Silas Fox emphasizes the importance of putting God first in our lives, using the story of Elijah and the widow of Zarephath to illustrate how prioritizing God leads to miraculous provision and spiritual growth. He highlights that even in difficult times, God can provide through unexpected means, urging believers to trust in God's plan without objection. The sermon calls for a commitment to live for Christ, reminding the congregation that true fulfillment comes from serving Him above all else. Fox encourages listeners to reflect on their priorities and to ensure that God is at the center of their lives.

Glad to be here. That's what the fellow, you know, I get into habits the same thing. This fellow was addressed, going to address the prisoners in jail. I'm so glad to see so many of you here this morning. We don't want professionalism. First Kings, please, chapter 17. In the history, and this is not profane history, sacred history, two men in the Old Testament figure greatly. Elijah and Elisha. God gave these men to Israel. Their ministry is great. Elijah looks forward to John the Baptist. Elisha looks forward to Christ. I like very often to preach on them. And after their ministry, not so many years rolled by, the terrible captivities of the nation took place. God's love to a nation that was going down. Now, 1 Samuel, 1 Kings, chapter 17. No introduction at all, but it just says, Elijah the Tishbite. Who was he? That's all we know. Elijah, his name means Jah's Jehovah, Eli the El, God, Jehovah is God. That's what his name means. His mother and father, don't know. His background, we don't know. Yes, we do know, because it just says he was of the inhabitants of Gilead. That's over Jordan. That's all we know. He steps into the picture at a terrible time in history. Ahab, that wicked king, was reigning, and his wife was also there, and she urged him on. She wasn't a Jewess at all. She was the daughter of a heathen king. What a bad time in the history of God's people. Yet just then, God raised this man up. Now, let's pause there a moment. You're to never have a defeatist mentality and say times are bad and can't expect anything. Don't ever say that. Where sin abounded, what? Grace did much more abound. And when the country was down at a low ebb, God raised these men up. Thank God for that. The faithful God, the good God, the God of history. One thing you could say, and I will say it before I leave it, is that Elijah the Tishbite was of Gilead. And God, in Jeremiah chapter 7, 8, 9, he speaks to his people, and he says the summer is past and so on, and you're not saved yet. And then he asked this question, is there no balm in Gilead? God there, in that passage, linking balm to salvation. Speaking of salvation parabolically, after saying about the salvation of his people, which they did not experience, then he said, is there no balm in Gilead? That organist over there, I think she knows that. Is there no balm in Gilead to set the prisoner free? Have you ever heard that song? That's a good one. Now therefore, you could preach on that. This isn't my subject. This is an introduction. I haven't begun yet. Therefore, balm is likened to salvation. Salvation likened to balm in one way, parabolically. And balm is no good unless it's rubbed in. Now I tell you this morning, salvation, thank God if you're saved, but let it be well rubbed in. Salvation isn't a pleasant aroma just to be enjoyed. It's a balm that will heal, but it must enter in. Is your experience that? Deep experience, deep. Lord, let it go deep. Amen. Now right in this, the famine that's about to begin, and in the 17th chapter, well, the prophet finds that king and he says, as the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand, there shall not be due or rain for these years, but according to my word. Ahab, I'm going to take over. You step to one side. The heavens are going to be shut up for three and a half years, that's it, period. Oh, I see, it got over, did it? Isn't that wonderful? The spiritual is greater than the other. Yeah. Right, and then God said to this prophet, now I want you to go to this place, he mentions it, go by the brook Cherith, verse 4, and I've commanded the ravens to feed thee. Now right away you pause there and you have to think, now this was a Jewish prophet. Would he be willing to accept food from ravens? Ravens are unclean to the Jew. They're definitely mentioned in Leviticus chapter 11, 15. The raven is mentioned amongst the unclean birds, of course, and yet God in heaven appointed the ravens to feed his prophet. Oh God, what's the matter here? In some better way, God? No, I've commanded this. Yeah, but doesn't that look as if you're going against your word here? A Jew to be fed by these unclean birds? It's all right. Well, you might say in answer, everything was upset anyway. The whole country was upset, righteousness was upset, and God said, now this is my plan. So you have the picture of a Jewish prophet being fed by these unclean messengers twice a day. Now think about that. On the other hand, you can think about this. This prophet Elijah didn't object. He could have. Lord, Lord, wait a minute, wait a minute, Lord. You know, Peter objected when he saw that big sheep come down in that vision. There were beasts in it. Well, the Jews are meat eaters, no trouble about that. But amongst the beasts were beasts there that were unclean, ceremonially unclean to the Jews. And yet the voice said, hey, rise Peter, kill and eat. Well, Peter didn't he? I mean, he answered, not so, Lord. Altogether, those three words altogether, not so, Lord. Seems funny, doesn't it? Not so, Lord. You're Lord, but I'm not going to do what you say. That's what makes the trouble in the Christian life. Down here in Greenville, you have trouble personally. You say trouble? Mm-hmm. I'm speaking of spiritual trouble. What sort? Well, one is that you don't like to, you're not going to give up God. You know God, you know Christ, he's your Savior, he's your Lord, but sometimes what he tells you to do isn't palatable. Not so, Lord. In grammar, Brother Bob, you'll help me out here. I think we could call this a paradox. Nice word, isn't it? You're my Lord, Lord, but, but, but, but. Now, Maxwell out of Three Hills. I knew him, known him for years. He says, whenever you butt, you're a goat. Yeah, I just pick these things up as I go around, nothing original with me. But now in your Christian life, don't butt. The will of God is perfect and good and acceptable. Bow to it, and Peter did. God was explaining that he was going to take in the Gentiles, bring the Gentiles. The Jews didn't like that. Why, you find in the, when they spread in the book of Acts, when they first went out, spread abroad by the persecution of Stephen, it says they went everywhere preaching only to the Jews. That's all. Heaven is a wonderful place, just for the Jewish race. That's what they believed. The early apostles, Jews, the Christians, Jews. This is it. It wasn't it. Don't put up barricades. It's been done this way. Yeah, well, it's not going to be done this way in the future. I mean, all this remembering you're to follow the Word of God. So Peter had to realize that God was going to bring in the unclean, those who are unclean to God, and Jews too. And God did say, Peter, what God hath cleansed don't you call common. Maybe never call any dear believers common. No, no, no. Wonderful dear believers, meet them all over the world. They're not common. They're washed, they're saved, they're blessed. They're not common. They belong to the the aristocracy of God. Isn't that lovely? That's a pretty good word, isn't it? Aristocracy. So this prophet didn't object and he went there and he ate the food that was brought to him by the crows. Caw, caw, caw. Down would come his supper. Caw, caw. And down would come his breakfast. Another thing I'd like to know, of course, I'll find out one day. In the meantime, I do not know, you do not know, until we get there. Crows steal things. How did the crows get bread and meat? They certainly didn't manufacture it. Perhaps it was stolen. Oh, leave that. You just leave that to God. Whatever it was, God provided that the crows brought it. Now that's one phase. Therefore you learn that in the work of God, if you want to please him, don't object to things that he might bring you into in service, which at the beginning you might think were obnoxious. Oh Lord, I want to be fed, but I want the crows. Well, I've commanded the crows to do it, so will you just kindly cease? And he did. How long went on? We don't know that three and a half year period. And then the brook dried up and the Lord had another provision. Look at verse 9. Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow woman to sustain thee. Now here's another headache. Zidon is in Palestine, it's in Israel, but it was peopled by Gentiles. Tyre and Zidon. Why, look back at the history. Great both buildings, countries, but all Gentiles. Sinners of the Gentiles. And God is sending this Jewish prophet to a Gentile woman to be fed. Hey Lord, what about that? Lord, you tested me by the ravens. Yeah, well I'm going to test you again. You go to Zarephath. And there's a widow woman I prepare. Yeah, I know, I know, she's not a Jewess. But you go there. No, no argument, just go. By the way, one good thing comes here. The name, some of the names in the Bible you want to pay attention to, they give you great lessons. Sometimes they do not. But this name, Zarephath, it's in the borders, within the borders of old Tyre and Zidon, yeah. But the real meaning of that name is, workshop refining metals. Isn't that good? God sent this prophet to this Zarephath among the Gentiles, and it was a workshop. The name means a workshop for refining metals. No doubt used in the old days when Tyre and Zidon were very high in boat building. And where they refined metals. Well hey, can you get this? A spiritual truth here. God refined his servants. Say amen to that. You can't always just go along the same way. God will put you in someplace and refine you. You need it anyway. Now putting him in Zarephath with a non-Jewish woman, that was a refining to Elijah. And he took it. No objection. You say, Mr. Fox, how do you know she wasn't a Jewish woman? Well turn to the New Testament. Turn to Luke chapter 4. Christ refers to this passage. Preaching is a lovely work, why it says in Luke 4, gives you the account of his sermon. His first sermon in the synagogue at his hometown of Nazareth. I'm looking now at Luke 4.16. And he got up, he must have been a good reader and on the Sabbath, and he read from the prophecy of Isaiah. And the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the gospel and so on. It's a prophecy of himself. A prophecy in Isaiah, as we know it now, we've divided into chapters, 16 and 61, and you'll find written these words. Christ is the servant. And he had commanded the servant, so on, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel and so on. Well that's all right. And he stopped at verse 20, that's a very wonderful thing to note, he stopped at a certain part in one verse of that passage, didn't read the other part. Where it says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the acceptable year of the Lord, and he closed the book and gave it to the minister of the synagogue. Well now in Isaiah's writings it doesn't stop there. Isaiah writes right on, Isaiah says that the Spirit of the Lord is upon me to preach the gospel and so on, to declare the acceptable year of the Lord, and Isaiah writes right on without a stop, and the day of vengeance of our God. Well why did Christ stop just at the end of a certain part of that passage? Why did Christ break the passage up? Well the answer is, one part refers to the present, one part hasn't been fulfilled yet. And Christ did sit down, he said, now are these verses fulfilled in your ears? Well Christ couldn't read the day of vengeance of our God and tell the people that was fulfilled, because it hadn't been. And by the way here's an illustration of 1900 years after a comma. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord, comma. Now we're still waiting, and we've gone on 1900 years, we're waiting for the other part to be fulfilled, though it's in the same verse. The day of vengeance of our God, just around the corner. Hasn't come yet, it'll come. We're now in the acceptable year of the Lord, the church period, the day of grace, the day of Christ. When it's going to end, we don't know. After it ends, then we go on to the day of judgment of our God, the awful. And so Christ did sit down, he said, this day are these words fulfilled in your ears? Of course, that's why he broke the passage. And the people all, well they were so happy that it was their boy of Nazareth preaching and so on. Verse 22, all bear him witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth, ha ha ha ha. Preaching is a great job, especially if you preach nice things that people like. Yeah, but wait, in the same sermon before it was over, they wanted to kill him. What? Yes, that's what it says. In verse 23, he says, you will say to yourself, I'm one of your boys, why haven't I done miracles in the hometown? And then he gives these, this teaching. Verse 25, I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land, and unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, city of Sidon, unto woman that was a widow. God passed by the widows of Israel in the days of Elijah, just pass them right by. Of course spiritually they weren't much anyway then. And put his love and his acceptance and his desire for his service to come from a Gentile woman. God, why did you do that? Well, answer is, the Jews were in a state of disobedience and sin, and God turned to the Gentiles. Way back there. Then Christ went on, gave another illustration, and that was it. Verse 27, many lepers in the days of Elias, who followed Elijah, were in Israel, but none of them were healed, save a Gentile leper. Oh, that's too much! And when the people heard that, you know to this day the Jews don't like these passages. They say, why should God pass over our widows and tell the Prophet to go to a Gentile? Well, now you can grind your teeth and do it, so like God did it, and that's it. And it showed there was coming a time when God would turn from the Jews to the Gentiles. He has. This is not the Jewish period. Hey! Hey! The kingdom of God is going to be taken from you and given to a nation that will bring forth its fruit. Will that happen? Kingdom of God isn't in the hands of the Jews now, it's in the hands of the Gentiles. And after this period's over, ha ha, the church will be removed and God will begin to deal with the Jews again. Wonderful time ahead. And the millennia. Da da da da da. When you'll all get jobs, according to your faithfulness now. Now? Yes. Do be faithful. Your entrance into the kingdom will be by grace, your place in the kingdom of service will be by your work. Won't that be great? I don't know. Why not? Why don't you know? Well, I don't seem to be doing much now. Well, that's the reason they're holding meetings like this. Now look at Luke 4. Before the sermon's over, they wanted to kill the preacher. Some young men, oh, I wish to be a preacher. I wish to be a... Oh yeah, that's great. But would you wish to have a riot after you preach? Oh, oh, oh, I don't wish anything like that. Well, look here. All day in the synagogue, when they heard these things, they never liked about the raven and Elijah. Didn't like about the woman of Tyre, Sidon, a non-Jewish widow to feed the servant. No, no, no. Yes, yes, yes, God said. And then the people rose up, grabbed ahold of the preacher, and verse 29, thrust him out of the city, and why, they throw him down headlong. Now when you preach, preach the truth, whether it hurts or not. Don't try and be a popular preacher. Yes, he preaches so nicely. He does, eh? Yes, he... Well, don't be a nice preacher necessarily. Be a truthful preacher, but some things you must preach won't be nice. Love not yourselves, love not the world. You preach about that? That's not nice to some people. Preach the word. Whether you have a... whether they give you a clap on the back and a good check, or preach the word if they thrust you out. So we're not going to have you anymore. Well, praise God for that. One less to worry about. I was on a ship one time, and in my cabin was an engineer, tough guy. And my friends up in the deck must have been passing out tracks because he got one that one day and came down to cabin. He said, ah, this is for you, and he threw it at me. I said, why did you say it's for me? Well, your folks up there gave it to me. I said, they gave it to you. Bang, it's yours. Bang, I threw it back. Got to be tough sometimes. That fella came to me before he got off at Port Sudan. He says, wait a minute. I said, what do you want to talk to me about? You don't seem to be interested in what I stand for. Well, wait, listen. I've got to get off tomorrow at Port Sudan. I'm family in England, too. Pray for me. I said, pray for you? Yes. Well, I did. I think you did have a little turn for the better, I hope so. Never tell friends what's going on in people's hearts. Be faithful to Jesus. Well, anyway, that's it. Now I begin my sermon again, I think, after that digression. But that widow woman, think of that, a non-Jewish woman, God appoint. And soon as he got there, they somehow recognized one another. And she was gathering a few sticks. And she knew it was he, he knew it was she, and so on. And he asked in verse 11, bring me, I pray thee, well, no, in verse 10, fetch me, I pray thee, a little water. Woman, would you kindly give me a drink? And as she was going to get it, then he said, bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. Woman, I bring with the water a little bread. And then she blew up. She said, sir, famine days, why, I and my son, we only have a little meal left and a little oil to fry it with. And I was just gathering a few sticks. We were going to prepare that and then die, eat it and die. What a time God brought his prophet right there at the right time. Now, she didn't die and she lived through the famine. How often God steps in just as it were at the last moment. Can you say amen to that? That woman was facing death. She didn't know the way out. God had his eye upon her. God's prophet is there. And he said, woman, wait a minute now. I know the condition. In verse 13, and Elijah said unto her, fear not. Woman, hey, woman, don't be afraid. No, no, no. It's all right. Go and do as thou hast said. Make a cake for yourself and your son. But make me thereof a little cake first. Make me a cake first. Madam, priority. Make a cake for me first. But, but, no but, madam, I understand. Now, that's my sermon. God first. Jesus first. Say amen to that. If I stop right here, I guess we'll have to stop soon anyway, won't I? Is that a few more minutes? Hey? Ten? Thanks. God first. Make my, listen, it's all right. You go for your son, yes, and for yourself, but make a cake for me first. You know, that's where Christians are failing. In your life, it must be God first. Never mind about the problems. I'm talking to you as a believer. God first. Christ first. What about that marriage of your, oh, God first. What about those plans, you young people here? God first. That's it. That's the New Testament doctrine of the Lordship of Christ. Hey, that lady up there in the, is she there? King of my life. Madam, do you know that one? Just give us a bar of it, please. I'll pick it up. That's it. That's it. King of my life, I crown thee now. Thine shall the glory be, lest I forget thy thorn crowned broth to cover. That's where you should stand. Remember, right there, put, put, put God first. Christ first. Turn to 2 Corinthians 5, New Testament truth along this line. Why should we serve God? Answer, because of the need. Oh, is that so? That's not the real answer. Why should we become missionaries? Oh, the poor people are dying without praise. Well, it's all right. That's not the first need. Not the first answer. Well, what is the answer? Well, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 14, the love of Christ constrains us. Madam, King of my life, just, thank you. You'll be angry with me. Just thank you. King of my life, I crown thee now. Thine shall the glory be. I sang that before, lest I forget thy thorn crowned broth lead me to Calvary. That's what he says here. 2 Corinthians 5, the love of Christ. Stick close to Calvary. He died for you. He loved you. The love of Christ constrains. That's why we should serve him. Because we thus judge. We weigh it. We thus judge the matter. We thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead. Death was upon us all. And if he hadn't have died, we'd have suffered death and so on. Another meaning. One died for all, then of all died. We've died to our old way of life. And here's the new way. One died for all, then we're all dead. And that he died for all, that they which live, which live, live on a new plane. Life in a new plane. Should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that died for them. Rose again. You know, in your life, even though you're saved, you could put up a motto, unto myself. You could do that. But that's not the real thing you should live for. Unto him. Why don't you get a text and put it on your table? Just two words on it. Unto him. All together. Unto him. A new goal in life. You're saved. You're forgiven. You're. Yeah, but now a new goal. What are you going to live for? Unto him. Well, that's it. Make a cake for me first. And she went and did it. The result was that they were saved from famine. And so we read the barrel of meal, he said, shall not waste and so on. She went and did according to the saying of Elijah, the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruise of oil fail. Now, lovely. No, wait right in that house. Then sickness struck all these troubles. People have sickness and read right on the chapter that her son got sick, got very sick and died. And then she prayed, oh man of God, did you come into my house to show him? I said, no, my son's gone. Elijah said, give me your son. Took him upstairs, laid him out in the bed and prayed, oh God, this woman has served me. I'm not going to leave her with her child dead. Hear prayer, God. Then he even put himself out, his body upon the child's body. Identification with the needs of those around you. Then he prayed again and see what it says. Verse 20, he cried unto the Lord and the Lord heard him. Oh, what a wonderful Lord. What a wonderful thing it is to pray. And the child revived, the child came to life. Not great. And then she said, the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, the soul of the child revived and so on. In verse 23, and Elijah took the child and brought him down and said, see thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elijah, now by this I know. Madam, that piece about Job, I know my Redeemer liveth. Can you give us a part of that? I know, I know my Redeemer. Now this woman said, a Gentile woman said, now I know, I know, sir. I know. You're a servant of God. Not a servant of one of these gods of our country. You're a servant of God, the true God. Now I know. She became a believer. Question, what blessings came to this woman by receiving the man of God? Answer, one, she was kept alive miraculously through the family. Many other people died, no doubt. But God kept that meal and so on, all through the family. Isn't that lovely? When you trust the Lord, your needs are all met. Great. Great. Now you're not enthusiastic. Great. Are you inflamable? No, Mr. Fox, I'm very quiet. Well, get worked up about this. We have a great God. We have a great, big, wonderful God. Well, this is it, friends. One blessing, she was kept alive in famine. Second, when disease came into the house, she was covered. The Lord Jesus Christ will look after you at the time of crisis. Isn't that lovely? And though the child died, the child was revived, the child was raised. Lovely. And third, she became a convert. Altogether, she became a convert. I know. One time in Toronto, it was my joy to pick up a fellow who was heading for suicide. Boy, he found the Lord and we took him into the home. He was there boarding with mother until I went in. He made a safe finish, too. I was there when he later, years later, when he passed away in Jesus, safely, happily. One day while he was living with us, he came back and he was very downcast. He was a believer. What's the matter, Bert? I had a terrible experience. Well, tell me. Well, he said, I was testifying to one of the fellows at work about how I believed in Jesus and everything was all right. And yet that fellow turned on me, pointed his finger at me, said, Bert, do you really know that you're saved? And Bert said, when he was so direct, I didn't know quite how to answer. Have you any doubts about that? Supposing I got you and I just simply put you up against the wall and say, hey, do you know? Oh, I hope. I don't ask that. Do you know? Well, I think. I'm not asking that. Do you know? Well, many people seem to. You're not on the ball at all. Today, do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know? Really know? Knowingly know. Lovely, isn't it? This woman said, now I know. I know, sir, that Jehovah Allah is the true God. You're a servant of God. I know my idols of Tyre and Sidon, they're nothing. I know. When I get up there, I'm going to see her. Wouldn't that be great? I am looking forward to a great convention up there, meeting all these dear children of God. Are you? Yes, it is. It was I. Oh, I'm so good. Yeah. Lovely that you took me in. Well, God commanded me and I did. And your son died? Yeah, but he raised him from the dead. Lovely. God did that. And all through the famine, we had wheat and oil and so on. And I became a believer. That's why you're here, huh? Yeah. Fox, how on earth are you ever going to get to heaven? Well, how can I help it? Well, I think I better stop. What do you do when you stop? Oh, I think, in homiletics, they used to say, stand up, speak up and conclude your address. Well, now, friend, thank you. Thank you. This is all I want to say. God first. Christ first. When you determine as we bow our heads now, say that to the Lord. Oh, God. Oh, God, because you're such a true God and wonderful. Oh, Jesus, because you died for me. I'm going to just make you first. Let us pray. Father, that's all we can say. You must do the other work. We can't do it. God first. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. In all things, Christ to have the preeminence. Now, bless all this young life, dear Lord, teachers, and guide them and lead them. What are they going to do in the future and so on? Where are they going to be? What qualities have they that you can use? Where will you send them where they're needed most? We don't know. Please, God, bless the heads of this institution. Give them wisdom, blessing. Make it a place of prayer, power, more and more. We give thee our thanks. We hear the rumbles outside, too. Even creation is feeling the burden of the times, longing for its release. We long, our God, for the return of Christ, too. Meantime, keep us faithful. Thank you, Brother Cherry. It's a real joy to be here. And many a time, we get to thinking that we're above that which we are. Paul said, There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, lest I should be exalted above measure, because of the abundance of the revelations that God has given me. Many a times, we decide we'll exalt ourselves. Others pat us on the back and we think about, well, we are something else. We need to be reminded sometimes where we came from and how this wonderful thing has happened in our life of being born again. It's a work of him, not a work of man. So, remind me, dear Lord. The things that I love and are just borrowed, they're not. So, remind me whom I've done to deserve. I strolled along a road one day, but it was not that narrow way. I met a stranger. He spoke to me. He said, My child, where goest thou? I said, I seek that road just now to worldly pleasures. Along the way. Turn back, my child, for the way is very steep. The things you'll find out there you cannot keep. The way is filled with thorns and the things you'll find there cheap. Turn back, my child, come home with me. I said, There is so much to see. I cannot turn, I must be free. New fields to conquer as on I go. I never shall forget that day. How sad he looked as he turned away. He bowed his head and dropped a tear. Turn back, my child, for the way is very steep. The things you'll find out there you cannot keep. The way is filled with thorns and the things you'll find there cheap. Turn back, my child, come home with me. And as I journeyed on my way, I stooped to pick a lovely spray, but it was sorrow that looked so gay. And then a dark cloud rolled my way. T'was then I heard my Savior say, Turn back, my child, come home with me. Turn back, my child, for the way is very steep. The things you'll find out there you cannot keep. Turn back, my child, come home with me. And then he gently took my hand. He lifted me from that sinking sand. He said, My child, believe in me. And then such beauty I beheld. I'm sure that I can never tell. Turn back, my child, come home with me. Turn back, my child, for the way is very steep. The things you'll find out there you cannot keep. The way is filled with thorns and the things you'll find are cheap. Turn back, my child, come home with me. Turn back, my child, for the way is very steep. The things you'll find out there you cannot keep. Shall I be condemned forever if I to the Lord draw near?