Pastor's Pulpit

Monday May 31, 2010

Sunday May 30, 2010 was Homecoming at our church. We had a wonderful day with several visitors in the service. The following message was preached with a good altar response.

Bring Your Empty Vessels

I Kings 4:1-7

In vs. 1, the wife of one of the sons of the prophets is in distress. She owed some debt, and she had no money to pay it. So the creditors are coming to take both of her sons, and make them slaves.
In her distress she called for the prophet Elisha. He comes and listens and asks her: " What hast thou in the house? " She answered, " Nothing, except a pot of oil. "
( vs. 3-6 )
They brought one after another, pots, large and small. They borrowed from this neighbor and that friend. They found as many as they could lay their hands on. They brought them and filled them up with oil. The oil kept coming as long as they had a vessel, until one of the sons said,
" There is not a vessel more! " ( vs. 6 ) " And the oil stayed. "
There came a time when the supply of oil stopped. Not because the source dried up, but because the capacity to receive what was flowing was no longer available. Listen to me: God desires to bless us. To give of Himself, He desires to pour into our lives His power, blessing, and His presence as long as we keep bringing, that into which He can pour Himself. The miracle of the flow of oil teaches us that if we can always be available, and empty ourselves of pride, selfishness, and wickedness, be an empty vessel He can fill, He will pour out His blessings on us. Bring your empty vessel.

I. There was a Great Need. ( vs. 1-2 )
She had a financial need. She was broke, poor, destitute, she owed a debt. There was a great need.
This pot of oil was all she had. It could have been used for cooking, like a lot of women would use in days ago, they would keep it on the stove, and reuse over and over again. My mother would use lard, and keep it in a pot and when it came time to cook, she would just put a spoon full of lard in the pan, and after cooking she would pour the left over back in the pot. Maybe this was the prophets anointing oil. It wasn't much, but this is what she had, and Elisha saw it was something he could work with, something that could be used if given to the Lord.
God can work miracles with nothings. Remember the story of the loaves and the few fishes? He fed a multitude of over 5,000 with it. Little is much when God is in it!
I may not have much, but if I give it to God He can work with it mighty things.
When we realize our need, that is when God can do the miraculous. It is when we reach that point of desperation, when we see ourselves as God sees us, that is when there is a capacity for God to do something.
God will keep His promise. Do you see your need?
- perhaps you have a need to be forgiven? Your heart is full of sin and guilt. You don't know what to do. I read about Hudson Taylor, there was a 72 year old man that followed him to his boat one day. He said, " Scholars say: There is no future state, but I find it hard to believe. I lie in bed and think. I sit alone in the daytime and think; but I cannot tell what to do about my sins. Can you tell me what to do with my sins? " Hudson Taylor went on to tell him the wonderful story of the the cross of Christ and soon he was saved!
Do you realize your great need of salvation today? Do you realize Who you have sinned against? Do you realize Who you have rebelled against? If you can realize your great need of pardon today, then you will be an empty vessel into which God desires to pour His grace into today.
- Have you failed God in your Christian life? Have you let Him down? Maybe you' ve been unfaithful, or you have been a poor representative of His child. In the past, you were used of the Lord, you were involved in the work of God. Now the devil has you wrapped around his finger. You wonder if God will use you again. Yes He will, if you'll come back to Him. He has His arms open to receive you. Just realize your great need like this widow. This woman had a great need. She cried, " O man of God, Help me! " Is there a cry in your soul? Bring your empty vessel to Him. He wants to meet your need today.

II. There was a Great Confidence.
( vs. 1 ) She cried unto Elisha - the man of God was there. If she could just get in touch with him, then the miracle would happen. She did get into with him. Why don't we have miracles today?
We are in touch with churches, conferences, revivals, camp meetings, everything but what or Who we need to be in touch with. We need to get in touch with God!

Faith , mighty faith the promises sees,
and looks to God alone;
Laughs at impossibilities,
and cries, " It shall be done. "

This woman had great confidence in God. God promised and He fulfilled His promise.
God is a God of revival, and He will revive us again. God is a God of power, and He is willing to give His people His power. ( Acts 1:8 )
In Matt. 9:27-30 ) These blind men were healed. Jesus said in vs. 29, " According to your faith be it unto you. " Whatever you can believe. I'm afraid many of us, including myself, have low expectations of God. We pray for strength, power, revival, etc. But nothing seems to happen, why? Because we don't expect anything to happen!
This woman sent for the prophet because she expected something to happen. We all need to move up the level of complete confidence in God. The sinner can find salvation when he realizes that the Blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse him from all sin. He will be saved when he puts his confidence in what Jesus has done for him on Calvary. Our prayer today should be, " Oh God, empty me of my selfishness, pride, sins and purify and empower me. I bring my empty vessel to you Lord. Only You can do the miraculous in my life.

III. There was a Great Obedience. ( vs. 3-4 )
She went back home and shut the door. ( vs. 5 ) She obeyed. ( vs. 6 ) The need was met when the conditions were fulfilled.
There is no greater relationship, no greater knowledge than knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour. It is greater than service, greater than revival, but it is revival, to know Him, the precious Son of God!
If you know Him, you will obey Him. ( John 14:20-25 ) Do you love Him today? Then obey Him.
This widow experienced a miracle in her life because she obeyed. She experienced God's blessings because she obeyed the Lord. If we enjoy His blessings, it is because we are an obedient people. Obedience always brings blessings. If a person is saved, it is because they obeyed the Gospel, when we live for God, it results in blessings. Are you going to bring your empty vessel to Him today? If you do, He will fill it!
Amen.

Pastor Taylor



Monday May 24, 2010


I shared with our people this past Sunday morning a message I believe the Lord wanted to give our people as a pre-revival message.

" Without me, Ye can do Nothing " John 15:5

Jesus said, " I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing."

The Lord Jesus tells us in this verse that He is the vine and we are the branches. The basic truth of this chapter is that just as the branch of a bush or tree cannot bear fruit unless it abides in the vine, Christians cannot bear fruit unless they have a abiding relationship with the True Vine, the Lord Jesus Christ.

We have about 25 blueberry bushes in our back yard, each year they produce plenty of berries and really the Lord blesses them and I don't have to do anything to them to produce. Any way, if you prune them to far back, or cut them away from the vine, they will wither or die. Those vines can run along underground for several feet, so you have to dig deep to get to the root. In verse 4, in order to be a fruitful christian, we must depend on Christ and let the power and Spirit of Christ flow through us. There must be a total dependence upon the Vine. He says in verse 5, there must be an abiding relationship with Him, " for without me ye can do nothing."

We are so sufficient in this world today. So many are so proud of their accomplishments, or making their own way, whether it is in the material world or the spiritual world. People are trying to merit salvation by their efforts, but God is the One who has provided everything for us, strength, health, talents, opportunities, family, freedoms, and salvation. We truly owe everything to our Creator God. We cannot do anything without Him.

I. Without Him, We cannot be saved.

Vs.6 " If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." Without Jesus Christ, man is lost and on the way to Hell! ( Romans 3:23 6:23 ) Man has tried to get to Heaven on His own merit ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. Adam sewed the figs leaves together to hide his sin rather than repent and ask God for forgiveness.

Man today does the same with the fig leaves of his own works, good deeds, and religion, etc. to get to Heaven. But God's word says in Titus 3:4-6, " But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; "

Eph. 2:8-9 tells us it is not by works, but by His grace through faith that He saves us. Man cannot save himself. You can join every church in town, be baptized every year, try to live right, give money, these are good things, but if you die without Christ you are lost forever. Man is a sinner and need to be saved. ( Romans 4:5-8 ) Jesus said, without me, ye can do nothing. You cannot be saved without Jesus. Have you personally trusted Him alone to save you? Why not trust Him today!

II. Without Him, we cannot Serve God.

Verses 4-5 " Abide in me, and I in you, As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: "

We cannot be a fruitful Christian unless we are abiding in Him. We cannot win souls and be effective witnesses without Him. He is our strength from day to day. I am totally dependent upon Him.

In verse 7, it talks about prayer. A praying christian is one who realizes he is limited, he must depend on the One who is unlimited in resources and power. ( Eph. 3:20 ) He can do " exceeding, abundantly, above all we ask or think.." Matt.28:18-20 says He has all power in Heaven and in earth. God is able to do more than I'll ever comprehend. He wants to work in and through you and me. He wants to empower us for service. We cannot serve God in the flesh. It was D. L. Moody who said, " It is wicked to do God's work without God's power." That is so true, because I have tried and when I see that I failed and I grow weary, it is because in the flesh we are powerless. Thank God for Phil.4:13 and 4:19. These promises are for us today as it was for the early church. Isa. 40:31, says if will wait upon the Lord, we'll renew our strength. We all get discouraged, we get disappointed in people, we have our dreams shattered, our hopes lost. But don't give up, Don't become a statistic or a sermon illustration. Don't let the devil get the victory. We are on the winning side!

Draw strength from the Lord, through the preaching in church, through the presence of the Lord with His people. Be faithful and realize that without Him you can do nothing.

III. Without Him, we cannot see revival.

( Vs 7-11 ) In verse 7, we see that we must abide in Him to have our prayers answered. In vs.8, we must abide in Him to bear much fruit, in vs. 9, we will be full of love, in vs.10, we will obey His commands, and in vs. 11, we will be full of the joy of the Lord. Now that is revival. But we cannot see revival without Him. Every day of our lives, the power of Christ is working in our lives, transforming us and changing us into His image. His power through the Holy Spirit, as we yield to Him, He works through us and in us. And the more we become like Him, the more He will be seen in us.

I heard a preacher tell the story of the pre-schooler who got saved. And the teacher told him that when you get saved, that Jesus comes into your life. He raised his hand, and she said, " what is it?" He said, " If Jesus comes inside me, He's bound to stick out somewhere!" How true, if He' inside of us, He's bound to stick out somewhere. You are somebody's Bible, they read your life, they hear your conversation. You have a testimony and you need to be sure it is a good one. ( Matt. 5:16 )

God doesn't need to consult us on how to send revival. He will send it when we truly desire it. He said He will pour water on him who is thirsty. There is nothing too hard for God. God works through us bring that revival. There must be a humbleness, we must confess our sins. 2nd, there must be a restoration. We must restore prayer, obedience, build up what has fallen. 3rd, there will be revelation. God will show His glory. Christ will be revealed in His people, souls saved, lives changed, peace and grace will be bestowed on His people. God will answer prayers. There will be joy. ( vs. 11 ) We must look to Him for revival.

Jesus said in vs 15, " for without me, ye can do nothing." We need Christ to save us, to empower us for service, and to revive us again.

Amen!

Pastor Taylor