A Great Claim: Subtitle Does Your Shirt Need Ironed?

A Great Claim

Subtitle:

Does Your Shirt Need Ironed?

2 Kings 2:8-12

8 And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.

9 And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.

10 And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. {Thou hast...: Heb. Thou hast done hard in asking}

11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

Elisha had just witnessed Elijah using his God-given mantle and parting the Jordon River.

He saw, by the power of God, the Jordan opened.

When they had gone over the Jordan, Elijah said unto Elisha, “Ask what I should do for you before I am taken away from you.”

Elisha said, “I want a double portion of your spirit be upon me.” What he is actually saying is that he wants a double portion of the Spirit of God that was on Elijah.

Verse 10 says, And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing:

The word “hard” in the Hebrew actually means, “You have made a great claim”.

The problem with the modern church is that we make much a lesser claim or maybe no claim at all.

As believers, understanding that we are serving a great God, we should take a great claim.

Elijah goes on to say, “nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so.”

The great question should be, even to modern believers, “What do you see?”

Do we see the miracle working power of God or do we see other things?

2 Kings 2:11

11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

In the original Hebrew, it says that Elijah went up in a storm into the Heavens.

There have only been 2, both of the seed of Adam, Enoch and Elijah, that have passed from earth to Heaven without dying.

2 Kings 2:12

12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.

Elijah had been the strength of Israel, but now it was going to be Elisha.

Elisha was now wearing the Mantle. This represents that he is no longer a student but he is the Prophet.

Elisha had made a great claim, he knew what he wanted and he knew how to get it.

This morning, are we making a great claim and do we know how to receive what we are claiming?

Elisha knew that in order to receive from his master, master means teacher, that he had to keep his eyes on his teacher no matter where it led him.

Jesus is our teacher.

John 3:1-2

1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Whatever the greatest teacher of all times speaks, we have to be willing to listen and apply His words to our lives.

Maybe the Lord is telling us to make a great claim; when the Lord speaks you can be sure that He will point things out that He wants you to learn.

Maybe He is telling you that you need to iron your shirt.

Here’s the reason why I preached this message:

Dream 3-27-08

I dreamed that the church was full. My tie did not match my shirt and my shirt needed ironed. I went to the restroom and found another shirt, but it was also wrinkled.