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Sermons
Pastor's Greeting
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Where Did You Stop?
by Rev. Moses K. Ndereva,
Pastor – Lifeline Community Fellowship
2 Kings 2:1-18
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. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, "My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
13 Elisha then picked up Elijah's cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. "Where now is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, "The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha." And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. 16 "Look," they said, "we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley."
"No," Elisha replied, "do not send them."
17 But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, "Send them." And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. 18 When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, "Didn't I tell you not to go?"
Philippians 4:8-9 (NIV)
8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
Introduction
So where did you stop? Once we are on a journey to destiny, we cannot afford to stop anywhere in between. Our final victory is assured when we receive our mandate. Your mantle is still with the Lord until you cross over with him. Do not be persuaded to stop by those who purport to know your destiny. Know your calling for certain and determine to do as you have learnt from your Master; then will your destiny be certain. The Lord will be faithful to his promises if you walk with him the whole course. The scripture fully supports the view that God will keep his part of the covenant. It is for you to say "AMEN"
1 Corinthians 1:9
God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
2 Corinthians 1:20
For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.
Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.
1 Kings 8:56
Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.
At the Word of the Lord, we can move on to the end knowing he will not fail us. We cannot stop or be stopped. Nothing should keep us from reaching our destiny in God, not even a company of prophets!
Know what you want
The biggest hindrance in our walk with God is that we are not certain of what we want from God. God knows what he has for you irrespective of your background but he cannot force it on you. He says; "ask, and it shall be given unto you." Many times we do not see the ability for God to do greater things for us. Elisha knew he could upgrade from being a servant of Elijah to a servant of God because he had been keen learning from Prophet Elijah. He was humble and available all through to the end. He knew nothing was too difficult for the Master to do having witnessed the past miracles. We must know exactly what we want and be certain that the Master is able to offer it. Knowing with certainty keeps our attitude well regulated and our faith steadfast.
Know where you will receive it
If we are not at the precise location and positioning, we cannot receive our mandate for destiny. Elisha knew beforehand where his master was going. If you are uncertain of the destination, anywhere is home. Elisha knew it was not Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho or Jordan. It had to be across Jordan. He was not scared of how to get back through Jordan. He was focused on the impartation from Elijah and that was only going to happen at the point of parting; i.e. going to the end. Many of us stop midway at bethel, Jericho or by Jordan but God has called us to cross over. Until we go over, there is nothing over here for us to pride for. We cannot be fulfilled over here. We need to go over there where he is. Yes we have come far with him, but it is not far enough to warrant destiny. Let's go over with him.
Silence negative persuasions
The sons of the prophets, the know it all, the experienced and experts become distractions in our calling. They are lined up all the way by the enemy to persuade us otherwise. Remember you sacrificed so much to come to where you are with the Lord. Elisha had abandoned his agricultural enterprise to follow the Prophet Elijah. He had done away with ploughs, oxen and farm. How then could he be instructed by people who had lost nothing to serve? He ordered them to be quiet. You need to silence some voices and opinions if you really know what you want and where you are going. They need not scare you with fear and despondency. The singers sang and said "I know who I am"; "I know where I'm going and whom I'm going to see." Determine to reach your destination unobstructed.
People will stop at nothing to stop you
When Elisha came back and crossed Jordan, he found the sons of the prophets from Jericho waiting. They watched him part the waters and knew the Spirit of the Lord rested on him; yet they tried to persuade him to go on an Elijah search! He was confident and did not let them waste time arguing. He knew and saw that God took Elijah. People who know do not argue; they state! If you find yourself arguing contentiously, there is something you do not know. Know and make sure before you talk and only then will you save time and energy. Do not join people in fruitless ventures. Do not waste your time arguing or accompanying them even if the pretend to serve you. Remember they were happy waiting to see you abandoned, unemployed, hopeless and more. They were cruel and taunting as they talked to Elisha about his sudden end with his master. Elisha knew better and saved his breath. Paul strongly warns his son Timothy against engaging in fruitless, vain argument in the book of:
- 2 Timothy 2:23
Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels.
- Titus 3:9
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.
We do not need to prove the obvious. If people doubt God even after seeing Him at work, it is not for us to substantiate or prove their ignorance. They will soon find out for themselves. The sons of the prophets went around and came back empty. Elisha did not argue with them. He simply said, "I told you." Learn the art of steering clear of foolish arguments if you know the truth. God does not lift us to abandon us in some valley or crash us on some mountain. He knows the landscape too well to crash us. He knows where he is taking us. He did not take us across Jordan to leave us stranded. We can trust him to complete the job he started in us when we committed ourselves to him.
What you have learnt from him; practice
Paul advises us in Philippians 4:8-9 "8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."
What is your standard practice? If you saw Elijah call in God, call on God. If you saw Elijah strike the waters, strike the water. If you saw Elijah silence the prophets of baal, stand up to the misleading sons of the prophets. If you saw Elijah fulfill his mission to the end, carry on your mission to the end. Practice what you have learnt from your Father. Pursue to do true, noble, right, pure, lovely, and admirable things that you have learnt. Do not use your time and resources to engage in foolish arguments and purposeless missions just to satisfy the whims of some self-appointed, ego-centric individuals, whose goal is to use all they know to discourage, dishearten and distract you from your path to destiny. You know better!
Remember
- Catch up with the Master, your double portion is waiting
- Stirrup the "go-getter" spirit in you and pursue destiny.
- Filter the voices and follow HIS voice. What you heard before is still true.
- Do not stop anywhere, get to destiny!
- You've got to cross over to rise up from the ordinary hearing frequency
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