Elisha

… You might ask, why have we desire to give a few addresses on Elisha, the man of God? I would say the reason is simple, that Elisha served God in a very difficult day, a very difficult day, and I believe the circumstances surrounding his call and testing, and then the incidents we find in his life, will be an encouragement to us. Not so much the miraculous things that he did, but rather the features that we see coming to light in Elisha, an encouragement for us in our day when we too find ourselves in difficult times. First of all, we learn that Elisha comes onto the scene in a very abrupt manner, we don't read much, we don't read anything of his boyhood or who his parents were and how he was brought up and so on. He comes onto the scene most abruptly. We understand he served as a prophet for 55 years, which is a considerable time, and faithful to the Lord in the midst of varying circumstances. Perhaps the greatest honor that was given to Elisha was that he was mentioned by the Master himself in Luke chapter 4. That a great honor, to be mentioned by the Lord in terms of honor and dignity. He lived in conditions that were far from encouraging. Great division had taken place amongst the people of God. Elijah had served as a prophet in the Northern Kingdom, the Ten Tribes, tribes given over to the worship of Baal and idols. Very sad thing that when we read the history of the Ten Tribes, not one good king reigned over them. Not one. They were all worse and worse and worse. Very sad picture. Thank God in Judah there were some bright kings, kings who did that, which was right in the sight of the Lord. But Elijah, he served his God in the midst of very trying conditions, a king and a queen who hated him, the nation largely given over to the worship of Baal, not much to encourage. He didn't even know that there were 7,000 who had never bowed the knee. Now it was a great encouragement to learn that there were 7,000 who had never bowed the knee, but it was very sad that not one of them ever came out in public witness to support Elijah. I think here we have a feature of 2 Timothy, when it says, the Lord knoweth them who are his. It's a very sad thing when only the Lord knows them. We should all be known as people who are genuinely here for the Lord in the circumstances in which we are found. And so though the Lord had to open Elijah's eyes and say, Elijah, you're not the only man. There are 7,000 who have been faithful, yet I think it is right to say that he was the only man who stood out publicly in the face of all that was evil and declared openly that he was on God's side. A courageous prophet indeed. And he got discouraged, as I suppose most servants of the Lord do. Great deal of discouragement, lack of results, one's own inadequacy, all this kind of thing presses upon the Lord's servants, and it did on Elijah. So much so, he says, Lord, I'm finished. I want to go. I've served my God, I've served my day and generation. In other words, I've had enough. Let me finish. All right, says God, I'll take you at your word. And so we find him here saying, I want you to go and anoint Elijah the son of Shaphat. He'll take your place. If you want to go, I'll carry on the testimony. The Lord always carries on his work. It's been aptly said, he buries his servants and he carries on his work. And so it was with Elijah, he's put aside and Elijah comes along and he fills up the position. Then we find the call of Elijah through Elijah, most ungrudging man. It's a lovely sight to see when we find a lack of envy amongst the Lord's servants in relation to each other. Elijah doesn't look upon Elijah as an upstart and say, hmm, that's the man that's to take my place. Ungrudgingly, according to the command of the Lord, he goes and he puts his mantle upon Elijah. And as far as we can see from the narrative, it gives him every encouragement to take up the service for the Lord. So when it comes the call of God through Elijah to Elijah, we find this wonderful attitude of the lack of envy or jealousy. I believe this comes out distinctly in the life of the New Testament servant, Paul. Oh, how he commended the service of others. Timothy, why he says he serves the Lord the same as I do. And he commends Timothy as a man after his own heart. No man, he says, so like-minded as Timothy. Epaphroditus, oh, this man was ready to give his life. And so on, as he writes his epistles, unjealously he commends others for their work for the Lord. Good lesson for us all. Not to be marked by any spirit of envy in relation to the work of others, but rather to commend what we see. So very often we put aside the service of others because of something that we see in the servant, and we discount all that's worthwhile and all that's valuable. Paul didn't do that. Paul commended the servants of the Lord for what he saw. And then we find in the second book of Kings the testing of Elijah as to whether he was really prepared to follow in the footsteps of Elijah. So if we were to write a heading over a simple message this evening, it would be the servant's call, sorry, the servant's choice, the servant's call, and the servant's testing. Now God chose Elijah, and God doesn't make any mistakes when he calls his servants. I mean outstanding servants. He has called us all, every one of us, and we're all pygmies compared, and very small pygmies at that, compared to those who have gone before serving the Lord. Never mind. There's something for us to do in our generation. But now we're referring to outstanding servants of the Lord, and Elijah was one. I think it's right to say, and you check it for yourselves, that there are more references to Elijah as a man of God than any other. Perhaps Moses is the next. A man of God, and you'll find that the term man of God comes to light when things are difficult. And so Elisha, the man of God, is chosen by God to serve in Elijah's place, a divine choice. Now we find this all through the Bible. God chooses his servants. He has a right to choose. Who has a better right to choose? After all, it's God's work. So very carefully and wisely, he chooses his servants, and he chooses them for a particular purpose. When the Lord Jesus Christ was here, he chose 12. He said so himself. Have not I chosen you, the 12, and one of you is a demon? He chose another 70, sent them out two by two. He chose them carefully. They did the work he wanted them to do, and his choice was vindicated. Oh, you say they were a poor lot. They made so many mistakes. They all forsook him and fled at the time of his greatest need. Well, perhaps that's true. Before we criticize them, let's all take a look at ourselves. But the point is this, that after the Lord went on high and the Holy Spirit was sent down, oh, how wonderful, in such a wonderful way they served the Lord. What faithfulness, what diligence, what sacrifice. And if we are to believe tradition, and there's no reason to disbelieve it, each one laid down his life for the Lord, with the exception of John, who died at a very old age. They laid down their lives willingly in sacrifice for their master, and it takes a lot of courage to do that, and it takes a lot of faithfulness to do that. So the Lord was vindicated in the choice of the 12. Judas Iscariot, we know, is a mysterious character and chosen for a specific purpose. When we come to the Acts of the Apostles, we find two men who are chosen by the disciples at that time, and a lot is drawn to choose one to take the place that was vacated by Judas Iscariot in his unfaithfulness. And they didn't make the choice in an arbitrary fashion, they didn't say, well, we'll draw lots and the winner of the lot will be the one whom we choose. Well they did that, but they said something else, they prayed. And they asked the Lord to support them in this matter, and they said, the Lord knows the hearts, we don't know the hearts, these two brothers outwardly, they all have the same qualifications, they've been with us, they know all about the Lord from the time he was baptized until the time he died and went back to glory. They've got all the qualifications, but Lord, thou knowest the hearts. Choose the one that is to fill up this place, and the Lord made the choice, and one was chosen and one was put aside. This is always right, the Lord knows best. We come to the choosing of people who are to look after the administration in relation to the widows, and a choice was to be made with certain qualifications, and the choice was made, and the service was completed, and as far as we can understand, the problem was resolved. We find a church making a choice in Jerusalem, they chose two men to go along with Paul and Silas, Paul and Barnabas rather, in connection with another company of believers in another part of the world, and it says men who had given up their lives for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, qualifications were attached to the choice. When Paul sent Titus to Crete to choose elders there, he says, Titus, don't look for the men who are most influential, the best educated people, or the people with most money, or the people who are some standing in the world. He says, choose persons with spiritual qualities, persons who can be relied upon to do the service that is necessary. So you can see this question of choice is one that's associated with quality, and that's very important in times of great difficulty. Now we come to ourselves. Has God chosen us? Without a shadow of a doubt. There's one very important choice that we can all take to our hearts this evening and rejoice in it. Before ever time began, before ever worlds existed, before ever sin and failure became a known thing, God chose us in Christ for the greatest possible blessing. In the first chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, Paul unfolds a wonderful choice of God, that he chose us in his sovereign love and grace that we might be with him eternally in sonship's dignity for his praise and glory and for our blessing for all eternity. Dear brethren, that's a wonderful thing. He knew us each by name before ever we existed, and he chose us. His own sovereign choice and will. But then when we come to the first chapter of the Epistle to the Corinthians, we find another kind of choice. God has chosen the weak things of this world, the things that are not, that he might confound the things that are mighty. God takes up the weak instruments in order to testify to the outside world that in his power those weak instruments can overcome for his name and for his glory. I believe this is what we find illustrated in Elisha, the son of Shaphat. A weak instrument? He had to face the king. He had to face those who were lukewarm. He had to face those who were enemies. In himself, a weak instrument. In the power of God, a different story. An instrument in the hand of God to overcome the enemies of the truth. And God chose Elisha for this, and I think we can say humbly, God has chosen us for this. Not to occupy a place like Elisha, man of God in dignity and power and wonderful miracles performed through him. No, not that kind of thing. But in our humble situations wherever we are, at home, amongst our neighbors, in school, in business, wherever we are found, I believe God has chosen us that in our weakness might be demonstrated his power so that there might be a testimony for us. You might say, what use am I? That's a commonplace statement, what use am I? All the great servants in the scriptures have said that. Jeremiah says, me, a servant? I'm only a child, what can I do? Moses, most reluctant to perform the service that God had in mind for him. Jonah, run away. Find this often in the Bible, a great deal of reluctance. And oh, when God takes hold of his servant, he forms him and molds him to his will so that he can do great things through the servant's weakness. Must always be so. The moment we begin to think that we are able to do this, that, the next thing, we are heading for a fall. But Elisha was chosen by God, and we're very thankful for the way he reacted to the call. Elijah, he goes along and he casts his mantle upon Elisha. Now he didn't find Elisha sitting down enjoying himself or having a snooze in the heat of the day. He found a very industrious man plowing twelve yoke of oxen, an industrious man. And I think this is a good thing to see in the Lord's service. And we find this all through the Bible, that God chooses men of action, men of industry, men who can do things. There are many, many instances of this. Take the Lord calling the fishermen. What were they doing? Sitting chatting about their exploits at sea and the large catches of fish they have. That's quite a common topic amongst fishermen. We come from a fishing village, and when you see some fishermen congregated together, very likely that's what they're talking about. Their boats and nets and their catches and so on. But these men were mending their nets. They were industrious. They were busy. They were concerned about the welding of the nets in view of catching more fish. Careful, concerned, and industrious. When God called Moses, he too was occupied in tending sheep. David was a very, very industrious man and a very reliable man. And so we could go on. And God calls this man, a man of industry, a man who's concerned about his daily calling and performs it in a correct manner. Many, many great men of God have been called from very, very active lives to serve the Lord. They prove themselves in their secular callings, and then they prove themselves in the calling of God. I know when there is so much to do, it does require some energy to follow out the Lord's will in the midst of difficulties and opposition. And so Elisha is found with the twelve yoke of oxen, and he's carrying out his daily calling according to God. And also, I believe that this little incident would indicate to us that he was a man who was deeply concerned about the word of God. He wasn't ploughing with an unequal yoke. I remember when we were in Israel some years ago, we saw an unequal yoke. We saw an Arab ploughing in Israel, not in Jordan, in Israel, ploughing with an ox and an ass, the living expression of the unequal yoke there before our eyes. But Elisha, he's ploughing with oxen, not an unequal yoke, ploughing with something that was commended by God. I think this is a very important thing, that in our lives, without necessarily being engaged in some particular service for the Lord, are governed by the word of God. What we do in our outlook is governed by the word of God. You see, if we become habitually governed by the word of God, it's very easy to be submissive to it when God makes a special claim upon our allegiance. I think the sixth chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews presents this, at the end of it, if I remember rightly, that those who are feeding upon strong meat are those who have their senses exercised habitually, it's their habit, their senses exercised habitually to discern between what is right and what is wrong. So I think the fact that Elisha is ploughing, and ploughing with twelve oxen, it indicates he's the kind of man who can be relied upon, industrious, and his life governed by the word of God, why, an ideal man to serve the Lord. And so Elijah cast his mantle upon him. And Elisha immediately knew what this involved. It meant he was being called to the service of God. I suppose Elijah's mantle would be the hairy garment that he wore that was indicative of his place as a prophet for God. You remember this was the way Elijah was identified. What kind of man was he, said the king? Always a man wearing a hairy garment, ah, that's Elijah, that's the man of God, that's the prophet of God, and this mantle was thrown upon Elijah, and immediately he knew that he was called of God. No reluctance, no hesitation. He says he's prepared to forsake his father and mother, he's prepared to forsake his calling, his secular calling, and he's ready to follow Elijah, and he did. Now I think this is a very wonderful attitude. How easy it is to reason, how easy it is to say, well, I'm not qualified for this kind of thing, I have no credentials that give me the right to take up this service, and so it's very easy to turn away. Maybe too the sense of sacrifice is too great. But Elisha showed no hesitation. I think this is a wonderful picture of this man. It doesn't mean that he set his father and mother aside, oh no. The scriptures are so plain that we are to honor our father and mother, we are to respect those natural ties, God honors them, and we are to honor them. That's not the point. Here was a claim, a claim that God was placing upon him that was far greater than any earthly tie, and God is virtually saying to Elisha, now Elisha, I want your time, I want your service, I want you. And if my claim comes along with a claim from your parents, my claim is paramount. My claim is first, and Elisha is prepared to face that. And he says, Elisha, you're not going to have any time to spend in anything else, I want all your time to spend in this service that I have called you for. And he says, I am prepared to do that. And so he burnt, he killed the oxen, and he burned the implements of service, and in other words as we say ourselves, he burned his boats, he's finished, that's at an end, a new life is beginning for him, and that life involves his time, his talents, everything about him, he's thoroughly devoted to the interest of the Lord. And so dear brethren, we have to ask ourselves, is this our attitude to the service of the Lord? We're not all called upon to leave our secular calling, we're not even called upon to actually leave our parents, but we are called upon to answer to the claims of the Lord when he makes a claim upon us. When there is some particular call for some particular service, then it's right that that should be listened to, and we should serve him accordingly, and do it without any hesitation, without any reluctance. Now I know it's easy to say that, but it's a right thing to say, because the Lord himself indicated this in the 14th chapter of Luke's Gospel, that if any man loves his father and mother more than he loves me, he's not worthy of me. Now again it doesn't mean that we forsake our father and mother, and we don't show them the respect that we ought to show them, it doesn't mean that at all. The Lord is saying, my claims come first. Oh dear brethren, what a wonderful position it is to be in at all times, to say, well, yes, really, I've got the things of God at heart, and his things come first in my life, and my whole life is geared to this, where I go, the plans I make, my outlook in life is governed by this, that I belong to God, and this must govern all that I say, and all that I do, and all the plans that I make. I am perfectly sure that we would all be in a healthy condition spiritually if this were true of us in every day of our lives. And so, Elisha showed how ready he was to answer to God's claim, and so he followed Elijah. Let me quote it correctly, then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him. You might have said, well, Elisha has been called by God to fill Elijah's place, and now we find Elisha, he's ministering to Elijah. He might have said, well, if I'm called to fill this place, I'm going to start right now. No, says God, there are a few lessons to be learned, you have some experience to go through, no one better to teach you than Elijah. Now just you go along with Elijah. And so Elisha, he goes along and he ministers unto him. He is in the place of a subordinate servant, and he's prepared to accept this place. And we find this all through the scriptures, the young man, well, Joshua, along with Moses. We find Elisha here along with Elijah, we think of a Timothy along with a Paul, and we could quote other instances where the young go along with the old and they learn from them in their spiritual experience and in spiritual maturity. Now this is a great challenge to those of us who are older. Do we in any way influence the young in the right direction? That's a very solemn thing. We should be sufficiently mature, we should have sufficient spiritual experience and power to influence the younger into a pathway of devotedness to God. And the truth is, dear brethren, if we are not in it ourselves, we can't influence others to be in that pathway. We have to have the power, the spiritual influence to direct others. Nobody could doubt for a moment that Elijah was such a one. How courageous he had been, how faithful, how obedient, and in times of trial and stress and danger, he had represented God and had followed God faithfully. Such a man was spiritually qualified to help this young man, and so Elisha, he went along with Elijah. I don't know what they talked about when they were together. I'm sure Elisha would ply him with some questions as to the great experience he had, Mount Carmel and bearding Ahab and Jezebel and all sorts of things of that character. And talking with this man of God, he would learn many things, I'm sure, that would stand him in good stead when he was in the place of responsibility and representation. So we have this divine choice chosen by God, and then this call from God through Elijah and how readily he answered to it, and now the test. That's always a problem, the test. We think of the call of God, and we're very thankful that we are called of God, but very often the testing time comes, and our faith gives way, and the difficulties are too great, and the problems are too many, and we wonder, have we stepped out in the right pathway? Have we done what is right? And God tests us and tries us, and it's right that he should. You think of the master himself, thirty years in obscurity before he served for three years in public. That's a good ratio. They say there is more of an iceberg under the water than is showing above the water, and perhaps it ought to be in our lives, more devotedness in private in view of our public service. Thirty years of the Lord in obscurity before he stepped out in public service for God. Oh, how wonderful those years were. We get an idea of their worth. When the Lord Jesus was at Jordan, the heavens were opened upon him, and God declares his delight in his well-beloved Son. Just for that moment, no, I believe those thirty years of obscurity were revealed to us in one great statement, this is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Well pleased in those thirty years where everything was so pleasurable to God, although hidden from our eyes. And then three and a half years, to be exact, where the Lord walked here in public witness for God. Oh, how wonderful that six days before he died, this is my beloved Son, hear him. This is God's testimony to his own beloved Son. So I believe that the testing time comes, as it did in the life of the Lord, after the Father's delight was expressed in him forty days in the wilderness, tempted of Satan. We heard about this on Saturday afternoon. And went through the cities and villages and towns, preaching the kingdom, the testing of the Son of God. So we are not surprised if we are tested by difficulties and trials and oppositions, that God might prove us to be reliable servants. I believe, dear brethren, that more often we are faithful in private, in secret, there will be more indication of this in our public lives for God. So briefly now, we'll look at this incident in the second chapter, in the second book of Kings, chapter two. There are four places mentioned here, Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and Jordan. Well they're in the first place, Elijah and Elisha, they're standing in Gilgal. And Elijah says to Elisha, now Elisha, you stay here, I'm going to move on a little further. And Elisha says, no, I'm going to follow you. This is what I desire, this is why I'm called, I'm going to follow you. And they go to the next place, and Elijah says, stay here. No, he says, I'm going to follow you. And so they go through the four until they come to the end, and then we find the wonderful evidence that the mantle of Elijah has definitely fallen upon Elijah, and he's able to perform a mighty act of power that indicated God was with Elijah just as he had been with Elijah. But I believe these four places represent principles that ought to govern us if we in our day want to follow the Lord. What does Gilgal represent? You remember there came a moment in the history of the nation of Israel when they arrived at Gilgal. Now all those who were there, the Naals, were all the new generation. Not those who had come out of Egypt, they had all perished because of their unfaithfulness. Only two remained, Joshua and Caleb. Now this new generation had to enter into God's land, God's purpose for them, not as uncircumcised persons, because that's what they were at that time. They were to be circumcised at Gilgal, and then enter into the land as circumcised persons reminding them of God's covenant with Abraham. And so at Gilgal they were circumcised, and it represented that they were no longer just like ordinary persons. They were persons who belonged to God through covenant. They were persons who belonged to this great line of promise and blessing, and as such were the true representatives of God. Gilgal represented the cutting off of the flesh, the reproach of Egypt. And there's a great deal of ministry in the New Testament that helps us to understand this. Oh, if there's anything that hinders us in our service for God, it's the flesh. Oh, what a wicked thing it is. Pride, anger, envy. We read all about these things in the epistle to the Galatians, indeed in all Paul's epistles. What an awful thing the flesh is. Paul encourages us to see that at the cross of Jesus, the flesh was condemned in all its evil features and was put aside. And in the power of the Spirit, believers today are enabled to live for Christ, to follow God, and to do the things that are pleasing to him. And so what Elijah is really saying to Elisha, now look, Elisha, are you prepared to stay here at Gilgal? Are you prepared to answer to the principles regarding the destruction of the flesh? Or are you prepared to move on with me? And Elijah says, I am prepared to answer to these problems. I am prepared to enter into the principles regarding the destruction of the flesh and in the power of that move on to the next step, whatever it might be. And so, dear brethren, this is one thing that we must all learn if we are going to serve God effectively in whatever place he puts us, and that is we can place no reliance upon the flesh, no reliance whatsoever. We can't serve in our own strength. We can't serve as men of the world serve. We must serve in the power of a judged flesh, prepared to put it aside and answer to the claims of God. And I believe Gilgal is a very important place for us to be, to learn those lessons, and having learned them, move on for the glory of God. And Elijah says, I am prepared to learn these lessons. I am prepared to move on, and he did so. And then they come to Bethel. Well, we know what Bethel represents, the house of God. Jacob, in Genesis 28, had that wonderful vision that made him waken up and say, this is a dreadful place. The presence of God is here. This is none other than the gate of heaven. This is the house of God. And I believe Bethel represents just that, the presence of God and the holiness of God. And Elijah is saying in principle to Elisha, get out of here. Stay here. Are you prepared to learn the lessons that are involved in Bethel, and having learned them, move on? And Elisha says, yes. He says, I'm not going to wait here. I'm going to learn these lessons, and I'm going to move on. I'm not going to stay here. I'm not going to be held up by refusing to learn these things. I'm going to learn them and move on. Oh, how wonderful it is that we serve with this in mind. It's God whom we serve. How we ought to behave ourselves in the house of God. Oh, what lessons are to be learned. This is the subject, how to behave ourselves in the house of God. God's presence regulating our lives, our thoughts, whatever we do or say. What a lesson to learn. And Elijah said, Elisha said, yes, I'm going to learn it, and having learned it, I'm going to move on. And he did, and he come to Jericho. He said, what does Jericho represent? Do you remember when the children of Israel went over Jordan and into the land? Standing afoot their way was the city of Jericho. It was no use bypassing it. If we read in our history books about the olden days when they had no guided missiles or bombs or that kind of thing. Castles were very, very important in the defense of one's country. Found about the border where we live, there are castles galore. Found about the coastline, castles galore, because these were the places where the English came up and bothered the Scots, and the Scots too went down and bothered the English. And they were there, and they couldn't be bypassed. No good an army invading Scotland and saying, well, we won't bother about these castles. Because from the castles came out companies of soldiers and harassed the communication lines of the army. So they had to be overcome. And so it was in Israel's history. There was Jericho. A walled city standing there right across the path. And it had to be overcome. And we know the story how it was overcome. By the ark circling around it. The priest blowing the trumpets and down came the walls. And Jericho was overcome. But what does it represent? We believe that cities in scripture represent what is good sometimes, especially in Jerusalem. But very, very bad in other senses, a compact system of administration against God. Now that's the world. That's exactly what the world is. A compact system without God, energized by Satan. The power of this world in opposition to God. The Lord Jesus Christ spoke about Satan, or rather the New Testament speaks about Satan in two different ways. The prince of this world and the God of this world. As the prince or ruler of this world, he has his power and influence in politics, in business, and in all the affairs of men in a general sense. The ruler of this world. And he makes his presence and influence felt in such a way that it militates against the spread of the truth. Now I know that nine people out of ten would say, well you're talking nonsense. This is what the Bible tells us. The ruler of this world. As the God of this world, he has his influence and power in all the religious affairs of this world. In all the different faiths that are in opposition to the truth of God. And sad to say, his influence has infiltrated into that which we call Christendom. And the power of Satan is now making itself felt in a very distinctive way in the spread of obnoxious doctrines that bring down the glory of Christ, that bring down the truth of God, that challenge the authenticity of the scriptures. And in a thousand ways we find his power in many ways bringing down the truth. The God and the Prince of this world. But we are particularly concerned about Jericho as representing the world in opposition to the people of God. And how well we know it. Oh if we waste our time in the things of this world, how soon our spiritual strength goes. And so Elijah saying to Elisha, now you tarry here at Jericho. What he says, tarry here at Jericho, a place where the world's power and domination is seen. No, I'm going to overcome that and I'm going to move on. Oh remember poor Demas. He loved this present world and he left Paul. And when he left Paul, he left the vessel whom God was using for the spread and maintenance of the truth. He says, I'd rather have the world. How many have we seen come back to the world? Oh what a sad thing when a Christian gives up his testimony and would rather have the world. The world of business, the world of entertainment, the world of fame, the world of advancement. Doesn't matter what shape it takes. If it's the world and we seek after it, it will deprive us of all strength and energy in serving the Lord. And Elisha says, I'm going to move on from Jericho. Having learned the lessons that Jericho would represent, I'm going to move on and become to the Jordan. Going to tarry here Elisha? No he says, I'm going to learn the lessons that are to be found at Jordan. And what are the lessons? Do you remember the children of Israel came to Jordan and they were told, now just wait here. And when the ark begins to move, you follow the ark. But keep that distance of 2,000 cubits, that reverential distance. And then when the ark moves, you follow it. And when the ark went through, whenever the priest's feet touched the water, the river of Jordan flowed back. When the priest went over in dry land bearing the ark, the children of Israel followed 2,000 cubits behind him. And it represents for us our death with Christ. The teaching of the epistle to the Colossians. And you know what Paul says in chapter 3, set your affections on things above where Christ is. The truth can be easily illustrated in those 40 days when the Lord Jesus Christ was a man out of death and spoke to his disciples. And there was a man who had been into death. He had no longer any interest in this world. He never appeared in it publicly. He didn't go out and testify in the villages and streets as he had done before. He was finished with this public presentation. He was bound for glory. In a few days, he was going to ascend back to his father. He was finished entirely with all that was down here. All the earthly relationships had gone forever. And he was a man who was bound for heaven. And that's exactly what Colossians teaches us. Oh dear brethren, that it might be true of us. And Elijah says, I'm moving on. And he goes on, having learned that lesson. And he moves on. The two of them went together and they were talking together. And they come to the river Jordan. And I think we ought to stop there and perhaps speak about the rest tomorrow evening if the Lord will. But oh how well Elijah answered to the test. Four times, three times, he was told to go back. To start to Tariq. And every time he says no, I'm going to go on. That's resolution, isn't it? That's determination. Might easily have said, well the man of God says I'm to Tariq here. I'll do what he says. Might have been an easy way out. I know he says, I've been called, I've been chosen. I feel the dignity, the responsibility. And I'm going to go on and fulfill what the Lord desires of me. Dear brethren, oh let us have this determination to go on. So easy to give up. Not necessarily to stop coming to the meetings. Not necessarily in our outward profession as a Christian. But how easy to give up in spirit and say, well what's the use? To have the energy that faith provides, that the spirit of God provides, to do what we can to help the testimony at the present time in its weakness and in the opposition against it. Oh may it be so that we may be those who are marked by the spiritual determination. Very interesting to know that there are two other persons in the Bible who were told to go back and they said the same. And one is well known to you, I'm sure. Ruth. Then Naomi said to her, now you go back. Go back to your own people. Go back to your own gods. No, she says, I'm steadfastly minded to go on. Thy people shall be my people. Thy God, my God. Where thou diest, there will I die. And there will I be buried. Oh the determination that marked Ruth. Then there was the other one. The one who was said to go so by David. David? Iti? The Gittite? Iti? You go way back. I'm in reproach. There's no future for you here, Iti. Go back. No, he says, wherever my Lord the King goes, there will I be found. Determination. Determination to go on. Oh dear brethren, let's go on. It's well worthwhile. May we do so for his name's sake. …

… Last night we saw something of the choice and call of Elisha and his determination to go on with Elijah, in spite of Elijah saying to him, now you go and tarry here, at the different places. And Elisha said, no, I am determined to go on. Now we come to the point where Elisha is asking for a hard thing from Elijah, and Elijah said, yes, you'll get it on one condition, and that is that you keep your eye fixed upon me, and if you see me ascending into the heavens, then your request will be granted to you. Well, the time came when Elijah was caught up, oh what a wonderful transaction, a man caught up out of this world by God and his divine power, and Elisha was watching carefully, and he saw Elijah being caught up, and he received the double portion of Elijah's spirit. And then he said, I have this double portion, and I am going to see how it works. Not in a speculative way, I don't think that for one moment, I believe he wanted to experience for himself, before ever he went out in public service, the truth and reality of this wonderful gift that had been given to him, a double portion of Elijah's spirit. So just as Elijah smote the river Jordan, and he was able to walk over on dry land, so Elisha takes the mantle of Elijah and smites the Jordan, and the Jordan goes back, and Elisha too walks over on dry land. Well, these are the facts connected with this incident. Now we want to apply it to ourselves and see what this means for us. It was an incident in the life of Elijah and Elisha, but we believe it has a lesson for us today, a simple lesson. We don't want to be imaginative, but we just want to follow out these two or three things that are mentioned, and just see how we can fit them in to New Testament teaching, that we might get the gain of them. Well first of all, Elijah says to Elisha, now you ask something of me as long as I'm here, and you'll get it. In other words, he's saying to Elisha, what do you want, what's nearest to your heart? And of course Elisha asked him for a double portion. Now this matter of Christians making requests is a very, very important thing. The Lord Jesus in his ministry said to his own, ask and ye shall receive. Just before he left this world to go back to his father, with his disciples gathered round them, he says, if ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. I believe that that was carried out to the letter in the early days of the church's history when the apostles, utterly dependent upon their Lord for power in their service, cried aloud to him in prayer, and he answered their prayers. I believe by extension it applies to us too, that if there are matters connected without witness and testimony in this world, we can cry to the Lord and get the help and blessing that is necessary. I don't think it means that we have an idea that any prayer that we utter to the Lord is going to be answered. I don't think that for one moment. I'm sure every Christian here has known what it is to ask the Lord for help and blessing, and blessing for others, and up to the moment the prayers haven't been answered. But this is something that we must learn. We must learn what is the Lord's will. I've heard people saying that we shouldn't qualify our prayers by saying, if the Lord will. We should demand of the Lord. Oh, what a fallacy. I believe that's presumption of the highest possible kind. I remember our Master bowed down in the garden saying, Lord, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. I believe every prayer of every Christian should be qualified by this statement, if it's thy will. And so this matter of requesting is a very important thing. I believe we need to have spiritual discernment to ask the right kind of things. I believe that nothing pleases the heart of God more than to hear us praying in relation to his own glory as centered in Christ and made known in the power of the Spirit. The two prayers of Paul in Ephesians 1 and 3 are beautiful examples of prayers by a spiritually minded man. Do you find anything of Paul's difficulties, his trials, his sorrows, the opposition to him? We find Paul praying in those prayers for the upbuilding and benefit of the saints, for the glory of Christ, for the glory of God. Oh, he's filled with these wonderful requests. But to come back to our incident in connection with Elijah and Elijah, it's perfectly permissible for us to pray for things that stand related to our witness here in this world. And we can't ask enough as far as that is concerned. You remember God appeared to Solomon and he said to Solomon, Solomon, you ask me what you want and I'll give it to you. Oh, my friend, I often feel that this is one of the most difficult things to answer. God's saying to any man, now look, if you ask me what you want, I'll give it to you. What a challenge. I wonder what we would ask. I think it's perfectly obvious we would ask what is nearest to our hearts. Solomon says, give me wisdom. I require it in relation to thy people. God was so pleased with that request, he says, I'll give you wisdom. I'll give you more than wisdom. I'll give you all the things that you haven't asked for, the things that are nearest to a man's heart, fame, wealth, prosperity, peace. He gave them all these things, but he did give him wisdom. There are many requests like this, not for personal gain, not for fame, not to make oneself important, but praying earnestly in relation to the needs of the people of God. I don't think for one moment that Elijah wanted a double portion, Elisha wanted a double portion of Elijah's spirit just to make much of himself, not for a moment. I believe he was really anxious to serve the people of God, just as Elijah had done, and in fact, in a greater way, because he wanted a double portion of Elijah's spirit. I think it's right to say that when we read the Bible, we find that succeeding generations seem to lessen in spiritual power. When things are set up by God, there's power and prosperity and strength, and then as the generations succeed, things seem to diminish. I feel that Elisha is saying, I don't want to be any less than Elijah, not for any pride. I want to maintain the testimony that that dear man maintained, and I'll require a double portion of his spirit to do it. I require help and strength to continue this wonderful testimony that he rendered. That's a worthy thing, dear brethren, to pray for today, that God would give us power, faithfulness, devotedness, energy, that we might be enabled to maintain what has been handed down to us. Those who have gone before, in courage and faithfulness and devotedness to the Lord, maintain things for his glory, and very often, in self-sacrifice, and we are responsible now to maintain those things and hand them on to others if the Lord shouldn't come. And so you see, it requires a great deal of spiritual energy and wisdom and faithfulness and power. Paul says to Timothy, you keep learning these things, Timothy, and when you've learned them and appropriated them, hand them on to faithful men. Those faithful men will teach others also, and so the testimony is carried on in power and blessing. What a responsibility to receive from the hands of others those precious, holy, eternal things that have been made known. Oh, the responsibility rests upon us, and if I may so say, we would require this double portion of energy and power and blessing to maintain things for the Lord in this evil day. Well, says Elijah, you've asked a hard thing. We find in Scripture that some of the things that are really worthwhile are things that are hard things. Do you remember in the sixth chapter of John, the Lord Jesus says, the flesh can profit nothing. The flesh is out. The flesh can profit nothing. It's the spirit that gives life, and the words that I speak unto you are spirit and life. The disciple says, this is a hard saying, a hard thing this, we can't understand it. And they walked no more with him. You see, I'm sure that they felt, well, we are wonderful people. We have a wonderful teacher, and he's going to restore the glories of Israel. All the energy that we can impart in this service is going to make things work. The Lord's saying, the flesh can profit nothing, telling them, don't you think for one moment that in your power and in your energy you're going to achieve anything. I only have the words of eternal life. The words that I speak unto you are spirit and life. If you listen to my teaching and appropriate it, then you're going to really know what eternal life is. What did he say? Except to eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you. And so they can't understand, can't understand that all this glorious blessing is bound up in the person of the Lord and in the appropriation of his death. It was something hard. So they walked no more with him. They couldn't understand. Peter, in his writings, he says, our beloved brother Paul has written things hard to be understood. Peter didn't leave Paul. He didn't say, I'm leaving Paul and his ministry, I can't understand it. I heard recently of some young people who said, we're not going to go back to the meetings anymore. We can't understand. The supper doesn't seem to provide anything for us. We don't get anything. We've heard this kind of thing often. Bible readings are too deep. We don't understand, so we stop going. Could you imagine that happening in a school, that the pupils, when they enroll at school, they go and they listen to a lecture by a professor, and they say, well, we stopped going to the university. We don't understand. It seems ludicrous. How could they possibly make progress? And if we give up because we don't understand, we'll never make progress. Though Peter said things are hard to be understood, he carried on. The Spirit of God would teach and unfold. It's got to be a diligent acquiring of the truth. Hard to be understood, Paul was talking about things that had never been revealed before. A man in the glory of God, the body of Christ here upon earth, the body united to him in the power of the Spirit, something that had never been known before, hard to be understood indeed. Dear brethren, if things are hard to be understood, let's pursue them until we get to know. Don't give up. And there are many things I don't understand in Scripture, and I've been reading it for a long time now. Many, many things I don't understand, but I keep on hoping that someday someone will open them up to me. Oh, there's so much to learn. And so Elijah says to Elisha, it's a hard thing you've asked, Elisha. Well, he says, now you watch. Watch carefully. If you see me ascending, you'll get what you ask for. So he watched. I think it does in some way indicate the double portion. Christ ascended into glory. There was sent down into the lives of the believers, into the bodies of the believers, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit indwelling them. Now this is the great distinctive feature of the present dispensation, a living man at the glory of God who represents the people of God continually. A divine person co-equal with the Father and the Son, indwelling the bodies of the believers and representing them in all their affairs upon earth. An advocate in glory and an advocate upon earth. Wonderful, wonderful blessing. The comforter is just the same word as the advocate. So we're represented in glory and we're represented upon earth and that by divine persons. Now this is the real spring and power of the enjoyment of all Christian blessing and the power for all Christian testimony. If we don't understand this, then we're missing the very best. Here are the essentials of the present Christian dispensation and it's a very wonderful thing to take account of. If I see a man at the right hand of God, I realize that victory has been accomplished over death. The purpose of God has been secured in a man and he's the guarantee that every thought of God will be fulfilled. If I take account of the Holy Spirit indwelling me, I realize I have a power to rise above every opposition that might face me as I seek to follow out the truth of God in this world. I think that's a wonderful double portion, a wonderful provision for every believer at the present time. And I suggest to you, dear brethren, that this is an application that can stand the test of scripture. This man, Elijah, from this moment onwards would be faced with many difficulties, many trials, thank God, many blessings too. And this double portion of Elijah that he received would be his sustaining power in all that he sought to do and enjoy. And so we think of it in relation to ourselves. This is the double portion that we have for every step of the journey and for the enjoyment of all that God has given to us. Now when he received this in verse 12 of chapter 2, he saw him no more and he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. I somehow or other feel that there's a very close connection between the double portion and Elijah renting his garments in two pieces. Two in scripture always indicates an adequate witness. One verse can prove this. In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established. Two is adequate witness and indeed no charge was to be held against an elder unless there were two witnesses. Now here we have a man who gives a witness to the fact that all that Elijah represented in the past is finished. He rents his own garments in two pieces and that's it. But in the power of this double portion that he received by putting on Elijah's mantle, he's now striding forth in that energy. What a lesson for us here, brethren. I believe the thing that we learn least of all is that our own flesh is of no use whatsoever in the things of God. We learn many other things before we learn that. Very difficult lesson to learn. But we do learn it if we want to be true to the Lord. It's something that we must learn if we want to be true to the Lord. Because the flesh will always intrude itself into that which belongs to the Lord. It's that kind of thing. It's in hatred and rebellion against God. The Bible says that those who are in the flesh cannot please God. It's impossible. So if any bit of flesh intrudes into our service for God, then in that measure the things of God are affected. And so I believe Elijah, renting his own garment in two pieces, is his own way of saying, I'm finished with that life. I want to be in this new life. Oh dear brethren, we might learn this in a deeper fashion. I believe in baptism we're giving an expression to that kind of thing. We're being baptized to the name of the Lord Jesus, to the Father, to the Son, the Holy Spirit, and by baptism we are giving a witness that we've finished with what we were before and we desire to walk in newness of life. What a test for us all. And yet, this is the pathway we all have to tread if we are going to be here for the Lord's glory. Then as we said at the beginning, Elijah says, now I have this double portion, I am in the position that Elijah was in, I now want to do the things that he did. And so he takes Elijah's mantle and he smites the River Jordan, and as we said, he walks over on dry ground. Yes, it did work. So we today, we have to put into practice the things that we have learned. I'm sure this lies at the root of much of our weakness, that we learn many things, but we fail to make them work. We acquire a great deal of knowledge, but we seldom rise to the height that God would have us in experience. This is a wonderful lesson to learn. Elijah made it work. It was an experience with him. We might say before ever he went out in public service, he determined to prove for himself that God, the God of Elijah, still existed and was there to help him. I remember reading the life of the founder of the China Inland Mission, Hudson Taylor. He said, before ever I go out to China, I must prove for myself the power of prayer. I cannot possibly go out there to serve the Lord unless I know that God answers prayer. I advise you to get that book, if you haven't read it before, The Growth of a Soul. It's a thrilling book, soul-establishing book. So that dear man, in many difficult circumstances, he waited upon God. He prayed to God, and he proved God, so that when he went out to China, he was going out in the value of a proved experience. When difficulties came along, it was simply, shall we say, a normal matter with him to refer the matter to God, because he knew he would get the answer that was consistent with God's will. George Muller of Bristol was another one who really proved God in prayer. Someone said to him, Mr. Muller, you have a marvelous faith. No, he says, I haven't. I've got the same faith that you have, only I make it work. And how he made it work, what a man of faith. I suppose most of us would be very, very much concerned if we were responsible for a few children in our home, and we hadn't a bite to give them for their breakfast the next morning, go to bed perhaps with a bite of supper, but nothing in the cupboard for the next morning. Well, that would be a test of faith. Think of five and six hundred children to feed in the morning and no food. That man of God with his companions just got down on their knees and referred the matter to the Lord in the constant hope that everything would be all right, and it was, it was always all right. Not one child ever went without its meal. God answers believing faith. And I believe this is what Elijah represents in this part, smiting the waters for himself, seeing it work, and in the confidence that such experience brought, striding forth in testimony for God. Wonderful lesson for us, and I believe something worthwhile to follow. Not simply for the sake of something miraculous, oh no, dear brethren, but as it applies to the will of God in our lives. This is what matters. Let us not be desirous of seeing miraculous things to make much of ourselves. There is a man in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles who wanted this kind of thing. He wanted to be someone, someone to demonstrate divine power operating, and that is simply out as far as the Christian testimony is concerned. But we do want to experience answers to prayer in relation to our testimony and the will of God. And I believe as we lay hold of the man who is in the glory of God and the Spirit of God who indwells us, these are the requisites for the real experience with God in this world. Now we come to this incident about the well. Elisha is tarrying at Jericho. We said last night that Jericho was a type of the world, and it is so. Jericho hasn't a very good place in Scripture. I think it's right to say that in the Gospels when we read that Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, and the parable of the man who left Jerusalem and went down to Jericho, that Jericho is far removed from this city. This city was destroyed. The city that existed at the time of the Lord was built two or three miles away from this city. That's only by the by. But here we find Elisha in Jericho, and he's staying there. But there's something wrong. There's a well in the city, and there's plenty of water, but it's bad water. That water wasn't doing any good whatsoever. No good fruitful land around it. It was bad, bad water, although Jericho was in a fine situation. Now we should say that not only is Jericho a type of the world, but it's a cursed city. You remember in Joshua's day, when it was raised to the ground, Joshua said, Cursed be the man who builds this city. May he rear the gates in his firstborn, and the foundations in his firstborn, and the gates in his youngest. And there came the time, and we read about it in the book of Kings, when a man rebuilt the city of Jericho, and he lost his firstborn, and he lost his youngest. The curse of Joshua was fulfilled. And so that is why we say Jericho is a type of the world under a curse, nothing for God, a place of death and badness. And yet, here is the man of God, and he's in this place, and they come to him, and they say now, there's something wrong with the water. Situation's good, we're just in a fine place, but the water is bad. Now we cannot possibly say, if we're applying this to ourselves, that we can make the world a better place to live in. That is not the call of the Christian. So the occupation with politics, or reformation, or any of that kind of thing, in relation to men of the world, is a waste of time for a Christian. He knows the world is doomed, it's going on to judgment, and he can't make the world a better place to live in. What he can do is to preach the gospel, what he can do is to live Christ, and in the measure in which people's consciences are affected, and they are brought to God, in that measure the world is certainly made a better place. But we can never alter the fixed character of this world, because it's doomed, it's judged, and one day the judgment will be exacted upon it. What does this represent? There's a hymn that we sometimes sing that I feel is applicable here. The river of thy grace, through righteousness supplied, flows o'er the barren place where Jesus died. Perhaps that's not the exact quotation, but it's near. And I wonder that in the midst of a cursed scene, cursed earth, how wonderful to see this flowing water that is available for all for blessing and fruitfulness. Now I believe that in the first application it would be our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who overcame the evil, the one who brought in life and blessing, the one who indeed was the sent one of God to bring all this in for the blessing of those concerned. It wouldn't change the character of Jericho, but oh, the blessing that it brought into the world, I mean in figure. The Lord Jesus Christ coming into this world and dying on the cross, rising from the dead, and then giving people the opportunity to get saved, has never altered the character of the world. What a difference it has made. We wouldn't be here tonight if it hadn't been for those streams of living water flowing into our souls. We wouldn't be refreshed in our spirits apart from that stream of living water. That I believe would be a first application. Secondly, I believe it would refer to ourselves, the new cruise, the salt being thrown into the source of the waters, and then the healing taking place through the word of the Lord. If we can think of it for a moment, the water springing up and then flowing out, what was the use of trying to heal the waters at the place where they were running? Because up from the source was coming a bubbling of water all the time that was defiled in some way, contaminated. No good putting it into the stream. It was the source that had to be corrected. That's very true of ourselves too, isn't it? No good reformation. No good trying a half-hearted way to go about it. You've got to get to the source of things, get right, get right with God. And once we get right with God, new creation comes in, and because new creation is there, there is the power and preservative against evil, the salt, and what a difference that makes to the stream of water if we think of ourselves in this sense. And scripture would suggest that this is an application. If you remember in John 7, the Lord Jesus at the end of the great day of the feast, he stood up and he said, those who are athirst, let him come unto me and drink, and out of his inward parts shall flow rivers of living water. This spake he of the Spirit. So a believer is looked upon as a person through whom, in whom, living waters are flowing out to those who are in need. So if we think of ourselves being set right, our sins are gone. We are a new creation. We are a new creation in Christ, nothing contaminated about us whatsoever. The salt that is in us is the preservative against evil, and it's this that produces a living stream in this world, and thank God for the testimony of real believers in this world. The Lord Jesus said, ye are the salt of the earth, a preservative against the spread of corruption. 2 Thessalonians tells us that he who lets will let until he be removed. That's the Holy Spirit, we believe. There is that which hinders. We believe that's the church of God. The church of God in the world today is the great barrier against the inroads of evil. It's rapidly spreading, evil and corruption. Think of what it would be without the influence of the people of God. What an awful scene. You might say, well, my testimony is very weak. Well, we all feel that, but thank God we in no way support the corruption and wickedness and vile things that are in this world. We keep clear of these things. We try and support what is pure and holy and good, and we endeavor in the power of the Spirit to be a blessing to those who are around. And from that moment onwards, although the character of Jericho was unchanged in the midst of Jericho, there was a constant stream of living, pure water. And thank God, as far as the testimony of the church is concerned, this will be maintained until the very end. Now, I don't mind if you disagree with that application, but at least we're occupied with something that is worthwhile. I'm perfectly sure that what I've been saying, as it applies to ourselves, is the truth. And if you think of any other application, then I'll be very glad to hear it. Now lastly, for a few moments, we come to chapter three, and it's a very sad chapter, very sad and solemn chapter. We find here a very unholy alliance, the King of Edom, the King of Israel, and the King of Judah. Very sad thing to see this. The King of Israel, he's already identified with the King of Edom. That should have been a loud, loud voice to him. Imagine someone who belonged to the nation of Israel, who recognized God as the only true God, and yet identifying himself with a man who was an idolater, who represented one of the great enemies of Israel. And yet, for his own personal advantage, he says, I'm prepared to be connected with this man. And then, the King of Israel said, I will get help, you'll send for the King of Judah. And so he sends what to the King of Judah? Oh, the King of Judah says, yes, Jehoshaphat, oh yes, we're all the same. We're one nation. Let's read it again. I want to read it correctly. Yes, in verse seven, and he said, I will go up. I am as thou art, my people as thy people, and my horses as thy horses. Now, if we take this, basically, it's perfectly true. They were all of the nation of Israel. They belonged to the same nation. And in this sense, they could trace their genealogy back. So basically, what Jehoshaphat said was true, but there was something that was being ignored. You remember, a few chapters in the first book of Kings, a few chapters previous, a sad thing happened. The nation of Israel divided. Ten tribes went to the north and formed the northern kingdom, two tribes occupied Jerusalem, and God was with the two tribes. The ten tribes, they went into idolatry, and they got worse and worse. And from Dan to Beersheba, there was the evidence of idolatry, a hateful thing to God. Now, here was something that at this particular moment was being ignored. It was all right to say, yes, we're all the same. We all belong to the same nation. That was true. But there was something being ignored that was very significant. Ten tribes had revolted. Ten tribes had forsaken the true center, Jerusalem. Ten tribes had set up golden calves and worshipped them. And here was something that they couldn't possibly overlook. And for Jehoshaphat to say, we're all the same, was very, very wrong. They weren't the same. Because a division had taken place, and there were things standing there that required to be adjusted. And until they were adjusted, it was utterly wrong for Jehoshaphat to be connected with the king of Israel. And so they send for the prophet. Prophet Elisha comes. Jehoshaphat has to acknowledge that the word of God is with him. And when the king of Israel spoke to the prophet, he said, perhaps in their own words, as for you, I wouldn't even speak to you if it wasn't for the fact that the king of Judah is here. I recognize what you represent. You go to your own prophets. Go to the prophets of your God. Go to them. That's what you stand for. That's what you represent. Well, you ought to go to them. And he says, fetch me a minstrel. I like that. I would like to give a word on that sometime if the Lord helped me. Fetch me a minstrel. That sounds very, very attractive. Something to lift our hearts up. Something to set us rejoicing. And when the minstrel came, he played, the hand of the Lord was upon Elisha, and he was able to make a prophecy that indicated, yes, there might be a temporary victory, but in the end, it would be disaster, and it was. What I feel this lesson indicates to us, dear brethren, is that it might be very easy to take a stand and say, well, we're all Christians. We're all Christians. We all belong to the Lord Jesus. Well, that might be very true in one sense. What are we going on with? What do we represent? I think it's a very sad thing today that we have to very faithfully take account of this fact that there is much connected with the name of Jesus that is an abomination to his glory, and we cannot possibly, in truth and faithfulness, be identified with it. In the Daily Telegraph a few months ago, I read the account of an evangelical conference. In that conference, remember, we're talking about persons who claim to be Christians. In that conference, the largest proportion of them were in favor of Sunday entertainment, drinking, and all sorts of earthly amusements. Now, this was a report. If I'm speaking wrong, then the paper is wrong. And a large proportion of the clergy were in favor of these things too. Would we be in favor of this, dear brethren, to be occupied with Sunday entertainment? Would we be in favor of alcohol? Would we be in favor of these things? Surely not. We are all Christians, but surely we would desire to be separated from these things. And if these persons are bowed and say, well, this is the way we want to travel, well, if you want to travel that way, you can't take me with you. I'm not going. I don't want to walk that way. And I believe this is the lesson that this thing would indicate to us. The king of Judah, the king of Israel, the king of Edom, all together on the same ground and ignoring the rights of God. And I'm sure this is a lesson that Second Timothy would teach us. That if there are things connected with real Christians, they're not denying the fact that they are real Christians, but they hold doctrines and practices that are a dishonor to the Lord. And if they do, well, we must separate from them. This is what Second Timothy says. If we want to be vessels to honor, to be meat for the master's use, we cannot walk together. And I believe Elisha, in his faithfulness to the Lord, indicated that as far as he was concerned, he had no time for the course of the king of Israel. He was concerned for the truth of God as it was represented in the king of Judah, but he was far beneath the level. So I find here is the uncompromising attitude that was seen in Elijah coming to light in Elisha when, remember, there were those, yes, oh, what a sad thing, professing Jews, Israelites, and falling down to Baal, prophets of Baal. Elijah stood out against them and stood for his Lord. And what a wonderful victory he acquired. So we find here is Elisha, in the spirit of Elijah, making the same stand. I believe this is what is required of us too, dear brethren, faithfulness, not in relation to any ideas of our own, but faithfulness to the one who loved us and gave himself for us. May it be so. For his name's sake. Amen. …

… Tonight we want to say a few words about this remarkable servant of God, and especially in connection with Holmes. The two incidents that we have read together are connected with two Holmes, Holmes of a different character. The first one is connected with a house in a desolate condition. Death had come in, and because of death, debt. And following upon debt, very serious threat that two sons were going to be taken into bondage because of this debt. Very desolate house indeed. We might almost call it a bleak house, but I think we'll see at the end there are great expectations. We find the prophet with his power and ability bringing great blessing into this home. Now this, I believe, provides a beautiful picture of conditions that might prevail and have prevailed amongst the people of God. But first of all, we want to get the picture correct in our minds. This woman, her husband died. I think it's reasonable to infer that because he died, her means of support was gone, and she was unable to care for the requirements of her home and her children, and steadily her resources disappeared until eventually she was in debt. The creditor comes along and he says, I want my money. I haven't got any, she says. Well, I'll take your two sons, and I'll use them. I'll make them slaves. They'll be bondmen to me. Well, she calls upon the man of God, and he asks what she wants him to do. When she doesn't reply, he says, now what have you got in the house? Have you any resources at all? Have you no assets at all? Nothing that you can use to meet this matter? She says, all that I've got is a pot of oil. All right, he said. Go to your neighbors and ask if they'll give you some vessels, pots, bottles, leather and bottles, anything that was available to hold water, wine or oil, oil in this case. Well, she did so and gathered a few. Now, says the man of God, start and pour out from your pot of oil into these vessels. And one by one, they got filled up. Until they were all filled up to the brim. And she had no more vessels to fill. That was the end. The oil stayed. Things were back to their normal character. But there they were, pots of oil all ready. Beautiful oil. Now, says the man of God, go and sell some. And when you get your money in, go and pay off your debt. Go and pay off your debt. Plenty here, quite sufficient. And he says, there's plenty left over so that you can live a normal life. No more fear of debt. No more fear of your sons going into bondage. Well, that's a very beautiful picture, that. Beautiful picture. We're impressed by the miraculous power that was exercised by the servant of God. It makes us think of a time later on. When the Lord Jesus Christ took a few fishes and a few loaves. And multiplied them exceedingly. Till thousands of people were satisfied. It makes us think of a statement. I think it was a dear woman who made the statement. Little is much if God is in it. And that's exactly what we find in this incident. God, through his servant, is intervening. And what we might call very meagre supplies are turned into abundant resources. Well, that's a good lesson for us. Because we often feel how poor our faith is. How insignificant is our power. How meagre our spiritual supply is. And so we're frightened to embark on any service or any testimony for the Lord. Because we feel our utter weakness. But in such conditions, the Lord is able to come in and use those supplies. And abundantly bring forth from them his own power and blessing. And that's something we need to learn. I believe there is a specific lesson for us to learn here. What does oil represent in scripture? We know that there were four classes of people who were anointed with oil in the Old Testament. Kings, prophets, priests, and lepers. They were all anointed with oil. Well, not one of us is likely to become a king, a prophet, or a priest. But we all come in the category of lepers. We've all been sinners, each one of us. And we all require saved. And we all require the anointing of the Holy Spirit. We believe that this anointing with oil finds the antitype in the New Testament where we find the anointing of the Holy Spirit. You remember in the 10th chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, Peter says that God anointed Jesus Christ with power and with the Holy Spirit. In the second epistle to the Corinthians, he speaks about the anointing and the earnest being upon the people of God. John speaks about an anointing from the Holy One. Now all this is connected with the Holy Spirit. So I think it's easy to see that the anointing with oil in the Old Testament finds its fulfillment with the anointing of the Spirit in the New. So, oil is a type of the Holy Spirit. Now then, we think of this, the abundant resources that are to be found in the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Is there anything in the New Testament that corresponds to this kind of condition? Real believers becoming so spiritually low that they were in danger of being brought into bondage. And the ministry of the Lord through his servant bringing in the truth of the Holy Spirit to counteract this. And we say yes, there's a very definite teaching and that is in the epistle to the Galatians. Outstandingly so, it just fits this type like a glove. The Galatian believers, they were really believers, no question at all about that. They loved the Lord Jesus Christ, they had been cleansed by his precious blood, they had received the gift of the Holy Spirit. And then after running well, they came to a stop. And the reason was, they were listening to people who were saying, it's alright being a Christian. It's alright having Jesus Christ of Nazareth as your Savior and Lord. But connect the law with it, keep the law, get circumcised. Remember the law of Moses, don't forget the traditions of your fathers. And this brought them to a halt. You see, they got the truth mixed up with wrong doctrine. And whenever that happens, you come to a full stop, you don't make any further progress. And when you come to a full stop, you go back, you come under different influences, you come under bondage. And this is exactly what Paul said to the Galatian believers. You're in bondage, you've come under the law again, you've given up your grace, you've fallen from it. You're no longer enjoying the liberty of the Christian position that you formerly had. And so, very carefully, he began to apply the different truths connected with the Holy Spirit to show them how they could regain this place of liberty and joy and blessing and life. I believe, dear brethren, that the Galatian believers were experiencing all that this story tells of. Death, spiritual death. Debt, not fulfilling righteousness. And bondage, coming under the influence of others. And Paul's ministry concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and his work and the descent of the Holy Spirit and the gift of the Holy Spirit was the great antidote to all this condition that had crept in. Now, while we see the truth of this in Galatia, we don't want to treat this as a historical matter and say, well, this happened long ago. We have to remember that we ourselves can come under this kind of thing. It's possible for spiritual death to come in in our lives. Stagnation. Debt, if you like, in that we are not fulfilling righteousness before God according to the position that he has placed us in. And, of course, bondage to elements that we should never be in bondage to. So, this is a word for us, as much as it was for the Galatian believers. Now, I want to apply these vessels that were filled up with oil to different features of Paul's teaching in the epistle to the Galatians. Because, remember, the first thing that the woman had to do was to pay off her debt. Get rid of her debt. Get rid, if you like, as far as we are concerned, of those unrighteous features that are hindering us in our path to salvation. Features that are hindering us in our pathway in testimony for God. Now, the great danger with the Galatian believers was that they were trying to be perfect in the flesh. They had begun in the spirit. No doubt at all about that. They had begun well. As we said already, their conversion was real. Their connection with Christ was beyond all possible doubt. And the beginning was excellent, first class. And now, by being circumcised, and by listening to the Judaizing teachers, they were coming under the bondage of the law, and they were, in principle, seeking to be perfected in the flesh. And Paul says, that's the way for debt. That's how you accumulate debt. Because no man can be justified before God in the flesh. And no man can please God in the flesh, only in the power of the spirit. So we want to think of the first few vessels that were spent by the woman to clear off this accumulation of debt. If we turn to the fifth chapter of the epistle to the Galatians, we'll find there Paul enumerating a list of features that belong to the old man, the flesh. And they certainly don't help. They only create conditions of debt. Because every feature there is an unrighteous feature. It's certainly not pleasing to God. It's abominable in the sight of God. And, says the apostle, now, if you live in the flesh, if you express yourself in this way, you're certainly not living for God. So over against that, he says, the fruit of the spirit. And he mentions nine different features, beautiful features, of the spirit of God. Now I believe that this is what is portrayed, I infigure, in this vessel of oil that is filled, here's the way to clear off the debt. Not to allow ourselves to be following a pathway that is dishonoring to God and that brings us into bondage. Oh, what a wonderful list it is. Nine different features. I think we should read them in Galatians 5. It won't take us a minute. Galatians chapter five and verse 22. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. There is no law. What delightful features to come to light in a believer. And it's all possible. And thank God it's expressed. Love, plenty of love amongst the people of God. Plenty of joy, plenty of peace. Much evidence of long-suffering and gentleness and goodness and faith and meekness and temperance. And every feature expressed there, as we see it amongst the people of God today, is the evidence of the spirit of God. Certainly not the flesh. Flesh can't produce features like that. Impossible. The features of the flesh are mentioned from verse 19 to 21. And what a horrible list it is. So then, I believe that one of those vessels filled up with this precious oil is indicative of the spirit, of the spirit, the fruit of the spirit that is expressed in our lives, that is so pleasurable to God, and cancels out and reduces all this feature of the flesh that is so easily expressed in us. It's the positive features, you see, that are coming to light, that are so pleasing to God. Then Paul says, Now look, brethren, don't sow to the flesh. Don't make provision for it. If you sow to the flesh, you're bound to reap corruption. It's inevitable. If you sow beans in the garden, well, you expect to get beans, don't you? If you sow a particular seed in the garden, you expect the flower to come up that it portrays in the packet. If you plant potatoes, you expect potatoes to come up. This is the inevitable result, the result of creation, every seed after its kind. If we sow to the flesh, we'll, of the flesh, reap corruption. Ah, says the apostle, you sow to the spirit and you'll reap eternal life. This is the kind of thing that you want to sow to, the spirit. This is the person you want to sow to and you'll reap eternal life. Well, that's a very wonderful thing. Another pot, another vessel filled with oil. What a wonderful thing to contemplate that this is something of the resources of the spirit that is available for every Christian. All those wonderful resources available now for every believer and so as we sow to the spirit, we reap eternal life. Oh, you say, I thought you got eternal life as a possession when you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior. Well, the Bible says so and that's abundantly true. John says, I've written these things to you that you may know that you have eternal life. Paul, he speaks about eternal life as something at the end and the end, eternal life. He says, lay hold of eternal life. How do you lay hold of a thing if you've already got it? Surely it means that you're to be in the positive enjoyment of it and that's another story. Plenty of persons today have life but you couldn't say that they're in the enjoyment of life. Take a person who's lying in an oxygen tent absolutely paralyzed, unable to do a thing for himself, utterly dependent upon this machine to keep alive. He's living but is he in the enjoyment of it? And I believe this is true in connection with eternal life. Thank God through belief in Christ we can claim that we have eternal life, a present possession that can never be taken from us. Whether we're in the enjoyment of it is another story. And if we sow to the spirit we reap eternal life. That is, we enjoy eternal life as it ought to be enjoyed. I think we've got to remember these two things. John's ministry too that indicates beyond all possible doubt that every believer in Christ has eternal life. They have it as a gift. But there's also much ministry that indicates it's another thing to enjoy eternal life, to be in the gain of it and to express it. And I believe this is what Paul's after when he says, sow to the spirit and then you'll reap eternal life. And so here is another vessel of oil that is being used so that we might live, live normally. This is normal living. The leading of the spirit, the walking in the spirit, the living in the spirit, the addressing the Father through the spirit, this is all living. You see, we've paid off the debt. We should keep in mind, of course, that objectively it was cancelled once and for all in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. But I'm now thinking of debt in the sense of living unrighteously for God. And that's possible for every Christian. And the way to cancel that out is by living positively in the power of the spirit of God. And then, how wonderful, dear believers, it is to realize that there is a power that enables us to lead a normal Christian life. All the corrective ministry that we find in the New Testament stems from the fact that Christians were living abnormally. It wasn't an abnormal it wasn't a normal Christian feature for a man to live as the man was living who is mentioned in the fifth chapter of 1 Corinthians. That certainly wasn't normal Christian life. It was an abomination. And when we find a man casting all out of the assembly's diatrophies did in John's epistle that certainly wasn't normal Christian living. And the Galatians they weren't living in a normal Christian way. An abnormal way. So all the corrective ministry that comes in is to indicate that Christians are living abnormally, not normally. But if we are walking in the spirit, being led by the spirit, and worshipping in the spirit, praying in the spirit, this is all normal Christian life. And it's only the flesh and sin that intervenes to hinder us in this normal way. Now says Paul in the Galatians chapter 4 he says, I don't want you people to be living in bondage. Why all the Godhead was active in this great and wonderful operation to bring us out of bondage into liberty. And so he says, when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his son made of a woman born under the law. And then when the work of the cross was accomplished, the spirit of God's son was shed abroad in our hearts so that we can call God Father, Abba, Father. The spirit of the son is in our hearts. Now, we're not bondmen, we're sons. And not only are we sons, but we have the feeling of sons. And so Paul says, I don't want you to be in bondage. Why should you bring yourself, allow yourself to be under these beggarly features of bondage? Why not be in the enjoyment of the liberty and joy of sonship? That's what we want for you, he says. What a wonderful thing it is to be in this position. In order to do this, the son, co-equal with the father and the spirit, had to come into this world, accomplish the work of redemption, then after that was accomplished, ascended back to his father, and the spirit was sent down into the hearts of the believers. Now you see, it's one thing to have the position of a son. It's another thing to have the feeling of a son. I could adopt a child into my family, adopt a boy into my family, and I can give him the position of a son. I can be kind to him, I can love him, I can bestow all the care that is necessary upon him, and yet, he might never have the feeling of a son towards me. He might know his position and might never feel that he has this affinity with me so that he can call me his father in reality and truth. But you see, God has not only given us the position of a son, he sent the spirit of his son into our hearts whereby we cry Abba Father. This is the normal call of the believer. What a wonderful thing. So that we might have the proper feelings according to the position of sons, we get the spirit of his son into our hearts. And just as the son said to his father Father, Abba Father, so we too, having his spirit, say Abba Father. We have the spirit of the son in our hearts. Well that's a wonderful vessel of oil, is it not? This indeed is now real living. All sense of bondage has gone forever. All sense of distance has gone forever. Here is a condition of joy and blessing that every believer enjoys. I'm sure it's one of the happiest things that we have when we come together to remember our Lord Jesus Christ and having entered into the truth of his sorrow and sufferings and death, to be with him in all the power and glory of his triumph and resurrection and led by him into the worship of his Father. What a wonderful thing. What a marvelous thing. I remember he said to Mary, I ascend to my Father to your Father, to my God and to your God. And so he brings us into his own place that he is one and secured the fruit of his suffering and his sorrow. And he brings us into that place that we might have it with him and enjoy it with him. And in that place we have the spirit of the son that we might have the true feelings that belong to this position and blessing. We often say dear brethren in connection with the preaching of the gospel, now don't rely on your feelings to the unconverted. And I'm sure that's perfectly correct. They are not to rely upon their feelings in any way whatsoever. Oh, how we as Christians should yearn for true and proper feelings produced by the spirit of God in relation to the Father and the Son. I'm sure that there are those right proper feelings that belong to us as believers in Christ. Now this isn't sentiment. This isn't in any way emotion as we know according to nature. This is the fruit of the spirit of God that gives us the right feelings towards the Father and towards the Son. And without the spirit we cannot have them. They are spirit produced, spirit maintained and how wonderful they are. Then we find Paul saying to the Galatian believers, now he says you've got to live in the spirit. Just you think of that dear woman in the house there. She's got rid of all this pressure upon her. She's no longer thinking about debt, no longer concerned about bondage. She knows that her sons are going to be with her. No threat of that bondage now. Then she's going about the house and you can see her in a light-hearted way. She's performing the different duties of the day, baking, cleaning and all the other things that belong to a house. And she's quite happy in her spirit because all the load is gone. Now if we transfer this to Christian living, we see ourselves in the power of the spirit, leading a Christian life without any sense of burdens weighing upon us because of the problems that face us. Although there are burdens, but now they are born in the power of the spirit of God. We have strength and courage. We have help and blessing and so we live in the spirit. And this is what Paul says, now live in the spirit and we shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. Then he also says we are led, led, led by the spirit. And that's a very wonderful thing. Guidance and control and direction and help by the spirit of God himself. Perhaps we haven't given sufficient recognition to the power and service of the person of the Holy Spirit. It's quite an interesting thing and I just mention it in passing that in investigating the hymn books 1928 and 1903 we found in both of them that there were barely 50 references to the Holy Spirit in the hymns. Now in 1928 there are 436 hymns only 50 references to the Holy Spirit in 436 hymns. 1903 402 hymns and the same about 50 references. We feel that's rather lopsided because you can't go very far in the New Testament before you come across the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Indeed there isn't a truth revealed in New Testament times but hasn't some reference to the power of the person of the Holy Spirit. So I believe this is a very important matter that we keep in mind there are infinite resources available for us as believers in the person and work of the Holy Spirit. I believe this little story in 2 Kings chapter 4 would give us some impression of this. Oh let's keep it in mind that little pot of oil that under the miraculous power of the servant of God was transformed into an unlimitable resource so that the woman was blessed in such a wonderful way. Now we come to this other home. This is a tale of two homes and we find in the second one it's not a home of need. Ah no it's a different kind of home. A wealthy woman I think it says a great woman Mr. Darby's translation tells us she was a wealthy woman. A woman without any need as far as wealth was concerned she had a husband she wasn't a widow she hadn't any sons that was rectified but this was a very happy home well ordered home. A home where there was care and where there was blessing for the things of God. Now they see Elisha passing by and they invite him in come in and have a meal with us. Elisha went in and had a meal and this continued for some time. Then Shunammite said to her husband you know this man that we're giving a meal each day this is a holy man of God. Ah there was discernment in the eyes of God God's servant was there before them and she could see it. Now she said let's go a little further than making a meal let's provide a little chamber for him we'll provide all that's necessary a bed a table a seat and a lamp and we'll make him comfortable and we'll look after him. Now I'm not giving you an address on how to look after that was in this house. How really concerned they were for the things of God. Well this went on for some time and Elisha says now is there anything that you need? Can I speak to you before the king or the captain of the host? Well the woman says I'm not interested I'm amongst my own people I'm quite happy. She says I'm among my own people I'm here in the place where God wants me I'm just in the right place no there's nothing I want no favours from the king no favours from the captain of the host quite content with the lot that God has given to me. So he speaks to Gehazi and Gehazi says now and he did he made the promise to the dear woman and she thought oh please please don't tell me lies he said now it's all right and the time came when she received the son. It wasn't long after the little boy had grown working in the fields with his head unprotected working under a blazing sun and it does get very fierce in that part of the world the sun and the little boy is suffering from acute sun stroke and he dies. Well the man of God is sent for and I want you to see this dear brethren because I think it's beautiful. They had identified themselves with the Lord's servant. Now in a moment of extremity and need he identifies himself with their need. Isn't this the way that scripture works? Scripture informs us that love begets love. This is so with God's love to us and our love towards God. It's the same in the Christian circle love begets love and so we find the man of God he identifies himself with his boy's condition, stretches himself out mouth to mouth, hands to hands and so on and then the little boy is raised to life and restored to his mother. Well it's a beautiful picture. First of all this matter of hospitality in the Christian home. They didn't know he was the man of God they were concerned but they saw he was someone who needed a meal. What a nice thing it is when the Christian's home is given to hospitality. What joy and blessing there is. Remember it's the man of God who is bringing this kind of thing to light. It's the Lord's servant that is being used to have thinking about God preeminently in their lives. This is the kind of thing that it produces. It expresses itself amongst the Lord's people. And so they show Elisha hospitality. And then there came spiritual discernment. She said this man is a holy man of God. Oh how right it is that in our lives there are things that can draw out from each other this recognition that there is something in us that is of worth for God. How prone we are to peer into each other's lives and ways to try and see if we can find some fault in each other. Something that well really makes much of our lives. It is of spiritual worth. Paul he experienced this often. He wrote a letter of commendation to a dear sister. You find it in the beginning of Romans 16. And Phoebe was a woman like this. She was of real spiritual worth for the testimony. I believe Phoebe was a real Shunamite. She was really a person who wanted to help. And this is what comes out particularly in this husband and wife. They wanted to help. And this real spiritual discernment was seen in them. As was in Paul and oh dear brethren ought to be seen in us too. This ability to recognize what is of spiritual worth in each other and commend it without any envy. That's what Elisha said. Isn't it? Verse 13. Behold thou has been careful for us with all this care. Well, let us examine the care and forget for a moment that it's connected with Elisha. And let us think of these things in relation to ourselves. What do they represent for us? I want you to think for a moment of Elisha, the kind of life that he led. He had thoroughly committed himself to the things of God. He had left his father and his mother and his secular calling and he was prepared to endure the reproach and difficulties that were involved in following him. It does not seem to me that this is God's way of providing a recompense for his servant by this gracious provision through the Shunammite. Now, again, I say I want you to forget that it's connected with Elisha and think how it connects itself with us all because I trust we are all thoroughly committed to the things of God. Not necessarily given up our secular employment but nevertheless committed to the things of the Lord. Our whole outlook is that we want above all else to promote the things of the Lord as we are left in this world. The way we live in our homes, the outlook that we have towards life, the whole bent of our life governed by this great principle, we want to promote the things of God. Now, you can be sure that as you set yourself for this, you will meet opposition and you'll meet reproach, you'll meet difficulty. It's inevitable. There will be opposition from within, the flesh, self. Oh, it hates to be kept down. It hates to be pushed aside and at every opportunity it will intrude. There will be opposition from the world. That's inevitable. Any persons who set themselves to represent God in this world will meet opposition and of course sometimes sad to say we meet it in the professing Christian circle. So it doesn't matter where the opposition comes from or the difficulty expresses itself. We have to be prepared for it and make sure that these things are not going to hinder us in our desire to please God. And I believe that these things here is the way that God recompenses us and provides for us as we seek to be true to him. Now the little chamber, if I understand it, means a place of privacy, a place where we can be alone with God. Now I think this is one of the great essentials in the Christian life. And I think you will agree with me that in this modern age it's one of the most difficult things to obtain. Privacy. Just a little time to be alone with God. Oh, how necessary it is that we find time for prayer, to commit ourselves to God, to tell God the problems that face us, the resources that we require, and the many things that are involved in the pathway of devotedness to God. Well, Elisha had this little chamber. He could go into it, shut the door, speak to God, have his prayer time, tell God all the things that were pressing upon his spirit. You remember when the trade union of Daniel's day had issued a decree that meant that Daniel mustn't pray to his God? When he knew about their decision, he closed his door and inside his chamber opened his window and prayed to God. He had that little place of privacy where in he could speak to God about this very important matter. I'm sure in the strength of that prayer he went into the den of lions and was blessed of God in such a wonderful way. Oh, it just cannot be replaced this. It's a natural thing. It's a natural thing. It's an absolute necessity for every believer time alone with God. Now it's built on a wall. Now the wall would indicate to us a place of safety, a place of separation. You remember that Rehab, the harlot, her house was built upon the wall. She let down the scarlet cord from her house and when Joshua and his army surrounded the place and eventually brought it low, Rehab, she was saved and her family was saved all through her resource and energy. Now I believe we have many instances of this in Scripture and remember, walls in Scripture aren't simply to keep out. That's the negative side. Walls in Scripture are a source of protection. Now, if you have a piece of ground and the ground is not fertile and it's filled with weed, you don't bother putting a fence up. Dogs can come or anybody can come, doesn't matter. If you've got that ground nicely tilled and you've got some nice vegetables growing, some nice strawberries growing, you want that protected. You want to see that everything is going to grow normally so that you'll gather the fruits in due time. So you protect it. It's not only to keep things out, it's to preserve what's inside. And so we find in the book of Revelation that that high wall, the true secret of real separation is to preserve what is real and precious and worthwhile. This is the lesson that every Christian must learn. And of course if we let the wall get broken down as it was in the days of Nehemiah and Ezra then it's a very sad condition. So this little room that Elisha has is upon the wall, the place where things are preserved. It's the place of rest. He has a bed there. Now we're not thinking of literal rest, we know this very well, but we know how much we need to be kept at rest in our spirits, how easily we can become irritated, frustrated by the difficulties of the pathway, and so how good Peter, Paul, and Peter and all those who served the Lord were very restful men in their spirits. You remember that well-known incident when Peter was lying in prison and he was to be executed the next day and there he was lying in the prison sleeping. I wonder, could we have slept with the threat of death? But Peter wasn't an old man and the Lord had said to him, Peter, when you're an old man, that's when you'll die, said that in the end of the gospel by John. When you're old, another will lead thee. This speaks he concerning the death by which he would glorify God. Now this is not my time yet. The Lord has indicated this to me. When he wrote his second epistle, he did say to the saints, it's coming very near my time now. The Lord has shown me that it's time to put off this tabernacle. Still restful, and I believe in all the circumstances of the world, and upset. Then he had a table, and a stool, and a lamp. I suppose the table represents the great principle of fellowship, table of the Lord, the best possible expression we could find in scripture to indicate this. We have a meal, and others around it, and it is a great expression to us of what fellowship means. So, this table indicated that while Elisha was in this place of privacy, he also knew something about the reality and blessedness of fellowship. Whether we think in the figure of fellowship with the Father and the Son, we are faithful here in this hall to carry on the principles of the truth. There would be no use me coming along to speak to just some forms in an empty hall, and this is what fellowship means. Year by year, you carry on the principles of fellowship here and maintain a relationship with the Lord. And there's an affinity, something that we can enjoy, enjoy the precious things of our Lord Jesus Christ. Then there is a seat. I suppose this is to make him comfortable in the enjoyment of the fellowship, comfortable too, in connection with the many things that he would do at that table. That he provides everything that is necessary for us as we seek to serve him, and what a wonderful thing that is. And if we think of this last thing, the light shining, oh, how wonderful it is to have this light. Cardinal Newman, before he was a cardinal, I think it was 12 years before he went to the church. Just about the same time, Mr. Darby wrote his well-known hymn. Light divine surrounds thy going. God himself shall mark thy way. Isn't there a difference? Lead kindly light amid the encircling gloom. Seems to give one the sense of it's getting murkier and murkier and murkier, and we need to see this divine light. There is no difference about being led by this wonderful light that is always shining. Light divine surrounds thy going. God himself shall mark thy way. Oh, how wonderful. And I feel, dear brethren, this is what we need to know more and more, the real enjoyment of divine guidance in our souls, and whether we be in private or in fellowship is divine light shining for our blessing and for our help. Well, I see the time is gone. We haven't time to speak about the rest of the story. Very wonderful one. I leave it for yourselves. The restoration of this little lad, what joy it would bring to the mother. Perhaps she saw her hopes dashed and then I say how wonderful to identify ourselves with the difficulties and problems. How remote we can be from the problems that beset each other. Is there a problem? It's not our problem. That's not Christianity, is it? We talk a lot about the principles of the body, and one of the great principles of the body is if one member suffers, we all suffer. I believe Paul, Elisha, stretching out himself above that little boy and acting as he did, brought before us all this wonderful picture of identification and then life flowing from it. Oh, that we might do this. Identify ourselves with each other, really, truly, spiritually, feelingly, in connection with our joys and sorrows. …

… Very difficult to select all the portions that are helpful in connection with this last meeting in relation to Elisha the prophet. I thought the ones that we've selected tonight might help us to see something more of this remarkable man of God. I think if we could write over the life of Elisha a title that would be descriptive of him, it would be something like this, a man who made things better. I think generally speaking this is the kind of man that Elisha was and that's a very very good commendation for anyone, a man who makes things better. I think you will agree with me that it's so easy to make things worse. Give a person of very low intelligence a sledgehammer and take him into a drawing room and tell him to get busy, well he could soon make a mess. But ask someone to repair the damage, ask someone with skill and ability to gather up all the fragments and bring them together and restore the drawing room to its former splendor, well that takes some ability. Oh I believe that we can see this in Elisha, a man who can make things better. We've already seen this and I think in the incidents that we refer to this evening we'll see that this great principle comes to light again. This first story is very interesting, a time of famine but Elisha the man of God is a man of resource, he has some food and so he tells his servant to put the great pot on and to start preparing a meal. The sons of the prophets they had to go and gather some food, put it into the pot and one in his ignorance collects poisonous things and puts them into the pot. It isn't very long before the whole pot is poisonous. Of course they shout out man of God there's death in the pot. Well Elisha didn't say well take it away, get rid of it, destroy it. No he says bring me a handful of meal and casting that into the pot he restored it to a condition of goodness whereby they could partake of it. Now I think there's a very good lesson in this for us all. First of all a famine. Now doesn't it always indicate unfaithfulness on the part of the people of God? Didn't God promise his people that if they were faithful and obedient to his word their land would produce plenty, there would be ample supplies for everyone, safety from their enemies, an abundance of everything to satisfy their hearts. But he warned them now if you're disobedient then there will be consequences and one of the consequences was to be famine. So here we find a condition of death and it's the direct result of unfaithfulness amongst the people of God. Dear brethren how often we bemoan the low condition of things spiritually. Who is to blame? Certainly not God and I believe if we all humbled ourselves continually I mean not just coming together in one meeting but marked together with a spirit of self-judgment day by day and a continual reference to God about the low condition and an endeavor on our part to better it by ourselves, better it by one man as Mr Darby was told by his father. I understand as a young man he was continually complaining about the sad condition of the world and the Christian world in particular. Well said Darby senior, John go and make it better by one man and that's always good advice that if we are bemoaning the condition of things locally we can always make it better by one man. The onus is always upon ourselves individually and I believe as we take account of the death oh dear brethren let's humble ourselves and let's be desirous in prayer and exercise to improve the condition by ourselves. So easy to try and correct other people so easy to put the blame on others. Oh to be exercised that there might be a better condition and that by each one individually so this death can be overcome. Well then the great pot is put on and in goes the different ingredients and then one man in his ignorance provides something that is poisonous. I'm perfectly sure he didn't mean to do it but in his ignorance he did this wrong thing that was that could have had very serious effects. Now I want to speak a little about this because ignorance is a dreadful thing in the sight of God. There is the kind of ignorance that God takes account of graciously. Even in the old testament there were sacrifices that were permissible for sins of inadvertence. People didn't know what they were doing so it was permissible to bring an offering. But there were sins of willfulness that is direct disobedience, presumption, evil and this was an extremely serious thing in the sight of God. Now I believe there is a great deal of ignorance amongst professing Christians and of course each one of us must take a position of humility before God and on how little we know and understand of the things of God. I believe a great deal of the confusion that exists in Christendom springs from ignorance. Not so much willfulness although there may be that too but for this purpose tonight I want to concentrate on ignorance. Now let's see what scripture says about ignorance. First of all it was ignorance that crucified the son of God. Doesn't it say that if the princes of this world had known the wisdom of God they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Didn't Peter stand up and say to them now I know that you did it in ignorance. Now that's a very very serious thing. You think of all that was expressed in the life of our Lord Jesus Christ, the life that we've been singing of, that perfect spotless pathway. Now by his words and by his deeds it should have been obvious to every intelligent Israelite that the Messiah was there in person but because of the blindness of their hearts and their eyes they failed to appreciate who he was and in their ignorance they crucified him. We find a much more serious thing when we come to our day and we find so-called leaders and Peter in his second epistle refers to this. They bring in in their ignorance damnable heresies and those heresies produce terrible evil consequences. Now they do this in their ignorance. They are ignorant of the truth. They are ignorant of the person of the son. They are ignorant of the presence and power of the spirit and because of their ignorance they bring in all the most abominable things. I noted down one or two things. I can't remember them all but I want to refer to them from this piece of paper. When Paul was preaching on Mars Hill in Acts 17 he said that idolatry was the result of ignorance. Now that's a very solemn thing again. Man ought to have been intelligent as to the mind of God. Instead of that in his ignorance he moved away from God and idolatry was one of the results. Now in Ephesians chapter 4 it says the nations they walk in vanity. They are darkened in their understanding. They're estranged from the life of God and that's the result of ignorance. You see dear brethren what a solemn thing it is to be ignorant of the truth of God. Now in 1st Peter 1 verse 14 he says your former lusts were the result of ignorance. In 1st Peter 2 verse 15 it says foolish men are foolish because they're ignorant of the truth of God. Now I believe that most of these references if not all of them stand connected with unconverted unconverted people. But you can see that being ignorant of God brings in its train all those evil things that are obnoxious to God. Now think for a moment of Christians being ignorant of the truth of God. They don't know, they don't understand. Are we surprised when we look abroad in Christendom and see the abominations that are connected with the name of Christ? It is because they are ignorant of the truth that's contained in this precious book. All the things that belong to man and his power and his knowledge and his mind is the direct outcome of ignorance of the truth of God. When you read the first epistle to Corinthians you find at the very beginning Paul says to them now he says you come behind in no matter at all he says you've got all knowledge you've got all gift and you don't come behind in any of these things whatsoever. And yet so often we find that through the book he says don't you know don't you know don't you know. Why is he saying that dear brethren? Because I believe that knowing the many things that they had been taught they weren't consistent with the things that they had known. They weren't consistent with the things that had been taught them and that's a very solemn thing for us to take account of today. I suppose most of us here have been going to meetings for how long? 30, 40, 50, perhaps 60 years. My we ought to be good people. We've heard so much ministry. We've had address after address bible readings. We ought to be the most wonderful people in the world. We would have been if we'd been obedient to the many things that we heard. Oh how easy it is to hear and to accumulate knowledge and yet that knowledge govern us in our lives. And I believe this is a form of ignorance that perhaps God is deeply concerned about. You know what the bible says about some people? All was learning and never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. All was in the position of being taught and yet never grasping the truth in an active operative way. And so I think you will agree with me that in our lives a lot of things have been allowed into our lives through ignorance of the truth of God. But once we know we are responsible to God to obey that truth and we don't get any more until we move on in obedience. There's one outstanding passage I want to speak about before we leave this matter. You remember on the mount of transfiguration Peter said master we'll make three tabernacles. One for thee, one for Moses, one for Elijah. And Luke the man of grace says he didn't know what he was saying. Now that's a nice touch from Luke because it puts a better complexion on Peter's expression. But it does reveal that Peter wasn't aware of what he was saying. Now if he had realized the glory of the person who was before him the son of God and the father made him aware of it he would never have dreamt of putting beside the son of God Moses and Elias. He would have kept the unique character of the son of God before his mind all the time and never suggested that Moses and Elias should be on a par with him. It is right that he said the Lord first but oh he would have kept clear from any association with Moses and Elias as understanding a unique character of the son of God. Now as young Christians move along we bear with them with the utmost grace and kindness and tolerance. If they give expression to things that aren't right they have to be taught and taught graciously. But when a man is on the road for 50 60 years we don't expect him to be expressing things that aren't in accordance with the truth. He ought to know better. He shouldn't be expressing ignorance. He shouldn't be like a babe. He should be a mature full-grown man. And so again dear brethren I would say it's a very serious thing today if a Christian is ignorant of the mind of God. He ought to be well informed and being well informed able to meet every demand upon him either in privilege or in responsibility. And it's a very wonderful thing that you can be full-grown in knowledge. This is the great desire of the prophet of the apostle in his epistles. Great desire that we might arrive at the full knowledge of the truth concerning our Lord Jesus Christ and the purpose of God. And so this man in his ignorance he puts poison into the pot. You see dear brethren if we're thoroughly taught in the truth of God we won't bring poison into the local company. We won't be saying things that bring down the truth of God in some way or another. Everything will be pure. It will be worthwhile. Isn't this what Peter says that we are to desire earnestly the pure mental milk of the word? I'm referring to Mr. Darby's translation. What is pure and wholesome and sustaining? Paul says to Timothy that you're to be nourished up with the words of truth and good teaching. Nourished up. Ah nothing poisonous there. Real good sustaining food. The manna, the roast lamb, the old corn of the land. Christ himself nourishing pure food. Not a false Christ. A Christ that is derived from the scriptures in truth and in dignity. And this is the great food for the people of God to feed upon and to be intelligent as to this great and wonderful person who is known to us as Savior and Lord and we feed upon him that is we appropriate him for our souls. So we don't want any poisonous food to be circulating amongst the people of God. It brings spiritual death. We want wholesome pure food that we might all feed upon it the best possible advantage. When it became, when they became aware of the poisonous character of the food in the pot they cried aloud. A protest if you like. Something comes to light. Here's poison. What do we do with it? Well the prophet he takes some meal and he casts it into the pot. Everything's all right. I suggest to you that the handful of meal that is thrown in is typical of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'll tell you why. Paul speaks about the truth as it is in Jesus. Every feature of truth will find its center in Christ and in some way or other whatever their poison might be, whatever the wrong teaching might be, there will be something connected with Christ that will rectify it. I'm perfectly sure of this. If we understand the greatness of the person of the Son, his greatness and glory and all the offices that he fills and the way he operates in the assembly, if we understand that the Lord Jesus then we'll be able to bring in rectifying truth that will put things right. We were speaking the other night about the epistle to the Galatians where they were in danger of going wrong because of the Judaizing teaching and without doubt the truth of the ministry of the Holy Spirit is the antidote to that kind of thing. But I also believe that along with that is the truth of the person of the Son and Paul's great desire for the Galatians was that Christ may be formed in them and if Christ was formed in them then in the power of the Spirit they would be able to defuse the wrong teaching. There were people who were going into the Colossian assembly and they were saying it's all right being a Christian but why don't you add something of man's philosophy to it? Man's a very clever creature. These philosophers are very clever men. They can tell you a lot about the origin of mankind, its destiny and how things operate. Why don't you add a little bit of philosophy with your Christianity? Paul says no. Christ is everything. You are complete in him and if we are complete in him we need nothing else. So man's philosophy is intellect however great and attractive it may be is out as far as the Christian's position is concerned. You are complete in him. Christ is everything. The Corinthians they were in such a bad state. Oh they were boasting about their wisdom and they were allowing the most awful sin in their midst and so Paul says now look Christ is the wisdom of God and if you want wisdom there it is in all its glory and perfection and in connection with this evil in your midst why don't you remember that Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us? Cleanse out the old leaven that you might become a new lump. Christ again the answer to the problems amongst the people of God. Oh dear brethren if we only knew Christ better if we were only more wrapped up in his glory and his greatness and his love and his humility and meekness too oh how it would answer the many problems individually and collectively. But thank God there is some response in our hearts and lives to his glorious person. He has made himself known to us. He has revealed his glory to us and how thankful we are for it. Oh that we might respond to it more and more and so the meal cast into the poisonous mixture changed it completely and the prophet could say serve out now give them something to eat and they were all happy and satisfied. Yes dear brethren once things are set right in relation to the person of Christ what peace what joy what happiness. Now comes a man from Baal Shelisha and he brought the man of God bread of the first fruits 20 loaves of barley and folias of corn and the husk thereof and Elisha said give unto the people that they may eat. I don't see anything in the passage to suggest that the person brought this food to Elisha for the sake of the people. It would appear to me that this was a present to Elisha himself and here I see the unselfish character of the man of God. Something given to him something really worthwhile. Something of the first fruits the very best of the crop and these barley loaves all this speaking of real good nourishing food that is made available for the man of God. And he doesn't say well this is mine I'll keep this to myself. No he says we're going to share it we're all going to enjoy it together and when the servant says but it's only a little drop amongst a hundred people why share that amongst a hundred men. He says you go on you serve it out the word of the Lord is there will be plenty for everybody and so they did. Now this is the first thing we want to speak about dear brethren the unselfish character of the man of God. We'll find this we didn't read the verse and in connection with Naaman but you remember that Naaman's servant I beg your pardon Elisha's servant Gehazi he ran after Naaman and he asked Naaman for a present and when he came back Elisha he chastised him severely in the sense that he indicated to him how wrong he was in doing this kind of thing and he said this isn't the time to receive money. Now I think I see this kind of principle with the prophet here. I've received something but he says I'm going to share it amongst the lot. This is the principle of fellowship the unselfish character of this man. I said at the beginning he made things better we've already seen this in putting the bad food right now he's got an ample supply of good food for himself but he says we're going to share it amongst them all and in divine power as led by the Lord what he has is expanded and made available for all for their satisfaction. Now this unselfish character comes to light in many of the great men of God that we read of in the bible. We think of Paul he said in Acts 20 I've coveted no man's silver or gold. I haven't coveted their clothing. I'm only concerned about giving. He says these hands have ministered unto my needs and the needs of others. There was a man who was only concerned about the spiritual well-being of the people of God and if there was anything that he could do in a material sense he was quite prepared to do it. We read of Nehemiah who was the governor in Jerusalem and being the governor was entitled to a very large portion of provisions but things were difficult. Plenty of the people were starving plenty of the people were in great difficulties and so Nehemiah he waived his right as to this provision and he says I don't want it. Now this again is an unselfish character and you'll find this all through the scriptures. Men of God who were prepared to sacrifice or share in relation to the things of God. Now what I've mentioned is in a material sense but then if we apply it in a spiritual sense how wonderful it is to have a supply of good nourishing food in our souls, spiritual food and share it with the saints. I don't think there's any room for men with minds like an encyclopedia that can store up an abundant knowledge in their minds. It's not that kind of thing that's wanted. It's the ability to arrive at the truth and make the truth known circulated so that the saints get encouraged and get helped. Now the man of God thoroughly associated himself with the people, identified himself with them in their need and was prepared to come down amongst them and share with them all that he had and that's a very wonderful thing. Well dear brethren how do we get such stores of good nourishing food? Paul says to Timothy, Timothy you pay attention to yourself. Now you might say well that's a very selfish thing to do to pay attention to yourself but Paul is saying this in view of Timothy helping others. Now he says if you pay attention to yourself, if you get right yourself, if you accumulate the truth and enjoy the truth for yourself then you'll be in a position to save others and be a blessing to them. You remember that well-known character in the old testament Ezra? What did he do? He set his heart to learn the law of the Lord and to do it and then to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. There's no good trying to help anyone if you haven't the resources to do it. We see in the newspapers harrowing pictures of children in the last stages of malnutrition. We see awful pictures, please for help and what can we do? So very little. We might say well if we were supermen with the limitable resources at our disposal how gladly we would rectify the position and we look at the saints of God and we see them they're so anxious to have some ministry. Well how do we how do we get it? By applying ourselves to it, by reading out bibles, by prayer, by crying to the Lord that we might have an abundance of food to share with others and so when we come along to the bible reading it's not just to get but it's to give, to give something for the benefit of others. Of course it's a very good thing to come along to get too and we all share in what's available. Sometimes today there's a tendency to perhaps not arrange fellowship meetings at difficult periods because there are difficulties regarding catering. We remember the war years when we provided our own sandwiches and brought our flasks along and we still enjoyed the fellowship and material things can be overcome if the desire is there. Far better to have the fellowship and enjoy our own sandwiches and perhaps share them too with others with our flasks of tea. This is the great thing, have the fellowship, overcome the difficulties never mind these small material things. Oh how important it is to come together and share and enjoy the precious things of heaven. I'm sure that those different people in those two different incidents were really glad that there was such a man as Elisha the prophet amongst them, a man who could make things better, a man who could cure the poisonous food, a man who could make available good food and he did it in a very unselfish way. And so now we come to the story of the healing of Naaman. And Naaman says, now therefore I pray thee take a blessing of thy servant but he said as the Lord liveth before whom I stand I will receive none and he urged him to take it but he refused. This is another very important principle that we find. Many men of God were like this, we've already mentioned them in connection with Nehemiah and Paul and we can remember Peter who when he was addressing the elders in his first letter in chapter five now he says remember you're serving under the great shepherd, the great shepherd of the sheep. Now you perform your shepherd service amongst the saints of God not occupying a place of preeminence amongst them but being amongst them in love and care and concern and he says don't do it for filthy lookers sake don't do it for some personal advantage do it because you love the people of God. Oh what a wonderful thing that is. You remember when Paul was seeking to encourage the Corinthian believers in sending their help to some saints who were in need they had a desire to do it but somehow or other they had forgotten to fulfill it or they were a bit lackadaisical in fulfilling it. Paul says ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be enriched. What a powerful lever to produce in the hearts of the Corinthians an eagerness to fulfill the desire that was upon their hearts. Here again we find this principle. Elisha saying now look dear brother saying this to Naaman I don't want any reward for this blessing why I'm only the vehicle of the blessing of God it's God to whom you should turn with your thanksgiving give God the glory give God the thanks I'm only the vehicle why come to me with this no he says I don't want to belittle the things of God by accepting this and that's a very very important thing oh what a happy thing it is. I remember reading about our brother Billy Graham that he felt that a great deal of dishonor was being brought on the Lord's name by some of the evangelists acquiring great sums of money. The last night of the gospel campaigns was the night when the collection was taken and usually 30 or 40,000 people there and the Americans are very generous when it comes to religious collections and so these evangelists were acquiring 30 40 perhaps 50,000 dollars for this one night and he felt that this was bringing the truth of God into disrepute. I think we should mention this now he said this has got to stop and so he and his companions who were engaged in this kind of work they obtained the average salary of a clergyman in America and so this destroyed forever the accusation that persons were preaching the gospel simply for monetary gain and I think that's an extremely commendable thing in relation to our brother and so here we find Elisha saying exactly the same thing to Naaman no I don't want a present I'm only here as the servant of the Lord and it's God who is to get the glory. Didn't Abraham do the same to the king of Sodom perhaps a little different but the same principles there he says I don't want anything not a thread to a shoelace he says lest you turn around and you say you've made Abraham rich. John says that he and his companions they went forth taking nothing from the Gentiles they were utterly relying upon God and his power and goodness and so I think the unselfish character of Elisha comes to light here not motivated by any desire of personal gain or glory only desirous of bringing blessing into the lives of others. Now lastly before we close this incident of a young man who was very concerned because of the nature of the opposition that was against the man of God. The man of God was the object of great hostility and he was in a position of great danger. The king of Syria had sent a great band down. The young man is terrified sees all this great army and here a poor defenseless man Elisha. Elisha said to the young man now don't be worried don't be afraid there are far more for us than against us. Why it's almost like Paul in the eighth chapter of Romans saying if God be for us who against us. Oh what a wonderful thing it is to have faith in God and Elisha he prays to God that the young man's eyes should be opened and the young man's eyes were opened and he saw this great army this great army that God had provided to meet the opposition. Dear brethren it's so easy to get fearful as we see the tides of evil running high as we see evil men waxing worse and worse. The fulfillment of scripture yes we know this and yet a terrifying thing in another sense as we see them moving forward and seemingly no check to their power and advancement. What are we going to do? Ah the only thing we can do and it's the best thing to do is to have faith in God that God can deal with the problems as they come. If God in his permissive ways allows these things to happen we can be sure that he has a plan he has a purpose in mind and we submit to that and we seek his power and grace and strength to carry on and be a testimony for him in the midst of these evil days and so the position was entirely reversed instead of these people coming with power and strength and capturing Elisha and those with him they are blinded and then they're taken away captive and the king of Israel said oh at an opportune moment I've got them now they're blind will I smite them? Ah then we find the grace of the servant. No he says why should you smite them? Give them something to eat show them kindness and when they did this it touched their hearts and they came no more into the land of Israel. How gracious and kind Elisha was he might easily have retaliated in anger we might even have said he was justified in doing so but he was like the apostle Paul. Grace and humility the servant of the Lord says Paul must be patient apt to teach gentle and so on and Elisha exhibited those features so like the master not seeking to assert himself not revengeful oh kind and gracious and what a character he was. I feel dear brethren that we've gone over these incidents in the life of Elisha in a very scanty way but I trust enough has been said to whet your appetite that you too might look into these incidents and derive help in your own study of them and fresh thoughts coming into your soul. Now we said at the very beginning that Elisha was referred to so often as a man of God and I just want you to bear with me as I quote two passages from Paul's letters to Timothy where this kind of thing is mentioned. In chapter 6 verse 11 Paul says to Timothy but thou oh man of God flee these things and follow after righteousness godliness faith love patience meekness fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life where unto thou art called and has professed a good profession before many witnesses there we find the pathway for the man of God to flee to follow and to fight. Now in the second epistle we find the resource for the man of God but continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them chapter 3 verse 14 and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be perfect through the furnished and to all good works. I believe these two passages would help us to be men of God in these last closing days. First of all I believe the passage in second Timothy isn't it remarkable that in the letter that contemplates the worst possible conditions in Christendom Paul says to Timothy don't forget the word of God it's this that will really equip you to be a man of God and in the first epistle he indicates the character the features that belong to a man of God as he is found here in witness for him. Oh dear brethren let's aspire to this wonderful appellation a man of God because we believe it will be the great barrier against the inroad of evil amongst the people of God and will be the means of maintaining a testimony for God in this poor sad world. May it be so for his namesake. …