Okay, so good to be here tonight
always a blessing a little bit more snow today I Love I got
a little text from Marcus today. I want to do this to tell you
about this before The service he was walking around today in
an old graveyard And he said He saw this on a tombstone. He
took a picture and sent it to me. It was a, the person died
in 1833. And you know how we've been talking
through the messages and looking at the messages and the constant
theme coming up is in Christ, in Christ, constantly. All through the scripture we
see that, right? In Christ. This was on the tombstone of
a, guy who passed away in 1833, it said, all true believers who
in Christ a saving interest have are blessed in life and blessed
in death and blessed beyond the grave. I thought that was wonderful. Here's one of our brothers. He
died in 1833. And notice the key, in Christ,
again, all true believers, who in Christ the saving interest
have, are blessed in life, and blessed in death, and blessed
beyond the grave. That's so true, isn't it? Oh
my. Yeah. And then Brother Marcus
wrote and said, the snow that we see falling is tokens of God's
sovereignty. I like that. Tokens of God's
sovereignty. Wonderful. Turn, if you would,
to 2 Kings 6. This passage before us that we'll
look at tonight, great comfort is found for the people of God.
It sets forth in a very clear way the fact of how the believer
in Christ is kept by God and how he's protected by God. Remember,
today we looked at The words Lord God in the Hebrew, and again,
it's Adonai Yahweh, which means the Mighty One in a matchless
way, and also Yahweh being He's ever present with us. He's ever
present with us. He'll never leave us nor forsake
us, and He's ever with us. Now again, we know that in this
world, the enemies of Christ are everywhere. And we know from
our Master's own words, that they hated him without a cause.
And so we should not marvel when men despise us and speak all
manner of evil against us about what we believe. The Lord said
this, if the world hate you, you know that it hated me before
it hated you. If you were of the world, the
world would love his own, but because you're not of the world,
but I have chosen you, there again, I have chosen you out
of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word
I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord.
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have
kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things
they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him
that sent me. And that was in John chapter
15, verses 18 to 21. And in those verses, the Master's
own words says again, if the world hates you, you know that
it hated me before it hated you. So from those words, the words
of the Master, we see that the world has always had enmity against
Christ. And then the world has enmity
against its people because they're in Christ. And I know that for a fact. I
used to be one who was an enemy with God in my mind, persecuted
those who loved Christ. And then when the Lord saved
me, I found out that believers are persecuted for their faith. They're looked at differently.
Family members look at us differently, treat us differently. all because
of our faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. Our friends, that once
were close to us, no longer want to really be associated with
us, because we love the Savior. Turn, if you would, again, like
I said, to 2 Kings chapter 6. You know, the reason the unsaved
world persecutes believers is because they cannot get to Christ,
but they can get to you and me. but they can't get to him and the whole reason they persecute
us if we receive persecution for our faith is because of christ
christ in us the hope of glory right now beloved right this
second he is in thrown in glory right now he has finished the
work of salvation for his people He is seated at the right hand
of the Father. He sat down. The work's done.
It's all done. And he reigns in glory and majesty
right now. And he is ever present with us,
whether we feel it or not as believers. He is ever present
with us. And what comfort that can bring
we who are the people of God. Look at this in 2 Kings 6, verses
8 to 10. Then the king of Syria warred
against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In
such and such a place shall be my camp. And the man of God sent
unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such
a place, for thither the Syrians are come down. And the king of
Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him, and
warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice. the king of syria had proclaimed
war against the king of israel and took counsel with his generals
and now they were encamped in a place where they are waiting
in ambush to wipe out the israelites to wipe out and kill the king
of israel waiting for him to pass by unawares and then they
would fall upon king of Israel and the armies and destroy them
that was their plan we see here then that the man
of God Elijah warned the king of Israel and we see the king delivered
from his foes we know that's by the power of God we know the
Lord gave Elijah that knowledge We see then the king of serious
plans were thwarted by the prophet Elijah, actually thwarted by
God. Have you ever thought of how
many times God has delivered us from our spiritual foes? Have you ever stopped and just
thought about that? Have you ever stopped and thought about
how many times our Lord has delivered us and restrained us from sin? My. It'll make you shout in praise
to God when you stop and think about that. Because I'll tell
you what, it's countless times. It's countless times. And it's
only because of the matchless grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that we are delivered only because
of Him and only by Him. There are numberless times when
we are unaware, unconscious of our Lord delivering us. Times
we don't even think about. Delivering us from our spiritual
foes. And never forget that our Lord is the same yesterday, today,
and forever, right? He doesn't change. As I mentioned
this morning, and I was thinking about that before the message,
the fact that we see seasons change. Like the snow now, we
see the change. We see the change when the leaves
fall. We see the change when the snow comes. We see the change
in April when the rains start to come and the trees start to
bud again. So the seasons change each year for us. But the one thing that doesn't
change, right, is the sun comes up every morning, whether we
see it or not. The moon is hung there at night,
whether it's obscured from our vision or not, it's there. It
never changes. Our God never changes, beloved.
Now, we're like those seasons. We're up and down in our lives,
different times, different seasons. But he's that unchanging. He
never changes. He's the same yesterday. He's
the same, think of this. He's the same as he was today
as when we breathed our first breath when we came into this
world. He's the same. And he'll be the
same when we breathe our last breath. He'll be the same. He never changes. And that's what brings the believer
comfort. That brings us great comfort,
is the unchangeableness of our great God. And so just think,
just sit down and ponder sometimes. It's numberless, the amount of
times the Lord has delivered us from our spiritual foes or
from situations in our lives. And never forget again that the
Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And he delivers
us in time. He's outside of time and space.
But he delivers us in time, and he delivers us time and time
and time again, doesn't he? All by the power of his might.
So may God give us grace and strength during even these times,
these unusual times that we're living in right now. May God
give us grace and strength and wisdom. But also may he give
us grace and strength and wisdom during our trials and tribulations
that we're gonna go through in our lives. Now let's read verses 11 to 14
of 2 Kings 6. We see here that the king of
Syria cannot get his hands on the king of Israel, so he turns
his attention to the king's servant Elijah. He can't get his hands
on the king of Israel. lies is a man of God so what
a picture we have of our spiritual enemies they cannot get their
hands on our king so they turn their attention upon us we who
are here on this earth 2nd Kings chapter 6 verses 11 to 14 therefore
the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing
he called his servants and said unto them will you not show me
which of us is for the king of Israel so he thought he thought
somebody within his inner circle betrayed him That was his first
thought. Well, you know, who's going to
put their hand up and say, yeah, it was me, sir? They're going
to lose their head, right? Well, it turns out none of them
had spoken anything. God had revealed this to Elijah.
But the king thought it was within his own ranks. And one of his
servants said, none, my lord, O king, but Elijah. Now here
it is. But Elijah the prophet, that
is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou
spakest in thy bedchamber. And he said, go and spy where
he is, that I may send and fetch him. Well, you know why he wanted
to fetch him. He wanted to kill him. And it was told him, saying,
behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore he sent horses and
chariots and a great host. So he sent a large amount of
men. And these are warriors. He sent
a large amount of men. I'm going to take care of this
situation. That's what he thought, right? I'm going to take care
of this situation. He's a king. He could send all
his armies if he wanted. But it says here he sent a large
host. A lot of men, doesn't say how
many, but a large host back then, that's a lot of men. And not
only just the men, he sent chariots, too. And chariots are like Calvary,
like Calvary was back in the days. So he sends
these chariots, and he sends a large amount of men, a great
host. And look what they did. And they
came by night. and they can pass the city about. So what did they
do? They surrounded the city. That, in those days, is called
a siege. Now, when a city was sieged,
no one went in and no one went out. And usually, the city had
time to prepare for this. So they would stock up food.
But obviously, they had no time to prepare for this. They came
at night. So could you imagine the Israelite people waking up
the next day or the people in Dothan waking up the next day
and seeing this large host all around them? What would they
think? Oh my, our deaths have come upon
us. Our death has come upon us. And note in verse 11 we see revealed
one of the traits of unbelief. It's suspicion. Suspicion. The king of Syria thinks because
his plans were thwarted that there must be a spy in his camp,
in his midst, who warned the king of Israel. He's totally
unaware that it is God Almighty who thwarted his plans against
the evil, or his evil plan against the king of Israel. And the king
of Syria, not being able to fall upon and destroy the king of
Israel, now sets his sights upon the prophet of God, Elijah. If
I can't get to that king, I'm going to get to that prophet.
You see the picture? Oh, my. Oh, my. And he thinks that he's
going to secure him with chariots and horses. He's expecting to
take him captive, and who knows what he would have done if he
had taken him captive. And he thinks by sending a mighty
host now, you see, you send a large army. You pretty well think in
your own mind and natural man, okay, I've got this guy. But
little did they know, they're not fighting Elijah. Elijah's
not fighting them either, is he? He just warned the king of
Israel. They're fighting God Almighty.
And we know how that's gonna end. Oh my. He sends a mighty host. What
folly it is for man, when you think about it. We have the blessing
of looking at this after, and what folly to think that man could fight against God. What
folly. And for those who are fighting
against God's people, they soon find out they're not fighting
against the people of God. But they're fighting against
the Most High. Why? Because he always protects
his people, doesn't he? He always does. And so we see
this mad attempt of the king of Syria to take the prophet. And this, again, sets forth the
bitterness of the carnal mind against God and against his servants.
And this doesn't change even in our age, beloved. There's
nothing new under the sun. There's nothing new under the
sun. It's always the same. It just manifests itself under
different circumstances. Look at verse 12. And one of
the servants said, none, my lord, O king, but the lies of the prophet
that is in Israel telleth the king of Israel the words that
thou speakest in thy bedchamber. So we see here the accusations
against that he knows what the king of
Syria has said in his bedchamber, the accusation against Elijah.
And we know that only God revealed this to Elijah. Why? Because it's God who's all-knowing.
Elijah wasn't there in his bedchamber. But our God is all-knowing, beloved.
He sees everything. There's nothing that's hid from
our God, nothing. And he reveals this to Elijah,
the all-knowing God, who knows the thoughts and the intents
of all people. See, men may meet in secret,
and God knows it all. He knows what's going on. He
knows everything. Nothing is hid from our God.
Nothing. He knows all things. He knows
our thoughts. He knows the words upon our tongues,
even before we speak them. even before we speak them. Scripture says this, for the
word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to divide and asunder the soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the heart. God not only knows our words,
Before we speak them, he knows the intents of our heart, in
our thoughts. Scripture declares, neither is
there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all
things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we
have to do. Hebrews chapter 4, verses 12
and 13. Boy, that's sobering, isn't it? That's sobering. Our great God
knows the thoughts and intents of the king of Syria while he
was awake, while he was in his bedchamber. He knew all his thoughts
while he was dreaming and while he was awake. And so for us,
too. Elijah was made aware of the
intent of the king of Syria by God. And what happened? The king's plan was thwarted.
It was thwarted by God, wasn't it? But see, the king of Syria's
not thinking that, he's thinking, well, it was that Elijah that
did that. I can't get at the king of Syria,
he's thinking, or king of Israel, but I can sure get at Elijah. So he thinks. So it's not comfortable even
for we who are believers to think that nothing about us is hid
from God. We know we're just saved sinners,
and God surely knows that, doesn't he? Now think of that. God surely knows that, because
he knows the intents of our heart, and yet he's had mercy on his
people. Isn't that wonderful? Oh my, that's grace. That's grace
pressed down and overflowing, beloved. That is. It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. So what a great comfort for the
believer to know that all our sins and thought, word, and deed
are washed in the precious blood of Christ. Isn't that a wonderful
thought? They're washed clean, beloved. Oh, praise his mighty
name for his wonderful work. Now let's read verses 13, 14
again, and we see that the king has sent his armies. They've
surrounded the city of Dothan. You know why they've done this?
For one man. He's so upset, this king, that he sends a whole army
there in chariots to surround this whole city for one man. He'd probably want to flatten
that city for one man. My. He has the power and the
authority to say that to his armies. But who has authority
and power over him? We've already seen his plans
thwarted, haven't we? God has absolute power and authority,
and we see that he protects his people. Verses 13 and 14 again, and he
said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him.
And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore
sent he thither horses, chariots, and a great host, and they came
by night and compassed the city about. The Syrian army had come and
surrounded the city of Dothan under the cover of darkness.
They were probably real quiet about it. There's soldiers, so
they can come in, quietly sneak in, and they've surrounded the
city. And they've done this at the
command of the king of Syria. Beloved, again, the king of Syria
can't kill the king of Israel, so now he seeks to kill the messenger. Now he seeks to kill the messenger. And we see that he's taken a
great host and surrounded the city. Next, in verse 15, we see that
Elijah's servant, unaware of the situation, is going about
his daily business. So he probably, Elijah's servant
woke up that morning, did what he had to do in the morning,
like we do in our morning routine, stepped out the door, and oh,
what did he see? He saw something he didn't see
the day before, didn't he? Oh, let's see what he saw in
verse 15. Oh my. He's going to see a whole army,
a great host encamped against the city in full battle array,
too. These are soldiers ready for battle. Look at this. When
the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth,
behold, a host come past the city, both with horses and chariots. And the servant said unto him,
Alas, my master, how shall we do? So the servant of Elijah,
he's looking at all this host. He's looking at this army before
him. And I'll tell you what, these are men of war. They're ready to come at a moment's
command and wipe that whole city off the face of this earth. They're ready. And Elias' servant,
he turns around and runs right back to his master. And he's
asking, How are we going to get out of what appears to be impossible? He's looking at the circumstance,
isn't he? Elijah's a prophet of God, and
he's a man just like you and I. But his answer here is absolutely
wonderful. And his servant, even though
he was a spiritual man, a prophet of God, And he saw many things,
we will see in this case, his flesh
got to him. And look at Elijah's answer to
his servant. He very calmly tells his servant that there are more
with us than against us. Could you imagine that? As far
as the servant, he's looking at Elijah and him. And Elijah
tells him, look what he tells him in verse 16. And he answered,
fear not, look at that, wonderful words, eh? Fear not, for they
that be with us are more than they that be with them. Imagine
the surprise of the servant. Imagine his surprise. All he
could see was this Syrian host before him, thousands of men. He's probably looking at Elijah
and thinking, what in the world did you drink this morning? Right? And I don't mean alcohol, I just
mean something to, oh my, oh my. Imagine his surprise. All he could see is the Syrian
host. What's he looking at? He's looking at the physical,
isn't he, beloved? He's looking at the circumstances.
What's the one thing I've always said about myself, and I know
it's true about you, when we start looking at the circumstances? Well, then we're going to start
to worry, aren't we? Then we're going to start the fret. We are. And see, Elijah, he's got his
mind set on Christ. He knows God will protect him.
And we constantly need to be reminded of that, don't we? I
know I do. We constantly need to be reminded
that our God is absolutely sovereign and that he is on the throne,
that he is Adonai Yahweh. He's matchless in his presence
with us. That means he's ever with us
in a way that no other human being is with us. He's ever with
us. My, what comfort that can bring you
and I as God's people, God's born-again, blood-bought people. So this servant of Elijah, he
sees all this host of men surrounding the city. And Elijah says to
him, now there's more for us than against us. Now there are some among us who
hear the gospel and yet do not see Christ. And what's our prayer
for those that are in that place? Well, we pray the Lord would
reveal himself to them. That they'd hear the word of
God. Not as man's words, but as God's. That God the Holy Spirit
would reveal Christ to you as this message goes forth. That's
our prayer, isn't it? That God would use it for his
glory. For the fetching in of his lost sheep. Turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 13. Matthew chapter 13. Keep your hand, though, in 2
Kings, though, because we'll be going right back there. Matthew
chapter 13. They asked the Lord why he spoke
in parables. Look what he says here in Matthew
chapter 13, verses 13 to 15. He says, therefore, speak I to
them in parables, because they seeing not, and hearing they
hear not, neither do they understand. Now think of this, too. This
is the Lord speaking to them, right? When he spoke to people,
he spoke in parables, it's God speaking to them. But it says here, hearing they
hear not, and neither do they understand. So man in his natural state will
not hear the words of God and does not see God. And in them is fulfilled the
prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, by hearing you shall hear and
shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and shall not perceive. I was talking to a dear brother,
and he once said that, he said that, you know, People sometimes
just sit in a pew and they don't hear nothing. They don't hear anything. But
yet someone beside them is being ministered to and lifted up and
built up in Christ and rejoicing in the word that they hear. And
our prayer is that if it's the Lord's will, that he give those
who aren't hearing, hearing ears too, isn't it? And seeing eyes. Because we were all in that state
at one time, weren't we? whether we were in church or
not. So unless the Lord gives us hearing ears and seeing eyes,
we'll never see him and we'll never hear him through his word. Look at this, and in him is fulfilled
the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, by hearing you shall hear
and you shall not understand, and seeing you shall see and
shall not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed
gross. That's our natural state right there. And their ears are
dull of hearing, and their eyes are closed. There we are. That's
our state, born dead in trespasses and sins. Lest of any time they
should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and shall
understand with their heart, and should be converted, and
I shall heal them. Look at that. The Lord's given
us hearing ears, beloved, and seeing eyes, and we've been converted.
Isn't that wonderful? Converted and regenerated by
the power of God the Holy Spirit. Now let's go back to 2 Kings. Chapter six, and let's read verse
17 now. And now remember what our Lord
said there, that they should see with their ears, or eyes,
see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand
with their heart. So in our natural state, we neither
see the things of God, we don't understand the things of God,
and we don't hear the things of God. Even though we could
be sitting in the gospel church, Word of God is being preached,
and it's fallen on deaf ears for an unbeliever. Now, our prayer,
isn't it? Our prayer, and we thank God
when someone comes in and doesn't know the gospel. We thank God
even when the Lord's people are here, because we're built up
in Christ. And as this message goes forth
on the Internet, we pray that God will use it to bring His
lost sheep. Give them hearing ears and seeing eyes. that they
would be converted, born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Look
at this in verse 17. And Eliza prayed and said, Lord,
I pray thee, open his eyes. Isn't that our prayer? Lord,
open the eyes of sinners, sinners such as we. Open the eyes of
lost sinners that they might see thee and that they might
become safe sinners by thy almighty power. Lord, open their eyes.
Lord, we pray you'd open their eyes. Look at this, so he speaks,
open his 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 and chariots of fire round about Elijah. Oh my goodness. The prayer of God's people for
our family, for our friends, for our co-workers, Lord, pray
thee open their eyes that they may see we see then the circumstances
before us in the text the king of Syria was after the prophet
of Elijah and let us remember that we have an adversary who's
the enemy of our souls he's real he's real he seeks to destroy
us he seeks to destroy this work But beloved, we are camped round
about, shielded by our great God. And our great God is who keeps
us and holds us. He holds us in his everlasting
arms, protecting us from our enemies.
And take note here that Eliza reckons his servant's natural
sight is no sight at all, in contrast to true sight. He says,
and Elijah prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes. Now
he could see things naturally, right? But he's praying that
God would reveal to him spiritually that he's with him, that he's
with him. He does that for us through his
word, doesn't he? He reveals to us he's with us, beloved. So he reckons his servant's natural
sight as no sight at all, in contrast to true sight, being
that which sees the invisible and trusts our great God, who
we cannot see with our physical eyes, but we can sure see him
with the eyes of faith, can't we? And we hear him speak to
us through his word, through the preaching of his gospel.
Turn, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 11. Worried about Moses,
who look to our great God by faith. And we know that this
faith that was given to him, now think of this too, the faith
that was given to Moses, the faith that was given to Paul,
the faith that was given to John, is the same faith you and I have.
You know that? It's the same faith. It's the
same faith, beloved. Look at this in Hebrews. Chapter 11, look at verse 24
to 29. By faith, Moses, and this is
God-given faith that trusts the Lord Jesus Christ. By faith,
Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with
the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
Steaming the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures
in Egypt, for he had respect and to the recompense of the
reward. Moses esteemed Christ more than
all the riches in all of Egypt. Now, Egypt was an extremely wealthy
country at that time, before Israel swallowed them when the
Lord God had the Egyptians show a favor
to the The Israelites, when they were leaving and just giving
their jewels and gold, basically spoiled the country of Egypt. Moses had nothing, he didn't
want to have anything to do with that. He esteemed the reproach
of Christ, greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. See,
Moses' faith was in Christ. How do we know that? Well, it
says right here, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater riches
than the treasures in Egypt. Look at that. He was looking
forward to the Messiah. We look back and see what Christ
has done. He was looking for the coming Messiah. By faith he forsook Egypt, not
fearing the wrath of the king. Look at that. King who had all
power in Egypt. For he endured, seeing him who
is invisible. His eye was set upon Jehovah. Through faith he kept the Passover
and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn
should touch them. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. That's what God does with us,
too, isn't it? Sees the blood of Christ upon us, I'll pass
over you. All your sins are forgiven. Oh, my. By faith they passed
through the Red Sea as by dry land, which the Egyptians are
saying to do were drowned. Then look at verses one to three
of Hebrews chapter 11. Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. You could
see something, you're no longer gonna hope for it. For by it the elders obtained
a good report. Through faith we understand the
worlds were framed by the word of God, that's our great king,
so that things which are seen were not made of things which
do appear. Now there are those who have
a natural sight of religion. They wish the church well, they
lend a hand when needed. They even see enough to perceive
that they're in great danger from a great enemy, yet seeing
they're just like young Elijah's servant, or they're just like
Elijah's young servant. And again, we see the prayer
of God's people in verse 17. for those who we know, those
who sit under the gospel, the sound of the gospel, that have
no eyes to see Christ. Oh, we pray that the Lord would
open their eyes, open their eyes, that they might see our glorious
King, that they might see our Redeemer, the one who we, who
are the born-again, blood-washed people of God, are trusting in.
That's who we trust in, isn't it? We trust in Christ. We trust
in Christ and Christ alone. And we pray that they would see
the enemy of their souls in his many disguises. Scripture says
Satan goes about like a roaring lion. He's like a serpent, very
subtle. And his ministers appear as angels
of light. You know who they are? They're
the ones who tell, well, God wants to save you, but he can't. Just walk down this aisle and
bow your head and repeat this prayer. So subtle, isn't it?
Where's regeneration? Where's the power of the Holy
Spirit of God in that? No, we preach Christ and let
God do the work. Oh, my. Do not be deceived by
the pleasures of this world or the riches of this world. You
know why? Because they're all temporal.
They're just going to disappear. Have you ever heard people say,
I've got lots of time. I've got lots of time. Kind of
like that guy who built that great big barn, right? I've got
lots of time. I've got lots of time to turn
to Christ. Oh, I've got so much time. And God said to that man, thou
fool, tonight I require your soul. That man perished into
eternity. Christless eternity my they are
in great danger what if tomorrow never comes
what if the Lord requires your soul tonight the scripture declares this behold
now now is the accepted time behold now is the day of salvation
now is the time to flee to Christ may God make you will it in the
day of his power And our prayer, our prayer for our family members
as God's people, our prayer for our friends, our prayer for our
co-workers, is that God would open your eyes. That you may
see him. That you may see him. That you
may see him who holds all things together by the word of his power.
That you may see him who keeps all things visible and invisible
under his dominion. and that you may see his handiwork
all around us, that you each season may see
his handiwork. Beautiful snow as it falls, the
whiteness of that snow, spring when the buds start to come out,
the leaves start to sprout, the summer with the warmth of the
sun, beauty of all things around us, the fall, beautiful colors
as they're changing. God has that happen every season.
It's a constant, as Brother Marcus says, it's a constant token of
his sovereignty, isn't it? Right before us. Every time. It's absolutely incredible. So
we pray, Lord, open the eyes of your lost sheep. see the only
way of salvation is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ because
he is the only appointed Savior of sinners there is no seeing Christ but
by his light and we who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God
and behold we behold he who is light don't we we behold he who
is the light of the world we look to him who is all our salvation
that's Christ And then we pray that God would open your eyes,
sinner friend, that God would open your eyes to see the Lord
Jesus Christ, to see your desperate need of him, because that's what
he's done for his people. Oh my, it takes spiritual eyes
to see spiritual truths. I ask you this, did you see anything
in the scriptures before the Lord saved you? Did you understand
the scriptures? Did you understand who God is? I had no interest in even reading
the scriptures, to be honest with you, before the Lord saved
me. I didn't have any interest at all. But now, I just gobbled
up, don't you? It's wonderful. It's so comforting
for us. It's so comforting for us. And
only God can give us that sight. Only he can give us that hunger
and thirst after righteousness, which is Christ. And only God can give you sight
to behold Christ. And again, we pray that he would
do so. And he would do so. Because that's what he's done
for every one of his born-again, blood-washed children. That's
what he's done for every single one of us. He's given us eyes
to see and ears to hear. And we see here when the servant's
eyes were open, he saw that he and Elijah were surrounded by angelic wall, chariots of fire,
like those that had taken Elijah to heaven. 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 Elijah. These horses and chariots of
fire were round about Elijah, but the young man could not see
them, as they were spiritual horses and chariots, angelic
beings belonging to the spiritual dominion. or spiritual domain. They were there when he first
looked and saw the Syrian host. But at that time, he didn't have
eyes to see, did he? But they were there. That's why
Elijah said, there's more for us than against us. And he looked
at them. Could you imagine? He probably looked at a lot.
What? But Elijah saw them. When he first looked and saw
the Syrians host, he had no eyes to see the angelic beings around
him. And what happened when the Lord
opened their eyes, opened his eyes? Oh, he could see, couldn't
he? Again, that's our prayer for
our lost loved ones, isn't it? Our friends, our fellow men and
women. Can you imagine the joy and the peace that flooded into
that man's soul? Could you, because we can tell
by his response going to Elijah, we can tell that he was pretty
worked up. He thought it was over. And I can imagine his It doesn't
say that he said anything to Elijah, but I can imagine what
he was thinking, like we talked about earlier, when Elijah said,
well, there's more for us than against us. He looked out there
and saw that host, and he thought, I don't know what he's talking
about. And then the man of God prayed.
And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man. And he saw,
and behold, the mountains were full of horses and chariots of
fire round about Elijah. Oh, what joy, what peace flooded
that young man's soul. God had given him spiritual eyes
to behold the great angelic host which protected them. And our
prayer again is like Elijah. And take note that he did not
tell the young man what he had to do. He didn't tell the young
man what he had to do, did he? No. He didn't tell him, well,
you got to do this to see. Well, you gotta do that to see.
But what did he pray? He went right to God, didn't
he? Elijah went right to God and prayed, God, open his eyes,
please. Open his eyes to behold what
I see. Beloved God, we who are God's
people cannot give spiritual sight to anyone. But we pray that God would open
their eyes. We pray God would open their eyes. that he would
do a mighty work in them, regenerating them, giving them sight and faith
to behold the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, just as he
has given us sight to behold Christ. In God, the Holy Spirit reveals
Christ to sinners of his own choosing, of God's own choosing.
And then what does he do? He doesn't leave us there. He
teaches us the things of Christ. He builds us up in Christ. I
ask you, you who are one of his people, do you know more about
Christ now than, even though what we know is just scratching
the surface, right? But do you know more about Christ
now than you did when he first saved you? Yeah. And do not we
grow in awe as we learn about our great King? Does it not strike
us even more? Lord, you saved me. God, the Holy Spirit, reveals
the things of Christ to us. He's the Spirit of truth, your
guide us into all truth. Listen to this. But it is written,
I have not seen nor heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God has prepared for them that love him.
We can't imagine what heaven's gonna be like. We can't imagine. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things,
yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things
of man, save 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 us of God. Everything we know about him
has been revealed to us, everything. Which things also we speak, not
in the words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Ghost
teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things.
1 Corinthians 2, verses 9 to 13. Only by God's power can a
man or woman be made to see Christ, to be made to see him, to by
faith look to him. All men by nature are blind.
We're blind, deaf people by nature. We do not understand the things
of God. We do not care for the things
of God in our natural state. The scripture declares that we're
dead in trespasses and sins, which means we're blind to the
things of God. We're just like that servant
when he first walked out and he saw all that Syrian host. He didn't see the host of angelic
beings waiting and protecting and surrounding Elijah and himself. Now Elijah, we see here in verses
18 to 23. Let's read that. We'll see what
happens. Look at this. 2 Kings 6, verses 18 to 23. And when they came down to him,
Elijah prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this people,
I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness
according to the word of Elijah. Now, that was done by the power
of God. That's God who did that. He smote them with blindness.
And Elijah said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this
the city. Follow me, and I will bring you
to the man whom you seek. But he led them to Samaria. And
it came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elijah
said, Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.
And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw, and behold, they
were in the midst of Samaria. And the king of Israel said unto
Elijah, when he saw them, now remember, this is a huge host.
They've been blinded by the Lord. Elijah says, well, follow me,
I'll take you to the man that you seek. And they follow them, beloved.
They follow them. And now they come to the king
of Israel. See, what's the first thing the
king of Israel thinks? Shall I kill them all? Look at this. In the king of
Israel, verse 21, the king of Israel said to Elijah when he
saw them, my father, shall I smite them? Shall I smite them? And
here's Elijah's answer. And he answered, thou shalt not
smite them. What dost thou smite? Those whom
thou hast taken captive with thy sword and with thy bow. So he's saying, if you captured
some men, would you wipe them all out? Well, obviously the
answer's no, because Elijah wouldn't ask them that question, right?
Unless the truth was, no, he wouldn't have done that. Look
at this, set bread and water before them that they may eat
and drink and go to their master. And he prepared great provision
for them. And when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away
and they went to his master. So the bands of Syria came no
more into the land of Israel. Look what the Lord did. Now think of this too. One angel,
Wiped out 100,000 men. And when that servant was given
eyes to see, he saw a host of angels all around him. Oh my. God had mercy on those
Syrians, didn't he? God has mercy on us, didn't he?
Oh my. He had mercy upon us. The law
of justice, God says, smite him. Smite him. But the Son has already satisfied
the law and justice for us. We go free. We go free, beloved. So we see here in verse 18, justice
tempered with mercy. Elijah asked the Lord to blind
the eyes of the army of Syria, and the Lord did it. Elijah spoke
to them in verse 19, and they did not know it was Elijah. He
told them they were headed the wrong way, and he told them,
the man you seek is not here, but follow me and I'll lead you
to him. Oh my. Elijah took them to Samaria in
the midst of the camp of Israel, and when the Lord opened their
eyes, they saw the army of Israel. They didn't see the heavenly
host that had protected Elijah, because they didn't have eyes
to see them. They didn't know the great mercy
God had had upon them, just not having that whole host fall upon
them. And the king of Israel thought
they were delivered to him that he might slay them, but he showed
respect for Elijah, and he asked if he should kill this army.
This is his sworn enemy, and Elijah again says, don't kill
them. Don't kill them. Make a feast for them, and then
send them home. What a gospel lesson we have
here before us, beloved. At the end of this portion, it
is Jesus who brings his enemies, his lost sheep, under his power.
And when their eyes are opened to see how the Lord has surrounded
them, what happens? Our knees bow, don't they? Our
knees bow. And the weapons of our warfare
fall out of our hands. My. And how graciously does our
Lord feed his people. And what gracious and great provisions
he sets before us. What a Savior, beloved. What
a Savior. Oh Lord, we pray that you'd make
those around us willing in the day of your power, for it be
your will. May we tell them this man receiveth sinners, Christ
receives sinners, and he eateth with them. That's wonderful news. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your mercy and your grace. Thank you for allowing us to
come and gather together tonight. We give you praise and thanks
for your mercy continuously and your goodness. See the beautiful
snowfall today, Lord, and again I'm reminded how you have made
us watered in snow, clothing us in thy perfect righteousness,
washing us clean by thy precious, precious blood. And Lord, we've
seen how you take care of your people. We've seen it twice today
in both these messages, Lord, how you're ever present with
your people. You never leave us nor forsake us. Help us always
to look to thee, O Lord. Help us not lean on our own understanding
or the arm of our own flesh, but help us to lean upon thee
and thee alone. Glory be to you, our great God.
In Jesus' name, amen.