IM DESTINED TO WALK IN THE POWER OF GOD Pastor Sean Pinder So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son

of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. (1 Kings 19:19) This is Elijah on a mission to go anoint Elisha. Its obvious Elisha had been fasting, praying, and seeking God about his lifeabout direction for his life and what he needed to do. So Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle on him. Do you know what that means? God has chosen you to be a prophet; God is calling you to full-time ministry. God is calling you to surrender your all for the Gospel. Lets keep going: And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? (1 Kings 19:20) And he left Thats what happens when that mantle falls on you. You cant do anything but obey or be miserable. Are you listening? The devil likes to try to make you feel like, You made a boo-boo! Im going to show you that you didnt make a boo-boo, amen? I believe Gods going to call a whole lot more people in the next couple of years to full-time ministry. And he left The mantle fell, and he left. Did you catch that? Elijah cast his mantle on Elisha, so Elisha left. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah Something happens to you when the power starts working on your body. Can you feel it? Theres nothing like the power of God. I remember when it first gripped me and visited me on my job in the Bahamas. I was making some money. Seven hundred dollars a week isnt bad for a 19-year-old! Some people think all I can do is scream, holler, and run around, but I can do more than that. Anyway, I was working at Ocean Key; I was involved in marine electrical work (thats working on the ocean). Thats the most intense kind of electrical work. But the Holy Ghost visited me one day at six in the morning. Do you know what He said? Pack your bags; youre leaving today. See, we worked on a small island; we dealt with aragonite, which is some type of sand that they use to make glass. But listen to this; the Holy Ghost said, Youre leaving today. And you know we always have to talk back to God as if we know more than He does! I said, But God, the plane dont come here on Fridays, because the plane didnt come on Fridays. The Holy Ghost said, You pack your bags and Im gonna make the plane come! I said, Well, sounds good to me, so I packed my bags!

I was working away from where I lived; on a different island. So guess what happened? All we heard was, BOOF! One of the main transformers exploded! Where I worked, that company made about $4,000,000.00 a day. Every time a ship came in, as electricians, we operated a big machine that loaded the ship with this aragonite stuff. They made about $4,000,000.00 a day, and I was causing them to make it! But they were taking good care of me so I didnt care. But guess what happened? The main transformer blew so they had to call to Florida and tell the plane, You have to come in to bring a new transformer! They werent going to lose those millions of dollarsno way! So the plane came! The Holy Ghost said, I told you so! I was shouting, I was so excited. I was saying, Yes! I called my mom and said, I have good news for you! She said, What? I said, Im leaving my job today! Im going full-time into the ministry! Well, I gave her so much gray hair from being on dope and being in the gangs, that she was happy. She said, Well, praise the Lord! I guess she was saying, Its better than that dope and the gangs! Praise the Lord! So I told my boss man, I love you and you took good care of me, but I have to leave this job today. The Holy Ghost called me into the ministry. He said, I knew you would give it up to go preach the Gospel! He said that because we had started a church on the Key; I would preach to everything moving! He said, But were gonna leave your spot open; you might need to come back. I said, Buddy, you can close it; I aint coming back! So I left, just like Elisha did. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? (1 Kings 19:20) Elijah said, Go back again: for what have I done to thee? Elijah, you didnt do anything to me; the Holy Ghost did something to me! You have something I want; you have something Im gonna have! 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. (1 Kings 19:21) They had a big steak dinner! Then, after Elisha took care of business, he arose, and went after Elijah Its worth it. The devil tries to make you feel like, Oh, this aint worth it; you are wasting your life. Lets go to 2 Kings chapter two. Look at verse 1. Elisha is following Elijah; hes working with him. He is learning the things of the ministry. Do you know why Elijah anointed Elisha; do you know why Elijah put his mantle on Elisha? He said, God told

me to anoint you because, when I leave the scene, youre gonna take over from where I left off. Elisha thought, This is the great Prophet Elijah! Ive been waiting on this day! I know Elisha thought, There aint no way! Would God use somebody like me? But he jumped up and he left. Oh yes, God wants to use you. Oh, yes He does! And it came to pass, when the LORD would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. (2 Kings 2:1-2) Elisha said, I know what hit me that day you put that mantle on me. The power of God hit my life like it never did! Ive sat around great men of God, but the power has gripped my life. The Holy Ghost took possession of me the day I came in contact with you. I aint leaving you, buddy! Gods the One Who told me to leave my job. Im sticking around; Gods got something for me! Im gonna get something from you! Thats what I told Prophet Miller. That brother had a prophetic gift out of this world. I wanted to be like the man; there is nothing wrong with that. People say, Oh, youd better take your eyes off of man! Youd better read your Bible. Paul told Timothy, Youd better look at me. Youd better follow me as I follow Christ (1 Cor. 11:1). He told the entire church, Be ye followers [imitators] of me. Look at 2 Kings 2:3: And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he said, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. Isnt this sad? All of these prophets that Elijah was mentoring had revelation in the Spirit that God was going to take Elijah, but only one was willing to follow. Thats scary. An awesome man like Elijah, discipling all these young prophets, and only one of them was willing to follow? It disturbs me when I read stuff like this. Lets keep going: And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, tarry here, I pray thee; for the LORD hath sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. (2 Kings 2:4) Elijah was testing Elisha when he said, Well, why dont you just stay over there? God sent me to Jericho. Elisha said, Do you think Im stupid? What am I gonna stay here for? Youve got something I want. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho came to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? And he answered, Yea, I know it; hold ye your peace. (2 Kings 2:5)

Boy, these prophets were everywhere with bad news! They said, Knowest thou that the LORD will take away thy master from thy head to day? Elisha said, Yes, I know it. What are you doing about it? You know this is a real man of God, and all youre doing is talking? You know he is gonna leave, and youre not even following after him? Youre not even willing to serve? Hes got the power of the Holy G host on his life, the anointing is working on his life, all kinds of miracles are taking place in his life, and yall are not gonna follow? See yall later, man! Im walking with this man of God! Thats exactly what I did. Watch this: And Elijah said unto him, Tarry, I pray thee, here; for the LORD hath sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on. (2 Kings 2:6) Elisha was saying, Gods about to take this man out of my life. Im not gonna leave him. There are still some things I need to learn; I need to learn some key stuff. If I am gonna do what he is doing, there are some key things I have to learn and I m not gonna let nobody stop me. All the prophets can do what they want to and make fun. Im going to follow Jesus. Im going to humble myself and serve because Jesus said, But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant (Matt. 23:11). They looked at Elisha like, Who does he think he is, pouring water out for Elijah? Does that sound familiar? Oh yes, he poured the water for Elijah to wash his hands before he ate. He was the one giving Elijah his drinks. All the other prophets had their opportunity, but they werent as hungry, you see? They werent as hungry. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went, and stood to view afar off: and they two stood by Jordan. (2 Kings 2:7) Thats how they treated Elijah. Isnt that crazy? T hey stood far away from him. This was the man discipling them and pouring into their lives. They stayed far away instead of sticking around like Elisha. Elijah was getting ready to leave; he was not going to always be there. He was on his way out, but instead of trying to learn, they kept away. But do you know why they couldnt learn anything? They were too full of themselves. They had their own ambitions. They werent willing to die to themselves because they knew, to hang around Elijah, they were going to have to die to themselves. Elijah rebuked people sharply in private. They said, I dont want him to confront me about myself; I like myself! I like who I am! So these 50 prophets stood afar off. Elisha said, Uh -uh, Im going with this man! He raises the dead, all kinds of miracles happen, and Im gonna stay away from somebody like him? No way! My cousin in the Bahamas was my mentor. Im telling you, before this woman preached, shed get up to worship God, exactly like I do. Shed sta rt walking around and I would feel the Holy Ghost like I had never felt Him in my life. I said, God, dont

send me without that! Dont send me unless I have that. Ive got to have it, because Im convinced thats what the apostles had. Watch this; let me get into some heavy stuff here. And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two went over on dry ground. (2 Kings 2:8) Boy, Elisha was paying attention to this man! Elijah smote the waters of the Jordan and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two [he and Elisha] went over on dry ground. Those 50 prophets saw the miracle. They watched the Jordan River part and, instead of running in and going over with them, they stayed right there looking! Are you listening to me? They watched the water part, they watched Elijah and Elisha go over, and they didnt even try getting in on it! What in the daylights were they thinking? They knew he was going to get taken away from them! They didnt value the anointing of the Holy Ghost. They didnt place any value on it. They just saw Elijah and said, Its just Elijah. No! It wasnt Elijah; it was a man possessed with the Spirit of God! Elijah had surrendered. He was a dead man, walking full of the Holy Ghost. Elisha said, Uh -uh! If its just you and me going over the Jordan, you count me in, buddy! I still havent arrived; there are some things I need to learn from you, and Im gonna humble myself and serve you until God separates us! Dont forget what Im preaching: Im Destined to Walk in the Power of God. Thats what I said about my mentor; I said, Im gonna have that power she has! And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah said unto Elisha, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. (2 Kings 2:9) Boy, I can scream when I read this! In one message I preached, Jesus said to all His disciples, What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? (John 6:62). He was saying, What if you see me when I leave? They didnt want to wait; they forsook Him and went back. Listen to what Elijah said to Elisha: Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Elisha said, I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. That double does not mean twice as much; it doesnt mean double the amount. Ill tell you what it means. In those peoples culture, that meant, whenever a father was about to die, he would leave an inheritance for his sons and the oldest son always got the double portion. That meant he got a greater amount than all of the other sons put together! Im after the inheritance. You dont just hang out with real people of God and not inherit anything. There is something to inherit and I want it!

Why did Elijah ask Elisha that? All those prophets could have been right there. They missed the most important question of their entire lives because they stood afar off. They let the devil deceive them. Can you imagine what would have happened if all of them were right there for Elijah to say, Ask what I shall do for thee, before I be taken away from thee? Can you imagine all of them saying, Brother, all this inheritance is gonna have to be split equally? But none of them were there. They missed it. I can scream when I read this! They watched the Jordan River parted. That was the door of opportunity for them to seize the moment, and they stayed there afar off, peeking through the bushes! They said, Yeah, nothings gonna happen! After Elijah and Elisha walked over the Jordan, it closed. Im sorry, it might have closed on me, but I would have swum over that thing! Im too hungry for this Holy Ghost! I would have gotten on a log or something and gotten over! You werent leaving me out of the power, buddy! You count me in on that thing!

And he said, Thou hast asked a hard thing: nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. (2 Kings 2:10) I like that word, nevertheless. Its the exact same thing that Jesus said to His disciples. Elijah said, If thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee; but if not, it shall not be so. Youd better stay focused. Do you realize what Elijah told him? He said, Only if you see me when Im taken is it gonna happen. That means Elisha had to intensify his focus. Intensify your focus. This is a pivotal moment. Are you listening to this? This was the moment Elisha had left his job for. He didnt just leave his job to stay pouring water on the hands of Elisha. There is a time to pour water; there is a time of discipleship. There is a time you have to be mentored. There is a time you have to be trained and disciplined. But there is also a time when the Holy Ghost is about to release you to walk in the power of God like your mentor! I was after something. There is a time of preparation; preparation is never lost time! Are you hearing me, Church? Preparation is the most important part of anybodys life and, if you are not properly prepared, the devil will cut you down in the baby stages of your ministry! Elisha had to really intensify his focus because, any moment now, his training was about to come to an end. How sad it would have been if he had stayed on the other side of Jordan! Their training was about to come to a close and they all missed it, listening to other people. People told them, You dont have to follow Elijah like that. Hes only a man; you dont have to blah, blah, blah! Thats the devil talking. That isnt the Holy Ghost; thats the devil talking! The Apostle Paul discipled Timothy, he discipled Philemon, and he discipled Titus. Barnabas discipled the Apostle Paul!

And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (2 Kings 2:11) I believe Elisha was talking with Elijah, but boy, he was latching on to him! I believe he might have bent down to scratch his leg, but he was looking! A mosquito bit him on the neck, but he was looking! You cant afford to get distracted now; its the most important part of your ministry! Its the most important part of training. Watch this: And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire I remember, when I was a little boy, I always used to think the chariot of fire was the thing that carried Elijah. It wasnt the chariot of fire; the Bible says God was going to take him up by a whirlwind (2 Kings 2:1). There appeared a chariot of fire When the fire comes, somethings about to happen! There appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And guess what the next verse says? And Elisha saw! Those other prophets could have been right there. I wondered why God would let me preach something like this twice back-to-back if He was not trying to challenge peoples thoughts. I had preached this same message from the life of Christ the week before in my church. In that message, Jesus told the people, What if you see me when Im taken? They didnt wait, and the sons of the prophets didnt wait. They told Elisha, We know Gods gonna take away your master. They didnt e ven say our master; they said, your master! The heart gets revealed in this Bible, doesnt it? They said, Hes your master; Im my own lord and king! Thats what they thought; thats why they remained powerless. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, 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 rent them in two pieces. (2 Kings 2:12) Something happened in the instant Elisha saw Elijah. Do you think he cried just because? Something happened! Elijah told him specifically, If you see me when Im taken, its gonna happen. The minute he saw it, Elisha cried because that anointing of the Holy Ghost gripped him! And he cried, My father, my father Did you he ar what he referred to Elijah as? Elijah was his spiritual dad. Paul said, For though ye have ten thousand instructers in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers (1 Cor. 4:15). Elisha cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. Isnt that awesome? That was when Elisha got a revelation of who was fighting all of Israels battles. He got a revelation of the army of God. Thats why, later on in 2 Kings, Elisha could pray for his servant and say, God, open his eyes a nd let him see what I saw that day when Elijah was taken. God opened the servants eyes, and he saw chariots of fire! Thats how come Elisha could pray that; because he saw that in 2 Kings 2:12! Are you learning something today?

The verse continues, And he saw him no more It was now Elishas time. Lets keep going: And he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces. Do you know why he ripped his own clothes? They were the clothes of a follower. They were the clothes of someone who was being discipled; someone who was being mentored. SKRIP! Its my time, Elisha said, to walk in the power of the Holy Ghost. Its my time! Are you listening to me? He ripped those things off of him and look what else he did: He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan. (2 Kings 2:13) Elisha thought, Aha! This is the proof whether I have it or not! Look at what he did: And 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 also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over. (2 Kings 2:14) Elisha smote the waters and said, Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And wh at happened when he said that? The Lord God of Elijah was now the Lord God of Elisha and He did the same thing! Give God some praise! Where is the Lord God of Elijah? He is with Elisha now! Somebody say, Amen! God performed a miracle. POW! The water opened and Elisha walked over on dry ground. The same exact miracle God did for the man that was teaching him, He now did it for Elisha! God is no respecter of persons, are you listening to me? Thats why I teach people how to fast, pray, and seek God; because I want them to walk in the power of God like that. Has anyone other than your spiritual parents taken time out to teach you to walk in the power of God? Point them out to me. Show them to me. You cant because you have ten thousand instructors, but not many fathers. Thats why. And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. (2 Kings 2:15) The sons of the prophets saw Elisha and said, Somethings happened to him! Hes acting a lot like Elijah! Tell someone, Thats because he got it! He got it! The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha They had to confess it. They choked confessing it, but they had to confess it! And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him. They stayed followers. What a shame. They were under a great teacher like that, and they stayed followers. They missed their opportunity to walk in the power of God like Elijah because they were too stuck on themselves.