This morning I want to bring us a message of hope from God’s Word. Now, I believe some will hear this message and think, “The preacher’s lost his mind.” Some will hear it and think, “Yes! That’s right. It’s what I have thought all along.” And, others will hear it and say, “I want to learn more about this.” This message is about seeing the unseen.       As human beings we tend to judge circumstances, conditions, and events only by what we can see. In the middle of a foreboding difficulty we may see only the dangers and negative consequences. We may not see Romans 8:28 or James 1:2-4. Today we may look at what is going on in our nation and in the world and be filled with fear and dread. Let me ask this, “Do you believe in angels?” You should. The Bible clearly teaches they exist. Hebrews 1:13-14 says “But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” Do you believe in guardian angels? I do . . . and I believe in keeping mine busy. There are times that things happen, and we are preserved from injury or even death, and we cannot explain how we escaped. Example: “What caused me to go back into the house before I left for ? (And I don’t realize that I missed the semi that ran a red light in the intersection I would have passed through.) I believe, no, I know, with all of my heart that there is an unseen spirit world all about us. This is not a world of “ghosts and goblins” and all that ungodly Halloween stuff. No, it is much scarier, much more dangerous (in some ways) than that. It is a world of the demons of darkness, of principalities and powers, of spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6:12). But, it is also a place of God’s angels who, as we just read, are “ministering spirits sent forth to minister (serve) for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” That’s us folks! Romans 8:17 says we are “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” The text tells us about what seems to be a very dire situation in the life of the prophet Elisha. He was surrounded by the enemy, and there seemed, to the naked eye, to be no way out. Have you ever felt like that? Have you ever been in what seemed to be a hopeless situation? We all go through those times, and it may be that we will see more and more of them as this world grows more corrupt and the enemies of God and God’s people multiply. We all need to check our vision from time to time, because if we don’t we will certainly fail to see things clearly. Physically, we get our vision checked by an optometrist. Spiritually, we must turn the the Great Physician and His Word. That’s what Elisha did for his servant, & it gave hope to a hopeless situation. Notice first of all:

  I.  THE KING OF SYRIA SAW WHAT WAS NOT THERE – VV. 8-12.

 II.  ELISHA’S SERVANT SAW ONLY WHAT WAS THERE – VV. 13-15.

III.  BUT ELISHA CLEARLY SAW GOD’S CARE – VV. 16-17.