An Anointing For The Elisha Generation

Intro: one of the highlights of the Fine Arts besides our young people advancing to Nationals, was the spotlight performances. The vocal group from Cathedral was amazing, the percussion group was wonderful, and the young lady who won the short sermon was powerful. I came home and checked my records and found that I preached 2 Kings 2—last year, and my points were: if you want Elijah’s anointing you have to stay a little bit closer,

Go a little bit farther, and want a little bit more. But another thought after hearing this sermon struck me, and today I will try to minister on this thought: An Anointing For The Elisha Generation

An Anointing For The Elisha Generation

2 Kings 2:1-15

background: this is the one of the most spectacular stories in all of scripture. It is the changing of the guard, it is the passing of the mantle, it is the transfer of anointing from one generation to the next. It must happen for the next generation to survive, if there is not transfer of anointing, if the mantle doesn’t get picked up, generations will suffer, people will perish, lives will be lost. Today, I am going to challenge the older people to be the Elijah’s that can give mantles to the next generation, I am going to challenge young people, you can’t minister to the Elisha generation with Elijah’s anointing, you are going to even need more anointing than ever.

I. Not Everyone Wants The Mantle—v.7—here are the school of the prophets, but they don’t want the mantle, they just want a title. Today that is the sad commentary of our world, a lot of people want to go into full time ministry, a lot of people want degrees from Seminaries, that have no desire for an anointing, no concern for their generation, and are unwilling to go the extra miles to receive all that God has for them.

· As a member of the Commission on Evangelism in Springfield Missouri I heard a recent report that our denomination is in the midst of a crisis of calling. We don’t have enough people being called into ministry from our churches, to the point that by 2010, we will be in a full blown ministerial crisis. It simply means that people don’t want to pick up the mantle of God.

· A lot of people like to minister, but to carry an anointing, to pay the price, to fight for God is another story. The school of the prophets were a group that liked to get close enough to the anointing to see it, but not close enough to the anointing to wear it.

II. Your Old Garments Won’t Work—v.12 I don’t know how much anointing Elisha had in his clothing, but he realized it wasn’t enough, He needed the mantle of Elijah, with the promise for a double portion attached to them.

· We are in the midst of a cultural clash in denominational churches between tradition and progression. As a pastor I won’t take sides because I believe there must be a little give and take on both generations for there to be successful ministry. Elisha didn’t try to operate without Elijah’s mantle. Today I see some progressive young pastors who see all people of Elijah’s generation as disposable. They say, out with the old, in with the new. We even see some young people who have a bad attitude toward anything traditional or fundamental. You cannot throw history out of the window reaching for destiny. You can’t realize your future without consulting your past. I believe every church should have Elijah’s mantle with Elisha’s portion. We should experience the new, blended with the old, and it should minister to ages 1—100. If your gospel cannot reach every generation, then it is a weakened gospel.

· On the other hand, you can’t operate in Elijah’s anointing without Elisha’s double portion attached to it. You see this generation is different, and our methods of reaching them must change. Some people tell me they don’t like all the new methodology that is used to reach this generation. My response is this: I see some churches who are unwilling to change anything to the point they have declined to a small group of older people who even question their purpose of meeting anymore. I believe you must keep the standards of holiness but be willing to make changes that are relevant to reaching our society. If a pizza night, a coffee house, a concert, a beach retreat, etc. will bring people to Jesus Christ, I am for it all. Paul said he would become all things to all men that by all means he could save some. A modern day paraphrase, we will try to get them anyway we can, as long as it doesn’t go against our standards or doctrines.