The Spirit Keeps On Speaking

Have you ever witnessed something that seemed impossible or maybe even wondered if you really witnessed it or maybe dreamed it instead? Today, we tend to not believe or second guess things that we cannot make logical sense of. As an engineer, I definitely have this tendency. I want to figure out how something works or why it happened, but the truth is there are many things about our lives as followers of Christ that we cannot explain. It makes no sense for a God to love us so much that he gave his son as a sacrifice for us. We cannot comprehend the type of love that God showed in that moment. We cannot fathom with our human minds just how the Holy Spirit works and moves among us, but if you have experienced it you know it is true. ;

This morning, we are going to be in 2 Kings as we look at the end of Elijah’s time on the earth and how The Spirit that guided the prophet Elijah did not leave with him, but passed on to the next appointed prophet.

2 Kings 2:1–15 NIV

1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. 3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.” 4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho. 5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.” 6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on. 7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. 9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. 10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over. 15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.

Did you notice that in verse 1 we see the end at the beginning? We know right away that Elijah is about to be taken away in a manner that wasn’t “normal.” The whirlwind was the same as the one through which God made himself known to Job.

However, there is something else of importance here for us catch that we might pass right on by just reading the text. “On their way from Gilgal.” Gilgal is recognized as the first place that the Israelites set up camp after being led across the Jordan River from Egypt.

The first thing I want us to see this morning is in verse 2. Elisha was commited to the Spirit Filled life of being a prophet. Three times we see Elisha remain committed to his prophetic master, Elijah.We see it again in verse 4 and 6. But did you also notice the question asked of Elisha is verse 3 and 5? Elijah is telling Elisha that he will be taken away by the Lord that very day.

You see, Elijah is testing Elisha to see if he will remain with him to the end. Elisha at this point knows that this is the case and is determined to remain until the end. He desired what God had in store for him. Elijah, even though he knows he is leaving this earth, is concerned to make sure that the Lord’s work will continue on through Elisha.

Can you imagine what it would have been like to be one of the fifty people who got to watch Elijah divide the water and then to see chariots of fire and the whirlwind that took Elijah to heaven?

Even more important is to see how Elisha handled this. After parting the sea and crossing on dry ground, we see Elijah as the question in verse 9 - what can I do for you? This is a great question of a servant such as Elijah, but I want us to notice Elisha’s answer. Elisha was so commited to what it was that God had for him that instead of asking for anything selfish in nature, he instead asks for this double portion of Elijah’s Spirit. Elisha asks for not just a difficult thing, but for something that only someone completely humbled could ask for - a specially granted spiritual power beyond his own capabilities to meet the responsibilities that lay ahead. Wow.

I want to stop here and ponder this for a moment. Let’s think about the enormity of this request, which was something that Elijah certainly did not have the power or capability to grant. But what a legacy for Elijah to leave when Elisha humbly asked for this. Elijah’s response was essentially that it is up to God if you see what is to come - thus whether or not Elisha’s faith was genuine and his trust in the God of Abraham was the most important thing in his life.

When Elijah gets taken up, we see Elisha part the water and the Spirit is now using Elisha in the way Elijah was used. The Spirit continued to speak even after Elijah was carried up.

So what does this mean for us today? As I have pondered this thought over the last several days, I believe that God wants us to hear today that the Holy Spirit is still alive and well and is speaking to us still today! Amen?

The problem is, however, that the western church has diminished the role of the Holy Spirit. I think one of the main reasons for this is that we are able to rely on ourselves for so many things. We didn’t have to build relationships with people because people would just come to church. We were happy with our programs and our social circles and let’s be honest, we were fine if those things didn’t change. In fact, we got comfortable, too comfortable. Charles Kraft writes in his work Christianity with Power: Your Worldview and Your Experience of the Supernatural:

In comparison to other societies, Americans and other North Atlantic peoples are naturalistic. Non-Western peoples are frequently concerned about the activities of supernatural beings . . . The wide-ranging supernaturalism of most of the societies of the world is absent for most of our people . . .

Our focus is squarely on the natural world, with little or no attention paid to the supernatural world…In the present day, however, Evangelicals tend to believe that God has stopped talking and doing the incredible things we read about in Scripture.

Now we see God limiting himself to working through the Bible . . . plus an occasional contemporary “interference” in the natural course of events. What we usually call a miracle—the power God used to manifest in healing—has been largely replaced by secular medicine. The speaking he used to do now comes indirectly through rationalistic reasoning in books, lectures, and sermons—similar to the process used by the secular sciences.

Charles Kraft, Christianity with Power: Your Worldview and Your Experience of the Supernatural, Wipf & Stock Reprint Edition, 2005.

Friends, it seems today that we have quit looking and expecting The Holy Spirit to work among us. It seems as if we have forgotten that God still works through The Spirit is radical and miraculous ways. Charles Spurgeon wrote:

“Without the Spirit of God, we can do nothing. We are as ships without the wind, branches without sap, and like coals without fire, we are useless.”—Charles Spurgeon

We need to admit that we need the Holy Spirit’s guidance and direction in our lives. Friends, THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS STILL ACTIVE AND WORKING AMONG US! We are just not looking for it because there is so much other noise all around us every moment of every day!

One key difference between much of the early church vs. the church of today (at least in the West) was the belief in, and regular experience of, miracles. As Joel Green, the noted professor and writer on evangelism once said,

It was the Spirit who gave his followers remarkable spiritual gifts. Prophecy, tongues (and interpretation), healing and exorcism were the most prominent in apostolic and sub-apostolic days alike. People did not merely hear the gospel; they saw it in action, and were moved to respond. The Western church has grown too dependent on words, and not nearly dependent enough on the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Enlightenment induced much embarrassment about divine activity in today’s world, and this tendency has outlived the demise of the Enlightenment. Instead of being a community demonstrating the Lord’s power, we have become one which talks incessantly. We need to remember that the “kingdom of God is not talk, but power.”

Evangelism in the Early Church, rev. ed. (1970; repr., Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 26.

God is continually raising up new servants to speak the Spirit-breathed words of truth, life, justice, and comfort. God is raising up leaders who will boldly speak against the kingdoms of this world and boldly for the counter-cultural kingdom that we see in the early church in the book of Acts.

If we look back to the end of our text for today in verses 13-15, we see Elisha’s response to Elijah leaving and being filled with the Holy Spirit as God’s prophet. He is obedient before anything was confirmed. Before he knew for sure. He was obedient and the company of the 50 prophets who were witnesses of all this confirmed that the Spirit of Elijah was resting on Elisha. They immediately noticed a change. There is a lesson in faith and obedience for us here this morning.

Friends, we won’t see God’s kingdom expand by putting our hope in earthly kingdoms, political parties, human organizations - we will only see God’s Kingdom expand and the powerful work of the Holy Spirit among us if we dedicate ourselves first and foremost as citizens of God’s kingdom and live those priorities out in our daily lives.

Next Sunday we will celebrate Pentecost - the day the Holy Spirit, the promised counselor from Jesus himself, descended on the gathered church that day and many were added to their number. My question for us this week is this - do we believe the Holy Spirit can still work in ways such as the day of Pentecost? As we pray, I invite you to examine your faith and trust in our God and ask ourselves if we truly do believe and have that kind of faith.

If you feel the Spirit prompting you this morning as we talk about faith and obedience to surrender your full self or to give something up or to allow the Spirit to work a change in a particular part of life I invite you to come forward this morning. If you feel a tugging at your heart and you have not ever accepted Christ as your Savior I invite you to come forward as well. Your pastors would love to pray with you as you take the next step on your journey with Christ.

Let’s pray.

COMMUNION

RITUAL

The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return.

The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ.

All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit.

In unity with the Church, we confess our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And so we pray:

PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND SUPPLICATION:

Holy God,

We gather at this, your table, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who by your Spirit was anointed to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, set at liberty those who are oppressed. Christ healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners, and established the new covenant for forgiveness of sins. We live in the hope of His coming again.

On the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Likewise, when the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And so, we gather as the Body of Christ to offer ourselves to you in praise and thanksgiving. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these your gifts. Make them by the power of your Spirit to be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ, redeemed by His blood.

By your Spirit make us one in Christ, one with each other, and one in the ministry of Christ to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

EXPLAIN ELEMENTS

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

CONCLUDING PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND COMMITMENT

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.