2 Kings Chapter 2:1-15

Prepared For Power

 

 

The Promise Of Power

 

At the close of His earthly ministry, Jesus gathered His disciples around Him and told them that it was necessary that He leave so that another comforter could be given.

 

John 16:7

Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.

 

A) Jesus was quite a comforter. He’s the kind of guy that you wanted around at all times.

 

B) Violent storm at Sea – He could still the wind and the waves

 

C) If you were having a party and ran out of food

Great comfort to have Jesus there

1)   He could take some fish and bread & multiply it!

 

D) Short on money for Taxes – Go fishing – money in the fish’s mouth       

 

Jesus IS a comforter, but He declared that it was EXPEDIENT for Him to leave so that He could send ANOTHER comforter. WHY?

A) Because while He was with the disciples on earth He was physically limited to being at one place at one time.

 

B) He knew that His Church would grow & expand & thus require His comfort in more than one place at one time.

 

C) So He promises to send ANOTHER.... one just like Him, only having no body.

1) That is the Holy Spirit.

 

D) By His Holy Spirit Jesus is with us right now

1) But also in SD / Hawaii / Hungary

 

E) By the presence of the Holy Spirit people are experiencing the comfort of the Lord around the world.

 

 

Power From On High

A) After Jesus died on the cross, and then rose from the grave (validating His claims to be the Son of God and the Savior of the world),

 

B) He appeared to His disciples again.

1) The disciples were huddled together in a room for fear that they would be next to die.

 

         

John 20:19-22

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."  20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

 

21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."  22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

 

B) At that time, the these men received the Holy Spirit and were regenerated.

 

1) They were BORN AGAIN

 

C) At that moment, these men had the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit did NOT have them

 

D) SO in a few days Jesus would tell them to WAIT in Jerusalem to receive POWER when the Holy Spirit comes upon them.

     1) AFTER Jesus gave the command to WAIT for this empowering He ascended into heaven.

 

E) Ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven this group of fearful men received the EMPOWERING of the Holy Spirit and turned the world upside down.

 

Pattern we see in the Word

A) The Bible reveals that the success of God’s work always has, and always will depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon His people.

 

B) We see a picture of that principle in our story today!

 

 

Elisha: Empowered By The Spirit

A) We first met Elisha in 1 Kings 19

 

B) As the end of Elijah’s ministry was approaching the Lord led  Elijah to disciple a man named Elisha.

 

C) Elijah cast his mantle upon Elisha, signifying that Elisha would follow in the ministry of Elijah

1) It was there that Elisha was called – he spends the next 6yrs assisting Elijah.

 

D) For six yrs Elisha was able to observe this mighty man of God up-close & personal.

1) Elisha recognized that the secret to Elijah’s ministry was the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

E) Elijah is now ready to be taken up and he asks his protégé what he would like.

1) Elisha asks that a double portion of the spirit that was on Elijah – would be on Him

 

    

A Key To Receiving Power

A) Elijah’s response holds a key principle concerning the receiving of power from the Holy Spirit

 

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."

 

B) Paraphrase: “Elisha Keep your eyes on the master.”

1) If your eyes are on the master you will receive that anointing that you are desiring.

 

C) Jesus said a similar thing in John 15 – Abide in me – Bear much fruit

1) For without me you can do nothing

 

D) Flip side – is with Him we can do anything

1) At the park Thursday: All the trees / shapes / sizes colors – One thing in common – Planted same soil.

 

So Elijah says if you see me when I am taken it will happen

A)NOTE: Before Elijah ever made this statement, he wisely took his protégé through a series of tests

 

B) He takes Elisha through four cities and in each of

these cities Elijah says: “Stay here, I’ll be back”.

 

C) And in each of these cities Elisha says; “No way... I know that the hour of your departure is at hand and I am NOT going to let you out of my sight”.

Now here is what I want you to see – Each of these four cities that Elisha was taken to represent to us

 

four points of preparation that preceded Elisha’s empowering by the Spirit.

 

A) Each stop represented a significant place in Israel’s History – Significant thing happened

 

B) The Holy Spirit has recorded for us these four points of preparation that lead us to the place of not only having the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit having us.

 

C) That is what we truly desire, for that is when we become radical and powerful witnesses for Jesus.

 

D) Let’s examine these places where Elisha was Prepared For Power

 

Stop  #1   GILGAL The Place Of Purification

A) The children of Israel were in slavery in Egypt for 400 years.

 

B) God raised up a deliverer in the person of Moses.

1) Plagues / Red sea / Kadesh – spies Josh & Caleb

   

C) 40 yrs of wandering - Whole first Generation died off in the Desert

 

D) Joshua was to lead the new Generation into the land of Promise

When that new generation was raised up they were permitted to cross over into the Promised Land.

A) The first place that they came to was Gilgal.

 

B) The Lord told them to STOP at Gilgal.

1) Something they needed to do.

 

C) Before they entered into any battles, or laid claim to any of the land, they were to be circumcised.

1) You see, this entire generation of Israelites had grown up in the wilderness without being circumcised.

 

D) Circumcision speaks of the putting off the flesh.

The Bible speaks of 3 areas of our lives where we need to be circumcised

 

     1.) Our ears (Jer. 6:10; Acts 7:51) - What we hear.

     2.) Our lips (Ex. 6:12) - What we say.

     3.) Our heart (Deut. 10:16) - How we love.

 

If we are not careful we can get to the point where these areas are hardened and carnal.

A) We can get to the place where the hearing of the Word of God is affected.... it bores us.

 

B) The words that we speak are no longer edifying, but cynical, doubtful, quenching.

 

C) The heart is no longer tender towards Jesus nor full of love for man.

 

Gilgal teaches us that there is a need to be Emptied Before we are  Filled

A)The FIRST point of preparation was Gilgal..... The cutting away of the flesh.

 

B) was it PAINFUL? Yes. But it was NEEDFUL.

 

APPLICATION: IF I am going to FILLED with the Spirit, THEN the Lord is going to work to EMPTY me of my flesh.

 

C) There are too many people who are preoccupied with being filled when in reality they need to be emptied.

 

D) Because the flesh has grown over areas that were once tender and sensitive to the Spirit.

 

Stop #2 BETHEL   The Place Of Realization

A)Isaac had two twin sons – Jacob and Esau

 

B) Esau came out first – Jacob 2nd with his hand attached to Esau’s heel – “come back” get in here

 

C) The name Jacob means heel catcher – conniver

1) The mark of his life

 

D) Tricks Esau into giving him the birthright and then he proceeds to steal the blessing

1) Esau is ticked – Jacob runs for his life – Stops that night – Rock for a pillow

That night God revealed Himself to Jacob. When he awoke the next morning Jacob declared: Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. Genesis 28:16

A) Why didn’t Jacob know that?

 

B) First of all, it was a desolate and barren place.

1) A place you wouldn’t expect God to Be!

 

B) 2nd Jacob was in a bad place inwardly.

1) He was conniving and deceiving. Certainly God wouldn’t be around a man like that.

 

C) But he woke up the next morning and said:

     God IS in this place.

1) And he named the place Bethel = “House of God”

 

Application

A) Maybe you feel like Jacob today.

 

B) You look at the circumstances of your life and feel like the Lord might want to bless the person behind you, 1) or give a double portion of His Spirit to the person in front of you... But He wouldn’t want to do that for me.

 

C) You might feel like you are in a wasted place..... you’ve wasted your time, your energy & your life.

1) You need to realize that the Lord wants to bless YOU today.

 

D) You need to come to that place of realization today

Realize God is in this place – He is with you – His heart is toward you today.

 

Luke 11:13

13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!" 

 

             

Stop #3  Jericho: The Place of submission

A)After Gilgal – cutting away the flesh – first battle

 Was against JERICHO

 

B) Joshua 5 General Joshua – battle strategy – runs into the commander of the Lord - 

1) Falls down and worships – Submits himself

 

C) Crazy battle plan {March 6 days - / 7th day 6 times {Shout - ……………

 

D) The Lord was saying to Joshua – will you allow me to leadwill you submit to my plan

1) However unrealistic it might seem

 

E) The power of God would only be displayed if Joshua and Israel submitted.

 

The Purpose Of  God’s Power

A) The Lord does Not give to us the power of the Spirit so that we can have a holy high, or to make us happy.

 

B) The power of the Spirit is given to us for the purpose of service and warfare.

 

    Acts 1:8

     But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

 

C) We are to take on Jerichos and reach out to people who are walled in from the love of God

1) Over come strong holds in the power of the spirit.

 

D) That means we have to be a people who are submitted to God’s plan & God’s will

1) We are willing and open vessels for Him to work in and thru

 

E) He says Go we go – He says share we share – He says do we do

1) Believing that in that moment and act of submission God will meet us with his power!

 

Jericho the place of Submission

 

         

Stop #4 JORDAN   The Place Of Expectation

A) At the end of the 40 yrs of wandering in the wilderness – the new Generation comes to the doorway of the Promise land

 

B) Major Obstacle – Jordan River at flood season

1) How would they cross?

 

C) Interesting that their elders in the first Generation came to a similar cross road – Red Sea

1) There God – said to Moses – stretch out your staff and I will part the waters

 

D) This time God chooses a different method

 

Priest bearing the ark- get their feet wet!

A) Believing that as soon as they stepped into the water it was going to part

 

B) Step out in faith – with an expectation that God was going to work

1) So As the put their feet into the water they expected the waters to part.

 

C) They didn’t stand on the edge of the banks & say: “Lord, you part the waters and then we’ll see if we feel like stepping in.”

 

D) They stepped in FIRST and then they experienced the parting of the waters.

 

We remember the story of Naaman (2 Kings 5:1), the captain of the armies of Syria.

A) He was a mighty soldier but he was dying of leprosy.

 

B) He too found the Jordan to be a place of expectation.

 

Read 2 Kings 5:10-14

 

C) He was reluctant to dip in the Jordan, but he did it EXPECTING to be healed.

1) Expecting God To Deliver him!

 

IF you are desiring to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, THEN you must come to the place of expectation.

A) You must come to the place of saying: “Yes Lord, I’m putting my feet in the water”.


B) You must come to the place of saying: “yes Lord, I’ll dip seven times if necessary.”

 

C) The All Important Element Of Faith

1) Expecting God to fill and empower is what is needed to receive from God.

 

Hebrews 11:6

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

Do you believe that God is desiring to give you power from on high? Empower your walk / Service / War

A) IF you do, THEN you will come to Him EXPECTING Him to deliver.

 

B) Now one more thing we want to see and then we will be done – Back to 2 Kings 2

 

C) Take note that at every step of the way Elijah asked Elisha: “Are you sure you want to keep going? Why don’t you just stay here?”

 

D) There were even sons of the prophets who tried to discourage Elisha.

 

 

You know what there are still those who try to

discourage believers from letting the Holy Spirit

have more and more of their life.

A)Fanatical

 

B) Follow this program

 

C) Program but no power

 

Power of God for a new year ?

Ask the Lord to take YOU to

 

1.) Gilgal - The place of purification {Flesh & Sin – Cut away

 

2.) Bethel - The place of realization (God is with us at all times)

 

3.) Jericho - The place of Submission:

 

4.) Jordan - The place of expectation:

 

 

Step out in faith at the command of God!