05-29-2022 - Where is the Lord God of Elijah?

OPENING

Luke 1:17 NKJV

17 He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,’ and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

The angel of the Lord gave Zecharias, the father of John the Baptist, a prophecy concerning his son John the Baptist. He said that John would come in the spirit and the power of Elijah to prepare the way for the Messiah. His coming would be to “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children”, to turn “the disobedient to the wisdom of the just”, and “to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Jesus was coming and preparations had to be made.

As we sit here today, we are so close to the return of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. End times prophecies are being fulfilled on a daily basis. Jesus could return at any moment. That should stir us up this morning. That should wake us up to realize we’ve got a lot of work to do and not a lot of time to get it done.

I believe that in these last days that there is going to be a Great Awakening that will sweep across this nation and this world. I say a Great Awakening instead of a revival, because the church as a whole is not dead, but spiritually asleep. The church has sat back so long that it has grown comfortable. Just like Samson was rocked to sleep when he laid his head down in the lap of Delilah, and Delilah took away the source of his strength, so too the church has been rocked to sleep by the devil and has lost the connection to its strength and power.

The church has allowed the devil to take away its anointing. The anointing is the power of the Holy Spirit that sets us apart for the work of God and empowers us for that service. You must understand that we as the church need the anointing of God. Without the anointing of God we are nothing more than a social club. Without the anointing of God we are nothing more than a stained-glass masquerade. Because without the anointing, we are not the church of Jesus Christ because Jesus Himself operated under the anointing of the Holy Spirit!

Jesus is coming soon! But Jesus is not coming back after a church with a case of spiritual narcolepsy. Jesus is coming back after a church that is alive, alert, and active. Jesus is coming back after a church that is operating in the anointing. Jesus is coming back after a church that has made itself ready. Jesus is coming back after a church without spot or blemish. Jesus is coming back after a church that is full of faith. Jesus is coming back after a church that is about the Father’s business.

I told you last week we’re MOVING FORWARD. Well this week we’re going to start MOVING FORWARD into a series of messages that we’re calling GOD IS ON THE MOVE. I believe a move of God is getting ready to sweep across this world. And I believe that God is getting ready to pour out His anointing upon men and women, boys and girls, who are hungry and thirsty for righteousness, and who are seeking Him for more in their spiritual lives. You might as well get in with me and get ready, because it is coming. And God is not going to waste His precious anointing on Christians who are spiritually asleep. He is going to pour it out on some Elijah’s who have their eyes upon Him and their hearts open to Him. Our sons and daughters are going to prophecy. Our old men are going to dream dreams. Our young men are going to see visions. And I don’t plan on missing it. I plan on being a part of it.

SCRIPTURE

2 Kings 2:8–15 NKJV

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. 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.” 10 So he said, “You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.” 11 Then it happened, as they continued on and talked, that suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 12 And Elisha saw it, and he cried out, “My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!” So he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and tore them into two pieces. 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. 15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, “The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.” And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him.

MESSAGE

The title of the message this morning is WHERE IS THE LORD GOD OF ELIJAH?

The State of the Union

Elijah prophesied during a time of great moral and spiritual decline in Israel.

There was great evil all throughout Israel.

Most of Israel’s kings failed to follow the ways of God.

They led and allowed the people to worship all kinds of false Gods.

They turned their hearts toward evil.

There was rampant sexual perversion.

Even when they did worship God, it was a distorted, watered-down version, and it was mixed with paganism, witchcraft, and idolatry.

We live in a time today much like it was in the days of Elijah.

A time when good is called evil, and evil is called good.

A time when the love of many has waxed cold.

A time when senseless murders and the killing of innocent babies has become an every day occurrence.

A time when many of the leaders of our nation have forgotten the Judeo-Christian values that this nation was founded upon and have laid their heads down in the lap of the devil himself.

A time when sexual perversion is at an all-time high.

A time when false doctrine and a watered-down form of Christianity has taken over the church.

A time when many are turning away from the faith.

A time when true Bible-believing Christians have become the minority in America and are increasingly becoming the targets of hate-filled propaganda and persecution from the political left extremists.

The God of Elijah

But even with all the evil that is going on around us, there is still hope, because God is still on the move.

During the time of great moral and spiritual decline in Israel, God was still on the move.

God raised up a prophet by the name of Elijah and placed His anointing upon him.

And God worked great miracles for and through Elijah:

Elijah prayed, and God shut up the heavens for 3.5 years and it did not rain.

God sent ravens with food to feed Elijah at the River Cherith during a time of famine.

Elijah prayed and God filled the barrel of meal and the cruse of oil for the widow in Zarephath.

Elijah prayed and God raised the son of the widow of Zarephath back from the dead.

Elijah prayed and called down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice on Mt. Carmel during his battle with the 450 prophets of Baal.

Elijah prayed and God opened up the heavens and it rained again after 3.5 years.

The Mantle of Elijah

But as great as Elijah’s ministry was, there came a time when it had to come to an end.

Elijah knew he was about to be taken up into heaven.

And so he asked Elisha what he could do for him before he was taken up.

And Elisha said, “I want a double-portion of your anointing.”

Elijah knew that the prophetic anointing that was on his life was going to have to be transferred to someone else.

Someone was going to have to take up the prophetic mantle in Israel.

The anointing had to be passed down to the next generation.

But Elijah also knew that it was not his place to decide who that someone was going to be.

That was God’s decision.

So Elijah responded to Elijah’s request and said, “You ask a difficult thing, but if you see me taken up into heaven, then you will have what you ask for.”

But notice the importance of what Elisha asked for:

He asked for the anointing of Elijah to be upon him.

He didn’t ask for a new anointing.

He wanted the same anointing that Elijah had.

We might be living in a new generation, and we might be facing new problems, but we need the same anointing.

God can do new things, but it is always going to be with the same anointing.

The Bible tells us to “seek out the old paths.”

If we are going to do anything for God, we are going to do it under the same anointing that the generals of the faith operated under that have gone on to Glory.

Notice also that Elisha asked for a double portion.

The double portion refers the right of the firstborn son.

Elijah was not Elisha’s biological father.

But Elijah was Elisha’s spiritual father.

Under the Law of Moses, the firstborn son recieved a double portion of his father’s inheritance.

So what Elisha was really asking was for the prophetic anointing that was on Elijah to be passed down to him.

He wanted a double-portion, the right of the first-born son, as a way of indicating he would succeed Elijah and take up the prophetic mantle for Israel.

Where is the Lord God of Elijah?

And God answered Elisha’s prayer.

Elisha saw Elijah when he was taken up into heaven and saw Elijah’s mantle fall to the ground.

And Elisha went and took up Elisha’s mantle.

And Elisha went back to the bank of the Jordan River.

And Elisha took the mantle of Elijah and smote the waters of the Jordan with it and cried out, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah!”

And the Jordan parted and Elisha walked back over on dry ground.

And Elijah’s final miracle became Elisha’s first miracle.

And the other sons of the prophets said, “the spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha.”

And Elisha would go on to perform twice as many miracles as Elijah during his ministry.

Let me ask you this question today, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”

We can look at the events and tragedies that are going on all around us and ask that question.

Uvalde, Texas

Ukraine crisis

Covid-19 pandemic

Church ministries being destroyed as a result of sexual perversion going on from behind the pulpit.

And we can ask, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”

But no matter how dark the darkness may seem, God is always on the move.

God is always going to have a remnant.

He is always going to have some people who will seek Him.

He is always going to have some troops that are ready to be deployed out onto the battlefield.

And I believe that God is getting His people ready in these last days for a Great Awakening and a spiritual harvest that will shake the foundations of the kingdom of darkness, turn this world upside down, and turn people’s lives back right side up!

This morning, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah” is not so much a question as it is a statement of faith.

Elisha knew that the power was not in Elijah himself, or his mantle.

The power was in the anointing of God that was on Elijah’s life.

Elisha was saying:

Elijah might be gone.

A great prophet might be gone.

The revivals of yesterday might be over.

The great generals of the faith might have already crossed over Jordan and been taken up into Glory.

But God is still on the move.

And God is raising up a generation.

To face the darkness and the problems that exist today.

And God is going to give them the power to overcome.

Because He is going to pour out His anointing on those that are hungry for it and seeking for it in these last days.

CLOSING

Where is the Lord God of Elijah?

He is still here.

He is still the same God today as He was for Elijah and Elisha.

He is still the same God today as He was for the generals of faith that have gone on to Glory.

But the mantle is being passed down.

The next generation is rising up.

The generation that will see the return of the Messiah is being prepared.

And God is beginning to pour out His anointing into some vessels of honor that have been prepared and are fit for the Master’s use.

My prayer this morning is “God, send a double-portion of your Spirit upon Your people.”

Let us pick up the mantle that the generals of the faith left behind.

Let us step out by faith.

Let us carry on the work that the generals of the faith kept going in their lifetimes.

Let us keep advancing the Kingdom of God against the kingdom of darkness.

Let us not have to ask and wonder, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”

But let us be able to proclaim in full assurance of faith, “The Lord God of Elijah, He is here, and He is on the move!”

ALTAR CALL