2 Kings 2:1-14

Speaker 1: Take your Bibles if you have them and turn to the Book of Second Kings. Second, Kings chapter number two is where we're going to be tonight. And before you stand, I want to say thanks to brother Jerry came in early this morning to help get the parking lot and the sidewalks all salted. And I was just glad that somebody thought ahead to buy salt before the first winter weather showed up and we had plenty of it in the garage. So that was good and glad that we were able to get that ready for the services this morning. And I appreciate his help there. If you say, well, hey, I'd like to help with something like that, just see Brother Jerry, give them your phone number and let them know if you ever need help. Give me a call. Many of you have already done that. But just talk to him. He'll be glad to get you hooked up with opportunities to serve in that way, if that's something that you would be interested in. One of the things that I've been dealing with my own mind is the understanding that not everyone gets the same thing out of like sitting in a group, a Sunday school class or sitting through a lecture. Some people are more fulfilled and receive a greater blessing out of service opportunities. And so we want to make sure that folks are connected with service opportunities as well as opportunities to sit and learn and interact with others. But anyways, appreciate everyone that has a part in preparing the facilities for the services and even working in the team room. The new teen room is coming along wonderfully. They got all of the walls painted this last week and so tomorrow morning, rather slick. That's it's actually Clyde. But he doesn't let people know that. But Slick is going to be back here tomorrow morning, putting in the drop ceiling and so moving along and excited to have that coming together, hopefully. I don't know. Maybe, you know, by the end of February, the teens will be meeting up there and excited for that. And I think I told you on Wednesday, in case you weren't here, but our playground is in production. It should be finished on January 29th. Then three or four days of shipping will get here to the Tulsa area. They will assemble it there in their warehouse to make sure all the parts are there. And then they will schedule the time for us to have it installed here on our property. And they are looking at middle of March to be able to do that. So pray for warmer weather in March so we can go try it out. By we I mean, me, you know, we're going to go down those big slides that are on there anyways excited for all those things. Second things Chapter two, if you're there, please join me in standing in honor of reading God's

Speaker 5: Word

Speaker 1: Sinkings Chapter two verse number one. The Bible says, and it came to pass when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind that Elijah went with Elijah from Gilgil. Elijah said Unto Elijah Terry here I prayed for the Lord has sent me to Bethel. Elijah said it to him as Lord Leviton, as thy soul live. I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel and the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth. To Alicia said under him notes that the Lord will take away the I.M. from thy head today. He said, Yeah, I know it. Hold your peace. I just said on him, like Terry here, I pray the Lord has sent me to Jericho. He said as the Lord, Lilith, as thy soul live it, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. Sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to L.A. and sent him no doubt that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today. He answered, Yeah,

Speaker 5: I know it.

Speaker 1: Hold your peace. Like you said on him, Terry, I pray thee here, Lord has sent me to Jordan. He said his lord live it and as thy soul Earth, I will not leave thee.

Speaker 5: They too went on.

Speaker 1: Fifty men of the sons of the prophets went stood the view of far off. These two stood by Jordan. Elijah took his mantel and wrapped it together and smoked the waters. They were divided hither and thither so that they too went over on dry ground. Came to pass. We're going over that, Elijah selling to Elijah. Ask what I shall do for thee before I'd be taken away from the. She said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said Dow has asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, they'll see me when I am taken from the. It shall be so. But if not, shall not be so. Came to pass as they still went on and talked.

Speaker 5: Behold, there

Speaker 1: appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire parted them both asunder. And Elijah went

Speaker 5: up by a whirlwind into heaven. Alicia saw it,

Speaker 1: he cried, my father, my father, chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.

Speaker 5: Saw him no more.

Speaker 1: Took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, went back, stood by the Bank of Jordan. He took the mantle of a legend that fell from him and smoke the waters and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? When he also had spit in the waters, they parted hither and thither and Alicia went over.

Speaker 5: Let's pray.

Speaker 1: Early, father, we think for this day think the opportunity we have to be together here at your house. What I pray that you'd help me to have the right words to say help the folks that are here to listen, apply through here to their lives. It's in Jesus name. I pray.

Speaker 5: Amen. Maybe see seated. So.

Speaker 1: We've already killed Ahab, and it's time for the end of Elijah's life as well. Of course, you can't say that we're going to kill Elijah tonight because

Speaker 5: Elijah doesn't die.

Speaker 1: So not quite the same ending, but we've looked at this passage before together. But the last time we looked at this passage, we looked at it from the the lens of the framework of it being the beginning or near the beginning of Elijah's ministry, the transition from Elijah to elation. So we saw it as kind of the kickoff of the Ministry of Elation. I don't know how many of you remember the series that we did on the life of Elijah, but one of the things that we noticed about Elijah was how different he was from Elijah in that he was very steady no matter what was going on in his life, no matter what challenges he was facing, no matter what successes he was experiencing, Elijah was very even keeled.

Speaker 5: If you've been

Speaker 1: with us for any length of our study on Elijah, however, you know that Elijah was not quite so

Speaker 5: steady.

Speaker 1: He was a very emotional being. There were times where Elijah was experiencing great heights of of accomplishment and success and feeling very valuable. But then there were also times of Great Depression and discouragement in Elijah's life, where he felt like he was a failure. He felt like he might as well be killed by the Lord because there was just no more value in his life. And so Elijah had quite quite quite a few drastic swings throughout his life between the good times and what he considered to be the bad times. And so here we are at the very end of Elijah's ministry as he and his servant, Elijah are making their way from Gilgil to the Jordan River. And Elijah is dutifully following his master from place to place. This is the first time that we see Elijah mentioned again after his calling, which is what you would want for a minister. A servant is that they would be almost anonymous and that they would make sure that their master was getting all of the attention in the recognition. There's a great lesson for us there as servants and ministers of the most high God, wouldn't you agree? OK, it's not about us getting the attention, it's all about him. We want to make him look better, not ourselves. Now, as we look at these passages, these verses, I want you to follow along, but I want you to hold to assumptions in your mind. You can accept these assumptions or you can reject them. It's totally up to you. But this this is the direction that I'm approaching this from. Number one, I have the assumption that Elijah throughout this passage knows his time on Earth is almost over. Perhaps God has given him direct revelation say, Hey, you're going to take this journey and and that's going to be it. Maybe he just feels the onset of age. He feels his ministry winding down. But whatever the case, I believe Elijah knows his time on Earth is almost over. And the second assumption is related to that. I also believe that Elijah suspects that his master's time on Earth will soon expire. And so in verse number one, they they start in Gilgil and and there are some things that take place. Elijah says to Elijah that he wants him to stay in Gill Gal because God is sending him on to the city of Bethel. Now, go back in your minds with me to win. Elijah was asking God to kill him. What was one of the things that Elijah believed that caused him to be so discouraged? He believed that he was what

Speaker 5: the only person

Speaker 1: that was left serving

Speaker 5: God. You remember that

Speaker 1: he believed that that that he and he

Speaker 5: alone had not

Speaker 1: bent his knee

Speaker 5: to bail. But what do we

Speaker 1: see as he goes from city to city to city? In this passage, as we were reading?

Speaker 5: Well, who does he find? Sons of the prophets.

Speaker 1: Now, we know that Obadiah had been used by God to save some of the sons of the prophets in caves and fed them from Ahab's table. I have to believe that here towards the end of Elijah's life, God is allowing him to see some of the fruit of his faithfulness to God, and that as he goes from city to city to city, he is looking and seeing these different schools, these groups of prophets and teachers of the law that had been trained, maybe young, maybe young men, maybe some older men that had walked with him and learned from him throughout his ministry. But he is not the only one anymore. Now, why would Elijah ask Elijah to stay in Gill Gal as he went on to Bethel?

Speaker 5: Well, it could

Speaker 1: be that Elijah, who spent most of his ministry by himself, wanted to spend his final moments on the Earth

Speaker 5: alone. All of the parents that are

Speaker 1: here can understand. That desire. I mean, as great as it is to have a to following you along and helping you out, sometimes you just want some time to yourself. So perhaps he wanted some final alone time communing with the Lord.

Speaker 5: It could be,

Speaker 1: though I don't believe it's likely that Elijah wanted to test his loyalty. I believe Elijah has proved his loyalty before this. But what is likely is that Elijah, though he knows his time, is short. He does not know that God has revealed to Elijah what was going to happen. And perhaps Elijah is slightly embarrassed about what is awaiting him. How many people in the Bible do we know of that got to go to heaven without dying?

Speaker 5: One. To. Three. For. OK.

Speaker 1: Really, really, I saw you do this before I thought your telling me piece out, I'm out of here. But it brother Willie knows the answer, surely. No, that's I'm sorry.

Speaker 5: Yeah. To. Enoch and Elijah. This is a great privilege.

Speaker 1: I mean, this is it is kind of embarrassing that that you would be selected that God would allow you

Speaker 5: to

Speaker 1: not have to die.

Speaker 5: I mean, let's be honest, if we are the generation that gets to go to heaven in the Rapture.

Speaker 1: You know, I think some of those that, you know, died before are going to be given us the side when we get there.

Speaker 5: You know, look at you. You know, I got there, I had to die. How'd you get here? Was translated in a moment

Speaker 1: in the twinkling of an eye, we were at church and then we were here pool.

Speaker 5: Yeah, lucky dog. Whatever the reason,

Speaker 1: Elijah doesn't want Elijah to come. But Elijah refuses to abandon the man that he had served for the last several years. So together, the men travel on to Bethel in Bethel. Verse number three is when we see the prophets that were there. Sons of the prophets doesn't mean they were all like teenagers or little kids. They're students as they're students that are also practicing what they're learning. They're going out and teaching. And there were sons of the prophets approach Elijah as they enter the town, and they ask him if he knows what will happen to his master. And so you see here, it says in verse number three, notes thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today. So you see, there is this understanding that Elijah is not long for the Earth. And so Elijah says, Well, yes, obviously,

Speaker 5: if you

Speaker 1: know about it, don't you think I know about it? I mean, I'm the guy that's walking with this dude. Everywhere we go. Yes, I know that God is going to take him away. The brisk ness in Elijah's answer reveals to us that he does have a pretty good handle on what's going to happen. And so then he rebukes them and he orders them to hold their peace.

Speaker 5: We don't talk like that anymore. So be quiet, something a little harsher. But wouldn't it be nice, you know,

Speaker 1: if you were to say, hold your peace? You know, people didn't just laugh at you like they actually took you seriously. I know it. Hold your peace. Then here comes Elijah approaching election again. He tells him, Terry, here, I pray thee for the Lord had sent me to Jericho. Elijah has the same response as Lord Leviton as thy soul living.

Speaker 5: I will not leave the.

Speaker 1: They, too, went

Speaker 5: on to Jericho.

Speaker 1: Now, Jericho, verse number five, whole episode repeats itself. Coming to Town, why just going to go visit the school of the prophets, the sons of the prophets that are there? Give them his last words of instruction and advice and counsel before they they leave. No doubt he's going to thank them for their service to the Lord. Encourage them to continue on in their service to the Lord and the sons of the prophets come to Elijah again, and they say, No, it's not. The Lord will take away thy master from thy head today, he answered. Yeah, I know it. Hold your peace.

Speaker 5: So. They travel on this time to Jordan.

Speaker 1: But this time they're not alone.

Speaker 5: When they left

Speaker 1: Bethel to go to Jericho, nobody followed them. But as they leave Jericho to go to Jordan, the Bible tells us that 50 men, verse number seven, 50 men follow them, standing afar off to see what's going to happen. And this is kind of a humorous picture if you try to visualize it. You've got Elijah and Elisha walking down the road towards the Jordan River and way off in the distance behind them. There's 50 men following them. These are the social media creepers of today's world. You know, the ones who are always looking at your stuff but never liking or commenting or interacting with you. They're the ones who like to see what everybody else is doing, but they don't ever put anything on themselves. You guys are laughing, I'm thinking you must be feeling some conviction because I'm describing you on social media. These men are following to see what's going to happen in verse number seven. Elation, Elijah, they reached the Jordan River and those 50 are in for quite a show because Elijah takes his mantle off and he wraps it up together. I look at what it says. It took his mantle, wrapped it together, teenagers. I think that what that means is he makes a rat's tail out of his mantle. Have you ever made one of those? Not yet,

Speaker 5: Jonah. Sorry.

Speaker 1: OK, so you write that really tight, and then if you really want to get you wet the end of it and you tie knot in the other incident makes it looks like a sword, but it's not. It's a whip and you can really snap somebody good with that thing. Not that I'm condoning that or encouraging it, but maybe a camp this year, we'll try it out. So his he makes this this this, this this whip out of his garment after wrapping it together and he smyth's the waters, and I imagine hearing that smack, you know, when it hits and and those people 50, 50, 50 people behind them are like, what did he just do? Then they're really surprised when the waters begin to part and they start piling up on each other and moving aside so that Elijah and Elisha can walk across on dry ground and verse number eight. I love that God does this for them, because every time we hear about waters parting, it's always so that millions of people can can walk across the Red Sea or or millions of people can walk across the Jordan River. God says, I don't have to do great things just for millions of people. I can do a great and amazing thing for two people,

Speaker 5: you know, and when we think, you know, if the

Speaker 1: is really going to do something we get, we just got to get a lot of people

Speaker 5: to pray.

Speaker 1: But God doesn't hear your one prayer. Is not capable of answering your prayer if it's just you praying for it. Here he shows he's able to do something pretty significant, pretty miraculous. Just so two guys don't get their shoes wet. Our God is pretty great.

Speaker 5: We don't give him enough credit.

Speaker 1: To walk across on dry ground and as they get on the other side, like our Elijah. Speaks to Alicia again, is told him in all of these different statements. Stay here, stay here.

Speaker 5: But now he

Speaker 1: turns to me, says.

Speaker 5: What can I do for you?

Speaker 1: Before I leave, what can I do for you? Think about how this is a change, this is a shift in their relationship. What has Alicia been all these years to Elijah?

Speaker 5: As minister.

Speaker 1: I don't know, but I think it'd be a pretty safe bet that when we say we look at this in, Elijah says, Ask what I shall do for the. Probably, Alicia has said those words to Elijah in the past. He gets up in the morning, the two men and I was already up making coffee, and he says to his master,

Speaker 5: Elijah asked What I shall do for you and I will do it.

Speaker 1: And yet here is Elijah is about to be taken up into heaven. He turns to Elijah. He says,

Speaker 5: What would you like me to do for you?

Speaker 1: Isn't that something when the person who's usually receiving the ministry turns and says, Hey, how can I minister to you? Believe at this point the Sun is beginning to set, it's it's getting darker. Nighttime is approaching. And in response to Elijah's question. Elisha says this, he says, I pray thee.

Speaker 5: But a

Speaker 1: double portion of the spirit

Speaker 5: be upon me.

Speaker 1: There's a lot of speculation as to what this means, exactly. Some say that it means the show will do twice as many miracles as Elijah did. And while that is true, most commentators are quick to deny that this is the main meaning of that. Some state that Elijah's request is to be is that he would be recognized as the successor to Elijah's ministry. But that seems pretty uncharacteristic for a man who has spent his last several years as a servant. Others have said that Alicia

Speaker 5: failed to

Speaker 1: achieve the same level of success that Elijah did. And so the request was just that Eliza would receive twice as much of Elijah's spirit as the rest of the sons of the prophets. But if you think back to our study of Asia. I believe he did receive that double portion of Elijah's spirit. He had the power of God upon his life. God did use him to enact his will there in the in the country of Israel. And yet allied Shah was able to do so much of what Elijah was able to do without some of the weaknesses that we saw in Elijah's life. It's such a different personality and disposition from his predecessor.

Speaker 5: But whatever the meaning,

Speaker 1: we can look at Elijah's response to know that this is this was a valid

Speaker 5: request. Says in

Speaker 1: verse number

Speaker 5: 10, Elijah

Speaker 1: speaking. Thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if they'll see me when I am taken from the it shall be so underneath.

Speaker 5: But if not,

Speaker 1: it shall not be so. Elijah could not grant this request, this was something that was outside of his ability to perform. Elijah acknowledges it's a hard thing for him to ask this. You see, Elijah had no control over how much God would use Elijah. As I was thinking about this scene, about how perfectly this fits with Elijah's whole ministry. You see. Elijah didn't have the power to give a double portion of his spirit to Elijah any more than Elijah had the power to say to the the

Speaker 5: weather no rain for three years. That wasn't Elijah. It was God.

Speaker 1: The issue was just the the mouthpiece, Elijah had no power to stand before Ahab in the province of bail with a soaking wet altar and sacrifice sitting on it and command fire to come down. That was God. So here, Elijah has made this request. Elijah says it's it's up to God. Whether this comes true or not, this is not my gift to give. This is not in my power to grant you this request. If you would have asked for my shoes, I could have unlatched them and handed them to you. That'd be weird and gross. But hey, I could have done

Speaker 5: that

Speaker 1: if you wanted all of my earthly possessions. It's not much, but I could have given them to you.

Speaker 5: But this this

Speaker 1: isn't mine to give. So he tells them. If God wants you to have this. Then he will allow you to see.

Speaker 5: I mean, when I get taken away.

Speaker 1: You see, Elijah realized

Speaker 5: that he wasn't God. So we didn't try to be.

Speaker 1: I wonder for us, for me personally, if God allowed me to do some of the things that Elijah did. Is it possible that I might start getting a little bit of a big head?

Speaker 5: I mean, I already

Speaker 1: have a big head, it's like a seven and three quarters. You had to buy like a triple excel if you want to buy me a hat, my helmets are special ordered all that weird stuff, OK, but not talking about the physical side of my head size my head, you understand, right? Okay. I mean, if I could say.

Speaker 5: No rain.

Speaker 1: In Oklahoma for three years, unless I say so.

Speaker 5: And it really happened. I mean, how would I respond?

Speaker 1: If I was to call down fire from heaven to consume a sacrifice.

Speaker 5: How how how prideful would I be? You know. Elijah didn't get that one.

Speaker 1: Elijah was used greatly by God. And yet Elijah didn't take credit for it. Elijah didn't assume that he was more than what he was, even here at the end, he is a humble man who understands that God has worked in and through his life. Verse 11. This is an came to pass as they still went on. They still went on, you see, even though Elijah and Elation know Elijah is about to go to heaven, they're not just standing around waiting for it to happen.

Speaker 5: Well, I think

Speaker 1: I'm going to die today. Oh, my Lord, just, you know, hang out until the Lord takes me.

Speaker 5: They kept on going, they kept on moving.

Speaker 1: I can almost guarantee you. They kept on talking. Elation in his time is short. He's asking every question he can think of from from Elijah before his time is up. And so as they still went on and talked.

Speaker 5: The moment came.

Speaker 1: Our moment never comes sooner than got intense.

Speaker 5: But Elijah's moment had come. The Bible says. They were interrupted. A chariot of fire. Horses of fire that appeared. You know.

Speaker 1: The Bible says. That Elijah went

Speaker 5: up in a whirlwind,

Speaker 1: it says in verse 11. It said it also in verse number one.

Speaker 5: The word there's meant

Speaker 1: to picture for us a terrible storm in the stratosphere.

Speaker 5: OK, so

Speaker 1: if you can imagine

Speaker 5: like.

Speaker 1: Crazy weather conditions, swirling clouds, lightning wind, I mean, this is a this is a big weather situation that's taking place here between these men. In my mind, they picture as they're talking the twilight of the day the Sun is setting and you know how beautiful sunsets are, and I see what was that it was it was well, it was. It was last night. Last night I was looking at the sunset and it was just gorgeous orange and the clouds were perfectly laid out to reflect the sun and just beautiful colors that came out from this. Imagine it's that time of day as the Sun is going down and those clouds with all of the colors start swirling. And there's some flashes of light. You may have seen that that that the heat lightning, you know where it's not really about to rain, but there's that lightning that flashes within the clouds and make some light light up like there's something inside them alive. And so they're there and and the wind is picking up. It almost feels like it's about to rain. But instead of the fresh, refreshing, humid smell of the wind right before rain, there's like this dryness to the wind. I mean, we live in Oklahoma. We know what dry wind feels like, right? Dry, dusty wind. Suddenly. There's a flash. The sound of Thunder. The men start to turn and look at the storm, they see that it's it's not lightning that's making the now the noise. But it's a chariot. It's herbs, these horses in this chariot that are on fire are barreling down towards them. So it doesn't say it was behind them, I know it doesn't say it was behind them, but just

Speaker 5: imagine, you know,

Speaker 1: they're walking, talking, they're having a nice conversation. All of a sudden they hear a rumble behind them. They turn to look, and here's this

Speaker 5: chariot

Speaker 1: rushing towards them

Speaker 5: with planes, not those

Speaker 1: silly painted on flames that people used to paint on their cruisers like it made it some kind of cool car. You will see that dumbest thing I ever saw flames on a P.T. cruiser.

Speaker 5: You guys like, what's a P.T. cruiser?

Speaker 1: It was a popular car for some reason. Did anybody have a P.T. cruiser?

Speaker 5: Anybody can admit it. Nobody. You guys

Speaker 1: are cooler than I thought you

Speaker 5: were. You let your daughter buy one. Wow. Brother, Jimmy. Kind of a father, are you? Did have flames. Was it verbal? No. This thing is flying. Towards them, I

Speaker 1: mean, it feels like they're about to get

Speaker 5: mowed down by this chariot.

Speaker 1: The Bible says the verse from 11, that it parted them both asunder, the guys they have to like jump out of the way so that this thing doesn't hit them. I mean, it's split them apart like nothing else has been able to split them apart throughout Elijah's ministry. I mean, he has served. He has been loyal. Elijah's like trying to shove him away and tell him to stay here. And Eliza says, No, no, as your soul Lilith, I will not leave

Speaker 5: you that

Speaker 1: chariot. It does what nobody else could do. It separates these two men from one another. Aren't you glad for good friends that won't leave you? Once it is passed. Malaysia looks around. Realizes that he's alone. It looks up. You see, is only a flash. Elijah is taken up by the

Speaker 5: whirlwind in the heaven.

Speaker 1: I was incredibly moved by what he has seen, he shouts.

Speaker 5: My father, my father,

Speaker 1: chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof.

Speaker 5: He's talking to Elijah. But the light is not there to hear it. He's gone.

Speaker 1: All that he sees. Is first number

Speaker 5: 13. The mantle.

Speaker 1: Of Elijah that was left behind. Maybe it's because I've watched too many movies, but in my head, I imagine the mantel

Speaker 5: floating to the ground.

Speaker 1: And Alicia. Catching it. You know, that's that that's probably not happened. Elyse, you got to see the whole thing, though. Which was the stipulation that Elijah made, if you see me when I'm taking. Your wish, not your wish. Your request will be granted. He had seen Elijah taken to heaven. He would receive the double portion. As for Elijah, this man that we've been studying for the last several weeks, maybe months. The man they had at one point asked God to take his life. This man didn't have to die.

Speaker 5: Nick Crazy. I mean, he was like asking

Speaker 1: God to kill him and God says, I

Speaker 5: can kill you. Ever. You get to come to heaven.

Speaker 1: You get a ride on a heavenly chariot and ride through the sky. God's dwelling place. How far did I mean, what was that trip like? Never died, so I don't know. But did he like riding the chariot up into the sky,

Speaker 5: you know,

Speaker 1: past the different layers of the atmosphere that chariot go on past the moon and past, you know, the planets and out into space wherever God's dwelling place is, it's a real place, by the way. It's not imaginative, it's not some kind of spiritual existence. It's a real place somewhere out there.

Speaker 5: What was that like?

Speaker 1: For him to travel,

Speaker 5: you know,

Speaker 1: was was there a sign on the chariot and said, you know, after you leave Earth's atmosphere, hang on, you know, because they hit like warp drive or something. I don't know. Maybe we can ask Elijah when we get there. I should faithfully served God. Following the latest leading, now, he is the prophet in Israel. Elijah had had some ups and downs throughout his ministry. It had successes and moments where he felt like a failure. We have some of those moments. How many lawyers don't answer this, how many of you feel guilty? About having those feelings of failure, knowing you're a child of God.

Speaker 5: I shouldn't feel this way. You know?

Speaker 1: I shouldn't be defeated. I shouldn't be depressed, there must be something wrong with me. I must be some kind of secondary Christian because I feel this way. That's the case. God let a secondary believer go to heaven in a chariot. So if that's what the secondary Christian gets, I'm good with that. Elijah was greatly blessed and privileged to receive this blessing that he received. You know, Alicia didn't let anybody sidetrack him from his purpose. We'll certainly all have distractions throughout our life, won't we? Maybe even other believers who tell us, Hey, don't you realize how bad this is? Just like they told him, don't you realize your masters can be taken from you today?

Speaker 5: There will never be

Speaker 1: a lack of people who want to distract us from the Lord. There will always be someone or something demanding that we divert our attention from where it should be. But Alicia's life serves as a reminder. Stay focused on the Lord. She got what he requested from God. We allow ourselves to be distracted or dissuaded from God's path for us. I believe there are things that we will miss out on

Speaker 5: that he

Speaker 1: had prepared for us.

Speaker 5: Then, Elijah.

Speaker 1: Even at his miraculous transport to have. He never thought too much of himself.

Speaker 5: And they were

Speaker 1: proud, prideful in his accomplishments, what he was allowed to experience. When Alicia asked for the double portion, he said God's going to have to do

Speaker 5: it for you.

Speaker 1: God is going to have to be the one to give it to you. That's the lesson for you and me.

Speaker 5: I'll.

Speaker 1: We're going to have successes.

Speaker 5: We're going to have failures. Through it

Speaker 1: all in the successes or the

Speaker 5: failures. We have to understand it's not

Speaker 1: up to us things to happen. Right. You see, when I feel like a failure, I look to God and said, God, you can bring success from this. And when I feel like a success, I still have to look to God and said, Lord, the only success we have is because of you. That's the lesson that it took, Elijah, a lifetime, I believe.

Speaker 5: To fully realize. You and I can learn it tonight because of his example. Well, the things are good weather, things are bad.

Speaker 1: God is the one that needs to be at work. Asthma Sunday school

Speaker 5: class a couple of weeks ago.

Speaker 1: Whose primary responsibility is it? To transform us into the image of Jesus Christ.

Speaker 5: Is it you?

Speaker 1: You're the one that has to buckle down and make the changes and reform yourself and your behavior, change yourself. Or is it Jesus? So even when we fail, God's still at work. Trying to change the image of his son. Tonight. You recognize God's working in your life. You take credit for things that only God can take credit for.

Speaker 5: Maybe you're like,

Speaker 1: Elijah, you feel at times like

Speaker 5: a failure. Even in those moments, we

Speaker 1: look to God knowing that God is the one that can make a difference in our lives.

Speaker 5: Let's pray.

Speaker 1: Emily, father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for the opportunity. We've had to be here in your house.

Speaker 5: Thank you for the

Speaker 1: study of Elijah and his life and work that you did through him. We know that you have not changed the several thousand years since Elijah served you. Or that you still want to use? Your followers to accomplish your will here on this Earth. Well, I pray that we will be faithful and looking to you when we feel like. Like we could. Take on any

Speaker 5: enemy,

Speaker 1: come through victorious or whether we feel like a. A failure or a second rate Christian, or help us to get our strength from you. Realize that you were the one that needs to do the work in our life. Lord, we love you so much, and we thank you for all you do for us. It's in Jesus name, I pray.

Speaker 5: Amen.

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