Transferral of garments

I'm going to ask you to turn to 1 Kings, please. 1 Kings, and chapter 18. Now, if there's a little coughing during my speaking, rather than to ask you to excuse me each time, could I just give you a blanket request now? Just excuse me, OK? But I'm in good company, because there's a number of others that I'm sharing the same affliction with.

1 Kings, chapter 18, verse number 3. I realize that the first speaker in the afternoon can be challenging. I'm reminded of the words of what C.H. Spurgeon said on an occasion. He said that he had listened to messages whereby he had discovered that sleep was a kindness of nature.

Then he went on to say, you know, brother, he's not done yet. He said, I really feel that some preachers would be judged correctly if in heaven they had to sit and listen to their own ministry. And I've gone into homes, and they've had a tape or CD going, and I've been speaking, and they shut that thing off.

Shut that off. I can't stand my own voice alone. So bear with me.

1 Kings, chapter 18, and verse 3. And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of the house. Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly. Verse 5, and Ahab said unto Obadiah, go into the land under the fountains of water into the brooks peradventure.

We may find grass to save the horses and the mules alive that we lose not all a beast. Now verse number 8. And he answered him, I am. And go and tell my lord, behold, Elijah is here.

Now he's saying this to this man Obadiah that, of course, is living in King Ahab's palace. Verse 9, and he said, what have I sinned that thou shouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab to slay me? So you see he's just a little jaded at that. Down to verse number 19.

Now therefore, send and gather to me all Israel unto Mount Carmel and the prophets of Baal 450 and the prophets of the groves 400, which eat at Jezebel's table. Now over, please, to chapter 19. Chapter 19.

And verse 18, for the sake of time. Verse 18, I'll just reference to passages that I will not take the time to read. Verse 18 of chapter 19.

Yet have I left me 7,000 in Israel, all of these which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. So he departed thence and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plying with 12 yoke of oxen before him. And he with the 12 and Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him.

And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother. Now notice these words, and then, and then, I will follow thee. And he said unto him, go back again, for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave unto the people and they did eat.

Then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him. Now, we'll go back to Numbers chapter 20, please. Numbers chapter 20, Exodus chapter, or rather Numbers chapter 20 and verse 25.

And stripped Aaron of his garments and put them upon Eliezer, his son. And Aaron shall be gathered unto his people and shall die there. And Moses did as the Lord commanded.

And they went up into Mount Hor and the site of all the congregation. And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments. Now, this is his brother stripping him of his garments and put them on Eliezer, his son.

And Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. Moses and Eliezer came down from the mount and all the congregation saw that Aaron was dead. They mourned for Aaron 30 days, even all the house of Israel.

And we'll go to a final reading of 1 Samuel chapter 18. 1 Samuel chapter 18, just before the kings, for the sake of young believers here that may not be familiar with your Bible. 1 Samuel chapter 18, verse one.

And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day and would let him go no more home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul.

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David and his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle. And David went out with us over Saul sent him and behaved himself wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war and he was accepted in the sight of all the people also in the sight of Saul's servants.

That will suffice for our reading. What I would like to speak on this afternoon at the opening of this ministry meeting is the transferal of garments. Transferral of garments.

Now just stay with me and I'll try and make it as simple as I can to you what we're talking about. I want you to notice the first case that we read about here is the mantle of a man by the name of Elijah going to another man, a younger man by the name of Elisha. I would suggest that at the initial in chapter 19, chapter 19 of 1 Kings here is really what I would call too much too soon.

Because if I had taken time to read with you when we get to 2 Kings in about chapter two, you would find that he receives it again so he must have given it back. Too much too soon. When we come to the second one that we read about, here is a really it's a sad scene.

Now I know that I don't want to spoil anything you've enjoyed about this mountain scene but must have been awful hard for a man like Moses with a man like Aaron. Two of those men coming from that great noble family that they came from with their sister Miriam to simply trudge their way up that mountain knowing what was going to take place. And a brother actually strips his own brother.

Takes his own hands, takes those priestly garments off of Aaron. We'll put them on his son Eliezer. I would suggest to you that that really isn't too much too soon but that is really what at least what I have called too little too late.

Too little too late and we'll come back to that. There would have been something of value if Aaron simply could have disrobed himself and passed them to his son. Now I'm not being hard on Aaron today and there's many, many commendable things about Aaron but just think of that for a minute.

Last that we have when we come to David and Jonathan is what I call enough at the right time. There was just a juncture in David's life when he needed what Jonathan was passing to him. And there was so much tension in the palace, so much friction between Saul, so much jealousy, so much nonsense going on.

Here comes a man that is so devoted, so loved by David. I mean as Mr. Moody used to say that David came back from the battle with the head of the giant and with the heart of a Jonathan. With the head of a giant and the heart of a Jonathan.

He loved him as he loved his own soul. And to show that love, to demonstrate it, here is a man, you know what he does? He takes off what was closest to him, what was so personal and he will actually transfer that to David. What's to say concerning David after that takes place? Behaves himself wisely.

Now there's a real contrast here. If you think of Elisha coming from the house of Shaphat which I take was a wealthy home, he was likely dressed pretty good. And it's kind of, now he's gonna take Elijah's garment? You just saw Elijah's garment, none of you fellows were to wear it here this afternoon.

No, sir, guarantee. After all, something that would be, so it's really kind of a step down. But now here's David, he comes from the house of Jesse.

Poverty, nothing too much is said about the clothes of David. Somehow I've linked them to the clothes of the Lord Jesus because David is such a beautiful type of the Lord Jesus. And now here is really a step up because now here is a rejected man, just a poor boy coming from the house of Jesse and he's now going to wear kingly apparel.

I mean, Jonathan would be dressed in accordance with the family that he came from. Now what I'm drawing from this is a truth that really has been, I've been working on this winter a bit. In fact, I've been working on it long enough that I'm not going to butcher it, trying to cramp it into too few minutes as I sometimes do, but I will watch that clock and try to be a good boy like our brethren were this morning and keep within somewhat of our time, but you can allow me a little bit.

First of all, let's come to this man, Elijah. Hadn't been easy days for Elijah. I would say that in reading this and studying this, you know what's rankling him a little bit? I'm out here taking it in the cheek.

I'm out here getting my nose rung. And here's this man of all things Obadiah and he's in the house of Ahab. He's got it good.

Why am I taking the fall of all this? Why am I taking this heat? No, he never says that, okay? He never says that, but deep down in his thinking, that was it. Because you're noticing as he goes down the chapter and he meets Obadiah, and I mean, we read those words that he feared the Lord greatly, there's things commendable about him. And that's why Elijah is saying, I'm the only one here.

I'm the only one that's left. God says, what are you talking about? I have left me 7,000 that have not bowed their knee to Baal or kissed him. And this man Obadiah had taken those 100 prophets by 50s and had hid them in the caves and so on.

So there was commendable things about him. But he is a little bit nervous when Elijah comes to him and says, listen, listen, you go tell that Ahab who's here. He's, wait a minute now, you put my neck on the line? No, no, I'm gonna do that.

His words, what have I sinned that thou shouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab? And so he simply backs away from him. I'm just giving you that kind of a background to think of the man himself. Because here's a man as we were hearing this morning that gets into a very bad case of being despondent in actual depression.

Only once in my life, only once in my life did I ever try to speak on discouragement or depression. I had about five believers come after and they said, listen, all due respect, you don't know a thing about it. Do they know that? Are they sure about that? Don't be too sure.

I mean, on the front, watch this man running in front of those chariot, in front of the chariot ripping down the road, one minute. The next he's running from Jezebel. You know, God gave this man exactly what he needed.

Elijah, exactly what he needed. Because you know what was coming up? That the man that thought really he was the only one left, he's gonna leave his work. He's gonna pass it to a coming generation.

He's gonna pass it on to another man. But you know what he needed? God gave him a divine provision by which he was refreshed. Refreshed, I love it.

What did he give to him? First of all, you'll notice that he gave him it. It tells us right in chapter 19 that first of all, he gave him a wafer. We say it was a cake bacon.

Would you allow me to stick with the alliteration? It was a wafer for this afternoon. And then he gave him something else. He gave him water, a cruise of water.

And notice that when he gave him the wafer, it wasn't a cold one either, it was a warm one. It was baked on coals. But you know the best of what he got? He got a whisper, he got a whisper.

Just something from the Lord, just a whisper. And I wanna tell you, when it come personal experiences, as we were hearing this morning, sometimes that's all you need, just a whisper from him. That's a small voice.

Because what's coming up for this man Elijah is not gonna be easy to take. So the first of all, there was a divine provision by which he was refreshed. There was a presence by which he was reassured.

I'm here, I'm here, I am here. And then last of all, there was a divine purposes by which he was going to be replaced. And that brings me to what really is before me this afternoon, and it is the transferal of these garments, of this mantle rather.

When we come to chapter 19, okay, he is told, there's a king he's going to anoint. And now he's going to find a young man by the name of Elisha. And this man, by the name of Elisha, that he is going to go, he's going to be one that's going to be anointed by the prophet because he is actually going to take his place.

I want you to notice where he found him. He found this man plowing with 12 yoke of oxen. Now that would have been a family operation.

And you think that he would kind of lead the pack and say to the rest of the guys, say, wait a minute now, I'm the boss here. You boys in the back. Okay, I'm dad's boy.

I'll take my share of the oxen, but no, no, no. Notice where he takes, he takes the lowest place. That's what it tells you right here at the end of chapter 19.

That when he finds him plowing with the 12 yoke of oxen before him and he with the 12 and Elisha passed by him and he cast his mantle upon him. Must've been quite a shock. I would suggest to you that the father of Elisha was one of those that had not bowed the knee to Baal.

God had blessed them. Wait a minute, I don't know a lot about oxen. I could tell you a few things about farm tractors, but not oxen.

But you'd have to have a fair amount of grass to feed the oxen. Well, how come no grass hunt? How come the King Ahab personally is out with Obadiah doing the grass hunt, looking for the grass? Well, what does Ahab say? Well, you gotta save the mules and we gotta save our beast. So they're on a grass hunt.

And here's a man in touch with God. He's not out in some kind of a grass hunt. He likely had more than enough.

12 yoke of oxen, I'd say that's a big operation. Do you already saw? I know enough about this that in plowing, you have a future that's before you. And when things were so dark and things were so dismal and the nation was in such a condition, here's a young man and he's not sat down and said, listen, we're giving up.

We're giving up, we're quitting. Here's a man out and he's going at it. But you say in the midst of a famine, how can he do it? Well, it wasn't so much what he knew about plowing with oxen, but he knew God.

That's the secret of this man, Elisha. Very commendable man. He's out there and he's working away, like I say, it was family duties, farm duties.

David was the same. When God's looking for a man to do his work, not to be too hard on you, he's likely not gonna go to Florida, look underneath some umbrella, say, I think I use this boy. He's gonna look for somebody that's committed to duties.

You remember what David's brother will say to him, who did you leave those few sheep with? Come on, you're back to your sheep. You look after that. Do they realize who that man's gonna be? Who David is going to actually be? Their king? Joseph, what's he doing? Same thing.

Tending the sheep, looking after them. Now here's a man and he's committed to family responsibilities. I would say that anybody, anybody, I'm not talking just strictly overseers.

Anybody that's gonna lead God's people in any measure is somebody that understands the responsibility of family duties. I say, it's not my house, it's dad's. Good.

Do you appreciate it? What do you mean? You're telling me that you're 28 years of age and you haven't paid a week's board yet? Who else is spoiling you? I say, boy, that's rough. Some facts. Here's a man that understood this.

Here's a man that God's gonna use. This man, Elisha. And so he's going along, he's plowing.

My, what a picture of the regathering of the nation. 12 yoke of oxen. You know, I'm sure there were those from the palace of Ahab that would have gone by and thought, what on earth is he doing? What is he doing? It would be just like last summer when you're trying to conserve all that moisture and some boy's out there with the hair on the disc and the dust is flying.

You say, what is he thinking? His thinking was right. That there is going to be a future. Brethren and sisters, there's going to be a future.

Now, that future is being passed to younger hands. Now, my challenge this afternoon is this. I'm not saying, do we have them? We do.

I'm looking at the faces of a number of young brethren and sisters, young couples, recently married over the last few years here, right in this area of Iowa and in Wisconsin, and to your hands, it's falling a mantle. But you say, you told us this was too much, too soon. It was, it was, because you're going to go through like the period of 10 years, I think, from first to get the second Kings chapter two, and he must have given the mantle back.

Good for him, good for him. You know, he didn't go home, put it in the thing where you store the clothes and say, well, I'll keep that, future day come along, I'll get this farming looked after, I'll look at it, I've really killed the oxen, I've boiled them, and I'll get a few things attended to, no, no, no. You say, what do you do with the 10 years? Well, if you go to chapter two of the next book, what's it tell? He's pouring water on the hands of Elisha, or Elijah, rather.

Elisha's pouring water on the hands of the older prophet. You would think he would say sometimes, and I actually left what I was doing to do this, yes. But this is too simple.

Anybody could do it. That's where he was wrong. Do you hear that, brother? That's where he was wrong.

Not anybody can do it. You say, I never get any appreciation, and I taught Sunday school, and nobody ever has thanked me, and you know, anybody can do it, dear brethren or sisters. Sorry, some places it's not against the law for sisters to teach Sunday school, if you don't mind me.

Did you ever go and thank them? Did you? Let me speak to Sunday school teachers. Not anybody can do it. Not anybody can teach your class.

You can. And if the brethren have been trusted by God's help, you with that job, you understand the value of it. I look back and think of things that I learned at Sunday school, and I appreciated them.

But I want to tell you, what a wonderful thing, and let me speak to those my age called grandparents. It's not nice to look at all those grandchildren and see them going, oh, my God, they're going to a Sunday school and hear the word of God. Do you understand today? Not too often, there's some of us that have grandchildren, thank God ours aren't, and they're going to a place so different than they were brought up, where they're drawing pictures and they know nothing of the Bible.

So we value that work. Not anybody can do it. So Elisha, understand not everybody can do what you're doing.

You're gonna be a man that God's gonna use, you're gonna understand the value of just pouring water in the hands of Elijah. You say for 10 years? He's prepared to do it. I mean, go through all the training people that God used in the Bible, just pouring water in his hands.

I mean, look at David's mightiest. The three you'll always remember were those that broke through the ranks of the Philistines, and what did they go for? Water for David, and when he got it, what did he do? Poured it out on the ground. You say, what was that all about? Well, they honored David.

They loved David. They just gave it to David saying, David, whatever you do, whatever you, it's yours. It's yours to do as you like.

Remember David would say himself to the Lord, of thine own have we given thee. And so now if we were to come to the end of chapter two, here's a man, this man, this good man, Elisha. He's come up now and they're, they're at the Jordan, interesting place to be.

And the sons of the prophets, of course, you know, they're telling him, what are you doing? You're a master, he's going. Well, what are you hanging around for? You know who the sons of the prophets are? Those are the learned boys that had all the answers, but didn't know one of the questions. But what did they have the answers? Well, you ask them, they'll tell you.

They could make Greek stand on his head. But if you ask them something simple, they wouldn't know. I mean, just look at them.

Now, if they weren't all, do you know the best they ever became? Notice the change in these men under the influence of an Elisha. Oh, they're not going to get too close to this, to this man that's ready to depart. It's just they stood a far off to view.

In other words, no mantle for them, but we'll see what happens. There will be people like that in the brethren, excuse me, people like that, the assembly, you know, you delve into something and you think this thing can go north or south or whatever way it's going to go. And there's others, oh no, no, no, no.

You go yourself, boy, if it doesn't go right, I don't even know you. That's Peter Orszag used to tell me, he used to make some visits sometime when they were a little dicey. He's a mechanical, he says, if this goes bad, I don't even know you, okay? So that moment comes, what happens? There he is, right in the spot.

Days of pouring water in the hands of Elijah are past. And up he goes, up he goes, floating down comes that mantle. And he grabs that mantle.

And boy, the language, you have to take time, excuse me, go over to 2 Kings chapter two, just for the sake of connection here. 2 Kings chapter two and verse number 11. And it came to pass as they still went on and talked that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, horses of fire, and parted them both asunder.

And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and said, 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 he rent them in two pieces.

And he took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. 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 he had also smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither and Elisha went over. Elisha went over.

You see, at that moment, do you realize where that prophet was caught? He found himself on the wrong side of a Jordan. He found himself on the wrong side of the Jordan. He's got to get back to serve the Lord where the Lord wanted him.

Yes, back to Gilgal, back to Bethel, back to Jericho, but he's here at the Jordan. And he takes that mantle and he smites the waters and they part. It's interesting.

You know where he started? He started right where the older man left off. Are you prepared to do that, brother? Or have you got the mentality? That was them. They are so backward.

They're so old fashioned. Oh, oh, well, I want to tell you something. If you don't mind personally today, I said at our Easter conference at Bridgewater, a large conference, I only wish that I was passing to a coming generation, testimony in the condition of which it was passed to me 35 years ago when I moved to the Maritimes.

I'm afraid I haven't, brethren. This man starts right there. What was the secret to it? The secret was to keep his eye on a man that was soon going to go up.

And so he keeps his eye on a man as he is going up, it says. And when I take that over to Acts chapter one, there's a beautiful connection. In Acts chapter one, what are they doing? It says they look steadfastly.

They look steadfastly as he was taken up from their midst. When you go to Acts chapter two, the people are looking up steadfastly in chapter one or continuing steadfastly in chapter two. They continued steadfastly in the apostle's doctrine and the fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers and so on.

So understand the two go together. The secret to this is, brethren, not keeping our eyes on each other, but keeping our eyes on an ascended man. What is it that allowed Stephen to go through what he did that day as they picked up those stones or they stoned him? His eye was fastened on a man in glory.

Acts chapter nine, the conversion of the apostle Paul. Who does he see? Nothing but a vision of a man in glory. The eyes on an ascended man, transfixed, if you like.

And that mantle comes floating down. Now it's the same mantle. I don't believe you got another one.

I don't believe that Elisha had the other one stored. I believe it was just a little too soon at the time. And he did the proper thing.

He just gave it back to him. I know we have no verse. Be easy, brethren.

I know we have no verse that says that, but you can't give me a verse either that says he tucked it under his arm and hid it somewhere in the attic. Not there. But now we come to a different scene 10 years later.

A different man, and a man's about to leave, and up he goes. And now here's a man and notice that that training he got with Elijah was indispensable. You know what I would have done, naturally speaking? I would say, just give me 10% of what that man has.

Just 10%. 10% will do me. 10% is all I can handle.

No, he says. He wanted to double. He wanted to double what he had.

You say, that's greedy, isn't it? No, you know what that is? That was exercise. Now, it's not that we start off, but we need, we need double. And whatever those men of a former day had that stood on this platform and that went before the saints of God, there isn't an overseer here today to argue with me or a fellow preacher either, that we don't need the double, that we need that mantle, that we need to keep our eyes on an ascended man.

Now, I'll come very quickly to the second one that we read about back in Numbers and chapter 20. Here's one. As I say, it was an interesting day.

They, you, something to watch that, maybe I got too much imagination, but I watch Aaron and he's trudging his way up that mountain and he knows this is the end. But you know, the old man goes up the mountain. Notice it's not the young man that goes up the mountain with those priestly garments on, which were very, very heavy.

And I don't know whether Eliezer carried them down or wore them down, but I know this much. Saw Eliezer going down the mountain and wasn't going up. Took the old man to go up.

Took the old man to lead the way. I often wonder what took place. They stand there looking at each other for a while.

I think they would have embraced. Somehow there was something between them. I know there's the issue of Miriam.

I know there's the issue of the leprosy. I know there's the issue of the calf, but you can't tell me those two brothers didn't embrace. When that was done, it says that Moses stripped Aaron of his priestly garments right in front of his own son.

It's not an easy day when older men that have had the responsibility for years have had to have been stripped. They just didn't see. They just didn't understand.

Hey, there's an Eliezer here. I know he'd already lost two boys, Nadab and Abihu. They didn't get occupied with their graves, but there's an Eliezer.

One of the three. Now he's gonna wear those priestly garments. And there's something very just heart-wrenching about those words that they stripped Aaron.

The man that wore the garments of glory and beauty. The man that went before the people day in and day out. The man that heard the murmuring and the complaining of the people of Israel and so on.

And now, excuse me, before them, they are going to be stripped. But to Aaron's credit, what did he do? Well, I'll tell you what he did. And I'll tell you what he didn't do.

I don't read anywhere in here, and I look them very close, and I don't read anywhere that he left them any funds or any farms or any future. But do you know where he left them? Priestly garments. Priestly garments! Now let me go one by one down through this audience.

Where do you leave in your young men today? Would you mind a personal reference to a 93-year-old man that happens to be my father? I used to have a funeral in Toronto two weeks ago, Mr. Fred Hammesinger's funeral. One of the brethren from the Langstaff Assembly, Mr. Harry Klingin, if you want to know who it was, it was my brother-in-law, picked me up at the airport. I don't think we'd gone a mile.

Well, he says, Murray, I'm going to tell you something. Your father still worships God on Sunday morning. And physically, physically, he can't walk 100 feet.

But those legs will lift him off that bench to worship God. Mr. Klingin went on to say, went on to say more than that, the freshness, the freshness. I thought bringing forth fruit in old age.

No, I mean it with all my heart, okay? I know nothing of wills or whatever. That meant more to me than if the executor of his will said to me, your father's left you X number of dollars. I mean it with all my heart.

I mean it before God. When he left Garneville, brethren told me the same thing. When he left down in Hickory, North Carolina, Stan Moorer told me the same thing.

You know what that did? That humbled me. Priestly garments. Watch that man worship.

When the assembly was very, very small, he'd worship on Sunday morning, give out a hymn, have to give a word, sing with the children. There were others to do it. Preach the gospel Sunday night.

You know what I did realize at that time? In my foolishness, he was passing, he was passing to his sons priestly garments. Didn't have to be strict with him. Last one is, it's a delightful one really.

Now I know you can get up here and say, you know, Jonathan, he gave David his robe, his garments, his sword, his bow, his girdle, but he didn't give himself. Oh? You're gonna tell me that if you were there, you would have done different? Are you? You're gonna tell me that you would have done different than Jonathan? Well, then you're a better man than Jonathan. I sure am not.

But this was just what David needed at this time. This wasn't the highest point in David's life. Listen, David was a man given to discouragement and depression, as was Elijah.

Let me speak to believers here. I'm glad I don't think, they're my own relatives that beat up on me that time I tried to give a word of depression, so you'll forgive me, okay? I haven't forgiven them. But anyhow, I'm telling you, here were, Elijah? Elijah? Who was a better prophet in the Old Testament? Never had a book named by him or Elisha.

Who was a better one? More used of God. Hard to find. Think the miracles that he did, the power he demonstrated.

Was there a man that ever suffered more from depression than him? No. David, Israel's great king. Was there anyone that got lower than David? If there was, he would have given you the Psalms, not David.

Jonathan, just at that moment, just at the right time, he would take all of his Ezekiel, I don't know if he wore what David, the son of Jesse was wearing. He wouldn't have worn it. I wouldn't have either.

I don't know those boys of mine would never have worn it. Would have been much. But clothes were a big ticket item to David.

There was better things than that. That wasn't what he loved. You know what he loved? He loved God.

Isn't it wonderful to love God today? And the result of that is that he will just simply peel that off, strip himself of all this, and he just passes it to David. There was a love that was confessed. There was a love that was compensated.

There was a love that was crowned. So let me just gather these things together and it's this. At the Bridgewater conference, our Easter conference, three weeks ago, I went over to Robert McElwain and I said, I've never been so glad to see you at a conference all my life.

He stepped back. He said, well, McCandless, this doesn't sound like you. I said, what's up? Robert knows me and so does Mr. Hall.

He said, what's up? Well, I said, too, you arrived. I was the oldest man here, but I feel a whole lot better. Oh, he said, for any sake.

Brethren in Stout, it seems like yesterday when I sat in your conference in the old hall and those older men, if they're not gone, they couldn't do it today, I'm sorry to say. And I'm not sure I've cut the mantle. I'd like to.

I'd like to serve. I will never be better than them. That was the lament of this man.

He'd learned he wasn't better. In other words, for a while, maybe he thought he was till he discovered his own weakness and his own inabilities. Nevertheless, even though it was too much too soon, there came that day when this man that didn't give up in spite of what the sons of the prophets are telling him and everything.

In that moment, floating through that air came the mantle of Elijah, which he grabs ahold of it. And what the words are used there, wasn't he just kind of took ahold of it and thought, well, I'll do this act and this is it. No, no, no.

He took ahold of it as if never to let this go again. Now, brethren and sisters, that's the way to take ahold of divine truth. That's the way to take ahold of testimony.

It isn't necessarily taking ahold of it in a verbal, personal way that you're gonna do this. No, it's before God. These men that we've read about are humble men.

They're men that God used mightily. So like in every generation, we live in the transferal of garments. God help us to wear them appropriately.