MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(Powerpoints used with this message are available for free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request #199.)
ILL. Before Allied forces invaded Iraq Saddam Hussein boasted that if Iraq was attacked the world would see "The Mother of All Battles." But he was wrong.
Instead, let me suggest a scripture that describes what I believe could be called the "Mother of All Battles." In Ephesians 6:12 the apostle Paul writes,
"For our struggle is not against flesh & blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world & against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
ILL. Back in the 1990's two of Frank Paretti's best-selling Christian fiction books were "This Present Darkness" & it's sequel, "Piercing the Darkness."
In them Paretti took some liberties with scripture. For example, the Bible doesn't portray demons as spewing sulfur from their nostrils. But he did do a good job of bringing the subject of spiritual warfare to our attention.
B. So this morning we're going once again to read about a time of war in the Middle East recorded in the 6th chapter of 2 Kings. And in that account we see God working miraculously, & the enemy totally overcome.
But most importantly, we will learn that "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." (2 Kings 6:16)
C. In 2 Kings 6:8 we read that Benhadad, King of Syria, was at war with Israel & often sent his army to attack towns along the Israeli border. But Israel had an early warning system in the person of Elisha, a prophet of God.
You see, Elisha was a dedicated & faithful prophet, & God enabled him to perform many amazing miracles. God also revealed to Elisha everything Benhadad planned to do in his war against Israel.
Then Elisha would warn Jehoram, the king of Israel, "Send reinforcements there." Or, "Avoid that place because the Syrians are plotting an ambush there."
This happened so often that it nearly drove Benhadad crazy. He called a special meeting of his military council & demanded, "Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?" (2 Kings 6:11)
Well, one of his officers mustered up the courage to tell Benhadad, "None of us, my Lord the king, ...but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom." (2 Kings 6:12)
Benhadad is enraged. His trusted servants are telling him, "Benhadad, you've been had." So Benhadad put Elisha on a "hit" list. In vs. 13 he says in effect, "Find him. I don't care how you find him, but when you find him, get him!"
Well, in short order a resourceful Syrian spy reports that Elisha was staying in the town of Dothan about 9 1/2 miles north of Samaria, the capitol of Israel.
PROP. And as we continue reading we will observe 4 things: The Overwhelming Army, A Trembling Servant, The Invisible Protectors, & The Courageous Man of God. Then I want to draw 3 conclusions from these observations.
I. THE OVERWHELMING ARMY
A. First of all, observe The Overwhelming Army. Vs. 14 says that Benhadad "sent horses & chariots & a strong force there. They went by night & surrounded the city." The Amplified Bible says that Benhadad sent a "great army" to Dothan, & things looked very bad for the prophet Elisha.
B. You know, at times things look rather bad for the church, too. We're surrounded by pornographers, by drug dealers, by militant homosexuals who are becoming more & more militant every day.
ILL. We're surrounded by atheists & humanists like Corlyss Lamont, the father of Humanism, who once proclaimed, "While we live, lets live in clover, for when we're dead, we're dead all over."
Well, Corlyss Lamont is now dead & I'm convinced that it isn't all over for poor Corlyss.
Sad to say, we're also surrounded, it seems, by a number of weak-willed senators & congressmen, & perhaps worst of all, by a thoroughly anti Christian media.
And in addition to that, we're surrounded by an entertainment industry that often delights in blaspheming Jesus Christ.
Paul felt this way in 2 Corinthians 4:8 when he said, "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."
II. THE TREMBLING SERVANT
Now we can take one of two approaches to this situation. We can either take the fearful approach of the servant, or the positive approach of Elisha.
2 Kings 6:15-16 tells us, "When the servant of the man of God got up & went out early the next morning, an army with horses & chariots had surrounded the city. 'Oh, my Lord, what shall we do?' the servant asked."
"'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'"
How could that possibly be true? A Syrian army, overwhelming in size, was surrounding them. So for the sake of a trembling servant Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." (2 Kings 6:17)
Now notice the answer to Elisha's prayer. The Knox Version of the Bible says, "The Lord opened the servant's eyes and clear sight came to him: all at once he saw the whole mountainside beset with flaming horses and chariots." (2 Kings 6:17)
ILL. It is reported that over the mantle of the Hinds Hotel in England are inscribed these words, "Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. No one was there." You see, faith dispels fear.
III. THE INVISIBLE PROTECTORS
A. This young man had a host of angels & chariots of fire ready to help him, & he didn't even know it. Yet the Bible says that we have these same angels available to help us, too.
1. Hebrews 1:14 says, "Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?"
"O Lord, open our eyes" & help us see that angels are around us, & that they do minister to us in our times of need. Whether it was the apostle Paul in a storm on the Mediterranean sea, or our loved ones in a tornado in OK, - Lord, you have ministered to us.
2. Psalms 34:7 says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, & He delivers them."
"Lord, open our eyes" & help us see that angels do watch over us, whether the guardian angels that Jesus said watches over our little ones, or those who have protected us in times of peril today.
3. "Lord, open our eyes" to the fact that angels can deliver us, whether it was God's angel delivering Daniel from the lion's den, or delivering us from sure & certain death on the freeway during rush hour traffic.
ILL. A few years ago a speaker told an amazing story. He said that the day after being baptized into Christ at age 15, he was with his father on a California freeway when a chain reaction accident occurred right in front of them, & there was no possible way to keep them from plowing right into that terrible pile up.
His father, a rational, sober man said that he suddenly felt a pair of hands come down upon his hands on the steering wheel & guide him through that terrible chaos safely. He can't explain it, but he knows it happened.
4. "Lord, open our eyes" to the fact that angels may even destroy the enemies of God, whether it was Pharaoh's chariots in the Red Sea, or Saddam Hussein's tanks in the sands of Iraq.
ILL. In our war with Iraq there was one incident when Iraqi soldiers came out of their tanks, surrendering, saying, "We were blinded. We couldn't see through our turrets." Isn't that amazing? But not so amazing when you read the rest of this story in the Bible.
5. "And Lord, open our eyes" to the fact that angels rejoice when a sinner repents, that angels are watching, observing us, & that we are never alone
IV. THE COURAGEOUS MAN OF GOD
A. Fourthly, notice the courageous man of God. Now we are down to vs. 18 where it says, "As the enemy came down toward him, Elisha prayed to the Lord. 'Lord, strike these people with blindness.' So the Lord struck them with blindness, as Elisha had asked.'"
Boy, I like that. The Lord did what Elisha asked Him to do. The Bible says, "You do not have, because you do not ask God." (James 4:2) And the Lord is able to do "much more than we ask or think."
B. Now here is where the humorous part begins in this Bible story. Who says that the Bible is a dry & dusty book? No book is dry & dusty if you know its author. If you don't get any joy out of Bible reading, get to know the author, & then you'll enjoy it.
God closes the eyes of the entire army! And Elisha, the man they had come to capture, goes out & leads them to Samaria, the capitol of Israel. They trail behind him like rats following the pied piper of Hamlin, right into the city.
Once they are inside the gates, Elisha prays a second time. He prays for their sight to be restored. And the first thing the Syrian soldiers see is the King of Israel. He is beside himself with joy, & he is begging Elisha, "Shall I kill them, my father? Shall I kill them?"
Vs. 22 says, "'Do not kill them,' he answered. . . . Set food & water before them so that they may eat & drink & then go back to their master.'"
C. Then Elisha prepared a great feast for them. The Septuagint Version says, "a great entertainment." "And after they had finished eating & drinking, he sent them away, & they returned to their master." (2 Kings 6:23)
ILL. A reporter covering the first Iraqi War wrote, "The sight of Iraqi soldiers surrendering by the tens of thousands to Allied forces will be etched in my memory forever. I have never seen anything like it. Some of the surrender stories are almost humorous."
"U.S. officials described one incident when an Iraqi tank & an Iraqi armored personnel carrier happened upon an U.S. humvee utility vehicle stuck in the mud. The U.S. soldiers thought that they had bought the farm. But the Iraqis got out of their vehicles, pushed the humvee out of the mud, & then surrendered."
"A dozen Iraqi soldiers even surrendered to an Italian TV cameraman, an American reporter, & a Spanish photographer."
CONCL. In closing, I want to draw 3 concluding thoughts from this story of the day the chariots of fire filled the mountains.
A. The first one is this: "God's presence with His people is generally not recognized by the enemy." Did you get that? The presence of God & His angels with His people is a fact that the enemy doesn't know & doesn't understand.
ILL. Benhadad & the Syrians didn't have the foggiest idea about the power that surrounded one man of Israel. If they had, they would never have taken him on. They would never have marched to Dothan.
ILL. According to the reports of the chaplains, the most often read part of the Bible in Operation Desert Storm was Psalm 91 which says, "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. . .no harm will befall you. . . for He will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways."
B. The 2nd conclusion I draw from this story is a sad conclusion. "God's presence with His people is often not realized by many Christians."
The enemy doesn't know it, but the sad thing is that many in the church don't know it either. We are too much like the trembling servant in this story, wringing our hands, crying "Oh, my Lord, what shall we do?"
ILL. Be like Abraham who told his servant in Genesis 24:7, "God will send His angel before you. . ." Angels do go before us, & we need to realize their presence & their power & their performance on behalf of the saints.
C. The third conclusion is this, "God's presence with His people is realized by the true men & women of God."
We like to quote 1 John 4:4, "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world." The courageous man of God will always pray for the trembling servant, "Lord, open his eyes that he may see." And may God multiply such people today.
INVITATION
(The basic idea for this message and part of its format came from a sermon by Victor Knowles, founder of POEM, "Peace On Earth Ministries," Joplin, MO.)
