“Seeing The Invisible”
Text: 2Kings 6:8-19
Intro: “Seeing the invisible” Now that sounds like a paradox and maybe it is a paradox because I know that something invisible is something that you cant see. so how can we view it , or how can we see it. The key word is We. How can we see it?
you see, we are not like everybody else. We are Christians and there’s the difference. We don’t see things like everybody else, because were Christians.
And so we look at things differently.
We don’t march to the same drum,
We don’t hear the same things as the world does,
We don’t walk and we don’t talk the same way as the world does.
And we cannot react the same way that the world does, can you say amen.
We don’t live by the same rules, in fact were not bound by the laws of nature.
We are not zombies of flesh,
We are spirits of fire.
We live in a spirit world.
II. Christians look at a physical world in a
different way because we are looking
through spiritual eyes.
1.The world may come through the desert and see a
Granite rock.
but the Children of Israel can come by and see a
water fountain over flowing with living water.
2.The world may see just a small child in a manger,
But you and I can look and we can say that the
govt. will be on his shoulder
and he shall be called: wonderful
councilor, prince of peace, and lord of lords.
3.The world may look and they may see 2 cris-cross
beams and it mean nothing to them.
But you and I can say that the power of the Cross,
the preaching of the cross is the way of salvation
and to them that perish foolishness, but unto us
that are saved it is the power of God.
What I’m saying to you is that:
* the natural man cannot discern the things of the spirit, for they are spirit!
- we must live different.
WE ARE VIEWING THE INVISIBLE!!
Review the text.
- tell what’s happening
III. Gods Got a Man!
1. Elisha stood in the way of him defeating
Israel.
- wouldn’t it be great if you could say “I stood in the way of the devil defeating some Christian”
2. I believe Gods gonna raise men and women in this church whos gonna stand in the devils way.
- The enemy may come against Mike Corley but standing
between the enemy and Mike Corley, there’s a Bob
Ball and he’s praying for them and he’s saying “No
sir
I’m telling you that Gods church has got each other,
And that’s a powerful resource.
2 Kings 6
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."
13So he said, "Go and see where he is, that I may send and get him."
And it was told him, saying, "Surely he is in Dothan."
14Therefore he sent horses and chariots and a great army there, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
* Elisha was the man of God.
He was Gods mouthpiece and Gods Prophet
He was the one working the plow when Elijah came and threw the mantle over his
shoulder, and said come and follow me.
Elisha, when he later picked up the fallen mantle of Elijah when he was taken up to
glory.
Elisha picked up the mantle and said, now I’m Gods man, I’m the prophet, and
I got to go forward.
- Listen, he was Gods man, he was obeying God, and yet the armies of the enemy surrounded him.
No matter who you are,
No matter what office you may hold,
No matter how long you’ve been in this thing,
IV. Night time comes to everybody!
1. Night time is inevitable
- days slip away, and the birds that were once chirping up on the limbs
there no longer smiling at you. And the good of day seems to slip
away. And the flowers tuck their heads and the darkness pushes its way in. And the light is pushed out of the way. And darkness comes to your
house and he comes to mine,
- darkness is no respecter of persons.
the bible says “it rains on the just and the unjust.”
some of you know what it is to have darkness come to your house.
* We know what it is to feel the good spirit.
And we know what it is to sing “I’am redeemed
We know what it is to shout and jump pews
But we also know darkness.
WE know what it is to come home and before you can ever get the door open
The devil slaps you in the face.
- we know what darkness is can you say amen.
But I’ve got good news church, I didn’t build a message on us knowing what darkness is.
I didn’t come to preach a message of doom and gloom.
I didn’t come to pout with you, or for you to cry with me.
I didnt come for us to just pat each other on the back and see who can tell the worst story.
But I came with a message of Good tidings and great joy,
I come to tell you tonight that:
V. Our God is not afraid of the Dark!
1. It was our God who sent darkness running at creation when he said
“let there be light.
2. It was our God who brighten the Den of lions when he sent an angel for Daniel
3. It was our God who pierced the dark tomb of Lazerus when he said
“Lazarus come forth”
4. It was our god who illuminated deaths tunnel when he got up on the third day
and said im coming forward with the keys of death, Hell and the grave.
- folks our God is not afraid of the dark.
weeping may endure for the night but joy cometh in the morning.
our world is getting darker by the day, what use to be a good horror story now is common news. Its getting dark!
Has darkness come to your house?
has it come to your life?
when darkness comes and surrounds you , I tell you, you need to see the invisible!
Verse 15: 15And when the servant of the man of God arose early and went out, there was an army, surrounding the city with horses and chariots. And his servant said to him, "Alas, my master! What shall we do?"
He saw the visible,
He saw the armies of Syria.
He was looking at the visible.
Isn’t that what we do a lot of times.
we see the visible.
Its not a problem, it doesn’t take any faith to see the visible.
We know what it is to see an empty bank account,
we know what it is to see, and hear that report and it doesn’t look good
We see the visible.
* But what God is saying to the church is :
Look passed the visible
there’s something better to see when you come to me.
And lay before him and cry out to him.
I’m tired of the gloomy reports of this world, and seeing the statistics of a dying world and a crying church, but what I want to do is look at the heavenlys and see the invisible.
VI. Gods calling us to get our eyes off of the visible and look through our spirit eyes and view the invisible!
1. The med student who sits in a small college dormatory
and he’s got holes in his blue jeans, he got his shoes kicked off
and he’s got a big hole in the heel of his sock.
he’s got books spread out all over the place.
And sitting there eating 7 eleven food.
- That doesn’t sound like the picture of success
But that med student doesn’t see himself sitting there in that small dormatory.
he doesn’t see the hole in his pants or in his socks.
he doesn’t see himself sitting there drinking a mountian dew and eating a 7 eleven
chilli dog, he doesn’t realize and recognize that their aint no money in his pocket
or that he is driving a an old beat up car sitting out there in the parking lot
he sees himself behind a desk, driving a B.M.W., making a 150,000 dollars a year,
and people calling him Doctor...Thats what he sees.
2. Young married couple that gets married and he’s working, and she’s working
and their struggling to meet the bills, and their conversation at the dinner table
is how are we gonna pay for this and how can we afford that.
They don’t see themselves living in a one bedroom apartment in Jonesboro
They dont see themselves in that condition
but what they see is themselves sitting around a big oak table, and children with
their beautiful pig tails, and a boy with a skint knee, and they see themselves
cutting and carving the turkey, and giving thanks unto God for all the great things
he has done.
3. That young preacher who gets the call to preach, and he is experiencing the call to preach and he takes out his bible and goes out into the woods, with just him and his bible and he can’t even hardly pronounce the book of Psalms oh but he takes
his bible and he has got a zeal In his heart, and he finds him some woods and he
preaches to those trees because their the only ones that will listen.
he doesn’t see himself as failure, but he sees himself as someone who is gonna someday preach to the multitudes, and he is gonna carry the gospel to a world.
Im telling you friend
Are they foolish dreamers,
Are they over zealous Christians,
No sir, brother there viewing the invisible,
they’ve got the faith that Gods giving them and they know its gonna be O.K.
By faith Noah:
By faith Abraham:
What God is saying is:
Get you eye off the sore.
Get your eye off the divorce rate.
Get your eye off the wicked preacher.
Get your eye off the junk.
And get in the spirit, stand on the promises of God.
There still fresh, there still true!
God still got a marching army
Amen I don’t have room to pout, i don’t have room to sit down and cry!
Excuse me, but Im going forward and we will be a victorious people
* the servant saw the armies of syria and he said what shall we do?
Verse 16 is just beautiful to me.
“They that be with us, are more than they that be with them”
I don’t think it can get anymore plainer than that.
listen if you dont know it yet,
theres an enemy!
Folks many of you grew up In a community were the church was a good thing.
The church was something popular to the community.
many of you grew up in a day were the church was looked upon and revered in the community... but folks im gonna announce to you that it aint that way anymore.
Theres people in this town that look at the church as an imposture.
They see it as something to take away from there freedom or their liberties.
They look at us as a bunch of people who are trying to cram our laws down there throats. Friend thats not what were doing.
But were opening the doors of the church that acts like a hospital
and says when you need God , he will be there for you.
Our mission is to take the gospel out to the world amen
Its not our laws, but its Gods laws and we must keep them.
VII. They that be with us are more than they that be with them!!
1. Elisha prayed for the young man and said you need to open your eyes.
and see what God has.
2. And it was there that he saw a mountain, full of Gods army.
everything Syria had, God had bigger and better.
And im here to tell you that for every devil that comes against you,
theres an angel thats ready to fight
-every devil that comes to you and tells you a lie
Gods got a book & it tells you the truth.
-for every sickness that comes your way and every pain,
theres a strip on Jesus’ back that says your healed.
For every cross there is a crown
Greater is he thats in me than he who is in the world.
Neighbor we can sit here in the congrergation today and we can say yes
greater is he thats him me than he who is in the world, thats right preacher i agree with that ,
but then we can go home, and calamity hits
this comes at us and that comes at us
and sometimes we step back and say “I Can’t handle this”
*But folk you’ve got to hang on to that same conviction that you had on the mountian top!
You see while im on the mountian top im saying Great is the lord!
but when im in a valley my confession must remain “great is the lord”
- because its in the valley that the world looks at me
- its when im going through some things that the world looks at me and says
“now show me what your made of
*you don’t measure a tree until you cut it down
*but its when you can measure a man, when he is down!
Prayer changed the perspective of that young man.
before prayer, he was frightened.
before prayer he was out-numbered
and he was doubtful and confused and he said we can’t make it ,
but after prayer he said were well able
*this scared negative, pouting cry baby generation, needs to go to the prayer closet and get a revelation from God, and say
“ive heard from him and everythings gonna be o.k.
A man goes into the prayer closet saying “ oh God what a big problem I’ve got,”
Amen but he comes out of the prayer closet saying “ oh problem, what a big God I got.
Here me and I’ll Close
Closing
VIII. You cant recieve the vision of this church, or this body of believers until
you pray for your vision!
- then you’ll see the invisible.
I like what the ole boy said in a revival once, he said “God I’m drawing a circle and im not coming out until you bless the man in the circle.
WE need to draw a circle church.
We need to say God start with me , show me my place
show me my mission field
show me my heart,
show me were I belong.
- each one of us has a cause and a place in Gods army and you’ll see that when you pray
* once a man believes their is better ahead , he can never go back
Faith= is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen
we need to view the invisible, would you stand.
