Now this is another unusual passage
of scripture like our study in 1 Corinthians recently. But what a vital, important gospel lesson this is. Thank the Lord for it. I pray
that he'll teach us the truth that he has for us
in this portion of scripture. Elisha here represents the Lord Jesus Christ,
and I don't mean that he's just a type of Christ here, though
he is. He's God's prophet, and therefore
he represents the prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ, but also He's
Christ's representative in that he is the one who speaks for
God in that day, in that place. He's the spokesman, the servant
of God, the messenger that the Lord had sent. And there is a
difference. Not everybody that preaches the
gospel is a type of Christ. None are now. but we are his
representatives. Second Corinthians 5.20 now,
then we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you
by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, as though it were Christ
speaking to you. Because it is his word, it is
his message, it is his gospel. And the message is, be ye reconciled
to God. That's the message of 2 Corinthians
chapter five and all of the scripture. Be ye reconciled to God. The scriptures begin with how
we are alienated from God by our sin. Our sins have separated
between us and our God, which is tantamount to spiritual death. but immediately were taught how
a sinner can be reconciled unto God by the blood of a victim,
the blood of a sinless, innocent victim, picturing the Lord Jesus
Christ then and the Lord Jesus himself in due time. Now Elijah had just said in the
context in verse 21, of 2 Kings 2, thus saith the
Lord. That's what we're talking about.
He was God's spokesman. And it's as God's prophet, messenger,
that he's introduced in this passage, that he stands in this
passage. He's God's voice on this earth,
just as John the Baptist who said, I'm a voice. crying in
the wilderness, but what a voice if he's speaking for God himself.
So these little children, by the way, that may not mean what
you have in your mind when you think of little children. You
might think of five and six year olds, but these ones mocking
here, the words literally mean young boys. And of course that
can can be any part of a range of ages. It doesn't say specifically
that they were teenagers, but we know they're old enough to
mock God. We're gonna see here that they're not just mocking
somebody with a bald head like anybody might do. I've done that. Chrome dome and stuff like that.
You know, that's something that just happens commonly. It's just
joking around. That's not what these kids are
doing. And there's a huge group of them, 42 at least. Now we know that the
she bears tore 42 of them. There may have been some there
that didn't participate in this and worked on, but we know there
were 42 there that were chanting. You notice it's repeated. They're
chanting this thing. What a scene that would be. What a humiliating Openly publicly he's he's going
up to Bethel on the road now. You're not in somebody's house
or a building He's out in the plane in the open Walking to
Bethel And as he comes into town this huge mob of children of
young boys Begin to chant mockery in his face So this was more
of a scene than we might initially perceived here. And they knew
who Elisha was, no question about that. He had been with Elijah
for six years, and as we know, in God's workings in Providence,
Elijah was not someone who escaped notice. The Lord did so many
amazing works by and through Elijah, he was not somebody you
could miss. And Elisha was his companion for six years, so they're
not just mocking a bald-headed man, they were purposely mocking
God. And this teaches us something
now about what this is. The Lord often does that, doesn't
he? We see that in the scripture as we go through Different passages
the Lord impresses upon us what this is the worship of God in
the preaching of the word God sends messengers, and he doesn't
do so Lightly or flippantly or randomly The vital importance
and the gravity and value that God places upon the ministry
of his word is That's what we're taught about. Here God doesn't tolerate the
mocking of his word. Of his person. And what did the
Lord say to Moses? He said they're not mocking you.
They don't have a problem with you. They have a problem with
me. His ministry to belittle. And make light and Degrade his ministry as many
in religion Might do calling us a cult. I've
been called told before that we're a cult and nobody believes
that To mock God's authority God places much importance on
All of that, and that goes for anybody now. If I make a mockery
of this ministry by my behavior, by something I say, or by my
attitude, God will take me out of the way. And rightly so. It doesn't matter who it is. The young people, as I said,
did this out in the open. There were likely other witnesses.
And God's gonna make an unmistakable point here, wouldn't you say?
I doubt if anybody that was there that day forgot about this. And
if we think things like this, and this is thoughts that enter
into our head, this is too harsh. This is a little extreme for
two bears to come out of the woods and tear up these young boys.
If those thoughts do enter our head, there's a couple of things
that we need to remember. First of all, we don't know the
hearts of these young boys. But I know this, all of our hearts
by nature are evil. This wasn't cute. This wasn't
cute. And we need to remember this
too, we can't really understand what a sinner is. We don't understand in the sight
of God what it is to have his word, his ministry, his authority
mocked. We can't really enter into that.
And I'll tell you this, if we think this is too great a consequence
for their mockery, I think maybe our problem is that we're just
too used to getting away with it. You reckon? We're used to getting away with
things that God ought to throw us in hell for. God doesn't always every time
give us what we deserve, but don't let that fool you into
thinking that these boys didn't deserve this. Don't we acknowledge
that the ministry of the gospel is life and death? that you reject the truth of
God at the peril of your own soul. And then we read this and
we say, wait a minute. Well, I thought you believed
it was life and death. But we're quick to say, well,
wow. When we see God actually put
somebody in hell for despising the truth, it shocks us. But we know that he does, we
know. That it is life and death. That teaches us, as I said, something
about what this is. Anybody that says these boys
didn't deserve this, that's not our judgment to make. And we
know better, don't we? Because we know that this is
God we're dealing with. The punishment always fits the
crime when it comes to God. Now what if every time somebody
came in and heard the gospel, and then they made a judgment
within their heart, and this is what happens now. If somebody ever has enough interest
to come in and listen, they make a judgment within their
heart as to whether they're gonna hear it again. And often the
judgment made is that it's foolishness. It's not worth their time. Not
interesting. What if every time somebody did
that, God unleashed upon them the consequences that he did
on these boys? Would he be right to do that? We'd have to change the carpet
three times a week, wouldn't we? We would never be able to
wash the blood out of it. That's the reality of it. Look who God's man is. What this
ministry is, what the ministry of the gospel has always been,
is today, and always will be while this world stands. He went
up to Bethel. When we're brought into this
story, we see God's man going up to Bethel, which means literally
house of God. House of God. That's where we do business.
That's where all believers dwell. God has just anointed Elisha
as his prophet and he immediately goes up to the house of God. Wherever God's man and God's
people preach and hear the gospel and worship God is God's house. Not because there's something
particularly special about the structure of it or the atmosphere
of it, But because that's where the Lord Jesus Christ said, I'll
meet with you there. Like he said about the mercy
seat. You see, Christ is the mercy
seat. And he said, I'll commune with you there at the mercy seat.
Christ is the gospel. And what did he say about those
who gather in his name in the gospel? I'll commune with you
there. Christ himself is God's house,
and that's where we really live. Psalm 27, four, David wrote,
one thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after. We know that we're gonna seek
after whatever it is we desire. What you find yourself seeking
after, that's the desire of your heart. And here was David's, that I
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. He wasn't talking about the tabernacle. He's talking about Christ, to
dwell where God is, where God said, I'll commune with you. What are you going to do there,
David, to behold the beauty of the Lord. That's where God's house is,
where you can behold his beauty and to inquire in his temple. Do we dwell in the house of the
Lord? Bethel, he went up to Bethel. not a building, in Christ, in
his worship, before him in continual prayer and dependency and fellowship, where his beauty can be beheld, where we always inquire in our
hearts. What are we inquiring about?
Well, if you're there to see his beauty, then that's probably
what you're inquiring about too. to behold his beauty that he's
revealed to you and to ask him, Lord, show me more of how beautiful
you are. Never make light of that. Never
for one moment take it for granted or despise it in preference for
earthly things or matters or pursuits. And from there, Elisha went to
Mount Carmel. God's man went to Mount Carmel,
representing Christ, not only as typical of him in this passage,
because this is where the Lord dwells too, in his house and
in his garden. Carmel means garden land or fruitful
field. The Lord says to his church in
Song of Solomon 4.12 that we are unto him a garden enclosed. That's where you'll find him.
That's where you'll find him. Carmel is where the Lord answered
with fire. Consumed the sacrifice. Is that
where you go? Where you frequent? That's where God's man and his
people frequent. As our Lord, His custom was to
pray in the garden of Gethsemane, it must be the custom of His
sheep to come into the garden and commune with our Lord. We commune at the mercy seat,
our Savior, where our sins are atoned for. And we have sweet fellowship
with God in Christ, our Redeemer, at the mercy seat. Elisha went from there to Samaria, which means Watch Mountain. The full definition is Observation
Tower. to keep, to beware, to regard,
to preserve. Again, our Lord Jesus Christ,
that's where he goes. He watches over us continually.
He's the shepherd and bishop of our souls, the overseer of
our souls now. He keeps us and watches us, protects
us, And does not our Lord station us here in this place in Samaria
as watchmen over his flock, as guardsmen of his walled city?
Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 62. Isaiah 62. In verse six. Isaiah 62, six. I have set watchmen
upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their
peace, day nor night. Isn't that interesting? These
are spiritual watchmen. An earthly watchman wouldn't
have a lot to say unless there was an alarm that needed to be
raised. But spiritual watchmen never
shut up. It's what they have to say that
is the protection of their soul, of the souls of those in the
city. They never hold their peace day or night. What are they talking
about? He that make mention of the Lord. That's it. What is there to talk
about besides that? the watchman that the Lord sets
upon the walls of his city, Jerusalem, the church. He says, keep not
silence. Don't stop making mention of
the Lord. And give him no rest till he
establish, until he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Their
concern is the welfare of Jerusalem. Simon, feed my sheep. The Lord has sworn by his right
hand and by the arm of his strength, surely I will no more give thy
corn to be meat for thine enemies and the sons of the strangers
shall not drink thy wine for the which thou hast labored.
You're not gonna be spoiled. You're not gonna, you're not
gonna, Be defrauded. You're not gonna be ashamed.
You're not gonna be victims. Why? Because I've sent my watchman
and they're not ever gonna shut up. They're gonna make mention
of the Lord and you're gonna be safe. You're gonna be safe. Who was
it that said, for me to say the same things is not grievous,
but for you it's safe. That's the gospel. Not gonna be like that anymore. The religious of this world and
all sinners of this world who despise our Lord, they labor
and labor and labor for that which is not bread, the scripture
says, and their wealth takes wings and flies away. It's for
nothing, but not so the Lord's people. Verse nine, but they that have
gathered it shall eat it. And you know what they're gonna
do? They're not gonna say, oh, look at everything I've done
and what I've accomplished. I'm gonna have to build bigger
barns in which to store my goods. No, they're gonna praise the
Lord for what they have. And they that have brought it
together shall drink it in the courts of my holiness. They're
gonna worship Him in it, in other words, for all that they have. And this is talking about our
soul's fatness. Of course, everything physical
and spiritual is included. But we sit at the bountiful table
of the Lord, and we praise Him for that. We worship Him for
that. Nobody can take that away. Moth and rust don't corrupt that,
and thieves don't break through nor steal. Verse 10, go through,
go through the gates, prepare you the way of the people. Cast
up, cast up the highway, gather out the stones, lift up a standard
for the people. Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed
unto the end of the world, say ye to the daughter of Zion, behold,
thy salvation cometh. Behold his reward salvation is
a person His reward is with him and his
work before him it's not a reward for your work. It's a reward
for his work And they shall call them the
holy people the redeemed of the Lord Thou shalt be called sought
out and a city not forsaken. Integral to all of that is the
watching. That's what Samaria is, the watch
mountain. Now what do these do? Which the
Lord sets upon the towers of the church in verse six. They've
got one charge to make mention of the Lord himself. Christ himself
is our message. is the sounding of the alarm.
He is the warning. He is the safety of his people. It's Christ and the preaching
of him that makes sinners aware of the danger to their souls. It's Christ and the preaching
of him that causes sinners to take refuge in his arms. It's in the rock of ages himself
where safety lies from the very wrath of God against our sin. Religion talks about going through
life on a bed of ease and the Lord protecting you from all
harm and all that. The harm that you need to be
worried about is God throwing you in hell. I pray the Lord keep us safe
and those that I love safe in this world, both from physical
and any earthly harm as well. But the crux of the matter is
we're in danger by our own wretched nature and condition before God
of eternal hell. and it's the preaching of Christ,
it's making mention of the Lord, not making mention of how you
need to do better, or anything that you need to do, by making
mention of Him and what He did. That's how sinners find refuge
from the wrath to come in Christ, as He's preached. May we ever make mention of God's
mercy in Christ Jesus for which he sent his son to be our sin
offering and redeem those whom he hath from the beginning loved.
May we make incessant mention of the perfect security that
is the sinners under the precious blood of Christ that has redeemed
his sheep unto God under the blood of Jesus. I love that song.
Safe though the worlds may crumble Religion speaks of a safety that
depends on us as long as we you know As long as we stay as long as
we don't wander as long as We just saying we're prone to
wander, but the Lord keeps us May we never fail to call out
for sinners to believe on Christ, the Almighty Savior, a Savior
that this world doesn't know of, the one that does as He pleases,
the unfailing Savior, the successful champion of sinners. And we call
out that sinners might rest their souls in Him. Be ye reconciled
to God. Nobody that places or becomes
a stumbling block on the road to the city of refuge can be
allowed to stand. We stand on the wall to make
sure that they don't, that they can't. Are you in or out? Are you for or against? Who's
on the Lord's side, Moses asked. What a question. I haven't thought
about that in a long time until I was looking into this. That
was Moses' question on the day of reckoning in Exodus 32, 26,
when the party was over. On the day of reckoning, Moses
said, who's on the Lord's side? It really does come down to that.
That's a timeless question. Don't get used to getting away
with taking his mercy for granted. Don't get used to getting away
with making light of his truth. Now is the accepted time. It's
not time to try Jesus. It's not time to walk an aisle
or repeat a prayer. It's time to look to the Lord
of glory. Look to God's lamb and be saved. It's time to submit to his righteousness. Romans chapter 10, to renounce
ourselves and all of our works and trust the Savior alone. It's
time to believe in his blood. Romans chapter three, through
faith in his blood, we look to him as our substitute. to believe in his blood alone
for our souls offering unto God for our sin. I asked myself a question as
I wrote the end to this. Are we afraid to beseech sinners
to be reconciled unto God? You see these places where God's
ministers, God's spokesmen, And in one sense or another, that's
his people now. You see these places where Elisha
went. Are we afraid to call on sinners?
It seems like sometimes we're afraid that somebody that doesn't
really believe is gonna come to Christ. That's not possible. They can fake it. But the Lord showed me something
that Simon Peter, he wasn't afraid to call on sinners to come to
the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't think we should be either.
Acts 2.36, therefore, let all the house of Israel know assuredly
that God hath made that same Jesus whom you have crucified,
both Lord and Christ. Have we exalted the Lord Jesus
Christ as Lord and Christ in this? He is the refuge of the sinner. He is safety for our souls. He is the one who watches over
and keeps his garden. He is the place of rest. His house is where he lives. God made him Lord and Christ.
And when they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts.
They were stabbed in the heart and said unto Peter and the rest
of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? And then Peter
said unto them, repent and be baptized. Every one of you in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. Repent by the grace
of God. We know that repentance is granted
by God, but we must repent. Our mind, we've got to change
our mind about who God is and about who we are, what we are
before God and about how God saves sinners. Repent and be baptized. Don't walk an
aisle. Don't repeat a prayer that after some man that somebody
else made up. That's not a prayer. A prayer
comes from the heart of a sinner himself who prays. The way you confess Christ is
his way. Not by you doing something, but
by confessing that he did something. And because of him and what he
did for me, I have life. Every one of you. He didn't say
if there's any elect here, you come down here, confess Christ. Every one of you, every one of
you. Be saved, repent, and be baptized,
every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission
of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for
the promise is unto you. Did you know the gospel? It's unto you. Are you a sinner? Then it's unto you. and your children, to all that
are far off, to all that need God, to all who are separated
and alienated from God, even as many as the Lord our
God shall call. And with many other words did
he testify and exhort, saying, save yourselves, from
this untoward generation. Any problem with that? Look unto him and be saved, repent. You need your sins remitted.
And in baptism, we confess that that's how we have access to
God, by the remission of our sins. By Christ dying for our
sins according to the scriptures. May the Lord call sinners unto
himself by means of the gospel, as he said he would, for his
eternal glory.