Text: 2 Kings 6:8-13
8
Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his
servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
9
And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou
pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.
10
And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him
and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.
11
Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this
thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me
which of us is for the king of Israel?
12
And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the
prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou
speakest in thy bedchamber.
13
And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And
it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
11.
The
only way to live outside the box is to live by faith.
a. Faith is defined
simply as taking God at His Word. People that live by faith will always live
outside the box because faith requires it.
b. To walk by sight is
living in the box. This is the place of the fearful, unbelieving, the offended,
the quitters, and the runners.
c. Your faith in the
Lord will allow you to keep your eyes on Him no matter what.
d. This chapter deals
with this very issue. There was a man in Israel who lived outside of the box by
the name of Elisha, who had a very real relationship with God.
e. When you endeavor to
serve God, that is when the enemy is gonna show up, and many times he don't
show up by himself.
i.
That
is when you say Lord I am going to follow you no matter what.
f. Keep your eyes on God,
don't let anything or anyone - especially other Christians - distract you from
Him.
i.
Sometimes
people come to church, and thehy cabn't even hear from God cause they are too
busy looking at everyone else. When you come to church, that's when you must
live in the box, and allow God to speak to you.
g. The enemy will set
out to stop you, and many people will run and hide to protect themselves and
their own interests.
i.
The
Bible says, if you will live Godly in Christ Jesus you WILL suffer persecution.
h. 2 Kings 6:15 And when the servant of the man of God was
risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with
horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall
we do?
i.
Many
times we ask ourselves in these situations, "what am I gonna do?"
ii.
When
the hard times come, this is the number one question.
iii.
The
first thing Elisha dealt with in his servant was fear - because fear will stop
you and lock you in the box and you won't be able to get out. You are tormented
when you walk in fear.
iv.
Notice
Elisha's answer in Verse 16: And he answered, Fear not: for they that
be with us are more than they that be with them.
v.
When
you keep your eyes on God, you realize that you are in the majority, even if
you have many peoplke against you. If God be for us, who can be against us?
i. V 17 And Elisha
prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the
LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain
was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
i.
No
matter what you face, you are not alone, because God is always there with you.
ii.
Elisha
lived outside the box because he had a real relationship with God.
j. 2 Kings 7:1-2
1 Then Elisha
said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about this
time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures of
barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
2 Then a lord
on whose hand the king leaned answered the man of God, and said, Behold, if the
LORD would make windows in heaven, might this thing be? And he said, Behold,
thou shalt see it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
i. There was a famine in
the land. One of the people said to the king, I need your help. The king was so
upset that he was going to kill Elisha. Elisha heard the king's servant coming
and he told the king, this is what is going to happen.
xi.
3 And there were four leprous men at the entering in
of the gate: and they said one to another, Why sit we here until we die?
i.
Lepers
were not allowed in the city, they were looked down upon.
ii.
There
is no such thing as a reject in the kingdom of the Lord, we are all important
to God in His kingdom.
22.
Sometimes
before you can get direction, you must learn to question and converse with
yourself.
i.
Sometimes
it's not that people have more wisdom than others, sometimes people ask
themselves the hard questions: Why am I here? What's wrong with me? Why do I
allow myself to go through this?
ii.
Sometimes
you ask other people the questions that you should be asking yourself.
i.
The
prodigal son in Luke 15 came to himself. And in coming to himself he went back
to his father.
ii.
Sometimes
you have to come to yourself before you can truly coem back to God.
iii.
The
lepers were stuck between two ways. If they went into the city, they would die
of the famine. If they went to Assyria, they might be killed.
iv.
2 Kings 7:55 And they rose up in the twilight, to go
unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come to the uttermost part of
the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.
i.
What
gave these lepers the courage to take action? It is a word called desperation.
ii.
You
don't even begin to grow until the people that you depend on can no longer meet
the needs that you have. This is a hard truth but it's real. Sometimes the Lord
needs to take you away from the people you lean on because you can't even start
growing until the people that you depend on can no longer meet your needs.
v.
In
the spiritual realm, you constantly try to hold on to people, but you need to
be connected to God more than any other person. You don't begin to grow until
you understand the importance of connecting to God more than you do other
people.
i.
God
is trying to teach you that you have to get out of the comfort zone. This is so
important!
ii.
Getting
out the box sometimes means you have to cut yourself from the umbilical cord.
vi.
If
you are not connected to Christ, you will find yourself so discouraged that you
will not even set foot in church anymore.
i.
If
I'm connected to you AND God, you can act as silly as you want to but I won't
be silly with you.
33.
There
is a certain level of discomfort associated with a life of faith.
i.
When
you're not walking in faith, you feel that discomfort, that's what makes you
want to draw back.
ii.
Sometimes
the Lord has to bring just the right amount of discomfort into your life that
you say That's it, okay Lord, I see what you're doing, I'm ready, I'm tired of
struggling and feeling alone. Lord I understand that the only person that can
give me all these things is you.
i.
This
is what drives you outside the box, when you get tired of being around people
that hurt and let you down, you will stop running to those people, and realize
you are looking in all the wrong places.
ii.
This
doesn't mean that people are bad, they're just human. Just because a person is
saved doesn't mean that they cease to be human.
iii.
We
all still have issues, we're all still trying to work out our salvation with
fear and trembling. Don’t' judge the whole church because of something you see
openly.
iv.
Acts 7:39-41
39 To whom our
fathers would not obey, but thrust him from them, and in their hearts turned
back again into Egypt,
40 Saying unto
Aaron, Make us gods to go before us: for as for this Moses, which brought us
out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.
41 And they
made a calf in those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in
the works of their own hands.
i. When you walk away
from God, the only thing you can rejoice in is what you can do with your own
hands. That's all you got, and that's a life full of vanity.
ii. They turned back to
Egypt in their heart. They got to a place where they began to walk by faith,
and got tired of it, and they turned in their hearts back to their former
lives.
iii. It's important for
you to get out of your box and stay out, because the enemy will always want you
to get back in the box, because the box represents your former life, what you
were before Christ came.
e.
Don't
change because you're trying to make people like you, or to make friends. It is
a tragedy when people do what they do only because they will make friends.
i.
Your
friend today will be your enemy tomorrow, and if you allow that to stop you,
you're not going to be serving the Lord too long.
f.
2 Kings 7:5-7
5 And they rose
up in the twilight, to go unto the camp of the Syrians: and when they were come
to the uttermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man there.
6 For the Lord
had made the host of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots, and a noise of
horses, even the noise of a great host: and they said one to another, Lo, the
king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites, and the kings
of the Egyptians, to come upon us.
7 Wherefore
they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents, and their horses,
and their asses, even the camp as it was, and fled for their life.
i. The favor of God is
better than money. When our resources run out, when we come to the end of
ourselves, that's when the Lord shows His strength.
ii. We know that God's
strength is only manifest in our weaknesses.
g.
In
Psalms 71, David came to the end and was gray-haired, and he said Lord I
don't want to die until I show this generation your strength.
i.
He
said when I was young and strong, they wouldn't say it was you that won my
battles, but now I'm old and gray-haired, and I want this generation to
understand your strength, not mine, and understand where I got it from.
ii.
He
said let me show and declare your strength to this generation. That's what
David passed down to Solomon, a legacy of walking with God.
iii.
If
I could pass down a legacy to my children and the people of this church, it
would be to walk with God on your own. Don't just come to church to be a sermon-soaker,
get to know Him for yourself.
h.
God
will open doors that no man can close.
44.
You
know that you are maturing when you can do right by those that hurt and
criticize you.
a.
2 Kings 7:8-9
8 And when
these lepers came to the uttermost part of the camp, they went into one tent,
and did eat and drink, and carried thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and
went and hid it; and came again, and entered into another tent, and carried
thence also, and went and hid it.
9 Then they
said one to another, We do not well: this day is a day of good tidings, and we
hold our peace: if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will come
upon us: now therefore come, that we may go and tell the king's household.
a. These lepers that
came from nothing, got to a place of food, riches, raiment, and at first, they
hid it, but then they began to speak to each other, about saving others from
starving.
b. I'm here to tell the
King's household today that God got some wonderful things for you, but you have
to stop depending on people and start depending on God. People will let you
down.
c. You know that you are
maturing when you can do right by those that hurt and criticize you.
b.
You
always got to bless those that helped you. Somebody helped you, you have to
look back and say I remember this. I remember when.
i.
People
say money changes people. Money don't change nobody, it reveals who you really
are.
c.
2 Kings 7:1 Then
Elisha said, Hear ye the word of the LORD; Thus saith the LORD, To morrow about
this time shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel, and two measures
of barley for a shekel, in the gate of Samaria.
i.
In
other words, you will see it, but you will not be able to enjoy it. A lot of us
are in a palce of such a blessing. When I look around, I don't see problems.
But what happens when your promised land becomes the problem land?
d.
2 Kings 7:17-20
17 And the king
appointed the lord on whose hand he leaned to have the charge of the gate: and
the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died, as the man of God had said,
who spake when the king came down to him.
18 And it came
to pass as the man of God had spoken to the king, saying, Two measures of
barley for a shekel, and a measure of fine flour for a shekel, shall be to
morrow about this time in the gate of Samaria:
19 And that
lord answered the man of God, and said, Now, behold, if the LORD should make
windows in heaven, might such a thing be? And he said, Behold, thou shalt see
it with thine eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
20 And so it
fell out unto him: for the people trode upon him in the gate, and he died.
i. He saw it, but he
couldn't enjoy it. Many times people come and get on fire for God, but then
they allow discouragement to come in, and when that happens, they can see the
goodness, but can't enjoy it anymore?
ii. If I find myself
there, what am I supposed to do? Just get it right with God.
e.
The
first thing that you have to do is separate yourself from the mistakes that you
made. When you do mess up, confess it and leave it alone. Don't beat yourself
up over it, or you will always judge yourself and always be there.
i.
You
have to give yourself a moment to talk it over and grieve what you did and the
mistake that you made. Give yourself the right to cry and feel bad about what
you did, but after you had that moment, then put it behind you. Then get up and
brush yourself off and move on to the next chapter.
f.
I
believe and see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
g.
A
just man falls seven times and rise back up again. If God has brought you back
from the mistake that you made, you can't continue to allow that to haunt you
for the rest of your life.
h.
We're
not here because we don't mess up, we're here because every time we mess up, we
serve a God who tells us to get up.
i.
Understand
that the more you grow, the harder the storms become. The harder the storms,
the more you will be challenged to change.
i.
That's
where friction comes in, because then it isn't good enough to just know
something, you need to go from head knowledge to heart knowledge.
ii.
When
you;'re not willing to change, that's when you are going head to head with God,
and you cannot win that battle.
j.
Without
His power, you can't do what God called you to do. It doesn't matter who hates
or likes you, the only thing that matters is what God has spoken into your
life.
k.
As
long as you know that you are doing what God wants you to do, that's the only
thing that matters. As you grow you will realize that very thing.
l.
Your
past is like a rotten corpse. The more you allow it to attach itself to you,
the more it will drain the very life out of you.
m.
Philippians 3:12 Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that
for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
i.
In
other words, I want to do that which Christ has created me to do.
ii.
V 12-13
13 Brethren, I
count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those
things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
14 I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
It
doesn’t' matter what you did. It's time to get the dead corpse off your back,
and continue to move forward in the name of Jesus. Stop allowing it to rob you
of your life. Don't quit, don't ever
give up. Keep fighting, so that we can come to the end of it all and say I
fought a good fight, I've finished my course, I've kept the faith. It's not
gonna be easy, but praise God that I didn't quit.