Participants: Roy Brown
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000316
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00:30 We are delighted today to welcome you
00:33 to Faith Chapel. A place where the word of God 00:36 is preached and hearts are faithfully lead by Him. 00:43 My name is Roy R. Brown, retired President of the 00:47 South Eastern Conference of Seventh-day Adventists. 00:51 And my sermon for today is entitled 00:53 Behind Closed Doors. Let us pray. 00:59 Father, we thank you for your great love, 01:03 we thank you for all the gifts you give. 01:06 Thank you for the gift of your Holy Spirit. 01:09 Into this Chapel today, bless each one 01:12 we ask in Christ name amen. 01:17 When we walk with the Lord, in the light of his word, 01:23 what a glory he sheds on our way. 01:26 When we walk with the Lord we sometimes 01:29 run into situations and problems and 01:35 experiences that we've not had before. 01:41 God in an attempt to raise us to another 01:45 level causes or permits or allows 01:51 certain things to happen in our lives. 01:55 And only when we get to heaven by his 01:59 grace will we fully understand the wise. 02:05 So until then we have to press on, we have to 02:08 hold on, we have to keep faith with God 02:12 whatever our situations. The polishing of a diamond, 02:19 the removal of dust from gold is not an easy lovely 02:27 process although the end result is wonderful. 02:33 I would like for you to read with me in 02:34 the Book of Second Kings, the 4th chapter, 02:39 an amazing experience the Bible says, 02:42 A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the 02:46 prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, 02:49 "Your servant my husband is dead, and 02:53 you know that your servant feared the Lord. 02:57 And the creditor is coming to take my 03:00 two sons to be his slaves. So Elisha said to her, 03:04 "What shall I do for you? Tell me, 03:07 what do you have in the house?" And she said, 03:11 "Your servant has nothing in the 03:13 house but a jar of oil." Then he said, 03:18 "Go borrow vessels from everywhere, 03:20 from all your neighbors, empty vessels; 03:24 do not gather just a few. And when you come in 03:30 you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; 03:34 and pour into all those vessels, 03:37 and set aside the full ones." 03:39 So she went from him and shut the door behind her 03:43 and her sons, and brought the vessels to her; 03:46 and poured it out. Now it came to pass, 03:50 when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, 03:53 "Bring me another vessel." And he said to her, 03:56 "There is not another vessel." 03:59 So the oil ceased. Then she came and 04:02 told the man of God. And he said, 04:05 "Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; 04:11 and you and your sons live on the rest." 04:16 This is a simple, touching story of a poor widow 04:22 woman on whom the world smiled 04:25 in her days of prosperity, 04:28 but you know the world can get fickle. 04:31 In her distress when the tough times 04:35 came her friends, her family discarded her, 04:40 in fact helpless forthcoming from nowhere. 04:44 Her two sons were almost ready to become 04:47 slaves to this creditor who demanded 04:50 the money that was owed. 04:53 She was plunged into unprecedented debt. 04:57 Just how she got there, we can not say, 05:01 but I know she was poor, for she had no 05:05 furniture to give back, she had no land to sell 05:09 and there was absolutely no money in the bank, 05:12 she was in unprecedented debt. 05:18 We may assume that plastic money 05:20 was her problem, credit cards, 05:23 American Express and Visa and Discover. 05:27 Easy credit maybe, poor budgeting, 05:31 maybe keeping up with the Jones' was her problem. 05:35 Covetousness, not having good stewardship, 05:39 any all of these could have drowned her 05:41 in a sea of debt. We like her discover however 05:46 everyday we do not have the way without 05:51 to meet the debt of sin that we owe and we 05:56 have to cry out not to Elisha, but we have to 06:00 cry out to our savior, owe to grace 06:02 how great a debtor, daily, I'm constrained to be, 06:07 let thy goodness like a fetter bind me 06:11 closer still to thee. Praise the Lord. 06:16 We are sold under sin, but we have a 06:21 mighty savior who will pay the debt we owe. 06:27 The hardhearted creditor, that cruel man 06:32 threatened to take her two sons and sell 06:36 them for the money that was owed in order to 06:38 redeem what she had owed, what a sorrowful plight. 06:44 There was not an ounce of human 06:48 kindness coursing through this man's vein. 06:53 And yet all of us need to know how to mingle 06:58 justice with mercy that's being God like. 07:03 God really does not like ugly. 07:06 In the book of Exodus, the chapter is 22 07:10 and in verses 22 to 24 I read, You shall not 07:17 afflict any widow or fatherless child. 07:22 If you afflict them in anyway, 07:25 and they cry at all to Me, I will surely hear 07:29 their cry; and My wrath will become hot, 07:34 and I will kill you with the sword; 07:36 your wives shall be widows, 07:38 and your children fatherless. 07:40 God says we ought to be careful how we treat 07:44 those who are in great need 07:46 and under depressing situations. 07:49 And I praise God for his word in Faith Chapel, 07:52 this morning as we discuss the subject 07:54 Behind Closed Doors, I praise God that the 07:58 Bible is a book for everyone and for every age. 08:03 It says our God has a vital interest in our 08:09 personal struggles, it says irrespective of 08:14 how you got where you are, it says we 08:18 can by the grace of God make it. 08:22 This woman was in a destitute condition, 08:27 but God offered grace. She called upon the help 08:31 and the care and the understanding 08:34 and the sympathy of Elisha. 08:37 She said her husband was a one who feared the Lord. 08:42 Her husband might have been one of those prophets 08:46 who were slaughtered by Jezebel. 08:50 But Elisha turned to her and he asked her, 08:54 what shall I do for you, tell me, 08:59 what do you have in your house? 09:02 This sounds almost like God and Moses, 09:07 as they were out there in Midian. 09:09 God asked Moses, what is that in your hand. 09:14 All this lady had was a jar of oil. 09:20 Poor as she was than the Widow of Zarephath, 09:25 but property is not an obstacle 09:27 in the presence of God's fullness. 09:30 Property you see is not a disgrace. 09:33 The Bible says we'll have poor always with us, 09:36 God will and God can use what we have however, 09:42 because man's extremity is God's opportunity. 09:46 Her particular case warranted 09:49 the interposition of heaven. 09:52 God therefore entered her experience 09:55 when her sorrow was the heaviest 09:59 and her outlook was the darkest. 10:03 In the Book of Psalms 68 and verse 5 10:07 the Bible says, A father of the fatherless, 10:12 a defender of widows is God in His holy habitation. 10:19 And then in Psalms 37 and verse 25, 10:24 Psalm has said, I have been young, 10:28 and now am old; Yet I have not seen 10:33 the righteous forsaken, 10:35 nor his descendants begging for bread. 10:39 For you see the mercy of the Lord 10:43 is from everlasting to everlasting. 10:46 Elisha's command is rather strange to this lady. 10:51 He says to her, go and borrow vessels from 10:56 everywhere, from all your neighbors, 11:01 borrow some empty vessels and do not just get a few, 11:06 get a lot of vessels. And the woman thinks to 11:10 herself borrow again, I'm already in debt. 11:15 But my friends God's ways are paths finding out. 11:23 Borrowing was an exercise of faith. 11:29 And not only an exercise of faith but to think big, 11:35 not a few, do not limit God, why not full ones. 11:41 God knows she was in debt but his interest 11:47 was in her faith. God knows that when we pray 11:53 we ought to believe despite 11:55 all the contrary evidences, because 11:58 without faith it is impossible to please God. 12:02 This woman had great faith, she accepted 12:07 the prophet's words and she acted upon them. 12:12 Because you see my friends, if you see it, 12:16 it is not faith. Can you see her now as she 12:21 goes through her neighborhood and 12:24 friends everywhere are addressed as she 12:28 borrows all of these vessels? 12:30 They were laughing and joking and wondering 12:35 what is going on and then maybe on the 12:38 telephone calling each other and asking, 12:40 did Mrs. X borrow a few empty vessels from you? 12:46 And some of those who were in the house 12:48 were raising blames as they walk the streets, 12:52 she and her sons and asking wonder 12:55 what is she doing with all of these vessels. 12:59 May I say to us, when God has given us instructions, 13:05 do not become concerned about what people say, 13:11 do not become interested in their devices, 13:14 simply go ahead and do what God demands of you. 13:19 We need a similar faith like this woman 13:22 to know that God can, that God will, 13:24 that God is able and that God does supply 13:28 all of our needs according to his riches in glory. 13:33 We need a faith not in idleness 13:36 but we need a faith in action. 13:39 It was a great crisis in this lady's life. 13:44 Oh yes it was, it seemed like mission impossible. 13:50 But is there anything too hard 13:53 for the Lord to do for us. 13:56 The poverty like Jericho's impregnable walls 14:02 must be shouted down by grace and faith 14:08 and prayer and a wonderful God. 14:11 Problems seem to block the way, 14:14 problems seemed to bring about 14:16 the opposition that she was having. 14:19 But the poverty is not a problem for our God, 14:23 Hallelujah. Greater is He that is in us 14:27 than he that is in the world. 14:29 Here is the instruction of the prophet, 14:33 borrow the vessels, 14:35 go inside the house and shut the doors. 14:39 In the book of Matthew, 14:40 the chapter is 6 and verse 6, here is what 14:45 the Bible says in Matthew 6 and verse 6, 14:50 a beautiful text of scripture it says, 14:54 But you, when you pray, go into your room, 15:00 and when you have shut your door, 15:02 pray to your Father who is in the secret place; 15:07 and your Father who sees in the secret place 15:11 will reward you openly. 15:15 So the woman followed the instructions 15:17 as precisely as she could, she went and closed 15:21 the doors behind her and prayed to her Father 15:24 who was in secret. I understand that 15:27 during the OJ Simpson's trial that is Bruno Magli 15:32 footprints were found on the walkways 15:36 to his house by experts. My question is, 15:41 can the almighty God who send angels 15:44 to be our guardians, find knee prints in your house 15:50 where you meet with God at the instruction of God 15:53 to shut the doors behind you and pray to God. 15:56 Can angels find your knee prints? 15:59 Oh friends what great power there is in prayer. 16:03 Hezekiah went to God's house and he took 16:06 the letter from Sennacherib, laid it 16:09 in the presence of almighty God 16:11 in his temple and prayed and God answered. 16:15 Hannah went to the house of God, 16:17 prayed for a child and God gave her Samuel, 16:21 he answered her prayers. Daniel and his friends 16:24 prayed and God in that night revealed onto them 16:28 Nebuchadnezzar's secret vision. 16:31 The Bible says that we ought to ask of God. 16:34 Sometimes we don't ask at all but God demands 16:37 that we should ask of him. 16:39 And he said when you ask you will receive 16:42 so that your joy might be full. 16:46 When we pray I just like to think on bended knee 16:50 that God somehow when he listens to our prayers 16:53 in heaven, slides over on his palace chair looks 16:57 over the balcony of heaven and sees us on our knees 17:02 in our prayer and when we mention 17:04 the name of Jesus our personal representative 17:07 God does some awesome things for us. 17:12 You see my friends, the name Rockefeller or 17:15 Bill Gates will open doors of finance. 17:20 The name of Einstein will open doors of Science. 17:25 Call the name of Brahms, or Bach or Beethoven 17:29 they open doors of the musicals. But if you call 17:33 the name of Jesus the gates of heaven swing 17:37 wide open and the gates of hell are slammed 17:40 shut by a loving God, oh the name of Jesus 17:43 such a marvelous name. It's a saving name, 17:47 it is a justifying name. 17:49 The name of Jesus is a conquering name. 17:53 It is a supplying name. The Bible says that 17:56 the name is a name that's above every 17:59 other name and it says that when we call upon 18:03 the name of Jesus heaven responds. 18:08 The woman is now going to demonstrate 18:11 full faith in what the Prophet's said. 18:14 She was behind closed doors and already now 18:17 she had been successful in having the oil, 18:22 a jar of oil, that's all she had. 18:25 And now she had all of these empty vessels 18:27 and I can see her in her mind, my mind's 18:30 eyes now she can not manufacture the oil 18:34 but she could hold the jar with the oil, 18:38 she could trust God and God is going to bless her 18:42 for what she is going to do. 18:44 The blessing was hindered according to the 18:46 scriptures only because there were no more vessels. 18:51 If we come to God with our empty lives God 18:55 can fulfill them but God is never running out of 19:00 the resources because God's resources are 19:03 never exhausted, God's resources 19:06 are never ever depleted. It's a marvelous thing 19:09 to see how God works in our behalf. 19:11 That He simply asks us to come and to seek him 19:16 and to find him. I can see the woman with the 19:18 jar of oil just pouring from 19:21 one vessel to another. What's a marvelous 19:23 experience that must have been as her 19:26 two sons joined her in this activity. 19:29 Here is the vessel she poured into it it's filled, 19:33 brings another one, the two sons are bringing, 19:35 fill from the one jar of oil and all of these 19:39 vessels are being filled until there was 19:41 no more to be filled. Her faith in God was 19:45 totally rewarded because God told her 19:49 fill those vessels behind those closed doors, 19:53 seek me and I'll open the windows of heaven 19:55 and pour you out a blessing. 19:58 And at the completion every vessel was full 20:04 to the overflowing. 20:06 We can call this a great act on the part of God. 20:12 The Bible says that the Prophet told her when 20:15 you get through the process he says 20:19 then you must go and sell the oil, 20:22 pay your debt and live on the rest. 20:26 Her mission impossible became 20:29 mission accomplished. 20:31 She made all of the claims, 20:33 the creditors were paid. 20:36 The buyers of the present need were supplied, 20:40 God took care of yesterday's debt, 20:43 he was going to take care of her sons and 20:46 her living from now onward and then 20:50 for the future to come God was going to 20:53 have her live on the rest. Her sons could not help 20:57 but know that this was a gift from God. 21:00 This was a gift from the almighty. 21:04 Because as they watched the oil pouring out 21:06 they could say that this 21:08 was not something that mother bought. 21:11 And sure that's what salvation is, 21:13 it's a gift from God. Faith is a gift from God, 21:17 because the Bible says God so loved the world 21:19 that he gave his only begotten son, 21:22 it's a gift from God. The same oil paid the debt, 21:27 the same oil took them out of slavery, 21:30 the same oil maintained them 21:32 for the rest of their lives. 21:33 Oh what a marvelous savior we serve. 21:36 He paid our sin debt, our God took care of all 21:41 our griefs and all of our sorrows, he carried them 21:45 and the marvelous thing is that God sustains us today 21:49 he took care of yesterday and he will 21:51 take care of us forever as we head towards 21:55 the promised land he has gone to prepare 21:57 for those who love and serve him. 21:59 If in life you are stripped of everything 22:02 you possess, and you like this lady feel that 22:07 you are only with a jar of oil and Jesus, 22:12 don't you worry, that is enough. 22:15 Like this woman, life might snatch from you 22:22 your health, your job, your money, 22:25 your family members, but nothing needs to worry 22:31 you providing you know that Jesus is with you, 22:35 even if you feel sad and dejected 22:38 and brokenhearted Jesus will sustain you, 22:42 Jesus will support you, 22:45 Jesus will take care of you, he said to the 22:48 Apostle Paul, my grace is sufficient. 22:54 The instructions given to the widow woman was go, 22:58 shut the door behind you, behind closed doors, 23:01 talk to God and God will reward you openly 23:05 and Jesus says, see I have set before you an open 23:11 door and no one can shut it. 23:16 What God opens no one can close 23:19 and what God closes, no one can open. 23:23 And so I would like to say to you look 23:25 for the open door after the closed door, 23:28 if the creditors come as they did 23:30 to this lady look for an open door. 23:33 If the bills are high and the funds are low 23:36 look for an open door, if you are stressed 23:40 and discouraged and brokenhearted, 23:43 look for an open door. 23:46 If you are not where you think you ought to be 23:49 in your relationship with the Jesus, 23:51 look for an open door 23:53 don't look at the creditors, don't look at 23:55 life's outlook however discouraging and grim 23:59 they might be, don't look at the problems 24:01 or the causer of the problems, go to God 24:05 and God in his own perfect way 24:07 will supply your every need. 24:10 The promise is I've set before you an open door 24:14 and nobody will close it. Listen to me, whatever, 24:22 not exclusively this or exclusively that or 24:26 some of this or some of that, but whatever 24:28 the problems are, look to Jesus because 24:33 there is no exception with God however difficult 24:37 life becomes, God has a way of opening door, 24:42 God will find a solution to your problem 24:47 and then it will surprise you what God can do 24:50 for you because my friends you see 24:53 faith is the victory that overcomes the world. 24:59 I like to think that God entered into this lady's 25:03 experience in such a dynamic way that 25:07 she couldn't help but reclaim that 25:09 Jesus is one awesome savior. 25:13 She will never ever in life forgive where God 25:16 brought her from with all of the debt resting upon 25:20 her, inability to meet her demands yet and 25:24 still God said, I am not going to give you 25:27 some complex way in order to get to me, 25:31 it was as simple as we can get it. 25:34 Because what God does is really an attempt 25:38 to get as over as he did with Moses. 25:41 He takes whatever we have in our hands and God 25:44 knows that this woman needed help if there was 25:48 anyone who needed some help. 25:49 So God said to her here's what you do my sister, 25:52 all you need to do is to go behind those closed doors. 25:57 You go to God in prayer, talk to God in secret, 26:01 God is going to reward you openly. 26:04 What a blessed day that was when the woman 26:06 walked out with this oil in all of these vessels 26:10 having thought as big as she could and 26:13 she sold that oil, she had enough resources to pay 26:16 so that her children would not be enslaved. 26:19 She had enough money to take care of their 26:22 daily living and then if that were not enough, 26:25 this almighty God who we serve gave her enough 26:28 for her to live on as the days and the weeks 26:32 came toward her without fear 26:34 God was indeed taking care of this lady. 26:37 I like to think that my 26:38 God is a wonderful savior, 26:40 that he helps us beyond our kin, 26:43 that somehow God is such a super being 26:47 that he will provide, he will take care of us 26:50 and he will supply all of our needs and it is 26:53 contingent on just one thing, great faith. 26:57 Because the woman had to have great faith. 27:00 And the half about how good our savior is, 27:04 is never been told because my God is the way, 27:08 he is the truth, he is the life. 27:11 My God is a good shepherd, 27:12 my God is the lion of the tribe of Judah, 27:15 my God is the lamb slain from the 27:17 foundation of the world, my God is a rock of ages, 27:20 my God is the bright and morning star, 27:23 my God is the bread of life, 27:25 my God is the pearl of great price, 27:27 my God is the son of righteousness. 27:30 He opens blind eyes he unstop the deaf ears, 27:34 he heals withered hands, he makes the mutes sing, 27:37 he changes lives so that they can be 27:41 so marvelous in his sight. 27:43 My God is a wonderful God, 27:45 so my God the Bible says, 27:47 will provide for all of our needs, the woman 27:50 found it because great was her faith in God. |
Revised 2014-12-17