Earlier in the week, it was my pleasure to talk with you a little bit about five people that found their place very intelligently, selectively. They came to the feet of our Lord Jesus. They're recorded in Luke's Gospel, and they seem to suggest a pattern of spiritual development. We don't want to overemphasize things like that, but there are a number of groupings of five in the Gospel of Luke. For what reason? I am not really sure. The book begins with five songs. There are five rich men that teach us some very valuable lessons on leadership and stewardship. There are five pictures of deliverance from physical diseases that suggest to us that very comprehensive view of the deliverance that God gives us in a spiritual realm. But today we'd like to look a few moments in Luke chapter the two, verse thirty-six, at a woman who is a widow. And as the Lord allows, we think a little bit about these widows that are in Luke's Gospel. I can understand very well why some people call the Gospel according to Luke the woman's Gospel. There are many very sensitive insights, very tender observations that are made by this Greek or at least Gentile physician who has become a believer in our Lord. He seems to have a very real awareness of the exercises of heart and the concerns that a woman would have. And we have drawn to our attention in this Gospel five women that have been widowed. And they suggest some spiritual lessons. Now, if you're fifteen years old and you're not interested, stop talking. But if you are interested, think if it's possible at all. of what the conditions are. There's no retirement benefits for a woman in the Holy Land who is without a husband. There's nothing set up in society. And along with this, there is abundant opportunity for her to enter into wrong patterns of life and be under the temptation to use her attractiveness to gain income until something else is provided. And yet we find our attention drawn here to persons that have had some remarkable dealings with God. And because of that, even though they have suffered hardship, privation, aloneness, they still have a confidence and a trust in God. And it suggests to me that although I will never be a widow, and although I am not in the same role as these persons at that time, there's a very valuable lesson, the path of dependence upon God. The five people at the feet of the Lord Jesus suggested to us the posture of devotion. Real devotion to our Lord and Savior is that submissive attitude where we bow ourselves and seek to honor and esteem and magnify Him. No matter whether you're called to God's service or whether you have extending unusual gifts or whether you're just a modest individual plotting on through life. Well, here we have people. The first one is Anna. Notice in verse thirty-six there was one Anna, a prophetess. the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And she was a widow of about four-score in four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And she, coming in at that instant, gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." It was eight days after the Lord had been brought into this world. Mary and Joseph had come into the temple. Simeon, an aged man, had been taught by God and inspired by God to know that he was not going to die until he had actually held in his arms the Lord's Messiah, the King of Israel. And when he saw them coming in, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he came and cradled that child and had an amazing thing to say to the parents and about that child. A divine insight, and he sings a song of praise and glory to the Lord. But at that time, Anna, a prophetess, Now, way up in the northwestern side of the Holy Land, the tribe of Asher had their property, anywhere from eighty to a hundred and twenty miles away, and she would have come from that area. Down here in the city, she spends all of her time in the temple. She's a prophetess. She's in touch with God. She has the mind of God and the Word of God. When people come to her, Anna knows what it is to speak out the Word of God. But what makes it so unusual is not because she has this enabling, but because she had led a very godly, chaste life all through her youth. And she had preserved herself for the person that God would bring into her life. And she had lived a godly life devoted to the Lord, pious, exercised of heart. And then when they finally had that blessed reunion and coming together as God had planned in their life and the marriage was arranged for them, they lived seven years together. Today, in the thinking of most people, seven years is a rather critical time. It's after seven years that people become rather familiar with one another and maybe take presuming attitudes toward their spouse or partner in life. This woman had lived seven years, had saved herself in a godly way of life, to be married to one individual, and after seven years of marriage, he's taken from her. The circumstances are unimportant, but in the providential dealing of God, she is now widowed, and it appears that she lives either for eighty-four years as a widow or else she lives to be the age of eighty-four. The language itself is kind of difficult to perceive, but there's a definite implication that she is an extremely aged woman. But as near as we can tell, she has spent all that time serving God. Sometimes we go through trials. Nothing quite like losing our spouse. Just a hardship. Just an estrangement. Just some little offense. and it will turn our heart away from serving God. This aged woman has gone through the deepest kind of grief and heartache that a human being can experience, and she still is a prophetess. She is still in fellowship with God. She is still a spokesman to the nation. She has still got the mind of God because she never allowed bereavement to rupture that relationship with her God. And this woman has come down into the temple and there she serves. Now at the age of eighty-four plus, what can she do to serve? She can deprive her frail form from indulgent foods. And when others have the extra party and they put the ice cream inside the Dr. Pepper and get an extra special little float, she deprives herself of that. She fares. For no other reason than to sharpen her spiritual disciplines over her body. And she communes with God. And she spends her time in prayer and fellowship with God. She served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And when she came in and heard Simeon's announcement, she becomes one who praises the Lord. You know, there's a lot of valuable lessons. Do you ever feel like you have had a disappointment in your life? Do you ever feel like you have maybe gone through widowhood? Have you felt like you have been deprived of a loved one? Maybe you're young and feel like God has not provided you with someone to care for you, and there might be a little thread of resistance and callousness against the Lord your God. God brings us through these trying experiences to warm our hearts, to exercise us to be more dependent upon Him, to lean upon Him, and to reach out and call upon Him and bring Him into our lives. She comes in that instance and gives thanks unto the Lord, and then in the present continuous tense, began continually speaking of him to all them that were looking for a redemption in Jerusalem. This woman had been born of God. The reason why we know that is John says that he came unto his own. The Lord Jesus came unto his own, but his own received him not. That is, the nation as a whole received him not. But as many as received Him, people like Anna, who received Him and Simeon, who acknowledged Him, and a little bit later in their lives, other individuals that immediately surrendered and came to Him, that was the testimony that they had been born of God. They were not born of the flesh, and it wasn't a matter of being born of human vitality. They were not born of their own initiative, but the very proof of their spiritual birth that they had been born of God was they received Christ when He came into this world. this woman had been a spiritually alive individual born of God she recognized that this was Messiah and she received it and immediately went out and began to speak of others John declares in one twelve of his book that she now has the right to be called a born one of God a text me on one who has the life of God planted within her and she speaks about him to others Do you talk about the Lord Jesus or do you talk about the heartache you've gone through? I know a few widows and it's a remarkable thing to me how many of them have gone on so well for God. I think it's a remarkable thing that there are so many women in this world that are able to be deprived of physical comforts and pleasures and supports and have somehow learned to cast themselves upon the Lord and make the Lord their husband. Make the Lord the one that would give to them. I think it's an interesting thing that there are so few of us men who are able to do the same. We seem to have other needs that are disproportionate to our desire to be close to Him. And I marvel and I'm thankful for what God has done in the hearts of so many. And I know of a few widows who are so close to the Lord. And during that time of bereavement have been so thrust upon him that they have become so strong for God in a very special way and can minister to the welfare of others. And they may not do it off the top of a great intellectual grasp of doctrines, but they do it from a heart that loves God and has made the Lord real. You and I can start doing that when we are young or any period in our life. we can develop the path of dependence. And this aged woman leaves the temple and knows just where to go in the city of Jerusalem, knows just the people that are ready to hear the message and are looking for redemption. She can't go to the hierarchy in the religious circles and she can't go to the Sadducees and the Pharisees and she can't go to certain clerical people and the scribes, but she knows scattered around just who the believers are. and she goes to them to talk about Jesus. Will you do that in your life? Even in the face of sorrow and bereavement or hardship, will God give you and me the grace to spend time in prayer with him and speak of him to others and talk about the Lord Jesus to others? The path of dependence is one of service for God. Anna was a picture of the remnant of Israel that were ready to receive Messiah, evidence that they had been born of God by the reception of him, just as John tells us. If you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, you have been born of God. It's a testimony of that grand work. And so she went out and began to tell others, service is a wonderful way to heal the wounds of sorrow and loneliness. But now if you would turn over to chapter four, please. We have an altogether different picture. In chapter four, and verse twenty-four, the Lord Jesus is the speaker. He says, Verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country, but I tell you of the truth. Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land, but unto none of them was Elijah sent, save unto Serepta. a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. Many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha, the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, saving Nehemen, the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust them out of the city, and led them out to the brow of the hill, whereon their city was built, that they might cast them down headlong. But he, passing through the midst of them, went his way. Here's another widow. But this widow is unique in that she is a Gentile. She's a great deal of widows in Israel. And the Lord Jesus is introducing to the mind of his listeners that God not only has people in Israel, but after he deals and comes to Israel, he's going to turn to the Gentile. And he's going to open up the door to others. And he uses this as an illustration. And he speaks of the widow in Zarephath. Now, if we turn in our Bibles back to First Kings in chapter seventeen, we read the narrative. And we read about the Elijah coming into the palace, denouncing the king, announcing that there's going to be a drought, and leaving off again, spending a period of time in the wilderness. And then after the drought had been well on its way, he is forced by God to leave from the southeastern side of the nation, all the way up to the northwestern side of the nation, up to a Gentile land. And as he looks around, he can see the terrible waste and the privation and the grief of the unrepentant children of Israel. but he moves up and he comes to a widow. He's been told to go to this widow's house. God urges him to go there, and this widow is a woman of rare and strange faith. She is trusting in the living God. She's a demonstration to us of all those who just have simple faith in God. She's gathering a few sticks. She's going to build a little fire, take the little bit of grain that she has left, make it a little bit of a cake, and she and her only child are going to break that cake in half and eat their last meal. That's all she's going to do, and then die. That's her plight. Have you ever been like that? Have you ever actually been to have nothing else to eat and know you were going to starve to death? Have you ever been so impoverished that you had absolutely nothing to eat and you're going to have your last meal? And there at your gate there's a Hebrew man comes whom she recognizes in some manner. She greets him and he says, what is your circumstance? Well, this is what I'm doing. I'm just going to make this grain. I'm going to make a little cake. My son are going to eat it and then we're going to die. And he says, I have a fine idea. What you ought to do is make that cake. and give me the cake first. Can you imagine the brassness? Can you imagine that? I mean, when those lords first must have ushered out of his mouth, she must have been appalled. Who did this perfect stranger think he was? But he didn't tarry very long. He said, You will feed me first, and then you and your son will feed of that grain and that oil until the Lord sends rain. Well, now, Perfect stranger tells you something like that. Sounds like a clever scheme to get half of a meal, don't you think? But she doesn't think that way. She believes the word that comes from the servant of God. And in simple faith, she goes ahead and does it. She makes the cake, she gives to him, and then she eats. Why, isn't that remarkable? There's a little bit left over. We'll still have enough for tomorrow or a second meal later tonight. And they makes the cake and pours in the oil and the grain. Why, there's still a little bit left over. And as near as we can tell, it must have lasted for about two years. And there they said, meager fare, just about getting by, but consider the faith of the woman who would listen to the word of God and act upon it. When I think of people of faith, And I think of people who have trust, and I read a story like this about that individual, I realize how very little of this kind of confidence that I have. And yet here is a woman that has such trust in God, she will do exactly what the Word of God tells her. And God is faithful to provide for her. If the first widow teaches us to serve in the path of dependence, the second widow teaches us to have faith. and believe the word of God and trust God for his provision. Then our mind goes to chapter seven, if you would. Verse eleven, and it came to pass that day after that he went into a city called Man. Many of his disciples went with him and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And much people of the city was with her. And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the beer that is the coffin, and they that bear him stood still. And he said, Young man, I say unto thee, arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all. And they glorified God, saying, That a great prophet has risen up among us, and that God hath visited this people. Here is a widow who has only one son, and that son dies. She's bereft of every last vestige. She is alone. She's in the middle of this terrible catastrophe. And here she has all the comfort of the crowd around her. They're all supporters. They're all the people that would attend the funeral. They all had a nice quiet word. Some of them might be lamenting, but it doesn't give us a detail about it. Some of them might be grieving and expressing it. But nobody could help her. Where the matter of death is concerned, no one can help but God. And our Lord Jesus Christ never met and came in contact with the dead without raising them. And I have no doubt that he purposely made his way to this city at this occasion to demonstrate his power over death. There's a day coming when our Lord Jesus Christ will raise the dead. And then I will join them. And that which is now corruption will put on incorruption, and I who am mortal will put on immortality, and we're going to be flipped away into the presence of the Lord. That's a glorious anticipation. I'm afraid some of you will be left behind. And I feel for you. And I pray that God will touch your heart and make you aware of your need. But I know that I am going to leave and be changed. But after that there's another day. And the dead shall again be raised. And they shall face a judgment. and give an account of their lives and face the awesome solemn judgment of God God has power over the dead but if there's no other lesson to be learned from this one of the evident lessons is can you imagine the joy of that woman to have God raise her son and give her back to him I am very thankful in a spiritual sense that God has quickened and made alive my children I have a very deep appreciation to the grace of God that He made me alive spiritually. And I trust that each of us realize that it's only God that can command that which is dead to be alive. And we who are dead in trespasses and sins, God, just as He did at original creation, when He commanded the light to shine into the darkness and gave life, then God does the same thing to us. By His marvelous kindness, He speaks the word of truth and illuminates our mind and brings us to spiritual life. And that brings great joy. But for this woman who was widowed, God gave her back her son, and it gave her great joy, I am sure. Great delight. If we learn that the path of dependence is defined from God and give to Him service, and then we have faith in Him, even though our circumstances are so trying, I am sure that He wants us to find our joy in Him. To find our confidence and our happiness in Him. Do you? Do you really find joy in the Lord? Is He your pleasure? There's so many things in this world, so many companionships, so many different things that creep into our lives that take away and dissipate our real affection. It's a nice thing when you really enjoy the Lord and enjoy His company and enjoy the favor and whatever He has bestowed upon us. Now turn back, if you would with me, a little bit farther on in the same gospel, to chapter seventeen. it's the beginning of chapter eighteen and he spake a parable unto them to this end that men ought always to pray and not to faint so now we know what is following is just a story and it's designed to illustrate to us the importance of prayer there was in a city a judge with feared not God neither regarded man and there was a widow in that city and she came unto him saying avenge me of mine adversary And he would not for a while, but afterward he said within himself, No, I fear not God nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleeth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge sayeth. Can you imagine a man installed to be this? for the benefit of people and how callous and indifferent, constantly turning us back. She's only a widow. She can't flip me anything under the desk. She can't give me anything. And that was just about what that political role was. A little achievement, a little something extra, and then you can get your way. But not this woman. She kept persevering and pleading with them and troubling them and says, oh, she's just going to wear me out. Go ahead. I'll find out. I'll see. I'll take care of your problem. That was the only reason why he was motivated that way. But she kept after him, and she pled with him, and she insisted. And then the Lord said, And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? This is a period of time. It's illustrated here regarding a tribulation time. We've seen something of the nation of Israel. We've seen something of the move to the Gentiles. Then we have some practical care and joy in the Lord. And then the Lord directs us through this next experience to see a tribulation time when God's people are going to suffer greatly. But the illustration is even in the tribulation. No matter what your circumstances are, even as a poor widow, what do we do? We plead with God. And if ultimately, because of your persistence, and if ultimately because of your insistence on the unjust judge, he'll finally do what he's supposed to do, will not God answer your prayer more rapidly than that? Will he not come to your defense and meet your need? Do we really believe in prayer at times of need? When we're pressed and have problems, there's no more difficult role in all of the Bible than being a widow at this era of time. And Luke has drawn together five women to teach us the pathway of dependence, whether it's to serve God and find joy in God and have real simple faith and trust in Him and always turn to Him in prayer, reliance upon the Lord. This is what the Lord is looking for. He's looking for your care, your concerns to be rolled back upon himself. And it's hard for some of us to do it. Some of us, when we're young, we've never had the cares or problems. Some of us, when we're older, we just feel weak and frail and don't want to be bothered. When we're young and in the in-between years, we're so strong and healthy, we think we can take care of ourselves and cope with all of our problems. And one of our last things we will do is really pray. and really ask God for our needs. And then when God answers, we're just as apt to forget it the next time and not ask. It's a weakness, a failure. But the widows are teaching us the path of dependence is to serve the Lord. Have faith in your God. Have your joy centered in Him. Have your reliance in Him. Turn to Him in prayer. And then if you would, chapter twenty-one. We have in four verses here the outstanding illustration of devotion to God that I know of in Scripture. And he looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither to might. And he said of a truth, I say unto you, that this widow, this poor widow, hath cast in more than they all. For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God, but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. If you had a dollar, and nothing to eat, and no other resource, no bonds to cash in, nobody to borrow from, all you had was a dollar, how would you work it out? loaf of bread and a quart of milk? No, you can't even buy that much now. A pint of milk and a sandwich maybe in a quick store stand? Would you have a little party and get yourself an ice cream cone? Or would you take that dollar and give it to God? This woman is not a picture of stewardship. This is not careful budgeting. This is not careful concern. This is remarkable devotion to God. Those with the two might, two pennies, the smallest amount that she can have and put them into the offering. But do you notice what God says? Our Lord Jesus Christ does not tell those that are looking on that proportionately, in regards to what you have left over and what her income is, she has given more. He doesn't say that. You see, God is not interested so much in what you give to him. It's how much you have left over for yourself. Some of us do babysitting, and the Lord gets nothing. Some of us have part-time jobs, and the gourd gets very little. Some of us are doing very well, and are fully employed, and the Lord gets a very casual, minimal amount that won't rattle in the offering place. That's not what God is looking for. Here is a woman that is totally dependent upon God. She is just a poor widow, and she goes to the offering and puts in what she has, only two little coins. And she keeps nothing for herself. And out of her absolute poverty, she gives. And God says it's more than the rich men. Now, was it really? Literally more? Of course not. They put in a lot more value and monetary wealth. But God wants you and me to learn the importance of sharing and being willing to give and to share what we have with others. Some of us have a home to share. Some of us have a little bit of a table to share. Some of us have a prayer time that we can share with others. Some of us have a little account that we can minister to others and discreetly give to others. Some of us even who are the recipients of the gifts of others and maybe serving the Lord should turn around and give back to him. we are told by the Lord in chapter sixteen of the same gospel that you and I are to make friends with the mammon of unrighteousness and that when I die and are received into heaven when I fail there will be friends to welcome me there in glory because I have had fellowship with the mission field with the workers of the Lord have touched lives around the world and when they go home to be with the Lord they will be there to meet me and I'll have friends there and then he goes further to say if I can't trust you with money How can I trust you with the gospel? If I can't trust you with whatever is your income, that you're not going to be proportionately a giving believer. Look at this poor soul. What dependence upon God. Now, I don't believe the lesson, and I may show my own weakness here, I don't believe the lesson is that you should leave here and take everything that you brought with you on your vacation and give it away and hope somehow you can get back home. Now there's other portions of Scripture that balance out regarding stewardship, but I do believe that there's a valuable lesson from this poor widow as an example that we can do a little bit more to give to others. If the first widow served God and the second one had faith in God and the third demonstrated real joy in God and then utter reliance in him in prayer for her needs, this one certainly depends, shows a complete total dependence upon God. That's the path of dependence. Why did Luke choose a widow to touch your heart? To cause you and me to think and to say, look at how much God has given me. I have a spouse. I have a family. I have parents. I have wherewithal. I have been so rich and blessed. I really should trust the Lord more. Shall we? Will you? I pray so. Shall we pray? Gracious God, our Father, we are thankful for thy word in the very simple reminder that we need to trust in thee with all of our heart and lean not on our own understanding. In all of our ways help us to acknowledge thee, keep us from being wise in our own eyes, train us to depart from evil. We know it shall be health to our navel and marrow to our bones. Blessed God our Father, use thy word to strengthen us, to encourage those that are indeed widows, to prepare our hearts for some who may experience sorrow,