Elisha's Call

Thank you, David. First Kings chapter 19. First Kings chapter 19, as we look at Elisha's call. For a man or for a woman to know that God has called them into his kingdom and called them to be used by him for his glory and honor is the single most gratifying, motivating aspect of a believer's life. You need to understand God's call upon your life. Elisha understood that call. Elisha was a man who was truly a great prophet of the Lord and very rarely does a great prophet have a successor who is as great or greater than he was.

And Elisha in his ministry far surpassed the greatness of Elisha, the man we just studied, and his ministry in the land of Israel. Elisha was a man who encountered emperors, kings. He was a man who had dignitaries come to his home seeking counsel from him. He was a man who had the unique ability to deal with people in high authority as well as to deal with people who were lowly and obscure. When you're called by God and you understand that call, who you minister to really makes no difference because you're being used by God to fulfill his purpose in the lives of different people.

And Elisha was a man who ministered during Israel's apostasy. He, like Elisha, had to encounter idolatry and immorality in the land of Israel. Elisha was unable to eradicate the apostasy of his day. If you were with us in our study of Elisha, you know that after his Mount Carmel incident where he was able to defeat the prophets of Baal and to slay them, after that incident he would flee because Jezebel threatened his life and the ministry of Elijah was never the same again. And so he goes and he runs and he hides in the wilderness.

And God tells him to go to Mount Horeb because God's going to deal with him. And God asked him, what are you doing here? He asked that question because Elijah also, like Elisha, had a call upon his life. And Elisha ran from that call. And when he ran from that call, God says, what are you doing?

And what are you doing here? I called you to minister to my people Israel and you are in the wilderness. I've called you to be used by me to represent me and you've run and hidden in the wilderness. What are you doing, Elijah? And what are you doing here in the wilderness? And God would speak to him and God would tell him that there's going to come somebody that you're going to anoint that's going to take your place. And that man is Elisha. And Elisha will come on the scene in our study tonight and you'll begin to see this man's call.

Miracles were the hallmark of his ministry. You will note that in the history of the world, there have been three periods, three eras, where there have been an outpouring of miracles. The time of Moses, the time of Elijah and Elisha, and the time of Christ and the apostles. There will come a fourth time and that will be during the tribulational period, that seven-year period where God will have an outpouring of miracles here upon the earth. But there have been three periods of time in the history of the world where there was an outpouring of miracles.

Outside of Moses, no one did more miracles than Elisha did. And God used him in a very powerful way, as you will see in our study of this great man. He appears in the scripture and we know a little bit about his call because it's recorded here in 1st Kings chapter 19. But Elijah, we knew nothing about his call. We knew that in 1st Kings 17, he shows up on the scene and he rebukes the king. But that's all we know about Elisha. He comes on the scene like a locomotive out of the wilderness. But Elisha, at least we know a little bit about what the guy's doing when God calls him in to ministry.

My prayer for you tonight and over the course of our study is that you begin to understand the call of God upon your life. Because what it is that makes that so important is that when a man or woman is uninhibited in their call, nothing deters them from their ministry. Discouragement does not set in. Distress and difficulty do not sidetrack you. But you must be uninhibited in your call. That is there is nothing that deters you from the mission and ministry that God has called you to because you know for certain that this is what God has for you.

I would hope that through our study of Elisha, you would know that where you're at today is the place God has called you to minister for him. That you know for certain that when you sit in that little cubicle at work or when you sit behind that desk at school or when you go and you sit behind the wheel of that truck that you drive, that God has specifically called you to that ministry to be his representative in that arena to live out your spiritual existence and to represent his great and glorious kingdom.

If you understand that, nothing will discourage you from fulfilling your responsibility and privilege as a representative of the kingdom of God. So many times we come across people that have no idea what they're doing. They have no encouragement in their lives. They flounder as to what it is they should be doing and where they should be going. You need to know for certain that where you're at, you are there because that's exactly where God wants you to be. And that you are there to represent him.

This becomes a monumental, significant aspect of your everyday life. If you have a boring life, it's not God's fault. It's your fault. When God calls a man, when God calls a woman, he doesn't call them to boredom. He doesn't call them to doldrums. He calls them into the ministry, the greatest ministry in the world, of representing him to a lost world. Elisha was God's representative. Elijah was God's representative. When Elijah ran from his call, God says, what are you doing?

I got a guy to take your place. You need to anoint Elisha. Elisha then would be a part of the ministry of Elijah until God takes him up into glory. And then Elisha picks up the torch and he continues that ministry, but he does it at a faster pace. He does that at a quicker pace. He does it probably at a more effective pace than Elijah did. Because Elisha understood and grasped his call all the way to the end. And you're going to see that as we look at 1 Kings chapter 19.

Let's begin with verse number 16. Remember, Elijah's in the wilderness. He's on top of Mount Horeb and God says, this is what you're going to do.

He says, go, verse 15, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when you have arrived, you shall anoint Hazael, king over Aram, and Jehu, the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint king over Israel. And Elisha, the son of Shaphat, of Abelmeholah, you shall anoint as prophet in your place. Verse 19. So he departed from there and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, while he was plowing with 12 pairs of oxen before him. And he, with the 12, and Elijah was passed over or passed over to him and threw his mantle on him.

He left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, please let me kiss my father and my mother and then I will follow you.

And he said to him, go back again, for what have I done to you? So he returned from following him and took the pair of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen and gave it to the people and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and ministered to him. The first thing I want you to see is the call of Elijah.

And then we're going to look at the characteristics of that call. And then we're going to look at the commitment of Elisha and then the capabilities of Elisha.

First of all, the call. Elijah, as you recall, his name meant Jehovah is my God. And Elijah was convinced, as you recall, if you were with us in our study, if you weren't, you need to at least go back and get the series and listen to it. You can take it out of our library, you can purchase it in our media center, but you at least need to listen to it. And Elijah, his name means Jehovah is my God, was convinced of the reality of God. Elisha, his name means God is my salvation, God is my deliverer.

So not only was Elisha convinced of the reality of God as Elijah was, but Elisha not only was convinced of God's reality, he was convinced of God's ministry, as deliverer, as savior. God is my savior. God is my deliverer. And his whole ministry is a ministry of miracles to show God as a delivering, saving God. And every miracle that he does in the physical realm is symbolic of what Christ does in the spiritual realm. Just like Christ's miracles when he was on earth, he performed them and what he did in the physical realm was symbolic of what he would do in the spiritual realm.

So Elisha's ministry is all about demonstrating to the people of Israel who lived in apostasy, who committed immorality and idolatry, to show them that there's one deliverer, there's one savior, and that is the Lord God Jehovah, and he is the only one who can deliver you from death. He's the only one who can deliver you from your distress. He's the only one who can deliver you from your discouragement. He's the only one who can deliver you from any obstacle or any element in your life. He is the savior and he is the deliverer.

And Israel needs to know that about God. And Elisha was one who was convinced of that ministry and God would use him in a powerful way to do these miracles, so the people of Israel would begin to understand the power of the living God. And Elisha's ministry came at a time to a generation that needed to understand that there's only one God and his name is Jehovah. Now Elisha was from Abelmohalla, which means the meadow of the dance. You say, okay, so what? I have no idea as to so what. It's only mentioned one other time in scripture, Judges chapter 7, and it's when Gideon was defeating the Midianites, with this 300 band of men, and the Midianites would flee to Abelmohalla, and they would flee through that village or through that town.

And maybe, maybe Elisha's mother, before he was born, would begin to understand the delivering power of Jehovah and name her son Elisha, so he would know about the delivering power of God. We don't know. We can only speculate. No one has the answer to that. But that's the only other place it's mentioned. And so we begin to understand that God tells Elijah to go and find Elisha. And when he finds him, he's in the fields. He's working. You will note the text says that there are 12 pairs of oxen. That would mean that his father was a wealthy farmer.

It wasn't that he had just a pair of oxen. He had 12 pairs of oxen. So most people only had one oxen, but they had 12 pairs of oxen. So evidently his father was a rich farmer. That's very important to understand. Because what his dad did was make his son go to work. That's important. He could have had a son sit on the sidelines and watch the servants go to work, but no, he made his son go to work. That's very important to the story. Why? Because in our lives we tend to sit and wait upon God to move us instead of actively engaging in our daily duties, fulfilling our due diligence.

And when that happens, God truly moves. It's like the servant of Abraham in Genesis chapter, I think it's 24, when he said, I being in the way, the Lord led me. One author said God never moves docked ships. He moves the ones that are already on the move. And so here was Elisha engaged in his daily routine, his daily duties. He had a father who made him go to work. He had a father who helped him understand discipline, who helped him understand diligence, who helped him understand determination, who helped him understand dedication, who helped him understand the basic elements of manliness that you got to work.

You don't work, you don't eat. You got to go to work. And so while he was doing his due diligence, not expecting Elijah to show up, God never spoke to Elisha. God never said Elijah's coming, so be ready. He didn't know until Elijah showed up. But he was doing his normal duties. He was engaged in work. My friends, we live in a society where we tend to produce lazy people. People who don't experience or work out the things they need to do. You know, God's not in the business of calling sluggards to the ministry.

God's in the business of calling people who are faithful in a little to make them faithful in much. We want to be faithful in much, but not faithful in a little. But if you're faithful in the little things, God will promote you and exalt you and do time to do his things. I recall when when I was 16 years of age, my dad said, okay, you got your license, now you got to go to work. I said, what am I gonna do? He says, I got a client who who sells homes. And all those homes have yards, and all those yards need to be mowed.

And I told him, you're the guy. I said, but you didn't ask me. He said, I don't have to ask you. I'm the father, you're the son. I tell, I don't ask. And so I said, okay, how am I gonna do this? He goes, I'm gonna let you use my car. I said, great. What am I gonna do with the mower? He says, that's your problem. You figure it out. So I figured that if I open the trunk, and I picked up the lawnmower, and I placed it in the trunk like this, and closed the lid to the trunk, and tied it down, I could see out the back window and get to where I needed to be.

And so that's what I did. So I started with three houses. Then I went to four. Then I went to five, and six, and seven, and eight, until I got to 12 different homes I was mowing every week. I got pretty good at mowing the yard. I got pretty quick at mowing the yard. But my dad made sure that when I had the opportunity, it was time to go to work. And from that day forward, when I was 16, I've been working ever since. Ever since. Because God has designed us to work is not a result of the curse. Sweat is a result of the curse.

Work is not. Man needs to work. And here was Elisha doing what he was called to do, because his dad said, you got to plow the fields. And he was a rich father. And so he could have sat back and collected some money, and sat back and drank his iced tea, played his video games on the couch while the servants did all the work, and did nothing. He would just produce a lazy child. And we know that a man's most precious possession is his diligence. Proverbs 12 verse number 27. And so you've got to teach diligence to your children.

And Elisha learned that from his father. And so there he was. He was working in the fields, and all of a sudden, Elijah shows up. The Bible says in Lamentations 3 27, It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth.

God is not in the business of calling idle men to great ministries. I'm not sure you can find anywhere in Scripture where there is an idle man that God just plucks out and says, hey, how about you? You want to do this work? No. David, when he was called as a king, he was on the backside of Bethlehem tending sheep. Moses, he was tending sheep in the wilderness, and God came to him in a burning bush. They were doing due diligence. They were fulfilling their daily responsibility. They were not lazy.

They were not sluggards. They were not slackers. They were doing their daily routines, and they were doing them effectively, because if you're faithful in little, God will make you faithful in much. And Elisha, evidently, was faithful in a little. And so God came, and God used Elijah to call Elisha. That leads us to the characteristics of the call. Three things you will note. There's a message, there's a mantle, and there's a ministry. And all of those three characteristics proved this man's call by God in his life.

The message originates with God. God says to Elijah, you go, find Elisha, because he is going to be your predecessor.

He is going to be the one who takes your place. God told Elijah, this is what's going to happen. So the Word of the Lord always is the number one confirmation of a man's call upon his life.

And the Word of the Lord, God spoke to the prophets in those days. They spoke through Elijah. He spoke through Elisha. He spoke through Moses. He spoke through prophets in those days. And so therefore, he would go to Elijah, speak to him, and tell him, this is what's going to happen. Now Elisha did not know. He had no idea. But Elisha did know who Elijah was. Everybody knew who Elijah was. They knew there was a three and a half year drought, because there was a man who said there was going to be a drought.

It wasn't going to rain. And they knew that Ahab and Jezebel couldn't stand Elijah. And they knew that he was the most wanted man in all of Israel. So everybody knew who Elijah was. It wasn't a secret. And so when Elijah shows up, Elisha will know exactly who he is. But he's not expecting Elijah to show up. He's just doing what he does every day. He gets up. He goes, plows the field. He's done. He goes home. He goes to bed. He gets up. He plows the field. He does the same thing every single day. And all of a sudden, on this day, Elijah shows up and throws his mantle on him.

Now, I don't know what's going on. I don't know if he's plowing, and he's got the ox in front of him, and he sees Elijah coming at him. I don't know if Elijah comes up from behind him or the side of him. I don't know. But Elijah says nothing to him. Elijah just goes up and throws the mantle on Elisha. Takes his cloak and throws it on Elisha. Now, everybody knows that that's the official anointing of the predecessor. Elisha knows that. He's not in the dark about that. That's why he drops everything and runs after Elijah.

Elijah just walks by, throws the mantle on him, keeps on walking. And Elijah's like, got a mantle. Got to go. I've been called. I'm anointed. Yo, Elijah, wait up. Wait for me. I'm coming. He goes running after him. Because the mantle was symbolic of a man's anointing, that he would be the next in line. We had the similar thing today. We don't throw mantles on people, but we ordain them. We commission them, right? We license them, and we have the message of the Word of God that confirms their ministry.

We have 1st Timothy chapter 3. We have Titus chapter 1, all speaking of a man's universal credibility, speaking of his biblical morality, speaking of his familial authority and loyalty, as well as the man's outside commitment as a believer to the world. And so we know from 1st Timothy 3 and Titus 1, there are certain things that God has laid out that would be a prerequisite for those who lead in the church. And there would be a commissioning. There would be an ordination of those people once they have fulfilled the qualifications.

And so while we don't throw mantles on people, we don't take our jackets off and throw them on top of people, but we do understand that there is an official capacity by which someone then becomes a leader in the church because of the ministry that God's called them to based on the qualifications of 1st Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1. So the message comes to Elisha because God told Elijah, This is what you're going to do. So the word of the Lord would come from Elijah, although he didn't speak to Elisha at the time about it.

He knew that he was called to be the predecessor, I'm sorry, the successor to Elijah. And so we understand that people today have difficulty understanding God's call because they don't understand God's Word. If you understand God's Word, you don't question God's call. You don't wonder about God's call. That's why we have to preach the word to people so they understand what God's Word says. And that's why we've told you about the will of God on Sunday morning, two weeks ago, we talked about what is the desire of God?

What is the will of God for the people of God? That they be born again, that they give thanks to God, that they truly submit to one another and to God, that they truly remain sexually pure and holy to God because those kinds of things once done, once accomplished, because you fulfill God's desire, everything else just sort of falls into place for you. It's not hard. It's not rocket science to figure out what God has called you to do. The problem with us is not the Word of God because it's very clear.

The problem with us is our own sinfulness, our own rebellion, our unwillingness to submit to the authority of God. And so the message is the first characteristic, the mantle is a second, and then the ministry of Elisha is the third.

Never, listen carefully, never did anyone ever question Elisha as a prophet. No one ever questioned Elisha being the successor to Elijah. No one ever said, What are you doing here? Who called you? Who do you think you are? Because everybody knew the call of God was on his life. Listen, when you are in the place God has called you, no one asks, What are you doing here? Because God has called you. I don't think there's anybody in the church over the last 23 years who said, Lance, what are you doing here?

Why are you the pastor of Christ Community Church? I don't think anybody's ever said that. Some people might not want me to be the pastor of Christ Community Church, but no one's ever said, What are you doing here? Who called you, right? When God calls you to a ministry, there is that qualifying element that people who see you know that you are to be there. Right? Look at 2nd Kings chapter 3, 2nd Kings chapter 3, and we'll get to this point in our study.

But it says in verse number 15, Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. How do they know that? Because he would take the same mantle, the same cloak, he'd throw it down, and the Jordan would separate. And so there was confirmation by the prophets, the school of the prophets, that this man was a successor. Better yet, look at 2nd Kings chapter 4, verse number 8.

Now there came a day when Elisha passed over to Shunem, where there was a prominent woman, and she persuaded him to eat food. So it was, as often as he passed by, he turned in there to eat food. She said to her husband, Behold, now I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. How did she know that? The Bible never says he said anything to her. How did she know that Elisha was a holy man of God? She knew simply by the way he ate his meals. Because that's all she saw him do.

He would pass by, she would feed him, he would eat, there was no conversation, but she perceived, she says, Honey, I don't know who this guy is, but I'm going to tell you right now that this man is a holy man of God. Listen, when God has called you into ministry, when people see you, they know. When God has called you to represent him, when they see you, they know. They don't say, Is that guy holy or not? Is that guy a follower of Jesus or somebody else? They don't say that. Because they know. Because you exude confidence.

You exude Christlikeness. You exude your commitment to the Lord. Everything about you is about Christ. And so when this woman sees him, and we get here, we'll study this, when she sees him, she says, This guy is a holy man of God. Look, I've watched him eat. I can tell by the way he swallows his food. He's the holy man of God. You watch some of us eat, and you think, Wow, that guy's an animal. But this man, Elisha, was the holy man of God. So the ministry of Elisha was a characteristic that demonstrated to others God's call upon his life.

The mantle was a demonstration of a characteristic of the call upon his life. And the message from God to Elijah, because God always speaks through his word, was a confirmation of the call of Elisha into the ministry. Now, the third thing I want you to see is the commitment.

This is really good. It's all good, but I mean, this is really, really good. The other part was just really good. This is really, really good, okay? And this is this. It says in verse number 20, He left the oxen and ran after Elijah. He ran. There was something about his commitment. And the first characteristic you see is that he was absolutely zealous, earnest.

There was something that excited him. There was something that moved him. And that attitude, listen carefully, would stay with him throughout his ministry. Here he is, he's plowing the field, and here comes Elijah, throws his mantle on him, walks on, and next thing you know, he knows what's happened. He knows what happened. He knows what's going on. He stops what he's doing. He runs after Elijah because he knows that he's been called to be the successor to this great prophet, Elijah. There's great energy behind his call.

Listen, when you've been called by God, listen, I've been called without a question to be the pastor at Christ Community Church. And I am more zealous today, 23 years later, than when the church started 23 years ago. When you know you've been called, that's exactly what happens. I've been married to my wife for 30 years. The 30th year of my life with my wife is greater than year number one.

They only get better, they don't get worse. Because you know, if God calls you into that marriage, there's nothing more exciting than being where God wants you to be, and doing what God wants you to do. That motivates you from day to day. So this is the way it should be with us. When God calls you into a marriage, when God calls you into the workplace, when God calls you to a specific school, when you know that God has moved you in that direction, nothing deters your excitement. Nothing distracts you from being what God wants you to be.

This is what God's called me to be. God wants me here. I live from Wednesday to Sunday, from Wednesday to Sunday. I couldn't wait to preach Elisha tonight. When I'm done, I can't wait to preach on Sunday. Because it gets more exciting with each passing week. It doesn't get worse. I don't understand these guys who are pastors of churches, and they go for two or three or four or five minutes, and then they move on. And then they're for two or three or four or five, and then they move on again. What's wrong with those guys?

Don't they understand God's call upon their life? Did God keep moving them around? Or these people who get married, and then they get divorced. Well, did God change his mind? Did God say, oh, I was wrong with the call. Wrong one, sorry. Leave that one, go get another one. You see, when God calls you, you know. And you're involved in that person's life. And it motivates you, it moves you. It drives you to get up in the morning. It drives you to get home in the afternoon. It drives you to want to get up and go to work the next day, because this is where God's placed me.

This is where God wants me to be. And I can't wait to do what God wants me to do. That's a person who's uninhibited in their calling. That's a person who's not easily discouraged at all. That's a person who's highly motivated and highly driven. That was Elisha. I gotta go, gotta go. Elijah, wait up, I'm coming, hold on, slow down. He runs up to him. Next thing I want you to notice is not only his zealousness, but his courage.

His courage. He's willing to follow Elijah when Elijah's a wanted man. He's willing to be involved in a ministry where a man has been predestined to die by Jezebel. Okay, or decreed to die by Jezebel. She said out of decree, he's gotta die. So he knows that he is going to follow a man that puts him in a very dangerous situation, and yet he wants to be there. Listen, when God calls you, the difficulties don't bother you. Because you know that's where God wants you to be. He was so courageous. Everybody knew about Elijah.

Everybody knew he was a wanted man. Everybody knew about the 450 prophets of Baal. Everybody knew about the three and a half year drought. Everybody knew everything started around Elijah. And now the man who comes to Elisha, and now he's like, hey man, I'm next in line. Maybe Jezebel's gonna want to kill me too. Man, I can't wait to get involved in the ministry. What a fabulous way to live your life, knowing that someone can kill you the very next day. Elijah, wait up, I'm coming. That was his attitude.

Courageous. Zealous. Because you see, when you know God's called you, then the negativity of your boss doesn't matter. The way he treats you doesn't matter. Because God has called you to that position of your place of employment. And you're like, hey, there has been no authority given to you that's been given to you from above. So if you're gonna treat me that way, it must be from above. So go ahead, say what you want to say, do what you want to do. But I know that God has placed me here to be his representative, and I can't wait to shine for him.

And that's the way Elisha was. So there was courage, there was zealousness. On top of that, there was sacrifice. Sacrifice. He had to leave his daily duties, not knowing what was gonna happen next. He had to leave the security of his home, a wealthy home with a wealthy father, to God knows what. Who knows? He had no idea. That sacrifice. Because you see, once you know God's called you, there is no sacrifice too great that will hold you back. And he was willing to sacrifice it all. His family. His relationships at home.

To fulfill God's call upon his life. Many of you know that I was reading the book by Adoniram Judson in his life. And I've referenced it many times over the last year. Because it's quite a powerful book. If you've never read it, you need to read it, because it talks about this man's ministry and talk about all the problems he went through. Once you read that, you will look at your life as a piece of cake compared to Adoniram Judson.

But he wanted to marry a young woman by the name of Anne Haseltine. He fell in love with her and wanted to marry her. So, in order to ask her father, he wrote her father a letter. And this is the letter that Adoniram Judson wrote to Mr. Haseltine because he wanted to marry his daughter. I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring to see her no more in this world. Whether you can consent to her departure and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life.

Whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean, to the fatal influence of the southern climate of Burma, to every kind of want and distress, to degradation, insult, persecution and perhaps even a violent death. Can you consent to all this for the sake of him who left his heavenly home and died for her and for you, for the sake of perishing immortal souls, for the sake of Zion and the glory of God. That was his letter. He wanted to marry the man's daughter. What would you say?

I'd be like, get lost dude, you're not marrying my daughter. So, he thought about it for a while, wrote back and said, it is our daughter's decision. If this is her choice, we will support her. And that was her choice. And she would go through hardship and difficulty distress like you would not believe. And she would end up dying on the mission field. In fact, all of his wives died on the mission field because that's the hardship of the life. But when you know God's called you, nothing deters you.

Nothing keeps you back. You know this is what God has for you and you're going to pursue it no matter what the difficulty. That was Ed and Iron Judson. That was Elisha. I've been called to follow Elijah, the most wanted man in all of Israel. I'm on the train. I'm on the board. I'm going to follow. I'm with them all the way. Wait up Elijah, I'm coming. Hold on a second.

Oh, by the way, please, please, can I go back? Can I go back, he says, and can I kiss my father and my mother and then I will follow you? He does ask that, okay? Because, because, not because he's a mama's boy, okay? Because his commitment is not only zealous and courageous and sacrificial, it is complete, full, and total. It's hook, line, and sinker. It's everything. Because he goes back and what does he do? He goes back and he burns the equipment and he kills his oxen because he's not going back.

Doesn't need him anymore. There's no temptation to go back. Well, you know, I'll keep him there. If it doesn't work out with Elijah, I'll be back. I'll come, if it gets too rough, I'll come back. No. He took the wood, he set the fire up, he sacrificed the oxen, and then he fed it to his family and friends because he was saying goodbye for the last time. This is it. I'm gone. So not only was it total, it was public. He made a public statement. I'm leaving. You guys all need to know this. I'm on my way out of here.

I'm going to make you a meal and I'm going to celebrate the fact that God has called me to be the follower of Elijah, not knowing what's going to happen next, but this is it. I'm gone. And someone might ask, well, what's the difference between that guy, Elisha, and the guy in Luke 9 who went and said, I want to go back and say goodbye to my family. Remember that? Turn with me to Luke 9 for a second.

Luke chapter 9. Because that question's got to come up sooner or later. As they were going along the road, someone said to him, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus, Jesus, I'll follow you wherever you're going to go. So Jesus said to him, the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. Really? Yeah. So, verse 59, he said to another, hey, hey, you over there, you, come on, you follow me. You follow me. But he said, Lord, permit me first to go bury my father.

Well, if there is no place to lay your head, if the foxes have a place to sleep and the birds do, but you don't, if you let me bury my father, I will gain the inheritance and I'll be able to provide for us hotel rooms.

I'll be able to rent for us Uber drivers so we don't have to walk every place. I'll be able to take care of those stuff for us. And Jesus says to him, he says, allow the dead to bury their own dead, but as for you, go and proclaim every word of the kingdom of God.

What kind of harshness is that? Jesus is just so cold in his comments. Think about it. How can Jesus, the loving creator of the universe, be so cold? Let the dead bury the dead. Well, simply because the guy's dead wasn't dead yet. Because let me go, permit me to bury my father, is the Middle Eastern phrase that says, when he dies, I'll collect the inheritance and I'll bury him.

It wasn't that his father was back at home on a table decaying. It was getting ready to be buried. Okay? And he was out looking for Jesus, wanting to follow Jesus. No, his dad wasn't dead yet. So he says, let the dead, the spiritually dead, bury those who are spiritually dead. Let those who are concerned about this world deal with the things of this world, but you, you're in the kingdom of God, you be concerned about the things of the kingdom. And then here comes our guy. Now listen, I will follow you, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home.

Isn't that what Elisha did? Isn't that what Elisha did? And Jesus says to this guy, no one after putting his head into the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.

There were three deterrents to following Christ in this passage. Materialism, passivism, and sentimentalism. And Christ says, when you follow me, you can't have something of this world that's more important to you, even if it's your own family.

Because he's already said, if any man come after me and hate not his father, his mother, his brother, his sister, he's not worthy of me. You can't be passive and wait till the right time to come. You must come on my terms, not your terms. You see, Elisha was going back because he was never going back again. Elisha was going back to say a final goodbye. He was going back to destroy all temptation to go back. He was going back and Elisha, by the way, gave him permission. Elisha said to Elisha these words, he said, go back again, for what have I done to you?

In other words, count the cost, know what you're doing, know the opportunity you have, know what's before you, here it is, go back, but know this, Elisha, this opportunity is never going to come again. So he knew that. This was his one chance to say a final goodbye. I'm done. I'm moving on. God has called me and I'm not coming back because he was all in. A hundred percent he was all in for the sake of the kingdom. And then look what it says. These are the capabilities. He says he gave the people to eat, they arose, followed Elijah and served him.

Wow. That's a powerful statement. Some come here say that it was ten years between this point and Elijah's translation into glory. That would mean that Elisha would serve him for ten years. Elisha was known in second Kings as the man who poured water on the hands of the great prophet Elijah.

Meaning that he was the servant of Elijah. It wasn't like Elijah said, okay, when do I get to preach? When do I get to do the miracle thing? When am I going to be front and center? When do I get to give my testimony in front of the synagogue? No. He was called to serve. And that's what he did. He would serve Elijah. And so for the next several years, however long it would be, two, three, four, five, ten, however long it would be until Elijah was taken into glory, Elisha became the servant of Elijah.

As Joshua was a servant of Moses for 40 years. 40 years in the wilderness before he took over the leadership. We live in a day where everybody wants instant satisfaction, instant gratification. I want to be the president of the corporation. I don't want to be a janitor. I don't want to work my way up. I want to be top dog. But Elisha knew he was called to serve. And there was no question about that. Because the greatest calling in all the world is to be like Jesus, and he was the servant of all. He was the greatest of all servants.

And so he would serve, and that was the first and the foremost aspect of his capability. But if you read on, and you begin to understand the life and ministry of Elijah, there are so many parallels, because he would do exactly as God said. He would take his place. If you read over in 2 Kings 17, Elijah declared to Ahab, as the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand, he made sure that Ahab knew that God was his king. Elijah said the same thing to Ahab's son in 2 Kings 3 when he said, as the Lord of hosts liveth before whom I stand.

Elisha learned well from Elijah. It says over in 2 Kings 7 that Elijah parted the waters. Elisha would part the same waters. In 2 Kings 17, Elijah was connected with a famine. Over in 2 Kings 4, Elisha was connected with a famine. I'm sorry, 2 Kings 6. And in 2 Kings 17, Elijah multiplied a widow's food, and Elisha did in 2 Kings 4. In 1 Kings 17, Elijah raised a lad from the dead, and so did Elisha raise a lad from the dead. Over in 2 Kings 4, 18. Elijah would carry the ministry to another land, to Zarephath, as Elisha would carry his ministry to another land, to a Syrian king called Naaman.

And when Elijah finally died, these words were spoken by Elisha, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and its horsemen.

And when Elisha dies, the king of Israel says the exact same phrase about Elisha. He was truly the one who took Elijah's place. There were so many parallels between their ministry, and yet Elisha's ministry would begin to accelerate and take off because of how God used him in such a magnificent way, because he understood his call to serve. Let me ask you a question.

Do you understand your call? My time, wow, my time went by fast tonight. Do you understand your call? Peter says, be diligent to understand and make sure God's calling and choosing of you. Do you know for certain that God's called you at all into his kingdom? And you're a child of the living God? Because Elisha was already a believer in the Lord God of Israel. He was a believer. He knew that Jehovah was his deliverer. And when he was called into a ministry to represent that God to a society that was living in sin, he was so zealous and so courageous and so excited about the opportunity that there's nothing that would hold him back.

He was all in, hook, line, and sinker, totally in for the sake of the glory of God's kingdom. He was all in. And God has called you to serve in his kingdom. He's called you to be a servant for his glory and honor. He's called you to serve him as your God. He's called you to serve one another because service is your identity as a child of the living God. You are most like Christ when you have the opportunity to serve your fellow man and to serve your God. And God wants you serving him and his kingdom as his representative.

He's called you to serve him. He's called you to seek him. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. He's called you to serve him. He's called you to seek him. He's called you to spiritually reproduce for him. Go into all the world, make disciples, baptize them, teach them all the things that I've commanded you. Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter 2 that he is to teach men that they in turn will teach other men the truth of the gospel. We are called to spiritually reproduce our lives in the lives of our children, in the lives of those we work with, in the lives of those in our church.

We've been called to seek God's kingdom and to put his kingdom above all other kingdoms because he is our God. We are called to serve in that kingdom. The Bible goes on to say that we are truly called to speak forth the kingdom message to the world. We have been called a chosen generation, a holy nation, a people of God's own possession. What kind of, what greater call in all the world is to know that you are a person that God possesses? You are his and you are called to declare the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Listen, let me tell you something. If you know you've been called into the kingdom of God, you know then you've been called to serve that king. And as you seek more that kingdom and understand more of that king and you begin to speak forth the words of that kingdom so others will know and you begin to spiritually reproduce yourself in the lives of others, you will see the value of being a child of the living God, being possessed by him, being owned by him to represent him to a lost world. That call should make you uninhibited in every relationship, in every situation because you are God's representative.

Wow! God says as the father has sent me so send I you. There can be no higher call in all the world than that. God has called you into his kingdom and God says the father sent me.

Guess what? When the father sent his son, he sent what? The best. He sent the best. And now he says as the father has sent me I'm sending you. And we're anything but the best. But because we have been chosen by God and we are his special possession, let me tell you something.

God will use you in a powerful way for his kingdom and for his glory. Just like he did Elisha. Let me pray with you.

Lord, thank you for today. You are so good to us. To be able to understand this man Elisha, we've just scratched the surface. He's been called. He's gone. He's following. He's serving. He's on the road as your ambassador to do whatever you've asked him to do. And that's what he will do. Until Elisha goes into glory and Elisha parts the waters of the Jordan, his ministry begins to flourish for your kingdom's sake. My prayer for every one of us here is that we would know for certain we've been called into the kingdom of God.

And that you are our king and we are your subjects. And we are servants in the kingdom of God to honor you and to live for you. Help us, Lord, to rest in that call to represent you to a lost world. That's why we're here. That's why we exist for your glory. We thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.