even though you don't know how it's gonna turn out sometimes. His ways are not our ways, but His way is the good way, amen? And He knows best, and so we'll bless His name for it. 2 Kings chapter number six, 2 Kings chapter number six, when you find your place, if you're willing and able, I'm gonna ask you to stand this morning, and we'll give honor and reverence to the reading of the Word of God. Sure do love my Bible, amen? Thankful for the Word of God, the inspired, inerrant, infallible. Immutable, indestructible Word of God. Amen. When it's all said and done and the smoke clears, the one thing that'll still be standing, that is the words of our living God. It's a living Word. It's an everlasting Word. We bless His name for it. 2 Kings chapter number 6 and verse number 8. 2 Kings chapter number 6 and verse number 8. If you're there and you're with me this morning, would you let it know my saying amen? The Bible says, then the king of Syria warred against Israel. AND TOOK COUNSEL WITH HIS SERVANTS, SAYING, IN SUCH AND SUCH A PLACE SHALL BE MY CAMP. AND THE MAN OF GOD SENT UNTO THE KING OF ISRAEL, SAYING, BEWARE THAT THOU PASS NOT SUCH A PLACE, FOR THITHER THE SYRIANS ARE COME DOWN. AND THE KING OF ISRAEL SENT TO THE PLACE WHICH THE MAN OF GOD TOLD HIM, AND WARNED HIM OF, AND SAVED HIMSELF THERE NOT ONCE NOR TWICE. THEREFORE THE HEART OF THE KING OF SYRIA WAS SORE TROUBLED FOR THIS THING, AND HE CALLED HIS SERVANTS AND SAID UNTO THEM, WILL YOU NOT SHOW ME WHICH OF US IS FOR THE KING OF ISRAEL? AND ONE OF HIS SERVANTS SAID, NONE, MY LORD, O KING, BUT ELISHA, the prophet is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber. And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Nothing. Therefore sent he thither horses and chariots and a great host, and they came by night, and come past the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host passed the city, both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not, for they be with us are more than they that be with them. Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire, Round about Elisha. I want to preach on this thought for a few moments this morning. I want to preach on eyes wide open. Can I say this this morning? If ever there was a day and an hour, you and I need to have our eyes wide open. It is in this day and it is in this hour. You say, Preacher, I've got them wide open this morning. I'm looking right at you now. I'm not necessarily talking about just your physical eye, but I'm talking about the eye face, seeing beyond what the naked eye can see, and seeing, Edmund, the truth of the reality. How many know there's a whole lot more going on than just what we see this morning? We ought to have our eyes open, and so let's ask God by his own power, and I've been praying that God would open some eyes, and our eyes would be wide open today. Father, I pray you bless now during the preaching time. Help me to preach now. Help me to say what you have me to say. God, keep me quiet when I need to be quiet. Lord, we thank you for everything that's been said and done up until this point, but God, we recognize that right now, In the most critical time when the word of God is fixing to go forth, Lord, you're fixing to speak and to draw and to deal with hearts. I pray nobody will leave the same way they came for that one that's here today. Lord, they don't know where they're gonna spend eternity. They don't know if they've been saved or not. I pray, Lord, they don't leave that same way, but they would come, they would make sure, they would make sure what the call of salvation really is. Salvation and should today be the day, they're ready. They're ready. with everything that's within them. Lord, we love you, we praise you, we bless your name. Glorify the self, we do pray. In Jesus' high and holy name, and all of God's people said, amen and amen. Thank you so much for standing, and you can be seated this morning. Here in II Kings chapter number 6, the nation of Israel, the people of God, they are facing an attack in that from the Syrians. The Syrian army had began to war against Israel. We see that the king of Syria He gathered all of his men together, he gathered all of his servants and he put in place a plan to attack the people of God and not just attack them, but it was the king's desire to do away with the people of God. He wanted to destroy them, he wanted to eradicate them, And so an attack was set in array. By the way, might I say this, the people of God has always been under attack and that from the enemy. Amen. There's always throughout the history of the people of God, they've always had to face and deal with attacks from those that stood on the other side, those that I stood opposed to them, and I want to say this, I don't mean to be discouraging this morning, but the truth is, the people of God are always going to be faced with attacks from the enemy until the Lord calls us out of here. Amen. The Bible's very clear that all those that live godly shall suffer persecution. And it's not so much, and don't get so discouraged this morning, because it ain't got so much to do with you, or me rather, but it is the God that we now serve. You see, back when you was drinking beer and sitting on a bar stool and smoking dope with them, they liked you back then, but now that you believe the Bible, now that you live for God, now that you've been born again and you're saved by the grace of God, and now all of a sudden they're not as friendly as maybe they want to, and now there is the attacks, It ain't so much you that's the difference, but it's the God living in you now that is the difference. And so we see there's an attack. They begin a war against Israel. However, we see that as they would plan, as they would plot their attacks, and they would try to prepare carry out the attacks on the people of God, we see that God would inform the man of God by the name of Elisha, and Elisha would inform the king of Israel, and he would let him know that you better be careful, don't be at this place at such and such time, but rather there's an attack coming, and so they would move, and when the Syrians showed up, when the enemy showed up, the people of God had already left, they had already went, a different way and so it was God protecting his people it was God guiding his people and I don't know about you this morning but I sure am glad that we have a God that has the ability to protect his people even when they face the most severe attacks of their life Aren't you glad that God can move you to the right when you need to move to the right? And He can move you to the left when you need to. How many times that we can look back in our life, I believe there's gonna come a day that God's gonna reveal. I mean, if we only knew just how many times God had put a hedge around us and protected us when the enemy wanted to destroy us, and yet still here we are, saying, blessed be the name of the Lord, not because of who we are, not because of what we've done, but because he's a good God in heaven that's been far better to us than we deserve, and he has protected us along this journey. Amen, the only reason we're still breathing is because he's a God who's protected us. We see that he protects his people and the king of Syria, he don't understand what's going on. He gets bothered by it. He gets mad about it. He calls a meeting. He calls all of his captains in. He calls all of his leaders in. And he says, all right, how is it that they know where we're coming from and when we're coming? Somebody's got to be giving out information. Somebody's got to be telling them what's going on. He thought somebody was giving them a heads up. And during that meeting, one old boy stood up and he spoke up and he said, King, he said, it ain't none of us. We ain't telling nobody anything. We're not letting the information out. He says, but over on the other side, there is a man of God by the name of Elisha. He's the prophet of God, and he can hear what you say even in your bedchamber. And God tells him, and he tells the king of Israel, and that's how it's happening. The king then, in response, he said, where's he at? I wanna know where he's at. They tell him in verse 13, I believe it is, they let him know that he is in Dothan. Verse number 13, and so the king has sent horses and chariots, and they came to Dothan by night. They compassed the city of Bab, they surrounded them, and I want you to notice the scene taking place. Here the man of God he is, and now the enemy has found him. Now the enemy has spotted thee. No longer is it the nation of Israel they're after, but it's one man, the preacher, the man of God, the prophet, Elisha. The attack goes toward Elisha. I don't have time to preach all this, and I preached, I was talking about, me and Brother Chris talking about this morning, I preached from his text before, and on how that Elisha was standing in the way of the enemy. and the people of God and how that you and I hope to be that one that'll stand in the way. Don't you know all of hell would love to destroy you, love to destroy the family. Look at that little one this morning, would love to destroy that little boy's life and wreck it, but aren't you glad there's a mama and a daddy who's vowing to take the vow, I'm gonna stand in the way, I'll be the one that'll stand in the way. So now the attack's on Elisha. That's what happens next. I'm most interested in this morning. I'm gonna give this to you and I'll be done. Verse number 15. The Bible says as they compassed the city, they've got them surrounded. Verse 15 says, and when the servant of the man of God was risen early, gone forth, behold, and compassed the city both with horses and chariots, his servant said unto him, alas, my master, how shall we do? The Bible says the servant of the man of God rises up early that morning, he goes about his way doing what he's supposed to do, and he walks out and he sees the Syrian army that has surrounded them. And this servant, he ain't no dummy, he's following Elisha. He's got his head screwed on pretty straight, would you not agree? He ain't no idiot, he knows they ain't there with no welcome party. He understands they're there to kill him. They're there to destroy them, to do away with them. And instantly fear set in on this young servant. He turns, he goes back to the man of God, Elisha. He says, what are we gonna do? How shall we do? And notice the response of the man of God, verse 16. He answered, fear not. I'll take time out and I wanna get personal and I'll just spill my beans here and tell you. When I'm looking at a scene like this, and I see we're surrounded by the enemy, I don't want to hear somebody get up and say, oh don't worry preacher, fear not. Huh? See? Y'all thought y'all had a spiritual pastor, but you really don't. He's just as human as the rest of you. I mean, I know what it's like to feel the forces of hell. I mean, I know what it's like to feel the forces of hell against this church, and against my family, and I know what it's like when you see things begin to go in the ray, and you watch this scene taking place, and you know it just don't look good. We're outnumbered. It don't make no sense. How are we gonna do? What are we gonna do? And then all of a sudden somebody says, oh, fear not, preacher, it'll be all right. I don't want to hear that. But that's what he tells him. He says, fear not. He lets him know there's more with us than there are with him. There's more with us. than they are with him. This servant, he was fearful by what he saw. He was tore up by what he saw. Here's what I want you to see this morning. There was a difference between the man of God of Elisha and the servant of God. That was there that day in the text. Notice this, the difference in these two was not necessarily their age. Although their age, there was a difference in their age. There was a difference in their appearance. I mean, I'm sure they didn't look the same. Nobody looks the same. Amen. I mean, there was a difference in their strength. of their appearance, I mean, we can make a long list of differences they had, but none of those differences are the difference I'm talking about. What I'm talking about this morning is the difference that made the difference, and that was one could see and one couldn't see. One had his eyes open and one still had them closed. Here's why I'm preaching what I'm preaching this morning. I don't think there's ever been a greater need. I don't think there's ever been a greater time in the history of mankind for the need of the child of God to have his eyes open as there is the need in this day and hour that we are living in. I said, man, I mean, would you not agree with me this morning that when you look around the world that we're living in today, it is a messed up world. I'm talking about, friend, it's a mixed up and a messed up in this day and hour. I mean, it is a fearful thing. It's a fearful scene when you look around. I'm telling you, we're living in a world filled with discouragement, filled with depression. It's a disheartening scene when you look outside of these walls. We're living in a world where people despise the truth. They despise what is right. They despise the Bible. They despise God. I mean, it's a rebellious generation. It's a hateful generation. I mean, have you ever seen such a day where people hate people like they do? nowadays I mean people hate one another people are mean to one another I mean I mean it's a day of people what hey you're living in a society and nowadays people wouldn't think twice I mean hey people shooting one another all the time and don't think nothing about it hey man friend I'm telling you it's a fearful thing I look at my youngins I look at all our young people here and I I fear for the days ahead of them. I fear for their lives and the generation that they're growing up with and the things that they are facing. I look around today and you watch and you look at Bible-believing fundamental churches like this, those that believe the Bible, you're not seeing massive growth in those churches. You're seeing a lot of people attack those places. Run away from those places. Amen. I mean, it's a generation. Nobody cares about the truth of the Word of God. I mean, hey friend, it is a fearful scene. And if you try to live for God, and if you try to serve the Lord, stand for truth, preach the Bible, you will be hated in this day and hour. I mean, I can remember a time just in my lifetime Or even if they didn't agree with it, there was still some respect toward the Bible. There was still respect toward the church and the man of God. But now we're living in a day where it's made fun of, it's laughed at. Men of God are mocked nowadays, amen. They look at us like we are the problem and it's easy to get discouraged. It's easy to get worried. It's easy to get concerned. It's easy to wonder, how shall we do? What's going to happen? But I come to tell you this morning, if you could ever get your eyes open, if you could ever start living with your eyes wide open, and you could see past all of this nonsense. You could see past what only the naked eye could see and start looking through the eye of faith. I'm telling you, it'd make all the difference in the world. I know you can see the mess we're living in, but I tell you what you need to see this morning. You need to see how that all things work together for the good of them that love the Lord and are called according to his purpose. You need to see this morning, I know you see the condition of society, but you also need to see that greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. You need to see that no weapon formed against you shall prosper, saith the Lord, amen. You need to see that yea, though I walk through the valley of the good God Almighty, through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me. God in us, Taff, they comfort me. I'm telling you, friend, it don't matter how woke society gets, I'm glad there's a God who's still with us, friend. Amen! He's still. Greater is He that's in you. There's more with us than there are with them. You need to see this morning that this book, it's more than just a book. It is the living word. of a thrice holy God, and that every word of God is pure, and He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. You need to see that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Amen. You need to see, look unto the hills. from which cometh my help, amen. You need to see that Jesus, he even said in this world, you shall have tribulation, but fear not, for I have overcome the world. I'm simply saying, you need to stop looking with your fleshly eye and start seeing with the eye of faith and get your eyes wide open today. Oh, it'll make all the difference in the world. It makes all the difference one could see. And one couldn't see. I'll give you three quick points and I'm done. Number one, what is it you say, preacher, I'd like to see this morning? I really do wanna see. How do I see? Well, this is my last point, but I'm gonna give you a hint, and then we'll hit it here in a minute. Notice who opened his eyes. It wasn't the preacher. Elisha did not open his eyes. Elisha couldn't. You know who opened his eyes? God did. See, if you're gonna get your eyes open this morning, that is the power of Almighty God. Only God can open your eyes today. Only God can cause a person to see what's really going on. But I do believe there are some things that you and I can do and that we learn from the servant that can help the situation. Number one, you ready for it? He was a servant. You wanna get your eyes open, start serving like you ought to. Amen. He was a servant. Now what the Bible calls him, you know what he was doing? He was a servant to the man of God. He was where he should have been. He was where he was supposed to be. He got up that morning doing what he was supposed to be doing, living how he was supposed to be living. I mean, doing everything he knowed to do and do it right. That's what this old boy was doing. Nobody even knows his name, but he was doing it. Can I say this to you this morning? You want to live with your eyes open? You better start being a servant. Learn how to serve. You say, serve what? Serve the Lord. Amen. Be a servant. Serve the Lord. Just get in there and serve God. That'll help some of you more than anything in this world. Just start serving God. Say, well, I need some help here. I need this. I need to know. You need to just do what you know to do, and that is to serve the Lord. Serve God. Learn to serve God. You know what? You know what we need in this day and hour more than we've ever needed before? It's just them old saints of God that just serve God. Whatever. What's wrong with getting plugged in where you're supposed to get plugged in and just staying all the days of your life and serving God? Amen. What's wrong with that? Amen. By the way, I'll say, and I know it's getting late and I'm trying to hurry, but y'all hang out, all right? This is the last Sunday I'll ever get to preach in 2023. I'll make the most of it. You know why this church is here this morning? You know why we're here where we're at this morning? Because there was some people that purposed in their heart they were gonna serve God. And they stuck with it. when the world said, y'all just quit. And most everybody in here don't even know who them people are. Some of them still here today. And we thank God for ya, but there's a lot that ain't here. people that you ain't even ever met, people that I've never even met, but people that just purposed in their heart, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna serve God, I'm a head man, friend, and now look at us, we're worshiping in a beautiful building today. I mean, friend, we ain't got vines growing up on the walls, and I mean, God's been good to this place, but you know why it is? It's because people purposed in their heart, they're just gonna serve the Lord. and they served God and they stayed in their place. Can I encourage you this more? Stay in your place and just serve God. That'll get your eyes open. I gotta hurry, he was a servant. Number two, can I say this? Not only was he a servant, but he also valued preaching. I gotta hit this. He valued preaching. Notice what he did. When he saw what he saw, notice what he did. He said, alas, master, how shall we do? What the preacher said meant something to him. He valued what he was gonna say. He'll say, you wanna live with your eyes wide open? You need preaching in your life. You ought to value preaching. See, the reason a lot of people can't see today is because there ain't no preaching in their life. They don't care about having no preaching in their life. They think they don't need no preaching in their life. But can I tell you, friend, if there's one thing you ought to do, you ought to do without cheese pizza before you do without preaching. Somebody ought to say amen right there. Hey, as much as I love sweet tea, I'd get rid of sweet tea this morning before I got rid of my Bible preaching in my life, amen. I'm telling you, shut the cable off, get rid of the cell phones, whatever you gotta do, but you better not get rid of preaching. Everybody needs preaching, from the pulpit to the back pew, because preaching will do for you what nothing else will do for you in your life, amen. It ain't so much about the man doing the preaching, but it's the God preaching through the man, that's where it's at, and everybody needs some preaching, amen. Thank God for preaching this morning. He valued preaching. He went to the man of God. He said, I'll ask you, how shall we do? What are we going to do? He said, fear not. There's more with us than there are with them. By the way, when Lucifer got kicked out of heaven, the Bible says he took one third with him. Isn't that right? Now, I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer, but if you take one third, does that not mean you got two thirds left? Lets me know for every one the devil's got this morning, God's got two. We own the winning side. Amen. He valued preaching. Lastly, and I'm done, he trusted in the Lord. You know who opened his eyes? God did. God did. I know what it's like to be in the middle of the night. Especially here lately. My mind, the devil's been attacking my mind. I look around and I see the hate toward truth. The hate toward the Bible. The hate, I'm talking about, hey, I thank God our young people are spending the night up here Friday night. Y'all better, y'all pray for Miss Helena and my wife that they don't decide to leave the church because then I don't know what member of Jason's gonna do, you know? But they stayed with them. But I appreciate our young people. We got a good group of young people. I don't really have to worry. A few of them I got a little concerned with. But as a whole, I don't have to worry about the whole. They're pretty good young people. But you know, to the world, our young people look like, man, they're just crazy. They're crazy. And that's the point. I mean, you start looking and it looks like we're surrounded today. And it's fearful. But all of a sudden, I know what it's like to bury my nose in that book and pray, and God opened my eyes. And I see there's more with us than there are with them. And if ever there was a day we needed the Lord to open some eyes and we see the truth, it's this day and hour we're living in. I'm done right here, Miss Donna, if you wanna come get on this piano. I wanna say this this morning, if you're here today, if you're here today, and you're struggling, it might just be you ain't got your eyes open. You say, Preacher, I'm seeing fine. Went to the doctor the other day, got 20-20 vision. I'm not talking about going by what your doctor says, I'm talking about going by what God says. And I've noticed here in the text, I was thinking about this, I was thinking about this. I noticed here in the text, they were seeing a negative, but God showed them a positive. But how many would agree this morning, God has the ability to where you see a positive, but yet God shows a negative? Huh? For instance, let me put it to you like this. See, I'm afraid there's a lot of people in here, and not just in here, but in the world today, that would look and say, oh yeah, preacher, I know I'm going to heaven when I die. I know I'm saved. I know I'm right with the Lord. I prayed a prayer, went to church, went to the altar one Sunday. I mean, I've got to be born again, I know. I'm good. And that's what you see physically. But when God opens your eyes, you're gonna see not a positive, but you'll see a negative that you've been deceived. I'm just simply saying God can show a negative to a positive and he can show a positive to a negative. Just what you're seeing this morning don't necessarily mean that that is what it is. And you need God to open your eyes, and you see the truth. And the truth is there's more with us than there are with them. Young people, listen to me. You're thinking about going away of the world, and you say, well, that's what all my friends are doing. There's more with us than there are with them. And if you like winning, you better stay with Jesus, because in the end, Jesus wins. If you're here today and you're not saved, you ought to come get saved. If you're here today and you're struggling, been in a battle with your mind, you need the Lord to open your eyes, won't you come get on this altar? Have the Lord spoke to you, I want to invite you to come. Let's stand to our feet this morning, heads bowed, eyes closed, nobody looking around. Father, I pray you're blessed during this invitation hour. Glorify thyself, I do pray. Lord, move in this place. I pray some eyes would get open today. May we see the truth of your word. for that one that's here that needs to be saved, needs to come. I pray they do. I pray there'd be some Christians today that'd lead the way. I pray there'd be some Christians that'd crawl on this altar and get a hunger to be able to see what they can't see. Get in their place of service. Get back into value and truth and value in the word of God, value in preaching in their life. God, may we not sit stagnant. God, may we respond obediently this morning. May eyes be open. I bless your name. Glorify thyself in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. As God speaks to you, why don't you come? Why don't you come? Some of you Christians, you're to lead the way. Come on this morning.