Preached on October 10, 2021 By Pastor Godwyn Aguinaldo Main Text: 2 Kings 4:1-7 KJV [1] Now there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. [2] And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. [3] Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. [4] And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. [5] 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. [6] 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 a vessel more. And the oil stayed. [7] Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest. When we received the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we were granted a Comforter. This was the Lord Jesus' promise to His disciples and everyone of us who chose to follow Him (John 14:16-18). We are gifted with the presence of the Holy Spirit. The influence of the Holy Spirit in us should not be seasonal but rather constant. This is the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Our main text is usually preached on topics of giving. But the richness of God's Word has now presented this to us as a reminder of the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit. When the widow asked for Elisha’'s help, she was instructed to fill in some vessels with oil. As we learned from the text, oil was a precious commodity even back then. Do we value the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives like how the widow valued the oil? Are we going by our lives without recognizing His presence? Or are we constantly seeking to be filled with the Holy Ghost? Yes, the presence of the Holy Spirit came upon us when we accepted Christ; that was automatic in salvation. But being filled is something we should ask everyday; it is not automatic. Being filled with the Holy Spirit empowers us to be right and acceptable in God’s presence. It is heavily implied in the Bible that we ought to be filled with the Spirit in order to walk right by God’s standards. (Galatians 5:16, Romans 8:4). We cannot do it alone because of our sinful nature rendering us inadequate to be upright. But when we walk with the Spirit we are certain that we are doing things right according to God’s standards. (Romans 8:1) While reminding us of the importance of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are also given some guidelines on how to approach our needs. In parallel with the widow in our main text, we also ought to recognize and admit our great need. If the widow remained stubborn and had not reached Elisha for help, the miracle would not have happened. This remains true in our need for the Holy Spirit. We are the ones in need and nothing will happen if we do not admit and ask for God’s help. We can only be filled with the Spirit if we first recognize our need for His presence. Once we recognize our great need, can we be completely obedient like the widow? She made sure that she had completed ALL the requirements being asked of her. Elisha told her to collect clean and empty vessels and shut the doors as she poured in the oil onto the vessels. Clean and empty are what is required so as not to contaminate the oil to be sold. This is also what is required of us that we present ourselves as empty and clean vessels as we desire to be filled with the Spirit. Are we free of sins and the cares of this world? Are we constantly asking God of this great need intimately through prayer? Elisha asked the widow what she has (2 Kings 4:2) and the great miracle did require only what she has. The Lord is not requiring us of something we do not have to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We just need to have the desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We must present ourselves as clean and empty vessels. We must ask Him in prayers. As we take a step of faith, let the Holy Spirit steer our lives and we can expect the same satisfaction and provision experienced by the faithful widow. Reference Points:
/written by: Kevin Sanchez /published by: Em Gacad
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