2 Kings 6:8-17

⁸Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.”

This might seem odd in light of the fact that just back in Chapter 5 Benhadad was sending millions of dollars in gifts to Jehoram and asking Jehoram to find a way for Naaman to be cleansed of his leprosy (2 Kings 5:5-6) — and even more odd in light of the fact that the God of Israel had done for Naaman what no man could have ever done in cleansing Naaman of his leprosy. Again — this is helpful in understanding the realities of modern day Syria and Israel —THIS is NORMAL! The hatred of Syria for Israel is Millenia old!

⁹But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.”

Several things to consider here.

1.) In this we see the Grace and Mercy of God  — Remember the Holy Spirit’s description of Jehoram and his reign —

²He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made. ³Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it.

Grace is getting what we don’t deserve. Mercy is NOT getting what we DO deserve. Jehoram did NOT deserve to be given this information. Jehoram DID deserve to be defeated by the Syrains. THIS is a great picture of GRACE and MERCY.

Besides the wickedness of Jehoram — most of the people in the northern kingdom of Israel were unfaithful to the Lord — yet in His mercy He cared for them. “Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps. 121:4).

2.) God has His plans and His times — God IS going to bring final judgment on the house of Ahab, including Jehoram. But it was not at this moment. In His grace and mercy God is actually giving Jehoram space to repent! Judgment would come upon the house of Ahab, including Jehoram — but it would not be at the hands of the Syrians — it would be at the hands of a guy named Jehu (2 Kings 9-10).

What an awesome picture of New Testament truth

Romans 2:4-5 ⁴Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

3.) We see Elisha — the Man of God — speaking into the affairs of the king.

QUOTE: Alexander Maclaren (Not to be confused with Brian Maclaren) It is a good thing when God’s servants are not afraid to make their voices heard in politics, and a safeguard for a nation when their counsels are taken. The quiet prophet was more to Israel than an army.

4.) We learn that the True and Living God SEES and HEARS and SAVES

⁹But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.” ¹⁰And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice.

¹¹And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?” ¹²And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”

WOW! The Lord knows what you’re saying in your bedroom.

FIRST — No idol could ever have done this for Jehoram

Psalm 115:3-7 Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

⁴ Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. ⁵ They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. ⁶ They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. ⁷ They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat.

SECOND — WE become like the thing that we worship! It goes on to say in Psalm 115

Psalm 115:8 Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them.

Look at Verse 13 in our text.

¹³And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.”

Now that’s stupid.  If he knows what you’re saying in your bedroom there’s no sense trying to sneak up on him. But the king of Syria had become like the idol he worshipped — BLIND and DUMB.

There are those who live as though God doesn’t exist — or if He does exist He surely isn’t watching or listening.

Psalm 73:8-11 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. ⁹They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth…. ¹¹And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

THAT was the king of Syria — he didn’t for a moment think that his actions against the people of God were being watched by God.

THIS IS SO HUGE — The True and Living God SEES and He HEARS. He not only hears our words, and sees our actions — He also knows our thoughts (Ps. 94:11; 139:1–4) and our hearts (Prov. 15:3, 11; Jer. 17:10; Acts 1:24).

On the one hand — this is a very heavy reality. If you are thinking about how you can sin and not get caught — well that’s never going to happen. There is no such thing as a secret sin.

Hebrews 4:13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

But on the other hand — if you know the Lord — and you are being crushed by the weight of adversity, persecution or spiritual attack — it is awesome to know that GOD SEES and HEARS and SAVES!

Exodus 2:23b-24 Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. ²⁴And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. ²⁵God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

Exodus 3:9-10 And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.” ¹⁴So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.

Dothan is the place where Joseph was sold by his brothers to the Ishmaelites (Gen. 37:17). It’s only 10-12 miles north of the capital of the Northern kingdom — Samaria. So the Syrians had made their way deep into the heart of the Northern kingdom.

¹⁵When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city.

This was not Gehazi — he had been removed and replaced. The guy was an early riser — which speaks well of him — but we’re going to see that his faith was weak.

And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?

That’s Hebrew for STINK! So here’s Elisha — trying to sleep in. Gehazi’s replacement come and wakes him up with Stink master — what shall we do?

¹⁶He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

I can just picture the servant standing there looking at the half-awake Elisha and thinking — one, two, buckle my shoe — What do you mean there’s more of us than there are of them?

¹⁷Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.”

ISN’T THIS INTERESTING — Elisha’s first concern was not — Exactly how STINK is stink? His first response was not to go out and verify the STINK factor! His first concern was for his frightened servant! You see, fear and unbelief are far more dangerous and destructive than any army! Fear and faith are mutually exclusive. Where there is fear there cannot be faith; and without faith it is impossible to please God. The Scriptures also tell us that whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. How many tonight are walking with a limp, if-you-would, or are bearing the scars of decisions made out of fear — If I don’t marry this guy I may never get married. If I don’t pick up my family and move to take this job I’ll never get ahead. If I don’t sleep with my boyfriend I’m afraid he’ll leave me. The FEAR of man is a snare. By contrast — Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved (Psalm 125:1).

So here they are — surrounded by an army that wants to take their lives. I wonder if Elisha was encouraged by these words of David from the Psalms

Psalm 27:1-6 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? ³Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident. ⁴ One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. ⁵ For he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock. ⁶ And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me, and I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and make melody to the Lord.

Elisha understood that we are to walk by FAITH and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7) — and that sometimes physical sight can really make us blind to spiritual things — so he PRAYED for his servant.

So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

HERE’S THE BIG IDEA — There is a whole other world around us — a world that we are not always cognizant of. I need the Lord to constantly remind me of the reality of the spiritual realm — the reality that there are these amazing, supernatural, created beings called angels.

Hebrews 1:7; 14 Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.”….. ¹⁴Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?

I need to remember that the Lord has assigned these awesome beings to watch over my children —

Matthew 18:10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.

There is a whole other world that exists!

Now it is interesting that if you’re a quantum physicist and you talk about that, you’re smart — but if you’re a Christian and you talk about it, you’re nuts.  If you’re a scientist and you talk about other dimensions that can coexist, you’re brilliant.  If you’re a Christian — you’re a fundamentalist whack job that is a threat to society. If you write about parallel universe for TV or Movies you get Emmys or Oscars (Fringe / Lost). If you’re a scientist and you’re part of the SETI project — search for extra-terrestrial intelligence — you’re brilliant.  But if you’re a believer and you say there are other realms, you’re weak minded.

Elisha praying for the Lord to open the eyes of this young guy brings us back to the beginning of Elisha’s ministry.

2 Kings 2:9-10 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you.” And Elisha said, “Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.” ¹⁰And he said, “You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so.”

Elijah’s calling card was the words — The Lord, God of Israel lives, before whom I stand. That was the way he lived in ministered every day of his life. He knew that he knew stood — not before Ahab — but before the living God.  And he told Elisha —  If you can live with an awareness of God’s presence, that there’s another realm, that there’s a greater king than the king of Israel, that there are greater armies than the armies of Israel.  If you can live with the awareness of that, then you can have the legacy of my ministry.  But if you don’t see it, you’re not going to have it.

The great men and women of Scripture had their lives transformed by having this other world opened up to them! Abraham was a godless Gentile living in the Ur of the Chaldees — the birthplace of every false religion on earth. Stephen, the first Christian to die for his faith — told us in Acts 7 that the God of Glory appeared unto Abraham in the Ur of the Chaldees. That’s what ruined Abraham for this world — another world was opened up to him.

There was Moses at the burning bush – He had tried to deliver Israel in his own strength — but his life wasn’t transformed until he saw a bush that was burning but was not consumed. The angel of the Lord was in the midst of the flame — That’s Jesus. That began his ministry.  And Moses lived and walked with an awareness of another realm.

There was Ezekiel — sitting by the river Chebar — minding his business, and the Heaven opened up and he saw the cherubim of God and the chariots of God descend.

There was Saul of Tarsus — the greatest adversary of the Gospel. He becomes the greatest advocate and voice of the Gospel because the risen Jesus appeared to him and said — Saul, why are you persecuting ME?

We NEED that. God’s WILLING to give it.  The question is HOW does He give it — WHAT does that look like? Some people are looking for something like the experience of Ezekiel —

Ezekiel 4:4-5 As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. ⁵And from the midst of it came the likeness of four living creatures.

I don’t think that’s the standard issue “Here’s the spiritual world” roll out!

There are many who have sought for spiritual revelation and experiences by use of hallucinogenic drugs. What they discover in those experiences is not God — but demonic spiritual counterfeits. They do not come into a knowledge of the truth; or of the True and Living God. They have their eyes opened to — and enter into a very real world of deception and death.

FIRST — It is the Lord who opens our eyes! Only He can do that. Jesus said this

John 3:3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

When we are born again we have our spiritual eyes opened — All of a sudden another realm is opened up to us.  It isn’t something that we are seeing with the physical eye — but we see something we hadn’t seen before.

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”— ¹⁰these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.

When you are born again that very real world becomes real to you.  It is so real that we begin to set our affections on things above and not things of the earth.

HUGE STUFF — It is ONLY in our relationship with that previously unseen world that we can begin to have a right relationship with this present world. The right way to see this world and relate to this world is as pilgrims and ambassadors.  If we have no reality of the presence of God — no reality of what Jesus has accomplished — and no reality of the destination that we’re headed for — we can only operate on the level of our physical senses. We will never affect anybody else.

By the way — Just yesterday I listening to this very anointed — and incredibly gorgeous lady — teach on the subject of seeing the Lord (my wife!). She noted that there are things and people that can become obstacles and hindrances to genuine believers seeing the Lord — seeing this invisible world. We can have our eyes locked on our disappointments, our physical or emotional hurts, or relationships, and miss seeing the reality of God’s love and provision for us. Like the prophet Isaiah

Isaiah 6:1-3 ¹In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. ²Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. ³And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Many commentators believe that Uzziah was Elijah’s best friend. Isaiah had let a good thing become a god thing — and that’s a bad thing. In Isaiah’s case it obscured his view of the Lord!

Valerie quoted the song — Open the eyes of my heart Lord, open the eyes of my heart, I want to see You — I want to see you. To see you high and lifted up — shining in the light of your glory. Pour out your power and love, as we sing Holy, Holy, Holy!

So Elisha says — open his eyes, Lord.  Open his eyes that he might see

¹⁷…. So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

Next week we will pick in Verse 18 and study through the end of 2 Kings 6 and through to the end of 2 Kings 7.

CLOSE WITH THIS —

God is between us and an army of temptations — However strong the foe, God is stronger.

God is between us and the army of those who oppose Him and His people —In your classroom at college or High School. In your work place. In your neighborhood.

God is between you and the army of worries — “Where will the next rent, the next meal, come from?” Jehovah Jireh — the Lord will provide! Give no anxious thought to what you will eat, what you will wear, or where you will live — Instead seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Trust in the Lord and do good!

God is between you and the army of your past failures that pursue you — Like in the Book of Exodus when their old taskmaster Pharaoh came after the Israelites — God stood between them and Pharaoh. In the same way the Cross of Jesus stands between your past and you.

2 Kings 6:1-7

¹Now the sons of the prophets said to Elisha, “See, the place where we dwell under your charge is too small for us.

There are two great things for us to see in this one verse! FIRST — There was not just one School of the Prophets. There was one at Bethel and there was one at Gilgal — not down by the river — but up in the mountain; and there was one at Jericho. At a time of tremendous apostasy — a time when men and women were running after idols, turning away from the true and living God — there were THREE places that existed for those who wanted to be trained in ministry. And enrollment was UP! So much so that they ran out of dormitory space.

God always has his remnant — Even in the most desperate of times. We remember how during the ministry of Elijah in 1 Kings that idolatry was so rampant that Elijah believed he was the only one left in the entire northern kingdom who had not bowed the knee to Baal. But God said that there were 7,000 who had not bowed down to Baal. Now during Elisha’s ministry — even though there is tremendous apostasy —there were so many young men who wanted to bring the Word of the Lord that they had run out of room. The work of God never hindered even in the most difficult times.

METRO — I pray that in this era, when godlessness is on the rise and the Word of God on the decline — that the Lord will be stirring hearts with a hunger for His Word and a desire for the presence and power of the Holy Spirit — that we will run out of room!

SECOND — ONE man among this group asks Elisha to go along with them and Elisha said: “I’ll go.” A request from one person can constitute a call from God. We remember in ACTS 8 how Philip was involved in a HUGE revival in Samaria and in the midst of it the Holy Spirit told Philip to minister to ONE man in the desert, an Ethiopian eunuch. It was ONE man who asked us to consider moving to Grass Valley. It was ONE couple that kept bugging us to start a Bible study in this area.

²Let us go to the Jordan and each of us get there a log, and let us make a place for us to dwell there.”

No codes, no inspections, no permits — wouldn’t that be wonderful.

And he answered, “Go.” ³Then one of them said, “Be pleased to go with your servants.” And he answered, “I will go.” ⁴So he went with them. And when they came to the Jordan, they cut down trees. ⁵But as one was felling a log, his axe head fell into the water, and he cried out, “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.”

Keil and Delitzsch say that borrowed is best translated begged. This guy either continually asked someone for it until they lent it to him —or he continued to ask someone until it was given to him. This reminds me of  Paul’s words to the Corinthians Desire earnestly the best gifts; and the words of Jesus — Keep asking, keep knocking, keep seeking.

⁶Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float. ⁷And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

Some of you might have come tonight by way of invitation and you’re expecting to hear answers to your great existential and theological questions — and instead your hearing about a guy cutting down a tree and his axe head falls in the water — and you’re thinking, “This is what you are all excited about?!” Well, there is something very profound and very practical wrapped up for us in this account.

This is the third time we see Elisha THROWING something in to remedy a problem. In 2 Kings 2 they came to Elisha in Jericho and said the place is beautiful but the water is bitter; it’s no good. And he THREW a bowl full of salt into the waters and the waters were healed.  In 2 Kings 5 they were making a pot of stew in the midst of a draught and they came to Elisha and said there’s death in the pot.  He THREW flour in the pot and and it was no longer toxic.

NOW — this guys axe head flew off and it’s lost in the water.  He cut down a stick and cast it in.  Well why not just throw the axe handle in?  Why did he have to cut down a stick?  Some people say that he just got a long stick and fished it out by putting the long stick in the hole of the axe head and pulled it out again.  It doesn’t say that at all. First of all —if you’ve ever seen the Jordan River — it’s a muddy, murky, little river.  If you lost something in it you couldn’t see it if your life depended on it. Secondly — in that day most axe heads were bronze.  There were some that were iron.  But there wasn’t a hole in them for the handle to fit in like axes today. No one is fishing this axe head out of the water.

HERE’S THE PICTURE — This is a story about getting something back — retrieving something that was lost.  This is not about walking away from the Lord and then returning to the Lord.  This is a young man who is living among the prophets.  He is sold out and on fire for the Lord. This is a guy who wants to serve the Lord in the midst of a generation that was turning to idols. The idea here is that he has lost his cutting edge — and he lost it while he was working.

When an axe head gets dull, or it gets loose and flies off the handle —it’s through negligence. You know it’s getting loose but you say — I’ll fix it later.

HERE’S THE PICTURE — The axe head is the thing that enabled this guy to accomplish the work of building. Without the ax head he could do no work. Thus it is symbolic of POWER and EFFECTIVENESS. It speaks of the Holy Spirit.

BEFORE Jesus ascended into heaven He gave to His disciples what is known as the Great Commission:

Mark 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

BUT – BEFORE they went to do that Jesus gave to them another command:

Acts 1:4-5; 8 ⁴And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; ⁵for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now……. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

The Book of Acts testifies to the fact that these guys had that CUTTING EDGE — the power of the Holy Spirit was at work in their lives.

Acts 17:6 “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,

The ONLY way that we will ever build ANYTHING, be it lives, people, family or relationships, is by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Psa 127:1  A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it:

You can know every principle of ministry, of marriage, of discipleship, but unless you are bringing the truth to men and women by the power of the Holy Spirit you are doing it in vain.

Zec 4:6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.

There is a very real way in which this AXE HANDLE speaks of the energies of the flesh being used to accomplish the work of building the Kingdom of God.

Natural talents are like the ax handle. Without the ax head you can cut nothing. So too – Natural abilities without the power of the Holy Spirit won’t accomplish anything in the Kingdom! Yet there are a lot of people walking around trying to build the kingdom of God with natural abilities LONG after they have lost the cutting edge – or without ever having it to begin with.

When the CUTTING EDGE flew off — what was this zealous servant of the Lord left with? All that he held in his hands was a wooden ax handle. When you lose the axe head — lose the cutting edge you can fake it — but not for long. Pretty soon it will become apparent to everyone that you’re whacking at the tree with just the axe handle.

It becomes apparent after a while you’ve lost your edge.

BIG QUESTION — Lord, how do I retrieve that?  How do I get it back?

When this guy lost the cutting edge — He did NOT try to fake his way through his work. He didn’t try to cut the beams with the handle of the axe. He didn’t say – “I know the CUTTING EDGE is gone, but I’ve got this ministry to do and I’m in a groove here. I’ll just keep on going.”

THE FIRST THING HE DID — was he cried to his master.  If you lose your cutting edge in the ministry — the first step — no-brainer course of action is cry out to your master — say to Him — “Lord! It was borrowed and now it’s gone.”

You know — when we start to take ourselves too seriously and we think that ministry is about us and our abilities and talents — the Lord will let us lose our edge so we’ll remember that the real power for the ministry was borrowed. THIS IS HUGE — Paul asked, “And what do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Cor. 4:7). John the Baptist said, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven (John 3:27). Power for ministry, gifts to undertake that ministry, talents and abilities that are immersed into the person and the powered of the Holy Spirit — are from God, and we will have to give an account of them when we see the Lord.

So it’s a wonderful thing when we find ourselves on our knees.  Not just because we have fallen into some gross sin —  but because we have become aware that we don’t sense His presence.  We recognize that we’re not praying the way we used to — aren’t as hungry for His Word as we used to be. We don’t feel sharp — don’t sense His presence — don’t hear His voice. We realize that everything right and pure and powerful in our life and service was borrowed. It was grace in the first place.  Jesus paid for it in His blood and the Father had freely it given to us — and then we got sloppy and careless. And through negligence finally the axe head flies off and it’s gone.  The first step is to cry out — Master, it was borrowed or it was begged.  It’s gone.

THE SECOND THING   — His master says Where did you lose it? It is a call to take inventory. In Revelation 2 Jesus wrote a letter the Church in Ephesus. He told them that they still had a lot of religious activity going on. But then He tells them that they had LEFT their first love. He tells them —

Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first.

Over the years people have come and said — I just don’t sense the presence and power of the Lord in my life anymore. How to do I get back to that — as if it were a geographical problem and we have a New Believers Bible that contains a how to get back map.

LISTEN — The Bible says HE never leaves or forsakes us — HE is always with us always, even to the end of the age.  The problem is that we lose our sensitivity to the Spirit — we get desensitized.  It does not happen over night. Incrementalism is the enemy’s method of operation.  We get desensitized a little bit at a time.  Each step of the way the Holy Spirit says to us — you know, you’re not as responsive, not as sensitive to my voice as you used to be. And we say to the Holy Spirit — well you don’t have to worry about me.  I’m a mature Christian. And the Holy Spirit says — Boy, that’s a relief — here’s one I don’t have to worry about.

And by increments, little by little, our heart gets a little hard, we lose our edge, we get desensitized.  And we end up crying out to the Lord.  And he says — Where did you lose it? Go back to the place where you lost it.  You used to be on fire.  You used to be witnessing.  Remember? You used to be up in the morning seeking me.

THIRD THING — Verse 6 — After the guy retraced his steps — Elisha, his master, cut down a stick — threw it in — and made the axe head float.

UNDERLINE the word STICK. I think it’s the same stick we find through the Old Testament.  Remember in Exodus 15, when Moses and the children of Israel cross the Red Sea on dry ground and begin their journey through the desert — they find themselves in the wilderness with nothing to drink — 3 million thirsty people.  They come to a place called Mara — and as they rush to this oasis they found the water to be bitter — hence the name Mara. It was by man’s reckoning a terrible situation — and how often you and I get some into a situation that is just bitter!

Exodus 15:24-25 ²⁴And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet.

Log is the same Hebrew word (ets) translated stick in 2 King 6:6.  God showed it to Moses. It had been there all along — Moses just hadn’t been paying attention to it.  In fact — the Hebrew means that God pointed His finger at it — Look Moses — right there! You ever do this with your kid? You take their face and point it in the right direction — and then point with your finger and say — see that.  So God pointed his finger and said take that log — and Moses threw it in and the waters were healed.

No doubt it’s the same tree that’s spoken of in Deuteronomy 21:22-23

“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, ²³his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.

Paul quotes this very same passage in Galatians 3:13 in speaking of the death of Jesus on the cross.

¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

It says in 1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

We cry out to the Lord and tell Him that we lost our intimacy with Him, lost the reality of His power in our lives. He asks us — Where did you lose it?

THIS IS CRUCIAL — We always lose it in the same place. Incrementally we forget the radical truth of the Cross of Jesus. THAT is what blew our minds at the start! It wasn’t Reformed theology or the five point Calvinism that blew our minds.  It wasn’t Arminianism that blew our minds.  It wasn’t water baptism that blew our minds. What blew our minds and captured our hearts in the first place is that God the Father gave his son — that Jesus died on the cross for us.  Our minds were blown, our heart was stirred and we loved him.  And we began to serve Him and there was life and there was vitality — there was intimacy and power. And as he challenges us to take spiritual inventory — He throws that stick back in again — the cross.

I’m going to take a few moments to say something here — I am so tired of hearing about people making such a stink over reformed theology — over how they’ve become Calvinists. It makes me sick to hear of young people spending extended periods of time debating, discussing, and arguing over predestination, election, free will and limited atonement. Is that what won your heart? Is that what will win the hearts of the lost? For some people their theological system has become an idol. They find their identity in it instead of in Jesus. One of our pastors was in Peet’s reading his Bible. A guy came over to him and said — ESV! Are you reformed?  Whatever happened to “Wow – you’re reading the Bible. Are you a Christian? Me too — Isn’t Jesus awesome!” A couple a weeks ago after studying through Naaman and how he believed God’s prescribed remedy for his incurable disease and plunged into the Jordan 7 times — a young guy came up and wanted to know why I didn’t preach water baptism from the text! And he kept forcing the issue of water baptism and salvation. As he went on I just got mad!

By the way — Mark 16:15-16 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. ¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

You know your theological system has become your idol, and you find your identity in it that idol — because if anyone differs with your position you have to demonize them and their position — because they are a threat to your idol, from which you gain your identity.

There is no cutting edge in such a life. The incessant wrangling over the subject is like a man trying to cut down a tree with just an axe handle!

When you know you have lost the cutting edge ­ — intimacy with Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit — you need to throw the cross in to your life. Ands when you go to do that your adversary the devil is right there to condemn you and accuse you and lie to you by saying that God doesn’t want to be powerful in and through you because you lost the axe head that you had begged for — You don’t deserve to get that cutting edge back. You stopped praying — You stopped reading — You stopped serving/sharing Christ — You’re not worthy!

THIS IS WHY THE CROSS IS SO CRUCIAL — When your adversary the devil takes that tact the proper response is — You’re right — I’m not worthy! But Jesus is. This is illustrated in a wonderful way in the Old Testament history of Israel. When an Israelite sinned they would come to the tabernacle, to the temple, with a lamb.  And when you got there the priest never looked at you and said — I knew you’d be back. He never said — You’re not worthy. He never said — What kind of a worshipper do you think you are?  You don’t read.  You don’t pray.  What are you doing?  Go away. It was never the worshipper that was examined.  It was the lamb that was examined. Because if the worshipper was examined there would always be a blemish.  That’s why the sinner was there with a lamb.  It was the lamb that was examined.  The Bible says if we confess our sins he’s faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness — because when we come to the Lord it’s always in Christ’s righteousness.  It’s always the tree thrown in again. It’s always God looking at us and not seeing us in our own righteousness — but looking at us and seeing the very righteousness of Christ imputed and placed upon us.  It isn’t the worshipper that’s examined.  It’s the lamb.

⁶ When he showed him the place, he cut off a stick and threw it in there and made the iron float.

You’ll find that word in Deuteronomy 11:4 he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them and Lamentations 3:54 KJV Waters flowed over mine head. It means coming on top of. The passage says that the iron overflowed the water. That would be a miracle! God changed the molecular structure of the axe head.

⁷And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.

I bet it was fun working with that axe after that!

That is always the way it is with God. There is a PARTNERSHIP. He does what only He can do — and then He asks us to make it our own.

CLOSING APPLICATION —

Have You Lost It? Then do what this young man did. Cry out to your master — Jesus. Go back to where you lost it. Throw the Cross of Jesus back into the center of your life. Worship and adore the One who died on a tree for your sins!

Are You Losing It?

Are you able to sense that the ax head is getting loose and you want to prevent it from flying off the handle? Is there something that has been INCRIMENTALLY replacing Jesus as the passion and love of your life?  I’ve been told that if you have an ax head that is getting loose, the way that you get it tight on the ax handle is to stick the axe in water. If you feel that you are losing the cutting edge, THEN go soak in the water of the Word.

Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ⁸For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

QUOTE: F.B. MEYER — How often does the Lord step in, by a personal exercise of His power, to regain the losses caused by our blunders! If He can make dead metal float, He can surely make dead hearts live.

The Gospel of John

I AM the Resurrection – Part 2

John 11

Last week we launched into our study of John 11 by taking a look at it from 30,000 feet. From that vantage point we saw in the events of the chapter the very nature of salvation. We learned that “salvation” is not religious cliché — it is in fact a tremendous spiritual reality that is nothing less than the giving of life to the dead.

This week we are going to begin to walk through the chapter and take in the amazing details of the chapter.

J.C. Ryle (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels) said this about John 11 — It is without a doubt one of the most remarkable in the New Testament. For grandeur and simplicity, for pathos and solemnity, nothing was ever written like it.

John Ross Macduff (Memories of Bethany) said this — Heaven and earth seemed then to touch one another. We have the tender tones of a Man blended with the ineffable majesty of God. Hopes “full of immortality” shine with their celestial rainbow-hues amid a shower of holy tears. The cancelling from our Bibles of the 11th chapter of St. John would be like the blotting out of the brightest planet from the spiritual firmament.

¹Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair (That comes up in the next chapter), whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

Here is one of the most striking things about this chapter. Think back to the Prologue of John’s Gospel.

John 1:1; 14 ¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…… ¹⁴And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

THIS IS AWESOME — In the opening words of John 11 the Holy Spirit gives us a peak into the private life of God Incarnate (John 1:1) — EMMANUEL — God with Us (Matthew 1:23). We discover that when God became man that He had a place and friends that were dear to Him. Bethany was situated on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives about 2 miles (3.2 km) from Jerusalem (V.18). Today, Bethany goes by the Arab name El-Azariyeh which references the name of Lazarus. This little village on the Eastern slope of the Mount of Olives is extraordinary in that it was the place from which Jesus entered Jerusalem to be crucified (Matt. 21:17; 26:6; Mark 11:1; Mark14:3);

And the place from which Jesus ascended into heaven (Luke 24:50).

Bethany was not only extraordinary in that regard — it is extraordinary because it held a special place in the life of Jesus. Along with Bethphage it was a place where Jesus stayed when visiting Jerusalem. It is extraordinary in that it was the place from which Jesus entered Jerusalem to be crucified (Matt. 21:17; 26:6; Mark 11:1; Mark14:3) and it was the place from which Jesus ascended into heaven (Luke 24:50).

In Luke’s Gospel (Luke 9:58) we are told that Jesus had no home of his own — He had nowhere to lay his head. Yet there was one village that seemed to feel like home to Him. In Bethany there was one family that opened their home to Him.

Luke 10:38-39 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. ³⁹And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.

Lazarus, Martha and Mary opened their home to God who became man.

Check this out — 1 Kings 8:27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!

As we look at John 11 we see DIVINE CONDESCENSION — Though heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain God — God STOOPED to us — left His throne of Glory to redeem and save us — and on His way to the die for our sins He was also pleased to be at home with them.

³So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

So this family loved Jesus — and Jesus loved them! God with us had a close relationship with this family! Jesus had a heart so great that He could love all of mankind. He had a heart so great that He could have compassion on multitudes and heal countless strangers — but as God with us — as the Word become flesh — He enjoyed the personal friendship of this family!

QUOTE: Bible Handbook — In some languages the closest equivalent to your dear friend is “your close friend,” “your cherished friend,” or “one who is truly your friend.”^[1]

In John 5:20 this same word is used of the Father’s love for Jesus. Genuine friendship originates with the Triune God. Man yearns for friends and friendship because he is made in the image of God. We should treat friendship for what it is in its origins! Friendship is a HOLY thing! It is a God thing!

That is why when He became man He enjoyed the very personal friendship of this family!

In His DIVINE CONDESENSCION He was also pleased to be with us in every part of the human experience (except sin). He was even God with us in the reality of personal friendships! Next week we will see how Jesus understood the uniqueness of His friends and how He ministered to each of them in light of their uniqueness.

BY THE WAY — Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is still looking for men and women to open their hearts to Him — men and women who will welcome Him, love Him, worship Him and Serve Him.

“Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

A COUPLE OF THINGS HERE —

1.) The one Jesus loved was sick. We’ll see in a moment that Lazarus is so sick that he was going to die! To be sick — to be terminally ill — is not a sign that God doesn’t love you; that God is displeased with you.

2.) Mary and Martha immediately sent word to Jesus  — They were convinced that Jesus loved them and that Jesus loved Lazarus. They made no demands — They didn’t ask Him to drop everything and come to Bethany — They didn’t ask Him heal Lazarus from a distance. They simply said — “Lord, he whom You love is ill” and left the matter there believing that Jesus would do what was best. What a powerful picture of faith — humility and submission to Jesus!

There is no one more merciful, loving, and gracious than Jesus. There is no one more capable of helping and healing!

⁴But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Here’s what D.A. Carson had to say in Verse 4 — It’s not that this sickness occurred in order for God to be glorified, but rather that it constituted an occasion for God’s glory to be revealed. ^[2]

QUOTE: Jonathan Edwards — “The object of all things is God’s glory; when God gets His glory - God’s people get their joy!”

THINK ABOUT THIS — The glory of God is going to be revealed in the context of sickness, suffering and death! God will be glorified by way of the sickness and death of Lazarus. Many people find it inconceivable that God can be glorified through suffering and death. Our culture — along with a thing called pride — condition us to think that God’s glory is ALWAYS revealed best and most through the most gifted and most notable of his servants; through the lives of the best and the brightest; the most visible. Moses before Pharaoh — David before Goliath — Elijah on Mt. Carmel —Peter on the day of Pentecost —Paul on Mars Hill or before Caesar Nero. DON’T MISS THIS — Lazarus was never called to be one of the 12. He never performed a great miracle. Lazarus, by the will of God, was called to live in a little village a couple of miles outside of 1^st Century Jerusalem. Without pretense or desire for fame all he did was gladly open his heart and life and home to God Incarnate and those who travelled with Him.

AMAZINGLY — God Incarnate said that in the obscurity of this 1^st Century village, He  would receive glory in this man’s sickness and death. Imagine that — God can be glorified in the sickness, suffering and death of the most obscure — unknown man or woman! This is not suggesting that we should all be crying out to the Lord to make us terminally ill so that He can be glorified in us. But it does tell us that our view of HOW and WHEN and WHERE God is glorified is distorted by a value system that is not heaven’s. It does tell us that in human tragedy and suffering — and even in death — God can work to the end that He is glorified. My sister, Richelle, was no Paul the apostle; no Billy Graham. She was just a wife and mother of two children. She never preached before a crowd. She never called fire down from heaven. But in her terminal sickness  — they she lived through it and the way she died — brought Glory to God. Dozens of people, from hair-stylists, to nurses, from Point Loma surf legends — to atheist uncles, received Jesus at her memorial service.

THINK ABOUT THIS — This opens to us the reality of God’s people actually having JOY in the midst if suffering. That does not mean the elimination of pain — it means the experience of joy in the midst of pain. We must never think that God’s love and suffering are incompatible — or that joy and suffering are incompatible.

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

There are times when I say — Nathan (or Ashley), can you get food for the dog? The not uncommon response is, “Just a minute.” There is something more pressing — like a video game or text message — than feeding our rat-dog, Toby. And honestly, I’m not that bothered that Toby has no food — I mainly don’t want to hear his weird begging noises. But this is not that. What could have been more pressing to Jesus than the terminal illness of his dear friend, Lazarus? As far as Mary and Martha were concerned, the answer was, NOTHING! For Mary and Martha, those 48 hours were an eternity!

HERE’S THE DIFFICULTY — ⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So…. he stayed two days longer 20 miles away from them. He loved them so He waits? Jesus loves all three of them — WHY did Jesus wait?

We also KNOW that Jesus loves us. We are living on THIS SIDE of the Cross and Empty Tomb. Yet there are many times when Jesus delays His answers. In fact — it seems that from man’s perspective (that would be you and me) God is always late! He is ALWAYS LATE by our timetable but He is ALWAYS ON TIME by His.  In one of Peters letters (2 Peter 3:9) Peter says that God is never slow, never late — He’s just patient! God dwells outside of time (Isaiah 57:15). God doesn’t live in the realm of seconds and minutes, hours and days, weeks and months, years and decades, centuries and millennia. That’s why we struggle with the WHEN of God’s answers. That’s why we question God’s love for us when His answers seem to be late!

HUGE — God’s delays are not necessarily His denials! The absence of an answer is not an indication of the absence of His affection!

HUGE — His timetable is calibrated to ETERNAL concerns, not temporal. He is far more interested in our eternal well being than our temporal comfort.

By contrast — my timetable usually focuses on the urgent and is sometimes blind to the important. My timetable is usually concerned with my temporal comfort rather than God’s eternal glory.

I need to remember, and be encouraged to remember, God’s perspective — and that God’s perspective factors eternity into the minutes and seconds of my life!

The famous Scottish preacher, Alexander Maclaren, preached a sermon on this passage called THE DELAYS OF LOVE. He said this —

QUOTE: Alexander Maclaren — A will may be broken at a blow, but it will take a while to bend it. And just because swiftly passing disasters have little permanent effect in moulding our wills, it is a blessing, and not an evil, to have some standing fact in our lives, which will make a continual demand upon us for continually repeated acts of bowing ourselves beneath His sweet, though it may seem severe, will. God’s love in Jesus Christ can give us nothing better than the opportunity of bowing our wills to His, and saying, ‘Not mine, but Thine be done.’ …. So, dear friends, if you carry a lifelong sorrow, do not think that it is a mystery why it should lie upon your shoulders when there are omnipotence and an infinite heart in the heavens. If it has the effect of bending you to His purpose, it is the truest token of His loving care that He can send.

How do I know that I’m looking at things from my perspective rather than God’s? My perspective is always — “My will be done, now!” But when I am processing my circumstances from God’s eternal perspective it is always —“Nevertheless, not my will, but Your will be done.!”

⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”

From a human point of view their question is reasonable! We saw at the close of John 10 that the religious rulers wanted to kill Jesus. They had picked up stones to kill Him (John 10:32).

John 10:39-40 Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands. ⁴⁰He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained.

I like what J.C. Ryle said here —

QUOTE: The servants of Christ are often placed in circumstances just as puzzling and perplexing as those of the disciples. They are led in ways of which they cannot see the purpose and object; ….The path they are obliged to walk in is not the path of their own choice. At present they cannot see its usefulness or wisdom….. He need not doubt that what he cannot see now, he will understand hereafter. He will find one day that there was wisdom in every step of his journey, though flesh and blood could not see it at the time. If the twelve disciples had not been taken back into Judea, they would not have seen the glorious miracle of Bethany. If Christians were allowed to choose their own course through life, they would never learn hundreds of lessons about Christ and His grace….

⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

Both the Romans and the Jews divided the day into two 12 hour periods. Day was a reference to the light hours of the day. Work in Biblical times was essentially limited to daylight hours. Apart from rare exceptions (such as shepherds, night watchmen, or special messengers), no one worked in the dark.

Jesus is essentially saying that as long as He is in the world, it’s light — and the Father has given Him work to finish. Jesus knew that Bethany was a mere 2 miles from Jerusalem — and that the miracle of raising Lazarus would precipitate His own arrest and death. But it was irrelevant to Jesus as to whether or not people want Him dead. What mattered was the Father had a work for Him to do in the raising of Lazarus from the dead — a work that would bring Glory to God and joy to His people.

HUGE — All of His life was driven by HEAVEN. All of His life was driven by the will of the Father — by His love for the Father and by the Glory of the Father. That relationship to the Father and the things of heaven is the only thing that enables us to have a right relationship to this world!

Colossians 3:1-2 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

Jesus stewarded His time and life in relationship to Heaven! He never let man dictate where He would go or what He would do or when he would do it.

CLASSIC EXAMPLE —  Early in His ministry Jesus was ministering in Capernaum. People were coming from everywhere to see Him and hear Him and be healed by Him.

Luke 4:42-43 And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, ⁴³but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns (un-walled villages) as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”

The language implies that He was sent forth from prayer with marching orders from the Father. And even here — the desperate message from three dear friends did not dictate WHAT Jesus would do; WHEN Jesus would do it; or WHERE Jesus would do it.

The will of the Father — and the Glory of the Father — were not wrapped up in the healing of Lazarus from a distance; nor in the hasty arrival of Jesus to merely be with Mary and Martha. They were wrapped up in the arrival of Jesus 4 days after the death of Lazarus and the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

¹¹After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”

In the New Testament Sleep is a metaphor for death (Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 15:51; 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18).

¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”

They’re thinking that a little bed rest will make Lazarus better.

¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Jesus didn’t say that He was glad that Lazarus was dead — as we will see Jesus was deeply moved by the death of His friend. Jesus was glad that He wasn’t there — because now He could reveal to His dear friends, and His disciples, and everyone else involved in this, that He is the Resurrection and the Life! The Father would be glorified and they would believe on Jesus!

AGAIN — Crisis — Confusion — Chronic Illness — Terminal Illness and Death are opportunities for God’s glory and for your faith to be built.

The famous English preacher, F.B. Meyer, preached a Sermon on this passage called LOVES DELAYS.

QUOTE: F.B. Meyer — God’s intention is that in the delay the soul may be led to take up a position which it had never assumed before, but from which it will never be again dislodged

¹⁶So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Thomas, called the Twin — a Hebrew name by which a person was known in Jewish circles; and a Greek name by which he was known in the larger circle of Greek culture. Peter is the Greek and Cephas is the Hebrew for a rock; Tabitha is the Hebrew, and Dorcas the Greek for a gazelle. Thomas is the Hebrew and Didymus the Greek for a twin.

Most of us are familiar with the infamous nickname of Thomas — Doubting Thomas. But you have to love Thomas here! Church tradition says that Thomas was called “The Twin” because he looked like Jesus. You don’t want to be the identical twin of the guy whose face is on the poster of the 10 Most Wanted. If any among the disciples of Jesus were potential targets of persecution, it would be the one who looked like Jesus.

BY THE WAY — the same is true today for the man or woman whose life most looks like Jesus!

Here Thomas is essentially saying — If Jesus is going to go die; let’s go die with Him!

QUOTE: R. H. Strachan (cited by William Barclay) — “There was not expectant faith, but loyal despair.” But upon one thing Thomas was determined–come what may, he would not quit.

Real courage is not the absence of rational fear. Real courage is being fully aware of the worst that can happen — and even being made physically sick by it — and in the face of that still doing the right thing. That was what Thomas was like that day. We should not be discourage or ashamed because of some rational fear — but we should be ashamed of allowing that fear to stop us from doing the right thing — from following Jesus. Thomas was committed to go wherever Christ goes, whatever that may cost him.

The account transitions now to Bethany and we will close with this —

¹⁷Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

Warren Wiersbe proposes this timeline — Jesus was at Bethabara, about twenty miles from Bethany (John 1:28; 10:40). The messenger arrived with the news that Lazarus was sick. If the man had traveled quickly, without any delay, he could have made the trip in one day. Jesus sent the guy back with the message — This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it and waited two more days before He left for Bethany. Jesus made the one day journey to Bethany, and by the time He and His disciples arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days. This means that Lazarus had died the very day the messenger left to contact Jesus! ^[3]

This means that by the time the messenger arrived back home, with the message —  This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it — Lazarus was already dead.

How were Mary and Martha supposed to process those words of Jesus when Lazarus was already in the tomb for 4 days.

TWO THINGS TO CONSIDER HERE —

1.) These two sisters had begun their journey through these circumstances in with faith in Jesus. Now Jesus was urging them to believe His word no matter how discouraging the circumstances might appear.

2.) The message of Jesus to Mary and Martha did not say that their brother would not die. He promised that death would not be the ultimate result — the ultimate result would be the glory of God.

In the face of the most unthinkable outcomes in life  — our only encouragement is the Word of God. The entire Christian life is based upon faith. It begins with faith and it is it lived by faith.

Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,  as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Galatians 2:20 So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2 Corinthians 5:7 ⁷for we walk by faith, not by sight.

THAT is why what we are doing this morning is so very important —

Romans 10:17 KJV So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

^[2] Köstenberger, A. J. (2004). John. Baker exegetical commentary on the New Testament (327). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic.

^[3] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Jn 11:1). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.

The Gospel of John

I AM the Resurrection

John 11

Related Topics:

As we have been studying John’s Gospel — each week I have walked away from our time in this amazing book of the Bible having learned so much about Jesus, and seen so much more of Jesus than ever before. I have walked away from each chapter saying — THAT chapter is the most radical, most wonderful, most amazing look at Jesus — And then we come to the next chapter! And as we walk into that next chapter it’s becomes apparent that we haven’t even scratched the surface of the glory and grace and love of God that is wrapped up in Jesus.

In John 10 we were completely undone; overwhelmed and melted by the words of Jesus — I AM the Good Shepherd; I lay down my life for the sheep; I give them eternal life; They will never perish;  No one can snatch them from My hand or hand of My Father; I and the Father are one — and THEN we come to John 11 in which we find Jesus declaring I AM the Resurrection and the Life — and we see Jesus raising a man named Lazarus from the dead.

I can totally identify with the amazement of Paul

Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

I can totally identify with the Paul’s sense of unworthiness and privilege —

Ephesians 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,

Those riches are so unsearchable and immeasurable that we will be seeing them unfolded for ETERNITY!

Ephesians 2:7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

John gives to us the record of seven signs (miracles) performed by Jesus. John refers to these miracles as signs because the miracles were not an end in and of themselves. They were intended to be like signs that point men and women beyond the sign itself to the very person and nature of Jesus.

Jesus performed many more miracles than the seven in John’s Gospel. But John handpicked these seven —

John 20:30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; ³¹but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

In John 11 we find the 7^th and last miracle (sign) recorded by John. John selected this miracle as the 7^th because it was the most significant miracle of our Lord’s earthly ministry. It elicited the most intense of responses from His friends and from His enemies. He had raised others from the dead, but Lazarus had been in the grave four days. It was a miracle that could not be denied or avoided by the Jewish leaders.

We cannot overstate the significance of this miracle — As we will see in our study of this chapter — the Bible calls death our “enemy.” Paul says this about following Jesus —  “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable’ (1 Corinthains 15:19). Here in John 11 we see that Jesus Christ is the absolute victor over the grave.

This chapter is like a precious diamond — there are so many facets to it. By God’s grace we will hold the facets of this chapter up to the illuminating person and power of the Holy Spirit — and let the Him shine into our hearts the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus.

The overriding truth of the John 11 is found in Verse 25 — Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Around that incredible I AM statement of Jesus is a multitude of details — each of them containing a treasure of truth in regards to Jesus. Let’s read through the chapter in its entirety.

¹Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹⁷Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. ²⁰So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” ²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

²⁸When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³²Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵Jesus wept. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

⁴⁵Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, ⁴⁶but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. ⁴⁷So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. ⁴⁸If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” ⁴⁹But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. ⁵⁰Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” ⁵¹He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, ⁵²and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. ⁵³So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

⁵⁴Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.

⁵⁵Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. ⁵⁶They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” ⁵⁷Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.

In the following weeks we are going to walk through these verses from ground level — we will unpack the details of the account like: The village of Bethany and the role it played in the life of Jesus; the friendship that Jesus enjoyed with Mary, Martha and Lazarus; the love of God Incarnate for this family; the apparently odd and delayed response of Jesus to the desperate plea and circumstances of those He loved; death, burial and grieving in the cultural of 1^st century Israel; the response of God Incarnate to all of it; and the response of the people to the work of God Incarnate.

But this morning we are going to launch into our study of the chapter by taking a look at it from 30,000 feet. I pray that we will see from that vantage point how the Holy Spirit instructs us about the very nature of salvation.

“Salvation” is one of those words that have tragically fallen into the realm of cliché. While the average church-goer misunderstands or misuses the word “saved,” the unbelieving world resents the word “saved” because it so clearly implies that they might be lost and need to be saved — need a savior!

I believe that one of the reasons the Holy Spirit inspired John to record this miracle was to help us understand that “salvation” is not religious cliché — it is in fact a tremendous spiritual reality that is nothing less than the giving of life to the dead.

We believe that every word in the Scriptures is inspired. The Holy Spirit inspired John to use the word “LIFE” thirty-six times in this Gospel! So let’s take our look from 30,000 feet and ask the Lord to write the truth about salvation on the tablets of our hearts in a life altering way — and speak to men and women about the NEED to be saved.

At the heart of the story is the fact that Lazarus was DEAD —

¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,

Mankind looks at the state of planet earth and concludes that the planet and humanity is culturally; socially; politically; economically; and ecologically sick. Mankind believes that by way of education and evolution the patient can fully recover.

TRUTH — Outside of Jesus Christ — the whole of mankind — the societies and cultures of mankind — and every individual — are not merely sick needing to get healthy — the whole of it is spiritually dead. It exists but is lifeless.

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ²in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Colossians 2:13 NLT You were dead because of your sins….. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.

God warned Adam that disobedience would bring death

Genesis 2:15-17 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. ¹⁶And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, ¹⁷but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Sin brought Physical Death into this world — the separation of the soul from the body. Sin brought Spiritual Death into this world — the separation of the soul from God. Left unresolved, sin results in Eternal Death. The Book of Revelation calls that the second death — eternity in hell separated from God.

Lazarus was DEAD! He had expired — breathed his last. He could not be educated out of the grave. There was no philosophy that could get him out of the grave. There was no system of moral conduct that could get him out of the grave. Lazarus needed a resurrection!

When a person is spiritually dead — existing, but separated from the Life of God — no amount of philosophical or religious education; no amount of moral reform can change their condition! They need new life. Like Lazarus — only Jesus Christ can give him/her life.

So — outside of Jesus we are all DEAD. Unlike Miracle Max’s diagnosis of Wesley in the movie Princess Bride (Mostly Dead) — There are no degrees of dead! But there are degrees of decay!

The Gospels tell us that Jesus raised three individuals from the dead. There was the daughter of Jairus — a twelve-year-old girl who had died while Jesus was on His way to her house (Luke 8:49-56). There was the only son of a widow in the village of Nain. He had been dead several hours (Luke 7:11-17). There was an amazing moment when two crowds met. One with Jesus in the center of it and the other with a casket in the center of it. LIFE and Death met head on — and Life conquered death.

John tells us that Lazarus was DEAD — AND that he had Decayed

³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”

The point is that all three were dead. One person cannot be “more dead” than another. The only difference lay in the degree of decay.

The unsaved — moral church-goer is not “decayed” like the person on skid row, but he is still dead. The great problem with church–goers who profess faith in Jesus is that they measure their salvation in light of the degree of decay rather than by the reality that they were UTTERLY DEAD in sin. The unrepentant — clean-cut — church-going homeschooling family — is as DEAD in sin as someone living in homosexual sin.

That’s why so often the person who was radically decayed when they were saved is so utterly and completely sold out for Jesus. They are aware of just how dead they were when Jesus saved them.

Lazarus was powerless to change his condition. Those who loved him greatly could do nothing to undo his condition — except Jesus!

The only thing Mary, Martha and the friends of Lazarus could was weep over his death. It was ONLY JESUS who could give life to him. FIRST — We need to recognize that we are powerless to save ourselves. We are powerless to save our friends and loved ones. ONLY JESUS can give life to the lifeless!  I wonder — Do we look at the lost world the same way Mary and Martha looked at Lazarus? Are we urgent for and weeping? I wonder — Do we look to Jesus in the same way Mary and Martha looked to Jesus? Do we realize that we MUST see Jesus working to save? THAT is what prayer is!  THAT’s why PRAYER is so important. Prayer is crying out to Jesus for a dead and lost world. It is looking to Jesus.

Why did Jesus raise Lazarus from the grave? Because it brought glory to God (verse 4).  Because Jesus loved him (verse 5; 36). That is why Jesus has saved us. We deserve the penalty of our sin — the wages of sin is death. But because of His great love, He rescued us.

Ephesians 1:1-14 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.¹¹In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹²so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

Ephesians 2:1-9 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ²in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

THIS IS HUGE — Salvation is not a set of rules; it is life! Life that is FOUND only in Jesus — life that is GIVEN by Jesus and RECEIVED by faith. And once again we come to the reality that life really is ALL ABOUT JESUS!

Notice how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead — By the power of His word. This is the way He raised the he daughter of Jairus

Luke 8:54-55 But taking her by the hand he called, saying, “Child, arise.” ⁵⁵And her spirit returned, and she got up at once.

This is the way he raised the widow’s son

Luke 7:14-15 And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” ¹⁵And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.

THIS is the way Jesus raises us from spiritual death into new Life.

John 5:24-25 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. ²⁵“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

When those who are dead in their sin hear the Word of the Good News and believe, they pass from death to life — they receive life that is eternal in nature because the life of God is poured into them. The ONLY way you end up forever dead —forever separated from God — is by rejecting that Word.

The resurrected life of Lazarus is also a great picture of New Life in Jesus.

⁴⁴The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

FIRST — When Lazarus was brought from death to life He was bound hand and foot. Though he was raised from the dead he could not enjoy the fullness of his new life while still wearing the burial clothes.

The believer is not brought from death to life so that he can remain in bondage — bound by the graveclothes of the old life. He receives new life from Jesus so that he can walk in freedom. Paul would say — put off the old man and put on Christ (Ephesians 4:22; Romans 13:14).

Jesus then did such a beautiful thing — he invited His followers to participate in the resurrected life of Lazarus. Only Jesus could call him forth from the grave — but Jesus asked them play a role in the working out of this man’s salvation. There was something that they could do — they could remove the binding garments of the grave. That is one facet of the beauty of the Body of Christ.

SECOND — He was DEAD and then he was made alive. He was walking in the newness of life! That resurrected life became a testimony to Jesus — who IS the Resurrection and the Life.

⁴⁵Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him

The great crowd that gathered on Palm Sunday came not only because of Jesus, but also because of Lazarus. In John 12:11 we are told that Lazarus was causing people to trust Christ — just by living and breathing! The same is true of the person who is saved. Our NEW LIFE speaks volumes to the dead world we used to be a part of.

Romans 6:4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Lazarus was a walking miracle! THAT is what every Christian ought to be! THAT is the privilege and responsibility of every man or woman who has been saved!

THIRD — Following his resurrection Lazarus enjoyed fellowship with Jesus.

In John 12:1-2 we see Lazarus sitting at the table with Christ — feasting and fellowshipping with the one who had raised him from the dead! THAT is the same reality for the man and woman who have been “saved.” Paul wrote of this in his letter to the Christians in Ephesus —

Ephesians 2:5-6 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

Lazarus was so amazed at the love of Jesus and the mercy of Jesus that he wanted to be with Jesus. The meal in Biblical times was a deep expression of intimacy. Lazarus wanted to be close to the one who had raised him from the grave! He wanted to express his love and gratitude — and wanted to be near to the source of his new life! The man or woman that has been saved wants to be close to the one who saved them! The moment we are saved we receive the gift of eternal life. But that moment is not the end — it is the beginning of eternal life. It is a life lived in fellowship with Jesus — worshipping Him and serving Him and receiving life and instruction from Him. We are to GROW in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. When I was dead in sin I went to church because I HAD to. And as soon as I was old enough to make the decision for myself I stopped going to church. But when I got saved I couldn’t wait to go to church. I couldn’t wait to be with Christians. Everywhere I went — everything I did — I did with Jesus; did for Jesus.

INTERESTING — Mary, Martha and Lazarus give to us a composite picture of the Christian life — Mary is always found at Jesus’ feet, listening to His Word (Luke 10:38-42; John 11:32; 12:3). Martha is a picture of service — she was always busy doing something for Jesus. Lazarus is a picture of how living in the newness of life speaks to a lost world, and leads others to Christ. These three elements should be a part of our Christian experience: worship (Mary), work (Martha), and walk (Lazarus).

FINALLY — Lazarus — raised from the dead — not only got to be a living testimony to the Resurrection and the Life, and have fellowship with the Resurrection and the life — he also suffered persecution because of his new life. He was hated because his resurrected life convinced others that Jesus IS the Resurrection and the Life!

John 12:10-11 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.

Many of the chief priests were Sadducees who did not believe in the resurrection, and Lazarus was living proof that the Sadducees were wrong. Those who are opposed to Jesus and those opposed to the Gospel will try to do away with anyone whose life proves that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life! So as the school year ramps up and you live in the newness of life that Jesus has given to you — don’t be surprised if you come under fire!

Remember the account of Jesus delivering a man from demonic possession (Mark 5).

Mark 5:15-17 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid….. ¹⁷And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

Why would they be afraid of the guy in that condition? When the guy was possessed by a legion of demons he was threat to the entire region. But you know what  — when you get saved — when you are clothed and in your right mind sitting at the feet of Jesus — you make your unsaved friends afraid! Because your transformed life proves that Jesus is real, that heaven is real, that hell is real! Now they have to make a decision about Jesus.

The Gospel of John

The Absolute, Essential Deity of Jesus

John 10:22-42

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This morning we come to the close of this incredible 10^th chapter John. Let’s roll back a bit for the sake of review and context.

²²At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem.

Between verses 21 and 22, two months have passed. The Feast of Dedication came into existence around the 1^st century BC. It remembered and celebrated the tremendous victory of the Jews, under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus, over Antiochus Epiphanes who had slaughtered upwards of 100,000 Jews and had desecrated the Temple of the Living God. After defeating the mad man Antiochus, the Temple was cleansed are rededicated to the worship of the Living God of Israel. This feast provided the backdrop for this moment in the Life of Jesus — and the question that was about to be asked of Jesus.

It was winter, ²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. ²⁴So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

It’s the Feast of Dedication! The religious establishment concluded that the Messiah would be just like the hero of the Feast of Dedication — Judas Maccabeus — a man who would deliver Israel from Roman oppression. With this preconceived set of ideas as to what the Messiah will do they’re basically saying — “We’re looking for someone to fit into this box. Are you that guy?” Are you the guy that’s gonna do that?

We made a contemporary application of the question by noting that men and women do the same thing with Jesus today — They have their preconceived ideas about Jesus and then they try to stuff Jesus into those preexisting beliefs. WE NOTED THAT Jesus doesn’t fit into any world religion or philosophy. Jesus becomes the cornerstone on which any understanding of reality — any understanding of the world — is constructed. You can’t stuff Jesus into your thinking. You have to start with Jesus and let Him shape your belief system. Once again — Christianity is ALL ABOUT JESUS! It starts with Jesus and Ends with Jesus — He is the “Founder and perfecter of our faith.” He is called the Alpha and the Omega (A and the Z of the Greek alphabet). He is the First and the Last; the beginning and the End.

²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,

Jesus appealed to His works as His Messianic credentials.

²⁶but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock.

The grammar here does not say that we believe and become a sheep in His flock.  What Jesus says here is that those who do believe, believe because they are His sheep.

²⁷My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

The emphasis here is not so much on election but on IDENTIFICATION. This is one of the identifying trademarks of His sheep. Paul would put it like this in his letter to the Romans.

Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

You can say that you belong to Jesus — but if you don’t hear Him and follow Him, you’re not one of His sheep!

WE NOTED THAT for you and me to hear the voice of God and follow is a miracle. Can you think back on the times that you heard people talk about Jesus — heard someone share from the Bible — and you didn’t hear — you didn’t want to hear? But He is so longsuffering — so persistent in his love for us — He kept speaking. And finally there came that time when He spoke — and for reasons beyond you — you HEARD Him and said — “I think I just heard God…. that’s my dad!” — and you RESPONDED to Him and surrendered to Him.

²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

We spent a lot of time examining

1.) The meaning ETERNAL LIFE

2.) The fact that this ETERNAL LIFE is GIVEN to us

3.) The fact that we can never lose that gift because we are held by Jesus and the Father.

The question, Can I lose my salvation? actually boils down to this — “Can God be overpowered?” “Can God fail?”

THAT BRINGS US TO THE HEART OF THIS MORNING’S STUDY

³⁰I and the Father are one.”

To a good believing Jew, there was nothing in this statement that was shrouded in mystery. To the good believing Jew those words would have been inescapably clear. Three times a day every good Jew would recite Deuteronomy 6:4 which was called the Shema, and it was simply this: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, he is one.”

The word “one” in Deuteronomy 6:4 is the Hebrew word echad. It means singularity and plurality coexisting simultaneously. It literally means “Israel, the Lord our God, he is one God.” It sounds very peculiar, but it’s a reference to the Trinity. As Christians, we believe there is one God who eternally exists in three distinct persons; God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, each fully and equally God. Each is a distinct and unique person, but there is one God. That is exactly what Jesus is saying here. He says, “I and the Father”— God the Father and God the Son — We are one — One God: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit.

QUOTE: A.T. Robertson — Says this about the word ONE used in John 10:30

Not one person (cf. εἱς [heis] in Gal. 3:28), but one essence or nature. ^[1]

HUGE — Jesus is NOT saying that He is the Father and the Father is the Son. That view of Jesus and the Father is known as modalism. This heresy essentially says that there is one God who puts on three masks. In the OT he acts like the Father; in the Gospels He acts like Jesus; and from the Book of Acts forward He acts like the Holy Spirit; but He is only playing one role at a time. Matthew 3 — Which records the Baptism of Jesus presents a problem for this view because in that passage Jesus comes out of the water – the Father speaks – and the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus. You can’t play three parts at the same time.

The Father was NOT born of a virgin — Jesus was. The Father did not grow up as a Galilean peasant — Jesus did. The Father did not die on a cross and walk away from the tomb — THAT was THE SON!

The Father SENT the Son. The SON died for sin. The Spirit was sent to convict us of our sin, regenerate us and indwell us. They are working together. They share the same divine nature — But they are distinct.

It is very popular for people to say that Jesus never claimed to be God. There are a lot of people who say that Jesus was a good man, who taught moral principles on how to be a good person. But they say that Jesus never thought he was God, Jesus never taught that he was God, and no one ever understood him to be God. They claim that it was only after he died that his followers made up this crazy story that he was God.

Unlike many who hold to such views — the Jews knew exactly what Jesus is saying.

³¹The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. ³²Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” ³³The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”

I would encourage you to mark this verse in John 10. You will come back to it often. Jesus has just said — “I and the Father are one.” The Old Testament scholars of the day of Jesus responded to that by saying —  “You are a blasphemer. You are a man, and you’ve just claimed to be God.” It can’t get any clearer than that. Jesus was so obviously stating the fact of His ABSOLUTE, ESSENTIAL DEITY — that these men accused Jesus of blasphemy!  Anyone that tells you otherwise is wrong.

THIS IS HUGE AS WELL — Jesus didn’t stop them and say — wait a minute — you misunderstood me. They had already determined that Jesus should be killed on these very same grounds

John 5:18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Again in John 8:58-59

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” ⁵⁹So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Jesus NEVER tries to explain that they are misunderstanding Him.  He just keeps making claims to be God.

³⁴Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? ³⁵If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— ³⁶do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? ³⁷If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; ³⁸but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” ³⁹Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.

Verse 34 is very controversial — “Has God not said you are gods?”

Religions throughout the course of human history can be subdivided into two very general categories: Monotheism and Polytheism. Mono = singularity, one; theos = God. One God. Poly = many, hence, many gods. Some religions teach that there is one God. Jews, Christians and Muslims teach that there is one God. Other religions will teach that there are multiple gods or many gods.

Hindus will tell you that there are millions of gods. Mormons will teach you that there is a pantheon of gods, and that if you’re a good man, one day you’ll become god and get your own planet, and your wife will be eternally pregnant and help you populate that planet. I do not know why that is appealing to women. She gets eternal morning sickness; he gets divinity and perpetual sex. By the way — this is very similar to the lie of Islam where good Muslim men have 70 virgins to enjoy forever in paradise. A guy named Ergun Caner said that if you want to understand Islam, think of it as a medieval form of Mormonism.

Mormonism in particular points to this verse to endorse their perverted theology. “See, Jesus said right here that there’s lots of gods.”

I’m sorry — but no, Jesus did not teach that. We’ll do a little work here to prove the point. Please go to Psalm 82 — because Jesus is quoting from that particular Psalm. When Jesus uses this word “gods” — and when the Psalmist uses this word “gods,” the word means rulers.

Psalm 82:1 “God presides in the great assembly, and he gives judgment among the gods (the little-g gods.) “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked, defend the cause of the weak and fatherless, maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed, rescue the weak and needy and deliver them from the hand of the wicked?”

The context is about men who have been appointed to rule and judge. And what they’re supposed to do is bring God’s law to bear on human circumstances. So if there’s a crime committed, or something happens and there’s an injustice that needs to be corrected, these men are rulers, and as rulers they are to render rulings from God’s law for the purpose of bringing justice. They are not divine — they do not eternally exist. They are men with authority, sitting in seats of authority and ruling — but in Psalm 82 they were doing it in an unjust way — and God is displeased with them.

Psalm 82:5 “They know nothing; they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness, and all the foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, ‘You are gods. You are all sons of the most high, but you will die like mere men. You will fall like every other ruler.’ ”

So the Holy Spirit tells us that they are merely men, sinful men, who have used their authority in negative ways and will die. The Psalm ends with — “Rise up, O God, and judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.”

The last thing I’d like you to do is turn with me to the Book of Isaiah —Chapter 43, verse 10.

The reason we are going to look here is because some people will ask us very complicated questions —  and we don’t want to miss an opportunity to answer questions that can help open their hearts to the Jesus. The apostle Peter said this to the first century Christians —

1 Peter 3:15-16a but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; ¹⁶yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience,

So as people ask questions, it is our responsibility to be able to nicely and kindly answer their questions.

One of the common questions is — If you believe in God, why do you believe there is one God? We should not only know WHAT we believe (that there is ONE God); but we should know WHY we believe that (where the Bible says it).

So I want us to look at this section in Isaiah, because I think it is one of the clearest and most concise sections of Scripture that declares there is one God — and it says it repeatedly. Again — I would encourage you to mark this section in your Bible — because at some point in your life you will need it.

Isaiah 43:10b-11 “Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed. I am not some foreign god among you.”

God says, “There is no God but me, and you may develop your own gods and your own religions and your own thoughts, and you may watch Oprah and come up with your own opinions, but I don’t recognize any of them.”

He goes on in verse 15. He says, “I am the Lord, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King.” Throughout the Book of Isaiah, repeatedly and continuously, God refers to himself as the Holy One, that he alone is holy and he alone is God.

Isaiah 44:6, he says, “I am the first and the last. Apart from me there is no god.” It doesn’t get any clearer than that.

Isaiah 44:8 “You are my witnesses. Is there any god besides me? No, there is no other rock. I know not one.”

Over in Isaiah 45:5–6 “I am the Lord, and there is no other. Apart from me there is no other god.” He goes on to say, “I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting men may know there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is no other.”

Isaiah 45:14; 18; 21 “Surely God is with you, and there is no other. There is no other god….. ¹⁸ “I am the Lord, and there is no other…. ²¹ “And there is no god apart from me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is no other.

Isaiah 46:9 “Remember the former things, those of long ago. I am God, and there is no other. I am God, and there is none like me.”
I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I think I know where He’s going with this — I’ve got the feeling that He’s trying to tell us is there’s just one God.

I would encourage you to mark that section.

HUGE — On a number of occasions you’ve heard me say that when you are trying to interpret a difficult passage of Scripture that you start FROM the light and move forward into that which seems dark — you start with what you do know with a certainty in trying to understand that which seems uncertain. There’s a name for that rule of interpretation — It’s called Perspicuity. Perspicuity means that if I have 1,000 verses that tell me there is one God, and then I have one that looks like maybe it’s not saying that, I should interpret that one in light of the other thousand.  The cults and bad Bible teachers will ignore the thousand verses and elevate the one peculiar one as the proof text for their erroneous or heretical view. That’s not a faithful way to handle the Scriptures. That’s not a faithful way to handle any sort of relationship. If every day for 33 years I came home and told my wife that I loved her— and then one day I came home and didn’t tell her I love her —she should interpret my feelings toward her in light of every other day for those 33 years — and understand that whatever I said in a moment, or whatever I failed to say in a moment, did not undo or disprove the previous 33 years. If God has been clear in saying something to His people through the duration of human history and throughout the Scriptures — and then there’s a single passage of Scripture that seems a little peculiar, we should go with the duration of human history and the rest of Scripture in understanding Him.

Let’s finish the chapter.

Jesus has so lovingly suffered with these men — the majority of which have simply refused to hear what the Scriptures have to say about Jesus, what the Works of Jesus have to say about Jesus, and the very words of Jesus Himself. Some of them will break ranks with the majority who want to kill Jesus —and they will believe in Jesus.

But Jesus is being persecuted — He’s being openly opposed — and there are open threats of violence against Him. Jesus does not RECANT anything He has claimed about Himself — but He does RETREAT.

⁴⁰He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. ⁴¹And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” ⁴²And many believed in him there.

This moment in the life of Jesus is just painful. The leaders of His own people are rejecting Him! Again we are tethered to the prologue —

John 1:9-11 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.

He knows His death is imminent. The great tide of public opinion is now turned against Him. All of His pleading and correction with the religious leaders is being ignored. With all of this bearing down on Him, what does God Incarnate do? He goes back to the place where He began His ministry — He goes back to the Judean wilderness and the Jordan River. There at the very start of His public ministry Jesus heard the Father say from heaven, This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. There the Holy Spirit came upon Jesus to lead and empower His public ministry. Guys — When things bear down on you and you are undone — go back to where your new life began!

Colossians 2:6-10 ⁶Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him —

Do you remember the utter simplicity of that? The mind blowing reality that the Father loved you! The utter simplicity of just trusting Jesus — clinging to Jesus — relying upon Jesus. The reality of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.  The NLT continues that passage with

NLT ⁷Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness. ⁸Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. ⁹For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. ¹⁰So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

⁴¹And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.”

John the Baptizer never spoke in tongues — never raised somebody from the dead — never cleansed a leper — but everything thing that John said about Jesus was true! Take note of that. Jesus said John was the greatest prophet born among women. The greatness of John was that he was the prophet that the other prophets prophesied of (Malachi 3:1). Peter tells us this about the Old Testament prophets —

1 Peter 1:10-12 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. ¹¹They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. ¹²They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you.

But John — the cousin of Jesus — was different in that he was the one who could actually point the finger and say behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. John the Baptizer was the last of the Old Testament prophets.  No Old Testament prophet ever prophesied with greater clarity than John because John was the only one who could point right at Jesus and say — There He is, He is the one.

Now I hope we can take this to heart. John did no miracle.  We all LONG to see the Lord work miracles! We have seen the Lord heal — but we long to see more. We see a child suffering and we say, Lord, in the Book of Acts you healed, you worked miracles. You said — “I am the Lord who heals you!” You said — “Let those who are sick call for the elders of the church…..” I believe he still does heal — And I believe God wants us to seek him for those things. Yet you and I have the same struggle.  Lord, why don’t we see more? Please remember this — John did no miracle, but everything he said about Jesus was true. I pray we can have that testimony.  If we go through life without seeing some miraculous thing — I still pray that when we breathe our last people can say — You know, that person talked about Jesus all the time.  Jesus was real in that person.  Everything he said about or she said about Jesus was true. I hope they can say of us what they said of the apostles in the book of Acts — They took note of them they were unlearned and ignorant men but that they had been with Jesus.

I want to see miracles Lord — but if we don’t — I’ll take the second half of this.

⁴²And many believed in him there.

What a blessing for Jesus — getting away from Jerusalem — from the hostility of the religious leaders — and there in the Judean wilderness the common people gladly heard the Good News of the Kingdom and believed.  Those are the sheep that Jesus said would believe because they were His sheep.

CLOSING — What a privilege we have to share Christ. I don’t think we realize what God has invested in us — especially in regards to the day and age that we live in.  The next election is not going to decide the eternal destiny of a single human being.  But invested in you and me is the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is THE power of God to save! Satan trembles, not at who is in the White house — but he does tremble at who is living in YOUR house — who comes to THIS house. He trembles at men and women who are in love with Jesus and who go into their world and live for Jesus and share Jesus!

We can’t lead every man to Christ — But we can bring Christ to every man! What an AMAZING and DIVINE plan — putting eternal life into the likes of you and me and then letting us loose to infect the world.

The Gospel of John

The Good Shepherd Part 4

John 10:19-42

¹⁹There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. ²⁰Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” ²¹Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?” (A reference to John 9 where Jesus gave sight to a man born blind.)  ²²At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem.

Between verses 21 and 22, two months passed. It was time for another great feast — the Feast of Dedication — The Feast of Dedication Lasted 8 days,  and in the year 32 AD it took place between December 18-25.

Unlike the Feats of Passover; Pentecost; Booths — The Feast of Dedication was not prescribed by God through Moses. It was a relatively new feast. We’re going to have a short history lesson to get us to the Feast of Dedication and set the backdrop for this moment in the lifer of Jesus.

In 323 BC — When Alexander the Great was dying — he divided his kingdom between his four generals — Casander, Lycimicus, Ptolemny and Seleucus. For over 150 years there was tremendous animosity between the Ptolomnys in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria. One of the Seleucids was a mad man named Antiochus Epiphanes. In 175 BC. he began to rule over the area. He was a vile man — who by the way in the Book of Daniel is shown as a type or foreshadowing of the antichrist. The Jews would call him Antiouchus Epimanes, which means the mad man.

While going through the holy land during his campaigns, he develops a hatred for the Jews. While enroute to victory in Egypt we are told that he was met by a Roman representative who said, if you proceed any further you are at war with Rome, make your choice, whether you are going to proceed or go back. Antiouchus said, give me some time. The representative took a stick and drew a circle around him in the sand and said; I will give you some time, give me your decision before you step out of the circle. That was very humiliating for Antioucus Epiphanes. He bowed the knee to Rome — but he headed towards Israel really heated up. Upon his return to Jerusalem he killed 40,000 Jews in the first few days. He would kill 60,000 more in a short time afterwards. He made it illegal to worship Yahweh, the one true God. If you possessed a copy of the Law, the writings of Moses, you would be put to death. If you were a mother who had her newborn son circumcised, they would crucify you and hang your child around your neck. He murdered women and disemboweled pregnant women and he fried human beings on a large skillet.  He threw people off the pinnacle of the Temple. He was filled with a lust for Jewish blood (Which makes him a powerful type of the Anti-Christ).  He also desecrated and defiled the Temple. He forced pork down the priests’ throats, made them drink the blood of pigs, turned the chambers of the temple into a brothel, and converted the altar meant for burnt offerings into an altar for Zeus! But during that dark time a guy named Judas Maccabaeus (think Braveheart/William Wallace) fought against Antiochus and defeated him. There came a great day when Maccabaeus cleansed the temple and consecrated — re-dedicated it to the worship of the Living God of Israel. We read his own words in the non-canonical book First Maccabees:

… that every year at that season the days of the dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days, beginning with the 25th day of the month of Chislev. (4:5)

The Feast was called the Feast of Dedication. It’s also known as the Feast of Lights because in keeping with these words, every house in Jerusalem had eight candles in the window on the 25th of Chislev. That same feast is still celebrated in our culture — it’s called Hanukkah. Hanukkah means “dedication.”

So this is the Feast of Dedication where we find Jesus teaching.

John’s account tells us that on that winter day Jesus was walking on the Temple mount in what was called the colonnade of Solomon; or Solomon’s Porch.

It was winter,

It was winter.  Write down this passage

Jeremiah 8:20 “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”

Opportunity lost! I wonder — As Jesus looked at the religious leaders — if in His heart He saw their opportunity slipping away as they knowingly turned away from Him, and turned against Him.

²³and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

There were massive white colonnades rising forty-five feet to a beautifully detailed cedar ceiling. Looking eastward through those colonnades Jesus would have had an amazing view of the Mount of Olives.

During the winter months people would gather there for teaching because winter in that region brought cold winds that would blow in from the East —sometimes with driving rains. The large wall there would protect you from that — so it became an area where teachers could come, be surrounded by their students, and they could teach shielded from the elements.

Think about this — Five times thus far in John 10 Jesus has talked about His sacrificial death for His sheep. In a matter of only about 6 months — in this very place — we find a man, lame from birth, healed in the name of Jesus (Acts 3). Then following that healing Peter preaches the Gospel and 5,000 men were saved — right there on Solomon’s Porch. We read in Acts 5that the believers gathered there at Solomon’s Porch.

We are told in the book of Hebrews —

Hebrews 12:2 who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,

I can’t help but think that as Jesus is walking in Solomon’s Porch in the winter that He is brooding — looking ahead. He knows that His sacrificial death on the cross is soon approaching. He’s been talking openly of it. I can’t help but think that Jesus is looking at the thousands that will be saved and gathering in His name in that very place — because of his death and his resurrection.

THIS IS AWESOME TO THINK ABOUT — The Feast of Dedication has to do with the dedication of the structure called the “Temple.” Look back at John 2

John 2:19-21 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” ²⁰The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” ²¹But he was speaking about the temple of his body.

I believe that here in John 10 — as Jesus is in Jerusalem at the Feast of Lights, the Feast of Dedication, — walking in Solomon’s Porch — where the Church would be thriving — Jesus is dedicating Himself — His own body — afresh to the work that the Father has set before him, called him to.

²⁴So the Jews gathered around him

A crowd gathers around Him as he’s teaching. Literally — they surrounded him.  There’s an antagonistic sense to the grammar. As they surround Jesus they press him for answers. The first question is

“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

So they are saying — Hey, let’s just cut to the chase — Tell us plainly — We wanna know “yes” or “no” — are you the Messiah. The crowd likely has mixed motives for their inquiry. Some want to love him and follow him. Others hate him and want put him to death.

Throughout the Old Testament God had promised to send Israel a Messiah — one “anointed” by God to redeem them and rule over them (See Isaiah 61).

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; ² to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; ³ to grant to those who mourn in Zion — to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

But the religious establishment had concluded that the Messiah was going to deliver them from Roman oppression — sort of like Judas Maccabeus — and then from the throne of king David rule over Israel and ultimately the world.

They are basically asking — are you the guy that’s gonna do that? They already have a preconceived set of ideas as to what the Messiah will do and they’re basically asking him — “We’re looking for someone to fit into this box. Are you that guy?” People do the same thing with Jesus today — They have their theological convictions and belief systems and they rtry to stuff Jesus into their system of preexisting beliefs. Jesus doesn’t fit into any world religion or philosophy. Jesus becomes the cornerstone on which any understanding of reality — any understanding of the world — is constructed. You can’t stuff Jesus into your thinking. You have to start with Jesus and let Him shape your belief system. Once again — Christianity is ALL ABOUT JESUS! It starts with Jesus and Ends with Jesus — He is the “Founder and perfecter of our faith.” He is called the Alpha and the Omega (A and the Z of the Greek alphabet). He is the First and the Last; the beginning and the End.

²⁵Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe.

In Chapter 4, Jesus has already told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s the well that He is the Messiah. Just back in Chapter 9 Jesus has told the man born blind that He is the Son of God.

The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,

NOTE — Jesus appeals to his works to identify Himself as the promised Messiah.  There was a day when John the Baptizer sent some of his disciples to Jesus with a question

Luke 7:18-22 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, ¹⁹calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ²⁰And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” ²¹In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. ²²And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them.

You see, through the prophets in the Old testament God had given a composite sketch of the Messiah. The things pointed out by Jesus were specifically foretold as the works of the Messianic (Isaiah 35; Isaiah 61).

So Jesus says — “You should know who I am by looking at my life.” At this point he’s already turned water to wine — fed 25,000 people with a little boy’s sack lunch — opened the eyes of a blind man. He has told a wicked Samaritan woman that she had five husbands and was still living in sexual sin with a man who wasn’t her husband. He told her about her whole life. He healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda who had been an invalid for a great number of years.

Jesus says — “I have done all of these things that scream out that I’m the Messiah — and you don’t believe those miracles — and you don’t believe that I am who I am.” Which by the way disproves the claims of some that if God just showed up and did something to prove himself, then they would believe. There were many people who saw him do wonderful things, and they still didn’t love him.

Isn’t it interesting that miracles don’t produce faith?  Think of the children of Israel.  For over 38 years a pillar of fire at night lighting up the Heavens and leading the way. There was a pillar of cloud in the day that covered the entire camp, between two to three million people, so they wouldn’t be scorched by the sun while they walked through the desert.  Imagine how many nights they sat in their tents and looked out the door and saw a pillar of fire.  Every day thousands of tons of manna falling from the sky to feed them and they went on in unbelief.  Their lives weren’t changed. HUGE — The Scriptures tell us that it’s the Word — it’s the incorruptible Word — that changes us from the inside out. The Scriptures make it clear that those kinds of experiences are only signs, he says, to bear witness of the truth.  The truth is something that we hear. Jesus says that we hear it because we’re his sheep.

Jesus tells them — “The reason you don’t believe in me is because you’re not my sheep.” The grammar here does not say that we believe and become a sheep.  What Jesus says here is that the ones who do believe, believe because they are his sheep.  As hard as that is to grasp we can’t erase that from the text here.

Jesus appealed to His works. Then He appealed to His words.

²⁷My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

God speaks to us — some people hear and say — “That sounds like my dad” — and they follow. While others hear and say — “That doesn’t sound like my dad,” and they continue on their way, ignoring what God has said to them.

If you’re a parent you know how this goes. When a child escapes from a parent someone other than the parent can say —  “Hey, stop. Don’t do that” — and the child essentially laughs and carries on. But if the Dad speaks, that is entirely different. When that little kid here’s the word “Stop”  coming from his dad — he knows that voice! He knows that voice and knows that it means — “This is your father. I love you. Trust me.” And you’ll see that kid stop. He or she might fill their diaper, but they will stop.

When a child hears his father’s voice — hears the tone in his father’s voice that child knows that dad is happy, or not — the child can sense impending danger if the dad’s voice is distressed.

Jesus says — “My sheep hear my voice. When I speak, My sheep say —  ‘That sounds like Jesus  — He’s talking to me.’” But other people — they don’t hear. They just keep running. For you and me to hear the voice of God and follow is a miracle. Can you think back on the times that you heard people talk about Jesus — heard someone share from the Bible — and you didn’t hear — you didn’t want to hear? But He is so longsuffering — so persistent in his love for us — He kept speaking. And finally there came that time when He spoke — and for reasons beyond you — you HEARD Him and said — “I think I just heard God…. that’s my dad!” — and you RESPONDED to Him and surrendered to Him.

²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰I and the Father are one.”

I give them eternal life

Eternal life — Remember last Sunday we said that the essence of eternal life is personal relationship with God. It is Life that is derived from a personal relationship with the living God — life that begins and is experienced on this side of eternity. God comes to us right here and right now and pours His life into us. The eternal life of God floods into us — we participate in the very life of God. Again we are tethered to the prologue — “In Him was life….”

Jesus IS life — and in the very moment we believe with our heart on the Lord Jesus He comes to live in us. We begin to live by the Spirit, through the Son, to the Father. We become new people. It is not a pain-free life. It is not a simple life. But it is life marked by righteousness, joy and peace.

And when we breathe our last breath, we open our eyes in heaven — in the presence of the Lord — and that life continues into eternity without end. It’s eternal. There’s no conclusion to it. Like the last Book in The Chronicles of Narania — The Last Battle — at the end they are saying — Further up and further in.

Jesus says — I GIVE them THAT LIFE — it is a GIFT!

We do not, and cannot, merit this eternal life by being good people. We do not and cannot earn this eternal life. We can’t bring our resume to God and say, “Here are the reasons that I should get forgiveness of sin and life everlasting.” It is a GIFT!

Those who receive his gift of eternal life, are given this amazing promise and assurance. They will never perish. EVERYONE is going to exist forever. The question is WHERE. Those who live in fellowship with God on this side of eternity will continue to enjoy the Life of God, in His presence, for eternity.

Like their Good Shepherd — they will continue into eternity in relationship with God. Those who reject the gift of eternal life here, will forever be separated from God who is Life — THAT is what it means to be forever perishing!

He gives us a series of promises then: “No one can snatch them out of my hand.” And then he tells us why: “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hands.” I love this analogy that Jesus gives. There are those who believe that it is our job to grab God’s hand and hold on for dear life — and if at any point we let go — then our loving relationship with God is gone. The forgiveness of our sin is gone. God is gone. We are lost. Our salvation is utterly destroyed. That’s foolish.

Some people say — Well no one can snatch me out of His hands, but I can run real hard and jump off the edge of his hand and I can end up in Hell! Listen — The Bible tells us that He has measured out the Heavens with the span of His hand.  You’d be running a long time.  It’s amazing — Jesus is NOT exploring that option or possibility. He’s telling us something wonderful.  No man can take you out of my hand. And that’s good because I’m a man.  I’m glad to know I can’t do that.

Some ask — What about the person who says that they believe in Jesus and even get involved in ministry, but they claim to be an atheist now.  Surely they LOST their salvation! According to Jesus — that’s not possible. In light of these words of Jesus either he never really did know God, never really did hear and believe; or he does hear and believe but right now he’s in tremendous rebellion. It’s like the Prodigal Son, and God’s going to grab him by the shirt collar and bring him home and clean him up. I don’t know which it is. God knows. I don’t know — but God knows.

THIS IS HUGE — Jesus says that salvation is a matter of you and I being embraced by God as our Father. That is such a mind-blowing concept —  that God is our Father. I hope these words of Jesus are so precious to each of you this morning — that God is our Father.

Jesus makes this declaration that is crystal clear — inescapable —

The Father embraces us and picks us up and adopts us as his kids, and there is nowhere safer for a child than in the arms of their father. Mothers love their children, but fathers can defend them in ways that are unbelievable. No father would ever drop his newborn baby. You watch a full-grown man with a newborn child. He’s holding on for dear life. He’s afraid he’s going to drop that little person and that Mom will have him sleeping on the couch until Jesus comes back.

And that’s the way a good father works. He loves his child, and he protects and comforts and holds and nurtures and embraces his child. Have you ever seen how a newborn baby will hold on to your shirt. And I’m sure if you crawled into the mind of that child, they would think, “Well, I am safe and secure, and I won’t be dropped because I’m holding on.”

NOT REALLY! They are safe and secure because the father has them. Their security is not contingent upon their ability to hold on for dear life. They are secure because of the fact that their father loves them, that he embraces them, that he protects them, and that he holds them. And that’s the language that Jesus is using about our relationship with God. When God embraces us, we’re his kids, and he holds on to us, and he will never leave us nor forsake us. He will never lose us.

The language that Jesus uses here is HUGE — “And no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand, because he is stronger than all.” The issue is this —  salvation is not mine. Jonah says (Jonah 2:9) that salvation belongs to the Lord. If salvation is a gift, I didn’t earn it. How can I lose what I have not earned? If it’s eternal, how can it end? And in addition to all of that — who’s going to overwhelm God? Who’s going to steal me and snatch me out of the hand of my Father? The question is not “can you lose your salvation?” The question is “can God be overpowered, and can someone steal you from him?” The bottom line issue is this — “can God fail?” In that light — I’m secure because God can never fail!

After Jesus gives this deep comfort — he makes this amazing theological statement.

³⁰I and the Father are one.”

It is very popular in our age for people to say that Jesus never claimed to God. There are a lot of people who say that Jesus was a good man, who taught moral principles on how to be a good person. But they say that Jesus never thought He was God; Jesus never taught that he was God; and no one ever understood him to be God. It was only after he died that his followers made up this crazy story that he was God.

Next week we’ll finish our study of John 10 by examining how the Jews knew that Jesus was doing nothing less than claiming to be God.

2 Kings 5:19-27

Related Topics: Elisha; Gehazi; Taking the Name of the Lord in Vain; Lying; Greed; Word of Knowledge; Riches; Perverting Ministry For Financial Gain

We are continuing our study in 2 Kings 5

2 Kings 5 introduced us to a man named Naaman — a Syrian, the highest ranking officer of the Syrian army. He was powerful man, a man of valor, a man of honor. A picture of untold millions of self-made men and women — task oriented, gifted, determined, self-sacrificing. But the Holy Spirit tells us that he was a leper. A band of Syrians carried out a raid in Israel and carried away a little girl who became a slave in the house of Naaman. This little unwilling missionary said — I wish that my master could go into Israel because there’s a prophet there who would see that he was cleansed of his leprosy. THAT is genuine love. Love is not a good feeling. It is a choice. She could have said — You hate the true and living God. You hate God’s people. You keep me here as a slave — After you rot to death I hope you rot in hell.

Naaman went and told Ben-Hadad what the little girl had said. Ben-Hadad loved him, sent him to Israel with about 2 million dollars in gold and silver and clothing.  He arrives in Samaria with a note from Ben-Hadad and delivered it to Jehoram — king of the northern kingdom.  The note said —this is my servant, Naaman. I’ve sent him to you to be healed of his leprosy. Jehoram tore his garments and said — Syria is trying to start a war with this. Meantime the Lord speaks to Elisha.  He says send Naaman over here to me to my place. Naaman comes with his chariots and his entourage and his money.  Elisha doesn’t even come out to see him. Instead he sends out his servants with instructions for his cleansing — Go dip seven times in the Jordan.

Of course Naaman is furious because Naaman wants to be treated like a great man, not like a leper. He says there are cleaner rivers in Damascus.  Why did we waste our time to come here?  Surely I thought he was going to do this or going to do that.  He’s going to give me something to do to earn my miraculous cleansing. His servants say to him — master, if he’d had told you something hard to do you would have done that.  How much more that he just simply says wash and be clean. Naaman goes and he plunges seven times in the Jordan — and when he comes out of the Jordan his flesh is like the flesh of a little child. He got mad — he got humble – he got cleansed! Naaman was a proud leper — but a humble ex-leper. Remember how he had left Elisha’s place enraged because the prophet wouldn’t come out to him. Now he rushes back to Elisha’s place and bursts in and stands before Elisha and says — Now I know now that there is only one God in all the earth, and that is the God of Israel.  Please take a gift from your servant. Elisha says — as the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I’ll have none of it.

Naaman says — well can we do this then?  Would you please give me several mules loaded with dirt from Israel? Then he made that puzzling request — I just need to be pardoned because when my master, Ben Hadad, goes into the Temple of Rimmon, and bows before that idol  — my duties will require me to be at his side. I want to ask in advance to be pardoned when I bow down with him.

Elisha says — go in peace.

We talked about how hard it is to walk in peace when the Holy Spirit is convicting you of walking outside of the will of God — against the Word of God. Elisha was not easy on sin — He was big in faith! Elisha knew that Naaman truly belonged to the Living God. He knew that his heart was changed.  Elisha knew that Naaman’s value system had been transformed and that the Lord would lovingly chastise him and correct him.

But there’s a messy party to all of this — Elisha has a servant named Gehazi.  Gehazi was to Elisha what Elisha was to Elijah. Gehazi was to Elsha what Joshua was to Moses. Tremendous privilege — tremendous potential and opportunity. Gehazi is recorded for our learning! Elisha walked away from tremendous wealth to stand at Elijah’s side for 10 years as the man who poured water for Elijah. Gehazi stood at Elisha’s side to gain wealth! Sadly there are too many Gehazis.  Gehazi thinks that Elisha is wrong not taking the gold and the silver.

¹⁹….But when Naaman had gone from him a short distance, ²⁰Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said, “See, my master has spared this Naaman the Syrian, in not accepting from his hand what he brought.

There is disdain and contempt in his words. Gehazi does not say — my new brother, my fellow believer.  He says — This Syrian!

He says — you spared this Syrian by not taking the millions he brought.

As the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”

FIRST  — This is a great example of Exodus 20:7

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Most people think that verse is only about using the name of the Lord in a vulgar way — like when you hit your thumb with a hammer. By the way — have you ever wondered why no one ever says AH BUDDAH when they hit their thumb with a hammer?

We can take the name of the Lord in vain by saying “Praise the Lord” — for some people it’s Christian-ese for “Wow!” or “Awesome!” We can take the name of the Lord in vain by saying — “The Lord told me….” — or “Thus says the Lord…” when the Lord hasn’t said anything.

Gehazi is using taking the Lord’s name in vain because when he said “As the Lord lives” (v. 20, see v. 16) he was planning to sin. Gehazi had no fear of God in his heart and used God’s name to validate his action.

DON’T MISS THIS — There’s something very important missing there. Just like Elijah and Elisha, Gehazi says — As the Lord lives. Unlike Elijah and Elisha, he doesn’t say — before whom I stand. He KNOWS that the God lives! But he doesn’t see that reality as making him accountable for the way he lives before the God who lives. We KNOW that God lives.  When we know that it is a given that we live in His presence — stand in His presence — speak in His presence. That knowledge should change everything! Classic example of this

Genesis 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless,

Live as though He is alive — is watching — knows our every thought. THAT is what the Bible calls the fear of the Lord — the reverence of the Lord.

²¹So Gehazi followed Naaman. And when Naaman saw someone running after him, he got down from the chariot to meet him and said, “Is all well?” ²²And he said, “All is well.

He’s lying!  All is well? = ׁשלום ׁשלםshâlôm.

Shalom = “peace, well-being, fulfillment, prosperity, safety.”

Naaman asks —  Do you have peace and fulfillment? Gehazi says —Yes! I have peace and fulfillment! Gehazi would be fulfilled unless he got some of Naaman’s treasure. When a man’s heart is filled with greed and his lips are filled with lies, he is far from enjoying shalom. Remember last week — “Walk in peace.” When we are a child of God but walking in or towards sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us and wrestles with us.

My master has sent me to say,

Liar! And that lie was in his heart when he said — as the Lord lives.

‘There have just now come to me from the hill country of Ephraim two young men of the sons of the prophets. Please give them a talent of silver and two festal garments.’”

Hey Naaman — a couple of young seminary students have shown up and they don’t have any support. Elisha would never want anything for himself — but it just so happens this need has come up for these two young guys. Perhaps there were two guys who showed up — We don’t know either way.  But the lie is in the fact that Elisha never sent him.

HUGE — In carrying out his evil plan, Gehazi not only used God’s name in vain, but he also used God’s work as a the means of personal gain “cloak of covetousness”

1 Thessalonians 2:1–8 ¹For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. ²But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. ³For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, ⁴but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. ⁵For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. ⁶Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. ⁷But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. ⁸So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

²³And Naaman said, “Be pleased to accept two talents.”

You want one talent of silver?  Take two talents, please.

And he urged him and tied up two talents of silver in two bags, with two festal garments, and laid them on two of his servants. And they carried them before Gehazi.

Naaman is a zealous new believer. He is excited about the true and living God who has saved him and cleansed him. He is zealous to do anything for the Lord.

Titus 2:13-14 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

This is what Jesus was talking about when He used the term FIRST LOVE in His letter to the church in Ephesus. When we get saved and we find our way into an assembly of believers we’re excited, we’re ready to serve.  There’s that first love, there’s that zeal. When we get saved and we find our way into an assembly of believers we’re excited — we’re ready to serve because we want to do anything for Jesus — not to earn His love, but because He has freely loved us. We want to serve, not FOR acceptance — but FROM acceptance!

And rightly so because the local church is the place where the Lord wants us to be share the experience of His life, His grace, His mercy, and His love. The local church is where we should be vulnerable — it should be a place where we should be able to trust one another.  The church should be a place where you can take somebody’s business card that has a fish or a cross on it and you should get excellent craftsmanship.  But it doesn’t always happen that way.  The church should be a place where the people that are in the pulpit are honest.  It doesn’t always happen that way.  Naaman should have been able to trust the servant of Elisha. And there are Naamans today —  excited, cleansed, willing to give, wanting to give, zealous. And tragically there are Gehazis — too many, that will take advantage of the Naamans.

Here’s the tragedy — When a Naaman gives to a Gehazi, he’s giving more than gold and silver — he’s giving his heart. And when he’s ripped off, he loses more than gold and silver. He is losing a pure perspective of the grace of God and of who God is and what the church is. It is radical to think about how many people have been turned away from Jesus by the Gehazis.

²⁴And when he came to the hill, he took them from their hand and put them in the house, and he sent the men away, and they departed. ²⁵He went in and stood before his master, and Elisha said to him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?” And he said, “Your servant went nowhere.”

He’s worse than a kid.  Where you been? — Nowhere.  What are you doing? Nothing.

²⁶But he said to him,

And this must have floored Gehazi

“Did not my heart go when the man turned from his chariot to meet you?

THAT would be the definition of “busted.” I have to tell you this funny story taken from a Los Angeles newspaper years ago —

A San Diego patrolman pulled over a driver and informed him that because he was wearing his seatbelt he had just won $5,000 in a safety competition.  The driver of the car was shocked.  What are you going to do with the prize money the officer asked?  The man responded I guess I’ll go to driving school and get my license.  This guy busted himself.  I don’t know.  At that moment his wife, who was seated next to him, chimed in officer, don’t listen to him, he’s a smart-aleck when he’s drunk.  This woke up the guy in the back seat who when he saw the officer blurted out I knew we wouldn’t get far in this stolen car.  And at that moment there was a knock from the trunk and a voice said are we over the border yet?

Back to more serious reality —

Numbers 32:23 ……you have sinned against the Lord, and be sure your sin will find you out.

Hebrews 4:13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT — We are always concerned about being “caught” by man. We are always concerned about man “finding out” that we have done something wrong. We might or might not be caught or found out by man — but our sin is ALWAYS found out by God.

In this case the Lord chose to let Elisha in on Gehazi’s sin. This is what the New testament calls “the word of knowledge.” It is a gift of the Holy Spirit.

FIRST — What is a gift of the Holy Spirit?

2 Corinthians 12:4-7 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. ⁷To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

So a “gift” of the Spirit is actually a manifestation of the Spirit — it is a way in which the Holy Spirit manifests Himself. Though He is omnipresent — we are not always aware of His presence. But when a “gift” of the Spirit is in operation the Holy Spirit is manifested — literally  “shines forth.” There is something tangible about His presence and His power. There in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul lists some of these ways in which the Holy Spirit “shines forth” — “manifests” Himself.

2 Corinthians 12:8 To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit,

This utterance of knowledge (word of knowledge) is the Lord revealing to a man or woman that which was unknown to them and unknowable by them apart from the Lord revealing it to them.

By this gift of the Spirit Elisha not only saw what his servant had done, but he saw into his servant’s heart and knew why he did it. The Lord showed Elisha that Gehazi longed to be a wealthy man with land, flocks and herds, expensive clothing, and servants to obey his orders — that he wasn’t content to labor by the side of Elisha the prophet

Was it a time to accept money and garments, olive orchards and vineyards, sheep and oxen, male servants and female servants?

Great question!

Was it a time to accept money and garments…

FIRST — For the sake of Naaman this was not a time to accept money. There is a time when God uses people of wealth to bless ministers and ministries. But this was not that time. Elisha did not want to pollute Naaman’s understanding of GRACE. He knew that at the start Naaman processed his cleansing as related to his position and his accomplishments. Elisha knew that at the start Naaman saw his cleansing as something he could earn. This was not a time to take anything from Naaman — lest he slip back into seeing his cleansing as related to his giving.

Was it a time to accept money and garments…

SECOND — Of all the generations of Christians that have come before us —we should know that we are closer to the return of the Lord than any of them. One of the trademarks of the last days is that people will love money more than they love God or other people —

2 Tim. 3:1–7 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ²For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, ⁴treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people. ⁶For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

Wealth is not a sin. God worked through the lives of many in the Scriptures that were wealthy. Abraham — Joseph in Egypt — King David and Solomon.  But that’s much different than making the goal of your life those things. Abraham lived in tents.  He had enough money to build a mansion — But he lived like a pilgrim — like a man just passing through! He was seeking a city whose builder and maker was God, a pilgrim, a sojourner.  Is it a time to strive after money, garments, olive groves, vineyards, sheep, oxen, men servants, maid servants?

When God blesses you in the realm of the material, or with talent, or with time, God is not saying that you cannot enjoy any of it. But it is never time to LIVE for such wealth. When God abounds to us — he does so, so you can abound in good works — so you can bless the ministry. Gehazi used the ministry God gave him to gain wealth. THAT is backwards / upside down! Whatever we receive or gain in finances, talent or time we need to recognize that it all belongs to God. There should be an honest desire to seek the Lord as to how He would want to use any and all of it. As God abounds towards us there should be an honest and pure desire to abound in the work of the Kingdom

Let me try to illustrate. A couple of months ago my son Sean was having lunch with one of the pastors of Reality, L.A.. Sean told him that he wanted to get involved in serving at Reality. The pastor asked Sean how and where he thought he could serve. Sean said he thought he’d like to serve by being an usher. The guy said — Why don’t you want to serve by playing guitar? Sean replied by saying he thought since he loved playing guitar so much that it would be a bit presumptuous and self-serving to volunteer for that. The guy responded by saying — That would be like pastor Tim Chaddick wanting to usher rather than teach the Bible because he felt it would be self-serving to teach the Bible because he loved teaching the Word so much. There would be nothing wrong with Sean, or Danny or Larry or Darryl or Taylre making a great living by way of their talent. There would be nothing wrong with them enjoying the process of creating music or performing it. IT WOULD BE WRONG if they looked at ministry as something they could USE — something they could PERVERT — to promote themselves for personal gain.

2 Peter 2:3 KJV And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you:

2 Peter 2:2-3 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. ³And in their greed they will exploit you with false words.

²⁷Therefore the leprosy of Naaman shall cling to you and to your descendants forever.” So he went out from his presence a leper, like snow.

WOW! Naaman had become the Israelite and Gehazi had become the Pagan. Naaman had become the lover of Yahweh, and Gehazi became the lover of money. Do you want his value system?  Do you want his wealth?  Here it is — and here’s the leprosy that goes with it.  The covetousness that ate away at his heart became leprosy eating away at his body. Perhaps Gehazi had hoped to leave some of this wealth to his descendants. But because of the way he got it, all he them with was shame and sorrow for years to come. In Israel, lepers were considered unclean and weren’t allowed to be in the community and live normal lives.

WORST OF ALL — Gehazi lost his ministry. He lost the opportunity to serve and learn along side of one of the greatest men of God in the Bible. What price tag can be put on such a privilege?

Matthew 6:31-33 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

The Gospel of John

The Good Shepherd Part 3

John 10

Jesus has been speaking to the religious leaders of Israel — He is using images and terms that they all would understand — to communicate the TRUTH about who He is, who they are in relationship to the people of Israel. The imagery is that of the shepherd and sheep.

The shepherd and the sheepfold (v.1)

The DOOR and a GATE KEEPER (v.1-3)

Two other DOORS (v.7; 9)

The sheep

Different FOLDS (v.16) and a single FLOCK (v.16).

Those whom Jesus labels as THIEVES and ROBBERS (v1; 8; 10), and WOLVES (v.12) and HIRELINGS (v.12).

Last week we worked our way through verses 9-10

⁹I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

This was the third time Jesus has used the image of the door. The first use of the image had to do with the privilege of access to the sheepfold. The second is Jesus Himself being the way OUT of the mixed sheepfold of Israel. Here Jesus is THE DOOR — the DOOR of SALVATION — the sole means by which the sheep may enter and be saved from destruction and be led into abundance.

The words I AM brought us back to the voice of the burning bush in Exodus saying to Moses — I AM. Now that same voice is saying I AM the door.

We noted the EXCLUSIVENESS of this statement — It doesn’t say — I’m one of many doors. Jesus says — I AM, to the exclusion of all others, the one and only door.

But we saw how INCLUSIVE the invitation is to enter that ONE door — If anyone enters —if any man come to me — whosoever believes.

We spent time looking at the words — he will be saved — “delivered safe and sound.”

We saw how that the man or woman who enters by Jesus is Saved FROM and saved TO. As the Door, Jesus delivers sinners from bondage and leads them into freedom. As the Door, Jesus delivers sinners from lies and leads them into truth.

As the Door, Jesus delivers sinners from death and leads them into life.  Jesus died on the cross, not only to bring us to God — but He died that we might have life and have it abundantly.

We pick this morning in verse 11

¹¹I am the good shepherd.

WOW — In this one short sentence Jesus once again identifies Himself with voice of the burning bush — where God tells Moses that His name is I AM. He also identifies Himself as yehôvâh râ‛âh of Psalm 23 — The Lord is my shepherd.

Look at what we are told about Jesus — the Good Shepherd.

The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

This was a mind-blowing concept. All they ever understood was that the sheep died for the shepherd. Jesus is not only saying that He is THE Good Shepherd — but that the Good Shepherd was going to die for the sheep! Five times Jesus clearly affirmed the sacrificial nature of His death (John 10:11; 15; 17-18).

THINK ABOUT IT — Jesus is the only shepherd that became a sheep —  born into the sheepfold of Israel — and then He went like a lamb to the slaughter. Not by ACCIDENT — but willingly laying down His life for us as the fulfillment of the divine plan of redemption!

Rev 13:8 KJV And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

Immediately following the first sin of man in Genesis 3, God promised the coming of this lamb who would destroy the works of the devil. Then in Genesis 12 we find God appearing to a man named Abram in the Ur of the Chaldees, and promised to make a nation from him and that through his descendants every people on earth would be blessed. That nation came to be known as Israel — the sheepfold of the first verses of John 10. From that sheepfold would come Jesus the Good Shepherd

Matthew 2:3-6 ³When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. ⁵They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet (Micah 5;2): ⁶ “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

Throughout the Old Testament history of Israel, God raised up, and spoke through, men who kept making specific promises about how the Good Shepherd would come into the world and lay down His life for the sheep.

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. ¹⁴As many were astonished at you— his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind— ¹⁵so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand…. 53:3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. ⁴Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. ⁶All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. ⁷He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. ⁸By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people? ⁹ And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. ¹⁰Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. ¹¹….by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. ¹²Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

So the death of the Good shepherd for His sheep had its origins in eternity past. But there came a moment in history when the Good Shepherd entered human history

Galatians 4:4-6 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman….. ⁵to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

HE CAME TO DIE! The Good Shepherd did not die a tragic victim of circumstances beyond His control. When Jesus told His followers for the very first time that He would die and three days later rise from the grave — Peter said — No matter what it takes, we can’t let that happen to you. Jesus would not be deterred. On numerous occasions the enemies of Jesus wanted to lay hold of Jesus to kill Him, but they couldn’t because His hour had not yet come. Despite being rejected by the nation of Israel, Jesus set His face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. In the Garden of Gethsemene Jesus sought the Father with strong crying and tears (Hebrews 5:7) — He sweat great drops of blood — to see if there was any other way for the sheep to be saved. But Jesus submitted to the will of the Father and said that He would drink the cup of God’s wrath that we should have to endure. There in Gethsemene, Peter used his sword to protect Jesus and prevent the arrest of Jesus. Jesus told Peter —“put away your sword, do you think I cannot ask My Father, and He would at once put at my disposal more than 12 legions of angels?” Then Pilate tried to intimidate Jesus — saying that he had the power of life and death — that he could release Him or crucify Him. He told Pilate “you would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above.”

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY HUGE FOR US TO KNOW ABOUT THE GOOD SHEPHERD — Jesus, the Good Shepherd is determined, unswerving, unfailing, and unstoppable in His love for His sheep!

¹²He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

Jesus sets the determined, unswerving, unfailing, unstoppable love of the Good Shepherd in contrast with the hired hand — the hireling. Jesus says that the guy getting paid by the hour doesn’t have any vested interest in the sheep. He might love the theory and skills involved in animal husbandry — He might love working outdoors — He might love watching stars in the night skies out in the fields — but he doesn’t love the sheep enough to fight wolves. For that guy, shepherding is not about sheep, shepherding is all about him! The sheep are merely his ticket to self-gratification. When wolf-fighting starts is when that guys shepherding career ends.

QUOTE: A handbook on the Gospel of John — cares nothing for the sheep must be translated in some languages “has no love for the sheep.” More is intended than mere failure to provide for the sheep. The meaning may be expressed in some languages as “he is not concerned for the sheep” or “the sheep make no difference to him”

(Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John. Helps for translators; UBS handbook series (321–350). New York: United Bible Societies.)

The real shepherd may or may not love any or all of that stuff — but he lays down his life for the sheep because He OWNS them and LOVES them.

This is so relevant to the care and feeding of the flock of God. There are those who love theology — love to study the Bible — love the process of preparation. There are those who might love the tasks involved in the care and feeding of the sheep. For them — church, the flock of God, is their ticket to self-gratification. But when it comes to self-sacrifice and fighting wolves, wrestling against principalities and powers — their shepherding career is finished. I would encourage you to revisit our study through 1 Thessalonians to get a look into the care that Paul had for the flock of God.

REMEMBER — Ministry is RELATIONAL — it is all about nearness to the heart of the Good shepherd.

Matthew 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Paul’s care for men and women was byproduct of his relationship with the Good shepherd.

Philippians 1:8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

The word compassion in Matthew 9:36 and affection in Philippians 1 are forms of the same Greek word. Paul was ministering from the heart of Jesus.

the wolf snatches them and scatters them.

Here’s the picture — “the wolf pounces upon one of the sheep and scatters the rest.” The big point here is the goal of the adversary — to remove us from the one who cares for us!

¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father;

I am the good shepherd — I believe that Jesus repeats this great I AM declaration because it creates a radical juxtaposition of character and nature.  The nature of the Good Shepherd is seen in even greater light against the nature of the hireling. The word translated “good” means “intrinsically good, beautiful, fair.” It describes that which is the ideal, the model that others should desire to be like. Our Lord’s goodness was inherent in His nature. To call Him “good” is the same as calling Him “God.”

Mark 10:17-18 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ¹⁸And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.

I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — The meaning is not “knowing about,” but personal knowledge, based upon acquaintance and familiarity. It speaks of an intimate relationship between God and His people. The very essence of eternal life is personal relationship with God

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Again — the imagery was clear to his listeners. The shepherd that these men were so familiar with — knew his sheep personally.

TO BEGIN WITH — Jesus knows our names (see John 10:3 ). He knew Simon (John 1:42) and even gave him a new name — Peter. He called Zaccheus (think Danny Divito) by name (Luke 19:5). Remember how after His crucifixion — Mary Magdalene was crushed and distraught because the tomb of Jesus was empty — and when Jesus spoke Mary’s name in the garden, she recognized her Shepherd (John 20:16). It is so awesome to know that Jesus knows each of His sheep by name.

THERE IS EVEN MORE — While all sheep are alike in their essential nature (no sense of direction / defenseless / prone to wander / timid, yet stubborn) —each sheep has its own distinctive characteristics and personalities —  and the loving shepherd recognized these traits. One sheep may be afraid of high places, another of dark shadows. A faithful shepherd will consider these special needs as he tends the flock.

HERE’S THE PICTURE — There is NOTHING about YOU that He doesn’t know.

Psalm 139:1-18 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! ² You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. ³ You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. ⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. ⁵ You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. ⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

He knows our PAST — with its bitter failures. He knows our PRESENT —with its unrealized longings. When it says He knows when we stand up and when we sit down — that is what is a figure of speech that infers the totality of our action — It encompasses everything that we do between standing up and sitting down! It includes our motives which can be so often misunderstood. He understands our anxieties and hopes and fears that flavor and taint our actions.

HUGE — To be known so perfectly, so completely, means that we don’t need to hide behind or project an image of ourselves that is unreal. It means we don’t have to give convoluted explanations of our actions because He cannot be surprised by anything we might say or do!

Have you ever noticed how different the 12 Apostles were from one another? Peter was impulsive and outspoken, while Thomas was hesitant and doubting. Andrew was a “people person” who was always bringing somebody to Jesus, while Judas wanted to “use” people in order to get their money for himself. Jesus knew each of the men personally, and He knew exactly how to deal with them.

Because He knows EVERY UNIQUE DETAIL ABOUT YOU — He knows how to best minister to YOU. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to caring for His sheep. His dealings with you are not going to look exactly like the way He deals with me.

BECAUSE HE KNOWS OUR UNIQUE NATURES — He also knows our needs. Often, we do not even know our own needs!

HUGE — As the shepherd cares for the sheep, the sheep get to know their shepherd better. They get to know Him better by listening to His voice (the Word) and experiencing His daily care. As the sheep follow the Shepherd, they learn to love and to trust Him. He loves “His own” (John 13:1) —  and He shows that love in the way He cares for them.

2 Peter 3:18 Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

Matthew 11:29 ….Learn of Me.

and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

Here we see the SEEKING LOVE of the shepherd.

¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

QUOTE: D.A. Carson — the love of the Father for the Son is eternally linked with the unqualified obedience of the Son to the Father, his utter dependence upon him, culminating in this greatest act of obedience now just before him: willingness to bear the shame and ignominy of Golgotha, the isolation and rejection of death, the sin and curse reserved for the Lamb of God.

I lay down my life that I may take it up again. — Jesus lays down his life in order to take it up again. Jesus’ sacrificial death was not an end in itself. His resurrection was not an afterthought. His death was with the resurrection in view. He died in order to rise — and by his rising proceed toward his ultimate glorification (12:23; 17:5) and the pouring out of the Spirit (7:37–39) so that others, too, might live.

¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

JESUS REPEATS HIMSELF FOR EMPHASIS — The death of Jesus is neither sacrificial nor redemptive in nature if it is nothing more than an accident or tragedy perpetrated by misguided men. What makes it redemptive is that the Triune God planned it from eternity past. What makes it sacrificial is that Jesus willingly laid down His life in loving obedience to the Father.

Hebrews 12:2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,

He loved us. He had taken us to be his own. He had set his heart upon us. And when the question arose of delivering us from peril, He never hesitated to lay down his life. It was his own act and deed — I lay it down of my own accord

2 Kings 5:12-19

Related Topics: Elisha; Gehazi; Syria; Ben Hadad; Naaman; Leprosy; Trials; God Using tragedy; Unwilling Missionary; God Using Weak and Foolish Things; Questioning the Ways of God; Pride; Obedience of Faith; Cleansed of Leprosy; Cleansed From Sin

We are continuing our study in 2 Kings 5

The chapter opens by introducing us to a man named Naaman —

commander of the army of the king of Syria — was a great man with his master — in high favor — He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

The One, True and Living God was going to do for this idol worshipping, hater of God and God’s people what no man, no fame, no power and no wealth could ever do for him — cleanse him of leprosy!

We have in God’s dealing with Naaman a radical picture of THE TRUTH about God: God desires to HEAL — to CLEANSE — His enemies of this fatal disease called sin!

Then we saw HOW God was going to transform the life of a man who was the arch-enemy of God’s plans and purposes wrapped up in the nation of Israel. He did it by means of an unwilling missionary. God allowed a little girl to be ripped out of her home — and brought into Syria — into the house of Naaman — as an unwilling missionary! The little girl who was the victim of this unimaginable cruelty becomes the INSTRUMENT that the Lord would use to let Naaman that there was hope for his hopeless condition! By means of the heartbreaking loss wrapped up in this little girl’s capture — one of the greatest enemies of God would be brought to the knowledge of the true God.

³She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

The GREAT MAN of Syria had an incurable problem for which a LITTLE GIRL had the solution!

That which was so weak and so little in the eyes of man became the instrument God would use in transforming the life of a man who was so great in the eyes of man; such a mighty adversary to the plans of God and people of God. The Lord loves to use WEAK and FOOLISH things.

The King of Syria sent Naaman with a letter to Jehoram, king of the Northern kingdom of Israel along with $1-2 million in gifts. Jehoram the idolater could only process the letter in terms of his own self-interests — “The king of Syria’s asking the impossible of me! He’s just looking for an excuse to make war against me!”

We noted that the Christian life is all about Jesus. It is not all about you and me! The Christian life isn’t free from impossible and difficult circumstances. But those circumstances become opportunities for God Jesus to be exalted. In those moments — rather than concluding that life is against you, or that someone is out to get you (and sometimes people are out to get you) — you can trust in, cling to, and rely upon Jesus. You can view those events as the opportunity for the unbeliever to know that there is a True and Living God, and His Word is true.

BOTTOM LINE — Is it all about you or is it all about Jesus?

⁸But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” ⁹So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. ¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. ¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

This GREAT MAN — was GREATLY ticked off! He has THREE GREAT PROBLEMS —

FIRST — He expected to be treated like a great man rather than a leper in need of a miracle!

Who am I that this so-called prophet of God would not come to ME in person? I’m no common every-day household variety leper! I’m a GREAT MAN and a GREAT WARRIOR!

SECOND — He also had a problem with the cure!

I THOUGHT – That’s always the mistake of any sinner. “I thought it should be this way or that way.

In his great need Naaman anticipated a way that God would work. He had had made up his mind what the prophet’s method would be, or ought to be.  And he was offended when God didn’t work the way he expected.

We noted that even Christians behave like Naaman when they come to God for answers, help or healing. We can come to God and think that He is going to work in a particular way — perhaps because we saw or heard of how He worked in someone else’s life. The lesson for us was DON’T EXPECT and don’t DEMAND that God work in a particular way and in a particular time frame.

In Naaman’s mind and heart the whole proposal was beneath him. Surely there was a different resource — or more accurately — a better SOURCE for his cure that the ONE prescribed by God! This fits so well from yesterdays study in John 10:9 — I am the door. God doesn’t have many ways to be saved, not even a few ways to be saved! There is only ONE way to be cleansed — JESUS!

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

1 John 1:7 and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Old Hymn — What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

THIRD — He had a problem with the fact that he could do NOTHING to save himself.

KJV — ¹³And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?

NLT — ¹³But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’”

This is a GREAT MAN who is used to CONQUERING things and people; think William Wallace, or Russell Crowe’s Gladiator. He was willing to risk everything for victory. NOW — this great man is told that there is NOTHING that he can do but wash and be clean.

Men and women would RUSH to be Christians if there was something they could add or contribute to their eternal salvation! They want to demonstrate their worthiness to be forgiven. They want to attain to a level of righteousness that they can present to God that would merit their cleansing in His sight.

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Man is INCAPABLE of saving Himself — Even as Naaman was incapable of cleansing himself of leprosy by some great exploit —neither can man save himself from his sin by any religious exploits or efforts!
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

No gift you can bring, no religious work you can perform, no sacrifice you can make, can cleanse you from the leprosy called sin! We can only trust the Good News and wash and be clean!

¹⁴So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Thank God for people like the servants of Naaman —

QUOTE: Fool’s Wisdom — (Malcolm and Alwyn)

Funny how when you think you’re right everybody else must be wrong — Till someone with fools wisdom somehow comes along

His voice was strange and the words he said I didn’t quite understand
 — Yet I knew that He was speaking right by the leather back book in his hand
.

Hey Hey what a day! Fools Wisdom

Naaman did exactly what Elisha told him to do. He literally PLUNGED himself into the Jordan. Each plunge was a step of faith, trusting in the word of God through His prophet.

and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

HUGE — Originally Naamane had looked to the prophet himself for a cure — but Elisha was nowhere near when Naaman was cleansed. He was cleansed from leprosy in such a way that Naaman would know that Elisha’s God is a living person.

QUOTE: Alexander Maclaren — Naaman, heathen-like, wanted something sensuous for his confidence in the prophet’s cure to lay hold upon. If the prophet would only have come out, and done like the sorcerers and magic-workers of whom he had had experience; if he would have come weaving mystical incantations, and calling upon the God whom he worshipped, but whom Naaman did not, and making passes with his hands over the leprous places—then there would have been something for his sense to build upon, and he would have been ready to believe in the prophet’s power to cure. But that was the very thing which the prophet did not want him to believe in. Elisha desired to conceal himself, and to make God’s power prominent. He wished to cure Naaman’s soul of the leprosy of idolatry as well as to cure his body;

HUGE LESSON HERE — As much as possible we should try to “get out of the way” when God is working — be as “transparent” as possible — so that when men and women’s lives are changed there is no doubt that it is the LIVING GOD who has touched and transformed their lives.

1 Corinthians 2:4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

¹⁵Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him. And he said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel; so accept now a present from your servant.”

Instead of hurrying back to Syria cleansed of his disease, Naaman returned to the house of Elisha to thank the Lord and His servant. That meant traveling another thirty miles, but he must have rejoiced during the entire trip.

and he came and stood before him

NOTE — The TRANSFORMING power of the saving faith.

Before — Naaman expected the prophet to come to him. NOW — he returned to the man of God and stood before him. Naaman was a proud leper but humble healed man.

QUOTE: D.L. Moody — “He lost his temper; then he lost his pride; then he lost his leprosy; that is generally the order in which proud rebellious sinners are converted.”

“Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel;

CHECK IT OUT — He has gone from “Behold, I thought” (v. 11) — to “Behold, now I know” (v. 15).

¹⁵….so accept now a present from your servant.” ¹⁶But he said, “As the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none.” And he urged him to take it, but he refused.

It was natural for him to want to reward Elisha. Elisha was wise in declining the gift. Had Elisha received the gift he also would have given this brand new believer the impression that his gifts had something to do with his salvation.

WE GET A GREAT PICTURE HERE OF GENUINE — YET IMPERFECT FAITH.

When we first trust Jesus to save us we are born again — we are like brand new babies in Jesus. In the physical world, no newborn baby is fully developed! Imagine — Congratulations Mr. Cimino — you’re the proud dad of 6’5” 250lbs linebacker! Baby is fine — Mom’s not so fine!

When you are born again into the family of God, you are a like a newborn child. It is the BEGINNING of new life in Jesus. There is a lifetime of learning ahead of you. We are saved and made whole by trusting in God’s grace — but we are told to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.

Naaman had to grow in faith — grow to learn how to live in a way that pleases God who saved him.

¹⁷Then Naaman said, “If not, please let there be given to your servant two mules’ load of earth,

Why would Namaan want DIRT? In those days, people had the idea that the gods of a nation resided in that land, and if you left the land, you left the god behind. But Naaman had just testified that Jehovah was God in all the earth (v. 15)! Naaman has some baggage from his past belief system that had to be dealt with. His brand new faith in God was legitimate! Taking that soil was an act of courageous faith because his master and his friends would surely ask Naaman what was up with the donkey dump trucks filled with dirt! It meant, and he would have to tell them of his faith in the God of Israel. Legit faith — bad theology.

for from now on your servant will not offer burnt offering or sacrifice to any god but the Lord.

THAT is the essence of conversion!

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 ⁹For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, ¹⁰and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.

¹⁸In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm,

We see this same phrase used in 2 Kings 7

2 Kings 7:2; 17 Then the captain on whose hand the king leaned said to the man of God….. ¹⁷Now the king had appointed the captain on whose hand he leaned to have charge of the gate.

It doesn’t mean physical support — it’s a figure of speech similar to our saying —  ‘right hand man’

Naaman has a dilemma — he knows that in the course of his official duties he will still be required to attend the temple of Rimmon—a reference to the storm god Baal-Hadad

¹⁸In this matter may the Lord pardon your servant: when my master goes into the house of Rimmon to worship there, leaning on my arm, and I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, when I bow myself in the house of Rimmon, the Lord pardon your servant in this matter.” ¹⁹He said to him, “Go in peace.”

WHAT’S THE DEAL HERE?

HERE’S THE DEAL — The apostle Paul would write — 1 Corinthians 13:7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. We DO know this much for certain about Naaman — He was no coward. If he was going to go and bow down before an idol with the king of Syria it was not out of fear. What we DON’T know is whether this an attempt to serve Yahweh and still have his position of power along side of the king. Jesus said — You cannot serve two masters. You cannot serve God and mammon (possessions).  We are on solid Biblical grounds to say that You cannot serve God and Molech (sensual pleasure); or You cannot serve God and Baal (pride and power). We DON’T know if in his new but uniformed faith he thought that he would lose the opportunity to share his newfound faith with the king if he refused to go into the temple of Rimmon.

Love would hope and believe the highest motive in Naaman. But right motive doesn’t make a wrong action any less wrong.

It would be like a girl going away to college and getting saved —radically and wonderfully saved. She is never going to live for any other master passion than Jesus. Back home there’s a guy that has been her boyfriend for a long time — he’s is not a believer. She knows that when she goes back home he is going to expect her to go bow down before the same master passions they always used to live for — Party with the same friends, have sex. She knows it knows it is wrong — and in her heart she loves the Lord — and she goes to the person who led her to Christ. She doesn’t ask for permission to sin. She doesn’t ask the person who led her to Christ to approve. But she says — when I get home — if my boyfriend asks me to have sex with him — I will, but in my heart — I’m living for Jesus. So I’m asking the Lord to forgive me in advance.”

REMEMBER — You can have genuine faith — yet it can be FLAWED faith.

Turn with me to Daniel 3

Daniel 3:1-18 King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, whose height was sixty cubits and its breadth six cubits. He set it up on the plain of Dura, in the province of Babylon. ²Then King Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces to come to the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ³Then the satraps, the prefects, and the governors, the counselors, the treasurers, the justices, the magistrates, and all the officials of the provinces gathered for the dedication of the image that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. And they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. ⁴And the herald proclaimed aloud, “You are commanded, O peoples, nations, and languages, ⁵that when you hear the sound of the horn, pipe, lyre, trigon, harp, bagpipe, and every kind of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶And whoever does not fall down and worship shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace.”…. ⁸Therefore at that time certain Chaldeans came forward and maliciously accused the Jews. ⁹They declared to King Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever! ¹⁰You, O king, have made a decree, that every man…… shall fall down and worship the golden image. ¹¹And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a burning fiery furnace. ¹²There are certain Jews whom you have appointed over the affairs of the province of Babylon: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, pay no attention to you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” ¹³Then Nebuchadnezzar in furious rage commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought. So they brought these men before the king. ¹⁴Nebuchadnezzar answered and said to them, “Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? ¹⁵Now if you are ready when you hear the sound of the (instruments)….. to fall down and worship the image that I have made, well and good. But if you do not worship, you shall immediately be cast into a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?” ¹⁶Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. ¹⁸But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.” …..

THAT is mature faith — informed faith! We don’t have to wonder if there is any WRONG motive in their hearts.

Look at the outcome of their faith —

Daniel 3:19-28 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury, and the expression of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace heated seven times more than it was usually heated. ²⁰And he ordered some of the mighty men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. ²¹Then these men were bound in their cloaks, their tunics, their hats, and their other garments, and they were thrown into the burning fiery furnace. ²²Because the king’s order was urgent and the furnace overheated, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. ²³And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, fell bound into the burning fiery furnace. ²⁴Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and rose up in haste. He declared to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” ²⁵He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” ²⁶Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the door of the burning fiery furnace; he declared, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, and come here!” Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out from the fire. ²⁷And the satraps, the prefects, the governors, and the king’s counselors gathered together and saw that the fire had not had any power over the bodies of those men. The hair of their heads was not singed, their cloaks were not harmed, and no smell of fire had come upon them. (The only thing burned were the cords that bound them!)  ²⁸Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and delivered his servants, who trusted in him, and set aside the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies rather than serve and worship any god except their own God.

NOTICE HOW ELISHA RESPONDED —

¹⁹He said to him, “Go in peace.”

Elisha doesn’t give any approval, nor does he voice his disapproval. He didn’t condone, nor condemn. He just wished Naaman the peace of God upon the road back to Syria — that he would not face any dangers or adversity along the way. Literally — Walk in peace. It is hard to walk in peace when the Holy Spirit is convicting us of sin. Your journey in life might be free from financial harm; you might have perfect physical health; you might be the most popular person among your peers. But if the Holy Spirit is convicting you of sin you do not have peace! Elisha was NOT soft on sin. But he was STRONG in faith – believing that the Holy Spirit would gently, yet powerfully, deal with Naaman in regards to this issue and that Naaman would submit to the conviction of the Holy Spirit — and have PEACE.

This is NOT an excuse for anyone to continue in known sin. If you are doing things you KNOW to be outside of the will of God and against the Word of God, you can’t walk out of here tonight saying, Well, in time I’ll get convicted and walk away from that thing. Tonight the

Holy Spirit has been speaking to you. In the book of Hebrews we are told —

Hebrews 3:7 ⁷Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, ⁸ do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

Tonight IS that time of the Holy Spirit dealing with you and speaking to you.

In the book of Hebrews we are told — Hebrews 3:7-8 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear his voice, ⁸ do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

If you DON’T obey  — you WONT walk in peace — because God loves you — and those whom He loves He chastens. Legitimate faith leads to loving discipline! And if you aren’t getting spanked — your faith is illegitimate! You aren’t really a child of God.

2 Kings 5:2-12

Related Topics: Elisha; Gehazi; Syria; Ben Hadad; Naaman; Leprosy; Trials; God Using tragedy; Unwilling Missionary; God Using Weak and Foolish Things; Questioning the Ways of God; Pride; Obedience of Faith; Cleansed of Leprosy; Cleansed From Sin

We pick up this evening in 2 Kings 5:2

REVIEW — The chapter opens by introducing us to a man named Naaman. The Holy Spirit was careful to give us specific information so that we might have a clear picture of the meaning of God’s grace and the scope of God’s grace.

¹Naaman (na‛ămân nah-am-awn’), commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper.

HERE IS NAAMAN — An idol worshipping, hater of the people of God. He has an indescribably horrific, incurable disease. God does not look down from heaven on this guy with a sinister grin — rubbing His hands in glee over Naaman’s condition! Instead — the One, True and Living God — who would be perfectly just in letting Naaman perish in his leprosy — is going to do for Naaman what no man, no fame, no power and no wealth could ever do for him — cleanse him of leprosy!

THAT is who God is! Satan has sold a lot of people a rotten bill of goods concerning God. Many look at God as some infinitely twisted, all powerful ogre who takes great pleasure in throwing people into hell!

HERE’S THE TRUTH about God — God desires to HEAL — to CLEANSE — His enemies of this fatal disease called sin!

We spent a considerable amount of time last week addressing the fact that even Biblically solid Christians cannot grasp the fullness of what grace really is. We intellectually know that grace means (God’s unmerited favor — God doing for us that which we don’t deserve or could never earn); but we somehow think that some people are more deserving of grace than others! There are men and women who, in our minds, are beyond the reach of grace — off the radar of His grace, if you would! That’s the way the first Christians looked at Saul of Tarsus — who would, by the grace of God, become Paul the apostle, the greatest advocate and defender of the Gospel, author of a huge portion of the New Testament, and would die for his faith in Christ.

THE APPLICATION TO OUR LIVES WAS THAT — Before we give up on someone (husband, wife, child, co-worker, neighbor) — we have to remember that we were ALL Naamans! We were at WAR with God!

Romans 5:10; Colossians 1:19-22; James 4:4

We stopped and prayed for that person(s) that we saw beyond the scope of God’s grace! (Are you still praying?)

As we continue to walk through this story of Elisha and Naaman — we are going to learn more about the willingness of God to CLEANSE THIS man of his incurable disease. And as we do we will see the MEANS that God uses to do it.

²Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. ³She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”

THIS IS HUGE — We cannot even BEGIN to think about what it would be like to have one of our children ripped from our homes and taken away into a godless culture to be a slave? We cannot even begin to imagine the ache and emotional devastation on the parents’ part; let alone try to imagine the fear and homesickness on the little girl’s part.

FIRST — We have to get out of our minds the safe and sanitary way that we think God must work. In our minds, God only works in the confines of a friendly, healthy, church world. There is this group and that group that meet and minister to this need and that need. But here we see God wanting to transform the life of a man who is the arch-enemy of God’s plans and purposes wrapped up in the nation of Israel. HOW is God going to accomplish that? He begins by allowing this little girl to ripped out of her home — and brought into Syria — into the house of Naaman — as an unwilling missionary! The little girl who was the victim of this unimaginable cruelty becomes the INSTRUMENT that the Lord would use to let Naaman that there was hope for his hopeless condition! By the means of the heartbreaking loss wrapped up in this little girl’s capture — one of the greatest enemies of God would be brought to the knowledge of the true God.

As we read the Book of Acts we see that God directed a lot of the first missionary journeys of the Church in unconventional, even “messy” ways. Think of Paul and Silas — beaten and thrown into stocks — all for the sake a hard-hearted Philippian jailer who would get saved, along with the rest of his family.

There is a world FULL of Naamans — infected with sin — God wants to reach them.  Sometimes God reaches them by making us unwilling missionaries. I don’t want you to think that I put this on the same level as the circumstances of this little girl and her parents — but Valerie and I remember hearing our daughter Deborah (then in the 5^th grade) crying in her bedroom because she overheard my phone call with Calvary Chapel Grass Valley telling them that we would move up there to pastor the church. In her little heart and mind she was being ripped away from her friends that she had known all her life — from nursery at church on Sunday into the 5^th grade. My wife was incredibly close to her family. She had NEVER been more than 15 minutes away from her mom and dad.  She was 24 years old with two little children — leaving everything she knew and loved — to go with me to a place that none of us had even known about a few months earlier. I was leaving a place in ministry that guys would have died to have — to go to a place that pretty much had everything going for it that I hated — Red dirt, pine trees, flannel shirts and buck knives, and no beach. It is not an exaggeration to say that we felt orphaned there! Again —kidnapped, deported and made a slave — not close! But unwilling missionaries would be an accurate description. But we have had the privilege of seeing a lot of Naamans come to Jesus.

SECOND — Even at such a young age she was able to point Naaman to the ONLY ONE who could save him. That speaks volumes for her spiritual upbringing — she had been brought up to know the True and Living God!  It is so important that we point our children to Jesus — tie in the events of everyday life to the Lord and the Word — invest in their church world!

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

THIRD — Let’s not complain about how godless our work world might be; or our neighborhood might be; our families might be.

QUOTE: F. B. Meyer — Let no one forsake their post in a godless household; because there may be some Naaman, whose life will be given back from death as the result of some simple testimony for God.

⁴So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.”

LET’S NOT MISS — The GREAT MAN of Syria had an incurable problem for which the LITTLE GIRL had the solution!

Here is Naaman — Only the king was more powerful than him. There was none mightier in battle than him. But He was infected with leprosy — incurable; humiliating; debilitating; and deadly — a picture of sin. God delivered the message of hope by way of a little girl.

That which was so weak and so little in the eyes of man became the instrument God would use in transforming the life of a man who was so great in the eyes of man; such a mighty adversary to the plans of God and people of God.

Again we have pictured for us a truth that has filled the pages of the Old Testament. The Lord loves to use WEAK and FOOLISH things.

1 Corinthians 1 27-31 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; ²⁸God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, whom God made our wisdom and our righteousness and sanctification and redemption. ³¹Therefore, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

YOU might feel WEAK and FOOLISH — Not very scholarly — Not very knowledgeable. In God’s economy that makes you highly  qualified. If you feel like a little kid, unwise in your own eyes, then God can use you because you won’t take the glory. You can never say

“Because of my great expertise in Scripture it was obvious that I was the right man for the job.”

Instead you will say —

“Lord, I can’t believe that You would use me, a person so unqualified. YOU are the one who did this thing.”

MORE LESSONS for us as the account continues.

⁴So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” ⁵And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothes.

One commentator estimates that Naaman took more than $1.2 million with him to Israel (Russel H. Dilday – The Communicators Commentary 1-2 Kings). It tells us how desperate Naaman’s condition was, and how badly the King of Syria wanted to help him.

⁶And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” ⁷And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

His panic in v 7 is almost comical if it were not so tragic.

FIRST — We see the radical contrast between a kidnapped, enslaved, little girl and the grown man who is king over the Northern kingdom. The little girl has the simple faith that Elisha was a man of God —the prophet of the True and Living God — and that God would be able to cure Naaman’s disease. In contrast to such simple and radical faith — it never occurred to the king to send Naaman to the man of God.

SECOND — The king of Syria assumed that the king of Israel would have a good relationship with the God of Israel and the prophet of God. What a great little lesson on how easy it is for others to assume that we have a better relationship with God than we really do.

THIRD — Jehoram’s response — Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me” is the only kind of response you can get from a narcissistic idolater. NARCISSIST = Someone with an excessive interest in himself. Narcissism and idolatry are inextricably bound to each other. You serve false gods because, ¹ you don’t want to serve the Living God because such a life centers on God; ² you choose and serve your false gods because you perceive them as serving you! It’s ALL ABOUT you. The little girl in the account, who in the natural had every reason to not believe in and not serve the True and Living God; in simple faith saw the condition of Israel’s hated enemy as an opportunity to prove that Elisha’s God is the True and Living God. Jehoram the idolater could only process the letter in terms of his own self-interests — “The king of Syria’s asking the impossible of me! He’s just looking for an excuse to make war against me!”

⁸But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.”

This is a crisis to you, because you have no relationship with the God who can heal lepers.

The Christian life is not free from impossible and difficult circumstances. But those circumstances become opportunities for God Jesus to be exalted. In those moments — rather than concluding that life is against you, or that someone is out to get you (and sometimes people are out to get you) — you can trust in, cling to, and rely upon Jesus. You can view those events as the opportunity for the unbeliever to know that there is a True and Living God, and His Word is true.

BOTTOM LINE — Is it all about you or is it all about Jesus?

Let him come to me that he might know — I also think that Elisha’s rebuke is intended for anyone here that is trying to live in this fallen world without Jesus — You don’t have to!

⁹So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house.

This was a GREAT MAN — it would have been a GREAT caravan!

QUOTE: Alexander Maclaren — So he comes to the prophet’s humble home in Samaria, and we find him waiting, a suppliant at the gate, with his cavalcade of attendants, and a present worth many thousands of pounds in our English money.

¹⁰And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” ¹¹But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. ¹²Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage.

This GREAT MAN — is now GREATLY ticked off! He has TWO PROBLEMS —

FIRST — He expected to be treated like a great man rather than a leper in need of a miracle!

Who am I that this so-called prophet of God would not come to ME in person? I’m no common every-day household variety leper! I’m a GREAT MAN and a GREAT WARRIOR!

I’ve taken the time and trouble to come to the home of Elisha, but I don’t even get a personal audience.

LISTEN — In God’s economy, apart from Jesus — The MESSAGE is more important than the messenger. The simple servant had the answer for Naaman’s incurable disease.

BY THE WAY — Even in church circles — We have a tendency to place the priority on the MESSENGER rather than the MESSAGE.

“Who is speaking” Who’s playing?” “I’ll only talk to pastor…”

We need to understand what Naaman failed to understand. Differences in social or economic standing are superficial and irrelevant when we stand before God. The Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. God, who is the Great Physician treats us all like lepers — not as rich lepers or powerful lepers or famous lepers. Cancer treats presidents and paupers the same way. We might be intelligent or not so; wise or foolish, educated or ignorant, rich or poor,  — but we are all sinners. We are all infected with the leprosy of sin. The GREAT in the eyes of man might get special treatment at the hands of man — but in dealing with God we must come humbly with no demands.

SECOND — He also had a problem with the cure!

I THOUGHT – That was his first mistake. That’s always the mistake of any leper — Any sinner. “I thought it should be this way or that way.

In his great need — Naaman anticipated a way God would work, and he was offended when God didn’t work the way he expected.

His expectations of how he would be healed were built upon false religious experiences

“I thought, he will come out to me and stand and call upon the name of Jehovah his God, and wave his hand back and forth over my scabs and ulcers!

In the eyes of Naaman it was too simple; had nothing grand or “religious” about it.

QUOTE: Pulpit Commentary — ‘I thought’ prevents redemption from sin and death in the case of thousands! These thousands, if they perish in their opinion, will begin the next life (an eternity in hell) with ‘I thought.’ ”

BY THE WAY — Even believers have a little bit of Naaman when they come to God for answers, help or healing. Naaman had made up his mind what the prophet’s method would be. We can come to God and think that he is going to work in a particular way — perhaps because we saw or heard of how He worked in someone else’s life. We just learned last week that Jesus healed the same condition ion a number of different ways. Don’t walk away mad at God because YOU THOUGHT God was going to work in a particular — but didn’t.

HUGE — The whole picture up to this point is so instructive. ^1. The girl said nothing about kings or gifts — she only pointed to Elisha the prophet and told her mistress what the Lord could do. ^2. Unsaved man is in the dark about God — knows nothing about the things of the Lord and the ways of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 2:14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

In Naaman’s mind and heart the whole proposal was beneath him. Surely there was a different resource — or more accurately — a better SOURCE for his cure that the ONE prescribed by God! God doesn’t have many ways to be saved, not even a few ways to be saved! There is only ONE way to be cleansed — JESUS!

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Acts 4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

1 John 1:7 and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Old Hymn — What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The Gospel of John

The Good Shepherd Part 2

John 10

We began our study of John 10 by setting the context!

In John 8 Jesus made the 2^nd of His great I Am statements — I AM the light of the world. He added to that amazing declaration that whoever followed Him would not ever walk in spiritual darkness, instead they would have the light of life. The religious rulers responded in open opposition to Him.

Directly following that declaration and confrontation Jesus healed a man blind from birth. Those same religious leaders threw the healed man out of the congregation of Israel — CAST him out.

Immediately after this man is CAST out of the nation of Israel by the religious leaders Jesus gives a sneak preview of the beautiful and profound theme of John 10 — John tells us that JESUS FOUND him.

All that Jesus has to say in Chapter 10 is directed at the religious leaders of Israel and is a continuation out the confrontation Jesus had with them after they had excommunicated the man Jesus had healed.

Here in Chapter 10 Jesus used probably the most familiar things in their culture to tell them the TRUTH about who they were and who He is — the image of the shepherd and sheep. Throughout the Old Testament God revealed Himself to Israel as their shepherd and spoke of Israel as His sheep and His flock (Psalm 77:20; Psalm 79:13; Psalm 80:1; Psalm 95:7; Psalm 100:3 and most famously Psalm 23). The promised Messiah was spoken of as a shepherd (Isaiah 40:11). Throughout the Old Testament the people of Israel looked on the king and prophets as shepherds. For background, read (Isaiah 56:9-12; Jeremiah 23:1-4; Ezekiel 34; Zechariah 11).

In order to understand the meaning and application of what Jesus was saying we got our feet wet in the imagery of the chapter

The shepherd and the sheepfold (v.1)

The DOOR and a GATE KEEPER (v.1-3)

Two other DOORS (v.7; 9)

The sheep

Different FOLDS (v.16) and a single FLOCK (v.16).

Those whom Jesus labels as THIEVES and ROBBERS (v1; 8; 10), and WOLVES (v.12) and HIRELINGS (v.12).

Let’s read through the first section of the chapter again

¹“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber

This sheepfold is not heaven, but Israel.

This door is not Jesus — but speaks of rightful access to the sheep of Israel.

Jesus brands the religious leaders as kleptēs and lēs-tēs.

²But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³To him the gatekeeper opens

Gatekeeper = John the Baptizer

The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

Here’s how D.A. Carson put it — Jesus comes to the sheep pen of Judaism, and calls his own sheep out individually to constitute his own messianic ‘flock’.

⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

On this side of heaven — The false shepherds threw the beggar out of the synagogue. But in reality Jesus led him out of Judaism and into His Messianic flock!

⁵A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. ⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

We closed by looking at the NATURE and ACTIONS of the Shepherd and the Sheep

WE PICK UP IN VERSE 8

⁸All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ¹¹I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

⁸ All who ever came before me — From the record of the Old Testament and the New Testament we can safely say that Jesus was not condemning every prophet or servant of God who ever ministered before He came to earth. Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel — and so many more who heard God’s voice and who served him faithfully — right up to John the Baptizer — are not included in this accusation.

It is aimed at those shepherds who cared more for their own gain than for the sheep in their care. We want to note that Jesus said “are thieves and robbers” — not “were thieves and robbers.” That makes it clear that He had the present religious leaders in mind. They were not true shepherds nor did they have the approval of God on their ministry. They did not love the sheep, but instead exploited them and abused them. The beggar was a good example of what the “thieves and robbers” could do.

As we read the four accounts of the life of Jesus it is clear that the religious rulers of Israel were interested only in providing for themselves and protecting themselves. The Pharisees were covetous (Luke 16:14) and even took advantage of the poor widows (Mark 12:40). They turned God’s temple into a den of thieves (Matt. 21:13), and they plotted to kill Jesus so that Rome would not take away their privileges (John 11:49-53).

As we consider the Roman occupation of Israel, I think this can also be a reference to those who pretended to be — or put themselves forth as Messiah — and promised the people freedom, but who lead them into war, suffering and slavery. The freedom that man so desperately needs is not merely political in nature — and can never be achieved by sword and shield. It can only be achieved by a cross. No matter how many people were taken up with the pretenders, those who belong to Jesus will ultimately not recognize those voices.

⁹I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

Here Jesus uses the image of the door for the third time. We noted last week that Jewish shepherds kept their sheep in two kinds of sheepfolds. In the first five verses we were introduced to the sheepfold in the town or city. The first door had to do with the privilege of access to the sheepfold. The second is Jesus Himself being the way OUT of the mixed sheepfold of Israel. THIS door has to do with the sheepfold that was used out in the country. It was like a low-walled corral made of stone with a narrow opening in front. A man named Sir George Adam Smith was traveling through the land of Israel and came upon one of these sheepfolds. There was one man left there at the fold and he just laid down in the doorway. George Adam Smith asked him — Where’s the door? And this man replied — I am the door.  No one goes in or out without me knowing it.  No one comes in any other way.  I am the door. Here — Jesus is THE DOOR — the DOOR of SALVATION — the sole means by which the sheep may enter and be saved from destruction and be led into abundance.

HERE’S THE PICTURE

We are all by nature and choice sinners — separated and far from God. We came into this world with hearts and minds alienated from God — at war with God. The longer we live we become more and more alienated from Him, by practice.

Colossians 1:21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,

Romans 8:7 NLT For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. ⁸That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.

Romans 8:7 KJV Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

Here Jesus answers the greatest questions of the heart — “How can I draw near to God? How can I be justified? How can a sinner like me be reconciled to my Maker?”

THIS IS SO AWESOME — Remember the voice of the burning bush saying to Moses — I AM. Now that same voice is saying I AM the door. There’s no other way to enter, no other entrance, no other way in. Religion can not gain you entrance. RELIGION is from Latin religare = ‘to bind or to re-link. Religion is man’s attempt to re-link by works and rituals with a holy God.  It is impossible for sinners to re-link with God, Who is holy.  It’s impossible.

But there’s a door to that other world.  There’s a door to that fold.  There’s a way — Jesus is that door.  He’s the one who alone can connect us with the True, Living and Holy God.  Paul would write — There’s one mediator between God and man — the man Jesus Christ.  There’s a door, a portal, an opening, through Christ, to Heaven. It is undeserved, unearned, and beyond our ability to purchase — but it’s there! Jesus said — Anybody who enters by me will be saved.

Please note — the definite article.  I AM the door.  It doesn’t say — I’m one of many doors.  Jesus makes it unmistakably clear — I AM, to the exclusion of all others, the one and only door.  That is so not 21^st century inclusive! But as exclusive as it is — it is also an all inclusive invitation. If anyone enters —if any man come to me — whosoever believes.  That is pretty inclusive.

Some find it shocking and remarkable that there is only ONE way — ONE door. It isn’t remarkable that there’s only one way to be saved and enter Heaven.  The remarkable thing is that there is A way to be saved and enter Heaven.

By His sacrifice for us on the cross — He has opened the way through the great barrier and gulf of sin! By His sacrifice for us on the cross — He has turned away the wrath of God (propitiation) and removed the guilt of our sin from us (expiation) for sinners.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God,

Ephesians 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Hebrews 10:19-22 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh…. ²²let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience…..

Hebrews 7:25 ²⁵Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

In the greatest and most profound sense — Jesus is “the door.” No one can come to the Father but by Him (John 14:6)

QUOTE: J.C. Ryle — Let us take heed that we use this door, and do not merely stand outside looking at it. It is a door free and open to the chief of sinners — If anyone enters by me, he will be saved…. The day comes when this door will be shut forever, and men shall strive to enter in, but not be able. Then let us make sure work of our own salvation. Let us not stand tarrying outside, and halting between two opinions. Let us enter in and be saved.

⁹ …If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

I WANT TO LOOK AT THIS FROM SEVERAL ANGLES

THE OBVIOUS — There are those who have bought into the lies of false religious systems. They end up losing their souls and will forever suffer torment in hell.

THERE ARE THOSE who have, and still do look for salvation by way of humanistic, political saviors — the Hitlers, the Stalins, the Maos, the Pol Pots — and it isn’t until it’s too late that they learn that such “saviors”

steal — blatantly confiscate personal property

kill — ruthlessly trample human life under foot

destroy — they savage and ruin all that is valuable.

THIS IS SO HUGE — It is not the Christian doctrine of heaven that is the myth. The real myth — the real lie — is the humanist dream of a utopia created by, governed by, and sustained by man.

Behind ALL of those thieves and robbers is Satan. In John 8:44 Jesus talked about Satan, the god of this world — and Jesus called him a murder, a liar from the beginning. He is the one governing what the New Testament calls the course of this world.

Approximately 600,000 teenagers in American — walking according the course of this world — try to commit suicide every year.  Over 6,000 succeed.  There’s a lie attached to that.  I can’t take it anymore.  I’m going to end this and then the pain will stop.  It’s a way out.  It is not a way out.  It’s just when eternity begins.  It’s not an end at all — the LIE, the DELUSION, is that we’re just physical, and when physical life is ended — we end.  No, no, no, we’re spiritual.  We’re dwelling in a physical body, but we are spiritual.  It’s proved every night! Every night you dream — no light in the room, no sound in the room.  Yet in your dream there’s light and sound.  It’s very real — especially if you’re running from a monster. You wake up — Your heart’s POUNDING! You’re sweating. It was real where you were. You experienced a REALITY beyond the material and beyond the physical.

And there is a very real hell awaiting those who refuse to enter through THE door. And there is someone out there who lies and deceives and would love to take life, physical life and ultimately spiritual life.

he will be saved

They have salvation! This word “saved” means “delivered safe and sound.” We used to use that word about a person who had recovered from severe illness, come through a bad storm, survived a war, or was acquitted at court. Some modern preachers want to do away with an “old-fashioned” word like “saved,” but Jesus used it!

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

HUGE — SAVED — Saved FROM and saved TO.

As the Door, Jesus delivers sinners from bondage and leads them into freedom.

Friday Morning’s Bible Bus — Psalm 18:17-19 he drew me out of many waters.
¹⁷He rescued me from my strong enemy
 and from those who hated me,
  for they were too mighty for me.
¹⁸They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
 but the LORD was my support.
¹⁹He brought me out into a broad place;
 he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

As the Door, Jesus delivers sinners from bondage and leads them into freedom.

Jesus died on the cross to not only bring us to God — but He died that we might have life and have it abundantly.

Satan would love for you to think that if you enter by Jesus you won’t be saved — you’ll lose all (friends, career). Satan would love for you to think that if you enter by Jesus you will have a miserable life! (never have a good time again — lead a life of dreary religion, carry around a 20 pound Bible, Drink milk and go to bed at 8:00).

The enemy of your soul is a LIAR — He wants to ROB you — rip you off from ETERNAL life, ABUNDANT life.

Jesus IS life — Colossians 3:4 When Christ who IS your life shall appear

Knowing Jesus IS eternal life — John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Knowing Jesus IS abundant life — Abundant Life could be translated —“that they may live completely.” Apart from Jesus we only live physically and emotionally — we merely exist! But knowing Jesus means that we live “completely and wonderfully.” Going in and out speaks of liberty and security! Finding pasture describes the life-sustaining force that is given to the believer. We find in Jesus the bread of life and the water of life — and he provides his sheep with pasture that sustains them.

The Gospel of John

The Good Shepherd

John 10

We pick up in our study of John’s Gospel this morning in John Chapter 10.

We want to begin by setting the context!

We want remember that when John wrote this there was no Chapter 10. There were no chapter divisions in the original manuscripts. They are not Divinely inspired. They were inserted in the early 1200s. This was done for much the same reason your house and my house has numbers in front of them. These chapters are like ADDRESSES by which we can find the location of particular events, persons, or truths.  So John doesn’t say — “I think I’ll write CHAPTER 10.” He simply continues the account of what we call Chapter 9

In John 9 we were introduced to a man born blind. While teaching in the Temple Jesus had declared Himself to be the Light of the World — and if anyone followed Him they would not walk in spiritual darkness, instead they would have the light of life. As they’re leaving the Temple precincts Jesus and His disciples come upon him. He was sitting in the dust of the earth — blind and begging in the temple precincts. His entire life was spent in utter physical darkness. The disciples wanted to talk ABOUT him — not to him. They saw the man as a topic for theological discussion. To Jesus he was a person — a human being to be pitied and needing the healing touch of God. Jesus spits in the dust and makes mud, puts it on the eyes of this man and commands him to go wash in the pool of Siloam. The man went and washed and came back seeing. What followed was bizarre. Rather than rejoice over his healing they brought the healed man before the religious leaders. They told the healed man that Jesus was not of God because He had healed on the Sabbath.  Besides that — these religious leaders didn’t even believe that he ever was blind.  They interrogated his parents and they assured the religious leaders that this was indeed their son, and that he was indeed born blind. They bring the healed man back for questioning and he insists that it was Jesus who opened his eyes. They become incensed — Who are you?  You were born in sin. And in 9:34 we are told that they threw him out of the synagogue.  They excommunicated him. They cut him off from Israel. Literally they CAST him out. The word is ἐκβάλλω ekballō. It is a very IMPORTANT WORD because we find it used in John 10. Draw a line in your Bibles from John 9:34 to John 10:4.

Immediately after the man is cut off from his family, and in the mind of the Jews, cut off from God — we are given a beautiful preview of the profound theme of John 10 — John tells us that JESUS FOUND him. Upon finding him Jesus asks —

John 9:35 do you believe in the Son of man (some versions read son of God?)

The healed man says —

John 9:36-38 ³⁶Who is he, Lord that I might believe? ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” ³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

The chapter closes with Jesus blasting the Pharisees — He tells these men who claimed to be the spiritual guides of Israel that their spiritual pride had left them blind and guilty before God.

John then immediately moves into the opening words of what we call Chapter 10 — Truly, truly, I say to you. Again — with these words Jesus sets Himself forward as the truth-teller in a world of lies. Again we are tethered to the prologue — full of grace and truth.

Jesus is claiming to be the only source of truth on the subject matter that is to follow. He challenges us to listen to Him over and above anyone else who has something to say in the subject He is addressing

The Holy Spirit captures this moment of profound revelation and confrontation. Jesus used things incredibly familiar to his listeners to tell them the TRUTH about who they were and who He is.

This teaching moment is taking place is Jerusalem, which is located in the southern region of Israel known as Judah. The heart of Judea was a central plateau that stretched from Bethel to Hebron — a distance of about 35 miles North and South and 14 to 17 miles East and West. The ground was rough and stony — making Judaea much more pastoral than agricultural. Because of that, that the most familiar figure of the Judean uplands was the shepherd.

The life of the shepherd was incredibly hard! No flock ever grazed without a shepherd — that meant that he was never off duty. I used to picture the shepherd/sheep portions of Scripture through the lens of the Yorkshire Dales in England. There you find countless sheep grazing in endless, lush green pastures — the sheep safely hemmed in by hedgerows and dry stonewalls. That was BEFORE I went to Israel and discovered that the pastoral realities in Judea are the antithesis of those in England. Instead of endless fields of green there are endless miles dirt and rock with grass growing up between the rocks. The scarcity of grass causes the sheep to constantly wander in search of places to graze. There are no hedgerows or dry stonewalls to contain and protect the sheep — so the sheep have to be constantly watched. On either side of that long, narrow, plateau you see countless places were the ground drops away — where the sheep can fall and be hurt.

The life of the shepherd was not only daunting in terms of constant watchfulness — it was dangerous. The shepherd had to guard the flock against wild animals — especially against wolves. There were always thieves and robbers ready to steal the sheep. Constant vigilance, courage, and patient love for his flock, were the necessary characteristics of the shepherd.

QOUTE: Sinclair Ferguson — In talking about growing up in Scotland and watching shepherds with sheep — he said that shepherds always mystified him as a kid. He said that growing up he and his friends just wanted to get out of the country into to the city to have a real life.  He said every day he would see these shepherds go out early in the morning into the field with their sheep — sit with their sheep all day long — and then come back again at night.  Ferguson said that for years he wondered — “What in the world would possess anyone to want to be a shepherd?  They smell.  They’re dumb.”  Then he told of how one day, as a grown man, the Lord spoke to his heart and said — “Don’t you understand? These are men who love sheep.”

That is why shepherd and sheep are the perfect metaphor to reveal the heart of God in caring for man — and in particular the nation of Israel.

Psalm 77:20 You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Psalm 79:13 But we your people, the sheep of your pasture, will give thanks to you forever;

Psalm 80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock You who are enthroned upon (dwell between) the cherubim, shine forth.

Psalm 95:7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Psalm 100:3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

We also find in the Old Testament that God’s Anointed One, the Messiah, is pictured as the shepherd of the sheep.

Isaiah 40:11 He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

While shepherd is the perfect metaphor to reveal the heart of God towards man — sheep is the perfect metaphor to describe mankind in general — and the nation of Israel in particular — because the greatest need of the sheep is to have a shepherd.

QUOTE: Phillip Keller: A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23 — Among the animal kingdom sheep seem to have come out on the short end. From all accounts they are of limited intelligence. When it comes to finding food, they are definitely uncreative. As creatures of habit, they will follow paths through desolate places even though not far away is excellent forage. Sheep are also given to listless wandering. They are definitely at the lower end of the intelligence scale. There are even accounts of their walking into an open fire! Shepherds confirm that they are timid and stubborn. They can be frightened by the most ridiculous things, though at other times nothing can move them. Furthermore, of all the animals subject to husbandry, they take the most work.^[1]

Sheep have no sense of direction. If they go over the crest of a hill they have no idea where they are or how to get back. Sheep are absolutely defenseless. There is no way a sheep can defend itself. You never hear of attack sheep! I’ve seen a lot of old WW II movies depicting a German soldier walking the fence line of a POW camp — Have you ever ONCE seen one of those guards with a sheep on the end of his a leash instead of a German Shepherd?

To top it all off, sheep are prone to wander. The Bible tells us that All we like sheep have gone astray (Isaiah 53). Prone to wander — No sense of direction —Defenseless. All of that screams to us that Sheep need a shepherd. God says that HE is the shepherd that man so desperately needs.

The most famous of the Old Testament references to the shepherd heart of God is Psalm 23, which opens with the words — 

יהוה yehôvâh רעה râ‛âh — The Lord is my shepherd.

As we work through the chapter we are going to find Jesus using characters and terms that were (and still are today) wrapped up in that pastoral culture.

The first — and most important figure — is the shepherd (6x in the chapter). Jesus is going to say — I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD (v.14). This is huge — because with the amazing words I am the Good Shepherd, Jesus declares that HE is yehôvâh râ‛âh of Psalm 23.

Here are the other terms and characters that fill the chapter. We are going to read about a SHEEPFOLD (v.1). There is a DOOR and a GATE KEEPER (v.1-3). There are TWO other DOORS (v.7; 9). Throughout the chapter there are 13 references to THE SHEEP. We will learn that there are different FOLDS (v.16) and a single FLOCK (v.16). Then there are those whom Jesus labels as THIEVES and ROBBERS (v1; 8; 10), and WOLVES (v.12) and HIRELINGS (v.12).

Jesus chose to use all of these figures of speech (v.6) to instruct his listeners (and you and me) about the NATURE and BEHAVIOR of THE GOOD SHEPHERD — the NATURE and BEHAVIOR of HIS SHEEP — the NATURE and BEHAVIOR of the FALSE SHEPHERDS and HIRELINGS.

Let’s read through the first section of the chapter

¹“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. ²But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. ⁷ So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. ⁸All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. ⁹I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. ¹¹I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹²He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. ¹³He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, ¹⁵just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. ¹⁷For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. ¹⁸No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Verse 1 — the sheepfold

Jewish shepherds kept their sheep in two kinds of sheepfolds. If they were out in the country, the sheepfold was like a low-walled corral made of stone with a narrow opening in front. We will come to that sheepfold in a while. If they were in town, the fold was much bigger — it was structurally larger and sturdier. It was essentially an enclosed communal corral. THAT is the sheepfold of Verse1. It was not uncommon for this sheepfold to be part of a family courtyard. There would be several flocks brought into that sheepfold in the evening. Those flocks were committed to the care of the gatekeeper or porter for the night.

Knowing that those listening understood this imagery perfectly — Jesus says

¹ …he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.

The only reason anyone would climb over the wall is because they KNEW that the gatekeeper/porter would not recognize them as the legitimate shepherd of one of those flocks.  Jesus used two powerful words to describe those who were not legitimate and true shepherds of those sheep —

κλέπτης kleptēs — THIEF

λστης lēs-tēs — ROBBER.

The difference between thief and robber is that the thief employs stealth and deception to steal, while the robber uses violence to take the property of another.^[2] Here are a couple of insights that can help us to put a face to the thief and the robber —

Judas (the man who embezzled money from the funds given to support Jesus and His disciples, and who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver) is called kleptēs — a THIEF (John 12:6).

Barabbas (the man the Jews chose over Jesus to be released by Pontius Pilate) is called lēs-tēs — a ROBBER (John 18:40).^[3]

The THIEF and the ROBBER — were not truly shepherds. They were only interested in stealing or wounding the sheep. They had no right to the sheep — and had to avoid the gate.

²But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. ³To him the gatekeeper opens.

The gatekeeper was responsible for protecting the sheep during the night. In the morning he made sure that ONLY THE LEGITIMATE SHEPHERD could enter the sheepfold and have access to the sheep. In contrast to the thief and the robber — Jesus says that the genuine shepherds of the sheep would simply knock on the door of the sheepfold because they knew that the gatekeeper/porter would recognize them as the legitimate shepherds of the sheep and would open to them and they would enter through the gate.

This whole picture is incredibly simple and clear in the minds of those listening — but the application of these familiar images are going to blow their minds!

HERE’S THE PICTURE — The sheepfold (v.1) is not heaven — it’s the nation of Israel. In this chapter Jesus makes it clear that the sheepfold is the nation of Israel

John 10:16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

The Gentiles are the “other sheep.” They are not of the fold of Israel. Remember also —

Psalm 80:1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock You who are enthroned upon (dwell between) the cherubim, shine forth.

Psalm 95:7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Psalm 100:3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Time and again the Old Testament Scriptures referred to the political and religious leaders of Israel as the shepherds of God’s people. The thieves and the robbers represent the men who ruled over Israel that were not legitimate shepherds. They were men who were far from the heart of yehôvâh râ‛âh. Yet they PRETENDED to be shepherds over God’s people out of selfish motives!

Ezekiel 34:1-10 The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? ³You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. ⁴The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them (sounds like the religious leaders of Chapter 9 in their dealings with the man who had been healed by Jesus). ⁵So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. ⁶My sheep were scattered; they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. ⁷“Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, ⁹therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ¹⁰Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves.

The men spoken of in Ezekiel 34 were thieves and robbers in the sheepfold of Israel. Here in John 10 Jesus is telling the religious leaders of Chapter 9 that they were cut from the same piece of cloth as the pretend shepherds of Ezekiel 34! Jesus is calling the religious leaders of John 9 thieves and robbers because, like the shepherds of Ezekiel 34, they were more interested in fleecing the sheep than guiding, and guarding them. They fed themselves, and have not fed God’s sheep — with force and harshness they ruled over the healed man, casting him out and cutting him off from the social and religious life in Israel.

After publically branding these men as thieves and robbers — Jesus identifies Himself as the true Shepherd of Israel. In the last line of Ezekiel 34:10 God says — I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. The door in this verse is not Jesus. It represents lawful access to the sheep and recognition as the true shepherd. Jesus is God Incarnate (prologue) come to the sheepfold of Israel. Jesus didn’t need to sneak into the nation and take sheep for Himself by force or guile. Jesus came to Israel just as the Old Testament Scripture had promised (Isaiah 40:11) — the gatekeeper (believed by most scholars to be John the Baptizer) recognized Jesus as the shepherd of Isaiah 40:11 and opened the door for Him.

PRESENT APPLICATION: In a sense those involved as pastors in the Body of Christ should be like the gatekeeper/porter in that they should be quick and vigilant to recognize Jesus as the Good Shepherd and welcome Him into the portion of the flock that He has given them to watch over. Towards the end of the first century Jesus was actually left outside of the Church in Laodicea — Behold I stand at the door and knock (Revelation 3:20). May we never see Jesus outside the door of this assembly, knocking and asking to come in. May He always be recognized as the TRUE and GOOD SHEPHERD. May we always invite Him to speak to His sheep — call His sheep — lead His sheep.

QUOTE: J.C. Ryle — The false shepherd of souls is he who enters the ministerial office with little or no thought about Christ, from worldly and self-exalting motives, but from no desire to exalt Jesus, and the great salvation that is in Him. Christ, in one word, is the grand touchstone of the minister of religion. The man who makes much of Christ is a pastor after God’s own heart, whom God delights to honor. The minister who makes little of Christ is one whom God regards as an impostor–as one who has climbed up to his holy office not by the door, but by “some other way.”

³….The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. ⁵A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” ⁶This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. ⁷So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

There is so much for us here that we are going to have to walk through it a couple of times.

³….The sheep (all of the sheep in the pen) hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

HIS LISTENERS KNEW HOW THAT WORKED

When the true shepherds arrived at the communal sheepfold in the morning — they didn’t have to separate out their own sheep one by one. Each shepherd would separate his own sheep by merely calling to them —all the sheep heard that one shepherd’s voice, but only that shepherd’s sheep responded. His would push their way through the other sheep and make their way to their own him.

QUOTE: William Barclay — H. V. Morton tells of a scene that he saw in a cave near Bethlehem. Two shepherds had sheltered their flocks in the cave during the night. How were the flocks to be sorted out? One of the shepherds stood some distance away and gave his peculiar call which only his own sheep knew, and soon his whole flock had run to him, because they knew his voice. They would have come for no one else, but they knew the call of their own shepherd.

HERE’S THE PICTURE —

Jesus has already branded these religious leaders as blind in Chapter 9, and as false shepherds, thieves and robbers, here in Chapter 10. Now Jesus declares that He is not only the True Shepherd, but as the promised shepherd of Ezekiel 34 and Isaiah 40 He was leading His own sheep OUT of that sheepfold.

FIRST — Think of the nation of Israel — It is a nation — a political state that is built upon two inseparable things — ethnicity (They descend from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) and religion. THAT is the sheepfold that would contain the flock of the Lord — In fact from that sheepfold would come the Lamb of God! Jesus is going to lead His sheep out of THAT sheepfold.

Again — let’s remember the picture — the physical enclosure that Jesus is using as an object lesson. It contained several flocks — each answering to the voice of it’s own shepherd. I can’t help but think of the various sects within Israel. Some in Israel were the followers of the Pharisees (The hyper-legalists who added their man made traditions and laws to the Word of God). Some were followers of the Sadducees (They didn’t believe in miracles or angels or resurrection — they literally subtracted from the Word of God). Some were followers of the Herodians (They were willing to make spiritual compromises for the sake of political favor). Some were followers of the zealots (They advocated the violent overthrow of Roman rule). By way of this metaphor Jesus says — I am the legitimate and true shepherd of Israel; and as such have access to the sheep of Israel. Jesus is saying that among the various sheep in the sheepfold of Israel — He has his own sheep.

THEN — in verse 7 Jesus refers to Himself as “The door of the sheep.” THIS door is not the door into heaven. Jesus declares that He is the door of the sheepfold — and BY HIM it is possible for the sheep to leave the fold (the religion of Judaism) and to enter His flock. So we have the picture of Jesus leading men and women out of the sheepfold of Israel.

BY THE WAY — This is not the end of Israel as a nation. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says in Chapter 11 that there is still a remnant of His sheep in the nation of Israel. The Old Testament promises a yet future day when the Nation of Israel will recognize Jesus. At present, there are individual Jews being led out of that sheepfold (out tour guide in in Israel, Steve – our friend Amir Tsarfati); but Jesus is at this time primarily calling sheep that are not of the fold of Israel.

Here’s how D.A. Carson put it — Jesus comes to the sheep pen of Judaism, and calls his own sheep out individually to constitute his own messianic ‘flock’.

In the very real history of Israel there is an amazing foreshadowing and picture of this. We find it in the Old Testament Book of Numbers. There in Numbers 27:15–17 Moses prays for a successor who will lead the people of God out and bring them in ‘so that the LORD’s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd’. Check this out — The name of the man that the Lord says will succeed Moses in Israel’s history is recorded in the very next verse of Numbers 27 — His name is Joshua, which in Greek, is ‘Jesus’.

⁴When he has brought out all his own,

A quick stop on this phrase brought out. We mentioned earlier that it is the same Greek word translated as CAST him out — κβάλλω ekballō — back in Chapter 9. On the human side this man was being CAST OUT by man — but on the heavenly side He was being BROUGHT OUT by Jesus. The Pharisees threw the beggar out of the synagogue, but Jesus led him out of Judaism and into His Messianic flock!

he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.

In the western world — shepherds drive the sheep from the back of the flock, often using a sheep dog. The shepherds in the land of the Bible in the day of Jesus (and even today) lead their flocks — they lead by their voice — they lead by calling them on.

⁵A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

STORY: (Unknown Source) — A man in Australia was arrested and charged with stealing a sheep. But he claimed emphatically that it was one of his own that had been missing for many days. When the case went to court, the judge was puzzled, not knowing how to decide the matter. At last he asked that the sheep be brought into the courtroom. Then he ordered the plaintiff (the accuser) to step outside and call the animal. The sheep made no response except to raise its head and look frightened. The judge then instructed the defendant (the man accused of stealing the sheep) to go to the courtyard and call the sheep. When the accused man began to make his distinctive call, the sheep bounded toward the door. It was obvious that he recognized the familiar voice of his master.

HERE’S THE PICTURE — To not know the difference between truth and error…. the doctrine of Christ and the doctrine of man, is a sure proof that you are do not belong to Jesus.

⁶This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. ⁷So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

There are THREE DOORS in this first half of the chapter and we don’t want to confuse them —

“The door into the sheepfold” (v. 1) — Jesus came to Israel through the way appointed in Scripture; the gatekeeper/porter (John the Baptizer) opened the door for Him.

“The door of the sheep” (v. 7) — This is the door that leads people out of their present fold — in this case, Judaism. Jesus, Himself, is the way out. Jesus Himself opened the way for multitudes to leave the old religious system and find new life.

In Verse 9 we find Jesus, Himself, to be The door of salvation (v. 9).

In closing I want us to visit some huge truths about the Shepherd and His sheep.

Concerning the Shepherd —

he calls his own sheep by name

The whole of the Christian life is intensely personal between the individual believer and the Lord Jesus Christ. That life BEGINS with Jesus calling us BY NAME.

He goes before His sheep

In virtually every picture of God shepherding His people in the Old Testament — that is the place we find Him. “He leads me by the still waters — He leads me in the paths of righteousness” — ”You lead thy people like a flock.”

HUGE — Jesus goes before His sheep in everything with one exception — the experience of sin. With this single exception — “He was tempted in all points like as we are.”

He knows what it is to be hungry, tired, persecuted, despised, rejected, and sorrowful. He knows what it is to have a loved one die (we will see this in Chapter 11). He knows what it is suffer physically — and He knows what it is to face death. It is so wonderful and so important for you and me to know this morning that no matter how strange or hard our path might seem — Jesus has gone before us. There is no need for us to fear because we are following the lover of our souls.

QUOTE: F.B. Meyer — It may be that you cannot discern Him; but this makes no real difference. Dare to believe that if you are in his place–that is, if you are treading a path which is clearly marked out for you by inevitable circumstances and by unmistakable inward promptings, although you cannot see Him, and the way seems lonely, yet–that He is just before you; the darkness veils, but does not obliterate Him; the Lord is going before you, and the Holy One is your reward.

There is going to be so much more for us to learn about the Good Shepherd as we study through the rest of this chapter.

Concerning the sheep —

FIRST — I believe that verse 3 certainly implies what theologians call election. It is possible to infer that they were His sheep even prior to being called by Him. But I believe that the context does not stress election — rather it stresses identification — by that I mean that it is stressing the behavior that proves that you belong to Jesus — the trademark, if you would, of those who truly are HIS OWN SHEEP.  Jesus has His own sheep. There are those men and women who belong to Jesus and those who do not belong to Jesus. The thing that identifies you as belonging to Jesus is that you hear His voice and you follow. That is a part of the spiritual DNA, if you would, of the sheep that belong to Jesus.

SECOND — They follow the shepherd anywhere. THAT is a trademark of His sheep. No one has a right to claim to be one of Christ’s sheep if he or she lives in willful, persistent, open disobedience, and refuses to do something about it. Just as there are false shepherds, so there are goats that try to pass for sheep. One day Christ will say to them, “I never knew you” (Matt. 7:23).

Becoming a Christian begins in eternity (Eph 1 – chosen before the foundations of the earth). But it transpires in life with Jesus saying — FOLLOW ME. It implies FAITH and OBEDIENCE and DEPENDENCE. If you belong to Jesus you trust in Him, look to Him for direction and help as each moment needs. Sometimes following Jesus requires us to believe in Him against everything we see and every emotion we feel. If we lean to our own understanding we will end up lost, hungry and wounded.

FOLLOWING JESUS — From the first moment we hear His voice and step out of the fold to follow Him, we embark on a life of faith — in which Jesus goes before us and we follow Him. That’s why we are told that the just shall live by faith. That’s why Paul would say — this life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. That’s why we are told to be looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The Word of God is essential to the life of faith – Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word if God.

RESPONSE

Turn to Psalm 23

In the 23^rd Psalm David is reflecting on the many years he spent in the fields with his father’s sheep.  Perhaps he was even thinking of the patriarch Jacob saying to Pharaoh — the Lord hath led me and fed me these many years. Surely he must have reflected on his own life — all of his failings as well as all of his successes. And yet as an older man he would say — “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” Following Jesus offers security that no human achievement or success can provide.

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. ³ He restores my soul. How many times has he done that for you and me?  When we’ve been shot at, worn out, discouraged — Jesus restores our soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. ⁴ Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death — and many of us have walked there, the valley of deepest darkness — I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. That’s the ultimate consolation.  You know — over and over again if you search the Scriptures for the cure to fear — it’s always the same.  Fear not, for I am with thee. I will fear no evil for thou art with me.

As we FOLLOW Jesus we come to know His strength and His power keeping us, His love, His grace.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. I love this —  ⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. It can be translated — goodness and mercy shall hunt me all of the days of my life. Isn’t it remarkable that men and women spend their entire life hunting for security or for wealth or for pleasure — but the man or woman who really knows the Lord as a shepherd, KNOWS HIS VOICE and FOLLOWS Him — can say surely goodness and mercy will hunt me.

And if all that weren’t enough — FOLLOWING JESUS ends with and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

QUOTE: F.B. Meyer — The memory of his agony and death shall ever be with us, nerving us to believe that He loves us too much, that we have cost Him too much, for it ever to be possible that we should be forsaken or neglected. And so at last we shall be folded with all the flock beside in those sweet pasture lands, in which the Lamb leads his flock unto living fountains of water, and God wipes away all tears from our eyes.

Jesus is calling men and women this morning!

^[2] Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John. Helps for translators; UBS handbook series (323). New York: United Bible Societies.

^[3] Robertson, A. (1997). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Jn 10:1). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.

The Gospel of John

The Blind Man – Part 3

John 9

¹As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent).

Last week we made the observation that in this miracle, Jesus took all the initiative. The blind man did not come to Jesus and ask to be healed, Jesus came to Him. Jesus, the Light of the World, is the initiator. Jesus, the Light of the World is the healer. But as we will see in a moment — Though Jesus is the initiator and healer — he expected the blind man to respond in faith —  “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent).

A little history here — In 701 BC Sennacherib, king of Assyria, was about to invade Jerusalem. King Hezekiah knew that he had to secure the water supply for the city in the event that the Assyrians laid siege to the city.  His strategy was to cut through solid rock and make a tunnel or conduit from the spring outside of the city walls into the city (2Chr 32:2-8; 2Chr 32:30; Isa 22:9-11; 2Ki 20:20). Had they cut through the rock in a straight line it would have been a distance of 366 yards (3 ½ football fields) — but because they had to cut in a zig-zag patter, the conduit is actually 583 yards (nearly 6 football fields). The tunnel is at places only about two feet wide, but its average height is about six feet. The engineers began their cutting from both ends and met in the middle — a truly amazing engineering feat.

The Pool of Siloam was the place where the water sent from outside of the city was collected. It was an open air basin twenty by thirty feet. That is how the pool got its name. It was called Siloam — or sent —  because the water in it had been sent — one could almost say in a miraculous way — through the 6 plus football fields of conduit into the city.

NOW — The man born blind was SENT — to wash in this pool called SENT. What a beautiful picture of how the only way to have our spiritual blindness healed is to go to the One miraculously SENT into this world by the Father to WASH us — and SHINE into our hearts the light of the knowledge of the glory of God.

We pick up in that same verse —

So he went and washed and came back seeing. ⁸The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹He answered, “The man called Jesus

INTERESTING — They ask HOW! We are going to see that the question HOW were you healed? is going to be asked FOUR times. They were all asking the wrong question! We are so prone to ask THAT question because there is something in our pride that needs to understand the mechanics of a miracle — the mechanics of salvation — rather than simply trusting the Savior — who alone can save — who alone can perform the miracle. Remember — Nicodemus wanted to know how he could reenter his mother’s womb (John 3:4; 9). Rememeber — The people wanted to “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” (John 36:52). Intellectual understanding is no guarantee that we have genuine faith — no guarantee that we will experience salvation; experience the miracle.

The people are asking HOW — the healed man answered WHO! Salvation is ALL ABOUT the WHO. Yes, there is a HOW — death on the cross. But the WHO on the cross is most important. Only the sacrifice of the sinless Son of God is sufficient to pay the penalty for our sins. Only the blood of God’s Son can cleanse a man from all sin. Only the sinless Son of God could lay down His life and then take it up again — thus conquering death and guaranteeing our salvation.

made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹²They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

Here we see the role of Jesus  — and the responsibility of man. On another occasion Jesus said to a man with a withered hand —

Luke 6:8-10 “Come and stand here.” And he rose and stood there. ⁹And Jesus said to them, “I ask you, is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to destroy it?” ¹⁰And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored.

In each of those cases their physical healing was conditional on compliance with His conditions.

HERE’S THE PICTURE — Obedience brings sight. He was the recipient of the miracle because he OBEYED the healer. A wonderful picture of what the New Testament calls the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:15; 16:26) and obeying the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17).

Many men and women are still groping in spiritual darkness — without God and having no hope — because in their spiritual pride they insist on knowing HOW God can save us by the bloody and brutal death of a man nailed to a cross in 32 AD in a land filled with dirt and rocks! In their pride they view salvation as a mystery to be unlocked, a riddle to be solved — and if they can only discover the HOW of being saved, they will have “saved “ themselves. That is why so many people buy into very complicated, complex systems of religion that demand they must understand and do so many things!

Jesus didn’t make it complicated —

Mark 1:14-15 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, ¹⁵and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

LISTEN — There are a TON of genuine Christians who are struggling with particular issues because they want to know HOW God is going to save their marriage or their kids or their jobs or whatever. There comes a time when you must lay aside the HOW and trust the WHO! Obey what you do know — husbands love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it (Eph 5:25); Wives be subject to your husbands in all things as unto the Lord (Eph 5:22); children obey your parents in the Lord (Eph. 6:1); Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you (Luke 6:27-28).

Bow you’re mind and your will to the Word of God and the Son of God —  Go and wash and come back seeing! .

¹¹ ….So I went and washed and received my sight.”

He no doubt thought — “wait till everyone hears what happened!” But it didn’t play out that way!

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.

The THEY would be the neighbors and those who had seen him begging.

What a weird response to a miracle!

You would think they would have been praising God for the miracle — rejoicing with the man or going back into the temple to bring an offering to God.

¹⁴Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” ¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.”

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the countless laws and traditions concerning the Sabbath. We won’t take the time to review it — but here are a few notes from William Barclay to reference on your own time

(i) By making clay he had been guilty of working on the Sabbath when even the simplest acts constituted work. Here are some of the things which were forbidden on the Sabbath. “A man may not fill a dish with oil and put it beside a lamp and put the end of the wick in it.” “If a man extinguishes a lamp on the Sabbath to spare the lamp or the oil or the wick, he is culpable.” “A man may not go out on the Sabbath with sandals shod with nails.” (The weight of the nails would have constituted a burden, and to carry a burden was to break the Sabbath.) A man might not cut his finger nails or pull out a hair of his head or his beard. Obviously in the eyes of such a law to make clay was to work and so to break the Sabbath.

(ii) It was forbidden to heal on the Sabbath. Medical attention could be given only if life was in actual danger. Even then it must be only such as to keep the patient from getting worse, not to make him any better. For instance, a man with toothache might not suck vinegar through his teeth. It was forbidden to set a broken limb. “If a man’s hand or foot is dislocated he may not pour cold water over it.” Clearly the man who was born blind was in no danger of his life; therefore Jesus broke the Sabbath when he healed him.

William Barclay — The Daily Bible Study Series: The Gospel of John, Vol. 1

You can also look at our study in John 3 for more reference material on the rules and traditions surrounding the Sabbath.

By THEIR definition Jesus broke the Sabbath law because he MADE mud and then PUT mud on his eyes.

But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. ¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The healed man recognizes Jesus as a MAN and as PROPHET

¹⁸The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”

AMAZING — They are laboring really hard to deny the miracle so that they won’t have to believe in Jesus. So it is today — People see you’re changed life — see you walking in the light of the Gospel of Jesus — and they try to say that nothing really happened in your life — it’s all a fabrication — just so they can hold on to their unbelief and idolatry.

DON’T MISS THIS — They were determined not to believe. They were determined that no evidence could or would change their minds. They would controvert or deny any proof that could influence their will to believing in Jesus. It is not that they could not believe — it was that they would not believe. It was not — “I can’t.” It was a matter of  — “I won’t.” We remember the words of Jesus as looked over the city of Jerusalem —

Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you WOULD not!

Later — these same men covered their ears when Stephen preached (Acts 7:59), and refused to listen when Paul made his defense (Acts 22:22)!

²⁰His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. ²¹But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

John is gong to give the explanation for the parents’ response.

²²(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) ²³Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

The religious authorities held a powerful weapon over the people — the weapon of excommunication. They had the power to completely shut a man or woman off from the congregation of God’s people. All of the way back to the time of Ezra (538 BC / Ezra 10:8) we read of a decree that whosoever did not obey the command of the authorities “his property should be forfeited and he himself banned from the congregation.” Jesus — warned his disciples that their name would be excluded as disreputable (Luke 6:22). He told them that they would be put out of the synagogues (John 16:12). REMEMBER — The first Christians were Jews! They suffered radically for believing that Jesus is the Son of God — promised Messiah of Israel!

Many of the rulers in Jerusalem really believed in Jesus, but were afraid to say so “lest they should be put out of the synagogue” (John 12:42).

QUOTE: William Barclay — There were two kinds of excommunication. There was the ban, the cherem, by which a man was banished from the synagogue for life. In such a case he was publicly anathematized. He was cursed in the presence of the people, and he was cut off from God and from man. There was sentence of temporary excommunication which might last for a month, or for some other fixed period. The terror of such a situation was that a Jew would regard it as shutting him out, not only from the synagogue but from God. The Pharisees were so venomously embittered against Jesus that they were prepared to do what ecclesiastics at their worst have sometimes done–to use ecclesiastical procedure to further their own ends.

That is why the man’s parents answered that their son was quite old enough to be a legal witness and to answer his own questions.

²⁴So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

Here was a man with virtually ZERO information or understanding. He only knew the WHO and the WHAT in connection with what had just happened to him! But there was one thing that he could not deny — and no one could argue — He had experienced the touch of God upon his life

I DO know that though I was blind, now I see!

LISTEN — Even though you might not be an authority on Theology — you are the world’s greatest authority on what Jesus has done for you!

You may not be able to articulate with theologically correct language what you believe about Jesus — but you can bear witness to what Jesus has done in saving them. You might not know what “propitiation” means — but you know in your heart that Jesus has saved you from the wrath that is to come. You may not know what “expiation” means — but you know in your heart that that Jesus has removed the guilt of your sin!

QUOTE: William Barclay — Even when a man cannot understand with his intellect, he can still feel with his heart. It is better to love Jesus than to love theories about him.

QUOTE: J.C. Ryle — There is no kind of evidence so satisfactory as this to the heart of a real Christian. His knowledge may be small. His faith may be feeble. His doctrinal views may be at present confused and indistinct. But if Christ has really wrought a work of grace in his heart by His Spirit, he feels within him something that you cannot overthrow. “I was dark, and now I have light. I was afraid of God, and now I love Him. I was fond of sin, and now I hate it. I was blind, and now I see.” Let us never rest until we know and feel within us some real work of the Holy Spirit. Let us not be content with the name and form of Christianity. Let us desire to have true experimental acquaintance with it. Feelings no doubt, are deceitful, and are not everything in religion. But if we have no inward feelings about spiritual matters, it is a very bad sign. The hungry man eats, and feels strengthened; the thirsty man drinks, and feels refreshed. Surely the man who has within him the grace of God, ought to be able to say, “I feel its power.”

²⁶They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”  ²⁸And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Very real options: Moses or Jesus — Law or Grace. Once again we are tethered to the prologue —

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

In their pride they were holding on to the Law; which could NEVER save them and ONLY condemn them; while they rejected Jesus — who is the ONLY one who could save them — and if they believed would NEVER condemn them. In your pride are you holding on to anything that can never save you?

²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” ³⁰The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing!

More amazing miraculously receiving his sight

You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. ³²Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

This man knew perfectly well what the Pharisees thought of Jesus. He knew perfectly well that if he showed himself to be on Jesus’ side he would be excommunicated.

But he made his statement — he took his stand. In essence he said — ”I am going to continue to believe in him, I am going to continue to stand by him because of all that he has done for me.”

³⁵Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him

Jesus knows this guy has suffered a tremendous humiliation and loss because of his loyalty to Jesus. Jesus goes to him! THAT is our Jesus.

This is also a beautiful preview and example of what Jesus is going to say about Himself in the next chapter — I am the good shepherd.

he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

Son of Man is a term found in Daniel that refers to the Messiah as the King who will come in glory and power and rule the world.

³⁶He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” ³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe,”

The merciful touch of Jesus on this man’s life in regards to his physical blindness did not bring salvation to this man. It was a SIGN that pointed him to Jesus and led him to recognize and believe in Jesus as MAN — PROPHET — MESSIAH — and LORD.

Loyalty to Jesus can be painful — It can bring persecution or rejection at the hands of men. But when you hold on to Jesus — refuse to deny him for the sake of personal comfort — you discover Jesus drawing near to comfort and strengthen you. The reward of that loyalty is a greater revelation and understanding of Jesus.

and he worshiped him.

WHAT was that like? The OUTPOURING of worship and adoration would have been as OVERFLOWING as the revelation was OVERWHELMING!

We can’t understate the truth that — every aspect of the Christian life is RELATIONAL! It is ALL ABOUT JESUS — Who He is and WHAT He has done for us. Our lives as Christians are the continual RESPONSE to WHO Jesus is and what He has done for us.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

2 Corinthians 5:15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Romans 12:1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

The Christian life is NOT a matter of what you are doing for Jesus. It begins with and ends with WHO Jesus is and WHAT Jesus has done for you — it is YOUR response to WHO Jesus is and WHAT Jesus has done for you!

BY THE WAY — Would you note that this man BELIEVES Jesus to be fully man, a prophet, the Messiah, and WORSHIPS Jesus as Lord — but we don’t find the word SIN or REPENT here. This man cannot believe those things and worship Jesus as Lord WITHOUT having repented. There are some who are sinfully critical of evangelism that is missing the word repent. I NEVER want to be sloppy with the Gospel. I NEVER want to present Christ in a way that is misleading. But Jesus saved this man without using the words sin or repent. It was the PERSON of Jesus that caused this man to count everything as dung that he might know Jesus!

³⁹Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things,

WOW! They heard Jesus say He was the Son of Man. They heard and saw the man worship Jesus — and saw Jesus receive worship. If Jesus Christ is not God, then why did He accept worship? Peter, Paul, and Barnabas certainly didn’t accept worship (Acts 10:25–26; 14:11–15).

What a radical warning to you and me this morning — In these men we see the possibility of being SO NEAR to Jesus — so NEAR to being healed of spiritual blindness —  yet in reality be SO FAR in our hearts and remain in darkness

Isaiah 29:13 “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from m

and said to him, “Are we also blind?” ⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

These men were blind because they had no sense of how dark their own hearts were and how desperately they needed Jesus to heal them of their spiritual blindness! Jesus opened His Sermon on the Mount with the words — “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Life in the Kingdom of heaven BEGINS when you realize you have nothing within yourself that can commend you to God.

NEXT WEEK — John 10. John 10 is actually a continuation of our Lord’s ministry to the Pharisees. The healing of the man born blind provides the backdrop for it

John 10:21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

The man born blind was cast out of the synagogue by man — but taken by the Good Shepherd and added to His flock!

2 Kings 4:38-5:1

Related Topics: Elisha; Famine For Hearing the Word of God; Death in the Pot; Pouring in the Word; Gehazi; Syria; Ben Hadad; Naaman; Leprosy; Trials; God Using tragedy; Unwilling Missionary; God Using Weak and Foolish Things;

We pick up this evening in 2 Kings 4:38

³⁸And Elisha came again to Gilgal when there was a famine in the land. And as the sons of the prophets were sitting before him, he said to his servant, “Set on the large pot, and boil stew for the sons of the prophets.” ³⁹One of them went out into the field to gather herbs, and found a wild vine and gathered from it his lap full of wild gourds, and came and cut them up into the pot of stew, not knowing what they were. ⁴⁰And they poured out some for the men to eat. But while they were eating of the stew, they cried out, “O man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it. ⁴¹He said, “Then bring flour.” And he threw it into the pot and said, “Pour some out for the men, that they may eat.” And there was no harm in the pot.

Famine! Solution — find food. Problem — they made their meal from a wild vine — wild gourds— not knowing what they were. The pottage was poisoned. Death in the pot! The solution to the poison — throw FLOUR into the pot.

HERE’S THE PICTURE — We live in a time when we are in a spiritual famine. Men and women are hungry — starving for truth. But there is no FOOD for their soul!

Amos 8:11 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord God, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.

Instead of digging into the Scriptures and preparing a meal for them —churches are trying to cook up a meal made out of wild stuff. Those that are cooking up these meals are like the guy in the text. The guy had good intentions — but he had no idea what he was using. There are guys like that — they bring ideas that are simply wild — unbiblical. And like the guy in the story — they have no idea as to the deadly effect those ingredients will have on their listeners. The result is DEATH IN THE POT.

EXAMPLE: England in the mid 1980’s. Dead and dying Anglican churches were trying to figure out how to keep churches from closing. They gathered wild stuff and threw it in the pot. Power Evangelism; Signs and Wonders; the Kansas City Prophets.

Today in America — In an attempt to reach a generation burned out on the whole seeker sensitive / mega church church-growth movements of the late 1990’s — we see churches bringing in the wild stuff of the Emergent Church aberrant theology.

ELISHA’S REMEDY for this situation is NOT to try to pick out the poison from the pot. Instead — he instructed them to get flour. In a famine — flour would no doubt be a precious commodity — Hard to be found and available in limited quantities. When they got the flour they THREW it in. No concern for measuring it out. They THREW in all the flour.

The only way the death in the pot can be remedied is by throwing in the flour! In relationship to the local church — it is the Word of God that counteracts the poisonous influences of the world and false doctrine. In relationship to the individual — it is the Word of God that counteracts the poisoning influences the world, false doctrine — and the poisonous influences your personal past (Abusive situations, drug abuse, pornography). POUR it in. Commit your self to consistently pouring the Word of God into your life.

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,

⁴²A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack.

Remember, this is a time of famine. God CARES for His servants.  Out His care for Elisha and the sons of the prophets He brings provision in the UNEXPETED WAY through an UNEXPECTED PERSON. God does that quite often. We think that His provision is coming from one place and God sends it from another. Again — in keeping with our study in John 9 yesterday morning — we are going to see in this chapter of 2 Kings that our God loves to use people in accomplishing His gracious and merciful intentions!

This particular man is from the capital of Ba-al worship.

WATCH THIS —

And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.”

God cares for His servant — and God’s servant cares for the people. Again we see that ministry flows from men and women whose hearts are close to God’s heart! As frequently as this has been set before our eyes and our minds and our hearts — I think we need to STOP right here and now to ask the Lord to press this into our lives individually and corporately. Stop and ask God to draw each of us closer to His heart than ever before! And if there is anything in our lives that is keeping us far from His heart to confess it and forsake it — and ask the Lord to draws us nearer to Him than ever before.

⁴³But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?”

What good are 20 loaves? They won’t get the job done! Sound familiar?

John 6:8-9 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ⁹“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

⁴³ …So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’f” ⁴⁴So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.

This is PREVIEW of a greater prophet and a mightier miracle (John 6)

Jesus fed a larger crowd — 5,000 men. Jesus fed them with less provision – Only 5 loaves. Jesus provided a richer meal – bread and fish.

DON’T MISS THIS — It was one man — who was unknown and from an unexpected place — He gave his first fruits — and God multiplied it.

You might think that you are just one person — what difference does it make what I give — there are 400-500 others in this room on a Monday Night 800 on a Sunday morning. You might think that you’re a no body from nowhere. Listen — God has given us this event and the event in John 6 to let us know that just one person giving their first fruits can be used in His economy to feed many!

God is worthy of the first and the best! In every area of your life.

It might seem little to you — but don’t measure the amount you bring by man’s standards. You might feel like a no body from nowhere. God is not a respecter of persons — He wants to feed hungry souls — He wants to feed hungry bodies. Give YOUR first fruits to the Lord and it will go far.

CHAPTER 5

¹Naaman (na‛ămân nah-am-awn’), commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor,

¹Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria,

IMPORTANT BIT OF INTRODUCTION — Naaman was the chief military commander of king of Syria! Syria was then — and still is to this day — a hateful enemy to Israel.

was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria.

Back in 1 Kings 22 we have the record of Ahab and Jehoshaphat going to battle against Syria — and were defeated by Syria. We remember how in that battle Ahab was fatally wounded in an unusual way

1 Kings 22:34 But a certain man drew his bow at random and struck the king of Israel between the scale armor and the breastplate.

Adam Clarke notes that the Chaldee, Septuagint, and Syriac versions of the Old Testament say that Naaman was that certain man.

He was a mighty man of valor,

He was such an amazing soldier and leader that the Holy Spirit uses the descriptive — mighty man of valor. The Holy Spirit used this term to describe Gideon (Judges 6:12), Jephthah (Judges 11:1), David (1 Samuel 16:18), Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:28), and Eliada (2 Chronicles 17:17). But it seems that this is the only specific Gentile given that title in the whole of the Bible.

His position and military feats made him a great and honorable man.

Here is a man with everything going for him in the eyes of man!

….. but he was a leper.

There is tons for us wrapped up in these 5 words

For all of his might and valor in on the battle field — think Brave Heart battle scenes — for all of the honor and wealth that came from his military exploits— he had a horrible, incurable disease that would slowly result in his death. All of his wealth and fame could not help him or heal him.

QUOTE: Adam Clarke — Here was a heavy tax upon his grandeur; he was afflicted with a disorder the most loathsome and the most humiliating that could possibly disgrace a human being.

QUOTE: David Guzik — Ancient leprosy began as small, red spots on the skin. Before too long the spots get bigger, and start to turn white, with sort of a shiny, or scaly appearance. Pretty soon the spots spread over the whole body and hair begins to fall out – first from the head, then even from the eyebrows. As things get worse, finger nails and toenails become loose; they start to rot and eventually fall off. Then the joints of fingers and toes begin to rot and fall off piece by piece. Gums begin to shrink and they can’t hold the teeth anymore, so each of them is lost. Leprosy keeps eating away at your face until literally the nose, the palate, and even the eyes rot – and the victim wastes away until death.

This man’s life speaks to us about THE PRESENCE AND POWER OF SIN on two different levels.

1.) The presence and power of sin — as it effects physical health and well being: Though Naaman was Fearless — Famous — a Foe to be feared on the battle field — he was not exempt from the realities of life in a fallen, dying world! No amount of talent or success or fame can keep any man or woman from the realities of life in a fallen world. Have you noticed that when someone famous or influential gets cancer or some fatal disease the world acts shocked! Media outlets obsess over them — around the clock they say “so and so has such and such.” Other celebrities are interviewed — “I can’t believe it — their contributions to music or film are so great —they have done so much good — It’s just tragic.  The reason for such shock is that the world, by-and-large, thinks that some are beyond the touch what sin brought into this world. Even in Christian circles — we are shocked when honorable, godly people get sick and die. Since Genesis 3, except for Enoch and Elijah, no human being escaped the realities of physical decay and death.

QUOTE: J.C. Ryle (commenting on John 9) — We should observe, first, in this passage, how much sorrow sin has brought into the world. The many ills that flesh is heir to, the countless pains, and diseases, and physical defects to which we are all liable, came in when the curse came upon the earth. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” (Rom. 5:12.)

Let us learn to hate sin with a godly hatred, as the root of more than half of our cares and sorrows. Let us fight against it, mortify it, crucify it, and abhor it both in ourselves and others. There cannot be a clearer proof that man is a fallen creature than the fact that he can love sin and take pleasure in it.

2.) The presence and power of sin as it effects the soul of man — Leprosy is a TYPE or a PICTURE of SIN in the Bible. Leprosy in the body starts small but spreads rapidly. It ends up rotting away your life. You don’t even feel it work. It is interesting that the bible does not speak of being HEALED of leprosy — it speaks of being CLEANSED.  Sin is like leprosy — It starts small and you think that nothing will come of it. Slowly — and without notice —it eats away at your life. In the end it leaves you forever separated from God in hell. UNLIKE leprosy — EVERY man and woman is infected with sin. The wealthiest, most powerful men and women in the world — along with the nobodies with nothing — and everyone in between — are filled with this spiritual leprosy! We are sinners by nature and choice. Man has NO CURE for the presence and power of sin. We are not HEALED of sin — we must be CLEANSED from its presence and power by the blood of Jesus!

HERE IS THE AMAZING THING — Naaman is an idol worshipping, hater of the people of God. He has an indescribably horrific, incurable disease. God does not look down from heaven on this guy with a sinister grin — rubbing His hands in glee over Naaman’s condition! Instead — the One, True and Living God — who would be perfectly just in letting Naaman perish in his leprosy — is going to do for Naaman what no man, no fame, no power and no wealth could ever do for him — cleanse him of leprosy!

THAT is God — He desires to HEAL — to CLEANSE — His enemies of this fatal disease called sin! I think that even Biblically solid Christians can not grasp the fullness of what grace really is. As students of the Word we intellectually know that grace means God’s unmerited favor — God doing for us that which we don’t deserve or could never earn. But we somehow think that some people are more deserving of grace than others! Crazy, huh? If we were honest we would admit that there are some people that have been so obnoxious, so opposed, even hostile to Jesus and to our faith in him —that it is beyond us to think of them as even being on God’s radar of Grace!

In the eyes of the first Christians — Saul of Tarsus was off the Radar of God’s Grace

Acts 9:10-15 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, ¹²and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

ILLUSTRATION: Sheffield, England — In one school we met a young man who was an atheist. He was a nice kid — a brilliant guy — was accepted into Cambridge and Oxford. The children of the family we stayed with told us that he was the leading opponent of Christians and Christianity in the school. During our stay in the school he would follow us around — listen to our simple apologetic for our faith. At one point he came to me and said — You have turned my whole world – view upside down! Before we left I gave him my copy of “Evidence that Demands A Verdict.” That was in late November. Just after Christmas I received a letter from him that said — “You will be pleased to know that I have given my life to Christ.”

LISTEN METRO — Before we give up on someone (husband, wife, child, co-worker, neighbor) — we have to remember that we were ALL Naamans!

Romans 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Colossians 1:19-22 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.  ²¹And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, ²²he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him….

James 4:4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

We were Naamans — We were at WAR with God!

WHO is that person in your world that in your mind is off the radar of God’s grace? Let’s stop and pray for them by name right now!

2 Kings 4:18-37

Related Topics: Shunem; Elisha; Gehazi; Trials; Personal Loss and Pain; Great Faith; Meeting With God; Mount Sinai; Mount Carmel; Mount Hermon; Uphill Moments With Jesus; Elisha’s Compassion; Nearness to the Heart of God; The Relational Nature of Ministry; Gehazi – the Coldhearted Messenger; All Is Well; Faltering Faith; Weakness in a Great Person; Watch and Pray; The Weakness of Our Flesh; A Time To Run; No Time For Distractions; Only God Raises the Dead; The Incarnation — Jesus becomes Totally Involved in Our Condition; Signs of Life; Alexander Maclaren; Adam Clarke

We pick up this evening in 2 Kings 4:18.

Last week we were introduce to a nameless woman in the city of Shunem.

⁸One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy (GREAT) woman lived,

GREAT (gadowl, gaw-dole). She is the only woman in Scripture called Gadowl. The word is used in the Bible to speak of SPIRITUAL greatness, MORAL greatness, MATERIAL greatness and MENTAL greatness. She is the ONLY woman in the entire Bible described by this word.

Her greatness was demonstrated in her

PERCEPTION and DISCERNMENT

GENEROSITY and HOSPITALITY (opening her house)

GENEROSITY and PRACTICALITY (making a prophets chamber)

HUMILITY and CONTENTMENT.

Elisha was moved by her generosity, hospitality, and practicality in providing for him a room for his frequents stops in Shunem. He PROPHESIED that she would have a child.

14-16 And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” ¹⁵He said, “Call her.” And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.”

17 But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.

The birth of this child VALIDATED the prophetic ministry of Elisha

This great woman was greatly blessed — but she was about to go through a GREAT TRIAL. The great trial would involve the great blessing — the child that she was given as a gift from heaven.

QUOTE: A.W. Tozer — Those God uses GREATLY, He HURTS DEEPLY

¹⁸When the child had grown, he went out one day to his father among the reapers. ¹⁹And he said to his father, “Oh, my head, my head!”

QUOTE: Adam Clarke — Probably affected by the coup de soleil, or sun stroke, which might, in so young a subject, soon occasion death, especially in that hot country.”

As a young Christian we knew a young married man named Dick Mazzerella — Was away on business in Chicago when he suddenly stood up in the middle his business meeting, held his head, and said “I have an incredible pain in my head, will you pray for me?” Then collapsed and died. He died of a brain aneurism.

The father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” ²⁰And when he had lifted him and brought him to his mother, the child sat on her lap till noon, and then he died. ²¹And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door behind him and went out.

QUOTE: Alexander Maclaren — Late won and early lost, the poor boy lies pale and dead on Elisha’s bed

She was truly a GREAT woman — and here we witness her GREAT FAITH. I believe this woman’s faith is mentioned in Hebrews 11, the hall of faith

Heb 11:35 By faith….. Women received back their dead by resurrection.

She is ONE of the two Old Testament women who saw their sons raised from the dead.  The other woman is found in 1 Kings 17. She was the woman from Zarephath who knew Elijah the prophet. We will reference that resurrection at the end of the study.

Perhaps Elisha told this Shunammite woman the story of the radical miracle God worked through his mentor, Elijah. Whether that is the case or not — she was EXPECTING a miracle. She prepared for her son’s resurrection, not his burial.

²²Then she called to her husband and said, “Send me one of the servants and one of the donkeys, that I may quickly go to the man of God and come back again.” ²³And he said, “Why will you go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath.”

“Why are you running off to the man of God, it’s no religious occasion?” In our vernacular — “Why are you running off to church? It’s not Christmas or Easter!”

She said, “All is well.”

This was either an insane moment of denial — or it was a heroic decision to conceal the death of the boy born out of extraordinary faith.

²⁴Then she saddled the donkey, and she said to her servant, “Urge the animal on; do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you.”

It was a common practice for a servant to walk behind and drive the donkey with his stick — keeping the donkey moving at the speed required by the rider. The pace was — “Full speed ahead! — do not slacken the pace for me unless I tell you. Shunem is some 15-25 miles from Carmel. She had to ride a journey of five or six hours to the top of Carmel.

²⁵So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

Here is an IMPORTANT picture for us. She finds Elisha on Mount Carmel. It’s worth noting that the epic men of Scripture met with God on mountains

Moses met with God on Mt. Sinai — That’s where God commanded Moses to go to Egypt. That’s where God gave to Moses the Law. That’s where God hid Moses in a cleft in the side of the mountain and showed Moses his after glow.

Elijah on had his epic moment with God Mt. Carmel — God answered Elijah and sent fire from heaven. There on Mt. Carmel Elijah went and prayed for the return of rain in Israel.

Ultimately — Jesus — the perfect man, the Son of God — was transfigured on Mt. Hermon.

HERE’S THE PICTURE — The man or woman used by God to bring life to the lifeless — is the man or woman who has learned to meet with God. It is the man or woman whose life is marked by the mountain. The mountain is the place of ISOLATION — the place of ELEVATION — the place where there is nothing to obstruct your view of God.

INTERESTING — In the Gospels we discover that some of the greatest moments that men and women had with Jesus were UPHILL moments. Sermon on the Mount (manifesto of the Kingdom) — Mount of Transfiguration (the glory of Jesus shining through the veil of His humanity) — Olivet Discourse (Jesus lays out the events preceding His 2^nd Coming) — all of these required that men and women walk UPHILL to be with Jesus and hear from him and learn from Him — see Him in His glory!

²⁵ ….When the man of God saw her coming, he said to Gehazi his servant, “Look, there is the Shunammite. ²⁶Run at once to meet her and say to her, ‘Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’”

Elisha has the sense that something is wrong — perhaps because he knew the distance from Carmel to Shunem — and perhaps because he was careful enough to notice the pace at which the servant is driving the animal. Elisha put 2 and 2 together and he just could not sit passively and watch her approach — wait for her to reach him.

HERE’S THE POINT — Elisha’s reaction — his instinctive response —is a beautiful insight into the love and sympathy in the heart of Elisha.

Alexander Maclaren (Born in Glagow and ministered in Manchester in the mid to late 1800’s) called this reaction — the eager leap of his sympathy. So swift and ready to flash into act is the fellow-feeling of the Highest with the sorrows of us all; so should be the compassion of each with another.

Again — When you are close to the heart of God — your heart begins to beat with His heart. When you are close to the heart of God — your actions begin to look like His actions.

Just yesterday in study of John 9, we saw the action of God Incarnate.

John 9:34-38 You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. ³⁵Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” ³⁶He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” ³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” ³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

In 54 AD — Paul would write to his dear friends in Philippi

Philippians 1:8 For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Philippians 2:1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy…. ⁵Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,

QUOTE: Alexander Maclaren — The higher in gifts or office in the kingdom a man is, the more is he bound to carry his sympathy in an outstretched hand. It is worth very little when it comes slowly. It is priceless when it runs to meet the mourner before she speaks.

Is all well with you? Is all well with your husband? Is all well with the child?’”

The question took in everything that was near and dear to the woman — everything that moved this woman’s heart — her husband, her child, herself. If everything was right with these things — by comparison nothing could be wrong. But if even one of these were wrong — by comparison nothing else could be right.

And she answered, “All is well.”

Before we get to her answer, lets look at what follows concerning Gehazi.

²⁷And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away.

His actions betray a coldness in Gehazi. He is more concerned about protocol and the dignity of Elisha — than he is concerned for the unimaginable grief that was crushing this great woman. As we read on further in 2 Kings we are going to find Gehazi to be a very selfish, calculating, self-serving man.

HERES WHAT STRUCK ME — The coldness of Gehazi’s heart would have robbed the woman of the great love and sympathy that sent him to her — which can explain the very short reply from the woman.

Listen to the way Maclaren frames it — But the message, which came so warm from Elisha’s lips, had been cooled on the road, and sounded formal from Gehazi. It is hard for selfish indifference to carry tender words without freezing them. The bearer of sympathy must be sympathetic……

I WAS BLOWN OUT BY THE PRESENT DAY IMPLICATIONS OF THIS

WE can be like Gehazi! Even as Gehazi spoiled Elisha’s message, we can spoil the message of the Gospel. The Gospel comes from the heart of God that is blazing with love and sympathy for this lost world — but when it is delivered from an indifferent or selfish heart — the message of the Gospel is robbed of the heat of God’s love and mercy!

SADLY — Modern Church culture tries to compensate for this lack with media and hipness. It has gotten to the point where many Christians mistake hip for heat. And the tragic result is that the average unbeliever thinks that God is unoriginal and indifferent.

REVIVAL on the personal level — REVIVAL on the corporate level is the need of the day! Oh that MY heart — OUR hearts — would always and only be moved by the heart-melting tender mercies of God — so that when we speak the message that has been entrusted to us, it would come from our lips as it is in the heart of God.

Again we are brought to the simple reality that Christianity is not philosophical, or merely doctrinal, in nature. It is RELATIONAL. Yesterday we saw that the expression of worship — the outpouring of adoration to Jesus — is RELATIONAL. It is our response to the PERSON of Jesus and His touch upon our lives.

Here we see again that MINISTRY is RELATIONAL. Real ministry must flow from the heart of God. That being the case — the minister must be  near to the heart of God. Here is what’s radical — Gehazi was to Elisha, what Elisha was to Elijah — what Joshua was to Moses. Yet in Gehazi’s ministry there is nothing that resembles the love and compassion of Elisha. There are ways that Elisha did not resemble Elijah — but the difference is in the realm of personality! And that’s O.K. — we ought not to be clones of those who mentor us in ministry. We ought not be mimicking our Paul, or our Moses, or our Elijah. But Elisha did resemble Elijah in that Elisha’s ministry manifested the same power as his mentor Elijah’s ministry. Elisha was a great learner. He learned that the power of Elijah’s ministry flowed from the nearness of Elijah to the heart of the Lord.

²⁶ ….And she answered, “All is well.”

Was she lying? We’ve already seen that her terse reply was owing to the coldness of the messenger.

Nothing makes grief dumb (silent) so surely as…. indifferent intrusion. A tenderer hand than Gehazi’s is needed to unlock the sad secret of that burdened breast

Having said that — I want to us to consider her answer in light of what we know of her greatness from earlier in the chapter — and what we know of her from Hebrews 11.

There are many Christians who will give you that answer when in reality they are a wreck. But I do not believe that is the case here.

FIRST — She was experiencing the WORST possible thing that could happen to a mother. I believe that her words — ALL IS WELL — mark the greatness of her faith and submission to the Lord. She knew that ALL that God does, He does WELL.  Concerning Jesus we read

Mark 7:37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well.

ILLUSTRATION: It Is Well With My Soul – In the year 1873, Horatio Spafford, a Christian lawyer from Chicago, placed his wife and four children on the luxury liner Ville de Havre sailing from New York to France. Spafford expected to join them in about three or four weeks after finishing up some business. The trip started out beautifully. But on the evening of November 21, 1873, as the Ville de Havre proceeded peacefully across the Atlantic, the ship was suddenly struck by another vessel. On being told that the ship was sinking Mrs. Spafford knelt with her children and prayed that they might be saved or be made willing to die, if such was God’s will. A few minutes later, in the confusion, three of the children were swept away by the waves while she stood clutching the youngest. Suddenly the youngest child was swept from her arms. Mrs. Spafford became unconscious and awoke later to find that she had been rescued by sailors from the Lochearn. But the four children were gone. Back in the United States, Horatio Spafford was waiting for news of his family, and at last, ten days later (after the rescue ship had reached Cardiff), it came. His wife’s message was – “Saved alone.” While on a ship crossing the Atlantic to be with his wife, as they passed the spot that the ship had gone down, he was so touched by the peace of God that he wrote this hymn:

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea-billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,It is well, it is well with my soul.

HUGE POINT — God loves you SUPREMELY — and He WILL NOT and CAN NOT do anything for you but out of PERFECT love for you.

SECOND — I believe that she was also EXPECTING a miracle — She was believing God for something that which was not yet seen.

Heb 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

²⁷And when she came to the mountain to the man of God, she caught hold of his feet. And Gehazi came to push her away. But the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

INTERESTING — “Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress, and the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me.”

Elisha seems to be amazed that this woman was in a crisis — and that God had not revealed it to him! Elisha was not so surprised when God spoke to him — He was more surprised that God didn’t speak to him.

“How much better would it have been for the Church if its teachers had been more willing to copy his modesty, and said about a great many things, ‘The Lord hath hid it from me’!”

²⁸Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Did I not say, ‘Do not deceive me?’”

This verse gives to us an important insight into this great woman’s lapse in faith — Leave her alone, for she is in bitter distress

THIS IS SO IMPORTANT — The great men and women of faith are still in the end — mere men and mere women. That is why we can be like an immovable mountain of faith and then in a moment become a shifting, mountain of manure. We might be shocked at ourselves when our faith collapses — we might be shocked by others when their faith collapses — but the Lord isn’t!

Psalm 103:14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

We need to remember what God remembers about us — we are DUST!

Here is what Jesus said about facing a crisis in faith —

Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

This GREAT WOMAN had this lapse in faith because of the weakness of her flesh.

Can anyone here relate to this? One minute you make a great proclamation of faith — You just KNOW that the Lord is going to do something — You KNOW that it is well. But the next minute your faith falters.

When that happens, know this — You are NOT alone. Every man and woman of faith in the Bible had their times when their faith faltered.  Here, this great woman was doing so well, but now that she is in the presence of Elisha she falters — “Didn’t I tell you, Don’t deceive me?”

JESUS IDENTIFIED the place of strength – Watch and pray. We are most likely to NOT watch and pray when we fail to take into account the weakness of our flesh. Listen to what Paul the apostle said about himself

Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing:

If there is any good thing that has come from your Christian life — it is NOT owing to anything resident in you! It is all of Jesus! One of the devil’s favorite strategies is to get us to think that we contributed to that good thing from our personal portfolio of goodness!

EXAMPLE: Jeff Stewart at Karen’s memorial service — “People looked at us and would say, “You guys are so strong, so amazing!” Jeff said, “You don’t understand. We were incredibly weak. Jesus is strong. What you were seeing was ALL Jesus — we were wrecks and had NOTHING to contribute.”

When we fail to understand that in us (that is, in our flesh,) dwells no good thing — we’re not desperate for the Lord’s strength; we don’t watch and pray

²⁹He said to Gehazi, “Tie up your garment and take my staff in your hand and go. If you meet anyone, do not greet him, and if anyone greets you, do not reply.

TIE UP YOUR GARMENT — Men wore long outer garments. When work had to be done, or when they needed to move fast, they would TIE UP THEIR GARMENTS.

1 Peter 1:13 KJV Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

1 Peter 1:13 ESV Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Elisha says to Gehazi — This is a life and death situation — tie up your robe so you can run and not trip — don’t let anything side track you.

GUYS — Metro is on a life and death mission! Are we going to deal with our Christianity and with church like it’s a game — or are we going to deal with it for what it really is — a matter of eternal life and eternal death. I’ve had my fill of “church.” Guys, I hate to admit this, but I am almost 60 years old — I don’t want to spend one day of what is left in my life playing at church. I don’t want to WALK off into the sunset. I want to RUN. I don’t want to be SIDETRACKED. This not the time to be cruising; this is not the time for distraction! I want to see you guys TIE UP YOUR GARMENTS and RUN because life and death is at stake. I want to see you guys NOT be DISTRACTED and SIDETRACKED by the things that distract and sidetrack so many of your peers today.

And lay my staff on the face of the child.” ³⁰Then the mother of the child said, “As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So he arose and followed her. ³¹Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the face of the child, but there was no sound or sign of life. Therefore he returned to meet him and told him, “The child has not awakened.”

The staff was symbolic of authority and integrity. That symbol of authority and integrity was POWERLESS

HERE’S THE PICTURE — Sometimes we think that our integrity, or our reputation within the community, will resurrect the spiritually dead.

Integrity is important — but it is not sufficient for resurrection.

³²When Elisha came into the house, he saw the child lying dead on his bed. ³³So he went in and shut the door behind the two of them and prayed to the Lord. ³⁴Then he went up and lay on the child, putting his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And as he stretched himself upon him, the flesh of the child became warm. ³⁵Then he got up again and walked once back and forth in the house, and went up and stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.

It is the power of God alone that can take that which is dead an make it alive. God raised that boy from the dead — Elisha got to participate in the living giving work of God by way of prayer!

In this whole moment Elisha looks very much like his mentor, Elijah —

1 Kings 17:20-23 And he cried to the Lord….. ²¹Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” ²²And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived.

Elisha prayed with great faith because he knew God worked this way in the life of his mentor Elijah. Elisha threw himself on the boy in Shunem because he knew that Elijah had thrown himself upon the dead body of the boy in Zarephath. He also prayed with great faith because he sensed that God wanted to raise this boy from the dead.

There are some important things pictured for us in Elisha’s actions and in the way the boy came back to life.

He touched this child personally. He involved himself personally with this lifeless cadaver!  He THREW himself wholeheartedly into this dead boys condition — mouth to mouth — hand to hand. He poured himself out. This is such an amazing picture of the heart of Jesus! Mouth to mouth — Hand to hand is exactly what Jesus did for us by way of His incarnation. Jesus involved Himself TOTALLY with our humanity except in regards to sin. He took on a human body that ached and got hungry and tired and thirsty — a body that could experience pain and death. He suffered in our place for our sin — He tasted death for us. Then He conquered death — so that we might live through Him!

After Jesus conquered death, He appeared to His disciples and said

John 20:21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

In our desire to see men and women who are dead in their sins raised in the newness of life — there needs to be a personal identification and contact, personal touching of the lives of those who don’t know Jesus. The life of Jesus in us needs to TOUCH the lives of those are existing, but not living.

We are told that the boy sneezed seven times. When spiritual life begins to happen, it does NOT always come with a big bang. Sometimes it’s just a little sneeze. Don’t be disappointed if you only hear a sneeze after pouring your life into reaching a lost soul. Some of you are witnessing this very thing in the lives of some of your friends, or family members. Don’t be discouraged by hearing those sneezes —they are the first signs of reviving.

CONCLUSION

³⁶Then he summoned Gehazi and said, “Call this Shunammite.” So he called her. And when she came to him, he said, “Pick up your son.” ³⁷She came and fell at his feet, bowing to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

For The Believer

This a beautiful story of resurrection power.  It is filled with practical insights for our lives individually ‘ and for Metro collectively.

1.) In the life of the mother we see the importance of believing that God can raise the dead.

2 Cor 1:9 Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.

Eph 1:18-20 ¹⁸having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you….. ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might ²⁰that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

It is faith that moves you to come to God for those that are lost

Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Do YOU believe that God can reach YOUR husband, YOUR child, YOUR loved ones?

Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

2.) In Elisha we see how God wants to use us as His instruments in bringing life to those dead in sin.

He was a man of the mountain, in the place of intimate communion with God.

He was a man whose heart was near to the heart of God. Because he was near to the heart of God — his heart was moved with compassion and sympathy — and actions looked like the actions of God.

His He was willing to touch and indentify with the lifeless boy.

He was intense in pouring himself out upon that lifeless boy.

KEY APPLICATION: God wants us — YOU — to be touching lives —listening for sneezes.

3.) In Gehazi we see how our cold hearts can diminish the blazing heat of the Gospel message

For the Unbeliever

Perhaps tonight you cannot identify at all with the mother or with Elisha — but instead you most identify with the lifeless boy. Maybe someone here has really touched your life. Maybe someone here has been praying for you — and you are beginning to sneeze, so-to-speak. You gave in and came to church tonight.  You find that you’re hungry to know more about Jesus. THIS is YOUR opportunity to RESPOND to Jesus Christ.

2 Kings 4:1-17

Related Topics: Elisha; Gehazi; Poured Out; Pouring Out What God Has Poured In; God Multiplies; Oil – A Symbol of the Holy Spirit; Letting the Holy Spirit Flow Through You; The Dead Sea; The Dead Sea Syndrome; Shunem; The Shunammite Woman; Greatness – gâdôl; Perception; Discernment; Generosity; Practicality; Hospitality; Humility; Contentment

¹Now the wife of one of the sons of the prophets cried to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord, but the creditor has come to take my two children to be his slaves.” ²And Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.” ³Then he said, “Go outside, borrow vessels from all your neighbors, empty vessels and not too few. ⁴Then go in and shut the door behind yourself and your sons and pour into all these vessels. And when one is full, set it aside.” ⁵So she went from him and shut the door behind herself and her sons. And as she poured they brought the vessels to her. ⁶When the vessels were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another.” Then the oil stopped flowing. ⁷She came and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on the rest.”

This lady was in debt — she was about to have to lose sons into slavery. Elisha said —  “What do you have?” She said —“A little oil.” Elisha said — “Gather all the vessels that you can find and start pouring.”

DON’T MISS THIS — She did not have a great supply of oil — but long as she kept pouring, the oil kept flowing.

² ….Tell me; what have you in the house?” And she said, “Your servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil.”

FIRST — He isn’t asking you to pour out something that you don’t possess. God only asks us to pour out that which we possess! Whatever your resource — it is by HIS PROVISION. Pour it out and HE will MULTIPLY it. Finance, time, talents. God LOVES to multiply! Check ^this out.

2 Peter 1:5 KJV And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; ⁶And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; ⁷And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. 2

2 Peter 1:2-3 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, ³According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

We ADD — God MULTIPLIES. Remember the miracles of the loaves and fishes (John 6). If the little boy had held on to that little lunch they would have barely fed him. But in the hands of Jesus — blessed and broken —they were MULTIPLIED and fed a multitude.

So she did exactly what Elisha said and a MIRACLE took place.

DEFINITION: “A miracle is an event or action that apparently contradicts known scientific laws and hence is thought to be to be due to supernatural causes, especially to an act of God.”

It is an event for which there is NO natural explanation!!

I was so reminded of the band I played in — and the work God did in England. We didn’t stink — but we didn’t have tons of ability. But when we obeyed the call of God — when we poured it out — the Lord multiplied it — performed a miracle.

THIRDLY — Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. The Baptism of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit are given to us for the purpose of ministering to others. The Lord will flow through you as long as you are giving out to others. Many Christians are suffering from what might I like to call THE DEAD SEA SYNDROME. The Dead Sea is DEAD because it takes in but never pours out. The Jordan River flows in at the North end of the Dead Sea. But there is NO OUTLET at the Southern end. NOTHING lives in that body of water.

KEY PERSONAL APPLICATION: Perhaps tonight you are sensing that the Holy Spirit is not flowing out of your life. It might be the result of “grieving the Holy Spirit.” But perhaps it is because you are taking IN without POURING OUT.

DON’T MISS THIS — She poured into EMPTY VESSELS.

This speaks of to me of VISION and MISSION. WHERE are the EMPTY VESSELS? WHO is the EMPTY VESSEL? Jesus gave the model —

You as an individual, and Metro as a local assembly of believers, have a personal Jerusalem (home / neighborhood) Judea and Samaria (workplace / school / soccer team / coffee shop). We all get to find our place in the economy of God in reaching  the ends of the earth.

Are there any EMPTY VESSELS that you have brought into your house, so-to-speak, into your life?

METRO —

INDIVIDUALLY — We should be LIVING in the place where we are saying  — “I’m going to pour my life out to Jesus and for Jesus.”

INDIVIDUALLY — We should be LIVING in the place where we are saying  — I am dedicated and determined to minister to this person — to be poured out for him/her. I’m going to witness radically — I’m going to minister radically.” When you do that you will find the Holy Spirit flowing. Bring the empty vessels into your life!

Corporately — Metro as a whole —  We want to see the Holy Spirit flowing in our fellowship. We should be BRINGING EMPTY VESSELS to this place

This came to me this afternoon at dinner — We should be pouring out as those who have been filled! As we pour out — there should be a humility — there should be a sincerity — that really speaks to that life that so desperately needs what we once needed so desperately, and so wonderfully and freely received.

⁸One day Elisha went on to Shunem, where a wealthy woman lived, who urged him to eat some food.

Shunem was about 20 miles northwest of Abel-meholah, Elisha’s hometown, and twenty-five miles or so beyond Shunem was Mount Carmel (see v. 25).

The average traveler on foot could cover fifteen to twenty miles per day, so Shunem was the perfect halfway point for Elisha whenever he went to Mount Carmel to pray, meditate, and seek the Lord in a new way.

It is also believed that Mount Carmel might also have had a school of the prophets since it was such a special place in Elijah’s ministry.

wealthy woman lived — KJV a GREAT woman lived

GREAT = is gâdôl (gaw-dole’). We find it used 523 times in 494 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. 4 out 5 times the word is translated GREAT, GREATLY, GREATNESS. It is used in the Bible to speak of SPIRITUAL greatness, MORAL greatness, MATERIAL greatness and MENTAL greatness.

This unnamed woman is the only woman in Scripture called Gadowl. She was great in her social standing — great in wealth and great in her spiritual maturity.

THE HOLY SPIRIT RECORDED several things that REVEAL her greatness. They are huge things for every woman here to consider. They also speak to the men as they are things apply across gender lines and should be filed in the minds single men as things to look for in a woman.

⁸….So whenever he passed that way, he would turn in there to eat food. ⁹And she said to her husband, “Behold now, I know that this is a holy man of God who is continually passing our way. ¹⁰Let us make a small room on the roof with walls and put there for him a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp, so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.”¹¹One day he came there, and he turned into the chamber and rested there. ¹²And he said to Gehazi (gay-khah-zee’) his servant, “Call this Shunammite.” When he had called her, she stood before him. ¹³And he said to him, “Say now to her, ‘See, you have taken all this trouble for us; what is to be done for you? Would you have a word spoken on your behalf to the king or to the commander of the army?’” She answered, “I dwell among my own people.”

1.) She was a woman of PERCEPTION and DISCERNMENT. She wasn’t lost in a world of self-concern. She noticed what was going on in the world around her. She took note of the fact that Elijah often passed that way on his ministry trips. She also discerned that he was a man of God. She DISCERNED even before her husband that Elisha was no ordinary man. We get the impression that her husband didn’t notice Elisha; and if he did, he had zero discernment about who Elisha was. The husband at least did not oppose her hospitality to the Elisha. What did she do with that discernment? She wanted to serve God by servings God’s servant! Which leads to the second thing that revealed her greatness.

2.) She was a woman of GENEROSITY and HOSPITALITY

CONTEMPORARY APPLICATION: Hospitality to God’s people — and especially God’s servants — is really neglected in modern Christianity. I think of the hospitality that our dear friend Jim King, and his wife Susan, have extended to me and Valerie for nearly 30 years. Hosting and feeding 30-40 teenagers on a Sunday afternoon. The guest room for Valerie and me. Sitting at their breakfast table on a cold West Yorkshire morning as Jim cooked and served and English breakfast.

It is interesting that Paul, carried along by the Holy Spirit, listed “hospitality” as one of the qualifications for an elder in TWO of his letters. (1 Tim. 3:2; Titus 1:8). The Book of Hebrews exhorts all believers to practice Hospitality

Hebrews 13:1-2 Let brotherly love continue. ²Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. (see Gen. 18).

The apostle Peter said that we should open our hearts and homes to others and that we should do it without grumbling! (1 Peter 4:9).

Jesus said — Mat 10:41 ⁴¹The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.

In ministering to this man who looked like a nobody she did what we read of in Romans

Rom 12:13;16 KJV Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality……. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits.

POINT: We should be looking for the unknown person to minister to.

We are to reach out to those who can NOT repay — Who might never be able to invite you back to their house. This makes me think of the women who ministered to the needs of Jesus. Jesus had no place to lay His head — He could never invite anyone back to His house in return for the care He had received.

3.) Her DISCERNMENT was translated into PRACTICALITY

Her perception and discernment moved her to prevail upon her husband

Honey — let’s build a permanent prophet’s chamber so that whenever he comes to us, he can go in there.”( v.10)

The woman and her husband used their wealth to provide a practical blessing — they built a room on their roof that was large enough for a bed, a table, a chair, and a lamp (v.10). It was large enough to walk around in (v. 35) and apparently offered room enough for Gehazi (gay-khah-zee’), Elisha’s servant (v. 13). The woman also used her wealth to make sure the two men were fed.

4.) She was a woman of HUMILITY and CONTENTMENT

The prophet and his servant were resting in the room — when Elisha expressed a desire to do something special for the woman because of her kindness to them. He asked Gehazi (gay-khah-zee’) to call her so he could ask her whatr might be done for her. Her reply was brief and humble: “I am content among my own people.” She didn’t want Elisha to intercede with the God because she had no desire to be treated like a great person. She ministered to them because she wanted to serve the Lord.

NOTE: It is beautiful thing — A GREAT thing, when a woman is HUMBLE and CONTENT!

QUOTE: “If the grass is greener on the other side of the hill, KNOW this….. The water bill there is higher.”

Be content with where you are at. The man or woman who is content is NOT the person who owns the most — It is the one who NEEDS the LEAST and can enjoy where they are at.

There are many husbands who feel pressure — the pressure to have more — to be more — to do more because their wives are not content. There are husband who feel pressure to do less when it comes to the ministry because their wives are not content with the their leisure time.

THIS IS HUGE — Contentment is NOT something that comes naturally

Phil 4:11-13 ¹¹Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. ¹²I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. ¹³I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

She was a great woman because of

Her PERCEPTION and DISCERNMENT

Her GENEROSITY and HOSPITALITY (opening her house)

Her GENEROSITY and PRACTICALITY (making a prophets chamber)

Her HUMILITY and CONTENTMENT.

¹⁴And he said, “What then is to be done for her?” Gehazi (gay-khah-zee’) answered, “Well, she has no son, and her husband is old.” ¹⁵He said, “Call her.”

After she left, Gehazi (gay-khah-zee) suggested that she might want a son. It was likely that her husband would die before her and she would be left alone without a family.

Gehazi (gay-khah-zee)called her a second time, and this time Elijah spoke to her personally.

And when he had called her, she stood in the doorway. ¹⁶And he said, “At this season, about this time next year, you shall embrace a son.” And she said, “No, my lord, O man of God; do not lie to your servant.” ¹⁷But the woman conceived, and she bore a son about that time the following spring, as Elisha had said to her.

A COUPLE OF THINGS HERE —

1.) The grace of God brought life where once there had been no life.

2.) I love how Elisha’s promise sounds so much like the promise that God made to Abraham and Sarah.

Genesis 18:10; 14 The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son….  ¹⁴Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”

When you are close to the heart of God — your heart begins to beat with His heart. When you are close to the heart of God — He lets you know what things are in His heart in a given situation; for a given individual. When you are close to the heart of God — your words begin to sound like His words. God’s people bear witness to those words — ““I’ve heard that voice before in the Scriptures — That sounds like My heavenly Father.”

3.) The husband seems to be not-so-great in the things of the Lord. He was good guy — willing to help his wife in her desire to serve the Lord by serving the Lord’s servants. But he was no spiritual giant in his own right. YET — He gets a son! Living in our present day western culture we can not begin to understand just how HUGE it was to that man living in that culture to have a son! So this man gets an epic blessing — because his wife was epic in her relationship with the Lord. Time and again I have witnessed men, some with very nominal faith — receive huge blessings because of their godly wives!

I don’t think I have nominal faith — but I do know that I have received some epic blessings because of my wife’s epic faith and walk.

The promise was fulfilled and the woman gave birth to a son. She ends up being greatly blessed by God with a son

Next week we will see how that son was the joy of her life, but also how he brought her to a place that challenged her faith.

The Gospel of John

The Blind Man – Part 2

John 9

Last Sunday we began our study of John 9 in which John gives to us the record of the SIXTH SIGN performed by Jesus — The Healing of the Blind Man.

We began by reading the entire chapter. I made some running comments as we read through the chapter. Then we spent the majority of our time working our way through the first four verses of the Chapter.

First we made note of the fact that this event is connected in subject-matter, in time, place, occasion, and theme, with the events of chapters 7-8 in which Jesus revealed Himself as the Light of the World. From that revelation of Himself He deliberately walks into the life of a man who had been sitting in physical darkness for his entire life — blind from birth

The phrase blind from birth brought us face to face with the question — Why there is suffering in the world? The disciples of Jesus — like most Jews of their day — believed that sin and suffering were intimately connected. In the broadest sense they are absolutely correct. Suffering and death are directly tied to the fall of man and the entrance of sin into this world, recorded in Genesis 3. But they made the grave error of moving from the general connection between sin and suffering to explaining all specific suffering is the result of specific sin.

²And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”— literally “who sinned, this man or his parents, in order that he should be born blind?”

³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents,

Jesus wasn’t saying that they were sinless — He knew every one of their sins! But He was being very clear in saying that their sin was not the cause of the man’s blindness. We learned that on the basis of grammar and context that the passage could be read —

³ “His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents’ sins. PERIOD But that God’s power might be seen at work in him, ⁴ we must keep on doing the works of him who sent me as long as it is day.”

Here is Jesus — who is the SUBJECT of Biblical theology! The very subject of our theology becomes a man! Which would make Jesus the ULTIMATE theologian.

Colossians 2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

But the ultimate theologian ONLY addresses their theological error

He DOES NOT give us the definitive answer to the question that has plagued man from the beginning of human history.  THAT answer falls under Deuteronomy 29:29

The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Instead, Jesus simply says that the man’s blindness offers an opportunity to show God’s power at work in him, and that Jesus himself has come to reveal that power at work in history.

QUOTE: William Barclay — God never so fully reveals his glory as when he reveals his pity…..Affliction, sorrow, pain, disappointment, loss always are opportunities for displaying God’s grace.

We closed by looking at how our theological error or theological pride can hinder us from seeing the pathos of the human condition in this lost world! To the disciples the blind man was the occasion for theological speculation. The disciples were moved by theological controversy and curiosity rather than tenderhearted compassion.

To Jesus he was a person — a human being living under the curse desperately needing the healing touch of God.

Right before their eyes was a man suffering under the Curse of Genesis 3 — sitting in the dust of the earth — blind and begging — and these followers of Jesus — wanted to stop to talk about him — not talk to him.  Unlike the disciples, Jesus didn’t treat this guy as some theological dilemma!

So let’s work our way through the chapter again — and re-visit in greater detail some of the comments we made in our overview.

¹As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents (period), but that the works of God might be displayed in him ⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

The disciples wanted to talk theology — Jesus said WE have work to do.

⁴We must work

1.) Jesus includes us in the work that the Father sent Him to do.

⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day;

After His resurrection, Jesus said — As the Father has sent Me, so I send you!

We are co-laboring together with the risen Jesus. 1 Corinthians 3:9 ⁹For we are God’s fellow workers.

2.) It is not EASY work.

work = to engage in activity that involves effort — to work with one’s hands 1 Cor 4:12; 1 Th 4:11; 1 Th 2:9; 2 Th 3:8 Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed.) (389). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

For a lot of Christians, serving the Lord is O.K. as long as it isn’t WORK!

This word should make us remember Jesus in John 4 — Exhausted — hungry — thirsty at Jacob’s well. John told us that Jesus HAD to make that exhausting journey. His Father had a work for Him to do there: The work of introducing a woman to living water; the work of introducing her to true worship; the work of introducing her to Himself, the Messiah. Jesus EXHAUSTED HIMSELF in getting to her!

Jesus — our LORD — has set the example.  Jesus — Our LORD said — As the Father SENT Him, He SENDS us! The apostle Paul would say — Follow me as I FOLLOW Christ (1 Corinthains 11:1). Paul followed Christ’s example of working hard in the word the Father sent Jesus to do.

1 Thessalonians 2:9 For you remember, brothers, our labor (same word as John 9:4) and toil:

2 Timothy 2:10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

3.) We only have so much time to work.

⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day;

A number of commentators spent time trying to define exactly is meant by the terms DAY and NIGHT. I don’t think we have to labor over what is meant by day and what is meant by night. Work in Biblical times was essentially limited to daylight hours. Apart from rare exceptions (such as shepherds, night watchmen, or special messengers), no one works in the dark. They didn’t have electricity or those massive generators and light trees that Cal Trans workers use enabling them to work through the night on freeway construction and repair as if it were mid-day. Simply put we only have so much time to get the job done.

We make the error of compartmentalizing our time on earth. There is my time and there is God’s time. God gets church time — Sunday morning and maybe Monday night. Some people think themselves generous with their time and money if they add a Thursday night and — they think they are extraordinarily generous if they throw in some short-term missions trip. Listen — It ALL belongs to God. The part of our lives that we call “CHURCH-life” is the most obvious place that we should be co-laboring with Jesus in the work that the Father sent Him to do. We trust that whenever we gather in the Name of Jesus that we will RECEIVE from the Lord. It is our prayer that because of what happens within these walls at Metro, others, countless others, will RECEIVE from the Lord. Though we receive from the Lord, we should never come as takers — we should come as givers. It is my prayer that Metro will mature into a family of GIVERS — men and women who see our time together as an extension of the work that the Father sent Jesus to do —the work that Jesus says is also OUR WORK!

But 1660 E. Roseville Pkwy., Suite 100 is not the single compartment that encompasses our labor in the Lord. Outside of these walls our lives are to be a non-stop expression of worship that transforms the secular moments of life into sacred moments. We get to participate in the work the Father gave Jesus to do EVERYDAY and in EVERY PLACE.

The apostle Paul used a great word to help us see the reality of time constraints in our work in the Kingdom

Ephesians 5:16 KJV Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

Redeeming= ἐξαγοράζω (exagorazō)

Thayers Greek Dictionary — by payment of a price to recover from the power of another, to ransom, buy off — to buy up, to buy up for one’s self, for one’s use. We are to do that with our TIME!

HERE’S THE PICTURE — What if I told you that I was going to open a checking account for every one of you today. I’m going to deposit in that account $1,440 every day. But here’s the catch. You cannot carry over any balance. If you don’t uses every penny of that $1,440 dollars within a 24 hour period, you account is zeroed out at midnight and then another $1,440 dollars is deposited, on the same terms. I can guarantee that you would make sure that you spent every penny, every day. You’d be scouring eBay and Craig’s list and newspapers looking for the best deals on the best stuff.

LISTEN — God has given to us an account that is infinitely more valuable. Everyday He deposits in YOUR LIFE 1,440 MINUTES. Everyday He deposits into YOUR LIFE 1,440 MINUTES. You cannot carry over ONE second of those minutes to tomorrow’s balance. The minutes you didn’t use today in that work is LOST. I’m not saying that you can’t or shouldn’t go golfing or surfing or riding. I’m not saying you can’t or shouldn’t go to the beach or to the pool. God made the Sabbath for man! We see the way that He ordained seasons for us to move through — seasons of labor and seasons for rest. The question is — How do we use those minutes — and what amount of those 1,440 minutes do we co-labor with Jesus in the works of the Father.

QUOTE: J.C. RYLE — Opportunities once lost can never be retrieved. A second lease of life is granted to no man. Then let us resist procrastination as we would resist the devil. Whatever our hand finds to do, let us do it with our might. “The night comes, when no man can work.”

Jesus knew that his earthly ministry would only last three years — and knowing that He redeemed the time. Every single day — morning, noon, and night — He poured Himself out in His Father’s business. It was His food and drink to do His Father’s will, and to finish His work.

QUOTE: J.C. Ryle — His whole life breathed one sentiment–”I must work–the night comes, when no man can work.”

⁶Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud

A FEW THOUGHTS HERE —

1.) Having said these things — The phrase “having said these things” ties 9:6 tightly to 9:5. So this sixth miracle/sign is the practical example of what Jesus had just said. They wanted to talk theology, Jesus said — I have been SENT — and WE have work to do — and we have to do it now. THEN — without procrastination — Jesus immediately sets out to heal the man born blind.

2.) In THIS miracle, Jesus took all the initiative. The blind man did not come to Jesus and ask to be healed, Jesus came to Him. Jesus, the Light of the World, is the initiator. Jesus, the Light of the World is the healer. But as we will see in a moment — Though Jesus is the initiator and healer — he expected the blind man to respond in faith (Go, wash in the pool of Siloam).

3.) he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud — In THIS miracle Jesus used spit and dirt — and then a specific location (Pool of Siloam) in the healing of THIS blind man. Once Jesus healed two blind men by merely touching their eyes (Matt. 9:27-31). He healed another blind man by putting spittle on his eyes (Mark 8:22-26). Jesus healed a blind man named Bartimaeus by merely speaking (Mark 10:46). Again — everything that Jesus did was deliberate. He deliberately chose different ways and different locations to heal so that we could never reduce Jesus to a METHOD or a FORMULA. There is no formula; no methodology; no anything to save us from spiritual blindness except to look to Jesus. Once again — It really is ALL ABOUT JESUS!

Following from that — He worked in different ways in different peoples’ lives so that we could never measure the saving and healing work of God in someone else’s life by comparing it to the way Jesus saved or healed us! “Did you pray this prayer….. If not you can’t really be saved!” “Did you raise your hand or come forward?” “Did you feel warm and tingly all over? Well then you weren’t really healed.” Jesus worked in such diverse ways in the lives of such diverse people that we can’t use our personal testimony as the benchmark for genuine salvation or healing. The great question is not HOW (remember that was the foremost concern of the skeptics in this event) — nor is it WHAT did you feel. The great question is — Are the eyes of our understanding opened? Do we see?

REMEMBER — John refers to these miracles as SIGNS — the healing, the person healed, the means by which Jesus healed — is packed with meaning.

As Jesus uses the dust of the ground we are pointed Jesus as the creator of man. Then one who formed man from the dust (Genesis 2) now extends compassion and healing to fallen man — by using the dust of the earth.

We also learn from this that Jesus sometimes sovereignly chooses to use THINGS He has created to be a part of His life changing work! Did jesus NEED to use spit and dirt to heal this blind man? No! But He chose to use spit and dirt in this man’s healing. I’m reminded of how Paul says that we are just jars of clay

2 Corinthains 4:7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Clay is just a bunch if spit and dirt. Amazingly Jesus chooses to use lumps of spit and dirt like you and me to be a part of His compassionate, life-changing work in this dark world. No matter the ability of the clay jar — it is only Jesus who can heal, who can save. That means that our greatest ABILITY is our AVAILABILITY!

BOTTOM LINE — We must simply leave it to the great Physician to choose the instrument, the means, the manner and the place in which He saves and heals.

4.)The means of the healing also serves as a great picture for the work of God in salvation through the preaching of the Gospel. I’m pretty certain that NO ONE here would appreciate it if I made mud out of my spit and rubbed it in your eyes. I’m pretty certain that NO ONE here would appreciate it if I made mud out of my spit and rubbed it in your eyes. You would say — Isn’t there a better way to fix me than THIS? Or — Hey, I’ve got a better idea! A lot of people don’t appreciate the way that God has chosen to save us! They are constantly offering what they think is a “better way” to be saved.

Many look at how Jesus did this miracle and find it offensive. In the same way, some feel that the gospel is offensive — Jesus being brutally murdered because of my sin is offensive. Surely there could have been a less offensive and less bloody way to save me. Not only is the cross offensive because it unthinkably violent and grotesque — but it offends me because the brutality of His death tells me how horrible MY sin is! He was wounded for our transgressions; crushed for our iniquities.

It is true that the cross offends human pride and human wisdom — but it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe (1 Corinthians 1:21).

Not only would you find it disgusting if I made mud from spit and put it in your eyes; you would find it irritating. But the reason for the clay was to create an irritation that would move the man to believe and obey — move him to the Pool of Siloam! If you have ever got dirt or sand I your eye — the pain and irritation moved you to quickly seek irrigation to cleanse it out! When the Holy Spirit uses God’s Law to bring lost man under the conviction of sin it is very uncomfortable — it is irritating! That irritation / conviction is designed to move you to run to the “water of the Word” for irrigation — run to the promise of the forgiveness of sin through faith in Jesus.

The Gospel of John

The Blind Man – Part 1

John 9

In his account of the life of Jesus, John records for us SEVEN MIRACLES. Six of these miracles are not mentioned in the first three Gospels. In recording these miracles John uses the Greek word “sēmeion” (say-mi’-on) — which means “SIGN” — because every single miracle that Jesus ever performed was packed with meaning and significance. Each miracle was intended to POINT us to, and TEACH us something about Jesus — His glory and His Divine Nature. These signs also served as catalysts for great teaching moments in the ministry of Jesus. Nicodemus came to Christ because of the signs He had performed (3:2); the healing of the paralytic (5:1-9) led to the discourse in 5:10-47; the feeding of the 5,000 was the basis for the sermon on the Bread of Life in Chapter 6 which included the first of His I AM declarations

This morning we come to John 9 and in it we are given the record of the SIXTH SIGN performed by Jesus — The Healing of the Blind Man.

SIDE NOTE — In the four Gospels we find that Jesus performed more miracles in giving sight to the blind than any other miracle (11 references in the 4 Gospels to Jesus healing the blind). This is because some 700 years before Jesus, the prophet Isaiah foretold that this particular miracle would be one of the trademarks of the Messiah (Is.35:5; 29:18; 42:7). It’s also because this specific miracle reveals Jesus as the one who came to heal those who were spiritually blind — to bring fallen man out of darkness and into the light of God.

John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Matthew 4:13-16 And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, ¹⁴so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: ¹⁵ “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles — ¹⁶ the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light,and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.”

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

I have found this chapter to be absolutely overwhelming and profound in how it captures the PATHOS of the human condition and the MERCY and POWER of Jesus towards a world in the grip of death and darkness.

Every time I stand before you I feel a deep sense of my inadequacy — but this chapter has left me undone. More than ever I pray that for your sake and for His glory, God will overlook my inadequacies.

So I’m going to read the whole story — and make some running comments — that I hope will turn on some light bulbs — and that we will re-visit next week in greater detail.

¹As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” ³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. ⁴We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” ⁶Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud ⁷and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

⁸The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” ⁹Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” ¹⁰So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” ¹¹He answered, “The man called Jesus

INTERESTING — They ask HOW — He answered WHO! Some are interested in the ways of God — HOW God works. Others want to know God — the One who did the work!

made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’

So I went and washed and received my sight.” ¹²They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”

Here we see the role of Jesus  — and the responsibility of man.

¹³They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.

The THEY would be the neighbors and those who had seen him begging

What a weird response to a miracle — you would think they would have been praising God for the miracle — rejoicing with the man or going back into the temple to bring an offering to God.

¹⁴Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. ¹⁵So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”

Again — Jesus is the healer — Jesus did the work that only He could do — but the man had to respond — he was the recipient of the miracle because he OBEYED the healer. A wonderful picture of what the New Testament calls the “obedience of faith” (Romans 1:15; 16:26) and obeying the Gospel (2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17).

¹⁶Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. ¹⁷So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”

The healed man recognizes Jesus as a MAN and as PROPHET

¹⁸The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight ¹⁹and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” ²⁰His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. ²¹But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”

John is gong to give the explanation for the parents’ response.

²²(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) ²³Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.”

²⁴So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.” ²⁵He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”

Here was a man with virtually ZERO information or understanding. He only knew the WHO and the WHAT in connection with what had just happened to him! But there was one thing that he could not deny — and no one could argue — He had experienced the touch of God upon his life

I DO know that though I was blind, now I see!

²⁶They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” ²⁷He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?”

That would be sarcasm!

²⁸And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.

Very real options — Moses or Jesus — Law or Grace. Once again we are tethered to the prologue —

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

²⁹We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.” ³⁰The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing!

More amazing miraculously receiving his sight

You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. ³¹We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. ³²Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. ³³If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” ³⁴They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

³⁵Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him

Jesus knows this guy has suffered a tremendous humiliation and loss because of his loyalty to Jesus. Jesus goes to the him! THAT is our Jesus.

he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”

Son of Man is a term found in Daniel that refers to the Messiah as the King who will come in glory and power and rule the world.

³⁶He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?”

The man recognizes and believes in Jesus as MAN — PROPHET and MESSIAH.

³⁷Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” ³⁸He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

WHAT was that like? The OUTPOURING of worship and adoration would have been as OVERFLOWING as the revelation was OVERWHELMING!

³⁹Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” ⁴⁰Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things,

WOW! They heard Jesus say He was the Son of Man. They heard and saw the man worship Jesus — and saw Jesus receive worship.

and said to him, “Are we also blind?” ⁴¹Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.

WE WANT TO REMEMBER THE CONTEXT. The chapter opens by saying

¹As he passed by,

The grammatical structure creates a “relation both in subject-matter, in time, place, occasion, and theme, with that which had preceded.” The Pulpit Commentary: St.John Vol. II. 2004 (H. D. M. Spence-Jones, Ed.) (2). Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

This moment was preceded by Feast of Booths (John 7) that included the Illumination of the Temple on the evening of the first day of the feast — commemorating how God manifested Himself to the Israelites during their 40 years in the wilderness as a Pillar of Fire by night.

This moment was also preceded by the second great I AM statement of Jesus in Chapter 8.

John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Chapter 8 closed with the Jews wanting to kill Jesus .

John 8:59 So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

¹As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.

As He was leaving the Temple — Jesus sees by this Blind Man. DON’T MISS THIS — Jesus was deliberate in everything He did  — everything He said  — everywhere He went. The one who said I am the Light of the World deliberately makes his way to a man who from birth had only known darkness — so that He could heal the man and reveal Himself to be the light of the World!

John tells us that this man was blind from birth

Immediately we are brought face to face with age old question — Why is there suffering in the world? Answers of every kind have been given — the most common of which is that suffering is the result of KARMA. Even the monotheistic Jews in the day of Jesus viewed suffering in that light. Listen to the disciples of Jesus.

²And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi,

They are addressing Jesus as TEACHER. They want to know the answer to this ancient question.

who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

QUOTE: A Handbook on the Gospel of John — literally “who sinned, this man or his parents, in order that he should be born blind?”

Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John. Helps for translators; UBS handbook series (299). New York: United Bible Societies.

The disciples of Jesus — like most Jews of their day — believed that sin and suffering were intimately connected. In the broadest sense they are absolutely correct. Suffering and death are directly tied to the fall of man and the entrance of sin into this world, recorded in Genesis 3. At the close of the creation account, God looked at the world and said it was very good. Since Genesis 3 forward we cannot look at the world and say — it is very good. We can’t watch the news at 10:00 and say of the world — it is very good. There, in Genesis 3, DEATH and SUFFERING were introduced to the world. In the final analysis, all physical problems are the result of our fall in Adam. His disobedience brought sin and death into the world (Rom. 5:12).

Listen to what the old Anglican bishop, J.C. Ryle had to say on the tragic condition of this man

We should observe, first, in this passage, how much sorrow sin has brought into the world. A sorrowful case is brought before us. We are told of a man “who was blind from his birth.” A more serious affliction can hardly be conceived. Of all the bodily crosses that can be laid on man, without taking away life, none perhaps is greater than the loss of sight. It cuts us off from some of the greatest enjoyments of life. It shuts us up within a narrow world of our own. It makes us painfully helpless and dependent on others. In fact, until men lose their eyesight, they never fully realize its value.

Now blindness, like every other bodily infirmity, is one of the fruits of sin. If Adam had never fallen, we cannot doubt that people would never have been blind, or deaf, or mute. The many ills that flesh is heir to, the countless pains, and diseases, and physical defects to which we are all liable, came in when the curse came upon the earth. “By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” (Rom. 5:12.)

Let us learn to hate sin with a godly hatred, as the root of more than half of our cares and sorrows. Let us fight against it, mortify it, crucify it, and abhor it both in ourselves and others. There cannot be a clearer proof that man is a fallen creature than the fact that he can love sin and take pleasure in it.

So the disciples’ prevailing theology of suffering was correct in understanding the broad connection between sin and suffering in the world. But here is where they went wrong — They made a giant leap from the broad and general connection between sin and suffering in the world — to making a tight connection between the specific sins and the specific sufferings of an individual.

They looked at this man — blind from birth — and they conclude that he was BORN BLIND because his parents sinned in some way that implicated him (perhaps his mother went to a pagan temple while pregnant with him); or because he had actually committed some sin while in his mother’s womb.

Their assumptions make the disciples much the same as Job’s “miserable comforters” — who insisted that Job’s suffering was tightly connected to some particular sin he had committed.

³Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents,

Jesus is not saying that they are sinless. Certainly both the man and his parents had at some time committed sin. And we cannot deny the fact that some specific illness or suffering can be the direct consequence of a specific sin. We have the record of Miriam’s leprosy being the direct consequence of her rebellion (Numbers 12). Jesus himself made the direct connection between a man’s paralysis and his sin (John. 5:14). Paul made the same connection between sin and suffering and even death in 1 Cor. 11:30.

Jesus is not saying that they are sinless — He knows every one of their sins! But He is being very clear in saying that their sin was not the cause of the man’s blindness. If all blindness was directly linked to our sin, EVERYONE in this room would be blind and all of our kids would be blind!

So Jesus eliminates that as an explanation — and he then addresses the even harder theological question  — How do we explain birth defects in the light of our belief that God is good? There is not a parent who has had a child born with a birth defect who hasn’t asked the question  — WHY did God allow my child to be born this way?

³ …“It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

Some read this as meaning that God purposefully MADE the man blind in his mother’s womb so that God might be glorified in his healing.

Newman and Nida — in their comments on John’s Gospel — a work intended to help Bible translators  — give this reading of the Greek text —

³ “His blindness has nothing to do with his sins or his parents’ sins. PERIOD But that God’s power might be seen at work in him, ⁴ we must keep on doing the works of him who sent me as long as it is day.”

And then they make this comment — 

On the basis of the Greek, it is not only grammatically possible to translate in this way; it also suits the context well.

Newman, B. M., & Nida, E. A. (1993). A handbook on the Gospel of John. Helps for translators; UBS handbook series (299). New York: United Bible Societies.

So — on the one hand Jesus rejects their erroneous belief that the man’s blindness MUST BE the direct consequence of his parents’ sin or his own sin. On the other hand — Jesus makes no judgment as to the reason that the man was born blind.

Some people are sick — or are hurt and suffering — or die — because of someone else’s sin — drunk driving

Some children are born sick and suffering — some die — because of their parents’ sin —crack babies / fetal alcohol syndrome / AIDS

Some are born sick — some are suffering — some die — because of Adam’s sin — genetic birth defects — biological life decaying in a fallen world —

Some are sick and suffering — and we don’t know why — like Job.

This is amazing! Here is Jesus — the WORD become man (John 1:14). Here is Jesus — The very WISDOM OF GOD (1 Corinthians 1:24). John tells us that the Word of God; the Wisdom of God, DOES address their theological error — but He DOES NOT give to them the definitive answer to the theological question of suffering! Instead, Jesus simply says that the man’s blindness offers an opportunity to show God’s power at work in him, and that Jesus himself has come to reveal that power at work in history.

THEN — Jesus associates US with HIM in that task committed to him by the Father. Robertson, A. (1997). Word Pictures in the New Testament (Jn 9:4). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.

LISTEN TO THIS —

Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.

Jesus DOESN’T give us the answer to the question that has plagued man from the beginning of human history.  THAT answer is a secret — it belongs to the Lord our God. Jesus has revealed to us the WRONG way to process the question. And Jesus has revealed to us the amazing reality that He wants us to be a part of the work God sent Him to do — the work of God in touching lives in a wrecked world.

But that God’s power might be seen at work in him (a lost man living and suffering under the curse), ⁴ we must keep on doing the works of him who sent me as long as it is day.”

We need to be on guard against having a wrong attitude and approach to the secret things. We want to love and guard the TRUTH. We want to love the Scriptures and hold fast to them. We want to earnestly contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints (Jude v3). We want to be able to look at our faith and our practice and be able to say, as Peter did on the Day of Pentecost  — “this is that which the Holy Spirit spoke of….”. But we MUST realize that there are some theological issues that are going to belong to the Lord. And we need to guard against thinking that we have figured out the things that God has not revealed. The theological error of the disciples was that they made a system that drew conclusions that were not revealed by God.

We must also never allow our theological pride to hinder us from the great privilege of being a part of men and women seeing the power of God in the person of Jesus!

We must never allow our theological pride to hinder us from seeing the pathos of the human condition in this lost world!

You might be asking — WHAT do you mean by that? You might be asking HOW would that ever happen? Well let me show you what that looks like right here in John 9

¹As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

The disciples regarded this man as an unsolved riddle; but Jesus regarded him as a suffering person needing relief. Jesus saw a man — the disciples asked about him. To the disciples the blind man was the occasion for theological speculation. To Jesus he was a person — a human being to be pitied and needing the healing touch of God. These guys were like the medieval theologians who argued over how many angels could fit on the head of a pin — while men and women were going to hell! The were moved to theological controversy rather than tenderhearted compassion.

Imagine the AFFRONT these men (they we definitely Jesus’ men) were to this man in his condition!

Here is a man who from his earliest childhood memories only experienced life in utter darkness. Terrified of going to bed at night — hearing sounds but incapable knowing what or who it was.  He would have grown up without the simplest of childhood pleasures — and would have experienced the realities of childhood cruelties.

As we read in the account, his parents were devout in their Judaism —they treasured their religious life in the synagogue. This man would have grown up knowing that his mom and dad feared and loved God. He would have known that every time someone looked at him, they would have wondered what sin his mom and dad must have committed for him to be born blind.

As he grew up he would have concluded that he would never marry — never be a dad — never have a career. There was no such thing as brail in that day. There was no such thing as the Jews with Disabilities Acts.

It was customary in that day for young men to become financially independent and responsible at a very young age. He would have been ashamed that his career would be that of a beggar.

Having resigned himself to a life of begging — discovered that one of the better places to beg was in the Temple precincts (we remember the man lame from birth begging at the Beautiful Gate in Acts 3). He also would have discovered that the best day to beg was on the Sabbath — because he knew that as men and women were coming to and going from the Temple they would be prone to act out of religious sympathy (genuine or not). That’s why he was begging on the Sabbath, and particularly near the temple.

It was customary that teachers — rabbis — and their students would be coming and going at the temple. Students gathered there around their rabbis and asked questions — their rabbis gave answers. We remember Jesus

Luke 2:46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

AGAIN — ¹As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. ²And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

He would have HEARD their question!

There he was sitting in the dust of the earth — blind and begging — and these men — probably like many other students who had walked past him with their rabbi — wanted to stop to talk about him — not talk to him.

IMAGINE the ache of growing up in utter pitch black darkness — IMAGINE the ache of knowing your parents heart ache over you — IMAGINE the ache being reduced to a beggar — and you are treated as a theological problem — puzzle not a person.

Then IMAGINE the ache when countless rabbis — who didn’t even know you or your parents — would pontificate and speculate about your darkness and the aching in your heart.

This day in John 9 — and this question by the followers of Jesus — was just another insult added to injury.

They stopped right in front of him and began asking questions about his condition as if he wasn’t even there!

We need to be so careful to never reduce the very real ache of a very real and very lost human to a theological issue to be discussed. We must guard against letting their lost condition become a concern merely because of theological or practical considerations. Let’s not spend our time talking ABOUT them —

Why all the tattoos? Why all the piercings? I think they are destroying the temple of God!

Why all the cosmetic surgery? How could anyone be so self absorbed and spend all of that money fixing the outward appearances.

How could a boy hold the hand of another boy?

They aren’t theological cadavers in a theological lab to be dissected and analyzed! They are humans living in fallen world with out God and having no hope! Let’s not spend our time talking ABOUT them — Let’s spend time talking TO them! IF we are going spend time talking about them — let’s be talking to Jesus about them!

Jesus didn’t treat this guy as some theological dilemma!

This rabbi was unlike any that he had ever encountered! Rather than hearing another rabbi speculate about his condition — the blind man sensed this rabbi kneeling down in front of him. With his heightened auditory senses the blind man could hear Jesus spit on the ground — and could hear Jesus hands moving in the dust of the earth.

Then he was startled as Jesus took mud and placed his hands over the blind man’s eyes.

The last thing he expected was that Jesus would touch him — or command him to go wash in the pool of Siloam.

EVERY TIME that blind man was treated as a theological lab rat — the object for rabbinical instruction on the relationship between sin and suffering — the ACHE of being a blind man in a fallen world was exacerbated. He was not better for it — only bitter and more hopeless. The same is true when Christians look at the lost and only material for theological discussion and debate.

But when he was TOUCHED by Jesus — went to the pool — bent over and filled his hands with water — washed the mud out of his eyes — he was stunned. IMAGINE the TRANSFORMATION of everything he had known about life.

Instead of darkness — everything was light.  His whole life he had smelled things — but never saw them. He had touched things but never saw them. He had heard things but never saw them. All of a sudden he was able to connect all of the sounds and all of the smells and all of the shapes with color and shadow and light and movement.

Jesus saw a man — Oh that we would be men and women as Jesus sees them. Oh that we would be seeing the works of God displayed in the lives of lost men and women — see their lives transformed on every level — as this guys was. I’m reminded of my pastor (Chuck Smith) and his wife, Kay. In the 1960’s they would go to the Huntington Beach Pier and watch the hippies. Chuck would ask WHY don’t they take a bath, get a haircut, get a job? Kay would WEEP! That preceded an outpouring of the Holy Spirit that I believe saved a nation that was ready to implode socially, morally and spiritually. It was such a profound work of God that it was called “The Jesus Movement.” There is a reason why it was called “The Jesus Movement.” While it was taking place, a lot of people wanted to know HOW so many teens and young adults were getting off drugs. While a lot of people were asking how, there were countless young men and women who could only talk about WHO! All they could talk about was JESUS. And those countless transformed lives became worshippers of Jesus. People could see the reality of their transformed lives as clearly as men and women say the blind man had received his sight. They became a part of the WE of verse 4 — We must work the works of him who sent me. Those whose eyes had been opened by Jesus began to serve Jesus and co-labor with Jesus in the work of bringing sight to the spiritually blind world they once lived in.

Next week we will walk through the account again!

But now we want to RESPOND

GIVING — COMMUNION — WORSHIP — PRAYER

Think of the response of this man born blind to Jesus — LORD I BELIEVE — and he WORSHIPPED Jesus!

Open our eyes, Lord. We want to see Jesus. To reach out and touch him, and say that we love him. Open our ears, Lord, and help us to listen. Open our eyes, Lord. We want to see Jesus.

CHAPTER 3

¹In the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram the son of Ahab became king over Israel in Samaria, and he reigned twelve years. ²He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, though not like his father and mother, for he put away the pillar of Baal that his father had made.

Here we are given a summary of Jehoram’s reign.

Jehoram came from a family that put the DYS in dysfunctional. His dad —Ahab — was one of the most wicked men in the history of the nation of Israel — and in the history of the Northern Kingdom. His mom — Jezebel — was certainly the worst queen Israel ever knew — and was so wicked that when you want to describe a woman’s wickedness you call her a “Jezebel.”

Jehoram was better than his mom and dad in that he put away the worship of Baal — but he was still a wicked man. He was the ninth consecutive bad king over the northern kingdom, which never had a godly king.

THERE IS A BIG LESSON for us here — God doesn’t grade on the curve! If God were grading on a relative scale — grading on the curve — Jehoram might have been good with God. But THAT is not how God judges.

We are not judged by how sinful we are compare with some one else’s sinfulness. We are judged by God’s standard of righteousness.

John 17:8-10 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; ¹⁰concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; ¹¹concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Jesus is saying that HE is the standard for righteousness — Jesus is the standard for who God will receive into His presence.

³Nevertheless, he clung to the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from it.

WHAT were the sins of Jeroboam —

1 Kings 12:26-31 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David. ²⁷If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” ²⁸So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” ²⁹And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. ³⁰Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. ³¹He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites.

Jereboam put political expediency above the spiritual well being of the people. The same was true of Jehoram. He put away the Baal statue that his dad had constructed —  but never became a real believer in Jehovah.”

He put away Baal worship — either because he was frightened when he remembered the judgment that came against his father Ahab and his brother Ahaziah, — or because he wanted to impress Jehoshaphat so he agree to military alliance. As we’