The Man of God — Robert Constable

The Man of God in 2 Kings 4

I thought it might be helpful for us this morning if we shared together something of what the word of God has to say about the man of God. So will you turn with me to 2 Kings chapter 4. 2 Kings chapter 4, beginning with verse 8.

And it fell on the day that Elisha passed to Shunam, where was a great woman, and she constrained him to regret. And so it was that as often as he passed by, he turned in to her to regret. And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God.

Which passes us by continually. I perceive that this is a holy man of God. We are living in a time when people are trying to find their own identity. There was an article in the paper yesterday, as a matter of fact, about some actress who was on a search looking for her own identity.

And when Meg and I were in India on one occasion, we found scores of young Americans that were wandering around like lost sheep in India, and when we asked what they were doing there, we were almost always told that they were looking for themselves.

They were looking for their own identity. And I think we live in a time when people are asking the question, who am I anyway? And I would like for us to consider that question. I would like also for us to go on from there and think about our influence in the time in which we live, what we are here for.

And then spend a little while on the subject Christ as Lord. Whom do I serve? Who am I? Why am I here? Whom do I serve? Each of these areas I would like for us to think about. Now the first one that has to do with the current search for identity.

Holiness, Sainthood, and the Believer’s Identity

Who am I? I would like to ask this congregation, how many holy men of God there are in the group? Would you put your hands up please? Well now you see I'm somewhat shocked right at the beginning of this talk.

Because obviously in this group we have a need for finding out who we are. So we need a definition of terms I'm sure. Now the word holy. The word holy means somebody who is sanctified or something that is sanctified.

That is to say set apart. And especially set apart for God's use. That's what the word holy means. In the New Testament, holy people, that is set apart people, are addressed as saints. The apostle Paul in the opening verses of his letter to the Corinthians speaks of them as saints.

Now he doesn't speak of them as saintly. But he speaks of them as saints. They were anything but saintly. But they were saints. I don't know if we are satisfied. Are we as to the definition of the word holy?

As you are thinking about what I'm saying. As you apply this to yourself. Would you say that you are a saint? That you are one that has been set apart by God from the rest of mankind? I didn't ask you if you were saintly.

I asked you if you recognized the fact that you are saints. Not many of us have any difficulty with identifying here I'm sure. We are pressed in on every side by the fact that we are human. Responsible human beings.

Now the word men in the word of God is often used in a generic sense. We're not just talking about the males. We're talking about responsible adults. And I think everybody in this room would immediately put his hand up if I said how many responsible adults are there in the room?

Who would have any problem with that? So holy men of God. Is this what makes the problem? But if you are a saint. If you are one of those people who have been chosen of God and called out from amongst mankind generally.

And set apart for the service of God. And you are a responsible adult. And you have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit of God to indwell your personality. You have a relationship with God. You share his life.

Therefore you are of God. Is there anybody in this room who would disclaim that? That would say oh no I don't share his life. I'm not involved with God. I think most of the people in this room would immediately claim that.

So that as a matter of fact while you would not raise your hand when I asked how many holy men of God there are in the room. Everyone here who put his trust in the Lord Jesus is a holy man of God. And we need to know this.

We need to recognize this. I think one of the great needs of our generation is for Christians to stand up and be counted and to recognize what they are in this world. It seems to be some sort of a false humility that leads people to crawl back within themselves when the suggestion is made that they are saints or that they are holy men of God.

We need to claim this. Lord Jesus said of the Holy Spirit of God he shall be in you. And the apostle Paul in writing to his epistle to the Romans made it very clear when he said if any man have not the spirit of Christ he is none of his.

Now I'm not going to ask you to raise your hands again. But I'm going to ask you to answer to yourself the question am I a holy man of God? And I do not see how anybody in this room who has put his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior can declaim this.

Can back away from this. And so I am talking to a congregation of holy men of God and this is an amazing reality. But it is a reality. And I think the reason why we are afraid of it is that it carries with it an implied responsibility.

So we are very much afraid that we cannot bear that is too much for us. And of course this is exactly what God intended. Now you may not feel like a holy man of God. But what have your feelings got to do with it?

The things we have been dealing with here are facts not feelings with what the word of God says about us. And our sense of inadequacy and our inability to immediately and enthusiastically respond when somebody says how many men of God are there in the congregation instead of throwing your hand up you keep it down and hide behind yourself because of this sense of inadequacy.

And that is quite proper that you have that sense of inadequacy. But rather than leading you to deny the fact of who you are and thus losing your identity it should drive us to prayer that we might be able more adequately to fulfill the responsibility that goes along with a designation like that.

We need to know who we are. We need to come to a true sense of who we are and of our true identity. Now when God looks at us he sees us as we truly are and he calls us by name. But we must recognize who we are if we are to respond properly to God.

If we don't know what our name is and God speaks to us well, we're not going to pay any attention to what he says. It is only as we are very sensitive to our own identity that we are going to respond adequately to God and to respond obediently and to respond with blessing to others.

Moses and God’s Presence in the Calling

Now I want to look at some people in the word of God with you that have this same problem. Let's turn to Exodus chapter 3. Let's begin our reading again at verse 9. God is speaking and he is speaking out of the burning bush to Moses.

And Moses, no, verse 9. Now therefore says God Behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppressed them. Come now therefore and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

And Moses said unto God Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? Who am I? Moses was uncertain of his own identity. Who am I that I should do this thing?

God said certainly I will be with thee and this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee when thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt ye shall serve God upon this mountain. God didn't answer his question specifically as to who he was but God assured him of the presence of himself in the assignment.

I will go with thee. This is who Moses was. Moses was a man who had served for 40 years in the courts of Pharaoh. He had been a shepherd at the back side of the wilderness for 40 years. And now he had come to the age of 80 and God called him and Moses said Who am I?

And God said in effect it doesn't matter who you are I will be with thee and when you have brought the children of Israel out of Egypt I'll meet you here. And it was in the strength of this word that Moses entered into the great work of his life and became a laborer together with God in one of the greatest works that God has done in human history.

But he wondered who he was and it was necessary that he find out who he was. And God demonstrated to him that he was a man who had God with him. It doesn't matter who we are. God is prepared and wants to give a demonstration in each one of our lives of the fact that being chosen of God we are the possessors of the Holy Spirit of God.

And all that that implies all that the Holy Spirit can do he can do through us. That's who we are. I'm not asking or suggesting that we go out and we paint on a little flag I am a holy man of God and we go about waving this down in the public square.

I'm not suggesting that we call up everybody we know and say as you heard I am a holy man of God. I don't suggest you do that. But I do suggest that you deepen in your own hearts the conviction of the fact that if you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ you are a holy man of God and you walk in our society as such as a different kind of person.

This woman recognized Elisha as a different kind of man. And it is intended that we should be recognized as different kind of people. Who am I? A person with the presence of God. There was another great man who asked the same question practically.

Jeremiah’s Inadequacy and God’s Commission

Turn to Jeremiah chapter 1. The people of Israel had sinned so grossly the judgment was set. And God said the judgment is going to come. And nothing is going to stop it. And Jeremiah I want you to go out and I want you to warn the people of what is ahead.

Let's begin our reading at verse 4 of chapter 1. Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee.

And I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, O Lord God, behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. But the Lord said unto me, Say not I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I commend thee, thou shalt speak.

Be not afraid of their faces, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Now this man did the same thing that Moses did. He said, You know me, me. I am only a child. And God said, That's enough of that.

That's enough of that. When I call you, don't you answer me, I am a child. I'll put the words in your mouth. And whatever you say, I'll back it up. Now this, this touches on the experience of many of us.

We get a call from God for an assignment that we feel is altogether too big for us. And we say, I can't do this. And the Lord says to you and to me, Don't tell me what you can do and what you can't do, I need you.

And I will be with you. And I will give you the words to say, Now go. But you know we're not going to go unless we have a conviction about who we are. If we persist in the idea that we're just children, we can't understand anything, we can't really proclaim the word of God.

If we persist in that idea, we will not be used with God. God has called every one of us to a usefulness that is far beyond anything we have conceived for ourselves. He has given us his word, which is forever settled in heaven.

And he has said, go out and proclaim this. And make it clear to people what I have to say. And one of the things he has to say is this, that he wants you to recognize who you are. You are called of God.

And anything he has called you for, he has prepared to equip you for. Now there's another person in the Old Testament that had a similar question asked, and that is Luke. Let's turn to the book of Luke.

Ruth’s New Identity Through Boaz

Entirely different kind of situation. Chapter three. Let's think about the setting of this statement. Ruth has been gleaning in the fields of Boaz. It had been discovered that Boaz is a kinsman of Ruth's and of Naomi's.

And in order to claim this kinship, Naomi has suggested to Ruth that she go down to the threshing floor at night. And that after everybody had settled down and going to sleep for the night, that she go to the place at the feet of Boaz and lie down there.

Now, this is a very, very risky thing. When you read it, you know, and read across it, this all doesn't come out. But a woman to go down to the threshing floor was really not an acceptable thing to do.

But it was the only way and the only place that Ruth could get to where she could talk privately with Boaz. And so Naomi told her to put on her nice clothes go down to the threshing floor and lie down at Boaz's feet.

And in the course of the night, Boaz, when he's turning over his feet, kicked this woman down at his feet. And he gets up to see what's going on here and he finds a woman lying at his feet. Now, ordinarily, you would have expected that a woman lying at his feet there would have been just a streetwalker.

And so when he wakes up with a shock and finds the woman there, he says, who are you? And she tells him who she is and why she's there. And he says, everybody in the community knows you are a virtuous woman.

There's no question about why you're here. And they talk the whole situation over and he says that he will undertake the part of the accused man to her come the daytime. In the meantime, get your rest and go home before daylight.

And so they do this. And before daylight, he gets up and he gives her an apron full of grain and says, take this to Naomi and I'll take care of these matters, these legal affairs that have to do with our kinship in the morning.

And she slipped out. And she went home. She went home to where her mother-in-law Naomi was. And I don't think Naomi slept that night at all. She was waiting for Ruth to come home. And Ruth comes home.

All right, now we want to begin reading. Let's begin at verse 14. We can tie this into what I told you already. And Ruth lay at his feet until the morning and she rose up before one could know another.

And he said, Boaz said, let it not be known that a woman came into the floor. And he said, bend the veil that thou hadst upon thee and hold it. And when she held it, he measured six measures of firewood and laid it on her and she went into the city.

And when she came to her mother-in-law, she said, as Naomi said, who art thou, my daughter? Naomi didn't need to ask her who she was. She said she was her daughter. Who art thou, my daughter? And what this means here, when it says who art thou, my daughter, is what is now the relationship?

What has developed since you went? What is your name? How are you now related to Boaz? And so it goes on to say, she told her all that the man had done to her. Told her all about his acceptance of her.

His acceptance of her as a virtuous woman. His acceptance of her as a leader of kin. His acceptance of her as the one for whom he could take the responsibility of his acceptance of her as his future bride.

Just a more biblish widow. Now she's been taken under the care and the custody of Boaz, who is to make her his bride. Who art thou? You have a different story to tell Naomi when she came back than she had to tell her before she left.

She had come into relationship with Boaz and they had an understanding that was going to lead on into the fulfillment of all the gracious purpose of God in the generations ahead. Well, they didn't know that at the time, but that was the case.

Because they found out who she was. So it's important that we understand who we are. Remember that the Lord Jesus said, you haven't chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain chosen of God.

Men of God. Now the second question we have to consider was why am I here? And I would like to turn for our talk here to the illustration God has given us about the holy man of God we were thinking of at the beginning.

Walking With the Master and Serving Others

Turn back to 2nd Kings, chapter 2, beginning at verse 9. And it came to pass when we were going over that Elijah said unto Elisha, ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

And Elisha said, thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee, but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they still went on and talked, that behold there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and counted them both asunder and Elijah went up by a hill into heaven and Elisha saw him.

And he cried, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own souls and went them in pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elisha that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan.

And he took the mantle of Elisha that fell from him and swop the waters and said, praise the Lord God of Elisha. And when he had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither and Elisha went over.

And when the sons of the prophets referred to him as Jericho saw him, they said, the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to Him and bowed themselves to the ground before Him. Now the first requirement here was if Elisha was to be whom he wanted to be and to have the identity that he wanted to have of being Elijah's double, the first requirement was that he be with Elijah.

He walked with the master. And so in all their walk, Elisha stayed way close like a mustard placer to Elijah. Nothing could pull him off. He stayed with the master. And it's because he walked with him and learned his ways and learned his will that he became his master's double.

That applies to us too, of course. It is as we walk with the master that we become like him. And if we are going to represent him in the earth as being here for him, it is necessary that we walk with him.

And that is the second thing. This being here for him. You notice what the sons of the prophet said? The spirit of Elijah doth rest upon Elisha. A different personality altogether. A different kind of person.

Elijah's double. The man God took up in the place of Elijah and whom he used so greatly in the days that followed Elijah's ministry. Now let's read on a little bit. Go down to verse 19 in the 2nd chapter of 2 Kings.

And the men of the city of Jericho said to Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord seeth it, but the water is not, and the ground barren. And he said, Bend me a new crimson, put salt in it.

And they brought it to him. And he went forth into the spring of the waters and cast the salt in there and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters. They shall not be content any more death or barren land.

So the waters were healed under this day, according to the saying of Elisha, which he spake. Walking with his master was the first thing. The next thing was kneading the knees all around him. The town council sent up to the president of the seminary, to Elisha, and asked, How do we get the water in this town sweet?

And the most natural thing in this whole world would have been for Elisha to say, You take care of your line and I'll take care of mine. Why come to see a theologian about the water? You've got sanitary engineers.

You have chemists. No, that isn't the attitude that Elisha had. When they came with a need to Elisha, it could be as remote as it was. But they found a man who was willing to cooperate to meet the need.

And I asked this question of us. As the world comes to us with their needs, is this our attitude? I don't know anything about that. That's not my business. Or is the attitude of our hearts that no matter how remote it may be from our normal existence, if there is an opportunity to meet a need, we are there to meet it?

Now, there's many lessons could be drawn from this example of Elisha's healing of the water. But the one thing I want to make clear here is that he was ready to meet any need that would make clear to him.

And this is another of the conditions of our influence here. 2 Kings 13. Verse 20. And Elisha died. And they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming end of the year. And they came to pass as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men.

And they cast the man into the sepulcher of Elisha. And when the man was let down and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet. This is one of the most amazing stories in all of the word of God.

A Lasting Influence Beyond Death

And it's one with which I can relate somewhat. Because when I was over, and maybe I've told you this before, but when I was over in Israel, on one occasion, I was riding in a bus from Bethlehem to Jerusalem.

And all of a sudden, without any warning, whatever, everybody in that bus was on the floor, under the seat. You've never seen anything happen so fast in your life. Only I was sitting up in the seat. And I didn't know what all this was about.

So we rattled along in this bus for a few yards, and people began peeking up over the edges of the windows and gradually sitting up in their seats. And I said, is there anybody back here? I was on the back seat of the bus.

I said, is there anybody back here speaking English? And one fellow said, no. And I said, what's going on here? He said, you see over that hill over there? Some soldiers came over the top of that hill.

Well, it just happened that the Arabs had been in that community, guerrilla bands of Arabs, and they'd been shooting up the buses. So they all dropped when they saw the soldiers. Look, me sitting there, a beautiful target.

I said, same. But they did really drop down. So I know what it's like to have an excited and noisy bunch of Jews around. Let's go back to the story. Here's a group of men. One of their friends had been killed by one of these guerrilla bands.

And so they're taking him out to bury him in the cemetery. And I suppose there's one on each corner of the blanket, you know, carrying this man along. And suddenly, there's some soldiers show up on the crest of the hill.

And the fastest thing they can do is get out of sight. And so, they take the blanket and they throw this fellow into the nearest hole in the ground, which happened to be Elisha's tomb. And he rolls on down in, and he touches Elisha's bones.

And he comes back alive. And I guess he wondered where he was. And so he begins walking up out of this tomb. And while these fellows are still running away from the guerrillas, trying to save their lives, one of them looked back.

And he saw this man coming out of the grave. And I think he ran four times as fast from that point on. Now, what is this all left here in the Bible for? Why is this story told to us and kept here in Holy Writ?

It is because God wants to say to you and to me, you can live your life in such a way that even long after you're dead, you can be having an influence for God. That's what Elisha was doing. His body had grown long since.

His bones were lying there in the grave. But when this man touched him, he came alive. We could live like that. I could live like that. So that long after we're gone, not just while we're here, but when we're gone, there could be an influence for God.

To be here for God and for blessing. Now, the last section of what I wanted to share with you this morning has to do with who do I serve? Christ as Lord. We are looking out for opportunities in our day to be so used.

Christ as Lord and the Believer’s Mission

If we are men and women of God, and God intends that we should have an influence, then we need to be alert as to what the opportunities of having an influence are. And if we were to turn to Isaiah chapter 5 and verse 30, we would learn that if you look unto the land, you see nothing but darkness and clouds and dark clouds and storms.

You look around, there are lots of opportunities. There's darkness all around us. And as we seek for the meaning of life, we enter into somewhat the experience of the disciples. Now, these were thinking men.

Sometimes I think we get the idea that the disciples were just a bunch of teenagers that happened to be fishermen and happened to be a tax collector and so on that didn't have a thought in their heads.

These were thinking men that Jesus picked out. These were men of tremendous potential within their own personality. And as he came by, and he would say to one, follow me. And he would rise from his receipt of testament and leave everything and follow Jesus.

That man had been thinking about what a mess the world is in and how he needs somebody to have the answers. And he had heard Jesus talk and he had gotten the idea that this man has got it. And if he ever comes by here again and gives me the opportunity, I'm going to follow him.

And when James and John are sitting there mending their nets, they're not just sitting there not saying anything, mending their nets. They're talking about the mess the world is in. They were living in an occupied territory.

Things had gone to smash so far as Israel was concerned. They were deeply concerned. But when Jesus came by and sat on the outside of the boat and talked to them from time to time, they formed the opinion and the conviction in their hearts, this man has got the answers.

So when he came by later and he said, come with me, they left their nets and followed him. Here were men who had found the answer. And this answer was exemplified in the response of Peter on one occasion when the Lord Jesus said, whom do men say that I am?

And he, they answered, all kinds of answers. Jesus said, whom do you say that I am? And Peter said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Ever think about that statement? Man, that is a statement.

And then you remember after the resurrection when Thomas came into the second meeting of the disciples and the Lord Jesus said, Thomas, come on, put your fingers into my hands and thrust your hand in my side.

And Thomas said, my Lord and my God! They had a conviction about who was the master. Whom say ye that I am? These were the answers that these men gave. So what does Jesus say himself about who he is? And in Egypt from Revelation 22 verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches.

I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. In the land there is darkness and turmoil. And men are lost. It will not always be so. The day star is at hand. Meanwhile we are here for him to make known to the sons of men the glory of his kingdom and his will to save.

Let us not lose sight of who we are, why we are here, and whom we serve. And God will bless our ministry.