 Hello, David Diger Hernandez here and you are watching Spirit Church on the Encounter TV Network. Did you know that Elijah the Prophet had a servant? So why did Elisha receive the double portion anointing and not that servant? I'm going to be answering that question toward the end of this message as I talk about the double portion anointing. But first, Stephen Mark the Zoomer is here with me. He's going to lead you in some very anointed worship and then we're getting right into this message here is Stephen Mark the Zoomer. Did dreams awaken in this moment? Spirit come, pour it out, let your love run low, hear it now, let your glory fill this house, pour it out, let your love run low, hear it now, let your glory fill this house, pour it out, let your love run low, hear it now, let your glory fill this house. So I will be telling you why Elijah's servant didn't receive the double portion anointing even though he was in close proximity to the Prophet and I'm going to explain that toward the end of this message. But I want to now look at this relationship, this dynamic between Elijah and Elisha and the transfer of the double portion anointing that took place between the two of them. So let's go to 1 Kings chapter 19 verse number 16. This is God speaking to Elijah the Prophet about Elisha. An anoint Elisha son of Shaphat to replace you as my Prophet. So first and foremost God is the one who called Elisha. It was not Elisha who called himself. God spoke to the Prophet Elijah to anoint Elisha. Now jump down to verse number 19. So Elijah went and found Elisha, son of Shaphat, plowing a field. There were 12 teams of oxen in the field and Elisha was plowing with the 12th team. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak across his shoulders and then walked away. We see that Elisha the Prophet was plowing the field. He was working. God will not anoint the lazy. God will not call someone to something greater unless they're doing something. God will not give to you more if you're not already taking care of that which he has given to you. So Elijah throws his cloak on Elisha. Notice here that Elisha did not ask for this. Elisha did not go seeking prominence or popularity. He did not go seeking power. He was simply doing his task. He was simply operating in the day to day. And this really is how God calls people. Many times people want to be called by God or used by God for the prominence that they imagine that it will bring to them. But God looks for someone who is working. God looks for someone who is busy. God looks for someone who is just doing the day to day. So if God finds you doing the day to day, he will send forth the mantle. Elijah threw his cloak unto Elisha. Elisha did not seek it. Elisha did not ask for it. But God called him out because Elisha was faithful to that responsibility that he already had. Verse number 20 says Elisha left the oxen standing there, ran after Elijah and said to him, first let me go and kiss my father and mother goodbye and then I will go with you. Elijah replied, go on back but think about what I have done to you. Now Elisha knew that what Elijah had done was symbolic and he knew that he was being called to follow the prophet. So he goes and he says, let me go say goodbye to my family. And Elijah says, okay, but think about what I've done to you. In other words, count the cost. Don't just enter into this flippantly. Don't just enter into this apathetically. Instead, meditate upon this. Think about this. Consider the weight of what's been done here. Consider what I've done to you. And I believe he does do that because in verse number 21, the scripture tells us, so Elisha returned to his oxen and slaughtered them. He used the wood from the plow to build a fire to roast a flesh. He passed around the meat to the townspeople and they all ate. Then he went with Elijah as his assistant. Now this is interesting to me because Elisha recognizes that this is an all in commitment. What he had done was destroy any possibility of going back to what he did before. He burned it all. He destroyed it all. In other words, he burned his bridge. He knew I'm in permanently. I'm in for good and I'm not going back to the old. When God has called you, you must purpose in your heart to burn the bridge, to get rid of whatever it is that you may go back to, to get rid of your plan B. Some of us, we have plan A, which is I'll obey the call of God. I'll pursue what he's called me to do, but if that doesn't work out, then I'll have this, this, this, and this. No, you need to totally destroy any backup plan that you have if God has called you. If God has called you, there can be no backup plan. If you have a backup plan, it's equivalent to looking back. Jesus said, if any man puts his hand to the plow and looks back, he's not worthy of that calling. I believe this was somewhat of a reference to what Elisha had done. If you look back, if you make a plan for just in case it doesn't work, if you decide that you will have a contingency in place, then that is not faith. If where you are going doesn't require faith, it's not the destiny that God has for you. So sometime passes, this actually took place. Elisha was called sometime in 858 BC. We jump ahead to 851 BC, which is actually just about seven years later that we see the fulfillment of what was happening here. So Elisha throws his cloak on Elisha. But Elisha doesn't receive a double portion until about seven years later. Many different things happen here. There is a whole history. There are wars. There are transitions of powers and kings. And then we find ourselves in 2 Kings chapter number two. And this is where the story of Elisha picks up again. Now a lot of things happen with Elijah the prophet, but we'll cover that in just a moment. But in 2 Kings chapter two, beginning at verse number one, the scripture says, when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were traveling from Gilgal. Now this was about the time that King Ahab and his son had died. So in other words, Elijah's assignment, which was to call repentance to that king and his family. And in fact, he declared prophetically that that family dynasty would be destroyed. Once that prophecy had been fulfilled, then Elijah is now transitioning to go home to be with the Lord. And he's handing over the task of being a prophet to Israel over to Elisha. So Ahab dies. Ahab's son dies. That dynasty is destroyed. The prophecy is fulfilled. And Elijah now is able to move on to the heavenly realm. And we see that they're traveling together. And in verse two, and Elijah said to Elisha, stay here for the Lord has told me to go to Bethel. But Elisha replied, as surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you. So they went down together to Bethel. So Elisha would not leave Elijah. There was loyalty. There was a kindred spirit. How often we see people leaving men or women of God for fickle reasons because they were offended, because they couldn't handle the pressure, because maybe a family member mocked them for being with that man or woman of God. I've been mocked for the people I associate with, but still I say I'm not leaving. I'm hanging on. I'm going to be loyal as God called me to be loyal. God would rather you keep your word and be loyal. That is character. That is Christ likeness, loyalty, staying true to your word, despite the pressure, despite the mockery, despite the sacrifice and the cost, despite the price that you might have to pay, that loyalty to cling, that loyalty to remain, that loyalty to firmly plant your feet and say, I will not leave you as surely as the Lord lives. And so Elisha commits, I'm not going to leave you. Elijah tells him you have to go. Elisha says no. And then we see now jumping down to verse three, the group of prophets from Bethel came to Elisha and asked him, did you know that the Lord is going to take your master away from you today? Of course I know Elisha answered, but be quiet about it. Now why would Elisha want the prophets to be quiet about Elisha going home? Wouldn't he want them to celebrate? Wouldn't he want them to witness the greatness of such a thing? No, here's what I believe. I believe that Elisha was protecting that transfer. There was a holy jealousy over that anointing. And yes, that's a real thing. Jealousy is not evil unto itself. For the Lord himself says he's jealous over us. Jealousy that is born of the flesh and based in fear manifests itself in anger and control and manipulation. But godly jealousy is rooted in love and godliness. And it manifests itself in loyalty and protectiveness and cherishing that which it is jealous over. So this jealousy he had in him, he didn't want the other prophets to know that his master was going to go. He didn't want the other prophets to even be there. Why? Because he wanted to catch the mantle. He knew that the only chance he had of catching that double portion anointing was if he was there to see his master go and that mantle fall. So when the other prophets said, oh, your master is going, he said, hey, be quiet about it. He was protecting that anointing. He was watching over it. He had a commitment to it. He valued, he treasured that transfer. He treasured that mantle. And how I pray we treasure the mantle that God has given to us. How I pray we treasure the precious anointing that God has put in our lives and that we don't squander it, that we don't sell it, that we don't sell out to commercialism, that we don't give it up because somebody is trying to convince us to preach a different gospel, that we would protect that with the holy jealousy and that we would know our call and that we would say, God, I want to fulfill the call that you've placed on my life and I want no one else to step into that place. Lord, I'm your guy. I'm the person that you called there and I'm going to protect that place. So he protected this mantle. He pushed the other prophets away from catching this mantle out of a holy jealousy. Now we go on reading in verses four through six, then Elijah said to Elisha, stay here for the Lord has told me to go to Jericho. But Elisha replied, as surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you. So they went on to Jericho together. Then the group of prophets from Jericho came to Elijah and asked him, did you know the Lord is going to take your master away from you today? Of course I know Elisha answered, but be quiet about it. Then here we go, we see this repeating again. Then Elijah said to Elisha, stay here for the Lord has told me to go over to the Jordan River. But again, Elisha replied, as surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, I will never leave you. So they went on together. Now after a while, you know, there would start to be in my heart at least some contention. I would be a little bit offended if my mentor kept telling me, get away, go away, go away. But I believe that this was God's way of testing Elisha, the prophet. Elijah was a little grumpy. We know he suffered from depression from previous portions of scripture in first Kings. We know that he could, he could have been a little bit moody. But I believe that God hides the anointing in humanity. And only when you have grace for a spiritual mentor will you have the grace to receive from a spiritual mentor. Everyone has flaws. And if you could have the grace for the flaws in your mentor, your position to receive from them. And so here we see Elijah and Elisha having some contention. There's some friction. And usually when there is friction, there is transfer. Why? Because previous generations, they don't always want to hand over that mantle right away. And sometimes we in our generation, we can be so eager, hand it over, hand it over, hand it over, not recognizing that they too value that anointing that's on their life. And so we know that the power of God is eternally supplied and none of us have to necessarily take from one another. But this is about assignment. Mantles are about assignment and authority and position and things that God has tasked us to do. So here there is a little bit of contention, but I encourage you, if there is a little bit of friction between you and someone who is mentoring you, you and someone who you're coming up under to capture that mantle from, that friction we see from Scripture can be an indication that in fact the mantle is coming. So we see him staying loyal and still protecting that anointing. In fact, he has this faithfulness that was unheard of and that is unheard of even nowadays. He stood in that place recognizing that God had something for him. Now I had mentioned to you that it was a seven year wait since the cloak was thrown over Elisha. So he was faithful. He stood at it. The physical is a test for the spiritual. What do I mean by that? Elijah physically threw his cloak over Elisha seven years earlier. But it wasn't until he went through that test of loyalty that he actually captured the spiritual. So in the natural you may be serving, but in the spiritual you will be receiving. Luke chapter 16 verse 11 says, and if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? The physical is a test for the spiritual. Jumping down now to verse 7, the Scripture says, 50 men from the group of prophets also went and watched from a distance as Elijah and Elisha stopped beside the Jordan River. The other prophets followed from a distance. That's why the mantle didn't fall on them. They weren't close in proximity. They weren't loyal. They didn't stay connected. Verse number eight, then Elijah folded his cloak together and struck the water with it. The river divided and the two of them went across dry ground. So this is a path created by God. A path only God could create. A path that God in his divine providence, God with his divine power, opened. That path of impartation can only be opened by the Lord. Then verse nine says, and when they came together to the other side, Elijah said to Elisha, tell me what I can do for you before I am taken away. And Elisha replied, please let me inherit a double portion of your spirit and become your successor. Now this is interesting to me that he has to ask because God had already appointed Elisha as Elijah's successor. In fact, seven years earlier, he spoke to Elijah, go and appoint him as your successor. And he threw his cloak on him. Why then does he have to ask for it here? It's still the process. You see, even though God may have anointed you for something, the position of that anointing will not be available until you've shown yourself trustworthy. So God will anoint you for something initially, but will not position you until you've proven faithful to that which you've been anointed to do. It has to be demonstrated, it has to be shown. But notice here what's interesting to me also is that Elisha waited for his mentor to ask what can I do for you before he asked for that mantle. All this time they've been traveling together. Seven years have passed since he was first touched with that cloak. And then now we see them traveling from place to place. He's remaining loyal. He's sticking by him. During that time, not once did Elisha say, hey, give me a double portion of what you've got. It wasn't until Elijah spoke and said, what can I transfer to you that Elisha finally said what he said in this verse. And then in verse 10, he tells him how to get it. You have asked the difficult thing. Elijah replied, if you see me when I am taken from you, then you will get your request. But if not, then you won't. In other words, what he began, he had to finish. You must finish what you start not faithful up until I'm tired, not faithful up until the pressure gets too much, not faithful up until the commitment starts to interfere with what I imagine for my life, but faithful up until it's done. And then the transfer happens. Now watch this, verse 11 and 12, as they were walking along and talking, they're fellowshipping, enjoying relationship. Suddenly a chariot of fire appeared drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men separating them. And Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, my father, my father, I see the chariots and the charioteers of Israel. And as they disappeared from sight, Elisha tore his clothes in distress. Continuing now, after this heavenly encounter that we see, Elisha picked up Elijah's cloak, which had fallen when he was taken up. Then Elisha returned to the bank of the Jordan River. You notice here there's distress, there's sadness. The transfer had taken place and he fills the weight of the responsibility of what had occurred. Verse 14, he struck the water with Elijah's cloak and cried out, where is the Lord, the God of Elijah? Then the river divided and Elisha went across. It's okay to look to the past so long as looking to the past serves as an inspiration to seize the future. Where is the God of Elijah? I ask you, where is the God of Catherine Coleman? Where is the God of Billy Graham? Where is the God of D'Amoudi? Where is the God of Smith-Wigglesworth in John G. Lake? There are mantles that are falling to the earth. There is an anointing that is available for you when you catch that mantle. Verse 15 goes on to say, when the group of prophets from Jericho saw from a distance what happened, they exclaimed, Elijah's spirit rests on Elisha, and they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him. When you catch a mantle, you don't have to go around promoting it. Others will see it on your life. You don't have to go around saying, I have the mantle of so-and-so. I have the anointing of so-and-so. As I've said before, you're not the next anyone. You're the first you. But when there's a spirit, there's a portion that falls on you. You don't have to promote it. You don't have to say it. Others will recognize it. I've seen this in my own life. Never once have I had to say where my impartation came from, people just recognize it. They can see it. And in this case, we see an example to us about how to handle ourselves that others declare when that mantle has come upon you. Now, something to consider. Elijah had a servant. So why didn't he receive the mantle instead of Elisha? Well, let's take a look at the context here. So years before this, remember I told you many different things happen. In fact, at the time that Elijah first threw his cloak over Elisha, he had just got done going through quite a bit. So let me give you some context. Elijah confronted Ahab, the king of Israel, who was married to, we all know, Jezebel. And Jezebel, by the way, there's no demonic spirit named Jezebel. When we say Jezebel spirit, we simply mean demonic spirits that operate in like manner to the spirits that operated with Ahab's wife, Jezebel, the Phoenician queen, who brought about this whirlwind, this wave of idolatry in the land of Israel. So Elijah confronts Ahab for turning to idolatry. And this is after generations of idolatry and warnings. So king, succeeded king, succeeded king. The nation remembers split after Solomon, northern and southern. And all of this is happening. Israel keeps going back to its idols. God keeps sending prophets for generations. This goes on. Finally, Elijah comes. He says, how long are you going to waver between two opinions? If God is God, serve him. If Baal is God, serve him. He calls down fire from heaven. There's the contest at Carmel. The 850 prophets are killed. There's this great defeat of idolatry in the land as the prophet Elijah calls down fire from heaven. He's living now in this revival. He prophesies that the drought will end, which had lasted over three years. He's demonstrating the power of God. The people are standing in amazement of what God is doing through Elijah. And then in 1 Kings 19, Jezebel makes a threat to Elijah. And Elijah, who had just got done calling down fire from heaven, runs in fear for his life. And this is where we find him 1 Kings 19. 3. Elijah was afraid and fled for his life. He went to Beersheba, a town in Judah, and he left his servant there. Then he went on alone into the wilderness traveling all day. He sat down under a solitary broom tree and prayed, take my life for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died. So Elijah's at a low point. He's saying I'm no better than my ancestors. In other words, he's feeling defeated. Imagine generations of idolatry. None of the prophets who had gone before you had succeeded really in keeping Israel on a firm foundation for any longer than one generation. And then now we see Jezebel making this threat. Elijah's probably imagining, oh, Israel's just going to go back to its old ways. He's frustrated with Israel. He's frustrated with what seems to be the impossibility of Israel ever repenting from its idolatry. He's feeling alone. He says there's no others like me. He wants to die. And Elisha is then called. That's when God sends Elijah to go and anoint Elisha or throw his cloak over Elisha. But look here in what the Scripture says. It says that he had left his servant there. First Kings chapter 19, verse three. The servant left him at his low point. Oh, the servant was with him at Mount Carmel. In fact, the servant was with him when he was calling forth rain. Remember, I see a cloud the size of a man's hand. That's in first Kings chapter 18, verses 42 through 44. That servant was there to see the fire come from heaven. That servant was there to see that rain come from heaven. The drought and the profit demonstrate the power of God. The servant was there to see Elijah standing at the top of Mount Carmel demonstrating for all of Israel that Jesus or God alone or Yahweh alone was the true God. Yet he left him at his low. He left him when things got difficult. Elijah and Elisha, however, remain together. Elisha stood with this prophet while the servant left Elijah at his low point. Elisha comes into the picture then. And it was after Elijah had experienced that fear. It was after Elijah had gone through this emotional turmoil that God says, go now, appoint a successor. You see, proximity alone doesn't guarantee the mantle. Now I'm really going to say some things that may be controversial, but oh well. Just because you're related to someone doesn't mean you're called to take over a ministry. I've seen churches destroyed by families giving churches to the Son because he was the Son of the pastor, as opposed to the one who God had truly anointed. I've seen ministries destroyed in this same way. I've seen people imagine I'm next in line for the mantle. I'm next in line for the anointing because I'm related by blood. Well, the mantle is not transferred through blood. It's transferred through spirit. Or I was there longer. I was there in a closer manner. I was there taking photos with them. And we see people using photo ops as a means to imply that a mantle has been transferred. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people try to use psychological tricks that if they can be seen enough with these great men and women of God that they might be associated and identified with them the same way. But no, that's not how you receive a mantle. You receive a mantle from the Lord through his servant through demonstrating loyalty, that holy jealousy, and that ability to follow the voice of God despite the hardship that comes your way. Faithfulness, stewardship, being a servant, that's how you receive the double portion of the anointing. I want to pray with you now. I want to pray that God would keep you on track, that you would find what he's called you to do, seize it, and not let it go. Father, in the name of Jesus, I pray for that one who's calling upon the power of the Holy Spirit. I lift that one who desires in their heart to receive a double portion. And I ask you, Lord, to connect them to the right people. Connect them with godly mentors in the name of Jesus. That mantle might be transferred. I give you the glory. I want you to say it because you believe, say amen. Well, that is it for the lesson. I know this lesson went a little long as did last week's lesson, but these topics of impartation are really, really deep. So I want to be thorough with them. So I want to welcome now the new members of Spirit Church. There you are up on the screen. We love you. We are praying for you. I always say that because I always mean it. If you want to join the Spirit Church family, go to DavidHernandezMinistries.com slash Spirit Church. Now to your comments. And these comments are from last week's teaching, how to receive impartation, five keys. I gave you five simple biblical keys to receiving impartation from God through a man or woman of God. That message, I really recommend you go and watch. Go and watch that, then come back and watch this one. And I promise you there will be more depth to what is being said here. So go and watch that. While you're at it, if you're watching us on YouTube, be sure to subscribe and click that notification bell so that you can receive notifications when we release new content. If you're watching anywhere else, be sure to follow us on all the various platforms where this video is distributed. So again, now I'm reading the comments from last week. If you'd like me to potentially read your comment next week, leave a comment in the comment section right now. And I may read your comment on next week's edition of Spirit Church. So again, comments from how to receive impartation, five keys. Jesus moment writes, I've now learned something new about impartation. I've always wanted to know how it really works. Thank you for this good teaching. NadiaQT writes, Does anyone notice God has anointed Stephen Mock the Zoomer's voice? I had to replay the song before hearing the sermon. I'm telling you, Stephen is going to different heights in the Spirit and it is showing in his ministry. If you haven't done so yet, go to his playlist. You must check out his songs. They're absolutely anointed. And be sure to sign up. Did you know you can receive his songs that he covers and some of his originals too, that he does every single week? You can receive it by email. Just go to stephenmockthezoomer.com to get that. The next commenter writes, Powerful and sound as always. Thank you for yielding to the Holy Spirit. I will definitely be more conscious of the spiritual leaders around me. I will be less judgmental and more conscious of the Spirit. And finally, Nakam Wellington writes, God bless you, evangelist David. This teaching really opened my eyes before I'd look at impartation simply as the laying on of hands. This teaching helped me understand the entire structure and the steps given to receive impartation. It would definitely be a blessing to many lives. Thank you for consecrating yourselves to the work of ministry. I pray and trust the Holy Spirit will continue to use his channel for his glory. All praise and glory to Jesus. And hey, we're approaching the end of the year 2020. We want to expand ministry operations further than before. We keep the content free. We keep our events free freely. We've received how freely we give. And so I ask you, my dear friend, to partner with this ministry. If you'd like to help us continue to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit through events and media, then go to davidhernandezministries.com slash donate. I need several of you to partner with us again. You know, as we approach the end of the year, sadly, we see some people start to cancel their partnerships because, well, you know, the holidays and Christmas shopping, but here's what I'm going to tell you. When you support the gospel and you put the gospel first, it positions you to receive. And that's just the biblical truth. Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 says, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And then all these things shall be added unto you. When you prioritize the spiritual, God takes care of the material. So I want to challenge you, partner with us today, sign up, join us and help us go strong into 2020 as we look to expand ministry operations. I just today signed the lease for the second location where we are now expanding our TV studio where we will begin to record new content, not just for our ministry. We're opening this studio up to help record content for ministries all around the world. So we're not just going to multiply our impact. We're going to multiply the impact of other ministries who otherwise would have no means of getting their content around the world. So partner with us today. Go to David Hernandez Ministries dot com slash donate, sign up to be my supporter, $30 a month. Look, that's not much relatively speaking. That's a couple meals going to dinner. That's maybe not going to the movies. That's a few cups of coffee. I'm asking you, give it to the gospel, partner with us today and help us continue to expand as we are still rapidly growing. We need your partnership to help undergird what God is doing. Lives are being impacted. So be a part of it. When you sign up to be my partner for $30 or more a month, I'll send you either carriers of the glory, 25 truths about demons and spiritual warfare or encountering the Holy Spirit in every book of the Bible. That will be my initiation gift to you just to say thanks for being my partner. Again, sign up to be a partner $30 a month, David Hernandez ministries dot com slash donate or partner for any amount or give a one time gift of any amount. Do it today. And I know the Lord will bless you for it. Well, that is it for this edition of Spirit Church here on the EncounterTV Network. Until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.