Now I just want to speak a little
bit to some of the younger people here and just mention one or
two things about a man in the Old Testament called Elisha. Can you put your hand up if you've
ever heard about Elisha? Is that a name that you're familiar
with? Ah, okay, I think some of you
have. There was a man called Elijah,
and there was another man called Elisha, and Elijah was an old
prophet of God, and Elisha was a young prophet that was taught
by Elijah. And sometimes people get Elijah
and Elisha mixed up because their names are a little bit similar,
and the time that they were alive was the same kind of and we discovered
that they did the same kind of things because they ministered
of the Lord to the people that were around about them at that
time. Well, I want to speak about Elisha,
the young man, and I want to tell you a little bit about Elisha
this morning. His name means the salvation
of my God. It's a lovely name to have, the
salvation of my God. And Elisha was a farmer. Elisha was a man who ploughed
fields. He lived with his parents and
he was old enough to drive a plough and probably he was involved
in working on the farm and working in the fields with his father
and with his father's employees. We're told at one time that he
was driving behind 12 teams of oxen. So that was a pretty big
farm probably even in those days and there were other workers
there in the fields with Elisha. But as a young man, Elisha was
chosen by God, not to be a farmer, but to be a preacher, not to
work on the land, but to be a prophet of God and the leader of his
church in Old Testament Israel. And this man, Elisha, was to
be a spokesman for God and he would minister in Israel for
over 60 years during periods of war, and trouble and danger
and famine and the life of Elisha is a very exciting life and I'm
sure that you know a number of the exciting stories that took
place in Elisha's life. I suspect that the one that you
know most about is the story about Naaman and the little girl
that was taken captive down into Syria, down into Damascus, and
how Naaman learned about how he could have his leprosy cured
by Elisha. That's a story for another day. But I want to just draw your
attention to something that happened when Elisha was first called
to be a preacher. And we're going to turn to 2
Kings and chapter 2. So if you're sitting beside someone
who's got a Bible, we're going to be turning to 2 Kings in the
Old Testament and we're going to read some verses from chapter
2. And this is talking about a time
of change. A time when an old ministry had
come to an end and a new ministry was beginning. The time when
Elijah was taken away into heaven and Elisha became the new preacher. in the land of Israel. And I think that this is an interesting
story for all number of reasons. But see if you can listen and
hear what the Word of God says. In 2 Kings chapter 2 and verse
1 it says this. And it came to pass when the
Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind that Elijah
went with Elisha from Gilgal. So here are the two men that
we were speaking about, the old man and the young man. And it
was coming near the end of Elijah's ministry and the beginning of
Elisha's. And Elijah said unto Elisha,
Tarry here, wait here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath 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 today? And he said, Yea, I know it. Hold ye your peace. Does anybody
know what that little phrase means? Hold ye your peace. It
means be quiet. It means don't talk, don't mention
that, don't say that. Hold ye your peace, don't talk
about that. I know it's going to happen,
but I don't want you to speak about it. And Elijah said unto
him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee, for the Lord hath sent
me to Jericho. And he said, as the Lord liveth
and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So 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
today? And he answered, Yea, I know
it. Hold ye your peace. And Elijah
said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee here, for the Lord hath
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 afar off, and they too stood
by Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle and
wrapped it together and smote the waters, and they were divided
hither and thither, so that the two went over on dry ground. 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. And it came to pass, as they
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 Elisha saw it, and he cried,
My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof! And he saw him 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 smote the waters and said,
Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had smitten
the waters, they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went
over. Well, I hope the Lord will bless
that reading to us this morning. This story about Elisha beginning
his ministry is something that I wanted just to mention this
morning because in the next few weeks we will spend a little
bit of time thinking about Elisha and his ministry, particularly
with the children. But here's something that I want
you to notice about Elisha. Elisha was a young man. Elisha
was a farmer. But Elisha had a calling to serve
God. And God doesn't ask man's permission. This was not up to Elisha. This was God's choice of Elisha. And God chose him to be his servant. Elisha felt quite inadequate
to his task. He felt that this was too much
for him. And that is why he said to Elijah,
Elijah, if you're going to be taken away, give me a double
portion of your spirit because I'm not up to this job. I'm not
able to do this. There was a humility about Elisha. And he knew that he needed God's
help. He knew that he needed a double
portion of the spirit of Elijah. The spirit that God had given
to Elijah needed to be multiplied in Elisha's own life. He felt his need before God. He felt that he needed help and
he felt that he needed guidance. And the way in which Elijah was
taken from Elisha, I think is a wonderful incident in the Old
Testament Scriptures. Here were these two men standing
together. They were walking together along
the road and suddenly there was a tremendous sound. And we're
told that the chariot of God, can you imagine that? A fiery
chariot. appeared and split them apart. It came right up between them
and it threw one in one direction and the other in the other direction. And Elijah was caught up in the
chariot. The horsemen in the chariot caught
Elijah and they put him into the chariot with them and they
flew off into the sky. Do you know that Elijah never
died? Do you know that Elijah's body
was never buried in the earth? That he was never put into a
coffin or a grave, but he was taken immediately up into heaven? Elijah would one day come again
onto the earth and that was at the time of the transfiguration
of the Lord up in the mountain and perhaps for that reason his
body was not allowed to be buried in the earth. But what a view,
what a vision, what a sight that must have been for the young
man Elisha and what a privilege for him to see God act in such
a way. He was able to say, that he had
called upon the God of Elijah. He went back to the River Jordan,
he went to cross the river, and he was able to take the mantle,
that means the coat or the robe of Elijah, which had fallen off
as Elijah was taken into heaven. That mantle had fallen off, and
symbolically, we talk about that, we put on the mantle of someone
else when we take over their job. And that was what Elisha
had done. He took over Elijah's job and
he went back to the Jordan and he stood at the side of the Jordan
and he rolled up that garment and he struck the waters and
he called out, where is the God of Elijah? and the waters parted
and he walked through those waters. God was now with Elisha in the
same way as he had been with Elijah, and that portion of spirit
had been given to him that he would be able to minister for
God. This is the way that the Lord
calls his people. This is the way in which God
empowers his people. This is the reason for the gospel
in our day that God is speaking to his people and he is using
men and he is using the gospel to take his message out to a
new generation. So we look to God. We remember that God has spoken
in times past and we remember that God raises up men today
to speak his word and we give ear to that word and we listen
to that word and we remember that God can take young men and
women, and use them for his purposes. Boys and girls, use them for
his purposes. Prepare them in their hearts
and in their lives, even though they feel so inadequate. in order
that he might use them to the greater glory of his name. And
I trust and I hope that some of the young people here today
will find in the days to come that they will know the Lord
Jesus Christ as their saviour. prove the Lord Jesus' spirit
in their lives and come into a usefulness in the house of
God and in the ministry of the gospel as the Lord is pleased
to call his church to himself. Thank you for listening.