Striking Short

Elisha is dying! King Joash and Israel were about to go into battle with Syria. The king was concerned how Elisha’s death would effect Israel’s war with Syria. (v 14a) Elisha answers by asking the king to do 2 things.

1st, shoot his arrows to the East. Syria was to the East. Elisha was saying, “shoot toward the enemy and not at each other!” Someone has said, and you’ll hear me use this quote often, “The Christian army is the only army that shoots it’s own wounded.”

We are to fight the enemy, which is Satan, but we must love and encourage each other. This is one of the reasons for Christian fellowship, isn’t it?

Hebrews 10:22–25 KJV 1900

22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) 24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

Verse 24 says to “provoke” one another “unto love and to good works.” “Provoke” in the Greek means to stimulate one another to love and good works! We must do this on a daily basis!

2nd, Elisha told him to submit to God’s leadership. (v 15-17) Following Elisha’s directions was symbolic of following God’s leadership and direction. By Elisha putting his hand on the kings hand was symbolic that God’s presence and power would be with the Israel as they went to battle. Like King Joash, we must seek, know, and follow God’s leadership when we go into battle for, and in service to, our the Lord!

So far so good! The king asked for, and recieved, his answer concerning whether or not it was God’s will for Israel to go into battle with Syria. If they would go in unity, God would be with them and they would prevail. The last command is where King Joash messed up. Listen to verses 18 and 19. (verse 18-19)

Elisha says take some arrows and strike the ground. I think Elisha was telling the king to strike the ground until I say stop. Instead, the king strike three times and stopped. In verse 19, Elisha was “wroth” with the king. He was very angry at the king. Elisha went on to say, if “Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times,” you would have completely annihilated them. Instead you will only have three victories against them.

Have you ever heard the old saying, “you have struck short,” or “don’t strike short!” It came from this passage of scripture! Elisha’s attitude was always to go the extra mile. It was always to do more and not less. Give more effort and not less. Remember, when he refused to leave Elijah’s side when he was leaving.

Remember, Elisha asked Elijah, before you leave, will you give me a double portion of the Spirit of God that is upon you. That was Elisha’s attitude and it should be ours! Do you know what the majority of us would have probably asked Elijah for? We’d probably asked, and you have heard a lot of people say this, “Just give me half of the Spirit you have,” or “ I wish I could have done half of what you have done,” or I wish I half of your talent.”

But not Elisha! He said give me twice what you have. If you read through 1 and 2 Kings and count them, Elisha did twice as many miracles and Elijah. So, you can imagine how disappointed Elisha was in King Joash, because he only struck three times!

Let me ask you a question this morning. How often do we strike short in our Christian duty. We know what to do, but we either don’t do it, or we don’t finish the task God has given us! How often do we strike short! Much to often, I imagine. Let me suggest some things which I think we strike short in much to often:

1. We strike short in our Bible study and devotional life! (Hebrews 5:11-15)

The writer of Hebrew said by now you ought to be teachers, instead you need to go back to the children’s classes and learn the elementary truths of God’s Word! We have those who have been in church all there lives and are Biblically illiterate! They are 60, 70, and 80 years old and don’t know anything about the Bible. They don’t even know the Bible well enough to look up a verse.

In 2021, I am going to challenge everyone in this church to read the Bible through next year. I’m going to provide you with a Bible reading plan, and I’m going to ask you to read the Bible through with me next year.

2. We strike short in our commitment to prayer!

If we are going to grow in Christ and accomplish all He has called us to do, we must read our Bibles and pray everyday!!!

Do you pray everyday? How long do you pray? The statistics say, the average church member prays less than two minutes a day! They go on to say the average preacher prays only 5 minutes a day! There is something wrong with that picture! We are striking short in our praying. Then we wonder why things are so bad in this world! Prayer changes things!!! Amen!!!

We need to be praying everyday. We need to be confessing sin, praising our Lord, praying intercessory prayers for other, and praying for ourselves last. You must pray for your pastor, for your church and for your children and grandchildren. You must be praying for revival in our church and nation. You must be praying for President! Two minutes won’t cut it!

3. We strike short in Sunday School attendance!

Are you consistent in your Sunday School attendance? I think, if you are late all the time, that shows a lack of commitment. Also, if you consistently don’t study your lesson, that shows your aren’t commited to Sunday School too, doesn’t it?

4. We strike short in our church attendance!

We can’t let the Corona virus keep us from our commitment to church attendance. I know there are some legitimate reason for not coming to church, but not everybody that misses every Sunday! Wednesday night Prayer meetings are pathetic sometimes!

Let me stop here and let me take a minute to brag on one group in this church, who have been consistent, and I am very proud of them. They are the Wednesday night youth group. They are back there this morning! Adults, they are showing y’all up! They are always here, and they are very consistent, and they are always well behaved. At least when I am around them they are! I want them to know this morning, this pastor loves them, and I’m very proud of them! William and Carol Ann do a great job with them too!

You see, commitments are made before you need them. When I was growing up, there was no question what we were doing on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night or any other time the church doors were open! My parents made that commitment early on, and stayed commited.

There was this man in the early 1970’s, who bought a piece of property and was building a house on it. He worked his regular job during the week and worked on that house on the weekends. He noticed every Sunday morning, this family in an old pickup truck, going by were he was building his new house. The husband and wife were riding up front while two children road in the back. We did that back then, didn’t we?

It was a witness to him that he needed to get back in church. After he built his house, he went with them to that little country church where he and his family joined and eventually accepted the call to preach himself. We were that family in that old pickup truck! By just faithfully going by his house to church every Sunday, was a witness that make a difference in this man and his family.

(DeWitt and Flora)

5. We strike short in sharing the gospel with the lost!

When was the last time you shared the gospel with someone? Or, even invited someone to church? When was the last time? In the next few weeks, on a Sunday morning, I’m going to teach the Roman Road to salvation, and how to share it! We are called “witnesses,” because we just witness to them about what we did and how it effected our lives. It’s as simple as that!

You can also simply leave gospel tracts everywhere you go. You will never know this side of heaven, how you might touch someones life by leaving a gospel tract. Maybe a waitress having a bad day might pick it up with the tip, read it and be saved or encouraged. There is a stack of gospel tracts on the back table for you to take with you to hand out. If you are leaving it for a waitress at the restaurant, and you really want to make a good in impression, make sure you leave a really big tip with the tract!

I believe when Janice and many of you who had part in those Operation Christmas Child boxes, some child from some far off place somewhere around the world, will come up to you in heaven, and tell you how they got saved by receiving one of those boxes! If we don’t want to strike short in evangelism, we need to be generous with sharing the gospel!

6. We strike short in holy living!

These 1st 5 things we have talked about, are what make it possible for us to live holy lives, don’t they? It begins with our devotional and prayer life. That is how we know what is holy and what is not!

When I think of holy living, I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:21-23:

1 Thessalonians 5:21–23 KJV 1900

21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How do we prove all things? The Word, Right? Then in verse 22, he says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” In other words, if you don’t know for certain, or if it seems sketchy, and it appears to be evil, stay away from it! At least until you have searched the scriptures and prayed about it, stay away from it! Even, if you don’t think there is anything wrong with drinking a beer, or going to the casino, is there an appearance of evil in it, stay away from it!

It’s time for us to quit striking short, and start being submitted to God and His Word! In this message, I’ve been using the word commit, but submission is the better word. You can commit to anything! You can commit to giving a dollar to the church every Sunday. However, unless you only made $10 this week, are you submitting to what God’s word says? No! God’s word says give 10 percent. If you are not, you haven’t fully submitted to God, have you?

My prayer for our church through the rest of this year and next year, is that we all be more submitted to God, than we ever have before. That means doing all these things we have struck short on, and much more!