In this sermon, the speaker addresses the issue of losing hope and dreams. He reminds the audience of the promise of Jesus Christ in Hebrews 13:5, that He will never leave or forsake them. The speaker also references the story of Elisha in 2 Kings 4, where he prays and brings a dead child back to life. The message encourages listeners to seek God, distance themselves from worldly distractions, and surrender their lives to be used by Him. The speaker emphasizes the importance of the anointing of God and the need for more laborers in His harvest.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge, P.O. Box 260, Lindell, Texas 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. You are welcome to make additional cassettes of this message for free distribution to friends. However, for all other forms of reproduction or electronic transmission, existing copyright laws apply. 2 Kings, in the Old Testament, if you'll turn there please, 2 Kings, chapter 2. I'm going to speak a message tonight called Passing Over the Smitten Waters. Passing Over the Smitten Waters. Let's pray together as we're moving to that passage of scripture. Old Testament, 2 Kings, chapter 2, beginning at verse 8. Father, I thank you, God, with all my heart, for the anointing. Oh, Jesus, I thank you that you never ask any of us to stand here in our own strength. And God forbid that we ever should. I thank you, Lord, that your thoughts are so much higher than ours. Lord, I can't even ascribe to where your mind is and your thoughts are, and so you invite me to it. You invite me to be a partaker of your mind. And God, by your grace, you begin to open the scriptures to me. And you begin to show me things, oh God, that are hidden from the foundation of the world. And I pray, God, tonight, that you would enable me, Holy Spirit. Take me far beyond any natural ability to understand these scriptures. Take me far beyond any natural ability to even express it. And God, let my voice and heart just be an animation of your voice and your heart. I pray, God, for the grace not to be in the mix at all for this message tonight. Help me, Holy Spirit, to just hide that you might be seen. Lord, you must increase first that I may decrease. And God, I thank you that as I cry out to you, you will not, you have not, you cannot fail those who cry out to you. And I'm asking, God, for your kingdom to advance tonight with power and authority. I'm asking you to give the word of God weight tonight, Holy Spirit. Let this not be a word that we can just casually hear and add to our tape library. God, let it be found engraved in our hearts and in our minds. Help us to understand the call of the church in this final hour of time. Help me to understand it, oh God. And I pray for the grace to yield to what you are speaking. Holy Spirit, give us ears to hear, hearts to obey. Oh God, give us minds to embrace the truth that you are speaking to us. And Father, I thank you for it from the very depths of my heart. I thank you, God. I don't want to preach a message. I want to hear from heaven. I want us to fight from heaven tonight, oh God. Lord, I want a word from your heart. And Jesus, I thank you. Thank you, God, that you're going to touch lives. You're going to heal those that have been backslidden. You're going to deliver the oppressed. You're going to set clear in their mind the confused. You're going to do the miraculous. I believe it, God, with all my heart. Lord, I stand under the authority of your word. And I thank you, oh God, that you're going to move with great power. And I give you the praise in Jesus' mighty name. 2 Kings 2, beginning at verse 8. And Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and smote the waters. And they were divided hither and thither so that the two went over on dry ground. And it came to pass when they were gone over that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, this is Elijah, thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I'm taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. But if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass as they still went on and talked that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire and parted them both asunder. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more. And he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and smote the waters and said, where is the Lord God of Elijah? And when all he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither and Elisha went over. Now, first of all, the scripture tells us clearly that Elisha was a seeker of God. Elisha was a man who wanted spiritual things to be his inheritance for the future. From the very time that Elijah had come by and the call of God had come upon him, he had in measure left behind those things that were once his security and began to follow this man of God who was obviously touched in a mighty way of the spirit of God. In 2 Kings 2, verse 2 and onward throughout this chapter shows Elisha's commitment to follow to the end the one who had gone before him and had proven to be a man of God. Elijah was on a journey. I'm not going to speak about that journey. I'm not going to speak about the symbolism of it. It's for another time. Just suffice to say that as he was on this journey, it was Elisha's prerogative at any time to stop. He could have stayed in any one place and lived a somewhat semi-productive life for the kingdom of God. But Elisha knew if I'm ever going to know the touch of God in the measure that God wants me to, the journey that he has sent me on, there must never be a stopping point on this journey. I must follow right to the end. And there was a something in his heart. And I believe it's something that's in the hearts of perhaps many who are here tonight. Elisha said to Elijah, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. In other words, Elisha was saying, it doesn't matter to me where the spirit of the Lord is taking you. Because the spirit of the Lord is on you and because God has used and continues to use your life for great glory, wherever God leads you, I'm going. I'm going there. You see, that's got to be the cry of the heart of the church in this last hour. It's got to be your crying. It's got to be mine. When God opens this book to us and we look at the words of God and we see the journey and God sets us before us, the living word of God in our hearts. We say, oh, God, as the Lord lives and as I so live, I will not leave thee. Oh, Jesus, wherever you lead me, I'm going to follow you. Three times, Elisha said this to Elijah. As the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. Now, as we get to the near the end of Elijah's journey, verse nine, it came to pass when they were gone over that Elijah said to Elisha, ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. Now, Elisha was asking for the spiritual son's inheritance. Remember now in Israel, the first born as it has received a double portion. And he was asking for this double portion that was given to those that are in a sense as a spiritual son. He says, I want a double portion. I want the first born's portion of that which which God has given to you. And Elijah gives a very strange response in verse 10. He said that has asked a hard thing. Now, a hard thing for whom? We have to ask ourselves the question. Certainly not for God. Nothing is too hard for God. The scripture says so. It can't be about God because it's not difficult for God to give an anointing. He can give it to whomsoever he will. And he's no respecter of persons. It's not difficult for Elijah because it wasn't Elijah's to give. The anointing is no man's to give. The anointing comes from God and God alone. I remember Leonard Ravenhill years ago when I spent some time at his house. He told me, he said, about all the people over the years, especially in his latter years that came from all over the world, knocking on his door, looking for the mantle. He said that poor spiritual fools as if it's mine to give to somebody. He said it shows how little they understand. It's no man's to give. The anointing comes from God almighty himself. The anointing is given of God through the Holy Spirit. The difficulty could only be for Elijah himself. You see, because Elijah had not yet borne the heat of the day as Elijah had. And Elijah, rather, was saying to Elijah, he said, Do you realize, Elijah, what you are asking for? Do you understand the purpose of God's calling and anointing when it comes upon your life? There's so many today go to a service and hear a message about the Spirit of the Lord and say, Oh God, anoint me. Oh God, touch me. Oh God, separate my life for your purposes. But there is a cry from the Holy Ghost. And that cry is simply the very thing that Elijah said to Elisha. Do you really, this is a hard thing that you've asked for. You see, this anointing is not just to make you happy. This anointing is not to make you prosperous. This anointing is not just to cause you to step into glory land for the rest of your days. This anointing can be a very difficult thing for you, Elisha. You see, Elijah had a hard life under this anointing. Elijah had stood alone. Elijah had known great bouts of depression. Elijah had known what it's like to be isolated from the fellowship of his contemporaries. Elijah had known what it's like to be misunderstood, to be hated by kings. Elijah had known what it was like to have a wicked king's wife pursue his very head. Oh yes, he had known some of these things. And now, this young protege is saying, give me a double portion. And he's saying, you've asked for a hard thing. Do you know what it is that you're asking for? Do you understand what it is that you're asking God to do in your life? Remember, Jesus himself said, they called the master of the house Beelzebub. How much more are they going to call those of his household? As they have treated the Christ, so they will also treat you and I. The world will not speak well of those who belong to Christ. Sometimes the Holy Spirit can lead us on a very, very difficult path. But then he says something that's always been curious to me. He says, but nevertheless, if you see me when I'm taken from you, it shall be so unto thee. But if not, it shall not be so. If you see me. Now, there's a lot of context and we can draw a lot of inference from that. Now, I don't believe for one second that the Holy Spirit is playing hide and seek with Elisha. You know, if you turn your back for five seconds and I'm gone, well, too bad. The anointing is not yours. It would be a ridiculous interpretation if you see me. No, it's beyond that. I believe first and foremost, or at least firstly, it's about unity. If we are still seeing eye to eye, if you are still walking with me, if you are still hungering for the truth when I'm taken, if you are still there, if you are still within that visible distance of fellowship, it's going to be yours. But it's even beyond that, because when you look into the Hebrew text, the word for see, if you see me, is rea. And here's what it means. It means to see something intellectually. It means to perceive what is happening in the sense of hearing. It means to feel something. It means to experience something. It means to be fully aware of what is before you and to trust it. Amazing when you begin to dig it out in the original text. And so really Elijah is saying to Elisha, if you have an intellectual understanding of what the anointing is for, what I'm taking from you, if you are fully aware of the call and the cost that will come on your life, and if you have learned to trust that God will keep you, God will be with you even when you misunderstand him. He will not fail you. If these things be in you, when you see me leave, the mantle will come and it will fall upon you. I think of so many today who want the anointing of the Holy Spirit. And yet so few are willing to walk the pathway on which this anointing will take them. They want the anointing for various reasons. Some wanted for power in the church. Some want control over men's lives. Some want to be known as some great thing. Some see an opportunity to put their hand in the bag and accumulate a little bit of gold for themselves. There are very, very many reasons why people ask for the anointing. But there are so few that want to walk on the path that the true anointing of God will take you and I on. Jesus himself said in Luke chapter 10 in verse 2, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Then he said to them, Go your way. Behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. I send you out into a place where there will be attempts to devour you. There will be attempts to destroy you. You'll be fighting on every side like the apostle Paul. There will be fighting without. There will be fears within. It will be a fierce battle. All times right to the end. I send you out. But you are a co-laborer under this anointing with Jesus Christ. You see, the anointing was soon going to lead Elisha to places of spiritual and physical deficiency and emptiness. We see in chapter 2 verse 19. I'm moving ahead from our original text. Then we're going to go back to where we started. The men of the city. This is Jericho now said to Elisha, I pray the situation of the city is pleasant as my Lord sees, but the water is not and the ground is barren. And Elisha said, Bring me a new cruise and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth under the spring of the waters and cast the salt in there and said, Thus saith the Lord, I've healed these waters. There shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha, which he spake. The anointing will lead you and I to places where there is physical deficiency, spiritual deficiency and emptiness. You see, the very first place that God took Elisha to after the mantle of Elijah fell on him was into Jericho. Now, you remember when Joshua conquered Jericho, he pronounced a curse against Jericho. And he said, Whoever tries to rebuild this city, he said he's going to lay the cornerstone and celebrated with the death of his firstborn. And when he finishes the city and puts the gates on the final touch, that will bring in the death of his youngest son. And that's exactly what happened. There was a man called Hill who tried to build it during or did build it actually during the reign of King Ahab. And he lost both of his sons because the curse of God had been pronounced on anyone who tries to rebuild this through his servant Joshua. And so they rebuilt the city. But you see, beloved, if we build anything, it's got to be built God's way. And it cannot be built with anything that is cursed. Cursed is the deceiver, the scripture says. Cursed is he who uncovers his neighbor's wife's nakedness. Cursed are the proud. Cursed are those who worship idols. If we try to build a Christian life, but we're building it with things that God has cursed, still very much resident within our lives, it can produce nothing but spiritual deficiency and emptiness. Nothing but a physical deficiency. And the people of the city said, Elisha, the situation of the city is pleasant. In other words, it's built in a nice place and it has all the appearance of prosperity. But he said the water is not and the ground is barren. And the word for not in the Hebrew means morally deficient. It means sad. It means of inferior quality. It means unable to come up to good standards which will benefit. And the word for barren means causing to miscarry. And one translator, at least a Bible interpreter says, there was an evidence that the water in this city was causing not only the ground to throw its fruit as it is before the time, but it was also causing physical miscarriages in the women of that city. The water was deficient. The water was of inferior quality. And it was causing nothing as it is to be brought to birth. When we try to build with the wrong materials, when we try to make holy that which God has called unholy. Beloved, listen to me. There is no prosperity in it. There is no end result that glorifies God. There is no fruit that is lasting. There is nothing produced that is satisfying. And the anointing of God now takes Elisha. The very first place it takes him is into this particular city. And Elisha called for salt in a new vessel. And they brought it to him and he threw it into the spring of waters. Jesus said in Matthew 5 in verse 13, He said, You are the salt of the earth. You are the salt. You and I, the anointing of God, is the clarity of God, the purity of God, comes into those vessels that are set apart for Him. And He says, I call you to go into deficient places. I call you even to go into places where there are people who are called by My name, but they are building with the wrong materials. And I call you to stand a vessel, a new vessel, that has that inherent healing property of God within Him, who can speak a word and season and clean up these waters, these filthy, morally deficient waters that are only producing fruit of an inferior quality. But Jesus said, You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its savor, what will it be salted with? It's therefore good for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden under the foot of man. Or the word trodden means discounted as having any value. Now, what makes this interesting is when you look it up in the Greek text. When Jesus said, If the salt have lost its savor, you are the salt. I send you into places of religious confusion. I send you into places where people have a form of godliness, but their very lives deny the power of God. I send you into places where they are building cities even in the name of God, but they are building it with morally deficient, spiritually deficient material. I send you there to heal these waters. That's why my call is on you. That's why the anointing of God is on you. He says, But if the salt has lost its savor, and the word for savor in the Greek New Testament is moreno, and it means to act as a simpleton or to become foolish. And really, if you will allow me to paraphrase that, you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt begins to behave foolishly, if the foolish thinking of this world is in the salt, that's why we cry so hard, beloved, to get away from the spirit of this age. Turn it off! Get away from it! If you walk into your office place, and you've been watching some of this ridiculous television, and you walk in, and you're the salt. Christ is in you. The anointing of God is on you. But you walk into the office, and talking about this filth, and your conversation is like the foolish. The Scripture says that men will discount you as having any value. They will discount you in their trial, in their crisis, in their miscarrying efforts to produce life and fruit. They will look at you, and because foolishness reigns in your heart, they will discount you. Your conversation about God means nothing. It has no authority. The church is almost a non-entity in America today. Anybody who can hear my voice, anybody on tape, or video in the coming days, the church almost has no voice, because the foolishness of the world is deeply embedded in their heart. Discounted. Like Samson, a mighty man of God, with a powerful anointing to bring deliverance, but ending up trodden underfoot of men. Ending up in a place where he's grinding, and they just bring him out for sport. You have to understand, there's no anger in my heart, but only a passion for God. Only a passion for His church. A passion for the testimony that He's planted in you in the day you came to Christ. It's not optional to try to build God's kingdom with foolishness. The anointing brings sobriety. The anointing causes us to be serious. Oh, it doesn't mean we can't have a belly laugh at the dinner table. But there's a line. I don't want to be discounted. Discounted. To have your own children look at you in your own home, and discount your testimony, discount your talk about God. I think of the number of children not living for the Lord, because their mothers and fathers are sitting night after night and listening to foolishness. The salt has lost its savor. And now your children just tread your Christ right under their feet. Tread your testimony under their feet. They wave their noses at it and walk out the door and head off to drinking parties and everything else, because there's a lack of sobriety. Elisha, the anointing was going to make him familiar with the mockery of the backslidden. When God's touch comes on you, everyone who's half-hearted in their walk with God, I think of Elisha heading out after parting the water and cleaning up the water of Jericho, and some young people came out of the town, and they said, Go up, old bald head, go up, old bald head. In other words, if you've got the power of God, if the mantle's on you, you go up. You go up in a chariot like Elijah did. Go up, old bald head. Beloved, the true anointing of God, you're going to become very familiar with mockers. Very familiar. They'll mock you in the workplace, they'll mock you in your apartment building, your own family will mock you. The only thing that will not mock you is hell itself. Hell fears a man or woman of God who's set apart for the purposes of God. Let the religious mock. Let the half-hearted mock. But when you walk into a town, when you stand in a place to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ, the devils will tremble. They will tremble. The anointing was going to lead Elisha to a place where he would counsel kings, even wicked ones. There were three kings that were going into battle, they ran out of... Their battle plan was so foolish, they had no water for their forces. They came to Elisha. And Elisha said, We're not for Jehoshaphat. The son of Ahab was one of the kings. There was another, a king of Moab, and there was Jehoshaphat. And he said, We're not for Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah. I wouldn't even speak to you. He said to the son of Ahab, Why don't you just go and speak to the prophets that have ministered to your mother and father for so long? He was no respecter of persons anymore. The anointing will take the fear of men right out of your heart. But he became a servant. You see, from the very point that he gives kings counsel, and they won a marvelous battle because of it, that he finds a widow and her son that are being oppressed and provides oil from kings to widows and orphans. The anointing will make you a servant. The anointing will not make you some great person. The anointing will not give you necessarily influence and power because you seek it. The anointing will make you a servant. And there are so few who want to serve. Everyone like James and John wants to sit at the right and left hand of power and authority. But the anointing teaches us how to serve. The anointing would bring Elisha into fierce spiritual battles inside and outside of him that few, if any, around him would ever understand. Fierce battles in your mind. You'll know there's a devil when the anointing comes on you. Oh, Elijah said, you asked for a hard thing. You asked for a hard thing. See, it was at the end now. And it had been a long journey. The cave experience was not too far in the past. And he remembered the despair. He remembered the trials. He remembered the difficulty. And here's a young man saying, I want twice what you had. I want a double portion. He said, oh, oh, Elisha. You asked for a hard thing. Fierce battles. 2 Kings chapter 4, Elisha and his servant Gehazi began passing by a certain place and there was a woman, the Bible says, was a Shunammite woman. She was a woman of considerable wealth. She invited them into her home. And Elisha asked his servant one day, he said, call her and see what we can do for her. She's been kind to us. I'd like to do a favor for her. And so Gehazi calls her and she stands and is speaking with him. And he says to Elisha, she has no child and her husband is old. In other words, the time of childbearing is gone. And she has no child. Of course, there was an incredible disgrace in those days. And it was also a very deep need that perhaps she just finally let it go. But you see, Elisha is bringing the promise that you and I can bring everywhere we go if we understand the mind of God, that out of the impossible, God makes it possible. Out of nothing, God makes things that are. You've heard us preaching here so many times in Times Square Church, where it cannot be done naturally, it will be done supernaturally. And Elisha brings this promise to the Shunammite woman. And he says about this season, according to the time of life, he says, you're going to have a son. And she said, oh, my Lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thy handmaid. And I'm sure the scripture doesn't record it, but I'm sure that Elisha's in his room and he's looking at her and he says, you can be sure this is truth. I've heard from God. I have the promise and the promises that you're going to have life. Out of your barrenness is going to come life. Beloved, that's the gospel message. That's the message we preach under the anointing everywhere we go. We preach it in this house. We preach it to every person we speak to. We preach it in every country the Lord sends us to. That out of your emptiness, God almighty himself will bring life. And so, the word comes to pass, as he says it would. And then not long after, this boy is out in the field with his father and he falls sick and then he dies. Elisha is sitting on Mount Carmel. The woman came to him. She laid hold of his feet. And she said, did I not say to you, do not deceive me. There will be great spiritual battles sometimes that those without the spirit of God know nothing about. This is a spiritual conflict. Here's the enemy now. Trying to tell Elisha, your promises are only temporary. They only last as long as the meeting lasts. But there's nothing lasting about it. You promised this woman the desire of her heart and now it's gone. And now she's standing and she's gripping his feet and she's saying, did I not say, do not deceive me. Immediately Elisha says to Gehazi, go, gird up your loins, take my staff in your hand and go. And if you meet any man, don't salute him. And put my staff on the face of the child. Now, I see Gehazi in this passage of scripture as a type of that immediate, quick, fixed religious response. Which only leads to unbelief. It's that brush off answer to somebody who is absolutely in death. Absolutely needing a word from God, needing a touch from God. It's that quick fix. Because Gehazi comes back and his only report is the child is not awakened. You see, unbelief now is fighting for the soul of this man, Elisha. He's fighting for the very ministry. The devil himself is fighting for it through unbelief. We've heard about it this morning. We heard about it this afternoon. We're hearing it again tonight. This is always the devil's tactic to stop any man or woman of God who's proceeding into that anointing that God has for them. To somehow convince them that the promises of God cannot be trusted. They don't work. Everything is just temporary. If unbelief can be sown in the heart, the devil has won the battle. Call yourself as anointed as you want. If unbelief gets a grip of your mind and your heart and your spirit, there will be no water healed. There will be no provision for the widows. There will be no advice for kings. And there will be no children raised from the dead. Gehazi is sent out on the way and the mother of the child. Now, something very interesting happens. The mother of the child won't go with Gehazi. She stays with Elisha. She knows where the anointing is. And she says, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. That's an incredible thing. Those are the very words. Word for word. Not even a word difference. That Elisha had spoken three times at least in the scriptures to Elijah. Now, it's incredible. I'm wondering as he hears these words and they come ringing back and he remembers now that this call that's on his life started with this commitment. It started with a commitment saying, I don't care where it takes me. I'm not turning from it. I don't care what comes against me. I know where the touch of God is. And I'm going with the touch of God. I'm going with the call of God. I know where the power of God is. I'm going with the power of God. He thinks about the words that he once spoke to Elijah. And now this Shunammite woman is speaking the same words to him. And I can't help but wonder as I read it, does he now become aware Elijah is gone? You see, one generation always passes and gives to another as it is. And the mantle now rests on him. There's nobody else to look to now. There's a generation looking for God, looking for life. He no longer has anybody else to lean on. And now the words that he spoke to Elijah are now being spoken to him. It's his turn to lead now. It's his turn to bring people into the life of God. Folks, that's the call for you and for me. You can only sit and listen for so long. We can only sit where the anointing is for so long. There comes a time when we begin to realize that every church has another generation. And the anointing of God now comes and touches you and touches me. I see that teenagers now touch, as they sang here this afternoon. The anointing of God is calling and constantly moving from one generation to the next. And there's a time where we've got to... Our life in Christ cannot be just services and listening to tapes and all these other things. There's a time when an unsaved world, when a world needing God is going to cling to your feet and say, I know the power of God is in you. Lead me to Christ. Lead me to life. Help me. Help me. I've lost my hope. I've lost my dream. It's gone. Can you show me how to get it back? And also I think as I read these words, I look way into the future. And I hear the words of Jesus Christ. I believe it's Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 5, where the writer of Hebrews says, For he has said, that's Christ, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. The words of Christ himself, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. I've called you. I will hold you in my hand. You are mine. No power of hell will ever rob you of the calling that's on your life. In Elisha, verse 32, chapter 4, it says, He went into the house, and the child was dead. And he was laid upon his bed. And he went in, therefore, and he shut the door upon the two of them, and prayed unto the Lord. And he went up and lay upon the child, and he put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands. He stretched himself upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed warm. You see, beloved, the anointing will lead you to pray. The anointing will lead you and I to a place where God abides. The anointing will lead us to a place where life, the very life of Christ, will begin to flow through us. And so Elisha prayed, and then he goes up and he puts his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, and his hands on his hands. And all that happens is the flesh of the child begins to get warm. And then the scripture says he returned and walked up and down in the house. And the inference, of course, is that he continued to pray. You see, quite often we have an anointing. And in our minds, the anointing, the call is fulfilled if we just speak good words. The call is fulfilled if we look upon people with compassion. The call is fulfilled if we reach out and touch them with the gentleness of God. And these things are all good in themselves. You see, he put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes, his hands on his hands, but it did not raise this child from the dead. All it did is warm him. And it's not enough, beloved. The anointing is, yes, we're called to speak good words, but it must not stop there. We're called to see a fallen world with different eyes, but it must not stop there. We're called to reach out and touch the needs of fallen humanity with the hands of Christ, but it must not stop there. The anointing is not just for parts of our body to be used for the glory of God. He went back and he began to pray again. You see, God was leading him somewhere. The spirit of the Lord was leading him. And then finally he returns to the child and the Bible says he stretched himself upon him. It's as if God is saying, not just your mouth, not just your eyes, not just your hands, your whole body, everything you are. I beseech you. The Scripture says, therefore, brethren, present your body, a living sacrifice unto God, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. The anointing will take you to a place where your whole being is now given to the purposes of God. Live or die, we belong to the Lord. We walk with Him. We live with Him. We move with Him. We have our being in Him. We trust Him. Whether it's in the palace or the prison, all things work together for good because we love God. And we're called according to His purpose. There are no limitations. There are no boundaries. Where He leads us, we begin to follow. What He calls us to speak, we speak. And where we go, we go. We yield our bodies as a living sacrifice for the purposes of God. Elijah said to Elisha in chapter 2 verse 10, he said, You've asked for a hard thing. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 20 verse 22 to James and John, He said, You don't know what you ask for. They wanted to rule. He said, But do you think you can drink the cup that I drink of? Can you be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with? You want to rule with me one day, and that's good, but can you walk with me here? Everyone wants Luke 4.18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He's anointed me to preach to the poor. He's anointed me to open prison doors, give sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf. Everyone wants Luke 4.18, but what about the rest of the story? He's anointed me to go to Calvary. He's anointed me to die that others may live. He's anointed me to obey my father and to lay my life down as a living sacrifice for the purposes of God. This is not a heavy message, by the way. This is life. I have found life, beloved. I've had a taste of God. And by God's grace, I don't want to take one inch of a backward step. The second Kings, again, 2.11. Now, this is interesting. In the Old Testament, there was a man or periodically there'd be one or two that would be anointed of the Spirit of God. They would anoint a successor as it is, and it was a one-to-one almost type of anointing until Calvary. When Jesus Christ died, when he stretched himself upon that cross, as Elisha stretched himself upon the child, he swallowed up death in victory. And what he said, it is finished, the mantle as it is that was on Christ. I'm not talking about a Messiah ship. I'm talking about the anointing of the Spirit now became available for all flesh. No longer just an individual fortunate enough as it is to be in the vicinity, but all flesh, sons and daughters, handmaidens, the young, the old, everywhere, everyone. The mantle now has fallen. The call, the anointing, the sense of purpose of fulfilling that which Christ has asked his church to be in our generation. And Elisha took up the mantle of Elijah, verse 13, and stood by the bank of Jordan. Now, that Jordan, of course, always represents crossing over from death into life or from barrenness into the promises of God. He stood at the bank. And beloved, it's a choice that you have to make and I have to make. We're going to hear truth and we are hearing truth. But eventually, we all have to stand at the bank of that river and say, am I going to cross? Am I going to go into these impossible places but for the Spirit of God to bring me there? Am I going to trust for the provision that God wants to give me in a very calamitous time? Am I going to go and pass from this place of death over into life? Am I going to leave the wilderness and go into the place of promise? Which only the Holy Spirit can take us into. And the scripture says, he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and smote the waters. And said, where is the Lord God of Elijah? He smote the waters. And he asked a question which is not a question of unbelief. If you read it the way it appears, at least, it looks almost like unbelief. Where is the Lord God? I don't see it that way. You see, the Bible is always referred to as living water. In Ezekiel 36, he said, I will cleanse you, I will wash you with clean water. Jesus in John chapter 7 said, out of his belly are going to flow rivers of living water. That refers to the word of God. And he smote the water. And I personally see it as a man or woman who opens this book and with a desperation says, God, I know there was a Hudson Taylor. I know there was a D.L. Moody that found you. I know there was a Gladys Hilward. I know there were men and women of God throughout history that found you. But oh God, show me yourself the way they saw you. I want the God of Elijah. Show me. Show me. And that's the cry. That's the cry that will take you over the river. When you open this book and say, where is the God of Elijah? Show me Jesus. From Genesis to Revelation. Holy Spirit, show me Jesus. Show me, oh God. I don't want this to be a dead letter. This is the living word of God. It's by this word the universe was created. Oh God, don't let it be a closed book to me. Don't let me live on the wilderness side. Don't let death dominate my life. God opened this book. And He smoked the water. And the Scripture says when He had smitten it, it parted. Away an understanding was given. He saw. He understood. And He began to walk with God. And the Scripture says the waters parted and made a way for Him. And Elijah went over. Every Christian that will ever know the anointing of God has to come to this place. Of crying out to God. There are men today who try to get an anointing by sleeping in somebody's bed that wants to do an anointing of God. It's ridiculousness. Standing near a tomb of some dead saint. The anointing is in the book. And Elijah went over. By God's grace, I'm going over. You heard my wife say this afternoon. I'm looking forward to the fight. And what she's saying in her heart. By God's grace, I'm going over. I'm going. I'm not staying on this side. I'm not living with the foolish. I'm not taking the things of God and using them for my own self. I'm going over. Oh yes, there will be a reward here on this side. I'll see people's lives changed. And one day, I'll be with Him in eternity forever. Let that suffice me. And Elijah went over. He went. And today, there's a call of God on so many. There's only one path for your life. And only the Holy Spirit knows it. And you and I will never know it until we smite the water. Until we open this book. And maybe you're not going to hit your book like I'm doing. But you hit your heart. God, show me. Show me. I could preach on this one passage of Scripture for the rest of my life. That's how deep the Word of God is. Every time I read it, the Holy Spirit would bring out a new diamond of truth. I believe that with all my heart. I could preach on 2 Kings 2, 1 to 14 for the rest of my life and never hit the bottom of it. That's how deep the Word of God is. And only the Holy Spirit can take us through. God's Word begins to be real. Begins to carry us. Begins to form our thinking. Begins to consume our very being. We now are gripped with the mind of God. It's time, beloved. Christ is coming soon. It's time. And whether or not he does come soon, New York as we know it may be over before you realize it. It's time. It's time for the church to rise up and stop being insignificant in our generation. Singing songs and playing games and eating in fast food restaurants on Sunday. It's time. It's time for it to be over. Going home and listening to stupid sitcoms on television. It's time. It's time for somebody to smite the water one more time and say, Jesus, when you died a mantle fell from the cross. And I'm going and I'm getting it. And I'm going to pick it up and I'm going to smite the water and you're going to show me the way I'm supposed to go. You're going to use my life for your glory. I believe it with all my heart. Would you stand, please? Hallelujah. All I can say tonight is if the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, would you come and join with me at this altar tonight? Slip out of the balcony. You can go to either exit. Education annex. You can leave and the ushers will show you how to make your way here. For those who are saying it's time for me to go over. It's time for me to cry out to God. It's time for me to get into this book. It's time for me to find the reason why the Spirit of God is on my life. It's time for me to be sober. To distance myself from the foolish all around me. It's time to turn off the television. It's time to put away the foolish religious tapes. It's time to get it all out of my mind and heart and home. It's time. It's time to go over. It's time that I let God use my life for His glory. No matter what He asks me to do or where He sends me, it's simply time. I want the anointing of God. Hallelujah. He'll not make you morose, beloved. You'll be happier than you've ever been in your entire life. The glory of God will touch you. The annex to make your way down here. It's time. Now, don't come to this altar if you don't intend on turning away from things that God has cursed. Please don't dishonor Christ. This is an altar for people who are serious. You've got to get away from the foolishness of this society. It is all going to perish. And everyone who's intertwined with it is going to perish with it. It's time now. It's time for the church to rise. It's time for you and me to be a testimony for Christ. It's time that God give to us spiritual authority. That you have a word for your family. You have a word for your neighborhood. You have a word for the kids on the corner that are doing drugs and heading for hell. You have a word. You have an authority. They can't look at your life and write you off as a foolish man or foolish woman. Oh, they may mock you, but they cannot write you off as foolish. There'll be something in you that they have to reckon with. Spirit of God is on you. It's time. It's time. I believe it with all my heart. It's time. It's time. Father, I thank you. Oh, God. Lord, I praise you tonight. God, I praise you from the depths of my heart. I praise you, Lord. Oh, Jesus. Jesus, you're coming for a clean church. You're coming for a bride without spot or wrinkle. You're coming for a dedicated people. You're coming for a people that trust you. They understand the reason for their salvation and they trust you, oh, God, for their strength. Oh, Jesus, I thank you, God. Lord, all I can do is ask you to do something supernatural at this altar. It's got to be you, Holy Spirit, that does it. I can't reason and I can't do it for them, Lord. They've got to... Every man, every woman has to be a personal decision, Lord. They've got to do it for themselves. Oh, God, I pray now. I pray now that everyone at this altar would not be satisfied until they have a double portion of the Holy Ghost, a touch of Almighty God, an understanding of their calling, an understanding of their salvation, an understanding of their ministry, an understanding of their mission, oh, God, a desire to be holy, a desire to be a vessel that is used of God to make a difference in this generation. Oh, Jesus, we cry out to you now as a church. We cry out to you, Holy Spirit. We ask you, Holy Spirit, to come. Oh, God, lead us. Oh, God, guide us. Let there be a hunger. Let it be an individual hunger now. Not enough just to have an Elisha or an Elijah. Oh, God, every man, every woman, everyone needs a hunger. Everyone needs to get into the Word. Everyone needs to know and understand the purposes of God. Oh, God, help us now tonight. Help us, Holy Spirit. Help us as a church. Help us as a body. Help us, oh, God, for the sake of Christ, for the sake of this city, for the sake of so many that are confused and dying. Oh, God, raise up a body. Raise up a church. Raise up a testimony. Oh, God, Lord, do it in me. Do it in me. Let there be the cry of your heart now. Do it in me, oh, God. Do it in me, Jesus. Do it in me, Lord. Do it in me. Cry out to him. Cry out to him. Don't be ashamed. Just cry out to him now. God, do it in me. God, do it in me. God, anoint me. God, anoint me. God, put your Spirit upon me. Put your words in me, oh, God. Give me your mind. Give me your heart. Oh, Jesus, set me apart from the foolish. My God, my covenant God, come. Come with power and anointing. Come with great glory. Oh, Jesus, help us now. Help us pass over. Help us pass over from death to life. Help us, God, from unbelief to faith. Help us, God, to trust you. Help us, God, to embrace your will. Oh, Jesus, do it now. Do it, Holy Spirit. Do it, oh, God. Do it, oh, God. Do it. Oh, my God. Mighty God. Oh, Lord. Oh, God, use us now. Use us now, God. Use us, Lord. Use us, oh, God. Make a difference now. Make a difference now. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, Lord. Oh, God. Now, beloved, it starts with just a cry. That's all you have to have, just a cry. You say, Holy Spirit, show me, teach me, guide me. Every time I open this Bible, I have a prayer that I pray, Holy Spirit, show me. I never assumed that because I read something before that I fully understand it. Show me. Open this word to me. Make it real to my heart. And then show me your strength. Show me your promises. Give me the power to trust what you speak to me. And then show me the path that you would have me walk on. Give me the courage to walk that path, to go anywhere you call me to go and to do anything you ask me to do. Because it's not about me. It's all about you, Jesus. It's all about your life and me. Hallelujah. I can't really lead you in a prayer for this because it has to come from inside, in your heart. I'm going to ask you, Greg, to just lead us in a song. And as Greg does, would you please, for just the next five minutes, I'd like to turn this, it's only five to eight, I'd like to turn this sanctuary into a prayer meeting. And I'm just going to ask everywhere, annex, balcony, just you lift your voice up to God. Lift your voice. If you want to sing this song, sing this song. But if not, just, the Holy Spirit spoke in you tonight, so just lift your voice up to God and ask him to do what you want him to do and ask it with a heart of faith because he'll not fail you. He'll not forsake you. Would you do that right now? Greg, you lead us and everyone unashamedly. Would you lift your voice up, raise your hands up to God and tell him now, tell him what you want him to do. Tell him, pray, call out to him, pray for your loved ones, pray for your family. Pray for the people you work with. Pray that God use your life to make a difference. Use us, oh God. Use our lives. Make a difference, Lord. Make a difference, oh God. Forgive us for our foolishness. Forgive us, God, where we dishonored you, Jesus. God use us for your glory. Oh God, give us a testimony that has to be reckoned with. Let the life of Christ be in us. Let the breath of Christ be in us. Let the touch of God be in us. Oh Jesus, help us now. Help us, God, help us, Lord. Take us over, take us over. We want to know we're the God of Elijah. We want to know. We want to know you, Jesus. We're not satisfied with stories about you. We want to know you. We want to know you. We want to know your power. We want to know your glory. We want to know you, Jesus. We want to know you. Call out to Him! Call out to Him! Call out to Him! Father, I pray tonight that the blessing of God be on this house. I ask your Holy Spirit to go before us, guide us, lead us, protect us from evil. I ask your Holy Spirit to show us the pathway to miraculous life in Christ. I ask your Lord to give us hearts to believe and take us into the place of promise. Lord, let it begin now at this altar and as we leave these doors and head home. Let it stay, the presence of God with us. Father, I thank you. I thank you that you're going to do this. I believe it with all my heart tonight, in Jesus' name. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. This is the conclusion of the message.