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00:00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:00:10 The text tonight is one that's not unfamiliar.
00:00:15 And so I hope that there'll be grace to allow me to go
00:00:19 over familiar scriptures.
00:00:20 Is that all right?
00:00:21 We can still learn from the word of God, even though we know it.
00:00:25 And I remember there was a time when we had several people come
00:00:29 as guests, preachers, almost in sequence.
00:00:33 And each message-- I believe there were three--
00:00:35 were about David and Goliath.
00:00:37 And I kept saying, another sermon on David and Goliath?
00:00:41 But every time--
00:00:41 I think I was the first one trying to shout.
00:00:44 Every time it blessed me, every time I learned something else,
00:00:47 every time I gleaned something new.
00:00:49 So I'm going to invite you, if you have Bibles,
00:00:51 if not, to look on the screen or to share with me.
00:00:55 I'm going back and forth between a King James
00:00:57 and a new international version.
00:01:00 But our title for tonight is "Ravens and Widows."
00:01:05 "Ravens and Widows."
00:01:07 And I'm offering to you that there's really
00:01:09 no difference between the ravens--
00:01:12 that's a black bird, cousin to the crow,
00:01:15 a scavenger that we're going to read about--
00:01:18 and the widow.
00:01:19 And I trust that before we finish,
00:01:21 you'll see that there's a theme of faith
00:01:24 that the main characters-- we call the protagonists--
00:01:27 that the experiences that they're having
00:01:29 is God's way of trying to lead them
00:01:31 to a deeper and a greater faith.
00:01:33 Will you work with me for the next half hour,
00:01:36 40 minutes or so?
00:01:37 I got two people.
00:01:39 OK, OK.
00:01:40 All right, work with me.
00:01:41 Work with me.
00:01:42 King James 1 and 17.
00:01:44 Our main verses are 17, 1 through 4, and verse 9.
00:01:48 You might stand in honor of the word of God.
00:01:53 "And Elijah the Tishbite from Tisbe in Gilead said to Ahab,
00:02:00 'As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives whom I serve,
00:02:04 there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years
00:02:09 except at my word.'
00:02:12 Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah.
00:02:17 'Leave here, turn eastward, and hide by the Kerith Ravine.'"
00:02:23 Now, depending on what translation you have,
00:02:26 King James would probably say "cherith."
00:02:27 This is "kerith."
00:02:28 It's the same thing.
00:02:29 "Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan."
00:02:32 Verse 4.
00:02:33 "You will drink from the brook, and I have directed."
00:02:37 In other words, I have commanded.
00:02:40 I have ordained the ravens to supply you with food there.
00:02:46 Verse 9.
00:02:48 "Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there.
00:02:53 I have directed."
00:02:55 I've commanded.
00:02:56 I have ordained.
00:02:57 I've instructed.
00:02:59 "A widow there to supply you with food."
00:03:02 This is the word of the Lord for the people of God.
00:03:05 You might be seated.
00:03:08 If you'll allow me just to walk through this just a little bit,
00:03:12 the way it comes to me, it may not
00:03:14 be a good model for those of you who are in FISM
00:03:18 as to how to go through a lesson.
00:03:20 But it'll come from my heart.
00:03:23 A pastor had called me and wanted
00:03:25 to pray through this text earlier in the week,
00:03:28 just kind of not studying it, but praying.
00:03:30 And so it stayed in my spirit since that time.
00:03:34 So let's look at it.
00:03:35 The main character is Elijah.
00:03:37 His name means Yahweh is my God.
00:03:40 El means God.
00:03:42 And then the I in Elijah means my.
00:03:45 And the Yah, E-L-I-J-A-H, Yah is short for Yahweh.
00:03:50 So he is a witness and a testimony
00:03:52 to the God of the Israelites.
00:03:54 Yahweh is my God.
00:03:56 He appears abruptly in the text.
00:03:59 We don't get a history of this person, beget that person,
00:04:04 beget that person.
00:04:05 But Elijah just shows up.
00:04:07 It just kind of comes out of nowhere.
00:04:10 And what I'm suggesting to you is
00:04:12 that there are all kind of hints in this scripture
00:04:14 about how God works.
00:04:16 And we don't know he's getting ready to work.
00:04:18 We don't even see what he's trying to do until it happens.
00:04:21 He works out of and in and through obscurity.
00:04:26 Say that with me, obscurity.
00:04:28 And we'll look at some scriptures in a moment.
00:04:30 So Elijah the Tishbite was one of the inhabitants of Gilead.
00:04:36 Not only does not-- no one knows the background of Elijah,
00:04:40 but no one knows where this place Tishbe is.
00:04:44 It's assumed it's in the region of Gilead.
00:04:47 And Gilead stretches north and south of a river.
00:04:50 You might remember the Jaybuck River.
00:04:53 But he comes out of nowhere.
00:04:56 And he's from nowhere.
00:04:58 And we really don't know anything too much about him
00:05:02 at this point, except he's from that region.
00:05:06 And he comes and says, as--
00:05:08 and this is what he said to Ahab.
00:05:10 Ahab was the king of Israel.
00:05:14 What had happened was, you remember how David, Saul,
00:05:19 and David, and Solomon were kings.
00:05:21 And then Solomon-- I won't bother you with all the names--
00:05:24 had a son who really messed up.
00:05:27 And that was-- and what happened was the kingdom
00:05:30 was divided north and south.
00:05:32 And the people and the Rehoboam took the largest kingdom,
00:05:36 which was the south part, the southern part, Judah.
00:05:38 And the people who were in the northern part
00:05:41 were accustomed to going to Jerusalem
00:05:43 to worship three times a year.
00:05:45 But because there was a separation,
00:05:47 you know, us and them, and mine and yours,
00:05:51 they had no place to go worship.
00:05:54 So Jeroboam, who was over the northern kingdom,
00:05:58 had to make up something.
00:05:59 You would think he would know better.
00:06:01 But he created some cows or calves as idols for the people.
00:06:06 And said, I'll have two places you can go and worship.
00:06:09 You don't have to go down into Rehoboam's territory.
00:06:13 Isn't it weird how we set up barriers and walls just
00:06:17 because of ego and things that would divide us unnaturally?
00:06:21 And so here, they have really fallen into disobedience,
00:06:25 because they're trying to incorporate their faith as it
00:06:28 has been given to them, with also mixing it
00:06:31 with worshiping these calves and these idols.
00:06:34 And this is all so that Jeroboam's people would not
00:06:38 go into the territory of Rehoboam.
00:06:40 So what we find now is it's a divided land.
00:06:44 And as we go through several kings, we come to Ahab.
00:06:48 And Ahab is a king, and he's thought to be a powerful king.
00:06:53 He is married to Jezebel.
00:06:56 And Jezebel is a faithful worshiper of Baal.
00:07:01 She is a die-hard Baalite.
00:07:04 If there's any such term.
00:07:05 Are you with me so far?
00:07:07 So here you have the people of God.
00:07:09 And thank God for Pastor Robinson being here.
00:07:12 He's on prayer duty.
00:07:13 Where is he?
00:07:14 There he is.
00:07:16 He's covering me with prayer tonight.
00:07:17 Thank you, Pastor.
00:07:19 And so Ahab is married to Jezebel, who worships Baal.
00:07:24 And Baal is the god of rain.
00:07:28 Some say he's the god of fertility.
00:07:31 But he's mostly known as the storm god.
00:07:33 He's the god that brings in their minds,
00:07:36 in their unconverted minds, he's the god that brings rain.
00:07:41 And without rain in the land, then there's no vegetation.
00:07:44 There's no trees.
00:07:45 There are no vines.
00:07:46 There's no fruit.
00:07:48 There's no water for the cattle to live.
00:07:50 And going too long without rain, it ends life.
00:07:54 So Baal is seen as the god who is really
00:07:57 responsible for giving life.
00:07:59 That's real important in this text
00:08:00 so that you just don't read it like a story,
00:08:03 but you understand what the conflict is.
00:08:05 So now we have this man who comes out of nowhere.
00:08:09 That's Elijah.
00:08:10 He's from a region somewhere in Gilead.
00:08:13 And he goes to the king very boldly,
00:08:16 recognizing that Israel has fallen into apostasy.
00:08:21 They're disobedient to what God has commanded them to do.
00:08:25 And they have broken up into divisions.
00:08:28 And some of them are again worshipping calves.
00:08:30 I don't remember if they're golden calves.
00:08:32 But that happened with Aaron in the wilderness.
00:08:34 So they should have learned from that lesson.
00:08:36 And so boldly and bravely, this no-name person, as it were--
00:08:43 we have his name, but without a background and a pedigree--
00:08:46 he goes to the king.
00:08:48 And he says, as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives--
00:08:52 well, there's the rub right there.
00:08:54 Because he's saying, it's not Baal that lives.
00:08:57 It's our god, Yahweh, that lives.
00:09:00 And if there was anything that challenged life,
00:09:04 it would mean that Baal had died.
00:09:06 Because they thought of Baal as being the ruler of life.
00:09:09 He says, as the Lord, God of Israel, lives, whom I serve--
00:09:14 he said, there'll be neither rain nor dew
00:09:16 in the next few years, except at my word.
00:09:20 In other words, God had given him the authority to pray.
00:09:23 And then there would be no rain.
00:09:25 And unless he prayed for the rain to come,
00:09:27 the rain wouldn't come back.
00:09:28 That was a direct challenge, not just to Ahab's authority.
00:09:32 But it was an insult. And it was throwing down the gauntlet
00:09:36 to Baal, because Baal was the storm god.
00:09:39 Then the scripture says, then the word of the Lord
00:09:41 came to Elijah.
00:09:43 That's the typical formula that you
00:09:45 find in scriptures when the word came to a prophet.
00:09:48 And prophets were thought to either tell
00:09:51 people of God's intentions or perhaps foretell
00:09:54 what was going to happen.
00:09:56 And here's what he said.
00:09:58 The word came from God to Elijah.
00:10:01 And the Lord said to Elijah, leave here.
00:10:04 Get out of here.
00:10:06 And turn eastward and hide.
00:10:08 Notice that word, hide.
00:10:10 What did I say earlier?
00:10:11 Obscurity.
00:10:12 I want you to go into obscurity by the Keraf Ravine
00:10:18 east of the Jordan.
00:10:19 Go into obscurity.
00:10:21 Now, let's stop there a moment.
00:10:22 So here's a man that comes out of obscurity.
00:10:25 He gives a word that's an obscure word to Ahab.
00:10:29 And then the Lord tells him, go to an obscure place.
00:10:33 And I'm going to take care of you there.
00:10:35 Now, we don't know where this place is exactly,
00:10:37 where he goes, this brook.
00:10:39 But the fact that it's a ravine means it's a little bit bigger
00:10:43 than a gully.
00:10:45 And it's less than a canyon.
00:10:49 It's a deep place.
00:10:51 So it's a deep valley with steep sides.
00:10:55 And what I begin to sense as I read this scripture
00:10:58 is that to be sent to a deep ravine
00:11:00 almost feels like being sent to one's grave.
00:11:05 When things come at us in life, it's not a literal death.
00:11:10 But it feels like dreams are dying and hopes are dying.
00:11:14 It seems like when you think you should be center stage
00:11:16 and up front, that somehow being pushed back into obscurity,
00:11:20 being behind the scenes, it doesn't
00:11:22 seem like the answer to the promises that God has given us.
00:11:26 There's something about obscurity
00:11:28 that we begin to think God is not working often
00:11:32 and that God is not moving in our life.
00:11:35 And the Lord says to him, I want you
00:11:36 to hide in that deep place, that deep valley, that deep ravine
00:11:41 with steep sides.
00:11:43 And it's east of the Jordan.
00:11:44 Let's look at the next verse.
00:11:46 He says, go there.
00:11:47 He says, and when you get there, you're
00:11:50 going to drink of the brook.
00:11:51 Now, there was a drought in the land.
00:11:53 So drought meant that the fields were dry,
00:11:56 meant the cattle were dying.
00:11:58 It means the people were under pressure.
00:12:00 And it had been a three-year drought.
00:12:02 So when Elijah says to Ahab, there's
00:12:04 not going to be any rain unless I say so,
00:12:07 it's already been three years.
00:12:09 And it's been three years, and they
00:12:11 haven't seen a performance from their god, Baal,
00:12:15 who they expected to bring rain.
00:12:17 Are you with me?
00:12:18 And so he comes with an alternative explanation.
00:12:21 And the Lord says, I'm going to have
00:12:24 you to drink from the brook.
00:12:26 He said, and while you're there, I'm going to hide you.
00:12:30 You're going to be in obscurity.
00:12:31 You're going to drink from the brook.
00:12:33 And I have commanded ravens to supply you with food.
00:12:39 In other words, I'm going to meet your needs.
00:12:41 And I'm going to use a black bird to do it.
00:12:44 I'm going to use a bird that's not popular, just not
00:12:47 a bird to be domesticated.
00:12:48 It's a cousin to the crow.
00:12:50 This is a bird that is a wild bird.
00:12:53 This is a bird that's about perhaps two feet in length
00:12:56 and more than that in wingspan.
00:12:59 The ravens were known to be predators.
00:13:02 These were birds that killed and got prey.
00:13:05 Are you with me?
00:13:06 These were birds that were scavengers.
00:13:09 So for a follower of Yahweh, a raven was an unclean bird.
00:13:16 And for the Lord to say, it's one thing
00:13:19 to drink water out the brook, but I'm
00:13:20 going to feed you from an obscure, unlikely means.
00:13:26 I'm going to have a raven that's a scavenger
00:13:29 operate contrary to his nature.
00:13:32 The raven was known for their beaks.
00:13:34 They were known because they could open things easily
00:13:37 to get food.
00:13:38 They could find food when others could not find it.
00:13:41 They were known in a very peculiar way
00:13:44 even to find things in their environment
00:13:46 that they could use as tools to help them to get food.
00:13:50 So here the Lord is saying, you won't have a table spread.
00:13:53 You just left the palace talking to Ahab.
00:13:56 But because you gave my word, you just
00:13:58 might be in a little bit of danger.
00:14:00 And it just might be good that you're not showing up tomorrow
00:14:03 in the king's face.
00:14:05 So I have a place I'm going to hide you in obscurity.
00:14:09 But while you're there, I'm still
00:14:11 going to supply your needs.
00:14:13 I'm going to make sure that the raven feeds you.
00:14:17 Ravens were birds that weren't just--
00:14:20 they didn't hang out with a large group.
00:14:23 Usually you saw a raven, it was just one or two together.
00:14:26 And it's been found that when people scaled to high places
00:14:29 in mountains, to their surprise, there
00:14:32 would be a raven that would come.
00:14:34 So they were in unusual places showing up
00:14:37 in unusual, unexpected times.
00:14:40 Are you with me?
00:14:41 We're talking about ravens and widows.
00:14:43 So the raven is a hunter.
00:14:45 And the raven considered unclean by the standards
00:14:49 and the rules for Elijah.
00:14:51 But it's going to be the raven that's going to feed him.
00:14:54 Sometimes the supply that God sends
00:14:57 does not come not only the way we want it,
00:15:00 but the way we expect it.
00:15:02 And it can come through something
00:15:03 we've ruled out that doesn't fit our tradition,
00:15:07 it doesn't fit our expectations, it
00:15:09 doesn't come in line with our religious order
00:15:12 or our rituals.
00:15:13 But in the middle of a drought, it's
00:15:15 just good news that there's going
00:15:17 to be water in the brook and good news
00:15:19 that he's going to be fed.
00:15:21 And the thing about the raven, the scripture
00:15:23 says that he brings them bread and meat.
00:15:25 And sometimes there are words that are used more symbolically.
00:15:28 It doesn't mean necessarily in biblical language
00:15:31 that it was actual bread.
00:15:32 But the point is that he was well fed.
00:15:35 And he was fed in the morning, and he was fed in the evening.
00:15:39 And he had water, which the people in town
00:15:41 or in the area that we're going to look at in a moment
00:15:44 did not have.
00:15:45 Are you with me?
00:15:46 All right.
00:15:47 So the Lord has said, you gave my word,
00:15:49 but I have a place I'm going to put you for your protection.
00:15:52 And you're going to have my protection,
00:15:54 and you're going to have my provision.
00:15:55 But I'm going to use something that you
00:15:57 might would have turned your nose up a little bit
00:16:00 to feed you.
00:16:01 And so what happened was Elijah did what the Lord said.
00:16:05 He went exactly there.
00:16:07 And according to the word of the Lord,
00:16:08 he went and he dwelt by the brook.
00:16:11 In other words, he stayed there a while.
00:16:13 There's speculation on how long he was there.
00:16:16 And the ravens, on time, like clockwork,
00:16:19 they brought him bread and brought him flesh.
00:16:21 They brought it in the morning, and they brought it
00:16:24 to him in the evening.
00:16:25 And he was well nourished.
00:16:27 And so after a while--
00:16:28 I'm going quickly because you know this part--
00:16:30 the brook dried up.
00:16:32 So now he had bread and he had flesh for a little while,
00:16:36 but the brook dried up.
00:16:39 So now the Lord gives him a new instruction.
00:16:42 That was enough that tested his faith on a beginning level.
00:16:47 Are you willing to go into obscurity?
00:16:50 Are you willing to go from a high place
00:16:52 to a background place, from a front stage to a backstage,
00:16:57 so that I can get you where I want you to be
00:17:00 and so I can work in your life?
00:17:02 Sometimes God develops faith in our life
00:17:04 through obedience, through those unlikely, undesirable steps.
00:17:10 And so now the brook has dried up.
00:17:12 He's learned a lesson at this level.
00:17:15 And the Lord gives him a new instruction in verse 9.
00:17:18 He says, this time, I want you to go to Zarephath
00:17:21 in the region of Sidon.
00:17:23 Now, Zarephath was a big commercial place.
00:17:27 So he's leaving that background place.
00:17:30 He's leaving that dank valley, as it were,
00:17:33 that deep ditch and hole in the ground where the stream is.
00:17:37 He says, and he's going to a commercial place.
00:17:39 He's going to a place that is known.
00:17:42 It's a marketplace.
00:17:43 People are coming and going.
00:17:44 So there's a lot of society, a lot of culture,
00:17:47 a lot of events and activities, a place that's known for oil,
00:17:51 a place that's known for wine, a place that's known for grain,
00:17:55 a place known for wine.
00:17:57 So we can get a sense that there's
00:17:58 some gaiety, some joy, some happiness on people's faces,
00:18:03 a place that's known for grain.
00:18:06 We would assume normally, if it were not for the drought,
00:18:09 that they would be well fed.
00:18:11 And a place that's known for oil would suggest for us
00:18:14 that there's a place of industry.
00:18:16 So at first blush, I'm sure he said,
00:18:18 well, this is much better than where I've been.
00:18:20 So at least you're bringing me out of hiding.
00:18:22 And he's sending him to Zarephath.
00:18:25 And he says, just like you stayed by the brook,
00:18:27 I want you to stay here at this next level.
00:18:30 I want you to dwell there a while.
00:18:32 But the drought is still on.
00:18:35 Are you with me?
00:18:36 And the Lord said again, I have ordained, I have commanded,
00:18:39 I have instructed, I have directed.
00:18:42 And you'll see in a minute that this person
00:18:43 didn't seem to know that instruction was there.
00:18:46 Sometimes people are under orders and don't know
00:18:50 they're under orders.
00:18:51 Sometimes they don't know that God has already settled
00:18:54 a thing to show favor and to provide your provision.
00:18:57 And if you ask them, they would be totally surprised.
00:19:00 So here the Lord has gone from commanding a raven,
00:19:04 which was a scavenger bird, unlikely, unpopular,
00:19:09 not desirable, a prey, an animal that had prey
00:19:14 that would hunt down its kill and bring food,
00:19:17 doesn't sound too delectable, and bring food to the prophet.
00:19:20 He said, but now I have commanded a widow there
00:19:25 to supply your food.
00:19:26 Now, what I want to suggest to you is that the widow
00:19:31 and the raven are really two types of the same thing.
00:19:35 Because while the raven was undesirable,
00:19:39 certainly not the prominent, most welcome bird,
00:19:42 a widow is the one who fades into the background.
00:19:46 A widow is not prominent in society.
00:19:48 Are you with me?
00:19:49 A widow is the one that if there's trouble,
00:19:52 if there's a drought, is the least likely to be cared for,
00:19:57 is the one that's most likely to have problems
00:20:00 in terms of making ends meet.
00:20:02 We have all kinds of scriptures about widows.
00:20:04 And this is a widow with a son.
00:20:06 And so now not only has nature been reversed
00:20:10 where the raven has felt the prophet,
00:20:12 that's how much God loves you.
00:20:13 He'll have things work outside of their natural course
00:20:18 just to get you where you need to be
00:20:20 if we are obedient and full of faith.
00:20:23 So now not only has the environment supported Elijah
00:20:27 in a drought, but he says, I'm gonna take someone
00:20:29 at the bottom of the social scale,
00:20:31 and I'm gonna use that person who needs to hoard,
00:20:35 who needs to be looking for something just to bear,
00:20:38 make it and make ends meet.
00:20:41 And I'm gonna use someone who out of their own scarcity
00:20:45 is going to supply you with food.
00:20:48 That's why we can't say, Lord, this is not the right job.
00:20:52 Lord, this is not the right city.
00:20:54 This is not the right person.
00:20:55 This is not the right connection.
00:20:57 This is not the right relationship.
00:20:59 I don't see things happening like one, two, three,
00:21:02 because maybe God has put out a word that says,
00:21:06 despite what the rule is, despite what the order is,
00:21:10 I'm going to work things out so that what is natural
00:21:14 will not be an operation,
00:21:16 but the natural is gonna work unnaturally to your benefit.
00:21:20 If you and I have ever lived in a drought, we're in one now.
00:21:23 And I'm not referring to the three digit temperatures.
00:21:27 I'm referring to the fact that we live
00:21:28 in a place of health disparity.
00:21:31 I'm referring to the fact that we still have food deserts.
00:21:35 I'm referring to the fact that people
00:21:37 who have followed the predictions of society,
00:21:40 gotten the education, but they're still unemployed,
00:21:43 even though we hear that unemployment is at an all time low.
00:21:47 I'm talking about a drought where we don't want people
00:21:50 to really know their history.
00:21:52 A drought that Bishop reminded of,
00:21:54 where in this kind of heat,
00:21:55 we seem to have forgotten about the incarcerated
00:21:58 and the homeless who are sweltering on the sidewalks.
00:22:02 This place, Zarephath, not only was a commercial place,
00:22:06 but it meant a smelting place.
00:22:09 It was a place of purification.
00:22:12 It's a place where the impurities are worked out.
00:22:17 So it was not just by the ravine,
00:22:19 but sometimes God puts us in a situation
00:22:22 that feels like it's entirely disadvantaged.
00:22:26 How could the God that love us,
00:22:28 command us to try to get food and supply from a widow?
00:22:32 A person who needs everything they can get,
00:22:35 and yet the Lord has ordained that they would feed us.
00:22:40 I wanna say to you that the most unlikely things
00:22:43 in your life, if God so ordains it, they can feed you.
00:22:48 They can supply you.
00:22:50 Enemies can supply you.
00:22:52 You can get joy just from the abuse, they may be saying.
00:22:56 That those things that are seemingly hurled at you,
00:22:59 that are negative, that are coming your way,
00:23:01 they can not only feed you, but they can build you up.
00:23:04 I'm reminded of Peter when the Lord said,
00:23:07 "Don't call what I made unclean."
00:23:09 And Peter had the vision and saw the animals
00:23:12 and it was let down on a great sheet.
00:23:15 So we really don't have enough insight
00:23:17 to be able to judge what it is God is going to use.
00:23:21 We really don't know enough
00:23:24 about what's the best instrument in God's hand.
00:23:27 And so now the raven is really the widow,
00:23:31 and the widow is the raven.
00:23:33 She's a raven because she has to be a scavenger.
00:23:36 She has to go out and look for means.
00:23:39 She has to hunt for things.
00:23:41 She's a raven because she has to be creative and inventive
00:23:45 in order to get her food.
00:23:47 She's a raven because she is an outcast and on the bottom
00:23:51 and marginalized in society.
00:23:54 Ravens and widows may come in different forms,
00:23:57 but I want you to know that our God
00:24:00 can use anything in his creation.
00:24:02 He can use anything, can bless you.
00:24:05 He can bless you in a drought.
00:24:06 He can bless us when the legislation is adverse.
00:24:09 He can bless us when the situation is not good.
00:24:12 He can bless when the mortgage rates
00:24:14 are being given unequally.
00:24:16 God can bless us.
00:24:18 It is the work of the enemy that tells us
00:24:21 that we have been excluded, that we have been locked out,
00:24:24 that we have been left out,
00:24:26 and that God is not going to supply our needs.
00:24:29 But when our God, hallelujah, Elijah said,
00:24:33 Yahweh is my God.
00:24:35 When you know who your God is
00:24:37 and what your God has commanded,
00:24:40 you can say, he blessed my soul.
00:24:42 I might've been in a hospital, but he still blessed my soul.
00:24:46 Might've went through a divorce,
00:24:47 but still he blessed my soul.
00:24:50 Might've been left by friends and abandoned.
00:24:53 Might've had doors closed in my face,
00:24:55 but still, what happened?
00:24:58 He blessed my soul.
00:25:00 It was the raven that blessed you.
00:25:02 It was the mistake that worked to your favor.
00:25:05 It was the accounting error that turned out to your benefit.
00:25:10 It was the neighbor that tried to lie on you.
00:25:12 It was the coworker that tried to get your job,
00:25:16 but you had to be moved to a better promotion.
00:25:19 I'm not asking God to shoo away the ravens,
00:25:22 but send the ravens and send the widows.
00:25:26 Work opposite of nature's environment.
00:25:29 Work contrary.
00:25:30 This is the God that works despite his own rules
00:25:34 that he has set in place.
00:25:36 This is the God that takes things that are ordained
00:25:39 to be in one order, but he'll use them in another way
00:25:43 because he loves you so much.
00:25:45 This is the raven and now the widow,
00:25:48 as a raven is acting like a scavenger.
00:25:51 Let's find that verse.
00:25:53 He has commanded the widow to feed her.
00:25:57 So Elijah, in obedience in verse 10, he arises.
00:26:01 I love it better in the King James
00:26:03 because it says go at once.
00:26:05 So when the Lord commands you, don't think it over.
00:26:07 Don't say this doesn't make sense.
00:26:09 This is not common sense.
00:26:11 Common sense is often given and styled in the scripture
00:26:14 as wisdom, and yes, we are to have wisdom,
00:26:17 but there's sometimes God works outside of common sense.
00:26:21 He works beyond common sense.
00:26:23 Who would expect to be healed by stretching out their hand?
00:26:26 Who would get into a muddy river and dip in it
00:26:30 and expect their leprosy to go?
00:26:32 Who would touch the border on the hem of a garment
00:26:35 and find that their hemorrhaging would stop?
00:26:37 Who would bring a man, Peter, over to another city
00:26:41 and the dressmaker has died and all of a sudden
00:26:44 she is resurrected and brought back to life?
00:26:47 Who would pronounce Jairus' daughter dead
00:26:50 and Jesus put people out of the room except his inner circle
00:26:53 and she bounces right back?
00:26:55 Who would walk by a tree and curse it
00:26:58 and immediately it dies?
00:27:00 Who would say after you fished all night long
00:27:02 to toss your net on the other side
00:27:04 and bring in a great cache of fish?
00:27:07 Who would tell a woman whose child is grievously vexed
00:27:10 with the devil that all you have to do
00:27:13 is to keep on pushing and keep on pressing
00:27:16 and you'll have a word of retort that says
00:27:18 I'll take even the crumbs that fall from the table?
00:27:22 Who is it would take a virgin young girl
00:27:25 and put the Messiah and the Prince of Peace
00:27:28 in her womb without the aid of a human?
00:27:30 Who is it would promise a comforter
00:27:33 and send the Holy Ghost?
00:27:35 Who is it would have Jesus to bring forth salvation
00:27:39 with his own arm?
00:27:40 Who is it would take an Elizabeth and take a Sarah
00:27:44 and an Abraham who are long past the time of productivity?
00:27:48 You tell me, who do you know that's like this God?
00:27:52 If he wants to send heartache, I can grow from heartache.
00:27:57 If he wants to send disappointment,
00:27:59 I can thrive with disappointment.
00:28:02 If he wants to send setbacks,
00:28:04 I can leap over bounds with setbacks.
00:28:07 If he wants to send discouragement,
00:28:09 I can turn discouragement into a decision to serve God.
00:28:14 This is my God.
00:28:16 We are Elijah's and we will eat from brooks
00:28:20 and we will eat from places
00:28:22 that the world cannot find provision.
00:28:25 We will eat and enjoy the goodness of God
00:28:28 no matter what's going on around us.
00:28:31 And so Elijah does not procrastinate.
00:28:34 He does not put it off
00:28:36 because it doesn't seem to make sense.
00:28:38 But the Lord comes to him and says, "Go now, go at once."
00:28:43 So he arose and he went to this place
00:28:45 of great commercial activity,
00:28:48 but was still under the strain of a drought.
00:28:52 Let's put up the screen for a moment.
00:28:54 Since we're still talking about obscurity.
00:28:57 When we talk about obscurity,
00:29:00 there's some synonyms for obscurity.
00:29:02 I won't go through all of them,
00:29:03 but it means something is unknown.
00:29:06 It's inconspicuous, like being hidden by the book.
00:29:10 It's unimportant.
00:29:11 It hasn't been given attention.
00:29:13 It's the place of nobodies.
00:29:14 It's unclear.
00:29:16 It's vague.
00:29:17 It's uncertain.
00:29:18 Isn't that the time we're living?
00:29:20 The pandemic has seemingly not been a major threat of late,
00:29:25 but the post pandemic seems to be a disease of the heart
00:29:29 where the love of men is wax cold,
00:29:31 where people are more cruel than ever.
00:29:34 And so the post pandemic has us in a puzzling place,
00:29:38 in a mysterious place, in enigma,
00:29:41 and things that are major are not part of obscurity.
00:29:45 But obscurity means things are minor.
00:29:48 It means that it hasn't been talked about,
00:29:50 hasn't been explored, hasn't been made explicit.
00:29:54 And so many of us may be envious of bright lights
00:29:58 and big stages and names and people
00:30:01 that have millions of social media followers.
00:30:04 But I would share with you,
00:30:06 particularly if you are of a younger generation,
00:30:09 not to be envious or to strive for those things,
00:30:13 but know that even when God has you hidden,
00:30:16 when you feel like you're embedded in the crowd,
00:30:19 when it seems like your gifts and talents
00:30:21 are not being seen,
00:30:22 when you're going unnoticed and seemingly passed by,
00:30:26 when things are unclear and it's uncertain
00:30:28 when you're gonna get delivered,
00:30:30 that God works, he works, he works to bring out of obscurity.
00:30:35 There's some passages in Isaiah.
00:30:37 Let's look at them quickly if they're available.
00:30:40 Isaiah 29 and 18 says,
00:30:43 "In that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book
00:30:48 and the eyes of the blind,"
00:30:50 look at the contradiction, look at the paradox,
00:30:53 "the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity."
00:30:58 And even though it's dark, they're gonna be able to walk.
00:31:02 You'll be able to find your way.
00:31:03 In obscurity, you'll still be able to see.
00:31:07 It's a contradiction, but that's how our God works.
00:31:10 Let's look at Isaiah 58, 10 and 11.
00:31:14 "And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,"
00:31:18 in other words, if you have compassion for others,
00:31:20 "and satisfy the afflicted soul,
00:31:23 then shall your light rise in obscurity."
00:31:27 That's a contradiction.
00:31:29 If it's obscure, it's vague, it's hidden, it's unnoticed,
00:31:32 but yet light is breaking forth in obscurity.
00:31:35 "And thy darkness shall be as the noonday."
00:31:38 And the last text on obscurity, Isaiah 59 and nine,
00:31:42 "Therefore in judgment, far from us,
00:31:46 neither doth justice overtake us.
00:31:50 We wait for light, but behold obscurity,
00:31:53 for brightness, but we walk in darkness."
00:31:56 Obscurity is a tool in the hand of God.
00:32:00 Hiddenness, hiddenness is a key.
00:32:04 Hiddenness is not a disappointment,
00:32:07 but hiddenness is a key to be locked out,
00:32:11 is to be promoted and elevated.
00:32:13 I don't wanna start another text,
00:32:14 but think of the man who couldn't get in for the crowd
00:32:17 and his friends were carrying him to Jesus.
00:32:19 Remember that?
00:32:20 They couldn't get in the door,
00:32:21 they couldn't get in the back door,
00:32:22 the side door, the windows.
00:32:24 So what did they do?
00:32:25 They went to an obscure place.
00:32:27 They went up on the roof.
00:32:28 There was no meeting up on the roof.
00:32:30 There was no speaker on the roof,
00:32:32 but the ingenuity that they had, the innovativeness,
00:32:35 they tore up the tiles, tore up the man's house.
00:32:38 I mean, just tore it up and dropped him down.
00:32:42 And when they dropped him down,
00:32:43 the spirit quickened in me.
00:32:45 Said, "This man that was locked out
00:32:47 now has a front row seat.
00:32:48 He was laid out on a pallet,
00:32:50 but when he looked up, he looked in the face of God."
00:32:54 Every now and then you'll find yourself and say,
00:32:57 "How did I get beyond all these people
00:32:59 who've been waiting in line?
00:33:01 I was locked out, I was overlooked, I was unnoticed.
00:33:04 I was never thought of.
00:33:06 I was on the outside."
00:33:07 But when God begins to tear things up,
00:33:10 like have the raven feed you,
00:33:12 tear up the house and take the roof off.
00:33:14 When God begins to work in your behalf,
00:33:16 when he drops you in, he was right there on the front row.
00:33:20 Didn't have to pay to have a box ticket.
00:33:22 Come on, talk about the God that we serve.
00:33:25 And so now he has sent him to the raven,
00:33:28 who's just another, to the widow,
00:33:30 who's just another form of the raven.
00:33:34 She too is a scavenger.
00:33:36 How do I know she's a scavenger?
00:33:38 I know she's a scavenger because she's out gathering.
00:33:41 She's looking for sticks.
00:33:45 She and her son, in my imagination,
00:33:50 I assume every now and then she'd find a stick
00:33:53 and say, "Hold this one," and find another one and say,
00:33:58 "All right, hold on to this one till I get another stick."
00:34:01 First of all, Elijah has gone not knowing who the widow is.
00:34:06 He just knows it's gonna be a widow.
00:34:09 So he has to figure out which widow is here
00:34:11 that's gonna feed me.
00:34:13 But the widow is not in an obscure place.
00:34:16 The scripture says she's in the town gate.
00:34:20 She's in the center of activity.
00:34:24 Now, sticks are not what you normally find in the town gate.
00:34:29 You find sticks in the woods, sticks in the forest,
00:34:32 sticks piled up somewhere, right?
00:34:34 But a stick that's in the town gate
00:34:37 had to be brought from someplace else.
00:34:40 Typically, I'm imagining there might be a tree or so there,
00:34:43 but this is the gate.
00:34:45 This is the place of access.
00:34:46 This is the place of exchange.
00:34:48 This is the place of entry.
00:34:50 And here she is.
00:34:51 This is the place of transition.
00:34:53 When you go from the outside to the inside,
00:34:55 the inside to the outside,
00:34:57 this is the place where you come in, where you belong,
00:34:59 or where you're on the out.
00:35:01 Are you following me?
00:35:02 This is the gate.
00:35:02 This is the doorway as it is.
00:35:04 And she's looking for sticks with her son.
00:35:08 And so in my imagination, this is just supposedly,
00:35:11 it's not biblically necessarily verified anywhere,
00:35:14 but I imagine that a stick,
00:35:17 the kind that she needs a bundle of sticks to start a fire,
00:35:20 that sticks that are there are sticks that were dropped
00:35:25 or sticks that possibly were brought from some other place.
00:35:28 'Cause you wouldn't expect an abundance of sticks
00:35:31 to be in the town gate.
00:35:33 Now here, Elijah has been in obscurity.
00:35:36 He's learned to exercise his faith.
00:35:39 He's been fed by ravens,
00:35:41 but if anybody thought less of him
00:35:43 from eating out of the raven's beak,
00:35:45 there was no audience.
00:35:47 Nobody knew he had great faith.
00:35:49 Nobody knew he had to humble himself
00:35:52 'cause it was all in private.
00:35:54 But now Elijah has to come and a different kind of raven
00:35:59 and is no longer in seclusion,
00:36:01 but it's in a public place.
00:36:03 So people will know he's got to depend on someone else.
00:36:07 People will know this great man of God
00:36:09 who's given a word to the king
00:36:11 has to almost petition and beg of a widow
00:36:15 out in the public, in the open.
00:36:19 I could handle it if my enemies didn't know
00:36:21 how low I had fallen.
00:36:23 I can handle it if the people who were always against me
00:36:26 and said I wasn't anything anyway,
00:36:28 didn't have to see me trying to make something
00:36:32 out of what I assume is nothing.
00:36:34 I mean, I can deal with a raven down in the deep ditch.
00:36:37 I can handle that 'cause I was well nourished,
00:36:40 but now I'm out in the open, God,
00:36:43 and I got to ask the widow.
00:36:46 I got to ask the marginalized, the outcast,
00:36:49 the one who's at the bottom of society,
00:36:52 who is a scavenger and needs everything for herself
00:36:55 to feed me, and so here she is gathering sticks
00:37:00 and giving the sticks perhaps to her son.
00:37:05 And I can imagine this son carrying a bundle of wood,
00:37:10 going with his mother to prepare for their death
00:37:16 because she has decided that I need these sticks
00:37:20 to create a little fire so that we can have our last meal
00:37:24 and he and I can die together.
00:37:27 And while Elijah has been given to us as a type of Christ
00:37:30 in so many ways to remind us of the Messiah,
00:37:34 we can't help but see the picture and hear overtones
00:37:37 and sounds and eavesdrop on the text and the scenes
00:37:40 when it says this, who else was carrying wood?
00:37:44 Who else had to carry wood to their own
00:37:46 supposed impending death?
00:37:49 A mother at the bottom of a tree and a son carrying wood.
00:37:54 Not just Abraham and Isaac, but a savior
00:38:00 who had to pick up the burdens
00:38:02 and who had to take the woundedness
00:38:04 and who had to be bruised for our iniquities,
00:38:07 who had to gather all of these sticks,
00:38:09 who had to become sin, who knew no sin,
00:38:12 and yet had to carry them, who had to bear my sorrows,
00:38:16 who had to take all of that to prepare for his death.
00:38:21 And here Elijah goes and the woman is gathering sticks
00:38:25 and he calls to her and he says,
00:38:27 "Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel
00:38:31 "that I may drink."
00:38:33 That was his entree, but it didn't end there.
00:38:36 After he said that, he called to her and then he said,
00:38:42 I'm adding this comment here, and by the way,
00:38:46 not just a little water, you know, it's already a drought,
00:38:50 so water is scarce, but now he's gonna push the envelope
00:38:54 and say, "And bring me, I pray,
00:38:56 "a morsel of bread in thine hand."
00:39:00 First the raven's beak and now the widow's hand.
00:39:06 Our God is amazing.
00:39:10 And I think she would have brought the water,
00:39:13 but now he's asked for bread
00:39:16 and she begins to explain to him.
00:39:18 She says, "As the Lord thy God liveth,"
00:39:20 in other words, she discerned that he was a man of Yahweh,
00:39:23 a worshiper of Yahweh, and she was in Baal,
00:39:26 this was Baal territory,
00:39:28 this was the territory of the false god.
00:39:30 She says, "As the Lord thy God liveth,"
00:39:32 now remember, that's a contradiction there.
00:39:34 That's almost like Rahab rehearsing to the spies
00:39:37 the victories of the Israelites.
00:39:39 She says, "As your God liveth."
00:39:41 Remember the whole thing here is that if Baal is not dead,
00:39:46 then there's going to be a storm and rain.
00:39:48 And the whole idea is a drought might suggest
00:39:51 that maybe Baal is not living.
00:39:54 So she says, "As your God liveth."
00:39:57 She's not a worshiper as far as we know of Yahweh,
00:40:00 but maybe she holds out a hope
00:40:02 that maybe your thing is working for you
00:40:04 'cause mine is not working right now.
00:40:06 She says, "As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake,
00:40:11 "but I have a handful of meal in a barrel
00:40:15 "and a little oil in a cruise."
00:40:17 Now you all have heard messages on this so much
00:40:19 and this is where we get happy.
00:40:21 So I don't have to do any of that.
00:40:22 If you get happy, you get happy on your own
00:40:24 'cause we're just going through this.
00:40:25 I don't have to remind you about,
00:40:27 you already know the story, you know that you do.
00:40:29 She says, "I just have a little handful,
00:40:32 "but I want you to know a handful in a widow's hand
00:40:36 "is powerful like a little lunch from a lad."
00:40:39 Are you with me?
00:40:41 It just takes that unusual, that unusual tool,
00:40:45 that thing that seems too small for God to use that he uses.
00:40:50 The hand of a widow is like six water pots with water
00:40:54 that he converts to wine,
00:40:56 reminding us that the old religious tradition
00:40:59 is gotta turn to a flow of the Holy Spirit
00:41:02 and bring new life to people.
00:41:04 A handful of meal in the hand of a widow
00:41:08 is just something that looks like a little bit of oil
00:41:12 in the widow's house whose husband's a prophet
00:41:15 and who's dead.
00:41:16 And she says, "I have nothing saved but a pot of oil."
00:41:19 That's all it takes.
00:41:21 Now you say, "I'm not a raven and I'm not a widow
00:41:24 "and I'm trying to go with you,
00:41:25 "but I'm getting a little lost in this text."
00:41:27 I wanna let you know that you're not a raven
00:41:30 and you're not a widow,
00:41:31 but this is what the enemy tries to tell us.
00:41:34 He either tries to tell us
00:41:36 that there's not enough supply for us,
00:41:38 there's not enough provision for us,
00:41:40 and what we do have, we can't afford to share it,
00:41:43 we can't afford to spare it
00:41:45 because we're living in a place of scarcity.
00:41:48 There's not enough for you, not to mention someone else.
00:41:51 But here this widow woman, thank you, Jesus,
00:41:55 she seemed to be surprised by his requests.
00:41:58 But the word has already told us that God had commanded,
00:42:02 he had ordained, he had promoted it in her heart
00:42:06 that she would serve the needs of the prophet.
00:42:09 You don't know sometimes why your enemy
00:42:11 is being nice to you.
00:42:13 The person that said they won't help you
00:42:15 turns around and helps you anyhow.
00:42:17 Because there's been a commandment put out,
00:42:19 there's been a directive put out,
00:42:21 there's been an ordination put out
00:42:25 that says you're ordained to be a blessing to me.
00:42:29 It's not coming from you,
00:42:30 but it's coming from the very mouth and the heart of God.
00:42:34 And so now the widow who says,
00:42:36 I thought you just wanted water,
00:42:38 but now you want some meal?
00:42:39 All I have is a little handful of meal.
00:42:42 Here's a mother and her son who are preparing to die.
00:42:47 And she's thinking that the best way we can die
00:42:49 is have one last little cake.
00:42:52 It's suggested that the cake that she eventually makes
00:42:55 for the prophet was very much like the matzah,
00:42:58 the flat unleavened bread that the Hebrews
00:43:00 flew from Egypt that they had to eat.
00:43:04 It wasn't something fancy, but it was just a little bit.
00:43:07 And you know when you come down to your end
00:43:10 and it's your last, you remember hearing your parents say,
00:43:12 this is my last dollar,
00:43:13 you're gonna ask me for my last dime.
00:43:15 They would put last on something,
00:43:17 just sounded so desperate.
00:43:19 Sounded like, you know, nobody gets down to their last dime,
00:43:22 maybe your last $10.
00:43:24 But if you're down to your last dime, you're already gone.
00:43:27 I mean, really, in reality.
00:43:30 And so she is seeing the desperateness of her situation.
00:43:34 She is seeing the drought.
00:43:36 She is seeing there's not much water.
00:43:37 You asked me for water.
00:43:39 I'm trying to die with a little dignity,
00:43:41 to die along with my son, the two of us together.
00:43:45 And now you're gonna take that away.
00:43:47 But something in her heart,
00:43:49 which was the commandment of God, thank you, Jesus,
00:43:52 the same God that took waters
00:43:54 and made him stand up in curtsy
00:43:57 for the children of Israel,
00:43:59 the same God that sent manna down
00:44:02 so that they would not be hungry,
00:44:03 the same God that sent quail down and fed his people,
00:44:07 the same God that opened up the earth
00:44:09 and swallowed up the enemies,
00:44:10 this same God, hallelujah,
00:44:13 begin to promote promotion in her heart
00:44:16 and begin to promote life
00:44:18 in a situation of death and desperateness.
00:44:21 And he says, bring it to me.
00:44:23 And he says, I'll read it back.
00:44:27 She says, "The Lord, thank God, liveth.
00:44:28 I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel
00:44:31 and a little oil, not even a whole cruze of oil,
00:44:35 but a little oil in a cruze or a jar.
00:44:37 And I've gathered all that looking
00:44:40 and how many sticks does she have?
00:44:42 Two sticks.
00:44:43 I got two sticks
00:44:44 because that's not the place to find sticks.
00:44:47 It's an unlikely place.
00:44:48 It's in the public square.
00:44:49 And I'm gonna go in and we're gonna eat this and die."
00:44:53 And Elijah said to her, "Fear not."
00:44:55 He said, "I think it's in the NIV."
00:44:56 He says, "Don't be afraid."
00:44:58 And that's the first thing that we need God to take from us.
00:45:01 God, take my fear out
00:45:02 so I can find a blessing in an unusual place.
00:45:06 Take my reasoning and put it out of the way
00:45:09 so I can let you turn things
00:45:11 in this abnormal day that we live in,
00:45:14 in this drought when men and women have empathy
00:45:17 and sympathy for each other and understanding
00:45:19 so I can expect and see what you're moving
00:45:22 and how you're gonna feed me.
00:45:24 You may feed me in a place of isolation,
00:45:27 but I'll be well nourished.
00:45:28 You may feed me in a place of dispute,
00:45:31 but I'll still be well nourished up."
00:45:33 And so Elijah says to her, "Don't be afraid."
00:45:36 He said, "Make sure what you do, make it for me first."
00:45:39 And that's the way the Lord speaks to us.
00:45:41 He said, "I know it doesn't look common to you.
00:45:44 It doesn't look reasonable to you,
00:45:46 but I want you to take the little that you have
00:45:48 and I want you to make it available to me first."
00:45:51 Are you with me?
00:45:52 He is representing the way of the Lord
00:45:55 where we give God the first of what we have.
00:45:58 We give him that which comes off the top,
00:46:00 not considering what looks like desperate times.
00:46:04 I think they told me the interest rate went up again today.
00:46:06 Was that right?
00:46:07 I think it elevated again.
00:46:09 Well, nobody listened to the news today over where we are.
00:46:13 They keep telling us this is happening
00:46:14 and that is happening
00:46:15 and this dispute is happening
00:46:17 and this is on trial and that's on trial.
00:46:19 And we saw a sheriff that was disarming as it were
00:46:23 and demoting someone in his department,
00:46:26 but all on television.
00:46:27 We look on social media and we see so much that's happening
00:46:31 that maybe we prefer not to see.
00:46:33 But yet the man of God said, "Don't be afraid.
00:46:36 Make it for me first and then make for your son."
00:46:39 And then he comes back with that word.
00:46:41 He says, "The Lord God of Israel."
00:46:44 This is what he says.
00:46:45 He says, "The barrel of meal is not gonna waste.
00:46:49 Neither is your cruise of oil going to fail
00:46:52 until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth."
00:46:55 The sense of the scripture is not that all of a sudden
00:46:59 she had a full barrel of meal.
00:47:01 The sense of the text is not all of a sudden
00:47:04 her cruise was full of oil,
00:47:05 but it meant that every day, every time they went back,
00:47:09 she had just enough for Elijah
00:47:13 and just enough for herself and just enough for her son.
00:47:17 Listen, you can have just enough
00:47:19 and it's still an abundance because God is regular.
00:47:23 God is on time.
00:47:25 God is consistent.
00:47:27 If you have a full barrel of meal,
00:47:30 you can't eat but one or two cakes anyhow.
00:47:33 You can have five cars,
00:47:34 but you can't drive but one at a time.
00:47:36 You can have three houses,
00:47:38 but you can't sleep in but one bed.
00:47:39 Are you with me?
00:47:40 And so the scripture says,
00:47:42 "Lord, we want you to give us our daily bread."
00:47:46 And I wish I could find someone
00:47:48 who maybe they haven't been blown up in lights
00:47:50 and maybe they don't have a big entourage
00:47:53 and people are not,
00:47:55 millions of people following them on the internet
00:47:57 or social media and their neighborhood
00:47:59 is not bowing and scraping to them.
00:48:01 But the God that we serve, hallelujah,
00:48:04 in the middle of drought has given you favor.
00:48:07 The God that we serve,
00:48:09 when people are blowing their brains out,
00:48:11 has kept you in your right mind.
00:48:13 The God that we serve,
00:48:15 when families are breaking up
00:48:17 and homes are falling apart
00:48:19 and people are destitute
00:48:20 and going in despair has still worked for you.
00:48:24 How did he do it?
00:48:25 He didn't do it with millions of dollars.
00:48:27 It's nothing wrong if he sends millions.
00:48:29 I'll take millions if he sends it to me,
00:48:31 but if he just gives me my daily bread,
00:48:34 if he will just wake me up in my right mind,
00:48:37 if I can just eat a portion in the morning
00:48:39 and a portion in the evening,
00:48:41 then God is still faithful.
00:48:44 I believe that someone needs to take time
00:48:46 and say that I wanna celebrate God
00:48:49 in the mundane affairs of life,
00:48:52 in the ordinariness of life.
00:48:54 I still see God moving,
00:48:57 not because I'm riding in a chariot,
00:49:00 but because I'm still walking,
00:49:02 not because I've been acclaimed and my name is in fame,
00:49:06 but because he's just with me daily.
00:49:09 That's why they used to sing that old song
00:49:11 and say, "Just a closer walk with thee."
00:49:15 I don't have to outrun chariots.
00:49:18 I don't have to see all of my enemies go up in smoke,
00:49:21 but if I can just have a relationship with him,
00:49:24 if I can begin to call him
00:49:26 and he'll drop a word down in my soul,
00:49:30 that's meal in my barrel.
00:49:32 If I can begin to seek him and fall on my face,
00:49:36 that's oil in my cruise.
00:49:39 Every day, day after day,
00:49:42 he walks with me and he talks with me
00:49:46 and he tells me that I am his own.
00:49:49 "I woke up this morning," Bishop said,
00:49:52 "and my mind was stayed on Jesus.
00:49:56 "I didn't have to go from yesterday's food.
00:49:58 "I found a little something and I got joy from that.
00:50:02 "I can't run like I used to.
00:50:04 "I like dog that can run.
00:50:06 "I can't even skip and hop anymore,
00:50:09 "but I can limp like Jacob.
00:50:11 "And I can say that God is yet faithful,
00:50:14 "that God is a good God.
00:50:16 "He fed me from the ravens."
00:50:19 That's why the writer said it was good for me
00:50:22 that I have been afflicted because affliction has fed me.
00:50:27 It's good for me that I've been deserted at times
00:50:30 because desertion has served me.
00:50:33 It was good for Joseph that his brothers traded him off
00:50:37 because that was a raven that moved him to elevation.
00:50:41 It was good for David that Saul rejected him
00:50:44 because he got an army of people in debt
00:50:47 who understood his distress.
00:50:49 I wanna know, do you recognize your raven?
00:50:52 Do you recognize your widow?
00:50:54 Are you willing to let God feed you
00:50:57 from the widow's hand, from the unlikely place,
00:51:00 through unlikely people, unlikely circumstances?
00:51:05 If the truth be told,
00:51:07 we make Elijah the protagonist and the hero,
00:51:11 but this widow should be celebrated
00:51:13 because with the little she had,
00:51:16 she was willing to meet somebody else's need first.
00:51:21 It's a good thing
00:51:22 when we're not just consumed by our needs.
00:51:25 It's a good thing
00:51:27 when we can feel somebody else's heartache.
00:51:30 It's a good thing
00:51:32 when we can see somebody else's tears.
00:51:35 This scripture begin to minister me
00:51:36 and I'm almost ready to wrap it up,
00:51:39 but it goes on a little bit further.
00:51:41 They find that every day there's some meal in the barrel.
00:51:44 Every day there's a word, a command that God keeps us.
00:51:48 Every day there's a promise of God
00:51:50 that is life and health to you.
00:51:52 Every day there's a staple
00:51:54 that comes out of the word of God that gives you strength.
00:51:58 It may be a promise that says greater is he
00:52:01 that is in me than he that is in the world.
00:52:04 It may be a word that tell you
00:52:06 how you can put your enemies to flight.
00:52:08 It may be something that tells you
00:52:10 weeping may endure for a night,
00:52:12 but that oil of joy is coming in the morning.
00:52:15 Your cruise is not empty.
00:52:17 The enemy will tell you,
00:52:19 "You don't have anything to shout about.
00:52:22 "Your prayers haven't all been answered.
00:52:24 "Your problems haven't all been solved.
00:52:27 "You don't have anything to run about.
00:52:29 "You don't have anything to jump to your feet about."
00:52:32 But I've learned how to get in his face
00:52:34 and talk back to him and say,
00:52:37 "The blood is still running warm in my veins.
00:52:41 "I've learned how to get in my room
00:52:43 "and in my off-key voice, my no-tune voice,
00:52:48 "say my soul looks back and wonders,
00:52:52 "how did I get over?
00:52:54 "How I got over was the raven fed me.
00:52:58 "How I got over, it was standing by a graveside in grief.
00:53:03 "How I got over, it was feeling abandoned and lonely."
00:53:07 And so she feeds him.
00:53:09 And day after day, there's meal in the barrel
00:53:13 and there's oil in the cruise.
00:53:15 And so Elijah stays and dwells there a while.
00:53:18 And I was gonna leave this out,
00:53:19 but there's a little more to this text.
00:53:22 There comes a day when the widow's son falls ill
00:53:26 and he gets worse and worse, he's sick.
00:53:29 And so he passes out.
00:53:30 It says he's without breath in one of the translations.
00:53:34 And when I saw that he had no breath in him,
00:53:36 I said, "This is another drought."
00:53:39 'Cause the enemy tries to find different ways
00:53:41 to create lack.
00:53:42 Someone is heartbroken 'cause they say,
00:53:44 "I have no romance in my life."
00:53:46 Someone is heartbroken saying,
00:53:47 "I have no career path in my life."
00:53:50 Someone is saying, "I have no opportunities
00:53:52 "or privilege in my life."
00:53:54 All may be true, but the enemy specializes in saying no.
00:53:59 He specializes in saying no water, no drought,
00:54:02 there's a famine.
00:54:03 And so the son has no breath in his body.
00:54:06 And so the mother is concerned.
00:54:09 She goes to Elijah and she said,
00:54:11 "Basically, you came here and now that you,
00:54:15 "the man of God, the prophet is in my house,
00:54:17 "it must have shown up my own sins.
00:54:20 "And is this punishment for me?
00:54:22 "Is my son dying because I haven't been a good person
00:54:25 "as it were?"
00:54:26 But this was not punishment.
00:54:28 The scripture doesn't give us details
00:54:30 on why God allowed the son to be expired.
00:54:34 We don't always know the reason and why,
00:54:36 but we don't forget what God is able to do.
00:54:39 We don't forget.
00:54:40 I don't know why the fire turns up
00:54:42 and the heat turns up in our life,
00:54:44 but still God is able.
00:54:46 The testimony of the Hebrew boys.
00:54:49 And so Elijah says to her, he says, "Give your son to me."
00:54:53 And I want you to know that that's the appeal today.
00:54:56 That's the appeal to say whatever it is
00:54:59 that has locked up, that has been blocked up,
00:55:01 we can give it to one who knows the word of God.
00:55:05 He says, "Give me your son."
00:55:07 She gives her son to him so she's not abandoned hope.
00:55:11 You made it so we could eat and still have oil.
00:55:14 So I can't do anything about it.
00:55:17 I'll give it to you.
00:55:18 And that's how we cast our cares on the Lord
00:55:21 because it's beyond us to be able to know
00:55:23 how to fix things.
00:55:25 The Methodists have a whole hymn that just says,
00:55:27 "Fix it, Jesus."
00:55:28 And I love it because it's a repetitive refrain,
00:55:31 but it says everything.
00:55:33 It's more than a commentary.
00:55:34 It's more than volumes of books
00:55:36 when you can just go to God and say, "Fix it, Jesus."
00:55:40 I'm not asking you how, 'cause I don't know how.
00:55:42 I'm not giving you a method or means
00:55:44 'cause I don't know the method, but just fix it.
00:55:48 We ought to take a pause right where you are today.
00:55:51 And you can stop if you're in a place
00:55:53 where you can open up your hands and your heart
00:55:55 and say, "I don't have to spell it out."
00:55:58 We used to have a thing called unspoken prayer requests.
00:56:01 And we'd just lift a hand and we'd say,
00:56:03 "God sees and God knows."
00:56:06 But you ought to say, "Fix it, Jesus.
00:56:08 "Fix it for my children.
00:56:10 "Fix it for my grandchildren.
00:56:12 "Fix it where there's diabetes and hypertension.
00:56:14 "Fix it where there's addiction.
00:56:16 "Fix it where there's bitterness and separation and anger.
00:56:19 "Fix it where there's unemployment.
00:56:22 "Fix it where they won't grant the loan.
00:56:24 "Fix it, God, fix it."
00:56:25 All in just three words, just fix it.
00:56:29 Well, I don't even know when.
00:56:30 I don't know what means you're gonna use,
00:56:32 but I know that when I'm out of words,
00:56:35 I can even just whisper it in my spirit and say,
00:56:38 "Fix it, Jesus."
00:56:40 She gives her son over to Elijah.
00:56:43 And I love this.
00:56:44 Elijah had a place.
00:56:45 He had a prophet's room like the Shumanite had built a room
00:56:49 probably on that flatbed roof.
00:56:51 And the boy, we don't know his age,
00:56:52 but he had to be young enough
00:56:54 where the prophet could carry him.
00:56:56 And I can see him carrying.
00:56:58 And that's what we do.
00:56:59 We carry the things that seem to be lifeless.
00:57:02 We carry the dreams and the visions and the hope,
00:57:05 the things that seem not to have any breath in them.
00:57:08 We carry the things that are void of energy and flow,
00:57:11 and we take them and we carry them.
00:57:14 He carried this boy up the stairs to an upper room.
00:57:19 You know what happens in the upper room.
00:57:22 You know what the writer is saying.
00:57:24 This is the Old Testament in Kings,
00:57:26 but you know what happens in the upper room.
00:57:29 The upper room is the place where things change.
00:57:33 The town gate was down in Zarephath,
00:57:36 but the upper room is another kind of town gate.
00:57:39 The upper room is another kind of government.
00:57:42 It's another kind of dispensation.
00:57:44 It's another kind of ruler.
00:57:46 It's another kind of place.
00:57:48 It's the place where Elijah later takes another woman's son
00:57:53 and he takes this son, both prophets.
00:57:56 Elijah preceded Elijah,
00:57:58 but the upper room is the place to steal away to.
00:58:02 The upper room is where they were there tarrying
00:58:05 and waiting for the comforter to come.
00:58:08 This is not the Holy Spirit coming up,
00:58:11 but because God had one plan
00:58:13 before the foundation of the earth.
00:58:15 We see in the Old Testament,
00:58:17 we see that which is a type of what's going to happen
00:58:20 in the New Testament.
00:58:22 And so the prophet takes the boy
00:58:24 and lays him on his own bed.
00:58:27 And I can't tell you how.
00:58:29 I have no explanation for the means
00:58:32 that God begin to move,
00:58:34 but what he does, you see it in your text.
00:58:36 He lays it down and he stretches out on the boy.
00:58:40 Now sticks was enough to make me happy.
00:58:43 Carrying wood to set a fire was enough to make me happy.
00:58:48 It made me think about the wood in the next chapter
00:58:51 that was gonna be drenched
00:58:52 and God was gonna answer by fire.
00:58:54 But this was just too much.
00:58:57 You gotta have a place that's an upper room.
00:59:00 It doesn't have to be a literal room,
00:59:02 but you have to have a place where you can steal away,
00:59:05 where the sounds of the city are muffled,
00:59:08 where the naysayers cannot penetrate,
00:59:11 where the adversary cannot preoccupy.
00:59:14 You gotta have an upper room,
00:59:16 a place where you can unplug and get off the grid.
00:59:21 And when you get to the upper room,
00:59:23 what the prophet did was he stretched himself.
00:59:27 Hallelujah.
00:59:29 You know who was a wood carrier.
00:59:31 You know who was a stick gatherer.
00:59:34 You know who stretched himself.
00:59:36 They said they stretched him wide and they hung him high.
00:59:41 He stretched three times.
00:59:44 Somebody might say it was for the father, son
00:59:46 and the Holy Spirit,
00:59:48 but we are monotheistic and serve one God.
00:59:51 Make no mistake about that.
00:59:53 Somebody might've said it was for the two thieves on the side
00:59:56 and the Messiah in the middle.
00:59:59 I don't know why.
01:00:01 I don't know why it worked three times.
01:00:04 Maybe he was trying to warm his body up.
01:00:06 But all I know is that there's a word
01:00:09 that reminds me that Jesus was the word made flesh,
01:00:14 that Jesus, hallelujah, was the word.
01:00:18 And the word was God.
01:00:20 The word was with him and the word was God.
01:00:23 And that word has stretched itself
01:00:27 down through all the generations.
01:00:29 That word has stretched itself across these United States
01:00:34 for over 300 and some million people.
01:00:37 That word had stretched himself to the continent of Africa,
01:00:42 to South America, to Latin America.
01:00:46 It has stretched itself to Norway and Finland
01:00:49 and Denmark and Sweden, to Europe, to France and London
01:00:53 and to Germany and to Russia, to China.
01:00:57 That word has stretched because our God
01:01:01 would that all men might be saved.
01:01:04 The word has stretched until it begin to heal my brokenness.
01:01:09 The word has found me.
01:01:11 It's stretched until it begin to bring bones together
01:01:15 in the valley of dry bones.
01:01:17 The word had stretched until a baby leaped
01:01:21 in Elizabeth's womb.
01:01:22 The word has stretched until it found us,
01:01:26 found Nathaniel under a sycamore tree.
01:01:29 The word has stretched until Andrew said,
01:01:33 "Follow me."
01:01:35 The word has stretched until it came to where you're from.
01:01:39 And not only you, but those that preceded you,
01:01:43 your grandparents and great-grandparents.
01:01:46 And just like the word came down through 42 generations,
01:01:50 it's still coming down to you.
01:01:53 God has so stretched his word until you are not left out,
01:01:58 but you're counted in as one of them today.
01:02:01 God has stretched his word until it supersedes gender.
01:02:06 People are arguing over how shall we name genders?
01:02:10 What kind of symbols shall we put outside our restrooms?
01:02:14 Let them debate all of those things.
01:02:16 But just know he counted me.
01:02:19 He didn't exclude me.
01:02:21 He knows my members.
01:02:23 He knows my substance.
01:02:25 He knows every hair on my head.
01:02:28 He knows every word in my tongue.
01:02:31 It says he knows them all together.
01:02:34 I know that the word has stretched.
01:02:37 It found someone considering suicide.
01:02:41 It found someone destitute on a bar stool.
01:02:45 It found someone about to put a needle in their vein
01:02:49 or pop a pill or be abusive
01:02:52 or let go on what God had given them.
01:02:55 But I want you to say the word has stretched.
01:02:58 It found me in an emergency room,
01:03:02 in an operating room, in a courtroom, in the ICU.
01:03:07 The word has stretched.
01:03:09 This is the God, hallelujah, who answers by fire.
01:03:14 I'm celebrating Elijah,
01:03:16 but I'm also celebrating ravens and widows
01:03:20 'cause this woman, I'm backing up
01:03:23 'cause I came to me and I gotta let you go.
01:03:25 This woman didn't have dry sticks.
01:03:28 But imagine that if you're gathering sticks
01:03:31 to go and have your last meal and die,
01:03:34 that her sticks had to be soaked with her tears,
01:03:37 that she had to have sticks in my imagination
01:03:40 that were tear-drenched sticks.
01:03:42 So no wonder when it came to a showdown
01:03:45 between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 18,
01:03:48 he said, "The wood is here,
01:03:50 "but just put the water on 'em.
01:03:52 "Just put the water all over the wood
01:03:55 "and see if our God doesn't work contrary
01:03:59 "to the elements of nature
01:04:01 "because wet wood shouldn't burn.
01:04:03 "But when I've been crying all night,
01:04:06 "when my pillow is stained with tears,
01:04:09 "when there should be no joy,
01:04:11 "when there should be no testimony,
01:04:13 "when there should be no leaping,
01:04:15 "when there should be no rejoicing,
01:04:17 "when I've gathered what looks like the end,
01:04:20 "the God that I serve will take a drenched wood,
01:04:25 "will take tear-stained words and tear-stained prayers,
01:04:30 "and he'll light a fire down in my soul,
01:04:33 "in the upper room of my heart.
01:04:36 "Then the Comforter comes,
01:04:38 "then the Holy Ghost of God steps in
01:04:41 "and says, 'Not only will I feed you,
01:04:44 "'not only will I supply your needs,
01:04:46 "'not only will I bring you bread and meat,
01:04:49 "'but I'll make a way out of no way.
01:04:53 "'I'll open doors that no man can shut.
01:04:55 "'I'll lift you up.
01:04:57 "'I'll promote you from the east.
01:04:59 "'I will elevate you up.
01:05:01 "'I'll make your enemies your footstool.
01:05:03 "'Stand to your feet with me.'
01:05:05 "And if you don't know how to praise him,
01:05:08 "put on a good pretense, because he's worthy.
01:05:12 "If you don't feel like clapping,
01:05:14 "just force yourself to clap anyhow,
01:05:17 "and let your mind remember the goodness of God.
01:05:22 "How many times did the raven feed you?
01:05:26 "How many times did the widow's hand come and comfort you?
01:05:31 "How many times did he heal you
01:05:34 "when the doctors were confounded?
01:05:36 "How many times was the court case against you,
01:05:40 "but you walked out without a complaint?
01:05:43 "That's the God that I serve.
01:05:45 "Send the raven God.
01:05:48 "Send the widow's handful, and I shall be fed."
01:05:53 The writer said, "My lot has fallen in pleasant places.
01:05:57 "I have no complaint then.
01:05:59 "I have no criticism of how God works,
01:06:02 "but he has not forgotten me.
01:06:04 "He said he'd never leave me.
01:06:06 "He'd never forsake me.
01:06:08 "He said he'll be a friend
01:06:10 "that's thicker, closer than a brother.
01:06:13 "He said he'll make me more than a conqueror.
01:06:15 "He called me to be an overcomer.
01:06:17 "He said I've never seen the righteous forsaken,
01:06:21 "or their seed begging bread.
01:06:23 "Why don't I have to beg for bread?
01:06:25 "Because the raven'll go hunt.
01:06:27 "But I don't know how to hunt.
01:06:29 "God'll dispatch a raven,
01:06:32 "and send a raven to bring the job to me.
01:06:35 "Some things you don't even know to pray for,
01:06:38 "but the raven will drop 'em on your doorstep.
01:06:41 "Some things you haven't even asked God for,
01:06:44 "but the widow says I got a little bit for you.
01:06:47 "If you're not too proud,
01:06:49 "but you're willing to humble yourself,
01:06:52 "and begin to receive whatever God has,
01:06:55 "however he has, wherever you are,
01:06:59 "don't curse your circumstance.
01:07:01 "Don't spend your time saying that God has forgotten you.
01:07:06 "Don't think that your tears
01:07:07 "have fallen to the ground for naught.
01:07:10 "But wherever you are,
01:07:12 "remember that God has put you in a hidden place,
01:07:17 "so he can bring you out of obscurity.
01:07:19 "And when you come out of obscurity,
01:07:22 "you're burst on the scene."
01:07:24 And people said, "Where did that gift come from?
01:07:26 "Where did that talent come from?
01:07:28 "You show up abruptly, without a history,
01:07:32 "without a resume, without a profile,
01:07:35 "without a PR agent, you're just there,
01:07:38 "and God is using you,
01:07:41 "and your light is shining in the midst of darkness.
01:07:45 "You're in darkness, but you can see in obscurity.
01:07:48 "The doctors don't know what to do right now.
01:07:51 "The lawmakers in the United States are perplexed.
01:07:55 "The criminal justice system is being exposed.
01:07:59 "The educational system,
01:08:01 "the teachers are afraid of the students,
01:08:04 "and it's not clear who's in charge.
01:08:06 "Things are topsy-turvy,
01:08:08 "and the world is being turned upside down.
01:08:11 "But I want you to know
01:08:12 "why the adversary turned it upside down,
01:08:15 "that the word of God can set things in order.
01:08:20 "The word of God can set things right.
01:08:24 "It can order my steps, even when I'm in a ravine.
01:08:28 "It can order my steps, even when I'm in the town gate.
01:08:33 "That's what you have.
01:08:35 "You have the promises of God.
01:08:37 "You have the strength of the word.
01:08:40 "You have the joy of your soul.
01:08:42 "You have the blessings of God.
01:08:44 "No wonder the Holy Ghost sounds,
01:08:48 "and it's sound like rain.
01:08:50 "That's why Elijah said,
01:08:53 "he said to his servant,
01:08:55 "he said, 'I want you to go,
01:08:57 "'and I want you to look at the sky,
01:08:59 "'cause there's been a drought.'
01:09:01 "He said, 'But I hear an abundance of rain.
01:09:05 "'I want you to listen.
01:09:07 "'Listen, that's why the slaves must have sang.
01:09:12 "'It's getting ready to rain, children.
01:09:15 "'It's getting ready to rain.
01:09:17 "'The blessings of God are coming your way.
01:09:21 "'The favor of God
01:09:23 "'is coming your way.
01:09:25 "'The healing of God
01:09:27 "'is coming your way.
01:09:29 "'The deliverance of God
01:09:31 "'is coming your way.
01:09:32 "'The message of God
01:09:34 "'has your name on it.
01:09:36 "'Don't fear.
01:09:38 "'Quit quitting.
01:09:39 "'Don't back up.
01:09:41 "'Don't doubt,
01:09:43 "'because he is here.'"
01:09:45 Come on and help me a minute.
01:09:46 Whatever the Lord put on your heart.
01:09:49 Hallelujah.
01:09:50 Come on and bless him.
01:09:52 Do you hear the rain?
01:09:54 You don't see the cloud,
01:09:55 but the rain is coming.
01:09:57 I hear it coming.
01:09:59 I hear strength coming.
01:10:00 I hear strength coming.
01:10:03 I hear strength coming.
01:10:06 Strength to your limbs.
01:10:08 Insight coming.
01:10:09 Foresight coming.
01:10:11 Inventions coming.
01:10:13 Prosperity coming.
01:10:15 Connections coming.
01:10:17 Business coming.
01:10:19 I hear the sound.
01:10:20 I hear the sound.
01:10:22 I couldn't hear it.
01:10:24 I couldn't hear it in the ravine.
01:10:27 I couldn't hear it in the town gate,
01:10:29 but in the upper room,
01:10:32 I hear deliverance.
01:10:34 I hear resurrection.
01:10:35 I hear it.
01:10:36 Glory to God.
01:10:38 I hear it.
01:10:39 I hear it again.
01:10:40 Hallelujah.
01:10:41 Hallelujah.
01:10:42 Come on and bless him.
01:10:42 I hear it.
01:10:43 I hear it.
01:10:44 I hear it.
01:10:45 I hear it again.
01:10:46 Come on and bless him.
01:10:47 Come on and bless him.
01:10:49 ♪ Yeah ♪
01:10:51 - Listen, there is a joy.
01:10:54 ♪ Yeah ♪
01:10:59 - I grew up in the old hymn singing church,
01:11:02 and there's a joy,
01:11:04 but they used to say true joy is mine.
01:11:08 Not a fake imitation, emulated.
01:11:11 So I want you to get some true joy.
01:11:14 Not 'cause I need you to be happy and shout.
01:11:17 No, we don't need that.
01:11:18 But because the joy is legitimate,
01:11:23 that it's based on evidence.
01:11:25 The faith is the substance of things hoped for,
01:11:30 and the evidence of things not seen.
01:11:33 And what we do is we are living by the things
01:11:36 that are not seen.
01:11:38 Not by what we see,
01:11:40 but by what's been hidden,
01:11:42 by what has never entered into the heart of man.
01:11:45 The things that I didn't know to ask for.
01:11:47 He'll give things I didn't even know to pray for.
01:11:50 That's the unseen things.
01:11:52 That's where he takes the simple and the poor,
01:11:56 and he confounds the wise.
01:11:58 Because you're being fed by the raven,
01:12:01 and people are saying, "How are you making it?
01:12:03 "How you holding on?"
01:12:05 But they don't know that the widow's hand, hallelujah,
01:12:08 that handful, just a little bit,
01:12:11 just a little bit is all it takes to make a meal for me.
01:12:16 Just a little smile, just a little word.
01:12:19 Now let's give God some genuine praise in this house.
01:12:23 Right where you are, open your mouth and praise him.
01:12:26 I said, "Open your mouth and bless him."
01:12:29 Bless him, bless him.
01:12:32 Until every complaint is gone, every criticism is gone.
01:12:36 Bless him, 'cause you know he's coming through.
01:12:40 Dr. Stokely, he's coming through.
01:12:43 He's coming through.
01:12:45 I said, "He's coming through."
01:12:47 Beyond the ravine, beyond the town gate,
01:12:50 I hear him coming through.
01:12:52 He's coming in the upper room of prayer,
01:12:55 in the upper room of praise.
01:12:57 He's coming to the rooftop, that place of elevation.
01:13:01 That's it, come on, saints, come on, saints.
01:13:04 Yeah, yeah, talk to him, talk to him, talk to him.
01:13:07 (upbeat music)
01:13:10 (upbeat music)
01:13:12 (upbeat music)
01:13:15 (upbeat music)
01:13:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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