In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of not treating the Word of God as a dead letter, but as a living and powerful force. He uses the example of Elijah and the Jordan River to illustrate the need for believers to cross over from death to life and from barrenness to the promises of God. The preacher encourages listeners to cry out to God and seek a deeper understanding of His Word, just as the great men and women of faith throughout history have done. He emphasizes the need to trust in God's provision and to make the choice to cross over into the impossible places that the Spirit of God wants to lead us to.

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, the twelve of them, 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 bucket with a desperation. Says, God, I know there was a Hudson Taylor. I know there was a Theo Moody that found you. I know there was a Gladys Hillwood. 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. I'm 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. 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'll 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 in so many. There's only one path for you, Elijah. And only the Holy Spirit knows it. And you and I will never know it until we smite the Lord. 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.