Seeing The Unseeable

SEEING THE UNSEEABLE

TEXT: ll Kings 6:8-18

II Kings 6:8 18 – “Then the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.” “And the man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.” “And the king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.” “Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is for the king of Israel?” “And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber.” “And 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.” “Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about.” “And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?” “And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” “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.” “And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the LORD, and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according to the word of Elisha.”

l. INTRODUCTION – ELISHA

-Elisha, the prophet with the double portion. The double anointing. He was a man who was visionary in his filling of the prophetic office. He was a man who could see further than others. He was a spiritual man, he was a godly man, and he was a praying man.

-His request of Elijah was so farfetched that it seemed preposterous. “Give me a double portion of your success, of your ministry, of the anointing of God that has touched your life.” But what Elisha was really asking for was a fulfillment of the ministry that had taken him from the fields.

-When the mantle fell on Elisha’s shoulders it became a sign and a sealing of his adoption. The adopted son always has allotted to him the double portion that belonged to the first-born.

-All the while that Elijah was sitting beneath the juniper tree contemplating the weakened state of Israel, God was working on Elisha, preparing him to carry forward the work of Elijah with a vengeance. While some are talking about the collapse of the church and about the lukewarm state of which she rests, God is preparing some “Elisha’s” to carry on the work.

-God always has his hidden servants, quite well known to Him, who are ready and capable of submitting to the will and work of God.

-There was Elisha, carefully watching the ministry of Elijah among the people. He listened to his instruction. He submitted to the role of the servant because he knew that his whole future depended upon it. He heard the old prophet pray. He heard the old prophet rail against sin and preach repentance. All the while it was preparing his heart for a tremendous work of God.

-From those early moments, Elisha began, with the help of God, to see the unseeable. He began to develop those spiritual gifts to become visionary.

-History has always had it’s men who could see beyond the ordinary. History has had men who could look at the ordinary and see the hidden treasures, the sparkling potential that lay hidden within an object.

James Watt and his steam engine.

John Fitch and his steamboat.

Eli Whitney and his cotton gin.

George Stephenson and his locomotive.

Samuel Colt and his revolver.

Rene Laennec and his stethoscope.

George Westinghouse and his air brake.

Alexander Graham Bell and his telephone.

Thomas Edison and his light bulb.

The Wright Brothers and their airplane.

-All of these men contributed to the world in a material sense, because they saw something out of the ordinary, they saw beyond, they saw the unseeable. Yet in the spiritual world there are other men who made so strides in the Gospel because they could see beyond the obstacles.