Introduction
Ben sent us a screenshot
from his Bible yesterday; it was some verses from Isaiah 57 (in the New Living
Translation) that he was reading on hearing about Alan’s death.
Good people pass away;
the godly often die before
their time.
But no one seems to care
or wonder why.
No one seems to understand
that God is protecting
them from the evil to come.
For those who follow godly
paths
will rest in peace when
they die.
I’m still absorbing the shock
of the news of Alan’s death, as I’m sure we all are, especially those of you
who knew him as your pastor. Alan was more than a colleague for me; he was a guide
and a wise mentor especially in our difficult first year here. He was a trusted
prayer partner; I shared things with him at a very deep and personal level;
things that only Kathie and I know.
He was a man of God, with
a vulnerability and a fragility certainly, but all that added to the depth of
his spiritual authority, I think. I will miss him so much as I know many of you
will.
1 John 3.2 says, “Dear
friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made
known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for
we shall see him as he is.”
When Alan’s earthly life
disappeared, Christ appeared. To him. Alan now sees the Lord Jesus as he is
- in other words, altogether glorious, stunningly majestic, totally awesome, breathtakingly
holy and good.
Of course, we are all
still processing this news not just because it came so out of the blue but also
because it raises so many questions for us. How can this have happened? Why did
the Lord not prevent his fall? Why were our prayers for his recovery not
answered? As we’ve been seeing with Elisha, our God is he not a God of miracles
and wonders? Why did they fall short for this man who believed in this stuff
more passionately than most of us?
I don’t have the answer to
any of those questions this morning - and even if I did today would not be the
time to speak. This is a day for tears, for sorrow, for hugs, for comforting
each other but also for thanksgiving. Because Jesus burst from the grave, death
is not the end. May Alan rest in peace and rise in glory.
Today’s reading, 2 Kings
6.8-23, will close this series on Elisha which began with Elijah being taken up
to heaven in a chariot of fire and ends today with angels battling in heavenly places.
There are unseen spiritual mysteries all around us, all the time, that we are
only faintly aware of, if at all.
Psalm 34 says, “The angel
of the Lord encamps around those who fear him.” Two days after Alan’s fall, in
what must have been the worst week of her life, Nicky wrote, “There is so much
to be thankful for in this awful situation that I may write a book.” “Even
though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are… with me.”
Prayer…
Those ‘Oh No!’ Moments
Let’s turn to God’s word
then and it’s, typically for the life of Elisha, a strange and curious story.
It’s a time of conflict
between Aram (which is modern day Syria) and Israel (which is modern day
Israel). Raiding parties from Aram are attacking Israelite villages, looting and
vandalising and taking captives. They’ve been doing that for some time; that’s
how Naaman in chapter 5 has acquired an Israelite slave girl. She’s been taken
from her home and now lives in servitude.
But now, each time the
Aramean army launch a new attack, they’re ambushed by Israelites lying in wait
– it’s eerie; it’s as if they know the Arameans are coming. So, the king of
Aram smells a rat and suspects there’s an informant amongst his officers who is
leaking intelligence to the king of Israel on all these planned raids; when they’re
going to happen, where they’re going to happen, how many soldiers, which
direction the assault will come from...
So, the Arameans conduct an
inquiry to find out where the leaks are coming from and they learn that there
is no mole; it’s that Elisha is getting revelation from God about these raids
and he is tipping off the king of Israel before they happen.
The Bible calls this gift
that Elisha has the word of knowledge. Paul talks about it in 1 Corinthians 12.
It’s when you get a supernatural revelation of something that only
God could know so that when it is said people ask, “How did you know that?”
Remember when Jesus knew all about the marriages
and affairs of the woman at the well? That was a word of knowledge. I’ve experienced many in my lifetime.
But the king of Aram
thinks he can outsmart God. “Right”, he says, “let’s work out where this Elisha
is living and we can take him out.” So, they locate him in the small town of
Dothan, and then surround it with armed men, and horses and chariots in the
hope of eliminating him.
How would you feel if you
woke up one morning and found there’s a one-thousand-strong armed mob with an
order to take you dead or alive encircling the place you are staying? Elisha’s assistant
sums it up in six understated words. “Oh no! What shall we do?”
Last Sunday there was another
“oh no!” “Oh no! my axe head has fallen into the river and it was borrowed!” That’s
a little “oh no.” It’s pretty awkward for the guy who’s lost it but look, it’s
just a household tool.
This is a big “oh no!”
There are mean looking guys armed to the teeth outside and they’re after us.
What’s your “oh no!” at
the moment? Whether it’s a little one or a big one, there is nothing too small that
it’s of no interest to God and nothing too big that it’s beyond him. Our God is
able.
But Elisha is chilled. He says,
“Don’t be afraid.” You’ve been told this a thousand times but it’s still true, this
command “do not be afraid” occurs 366 times in God’s word, once for every day
of the year even if it’s a leap year which next year it is.
And here’s why Elisha feels
able to say that. He says, “Those who are with us are more than those
who are with them.”
“More than” is a precious
and wonderful principle in scripture.
·
Deuteronomy
7.14: You will be blessed more than any other people
·
Job 42.12: The
Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former
·
Romans 8.37: We
are more than conquerors through Christ
·
Ephesians
3.20:
Now to him who is able to do
immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine according to the
power at work among us…
The storehouses of God are
never empty. There is always more to lay hold of in faith.
And here in 2 Kings 6.16:
“Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 1
John 4.4 says the same thing really: “greater is he that is in me than the one who is in the world.”
Angels and the Unseen
Realm
There is a spiritual realm
that is like the air we breathe; it is real and it is invisible. Like it is occasionally
possible, when it is cold enough, to see the air you breathe, so it is possible
on rare occasions to see the see the spiritual realm, when heaven opens, when
the veil is drawn back – and this is one of those times here.
I want to share a couple
of others. Marie Monsen was a Spirit-filled Norwegian missionary for about
thirty years to North and Central China, during which time she was used by God
in revival, accounts of which can be read in her book A Present Help. Here’s
an abbreviated testimony from that book.
Early one morning there
was a fever of unrest everywhere because of rumours of a revolt among the
soldiers in the city where we had our main station. If anything should happen,
I knew I ought to be there, as the missionary in residence had a weak heart,
his wife was expecting an addition to the family very soon and the nurse who had
come to help her had bad nerves.
I heard from one who knew
some of the soldiers, that the General had promised them that one night they
could loot the city instead of receiving their pay. It was expected to happen
that night. A couple of soldiers had called at our mission compound in the
morning to calculate that they would need eighteen rifles for the night’s work.
Some claimed that they had
heard that the looting was to begin at 10 o’clock. The soldiers were too
impatient to wait for the signal, and began looting at 8 o’clock. We heard
shooting and noise all night, until towards morning it grew quiet.
When we ran across the
open courtyard, bullets whistled above our heads. The whole time the lovely
words kept sounding in my heart: “You shall not be afraid for the terror by
night, nor for the arrow that flies by day,” (Psalm 91:5).
The Chinese Christians
immediately testified boldly to their terrified unconverted neighbours who had
taken refuge with us. They saw some of their own people but who were quite
different from themselves; they were at peace and showed no sign of the fear
felt by everyone else.
Next day, several of our
neighbours came in to see us and asked if they might come and stay with us next
time there was trouble, “For you have protection,” they said. I heard that
remark several times before I realized that they must mean something special.
What they told me sent me calling on all the neighbors in the houses across the
street, so as to hear it from other eye-witnesses.
All our neighbours kept
their doors locked that night. But now and again they opened their doors to
peep out and see if there was a fire anywhere near. That was that they had seen
our “protectors.” Three soldiers stood on guard up on the high roof of the
Gospel Hall, one at each end and one in the middle. A fourth had been seated on
the porch over the main gate. These soldiers had kept watch in every direction.
I asked our neighbours, “Who
did you think it was?”
They replied, “Soldiers
the General had sent to protect you.”
“And did they look like
the General’s soldiers?”
They replied, “They were
taller than any soldiers we had seen.”
“Were they armed?”
They replied, “We didn’t
see that, we only saw their silhouettes, we didn’t dare look at them
carefully.”
“Could you see their
faces?”
“We saw them best of all.”
“How was that?” I asked.
“They shone.”
It must have been angels
on guard. The neighbours saw them, it was a testimony to them, but they were
invisible to us. It came powerfully to me and showed me how little we reckon
with “the Lord, the God of hosts, who sends forth His angels, mighty in
strength.”
Every weekday morning
here, about half a dozen or so people gather to pray from 9am to 9.30am. We
usually pray for the nation, the church here, and for the church worldwide, getting
information from Open Doors and The Barnabas Fellowship who work with persecuted
Christians around the world.
Just last June, the
Barnabas Fellowship printed a report in their newsletter about an incident in Northern
Nigeria which is an exceptionally dangerous place for Christians – especially
for those who have left Islam to follow Jesus. The report was of an attack by
Boko Haram.
It’s about a group of 500 or so Nigerian Christians,
converts from Islam, and their children. It is not normal for these people to
gather in such large numbers, but all of them had been attacked before by Boko
Haram and they hoped that being in a larger group would give them a measure of
security. But the terrorists were not deterred. They attacked the group, captured
76 of them, and took them back to their camp.
When they got to this camp, the Christians were beaten
badly, and their four male leaders were told they must deny Christ and convert
to Islam or they would be shot. All four refused and all four were shot dead,
in full view of the others.
A week later, their four widows were told they must
renounce their Christian faith or their children would be shot. They were given
time to think about this dreadful choice. As these mothers agonised together that
evening, their excited children came running up to them, saying that Jesus had
appeared to them and had told them all would be well.
They weren’t sure what to make of that but Jesus then
appeared to the whole group, all the remaining 72, and told them not to fear
for he would protect them. He said they should not renounce him but should stay
strong, and that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
The next day, these four mothers gave their decision to the
Boko Haram gunmen. “We will never deny Christ.” So, the militants loaded their
guns and prepared to shoot the children, who were already lined up against a
wall. The youngest was a little girl of four. All of a sudden, the men in the
firing squad began screaming and clawing at their own heads, shouting “Snakes,
snakes!” They fled the scene, and some of them dropped dead.
One of the Christians reached for the gun of one of the
dead men but the four-year-old put her hand on his arm to stop him. “You don’t
need to do that,” she said, “Can’t you see all the men in white fighting for
us?” But he couldn’t. Only the child could see them.
Hebrews 13.2 says we sometimes meet angels without knowing
it. “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers,” it says, “for by so doing
some people have shown hospitality to angels unaware.” We once shared
testimonies about this at midweek Communion and several of us testified to
miraculous intervention in times of danger or trouble.
Ending
I’m not going to spend any real time on what happens
next; just to say it’s one of the most beautiful foretastes of the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. People say the Old Testament is all
judgement and doom and disaster. No, it isn’t. There is mercy and kindness to
be found there too even in that dog-eat-dog world of bloodshed and revenge.
But I want to come in to land in the shadow of the
cross. We’ve shared Communion today, remembering the sufferings of Christ for
us. We’ve tasted of the powers of the age to come in the simplicity of sharing
bread and wine. We’ve feasted on Christ.
The night before he died, in a small garden on the
Mount of Olives, another army marched up with swords and clubs. They surrounded
the place where he was.
And Jesus said to the twelve, “Don’t
you know I could call on my Father, and he would at once put at my disposal more than twelve
legions of angels?”
What they did for Elisha they could have done
for Jesus. But he thought of you, he thought of me, and said, “But how then
would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?”
Let’s pray…
Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 24 November 2019
