Transcription
So here we've got this assignment, and it's an assignment of: Can I handle promotion without the need for flattery? Yeah, flattery is the counterfeit of honor. Can I receive my promotion without going into it with a need for personal flattering? Choosing to go low is the challenge of every single one of us day after day after [Applause] day. Thank you. Yeah, I, I did. I, I not get this? Oh, there it is. It's on. Hello, hello, hello, hello. Nice to see you. I, I love this. I, I love stuff that's measurable like this, you know, where you, you know, 20 cents a meal. I can figure that one out. And uh, and I also, I uh, at Twin View where I just came from, I tried the QR code. You know, usually you need a 5-year-old to help you, but that that time I actually did it all by myself. It was quite, quite miraculous. I'm kind of proud of myself, you know. Um, but I love the fact that you guys created this recurring gift possibility. CU, that, that, that helps me. Um, but we're going to receive an offering for this. We've been doing this, uh, as was stated, for uh, 24 years. It's here. Here's part of the problem: it's way over in Africa. It's kind of like out of sight, out of mind. But if it was in Anderson and we had these many babies that were dying, it would, it would touch a deeper place. And the scripture challenges us in, in, in so many ways, but specifically with this statement: that he who gives to the poor lends to the Lord. He who gives to the poor lends to the Lord. So you're loaning God money, and he has a 30, 60, hundredfold interest rate. That's really outrageous. I, I, I encourage you to sign up for that one because it's, it's, it's: you want the favor of God; that's what you do is you take care of people who can't take care of themselves, and that's what we're doing. That's part of the whole system of right and justice that is part of our authority. So I just invite you to join with us. We've got—if you need an offering envelope for a cash gift, put a hand up because our ushers are equipped; they are so ready; they are so ready. The rest of you, if you want to join us by doing a QR code, um, I can get a 5-year-old to come and help you if you, if you need help, but put your hands up if you need an offering envelope. Do it quickly so we can get, get to moving here. And this is a, a Sunday of great variety, and that's awesome. We, I love the baby dedication stuff. I actually had two of them smile at me, so that's like a sign and a wonder because usually they look at me and they go, "I want nothing to do with that man," and I understand; I wouldn't either. I, I, if, if I were, if I were wrapped in their blanket, I wouldn't want anything to do with me either. So all right, uh, any, any other hands up? Yeah, there's a hand way back over there, so we still got some hands up for, for the envelopes. And once again, those of you are church family online, be cool if you, uh, uh, were able or felt to, to join us in this gift. All right, all right. Fill it out; do it fast. You guys got the buckets; let's pass the buckets. You got—look at you—you guys are ready. We bless it in Jesus' name. Amen. Pass the buckets. Yeah, wow. I haven't read this one in years. It's one of the first ones I got. I don't remember how many years ago when I started reading important things before my message. So how many folks do we have here from Texas? All right, the, the country of Texas. I, I have actually brought my passport to Texas before, just in case something happens. I just want to be ready. All right, this is in honor of Texas. After having dug to a depth of 10 feet last year, New York scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 100 years. They came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network more than a 100 years ago. Not to be outdone by the New Yorkers, in the weeks that followed, in California, an archaeologist dug to a depth of 20 feet. Shortly after, headlines in the LA Times read: "California archaeologists have found traces of 200-year-old copper wire and have concluded that their ancestors already had an advanced high-tech communications network a hundred years earlier than the New Yorkers." One week later, a local newspaper in Texas reported the following: After digging as deep as 30 feet in his 2,000-acre pasture near Cut and Shoot, Montgomery County, Texas, Bubba Wrathbone, a self-taught archaeologist, reported that he found absolutely nothing. Bubba has therefore concluded that 300 years ago, Texas had already gone [Applause] wireless. Oh yeah, grab your Bibles if you would and go—yes. I, I actually, I shouldn't encourage Texans; they, they, they don't need it; they just don't need—that was a joke. All right, uh, First Cor—1 Corinthians—how about First Kings? Let's try First Kings, chapter 19, ver—First Kings, chapter 19. Um, I felt, uh, I just felt prompted, I guess is a good word, uh, to talk to you about graduation. Um, there's a lot of graduations. Last night we had our F—first Bethel College graduation. Uh, Bethel College is a, the, the worship—Bethel Music Worship School, um, the creative arts school—Bethel, uh, Creative Arts Academy—and the tech school—Bethel, uh, Tech School. And so we had 112 graduates of those three schools last night, and man, I was thinking, uh, you know, our first graduation for BSSM 20 some years ago was 37 students. Since then we've done about 177,000, wow, graduates. So I don't know, this college is about to scare me, I think, but, uh, but it was great fun. And, and this week we've got, uh, our School of Ministry, we've got BCA, our, our, uh, Christian School, we've got Shasta College and Simpson. We've got high schools; we got graduations coming out of our ears this next, uh, next month, and it's a real, uh, wonderful time in so many people's lives. But there is a, a graduation that you get in the Lord that you can't dress for; there's, uh, that you don't know when it's happening; it actually sneaks up on you, you and you, and there's a final exam, and you don't know when the test is, and you don't even know it when you're taking it. Yeah, isn't that great news? That's—I'm trying to make you paranoid; I'm trying to give the gift, the gift of paranoia. No, um, the, the way the Lord works is he, he introduces tests to us. The most important ones we don't know we're taking. If, if you know you're being tested in a situation, it's an open-book test; you can always find the solution in here and do what he says. But the tests that really, um, determine our future, they're not success and failure; they're: what measure of presence, what measure of glory, what measure of responsibility can I live under without it crushing me, without it affecting me in a negative way? The, the example I use, uh, most often for that is, is when the prophet came to the king and said, "Strike the ground with these," and he hit the ground three times. The prophet became angry; he said, "If you would have struck the ground five or six times, you would have annihilated your enemy, but now you're just going to have three test—three, uh, temporary victories." How, you know, the king wanted to take that test over. I, I'll strike the ground a thousand times if it means the triumph and victory, because his will couldn't produce what instinctively came out of him when an opportunity came up. His heart was revealed with three temporary victories—three times of striking the ground. What's the point? He lived without passion; he lived with apathy, and it was exposed in a test he didn't know he was taking. Often times the Lord puts us in situations to measure us, and again, it's not—he never shames us; he never mocks us; he's just looking for people that he can trust. You know how much he trusts you by how much he has entrusted to you. So he's looking for people that he can impart and entrust something to. So the two, uh, stories that came to my mind this week that I thought it'd be fun to talk about today, they both have to do with Elisha. Elisha is the successor of Elijah. I remind you that Elisha, um, Elisha was the servant of Elijah; he was called the one who washed his hands; he was the one who was the heir apparent, but it came about at a time that was really critical for Elijah because he was, he was disheartened about life itself; he actually wanted to die. He wasn't suicidal; he just wanted the Lord to take him home. He said, "I, I'm the only one left; nobody's," you know, the whole nation has abandoned you; they're not responding to my words, and he just goes through this whole thing. He says, "I," he says, "I want to die; I, I, I want to go home," and the Lord says several things to him, but one of the things he tells him to do, he says, "Anoint Elisha as your successor," number one, and number two, he says, "By the way," he says, "I have 7,000 people hidden away who have not kissed the Baal, who have not bowed at that, at that false god. I've got them tucked away, so you're not alone, but just so that you know that you can have the emotional strength and support in your labor, I'm putting Elisha into your life." It's a very, very strategic moment for him. So we're going to pick up the story at that point where there is this calling, there is this summoning, if you will, of, of Elisha, a guy who's plowing a field, by the way. God finds people that are doing stuff when he calls them, you know. Matthew was collecting taxes; Peter was fishing; he just tends to do that. So here he finds Elisha, um, plowing a field. Verse 19, First Kings 19, verse 19: "So he departed from there and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him, and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, 'Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.' And he said to him, 'Go back, for what have I done to you?'" Nice, tender response of a spiritual father. In other words, "Go back; what I did means nothing." Elisha turned back from him; he took a yoke of oxen, slaughtered them, and boiled their flesh using the ox equipment and gave it to the people; they ate. Then he arose and followed Elijah and became his servant. This first moment of promotion—we're going to look at two of them in Elisha's life—this first one is very unusual because it doesn't say anything about Elisha's readiness, but it feels to me he was so eager to run after Elijah after this prophetic act that there must have been some sense of destiny or some sense that there's more, there's greater purpose to my life than plowing a field. Regardless, Elijah comes and he puts his mantle—a mantle is a, represents anointing, uh, which is the presence of God; represents, represents a call. So this is a tiny mantle, but we'll use it. Um, he took the mantle and he threw it over Elisha, and Elisha ran after Elijah; said, "Let me kiss Mom and Dad; I'll be right with you," and Elijah does the unthinkable; he says, "What I've done to you means nothing; go home." It's not abuse; he's not being abusive; he's just not building his ego. Many people will look for yet one more prophetic word so they feel better about their lives instead of following what they already know to be true. Here in this moment, Elijah says, "What I've done to you means nothing; go home." Can he receive a promotion without affirmation? Can he receive a promotion? Can he step into a call without being flattered into his promotion? Come on, sir, without the man of God saying, "I saw you from afar distance; I could tell the anointing was already on your life," and build up? Are those things important? They are, but in their place, they are supplements to a diet. The diet is scripture and what God breathes into your own soul. The supplements help to add strength and health at critical times, but if you live by the praises of men, you'll die by their criticisms. If you become addicted to applause, it's, it's dangerous. I believe it's the reason that God, uh, says, "A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown." That means prophets are honored everywhere but at home, and that's why he always has the prophet start at home, so the ministry isn't fueled by applause but is fueled by the sense, "I have obeyed God; I've done what he said to do." So Elisha, in this moment, is being set up, and the Lord refuses to bring him into his graduation, if you will, into his promotion through applause because the destiny is so profound and so strong. This area has to be tested early on; it has to be tested early on. If he becomes addicted to, to the need of affirmation—listen, if this were to happen today, Instagram would be clouded with all kinds of abusive, uh, accusations towards Elijah for ignoring the grace that was already on Elisha's life. Sometimes the Lord actually anoints people to not bless you in the way you want it. Understand, I'm not talking about abuse; I'm not talking about, you know, carelessness towards people, but in this moment, he just didn't massage his ego; instead, he gave him an opportunity that he would have to have spiritual discernment to recognize, and he did. He went, he killed his oxen; he took the, he took the oxen equipment; he started a fire, cooked the oxen, gave it to the people, and took off after Elijah, and the rest is history. Elijah is called in scripture, um, oh, excuse me, John the Baptist is called the greatest of all Old Testament prophets. Think about this: John the Baptist was Old Testament because it was before the death and resurrection of Christ. John the Baptist was called the greatest of all Old Testament prophets, and it says in scripture he walked in the spirit and power of Elijah. Now we know by the end of the story, Elisha ends up with double the anointing of Elijah. So why doesn't the Lord say, since John was a notch above, why doesn't he say he walked in the spirit and power of Elisha, because he had the greater anointing? Because heaven always recognizes the fathers and the mothers that pay a price and create a momentum for following generations. Fathers and mothers, listen, in eternity always receive what—can I say—benefits, if you will, of what their investment provided in future generations. I'm saying this for a reason: be willing to be the first in your family to break into something; be willing to pay the price to get a breakthrough that the rest of your descendants will benefit from, because heaven applauds those who, who maybe their anointing is less, but they created the momentum so that another generation could inherit it and take it to a place they never had time to go. It's a critical part of how, how this economy of God's functions. So here is Elisha; he receives the mantle, the call; he knows for what it is. Let's go on to chapter, uh, two of 2 Kings. This test is, is, uh, even more challenging and more difficult in different ways. Um, Elijah is about to die, and he's taking Elijah to these different communities, and in each city there's a school of the prophets that's called the sons of the prophets. These—in other words, there's a pro—there's a prophetic community; there's a bunch of prophets in covenant in community together. And as they go through these cities, each one of these cities, the—all the prophets come to Elisha and say, "Your master is going home today; he's going to die today; God's taking him home," and, and, uh, it seemed that everybody knew when Elijah was about to die, including Elisha, which is a very strange position to be in. So he knows that he's about to receive—can I say—his inheritance; he's about to receive the blessing of Elijah over his life to make the difference in his life in ministry. So let's start with chapter, uh, 2—2 Kings, chapter 2:1, and we've got several verses to read here: "It came to pass when the Lord was about to take Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, 'Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me onto Bethel.' But Elisha said, 'As the Lord lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave you.' So they went down to Bethel. Now the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, 'Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?' And he said, 'Yes, I know; keep silent.' And Elijah said to him, 'Elisha, stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me unto Jericho.' But he said, 'As the Lord lives, as your soul lives, I will not leave you.' So they came to Jericho. Now the sons of the prophets who were in Jericho came to Elisha and said, 'Do you know that the Lord will take away your master from over you today?' So he answered, 'Yes, I know; keep silent.' Then Elijah said to him, 'Stay here, please, for the Lord has sent me onto the Jordan.' But he said, 'As the Lord lives, as your soul lives, I will not leave you.' So the two of them went on, and fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing them at a distance while the two of them stood by the Jordan. Elijah took his mantle, rolled it up, struck the water; it was divided this way and that so that the two, two of them crossed over on dry ground. And so it was when they had crossed over, Elisha said to Elijah—said to Elisha, 'Ask what I may do for you.'" We're going to read more in a moment, but let me try to set the stage for this. First of all, understand Elijah is the feared prophet in the land. Elijah is already recognized as the heir apparent by all the prophetic community. So every time Elijah takes Elisha to a community and he says, "Stay here; I've got to go on," he's giving him an opportunity to step into a ministry already in place because the prophets will respond to his leadership. He's giving him an opportunity for promotion, and often times people's passion for achievement pulls them out of their divine destiny and to settle for something that is inferior—something far less gratifying to the immediate, but far less than what God actually intended. And so Elijah takes him to three different cities, and he says, "Stay here," and he says, "I'm not, I'm not staying; I'm with you," and they go to three places. They finally cross the Jordan; he has passed the, he has passed the test—the first part of his test. He passed the test to not settle for temporary promotion—can I say—for self-gratification. He passed the test, and when they got beyond that final test, Elijah then turns and says, "Ask what I might do for you." Jesus gave the same opportunity for his twelve disciples in John 14:15 and 16. Four times in three chapters, Jesus said to the disciples, "Anything you ask for will be done." Please notice it was not a promise given to them when he first called them out of fishing, out of collecting taxes, out of these different responsibilities to follow him. He didn't dangle opportunity of promotion in front of them to convince them to follow him; it was the reward for their obedience. After many years, he then turns to these he calls friends and he says, "You can ask for anything." That moment was just given to Elisha, the prophet, uh, the heir apparent who has been washing or serving—washing, uh, Elijah's hands—serving him in the prophetic ministry. He's now on the other side; he passed the first phase of the test to not settle for immediate gratification. This is, this is so, uh, so critical because we, there, there's such a heightened awareness of being offended at this and that—such a heightened awareness of, of personal fulfillment in life. Man, I believe in affirmation a lot; I mean, it's a huge part of our culture; it's, it's, it's just what we do. I believe so much in celebrating and cheering for people and supporting them and seeing them promote or reach their purpose, but there's something to be said about this unusual test that God put Elisha in the middle of. And the second phase of this is: will he fall for immediate fulfillment of his ministry burden and assignment, or will he stick for the long haul to do what he was born for? And that was the test. Once he passed that, we get to the second phase of the test. Go on, if you will, to verse, um, verse 9 again. He says, "Ask what I may do for you before I'm taken away from you." Elisha said, "Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." I have people come to me all the time; they say, "Bill, I want a double portion of what you have." I tell them, "So do I!" Goodness gracious, if it was that easy, I'd just lay hands on myself. How many understand you can't give twice of what you have? You can have a million dollars in the bank, but you can't give away two million; you can only give what you have. So Elisha has just asked for something that is outside the reach of what Elijah can do. Very good. And so he gives them a test. Verse 10 says, "You have asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if you see, see me when I'm taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so." Then it happened as they continued on and talked, as suddenly a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire—that's got to be bizarre; I want the video on that one—with horses of fire, and they separated the two of them, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. When Elisha saw it, he cried out, "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its horsemen!" So he saw him no more. He took hold of his own clothes; he tore them in two pieces, and he also took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and he went back and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle; he struck the water; he says, "Where's the God of Elijah?" The river parted. Great story. Here's the test: he is told that if he sees Elijah when he is taken up by the Lord that he'll get the double portion. There's an old hymn I remember hearing as a kid where they would talk about Elijah going up in the chariot of fire, but he didn't go up in the chariot of fire; he went up in a whirlwind. The chariot of fire was a God-ordained supernatural activity that separated Elisha from his assignment of watching Elijah. It was a possible distraction by God-birthed activities to pull him away from his assignment. Wow. If he is more attached to the wonders and the pleasure of God's activity to the point he will stay from his assignment, that he cannot handle a double portion anointing because that'll kill him. Wow. And so the Lord gives him the most unusual of tests: will he be distracted by a God-sent supernatural activity away from his assignment? You've got to keep your eyes on Elijah. And as this chariot of fire comes, he cries out; he says, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and their hor—horsemen," and then he watches as Elijah is taken up into heaven and falls from heaven; comes down the mantle—the mantle that Elijah carried. The mantle represents calling and anointing; it represents his assignment; it's the reason he walked over. Once he picked up Elijah's mantle—a lot of people claimed to have anointing—but he went over to the river and he said, "I want to see what I got; where is the God of Elijah?" He strikes the water as he saw his master do moments earlier; the river parts, and he goes, "I got it," and he crosses on over. But I want you to notice he got a double portion that he couldn't get from Elijah, CU. God had to have the mantle first, and when it was dropped, he was able to pick up something that the Lord himself imparted—the second measure of anointing into—he picked up the mantle and he walked with it faithfully. If you examine the miracles that took place in Elijah's life, compare it to Elisha; it's exactly twice as much. What's the point? Graduation comes for us, and the Lord in his mercy will allow you to enter into a…
Possible promotion without flattery. To see are you going to call it abuse, or are you going to call it a privilege? A privilege to follow Elijah, to put you in a position of accelerated supernatural activity. And yet you've asked for something that is really tough to give. Yes, and yet you're given an assignment where God himself sends a distraction. Yes. Can I hold to my assignment? The issue is always obedience. The issue is always trust.
Elisha passed the test; he came through this with flying colors, if you will. He came out the other side as one who trusted the Lord, who looked to the Lord in his most difficult moment. I feel like the Lord is constantly measuring us to see what we can handle in the next season. He's constantly checking to see how we tell the story; what role did we have in it? Constantly checking to see how we verbally responded to a condition, or a need, or a promise, or a hope. How did we embrace the assignment that God gave us, even though it seemed least likely that it would ever be fulfilled? What are the moments that God created in our lives, and what did we do with them? You know, he gives us responsibilities. You know, people, you know, will teach on healing the sick or raising the dead or something like that, and and people will say, "Well, that's impossible, Bill," and it's true, it is impossible. The real problem is we think the rest of the Christian life is possible. I don't know; you ever read in scripture where Jesus said, "Be perfect, even as I am perfect"? There's a tough one to follow. The difference is is in grace. God enables; in law, he requires. And so he's brought us into a relationship where he speaks possibility into our life simply because we, with humble hearts, heard what he was saying. And in the hearing is the capacity, the ability to do the very thing he commissioned us to do.
So here we've got this assignment, and it's an assignment of, "Can I handle promotion without the need for flattery?" Yeah, this is honor culture; at least we work hard to keep it honor culture. It's a big deal to us. Flattery is the counterfeit of honor. Honor is real, but flattery is a cheap imitation. Can I receive my promotion without going into it with a need for personal flattery? Lots of egos are built in the ministry journey. Yeah, intent. Uh, choosing to go low is the challenge of every single one of us, day after day after day. And then the last test to me is just extreme. First, was he resisted the temptation for immediate fulfillment of a dream? His desire for achievement didn't override a sense of purpose, and he stepped into his moment. And when the moment came, he kept his eyes where they were supposed to be. Do you remember when Peter was in his moment and he's walking on water, and then he began to watch the waves? Honestly, that's the same test that Elijah—just Elisha—just went through: Is, "Can I keep my eyes on the assignment?" I don't think it's um a a misuse of scripture. Let me just quote this to conclude my talk time today: "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith." He's the one who started; he's the one who completed it. I am completely dependent upon him for the activity of faith in my own soul that pleases him and takes me into my future, takes me into my possibility, takes me into fulfilled assignment. Please stand. [Applause] [Music]
Man, with all we had going on today, I got through 7 minutes early. I'm just going to keep talking. I'm just going to I'm just going to I don't want you to get spoiled or anything. I meant earlier to to do this. How many of how many of you have uh have or have had foster children? Put a hand up. Put your hands up high. All right, there's a number of you. I'm so glad for this class we got going on, and it really excites me. How many of you have adopted children? Wonderful. Bless you guys; that's awesome. I I uh I I feel like this is the next phase of what we're going to see a tremendous increase of in this house is fostering and adoption. It's a part of the justice mandate, and uh and what I've in talking about today is the proper function and use of justice, and uh I'm I'm excited. I'm excited for what's happening. Father, give us the grace for this next season, I pray. This next season of of paying attention to the moments that you bring our way that are so subtle and so simple. You know, we can't psych ourselves up enough to know how to obey a test when we don't know we're being tested. The only hope I have is to live surrendered and yielded to the Holy Spirit. So Lord, I pray for that kind of a grace to rest upon us as a church family, in Jesus' name. Amen.