Most of you all know that Laura
and Rinaldo went down to Dominican Republic to be with Laura's father
and he passed away this past week. They're encouraged in that
they had a good talk with him and he seemed to have some understanding
of the gospel and I'm encouraged. They're encouraged. They'll be getting back, I think,
the first part of this week. It's good to have Ravi and Debbie
from New Jersey, where Clay Curtis pastors with us this morning. They're children. They're down
here on vacation, so you all get to know them. Jared, it's good to have you
back. And Lauren, they're engaged, so most of you all know that.
And Rachel and Grace are with us from Lexington. So we're very thankful to have
these friends and brethren with us. Tom's going to come lead us in
the hymn on the back of your bulletin. So let's stand together. Good morning. For a scripture
reading this morning, could you turn to Matthew 15, Matthew 15,
verse 21. The Lord provided this scripture
reading this morning in light of the message that I heard Pastor
Greg preach last Sunday on Psalm 51. Place a tremendous burden
on me, conviction of sin. And it forced me to ask the question,
what I believe and what I profess, is it for me? If you hear this
morning, that burden, Lord provided this reminder to us, familiar
passage to all of us, the Syrophoenician woman. And I hope we see ourselves
in this sister this morning. Verse 21. Then Jesus went thence,
and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And behold,
a woman of Canaan came out of the same coast, and cried unto
him. Now as you recall, Tyre and Sidon
was the cities that the Lord in Luke 10 used in contrast to
when he was passing judgment to Chorazon and Bethsaida, saying
that if the mighty works were done in Tyre and Sidon, they
would repent And it'll be more tolerable for them in the judgment
day than for you. Do you suppose that the Lord
had this woman in mind? And so she said, have mercy on
me, O Lord, thou son of David. My daughter is grievously vexed
with the devil. I have two precious daughters,
and I have no understanding of what that would mean. But I do
know this, when I do come into this world, I belonged to my
father, the devil, Satan of lies, believing that one time I was
able to obligate God by my works or doing something. And so she
pleaded, oh have mercy on me, oh Lord. She knew that this was
the son of David, this was the Messiah, this was the successful
Savior. Verse 23, but he answered her
not a word. And his disciples came and besought
him, saying, Send her away, for she cried after us." I don't
understand. I don't know why the disciples
would do that. Here was a mercy beggar pleading
to the Lord, emptying herself. And the disciples, I guess self-righteousness
came upon them. But I think the Lord did that
because the Lord was getting ready to teach the disciples
the gospel. But he answered and said, and this is what he said,
I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she, and worshipped
them, saying, O Lord, help me. Lord, I know I am lost. Lord,
I know you have come into this world to seek and save which
is lost. You have come to save sinners.
Lord, I am in need of a shepherd. You are the only shepherd. I'm
not able to be a part of your church unless you bring me. I
can't see. I can't walk. Lord, help me. Save me." But he answered and
said, it is not me to take the children's bread and to cast
it to dogs. And she said, truth. Lord, you are that bread of life. You are the way. Apart from you,
Lord, there's no life. Lord, I believe. Yet the dogs
eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's table. Lord,
would you reveal yourself to me? Lord, I know if you do, all would be well. And here's
the good news. Beloved, verse 28. Then Jesus
answered and said unto her, unto you, unto me. O woman, great
is thy faith. Be it unto thee even as thou
wilt." And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. Great is thy faith. Because the object of her faith
caused her to be there. and to worship her. And I just
want to close by saying in Luke 10 verse 21, do you know that
the Lord rejoices to reveal himself? He does. Verse 21, in that hour
Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. May the Lord keep us as babes,
that we may cry out unto him. And the only time we have great
faith is when he's pleased to reveal himself to us. Let's pray. Blessed and merciful Lord and
Savior, Help me, Lord, please. Speak to my heart. Reveal yourself
once again through your word. According to thy will and to
the glory of God. Amen. Astante. Will you turn with me in your
Bibles to 2 Kings chapter 4. 2 Kings chapter 4. God says that no man seeketh
after Him at any time. What does that mean? Because
in another place He said, Seek the Lord with all of your heart,
and you shall find Him. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and
His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.
Come, the Spirit and the Bride, say, Come, believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. It means that no one
ever initiates the seeking after God. It means that if you have
been brought to seek Him, it is the evidence that He first
sought thee. We love Him. We seek Him. We love Him because He first
loved us. We seek Him because He first sought us. We constrain
Him. because He first constrained
us. I've entitled this message constraining
the prophet. Constraining the prophet. Elisha
is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, as are all the prophets. No prophet in the Old Testament
performed as many miracles as did Elisha. Elisha's name means,
God is my salvation. Like Isaac, the Lord Jesus Christ
willingly laid down his life. No, that story we just read,
Abraham would have been an old man, Isaac was a young man. There's
no indication in that story that Isaac resisted his father in
any way. Isaac didn't know what was happening.
He said, where is the lamb? God will provide himself a lamb. And the scripture says that Abraham
bound Isaac and laid him upon the altar. And as wondering as
Isaac may have been, he trusted his father. He said, Father,
I don't know what's going on here, but I trust you. And so
the Lord Jesus Christ, typified by Elisha, believed that God
was his salvation. He believed God. Perfect faith. Paul said, to be found in him. Michael, thank you for that message
you preached Wednesday night, to be in Christ, to be found
in Him. Not having my own righteousness,
which is by the law, but that righteousness which is by the
faith of Jesus Christ. God requires perfect obedience
to His law, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the only one that ever
performed it. And to be in him is to be as perfect before God
as is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why John said, as he is,
so are we in this world. He that sanctifieth and they
that are sanctified are all as one, whereby he's not ashamed
to call them his brethren. He calls us his friends, his
brothers, his children. Why? Because he's imputed to
us his perfect righteousness. He's charged it to our account
through the gift of faith that He gives to His people. And when
He gives us the faith to look to Him, and faith as we saw in
the previous hour, that's our rule of life. Faith is our rule
of life. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and the finisher of our faith, we're trusting Him, we're resting
in Him, we're relying upon Him. Elisha is called the holy man
of God in our text. Elisha was the miracle worker. Elisha was a man whose name meant
God is my salvation. Elisha is the prophet of God
and all the prophets of the Old Testament speak of Christ. And what he came to do fulfilled
all their roles, so that the Lord Jesus Christ is called the
Prophet, the Priest, and the King. These offices were divided
among men in the Old Testament. No one could bear all three titles. But the Lord Jesus Christ bore
them all. He was the one who came as the Prophet, the Word
of God. The scripture says, In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,
and the Word became flesh, and He dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory as the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and full of truth. He's the prophet of God. He's
our priest. He's our high priest who made
Himself the sacrifice for sin and intercedes on our behalf. He's our king. He's the one who
established the law. He's the one who fulfilled the
law. And he's the one who reigns sovereign over our salvation
and over our lives. Prophet, priest, and king. He's
seen in the person of Elisha. Now there's a woman of Shunem
who is, she's She's constraining the prophet. Notice in verse 8 of 2 Kings
chapter 4, And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to Shunem,
where there was a great woman, and she constrained him to eat
bread with her. You know, this reminds me of
that story in Luke chapter 24, after the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ, when the disciples are walking back to their home
in Emmaus, and they thought that all hopes had been lost. And
the Lord Jesus Himself walks along beside of them, and they
didn't know it was Him. Their eyes were holden. The Lord
had not been pleased to reveal Himself to them, yet. But he
spake with them along the way, and he revealed the things from
the scriptures about himself to them, to where they said afterwards,
did our hearts not burn within us as he spake with us along
the way? But when were their eyes opened? When they got to
Emmaus, the scripture says he acted as if he would have continued. In other words, they came to
their house and the Lord said, you know, been nice talking to
you, see you guys later. And he acted as if he would have
continued on. He was just gonna pass by. But
what did they do? And that very scripture says,
but they constrained him to come in. Oh no, don't leave. We've enjoyed your company so
much. We want you to come and break bread with us." And in
the breaking of bread, their eyes were opened and they saw
Him for who He was. You know that's what we're doing
right now? We're breaking open the bread of life in hopes that
the Lord would open our eyes. That we're constraining Him to
eat bread with us. We're constraining Him to make
Himself known to us. Lord, would you be pleased? Would
you be pleased to give me faith? Would you be pleased to make
Yourself known to me? Would you be pleased to save
me? Would you be pleased to give me the hope of salvation and
to enable me to rest in Christ? Are your needs great enough for
you to constrain the Lord Jesus Christ to break bread with you. That's what this Shunammite woman
did. Don't... People tell... There are Calvinists who get
offended at this kind of talk. They say, well, you're making
the gospel conditional. No, I'm not. I'm just saying
what the scripture says. The Spirit and the bride say,
come, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness. Knock with importunity. Ask. Seek. If you do, you'll know
that it's because he first sought you. Notice in verse eight that
it fell on a day. You know, this is just God's
way of saying to his children, I ordained this event to take
place at this moment and in this time. Oh, that it would fall
on this day. for the Lord as he's passing
through here. Pass me not, O gentle Savior. Hear my humble cry. While on
others thou art calling, do not pass me by." God is always passing
by. I mentioned this the other day.
The evidence of that is you won't find anywhere in the world that
I know anything about a gospel church that's more than a generation
or two old. Does that mean that all the gospel
has been confined to our last generation or two? No, it means
that every other gospel church that ever stood for the truth
has died. Why? Because the Lord was just
passing through. He was just passing by. He was
passing by Jericho, the scripture says, when He spoke to Zacchaeus.
He's passing through Apopka right now. He's passing by here, right
now. And he doesn't stay anywhere
very long. And he stirs the hearts of his children to realize the
urgency of constraining him while he can be found. While he can
be found. Don't presume that you're going
to just get things right with God tomorrow. Don't presume that. Don't presume that God's going
to give you another day. He's passing by right now. The
urgency of your soul demands that you constrain Him to come
and sit and eat bread with you and break open the bread of life
for you. Today is the day of salvation. No place in the Word
of God does it tell us to go home and think about it. Put
it off till tomorrow. God's just passing by. And if
the Lord is important, enough for any of our attention, he's
important for all of it. All of it. This woman was of the city of
Shunem. It was a city in the nation of,
or in the tribe of Issachar. And the word Shunem translated
means double rest. Double rest. Resting from our
labors. Resting in Christ. That's a double rest. resting
in knowing that he has satisfied the demands of God's law and
resting in knowing that he has satisfied the demands of God's
justice. His shed blood and his body,
his life of righteousness and his substitutionary death of
redemption on Calvary's cross. That's a double rest. Isaiah
said they've received double of the Lord. That's where this
woman was. She was in Shunem. We saw last
hour that the church is called Zion. Well, it's called Shunem
too. All these types and stories and
places in the Old Testament have spiritual significance. You're
sitting in Shunem right now. Are you like this woman who would
constrain Him? Notice that God's word calls
her a great woman. A great woman. Now in the world
greatness is measured by one's accomplishments. Greatness is
measured by one's possessions. Greatness is measured by one's
power and influence in this world. That's what the world refers
to as great men and great women. You know, God's estimation of
greatness is just the opposite. It's just the opposite. The Lord
said in Matthew chapter 23, the greatest among you shall be your
servant. Whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted
to greatness." Humility, faith, love for Christ,
that's what God calls greatness. Now the question that you and
I are left with is do we want to be great in the eyes of men?
Is that the passion and the pursuit of our life or do we want to
be great in the eyes of God? Do we want to be a great woman,
a great man in the eyes of God? It's going to require brokenness.
It's going to require humility. It's going to require emptying
yourself before God. That's what God calls greatness. Those who see Elisha passing
through Shunem and have the greatness of grace given to them by God
will constrain him to stay and to eat meat with them. So it was, as often as he passed
by, he turned in thither to eat. He didn't just do it once. If
the Lord ever eats bread with you, it won't be one time. It won't be one time. If he's
ever pleased to make himself known to you, he will continue
with you. He said, I'll never leave thee
nor forsake thee. Once he makes himself known to
the hearts of his children, he's there. He's there. And he just keeps coming back
to the same place. He turned in thither to eat bread.
And she said unto her husband, Behold, now I perceive that this
is a holy man of God. By perception, by revelation,
I perceive God has made it known to me that this man is a holy
man and he is of God. And of all the other things in
this world, it's most important that we give our attention to
him. If we're going to know anything about God, we've got to have
this man. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of hosts. Heaven and earth is filled with
His glory. He's not like me or you in any
way. He's other than we are. He's
holy. He's exalted above men. And He's of God. Let us make a little chamber,
I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed,
and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick. And it shall be
that when he cometh to us, that they shall turn in thither. Let
us provide a place for him." You know, that's what we've done
here. That's what we've done here. We built this building 14 years
ago. in hopes that this would be the
Shunammite woman's little chamber on the wall with a table and
a light and a chair and a bed, a place to sit and rest, a place
to know Christ. And it fell on a day that he
came thither and turned into the chamber and lay there. Fell
on a day. Don't you love it when the Lord
says in His Word about Ruth when she haps upon Boaz's field. You know, Naomi sent her out
to glean the fields and she just happened upon Boaz's field. That's
just God's way of confusing the unbeliever and giving the child
of God. You know, God's written His Word
in such a way as to give the unbeliever enough rope to hang
themselves. Yes. and they'll twist it and
change it. They say, well, this is just... No, this is divine providence
is what this is. This is God's way of declaring
to His children that when I've ordained something to be, it's
going to be. Which means to me and to every
child of God that every event taking place in your life was
ordained of God. What great comfort we have in
that. to know that He is working all things together for good
for them that love Him and those that are called according to
His purpose. We know that. It fell on a day. In verse 12, when He came to Gehazi,
His servant, and Elisha said, Call the Shunammite woman. Oh,
that God would call us. Call me again. Speak my name,
Lord. Tell me to come down, that I
must go to thy house this day, for salvation has come to thy
house. Lord, call me. Call me." And when he had called her, she
stood before him. That's all she could do. She
didn't have anything to say. Oh, when you come into the presence
of God, Ecclesiastes chapter 5, hold your mouth. Walk softly. God is in the heavens and we
are upon the earth. Be still before Him and know
that He's God. Let Him do the speaking. Be quick
to hear and slow to speak. One of the reasons why we have
a hard time hearing God is because we're talking so much. God, would you speak to me? Say now unto her, Behold, thou
hast been careful for us all this care. What is to be done
for thee? What is thou be spoken for to
the king or to the captain of the host? Is there some earthly
possession that I can give to thee? Is there some reward I
can give you? What she say, I live among my
people. I'm okay. I've got everything I need. Lord,
I'm not gonna bother you for all that stuff. There is a miracle that I need. I'm afraid to voice
it. Gehazi recognized it. Gehazi
said that she has no child. Her husband is elderly. And Elisha said, this time, look
at what he says. She said, I dwell among my people.
And he said unto her, What then shall I be done for her? And
Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is
old. And he said, Call her. And when he had called her, she
stood in the door. And he said, About this season, according
to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And she said,
Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thy handmaid.
You are going to give me life, the miracle of life? Can it be? And the woman conceived and bare
a son in that season that Elisha had set unto her according to
the time of life. The promise came to be. She brought
life into this world. A child. A miracle from God. When the child was grown, it
fell on a day, again, These verses reinforce to the heart of God's
people that God ordained this. It fell on a day. God had purposed
to bring this life into the world and then to take this life. And
then to resurrect this life. Why? I hope that it will be that
the Shunammite woman today will constrain the prophet to come
to her house and to eat bread and to breathe life into her
home. When the child was grown, it
fell on a day that he went out to his father, to the reapers,
and he said unto his father, My head, my head. And he said
to the lad, Carry him to his mother. I assumed the boy was having
a heat stroke, working out in the field. My head, my head. He's holding his head. You know,
that's the root of our problem, isn't it? That's the cause of
our death. Men like to make a distinction between the head and the heart.
The Bible makes no distinction between the head and the heart.
What you've got in your head, you've got in your heart. And
people will say, well, they've got head knowledge, but no heart
knowledge. No, the disconnect is not between
the head and the heart, it's between the heart and the lips.
Men say things they don't believe. They say things they don't have
in their head or in their heart. They speak lies. They honor God
with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him. What you've
got in your head is what you've got in your heart. What you believe
is what you believe. And that's our problem, isn't
it? We've got a heart problem. We've got a head problem. We've
had a head sunstroke. And the brightness of the glory
of the cross and the gospel of God's free grace is what kills
us and brings us to life. When he had taken him, he brought
this to his mother and sat her on her knees till noon, and then
he died. And she went up and laid him
on the bed of the man of God. She put him in that place of
rest, that bed, that chamber that she had made for the man
of God, the holy man of God. She put him right there. And she shut the door upon him. And she went out. And she called unto her husband,
and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, and one
of the asses, that I may run to the man of God, and come again. And he said, Wherefore wilt thou
go to-day? For it is neither new moon nor
sabbath. And she said, Shalom. Now here she had just laid her
dead child, her one and only child, on the bed of the man
of God. And her husband says, Why are
you going to the man of God for? It's not Sunday. It's not time
for worship. What do you need Him for? And she said to her husband,
peace, it is well. She was confident that if she
could just get to the man of God. How was she going to get
there? How was she going to get there?
She was going to get there on the back of an ass. That's how
she was going to get there. You know in Leviticus chapter
11 the ass is called an unclean animal? And yet the Lord Jesus Christ
rode on the back of an ass when he went into Jerusalem victoriously. His triumphal entry into Jerusalem
to declare himself as the Messiah the week before his crucifixion
was on the back of an ass. when Samson slew those Philistines
out of all the weapons that he could have used to slay the Philistines. I mean, he could have used a
sword or spear or rock or sling. What did he use? He used the
jawbone of an ass. When Balaam was disobeying the
clear direction of God, Who was it that spoke to Balaam and stopped
him in his tracks and spoke the truth to him? It was an ass. Issachar, which is where Shunam
is, when Jacob was blessing his sons in Genesis chapter 49, he
said, Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens. he saw that rest was good and
the land was pleasant and he bowed his shoulders and bear
the role of a servant." In Deuteronomy, God forbid the
plowing of an ass and an ox together. It was against the law. It was
against the Levitical law for you to put an ox and an ass in
the same yoke together. You know there's ministerial
associations all over this town in which we live that I can't
have anything to do with. And I'm thankful not to have
anything to do with them. Clearly this ass is a picture
of the one who carries you to the man of God. The servant of
God who in and of himself is unclean and yet his jawbone is
able to slay the enemies of God. If you talk to my wife you'll
find out there's other characteristics of an ass besides these. in this
preacher. But you see, that's what it is
in the Scriptures. He's a beast of burden. Why would
God choose such a thing? To humble His people, faith comes
by hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God. How shall
they call upon Him in whom they've not believed? In whom they've
not heard? How shall they hear upon Him
in whom they've not believed? How shall they believe upon Him?
without a preacher. You know men pride themselves
in being able to access the presence of God all by themselves in every
form of religion. They pride themselves in that.
Either in their intellectual ability or in their spiritual
superiority. I got along with God and I found
God all by myself. God says it's through the foolishness
of preaching that they believe. It's on the
back of an unclean ass that God carries his people to the holy
man of God. The Ethiopian eunuch, when Philip
asked him, do you understand what thou readest, said, how
can I unless a man should lead me? Why does God use this means? to leave us without any contribution,
to humble us in coming to Christ. The truth is that men in religion
make a work out of coming. They make a work out of coming. They're going to put works in
there somewhere. God uses a beast of burden and
makes him a servant, Issachar, a strong ass, the jawbone of
an ass. And she said to her husband,
it's well, you can't help me. That's what she is saying to
her husband. And your husband can't help you, my dear friend. And your wife can't help you. And your neighbor can't help
you. And you can't help yourself. You've got death in your home.
And the only hope you have is getting to the man of God. And the means by which God is
going to get you there is on the back of an ass. And though most people just go
to church on the appointed day, like her husband, what do you
need the man of God for? It's not new moon, it's not Sabbath,
it's not Sunday. What do you need him for now? The Shunammite woman flees to
him when there's death in her home. when she's desperate and
she knows that no one else can help her. And look what happens.
Verse 24, And she saddled an ass and said to her servant,
Drive and go forward, and slack not thy riding for me, except
I bid thee. Don't stop this ass till we get
to the man of God. Don't hold anything back. Preach
to me the whole counsel of God. Tell me the truth. Don't hide
it from me. Don't confuse it. Don't give
me a double story. Don't do like the world says,
God loves you but Christ died for you. Tell me the truth, the
whole truth and nothing but the truth, the whole counsel of God's
Word. Don't put me back under the law. Get me to the man of
God. Don't hold back anything. So she went and came to the man
of God to Mount Carmel. Now what happened in Mount Carmel? Elijah, Elisha's predecessor,
is the one who defeated the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, didn't
he? That's where the fire of God fell and consumed the sacrifice. And the sacrifice quenched the
fire. And the prophets of Baal were exposed for what they were,
false prophets. And that's where the man of God
was. And that's where he still is. He's at Mount Moriah, he's
at Mount Zion, he's at Mount Carmel. One place he's not is Mount Sinai. Don't go there. Lots of other
mountains given in the scriptures to describe Mount Calvary and
the church, but not Sinai. Take me to Carmel, that's where
the man of God is. And it came to pass, when the
man of God saw her afar off, he said to Gehazi his servant,
Behold, yonder is the Shunammite. Run now, I pray thee, to meet
her, and say to her, Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy
husband? Is it well with thy child? And she answered, Shalom! Gehazi couldn't help her. Her
husband couldn't help her. She said, It's well. It's well. Oh, but what a contrast. What
a contrast we're going to see when she gets to Elisha. And
when she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by
the feet. But Gehazi came near to thrust
her away, and the man of God said to her, Leave her alone,
for her soul is vexed within her, and the Lord hath hid it
from me, and hath not told me. You know, Bert, you said you
didn't understand in your scripture reading, thank you so much for
that, what the disciples were thinking when they tried to shoo
away the Syrophoenician woman. You know, Lord, send her away.
Gehazi now, the servant of Elisha, tries to thrust her away. You know how many times this
Ghazi has felt like I have shooed away potential believers by my
inability or unwillingness to speak? How many times has it happened
to you? How many times have you felt like, you know, if I just
had said that or said this or if I had spoken when I should
have spoken perhaps? How often times we act like those
disciples. And yet the Lord overrules it
every time. Every time. You can't scare off
one of God's elect. You just can't do it. We all make mistakes. We all
thrust people away. We all shoo them away. We all
do things we ought not to do and say things we ought not to
say, and we fear in our hearts that maybe we've turned them
away from Christ. If they belong to the Lord, like
this Shunammite woman, the Lord's going to overrule all our errors,
and He's going to bring them to Himself. You can't stop God from saving
one His elect. Oh, she wasn't going to turn
loose on him. And Elisha told Gehazi, go and lay my staff. Look what he says. And she said,
let her alone, halfway through verse 27, let her alone, for
her soul is vexed within her, and the Lord hath hid it from
me, and hath not told me. And then she said, did I desire
a son of my Lord? Did I not say, do not deceive
me? Oh, I've been better off never having a child than to
loved and lost like this. Then he said to Gehazi, girdeth
thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go thy way. If thou meet any man, salute
him not, and if any salute thee, answer him not again, and lay
my staff upon the face of the child." Oh, the urgency about salvation. And Gehazi ran and did exactly
what Elisha told him, but nothing happened. But look what the Shunammite
does. And the mother of the child said
in verse 30, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will
not leave thee. She wasn't going to turn loose
of Elisha. She wasn't going with Gehazi and Elisha's staff. She said to Elisha, you send
Gehazi, I'm staying with you. I need you to go and do for me
what Gehazi can't do for me and do for me what Elisha can't,
what my husband can't do for me and what I can't do for myself.
You're the only one that can solve this problem of death.
So Elisha goes. Look what happens. Gehazi passed
before them, verse 31, and laid the staff upon the face of the
child, but there was neither voice nor hearing. Wherefore
he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is
not awakened. And when Elisha was come into the house, behold,
the child was dead and laid upon the bed. And he went in therefore,
shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the Lord. Father,
I pray, not for the world, but for them which thou hast given
me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou hast
given them unto me. I've given them your word. I
pray that you would cause them to behold my glory. Just read
John chapter 17, the high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ,
praying to the Father on behalf of his children. Verse 34, And he went up, and
lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his
eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands, and he stretched
himself upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Every man is a liar. God alone tells the truth. He
is the only one whose mouth is without guile. He is the only
one whose eyes are too pure to look upon sin. How can a man
stand before God? Only if he has clean hands and
a pure heart can he stand before God. Who's that? only as the Lord imputes to us
His righteousness by putting His eyes to our eyes, His mouth
to our mouth, His hands to our hands, and in that posture, His
heart to our hearts, and His feet to our feet." What a glorious picture of imputation
and substitution. And Elisha begins to bring life
into the body of this child. And then he returned and walked
in the house to and fro and went up and stretched himself upon
him. And the child sneezed seven times and the child opened his
eyes. Now I don't know what that means except this. I'm always
a little disconcerted when people say God bless you after they
hear somebody sneeze. Because it's just superstition.
I want to say he already has. Thank you very much. It's just
superstition. And it's based on the fact that
people think that when you sneeze, you sneeze your spirit out of
your life, or your heart stops when you sneeze. You know, the
interesting thing about this is that the only time sneezing
is ever mentioned in the Bible, it's just the opposite of what
men use it for today. It's just the opposite. He's sneezing in order to show
that he's got life. But isn't that the way men are?
They turn everything upside down. They make a superstition out
of religion. And here he sneezed in order
to show life. Seven times. Perfect life. The child opened his eyes. And
Elisha, he called Gehazi and said, call the Shunammite. So
he called her, and when she was come in to him, he said, take
up thy son. Now you would think that she
would have just grabbed her son and run. But no, it's not what
she did. What'd she do? She saw that her son was sitting
alive, and she fell at the feet of Elisha, and she worshipped
him. I want you and me to be a great
woman of faith who lives in Shunem, the place of double rest, and
constrains Elisha, our prophet, to impute to us his life, hands
to hand, eye to eye, mouth to mouth, feet to feet. And if he
does, We'll worship Him. We'll worship Him in truth. And
we'll worship Him from the heart in the Spirit of God. Oh, would
God be pleased to bless this place. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, what we need is Your life. Lord, as you as our witness,
we pray that you would give us the faith to cling to the feet
of the Lord Jesus Christ and say with this Shunammite woman,
with God as my witness, I will not leave thee. Lord, would you breathe your
life into us? Pray that you would do it for
your glory. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand together for the
time. 168 in the hardback temple.