Pass It On

-18

Elijah Taken into Heaven

1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal.

2 And Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel.”

But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you!” So they went down together to Bethel.

3 The group of prophets from Bethel came to Elisha and asked him, “Did you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?”

“Of course I know,” Elisha answered. “But be quiet about it.”

4 Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to Jericho.”

But Elisha replied again, “As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you.” So they went on together to Jericho.

5 Then the group of prophets from Jericho came to Elisha and asked him, “Did you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today?”

“Of course I know,” Elisha answered. “But be quiet about it.”

6 Then Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has told me to go to the Jordan River.”

But again Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you.” So they went on together.

7 Fifty men from the group of prophets also went and watched from a distance as Elijah and Elisha stopped beside the Jordan River.

8 Then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided, and the two of them went across on dry ground!

9 When they came to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away.”

And Elisha replied, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit and become your successor.”

10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah replied. “If you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won’t.”

11 As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven.

12 Elisha saw it and cried out, “My father! My father! I see the chariots and charioteers of Israel!” And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress.

13 Elisha picked up Elijah’s cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River.

14 He struck the water with Elijah’s cloak and cried out, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” Then the river divided, and Elisha went across.

15 When the group of prophets from Jericho saw from a distance what happened, they exclaimed, “Elijah’s spirit rests upon Elisha!” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

16 “Sir,” they said, “just say the word and fifty of our strongest men will search the wilderness for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has left him on some mountain or in some valley.”

“No,” Elisha said, “don’t send them.”

17 But they kept urging him until they shamed him into agreeing, and he finally said, “All right, send them.” So fifty men searched for three days but did not find Elijah.

18 Elisha was still at Jericho when they returned. “Didn’t I tell you not to go?” he asked.

Introduction: Ecclesiastes 2:21 For there is a person who toils with wisdom and knowledge and skill, but he must leave his reward to someone who has not toiled for it. This also is vanity and a great calamity.

Harris, W. H., III, Ritzema, E., Brannan, R., Mangum, D., Dunham, J., Reimer, J. A., & Wierenga, M. (Eds.). (2012). The Lexham English Bible (). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Harris, W. H., III, Ritzema, E., Brannan, R., Mangum, D., Dunham, J., Reimer, J. A., & Wierenga, M. (Eds.). (2012). The Lexham English Bible (). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

We Have Been Given a Purpose.

Elijah and Elisha both called to be prophets.

Glorify God and Participate in His Mission of Redemption.

Glorify God and Participate in His Mission of Redemption.

Build Disciples, Grow in Faith, and Serve in Christ’s Name.

Network - Glorify God and Build others Up.

Scripture - Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit

Spiritual Gifts, Passion, Personal Style (Elijah introvert, Elisha Extrovert)

God Calls us to this to

Leadershift - Fulfilled, fruitful, faithful, Make God Famous. - To bless us and bless others through us.

For Elijah a journey - Orientation, Dramatic Win, to Dis-orientation, to re-orientation to renewed purpose - other confrontations with Ahab and Ahab’s repentance (scripture reference)

We can be fulfilled doing our purpose, but drastically miss the most important.

Our Purpose is Meant to be Passed On.

Most Important Elijah did was to Pass-on the Prophetic Mantle to Elisha.

It is sooo easy to be like the author of Ecclesiastes

It is easier to just do things on our own.

We want the recognition

We want all of the blessing, joy of serving - blessing hogs.

Reality Check - God’s Story is bigger than us.

Elijah’s call extended past his time on earth so it required passing it on.

Our Call extends past our life-time (making disciples of all nations) so we must pass it on.

Many in our culture see sharing the faith as arrogant, “We think we are right.” - Actually it is an act of humility - “We believe not that we are right, but Jesus is.” “We do not believe we must pass it on, because we want everyone to think like us, but humbly because God’s mission is way bigger than us and it can not be fulfilled by us alone.”

We pass it on, because God will bless us through it. We will grow closer to God.

Elijah obeyed God in mentoring Elisha - Even though Elijah had doubts in his life God honored him (He did not die).

Elijah did not get upset that Elisha wanted a double portion of the Spirit, Our joy - Seeing our fruit grow on other people’s trees

When we see God work through those we mentor even greater than us, than we actually see him more clearly.

Pass it On Illustration - Multiplication Race

Pass It on to Next generation = Young and Old who are hungry for the mission of God (Elisha)

We focus on passing on theology, but shouldn’t we focus on Passing on the Holy Spirit

The equation is Willing Spirit Hungry Mentor + Willing Spirit Hungry Disciple = Gospel Spreading to all Nations.

So, Are you Ready?

Are you Ready to Pass it On?

It does not matter your age, however, to those who have been followers of Christ for many years. Do an assessment.

Are you apart of a Church to be fed by the word, to get something out of it?

Do you serve so that you can be blessed by God?

Let me challenge you, You are missing the greater mission God has for you. And that is to Pass it on.

Be apart of the Church so that you might mentor the next generation in what it means to be hungry for the Spirit of God.

Definitely Serve, but invite the next generation to serve with you so that the purpose God has called to you extends past your life time.

Then be a mentee - All of us. Be an Elisha, hungry to learn from mentors in the Church.

Conclusion: Cuidon Article