WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.320 Read from Scripture tonight. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:12.480 We are reading in 2 Kings chapter 6. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:19.440 2 Kings chapter 6 verses 1 to 23. 00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:29.320 Now, the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, see the place where we dwell under your charge 00:00:29.320 --> 00:00:31.719 is too small for us. 00:00:31.719 --> 00:00:36.759 Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us 00:00:36.759 --> 00:00:38.240 to dwell there. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:40.359 And he answered, Go. 00:00:40.359 --> 00:00:44.039 Then one of them said, Be pleased to go with your servants. 00:00:44.039 --> 00:00:46.320 And he answered, I will go. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:47.960 So he went with them. 00:00:47.960 --> 00:00:51.600 And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. 00:00:51.600 --> 00:00:56.960 But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, Alas, 00:00:56.960 --> 00:00:59.120 my master, it was borrowed. 00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:02.000 And the man of God said, Where did it fall? 00:01:02.000 --> 00:01:05.679 When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the 00:01:05.679 --> 00:01:06.679 iron float. 00:01:06.679 --> 00:01:09.079 And he said, Take it up. 00:01:09.079 --> 00:01:12.759 So he reached out his hand and took it. 00:01:12.759 --> 00:01:18.519 Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with a servant saying, 00:01:18.519 --> 00:01:21.319 At such and such a place shall be my camp. 00:01:21.319 --> 00:01:24.359 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel. 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:28.799 Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there. 00:01:28.799 --> 00:01:33.519 And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:39.079 Thus he used to warn him so that he saved himself there more than once or twice. 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:43.079 And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing. 00:01:43.079 --> 00:01:48.200 And he called his servants and said to them, Will you not show me who of us is for the 00:01:48.200 --> 00:01:49.599 king of Israel? 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:53.000 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king. 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:57.519 But Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you 00:01:57.519 --> 00:01:59.560 speak in your bedroom. 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:05.079 And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him. 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:08.680 It was told him, Behold, he is in Dothan. 00:02:08.680 --> 00:02:13.479 So he sent their horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded 00:02:13.479 --> 00:02:14.479 the city. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:19.960 When the servants of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, Behold, an army 00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:23.560 with horses and chariots was all around the city. 00:02:23.560 --> 00:02:28.199 And the servants said, Alas, my master, what shall we do? 00:02:28.199 --> 00:02:36.120 He said, Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 00:02:36.120 --> 00:02:41.640 Then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. 00:02:41.640 --> 00:02:47.240 So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:50.439 of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 00:02:50.439 --> 00:02:56.199 And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, Please 00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:59.039 strike these people with blindness. 00:02:59.039 --> 00:03:02.680 So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. 00:03:02.680 --> 00:03:06.960 And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, and this is not the city. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:09.439 Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek. 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:11.520 And he led them to Samaria. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:16.280 As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, O Lord, open the eyes of these men that they 00:03:16.280 --> 00:03:17.439 may see. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:22.199 So the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:26.719 As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, My father, shall I strike 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:27.840 them down? 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:29.319 Shall I strike them down? 00:03:29.319 --> 00:03:31.879 He answered, He shall not strike them down. 00:03:31.879 --> 00:03:35.520 Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:36.719 bow? 00:03:36.719 --> 00:03:41.199 Set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their master. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.599 So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them 00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:49.759 away, and they went to their master, and the Syrians did not come again on raids into the 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:51.479 land of Israel. 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:55.359 Amen, this is God's holy word. 00:03:55.359 --> 00:04:01.919 We're finishing our series tonight called The Gospel according to Elisha and Elisha. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:06.000 And if you've been around at all, and even if you haven't, the biggest thing that we've 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:10.319 been trying to say every single week is that there is a very big connection, very important 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:13.680 connection, between the Old Testament and the New Testament. 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:19.040 A very specific connection between Elisha and Elisha in their ministry in the Old Testament 00:04:19.040 --> 00:04:22.879 and John the Baptist in Jesus Christ in the New Testament. 00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:27.400 There's a deep connection, one that God ordained, a pattern. 00:04:27.400 --> 00:04:30.000 And you can see that in several ways. 00:04:30.000 --> 00:04:35.639 When you look at, weeks ago we looked at the transition from Elijah to Elisha, from one 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:42.079 prophet to the next prophet, and there's this theme of succession that God sends His Holy 00:04:42.079 --> 00:04:47.599 Spirit upon Elijah, and then when Elisha comes along, God sends His Holy Spirit upon Elisha. 00:04:47.599 --> 00:04:51.879 And we're told that Elisha had a double portion of the Holy Spirit. 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:57.839 And if you count up all the miraculous deeds that Elisha does, he did 14 miraculous deeds, 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:01.159 some count as many as 16, depending on how you count them. 00:05:01.159 --> 00:05:06.000 And Elijah did eight, so almost double, if not double, and he had a double portion of 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:07.000 the Spirit. 00:05:07.000 --> 00:05:15.279 In chapter 6 verse 1 that Simon just read for us, it says that Elisha had sons of prophets. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:18.519 In other words, it's saying Elisha actually had disciples. 00:05:18.519 --> 00:05:22.879 So Elijah had a few, but very consistently in Elisha's ministry, there's a following 00:05:22.879 --> 00:05:23.879 around Elisha. 00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:24.879 He has disciples. 00:05:24.879 --> 00:05:25.959 He's got the sons of the prophets. 00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:29.399 That's a way of saying disciples that followed him. 00:05:29.399 --> 00:05:36.240 And then you look at the New Testament, and you see Elijah and John the Baptist. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:42.240 And when the angel of the Lord comes to announce the birth of John the Baptist, the pregnancy 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:47.879 of Elizabeth, he says, John the Baptist, this baby that you're about to have is going to 00:05:47.879 --> 00:05:51.000 come in the spirit and power of Elijah. 00:05:51.000 --> 00:05:54.840 So at the very beginning, before John the Baptist is ever born, there's a real connection 00:05:54.840 --> 00:05:57.120 between Elijah and John the Baptist. 00:05:57.120 --> 00:06:02.720 And then we read in Malachi, one of the prophets, chapter 4 verses 5 and 6, one day before the 00:06:02.720 --> 00:06:06.480 day of the Lord comes, Elijah will come again. 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:09.320 And there it is, Luke 1.17 and John the Baptist. 00:06:09.320 --> 00:06:14.680 Elijah comes again, this forerunner of the Messiah that announces the way of the Lord. 00:06:14.680 --> 00:06:18.320 And if you read the stories really carefully, you'll see, you know, Elijah was a man of 00:06:18.320 --> 00:06:19.320 the wilderness. 00:06:19.320 --> 00:06:24.960 He lived many years away from society, eating food that God brought him in the wilderness. 00:06:24.960 --> 00:06:29.800 John the Baptist, many years in the wilderness, eating the food that God provides for him 00:06:29.800 --> 00:06:32.080 away from society. 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:40.439 And then when you get to Jesus, you know, Elijah, Elijah passes his role as prophet to 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:42.120 Elisha Howe. 00:06:42.120 --> 00:06:48.680 Elisha crosses the Jordan River, he crosses over the Jordan River through the water, and 00:06:48.680 --> 00:06:51.560 then the spirit falls upon him. 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:55.279 And when the new Elijah, John the Baptist encounters Jesus Christ for the first time, 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:56.279 what does he do? 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:59.639 Jesus goes down into the Jordan River. 00:06:59.639 --> 00:07:03.319 He goes down under the waters of the Jordan River in his baptism, and when he comes up, 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:04.319 what happens? 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:05.560 The spirit falls upon him. 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:12.399 And you see this deep connection between Elisha, Elijah, and John the Baptist, and Elisha, 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:15.399 and Jesus Christ. 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:20.560 Bruce Waltke, one New Testament scholar, he says that when you look at even the miraculous 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:25.079 deeds performed across these prophets and then by Jesus, this is what he writes, he 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:31.000 says, both Elisha and Jesus, quote, cleanse lepers, I won't read you all the passage references 00:07:31.000 --> 00:07:32.959 because that would take us too long. 00:07:32.959 --> 00:07:39.719 Cleanse lepers heal the sick, defy gravity, reverse death by raising sons and restoring 00:07:39.719 --> 00:07:41.439 them to their mothers. 00:07:41.439 --> 00:07:44.879 They both help widows in desperate circumstances. 00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:49.360 They are both kinsmen redeemers to save people from slavery. 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:50.799 They both feed the hungry. 00:07:50.799 --> 00:07:52.959 They both minister to the Gentiles. 00:07:52.959 --> 00:07:56.120 They both prepare and sit at the table with sinners. 00:07:56.120 --> 00:07:58.079 They both lead captives. 00:07:58.079 --> 00:08:01.719 They both have a covetous, treacherous disciple. 00:08:01.719 --> 00:08:09.519 Elisha had Gihazi and Jesus Christ Judas, and both in their lives in a life-giving tomb 00:08:09.519 --> 00:08:12.199 from which people run away. 00:08:12.199 --> 00:08:13.560 There's a deep connection. 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:18.519 Yet, Elisha dies and his bones are buried in Israel. 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:21.359 And Jesus Christ dies and lives again. 00:08:21.360 --> 00:08:24.400 Elisha was just a man anointed by the Spirit. 00:08:24.400 --> 00:08:28.439 Jesus Christ is the Son of God anointed by the Spirit. 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:31.840 Elisha's ministry ultimately ends in failure. 00:08:31.840 --> 00:08:34.639 Jesus Christ's ministry ultimately succeeds. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:40.440 Jesus Christ, the point of the series, Jesus Christ is the new and better Elisha, meaning 00:08:40.440 --> 00:08:43.320 that the Old Testament is ultimately all about Jesus. 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.960 That's what we've been learning throughout the series. 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:51.960 And so when you read 2 Kings 6 and you have that in mind, the thing that we've been talking 00:08:51.960 --> 00:08:56.040 about, one of the things you can do is learn more about the gospel. 00:08:56.040 --> 00:09:01.879 You can go to the Old Testament and learn about the gospel in the New Testament. 00:09:01.879 --> 00:09:06.280 And in the passage we just read, we really just get one new image, one new way of understanding 00:09:06.280 --> 00:09:10.200 the gospel through the story of Elisha and Elisha. 00:09:10.200 --> 00:09:13.200 And that's the problem of human blindness. 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:14.400 It's the problem of sight. 00:09:14.400 --> 00:09:16.360 It's the problem of spiritual blindness. 00:09:16.360 --> 00:09:17.600 And so that's what we're going to see. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:18.919 Let's think about that together. 00:09:18.919 --> 00:09:24.320 We learn here about the problem of spiritual blindness, about the grace that all of us 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:29.240 need in the light of that and how to live in the spirit-filled life. 00:09:29.240 --> 00:09:33.240 So the problem of spiritual blindness. 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:43.159 Now in verse 8, the second half of the passage, the king of Syria is at war with Israel, the 00:09:43.159 --> 00:09:46.320 northern part of the country. 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:51.200 And what's happening is that the king of Syria keeps taking part of his army and going down 00:09:51.200 --> 00:09:54.800 into Israel, Samaria area. 00:09:54.800 --> 00:09:59.720 And he keeps attacking, he keeps trying to attack little bitty places across Samaria. 00:09:59.720 --> 00:10:06.000 And every single time the king of Israel knows about it, every single time the king of Israel 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:08.600 has already maneuvered in the right way. 00:10:08.600 --> 00:10:13.320 So they're playing a game of chess and the king of Syria keeps losing. 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:19.280 And so in verse 11, he brings all of his advisors in his court together and says, how in the 00:10:19.280 --> 00:10:26.160 world is it that the king of Israel is able to move his men every single time the night 00:10:26.160 --> 00:10:28.200 before I attack? 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:33.440 And he says, which one of you guys in this room are telling the Israelites all of my 00:10:33.440 --> 00:10:35.520 moves? 00:10:35.520 --> 00:10:38.640 And they say, none of us are doing that. 00:10:38.639 --> 00:10:45.199 And instead, they say, Elisha knows everything you're going to do before you ever do it. 00:10:45.199 --> 00:10:50.159 And the reason we're told in the passage is because Elisha has the power, the spirit. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:55.879 So God has given Elisha the spirit and power knowledge of everything that the king of Syria 00:10:55.879 --> 00:10:57.240 is doing. 00:10:57.240 --> 00:10:58.840 And there's a bit of humor here. 00:10:58.840 --> 00:10:59.840 They take it so far. 00:10:59.840 --> 00:11:04.240 They say, Elisha knows every single word that you say in your bedroom. 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:05.240 That's what they say. 00:11:05.240 --> 00:11:11.639 And every word you say in your private chambers, Elisha knows about it. 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:14.840 And that's why we can't do anything to the people of Israel. 00:11:14.840 --> 00:11:17.639 They keep thwarting us at every single turn. 00:11:17.639 --> 00:11:22.320 And so naturally, the king of Syria says, we've got to kill that guy. 00:11:22.320 --> 00:11:27.159 And so the king of Syria takes his men and he goes down to the city of Dothan where Elisha 00:11:27.159 --> 00:11:30.000 is living and staying there in a tent. 00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:33.039 And it's the early morning. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:34.759 Elisha wakes up. 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:36.000 He comes out of his tent. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:38.120 It's breakfast time. 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:45.159 And they're surrounding the entire city is the king of Syria and his whole army. 00:11:45.159 --> 00:11:50.279 And it's Elisha and it's Elisha's servant, one of his followers with him. 00:11:50.279 --> 00:11:54.559 And immediately the servant says, we are done for. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:56.120 We've got no chance. 00:11:56.120 --> 00:12:01.200 The entire army of Syria has surrounded us because they're coming to kill you. 00:12:01.200 --> 00:12:05.280 And that's when we see something very powerful happen. 00:12:05.280 --> 00:12:12.759 Elisha then prays down in verse 16 and 17, Lord, he says, Lord, open the eyes of my friend 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:16.640 here that he could see what I see. 00:12:16.640 --> 00:12:20.680 And the Lord opens the eyes of Elisha's follower, his friend. 00:12:20.680 --> 00:12:24.879 And all of a sudden it says that he sees a myriad of angelic hosts. 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:30.360 He sees a holy army, God's army, the supernatural army. 00:12:30.360 --> 00:12:33.480 People to the regular natural eye standing there. 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:35.320 And he says, you don't have to be afraid. 00:12:35.320 --> 00:12:40.399 Right now we are surrounded by the host of the Lord. 00:12:40.399 --> 00:12:49.600 And that means that though Elisha's servant is an Israelite, though he's part of the covenant 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:55.039 people of God, he is blind to the supernatural. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.320 He doesn't have the eyes to see what Elisha can see. 00:12:57.320 --> 00:13:04.160 You see, the man that's been anointed by the Holy Spirit can see something that the man 00:13:04.160 --> 00:13:06.120 next to him cannot see. 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:08.960 And it's the reality of the supernatural. 00:13:08.960 --> 00:13:13.600 And right after that, the men of Syria do attack Elisha. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:15.280 They do try to attack the city. 00:13:15.280 --> 00:13:20.760 And Elisha prays again and he says, Lord, will you strike that army with blindness? 00:13:20.760 --> 00:13:23.400 And immediately the army goes blind. 00:13:23.399 --> 00:13:28.159 And in fact, it goes so far as Elisha says, you're looking for the wrong guy. 00:13:28.159 --> 00:13:29.720 Let me lead you elsewhere. 00:13:29.720 --> 00:13:31.720 We'll come back to that in just a second. 00:13:31.720 --> 00:13:32.720 They go blind to. 00:13:32.720 --> 00:13:34.039 Now look, what's the point? 00:13:34.039 --> 00:13:36.199 The point is this. 00:13:36.199 --> 00:13:44.159 The Israelite man, Elisha's follower and servant, he is blind to the things of the Lord. 00:13:44.159 --> 00:13:45.559 He can't see. 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:47.039 He doesn't have supernatural sight. 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:49.199 He doesn't have the vision. 00:13:49.199 --> 00:13:50.439 He's got spiritual blindness. 00:13:50.440 --> 00:13:54.720 And then immediately the soldiers of Syria are struck with blindness, very physical, 00:13:54.720 --> 00:13:56.120 physically struck. 00:13:56.120 --> 00:13:57.120 They can't see. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:14:03.960 And in both these cases, what we have is real history where something physical, physical 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:10.040 blindness is pointing in the passage to a spiritual reality. 00:14:10.040 --> 00:14:13.640 And this happens all throughout the Bible, that real history, real events in the Old 00:14:13.640 --> 00:14:19.800 Testament because God is the author of the Old Testament is pointing to spiritual realities 00:14:19.799 --> 00:14:23.399 that are deeper and greater than the physical. 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:28.599 And when you see blindness on the Israelite side and blindness on the Syrian side, the 00:14:28.599 --> 00:14:32.199 message is everybody's blind. 00:14:32.199 --> 00:14:33.399 Everybody's spiritually blind. 00:14:33.399 --> 00:14:34.399 Nobody can see. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:35.719 Nobody can see the supernatural. 00:14:35.719 --> 00:14:37.679 Nobody can really see what's going on. 00:14:37.679 --> 00:14:38.919 They're blind. 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:43.079 Whether you're an Israelite or you're a Gentile, it's saying you have a problem and that problem 00:14:43.079 --> 00:14:45.159 is deep spiritual blindness. 00:14:45.159 --> 00:14:48.879 Now that's the condition of the human heart. 00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:54.759 And there are several ways I think this passage pulls out for us our spiritual blindness. 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:58.439 One is the young man. 00:14:58.439 --> 00:15:02.240 He can't see the army of the Lord all around him. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:04.200 We are modern people. 00:15:04.200 --> 00:15:08.080 And because we're modern people, every single one of us naturally by conditioning them by 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:10.879 culture, we're empiricists. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:15.759 We go out into the world and though even as Christians, we confess that we believe in 00:15:15.759 --> 00:15:16.759 the supernatural. 00:15:16.759 --> 00:15:20.279 We actually really struggle to believe in the supernatural. 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:25.279 And we can't see with spiritual eyes the reality of the invisible world all around us. 00:15:25.279 --> 00:15:29.720 This gives me the opportunity to bring up my favorite missionary biography. 00:15:29.720 --> 00:15:38.600 When I was in America, I found out when I moved here that I mispronounced his name for 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:39.600 years and years. 00:15:39.600 --> 00:15:44.080 John Patton, I always said, and now I know it's John Payton. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:48.440 John Payton, the missionary from Glasgow, Scottish missionary. 00:15:48.440 --> 00:15:55.320 John Payton, he was sent from Scotland in the 19th century to the New Hebrides. 00:15:55.320 --> 00:15:59.120 And you can read his wonderful biography of his journey there. 00:15:59.120 --> 00:16:01.920 And he was in the South Pacific. 00:16:01.920 --> 00:16:06.600 And when he got there, he and his family were attacked one night by some of the indigenous 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:09.360 peoples in the South Pacific. 00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:13.640 And they were inside their home and they were deadly afraid because they knew that there 00:16:13.639 --> 00:16:15.639 were men outside trying to kill them. 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:19.559 And he writes that they feared at least their house being burned to the ground. 00:16:19.559 --> 00:16:23.439 And if not more than actually being killed by the sword. 00:16:23.439 --> 00:16:24.840 Nothing ever happened. 00:16:24.840 --> 00:16:26.120 They slept that night. 00:16:26.120 --> 00:16:27.360 They woke up the next day. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:28.360 They were okay. 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:29.679 No one was there. 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:36.159 And a year later, Payton writes that the chief of one of the indigenous tribes in the area 00:16:36.159 --> 00:16:39.039 came to faith in Jesus about a year later. 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:45.000 And they sat down and that chief told him, it was me and my men that came for you that 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:46.639 night. 00:16:46.639 --> 00:16:50.759 And that night when we came for you, we wanted to kill you. 00:16:50.759 --> 00:16:56.399 And we were stopped because when we came to your house, we saw all these men and shined, 00:16:56.399 --> 00:17:00.759 quote, he says, shining garments, carrying swords. 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:05.920 Now as modern people, we read about that and you say, you know, I don't know because we're 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:07.920 empiricists. 00:17:07.920 --> 00:17:12.440 And one of the things this passage tells us is that by our condition, we are blind. 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:13.440 We're blind. 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:14.440 We're spiritually blind. 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:17.840 And that means we're blind to the reality of the supernatural. 00:17:17.840 --> 00:17:20.200 Do you believe in the invisible realm? 00:17:20.200 --> 00:17:21.480 It's as real as the visible. 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:22.640 It's as real as the natural. 00:17:22.640 --> 00:17:24.000 That's what the Bible teaches. 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:28.880 The second way I think this passage tells us we're blind is we're blind also to all the 00:17:28.880 --> 00:17:32.440 things that God is doing in the world at any given time. 00:17:32.440 --> 00:17:33.440 Right? 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:39.440 So this servant, he just cannot see what God is up to in this moment. 00:17:39.440 --> 00:17:42.559 And Elisha prays for him and he gets the eyes to see. 00:17:42.559 --> 00:17:48.519 And because of our condition and because of our finitude, it's important that we all recognize 00:17:48.519 --> 00:17:53.279 tonight that we are blind and we must be. 00:17:53.279 --> 00:17:54.279 We're just humans. 00:17:54.279 --> 00:17:58.559 We're blind to all the myriad of ways that God is working at any given moment in any 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:03.400 given situation, that there are thousands of ways God is at work. 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:07.680 Billions, billions, trillions, we heard about the galaxies tonight. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:11.280 Billions and trillions of ways that God is at work in every moment that we can never 00:18:11.280 --> 00:18:13.320 see, that we can never know. 00:18:13.320 --> 00:18:17.840 You might be going through the darkest time and you don't know. 00:18:17.840 --> 00:18:19.640 You don't know all that God's doing. 00:18:19.640 --> 00:18:22.759 But what we're told here is that God is doing something. 00:18:22.759 --> 00:18:23.759 He's doing so much. 00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:27.759 And sometimes it takes years and years and years until you can look back and say, this 00:18:27.759 --> 00:18:29.080 was the hardest moment of my life. 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:34.359 But now I look back and say, I can see the traces, the patterns of what God must have 00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:36.559 been doing in my life. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:40.399 The suffering that came to me, I now see what it did for me. 00:18:40.399 --> 00:18:42.240 It changed me forever. 00:18:42.240 --> 00:18:47.240 God is doing so much and we can't see it, not with our human eyes and our blind eyes. 00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:51.159 And then the third thing, and this is the most important, the passage I think is really 00:18:51.159 --> 00:18:56.639 emphasizing more than anything, that because of our moral condition, because we are lost 00:18:56.640 --> 00:19:02.400 and our sins and trespasses, Ephesians 4, Paul puts it like this, our hearts are darkened. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:08.520 We can't see God Himself. 00:19:08.520 --> 00:19:09.720 Paul says it even stronger. 00:19:09.720 --> 00:19:14.720 He says we actually don't want to see that that's the condition of the human heart. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:24.360 One preacher that I heard teach on a passage similar to this once pointed out the blindness 00:19:24.360 --> 00:19:26.240 of our blindness. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:28.000 You'll see this in verse 19. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:36.400 In verse 19, Elisha, he strikes the soldiers with blindness and then he tells them, this 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:37.519 is not the way. 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:39.799 You've not come to the right city. 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:40.799 Follow me. 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:43.120 I'll bring you to the guy you were looking for. 00:19:43.120 --> 00:19:46.720 So Elisha prays and they're struck with blindness and he says, you haven't come to the right 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:47.720 place. 00:19:47.720 --> 00:19:48.720 You don't have the right guy. 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:49.880 Let me show you the other way. 00:19:49.880 --> 00:19:53.640 And Elisha himself actually leads them to a different city. 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:57.880 And so there's a sense in this, the commentators say that they're struck with blindness yet 00:19:57.880 --> 00:19:59.080 they can see. 00:19:59.080 --> 00:20:01.560 You know, they say, okay, well, we'll follow you. 00:20:01.560 --> 00:20:02.560 Take us to the right city. 00:20:02.560 --> 00:20:06.560 In other words, it's not so much that they can't see with their physical eyes. 00:20:06.560 --> 00:20:11.520 It's that somehow God has blocked them from being able to see that Elisha is the man they've 00:20:11.520 --> 00:20:12.640 come for. 00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:14.800 And so he leads them to the next city. 00:20:14.800 --> 00:20:19.480 And it's, you see, in other words, it's not saying that we don't think we can see. 00:20:19.480 --> 00:20:23.360 You know, they all thought, you see, in other words, they all thought they could see. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:25.759 They thought, yeah, take us to the right place. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:26.879 We can see the right man. 00:20:26.879 --> 00:20:27.879 We can go to the right place. 00:20:27.879 --> 00:20:30.679 We'll strike the right city and we'll win. 00:20:30.679 --> 00:20:34.359 And in the same way Ephesians 4, our hearts are darkened. 00:20:34.359 --> 00:20:37.679 It's not as, you see, we're blind to our blindness. 00:20:37.679 --> 00:20:39.039 We don't actually know it. 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:40.039 That's the human condition. 00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:45.359 When we're born, we don't, we live our life and we can't actually see the blindness that 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:47.199 we actually have. 00:20:47.199 --> 00:20:53.079 And Martin Luther, following Augustine long before him, he called this being curved in 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:55.279 on oneself. 00:20:55.279 --> 00:20:57.759 It's like you've got a magnifying glass pointed at your own self. 00:20:57.759 --> 00:20:59.599 It's another way of saying pride. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:01.359 You see, what is spiritual blindness? 00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:03.759 What does it mean to be darkened and hard? 00:21:03.759 --> 00:21:08.039 And the way the Bible teaches us is it just says it's just to be prideful. 00:21:08.039 --> 00:21:09.839 It's to be curved in on yourself. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:11.480 It's to think, what is spiritual blindness? 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:15.079 It's just to think, this life is about me. 00:21:15.079 --> 00:21:17.119 It's about my achievements and my successes. 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:21.000 And that's spiritual darkness and spiritual blindness. 00:21:21.000 --> 00:21:29.640 Jesus Christ in John chapter nine, he says, for judgment I have come into this world so 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:35.680 that the blind might see and those who see might be made blind. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:41.000 And when he said that, the Pharisees were so angry and they were so upset. 00:21:41.000 --> 00:21:42.000 Why? 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:44.200 Because they knew what he was saying. 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:49.359 He was telling us in that moment about the condition that we all need for stepping out 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:51.479 of spiritual blindness. 00:21:51.479 --> 00:21:55.119 He said, I've come into the world so that the blind might see and that those who see 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:57.319 might become blind. 00:21:57.319 --> 00:21:58.319 What did he mean? 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:03.479 He meant that I've come so that everybody would understand that the most important 00:22:03.479 --> 00:22:08.719 step you can take towards spiritual sight is actually realizing you're blind. 00:22:08.719 --> 00:22:12.599 And he was saying to the Pharisees, you know, your problem is that you think you have spiritual 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:15.000 insight, insight, but you're blind. 00:22:15.000 --> 00:22:20.359 You see, I've come to make those who know they're blind to give them sight. 00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:24.160 And I've come to make those who think they have sight realize that they're blind. 00:22:24.160 --> 00:22:29.720 You see, the condition of the heart, he's saying, to break through, to no longer be 00:22:29.720 --> 00:22:35.039 spiritually blind, to have sight is not pride, but it's humility. 00:22:35.039 --> 00:22:38.720 It's to say before the Lord, I know that I can't see. 00:22:38.720 --> 00:22:42.680 It's to be aware of our personal blindness before all things spiritual. 00:22:42.680 --> 00:22:46.600 And secondly, that leads us then to the grace we need. 00:22:46.600 --> 00:22:52.759 Now, Elisha leads these guys away from the city that they were trying to attack. 00:22:52.759 --> 00:22:55.080 He leads them away from himself. 00:22:55.080 --> 00:23:00.799 And then in verse 19, he takes them to Samaria. 00:23:00.799 --> 00:23:04.240 Samaria is where the king of Israel lives at this time. 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:07.240 Samaria is where the army of Israel is encamped. 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:12.200 And so when Elisha strikes them with blindness, he takes them to the very place where his 00:23:12.200 --> 00:23:14.920 own army is stationed. 00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:19.600 So when he prays again and he says, Lord, give them sight again, they can now all of a 00:23:19.600 --> 00:23:21.240 sudden see where they are. 00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:26.559 And there they are standing before the army of Israel. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:33.680 Then the king of Israel says, all right, thank you, Elisha, shall I kill them all? 00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:39.000 And the king of Israel prepares to kill every single one of these Syrians that Elisha has 00:23:39.000 --> 00:23:41.440 led to the king of Israel. 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:42.960 And what does Elisha do? 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:45.480 Elisha says, do not kill them. 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:47.360 You see, the king of Israel wants to kill them. 00:23:47.360 --> 00:23:52.080 And the prophet who's called here, the man of God says, do not kill them. 00:23:52.080 --> 00:23:56.799 And he says, you know, would you, if you go into battle, if you go into war and you win 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:00.880 and you take all these prisoners of war with you, would you slaughter them? 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:02.160 That's what he asked him, would you kill them? 00:24:02.160 --> 00:24:03.960 And he says, of course, you shouldn't. 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:04.960 That's unjust. 00:24:04.960 --> 00:24:05.960 So don't kill them. 00:24:05.960 --> 00:24:08.799 But that's the question he asks the king of Israel. 00:24:08.799 --> 00:24:11.000 But he takes it farther. 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:13.200 So he says, don't kill them. 00:24:13.200 --> 00:24:14.920 They're prisoners of war. 00:24:14.920 --> 00:24:20.000 And then he says, instead, bring bread and water for them. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:25.680 And once they're nourished and fed, send them back to their own master. 00:24:25.680 --> 00:24:28.119 Now look, the king of Israel wants to kill them. 00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:33.240 The man of God takes these blind men. 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:36.960 And he gives them bread and he gives them drink. 00:24:36.960 --> 00:24:41.360 And once they're nourished, he sets the prisoner free. 00:24:41.360 --> 00:24:42.360 That's his response. 00:24:42.360 --> 00:24:44.319 That's the man of God's response. 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:52.160 And you see that the man of God, the prophet, he bestows grace upon blind people. 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:55.880 He comes to give grace to the blind. 00:24:55.880 --> 00:25:01.279 In Luke 9 and 54, there's this really interesting moment where Jesus Christ goes to Samaria, 00:25:01.279 --> 00:25:06.360 this very place that Elisha had led the Syrian prisoners, the Syrian army. 00:25:06.359 --> 00:25:08.279 He goes to Samaria. 00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:12.599 And when he gets to Samaria, all the people reject Jesus. 00:25:12.599 --> 00:25:14.919 They won't welcome him into the city. 00:25:14.919 --> 00:25:20.919 And his disciples say, shall we call the fire down from heaven upon all these people and 00:25:20.919 --> 00:25:22.559 kill them? 00:25:22.559 --> 00:25:26.039 And Jesus says, no. 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:31.599 And you see, immediately you learn when you are standing before the man of God, a man 00:25:31.599 --> 00:25:35.599 who has been endowed by the Holy Spirit, that is a person. 00:25:35.599 --> 00:25:39.959 The Messiah is so full of grace when human beings aren't. 00:25:39.959 --> 00:25:41.319 The king of Israel wants to kill them. 00:25:41.319 --> 00:25:42.519 Elisha says, no. 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:44.919 The disciples want to kill all the people of Samaria. 00:25:44.919 --> 00:25:47.879 And Jesus says, no. 00:25:47.879 --> 00:25:55.659 And Elisha said, give them, give the prisoner, give the blind man instead bread and water 00:25:55.659 --> 00:25:57.199 and set them free. 00:25:57.199 --> 00:26:02.039 And Jesus Christ says, I will give you bread and wine and I will make you see and I will 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:03.039 set you free. 00:26:03.039 --> 00:26:07.559 And you see, Jesus Christ is the new and better Elisha. 00:26:07.559 --> 00:26:12.119 And that means that what every single person, every single one of us needs tonight is just, 00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:13.119 is quite simple. 00:26:13.119 --> 00:26:15.960 It's an encounter with Jesus Christ. 00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:18.639 Because he gives sight to the blind. 00:26:18.639 --> 00:26:20.399 He sets the prisoner free. 00:26:20.399 --> 00:26:24.639 He gives bread and he gives wine and he sends you on your way. 00:26:24.639 --> 00:26:29.519 And one of the best examples of this, I think, that we can learn from in the New Testament 00:26:29.519 --> 00:26:34.200 is what happened to Paul, also called Saul. 00:26:34.200 --> 00:26:35.920 You remember the apostle Paul? 00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:39.400 He was murdering Christians. 00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:41.839 He was blind. 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:49.279 And he was on the road to Damascus and the road, by the way, to Syria itself. 00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:51.839 And all of a sudden, Jesus encountered him. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:54.319 And what happened when Jesus came to Saul? 00:26:54.319 --> 00:26:58.680 Saul was riding on a horse and Saul got knocked off his horse. 00:26:58.680 --> 00:27:02.920 And the text says that it was light that knocked him off the horse. 00:27:02.920 --> 00:27:07.680 It was the light of Jesus Christ that entered his life that knocked him off the horse. 00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:12.080 And immediately when Saul encountered the light, he became blind. 00:27:12.080 --> 00:27:14.880 Not only spiritually, it's not just that he was spiritually blind. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:17.039 He literally became physically blind in that moment. 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:23.200 And you see, his physical blindness was a testimony to his spiritual blindness. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:26.200 And for days, for several days, he was blind. 00:27:26.200 --> 00:27:27.200 Why? 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:30.519 Because he was having to learn his condition. 00:27:30.519 --> 00:27:32.880 He was having to learn that he was curved in on himself. 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:37.400 He was having to learn, in this encounter with Jesus, that he was prideful and that 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:42.240 he needed humility and that he needed to give up and that he needed to give his life away 00:27:42.240 --> 00:27:43.880 to Jesus Christ. 00:27:43.880 --> 00:27:48.840 He needed to learn that Jesus Christ is the only one who can give sight to the blind. 00:27:48.840 --> 00:27:53.680 Now, lastly, that leads us then to the spirit-filled life. 00:27:53.680 --> 00:27:59.360 Let me just ask a question, how do you get this light in your life? 00:27:59.360 --> 00:28:02.160 How do you move from blindness to light? 00:28:02.160 --> 00:28:07.759 Maybe for the first time, maybe as a step of growth and Christian maturity in your life. 00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:14.400 True sight, this whole series, true sight depends on an encounter with Jesus. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:17.600 It depends on an encounter with the Holy Spirit. 00:28:17.600 --> 00:28:22.400 You know, it's the Holy Spirit that brought the power to Elijah and Elisha. 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:26.560 It's the Holy Spirit that came down upon Jesus Christ and it's the Holy Spirit that 00:28:26.560 --> 00:28:29.960 Christ sins to give sight to the blind. 00:28:29.960 --> 00:28:33.840 That means that every single one of us need to meet the Holy Spirit. 00:28:33.840 --> 00:28:38.040 We need the Holy Spirit to come to us if we're going to see. 00:28:38.040 --> 00:28:44.240 My previous pastor, my previous minister, David Strain, who some of you know, he's from Glasgow 00:28:44.240 --> 00:28:46.759 originally. 00:28:46.759 --> 00:28:54.160 Several years ago, he was telling me once about how so many people had said to him, 00:28:54.160 --> 00:28:58.519 a person had said to him and many people had said to him, something like this, you know, 00:28:58.519 --> 00:29:06.599 I sat under your preaching and your teaching for so many years and I never really listened 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:11.000 and he said, you know, gee, thanks, I appreciate that. 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:12.000 So kind. 00:29:12.000 --> 00:29:15.839 He said, you know, I sat under your teaching, I sat under your preaching for so many years, 00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:17.799 I didn't really listen. 00:29:17.799 --> 00:29:26.599 And then they said, and then one day it was as if I could see something. 00:29:26.599 --> 00:29:30.319 You know, it was as if I didn't know, for so many years I didn't know my need. 00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:34.879 And then all of a sudden one day I heard one sermon from you and it was like my life had 00:29:34.879 --> 00:29:35.879 been changed. 00:29:35.879 --> 00:29:37.679 It had been transformed. 00:29:37.679 --> 00:29:39.839 And you know, what happened? 00:29:39.839 --> 00:29:42.240 That person had an encounter with the Holy Spirit. 00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:44.480 The Spirit came to them. 00:29:44.480 --> 00:29:50.279 And the prophecies, the prophet Elijah and Elijah's story tells us through Jesus that 00:29:50.279 --> 00:29:52.480 every single one of us needs the Holy Spirit. 00:29:52.480 --> 00:29:53.480 We need the Holy Spirit. 00:29:53.480 --> 00:29:54.480 And what can you do? 00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:55.960 You say the wind blows where it wishes. 00:29:55.960 --> 00:29:57.599 What can I do with that? 00:29:57.599 --> 00:30:00.440 If I need the Holy Spirit, what am I to do today? 00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:02.400 And the answer is from Ephesians 1. 00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:08.279 You know, Paul in Ephesians 1 says, I'm going to pray for Ephesus. 00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:10.039 I'm going to pray for the people in Ephesus. 00:30:10.039 --> 00:30:11.039 And what does he pray? 00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:16.639 I pray for all of you that the eyes of your heart would be enlightened by the Holy Spirit. 00:30:16.639 --> 00:30:21.759 You know, Paul actually prayed that the Holy Spirit would come into his life. 00:30:21.759 --> 00:30:25.879 And he prayed that the Holy Spirit would come into the lives of the people he cared for. 00:30:25.879 --> 00:30:29.680 And you today can pray that the Holy Spirit will come to your life. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:35.200 And that the Holy Spirit would either change your life tonight for the first time or grow 00:30:35.200 --> 00:30:36.200 you up. 00:30:36.200 --> 00:30:40.319 That's what Paul's talking about there in Ephesians 1, into spiritual maturity. 00:30:40.319 --> 00:30:42.559 How do you know if you have that? 00:30:42.559 --> 00:30:44.599 How do you know if the Spirit's coming into your life? 00:30:44.599 --> 00:30:47.359 How do you know if that light has struck you? 00:30:47.359 --> 00:30:51.839 How do you know if you're growing in spiritual maturity because of the Holy Spirit's work 00:30:51.839 --> 00:30:52.839 in your life? 00:30:52.839 --> 00:30:59.200 So let me finish with this story we read right at the beginning about this ax head. 00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:03.000 Because that's where the answer is, the ax head. 00:31:03.000 --> 00:31:11.319 And at the very beginning we read this interesting strange story where we're told about an ax 00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:19.160 head, a little iron ax head on a stick that falls off into the water. 00:31:19.160 --> 00:31:21.319 What's happening here? 00:31:21.319 --> 00:31:25.039 Elisha has followers, he has disciples, they're called the sons of the prophets. 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:27.519 And we're told that they need a bigger place to live. 00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:33.839 Their quarters are too tight, too many people are joining alongside him. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:37.639 And so what happens is they go find a new place next to the Jordan River, they pull 00:31:37.639 --> 00:31:42.079 logs out of the Jordan River, they start to cut them to build new houses. 00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:48.839 And in the middle of that one of the young men, he is chopping wood and the ax head 00:31:48.839 --> 00:31:52.559 literally flies off into the water. 00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:57.079 Now all of us as modern people say, so what? 00:31:57.079 --> 00:32:01.240 You know, why don't you just run down the home base and get a new ax? 00:32:01.240 --> 00:32:04.559 They've got axes, they're not that expensive. 00:32:04.559 --> 00:32:11.480 And the problem is, the text literally says in verse 5 that he's lost his quote iron. 00:32:11.480 --> 00:32:14.199 So not an ax head but the metal. 00:32:14.199 --> 00:32:17.000 So it is an ax head but he's specifically talking about the metal. 00:32:17.000 --> 00:32:22.079 And the issue is that this is a very rare commodity. 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:23.879 Most people do not have axes. 00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:28.560 Most people do not have sharp things to cut wood in the ancient Near East. 00:32:28.560 --> 00:32:33.720 And it's very expensive and it's rare and it's a big deal. 00:32:33.720 --> 00:32:35.560 It's a big deal. 00:32:35.560 --> 00:32:44.920 And it's even more a big deal because he says quote, this ax head has been quote asked for. 00:32:44.920 --> 00:32:47.640 The text translates it borrowed. 00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:53.520 And he's referring there to an issue in Exodus 22. 00:32:53.519 --> 00:32:58.319 If you borrow according to the law of God, you borrow somebody's property and you lose 00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:05.799 it, you break it, you must repay or replace it in full or you enter into a state of debt 00:33:05.799 --> 00:33:07.879 slavery. 00:33:07.879 --> 00:33:11.480 So to our modernize we say why is the story here, what's the big deal? 00:33:11.480 --> 00:33:18.000 This man is facing what could be a life of debt slavery for something so rare as this 00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:19.400 ax head. 00:33:19.400 --> 00:33:23.880 It would be like borrowing your friend's Tesla and just absolutely crashing it. 00:33:23.880 --> 00:33:24.880 And you can't pay for it. 00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:27.920 And he says, well, you're going to have to work it off. 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:30.240 That's exactly the situation that this man's facing. 00:33:30.240 --> 00:33:31.800 It's a big deal. 00:33:31.800 --> 00:33:35.960 And the lender has the right to forgive the debt but he also has the right to require 00:33:35.960 --> 00:33:39.200 debt slavery for as long as it takes to pay off the debt. 00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:44.560 And the man of God, Elisha, says give me the stick, the stick that it was attached to and 00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:50.039 he throws it in the water and the ax head comes to the surface and floats. 00:33:50.039 --> 00:33:54.399 The language that's used here is he says quote verse seven, take it up. 00:33:54.399 --> 00:33:55.440 Take up the ax head. 00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:57.879 Take up the iron that you've lost. 00:33:57.879 --> 00:33:59.279 Now where are they? 00:33:59.279 --> 00:34:00.279 Let's close. 00:34:00.279 --> 00:34:01.799 Where are they? 00:34:01.799 --> 00:34:05.359 They're in the Jordan River when this happens. 00:34:05.359 --> 00:34:07.839 This is the place that Elisha was anointed. 00:34:07.839 --> 00:34:10.159 This is the place where the spirit came down. 00:34:10.159 --> 00:34:15.799 This is the place where one day Jesus Christ will go down into the water and he'll come 00:34:15.799 --> 00:34:17.239 back up again. 00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:22.279 You see, this moment you say, what is this story doing here? 00:34:22.279 --> 00:34:27.039 We can't see it because we have modern eyes but in ancient eyes, in biblical eyes, the 00:34:27.039 --> 00:34:31.239 eyes that God gives us spiritual insight. 00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:35.239 We see that this is a story about resurrection. 00:34:35.239 --> 00:34:40.079 You know, that which was lost that will bring a man into slavery for the rest of his life 00:34:40.079 --> 00:34:46.199 goes down into the water and the man of God says, but I'm going to raise it back up again. 00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:47.279 And this is the Jordan River. 00:34:47.279 --> 00:34:50.639 This is the very place where Jesus Christ went down under the water and came back up 00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:56.319 again as a sign of his death and his life for us. 00:34:56.319 --> 00:34:59.079 This is a Easter story, this ax head. 00:34:59.079 --> 00:35:01.199 This is about resurrection. 00:35:01.199 --> 00:35:06.239 One of the commentators says that the drowning and floating of this iron head is like the 00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:07.519 sign of Jonah. 00:35:07.519 --> 00:35:11.399 You remember in the New Testament, Jesus said, if you want to know what I've come for, look 00:35:11.399 --> 00:35:13.199 for the sign of Jonah. 00:35:13.199 --> 00:35:17.919 You see how Jesus was saying, if you want to read the Old Testament rightly, read it in 00:35:17.919 --> 00:35:19.019 the light of me. 00:35:19.019 --> 00:35:20.239 Look for the sign of Jonah. 00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:21.239 What happened to Jonah? 00:35:21.239 --> 00:35:26.579 Jonah went down, down, down into the water for three days and he died and he came back 00:35:26.579 --> 00:35:29.159 up again. 00:35:29.159 --> 00:35:30.359 Look for the sign of Jonah. 00:35:30.360 --> 00:35:31.400 Jesus Christ fulfills it. 00:35:31.400 --> 00:35:33.640 Look for the sign of the ax head. 00:35:33.640 --> 00:35:36.680 Jesus Christ fulfills it. 00:35:36.680 --> 00:35:40.280 If you want to know if the Spirit of God is working in your life, the first thing to say 00:35:40.280 --> 00:35:43.920 is Lord, give me the light of the resurrection. 00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:45.519 Teach me the power of the resurrection. 00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:46.519 Show it to me. 00:35:46.519 --> 00:35:48.079 Bring it into my life. 00:35:48.079 --> 00:35:50.320 That's the sign of Jonah coming into your life. 00:35:50.320 --> 00:35:52.360 It's resurrection power coming into your life. 00:35:52.360 --> 00:35:58.079 It's the grace of Jesus Christ removing your spiritual blindness, giving you sight. 00:35:58.079 --> 00:36:00.039 And then lastly, you can just ask this. 00:36:00.039 --> 00:36:05.039 Is the Spirit of God working in my life to grow me up like Paul says in Ephesians 1, into 00:36:05.039 --> 00:36:09.639 all maturity, spiritual maturity, that I would have more and more sight over time? 00:36:09.639 --> 00:36:10.639 And how do you know? 00:36:10.639 --> 00:36:15.800 One of the ways you know is you just look at somebody like Elisha and you can see that 00:36:15.800 --> 00:36:21.119 his entire ministry might be basically just categorized as one thing, one commentator 00:36:21.119 --> 00:36:29.559 says it like this, that his entire ministry was about reversing tragic plots of loss. 00:36:29.559 --> 00:36:31.799 He brings people's children back from the dead. 00:36:31.799 --> 00:36:33.840 He gives people food when they're hungry. 00:36:33.840 --> 00:36:36.659 He provides drink when all the water's stale. 00:36:36.659 --> 00:36:40.199 When a guy's lost his accent and he's going to be in debt slavery, he says I'm going to 00:36:40.199 --> 00:36:41.199 fix that for you. 00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:42.799 How do you know the Spirit's working in your life? 00:36:42.799 --> 00:36:49.039 Jesus Christ was all about reversing tragic instances of loss. 00:36:49.039 --> 00:36:50.719 That's what his miraculous deeds were about. 00:36:50.719 --> 00:36:54.159 And the Christian life actually participates in that. 00:36:54.159 --> 00:36:55.960 How do you do that? 00:36:55.960 --> 00:36:59.239 And it's simple. 00:36:59.239 --> 00:37:04.359 You simply care about other people in your life. 00:37:04.359 --> 00:37:08.599 You turn from being curved in on self to being outward facing. 00:37:08.599 --> 00:37:10.839 That's really the ministry of the prophet. 00:37:10.839 --> 00:37:14.319 Every person he encountered, he wanted to help them. 00:37:14.319 --> 00:37:18.919 Every person he encountered, he wanted to reverse the tragic plot of their life by giving 00:37:18.919 --> 00:37:22.279 them grace and then sustenance. 00:37:22.279 --> 00:37:26.199 And that might be through the ministry of encouragement. 00:37:26.199 --> 00:37:27.959 Encouragement. 00:37:27.960 --> 00:37:34.519 That spirit-empowered ministry when you encourage people, when you lift them up. 00:37:34.519 --> 00:37:41.039 It might be through the ministry of even caring about people's property, their acts heads. 00:37:41.039 --> 00:37:44.039 Saying I don't want that person to go hungry. 00:37:44.039 --> 00:37:48.960 You see, Jesus Christ, like Elijah, was all about restoring life in circumstances of death. 00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:52.760 And one of the ways you know that the Spirit is at work in your life is you long more and 00:37:52.760 --> 00:37:55.320 more to participate in that. 00:37:55.320 --> 00:38:04.280 You say, because Jesus went down into the water and came back up again for me, I want 00:38:04.280 --> 00:38:09.680 to give my life away to other people like him. 00:38:09.680 --> 00:38:10.680 Let's pray together. 00:38:10.680 --> 00:38:17.160 Lord, we ask that you would give us the empowerment of the Spirit tonight, that we would see the 00:38:17.160 --> 00:38:18.840 grace of the axed. 00:38:18.840 --> 00:38:25.840 The grace of the way these prisoners of the Syrian army were treated, and we would know 00:38:25.840 --> 00:38:26.920 that that's us. 00:38:26.920 --> 00:38:28.519 That's what we need. 00:38:28.519 --> 00:38:33.920 And from there we ask, Lord, that you would then teach us to love people, to turn away 00:38:33.920 --> 00:38:38.039 from ourselves and love people like the prophet Elijah did. 00:38:38.039 --> 00:38:39.880 That he sought to restore. 00:38:39.880 --> 00:38:44.840 Lord, help us to be people of restoration, people of grace, people of justice, people 00:38:44.840 --> 00:38:45.840 of encouragement. 00:38:45.840 --> 00:38:50.840 And so we pray for that gift, the gifting of the Spirit, and we pray for it in Christ's 00:38:50.840 --> 00:39:18.840 time.