Now, we're looking in our Bible
again in our continuing study, 2 Kings chapter 4, and I want
to take a look at verse 8 down through verse 37. We won't go
back and look at each verse detail. I took a little extra time in
reading it. And if you're listening by way
of CD or on sermon audio, I would encourage you to go back and
read this chapter again. I've been telling the message
from the good words. This faithful woman speaks found
in verse 23 and verse 26. She said, it is well. It is well. She said. It is well to her husband. And again, when the servant of
the Lord came meeting her and asked, Is it well with thee?
Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with the child? And
she answered, It is well. It is well. She had just had
her precious promised son die in her arms, sitting upon her
lap. She declares unto her husband
and to the servant of Elisha, all is well. It's an amazing
statement, is it not? It was well with the soul of
the child. Dying infants are redeemed by
the blood of Christ, regenerated by the Spirit of God. The old
preachers called those dying infants, they called them the
elect infants of God. If you have a mind sometime,
if you look up Charles Spurgeon's sermon on 2 Kings 4 verse 26,
he has a very good sermon on that very subject, the elect
infants. I read the outline of it and
it is very good. She is also saying it is well
with her soul. Not only is it well with the
child, but is well with her soul before God. And that word also
means that she is saying, I'm at peace. This same word also
means happy and safe. And it's also the same word we
run into through the Psalms, I'm blessed. I'm blessed. I remember years ago, I was in
a restaurant in Lexington, fast food place, stopped in there
to grab a bite to eat. And you know how they give you
your cup and they tell you to go over and get your own drink,
remember, on a lot of those places? And there was an older couple.
waiting there to get some drinks, and I just kind of making conversation. I asked him, I said, how are
you all today? And the old fellow said, we're
blessed. We're blessed. I thought, well,
that's a good way to answer. How are you today? I'm blessed.
I'm blessed. And every believer can answer
that way. She's saying, I'm blessed of
the Lord. Blessed is a man whom the Lord
imputes righteousness without works. all is well with the believer
because all is well with us in Christ being justified by faith
we have peace with our Lord Jesus Christ and he says we joy in
him by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein
we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, much more
than being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. We are blessed. justified in Christ. We have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ who reconciled us
to himself. Now I brought from Isaiah 3 verse
10. I preached from this here last
year one time and then back in 2010, Isaiah 3 10. Say ye to
the righteous that it shall be well with him It is well with
the righteous as we are found in Christ. Now we see in this
chapter, in these verses again, two more miracles that God performed
by his servant, Elisha. Remember I told you he's known
as the miracle prophet. I didn't know that until I started
looking through these chapters. The giving of a son. This woman
was old and barren and Elisha asked God for a son and God gave
a child. And then the rising, the raising
up of the son from the dead, again Elisha cried unto the Lord
and the Lord heard his cry. We also see in this story the
promise of the gospel in type and in picture in the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ and in his dying and in him being
raised up from the dead. God so loved his own that he
gave his only begotten son. God gave this woman a son. God has given to us the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ who died
for our sins according to scripture, who bear our sin in his own body
on the tree. But not only that, He died for
our sins, but He was raised up again because He justified us
with His blood. You remember Romans 4.25. He
was delivered for our offenses and raised again because He justified
us. Now here's the story. I remind
you again what great faith is demonstrated in this woman. It is remarkable. Now put yourself
in her shoes. It's remarkable. She just witnessed
the death of her only son that she was specially given. Now
she runs to the man of God to spread out her case before the
Lord's prophet and she is confident that God is going to raise up
her son from the dead. She makes no funeral arrangements. She doesn't tell her husband,
now we're going to have a funeral. You prepare the body for the
funeral. She doesn't do that at all. She
runs with confidence that God was going to raise up that special
son that she was given. It reminds me of the faith of
Abraham. That's why I read over there
in Hebrew chapter 11. You remember in Genesis 22 when
God told Abraham to go and sacrifice his special son? You remember
what he said? I and the lad will go yonder
and worship and We're coming back. He believed that God would
raise him from the dead. Hebrews 11, 19, accounting that
God was able to raise him from the dead. Now Abraham in his
heart did take that boy's life. Some of the old theologians believed
that he did, physically, actually kill his son and God raised him
up. But I know he did in his heart before God stayed his hand.
This woman was grieved and sorrowful, but yet believing. Look at verse
27. When she came to the man of God
to the hill, she caught him by the feet and she wouldn't let
go. Gehazi said, get away. But the man of God said, leave
her alone. Her soul is vexed within her. I mean, she was heartbroken. And Elisha confesses, I don't
know what's going on. The Lord's hid it from me. This
woman was grieved and sorrowful, but yet, She still believed God. She was cast down, but not in
despair and not without hope. You see, we have a good hope
through grace. You remember the reading from
2 Corinthians 4 where Paul said, we're troubled on every side,
yet not distressed. We're perplexed, but not in despair,
persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed. The Lord says to Jeremiah, Jeremiah
32, 27, Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there
anything too hard for me? Anything? Anything too hard for
me? No, not at all. We can answer
that question with all certainty from the scriptures. Whatsoever
the Lord pleased, that's what he did in heaven, seas, and all
deep places. Our Lord is in the heavens and
he has done whatsoever he hath pleased. The disciples came to
the Lord Jesus Christ and said, who then can be saved? And the
Lord said with God, all things are possible. Now let's look
at this story here and let's look for the gospel application
for our soul, taking the yoke of the Lord and learning from
him. He said, take my yoke upon you
and learn of me, for my yoke is easy, my burden is light.
It's light. Now here's the first thing, verses
eight through verse 11, and we won't go back and read these
verses, but you can do so later on. This woman is called, did
you notice in verse eight, she's called a great woman. She was
a great woman. This great woman, as she called,
was also given great grace and was given great faith and she
had great regard for this man of God. She called him the holy
man of God. She supplied a room for Elisha
when he traveled through Shunam on his way from Mount Carmel,
where the school of the prophets was located, down to Samaria,
which was the capital of the northern 10 tribes, Israel. We read about another prophet
of the Lord who must need go through Samaria, remember? Probably
going through this same town of Shunem. Another prophet of
the Lord who must need go through Samaria to meet another certain
woman at a well. She was there to draw water and
the Lord Jesus Christ crossed her path. And said unto her,
you drank of this water, you're going to thirst again, but the
water that I give you will be in you a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. And she said, Lord, give me that
water. You see, the Lord knows his sheep,
and he does cross their path in due time. And he does call
them out with the gospel of his sovereign grace. The foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them
that are his. Our Lord said of Jeremiah, before
I formed thee in the belly, I knew you. I ordained you to be a prophet
of God. I think about myself. I think
about where I'm from. Someone asked me the other day
where I'm from. I told him Gooding, Idaho. Think
where I'm from and how I was raised up in false religion,
how the Lord brought me to the gospel of His grace and revealed
Himself to me. All I can say is amazing grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. But isn't that
your story too? The Lord sovereignly crossed
your path. Had He not crossed our path by
His sovereign grace and purpose and turned into my house, as
a lie she did to this woman's house. I never would have loved
the Lord. I never would have believed the
gospel. I would have been right there believing all the lies
of religious men and passing away in my sin. The second thing I want to point
out is this. In verses 12 down to verse 13
This woman was given great contentment when Elisha tried to repay her
and said, well, what can I do for you? Can I speak to the king
or to the captain and any way I can help you or do something
for you? And she answered and said, well,
I just dwell among my own people. In other words, she was content,
very content. She was content. She had great
contentment was given her, the sovereign providence of God.
She said, I have enough. I have everything. I dwell with
my people. She is saying, you need not speak
to any earthly king for me. It was as if she said, speak
to God for me. who is the king of kings and
Lord of lords rather than any earthly king. She was content
with the blessings the Lord had given to her. You know, this
is also true with believers. Let's turn and read this one
more time. This is also true with believers
being content with what we have and where we are and what God
has given unto us. First Timothy chapter six. 1
Timothy chapter 6, verse 6. Godliness with contentment is
great gain. Godliness, believing the gospel. 1 Timothy 6, 6. For we brought
nothing into this world, and it is certain that we carry nothing
out, having food and raiment, let us be content therewith. If you'll turn again to another
scripture, over here in Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13, let your conversation
be without covetousness, and be content with such things as
you have. For he has said, I'll never leave
thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is
my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. God's people are content with
Christ, resting in Him. You see, in Christ we have all
grace now and glory forever. We've been made heirs of God
and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have in the
Lord Jesus Christ an incorruptible inheritance. We have salvation
that's ordered in all things and is sure. We've been made
Heirs of God and joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. Contentment. Oh, contentment
with Christ. He's everything to the believer.
Christ to you who believe. He is precious. The third thing
I want us to see, the great gift was given to this woman in the
birth of her son. Notice what Elisha says unto
her. Verse 15, he said, Call her,
and when he had called her, she stood in the door, and he said,
About this season. Gehazi said, She hath no child,
and her husband's old. Now, she did not ask for a child. It was unasked. But God gave
it to her. About this season, about this
time, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace his
son. And she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, don't you lie
to me, you tell me the truth. And the woman conceived and bare
her son at that season that Elisha had said in her according to
the time of life. God gave her a special son. She was old, she was barren,
she was a woman of wealth, but had no one to leave her inheritance
unto. Remind me of several other women
we read of in scripture who was given a special son, like Sarah
in the birth of Isaac, old and barren, yet God said, you're
going to have a son. And in that son, all nations
of the earth are going to be blessed. And we know that Isaac
is a type and picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember
the story of Hannah? Hannah was barren. and the Lord,
she cried unto the Lord, and God gave her Samuel. His name means ask of God. In the book of Judges, in Judges
13 verse 2, the wife of Manoah was given a special son. Remember
his name? Samson. She was a barren woman. All were barren women, and were
given, all these that I mentioned were barren women, and given
a special son. This was a blessing from the
Lord. And anytime a woman is blessed
to conceive, see, and bear a son, it is the gift of God. The gift
of God. But what I see in this woman
being old and barren and these other women being barren, that
is a picture of us by nature, barren without any spiritual
fruit, unable to bear any fruit unto the Lord. In Ephesians 2
we are described as without God, without hope, and without Christ. But by the Spirit of the Lord,
according to the His good pleasure, according to the time of life, according to His good pleasure,
we've been given Christ, the seed of woman, the promised Son,
and in Him, all spiritual blessing. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, temperance, faith.
No longer are we barren, but we're fruitful. Because we've
been given life in Christ. Life from above in the new birth. In regeneration. And it's according
to the time of life. According to the time of love.
His own will. Beget he us with the word of
truth. He'll have mercy on whom he will
have mercy. Here's the fourth thing I want
us to see. Great trial from the hand of
the Lord. was given to this woman. A great
trial. The child went to the field,
checking in with dad, and he said, my head, my head, verse
19. And he carried him back to his
mother, and when he had taken him and brought him to his mother,
he sat on her knees till noon, and then he died. The child died. Now, who would have thought this
child, unasked and given in such a special way, should be recalled
so soon? Taken by the hand of God when
this child was eight, nine, ten years old. Nobody knows, but
a young child, young enough that he could sit on her lap, sit
on her knees. The Lord sent and called him
out. Remember what Job said the Lord gave and the Lord had taken
away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Job had ten children
and the Lord killed every one of them with that whirlwind. Remember the Lord said, Deuteronomy
32, I the Lord I kill, I make alive, I the Lord do all these
things. You see, in this life, believers
are not exempt from trials and tribulation. You remember what
we read here a while ago? Don't turn, let me read it to
you again. Others said trial of cruel mockings,
scourgings, bonds, imprisonment. We're talking about believers.
They were stoned. They were sawn asunder. They
were tempted. They were slain with a sword.
They wondered about in sheepskins, goatskins, being destitute, afflicted,
and tormented. I don't know anything about those
kind of trials. But God's people are a tried
people. Our Lord said, in this life you
shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome. I read this statement either
yesterday or early this morning. John Newton said this, trials
are medicines. You ever think about it that
way? Trials are medicines which our gracious and wise physician
prescribes because we need them. You remember in 1 Peter 1, if
need be you suffer these many things. And He proportions the
frequency and weight of them to what the case requires. Our
wise physician knows how to treat us. We read in the Word of God
all things, and we know that all things work together for
good to them who love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. 1 Corinthians 4 says, light afflictions,
which are but for a moment, they don't work against us, they work
for us. I found this by Robert Hawker.
Believers, they must be tried, they must be afflicted on purpose,
that they may be led to trust the Lord and not themselves. Zephaniah 3, 12, I will also
leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and a poor people and
they shall trust in the name of the Lord. Trials drive us
to the Lord. Trials do not produce faith,
but trials certainly reveal faith, don't they? This woman in the
face of trial, she believed God. Here's the fifth thing, verse
22 down through verse 28. Great faith is given to her.
She believed that the Lord would raise up her son again. When
her husband asked why she was going to see the man of God,
the child, he's saying, is not sick, he's dead. And she replied
in verse 23, He said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him today? It
is neither the new moon nor the Sabbath. It is not time to worship. And she said, It shall be well.
It shall be well. And again she answered the servant
Hazi the same way in verse 26 when he asked, Is it well with
thee? Is it well with your husband? Is it well with the child? And
she answered, Yeah, it's well. I'm at peace. I'm blessed. She
was convinced and persuaded that the gracious God who had given
the child was able to raise him up from the dead. She leaves
her dead child to flee to the living God to beg for mercy. You see, faith is the substance
of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. Our Lord is able to do above
all we ask or think according to His own purpose. Hebrews 11.35 we read, By faith
women received their dead raised to life again. Abraham truly
believed God would raise Isaac from the dead. You see all things
are possible to them that believe. the man in Mark chapter 9 who
had that demon-possessed son, and the disciples could not do
anything for him. And the father brought him to
the Lord, and the Lord said, all things are possible to them
that believe. You remember what he said? Lord,
I believe. Help thou my unbelief. And the
Lord healed his son. Now in our day, we have not to
profit Elisha to intercede for us, but we have a greater prophet,
don't we? The Lord Jesus Christ, who is
the Lord God of all prophets, whoever lives to intercede for
us right now, does he not? He knows our frame, he knows
that we're but dust. The Lord ever lives, he's able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him seeing
he ever lived to intercede for us, he ever lived to be our mediator
between God and men, he's our advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous. Now, here's the sixth thing.
The sixth thing. I'm almost through. I'm not going
to wear you out. Here is the sixth thing, in verse
29 down to verse 31, Elisha sends his minister Gehazi to the dead
son, and Gehazi follows the instruction, laying the staff upon the face
of the child, but is unable to raise up the dead son. Did you see that? Gehazi, verse
31, passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face
of the child, but there was neither voice nor hearing. Wherefore,
he went again to meet him, and told him, saying, The child is
not alive. The child is dead. He's not awake.
I'm sure he's wondering, Elisha, why did you tell me to lay your
staff upon this child's face? Did you really think that was
going to work? No doubt he's wondering in his
mind that there's a lesson for us here too. Here's a gospel
lesson for us. Gospel ministers are sent with
the rod or staff of the word where to go and preach the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Go into all the world and preach
the gospel. And that's what we do. But God
must give life to the word by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. You remember the apostle Paul
said, who is Paul? Who is Apollos? Who is Cephas? We're just men. We have planted,
others have watered. It's God who must give the increase. Ezekiel was sent to a valley
of dry bones. Remember? Ezekiel 37. And the
Lord told him to preach into them dry bones. What's that going
to do? God said, go preach to those
dry bones. And that's what we do when we
preach the gospel. We go and we preach the gospel
because He told us to do so. Ezekiel was sent to the Valley
of Dry Bones and he preached and preached. And what happened? The Lord gave life, and there
stood up a mighty, great, exceeding army. You see, it pleased the
Lord through the preaching of the gospel to call out His people.
And people will say, well, why do you preach to those dead sinners?
God said to. He'll give life to whom He will.
He will bless whom He will. Here's the seventh thing. Lastly,
the great blessing from the Lord was given to this dear believer,
Notice what it says in chapter 4, Elisha went in the room, chapter
4 verse 32, Elisha was coming to the house, behold a child
was dead and laid upon his bed. He went in therefore and shut
the door upon them two and prayed unto the Lord. and went up and
lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes
upon his eyes, his hands upon his hands, and he stretched himself
upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm. Then
he returned and walked in the house to and fro, and went up
and stretched himself upon him, and the child sneezed seven times,
and the child opened his eyes." God gave life. And he called
Gehazi and said, call the Shunammite. So he called her. And when she
was come in unto him, he said, take up your son. Take up your
son. Here's a great blessing from
the Lord was given to this dear believer. Elisha prayed to the
Lord. Notice that in verse 33. Elisha
prayed unto the Lord." Elisha was helpless. He was as helpless as Gehazi.
He prayed unto the Lord. Likewise, when Elijah was sent
to the widow's son who had died, likewise, Elijah called upon
the Lord in the death of that young child, and God gave life. How much more, the greater Lord
Jesus Christ, He spoke And it was done. He commanded and it
stood fast. You see the Lord Jesus Christ,
He is the resurrection and He is the life. Elijah and Elisha,
they prayed unto the Lord and the Lord heard their prayer and
the Lord raised them up. But we read in the Gospels, that
the Lord Jesus Christ, we read this just the other day about
the widow's son, the widow of Nahum, they were carrying her
young son out in a coffin, and the Lord passed by and said to
the young man, arise, and he that was dead sat up. Again, in Luke chapter 8, the
12 year old daughter of Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, Twelve-year-old
child died and the Lord Jesus Christ said, made arise. You see, with his word there
is power and there is resurrection life. Another example, we read
of the Lord raising up three people in the New Testament. Luke 7, Luke 8, and then in John
chapter 11, when the Lord says to Mary and Martha's brother,
Lazarus, who had died and had been in the tomb four days, and
they said, don't remove the stone. His body is corruption. Corruption's already taken hold
of his body. And he said, Lord, remove the stone. And he commanded
Lazarus to come forth. And he that was dead came forth. You see, only God can give dead
sinners life. Only God can regenerate and give
life and give a new birth from above. As a father quickeneth
whom he will, even so the son quickens whom he will. He who
hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in sin. Also, shall our bodies from the
dust, when our bodies are planted in
the dust, dust thou art and dust thou shalt return. In the great
day of that resurrection morning, God's going to raise up our body
and we'll have a glorious body. He's going to change our body
and fashion it like unto His glorious body. And we shall be
with the Lord forever, who shall change our vile body that it
may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. And then we read this promise
here. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of an archangel and the trump of God, with the
trump of God that the dead in Christ shall rise first. How's
that gonna happen? God has to be God over all things. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the cloud to meet the
Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. There
is a resurrection day coming of our body to join our regenerated
soul. We have a great resurrection
hope in Christ. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we're of all men most miserable. Christ in
you is a hope of glory. The Lord Jesus Christ is called
the resurrection and the life. Last thought. She received her
son. She went in, fell at his feet,
bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son and went
out. You reckon there's any more sorrow
left in her heart now? Oh, sorrow has gone away. She's
overcome with joy. Overcome with joy. May God give
us grace to follow this example of faith. Proverbs 3 tells us,
trust in the Lord with all thine heart. Lean not to thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him
and he shall direct thy path. What an example of faith, isn't
it? Is it not? Oh may God give us
that faith that will not shrink.