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Gospel Baptist Tabernacle781 Salem Road, Rossville, GA 30741

Where the Love of God abounds, everyone is

welcome.

Children’s Church taught by Paul and Marsha

Davis during preaching.

www.rossvillechurch.com

6-14-2015

Pastor’s phone706-820-9513

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2 Kings 4 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. Danger of debt

Don’t take it lightly.

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Romans 13 8 Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Let no debt remain outstanding (lit., “Do not keep on owing anyone anything”) except the continuing debt to love one another (lit., “except loving one another”).

The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.

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This prophet died in debt, leaving his wife and two sons vulnerable to the creditors.

This wife and mother did the only thing she could do: She took it to the Lord through Elisha.

God did not ignore her plea.

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The taking of boys as... slaves in payment for debts was not uncommon in the ancient Near East.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.

Her boys would have been old enough to work, or they would

not have been desirable.

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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 anything in the house, save a pot of oil. 3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.

God would fill all that she had.

Faith to believe and obey

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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.

Why shut the door?

To close out unbelievers who might have caused her or her

sons to doubt.

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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.

The oil ran until all the vessels they had were full; then it stopped.

There was enough to pay all their debts and then enough to live on throughout the drought.

What if they only borrowed a few?

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According to their faith.

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Calling for the elders on church day or night when I was a boy.

Luke 6 38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.

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8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. 9 And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually.

She could recognize a Holy man of God by his behavior, and was glad to feed him.

Unlike the widow we just studied, this Shunammite woman was rich and had no material

needs.

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10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. 11 And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there.

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Would you want to welcome the man of God to your home?

This woman and her husband did with no reservations.

Be cautious; Welcome only the righteous.

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1 Timothy 6:18 (NIV) 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.

Hospitality and Generosity are obvious marks of a true Christian.

The Shunammite had been good to Elisha, so he wanted to do something special for her.

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12 And he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. 13 And he said unto him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast been careful for us with all this care; what is to be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own people.

She was content with where she was and what she had.

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Philippians 4 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. 12 I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Contentment can be learned.

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14 And he said, What then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. 15 And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door. 16 And he said, About this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.

She didn’t want to be set up for disappointment.

She had learned to be content without a child.

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17 And the woman conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her, according to the time of life.

Even though she feared the prophecy and the disappointment it might bring,

God brought it to pass.