“And it came to pass, as they still 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 manile of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan.” 2 Kings 2:11-18.
Jordan means ‘“‘going down.”
There will ever be a “going down” before the “going through,” and the receiving of the mantle of power.
Our Lord will lead us to the place of power, no matter how precipitous the descent, or how lowly and humble the pathway may be.
The “going down”’ leads to the “going up.”’ Going down into the realization of our need, and the emptying of self, brings down the mantle of power and the ee with the Spirit of Elijah —even the Holy
host.
“And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it to-
ed gether, and smote the waters, and they were divid hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground.”
Elisha could make no way for himself through the Jordan.
Elijah, his master, parted the waves and led him through.
Neither can we take ourselves into the Spirit-filled land nor endue ourselves with the Spirit. But Jesus Christ, the Leader, can take us through, and on into His fulness.
Two great waters the Christian pilgrim must cross. Both must be miraculously opened by the Lord.
First, is the Red Sea — blessed type of the riven side, the rent veil, the crimson blood of Jesus, opened for our salvation.
Secondly, the Jordan — leading to the Promised Land where boughs, abundant with fruitage of the Spirit-filled life, hang low.
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“And it came to pass, when they were gone over, Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee.”
So spake Christ to His people ere He went away:
“Ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you _ . . Hitherto have ye asked nothing in My Name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.”’
If He could stand in our midst in the flesh today, and if He should speak again those words, what would our petitions be?
Would we ask for riches, fame, popularity, or higher earthly standing?
I wonder!
Elisha had but one petition to make — a petition that burned in his heart, fired his soul, and glowed within his eyes! Surely he must have been rehearsing it o’er and o’er, for his request was on the tip of his tongue. He spoke with his customary absence of hesitancy:
“I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me.”’
Elisha was to take up his master’s work. He must needs possess his master’s power.
Even so it was with the disciples of Jesus. They were to take up the ministry of evangelizing the world, of preaching the Gospel to every creature, just where Jesus had laid it down. They must needs have His power, even the Holy Spirit, Who dwelt within the Master, and by Whose power He performed His mighty works.
Wisely, Elisha pressed on across the Jordan with the ery:
“Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me!”
Wisely, the disciples pressed on a Sabbath day’s journey to Jerusalem, climbed the steps to the upper room, and with fixed determination “‘tarried until’’ they were endued with the power from on High — until the mantle of Jesus descended upon the waiting Church.
Persecuted and buffeted, helpless and needy, they scarcely dared meet together for fear of the Jews, who, having smitten the Chief Shepherd, would fain have scattered the sheep abroad.
They realized that their Elijah, Jesus, the tender and glorious Lord, had been taken away, and that they alone were left to carry on the work. They must have the Spirit and be endued with power from on High in order to cope with the complex problems which confronted them.
“And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thow see me when I am taken from thee, i shall be so.”
A hard thing?
Some think it a very light and easy matter to receive this holy mantle of power.
“You received all there was for you at conversion although you did not fully realize it,” they say. “Every Christian wears this mantle of power.”
Remember, however, ’twas only Elisha who pressed on all the way, who really received in Elijah’s day.
Only the “hundred and twenty” who pressed on to the Upper Room received the Baptism of Power at Pentecost.
It was not the fifty sons of the prophets, standing to view afar off, who received the mantle of Elijah!
Not unto the “three hundred and eighty’? which were a constituent part of the five hundred disciples to whom Jesus appeared (who stood afar off), but unto the hundred and twenty who pressed on and followed hard, came rushing winds and tongues of flame.
“Thou hast asked a hard thing’’—
It means self-denial, self-sacrifice, heart-searching, ea of consecration and abandonment to the will of God.
A dying to opinions of people, and the desire to go with the crowd.
A willingness to go on with the Master alone.
A crossing of the Jordan.
“Nevertheless,” Elijah said, “If thow seest me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, at shall not be so.”’
The sons of the prophets, standing afar, saw not the ascension. They doubted the report and thought to find Elijah in the mountains.
They received not the mantle.
Elisha, however, seeing him go, received the spirit of Elijah!
Many today wonder why they have not the power of the Spirit to sweep communities, and bring down revival fires.
Often it is because they have not seen the Saviour go.
His deliverance from Sheol, His resurrection, His ascension, has never really been revealed unto ‘their hearts. They worship the dead and not the lwing Christ— the great ‘I Was,’’ and not the great “I Am.”
They fail to realize that ‘this Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses, and hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.’”’ They fail to understand that He hath ascended on High, leading captivity captive, and is giving good gifts unto men.
Even as Elisha saw Elijah go, so the believers saw Jesus go and received of His Spirit!
“And it came to pass, as they still 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 I srael, and the horsemen thereof.”
Up — up into the opening heavens, ascended Eli jah, while Elisha, the disciple, steadfastly beheld till the billowing clouds enfolded him and he saw him no more.
Such a sight had never been witnessed!
The air fanned with angels’ wings; the rushing of fiery steeds; the farewell words of Elijah; the ascension; the disappearing flame of attendant glory!
These must have shaken the soul and body of Elisha as though a tornado had passed o’er him and thundered away into the distant horizon, leaving him prone in the desert in that strange hush that always succeeds the passing of a swift moving storm.
Tears, laughter and shouting must have filled his heart. Trembling must have laid hold upon his very bones.
Joy, sorrow, wonder, loneliness, responsibility, need, expectancy — he must have run the entire gamut of emotions to behold such a sight and live.
Though he cried: ‘My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof”; though his heart must have pounded and the wind of the chariot wheels have throbbed in his ears, that one great cry was still in his soul:
“Let a double portion of thy spirit fall on me!”
Hands upstretched, face lifted to the heavens, lips moving in earnest prayer, eyes devouring every movement of that departing form in the chariot — looking, waiting for but one thing — believing and expecting the mantle of Elijah to descend!
Was it not the promise of the master? Was he not to take up Elijah’s work? Must he not needs have the master’s power?
When the fiery chariot had disappeared through the gateway of the clouds, and heaven had dropped her misty curtains o’er the opened sky, Elisha stood there alone. The coveted mantle had not yet descended; but did he doubt his master’s promise?
Consider rather his fixed, unwavering eyes all ashine, hands uplifted, face illumined, as the tiny speck in the distance grew larger, fluttered, then unfolded and swept down, down, down, from out the heavens; light, confident, sure as though ’twere borne upon the pinions of a homing dove.
Straight to the feet of Elisha descended the mantle of Elijah!
All he must needs do was put out his hand and take it.
What did Elisha?
Did he impulsively stretch forth his hands, seize the mantle and cast it o’er his own garments?
“He took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces,” ere he clothed himself with that mantle.
“He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan.”
What a picture!
What a type of the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ and the descent of His mantle, even the power of the Holy Ghost upon the early Church and upon all who will press on to the Jordan and receive the Spirit!
Concerning the ascension of our Saviour according to St. Luke we read:
“He led them out as far as to Bethany, and He lifted up His hands, and blessed them.”
And again:
“And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you; but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high” (v. 49). “And it came to pass, while He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into Heaven. And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy” (Lu. 24:51, 52).
The similarity and correlation of this verse to that of Second Kings 2:11 is striking.
“And it came to pass, as they still 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.”
Even as the ascending Elijah loosed his mantle upon his disciple, we read concerning the final words of the ascending Christ:
“Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when He had spoken these things, while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.’”’ (Acts 1:8, 9).
Looking steadfastly toward heaven as He ascended, they were reminded by heavenly visitors of the work to be wrought ere His return. Hastening to Jerusalem, they received the mantle of power before assuming the ministry which their Lord had entrusted unto them.
With rushing wind and tongues of flame, descended the Holy Ghost upon the hundred and twenty on the Day of Pentecost, and filled them with His Spirit.
They had seen the ascending Christ.
They had received the descending Holy Spirit.
The mantle of power which descended from God out of heaven, and which had fallen upon Jesus at the Jordan, had now descended upon the believers who were to carry on His work.
It was necessary for Elijah to be caught up ere his mantle could fall upon Elisha.
Likewise it was necessary for our Lord and Master to ascend unto His Father’s throne ere His Spirit could be outpoured.
“Tt is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.”
The perseverance and endurance of the expectant Elisha was rewarded.
Their obedience in their supplication days of prayerful waiting in the Upper Room was rewarded also.
Indeed, unto all the Lord hath promised: ‘‘Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find.”
Before Elisha donned the mantle of Elijah, he rent his own clothes in twain. Henceforth ’twould be farewell unto his own way and welcome unto the way of the master.
The only manner in which we, as Church or individual, may successfully don the wonder-working mantle of the Holy Spirit, is first to rend our own garments, lay aside our own plans, methods, ideas, desires, schemes, red-tape regulations and rules. Then only may we put on the mantle of power which hath been sent from on high, and which lies within the reach of all who pay the price and go all the way through with Jesus.
By rending the robes of self-desire and fleshly wisdom we say goodbye to man-made plannings and ponderings, the futile efforts of the flesh, the forming of committees to arrange concerts, entertainments and suppers to bring people to church, and frantic action to work up a revival in our own strength.
Take up the mantle of power! Be clothed with the Spirit! Let Him wield His own dear sceptre o’er your lives; be your guide, your wisdom and your strength.
Yield yourselves that He may speak through your lips, fire your tongues with praise, set ablaze your hearts with white-heated love till self and dross be burned away and all your plans and wishes are but ashes on the altar of His holy will.
True, there may be those who will despise and forsake you, but the Saviour endured this, too.
True, the enemy may fight and bitterly contest each step of the journey. But we can lift our eyes to Him who “always causeth us to triumph,” and sing:
“Go, then, earthly fame and treasure!
Come, disaster, scorn and pain!
In Thy service, pain is pleasure;
With Thy favor, loss is gain.
I have called Thee, ‘Abba, Father,’
I have stayed my heart on Thee;
Stormy clouds may o’er me gather,
All must work for good to me.”
Not for his own pleasure or joy, did the mantle of Elijah fall upon Elisha.
“Twas for practical service and ministry.
“He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of the Jordan.”
“And went back.”
The spot by the Jordan was the most hallowed spot on the face of the earth to Elisha but did he there set up his abode? Made he the scene of his transporting, rapturous experience his habitation?
The fact that he had journeyed farther than the others, did not cause him to exclude himself from their company and feed his own soul upon the riches of his experience.
He went back — back to the brethren who stood afar off; back to a world of need and aching hearts, a world that dwelt in the darkness of unbelief and hunger; back to a sphere of practical service in the commonplace dwellings of life.
And He took the mantle of power with him as he went!
So we, returning from the highest heights of transfiguration glory, should hasten to the valley of upstretched hands and needy lives.
Elisha “went back, and stood.”
It is a wonderful thing to go back and “‘stand.”
“He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters and said:
‘(Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”
Elijah was gone; but Elijah’s God still lived.
Elijah, the worker of miracles, had departed; but the day of miracles was not past.
Elijah had disappeared but there were still rivers to cross, hearts to gladden, lives to cheer, lepers to cleanse, hungry to feed, and chains to be broken.
Standing there, by the river’s edge, the cry of Elisha resounded to the very heavens:
“Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”
O Elisha, prophet of God, your lips long since have been silent; but your words still ring, echo and re-echo across the waters of Jordan; yes and across the very sands of life!
“Where is the God of Elijah?”
The words which span the gulf of time and pierce to the depths of our being, clear, keen, insistent, demand an answer. As a two-edged sword, they search the inmost heart with a double message:
First, a message of rebuke that we have so far lost sight of the fact that Elijah’s God still lives today — lives with power as unlimited and unchanged as in the days of yore.
Second, an exhortation that we lift our faces unto the heavens even now, and call right this moment upon the living, loving, resurrected Lord, and upon the God of Elijah.
“Where is the Lord God of Elijah?”
Well indeed, may we stop and ask ourselves the question!
Where are His miracles? Where is His power? Where is the glorified Jesus who declared Himself to be the same, yesterday, and today, and forever?
If these prophets of old saw such mighty miracles wrought by faith before the coming of the Messiah, and the outpouring of Pentecostal power, should not we stand by the river of Humility and see them multiplied through faith today?
“And when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither; and Elisha went over.”’
How eloquent that word ‘‘also”’!
For a moment that gate that gives a comprehensive glimpse of the vistas of similitude between the ministry, pathway and life of servant and master, stands ajar.
Had not Elijah parted the self-same waters?
Elisha smote them “also”; for as recipient of the master’s mantle of power, his it was to carry on the master’s work.
The verse calls to mind another “also” used by Jesus ere He went away:
“The works that I do shall ye do also.”
There were those in Elisha’s day who would have rebuked him for thus stepping in his master’s footprints and doing as he had seen Elijah do.
But the Lord did not rebuke him!
There were those in Peter’s day who rebuked him for leaping out of the boat and walking upon the sea as he saw the Saviour do; but the Lord, instead of rebuking him, reached out His hand and spake just one word: ‘‘Come.”
Many there are today who would rebuke those who seek to claim the Saviour’s promises and follow closely in the footsteps of His ministry.
But He smiles and answers: ‘‘Come.”
“There is a Guide that never falters,
And when He leads I cannot stray,
For step by step, He goes before me,
And marks my he He knows the way.”
“And Elisha went over.’
After all, real overcoming is just that —a going over — not under, or around; but abundantly and triumphantly over.
“And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha.”
Ah, would to God the world could say this of the Church today!
God grant that the ministering brethren from the schools of the prophets (or theological seminaries), many of whom are standing to view afar off, might see Spirit-filled Elishas returning to the field of practical, whole-hearted, soul winning with such transforming glory that they should be forced to cry:
“The Spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha —
“The same Holy Spirit who descended in bodily form as of a dove, and abode upon the matchless Son of God, the Only Begotten of the Father; the same Spirit that filled the hundred and twenty on the Day of Pentecost doth rest upon this Elisha company, causing them to show forth, not the spirit of fear, but of love, and of power, and of a sound mind.”
“And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.”
Many there be who are fearful of going all the way with Jesus lest they be shut out of the presence of their brethren and be put out of the synagogues, who love the praise of men more than the praise of God.
But when Elisha returned with the mantle and the spirit of Elijah, his brethren recognized that spirit, and ran to meet him. There are thousands, yes, hundreds of thousands of brethren in the world today, who are starving for the old-time power, yearning for some solution of the problem that will meet the needs of a cold, backslidden worldly-minded Church, and bring them back to God. Thousands run to meet and welcome those who are really filled with the Spirit.
Elisha was now qualified for service, and followed in his master’s steps.
His plow and oxen had been burned upon the altar and his consecration was complete. He had followed all the way to Jordan, received the spirit and the mantle of Elijah, then returned unto practical service.
As his first miracle, he healed with salt the stagnant waters which had brought barrenness to the land of his people.
God’s spiritual children are the salt of the earth, and when this spiritual salt is poured into the brackish waters (symbolic of the dead spiritually), immediately there is a revival and a healing of the spring from whose fountain head shall flow forth streams of blessing — streams which will cause the desert to blossom like a rose.
True, there may be children who will come forth to mock and scorn; but they shall be devoured, and the victor go his way unharmed.
The first task in the ministry of Elisha is the first duty in the ministry of the Church — healing of the waters that will cause the barren land to yield its fruitage.
The second task in his ministry was that of filling the empty vessels with oil.
The next duty in the ministry of the Church is that of preaching the necessity of vessels well filled with the oil of the Holy Spirit.
The raising of the Shunamite’s son; the cursing of the death in the pot; the feeding of the one hundred men with twenty loaves; the healing of Naaman’s leprosy ; the causing of the iron to swim; the capture of the Syrians; the prophecy of plenty in Samaria; the anointing of Jehu; Elisha’s death and the miracle of his bones in the sepulchre wherein the dead was made to live and stand upon his feet, are all blessed types oH ministry of Christ and reflect the ministry of
ijah.
Let us leave all and follow Jesus, the Lamb of God.
He is calling us from the fields of sin and selfishness.
He is passing by this very hour, so close you can put out your hand in simple faith and touch His seamless robe, His nail pierced hand.
See! He holds His mantle of mercy, love and power. Let Him cast it o’er your surrendered and consecrated life.
Why should we tarry even for a moment?
Look up just now into the glorious face of Jesus and say:
“Let me kiss my father and my mother goodbye, and I will follow Thee!
“Tet me kindle a fire with the handles of my plow. Let me burn the oxen thereon that I may give unto my neighbors the fruitage of my yielded life!
“Then take me with Thee to Bethel, Jericho, and beyond the Jordan!
“Let my life be lost in Thee, and a double portion of Thy Spirit descend upon me. Let me do Thy bidding and glorify Thy Name!”
“Saviour, tis a full surrender,
All I leave to follow Thee;
Thou, my Leader and Defender
From this hour shalt ever be.
No withholding — full confession;
Pleasures, riches, all must flee;
Holy Spirit, take possession!
I no more, but Thou in me.” setae i. } “< phy De
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