Sermon on Sunday 24th Feb, 2008 at Warehouse.
Text:
1Kings 19:16 – 21
2Kings 2:1-6
¢ (2Ki 2:1-6) And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.(2) And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD lives, and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.(3) And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knows thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head today? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.(4) 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 lives, and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho.(5) And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knows thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head today? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.(6) And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD lives, and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.
Introduction:
¢Today God is training a new breed of Christians who will have the double portion anointing for the work ahead of us.
¢The ingatherings of Souls into the Kingdom will not a romantic scene of wheat harvest ready for easy gathering.
¢The word says “the Kingdom of God suffers violence & we have to take it by force”
¢We must have a double in everything; – Grace; Wisdom; Power & Miracles; Fathers blessings to see the Apostolic move of God.
¢The end time Feast of Tabernacle is to release and celebrate the church moving in a double portion anointing.
¢We will see the double portion signs & wonders and the powerful breaking of chains.
¢In the past weeks we have been taught on the life of the prophet Elisha where he signals these very important areas;
¢When God calls you then you will leave everything & follow Him. A complete cutting of all ties to the past and his past life. He was prepared to kill the 12 bulls. The number 12 is the number for apostolic. The bull is a picture of Baal worship.
¢He was not afraid of the provision because he was moving in the super natural provision. He was chosen to be the apostolic, prophetic ministry of his entire family. Are you?
¢We have the promise. The prophetic act of Elijah did with his coat made a declaration. Elisha you are an “heir apparent”. You will become an inheritor of Gods good time. Gods government will be upon your shoulder.
¢Honors relationship. He ran back to say goodbye. But non the less he was totally prepared to let go of all the relationships of the past so that to fulfill his mandate as a prophet.
¢In the CALL there is no turning back. Elisha burnt all the bridges in his life. He could never turn back, He made a sacrifice of his livelihood, and was declaring a complete death to it. It was a very costly decision.
The Call & the Training:
¢The primary training is obedience. God needs your availability and not your ability.
¢(Exo 19:5)Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
¢The training is hard, constant and demanding and can only be fulfilled if one is called. The school of the Holy Spirit is a school of knocks & hard knocks.
¢(Jas 1:2)¢My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; (Jas 1:3)Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. (Jas 1:4)But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.¢(Jer 15:16)
¢Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.
¢Just as Elisha went through fiery trials to get the Mantle. The Mantle comes before the Office. Because the Mantle was with Elijah than he has to die first before the handing over can be take place.¢Friends the Old has to go for the New to come forth.
The Waiting for the Mantle:¢(2Ki 2:1-6)And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.(2Ki 2:2)And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD lives, and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel.(2Ki 2:3)And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knows thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head today? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace.(2Ki 2:4)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.(2Ki 2:5)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.(2Ki 2:6)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 two went on.
Waiting On The Promise:
¢Awaiting the promises of God the key word is ENDURANCE.¢Endurance exercise or endurance training consists of performing low- to medium-intensity exercise for long periods of time. E.g., jogging or running several miles to hundreds of miles; cycling dozens of miles to thousands of miles; swimming hundreds of yards or meters to dozens of miles or km.
¢Elisha decided and determined not to stop until he fully obtained.
¢(Heb 12:2)¢Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
¢The call we cannot stop at any place otherwise we will not inherit the double portion. There are a lot of stoppages to your calling it is time that we endure and determine to inherit the double portion because of the call.
The Closer You Get Tougher It Gets
¢Elijah’s days are numbered. He told Elisha where He was going to;
¢Gilgal
¢Bethel
¢Jericho
¢Jordan
¢But Elijah was making it difficult for the heir apparent. The closure you get the harder it gets.
¢The above four places were all in the promise land, these were the places that Joshua had to breakthrough in order to inherit the land¢The Spirit and power of Elisha comes out of the wilderness and desert and into the promise.
¢How about us?. Are we in some sort of wilderness or desert. Elisha had to come face to face with the four giants to get the double portion anointing.
¢This cycle is vital for power in our life.
Pre-requisite Qualification – To Apostolic Prophetic
¢Before we break into the Apostolic & Prophetic we have to go through;
¢GILGAL – Means the rolling away of the reproach of Egypt. It was a place of circumcision, and a total cutting away of the flesh life with a circumcision knife.
BETHEL:
¢BETHEL – Means the house of God. It was a place where Jacob wrestle with God. Change of names.
¢(Gen 35:10)
¢And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel.
¢It’s a place of wrestle with God, also a place where God will leave a mark on your life.
Jericho:
¢Jericho – “Sweet fragrance” this fortress. The walls must come down. The Jericho walls is so thick and the people have confidence that it can not come down. The wall were guarded by the Canaanite gods.
¢This where the strongman of Fear breaks. Your Jericho have fall before the breakthrough.
Jordan River
¢Jordan River – means flowing downwards. Iniquity flows down our generation. Iniquity breaks at Jordan.
¢Jordan is the place of spiritual death & breakthrough.
¢Remarkable events happen here;¢Division of its waters to let Israel pass over Jos_3:12-16; Jos_5:1; Return of its waters to their place (Jos_4:18; )Slaughter of Moabites (Jdg_3:28; Jdg_3:29 
Slaughter of the Ephraimites (Jdg_12:4-6; Its division by Elijah 2Ki_2:8; Its division by Elisha 2Ki_2:14; Healing of Naaman the leper 2Ki_5:10; 2Ki_5:14; Baptism of multitudes by John the Baptist Mat_3:6; Mar_1:5; Joh_1:28; Baptism of our Lord (Mat_3:13; Mat_3:15; Mar_1:9; ¢Elijah was caught up here. He died completely but Elisha took hold of the double portion anointing.
Crossing Over Jordan:
¢Elijah took Elisha back to the Jordan using his mantle to supernaturally cross over the waters.
¢The Apostolic and Prophetic people have to rule over the waters. Waters speaks of multitudes of people.
¢(Rev 17:1)
¢And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
¢Jezebel sits upon the waters of the multitudes. She is the false prophetess and sits. She has an unseen governmental seat. Her government is evil. She rules with witchcraft with gods of fish.
¢She keeps people, entrapped as bound fish.
¢The gods of the waters are the Greek and Roman gods;
¢The Philistine god Dagon
¢The king of Neptune – fish god.
¢The god Poseidon – fish god
¢The god Leviathan-fish god
¢The fish god of Cretus
¢The fish god of the waters binds up the end time harvest, the miracles, signs & wonders and the peoples finance.
¢These gods creates religious strongholds binding multitude with insanity & magic.
¢By the miraculous crossing defeats the power of the fish gods of witchcraft.
¢To break the blockages to the harvest and a release to the apostolic, prophetic evangelism into signs & wonders and supernatural provision.
