Put on the Mantle 1984

Okay, um, reading from 2 Kings chapter 2, verse 6. Then Elijah said to him, said to Elisha, his understudy, Tarry here, I pray you, for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan. But Elisha said, As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So the two of them went on.

Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them as they were both standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up and struck the water. And the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two men could go over on dry ground.

Then they had, when they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you. And Elisha said, I pray you, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit. And he said, You have asked a hard thing.

Yet if you see me as I'm being taken from you, it shall be so for you. But if you do not see me, it shall not be so. And as they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and forces of fire separated the two of them.

And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and cried, My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen. And he saw him no more.

And as Elisha is looking up into the heavens, something comes floating down and finally drops at his feet. And he looks and sees the mantle of Elijah. Now, this mantle of Elijah was the symbol of Elijah's authority, his power in the spirit of God.

And this was a sign that Elisha has indeed now received a double portion of the spirit of Elisha, of Elijah. But now let's suppose this is not how it happened, but just let's suppose for a minute that Elisha looks down and he sees this mantle, the very mantle which had been thrown on him when Elijah called him to be his understudy, a prophet in his place. He looks down, he sees this, and he picks it up and carefully wraps it in plastic so it won't get dirty.

And then he comes down to the Jordan River and he holds it up high as he goes down into the water and has to wade and swim until he gets to the other side. And then he carefully and very, very, very gingerly carries it home. When he gets the mantle home, he takes it and hangs it on his living room wall for everybody to see.

And pretty soon people are coming from miles around to talk to Elisha about his life as the understudy of the great Elijah. And he explains how it was. And he says, and here is the mantle that fell from the sky the day I saw my master ascend into the heavens.

It's the very mantle that was thrown upon me the day he called me to be a prophet in his place. And there it hangs. But the power of this mantle, which was to be a sign seed of the authority which has come to Elisha, is locked in this thing hanging on the living room wall.

And all Elisha could do now is sit around and talk about the past. The rest of his life would then be spent as a public relations prophet. They send a reporter and a photographer from Time magazine, and they do a marvelous article on the mantle of Elisha.

And they take a picture of Elisha standing right in front of him. Pretty soon Elisha is invited to university campuses all over the Middle East. He fills the football stadium at Samaria as people come to hear about his great life with Elijah.

But the power, the mantle that was meant to be an anointing upon this man Elisha would then be hanging on the wall as a useless relic. Now of course, praise God, we know that that's not how it happened. In Elisha's case, when Elisha sees that mantle at his feet, first thing he does, he tears his own clothes off and puts this mantle of his master upon himself.

Now the spirit that was on Elijah is on Elisha. And he moves forward in power and confidence. And so we read in 2 Kings 6, verse 12 and a half.

Then he took all of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. And he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water, saying, Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? When he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elisha walked over.

Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him over against them, they said, The spirit of Elijah rests upon Elisha. And they came to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. And so Elisha doesn't wrap it up in plastic, doesn't hang it on the wall, doesn't sit around and talk about it.

He puts it on. And he moves in the power of this anointing which has been given to him. And he goes forward with this.

But what about us? What do we do when the mantle of Elijah falls down to us? Do we take the mantle, carefully wrap it up in plastic so it won't get dirty, talk about it, conduct seminars about it, share wonderful things about it, or do we put it on? Reading from Acts chapter 1, verse 6. So when the disciples had come together, they asked him, Jesus, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? He said to them, It is not for you to know times or seasons which the father has fixed by his own authority. But you should receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Lord, what are you going to do now? And the Lord answers, That's not the issue.

What am I going to do now? It's not for you to know. The issue now is what are you going to do? The issue is what you are going to do as I now give my mantle to you. I pass the authority of the Spirit on to you and it's your turn now to be my witnesses on the earth.

And so reading on in that passage. When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up just like Elijah and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven, as he went, the old two men stood by them in white robes and said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.

Ten days later, the mantle comes drifting down out of the sky. And we read in Acts chapter 2 verse 1, When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place and suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting and there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Now they were dwelling in Jerusalem, Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And as at this sound, a multitude came together and were bewildered because each one heard them speaking in his own language. The mantle has now come and immediately they put it on and they begin to witness to the resurrection and to the lordship of Jesus.

They announced to the world that Jesus is Lord and the words that they speak are confirmed with great power. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. Now, the mantle that came to them on that day is still here.

It hasn't faded. It hasn't worn. It's just as bright and strong and alive and clear and powerful as it has ever been.

Wherever believers are gathered in the name of Jesus this day the mantle comes drifting down upon them. The mantle comes upon us today. See, and the issue is now what are we going to do with it? Are we going to wrap it up in plastic? Are we going to nail it to the wall? Are we going to sit around and talk about it forever? Or are we going to put it on? Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? I mean, Lord, we hear about all kinds of problems in the Persian Gulf and about armies massing to the north and about the financial structures of the Western world cracking and crumbling and shaking.

And we see evidence everywhere we look that things are out of control. Now is the time. Is it now the time? And the Lord says, Stop sitting around and speculating.

It's not for you to know the times or seasons which the Father has fixed by His own authority, but I'm giving you the power to be my witnesses. I'm giving my mantle to you. Put it on and prepare the earth.

The word of the Lord to the body of Christ on earth at this hour, the word of the Lord to this assembly of believers at this hour is Put on the mantle. Stop walking around, wringing your hands, complaining about your problems and wondering about what's going to happen next. And put on the mantle and get out there and be my witnesses.

Do it. You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come to you. I am giving you, He says, a fresh measure of my Spirit.

Receive it. Open your mouth and breathe it in. Open your heart and receive it.

Put it on. How do you put on the mantle? Put on the mantle the same way you put on salvation. By faith.

You don't wait for the goose pimples or the lightning and the thunder. You open your heart and receive. You might get some goose pimples.

There may be some lightning and thunder. But that's beside the point. You receive by faith.

You trust that if you've asked Him, He's answering you. And you take what you now have and do something with it. Don't wait until you feel strong.

Defy your fear and move ahead. Put on the mantle so that you may have life. Reading from Romans 8, which is the big chapter about the mantle.

But reading from Romans 8, verse 9. Putting on the mantle so that you may have life. But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit. If the Spirit of God really dwells in you, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him.

But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness, His righteousness. If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He that raised Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you. Not after you die, but right now.

The same life that raised Jesus from the dead, the same life that turned the water into wine and opened the eyes of the blind, comes to you now. Put on the mantle and you will have life. Life is nowhere else.

The life of God is in the mantle. The life of God is in the Spirit. It is the Spirit that gives life.

The flesh is of no avail. The words that I speak to you, says Jesus, they are Spirit, they are life. Put them on.

Secondly, put on the mantle that you may overcome the weakness of your own flesh. Reading from Romans 8 verse 12. So then brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live according to the flesh.

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Many of us are walking around, resigned to the idea that I'm going to be an emotional cripple the rest of my life.

God knows I love Him. Jesus knows I love Him. But there are certain weaknesses in me that I'm just going to have to live with the rest of my life.

We accept that. And it's a lie straight from the pit. Some of us are saying every once in a while I'm just going to have to go out and get drunk.

And some of us are saying every once in a while I'm going to have to get high. And some of us are saying I can't help it, but every once in a while I slip into weird sexual sin. And some of us are saying I can't help it, but I get eaten up with obsessions of jealousy.

And this goes on and on and on. We know these weaknesses are there. We say, well, I'm human.

Everybody has their problems. God understands. Nonsense! Put on the mantle and by the Spirit overcome the weakness of your flesh.

It can be done. There's no reason why we have to do any of those things anymore. By the power of the Spirit, you don't have to get drunk anymore.

Or high anymore. Or slip into that. Whatever it is that any one of us is involved in.

Get rid of the idea that you're chained to that. You're not. If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

Put on the mantle so that you can walk as sons and daughters of God. From verse 14 of Romans 8. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back again into fear, but you received the spirit of sonship.

When we cry, Abba, Father, it is the Spirit Himself bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs. Heirs of God.

Fellow heirs with Christ. Provided we suffer with Him in order that we may be glorified with Him. And again, many of us are walking around like orphans.

You know, we feel we really don't belong anywhere. You know, nobody really knows us or loves us or cares for us. And this is why many of us are obsessed with the idea that we have to make our mark somehow.

And we get our sense of worth by either how much we can acquire or how much we can achieve or what kind of dent we can make in other people's lives. Whatever. To feel that we're worth something.

Put on the mantle. And immediately you will begin to hear from your inmost heart a cry going up which will say, Abba, Father. And you will know that He is your Father.

You belong to Him. You don't have to prove anything anymore. You're His daughter.

You're His son. You're royalty walking down the street. And you can live that way.

Put on the mantle so that you can pray with power. Reading again from Romans 8, verse 26. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.

For we do not know how to pray as we are. But the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with sighs, two deeper words, groanings, that cannot be uttered. And he who searches the hearts of men knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

This is fantastic. Paul, the apostle, who's been laboring for years and years, still says, we don't know how to pray as we are. He includes himself.

He doesn't know how to pray. Nobody knows how to pray. There are no experts in prayer.

The ones who pray are the ones who wear the mantle. What's the name, Harold, of that shawl that you get in a synagogue when you go in? The talus. Yeah, you go in there and you put on this talus.

And now you pray. You know, well, now we put on a talus, men and women. It's the mantle of Elijah that makes it possible for us to pray.

You know, many of us are, you know, we've become so discouraged. We've tried and tried and tried to have some kind of prayer life. We know we have to have a disciplined prayer life.

You can't make it if you don't have a disciplined prayer life. But we fail again and again. And the reason we fail is because we try to do it without the mantle.

Put on the mantle, come in your room, shut the door, and receive again the Spirit of the Lord. God, I don't know how to pray. Father, I don't even know what to say.

My mind doesn't concentrate. I don't have any faith. What's the matter with me? Lord, fill me with your Spirit again.

Put the mantle over my shoulders, and you will. And you will find yourself crying, Abba, Father. You will begin to pray as you never prayed before, with a confidence and a freedom and a power and a joy.

Put on the mantle so that you can have bread for the hungry. People come to us, isn't this true, with problems that are absolutely overwhelming. And we stand there like dummies, and we don't know what to say to them.

We don't have it. We just don't know what to do. You know, and we feel so stupid.

Well, that's all right. Put on the mantle, and you'll have bread for these people. We read from Luke chapter 11, verse 5. And Jesus said to them, Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves.

For a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him. Went to my kitchen. Cupboards were bare.

And he will answer from within, Don't bother me. The door is shut. My children are with me in bed.

I can't get up and give you anything. I tell you, though, you will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend. Yet because of his persistence, he'll get up and give him as much as he needs.

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you. Seeking, you will find. Everyone who asks receives.

Everyone who seeks finds. You know, what father among you, if his son asks for bread, is going to give him a stone. If you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly father give the mantle, the Holy Spirit, to those who ask him? So we ask for the mantle daily, hourly.

Give me bread, Lord God. And he gives it. Now they come to us, and we have bread for the hungry.

We have healing for the sick. We have hope for the despairing. We have wisdom for the ones who are confused.

We have truth for those who are in error. We have life for those who are dead. And we have a word that will awaken those who are fast asleep.

Put on the mantle. So that you can have a living word, a living word, a word that will succor and strengthen those who are weary. And so we read in Acts chapter four, verse 31.

When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken. And they were all, all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness. Not just one or two of them.

Not just the ones who had special gift of gab. Everybody. You know, and again, we feel like we just don't have it.

You know, we open our mouths and so often nothing of any value seems to come out. But the mantle of the Lord gives us a door of utterance. Absolutely gives us a door of utterance.

And I don't care. Every one of us is called to be able to open our mouth. You know, he who believes in me, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.

And this is true. Put on the mantle, open your mouth, and God will give you words that will be absolute life. And finally, put on the mantle so you don't have to spend the rest of your life in fear.

So you can cast aside the spirit of fear. Reading from 2 Timothy 1, 6. Hence, I remind you, Timothy, to stir up the gift of God which is within you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

You know, and most of us are still really hampered and inhibited basically by fear. We're afraid somebody might, you know, fall off and hit us. We're afraid we're going to be rejected.

We're afraid we might fail. We're afraid our friends might laugh at us. We're afraid, afraid, afraid.

And this happened to Timothy, you know, a strong, wonderful servant of God. But he allowed this thing to grow weak. And Paul has to rebuke Timothy.

Come on, stir this up. Get that mantle on again. What's the matter with you? And he says that to us today.

Put on the mantle and don't be afraid. Defy your fear and move ahead. If we today will walk out of this door wearing the mantle of the Lord, we're going to have a week like we've never had in our lives.

Then we're going to be like Elisha. We'll hit the Jordan and the waters will part. We'll speak to the rock and it will open and living water will come out.

We'll rebuke the devil and he'll flee. We'll call upon the Father and he'll answer. We'll announce to the world that Jesus, risen from the dead, is Lord and he himself will come in behind our words and confirm their truth.

Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? It's not for you to know times or seasons, which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses. Well, that power has come and is coming now.

And if we'll put it on and wear it and move in it, we will be his witnesses. Witnesses like we've never been before. I think a good way to go on with this would be to sing the next hymn, which is not, again, that familiar, but a wonderful prayer.

It's a prayer. And then we'll just move from that prayer into prayer before God and praise and worship as we're led. Hymn number 323.

Please rise.