WHATEVER YOU SAY IS FROM THE LORD

1. Whatever You Say Is From The Lord

a) 1 Kings 17:24 TLB
"[24] Now I (Zarephath widow) know for sure that you (Elijah) are a prophet," she told him afterward, "and that whatever you say is from the Lord!"

b) Can we just say like the widow from Zarephath of a person who claims to be speaking for God?

c) How did she conclude Elijah, a man whom the LORD truly spoke through him?

i) She witnessed two testimonies:

@1. Elijah's prophetic word for the Zarephath widow came to pass.

#1) 1 Kings 17:13-16 TLB
[13] But Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid! Go ahead and cook that 'last meal,' but bake me a little loaf of bread first; and afterwards there will still be enough food for you and your son. [14] For the Lord God of Israel says that there will always be plenty of flour and oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again!" [15] So she did as Elijah said, and she and Elijah and her son continued to eat from her supply of flour and oil as long as it was needed. [16] For no matter how much they used, there was always plenty left in the containers, just as the Lord had promised through Elijah!

@2. Her dead son came back to life.

#1) 1 Kings 17:21-23 TLB
[21] And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried out to the Lord, "O Lord my God, please let this child's spirit return to him." [22] And the Lord heard Elijah's prayer; and the spirit of the child returned, and he became alive again! [23] Then Elijah took him downstairs and gave him to his mother. "See! He's alive!" he beamed.

d) How do we know the prophecy is from the Lord?

i) Deuteronomy 18:21-22 TLB
[21] If you wonder, 'How shall we know whether the prophecy is from the Lord or not?' [22] this is the way to know: If the thing he prophesies doesn't happen, it is not the Lord who has given him the message; he has made it up himself. You have nothing to fear from him.

e) We should test all things

i) 1 John 4:1-3 TLB
[1] Dearly loved friends, don't always believe everything you hear just because someone says it is a message from God: test it first to see if it really is. For there are many false teachers around, [2] and the way to find out if their message is from the Holy Spirit is to ask: Does it really agree that Jesus Christ, God's Son, actually became man with a human body? If so, then the message is from God. [3] If not, the message is not from God but from one who is against Christ, like the "Antichrist" you have heard about who is going to come, and his attitude of enmity against Christ is already abroad in the world.

ii) 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 NKJV
[20] Do not despise prophecies. [21] Test all things; hold fast what is good.