Open your Bibles with me this
morning to the book of 2 Kings. 2 Kings chapter 6. 2 Kings chapter 6. Text will come from verses eight
through 17. And this is the title of the
message. How Shall We Do? How Shall We
Do? Now, in the previous chapter,
2 Kings, it's where the Lord had healed Naaman of his leprosy. You remember there at the end,
Elisha, had a servant named Gehazi. And he went and took those gifts
from Naaman, gifts that Elisha had refused. And Gehazi pursued
after him, though. He took a gift from him. He received
those gifts from him. And when he returned, Elisha
asked him He said, Gehazi, where you been? And then he asked him
this question. Is it a time to receive money,
and garments, and olive yards, and vineyards, and sheep, and
oxen, and maidservants? Is that what this is about? About
receiving gifts? You remember that leprosy, the
name it had fell on Gehazi. Well, here in chapter six, Elisha
has another servant. And this one, we don't know his
name. I find that kind of interesting.
You know, he's just a servant. Wouldn't we be pleased to just
be a servant? And you know, it's not important
that we know his name. The Lord knows his name. He knows
every one of his sheep. Foundation of God stands assured
knowing this, having this seen, the Lord knoweth them that are
his. Look at this text with me here
this morning, beginning again with verse eight. Said 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 him there not once or twice. More than a few
times this had happened. He'd used him to deliver. Therefore
the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled at this thing.
And he called his servants and he said unto him, will you not
show me which of you is for the king of Israel? He thought he
had a traitor among his men. And one of his servants said,
none, my lord, O king, but Elisha, the prophet that's in Israel,
he telleth the king of Israel the words that you speak in your
bedchamber. The most private place in your
home, he said, he knows exactly what you're saying. And he said,
go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And
it was told him, saying, Behold, he's in Dothan. Therefore sent
he thither horses and chariots and a great host. And they came
by night, and they compassed the city about. And when the
servant of the man of God was risen early, this servant of
Elisha's, he'd risen early and had 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? Now, you think about this. The
King of Syria had sent this army. After one man, he sent this great
army after him and surrounded him. And his servant got up early
and he walked outside that tent to maybe just see what was going
on that morning. And he looks around and he sees
that they're completely, completely surrounded. And this is the question
he asks. How shall we do it? What? Have you ever asked that question?
What are we going to do? What shall we do? In times of
difficulty, in times of trouble, in times of sorrow and heartache,
How often do we ask that question? What am I going to do? What are
we going to do? We wring our hands. Just wringing
our hands. What are we going to do? These trials that are sent our
way? Times when we can't see anything but the enemy. We ask
that question. How shall we do? Well, the good
news about this is We're certainly not alone in this matter. Back there in the book of Exodus,
you remember God, he met Moses there at the burning bush, and
he spoke to Moses, and he said this, he said, I've seen the
affliction of my people. Can you, does that just, do you
struggle to let that, I mean, just for that to settle in sometimes?
He knows the affliction of his people. He knows our affliction. That's what he said. He said,
I've seen the affliction of my people. I've heard their cry.
At night or morning, when they cry unto me, he hears his people. He said, I know their sorrows. He knows our sorrows. You know
the Lord Jesus Christ, he said he was a man of sorrows. and
acquainted with grief. He knows the sorrows of his people. You know, as a man, God became
a man and he walked this earth and he thirsted, he wept, he
hungered, he sorrowed. And he said this, he said, Moses,
I have come down to deliver them. to bring them up out of a land
to a good land. And Moses said, well, who am
I? Who am I that I'm gonna do this,
Lord? Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and say these things? He said, the people, they won't
believe me. I'm gonna go tell them that God
sent me, that I am sent me. They're not gonna believe me.
I'm not an eloquent man. I'm a slow tongue. And in Exodus
4 verse 11, the Lord said unto him, he said, Moses, who hath
made man's mouth? Who did that? Or who maketh the
dumb or deaf or the seeing or the blind? Have not I the Lord? I've made all these things. I've
done all these things. And he said this to Moses, you
go, and I'll be with you. I'll teach you what to say. Moses was doing what we do. We
face trial, we face a little trouble and how quickly we forget
all about God and we lean on this arm of flesh. What am I
going to do? What am I going to do? Moses,
And just say it to us, there's no reason, there's no reason
to fear. You know, 62 times in scripture,
this phrase appears, this two word phrase, fear not. Fear not. Pretty obvious we need
to be reminded of that, isn't it? Fear not. Don't be afraid. That's what he said. He said,
don't be afraid. They that be with us, are more
than they that be within. The enemy's great, no question
about that. The enemy is great, but don't
be afraid. The trial, the trial's great. It's more than I can bear. And that's true. In and of myself,
it's far more than I can bear. But here's the commandment, don't
be afraid. Don't be afraid. In Genesis 12,
the Lord spoke to Abraham and he said, get thee out of thy
country and out of thy kindred and from thy father's house unto
a land that I'll show you. He didn't even tell him where
he was going, did he? Leave your family, leave your home. You
just go to the land that I'll show you. And you know what Abraham
did? departed as the Lord had spoken. Abraham, he believed God. He was 75 years old when he departed,
when he left, knowing this, no doubt, knowing this, that what
God promised, he was able to perform. I wished I had that
kind of faith to just rest in Him knowing this, that they that
be with us are more than they that be against us. We read this,
if God be for us, who can be against us? In 2 Chronicles 32, turn there with me to 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles 32. 2 Chronicles 32. When the king of Assyria came
against the people of Judah, listen to what Hezekiah, listen
to what he said. Look at verse seven. He said
this, he said, be strong, and courageous, be not afraid. There it is again, be not afraid,
nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude,
that great host that's with him, for there'll be more with us
than with him. Verse eight, with him, here's
his strength, with him is an arm of flesh, but with us is
the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles. And
the people rested themselves. They rested themselves upon the
words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. Again, 62 times, fear not. He said to Abraham, fear not. David told him of Philadelphia.
Remember that when he sat down there and fetched him and brought
him back? That two-day journey or however long it took them
to carry Mephibosheth back, what'd he say to him? Fear not. Fear not. Fear not, Paul. Fear not. Throughout God's work,
26 times, be not afraid. Five times, take no thought.
Take no thought. Again, it's obvious. We need
to be continually reminded. to not be afraid. And listen,
if we truly knew the scriptures, if we truly knew the scriptures
and the power of God, we'd know that there is no reason to fear. No reason to fear what man can
do. David wrote this in Psalm 56. He said, what time I'm afraid,
I'll trust in Him. I'll rest in Him. In God will
I praise his word. In God have I put my trust. I
will not fear what the flesh can do to me. Now we don't underestimate in
saying that. We do not underestimate the power
of Satan, the power of sin, the power of this world, but we know
God is greater than all, and that he will That's what he's
promised to do, huh? But listen, that must be revealed. And it must be revealed to these
thick scholars of ours over and over again, doesn't it? Listen
to Elijah's prayer here in 2 Kings 6, verse 17. Elijah prayed and
he said, I pray thee What a simple prayer. Open his
eyes that he may see. Open his eyes that he may see. You know, Bartimaeus, remember
what he said to the Lord? That I might receive my sight. I pray he'd be pleased to do
that for us, to open our eyes and let us see Him. Just give
us a glimpse of Him. He would open our eyes to, listen,
to see ourselves. To see ourselves, to see the
truth about ourselves, about our inability. Consider what
the scripture says about man. Now it says this, there's none
righteous. No, not one. There's none that
understand it. There's none that seek it after
God. In another place we read this,
the description of man. It says their throat is an open
sepulcher. It's an open grave. With their
tongues they've used to see the poise of ash is under their tongues. Mouths full of cursing and bitterness. feet swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery is in
their way. The way of peace they have not
known. The natural man, he has no fear
of God. By nature we have absolutely
no fear of God. In Luke chapter 18, our Lord
spoke a parable of two men. He said that two men went up
to the temple to pray. The one Pharisee, The other one,
Republican. And the Pharisee, this man was
obviously blind to the thing, wasn't he? He said, I think then
that I'm not like other men. I'm not an extortioner. Yes,
I am. If the truth be known, yes, I
am. I'm not unjust. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not like this, imagine he's
probably just looked over with disdain, I'm not like this publican. No, you're worse. We're worse. And he went on, he said that
these are all the things I don't do. That's what religion talks
about, right? The things that you shouldn't
do. And then here's the things that, he said, I fast. What about
the things we should do? I fast twice a week. I give tithes
of everything I possess. He didn't know the truth about
himself, no. But that publican, boy, God had
opened his eyes, didn't he? He stood afar off and he wouldn't
even so much as, he couldn't even raise his head, wouldn't
even so much as lift his eyes up into heaven, but he smote
upon his breast and he cried, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. That's what I need to see, huh?
Open, open my eyes and let me see the truth about myself. I need Him to open my eyes and
let me see Him, to see something of the glory of Almighty God,
the greatness of His grace, the power, His power to deliver sinners,
to save sinners. He said this, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. He said, I'll be gracious. I'll
be gracious to whom I'll be gracious. He's the eternal God. God of
all, back there when he appeared to Moses at the burning bush,
Moses said, when I go out there, and he said, who shall I say
sent me? And he said, you tell them, I
am, I am. Not I was, not I hope to be,
I am. He's the eternal God. I am the
Lord. I change not. Therefore, you
sons of Jacob are not consumed. He's the God with whom we have
to do. We're gonna stand before Almighty
God. And listen, scripture says this,
all things are naked and open to the eyes of whom we have to
do. We look to Him. We depend upon
Him, and we cannot exist without Him. Open my eyes that I might
see, that I might see again something of myself, my sin, my need of
Him. Open my eyes that I might see
Almighty God, who's sovereign, in all things. He's sovereign.
He's king of kings and he's lord of lords. And then listen, open
my eyes that I might see the Lord Jesus Christ. That I might
see Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ who is the very
God of the very God. And I want to see him not as
this world sees him. This world sees him as one who
tries to save, but can't. A savior that can't save apart
from man's efforts? No, no. The world sees him as dependent
on man's help. What does he need from man? He
who created the heavens and the earth, who holds all things in
his hand, what does he need? He said that cattle upon a thousand
hills are mine. If I needed anything, why would
he ask anything of man? By nature, that's what we do.
We try to exalt ourselves, exalt this flesh, and bring him down
to our level. Our Lord, listen, what this world
says about Christ is just not true. It's what they think. It's
not what God's word says. Listen to this. When our Lord,
he prayed to the father there in John 17, and he said this,
I have glorified thee on earth. I have finished the work that
you gave me to do. There's nothing about man helping
there, about man doing anything. He said, I've done it. I've finished
the work you've given me to do. On the cross, he suffered alone,
he died alone. What did he say to the Father?
He said, it is finished. There's nothing left. Well, there's
nothing left for you to do, is there, huh? There's nothing left
for us. He finished the work. Paul writing the Hebrews, he
said, this is the Savior. He said that, who being in the
brightness of his glory and the express image of his person and
upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by
himself purged our sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. By himself. He said that, he
said, I, back there in Isaiah, I have trodden the winepress
alone. open my eyes and I might see
him, Jesus Christ who loved me and gave himself for me. To see him just like Simeon did. Remember when Simeon walked there
into the temple, huh? Listen, Simeon didn't just see
him as a savior, no. He seen Him as my Savior, the
Savior, my Savior. Simeon didn't even fear death
when the Lord was pleased to reveal Himself to him. Look,
turn to Luke chapter two. Luke chapter two. Look, beginning with verse 25
of Luke, chapter 2. Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him, and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that
he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to
do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up
in his arms, and he blessed God and said, Lord, now let us thy
servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face
of all the people, to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of
thy people Israel. Elisha's prayer, huh? Open his eyes. You know, I wonder
how many people were in the temple that day. I can't imagine. I can't imagine Simeon was the
only one there. But he saw him, didn't he? He saw him. The Lord revealed
him to him. Simeon's eyes were opened. Let thy servant depart in peace. Brady sings a special back home,
and the verse goes something like this. No guilt in life,
no fear, in death. Simeon had no fear in death,
did he? No. No, let thy servant depart in
peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. And listen, we behold him now
with eyes of faith. Right now we behold him. To those
the Lord's been pleased to open the eyes to see, we see him with
eyes of faith. Paul said, Now we see through
a glass darkly, but one day we're gonna behold him face to face
and know him. Think about that. We're gonna
know him even as we're known. He knows the very hairs of our
head. Consider how well he knows his
children. And we're gonna know him Like
he knows us. No wonder we're gonna spend eternity
praising him for what he's done. Now quickly, back here to 2 Kings
chapter six. Look at verse 15. Alas, my master,
how shall we do? And he answered and said, fear
not. Oh, fear not, don't be afraid. For they that be with us are
more than they that be against us. And Elisha prayed, open his
eyes that he may see. And read on. Look at what happened
here. And the Lord, what a miracle.
The Lord opened that young man's eyes and he saw. He saw. And he saw what Elisha
no doubt had seen all along. The mountain full of horses and
chariots and fire surrounded Elisha. He saw what had been
there all along. He was in his care and protection.
Back there in the book of, in Genesis 21, Sarah told Abraham, she said,
cast out the bondwoman and her son. Cast out Hagar and Ishmael. And this thing grieved, this
thing grieved Abraham. But the Lord told him, he said,
you hearken. You hearken to the voice of thy wife. And Abraham
gave him water and bread and he sent them on their way. And
they went and they wandered there in the wilderness. And eventually,
all that water and bread was gone. And she took Ishmael. He must have grew weak. She took
him over and laid him under a shrub far ways off from where she was. And she said, don't let me see
the death of my son. What a grievous time that must
have been. What a frightening time. What
a horrific time that must have been. And we read that God heard
the voice of the lad, and the angel of the Lord called from
heaven and said, Hagar, what aileth thee? And the angel of the Lord said
this, Fear not, fear not. And God opened her eyes and she
saw, she saw a well of water. Well, what that must have, you
know, I think a glass of water on a hot day is a pretty good
thing, but imagine her son, her and her son both about to perish.
There they are dying alone, what they thought, along, no water. And God opened her eyes and she
saw a well of water, a well of water. And she went and filled
that bottle and she took it and gave it to the lad. She gave
it to her son. That well, any question in my
mind, that well was there all along. God opened her eyes and she saw
it. And then it was life. Life. Listen, deliverance is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Huh? He's always present. He's always present. We just
need eyes to see. We just need these old blind
eyes to be opened to see him. In closing, let's look here again
at 2 Kings 6 verse 15. When surrounded by the enemy, how shall we do? Think about
this next time, it won't be long. What shall we do? Fear not, fear not. To the believer I can say that,
fear not. They that be with us are more
than they that be with him. And Elisha prayed, Lord, open
his eyes. He's the great physician. He
is the great physician. Scripture says this, he gives
sight to the blind. that he opened up the eyes of
the blind. Our Lord spoke in Luke 4, 18. He said, the spirit of the Lord
is upon me. He's anointed me to preach the
gospel to the poor, to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance
to the captives, the recovering of sight to them that are blind. Open his eyes. Open my eyes. Look at verse 17. The Lord opened
the eyes of the young man, and he saw. He saw. That's a miracle that only God
can perform. Over in John chapter 9, there
was a man that was born blind, and our Lord spit on the ground,
and he made some mud, and he rubbed it on that fella's eyes.
The amazing thing about this, those Pharisees and everybody
around him, they were just all tore up about him doing work
on the Sabbath. Here's a man that's been blind. He can see again. Why can't we
be taken up with that? Why can't we rejoice in that? And he told him, he said, you
go wash in the pool of Siloam. And the people didn't know what
to think. Again, those Pharisees, they kept questioning. And he'd
retell that story. And the Jews and the religious
Pharisees, they went to that young man's mom and dad. They
were gonna cast him out of the temple over this. What happened went against their
so-called religious beliefs, didn't it? Their religious traditions,
their religious rituals. In fact, those parents, they
were afraid. And they said, just go ask the
boy. Just go ask him. He's of age, ask him. In John
9, 24, they called the man that was blind and they said unto
him, Give God praise. We know this man's a sinner.
And that young man answered, he said, whether he's a sinner
or not, I don't know. But this is one thing I know
for sure. Whereof I was blind, now I see. It's what he did. It's what Christ did. Turn back
there again to 2 Kings, if you don't have it still. Look at
verse, chapter six. Verse 17, Elisha prayed and said,
Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes as you 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 and fire round about
Elisha. Has he opened your eyes? Has
He enabled you to see something about yourself, something about
your sin, something about my need for the Savior? Has He revealed
unto you who God is, sovereign in all things, God who is holy
and just and righteous? Has He revealed unto you the
Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior? If not, I'd make this my prayer. I continually make this my prayer.
Open my eyes that I might see. And that he'd give us comfort
and hope and rest in him, in him alone. All right, I pray
God be pleased to bless his word.