Address—B. Prost
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327 Lord Jesus, are we one with thee, oh, height for death of love, and crucified and dead with thee now one in heaven above. 327.
Four years of our world.
I'd like to turn.
To one scripture, first of all in the book of James. This part of a verse there that I'd like to read book of James.
Chapter 5. The last chapter.
And verse 17.
James 5 and verse 17 and just the first clause of the verse.
Elias, or as we know, Elijah, same name Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are.
I'd like to turn back to the Old Testament tonight, but I read this verse to show us that.
These men about whom we are going to read, although they may have lived several thousand years before our time, Scripture tells us they were men of light. Passions as we are, they weren't, on the one hand, some sort of, we might say Superman, who were in a situation which we can never imagine ourselves in, and who reacted in ways that we can't ever imagine ourselves reacting. No, they were men of like passions, as we are.
And so I believe that we are entitled to go back because the Word of God tells us that whatsoever things were written beforehand were written for our learning. And although the truth of Christianity is found in the New Testament, yet we find the illustrations of that truth very often.
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In the old and so I'd like to turn tonight back to the Old Testament.
To find two passages which I believe bring before us that which would on the one hand, encourage our hearts and on the other hand, which gives us a warning, let's turn first of all to the Second Kings, Chapter 3.
Second Kings chapter 3.
Oh, I'm sorry, we'll read in chapter 2. We may refer to chapter 3, but.
It's mainly chapter 2 That I had in my heart.
Second Kings chapter 2, and we're going to read part of the chapter beginning at verse one.
And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind. And Elijah went with Elijah from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elijah, Tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Bethel. And Elijah said unto him, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.
So they went down to Bethel, and of the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elijah, and said unto him, Knows thou that the man, that the Lord will take away thy master from the head to day? And he said, Yeah, yeah, I know it. Hold you your peace.
And Elijah said unto him, Elijah, tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho, and the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knows thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? And he answered, Yeah, I know it holds your peace.
And the largest said under him, Tarry a crazy year for the Lord, and sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they too went on. And 50 men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off. And they too stood by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together, and smoked the waters. And they were divided thither and thither, so that they too went over on dry ground.
And it came to pass when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elijah, Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee but a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing, Nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee, but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass as they still went on and talked.
Let behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire.
And part of them both ascended. Elijah went up by a whirlwind Internet.
Elisha sawd. And he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes, and read them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back and stood by the Bank of Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smoked the waters, and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted his or thither, and Elijah went over.
And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said The spirit of Elijah, the rest on Elijah, and they came to meet her, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
We'll go just that far. I want to refer to another passage a little later on, but I want to dwell most of all on this one, because this is the passage that to me is a real encourage, a real encouragement. The one we'll read a little later on is more of a warning, but this is a real encouragement, just by way of background, and I hope I don't, on the one hand, insult anyone's intelligence here, nor do I hope that I take too much for granted, but.
We'll just briefly go over a bit of the background here. You know, Elijah, the prophet of the Lord had been a very faithful man, but at the end of his life he failed because he thought he was the only one left. And you'll remember how that he went up there to Mount Carmel and won that wonderful victory over all the false prophets of Vale, and how the Lord sent the fire down from heaven to consume the sacrifice that Elijah had. And Elijah had gone and had all those false prophets.
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Killed that were the prophets of Baal and idol, but then when Jezebel said Elijah.
You're going to die, God, do so to me and more also if I make not thy life like the life of one of them, meaning those false prophets by tomorrow. About this time before Elijah, he got discouraged and he fled for his life, Fled for his life. Well, he was afraid and he interceded against the people of God and God had to replace him. God had, as it were to say to Elijah, I can't use you anymore if you're going to talk like that.
And so poor Elijah is a broken man.
And we're not going to go into that. But he comes and he throws his mantle on Elijah and Elijah. He wants to be with Elijah. And notice what happens here, that the Lord is going to take Elijah up to heaven.
And.
Those who were near to him knew that Elijah knew that. He evidently knew it. God had revealed it to him.
And so he knew that. And what did he want? He wanted the company of Elijah. Well, you know, sometimes, and I speak particularly for the moment, for those who are younger, sometimes our older brethren may fail. Sometimes there may be failure. There is failure in me if you look at me.
Although I don't like to put myself in the class of the older brethren, but there's failure in all of us, and sometimes perhaps we are younger, may look and see failure. I'm sure Elijah realized the failure that had been in Elijah. But what did he want? Oh, he valued his company. He realized that there had been a life of faithfulness to the Lord. And although there was failure at the end, he realized that he had much to learn from this man. And I believe that Elijah had really repented of that faith.
I believe it broke his heart when the Lord had to say to Elijah, you go and anoint Elijah the son of shape that to be prophet in thy room, in thy room. Oh, it broke his heart. He didn't go on anoint him. You'll remember. Do you remember what he did? He just threw his mantle on him as much to say. Elisha, I'm finished.
You take this mantle now, that's what God has given you.
Elijah immediately says just hey, wait a minute, wait a minute, I want to go with you. Elijah says you can read it for yourself. He says, what have I done to me, Go back. You don't have to follow me as much as to say I don't think you can learn anything from me. What humility. But Elijah says, oh, I want to be with you. So he burns his bridges behind him, if we might use the expression, he sacrifices the oxen that he was plowing with. He used the implements for the wood to make the fire atmosphere.
That must have taken a lot of a lot of courage. You know, I grew up on a fireman that that would have been something to take the to take the instruments of the oxygen and use them to sacrifice the oxygen with. But he meant it. He put everything behind him. And now he wants to follow Elijah And notice what it says here, verse one. And Elijah went down with Elijah from Gilgal. Oh, there's a significance to the four places that are mentioned here.
Gilgal was the place of self objection.
Gilgal was the place you'll remember that the children of Israel and camped, first of all, after they crossed the Jordan after 40 years in the wilderness, and it was the place where circumcision was renewed. Oh, they were entering in on the land. There were new challenges, new responsibilities, and they had to remember that they couldn't do it in their own strength. And I believe each one of us needs to remember that right at the outset of a Christian pathway if we're going to do anything for the Lord, if we're going to walk the pathway of faith.
Then we have to recognize that the old nature must be kept in the place of death.
I used to think that was pretty fundamental truth. And so it is that I've learned, to my sorrow, that it sometimes takes a lifetime for life. It sometimes takes a lifetime to learn.
One time at a Bible conference, many years ago, in the last century.
There was a Bible conference at which dear Mr. Darby was present, and he threw out the question. He said, well, what should we take up?
Somebody said let's take up Ephesians.
After the meeting, Mr. Darby said, well, I enjoyed Ephesians, but I kind of wondered if it wouldn't have been better to get back to something more fundamental like Romans. But he said it didn't really matter because no matter where we read, we always end up back in Romans anyway. That's true. That's true because the foundation truth in Romans of keeping the old nature in the place of death is something that continually, continually continues you have to be reminded of. So they started at Guildhall.
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But then notice what happens, Elijah said unto Elijah, Tarry here I pray, for the Lord have sent me to.
Why did he say that? Did he not want Elijah's company? Oh no, he wanted to test it. He wanted to test them. And you know, when you start out on the Christian pathway, there are always going to be tests that come along. There will be choices to be made where perhaps I don't have a definite scripture for it and where perhaps I have to decide, well, now, what should I do in this situation? And I believe sometimes the Lord leaves a few things in our lives and maybe more than a few.
He doesn't give us a definite scripture in order to show where our hearts are. If there's a question in my mind, do I give the Lord the benefit of the doubt or do I give myself the benefit of the doubt? Well, I say that very humbly. Elijah wanted to test Elijah here. Do you really want to follow me? And so he said, stay here, I've got to go to Bethel. But no. Notice the reply. As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, thy will not leave you.
Oh, he wanted to be with him. He wanted to be with him.
But there's something says here that's very important. He doesn't say As thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He could have said that. He says, as the Lord lived, and as thy soul live. Why? Oh, because he put the Lord 1St. And I say to each one here, always put the Lord between yourself and your brethren.
Then if your brethren are a help to you, what does it do?
They can be used of the Lord to draw you closer to the Lord, and that's wonderful. That's where God gave us one another to be a help to each other and an encouragement.
But supposing.
I get someone between myself and the Lord.
Oh, then what happens?
Then I have my eye on a man or on a woman instead of on the Lord himself. Then there's trouble because then if something happens to that individual, then I can't find the Lord because I've always gone through them for the Lord.
If I put the Lord between myself and my brother, then if my brethren fail, then what does it do? It only draws me closer to the Lord. I cling closer to Him. The failure may burden me, but it doesn't cause me to stumble. But all if I have my eye on men, even the best of them, even the brightest Christian, even the most gifted, even the most godly.
Sad to say, there will be failure there sooner or later, because the Lord wants our affections himself. And so he says, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And where are they going? Down to Bethesda. There's a significance to that name. I'm no Hebrew scholar or Greek scholar, but anyone can verify this, that Bethel means the House of God, means the House of God. Alice, the Hebrew word for God, Beth, al, the host of God.
And I like to think of this as representing the assembly because it's more the collective thing. I have to go to Gilgal as an individual and deal with the old nature before the Lord. But Beth Al is the House of God. And so in my assembly life, what do I do? Oh, I put the Lord first. But notice what he finds here. Verse three. The sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today?
Oh, they you too.
They knew too. Why? Because they were in a place of privilege. They were the sons of the prophets. They've been brought up in the homes of those who were in the current of God's thoughts, and they knew that God was going to take Elijah away. What a wondrous privilege. And it is a privilege to be brought up in the assembly under the sound of the word of God and where the whole truth of God can be given out. But why then, when they make this comment, is Elisha so short with it?
Almost rude it seems. Yeah, I know it hold you your piece. And if you look at another translation it's even more sharp.
I know it. Be quiet, be silent.
Why is he so short with them? Well, I believe it was simply because of this that here they were intelligent as to the mind of God, but it had no effect of no effect on them. And you know, that's a solemn thing, and I speak to my own heart as well as to each other one. It's possible to be in a place where the whole truth of God is known and given out, and to know it up here, but it has no effect on me so that I don't walk in it.
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And evidently that was the case here. These young men, sad to say, it didn't have any effect on them that they were in the current of God's thoughts. They weren't interested in going along with Elijah. They weren't interested in anything that he had to offer. And so they weren't any help to Elijah.
And you know, sad to say, there may be those who are even in the assembly who instead of being a help to us, are a discouragement and a hindrance. Well, I say that very, very humbly because the Lord only knows that I may be in that category at some time or other, and I have to be careful of my own heart. But it only brings out the point that the Lord is always to be first and then our brother. Are they able to be a help to me to know the Lord better? Wonderful.
But if they're not, then and they just have to leave it. And so they go on. Well, we won't take a lot of time on this first four. And Elijah said unto him. Elijah called them by name this time.
Tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord have sent me.
For the Lord had sent me to Jericho.
Jericho. What was Jericho?
The children here could tell us what Jericho was. That was the first city that the children of Israel encountered when they crossed into the Promised Land, wasn't it? And you'll remember how they marched around that city every day for a whole week, and then they had to March around it on the 7th day seven times. And then.
What happened? They blew those trumpets and down fell the walls of Jericho, and God pronounced a curse on that city, he said. I don't want that city rebuilt.
But a man did rebuild it. A man did rebuild it against the command of God. And you know, I think Jericho to me represents the world. It's a picture of the world and the world, you know, it's a beautiful place. Outwardly, Scripture calls Jericho the city of palm trees. Beautiful city, evidently. But what was wrong with it? It was under a curse. It was a wicked city. And God says don't build it again.
But they did. They built it again. Well, we have to live in the world. We can't get out of the world. We're in it, but we're not of it. And so I believe that Jericho would represent my life as it contacts with the world. For the children, it might be their school life. For those of us who are older, it might be our job, our work, our business life, whatever it might happen to be, where we have to get into contact with the world. I believe Jericho represents them.
And what happens here? Oh, he says the same words as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave it. I will not leave it all. Once again he puts the Lord first as he goes down into the world. But what does he meet in the world? Verse five. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elijah and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? And he answered, yeah, yeah, no, it holds your peace.
Or you're going to find the child children of God in the world. You notice it doesn't say that Elijah or Elijah lived in Jericho.
They went there, they had something to do there. It doesn't tell us what Elijah had to do or what business he had there, but he didn't live there. It was a place under under a curse. But these sons of the prophets evidently lived there and felt comfortable. And you're going to find Christians that are comfortable in the world. You'll find worldly people too, but you'll also find Christians. And the same thing was true of them. They knew what was going on. They were intelligent as to the mind of God.
Elisha has to say the same thing to them. I know it. Be quiet, be silent, hold you your peace. Know. They too were in the current of God's thoughts, but it had no effect on it. They were involved in the world, they were living in that place which God had so clearly pronounced a curse on, and they couldn't be any help that a man was gone.
Well going on here in verse six and Elijah said in to him, tarry, I created here for the Lord has sent me to George Jordan. What does Jordan bring before us? Well, it can bring before us different things. And I suppose in the sense in which the children of Israel crossed the Jordan. First of all, it was representative of my death with Christ.
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The Red Sea is Christ death for me. The Jordan is my death with Christ death to everything that is of the old nature. But I suggest to your heart and mind that, and I say it humbly, but I don't think that's the primary thought here. I believe Jordan in the sense that it's brought the forest here represents obstacles and difficulties in the Christian pathway, because here it's evident that Jordan was a difficulty. It was in the way of where they wanted to go.
They tell me there's a bridge out between here and Mullet and you have to go the long way around now for a while until they get the bridge fixed. Well, here they didn't didn't seem to be a bridge. And so that River Jordan was an obstacle because they wanted to go to the other side. But there was that river, I don't know how big or how deep, but evidently it wasn't something you could just wait across easily or something like that. It was an obstacle and I believe it brings before us here the obstacles in the Christian pathway.
And we're going to encounter those from time to time. We're going to encounter difficulties and problems because the Lord hasn't promised us an easy path. What happens here?
Same thing Elijah says, as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. Oh.
Am I willing to go through the difficulties with the Lord, or do I shrink back from them? I have to live in the assemblies. I have to live in the world. But then when difficulties and problems come up to our shrink bank, Elijah could have said, well, I don't know, I don't feel like getting wet today. He didn't know that they were going to have to cross in an unusual way, and so he could have gone back. And many Christians fall down when the difficulties and problems of life confront them, you know.
They think perhaps this is too much. I can't handle this. I can't walk the Christian pathway. I can't meet these problems and we can't in our own strength. We can't meet them in our own strength.
Notice verse 7 and 50 men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off. All remember. Excuse me.
Remember, in everything that you do in your life, others are watching, others are watching. I don't know whether Elijah and Elijah were conscious of these fifty men, of the sons of the prophets watching them. They didn't have the faith to go there themselves, but they were watching. How are they going to handle the difficulty? What are they going to do about this kind of a problem?
I know a brother who was in a home once and he was having some trouble with his car and he was a little bit upset about it, I guess because things weren't being done properly. The car was under warranty and the company it seems wasn't paying as much attention to it as they should.
And you get on the phone to call to try and straighten it out. But unbeknownst to him, out in the kitchen, the sister in the home in which he was staying was listening and thinking to herself, I wonder how he's going to handle that now. What's he going to say? Is he going to blow his top at them or is he going to be gracious or what's he going to do? Other Christians are watching what you and I are doing. And so here they were watching to see how are they going to handle this problem? What's going to happen now when they come to Jordan?
Well, notice what happens in verse 8. To me, this is beautiful. I don't think Elijah knew ahead of time that this was the way it was going to be, Says And Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and smoked the waters. So they were and they were divided, hit her and thither so that they too went over on dry ground.
I don't want to pretend that the Lord puts every problem out of the way as easily as this, but you know, it's wonderful of free meat. The problem or the difficulty in faith before the Lord, how easily he can work it out. Oh, naturally speaking, you'd say, how are you going to cross the river like that?
But, you know, I'm sure that Elijah remembered that way back how many years before this, hundreds of years before the children of Israel, a whole nation had crossed over that river and God had caused those waters to go this way and that way so that a whole nation of several million people could go through on dry ground. But hundreds of years had rolled off. The nation had failed. The priesthood had failed, the judges had failed, the kings had failed.
Everything was in the mix. What's going to happen now?
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God is willing and ready to use the same power on behalf of two men that had formerly been exercised on behalf of a whole nation. Oh, beloved brethren, we're in a day of ruin. We're in a day of failure. We're not in Pentecostal times. The Lord hasn't changed. Are the problems and difficulties there the same God that gave the power for multitudes to meet those problems and difficulties?
Back in the days of Pentecost is here to give that same power on behalf of one or two that lay claim isn't that beautiful? And so you and I can go to the Lord. Are there only a few that want to be faithful to the Lord? The Lord says the same power is available to you.
When there's failure, the same power is available to a few. When there's failure, the same power is available to a few that act in faith, as was available to thousands or millions back when things were fresh and new. And so notice what it says here. They too went over to the muck. Oh.
Sometimes, you know, you go to cross a riverbed and the water may have dried up. I grew up on a farm and we had a Creek out the back, and sometimes that Creek could get pretty low in the summer. Oh boy, oh boy. If you went out and tried to cross that Creek, you could be up to your knees and muck simply because it might look reasonably dry, but it was pretty wet. But that's not the way the Lord fears difficulties away for us. Day two and two on dry ground. What wonders great waters go back. You know what happens if you suddenly pump the water out of a out of a pond or something like that? The muck takes days to dry out, even if it's bright and sun.
But here the Lord drives it out instantaneously, for they too went over on dry ground.
Well, verse nine. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elijah, Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee.
Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.
And he said that was fast a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. But if not, it shall not be so.
I suggest to your heart and mind that here the picture changes a little and here Elijah, instead of being representative perhaps of one who is older than we are and more experienced in the Lords things now becomes a type of the Lord himself, of Christ himself. And he says to Elijah, Elisha, what would you like before I go away? Oh, Elijah could have asked for many things. You notice what he wants, he wants a double portion of.
Elijah's.
Here, a double portion of Elijah's spirit. Oh, that was a good request to Mint. And I just suggest to you, as I've enjoyed it myself, that the double portion here is a double portion of Christ. The double portion is Christ in manhood and Christ in resurrection. We could use it figuratively. Christ in manhood is found in the gospels. Christ in resurrection is found in Paul's doctrine in his epistle.
Christ in manhood is the manner that the children of Israel eat in the wilderness. Christ in resurrection is the old corn of the land that they eat after they had crossed the river Jordan. Christ and manhood is all the beauty and perfection of that blessed One displayed in all His pathway down here. Christ in resurrection is all the power of a risen Christ in glory gone up there now is head over all things to the Church, which is His body. I suggest that that's what the double portion is, and we need both.
We need both. Well, Elijah wanted that. He wanted that. And the response is, thou hast asked a hard thing. Oh, it is a hard thing. You know, it's one thing to have Christ in manhood, and I say this very, very kindly, but that's what many Christians are content to have is Christ in manhood, all of the beauty and perfection of that blessed work. And we need that. We need that. But you know, as our brother Clifford Brown often used to remind us.
Christianity really didn't begin begins beyond the cloud. True Christianity is characterized by a risen man in the glory and my eye on him and Donna stabbed a hard thing, Elijah said. Because the human heart is constantly wanting to withdraw from the high energy of the Spirit of God, which would lift us above this present world, which would give us to realize that we're a heavenly people.
Made for heaven, not for this earth. I say again, the human heart wants to go away from that high energy of the Spirit and to sink down to the level of this world again. And so it requires a constant eye on a risen Christ endory in order to be maintained in the enjoyment of that Blessed One who is above this world. Our life to Him puts it well. Thy life is now beyond the grave. Our souls thou hast set free.
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Light, strength and grace in Thee we have, for we are one with Thee. That's what we sang in our hymn. But it requires a constant eye on Him. Otherwise we sit down and we walk in according to the course of this world. Oh, we may appreciate all that the Lord was here on earth, but we don't walk as being in this world. But not out of it. Well, what happens? He says, if you see me, all the eye has to be on Christ.
He couldn't look around down here, he had to see him when he was taken away. And what happens? Verse 11? And it came to pass that they still went on and talked, but behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and part of them both assigned her. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
Now notice here, and Elisha sawd and deprived my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. Remember that wording, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more.
All we have to walk by space, we have to walk by faith. We can't see the Lord here on earth, but by faith we see a risen Christ in Nora. He saw him no more. But what does Elijah do? And he took hold of his own clothes and rested in two pieces. Oh, what does that mean? Oh, he was done with himself. He was done with himself. A man's garments, a man's clothes speak of what characterizes them. It speaks of a man's rights. Naturally, Elijah says, I'm going to get rid of these.
I don't want to be characterized by what I am by nature anymore. I want to be like the man who's gone up there in the glory. Now I'm putting it into the context of the New Testament, and I hope I may be allowed to do that because I believe Elijah is the type of Christ. And Elijah, as it were, says I want to be like the man that's gone up there into heaven. That's where I want to be. And I want to be like him. And so he tears his garments in two pieces, gets rid of all of that. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from.
Oh brother, now that Christ is up there in the glory, the only testimony that this world has is what it can see of Christ in you and me. What does it see of Christ in me?
In first Timothy chapter 3, truly great is the mystery of godliness. Why? Oh, because God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit scene of angels, and so on. That's all what the world should see in here. It's Christ seen in me. And so here it says He took up the mantle of Elijah. Oh, may you and I be given grace to take up the mantle of that blessed One I can remember.
My brother saying to me when there was a question raised about something that he was doing in his life, the way he reacted to things.
And somebody brought it before him that this wasn't very Christ like. And he said, well, that's the way I am. I can't help it.
Well, Scripture says yes, you can help it. People say you have to take me the way I am. I love the way somebody put it. The Lord loves us the way we are. He really does. But He loves us too much to let us stay that way. Why? Because He wants us to be conformed to His image. He wants us to be more like Him.
So he takes up the mantle. Notice what happens in verse 14. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and smoked the waters and said, where is the Lord God of Elijah? Oh, I think he had a little bit of a doubt as to whether this was going to work. It was fine for Elijah to take the mantle and smite the waters, but now Elijah is gone. What do I do now? Well, I've got the mantle here, but is this going to work? Where is the Lord God of Elijah?
Lord, are you still with me? What happens? Oh, he smites the waters. And when he also had smitten the waters.
They parted, hit her, and thither and I, like she, went over all. The same power it was exercised on behalf of a whole nation was exercised on behalf of two men. Then one was taken, and the same power was exercised on behalf of one man, one man.
And the Lord says all from the river Jordan up for one man, if it's necessary, that's no problem. There's faith. As you know, we may have to walk individually. In some cases we may lean on someone else, but then eventually they may be taken away. But then we find that the Lord is the same. And what's the result in verse 15? And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said the spirit of Elijah to thrust on Elijah.
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Oh, others will see Christ in us if we walk in this way, even though they're unfaithful. These sons of the prophets didn't have the energy themselves to walk in that path. But they looked at Elijah and they said, well, there's a, there's a man that's gone. There's a man that has the spirit of Elijah. There's a, there's a man that is walking like this, Master. Well, that's what others should see in US. What will commend itself most to other Christians? Not what I say.
But what I do?
What will commend itself more to others than anything else? Not what I do, but what I am. It's not what you do that counts, but what you are. Always remember that.
Well, I said this was the encouraging part. Let's turn over a little bit in the book now to something which I believe is a bit of a warning to us. Turn over to the 13th chapter of Second Kings.
And here we find a king.
What we've just read was at the beginning of Elijah's pathway. Here we find an incident at the end and notice here in verse.
10 Second Kings 13 and verse 10.
In the 30 and 7th year of Joash, king of Judah began, Jehovah the son of Jehovah has to reign over Israel and Samaria and reign 16 years.
Now notice what it says about him. And he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, but he walked there in.
And then it tells us about his.
Dying and so on. But then beginning in verse 14 is an incident is life. That gives us a bit of insight into this king.
Verse 14 Now Elijah was fallen, sick of his sickness wherever he died, and Joash the king of Israel, that's the one we mentioned. Jehoash and Joash are the same, not to be confused with Joash, king of Judah, two different men, but Jehoash the son of Jehovah has.
Was the king of Israel also known as Joash?
So this is the king of Israel. And Joash the king of Israel came down unto him, and wept over his face, and said, Now notice the wording, O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof, not striking, saying words as Elijah had used. When he saw Elijah golf, he knew those words. And yet it says that he was a wicked king, He did evil in the sight of the Lord. And it says He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, and the son of me back, who made Israel the sin.
Isn't that sad? And this man Joash.
He was a grandson of Chi Gu, and you all remember Jiu, how the God used to him mightily to take vengeance on Ahab's house because Ahab and his family were such wicked kings, and how that Jihu executed the judgment of God so faithfully. But Jihu himself turned aside to worshipping idols, and his family failed too. But here we find that this King Joash, he knew all the right words. He'd heard about Elijah going up. He knew about it, and he had an admiration.
For that which was according to the mind and heart of God.
But there was number, desire or power to walk. No desire, power to walk in.
Well, you say that's me, perhaps maybe I say that's me. That's what I've done. I've been in a place where I knew the truth of God. I've known the word of God, I've had it all brought before me, but I've made a mess. I've lived a bad life. I've done things that I knew I shouldn't have done. What do I do now? Is there a remedy? Yes there is. Notice here verse 15. And Elijah said it again, Take bow and arrows. And he took under him bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, put thine hand upon the bull.
And he put his hand upon it, and Elijah put his hands upon the King's hands. Boy, I like to see this. You know, it's as if the Lord says you've made a bit of a mess, you're in a bad spot, you aren't even good enough to shoot the arrow yourself. But I'm going to put my hands on your hands. I'm going to help you out because I want you to get out of this difficulty.
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Verse 17 And he said open the window eastward in the openness. Then Elijah said shoot and he shot and notice what he says. And he said the arrow of the Lord's deliverance and the arrow of deliverance from Syria. For thou shalt smite the Syrians, and impacts of thou consumed.
Oh, that's a wonderful promise. What do the Syrians represent? Well, these nations in the Old Testament represent different things, and I believe the Syrians, in the sense in which they're used here, represent the world as it is allowed of God to.
How shall I explain it 2.
Bring difficulties and problems into the life of a believer because of his unfaithfulness. God may allow difficulties and problems in your life and mine, and He may allow typically the Syrians to come in. That's God allowing this world, as it were to bring problems and difficulties into our lives. Why? Because we have not been faithful to the Lord. And what had happened as a result of the unfaithfulness of these kings? All the Syrians were overrunning the country. They were their enemies.
But the Lord makes a promise, he says joy. That's the arrow of the Lords deliverance. And you're going to slight these Syrians and apex till thou hast consumed it doesn't say just defeat them, but consume them. You know a beloved brother and I speak to each one of us. If we have failed, if there is that in our lives which we know is not according to the mind of God, there is a remedy for it. I don't have to say, well I made a mess, the Syrians are in here now.
Can't do much about them. They've got the upper hand. We'll never be able to drive them out. I'll never be able to get out of this mess. No, there are no limits on the God's restoration if there's true repentance. If there's true repentance, there are no limitations on 1St John 1:00 and 9:00. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And I believe that was the message here. The prophet said thou shalt smite the Syrians and apex till thou hast consume them. No conditions attached.
It was, as it were, George's last chance. The Lord, as it were, said to him. Joash, here's a chance to recover. Because he knew that Joe Ashley did have some heart for the Lord. There was a heart for the Lord. He knew that Elijah had gone up, although evidently he wasn't around at the time. He probably wasn't even born yet, but he'd heard about it.
The language, how did he learn it? You probably heard it from Elijah, because evidently Elijah was the only one there at the time when those words were said. Nobody else overheard them all. I should probably told them. But this poor king, he probably had an admiration for the man of God and everything that he did, but he didn't seem to have what it took from the Lord to walk in it himself. But the prophet says I'm dying. There's a chance for him. Do you want to take it? The Lord will deliver you from the power of the experience.
Well, notice what happens.
Verse 18 And he said, Take the arrows, and he took her. And he said unto the king of Israel, smite upon the ground, And he smoked Christ, and escaped. And the man of God was wrought with him, and said, Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times. Then hast thou smitten Syria, for thou hast consumed it, whereas now thou shalt smite cereal, but Christ.
Verse 25 The end the last verse and Jehovah asked the son of Jehovah has took again under the hand of Ben Haydad, the son of Hazel, the city which he had taken out of the hand of Jehovah has his father by war three times did Joash beat him and recovered the cities of Israel.
All there was a lack of faith here. At first glance, you might say, well, that wasn't fair. How did he know how many times he was supposed to strike the ground? How did he know he was supposed to strike five or six times? Well, there was a lack of faith. He should have known by faith how what to do, but there was a lack of faith in his heart to follow what the prophet had set before him. There was a lack of faith to walk before the Lord and the good of all that the Lord has given. There was a lack of repentance of the course that he had pursued up until then. And so he takes the arrows.
And it was fine as long as Elisha's hand was on his. Then they shot the arrow, and he said the arrow of the Lord's deliverance. But when poor Joash takes up those arrows himself.
All three times and he quit.
And you know, very often we as believers, the Lord gives us an opportunity to write the difficulties that are in our pathways, but we don't seem to be able to take it up. But there's a route to it all. Well, there's a route to it all. And I believe that it wasn't a question that poor Joe asked, just said, well, 123, I guess that's enough. No, I believe there's a deeper significance than that. I believe he really didn't want to get completely out before the Lord.
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What he was going on with. And as a result, there was only a partial recovery. He beat the Syrians three times, no question, but he didn't get delivered from. And I've often thought, you know, I speak to my own heart. There are many Christians like that in the world today. They follow the Lord partially. They have an admiration for the things of God. And when they hear something, some nice truth brought out from the word of God or the Lord, well spoken of them, oh, they enjoy it and they love to do it, But oh, there's something in their lives that drags them, drags them, drags them, and they can't seem to get clear of it.
And the root is that we don't want completely to judge the old nature. We don't want completely to have done with that which is a hindrance to our Christian life. And this poor king, evidently he didn't have what it took to be able to judge those things, to get rid of those idols.
Throw them out and to follow the Lord wholeheartedly. And so there was only a partial recovery. Well, we can be thankful for that. We can be thankful for anything of Christ in a believer. And I privately feel that even though this kings, it was a wicked king that there was life there, that there was reality there. I don't know. We can't say for sure, but I rather think that there was. But his life was characterized outwardly by that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. Well, what are we going to be? Are we going to be in Elisha?
Or are we going to be a Joash Elijah? He had no hesitation when it came to a question of dealing with the situation. He tore his own clothes in two pieces.
They weren't going to come back together again, were they? He could have made a good rip in them and then sewing it up again. But no, he tore them in two pieces. He made a clean break with the pastor. He got rid of everything that had to do with himself, and then he followed the Lord. Poor Joash, he made a partial recovery. And yet each one of them said the same words. They knew it up here. The one walked in wholeheartedly, and one walked in it only partially. Well, May God give us grace to walk close to that blessed One and in the full good of everything that He has given us in order that we might not only have.
A happy pathway down here, but that up there we may have a full reward while our time is nearly gone.