to 2nd Kings chapter 6 2nd Kings chapter 6 let's ask the Lord to bless this
our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name father we
pray that you would bless your word this morning that this service
and the next service would truly be a worship service, that our
hearts would be opened to your word, and that your word would
come to us in power. Be our teacher this morning,
Lord. Instruct us out of your word
and open our eyes As this young man's eyes were open, we pray
you'd open our eyes to see your glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
Thank you for your mercy, Father. You are so merciful to us. Thy
mercies cannot be reckoned up in order. There are so many.
They are continual. Be with us. And those who are
not able to be here, We pray for them. Lord, we pray you bless
your children with growth and grace and in knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ's name we pray and
amen. The title of this message is Open His Eyes
That He May See. Open his eyes. that he may see. Now, I'm gonna start in verse
eight down through, I probably won't get to 23, but that's pretty
much what the lesson covers. And what we have in verse eight,
and you go home and read this again. It always helps, and it's
always helped me over the years to go and read again what I just
heard preached. You know, portion of scripture,
go read it again. And then, especially after you've heard it preached
from, it helps. But we see here the king of Syria
made war against Israel, and the king gathers together his
counselors, and he has purpose to ambush Israel. And Elijah sent word to warn
the king of Israel to take another direction. Don't go the usual
way. You know, you and I are creatures
of habit. You know, we can be, we're such creatures of habit,
we can be known easy. But Elijah warns the king to
go another way. And I thought when I read this,
we have many warnings in the word of God that it would do
us well to take heed to. The word of God is full of warnings
and promises. Promises lest we despair, warnings
lest we presume. We have many warnings. And this
is comforting. Here's something comforting to
me. Each time, you'll see here, each time that the king of Assyria
would call his counselors together, secretly meet, and planned the
attack on Israel, Elijah would warn the king of Israel and he would tell him to escape
and take another way. Finally, the king of Syria got
exasperated And he said, we have a mole in the camp. That's basically
what he said. There's somebody in the camp
here who's for the king of Israel. Look in verse 11. Therefore the
heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing
because he kept missing them. And he called his servants and
said unto them, will you not show me which of us is for the
king of Israel? There's a mole. We have a mole
in the camp telling these things. But one of the king's servants said this there's no traitor
there in verse 12 there's no traitor there's no one there's
no mole in the camp but i tell you what there is there's a prophet
in israel there's a man of god in israel but elisha the prophet
in israel tells the king of israel everything listen even what you
say in your bed chamber That's comforting because our
enemy, the Lord hears every word. He knows every thought. And He
made them known to Elijah, and Elijah made them known to the
king. And listen, God does not work
separate from His man. From His man whom He has set
up as a prophet, He doesn't operate separate from them. The ones
he set up, a pastor, he doesn't operate seven. When the letters
to the seven churches were written, who were they written to? The
pastors. He told the pastors, you straighten
this up. Like at Ephesus, he wrote to those pastors, those
seven stars. So anyway, he says here, even
what you say in your bed chambers, he knows it, he knows it. He sent to find Elisha, the king
of Syria did, and they found him. He said he's in Dothan.
And he sent horses and chariots and a large army and he surrounded
that place. He surrounded that Dothan. I'm
going to kill Elisha is what I'm going to do. And we see in
verse 15, the servant of Elisha rose early. It says, OF THE MAN OF GOD WAS RISEN EARLY,
GONE FORTH, BEHOLD A HOST COMPASSED THE CITY BOTH WITH HORSES AND
CHARIOTS. AND HIS SERVANT SAID UNTO HIM,
ALAS, MY MASTER, HOW SHALL WE DO? HE WALKS OUT THE DOOR, AND
TO HIS SURPRISE THERE IS THIS MASSIVE ARMY, AND HE FALLS APART. He falls apart. You know what
I thought of? Well, you're about to know. When
I read that, I thought of the disciples in the boat when that
storm hit, and they went back and they woke the Lord, and they
said, "'Carest thou not that we perish?' Here this servant
runs back into the house. I'm sure he about passes out
when he sees that army. And he turns and he runs back
into the house and he said, how shall we do? We're in trouble.
We're in trouble. Elisha, calmly, calmly, this
is God's man. Here's a man taught of God. This
is why it's so necessary. It is absolutely necessary for
us to grow in grace and in knowledge of Christ, because in times of
trouble, we can show some character. We can show some character and
not bring reproach on the name of our Lord. Last you said to
him in verse 16, do not be afraid. Don't be afraid. And I'm sure
there's servants standing there saying, You want to step out
and look at this? There's a massive army out here. The King of Syria. But notice this statement here.
They, in verse 16, they that be with us are more than they
that be with them. Oh, if you and I could realize
they that be with us. How many angels do you reckon
there are? innumerable, innumerable. Only God knows that number. Only
God can know that number. To us, it's innumerable. If God
were to open our eyes right now, we would be amazed at what we
could see in this service. We'd be amazed. I thought of
Hebrews 12.1, Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, How many have gone on before
us? We have the whole Word of God as a witness and all those
written in the Word of God as witnesses. Be not afraid. Has God ever failed any of His
children? God's never failed any of His children. God's never
failed me. God has never failed you. He's chastened you. He's
troubled you. He's tried you, but He's never
failed you. He says there in Hebrews 12 wherefore
seeing we also accomplished about was so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us lay aside every weight. Let us let us lay aside every
doubt every fear and the sin and The scene here is unbelief
It's unbelief WHICH DOES SO EASILY BESET US, THE SIN OF UNBELIEF
SO EASILY BESETS US, THAT'S WHY WE DOUBT SO OFTEN. WHICH DOES
SO EASILY BESET US, AND LET US RUN WITH PATIENCE THE RACE SET
BEFORE US, AND LET US RUN IT WITHOUT FEAR OF MAN, OF ANYTHING
BUT GOD. In Romans 8, verse 31, WHAT SHALL
WE SAY THEN TO THESE THINGS? IF GOD BE FOR US, WHO CAN BE
AGAINST US? It wouldn't matter if the whole
world right now, with all of its artillery, were outside these
doors. And you walk out and you see
them. They can do nothing except God allows them to. And if He
allowed them to take my life, guess what? Guess where I'm gonna
be? Because they can't take my life.
You know your life can't be taken? It can't be taken. Your life
is hid with Christ in God. That's where your life is. This is like King Hezekiah. You
know, when he told the people of Judah when the king of Assyria
came against him, you know what he said to them? And this is
a good king. I mean, this is good for when
you have a leader like this. With them is the arm of flesh. But with us is the Lord our God
to help us and to fight our battles. He's with us. If God be for us,
who can be against us? When men truly, when they know,
when they know the word of God, when they understand the power
of God, they have nothing to be afraid of, do they? There's
nothing to fear. Psalm 56, three and four. What time I am afraid. This is
one of my favorite statements in the scriptures. What time
I am afraid. Remember this scripture because
I remember this one. What time I am afraid, I will
trust in thee. It's all right. In God will I
praise His Word. In God I have put my trust. I
will not fear what flesh can do unto me. I won't fear. Now, I know, listen, we're not
like these TV preachers that say, just tell Satan to get out
of here. Satan's too powerful for me. Michael wouldn't even
deal with him. The Lord rebuked him. The Lord
Jesus Christ, when Satan came to him, he always quoted the
Word of God. He did. But Christ, being the stronger
man of the house, has taken over the house, and Satan has no power. I mean, he's very powerful. Way
more than we would even know. But he has no power against God's
children. No power. Just like Job, you
know, he had to get permission to do what he did and God put
restraints on him. God put limits on him. He put a fence around
him. You can go this far, but no further. That's all you can
do. Our Lord said this in John 16
33 these things have I spoken unto you that in me you might
have peace in me you have peace in the world you'll have trouble
tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world I've
overcome it I've defeated it But no matter what a man hears,
whether when he hears the gospel, he hears grace, he hears the
power of God, he hears just what I have already covered. Unless
God gives him eyes to see and ears to hear, this means nothing
to him. He won't get any comfort out
of it. He'll go out of here just as fearful as he came. His fears
won't be laid aside. He'll be just as fearful. In Matthew 13, 15, 16, For this
people's heart is waxed gross, their ears are dull of hearing,
their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should
see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and should understand
with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal
them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see in your ears, for
they hear. And then it goes on to say, there
have been many prophets who desired to see the things you see and
they didn't see them. Not like you see them now. We have the
full, complete Word of God. Jesus Christ, the Messiah has
come. Blessed are your eyes. You see
things that the world doesn't see and many of the prophets
didn't see. They prophesied of things that
they really hadn't, I mean, it was beyond them. But you and
I see it now. We see it. God has opened our
eyes. And here's where Elisha prays,
and he said, Lord, here in verse 17, and Elisha prayed and said,
Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. As I prayed
here this morning, Lord, open our eyes that we may see. You know that the angels, those
flaming chariots and horses were there all along. They were there
all along. Elisha knew that. He knew it. But that young man and that servant,
he didn't know it at all. All he saw was a mountain. You
know, when you go outside, all you see, oh, there's trees. You
just see land. but it's full of the servants
of God. You know, the angels are given
charge to protect us, you know that? He's given his angels charge
to take care of us, look after us. You know, he said one time,
they're riding on the hood of your car. And the Lord opened the eyes
of the young man, And he saw and behold, the mountain was
full of horses and chariots of fire round about surrounding
Elisha. There's our protection. That's
our protection. That's what I really do rely
on in this evil world is the Lord protecting us, protecting
me and protecting you, keeping us safe. You see, the natural
eye cannot see spiritual truth. It has to be revealed, that God
has to give us eyes to see. I remember plainly when I heard
the gospel, when I HEARD the gospel, one of my first reactions
was, I SEE! I SEE! It's so clear to me now. It's like a veil was removed,
the cloud went away. I SEE! What I'm reading is matching
what I'm hearing. My pastor preached. He became
my pastor. In John 3, 3, you remember Nicodemus
came to the Lord by night, which is fitting for him. He came in
darkness because he was in darkness. And he came by night and Jesus,
he's going to ask him some questions. He was going to question the
Lord. He was going to question the Lord as a teacher to a teacher. Not as a sinner, not as a sinner,
the subject of mercy. You need mercy. Like the Ethiopian
said, how can I accept some man show me? He came as a teacher
to a teacher. That's not how we come to Christ.
We come to him as a sinner in need of mercy and in need of
being taught. taught of God, and all thy children,
it says in John, all thy children shall be taught of God. Just
like right now, you're being taught of God. God's teaching
you this morning. Jesus answered unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God. He can't comprehend it, he can't
understand it, he can't see it, he can't see it. And Isaiah 64,
for since the beginning of the world, men have not heard nor
perceived by the ear, neither have the eye seen, O God, beside
thee, what he hath prepared for him that waits for him. Now turn
over to 1 Corinthians. Let me show you. He expounds
on this just a little bit more. Over here in 1 Corinthians 2. In verse 9, But as it is written,
as I just read to you in Isaiah, I hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him, but God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things,
yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things
of a man, say the Spirit of man, which is in him? Even so the
things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we
have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God, which things also we speak, not in the words
which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth,
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. RECEIVE US NOT THE
THINGS OF THE SPIRIT OF GOD, FOR THEY ARE FOOLISHNESS UNTO
HIM, NEITHER CAN HE KNOW THEM BECAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY
DISCERNED." God has to open us our eyes. God has, listen, God
has to give us His Spirit. In other words, we've got to
be born of the Spirit in order to see the things of the Spirit. The Word of God is a closed book
until God opens it. Until He opens our eyes, this
book is closed. You can't understand a thing.
You know this when you're talking to someone about the scriptures
and they look like a deer caught in the headlights. They don't
even have a clue what you're saying. They don't have a clue.
They're confused. Only God can open a sinner's
eyes for the hearing ear and the seeing eye are of the Lord
in Proverbs 20. Only He can give that We can
preach truth to people, but only God can make them see the truth.
I cannot make you see the truth, but God can. As it says in 2
Corinthians 4, 6, For God, who commanded the light to shine
out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light
of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
He's got to command that light. He's got to command that sight.
Our Lord did this in His ministry when He walked on this earth.
He gave sight to the blind. There was a lot of blind people,
but what it shows is that he's showing here he has the power
to give spiritual sight. It's not that he can just heal
blind eyes, but he gives sight to the blind, the spiritually
blind, and we see. And that's why Elijah did not
say to his servant, well, see those chariots, those horses
on that mountain, open your eyes and you can see them. No, he
said, Lord, You open his eyes. I can't do that. I can't show
him that. I can stand here and preach truth to you day after
day, but the Lord has to open your eyes and your heart and
you say, I see, and you'll go away from here with something.
You'll go away with something. This is far different than when
Satan opens somebody's eyes. He opens them to sin and evil. Remember back in the garden,
what happened? In Genesis 3, 5, for God does
know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall
be opened. You see, that's a different sight.
We're born with that sight, evil, evil. And you shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil. But the Lord does open men's
eyes as there's evidence of it here in this congregation. Some
of you see the Lord, don't you? And you've seen it for a good
while. You've seen Him for a good while. And the Lord opened the
young man's eyes and he saw. He saw. I have seen people sit
for years under the gospel. And one day, one day, they see
it. God opened their eyes. God opened
their eyes. The eye of faith, when God gives
the eye of faith, it'll see what no one else sees. You know, when
God told Noah to build the ark, that none of those that he preached
to, he's called a preacher of righteousness. You know, they
didn't see what he saw. They didn't see it. They'd never seen
rain before. They'd never had a flood before. By faith, Hebrews 11, 7. By faith,
Noah being warned of God of things not seen yet. He saw them. Even before it happened, he could
see it. You know why? He believed God. When God said
it's going to rain, you can see it before it rains because God
said it. God said it. And he moved with
fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house. The disciples
saw the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord said, Who do
men say that I am? Some say you're the prophet,
some Elijah, some this, some that. He said, Who do you say
I am? This is real important. Who do you say that I am? Peter
said, Thou art to Christ, the Son of the Living God. And the
Lord said, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is
in heaven, He revealed this to you. God the Father, let's think
about this, you who believe, you who see, God the Father took
you in hand to give you sight of His Son, of Himself. of yourself, of redemption, of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. God did that
for you personally. That happened to you personally.
God visited you. Man, that ought to just be astounding
to us that God Almighty, Lord of Heaven and Earth, the Creator
of the universe and all that is, personally visited us and
saved us and gave us sight. God visit me? Yes, He did. Who hath believed thy report,
and to whom is the arm of the Lord? Isaiah said, Isaiah 53. I'll tell you who, the ones that
believe the report are the ones to whom the arm of the Lord's
revealed. God's revealed Christ to you and you believe. You see,
And spiritual, listen, spiritual sight, this is why I pray that
He would enable us to grow in grace and in knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It will produce spiritual maturity
and quietness under trouble. You're not wringing your hands
because of what's going on on the political landscape. I'm
more concerned with what's going on in the Kingdom of God. I'm
telling you, I'm more concerned about what's going on in the
Kingdom of God than I am the political landscape. Because God's got that totally
under control. He either does or He doesn't.
He's got it totally under control. And you and I are to pray for
these leaders that He puts in office, that He puts in office,
and we pray for them. That God will use them to direct
this country in a way that you and I can live peaceably and
we can meet together like this every week and freely preach
the gospel and worship the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we
pray for. Not some political agenda we
have. I don't have one. I don't have one. I have a spiritual
agenda, or that I might know Him, and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His suffering. That's my agenda. Spiritual sight produces spiritual
quietness, and it'll produce assurance. I bet it calmed him
down. I bet that servant was, I bet
he calmed down when he saw that. when he saw those flaming chariots
of fire, those horses, that was more amazing to him than all
the army of Syria. Elisha said to him, be not afraid,
be not afraid. Henry made this point in his
lesson, and I could have, finally at the age where I can identify
with things more than I could when I was young. The eye of faith does not grow
dim with age, but it sees Christ better. That young man saw the
enemy, but no Redeemer. He saw danger, but no deliverance. And the old prophet had seen
the glory and grace of God often like Abraham. I thought that
was a good statement. It was comforting to me. What did Abraham say to his son
Isaac when he was getting ready to go up on the mountain? The
Lord will provide. He'll provide you protection.
He'll provide you provision. Give us, Lord, our daily bread.
That's everything we need. That covers everything you need.
He'll provide us with a sweet transport from this life to heaven
above. The Lord will provide. And the eye of faith, once God
gives it, It's never satisfied with its
knowledge of Christ. It wants to know more. Paul said,
I want to know Him. Paul knew Him. Paul sat with
Him for three years in the backside of a desert and learned the gospel
from Him. Oh, that we might know Him and
the power of His Resurrection. I'll be satisfied. When? When
will I be satisfied? When will a child of God on this
earth finally be satisfied? When they AWAKE WITH HIS LIKENESS! When they are completely conformed
to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Psalm 119, Psalm 118, Psalm 119,
Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm
119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm
119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm
119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm
119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm
119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm
119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm 119, Psalm
119, And you and I are wondrous things. It's a wonder that God
saved me. It's a wonder to me that God
saved me. I tell you, I just can't get
over that. I can't get over that. One day
I'll stand there through no fault of my own. What a wonder. They want to know more of Him,
more of His righteousness. More of His redemptive glory.
More, more, more about Jesus. I said, that's what made me think
of that song. More about Jesus, what I know. More, more, more. And the hope of saving faith,
once it is given, is to be with Him. Is to be with Him. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart and be with the Lord. For me to live is Christ. Boy,
now think of this statement. What is it for you to live the
rest of your life from this point on? Paul said, for me to live
is Christ. That's the only reason for my
existence. And to die is gain. It's gain. You know, here's something that
is comforting. You remember Hagar, and she was
cast out, or she had to leave with her son, and she's out there,
and they have no water, and she takes her son and sets him off,
and she goes off at a disco. She didn't wanna see him die.
She didn't wanna see him die of thirst. He was about to die
of thirst, and you know what God did? In Genesis 21, 19, God opened
her eyes, and you know what she saw? A well of water that was
always there. Well, a well of water just didn't
happen. It was always there. She just couldn't see it. She
just... And God opened her eyes and there's
a well of water. Christ has always been there.
Christ is there now. And if God opens our eyes, we'll
see it. He's always been there. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord,
I pray Thee, open the eyes that he may see. And the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain
was full of horses, chariots of fire round about Elisha. Here's
an example for us in prayer. We should pray that the Lord
open the eyes of the blind here. There's still some people here
in this congregation blind. There's still some blind. And
we ought to pray earnestly that God will open their eyes. Open their eyes and see God as
He is, see themselves as they are, see Christ as He is, and
see their need of Him and how He meets their need. Open their
eyes to that. Open their eyes. And what's strange here, the
rest of this, I close here, but if you go on down and read the
rest, the reason I said read the rest of it is this. God, God,
Elisha asked God to blind the eyes of the Assyrians, and he
did. And he led them to Samaria, right to the king, right to the
king of Israel. And then he asked the Lord again,
he said, open their eyes. And they opened their eyes, and
they were in trouble. As far as they were in trouble,
we're in trouble. And I wrote out, I had to write
out there by this, and I'm gonna read this right here. In verse
22 and 23, I put, they were conquered by goodness. The king wanted
to kill them, but I said, no, feed them. They made a feast
for them. Isn't that what the Lord has done for us? Has He
not made a feast for us? Has He not prepared for us a
feast in Christ? All right, I'm done.