This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Welcome back to our study of first and second kings. This is day four, week four
of that study. We are just finishing a look at the prophet Elijah, and we're
turning our eyes to Elisha, the next prophet.

At the end of the book of first kings, in chapter 20, we read about Ahab's sin.
In chapter 21, we read again about Ahab's sin at Naboth's vineyard. Actually
Ahab repents, one of the few times he repents over that sin, and God is gracious
to him, even though his life is filled with sin.

In chapter 22, Ahab dies, Ahaziah becomes the king. In second kings, chapter
one, Ahaziah dies, he's got a very short rule and a very evil rule. And then we
come to chapter two of second kings.

And in this chapter, Elijah is taken to heaven, and Elisha is introduced to us.
Before he goes off to heaven, Elijah has anointed Elisha. Now Elisha has been
following Elijah for a time as an apprentice prophet.

By the way, there's another lesson here for significant servants. Significant
servants pass it on to somebody else. These lessons we've been learning from
Elijah, Elijah passed it on to somebody else.

You don't hold it all onto yourself. You realize, I'm only going to have a brief
time on this earth, so you pass it on to someone else. Faithful people teach
other faithful people who will pass it on to faithful people.

And here in second kings, chapter two, Elisha is going to see Elijah taken up to
heaven. And as we walk through this experience, we really see it through the
eyes of Elisha in many ways. And in seeing it, we learn some things about
miracles.

Elisha's life, as we study his life these next few weeks together, we're going
to see that it is typified by miracles. He sees Elijah taken up to heaven and he
parts the water and walks on dry ground. He purifies the water.

He slays two bears. That's an interesting study we'll look at together. Water
flowing from Edom, the miracle of the widow's oil, the Shunammite sun being
restored, the curing of the pot, the feeding of the hundred, the healing of
Naaman from leprosy, the axe head that floats, the blinding of the army that was
against Israel, a lot of miracles.

I didn't even mention half of them that we see in the life of Elisha. And you
look at this and think, is that just an Old Testament thing? The truth is, the
Christian life is to be miraculous.

Your life as a believer, as a follower of Jesus, it begins with the miracle of
resurrection of new birth. It's going to be completed with the miracle of
glorification when God takes us to heaven. What about the in-between?

How do we find, can we find any miraculous living in the midst of dinner dishes
and mowing the lawn and doing homework? This chapter, as we walk through this,
it points towards how to invite this kind of life, this seeing of God's
miracles, God's working in miraculous supernatural ways. How do I start to
invite that into my life?

The miracles are up to God. He's going to do what He wants to do. I can't force
His hand, but how can I be ready for what He wants to do?

Where do miracles begin? Where do they begin? Do they begin in some special
church service or with some strange blessing?

Elisha teaches some very powerful lessons concerning how the miraculous work of
God how we're open to it in our lives. There may be some unexpected lessons. He
teaches us in this chapter that they begin at the places of tenacity and the
places of sensitivity and the places of purity in our lives.

First, it begins at a place of tenacity. Elisha has spent years as an apprentice
to Elijah. Years out in the desert, out of the spotlight, years just listening
and watching and learning.

Where do you sign up to be an apprentice in the art of miracles? I'll tell you
where you sign up. You sign up to be a servant.

Servanthood opens the door to the miraculous working of God in your life.
Servanthood opens the door to the miraculous working of God in your life. Now,
why does it start with serving?

Because miracles, if you got the miracles before you were a servant, that would
just develop pride. Look what I can do. Miracles with servanthood, that results
in praise.

God desires to work miracles in our lives sometimes, but often He can't find a
servant to work with. So, I want to give Him a servant to work with. That's one
of the keys.

Listen to what happens in 2 Kings 2, beginning in verse 1, "When the Lord was
about to take Elijah out to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on
their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, 'Stay here. The Lord has sent me
to Bethel.

' But Elisha said, 'As surely as the Lord lives, and as you live, I will not
leave you. ' So they went down to Bethel. The company of the prophets at Bethel
came out to Elisha and asked, 'Do you know that the Lord is going to take your
master from you today?

' 'Yes, I know,' Elisha replied, 'but do not speak of it. ' Then Elijah said to
him, 'Stay here, Elisha. The Lord has sent me to Jericho.

' And he replied, 'As surely as the Lord lives, and as you live, I will not
leave you. ' So they went to Jericho. The company of the prophets at Jericho
went up to Elisha and asked him, 'Do you know that the Lord is going to take
your master away from you today?

' 'Yes, I know,' he replied. 'But do not speak of it. ' Then Elijah said to him,
'Stay here, the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.

' And he replied, 'As surely as the Lord lives, and as you live, I will not
leave you. ' So the two of them walked on. So Elisha will not give up, even
though Elijah told him to give up three times.

He didn't stop back at Bethel or at Jericho. He went all the way with them to
the Jordan, which is where the miracle is going to happen. You know why many of
us never see miracles?

We never reach the Jordan. We stop at Bethel. We stop at Jericho.

We have a faith that goes the first mile. One mile, that's plenty of service to
the Lord. Somebody gives us an out.

Why don't you just stay here? That sounds pretty good. You know, I could rest
here, Elijah, you just go on, you know, pick me up on the way back.

And so we miss the miracle because we stop at Bethel. Where is God challenging
you to stretch and to grow in your faith? And are you listening at that place?

Are you stretching and growing in that place of faith? You see, we want to see
miracles oftentimes. We want to see them happen in our lives or through our
lives or even around us and other people's lives.

We want to see the miracles without the price of serving with tenacity. Moses
saw the Red Sea split after 40 years in the wilderness. He paid the price of
tenacity.

Joshua saw the walls of Jericho come tumbling down after a lifetime of
apprenticeship to Moses. He served with tenacity. Peter saw 3000 saved after
years of walking with Jesus.

He served with tenacity. Paul saw a vision of heaven after being beat with rods,
whipped with a lash, and stoned with boulders. He paid the price of serving with
tenacity.

Where do you see the miracles? If you look through the scripture, one of the
clearest teachings in scripture is, "Servants see the miracles. " Because we're
in the place where God is working.

The miracle isn't through who you are. The miracle is through who God is. And
when I'm in that place that no one else wants to go, that's obviously the place
I'm going to see the miracles because that's the scary place to go.

No one else wants to go there because they think nothing's going to happen
there. That is the unreasonable place to go. When I go to the places like Elisha
went all the way to the Jordan, when it didn't make sense to go all the way to
the Jordan, when I keep serving with tenacity because God has told me to serve
in that kind of way, then I begin to see the miracles.

Now tomorrow we're going to look at two more things from Elisha about where
miracles begin. And one of them, this idea of sensitivity, tells you and I how
we can serve in this kind of way because I don't want to serve in ways that God
doesn't want me to. So how do I be sensitive at where to serve with tenacity?

And God will show you. We're going to talk about that tomorrow. But for today,
as we end this day, I want to pray for us, I want to pray for you that God would
give you strength, strengthening spiritual muscles to serve him with the kind of
tenacity that Elisha had.

Lord, we come to you and we recognize humbly that we don't have the strength in
ourselves to serve you this kind of way. We need the strength of your spirit. We
need the strength of your love, of your grace in our lives.

Lord, keep us, even prevent us from trying to serve you with tenacity on our own
power. Instead, help us to hear you inviting us to be a faithful servant based
on your power. Because that's the power that's going to help us to serve in
places that we would never would have served, in places that don't make sense to
other people.

That's the power that's going to help us to serve in places where you're doing
miracles. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.