28th June 2015: Wisdom is passionate - on fire for God 1*
The title of this morning is ‘Wisdom is passionate’ and we can begin by asking ourselves if it is
important, or not, to be on fire for God? Surely we are all in different places in this and our
passion can change along the journey of life – some of us may remember once being very
passionate about God, but maybe we don’t feel like that anymore; others may be becoming
more passionate as they grow older in faith - but does any of this matter?
Let’s consider a passage from 2 Kings 13. We begin with Jehoash, the king of Israel, paying his
last respects to Elisha, God’s prophet, who was on his death-bed. We know from earlier verses
that Jehoash was king for 16 years but he did evil in God’s eyes because he refused to turn from
the idolatrous sins of his forefathers. Yet this desire to honour God’s prophet and receive his
final blessing, opened him up to the grace of God once more.
2 Kings 13: says, When Elisha was in his last illness, King Jehoash of Israel visited him and wept
over him. ‘My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!’ he cried.
2* ‘Grab a bow and some arrows,’ Elisha told him, ‘and hold them in your hand.’ Jehoash
grabbed the bow and arrows and held them. Elisha placed his hand on the king’s hand and said,
‘Open the window facing east.’ When it was open, Elisha shouted, ‘Now shoot!’ Jehoash shot an
arrow and Elisha said, ‘That arrow is a sign that the Lord will help you completely defeat the
Syrian army at Aphek.’
3* Elisha said, ‘Pick up the arrows and hit the ground with them.’ Jehoash grabbed the arrows
and hit the ground three times, then stopped. Elisha became angry at the king and exclaimed,
‘If you had struck it five or six times, you would completely wipe out the Syrians. Now you will
defeat them only three times.’ Then Elisha died and was buried…
4* Picture of Elisha & Jehoash holding bow & arrow together. What do we learn from this?
Even though king Jehoash wasn’t actively following God, he recognized that His Prophet, and
God’s favour on him, was part of Israel’s defence - and with Elisha’s imminent death; Israel was
even more vulnerable to their enemies. The king of Aram’s armies had already captured
Israelite cities and oppressed the people, reducing their fighting men to only 50 horsemen, 10
chariots and 10,000 foot-soldiers. But his honouring of Elisha opened him up to God’s gracious
help and deliverance once again.
Elisha told the king to take an arrow and aim towards the east because the eastern land of
Gilead and Bashan was the most heavily invaded and occupied part of Israel by the Syrians.
When Elisha placed his hands over the king’s hands on the bow and arrow he was
communicating a very important message to the king.
5*Arrows shot into an area were sent as a declaration of war and victory - and it was important
for the king to know this arrow of victory was powered and directed by God Himself; victory
was not down to the king’s own strength, skill or resources and would rely solely upon
dependence on God. Elisha spelled this out clearly after the arrow had been shot saying, ‘That
arrow is a sign that the Lord will help you completely defeat the Syrian army at Aphek.’
Knowing arrows were signs of God-enabled victories over oppressive enemies, it is surprising
that Jehoash, when told to pick up the remaining arrows and hit the ground with them (clearly
another symbolic and prophetic act), chose to be so half-hearted in his response. Why didn’t he
think of all the Syrian raids, sieges, destruction and oppression and go to town in his response
to the man of God’s request? Where was the wisdom in his response?
The passage doesn’t tell us why, but it does tell us Elisha was frustrated and angry and he told
the king that his lukewarm, passionless response to God meant that Israel would only have a
partial victory over the Syrians – 3 battles won rather than the war. Elisha expended every last
drop of his energy and dying breath helping to ensure the king’s, and Israel’s, future success in
God, and in the land - for the king to effectively throw it away. It is hard to see God
opportunities forsaken for self-reliance, due to lack of wisdom and passion for God – because it
gives the enemy ground he should not have. Elisha’s final words were proved true:
6* 24 King Hazael of Aram died, and his son Ben-hadad became the next king. …Jehoash
defeated Ben-hadad on three occasions, and he recovered the Israelite towns [taken from his
father].
7* So we see that passion for God is a necessary part of wisdom, and it’s a necessary part of
victory over enemies. Passionless leaders are even more worrying, since they are unable to lead
with all wisdom and their actions and responses affect many others. I find this sobering as a
Church Leader and I ask you to pray for our team – but this doesn’t just apply to Church
Leadership!
It applies to all of us whose choices and actions affect others, and all those areas in life we are
responsible for – our communities, our families, our workplaces etc.
Joash wasn’t disobedient, just passionless and it cost the people dearly. We cannot afford to be
passionless especially if we are leading or influencing others. How can we remain passionate
and on fire for God and His mission?
8* 1. Understand the times we are in and align with God’s revealed words. Many of us as
individuals, and we as a church, are in challenging times. God is making us aware of heavenly
battles that must be fought and won, rather than responding to these things at face value –
He’s calling us to take authority in heavenly realms in prayer and warfare in order to see the
things we desire, and the things that God has spoken about, released. Eg It is time to go higher,
above situations on the ground and into heavenly warfare - The Sacred Space is essential to this
and says God is central to all we are and do and we will call upon Him first. - Warfare over 286
building.
9*God has said, ‘The enemy is three days ahead but if we prepare & hold hands, we can
outflank him in seven. Roger Ellis – Pioneer Conference 2015. This is why we are not seeing the
things God had promised: growth, salvation, breakthroughs in partnership, supernatural healing
etc.
This word has been weighed received and confirmed in other ways – it is a conditional word
that we must align with to see it fulfilled - so the Q for each of us is - how do I prepare and who
do I hold hands with to see this victory over the enemy?
10* 2. Depend on God’s anointing, strength and victory in testing times rather than selfreliance that leads us being overwhelmed, exiled and lukewarm/passionless.
Many are already feeling like this and are waiting for things to ease up or consolidate before
they feel able to become fully involved in advancing the Kingdom – the sad thing is – that time
may not come unless we ‘seek first the Kingdom of God and trust God to enable the rest for us.’
Remember Jesus’ response to the situations that were raised when he called disciples to follow
him:
11* Luke 9: 59-62: Jesus turned to another [disciple] and said, ‘come be my disciple.’ He
replied. ‘Some day I will Lord, but first let me fulfill my duty as a good son and wait until my
father passes away.’ Jesus told him, ‘don’t wait for your father’s burial. Let those who are
already dead wait for death. But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere that God’s Kingdom
has arrived.’ Still another said to him, ‘Lord I want to follow you too. But first let me go home
and say goodbye to my entire family.’ Jesus responded, ‘why do you keep looking backward to
your past and have second thoughts about following me? When you turn back you are useless
to the Kingdom realm of God.’
God does not want us to be irresponsible, uncaring people who don’t provide and care for
family members and others – the point He is making is – there will always be things to do – but
if we make it our priority to advance the Kingdom, God will enable the rest (and His anointing is
so much more effective than our strength and efforts).
12* Matthew 6:31-34: So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will
we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your
heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live
righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
There are battles we cannot ourselves win, no matter how many hours, programmes, resources
and sweat we put in – But God will see us victorious. This is about finding Him and His word and
aligning with it together.
13* Personal example – cannot breakthrough in areas but it’s time to rest and get words for
people. Person at CH. God’s word, declared and anointed is highly effective, especially against
the enemy who is contending for the things promised to us!
Jeremiah 23: 29: Does not my word burn like fire? Asks the Lord. Is it not like a mighty hammer
that smashes rock to pieces?
14* 3. Keep our eyes on the goal – to advance God’s Kingdom, displacing the kingdom of
darkness, releasing captives and training them to follow Christ is our all time goal (Matthew
28:19 The Great Commission)
In our passage, God’s hands empowered the arrow of victory, the king’s skills alone were
insufficient. We need to know where God is telling us to advance his Kingdom, align our arrow
with His word, and let Him empower us to shoot to save and win.
15* He trains my hands for battle; He strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow. You have
given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great.
Psalm 18: 34-35
It is not time to be passive or passionless; it matters that we stay and grow in passion for the
King and His Kingdom. God is saying to us ‘But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere that
God’s Kingdom has arrived.’
We are asking individuals and Connect Groups to look at this and ask the Q
16* Q. Where is God asking us to point our arrow and empowering us to advance His Kingdom?
Let’s align with God’s words; trust Him to empower us (and make provision for all other areas of
our lives) and keep our eyes on the goal – which is to take ground from the enemy and
powerfully advance the Kingdom, seeing many saved in the process.
CONNECT GROUP DISCUSSION & PRAYER POINTS:
Staying passionate for God & ensuring God’s victory in the presence of the enemy:
1. Understand the times and align with God’s word: What is our response to God’s word
about ‘preparing, holding hands and outflanking the enemy’ ?
2. Rely on God’s strength & anointing: How can we do this rather than taking control and
doing things in our own strength?
3. Keep our eyes on the goal: How can we stay focused on our mission to powerfully
advance the Kingdom and ‘Go and make disciples’ (Matthew 28:19), while trusting Him to
enable us to be responsible and caring towards our families etc?
Q. Where is God asking us to aim our arrow, empowering us to advance His Kingdom? Pray
together into these things and ask for His passion, empowerment and direction for mission.