse 15 and 16? Well, there are four things that I want to point out to you. She went. That is, there was unquestioning obedience on her part. She went. How easy it would have been for this woman to have immediately questioned the prophet. He is demanding that she goes and does what she has to do, and then she gives him first, before she even sees to herself, which might be one thing, but before she even sees to her son. She gives such unquestioning obedience to the promise that has just now been given, that she doesn't even consider herself or her son. You remember when you go to John's Gospel chapter 2, when you go to John's Gospel chapter 2, you find the very first miracle that the Lord Jesus performs at the marriage at Cana of Galilee. He and his mother and his disciples, they're at the marriage. And his mother says to him, they have no wine. And Jesus says to her, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. This was not the time. for him to reveal himself. His mother said unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. Don't question what Jesus has to say. Simply do it. Be obedient to every word that Jesus utters to you. They say there were six water pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of Jews containing two or three firkins apiece. These were water pots of stone, probably used for washing hands. It was for purifying. They would be using them for washing their hands in. And Jesus says unto them, fill the water pots with water. What do we read? They filled them up to the brim. My friend, they didn't half fill them. They didn't see quarters fill them. That would not have been obedient to what the Lord Jesus says. He says, fill the water pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And it was only as they filled the water pots up to the brim, He said unto them, draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast. When he tasted it, he tasted the wine, he says, he says, where is this? He knew not where it should come. He said, the governor of the feast called for the bridegroom. He said, every man at the beginning does set forth the good wine. You've set forth the best wine to the end. Jesus changed the water into wine. How and why? Because they were obedient. They came and filled the water pots to the brim. My friend, today, as you come to God's house, are you filling the water pots to the brim in obedience to the Lord Jesus, that he would bless you? We see that very similar thing again when the disciples later on, that's at the very beginning of the ministry of the Lord. At the very end of his ministry, we see the Lord Jesus coming to his disciples. They're fishing, and they've been fishing all night, and they've caught nothing. These are experienced fishermen. And when they see Jesus on the shore, he says to them, cast your nets out. Cast the net on the right-hand side, and ye shall find. Now, these are experienced fishermen. How they could have argued with the Lord. What's the point? We've been out all night. There's no fish there. But in obedience, they cast the nets out. And the nets are filled to the brim. The nets are bursting. See how easy it would have been for this woman to have argued and to have put up some kind of argument. What about my son? Can I not give him some at least? And then I'll feed you. No men about myself, but at least my son. There's no such argument. He tells her to go. He tells her to make a little cake and give it to him first. And then she will know the blessing. And what do we read? And she went. No argument. And she went. Why? Because she had faith in the word of the prophet. She had faith in the word of Elijah. And my friend, do we have faith in the word of Jesus Christ this evening? When Jesus Christ tells us, we listen, we hear what he has to say, our ears are opened, our heart is opened to the word of Jesus Christ. And we're not like Peter, who acknowledged the Lord to be the son of the living God, and yet he contradicts him. When Christ said that he will go to the cross and he will die, he contradicts him. He's now sitting, and when Jesus comes to him and he says, Peter, lovest thou me? Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee, because thou knowest everything. Thou knowest all things. Who am I to argue with thee? She went. She went. She didn't need further proof. She didn't need anything else. She had sufficient in the prophet's word and the promise that was given, and that was all she needed. She only needed the promise. My friend, is that all we need this evening? The promise that is given to us by Jesus Christ, the promise of eternal life, the promise of salvation, the promise of that unbelievable blessing, but to come and touch the hem of his garment? Come unto me, O ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The promise. Do you lay your soul and your soul's salvation upon the promise that Christ bestows and gives? She had, first of all, unquestioning obedience. unquestioning obedience. Secondly, it was absolute obedience. It says, she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. It's not just that it was unquestioning obedience, but it was obedience that was according to what Elijah had specifically told her. She paid heed to every word that he had to say. So he said this morning, the Syro-Phoenician woman, how did she come to know Jesus was the Savior? Probably just heard about him. This woman is the same. Probably just heard about the God of Israel, Jehovah Elohim. And now his prophet comes to him and she hears the voice of Elijah. and she recognizes the voice of the prophet of the Lord, she follows him by being obedient to everything that he says. She went and, well, she almost did everything, you know, sort of similar to what, maybe not quite, Maybe there's this bit that's missing. Maybe she just goes and does it slightly her own way, not at all. She does it according to the saying of Elijah. She knows and she listens. One of the areas that even before we come to this, you read in Samuel chapter 15, going back to before, just at the beginning of the Kings, when Saul is the king, and Saul is the first king And the Lord says to Saul, go and smite the Amalek, and utterly destroy all that he has. In chapter 15 of 1 Samuel, go and smite and destroy the Amalekites, and destroy, spare them not. Slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, cattle and ass. Saul gathered the people together They went down to the city of Amalek, and they laid waste to it. Saul was obedient. He was obedient. Almost. Almost obedient. Because he did what the Lord told him to do. But, there it is, but Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them." There you go. Saul has gone so far in obeying the Word of God. And the Lord says, it repented me that I've set Saul up as a king, and when Samuel came Samuel came to him, had the Lord as great delight, he says, in burnt offerings and sacrifices, and as in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord. He hath also rejected thee from being king. See the consequence. Saul has come and been obedient to what God has commanded him to do. He's gone down to the city of Amalek. He has overthrown them, but he's kept Agag alive. And he's kept the sheep and the oxen. What's wrong with the sheep and the oxen? Wouldn't that strengthen God's cause? Wouldn't they be more, they're rich? My friend, no, they weren't rich. They were the poorer because they disobeyed the command of the Lord by Samuel. And Saul loses his kingship because of that disobedience. Samuel says, what is the bleating of the sheep in mine ear and the lowering of the oxen? Saul's sin is crying out, sheep and oxen, I'm hearing them, why are they not dead? God has told you to kill them. Because thou hast disobeyed the voice of the Lord, thou shalt no longer be king. That's how sick it was, you see. A few sheep, a few oxen. No. Look what it says here. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah. The saying of Elijah. How she must have been separated from all the rest of the people down in Tyre and Sidon. She was a separated woman. That's what holy is, isn't it? Separated unto the Lord. She was separated from all the elders, all the women that were down there, all the widows that were in it. She was separated because she was one who did according to the saying of Elijah, the prophet of the Lord. Peter says that, doesn't he? Note fashioning yourself and your ignorance as, but he that has called you is holy, be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it says, be ye holy as I am holy, be separated. So that's the way she was. She was now separated unto God. She, among all the people that were down there, was worshipping the God Jehovah Elohim, the Lord God of Israel. But she went and she was obedient. And she gave that absolute obedience. But if we see, first of all, that she is unquestioning obedience, and that absolute obedience, that she follows the word of Elijah, we see here the rewards of that obedience. The rewards of that obedience. Not just her that's blessed. We are told that she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and she and he and her house did eat many days. She was blessed. She was blessed. She had life. She had lived, she had food. She had food for herself. She had food for her son. She had food for the prophet. What a great blessing that must have been. Every single day, when they sat at a meal, she was blessed because she was reminded of what the Lord had done for her. And not only that, Elijah was there with them, in the very house, at the table, seated with them. What a blessing that must be. What a blessing that must have been. They were reminded, she was reminded, as she went to the barrel, she was reminded this was the reward of her obedience. When we sit at a meal are we reminded of the great spiritual blessings that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to his people. I've often spoken, have we not, about, because it's such a wonderful account of the two on the road to Emmaus, and you've heard it before, haven't you, how they go down, and there he is, Jesus is speaking to them as they make their way down towards Emmaus. And then it comes to the end of the day, and he's going to leave, and they compel him to come in to the house with them. They compel him to come in. And as they sit down, they don't know who it is that's with them. As they sit down at the meal, they're about to begin the meal, and he asks a blessing on the table. And they discover they're his guest. It's the head that asks the blessing, and he asks a blessing upon the meal. And they discover They've invited him to come into that house, but they discover when they sit down at that meal and he asks a blessing on the food, they discover they're his guest. He is the head of the table. and they're now blessed richly by his presence with them. What are we told? Their hearts rejoiced. Their hearts burned within them as he revealed to them himself as the bread of life and as the water of life. That's the gospel blessings, isn't it? That's the blessings that flow from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ. that even as we sit at a meal, we're reminded of the spiritual food, which is far more important. The spiritual food, which is far more essential, which is greater than all necessary food. The spiritual food. We're reminded of Jesus, the bread of life, the water of life, and how greatly blessed she is. How greatly blessed she is. I've got down here Revelation chapter 22, and it's the very last chapter of the book of, ah yes, blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates into the city, blessed. That's truly who are blessed. those who are children of God, God the Father, and those who are drawn by the cords of his love, and who know that evangelical obedience. That's what it is, isn't it? This is not just obedience. This is not obedience in order for her to be blessed. This is obedience because she's already blessed. She already knows the God of Israel. This is now evangelical obedience. And she knows the blessings of that. in her home, for even her son says that not only Elijah, and she, and he, and her house, which included all within the house. And we'll maybe deal with that again when we come to the next bit, because we're going to deal, obviously, God willing, with the raising of the son. And we'll see something there of the blessing, which is not just to the house, not just to her, but even to the son. Even the son is embraced within the covenant. And her son is raised up from dead because she is part of that covenant. But what a great blessing it is when she sits there and when she feeds upon the blessings that she receives at that table, and she sees her own son sitting there. There's nothing greater. and parents to see their children sitting under the sound of the gospel and listening to the gospel and paying attention to the gospel and feeding upon the gospel. There she has been reminded of that. Well, time has almost gone, but four things. We've dealt with three of them. We've dealt with her unquestioning obedience, her absolute obedience to what he had said, the rewards of that obedience. But there's one further thing that we need to lay hold of here, and that is that in that obedience, there is the confirmation of the promise in her obedience. He says in verse 16, And a barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruise of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord which he spake by Elijah. Her obedience, you see, proves the promise to be true. Her obedience proves the promise of God to be true. You see that when you come to the end of the Old Testament and to the last book of the Old Testament. You know how at that time, the Lord's people were providing, even they were giving sacrifices, but they were giving the second best. They were giving poor sacrifices. They were giving sacrifices that were not acceptable to God. Their whole religion was giving second best. But what does the Lord say to them? Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house. In other words, tithe as you ought to do, give as you ought to give, that there would be meat in my house. You see, they were looking after themselves, but who cared about God's house? But he says, you bring the tithes in that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now. Herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." In other words, by your obedience, by your dedication, through the Lord this day. That's what this woman has done, isn't it? If you go to verse 14, you have the promise. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruise of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. There's the promise. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and she and he and her house did eat many days. That's the obedience. What did it prove? 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." Her obedience proved God to be faithful. My friend, that is true even today. The Lord is saying, prove me by your obedience. And that obedience must have encouraged her faith. When she saw every day how God was faithful to his promise, that must have strengthened her faith. She began out believing Elijah's promise. She was obedient to Elijah's promise. And every single day she rose, and every single day she had a meal. And she saw her son there, her household, and Elijah sitting there. It was proving that God is faithful to everything that he says. And God's people prove God to be faithful to every promise that he gives. Have you come and laid hold upon the promises that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to his people Have you come and laid hold upon him and touched the hem of his garment? And you've discovered that he is faithful to every promise that he makes to you. And the longer you go on, the more you go, the more you discover he is faithful to every promise that he gives. She went for, what, two years, a year and a half, two years, a year, two and a half, eating out of the barrel, out of the cruise of oil, and she proved every single day that God is faithful. And Elijah saw that God is faithful, because all the promises of God are yea and amen, not in Elijah, not in Moses, Elijah, the great representative of all the prophets, Moses, the great representative of the law, Christ, all the promises are yea and amen in him. And you can come, and when you lay hold upon him by faith, he will bless you because he's faithful to all the promises that he gives to his people. May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us join together in prayer. Most gracious and ever-blessed Lord, we thank Thee for Thy goodness and Thy mercy to us this day. We thank Thee for the promises that Thou hast given to us, and we thank Thee for the Word of God that we can come to and we can read of the faithfulness of the Lord our God, the Lord God of Israel. We pray that Thou would bless us now, each one of us, as we part the one from the other, undertake for us unholy things, dismiss us with Thy blessing, for we ask it in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen.