So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth:
and Elijah passed over unto him, and cast his mantle upon him.
And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, 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 from following him, and took the 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.
And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah by a whirlwind into heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.
And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel. And Elisha said, 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.
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 near 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 here, I pray thee; for the Lord hath sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on.
And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by the Jordan.
And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.
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 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, which 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 chariots 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 the Jordan.
And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither; and Elisha went over.
And when the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho over against him saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.
Last time when we were here together, we shared on the life and ministry of the prophet Elijah. We touched upon a little of that tremendous life and ministry of the prophet Elijah.
This time, I think we would like to continue with the life and ministry of the prophet Elisha, because you cannot separate these two men: Elijah and Elisha, and their ministry.
The ministry of Elijah is more on the side of judgment, and therefore of death. The ministry of Elisha is more on the side of grace, and therefore it is life—resurrection.
You find, when God works, this is the order. Usually, you will find that He will first come in judgment. He will first bring us to death. But that is not the end. It will be continued with grace, that will lift us out of death into resurrection, into life.
So you cannot divide the ministries of these two men, because they form one ministry.
I think it is very clear to understand this, because when Elijah retreated into Mount Horeb, you remember God sent him back. God gave him three missions to fulfill. He was to go back to anoint Hazael as king of Syria, to anoint Jehu as king of Israel, and to anoint Elisha as the prophet who would succeed him.
But if you read the record, you will find Elijah did go to find Elisha and put his mantle upon him. But he never anointed Hazael, nor did he anoint Jehu. The anointing of these two men as kings was done by Elisha. Therefore, you find these two ministries are one, not two.
Elijah went back. The first thing he did was go to find Elisha. Now, where was Elisha?
If you read 1 Kings 19:16:
And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
Abel-meholah was in the valley of the Jordan. So Elisha was in the Jordan Valley. He must have been one of the seven thousand who had not bowed their knees to Baal. He was one of those who were faithful to the Lord in a time of falling away and decline.
You know, the very name Elisha means, “Whose salvation is God.” Elijah means, “Whose God is the Lord.” Elisha means, “Whose salvation is God.” Elisha must have been among those seven thousand who waited for the salvation of the Lord.
There Elijah went to find him, to anoint him as prophet. When Elijah found him, what was Elisha doing? He was plowing the field.
He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he was with the twelfth. You know, when a person plows the field, usually he plows with a yoke of oxen—that is to say, with two oxen yoked together. But Elisha was of such energy that, when Elijah found him, he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he was with the twelfth.
The calling of God is always sovereign. Whomever God desires to call, He calls. It is the prerogative of God.
But when God calls, there needs to be a corresponding condition in that person to respond to that call. The condition within the person does not initiate the call; God initiates. But the condition within the person substantiates the call.
That is the reason why you find in Scripture, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” God’s call comes to many, but not many are chosen. The reason is that in many there is not that condition within them to respond to the call and thus be chosen.
So when God’s call came to Elisha, you find he was there plowing in the field. Certainly, Elisha, being one of those seven thousand who waited for the salvation of the Lord, being one of those who trusted the Lord, must have desired to see the nation of Israel restored to God.
Elisha must have been one who was expecting God to do something among His own people. Or, to put it in another way, Elisha must have been among those who had presented themselves, as it were, to God. If the Lord would use him for His purpose, he was willing and ready.
And yet, we find him plowing in the field.
You know, oftentimes we think that waiting to be used by God and plowing in the fields are contradictory to each other. If a person really has a heart toward God and wants to give himself to God, that God may use him as an instrument for God’s purpose, now, we think such a person needs to prepare himself.
In what way? Either he has to go to a school of prophets—because at that time there were schools of prophets—or, if he did not go into a school of prophets, at least he should stay at home and spend all his time studying the Bible, praying, and preparing himself.
Now, that is the way we think a person should be prepared for the Lord. To plow the field? That is contradictory.
But here you find a man whose heart was before the Lord. He was prepared. He was ready. And yet, at the same time, he was not sitting at home idling his time away. He was plowing the field.
And the way he plowed was with twelve yoke of oxen. In other words, he put his whole heart into the plowing. He was so diligent. When he did a thing, he did it thoroughly.
Well, we may think that if a person puts his heart into an earthly occupation, certainly he will not have the energy to be prepared before the Lord. But to a person whose heart is perfect toward the Lord, there is no difference whether you go to the school of prophets or whether you are plowing. These are all preparations for the Lord.
There is no difference between things sacred and things secular. Here you find Elisha: before God called him, he was ready. But how did he prepare himself? He prepared himself upon the field, and he did it wholeheartedly, as unto the Lord.
In other words, there was a character there. God is looking for certain character in us. If He can find such character in us, He can use us.
Oftentimes we think that, to serve the Lord, the most important thing is this: if you are gifted, if you are talented, if you have a dynamic personality, if you have charisma, then certainly the Lord can use you.
But what the Lord is looking for in us is character. If God can find certain character that corresponds to Him, these are the people He can use. And character is developed through the years.
The most important thing in being prepared before the Lord is to have our character developed. We often say God never calls a lazy person to serve Him.
Whenever God’s call comes to a person, you find that person is busily occupied. When the Lord called Peter, he was casting the net. When the Lord called the two sons of Zebedee, they were mending the nets. When the Lord called Matthew, he was attending the customs office. When the Lord called Saul of Tarsus, he was persecuting the Christians.
They were all busily occupied. God has no need for laziness. Our God is a diligent God.
So here you find Elisha preparing himself before the Lord. Even though he was occupied with earthly tasks, he was plowing the field and putting his whole heart into it as unto the Lord. And this is a condition that meets God’s eyes.
Dear brothers and sisters, if we have a heart for the Lord, if we desire to be used of the Lord, how are we to prepare ourselves?
The best thing is this: wherever God puts you, in whatever situation God has put you, do it as unto the Lord—diligently and wholeheartedly—because there is no distinction between things sacred and things secular.
And here you find Elijah. He did not talk to Elisha. He just came to Elisha and put his mantle upon him. Of course, the mantle of a prophet is the sign of his prophetic ministry. So when Elijah put his mantle upon Elisha, Elisha understood.
There was no argument. There was no hesitation. There was no reservation. There was no questioning. Elisha was ready. He was expecting it, as it were. Immediately, he left the oxen and went to Elijah.
Then he said, “Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee.” And Elijah said, “Go back again; for what have I done to thee?”
You remember in Luke 9, a disciple came to the Lord and said, “Lord, I am going to follow You, but let me go back and say goodbye to my parents, and then I will come.” You remember how the Lord said, “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Was Elisha doing the same thing? “Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee.” And Elijah said, “You go back. What have I done to thee?”
Outwardly, you find these two instances appear to be the same, but inwardly they are different. To the disciple in Luke 9, when he said, “Let me go back and say farewell to my parents,” you find that he was attached to an earthly relationship. He was reluctant. There was a hesitation. There was a reservation there.
He was not able to cut loose. He was not able to forsake all and follow the Lord. Therefore, the Lord said, “If you put your hand upon the plow and look back, you are not fit for the kingdom of God.”
But when Elisha said this, so far as his heart was concerned, there was nothing that could tie him down. He was ready to leave everything.
You know, sometimes when you start to plow, in the beginning you think, “Well, why should I be plowing? I should be prophesying.” But after a while, when you put your whole heart into the plowing, you begin to love it. And when the call comes, you cannot leave the ground.
But not Elisha. He left the oxen and went immediately to Elijah. In other words, there was nothing that could tie him down. He was ready to forsake everything and follow. But he said, “Let me go back and kiss my father and my mother.”
Do you know, it is not difficult for people who do not love their parents to leave their parents. There is no cross there. But for people who really love their parents, to kiss goodbye to their parents, there is a cross. There is the denying of self, the taking up of the cross, and following the Lord.
Elisha must have been one who loved his parents dearly, but he was ready to kiss them goodbye. In other words, his leaving everything behind was absolute and firm. There was to be no looking back.
You know, in history there is such a story. If you have read the story of the great reformer Martin Luther, you know that he was at one time a professor. But he was deeply convicted of his sin, and he was seeking for the salvation of the Lord.
One night he gathered his friends together and had a party in his place. They played musical instruments, they sang, and they had a good time together. After all his friends left, you know what he did? He got up, went to an Augustinian monastery, knocked at the door, and asked to be accepted. That was his farewell to the world.
The same thing was true here. You remember how Matthew said farewell to the world? After the Lord called him out of the customs office, he made a feast. He invited all his old friends to come and meet his new Master. That was his farewell to his old world.
And Elisha said his farewell to his old life. He took the oxen, killed them, used the yoke and the implements as fuel to boil the oxen, and let all his friends have the meat. Then he left and ministered to Elijah.
Dear brothers and sisters, the call must be responded to in forsaking all and following the Lord.
Every time in the Bible, you find that when the Lord calls, the only response is forsaking all and following Him. You either forsake all and follow, or you stay put. There is no middle ground.
Elisha was called to be a prophet. We may not all be called to be prophets. According to Ephesians 4, God gave to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ.
We are not all called to be prophets. Nevertheless, we are all called to serve the Lord. We are all called to serve the Lord in various capacities, according to God’s pleasure.
But do you know that the call to serve is also a call to discipleship? When Elisha was called to be a prophet, you know what happened? He left all, followed Elijah, and ministered to Elijah. In other words, he served Elijah.
The call to serve and the call to discipleship go together. You cannot serve without first being a disciple.
Even when our Lord Jesus was on earth, He called the twelve apostles. But before He sent them out, they were with Him. They learned, and then He sent them out.
Oftentimes we have a desire to serve the Lord, but we do not have much interest in being discipled to Christ. And when the call of discipleship comes, the only answer to the call is forsaking all and following.
Now, of course, Peter forsook everything and followed the Lord. But that did not mean that he would not take care of his family anymore. You find Peter still had the boat. When the Lord used his boat, the Lord paid him back with two boatloads of fish.
He still had his wife, and he traveled around with his wife. He even had his mother-in-law in his home and took care of his mother-in-law. So we say, “Peter, did you not forsake everything and follow the Lord? You left the boat and you left everything. Why is it that you still have all these things?”
Well, the point is this: forsaking is basically a matter of the heart. Outwardly, there may be such a forsaking, depending on how the Lord needs you. But so far as the heart is concerned, there must be a forsaking of all.
If there is not a forsaking of all, you cannot follow the Lord, because you will just follow as much as pleases you. You cannot follow the Lord all the way. If you want to follow the Lamb whithersoever He goes, the Lamb goes to the cross, and there you have to go.
Therefore, you find that one condition for answering the call of discipleship is to forsake all and follow the Lord. But who can do it? Nobody can. Only the Lord.
It is the Lord, in His grace; it is His love that will enable us to forsake all and follow Him.
Elisha answered the call. He was called to be a prophet. But did he prophesy?
For a number of years, he was with Elijah. What did he do? You find an expression in the Bible: “Here is Elisha the son of Shaphat, who poured water on the hands of Elijah.”
Now, I do not know whether the Jews at that time ate with their hands or not. When I was in India, you know, in India they ate with their hands—of course, the right hand, not the left. After you eat, your hand is oily, so you need someone to pour water on your hand to wash it.
That is the way it is done in India. You either go to a faucet and let the water run, or somebody pours water on your hand and lets your hand be clean.
And Elisha, after he left the field and followed Elijah, you know what he did all those years? He never uttered one word of prophecy. All he did was pour water on the hands of Elijah.
He ministered to Elijah. He served Elijah as a servant. He did all these manual works. I wonder if Elisha began to wonder, “I am called to be a prophet. I am not called to pour water. I had a bigger job plowing the fields than pouring water. I have been downgraded.”
But that is discipleship. Dear brothers and sisters, unless we are willing to be discipled unto Christ, unless we are willing to do small things—insignificant things—faithfully, joyfully, cheerfully, as unto the Lord, we will never prophesy. We will never be able to fulfill our special calling.
Those years that Elisha was with Elijah, he was there all the time just serving Elijah. One word can sum up those years, and the word is: follow. Follow.
All he did was follow. Wherever Elijah went, he went.
In 2 Kings 2, you have the last journey of Elijah. The last journey of Elijah sums up the whole course of Elijah’s walk with God. Elijah walked with God, and out of that walk came out that prophetic ministry.
His walk with God could be summed up in this last journey: starting from Gilgal, going to Bethel, then on to Jericho, and finally crossing the River Jordan. After the River Jordan was crossed, he was taken up. That was his walk with God. And you know what Elisha did? Elisha followed him.
Many times Elijah wanted to shake him off, to test him, but he would not be shaken off. He said, “As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.” Wherever you go, I go. That is following.
Brothers and sisters, do we follow the Lord in this manner?
Gilgal is a painful place, because there the children of Israel received circumcision. Bethel is a pleasant place: the gate of heaven, the house of God. Jericho is a place of battle or conflict. Jordan is a place of death.
You find, in our walk with God, we go through all kinds of experiences. Sometimes you are led to Gilgal. Other times you come to Bethel. At times you are at Jericho, and at other times you may have to go through Jordan.
Our walk with God is composed of many various kinds of experiences. But can we say, “Where You go, I go”? Or do we stop short somewhere?
But that was not Elisha. Elisha followed Elijah all the way and could not be shaken off. “I stay with you.” And because he followed Elijah in such a way, he was confirmed as the prophet who would succeed Elijah.
After they crossed the River Jordan, then Elijah said to Elisha, “Ask what I shall do for thee before I am taken away from thee.”
You know, brothers and sisters, in our prayer meetings, or even in our private prayer, we often quote that verse in Matthew 7:7:
Ask, and it shall be given you;
seek, and ye shall find;
knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
We often use this verse in our prayer. But do we have the experience that sometimes we ask and there is nothing? Sometimes we seek and we do not find. Sometimes we knock and the door is not opened. Do you wonder why? Is the promise of God lacking somewhere?
Well, brothers and sisters, we often use Scripture out of context. You know where this verse is? This verse is in the so-called Sermon on the Mount. And the Sermon on the Mount is addressed not to the world, but to the disciples of the Lord.
In other words, if you are discipled to Christ, then you have this privilege of asking, and it shall be given to you. Why? Because you will ask according to His will.
If you are not discipled to Christ, you will ask amiss. You will ask according to your selfish reason and purpose. And how can God answer you?
So not until Elisha followed Elijah all the way to the end did Elijah say, “Ask what you want.” And Elisha was well prepared.
You know, sometimes if the Lord says, “Now, what do you want?” we do not know what we want. But Elisha was well prepared. When Elijah said, “Now ask whatever you want,” Elisha said, “Give me a double portion of thy spirit.”
And Elijah said, “Thou hast asked a hard thing. I cannot give it to you. But if you see me taken away, it shall be so; if you fail to see me taken away, then you will not have it.”
As they were walking and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire came and separated these two men. Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind, and Elisha saw it. He said, “My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof!”
He rent his own garments, took up the mantle that fell down, and that was it.
Elisha said, “Give me a double portion of thy spirit.” Well, was Elisha so ambitious that he wanted to be greater than his master, Elijah? “Elijah, you have only one portion of your spirit; I want two, so I will be greater than you are.”
Now, if that was the case, he was very ambitious and selfish. He was asking something for himself.
But having followed Elijah for those years, having learned much of the Lord, certainly Elisha was not asking anything selfish for himself. He asked for a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. So our question is: what is the spirit of Elijah?
You remember Luke 1. John the Baptist shall come in the spirit and power of Elijah. He shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just. He shall prepare the way of the Lord.
And later on, the Lord said of John the Baptist, “Elijah has already come.” If you receive him, that is John the Baptist, because he came in the spirit and power of Elijah.
Now, what is the spirit of Elijah? You know, dear brothers and sisters, we all have a spirit, right? A human spirit—not the Holy Spirit, but a human spirit. God created your human spirit.
Here is our body. Within the body is our soul, and within the soul is our spirit. So our spirit is in the most hidden part of our being. Being so deep within us, oftentimes we do not know that we have a spirit.
And certainly people rarely touch our spirit. Especially in our modern society, we have developed such an art of hiding ourselves that actually we can be together for years and never know each other. We are pretending all the time.
We know each other physically; if we know each other more deeply, maybe we know some thoughts, some emotions, some personalities. But so far as our spirit is concerned, it is very deep within us. It is hidden, and it is very elusive.
We cannot bear to be that honest. That is true, because if you are, you will suffer for it. People will take advantage of you.
But where is our spirit? The spirit is the real “I.” But where is the real heart? When does it come out? When will people touch that? Unfortunately, to most people, you can touch that spirit when he is angry.
When a person is angry, he forgets himself, so his spirit comes out. And oftentimes you find the spirit is ugly. It is an ugly spirit.
And in the case of Elijah, what is the spirit of Elijah? When did you see his spirit really come out? His spirit came out when he complained before God.
You know, after that great victory on Mount Carmel, he thought, “Now the whole nation of Israel will be returned to God. Certainly God has used me to do something that has never been done before. What a victory!”
Then Jezebel sent word and said, “Tomorrow at this time, I want your life.” Suddenly he became frightened. He rose up and fled.
If he had merely fled to the nation of Judah, he would have been safe. He would have been out of the control of Jezebel and Ahab. But he left his servant there and continued on to the desert. He walked forty days and forty nights until he came to Mount Horeb.
On the way he complained to God. He said, “I am very jealous for the Lord, and yet You do not help me. I am the only one left, and they want to kill me. It is hopeless. It is useless.”
And after he arrived upon Horeb, God came, and he did the same thing. He said, “I have been very jealous for You, and yet nothing happened.” He was bitter. He was angry. He was disappointed—really disappointed—with God and with himself too.
It was at that time that you find his spirit came out. What is the spirit of Elijah? Even though he was complaining, that spirit was this: the zeal of the Lord had consumed him.
He was a person who was jealous for God. He was a person who was so jealous for the rights of God among His own people. That was the one thing that consumed him: the zeal of the Lord. That was his life. That was his spirit.
In the New Testament, when our Lord cleansed the temple, drove out the merchants, overturned the tables of the money changers, and told those people to get out, the Bible says:
Zeal for thy house shall eat me up.
That is the spirit of our Lord.
You remember the two sons of Zebedee. One day our Lord Jesus was going from Galilee to Judea, to Jerusalem. As He was passing through Samaria, the villagers would not receive Him because His face was toward Jerusalem. They wanted nothing to do with the Jews.
The two sons of Zebedee came to the Lord and said, “Lord, do You want us to do what Elijah did? Shall we call down fire from heaven and burn these villagers up?”
And the Lord said, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.” Quite true, yes, but not the spirit of the Lord. The Lord was going to Jerusalem to die.
Brothers and sisters, what is the spirit of Elijah? The spirit of Elijah is the spirit of zeal, zealousness, and jealousy. That is the spirit of Elijah.
Because of that spirit within him, oh, how Elijah suffered. It would have been much easier if he did not have that spirit. He could have hidden himself somewhere and lived his life peacefully. But with that kind of spirit, he could not.
He had to face Ahab. He had to face the whole nation. He had to face the hatred of Jezebel. He had to go through suffering, persecution, disappointment, discouragement—everything. Why? Because the spirit of Elijah is the spirit of zeal for the Lord.
Asking for a double portion is asking for double trouble.
Elisha was not asking for something for himself, that he might be great. No. As Elisha followed Elijah, the spirit of Elijah had already come upon Elisha. He asked for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. In other words, he wanted to be literally burned up by the zeal of the Lord.
What a prayer it was. Elijah could not answer that prayer. Only God could answer his prayer.
Dear brothers and sisters, do we have the spirit of Elijah?
When we see the rights of God being resisted, ignored, or not respected among His own people, how do we feel? Do we feel as if nothing has happened, or do we literally burn up?
Oh, if we have a double portion of the spirit! Elisha was asking for trouble, not for ease and comfort. He was not asking anything for himself. He was asking for God.
Why? Elijah had worked tremendously, but the nation did not return. Only outwardly did they worship. God’s rights were still despised, and Elisha wanted to finish that work. He was ready to suffer whatever it might be.
And Elijah laid down one condition: “If you see me taken up, you shall have it.”
You know, brothers and sisters, how can we function according to the call of God in our various capacities? We may be called, but that calling needs to be confirmed.
And the confirmation is based upon what kind of spirit we have. Do we have the spirit of Elijah? Do we have the spirit of Elisha? If we have that kind of spirit, the confirmation is there.
But we need to see one thing. We need to see the Lord ascended upon high, seated at the right hand of the Father.
Elisha would not receive what he asked unless he saw Elijah taken up. We will not receive the double portion of such a spirit unless we see the Lord at the right hand of the Father.
You find in the book of Acts, when the Lord ascended upon high, the disciples were looking up, but they only saw Him taken. But the Lord reached heaven. Why? Because on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured forth.
And Peter and the eleven said, “This is that which ye see and hear.” It testified to one thing: that God had made Christ both Lord and Christ.
Brothers and sisters, how can we receive a confirmation of a calling? When the Lord opens our eyes to see that He is not only the crucified One; He is the One in glory. He is the Lord in glory.
When you see the Lord in glory, then the Holy Spirit is poured forth. You receive a double portion of that spirit.
So Elisha had his calling confirmed. You remember Peter says, “Make your calling and election sure.” You are called, yes, but make it sure, that we may not only be called, but be chosen.
So Elisha rent his own garments and put on the mantle of Elijah. When he came back, everybody knew that the spirit of Elijah rested upon Elisha.
So, dear brothers and sisters, may we learn from the life of Elisha. We are all called to serve.
But in order that we may serve, number one, we need first to be discipled to Christ—not to man, but to Christ.
And then, secondly, we need to follow until we see the Lord in glory. Then we shall be filled with a double portion. The zeal of the Lord shall consume us. And only then are we able to function as we should.
Our Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee for Thy servant Elisha. We do thank Thee that he was a ready vessel, that he was willing to forsake all, and that he was willing to follow to the very end.
He asked nothing but a double portion of the spirit of Elijah, that he might serve Thee. O Lord, we pray that the same spirit may characterize all of us here, because Thou art One who ought to be served, and there is much that needs to be done.
We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.