The Man of God and Death

The point: Face the realism that most of us will not be exempt from advancing years, sickness, and death itself.

Contrasts Elisha's ordinary death with Elijah's extraordinary departure in a whirlwind, highlighting Elisha's more relatable experience.

Now this was not so with his predecessor. That great whirlwind of a man, Elijah, had an extraordinary life and an extraordinary death. For you will remember that he was called, caught up and was taken straight into the presence of God without passing through the experience of death. But not so with this man of God, Elisha.

11:38 - 12:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Face the realism that most of us will not be exempt from advancing years, sickness, and death itself.

Compares Elisha's 'homely' (domestic) character and ministry to his ordinary death, making him more identifiable to believers.

And in a real sense, it is far more suitable to the character of Elisha. For we have seen him as we've studied his life again and again in what we might call intimate, homely, as old pastors, as Pastor Blaise used to refer to it. We would say homey and he used to use the term homely and could never quite get the distinction between the two. Well this man of God in his homeliness, that is not ugliness of countenance, but in his domestic heart and in the many domestic situations in which we see him, it is indeed I say far more fitting that he should die an ordinary death by ordinary means,

12:10 - 12:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin illustrates Elisha's sustained spiritual vitality and usefulness even on his deathbed, as evidenced by his interaction with King Joash. He argues that this vigor is…

Martin asks if Elisha was 'crying in his beer' during his years out of public prominence, emphasizing that his spiritual vigor remained despite a lack of recorded public activity.

And it could well be that during this period, there was a great waning of public menace. Well, was Elisha home crying in his beer, woe is me, I who once stood in the company of kings and armies and hurled out the word of God, I who was the instrument for the healing of Naaman, the great general in Syria, here I am cast off and shoved to the side, no longer in the place of prominence, becoming a sour, coarse, wizened up, bitter old prophet, no, his spiritual vigor was recognized to that very hour by a man

21:00 - 21:43 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin illustrates Elisha's sustained spiritual vitality and usefulness even on his deathbed, as evidenced by his interaction with King Joash. He argues that this vigor is…

Describes the ironic scene where King Joash, upon entering Elisha's presence, becomes the servant taking orders from the dying prophet, illustrating Elisha's spiritual authority.

and he starts giving orders and I hope you felt something in the reading of the passage of a bit of the humor, or the irony. Here the king comes down and suddenly the king becomes the servant and Elisha barks out the orders and after every order it says he did it and Elisha gives another order and he did it and he gives another order and he did it. But notice what he told him to do. And Elisha said to him, take a bow and arrows.

22:28 - 22:55 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin illustrates Elisha's sustained spiritual vitality and usefulness even on his deathbed, as evidenced by his interaction with King Joash. He argues that this vigor is…

Elisha laying his hands on the king's hands is presented as an object lesson, transferring prophetic authority and power to Joash for the task ahead.

So he took a bow and arrows. Then he said to the king of Israel, put your hand on the bow and he put his hand on it. And then Elisha laid his hands on the king's hands, an indication, by object lesson, that he was transferring to the king's hands that authority and power which he had as Jehovah's representative in Israel, as the prophet of God. And having done so, he then says to the king, verse 17, open the window toward the east.

22:56 - 23:25 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin illustrates Elisha's sustained spiritual vitality and usefulness even on his deathbed, as evidenced by his interaction with King Joash. He argues that this vigor is…

Explains the Hebrew meaning of 'strike the ground' not as thumping, but as shooting arrows into the earth, symbolizing aggressive faith in destroying the enemy.

And he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, strike the ground. And at this point, there's a linguistic problem and a translation problem. Kyle the Hebraist says very emphatically, the idea is not to take a fistful of arrows and just thump on the ground with them, but rather to strike to the earth with the arrows, having shot the first arrow out the window.

23:48 - 24:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Worry about maintaining spiritual vigor in your forties, not waiting until your sixties or seventies when it's too late.

Martin shares his privilege of witnessing older saints stirred with holy agitation against unbelief, illustrating that spiritual vigor includes the capacity for righteous anger.

Furthermore, we see the passion of holy anger, and that's a manifestation of grace, especially in an old man. Usually old servants of Christ go weary of fighting, and they become soft and saccharine, and they may be, by constitution and by the sheer pressure of the weariness of the battle, paragons of patience, in spiritual matters, but to see an old servant of God who not only has a clear eye of faith, but the capacity still to be agitated with holy agitation, it's a beautiful thing.

26:48 - 27:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Worry about maintaining spiritual vigor in your forties, not waiting until your sixties or seventies when it's too late.

Uses the analogy of trees and sap to explain Psalm 92, showing that spiritual 'fall' (old age) need not mean a loss of vitality, but continued fruitfulness and 'greenness'.

It is the privilege of those who live to old age to be full of sap and to be green. Some of you know, you children, why it is that the leaves turn yellow and orange and brown and then fall off in the fall. You've been taught, I hope, why that happens. The sap no longer serves.

30:32 - 30:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section focuses on the miracle of the dead man reviving upon touching Elisha's bones, interpreting it as an affirmation of God's livingness and a powerful analogy for the…

Martin humorously imagines the scene of the revived man chasing after the soldiers who buried him, making the miracle more vivid and memorable.

He was only about twenty feet behind the soldiers that put him in there. Now you let your imagination take you where you want. You can imagine what the scene must have been like. Running from the Israelites, and all of a sudden, there's a ghost behind you, who's got flesh and bones, saying, Fellas, wait for me!

40:00 - 40:21 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Nothing of God dies when a man of God dies.

Quotes A.W. Tozer: 'Nothing of God dies when a man of God dies,' emphasizing God's enduring power and faithfulness beyond human life.

and because I live, my word is true and shall be fulfilled, for it's only the living God who can perform the word of prophecy. As A. W. Tozer once said in a sermon I'll never forget, I didn't hear it, I read it, nothing of God dies when a man of God dies.

42:10 - 42:36 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: This section focuses on the miracle of the dead man reviving upon touching Elisha's bones, interpreting it as an affirmation of God's livingness and a powerful analogy for the…

Cites David Brainerd's diary as an example of a godly life that continues to impart spiritual life and devotion to thousands after his death.

I could not help but think in my preparation of David Brainerd, that young, saintly man who poured out his soul under the open heavens on behalf of the Indians in that area of the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania, poured out his soul in fervent prayers to God, and yet died so prematurely, as we would say. And yet, only God can count the thousands who have been brought to life in Christ, and the countless thousands more of believers who have been raised to a new level of devotion to Christ and His kingdom by reading what?

45:18 - 46:01 Read in full sermon

The point: Live so as to be an instrument of life in the hands of God when you are dead.

Mentions 'The Life and Remains of McCheyne' as another example of a short life whose written record continues to impart life and augment faith in countless believers.

I'm sorry, that's of Robert Murray McShane. You have the diary of David Brainerd. I anticipated the next illustration I was going to use. Which is McShane, who also was cut off at the tender age of 30 or 29.

46:09 - 46:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Build up a legacy born out of the realism of a vital, intimate, throbbing walk with Almighty God.

Recalls a historical anecdote about persecuted people 'dying well,' inspiring Martin's desire for his congregation to 'live well, die well, and their memory works well.'

It is a wonderful thing to believe that we in the hands of God can exert a great life-giving influence even after they die. And as I was preparing, I thought, what would I, as one who's given his life to this congregation, what would I like to have said of our people? And my mind went back to something I read somewhere in church history, and I couldn't remember the incident, so I'll just have to give it to you in all of its unconnectedness, that they said of certain people who were being persecuted, they die well. And I got thinking about that, and I said, well, you know what?

48:53 - 49:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Be shaken from spiritual lethargy, dullness, blindness, and hardness of heart by God's word, remembering that after death comes judgment.

Martin observes that people who once trembled under preaching at 20 can now slumber through sermons at 40 or 45, illustrating the hardening of conscience in unbelief.

People who once trembled and felt a smart and a twinge under preaching at age twenty, who at age forty and forty-five can slumber through a sermon, and now, almost at will.

53:54 - 54:08 Read in full sermon

The point: If you are a Christian, begin to think about the great realities of death and old age, and strive to come to old age 'full of sap and green' to show that the Lord is righteous.

Describes old saints with physical ailments but bright eyes of faith as 'monuments to the grace of my Savior,' inspiring noble thoughts of God.

So that people will think great thoughts about our God. That they'll look on us and say, what a wonderful Savior that man, that woman must have. Look, there they are, old, and they've got joints frozen up with arthritis, and they've got a hard of hearing and got to cut their ears, and they've got a hearing aid hung over one ear and glasses thick as Coke bottles on their eyes, but look at them. There's joy, and when they talk of Christ and the world to come, it's obvious that though the physical eyes are dimmed and without the glasses are probably 20, 100 for all we know, yet it's obvious there...

57:00 - 57:40 Read in full sermon