1 2 Kings 2 – Elisha Sermon for 20th Nov 2016, SMCF Introductory • Anyone know where this is? ◦ Coventry. “Sent to Coventry” - Parliamentarians used prisoner isolation as a form of torture. • But we’re all familiar with getting the silent treatment. ◦ Incredibly painful – cut ofg from communication by one you love. ◦ Hazel & I – dating – long-distance. Various reasons heard nothing. V painful.
To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I shall be like those who go down to the pit. (Psalm 28.1)
2 ◦ • Here’s David – PSALM 28. ◦ To you, Lord, I call; you are my Rock, do not turn a deaf ear to me. For if you remain silent, I shall be like those who go down to the pit. • Lots of us have known what it’s like to feel God is silent. ◦ Desperate for him to speak / guide / reassure us of his love. • Some of us, in recent months – real stirring & longing for God’s voice. ◦ Not to be idling along in our walk with him ◦ But hearing his voice daily, feeding on what he says deeply, growing ….
Thirst for the voice of the Lord.
3 • All sorts of difg fgerent ways in which we might have a thirst for the voice of the Lord. BIBLE READING. 2 Kings 2.1-15 Elijah taken up to heaven When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.’ But Elisha said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So they went down to Bethel. 3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, ‘Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?’ ‘Yes, I know,’ Elisha replied, ‘so be quiet.’ 4 Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.’ And he replied, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So they went to Jericho. 5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, ‘Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?’ ‘Yes, I know,’ he replied, ‘so be quiet.’ 6 Then Elijah said to him, ‘Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.’ And he replied, ‘As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.’ So the two of them walked on. 7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
4 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?’ ‘Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,’ Elisha replied. 10 ‘You have asked a diffjcult thing,’ Elijah said, ‘yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours – otherwise, it will not.’ 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fjre and horses of fjre appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, ‘My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!’ And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. ‘Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?’ he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. 15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, ‘The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.’ And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
Look at Elisha it’s good to have a desire for God’s voice.
5 Elisha’s Desire • Elisha is pretty persistent. He wants to hold fast to what God is doing through Elijah, and carry it on. ◦ “I will not leave you” THREE TIMES! vv. 2, 4, 6. ◦ “Let me inherit a double-portion of your spirit!” ◦ 7 years of being Elijah’s servant (pour water on his hands)! • Elisha has a serious desire for God’s voice ◦ to hear it, and to help others hear it. • It’s commendable. When we look at Elisha, we see it’s good to have a desire for God’s voice. • This applies to us – both as a church and as individuals. ◦ If you have it, let’s encourage you. It’s a good thing you desire. ◦ Let your hunger for God’s voice grow. Feed it. Encourage it in others. ◦ If you know what it is to hear the Lord speak, talk to others about it. We need, I think, to be a church that talks to each other more about our experience of walking with God – when we’re close to the Lord, and when we’re thirsty, when we’re hearing his voice regularly and learning and growing like crazy, and when we’re stuck and heaven seems silent. • It’s a good thing to be hungry for God’s voice. Like Elisha. Let’s encourage that in one another.
God is a speaking God. For he spoke, and it came to be. (Ps. 33.9) [The Lord is] sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Heb 1.3)
6 Second point: God Answers Elisha’s Request. • God answers Elisha’s request SPECTACULARLY! • Immediate miracle – shows E is a prophet just like Elijah ◦ and like Joshua and like Moses. • In fact, E. does more miracles than any of them. ◦ God is making it crystal clear, by signs and wonders, that he was speaking through Elisha. • And it’s because God is a speaking God. • God is not reluctant to speak. Speaking is in his nature. He talks. • When God wanted to make something – the universe – from nothing ◦ he did it by talking ◦ and he still upholds the world … by talking. • And God speaks today. In all kinds of ways, just as he did then, in creation, in the wisdom of others, in words of knowledge, directly speaking sometimes to individuals. • But if you were in Israel at that time, how did you get to know for sure what the Lord was saying? ◦ More than anything else, you listened to Elisha and checked with him. God had made crystal clear through signs and wonders that his chosen mouthpiece / spokesman was Elisha . • OK. Elisha’s not around today. How do we know for sure what the Lord is saying and what the Lord wants? ◦ The bible actually tells us ...
In the past God spoke to our ancestors, through the prophets at many tjmes and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. (Hebrews. 1.1-2)
7 • Heb 1.1-2 (cf. also 2.1-4); ◦ In the past God spoke to our ancestors, through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. • Been reading Mark’s gospel recently. Biography. ◦ You know what strikes me about J? Jesus is very impressive. ◦ Heals people, left right and centre, deaf, blind, disabled … ◦ Heals diseases that even today can’t be cured (leprosy, epilepsy) ◦ He raised the dead – story of the widow’s son. (Luke 7) ◦ He is in command of the elements – storms, waves. ◦ He’s really very, very impressive. • If we want to hear God’s voice, and know his heart, we don’t go to Elisha any more. He was good in his day. But now he’s totally eclipsed.
Listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know... (Acts 2.22)
8 • On the day of Pentecost, the apostle Peter said this: SLIDE ◦ Listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. (Acts 2.22) ◦ Just as God had once used miracles to show that he was speaking through Elisha, now he was using miracles, signs and wonders to make it crystal clear – here’s my Son! I’m speaking through him! • If you share that thirst for God’s voice, if we really want to hear him, and know him and walk with him, we need above all to be paying attention to Jesus.
God speaks today. Just as he did through Elisha. Above all, we hear his voice through Jesus. We need to listen up!
9 • How can we pay attention to Jesus? …. Find a way! ◦ Do you have a bible? If you don’t, get one. ◦ Do you need it in audio form, or in a difgerent language? Find out how to get it. ◦ Are you in a homegroup learning to understand the Bible more and more, where you can not only attend to the voice of the Lord yourself, but you can encourage others too. So important. ◦ Do you need help in understanding more about Jesus? You do! We all do! Ask for help. ◦ We’re trying to make our teaching on a Sunday morning as good as it can possibly be, because we know how important this is. • God speaks today, just as he did through Elisha. Above all, we hear his voice through Jesus. We need to listen up!
How does Elisha’s ministry fjt into the overall story of the Bible and into God’s plan for the world?
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