In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of living a life in Christ and understanding the ways of God. He highlights the dichotomy between those who walk in faith and those who rely on human reasoning. The preacher encourages the audience to trust in God and not to be ashamed or hesitant to follow His lead, even when it may seem uncertain. He also emphasizes the need for faith in the body of Christ, rather than just knowledge, and the importance of praising God and allowing Him to work through us.

This recording is provided by Times Square Church in New York City. You're welcome to make additional copies for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws. This recording cannot be posted on any website. However, written permission to link to the Times Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing info at timessquarechurch.org. Other recordings are available by calling 1-800-488-0854 or by writing to Times Square Church Tape Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019. Second Kings Chapter 2, please, in the Old Testament. You won't need to go anywhere else. This is the only scripture you're going to be looking at. We're going to be in Chapter 2 of Second Kings for a good portion of what I have to speak this morning. Today is the quest. The search for this life of double portion. How do you find it? How do I get there? How do I appropriate this? And then once I do have it, what is, in effect, the outworking of this life? And if I have lived a life of double portion in God, what will I leave behind when I die? Strong questions, but some very, very clear answers from the life of Elisha. Second Kings Chapter 2, verse 9. I'm only reading two verses, verses 9 and 10. And it came to pass that 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. And he said, now this is Elijah, thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee. But if not, it shall not be so. Now, of course, Elijah knew that the double portion was not his to give. That's why he said it's a hard thing. Elijah was saying, Elisha, if you'd asked for anything from me that I can give, I would have given it to you. I think of a church age where people are running throughout the country, even throughout parts of the world, looking for men to give them what only God can give them. Elijah made it very clear, it isn't mine to give you. That's why, if you'd asked for something I could give you. Perhaps he had a few material things left behind or whatever, some study books, I don't know. He could have given them, it would have been an easy thing. But he said, you've asked for something that only God can give. Now, of course, God immediately speaks to Elijah and gives him a sign. He said, if you see me, and I'm going to get there eventually, it will be yours. But if you don't, it won't be. And you're going to see how significant this really is. Now, the double portion, it's important to understand the double portion. The double portion, I used to believe, was twice the power that Elijah had. And I preached on this, unfortunately. And all the proper reasons, the generation was becoming more evil, there was more of a conflict. All of these seemingly justifiable reasons why Elijah needed twice the power that Elijah had. But if you truly study Elijah's life, he did not have twice the power of Elijah. And the hearts of men are just as evil in every generation. Nothing changes. Sin is sin. Rebellion against God is rebellion against God. There needs to be an equal measure of God's presence in every servant of God ever called to stand to face it. So what is the double portion? Why was he asking for it? You don't have to turn there, but you'll find it in Deuteronomy chapter 21. And it's very, very clear in the Scripture that the double portion that Elijah was asking for was an inheritance that belonged lawfully to a firstborn son. In a Jewish family, when the father died or was taken away, all of his children received an equal portion of his goods, as it is, except for the firstborn. The firstborn got a double portion. He didn't necessarily have all that the father had, but he had twice as much as everyone else who were not in line to receive the double portion, if that makes sense. He received a double portion. And you see, although he was not Elijah's physical son, he considered himself an adopted spiritual son. That's in effect what he was. That's how he saw himself. And he said, well, God's going to take you, and I'm your spiritual son. And so I want the double portion. I want the inheritance of the firstborn son. I want it to be mine. This is really significant. Let's take a journey now over thousands of years into the New Testament, where Paul says in Romans chapter 8, verses 15 to 17, you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father. We are adopted sons and daughters of God. The spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. We're not outsiders, in a sense, once we've come to Christ, begging God for a few crumbs from his table. We are sons and daughters of the living God. Paul takes it even a step further in verse 17. He said, if we are children, then we are heirs. We are heirs of God. In other words, we are in line for an inheritance. But he takes it even a step further than this. Not only are we heirs, we are joint heirs, co-heirs, equal partners as it is in the inheritance with Christ, who is the firstborn son. Technically, if you understand what that means, the inheritance of the firstborn, only begotten son of God, who was raised from the dead, today, who's seated in glory at the right hand of God, his inheritance is mine. I am in line because of Christ for the double portion. Paul goes on to say, if so be, in verse 17, that we suffer with him, that we also may be glorified together. If so be that we suffer with him. Now, I want you to really clearly try to follow these thoughts, because we are talking about Christ and his church and Elijah and Elisha. Now, the word suffering implies entering into or sharing in the sufferings of another, walking with a man so intimately that his sufferings become mine. His experiences are mine. Jesus said it this way, the disciple is not above his master. If they've called me Beelzebub, how much more will they call you, those in my household, as it is? You're going to be a partaker of what? Yes, the joy, all of these things, the wondrousness of knowing my life and my power are going to be yours, but also the rejection, the humiliation. Living in a society that is anti-God and everything that comes with that, you're going to become a partaker of that suffering. Paul says, we are joint heirs if we suffer with him, that we also might be glorified. If our desire for God goes beyond, just like God bless me, but don't touch me, leave me. Take my life and let me be, as the one Leonard Ravenhill used to say years ago. Now, 2 Kings 2 verse 15 shows us that as soon as he received what he asked for, he began to more deeply understand how God feels when men bow before what they perceive to be his presence, yet will not obey him. Look at how immediately Elisha enters into something that he had not been a partaker of before, an understanding of something. Jesus Christ was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. I don't know if you've experienced this, but as a pastor or as a Christian, I have known this sorrow in my heart of seeing people who bow before God, but they will not obey him. There's this sense of worship, this sense of this is God. I know Pastor David, I've heard many of his messages over the years, the deep inner sense of anguish that he has shared with the Lord over these issues. I remember one message he said one time, I'd rather you get mad at me and change, and go out and just simply obey this and do what you know God's word says to do, then bow, but not obey. Verse 15 says, When the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah does rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. So in other words, here they are saying this is a man of God. God's word emanates from him. And the same spirit that was on Elijah rests on this man. And they said unto him, Behold, now there be with thy servants fifty strong men. Let them go, we pray thee, and seek thy master. Lest peradventure the spirit of the Lord has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley. And he said, You shall not send. Now this is interesting. They bow, but they won't obey. They acknowledge that this is a vessel of God, and that God's word and will comes from him, but they will not obey what they're hearing. He says, Don't bother. It's the type of person. This pretended faith that says it's mixed with human reasoning. It is the downfall of the church of Jesus Christ. This mixture of faith and reason that says sort of, God is able, sort of. Yes, we believe. We believe with all our heart. We were far off. We saw the horses and chariots coming. And we saw them scoop up Elijah and take him up into the clouds. God is able. But maybe he dropped him on a mountain or in a valley. And you see when this double portion comes to Elijah, he's immediately aware. Many, many people are not even aware of this dichotomy. It is this contradiction because they're not walking in this life of Christ. They're not moving in this realm of faith and understanding the ways of God. And they're still living in this duplicity of bow and reason and bow and reason and bow and reason. God is able. Now how? Let's figure it out. It leads men. It says, verse 17, they urged him until he was ashamed. And he said, send. And they sent therefore fifty men and they sought him three days, but found him not. Just think of all the energy that is spent or expended. Fifty men searching three days, probably not sleeping day and night. Up in mountains and down in the valleys. All this energy that could be channeled to true praise and worship. The true service of God in faith. Just heading out on the mountains where God isn't. And where he has done nothing. A fruitless search and it exhausts the strength of many. Fruitless work. It causes them to participate in the building of what they believe to be pleasant cities. But inside these cities is powerless water which causes miscarrying wounds and fruitless labor. Places which bring hope again and again, but only disappoint. These very same men, these very same sons of the prophets are in a city. And in verse 19 it says, the men of the city said to Elisha, behold, I pray you, the situation of the city is pleasant as you can see. Amazing. Here, in other words, Elisha, you must be impressed with all we've put into this city. And how pleasant it appears to be to the natural eye. But they said the water is not and the ground is barren. And actually, when I really looked this up in the original text in some study text, there was a water in this city that caused miscarrying both in animals and in humans. And the ground, things would not grow. People would labor. They would toil. And they would have such hope, but nothing would grow. And they knew something was wrong with the water. I want to suggest that today, where there's no new life, something's wrong with the water. We're churches where people plant and hope for harvest. But it's largely a harvest that is planted in human reasoning. Let's give God a hand here. Faith is lost somewhere. The double portion has never been appropriated. And so you have people that come in and they place their hope in these institutions that even profess to be speaking for God. And they're brought, as it is, into pregnancy, but there's no strength to bring life. Just hope, but no life. Coming to altars, even. I hope I get free, but no freedom comes. I hope I change, but no change comes. You see, it's to this place that God sends the man or woman with a double portion to bring healing. And Elisha, you know the story, he called for a new vessel. And he called for salt, and he threw this new vessel, this inward purifying power, as it is, into this water. And the water was healed. You see, until you walk in the double portion and have this heart of understanding the life of Christ and wanting this life of Christ and everything that this pathway is going to bring to you, you never will have a word that can bring healing. You bring hope, but you bring no healing. You bring that which is false sort of the glory of God. And so you'd think the people in the area would be quite excited. All of a sudden, another man walks in, and that's the way history will always repeat itself. Society fails, the church backslides. It's as if people's hope is gone, and into this comes another person, man or woman, and brings life again. Starts speaking something that, like even the soldiers who went to capture Jesus came back and said, nobody speaks like this man. He's not saying anything different than our Pharisees, but they have no power. And so he heads out. He starts to do good. Healing begins to come through his life. He's speaking faith in Christ, an inward working of God that he's personally acquainted with now. And all he faces now immediately is mockery and opposition. Even violent opposition at times comes against those who are truly his. All you want to do is walk in truth. All you want to do is be honest. All you want to do is bring the life of God everywhere you go. And all of a sudden, you're facing this violent opposition. But God pledges to defend those that are his. And I'm speaking now to people who have come out of darkness, and you want this life of Christ. And you're the only one in your home, maybe, that's got real salt inside. You've got family members that have a lot of religion. But it's just empty ground and fruitless wombs. That's all it is. There's no life in it. And you're coming in, and you have this salt within you now. And you want this double portion. You want this inheritance of Christ. And you're walking in it to the best of your ability. And in measure, you're feeling that healing is beginning to flow into barren situations through your life. Only to find that instead of people being overflowing with joy that a man of God or woman of God is in their midst, you're facing mockery now. Violent opposition, not just from without, but also from within. Something even in your own mind is coming against you, as well as those who are without. But in this situation, as that spirit that was in this village began to mock Elisha, Elisha turned and, it says, cursed these youth that began to mock his name. They were mocking the name of God in him. And God sent two bears out of the woods. And they were severely disciplined. Nobody knows for sure exactly what the end result of that was. But there was a severe disciplining of God that came upon them. That's why he says to you and I, and I bring this as a word of hope to you this morning, those that are enduring this because of the life of Christ, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. And, Isaiah says, every tongue that rises against you in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, because their righteousness is of me, says the Lord. God says, I saved you. And if you are a genuine seeker of Christ, I put a righteousness on you. I cleaned you. There is no record of wrong in heaven. You are received as the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. That is the beginning of your inheritance. You are clean. You are beginning to walk in this cleanness. This new life of Christ is beginning to flow through you. And you are beginning to understand that God desires to establish a testimony of himself in you and through you to your generation, beginning in your own house. You face opposition. But as you face this opposition, you have to understand there is a spirit that animates people who come against the righteous. We're not fighting flesh and blood. Even in your own home, you're not fighting flesh and blood. You are fighting powers and principalities. And you are fighting spiritual wickedness in high places. God says, I give you the right to condemn every tongue that rises against you in judgment. What I have cleansed, no man has the right to call common or unclean any longer. I've cleansed you. And no weapon formed against you is ever going to prosper. In other words, God is saying, I put my spirit upon you. And no matter where you have to walk, through the flood, through the fire, through misunderstanding, I have a plan. It is going to be realized. And you're coming out the other end victorious in Jesus Christ. Now, before possessing this double portion, Elisha had to undertake a willful journey. And it is a willful journey that we undertake. The Christian life or the life of Christ is never imposed on you or me. We have the option given to us of God. Think about the humility of that. God created us and gives us an option. Even that is a humility that is so vast that it's hard for my mind to comprehend it. But God gives us the option to stay where we are or go deeper with him. Or go to the place where the double portion will be ours. And the double portion is the life of Christ. You have to understand. I'm not talking about some mystical, spiritual thing. It's strictly just the life of Christ. But there's a journey involved in this. You don't come to an altar and somebody slapped your forehead and you're instantly enabled by the life of Christ. No, you just had your forehead slapped in the house of God. Nothing else has happened. He could have remained where he was. But he said, no. I'm called to something which God has for me. And if you are a Christian here today, there is this sense in your heart. There's something for me. I'm called to something. It's bigger than me. It's farther than I can go. It's more than I am. I'm called to it. You see, if you live in that realm of reasoning, you're just going to search the mountain. Most of you are Christian walker and you will find nothing. But if you are in the realm of faith in God who created me and has called me. Then you begin to move in the direction of that calling. And Elijah in chapter two, verse two, he says, Elijah said to Elisha, Terry, here I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said to him, as the Lord lives and as thy soul lived, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. Now, Bethel, if you look back in the beginning of the scriptures, is the place of hearing and believing. Elijah is not taking a sentimental journey. I mean, there might be a degree of that involved. I can't. But as I see this, this is not even about Elijah. This is about Elisha. And God is now wanting a successor. And then every generation, he's looking for successors to the previous one. I'm not talking about just specific, powerfully anointed men and women of God. I'm talking about a successor to the true church. Every church has to beget a church. Fifty years from now, most of us will be dead who are in this sanctuary. And there will be another church. The question is, will we have led them to the double portion? What will they have found from our lives? Where will we have taken them? I'll tell you, we won't take them any farther than we ourselves have gone. You see, Bethel is where Abraham heard God, moved in God, pitched his tent, and built an altar. That's Bethel. You go through the scriptures, you'll find Jacob coming to the same place and building an altar there as well. It's a place of saying, God, I'm hearing you. I'm moving. He didn't know where he was. The scripture tells us clearly he didn't know where he was going. But he heard. And God says, I'm going to bless you there. I'm going to multiply you there. I'm going to make you more than you are. God says, I'm going to bless the world through you. Can you imagine? This guy down in this little wee town, and he starts hearing God. I'm going to use you. I'm going to bless the world through you. Amazing. You know and I know today that he's speaking through Abraham right into his church. He's speaking to us through Abraham. I'm going to use you. I'm going to make you a blessing. I'm going to multiply you. I'm going to make you greater than you are. Your descendants will be greater than the sand of the sea. The man is old. He doesn't even have a son. But he hears. And that's the Christian life. I don't know how else to say it. He just hears. And he gets up and says, I'm pitching my tent there. I don't care where anybody else does. I'm pitching my tent to what God is speaking to my heart through his word. I'm building an altar, and I'm going to worship him there. I'm going to trust him with all my life. That's Bethel. And Elijah had been there. And he says to Elisha, you can stay here if you want, Elisha. He says, no way. No way. No way. We've come too far to stop now. Oh, no. I'm going. As thy soul lives. As the Lord lives in thy soul lives. He says, I'll not leave thee. So they go down to Bethel. And on the way, when they get to Bethel, the sons of the prophets come forth. Not Elijah. They never had the courage to speak to Elijah. It's interesting. You didn't want to annoy this man. Believe me. If you look at his life in the scriptures, you just didn't want to annoy him. And so they don't have the courage to speak to him. So they come to Elisha. And they said, knowest not thou the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? He said, yeah, I know it. Hold your peace. I don't know what animated these sons of the prophets. They have equal access, really, to the anointing. But they're choosing to live outside. Is religious panic? What are we going to do? The defender of Israel is going to be taken away. What's our future going to be? Or is it just knowledge without faith? How many people in the body today of Christ have knowledge but no faith? They're masterful at seminars. They create, recreate seminars. They talk about the Father heart of this and the God heart of that. But they do nothing but have seminars. It's a type of the people that come to a man who's moving to what God is placing in his heart to possess. And all these people along the way with all their theories about God, but there's no faith in their voices. He says to them, technically, King James is very kind when it says, hold your peace. Because he really told them, I don't want to use that word, but be quiet. Hold your breath. I know it. But it's about more than this. It's not about what we're going to lose. It's about what God wants to give. It's about where he's taking me. Maybe all you can see is coming lost, but I see something else. I see God taking me somewhere. Hold your peace. I don't want to hear what you have to say. You ever gone to one of these prophetic seminars with all of the gloom and doom about the future and all of the horsemen coming out and people dying everywhere? And that's how it ends. It starts that way and it ends that way. And so you walk out like a chicken little seminar. The sky is falling. You live your Christian life like this. Yes, answers. Yes, clear vision of what's coming. But no faith. No sense of God even being involved in this. Outside of what God is doing, God is about to give another man a double portion, but they're all outside of it, sitting in the school of the prophets, studying the Scriptures, but it's not brought them to faith in God. These men have no power over the spiritual atrocities, if I can call it such, that are afflicting their generation. Again, they move on. And Elijah said to Elijah, verse 4, Terry, here I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. And he said, as thy Lord lives and thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. Now, Jericho is the place of conquering worship. Remember now, Bethel is where Abraham built an altar. And he said, I'm moving. I'm going there. And I'm going there by faith. I don't have to see. I don't have to know. God has spoken to me and I'm moving there by faith. Now, Jericho is that place of conquering worship. It's a place of quietness and confidence in God. It's where the man says, I've heard it and I believe God. It's where Joshua in Joshua chapter 5 met Christ himself and took off his shoes. It's where human plans die and faith in God begins to take over. It's where seven priests bearing seven trumpets and rams horns before the ark of the Lord go on continually, before the people round and around a city of impossibility to ever conquer in the natural. And all they're doing is worshiping. They're just blowing the trumpets. And their instruction of God is be quiet. Say nothing. God has spoken. Nothing needs to be said. Just start walking and start worshiping God. Start trusting God that everything he said he's going to do, he has the strength to perform. He's not a man. He can't lie. And when he speaks, he will do what he says he will do. And, of course, who does he meet at Jericho? The sons of the prophets who are at Jericho. Remember the city we talked about a moment ago that had miscarrying water. And there are Jericho came to life and said, no, it's not. Now the Lord will take that master from my head today. And he answered and said, I know it. Hold your peace. Really, he said, stop talking. When will you ever learn from the history of the place where you're supposed to be living? You're living in Jericho and you learn nothing from its history. Isn't that the testimony of the children of Israel? They had all the history that any people would ever need about the faithfulness, the power, the all knowingness of God. And yet it brings them to the shore of their places of promise. And they're talking, killed them. Here are these prophets living in this place. They're living in the place of one of the greatest conquests of history. And they've learned nothing. All they can see is what they're going to lose. All they can see is the gloom and doomside, I guess, of the gospel, if I can put it that way. There's no faith in their hearts. Not one of them comes and says, take courage, Elisha. God's about to take your master. But take courage. God's with you. God's with us. All it is is just a statement, I guess, of the spiritually obvious, but no solution. In verse 6, Elijah again said to him, Terry, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Jordan. And he said, as the Lord lives and as thy soul lives, I will not leave thee. And the two went on. Now, Jordan is symbolic through the whole Scripture of that place where we cross over to possess the promises of God. By faith, we walk through whatever obstacles are before us. And the parting of the water represents whatever obstacles. And we move from the natural to the supernatural. We move from the wilderness as it is. And many people live there as Christians. They just live in the wilderness. It's dry. There's no satisfaction there. There's no crops there. And yes, they may be Christians, but they're living on the wrong side of Jordan. But there is a man or woman every once in a while. There's a group of people. There's somebody somewhere that just says, I'm going over. And I'm going to possess this. There's something God has for me, and I'm going to have it. And the Jordan is the crossing over to possess it. But look at now, it says in verse 7, it says, And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and they stood to a view far off. And only two, they two, stood by Jordan. And that's a type, it's a pattern, it's a snapshot as it is, of much of how God views his own church sometimes. You see, it's an individual choice to go in and possess the life of Christ. And it seems that there are many who are willing to stand and view it. And they're willing to talk about the George Muellers of history. And they're willing to emulate the powerful men and women of God that maybe are being used even for God's glory in our generation in time. But they are not willing to actually undertake the journey. And they stand and view it, and they become the critics as it is. And I can see them with their little stencils, their little tablets, and their pens, their quills, and writing, taking notes. And they're great teachers now of everybody, of how. But they themselves are not going in to possess the life of Christ. They end up in seminaries and colleges and schools. And they can tell you how to do everything. But they can't win a soul to God. They have no faith, they have no power. And there are two. And it makes it very, very personal because the crossing over the Jordan to possess the double portion is an individual choice that I make and you make with Jesus Christ alone. He's the only one who can take us over. Elijah is clearly the type of Christ and Elisha the type of the believer. And only two of them. It's really two at a time. I can't do it for anybody on this platform. I can't do this for anybody here. I can talk about it and hopefully cause you to be provoked to move towards it. But even I ultimately have to find it alone with Christ. Nobody else can take me there. Christ is the only one who can take me through this water. And then when they were gone over, Elijah said then to Elisha, what will I do for you? Can you imagine by today's standards, Elisha would say, well, I'd like a Cadillac. I'd like more position and power and status in the community. I'd like a wife. I'd like a nice house. You see the obscenity of what people are asking God for? And he said, I want a double portion of the spirit of God that's on you. I want the son's inheritance. I'm your son, spiritually speaking, and I want the inheritance that comes through you. And that's the cry of every true Christian to Jesus Christ. I'm adopted into your family now. You are the firstborn son, the only begotten of God, raised from the dead. You have received an incredible inheritance of the Father. But I'm a co-heir with you. And I want the double portion. I want what is mine because I'm a spiritual son, in this case a spiritual daughter. I hope this is clear. I hope you are seeing this because it is your right as a Christian. It is not something that is presumptuous. It is the right of the sons and daughters of God to have this double portion, which is God's life now being lived inside of you and through you. Then Elijah says something very interesting. And everything in the Old Testament, of course, is a type because the more you study the Scripture, the more we become aware that everything points to Christ and His church. All the way from Genesis right through, it all points to Jesus Christ and His church because that's what was in the heart of God when He even made the Garden of Eden. It was about Jesus and His church. And when you see that and you look through the Scriptures and just follow the red line, the bloodline as it is, it goes all the way through, you begin to understand these things. And Elijah says to Elisha, this is a hard thing. It can't be given, in other words, by man. But if you see me when I'm taken, it shall be. But if not, it shall not be so. If you see me, here's the best I can explain it. If you are found where I am, it will be yours. Does that make sense to you? You want to know why the 50 didn't get it? Because they were too far away. But he said, if you are where I am, if you and I are looking eye to eye, in other words, it will be yours. You see, Jesus said it this way, where I am, there shall also my servant be. That's John 12, 26. And if any man serve me, him will my father honor. Where I am, my servant will be. Elijah said to Elijah, if you see me, it will be yours. If you are where I am, if you are still on the journey, if you are doing what I'm doing, if you are walking together with me, this double portion will be yours. And then Jesus goes on to say, and if any man serves me, him will my father honor. And the word honor in the Greek means my father will appropriate or fix a value upon him. Can I put it more simply? My father will determine his inheritance. My father will assign him his portion. My father. If he is where I am, my father will honor him. Hallelujah. Verse 11, it says, As they went on and talked, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and part of them asunder. And Elijah went up by world and went into heaven. Just as Jesus Christ did on his last day on earth. And Elisha saw it. And there were men and women standing on that mount on the last day of Jesus' physical presence on earth. And they saw it. They were still in their failing and struggling. And in spite of what their life circumstance was, they were still there. They were still walking with him. And he said, oh my father, my father. What is the cry of the church? Abba, Father. The chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. And that cry has been interpreted through the centuries to be a cry deep emanating from the hearts of those who long for the glory of God to be manifested among men. Oh my father, where will your glory come from now? Who will defend your name? Who will stand for you in the midst of a darkened generation? And Elisha is suddenly gone. Elijah rather. And Elijah does something very significant. He took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two. And it really represents something very simple. My plans, my ambitions, everything I thought I was or wanted. I don't want anything of myself. I don't want any flesh involved in this. When I cross back over that river into the nation, I don't want them to say, there is Elisha. I want them to see God's presence upon my life. And he took up the mantle of Elijah, verse 13, 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. He said, where is the Lord God of Elijah? When he had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither, and Elisha went over. Here's what it means to me. It means in Christ, in Christ, I can and I will go where others have gone before me. In Christ, I cannot be stopped. In Christ, there is nothing impossible. If he said it, it will happen. In Christ, I don't have to walk by the power of my natural man anymore. I don't have to reason anything. Oh, yes, I'll reason the scriptures. I'll look. I'll see what God says. That's the measure of reasoning that God requires from us. But I will add no human reasoning to this. I will take it at face value and I will believe it and I will walk in it. And I will, by the life of God within me, the double portion, I will be everything that God has destined me to be. Where they have been, I will be. What they have conquered, God has called me to defeat. I will not be bowed by the monsters and the voices of this generation. I will stand. I will confront an uncompromising backslidden generation. I will stand for the honor and glory of God. I will not be defeated by the voices that will rise against me. The lives they have lived, God will live in me the same way. Same Christ, yesterday, today, forever. There will be no difference. He's not bound by my physical frame unless I choose to put it in his way. But if I'm willing to tear it off, his life becomes mine. I exchange my life for his. He gets my failure. I get his victory. He gets my confusion. I get his wisdom. He gets my hatred. I get his love. I exchange it. I tear it off. I don't want it anymore. I don't want to lean on it. I don't want to walk under the curse of the man who trusts in the arm of flesh. Everywhere they have gone, I will go. In the same glorious victory that God gave to them, he will give to me. And in the end, my life will lead others to find and to follow him in the same measure that I have known him. You don't want to miss the last message where a dead man falls on Elisha's bones and comes back to life again. The double portion is yours. But you have to want it. You have to want the life that comes with it. You have to want the cup that it brings. You can't be afraid of confrontation. You cannot be afraid of voices. Your heart's desire has to be for the glory of God, not the comforts of even spiritual study. It has to be for the glory of God. God will take you. There are more than enough people in this room to change this city. God only had 120 on the mountain that last little while, and he changed the known world through them. We have 8,000 here in Times Square Church. There are more than enough to change this city. But it's not a religious people that will change it. It's not a people who are coming up with schemes and plans to somehow just speak the name of Jesus in the public. No, no. It's a people with a double portion. It's a people who have the life of Christ in them. The choice is yours. It's mine. It's an individual choice. Nobody can make it for you. I can't do it for you. It's not an instantaneous zap at an altar. It's a choice. It's a life choice. It's something we... Remember, it's a journey. We move to it. A journey of faith. A journey of trust. A journey of moving in to possess. That is our inheritance in Christ. Joshua said to some of the people after the death of Moses, and they had been fighting for some time for the promised land, he said, how long will it take you, he said to some, to go in and possess what is yours? Why are you standing back when this life, this promised place is yours? And if Joshua said it, how much more for us in this day? How much longer will we stand back, be defeated, struggle, and live in unbelief and this failing reasoning that says God is sort of able when he has promised us himself. Himself. If it's in your heart, whatever the situation is in your life, if you are being defeated, God has called you to be a conqueror. If you have lived in your own reasoning and you're tired, say, Lord, I just don't want to live there as a Christian anymore. If you've been overpowered by voices, curses that people have spoken into your life, and I consider every word that is unlike God that anybody has spoken into you is a curse, and the Lord will break that, and you'll hear a new voice. For every young person, especially here today, but it's not confined to the young, it says, Lord, God Almighty, I want my inheritance. I mean, this is lawfully mine. I'm not begging for something that you just sprinkle on a few. I'm a co-heir with Christ. I want it, but I want it for the right reason. I want it because out there, there are some deep needs, and you're going to hear about it on Tuesday night if you're able to come back. Out there, there are some extremely deep needs, and I want to be a vessel that you can use to make a difference. If you're backslidden, you're always welcome when it's in your heart to turn from sin to come back to God. If you're powerless, you're always welcome to receive His power. If the Lord is speaking to your heart today, and it's only the Holy Spirit that can draw you to this river, but you're saying, Pastor, I hear something. I hear it in my gut. I don't care what anybody says around me. I don't care what 150 prophets have to say. I hear something. I feel today like Elisha. I'm going to tell him, hold your peace. Hold your breath, in other words. I'm on a journey, and I'm going to find something that God has for me. I'm going to live in this double portion. Let's stand. The Holy Spirit is speaking to you. Join me, please, at this altar. We'll pray together. Education Annex, you can go between the two screens, please, if you will. We're going to pray. It's an act of faith that you're making right now. You're just stepping out in faith, and it's going to take you on a journey. And the journey is living a life of double portion. If you don't have the quest, you'll never have the life. Without the desire, the life will never be yours. You can be sure of that. It will never be magically imparted to you. It's a search. I want to say it as plainly as I can. You're not moving to some spiritual pie in the sky that is unattainable. I was and am where you are right now. Years ago, I remember 20, 25 years ago, I would hear messages at least somewhat like this. I heard most of it just from reading my own Bible. And in weakness and with no sense of any ability to do anything for God, I just started responding. And saying, Lord, I'm like the kid with a few loaves and a couple of fish. I haven't got much, but what I have, whatever need, you can meet with it. And then I began to understand that it's not about efforts. It's not about my abilities. It's about his life. And it doesn't happen right away. It's an awakening. It's an opening of the mind. He begins to speak. We begin to just start walking. It was a journey. Remember, it was a journey. It was not one second thing. It was a journey. And Jesus will very gently take you on that journey. He's not a demanding taskmaster. He will gently lead you. It speaks of him in Isaiah. It says he gently leads those that are with young. He won't drive you to this. And you will long to follow him. And he will always give you the option to go no further. You can stay here. And in reality, you can. And you can still go to heaven. But we have the ability to go deeper. Not in ourselves, but in him. And he will guide us. He will take us. He will take you. And you don't know where this is going to lead. And in heaven, we'll get together and we'll remember this day in New York City. And there's going to be testimonies. And you're going to say, Pastor, you didn't see me. I was on the right-hand aisle. I was a third of the way down. I never even met you. But let me tell you what God did for me and through me. Let me tell you where God took me. And how he glorified himself through me. And how I knew that what I had was him. It wasn't me. I didn't reason it. I couldn't figure it out. It was given to me by faith. I believed it. I camped around it. I started praising God. And he made it a reality. And, yes, I ran head smack into a world that hates God. And the way they feel about God, they started feeling about me. But there's this inward sense of joy that as I persist, people will be found in heaven because of it. Hallelujah. Father, I pray now for these that are at this altar and those in the education annex that stands before the screen. Now, this can become a great lesson in history. But, God, we want it to be more than that. I lift my hands to you first, God almighty. Father, I want my inheritance. I want the double portion that is mine because of Christ. I haven't earned it. I don't deserve it. It's given to me by grace. It's your goodness that gives me this double portion. My choice is to walk with you. My choice is to let you guide me. To take me to places I need to go. To show me things I need to understand and to give me a heart that can believe you. And, Lord, this is what I choose today. This is where I want to go. I want my life to count for your namesake and for your honor in this generation. And when I'm dead, I want my bones to still be bringing life to people who are left behind. Oh, God, I pray that for this church. I pray it, oh, Father, God, for the testimony you've established in this sanctuary, in the education annex, in the overflow room and at this altar. Mighty God, take us now, one at a time, to the Jordan. And I pray, God, for great grace to go in and possess what is ours. Lord, it's you. It's your life. And you promised to give it to us. You tell us that we're co-heirs of it. We're inheritors. Lord, God, help us awaken this Holy Spirit. Give us an understanding of the reality and the depth of this truth. And take us in where our lives become a glorious testimony to the life-giving, saving, sustaining power of Jesus Christ. The changing power of our Savior. This incredible inheritance of life in God. Oh, God, help us now. Take us where we can't go and make us what we could never be. Bring us and give us what we could not possess, but by faith in you and every spoken word that comes from such a generous heart. Father, God, move on us, Lord. Make us vessels from which come out salt to heal and preserve a very, very decaying, barren generation. Oh, God, I pray you give us every spiritual gift that we need to be able to go and a skilled craftsman, to carve out of the mountains precious stones that can be brought in to your temple, to be made part of your house, that can be part of the worship you so deserve from this generation. I pray, God, take us now. We don't want this to be a religious thing. We want it to be life. It has to be life. It has to be real. God, take us now and cause our lives to be radiant with your glory in New York City and surrounding areas, wherever we're from. Let there be a radiance of your glory, beginning in our homes, before our own sons and daughters. Oh, God, our husbands and wives, and then emanating out from there, Lord, where we walk and where we live and where we work. Take us in. Take us in, oh God, to our inheritance. We cry out to you, Lord. God, we feel at times like the father who said, I believe. Help my unbelief. God, help us to believe you. Help us to walk in this, Father. We thank you for it from the very depths of our heart. Thank you, Jesus. I believe that there's a spiritual transaction taking place at this altar. I believe it with all my heart. I believe there are people who are going to take a journey. Some are already on it, and others are going to start. No more empty words. No more standing afar off watching. We're going over the Jordan. We're going into the place of our life in Christ. Thank him now. Just thank him and praise him. This is the conclusion of the message.