BEYOND COMMON RELIGION
MF Blume
April 20, 1997 pm
2 Kings 2:1-15 And it came to pass,
when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah
went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I
pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him,
As the LORD 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 to day? 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 to Elisha, and said unto him,
Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day?
And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto
him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he
said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.
And they two went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and
stood to view afar off: and they two stood by 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 away 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, 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 mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and
went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan; And he took the mantle of Elijah
that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD 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 which were
to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on
Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before
him.
- Elijah foreshadowed Jesus
Christ
- Elijah preached for 3.5 years
and ascended.
- Jesus preached 3.5 years
and ascended
- Elijah left his mantle with
Elisha who was told he would receive a double portion of Elijah's power if
he seen Elijah ascend.
- Jesus told the disciples...
John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say
unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also;
and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.
...because I ascend
- When Jesus left the world,
the disciples seen him ascend.
Acts 1:8-9 But 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 Judaea, 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.
- THE HOLY GHOST BAPTISM is
available to those who will go all the way with God.
Both Jesus and Elijah promised
their followers that they shall receive POWER just before they each ascended.
This is our topic of interest
tonight. -Jesus' power was the HOLY GHOST.
Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full
of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness,
After being BAPTIZED in JORDAN,
Jesus entered the wilderness.
Luke 4:14 And Jesus returned in
the power of the Spirit into Galilee:
When Jesus returned, He had
to cross JORDAN to begin His SPIRIT ministry.
When Jesus left the JORDAN
he was in the POWER of the Holy Spirit.
That same POWER is the Holy
Ghost and it is intended for ...you -...if you will go all the way
I. GO ALL THE
WAY
- Elijah repeatedly told Elisha
that he would be taken and for Elisha to stay at the various stops they made
on Elijah's way to the location across Jordan where God would take him.
- Gilgal, then to Bethel then
to Jericho, and finally JORDAN.
- Across Jordan, Elijah would
be taken.
- At each location Elijah told
Elisha to stay, and "sons of the prophets" told Elijah to stay.
- Elisha told Elijah he would
not leave him.
- He told the sons of the
prophets (students of the prophets) to hold their peace.
- Elisha obviously wanted
something.
- We find that when Elijah
took his mantle and threw it into the Jordan, causing the river to open
that they might cross, he asked Elisha what did he want.
- Elisha said, "I want a double
portion of your spirit (life in Hebrew)" POWER
- Elijah said if Elisha sees
Elijah ascend he shall have his request.
- Try as the may, the sons
of the prophets could not convince Elisha to stay behind.
- Elisha wanted to go all the
way with Elijah, for he wanted all that God had for him.
- Elijah was a man of mighty
power.
- Elijah began his ministry
3.5 years earlier by leaving Gilead and entering Israel.
- In order to leave Gilead,
Elijah had to cross Jordan, and obviously he seen the River open by God's
power just as he did before leaving the world.
- In other words, he began
his ministry of power by opening Jordan River up in God's power.
- JORDAN REPRESENTS A BARRIER
which, when broken through, opens you up to a ministry of power.
- Elijah was returning to the
place he came from
- Elisha wanted to go there
- Elisha wanted to work for
God also.
- Somehow Elisha knew God
could use him as He used Elijah if he could only start where Elijah started
3.5 years earlier.
- Jesus started His ministry
at the Jordan River, also.
- He was baptized by John the
Baptist, and entered into His earthly ministry.
- Jesus did great works for
God.
- And He said greater works
than these shall we do because he ascends.
- We need the power Jesus
had.
- God will work through us
just as He did through Jesus if we begin as He did.
- Elijah knew the seriousness
of Elisha's desire.
- He wanted to make sure Elisha
knew what he was wanting before taking him across Jordan.
- Jordan was the point of
no return
- Once across Jordan, Elisha
would be on his own and the only way back to Israel was to see HIM CALL
UPON GOD AND SEE GOD DO A MIRACLE FOR HIM!
- Elisha had never been used
by God
- Elisha never had the experience
with God that Elijah had.
- Elisha only seen it with
Elijah.
II. ALL THE
WAY TO A HOLY GHOST EXPERIENCE
- We need to go all the way
and receive all God has for us.
- The "sons of the prophets"
were at Gilgal, Bethel and Jericho. But NONE crossed Jordan where the power
was.
- Jordan was as far as they
dared go.
- Common Religion will go
as far as Jordan, but will not cross Jordan to experience the falling of
the Holy Ghost and power upon them.
- The MANTLE fell, and Elijah
put it on his head and became God's man and vessel.
- The Holy Ghost fell on all
them, and like fire it sat upon each of their HEADS.
Acts 2:3 And there appeared unto
them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
- "Sons of the prophets" were
not prophets themselves, but were very religious and were learning of God.
- But they did not have the
power themselves.
- The prophets had the power.
- The sons of the prophets
only watched others.
2 Kings 2:7 And fifty men of the
sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood
by 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.
- They stood afar off from
the barrier.
- They would not go to that
point.
2 Kings 2:15 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. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves
to the ground before him.
- Sons of the prophets only
come to "VIEW".
- They do not get into the
Spirit but watch others do it.
- Their predecessors were
true prophets, but they did not get what their former teachers got.
- POWER.
Many religious people will go
so far past Gilgal as Bethel. Others will go even further to Jericho, but
so few will confront Jordan, where flesh and theological degrees cannot pass.
- Confronting Jordan takes
more than discussing what and what not God is about.
- Confronting Jordan means
you are entering the realm of the Spirit - the supernatural.
- You are breaking a barrier
few dare to break. Elisha probably looked at the sons of the prophets, and
thought, "If I stay this side of Jordan I will dry up and blow away with
the rest of the sons of the prophets. I've got nothing but dead religion
to lose, and everything God promised to gain!!"
- We need to go past repentance.
- Past water baptism.
- Go all the way to the Holy
Ghost baptism!
- THE POWER.
- Religionists gather at Jericho.
- That is as far as the human
resources can take them.
- Flesh cannot take them past
that point.
- It is there that the power
of God is needed to go further.
- To get their own MANTLE,
they must cross this barrier.
- They must let go of their
fleshliness and enter the domain of power.
- Jesus was BAPTIZED in Jordan.
- Baptism is a BURIAL.
- Jordan means you are burying
all your fleshly religion and going in true faith to God abandoning all
your human abilities which never replace God's Holy Ghost in your life.
- Step across into a place
of Holy Ghost Christianity.
- Go past the multitudes of
religion, and enter TRUE LIFE.
- Across Jordan, Elisha seen
Elijah ascend.
- We need to go beyond religion
and see Christ ascended for the sake that we might do greater things.
III. ACROSS
JORDAN IS A DESERT
- The land across Jordan was
bleak and barren.
- Not many go that far because
nothing there appeals to the flesh.
- It allows nothing but the
SPIRIT OF GOD to work.
- When you cross Jordan you
are entering a place in which you are trusting God to do a miracle and give
you the Spirit.
- Jordan is a demarcation point
which separates common religionists from true people of Power in the Spirit.
- Religionists will not take
a step of faith and rely upon God.
- They cannot trust what they
cannot see.
- They have so little faith.
- Will you go beyond religion
and enter resurrection?
- Go past the poor excuse of
Spiritless, common Christianity, where so many dwell, be made tired of excuses
for a Spiritless life, become hungry for the real thing and let go totally!!!
- When you step out and for
the first time TRULY believe God for His Spirit, God comes down.
- Jordan splitting open is
NOTHING like the real thing in receiving the Holy Ghost.
- When Elisha seen Elijah
ascend, simultaneously he seen the MANTLE fall down to him.
- WHEN YOU TRULY CROSS THAT
BARRIER OF COMMON RELIGION, YOU WILL TRULY SEE CHRIST ASCENDED AND SIMULTANEOUSLY
BE FILLED WITH THE REAL POWER OF THE SPIRIT.
IV. ISRAEL ACROSS
JORDAN
- The younger group of Israelites
crossed Jordan after the older doubters died.
- To commemorate that entrance,
they built a memorial across Jordan.
Josh 4:5-7 And Joshua said unto
them, Pass over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of Jordan,
and take you up every man of you a stone upon his shoulder, according unto
the number of the tribes of the children of Israel: That this may be a sign
among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying,
What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters
of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it
passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall
be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
- It gave the older ones who
experienced the FAITH to cross into a new dimension of God, to explain it
all to the ones who were their children.
- The Holy Ghost baptism is
meant for every generation.
- When Elisha crossed Jordan
with Elijah, he wanted that experience.
- Carnal selfish people never
go there, because they know they must lose their selfishness to get this
power.
- They know they must trust
in God.
V. MOSES
- Moses did not find power
in the Egyptian high class society where the world looks for greatness.
- He found it out in the desert.
- The FIRE of the burning
bush and the FIRE of the chariot taking Elijah is only seen across Jordan,
beyond where common religion dares to go.
We need the determination and
drive that Elisha had to go all the way and get a real touch, instead of
fooling around in some act of Christianity, watching others, like the sons
of the prophets.
- Churches are experiencing
a holy ghost heartbeat, pounding the blood and life of Jesus throughout
the Body, as people are receiving the Holy Ghost Baptism.
- Enter this Holy Ghost territory.
VI. WOMAN WITH
ISSUE OF BLOOD
- So many gathered around Jesus,
and grappled at Him.
- But a single woman truly
touched more than the outer clothing of the Lord.
- This woman made her mind
up that she was not going to be there with the crowd, just for the sake
of being there.
- She was getting the real
thing.
- Suddenly, out of all the
hands touching Jesus, her hand touched him and pulled virtue out of Him!
- She crossed Jordan.
Mark 5:30-32 And Jesus, immediately
knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the
press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him,
Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
- VIRTUE
- The same POWER in Him went
out to that woman.
- We need the Holy Ghost baptism.
VII. TO SEE
GOD MOVE FOR ONESELF.
After Elisha got the power,
one task remained to be done
- He had to USE IT.
- He could have stayed all
the time in that territory and never USE the power.
- But to take that power and
see God move ON YOUR BEHALF is the next step to take.
2 Kings 2:14 And he took the mantle
of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the
LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted
hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
"GOD, DO FOR ME WHAT YOU DID
FOR ELIJAH, FOR I AM HERE BELIEVING YOU MYSELF THIS TIME."