Open Our Eyes
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· 11 viewsAugust 21, 2022 Morning Worship
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
Good morning and welcome back!
This morning if you will turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings 6.
This morning we are going to be looking at passage found in verses 8-23 that is centered around the prophet Elisha, the Arameans ( or Syrians), Elisha’s servant, some soldiers, and the King of Israel at the time.
And the time we are looking at is really when I feel like the true anointing of God that was on Elisha is coming to be fully realized.
Sure, up to this point Elisha has witness and done some amazing things in the Lord but I believe Elisha was still holding on to Elijah just a little bit.
And because of this, the people around Elisha were still somewhat comparing him to his mentor Elijah.
And I also think that in many ways Elisha was also comparing himself to Elijah.
However, in this passage I believe that we begin to see a shift in both Elisha as well as the people that Elisha was surrounded by.
And later on when we get to it, I will show you what I’m talking about, but I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself just yet.
So, what is going on in this passage is the Israelites are at war with Aram, which we know more commonly as Syria.
And things were not going particularly bad for Israel.
They were not going exceptionally good either. It was just sort of so-so.
Kind of like our journey with God sometimes.
Nothing is going particularly wrong in our lives but nothing is going amazingly well either.
Good days and bad days, but nothing that really heightens our attention or our awareness of what is really brewing under the surface.
Which is exactly what the enemy wants.
He wants us to let our guard down.
He wants us to think that “well, this is just the best it’s ever going to be.”
He doesn’t want us to see what he is planning and what is going on behind the scenes.
And we have done him a favor and let our guard down.
We have been lulled to sleep by the drudgery of just every day life with what seems like our everyday problems.
But don’t be fooled, the enemy is always at work.
That is why Peter says . . .
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
We have to keep our mind sharp and keep our mind alert.
Because he is always looking for someone to devour.
Just like a lion out there hiding in the bushes, quietly waiting.
Waiting on the right time to pounce and destroy it’s prey.
So, we need to never forget that the war is always being fought.
There are no days off.
There is no down time.
It is a constant raging war.
A war for your soul, my soul, and every other soul that is out there.
And we must stay engaged, always.
And the more we are engaged, the more we will be able to discern the enemy’s attacks and the enemy’s tactics.
Which is exactly what is happening here in this passage.
The Lord Knows and the Lord Sees (vs 8-12)
The Lord Knows and the Lord Sees (vs 8-12)
Starting in verse 8 we see . . .
Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his officers, he said, “I will set up my camp in such and such a place.”
Like I said, Israel was engaged in war with Syria.
And the King of Syria is wanting to mount an all out surprise attack on Israel.
So, he gets with his officers and they decide on a place to set up camp.
And they think that they have it all worked out and have it all together.
The Israelites will not know what hit them.
It’s going to be great, he thinks!
However, one thing the King didn’t factor in was that the Israelites had a prophet on their side.
And the prophet wasn’t some pagan witch-doctor either.
This was the Man of God.
And when the Man of God is on your side, then guess what?—God is on your side!
And what did we learn last week when God is on our side?
We learned that . . .
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
When God is on our side—God WILL fight for us.
God WILL make a way.
And one thing I didn’t point out last week that I will point out today is, the verse reads, “God WILL....”
Not, God MIGHT, or God will THINK ABOUT IT.
No, it is very clear that God WILL fight for us.
And when God says He WILL do something, then He WILL do it.
And when God does it, God sees it through to completion.
God don’t play around and halfway do something.
God sees it all the way through.
All that is required of us is to have faith enough to let God do it.
Which I know I’ve said a lot of times that, that is the hard part.
But we have to drill that in our heads.
We have to STOP relying on FEELINGS and START relying on FAITH.
Feelings will deceive you and let you down, but faith never will.
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
And we read that verse and equate it with faith in Jesus Christ for our salvation.
But read the whole chapter—it goes much deeper than that.
We MUST have faith in God FOR ALL THINGS, not just our salvation.
We must . . .
For we walk by faith, not by sight.
And when we can do that we are more powerful than absolutely anything the enemy can throw at us.
We can walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and fear no evil.
We can stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.
We can endure hardship like a good solider for Christ.
We can do all things through Christ, who gives us strength.
But it all starts with faith.
Just a little bit of faith is all we need . . .
He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Do we believe that? — We had better!
But anyway, back to what’s going on here.
The King of Syria has set up his camp and he is going to surprise the Israelites, so he thinks.
But God has other plans . . .
The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: “Beware of passing that place, because the Arameans are going down there.”
So God told Elisha the plan and Elisha went and told the King of Israel what was going on.
And what did the King of Israel do?
So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places.
So, the King of Israel sent some guys down there to check out what was going on and sure enough found the camp.
They came back and reported it to the King and so they didn’t fall into the trap.
Then the King of Syria moved his troops and the the whole process started over.
And this went on and happened several times, the Bible tells us.
It was actually almost comical if you think about it.
Like a supernatural game of hide and seek.
The only difference is YOU CAN’T HIDE FROM GOD.
And there is a whole message in just that.
But for now we will leave it at this—if you are living in sin, thinking you are hiding it from God—you ain’t.
If God is convicting you for doing things you should not or not doing things you should and you think “nobody knows, so it’s no big deal.”
It’s a big deal because God knows and guess what, eventually God will deal with it.
So we need to get out of the mindset that God is like our neighbors and can’t see what we do behind closed doors.
Because He can and He does.
So, if you are going to promote yourself as a Christian—get your house in order—not because of what I say, but because of what GOD SEEES.
But I digress . . .
At this point the King of Syria is pretty confused and taken aback by the whole ordeal.
In verse 11, it says . . .
This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, “Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?”
Fellas, we’ve got a spy among us and y’all need to be finding out who it is and dealing with it!
Yes, he had a spy, but it wasn’t one of his soldiers.
The spy was God and it didn’t matter what the King did or said, God already knew.
And the crazy thing is, the King of Syria’s soldiers had more discernment than he did.
They knew what was up, even if the King didn’t.
Look at what I mean . . .
“None of us, my lord the king,” said one of his officers, “but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom.”
Even the things you are whispering in your bedroom. —Hmm, that should make you think.
God knows and what prophet is God telling?
So, we had better be watching ourselves!
And here is one more point I want to make here—God knows and sees all, but the devil does not.
People need to STOP giving the devil Godlike qualities.
Sure, the devil can send temptation, torment, thoughts, ideas, condemnation—things that impact our feelings.
But then all he can do is watch and wait.
He watches and waits to see our reaction and then he knows whether he is on the right track or not.
He ain’t no dummy but he ain’t no god either.
He is a narcissist that feeds off of our reactions.
So, don’t give him any room to work.
Fight him as hard as he is fighting you.
And also know this, he will always try to silence the voice of God in your life—you know how I know?
Because he doesn’t know any new tricks.
Blind Eyes Opened & Open Eyes Blinded (vs 13-18)
Blind Eyes Opened & Open Eyes Blinded (vs 13-18)
He has tried them all before.
Look at verse 13 . . .
“Go, find out where he is,” the king ordered, “so I can send men and capture him.” The report came back: “He is in Dothan.” Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city.
So the King of Syria—AKA the devil, wants to know where Elisha is so he can capture him and shut him up.
They come back and say, “he’s down the street there, over in Dothan.”
So the King gathers up a strong contingency—a force to be reckoned with and sends them down to capture Elisha.
Just to shut him up.
Which if you think about it was dumb in itself—If God knew where he was hiding his army, didn’t he think God would tell Elisha he was coming?
Which tells me that the enemy isn’t not a rational thinker.
He is so bull headed and angry at God because he couldn’t be God and tries so hard to outsmart God that he cannot think straight.
And he fails every single time!
And we do it to when we try to outsmart God—And WE FAIL EVERY TIME ALSO.
He is God and we are not.
So we really need to stop looking for loopholes and stop trying to outsmart God—It is a losing game.
If God says-STOP IT, then STOP IT!
God gives us the tools to overcome the sin in our lives and it is hard, but God can, and WILL give us the strength and the power to do it.
But, the King of Syria does it anyway.
And this is where it really gets good . . .
When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh, my lord, what shall we do?” the servant asked.
So, now picture this—it’s early in the morning and Elish and his servant are just waking up.
Probably having that morning cup of coffee—you know the one, where you just want to drink your coffee and the world to be silent—that cup.
And the servant goes outside to get some fresh air and stretch his legs.
And he looks up and what does he see—an entire army surrounding the city.
And what does he do?
He panics.
And remember what happens when we panic?
We lose sight of God.
Our faith begins to waver.
We think the entire world is crashing down.
And the enemy hasn’t even attacked yet—just at the threat of attack, we will panic.
And forget everything that God has been teaching us.
And we end up just like the servant did here— “OH, no!!” “What are we going to do???”
And there is the key to his first mistake, “what are WE going to do.”
Because we think that we have to always be the ones that do something.
And we always have to be the ones that take care of it and fix it.
But the true reality is, we never could fix it to begin with.
God was always the fixer, we just couldn’t see it clearly.
We need to get out of the mindset that we have to fix things.
We have to give it to God and follow God’s direction.
Otherwise, we are just like the servant here—blind to the army of God that is surrounding and protecting us.
Now, Elisha wasn’t sweating it a bit.
Probably because God had already told him they were there.
And he already knew that God had it under control.
Elisha’s faith had increased that much.
And remember when we started, I said that this was Elisha’s confirmation that the full anointing of God was on him.
Well, here is what I was talking about.
“Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
It is those chariots of fire that surrounded them was Elisha’s confirmation.
Because these were the same chariots that took Elijah off to the Lord.
And Elisha knew he had the full anointing because God was giving him the same tools He gave Elijah to fight the enemy.
And I am here to tell you that God has the same tools for each and every one of us.
There are armies of angels and chariots of fire surrounding us each and every day.
But as long as we are living our lives in the shadow of someone else (comparing ourselves to them), we will never realize the full anointing of God on our lives.
It is time that we step out of the shadows and step into the light of God.
And allow the fire of God to flow through us and set this world on fire for Christ.
But it all starts by us opening our eyes to the reality of who we are and where we stand.
People, we are children of the King.
And the King is coming.
And the King is building His Kingdom.
And we are part of that Kingdom.
So, pray and ask God to open your eyes to the Kingdom!
What enemy are you facing today that has you scared?
Pray that God opens your eyes so you can see the Chariots of Fire that surround you!
Because when you do, God will not only open your eyes, but God will blind the eyes of the enemy.
Don’t believe me?
Look for yourself . . .
And Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.
God struck them completely blind and Elisha essentially took the entire army captive.
Loving Your Enemies (vs 19-23)
Loving Your Enemies (vs 19-23)
And where did he lead them?
Right into the heart of Samaria—the capital of Israel . . .
Elisha told them, “This is not the road and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are looking for.” And he led them to Samaria. After they entered the city, Elisha said, “Lord, open the eyes of these men so they can see.” Then the Lord opened their eyes and they looked, and there they were, inside Samaria.
So God has now turned the tables.
What seemed like a sure defeat, was now total victory.
And it is no different for each and every one of us.
How many times have we felt completely defeated, down and out?
We may feel that way today?
Well, I am here to tell you to tough it out—stay the course—stay steady—stay with God.
Because if we do, He WILL turn that sure defeat into total victory.
Not for our glory but for His.
We just need to stay the course.
And finishing up here . . .
When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?” “Do not kill them,” he answered. “Would you kill men you have captured with your own sword or bow? Set food and water before them so that they may eat and drink and then go back to their master.” So he prepared a great feast for them, and after they had finished eating and drinking, he sent them away, and they returned to their master. So the bands from Aram stopped raiding Israel’s territory.
And we may find that this is a little strange.
These people were going to kill the Israelites and now the Israelites could easily kill them, which is what the King of Israel had in mind.
But Elisha said no—show them compassion.
Feed them and send them on their way.
Let them go.
Kind of the same thing Jesus taught in Matthew 5 . . .
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
So, in all circumstances we are to fulfill the Great Commandment.
Even when we are dealing with people who are rude to us.
Even when we are dealing with people who do evil toward us.
And honestly the reason is because we are accountable to God, not to them.
We are not responsible for their behavior—they are.
And they will answer for it—but so will we.
Altar/Challenge
Altar/Challenge
We need to always be “Mission Minded.”
We need to remember what our mission is.
It is not to be right, not to win the argument.
Our mission is to win the war—which is done by winning souls for Jesus Christ.
And that is done by loving and forgiving.
Not dwelling on the past, but rather showing people a future.
And showing them Jesus Christ.
The end result for Israel was that the Syrians left them alone—they made friends with them.
How many friends can we make by treating people in a Christlike manner?
So, there is a lot to take in this morning and a lot to pray about.
Do you need your eyes opened this morning?
Do you need the deliverance of the Lord?
Do you need to increase your faith?
Do you need to develop a heart for people?
So many things, and so many needs but you can only deal with them if you are willing.
So, are you willing this morning to come and pray?