Saturday, February 18, 2012

“How the Child of God Departs This Life” (2 Kings 2:1–12) Transfiguration Sunday Series B, Feb. 19th, 2012


1.                  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The message from God’s Word this weekend that we celebrate the Transfiguration of Our Lord is taken from 2 Kings 2:1-12 and is entitled, “How the Child of God Departs this Life,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.                  Death and taxes, they say, are two certainties to life. People try to avoid taxes, and a few do. People wish they could avoid dying, but only two people in the history of the world have left this life without dying. One of them was Enoch, the father of Methuselah. When Enoch was 365 years old, God took him directly to heaven, as Ge 5:24 tells us. The only other person who passed into eternity without going through the door of temporal death is the prophet Elijah, which we see here in our text before us from 2 Kings 2.
3.                  The readings for this Sunday of the Transfiguration of our Lord Jesus are connected in 2 ways. They describe revelations of the glory of God and characters at the transfiguration of Christ.  The Old Testament lesson, 2 Kings 2:1–12, relates Elijah’s departure from earth in a whirlwind. The passing of Elijah was glorious, as is the passing of every child of God who leaves the church militant for the church triumphant.  The Gospel account of Jesus’ transfiguration is from Mark 9:2–9. The appearance of Moses and Elijah with Christ in glorified bodies provided Peter, James, and John with a foretaste of heaven. They longed to keep this heaven on earth, but it will not belong to anyone fully until the day of the resurrection of all the dead.
4.                  2 Kings 2:1-2 says, 1Now when the LORD was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2And Elijah said to Elisha, “Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.”  In a manner unknown to us, God had revealed to Elijah and Elisha that the time had come for Elijah to leave this world. Few of us have the privilege of knowing the precise time of our passing. But, God would have us always remember that here we have no lasting city, so that we’ll be prepared at all times to meet him.  Apparently, Elijah preferred to complete his tasks alone, but Elisha, his assistant, insisted that he would continue to accompany him. This reminds us of Ruth and Naomi from the Old Testament book of Ruth. As the end of earthly life approaches, our loved ones need our presence. Christ was deprived of that in Gethsemane by his sleeping followers. We can comfort our loved ones with Christ’s promises as the end approaches.
5.                  2 Kings 5:11-12 says, 11And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more.”  As Elijah and Elisha walked and talked on the east side of the Jordan River, a chariot of fire suddenly appeared and came between the two prophets. All attempts to rationalize the fiery chariot and the whirlwind that took away Elijah are foolish. Elisha simply saw what man is ordinarily not permitted to see—the glorious way in which the hosts of the Almighty gather the saints to eternal glory. This triumphant escort of a man to heaven comforts those who remain behind and wait for their own escort to glory.
6.                  But, maybe you’re asking why didn’t Elijah have to die like the rest of us? There’s only one possible answer: purely undeserved grace. Elijah too was a sinner as we are. Why he was granted this privilege, we don’t fully understand. Maybe we too will have this privilege if the Lord himself descends to bring us to heaven on the Last Day.  But, Elijah’s departure suggests thoughts on our own death. Back in 1 Kings chapter 19, we read how Elijah was discouraged and wanted to die. But, at that time, God wasn’t ready to grant Elijah’s request. God still had work for his prophet to accomplish.  Now here in 2 Kings 2 Elijah’s work was finished. The time came when the Lord was ready to take Elijah up to heaven.  From time to time, God’s people today are discouraged and ask, “Why doesn’t the Lord take me home?” The answer to that question is, “God will surely take us home when God determines that our earthly work is finished.”  We can say the same thing of the Lord Jesus. Like Elijah, he ascended bodily into heaven only after his saving work was completed, only after he had paid for all your sin, destroyed the power of Satan, and broken the bonds of death did He return to the glories of heaven.
7.                  How did Elijah spend the few hours that remained to him before he entered into the presence of his Heavenly Father?  And what can we learn from this? Well, some people might like to spend those hours in peaceful meditation alone with God. Elijah was himself a man of prayer. He loved to be alone with God. And yet, we see in our text from 2 Kings that from his hours of solitude and communion with God he drew strength for his conflicts with men and sin. If he was a man of prayer, he was also a man of action. And so we find him spending the greater part of his final hours in busy activity--visiting the schools of the prophets.
8.                  Do you want to spend your last hours well like Elijah? If so, you should spend every day as if it were your last. Once a lady asked John Wesley how he would spend that day if he knew it was to be his last. She expected some rules for meditation and solitude. But, Wesley’s answer was, “Just, madam, as I intend to spend it;” and then he began to tell her what his busy schedule of work was for the day. Oh, that we could all say that every day, that if it was to be our last we would spend it just as we intend to spend it!
9.                  Notice the scene of Elijah’s closing hours. He visited the schools of the prophets, the colleges where young men were trained for their future work of teaching others the truths of religion. It was amongst the young his last hours were spent. Elijah felt the importance of these schools. He realized that the young were the hope of the Church. That’s why he would devote to them his last, and probably his best, hours. He would give them words of counsel and exhortation—words that, under such circumstances, few of them would ever forget. There is a lesson here for us all. Parents need to realize the importance of personally instructing their children. Moms and dads need to take more interest in the kind of education their children receive. They need to be more careful about the companions with whom they allow their children to spend time with. And not just parents, but all members of the Christian Church, should take a deeper interest in the education of our youth.
10.              And this is why we who are still on this earth should prepare for our death.  Why modeling the life of a Christian to our young people today is so important.  Because Israel’s greatest enemies weren’t the hostile nations around them—not the powerful Assyrians, the clever Ammonites, or the fierce Philistines. Israel’s greatest enemy was herself—her immoral, ungodly self. Israel’s only defense from self-destruction wasn’t to be found in Ahab’s standing army of chariots and armed horsemen. Her real defense was the man of God in her midst. Elijah was a salt and light in Israel. Israel needed many more men, women, and children like Elijah.  Today, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we’re called “salt of the earth.” Today we’re lights that need to shine brightly. Brought to faith in our Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior from sin, death, and the devil by God’s grace, we’re left in the world for a time to do what Elijah did—proclaim the will and the wonders of the Lord. Our own society today is comparable to Elijah’s. Our idols are made of chrome, steel, and money. Our own priestesses of lust and sex are found not in hilltop groves, but in the magazines, computers, and televisions in our own homes. Children aren’t sacrificed to Baal, but to convenience by legalized abortion. Our real enemies aren’t behind red curtains but in our own borders. The life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed by you and me, the soldiers of the cross of Christ, is the only defense against sure destruction. Soon they’ll see us no more. Until then we are the chariots and horsemen of Israel in our homes and country.  Amen.

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