1 00:00:01,040 --> 00:00:05,880 A few years ago my cousin died. He was a good bit older than me. 2 00:00:07,440 --> 00:00:10,560 In our last meeting, he told me a story. 3 00:00:11,280 --> 00:00:16,520 Story was about our aunt. That would be his father's 4 00:00:16,640 --> 00:00:20,080 sister, my mother's sister, our aunt. 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:27,120 Story takes place in 1955. My cousin is a freshman at the 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:32,040 Dubois Business College in the small town of Dubois, PA, 7 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,200 Western Pennsylvania, the town where I grew up. 8 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:38,240 My cousin is a freshman at the Dubois Business College. 9 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:43,000 He is walking down the street. This is before the days of air 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:46,160 conditioning, and he walks past a bar. 11 00:00:46,840 --> 00:00:51,120 The door is open. Inside the bar he hears a woman. 12 00:00:51,600 --> 00:00:55,400 She is boisterous. She is cackling, she's making a 13 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,400 fool of herself. She is loud, she's out of 14 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:02,800 control. She can be heard on the street. 15 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,240 My cousin walks by. He looks in the bar room and it 16 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:13,360 is our aunt. She was the town drunk. 17 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:21,360 That was 1955. Father in Heaven, I pray today 18 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:27,200 that you will enable me, Lord, please, to preach Your word with 19 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,960 accuracy. Lord, I pray that You would fill 20 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:32,960 me with Your Holy Spirit and enable me and help me. 21 00:01:32,960 --> 00:01:36,280 I pray that I would not just be reading words off of a page. 22 00:01:36,280 --> 00:01:39,280 But Lord, I pray that you would fill me with Your Holy Spirit 23 00:01:39,280 --> 00:01:43,840 and enable me to proclaim Your word so as to help Your people, 24 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:48,760 Lord, not only to teach them about restoration, but Lord, I 25 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:53,040 pray that you, more importantly today, would grant restoration 26 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:56,080 to these dear people through Your mighty power. 27 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,400 This we pray in Jesus name, Amen. 28 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:03,680 All right, a few observations before we get into the Word. 29 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:06,560 First of all, I would like to thank the men who came 30 00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,680 yesterday, devoted their day to listening to the Word. 31 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:13,720 And I would like to thank you wives and your mother's who gave 32 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,000 your men away yesterday to come and to hear the word. 33 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:20,640 I was very impressed by the maturity of the men who were 34 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,440 there yesterday. I was very, very encouraged. 35 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,720 Secondly, I would like to say thank you to Brandon and to 36 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:32,000 Hannah for housing me last night for the biscuit that I ate this 37 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:33,400 morning. It was glorious. 38 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:39,280 I have known Brandon since 2010 and what a joy it is to see this 39 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:43,720 young man who was once an intern and then an employee of our 40 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:48,000 church, now serving you so well. Brother, I just want to say that 41 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,760 I love you and I am excessively proud of you. 42 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:55,720 I know that you hit the jackpot. When got him, and I think you 43 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:59,960 know that as well. Also concerning the service that 44 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:04,440 happened this morning, I am still in awe of what I witnessed 45 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,720 this morning, how orderly it was, how thoughtful it was, what 46 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:11,960 an excellent job Michael did in leading the service this 47 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,320 morning. This is, I don't think that our 48 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:18,680 church is capable of doing this, but it certainly was enjoyable 49 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:23,000 for me to observe it. I was very blessed by the entire 50 00:03:23,000 --> 00:03:27,240 service up up to this point. Thank you so much for leading 51 00:03:27,240 --> 00:03:32,680 the service this morning. And then what is obvious to any 52 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:37,400 visitor that comes in the excessive amount of work that 53 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:41,920 goes into setting up. I think that you should give a 54 00:03:41,920 --> 00:03:46,120 special thank you verbally in person to those who are 55 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:48,960 responsible for setting up on Sunday mornings. 56 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:53,040 They put in a lot of work and it is a grace, great grace of God. 57 00:03:53,480 --> 00:03:58,080 And then something finally that is almost spooky and that is how 58 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:02,160 abnormally well behaved your children are during the worship 59 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,280 service. I'm not sure that they're 60 00:04:04,280 --> 00:04:06,520 actually real. They might be actors and 61 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,320 actresses that you have hired to impress me. 62 00:04:09,320 --> 00:04:13,440 But that was that was quite a blessing to see how the children 63 00:04:13,440 --> 00:04:16,040 sat through the worship service thus far. 64 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,240 So I bring you greetings from North Shore Baptist Church and I 65 00:04:20,279 --> 00:04:24,680 am really happy to be here this morning going to talk to you 66 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,680 today on the subject of restoration. 67 00:04:28,160 --> 00:04:31,920 Let me illustrate why restoration is needed. 68 00:04:32,480 --> 00:04:35,080 Few years ago I went for a haircut. 69 00:04:35,480 --> 00:04:39,600 I spoke to my Barber. He speaks very little English 70 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:44,800 and in speaking to him, I said, I need you to just cut a little 71 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:49,560 bit so that I can move what I have around so as to appear as 72 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,560 though I have hair. And the reason that I said that 73 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,440 to him, Nick, is because I'm not a quitter. 74 00:04:56,560 --> 00:04:58,880 OK, I'm going to. I'm going to fight this thing to 75 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:03,840 the end. Now as he is cutting my hair, a 76 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:07,120 friend of his walks in and sits behind him. 77 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:11,680 My Barber continues to cut my hair but to have a conversation 78 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,720 with the man sitting behind him, he is cutting my hair. 79 00:05:14,720 --> 00:05:17,360 I'm looking at my head because I have mirror in front of me. 80 00:05:17,480 --> 00:05:20,200 He is not looking at my head, he is cutting my hair. 81 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:24,200 And at the end of that I looked in the mirror and I said 82 00:05:24,200 --> 00:05:27,640 suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be. 83 00:05:27,640 --> 00:05:33,960 I am now in need of restoration. But we need restoration not only 84 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:39,280 with our hairstyles, we need a we need restoration in all areas 85 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:42,480 of life. Job put it best when he said man 86 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:45,960 born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. 87 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,040 All the King's horses and all the King's men are busy. 88 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:52,880 Entropy has an undefeated record. 89 00:05:53,200 --> 00:05:56,440 Fairy tale endings are reserved for fairy tales. 90 00:05:56,440 --> 00:06:00,320 And you know the reason why this is true is because of sin. 91 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,000 Through one man, sin entered the world, and death through sin, 92 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,000 and thus death spread to all men. 93 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:09,040 We in this world have finances which evaporate. 94 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:11,640 We have relationships which implode. 95 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,440 We have emotions which disintegrate. 96 00:06:14,920 --> 00:06:18,480 If you can replace a hip or a Fender or a roof in this fallen 97 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,680 world, you're going to make a very good living. 98 00:06:22,160 --> 00:06:24,840 The place where we need restoration the most is the 99 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:28,640 place where we feel it the least, and that is in our 100 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,760 relationship with God. We all need restoration. 101 00:06:33,840 --> 00:06:37,520 In order to illustrate this, I would like to tell you a Bible 102 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,520 story about restoration. It comes from Second Kings 103 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:43,800 chapter 8. Would ask please, that you would 104 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:47,520 take your copy of the Scripture and turn to 2nd Kings Chapter 8. 105 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,600 Here's what I'm going to do. I am going to read these verses. 106 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:54,240 As I read them, I'm going to make a bit of a running 107 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:58,080 commentary and then at the conclusion of the reading of 108 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:00,880 Scripture, I'm going to make 3 points and then we will be 109 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:03,360 finished. Let's look at the text of the 110 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:05,520 script. Sure, hear the word of the Lord, 111 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:11,680 Second Kings 8 verse one. Now Elisha, let's just stop 112 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:16,640 right there, Who was Elisha? Elisha was the one who came 113 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:20,800 after Elijah. Elisha was the most prolific 114 00:07:20,800 --> 00:07:24,040 miracle worker in the Bible apart from the Lord Jesus 115 00:07:24,040 --> 00:07:28,080 Christ. Now Elisha had said to the woman 116 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:32,720 whose son he had restored to life, Arise and depart with your 117 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:37,760 household and sojourn or temporarily travel wherever you 118 00:07:37,760 --> 00:07:38,920 can. Why? 119 00:07:39,280 --> 00:07:42,680 For the Lord has called for a famine, and it will come upon 120 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:46,200 the land for seven years. So the woman arose and did 121 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,200 according to the word of the man of God. 122 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:51,480 She went with her household and sojourn in the land of the 123 00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,920 Philistines 7 years. Who is the woman that is being 124 00:07:55,920 --> 00:07:58,920 referred to here? She's commonly called the 125 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:01,520 Shunamite woman. We are introduced to her back in 126 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:05,640 Second Kings chapter 4. As she was a very generous and a 127 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:11,400 hospitable and benevolent woman. She knew that the prophet Elijah 128 00:08:11,400 --> 00:08:15,400 would be passing through her region frequently and so she 129 00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,400 said to her husband, why don't we build A room on top of our 130 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:20,920 house so that the prophet will have somewhere to stay. 131 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:24,080 So they built those accommodations and whenever 132 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,840 Elijah would come through that way, he would have a place to 133 00:08:26,840 --> 00:08:29,720 sleep. Elisha was very appreciative of 134 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:32,919 this and he said to the woman, you've done so much for me, what 135 00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:35,520 can I do for you? The woman said, I have 136 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:37,679 everything that I need. I dwell among my people. 137 00:08:37,679 --> 00:08:39,360 You don't have to do anything for me. 138 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:45,000 But the assistant of Elisha, a man by the name of Ghazi, that 139 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:48,360 is the Western Pennsylvania pronunciation of that properly 140 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:50,720 you would say Ghazi, but I will say Ghazi. 141 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:53,680 Ghazi said, I know what the woman needs. 142 00:08:54,160 --> 00:08:57,840 She's getting a little bit older and her husband is already old 143 00:08:57,840 --> 00:08:59,320 and they don't have any children. 144 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:03,120 So Elisha says to the woman, next year at this time, you're 145 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:05,760 going to have a son. Fade in, fade out. 146 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:07,760 A year later, the little boy is born. 147 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:10,680 Little boy grows up. He's out in the field one day 148 00:09:10,680 --> 00:09:13,560 working with his father. He begins to complain of a 149 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:18,560 headache, comes into the house, crawls up on his mother's lap, 150 00:09:18,600 --> 00:09:22,680 and there, without warning, he dies in her arms. 151 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:27,520 The woman lifts the child, walks up the stairs into Elisha's 152 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:34,080 bedroom, lays the child on the bed, and then travels 16 miles 153 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:40,800 to Mount Carmel where Elisha is. When she greets him, she tells 154 00:09:40,800 --> 00:09:43,920 him what is going on. And Elijah was probably a little 155 00:09:43,920 --> 00:09:48,800 bit older at the time, not as fleet a foot as Gehezy says to 156 00:09:48,800 --> 00:09:51,560 Gehezy. Here is my staff, take it. 157 00:09:51,560 --> 00:09:54,960 Go back to Shunam, go into the bedroom, lay the staff across 158 00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,440 the child. Don't talk to anybody along the 159 00:09:57,440 --> 00:10:00,920 way, just run as fast as you can and get there quickly. 160 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:04,840 Gehezy goes into the bedroom, lays the staff across the child 161 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:08,560 and nothing happens. Elisha and the woman make the 162 00:10:08,560 --> 00:10:14,320 journey more slowly back to Shunam and Elisha goes into the 163 00:10:14,320 --> 00:10:17,880 bedroom with the child and in what is arguably the most 164 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:22,080 unusual prayer meeting in all the Bible raises the child to 165 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:25,760 life and gives the little boy back to his mother. 166 00:10:25,760 --> 00:10:28,880 That is the woman that is being referred to here now. 167 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,400 Sometime later, the Lord revealed to Elisha that because 168 00:10:33,400 --> 00:10:37,120 of the covenant unfaithfulness of the people of Israel, there 169 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:40,480 was going to be a famine which was going to last for seven 170 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:43,240 years. Consider the magnitude of this 171 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,200 famine. Back in First Kings chapter 17, 172 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:50,360 there was a famine which lasted for three years and six months. 173 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:52,600 And during that time people were dying. 174 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:55,200 So if you double that time, there is no way that you're 175 00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,560 going to be able to stay in the land and survive. 176 00:10:57,560 --> 00:11:01,640 And so Elisha says to the woman in an act of kindness, you've 177 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:03,840 got to get out of here. And so the woman and her 178 00:11:03,840 --> 00:11:07,800 household move from there and go to the land of the Philistines 179 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,360 for seven years. That is the woman that is being 180 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:15,760 referred to here, verse 3. And at the end of seven years, 181 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:20,000 when the woman returned from the land of the Philistines, she 182 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:23,080 went to appeal to the king for her house and her land. 183 00:11:23,120 --> 00:11:28,640 Apparently, while she was gone, someone confiscated her property 184 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:30,520 and it appears to have been the government. 185 00:11:30,800 --> 00:11:35,000 Nothing ever changes and she now goes to the king and says I want 186 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:37,120 my house back. I want my farm back, I want my 187 00:11:37,120 --> 00:11:40,480 land back. Which brings us to verse 4. 188 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,120 Now I can read the English words of verse 4. 189 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,440 I can tell you what these words mean. 190 00:11:46,600 --> 00:11:49,040 But here's what I'm not going to be able to do for you this 191 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:51,360 morning. I am not going to be able to 192 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:55,000 explain to you the why of verse four. 193 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:58,960 I think it is one of the most bizarre, unusual verses in all 194 00:11:58,960 --> 00:12:01,600 the Bible. Like, I don't know why it 195 00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:03,360 happened. I believe that it did happen, 196 00:12:03,760 --> 00:12:07,440 but it is really crazy. Look at verse 4. 197 00:12:07,960 --> 00:12:10,760 Now the king. Let's just stop right there. 198 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:15,960 The king is King Jehoram. He is the grandson of Ahab and 199 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,600 Jezebel, and the apple has not fallen far from the tree. 200 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,320 He is a wicked and idolatrous king. 201 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:26,080 The king of Israel, the northern Kingdom of Israel. 202 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,840 Now the king was talking with Gehazy. 203 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:33,480 Why was Gehazy available for a conversation? 204 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,160 Well, he was available for a conversation because he was no 205 00:12:36,160 --> 00:12:38,280 longer in the ministry. And the reason he was no longer 206 00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,520 in the ministry is because he was now defrocked. 207 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:45,240 He had been kicked out of the ministry and he was now a leper. 208 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:48,240 And the reason that this has happened is because he tried to 209 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:52,040 extort money from a Syrian general by the name of Naaman. 210 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,800 Now the king was talking with Ghazi, the servant of the man of 211 00:12:55,800 --> 00:13:00,840 God, saying, Tell me all the great things that Elisha has 212 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:03,640 done. This is really out of the 213 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:08,040 ordinary that this Pagan king would wake up one day and speak 214 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,680 to the leprous defrocked clergyman Ghazi and say, I want 215 00:13:12,680 --> 00:13:15,680 you to tell me all of the great things that God has done through 216 00:13:15,680 --> 00:13:19,440 the hand of Elisha. The reason this is really out of 217 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:24,600 place is because first of all, this king hated Elisha and on 218 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:26,440 multiple occasions tried to kill him. 219 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:31,000 Secondly, this king was actually present for some of the 220 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:33,920 miracles. Why he woke up one day and 221 00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:38,240 wanted this information I cannot tell you, but it is a key 222 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:42,200 ingredient in bringing restoration to this woman. 223 00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:48,120 Now look very closely at verse 5 and pay special attention to the 224 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:57,640 second English word in verse 5. And while WHILE while he gehezy, 225 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:02,640 was telling the king how Elisha had restored the dead to life. 226 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:06,920 Behold, or in other words, paint a picture in your mind's eye. 227 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,400 Behold the woman. This is the Shunamite woman 228 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:16,320 whose son he had restored to life, appealed to the king for 229 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:21,360 her house and for her land. And Ghazi said, my Lord, O king, 230 00:14:21,440 --> 00:14:26,960 here is the woman and here is her son, whom Elijah restored to 231 00:14:27,280 --> 00:14:30,200 life. Get the picture? 232 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:35,040 Ghazi is wakened up and he's told the king wants to talk to 233 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:37,560 you. He goes before the king says, 234 00:14:37,560 --> 00:14:39,320 how can I help you? And the king says, yeah, I'm 235 00:14:39,320 --> 00:14:41,400 just curious. Can you just give me a rundown 236 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,400 of all the great deeds that Elijah has done? 237 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:47,440 He says why? I don't even know where to 238 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:49,520 begin. I I suppose I could begin at the 239 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:53,960 beginning on the other side of the Jordan when we were there 240 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:58,200 and Elijah got taken up into heaven and his mantle fell. 241 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,240 You remember swing low, sweet chariot coming forward to carry 242 00:15:01,240 --> 00:15:04,840 me home. His mantle fell upon Elisha. 243 00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:09,520 He caught it. He used it to part the waters of 244 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:11,600 the Jordan River. He walked to the other side. 245 00:15:11,800 --> 00:15:14,360 When he got to the other side, he was in Jericho and the water 246 00:15:14,360 --> 00:15:16,680 was bitter. He like salt, he throws it in 247 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:18,640 the water. It becomes sweet from there. 248 00:15:18,640 --> 00:15:21,200 He walks on to Bethel. As he's walking on to Bethel, 249 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,240 there are some young people that are mocking him. 250 00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:27,440 And lo and behold, what happens? Some bear come out of the woods 251 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:29,360 and maul the people that were mocking him. 252 00:15:29,480 --> 00:15:32,000 There was another Cajun king. You yourself were there. 253 00:15:32,000 --> 00:15:33,800 You know it. We went on that military 254 00:15:33,800 --> 00:15:35,680 expedition. We didn't have any water. 255 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:38,320 We were dying of thirst. And without the aid of river, 256 00:15:38,320 --> 00:15:41,120 without the aid of rain, he produced water. 257 00:15:41,360 --> 00:15:44,960 Our thirst was quenched. It gave the optical illusion of 258 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:46,640 blood. Our our enemies came out and we 259 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:48,360 defeated him. You, you already know that, 260 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:50,080 king. There was another time we were 261 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,680 down at the Jordan River and we had an axe. 262 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:55,960 It was a borrowed axe. Somebody was chopping the tree 263 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,600 and the axe head fell off, sunk into the water, sunk to the 264 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,280 bottom of the Jordan River. Along comes Elijah with a stick. 265 00:16:03,280 --> 00:16:06,360 He waves the stick over the water and in an axe head 266 00:16:06,360 --> 00:16:08,680 floated. There was another occasion when 267 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:12,800 we were getting ready to eat and some knucklehead through bitter 268 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,680 herbs into the Stew. It was poisonous. 269 00:16:15,680 --> 00:16:18,240 And along comes Elijah. He puts a little bit of flour in 270 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:21,640 and the Stew becomes edible. There were so many. 271 00:16:21,680 --> 00:16:26,880 One time, one time, King, he actually blinded an entire army. 272 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,360 There are so many miracles. I, I, I can't tell you all of 273 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:34,920 them, but by far the greatest miracle, the strangest miracle 274 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:39,760 that ever happened, there was this this boy over in Shunam. 275 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:42,960 I'm telling you, King, the, the, the boy wasn't sick. 276 00:16:42,960 --> 00:16:44,480 He wasn't injured, he wasn't wounded. 277 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:46,080 He, he was dead. He was cold. 278 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,160 He was dead. And, and Elijah comes into the 279 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:51,120 bedroom and he lays on top of the boy. 280 00:16:51,480 --> 00:16:59,320 And King, it was the that's him and that's his mother. 281 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:09,040 While WHILE while he was talking to the king about the boy and 282 00:17:09,040 --> 00:17:12,599 his mother, the boy and his mother walked into the presence 283 00:17:12,599 --> 00:17:16,040 of the king. Now the king at this point 284 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:19,880 thinks probably that it is choreographed. 285 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:24,240 So he needs to corroborate and make sure that this actually is 286 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:27,640 is factual. And so in verse 6, notice the 287 00:17:27,640 --> 00:17:29,800 restoration and how it comes about. 288 00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:33,680 And when the king asked the woman, he quizzed the woman. 289 00:17:33,680 --> 00:17:36,480 He says it is this. So when the king asked the 290 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:40,400 woman, she told him. So what did this wicked 291 00:17:40,400 --> 00:17:44,160 idolatrous king do? So the king appointed an 292 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:49,240 official for her saying restore, that's our word for the day. 293 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:53,840 Restore all that was hers together with the produce of the 294 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:56,240 fields from the day that she left the land until now. 295 00:17:56,240 --> 00:17:58,160 In other words, give her her house back. 296 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,760 Give give her her land back. And anything that would have 297 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:04,000 grown on that property during the last seven years, that is 298 00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:07,080 completely to be restored to her in full right now. 299 00:18:07,080 --> 00:18:14,360 But that is our Bible story. From this I would like us to 300 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:21,160 derive 3 points of. The first is this #1 the 301 00:18:21,160 --> 00:18:28,120 glorious doctrine of restoration is controlled by the design of 302 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:30,560 Providence. The glorious doctrine of 303 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:34,360 restoration is controlled by the design of Providence. 304 00:18:34,840 --> 00:18:40,560 And by that I mean the confluence of of this man 305 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:44,400 talking about this woman and this boy and this woman and this 306 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:47,400 boy walking into the room at the exact time. 307 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:51,360 The Providence of God. What is the Providence of God? 308 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:54,680 Well, quite simply, it is the fact that God has absolute 309 00:18:54,680 --> 00:18:59,520 control over all things. He is orchestrating the movement 310 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:04,040 of the largest planet and the smallest molecule and everything 311 00:19:04,040 --> 00:19:08,080 in between. He's got the whole world in His 312 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,040 hands. Or if you want to think about it 313 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:14,600 in this way, he has a lock. LOCK on all things. 314 00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:19,160 He limits, orders, controls, and knows everything. 315 00:19:19,880 --> 00:19:23,760 The Abstract of Principles from the Southern Baptist Seminary in 316 00:19:23,760 --> 00:19:27,000 Louisville, KY. Article 4 puts it this way. 317 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:33,840 God from eternity decrees or permits all things that come to 318 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:38,960 pass, all things that come to pass, and perpetually upholds, 319 00:19:39,120 --> 00:19:44,120 directs, and governs all creatures and all events. 320 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:49,120 End Quote and well said. Presbyterians are much more 321 00:19:49,120 --> 00:19:52,320 succinct. They say God ordains whatsoever 322 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:56,400 comes to pass. You see, God is in control. 323 00:19:56,400 --> 00:19:59,360 And since God is in control, there are some practical 324 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:05,640 implications for us. The first is that if God is God 325 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:10,240 and he is in control, there is therefore now no such thing as 326 00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,640 luck. The God of the Bible and luck 327 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:18,000 cannot exist simultaneously. He is in charge of everything 328 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:20,600 that is happening. Nothing is random. 329 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,880 It is common for young people today when they see something 330 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:29,360 happening which is out of the ordinary, they will say this 331 00:20:29,360 --> 00:20:33,520 phrase, oh, that was so random. Well, I understand what they 332 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,960 mean in that it was out of the ordinary, but it was far from 333 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,920 random. It it was all by design. 334 00:20:39,920 --> 00:20:42,360 Everything that happens is by design. 335 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:46,880 Christian young people will say something like this, something 336 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,480 good happens. They will say that was such a 337 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:52,800 God thing. Now I don't want to argue with 338 00:20:52,800 --> 00:20:55,360 them and say that it was not a God thing. 339 00:20:55,360 --> 00:20:58,040 I would simply like them to point out something that he's 340 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,640 not a God thing. All things, by definition are 341 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:05,040 God things. Seeing as how God ordains all 342 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,840 things, He is in control of everything through divine 343 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:11,960 Providence. Let's just do the math on this 344 00:21:11,960 --> 00:21:16,120 for a second. It was 7 years, but roughly 345 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:20,360 25150 days. What are the mathematical odds? 346 00:21:20,360 --> 00:21:23,040 I'm in a college town here. There are some bright minds. 347 00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:25,240 There are some bright mathematical minds in the room 348 00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:28,000 right near now. What are the mathematical odds 349 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:34,320 that after 25150 days, on the exact day, at the exact hour, at 350 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:40,280 the exact moment when Ghazi would be talking about the woman 351 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:44,160 and her son, at that moment she would walk into that room? 352 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:52,880 Can you calculate it? There's a horse race in Kentucky 353 00:21:54,000 --> 00:21:56,320 first Saturday in May every year. 354 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,600 A few years ago there was a horse that won that race and the 355 00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:04,840 odds of that horse winning the race were 82 to one. 356 00:22:07,360 --> 00:22:10,680 What are we looking at here? 83 to 1? 357 00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:15,240 Or maybe the odds are better, like 100 to 1. 358 00:22:15,960 --> 00:22:19,640 Or maybe the odds are even better, a billion to 1. 359 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:21,920 So you're telling me there's a chance? 360 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:26,320 No, there is no way to calculate the odds on this. 361 00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:29,120 The odds are 0. The probability of this 362 00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:33,320 happening is 0. Unless someone is directing 363 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,920 traffic. And the point of my sermon today 364 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:40,000 is that restoration comes about because someone is directing 365 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:45,600 traffic and that someone is God. Providence is a friend to 366 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,080 restoration. Now let me be clear, I'm not a 367 00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:51,960 fatalist. I fully believe that you make 368 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:56,440 volitional choices which are uncoerced, but at the same time 369 00:22:56,440 --> 00:23:00,760 you need to know that you are exactly where you are, both 370 00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:04,520 literally sitting in that chair. That is where you have been 371 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:09,240 ordained to be, and you are where you are figuratively in 372 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:13,800 life by the design of Providence. 373 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:17,440 Let me tell you a story about a friend of mine. 374 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:22,200 I had a friend. He lived in another state and 375 00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:25,640 for many years I tried to evangelize this man 376 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:29,760 unsuccessfully and he had several things going against 377 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:32,560 him. A number 1, he was from a Jewish 378 00:23:32,560 --> 00:23:36,600 background and so therefore he had an aversion through his 379 00:23:36,600 --> 00:23:38,600 family upbringing to Jesus Christ. 380 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,760 Secondly, he was from a scientific background and was 381 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:48,360 raised as an atheist so did not believe in God because of his 382 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:52,240 scientific background. His third problem is that he was 383 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:58,240 a heroin addict and #4 he was sometimes on and off homeless. 384 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:03,920 Well, as the story goes, on one of his homeless stints he was 385 00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:09,720 high on heroin, walked into the street and was struck by a car. 386 00:24:10,360 --> 00:24:14,720 He was taken to the hospital and when he arrived at the hospital 387 00:24:14,720 --> 00:24:17,960 and was given his hospital gown, it was discovered that the 388 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,640 clothes that he was wearing were unwearable. 389 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:24,560 They were filthy and so his clothes were thrown away and he 390 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:28,680 for the next 8 weeks was in this hospital in a hospital gown. 391 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:34,120 Now, Providence, you remember Providence, Providence had it 392 00:24:34,640 --> 00:24:38,480 that there was a nurse who was taking care of him every day. 393 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:42,840 At the time, this nurse was not a Christian, but she was a very 394 00:24:43,120 --> 00:24:46,640 compassionate young lady and she loved this man. 395 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:48,880 So he is in there. He's being cared for. 396 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:52,160 His wounds, he's being dried out from his heroin addiction. 397 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:55,160 He's in this hospital. He spends the eight weeks there. 398 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,240 He's being cared for by this nurse and it's time for him to 399 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,040 leave and to go to a rehab center. 400 00:25:03,360 --> 00:25:05,440 When it's time for him to go, it is discovered that he doesn't 401 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:08,760 have any clothes. So this nurse goes to one of her 402 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,480 mother's friends who's roughly the same size as this man and 403 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:15,280 says can you give me some clothes so that he will have 404 00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,320 something to wear to the rehab center. 405 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,800 And this man gladly gives his clothes. 406 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:23,760 He goes to the rehab center and he calls me and he says you're 407 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,520 not going to believe where I have been for the last 8 weeks. 408 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:32,520 And he tells me the story as Providence would have it, the 409 00:25:32,520 --> 00:25:37,120 town where he was in the rehab center, which was in another 410 00:25:37,120 --> 00:25:41,840 state from me and was 40 miles away from this hospital, the 411 00:25:41,840 --> 00:25:46,240 town happened to be a town where I knew several Christians. 412 00:25:46,680 --> 00:25:50,440 And so I formed a text thread amongst my Christian friends, 413 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:53,520 about 10 of them or so. And I said, listen, I know that 414 00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:56,560 life is busy and you have a lot of things to take care of in 415 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:59,560 your own life. But if you have an opportunity, 416 00:25:59,920 --> 00:26:03,880 could you please go by such and such a nursing home or a rehab 417 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,720 center and visit this man and bring him the gospel. 418 00:26:08,240 --> 00:26:13,800 Moments later a woman in that text thread said, I know exactly 419 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:18,240 who this man is. My daughter is a nurse and she 420 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:20,880 has been taking care of him for the last 8 weeks. 421 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,360 She loves this man. She is very compassionate toward 422 00:26:24,360 --> 00:26:26,920 him. I know who he is. 423 00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:32,080 Moments later, Chris, the man who had donated his clothes, 424 00:26:32,760 --> 00:26:37,400 jumped in on the text thread and said, On my way to the rehab 425 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,800 center now, don't know this man, don't know what he looks like. 426 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:45,120 I'll just go in and look for the guy who's wearing my clothes. 427 00:26:47,400 --> 00:26:51,080 Over the course of the next couple of months, my friends 428 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,960 maniacally visited him and brought him the gospel. 429 00:26:55,240 --> 00:27:01,680 Initially he was resistant, but the light came on one day and 430 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:09,360 when he discovered that the mathematical probabilities of 431 00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:15,680 all of this happening, he said there is no way that my friend's 432 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,760 friend's mother's daughter would take care of me and that the 433 00:27:18,760 --> 00:27:22,920 clothes on my back belong to a friend of yours. 434 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:28,120 He said there must be a God, and when he concluded that there 435 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:32,160 must be a God, the House of Cards crumbled and he concluded 436 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:38,480 that Jesus is the Son of God and he was gloriously and radically 437 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:40,280 saved. Why? 438 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:47,280 Through the biblical doctrine of Providence, God uses Providence 439 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:50,800 to bring about restoration. So I just want to give you some 440 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,440 comfort right now. You might be asking yourself, 441 00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:57,120 what am I doing? What am I doing in life? 442 00:27:57,120 --> 00:28:02,000 Why am I where I am right now? Is there any purpose to this? 443 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,120 Is it all just random? And I want to say to you, no, 444 00:28:05,120 --> 00:28:07,680 it's not random. There is someone who is 445 00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:12,760 directing traffic and in His Providence He is using, He is 446 00:28:12,760 --> 00:28:19,040 using all events and all people to bring about His glory and 447 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:23,360 your good. Which brings us to point #2 and 448 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:26,560 that is that the glorious doctrine of restoration is 449 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:31,320 communicated most effectively in the context of pain. 450 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:35,120 Pain. Point #2 is pain. 451 00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:38,920 What was the greatest pain that this woman ever felt? 452 00:28:38,920 --> 00:28:41,240 Well, I don't even want to think about it very long. 453 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:46,200 It was the death of her son. But play it out. 454 00:28:46,560 --> 00:28:50,840 If her son doesn't die, then her son doesn't rise from the dead. 455 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,120 And if her son doesn't rise from the dead, the king would be 456 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:57,800 unmoved. This woman walks into the 457 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:00,440 presence of the king and interrupts the king. 458 00:29:00,920 --> 00:29:03,040 He would say to her, who are you? 459 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:06,440 And she would say, my land, my property has been taken from me. 460 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:09,920 And the king would say, woman, get in line, we have just had a 461 00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,040 seven-year drought, I can't help you. 462 00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:16,720 That which moved the hand of this wicked king was the fact 463 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:20,920 that he witnessed a boy who had been dead but was now alive. 464 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:23,720 But unless you die, you can't come back to life. 465 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:29,480 But let me be very sympathetic right now and say I want to 466 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:33,440 acknowledge that pain by definition is painful. 467 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:36,800 Not trying to be redundant. I know that we live in a fallen 468 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:39,560 world where there is such a thing as pain. 469 00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,680 And I want to be sympathetic to your pain. 470 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:45,440 And I don't know what your pain is. 471 00:29:46,040 --> 00:29:48,880 Maybe you're sitting beside someone right now and you are 472 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:53,560 contemplating divorce. Maybe you don't know where the 473 00:29:53,560 --> 00:29:56,360 money is going to come from at the end of this month to pay 474 00:29:56,360 --> 00:29:58,400 your rent. Maybe you are going through 475 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:01,120 depression. Maybe cancer is currently 476 00:30:01,120 --> 00:30:04,720 galloping through your body. I don't know what your pain is. 477 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:07,240 But you're living in the same world that I'm living in. 478 00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:10,120 And we live in a world that is filled with pain. 479 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:15,360 I just want to point out to you today that in God's process of 480 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:19,120 restoration, pain is not meaningless. 481 00:30:19,840 --> 00:30:22,000 Let's consider the story of Joseph. 482 00:30:24,400 --> 00:30:27,800 If Joseph is not the favorite and he doesn't get the coat of 483 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:29,680 many colors. If he doesn't get the coat of 484 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:32,560 many colors, then his brothers don't hate him. 485 00:30:32,840 --> 00:30:34,360 They don't hate him. They don't sell him into 486 00:30:34,360 --> 00:30:35,760 slavery. If they don't sell him into 487 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,960 slavery, he doesn't go to Egypt. He doesn't go to Egypt. 488 00:30:38,960 --> 00:30:41,520 He doesn't meet Potiphar. If he doesn't meet Potiphar, he 489 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:43,680 doesn't meet Potiphar's wife. If he doesn't meet Potiphar's 490 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:46,720 wife, he doesn't get falsely accused of rape. 491 00:30:46,760 --> 00:30:48,920 If he doesn't get accused of rape, he doesn't go to jail. 492 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:51,000 If he doesn't go to jail, he doesn't meet the cupbearer. 493 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:53,320 If he doesn't meet the cupbearer, then he doesn't 494 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:55,600 interpret the cupbearer's dream. If he doesn't interpret the 495 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,880 cupbearer's dream, then the cupbearer doesn't know that he 496 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,640 can interpret dreams. So when Pharaoh has his big 497 00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:02,960 dream, you remember the big dream of the seven years of 498 00:31:02,960 --> 00:31:04,960 plenty followed by the seven years of famine. 499 00:31:05,320 --> 00:31:08,760 If that dream is not interpreted, then they're going 500 00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:11,880 to squander the produce from the seven years of plenty. 501 00:31:11,880 --> 00:31:15,040 And if that happens, then the people in that region of the 502 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:17,640 world are going to die. And if people in that region of 503 00:31:17,640 --> 00:31:20,520 the world are going to die, then his family is going to die. 504 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,240 And if his family dies, his brother Judah is going to die. 505 00:31:23,240 --> 00:31:25,720 And if his brother Judah dies, there's no King David. 506 00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:28,560 If there's no King David, there's no King David's greater 507 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:30,440 son. If there's no King David's 508 00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,600 greater son, Jesus Christ, you're going to hell, and so am 509 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:36,920 I. But put all of those things 510 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,000 together, and many of them are painful. 511 00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:44,720 In the end, it leads to what restoration? 512 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:49,840 Now, if you put blinders on Joseph in any segment of that 513 00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:53,640 story, let's just say, for example, we are talking to 514 00:31:53,800 --> 00:31:57,800 Joseph and he is in prison for a crime that he did not commit, 515 00:31:57,960 --> 00:32:00,360 and he has been forgotten for two years. 516 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:04,640 And you interview him and you say to him what's going on right 517 00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:08,720 now There would be cause and there would be reason for 518 00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:13,120 bitterness. But when you lift off in your 519 00:32:13,120 --> 00:32:18,920 Romans 828 helicopter and you see that God causes all things 520 00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:21,960 to work together for good, including the pain that we are 521 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,400 going through to those who are the called according to his 522 00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:29,920 purpose for those who love God. Then when your brothers come to 523 00:32:29,920 --> 00:32:34,200 you at the end of the story and they give their half hearted 524 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:39,280 apology, you can say to them sincerely, you meant it for 525 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:41,040 evil. I'm not giving you a pass on 526 00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:44,200 this. You, you guys really are bad. 527 00:32:44,400 --> 00:32:46,960 You meant it for evil. But there is something greater 528 00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,560 at play here. And so I'm not going to be 529 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:53,400 vindictive toward you. You meant it for evil, but God 530 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:56,480 meant it for good to bring it about this day, to save many 531 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:58,920 people alive. And he himself didn't even know 532 00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,160 the magnitude of that at the time. 533 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,440 But none of it happens without the pain. 534 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,600 Consider the greatest pain that the world has ever known. 535 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:19,600 For six hours the spotless Son of God is hanging on a cross. 536 00:33:20,680 --> 00:33:25,640 Prior to hanging on that cross, they flog him, and they jerk out 537 00:33:25,640 --> 00:33:29,720 his beard, and they put upon him a crown of thorns, and they 538 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:33,480 place a Reed in his hand. And then they take the Reed out 539 00:33:33,480 --> 00:33:37,960 of his hand, and they strike him on the head, pounding the thorns 540 00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:42,840 into his skull. Isaiah says his visage was 541 00:33:42,840 --> 00:33:45,440 marred more than any man. In other words, he doesn't even 542 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:50,200 look like a human being. He bore in his body our sins 543 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:53,440 upon the tree. This is pain, but it's not just 544 00:33:53,440 --> 00:33:55,520 the physical pain that Jesus endured. 545 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:58,000 There was something far worse than that, and that was the 546 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,840 spiritual pollution that He endured. 547 00:34:01,200 --> 00:34:04,520 We're all like sheep, we've all gone astray, but the Lord hath 548 00:34:04,520 --> 00:34:09,280 laid upon him the iniquity of us all, that he who knew no sin 549 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:14,239 became sin for us. And so He is suffering in His 550 00:34:14,239 --> 00:34:16,920 body. He is bearing our sins, but 551 00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:23,679 worse, worse than that is the payment that He makes for our 552 00:34:23,679 --> 00:34:28,719 sins, and that is that God the Father is pleased to crush him 553 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:33,840 and that for six hours on the cross God the Father hammers him 554 00:34:33,840 --> 00:34:37,000 to death. The full vented wrath of God is 555 00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:40,159 spent on him to the point where Christ cries out. 556 00:34:40,400 --> 00:34:43,480 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 557 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,520 Such pain the world has never known. 558 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:52,880 But what is that pain? That pain is your salvation. 559 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:55,800 It's not just an ingredient in your salvation. 560 00:34:55,920 --> 00:34:59,680 It is the essence of your salvation, the just for the 561 00:34:59,680 --> 00:35:02,720 unjust, in order that he might bring us to God. 562 00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:07,080 Do you understand that we today are restored and will be 563 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:10,840 eternally restored because of the pain which Jesus endured on 564 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:14,880 the cross? God uses pain to bring about 565 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:25,360 restoration point #3 And finally, the glorious doctrine 566 00:35:25,360 --> 00:35:31,280 of restoration must be accompanied with a demonstration 567 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:34,520 of divine power. The glorious doctrine of 568 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:38,360 restoration must be accompanied with a demonstration of divine 569 00:35:38,360 --> 00:35:43,320 power, specifically here, the power of a risen sun. 570 00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:49,120 You see, the only reason why the king was willing to restore her 571 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:52,320 property, It, it had nothing to do with sympathy. 572 00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:55,560 It, it had nothing to do with justice. 573 00:35:56,280 --> 00:35:58,440 It it it had nothing to do with equity. 574 00:35:58,640 --> 00:36:01,280 There was a reason that this wicked king was willing to 575 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:04,880 restore her property. It was because her previously 576 00:36:04,880 --> 00:36:09,720 dead son was now alive and was standing by her side. 577 00:36:10,880 --> 00:36:14,040 Let me speak to you about this objectively and then 578 00:36:14,040 --> 00:36:16,440 subjectively, and then we will be done. 579 00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:20,520 Think about what is happening here objectively, and I will 580 00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,160 make the argument from the lesser to the greater. 581 00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:29,720 If a wicked, idolatrous king, hearing the testimony of a 582 00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:34,200 leprous, defrocked clergyman, was willing to grant total 583 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:39,520 restoration to a woman that he didn't even know, based solely 584 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:43,440 upon the appearance of a boy who was dead but was now alive, but 585 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:47,040 a boy who would eventually die and die permanently if that 586 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:50,600 happened, that's the lesser. Here's the greater. 587 00:36:50,880 --> 00:36:57,360 How much more will a good, loving, eternal, intentional God 588 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:02,760 not grant ultimate eternal restoration to his elect when he 589 00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:09,240 sees his perfect, eternal Son standing by our side, proof of 590 00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:12,880 our justification. A son who was dead, but a son 591 00:37:12,880 --> 00:37:16,760 who is now alive, alive, alive forever more. 592 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:20,240 In other words, before the throne of God above. 593 00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:23,160 I have a strong and perfect plea. 594 00:37:23,400 --> 00:37:28,800 And God the Just is satisfied to look at him and to pardon or to 595 00:37:28,800 --> 00:37:33,080 restore me. Brothers and sisters, I want you 596 00:37:33,080 --> 00:37:35,800 to see this more than anything else that I'm saying this 597 00:37:35,800 --> 00:37:40,360 morning. Jehoram was not looking at that 598 00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,440 woman at all. She was irrelevant. 599 00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:49,480 That woman walked into his presence and he said, who are 600 00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:51,240 you? She said, I'm a woman whose 601 00:37:51,240 --> 00:37:53,800 property has been taken away, and I believe it should be 602 00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:55,040 restored to me. Yeah. 603 00:37:55,040 --> 00:37:58,960 Why is that? Because I am a benevolent woman. 604 00:37:59,680 --> 00:38:04,200 Because I am a generous woman. I I I built a room for the 605 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:07,640 prophet Elisha. The king would say to her, I 606 00:38:07,640 --> 00:38:10,640 ought to have you imprisoned. I hate that prophet. 607 00:38:11,160 --> 00:38:14,600 In other words, your righteousness is like filthy 608 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:17,200 rags. It means nothing in this court. 609 00:38:18,840 --> 00:38:25,360 No, the woman comes in and her plea from beginning to end has 610 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:27,800 nothing to do with her and her merits. 611 00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:32,160 It is a son that is standing beside her, which caught the 612 00:38:32,160 --> 00:38:36,040 attention of the king. And I am a happy, happy man 613 00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:43,120 because in the final day in that judgment room, God from his 614 00:38:43,120 --> 00:38:47,400 throne is not going to be looking at me at all. 615 00:38:47,560 --> 00:38:50,720 Nothing, nada. He's going to be looking at one 616 00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:55,600 who is standing beside me, a son who was dead but now is alive 617 00:38:55,760 --> 00:39:00,680 forever more. The risen son standing by my 618 00:39:00,680 --> 00:39:03,680 side. And that is the gospel. 619 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:09,640 And that is your only hope, your restoration, the sum total of it 620 00:39:10,200 --> 00:39:14,920 is that Jesus Christ died for you, is risen for you, and in 621 00:39:14,920 --> 00:39:17,560 the final day we'll be standing beside you. 622 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:20,400 That's the gospel. And the gospel is of first 623 00:39:20,400 --> 00:39:24,800 importance. That's how it works objectively. 624 00:39:26,560 --> 00:39:36,320 Now subjectively. How did that boy get into that 625 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:41,320 room? It's an honest question. 626 00:39:42,680 --> 00:39:46,840 He was outside of the room and then he was in the room. 627 00:39:47,240 --> 00:39:54,760 How did he get into the room? I know this is a Nine Marks 628 00:39:54,760 --> 00:39:57,840 church, but you can answer how, how, how did he get into the 629 00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:01,320 room? Anyone. 630 00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:09,120 This is important. Yes. 631 00:40:10,720 --> 00:40:12,080 He walked in. Yes. 632 00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:14,280 Which makes you the smartest boy in the room. 633 00:40:14,320 --> 00:40:15,600 That's right. He walked in. 634 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:22,440 If the woman walks in and she is carrying a corpse or a skeleton 635 00:40:23,400 --> 00:40:28,760 and she says I want my property back, well, before I ask you who 636 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:31,240 you are, what is that that you have in your arms? 637 00:40:31,280 --> 00:40:35,000 Oh, this is my son. He, he, he, he was dead. 638 00:40:35,000 --> 00:40:39,120 And then he came to life. But, but he's, he's now dead. 639 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:44,480 Hand of the King would not have been moved. 640 00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:48,800 There was subjective proof of life. 641 00:40:50,600 --> 00:40:55,480 A boy who had been dead came to life and under his own power 642 00:40:55,480 --> 00:40:59,120 walked into the room giving proof of life. 643 00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:05,400 Restoration yields proof of life. 644 00:41:07,040 --> 00:41:11,200 So it's 1955. My cousin's walking down the 645 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:17,680 street, walks past a bar room. My aunt is in that bar room, 646 00:41:17,680 --> 00:41:24,480 drunk out of her mind. A woman that was so shameful in 647 00:41:24,480 --> 00:41:28,320 our town that my father didn't even tell people that he was 648 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:34,600 related to her. Fast forward to 1959, my aunt is 649 00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:37,400 drunk again. This time she falls down a 650 00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:41,840 flight of stairs and she breaks her back and she is in the 651 00:41:41,840 --> 00:41:45,160 hospital and she wants to be left alone. 652 00:41:45,160 --> 00:41:49,160 She is in excruciating pain. She had been raised with the 653 00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:52,320 gospel but had obviously rejected it. 654 00:41:52,920 --> 00:41:58,960 And from that bed in that hospital in 1959, she prays to 655 00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:02,560 the Lord and says, have mercy upon me. 656 00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:08,320 Her testimony was that she saw a picture of herself and it was 657 00:42:08,800 --> 00:42:12,920 extremely ugly. She cries out to Christ and says 658 00:42:13,040 --> 00:42:17,160 have mercy upon me, heal me, deliver me, save me, and I will 659 00:42:17,160 --> 00:42:18,960 live the rest of my life for you. 660 00:42:19,920 --> 00:42:21,840 The Lord touches her, the Lord saves her. 661 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:26,280 The the Lord raises her off of that hospital bed and the first 662 00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:30,760 Wednesday night after she returned home from the hospital, 663 00:42:32,080 --> 00:42:36,640 she walked down the street into our tiny little Christian and 664 00:42:36,640 --> 00:42:39,760 Missionary Alliance church on a Wednesday night. 665 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:43,320 Now the custom in those days was before the prayer meeting, the 666 00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:46,520 pastor would stand up and would say, does anybody have a word of 667 00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:49,720 testimony that they would like to give concerning their love 668 00:42:49,720 --> 00:42:51,400 for the Lord? Not like a testimony of 669 00:42:51,400 --> 00:42:54,080 salvation, but just someone getting up and just saying how 670 00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:56,240 much they love the Lord. It was very spontaneous. 671 00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:57,760 Several people would stand and do it. 672 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:03,760 The opportunity is given and my aunt stays silent. 673 00:43:05,600 --> 00:43:08,360 She leaves the prayer meeting that night, walks back to her 674 00:43:08,360 --> 00:43:12,640 home, goes into her bedroom, gets down on the floor and 675 00:43:12,640 --> 00:43:16,520 begins to weep. And she says to the Lord, 676 00:43:16,920 --> 00:43:25,040 tonight I was ashamed of you. Tonight I disowned you. 677 00:43:26,600 --> 00:43:29,720 If I were to die before I could get back there and tell the 678 00:43:29,720 --> 00:43:32,880 people what the Lord has done for me, it would be a horrible 679 00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:36,320 thing. Lord, I'm asking you, please 680 00:43:36,320 --> 00:43:40,560 just give me one more chance to tell of my love for you. 681 00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:45,400 And if that opportunity is given to me, I will never deny you 682 00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:47,720 again. That is in 1959. 683 00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:53,640 I'm not born until 1961. And in western Pennsylvania, in 684 00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:57,280 small churches, things usually don't change much over the 685 00:43:57,280 --> 00:44:00,320 decades. But I can remember for the 686 00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:06,320 entirety of my life growing up in that church in the 1960s and 687 00:44:06,320 --> 00:44:11,920 in the 1970s, on Wednesday night, when the pastor would 688 00:44:11,920 --> 00:44:16,480 stand and he would say, would anybody like to give a testimony 689 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:20,720 of their love for the Lord? What he meant in reality was 690 00:44:20,720 --> 00:44:24,680 this. Would anybody like to go second? 691 00:44:25,120 --> 00:44:29,640 Because before he could even get the words out of his mouth, she 692 00:44:29,640 --> 00:44:33,720 would stand and interrupt him and she would talk about her 693 00:44:33,720 --> 00:44:37,480 love for Christ. And it was always fresh and it 694 00:44:37,480 --> 00:44:41,640 was always real and it was never choreographed. 695 00:44:42,000 --> 00:44:46,840 She was alive and there was evidence of life. 696 00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:59,160 Friends, I don't want to know, are you a member of a church and 697 00:44:59,160 --> 00:45:02,280 have you been baptized? It is good to be a member of a 698 00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:04,640 church. You are commanded to be 699 00:45:04,640 --> 00:45:06,200 baptized. That is a good thing. 700 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:08,920 I don't want to know. Have you at some time in the 701 00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:15,720 past read the Sinner's prayer? My question to you is simple. 702 00:45:18,480 --> 00:45:21,520 Could you walk in that room and stand in front of that king? 703 00:45:21,520 --> 00:45:27,000 In other words, are you alive? Do you love the Lord Jesus 704 00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:30,080 Christ? Is there evidence of life? 705 00:45:30,880 --> 00:45:33,640 You see, when God brings about restoration, Amen. 706 00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:36,200 Hallelujah, praise the Lord. It is objective. 707 00:45:36,360 --> 00:45:40,360 And before the throne of God above I, I, I, I have a sure and 708 00:45:40,360 --> 00:45:42,760 a perfect plea. But there is also a 709 00:45:42,880 --> 00:45:46,640 manifestation of that in the here and now, and that is that 710 00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:49,600 if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation and that the old 711 00:45:49,600 --> 00:45:51,960 is gone and that the new has come. 712 00:45:51,960 --> 00:45:53,560 I don't want to know about your doctrine. 713 00:45:53,760 --> 00:45:55,400 I don't want to know about your theology. 714 00:45:55,400 --> 00:45:57,760 It's good to have good doctrine and good theology. 715 00:45:57,840 --> 00:45:59,160 Here's what I simply want to know. 716 00:45:59,320 --> 00:46:03,200 Are you alive? Do you love the Lord Jesus 717 00:46:03,200 --> 00:46:05,320 Christ? Paul writes in First Corinthians 718 00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:08,120 chapter 16. If anyone does not love the Lord 719 00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:10,640 Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. 720 00:46:11,960 --> 00:46:15,240 So I want to give you encouragement with respect to 721 00:46:15,440 --> 00:46:19,680 restoration. We are living in a funky, messed 722 00:46:19,680 --> 00:46:25,560 up, fallen world where we have pain and sorrow and we will have 723 00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:27,920 for the rest of our days when not only are we going to get bad 724 00:46:27,920 --> 00:46:30,720 haircuts, we're going to have really bad things that are going 725 00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:32,880 to happen to us. I want you to take courage 726 00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:36,960 today, brothers and sisters. That absolutely none of it zero 727 00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:39,560 is random. That God in His Providence is 728 00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:43,440 controlling all of it. And I want you to know that when 729 00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:47,200 these bad things happen, they are not out of God's control. 730 00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:51,160 But God, in fact, sometimes and frequently does use the painful 731 00:46:51,160 --> 00:46:53,840 things in our lives to bring about restoration. 732 00:46:55,640 --> 00:46:58,640 Most importantly, I want you to know that this restoration comes 733 00:46:58,640 --> 00:47:03,800 about through the power of a risen sun, the power that you 734 00:47:03,800 --> 00:47:07,720 will possess in the final day to stand in front of him unashamed, 735 00:47:07,840 --> 00:47:13,240 and the power to Live Today a restored and a new life, because 736 00:47:13,240 --> 00:47:17,240 he, through his regenerating spirit and his sustaining 737 00:47:17,240 --> 00:47:23,040 spirit, has restored you. And it will be evident to all. 738 00:47:28,080 --> 00:47:30,640 Thank you for your attentiveness today. 739 00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:37,440 I must confess, this is kind of a creepy attentiveness. 740 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:40,320 I'm not accustomed to people paying attention this well. 741 00:47:40,560 --> 00:47:44,480 I want to thank you for that. Father in Heaven, we love you. 742 00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:50,400 Thank you, Lord, for looking upon us in our unrestored state 743 00:47:50,480 --> 00:47:54,600 and having mercy upon us now, Lord, as we have learned about 744 00:47:54,600 --> 00:47:55,400 this. Amen. 745 00:47:55,400 --> 00:47:58,520 Hallelujah, may we remember it. But more than that, I would ask 746 00:47:58,520 --> 00:48:02,760 your God that you would bring restoration to our lives. 747 00:48:03,480 --> 00:48:05,800 In Jesus name we pray. Amen.