Desperation
no 33
Scriptural
examples of desperation pt4
June 26, 2016
Brian
Kocourek, pastor
2 Kings 4:1 Now there cried a certain woman of the
wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha,
saying, Thy servant my husband is dead;
and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen.
Now in those
days when a man could not pay his bills, they would take one or more of his
children from him legally and that child would go to work as a bond slave until
that debt was paid back.
2 And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do
for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the
house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
3 Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy
neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. 4 And when
thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and
thou shalt set aside that which is full. 5 So
she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.
6 And it came to pass,
when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel.
And he said unto her, There is not a vessel
more. And the oil stayed. 7 Then she came and
told the man of God. And he said, Go,
sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.
Now, why do
you think that Elisha asked her what hast thou in the house? Can anyone tell
me?
Now, remember
he was a prophet of God, but many times God did not tell his prophets what to
do, he just sent them to a place and left them to see for themselves the scene
and then to discern within them by what they see in the scene for their
instruction as to what to do. They were seers, right? And that meant they were
capable of seeing things in the supernatural that was about to take place. Now,
I hate to bust your bubble but we as the elect church of the living God have
been given a double portion of what Christ had.
Elijah and Elisha 54-0304
P:35 Keep your eye there. He said, "Now, if you see me when I go," My, he just kept walking, watching
him. Watching him. Then when, the first thing you know, down from
the heaven come a chariot, horses of fire, and picked Elijah up. And as he went
up, he took off this robe that he had opened the sea with, or opened the river,
took that robe off, dropped it back down, and Elisha picked it up. A beautiful type of the Church.
When Jesus was here on earth. He done great works and great wonders.
Elijah when he was here, he did great works. But Elisha had a double portion
of his spirit. Elijah done eight miracles, and Elisha done
sixteen miracles, a
double portion, perfect of the Church.
Jesus
said himself in John14:12 Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works (more in volume) than these shall he do; because I go unto my
Father.
And twice we
see in Matthew where Jesus tells us that what we say if we believe it, it shall
be done even as we have said it.
Matthew 17:14 And when they were come to the multitude, there came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him, and saying,
15 Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is lunatick, and sore
vexed: for ofttimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.
16 And I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse
generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you?
bring him hither to me. 18 And Jesus
rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour.
19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? And Jesus
said unto them, Because
of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard
seed, ye shall say
unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
And again in Matthew 21:18 we read, "Now in the morning as he returned into the
city, he hungered. 19 And when he saw a fig tree
in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it,
Let no fruit grow
on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. 20 And
when the disciples saw it, they marvelled,
saying, How soon is the fig tree
withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If
ye have
faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only
do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye
shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea;
it shall be done."
Notice, he
didn't say if ye pray unto me I will do it, but if ye say to this mountain and
do not doubt you will have what you said. Not what I said, but what you said.
And Again in Mark 11:20 we read, And in the morning, as they passed by,
they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And
Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which
thou cursedst is withered away. 22 And Jesus
answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this
mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt
in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to
pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say
unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. 25 And when ye stand
praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is
in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if ye do not forgive,
neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses.
From his
sermon Paradox 64-0418B P:34 Brother Branham said, "Whatever God did, I
don't know. But the sun stood still, the moon over Ajalon, because a man, a human being, a human being was in the
line of duty. In the line of duty he commanded the sun to stand still.
And if we're Christians
we have to believe this to be the infallible Word of God. Everywhere... He
stopped the world, stopped the sun, whatever He did, it stood still for
twenty-four hours. I believe it. Jesus said in St. Mark 11:22, "If you say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't doubt in
your heart, but believe that what you said will come to pass, you can have what
you said." But that takes motive and objective.
Of course, you got to have a reason for it. You can't have faith, unless
you've got some reason.
In other
words, God does not give us power over nature and over weather and the elements
for us to just have a good time playing with it. he gives us His power when he
gives us His Word and Spirit, but it is our motive and object that must be one
with His Word and Will in order to speak the Word with the power to back it up.
so God placed a safety on His Word like we place a safety o our guns, so in the
wrong hands it won't do damage.
Spiritual amnesia 64-0411
P:40 You must be identified with St. John the 14th chapter, the 12th verse, "He that believeth with Me, the works that
I do shall he do also." Don't forget it. If you do, then you've
got spiritual amnesia. You've forgotten who you are. You've forgotten what
your testimony means. How about... He said, "If you abide in
Me, and My Word in you, you can ask what you will and it'll be done for you." Are
you identified there to believe that that is the truth? Mark 11, when He said, "If you say to this mountain, 'Be moved,'
and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you have said will come to
pass, you can have what you
said." Can you be identified there to believe
that that is the truth? If it hasn't, then your getting spiritual
amnesia. And you forget. You lose your Christian balance. You can't tell where
you belong.
Why little Bethlehem 63-1214
P:46 "And if ye abide in Me and My Word in you, then ask
what you will, it'll be done for you." God promised that. "If you say to this mountain, 'Be moved,'
and don't doubt in your heart, but believe that what you said will come to
pass, you can have what you
said. "He that believeth on Me, the works that I do shall he also. Even
greater than this shall he do, for I go to My Father." What
promises.
Warning then judgment 63-0724
P:28 When you plead anything to God, you
got to be a reason for it. It's just like this Scripture that I so often
refer to, "If you say to this mountain, 'Be moved,' and don't
doubt, but believe that what you've said will come to pass, you can have what you said." Now, that's altogether controlled on
motive and objective (See?) or it won't happen. See? You just can't go
out here... That's where many of us makes a many mistakes, is going out and
say, "Now, I'll show you I got faith to do this." Now, you're
wrong to begin with. God don't give you gifts just to play with it.
As I was saying awhile ago, He don't show you visions just to play with. That's
nothing to play with; that's sacred. Just use it as the Lord will let you.
Be a prisoner to Him. No matter how much you want to tell that guy he's
wrong, and what this, that, or the other, you hold still till God says so.
Then when God says so, then you can come with THUS SAITH THE LORD. Until that,
just forget about him.
Why cry speak 63-0714M P:104 Oh, and
remember now (We're closing.) it was that same He; it was He that said in
John 14:12: "He that believeth on Me, the works that I
do, shall he do also." Is that right? It was He that said so. It was
Jesus in Mark
11:24 that said, "If you say to this mountain (not 'if
you pray to this mountain')--if you say to this mountain 'Be moved,' and don't doubt
in your heart, but believe that what you said will come to pass, you can have
what you
said." Now, if you say it just presumptuously, it won't happen;
but if something in you that's you're anointed for the job, and will know that it's the will of
God to do it, and will say it, it's got to happen. "If ye..." It
was He that said this: "If ye abide in Me and My Words abide in you, ask
what you will, and it shall be done to you." Oh, my. Oh, my. You see what I
mean?
Therefore this morning as we study brother
Branham's next example which is elisha and the Shunammite woman, I want you to
recognize that you are looking at the Church in type. Now, I want to read again
a statement brother Branham made concerning how Elisha watched every move that
Elijah made, and the promise to him was if you watch what I do, then greater
works shall you do for I go to my Father. Just Like Jesus said to us in John 14:12,
the prophet Elijah said to Elisha. So the answer for Elisha lay in the watching
and observing, and then in doing exactly like Elijah did it. And that is the
answer for John
14:12.
Elijah and Elisha 54-0304
P:35 Keep your eye there. He said,
"Now, if you see
me when I go," My, he just kept walking, watching him. Watching him.
Then when, the first thing you know, down from the heaven come a chariot,
horses of fire, and picked Elijah up. And as he went up, he took off this
robe that he had opened the sea with, or opened the river, took that robe off,
dropped it back down, and Elisha picked it up.A beautiful type of the Church.
(and I would like to add, what did Elisha do with
that robe that was left him? He did with it exactly what he saw Elijah did.) When Jesus was here
on earth. He done great works and great wonders. Elijah when he was here, he
did great works. But Elisha had a double portion of his spirit. Elijah
done eight miracles, and Elisha done sixteen miracles, a double
portion, perfect of the Church.
Let's just read
from 2 Kings 2:8 And Elijah took his mantle, and
wrapped it together, and smote the waters,
and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. 9 And it came to pass, when they were gone
over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask
what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha
said, I pray thee, let a double portion
of thy spirit be upon me. 10 And he said, Thou
hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when
I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. 11 And it came to pass, as
they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there
appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both
asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot
of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold
of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. 13 He took up also the mantle of Elijah that
fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14 And he took the mantle
of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said,
Where is the LORD God of
Elijah? and when he also
had smitten the waters, they parted
hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
15 And when
the sons of the prophets which were to view
at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.
And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
In other
words, when they saw the same works that elijah had done being done by Elisha
they identified the spirit that was upon him to be the same as what had been
upon Elijah by its characteristics.
And John 14:12 is the identifiable characteristic of a
true believer who has the same Spirit upon him as what was in Christ.
Now, let's go back to our story in 2 Kings 4:2 And
Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? Now, remember, I already asked you the question, "why do you think
that Elisha asked her what hast thou in
the house? Can anyone tell
me? well, if you study out what takes place you will see the answer.
And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
That's it!!!
That's the key... Right there Elisha got his answer. he had watched Elijah very
intently for quite some time and observed and now it fell upon him to do what
Elijah would have done. we have the saying in Christian circles,
"wwjd" you've probably seen the T-shirts. "WWJD" which
means "what would Jesus do?" And that is your answer. And that was
Elisha's answer in this scene that was developing before him. What would Elijah
have done. So then he asked, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house?
And when she
said I have a "cruse of Oil", his mind immediately saw a mental
vision of Elijah taking the cruse of oil, and praying over it and that oil
never went empty. And this woman had nothing to pay the man the debt her
husband had owed, but she did have a cruse of oil, 3 Then
he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad
of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow
not a few. 4 And when
thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and
thou shalt set aside that which is full. 5 So she went from him,
and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.
6 And it came to pass, when
the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel.
And he said unto her, There is not a vessel
more. And the oil stayed. 7 Then she came and told the man of
God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and
pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.
"The works that I do
shall ye do also, and greater works than this for I go to my Father."
And Elijah went
forth doing twice as many miracles as Elijah had done.
8 And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat
bread. And so it was, that
as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. 9 And she said unto her
husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. 10 Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the
wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a
candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall
turn in thither. 11 And it fell on a day, that he came thither,
and he turned into the chamber, and lay there. 12 And
he said to Gehazi his servant, Call this Shunammite. And when he had called her, she stood before him. 13 And he said unto
him, Say now unto her, Behold, thou hast
been careful for us with all this care; what is to
be done for thee? wouldest thou be spoken for to the king, or to the
captain of the host? And she answered, I dwell among mine own
people. 14 And he said, What
then is to be done for her? And Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. 15 And he said, Call
her. And when he had called her, she stood in the door.
16 And he said, About
this season, according to the time of life, thou shalt embrace a son. And
she said, Nay, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.
17 And the woman
conceived, and bare a son at that season that Elisha had said unto her,
according to the time of life. 18 And when the
child was grown, it fell on a day, that he went out to his father to the reapers. 19 And he said unto his father, My head, my
head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother.
20 And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, he
sat on her knees till noon, and then
died. 21 And she went up, and laid him on the bed of the man
of God, and shut the door upon him,
and went out. 22 And she
called unto her husband, and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young
men, and one of the asses, that I may
run to the man of God, and come again. 23 And
he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him to day? it is
neither new moon, nor sabbath. And she said, It shall be
well. 24 Then
she saddled an ass, and said to her servant, Drive, and go forward; slack not thy
riding for me, except I bid thee. 25 So she went and came unto
the man of God to mount Carmel. And it came to pass, when the man of God saw
her afar off, that he said to Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite: 26 Run
now, I pray thee, to meet her, and say unto her, Is it well with thee? is it well with thy
husband? is it well with the child? And she
answered, It is well. 27 And when she came to the man of God to the
hill, she caught him by the feet: but Gehazi came near to thrust her away. And
the man of God said, Let her alone; for her soul is
vexed within her: and the LORD hath
hid it from me, and hath not told me. 28 Then she said, Did I desire
a son of my lord? did I not say, Do not deceive me? 29 Then
he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thine hand, and go
thy way: if thou meet any man, salute him not; and if any salute thee, answer
him not again: and lay my staff upon the
face of the child. 30 And the mother of the
child said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And he
arose, and followed her.
(Now, Listen
carefully, when she said those words, "I will
not leave thee" right there the hat was on the chair.
because those are the same words he had spoken to Elijah and now they were
coming out of her mouth back to him. When he heard those words, he knew God was
on the scene, because God had put those same words in her mouth that God had
placed in his mouth before the double portion came upon him. And now the same
scene that he had seen Elijah do, the same works of God that Elijah had done,
he now knew what he had to do. He had to go and lay on the boy, with his nose
to his nose and his lips to his lips and his hands upon his hands, just like he
had seen Elijah do, that was what He knew by God's grace to have allowed him to
see it done, now all he had to do was to step into the scene and do the same
thing, and he would get the same result.
31 And Gehazi passed on before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child;
but there was neither voice, nor hearing. (In other words, there was no results).
Wherefore he went again to meet him, and
told him, saying, The child is not awaked. 32 And when Elisha was come
into the house, behold, the child was dead, and laid upon his bed. 33 He went in therefore, and shut
the door upon them twain, and prayed unto the LORD. 34 And
he went up, and lay upon the child,
and put his mouth upon his mouth,
and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he stretched himself upon the child; and the
flesh of the child waxed warm. 35 Then he
returned, and walked in the house to and
fro; and went up, and stretched
himself upon him: and the child
sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes. 36 And he called Gehazi, and
said, Call this Shunammite. So he called her. And when she was come in unto him, he said, Take up thy son. 37 Then she went in,
and fell at his feet, and bowed herself to the ground, and took up her son, and
went out.
Now, as brother Branham stated there were many miracles in the ministry of
Elijah, I believe there were 8 as brother Branham said. and I would like to
break them down into three categories:
1) Healing and power over life and death
2) Power over nature and weather
3) Creative power over the elements
Now, let me
list his miracles within these three categories:
1) Healing and power over life and death
1) Raised widow's son from the dead 1Kings 17:22-23
The Second category of
miracles was the exercise of power over nature
2) Shut up
the heavens causing a drought 1 Kings 17:1 and Called for the rain the
cease for 3 1/2 years 1Kings 17:1
3) Calling
fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice on the altar 1Kings 18:25-38
4) Calling for rain 1Kings 18:41-45
5) Calling fire from heaven upon the
first 50 soldiers twice 2Kings 1:10-12
6) Parting of the Jordan 2Kings
2:8
The Third category of miracles was the creative power over the elements
7) Multiplied
flour and oil for a widow 1 Kings 17:14-16
8) Miracle of the barrel of meal and cruse of oil 1Ki 17:14
3)
Prophecy that Elisha should have a double portion of his spirit 2Kings 2:10
Then
there are supernatural events that also took place in his ministry, but these
were sovereignly done by God
1)
Being caught up to heaven in a whirlwind 2Kings
2:11
2)
Being fed by the ravens 1Kings 17:4
And then there was 6 prophesies which are attributes and characteristics
of his being a prophet and which are also the supernatural works of a prophet
of God.
1)
Prophecy that Ahab's sons would all be destroyed 1Kings
21:22
2) Prophecy that Jezebel would be eaten
by dogs 1Kings 21:23
3) Prophecy that Ahaziah would die
of his illness 2Kings 1:4
4) Prophecy that Jezebel would be eaten
by dogs 1Kings 21:23
5) Prophecy that Jezebel would be
eaten by dogs 1Kings 21:23
6) Prophecy that Elisha would have a double portion 2Kings 2:10
Now, I want you to notice that Elisha had observed
each of Elijah's miracles, and in many of the miracles which were
performed in Elisha's ministry, which he
had twice as many miracles in his ministry as in Elijah's ministry, yet most of
them came as a result of doing what Elijah would have done, and some of them he
just did exactly what he had seen Elijah do before him. And he had twice as many miracles in his
ministry as Elijah which might explain the double portion:
Again we will break them down into the three
categories as we did with Elijah.
1) Healing and
power over life and death
1)
Prophecy that the Shunammite woman would have a son 2Kings 4:16
2) Resurrection of the Shunammite's son 2Kings
4:34
3) Resurrection of the
man touched by his bones 2Kings 13:21
4)
Healing of Naaman of Leprosy 2Kings 5:14
5) Curse of the she bears 2Kings 2:24
6) Smiting the Syrian army with
blindness 2Kings 6:18
7)Restoring the
sight of the Syrian army 2Kings 6:20
The Second
category of miracles was the exercise of power over
nature
8) Parting of the Jordan 2Kings 2:14
9) Healing
of the waters 2Kings 2:21
10) Filling of the valley with water 2Kings 3:17
11)
Deception of the Moabites with the valley of blood 2Kings 3:22
The Third category of miracles was the creative power over the elements
12)
Floating of the axe head 2Ki 6:6
13) Healing of the gourds 2Kings
4:41
14) Miracle of the multiply
of bread loaves 2Kings 4:43
15) Miracle of the vessels of
oil 2Kings 4:4
16) Deception of the Syrians with the sound of chariots 2Kings 7:6
And as Elijah had 6 prophesies which were attributes and characteristics
of his being a prophet and which are also the supernatural works of a prophet
of God, we see that Elisha had twice as many of these also showing the double
protion was upon him in this part of his ministry as well.
1) Prophecy of Benhadad's untimely death 2Kings
8:10
2) Prophecy that Jehu would smite the
house of Ahab 2Kings 9:7
3)
Prophecy that Joash would smite the Syrians at Aphek 2Kings 13:17
4) Prophecy that Joash would smite
Syria thrice but not consume it 2Ki 13:19
5) Discernment of
Gehazi's transgression 2Kings 5:26
6) Cursing Gehazi with leprosy 2Kings 5:27
7) Prophecy of the end of the great
famine 2Kings 7:1
8) Prophecy of scoffer who would see
but not partake of abundance 2Kings 7:2
9) Prophecy of the Syrian battle plans 2Kings 6:9
10) Prophecy of the seven-year famine 2Kings 8:1
11) Prophecy of Hazael's cruelty to
Israel 2Kings 8:12
12) Vision of the chariots 2Kings 6:17
Now, in closing
I'm just going to read what brother Branham had to say about Elisha and the
Shunammite woman in paragraph 73 of his sermon, Desperation, "The Shunammite woman
had a little boy that the prophet had spoke the Word of the Lord over her,
though she was old and her husband old. They had no children, but she was kind to this prophet. And she knowed that he was a man of God.
She perceived that he was honorable, a real man. He come into the house, her
husband not there and what ever more. He
was a holy man. They could see that
he was a honorable person. She'd watched
him do signs and wonders; she'd heard him tell things that happened. He was
an honorable, holy man. She said to her husband, "I perceive that this man that stops with us, is a holy man."The lady of the house, she knowed that he was a holy
man; and she built a little house out there for him, so he wouldn't be
embarrassed. He could come by when he wanted to and so forth. She put a little
bed out there, and a jug of water, and so forth, so he could wash himself and
have something to drink. And she'd probably send a maid out or somebody, the
butler with some food to feed him, and come by, and visit the day to him, or
something.
74 And
so when Elijah saw this kindness done to him... And it's written, "What
you do to My little ones, you do to Me." So he saw that the woman was honoring God as
she honored this prophet, as she seen God in the prophet. And so, she wanted nothing for it. It wasn't in
her heart for anything. She just done it because she loved God. She didn't do
it for any blessing; she just done it. Now. Now, Elijah said, "Go ask
her: Shall I speak to the king for her? I'm a personal friend. Or the chief
captain, I--I know him real well. There's some favor, something I could do for
her, I want to give her something for how she's been to me. She's fed me; she's
let me sleep in the beds, and she's been real nice to us. Now, what can I do."
She said, "No, I just dwell among my people. We're well off. We have a living,
and that's all. We don't need nothing."And Gehazi said
to him, "But she doesn't have any children."No more that
Gehazi saw it, no doubt the prophet saw a vision, for he said, "THUS
SAITH THE LORD, go tell her in the appropriate time, or the proper time, a year
from now, she'll embrace a son."
75 And
the son was born. When he was about
twelve years old... How that old couple must've loved this little boy, their
only child. And one day he was out cutting wheat with his daddy. Must have been
about the middle of the day, he had a sunstroke, I suppose, because he begin to
holler, "My head." He got sicker and sicker. His daddy had to take him from
the field, and it was such a emergency there, that he sent a servant, and sent
him in. The mother held him on her lap until noontime, and he died. Notice, her
only child that had been give to her by the Lord through the prayer and the
promise of a prophet and THUS SAITH THE LORD... She knowed there was something
wrong somewhere. It just wouldn't work. How would God give her that son and let
her love come to that baby... Yet she never asked for it. She was too old to
have it. The hand of God had to pronounce it. A man spoke it, the prophet. And
there this baby in this condition had died, her only son. So she said to the
servant, "Saddle me a mule; and you ride, and don't you stop. If anybody tries
to stop you, don't you say a word, and you drive straight to Mt. Carmel. Up
there in a cave somewhere, pulled back, there's a servant of the most high God,
the one who told me THUS SAITH THE LORD, I'll have the baby. I want to know why
God's did this." So said, "Go straight forward and don't
check that mule; let him run just as hard as everything's in him; let him run
till you get there."
76 And
Elijah the prophet raised up, look, and said, "Here comes that Shunammite, and she's,
something's wrong with her. God's kept it from me; I don't know what's wrong."
Said, "Go meet her". I got... Let's hurry.
"There's something wrong." Desperation set in on the prophet, desperation on the woman. See, they were coming together, one wanting to know what the Word of the
Lord was, and the other one didn't know what the Word of the Lord was.
There you are. One wanting to know, and
the other didn't know it. The woman
wanted to know it, and the prophet didn't know it. Said, "God's
kept it from me. I don't know what to tell her when she gets here."
So she was almost there then. He raised up his hand; he said, "Is all
well with thee, all well with thy husband? Is all well with the child?"
77 Now,
the woman had reached the end of her
desperation. She said, "All is well. (Glory.) All
is well." Her desperation
was over. She'd found the servant of the Lord. If he hadn't been there,
she'd still been in desperation. But she seen he was there. She said, "All is
well."Elisha thought, "Well, what's going on
now?" So she run up and fell down at his feet. That looked kinda
uncommon, so Gehazi just lifted her up. Said, "Let
her alone; don't do that." Elijah said to his
servant, "Don't do that; let her alone. There's something wrong. God keeps it
from me." Then she revealed to him that the baby was dead.
78 Now,
the prophet didn't know what to do. He said, "Gehazi,
take this staff that I've walked on." He knowed that
whatever he touched was blessed, 'cause it wasn't him, it was God in him. He
knew who he was. He knew that he was a prophet. So he picks up this staff and
said, "Gehazi, you take this, and you go and lay it upon the child. And if
anybody speaks to you, you get desperate. And don't you salute nobody, and let
no... Just keep going on; don't speak to nobody. Put it upon the child."
But the woman, that didn't end her desperation. That didn't satisfy what she
come for. She said, "As the Lord God lives, I'm not
going to leave you until you go minister to the child."
And Elijah got desperate, and here he went down the road, him and the woman.
And when they got there, all the people were out in the yard screaming and
crying. And the woman had done the most appropriate thing could be done. She
took the baby and laid him on the bed where Elijah had laid. That was as good
as his staff. And he didn't wake up there, so the thing wouldn't work. She
wanted to know something different.
79
The prophet went in. Now, he's in
desperation. Now, what's he going to do? And we find in the Bible that he walked
up and down the floor, desperate.
"I don't know nothing else to do, Lord. Here I am. You told me to
speak that to that woman and THUS SAITH THE LORD, and it was exactly the way I
told her, because You told me. Now, there she's in trouble, and I don't know
what to do. There lays a dead boy. What can I do, Lord?"
No doubt the Holy Spirit said, "If the God is in you then lay
yourself on the baby." First thing you know he stopped,
run and put his hands upon its hands,
his nose upon its nose, his lips upon its lips. And when he laid himself over It, the baby
sneezed seven times. Desperation was
over. The baby come to life,
because that desperation drove the woman
to the prophet, and desperation
drove the prophet to the baby. And desperation
in both of them drew God on the scene. With
love of God and love for his people brought the love of God down and threw faith out on the battlefront, and
the work was done: case closed.
Amen. That's it. Desperation does it.
Certainly. She wasn't going to leave.
Now, in closing let me just say this, that I came show you men like
Martin and Columba who also raised men from the dead, and they did it the same
way Elijah and Elisha did. They laid upon the dead man, eyes to eyes, mouth to
mouth, and hands to hands, and they got the same results as Elijah and Elisha
got. I know for fact that this happened in brother Branham ministry as well, In
his early years a man had fied of TB and his entrails were coming up out of his
mouth as he lay there dead on the bed. Brother Branham climbed up on the man,
and placed his hands on his hands and his mouth on the man's mouth and the man
came back from the dead.
I hope what we can take away here is this. Read your Bible daily and
get to know the things Christ did, detail by detail, and what the apostles did
in the book of Acts because Jesus said in John 14:12 , "the
things I do shall you do also." And when called upon by
God you will do the same as He did and you will have the same results, because Hebrews 13:8
tells us "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday,
today and forever", and Malachi 3:6 tells
us that God is the same and changes not,
and in Acts
10:34 the apostle Peter tells us and in Romans 2:11 The Apostle Paul tells
us that "God is no respecter of persons."
And by this we are being conformed to the image of the first born son.
How? The Apostle Paul told us in Ephesians 4:11 And
he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and teachers;12 For the perfecting (the maturing) of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the
edifying (building up) of the body of Christ: 13 Till we all come in the
unity of the Revelation of Christ, and of the knowledge (the
epginosko, the full knowing based upon an experiential knowing) of the Son of God, (like Elisha experienced the life
of Elijah by watching Elijah's every move and studying them, we are to study
the life of the son of God and every work he did, and that will bring) unto a perfect man, (a fully equipped
and mature man, mentally and morally complete) unto the measure (the
metron, or limited portion) of the stature
(which is the maturity) of the fulfilling of Christ: