In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of Elijah and his walk with God. Elijah was zealous for the Lord but felt disappointed and bitter when he didn't see immediate results. However, he chose to follow God faithfully, even when he wanted to shake him off. The preacher emphasizes the importance of following the Lord wholeheartedly, denying oneself, and taking up the cross. He also highlights the need for character development and diligence in serving God.

First Kings chapter 19 verse 19. First Kings chapter 19 verse 19. And he departed thence, that he is Elijah. And Elijah departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shepheth, who was ploughing with twelve yokes before him. And he with the twelve. And Elijah went over to him, and cast his mantle on him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee. And he said to him, Go back again, for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him, and took the yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled their flesh with the implements of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate. And he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered to him. Second Kings chapter 2. Second Kings chapter 2 verse 1. And it came to pass, when Jehovah would take up Elijah into the heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said to Elisha, Abide here, I pray thee, for Jehovah hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said to him, Dost thou know that Jehovah would take away thy master from over thy head to-day? And he said, I also know it, be silent. And Elijah said to him, Elisha, abide here, I pray thee, for Jehovah hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho drew near to Elisha, and said to him, Dost thou know that Jehovah would take away thy master from over thy head to-day? And he said, I also know it, be silent. And Elijah said to him, Abide here, I pray thee, for Jehovah hath sent me to the Jordan. And he said, As Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they too went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite afar off, and they too stood by the Jordan. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it up together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they too went over on dry ground. And it came to pass when they had gone over, that Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing. If thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so to thee, but if not, it shall not be so. And it came to pass as they went on, and taught, that behold a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and they parted them both asunder. And Elijah went up by a full wing into the heaven. And Elijah saw it, and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own garment, and ran them into pieces. And he took up the mantle of Elijah, which fell from him, and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. And he took the mantle of Elijah, which had fallen from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is Jehovah, the God of Elijah? He also smote the waters, and they parted hither and thither. And Elisha went over. Last time when we were here together we shared on the life and ministry of the Prophet Elijah. We touch upon a little of that tremendous life and ministry of the Prophet Elijah. This time I think we would like to continue on with the life and ministry of the Prophet Elijah, because you cannot separate these two men. Elijah and Elisha, their ministry are one. The ministry of Elijah is more on the side of judgment, and therefore of death. And the ministry of Elisha is more on the side of grace, and therefore it is life, it is resurrection. You find when God works, this is the order. Usually you will find it will first come in judgment. It will first bring us to death. But that is not the end. It will be continued with grace that will lift us out of death into resurrection, into life. So you cannot divide the ministries of these two men, because they form one ministry. I think it is very clear to understand this, because when Elijah retreated into Mount Horeb, you remember God sent him back, and God gave him three missions to fulfill. He was to go back to anoint Hazel as king of Syria, and to anoint David as king of Israel, and to anoint Elijah as the prophet who will succeed him. But if you read the record, you will find Elijah went back, he went to find Elijah, put his mantle upon him, but he never anointed Hazel nor David. The anointing of these three two men as kings were done by Elijah. Therefore you will find these two ministries are one, not two. Elijah went back. The first thing he did, he went to find Elijah. Now where was Elijah? Elijah, if you read 1 Kings chapter 19, say verse 16, and Elijah the son of David the son of Shephet of Abel Meholah, shall thou anoint prophet in thy city. Abel Meholah was in the valley of Jordan. So Elijah was in the Jordan valley. He must be one of the seven thousand who had not bent their knee to Baal. He was one of those seven thousand who were faithful to the Lord in the time of falling away under King Ahab. You know the very name Elijah means whose salvation is God. Elijah means whose God is Jehovah, and Elijah means whose salvation is God. Elijah must be among those seven thousand who waited for the salvation of the Lord. And there Elijah went to find him, to anoint him as prophet. When Elijah found him, what was Elijah doing? He was ploughing the field. He ploughed the field with twelve yokes of oxen, and he was with the twelve. You know when a person ploughs the field, usually you plough the field with a yoke of oxen. That is to say you plough the field with two oxen yoked together. But Elijah was of such energy, when he ploughed he ploughed with twelve yokes of oxen, and he was with the twelve. That was the way he ploughed the field. The calling of God is always sovereign. Whomever God decides to call, he calls. It is the prerogative of God. But when God calls, there needs to be a corresponding condition in that person to respond to that call. The condition within the person does not initiate the call. God initiates it. But the condition within the person to respond substantiates the call. That is the reason why you find in the scripture, many are called, but few are chosen. God's call comes to many, but not many are chosen. The reason is, in many there is not that condition within them to respond to the call, and thus be chosen. So when God's call came to Elijah, you find he was there ploughing the field. Certainly, Elijah being one of those seven thousand who waited for the salvation of the Lord, Elijah being one of those who trusted the Lord, Elijah must be one who desired to see that the Lord and the nation of Israel might be restored to God. Elijah must be one who was expecting God to do something among his own people. Or to put it in another way, Elijah must be among those who had presented themselves, as it were, to God, if the Lord would use them for his purpose, he was willing and ready. And yet, we found him ploughing the field. You know, often times we think waiting to be used by God and ploughing the field are contradictory to each other. If a person really has a heart for God and wants to give himself to God, that God may use him as an instrument for God's purpose. Now we would think such a person needs to prepare himself. In what way? Either he has to go to a school of prophets, because at that time, you know, there were schools of prophets. So he should surely enroll himself in the school of prophets in order to be trained to be such. Or if he did not go to a school of prophets, at least he should stay home and spend all his time studying the Bible and praying and preparing himself. Now that is the way a person should be prepared for the Lord. To plough the field, that's contradictory. But here you'll find a man. His heart is set before the Lord. He was prepared. He was ready. And yet, at the same time, he was not sitting at home idling his time away. He was ploughing the field. And the way he ploughed the field was he ploughed with twelve ropes of oxen. In other words, he put his whole heart into the ploughing. He was so diligent, he put his whole heart when he did a thing, he did it so thoroughly. Well, we may think if a person should put his heart in an earthly occupation, certainly he will not have the energy to be prepared before the Lord. But to a person whose heart is perfect towards the Lord, there is no difference whether you're going to the school of prophets or whether you're ploughing the field. These are all preparations for the Lord. There is no difference of things sacred and things secular. Here you'll find Elijah. Before God called him, he was ready. But how did he prepare himself? He prepared himself by ploughing the field. And he did it so wholeheartedly as unto the Lord. In other words, there was a character there. God is looking for certain characters in us. If he can find such characters in us, he can use us. Oftentimes we think that to serve the Lord, the most important thing is this. If you are gifted, if you are talented, if you have a dynamic personality, or if you have charisma, then certainly the Lord can use you. What the Lord is looking in us is character. If God can find certain characters that correspond to him, these are the people that he could use. And characters are developed through the years. The most important thing to be prepared before the Lord is to have our characters developed. We often say God never calls a lazy person to serve him. Whenever God's call comes to a person, you find that person is busily occupied. When the Lord called Peter, he was casting the net. When the Lord called the two sons of Zebedee, they were mending the net. When the Lord called Matthew, he was attending the customs. And when the Lord called Saul a pastor, he was persecuting the Christians. They were all busily occupied. God has no need for laziness. Our God is a diligent. So here you'll find Elisha prepared himself before the Lord, even though he was occupied with earthly tasks. He was plowing the field. He put his whole heart to it as unto the Lord. And this is the condition that meets God's eyes. Dear brothers and sisters, if we have a heart for the Lord, if we desire to be used of the Lord, how are we to prepare ourselves? The best thing is, wherever God puts you, in whatever situation God has put you, do it as unto the Lord. And if you are not, diligently, wholeheartedly, because there is no distinction between things sacred and things secular. And here you'll find Elijah clean. He didn't talk to him. He just came to Elisha, put his mantle upon Elisha. Of course the mantle of a prophet is the sign of his prophetic ministry. So when Elijah put his mantle upon Elisha, Elisha understood. There was no argument. There was no hesitation. There was no reservation. There was no questioning. Elisha was ready. He was expecting it as it were. Immediately he left the oxen and he went to Elijah. And then he said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee. And Elijah said, Go back again, for what have I done to thee? You remember in Luke chapter 9, a disciple of the Lord came to the Lord and said, Lord, I am going to follow you, but let me go back and say goodbye to my parents, and then I'll come. You remember what the Lord said? The Lord said, If your hand is upon the flower and you look back, you are not fit for the kingdom of God. Was Elijah doing the same thing? Let me, I pray thee, to kiss my father and my mother, and I will follow thee. And Elijah said, You go back. What have I done to thee? Outwardly you find these two instances appear to be the same, but inwardly they are different. To the disciple in Luke 9, when he said, Let me go back and say farewell to my parents, you find that he was so tied to an earthly relationship. He was reluctant. There was a hesitation. There was a reservation there. He was not able to cut loose. He was not able to forsake all and follow the Lord. Therefore the Lord said, If you put your hand on the flower and look back, you are not fit for the kingdom of God. But with Elijah it was different. So far as Elijah was concerned, there was nothing that could tie him down. So far as his heart was concerned, he was ready. He was ready to leave everything. You know sometimes when you start to plow, in the beginning you will think, Well, why should I be plowing? I should be prophesying. But then after a while, when you put your whole heart into plowing, you begin to love it. And when the call comes, you cannot leave the plowing. But not Elijah. He left the oxen and he went immediately to Elijah. In other words, there was nothing that could tie him down. He was all ready to forsake everything and follow. But he said, Let me go back and kiss my father and my mother. Do you know it is not difficult for people who do not love their parents to leave their parents. There is no cross there. But for people who really love their parents, to kiss goodbye to their parents, there is a cross. There is the denying yourself, take up your cross and follow the Lord there. And Elijah must be one who loved his parents dearly. But he was ready to kiss them goodbye. In other words, his leaving everything behind was absolute and thorough. There is to be no looking back. You know in history there is such a story. If you have read the story of the great reformer Martin Luther, you know he was at that time a professor. But he was deeply convicted of his sin and he was seeking for the salvation of the Lord. And he was determined to seek the salvation of his soul. One night he gathered his friends together and had a party in his place. They played musical instruments, they sang, they had a good time together. And after all his friends left, you know what he did? He got up, he went to an Augustine monastery, he knocked the door and asked to be accepted. That was his farewell to the world. And the same thing was true here. And you remember how Matthew said his farewell to the world? After the Lord called him out of the custom, he made a big feast. He invited all his old friends to come to meet his new master. That was his farewell to his world. And Elijah said his farewell to his old. He took the oxen, he killed them. He used the yoke, the instrument as fuel to boil the oxen and let all his friends have the meat. And then he left and ministered. Dear brothers and sisters, the calling must be responded in forsaking all and following the Lord. Every time in the Bible you find when the Lord calls, the only response is forsaking all and following him. You either forsake all and follow or you stay put and you cannot prosper. There is no middle ground. Elijah was called to be a prophet. We may not be called, all called to be prophets. According to Ephesians chapter 4, God gave to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some teachers and pastors for the perfecting of the things with a view of the ministry of the body. We are not all called to be prophets. Nevertheless we are all called to serve the Lord. We are all called to serve the Lord in various capacities according to God's pleasure. But do you know that the call to serve is also a call to discipleship? When Elijah was called to be a prophet, he left all and followed Elijah and ministered to Elijah. In other words, he served Elijah. The call to serve and the call to discipleship are one. You cannot serve without first being a disciple. Even when our Lord Jesus was on earth, he called the twelve apostles. For the twelve apostles, when he called them, they were with him. They learned. And then he sent them out. Oftentimes we have a desire to serve the Lord, but we do not have much interest to be disciples. And when the call of discipleship comes, the only answer to the call is to forsake all and follow the Lord. Now of course, Peter, he forsook everything and followed the Lord. But that did not mean that he would not take care of his family anymore. You will find later on he still had the ship, the boat. And when the Lord used his boat, the Lord paid him back with two boatloads of fish. He still has his wife and he traveled around with his wife. He even had his mother-in-law in his home and took care of his mother-in-law. So we say, Peter, did you not forsake everything and follow the Lord? You left the boat and you left everything. Now why, how come that you still have all these things? Well, the point is, forsaking is basically a matter of the heart. Whether outwardly there should be such, it depends on how the Lord leads you. But so far as the heart is concerned, there must be a forsaking all. If there is not a forsaking all, you cannot follow the Lord. Because you will just follow that much that pleases you. You cannot follow the Lord all the way. If you want to follow the Lamb with us wherever He goes, well, the Lamb goes to the cross. And there you have to go. Therefore you will find that one condition for answering the call of discipleship is to forsake all and follow the Lord. But who can do it? Nobody The Lord can. It is the Lord. It is His grace. It is His love that will enable us to forsake all and follow Him. Elijah answered the call. He was called to be a prophet. But did he prophesy? For a number of years he was with Elijah. What did he do? You will find an explanation in the Bible. They say, well, here is the prophet Elijah. He was the one who poured water upon the hand of Elijah. He poured water upon Elijah's hand. Now I don't know whether the Jews at that time ate with their hands or not. I don't know. When I was in India, you know, in India they ate with their hand. Of course, the right hand, not the left hand. The left hand is defiled. You cannot touch the food with your left hand. Only the right hand. So you eat the food with your right hand. Now after you eat, of course your hand is oily, you know. So you need someone to pour water on your hand to wash it. That's the way it's done in India. You either go to a faucet and let the water run or somebody will pour water on your hand and make your hand clean, you know. And Elijah, after he left the fuel and followed Elijah, you know what he did all these years? He never uttered one word of prophecy. All he did was pouring water on the hand of Elijah. He ministered to Elijah. He served Elijah as a servant. He did all these manual works. I wonder if Elijah began to wonder, I'm called to be a prophet. I'm not called to pour waters. I have a bigger job plowing the field than pouring water. Downgraded. Reduced. But that's discipleship. Dear brothers and sisters, unless we are willing to be disciples unto Christ, unless we are willing to do small things, insignificant things, unless we do these insignificant things faithfully, joyfully, cheerfully as unto the Lord, we will never prophesy. We will never be able to fulfill our special mission. These years that Elijah was with Elijah, he was there. And all the time he was just serving Elijah. One word can sum up those years. And the word is follow. Follow. All he did was follow. Wherever Elijah went, he went. And you know in chapter 2 of 2 Kings, it says, the last journey of Elijah. You know the last journey of Elijah sums up the whole course of Elijah's walk. Elijah walked with God. And out of that walk came out a prophetic ministry. And his walk with God could be summed up in this last journey. Starting from Gilgal, going to Bethel, and on to Jericho, and finally crossed the River Jordan. And after the River Jordan was crossed, he was taken up. That was his walk with God. And you know what Elijah did? Elijah followed him. Many times Elijah wanted to shake him off, protect him. But he wouldn't be shaken off. He said, as Jehovah liveth, as thy soul liveth, I will not leave you. Wherever you go, I go. That's follow. Brothers and sisters, do we follow the Lord in this journey? Gilgal is a painful place. Because there, the children of Israel received circumcision. Bethel is a pleasant place. The gate of heaven, the house of God. Jericho is a place of battle, of conflict. Jordan is a place of death. You find in our lives, walk with God, you go through all kinds of experiences. Sometimes you are led to Gilgal. Other times you came to Bethel. At times you were at Jericho. And at other times you may have to go through Jordan. Our walk with God is composed of many kinds, various kinds of experiences. But can we say, where you go, our offer, we stop short somewhere. But that was not Elijah. Elijah followed Elijah all the way and couldn't be shaken off. I stay with you. And because he followed Elijah in such a way, he was confirmed as the prophet who will succeed Elijah. After they crossed the river Jordan, then Elijah said to Elijah, ask what you will. You know brothers and sisters, in our prayer meetings, or even in our private prayer, we often quote that verse in Matthew chapter 7 verse 7. Ask and it shall be given to you. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you. Why? Because, ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find. And knock and it shall be opened to you. That's the reason. And we often use this verse in our prayer. But do we have the experience, sometimes we ask and it is not given. Sometimes we seek and we don't find it. Sometimes we knock and the door is not open. Do you wonder why? Is the promise of God lacking somewhere? Well brothers and sisters, we often use scriptures out of context. You know where this verse is? This verse is in the so-called Sermon on the Mount. And the Sermon on the Mount is addressed not to the world, but to the disciples. In other words, if you are disciples to Christ, then you have this privilege of asking and it shall be given to you. Why? Because you will ask according to His will. If you are not disciples to Christ, you will ask amiss. You know? You will ask according to your selfish reason and purpose. And how God answer your prayer. He cannot. He cannot. So not until Elijah follow Elijah all the way to the end. Then Elijah said, and Elijah was well prepared. You know sometimes if the Lord said, now what do you want? We don't know what we want. But Elijah was well prepared. When Elijah said, now ask whatever you want. Elijah said, give me a double portion. And Elijah said, you ask the half thing. I cannot give it to you. But if you see me taken away then you shall have it. If you fail to see me taken away, then you won't have it. And as they were walking and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire and horsemen came in and separated these two men. And Elijah was taken up by a whirlwind. And Elijah saw it. And he said, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof. He reigned his own garment, took up the mantle that fell down and took it up. And that was it. Elijah said, give me a double portion of thy spirit. Was Elijah so ambitious that he was to be greater than his master Elijah? Elijah you have only one portion of spirit. I want two. So I will be greater than you are. Now if that's the case, he was very ambitious and selfish. He was asking something for himself. But no. Having followed Elijah for these years, having learned much of the Lord, certainly Elijah was not in any way without anything selfish for himself. He asked for a double portion of the spirit of Elijah. And Elijah said, so our question is, what is the spirit of Elijah? You remember in Luke chapter 1, John the Baptist shall come in the spirit and power of Elijah. He shall turn the hearts of the children to the parents and the parents to the children. He shall prepare the way of the Lord. And later on the Lord spoke of John the Baptist and said, Elijah has already come. If you receive him, that is John the Baptist, because he came in the spirit and the power of Elijah. Now what is the spirit of Elijah? You know, dear brothers and sisters, we all have a spirit, right? Human spirit. Not the Holy Spirit. Human spirit. We all have a human spirit. But where is your human spirit? You see, here is our body. Within the body is our soul. And within the soul is our spirit. So our spirit is in the most hidden part of our being. And being so deep within us, often times we do not know we have a spirit. And certainly people rarely touch our spirit. Especially in our modern society. We have developed such an art of hiding ourselves. That actually we can be together for years and we never know each other. We are pretending all the time. We know each other physically. And if we know each other deeper, maybe we know each other some thoughts, some emotions, some personalities. But so far as our spirit is concerned, it is very deep within us, it is hidden, and it is rarely exposed. We cannot bear to be that honest, that true. Because if you do, you will suffer for it. People will take advantage of you. Now that is more than that. Where is our spirit? The spirit is the real us. But where is the real us? When does it come out? When will people touch that spirit? Unfortunately, to most people, you can touch that spirit when he is angry. When a person is angry, he forgets himself. So his spirit comes out. And often times you find the spirit is ugly. It is an ugly spirit. And in the case of Elijah, what is the spirit of Elijah? When did you see his spirit really come out? His spirit came out when he complained. You know, after that great victory on Mount Carmel, he thought, now the whole nation of Israel will be returned to God. And certainly, God has used me to do something that has never been done before. What a victory. And then when Jezebel sent word and said, tomorrow at this time, I want your life. Suddenly he got frightened. He rose up and he fled. Well, if he just fled to the nation of Judah, he would be safe. He would be out of the control of Jezebel and of Ahab. But he left his servant there. He continued on to the desert. He walked 40 days, 49, until he came to Mount Horeb. And on the way he complained to God. He said, I am zealous for the Lord, and yet you don't help me. I am the only one left, and they want to kill me. It's hopeless. It's useless. And after he arrived at Mount Horeb, God came and he did the same thing. He said, I am zealous. I am zealous for you. And yet, nothing happened. He was bitter. He was angry. He was disappointed, really disappointed with God and with himself too. And it was at that time you find his spirit came out. What is the spirit of Elijah? Even though he was complaining, that spirit was the zeal of the Lord, as devoutly. He was a person who was jealous for God. He was a person who was so jealous for the right of God among his own people. That was the one thing that caught him. The zeal of the Lord. That was his life. That was his spirit. In the New Testament, when our Lord clanged the temple, drew out the hurt, overturned the table of the money changers, and ordered these people to get out, the Bible says, the zeal of the house of the Lord has. That is the spirit of our Lord. You remember the two sons of David? One day our Lord Jesus was going from Galilee to Judea, to Jerusalem, and when he was passing by Samaria, the villagers were not accepting because he was facing Jerusalem. They would have nothing to do with the Jews. And you remember the two sons of David came to the Lord and said, Lord, do you want us to do what Moses did? What Elijah did? That we may call down fire from heaven and burn these villagers up? And the Lord said, you do not know what kind of a spirit you have. Quite jealous, yes, but not the spirit of the land. The Lord was going to Jerusalem to die. Brothers and sisters, what is the spirit of Elijah? It is the spirit of the zeal, the zealousness, the jealousy of the Lord. That is the spirit of Elijah. Because that spirit within him, oh, how Elijah suffered for that kind of spirit. It would be much easier if he did not have that spirit. He could hide himself somewhere and live his life peacefully. But with that kind of spirit, he could not. He had to face Ahab. He had to face the whole nation. He had to face the hatred of Jezebel. He had to go through sufferings, persecution, disappointment, discouragement, everything. Why? Because the spirit of Elijah is the spirit of the zeal of the Lord. Asking the Lord to ask him for a double portion is asking for double trouble. Elijah was not asking for something for himself that he might be great, greater. No. Elijah, as he followed Elijah, the spirit of Elijah had already come upon Elijah. He asked for a double portion of Elijah's spirit. In other words, he wanted to be literally burned up by the zeal of the Lord. What a man! Elijah could not answer that prayer. Only God can answer it. Dear brothers and sisters, do we have the spirit of Elijah? When we see the rights of God being resisted, even mocked, when we see the rights of God among his own people is not respected, how do we feel? Do we feel as if nothing has happened? Or are we literally burned up? Oh, if we have a double portion. Elijah was asking for trouble, not for ease and comfort. He was not asking anything for himself. He was asking for God. Why? The spirit of Elijah was tremendous, but the nation did not return. Only for a short while. God's right was still despised and he wanted to finish that work. He was ready to suffer, whatever it might be. And Elijah laid down one condition. If you see me taken up, you shall have it. And he saw it. You know, brothers and sisters, how can we function according to the call in our various capacities? We may be called, but it needs to be confirmed. And the confirmation is based upon what kind of a spirit we have. Do we have the spirit of Elijah? Do we have the spirit of Elijah? If we have that kind of a spirit, the confirmation is there. But, we need to see one thing. We need to see the Lord ascended upon high, seated at the right hand of the Father. Elijah, Elijah will not receive what he asked, unless he saw Elijah. We will not receive the double portion of such spirit, unless we see the Lord at the right hand of the Father. Because you will find in the book of Acts, when the Lord ascended upon high, they only saw, the disciples were looking up, but they only saw him at midair. He was taken by a cloud. But the Lord reached heaven. Why? Because on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured forth. And Peter, in the eleventh day, what you have seen and heard, prove one thing, that God has made Christ, the Christ and Lord of all. Brothers and sisters, how can we receive a confirmation of our calling? When the Lord opens our eyes to see that he is not only the crucified one, he is the one in glory. He is the Lord in glory. When you see the Lord in glory, then the Holy Spirit is poured forth. You receive a double portion of that spirit. So Elijah had his calling confirmed. Oh, you remember Peter says, make your calling and election sure. You are called, yes, but make it sure that we may not only be called, but be chosen. So Elijah rang his own gong, and put on the mantle of Elijah. When he came back, everybody knew, the spirit of Elijah has rested upon Elijah. So dear brothers and sisters, may we learn from the life of Elijah. We are all called to serve. But in order that we may serve, number one, we need first be discipled, not to man, but to Christ. And then secondly, we need to follow until we see the Lord in glory. Then we shall be filled with a double portion. The zeal of the Lord shall devour us. And only then we are able to function as we ought. Shall we pray? Our Heavenly Father, we do thank Thee for Thy servant Elijah. We do thank Thee that he was a ready vessel, that he was willing to forsake all. He was willing to follow to the very end, that he asked nothing but a double portion of the spirit of Elijah, that he may serve Thee. O Lord, we pray that the same spirit may characterize all of us here. Because Thou art one who ought to be served, and there is much that needs to be done. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen.