We are delighted
today to welcome you
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to Faith Chapel. A
place where the word of God
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is preached and hearts
are faithfully lead by Him.
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My name is Roy R.
Brown, retired President of the
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South Eastern Conference
of Seventh-day Adventists.
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And my sermon
for today is entitled
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Behind Closed
Doors. Let us pray.
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Father, we thank
you for your great love,
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we thank you for
all the gifts you give.
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Thank you for the
gift of your Holy Spirit.
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Into this Chapel
today, bless each one
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we ask in Christ name amen.
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When we walk with the
Lord, in the light of his word,
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what a glory he
sheds on our way.
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When we walk with
the Lord we sometimes
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run into
situations and problems and
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experiences that
we've not had before.
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God in an attempt
to raise us to another
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level causes or
permits or allows
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certain things to
happen in our lives.
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And only when we
get to heaven by his
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grace will we fully
understand the wise.
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So until then we have
to press on, we have to
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hold on, we have
to keep faith with God
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whatever our situations.
The polishing of a diamond,
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the removal of dust from
gold is not an easy lovely
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process although the
end result is wonderful.
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I would like for
you to read with me in
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the Book of Second
Kings, the 4th chapter,
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an amazing
experience the Bible says,
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A certain woman of the
wives of the sons of the
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prophets cried
out to Elisha, saying,
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"Your servant my
husband is dead, and
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you know that your
servant feared the Lord.
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And the creditor
is coming to take my
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two sons to be his
slaves. So Elisha said to her,
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"What shall I do
for you? Tell me,
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what do you have in
the house?" And she said,
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"Your servant has nothing in the
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house but a jar of
oil." Then he said,
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"Go borrow
vessels from everywhere,
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from all your
neighbors, empty vessels;
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do not gather just a
few. And when you come in
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you shall shut the door
behind you and your sons;
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and pour into all those vessels,
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and set aside the full ones."
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So she went from him
and shut the door behind her
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and her sons, and
brought the vessels to her;
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and poured it out.
Now it came to pass,
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when the vessels were
full, that she said to her son,
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"Bring me another
vessel." And he said to her,
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"There is not another vessel."
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So the oil
ceased. Then she came and
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told the man of
God. And he said,
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"Go, sell the oil
and pay your debt;
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and you and your
sons live on the rest."
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This is a simple,
touching story of a poor widow
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woman on whom the world smiled
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in her days of prosperity,
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but you know the
world can get fickle.
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In her distress
when the tough times
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came her friends,
her family discarded her,
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in fact helpless
forthcoming from nowhere.
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Her two sons were
almost ready to become
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slaves to this
creditor who demanded
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the money that was owed.
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She was plunged
into unprecedented debt.
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Just how she got
there, we can not say,
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but I know she was
poor, for she had no
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furniture to give
back, she had no land to sell
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and there was
absolutely no money in the bank,
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she was in unprecedented debt.
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We may assume that plastic money
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was her problem, credit cards,
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American Express
and Visa and Discover.
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Easy credit
maybe, poor budgeting,
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maybe keeping up with
the Jones' was her problem.
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Covetousness, not
having good stewardship,
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any all of these
could have drowned her
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in a sea of debt. We
like her discover however
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everyday we do not
have the way without
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to meet the debt of
sin that we owe and we
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have to cry out not
to Elisha, but we have to
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cry out to our
savior, owe to grace
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how great a debtor,
daily, I'm constrained to be,
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let thy goodness
like a fetter bind me
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closer still to
thee. Praise the Lord.
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We are sold under
sin, but we have a
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mighty savior who
will pay the debt we owe.
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The hardhearted
creditor, that cruel man
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threatened to take
her two sons and sell
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them for the money
that was owed in order to
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redeem what she had
owed, what a sorrowful plight.
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There was not an ounce of human
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kindness coursing
through this man's vein.
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And yet all of us
need to know how to mingle
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justice with mercy
that's being God like.
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God really does not like ugly.
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In the book of
Exodus, the chapter is 22
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and in verses 22 to
24 I read, You shall not
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afflict any widow
or fatherless child.
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If you afflict them in anyway,
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and they cry at all
to Me, I will surely hear
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their cry; and My
wrath will become hot,
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and I will kill
you with the sword;
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your wives shall be widows,
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and your children fatherless.
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God says we ought to
be careful how we treat
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those who are in great need
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and under depressing situations.
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And I praise God for
his word in Faith Chapel,
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this morning as we
discuss the subject
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Behind Closed Doors,
I praise God that the
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Bible is a book for
everyone and for every age.
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It says our God has
a vital interest in our
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personal struggles,
it says irrespective of
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how you got where
you are, it says we
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can by the grace of God make it.
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This woman was in a
destitute condition,
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but God offered grace.
She called upon the help
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and the care and
the understanding
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and the sympathy of Elisha.
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She said her husband was
a one who feared the Lord.
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Her husband might have
been one of those prophets
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who were slaughtered by Jezebel.
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But Elisha turned to
her and he asked her,
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what shall I do
for you, tell me,
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what do you have in your house?
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This sounds almost
like God and Moses,
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as they were
out there in Midian.
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God asked Moses,
what is that in your hand.
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All this lady
had was a jar of oil.
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Poor as she was than
the Widow of Zarephath,
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but property is not an obstacle
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in the presence
of God's fullness.
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Property you see
is not a disgrace.
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The Bible says we'll
have poor always with us,
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God will and God can
use what we have however,
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because man's
extremity is God's opportunity.
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Her particular case warranted
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the interposition of heaven.
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God therefore
entered her experience
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when her sorrow was the heaviest
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and her outlook was the darkest.
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In the Book of
Psalms 68 and verse 5
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the Bible says, A
father of the fatherless,
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a defender of widows is
God in His holy habitation.
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And then in
Psalms 37 and verse 25,
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Psalm has said,
I have been young,
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and now am old;
Yet I have not seen
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the righteous forsaken,
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nor his
descendants begging for bread.
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For you see the
mercy of the Lord
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is from
everlasting to everlasting.
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Elisha's command is
rather strange to this lady.
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He says to her, go
and borrow vessels from
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everywhere, from
all your neighbors,
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borrow some empty vessels
and do not just get a few,
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get a lot of vessels.
And the woman thinks to
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herself borrow
again, I'm already in debt.
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But my friends God's
ways are paths finding out.
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Borrowing was an
exercise of faith.
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And not only an exercise
of faith but to think big,
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not a few, do not
limit God, why not full ones.
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God knows she was in
debt but his interest
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was in her faith. God
knows that when we pray
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we ought to believe despite
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all the contrary
evidences, because
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without faith it is
impossible to please God.
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This woman had
great faith, she accepted
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the prophet's words
and she acted upon them.
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Because you see my
friends, if you see it,
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it is not faith. Can
you see her now as she
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goes through
her neighborhood and
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friends everywhere
are addressed as she
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borrows all of these vessels?
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They were laughing
and joking and wondering
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what is going on
and then maybe on the
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telephone calling
each other and asking,
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did Mrs. X borrow a
few empty vessels from you?
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And some of those
who were in the house
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were raising blames
as they walk the streets,
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she and her sons
and asking wonder
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what is she doing
with all of these vessels.
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May I say to us, when God
has given us instructions,
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do not become
concerned about what people say,
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do not become
interested in their devices,
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simply go ahead and do
what God demands of you.
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We need a similar
faith like this woman
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to know that God
can, that God will,
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that God is able
and that God does supply
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all of our needs according
to his riches in glory.
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We need a faith not in idleness
00:13:33.52\00:13:35.89
but we need a faith in action.
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It was a great
crisis in this lady's life.
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Oh yes it was, it
seemed like mission impossible.
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But is there anything too hard
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for the Lord to do for us.
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The poverty like
Jericho's impregnable walls
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must be shouted
down by grace and faith
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and prayer and a wonderful God.
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Problems seem to block the way,
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problems seemed to bring about
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the opposition
that she was having.
00:14:16.63\00:14:18.76
But the poverty is
not a problem for our God,
00:14:19.37\00:14:23.34
Hallelujah.
Greater is He that is in us
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than he that is in the world.
00:14:26.98\00:14:28.66
Here is the
instruction of the prophet,
00:14:29.43\00:14:33.27
borrow the vessels,
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go inside the
house and shut the doors.
00:14:35.38\00:14:38.22
In the book of Matthew,
00:14:39.38\00:14:40.89
the chapter is 6 and
verse 6, here is what
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the Bible says in
Matthew 6 and verse 6,
00:14:45.00\00:14:50.03
a beautiful text
of scripture it says,
00:14:50.04\00:14:53.58
But you, when you
pray, go into your room,
00:14:54.35\00:14:59.78
and when you
have shut your door,
00:15:00.48\00:15:02.66
pray to your Father
who is in the secret place;
00:15:02.98\00:15:06.97
and your Father who
sees in the secret place
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will reward you openly.
00:15:11.59\00:15:14.53
So the woman
followed the instructions
00:15:15.36\00:15:17.51
as precisely as she
could, she went and closed
00:15:17.90\00:15:21.29
the doors behind her
and prayed to her Father
00:15:21.30\00:15:23.99
who was in
secret. I understand that
00:15:24.00\00:15:27.41
during the OJ Simpson's
trial that is Bruno Magli
00:15:27.42\00:15:32.42
footprints were
found on the walkways
00:15:32.79\00:15:36.02
to his house by
experts. My question is,
00:15:36.13\00:15:40.48
can the almighty
God who send angels
00:15:41.01\00:15:44.52
to be our guardians,
find knee prints in your house
00:15:44.53\00:15:49.72
where you meet with God
at the instruction of God
00:15:50.04\00:15:53.25
to shut the doors
behind you and pray to God.
00:15:53.26\00:15:56.10
Can angels find
your knee prints?
00:15:56.11\00:15:58.90
Oh friends what great
power there is in prayer.
00:15:59.29\00:16:02.98
Hezekiah went to
God's house and he took
00:16:03.31\00:16:06.31
the letter from
Sennacherib, laid it
00:16:06.66\00:16:09.07
in the presence of almighty God
00:16:09.70\00:16:11.43
in his temple and
prayed and God answered.
00:16:11.44\00:16:13.87
Hannah went to the house of God,
00:16:15.55\00:16:16.96
prayed for a child
and God gave her Samuel,
00:16:17.41\00:16:20.61
he answered her
prayers. Daniel and his friends
00:16:21.13\00:16:24.59
prayed and God in that
night revealed onto them
00:16:24.60\00:16:27.81
Nebuchadnezzar's secret vision.
00:16:28.15\00:16:30.83
The Bible says that
we ought to ask of God.
00:16:31.63\00:16:34.64
Sometimes we don't
ask at all but God demands
00:16:34.93\00:16:37.69
that we should ask of him.
00:16:37.70\00:16:39.45
And he said when
you ask you will receive
00:16:39.77\00:16:42.57
so that your joy might be full.
00:16:42.80\00:16:45.84
When we pray I just
like to think on bended knee
00:16:46.46\00:16:50.14
that God somehow when
he listens to our prayers
00:16:50.15\00:16:53.13
in heaven, slides over
on his palace chair looks
00:16:53.14\00:16:57.77
over the balcony of
heaven and sees us on our knees
00:16:57.78\00:17:01.94
in our prayer
and when we mention
00:17:02.22\00:17:04.60
the name of Jesus our
personal representative
00:17:04.61\00:17:07.73
God does some
awesome things for us.
00:17:07.99\00:17:11.70
You see my friends,
the name Rockefeller or
00:17:12.23\00:17:15.84
Bill Gates will
open doors of finance.
00:17:15.85\00:17:19.56
The name of Einstein
will open doors of Science.
00:17:20.40\00:17:24.60
Call the name of
Brahms, or Bach or Beethoven
00:17:25.05\00:17:28.98
they open doors of the
musicals. But if you call
00:17:28.99\00:17:33.08
the name of Jesus
the gates of heaven swing
00:17:33.09\00:17:37.08
wide open and the
gates of hell are slammed
00:17:37.09\00:17:40.12
shut by a loving
God, oh the name of Jesus
00:17:40.13\00:17:43.37
such a marvelous
name. It's a saving name,
00:17:43.38\00:17:46.91
it is a justifying name.
00:17:47.48\00:17:49.38
The name of Jesus
is a conquering name.
00:17:49.67\00:17:52.73
It is a supplying
name. The Bible says that
00:17:53.02\00:17:56.61
the name is a
name that's above every
00:17:56.62\00:17:59.38
other name and it
says that when we call upon
00:17:59.39\00:18:03.55
the name of
Jesus heaven responds.
00:18:03.56\00:18:07.40
The woman is now
going to demonstrate
00:18:08.38\00:18:11.60
full faith in what
the Prophet's said.
00:18:11.94\00:18:14.09
She was behind
closed doors and already now
00:18:14.10\00:18:17.70
she had been
successful in having the oil,
00:18:17.96\00:18:22.34
a jar of oil,
that's all she had.
00:18:22.90\00:18:25.26
And now she had all
of these empty vessels
00:18:25.53\00:18:27.73
and I can see her
in her mind, my mind's
00:18:27.74\00:18:30.14
eyes now she can
not manufacture the oil
00:18:30.15\00:18:33.26
but she could hold
the jar with the oil,
00:18:34.35\00:18:37.61
she could trust God and
God is going to bless her
00:18:38.04\00:18:42.00
for what she is going to do.
00:18:42.01\00:18:43.73
The blessing was
hindered according to the
00:18:44.45\00:18:46.74
scriptures only because
there were no more vessels.
00:18:46.75\00:18:51.33
If we come to God
with our empty lives God
00:18:51.97\00:18:55.39
can fulfill them but
God is never running out of
00:18:55.40\00:19:00.84
the resources
because God's resources are
00:19:00.85\00:19:03.84
never exhausted, God's resources
00:19:03.85\00:19:06.29
are never ever
depleted. It's a marvelous thing
00:19:06.30\00:19:09.05
to see how God
works in our behalf.
00:19:09.06\00:19:11.81
That He simply asks us
to come and to seek him
00:19:11.82\00:19:15.73
and to find him. I
can see the woman with the
00:19:16.05\00:19:18.79
jar of oil just pouring from
00:19:18.80\00:19:21.35
one vessel to
another. What's a marvelous
00:19:21.36\00:19:23.90
experience that
must have been as her
00:19:23.91\00:19:26.22
two sons joined
her in this activity.
00:19:26.23\00:19:29.33
Here is the vessel she
poured into it it's filled,
00:19:29.34\00:19:32.75
brings another one,
the two sons are bringing,
00:19:33.20\00:19:35.62
fill from the one jar
of oil and all of these
00:19:35.63\00:19:39.00
vessels are being
filled until there was
00:19:39.01\00:19:41.15
no more to be
filled. Her faith in God was
00:19:41.16\00:19:45.08
totally rewarded
because God told her
00:19:45.42\00:19:48.99
fill those vessels
behind those closed doors,
00:19:49.27\00:19:52.80
seek me and I'll
open the windows of heaven
00:19:53.08\00:19:55.40
and pour you out a blessing.
00:19:55.41\00:19:57.45
And at the
completion every vessel was full
00:19:58.88\00:20:03.58
to the overflowing.
00:20:04.44\00:20:05.65
We can call this a
great act on the part of God.
00:20:06.32\00:20:11.11
The Bible says that
the Prophet told her when
00:20:12.13\00:20:15.71
you get through
the process he says
00:20:15.72\00:20:18.94
then you must go
and sell the oil,
00:20:19.22\00:20:22.22
pay your debt
and live on the rest.
00:20:22.77\00:20:25.82
Her mission impossible became
00:20:26.31\00:20:29.06
mission accomplished.
00:20:29.07\00:20:30.85
She made all of the claims,
00:20:31.57\00:20:33.55
the creditors were paid.
00:20:33.56\00:20:35.20
The buyers of the
present need were supplied,
00:20:36.24\00:20:39.86
God took care of
yesterday's debt,
00:20:40.43\00:20:43.27
he was going to
take care of her sons and
00:20:43.91\00:20:46.68
her living from
now onward and then
00:20:46.69\00:20:50.43
for the future to
come God was going to
00:20:50.44\00:20:53.35
have her live on the
rest. Her sons could not help
00:20:53.36\00:20:57.20
but know that this
was a gift from God.
00:20:57.53\00:21:00.25
This was a gift
from the almighty.
00:21:00.53\00:21:04.05
Because as they
watched the oil pouring out
00:21:04.33\00:21:06.51
they could say that this
00:21:06.78\00:21:08.22
was not something
that mother bought.
00:21:08.23\00:21:10.33
And sure that's
what salvation is,
00:21:11.54\00:21:13.66
it's a gift from God.
Faith is a gift from God,
00:21:13.67\00:21:17.01
because the Bible
says God so loved the world
00:21:17.37\00:21:19.90
that he gave his
only begotten son,
00:21:19.91\00:21:22.42
it's a gift from God.
The same oil paid the debt,
00:21:22.43\00:21:27.28
the same oil took
them out of slavery,
00:21:27.59\00:21:30.29
the same oil maintained them
00:21:30.30\00:21:32.27
for the rest of their lives.
00:21:32.28\00:21:33.52
Oh what a
marvelous savior we serve.
00:21:33.53\00:21:36.85
He paid our sin debt,
our God took care of all
00:21:36.86\00:21:41.88
our griefs and all of
our sorrows, he carried them
00:21:41.89\00:21:45.60
and the marvelous thing
is that God sustains us today
00:21:45.91\00:21:49.07
he took care of
yesterday and he will
00:21:49.39\00:21:51.59
take care of us
forever as we head towards
00:21:51.60\00:21:54.90
the promised land
he has gone to prepare
00:21:55.22\00:21:57.20
for those who
love and serve him.
00:21:57.21\00:21:59.34
If in life you are
stripped of everything
00:21:59.70\00:22:02.67
you possess, and you
like this lady feel that
00:22:02.68\00:22:07.58
you are only with a
jar of oil and Jesus,
00:22:07.59\00:22:11.78
don't you worry, that is enough.
00:22:12.10\00:22:14.94
Like this woman,
life might snatch from you
00:22:15.72\00:22:21.74
your health,
your job, your money,
00:22:22.10\00:22:25.37
your family members,
but nothing needs to worry
00:22:25.67\00:22:30.97
you providing you know
that Jesus is with you,
00:22:30.98\00:22:35.23
even if you
feel sad and dejected
00:22:35.61\00:22:38.22
and brokenhearted
Jesus will sustain you,
00:22:38.23\00:22:42.79
Jesus will support you,
00:22:42.80\00:22:45.33
Jesus will take care
of you, he said to the
00:22:45.68\00:22:48.91
Apostle Paul, my
grace is sufficient.
00:22:48.92\00:22:53.31
The instructions given
to the widow woman was go,
00:22:54.04\00:22:57.94
shut the door behind
you, behind closed doors,
00:22:58.23\00:23:01.27
talk to God and God
will reward you openly
00:23:01.28\00:23:04.96
and Jesus says, see I
have set before you an open
00:23:05.28\00:23:11.65
door and no one can shut it.
00:23:11.66\00:23:15.42
What God opens no one can close
00:23:16.16\00:23:19.71
and what God
closes, no one can open.
00:23:19.98\00:23:23.34
And so I would
like to say to you look
00:23:23.70\00:23:25.93
for the open door
after the closed door,
00:23:25.94\00:23:28.60
if the
creditors come as they did
00:23:28.89\00:23:30.81
to this lady
look for an open door.
00:23:30.82\00:23:32.75
If the bills are
high and the funds are low
00:23:33.59\00:23:35.99
look for an open
door, if you are stressed
00:23:36.00\00:23:40.03
and discouraged
and brokenhearted,
00:23:40.35\00:23:42.66
look for an open door.
00:23:43.36\00:23:45.64
If you are not where
you think you ought to be
00:23:46.54\00:23:49.71
in your
relationship with the Jesus,
00:23:49.72\00:23:51.69
look for an open door
00:23:51.70\00:23:53.51
don't look at the
creditors, don't look at
00:23:53.52\00:23:55.92
life's outlook
however discouraging and grim
00:23:55.93\00:23:59.11
they might be,
don't look at the problems
00:23:59.12\00:24:01.69
or the causer of
the problems, go to God
00:24:01.70\00:24:05.22
and God in his own perfect way
00:24:05.23\00:24:07.90
will supply your every need.
00:24:07.91\00:24:10.02
The promise is I've
set before you an open door
00:24:10.03\00:24:14.60
and nobody will close
it. Listen to me, whatever,
00:24:14.61\00:24:21.02
not exclusively this
or exclusively that or
00:24:22.04\00:24:26.34
some of this or some
of that, but whatever
00:24:26.35\00:24:28.86
the problems are,
look to Jesus because
00:24:28.87\00:24:33.61
there is no exception
with God however difficult
00:24:33.62\00:24:36.69
life becomes, God has
a way of opening door,
00:24:37.22\00:24:42.33
God will find a
solution to your problem
00:24:42.66\00:24:46.68
and then it will
surprise you what God can do
00:24:47.12\00:24:50.95
for you because
my friends you see
00:24:50.96\00:24:53.64
faith is the victory
that overcomes the world.
00:24:53.98\00:24:58.98
I like to think that
God entered into this lady's
00:24:59.62\00:25:03.49
experience in
such a dynamic way that
00:25:03.79\00:25:06.98
she couldn't
help but reclaim that
00:25:06.99\00:25:09.30
Jesus is one awesome savior.
00:25:09.67\00:25:12.45
She will never ever
in life forgive where God
00:25:13.07\00:25:16.25
brought her from with
all of the debt resting upon
00:25:16.26\00:25:20.62
her, inability to
meet her demands yet and
00:25:20.63\00:25:24.35
still God said, I am
not going to give you
00:25:24.36\00:25:27.09
some complex way
in order to get to me,
00:25:27.10\00:25:31.60
it was as simple
as we can get it.
00:25:31.88\00:25:34.51
Because what God
does is really an attempt
00:25:34.86\00:25:38.79
to get as over as
he did with Moses.
00:25:38.80\00:25:41.76
He takes whatever we
have in our hands and God
00:25:41.77\00:25:44.86
knows that this woman
needed help if there was
00:25:44.87\00:25:48.13
anyone who needed some help.
00:25:48.14\00:25:49.58
So God said to her
here's what you do my sister,
00:25:49.59\00:25:52.11
all you need to do is to
go behind those closed doors.
00:25:52.39\00:25:56.57
You go to God in
prayer, talk to God in secret,
00:25:57.51\00:26:01.33
God is going to
reward you openly.
00:26:01.59\00:26:03.77
What a blessed day
that was when the woman
00:26:04.05\00:26:06.34
walked out with this
oil in all of these vessels
00:26:06.35\00:26:10.31
having thought as
big as she could and
00:26:10.32\00:26:13.30
she sold that oil, she
had enough resources to pay
00:26:13.31\00:26:16.63
so that her children
would not be enslaved.
00:26:16.64\00:26:19.18
She had enough money
to take care of their
00:26:19.19\00:26:22.01
daily living and then
if that were not enough,
00:26:22.02\00:26:25.13
this almighty God who
we serve gave her enough
00:26:25.42\00:26:28.30
for her to live on as
the days and the weeks
00:26:28.96\00:26:31.71
came toward her without fear
00:26:32.58\00:26:34.40
God was indeed
taking care of this lady.
00:26:34.41\00:26:37.03
I like to think that my
00:26:37.04\00:26:38.49
God is a wonderful savior,
00:26:38.50\00:26:40.59
that he helps us beyond our kin,
00:26:40.60\00:26:43.61
that somehow God
is such a super being
00:26:43.89\00:26:47.29
that he will provide,
he will take care of us
00:26:47.55\00:26:50.58
and he will supply
all of our needs and it is
00:26:50.83\00:26:53.17
contingent on just
one thing, great faith.
00:26:53.18\00:26:57.18
Because the woman
had to have great faith.
00:26:57.86\00:27:00.27
And the half about
how good our savior is,
00:27:00.74\00:27:04.63
is never been told
because my God is the way,
00:27:04.95\00:27:08.22
he is the truth, he is the life.
00:27:08.54\00:27:10.84
My God is a good shepherd,
00:27:11.17\00:27:12.42
my God is the lion
of the tribe of Judah,
00:27:12.73\00:27:14.99
my God is the
lamb slain from the
00:27:15.24\00:27:17.39
foundation of the world,
my God is a rock of ages,
00:27:17.40\00:27:20.73
my God is the
bright and morning star,
00:27:20.74\00:27:23.50
my God is the bread of life,
00:27:23.51\00:27:25.17
my God is the
pearl of great price,
00:27:25.18\00:27:27.69
my God is the
son of righteousness.
00:27:27.70\00:27:30.37
He opens blind eyes
he unstop the deaf ears,
00:27:30.62\00:27:34.40
he heals withered
hands, he makes the mutes sing,
00:27:34.70\00:27:37.88
he changes lives
so that they can be
00:27:37.89\00:27:41.07
so marvelous in his sight.
00:27:41.35\00:27:43.17
My God is a wonderful God,
00:27:43.37\00:27:45.10
so my God the Bible says,
00:27:45.11\00:27:47.73
will provide for all
of our needs, the woman
00:27:47.85\00:27:50.63
found it because
great was her faith in God.
00:27:50.64\00:27:56.37