The Plowman

God's Grace to the Hopeless and Nameless [ 28:22 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (47)

God’s Grace to the Hopeless and Nameless: 2 Kings #04

This is an exposition of 2 Kings 4:1-7. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, June 12, 2016.

Intro:

Do you ever feel small, insignificant or unimportant?  You are just one of the 7,404,976,783 people on the planet.  You exist on this tiny rock that is relatively small in a galaxy that spans roughly 100,000 light years across.  And our galaxy is one of an estimated 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe.  “Well, pastor I didn’t feel insignificant until now!”  Don’t you at times of crisis feel alone?  Aren’t there times when you wonder what’s the use of praying?  Why bother, nobody cares?  This is part of the wonder of the gospel – God cares!  The God who spoke this universe into being and holds it all together by the power of his might actually knows what is going on in your little corner of creation and wonder of wonders, he cares about what happens to you.  This glorious fact is at the heart of our text this evening found in 2 Kings the 4.

Text: 2 Kings 4:1-7

Elisha has taken up the mantle of Elijah.
You remember when asked what he wanted he requested a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.
He is now God’s prophet to the Northern Kingdom.

This portion of 2 Kings beginning with 2 Kings 4:1 of 2 Kings 4 and running through 2 Kings 4:7 of 2 Kings 6 demonstrates the power of God over debt, drought, disease and difficulty.  In some of what follows we are given quite a few details in others the story is sketchy at best.  But through it all we see God’s grace, God’s kindness towards his people.

In our text this evening we see God’s grace extended to a hopeless, nameless widow.
Dale Ralph Davis points out that king Omri, one of the most important figures in Israelite politics and history is given only 6 verses in 1 Kings and this obscure, nameless widow gets 7!  Desperate people matter to our God.

[Read the text]

As we work our way through this text we discover that…

Thesis: God’s surprising grace extends to the most desperate, drawing them to ever increasing faith while His provision exceeds all expectations.

The grace of God is not a New Testament teaching it is a Bible teaching.  This is the nature of our God from Genesis to Revelation.  It is often wrongly assumed that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and fire in the perpetual pursuit of judgment while the God of the New Testament is gracious and loving.  No, God is gracious in the Old Testament.  And the God of the New Testament is a consuming fire.  Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Three (3) things I want to note in our text.

1. Disaster often overtakes the faithful servants of the Lord.  (4:1)
2. God often uses such occasions to build our faith and develop our obedience.  (4:2-6)
3. God’s provision routinely exceeds all expectations.  (4:7)

Conclusion:
Davis remains us, “Christians have to be very careful.  Watch your cup – God tends to make it overflow and then you have a mess of blessings on your hands.”

Lessons Drawn from Flawed Rulers and their Thoughtless Plans [ 35:25 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (54)

Lessons Drawn from Flawed Rulers and their Thoughtless Plans: 2 Kings #03

This is an exposition of 2 Kings 3:1-27. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, June 5, 2016.

Intro:

Have you ever gone on a trip and forgot to bring something that was important?  I remember saying to a friend once, “A trip just does’t feel right if I’ve not forgotten something.”  I went to speak at a conference once and got there and realized, “I forgot to pack my pants!”  If you’re going to bring the Word of God to a group you should probably wear pants.  I found out in time and was fully clothed for the conference.  In 2 Kings 2 Kings 3 we have three kings who go into battle.  They have their armies.  They have horses, swordsmen, weapons but they soon realize, “Maybe we should have made sure the Lord was with us on this.”  Our text is found in 2 Kings 2 Kings 3.

Text: 2 Kings 3:1-27

The apostle Paul told the Corinthian Church that they Old Testament was written for their benefit.  While we are New Testament believers that does not mean the Old Testament is on no interest to us.  We are not just New Testament believers we are Bible people.  We embrace both the Old and New Testaments.  The God of the Hebrews is our God.  The God who spoke to Abram and called him out of Ur is the same God who called us out of darkness and into the light.  The God who rescued Israel from Egyptian bondage is the God who delivers us from the slavery of sin.  As Gentiles we have been grafted into the tree and those Israel’s story is our story.  As we explore the stories of the Old Testament we see glimpses of the glory of our God.  We learn from the failure of those who have gone before us just as we learn from the obedience of the faithful.  As we approach 2 Kings 3, Elisha has taken up the mantle of Elijah.  He is now God’s prophet to the Northern kingdom of Israel.  We also find that Jehoram the son of Ahab is king in Israel and Jehoshaphat is king of Judah.  Mesha, king of Moab has been a vassal of Ahab; paying tribute in lambs and wool.  Now that Ahab has died he no longer wants to pay the price and thus he refuses.  Jehoram enlists Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom to “go up” with him against Moab.  The intent is to put Moab back in its place.  That is the backdrop of our text.

As we work our way through the text I want to draw 4 lessons from these flawed rulers and their thoughtless plan.  Billy Sunday was famous for saying, “God can hits some straight licks with some pretty crooked sticks.”  That’s what is happening in 2 Kings 3.  God is saying something to Israel and in turn to us.

Lesson #1 – Sophisticated idolatry is still idolatry.  (3:1-3)

Lesson #2 – The foolishness of turning to God as a means of escape rather then the object of your devotion.  (3:4-14)

Lesson #3 – The surprising mercy of God abundantly blesses the undeserving.  (3:15-25)

Lesson #4 – The desperate nature of pagan religion.  (3:26-27)

Certainty in the Midst of Uncertainty [ 38:40 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (45)

Certainty in the Midst of Uncertainty: 2 Kings #02

This is an exposition of 2 Kings 2:1-25. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, May 22, 2016.

Intro:
We’ve all experienced that uncomfortable feeling of everyone knowing something and yet no one wanting to talk about it.  It’s inevitable yet off limits.  No one is willing to address the “elephant in the room.”  That’s the scene at the beginning of 2 Kings 2 Kings 2.  The writer even lets us in on it, “Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.”   We discover, as the story unfolds, that Elijah and Elisha are making a farewell tour.  They are leaving Gilgal and on their way to Bethel.  From Bethel they proceed to Jericho and from Jericho they head down to the Jordan.  Along the way they are met by various “sons of the prophets.”  This is a reference to those who are associated with the prophet.  Students who attached themselves to a more prominent teacher or leader.  These groups keep asking Elisha if he is aware that the Lord is going to take Elijah away on that day.  Each time Elisha says, “Yes, I know.  Now stop talking about it.”  This is Elijah’s last day and it seems everyone knows it but no one is talking about it!  This is a strange chapter and it gives critical scholars fits.  You have Elijah and Elisha take this trip from Gilgal.  They go northwest to Bethel.  Turn around and come back southeast to Jericho then east across the Jordan.  Then Elisha goes from east of the Jordan back west to Jericho then north to Bethel.  Along the way Elijah parts the waters of the Jordan and then is taken up in a fiery chariot.  Elisha parts the Jordan then goes to Jericho, throws salt in the water and “heals” the water.  He then goes to Bethel were some boys make fun of his bald head.  He curses them and 2 bears maul 42 of the boys and Elisha goes to Mt. Carmel then back to Samaria.

It’s a little confusing.  Why are we told these things?  Why these things together?  How do they fit?  What ties them together/do thy tie together?  Did any of this actually happen or is this just a collection of myths and legends?  There are some “scholars” who say this is an example of “prophetic legend.”  What is prophetic legend?  Short answer: it is something they made up because they were embarrassed that these stories were in Scripture!  I’m not embarrassed.  In fact I’m convinced there is a reason for this passage in this way.  The key is in understanding that the passage is not about Elijah or Elisha.  It is about God.  Our text this evening is the second chapter of 2 Kings.

Text: 2 Kings 2:1-15

This is a story about change.  History, shaping, epoch shifting change.  Elijah has been the dominant figure on the stage of history since he first appeared back in 1 Kings 17.  He burst on the scene to announce God’s judgment of drought and famine.  By his word the heavens where shut up and rain did not fall for 3 years.  By his word the rains returned.  He dared to stand up to Ahab and Jezebel crying out against their sin and demanding their repentance.  He stood against the prophets of Baal at Mr. Carmel.  Most recently he declared God’s judgment on Ahaziah.  After years of being God’s man in Israel, God’s champion – he is being taken away.  What will happen?  Who will take up the cause?  Who will stand as the people’s champion?

This strange chapter serves to remind us that…

Thesis: In times of great change, uncertainty and upheaval God remains the one constant and He consistently exercises His sovereignty in all things.

When everything changes we grasp for something to hold onto.
When the world we know becomes unknown we look for something to make sense of it all.
When our world is shaken we look for that which cannot be shaken.
This chapter points to the Eternal One.
It points not the king or the Lord’s servant but to the Lord himself!
That’s what you need to see in this chapter.

It’s what you need to understand about the times in which we live.  We are entering the “unknown.”  The world we are entering is vastly different from the one in which we were born and in which we have lived.  What was evil is now declared good and what was good is now declared evil.  Our world is not changing it has changed.  But our God has not and He has not gone away.

There are four (4) things I want to point out in our text.

1. Even in epoch changing times God raises up leaders endowed with his power.  (2:1-15)
2. In the face of great uncertainty and upheaval God’s wisdom abides with his people.  (2:15-18)
3. In times of crisis God’s mercy and grace is extended to the underserving.  (2:19-22)
4. Though merciful, gracious and kind our God remains terrifyingly righteous.  (2:23-25)

Conclusion:
For too long the God preached in cultural Christianity is always loving, and forgiving but seldom righteous.  To speak of God’s wrath or judgment on sin is to raise the ire of the “tolerant” among us.  We need to recover a sense of the terrifying reality of our God.

Elijah is gone but nothing has changed.  God’s power, wisdom, grace and judgment remain.  Elisha asked, “Where is the God of Elijah?”  The answer is right here, where He’s always been.

Our Very Politically Incorrect God [ 43:41 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (43)

Our Very Politically Incorrect God: 2 Kings #01

This is an exposition of 2 Kings 1:1-18. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sundya evening, May 15, 2016.

Intro:

We live in a rapidly changing world.  You remember the advertisement that was used to show how vastly different this new car model was from the previous versions was, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.”  If we were to use that expression to state how things are changing today we’d have to say, “This is not your Oldsmobile.”  Morally and culturally change is occurring at a dizzying pace.  5 years ago same sex marriage seemed impossible.  Today not only is it legal but if you are opposed to it you are considered a hate monger and are clearly on “the wrong side of history.”  If someone had said to you a year ago that the federal government would threaten to withhold federal funds from a state because that state passed a law saying you need to use the public bathroom that corresponds with your biological sex you would have thought they were out of their minds.  That happened this past week.  In today’s world gender is flexible.  Gender is not determined by anatomy but psychologically.  How do you perceive yourself?  To those of us who are thoroughly grounded in a biblical worldview – this is pure madness.  We find ourselves pushed to the margins as the world becomes unrecognizable.  Someone said to me, not long ago, “I’m worried about this election.  I think the outcome of this election might bring the judgment of God.”  I said, “Look at our choices – I think this election is the judgment of God!”  Throughout our history as a nation we have enjoyed majority status.  The Judeo-Christian worldview has hold the predominant position.  That is no longer true.  We are beginning to experience what our brothers and sisters around the world have been living with their entire lives.  What are we to do when we are in the minority?  How does our message change now that we no longer have the upper hand?  It doesn’t change!  Our assignment has not changed.  We are to remain faithful to the faith.  Faithful to our God.  Faithful to the task assigned no matter what happens within our culture.

If anything we double down on our effort.
We become even more passionate and determined to remain faithful.

Thesis: In an age of moral relativism and inclusiveness we, the Church, must be faithful in setting forth the God of Scripture.

Our task is not to preserve the American way.  Our aim is not to ensure the American experiment continues.  We are a Gospel people who are citizens of the kingdom of God and our primary loyalty is to our king.  Our first loyalty is the faith once and for all delivered to the saints.  We are to faithfully and accurately represent the God we serve.  Our text this evening is found in 2 Kings 2 Kings 1.

Text: 2 Kings 1:1-18

No one likes to start in the middle.  If I’m going to watch a movie I want to watch it from the beginning.  I don’t want to try to figure out what has happened and try to get my bearings in the story.  2 Kings begins in the middle of the story.  In fact it opens with the paramedics gathered around the broken body of king Ahaziah who has fallen from the second floor.  But 2 Kings hasn’t always been 2 Kings.  It used to be part of Kings.  The Greek translations of the Old Testament divided the book of Kings into 1 and 2 Kings probably due to the length of the book.

So to catch you up – 1 and 2 Kings tells the story of Israel’s monarchy.  The story begins with the last days of king David and concludes with the southern kingdom of Judah in Babylonian exile.  It covers the time period of roughly 970 to 586 b.c.  One writer says that the story of 2 Kings is the story of the fall of God’s people.  The Northern Kingdom, Israel falls in 722 and the Southern Kingdom, Judah in 586.  If you take 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings together you will find that the nation Joshua led into Canaan to be a witness to the surrounding nations becomes instead an imitation of those nations!  God’s people reject God and thus God comes against them in judgment.

The big picture can be outlined as:

1. The Golden Age (David and Solomon) – 1 Kings 1-11
2. The Torn Kingdom – 1 Kings 12 – 2 Kings 17
3. The Last Days – 2 Kings 18 – 25

With that background let’s look at our text in 2 Kings 2 Kings 1.

Let’s get the immediate background – 1 Kings 22:51-53.
Ahaziah is the son of Ahab and Jezebel – the guy didn’t stand a chance!

R.G Lee – “Ahab the vile human toad of a man that squatted on the throne of the nation.  Jezebel the beautiful adder coiled next to the toad.”

Ahazaiah is a chip off the old rotten block – 1 Kings 22:53 – He served Baal and worshiped him and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger in every way that his father had done.

2 Kings 2:1-2 sets the context: After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, Go, inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness.

Ahaziah has had this terrible accident and is dying or at least fears he is dying and what does he do?  He seeks not the God of Israel but the god of Ekron.  He dispatches messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub whether he would recover.  1 Kings 22:53 makes it clear this was his default position.  This was his habit, his custom.  This was no small matter.  This was the rejection of the God of Israel.  This was an affront to God.

As with all Old Testament narratives we should be asking, “What does this text reveal about God (Yahweh, the God of Israel, the God of the Bible)?”  Scripture is the revelation of God.  Meaning not just that God breathed it but that He is the focus of the revelation.

As we walk through these 18 verses I want to note 4 characteristics of the God of Scripture.  This is the God we are to preach.

1. The God of Scripture will tolerate no rivals. (1:1-8)
2. The God of Scripture will not be silenced by petty tyrants.  (1:9-12)
3. The God of Scripture deals graciously with the humble.  (1:13-15)
4. The God of Scripture makes no idol threat.  (1:16-18)

Conclusion:

May we be faithful to present the God of Scripture in this age of moral relativism and inclusiveness.

• A God who tolerates no rivals.
• A God who will not be silenced.
• A God who is merciful to the humble.
• A God who does not make idol threats.