WEBVTT 00:00:28.910 --> 00:00:30.109 All right, everybody. 00:00:30.189 --> 00:00:32.269 Who's excited to be at church today? 00:00:34.590 --> 00:00:35.229 Good. 00:00:36.109 --> 00:00:36.909 Feels good. 00:00:37.070 --> 00:00:37.469 Feels good. 00:00:37.629 --> 00:00:39.950 Look at somebody and say, I'm glad to be here. 00:00:40.189 --> 00:00:41.629 I'm glad you're here. 00:00:41.869 --> 00:00:42.590 Good, good. 00:00:42.909 --> 00:00:50.989 I want to say real quick before we dive into this new series that we are, if you're a guest today, it's our honor for you to be here with us. 00:00:51.149 --> 00:00:57.950 If you're a guest online with us, it is our honor to be able to host you on uh streaming or on demand. 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:02.509 We're so glad that we're able to do this together through technology and in the room today. 00:01:02.750 --> 00:01:11.390 I know that many of you guys have seen some of the changes going around on around the property, and over the next few weeks you'll see even more as things continue to develop. 00:01:11.469 --> 00:01:13.789 And it is exciting to be able to see it happen. 00:01:14.269 --> 00:01:18.349 Some of the things we've been trying to do all summer long are just now starting to move. 00:01:18.509 --> 00:01:21.950 And uh it's it's thrilling to see God move in our midst. 00:01:22.109 --> 00:01:33.950 And I have loved the last few series that we've been in, uh, challenging our thinking, challenging our uh what the Holy Spirit wants to do in us and how we follow Him. 00:01:34.189 --> 00:01:40.109 Today, we're gonna we're gonna jump into a different kind of series that we don't do. 00:01:40.909 --> 00:01:43.549 Most of a lot of the series that we do are thematic. 00:01:43.709 --> 00:01:50.750 We we kind of like the last series, we're looking at the way we think and our thought processes, and so that that puts us in a lot of different places. 00:01:50.909 --> 00:01:58.989 We jump from the New Testament, Old Testament, and we're we're pulling a lot of different ideas and scriptures and psychology. 00:01:59.150 --> 00:02:11.310 The series that we're going into right now, uh a couple times a year, we do a series like this that is less thematic and it's more of uh character study. 00:02:11.389 --> 00:02:13.230 We're looking at the life of Elisha. 00:02:13.310 --> 00:02:17.389 We're looking at a man who did incredible things for God. 00:02:17.709 --> 00:02:20.189 And um, I know that it's gonna challenge you. 00:02:20.269 --> 00:02:23.790 It's it challenges me whenever I read it, whenever I dig into it. 00:02:23.949 --> 00:02:26.909 It challenges me because I relate to his story. 00:02:27.150 --> 00:02:29.310 And I think that's gonna be true for all of us. 00:02:29.389 --> 00:02:32.189 So pull out your notes, hold them up in the air. 00:02:32.269 --> 00:02:37.069 If you got your phone, tablet, paper notes are always amazing, very good. 00:02:37.149 --> 00:02:41.790 We are a note-taking church, and uh, I saw something this week that was pretty incredible. 00:02:41.949 --> 00:02:43.389 The Air Force, the U.S. 00:02:43.470 --> 00:02:51.790 Air Force, actually says that when you take notes, you remember 95% more of what you write down. 00:02:52.110 --> 00:02:55.550 That's why we take notes, so that it stays with us, so that the scripture. 00:02:55.709 --> 00:03:00.670 So I one of the things that I love to do is whenever you don't have to do this. 00:03:00.750 --> 00:03:02.589 So I'm just saying it out loud. 00:03:02.750 --> 00:03:05.230 When I'm taking notes, I even write down the verses. 00:03:05.389 --> 00:03:13.790 If they're on the screen, especially the parts that really stick out to me, I rewrite those words on my paper so that it sticks in my brain a little bit better. 00:03:13.870 --> 00:03:15.709 And I repeat it to myself. 00:03:16.029 --> 00:03:19.470 And um, I want this to stay with us. 00:03:19.629 --> 00:03:31.149 I want it to challenge us, I want us to move forward in our faith, and uh something that we you may not hear so much in our calling or anointing, that God has plans for us. 00:03:31.230 --> 00:03:44.269 And so that this series is a series that we're gonna look at a man who God called him, chose him, and uh today is is we're gonna look at that calling specifically. 00:03:44.589 --> 00:03:58.670 But as he grows up, of course, maybe you know the story, the stories, because the story of Elisha is not one story, it's a it's it's a lifetime worth of him doing incredible things and miraculous things. 00:03:58.829 --> 00:04:07.470 In fact, he he did more miracles than anyone other than Jesus in the Bible, more recorded miracles than anyone other than Jesus. 00:04:07.629 --> 00:04:19.149 Of course, there are lots of miracles that are recorded from Jesus, and even the Bible even says that there were many other miracles that weren't recorded uh by Jesus. 00:04:19.310 --> 00:04:26.589 But Elisha, not to be confused with Elijah, had many, many miracles done. 00:04:26.670 --> 00:04:37.069 He he was uh part of the Jordan River, he raised the dead, multiplies food and oil, and uh cleansed the lepers. 00:04:39.310 --> 00:04:45.230 But when we start to look at his life, we see that he was an ordinary guy, and I'll show you that in a few minutes. 00:04:45.389 --> 00:04:59.230 Uh in fact, we see that whenever we first meet Elisha in the Bible in 2 Kings, uh 1 Kings, he is living with his parents and yet God calls him. 00:04:59.389 --> 00:05:01.550 God, it's almost like a tap on the shoulder. 00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:13.470 And I think my hope is that during this series and even during this morning, that the Holy Spirit is able to tap some of us on the shoulder and just say, Hey, I got I got something for you. 00:05:13.629 --> 00:05:15.870 I have some big things for you. 00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:27.949 And um, it's challenging, it might be surprising, but before Elisha becomes a world famous prophet, he he he's just an ordinary guy. 00:05:28.189 --> 00:05:34.590 And then he's chosen to be a servant of another famous prophet, which I mentioned already, Elijah. 00:05:34.750 --> 00:05:43.710 So I'm trying to give you a little bit of context into the story that we're about to read, and the story that hopefully you'll be going, and we don't even have time to read all of it. 00:05:43.790 --> 00:05:56.670 So hopefully over the next four weeks, you'll go and read all of the verses in between and read the passages and the uh the chapters in between, fill in the gaps and do your own Bible studies in and around the things that we're looking at. 00:05:56.750 --> 00:05:59.069 So he becomes a servant to Elijah. 00:05:59.150 --> 00:06:13.310 Now, I think it's interesting that the names are very similar, and over time the names change a little bit with the language changing because we're not reading in Hebrew, we're not speaking in Hebrew, but the the pronunciations change a little bit. 00:06:13.389 --> 00:06:22.590 But Elijah, everybody say Elijah calls and is the mentor for Elisha. 00:06:22.910 --> 00:06:26.110 And so Elisha, this is later in the passage. 00:06:26.270 --> 00:06:28.189 In fact, I'll read it to you right now. 00:06:28.910 --> 00:06:35.230 After they're together for a little while, Elijah, the mentor, asks, What do you actually want from me? 00:06:35.389 --> 00:06:38.910 And here is so interesting what his response is. 00:06:55.629 --> 00:07:01.150 Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit, is his response. 00:07:06.590 --> 00:07:12.990 But there's a moment before the mentor is taken, and he asks him, What do you want from me? 00:07:13.150 --> 00:07:15.150 What are we doing here? 00:07:15.389 --> 00:07:20.670 And he says, I want a double portion of your spirit, Elisha replied. 00:07:20.830 --> 00:07:28.590 And then the mentor says, You, Elijah says, You have asked a difficult thing, yet if you see me when I'm taken from you, it will be yours. 00:07:28.750 --> 00:07:31.150 Otherwise, it will be not, it will not. 00:07:31.389 --> 00:07:40.110 And of course, if you've read the story, you know that Elijah is taken up to heaven, and Elisha is there and he receives a double portion. 00:07:40.350 --> 00:07:42.750 He he asks for a double portion. 00:07:42.910 --> 00:07:56.990 He wants double what his master or his mentor carries in uh spiritual anointing and calling and his ability to do miracles, and that actually happens. 00:07:57.150 --> 00:08:03.550 In fact, the recorded miracles are double from Elijah to Elisha, and this is not uncommon. 00:08:03.629 --> 00:08:05.790 He's not asking an uncommon thing. 00:08:06.030 --> 00:08:23.069 This was common for a firstborn to receive a double portion of the inheritance from the father, and so that gives us a kind of a picture of where Elijah and Elisha, when he comes to follow him, that he kind of takes on this fatherly position. 00:08:23.230 --> 00:08:34.350 He's leading him spiritually, and he has an expectation of double anointing or double the power from his mentor. 00:08:35.069 --> 00:08:39.149 So, what does a double portion blessing from God look like? 00:08:39.629 --> 00:08:43.149 When I'm reading this, I'm thinking, what does it look like? 00:08:43.230 --> 00:08:46.429 And how do I get a double portion of anointing? 00:08:46.590 --> 00:08:52.269 A double portion of power, a double portion of whatever God has to give the spiritual inheritance. 00:08:52.429 --> 00:08:58.269 How do I have double and not just, well, I guess I'll get whatever God has for me? 00:08:59.389 --> 00:09:08.350 So that's that's really the first thing I want you to notice that there is a desire from the follower to say, I want what God has for me. 00:09:08.509 --> 00:09:11.710 There's there's if there's double, I want double. 00:09:12.110 --> 00:09:19.149 If it's just like I'll take some, I guess I'll take some crumbs off the table, like you could be that. 00:09:19.470 --> 00:09:32.430 My hope is that we can take on the mindset or the the eager uh aptitude that Elisha shows to his mentor and to his his master that I want double. 00:09:33.310 --> 00:09:39.149 Here's the thing though: God wants to give us double, God wants to bless us. 00:09:39.629 --> 00:09:46.269 And whether you've been in church for a little while or a long time, I hope you understand this that God wants to bless you. 00:09:47.789 --> 00:09:49.789 I mean, I want to be blessed. 00:09:50.909 --> 00:09:52.750 Who wants to be cursed? 00:09:53.149 --> 00:09:54.029 Anybody? 00:09:55.230 --> 00:09:56.669 I don't think so. 00:09:57.310 --> 00:10:01.629 But we get confused sometimes and we start to think this that I know me. 00:10:01.789 --> 00:10:03.789 Why would God want to bless me? 00:10:04.110 --> 00:10:05.950 I know what I've been thinking about this week. 00:10:06.029 --> 00:10:08.830 I know what I've done my whole life, I know the mistakes I've made. 00:10:08.990 --> 00:10:10.430 I don't think God wants to bless me. 00:10:10.590 --> 00:10:12.509 God probably just wants to smack me. 00:10:16.269 --> 00:10:17.950 God wants to bless you. 00:10:18.830 --> 00:10:30.509 And what wouldn't it be amazing if what God wants to bless us and what we want to be blessed and walk in double blessing and be able to have everything He wants for us? 00:10:30.669 --> 00:10:32.430 What if those two two things met? 00:10:32.590 --> 00:10:33.789 In this story, we see that. 00:10:33.870 --> 00:10:39.470 We see Elisha wants everything God has for him. 00:10:39.789 --> 00:10:48.430 So let me give you some background information and some context for 1 Kings chapter 19 is where we're gonna be. 00:10:49.789 --> 00:10:56.269 We don't know a lot about this this season, this particular part of history. 00:10:56.430 --> 00:10:58.190 We don't know a lot about Elisha. 00:10:58.590 --> 00:11:01.070 We know a few things, and those few things make a big difference. 00:11:01.230 --> 00:11:05.789 We do know that this is a critical period for Israel. 00:11:06.590 --> 00:11:09.789 We know that a lot of people are ignoring God. 00:11:12.190 --> 00:11:13.710 That's easy to see too. 00:11:13.789 --> 00:11:16.909 In our world, when we look around, people are ignoring God. 00:11:17.710 --> 00:11:21.789 People are living immorally, they're worshiping false gods. 00:11:23.470 --> 00:11:29.470 And we also know that when there's a big need and whenever things start to get really dark, then God shows up. 00:11:29.710 --> 00:11:38.750 And God provides an answer, and God chooses a man or God chooses a woman, God chooses someone to fill the gap and the need that is arising. 00:11:38.990 --> 00:11:41.389 So when things get dark, God sends grace. 00:11:41.550 --> 00:11:48.430 When when there's a problem, God sends an answer, and usually it's because he picks a person and says, Hey, you're the one. 00:11:48.509 --> 00:11:49.310 Let's go. 00:11:49.550 --> 00:11:51.310 I I have need of you. 00:11:54.590 --> 00:11:59.230 So Elijah, the mentor, is a powerful prophet. 00:11:59.389 --> 00:12:23.070 He he does many miracles, he calls down fire from heaven, he challenges the prophets of Baal, he challenges Jezebel, and he goes, he goes to war with all the factions of the enemy and the uh the false prophets, and he miracle after miracle, but this is toward the end of his life, and God says, You need to pick someone to take over from you. 00:12:23.230 --> 00:12:26.830 I'm gonna send you to a young man, he's over here in this part of the world. 00:12:27.070 --> 00:12:38.110 Go to him and let him be your successor to continue on your work because you won't be able to do it, and and and your life is almost to the end. 00:12:38.269 --> 00:13:04.269 And so my hope is I've said this already, that I I hope that just as Elijah came and tapped, so to speak, Elisha on the shoulder and said, Hey, it's time, it's time for you, it's time for you to pass the bat me to pass the baton to you, and for for you to do what you were made to do. 00:13:04.669 --> 00:13:18.430 I hope that some of you today you're hearing my voice and hearing the call, uh, so to speak, and feeling that little tap on your shoulder that says, Hey, God's got something for you, and it's time for you to step into it. 00:13:18.669 --> 00:13:26.269 God's made you for something, and it's time for you to become that person that you were made to be and to live in it. 00:13:26.430 --> 00:13:36.110 So let's look at what happens when Elijah travels to where Elisha is, and then he does exactly what God tells him to do. 00:13:36.190 --> 00:13:40.350 So Elijah went and found Elisha, son of Shaphat. 00:13:40.909 --> 00:13:49.470 Now, I would just say right now that probably Shaphat, if your name is Shaphat, probably got made fun of a lot. 00:13:49.629 --> 00:14:07.950 I it's I'm gonna show you something interesting about that name as we get further into the story, in the same way that Elijah and Elisha's names are very similar, but I I can't also blame them that if if my name was Shaphat, I probably would have been picked on a lot too. 00:14:08.669 --> 00:14:11.230 But I probably would have picked on anyone named Shaphat. 00:14:11.310 --> 00:14:16.430 So he was Elisha, son of Shaphat, was plowing a field. 00:14:16.509 --> 00:14:19.230 So Elisha is plowing a field. 00:14:19.470 --> 00:14:26.750 There were 12 teams of oxen in the field, and Elisha was plowing with the 12th team. 00:14:27.629 --> 00:14:35.470 Elisha Elijah went over to Elisha and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. 00:14:35.629 --> 00:14:44.029 So this is a uh a symbolic, uh uh a very special moment when the prophet comes into the field. 00:14:44.190 --> 00:14:50.269 I think probably most people are paying attention and they probably recognize that something important has happened. 00:14:50.350 --> 00:14:58.110 This is not a mundane moment, and the act of throwing the cloak over him, which we'll talk about in a little bit, is very significant. 00:15:00.110 --> 00:15:07.550 We don't know much about the time period, and we don't know much about Elisha, but just from that passage, we know a few things. 00:15:07.870 --> 00:15:26.909 We know that um Elisha was not a monk, he was not studying or meditating in the in the temple, learning scripture and reading the the scrolls and reading the history of uh of prophecy, and that wasn't happening. 00:15:26.990 --> 00:15:41.789 We know he wasn't a priest, he was a farmer because he was out in a field, he was the son of a rancher, Shaphat, who was likely wealthy. 00:15:41.950 --> 00:15:43.230 And how do we know that he was wealthy? 00:15:43.310 --> 00:15:59.310 Because if he would have had one team of, or if he would have had one ox or a one team of oxen, two oxen, then we know he would have been pretty well off, but there were 12 teams in the field, and he was the twelfth one. 00:16:00.110 --> 00:16:06.350 That lets us know that he was probably doing pretty well for himself or his family. 00:16:06.430 --> 00:16:13.310 He was probably the rich young master of a family that was doing pretty well in the area. 00:16:13.470 --> 00:16:18.909 They were probably well known, they probably had plenty of food to eat. 00:16:23.230 --> 00:16:31.070 When I think about farmers, there's a lot of farmers in Texas, but the kind they're not the kind of farmers that Elisha was. 00:16:31.149 --> 00:16:40.430 In fact, you drive through Texas, you can see big John Deere tractors, and they are they look like they weigh about, I don't know, 10,000 pounds, 20,000, 50,000 pounds. 00:16:40.509 --> 00:16:40.909 I don't know. 00:16:40.990 --> 00:16:48.590 They're massive farming implements, and that's not at all what Elisha was dealing with. 00:16:48.750 --> 00:17:03.470 In fact, uh Angela and I, a couple times a year, we drive through Illinois, and uh it's interesting when we're driving through the cornfields, and um not long from now we'll be there. 00:17:03.550 --> 00:17:30.750 And we've had the pleasure over the last few years of spending time around and meeting some Amish families and being a connected to, not a part of, but like eating at Amish establishments and going to uh walk through some of the families and riding in buggies and like participating a little bit just as a bystander watching some people who literally it looks like they're living in ancient times. 00:17:30.990 --> 00:17:40.109 Because for a bunch of we we've learned a lot of interesting facts about the Amish in that they don't most of them don't use uh electricity, some of them do. 00:17:40.269 --> 00:17:45.469 It's also some of the stuff about the Amish are a little bit weird because it doesn't quite make sense. 00:17:45.629 --> 00:17:48.429 Like, how did we uh how do we get here? 00:17:48.829 --> 00:17:51.309 But for most of them, it's no electricity. 00:17:51.549 --> 00:17:58.990 Um when you're looking at the the the wagons and the buggies, they don't use air in the tires. 00:17:59.069 --> 00:18:07.789 And someone once told us, this is crazy, that they don't use air in the tires because of the Bible talks about the prince of the power of the air. 00:18:08.029 --> 00:18:10.750 And so they think that I don't know that's actually true. 00:18:10.909 --> 00:18:22.990 Someone else said that it's probably more likely because they don't use compressors and machines to blow up the air, so it would take them forever to blow up tractor tires and not tractor tires, but wagon tires. 00:18:23.549 --> 00:18:32.029 I don't know that either of those are true, but we also know that the men, after they're married, they don't have mustaches, they can't drive in a car, but they can ride in an Uber. 00:18:34.109 --> 00:18:35.309 I don't know. 00:18:36.349 --> 00:18:40.029 That they call on their cell phone, but they're not allowed to have an actual phone at their house. 00:18:40.189 --> 00:18:40.750 I don't know. 00:18:40.990 --> 00:18:42.029 Just saying. 00:18:43.149 --> 00:18:50.429 And I know that for probably the first one of the first times I can remember in my life, we answered and I were profiled. 00:18:50.589 --> 00:18:54.990 They call us racially profiled, they call us English. 00:18:55.149 --> 00:18:59.549 So if we're not like them, you all English people. 00:18:59.629 --> 00:19:01.069 That's what they told us to our face. 00:19:01.149 --> 00:19:03.389 I'm like, who are you calling you all? 00:19:04.429 --> 00:19:07.149 This is weird. 00:19:07.309 --> 00:19:20.589 I don't they so they they see us as very different as we see them as very different because they are living an old-timey life, right? 00:19:20.750 --> 00:19:29.069 But I I've also found that among the Amish people, some of the communities and some of the families are very wealthy because of the farming. 00:19:29.149 --> 00:19:51.869 And because, and even though they're using very old plows and they're following behind horses and ox and donkeys, and they're not using machines, that's more what I would imagine Elisha is living a life where probably every day he's out in the field behind a couple pair of ox doing hard labor. 00:19:52.029 --> 00:20:03.069 And so he was probably wealthy because his family was wealthy, but he was the kind of guy who was doing pretty well for himself, but he was out in the field every day working hard. 00:20:03.629 --> 00:20:17.069 That's this is the kind of guy that I think we have to understand from morning to dusk, he's working his butt off, but also I want you to think about what his view every day working was. 00:20:17.389 --> 00:20:19.629 What's he looking at every day while he's working? 00:20:19.789 --> 00:20:30.750 He's looking at just the rear ends of these ox every single day, every single row that he's plowing. 00:20:30.829 --> 00:20:41.709 He's pushing the plow, steering the plow, and his view, he probably is walking and oops, stepping over some mess every day. 00:20:42.509 --> 00:20:47.309 If you've ever ridden in a buggy, you know that you just that's just part of the view. 00:20:50.589 --> 00:20:59.229 His view is the back end of a couple of oxes or oxen. 00:21:00.990 --> 00:21:09.789 And I think this is probably the moment that most of us can relate to the most in ordinary, everyday life. 00:21:09.869 --> 00:21:18.589 It's very easy to get locked into just doing this, to feel like you're trudging down the same row, to feel like you have the same view every day. 00:21:18.669 --> 00:21:21.629 That why why do I have this as my view? 00:21:21.789 --> 00:21:25.469 Why is this the thing that I have to deal with every day? 00:21:25.709 --> 00:21:29.309 I'm hardworking, uh, I'm trying to do better for myself. 00:21:29.469 --> 00:21:30.990 I want to make my family proud. 00:21:31.149 --> 00:21:48.109 I have to do something that matters with my life, but what I actually have to do is put my hand on the plow and take care of my kids, take care of this row, and the next row is like it, and tomorrow it'll be the same rows again and again and again, with a terrible view and a terrible smell. 00:21:50.189 --> 00:21:52.109 And this is my life. 00:21:54.349 --> 00:21:58.189 Maybe you try to pray, but your prayers don't feel effective. 00:21:58.349 --> 00:22:05.229 Maybe you pick up your Bible and you're, okay, I'm gonna, I'm gonna reach for more, but it doesn't always speak to you. 00:22:05.309 --> 00:22:20.909 Or maybe you come today on a Sunday morning and here's worship, and you try to lift your hands, or you try to sing along, and you try to engage, and it just still feels like God is distant, or there's another hundred rows to plow that are just like the last hundred. 00:22:22.109 --> 00:22:25.789 You just keep plowing through life, each row is the same V. 00:22:27.789 --> 00:22:30.189 Have you ever felt felt spiritually stuck? 00:22:30.589 --> 00:22:38.509 Have you ever felt spiritually um like it's just the same old thing? 00:22:41.709 --> 00:22:42.909 I felt that way. 00:22:43.389 --> 00:22:49.469 I felt like life was just a grind that I wasn't sure if that does this even matter if I do this. 00:22:49.949 --> 00:22:51.789 I know I have to keep things moving. 00:22:51.949 --> 00:22:56.669 I know I have to keep walking forward, but I am I even making a difference. 00:22:58.990 --> 00:23:12.990 And so I hope that this message is a is a a little bit of a light that's shining in into your darkness, maybe, or into the gloom of the grind that you may be walking through. 00:23:13.149 --> 00:23:31.309 And I want you to know this that just as God stepped in, and you're gonna see that in just a minute, that just as God showed up and tapped Elisha on the shoulder, and God had a bigger plan for him, I want you to know this: that God has a bigger calling for you than the field you're standing in. 00:23:35.149 --> 00:23:37.149 Maybe it's gotten a little monotonous. 00:23:44.829 --> 00:23:53.949 Or maybe you go to work every day and you clock in, or you're reaching for that next sales quota, or you're just trying to keep your marriage on the tracks. 00:23:56.029 --> 00:24:04.589 Maybe for you it's making a meal, and then it's the same meal next week, and the same meal schedule, taking care of the kids, or changing the diaper. 00:24:05.869 --> 00:24:11.709 It's easy to lose your passion when you're staring at the back of an ox. 00:24:12.349 --> 00:24:20.990 I don't know how passionate Elisha was about farming, or how passionate anyone could be after years and years of farming. 00:24:21.389 --> 00:24:23.709 But I noticed one other thing. 00:24:24.990 --> 00:24:36.029 That the Bible says that there were 12 teams of oxen, 24 oxen, and there were 12 teams, and Elijah comes into the field and he goes to the 12th team. 00:24:36.109 --> 00:24:40.189 So he had to walk past team number one, first team. 00:24:40.269 --> 00:24:44.109 I don't know if they were the best team or the oldest brother, or the we don't know any of that. 00:24:44.189 --> 00:24:48.589 We just know that it's he it says he goes to the 12th team. 00:24:48.909 --> 00:24:56.349 So I I imagine he has to walk past team number one and the second pair of oxen with someone put it. 00:24:56.429 --> 00:24:58.909 I don't know if it's the same as the the Amish people. 00:24:58.990 --> 00:25:08.029 The Amish, uh I don't know why this happens, and I never pulled over and asked them, but a lot of times we drive through the fields and there are women in the fields plowing. 00:25:08.189 --> 00:25:14.029 It could have been a woman plowing, it could have been, I sometimes see kids that look like they're 10 years old out there plowing. 00:25:14.349 --> 00:25:16.909 It could have been, who knows? 00:25:17.469 --> 00:25:25.949 Elijah walks past 11 other pairs of oxen plowing with someone plowing to the 12th one. 00:25:27.149 --> 00:25:36.029 And maybe that maybe that is a wake-up call to someone in the room today that you may feel like you're at the back of the line or the least of these. 00:25:36.189 --> 00:25:40.829 You might feel like you're the 12th one in line, and why would anybody pay attention to me? 00:25:41.789 --> 00:25:45.389 You might feel like you're at the back of the list. 00:25:46.109 --> 00:25:48.109 Well, God doesn't care about me. 00:25:48.669 --> 00:25:54.509 There's other pastors and people more qualified and more uh more talented, more gifted. 00:25:54.589 --> 00:26:04.109 Oh, they can sing, they can do all, they can they know more about the Bible, they're they're taller, they're prettier, they're more handsome, they got more money than I do. 00:26:05.069 --> 00:26:06.189 Can I tell you this? 00:26:06.349 --> 00:26:09.869 That God often chooses the one at the back of the line. 00:26:10.189 --> 00:26:13.069 God often chooses the one that we would not choose. 00:26:13.149 --> 00:26:14.109 And isn't it? 00:26:14.669 --> 00:26:19.309 I thank God He chooses the one that we wouldn't choose because he wouldn't have chosen me. 00:26:21.869 --> 00:26:35.389 I'm thankful that God doesn't pick the way we pick, because we pick the one with the most money, the one that's the tallest, the one that's the prettiest, the one with the most friends, the one who has the most influence or the most charisma, or the the one who got there first. 00:26:35.949 --> 00:26:39.869 No, it says he walked past eleven and went to the twelfth one. 00:26:40.269 --> 00:26:47.949 That gives me hope that hey, God has something for me, even if I'm the one at the back, and Jesus proves this over and over. 00:26:48.109 --> 00:26:58.829 Jesus doubles down on this and shows us that the last or the least of these are just as important that God will choose to take the last from the back and put them at the front. 00:27:00.829 --> 00:27:11.629 So wherever you're sitting today, no matter how monotonous things have felt, no matter how many, how long the grind has felt like, does this that you may be feeling like, does this even matter? 00:27:11.949 --> 00:27:19.869 I'm telling you, God has a purpose for you, and God has a calling that's bigger than the field you're standing in. 00:27:23.869 --> 00:27:26.509 Elisha, Elisha knew plowing. 00:27:29.709 --> 00:27:36.990 He didn't know what being a prophet was like, he knew what we what standing behind an ox was like. 00:27:37.709 --> 00:27:53.229 And it's so amazing that Elisha, and you'll see this, that Elisha doesn't um when he when he gets the mantle or the cloak thrown on him, he doesn't say, Well, I don't know how to do that. 00:27:53.469 --> 00:27:54.269 Who are you? 00:27:54.429 --> 00:27:55.869 All I know is ox. 00:27:56.429 --> 00:27:58.589 All I know is how to follow an ox. 00:27:58.990 --> 00:27:59.309 No. 00:28:00.269 --> 00:28:02.349 And yet we do that sometimes. 00:28:02.509 --> 00:28:05.149 Well, I don't know how to do what God wants me to do. 00:28:05.229 --> 00:28:09.389 All I know is, and just put XYZ in there, what you know how to do. 00:28:09.629 --> 00:28:26.349 All I know how to do is raise kids, or all I know how to do is go to school or be an electrician, or I just don't know about spiritual things, I don't know about God things, I don't know about faith, I don't know about how to listen to the Lord. 00:28:27.549 --> 00:28:28.829 Elisha doesn't say that. 00:28:28.990 --> 00:28:30.829 Elisha gets the call. 00:28:32.829 --> 00:28:36.829 But God isn't looking for ability, God's looking for availability. 00:28:38.429 --> 00:28:43.949 Elisha, uh Elijah went up to Elisha and threw his cloak around him. 00:28:44.029 --> 00:28:51.949 This is not just a cloak, and we've talked about that a little bit, but the the this cloak, the prophet's cloak in those days was very significant. 00:28:52.109 --> 00:29:03.949 Not just a uh a significant action, but a symbol of anointing, a symbol of power, a symbol of uh choosing and selection. 00:29:04.909 --> 00:29:12.750 And so he places not just a jacket or a cloak on him, but he places his mantle on him. 00:29:13.629 --> 00:29:16.269 And so Elisha has a decision to make. 00:29:17.549 --> 00:29:20.829 Is he gonna accept this mantle or is he gonna reject it? 00:29:20.990 --> 00:29:22.909 If he rejects it, what does he do? 00:29:23.149 --> 00:29:24.189 What are his options? 00:29:24.269 --> 00:29:31.309 If he rejects this mantle and says, uh no, I don't really want this, he could just keep on plowing. 00:29:31.949 --> 00:29:39.709 He can keep on being a farmer, keep on living the life that he has, or he has the option of accepting this mantle. 00:29:39.869 --> 00:29:41.469 And what does that mean to him? 00:29:41.629 --> 00:29:43.709 I think he doesn't actually know what that means. 00:29:44.029 --> 00:29:45.469 Because he doesn't ask questions. 00:29:45.549 --> 00:29:48.990 He he probably has like, where's this gonna take me? 00:29:49.229 --> 00:29:51.069 Well, how long is this gonna take? 00:29:52.269 --> 00:29:54.029 Is there any money involved? 00:29:56.189 --> 00:29:59.069 My question would be, what are we gonna be eating? 00:30:00.509 --> 00:30:02.429 Because that's important. 00:30:06.750 --> 00:30:10.509 So does he take the risk to give up what he has in his hands? 00:30:10.589 --> 00:30:21.389 Even though even though it's monotonous, what I will say about a plow and being the 12th team of uh plowing oxen is that it might not be glamorous, but it is stable. 00:30:21.869 --> 00:30:37.629 You come from the stability and security of a family where we have farming implements, we have oxen, we have, we have a family, probably have a big house and property, and obviously the the fields that they're managing, employees, other family. 00:30:38.029 --> 00:30:41.709 They got they got a lot going on, I imagine, with 12 pairs of oxen. 00:30:44.029 --> 00:30:52.589 But he has to decide am I gonna give up the stability and the the security, the safety of what I know for what I don't know? 00:30:53.069 --> 00:30:53.869 That's faith. 00:30:54.029 --> 00:30:57.469 That's that saying, okay, God has something for me. 00:30:57.629 --> 00:30:58.990 I don't know what this means. 00:30:59.229 --> 00:31:02.429 I have to imagine that God was already working on Elisha a little bit. 00:31:03.149 --> 00:31:09.469 There was already a pull in him to say, hey, I hope something big comes along. 00:31:10.829 --> 00:31:13.149 I feel like that's what God does sometimes. 00:31:13.229 --> 00:31:21.469 There's just a drawing in me that even before I even know anything is happening or something becomes available, I feel like, man, I'm ready for something to happen. 00:31:21.949 --> 00:31:23.469 That's when it happens. 00:31:25.309 --> 00:31:35.309 So will I go after the promise or uh and lose a good thing or a safe bet for a risky bet. 00:31:35.629 --> 00:31:39.629 So let's look in verse uh 20 what Elisha's response was. 00:31:39.789 --> 00:31:43.149 Once he throws the cloak over him, it says he throws the cloak and then he goes away. 00:31:43.229 --> 00:31:45.949 It says, Elisha left the oxen standing there. 00:31:46.909 --> 00:31:49.629 First thought, like, okay, all right. 00:31:50.669 --> 00:31:55.229 He left the oxen, oxen standing there, ran after Elijah. 00:31:56.829 --> 00:32:01.309 He eagerly and readily began to move and respond. 00:32:02.029 --> 00:32:05.709 We see this is uh almost a posture of faith. 00:32:05.949 --> 00:32:07.469 What is your posture of faith? 00:32:07.549 --> 00:32:20.029 Because sometimes I talk to people about uh uh like what I think God's doing and the opportunity of faith around us and like what I feel God is expecting, and then I feel like a little bit of like leaning away. 00:32:21.069 --> 00:32:22.909 But we've been tempered for that a little bit. 00:32:22.990 --> 00:32:28.669 Sometimes people think I'm trying to take an offering, and I'm like, I'm not, I'm not asking for money, I'm asking for your faith. 00:32:28.829 --> 00:32:29.709 Let's go. 00:32:30.429 --> 00:32:45.469 But sometimes still we we get the sometimes people, I feel like somebody I got uh a text message from another pastor this week about something that he was excited about, and I've it was a very long text, and I was instantly suspicious. 00:32:45.789 --> 00:32:48.429 Hmm, what are you trying to sell me, brother? 00:32:50.669 --> 00:33:02.429 We get that leaning back, but then as I begin to read it and pray about it, I thought, no, I think he's legitimately reaching out to uh as a friend and wanting to share something he's excited about. 00:33:02.669 --> 00:33:04.669 And I found that was true. 00:33:05.389 --> 00:33:09.469 And so Elisha is like says he leaves the oxen. 00:33:09.549 --> 00:33:16.829 I don't know how safe that is, but he leaves them and he runs after Elijah and he says, first let me go and kiss my father and mother goodbye. 00:33:16.990 --> 00:33:21.149 Basically, let me tell everybody goodbye, and then I will go with you. 00:33:21.709 --> 00:33:38.669 He didn't stall, he didn't make excuses, he didn't say, Hey, I just gotta finish up this row or finish up this field, or if you could just wait until my birthday, or if you could just wait until the harvest season's over, or if you he doesn't do all of those things, and I think that's exactly that that should be a perfect model for us because what do we do? 00:33:38.909 --> 00:33:41.949 Oh, well, I got I just I'm not in a good season right now, God. 00:33:42.189 --> 00:33:44.109 This is not a good time for me, God. 00:33:44.990 --> 00:33:52.029 I would go to a small group, I would jump, I would host a small group, but I just ah it's not a good time. 00:33:52.509 --> 00:33:53.709 It's football season. 00:33:57.069 --> 00:34:02.669 We love football, but we use our responsibilities as excuses. 00:34:03.709 --> 00:34:14.030 We try to tell God that God, I'm not quite ready to let go of the safety and the security of all my responsibilities to grab a hold of the risk of faith. 00:34:14.269 --> 00:34:16.269 But that is the nature of faith. 00:34:16.510 --> 00:34:19.949 Faith is you don't get to see all the pieces. 00:34:22.829 --> 00:34:25.309 Maybe it's the responsibility of fat. 00:34:25.630 --> 00:34:26.510 Well, I can't do that, God. 00:34:26.590 --> 00:34:32.110 I I just can't, I can't step out of the boat and onto the the wind and the waves right now. 00:34:32.190 --> 00:34:40.110 I know that's what God wants from me, but I just can't do it because I got my family and I got my I I I just need to keep things stable right now. 00:34:42.190 --> 00:34:50.750 I love, love, love Elisha's response though, and he shows us that when God calls, you don't delay, you obey. 00:34:51.710 --> 00:34:54.269 You don't delay, you obey. 00:34:54.750 --> 00:34:58.190 I don't I can't say what that looks like for you exactly today. 00:34:59.070 --> 00:35:11.150 But I do know that spiritual maturity, everybody say spiritual maturity, spiritual maturity closes the time gap between God's command and our obedience. 00:35:11.470 --> 00:35:25.630 So when God commands, the immature spiritual person says, Okay, let me look at this, let me weigh out all my options, let me think about it and sit on it and let it rest with me and see if I can get peace over it. 00:35:25.789 --> 00:35:30.670 And we we test it with all the things that uh we learn. 00:35:30.750 --> 00:35:31.789 We we pray about. 00:35:31.870 --> 00:35:34.030 I'm gonna pray about it, I'm gonna fast over it. 00:35:34.110 --> 00:35:35.789 I'm gonna, that's good. 00:35:36.590 --> 00:35:41.470 But the more mature we get, we start to realize okay, I recognize God's voice. 00:35:41.630 --> 00:35:43.550 I know this is what he wants me to do. 00:35:43.630 --> 00:35:45.150 I'm gonna do it right now. 00:35:45.470 --> 00:35:47.390 And so we start closing the gap. 00:35:47.789 --> 00:35:53.470 The more mature we get as as believers, as followers of Jesus, we start to recognize God's voice. 00:35:53.630 --> 00:36:01.230 We start to process it quicker, and then the time gap between the command and obedience gets shorter and shorter and shorter. 00:36:01.390 --> 00:36:03.070 And this is what Elisha does. 00:36:03.309 --> 00:36:09.309 Elisha gets the command or the call, he gets the mantle placed on him, and it says he runs right away. 00:36:09.470 --> 00:36:12.349 Let me go put my kiss my parents goodbye. 00:36:14.510 --> 00:36:18.590 And so, verse 20, where he says, I will go with you. 00:36:18.750 --> 00:36:22.190 I think that should also be our template. 00:36:22.510 --> 00:36:24.590 God, I will do what you want me to do. 00:36:24.750 --> 00:36:39.710 God, I will step out, I will let go, I will take this step, I will give here, I will say this, I'll speak these words, I will pick up what is your I will that God wants from you to step into where he wants you to be. 00:36:41.950 --> 00:36:45.630 You don't have to understand completely to obey immediately. 00:36:45.870 --> 00:36:49.070 Watch what happens when Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. 00:36:49.150 --> 00:36:57.070 He used the wood from the plough to build a fire to roast their flesh, and he passed around the meat to the pe townspeople, and they all ate. 00:36:57.230 --> 00:37:00.510 And then he went with Elijah as his assistant. 00:37:00.670 --> 00:37:08.670 So here comes the prophet, he puts his cloak on him, and then Elisha instantly decides, I'm going. 00:37:09.150 --> 00:37:11.309 And it says, This is amazing. 00:37:13.870 --> 00:37:20.190 He takes the plow and he burns it and he slaughters the ox and feeds the townspeople. 00:37:20.269 --> 00:37:24.670 He create he creates a big public display of his decision. 00:37:25.309 --> 00:37:29.630 He makes everybody around him in his community a part of this decision. 00:37:29.789 --> 00:37:34.590 Well, he's already made the decision, but he he makes a big stand to show everyone. 00:37:34.750 --> 00:37:51.950 And I I question, like, okay, this is kind of a weird thing because if I was gonna, if I was gonna shut down a restaurant, say, close down a business, I wouldn't go and sell I wouldn't go and burn the restaurant down. 00:37:53.230 --> 00:38:04.990 If I if God told us to move to New York or to California or Colorado or Canada or Mexico, if God asked Angela and I to leave, I wouldn't go to my house and say, okay, God, let's go and burn my house down. 00:38:06.910 --> 00:38:09.870 That feels like it's a little bit wasteful. 00:38:10.510 --> 00:38:28.829 But I was as I was thinking about this this week, I also remember that whenever I was in high school, I was 16 years old, and I came home from youth camp during the summer, and I was so inspired and fired up to live for God, which happens at youth camp. 00:38:29.309 --> 00:38:45.470 You get inspired, you get challenged, and then throughout the school year, it's almost like this depreciation of value, and the it starts to kind of dwindle and dwindle because you get so pulled back into the things of the flesh and the things of the world because you're in the things of the world. 00:38:45.630 --> 00:38:49.470 And so I made a dramatic and drastic decision. 00:38:49.630 --> 00:38:51.630 I'm not going back to school. 00:38:53.230 --> 00:38:55.870 That was my burning my my plow. 00:38:56.030 --> 00:38:59.870 That was that was me saying dramatically, I'm not going back to school. 00:38:59.950 --> 00:39:02.190 I'm gonna homeschool, which was very hard. 00:39:02.349 --> 00:39:05.870 I looking back now, I realized that why did I ever do that? 00:39:05.950 --> 00:39:07.070 It was crazy. 00:39:07.470 --> 00:39:21.230 But I also know that there are moments where God taps you on the shoulder and you know that you know that you know you need to burn the plow, you need to burn the bridge behind you so that you can't go back on your own word. 00:39:22.030 --> 00:39:29.309 I think Elijah knew that if I don't burn this plow, I'll go with you, I'll step into God's plan for my life. 00:39:29.390 --> 00:39:33.070 But when it gets hard, I'll always be thinking about my plow back at home. 00:39:33.390 --> 00:39:34.829 There's still a place for me back there. 00:39:34.910 --> 00:39:36.190 I could still go back. 00:39:37.470 --> 00:39:41.550 That for me, that was my 11th grade year in high school. 00:39:42.430 --> 00:39:45.390 Of course, later I figured out I didn't probably have to do that. 00:39:45.550 --> 00:39:51.630 There were some other things I could have done, but there are moments in life where you have to take a dramatic stand and just say, you know what? 00:39:51.710 --> 00:39:57.309 I don't care what anybody else says, I don't care what it looks like, I don't care what it's on paper, it doesn't matter, I'm burning it. 00:39:57.550 --> 00:40:03.789 I'm letting go of it, I'm not going back, I'm not leaving myself an escape clause, I'm not leaving myself a plan B. 00:40:03.870 --> 00:40:13.309 I'm gonna make sure that I'm walking forward with God and I'm not looking back to the plow, to the stability and the safety of all the other things. 00:40:17.870 --> 00:40:22.750 What plow do you need to burn so that you can fully follow Jesus today? 00:40:25.390 --> 00:40:28.030 What plow do you need to burn? 00:40:30.110 --> 00:40:35.630 Maybe it's something that has been holding you back, and I don't have to name it because you already know it. 00:40:35.789 --> 00:40:48.670 Maybe it's a relationship, maybe it's a habit, maybe it's an app on your phone that you're telling yourself, okay, I won't mess with that anymore. 00:40:48.910 --> 00:40:54.110 But you've tried that before and you you went back. 00:40:54.750 --> 00:41:03.630 Maybe it's a phone number in your phone or contact or secret sin that you've hidden, you're afraid to let anyone else know about it. 00:41:06.590 --> 00:41:16.349 Maybe you go through certain seasons, like football season, and kind of put God on the back burner, and then you come back. 00:41:16.910 --> 00:41:24.430 Okay, I'll go to small group in the spring, or okay, I'll go to we have these shifts and then this ebb and flow of our faith. 00:41:24.510 --> 00:41:27.550 But my let's can we follow Elisha? 00:41:27.789 --> 00:41:34.990 Can we just say, All right, I'm burning my plow, I'm going forward, I'm not turning back, I'll be exactly who God made me to be. 00:41:39.070 --> 00:41:48.110 I've known people that because they look at pornography on their phone, they decide, well, I'm gonna delete the app, but then they re-download the app. 00:41:48.349 --> 00:41:54.349 And I've known people that have decided, well, I can't trust myself to not re-download the app, so I'm just gonna get a flip phone. 00:41:54.510 --> 00:41:55.710 Doesn't have apps. 00:41:56.110 --> 00:42:07.309 Burn the plow, change the situation in a way that ensures you go forward. 00:42:12.269 --> 00:42:13.630 I want us to pray today. 00:42:13.710 --> 00:42:24.829 I want us to make a commitment to God, but I'm letting this sit with you for just a little bit because I want you, I want you to burn the plow. 00:42:25.230 --> 00:42:34.110 I want you to recognize the calling and make a confession, a public confession that not right here in the room, but this week. 00:42:34.349 --> 00:42:38.590 Maybe you just need to make a post on Facebook that says, I'm I'm following Jesus. 00:42:38.670 --> 00:42:40.670 Maybe you need to get baptized at first Wednesday. 00:42:40.829 --> 00:42:49.470 Maybe there's something in your life that you've been holding back because you're thinking, oh man, if I do that in front of everybody, then if I ever go back, they'll all know. 00:42:49.870 --> 00:42:52.590 Everyone will know that I I didn't keep my word. 00:42:52.750 --> 00:42:55.230 I didn't I I can't sign up for a small group. 00:42:55.309 --> 00:42:55.870 I'll just go. 00:42:55.950 --> 00:43:01.390 I won't I won't register, I'll just go, and then if I have time, I'll I'll be I'll make it. 00:43:01.630 --> 00:43:05.230 But if I tell them I'm coming, then I might not be able to make it. 00:43:05.390 --> 00:43:07.630 Then we just leave ourselves a back way. 00:43:09.150 --> 00:43:10.829 Let's stand up and be bold. 00:43:11.070 --> 00:43:21.230 I love this series because we we branded ourselves with a word at the beginning of the year. 00:43:21.390 --> 00:43:23.470 Can anyone remember what that word was? 00:43:24.190 --> 00:43:24.829 Bold. 00:43:25.710 --> 00:43:27.150 This is that series. 00:43:27.550 --> 00:43:30.670 We're gonna boldly burn the plow. 00:43:31.710 --> 00:43:33.630 We're gonna be who God made us to be. 00:43:33.789 --> 00:43:38.750 We're gonna accept the calling that's much bigger than the field we're standing in right now. 00:43:38.990 --> 00:44:03.070 We're gonna trust that God has plans and purpose for us that outweigh all of the risk, and that the outcome for our families, the outcome for the world around us, as that purpose comes to life will far outweigh all of our concerns and our fears and the lies that the devil tells us, the lies that the world tells us. 00:44:05.550 --> 00:44:11.230 So we're gonna confess our sins to each other and pray for one another that you may be healed. 00:44:11.309 --> 00:44:15.230