We learned that Elisha followed Elijah everywhere he went. Elisha followed Elijah from Gilgal to Beth-el, to Jericho, to Jordan.
Elijah asked Elisha to “Tarry here...” three times, but every time Elisha would say, “...As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee...”
Elijah, in verse 9, told Elisha, “...Ask what I shall do for thee...”
In other words, “What do you want?” Elisha told Elijah that he wanted “...a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.” He wanted a double portion of what Elijah had.
In verse 10, Elijah told Elisha he had asked a hard thing, but if Elisha was with him and saw him when he departed it would be granted. If he was not, it would not be granted.
Verse 11 tells of Elijah being caught up in the whirlwind.
Elisha had asked for a “hard thing.” Elijah set the conditions for what he asked for to be granted.
DID ELISHA MEET THE CONDITIONS? He had to see him when Elijah was taken. Look at verse 12. We read, “And Elisha saw it...” He watched Elijah go up, up, up until, the Bible says, “...he saw him no more...”
After Elijah was miraculously taken to heaven in the whirlwind, Elisha stood on the banks of the Jordan River and asked, verse 14, “...WHERE IS THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH?”
Again, I remind you, he did not ask, “WHERE IS ELIJAH?” And he was not asking, “WHERE DOES GOD ABIDE?” He knew that God’s abode was in the third heaven.
Now alone, facing a wicked world without the great prophet beside him, he wanted to know, “WHERE IS THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH?” Where was the God who had helped Elijah have courage to face that wicked king Ahab and his wife Jezebel? WHERE IS THIS GOD? He needed the God that helped Elijah to help him now.
DID HE FIND HIM?
YES! We have ample proof that Elijah’s God appeared in his life.
While Elisha was walking with Elijah, they came to the river Jordan. The Bible tells us Elijah took off his mantle and smote the water and they went “hither and thither” and they went over on DRY ground.
When they were on the other side, the whirlwind came and took Elijah away.
When Elisha took up the mantle that fell from Elijah. When he smote the Jordan, the Bible says the waters “...parted hither and thither....”
The same thing that had happened to Elijah now happened to Elisha. Why? Because he had wanted to know THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH.
Listen, when a person knows THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH, others will know.
Look at verse 15. We read, “And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.”
When the God of Elijah is with a man, the lost world will know that He is with him.
WHAT WILL THEY SEE?
In the previous message, we learned that when God is with us, we will HAVE COURAGE TO STAND UP AGAINST THE EVILS OF OUR LAND!
Elijah had the courage to stand up to wicked king Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel. When the curse of God had fallen on the land, and they were accusing Elijah of being the culprit causing the curse, Elijah stood up to them and said, II Kings 18:18, “...I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.”
What COURAGE! He faced THE WICKED KING, and rebuked him!
One mistaken idea today is that many Christians mistake WEAKNESS FOR MEEKNESS.
Listen, the Lord Jesus, and many men and women of the Bible were MEEK...but they WERE NOT WEAK.
Illus: There is none so humble as Jesus was, but He walked into the temple one day and found men desecrating God’s house. He threw them out!
WEAKNESS IS NOT MEEKNESS.
If I had the time I could show you, from cover to cover, that WHEN THE GOD OF ELIJAH IS WITH HIS PEOPLE THEY HAVE A HOLY BOLDNESS TO CONFRONT THE UNGODLY.
Illus: One of the things that shocked the lost world was that the New Testament church, once they were filled with the Holy Ghost, had such boldness that nothing could stop them!
We need Christians today who know THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH!
Why? Because iniquity is spreading across this country like wildfire, and is meeting little resistance.
I can hear someone saying, “Preacher, if we do that, we will not be very popular!” That is right, but may I remind you that God did not call us to be popular. God called us to take a stand FOR THE GOD OF ELIJAH!
At one time Elijah had to stand alone against 850 false prophets of Baal. Not a single person would stand with him.
Look at I Kings 18:21. We read, “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM NOT A WORD.”
Illus: One reason that a lot of preachers enjoy hearing some good hearty “AMENS” from the congregation is because with that affirmation they are saying, “Preacher, you are not alone, we stand with you 100%.”
However, if a man is a man of God, he will still preach the Word of God, even when no one says, “AMEN.”
Not one person would say one encouraging word when Elijah stood up against those 850 prophets of Baal--”.... And the PEOPLE ANSWERED HIM NOT A WORD.”
He did not get the first “Amen.” Elijah was not a popular man!
This one prophet of the Lord told 850 prophets of Baal that he would meet them on Mt. Carmel and would prove to every last one of them that the God he served was the true and living God!
It may have seemed that Elijah was standing alone, BUT I AM HERE TO TELL YOU THAT HE WAS NOT ALONE! God was with him.
- God was with the three Hebrew children as they were thrown into the fiery furnace.
- God was with Daniel when he was thrown into the den of lions.
GOD ALWAYS STANDS WITH THOSE WHO STAND WITH HIM.
It is a marvelous thing when a man has the courage to stand against the ungodliness of the world.
I have the highest respect for men and women of God who will not flow with the ungodly current of life, but will resist it with everything they can resist with.
Illus: Thank the Lord for Christians across this nation who stood up when Kmart stores bought into the pornography distributing book company and had the courage to protest. Across America Christians took a stand and today, even though Kmart has reversed their decision, many of the investors of this land are beginning to wonder if Kmart can survive that boycott.
Listen, while many Christians took a stand and went out of their way to buy at other stores that were not so convenient, there were some who continued to patronize Kmart. Why? Because they would not take a stand.
Many do not want to hear about taking a stand for godliness. They will tell you in a minute, if not in words, by their actions, “Leave me alone. I want to live the American dream. The last thing I want to hear about is taking a stand for godliness.”
But, thank God for the ones who, like Elijah, courageously have taken a stand.
Illus: Thank the Lord for a Christian businessman who owned a large grocery store in Columbia, S. C. who took a stand for godliness and cleaned all the “smut magazines” and liquor out of his store and said, “I will not sell those things again!”
It is not always popular to take a stand, but if you are willing, GOD WILL STAND WITH YOU, even if no one else will.
- It is not easy for a Christian young person to go to a school that is filled with rebellious teenagers and take a stand for God.
- It is not easy for a Christian to go on a job where there is ungodliness all around and take a stand.
- It is not easy for a Christian man or Christian woman to live in a home when the spouse is not saved.
It was not easy for Elijah to stand against the 850 prophets of Baal, but nevertheless he did, and God stood with him!
We have man who have the “courage” to curse and tell dirty jokes, but it is hard to find a man or woman who has the courage to stand up for what is right!
WHERE IS THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH?
Sometimes we forget how COURAGEOUS THE MEN WHO BUILT OUR COUNTRY HAD TO BE!
Illus: Again, we remind you of the Boston Tea Party incident. A few men who believed they were right in resisting government oppression, risked everything for that belief.
Today we have so many wimps that “big government” is taking half of what we make and it is hard to find anyone who will even open his mouth to protest. It is too much trouble.
Some political pundits believe that the people of America have become so wimpy that Uncle Sam could take up to 70% of their income to pad the pockets of our elected officials and their programs before they might begin a tax rebellion in this country.
- We wonder what our forefathers would have done if the government had told them they were going to take half of the money they made and send it to Washington and let the politicians spend it any way they wanted to spend it.
- We wonder what our forefathers would have done if they told them what we were told on June 25, 1962, that corporate verbal prayers would be forbidden in our schools.
Listen, if they started a revolution as a result of the tax on tea, I can tell you what they would have done. They would have torn Washington, D.C. apart; that is what they would have done! They would, like Patrick Henry, say, “Give me liberty or give me death.”
This is what they would have done.
What have we done? We have stood by and watched as-
- They have pushed God and the Bible out the back door of our schools.
- They killed babies.
- They have begun promoting the killing of the sick and aged, with Dr. Kevorkian leading the pack.
- President Bill Clinton put 22 homosexuals on the White House staff, having prominent positions in the running of our government.
- They passed the “Partial Birth Abortion Bill”--one of the most horrible things conceived by evil men.
We have offered very little resistance to these evils.
WHERE IS THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH?
Where is the Lord God Who gave Elijah the boldness to stand up against the wickedness of his time. WE NEED THIS KIND OF GOD WHO WILL CAUSE US TO HAVE A BOLDNESS TO STAND FOR WHAT IS RIGHT.
Today iniquity is spreading across this country like wild fire with very little resistance.
There was a time when parents had the courage to raise their children, but today they do not have the courage to do what is right beside them. For example-
Illus: There was a time when parents cared about what their children watched and listened to. Today, if a child wants to listen to MTV, and watch things they should not be watching, Parents do not have the courage to stop them. Today they buy everything they can for them so Satan can fill their eyes and ears with garbage day in and day out.
There are multitudes of parents who are confused. They say, “I do not know why my children are so rebellious and materialistic minded. I do not know why they re so far from God.” Let me tell you why. It is because we do not have the courage to stand up and tell them, “YOU ARE NOT GOING TO LISTEN TO AND WATCH THAT STUFF!”
Why would we tell them they can not? Because we know the more they are exposed to evil, the more it becomes a part of their life...and the more they will become like ungodly people of the world.
WHERE IS THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH?
Elisha recognized that if he was going to continue in the work of the Lord, he had to have the courage that God had given Elijah!
He saw that it was THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH Who gave COURAGE. Also, He-
II. GAVE HIM A CHALLENGE.
Everyone loves a challenge. This is why many turn to sports. They love the challenge. Many have a special sport they like because it gives the greatest challenge to them. For example:
- Some believe that baseball gives the greatest challenge.
- Some believe that football gives the greatest challenge.
- Some believe that soccer gives the greatest challenge.
- Some believe that basketball gives the greatest challenge.
Then others will say, “No...none of these give me a real challenge.” They say that:
- The greatest challenge is when men will drive a race car...that is the greatest challenge for mankind.
- The greatest challenge is when a man and an animal become one in a horse race...that is the biggest challenge.
- The biggest challenge in life is when you can become a hunter.
Illus: This might make some of you men mad, but the fact is, I can not see any challenge in hunting wild game. You have a gun. The poor, little defenseless deer has no weapon at all. If the deer had a gun and could shoot back, that would make hunting a real challenge. But any court in the land will tell you if you did that to a human who was defenseless you would be convicted as a murderer.
Many claim to like a challenge. They can hit a baseball, shoot a basketball, kick a soccer ball, ride a horse, drive a race car, or shoot a bear. But, we do not have men and women who KNOW THE GOD OF ELIJAH who have the courage to stand up to the devil and his crowd as Elijah did.
Did you realize that the challenges of mankind have no eternal value to them? That is, what difference will it make in eternity if a fellow knocks a home run, makes a touchdown. scores in soccer, can shoot a basketball, wins a car race, wins a horse race, or kills a bear. None whatsoever! All the challenges that people have today have no eternal values. People who are lost are caught up in the CHALLENGES THAT SATAN HAS OFFERED THEM.
However, the greatest challenge that people can have comes from God. Because it is the greatest is why you find that there are not many taking it.
It is much easier to follow the crowd...the standard is not hard to meet.
Conclusion:
I know a dad that most people would look at and consider to be an excellent dad. He has provided a home for his family. He works hard. He comes home and plays with the children. He spends hours and hours each week teaching his sons how to play ball. The world will look at a dad like this and say that he is an excellent dad! But did you that with just those things he is a terrible dad. Even though he does all those things that may seem good, he never takes his children to Sunday School. He hardly ever brings them to church. They will probably grow up and go to a Christ-less eternity because he does not have the backbone to stand up and do the right thing for his family. Look at what God gave Elijah. He...
I. GAVE HIM COURAGE
II. GAVE HIM A CHALLENGE
