...[FIRE]... [So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase]. 2 Kings 4:32-35 32) And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. 33) He went in therefore, and shut the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. 34) 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 stretched himself upon the child; and the flesh of the child waxed warm. 35) 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. When Elisha arrives at the Shunammites home, the situation has not changed: The boy lies dead on the prophets bed II Kings 4:32. Even this fact is significant in that, though the boy is with the prophet and even has close contact with the prophets possessions, it does him no good—he is still dead. #How many Christians are in the building, #hearing the truth every week?, #fellow shipping with Gods people?, #yet remain asleep to their perilous spiritual condition??? John 8:32 Unlike Gehazi, Elisha throws himself into the work of reviving this child. First, he closes the door to his room, shutting everyone else out vs.33. #This kind of work is private, not public. Next, #he invites God in through prayer. #Elisha knows that he is only a vessel through whom God would work, so he immediately seeks the only true help for the situation. #He understands that his relationship with #God is the basis for any resuscitation of the boy. Awakening sleepy Christians is a private affair; it would be shameful and unloving to blare the individual members spiritual weakness to the world! What a horrible witness for God this would be! Paul excoriates the lawbreaking Romans: For The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, as it is written Romans 2:24. It is far better for the church to reduce its public exposure during its revival until it can again #represent God properly. #Once God is satisfied with the churchs spiritual state, #He will open doors to proclaim the gospel publicly again. It is also true that spiritual revival rests on the relationship between God and His true ministers, for the latter are the individuals through whom He works to effect the waking up of others. The preachers drive the revival! #If the ministry is not close to God, they will #not preach the truth, and #revival will never make much headway. However, if the #ministrys relationship with God #is solid and growing, #God will inspire #them to preach #His Word powerfully, and #those who have ears to hear #will listen and respond. John 8:32 Elisha makes to heal this child. He stretches himself out on the child, eye to eye, mouth to mouth, hand to hand II Kings 4:34, picturing total identification between the prophet and the child: They see eye to eye, speak mouth to mouth, act hand in hand. This is a metaphor for unity in understanding, teaching, and works. [#The ministry and the membership must be unified and work together to cause revival.] John 8:32 But this is still not enough. The flesh of the child warms up, but he is not yet truly alive, awake, and active. He hovers, coma-like, between death and life. Seeing this, Elisha gathers himself and plunges back into his work vs. 35. His walking back and forth in the house describes his efforts to restore his warmth after giving all of his to the child. Spiritually, this equates to the ministry preparing themselves for even more intensive work as they try, try again to effect revival. [#A true minister, through all the #setbacks and #discouragements, never gives up the fight to bring Gods people back to life]. 1 Corinthians 3:5-7 (KJV) 5) Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6) I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7) So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 00:41:31 +0000
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