Steven Furtick - The Power of The Pull
Second Kings 13:14-20, this parable in action where we have been looking at an object lesson from this simple little archery instruction where the prophet Elisha pulls out a sermon prop. It makes me feel better about all of the props I've used over the years, because here the prophet Elisha, one of the most powerful preachers the Bible has ever recorded the life of, instead of speaking to the king about what he needs to do, shows him. Sometimes actions speak louder than words, and sometimes it's not in what we understand or declare but in what we do that our measure of success is determined. This passage is cool, because he uses a bow and arrow. Earlier today they were playing some old clips of my preaching and showing me with a water gun, and I had some grown men on a seesaw one time to talk about giving weight to God's Word.
How many of you were there for that? I love how our team through the years, when I think of something crazy, they don't look at me crazy. I said, "I need a seesaw for my sermon," and Joe and the team built a seesaw. We've done all of these things over the years. I used to feel like that was probably because I was a shallow preacher, that I didn't have enough substance so I had to do all this silly stuff to keep people's attention, but I don't really see it that way anymore. Jesus was the Word made flesh, and when he came to preach he would often point at stuff to illustrate his point. He would use objects to get his message or his lesson across.
When he was talking about worry, he would point to the birds and say, "If God can feed them, what are you worried about? Not one of them falls to the ground without him knowing it, and you think God doesn't have his eye on your life? He's watching over you". He would point to the birds to prove that or he would contrast sometimes. "Do you see that big mountain? You can move it with faith the size of a mustard seed. If you would believe a little bit, you could do a lot". One time he wanted to show them how he was the Bread of Life, so he told the disciples to feed the people. They said, "We can't". He said, "Exactly. But when you bring your 'I can't' to the one who is and was and is to come…"
One time Jesus wanted to show how he was the resurrection, so he let Lazarus die. Why? He needed a prop. When he pointed to the tomb and said, "Lazarus, come forth," he was pointing to every dead thing in your life. When the Word of God hits dead places, disappointed places… I feel dreams coming alive in the presence of God! It just makes me feel good that when the king came to see Elisha he used a prop. I want to read it in case you're new to the series. I really want to pull you in. I want to do my best, whether you've just come in here or whether you've been here for the whole thing. It's always my aim to pull everybody in, whether you have the book of Philippians memorized or whether you dated a guy named Philip one time and it didn't go well.
Look at verse 15. "Elisha said, 'Get a bow and some arrows,' and he did so. 'Take the bow in your hands,' he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it…" Not when he looked at it, not when he considered it, not when he prayed about it. When he had taken it, when he took action on the word that was spoken. "…Elisha put his hands on the king's hands". God's guidance is awaiting your participation. When he did what he was told to do… I'm thankful that God guides my life. I just saw a picture of how God's hands have always been on my hands. Even in seasons when I didn't want him to lead me, he led me. When he put his hands on the king's hands, he gave him an instruction, and it has kind of been our theme for the series. "'Open the east window,' he said, and he opened it". He did not open the window for the king; he pointed in the direction of the battle God would give the victory in if the king would dare to face it and fight it. When he opened the window, the prophet told him to shoot, and he shot.
Then the prophet declared, "The Lord's arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram"! That confederation of nations that had been oppressing God's people. "The arrow of victory over Aram". The arrow represents victory, and it's the Lord's victory. It's his strength and his arm. This is a lesson for us to see the victory before we seize the victory. All of these things I've mentioned to you, but on this final week I want to focus in particularly on a point in this passage. He said, "'You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.' Then he said, 'Take the arrows,' and the king took them. Elisha told him, 'Strike the ground.' He struck it three times and stopped. The man of God was angry with him and said, 'You should have struck the ground five or six times…'" "Then you could have had everything God wanted you to have, but you quit too quickly".
You quit when you don't feel it. You only worship God when he gives you a goose bump. I love Elisha. He was a straight shooter. Get it? Arrow… He told him what he needed to hear. "You should have, you could have, you would have". "But now you will defeat it only three times". I was talking to my 16-year-old self this week. I was imagining how he would preach this passage. Sixteen-year-old Steven wouldn't have just preached about the arrows; he would have brought an arrow up on the stage and used it for a prop. I wonder, did anybody on the front row bring any spare arrows to church today? Oh, Jonathan Josephs, our campus pastor. Y'all give it up for JJ, always prepared. Do you see that? He was prepared with those arrows. That's why I love you, JJ. That's why you're one of my top 14 favorite campus pastors. Sitting on those arrows, ready for them.
I wonder what you're sitting on that you're not using today. "You should have used all of your arrows". You should have taken everything God gave you and kept striking until you saw it, until what you see in your life reflects what God has spoken over your life. It was not a deficiency in the artillery that caused the king to be defeated; it was his lack of drive. He wouldn't drive every arrow into the ground. "You should have kept pushing". We all need a push every now and then. We all come to the place in our lives where we need somebody to help us, motivate us to do what we can't do and to get us started in the right direction. I feel like it's my job in some ways to give you a push as you go into your week. Just a little nudge, just a little push. That's what the worship leaders are doing. They're giving you a push. You know you come in some weeks and you don't feel like praising God.
You know you cussed at your kids in the van on the way to church and said, "Praise the Lord" when you saw the parkers. What I'm saying today really doesn't have as much to do with that as it does with the other instrument. We've talked about The Power of Precision. You have to aim at something. We've talked about The Power of Preparation, that the ground must be plowed for the harvest to be plentiful. We even talked about The Power of Potential and The Power of Provision. All of these things we've talked about using these arrows. As I was praying about how to close this series, it was almost like I heard the text talking to me. I've been preaching so much about these arrows and how you can't leave any of them in your quiver. You cannot quit with arrows left in your quiver. We've been preaching so much about the arrows, but it's like I heard the text talking to me, and it's as if the text said, "How about the bow"?
The whole thing started with a bow. JJ, do you have a bow? How about that? He has a bow and some arrows. Of course we worked this out ahead of time. This is Graham's bow. He didn't even know where it was. I told him this week to get his bow that Uncle Max gave him a couple of Christmases ago, and he couldn't even find it. I thought, "Well, that's a sermon illustration in itself. You're like a lot of Christians. You wrote it down in a notebook, but you never…" Whoa! But he brought me the bow, and I was thinking in the context of what we've learned about all of these principles from God's Word. "Get a bow. Get some arrows". On the count of three we're going to shoot it. Are you ready? One, two, three. Shoot! Well, that didn't go very far. Let's try again. Count me down. Are you ready? Get a bow. Get some arrows. Take the shot. On three, here we go. One, two, three. You like that?
I feel kind of stupid up here, because in my mind I saw the arrow flying through the air. The Lord's arrow of victory. I saw it like a great illustration. Am I doing something wrong? Oh. So in order for the arrow to fulfill its purpose, the bow has to be… I want to preach today for 25 minutes on The Power of the Pull. If you go out of this series trying to live out these principles in your own strength, you are going to look as stupid to the Devil as I do with this little Banshee. Once you understand the power of the pull, once you understand that the power of God is not in your effort, not by your might, nor by your strength, but by his Spirit… See, it's good to get a push. It's really, really good to get a push. Some people, like this king, will do what they're told as long as somebody is pushing them. Everything Elisha told the king to do he did.
"Get a bow". He got it. "Get some arrows". He got them. "Strike the ground". He struck it, but it was the moment Elisha took his hands off the king's hands… Some people have to be pushed to praise God. Other people have something on the inside of them. You don't have to prompt me. I don't need you to tell me to lift my hands. My hands are lifted up. My mouth is filled with praise. It's the power of the pull. Before I was armed, but now I'm dangerous. The Devil doesn't fear you with your little… I can see you right now coming out of here, trying to push yourself to live for Jesus. "Come on, Devil. I've got something for you," and the Devil isn't scared, but I guarantee you with a little bit of leverage… I said all you need is a little bit of leverage. How many are seated in heavenly places with Jesus? Somebody shout, "I've got pull"!
That's what Paul was saying in 2 Corinthians 10, verse 3. He said, "Though we walk in the world, we don't wage war as the world wages war". We're not throwing our own arrows. We have heavenly leverage. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds". You've been pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing, and that's why it's not working. God said, "If you would pull…" It's a big difference. This is motivation. It'll work. If I motivate you in church, it'll work until Wednesday. I mean, the arrow went somewhere, but not where it could have gone, not all the way over Aram, not complete victory. Motivation.
If there's something on the inside of you (and that's what Jehoash didn't have), that's called inspiration. It's something pulling on me from the inside that made me want to preach on my birthday. I could be on the beach, but something pulled me to this pulpit. I wanted to do it, not I had to do it. I want to do it. I love to do it. I want to serve him. I love to serve him. I want to worship him. I love to worship him. I want him. I need him. I've got to have him. I look back on my little life even though it has not been a long life yet. God has been pulling me according to his purpose. Sometimes I didn't see it that way at the time. Sometimes it felt like life was pushing me around. I don't know if you've ever felt that way. I don't know if you've ever felt like life had pushed you past your breaking point.
So much pressure on you that you didn't know what to do. I found out that the power comes from the pressure. I could use a lot of biblical examples of this, but I chose Joseph, because he said at the end of his life, after he saw what God's purpose had been all along fully fulfilled and he saw the portrait of it, not just one little part of it but the whole panoramic view, he was able to say to his brothers, "You meant it for evil…" His brothers had pushed him into a pit. Have you ever been pushed around, ever been rejected? You might need to know this verse. He said, "You meant it for evil. You were pushing me, but while you were pushing, the hand of God was pulling". He was pulling me. When it didn't go the way I wanted it to, when they talked about me, they were pushing. God was pulling. The hand of God has always been on your life.
While people were pushing with one hand, God was pulling with the other. It's the power of the pull. God was positioning me for exactly where he wanted me to be. When you understand the power of the pull, life doesn't seem so random anymore. You understand that there was a purpose behind all of it. If you look out here you can't see it, but if you look back you'll see that your dad didn't make you come to church that night. You thought he made you come to church that night, but it wasn't your dad pushing you to come to church that made you come to church. God used your dad. Your dad is in heaven now. My dad is in heaven now. They're probably eating some carb-free angel food cake to celebrate my birthday together, 37 candles, in Jesus' name.
Cody bugged me to get me to church the night I got saved. He was pushy about it too. He showed up in his pickup truck, and in my mind he was being pushy, but while he was pushing me, God was pulling me. On February 19, 1980, I came into the world because she pushed me, but at the same time she was pushing, God was pulling. I wasn't born on accident, and neither were you. God knew you needed to be here. God brought you here right here, right now. It was his hand. Your car didn't bring you to church; God brought you to church. "Get a bow. Get some arrows".
Let me give you an object lesson on the way God works. God is pulling you. God is drawing you to himself. God is drawing you into purpose. Yeah, sometimes it's painful. Yeah, sometimes it feels like you're going backwards, but wait till you see the trajectory of God's purpose. He pulled me out of some relationships I didn't need to be in. Yes, he did. He pulled me out of some pits I fell into with my own dumb decisions. How many are grateful for the hand of God that pulls you out? He's pulling. What was Elisha doing when Elijah threw his mantle on his shoulders? Does anybody remember in 1 Kings 19? Remember, Elisha wasn't looking to become a prophet. Elisha was a plowman. He was simply driving plows in a field one day, and he wasn't pointing himself out to be used by God.
When you are in position of your purpose, God will point you out. You don't have to self-promote. You don't have to get somebody to like you or notice you. Elijah wasn't even looking for Elisha until God spoke his name and showed him the exact physical location. I saw it in an illustration. I realized that what Elisha was telling the king to do with the bow at the end of his life was an illustration of what God had been doing to him his whole life. He was drawing him. He was pulling him. The power of the pull. One day he's driving. It says he was driving 12 yoke of oxen. This is the third time I've preached this sermon. I haven't preached it like I wanted to, and I'm going to get it right this time, because I have to go eat some cake, and I can't eat cake until I preach good. Watch this.
In 1 Kings 19:19 it says, "Elijah went from there and found Elisha". You missed it. The only reason he found him is because God led Elijah. He pulled. He found him in a field plowing with 12 yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. You know how oxen are, because all of you have had experience with oxen. Oxen are kind of slow, so you have to drive them and drive them. They'll just stop on you. You have to drive them. He's driving them. Verse 20 says when Elijah passed by, which represented Elisha's purpose that he wasn't even looking for yet… How many of you weren't even looking for God and he found you? That's my story. I wasn't looking, but he was. He drew me to himself. In verse 19 it says that he was driving the oxen, but it says in verse 20 that Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah.
Now the one who was driving is being drawn. The one who was driving the oxen, plowing the field, is being drawn by purpose. Now Elisha is being drawn into the purpose of God for his life. He has been driving the oxen up until this point, but now the one who had been doing the driving is being drawn. This is what happens when grace comes into your life. This is what happens when purpose takes its place. This is what happens when you let go of your way, when you stop trying to push, when you stop trying to manipulate, when you stop trying to call your own shots, and you say, "Lord, lead me where you want me to go. What do you want me to do"? He drew me to himself. He drew me. I had to be in the choir. It wasn't Arturo who recruited me for the choir; it was God. God knew I needed to pastor a multicultural church.
How can I pastor a multicultural church if I can't step into the church...? God was getting me ready. God is getting you ready. I don't know who this message is for, but if it's for you, shout right now! He's drawing you! I have to leave some doubts behind. I have to leave some dysfunctions behind. He's calling me now. I can't spend the rest of my life looking at the backside of an ox. He's drawing me. My bow broke while I was preaching. It doesn't have to be pretty for God to use it. I feel like preaching today. I feel like preaching like it's my birthday! Pulling down of strongholds. I'm not pushing my way through life. I have pull. God brought me here. A sense of purpose will pull you. There are teenagers under the sound of my voice who are being pushed by popularity. You're being pushed to fit in with a certain crowd. You're being pushed.
Popularity can only get you so far. Popularity cannot give you a sense of significance, but if you let the purpose of God pull on your life… I'm telling you, God's purpose has been pulling on me all my life so I could be here with you today. His hand has always been on you. He was pulling you, directing your paths. Even when you wanted to wander, he pulled on you. That's why you're here. When your car is out of alignment it pulls a certain way. God brought us into this Work Your Window series at Rock Hill, Concord, Gaston, and all of the other locations and online… God brought us into this series for alignment so that we won't constantly… If you change your patterns it will change your pull. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal". That means fleshly. Flesh is a pattern. It pulls you. It's what pulls you.
Some of you had to make yourself come to church today. That's all right. Make yourself come back enough. Push yourself to come back until something pulls you to come. I promise if you keep coming, eventually your car will pull itself into the Elevation Church parking lot like it used to pull into Krispy Kreme when the "hot" sign came on. He's pulling me according to his purpose. I'm pulled by my patterns, I'm pulled by my purpose, and I'm pulled by the possibility. It's the Lord's arrow of victory over Aram. Get a bow. Get some leverage. Don't leave this series trying to live out God's will in your strength. "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God". Do you know what's interesting about the word sin? It's an archery term. It means to miss the mark. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God".
Maybe the reason it fell short is because it didn't have leverage. You can't throw it far enough, not for these battles. That's what the grace of God has been for my life. The grace of God has pulled me and kept me. At times in my life where I didn't want to continue on, that's where grace kicked in. It's the power of the pull. I don't want to pastor a church full of people who are striking the ground in their own strength and wearing out because they didn't have a grip by grace. Right now in the presence of God there is grace available for whatever Aram you're facing. I believe God is drawing somebody. In fact, I want to give an invitation for you right now like I gave when Eric was at church. He was about 20 years old. You may be younger, you may be older, but God is drawing you.
I want you to stand to your feet at all of our locations so I can pray with you. I can't push you into this decision. It wouldn't be your decision. But if you feel God drawing you right now and you know you've fallen short of the glory of God because all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, I really feel called right now to facilitate the presence of God as he pulls you in. The Spirit and the bride say, "Come". God offers an invitation. God will never push you; he'll pull you. "Follow me". Jesus made it that simple. "Just let me pull you. I know where I'm taking you. Uncharted waters. I know where I'm taking you, Abraham. Just go to the land I will show you". He leads me beside still waters.
I want you to bow your head and close your eyes and realize that God has been leading you all your life. He has been pulling on you. That's what you feel in your heart right now. It's not the music behind me. It's not the words I've spoken. It is the pull of God. It is the grace of God. It is the drawing power of the Holy Spirit. God is drawing you in this moment to himself. On this day, for all who are far away from God and desire to be brought near by the blood of Jesus Christ, cleansed and forgiven, redeemed and renewed, restored and made righteous in the presence of God, his grace is available and his grace is enough. He's drawing you now.
With heads bowed and eyes closed, we're going to pray as a church family for those who are coming to God for the first time or coming back to God. This is a holy moment. I ask that no one move at any of our locations as we pray out loud for the benefit of those who are coming to God. We believe the miracle-working power of the Holy Spirit is drawing now even as I speak. Heads bowed, eyes closed. We're praying together as a family.
Heavenly Father, today is my day of salvation. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the world, and right now, right here, I am a new creation. I believe that Jesus Christ died for me and rose again to give me life. I receive this new life. From this day forward, I am a follower of Christ.
Heads still bowed, eyes still closed. If you prayed that, shoot your hand in the air on the count of three. One, two, three. At every location hands are flying up. Come on, church. You'd better celebrate better than that! That's new beginnings. That's a new start, man. God bless you. I see you, man. This is your moment. This is your time. God brought you here. Anybody else? Shoot your hand up. God is working in this moment. I see the arrow of victory flying over Aram. Come on, open your mouth to God! We have a reason to celebrate. Come on, we have a reason!