Participants: Pr. Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002939
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00:09 It's been 2,000 years
00:10 since the glorious light of the cross 00:12 illuminated the world veiled in darkness and confusion 00:15 about the character of God. 00:17 And still today the greatest need of mankind 00:19 is a revelation of God's love 00:21 as revealed in the life of Christ. 00:24 Amazing Facts presents the Everlasting Gospel 00:27 with Pastor Doug Batchelor, coming to you each week 00:30 from Sacramento Central Church in sunny California. 00:33 Discover hidden treasures in God's Word today. 00:39 We have been going through a series 00:42 for the last four studies together 00:46 dealing with the subject of Jesus 00:49 throughout the Bible. 00:50 And principally we've been talking about 00:53 how we can see Christ in the types 00:57 and the stories, the characters of the Old Testament. 01:01 This morning will be the fifth installment 01:03 in that series looking at Jesus in a specially the lives 01:09 of the Old Testament prophets Elijah and Elisha. 01:14 And in our Scripture reading 01:17 you heard there in Luke 4 01:19 that right after the temptation when Christ goes to His hometown 01:25 and He begins His ministry. 01:28 If you got a red-letter edition of the Bible, 01:32 He says in Luke 4, 01:33 the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, 01:35 He's anointed me to preach. 01:37 And then He tells us about Elijah and Elisha. 01:42 And after He says that the people get ready, 01:45 they are gonna throw Him off the cliff. 01:46 You know why? 01:48 Because Christ is saying 01:50 that Elijah and Elisha were prophets of God 01:53 but they ministered to Gentiles. 01:57 Never really aggravated the Jews in Jesus' hometown 02:00 but both Elijah and Elisha 02:02 are in many respects types of Christ. 02:06 You know, I enjoy looking through a kaleidoscope 02:12 and it's fun to sometimes you adjust 02:16 and you look at some beautiful pictures 02:18 and especially if you get something 02:19 that's got a lot of color 02:20 and interesting shape you look through it. 02:22 It's always distorted somewhat by the kaleidoscope 02:25 but it can still be very attractive. 02:28 Well the Old Testament presents a kaleidoscope of Jesus Christ. 02:33 And wherever you look it's not an exact representation 02:37 but its beautiful pictures of Christ 02:40 and of His sacrifice. 02:42 And you'll also find that especially true today 02:45 as we look at the examples of Elijah and Elisha. 02:50 Now why are we looking at Elijah and Elisha 02:52 and studying the life of Christ? 02:54 Well, for one thing, there are about 02:57 20 chapters in the Bible 02:59 that deal with Elijah and Elisha. 03:01 If you go from 1 Kings 17:1 03:05 all the way to 2 Kings 13, 03:09 It's all talking about the life miracles and adventures 03:12 of this incredible prophetic tag team. 03:16 And I was talking to Karen about 03:18 how they illustrate, how they worked together. 03:20 Tag teams probably not the best illustration 03:22 only places as a kid I ever saw a tag team was in this, 03:25 this wrestling that they have. 03:29 Not very real, you know what I mean? 03:32 But probably would be more accurate 03:34 to refer to them as a baton pass 03:37 because there actually was a little bit of overlap 03:39 between the ministries of Elijah and Elisha. 03:42 Elisha and it's easy to confuse them 03:43 because their names sound the same. 03:45 Elisha means my God is Savior. 03:49 Elijah means my God is Jehovah. 03:50 Elijah was the senior, the one who came first. 03:54 Elisha was trained as his apprentice 03:57 but he carried on the work of Elijah 04:00 and actually doubled it in some respects. 04:03 There are many similarities between 04:05 Elijah and Elisha and even Jesus. 04:09 They all three had a ministry 04:10 that even reached to the Gentiles. 04:12 You never hear about Mrs. Elijah, 04:16 Mrs. Elisha or Mrs. Jesus. 04:18 Even the people have tried to say that 04:19 Jesus and Mary Magdalene 04:20 had something going on that's totally a fable. 04:24 Their ministry was totally to reach and to save God's people. 04:28 And as we study today 04:29 I think you're gonna see there are number comparisons. 04:32 Now Christ made some, 04:34 first of all don't forget the beginning of Jesus' ministry 04:37 He cites these two prophets 04:39 that were a tag team there as an example of His ministry. 04:44 The last prophecy in the Old Testament talks about 04:48 "Behold, I send you Elijah the prophet," 04:50 Malachi 4:5. 04:53 And then when John the Baptist came 04:55 the angel said John the Baptist 04:56 would come in the spirit and the power of Elijah. 05:00 Now who was the first one who came in the spirit 05:03 and power of Elijah? 05:08 Wasn't John the Baptist, even before John the Baptist 05:10 someone came in the spirit and power of Elijah. 05:13 Who got a double portion of Elijah's spirit? 05:16 Elisha was the first one to come in the spirit 05:18 and the power of Elijah then John the Baptist. 05:22 Now is that it or is there more? 05:24 Let me read something from the words of Jesus, 05:26 Matthew 17. 05:27 You're gonna need a pencil or I hope you can turn quickly 05:32 and God willing I'll be able to post these 05:33 at the central website. 05:35 We put the other notes from this message 05:37 or this series at the saccentral.org website. 05:40 But I'd like you to follow along if you can. 05:44 Matthew 17:11, Christ is speaking here 05:47 and He said, notice very carefully, 05:50 "Indeed Elijah is coming." 05:54 Now, is coming, is that the present, 05:56 past or future tense? 05:58 "He is coming," future, "and will restore all things. 06:03 But I say to you that Elijah has come" 06:06 that past or present? 06:09 Past, "He has come already, and they did not know him 06:12 but did to him whatever they wished. 06:14 Likewise the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands.' 06:18 And then the disciples understood, 06:19 He spoke to them of John the Baptist." 06:21 And again in Matthew 11 Jesus says that 06:24 John the Baptist was the one 06:25 who came in the spirit and power of Elijah. 06:29 He was the first one 06:30 but there's a future example and even Christ said, 06:32 what they did to John they are about to do to me. 06:35 So there's a parallels between the life of Elijah 06:38 and John the Baptist and Jesus. 06:41 Did you get that? 06:42 So I'm not trying to detract 06:44 that John the Baptist came in the spirit and power of Elijah. 06:48 Christ has many similarities with Elijah 06:52 and listen not only are there going to be 06:55 12 times 12,000 last day apostles call the 144,000. 07:00 There's gonna be another army of Elijah's in the last days. 07:05 He says Elijah will come again. 07:07 Remember what it said there in Malachi 4, 07:11 not only was Elijah gonna come 07:13 to restore the hearts of the fathers to the sons 07:17 and the sons of the fathers. 07:18 But he said, "Lest I come 07:20 and smite the earth with a curse." 07:22 Before the final seven last plagues 07:25 God is gonna send the Elijah message again 07:28 and the same way John the Baptist came to prepare 07:30 the world for Jesus' first coming. 07:32 He's gonna have an army of John's 07:34 or Elijah's to prepare the world 07:36 for the second coming of Jesus. 07:37 Does that make sense? 07:39 Okay and some of them might be 07:40 walking around right now. 07:43 So going in the Old Testament 07:45 Elijah in one way is a type of Christ 07:46 because he sort of comes out of nowhere 07:49 and he disappears like he came. 07:52 Speaking of Melchizedek, another type a Christ, 07:55 it says without beginning or end 07:57 just sort of comes and disappears. 08:00 Jesus has no beginning or end. 08:03 He is the Alpha and the Omega. 08:04 And so that's one way were Elijah is like that. 08:07 Elijah was fearless when it came 08:09 to talking with the common people, 08:12 priests or kings. 08:14 First time Elijah appears, 08:16 and here we're sort of meeting Elijah, 08:18 he walks into the presence of King Ahab and he says, 08:23 "Thus says the Lord with an alt 08:25 there's going to be neither dew nor rain 08:27 according to my word for these years." 08:30 Somehow he gets right through the security forces 08:32 and the guard around the king. 08:33 He makes his pronouncement 08:34 then he goes back the other way. 08:38 And that was really something 08:39 because these ancient kings you know, 08:42 you could assassinate a king if you get close enough. 08:44 They didn't have rifles back then 08:46 and if you have a gift to bring to the king 08:48 you bring your gift to the couriers. 08:50 You'd stop you know, 50 paces from the king 08:54 than they did examine your gift 08:55 and then they show it to the king. 08:57 But you couldn't get, 08:58 you tried to approach too close to king 08:59 and the bodyguards will get you. 09:02 So the fact that Elijah got through all of that, 09:04 he makes his declaration 09:05 and he somehow while they are all in shock, 09:06 slips out again and they can't find him. 09:09 And they searched the whole country looking for him. 09:11 After Jesus ascended to heaven 09:12 also they had problems finding Him. 09:16 And it says that from the time of this declaration now 09:19 there follows three and a half years of famine 09:24 where God miraculously provides for Elijah. 09:28 And you can read about this here in 1 Kings 17:13, 09:36 Elijah now goes and he stays 09:37 with the gentile woman during this time, 09:39 a widow and he says, get me something to eat. 09:43 By the way, how many years did Jesus minister? 09:48 Three and a half years. 09:49 Okay, don't forget that, another type of Christ there. 09:53 He goes, at first he's fed by ravens at the brook 09:55 and then he-- God says to go stay with this gentile woman. 09:58 What does woman represent? A church. 10:02 Did Christ begin a new ministry 10:04 after His life to take the message 10:08 beyond the Jews to the Gentiles? 10:10 Matter of fact by the end of the first century 10:12 there were more Gentiles reading the Bible then Jews. 10:16 A transition happened in history. 10:18 The gospel now went to this Gentile bride. 10:21 Sort of like story of Ruth here. 10:25 And so Elijah is sent to this Gentile woman 10:28 who lives up by Tyre. 10:30 By the way Jesus also performed a miracle 10:32 for a Gentile woman. 10:33 Remember that her daughter 10:35 was afflicted with a demon and Christ says, 10:38 it's not appropriate to give the children's bread to the dogs 10:41 and she said even the dogs get the crumbs 10:43 that fall from the children's table. 10:44 He says great is your faith, He healed her daughter. 10:47 That was also an analogy about Christ 10:49 was going to break this insulation 10:52 around the Jewish nation 10:53 and take the gospel beyond just the Jews. 10:56 Whoever believes in Christ 10:57 then becomes a child of Abraham. 11:01 When he first meets her there's a famine, 11:02 it's going on for years, and nobody has any food. 11:06 And He says to her, can you get me a drink of water? 11:09 She's going to get a drink of water 11:10 and as she goes He says 11:11 and bring me a cake in your hand. 11:13 She says, oh, man of God. 11:15 She can tell from his attire he's a prophet. 11:17 She said, I'm gathering a couple of sticks right now 11:20 and I'm going to make my last meal 11:22 and my son and I are gonna die. 11:24 Because all we've got now is one handful 11:26 of flour in the bottom of the barrel. 11:28 You ever heard the expression, 11:29 getting to the bottom of the barrel? 11:30 That's where it comes from, the story. 11:33 And we got a little bit of oil to make the bread 11:36 and that's all we have. 11:37 And he says to her, "Do not fear," 1 King 17:13. 11:43 "Do as you have said 11:44 but make a small cake from it first and bring it to me. 11:48 Afterward make some for you, yourself and your son." 11:52 Well, that takes a lot of faith. 11:55 He says bring it to me and it will multiply. 11:58 Listen to what he said afterward. 11:59 "For thus says the Lord God 12:01 the bin of flower will not be used up 12:04 nor shall the jar of oil run dry 12:06 until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth." 12:10 Christ multiplied bread miraculously, didn't He? 12:14 When He multiplied bread did He say to the disciples, 12:16 tell you what, you take that little boy's bread 12:18 and you give it to the children 12:19 or you eat it yourself or did Jesus say, 12:22 bring it to me first? 12:24 They brought it to Christ, 12:26 He blessed it then the miracle happened. 12:28 We bring our bread to Jesus 12:30 whether it's the bread you might have in your wallet 12:32 or your purse or this bread. 12:34 When you study in the morning you say, 12:35 Lord, this is just the ink on paper 12:37 unless You perform a miracle 12:38 and You multiply You feed my soul. 12:41 And so for the remainder of that famine 12:44 every day that woman took the wooden lid of that barrel, 12:47 she reached in and there was more flour. 12:50 Do you ever eat a meal on your plate and say, 12:52 well, I am going to eat half of this 12:54 but I'm enjoying this so much 12:55 I don't want to eat the last bite, 12:56 I'm gonna cut that last bite in half and make it two. 12:59 Have you ever done that? 13:00 Then you say, oh, man, it's so good. 13:01 I am gonna cut that last bite in half and make it two. 13:03 Well, that's what she kept doing, 13:04 she kept reaching in, just taking half of it 13:06 and it was enough for everybody. 13:08 She reach in there, there's always more there, 13:10 never got to the end until the rain came. 13:13 A miracle of multiplication of bread 13:16 and oil which is also what Jesus did, 13:19 He multiplied bread and every day 13:21 we ask Him to multiply bread for us, don't we. 13:25 He was not afraid to confront false prophets and priests. 13:30 Matter of fact it almost cost Him His life 13:33 when He said, "Woe unto you scribes 13:35 and Pharisees hypocrites!" 13:38 Did Elijah also confront the false prophets 13:41 and priests on Mount Carmel? 13:44 And did they then put His name on a poster? 13:47 Jezebel was looking through the land for Him, 13:50 His life was threatened because of it. 13:53 When He gathered everybody together on Mount Carmel 13:57 for that great big showdown 13:59 he said, "Come near unto me." 14:01 So the people came near unto Him. 14:03 There was a revival after He called everybody 14:06 in the kingdom to come near unto Him. 14:09 Does Jesus say, come unto me 14:11 and you will find rest for your souls? 14:14 With Elijah and Elisha this is great victory, 14:19 I'm sorry, with Elijah and Jesus 14:21 there's this great victory on the mountain, 14:24 showdown there on Mount Carmel 14:25 about the true God and a counterfeit god. 14:29 You know when Christ came, 14:30 had the religious leaders substituted the truth 14:33 with a counterfeit gospel. 14:36 He constantly had to say, you say 14:38 but God says you say but I say. 14:41 And they just-- they completely eclipsed 14:43 the truth with man-made laws and traditions. 14:46 And Jesus had to pull all that aside 14:48 and they hated Him for it. 14:50 But there was a big showdown because of that. 14:53 Elijah had a showdown on Mount Carmel, 14:56 Christ had a showdown on Mount Calvary. 14:59 And Christ said, it is finished 15:00 and there was a victory there. 15:02 God's presence was seen when Elijah prayed, 15:06 the heavens parted and fire came down. 15:10 Now fire comes down for Jesus as well. 15:14 Elijah praise and there's a great rain 15:17 at the end of three and a half years. 15:18 Are you with me? 15:20 What happens at the end of three and a half years 15:22 of Christ ministry? 15:23 Does Jesus pray in John 17 15:25 and John 14 the God will send 15:27 the Holy Spirit to the disciples? 15:29 There's a great rain. 15:30 Do they get baptized with tons of fire? 15:33 After three and a half years 15:35 the rain comes, there's a storm. 15:38 And then Elijah has to run. 15:40 After three and a half years 15:42 Jesus pours the Holy Spirit out on the church 15:46 and then the disciples have to hide. 15:47 There's a great persecution that takes place. 15:51 Did Elijah fast for 40 days in the wilderness? 15:56 Are you with me? 15:57 How many-- I'm assuming 15:58 you guys know the fundamentals of the Bible. 16:00 We might have visitors who don't know 16:02 the stories in the Bible 16:03 but Elijah fast for 40 days in the wilderness. 16:06 The interesting thing is 16:07 Elijah meets an angel in the wilderness 16:09 who feeds him this very good food evidently 16:12 because it's so good that he runs-- 16:15 you know they do a lot of modern research 16:17 these days for these triathlon athletes 16:20 but what is the best diet to have 16:21 the greatest endurance to go the farthest? 16:24 They are to find out what that Angel fed Elijah 16:27 because I tell you, boy, they win the Tour de France 16:30 if they could just find out what was in that. 16:32 But an angel feeds Elijah and then he goes 40 days 16:36 and 40 nights to Mount Sinai and God speaks to him there. 16:40 Jesus goes 40 days and 40 nights fasting 16:43 and at the end it says an angel came 16:45 and ministered to Him and they fed Him miraculously 16:49 at the end of that 40 days and 40 nights. 16:52 Another parallel between Jesus and Elijah. 16:57 Now there's at this point after He leaves Mount Sinai 17:01 his 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness, 17:03 and I'm shortening the ministry of Elijah a little bit. 17:06 He's then told to go and anoint his replacement. 17:10 He is to pass the baton to a young man, 17:13 he's the wealthy son of a ranching family. 17:16 His name is Elisha. 17:18 And you can read about the call of Elisha in 1 Kings 19:19. 17:23 So Elijah departs and he goes to this area here 17:29 where the Mr. Shaphat was his name lived. 17:33 He had this ranch, wealthy man. 17:35 And he finds Elisha plowing with 12 yoke of oxen before him 17:40 and he was with the 12. 17:42 Now you just got to get this picture, 17:44 so you understand what this young man is giving up. 17:48 Today if you've got to one of these big John Deere tractors 17:52 you don't spend $200,000 on a John Deere tractor. 17:56 I mean these tractors today I've seen them. 17:58 You go out to Texas, these tractor sometimes 18:01 they will pull 50 yards 18:03 worth of plow equipment behind it. 18:05 They are powerful tractors. 18:07 Inside these tractors they've got GPS, 18:09 they got air-conditioning, they've got television 18:12 because they-- I am not kidding. You think I'm kidding? 18:14 How many of you know what I'm saying is true? 18:16 They're driven by GPS, farmers 18:18 just kind of, they are watching TV 18:19 and one of the things turns red, GPS turns around. 18:22 That's how they get these perfect lines. 18:24 They got Jacuzzi? No, it's not true. 18:26 They get just about everything in these tractors, right? 18:30 Well, back in Bible times the farmers, 18:33 you know, they might have one mule to pull a plow. 18:36 If you had a pair of oxen, you are wealthy. 18:38 If you had 12 pair of oxen, you are pretty wealthy. 18:44 So Elisha got a wealthy family 18:46 but he's a very spiritual young man. 18:48 And when a poor prophet name Elijah comes along, 18:51 I mean, Elijah lives out there 18:53 by the creek and he's fed by ravens. 18:56 He didn't have a lot, he didn't have a mansion. 18:59 He has to go stay with the widow 19:02 and he comes along and he says look, 19:06 because you love Lord I got good news, 19:08 you get to follow me and you got to leave all this. 19:12 Isn't that what Jesus really did with the apostles? 19:15 He said, are you willing to leave your father's boats 19:18 and your father's net, You follow Me 19:19 I'll teach you to fish for men. 19:21 So Elijah does basically the same thing 19:23 that Jesus did with Peter, James, John and Matthew. 19:26 He said, leave your tax booth with all your money, follow me. 19:31 And did He do it? 19:32 And the way He did it back then 19:34 is He cast His mantle on the shoulders of Elisha. 19:38 You ever heard the expression, the mantle fell upon him? 19:41 That it means someone else is now the successor. 19:43 Comes from this one story in the Bible 19:45 where Elijah put his mantle on the shoulders 19:47 of Elisha saying, 19:49 God has chosen you to train and follow me. 19:53 You are to do my work and finish my work 19:55 that I'm starting. 19:56 This is what the apostles did for Jesus. 19:59 So another parallel between Elijah and Jesus. 20:01 He called and disciple others to cover for Him 20:05 when He would ascend. 20:07 Not too many people ascend to heaven miraculously 20:10 but Jesus did and Elijah did. I'm getting ahead of myself now. 20:15 So he calls Elisha and He puts his mantle on him. 20:19 That mantle is like a robe, 20:20 it represents the righteousness of Christ. 20:23 Christ then empowers us to do His work. 20:26 Now there's another story 20:27 that happens between the end of First Kings 20:30 before you get to Second Kings. 20:32 It's a story of Naboth's vineyard. 20:34 There was this good man that lived in Samaria 20:37 by the name of Naboth. 20:38 He owned a beautiful vineyard not far from the king's palace. 20:42 Ahab wanted Naboth's vineyard. 20:45 But according to the Jewish law it was to go to his posterity, 20:48 it wasn't to change hands between the tribes. 20:51 And so when Ahab said, hey, I'd like to buy your vineyard. 20:53 Naboth says, your highness, you know I'd like to help 20:55 but the Law of Moses says 20:57 this is to be part of our posterity, 20:59 it stays with our tribe and I can't sell it to you. 21:03 He get so mad, he wants it. 21:06 He just can't stop thinking about it. 21:08 So with the help of Jezebel 21:09 they concoct a scheme to get false witnesses, 21:13 to falsely accuse Naboth 21:17 of blaspheming God and blaspheming the king, 21:21 religion and government. 21:23 They take him out of the city, they execute him. 21:27 An innocent man is killed 21:29 so that they can seize his vineyard. 21:33 What is that vineyard? 21:35 Jesus tells us in Isaiah 5, 21:38 that vineyard is a type for the people of Israel. 21:40 Did Jesus tell parables 21:43 about how a vineyard was un-rightly stolen? 21:47 That the Sun, the rightful owner 21:48 was killed to seize his vineyard? Yeah. 21:52 So another parable here in the same way that's-- 21:56 Oh, and by the way, 22:00 Jesus in the same way that Naboth died 22:03 and Jesus died, Elijah then goes on 22:06 and tells King Ahab is that you're going to suffer 22:10 the same fate as Naboth 22:11 because you killed an innocent man. 22:14 And so Naboth is an example of Christ 22:16 there in Elijah's pronouncement. 22:21 And then one of the great miracles 22:22 is how he ascends to Heaven. 22:24 Now I am gonna spend a few minutes on this, 22:26 turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings 2. 22:29 2 Kings 2 and it says, 22:36 "It came to pass when the Lord was about to take Elijah 22:40 into heaven by a whirlwind." 22:43 Now did God tell Jesus to tell the disciples in advance 22:48 that you're going to be going to heaven 22:50 in some unusual way? 22:53 Did Christ say, "I am not always be with you, 22:55 I'm going away" And they said, "Where are you going?" 22:57 So Christ warned them in advance. 22:58 Elijah told Elisha in advance, I'm going up to happen. 23:02 That he said to Elisha, go with me to Gilgal. 23:05 And he goes to Gilgal 23:06 and he teaches the people the word there 23:08 because he's about to ascend. 23:11 And they said, you know, he's going to go to heaven. 23:13 And then he goes from Gilgal and he goes next to Bethel. 23:17 And then he goes to Jericho 23:19 and then he goes down to the Jordan. 23:21 And he stops and he visits all the sons of the prophets 23:23 before he ascends to heaven. 23:25 After Christ rose from the dead, did He go around 23:28 and visit the disciples on different occasions 23:31 to strengthen them in the word 23:32 before He ascended to heaven? 23:34 So there's another parallel. 23:36 Now finally he goes to the Jordan River 23:40 and he crosses the Jordan River. 23:41 By the way the Jordan in the Bible 23:43 is the symbol of death. 23:45 And Elisha crosses-- the Jordan parts miraculously. 23:50 And they go over together. 23:53 You know the Jordan represents death. 23:55 What is normally, 23:57 what do you think of when you think of the Jordan River? 23:59 Isn't it baptism? 24:01 Baptism is a symbol of death, burial and resurrection. 24:06 How do most people get to the other side of death? 24:10 The Jordan, you got to go through death. 24:12 The children of Israel before they got to the Promised Land 24:15 they had to cross the Jordan River. 24:17 Before me, most people are gonna ever get to the Promised Land 24:19 they got to go through the Jordan. 24:20 See what I'm saying? 24:22 Now it says, Elijah comes to the borders of the river, 24:25 he takes off his mantle, he strikes the water. 24:27 I don't have time to read the whole story to you 24:29 but I am summarizing it. 24:31 The river parts miraculously, 24:33 the way it did for the children of Israel 24:34 when they first entered the Promised Land, 24:36 they go over on dry ground. 24:39 Meaning they don't get muddy, 24:40 they go over and they come up clean on the other side. 24:43 In the same way it's only the righteousness of Christ 24:47 that makes it possible for us to cross death 24:49 and be clean on the other side. 24:51 After they crossed the Jordan River 24:53 Elijah and Elisha are walking and talking together. 24:57 Same way that Jesus walked and talked with the disciples 25:00 before He ascended to heaven. 25:02 And he says, what shall I give you 25:05 before I am taken away from you? 25:07 And Elisha said, I pray thee 25:09 that a double portion of your spirit might fall upon me. 25:14 And Elijah says you've asked the hard thing, 25:16 but I tell you what, if you've seen me 25:20 when I ascend up to heaven 25:22 it will be so on to you but if you don't see me 25:24 when I ascend it will not be so. 25:26 So as they walk and talk together suddenly 25:29 the heavens are parted, 25:30 chariots and horses of fire come down 25:33 and take Elijah up to heaven. 25:36 Elisha sees it, he falls down on the ground 25:39 and he says, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel 25:41 and the horseman thereof, and he rinse his robes. 25:45 And what falls down from Elijah as he goes up? 25:50 His mantle. 25:51 What's the only thing that Jesus-- 25:53 and that mantle is a robe. 25:54 What's the only thing that it says that 25:56 Jesus left behind intact when He ascended to heaven? 25:59 His blood stained robe was left behind. 26:03 Elisha tears his clothing, a signal 26:07 for our righteousness as filthy rags. 26:10 And he takes up the mantle of Elijah. 26:13 What do we do when we accept the righteousness of Christ? 26:15 We say we are sinful. 26:18 Our righteousness as filthy rags, 26:19 we take up the righteousness of Christ. 26:22 And it says Elisha saw it. 26:24 What was the criteria to receiving 26:26 a double portion of Elijah's spirit? 26:28 You got to see it. And it says he saw it. 26:32 Did the disciple see Jesus ascend up into those clouds? 26:36 What were those clouds? 26:39 Let's look here in the Bible and find out what it says here. 26:42 Psalm 104:3, 26:49 "He lays the beams of his upper chambers in the waters, 26:53 who makes the clouds His chariot, 26:56 who walks on the wings of the wind, 26:58 who makes His angel spirits, His ministers a flame of fire." 27:03 Most Bibles agree that it says angels, clouds, 27:06 fire chariots, right here in this verse. 27:10 Those clouds of light the disciple saw receive Jesus, 27:13 what are they? 27:14 They are oversaturated bright angels ministering spirits. 27:19 In Old Testament they call them chariots 27:21 and horses of fire. 27:22 And you know, angels are not galloping around on horses 27:25 as they go toeing from the earth 27:26 but in Bible times, 27:28 I mean, that's what there the fastest thing they had. 27:30 The most powerful thing they had. 27:31 That was their weapons of mass destruction, 27:33 were horses and chariots back then. 27:36 So they said, came these blazing ministering spirits, 27:39 chariots of fire. 27:41 Matter of fact even the Negro spiritual has that, right? 27:46 When I looked over Jordan, 27:47 what did I see coming forward to carry me home? 27:49 A band full of angels, 27:52 calls the chariots and horses of fire. 27:54 It's a band of angels came to take Elijah up 27:59 and it was a band of angels that came to receive Jesus, 28:02 the clouds of angels that received Him. 28:06 So He ascends up to heaven, He leaves his mantle behind. 28:11 Does Elisha get a double portion of the spirit? 28:15 It says, he goes to the Jordan River, 28:17 he takes the mantle. 28:18 Now I'm in 2 Kings 2:15, 28:23 he strikes, the water rip parts, 28:27 the sons of the prophets now see Elisha 28:29 and they say the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha. 28:34 When the disciples came and met before the Sanhedrin 28:37 what did they say about the disciples? 28:39 They were spirit-filled they could see 28:41 that they had been with Jesus. 28:42 The spirit of Jesus rested on the apostles after Pentecost. 28:47 You see what I am saying? 28:48 This is a wonderful parallel 28:50 for the ministry of Christ and the disciples. 28:53 And what you and I can learn from this is the same way 28:57 if you and I follow Jesus the way Elisha followed Elijah. 29:03 If you and I say, and surely as the Lord lives 29:07 I am not gonna leave you, I'm not gonna forsake you. 29:09 Remember Elijah said, "You can stay here Elisha, 29:11 you can stay here. I've got to go." 29:12 He says, I'm not going to leave you with a vow. 29:16 Because he stayed with him he was spirit-filled. 29:19 Who are gonna be the ones baptized 29:20 with the Holy Spirit in the last days? 29:22 Those who casually go to church when it's convenient 29:24 or the ones who are sticking close to the Lord? 29:28 They'll be the ones who are going to receive the Holy Spirit 29:30 when that latter rain comes out. 29:32 The same way God baptized Elisha 29:34 with a double portion the Holy Spirit, 29:36 the same way the former rain was poured out 29:38 on the apostles at Pentecost. 29:40 God is surely going to send 29:42 the latter rain in the last days. 29:43 It's going to happen friends, 29:45 not everybody is gonna receive it. 29:47 The sons of the prophets 29:48 that stayed on the other side of the Jordan, 29:50 they watch from a distance, 29:51 they did not get a double portion. 29:53 Elisha who went through the Jordan with Elijah-- 29:57 if we are crucified with Christ, 29:58 if we are dead and buried with Jesus, 30:00 we will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 30:02 See what the symbolism means there. 30:04 Very important stories to help us understand that. 30:08 After Elijah and Jesus ascended to heaven the spirit came down. 30:14 Now there are some other miracles 30:15 and we got a lot of miracles here. 30:18 What about walking on water or something floating on water, 30:23 defying the power of water? 30:25 Little story, once Elisha begins his ministry-- 30:28 oh, first thing is I don't have it in my notes here 30:30 but I want you to know some kids made fun his bald head 30:33 and he pronounce a curse 30:35 and some bears came out and maul these kids 30:37 that were making fun of Elisha. So... Enough said. 30:45 Then one of the next miracle that happens, 30:48 it's a sign of being spirit filled, 30:51 too much hair, you get in trouble. 30:54 Look at Absalom Solomon, 30:56 there's a record in the Bible for you here. 30:59 In heaven, all the men will be bald, 31:00 I'm just getting ready. 31:03 2 Kings 4:7, 2 Kings 6:4-7, " 31:08 So he went with them. 31:10 And they came to Jordan, and they cut down trees." 31:13 Now they are building an AFCO program 31:15 for the sons of the prophets nearby the Jordan. 31:18 "But as one was cutting down a tree," 31:20 the axe head had dried out, 31:22 the head became loose, the handle was dry. 31:25 Axe flew off and landed in the Jordan River and it sank. 31:29 "And he cried and said, Alas, my master! 31:31 For it was borrowed." What am I going to do? 31:32 I don't have money to buy another one.'" 31:34 "So the man of God said, 'Where did it fall? 31:37 "He showed him the place, he cut off a stick, 31:40 he threw it in and it made the iron float. 31:44 Therefore he said, 'Pick it up.'" 31:46 You ever seen iron float? 31:47 Yeah, it's called the US battleship. 31:50 They got a lot of iron floating. 31:52 You go down here by the San Francisco Bay 31:54 in all those mothball Navy, floating iron. 31:57 Always kind of strange but it didn't happen 31:59 back in Bible times. 32:00 They didn't have iron ships, 32:02 iron did not float anymore than Jesus walking on water. 32:06 So Elisha, you see something floating on water 32:09 that's not supposed to float on water. 32:11 And it's interesting he threw a stick in. 32:14 That's-- what did Moses throw 32:16 in the water to make the water sweet, 32:19 the Waters of Marah? 32:20 He threw in a stick, it's a symbol for the cross. 32:24 What gives us the power to do the impossible for iron to swim? 32:29 It's the power of the Cross. 32:31 I also think it's interesting that widow 32:33 that was making her last loaf of bread, 32:34 she said, I'm gathering two sticks, 32:37 another symbol for the cross there. 32:40 So miracle of define water-- 32:43 we got three miracles about water here. 32:45 Elisha also transforms water. 32:49 They went to the spring of Jericho, 32:51 matter of fact I've drunk from that spring, 32:52 it's there today. 32:54 Jericho is irrigated by this spring, 32:56 it's a very ancient spring. 32:58 It was a good spring 32:59 but the waters were sulphur waters, 33:01 you couldn't drink them. 33:02 We go riding around in the desert 33:04 sometimes in the summer with our buddies 33:07 and sometimes we'll find springs, 33:08 you better taste it first 33:10 because some of those springs are poisoned 33:12 and some of them are sulphur and you just can't drink it. 33:15 And so the disciple said to Elisha, 33:18 you know, this water is abundant 33:20 but we can't water the crops with it, 33:22 it kills everything it touches, we can drink it. 33:24 And so he takes a cruise, a little vessel of salt. 33:28 And he pours it in the water, 33:30 the water was transformed and it became sweet. 33:32 It says in the Bible, the waters were healed to this day. 33:36 And I've drunk from that spring, Elisha spring at Jericho. 33:40 Still running today, that's a miracle recorded in history 33:43 and you can see the evidence of that miracle today. 33:45 Now did Jesus say, you are the salt of the earth? 33:49 And that salt represents Christianity 33:52 that makes the waters drinkable. 33:54 And Christ of course is the Living Water. 33:56 Another just analogy of Elisha and Jesus. 33:59 By the way, Jesus name in Hebrew is Yeshua, Yeshua, 34:06 that means Jehovah saves. 34:09 Elisha's name in Hebrew is Elishu'a 34:13 and that means Elohim, God saves. 34:16 Elisha's name and Jesus' name are really very similar. 34:20 One uses the name Jehovah, one uses the name Elohim 34:22 but it means God is Savior. 34:24 So his name was very similar and he is a type of Christ. 34:28 Another water miracle, the kings of Israel, 34:32 the king of Israel and the king of Judah 34:34 are being attacked by their enemies. 34:36 They surrounded them you get the Edomites, 34:38 and the Moabites and the Ammonites 34:40 and they are going through the desert with their army 34:41 and getting ready to engage in this battle. 34:44 And because it takes so long, 34:45 if you've ever been down by the Dead Sea, 34:47 it's the hottest, driest, lowest desert in the world. 34:51 And they run out of water 34:52 and armies used to take cattle with them. 34:54 That was there canned food. 34:57 And they have no grass, they have no water, 34:58 the animals are dying and they say, what do we do? 35:01 They said, you know, Elisha came with us 35:02 on this expedition, let's ask him. 35:06 And Elisha, he does something interesting. 35:07 He said bring me a minstrel. 35:10 So they get someone who could sing 35:13 and he brings, he comes before Elisha 35:15 and the Holy Spirit comes on the minstrel. 35:16 And the minstrel begins to sing, 35:17 he says make this valley full of ditches. 35:21 And so they listen to what the minstrel said 35:23 and the Kings have the soldiers all start digging these ditches 35:26 and they are not foxholes 35:27 but they did these ditches there in the desert. 35:29 And they went to sleep that night 35:30 and during the night they all filled up 35:32 with water and they all drank. 35:34 And the enemy in the meantime sees that water from a distance 35:37 and the sun rising reflects on it, 35:39 it's red, it looks like blood. 35:40 They said, oh, the kings of Israel 35:43 and Judah all got mad and they fought, 35:44 that's blood out there on shimmering. 35:47 And they went to attack them, they weren't prepared. 35:50 And the Israelites 35:51 and the people of Judah attack Edomites, 35:53 Moabites, and Ammonites, 35:56 And actually they all kind of turned on each other, 35:59 the Edomites, Moabites and Ammonites 36:01 turned on each other, they self-destructed. 36:03 The Israelites just kind of came along 36:04 and had to plunder them. 36:05 So he performed a miracle 36:07 and it all happened with the water. 36:08 And it all traces back again to Elisha. 36:11 And that's talking about the living water 36:13 that God gives us and that's what gives us victory. 36:16 Not only did they multiply Water, they multiplied bread. 36:21 2 Kings 8:1, 36:23 now I'm jumping back 36:25 not only did Elijah have a miracle of bread, 36:28 your remember with the woman, 36:30 Elisha had a miracle 36:32 and it happens often during a time of famine. 36:34 Was there a famine during the time of Elijah? 36:37 Now there's a famine during the time of Elisha. 36:41 He says, matter of fact 2 Kings 8:1, 36:43 "A famine will come on the land for seven years." 36:46 You realize that during the ministry of Christ 36:48 there is seven years 36:50 where He works especially with the Jewish nation. 36:53 Three and a half years in person, 36:55 He dies then three and a half years through the disciples. 36:58 They just preached to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 37:02 Then Stephen is stoned then the gospel goes everywhere. 37:05 That was the end to the 490 year prophecy. 37:08 Seven years there, three and half years through Christ, 37:10 three and half years through the apostles 37:12 then the gospel went to the Gentiles. 37:14 And that was a time of famine because they were rejecting 37:17 and resisting and you have that there. 37:21 During this time of famine 2 Kings 4, 37:24 jump to chapter 4, 2 Kings, 37:26 "A man came from Baal-Shalishah, 37:29 and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, 37:31 20 loaves of barley bread 37:34 newly ripe and grain in his knapsack. 37:37 And he said, 'Give it to the people that they might eat.'" 37:39 Now there's a whole town of people here. 37:41 "But the servant said, 37:42 'What, shall I set 20 loaves before a hundred men?' 37:46 He said, 'Give it to the people that they might eat.' 37:50 For thus says the Lord, 'they will eat, 37:52 and they will have some leftover.' 37:54 So he set it before them 37:56 and they had some leftover 37:57 according to the word of the Lord." 37:59 Now I am reading from the Old Testament, 38:00 does that sound faintly familiar 38:02 to a New Testament story to you? 38:05 Was there not enough but they got some barley loaves, 38:08 not enough loaves 38:09 but they took this ridiculously small amount of bread 38:13 and it was multiplied so that everybody was fed. 38:15 Not only was everyone fed there were leftovers. 38:17 Were there leftovers with Jesus 38:19 when He multiplied the bread also? 38:21 We've seen this miracle at our central potluck 38:23 many times, amen. 38:26 Sometimes we haven't seen the miracle 38:28 and there wasn't much luck left in the pot 38:30 when I got to it but we have seen the miracle before also, 38:34 need to just pray better or something. 38:37 Not only is there multiplying bread 38:40 there's multiplying oil. 38:42 Now what is that oil represent? Holy Spirit. 38:46 You read there in 2 Kings Chapter 4 about this woman 38:50 and she comes to Elisha. 38:53 And we should bring our problems to Elisha. 38:55 This is a great story. 38:57 And she said, "My husband died 39:01 and I have this debt I can't pay, and the creditor, 39:05 he's basically," I'm paraphrasing, 39:07 "He's taken everything in the house, 39:09 he's getting ready to take my two boys now as his slaves 39:12 because I can't pay my debt." 39:14 And they could do that by the law back in Bible times. 39:16 You can just find it in Chapter 11 or Chapter 13. 39:18 If you couldn't pay your debts they could take your children 39:22 into servitude to be their slaves 39:24 to work off the debt. 39:26 She said, "What am I gonna do?" 39:28 And Elisha says, "What do you have?" 39:31 Now you notice, one time the disciples came to Jesus 39:34 and said, "We need to send people home 39:35 because they're hungry and they have nothing to eat." 39:37 Jesus said, "You give them something." 39:39 "We don't have anything." He said, "What do you have?" 39:41 "Well, we got five loaves." 39:42 So Christ like Elijah says, look at the resources you have, 39:47 consecrate your resources to God 39:48 and see if He doesn't bless what you have. 39:50 Your personal gifts and talents, 39:52 your finances whatever you have, 39:54 consecrate what you have to God 39:56 and He can work a miracle 39:57 of multiplying it for His kingdom. 40:00 So she says, "Well, all I've got in the house 40:02 left on the shelf is this little vial of oil." 40:06 Now, why did she say that for the last thing? 40:09 Why would a mother save oil? 40:11 Oil, and this is not Quaker State motor oil, 40:14 he's talking about olive oil, it was edible. 40:17 Oil was a basic commodity 40:19 that you needed in the medicine chest, 40:21 it was something you needed in the kitchen. 40:24 They use it in the living room. Oil was used for healing, right? 40:28 The way you anoint with oil. 40:30 Oil was used for food, 40:32 it was incorporated in their bread. 40:34 Oil was used for beauty, 40:36 they would anoint with oil for your appearance. 40:40 Oil was used for light, it burned the lamps, 40:43 it would illuminate. 40:44 Oil was used for heat, it burned the fire. 40:47 She did not want her children to be sick, 40:49 she wanted them to be beautiful, 40:51 she wanted them to be illuminated, 40:52 she wanted her children to be fed, 40:55 she wanted them to be warm. 40:57 You see what I am saying? And so this was so basic. 41:00 Now what does a woman represent symbolically? 41:04 Should we have oil in our church for all those reasons? 41:07 I am not talking about in a cupboard somewhere, 41:08 I am talking about God spirit. 41:10 So she says, "All right, 41:12 I'm going to consecrate what I have." 41:14 And Elisha says, here's what I want you to do, 41:16 go through your community get your boys 41:18 to borrow empty vessels, any kind of vessels. 41:23 Bring them into your house. 41:27 And I just always picture these kids 41:29 going up and down the streets in the neighborhood there 41:31 and they get their Radio Flyer wagon 41:32 and they're filling up the wagon with these vessels 41:34 and they bring them into the house 41:36 and they are stacking them all around the room, 41:37 filling up this empty house with these vessels. 41:40 Now Elisha says, shut the door 41:41 then pour the oil from this little vessel 41:43 you've got into the empty vessels. 41:46 So they do that and they start pouring 41:48 and it just keeps on coming. 41:50 It looks like some magician tricky 41:51 you've probably seen before 41:52 where it just keeps pouring and pouring 41:54 and pouring and you go, where is it coming from? 41:56 If there's so much more coming out, how can that be? 41:59 I remember when I was a kid 42:01 I had a little Barbie bottle, a baby bottle. 42:04 It wasn't a Barbie bottle, a little baby bottle. 42:07 No, I didn't play with dolls one of my friend had one. 42:11 And you tip it up and adjust and we kept bubbling up 42:14 and it seemed like it never stopped. 42:15 How many of you know what I'm talking about? 42:18 And so you play with dolls too, great? 42:21 And so the point is it just keeps on coming. 42:24 She says, well, that one's full, bring another one. 42:26 They pour and it fills up, that one's full, 42:27 bring another one, they bring. 42:28 And they are going around this room 42:29 and they're filling up all these different vessels. 42:33 What does that mean? 42:35 This is really how a church grows. 42:39 How much Holy Spirit do you have? 42:40 Not much, I got a little bit but do you have some? 42:43 You invite your neighbors. 42:44 Your neighbors who don't have Christ are empty vessels. 42:48 You bring them into your house. 42:50 Bible says God is a pot and we are the clay, 42:52 we are the vessels, right? 42:56 You bring then into your house and you have a Bible study. 42:59 And you pour the little bit oil you've got 43:01 and you know what, it will multiply 43:02 and you'll have more for the next vessel 43:04 and the next vessel and the next vessel 43:05 until pretty soon all the vessels are full. 43:08 The miracle did not stop 43:09 until there was nowhere else to pour it. 43:12 God never runs out of the Holy Spirit, 43:14 He runs out of people that are willing 43:15 to receive the Holy Spirit 43:17 because we are too full of other things. 43:19 If you are full, he can't put anything in. 43:22 So that oil kept coming as long as there was room. 43:26 Do you make yourself available for God's Spirit 43:28 or your life is too full of other things? 43:31 And then she comes to Elisha, she says, now what do I do? 43:34 He says, well, go sell the oil, pay your debt. 43:36 You and your sons will be free and live on the surplus. 43:40 There was leftovers again. 43:43 You know, I love this about Jesus, King David said, 43:48 "You anoint my head with oil, my cup runs over." 43:50 What is running over mean? 43:52 Surplus, leftovers, 43:54 they have 12 baskets of extra bread 43:56 after the miracles of Christ. 43:57 Christ blesses us exceedingly, abundantly 44:00 above and beyond 44:02 if there's an overflow, there are leftovers. 44:05 That's good news, isn't it? 44:06 You are not gonna run out of God, you share Him. 44:09 He will open the windows of heaven 44:10 and pour out the blessing. 44:11 You will not have room enough, that means leftovers, right? 44:15 That's the wonderful thing about the Lord, 44:17 He blesses us. 44:18 So He multiplies bread, symbol for the Bible, 44:22 give us this day our daily bread. 44:24 He use the salt, Jesus said you are the salt of the earth. 44:27 He multiplies oil, 44:28 a symbol for the comforter of the Holy Spirit, 44:31 and then He baptizes in Jordan. 44:34 Now I'm not just talking about 44:35 where Elijah cross the Jordan with Elisha 44:38 but a leper came to Elisha. What was his name? 44:43 Jesus quotes a story Naaman a Gentile. 44:48 And Elisha sends his servant out and he says, 44:51 "You go wash in the Jordan River 44:53 seven times and you'll be clean." 44:55 And he was mad, he didn't want to do that. 44:57 Seem too simple, wash and be clean. 45:01 He said, "I can go back to the rivers of Damascus." 45:03 This proud general with leprosy, 45:04 what does leprosy represent? 45:06 If the Jordan represents baptism, 45:08 death, burial and resurrection, 45:10 in the Bible leprosy represent sin. 45:12 It was a deadly disease, a slow death, 45:15 contagious disease, typically terminal 45:18 and it began by affecting the nerves 45:20 and the extremity so you lose your feeling. 45:22 You know what sin does to you? 45:24 At first you're convicted by sin 45:25 but the more you stay in a life of sin 45:27 you lose your sense of conviction. 45:29 That's when you really getting near the final stages. 45:31 You are sinning and it doesn't bother you anymore. 45:34 You have no desire to repent, 45:35 your heart becomes hard, it's like leprosy. 45:39 So this proud general name Naaman, 45:41 captain of all the forces in Syria. 45:44 He comes to the prophet in Israel 45:46 and he says, go wash in the Jordan seven times. 45:48 He's like, "God, all the rivers of Damascus 45:51 are much clearer and cleaner than the waters of the Jordan," 45:53 that was true. 45:55 But God said, "You wash in the Jordan." 45:58 Did He tell him how many times? 46:01 If he had washed five times would that have worked? 46:04 Is God particular about numbers? 46:07 When He told Joshua to march around 46:09 the city of Jericho seven times, 46:11 did the walls fall down after four times? 46:14 When God tells us to remember the seventh day, 46:16 does He mean the seventh day 46:17 or did He say whatever day is convenient for you? 46:20 God means what He says 46:22 and He expects us to obey what He says. 46:24 That's why we're here on the day that God says 46:26 it is blessed, the seventh day. 46:29 And so Naaman goes, finally his soldiers come to him 46:32 and they say, look, if the prophet had asked you 46:34 to do something difficult you do it, right? Yeah. 46:38 They said, why not wash and be clean? 46:41 So he takes off his armor, he goes 46:42 and he dips down seven times in Jordan. 46:46 And after he dips down the sixth time 46:48 he comes up after the seventh time 46:51 and his leprosy evidently, he lost some of his digits. 46:56 And it says his flesh was restored to him again 47:00 like the flesh of a little child. 47:03 And I tell you, boy, there'd be-- 47:06 I'd be richer if I could develop a real cream 47:08 that would give women flesh like a little child again. 47:10 They would buy that, we all-- 47:12 how many of you like to have flesh of little child again? 47:14 Not too many men admit it but, you know. 47:18 Can you imagine this here is this brave general? 47:21 And after he washes in the Jordan, 47:22 the seventh time he comes up 47:24 and there is his soldiers watching this and saying, 47:26 "What a miracle? 47:28 Praise the Lord, your leprosy is gone 47:29 and your skin looks really nice. 47:31 Can I touch it?" Can you imagine that? 47:33 General, can I stroke your cheek? 47:37 I mean, can you-- what does that mean? 47:40 You know it's really what a Christian is? 47:42 A Christian is a soldier with baby skin 47:45 because you are born again and yet you're a soldier, right? 47:49 And so but that here you got picture of baptism, 47:51 it happened in the Jordan River 47:53 which is where Jesus was baptized. 47:56 Isn't that right as a symbol for you and me? 48:00 Well, by the way at the end of that story 48:03 Elisha is betrayed by a friend for silver. 48:08 Naaman tries to pay for his healing, 48:11 Elisha says, "No." 48:12 But he's got a greedy servant named Gehazi 48:14 who chases after him, he lies and he take silver 48:17 and Gehazi ends up with the leprosy of Naaman 48:21 because of his greed. Judas ends up hanging himself. 48:24 Another place where there's a parallel 48:25 between Elisha and Jesus. 48:27 Elisha than captures an entire army. 48:30 This is a great story. 48:31 You've heard the story about chariots and horses of fire. 48:35 It comes from this story where an army surrounds Elisha 48:41 and they are serving this little town of Dothan. 48:43 And Elisha praise and God gives him the spirit 48:47 and he prays and the whole army struck blind. 48:50 So Elisha finds the lead horse 48:53 and he starts to walk towards the capital of Israel, Samaria. 48:57 And he's leading this enemy army. 49:00 And he leads them, they are all blinded, 49:01 they don't know where they are going. 49:02 And he leads this whole army inside the city. 49:05 There are confused they are blinded 49:06 or who knows what happened. 49:08 And I can just picture the watchmen on the wall. 49:10 They say there's an army approaching. 49:11 And as they get close they see and Elisha's waving, 49:14 his signal he says, open the gate. 49:17 It looks like they are surrendering. 49:18 He leads this whole army in. 49:20 Any of you old-timers remember 49:21 the story of Sergeant York from World War I, 49:26 who single-handedly, 49:27 he got the Congressional Medal of Honor, 49:29 captured a 132 German solders by himself. 49:36 Well, Elisha captured whole army by himself. 49:40 And then after he captures them 49:42 instead of killing them 49:44 the king of Israel says, "Shall we fire now? 49:46 Give the word ready and fire, 49:47 will just completely wipe them out." 49:49 And Elisha says, "No, you've already captured them." 49:52 He says, "Feed them and send them home, 49:54 show them mercy and love them." 49:56 Isn't that like Jesus? 49:57 Love your enemies, give food to those your enemy, 50:01 if he's hungry feed him. 50:02 Thirsty? Give him something to drink. 50:03 Isn't that what Jesus taught? This is what Elisha did. 50:07 He said, love your enemies, don't retaliate. 50:11 Another quick story, you realize that 50:14 both Elijah and Elisha stayed with Gentile women 50:22 and resurrected boys that died in an upper room. 50:26 You get that? What a coincidence. 50:29 How many people resurrected boys in the Old Testament? 50:32 Two, both Elijah and Elisha. 50:36 Who do you think those boys represent? 50:37 Matter of fact not too many resurrections 50:39 in the Old Testament, are there? 50:41 Moses was probably raised by the Lord. 50:45 The only other resurrections you've got is these two boys 50:50 and one other I'm about to tell you about. 50:53 That's a type of Christ, resurrection in the upper room, 50:57 new life in the upper room. 51:00 Does Jesus pour out the Holy Spirit on the church 51:02 in the upper room? 51:03 Does Christ inaugurate the New Testament 51:06 in the upper room with the bread and a wine? 51:09 And in both cases they are Gentile women's boys. 51:16 Letting us know that the New Testament church 51:18 would not just they were the Jews 51:20 but the New Testament church 51:22 would also go beyond to the Gentiles. 51:25 I think that's wonderful example of that. 51:28 And after Elisha resurrect this boy 51:31 the son of the Shunammite woman, says, 51:35 "He presents him to her and say, 51:37 'take up your son.'" 51:38 Did Jesus resurrect a boy who is on his way to be buried, 51:43 the son of a widow just like 51:46 when Elijah resurrected that Kananite woman son, 51:48 she was a widow? 51:50 And then it says, "He presented her to him." 51:54 Jesus after He raises the young men He says, 51:56 "Young man I said you arise. He presented him to his mother." 52:02 You know, one of the reasons 52:03 that you recognize Jesus as the Messiah 52:06 is by the multitude of miracles. 52:09 You can read about that in John 7:31. 52:11 He--it says, will, the Christ do more miracles than this man. 52:14 He's done more miracles than Elijah. 52:17 Elisha did twice as many miracles as Jesus and Jesus-- 52:21 I mean, Elisha did twice as many miracles as Elijah. 52:25 And Jesus has done even more miracles than Elisha. 52:28 Will the Messiah do more miracles than this? 52:31 So Christ has been told that-- 52:33 or we've been told that the Jesus is the one. 52:37 Finally, dying encouragement. Does Elisha is dying? 52:40 He brings the King in and he tells him you can have victory. 52:43 He says, open the window and fire the arrow, 52:45 have faith in victory, strike the ground. 52:47 He only struck the ground three times, 52:50 he should have struck more. 52:51 It says, if you have more faith you have more victory. 52:54 Isn't that what Christ said? 52:55 If we have more faith, more enthusiasm, more zeal 52:58 we'd have more victory. 53:00 And then finally, even after Elisha dies, 53:06 he dies and they bury him, great prophet of God. 53:09 It's interesting, Elijah, 53:11 he goes to heaven in a fiery chariot, 53:13 Elisha gets a double portion of Elijah's spirit 53:16 but he gets sick like everyone else gets old and dies. 53:19 Long life of ministry and miracles. 53:22 So even though you have a double portion 53:23 the Holy Spirit it doesn't mean 53:24 you may not get sick physically. Amen. 53:27 Even the Apostle Paul filled with the Spirit, 53:29 he get sick or something, 53:30 the thorn that that didn't go away. 53:32 So friends don't get discouraged in this life, 53:35 we do get old, we do get sick. 53:36 God can still give you a double portion of His Spirit. Amen. 53:40 After he dies and he is buried, 53:43 talk about being full of the Holy Spirit, 53:46 this is an incredible story 53:47 where they're about to conduct another funeral. 53:50 Elisha has been buried. 53:51 They're taking this man out to bury him, he's dead. 53:55 You hope so they're gonna bury him, right? 53:58 And they notice that there's a band of Moabites raiders 54:01 that are roaming the country. 54:02 And they said, "Oh, man, we got to run for our lives 54:04 but we don't want to be disrespectful of the dead. 54:06 What do we do? 54:07 We can't stay out here to this funeral. 54:09 They are near the cemetery." 54:10 They said, here's the grave Elisha, 54:12 it's got a top on it. 54:13 We move the stone aside, we can drop this body 54:15 and we will come back later. 54:17 So they move aside the stone, 54:18 they drop in the body of their friend. 54:20 When his feet hit-- 54:22 when his body hits the bones of Elijah, 54:25 he yells and he comes back to life. 54:29 Boy, I tell you, Elisha was so spirit filled 54:33 that even after his death he gives life. 54:37 Now that's not a type of Christ. 54:40 He's giving in life through his death. 54:44 This is what Jesus does for you and me. 54:47 You and I through the death of Christ. 54:51 If you get a hold of that if you touch that 54:53 it can infuse you with new life. This is the story the gospel. 54:57 Is it just my imagination friends 55:00 or can you see Christ through all these Old Testament stories? 55:04 Jesus is here everywhere and He wants you to recognize 55:07 that this in the volume of the book 55:12 Christ said it is written of Him. 55:14 He's not just in the New Testament 55:16 He's all through the Old Testament. 55:18 You search the scriptures for 55:19 and then you think you have everlasting life, 55:21 these are they that testify of Me. 55:25 And beginning at Moses 55:26 and all the prophets Christ expounded unto then 55:29 and all the scriptures He said that, 55:30 New Testament wasn't even written yet. 55:32 He expounded unto them in all the scriptures, 55:34 this is all they had, the things concerning himself. 55:37 I would like to read some of those sermons that Jesus gave 55:39 but I bet you that He talked about 55:41 Moses and Joseph and David and Elijah and Elisha 55:45 and how they are all types of Christ. 55:47 And they are there to inspire you and me 55:48 that we can have that spirit that they had. 55:51 James tells us Elijah was a man 55:55 subject to the same passions as you and me. 55:57 He struggled and wrestled with sin and temptation 56:00 just like you do, just like I do 56:02 and yet he prayed and the heavens 56:04 held their rain for three and a half years. 56:06 He prayed again and the rain came down. 56:10 And that would lead me to think 56:11 that you and I can pray for the rain to come down. 56:13 I'm not just talking about the drought in California 56:15 I am talking about the Holy Spirit, right? Amen. 56:18 And that God will send the rain. 56:20 The same God that heard 56:21 the prayers of Elijah and Elisha will hear our prayers. 56:24 Wonderful examples for you and me. 56:26 Did Elijah have a son? 56:31 He had an adopted son, that was Elisha. 56:34 Why did Elisha ask for 56:37 a double portion of Elijah's spirit? 56:39 Was he being greedy? 56:41 You know the Bible says, 56:42 you were to give your first born son a double portion. 56:46 Elisha walked away from his earthly parents, 56:49 his earthly inheritance and he said Elisha, 56:51 I want the only inheritance you can give me, 56:53 I want your spirit. 56:55 So you really had a father-son relationship 56:57 between Elijah and Elisha. 56:59 That's why when he went to heaven Elisha said, 57:02 "My father, my father, 57:04 the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof." 57:07 And in Elisha and Elijah you see 57:10 the love of the father for the son 57:12 and the son for the father. 57:14 How willing was Elijah to give his spirit to Elisha? 57:19 How willing is Jesus to give His Spirit to you? 57:23 How much should our Heavenly Father love us 57:26 and that He gave His Son? 57:28 Wonderful stories, wonderful lessons in this story. 57:32 Thank you, for joining us for this broadcast. 57:34 If you've missed any of our Amazing Facts programs 57:36 visit our website at amazingfacts.org. 57:39 There you'll find and archive of our television 57:41 and radio programs including Amazing Facts Presents, 57:44 Central Study Hour, Everlasting Gospel, 57:47 Bible Answers Live and Wonders in The Word. 57:50 You'll also find a storehouse of biblical resources, 57:52 gear towards answering 57:53 some of your most difficult questions. 57:55 And our online Bible School is just a click away. 57:58 One location, so many possibilities, 58:00 amazingfacts.org. |
Revised 2014-12-17