to our service this evening by
singing hymn number 970. The tune is Elijah, number 881. Holy Father, God of love, throned
in majesty above, just and true are all thy ways, worthy of eternal
praise. Fill my heart with thy rich grace,
Then with joy I'll run my race, Christ's fair image on me seal,
And thy love in him reveal. In number 970, Tune Elijah, number
881. O'er the land of the free and the home
of the brave? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave Will I proudly fly this journey,
And in joy the rocket's red glare, Praise to thee, O Israel, our
God and King in heaven. To thee, Jesus, Lamb of God,
? And I'll be with you forever
more ? ? To the island so far and wide ? ? And we'll sing the
land of the free and bold ? ? O meet me with thee in prayer
? ? Come in awesome rejoicing ? Raise up our spirit, what can
we do? God in us, make the need grow. ? In the morning's morning light
? ? Angel and shepherd in the sky ? ? Who left this life with
regret? ? The reading, dear friends, from
the infallible Word of God, we turn to the first book of the
Kings, We read a part of chapter 19 together with the second book
of the Kings, reading chapter 2. Firstly, the first book of
the Kings, chapter 19, and we commence to read at verse 14,
the 14th verse. And he said, I have been very
jealous for the Lord God of hosts, because the children of Israel
have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain
thy prophets with the sword. And I, even I only, am left and
they seek my life to take it away. The Lord said unto him,
Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus. And when thou comest, anoint
Hazael to be king over Syria. And Jehu the son of Nimshi, shalt
thou anoint to be king over Israel. And Elisha, the son of Shaphat,
of Abel, Meholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass that
him that escapeth the sword of Hazaelel shall Jehusha and him
that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha show slow. Yet I have left me seven thousand
in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and
every mouth which hath not kissed him. So he departed then and
found Elisha, the son of Shepherd, who was ploughing with twelve
yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelve. And Elisha
passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen
and ran after Elisha and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my
father and my mother and then I will follow thee." And he said
unto him, go back again for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him
and took a yoke of oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with
the instruments of the oxen. and gave unto the people and
they did eat. Then he arose and went after
Elijah and ministered unto him. Now the second book of the Kings,
chapter two, it came to pass when the Lord would
take up Elisha into heaven by a whirlwind. And Elisha went
with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elisha said unto Elisha,
Tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As
the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets
that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said unto him,
knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy
head to die? And he said, yea, I know it,
hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto Elisha,
tarry here I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. And he said, as the Lord liveth,
and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came
down, they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets
that were at Jericho came to Elisha and said unto him, knowest
thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head
to die? And he answered, yea, I know
it, hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Tarry,
I pray thee here, for the Lord has sent me to Jordan. And he
said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not
leave thee. And they too went on. And fifty men of the sons of
the prophets went, and stood to view the thorough. They too
stood by Jordan, and Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together
and smote the waters. They were divided hither and
thither, so that they too went over on dry ground. that came to pass when they were
gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, ask what I shall do for
thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray
thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, thou hast asked
a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me
when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. But if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass, as they
still went on and talked, that Behold, there appeared a chariot
of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind
into heaven. And Elijah saw it, and he cried,
my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. and he saw her no more and he
took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces he
took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back
and stood by the bank of Jordan and he took the mantle of Elijah
that fell from him and smoked the waters and said Where is
the Lord God of Elijah? When he also had smitten the
waters, they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over. When the sons of the prophets,
which were to view at Jordan, at Jericho saw him, they said,
The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet
him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. And they said unto him, Behold
now, there be with thy servants fifty strong men. Let them go,
we pray thee, and seek thy master. lest, peradventure, the Spirit
of the Lord had taken him up and cast him upon some mountain
or into some valley. Then he said, ye shall not send. And when they urged him till
he was ashamed, he said, send. They sent therefore fifty men
And they sought three days, but found him not. And when they
were come again to him, for he tarried at Jericho, he said unto
them, Did I not say unto you, Go not? And the men of the city
said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, The situation of this city
is pleasant, as my Lord saith, that the water is naught, and
the ground barren. And he said, bring me a new cruise,
and put salt therein, and they brought it to him. And he went
forth unto the spring of the waters, cast the salt in there
and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters, there
shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto
this day, according to the saying of Elisha, which he spoke. And he went up from thence unto
Bethel, and as he was going up by the way, there came forth
little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto
him, Go up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald head. And he turned
back and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the
Lord. And there came forth two she-bears
out of the wood, and tear forty, and two children of them. And he went from thence to Mount
Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria. May the blessing of almighty
God rest upon his holy word that we have read now. May the Lord
teach us and help us to pray. O thou most holy and eternal
God, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost,
God blessed, eternally, forevermore. O do grant to us, Lord, the sanctifying
influence and power of thy Holy Spirit, upon our spirit, that
we may be fitted and prepared to worship Thee in spirit and
in truth, which is required of Thee, dear Lord, so that we may
be completely saved from mere tradition or ceremony or anything
of the flesh. May we be in the Spirit on the
Lord's day and indeed every day and especially as we gather in
the house of God the place where thine honour dwelleth, where
thou dost dwell, King Jesus, on Zion's hill. O favour us then,
dear Lord, with thy felt presence in our midst and in our heart. and our minds and our spirit,
that our whole person may be sanctified by the word of God
and prayer and the ministry of thy word, which thou hast ordained
to be preached to the end of all time. And we thank thee,
Lord, that thy word is still faithfully proclaimed in Zion,
the church of the living God, which is the ground and pillar
of the truth. And thy word, Lord, is still
faithfully and unctuously proclaimed from this pulpit by their beloved
pastor, our esteemed friend and brother in the ministry. And
Lord, thou hath laid him aside now for a season, and he hath
not been able to minister as he loves to. that we do pray,
Lord, that this affliction may be for the furtherance of the
gospel, that thy word may be brought with divine care into
his heart and soul and spirit, further discoveries of the deep
things of God, which must be spiritually discerned. so that he will long to go forth
again when the Lord strengthens him in body. O Lord, we are fearfully and
wonderfully made. What an amazing thing it is that
thou didst maintain thy servants in the ministry over many years,
and yet, Lord, how quickly One can be brought down, totally,
completely dependent, Lord, upon thee. Oh, we have to realise,
we have to prove that our times, Lord, are in thy hand. And the
way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh
to direct his steps. So Lord it's Thou and Thou alone
who doth direct our steps. So Lord we pray that Thou wilt
raise him up in due time and restore him to his office here
as pastor and also his ministry and responsibilities in Zion
in other causes of truth. And we do pray that thou will
remember thy dear people here who worship thee statedly in
this honoured house of God and pray that it may indeed be the
house of God unto them. This is none other than the house
of God and the gate of heaven. And so, Lord, do bless thy dear
people under the ministry of thy word. Thus, Lord, thy gospel,
do grant thy blessing upon us with beseech of thee. And do remember each one gathered
here this night with desire to Lovingly and graciously commit
them each to Thee, and do perfect, Lord, those matters that concern
them and lay with weight upon their spirit. O Lord, do we pray
Thee, grant those encouragements amidst the discouragements, and
grant that good hope when one seems to be so dismayed and brought
low. And so, Lord, do we pray Thee,
remember this cause of truth, our dear friends in office as
deacons, the church members and the members of the congregation. O Lord, may Thy work appear unto
Thy servants, And may he have those signs following the preaching
of the gospel that he labours not in vain in the Lord. And we do pray for the dear wife
of one of the beloved deacons as we understand this night that
she has a major operation before her. And O Lord, these things
are felt keenly upon the spirit of thy dear people, so that they,
of necessity, seek the Lord earnestly, that thou wilt be with them in
these waters of affliction, and grant, Lord, that thou wouldst
give to the medical staff at that appointed time, that wisdom
that cometh down from heaven, the wisdom of God, the health
of God, and that this dispensation may be for her prophet in body,
mind and soul. Now, Lord, we pray that thou
will remember thy one church, especially the body of churches
to which we are united and affiliated in those bonds of the gospel,
in the doctrines of our most holy faith, and in practice as
well. Oh, Lord, do Remember thy servants
and the causes of truth. We live, Lord, in a day of declension compared to a former
day. But, Lord, although that is the
case, we would desire to thank and praise thy glorious name,
that thy spirit remaineth among us. May it be so, Lord, continually
we pray thee. Save us from grieving thy Holy
Spirit, and help us, Lord, to serve thee in our day and generation,
where that delight, that spiritual delight, and at rejoicing in
the Lord. And as the Apostle said, rejoice
in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. Remember, Lord, all those in
special need or trying circumstances of cross and loss, bereavement,
and those various matters that burden and lay with weight upon
the spirit of thy people. Help us each, Lord, to cast our
burden upon the Lord. Thou hast promised to sustain
us and also to know that the Lord careth for us. O we thank Thee, Lord, that Thou
hast not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us according
to our iniquities, as Thou didst to Thy people of old in the days
of Ezekiel, the days of Jeremiah. O Lord, what solemn things took
place, because Thy people committed those abominations and were subject
to worshipping vile instead of worshipping the only living and
true God. And so Lord, we as a nation are
doing the same. Oh, we pray that in wrath thou
wilt remember mercy and for the sake of thy little remnant, thou
wilt lengthen our tranquillity and preserve us a posterity in
the earth and save our lives by a great deliverance. Remember our nation, Lord, the
nations of the earth. We live in imperilous times. Oh, the conflict in the Middle
East, the seriousness of it, the conflict in Ukraine. Oh, with Russia, Lord, they'll
know it, wars and rumours of wars thereof, and all the destruction
and death and injury and misery that war doth bring. Oh, could
it please thee, Lord, to arise and to grant that there might
be a peaceable settlement of time, notwithstanding all the
different vexations that there are that cause the conflict,
that cause the war. Now, Lord, we pray that thou
wilt Further bless the singing of the sacred hymns, and do help
me to speak in thy great and holy and eternal and precious
and sacred name, the name of the Lord. And now, Lord, do hear
us in heaven, thy dwelling place. And when thou hearest, O Lord,
forgive and pardon our every sin. Wash us in thy precious
sin atoning blood that cleanseth us from all sin. We would glorify
and praise the name and person of God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost. God bless it forevermore. Amen. We'll continue our service by singing
hymn number 528. The tune is Coventry, number
119. The gospel is good news indeed
to sinners deep in debt. The man who has no works to plead
will thankful be for it. To know that when he's nought
to pay, his debts are all discharged, will make him blooming look as
may and set his soul at large. Hymn number 528, June Coventry,
119. ? Come to me, come to me, come
to me, come to me, come to me. ? O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? To God the Father, we come to
pray This is our only song And save thee, and you, and all
that's near, And serve this soul and all. O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's ? God be with us now all day ?
? And with us all day through ? Friede und Seh'n, und Seh'n,
und Seh'n, Mein Lieb' und Tod, und Fresse, Let the waters be the life of us, we're diving
to the ground. ? The land we call home to ? ?
Is the home of the brave ? ? The land we call home to ? ? Is the
home of the brave ? ? That was so dear to me ? ? In
all its song and light ? ? The power of His Spirit the power
? ? Shall not be taken from me ? ? Till earth and heaven ? ? Are
as joyful sounds ? ? As the heav'nly host ? By the help of God, dear friends,
I would ask your prayerful and loving attention this evening
from the word to be found in the second chapter in the second
book of the Kings. And I would bring before you
by way of text the ninth and tenth verses The 9th and 10th verses, chapter
2, the second book of the Kings. And it came to pass when they
were gone over that Elijah said unto Elisha, ask what I shall
do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said,
I pray thee, Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, thou hast asked
a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me,
when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. But if not, it shall not be so. What a wonderful spiritual desire
Elijah had with regard to that office that the Lord had appointed
him to succeed his master Elijah. And how the Lord had his prophets
prophesying through the ages and bringing to the people the
word of God. Time after time you read, thus
saith the Lord. The Lord spake to the prophet
and they were then to speak to the people. And so dear Elijah,
was indeed the prophet of the Lord. And he possessed the spirit
of God. He possessed the spirit of prophecy. And he possessed the spirit of
working of miracles. Because Elijah by the Spirit
of God performed a number of miracles. And under the operations
of the Spirit of God, then the Lord gives severally, as he will,
to his people so that they can perform that work and that office
which the Lord has called them to. And so there are diversities
of operations, but it is the same Spirit. And there are these
wonderful operations effected in the heart by the power of
the Spirit in the people of God so that they can fulfil their
office in their time here below. And friends, what can you do? And what can I do spiritually
apart from the Holy Ghost? You can't do anything, not spiritually. Of course our flesh, yes, our
flesh is able to do things and through the Lord's mercy in the
first creation We have the various faculties in our body to enable
us so to do. But we need the second birth
to be quickened by the Spirit so that the faculties of our
body may be then exercised by the Spirit to have an eye to
view the Saviour to have an ear to hear the gospel, to have a
mouth to speak concerning the preciousness of Christ, to have
the hand of faith to lay hold upon the dear Redeemer, to have
legs and feet to walk in the gospel wide. And so, dear friends, to be strengthened
with all might by the Spirit in the inner man. And this is
what Elijah knew, because he first appears as he went to Ahab,
that wicked king. Oh, what a wicked king was Ahab.
And what a wicked wife he had, Jezebel. But the Lord sent him
there. Thus saith the Lord, there shall
neither be rain nor dew, these three years on the earth. What a declaration of truth to
an ungodly king. But he went. He wasn't afraid,
because the Lord strengthened him in the inner man by the Spirit
of God. And we, dear friends, in and
of ourselves by nature, are too weak to testify of Christ. or to defend his noble name before
an ungodly world. And I'm sure, friends, that we
can look back over our life and see a time or times when we were
given the opportunity to defend the worthy name of the Lord,
to defend the truth. And what do we do? We remain
silent through the fear of man. But under the Spirit's power,
Elijah can go forth and testify what the Lord will do, not what
Ahab's going to do. We've grown weary of what Ahab
did. What did he do? He sold Israel
to worship Baal. That's what he did. An idolater. No fear of God before his eyes,
knew nothing of the power of God's Holy Spirit in his life.
Oh, he sold the kingdom to Baal. What a solemn thing to do. God
had said, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, with all thy mind, with all thy soul, and thy neighbour
as thyself. And not only Ahab, but Israel
as well, were influenced by this abominable idolatry. And they commenced, the Lord's
people Israel, to commit idolatry. But Elijah, the prophet of the
Lord, went to them and said, how long haught she between two
opinions? Well, they couldn't answer him.
They were guilty. If the Lord be God, serve him. If Baal, then serve him. But
you see, there was a demonstration of the almighty power of God
as fire came down from heaven and licked up the water and the sacrifice. And then the people cried out,
the Lord, he is God. the Lord. He is God. And what a demonstration it was
that dear Elijah performed. He called the people of Baal,
those worshipping Baal, you know, to do what they would do and
then what he would do. And when they called upon Baal,
there was no answer, then he could mock them. But the true
God was made manifest and those the Israelites, the Lord's people,
were brought back, they were restored. The Lord, He is God. What a wonderful word it is really,
because there may be one, dear friends, that you lay before
in prayer, who you thought initially the Lord's work had begun, and
yet they're now given to a forced religion or idolatry all the
world. And you seem almost in despair. But friend, it's a wonderful
word. They testified to the truth. The Lord restored them. He restoreth
my soul. The Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. Now, no
man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. And so we have in the Trinity
of persons. God the Father, a glorious person. God the Son, a glorious person. God the Spirit, a glorious person. The three persons in the Godhead
and yet they're one. And so we have here dear Elijah
drawing near his journey's end, his work had been done, his prophecy
had been completed, his miracles had been accomplished, and now
he would be taken up to heaven by a whirlwind. But the Lord spoke to him, before
you leave this world, You must anoint two kings, and you must
also anoint Elisha, the son of Shaphat, with Abel, Nehola, to
be prophet in my, in thy room. As Jehu, the son of Nimshi, shalt
thou anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha, the son of Shaphat,
They bell me holar, I'll shout thou anoint to be prophet in
thy room. So there was Elisha, clowin'
with twelve yoke of oxen. You would call him today a farmer,
a husbandman. And yet the Lord had chosen him. You see, dear friends, the Lord
will take and use whoever he will. He can take a farmer, plough
him with twelve yokes of oxen. He can take a fisherman like
dear Peter. He can take an educated man like
the Apostle Paul, brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, who
was a doctor of the Jewish law. So the Lord is sovereign, friends,
in all these things. But He's no respecter of persons. And the Lord will use whoever
He will. Whom the Lord will, He'll set
up. He'll promote. And whom He will,
He'll put down. He'll use those who have been
brought in humility. And then He'll honor them. Because before honor, friends,
is humility. Make no mistake about that, friends. God never uses a proud man. He'll only use those who are
humbled under the mighty hand of God, that he might be exalted
in due season. But the Lord in his goodness
to his people of old, and of course today, in the New Testament,
he did not leave them without witness. And so one must succeed
Elijah. And that was Elijah. And so he was with dear Elijah,
his master, in the last day of his life. He wouldn't leave him. He wanted to be with him. I will
not leave thee, he said, until I can just find thee. And Elijah
said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee here. The Lord has sent
me to Jordan and he said, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul
liveth, I will not leave thee. And they too went on. They were
bound, you see, in the bonds of love and the mantle cast upon
Elijah. Elijah's mantle really is a demonstration
of the transfer, if I could use that word rightly and reverently,
of the prophetic office to Elisha. Because Elisha performed more
miracles than Elijah. Well, let us come then to this
gracious and godly desire And it came to pass when they were
gone over, that's gone over Jordan, that Elijah said unto Elisha,
ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. Ask. Here's the exercise of prayer. And friends, prayer is the exercise
of a living soul. And when Elijah asked him, he
didn't have to think about it, did he? Or say to Elijah, I must
ponder this and then tell you later. No. He knew exactly what he needed
and what he desired. Because he understood the reality
of the office, the prophetic office, and of miracles, performing
miracles. He felt that, he knew that, and
so he needed and he asked for a double portion of Thy Spirit
because he had witnessed and he knew that dear Elijah was
blessed with the Spirit because apart from that he could never
prophesy, he could never perform miracles. He could never conduct
his office in the fear of the Lord as he did. He had a sacred
measure of the Spirit of God. Friends, do we? We can't fulfill
our office in the Church of God Whatever that office may be,
and whether it be one in the church or a member of the congregation,
we can't fulfill that office required of us apart from the
Spirit. You might say, those in the congregation,
yes, because they hear the word. They hear the word. And they'll
never be able to say in that great day, we don't know, we
never heard, they hear with the ear. And may there be the hearing
of the ear of faith. So, dear friends, this is vital,
isn't it? The Spirit of God. Now, the question
was put. I wonder, dear friends, tonight,
what you would say if the Lord appeared to you as he did to
Solomon in Gibeon that night, and the Lord said to him, ask
what I shall do for thee. Well dear Solomon had just been
appointed the office of king. David his father had just passed
away and he was the king and it was a vast responsibility,
a great number in the kingdom and he was the king and he felt
so need the wisdom and understanding from God. And this is what he
asked for. And he knew immediately when
the Lord put that question to him. Give thy servant an understanding,
give thy servant wisdom and an understanding heart, that I might
be able to judge this so great people. And the Lord was satisfied
with that desire. It pleased the Lord. that he
asked for wisdom and understanding. Now where is wisdom to be found
and understanding? It's to be found in Christ. I
am wisdom, I have strength. And he had understanding because
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and to depart from
evil is understanding. The fear of the Lord in the dear
Redeemer, that filial fear to God his Father, understanding. He was given the spirit of understanding,
the spirit of wisdom. He possessed it. And friends,
he knew the secret. He knew the secret. And the Lord's
dear people, under the exercise of the Spirit, know the secret. They know where the grace that
they need comes from. They know there's a fullness
in Christ. that ever abides to answer their
need, they know it. How do they know? Because the
Spirit has revealed and made known a precious Christ unto
them. That's how they know. Well, friends,
ask what I shall do for them. I wonder what your response would
be tonight. I wonder what your longing would
be, your petition would be. Ask. Well, in the Gospel we read,
ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. There's a seeking, there's an
asking by faith in Jesus' precious name. So dear friends, how beautiful
this is. Oh, before I be taken away from
thee. So, you see, Elijah would then
have to be alone before God. He couldn't rely on Elijah. No,
he must stand alone in office before God and the people. You know, dear friends, this
is so in the ministry, isn't it? Indeed it is. Oh friend,
we can't rely on another. We can't trust in another. The
pulpit, as my late father said on one occasion, naturally speaking,
is a lonely place. You can't ask this one and that
one what to say. We need the Lord and the weight
of the office. and the weight of the responsibility
in declaring the unsearchable riches of Christ. Ask what I
shall give thee. And friends, what is that in
asking? What do we need? Just what Elisha
desired, a double portion. I pray thee, I pray thee, O my
fervent desire, My one desire is, let a double portion of thy
spirit be upon me. Friends, who could ask for a greater blessing? Who could ask for a greater blessing? A double portion, a double portion
of thy spirit be upon me. Now the double portion naturally,
speaking first, was given to the firstborn. The firstborn
received a double portion of the estate. Reuben is my firstborn,
the excellency of power and dignity and the firstborn
possessed. and inherited a double portion. Esau was the firstborn. He was
the firstborn. He was born before Jacob. Although
he was the firstborn literally, he wasn't the firstborn spiritually. The firstborn among many brethren
of the Lord's dear people. Esau despised his birthright
and sold it for a monster of bread. Unutterably solemn. He thought nothing of that honour
that the Lord had placed upon the firstborn, and to be a firstborn
spiritually, whether Lord Jesus is the firstborn, Mary's firstborn
son, she brought forth her firstborn son. And so, here is the Lord
Jesus as the firstborn, and who is the image, Christ is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. And he is
the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence,
the firstborn. And so we see, dear friends,
the wonderful blessings that are given to the firstborn, and
this is magnified also when Paul wrote to the Hebrews and we read
concerning the dear Redeemer that God in these last days has
spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed heir of all
things by whom also he made the worlds and when he bringeth in
the first begotten into the world he saith, and that all the angels
of God worship him. Now the Lord is not ashamed to
call his dear people brethren, for both he that sanctifieth
and they who are sanctified are all of one. For which cause? He is not ashamed to call them
brethren. And so Every living child of
God, born of the Spirit, is a firstborn. And they receive this double
portion of the Spirit of God. Now the dear Redeemer is the
first begotten from the dead. He received a double portion. He received the immeasurable
anointing of the Spirit of God. Now the Church of God, the people
of God, like dear Elijah, he had the Spirit in measure. Elijah desires a greater measure
because he feels the greater burden laid upon his spirit.
But King Jesus was baptized, that immeasurable anointing of
the Holy Spirit of God. And when he was baptized in Jordan,
then the Spirit descended like a dove and lighted upon him,
this is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. And so the dear
Redeemer Receive the oil of gladness, as spoken of in the psalm, the
oil of gladness. The Lord hath anointed thee with
the oil of gladness above thy fellows. No one received the
measure of the Spirit as Christ did. And so, dear friends, he's
the firstborn. And it all points to Christ.
It all flows from him. Now this regarding Elijah, and
Elijah prefigured the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his
apostles. Because Christ ascended to glory
from Mount Onabat. He was with his dear apostles
in chapter 1 in the Acts. He was with them. He was speaking
to them. And the last thing that he said
was concerning the ministry. He was speaking, he was conversing
with them. And this is why Elisha received
the double portion. Because, what did Elisha say? If they were to see me when I
am taken up, it shall be so unto thee. This of course was a type
of that which was to come with the Lord Jesus Christ because
being with his apostles, speaking to them, concerning the ministry
to the outermost parts of the earth, then he was taken up And
a cloud received him out of their sight. He was taken up, speaking
with them just as Elijah was speaking to Elisha. And the dear
Redeemer went up, the chariots of God, the chariots of fire,
the chariots of God of 20,000. The Lord went up with a shout,
the shout of a victory. And here we have the chariots
of fire and the horses of fire. And you see this typify the Lord
Jesus. Those chariots of fire, 20,000
we read of in the psalm. And then you see it speaks of
this and then it speaks of the ascension in the Ephesians. So it's wonderful, friends, to
trace the Lord's wonder in the revelation of truth in the Old
Testament confirmed in the New. Now in the New Testament, he
that ascended, what is it that he first descended? That he descended
first into the lower parts of the earth, into the grave. He
that descended the same also that ascended up far above all
heavens that he might fill all things. And he gave some apostles
and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. So, you see, he went up And this
was for the furtherance of the Gospel, for the perfecting of
the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of
the body of Christ. And so the apostles that were
there with the Lord, they had to wait and tarry in Jerusalem
until he be endued with power from on high. And then, those
ten days later, was the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit
of God was made abundantly manifest in Jerusalem. And the apostles,
oh how beautiful the language is, how wonderful it is, And
we are the recipients of this glorious wonder here tonight. When the day of Pentecost was
fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And
suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty
wind. And it filled all the house where
they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues like as a fire. and it's set upon each of them.
Here's the fire. Now this isn't a fire to destroy. It's a divine power which sets
before us the presence and blessing of Almighty God. And this was
needful, vital for the apostles because they were filled with
the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit
gave them utterance. So all those different nationalities
that were at Jerusalem heard the Gospel in their own language
because of the cloven tongues like as a fire that sat upon
each of them. What a blessed secret it was,
what a wonderful occasion. And thus the gospel was taken
to the ends of the earth. And all those people that were
there from different countries, they all took the gospel back. And so the apostles went forth
in the power of the Spirit because they had a double portion. A double portion. on the day
of Pentecost. But this was prefigured by Elijah
and Elisha because he went up. They still went on and they taught,
like the dear Redeemer and the Apostles, that, behold, there
appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them
both asunder. And Elijah went up by whirlwind
into heaven. So the apostles received the
double portion and so did Elisha because you see if they'll see
me when I am taken from thee it shall be so unto thee if they'll
see me. Well he did, he did. And he received
a double portion. Now you see this in the life
of Elijah. Elijah was strong and yet when
Jezebel came and threatened him, he fled for his life and desired
that the Lord would take away his life. And he sat under that
juniper tree. He felt to be the only one that
the Lord's people led. They seek my life to take it
away. He knew times of oppression and
of being in a low place and fleeing because of Jezebel's threat. So he knew times when he was
not in the power of the Spirit and friends and you are the same
and so am I. There are those times when we feel
burdened and oppressed and low and dismayed. If you consider
the life of Elijah, it was victorious. Don't read of any times when
he was fearful or brought low or oppressed. He lived a victorious life and
even on his deathbed victorious. Why? He had a double portion. And friends you'll feel the need
of this as well. Oh this chariot is also spoken
of by Habakkuk as the chariots of salvation. And so this wonderful Beautiful
connection between the text and the ascension of Christ. They
saw him go up. But they weren't to stand gazing
up into heaven for the rest of their days. They were to go back
to Jerusalem and wait until he be endued with power from on
high. And the Holy Spirit comes down
from heaven. And they had this double portion. Otherwise, they could have never
have done what they did. And the Acts of the Apostles
is the actions of the Apostles under the power of the Spirit,
that double portion. Let me bring before you one example. Take Peter. A little maid said
to him before, when Christ was suffering, Thou art one of them,
thy speech be rioting. You're from Galilee, you're a
follower of the Lord Jesus. No I'm not, I don't know the
man. Weak, weak, weak. In the garden of Gethsemane,
Christ suffering the agony of his holy soul. Peter and James
and John fell asleep. What? Could you not watch with
me for one hour? And friends, you and I can't
watch upon them, wait upon the Lord for one hour apart from
the Spirit of God. Our flesh is weak. And then if
you consider Peter who preached on the day of Pentecost and those
times of opposition from the Senate And he was as bold as
a lion. Bold as a lion. Why? He had a double portion of the
Spirit of God. And friends, you'll feel the
need for the same. Do you pray for it, friends?
Do you desire it? Oh, what a beautiful spiritual
longing Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me, the
Spirit of God." Well, dear friends, you see, this is just what the
Lord's people feel their need of. Because as we journey on,
the responsibilities seemingly increase, and the earthly tabernacle
that begins to fail to some degree, more or less. And you need the
inner man to be strengthened with all might in the inner man
so that you can serve the Lord in your day and in your generation. This is the secret, friends. This is a blessed secret. And
the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. And He will
show them His covenant. And so, friends, I trust that
whatever may be before us in our lives, the Lord knows this
is what we need. This is just the desire of our
soul, a double portion. Then, then we can pass through
the tribulations and trials of this life. We can continue in
prayer and supplication. We can continue in the ministry. We continue serving the Lord. This is a blessed secret. And dear Elisha knew it. Oh friend, how strong he was
in the Lord. It wasn't a natural strength. It was a spiritual strength. Now, I believe the Lord's people
know this because, you see, the Apostle Paul was weak in himself. He laboured under infirmity.
I was with you in weakness and fear and much trembling. But
my preaching was not enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit
and of power. That was Paul's ministry. And
the ministry of the Spirit, friends, is the same today. Exactly the same. It's a demonstration. And yet he felt the weakness
of his poor mortal flesh. And yet, under the power of the
Spirit, he was bold. The Lord's strength was made
perfect in his weakness. So he could continue. And friends,
we cannot continue without the Spirit. We can't begin spiritually
without the Spirit. We can't continue. We can't press
on. We need the Lord to quicken us
again that we might call upon the Lord. As I thought upon this,
that beautiful verse in the hymn in our hymn book, I believe it's
next to the last hymn, but the last verse just came and rested
upon my spirit. And I'll quote it and then come
to the amen. We pray, as in Elijah's case,
when great Elijah went, may double portions of thy grace
to us who stay. Be seated. Amen. We conclude our service
by singing part of hymn number 29. We'll commence from the third
verse. The tune is Colwyn Bay, number 903. I'll read the first
two verses. Descend from heaven, celestial
dove, with flames of pure seraphic love, our ravished breasts inspire. Fountain of joy, blessed paraclete,
warm our cold hearts with heavenly heat, and set our souls on fire. Breathe on these bones, so dry
and dead, thy sweetest, softest influence shed in all our hearts
abroad. Point out the place where grace
abounds. Direct us to the bleeding wounds
of our incarnate God. from verse three, hymn number
29, tune Colwyn Bay, number 903. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, Christ the Lord! O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? ? In my head ? ? I'll build a river
? ? For Christ's sake ? ? When winter's gone ? ? With prayer and love and peace
become one ? ? In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. ? ? We praise thee and give thee
praise, O Jesus, ? ? For thine iniquitable song. ? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? ? And the sun comes in the afternoon
? ? And the sun comes in the afternoon ? Now may thy grace, Lord Jesus,
the Father's love, the divine communion and fellowship of thy
Holy Spirit, be with us all this night and forevermore. Amen. Amen.