Keep Striking.

Welcome/Prayer/Scripture Text

Good Morning Church!! It is good to be gathered together as one Body this morning! I want to thank Pastor Jean Bruno, Pastor Tonya, Pastor Paul, Bishop Louis and the worship for helping to make this service possible!

Would you pray with me?

As we Jump into this text there are a few pieces of context we should know.

This episode takes place when Israel and Judah are divided.

The North has been plagued by two things for years now.

Terrible Kings and Terrible Neighbors.

The Assyrians have been attacking, but currently in this chapter Israel’s enemy is Syria or Aram.

Elisha has been both a prophet and military leader for Israel.

This Morning we are going to be reading from 2nd Kings 13, starting at verse 10. If you have your bibles please follow along as I read the scripture text.

2 Kings 13:10–19 NIV

In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them. As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel. Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. “Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.” Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”

The Problem in the Text

The primary Trouble in the Text is that Jehoash faces the armies of the Arameans. He has enemies at his doorstep. Yet, the army is only part of Jehoash’s problem

There are several of his neighbors that have Joined together to Destroy Israel

Like in the Story of Judges, Israel does not have very nice neighbors.

He has inherited the sins of his fathers. Israel is in Shambles Spiritually.

They have consistently turned away from Yawheh and served other God’s. Even at this moment in Jehoash rule there are Altars dedicated to the God Ashera.

Jehoash’s army has been all but extinguished, He only has 50 horsemen left, Ten Chariots, and Ten Thousand Foot Soliders.

At this time, Chariots are the tanks of ancient Israel. They allow for quick and destructive movement.

Seemingly his only hope, the Prophet of God and Military leader , Elisha is on his deathbed.

Transiton: Jehoash faces many issues coming up against him enemies, sin, the past, lack of resources, and dying hope. We face the same issues in our day. Although We dont face enemies, A dying nation spiritually, Shrinking congregations, and just plain old discouragement. We often wrestle with and ask, where is God in all of this?

The Problem in Our World

It is the age old issue that plauges every generation, Theologians call it Theodicy, or in simple terms- Where is God working in a dark and broken World.

I struggle with this as well. I have enemies too. Not enemies of flesh and blood, but principalities and powers. Namely the Devil. The Devil is working to destroy the church. Always. The Devil is attacking through division, discouragement, and distraction.

In Fact, We all walked in here this morning carrying a burden!

I want to invite you to not check your bag at the door, id invite you to unpack it. Sit with whatever you carry with you today.

What fading hopes do you bring with you this morning?

Examples of Problems in our world

Maybe your struggle has to do with something your dealing with at work, a conflict or strain.

Family Tension

Worry about the future (Youth in the Church, Aging Congregation, Staying Faithful in an Everchanging world)

Maybe you have people that you feel are against you right now.

Maybe you are just tired, worn out and discouraged.

Whatever we carry with us, let us bring it to the text this morning and allow God to speak into that burden.

Transition: Well, the problems that Joash faced are not the end of this story, would you pick back up with me in verse 15 with me. The King goes to Elisha to pay his respect and he Honors Elisha by saying, My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”

The Action of God’s Grace in the Text.

Elisha’s Commands to the King

Elisha asks the king to get a bow and arrow, he took the bow and Elisha grabs the bow and arrow with the king and shoots the arrow.

Two things are going on here

Declaring an Act of War.

Signaling that God is with the King.

When Elisha Hold’s the Bow with the King, He is essentially saying, the way I am with you right now, is how God is with you.

Elisha tells Jehoash, “Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. Then Elisha declares, “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”

Jehoash knows that He is going to have victory, so He is good now right? All of his problems are gone, right? NO!

Elisha tells the King to do one more thing. He says get the Arrows and strike the ground. (Act this Out) The King struck the ground with the arrows three times and stopped. He just stopped.

Listen to What Elisha says next, 19 The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”

So whats the problem with Jehoash only striking the ground three times?

Jehoash's response lacks, zeal, Lacks, passion, Lack Perseverance. He struck the Arrow three times and stopped. He knew that God would give him the victory, but when Elisha asked him to act on that belief, He did it half heartedly.

The Problem is that Joash had the vision, He had the victory, but failed on the follow through.

This reminds me of the story of Joseph, who had the vision that he would one day rule and his brothers would bow to him. Even though his brothers sold him, He never stopped believing. Potifers wife, being in prison, the cupbearer forgetting him, It wasnt until years later that the vision came true. Joash like Joseph saw the end result, but gave up too soon, He stopped striking.

But if we are honest dont we sometimes do the same thing.

We ignore our sin instead of trying to put it to death.

We only talk to God when we want something.

We witness only when we are comfortable and its convenient

We know that God will work, but we lack the fortitude to keep striking! We believe in the power of prayer, but we stop praying after one or two times. We believe in the power of forgiveness that Christ showed us, but we stop forgiving someone after theyve hurt us a couple times. We believe in the power of Freedom from Sin, but there are sins that seem too hard to overcome.

Here is What We learn From the TEXT about God

God is using his servant Elisha and Joash to bring his victory. We learn from this text that God wants to work with us, He wants to use our passion and glory for his victory.

Transition: Church, this isnt just something we learn from the Bible and Leave it in the Past,

The Action of God’s Grace in the World

This is how Ive Seen God work in my world this week!

I was talking with a good friend of mine the other day. He told me, Joe, God gave me a vision when I was 6. I am now 66 and I have yet to see it come true. I said, my friend we may not see it fully, but God's been working. Two years ago, we prayed for a change in our situation, We were being evicted and terminated. We had less than a month to pack and move. Yet, in a weeks time, God allowed us to go from homeless to having our offer accepted on our house. The same thing happened with my friend's living situation. So I shared this passage with my friend and I pounded on my desk with tears in my eyes and said, Keep striking and God will bring Victory

Striking isnt always easy!

Transition: Church, this isn't just something we learn from the Bible and Leave it in the Past,r of prayer, but we stop praying after one or two times. We believe in the power of forgiveness that Christ showed us, but we stop forgiving someone after they've hurt us a couple times. We believe in the power of Freedom from Sin, but there are sins that seem too hard to overcome.he bloody cross was an empty tomb.

Now remember those burdens that we brought in with us this morning?

The discouragement, the pain, the Struggles, the Worries. What do we do with them?

We Keep Striking… keep in prayer. Keep striking. Keep forgiving. Keep striking. Keep asking God to guide you when you dont know what to do next. Keep striking. Keep Trusting God. Striking. We Keep Fasting. Striking. We Keep Worshiping. Striking. Keep Striking Church. Keep striking and God will bring Victory.

This is the Good News Church, That if we are faithful, and keep striking God will bring Victory. We know the Vision, Scripture tells us that, he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

God keeps bringing me back to this image of a finish line. We are all running this Race, The finish line is Just up ahead, is now the time to give up? Is now the time to slow down? No, Now is the time to give it all we got, every ounce of passion we have left in us.

Keep Striking and God will bring Victory!

Would you pray with me?