How to Surrender the Call

Introduction

Tonight we continue our series on Elijah and Elisha. We began this series:

How God Sustains His People (1Ki. 17:1-6)

We saw the manner in which God mightily supplied the needs of Elijah in the midst of a drought in the land.

How God Uses His People (1Ki. 17:8-24)

We examined how God used the widow woman to supply Elijah’s need, as well as how Elijah supplied her need. Reminding us of Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

How the Fire Falls (1Ki. 18)

During a Feeble time w/ Depraved leadership & Divided people

God provided a Faithful man, who challenged his people; chastised false worship; Corrected the Basis of Worship; who had Confidence in God & Called upon the same

A Falling Fire

Came Powerfully; Sufficiently; Convincingly & Effectively.

How to Get Back in the Saddle

I. The Immorality of the Enemy (v1-4)

Unmistakable; Unconverted; Unsettling

II. The Indulgence of the LORD (v5-8)

Elijah Retreated; God allowed him Rest (v5-6b); God provided Refreshment for the Moment (v5b-6a); God gave Resources for the Journey (v7)

III. The Insight of the LORD (v9-12)

A Prophet Disheartened; God’s Power was Demonstrated; God’s Presence was Discovered

IV. The Instruction of the LORD (v13-18)

Get Back Where you Belong (v15a); Bless the Next Generation (v15b-16)

Be Encouraged

I Have a Plan (v17)

You are Not Alone (v18)

Today we’re looking at what would be the ‘passing of the torch’. Prior to this, God had told Elijah that he was going to anoint Haz’a-el king of Syria, Jehu king of Israel & Elisha to be prophet in his room.

Tonight we’re going to in like manner somewhat ‘pass the torch’ from Elijah to Elisha in our focus. (Now we’re not done with Elijah), but for tonight we’re going to examine ‘How to Surrender the Call of God’

In this passage Elisha is confronted with Surrendering to the Call of God upon his life - and his reaction gives us great insight as to how we need to go about this in our own life & ministry.

Church, make no mistake - God has a call for each & every one of you. Now tell me this: If you’re honest, how many would say that they are where God would have them be & doing what God would have them do?

If you couldn’t answer ‘yes’, then this message might help you identify why & lead you to surrendering the call of God on YOUR life.

The first thing that we see is a Faithfulness in Elisha

I. A Faithfulness

Faithful with Little

As we consider the life of Elisha, we see that he had meager beginnings.

It’s assumed that the 12 yoke of oxen were his families, but Elisha himself was a helper on a farm.

(Ill.) I watch these old westerns and occasionally you’ll hear one of the gunslingers / these high finance ranchers speak about the ‘dirt farmers’ - they talk about them like they are next to trash.

Elisha was just a man out there digging up the ground. Very meager beginnings - but do you know what? He was faithful in it!

Where was it that Elijah found him? Out working the farm! Digging in the dirt! There’s nothing wrong with it, and nothing to be ashamed of.

A basic principle in Scripture is that faithfulness is required, whether it be little or much.

Luke 16:10 “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”

Moreover, if one is to be entrusted with much, he must first prove himself to be faithful with little

(The parable of the talents) Matthew 25:19–23 “After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

(The parable of the pounds) Luke 19:15–17 “And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.”

(Ill.) Whenever we are looking to fill positions in the church - from teachers to trustees, do you know what one of the requirements that I have is? Faithfulness to the church. If you can’t be faithful to attend church, you can’t be trusted to hold a position in the church.

If you’re to Surrender the Call on your life, you must be faithful with little - Elisha was Faithful with Little

Faithful in Labour

Another important aspect of faithfulness is faithful to labour.

Farming is not for the faint of heart. Labouring in the hot sun, toiling around digging in the dirt. (Ill.) I’ve borrowed bro. Marty’s tiller a couple times, and trying to handle that thing is like riding a bucking bronco at times - and that’s modern farming! Imagine handling a yoke of oxen and getting them moving & stopping while strapped to the plow - that’s labourous! And Elisha was faithful in his labour.

If you’re to surrender the call of God on your life, to reach and serve others, you’ll find it laborous.

(Ill.) Many people think that preaching / pastoring would be an easy job. All you need to do is be able to talk a little bit - just a couple hours a week! But I’ll tell you this: I now labour currently in two different capacities - I do contracting work & pastor. I get up on roofs, climbing ladders, out in the sun swinging hammers - ask me which I feel is more laborous.

To many people approach serving the LORD - whether it be in something such as the pastorate or teaching Sunday school as it’s so easy they spend so little time in preparation for it. Let me just say this: If it’s too easy, you’re not doing it right!

Serving the LORD will be laborous - and we must be faithful in that

Faithful to Listen

There’s a difference between our illustration here and the way God operates today.

For Elisha, God used Elijah to cast his mantle upon Elisha symbolizing the call. Mantle (def) loose garment / overcoat. (Ill.) Illustrate the exchange w/ my overcoat.

That is a very direct call, but surely God prepared Elisha’s heart prior to that.

God doesn’t work that way today. He gives leading through His Word and through the direction of the Holy Ghost. We then must be sensitive to that leading.

Go where He tells us to go

Do what He tells us to do

(Ill.) A little over 8 years ago, the LORD spoke to my heart and was leading me to this church. Things were going fine where I was at. I had a job managing a couple companies, preaching and singing at different churches on Sundays… but when the Spirit called me up here, had I not been faithful to listen, this church could look very different right now (for better or worse). - I will say, I believe that we’ve had a successful ministry over the last 8 years…

But God may not be calling you to quit your job and move states away to serve Him - He may be leading you to witness to that coworker. He may be leading you to give a tract to the McDonalds drive thru worker - just remember, if you are not faithful in the little things, you will not be entrusted with the big things.

To Surrender to His Calling, you must be Faithful to Listen

How to Surrender to the Call? A Faithfulness Required

II. A Forsaking

If you’re going to surrender the call of God upon your life, there will inevidebly be some things that you’ll need to give up. We see Elisha doing this here:

Of Family

Elisha understands that this may very well be the last time that he sees them, and he makes the request to tell them bye.

This church would be a hard thing - but Elisha was willing to do it.

Many of us have few if anything of greater value than our family. (Ill.) Save the LORD, there’s nothing I hold more dear & precious in this world than my family… they are the most important thing - but if I’m to surrender the call of God on my life, I must be willing to put God first.

NOW I SAY THAT WITH A CAVEAT: God will never tell a husband to forsake his wife to serve him, nor vice versa. When we are married, we are obligated to take care of our spouses - this is why Paul gave this instruction in 1 Corinthians 7:8–11 “I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn. And unto the married I command, yet not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: But and if she depart, let her remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the husband put away his wife.”

However, in other relationships where there is no responsibility, you must be willing to forsake that relationship for the calling of God.

Jesus said: Matthew 10:34–39 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”

Notice He didn’t say ‘Husband against wife’.

You must be willing to Forsake family

Of Former Things

When Elisha returns what does he do? He takes the yoke of oxen, slays them and boils them USING THE INSTRUMENTS OF THE OXEN, and has a feast.

Do you know what Elisha was doing? He was burning bridges. He’s not turning back to the farm life, as he’s killed his yoke of oxen!

If you’re to surrender to the call of the LORD, you have to be willing to accept the fact that things will not be as they had been.

This is such a stumbling block for most Christians, and why most Christians never truly surrender the call of the LORD upon their lives… they want to ‘have their cake and eat it too’.

They want to serve the LORD, but they want to have everything else that they are accustomed to having as well.

They want to do something for God, but they don’t want to give up anything in order to do it.

(Ill.) I learned an articulated point recently that I think would be valuable to share. It’s a simple principle: Whenever I say ‘YES’ to something, I am saying ‘NO’ to something else. For instance, last weekend I said ‘yes’ to going to that wedding, in turn, I said ‘no’ to being here with you. If I say ‘yes’ to sitting on the couch watching Gunsmoke, I am saying ‘no’ to reading my Bible. If I say ‘yes’ to going to ball practice on Wednesday, I’m saying ‘no’ to going to church.

We want to be able to say ‘yes’ and ‘yes’ - but it doesn’t work that way!

If you’re going to truly surrender the call of God on your life, it requires a forsaking of former things.

If you can’t honestly say that you’ve surrendered the call of God on your life, it’s time to take inventory and ask yourself ‘what hinders me from saying yes to Christ? What are the things that I’m saying ‘yes’ to that is causing me to say ‘no’ to Christ?

You must forsake Former things

Of an Expected Future

Prior to Elijah showing up in the field that day, Elisha had a good guess at what the future held for him. However, when Elisha left the field that day, what was his future going to look like? NO ONE KNEW! That’s the thing - he was going off into the great unknown!

Church, that’s an amazing feeling. I’ve experienced it myself multiple times, but I thought also of bro. Jim Yoak. If memory serves, bro. Jim worked at Dupont and didn’t surrender the call of God to pastor until later in life. Then when he did, he quit his job, and everyone thought he was crazy - that he should have at least waited until retirement - but he didn’t. He left an expected future to trust God for the great unknown.

If you surrender all and follow God’s Will for your life, where will it lead? I don’t know. I didn’t know what my life would look like when I quit my job to pastor that little church in NC… but do you know what I DID know? I knew that God was able. And if God called me to it, God would see me through it!

There must be a forsaking of an expected future

A Faithfulness Required, A Forsaking

III. A Following

Of the Spirit

We have something that Elisha didn’t necessarily have in his day - the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

He leads us in truth: John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”

He leads us in prayer: Romans 8:26–27 “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

He leads us in Righteousness: Ezekiel 36:27 “And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.”

He directs our paths: Acts 8:29 “Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.” Luke 4:1 “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,”

We must be willing to follow the Spirit’s direction - no matter where it would lead.

Sometimes it may not make sense - but the Spirit will never lead you astray.

The flesh will lead you astray

Satan will lead you astray

The world will lead you astray

Convenience will lead you astray

But the Spirit will NEVER LEAD YOU ASTRAY!

We must be willing to follow the Spirit

As a Servant

Elisha’s position after Elijah cast his mantle upon him was one of a servant.

ANY position in ministry is that of a servant.

(Ill.) Some people mistake the position of the pastor as one of rule or authority. It’s really neither of those, but rather one of responsibility. I am responsible for the welfare of these THY sheep and must make decisions for the good of you. I am a servant unto not only my LORD, but also unto you. I minister unto you in mainly two area’s - prayer and the ministry of the Word (Act.6:4)

The Pharisees problem was spoken of by Christ: Matthew 23:5–7 “But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.”

Remember the time when John & James’ mother asked Jesus for her sons to sit in places of honour? Jesus response was this: Matthew 20:25–28 “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”

If you’re to surrender the call of God, it will be as a servant. So you must check your pride at the door.

Conclusion

Will you Surrender to the Call today?