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And amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, and wonder how he could love me, a sinner condemned unclean. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. For me it was in the garden, he prayed not my will but thine. He had no tears for his own griefs, but sweat drops of blood for mine. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. He took my sins and my sorrows, he made them his very own. He bore the burden to Calvary and suffered and died alone. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. When with the ransomed and glory, his face I at last shall see, will be my joy through the ages to sing of his love for me. How marvelous, how wonderful, and my song shall ever be. How marvelous, how wonderful is my Savior's love for me. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day and the opportunity to be gathered together at church. We do thank you for your love that you showed us by sending your son. Pray that we would just sing out in our hearts to worship you and that you bless this service. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, our next song is going to be 162, To God Be the Glory. 162, To God Be the Glory. Song 162, sing it out nice and loud. To God Be the Glory. To God be the glory, great things he hath done, so loved he the world that he gave us his son, who yielded his life and atonement for sin, and opened the life gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done. O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood, to every believer the promise of God, the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus apart and receives. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done. Great things he hath taught us, great things he hath done. And great are rejoicing through Jesus the Son, but purer and higher and greater will be, our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done. Great singing, all right welcome to Setfast Baptist Church. If you need a bulletin go ahead and raise up your hand and an usher will bring you one. All right our verse of the week is John 1 25. If any child under the age of 18 can quote that go ahead and quote it to an usher or myself and they will be given a candy. You open up on the left of your bulletin we have our service times there. Sunday morning at 10 30 a.m. Sunday Spanish service every Sunday at 4 30 p.m. Sunday evening at 5 30. And of course you're here this evening for the Wednesday evening Bible study at seven o'clock. And this evening Pastor Shelley is actually at a stronghold Baptist church camping trip so he's somewhere deep in the wilderness right now. Probably eating locusts and wild honey if we know him he's a real Baptist. But so be praying for his safe return for his family back this evening. And let's see we have our church-wide soul winning times there listed on the left as well as all of our regional soul winning times. And I know lately the Saturday souling time has been going really well. You know if you're looking for a time to go to I'll just plug the Saturday time. I really love going on Saturdays. It's been a great time. We also have our stats there make sure to continue updating your soul winning captains with your soul winning numbers. And of course we're going to keep track of baptisms as well. And then go ahead and turn in your soul winning maps to myself when you have those done. Praying for our expecting ladies there on the right. Make sure we keep all those ladies in prayer during their pregnancy. And also at this time we're going to go ahead and go through our prayer list as a church very quickly. We have the Noguera family asking for prayer for health. Miss Lucy James asking for prayer for her mother's tumors. Brother Cameron Hall still for his leg healing. And then of course our friends at Very Baptist Church Manila and Pastor Sepulveda in Australia. Just praying that they would have free course for their ministry and for the gospel to go out as the countries they're in are definitely not as free as where we are right now. So be praying that that lockdown would fully end and for the health of all of their church members. Also the Goodwin family we're going to be praying for their health and recovery. Also for brother Tony Garcia recovery from a foot injury he recently had. And the Cardona family's asking for prayer for health. I had my dad on here last week he had gotten in a motorcycle accident. He's actually doing really well he's just doing physical therapy now so it could have been a lot worse so thank you all for praying for that very much. Also Miss Ophelia Restrepo down in South Texas a good friend of our church. She's having surgery tomorrow and she's asking that we would just be in prayer for her. So at this time let's go ahead and go to Lord in prayer as a church family. Lord we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for steadfast Baptist Church. I pray that you bless every person here and that you help us just to continue strong in the fight word. I pray that you'd send us more laborers to harvest and that you just help us to reach more people with the gospel. I pray for all of the needs for health that are on our list. Cara family, Miss Lucy her mother, the camera in his leg, Tony, Cardona family and also for Miss Restrepo for the surgery that she's having tomorrow. I pray that you bless all of their health and I just pray that you would answer their prayers according to your will Lord. I pray also for the health and lockdown situation with Verity Baptist Church in Manila and with Pastor Sepulveda in Australia and all of our brothers and sisters in Christ across the world that may be affected by these restrictions right now. I pray that you would just give the gospel free course and of course Lord we pray for our pastor Pastor Shelley and his family that you would just give them a great time as they're over there in Georgia and I pray that you please just bring them home safely to us again and I pray that you bless the remainder of this evening in Jesus name we pray Amen. Also our upcoming events we do have two sign-up sheets over there if you have not signed up yet for the Austin Texas soul winning marathon that's coming up just right around the corner really looking forward to this one I went to Austin like back in 2015 and had a really good time so I'm really excited to get the gospel to everyone over there in Austin and then of course our Mighty Men's Retreat we have the sign-up sheet and all the details for that even if you can only make one or two of those days that are listed in your bulletin sign up for those days that you can make it we'd definitely love to have you and of course on the back of your bulletin is a place that we have set aside to take notes we would definitely encourage you to take notes during the preaching of the word of God this evening but at this time that's all we have for announcements so let's go to our third song 173 love lifted me 173 love lifted me 173 love lifted me i was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore very deeply stained within sinking to rise no more but the master of the sea heard my despairing cry from the waters lifted me now say am i love lifted me love lifted me when nothing else could help love lifted me love lifted me love lifted me when nothing else could help love lifted me oh my heart to him i give ever to him a cling in his blessed presence live ever his praises sing love so mighty and so true merits my soul's best songs faithful loving service to to him belongs love lifted me love lifted me when nothing else could help love lifted me love lifted me love lifted me when nothing else could help love lifted me souls in danger look above jesus completely saves he will lift you by his love out of the angry waves he's the master of the sea billows his will obey he your savior wants to be be saved today lifted me love lifted me when nothing else could help love lifted me love lifted me love lifted me when nothing else could help love lifted me great singing this time while the offering plates are being passed around go ahead and flip in your bibles to first kings chapter 19 first kings chapter number 19 the bible reads in first kings chapter 19 and ahab told jezebel all that elijah had done and with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword then jezebel sent a messenger unto elijah saying so let the gods do to me and more also if i make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time when he saw that he arose and went for his life and came to beersheba which belongeth to judah and left his servant there but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a juniper tree and he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough now oh lord take away my life for i am not better than my father's and as he lay and slept under a juniper tree behold then an angel touched him and said unto him arise and eat and he looked and behold there was a cake bacon on the coals and a cruise of water at his head and he did eat and drink and laid him down again and the angel of the lord came again the second time and touched him and said arise and eat because the journey is too great for thee and he rose and did eat and drink and went in the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights unto horeb the mount of god and he came thither unto a cave and lodged there and behold the word of the lord came to him and he said unto him what doest thou hear elijah and he said i have been very jealous for the lord god of hosts for the children of israel have forsaken thy covenant thrown down thine altars and slain thy prophets with the sword and i even i only am left and they seek my life to take it away and he said go forth and stand upon the mount before the lord and behold the lord passed by and a great and strong wind rent the mountains and break in pieces the rocks before the lord but the lord was not in the wind and after the wind an earthquake but the lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake a fire but the lord was not in the fire and after the fire a still small voice and it was so when elijah heard it that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entering in of the cave and behold there came a voice unto him and said what doest thou hear elijah and he said i've been very jealous for the lord god of hosts because the children of israel have forsaken thy covenant thrown down thine altars and slain thy prophets with the sword and i even i only am left and they seek my life to take it away and the lord said unto him go return on thy way to the wilderness of damascus and when thou comest anoint hazel to be king over syria and jehu the son of nimshai shalt thou anoint to be king over israel and elijah the son of shafat of abemahola shalt thou anoint to be profit in thy room and it shall come to pass that him that escapeth the sword of hazel shall jehu slay and him that escapeth from the sword of jehu shall elijah slay yet i have left me seven thousand in israel all the knees which have not bowed unto bale and every mouth which hath not kissed him so he departed thence and found elijah the son of shafat who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen before him and he with the 12th and elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him and he left the oxen and ran after elijah and said let me i pray thee kiss my father and my mother and then i will follow thee and he said unto him go back again for what have i done to thee and he returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave unto the people that they did eat then he arose and went after elijah and ministered unto him let's have a word of prayer father thank you so much for this evening i pray that you now fill brother ben with the holy spirit and help him to preach boldly the word of god to us this evening we pray that all of us will pay attention that you minimize distractions in the service and in peace and in prayer amen amen amen man good reading there dylan thank you and i appreciated love lifted me that's uh my favorite hymn or one of my favorites so uh we're starting in first kings 19 let's look at verse 15 where the bible read and the lord said unto him go return on thy way to the wilderness of damascus and when thou comest anoint hazel to be king over syria and jehu the son of nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over israel and elijah the son of shaphat of abel mahola shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room what we're seeing here is the beginning of the ministry of elijah he's one of my favorite characters in scripture for a number of reasons first of all he's a hard preacher you'll notice later on in the chapter when it talks about in first kings chapter 19 it says in verse 17 look at verse 17 and it shall come to pass that him that escapeth the sword of hazel shall jehu slay and him that escapeth from the sword of jehu shall elijah slay this wasn't a limp-wristed prophet this wasn't a weak prophet the bible says here that elijah would slay those who would escape from jehu we see that he preached the word of god unapologetically he was filled with the spirit but one of the reasons why he's one of my favorite characters in scripture is because his ministry and his life mirrors so closely that of the lord jesus christ and we're going to see that here this is a a bible study we're going to go over over the next hour or so looking at the parallels between jesus and elijah what we're seeing in first kings chapter 19 is an interesting situation here where elijah after slaying the prophets of bail his life was in jeopardy jezebel wanted to take him out he fell into a depression and god had to remind him hey you know there's seven thousand men who haven't bowed the knee to bail and also he told him about what he would be doing subsequently that he would anoint a new king that he would anoint elijah to be the new prophet that he would succeed elijah would succeed him and if elijah is a picture of john the baptist which the bible is so clear about in the new testament and of course he could also be a type of the lord jesus christ as well in many different ways when it comes to pictures when it comes to typology which is just a fancy theological term for something that symbolizes christ or anything really but my point is this that elijah pictures john the baptist and so elijah would be the lord jesus christ he would be a parallel or symbolic of the lord jesus christ in many different ways not just through what he did but we also see it through his character as well the title of my sermon tonight is jesus in the life of elijah jesus in the life of elijah and i wanted to open by thanking pastor shelly for the opportunity to fill the is i get pulpit i guess it's a pulpit the uh plastic box the tote tonight but you know what it's a pulpit when it's got a king james bible on it i don't care what it's made of let's look at second kings two second kings chapter two and my first point is simple my first point is we see jesus in the life of elijah through the start of his ministry we see jesus in the life of elijah through the start of his ministry particularly at the jordan river look at verse six second kings chapter two verse six and elijah said unto him terry i pray second kings two verse six and elijah said unto him terry i pray thee here for the lord hath sent me to jordan and he said as the lord liveth and as thy soul liveth i will not leave thee and they too went on so the first thing that i wanted you to pay attention to is the loyalty right here he says i will not leave thee right he's gonna follow him and elijah says you know what i've been sent to jordan elijah says he's going with him and i think what we can take out of this is you know we we have to find in our lives the man of god we have to identify the man of god in our lives and say you know what i will not leave thee i'm gonna follow you i'm gonna follow you as you follow christ and for a lot of christians this is missing in their life because of the fact that they're not in church they're totally backslidden they're sitting in their living room eating corn flakes every day rather than serving the lord and the reason why is because they haven't plugged themselves into a local new testament church they haven't identified a prophet and said i will not leave thee i am going to follow you as you follow the lord jesus christ they haven't found that loyalty yet look at verse number seven and the 50 men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off and they too stood by jordan and elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and smote the waters and they were divided hither and thither so that they too went over on dry ground and it came to pass when they were gone over that elijah said unto elijah ask what i shall do for thee before i be taken away from thee and elijah said i pray thee let a double portion of thy spirit be upon thee and he said thou hast asked a hard thing nevertheless if thou see me when i am taken from thee it shall be so unto thee but if not it shall not be it shall not be so the waters are divided here and they walk on dry land now what this reminds me of is the baptism of jesus which was done by john the baptist again if elijah is symbolic of john the baptist and elijah would represent jesus well i don't think it's a coincidence that we see essentially the start of his ministry here at jordan and what happens they walk on dry land and subsequently right after this well he asks for a double portion of the spirit well when jesus christ was baptized matthew chapter number three which i'll read in a moment we see that the holy spirit descended like a dove upon him and i think what we're seeing is a baptism a picture i should say of the baptism of jesus christ let's look at matthew chapter three and look at the parallels matthew chapter three remember that john it says the bible says came in the spirit and power of elijah and i don't think it's coincidental that this is where you see the passing of the torch this is where you see elijah succeeding elijah in the same place where jesus was baptized because i think that it's a parallel or symbolic of the baptism of christ in first corinthians 10 as you turn to matthew 3 the bible read in first corinthians 10 moreover brethren i would not that you should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea in verse two it said and were and were all baptized under moses in the cloud and in the sea so the bible talks about how the israelites were quote-unquote baptized right as they went through the red sea which was parted for them miraculously and we know ultimately that was courtesy of god and that is oftentimes viewed as a picture of baptism well if that's a picture of baptism if the water's being parted from the red sea is a picture of baptism then i think the same thing can apply to the waters being parted at jordan when elijah and elijah traverse through it and when it comes to the children of israel it's understood that the freedom from bondage points to salvation the parting of the red sea would point to baptism them going through the wilderness would point to the christian life or is representative of the christian life and all the struggles that come with it and then inheriting the promised land well that would be representative of us inheriting heaven when we finally get to get when we finally get to heaven and inherit the rewards and all the things that we've earned through our good works in this life now in matthew chapter 3 it says in verse 13 in matthew chapter 3 in verse 13 the bible read then cometh jesus from galilee to jordan unto john to be baptized of him so it's the same place second kings 2 what are we looking at jordan matthew chapter 3 same thing in verse number 16 it says and jesus when he was baptized went up straight way out of the water and lo the heavens were opened unto him and he saw the spirit of god descending like a dove and lighting upon him and lo a voice from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom i am well pleased so the spirit of god descends on jesus here after his baptism and we see that right after you know elijah and elijah when they traverse through the jordan river when the waters were parted that he asks for a double portion of the spirit so the spirit is involved as well which i think creates a stronger connection between these two stories and again i don't think it's coincidental that this is how elijah starts his journey at jordan which is a a prominent place in scripture turn back over to second kings let's look at chapter 4 second kings chapter 4 john 3 tells us for he whom god had sent speak at the words of god for god giveth not the spirit by measure unto him we're talking about parallels between elijah and elijah but i'm going to break that pattern for a second because here's something that's different about jesus is that he was 100 always filled with the spirit of god and he never sinned and he you know the father didn't give him the spirit by measure he gave him the 100 filling of the spirit at all times and something that we can also learn about this because i don't want to just look at spiritual truths tonight i don't just want to look at some of the spiritual pictures but also lessons we could take from the character of elijah he desired the spirit of god right he asked for a double portion of the spirit you can look at that as perhaps an ordination and people who desire to be a pastor who have the desire to do the work of a bishop right there's nothing wrong with that but i think when you zoom out a little bit further what we can take from this as everyday christians is we also should desire the spirit of god in our lives because that's what brings us victory if you want to be a better soul winner you need to be filled with the spirit of god if you want to be a better preacher you need to be filled with the spirit of god instead of the spirits of this world which a lot of people are filled with what am i talking about spirits it's what they literally call some alcoholic beverages spirits and people are chasing after spirits rather than chasing after the holy spirit even people who are sealed with the holy spirit what a shame all right here's my second point i had you turn to second kings four my second point is this let's look at another parallel between jesus and alicia and my second point is we see jesus in the life of alicia through a multiplication miracle is what i'm calling it a multiplication miracle look at second kings chapter four now let me give you the context real quickly the man of god he comes to gilgal and there was a dearth in the land so essentially what happens they you know he tells his servant to see potage there's death in the pot there was a sermon preached at our church about that a while ago and everybody thought it was about beans and chili but it wasn't but my point is you know there's death in the pot it's it's purified by alicia then a man from bale shalisha brings alicia bread and here's what happens next i think another really cool picture or or something you know another parallel rather of jesus look at verse number 42 second kings chapter 4 and verse 42 it says and there came a man from bale shalisha and brought the man of god bread of the first fruits 20 loaves of barley and full ears of corn in the husk thereof and he said give unto the people that they may eat and his servitor said what should i set this before an hundred men he said again give the people that they may eat for thus saith the lord they shall eat and shall leave thereof so we said it before them and they did eat and left thereof according to the word of the lord what do we have going on a hundred men fed with what 20 loaves of barley this reminds me of exactly what jesus did in the new testament what did jesus do during his ministry a multiplication miracle a miracle where great multitudes were able to eat from a very small amount of food he fed the five thousand with five loaves and and two fishes also the four thousand with seven loaves and so elisha does essentially the same type of miracle here because you'll notice a pattern regarding his miracles that they're very much like the miracles of jesus that's because it's not a coincidence because the prophets not just elisha but the prophets in general are pointing us to christ the whole bible is pointing us to christ this is why it is so insane that jews even exist because how in the world could you claim to believe the old testament and then hate jesus when the old testament is pointing to christ like that's the whole point of it that's the purpose but i don't want to go down that rabbit let's look at second kings chapter 13 so a multiplication miracle by elisha 100 men fed 20 loaves of barley sufficient for them a multiplication miracle similar to what jesus did with the five thousand and the four thousand this isn't the only time elisha did this by the way i can't cover it for sake of time but he also had a woman who came to him asking for help because her sons were going to be sold into servitude and she had a pot of oil on her and he asked basically for her to go get some more vessels some more empty vessels and it was that one pot that was then used to fill all the rest of them another multiplication miracle there as well so this isn't the first time that elisha did this now in second kings chapter 13 we see something else that also reminds us of what jesus did and this is my third point is that we see jesus in the life of elisha through revival through revival look at verse 20 when you get there in second kings chapter 13 and verse 20 and just a quick recap before i dive into this so we started out with looking at the similarities between elisha and jesus regarding what occurred at the jordan river and i said that that reminds me of the baptism of christ and then we looked at here this miracle where a hundred men were fed with 20 loaves of barley reminding us of what jesus did with the five thousand and the four thousand and now we're going to look at here how jesus we see jesus in the life of elisha through revival look at verse 20 second kings chapter 13 and verse 20 it says and elisha died and they buried him and the bands of the moabites invaded the land at the coming end of the year and it came to pass as they were burying a man that behold they spied a band of men and they cast the man into the sepulcher of elisha and when the man was let down and touched the bones of elisha he revived and stood up excuse me and stood up on his feet men of israel are burying a man apparently they're startled by the moabite army they tossed this man into elisha's bones and he's revived into the sepulcher of elisha and he comes back to life he comes back from the dead he experiences a revival this is miraculous right this is a this is a miracle that jesus that elisha that elisha did after he had already died so if you want to nitpick the sermon you could say well hold on a minute this is jesus in the death of elisha not necessarily the life and you're right it is but i didn't want to change the sermon title but here's the thing yeah you're right this is jesus in the death of elisha why because we see that this man this individual right here was given life through elisha's death and the same is true for every single saved person every single saved person on the face of the planet was given life through the death of jesus through the death of a preacher who was god manifest in the flesh not any ordinary prophet let's look at john chapter 20 together john chapter 20 meanwhile i'll read for you as you turn to john chapter 20 i'll read for you from hebrews chapter 2 hebrews chapter 2 so we've looked at so far the similarity between jesus and elisha when it comes to the jordan river pointing us to his baptism we've looked at so far the fact that he multiplied little into much and now we're looking at here what happened with regard to this revival we're looking at how elisha orchestrated this revival and it was an incredible one because it happened courtesy of his own death similar to how the saved have received revival through the death of christ and that's exactly what the bible tells us in john chapter 20 but before we get there i wanted to read a scripture in hebrews 2 which tells us for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood he also himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is the devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage not only were you given life through the death of christ but you were also given freedom freedom from bondage you were given freedom from the fear of death we don't have to fear death anymore it's lost its sting and the reason why is because we'll never experience death in a spiritual sense yeah our flesh is going to go into the ground one day our flesh the old man finally will have to stop warring against it that battle will be over and the reason why is because it's going into the ground it'll be raised up incorruptible but there's coming a day in which that conflict that you're having right now between the new man and the old man will come to an end the new man is going to win you're going to have a glorified body you've been given freedom from the fear of death you begin freedom from bondage the bondage of sin you've been given freedom courtesy of the death of the lord jesus christ and let's well before we get there i also wanted to read for you in roman 6 where it says that we're alive unto god through what jesus christ our lord not alive unto god through our own good works not alive unto god through joseph smith the pervert the freak not muhammad the pervert the freak you're noticing a pattern here these reprobate false prophets first thessalonians 5 tells us who died for us that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him because of what christ did for us because of his death and his burial and his resurrection we're going to live together with him the bible says and you know these bunch of heretics they want to pick and choose which specific segment of the gospel matters the most and they'll say well you know it's really just only the death that matters or they'll say how dare you say that jesus died and went to hell that invalidates the the gospel somehow that's taking away from his deity but there's certain people they want to say well you know it's only the death or it's only the burial or or it's only the resurrection no no all of it everything all of it saved us but what i'm focusing on is the death for the purpose of this portion of the sermon john chapter 20 and verse 31 remember jesus what he came to give us life and he revived spiritually those who believed on him the second that they believed on him john 20 verse 31 john 20 verse 31 but these are written that ye might believe that jesus is the christ the son of god and that believing notice ye might have life through his name we have life through his name we have life through what he did we have life simply through him and that's why we exalt him with everything that we've got that's why this church is about christ and and you know so so all these people who want to compulsively hate us and want to compulsively hate the man of god in charge of this church and want to and want to compulsively hate this church as a whole who are they really hating on jesus because he's the head of this church and so always remember that it might seem personal but in reality they really just hate christ they really just hate jesus let's look at second kings chapter four together second kings chapter four and you know there's nothing more loving people say oh you guys aren't so you're getting you're so hateful you're bigots you want to subjugate women and i'm ready to just agree and amplify on that one by the way because you know if subjugating women means i don't want them to go kill their own children then yeah sure i guess i do want to subjugate women fine but again i don't want to let's not go off topic my point is this yeah we'll we'll get we'll get accused of all these things oh you're so hateful you're you got you guys don't preach the love of christ well what's more loving than this what's more loving than the gospel what's more loving than going out and knocking doors and telling people that if they believe on christ they will receive life what's more loving than going out and telling people that through the death of jesus they can receive revival they can receive life nothing and the same people who would levy that accusation toward us never preach that to anybody i wonder why that is hypocrite that's why second kings chapter four so we see so alicia gave life after dying alicia gave life after dying through his bones jesus gave life after the death of the cross to those who believe on him second kings chapter four look at verse 18 second kings chapter four look at verse 18 what time is it here i think i'm good second kings chapter four look at verse 18 and when the child was grown it fell on a day then he went out to his father to the reapers and he said unto his father my head my head and he said to a lad carry him to his mother and when he had taken him and brought him to his mother he sat on her knees till noon and then died alicia's blessed by the shunammite woman he asks what he can do for her she doesn't have a child doesn't have any children she's barren and so that's rectified through christ but the son dies that she has this is horrible i can't even imagine waiting this long waiting that long waiting years and years and years for your very first child only to watch it die only to watch your child die must have been a a horrifying experience for this shunammite woman but it came to pass i think we can surmise that it came to pass so that we can take a spiritual lesson from it second kings chapter four we'll get into that in a moment but look at verse 31 initially who does alicia send gehazi verse 31 will tell us what happened when he did that it says in verse 31 and gehazi passed on before him before them i should say and laid the staff upon the face of the child but there was neither voice nor hearing wherefore he went again to meet him and told him saying the child is not wait gehazi lays the staff on the child nothing happens absolutely nothing gehazi is like judas here's another similarity between jesus and elisha this is another similarity we're talking about jesus in the life of elisha here's another similarity both of them had bozos following them with jesus it was judas with elisha it was gehazi here's another similarity both were covetous elisha i'm i'm sorry gehazi lied to elisha in order to procure a reward that he shouldn't have gotten and judas stole judas was a thief taking from the offering plate and we also know that he betrayed christ 30 pieces of silver so they have that covetousness both of them they have that similarity they're both bozos but what i wanted you to pay attention to here is that when gehazi lays the staff on the face of the child absolutely nothing happens whatsoever and again the theme what i what i really want you to to what i'm trying to hammer in here what i want you to understand about this message is when you're reading your bible i don't believe there's anything incidental coincidental accidental to me this points us to the fact that gehazi as a judas couldn't get anybody saved he couldn't orchestrate a revival like the real man of god and so the fakes the frauds out there how can you identify them what's a way in which you can identify them they're not capable of revival they're when they lay their staff on someone who's dead nothing happens they stay dead and the reason why is because only a saved person can get someone saved in romans chapter one the bible says that it's it's faith to faith it's faith to faith the righteousness of god is revealed from faith to faith you have to have a holy somebody who's sealed with the holy spirit of god going out and winning people to christ you can't do it if you're not saved you're not going to bring forth any fruit whatsoever some would ask the question in objection and they would say well hold on a minute though what if i watched what if i went soul winning with adam fanon and someone prayed with him does that mean that person saved let me give you an answer on that one adam fanon spent an hour and 45 minutes giving that person the quote-unquote gospel and that individual just prayed to get him the hell off their doorstep that's that that's that's option number one option number two is if i went and knocked on that person's door two or three weeks later after adam fanon or tyler baker gave him the gospel you know what i'm gonna find i'm gonna find that that person if i dig a little bit deeper has something completely wrong about salvation and you know they're messed up somewhere they don't believe eternal security they still believe in works you say well how do you know that because i believe the bible and i believe my experiences will match that of scripture but i think that this is a picture of judas and jesus had a bozo following him a reprobate from the beginning a devil from the beginning the same thing with elijah regarding gehazi let's look at verse number 32 and by the way judas was not a superstar soul winner and that's something else we can learn from this as well when judas laid the staff on someone who was dead they didn't revive either somebody relayed that message to that weirdo in san antonio manly perry verse 32 it says and when elijah was coming to the house behold the child was dead and laid upon his bed so now we have the true man of god right here the prophet the spirit-filled prophet arrives on the scene in verse 33 he went in therefore and shut the door upon them twain and prayed unto the lord and he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth and his eyes upon his eyes and his hands upon his hands and he stretched himself upon the child and the flesh of the child waxed warm then he returned and walked in the house to and fro and went up and stretched himself upon him and the child sneezed seven times and the child opened his eyes now we have revival courtesy of elijah and ultimately god through elijah revives this son the compassion of elijah is on display here as he helps this woman at her lowest point arguably and this son comes back from the dead he's he's revived from the dead he sneezes seven times and my only guess about that echoes what pastor shelley said on sunday night it's a divine number i'll get into it a little bit later but i believe it's a divine number and like i said i'll touch on that a bit later on verse 36 and he called gehazi and said call this shunammite so we called her and when she came in unto him he said take up thy son the son of the shunammite woman revived by the man of god jesus and the life of elijah by the miracle of revival and jesus did something very similar to this i'll read it for you in luke seven you don't have to turn there but in luke seven it says and when the lord saw her he had compassion on her and said unto her weep not and he came and touched the buyer and they that bear him stood still and he said young man i say unto thee arise and he that was dead sat up and began to speak and he delivered him to his mother this widow woman's son revived in i think a similar fashion as the shunammite woman's son was revived by elijah a further parallel between jesus and elijah there are so many of these that if i were to cover all of them i would have to be here for three hours maybe even longer than that it's a whole sermon series that i've crammed into one message so i hope you have your seat belts buckled because we're going to be here a while i'm just kidding but elijah and jesus have so many different parallels jesus here with the revival of this widow woman's son but it's not just the spiritual obviously the spiritual truths are so important but how about who these prophets really are how about their compassion how about their empathy how about the fact that they truly cared for those who were going through a rough time and i think this is something we should replicate in our lives let's be different from the world in the sense that we have true empathy true compassion one for another you know it probably feels you know it feels real good if for whatever reason you're going through something difficult let's say it's a health problem let's say it's somebody close to you a family member or a close friend who's going through something tough maybe somebody died maybe you're having financial struggles whatever the case may be it's not nice to know that you have brethren praying for you in that moment you know it's nice to know that when you come to church there are going to be several people walking up to you and saying hey i heard about what happened i'm praying for you is there anything i can do to help out it's nice to know when you come to church that people actually care about the struggles that you might be going through at that time because that's life you're going to have ups you're going to have downs and when you're in that down point it's a lot easier to go through it when you know that you have brethren right there with you weeping as you weep rejoicing as you rejoice during the good times as well that's a concept we find taught in the book of romans let's replicate this compassion shown by elisha shown by jesus in our own lives to our own brothers and sisters in christ let's look at second kings chapter five second kings chapter five i'll go to my fourth point second kings chapter five my fourth point is we see jesus in the life of elisha through the cleansing of naman who was what leprous and so if you look at this story the leper cleansed points us to jesus as well now the syrian king he asks the king of israel for naman to be to be cured to be healed and the king of israel initially is incredulous thinking how how can i do this for you but then elisha takes up the responsibility and does it himself look at verse number one there second kings five verse one now naman captain of the host of the king of syria was a great man with his master and honorable because by him the lord had given deliverance unto syria he was also a mighty man in valor but he was a leper there are going to be unsaved people in this world who aren't necessarily totally wicked we don't want to get this mentality that every unsaved person out there is just completely bad no there's some of them that obviously aren't that bad that's why we're trying to win them to christ so you don't have that kind of attitude look at verse nine so naman came with his horses verse nine naman came with his horses and with his chariot and stood at the door of the house of elisha and elisha sent a messenger unto him saying go and wash in jordan seven times and thy flesh shall come again to thee and thou shalt be clean the man of god sent a messenger did you see that he sent a messenger elisha sends a messenger jesus sent us he sent us down the street here he sent us to holton city he sent us to fort worth he sent us to austin coming up here in a few weeks he sends his messengers as well verse 11 but naman was roth and went away and said behold i thought he will surely come to me and stand and call on him on the name of the lord is god and strike his hand over the place and recover the leper are not abana and farpar rivers of damascus better than all the waters of israel may i not wash in them and be clean so he turned and went away in a rage he's furious he's completely furious here he walks away in a rage he didn't get to see elisha and that made him angry it was jesus who said blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed what else can we take from this well think about it naman is looking for some great thing to cleanse him of this leprosy he was looking for theatrics he was looking for some miraculous event that would cleanse him rather than simply washing in the jordan river seven times that's not what was prescribed for him and he gets angry about it many people are expecting salvation to come from some great thing people will say well here's here's my testimony i woke up from a nap and then there was this bright light and then there was like this red beam that came out of it and then it changed colors three times and then i saw a man in a robe come down and he had long hair and he kind of looked like a hippie and then he like he so he told me he was like hey you you know my name is jesus and you're saved now and it's like this amazing miraculous event i'm thinking you must be on dmt or some drug or something what have you been smoking other people say oh i got saved because i cleansed myself i got saved because i started going to church i got the sin out of my life and so i'm safe people are expecting salvation by some other way that's a lot more miraculous if you will or something that requires more of their own effort something that would glorify them a little bit more that's what they're expecting they're expecting salvation some other way and that's why when you explain them actually hey it's much easier than that all you have to do is believe what happens they get angry they walk away in a rage like naman they get frustrated with you and it's almost mind-boggling because you're sitting there telling them hey just so you know it's a free gift if you want to get to heaven all you have to do is believe on christ and then they get mad at you and you're thinking like what is wrong with you but their name in the syrian they're expecting some other way to be cleansed and they're thinking that it's completely ridiculous for it to be as easy as simply washing themselves in the jordan river you know when jesus healed the blind men in matthew 9 you know what he said he said believe ye that i'm able to do this and that's such a power one of the most powerful statements i think in scripture believe ye that i'm able to do this that right there is like soul winning in a nutshell when you get to the very end of your presentation here's what you're essentially asking do you believe jesus can save you do you really think the death burial and resurrection now after i've shown you verse after verse is enough to get you to heaven believe ye that christ is able to take you to heaven and if you're saved tonight you're saved because you do believe that because you do believe that what he had promised he was able also to perform you believe that if all you had to do was dip yourself into the jordan river seven times that you would be cleansed of your leprosy and leprosy would be a picture of sin that's true in scripture that leprosy picture sin and we were leprous before we got saved and all it took was a cleansing in the river to wash away to be clean to wash away the leprosy and to be clean look at verse 13 and his servants came near and spake unto him and said my father if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing wouldest thou not have done it how much rather than when he sayeth to thee wash and be clean you would have been willing to do something great if he asked you to so why not something as easy as washing and be clean people act like they're willing to turn away from all their sins which is impossible by the way and yet unwilling to simply trust in christ for salvation it's incredible when you think about it mark chapter one tells us in verse 40 i'll just quote this for you and there came a leper to him beseeching him and kneeling down to him and saying unto him if thou wilt thou canst make me clean and jesus moved with compassion put forth his hand and touched him and saith unto him i will be thou clean again compassion but what else is happening here a parallel between jesus and elisha elisha cleansed lepers jesus cleansed lepers as well elisha's cleansing of naman parallels what i just read for you in mark chapter one but if you would turn to revelation chapter one revelation chapter one let's look at the spiritual truth that applies to the cleansing of naman the syrian let's look at the spiritual truth that applies to what happened to name in the syrian title the sermon jesus in the life of elisha we see jesus in the life of elisha in so many ways his behavior his character but also what happens here with name in the syrian the cleansing of name in the syria revel revelation chapter one verse five revelation chapter one verse five and from jesus christ who was the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood we've been washed from our sins we've been washed from our leprosy in the blood of christ because the blood is essential the blood atonement i believe that and it was the blood that washed away our sins were washed through the blood of christ naman cleansed of his leprosy through the waters the jordan river waters and we cleansed of our sin through the blood of christ turn back to second kings chapter five second kings chapter five revelation seven also tells us as you turn to second kings chapter five it says these are they which came out of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb the saved have made their their robes white in the blood of the lamb and that's really an amazing view that is happening in heaven in revelation chapter seven second kings five where i had you turn look at verse 14 then when he down and dipped himself seven times in jordan according to the saying of the man of god and his flesh came again like under the flesh of a little child and he was clean what i said earlier is that seven is a divine number the sabbath day the sabbath was on the seventh day of creation pointing us to salvation so i don't think that when it says that he was when he dipped seven times in jordan that that's meaningless the reason why it's there is because it's reminding us of salvation that this is supposed to teach us about salvation and when he came back out he had the flesh of a little child what happens when you first get saved well you become a babe in christ you become a baby in christ first peter says in chapter two as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby newborn babies need the word of god to grow so that they can learn more doctrine so that they can become better christians and after naman is cleansed he asks for mercy because he was gonna worship how he always did in rimon and that's i think kind of reminiscent of the fact that babies in christ often are babes in christ often don't really know what they're doing in a sense they still haven't learned some things and so we should be merciful unto them and not beat them over the head because they get something wrong here's the fifth point look at second king six this will be quick second kings chapter six i think i'm okay on time but i'm not sure second kings chapter six look at here's my fifth point we see jesus in the life of elijah through the floating axe head through the floating axe head look at second king six verse five it says but as one was felling a beam the axe head fell into the water and he cried and said alas master for it was borrowed so the sons of the prophets are cutting wood for a dwelling place that's what's going on verse number six and the man of god said where fell it and he showed him the place and he cut down a stick and cast it in thither and the iron did swim therefore said he take it up to thee and he put out his hand and took it the axe head sinks elijah by a miracle makes it float defying gravity in the process spiritually speaking this reminds me of the fact we are without the cross of christ sinking in a sense it wasn't until that stick entered the water which points us to the cross right it wasn't until that that that stick entered the water that the x-head began to float without the without the cross of christ we would be figuratively sinking in a sense we'd be sinking in hell without you know there is it's a bottomless pit by the way so you'd be burning in hell for all of eternity without the cross of christ but again the parallels between elijah and jesus are paramount for the purpose of the sermon and i also think this reminds me of what jesus did with peter in matthew chapter 14 i'll just quote this for you it says but when he saw the wind boisterous he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried saying lord save me and immediately jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him oh thou of little faith wherefore did us thou doubt just as sure as this axe head was sinking and elijah brought it back up to the surface again peter was sinking and it was jesus who brought him back to the surface as well another parallel between elijah and jesus but there's also that spiritual truth of us being the axe head the stick being the cross of christ causing that axe head not to be sinking anymore but to go back to the surface of the water with respect to matthew chapter 14 and what happened to peter i don't want to just only spiritual let's look at some carnal as well oftentimes we feel like we're sinking in this life oftentimes we feel like the bills are piling up we're sinking in bills you might be sinking in credit card debt you might be sinking in problems you might be sinking in in drama you might be sinking in in persecution there could be a number of different things that cause you to have this sinking sensation in your life but what you have to remember is what jesus did with the apostle peter what jesus did here what jesus did is a great reminder for us that says if you just trust in the lord jesus christ and you remember that all things work together for good to them that love god and you trust that jesus is going to prevent you from sinking and bring you back to the surface of the water that'll help you get through all your problems so don't forget that he will help you walk he'll bring you back to the surface let's look at the sixth point so again the parallels the axe head sinking similar to peter sinking brings him back to the surface just as the axe head was brought back to the surface as well here's my final point we see jesus in the life of elisha through his mockers this is my final point we see jesus in the life of elisha through his mockers look at second kings 2 if you would second kings chapter 2 i'm not sure if i told you to go there yet but second kings chapter 2 let's go back and look at this is the last point i have and then i'm going to wrap it up second kings chapter 2 it says in verse 23 in second kings chapter 2 and he went up from thence unto bethel and as he was going up by the way there came forth little children out of the city and mocked him and said unto him go up that bald head go up that bald head and he turned back and looked on them and cursed them in the name of the lord and there came forth two she bears out of the wood and tear 40 and two of them the first thing that comes to mind when i think about this these children mocking elisha is woe unto those who would mock the man of god woe unto those that would spend every waking moment of their pathetic lives making a bunch of garbage malicious railing youtube videos to attack the man of god woe unto those who have an obsessive hatred for the man of god they better look around the corner because there might be a she bear coming to bite their head off god is angry with those who would deride his prophets god is angry with those who hate the man of god he's angry with those and the punks they ridicule elisha these punks these young punks not new ifb young punks the old ifb young punks in this scenario or the new ifb reject young punks hector alvarado's here and some other freaks as well whole armor ministries whatever his name is here he is mocking elisha and what happens the bear comes rips him apart kyle barnes as well thanks for that one alberto it's hard to keep track of all these losers names they ridicule elisha go up thou bald head and this could possibly be a reference to elisha the ridiculing elisha go up thou bald head and what happened really similar like close to this event was elisha getting picked up by god in the whirlwind so you kind of have perhaps that's what they're referencing maybe they're trying to mock him say why don't you go up too or something like that i'm not sure but it's just a theory but these punks symbolize something jews look at matthew 27 okay the jews mocked jesus just like these punks mocked elisha not only that but 42 children it says were mauled by the two she bears what meaning what they were cursed but jesus he uttered what you could i would consider a curse as well in matthew 21 in reference to the fig tree when he said let no fruit grow on thee hence forward forever and presently the fig tree withered away both jesus and elisha cursed and i'm not talking about four letter words by the way so don't take me out of context what i'm referencing is the curse meaning something harmful coming on another person calling for that and jesus did so with respect to this fig tree that it would never bring forth fruit again symbolizing that israel would no longer bring forth fruit god wasn't going to use them anymore and not only that but furthermore they wouldn't be a nation anymore israel would no longer be a nation anymore it would cease to exist why a couple of she bears called the roman empire stormed them in 70 a.d and wiped them out practically off the face of the of the map until the devil brought them back in and you know that's a whole different story but matthew chapter 27 look at verse number 41 matthew chapter 27 and verse number 41 likewise also the chief priests notice this mocking him second kings chapter 2 said in verse 23 that the children mocked him matthew chapter 27 and verse 41 says that the chief priests mocking him with the scribes and elders said he saved others himself he cannot save if he be the king of israel let him now come down from the cross and we will believe him he trusted in god let him deliver him now if he will have him for he said i am the son of god so they're basically in the opposite way they're saying come down whereas these children are saying go up but these jews they mock jesus just as elisha was mocked another parallel between jesus and elisha 42 children in the story of first kings chapter 2 which i believe represent those children i believe represent the jews but there's 42 of them and the reason why i believe there's 42 of them is because of something regarding end times bible prophecy the second half of daniel's 70th week contains the wrath of god it's a three and a half year period 42 months and it's during the wrath of god that jerusalem jerusalem gets just destroyed like completely obliterated it it's not a good time for them whatsoever and that's an understatement it was jesus who said when you shall see jerusalem compassed with armies then know that the desolation thereof is nigh technically the wrath of god doesn't start till the second coming of christ which takes place 75 days after the midpoint of daniel's 70th week but by and large it's that 42 month period which contains the seven trumpets the seven vile judgments and it's during that timeline during that portion of daniel's 70th week where jerusalem is not only compassed with armies but remember revelation 1619 it's divided in three an earthquake so large at the seventh trumpet that it's divided in three that's also a good verse proving that jerusalem couldn't have been babylon different story for a different time but it's divided in three the wrath of god poured out on the entire world including jerusalem just as sure as the wrath was poured out on these 42 jew representing children elisha mocked by punks jesus mocked by punks the 42 i think kind of reminding us of the second half of daniel's 70th week the wrath of the lamb which is not going to be a good time for jerusalem but it's not going to be a good time not just for jews not just for these bunch of christ hating christ rejecting jews who believe in the talmud which says something so horrifying about christ i don't even want to repeat it yet they're pedestalized by the way by mainstream christianity makes me sick right it's disgusting today but it's not going to be a bad time it's not only bernie sanders if he lives to see this day despite the fact that he's 125 years old who's going to suffer if he lives to see the second half of daniel's 70th week white people don't know what it's like to be poor you know bernie sanders doesn't know what it's like to be saved he's a jew he hates christ he hates jesus there's video of him deriding somebody for saying jesus is the only way to heaven he's wicked he hates god he hates my messiah he hates your messiah oh he's anti-establishment that's garbage these jews hate jesus it's going to be a horrible day for them when the wrath of god is poured out but not just for them though it's going to be bad for the mormons it's going to be bad for the jehovah witnesses it's going to be bad for the catholics it's going to be bad for the atheists it's going to be bad for the pentecostals it's going to be bad for tyler baker valiant and the reason i give him a secret category is because his beliefs are so weird that he has to go in a separate separate category i can't think of a baptist independent fundamental baptist whose oneness so he gets a separate category it's going to be bad for all these heretics for all these false prophets it's going to be horrifying for them not for the saved though but it is it's going to be absolutely horrifying for these people it's going to be horrifying for ray comfort it's going to be horrifying for for paul washer the guy who says there's no such thing as a carnal christian give me a break have you ever read roman 7 it's going to be horrifying for you know these these these paul washer for john macarthur denying the blood of christ it's going to be horrifying for these people they better be ready to be mauled they better be ready to be mauled by a couple of she bears they better be ready to be mauled by the wrath of god they better be ready for this day because it's going to come upon them when they least expect it and these she bears are going to rip their heads off they're going to tear them apart and we're going to be cheering for it in heaven finally the anger the frustration that we all feel alongside with god for the sin and the wickedness of this world it all comes to a head when those she bears maul them all and i'm looking forward to it let's look at first corinthians chapter 11 and we'll be done what is this ultimately it's the vengeance of god it's the vengeance of god alicia was avenged through the mauling of these jew representing children and jesus christ himself not just us but jesus christ himself is going to be avenged when he pours out his wrath on this world in the second half that 42 month period the second half of daniel's 70th week it is the vengeance of god and make no mistake about it he will laugh at their calamity he will laugh at their calamity when they're burning in hell first corinthians chapter 11 is the last place i'll have you turn here's the concluding application be like alicia be like alicia first corinthians 11 says this be followers of me verse 1 verse 1 be followers of me even as i also am of christ obviously this is about the apostle paul and yes we can apply this to pastors today i follow pastor shelley as he follows christ other pastors as well in the new ifb movement that you could apply this to but i think it also can be applied to the old testament prophets in the same way that we should be like them as they were like christ we should follow them as they followed past tense christ be like alicia in the sense that you desire the spirit of god like he did when he asked for a double portion of the spirit his anointing be like alicia when it comes to his compassion for people when he healed people when he loved people have that kind of empathy in your character be like alicia when it comes to the way that he preached the word of god unapologetically without fear be like that preach the word the way he did be like alicia when it comes to the way that he cleansed people the way that he revived people you say we can't do that yeah we can you do it every time you knock on someone's door and give them the gospel you're cleansing them you're reviving them you know what to god more people would follow the example of alicia rather than celebrities rather than freaks you know what to god more people would follow the example of a prophet of a man of god in the old testament like alicia instead of these bunch of vapid empty pea-breed hollywood pedophile satan worshipers i think that'd be a lot better i think this world would be a better place if more people looked up to somebody like alicia instead of these perverts in california you know it'd be great if more people decided they want to be like alicia instead of politicians otherwise known as prostitutes it'd be great if more people wanted to be like alicia instead of nfl football players instead athletes that people idolize today it'd be great if people strive to be like alicia it'd be great if they strive to be like abraham if they strive to be like you know moses like like joshua you know like people like samuel like david like solomon it'd be great if we if christians even if they would strive to be like these great men of god in the past alicia included why you might be wondering like okay why what's why should i be like alicia well remember that we see jesus and what happened to him in the jordan river we see jesus in the jordan river walk we see jesus in the mockery of his enemies which i think represent the jews we see jesus in his in his miracles all the different miracles that we went through and looked at the spiritual pictures associated with them when we looked at how they picture different aspects of salvation how they picture different aspects of alicia and christ's character all the different parallels that we covered over the course of the sermon but ultimately the reason why you should be like alicia and the application i want you to take home with you tonight is because we see jesus in the life of alicia because we see jesus in the life of alicia let's pray father i just thank you so much for this church and for the opportunity that we have on a regular basis to come in here the word of god being thunder fourth and i just pray that you would help us to be like alicia help us to be like abraham like moses like joshua like david like like solomon like all these great you know prophets of the past we understand they made mistakes they weren't perfect but help us to replicate what they did in their successes and learn from their failures and help us to just be more like them rather than the wicked people of this world in jesus name i pray amen all right for a final song this evening turn to 389 bring them in song 389 bring them in 389 bring them in heart is the shepherd's voice i hear out in the desert dark and drear calling the sheep who've gone astray far from the shepherd's fold away bring them in bring them in bring them in from the fields of sin bring them in bring them in bring the wandering ones to jesus who'll go and help this shepherd kind help him the wandering ones to find who'll bring the lost ones to the fold where they'll be sheltered from the cold bring them in bring them in bring them in from the fields of sin bring them in bring them in bring the wandering ones to jesus out in the desert hear their cry out on the mountains wild and high heart is the master speaks to thee go find my sheep wherever they be bring them in bring them in bring them in from the fields of sin bring them in bring them in bring the wandering ones to jesus god bless thanks for coming you are dismissed