And as you find your way to
your seats if you have a Bible, we're going to be in
2 Kings, chapter 2. If you're new to the church,
we're in a series of messages a season where we're looking
at different times in the Bible where there are rivers. River stories, rivers mentioned,
the symbolism of rivers. We've called it the River Wild. And we are believing that like
a river that twist and turns and moves and hydrates and
nourishes and has rapids and mystery and beauty
and uncertainty. That there is a
corresponding element of just wildness to this
grand adventure that is following Jesus. Come on, has your
faith been stirred up? Have you been invigorated? And we're finding ourselves
in 2 Kings, chapter 2, for one of the stories
in scripture out of many that have to do with
the Jordan River. The Jordan River. Here's what we
find, we've already spent some time
there with Joshua. But we're back again
with Elijah and Elisha, where it says in 2 Kings,
2, "And it came to pass, when the Lord was about to
take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind". So that's just like
setting things up like a preview of
coming attractions. So the author's like this is
such an incredible chapter, I need you to be braced for it. So before we get to it,
like just so you know, in this chapter someone goes
to heaven in a whirlwind. Then Elijah, on that day, said
to Elisha, "Stay here, please, for the Lord has
sent me on to Bethel. But Elisha said, as the Lord
lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you! So they went down to Bethel. Now the sons of the
prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha,
and said to him, do you know that the Lord
will take away your master from over you today? And he said, yes, I
know; keep silent!" "Then Elijah said
to him, Elisha, stay here, please, for the
Lord has sent me on to Jericho. But he said, as the Lord
lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you! So they came to Jericho. Now the sons of the prophets who
were at Jericho came to Elisha and said to him, do you
know that your master will be taken away from you today? The Lord is going to take
him away from over you today? And he answered, yes, I
know; please keep silent!" A very polite way to
say close your mouth. "Then Elijah said to
him, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent
me on to the Jordan. But he said, as the Lord
lives, and as your soul lives, I will not leave you! So the two of them went on. And 50 men of the
sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a
distance, while the two of them stood by the
Jordan"-- so they're standing at the river's edge. "Now Elijah took his mantle,
rolled it up, and struck the water; and it was
divided this way and that"-- the King James says, it was
divided hither and thither. I just-- some things, man. Just got to love that
old school translation. Hither and thither. "So that the two of them
crossed over on dry ground. And so it was when they had
crossed over that Elijah said to Elisha, ask! What may I do for you, before
I am taken away from you? Elisha said please that a
double portion of your spirit be upon me. So he said, you have
asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me
when I am taken away from you, it shall be so for you; but
if not, it shall not be so." "Then it happened, as they
continued on and talked, to suddenly a chariot of fire
appeared with horses of fire, and separated the two of
them; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." Even though we were
told it was coming, I still wasn't ready for it. Anybody with me? It's like, he did his
best to get us ready, but I was like, wait I was
still not ready for that. "And Elisha saw it,
and he cried out, my Father, my Father,
the chariot of Israel and its horsemen! So he saw him no more. And he took hold
of his own clothes and he tore them
into two pieces. He also took up the
mantle of Elijah that had fallen from
him, and went back and stood by the
Bank of the Jordan." "Then he took the
mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and he
struck the water, and he said, where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when he also had
struck the water, it was divided
hither and thither; and Elisha crossed over. Now when the sons of the
prophets who were from Jericho saw him, they said, the spirit
of Elijah rests on Elisha. And they came to meet him,
and they bow to the ground before him." And Father we just
ask that in this time together, considering this
outrageous story, that you would speak to us clearly. That we would hear from you what
you would have to say to us. And that we would
understand what it's going to take for us to
see our God given potential come to light. And we asked that if
even just one person, God, who logged on today, who's
in one of our churches today, doesn't know you. Has come in at the
invitation of a friend or because they're new to
town and they googled church, or just because
for whatever reason they felt they just
needed something from God in their life. Something spiritual
in their lives. That we recognize you're
leading your providence in that, no one's here by mistake. And we pray you would ignite
something in their hearts. They would see you,
you break through, God, the walls of doubt,
the walls of pain, the walls of sin,
the walls of guilt. Anything we've erected
to keep you out. And we pray you would draw
people close to yourself. We pray for salvation to happen. And we know that can't
happen by human's hand, it can only happen by your hand. And so we asked for
this in Jesus' name. Amen. How bad do you want it? How bad do you want it is
a title of this message. How bad do you want it is what
I felt God so clearly asking us all through this passage. How bad do you want it? I think many people do
not see all of God's plan for their lives come to pass. I think many people do not
live up to their full God given potential. I think many of us have
a dream that we never see reaches full
expression because we don't want it bad enough. How bad do you want it? How bad do you want it? I was in a store one time
and saw Michael Phelps, actually I was
walking by the store, and saw Michael Phelps inside. I had to play it cool. Almost had a little bit
of a little flutter of-- I don't easily fangirl,
but Michael Phelps. Most decorated Olympian
of all the times. Going back to toga
naked Greece days, baby. Right. No one's won more
medals that this cat. Michael flippin' Phelps. Had to play my cards right. Here's the number
one rule, ready? You do not ask for a photo. That you do not-- play it cool,
be chill, calm yourself down. So I was with a friend,
and so I was like came in. So I saw that there
were some shoes so I had my friend
like pretend that he was interested in these shoes. And then I just-- Michael Phelps was
also looking at shoes. And so I casually
like asked him, what do you think of these shoes? Because I was trying to tell
my friend you should get them. And then I was like-- Michael goes, I have
a pair of shoes. I love those shoes. And I was like, Oh that's cool. And kind of ignored
him a little bit. You got to play your cards
right, I'm telling you. And so now I'm like being
coy with this situation. But then he kind of
like comes over to us. He's like actually those
are really comfortable. And the problem is for
me I'm like size like 18 or whatever he said, like
his dolphin feet, you know. And so eventually,
you know we talk long enough where I'm
finally like, hey, by the way you are a legend. And I have one question for you. And he goes, what's that? And he was braced for can I
take a selfie with you, right? But instead I said, is it
true that from 1998 to 2003 you did not miss one practice
except for when your wisdom teeth were taken out. And the other time was
when a storm prevented you from getting to
the swimming pool? Because you wrote that on page
77 of your book, No Limits. And I was just interested
if that's actually true, or if it was just
facetious and something the ghostwriter cooked up
because it would sell copies. And he said that is an
absolute true story. From 1998 to 2003, a five year
period, if it was my birthday I was in the pool. If it was Christmas, opened
some presents, and got myself into the pool. If it was Thanksgiving, had
some turkey, got in the pool. He said, my wisdom
teeth prevented me. The doctor said, you cannot
swim for these few days. And the day that a storm
hit, a freak storm hit, I physically could not
get to a swimming pool. Other than that, he
said, the absolute truth was those five years
I was in the pool. I was like, that's amazing. Can I get a photo? And I did, and it's amazing. And here it is. All right. So I just wanted to say-- OK. So what happens sometimes
is many of us want it, but we don't want it bad enough. We want it a little bit. We want it enough
to have the dream. We want it enough to have it
pinned on our Pinterest board. We want it enough
to talk about it, and tell someone we want it. The problem isn't
that we don't want it. The problem is, oftentimes,
we don't want it bad. And now let me ask you the
question again I started with, how bad do you want it? Do you want it bad enough
to agonize over it? Earl Nightingale was
one of 15 Marines to be on the USS Arizona
during Pearl Harbor. One of 15 Marines who
lived to tell the tale that is, many others perished. But 15 Marines lived through
that horrid incident. And he went on to become a life
coach and a self-help guru. And you know what,
I say he should. You know what I'm saying? You go through that,
like I'll buy your book. You go through
that, I want to hear what you have to say about
drive, about stamina, about success. Because he's been
through something. He's had to fight
through some PTSD. He's had to fight
through some anxiety. And he said-- this
is interesting, this line has always
stuck with me-- he said, successful
people make a habit of doing what other people
only occasionally do, or are unwilling to do. Successful people
have this in common, they make a habit
of doing things that unsuccessful
people don't like to do. It's not that they
enjoy doing it. It's just that they
want it bad enough to do what most people
are unwilling to do. Let's stop and just kind
of get our bearings here. Elisha is Elijah's protege,
and has been for some time. Going back to 1 Kings 19,
when Elijah-- remember the story on Mount Carmel? Huge epic fire, huge
moment for Elijah, and then it was followed by
a massive, massive, massive depression. And he ran, and he was
afraid and he got low. And then God picked him up. And it was actually
a great story. Because God comes to
him to pick him up, you know what he says to him? God actually sends an
angel to speak to Elijah. You know what he says? Hey bro, you should
eat something. You'd think he would say, read
your Bible, pray, or fast. The problem is he
had been doing that. Sometimes it's real
simple problems to what we think are
deep spiritual issues. Hey homie, maybe you
should eat something. So he eats and he
drinks some water. And then God says,
go back to sleep. No I didn't want to talk to you
right now, just go back to bed. Go to sleep. Some of you that's the word
you came to church for today. You got all these issues, and
you-- oh, what's this-- hey, maybe you should just go to bed. Get some rest. Charge your phone
in a different room. Suspend your Netflix
account for a hot minute. Then he wakes up, and you
know what God says to him? You're like, he probably
told him to read the Bible. No. He said eat something more. You need more. You need more nutrition. You need more hydration. You still got some problems. And so you know
what happens next? Then God begins to speak to him. Because God will never do for
you what you can do for you, remember. So God won't eat for you,
God won't drink for you, God won't sleep for you. But there are things that
only God can do for you. And so when you're doing
the things that you can do, then you're at a position
where you can actually ask Him to do what
only He can do for you. So he has this God sized
encounter on Mount Horeb. And you probably
remember the story where God was not in the earthquake. God was not in the fire. But God spoke to him in a
whisper which is beautiful. My friend Steven Furtick
likes to say that God came so close that he could whisper. God is close enough
to you to whisper. He doesn't need to
raise his voice. He is right there with
you, He has never left you. But oftentimes we have so much
static and distortion and noise around us that we
can't hear His whisper. So we have to-- here we go--
cultivate the quiet. We have to steward
the stillness. We have to make
sure and practice being in a place where
we're actually able to hear a whisper from God. Where you're taking those walks. Where you're sitting down. If it's early morning,
if it's late night, if it's a lunch break, when are
you still before your creator? When are you quiet
before your King? Just to say I love you enough to
just spend some time with you. How would your marriage do
if you were never one on one? How would your marriage do? How is your marriage
doing because you get that one on one time,
that undivided attention time. That generosity of eye
contact, that's saying I'm lavishing myself upon you
by saying no to everybody and everything else right now. I'm just looking
at you going there are 300 million
people in this country and 8 billion people
on planet Earth, but I don't want any
of them right now. I just want you. And that is what your quiet
time does for your Savior. And the one who made your
soul, and the one who saved your soul, and the
one who your soul will stand before when
you leave your body. So to be quiet with
Him, Elijah did that. And while he was up
there God interestingly enough wanted him
to start thinking about succession, legacy. Who's going to wear the
mantle when you're dead, bro? It's amazing that God is
working through your life, but are you passing
the baton on well? Are you raising up the
next generation of leaders? Everything that happened
next was all about pipeline. And Elijah, like many
successful people, thought he needed to
do it all himself. He thought he was
doing it all himself. And in fact came out in
his speech on Mount Carmel, there's all these
prophets of Baal and I'm the only
one who loves God. How easily our eyes turn inward. How easily we start to think we
are the one doing everything. And that's why Sabbath-- that's why taking one
day out of 7, by the way, to set aside for rejuvenation
and worship and rest and delight is so important. Because it's funny how
you'll notice the world keeps spinning when
you stopped working. A lot of us work like we're
keeping the world spinning. A lot of us work like
we're the only one. And if we don't, everything's
going to hell in a handbag. I got to keep going,
I've got to keep going. I've got to keep driving. Got to keep producing. But that's how Elijah
felt. And at the cave when he was quiet enough to hear
a whisper, when he took a day and just ate and drank
and chilled a little bit, God spoke to him. And said, I got 7,000 people who
are still worshipping me, bro. And you need to do what you
can to develop as many of them as you can until the day comes
that you're not on this Earth anymore. So you need to be willing to
rest, be willing to break, or you're going to come apart. A.k.a. What you just did. And here's what He
told him, He told a bunch of different things. But one thing pertaining
to the story at the river that we just read,
He told him, "You shall anoint Jehu, the son
of Nimshi, King of Israel." OK, that's great. We're not talking about Jehu,
and Nimshi sounds great, but it sounds like
something you'd order at a sushi
restaurant actually. I'll take on the teriyaki
chicken and the Nimshi, the son of Jehu. All right. "And Elisha," he said, "the
son of"-- here's the part we're focusing in on-- "Shaphat of Abel
Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. You've got to have a
Padawan, and God named him. God made it really easy. Here's the guy who's going
to wear the mantle when you're no longer around. So what did Elijah do? He immediately found
Elisha, son of Shaphat, and he came up to him. Here's the crazy story, when
he went down to find him. And because this is crazy,
he'd never met this guy, doesn't know this guy. And this is not a prophet. This is not a guy who's one of
the prophets who are formally being trained up, one of the
7,000 even that he knew about. Well, he didn't know
about any of them. But he did not know this guy. This was just a businessman. This guy, when he
meets him, he's at his father's
farming enterprise that he is the heir of, clearly. And he is, let me just
give you like if you went to a massive farm somewhere. And there were 12
different giant tractors working on different
aspects of the farm simultaneously, that's money. Right. And what does a
huge tractor cost? Probably a quarter million
or something like that. Like those things
are very expensive. And so you think about 12
yoke of oxen, which would be the equivalent in that day. He has 12 different-- and there
would be teams around them, servants around them, different
people around the different 12 different yoke of oxen, right. And he was supervising. He was the one walking around
going, Oh, yes very good. Very, very good. Aha. Right. And so he's supervising a
massive farming enterprise. Because you read
stuff in the Bible and you're like 12 yoke of
oxen and everything about that, but to think about what
that meant in that day. Right. And so he's there, he's
just a businessman. He's just he's the
one who's going to be running Shaphat farms. And Elijah walks up to him in
characteristic weird style, right. Just absolute-- Elijah,
you have to understand, Elijah was weird
before weird was cool. Right. Before John the Baptist
there was Elijah. When John the Baptist showed up
eating bugs and wearing camel skin, they were
like, Oh it's John the Baptist back from the dead. That's what they thought
because Elijah just walks up to Elisha, son of
Shaphat, as he's working on the farm in this day. And he just he just
goes up behind him and he puts his mantle
on Elisha's shoulders, and then just walks off. We're given only one physical
description of Elijah. When later one of the
enemies who was afraid of him was told by his lieutenants
hey, there's this guy and he showed up in
this and he said this. And he goes, what
does he look like? And they go super
hairy, big leather belt. And he goes, Elijah! All right. So apparently was like an
iconic thing about this guy. All right. So the original Chewbacca. Hairy with a leather
belt, like that's Elijah. And imagine you're
just doing your job. One day and a wookie just
comes up and mantles you. [CROWD LAUGHING] I'll turn the I'll turn the
brightness on my iPad up. Is that better? Now I'm telling ghost
stories, very nice. OK so he just got mantled. He got mantled, he
got mantled big time. And here's the great
thing about this, it was a very clear symbol
that he was being invited. Thank you. That's wonderful. He was being invited
to participate in an unpaid internship. Welcome summer
interns, by the way. We're really glad
to have you here. Very glad to have you here. If any of you have any lighting
experience that would be great. Please let your supervisor
know immediately. All right. So Elisha has a crossroads now. Because as Elijah
walks off, everything he saw his life was
going to look like has now been derailed. Or not. Because he doesn't have
to go with the hairy guy with the belt to give
him back his jacket. Because he wouldn't keep it. He would give it
back to him saying, I get the ceremonial gesture. I'm going to one day
wear your mantle. So he's standing there
holding this thing. And he's thinking,
I'm a farmer, I farm. I never thought about
being a preacher, I never thought about
being a prophet. He's thinking about how
bad Elijah's life has been. He's thinking about
just like the cush gig that he's about to-- like he's
been through so much hardness with his family business. And he's like, this
is a thing man. You know he did? 1 Kings 19 : 19 tells us-- I love this. "So Elisha turned back from
him, and took a yoke of oxen and slaughtered them
and boiled their flesh, using the oxen's equipment,
and he gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and
followed Elijah, and became his servant." And then, just a
couple page turns away, we read that one day
on the day Elijah is going to be taken to heaven
by a whirlwind, Elijah's gone. And Elisha's walking on
with a mantle in his hand. And it seems instantaneous. It seems like he made
a really hard decision, but look how much it paid off. And I want you to understand
that's not exactly accurate. Because Elisha, to get
to where he is on the day that we're seeing him where he
proved how bad he wanted it, he had to pass a number
of tests to get there. The first of which being delays. Jot that down, delays. Because like I said
it's like he says yes, he slaughters the cows, like
he pulls the Cortez move. Right. And destroys the ships,
he can't go back. Right. Dad's not taking him back on. Like what are you doing? You didn't need to do that. He was making it impossible
for him to return to this life. He was basically saying like no
I'm having a farewell barbecue. We're going to feast
on these beasts. And now I'm off on a new
life, wild blue yonder. And so it seems like the
reward of that is well now he's wearing the mantle,
smacking the river, and everything's amazing. But in reality, there's a
period of separation in between. And you're like, how long was
that in between him having the man put on him ceremonially
and him actually having the mantle. The answer, commentaries differ. The smallest I've read
is 8 years, the longest gap I've read is 18 years. Why? Because you can't
start raising up the one who's going to lead
after you when it's time for that exit from the world. There's got to be a preparation. You've got to start
thinking about succession when it doesn't seem like
it's the time to be thinking about succession. And in leadership and in
business and in ministry alike, many people do not
think about succession until it is far too late. And are unwilling to relinquish,
and are unwilling to let go. Why? Because of the need to
keep the world running. And the need to feel
like it's all about them. So they don't think
about it soon enough. They don't think
about raising up that next person soon enough. Many people are insecure,
and they want job security. And so they kind of
hoard tribal knowledge. And they want to make sure
that they're the only one indispensable, that no one else
knows how to do what they do. But the exact
opposite is how you should be thinking about it. They should be
raising up the person who could do your job tomorrow. Raising up the person who could
be doing it better than you. Celebrating the person
who's got a gift. And why? Because you will always be
indispensable in your field, or in your
organization, if you are able to not only
do a thing well, but raise up many people
who can do that thing well. Because organizations
need people who can do the thing well, yes. But they will always
in far greater desire want to have the person
who is the genius maker, than just the one
who's the genius. To quote from the
book Multipliers. Which I would commend
any of you to, if you want to read more just on
that specific thought process. We made that an emphasis on
our staff a number of years back when we brought
everyone together and we had a vision for a
whole year called be the key. Unlock the greatness in others. And don't just look
at what you can do, look at what you can raise
up other people to do. Right. OK so there's a gap,
there's a delay. And you're like, Oh my
gosh 10 to 18 years. That's different now,
that hits different. Because last thing I read was
he followed him and resolved to become Elijah's-- what was it-- servant. But surely, I'm just
going to be like a servant for a little while, and then I'm
going to be a prophet of God. Right. I'm going to go, I'm
going to be a servant. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. 10 to 18 years. What was he doing
for 10 to 18 years? Well there's actually one verse
in the Bible that tells us. Just one. And it happened when later,
post mantle being received, Elisha will go to be invited
to one of his early ministry assignments. And here's how the
set up happens. These two kings are having
this alliance and fighting. And the King of Israel is
trying to do one thing. And this other
King's like well we should consult a voodoo
doctor or a witch doctor. Is there not a prophet
you could consult? And the King-- this is amazing. The King says, this
is 2 Kings 3 : 11, "Is there no prophet
of the Lord here, that we may inquire
the Lord by him? So one of the servants
of the King of Israel answered and said, well Elisha
the son of Shaphat is here, who poured water on
the hands of Elijah." With contempt almost he spits
out, there's kind of a prophet here. There's this new guy around. Because there was
really a wonder worker, but he's bounced. And now there's a guy here,
but he was the assistant to the regional manager. You see what I'm saying? He identified him by what was
his clear primary occupation for that possible 18
year long stretch. The one who poured water on
the hands of the great prophet. Is there not a prophet? Kind of, there's a servant here. Not a big prophet of God. There's a servant here. So Elijah for these
18 years while he was training him would be
the one doing the ministry, and then after the ministry he's
like, Oh my hands are sticky. Elisha! Right. He's like, yes, master. With a pitcher of--
and he pours the water. And Elijah's like, thank you. Thank you, Elisha. That'll be all. Right. How often would he think
about his life pre-mantle? 12 teams of oxen and
doing my bidding. 12 teams of servants
there to pour some water on my sticky hands. Why did I follow that guy? I should have taken
the blue pill. Delays. And delays messed
with your head. When things don't
work in the timeline you thought they would. When things don't go
like you scripted it when you were planning
out your life. People we are microwaves, but
our God rolls with a crockpot. And oftentimes as we
follow Him, the reason we don't get what
He wanted us to have is because we didn't want it
bad enough to wait for it. And we took timing
into our own hands. There's always a lag
between sowing and reaping. There is always a lag between
calling and actual anointing. God oftentimes pours oil on our
heads for crowns we will not wear many years-- many,
many years from now-- for many years from now. David gets oil
poured on his head and then has to live for a
couple of decades in a cave. Because he wasn't
ready to wear the crown that God wanted him to wear. And a lot of people get
frustrated and miss out because they feel like
God gave them a dream, but then there's some
big lag in the middle. Yeah, there's a
lag in the middle because God wants to see if
you love Him or the dream more. So a lot of times
gives us a dream and then pretends
like he doesn't even know us to see if we
will chase after Him. Which leads us to
our second thing that Elisha had
to fight through, and that is disgorgement. Because not only does he have
to go for a couple of decades. But when it's finally
the day that Elijah is going to be taken away to
heaven by a whirlwind, three different times he
tells them to stop. Just quit. Just stay here. Just stay here. I got to go further,
you just stay here. I got to go further,
you just stay here. How weird would it be to
be getting mixed messages from the one who called you? Told you to follow me and now
at the ultimate expression of this moment you're
just saying like, bro you've done enough. It's been a good run. I'm out of here, just stay here. Just stay here. He's trying to shake him off. Stay at Jericho, he says. Stay at Bethel, he says. Stay, just stay. I'm going to cross
the Jordan, you just stay here on this
side of the Jordan. And every single
time, Elisha says, as your soul lives, and
as your servant lives, I will not depart from you. He's saying I told you
when I burnt the plows. I told you when I
slaughtered the oxen. I told you when I
ate their flesh. I'm going to follow you. So help me, I'm
going to follow you. I signed up to serve. I'm still here to serve. I didn't say I only
want to do this. This might not be my sweet spot. I might not feel
called to pour water. But bro, I am here. I'm all in. I am down for what
you want to do. So I am ride or die. So let's cross the Jordan. You're not shaking
me off, Elijah. And I think each time
Elijah went, hmm. And then as he turned,
was smiling on his face. Smiling on his face because his
man had passed another test. Write this down. This is only a test. Remember that on TV? This is only a test of the
emergency Broadcasting System, had this been-- and this
is burned into my brain from when I was a kid. Had this been an
actual emergency, instructions would
have followed. Right [BEEPING SOUND] And every time you're
like, I know it's a test but it's still freaking
me out a little bit here. There's something in my soul
that discordant sound hits, and it's like I
feel uncomfortable. I don't like it. I don't I don't love it. It's like the AMBER Alert
thing on our phone now. It's like ah! Right. This is what happens
when we're freaking out on the way to God's dream
in our life being realized. We need to just say to
ourselves, this is only a test. This is only a test. The one who called me seems
like he doesn't even know me anymore; this is only a test. There's discouragements on
the way; this is only a test. God gave me a dream but now
it seems like everything in me is telling me to go
in a different direction. How do you think Abraham
felt when he believes-- his only thing was to believe
for a son, believe for a son. He gets a son, and God
says now give me your son. Like that's confusing. What was it? Genesis tells us
before that story ever plays out, don't get weirded
out by anything that follows. Just remember how
God sets it up. Verse one, "Now it came
to pass after these things that God", say it
with me, "tested." This is only a test. This is only a test. This is only a test. He who called you is faithful. He who had you so is going
to see you to reaping, but in between you just feel like
dirt's been put on you. You just feel like other things
have been poured on you, right. Fertilizers been--
this is only a test. I see it all over
the life of Jesus. And one of my favorite stories
exhibits this shocking truth. God often is on the hardest-- God often is the
hardest on those that he is the
most impressed by. He's the hardest on those
he's the most impressed by. Like Matthew 15,
"Jesus left Galilee and went north to the
region of Tyre and Sidon. And a Gentile woman lived there
who came to him, pleading, have mercy on me, Oh
Lord, Son of David! For my daughter is
possessed by a demon that torments her severely. But Jesus gave her no
reply, not even a word." Just ignoring her. That's not polite. That's not respectful even. "Then his disciples urged
him to send her away. Tell her to go away, they said. She is bothering us with
all of her begging." And Jesus finally turned
to the woman and said, "I was sent only to
help God's lost sheep-- the people of Israel." Can't help you. No miracles for you, sorry. But she came and worshipped Him. Pleading him, saying,
"Lord, help me!" He goes, no I can't
do that, sorry. "It's not right to take
the food from the children and throw it to the dogs." Man, this girl. That's not OK, right. "She replied, that's true Lord,
but even little puppies"-- that's what she said
in the original Greek-- "little puppies are allowed
to eat the scraps that fall beneath their master's table." He couldn't hold back
his laugh anymore. He just completely
busted out, "Dear woman, your faith is so great." She could handle the test. She wanted it bad enough where
she could see through the test. Three different
opportunities she was given the chance to stay
at Bethel, stay at the Jordan, to get offended. To walk away with the story,
I tried to follow Jesus but it didn't work. I offered sign up to serve,
but then I felt used. What was the prayer you prayed? God use me. Weird. You see what I'm saying? So she didn't she didn't
falter when she took her test. God was impressed by her
enough to know that she could handle the rigors of training. Why is the training
program so difficult? Why does God almost always
give us this great calling, but then send us
into the desert? Because he needs to develop us. Or we will never have the kind
of integrity and the faith systems to withstand
the way that He wants to use you ultimately. If he doesn't first beat
you down in boot camp. If He doesn't just
take you to some of the training in
the Navy SEAL area where there's a bell
there on the beach tormenting you the entire time. Knowing, I can ring that bell. I could stay at Bethel. I could just wash
out, and go to Jordan. I don't need this. I didn't sign up for this. Then you would never be able to
handle the kind of power that is going to be entrusted
to you down the road. The kind of ability to
make difficult decisions. I'm telling you something,
I am so grateful and I am so thankful for every
spiritual spanking God ever was willing to trust me with. The Father loves the son
enough to chastise him. I'm grateful for every
bloody nose that God gave me and the difficult days of
starting out following Him. And starting out in ministry. And starting out
believing these dreams at times when it felt like
God was yanking back something I was so sure he was
going to give me, that now today I can say he's
confidently done it through me. But first I needed
to come to a place where I was dependent upon Him. Where I was desperate for Him. Where I realized, God no
matter-- even if you slay me, I'm going to follow you. Because now I can see God able
to hand me things that today that I know for a fact would
have destroyed me had it not been for the Proverbs
20 : 30 principal. Proverbs 20 : 30, you got
to underline that sucker in your Bible. Wounds that hurt
cleanse the way evil. And when your heart is
black and blue with stripes, it purifies the things that
otherwise would defile you. God purifies through pain. He allows difficult things. He calls you a dog one day, and
you're like, what in the world would you do that for? Because He wants to
see if you'll go, but even puppies-- yip,
yip, yip, yip, yip. You call me a dog,
I'm cool with that. I'll be your dog. Right. If you have that
kind of a faith, if you have that kind of a
tenacity, how bad do you want? Third thing he had to push
through was distractions. It would be fine if he was
just in a vacuum following God. Got a weird enough
master, that's enough. Just in a vacuum, following
the hairy guy with the belt. I think it would still be hard
for 10 to 18 years pouring water. Right. But then the 50
prophets show up here. Hey man, hey man, you
know your master's getting taken away from you? Thanks, please be quiet. Unhelpful comments. People just being people. Just saying something
because they-- like when someone sees a parent
that's struggling and goes, hey you got your hands full. Right. Like my wife was saying
last week, wonderful. Awesome, thanks. Right. People used to see me when-- my wife and I have four
daughters and a son. And they would see
me with like, I'd be out with like three of the
girls or four of the girls. And someone would just be like,
man didn't get that boy, huh? I'm like weighing my options. Thinking about ending
up in the newspaper. Right. And it was just
unhelpful comments. And following God
is no different. Doing the dream thing
that God put inside you is no-- the
business that God put. The way you're going
to do business. The way you're going to change. The way you're
going to innervate. The way, even post
COVID now, there's whole new horizons
open for you now. The options. The way you can pivot now. As you do, there's going
to be so many people that are just like, hey man
did you know that today. And you're like, Oh. It's always the peanut
gallery that the most infuriates the person
who's following their God given destiny. Almost every commentary
I read insinuated that within these guys comments
is a veiled sort of envy. Because they weren't
picked to follow Elijah. So what are they doing? They're just standing
on the shore, literally just
standing by the shore. Hands in their pockets. And just have just
have something to say to those who are
actually out there doing it. And so it is in every industry. And so it is in every dream. And so it is in every calling. There's people just content
to stand by the shore, and just make comments. And what you have to
do is, you don't even need to say it to
them like he did. He was cool, he was respectful. But you don't have
to say it, just turn the volume down on what
they have to say in your life. Just listen to the voice
of the one who sent you. Elisha had to push
through the distractions. One commentary said
that in saying this, they were saying he's been taken
away from you today so just join us. Just come join our ranks
standing by the river. Join us and just stand here. And he had to push through
and fight through the voices and the chaos. Not only the voices
of these other people, the distractions of
the people, but even his own personal demons. This shows up too. Because just before Elijah
finally leaves, he turns to him and says, and gives
him one final test. And the test was,
what do you want? Anything you want. Which I just want to
point out, he never would have had that
question asked to him had he left at Bethel, left
to Jordan, left at-- right? So the reward is
anything you want. It was all a test. I don't want you to leave. I wanted you to-- good job. Good job for being here. Good job for not quitting. FYI, here you are. What do you want? That God, eventually if we
keep with Him long enough, is eventually going
to be able to trust us with the desires of our heart. That early on, it
seemed like He was trying to take away from us. I thought you were trying
to take away Isaac. God's like, I never
wanted to take away Isaac. I was always giving you Isaac. I just needed to see that
you loved me more than Isaac. So what do you want? But that is a bugger
of a question. What would you do if you
were absolutely certain you would get away with it? Would you cheat on your spouse? No one would ever
know, I promise. No one would ever know. Would you steal
from your company? What would you do if you
were absolutely certain you would get away with it? Questions like that
pose dilemma that flush out demons inside of us. And I think the question that
Elijah asked Elisha sort of was one of those questions. What do you want? I just want to be
a prophet of God. I just-- I want prominence. I want to be known. I want power. I want to put those sons of the
prophets in their stupid place. Standing there by
the rivers, having their hands in their
pockets, doing nothing when there's stuff to be done. Right? I want my farm back. What do you want more
than anything else? Elisha, we'll talk about in a
quick second what he asked for, but I just wanted to
show you that to get to where God wants you to
go you're going to have to push through those demons. You're going to have to confront
what's on the inside of you. And nothing will expose that
like the dejection-- last one. Last thing he had to push
through the dejection that followed victory. The dejection that
followed victory. Greatest day, I think
you'll agree with me, ever in his 18 years for sure got
to see a whirlwind take up my boss. Got to see chariots of
fire that were unnecessary. Because you'll notice
if you read the text carefully it was a
whirlwind that took him up, so what are the
chariots of fire for? Just God showing off, right. They weren't even involved. They were just an
escort, apparently. They were just there
because it was cool, or maybe they were always there
just unseen before this moment. God, just for a
quick minute, let Elisha see the kind of
stuff that He's always doing in the world. Angels always there. God always working. He just got to see how-- that maybe it was
their personal detail. The Bible very clearly
makes it ironclad to build this doctrine. There are guardian angels. There are angels at the ready. They are servants of those who
are the heirs of salvation. You should and can
pray for God to send angels to protect your kids. You should and can
ask God to send angels to protect your home. That's what they are,
they do God's bidding. And God loves you. And God wants to protect you. God wants to care for you. And so maybe he just got
to see for a quick second, and the angel in the chariot
just gave like Elisha a wink or something. Just like bro, I got you. I got you. Right? And then the whirlwind
takes up Elijah, but man welcome to
now your ministries. So that's how Elijah's
ministry ended, good luck. Right. Oh. The thing I wanted for
so long I now have. It hits different when
you actually get it. What I thought it
was going to feel like when I saw you have
it, isn't quite what it feels like when I have it. I was talking on
the phone this week to someone who is
releasing his first book. He said, what should I expect? I said just expect a hit of
melancholy the day it releases. I've been working every
single day since May 7, 2020 on a project that
will release in 2021 and I'm already
planning on the trough. Because it's just-- it's hard. I thought it was going to be
this big rush of excitement, and actually there's kind
of a bitter sweetness to it. There's kind of a
disappointment to it. And I'm sure everything
he ever thought that it was going to feel like
from the day he burnt the plows and walked on. Now all of a sudden as
he's experiencing it, there's got to be
some dejection to it. We know he's sad. He's tearing clothes. He's going to see
now Elijah no more. Hits different. Melancholy, depression,
there's this low. He's on his own now. He's got some big
sandals to follow. He's going to be
introduced as the one who poured water is here. Right. That's not a great nickname. Elijah's nickname was the
mightiest miracle working prophet of the Old Testament. And my nickname is the
one who pours water. I'm a bald headed prophet. Right. He doesn't even have-- that's a detail
you'll get later. So four quick
things you got to do if you're going to push
through all those things, all those delays, all the
discouragements, all those unhelpful comments,
all those things. What do you have to do? You have to practice recitation,
secondly desperation, imitation, and innovation. Recitation, real quickly. We're almost done here. How many of you believe that? Welcome to Fresh Life. Because everybody else over
here didn't even go for that. You're like no it's not. Recitation is where
you recite the story. You handle the stones from two
weeks ago, and you remember. Because remember what
Elijah intentionally did when he was setting
up his last day. This is the last training day
he knew, the last day he would have to train his Padawan. He wanted it to be a
sensory experience. So he took him to where? He took him to Gilgal. Gilgal in the Bible speaks
of beginning or preparation. It was the place where the
children of Israel's reproach and shame was rolled away. And there they could celebrate
the Passover, a feast. There they could
have circumcision, and there they could be
prepared for what was to come. So Gilgal speaks of beginning. Gilgal speaks of going
back in your mind's eye to how it was when
you started out. When you're having a bad day,
go back to the beginning. When you're having a
fight with your spouse, picture them on your wedding
day and treat them on this day like you did on that day. And everything for the
most part will work out OK. I'm just telling you,
that's some good advice. You go back to your Gilgal,
you go back to the beginning. Remember how it felt like
when it was uncomplicated and you were just
happy you were saved. You were just grateful
you weren't going to hell, and that was enough. When it was just I'm so excited
I want to do everything, I'm going to tell
everybody about Jesus. Now I've been following
God long enough to know there are some
messed up Christians, and I'm one of them. And it's dysfunctional
doing church together. And it's hard sometimes,
and there's rough edges, and it's bumpy. Go back to your Gilgal. Remember how excited you
were to be a new believer? You got to go back to
recite the stories. And then he took him to Bethel. Bethel speaks of prayer
and encounters with God. That's where Jacob
encountered God. That's where Abraham
encountered God. That's where Jacob
encountered God. Bethel is the place of prayer. And so when you're discouraged
and when you're low, don't forget about Bethel. Don't forget to go seek God
and pour some oil on a pillar. Don't forget to
go alone with God. Don't forget about
how important it is. So as you're walking through
all the delays, and all these things you're going
to face-- the dejection. Remember to listen
for the whisper. Go back to Bethel. When was the last time
you were at Bethel? When was the last time
you carved out an hour and just were alone with God? Put some worship music on. Sing a few songs until you
sense His presence there. Open up scripture, pour your
soul out in your journal. Go back to Bethel. And then he gets to Jericho. He gets to Jericho. Jericho is a place that
speaks of the sweetness that comes from fought battles. Because Jericho literally
means fragrant place. But that was where the
biggest battle was fought. You know what, some
of the most fragrant places you'll get
to come when you are willing to persevere through
the most difficult battles. Jericho, where the
walls fell down. And they got to experience
the palm tree paradise vibe that came from
fighting a difficult battle. And how did they fight it? In the unusual way that
God called them to. Of sending the
priests out first, and yelling really loud
on the seventh lap. That's not a sound
military strategy, right? And the sweetness that
comes when you do things, not that makes sense
to you, but makes sense to what God
called you to do. And then lastly, fourthly-- sticking with Jordan-- Jordan speaks of death. The east side of the Jordan
is a picture of death. That's where Moses died. It's now where Elijah
will be taken away. But crossing the Jordan
in scripture historically speaks about a
different kind of death. Death to self. Death to self. He wanted him to end here. Because if you're going to get
to the finish line like I have, and finish your
race well, Elisha, you're going to need
to die to yourself. And you're going to need to do
it again and again and again. Did not Jesus say,
church, to follow Him would mean denying
ourselves, shouldering a cross, and following him. Or as the message
translation puts it, if you intend to come with
me, you got to let me lead. "You're not in the
driver's seat; I am. Don't run from
suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll
show you how." Recitation, desperation. We're almost done for real now. Desperation, that's why he
asked for spirit not for stuff. That's why he asked for power
from on high and not power here on the Earth. I want twice as much spirit
that God has put upon your life. He is so smart not to ask for
prestige, or ask for gain. He said I need spirit, why? Because all those things God
had already promised to him. If he's going to wear
the mantle of Elijah then he realizes that's a
heavy burden that's heavier than he is. And so he said I've seen
how you shouldered it, and I know I'm not nearly
half the man you are. So if I'm going to
carry your mantle, if I'm going to carry the
calling that was trusted to you and is now going
to fall on me, I am desperate for
God's Holy Spirit. Let me tell you something,
the things that God has for you are bigger than you. And so you need God's
Holy Spirit upon you. You need to have it in your
heart, God I need twice as much of your spirit as
the average man. I need twice as
much of your spirit if I'm going to not buckle
under this heavy calling that you called me. It's a humility in that prayer. He's a humble man saying,
I need God's spirit or it will crush me. And then I see innovation. At the end, he
gets to innovation. He does some very
innovative things. He's going to do some
miracles, twice as many actually as Elijah, by the way. Interesting. You get twice as much spirit,
you see twice as many miracles. And so here's Elisha. But he does stuff
Elijah didn't do like encountering
bitter water, he'll make it sweet by
putting salt in it. Doesn't make any sense. Innovating. But please don't miss this. Long before innovation
came imitation. A lot of people want to
innovate at the beginning, but there's a period in
your life-- and really, to some degree it
never ends-- where imitation is what's called
for to get to innovation. Here's what 1
Corinthians 11 says, Paul speaking, "Imitate me,
just as I also imitate Christ." Here's what he told the
Philippians church, "The things which you learned,
received, and heard, and saw in me, these things
do"-- in other words, imitate-- "and the God of peace
will be with you." If you want to have
the peace of Paul, you got to do the
stuff that Paul did. If you want to have the
power in your life of Elijah, there has to be
this period where you develop these rhythms,
where you do these things. A lot of people want
the power without first following the plan, without
first doing the pattern. And so the imitation then
opens us up to the innovation. Before we can do things
no one else has done, first we got to do those
old proven things that actually work like dying of self
and trusting God and seeking Him. And it seems like, how could
small groups work for me? And how could
giving work for me? Because they've worked for every
generation of Jesus' followers since Jesus ascended to heaven. I'm telling you, we make it
complicated but it's not. It's being a servant. It's loving. It's giving. And repeat. You see what I'm saying? We can get to innovation and
doing these crazy things, but first we got to be willing
to do these things that God has entrusted to us. In 1976 three men
started a company. Two of them you probably know. Steve Wozniak, Steve
Jobs, and the third you may or may not have ever
heard about, Ronald Wayne. The company? Apple Computers Inc. I think
you've probably heard of it. Apple Computers Inc
had three founders. Ronald Wayne was in his 40s,
the other two were in their 20s. And he was the businessman,
he was the mature adult in this situation. And he cashed out just after
a year of this company going. Just said, I can't
be a part of this. I'm out. And he sold his 10%
ownership of the company-- get this-- for $800. Severed all ties
with Apple Computers and walked away for $800. Why? He liked Steve Wozniak, but he
thought Steve Jobs was a jerk. Temperamental, mercurial,
did not treat people well. He said, I cannot do
business with that man. I cannot be in
bed with that man. And so out of that
principle, he walked away. Today Apple Computers
Inc is worth $2 trillion some napkin math tells me his
10% ownership of the company today would be $200 billion. And there might have
been a time in my life when I would have preached
this and said, what an idiot. He sold out. He walked away from the dream. But then I came
across an interview with Ronald Wayne, who is
still very much alive today at the age of 86 years old. And he was asked, what do you
think of your decision now? If you could go back would
you do it differently? And he said, and I quote,
"I am totally at peace with my decision to walk
away from Apple Computers, and I've never in
my life regretted the decision for one moment. For if I had stayed with them
during the Apple Corporation phase, I would have ended up the
richest man in the cemetery." And I think about
Steve Jobs, dead, 2011. And I'm not saying him
being a jerk-- which he's on record as being a jerk,
like he's brilliant and a jerk. I'm not saying that he
wouldn't have died in his 50s in 2011 had he not been a jerk. Doctors will tell you being a
jerk is bad for your health. I'm not saying that. But what Ronald
Wayne is saying, is being in that kind
of a situation, being in that kind of a
climate, would have killed me. And so I walked away from that
because I wanted something else more. How bad do you want it? Jesus put it this
way, what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For what does it profit a
man to gain the whole world, but lose his very self? God has a calling on your
life, how bad do you want it? Father, we thank you. We thank you for your love
and your mercy and your grace. We thank you for many today
who have been contemplating quitting something, who have
been rethinking a decision they made a long time
ago, who are worried and wonder where you
are in the midst. Where is the God of Elijah? We thank you that it is never
a mistake to follow you. I pray you'd give
us grace today. If this message has touched
you in any way today, would you just let God know
that by raising up a hand? God our hands are a signal,
or a sign, of our dependence upon you. So may you see them as a
lightning rod you can strike with your grace and your power. See them raised towards you
across our church, blessed Father, and help
us walk with you. You can put your hands down. If you're here today and you've
never surrendered your life to Jesus the Savior, this isn't
a gathering of religious people who are here to talk
about what we've got to do this week to get God's favor. This is a society of people who
have been rescued from that, and rescued from
our sins and rescued from ourselves by the most
selfless thing anyone ever did. Jesus coming, in human form,
and dying on the cross for us. So that if we trust in
Him by faith and no merit, no act, no good
deed, just simply a surrendering our
lives over to Him. And believing that act, and
the cataclysmic resurrection that followed is enough
to save us from deadness. Is enough to rescue
us from the grave. Is enough to snatch
us from hell, and to give us a life
of purpose and meaning. And yes, oftentimes confusion. But confusion that
He has promised to be with us in the midst of. And if you're here
or watching online and you've never given
your heart to Jesus, today is the day
and now is the time. So allow me to lead
you in prayer where you open up your heart to God. And you watch Him
come in and save you and heal you and make you new. Say this prayer out loud. Mean it in your heart
and God will hear you. Dear God, I know I'm a sinner
and I can't do anything to change that. But I believe you can. Because of Jesus come into my
soul, fill my lungs with air, give me the hope of heaven,
use me while I'm here on Earth. I surrender my life to you. In Jesus' name. All right. Thank you so much for joining
us for this broadcast, it is such an honor to have you. And I trust and pray
that God is doing deep things in your heart. For some of you it's
just the realization you don't have to quit. It's been hard, but
you don't have to quit. We can get so trained and
conditioned that something being hard we instantly throw
up our hands and walk away. But what an inspiring
illustration of Elisha. Because he was willing to
walk away when God called him. No matter what he
faced, how hard it was, how difficult it was,
he was willing just to keep pressing on. And I pray for that kind
of a spirit in your heart, that you would have a
long suffering endurance. And the messy
difficult things, you would just continue
to walk with God. Take a walk down memory
lane, remember the sweetness that comes through battle. I don't know what the next step
is going to look like for you. Maybe it's getting into one
of our Fresh Life groups. Or getting the joy
and journey of giving. Perhaps for some of you it's for
the first time ever opening up to someone who loves Jesus. And telling them the reality of
what you're facing and battling through and asking for prayer. But I know this, I
know that God has great things in store for you. I also want to let
you know that we're so excited about Rock This City. We put together these kits
for every single person around the country and world
who's a part of our family. And this is for
you to participate in our Rock This City week
that's coming up in June. We'll send one of these to you. There's stuff for your kids. There's stuff for
you to make a shirt. We have these iron
on things that you can put on any shirt you have. It's pretty cool,
and you'll need this and you participate in the
Rock This City in June. So you use the
link on the screen to let us know to
mail one on your way. Oh look at that, that's amazing. Hey, God bless you and
thank you for joining.
