Elisha's Dedication and Dividend

Amen, if you got your Bible turn me to 2nd Kings chapter 2, 2nd Kings chapter 2. As we look at Elisha and this man's dedication and the dividends that he was able to experience because of his dedication.

You know commitment is a word that truly defines those who are men and women of conviction. Commitment though is not something that really happens in people's lives. In fact we live in a society where people are less and less committed to just about anything. You know the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 20 verse number 6, many a man declares his own loyalty but who can find a faithful trustworthy man.

Many people believe they're but the question comes is there really a faithful man, is there really a trustworthy man. In fact Paul would say in 1st Corinthians chapter 4, it's required of a steward that he be found faithful, trustworthy. What the Lord needs in the church are people who are committed, faithful and trustworthy. People who are dedicated, people who are truly sold out to what God has asked them to do. In fact the psalmist says in Psalm 12 verse number 1, help Lord for the godly man ceases to be for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.

In other words the psalmist equates faithfulness with godliness. The godly man disappears where is the faithful man. In other words if you are a godly person, the byproduct of that is that you will be a committed person. If you are an uncommitted person, an undedicated person, one who lacks faithfulness and trustworthiness, it's because you lack godliness. You lack being like God himself. And so as we come to 2nd Kings chapter 2, we begin to see a man who is truly committed and the compensation he receives because of his commitment.

To fulfill your calling it requires absolute faithfulness, commitment. It requires you to be a trustworthy person. Now you may have talent and you may have gifts, but there is no substitute for commitment. There's a lot of people with talent and gifts that have no commitment and they really don't do you much good. There are a lot of people with less talent, less gifts, but they are truly dedicated and committed and those people are of great value in the kingdom of God. And so we must ask ourselves tonight how committed, how dedicated are we at fulfilling God's call upon our lives.

Have you ever met a person who who quickly jumps on the bandwagon to do something and then quickly falls off? They say they're going to be there and then they're going to do this and then all of a sudden they don't do it anymore. And you ask yourself where do they go? What happened to that person? Why is it they're no longer here? It's like the guy who says I'm going to finish my education. I'm going to go to college. I'm going to finish my education. He goes for a couple of semesters and then he drops out.

Or the person who says you know I'm going to pursue a new job and gets the job and then a couple of weeks later he's he's done. He's done. Or better yet the church. You ever meet those people in the church? Oh yeah man we're going to church. We love church and the next thing you know they're they're gone. Well where do they go? How come they're no longer here? What happened to that person? Where was their commitment? Or even yet worse the marriage. Guys say yeah I'm I'm committed to you for better for worse for richer for poorer in sickness and in health till death do us part and then three years later it's over.

What happened there? Where was the commitment? Where was the person who was dedicated to fulfilling what God had called them to do? And that's why I tell people when they get married that that your integrity is at stake when you stand on the the platform and you say your vows. Because if you ever break those vows you have lost integrity. You've never never going to regain that except through great great effort. Because you made a commitment in front of hundreds of people that you will be with this person till death no matter what happens.

God's called us to be together and then all of a sudden I'm done. I'm out. What happened to your commitment? What happened to your word? What happened to your integrity? Where did it go? You lost it. You see it's imperative that we understand that we need to be people of great commitment. That when we say we're going to do something we fulfill it. When we say we're going to be someplace we're there. When we say that this is going to happen and God's called us to this that we don't say well I guess God changed his mind and he called me someplace else.

We need people who have what my mom used to say stick-to-itiveness. I'm not even sure that's a word but it sounds good. Stick-to-itiveness. You stick to it and you don't come away from it. We need people who are steadfast. People who are committed and dedicated and will not renege on that commitment. Elisha was that kind of person and that's why he reaped such great dividends. That's why there was so much compensation because he was a man that was completely committed to God. You see we forget that when we do what God says and we are faithful in doing that there are great rewards that follow.

If you keep jumping off the bandwagon and keep going someplace else or doing something else because you can't stay one place long enough you never reap the benefits. You never reap the great consequences because you were never there long enough to see it happen. And so we need to understand this man Elisha because when he received his call he demonstrated his undivided loyalty to do what God called him to do. Remember his call? Talked about last week he was out plowing the fields. Elijah comes by and throws a mantle on him.

Just walks by, throws the mantle on him, keeps on walking. So Elisha runs after him and says I want to go back and say goodbye to my family. And Elijah says you remember what I just did to you. In other words understand your call. Understand the opportunity before you. Understand that what you have the opportunity to do is the greatest thing ever. And he goes back to his family. He takes his oxen. He boils his oxen. He slaughters them. He feeds his family. He feeds his friends and says I'm leaving.

I'm going. I'm never coming back. And they're like you got to be crazy. What do you mean? You're going to leave all this and follow Elijah the most wanted man in all of Israel? You're going to follow a man that could be dead in a week? Could be dead in two weeks? Then you might be dead too. Is that what you want to do? Elisha says that's what I want to do. And Elijah from a distance would be able to see the smoke coming from the from the boiling and burning of what was taking place as he destroyed his past life and was willing to go to his next life.

So as soon as that was over the Bible says that he ran after Elijah. There was great zealousness in this man. There was great courage in this man because he understood that the call required courage. There was great sacrifice on his behalf because he knew that once he left his family he wasn't going back. He left and he left completely and totally. He didn't leave half-heartedly thinking well if it doesn't work out maybe I'll go back home. That wasn't an option for Elisha. He was all-in so much so that he destroyed his past life to move on to his new life.

And so what happens now is that commentators tell us it's between 10 and 20 years later by the time you come to 2 Kings chapter 2. And we don't know anything about what happened with Elisha except that he followed after Elijah and he served him. He ministered to Elijah. So let's say it was for 20 years. All he did was serve Elijah. It wasn't like he was on the speaking circuit going around trying to give his testimony about how Elijah came by and threw the mantle on him and called him and I went back and burned everything and followed Elijah and he had an opportunity to speak and go on TV and write books that kind of stuff.

No he just served Elijah. He was called to serve. He understood his place. He knew that he was going to be the successor to Elijah. He didn't know when that was going to happen. And listen he followed Elijah not knowing what the benefits would be or what the consequences would be. He didn't know. God didn't say okay Elijah this way it's going to happen. If you follow Elijah this is how it's all going to work out for you. He didn't articulate that God doesn't do that. I mean if he did most of us would never follow the Lord.

So God doesn't spell out the future for you. He wants you to trust him through the process. So Elisha follows Elijah. He serves Elijah. He washes his hands. He washes his feet. He's at Elijah's beckoning call. But there's no record of anything he does for at least 20 years. What does he do? We don't know. Probably nothing except serve Elijah. He was in learning mode. He was in growing mode. He was in understanding mode. He was not saying okay can I speak now? Can I speak now? Is it my turn? Can I do a miracle?

Can I do a miracle? Is it my opportunity? No. He was just in service mode. He had to wait his turn. So when you pick up a story in 2nd Kings chapter 2 he's at the last day of Elijah's life. The last day. And there's a lot that takes place in this last day that tell us a lot about this man and how he was uninhibited in his calling and undaunted in his course. Elisha was not a quitter. Elisha was completely dedicated to the call of God in his life. You could count on Elisha. Elijah could count on Elisha.

God counted on Elisha. That's why God told Elijah, Elisha is the man. The son of Shabbat. Go anoint him. He is the man. And God called him. And he followed. And God had done a work in Elisha's life. And so here he was. Demonstrated his undying commitment to the call of God in his life. How about you? Is that you? Can your church count on you? Can your church count on you to serve? Can your church count on you to minister? Can your church count on you to fulfill God's call in your life? Can your wife count on you to stay with her forever?

Can your husband count on you to be with him forever? Can your children count on you? Are you a trustworthy person? Are you a faithful person? Are you a committed person? Are you the kind of person that is reliable? Is that you? Or are you so unreliable, nobody can trust anything that you say or anything that you do? That's why faithfulness is equated with godliness. Godly people can be counted on. Listen, ungodly people cannot be counted on. That's what Psalm 12 says. Godly people you could bank on.

Ungodly people, don't know. Don't know. Because your trustworthiness depends on your relationship with the living God. If you're committed to God, if you're committed to the service of the King, the manifestation of that is just seen in your family, in your church, your workplace, that kind of stuff. But trustworthiness is a byproduct of godliness. Elisha was a godly man. Let me read to you 2 Kings chapter 2 verses 1 to 12.

And it came about when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, stay here please, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethel. But Elisha said, as the Lord lives and as yourself live, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel. Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today? And he said, yes, I know, be still.

Elijah said to him, Elisha, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. But he said, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today? And he answered, yes, I know, be still. Then Elijah said to him, please stay here, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan. And he said, as the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.

So the two of them went on. Now, 50 men of the sons of the prophets went and stood up opposite them at a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters and they were divided here and there so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you. Elisha said, please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. He said, you have asked a hard thing.

Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you. But if not, it shall not be so. As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, my father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen. What a great story. You think, okay, so what's the big deal? Okay. It's the last day of Elijah's life. There's a 35 mile journey between Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho and the Jordan.

Okay. Not an easy journey. It's a 35 mile journey. Okay. Most of us have a hard time walking for 35 minutes, let alone for 35 miles. And you've got to remember that these guys, that's what they did. They walked everywhere they went. So they were in pretty good shape and they walked in sandals. They weren't Nike sandals, but they were, they were sandals. And so they would have to walk in sandals over rough terrain, over mountains and through valleys, and they had to do it for 35 miles. But what you see here on this last day is a test of Elisha's dedication to following his master.

Completely sold out to doing everything his master said. And there's a lot of speculation as to why the journey. We talked about Elijah and we emphasized Elijah in this passage because we covered this when we went through the life of Elijah. We emphasize the place of each city where it was Gilgal, which was a place of commencement and commitment because it was there at Gilgal that they had passed over the Jordan and it was where they had, uh, worshiped the Lord. They consecrated themselves and they celebrated the Passover because they were embarking on the land of Canaan after 40 years of wandering.

And then we talked about Bethel, the house of God, a place of devotion and a place of dependency, but it became a place of debauchery because Jeroboam had set up a false God there, a golden calf there. And the worship had become so debauched. And then they went to Jericho. That was a place of tragedy and a place of victory. Victory because they won the battle of Jericho, tragedy because of Achan's sin, and their loss at Ai just a few miles away because of, of sin. And then of course, the Jordan was a place of memory and destiny because it would be here where Elijah would, would fulfill his ultimate destiny into glory.

And Elisha would pick up the mantle and begin his destiny here on earth. So you approach it from a little different perspective when looking at the life of Elijah, but because we're studying the life of Elisha, now it's the emphasis is on him and what took place in his life and what Elijah was doing with this man. So he tells them, you need to stay here in Gilgal. Well, no, I'm going with you. I'm going with you. Well, when he gets to, to Bethel, he says, you need to stay here. He says, no, no, I'm not staying.

Are you staying here? No, I'm going where you're going. And then they get to Jericho and he says, you know what? Maybe you need to stay here. He says, no, are you staying here? Cause if you're not staying here, I'm not staying here. This was a test of his loyalty, a test of his loyalty. This was, this was Elijah's last tests for Elisha to help him understand the rigors of ministry. And it was all about the test of loyalty. Are you committed enough to stay with it? Maybe you ought to stay here. Maybe you got to stay here.

You still want to continue on. He never had to, to, to beg Elisha to keep going. Come on, Elisha, you can do it. Come on, Elisha. You ever had to, to beg people to be involved in ministry? Don't do that. Just don't do that. Don't waste your time. If you got to beg them to be involved in a ministry, they probably don't want to be involved in ministry. Anyway, Elisha was never bad. Elijah never said, come on, Elisha, you can do this thing. Come on, man. Let's go. Come on. Let me motivate you.

No, because there was an intrinsic motivation in Elisha. He understood the call of God upon his life. He didn't need extrinsic motivation. Those who understand the call of God do not need extrinsic motivation because on the inside, they are already motivated by the spirit of God. And so this man, Elisha was motivated. So Elijah never begged him or, or coerced him or manipulated him. Come on, you can do this thing. Come on, come on, come on. No, Elisha was, was motivated and he was completely loyal.

He'd burned everything and left his family, left it all. And so you have to realize that when Elisha, Elisha left his family, he was loyal to the call of God on his life. He was not going back. He wasn't going back. Remember the discussion with Christ and the rich young ruler and the disciples asked the Lord, we have left everything to follow you. What's in it for us? Peter asked that question, by the way, you know, because the rich young ruler, he walked away sad. Christ says, if you, if you want to follow me, you got to sell all that you have.

Give it all away for me. I want undivided loyalty. I want complete commitment. I want everything that you have. I want you completely. And the rich young ruler, he couldn't do that because he had another God. He wanted to serve another God. You can't serve two masters. You only serve one, but he wanted to serve his God called materialism called money. He wasn't willing to give up that God to follow the one true God. And the Lord knew that. And so the disciples are watching this and say, wow, Christ says it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.

And they're saying, wow, who can be saved? Who can be saved? Well, with man, it's impossible with God, all things are possible. And so Peter says, you know, Lord, we left everything to follow you. We left our, our, our fathers. We left our finances. We left our, our, our fishing business. We left our future. We left it all to follow you. What's in it for us? And so Jesus said, these words in Mark 10, truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms for my sake and for the gospel sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions and in the age to come eternal life.

But many who are first will be last. And the last first Christ says, there isn't anybody who has left everything to follow me who lacks anything in my kingdom.

You leave your family. I'm going to give you a spiritual family. I'm going to give you a family. It's going to meet your needs in a, in a unique and special way. That's what Elisha had. He left his father, Shabbat, but he had Elijah. And that's why he said at the end, my father, my father, because he was his spiritual father. He left his earthly father, but God gave him a spiritual father and Elijah. And there was a unique relationship between the two men. You see, when you leave everything for the sake of God and his kingdom, you never lack anything in the kingdom of God.

God supplies, God takes care of you. And so here was Elisha who left everything and his loyalty would be tested one last time. Should you want to go stay here? Should you want to continue on with me? Stay here. Do you understand the cost? Maybe you have to stay here. No, if you're not staying, I'm not staying. I'm going with you, Elijah. Remember Demas? Paul says, Demas has forsaken me because he loved this present world. 2 Timothy chapter four, verse number 10. He loved the world. Oh, he was a follower of Paul for a while.

For a while he was, but when the cares of this world, when the riches of this world overtook him, he could not stay with the apostle Paul. The deceitfulness of riches, the desires of this world, lured him away, which showed the true signs of his uncommitment that he really wasn't a believer in the beginning. And Demas had forsaken Paul because he'd gone after the things of the world. You see, the people who are committed are committed to God first, then to others.

And Elisha was a man who was completely loyal and completely committed to doing what God had called them to do. And God had called him to follow Elijah. So he was, even to the very, very end. And then there was the test of labor. Think about it. 35 miles, 3,000 feet above sea level, 2,000 feet below sea level, up and down valleys and all kinds of rough terrain. You know, it's a reminder to Elisha that this journey of yours is not going to be easy. It's going to be difficult. The rigors of Christianity are hard.

They're not simple. They're not on the bed of ease. And so here was Elisha, following Elijah wherever he went. I'm not staying here. You're going, I'm leaving. I'm following. Wherever you go, up the hill, down the valley, wherever you go, I'm following. And he would have to follow Elijah wherever he went. And for 20 years, he did this. This is what he did. You see, you know, Christianity is not for cream puffs. Okay. It's not for those who are soft on the outside and mushy on the inside. It's just not.

We have a lot of weak people today in the church. We don't need that. That doesn't do anybody any good. That's why Paul said, act like men. First Corinthians 16.

That's why David told Solomon in first Kings chapter two, show yourself a man, be a man, be strong. Don't be weak. We got enough weak people around. Elisha wasn't a weak man. He was not a weak man. In fact, Paul would use three different metaphors in second Timothy chapter two to describe the rigors of Timothy's ministry.

Remember that in second Timothy chapter two, he said these words, he said second Timothy chapter two, verse number, number three, suffer hardship with me as a good soldier of Christ Jesus, no soldier in active service and tangles himself in the affairs of everyday life.

So he may please the one who enlisted him as a, as a soldier. Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes. According to the rules, the hardworking farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.

Consider what I say for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. In other words, listen, he uses three metaphors. He uses the soldier, the athlete, and the farmer, because all three depict the rigors of Christian life. You are in a battle. You're a soldier. You're going to war. Not only that, you're like an athlete competing. You've got to compete according to the rules. You've got to train properly. On top of that, you've got to be patient because you're a farmer and you plant the seed, but you've got to wait for that seed to grow, but you've got to, you've got to cultivate all the ground around that seed and wait for it to grow.

You've got to have patience because the prize is going to come, but you've got to be patient to wait. So Paul would use those three metaphors to describe the Timothy. This is the way it is in ministry. And this is the way it was for, for Elisha, for Elijah, for, for, for Moses, for Jeremiah, for Ezekiel, for all the men of God that he would use for his glory. It was never an easy street. So here Elisha was following Elijah all throughout the day, a 35 mile journey in one day, getting to this place, to that place and what they said in between that journey.

We have no record of that. We don't know what Elijah said to Elijah. Maybe it was completely silent and Elijah was running out ahead and Elisha was doing all he can to keep up with them. We don't know. But all we know is that when he came to a, to a place, to a city, whether it was Bethel or whether it was to Jericho or Jordan, he says, you want to tarry here? He says, no, I'm not, I'm not staying here. I'm going with you. No matter where you go, I'm going because God has called me to serve you. And I'm going to serve you all the way to the very end, no matter how laborious the task.

And then there was a test of loneliness. He had come to, uh, to Bethel and they come to Jericho and they're through the school of prophets that are there. And they all come out and say, Hey, Elisha, guess what? The Lord's taken Elijah away from you today. He's dying today. They didn't know he's going to be taken out. They just knew he's going to be gone today. Now, how do they know that? I don't have no idea. I have no idea. But Elisha responded and said, yes, yes, I know. Be still be quiet. You see, they wanted to remind him that he was going to be all alone.

He wasn't going to be with anybody else anymore for the last 10 to 20 years he'd been with Elijah. And now he's going to be all alone because you see there, there would come the test, not just of loyalty and not just a test of labor, but the test of loneliness. Listen, you can't lead anywhere, anyone or anything unless you live in the realm of loneliness because leadership is a lonely place to be because you make decisions that some people don't like. Others do. Sometimes you make decisions. Nobody likes, but you've got to make decisions and you live a life differently than the ones you lead because you have to lead them to Christ.

Therefore, you must stand in front of them and lead them in the right direction. There isn't a leader in the scripture that wasn't living a lonely life. And the reason we're so weak today as leaders is because nobody wants to live lonely, but you have to, if you're going to lead properly. And they reminded him that you're going to be all alone twice, once in Bethel and once in Jericho, Elijah's leaving you, you're on your own. Wasn't like, Hey, come join us. Come be with us. We'd love to have you know, because there's probably a little bit of jealousy there.

Maybe, I don't know. You know, why is Elijah called you, Elisha? You know better than we are, but why did he choose you? But they wanted to put that little dig in. You're going to be left alone. Now, Elisha, you're on your own, but don't come running to us. We're not here for you. But Elisha understood that Elijah, his master lived in the realm of loneliness, lived in isolation. Because you know, if you're going to stand above everybody else, you must stand apart from everybody else. And to stand apart from everybody else, you must stand alone.

You must stand alone. And unfortunately, most of us just don't want to stand alone. It's too isolated. We don't even have friends. But look at them in the scripture.

They stood alone. Christ said, in John chapter 16, you're all going to leave me alone. But I will not be alone because my father is with me. There's the answer right there. See, you're really never alone because your father in heaven is with you. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter 4, everybody deserted me. They all left. They just left me alone. But he said that the Lord not hold it against them because the Lord stood with him in his time of loneliness. See, the Lord's always there with you. So you're never really alone.

You have the Lord. He's present with you all throughout the process. Elisha would see that in Elijah's life. So the test of loneliness didn't really bother him because he saw what Elijah modeled to him. The test of labor didn't bother him because he knew of the rigors of life because he'd been with Elijah for those 20 years. And the test of loyalty didn't bother him because he began his ministry sold out to doing and fulfilling the call of God in his life. It didn't bother him. He passed the test because he was completely dedicated to the call of God in his life.

Nothing would stand between him and the call of God in his life. Nothing. No person, no event, no circumstance, no situation. Nothing would stand between him and God's call upon his life. And that's why he reaped the great dividend. That's why they come to the Jordan and Elijah takes off his mantle, froze in the water and the waters disperse. They walk through on dry land and all the prophets of Jericho, okay, off in the distance are watching, trying to see what's going on out there. Because they didn't follow along with Elisha and Elijah.

They were still in Jericho. And they can see the Jordan from the city of Jericho. If you've been to Israel, you know about the distance from Jericho to the Jordan. So they can see it. They can't see it real well, but it's there. And Elijah, he parts the water and he and Elisha walked through on dry land. And so part of the dividends that Elisha receives is the miracle working power of God before his eyes. But the real dividend is in the question that Elijah asks him. What would you like me to do for you, Elisha?

Can you imagine that? He's been with Elijah all these years. And now he asked him, Elisha, what do you want me to do for you? What would you say? And the response of Elisha was immediate. It wasn't like, well, let me think about it.

Let me pray about it. He knew exactly what he wanted. He didn't want anything in the material realm that didn't satisfy, but he wanted something in the spiritual realm. He wanted something that would be of great use to him that he might fulfill the call of God in his life. He was so committed to the call of God that whatever would help him to fulfill that call, that's what he wanted. And he knew that Elijah had the spirit of God. He knew that Elijah was a unique man. He knew that Elijah had a handle on walking with God.

And so he asked, I want a double portion of the spirit. He says, he says that very, let me quote to you exactly what he says.

He says, he says, please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. That's what I want. It wasn't that he was asking, I want to be twice as good as you. I want to be, I want to do twice as many miracles as you. I want to preach twice as many sermons as you. That's not what it means. A double portion is taken from Deuteronomy chapter 21, which speaks of the inheritance given to the firstborn son, the right to succeed the father upon his death. He's asking for the blessing of spiritual power to be, to be bestowed upon him.

He wasn't looking for a material blessing. He was looking for a spiritual blessing because he knew that if he was going to be the successor of Elijah, he could not do it in isolation of God. He could not do it on his own merit. There was not enough talent or gifts or skills that he had to accomplish the task of God's call upon his life. He needed the spirit of power to be upon him. He needed to have what Elijah had. That's what he needed. He knew that this is humility. This is, this is modesty. This is, this is a man who, who realized that there was nothing sufficient in and of himself to accomplish God's call upon his life.

He needed spiritual power to do that. That's what he asked for. You ever think about your prayer line? Remember a couple of weeks ago on Sunday morning, I said, you need to listen, take, take a tape recording of your prayers. If you just tape record your prayers, you'll change how you pray. Just listen back to them again. Quite, quite astonishing if you listen to yourself pray. Because so many times we center our requests around material needs, physical things. You know, how many times we pray for our physical health?

Think about that. How many times you spend praying for your physical wellbeing or your financial situation? How many times you spend praying for certain things instead of praying for spiritual power to accomplish spiritual means for the sake of a spiritual kingdom? How many times have you spent praying for that? We don't spend much time for that because that doesn't really interest us. That's not important to us. It's important to God. It's just not important to us. But for Elisha, that's what was on his mind.

Elisha, they're walking along on the other side of the Jordan. Elisha says, Hey, Elisha, what do you want me to do for you? Wow. Seriously, man, I want a double portion of the spirit of God to be upon me. That's what I want. And so how does Elijah respond? You've asked for a very hard thing, hard thing, not a possible thing, but a hard thing. Why is that a hard thing? Do you understand what you've asked? You've asked for spiritual power to accomplish spiritual means. And it's hard because there will be a spiritual warfare.

Unlike you ever, ever understand. This is not going to be an easy task for you, Elisha. You're taking my place. God's called you to take my place. This is not going to be easy street. Don't think you can just go out there and do whatever you want to do. This is going to be a rough road. This is a hard thing, Elisha. This is not a simplistic thing. Nevertheless, he says, nevertheless, if you see me, if you see me, he says, what I've taken from you, it shall be so for you. But if not, it shall not be so for you.

Very important phrase. If you see me, you must watch me. Do not take your eyes off of me, your master. So he didn't. They were walking along, they were talking, but Elisha never took his eyes of his master. And all of a sudden there was a chariot of horses, a fire, there was a whirlwind and all of a sudden, boom, Elijah was gone. But he watched and never took his eyes off of him. Why? Because the key to spiritual power is to have your eyes fixed always on the master. Always. And in a very, very unique illustration of Hebrews chapter 12, right?

Lay aside every weight in the sin that so easily besets you. Okay? There must be a separation from weights, not sinful things, but weights, things that weigh you down, things that keep you from fulfilling God's call in your life. Not sinful things. They're just things that happen. And sin, sin in the context of the sin of unbelief. Lay aside every weight and every sin. There must be a separation for those things. For the separation comes a fixation. Fix your gaze upon the Christ, Paul says. Fix your eyes constantly on the Christ.

If there's a separation, there can be a fixation. If there's not a separation, then there's no fixation. And once there's a fixation, then Paul goes on to say, and consider him. There must be a consideration. Once there's a separation, there's a fixation, then there can be a consideration of the one who died for you, who ran the race uncompromisingly, and then you can fulfill your destination. But that's the only way you can have it happen, because you need the spiritual resources that only come from God himself.

And Elisha sat there as Elisha, his master, was swept away in a whirlwind into glory. And this would be the beginning, the beginning of Elisha's ministry. And God would grant to him that request, because he did not take his eyes off of his master. And he would continue to live his life looking upward toward the heavens, looking to the God of the universe, that he might experience the power of Almighty God. How about you? How about you? You know, when Elisha began following Elijah, there was nothing given to him that would motivate him to continue to follow Elijah.

Nobody said, Elisha, if you follow Elijah, this is what's going to happen. Because the true test of your dedication is to realize that you're following because you want to serve God, not because you're going to get anything out of it. And so for upwards of 20 years, that's all he did. But on this day, on this day, he now reaps the dividends of complete and utter commitment and faithfulness to fulfilling God's call upon his life. Now he's going to reap the dividends. Now he's able to receive that what he asked for.

Now there's that asking, hey, what do you want, Elisha? Elisha, excuse me. What do you want now, Elisha? Ask. Ask and you shall receive. Ask and you shall receive. What do you want? And that's why the Lord would say these words to his children. In John chapter 15, he would say, whatever you ask in my name, that what I do so that the father may be glorified in the son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. You must ask according to my name, according to my character, according to my attributes.

If you ask because you want the father to be glorified, if you ask because you are more concerned about my name than your name, you get it. But if you're doing this for your name, you get nothing. But if you ask in my name, you receive it. He goes on to say, if you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you. If you abide in me, if you remain in me, if you are faithful to me, if you are committed to me and my words are in you and you're committed to doing my word and fulfilling my will, ask whatever you will and it shall be granted unto you.

But if you're more concerned about your will than my will, your ways than my ways, you can ask and you're blue in the face, you get nothing. You get nothing. Christ would go on to say through the pen of the apostle John over in first John, first John chapter five, these words, this is the confidence which we have before him that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.

And if we know that he hears us and whatever we ask, we know that we have the request which we have asked from him. We ask according to his will, his name and his words. When you do that, demonstrating your faithfulness and your dedication and your commitment to doing everything he's asked you to do, you ask what you will and it will be granted unto you because it's all about me and my glory, God says.

And if it's all about me and my glory, and that's in your heart, you ask, you receive. That was Elisha. That was Elisha. He just wanted to fulfill the ministry. He wanted to be what God wanted him to be, but he knew he couldn't do it alone. He knew he couldn't be out there on an island by himself and try to turn the tide of a nation. He needed the power of almighty God. And you know what? So do you. And so do I. We just can't do it on our own. We can't. That's why Paul prayed in Ephesians 3 that you might understand, or Ephesians 1, the power of God.

Paul's prayer was that the people of Ephesus would understand the surpassing greatness of God's power. And he would go on to say in Ephesians 3, now unto him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly of of all that we can ever ask or think. And Paul would go on to say in the book of Philippians, I can do all things to Christ who strengthens me. Because he understood the power of God in his life. You know, so many times we just miss God's power. We don't get it. You know, God's power is unique. Power belongs to God, right?

Power belongs to God. His power is unique to him. It's unlike any power you and I can ever imagine. His power is completely unique to him. That's why he's called El Shaddai in the Old Testament. He's called the Pantocrator in the New Testament. El Shaddai means the almighty God and the Pantocrator means the all-powerful one. And he's called that nine times in the book of Revelation, ten times in the New Testament. Because his power is unique to him. But not only is God's power unique, God's power is unlimited.

He never grows weary or gets tired. Isaiah 40. We grow weary, we get tired. We expend energy, we need to rest. God expends energy, he doesn't need to rest. Because his power is unlimited. He does not grow weary or tired. According to Isaiah chapter 40, verse number 28. That's why he can renew your strength like the eagles. Not only that, God's power is unprecedented. It's unprecedented. You read Psalm 33, verse number 6. By the word of his mouth, he created the worlds. So his power is unique, his power is unlimited, his power is unprecedented, his power is unparalleled.

Who is like me? Says the Lord. I am the God, I am your God, I am your rock. Who is like me? Answer, nobody. Because he's unparalleled. Not only that, his power is unsurpassed. We call him the storm in Mark chapter 4. Disciples said, oh what manner of man is this that even the winds and the waves obey him. His power also is unending. Why? Because he is unending. He is infinite. But no matter how unending his power, how unprecedented his power, how unparalleled his power, how unique his power, how unlimited his power, his power will be always, to the unbeliever, unpopular.

Unpopular. Remember in the land of the Gerasenes, there was a man there called Legion because he was filled with legion. Christ came up with his men on the boat. Man came running after them in chains that were broken, completely naked, hair disheveled, screaming and yelling. And Christ cast legion out of him. And they asked permission to go into the swine. So God granted them that position, that option. They went to the swine. They went over the cliff into the sea and drowned. Remember that? Yes, you know that story, right?

Well, the herdsmen ran back into the city and told all their friends. And they came back to Jesus at this miracle. At this miracle of saving those in the town and all their children from this maniac, this demon possessed man who scared the living out of everybody who saw him. They came to Jesus and they said, you got to go. You can't stay here. You got to go. We don't want you here. Why? Because whenever unholiness experiences holiness, they cannot stand to be around it. So he had to go. So Jesus applies him.

He left, never came back. And the man who was demon possessed, who was in his right mind said, I want to go with you. And Jesus said, sorry, you got to stay. Because these people need to have the living testimony of the power of God before them every single day, as unpopular as it may be, you must stay. You see for Elijah, the power of God was unpopular to everybody who lived in unbelief. For Elisha, same thing is true. The power of God will be unpopular to all those who live in unbelief because they don't want to experience the supernatural power of the living God.

But Elisha just asked for a double portion. I need to have, Elijah, what God granted you because I need to do this in his strength and not mine. And next week you will see how that is manifested immediately. Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for today. Thank you for all that you do. We pray, Lord, that you go before us. Help us, Lord, to be the kind of people that remain steadfast and movable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, because the labor is never in vain. And I pray, Father, that we would not grow weary in doing well, because, Lord, you will cause great things to happen. Help us to remain steadfast. Help us not to quit. Help us to remain committed to our families, our spouses, our ministry at church, the opportunities you place before us, believing that you've called us to accomplish your will.

Give us the power to do what only you can do. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.