THE AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE LIVES OF GODLY PERSONS
[p. 82] THE AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE LIVES OF GODLY PERSONS
I confess to a certain peculiar liking for this section of Scripture covering the ministries of Elijah and Elisha. They are, as it were, peculiarly homely and practical — and I might add, human. Elijah and Elisha were representative of God to men, and they were conversant with death. One of them, indeed, was only conversant with it in the moral sense, for he never died; he was one of the great exceptions in the race. He was one of those who did not die; he was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind. And we have, in him, the principle of passing on to others of what he had, so that they too might have it. He, in this, indicates God’s way, for whilst Elisha wished to share in what Elijah had, his share was to be on certain conditions; that is, he was to see Elijah as he went up. His wish was — and it was a noble wish, and one which he obtained — to have a double portion of Elijah’s spirit; that is to say, it was on the principle of increase. That principle is particularly seen in the Lord Jesus, of whom it is said, “He must increase”. The principle of our dispensation is increase and those of us who belong to it are in a great wave of prosperity; the prosperity that is marked by increase; by the “increase of God”, Colossians 2: 19. It is said, “growing by the true knowledge of God”, Colossians 1: 10. Therefore, dear brethren, we may each hope to become richer, not to remain in contentment with what we may have acquired so far, but to have more and more. Now Elisha was to see Elijah when he went up, meaning that there was to be keenness of sight or vision. The moment, it was implied, would be short, but the thing he required or desired so much would be his by the use of his eyes, “If thou see me when I am taken from thee,
it shall be so to thee”, 2 Kings 2: 10. In view of all this we dare not be negligent in the things of God. We are here tonight on the ground of vigilance, “What I say to you, I say to all, Watch”, Mark 13: 37. Now Elisha was not unmindful of all this, but his turn came, not to be taken up in a whirlwind, but to die through sickness. One of our number has died this very day, taken from our midst, here. Who knows who the next one of us may be? And so, “Be ready”. Well now, Elisha is outstanding as an interesting, practical prophet; not because of his writings, but because of his practicalness and his keenness in the knowledge of men, so as to serve them on God’s behalf. And no christian can be other than that, in principle; serving men — all the race. Elisha kept on and kept on and we are told here he was “sick of his sickness in which he died. And Joash the king of Israel came down to him”. He was not without interest but the sequel shows he was not quite as interested as he should be. That is what I am seeking to bring before us all here, this matter of interest, that we may not be found in any way doing the work of the Lord negligently, “Cursed be he that doeth the work of Jehovah negligently”, Jeremiah 48: 10. It is not a time of curse, nor am I here to curse, but at the same time we have these things in the Scriptures, a curse attached to any one careless or negligent in the work of the Lord.
Elisha was going to die, as it reads in verse 14. There might be some alleviation from his illness, but little use of hoping for his recovery. We often wonder why it is that certain should be taken, but these things are taken account of in heaven. Their administration is there, and all is on the principle of the will of God, whether one is on the bed of sickness from which he dies, or whether he is told to go up like Moses to die; it is a question of the will of God. And so it was with Elisha.
[p. 84] Now I come to what is in my mind — the passing on from older brethren of what they have, or rather what there is, for at the most they only share in what there is. But what is to be passed on is to be shared in by those who follow. There are a good many here on the following line, not many on the leading line, not many about to die, I am speaking of what is ordinary, the young ones here have good hope to live. You are encouraged in that very point, “that thy days may be prolonged”. God would not address that to old men about to die; He says it to young people. “That thy days may be prolonged in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee”, Exodus 20: 12. God needs you, born into this world and grown up; God needs you and He is willing to enter into all your matters, aspirations, prospects and purposes. In these circumstances there is perfect normality attached to these things. God, speaking reverently, would take a normal account of youth. I sometimes marvel at the Lord Jesus — God over all, blessed for ever — yet taking up a babe into His arms. Luke tells us that the Lord Jesus took infants into His arms. Think of the Lord Jesus, the Creator of the universe, God over all, taking an infant into His arms! The older one gets, the more one becomes fond of children, direct from the Creator. They have received their spirits from the Creator. The Lord knew that, and took infants into His arms and blessed them. Some would forbid it, but He said, “Suffer little children to come to me, and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God”, Luke 18: 16. He took them into His arms and blessed them. Matthew 19: 15 says, “Having laid his hands upon them, he departed”, meaning that He left them to their parents. Not the grandparents. We must not assume that the responsibility of parents belongs to the grandparents. It belongs to the parents. It is true indeed that Abraham “dwelt in [p. 85] tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise”, Hebrews 11: 9. He dwelt with them, but that could only be a characteristic feature. It would be what a grandfather’s love would lead him to do in his interest in them as heirs with him of the same promise. And if the Lord took infants into His arms and blessed them, and went away, that did not mean they should not be cared for. Far otherwise! He meant that the parents should take care of them. Parents are called upon to do that. “And ye fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the Lord”, Ephesians 6: 4. They are to provide for their children, “For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children”, 2 Corinthians 12: 14. So that they have a great place with God. Indeed the Lord Himself tells us, “Their angels in the heavens continually behold the face of my Father who is in the heavens”, Matthew 18: 10. The angels are ministers of children as well as grown people, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out for service on account of those who shall inherit salvation?”, Hebrews 1: 14. The angels are subordinate, even to children! So that children are to be cared for.
Now I return to what I have been saying as to Elisha. He was dying, and he knew it. It was the sickness wherewith he died. The gospels give many illustrations of people who were sick and were healed, but this did not apply to Elisha. He was sick with the “sickness in which he died”, but he would pass on what he shared, to another. He was not like the king who said, “If only there shall be peace and truth in my days!”, 2 Kings 20: 19. That was not the language of Elisha. The king of Israel came down to him. Elisha was a father, and the king of Israel regarded him as a father, I am seeking to bring before us that we are heirs of what other people have shared in and our turn is coming. As [p. 86] elders are taken to be with the Lord, the inheritance comes to ourselves. I refer now to what is needed in the testimony, and the king of Israel was needed. He was a king with a certain amount of interest and intelligence. He came down to Elisha and he said, “My father, my father! the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof!”. Now we might read much into this. It was a phrase that really belonged to Elisha himself. He does not stop to comment upon it, but he does stop to take up how it is going to be with the king of Israel. What is he to be in the testimony of God? What service is he to render to the people of God? Hence the prophet says to him immediately, “Take bow and arrows. And he took a bow and arrows. And he said to the king of Israel, Put thy hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it; and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands, and said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. And Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot”. That is, the old, sick prophet is teaching the young king how to serve, and he is ready to learn. And so, dear brethren, it is a critical time for us. Those of us who are older, who feel our service is short, if we are normal with God as He is with us, we shall think of what the young ones are capable of. I am not speaking to the brothers alone; I am speaking to the sisters, too. It is most important the part that sisters have in the service of God. See that you do it; that it continues; that the work of God goes on. It must go on; God has decreed it must go on, and if we do not go on, it will go on without us. But now there is one who is evidently intending to go on. He is a king, able to fight, and sufficiently interested in doing things well, to come down to the prophet who is sick. One might say, Why trouble Elisha with your affairs? He is a sick man. There is no question about that. Elisha knows he is sick and undoubtedly knows he is going to die, but he is concerned about [p. 87] the young men and young women as to how they are going to serve, and that they should learn; that they should know how. That is the great point in this particular passage, not doing things any way or when we wish, but when they should be done and done well! There is no small talk about Elisha’s illness. The word is about the bow: “Take bow and arrows”. That is the word. Whatever the king had in his mind to say to Elisha, the word was, “Take bow and arrows” and shoot! Do the thing — shoot. Do it properly, do it well! He did it, we are told here.
What I want to say now is, “Put thy hand upon the bow. And he put his hand upon it; and Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands”. Let us not forget that. Do not be ashamed if you do not know how to shoot; learn how to shoot. The old brother knows how, old though he be; he has experience. He is intelligent, his mind active, and clear and right, and he directs the young man, the king, to put his hand upon the bow, “And Elisha put his hands upon the king’s hands, and said, Open the window eastward. And he opened it. And Elisha said, Shoot. And he shot”. Then the word is, “An arrow of Jehovah’s deliverance”. That was the arrow shot forth in the strength of the prophet’s hands, as well as the young man’s hands. The younger is to learn from the older; something is done immediately. “An arrow of Jehovah’s deliverance”. How much deliverance is needed in the gatherings of the saints, some hardly able to move in the service of God, in some cases having two meetings in the week put into one. It is slothfulness and laziness and added to that unintelligence, the want of knowing how; hence anyone who does know, whom the brethren think to have knowledge, gets letters asking, What do you think about this? and What do you think about that? What do you think? That is the point! You [p. 88] have a mind given you by God, and you have the opportunity of speaking to God in prayer. Before you write that letter to someone else, test yourself, learn to do things yourself, learn to shoot. The prophet was going to die, and he did die. Therefore if there be anything we wish to know how to do, and to do well, get to God about it. Of course there is such a thing as gift of government. It is well to ask such brothers, but, generally speaking we do not need to write about everything; we can try it ourselves, see if you can do it. If you miss one time perhaps you will do it again and do it well. These are very simple, homely, practical things. I am saying them with a view to helping everyone here to get to God. As we were saying, the Lord took a child in His arms. He would show the mother how to do that and do it well, and bring it up for Himself. So “an arrow of Jehovah’s deliverance” is worth speaking about. These arrows are needed all over this continent; the land south of us, farther south still, away to the east and away to the west. Things are being left undone or partly done. That is the first thing, “an arrow of Jehovah’s deliverance, even an arrow of deliverance from the Syrians” — that particular section of the enemy that has been against you or against the testimony, “Thou shalt smite the Syrians in Aphek, till thou hast consumed them”.
Now the next thing is, “Take the arrows. And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, Smite upon the ground. And he smote thrice, and stayed”. This is the word to be noted, he “stayed”. He did well, he smote thrice, but he stayed. The prophet did not tell him to stay smiting. He said, “Smite upon the ground”. It is not shooting now, that is a great objective thing, the objective truth put into action. This smiting upon the ground is something relating to himself. It is ground right near me, at my feet, right by me. It is what you might call [p. 89] subjective truth. That is with the christian all the time. The Spirit of God is here with the christian all the time, in wonderful patience. The Paraclete is by us, the word means that the Spirit of God is near us to help us to shoot and smite on the ground without staying. That is to say, keep on at yourself. The amount of criticism among the brethren is most baneful, distressing, destroying and damaging. The spirit of criticism is not smiting on the ground. It is some one else, but this is at yourself. The smiting on the ground is yourself — the thing that would hinder you in the shooting. Well, he did not smite more than three times and incurred the wrath of the prophet. I would not like to incur the wrath of the prophet, nor the wrath of the Lord, nor the wrath of the brethren. The christian might be wrathful when others are wrong in their conduct. So, as I said, Smite on the ground, take heed to yourself. See if there be anything damaging the brethren through you, whether by criticism or otherwise. Deal with it well! Deal with it thoroughly, and have done with it! Then, in the next battle with the Syrian, you will be the victor, for we need victory against the Syrian.
So the prophet, “the man of God”, was wroth with the king and he said to him, “Thou shouldest have smitten five or six times; then wouldest thou have smitten the Syrians till thou hadst consumed them; whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice”. This was said by “the man of God”. It is a question of God; representation of God. And you will not be victorious, brother or sister, if you have not gone far enough in dealing with yourself. Elisha did not stipulate the number of strokes upon the ground; the greater the number, as the prophet indicates, the greater the victory! And we need victory, dear brethren; we do indeed! And for that we must each one deal with himself; each one must [p. 90] deal drastically with things which stand in the way of the service of God, and the service of the brethren.
And then finally it is said, “Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass as they were burying a man, that behold, they saw the band, and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha; and the man went down, and touched the bones of Elisha, and he revived, and stood upon his feet”. It is the after-effect of a man of God — the after-effect of the life of a man of God and what it can do. What it does here is to break up the bands, which are a most baneful thing among the brethren, bands of persons thinking alike in some things and others being excluded from their company. It is baneful and damaging, but the way out here is the effect of the bones of Elisha, the after-effect of the life of an old brother or an old sister. One has just gone from amongst us here. It is now a question of the after-effects. Are we to carry on as usual? The attractive after-effects of the life of a godly person must be seen and felt; and they will be, if God has His way. Sons, daughters, granddaughters and grandchildren, are to take it to heart. What is the example set by the prophet, by Elisha? He is dead and buried. It is his bones, not exactly the man, but like the bones of Joseph; they were made much of and carried from Egypt to Canaan. So the bones of Elisha were there, buried in the grave and the buriers of some man, who may not have been of very much consequence in their eyes, cast him into the grave of Elisha, for fear of the band that had come into the land. They cast him into the sepulchre of Elisha, and when he touched the bones he revived and stood upon his feet. It is the after-effect of the life of a godly man as it is carried in faith, for that is the only way. I suppose [p. 91] there will be a great dearth here below when all the saints go up to heaven. What barrenness in this poor world! What a moment for the devil! But now it is not so; it is limited because the after-effects of godly people still remain, carried in the affections of the brethren.
And so we have the idea of a man risen from the dead. What can the band do against him? He “touched the bones of Elisha, and he revived, and stood upon his feet”. It is an anticipative thought. Ezekiel carries it forward; a great army stands upon their feet, bones brought together, and they live! They are the after-effects, in a sense, presently to be seen in the millennium, as I understand it, of the influence of this present time — what will be gathered up. The Spirit of God is still here. The bones of the man of God were there, and there was something in the way of spiritual virtue in them which made this dead man live. Are there not such miracles? There are far more miracles than many of us are aware of. We should not be able to come here today without these miracles. As one reviews what is current, it is God acting in relation to what virtue there has been, but those here carry the things in their affections. They know what God can do, and they pray accordingly, and things happen. Many of us here today were here last year at this time. God is doing that for us, and He is going to do more. That is what I had in mind as to what is carried down. We need to take advantage of what there is, such as Elisha, so as to gain from him, as he himself did when he would have a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Hence the great Elisha, and then this man with no name given. He stood on his feet. He was dead, but he was made to live. It was to offset the bands — the influence of bands amongst the brethren. Think of persons being alike in the outlook of their minds in what is detrimental and abominable to heaven! This man shows [p. 92] what is possible as the brethren deal with things. It is the after-effect in the brethren’s minds of the affections and the life of a godly man. I hope I am not saying things that are not intelligible to you. So, “Remember your leaders who have spoken to you the word of God; and considering the issue of their conversation, imitate their faith”. And then it says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and to the ages to come”, Hebrews 13: 7, 8. The dispensation is going on in life and we want to get the good of what has been carried down by those still living and apply the things and bring God into them and see if there may not be restoration, recoveries, additions and increase amongst us, which I believe will go on to the end.