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:


Let us pray...