Latest / Teachings On This Day On FerventWord / On Oct 11, 2015: 2 Kings 2:1-11 Ask For A Double Portion
Transcript
- You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2015. Well, this morning, as we look at 2 Kings 2, I want to encourage you to ask for a double portion. As we look at the example of Elisha here in this passage, there's a transition that's taking place. Elijah the prophet is passing off the scene and he's handing the baton to Elisha. And as he does, Elisha does something very smart, something that is a great example for us. And he asks for a double portion of the Spirit to be upon him. And it's a good model for us because we need the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives in order to do what we have been called to do as well. And And so we're going to look at this passage in the example of Elisha. And there's three points I'd like to highlight. The first one is found in verse 1. Or at least that's where we're going to start. But point number one is that you have greater works ahead. I want to encourage you this morning, wherever you're at in life, wherever you are or have been in ministry, that God has great things in store for you. And I would suggest that there's greater things ahead that God has for you, works that he wants to do in you and through you and things that are going to be accomplished by the power of God. Well, we begin by looking at verse 1, and it says, And so here we're introduced to both Elijah and Elisha. Now, as we've been reading along in the Bible in three years, we've been watching the ministry of Elijah for a little bit. And Elijah was a prophet of God. And for us, you know, who've been around the church for a long time, Elijah is one of those guys that he's just like the classic picture of a prophet. He was a man who spoke for God. He was a man who did miracles by the power of God. And it's amazing to watch his life because of all the great things that he did. At the same time, though, I would remind you that Elijah ministered at a difficult time in the nation's history. A lot of times, at least for me, when I picture prophets or think about prophets, I kind of think about, you know, God's people and good things happening and God's doing a great work. And then there's prophets there alongside of that. And they're adding to the great things that are happening and the good things that God is doing. But in reality, the prophets were not sent to people who were doing well. The prophets were really sent to those who were rebellious. And so at this time, the nation of Israel is divided into two kingdoms. And Elijah was ministering to the northern kingdom, which kept the name Israel. And Israel, from the very beginning, when it divided with Judah, the southern kingdom, turned away from God and was in rebellion against God. The king and queen of Elijah's day were also in rebellion to God. In fact, they were kind of the foremost of the rebellious people of the nation of Israel. The king was Ahab, and you may have heard of him because, well, he was a notoriously bad king, evil king, and wicked king in Israel. But his wife's name, you might remember, because she's even more notorious, her name is Jezebel. And so Ahab and Jezebel are very wicked. And yet they are the king and queen of the nation of Israel. And because of the people of God being in this type of rebellion and being led by this wicked couple, Elijah is sent with messages from God. And the miracles that he performs go along and support the message as he calls the people of God to repentance. One of the, you know, climaxes of Elijah's ministry is what took place on Mount Carmel. And you might remember there, he called all of Israel together and he said, hey, how long are you going to go back and forth between two opinions? If Baal is God, then serve him. But if Yahweh is God, well, then serve him. And so he set up a duel. He set up a challenge. All right, prophets of Baal, you build an altar, I'll build an altar. And whichever God answers by fire, that's the true and living God. That's the God that we'll worship. And so the prophets of Baal built their altar and they tried and they tried and they tried, but there was no answer by fire. But then Elijah built an altar, even smothered it with water just to prove the point. And he prays a simple prayer and God answers and fire comes down from heaven and consumes the altar. And so God used Elijah to call the people back to God to remind them he is the true and living God. There is no other God. But at the same time, as glorious as that experience was, it was life-threatening to Elijah because now Jezebel is upset with him. And so she threatens Elijah and says, hey, by this time tomorrow, you're going to be dead. And Elijah flees the scene because he's freaked out by this threat from Queen Jezebel. He runs to the wilderness. He ends up in a cave in the wilderness, and God speaks to him there. And Elijah's thinking, I'm done. My ministry's over. My life is over. As soon as I go back, they're going to kill me. And God says, you're not done. I'm not done with you. You've still got more work to do. Here, go anoint these kings. And then he also tells Elijah to anoint a successor. So you're not done, but you're almost done. But I need you to not just disappear off the scene. I need you to hand the baton to another guy who's going to carry the ministry forward. And we find this take place in 1 Kings 19, verse 16, as God instructs him. He says, And so he tells Elijah who his successor will be. Elisha will take your place, and you're to anoint him as a prophet to replace you. Now, picture this from Elisha's point of view. Can you imagine having to be the guy who comes in on the scene after Elijah? Can you imagine trying to fill those shoes? Elijah was a great prophet of God. He'd already worked miracles for God, but he did it in the midst of a difficult context with a kingdom that was turned from God with threats being thrown against him. And Elisha will have to take in this same role. He would have to step up to the front lines, be the new target for the wicked king and queen. He would have to, you know, be on the front lines of this battle in a corrupt kingdom. His life is now going to be threatened. And he has to follow the the guy who called down fire from heaven. You know, can you imagine? All right, I'm on the scene. I'm Elijah's successor. And they're like, okay, prove it. Call down fire from heaven. I mean, how do you do that? How do you top that? He had big shoes to fill. Also, Elijah, we can see here in the passage, he had a lot to do with these school of prophets that were established in different cities. And so Elisha would also inherit some responsibility with that as well to continue to instruct and to lead these schools of prophets and to raise them up for the work that God had for them. And so the point is that Elisha had a big ministry ahead of him. He had a lot of work to do. And he had great things in store. And as you go on to read the life of Elisha here in 2 Kings, you can see he went on to do great things for God and to be a prophet like Elijah and to have much of the similar characteristics and calling of Elijah. But he had this big ministry ahead of him. He had great works that were in store for him. As we consider the example of Elisha this morning, I'd like to remind you that you also have big ministry ahead of you. You also have great works that are in store for you because you as a believer in Jesus Christ are called to represent Jesus. Just as Elijah was receiving the baton and carrying on the, I'm sorry, Elisha, I'm going to do that a couple times probably, so please forgive me in advance. Elijah and Elisha, you know, I switched the names. But Elisha was going to receive the baton and carry on the ministry of Elijah. And you and I are called to receive the baton from Jesus and to continue on the ministry of Jesus, to continue on the work of Jesus. That is our calling. That is what we are called to do as believers in Jesus. One of the things that Jesus called us to do is to make disciples. So not just continue on the work that Jesus was doing in teaching, in ministering, in even healing and doing the works of God, but then we're also to teach others to carry on the ministry of Jesus as well, to make disciples who will also follow Jesus and continue the work of Jesus. You have great works ahead. You've been given a great calling to continue on the ministry of Jesus, to make disciples. You have great works ahead in your call to be a man or a woman of God. Great works ahead in your call to be a godly parent or a godly spouse. You have great works ahead. God has good things in store for you, and it comes with responsibility, but it also comes with the privilege of being part of the kingdom of God and the work of God's kingdom. And so you, like Elisha, have some great things in store for you. You have a ministry that you're stepping into that needs to be fulfilled. Consider the words of Jesus in John chapter 14, verse 12. He says, Notice what Jesus says. The one who believes in him. So, I pray that's speaking to you, you as a believer in Jesus Christ. Jesus says, for you, because you believe in me, you're going to do the works that I do. You're going to carry on the ministry that I have begun. And not only that, but he says, and greater works than these. Now, don't misunderstand and think greater, you know, Jesus raised someone from the dead, and so you're going to raise two people from the dead. Not like that. Not like more sensational or, you know, bigger headlines. It's not greater in that sense, but greater in the sense that it's ongoing. Notice at the end of the verse, Jesus says, because I go to my Father. Think about it this way. Jesus was on this earth for about 33 years. For the majority of that time, we don't have anything recorded in the scriptures about his life. So we know about his birth. We know about him, you know, at the age of 12. And so between his birth and that age, he grew up and lots of things happened that we don't know about. And then after that incident, when he was 12 years old, we don't really know anything about his life until when he's about 30 and he starts his public ministry. And for three and a half years, he had this public ministry where he taught the people, where he worked miracles, and that finished with his crucifixion and then finally ascension into heaven. Jesus says, the works that I do, you're going to do, but you're going to do greater. You're going to do more than I did because I only have three and a half years. you and I, we have much more opportunity than that. Jesus, his work was ceasing here on earth because he was ascending into heaven. And now he's called us to continue the work. And we're able to do much more because, well, that's our call. We're called to continue the work that he has started and established here on the earth. In a similar way, Elisha ministered for much longer than Elijah did. Elijah ministered, we don't know exactly for sure, but probably about 10 to 15 years was the ministry of Elijah. But the ministry of Elisha was probably more around the time of like 50 to 60 years. And so... Similar to Jesus handing on the baton to us and there being much more time for us to continue the work, Elijah hands on the baton to Elisha and there's much more time for him to finish the work and to do the things that God has set before him. Jesus is with the Father, but his ministry continues through you. And so I can confidently say, you have greater works ahead because the work that Jesus began to do, he wants to continue through you. And because of that, that's why this morning I titled the message, Ask for a Double Portion. Because it's important for us to recognize that these great works that are ahead, well, they're not from our own resources. We can't fulfill these great works. We can't fulfill the responsibility. We can't take, you know, part in the opportunity to serve the Lord and to do the things that God has called us to do with our own strength or wisdom or knowledge or power. But we need to ask for a double portion. We need to ask for the power of God to be at work so that we can enjoy this, so that we can participate in the greater works that God has in store for us. So as I consider these things for myself personally, of course, tomorrow I leave for Japan and I'm going to spend two weeks in Japan doing all kinds of ministry, meeting all kinds of people. And I believe that there's great works ahead. There's good things that God wants to do. But as I've been preparing this this week, I've also been preparing it with the understanding that I cannot do any of those things in my strength. I don't have the resources. Even though some of these messages are messages that I've taught, that doesn't mean that I can just deliver them and have God's work be done. No, if there's going to be a work that happens, there is great things ahead there, but there needs to be a reliance on my part, a reliance on God, a reliance on the power of the Holy Spirit. And I need to ask for a double portion of the Holy Spirit to do the work that God has called me to do. Now that's for the next two weeks, but if you consider a bigger picture than that, for me as a pastor, for me to do the work that God's called me to do as a pastor, I need a double portion. I cannot do this work on my own, and I can't do it with my own strength or my own power or my own wisdom or experience. But I need the Lord to be at work in me. Now, there's great work in it. There's great rewards in it. There's great opportunity as well as great responsibility. And so there needs to be the double portion request, the asking for God to give us what we need. You also are an important part of God's plan. I know I share these kinds of things a lot, but it's because it's really important for you to understand. God has designed the body of Christ so that the more prominent parts have lesser value and the lesser known parts have greater value. So I'm not more important in the body of Christ than you are. I'm not more important in this church than you are. That's the way that God has designed us. You are an important part of the body of Christ and you're an important part of God's plan for for the world around you, your friends, your family, your workplace. You have a key role in that. You're an important part of that. There's great works ahead for you in your church, in your family, in your workplace. God has things in store for you, works that he wants you to do, ministry that he wants you to perform, to shine the light so that as you minister to the body of Christ, but also as you reach the world around you, Well, you're fulfilling your role that he has set for you in his kingdom. And every believer in Jesus Christ has an important part in God's plan in this way. There's greater works ahead for you. And so I would encourage you to ask for a double portion. A double portion of what? Well, that brings us down to verse 9 and 10 for point number two. And that is you need the Holy Spirit. There's great works ahead. It comes with great responsibility, but it's also an awesome opportunity to be part of the work of God for eternity. But in order to do this work, you need the Holy Spirit. I need the Holy Spirit. Look with me again at verse 9 and 10. It says, What may I do for you before I am taken away from you? Elisha said, Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. So 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. So as they're working their way from place to place to place, and Elijah's almost ready to be taken up, before he is taken up into heaven, he looks to Elisha and he says, ask. Ask, what can I do for you before I'm caught up? What can I do for you? And as he asked this, I wonder what went through Elisha's head. What would you ask for? Knowing that you have this ministry ahead of you, that you have, you know, these challenges ahead, these difficulties ahead, but also these great opportunities ahead. Maybe you would ask for training. I need some more training. Can we just spend some more time? Can you teach me how to pray like you pray? Can you teach me how to prophesy like you prophesy? Maybe training would be something we could ask for. Or maybe instruction. It's not so much the how-to, but the why. I need the why to understand the doctrine and behind the scenes and give me a solid footing in those areas. Maybe you would ask for training. Or maybe we'd ask for signs, you know, hey, give me some proof, you know, give me some signs so I know that God's with me and I know that God has me in this. What would you ask for? Elisha, at this point, he'd probably spent close to 10 years serving Elijah. And so he's had time with him to watch him work. He's served alongside of him. And so he's had a good mentor and that's good. He's had some good training and good education, and that's good. But what Elisha needed most for the work that he was about to embark on? Well, the thing he needed most was the Holy Spirit. And so he tells Elijah, please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. Let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. Now, as he asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit, he's not looking at Elijah and saying, this is your power and your strength, and I want that on me. He's recognizing this is God's work, and I need God to work in me. He's really testifying of his own humility here. He's recognizing, I don't have what it takes to do what you do and to do what I'm called to do. I'm going to need God to work in me in the same way that God is at work in you. Now, as you think about this idea of a double portion, I think our minds don't go to the same place that Elijah's and Elisha's went to whenever this phrase double portion was used. When I think of a double portion, I think of a plate of food, right? And so I got twice as much when I have a double portion. I get to go to the buffet two times twice. instead of just once, right? Or two scoops instead of just one scoop. And so in that context, we think, well, Elijah's asking to be twice as awesome as Elijah. You know, can I be you, but way better? You know, and that's not exactly what Elisha is asking for. As he uses this idea of a double portion, he's referring to something that was normal for them in their culture, and that is For a father to pass on the inheritance to his eldest son, the eldest son would have a certain responsibility to the rest of the family. And it was called the place of the firstborn. And being the firstborn wasn't just a matter of, you know, chronology, like, hey, you were the first one on the calendar to be born. But it was a position, it was a role that was given. And it was kind of like being a successor to the father. And so when the father died, the firstborn succeeded the father. And that is, he took responsibility now for the family. Right? He took responsibility for perhaps the wife that was left behind. He took responsibility for the younger children. He took responsibility for leading the family, making decisions. And so he was, in a sense, a successor to the father. That was the role of firstborn. Now, the role of firstborn in their culture included a double portion of the inheritance. So, you know, if a father died and had three kids, well, all the kids would get a portion of the inheritance, but they would be divided into four. And so the firstborn would get two or half of the inheritance, and then the other half would be divided between the other two kids. And so he was given this extra, you know, provision, extra inheritance to give him the resources that he needed to be able to lead the family that he was called to lead and to protect the family in the way that he was called to protect them. And so God talks about this in Deuteronomy chapter 21. You But there was this role of the firstborn. And so the firstborn would get a double portion. And so it was, you know, the resources that he needed to be able to fulfill his role and take the father's place in leading the family and protecting the family and in doing what needed to be done. And so this is the idea that Elisha had in his head. He said, please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. Here's how David Guzik describes it. He says, this was a request for the spiritual power to fulfill the calling he had already received. So in 1 Kings 19, verse 16, God told Elijah, Elisha will be your successor. That's already established. He's going to succeed you and he's going to be the prophet in your place. And so Elisha has already received this calling. He already knows he has this role. He has this position. This is God's call for him. And so what he asked for from Elijah is the spiritual power that he needed, the resources that he needed to be able to do the work that God had called him to do. And so it was a wise move for Elisha. to ask for a double portion of the Spirit. I have the calling. I know what God wants me to do. But now I need God's power. I need God's strength. I need God to be at work in me so that I can do what he's called me to do. Now, it's interesting to consider a very similar way. It's parallel, and that's why I'm sharing these things. Because when Jesus was about to ascend into heaven, much like Elijah was ascending into heaven, Jesus gave his disciples their task, their commission, and that was to go make disciples, to reach the world with the gospel. But as he gives them the instruction, he says, okay, here's your call. You're going to succeed me. You're going to fulfill my ministry and go and bring forth the gospel message to the world. But he says, wait, don't go yet. Wait until you receive the power of the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 1 verse 8, I'm sure it's a passage you're familiar with, but important one to remember. He says, Now their call as disciples was to be witnesses to Jesus, to testify of him, to represent him to the world around them. But he says, in order to fulfill that call, Well, you need to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, then you will have the power to do what you're called to do. And so it's one thing to know what God wants you to do. It's one thing to have your calling, your commission. It's one thing to know that God wants you to be a godly parent or a godly spouse. It's one thing to know that God wants you to serve in one capacity or another or reach someone with the gospel. It's important to know those things and God will put those things on your heart. But along with that knowledge, along with that calling that he gives to you, what you also need to have the empowering. It's not just enough to know what you're called to do, but empowering. But you also need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. You need the Holy Spirit at work in your life in order to be the man or woman of God that you've been called to be. You have great works ahead, good things that God has in store for you. He wants to accomplish great things in your life. So ask for a double portion of the Holy Spirit. Ask God to give you the resources that you need. Now, I know how we are. And many times we could say, well, God already knows the resources I need. So do I really need to ask? He knows what I need. God's the one who gave me the instruction. I need to go do this thing. So do I really need to ask? I mean, he's the one who told me he knows what I need and he told me to do it. And so of course he's going to give to me the resources I need. But you know, although God knows what we need, he still tells us to ask. He still wants us to invite him into to do the work that he wants to do and that he knows needs to be done. We need to ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to seek God. Like Elisha, ask for a double portion. God, I know this is what you want me to do. I know this is what you've called me to do. I know you've called me to be this way and to live this way, but I know also that you know I can't do this without you. And so here's me saying, I need you. Would you fill me with your Holy Spirit? You have great works ahead. God can do great things in your life. He can blow your mind and do things that you would have never thought possible in your relationship with him, in your relationships with others around you. God wants to work. You're an important part of his kingdom, of his plan. And the way that God does big works is not by choosing amazing people and using them. You know the way that God does big works is He chooses plain, old, ordinary, broken, messed up people like us and then gives us the Holy Spirit to do the work that he wants us to do. Consider the word to Zerubbabel in Zechariah 4, verse 6. This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel. Not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Now, Zerubbabel was a guy who was in charge of rebuilding the temple, but he had given up on it a long time ago. He had come back from Babylon. They started the work of building the temple, but it got really hard and there were some challenges and they needed homes also. So they started working on their own homes and they got distracted and they never went back to building the temple. And then there was a stirring and so they began to come back to working on the temple. But Zerubbabel, from what we understand here in Zechariah, he's looking at this like, okay, I'm supposed to build this temple, but you know what's here? It's just a mound of rubble. It's just rocks and beams and it's just a big pile of rubble. How am I going to move all this stuff and establish the foundation and build the temple? It's too big of a job. He's discouraged. He's given up. It's too hard. It's overwhelming all that needs to be done. And so God sends him this word through the prophet Zechariah. And he says, here's what you need to know, Zerubbabel. Yeah, the project is too big for you. The work is greater than you can handle. It's bigger than you can do. It requires more strength than you have, more wisdom than you have. But here's what you need to know. It's not by might and it's not by power, but it's by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. It's not by your great strategy that you're going to figure this out and accomplish it. It's not by your great strength that you're going to move all these rocks to be able to do it. But it's going to be a work of the Holy Spirit in you and through you. Again, God doesn't pick amazing people to do his work. He picks us, broken, weary, discouraged, given up, overwhelmed. And he says, you're perfect once you're filled with the Spirit. And it's by the Spirit of God that great things can happen in your heart, in your life, in your family, in this church, in the world around you, by the Spirit of God. You need the Holy Spirit. And so do like Elisha did and ask. Ask for a double portion. Not a double portion in the sense like, yeah, Lord, make me really amazing, you know, twice as good as the person next to me so I can really shine and, you know, people can really look up to me and think, wow, look at how he has a double portion of the Holy Spirit. I only got one, but he got a double. No, no, no. Ask for a double saying, Lord, I know you've given me this calling. You've given me this responsibility, and I need the resources to do what you've called me to do. Now, many of you, of course, have asked for the Holy Spirit, and you've been empowered by the Holy Spirit. You've been baptized in the Holy Spirit. But this morning, I'd like to encourage you and remind you that God wants to do that in your life in an ongoing way. And I want to give us opportunity this morning to ask for the Holy Spirit. And so I'm going to invite Jonathan up, and he's going to lead us in a worship song. And I want to encourage you in this song to ask for the Holy Spirit. It's not just a one-time thing. In Acts chapter 1, Jesus promised they would receive the Holy Spirit. In Acts chapter 2, the disciples did receive the Holy Spirit, and they did a great work for God, but then they encountered some opposition. And so in Acts chapter 4, it records for us that the disciples gathered together for prayer again, and they say, Lord, there's been some challenges, there's been some threats, and we know you've called us to this, but they're telling us not to do what you've called us to do. And so, Lord, we need your strength. We need your power. We need to have your resources to do what you've called us to do. And in Acts chapter 4, verse 31, it says, when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. And they spoke the word of God with boldness. They said, God, we need your help to be able to do what you've called us to do. And God's answer was to fill them with the Holy Spirit. And so I'm sure cried out to God before, and you've been filled with the Holy Spirit. But that wasn't the last time that he wanted to fill you with his spirit. And as you call out to him, this won't be the last time either. But we need to recognize our need. It's one thing to know what God's called us to do, but it's another thing then to ask God to fill us with his spirit that we might do what he's called us to do. And maybe you've been wrestling with that because, well, you know things that God wants you to do, and you've been trying to do it, and you just haven't been able to do it. You've been messing up. You've been falling short. You've been failing. And you're like, I'm trying. I'm doing the best that I can here. What's going on? I know God wants me to do this. Why is it not happening? Well, perhaps you've been trying to do that in your own strength, your own resources. And it's time now to ask God to give you his resources. You need the Holy Spirit to be able to do those greater works that are ahead for you. And so as Jonathan leads us in this song, I would encourage you, just between you and the Lord, you spend time with him and you ask God to pour out a double portion of his Holy Spirit into your heart that you would be empowered to do what God's called you to do. Let's worship the Lord together. There must be more than this O breath of God, come breathe within. There must be more than this. Spirit of God, we wait for you. Fill us anew, we pray. Yes, fill us anew, we pray. Consuming fire and into flame. A passion for your name. Spirit of God, fall in this place. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way with us. Come like a rushing wind, fill us with power from on high. And now set the captives free, leave us abandoned to your praise. Lord, let your glory fall. Lord, let your glory for consuming fire burn into flame. A passion for your name. Spirit of God, fall in this place. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way. Yes, consume me. Fire, fan into flame. A passion for your name. Spirit of God, fall in this place. Lord, have your way. Lord, have your way with us. You have great works ahead, and you need the Holy Spirit. There's one last thing I would like to encourage you in before we finish up the service. Still looking at 2 Kings 2, and looking briefly at verses 2 through 9. Here, I'd like to remind you that you also need to be persistent. You need to not give up. There is great works ahead, but there's also challenges. And there's going to be opportunities to not do the things that God has called you to do. There's going to be setbacks. There's going to be discouragements. Be persistent. Continue to trust in God and walk in those works that he has established for you. Look at verse two with me. It says, then Elijah said to Elisha, stay here, please. For the Lord has sent me onto Bethel. But Elisha said, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel. Here I think it's interesting because Elijah gave Elisha a chance to step back. It seems that they understood this day was important, that this day Elijah was going to be caught up into heaven. And so Elijah says to Elisha, hey, please, you really don't have to be with me. You don't have to stick around through all this. I'm going to go here. I have a couple things to do, a couple errands to run. And then I'm going to be with the Lord. And you don't got to stick around for that. Just why don't you kick back? Why don't you take the day off? You don't have to be my servant today. Why don't you take the day off? Why don't you just relax today? And, you know, because you have a big work ahead and, you know, there's going to be things in store for you. So why don't you just chill out for a little bit? Just stay back here and I'm going to go on to Bethel. He gives him an opportunity to step back, to not do what God has called him to do. You see, every one of us have this opportunity. God has great things in store for us, but he doesn't force us to do them. And we have the opportunity to say, you know, I'm just going to step back. I don't really have to do that, especially if there's challenges or it's difficult. You know, it's like, well, I'll just let someone else handle that. In order for you to experience the fullness of life that God has for you, to experience the great works that are ahead and to do the work that God has called you to do, in order for you to get that honor, that privilege, that opportunity, you're going to need to be persistent. And you're going to need to push through times where you're given the opportunity to step back. But you're going to have to say, you know, I don't want to step back. I want to persist. I want to continue on in the midst of difficulty, in the midst of hard times. Verse 3. Now 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. Keep silent. So he has the opportunity to step back. And then now he has... these sons of the prophets. These were guys who were part of the prophetic school that was established there in Bethel. And I think here Elisha is dealing with some discouragement. He has to push through some discouraging conversations with He knows what's in store for today. And he's been with Elijah. And so this is going to be an emotional day for him. It's going to be a tough day for him. He's going to lose his master. He's going to lose this guy he's been with for many years. And here come these sons of the prophets. Hey, Elisha, do you know the Lord's going to take away your master today? They're excited. I mean, like, hey, something amazing is going to happen today. I mean, this is going to be cool, right? And they're excited. They're like, woo. And Elisha's like, just be quiet. This isn't as exciting for me. You know, this is hard for me. I'm going to be losing Elijah. And then the burden of the ministry is going to pass on to me. It's going to be difficult. And I picture here Elisha trying to fight off discouragement. And sometimes people will do this in our lives as well. They don't mean to be discouraging, but they see what's happening. And sometimes someone coming to you and stating the obvious is not the best thing. Hey, I noticed you put on a lot of weight. Yeah, thanks. It's not very encouraging. Did you know you're losing your spouse today, your master today? You know, like some of those things, maybe it's best not to have that conversation. But they're excited. They don't mean to be discouraging. But Elisha is losing his master today. It's a hard day for him. And so he says, guys, just be quiet. Maybe thinking, I don't want to break down. Yesterday, my wife and I were talking about me being gone in Japan for a couple of weeks. And I'm a big baby. So we're hugging. And then I started to cry. She's like, are you crying already? And I was like, well, we're just talking about leaving. And so I picture Elisha like that. He's a big baby like Jerry. And he's saying, oh, no, no, don't talk about it. I don't want to cry right now. It's going to be too hard. All right, verse 4. Then Elijah said to him, Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to Jericho. But he said, as the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you. So they came to Jericho. So Elijah gives him another chance. Hey, you don't have to go through all this. You don't have to, you know, do this. Just take a step back. You can relax here. You don't have to come with me. And Elisha says, no way. I'm not taking thee out. I'm not stepping back. I'm going to continue to be your servant and to be by your side until the very end, because that's what God's called me to do. But then again at Jericho, in verse 5, the prophets come out and say, hey, Elijah, did you know your master is going to be taken away today? And he says, I know, I know. Be quiet. I don't want to talk about it. It's not encouraging to me. I'm wrestling with this already. It's a tough day. You don't have to tell me about it. Well, then in verse 6, Elijah says, hey, why don't you stay here, Elisha? God's called me to the Jordan. Another opportunity, Elisha. You sure you don't want to just kick back here? You don't want to just hang back and not go forward? It's going to be tough, you know? It might be difficult. But Elisha says, no way. I'm going to stay by you. Well, then jumping down to verse 9, after they cross over the Jordan, that's when Elijah says, ask, what can I do for you? And he says, give me a double portion. But notice what he says in verse 10. This is Elijah. He says, you have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I'm taken from you, it shall be so for you. But if not, it shall not be so. And then in verse 12, after the chariot parts them, the chariot of fire comes through, separates them, and Elijah's caught up into heaven with the whirlwind. It says in verse 12, Elisha saw it. So Elijah said, if you see it, you'll have the double portion request. But if you don't see it, then you don't. And when it took place, Elisha saw it. Now, here's the question I would ask you to consider. Would Elisha have received the ministry of Elijah if he had stayed behind at any of those opportunities that Elijah gave him? If he stayed behind at Bethel or at Jericho, if he had just stayed back, would he have received and gone on to fulfill the ministry that we read about here in 2 Kings? And I would suggest to you, no, he would not have, he maybe would have had a ministry, but he wouldn't have experienced the fullness of that ministry that he had because he persisted with Elijah to the very end. Would Elisha have received a double portion if he had not been persistent? No, because, well, Elijah made it contingent. You're going to have to be there when I'm taken in order to see me when I'm taken. And Elisha stuck with him to the very end so that when God took him up, he was there to see it. He was persistent. He pushed through. And this is the way that God wants you to be as well. God loves it when his people are persistent because it shows that it's your choice. You see, God doesn't want to force you to do anything. He doesn't want to lay burdens on you. It's like, well, God wants me to do this, so I got to do it. He wants you to take the wheel and say, Lord, I want to do what you've called me to do. He wants you to go forward with boldness and trusting him. At the end of Elisha's ministry in 2 Kings chapter 13, he goes up to the king at the time and he hands him a bow and arrow and he says, strike the ground. And so the king is like, okay, that seems silly. But he strikes the ground three times with the bow and arrow, shoots three arrows into the ground. And it tells us that Elisha was angry with him. And he says, you should have struck the ground five or six times. And if you had done that, then God would have given you great victory over the enemy. But because you were half-hearted and you just kind of like, well, I guess so, you know, you're just going to have a little victory. You're not going to experience the fullness of the victory that I wanted to give you because you were half-hearted in doing what I called you to do. This is the way that God works. He wants us to be persistent, for us to take his commands, to take his instruction, and to give it all our heart and to go forward and say, all right, yes. And that means that there's going to be opportunities to back down, but you're going to say, no, I'm not going to back down because I want to experience all that God has. I want to do all that God wants me to do. That means that there's going to be discouraging times and people will want to discourage you, not necessarily intentionally, but there'll be those discouraging conversations and those things that make you just want to give up. And you're going to push through and say, no, I want to experience what God has for me. Take the instruction of God and give your heart to it. Don't just strike a couple arrows into the ground, but put many into the ground so that you can experience all that God has for you. Consider the words of Jesus in Luke chapter 11, verse 13. He says, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? A couple of verses prior to this is when Jesus says, ask and it shall be given to you, knock and it shall be opened. He goes on here to say, I'm talking about the Holy Spirit. You know how to give good gifts. How much more does your heavenly father want to give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him? But as he shares this, The tense in the Greek helps us to understand he's not talking about a one-time thing. He's saying the Heavenly Father will continue to give the Holy Spirit to those who continue to ask him. And so ask and keep on asking. Knock and keep on knocking. Be persistent. And so we had an opportunity during this last song to ask for the Holy Spirit. But we need more than just that opportunity. And we need to be persistent and to push through and to continue on and not give up that we would continue to experience all that God has for us. Listen, greater things are in store for you, but great things don't happen automatically. It doesn't just happen because you know what God wants from you. Great things will happen and God will do great things in you and through you as you continue and as you're persistent to look to him for strength, to call upon him to fill you with the Holy Spirit. as you continue to rely upon him, to be led by him and directed by him, as you continue to push forward and not give up, God will do great things in your life and through your life. You need to be persistent. Don't give up. There's opportunities to step back, but push forward in what God's called you to do. Now, there's lots of things that you could push forward in that God hasn't called you to do. So you need to be led by the Lord and let God direct you. But in those things that God has directed you in, don't give up on them. Don't let them discourage you. Don't let them become an area where you slack off and step back. Go forward. Push ahead. Be persistent to call upon the Lord for the Holy Spirit. And he will encourage you, he will help you, and he will strengthen you to experience those greater works that he set before you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I lift us up to you, God, and I pray that you would pour out your Holy Spirit upon us. Lord, that we as individuals would be empowered by you to live the life that you've called us to live, to continue the ministry that you began and that you've set before us. I pray, Lord, that you would teach us to walk with you, to know you, to hear your voice. And Lord, that you would teach us to take steps of faith, to trust in those things that you've called us to do. to trust in you as we step forward amongst discouragement in the midst of difficulty. I pray, Lord, that you'd fill us with your Holy Spirit, that we would have the strength, the power, and the boldness to be the men and women that you've called us to be. I pray, God, that this place would be shaken, that our hearts would be changed, that you would take us ordinary, broken, messed up people, and you would do a mighty work for your kingdom that will last for all eternity. That's what you want to do. And so, Lord, we invite you to do it. Fill us. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.