* When Jezebel pursued Elijah to kill him he ran.

* God ended up replacing Elijah with Elisha.

* When an army came against Elisha to kill him he didn’t run, he resisted.

* How?

* Think back to Elijah telling Elisha could have a double portion of his spirit if he saw him taken up into heaven.

* Then, an angel in a chariot of fire took him, and Elisha saw it (2 Kings 2:11).

* Elisha now had eyes to see what was true about the spiritual realm.

* So when this army came, Elisha had eyes to see what was really happening - he was surrounded by chariots of fire - the same thing he saw come from heaven.

* He walked in faith, not fear, because he had a testimony of what he saw.

* vs 32 - Elisha resisted the Jezebel spirit; Elijah ran from it.

* We often think of Naaman the leper, not Naaman the leader.

* This little exchange shows the type of leader he was.

* When he got miffed at Elisha he allowed his servants to speak into his life.

* He let them help him make a wise decision.

* As a result, he was healed.

* This shows truly humility on the part of Naaman.

* He shows the reward for a leader who walks in humility - blessing!

* The woman had a problem and needed a miracle.

* Before she told anyone she brought the situation to God (the prophet).

* The prophets represented God at this time in history.

* Imagine how heavy a burden this would’ve been had she dumped it on her husband.

* Since she took her problem to God she also found her solution from Him.

* And it didn’t cost her a strained relationship in the process.

* Two points:

* 1) Don’t dump your problems on people. Go to God first.

* 2) Don’t let others put the burden of their problems on you. Tell them to trust God.

* Galatians 6:2 - help people carry their burdens (something too heavy for them).

* Galatians 6:5 - people should carry their own loads (stuff they can do on their own).

* These troops were literally on the brink of death from lack of water.

* God told them to dig trenches to prepare for water.

* Do what?

* They had to do work BEFORE the miracle came.

* But they did their part, so God did His.

* God is in the miracle working business, but oftentimes we don’t see it in our lives because we haven’t done our part.

* EX: My book “Living Among Lions” - I needed a miracle.

* vs 22-24 - not only did the water give them nourishment but it defeated their enemy.

* “It was for this reason…”

* The reason Lazarus died was so that God could be glorified.

* His sisters didn’t understand - Jesus could’ve kept him from dying.

* But keeping Lazarus from dying would’ve kept others from believing.

* Lazarus had to die so Jesus could put life not only back into him but others as well.

* The death you’re experiencing is ultimately for your good and God’s glory.

* Let Him take you through death in order to bring life.

* vs 23-26 - Life Through Death

* All the characteristics of a mighty oak tree are contained within the hard shell of the acorn.

* But it has to be planted and die before the tree can manifest itself.

* If the acorn had feelings it wouldn’t want to be buried alive in that cold dark dirt.

* If it stayed in a glass or on a table, it would remain as it was for years.

* You can smash an acorn on the table and it will die, but no life will spring forth.

* But if you bury it in good soil and water it then it will die, but life will come out of it.

* The mighty oak inside will reveal itself in time and many acorns will be produced.

* Elijah stood boldly against 450 men who came in the spirit of Baal.

* But he ran from one woman who came in the spirit of Jezebel.

* What’s the difference?

* The prophets of Baal were the idolatrous leaders who sought to lure people away from God.

* The Jezebel spirit was a sensual spirit based in sexual anarchy that sought to kill anyone who would dare stand in its way.

* The Jezebel spirit is a domineering “You will agree with me or you will die” spirit.

* This freaked Elijah out.

* Today it’s the same.

* It’s far easier to stand for Jesus against an atheist who says that Jesus is a fake or a false prophet seeking to lure people away from Jesus.

* But it’s another matter altogether to stand for God’s definition of marriage in a culture hell-bent on sexual perversion.

* The atheists may hate you but they don’t want to kill you.

* The sexual revolution seeks to annihilate anyone who disagrees (right now it’s social annihilation).

* Our leaders don’t need to run like Elijah.

* He ultimately asked to be done and God granted his request (vs 16).

* God gives us a model of a good worker who’s always doing more than he’s asked to do.

* When we do this we open up our customer or client’s hear to hear the reason why we work like that.

* Solomon asked for wisdom and God gives more than what he asked for.

* Jesus healed the man and went away.

* Then the man stood strong for Jesus.

* The man grew in His understanding of Christ.

* vs 11 - He referred to Jesus as “the man called Jesus.”

* vs 17 - He then referred to Him as a prophet.

* vs 31 - He said He was from God.

* The fight grew this man’s faith.

* After the fight, when he proved to stand boldly for Jesus whatever the cost, Christ showed back up and revealed the way to eternal life!

* Jesus could have had that conversation earlier, but He waited until after the man proved He was going to fight for his faith.

* It’s as if Jesus said, “I touched you physically, now you’re ready to be healed spiritually.

* Sometimes one of my kids will say something mean and my other kid will scream back or hit them.

* I first deal with the kid who screamed or hit.

* They say, “but he said something mean first.”

* I typically tell them, “I’ll deal with them after I deal with you.”

* This is the scene for what happened here.

* Jesus had to deal with the judgmental spirit of the people before He could deal with the woman’s sin.

* Jesus never threw a physical stone, but He threw lots of spiritual ones.

* One stone won’t kill anyone, but several will.

* One by one each person dropped their rock as they were hit by Christ’s spiritual rock.