(Note for readers: There is a short Children’s Message at the beginning, followed by the sermon for an adult audience)
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE
Have you ever watched the Olympics on TV? When runners are in a relay race, each runner goes all the way around the track and then hands off a stick (or baton) to the next runner. Then that runner takes it on the next part of the race and hands it off again. Life in God’s kingdom is like a relay race. We are each responsible for running our part of the race, and then handing off, or passing on our faith, to the next generation of believers that follow us.
Our Bible story today is about two prophets of God… Their names are Elijah and Elisha. God worked many amazing miracles through Elijah over the years… but then it was time for Elijah to finish his part of the race… it was time for him to pass it on to the next prophet, Elisha. The two men went to a town that day, and Elijah told Elisha, “Stay here because God wants me to go another town.” It was almost like Elijah was telling him, “You don’t have to run this race… You can just stay here.” But Elisha refused to stay behind, so they went to a second town… and a second time, Elijah said, “Stay here because God wants me to go to another town.” But Elisha refused to stay behind, and so they went to a third town… and a third time, Elijah said, “Stay here… you don’t have to run this race with me.” But Elisha refused to stay behind, and so they went to the Jordan River. At the Jordan River, Elijah took off his coat, rolled it up and hit the water with it… and the water parted so they could walk across on dry land.
On the other side, Elijah said, “It’s time for me to go now.”… The Bible says, “As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.” (2 Kings 2:11)
After that, Elisha picked up Elijah’s coat that had fallen to the ground… He walked back to the Jordan River, rolled up the coat, struck the water, and the water parted so he could walk back across on dry land… Like a runner in a relay race, Elijah passed the role of being God’s prophet on to Elisha. It was now Elisha’s turn to run the race for God.
God has a purpose for all of us… and He wants us to keep running the race that has been set out in front of us… Elijah finished his race… and he pleased God by finishing well… Along the way, he gave Elisha chances to quit… but Elisha refused to quit… He wanted to run the race and obey God all the way to the end just like Elijah did. God wants us to keep going… He wants us to grow in our faith… and He wants us to pass our faith on to the next generation of believers that follow us.
Let’s PRAY…
[dismiss children… ADULT MESSAGE begins here]
This morning, we’re going to dive in deeper to the story that I just shared with the children. Please turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings 2:1-11… and let’s read the story together…
1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.
2 Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel.
3 The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.”
4 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.
5 The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.”
6 Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.
7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan.
8 Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.
9 When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.
10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”
11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
Let’s PRAY…
If you knew that today would be your last day on earth… what would you do? Where would you go? Who would you spend it with? On Elijah’s last day on earth, he takes Elisha and goes on a road trip… There are four places mentioned in these verses… They go from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho to the Jordan River. Each place is an important part in Israel’s history… But why did Elijah go to these 4 places on the day he knew God was going to take him away? And why is this important to us as Christians today? Let’s find out…
1. GILGAL – A PLACE OF SEPARATION AND NEW BEGINNINGS
The first stop on the journey was Gilgal. If you were to go to Gilgal in Elijah’s time, what would you see? Let’s look at Joshua 4:1-8;19-20…
1 When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua,
2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe,
3 and tell them to take up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight.”
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,
5 and said to them, “Go over before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,
6 to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’
7 tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever.”
8 So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua; and they carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down.
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19 On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho.
20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan.
This is a new beginning for the people of Israel… Joshua leads them into the land that God had promised them many centuries earlier… and their first campsite is at Gilgal where they place the 12 stones that they took from the bottom of the Jordan River.
God delivered them from being slaves in Egypt… He set them apart as His Chosen People… and then in Joshua 5:9…
9 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the place has been called Gilgal to this day.
In Hebrew, the name “Gilgal” means to “roll away”… God was saying to them that He has rolled away the past… The past is gone, and something new has begun… This is what happens when we place our faith in Jesus Christ… 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us…
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
And at Gilgal, God had Joshua circumcise all the men as a sign of His covenant… After Jesus, there is a new sign of this covenant… the Holy Spirit… Look at 2 Corinthians 1:21-22…
21 Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us,
22 set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
When we believe in Jesus and place our faith in Him… Our sins are forgiven… Our old self is gone… and God circumcises our hearts… He puts His Holy Spirit within us as a sign of His promise… He sets us apart and makes us His Chosen People.
Gilgal is where God rolls away the past… where He sets His Chosen People apart from all others… and this is where Elijah and Elisha begin their road trip… a place of new beginnings. Elijah tells Elisha, “You can stay here at Gilgal while I go on ahead.”
Far too many believers spend their entire Christian lives at Gilgal. They never grow in their faith… and they never leave the place of beginnings… They choose to remain spiritual babies… (Hebrews 5:12). Are you stuck at Gilgal in your spiritual walk? If so, commit yourself to the journey like Elisha did… and let’s go to the next place… Beth-el…
2. BETHEL – A PLACE OF TRANSFORMATION AND GOD’S PRESENCE
Beth-el also played an important part in Israel’s history… We first hear about Beth-el in Genesis 28 when Jacob has a dream… about 1,100 years before Elijah and Elisha travel there… Jacob dreams of a ladder leading up to heaven… with angels going up and down the ladder… and in the dream, God renews His covenant with Jacob… the same covenant that was made with Abraham and Isaac before him. Then he wakes up, and in Genesis 28:17-19…
17 He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it.
19 He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.
In Hebrew, the name “Beth-el” means “house of God”… Jacob is actually on the run at this time… He is hiding from his brother, Esau, who wants to kill him… Jacob tricked his father so that he would receive his father’s blessing and inheritance instead of Esau, who was the older brother. But God appears to Jacob at Bethel… Jacob receives God’s promise… Now, instead of fearing for his life, Jacob is now a man with an amazing future ahead of him… Bethel is a place of transformation… God begins to change Jacob from a deceiver into a righteous man.
God does the same with us… Through the work of the Holy Spirit, God takes us as His children, and begins to change us from our old sinful past selves into people who are more like Jesus… Bethel represents the transformation of our lives… as God shapes us into a people who are holy and righteous and useful for His kingdom.
Many years later, Jacob actually encounters God a second time at Beth-el… Let’s read Genesis 35:1-3,10,14-15…
1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you were fleeing from your brother Esau.”
2 So Jacob said to his household and to all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have with you, and purify yourselves and change your clothes.
3 Then come, let us go up to Bethel, where I will build an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress and who has been with me wherever I have gone.”
…
10 God said to him, “Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.” So he named him Israel.
…
14 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.
15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel.
A lot has happened in the years between the first and second meeting with God at Bethel… Jacob is a much better man than he was before… Notice that God changes Jacob’s name in this second encounter… God names him “Israel” here at Beth-el. His new name is proof that God is continuing to transform his life over the years… What about us? Do we see any transformation in our lives? Do we desire to be in God’s presence? Do we prepare and purify ourselves each day to meet with God?
If you compare your walk with the Lord today with a year ago, or even 5 years ago, would it look any different?
Romans 12:1-2…
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
God desires our transformation… He loves you too much to leave you the way you are now… He wants to make you more and more like Jesus every day… But like Elijah, God won’t make you do it… “Elisha, do you want to stay here?”… Brothers and Sisters, do you want to stay the way you are? Or will you allow God to continue to mold you and shape you into the image of His Son? Will you stay where you are, or will you choose to continue on the journey?
3. JERICHO – A PLACE OF FAITH AND VICTORY
Our next stop is Jericho… Jericho is the first battle the people of Israel had after they entered the Promised Land… but the people didn’t fight this battle alone… God told them to march around the walls of the city, and on the 7th day, have the priest blow their trumpets, and have the people shout… When the people did as God instructed, the walls came falling down and they had the victory! What God was telling them to do didn’t make any sense, but they did it anyway. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says…
7 For we live by faith, not by sight.
And Hebrews 11:6 says…
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Jericho is a place that tests our faith… At Gilgal, we are set apart as God’s children… At Bethel, we experience God’s presence and allow Him to transform us to be more like Christ… and at Jericho, we learn what it means to walk by faith... to depend completely on God… to place our trust in God alone, and not in our own abilities or resources… to experience the kind of victories only God can make happen.
Are you staying here just staring at the walls of your Jericho? Afraid to step boldly out and trust God… Afraid of looking foolish or being ridiculed… Unsure of whether God will “show up”? Or are you walking in faith, and experiencing victories that only God can make happen?
4. JORDAN RIVER – A PLACE OF FINISHING WELL AND PASSING THE MANTLE
So then Elijah and Elisha continue on to the Jordan River… The Jordan River was important because it was the barrier that Israel crossed to enter the Promised Land. And because of that, the Jordan River came to represent the boundary to entering the spiritual Promised Land... Heaven. So crossing the Jordan came to represent death and resurrection.
And it’s the fourth and final stop in Elijah and Elisha’s road trip… Eventually, we will face our own Jordan… We will come to the end of our journey just as Elijah did… When it’s my turn, I hope I can say that I finished well… This was the Apostle Paul’s hope as well when he wrote in 2 Timothy 4:6-7…
6 For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.
7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.
But in addition to finishing well, Elijah did something else very important… He passed along the mantle of being God’s prophet to Elisha… As we run our race, we need to invest in the next generation of believers. These are the people who will continue the race after we are gone.
Let’s finish our own race well, and prepare the next generation of believers to continue serving the Lord until the day He returns to bring us all home.
CONCLUSION
I have prayed for you this morning… That the Lord would challenge each one of us today… The journey starts at Gilgal… If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus, then you’re not even in the race yet. [do Gospel presentation]
If you are a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, where are you in your own spiritual walk? Have you stopped at one of these places? Do you need to recommit yourself to getting back into the race?
For those of you who are more mature believers… who are you investing in? Are you doing something to prepare the next generation of believers to someday take your place?
Let’s PRAY…
