Running on Empty

Well, believe it or not, Easter/Resurrection Sunday is
next Sunday. This year our theme is “Empty”. The
message on Easter Sunday will be built around the
thought that it took an empty cross and an empty
tomb to fill an empty life!
Today, the title of my message is “Running on Empty”
OK, let’s take a little poll.
 Raise your hand if you’ve never run out of gas
while driving.
 OK, How many of you would admit that you have
run out of gas before?
 And how many brave souls would admit to running
out of gas more than once?
I’m going to be honest. The last time I ran out of gas
was only about a year ago. To make things worse I
had been horseback riding and I was pulling a trailer
with 2 horses in it that I had to leave on the side of
the road. I knew I was running low, but the gas
station was less than a mile away and I thought I
could make it.

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I’m surprised that my wife doesn’t run out of gas…
frequently. Guys, how many of you can relate? Your
wife says, “let’s drive my car” and when you crank it
up it’s on empty?
Empty! The word empty is not a positive word. It
stirs up many negative connotations such as, “my life
is empty without you”, “the glass is half empty”,
“my checking account is empty”, “the cookie jar is
empty” or “the refrigerator is empty”. When we
hear the word “empty” we may become panicked,
nervous or, at least concerned or disappointed. Such
was the case when Mary Magdalene and the other
women came to the tomb that first Easter morning.
When they saw that the tomb was empty, they
became panicked and afraid.
But as we shall see next week, the word Empty isn’t
always a bad word. In fact, the empty tomb as a
good thing and as we shall see it took an empty cross
and an Empty Tomb to fill an empty life.
This morning I want us to look at a story found in the
OT where we discover that it took something empty
to fill an empty life.

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[2Ki 4:1-7 NLT] 1 One day the widow of a member of the
group of prophets came to Elisha and cried out, "My
husband who served you is dead, and you know how he
feared the LORD. But now a creditor has come, threatening
to take my two sons as slaves." 2 "What can I do to help
you?" Elisha asked. "Tell me, what do you have in the
house?" "Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil," she
replied. 3 And Elisha said, "Borrow as many empty jars as
you can from your friends and neighbors. 4 Then go into
your house with your sons and shut the door behind you.
Pour olive oil from your flask into the jars, setting each one
aside when it is filled." 5 So she did as she was told. Her
sons kept bringing jars to her, and she filled one after
another. 6 Soon every container was full to the brim! "Bring
me another jar," she said to one of her sons. "There aren't
any more!" he told her. And then the olive oil stopped
flowing. 7 When she told the man of God what had
happened, he said to her, "Now sell the olive oil and pay
your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left
over."
A) In the days of Elisha in One of the “sons of the
prophets” died leaving debts and the creditor
harassed the widow, seeking to sell her two sons as
bondservants to pay the debt.

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* prior to his death she had no worries.
* Everything is going well until death came knocking
on her door and then her whole life was turned upside
down.
She’s grieving her husband
The money runs out and she’s in financial trouble
And now she’s about to lose her sons
B) The cupboards are bare – The bank account has no
money in it.
* The only thing she has left is a little pot of oil –she is
totally empty and feeling hopeless.
I imagine there are some of you in this room today
that can relate to this woman. Either now, or at
some point in your life, you hit rock bottom,
hanging on by a thread, busted and broken,
helpless and hopeless.
* However, she CRIED out to the Prophet Elisha in her
despair and God had an answer for her problem.
* Thank God there is always a way out for a child of
God if we go to God and trust Him.

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Let me share with you several things as we focus on
the word “empty.”
(1) THE REASON FOR THE EMPTINESS
A) Death
Debt
Depression
Desperation
B) These things that this widow went through are the
same things that will bring emptiness in our lives as
well.
Death of a loved one – or fear of death because of
sickness and disease.
Debt – financial trouble
Depression – anxiety – worry – fear – Christians are
not immune
C) She was Empty – Hopeless – Nothing left in the
house except a little (bottle) of oil.
But in that moment she cried out to God
The Bible teaches us to cry out to God in our times of
trouble:

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Psa. 57:2 “I will cry unto God most high;
Psa. 61:2 “From the end of the earth will I cry unto
thee,.......”
* Luke 11:9 “And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be
given you; seek, and .......”
* John 14:14 “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I
will do it.”
* And there’s plenty more where those came from,
but I think you get it.
(2) THE REALITY OF THE EMPTINESS
“Nothing, but a jar of oil”
When the prophet asked her what she had in her
house, she said, “Nothing…Nothing at all…” and then,
perhaps quickened by the Holy Spirit she was
reminded that wasn’t entirely true. There was
something… on the back of that top shelf… something
she had almost completely forgotten about because it
seemed so insignificant, so inadequate, so helpless in
the face of her great need. She had
“Nothing, but a jar of oil” But that was enough!

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A) The source of her provision was already in her
possession.
* what she needed was already in her house – v.2.
I want to tell someone today that what you need is
already in the house! In God’s House! What you
need is already here, right now, if you can just have
enough faith to believe!
* What you need is already in the house ... It may not
look like much, but if God is in it it’s all you need.
 If it’s nothing but a pot of oil, God can multiply
the oil.
 If it’s only a handful of meal in the bottom of the
barrel ... God can make it last to feed a woman
and her son until the drought is passed–1 Kings17.
 If there are only 5 small loaves and 2 fishes when
Jesus blesses it and breaks it, it’ll be enough for
5000+ people.
 God said to Moses, “What is that in your hand?”
and Moses said, “A rod”
What he needed was already in his hand.

F) God is teaching us a lesson

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How little you have doesn’t matter – The only thing
that matters is that you wholly surrender what you
have to God.
3. THE SOLUTION TO THE EMPTINESS
vs 3 "…Borrow as many empty jars as you can from your
friends and neighbors.
You have to get this: The solution to her emptiness
was MORE EMPTINESS!
God was in essence telling her, “You’re not empty
enough.”
* She probably wanted to debate that with God at this
point.
A) To the logical, unbelieving mind, it would appear
silly to get a lot of empty vessels to hold oil when one
didn’t know where the oil was coming from.
Those who get help from God must provide the empty
vessels.
Last week we talked about taking out the garbage:
emptying the trash. If we want to be filled with the
things of God we need to bring Him an empty vessel –
a clean vessel – a clean heart that He can fill with the
Holy Spirit!

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Jesus also tells a story to warn us about the
importance of being filled after we’ve been empty:
[Luke 11:24-26 NLT] 24 "When an evil spirit leaves a
person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But
when it finds none, it says, 'I will return to the person I
came from.' 25 So it returns and finds that its former home
is all swept and in order. 26 Then the spirit finds seven
other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the
person and live there. And so that person is worse off than
before."
It’s not enough to be emptied of all the junk. We
need to be filled with the things of God!
B) For the poor widow to go out and appeal to her
neighbors that she might borrow empty vessels, lots
of empty vessels, would be a real test of her faith.
* Illustrate: “Hello Mrs. Jacobson, may I borrow all
the vessels you can spare?” “I’d like to borrow the
churn, milk pail, vinegar jugs, syrup buckets, water
jars, anything you can spare.”
I can imagine the raised eyebrows of Mrs.
Jacobson ... Surely she is glad to let her widowed
neighbor borrow some empty vessels .......

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* But what in the world is she gonna do with so many?
– Fill them with oil?
But where will the oil come from? – Out of that one
little pot of oil she has?
* Then the explanation ... The prophet of God said
she should get plenty of vessels, and that God would
fill them all, and she could sell enough to pay all of
her debts.
* Some of the neighbors probably laughed at her.
* Another would smile and say, “She’s off her rocker,
she’s lost it.” Some probably insisted that she
shouldn’t listen to that “crazy ole preacher!”
C) And I can imagine that as the widow and her sons
brought all the vessels home to the bare house she
thought, what if…… What if God didn’t come through?
What if the prophet was wrong.
*What If she had to carry all those vessels back and
tell all the curious, gossipy neighbors that after all,
God didn’t furnish oil to fill them all.
BUT SHE HAD FAITH IN GOD And Overcame the Doubts
A) God wants empty vessels – So He can fill ‘em.

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* Some people are not filled with the Holy Spirit ...
Perhaps the reason is that they have not been
emptied of other things.
* The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of
riches.
I’m reminded of the rich young ruler who came to
Jesus seeking eternal life… But he went away sad for
he had “great possessions.”
God kept His promise to this woman. As long as
they brought empty vessels the oil kept flowing,
and it only stopped when they ran out of empty
vessels.
Have you ever wondered if the widow began to 2 nd
guess herself and think: Were there more empty
vessels that I just didn’t find? Oh for more empty, so
that there could be more full!
* May we, like this poor widow woman in the days of
Elisha, get empty vessels and set them down where
God can fill them with oil of the Holy Spirit – Empty
ourselves so we can be filled with
Peace
Joy

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Love
Hope
All the Good things of God.
4. PROVISION OUT OF EMPTINESS
God never promises us that if we put our trust in Him
that He is going to make us rich.
* He never promises that He is going to give us
everything we want.
But He does promise us our Daily Bread. He does
promise that He will supply all our need according to
His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
And when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal
Savior, we have riches beyond what this world can
give.
Conclusion: Musicians Come
7 When she told the man of God what had happened, he
said to her, "Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and
you and your sons can live on what is left over."
A) What is the reason for your emptiness – Death,
debt, disease, despair?

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* Do you desire an experience in Christ? – Now is the
best time to cry out to Him.
* He specializes in the impossible.

B) Bring yourself as an Empty Vessel to God so that He
can fill you with what you need.
C) Oh, that God would fill us with His Spirit – But in
order for Him to fill us, we must be EMPTY
 Empty of Sin
 Empty of Self
 Empty of Substitutes.
 And become an Empty Vessel for God to fill.