This past Sunday I preached at the Richvale Evangelical Free Church on the shift in our perspective from the visible world to also include the invisible, spiritual world. It was part of a series the church is going through, and I thought I’d share a few highlights from my study.
One of my favorite stories in the Bible is found in 2 Kings 6, when Elisha’s servant had his eyes opened so he could see not only the enemy Syrian army surrounding them, but also the much greater army of God. Likewise with us, we must have our eyes opened to see that “those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16) Africa has done an amazing job at opening my eyes to spiritual realities and being sensitive to the movement of God’s Spirit in engaging against our enemy. The story continues with Elisha praying that the enemy army would lose their sight even as his servant gained his sight. The Elisha promptly leads them directly to Samaria, the capital city of Israel, and shows that the God of Israel is mighty to save.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 reminds us that we can endure our present struggles in this life knowing there is something MUCH better coming, and so we must fix our eyes not on the seen of this world, but the unseen BUT VERY REAL spiritual world. This is how Christ “endured the cross with joy.” (Hebr.12:2) God promises he will help us in this journey. Is.41:10 – “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” 53 times in Bible God says, “I am with you,” or “I will be with you,” including Jesus’ last words.