Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vols. 13–63

2 Kings 4:1. Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the Prophets unto Elisha, saying, Your servant, my husband, is dead and you know that your servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. It is sad for anyone to be in debt and yet there may be circumstances under which even a man who fears the Lord may die in debt and leave no provision for his wife and children except a large portion of sorrow. In the case of this poor widow, it was not long before she cried to Elisha, "The creditor is come." He generally does come pretty quickly and he had come to her to take away her two sons whom she needed to support her—to make them bondmen—slaves, to serve him for a certain number of years till their father's debt was worked out. And this hurt the poor woman's heart, so she came to see what the Lord's servant could do for her. She could not bear to see her sons taken away to serve as bondmen to a stranger through no fault of their own and, possibly, through no fault on their father's part.

2. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do foryou?Elisha was probably about as poor as she was, so what could he do for her?

2. Tell me, what have you in the house?"Whatever there is in the house must go towards this debt, so 'tell me what have you in the house?'"

2. And she said, Your handmaid has not anything in the house, save a pot of oil Her husband had been a Godfearing man, a true servant of Jehovah, yet he had died in such dire poverty that his widow had to say to Elisha, "Your handmaid has not anything in the house, save a pot of oil." Those were indeed bad times for the sons of the Prophets for, in those days men cared more for false prophets and for the priests of Baal than for the servants of the Most High God!

3. Then he said, Go, borrow vessels abroad of all your neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. [See Sermon

#2063, Volume 35—THE FILLING OF EMPTY VESSELS.] "Get as many empty oil jars as you can, it does not matter how great nor how many they are, but they must be empty."

4-6. And when you are come in, you shall shut the door upon you and upon your sons, and shall pour out into all those vessels, and you shall set aside that which is full So she went from him and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not another vessel. And the oil stopped [See Sermon #1467-

A, Volume 25—THE OIL AND THE VESSELS.] There was no reason why

"the oil stopped" except that there was "not another vessel" to receive the flowing stream!

7. Then she came and told the man of God. She must have understood that the oil was to be used for the payment of her debt, but she was a woman of delicate sensitiveness, with a tender conscience—as honest people usually are—so she wanted full permission from Elisha before she would dispose of the oil. She regarded it, in some sense, as his oil—as it was through using the means that he had directed that her little store of oil had been so miraculously multiplied. So "she came and told the man of God."

7. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay your debt, and live, you and the children off the rest What a merciful deliverance that was for the poor widow and her sons! And there have been many other deliverances in the experiences of God's people which, if they have not been quite as miraculous as this one, have, nevertheless, been very remarkable— although God has appeared to work them the common way in which He is constantly working. Yet they have been uncommon mercies all the while.

Now let us read Paul's letter to the Christians at Philippi who had been the means of supplying his necessities, though not in the miraculous manner in which the Prophet Elisha had supplied the needs of that poor widow.

Philippians 4:1. Therefore, my brethren dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so standfast in the lord, my dearly beloved. [See Sermon #1959, Volume 33—THE WATCHWORD FOR TODAY—STAND FAST.] Paul had a very warm affection for the Church at Philippi. You remember how that Church was established—first with the baptized household of Lydia and afterwards with the baptized household of the jailer. These saints at Philippi were, in a special sense, Paul's spiritual children. They were very generous and kind to him, and his heart was very warm with love to them, so he called them, "my brethren dearly beloved," and then again, "my dearly beloved."

2. I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord.These two women had fallen out with one another. They evidently differed upon some question or other so that they were not "of the same mind in the Lord," and Paul thought it so important that there should be perfect unity and love in the Church at Philippi, as well as everywhere else, that he beseeched these two women, of whom we know nothing else, that they would be "of the same mind in the Lord." Notice that he beseeches each of them in exactly the same way—"I beseech Euodias, and beseech Syn-tyche." He has a, "beseech," for each of them! Perhaps, if he had written, "I beseech Euodias and Syntyche," the latter lady might have fancied that he was not quite so earnest about her as he was about Euodias, so he puts it, "I beseech Euo-dias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord." Have any of you fallen out, my dear Friends? I do not know of any of you who have done so, but if you have, I say to all of you, men or women, "I beseech you, that you be of the same mind in the Lord." There is nothing like perfect unity in a Christian Church! If there is even a little division, it will grow to something much worse, by-and-by, so I beseech you, "be of the same mind in the Lord."

3. And I entreat you, also, true yokefellow—Their minister—

3. Help those women which labored with me in the Gospel, with Clement, also, and with other of my fellow laborers, whose names are in the Book of Life. They helped me, and they have helped you, so help them with encouraging words and in every other way that you can.

4. Rejoice in the Lord always. Not only now and then, on high days and holiday, have a time of joy, but, "rejoice in the Lord always."

4. And again I say, Rejoice. [See Sermon #2405, Volume 41—JOY, A DUTY.] He had said this before, as you will see in the first verse of the third Chapter, which begins, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord." Now he writes it again and repeats it in the same verse—"Rejoice. Rejoice." It is so important that Believers should be full of joy that Paul writes three times over in a short space, "Rejoice in the Lord." "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice."

5. Let your moderation be known unto all men.Be men who are God-governed, because God governs those who run to excess in nothing. Some go to excess in one way and some in another, but all excess is to be avoided! "Let your moderation be known unto all men."

5, 6. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing. This is not a good translation of the original—it does not convey the sense of the Greek. It should to, "Be anxious for nothing." Of course you ought to be careful about everything. You cannot be too careful, but you never ought to be care-full, you must care to be right with God, yet you must not be filled with care about anything. "Be anxious for nothing." Do not fret, do not worry, do not make other people miserable by your fretting and fuming and fueling.

6, But in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God [See

Sermon #2351, Volume 40—PRAYER, THE CURE FOR CARE.] Ah, this is the way to find the cure for all your anxieties! Take all your trouble to God with a prayer and with a song. Do not go without either the thanksgiving or the prayer, but bear your burden at once to God and ask Him to bear it for you.

7, 8. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think on these things. If anything is true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report—be on that side. A Christian is on the side of everything that makes for purity, chastity, honesty or that is for the good of men and the Glory of God! Whenever anyone is making out a list of those who will fight for everything that is right and good, every Christian should say to the man writing the list, "Set down my name, Sir."

9, 10. Those things which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of Peace shall be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me has flourished again; wherein you were also careful, but you lacked opportunity You see that Paul did not really mean, "Be careful for nothing," for he says here that these Philippians had cared for him and he praises them for being careful of him. They had lovingly thought of him who was their spiritual father—and when they knew that he was shut up as a prisoner in Rome, and suffering need, they took care to send something to relieve and cheer him.

11. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned, in whatever state I am, therewith to be content [See Sermon

#320, Volume 6—CONTENTMENT.] "I have been initiated-for that is the word—"among those who are content with such things as they have."

12, 13. Iknow both how to be abased, andIknowhow to abound: everywhere andin all things Iam instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

[See Sermons #345 and #346, Volume 6—SELF-SUFFICIENCY SLAIN and ALL-SUFFICIENCY MAGNIFIED.] "I can be poor, or I can have abundance, if you send it to me, but these things make no real difference to me. I have been made invulnerable either to suffering or to abundance." Blessed is the man who has got as far as that! It is a wonderful work of Divine Grace when a man can truly say this!

14, 15. Nevertheless you have done well, thatyou shared with my affliction. Nowyou Philippians also know that in the beginning of the Gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no Church shared with me as concerning giving and receiving, but you only.I should not wonder if it was Lydia who was at the bottom of that giving and receiving and, perhaps, the jailer. They were evidently thoughtful and grateful people. They remembered the Apostle's sufferings and needs and did all they could to help and cheer him.

16, 17. For even in Thessalonica you sent once and again unto my necessity. Not because I desired a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account.He did not look at it as merely something that would ease him, but he looked at it as a token of gratitude for the spiritual blessings they had received through him! It showed that they loved the Gospel which he preached and that they also loved him for having been blessed by God to their souls—and this cheered and delighted him. But, to show that he was not asking for more, he says—

18. But I have all, and abound: I am full I do not suppose that it amounted to much, but it was all that the Apostle needed—and so he says to them, "I have all, and abound: I am full."

18, 19. Having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. But my God shall supply allyour need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus. I am sure that when they read this verse, they all felt glad that they had had a share in the subscription to relieve the Apostle's needs.

20, 21. Now unto God and our Father be Glory forever and ever. Amen. Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. "Give them all my love and tell them how grateful I am to them."

21, 22. The brethren which are with me greet you. All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesars house-hold.Exposed to the greatest perils and yet brave to confess Christ! They may have been nothing but poor kitchen maids, or they may have been among the Praetorian guards who watched and guarded the palace and the prisoners, but they must have their title set down in the letter, "chiefly they that are of Caesar's household."

23. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.