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! In fact, this is how Wesley spent his days
for the Lord during his life. As Ravi
Zacharias puts it, “Fully stretched, John
Wesley was 5’4.” Not exactly a towering presence when he walked up in front of
an audience.” Get this: Wesley
traveled over 250,000 miles by horseback. Preached around 40,000 sermons in
his life. Worked in 15 different
languages. Wrote over 600 different
pieces of literature. At the age of 83
he was angry with his doctor because his doctor wouldn’t allow him to preach
more than 14 times a week! At the
age of 86 Wesley writes in his journal, “laziness
is slowly creeping in, there’s an increasing tendency to stay in bed until 5:30
in the morning.”
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, like North Korea, 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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