WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.919 So, if you have your Bibles, you can turn back with me to 1 Kings chapter 19. We're thinking 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:15.919 ! We're thinking about this moment in the life of Elijah and Elisha, where Elisha hears God's call, 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:25.519 ! And we recognize in this little section that God doesn't leave himself without a witness in his world. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:32.280 And so, to think about what's been happening in the story of Elijah and Elisha, almost the whole 00:00:32.280 --> 00:00:39.539 nation has turned away from worshiping God. But in the midst of that sort of moral, spiritual chaos, 00:00:40.119 --> 00:00:48.780 God raises up first Elijah and now Elisha to speak for him and to call the people back to him. So, 00:00:48.780 --> 00:00:56.340 this is, in a sense, a succession story. It's a story of God still speaking, God still working. 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:02.439 We can move forward in the Bible. Think about what's happening in the first century church. 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:06.040 You know, we're beginning in the morning series to look at the book of Acts. 00:01:06.579 --> 00:01:12.439 And we heard Jesus commission the apostles, saying, you will be my witnesses. And so, 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:17.579 they began in Jerusalem, but they spread through the nations, through their worship, 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:23.700 through their words where they're declaring Jesus is the risen Lord, through their works of mercy, 00:01:23.819 --> 00:01:31.079 their miracles. God doesn't leave himself without a witness to himself in the world. And that remains 00:01:31.079 --> 00:01:42.420 true as we find ourselves this evening in Edinburgh. So, we recognize that probably today about 97% 00:01:42.420 --> 00:01:49.359 of the people that call this city home will not have been worshiping the God of the Bible. 00:01:51.359 --> 00:01:58.379 And yet, here we are. And God calls his people to be an outpost of the kingdom. 00:01:59.460 --> 00:02:09.659 Those called to live and share the good news of Jesus as Lord and as King in a world where so many 00:02:09.659 --> 00:02:18.859 people are living in darkness and ignorance about who Jesus is. And so, I want us to hear tonight 00:02:18.859 --> 00:02:25.900 something of Elisha's call connected to the ministry of the Lord Jesus, but also connected to our own 00:02:25.900 --> 00:02:35.139 faith and experience using three of the different pieces of the story. The first is in verse 19, 00:02:35.139 --> 00:02:43.500 to think about the cloak. So, here is Elisha, he's plowing, and he's driving the last of the twelve yoke of oxen, 00:02:43.699 --> 00:02:52.459 and Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. And you might be thinking, what's going on there? 00:02:53.979 --> 00:03:02.060 In some ways, it's a scene that we may be familiar with in the world of sport. So, if you followed the Tour de France 00:03:02.060 --> 00:03:06.500 at all, or even if you know anything about it in the world of cycling, you know that the race leader 00:03:06.500 --> 00:03:13.420 gets to wear the yellow jersey, and that will pass from person to person depending who is in the lead 00:03:13.420 --> 00:03:19.460 in any given stage. Or, if you're interested in golf, you could think about the U.S. Masters, 00:03:20.259 --> 00:03:26.680 where the previous champion wearing their green jacket puts the green jacket on the new champion. 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:35.980 And Elijah's cloak, in one sense, was a bit like that. There is a passing the mantle. It's a symbolic 00:03:35.980 --> 00:03:42.000 way of saying, okay, Elijah has been the prophet, but we can expect that Elisha is now going to be 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:49.939 God's prophet. But it's also more than that. So, one of the things we discover about prophets in the 00:03:49.939 --> 00:03:58.680 Old Testament, these men who speak for God to the people, these men who are given direct words from 00:03:58.680 --> 00:04:07.740 God, instructions to pass forward, significantly so often we're told they are clothed with the Spirit. 00:04:09.460 --> 00:04:19.459 In other words, we are told in that language that God empowers His prophets to be His witnesses 00:04:19.459 --> 00:04:29.659 and to help them and to empower them. He gives them His Spirit. And so, when Elijah passes his cloak to 00:04:29.659 --> 00:04:38.000 Elisha, it is a sign that Elisha too will receive the Holy Spirit, so he will be enabled, now that he's 00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:46.319 been called, to serve his God. If you were here this morning, you might be thinking that sounds an awful 00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:55.680 lot like Acts chapter 1. God says to His apostles, wait until I send the Spirit, wait until I clothe you 00:04:55.680 --> 00:05:02.300 with the Holy Spirit, and then you'll go out as my witnesses. Still the same for the church. God gives 00:05:02.300 --> 00:05:08.879 us His Spirit, and God sends us into the world. God will not leave Himself without a witness, so here Elisha 00:05:08.879 --> 00:05:17.019 is called and will receive the power He needs to take over where Elijah leaves off. Now, if we fast 00:05:17.019 --> 00:05:23.439 forward from this prophet to the end of the Old Testament and to the last of the prophets, we get 00:05:23.439 --> 00:05:30.180 to the book of Malachi. And there at the very end of the book of Malachi, in chapter 4, verse 5, we get this 00:05:30.180 --> 00:05:38.160 anticipation. The Old Testament closes with the anticipation that a second Elijah will come, 00:05:38.860 --> 00:05:47.019 and this second Elijah, he will prepare the way for the Lord to come. And in the Gospels, 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:54.240 we discover that John the Baptist is the second Elijah, and the Lord he's preparing the way for 00:05:54.240 --> 00:06:02.139 is none other than the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, God in the flesh. And so the Old Testament 00:06:02.139 --> 00:06:09.480 anticipates this great moment when God will send the final and the great prophet, His own Son, 00:06:10.560 --> 00:06:20.000 the one who speaks the Word of God, the one who is the Word of God. And as he speaks with the authority 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:26.720 of God, he begins his ministry calling people to repent and to believe, because the kingdom of God 00:06:26.720 --> 00:06:35.079 is at hand. It is a time of turning hearts and minds and lives back to the living God through trusting in 00:06:35.079 --> 00:06:42.980 Jesus. Jesus is the prophet who is so bold as to translate the whole Old Testament, saying, ultimately, 00:06:42.980 --> 00:06:51.540 it's all about me. If you want to have access and relationship to God, you need to know me and come 00:06:51.540 --> 00:06:59.319 through me. And remember, again, this was in the book of Acts as well this morning. John the Baptist 00:06:59.319 --> 00:07:08.600 spoke about baptizing with water, but the greater one coming would baptize with the Spirit. So there is 00:07:08.600 --> 00:07:18.400 this promise that when Jesus comes, the great prophet, he will send the Spirit, give the Spirit to his people. 00:07:20.820 --> 00:07:28.520 And this actually captures something that Moses in the Old Testament looked forward to. In Numbers chapter 11, 00:07:28.520 --> 00:07:38.580 we hear Moses saying, I wish all the Lord's people were prophets. I wish that the Lord's Spirit was on them all. 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:50.780 What Moses wished for is what we experience as believers today. Because as we'll discover in Acts 00:07:50.780 --> 00:07:58.580 chapter 2, Pentecost happens. The Spirit is sent. And the apostles are enabled to preach and to live 00:07:58.580 --> 00:08:05.220 as witnesses for Jesus. And as we said this morning, everyone who believes, we become Spirit-filled witnesses 00:08:05.220 --> 00:08:19.480 to. So one of the reasons why, as Christians, we value Sundays, opportunities to worship, is here we have this 00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:28.800 equipping. We hear God's Word together, we are reminded of the gospel together, and then we are sent out to live 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:42.200 for Jesus. We too are those who are clothed with the Spirit so that we might go for God to make disciples, 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:46.799 knowing all the while we have his power and help and his purpose. 00:08:46.799 --> 00:08:52.459 So as you scan ahead and think about, what's my week going to look like? 00:08:53.859 --> 00:08:58.120 You know, whether we're thinking about times that we'll be spending with our family, or whether it's getting to know 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:02.639 new flatmates and all the excitement of Freshers' Week, whether you're just thinking about, okay, 00:09:02.699 --> 00:09:04.859 here's these conversations that I'm going to have. 00:09:04.860 --> 00:09:08.519 Maybe it's just in the way we're going to approach life. 00:09:10.600 --> 00:09:18.960 You and I, as Christians, are Spirit-filled so that God will have his witnesses here in this church, 00:09:19.100 --> 00:09:23.840 here in this city, or here where you happen, wherever you happen to be. 00:09:26.460 --> 00:09:33.800 That's the cloak. Verse 20 moves our story along, so we need to think about the kiss. 00:09:33.799 --> 00:09:39.120 Elisha leaves his oxen, ran after Elijah, and he makes this request, 00:09:39.240 --> 00:09:43.579 let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and then I will come with you. 00:09:44.199 --> 00:09:47.279 Go back, Elijah replied, what have I done to you? 00:09:48.599 --> 00:09:53.479 This is a really short little section of the Bible, but every little detail matters. 00:09:53.839 --> 00:09:59.279 So if you have your Bible, you can look up at verse 18, which reminds us of our context. 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:04.980 So Elijah has been spoken to by God, and he hears these words, 00:10:05.139 --> 00:10:10.799 I reserve 7,000 in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal, 00:10:11.000 --> 00:10:14.319 and whose mouths have not kissed him. 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:19.620 Okay, so there's 7,000 people who are this kind of little group, we can call them the church, 00:10:19.799 --> 00:10:24.539 and everybody else in the nation, they have literally been kissing the idols, 00:10:24.539 --> 00:10:34.919 which is a symbol for them. I trust this little God. I'm going to show loyalty to what this icon 00:10:34.919 --> 00:10:42.219 represents. This is the thing that I trust is going to give me life and prosperity and security. 00:10:42.779 --> 00:10:48.879 So the whole nation is, you know, kissing idols over here, and then we get to Elisha, 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:59.700 Elisha's kiss is very different, because it is a goodbye kiss to his parents, which stands as an 00:10:59.700 --> 00:11:10.259 expression of his total loyalty to God. I love my God, I serve my God, he's the one I worship, 00:11:10.480 --> 00:11:14.879 therefore I'm saying goodbye to my family to go where he calls me. 00:11:14.879 --> 00:11:27.059 Maybe we can think of pictures and scenes of soldiers waiting at stations or waiting at docks, 00:11:27.700 --> 00:11:34.879 going off to war. And if you look at any of those crowd scenes recorded in photos, you will inevitably 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:44.600 see final kisses taking place. And in those moments, there is as well that sense of there is 00:11:44.600 --> 00:11:49.460 love for family and love for family and loved ones, but there's this greater call on a person's heart, 00:11:50.220 --> 00:11:57.220 the call of king and country. So there's that sign of sacrifice in order to express commitment. 00:12:00.580 --> 00:12:07.440 What we're being told by this kiss is that Elisha will be single-minded and single-hearted 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:17.940 in his witness and as a worshiper. In stark contrast to basically everybody else in the nation, 00:12:19.040 --> 00:12:27.680 he will stand and he will worship God alone. His kiss speaks loudly. 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:34.579 Now just to think about some scenes from the life and ministry of Jesus. Remember Jesus when he's 00:12:34.579 --> 00:12:42.139 age 12? There's this moment where he and his mom and dad have been at Jerusalem for a festival 00:12:42.139 --> 00:12:46.739 and his mom and dad have headed home and they presume Jesus is with them and he's age 12, 00:12:46.819 --> 00:12:51.979 but actually he stayed behind in the temple. And so after three days, they find him and they're really 00:12:51.980 --> 00:12:58.139 anxious about him. And what does Jesus say? Didn't you know I had to be in my father's house and he had 00:12:58.139 --> 00:13:09.320 to be on his father's business? Jesus was so clear that first loyalty belonged to his God and Father. 00:13:10.259 --> 00:13:18.039 He had come to establish the kingdom of God. He too has come to win people's hearts away from their 00:13:18.039 --> 00:13:29.500 idols to love and serve Him as the one true and living God. There's some wonderful scenes of that loyalty 00:13:29.500 --> 00:13:36.279 being expressed to Jesus in the Gospels. Maybe the most intimate is the one that we find in Luke 7. 00:13:37.319 --> 00:13:46.539 There is a sinful woman who enters into a feast and she's weeping and she's kissing Jesus' feet 00:13:46.539 --> 00:13:57.740 because King Jesus has forgiven her and welcomed her and saved her. And so these kisses too speak of love 00:13:57.740 --> 00:14:08.039 and loyalty for Jesus, her Savior. Of course, we know that the mission of Jesus is one that will take 00:14:08.039 --> 00:14:17.259 Him to the cross. And as Jesus dies on the cross, justice and mercy meets and kiss. 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:28.599 God's just judgment on sin is satisfied. Wrath is satisfied as Jesus takes our sin and pays the punishment in full. 00:14:29.879 --> 00:14:36.039 Mercy is shown in that we don't get the punishment we deserve. Jesus, the Son of God, takes it so we can receive 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:46.759 God's love and God's grace. But again, as we think about the story surrounding the cross, 00:14:47.399 --> 00:14:55.759 we remember too there's another kiss, isn't there? There's the kiss of Judas, the betrayer, the traitor. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:15:08.480 As people hear the call of Christ, for some there is that expression of worship and love, 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:19.919 but for others there is rejection. Some have soft hearts. Some have hard hearts. 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:31.240 And tonight is as good a time as any for us to reflect and where we need to, to redirect our love, 00:15:31.719 --> 00:15:37.579 our loyalty, our worship, that we, like Elisha, might be single-minded and single-hearted. 00:15:38.979 --> 00:15:42.379 You know, we began our time together in Romans chapter 12. 00:15:42.379 --> 00:15:45.379 Paul says, 00:15:45.379 --> 00:15:53.159 In view of God's mercies, we should present our bodies as living sacrifices. What mercies does he have in mind? 00:15:53.740 --> 00:15:57.000 Well, perhaps it's God's mercy in giving his Son to be our Savior. 00:15:58.139 --> 00:16:03.779 Perhaps it's his mercy and his willingness to cancel our debt of sin in giving us new life, 00:16:03.980 --> 00:16:08.019 of being always with us, of promising eternal glory as ours. 00:16:08.019 --> 00:16:14.220 In light of God's mercies, we hold nothing back. 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:21.539 In the spiritual battle and struggle, in the situations that we find ourselves in, 00:16:21.819 --> 00:16:29.860 we are invited to kiss goodbye to those things that would keep us from wholehearted loyalty to Jesus. 00:16:31.799 --> 00:16:36.220 In our call to be witnesses, we are invited to count the cost. 00:16:36.220 --> 00:16:41.060 So again, we need to kiss goodbye to aspects of our own comfort, 00:16:41.480 --> 00:16:43.680 maybe to our desire to blend in, 00:16:44.100 --> 00:16:47.240 maybe our desire to return to the old way of life. 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:53.580 It's the call of Psalm 2. 00:16:54.960 --> 00:16:55.879 Kiss the Son. 00:16:56.779 --> 00:16:58.060 Kiss Jesus the Son. 00:16:58.200 --> 00:16:59.660 Receive him by faith. 00:17:00.220 --> 00:17:01.759 Give him your heart. 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:07.920 To avoid judgment and instead to find refuge and to find life. 00:17:10.180 --> 00:17:13.940 Well, there's one last scene, and it takes us to the yoke. 00:17:14.680 --> 00:17:17.000 Verse 21, the plowing equipment. 00:17:17.279 --> 00:17:19.519 Elisha left and went back. 00:17:20.059 --> 00:17:22.099 He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. 00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:25.839 He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:26.579 and they ate. 00:17:26.939 --> 00:17:31.679 Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his servant. 00:17:31.799 --> 00:17:34.599 So we need to think about this bonfire. 00:17:35.139 --> 00:17:39.419 Now, but before there, when I was a student, 00:17:39.699 --> 00:17:44.159 one particular lecturer was reaching the point of his retirement. 00:17:45.279 --> 00:17:49.119 And it became something of a running joke with us as a class, 00:17:49.179 --> 00:17:50.419 because it was his last class ever. 00:17:50.420 --> 00:17:55.360 He would end every class by pulling out the lecture notes and ripping them up 00:17:55.360 --> 00:17:56.920 and chucking them in the bin. 00:17:57.600 --> 00:17:59.500 Now, this life is done. 00:18:00.200 --> 00:18:01.620 There's no going back. 00:18:02.259 --> 00:18:03.539 Retirement beckons. 00:18:05.300 --> 00:18:09.300 Elisha's dramatic moment is way more spectacular than that, 00:18:09.340 --> 00:18:13.039 because what happens is Elisha goes back, 00:18:13.100 --> 00:18:14.500 he kisses his mom and dad goodbye, 00:18:14.840 --> 00:18:18.180 and then he makes a bonfire of all his farming gear. 00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:21.360 And incidentally, Elisha's clearly very wealthy, 00:18:21.360 --> 00:18:23.360 because he's got 12 pair of oxen, 00:18:24.039 --> 00:18:27.560 but he makes a bonfire of all his farming gear, his plowing gear, 00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:30.700 and then he prepares the oxen for sacrifice, 00:18:31.320 --> 00:18:35.019 to make a fellowship offering to share with the people around him, 00:18:35.259 --> 00:18:36.240 and then he goes. 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:40.799 And the message is loud and clear. 00:18:41.060 --> 00:18:43.440 Now that he has heard God's call, 00:18:44.380 --> 00:18:47.560 he is totally committed to putting God first. 00:18:47.559 --> 00:18:52.000 There's going to be no going back for Elisha. 00:18:53.099 --> 00:18:57.519 For him, enjoying life with God, 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:00.480 worshiping and serving, 00:19:00.940 --> 00:19:03.480 comes before anything his career could offer, 00:19:04.579 --> 00:19:06.399 anything his money could buy. 00:19:07.539 --> 00:19:10.559 And it's there demonstrated in the bonfire, 00:19:11.559 --> 00:19:14.019 in the sacrifice, and the going. 00:19:14.019 --> 00:19:17.400 We read from Luke chapter 9. 00:19:18.960 --> 00:19:20.740 And I wonder whether, 00:19:21.279 --> 00:19:25.099 as Jesus in his context speaks about the urgency 00:19:25.099 --> 00:19:27.579 of responding to the call of the kingdom, 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:31.799 I wonder whether he had Elisha in mind. 00:19:32.940 --> 00:19:35.920 There are a number of people who are asking questions, 00:19:36.279 --> 00:19:39.680 and it sounds like their intentions are good, 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:42.940 but all of them are putting the brakes on. 00:19:43.460 --> 00:19:44.700 Let me first do this. 00:19:44.759 --> 00:19:45.700 Let me first do this. 00:19:45.779 --> 00:19:49.000 Let me wait until a more suitable time. 00:19:53.640 --> 00:19:54.700 When Jesus says, 00:19:54.840 --> 00:19:57.120 no one who puts their hand to the plow and looks back 00:19:57.120 --> 00:19:58.519 is fit for the service, 00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:00.700 for service in the kingdom of God, 00:20:01.539 --> 00:20:03.100 he could almost be saying to us, 00:20:03.180 --> 00:20:04.100 remember Elisha, 00:20:04.600 --> 00:20:06.320 he didn't look back. 00:20:06.319 --> 00:20:09.480 He couldn't put his hand to the plow because he burned it. 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:11.139 He was so committed. 00:20:13.700 --> 00:20:16.379 And the striking thing about Jesus 00:20:16.379 --> 00:20:20.419 is he never talked a good game 00:20:20.419 --> 00:20:24.339 without himself putting the principle into practice. 00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:28.639 So here he is talking about the need within the kingdom 00:20:28.639 --> 00:20:31.960 to urgently respond, 00:20:33.079 --> 00:20:34.119 to be committed. 00:20:34.119 --> 00:20:41.139 And then here what we discovered just a few verses earlier. 00:20:41.659 --> 00:20:45.259 As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, 00:20:45.979 --> 00:20:50.839 Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 00:20:51.819 --> 00:20:54.139 He resolves with all his heart 00:20:54.139 --> 00:20:57.079 to go to the place of his departure, 00:20:57.219 --> 00:20:59.339 the place where he will suffer and die 00:20:59.339 --> 00:21:02.099 before being raised and ascended. 00:21:02.099 --> 00:21:05.679 And there is no turning back for Jesus. 00:21:07.879 --> 00:21:12.199 He is determined to become the sacrifice 00:21:12.199 --> 00:21:14.959 to deal with your sin and mine 00:21:14.959 --> 00:21:16.500 so that we can know God, 00:21:16.559 --> 00:21:18.399 so we can have the privilege of serving God. 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.559 This Lord Jesus is the one who calls. 00:21:25.159 --> 00:21:25.799 He says, 00:21:25.879 --> 00:21:26.779 come follow me 00:21:26.779 --> 00:21:29.619 and don't turn back. 00:21:31.139 --> 00:21:32.519 Pick up your cross. 00:21:33.740 --> 00:21:35.359 Give up living for yourself. 00:21:37.099 --> 00:21:38.920 This is the kind of witnesses, 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:40.639 these are the kind of people 00:21:40.639 --> 00:21:42.839 that the Lord Jesus wants. 00:21:44.399 --> 00:21:46.920 He wants us to be burning our papers 00:21:46.920 --> 00:21:48.200 kind of people. 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:50.500 I'm done with the old life. 00:21:50.560 --> 00:21:52.759 I want to give myself to Jesus. 00:21:54.180 --> 00:21:56.400 I want to be on his mission 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:58.600 in my everyday life. 00:21:59.480 --> 00:22:02.600 I recognize that because of all his mercy, 00:22:03.100 --> 00:22:06.440 all of life worship makes sense. 00:22:06.440 --> 00:22:15.880 And like Elisha, 00:22:16.460 --> 00:22:19.720 we do that as we hear the call of God, 00:22:20.100 --> 00:22:22.480 as we depend on the power of God 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:25.140 that he gives us by his Holy Spirit. 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:29.220 And we go with that sense of privilege, 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:33.100 of being called to live for Jesus 00:22:33.100 --> 00:22:35.259 as Lord and Savior. 00:22:35.259 --> 00:22:35.980 And 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