2 Kings 2:1-14

Intro

Some time has passed now since the last time that we have seen Elijah, and before we wrap everything up, let’s look once more at his life

What has happened so far?

God tells him to go to king Ahab and tell him that it’s not going to rain anymore

Then God takes care of Elijah in the wilderness feeding him with ravens

When the river dries up the Lord sends him to the widows house where he would raise her son from the dead

After a little over three years the Lord calls him to go back to king Ahab

Once there he challenges the prophets of Baal

God shows up and consumes the altar and Elijah kills all of the prophets

He runs before king Ahab back to his palace where Jezebel will threaten him

Elijah then flees for his life into the wilderness and asks God to kill him

God asks, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

God recommissions Elijah for ministry and sends him back out in the fight against Baal

And God directs him to Elisha who would take over when Elijah was gone

We are now coming to that time, where Elijah is going to be with the Lord

Elisha is travelling with him and Elijah is helping him prepare for ministry

As we have walked through these passages we have identified with the characters, with what they are feeling, how they responded to the struggles of their life, and what God has been doing in the background

We have to go out too. Elisha is being prepared for ministry here in this passage before Elijah is taken up into heaven

Are you ready to go out too? Are you prepared?

BI: Are You Ready To Share The Gospel?

Church and youth group is nice, but if we aren’t doing anything with it then what are we doing?

This message is for everyone, do you know anyone who doesn’t need Jesus? I don’t

Guess what, I need Jesus and so do you

But we’re Christians?! Yeah, you should know better than the unbelievers how much you really need Jesus

We need to be going out and sharing the love of Jesus with those around us

This is the best way that we can love our neighbors

So today, we are going to walk through this passage and I am going to ask you a series of questions

Write them down and I want you to answer them for yourself as we go along

Okay, your first question is...

I. Will You Stay? (1-6)

Read 2:1-6

So, it has been revealed that Elijah is going to heaven, though we did not get to read that conversation we pick it up when God is about to take Elijah

But before he is taken God sends him to a few different places

At each of them he tells Elisha to stay where he is at, but Elisha will not

“As the Lord Lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.”

Elisha is devoted to his master, he will not separate himself from Elijah

The job is going to be difficult, it’s hard to be a prophet, look at Elijah’s life

Read through the major prophets in the Bible and you will find the difficult task that was before them

Which shouldn’t be surprising, who likes to be told that they were in the wrong?

Story of when I was missbehaving and blew it out of proportion?

The prophets had a difficult time calling people out of their sins

And they’re not the only ones

Look at Jesus

They killed Him, yet He was teaching them to love

John writes in my favorite chapter of the Bible that after Jesus had fed the five thousand He teaches that crowd that He is the bread of life, and people struggled with this concept to the point that John writes:

John 6:66–69 ESV

After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

“Do you want to go away as well?”

“Will you stay?”

The question that I asked should leave you considering whether or not you are committed

Are you going to leave or will you stay?

Think carefully about this because discipleship and following Jesus is costly, it will cost you your life as we give everything that we are to Him

I have given Him my career, where I will live, much of my time

You don’t have to be a pastor, you have dreams and gifts that are far different than mine

Do you know what you need to be though?

The best that you can be wherever you go, and in that greatness show Christ through everything that you do so that when people see you they see Him. His love should be pouring out of you in a way that it is impossible to ignore

You don’t have to be a pastor, but you do need to commit yourselves to Him and continue to do so, otherwise it is easy to get caught up in what is going on.

Will you stay? Will you keep your eyes on Jesus? Or will you fall away?

Will you stay, Elisha?

Some of his difficulty here was not only the three challenges of Elijah or the three chances he had to turn away and go back to a normal and quiet life in the fields, but there was also other prophets who were discouraging

“Do you know that today the Lord will take away your master from over you?”

This is not a very kind thing to say

and Elisha does not even entertain it, “Yes, I know it; keep quiet.”

In your commitment to Jesus there will be opposition, keep your eyes on Jesus, for you know where you are going, and that is towards Him. Don’t entertain the distractions of the world

Will you stay?

It will be hard

But it’s worth it

II. Will You Take Up The Mantle? (7-14)

Read 7-14

There’s a lot going on in these few verses, the Jordan river is divided twice, Elijah is swept up into heaven, and Elisha succeeds his master

Beginning with the initial crossing of the Jordan they move away from the river and Elijah asks what he can do for Elisha before he is taken away

And what is Elisha’s response?

“Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me.”

Why is this a difficult thing to give? Because Elijah can’t give this kind of power, only God can

Yet he tells him that if he sees Elijah being taken that would be his sign that the Lord would give it

And as they go on talking suddenly chariots of fire and horses of fire separated them and a whirlwind took Elijah up into heaven and he was no more

What does that entail?

I don’t know exactly, but let’s leave it at this

Elijah did not die, He had the privilege of being carried off into heaven, and Elisha was privileged enough to get a small glimpse of glory in this being carried up

What’s left? Elijah’s mantle, his cloak

And Elisha takes it with him

Then we have this final separation of the waters of the Jordan for Elisha to walk across on dry ground

This should further the point that Elisha’s request was granted

He’s taking up the mantle to continue Elijah’s work

God tells Elijah in 1 Kings 19 that he’s not the endgame here, he is another link in the chain

Elisha will continue the work that the Lord has given to Elijah, additionally, that means that he was not alone in this at all

We see this sort of thing happening with the disciples in the New Testament as well

After Jesus’ ascension the time of the church has really begun

The disciples continue to teach what Jesus taught but the whole while they are emphasizing who Jesus is and what He did for them

That He lived, was crucified, and raised again on the third day

This gospel message is life-changing and the disciples wanted everyone to know about it

In fact, Jesus instructed them to

Matthew 28:16–20 ESV

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him they worshiped him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Go and make disciples of all nations, they will continue to spread this message

And so should you

That’s what I am doing right now

The disciples were not the endgame either, they were links in the chain, the long chain that connects the ages and continues to branch out teaching about who Jesus is!

I am a mere link in that chain, and if you take this up, you too will link to the chain

We need to continue to tell people about Jesus, it’s our responsibility to do so

And that shouldn’t be surprising, He saved your life, why wouldn’t you want to tell everyone about Him!

My job is to teach you, it’s to help raise you up to be devoted followers of Jesus

My mantle, is the knowledge and the wisdom which has been solely given by God

and all of it is yours

Take it and see where the Lord is going to guide you next with what you have learned so far from Him

And as you do that, you need to consider...

III. Who Will You Pass Your Mantle To?

Similar to the chain not ending with Elijah it is not going to end with you either.

The gospel is not something that we can keep to ourselves, no, instead we need to carry it out to those around us

Don’t they need to know how much Christ loves them?

Don’t they need to know that He will change everything?

Don’t they need to know that He died for them?

Who will you share your life with and how can you do that today?

We just read the ending of Matthew, that command is for you too

You also need to go out, remember that the work is not going to be finished with you, but you are a link in the chain that reaches all the way back to Adam and will continue on after you

Keep it going, keep the energy, keep the desire to spread His Name, and what you have learned.