I Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

2 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

3 Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

4 And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

5 So he went and did according unto the word of the LORD: for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan.

6 And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook.

Many times being in the Ministry, we are asked "And what do you do the rest of the week?" Well, it is my hope that this message will shed some light on this question.

I am sure that all have heard some great sermons on the above text but I wish to approach it in a little different way. Since each of us stands for the whole in the eyes of our God, I want to use Elijah to represent the Church of the Living God, and I am going to use the ravens as Ministers of the Gospel who have a command to feed the Church.

Notice that in verse 4, those ravens had already received a command from God to feed that Church before the church ever got to the place where it was suppose to be. This is the same way that it is with a God-called Minister in this day. When our God calls us to minister, it places a command on us to feed the flock of God, which command we can not get away from:

It is as Paul said in I Corinthians 9:16: "For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!"

Therefore these ravens could not get away from that command but must obey it, as does the Minister of this day.

We want to look into this and see what those ravens had to go through in order to fulfill this command. I believe in this way you will be better able to understand and appreciate all that the Minister does in your behalf. May our God bless us as we endeavor to look into this.

First of all, notice that Elijah was hiding away from the world of Ahab just as the church in this day should be hiding away from the world of sin. Therefore there would not be a lot of people around for those ravens to get bread and flesh from. They could not just go out anywhere and pick up bread and flesh for they were in the wilderness where there was no bread and flesh. Just in this same way, we as Ministers live in this world, as does the church, and where we are, there is no bread and flesh, therefore, a long trip must first take place. Those ravens had to get to a place where there was bread and flesh just as a Minister has to get to the place where he can receive Spiritual Food for his flock.

Those ravens had to get to a place where there were people to which bread and flesh was a part of their diet. There was no bread and flesh in the place where the church was, so these ravens had to take a long trip to get to where there was food and the right kind of food.

Have you ever gone on a trip where everything went just the way you wanted it to go? I haven't. Most times there are always many things which come up to hinder us as we try to prepare for a trip.

Let's look at those ravens that had this command to feed the church. They sure acted differently than any other raven. The other ravens could find food for themselves and their families where they were but not so with these which had this command. They had to have a certain kind of food for this church. Not just any food would do:

It must be, as Matthew 24: 45: "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?"

It must be the right kind of food for the season.

Those other ravens could not understand what was happening to these who had this command. They stayed close to their small ones while these went trampling all over the countryside looking for food. They sure were a funny lot and surely misunderstood by all the other ravens. Most ravens would get food and give it to their little ones and then watch in wonder as those who had been trampling around the countryside would come in and by-pass their little ones and give the food they had to the church first and then take care of their little ones. Was not this a strange thing to do? Yet, there was nothing else they could do for they had a command to feed the church. And how often are we misunderstood as Ministers of the Gospel when we put the church before our own family, yet, how the church does complain if we are not johnny-on-the-spot if we put our family before their needs.

The Minister also must get to a place where there is Spiritual Food. He must get himself from an earthly frame of mind into an Heavenly frame in order to get Spiritual Food for those whom he has a command to feed. So he goes off by himself to try and get into an Heavenly frame and many times he is called from that place by some need of his flock or family or some other pressing thing which it seems to those calling that it just can't wait. "We must have it now. You are my Pastor so come right now. I need you and I must have you right now, not after you have gotten Spiritual Food for the flock, but right now." We have many such things to come up and hinder us as we try to make this trip into a Heavenly frame of mind. Many times there are real needs that hinder but also many times it is nothing more than Satan trying to stop us from getting that Spiritual Food for the flock of God which He has commanded us to feed. Satan does not want you to receive that Spiritual Food so many times he uses you, IF you let him, to try and stop this Spiritual Food from getting to you.

Since bread and flesh is the food of people, these ravens must get to where there are people. Getting to that place, they must now find bread and flesh, so they fly up to one window and look in and, guess what? No bread and flesh. They go to another and again, nothing. Sometimes they must search through many windows before they find the bread and flesh. Then finding it, they must be able to take ahold of it and sometimes this is not so easy as it seems. There is almost always something in the way of what we can plainly see and we must search for a way to get to it. Sometimes the window is closed up so they must try and find another way to get to it.

Now, once again, let's turn to the Minister. Finally getting into a Heavenly frame of mind, he begins to search for THAT Spiritual Food for THAT season. Now his place of search is the Word of God, the Bible, where all Spiritual Food is to be found. He will go to one Scripture and, guess what? Nothing. He goes to another and another and another and still another. He can not stop for he has a command on him from God which must be obeyed. So he keeps going till at last he will see something that strikes him. In his heart he know that this is what he is looking for, yet, it is hidden from his understanding. In other words, he sees it but sees no way to get it to his flock. He now must begin to search for a way to get it broken down so his flock can receive it. Sometimes I have wrestled with God for hours and days searching for that Truth, or rather for a way of saying the things which I see in that Scripture, that I know in my heart that God wants me to get to His people.

Many times we as Ministers must, while searching for this Spiritual food for the church, put our family on hold. Know this, our family loves to spend time with us just as you love to spend time with your family. They want to do things with us but before we can do them, we must have this Spiritual Food for the church, for with God, you come first.

Remember this. As long as that church is there, those ravens must bring him bread and flesh both morning and evening. They must be up and doing. There is no rest for them for they have a command on them to feed this church as does the Ministers of today.

While these ravens are toiling to bring bread and flesh to the church, what is the church doing? They are laying up there hidden away from the world and enjoying the great blessings of our God and drinking in the Spirit and eating the bread and flesh which is being served to them without fail.

I wonder if those ravens ever received a "Thank you" for the bread and flesh which was given each day. Many times I have noticed that after laboring to receive and serve Spiritual Food to a flock, many of them, as soon as the meal was over, would rush out, going to some other activity, never taking the time to say, even a "Thank you" to the Minister. I say not these things because we seek glory, but a "Thank you" is very nice and wonderful. Many times we thank the mother for serving a wonderful meal and we should but do we stop to thank the Dad for earning the money to buy the food with? We should.

Let's follow the church a little farther.

I Kings 17:7: "And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.

8 And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying,

9 Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

11 And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

13 And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.

14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.

17 And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him.

18 And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?

19 And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.

20 And he cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?

21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the LORD, and said, O LORD my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again.

22 And the LORD heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.

23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth.

24 And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.

In the above passage there are several things that I wish to point out to you. Many people think that it was Elijah who sustained the widow woman but this is just not the case.

Notice again verse 9: "I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain YOU." He was not sustaining her but she, as the one who was ministering sustained him, the church. Not one grain of meal nor one drop of oil was placed in the barrel or cruse because of the widow woman nor her son, but was ALL placed there because of the church. EVERY GOD GIVEN SERMON THAT WAS EVER PREACHED WAS GIVEN BECAUSE OF THE CHURCH AND NOT BECAUSE OF THE MINISTER!!! The sermon was never given so the Minister could receive a paycheck but rather because of the church. You are the blessed one. Greater is the one being served than the one serving!!!

While it is true that the widow woman and her son did eat of the bread, let's look at the order of the thing.

Let's look at verse 13: "And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son."

See, feed me, the church FIRST and THEN, after the church gets theirs, then you can have something, but not before the church.

Remember, this little widow woman, the minister, the one serving, has a command to feed the church so she must do as she is told. She is the one who must get out and gather up the two sticks with which to cook the bread which the church will enjoy. She is the one that must prepare the food for the church and serve this same food, first to the church even before she can serve any to her dying son.

Notice what she was doing when the church came up. She was gathering up two sticks in order to cook all that she had left so she and her family could eat it and then die. This she told to the church when asked for food. The church told her to go ahead and do as she was doing. What was this? Getting ready to die!!! Go ahead and do that but, before you die, bring me some food. See, you must put the church first at all times.

Now please do not misunderstand me. As long as the Minister fulfills his responsibility and feeds the church, he WILL be taken care of for our God will not forsake His Ministers. I am only saying these things because I want you to realize that there is a great price to pay for every God-given sermon that you have ever heard or will ever hear.

The only thing that we as Ministers ask of you, the church, is the same thing that this little widow woman asked of the church in that day and that is that you restore our children that are dead in sin back to us. Live in such a way, that life will be infused into those who are dead to the things of our God.

I pray that every person who reads this will realize that there is a great price attached to those sermons you enjoy and you will be grateful to both our God and also to the Minister who lays before our God in order to receive those sermons. I say these things not to shame you but so you will know that, we, as Ministers, do not take your tithes and live a life of ease, but rather that we are continually searching for that Spiritual Food that you need to prepare you for that Heavenly Home which we desire above all for you and your love ones.

God bless all.

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