WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:05.200 This podcast is the Ministry of Grand Parkway Baptist Church. 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:06.400 Helping people know. 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:08.960 Enjoy and glorify God. 00:00:09.279 --> 00:00:16.800 For more information about Grand Parkway, visit GrandProquay.org's people said. 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:17.920 Amen. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:19.199 You can have a seat. 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:23.039 If you've got a Bible, I invite you to take it and open it up to 2 Kings chapter 6. 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:27.039 2 Kings is in the Old Testament, so it's one of those books we don't read a whole lot. 00:00:27.120 --> 00:00:29.199 So give yourself a minute to find it, amen. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:31.199 If you don't have a Bible, there's one on your row. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:34.079 It's on page, I'm going to be on page 312 this morning. 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:35.600 How are we doing today? 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:38.399 How many of you beat your kids on the way to church this morning? 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:39.520 Raise your hand. 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:40.560 There you go. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:41.920 There's one honest person in the room. 00:00:42.000 --> 00:00:43.039 There's another down front. 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:44.560 Your kids probably deserved it. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:47.679 Anyway, I'm a house here talking about you. 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:50.000 If you're our guest today, my name is Neil. 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:52.880 I'm the lead pastor here at Grand Parkway, and we're glad you're a part of us. 00:00:52.960 --> 00:00:58.000 We're in a series called Better because uh Christianity and God and the Bible all calls us to get better. 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:01.520 We can't just stay where we are and make up excuses and pray for forgiveness. 00:01:01.600 --> 00:01:03.600 We're always kind of called forward to get better. 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:09.920 The Bible word for that is sanctification, becoming more and more like Christ and less and less like our natural selves. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:11.200 So let me ask you a question. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:15.040 I want you to respond with a yes, or if it's you, you respond with a yes. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:20.959 Anybody here you have this sense that there's more to Christianity than you're experiencing right now, would you say yes? 00:01:21.680 --> 00:01:32.159 You ever have any anybody here you have this sense of, hey, I I I kind of have a low grade frustration with myself because I know what to do and I don't always do it. 00:01:32.239 --> 00:01:33.599 If that's you, would you say yes? 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:38.319 Uh some of y'all are like, well, is anybody else saying yes or yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:42.319 Here's why I asked those questions is because I want you to see this morning, relax. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:43.359 I'm not here to beat you up. 00:01:43.439 --> 00:01:44.640 I'm not here to condemn you. 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:49.599 I want you to see this morning in the Bible the life that you were created to live, to experience. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:55.519 Uh, in this better series, last week we talked about we want to get better at praying, not prayer, but praying, the verb. 00:01:55.599 --> 00:01:57.599 And I said, you know, I want you to have a life of prayer. 00:01:57.680 --> 00:01:59.599 And then, this is where we're gonna get at this week. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:02.400 I want you to have the life that's produced by prayer. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:04.239 What kind of person would you be? 00:02:04.319 --> 00:02:05.280 What does that life look like? 00:02:05.439 --> 00:02:08.240 I'm gonna show you a picture of it in the Old Testament, okay? 00:02:08.319 --> 00:02:11.280 Uh, and it's it's not about knowledge, it's about intimacy. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:14.240 Let me distinguish between those two before we read the text. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:18.159 Knowledge is what I know, it's information about God and about myself. 00:02:18.319 --> 00:02:22.319 And sometimes that shames us because we know more than we experience. 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:23.520 Does it make sense? 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:25.840 We know a lot, but we don't experience that much. 00:02:26.080 --> 00:02:28.080 Intimacy, there's a difference in those two. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:31.759 Intimacy, this is what happens when you experience what you know. 00:02:32.319 --> 00:02:34.319 And this is what you were created for. 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:37.520 Jesus didn't die for you just to know a lot of Bible facts. 00:02:37.599 --> 00:02:38.719 You realize that, right? 00:02:38.960 --> 00:02:47.360 He didn't die for you to come here on Sunday and write stuff down and kind of go, mmm, put that in your Bible, and never taste and see the goodness of the things you were created to experience. 00:02:47.520 --> 00:02:50.800 And so I want to talk to you today about what I call the intimate life. 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:51.759 The intimate life. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:55.919 And here's a picture of it recorded in the Bible, 2 Kings chapter 6. 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:57.360 I'll start reading in verse 8. 00:02:57.520 --> 00:03:04.639 It says, And when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with the servant, saying, At such and such a place shall be my camp. 00:03:04.800 --> 00:03:09.520 But the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, Beware that you do not pass this place. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:11.439 For the Syrians are going down there. 00:03:11.599 --> 00:03:15.039 And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:19.680 Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice. 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:28.639 And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel? 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:37.360 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king, but Elisha the prophet, uh, who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom. 00:03:37.520 --> 00:03:41.360 And he said, Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him. 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:43.759 It was told him, Behold, he is in Dothan. 00:03:44.000 --> 00:03:48.719 So he sent their horses and chariots in a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:55.680 And when the servants of the man of God arose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. 00:03:55.919 --> 00:03:59.199 And the servant said, Alas, my master, what shall we do? 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:03.840 And he said, Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 00:04:04.000 --> 00:04:07.439 And then Elisha prayed and said, O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see. 00:04:07.599 --> 00:04:09.919 So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:14.240 And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 00:04:14.479 --> 00:04:19.759 And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, Please strike this people with blindness. 00:04:19.839 --> 00:04:23.439 And so he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:26.879 And Elisha said to them, This is not the way, this is not the city. 00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:29.199 Follow me, and I'll bring you to the man whom you seek. 00:04:29.279 --> 00:04:30.399 And he led them to Samaria. 00:04:30.720 --> 00:04:35.519 And as soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, O Lord, open the eyes of these men that they may see. 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:39.759 So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria. 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:44.560 And as soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, My father, shall I strike them down? 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:45.839 Shall I strike them down? 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:48.079 He answered, You shall not strike them down. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:51.920 Would you strike down those who you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? 00:04:52.160 --> 00:04:55.759 Set bread and water before them that they may eat and drink and go to their master. 00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:57.759 And so he prepared for them a great feast. 00:04:57.839 --> 00:05:01.360 And when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away and they went to their master. 00:05:01.519 --> 00:05:05.680 And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:08.240 Now let me just tell you what you just read, okay? 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:08.879 Look at me. 00:05:08.959 --> 00:05:10.480 I don't want you to miss this, all right? 00:05:10.639 --> 00:05:13.759 Because the Bible, this is a picture of what I call the intimate life. 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:15.120 It's what you were created for. 00:05:15.279 --> 00:05:21.920 It's why God initiated a relationship with you, so you could kind of live in connection and harmony and rhythm with what God is doing. 00:05:22.240 --> 00:05:28.879 I don't know if you've ever seen if there's somewhere there's music playing and people are clapping with the beat, there's always somebody's parent that's off. 00:05:28.959 --> 00:05:31.839 You know, it's 4-4 and they're on 3-5, and you're like, stop. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:33.759 Just, Mom, stop. 00:05:33.839 --> 00:05:34.800 That's not the beat. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:36.240 Oh, I like the music. 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:37.279 Stop. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:42.399 The only thing worse than that is when you live with that sense of out of syncness with what God is doing. 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:46.639 Elisha is a great example of a man that just lived in sync with what God was doing. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:48.879 And it's what I call the intimate life. 00:05:48.959 --> 00:05:52.720 And so what happened was is that God was revealing to Elisha what was going on. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:59.279 Matter of fact, it gets so creepy that because he was telling his king, hey, don't go there because Syria is going to send an army there. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:00.480 It's going to go the other way. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:02.399 And the king of Syria just got crazy. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:04.480 He's like, man, this guy's driving me crazy. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:05.120 What's going on? 00:06:05.279 --> 00:06:06.160 Who's a spy? 00:06:06.319 --> 00:06:07.279 How do they know our business? 00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:13.839 And one of his men said, Hey, that guy who lives in another city, he knows the thoughts that you think in your own bedroom. 00:06:14.000 --> 00:06:15.519 That's not creepy. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:20.720 And they were like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we got to kill that guy. 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:23.519 We can't have him knowing what I'm thinking, what I'm talking about in my bedroom. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:24.879 And so he sends an army. 00:06:25.040 --> 00:06:26.079 They surround Elisha. 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:29.040 Elisha's servant comes out one morning and he's drinking his cup of coffee. 00:06:29.199 --> 00:06:31.600 He just drops it and goes, Hey, boss, we're in deep weeds. 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:32.879 Get out here, boss, get out of here. 00:06:33.040 --> 00:06:35.839 And Elisha walks out with his coffee and he's like, Ma, ma, ma. 00:06:36.079 --> 00:06:37.680 We're about to get down to the get down. 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:42.399 And he says crazy stuff like, Those who are for us are greater than those who are against us. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:44.560 And his servant is like, What's in your coffee? 00:06:44.800 --> 00:06:46.000 That smells like Bailey's in there. 00:06:46.079 --> 00:06:47.199 You've had too much of that? 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:51.199 And he's like, and then Elisha prays, and then his eyes of his servant were open. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:51.759 I love this. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:56.639 Elisha prays that his eyes of his servant would be open and that the eyes of the army would be closed. 00:06:56.720 --> 00:07:01.920 And they close, God opens the eyes of his servants, and he sees angels on chariots of fire all around them. 00:07:02.000 --> 00:07:03.759 And he's like, okay, I get it now. 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:09.279 And then the army comes down on him and he says, God, strike these people with blindness. 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:10.879 And God did. 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:14.959 Don't you ever wish that God was that responsive to your prayers? 00:07:15.519 --> 00:07:18.879 I mean, the Bible, there'd be a lot of blind people where you work, wouldn't there? 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:21.680 You're like, I'd be smiting some fools tomorrow. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:22.720 It's good he doesn't. 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:27.120 Because the Bible says, right there, in accordance with the prayer of Elijah. 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:32.800 See, we act like that God's up in heaven, kind of going, well, you know, make it worth my while and I'll do it. 00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:36.480 God's looking for people who want to live intimately connected with him. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:40.000 You have no idea what he'll bring to bear on that life. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:45.920 And so, hey, he strikes them blind and he says, Hey, we're going a little wall, walks them back to his city, Samaria, where the king of Israel is. 00:07:46.000 --> 00:07:47.199 They're inside the walls of the city. 00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:49.199 And then he says, God open their eyes, they could see. 00:07:49.279 --> 00:07:52.480 And they open their eyes, and Elisha's king says, You want me to kill them? 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:53.920 And he goes, Don't kill them. 00:07:54.079 --> 00:07:55.120 Let's feed them a feast. 00:07:55.279 --> 00:07:59.439 Now, by the way, when it says bread and water, that's just a euphemism, that's just like a figure of speech. 00:07:59.519 --> 00:08:01.680 It's not like they were in jail and they got bread and water. 00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:02.879 It was a feast. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:04.480 They rolled out the red carpet. 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:09.839 They didn't get out the mad dog or the box of Merlot that you keep in the refrigerator right now that's been there for a month. 00:08:10.079 --> 00:08:13.839 They got the good stuff off the top shelf and they fed these people. 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:15.839 And then they walked them back home. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:20.639 It was 11 miles from Samaria back to where the where the Syrians lived. 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:22.399 Now, can you imagine just for a second? 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:24.720 And then we'll get I'll give you something to write down. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:27.120 Can you imagine being one of those soldiers? 00:08:27.360 --> 00:08:31.680 You get home that night and your son says to you, Dad, what'd you do today? 00:08:34.480 --> 00:08:43.279 By the way, one of the reasons our kids are like they are is that we don't tell stories that capture their imagination out of our own life. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:45.120 Imagine being one of those soldiers getting home. 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:46.080 Dad, what'd you do today? 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.399 Well, I went on a raiding party, still Tim 6. 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:55.600 We surrounded this guy, and then all of a sudden we were struck blind and we had to march for 11 miles with our hands on the shoulders of the guy in front of us. 00:08:55.679 --> 00:08:59.360 And then Lisha was out front and going, warmer, warmer, come on, we're almost there. 00:08:59.440 --> 00:08:59.679 Come on. 00:08:59.759 --> 00:09:01.120 The guy you're looking for is right up here. 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:06.240 And then all of a sudden we realized we were in the walled compound of our greatest enemy. 00:09:06.480 --> 00:09:09.360 And they didn't do what came natural because we've been killing them. 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:11.120 It'd be natural for them to kill us. 00:09:11.360 --> 00:09:12.639 They fed us a feast. 00:09:12.720 --> 00:09:18.480 I mean, they had a pig in the ground and the beer was on ice, and all my rabbity friends were coming over tonight. 00:09:18.799 --> 00:09:20.000 Hank Williams Jr. 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:20.480 was there. 00:09:20.559 --> 00:09:21.519 It was awesome. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:24.799 And your kids are like, I want to go in the army. 00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:26.720 And they're like, what happened then? 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:28.080 And then what happened, Dad? 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:29.840 I mean, the Israelites let you go. 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:30.960 We're Syrians. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:34.240 I mean, we don't really, we we hate those people. 00:09:34.399 --> 00:09:41.279 Yeah, we had roasted pig and we had chicken and we had fajitas and we had pie roast and gravy. 00:09:41.360 --> 00:09:43.440 And I just thought, this is my last meal. 00:09:43.519 --> 00:09:45.200 I'm gonna commit heinous gluttony. 00:09:45.279 --> 00:09:50.480 So I got a biscuit and soft up all the gravy and just left it all in my beard and thought, kill me now. 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.360 But son, here's the thing: it wasn't my last meal. 00:09:53.519 --> 00:09:58.320 It was my first meal, my first taste that there's a different way of doing life. 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:09.039 And so I don't think I want to be a soldier in the Syrian army anymore, which is why the last sentence says, and the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel. 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:09.679 Why? 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:11.919 Them crazy people live over there. 00:10:13.360 --> 00:10:14.960 That's the intimate life. 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:17.360 And here's what I'm here to tell you right up front. 00:10:17.519 --> 00:10:19.919 And I'm gonna give you five things about the intimate life. 00:10:20.080 --> 00:10:21.519 Look at me, don't miss this. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:24.639 You are capable of more than you've been doing. 00:10:26.879 --> 00:10:27.840 Don't beat yourself up. 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:29.519 Don't be like, ah, well, I stink. 00:10:29.679 --> 00:10:30.320 You don't know, man. 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:31.120 It's been tough. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:32.399 2016. 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:33.360 I get it. 00:10:33.519 --> 00:10:34.480 I get it. 00:10:34.799 --> 00:10:36.960 But you're capable of so much more. 00:10:37.360 --> 00:10:39.679 Five things about the intimate life right out of the Bible. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:40.879 Number one, what does it mean? 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:42.159 What does the intimate life involve? 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:44.399 It involves, number one, being used by God. 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:45.519 Being used by God. 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:47.120 That's verse 8, 9, and 10. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:48.240 That's Elisha. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.000 And he's he's tracking with God. 00:10:50.159 --> 00:10:51.519 God's revealing things to him. 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.799 God's kind of telling him things he doesn't tell anybody else because he can trust him. 00:10:54.960 --> 00:11:00.720 By the way, God will trust you with as much as he will entrust to you as much as he can trust you with. 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:01.919 And not anymore. 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:06.000 And so he realized in Elisha, I got a guy that's willing to do whatever I say. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:07.360 And so he reveals things to him. 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:13.120 Elisha's telling, I mean, he's being involved in the national affairs and the war strategy of his country. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:15.120 And you say, What do you mean being used of God? 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:16.399 Ask yourself this question. 00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:19.679 Do you have a sense that your life is being used for something greater? 00:11:19.840 --> 00:11:24.399 That you're a part of something that's bigger than you, that you're connected to what God is doing. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:25.759 Maybe that's a better way of getting at it. 00:11:25.919 --> 00:11:29.759 Do you sense that you're connected to what God is doing in the world these days? 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:31.120 You say, What do you mean? 00:11:31.279 --> 00:11:32.879 Because here's why I say that. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:37.440 Because after a while, the disconnected life begins to rattle. 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:42.960 The disconnected life, the life that's unplugged from what God's doing in the world. 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:45.519 It just doesn't fit anymore. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:46.639 It doesn't satisfy. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:48.000 You say, I don't know. 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:49.919 Here's how you know you're disconnected. 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:50.879 Let me give you three things. 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:52.559 I'll just rattle them off. 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:55.679 First of all, you have a dissatisfaction with most things. 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:58.000 Secondly, you're consistently angry. 00:11:58.240 --> 00:12:00.399 Thirdly, you're rarely joyful. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:04.879 Now, you women in the room are kind of looking at your husband like he's talking to you, honey. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:05.919 What do I mean? 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:06.799 Let me just go back. 00:12:07.120 --> 00:12:09.600 First of all, you have a dissatisfaction with most things. 00:12:09.679 --> 00:12:10.720 I don't mean bad things. 00:12:10.879 --> 00:12:11.600 I mean good things. 00:12:11.759 --> 00:12:16.000 I mean things that once brought you so much pleasure, they don't even move the needle anymore. 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:24.480 You go on great vacations and you're kind of like, eh, well, we gotta go back, and the airport's gonna be crowded, and your food doesn't even taste good anymore. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:26.799 Because you have this deep sense of satisfaction. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:30.960 And it's not because you're a bad person, it's that you're disconnected from what you were created for. 00:12:31.120 --> 00:12:32.720 Secondly, you're consistently angry. 00:12:32.879 --> 00:12:37.919 You turn on the TV, you got 125 channels, 125 new people to be mad at. 00:12:38.879 --> 00:12:41.200 And it's just pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:43.360 It's just running commentary. 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:45.519 Thirdly, rarely joyful. 00:12:45.759 --> 00:12:51.440 What I mean is you're consistently touching the edges of all you know to be, and you realize it's not enough. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:53.600 It's hard to feel joyful about that. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:57.919 See, see the intimate life, and what Elisha had, he had a sense of being used by God. 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:02.879 He knew I'm connected to something bigger than just me and a paycheck every two weeks. 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:06.320 Second thing about the intimate life is that you're known by the enemy. 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:08.080 You're known by the enemy. 00:13:08.559 --> 00:13:09.679 Look at verse 11. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:13.440 It says, And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing. 00:13:13.600 --> 00:13:18.480 And he called his servants and said, Well, will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel? 00:13:18.639 --> 00:13:22.799 And one of his servants said, None, my lord, O king, but Elisha, the prophet who's in Israel. 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:25.840 Tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom. 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:29.440 And he said, Go and see where he is that I may send and seize him. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:31.360 And it was told, Behold, he's in Dothan. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:36.639 So he sent their horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city. 00:13:36.799 --> 00:13:37.200 Why? 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:42.960 Because the enemy, the the opposition, they realized, hey, we gotta kill this guy. 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:44.480 We know what the problem is. 00:13:44.639 --> 00:13:45.440 The problem's him. 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:46.720 You say, Well, what do you mean? 00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:48.080 Known by the enemy. 00:13:48.320 --> 00:13:50.799 Let me just say it like this in modern day. 00:13:50.879 --> 00:13:56.240 Uh don't waste your life trying to be somebody in the religious subculture in America. 00:13:56.720 --> 00:14:00.639 Don't even waste your life trying to be somebody in the religious subculture of this church. 00:14:00.799 --> 00:14:03.840 It doesn't matter what the people sitting around you think about you. 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:10.559 Stop living your life for the approval of the already convinced and ask yourself, Am I known in hell? 00:14:11.360 --> 00:14:18.159 Because if we can just kind of look into the portal, we can just put a open a portal into hell, and we just kind of called roll of everybody in this room right now. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:24.799 Will they have any recognition that any of us are living right now, much less having an impact on what's happening in the world? 00:14:25.039 --> 00:14:34.080 Because before Elisha, the enemy knew about him so much so they sent a squadron and said, send for him and seize him. 00:14:34.320 --> 00:14:36.960 We've got to put a stop to this guy. 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:47.919 You realize that the Bible teaches that the enemy, our spiritual enemy, that all the entities of hell, they have a sense of people that live a spiritually consequential life. 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:49.279 You you realize that, right? 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:51.440 That there's there's a sense they understand. 00:14:51.759 --> 00:14:52.639 You say, What do you mean? 00:14:52.879 --> 00:14:54.480 Don't turn over, just write it down in your notes. 00:14:54.639 --> 00:14:56.080 Acts chapter 19. 00:14:56.480 --> 00:15:09.279 God was using a guy named Paul in great ways, so much so that people would take handkerchiefs and aprons and they would touch Paul, his body, and they would take these handkerchiefs and they would touch people that were sick and they would get healed. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:17.200 Which is why a lot of times, if you turn on your TV late at night, you see TV preachers, uh, they're selling handkerchiefs and prayer cloths and miracle spring water. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:18.399 That's all heresy. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:21.039 Those people are heretics and they don't even know God. 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:22.159 They're stealing money. 00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:27.039 My 19-year-old uh went back to college yesterday, and I'm kind of sad. 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:35.600 Uh, kinda, because after about three weeks of a 19-year-old telling me everything, I was just like, shh, shut all the way up, okay? 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:45.519 Uh so one night we're up at 1.08 in the morning watching TV, and she's lecturing me, and she comes across a guy named Peter Popoff, and Peter Popoff says little packets of Miracle Spring water. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:52.960 That's the biggest goofy thing, but it's based on, oh, well, Paul, they have these handkerchiefs and get this green prayer claw. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.879 And my 19-year-old snapped a gasket and bled out in our living room. 00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:59.039 Oh my gosh, are you kidding me? 00:15:59.200 --> 00:16:00.159 People believe that. 00:16:00.320 --> 00:16:03.440 I said, Yeah, the issue is not that they believe that. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:10.480 They've lived their whole life, Madison, never experiencing the intimate life they were created for, so they're open to anything. 00:16:11.120 --> 00:16:16.159 They're ruled by a passion for stimulation for something bigger and better and beyond. 00:16:16.240 --> 00:16:21.759 Because here's the deal: when you stop believing the gospel, the issue is not that you'll believe nothing, you'll believe anything. 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:23.919 Those people don't believe the gospel. 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:25.519 She's like, oh my gosh. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:27.200 I said, let me tell you something. 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:28.320 You need to believe this. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:31.840 You wake your mother up and you got more trouble than you can imagine. 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:36.799 Well, I mean, Dad, what do you do about something like that? 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:39.120 I get up every Sunday and preach the gospel. 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:42.639 I don't worry about that guy with that bad toupee and his makeup, okay? 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:44.240 God's gonna take care of him. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:47.759 Oh, well, I'm not gonna be able to sleep. 00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:49.679 Well, I'll be asleep in about 10 minutes. 00:16:50.320 --> 00:16:52.799 So say everything you want to say to me right now. 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:55.919 Because your dad's on a glide pattern for the airport. 00:16:56.159 --> 00:17:00.320 Now, by the way, Acts 19, that's where people like you say, why do you tell us that? 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:04.559 Because those guys read about Paul in Acts 19, and hey, people, and that happened. 00:17:04.640 --> 00:17:09.920 People took handkerchiefs, they touched Paul, and he he touched them, and they they wouldn't touch sick people and they got healed. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:18.240 That doesn't mean God's gonna do that nowadays, or God uses people because here's the deal: find somebody that lives the life that the apostle Paul lived and then talk to me. 00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.519 But those guys on TV are nowhere close. 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:27.599 And so what they did, the Bible tells us that uh, hey, that hell knows about certain people. 00:17:27.759 --> 00:17:34.000 That one day, Acts 19, it says they were going around saying, in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out. 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:40.000 So they'd see somebody who was spiritually oppressed or possessed, and they would say, Well, I heard Paul say this, so let me try this. 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:46.640 And one day there were seven sons of a Jewish priest named Skeva, and they all walked around that this would be funny, this would be funny, watch this. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.759 In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, we command you to come out. 00:17:49.920 --> 00:17:53.039 And the Bible says, one day the evil spirit answered them. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:55.359 Ru-ro. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:17:58.480 Hear what the evil spirit said. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:03.279 He said, Jesus, I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you? 00:18:05.839 --> 00:18:09.359 That's the wrong time to find out that hell doesn't know who you are. 00:18:09.920 --> 00:18:19.200 Because the Bible goes on to say that the man that had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered all seven of them, and beat them so severely they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. 00:18:22.079 --> 00:18:26.160 See, it's it's not enough that you you you you know some things to say. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:28.079 Hell better know your name. 00:18:28.319 --> 00:18:31.119 Because people that live the intimate life, hell knows them. 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:32.720 They're known by the enemy. 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:36.319 Thirdly, they're able to see what God is doing, they're able to see what God is doing. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:37.039 Verse 15. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:40.319 When the servants of the man of God, the servant of the man of God rose. 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:43.680 By the way, the man of God got a servant back in the Bible. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:46.720 No? 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:48.799 Never mind, I'll keep going. 00:18:48.960 --> 00:18:53.519 Anyway, uh when the servant, uh uh, that's that's what wives, my my wife is for. 00:18:53.599 --> 00:19:00.720 And by the way, some of you are making fun of me because you're like, I got your email about, you know, you're gonna sit on your couch and eat queso, watch the game for your 24th anniversary. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:01.599 I am. 00:19:03.119 --> 00:19:03.759 I am. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:05.680 Now you figure out why. 00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:09.920 Yes, in sweatpants. 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:14.720 I'm gonna go to Sam's and get a big five-gallon bucket of cheese balls, too. 00:19:15.200 --> 00:19:17.759 And just sit there and just eat them and watch football. 00:19:18.559 --> 00:19:21.440 Y'all are like, oh yeah, I bet that's gonna happen. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:22.240 It is. 00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:23.599 Verse 15. 00:19:23.759 --> 00:19:26.480 Uh, by the way, able to see what God is doing. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:27.359 Look at verse 15. 00:19:27.440 --> 00:19:32.880 When the servant of the man of God arose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. 00:19:32.960 --> 00:19:36.559 And a servant said, Alas, my master, what are we gonna do? 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:38.079 He said, Do not be afraid. 00:19:38.240 --> 00:19:39.680 By the way, mark that in your Bible. 00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:40.319 Look at me. 00:19:40.480 --> 00:19:42.559 This is a principle you need to never forget. 00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:45.920 When you can't see what God is doing, you'll be ruled by fear. 00:19:47.279 --> 00:19:53.119 When you can't see what God is doing in your life, in your marriage, in your kids, you will be ruled by fear. 00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:57.279 He says, What are we gonna do? 00:19:57.599 --> 00:20:01.599 Elisha says, Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them. 00:20:01.759 --> 00:20:05.200 Then Elisha prayed and said, Oh Lord, please open his eyes so he may see. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:11.920 So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man and he saw and behold, the mountains are full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:15.519 See, an intimate life means that you're able to see what God is doing. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:20.000 Elisha's prayer didn't create the army or send the army, the army was there all along. 00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:23.599 So he just prayed that a servant would see what he already knew. 00:20:24.319 --> 00:20:28.640 Ask yourself this question: what's God doing all around you right now that you're not seeing? 00:20:31.279 --> 00:20:36.079 Because if you don't learn to see it, you don't train your eye to see it, you're gonna live in fear. 00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:41.519 And God's people have unfortunately have a history in the Bible of not seeing what God's doing. 00:20:41.599 --> 00:20:44.480 And some of it is because God's not doing what we prefer. 00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:48.319 And so we're just gonna like, hmm, we're gonna fold our arms and kind of say, Well, you know what? 00:20:48.400 --> 00:20:50.000 Here's what it sounds like in 2017. 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:50.880 It sounds like this. 00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:53.359 I'm just taking a break from church for a while. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:20:55.200 Really? 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:58.480 Yeah, I mean, I I just need a break. 00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:05.119 This is what it sounded like in the Old Testament book of Elisha, I mean, excuse me, of Isaiah chapter 43, starting verse 16. 00:21:05.279 --> 00:21:06.319 Listen to this. 00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:09.519 This is exactly what I mean. 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:16.640 He says, Thus says the Lord, who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters, who brings forth chariot and horse, army and warrior. 00:21:16.799 --> 00:21:18.559 They lie down, they cannot rise. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:22.480 They are extinguished, quenched like a wick. 00:21:22.640 --> 00:21:23.920 And he's talking about the Red Sea. 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:24.559 Did you get that? 00:21:24.640 --> 00:21:26.000 He's talking about parting the Red Sea. 00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:28.720 God says, This is what I did back then in Exodus. 00:21:28.799 --> 00:21:30.559 I drowned Pharaoh and his army. 00:21:30.640 --> 00:21:31.599 And then look at it. 00:21:31.759 --> 00:21:33.119 He keeps going, same sentence. 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:36.880 He says, Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:41.440 Translation, don't lock me into doing what I once did all the time. 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:44.240 I don't do it, I don't do what I do the same way. 00:21:44.400 --> 00:21:47.440 He says, Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. 00:21:47.599 --> 00:21:49.200 Behold, I'm doing a new thing. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:50.720 Now it springs forth. 00:21:50.960 --> 00:21:52.160