Now again we are looking at 1st
Kings 19 verse 19, 1st Kings 19 verse 19 and I want to bring
the message down to verse 21. Now I am entitling the message
from these verses and the title of the message is the call of
Elisha, the call of Elisha. It is interesting what his name
means, his name means God is salvation. God is salvation. Like Mary, like Hannah, Elisha
rejoiced in God his Savior. God is my Savior. He's my Lord. He's my King. But thank God He is God my Savior. the Lord Jesus Christ. And we
know that we have a knowledge of that only by his grace, only
by his power, only by his revelation. The Lord our God knows his sheep
by name. God told Elijah, go down and
find that farmer out there plowing. His name is Elisha. God knew him by name. The Lord our God knows His sheep
by name and He calls them out. The Lord our God has been acquainted
with His people from all eternity. You see He's loved them with
an everlasting love. and with loving kindness He draws
us to Himself. The Lord our God knows His sheep
by name, has been acquainted with them from all eternity when
He chose them in that covenant of grace and gave them to the
Lord Jesus Christ as the gift of His love. You remember what
our Lord said in John 6 verse 37, all that the Father giveth
me. God has a people that he's chosen
and given to the Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord Jesus Christ, the
surety of their salvation, all that the Father giveth to me
shall come to me. And those that come to me, he
said, I will never cast them out. Isn't that a sweet promise?
I'll never cast them out. I like the words of the Lord
given about and said about Jeremiah, before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee, and that's true of all God's people. Before we
were ever born or conceived, God has always known us. Before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb,
I sanctified thee. I ordained thee a prophet unto
the nations. You see, God's ordination caused
us to believe the gospel. As many as were ordained to eternal
life have believed the gospel. We have not been appointed unto
wrath, remember? We've been appointed unto salvation. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed the gospel. They do believe the gospel. Now,
I wanna go back for just a moment, look at verse 18. The Lord said
to Elijah when he complained that there wasn't none left but
him that was a believer and the Lord said I've reserved for me
7,000 in Israel. Remember the Apostle Paul I read
from Romans chapter 11 last time there was A remnant, he quotes
this verse and then said, God has a remnant according to the
election of grace. I left me 7,000 in Israel, all
knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath
not kissed him. Now that's encouragement isn't
it? Known unto God are all his works
from the beginning. Elijah has small thoughts He
thinks small. We should never think small when
it comes to thinking about our God. Elijah has small thoughts
of God's kingdom. He's convinced himself that there's
no other believers but him. And often we convince ourselves
of things that are totally contrary to the promise of God. Elijah
has small thoughts of God's kingdom. But the Lord assures him that
I've got 7,000 believers, mine elect, in your day, Elijah, that have not kissed and bowed
to the idol of Baal. The Lord assured him there are
many of the Lord's people. You see, the Lord knows his own,
doesn't he? We read in 2 Timothy 2.19, the
foundation of the Lord standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord
knoweth them that are his. They may be driven to hide themselves
through cruel persecution, as Elijah was from Jezebel. They may be driven to hide themselves
in a cave because of persecution for the gospel, but they're not
hidden from God, are they? You remember this psalm, turn
to Psalm 139. Psalm 139 verse 7, I believe
it is. Psalm 139 verse 7. You see the
Lord our God said, and David declares, whether shall I go
from thy spirit or whether shall I flee from thy presence. Psalm
139. If I send up to heaven, thou
art there. If I make my bed in Hell, and
the word there is grave, behold thou art there. If I take the
wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost part of the
sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall
hold me. If I say surely the darkness
shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me." God
knows His people wherever they are and He said, I will never
forsake them, I will never leave them. In due time the Lord will
call out His elect. He will call them out and He
will call them to Himself out of the kingdom of darkness into
the kingdom of God's dear Son. May we by God's grace be among
those that have not bowed the knee to Baal but rather have
kissed the Lord Jesus Christ and embrace the Lord Jesus Christ
in saving faith. Remember Psalm 2, where God said,
I've set my king upon my holy hill Zion. And then he said,
kiss the son lest he be angry. And he perished from the way
when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they
that put their trust in him. Oh, to have grace to kiss the
son. And what does that mean? That
means to embrace him, that means to love him, it means to believe
him. When Elijah was ready to resign
the ministry, the Lord instructs him to anoint Elisha his successor. Thou shalt anoint Elisha the
son of Shaphat, shalt thou anoint him to be prophet in thy room. Now think about this, the Lord
is so gracious unto his people, in so many ways, he has promised
not to leave himself without a witness, without a witness
of the gospel. His kingdom, his church, and
his elect cannot be destroyed. He said, all power is given unto
me in heaven and earth. Go ye therefore and preach the
gospel to every creature. Our Lord said, I'll build my
church upon the rock Christ Jesus and the gates of hell shall never
prevail against it, his church. The church is the Father's gift
to the Son. The Son bought the church with
his own blood. He loved the church and gave
himself for it. He's going to have what He bought.
He chose them. The Father gave them to the Son. The Son affectionately redeemed
them with His blood. They're precious unto Him. He
shed His precious blood to redeem them. And God the Holy Spirit
in due time will cross their path with the gospel, with the
word of truth, and conquer them. He will encounter them and conquer
them with the gospel. And he makes his people willing
in a day of God's power. Now in the call of Elisha, I
want us to see the call of the Lord's people to himself in saving
mercy. And that's what I want us to
consider. Now be sure we understand this right here. Left to ourselves,
You know, the Lord says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. But left to ourselves, be assured
of this, we'll never call upon him. Our Lord said, no man can
come unto me except the Father which sent me draw him. Men by
nature have no ability. to come to Christ, none whatsoever. Left to ourselves, we'll never
call upon Him. Left to ourselves, we'll never
kiss the sun. Left to ourselves, we'll never
believe the gospel. We'll continue as we're born,
loving darkness and hating the light. Oh, but thanks be to God,
He does not leave His people alone. You see, He brings us
to love Him. We only love Him because he first
loved us. You remember 1 John chapter 4?
We only choose him because he first chose us. He said in John
chapter 15, you've not chosen me, but I've chosen you and ordained
you. that you should bring forth fruit
unto my glory. In the call of the gospel, and
when we're talking about the call of the gospel, that is when
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the power of God and
the salvation, when the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is declared,
there is that general call. The old timers talked about the
general call which goes out. And there is that general call
that goes out when the gospel is preached. But there is also,
when the gospel is declared, there is that invincible, irresistible,
effectual call of the gospel that goes out only to the elect
of God. There is that general call, but
there is that invincible call, irresistible call, that only
goes out to the heart of God's people. And his sheep, what do
they do? They hear him, don't they? They
hear that call. And they do embrace the Lord
Jesus Christ in saving faith. Because faith that is God given,
now think about this, the faith of God's elect, which loves the
truth and acknowledges the truth, the faith of God's elect always
looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. The faith of God's elect and
the faith that God gives to his elect always looks back to the
giver. Who's the giver? God is the giver,
Christ is the giver. Saving faith always looks back
to the author of faith. Looking under the Lord Jesus
Christ who's the author and finisher of our faith. You remember Hebrew
chapter 12? We read in Matthew 22, there
are many called But there are few that are chosen. God's people
are chosen. And they're called with that
irresistible call of the gospel. And that's why I read Ezekiel
16. The Lord called it a time of
love. A time of love. Now, four points. Here's the
first one. From 1 King 19. So he departed, that is Elijah
departed. and found Elisha. Now how did
he find him? He was looking for him. God sent
him. Evidently he had God's direction,
God's anointing and blessing upon him. He found Elisha who
was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him and he was
the twelfth and Elijah passed by him, cast his mantle upon
him And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, let
me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, then I will follow
thee. And he said unto him, go back
again for what have I done to thee. Now, first point is this. The call of God unto Elisha was
a unexpected call. call and a surprising call. He was out there plowing in the
field. When he got up that day and harnessed
up all the oxen And God gathered all his servants together and
headed for the field and said, boys, we are going to go plow
today. He had no idea that God sent him a gospel preacher and
that he would hear the gospel and that God would call him out
of darkness unto life. Elisha was out plowing the farm,
plowing the field, working the farm and plowing the field when
the Lord called him. Elisha had no idea that day that
the Lord would call him in mercy and not leave him to his own
self. God sent him a gospel preacher
with a gospel message and he heard. He heard from God, didn't
he? You see, it please God by the
foolishness to preaching to save them that believe. God has been
pleased to call out his people with the preaching of the gospel.
Now let me show you a couple examples of this again. Turn
to Matthew chapter 9. Matthew chapter 9. Here we see a tax collector like
Elisha. Elisha was out plowing his field,
minding his business. And here we see a publican named
Matthew. sitting at the receipt of customs,
collecting taxes as his business was. And the Lord Jesus Christ
passed in front of him. He saw a man named Matthew. The
Lord, wasn't the first time the Lord saw this man. The Lord saw
this man in that eternal covenant of grace. And he said unto him,
follow me. And he rose and followed him.
Matthew didn't object. He arose and followed the Lord.
It was an irresistible, effectual, loving call. And it came to pass,
as Jesus said at meeting in his house, Behold, many publicans
and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And
when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why
eateth your master with publicans and sinners? The Lord heard that. He said, They that behold me
not a physician, but they who are sick. Go ye and learn what
that meaneth. I will have mercy and not sacrifice. For I've not come to call the
righteous, I came to call sinners to repentance. Now let me give
you another example of that. Same thing, Matthew chapter four.
Matthew chapter four. Back a few pages, Matthew chapter
four. There was two sets of brothers,
James and John, Peter and Andrew, in Matthew chapter four, Luke
verse 18. And Jesus, walking by the Sea
of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, Andrew his
brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers. And
he said to them, Follow me, and I'll make you fishers of men.
And straightway left their nets and followed him. And going on
from thence he saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee,
and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending
their nets, and he called them. And they immediately left the
ship and their father, and they followed the Lord Jesus Christ. Both Matthew, Peter, Andrew,
James, and John were all applying their trade when the Lord called
them to himself. You see, the elect of God, they
have no idea that they are the elect of God, do they? They have
no idea they are the elect of God until God calls them out
with the word of truth, until God calls them with the gospel
Peter said, make your calling and election sure. How is election known? By our
calling. He calls his people with the
gospel. The gospel becomes the gospel
of their salvation. Now you don't need to turn to
this one because I read it so often, but we are bound always to give thanks
to God for you, brethren, 2 Thessalonians 2.13. Brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,
whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the
glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. God calls his people out with
the gospel and the gospel becomes their salvation. He's chosen them unto Salvation. This is also certainly true in
regard to being called and put into the ministry. Saul of Tarsus,
when God saved him and called him and put him in the ministry,
what was he doing? Saul of Tarsus was on his way
to Damascus to round up more believers and to persecute them
and to put them in prison. And he met the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord put him in the dust.
and made him to cry out, Lord, what would you have me to do?
And the Lord said through his servant Ananias, go thy way for
Paul is a chosen vessel to bear my name before the Gentiles and
kings and children of Israel and the children of Israel. Now
don't turn to this again, let me just read it to you because
I've read it to you many times. Ephesians chapter three, when
Paul talks about being put in the ministry, And that's what
and how God calls his servants, blesses them, gives them a knowledge
of the gospel, and then he puts them in the ministry. Paul said,
I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God
given unto me by the effectual working of his power. Paul certainly
didn't merit any mercy did he." I mean he was on his road to
persecute and to kill believers. And to me the Apostle said, who
in less than the least of all saints is this grace given that
I should preach among the Gentile the unsearchable riches of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So the call of the Gospel was an unexpected and surprising
call. I never ever had any idea whatsoever
of God's electing love and electing grace until I heard the gospel
and he made that message effectual to my heart. I didn't know anything
about God, not the true and living God. Totally unexpected. Surprising that you would call
me with the gospel. Here's the second point. The
call of God in the gospel is a powerful and an effectual call. Notice back in our text, when
Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him, the last
part of verse 19, he left the oxen and ran after Elijah. The call of the gospel is a powerful,
powerful, and an effectual call. Elijah cast this mantle, and
I've read a description of this. This was some kind of hairy garment,
some kind of a furry coat garment that Elijah cast around him to
protect his body from the elements. But when Elijah cast his mantle,
his coat, upon Elisha, something happened. God did something for
and in Elijah. And here's where I'm going with
this. When the gospel of Christ is cast upon us, if we use the
mantle here as a type of the gospel, a token of the Lord's
favor, the Lord's presence, it has an immediate and lasting
effect upon us, Elisha was never the same. He was still Elisha,
but he was never the same. He ran after God's purpose to
serve Him. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold,
all things have become new. When the Lord Jesus Christ passed
under that sycamore tree that day, And Zacchaeus was up that
tree, and the Lord passed by and looked up and said, Zacchaeus,
make haste and come down, for today I must abide at your house. You're a son of Abraham, a spiritual
son of Abraham. Today salvation has come to your
house, for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that
which is lost. Do you remember what happened?
Zacchaeus made haste and he came down. Zacchaeus was never the
same man again, was he? Not after meeting the Lord. You
see, God calls His own because He had already justified them
in that eternal covenant of grace. That's right. Turn to Romans,
now I'll have you turn to this one, although you know it well,
but Romans chapter eight, verse 28. God who saved us and called
us, Paul said, with a holy calling, not according to our work, but
according to God's own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ before the foundation of the world. Now look at Romans
8, 28, and we know We know. How do we know this? Well, He said so. He's taught
us. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called. There's the called, the called of God. Called according
to His purpose. God has an eternal purpose which
He purposed in Christ. For whom He did foreknow, He
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son. that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. He calls them. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What shall we say to these things?
Well, if God be for us, who can be against us? You see, those
whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called. Called, the called
of God. Had the Lord not crossed our
path and called us according to His eternal purpose with the
gospel, we never would have believed the gospel of God's saving grace. Although we may have remained
religious, And in religion, blind and dead, we would have never
known the true and living God had He not crossed our path and
called us with the powerful and effectual call of the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we believe the gospel
only according to the working of His mighty power. You remember over in 1 Thessalonians,
again, don't turn, I'll just read it to you. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 1, where it said, Knowing, brethren, verse 4, beloved, your
election of God. How do you know anything about
that? For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but it came in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as you know what manner we were among
you for your sake. And you became followers of us
and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with
joy, joy, rejoicing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's the
third thing. This call of God unto the elect of God is a pleasant
and an acceptable call. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of God's power. Elisha says in verse 21, made
a feast and then departed and he returned back from him and
took a yoke of oxen and slew them, boiled their flesh with
the instruments of oxen and gave unto the people and they did
eat. Then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him. He made a feast and then departed
to follow. It was a pleasant time. He certainly didn't do this,
that is, Elisha did not consult with the flesh. This was not
a good time to enter into the ministry. This was not a good
time in Israel to stand forth with Elijah saying that I'm the
servant of the Most High God. Remember? This was not a good
time to stand up and be counted because Elijah was being persecuted
for the gospel. You remember the story of Jezebel
and Ahab? They were on the war path to
destroy Elijah and his ministry. Jezebel put out a contract and
said, by tomorrow, this time, Elijah, you're going to be a
dead man. Elisha does not consult flesh
and blood because God called him to the ministry and to life
in Christ Jesus and he boldly enters in. Elisha drops the yoke
of oxen and he runs after the servant of God, he runs after
the Lord our God. And this is exactly what happens
to a sinner saved by almighty grace. We fall in love with Christ. We lovingly follow Him, willingly
follow Him, no matter the consequences. Flesh and blood have not revealed
the gospel unto us, and when God calls us by His grace We
don't consult with flesh and blood, do we? Turn to Galatians
chapter 1. Let me show you this. Galatians
chapter 1. Flesh and blood had not revealed
the gospel unto us, but God has by His Spirit, by His Word, through
His servant. You remember the Apostle Paul
put it this way, verse 15 of Galatians chapter 1, when it
pleased God. When will a sinner be saved?
When it pleases God. "...who separated me from my
mother's womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son
in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen. Immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood." There was no need to,
was there? God had revealed the gospel unto him, and this is
what happened to Elisha. When this happened unto a sinner,
we leave the yoke of oxen, and that is emblematic and typical
and a type of our works, and count all lost for Christ, and
now we are yoked together with Him. Our Lord said, Come unto
me, all ye that labor heavy laden. Come to me and I'll give you
rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for my yoke is easy and it is light. We count all things
but loss that we might win Christ and be found in Him." You see,
following the Lord Jesus Christ, being called out of darkness,
out of death into life, is pleasant. It's a good thing. Salvation,
saved by God's grace. Here's the last thing. The call
of God with the gospel is a call unto serving the Lord. You see
that in the last part of verse 21. And Elisha went after Elijah
and ministered unto him. The call of God with the gospel
is a call unto serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Elisha became the
servant unto the Lord. Being a believer and a lover
of Christ, we serve a cause greater than ourselves, don't we? You see, it's His glory and His
gospel. It is to be a believer is to
be a willing, loving, bond servant to the Lord. We serve Him because
we love Him. It's to serve the Lord out of love and gratitude.
The love of Christ constrains us. Paul considered himself above
all things, and he says repeatedly of himself, the servant of the
Lord. That's a high title. The Lord
Jesus Christ is called the servant of the Lord, the righteous servant. Behold my servant, my elect,
in whom my soul is delighted. What a privilege the Lord gives
us to serve Him. Now you think about that. May
we do so with great care, may we do so with earnest desire,
may we do so with zeal in our heart to His glory. I think of
this scripture in Acts 16 where that servant girl was saved and
justified in Christ. She said of Paul and those with
him, these are servants of the Most High God which show us the
way of salvation. And that is true. The Lord said,
no man putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit
for the kingdom of God. We don't look back, we look to
Him. Forgetting those things which
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
looking unto him, the author and finisher of our faith, our
Lord, to look unto me, and be ye saved." Now let me close with
this, and I'll let you go. I'm reminded of the story of
Ruth and Naomi. Remember? Naomi's husband died,
her two sons died, And she was headed back from the land of
Moab, back to Bethlehem, and she told those two girls, her
daughter-in-laws, you just stay in the land of Moab, that's where
your family is. I'm an old woman, I'm not going
to have any more sons. You just stay in the land of
Moab, I'm going back to Bethlehem. And the one girl said, okay,
that's what I'll do. But you remember the story of
Ruth? Ruth, it said, clave unto her, and would not let Naomi
go. And here's what she says. Ruth
1, Ruth, the book of Ruth, chapter 1. He entreat me not to leave
thee, or to return from following after thee. For whether thou
goest, that's where I'll go. And whether thou lodgest, that's
where I'm going to lodge. And thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God. And where you die, that's where
I'll die, and there I'll be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more
also, if aught but death part thee and me." Wow, that's commitment,
isn't it? That's being sold out. to the
Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? And Ruth clave unto her. Well,
we know the rest of the story, don't we? She met Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer. And they were married. And in
that bloodline of Ruth and Boaz came King David, followed all
the way down to the house of Mary and Joseph
and the incarnation of God Almighty manifest in the flesh.