Revelation!

Revelation – Something that’s hidden that becomes known.  We have revelations all the time.  Do you know what revelation sounds like?   It sounds like this, “I didn’t know that!”  That’s revelation – Something you didn’t know, you now know.  A while back I posted a sermon titled, “Eight Ways to Hear from God.” It’s a sermon about the different ways that God reveals something to us.  Reveal is the root word of revelation.  That’s what I want to post about today – Revelation.

Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV)
^29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.

We Need a Revelation of God

How many can understand that we need a revelation of whom God is?  Even more specifically we need a revelation of who Jesus is.  Our text tells us that “without revelation, we cast off all restraint.”  In other words, unless we have a revelation of Jesus – Anything Goes!  We will not restrain ourselves.

Here’s an example, God has delivered Israel from Egypt.  He did powerful things to cause Pharaoh to release them.  In fact, He did some of the most powerful miracles in history:  The plagues, the death of the firstborn, the paring on the Red Sea; miracles never seen again.  Even at that though, they had no revelation of God!

I understand that some things remain hidden from us:

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV)
^2:9 But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

The things which God has prepared for us remain hidden.  They’re yet to be revealed – Paul calls the “mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God ordained.”

Even though Israel saw the things that God did, they seemed to not understand whom God was, or their responsibility to Him.  If they had known God; if it had been revealed to them, why did this happen?

Exodus 32:3-4 (NKJV)
^32:3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"

They’d witnessed all of the plagues on the Egyptian people.  They’d seen what God did to rescue them at the Red Sea.  They’d experienced God’s provision in the desert.  So, how could they say, “This is your God, oh Israel, that brought you out of Egypt,” about a golden calf that they made with their own hands?  They had no revelation of God, and they reverted to the familiar gods of Egypt, and where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint:

 Exodus 32:5-6 (NKJV)
^32:5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." ⁶ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Aaron built an altar; he proclaimed a feast to the Lord, so everyone got up early, offered sacrifices, sat down to eat and rose up to play.  This isn’t the church picnic; they weren’t getting up to play volleyball.  That word “play” is a euphemism – a euphemism is a nice way to say something.  We do this with our kids all the time, “You need to go number one or number two?”  “Number one” and “number two” are euphemisms for…well; you know what they’re euphemisms for. “Play” in the Bible is a euphemism for sexual immorality.

False religion almost always involves sexual immorality.  Diana worship included temple prostitutes.  Molech worship was made up of sexual acts.  Even early Mormons were polygamous – many still are today!  Israel has cast off restraint – Egypt’s worship in ancient times included sexual immorality.

There is no revelation of whom God is.  This event takes place while Moses is up on the mountain, meeting with God, and receiving the Ten Commandments.  He’s been gone for a while.  He hasn’t been seen, God’s commandments haven’t been revealed.

In our society, today we seem to have this understanding that Jesus is a savior.  “He’s my Lord and Savior,” isn’t that what we say?  What’s interesting is that even though we call Him “Lord and Savior,” we treat Him only as a savior.  He died for our sin.  He forgave me – His grace.  We have that revelation of Him as a Savior.  We really think that He will always save us from our sin – no matter what.

1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
^1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is all true; He is our savior; He is faithful to forgive.  He has acted with grace; there is grace in our lives.  This has all been revealed in scripture.  The problem is that we see Him only as a Savior and we need to have a revelation of Him as Lord, too.  We need to see that Jesus is also God because if we don’t have that revelation of Him as God then we are just like the Israelites and we are in danger of casting off all restraint.

Think about this:  If you will always be forgiven, then you can do whatever you want.  If I sinned, I just have to confess it, and I’m forgiven.  That’s what Catholics do – I can live like the devil, then just go to confession and it’s over.  If you have the revelation that Jesus is Lord then you recognize His authority over your life. 

John 14:15 (NKJV)
^14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

That’s Jesus speaking, but it is also God’s word.  Here’s an Old Testament quote:

Exodus 20:6 (NKJV)
^20:6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

This is the proper revelation of Jesus:  He is Savior and Lord!

Reigniting Revelation

Throughout Israel’s history, they struggled with this.  There were warnings and judgments throughout the Old Testament because people were always turning away from God.  Very often it was the kings and leaders who led them away.  They built high places to worship false gods.  They installed Asherah poles.  They openly adopted the worship of the people God had called on them to destroy when they took possession of the Promised Land.

In Elijah’s time, the King, Ahab and his wife, Jezebel turned the people of God away to worship Baal.  They brought in Prophets of Baal. 

It was a difficult time for Israel.  They were in the midst of a great drought.  The king called the prophet of God “Troubler of Israel”.  People were hurting and many followed the king into Baal worship.

It was so bad that Elijah thought that he was the only one in all of Israel that was worshipping God.  The people had lost their revelation of God, once more.  The people had become blind to the fact that God – only God – had the power to change their circumstances.

So, he set upon a bold strategy.  He challenged the Prophets of Baal to a contest.  He told them to build an altar of sacrifice and place an offering on it, then call upon Baal to send fire and consume the sacrifice.  So they did –

1 Kings 18:26, 29 (NKJV)
^18:26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
^18:29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.

They did those things and nothing happened – there was no power there.  Then Elijah did the same things and he filled pots with water and dumped them over the offering.  Look at what happened:

1 Kings 18:36-38 (NKJV)
^18:36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant and that I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." ³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

God sent the fire; the people saw God’s power, and the Bible says they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, He is God!  The Lord, He is God!”  After this God changed the circumstances and brought the rain.  The judgment ended when they turned back to Him.  What thing caused them to turn back to God?  God’s power was revealed to them!  They had a new revelation of Him as God. 

Maybe you’re saying to yourself, right now, if I saw God’s power, I would believe in Him one hundred percent.  I’m not seeing it, though; my circumstances are still the same.  I believe that the problem is that you see Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord!

He doesn’t have priority over your life.  Your prayers are half-hearted if you pray at all.  You resist the authority God has placed in your life.  You have a timetable for God to do things for you. 

“I came to prayer meeting, for three weeks and nothing happened.”

“I tithed for a whole month and the windows of Heaven never opened!”

Does this sound familiar?  Moses has been gone a month, “Here are my earrings.  We need another god!”  They had a revelation of God as Savior.  He saved them in Egypt – He was a savior, but the didn’t have a revelation of Him as Lord.

Exodus 32:5 (NKJV)
^32:5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord."

The Golden Calf – They made the Lord with their own hands.  You have to be careful that you don’t try to make Jesus in your own image of Him.  You need revelation!

Revelation Comes Through Faith

When the power of God was revealed to Israel they turned back to God.  When that received revelation of God’s power. 

What did Elijah do to help them to have a revelation?  The first thing was that he had faith.  Look at boldness with which he offers the challenge.  There are four hundred fifty of them and one Elijah.  He didn’t back down in the face of that.  He even stood there and mocked them, “Maybe your god is sleeping or on a journey!”  He knew that God was going to respond.

The second thing was prayer.  He prayed “Hear me oh Lord.  Let them know that You’re God.  Let them know I’m your servant.  What a declaration of faith in prayer.

The third thing is how he prayed.  He’s not saying, “Oh, help me, help me!  I need you to do this God!  It’s all about me God!”  He prays, “Show them that You’re God!  So that Your will, will be done.  It’s not about me – It’s about You, God!”

James 4:3 (NKJV)
^4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

If you’re praying as if it’s all about you, you don’t have a revelation of God as Lord over your life.  Pray with faith, “God, show me whom you are!  Make yourself real to me!”  Give God authority and power over your life.  He’s Lord and Savior, not just Savior!

Gileadites

Is it only me, or does it seem like living for Jesus is like fighting a battle?  We’re constantly waging a war with Satan, in order to find our destiny in Jesus Christ.  Each of us has a destiny that’s worth fighting for.  It’s sad to see people start out and then quit when things get difficult.  As the fight continues some people lose their resolve to continue on. 

Today I want to look at people who quit just before they entered the Promised Land:   People who were content to receive as their inheritance, that portion of land that was just short of the promise that was meant for them.  They stepped out of the will of God because they didn’t see all that God had for them.  We need to be careful to press in, and not give up, so that we can enjoy all of the promise of God.  Today, I want to post a message on quitting too soon.

Numbers 32:1-8 (NKJV)
^32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of livestock; and when they saw the land of Jazer and the land of Gilead, that indeed the region was a place for livestock, ² the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, to Eleazar the priest, and to the leaders of the congregation, saying, ³ "Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Shebam, Nebo, and Beon, ⁴ the country which the Lord defeated before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock." ⁵ Therefore they said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not take us over the Jordan." ⁶ And Moses said to the children of Gad and to the children of Reuben: "Shall your brethren go to war while you sit here? ⁷ Now why will you discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which the Lord has given them? ⁸ Thus your fathers did when I sent them away from Kadesh Barnea to see the land.

Unwilling to Continue

Here we see the days just before the Israelites crossed over the Jordan and into the Promised Land.  They are poised on the very edge of the promise of God.  They’re set up to step inside their inheritance.  This is the land that God promised to Abraham so many years before. 

This is the land of Destiny for Israel.  This is what God had in mind for them when He delivered them from the bondage of Egypt.  This is the place He planned for them.  They had spent forty years wandering in the desert to finally enter into this land – The Land Flowing with Milk and Honey.

Moses had sent spies into the Promised Land and they came back with a report that was filled with unbelief, saying there are giants in the land and we are like grasshoppers in their sight and in our own.  The people cried all night, forgetting that God had promised it.  So God refused to allow them to enter in until that entire generation had passed away.

These in our text are not the generation who believed the bad report.  They weren’t the ones who had no faith, but there was something in their makeup that said to them, “This is good enough.”  They settled for the land that they were sitting on not even knowing whether or not there was better land in the land of promise.  They settled, they weren’t willing to fight for all that God had for them.  There was some flaw in their character that kept them from pressing in to see all of it.

Look at the life of Elijah for a moment.  Look at who he is:

1 Kings 17:1 (NKJV)
^17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word."

So Elijah is a descendant of the men of Gilead.  He grew up in the customs and society of that people.  His ancestors were the ones who said, “We will settle for this land.” 

Look at one moment in Elijah’s life.  He’s defeated the prophets of Baal.  He’s turned the people to God once more.  He’s just prayed and God brought rain after three and a half years of drought, and Jezebel, King Ahab’s wife has threatened to kill him.  Look at his reaction:

1 Kings 19:1-4 (NKJV)
^19:1 And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, also how he had executed all the prophets with the sword. ² Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time." ³ And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. ⁴ But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"

He’s just won a great victory for God but one threat from Jezebel and he wants to die, saying, “I’m no better than my fathers.”  He gave up…just like those who stopped at the Jordan River.  He wasn’t willing to fight any longer.  He wanted to die saying that he’s no better than his fathers.  He’s saying, “I will be like them.”  They wanted to quit rather than continue the struggle.    They fell short of the Promised Land, being unwilling to fight the battle that would give them the inheritance God had planned for them. 

We are also in danger of quitting too soon.  Life can be a real struggle for us, too, because there’s a real devil who opposes what God wants to do in us.  He wants to keep us from the victory of our inheritance and he will bring the battle to us.

Standing Strong in the Battle

There will be a battle for the promise of God to come to fruition in your life.  Look at Paul’s testimony for a moment:

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV)
^12:7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. ⁸ Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. ⁹ And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Paul is talking about revelation that comes from God.  God is revealing things to Paul that have, up until then, been kept secret.  They’ve never been revealed before, and what does he face?  A messenger from Satan.  Some commentators believe that this is the stress of the opposition that he faced in Corinth.  Satan had brought the battle to him and he cried out for deliverance three times.  God spoke to him and said, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

So, Paul sees victory in his suffering and struggle.  Jesus will be in him when he suffers.  That’s why he says, “When I’m weak then I’m strong.”  When he’s at his place of greatest weakness then the power of Jesus is strongest in him.  It’s not in his own power that he fights the battle; it’s in the power that Jesus gives him.  He can find victory in Jesus.

How can we continue on when Satan attacks us with persecution and distress?  Not in our own power but in Jesus’ power.  That word that’s translated as buffet means to rap with the fist.  This is a special attack that is set aside just for you.  It’s a personal attack from Satan.

What’s interesting is that Paul doesn’t quit because of these attacks, even when he’s an old man in prison.  He endured to the end.  He fought the good fight.  He has the victory and if we persevere we will also have the victory.  I want you to think about this, though.  Every victory must have a battle associated with it.  There can be no victory if there’s no adversary.  There’s no victory if there’s no struggle.  We have victory when we overcome!

The Gileadites didn’t have victory.  They didn’t have what Paul had; they didn’t see the full promise of God for their lives, because they quit too soon.  They settled for too little.  I’ve known so many people who wanted to see God’s promise.  They came, they believed God…but then the battle begins – You know if you’re just coming to church once in a while, if you’re not involved in what God’s doing in the church’s activities, or you’re not giving and supporting the church – If you’re not trusting God for His help – If you’re not doing those things, there’s no battle with the devil, because you’re no threat to him.  As far a he’s concerned your life has no power.  In that case, you’re a Gileadite, because you’re settling for what you already have rather than fighting for everything that God wants for you.

People like this look at others in the church and see them with the victory, in spite of the battles that they go through, and you think to yourself I wish I had that in my life.  Well, they’ve fought for that victory.  They’ve contended for what God wants to do in their lives.  They grabbed hold of the promise of God, like the Israelites who crossed over the Jordan.  The Gileadites settled, “This land is good enough, why press on.  If you settle you’ll never know the victory that comes fro a hard fought battle.  If you’re not willing to contend for the destiny that He has for you, you’ll never set foot in that land of Promise.  You’ll always be on the outside and wondering, “Why don’t I fit in?”  People settle for what’s easy to achieve and never know what God can do with their lives, because they never give him the opportunity.  They quit too soon.

Finding Destiny

The Gileadites finally agreed to join in the battle for the Promised Land. 

Numbers 32:20-22 (NKJV)
^32:20 Then Moses said to them: "If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before the Lord for the war, ²¹ and all your armed men cross over the Jordan before the Lord until He has driven out His enemies from before Him, ²² and the land is subdued before the Lord, then afterward you may return and be blameless before the Lord and before Israel; and this land shall be your possession before the Lord.

So, the men of Gilead went to war alongside the Israelites and the land that they had chosen was given to them.  When Moses died God took him up on the mountain to show him the Promised Land.

Deuteronomy 34:1 (NKJV)
^34:1 Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is across from Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead as far as Dan,

Because they stepped into the battle God gave them their inheritance, and Gilead is named as a part of the Promised Land.  The ended up with their destiny, and if you will rise up and fight the battle then you will also know your destiny.

God Elevates

God has a plan for you.  I've said that about a million times.  It probably seems like a cliche, but I want you to know that God does indeed have a plan for you.  Those aren't idle words.  “This isn't just preacher talk.”  This is a truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

I want you to know that God has a plan for you.  It’s something that ELEVATES you.  It’s something that will lift you up.  It’s something that will bring you into His kingdom.  I've seen this happen over and over.  It’s one of the powerful things about attending CFM conferences, that you see men who were at one time, drug addicts, thieves, and liars, lifted up into a usefulness for God:  Elevated into someone that can be used by God.  He takes common men and makes them men of God.

So, today I want to post a post that I have entitled, “God Elevates.”

1 Kings 19:15-16 (NKJV)
^19:15 Then the Lord said to him: "Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. ¹⁶ Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

The Call

God elevates, not just the off-scouring of the earth, but He takes simple, common men, men like you and I and elevates them into men of God.  God took a simple shepherd and made him a deliverer.  He took another shepherd and made him the king of Israel, and he took Elisha, a farmer and made him a man of God.

That’s what I want to look at in this post – the process.  How man becomes not just a man, but a man of God.  This isn't about men becoming preachers; it’s not about men being launched out – It’s about becoming a man of God.

The process of becoming a man of God without fail comes from a calling.  It’s a calling, it’s not a profession.  It’s a calling, it’s something that God does in you.  It’s not something that happens in a classroom.  It’s not something that happens as you respond to an advertisement – It’s a calling.

1 Kings 19:19-21 (NKJV)
^19:19 So he departed from there, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him. ²⁰ And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah, and said, "Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you." And he said to him, "Go back again, for what have I done to you?" ²¹ So Elisha turned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them and boiled their flesh, using the oxen's equipment, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah, and became his servant.

This is the calling on Elisha’s life.  Elijah walks past him and throws a mantle over him.  That mantle is like a cloak.  It’s like a covering that the prophet wore.  It was the symbol of the calling to be a prophet.  He’s saying, in a sense, “Here it is, this is what God has called you to; you’re called to be a prophet.” 

Elisha recognizes this as a calling.  He knows what’s meant by the mantle being laid upon him.    He knows what’s happening here, and so he says to Elijah, “let me go and say goodbye to my family.”    Elijah says, “What’s it to me what you do.  I haven’t called you to this, God has.  This isn't coming from me this is the call of God.  What are you going to do about HIS call?”

We have a tendency to stay with what’s comfortable; to stay with what’s familiar.  We want to stay in the culture in which we’re living.  For example, people will say to me, “The culture of Taiwan is familiar.  I can’t violate the culture of Taiwan.  This is how I was raised.  There are certain things I’m uncomfortable about as a Christian.  There are things that go against what I've been taught.”  It’s another way of saying, “Let me go and kiss my parents,” but Elijah says, “Are you going to let your parents  keep you from the calling of God.  Are you going to put filial piety before God’s will for you?  This is the calling of God!”

So what does Elisha do?  He turns around and destroys the things of his old life.  He offers them to God as a sacrifice.  He’s a farmer, but he says, “I’m not going to need these things anymore.  God has called me to a different place.  I need to respond to God’s calling.”  There’s always a sacrifice in the response.  We can’t continue in the things of the world when we respond to the call of God.  There’s a change that’s going to take place.

I met a young man a number of years ago.  I was witnessing to him, telling him about Jesus and he told me, “I don’t believe in God.”  I pressed him and he eventually said to me, “You know to tell you the truth, I can’t become a Christian, because there are some things I want to do that I know I ‘d have to give up.”  He knew that it was a calling of God.  He knew he couldn't answer God’s call and remain the same.  Elisha knew that if he followed the prophet he’d never be the same, so he gave up the vestiges of his old life. 

In 1520, when Cortez the explorer, landed in Mexico, his men came ashore and Cortez burned up the boats.  There was no way back.  His men HAD to be committed to what they had embarked on.  They had to follow Cortez. 

This is what Elisha was doing.  He burned his farming tools and boiled his oxen.  There was no way he could go back to being a farmer.  He was now committed to what he was doing; he had to follow God.  Then, “he arose and followed Elijah and became his servant.”

God’s Method of Elevation – Discipleship

It’s important that it says here, “he became Elijah’s servant.”  It wasn't that he was taking the prophet’s clothes to the laundry or washing his car.  I’m not talking about servant-hood in that case.  What Elisha did was serve in Elijah’s ministry.  He grabbed hold of Elijah’s vision.  He learned to do things the way Elijah did them.  He wasn't out there with his own plan and his own methods; he was doing what Elijah did. 

He followed Elijah.  He went where the prophet went.  He was trying to glean as much from the prophet as he could.  It was like Jesus’ disciples, who followed Him around.  They weren't off doing their own thing.  They were with Him.  They were doing what He did.  They were listening to His words and following His teachings.  They were on board. 

Elisha was doing the same thing.  He was going where Elijah went.  He was doing what Elijah did.  He was actively taking part in ELIJAH’S ministry. 

People come to me all time, “This is what you should be doing.”  Or, “This is where I think you’re making a mistake.”  Or, even, “This is what they did in my old church.”  I appreciate your input, but this is where I’m going.  I’m following God AND my pastor, who’s following HIS pastor, who’s following HIS pastor.

2 Kings 2:5 (NKJV)
^2:5 Now the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?" So he answered, "Yes, I know; keep silent!"

They weren't just being informative, here.  They weren't thinking, "Elisha may not know, we need to tell him."  They were trying to talk him out of following Elijah.  They were saying, “Why are you following him, God’s going to take him away.”  The sons of the prophets were trying to send Elisha in a different direction.  They were going to Elisha and saying something different than Elijah, and the result could have been confusion and division, but Elisha said, “I’m following Elijah.”  Because God had spoken to him.

2 Kings 2:6 (NKJV)
^2:6 Then Elijah said to him, "Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me on to the Jordan." But he said, "As the Lord lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you!" So the two of them went on.

His prayer was give me a double portion of what that man has.  “I want what Elijah has but I want twice as much.  I want to do what Elijah’s doing but more so.”

2 Kings 2:9 (NKJV)
^2:9 And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask! 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."

It was God speaking to Elisha, but from where was God speaking?  He was speaking from the mouth of Elijah.  Elisha was listening to Elijah not the other voices; not the conventional wisdom – He was listening to Elijah and hearing from God.  This is what discipleship is.  It’s not being “blown around by every wind of doctrine.”  It’s not listening to all the “Christian” voices and opinions.  It’s not following the sons of the prophets, for Elisha it was following God and Elijah.  So look at what happens:

2 Kings 2:7-8 (NKJV)
^2:7 And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. ⁸ Now Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was divided this way and that, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground.

Elijah takes his mantle and uses it to open the waters and they cross the Jordan.  A chariot of fire descends and Elijah is taken up in a whirlwind, and Elisha witnesses the whole thing.  Then he picks up the mantle, only now it’s his mantle – The transference is completed.  He walks back to the Jordan and look at what he does:

2 Kings 2:13-14 (NKJV)
^2:13 He also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. ¹⁴ Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, and said, "Where is the Lord God of Elijah?" And when he also had struck the water, it was divided this way and that; and Elisha crossed over.

He did the same thing his pastor did and with the same result.  Now he’s the prophet of God.  God ELEVATED him.  He learned what to do by watching and imitating his pastor.  He didn't get together with the sons of the prophets and ask, “What do you think I should do?”  He didn't ask, “How do you think I should go forward.  What do they do in the Sons of the Prophet church.”   He did what his pastor did and it worked.

I think if I hear one more time about how because of Taiwanese culture this can’t work or that can’t work, or you can only say that in Taipei…I’m going to scream.  I’m not preaching American Christianity and I’m tired of hearing about Taiwanese Christianity.  There is no American or Taiwanese Christianity; there is only Christianity.  It’s not American culture or Taiwanese culture that I’m preaching it’s Christian culture. 

Recently, our fellowship added two more churches in Africa.  There must be close to two hundred fellowship churches in Africa now.  It was all started by non-African pastors and they have exploded:  Because it’s not about culture – it’s about Jesus, and what He said and did.

People always tell me Taiwanese people won’t go to church on Sunday evening, well Christian people do – All over the world.  In every culture that our fellowship is in, people go to church on Sunday evening – It’s Christian culture.

God Elevates

Elisha received the double portion he asked for.  He did exactly twice the miracles that Elijah did.  God elevated him from a simple farmer to a man of God.  How did He do it?  He did it through discipleship.  Elisha fastened himself to the man of God.  He said, “I’m going to follow what he’s teaching, because what he’s teaching is from God."  God elevates through discipleship.

After this episode you never really hear about the sons of the prophets again.  Do you know why?  They never really did anything after this, but lose some guy’s ax head, that Elisha had to find for them.  That’s it.  They didn't do anything else.  But Elisha, we can read about what he did and all that happened in his ministry.  The Bible goes on and on. 

I don’t listen to the sons of the prophets in Taiwan.  If I listened to the things they’re saying:

I have no idea what I’m doing.  I have no understanding of Taiwanese culture.  I’m running off all the converts, because I preach too hard.  I don’t conform to the local churches' actions.  What I’m preaching isn't God, it’s American culture. 

If I listened to all that, I’d go home immediately feeling like a huge failure. 

I’m following a pattern.  A pattern that’s resulted in more than three thousand churches all over the world.  If it can work in all of the rest of the world, it can work in Taiwan, or wherever you are; in spite of the local culture.  So, I’m going across the Jordan – Are you going to stay here with the sons of the prophets or are you coming with me?