I want to share with you a message
this morning that I call the strength of
seeing.
The strength of seeing.
And just to give us a place to
begin in God's Word, would you join with
me in the book of 2 Kings.
2 Kings in the 6th chapter.
Now if you don't read much in the
Old Testament, you might not know where 2
Kings is, so I'll just help you out.
It's on page 435 in my Bible anyway.
And if that doesn't help you, 2 Kings
comes just after 1 Kings.
How's that?
But when you find that scripture, would you
shout amen to me?
Praise God.
2 Kings chapter 6.
Now just to give you some background, the
King of Israel is looking for Elijah the
prophet, because Elijah the prophet is causing him
so many problems.
And every time they plan something, Elijah discloses
it to their enemies.
And the King says, well, who is it
that keeps spilling all of our secrets?
Who keeps telling these secret things?
And they said, it's not us, O King,
but it's the prophet Elijah.
Or Elisha, I should say.
Elisha was the protege of Elijah.
But verse 12 of 2 Kings 6 says,
And one of his servants said, None, my
Lord, O King, but it is Elisha, the
prophet that is in Israel.
He tells the King of Israel the words
that you speak in your bedchamber.
And verse 13, So he said, Go and
spy where he is, that I may send
and fetch him.
And it was told him, saying, Behold, he
is in Dothan.
And verse 14, Therefore this king sent hither
horses and chariots and a great host, and
they came by night and encompassed the city
round about.
They surrounded that city.
Verse 15, When the servant of the man
of God, Elisha, was risen early and gone
forth, behold, and host surrounded the city both
with horses and chariots.
And his servant said unto him, unto Elisha,
Alas, my master, how shall we do?
What shall we do?
Verse 16, Elisha answered, Fear not, for they
that be with us are more than they
that be with them.
Verse 17, And Elisha prayed and said, Lord,
I pray thee open his eyes that he
may see.
And the Lord opened the eyes of the
young man, and he saw.
And behold, the mountain was full of horses
and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Hallelujah.
Father, this morning I thank you for your
word, and I pray that you would give
us ears to hear what the Spirit is
speaking to us.
Encourage us, strengthen us, and challenge us in
our faith this morning.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
The strength of seeing.
Verse 15, if you would look there again,
it says that his servant said unto him,
Alas, my master, how shall we do?
What shall we do?
Folks, when we look around at the world
today, if we watch the evening news, or
if we watch CNN, or if we read
the newspaper, we know that we are in
some desperate times in this world.
We're on the brink of a war.
We are fighting terrorism.
We have conflict in the Middle East.
We have conflict all around the world.
Our country, our economy, crime, immorality, a lot
of things going on around us, even within
our own families, challenges, problems, needs that have
yet to be met, questions.
When we look around, we see many things
that hinder and distract us, many things that
cause us to be afraid, many questions that
go unanswered.
How will it all turn out?
When we look around at our circumstances, we
perhaps become frightened or depressed or confused, and
we wonder, Alas, how shall we do?
How shall all of this turn out?
Did you know that the fear, stress, and
anxiety of our time is clearly predicted in
the Bible?
For evidence of that, you don't have to
turn there, but I'd like to read to
you from 2 Timothy 3.1. Paul said,
This know also that in the last days
perilous times shall come.
How many of you believe we are living
in perilous times today, perilous, dangerous times?
Jesus said in Luke 21, 26, that men's
hearts in this time, in this age, men's
hearts will fail them for fear and for
looking after those things which are coming on
the earth, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes
in many places.
But the characteristic of these last days, the
Scripture says it will be perilous, it will
be dangerous, and men's hearts, Jesus said, would
fail them for fear.
In fact, that is what terrorism is.
It is trying to manipulate and control people
through fear.
And if you spend time, as I used
to do, watching the evening news every night,
which I don't do anymore, I've got an
email service that just sends me the headlines.
If something really major happens, then I'll get
a page on my beeper and it will
tell me the headline from CNN, but it
will be headline news, urgent news.
But if you sit and you listen to
all of those people talking back and forth
about what all might happen and what could
happen, it's enough to make you afraid.
It's enough you can sense a spirit of
fear on the inside of you.
And we don't even have to look at
the news, we can just, right within our
own circumstances, our economy, jobs, what does it
all mean?
When is the market going to go back
up?
When is unemployment going to go back down?
With all of these burdens and things, it
seems as though we could be sinking underneath
the weight of them, and many people are.
Many people do sink underneath the weight of
all of this stress and all of this
fear.
We have to be honest, when we look
at the facts of the situation, when we
look at the world through our eyes here,
through our physical eyes, it does seem as
though we are hopelessly surrounded.
We are surrounded with all kinds of things
meant to steal and to kill and to
destroy us.
Alas, what shall we do?
Elisha's servant said.
Well, I have a message from the Lord
for you this morning.
In response to what shall we do, or
alas, or oh no, or what's going to
happen, read in verse 16.
And Elisha answered, Fear not.
Two words.
Fear not.
Have you ever done a study of how
many times in the Bible it says, Fear
not?
If you've got a computer, go home and
type in fear not into your Bible software,
and you will be amazed, and I believe
encouraged to see just how many times the
scripture says, Fear not.
Don't be afraid.
There are literally hundreds of them.
I'd like to read just a few.
I'm not going to read all 100 or
all 200 of them.
But how many fear nots can you find
in the Bible?
Well, God said to Abraham, Fear not, Abraham,
for I am your shield and your exceeding
great reward.
The angel of the Lord said to Hagar,
Fear not, for God has heard the voice
of Ishmael and will make of him a
great nation.
God said to Jacob, I am God, the
God of your father.
Fear not to go down into Egypt, for
there I will make you a great nation.
Moses speaking to Israel said, The Lord goes
before you, he will be with you, he
will not fail you, neither forsake you.
Fear not, neither be dismayed.
And Joshua speaking to Israel again said, Fear
not, nor be dismayed.
Be strong and of good courage.
When Solomon was about to begin his building
project on the temple, David spoke to him
and said, Be strong and of good courage
and do it.
Fear not, nor be dismayed, for the Lord
God, even my God, will be with you.
He will not fail you, nor forsake you,
until you have finished all the work for
the service of the house of the Lord.
The Lord spoke to King Jehoshaphat one time
in the midst of a battle that he
could not win because he was outnumbered.
And the Lord said, You shall not need
to fight in this battle.
Set yourself, stand ye still and see the
salvation of the Lord.
Fear not, nor be dismayed.
Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord
will be with you.
Praise God.
The prophet Isaiah said to Israel, Fear not,
for I have redeemed you, I have called
you by name and you belong to me.
The angel said to Daniel, Fear not, Daniel,
for from the first day that you set
your heart to understand and to pray and
to fast, your words were heard, your prayers
were heard.
When we look at the circumstances surrounding the
birth of Jesus Christ, we see the angel
telling everyone, Don't be afraid.
To Mary, he says, Fear not, Mary, you
have fell in favor with God.
To the shepherds, he says, Fear not, for
behold, I bring you good tidings of great
joy.
To Joseph, it says, The angel of the
Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
Joseph, son of David, fear not to take
unto you Mary to be your wife, for
that which is conceived in her is of
the Holy Ghost.
Jesus said to Peter, you remember when Jesus
called Peter to be his disciple?
He said, Depart from me, Lord, for I
am a sinful man.
And Jesus, what did he say?
Fear not, Peter, for I will teach you
to become fishers of men.
I will teach you.
Fear not.
And to the rest of his disciples, he
says, Fear not, little flock, for it is
your Father's good pleasure to give you the
kingdom.
Jesus was on the way to heal and
to raise from the dead a little girl
that had died, and on the way, the
report came.
She's already dead.
Don't trouble the Master anymore.
It's too late.
How many of you know when it's too
late for us, it's never too late for
Jesus?
And what was the first words he told
the Father?
Fear not.
Only believe.
Fear not.
Paul was called in a big storm, a
huge hurricane, on a ship.
It records his journey in the book of
Acts, as he's on the way to Rome,
and the ship is called in a great
storm.
But Paul encouraged them in the darkest time
aboard that ship, when they feared that all
of them would be lost, Paul says, Fear
not.
The angel came to him.
Fear not, Paul.
Thou must be brought before Caesar, and lo,
God has given you all of them that
sail with you as well.
Fear not, Paul.
And then Paul took that word from the
Lord, and he encouraged everyone else on the
ship, over 200 people.
He said, Fear not, because the angel of
the God whom I serve stood before me,
or stood beside me last night, and said,
You must get to Rome, and so I'm
going to get to Rome.
And we see that he did get to
Rome.
In the book of Revelation, in the first
chapter, it says that John saw a vision
of the Christ, the risen Son of God.
It says, When I saw him, I fell
at his feet as dead, and he laid
his right hand upon me, saying unto me,
Fear not.
I am the first and the last.
What is my point in sharing that?
2 Timothy 1.7 says, God has not
given us the spirit of fear, but of
power and love and a sound mind.
I want you to see the contrast here.
The servant of Elijah looks out across the
plain and looks out from that place in
the city, and he sees that the entire
place is surrounded with horses and chariots and
soldiers coming to take his master.
And he looks out from there, and he
says, Alas, what shall we do?
What do we do?
Elijah looks out, sees a great host surrounding
them, and says, Fear not.
What a study in contrast.
Now, how can we say to one another,
Fear not?
How can we accept that?
I know some of you may be sitting
out there today and say, Well, that's all
good.
I'm not really afraid.
I don't really sense fear in my life.
Until you get that pink slip, until you
get that doctor's report, until you hear that
bad report about your family, your loved ones,
or you hear of something over the news,
something else to be worried about.
How can we have no fear?
Look again in verse 16 in the last
part.
Fear not, for they that be with us
are more than they that be with them.
I hope you will understand this morning that
things out there may not change.
In fact, I think it would be appropriate
to say things going on around you will
probably get worse before they get better.
But I want you to see that the
problem or the thing that determines your victory
has nothing to do with what is going
on around you, but it has everything to
do with what is going on on the
inside of you.
Both men face the same army.
Both men face the same circumstance.
Both men face the same outward appearance of
things.
But one man said, Alas, and the other
man said, Fear not.
Now, how is it possible that two people
looking at the exact same situation, the exact
same circumstance, can reach two completely different conclusions?
And I'll tell you what the difference is.
The difference is in what they saw when
they looked.
The difference is in what they saw when
they looked.
Read in verse 17, Elisha prayed and said,
Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that
he may see.
And could I interject in here?
Open his eyes that he can see what
I see.
Open his eyes so that he can see
as I see.
And the Lord opened the eyes of the
young man, and he saw.
And what did he see?
Hallelujah.
And behold, the mountain was full of horses
and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Hallelujah.
One moment of seeing is worth more than
a lifetime of hearing.
That's so important, I think I'll say that
again.
One moment of seeing is worth more than
a lifetime of hearing.
I've been preaching for 20 years, but I'm
telling you, if God will open your eyes
to see just a glimpse of the truth,
just a glimpse of reality, just a glimpse,
then that one moment of seeing is worth
more than 20 years of hearing me preach.
Somebody say amen.
What do you see when you look?
What do you see?
Do you see the things going on around
you?
Or do you see the things going on
inside of you?
And what do I mean by that?
Well, first of all, I wanted to say
this.
Elisha did not pray for God to give
him protection.
Elisha did not call for the angels to
surround him round about.
Elisha did not pray that God would give
him an arsenal of weapons so that he
could fight the enemy.
Why?
Because the weapons of our warfare are not
carnal.
They're not flesh and blood, but they are
mighty through God to the pulling down of
strongholds.
When he looked out, he saw that he
was surrounded by the chariots of fire, the
armies of the Lord.
And because he saw what his servant did
not see, he was able to say in
the midst of that, fear not, fear not.
Friends, let me share something with you that
has changed my life.
When victory is already ours, we do not
have to pray for victory.
Let me say that again.
When victory is already ours, when we have
already won the battle, we don't have to
pray to win it.
We don't have to pray for the victory.
And what do I mean by that?
1 Corinthians 15, 57 says, but thanks be
to God, which gives us the victory in
Christ Jesus.
It doesn't say Elisha prayed for any of
that.
It just was.
It was a reality.
What do you see when you look?
Because one moment of seeing, one moment of
revelation, one moment of having your eyes open
to see things as they really are.
It's worth more than 20 years of hearing
me preach.
It's more than a lifetime of sermons.
In fact, you can sit and listen and
listen, listen and never see what Elisha saw.
And this morning, I'm not talking about that.
We have to see an actual vision.
I don't mean that we should be able
to look out and actually see a vision
as Elijah did, but it speaks to something
else.
It speaks to the eyes of faith, the
eyes of belief.
You'll recall that there was a disciple named
Thomas and he would not believe anything that
the Lord said or anything that anyone else
said and said, I've got to see it
for myself.
He says, I will not believe that Jesus
has risen from the dead unless I see
the print in his hands, unless I put
my hand into his side, unless I can
see it, I can't believe it.
And you'll recall, of course, that the next
time Jesus appeared, see Thomas missed the Lord
the first time.
And I don't know why that was.
It says the disciples were gathered together, but
Thomas was not with them.
But what was Thomas doing?
Where was he at?
You should never miss the one time you
decide not to go in fellowship or not
to go to church or not go where
the believers is.
That's the one time Jesus might show up
and then where are you at?
Thomas wasn't there.
And as a result, he didn't believe.
Everyone else was saying, we've seen the Lord.
We've seen the Lord.
He's risen.
Thomas said, I won't believe it unless I
see it.
Well, then the next time it says Jesus
was in the midst of them and he
said, peace be unto you.
And he looked right at Thomas and he
said, Thomas, put your finger in my hand,
put your hand into my side.
Stop being full of doubt, but believe.
And Thomas said, my Lord and my God,
hallelujah.
But then Jesus says something that's very critical
to our understanding this morning.
He says, you see Thomas because you have
seen, or you believe Thomas because you have
seen, but blessed are they who have never
seen, but they believe.
Now this morning, I've never seen Jesus.
I've never seen him in the, in a
body.
I've never had a vision of Jesus.
I've never seen, had my eyes open to
see chariots of fire.
I've never seen the angels descending and ascending
up into heaven.
I've never had a vision per se, but
I know whom I have believed.
And how do I see?
How do I know?
Because it is revealed in me.
Paul says, I certify to you, brethren, that
the gospel I preached did not come from
flesh and blood and it was not taught
to me, but it is by the revelation
of Jesus Christ.
And to the Ephesians, he says, I pray
that God will grant unto you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened.
Praise God.
I'm not suggesting today that we should seek
for visions and dreams.
What I am suggesting is that there is
a spiritual reality that the heavenly father wants
to reveal to us.
And it is that reality, that that truth
revealed in us, that revelation of Jesus Christ
that will enable us to stand in these
days, in these perilous times.
Thanks be to God, which gives us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
If victory is mine, then all I have
to do is have my eyes opened to
see it.
If I have already obtained it, I don't
have to attain it.
If I have already attained the victory in
Christ, I don't have to attain it.
What is the difference?
Well, obtain means I have it and attain
means I'm still working towards it.
But you see, if victory has anything to
do with me, then I'll be defeated.
Can you say that of yourself this morning?
If it has to do with something that
I have to do or something that I
have to remember or something that I have
to work out or something that I have
to attain to, I'll never make it because
I tried to live the Christian life for
so many years.
Then I discovered the secret that Paul says
in Galatians 2.20. Here's the secret of
the Christian life.
It is no longer I that live, it
is Christ who lives in me.
And then he says, it is Christ who
is our victory.
Victory is a man this morning.
Praise God.
Victory is a man who lives on the
inside of you.
He is the Son of Man and the
Son of God, Jesus Christ.
Elisha saw something differently that morning.
He saw differently than the rest of the
world saw.
And because he saw differently, he thought differently
about his circumstances.
Did you think he was worried?
Do you think he was afraid?
No, because he saw the reality of the
Spirit.
He thought differently.
He spoke differently.
He behaved differently.
Often we try to change the way we
think or change the way we talk or
change the way we act in hopes that
we will become victorious.
But acting spiritual doesn't produce a victory.
Having a positive mental attitude does not give
us the victory.
For victory is not in what I do
or what I say, but victory is in
what I see.
And how did the servant of Elisha see?
Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray you,
open his eyes.
Because that sort of seeing cannot be taught
to us.
That sort of spiritual perception cannot be learned
in a seminary.
It cannot be learned by sitting in church.
It cannot be learned by listening or by
hearing to other people talk about it.
Jesus says, I thank you, Father, Lord of
heaven and earth, that you have hidden these
things from the wives and proved it, and
you have revealed them unto babies.
And today the Father wishes to encourage us
and to strengthen us.
How?
By giving us that revelation of who Jesus
Christ is.
He is the captain of the Lord's host.
And just as we read in Psalm 91
this morning, a thousand shall fall at your
side, ten thousand at your right hand, but
it shall not come near to you.
What is the enemy that you're facing today?
Is it cancer?
Is it financial difficulty?
Is it unsafe loved ones?
What enemies are surrounding you this morning?
Victory is not in what you do or
what you don't do.
It's not what you say or what you
don't say.
Victory is in what you see.
Have you seen Jesus?
For victory is Christ.
He is my rock.
He is my fortress.
He is my strength and my song, my
salvation, the mighty God, the Prince of Peace,
Emmanuel, God with us and God in us.
As I close, I'd like for you to
turn to the book of 1 John, all
the way in the back of the Bible,
because what I'd like to do is apply
this to today.
Every story, every bit of teaching that we
find in the Old Testament has a New
Testament application for us in Christ.
And if you'll turn to 1 John chapter
4, the epistle of John, 1 John chapter
4, beginning in verse 4.
If you're there, say amen.
You are of God, little children, and have
overcome them.
Why?
Because greater is he that is in you
than he that is in the world.
This morning, brothers and sisters, do you see
that?
Is that a reality in your life?
If not, the Father in heaven waits to
open your eyes to see how wonderful and
how majestic and how grand his Son is
in us.
The promise here is, it does not say
you are of God, spiritual men and women.
You are of God, mighty people.
It says, you are of God, little children.
The very least in the kingdom of God
is born to overcome.
The very least in the kingdom of God
is born into victory.
You are of God, little children, and have
overcome them, because greater is he that is
in you than he that is in the
world.
And that is exactly what Elisha said earlier
in 1 Kings, or 2 Kings.
He said, fear not, because those that be
with us are greater than those that be
with them.
John says the same thing, and I'm sure
he had this Old Testament illustration in mind.
Greater is he that is in you than
he that is in the world.
You see, victory today has nothing to do
with me.
It has nothing to do with how I
feel.
It has nothing to do with what I'm
going through.
It has everything to do with who lives
on the inside of me.
Christ is my victory.
And you know something?
He never changes.
I am the Lord.
I change not.
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Do you have the victory this morning?
If you have Jesus, you have the victory.
We do not have to work to overcome.
All we have to do is have our
eyes open.
The strength is in the seeing.
If we will only see, and it is
the work of the Holy Spirit to reveal
to us who Jesus is in us, and
to open our eyes.