First The Test, Then The Miracle
7/04/2002 2 Kings 6:24-33 Matthew 14:22-34
There are a lot of people who want to see God do a miracle, but very few are volunteering to be in the circumstances which requires a miracle to take place. Many of us would like to walk on water, but don’t ask us to try it when we are already scared to death, in the middle a raging storm, in the dead darkness of night, with waves high enough to overturn a boat out in the middle of the lake.
Ask us to do it when the water is calm, close by the shore, and we can just walk on out of the water if it fails. We cannot expect a miracle from God, when we really do not need one.
There is an order to miracles. First there is the test, then there is the miracle. The test requires us to put our hope and confidence in God, because we are unable to make the thing happen on our own. What miracle do you need from the Lord today?
In our Old Testament reading, we ran into the prophet Elisha. The King of Israel at the time was King Joram. Now there was nation called Aram, that had wanted to destroy King Joram. But each time the King of Aram, made plans to destroy the army of Israel, God would tell Elisha about the plan.
Elisha would then tell the King of Israel, "look out, the King of Aram plans to attack you in such and such a place." Each time the King of Israel’s army was able to escape. The king of Aram thought one of his generals was a spy, leaking information to the king’s enemies.
The generals told him, "Oh King all of us here are with you, and we’ve got your back, but there is a prophet named Elisha, and according to our sources, that brother tells the King of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom." The king of Aram, said "find out where he is, and let’s take him out." They found out he was in the city of Dothan. The King of Aram sent his troops by night, and they completely surrounded the city.
Now you would have thought that since God was telling Elisha, when the king of Aram was coming after the King of Israel, God would have told Elisha to get up and get out of the city because the troops were coming. But God wants us to know, that a bad change of circumstances in our lives is just where He needs us to send us a miracle.
That next morning when Elisha’s servant saw the Aramean army he almost panicked. He cried out "Oh my lord, what shall we do. They got us for sure this time." Elisha said, "Oh brother, don’t be afraid. We’ve got more on our side, than they have on theirs."
His servant must have looked at him funny. Elisha prayed, " Lord will you open his eyes so that he can see what I see." All of a sudden, the servant saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. My friends, when we are determined to live for the Lord, we are never alone. God’s got an angel looking out for you and your kids.
Your husband may be gone or your wife may be gone, but you’re not in this battle alone. Others may think you have no way out, but they do not see with the same eyes you use to see. Just because others may be planning failure and disaster for you, it does not mean it’s going to happen.
The Arameans blew the horns to announce the start of the battle. As they came toward the city, Elisha cried out, "Strike these soldiers with blindness." The Lord did. The soldiers were not literally blinded, but they could not see things as they really were. Elisha told them, "you guys are in the wrong place, now if you follow me, I’ll lead you to the man you are looking for."
All of a sudden this army that came to kill him, are now following him as their leader. He took them straight to the capital city, where they were completely surrounded by the troops of the King Of Israel. Elisha prayed again, and said, "now lord open their eyes." When they saw they were in the capital city they were terrified, because they knew they were doomed.
The King of Israel asked Elisha, "My father shall I take them out by killing them all right now." Elisha said, "no give them all the food and drink they need to have, and let them go on their way back to their king.
King Joram let them go on their way. For a time, the king of Aram backed of from bothering him. But it wasn’t too long before the King of Aram came attacking again. This time he sent his entire army to surround the capital city. Nobody could go in because the gates were closed and nobody could go out.
The food supply in the city began to run out. Things got so bad that a donkey’s head which was one of the least nourishing and most repulsive parts of this unclean animal was costing about two pounds of silver. A very high price for the time. Even the food that normally would only be eaten by animals was very high in price.
Now King Joram had been following idols before, but Elisha had convinced him to look to the Lord to deliver them out of this situation. In the beginning it was probably easy for the king to believe God would come through with a miracle, but as the siege and test wore on, he was no longer so sure.
Then when the people inside the city were starting to eat their children and asking him for help, that was pretty much the last straw for him. He tore his robe in anger, probably trying to get rid of his sackcloth underneath. His time of repentence and humbling himself before God was over. He said, "May God do something drastic to me, if I do not have the head of Elisha cut off before the day is over.
When you need a miracle in your life, you always want it to come, and you want it to come now. But some times God allows delays and sends delays, to show us what’s really inside of us. I can tell you now, we are going to suffer some set backs and some disappointments in our lives, and in the building of this church as we already have.
It does not mean we are to abandon ship, or to start trying to take matters in our own hands. We are to remain steadfast to God in our actions and our commitment.
King Joram is thinking, "if I had of killed the Aramean army when I had the chance, we would not be in this situation now. It’s all Elisha’s fault. Telling me to feed them and to let them go." When we think of the past, we tend to be very selective in what we remember. Joram has forgotten, that if Elisha had not warned him time and time again, the Aramean Army would have wiped him out, long before Elisha had told him to feed the army.
King Joram was in the middle of a test on the verge of a miracle, but he decided to quit. He said,"Look the way I see it, this whole disaster is from the Lord. Why should I wait for the Lord any longer? I’m gonna do what I want to do to handle this situation."
My friends, when we decide to get rid of God what options do we have available that we can rely upon with confidence. Sure we can turn to sin to help us get through a situation but then what? If Joram gets rid of Elisha, he will be ending the best source of help he has available to him and his army. Our turning away from the Lord only guarantees our missing the best God has in mind for us.
I guess Joram was going to put his trust in the idols he had put in storage, just in case he needed them again. Before we go back into our past and start putting our hope in things or people that can not get the job done for us, let’s wait a little longer on God.
Elisha knew that the King was sending people to kill him. When they got to him, he said. "Listen here, "this time tomorrow, the siege will be over and you will be able to get six times as much food for one fifth of the cost of what you’re paying today."
Now God was promising to do something over night that he had not done for a period of months. Even in our darkest moments, a miracle may be less than 24 hours away. When we are discouraged, let’s just hang on to what we’ve got and see what the Lord could add to it.
There will be those around us to let us know, it’s not possible for God to do what you’re expecting. The army officer with the king, told Elisha he was out of his mind. He said, "look even if the Lord should open the floodgates of heaven, could this happen?" First he doubted the Lord would do it, and second he doubted if he could make it happen. When it comes to faith, "we have to see it, before we see it, or we never will see it."
We have to see the people in this community getting saved. We have to see them sitting here in worship with us. We have to see them going with out with us to bring even more to come in to fill the pews. It may not look possible now, but we serve a God who is use to doing impossible things. When we refuse to see in faith, we are the ones who may suffer the consequences. Elisha told the army officer, "you will see it happen with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of it."
Now how could God get all this food and get rid of the Aramean army in a 24 hour period. How would prices go down so drastically. God can do what He wants to do and use who He wants to use to make things happen. It just so happened that there were 4 men with the disease of leprosy near the city gates. They had been caught between a rock and a hard place.
They said “ look, if we stay we we are, we’re going to die. If we go into the city where the famine is, we will die. Let’s go over to the Aramean army. If they spare us, they’ll give us some food and we will live. If they kill us, then what do we have to lose we were going to die anyways.”
Now God is going to use some of us who do not have much, but a willingness to try something new and cause it to be blessing for the rest of us. When the lepers went to the army camp the place was deserted of people, but full of food and property. During the night, God must have sent down an angel to do a Hallelujah dance just a few miles from where the Aramean army was. Each time the angel’s foot hit the ground it sounded like an army marching.
At first the sound felt like it was coming the from the north. Then the sound felt like it was coming from the south. The Arameans were convinced that the king of Israel had hired the Hittite and Egyptian Kings to come and attack them.
They figured they would be surrounded in the back by these troops and with the Israeli troops pouring out of the city, they would be destroyed. The Aramean army fled for their lives leaving behind, their food, their money, their tents and their property.
The four lepers were blessed beyond their imagination. One moment they were starving, the next they had more food and beverages than they could have imagined. They started eating and drinking and carrying off silver, gold, clothes and other things hiding them in the area.
After a while, one of the lepers said wait a minute. We can’t just think about ourselves. This should be a day of rejoicing for all of God’s people. If we don’t share what’s going to happen when others discover what we have done. Let’s go tell the news at once to the king. They went and told the gatekeepers, that the Arameans were gone and left everything behind. The gatekeepers reported it to the king. The king still didn’t want to believe Elisha had accurately foretold a miracle was just 24 hours away.
He said, "The king of Aram, knows we are hungry, he just left long enough for us to be fooled into coming out of the city. Once out, they will come back and kill us all. It’s all a trick." One officer, said, "well couldn’t we at least go send some soldiers to check it out. It might be a suicide mission, but they’re doomed if they stay here anyways."
They sent out the soldiers in chariots to find out what the deal truly was. The chariot drivers followed a trail of discarded clothing and equipment all the way to the Jordan River about 25 miles away from Samaria. The Arameans had crossed the Jordan and had gotten as far away as possible The soldiers returned to the city and announced the good news to the king.
The news spread like wildfire throughout the city. The kind ordered the gates opened. The soldier who told Elisha, "God could not do what Elisha had said he would, " was stationed at the gate to try to keep things in order when he opened the gate, he could see the food the Arameans had left behind, but no sooner than he saw it, the multitudes rushed at the opening to get to the food and the loot.
They knocked him over getting out to the camp, and the ones behind them, trampled this soldier to death. Just as Elisha told him, he would see it, but he would not get to eat of it.
God provided a great miracle for the people, but oh what a test they had to go through. God has miracles waiting for many of us, but there are tests we have to be willing to go through and to remain steadfast. Some of us will hear of a miracle God intends for us, and like the soldier, discount it, underestimate God’s ability and miss it on something good.
Some of us will be like King Joram, who, begins with a willingness to fast and pray, but then get’s tired of waiting on the Lord, and attempts to take matters in our own hands.
Some of us will be like the lepers who will take risks and are the first to taste of God’s provisions, and yet keep them to ourselves. Some of us will be like Elisha, who will have people wanting to get rid of us, yet we will stand steadfast upon God’s word, until He completes the miracle he has promised to deliver.
It is in our moments of greatest need and difficulty that God is able to provide us with our greatest miracle. We do not need to try to run from our circumstances. Let us remember the promise of our Lord Jesus, when he said, "And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
3. Hiding Clothes, Gold, Silver
4. God’s Unexpected Blessings Upon Us
5. Part Of The Miracle, Or Just For Us
6. Wait A Minute, Let’s Share The Wealth
The Good News Message To The King
1. The Message Relayed
2. The King Doubts--It’s Just A Trick
3. An Officer Speaks Out--Let’s Take A Chance
4. Soldiers On Suicide Mission
5. 25 Miles Of Stuff To The Jordan
The People Of The City In High Expectation
1. The Soldier Who Said God Could Not In Charge Of The Gate
2. He Saw, But The Multitude Kept Him From Enjoying
3. A Life Trampled In The Midst Of The Celebration
4. Goods For Everyone--Prices Restored
God Provided A Great Miracle
1. There Was A Test
2. Miracles Waiting For Us--With Tests
3. Soldier---Discounts, Underestimates, Misses
4. King--Fast, Prays, Sackcloth, But Gives Up
5. 4-Men Risk Takers, First To Taste, But Kept It To Themselves
6. Elisha--Threatened, Steadfast Upon The Word Of God
7. Jesus, "And Surely I Am With You Always, Even To The End Of The Age
Sermon Outline Pastor Rick
First The Test Then The Miracle
NLF 7/7/2002 2 Kings 6:24-7:20 Matt 14:22-34
Many Would Life To See A Miracle But
1. Volunteers For Circumstances
2. Walk On The Water , Scared, Raging, Dead Of Night, Middle Lake Etc.
3. Walk On The Water, Time Is Right
4. Order--Test Then Miracle
5. Test--Hope Confidence God
6. New Life Fellowship--Financial--Spiritual
Elisha--Prophet, Spy, Informant
1. Elisha And King Joram
2. King Of Aram And Unsuccessful Attacks
3. Who Is Leaking Information
4. King Of Aram Takes On Elisha
Lord, We Do Need A Miracle
1. Dothan, A City Surrounded
2. Elisha’s Servant, What Shall We Do
3. Who’s Outnumbered--We’ve Got More
4. The Army Not Seen
5. The Attack, The Prayer, The Blindness
6. The Leader, The Feast, The Trip Home
7. Peace For A While
King Of Aram Launches An Attack
1. Capital Of Israel Is Under Siege
2. The Gates Are Close & Famine Is In
3. The Price Of A Donkey’s Head--Unclean 2 lbs Of Silver
4. Animal Fodder , Costs too much
King Joram And A Change Of Heart
1. Had Turned From Following Idols
2. Wearing Sackcloth Under Royal Robes
3. Fasting For A Miracle--Yes, Maybe--I don’t Know
4. Famine Turns To Eating Children & People
5. King Turns Against Elisha & Wants His Head--May God Do To Me
Miracles Are God’s Choice
1. We Want It Now
2. God Allows Delays To Show Us Who We Are Are
3. Set Backs And Disappointments Are Certain
4. Do Not Abandon Ship But Remain Steadfast
Blaming Somebody Else For Our Predicament
1. King Joram Stakes It On Elishas
2. If Only I Had Wiped Out The Army When..
3. We Selectively Remember The Past
4. On The Verge Of A Miracle, But Turning Away
5. Why Should I Wait On The Lord Any Longer
6. What Options Are Available In Turning From God-- Idols, People, False Hopes
Elisha Holds His Ground
1. Does Not Flee The King Nor Fear The Executioners
2. Tomorrow This Time, A Miracle Will Be here.
3. 6 Times As Much Food At 1/5 The Cost
4. Darkest Moments, ---Just 24 Hours Away
5. Keep Hanging On To What We Have
Doubt & Discouragement Speaks Up
1. King’s Army Officer-- Out Of Your Mind
2. God Won’t & God Can’t
3. See it, Before You See it, Or You Won’t
4. Names In Our New Life Prayer Basket
5. Saved, Church, Center
6. May Not Look Possible, Now But
7. Elisha--You Will See It But Not Be A Part Of It
God And The Problem
1. How Could God Get Rid Of An Army
2. How Could God Get Done Those High Prices
3. God Is Able, More Than Able
Between A Rock And A Hard Place
1. Four Lepers, Outside The City Gates
2. If We Go, If We Stay, If We Step Out
3. God Will Use Some Of Us Without Much To Start The Miracle For The Rest Of Us
4. A Deserted Camp, But Plenty Of Goods
God And The Dancing Angel
1. During The Night An Angel On A Hallelujah Dance
2. It’s Troops Coming From The North
3. It’s Troops Coming From The South
4. It’s The Hittites & The Egyptians
5. Every Man For Himself
God’s Unexpected Blessings
1. Men With Leprosy--Famine To Feast
2. Bottom Class--Upper Middle Class
