(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright, we are in Matthew chapter number 16, and look down at your Bibles at verse number 13. It says, When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiahs, or one of the prophets. And he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And the title of the sermon this evening is a character analysis of the prophet Elijah. A character analysis of the prophet Elijah. And specifically I'm referring to verse 14 where it says, And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, others Jeremiahs, or one of the prophets. Now Elijah, of course, is a prophet of the Old Testament, primarily found in 1 and 2 Kings. In the Old Testament, he's referred to as Elijah, but in the New Testament, that Greek rendition obviously would be Elias. So anytime you see that name, Elias is referring to that prophet, says and others Jeremiahs, or one of the prophets. And what we see here is that Jesus Christ in his ministry was characterized by one of those Old Testament prophets, was he not? Did he not have those attributes that those Old Testament prophets had that he was a preacher, he stood up against sin, he preached the Word of God. He had the power of God on his life because he was Jesus Christ himself. And this is something, this is an attribute, these are characteristics that all the Old Testament prophets had. And primarily tonight, I'm going to focus on the prophet Elijah, just because there's so many similarities between Elijah, Elias, and Jesus Christ himself. There's so many similarities in the Old Testament that we can see fleshed out, a shadow of things to come in the New Testament. It's very interesting. We're going to look at that this evening. Now often when you think of Elijah, and the person that represents Elijah, or someone who comes in the spirit and the power of Elijah in the New Testament, we think of who? John the Baptist, right? And the reason for that is because they have the same spirit. By the way, we can come in the power and the spirit of Elijah as well. Why is it? Because the spirit that it's referring to is the Holy Spirit. And the Bible tells us that at salvation, we're sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption. But not only that, the Bible commands us to be filled with the spirit. It commands us to walk in the spirit. It commands us to not to not quench the spirit or to not grieve the Holy Spirit of God. And we can be filled with that same power. We can be those same type of Old Testament prophets and preachers. And look, we have these same type of prophets today, do we not? These prophets of the Old Testament were hated of the world. They were persecuted. They were seen by modern Christians, by their contemporaries who were very popular as being hateful preachers, as being pastors and preachers who just preach negative messages. And the same is true today. You may have many pastors out there who preach a feel good message, but you know what? There's always a remnant of pastors who behave like the Old Testament prophets, do they not? Who preach against the sins of this world, who call out the names, who behave themselves just like Elijah did. Now Elijah in the Old Testament is a very interesting character. He kind of just shows up on the scene out of nowhere, okay? And he's just referred to as Elijah the Tishbite. And that's it. And then he begins his ministry right then and there. It's almost as sudden as Jesus Christ, is it not? He just comes on the scene, you know, he begins his three year ministry and throughout those three years he accomplishes such a great work and begins the catalyst to Christianity. And that's why we're here today. So there's a lot of similarities between Elijah and Jesus Christ. Let me give you some honorable mentions, so to speak, of him and Jesus Christ. Go to 1 Kings chapter 17, if you would, 1 Kings chapter 17. First Kings chapter number 17, and let's look at verse number 1. First and foremost, as I mentioned, Elijah had a three year ministry just as Jesus Christ had a three year ministry. In fact, look at verse number 1, it says, And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. Now if you study the timeline here, this only lasts for just a couple of years, three approximately. Between the time that we see this begin and it ends, we see that it was a time span of three years that it did not rain. So how do you know that? Well, in James chapter 5, it tells us specifically that he prayed that it would not rain for three years, okay? And this was his ministry. And in fact, at the end of that, when it begins to rain, that's when the mantle is handed off to who? Elijah. That's when his ministry actually ends. Go down to verse 14. He not only has a three year ministry likened unto the Lord Jesus Christ, but he also multiplies the meal just as Jesus Christ multiplied the fish and the bread. Look at verse number 14. It says, For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meat shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail until the day that the Lord sent its rain upon the earth. And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah, and she and he and her house did eat many days, and the barrel of meat wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. This is referring to the widow that he saw in Sarepta. There was a great famine in the land, and he came and he supplied them with a never-ending supply of meals, okay? He multiplied that meal just as Jesus Christ did as well. Look at verse number 20. So not only did he have a three year ministry as Jesus Christ did, not only did he multiply the meal as Jesus Christ multiplied the fish and the bread, but he also resurrected a child from the dead. Look at verse number 20. It says, And he cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourned by slaying her son? And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord, and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. And Elijah took the child and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother. And Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true. Go with me if you would to Luke chapter number seven, Luke chapter number seven, Luke chapter number seven. By the way, some people ask, hey, when people died in the Bible, you know, sometimes you see in the New Testament, or even in the Old Testament, that they die, and they are revived. Like, where was that person? You know, have you ever wondered that, you know, when you say like, well, you know, people fell asleep, and they were, they were falling asleep, they died, and then Jesus Christ comes and revives them, you think of Lazarus, for example, he was dead, he was dead for so long that his body stinketh, right? It was already in that stage of rigor mortis, so to speak, right? And people wonder, like, what happened to that person's soul? Well, this is my opinion, and I think it makes the most sense, is that most of these people who were resurrected, if not all of them, were actually saved people, okay? And the reason I believe that is because once someone dies without Christ, they go to hell and they never come back. They can never come back. Whereas you have people such as the Apostle Paul, who went up to the third heaven, and came back, okay? And I believe anybody who is in heaven today, obviously, they're going to come back, aren't they not? And you're going to have characters such as Elijah and Moses, who I believe are the two olive trees, the two prophets in the book of Revelation, who are coming back. And so I believe anytime you see someone die in the New Testament that's resurrected, such as Lazarus, for example, these people were actually saved, okay? You say, well, why, you know, if they're saved and they come back, why aren't they talking about all the stuff they saw in heaven? Well, probably the same reason why Paul the Apostle didn't talk about all the stuff they saw in heaven. This is not lawful for me to speak of, right? And so that's my opinion, that's what I believe, is that when people die and they're resurrected, they're actually saved people, and that's why they're able to be brought back. Look at Luke chapter 7 and verse number 11. This is on the same point of him resurrecting the child from the dead. It says here in verse number 11, And it came to pass the day after that he went into a city called Nahin, and many of his disciples went with him, and much people. Now when he came nigh to the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother. And she was a widow, right, just like the widow that we saw in Sorepta. And much people of the city was with her, and when this Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the bier, and they that bury him stood still, and he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak, and he delivered him to his mother. And there came a fear on all, and they glorified God, saying that a great prophet is risen up among us, and that God hath visited his people. So we see that both times this miracle was done by both Elijah and the Lord Jesus Christ. One was done to a widow in Sorepta, another was done to a widow that we see here in Luke chapter number 7. Both had a child, they resurrected, and people glorified the word of the Lord because of it, the same byproduct thereof. Go with me if you would to Matthew chapter 17, Matthew chapter 17. Now the last honorable mention that I would say is that the leaders of the day sought to take Elijah's life as well. You know, he talks about, he's quoted in Romans chapter 11 how they seek to take his life. And you see that throughout Jesus Christ's ministry, the Pharisees, the leaders of that day sought to destroy Jesus. They sought to take his life just as they sought to take Elijah's life in his day as well. Look at verse number 8 of Matthew chapter 17. It says here, When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man until the Son of Man be risen again from the dead. Now what is he referring to here? Well, earlier in the chapter, you have the event, we refer to as the event of the Mount Transfiguration where Jesus Christ was glorified before the people and Moses and Elijah both show up there. Okay. This is the vision that they're referring to. Verse 10 says, And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come and restore all things. But I say unto you that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. Now go to Malachi chapter number 4, if you would. So in Matthew chapter 17, he talks about, Elias truly shall first come and restore all things. And then he says, But I say unto you that Elias is already come. Now obviously we understand that Elias came in First Kings chapter number 17, but he also came in the spirit and power, so to speak, through John the Baptist. Okay. And that that's exactly what he's referring to there. But when he says that he shall first come and restore all things, I believe that this is a reference to the Book of Revelation. I believe, in fact, this is a reference to those two witnesses, what the Bible would also refer to as the olive trees who are coming to preach at the end. They can burn people with fire. They cause fire to come down, or excuse me, they can speak and consume people with fire. They can cause it not to rain. And these characteristics are very similar to both Moses and Elijah. And this is why I believe it says that Elias truly shall first come and restore all things. It's actually referring to that time period. Look at Malachi chapter four, verse five, it says, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Now we can say based upon Malachi four, five and six, that this is actually talking about John the Baptist, right? First and foremost, because it says in verse number six, and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. This is a prophecy of John the Baptist, because that's exactly what he did when he came to this earth. And this scripture is quoted when he comes. But verse number five talks about that Elijah coming before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And if you study end times Bible prophecy, that is exactly when those two prophets come on the scene. They actually show up prior to that great and dreadful day of the Lord referring to the rapture, okay? Because the Bible, in the Bible, you have the rapture and you have the day of the Lord, which marks talking about the wrath of God being poured out, so on and so forth. And it tells us here that Elijah actually comes before that. So that's why I believe probably 99, I'm pretty, I'm like 99% sure that one of those prophets is Elijah. One of the reasons we know that is because he was taken up in a whirlwind into heaven, and so he's going to come back down. That's why I believe that. And by the way, which is another picture, right? It's another picture of Christ, because of the fact that he comes back, okay? Now in Matthew chapter 17, he says that, Elias has come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed, likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. So we see that the sufferings of Elijah were the same sufferings of Christ, because he says, look, they did this to Elijah, they did it to John the Baptist, and they're going to do it to me too, okay? We see that similarity there. Go to Luke chapter number one. So what do we see in these verses here? We see that Elijah comes in the spirit and power of God, right? Well, in like manner, Jesus Christ, when he began his ministry, also came in the spirit and power. Look at verse 15 of Luke chapter number one. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, this is referring to John the Baptist, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb. And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God, this is that fulfillment of what we read in Malachi. And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Go to chapter number four, if you would. Chapter number four. Look at chapter four of Luke and verse number 12. Now in Luke chapter four, we see this battle between Jesus Christ and Satan himself. This is what people commonly refer to as the temptations of Christ, and he passes with flying colors. We understand. Look at verse 12. And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about. So what is the similarity we see there about the spirit and power? Well, similarities we see is they're able to overcome the wicked one. Okay, Elijah was able to overcome the wicked one. How did he do that? By being filled with the Spirit, by standing up to wicked prophets, by standing up to the wickedness of this world. And in like manner, Jesus Christ did the same thing. So often we think we place the separation between us and the prophets sometimes, where we think, well, man, there's such great men of God, and we can't be like them. But hold on a second. We can have that same spirit and power in our lives, if we do as they did, if we stand up to wicked people as they did, right, as we overcome temptation, as Jesus Christ did. You see, the reason Jesus Christ was able to come back in the Spirit and the power of the Spirit in back into Galilee is because he was able to overcome that temptation. And in like manner, when we resist temptation, we resist Satan, he will flee from us and guess what, we get filled with the power of the Spirit, okay? We get filled with the power of God. And that's exactly what we want. So Elijah had that power, he had that spirit, just as Jesus Christ had that power and that spirit. Go to 2 Kings chapter number 2, if you would, 2 Kings chapter number 2. And look, and I find it interesting that many churches, you even have these liberal churches, for example, they love Elijah. They love him. They like to read the stories about him, they like to talk about all the exploits that he did and how he stood up to the 450 prophets, the 750 prophets of Baal, but they don't want to emulate that though. To them, it's just a story. You see, to us, it's an example. To them, it's just a story. To us, it's an example because we understand that Elijah was a man of like passions. He was a man who was just like us, he has a soul just like us, he needed to be saved just like us. He can be used, we can be used just like him. And so when we see the Old Testament prophets, these are not just stories, these are not just fables, these are not just bedtime stories for your child, they are examples. These are our heroes, these are the people we look to. Now obviously we can't resurrect people from the dead physically, but you know we can do it in a spiritual way, can we not? Because people out there who are dead and their trespasses and sin need the gospel, and when they get the gospel, their spirit is born again. Their life comes back into them, amen? And we're able to deliver the dead child unto their mother once again. When we see someone saved, that's exactly what we can do. Well, you know, we may not be able to, you know, pour fire out of our mouths, but you know what, we can by preaching the word of God. We can preach hell, fire, and damnation sermons, right? We can rip face, and it feels like you're getting your face melted off. So all these things are a shadow of things to come of what we as prophets in the New Testament should behave in a spiritual manner, you know? When he called fire down on those companies, those 50 men of the company that were coming to him in like manner, we can do the same thing, not in a literal sense, but we can rain fire and brimstone from the pulpits upon the false religions and cults of this day. Why? Because what does fire do? It decimates, it disintegrates, right? It exposes whatever they are for who they really are. And when we preach fire, which is exactly how you're supposed to preach, okay? When you preach fire, that's exactly what you do. So these Old Testament prophets, yeah, there are certain miracles that they did that we are not able to do per se, physically speaking, but in a spiritual sense, absolutely we can do it, okay? And that's what they're supposed to picture there. Now Elijah had promised Elias, Elisha, excuse me, to give him a double portion of his spirit. Look at 2 Kings chapter 2, make sure I'm not missing something here. Look at 2 Kings chapter 2 verse number 1, it says, And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. So sometimes people get confused between these two characters because their names are so similar, Elijah and Elisha. And one thing that we can take from that is that we have Christ, right? We have Jesus Christ, and we as Christians should be so likened unto Christ, right? We should be, I mean, we're called what? Christians. So it's Jesus Christ, and then you have Christians, right? Verse 2 says, And Elijah said unto Elisha, Tear ye 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. And the sons of the prophets that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha, and said unto him, Knowest doubt that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? And he said, Yea, I know it, hold ye your peace. So we see that Elijah is the head of who? Elisha. Just as Christ is our head, right? In fact, the Bible says that he's the head of the church. Skip down to verse number 8, it says, And Elijah took his mantle and wrapped it together and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they too went over on dry ground. And it came to pass, when they were gone over, that Elijah sent 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. Now what does that mean when he says a double portion? Well, first and foremost, in the beginning of the chapter, we see that over and over, Elijah tells Elisha, Tear ye here at this city. Tear ye here at that city. That sounds familiar, does it not? When Jesus Christ told the disciples, Tear ye here at Jerusalem, until you be endued with power from on high. But when he's referring to the double portion of his spirit, Elijah did a lot of great works, did he not? Elisha, what he's thinking is like, I want to do double of that. You know, you resurrected people from the grave, from the dead, I want to do double of that. You preached hard sermons, I want to do double of that. I want a double portion of your spirit. That's what that's referring to. So what he did, he wants to do double of that, okay? Look what it says in verse number 10. And he said, that was 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. So what is he saying here? He's saying, look, okay, this is a hard thing. But if you see me being taken from you, in other words, if I go away, then you'll have that double portion. If not, then it won't. That sounds familiar, does it not? Because with Jesus Christ, Jesus said, lest I go away, the comforter cannot come unto you. You see, the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament would come upon men and women of God, upon the prophets to write the scriptures, to do great exploits. But the Holy Spirit, the comforter, did not indwell the Old Testament believers. It wasn't until Jesus Christ was taken that the comforter came and indwelled believers today, okay? And so we see here that the similarities between Elijah and Jesus Christ is that it required the absence of that leader in order for that spirit to come upon the believer. Look at verse number 11. And it came to pass as they went on and talked that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and part of them both asunder, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elijah saw it and 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. He took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and went back and stood by the bank of Jordan. 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 Elijah went over. And when the sons of the prophets, which were to view at Jericho, saw him, they said, the spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elijah. And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. Go with me, if you would, to Acts chapter number 1. Acts chapter number 1. I'm going to read to you from Luke 24, verse 39, it says, and behold, I send the promise of my father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until you be endued with power from on high. John chapter 16, verse 7 says, nevertheless, I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you. But if I depart, I will send him unto you. Now, again, as I mentioned, that double portion is symbolic of the double work that Elisha was going to do, more than Elijah. In like manner, what did Jesus say of us? Greater works than these shall ye do, right? So no Christian could ever have the excuse that we can't do more than Christ. We can do more than Christ. Why is that? Well, because Jesus Christ only had three years to work with. And most Christians have an entire lifetime to work with, you understand? And so because we have the Spirit of God, we have the Word of God, we have that double portion, we can get more done, okay? Look at Acts 1, verse 7, it says, and he said unto them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put on his own power, but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth. And when he had spoken these things while they beheld, he was taken up, and the cloud received him out of their sight, the Bible says. Now here's the interesting thing is that when Elijah, excuse me, when Elijah was taken up, there were 50 prophets who came to Elijah and said, should we go look for him, you know? Because they literally thought that maybe he was taken up and then God just dropped them off somewhere. And Elijah told them, like, don't go, you're not going to find him, okay? And he was like, well, you know, what if, you know, he was cast in some mountain or something, he's like, he's gone, okay? And they went to go look for him and they didn't find him, they came back, they're like, hey, we didn't find him, he's like, didn't I tell you that he's gone, okay? But here's the interesting thing is that it's kind of similar to what we see in Acts chapter 1, because when Jesus Christ is taken, the Bible says that the disciples were just gazing and it wasn't until the angels came and said, hey, why stand you there gazing? He's going to come in like manner as you see him go, okay? And look, in a spiritual sense, the application there is that, hey, we should not just be gazing, right? Gazing to see the imminent return of Christ, right? Why? Because Jesus said, occupy till I come. And he said that he's given us that double portion of his spirit to do a work for him. So it's just like, hey, don't worry, there's going to be some events that take place prior to him coming and in like manner, you should see him return. Don't stand there gazing, okay? Go with me if you would to second Kings chapter number two. Second Kings chapter number two. So he gives him a double portion of his spirit and because of this, Elisha is able to do great works. Let me read to you from John 14 verse 11. It says, believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me or else believe me for the very work's sake. Very, very like I was saying to you, he that believeth on me the works that I do, shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do because I go into my father. By the way, this flies in the face of the dispensational teaching that we are in the Laodicean church era because what is the Laodicean church era according to them? Well, the Laodiceans in the book of Revelation are the church that basically were lukewarm. They were neither hot nor cold. They were lukewarm and God wanted to spew them out of their mouth. They're basically God's vomit. That's what he said. It didn't say he makes them want to spew. He says, you, I'm going to spew you out of my mouth. That's what he's referring to there. Okay. And the dispensationalist will take that teaching or we'll take that chapter in that church and say, well, these seven churches are actually seven church ages. Okay. And you know, conveniently enough, they chose the Laodiceans for this church age. You know, what does that say about them? If they recognize themselves that they're lukewarm, they're like, what's your, what church is best describes me, Laodiceans. That's the age we're in today. You know, lukewarm, not working, not soul winning, not baptizing, not discipling because the great commission is to preach the gospel. But guess what? It also includes baptizing them. It also includes teaching them to observe all things. Whatsoever Christ has commanded us, it's a lot of work. These things are a lot of work. Hey, soul winning is a lot of work, but it's also a lot of work to get them into the church and get them baptized. You know, thankfully our church, you know, we get to baptize quite often here. People who get saved, they get baptized and guess what? They get discipled as well. They not only get the prime discipleship through this pulpit, but they also get discipleship to the people in our church. It's a lot of work, but no, these guys are like, well, we're just in the Laodicean church here, so let's just go to McDonald's. Let's just go to the coffee shop. Let's just us four and no more and let's not grow. And look, if nothing ever happens, it's alright because we're in the Laodicean church here. This is how we're supposed to behave. It's like when they teach evolution to the kids in the schools and they wonder why they behave like animals, right? They teach them evolution and all this foolishness, atheistic doctrine. And they're like, wow, why are they acting like animals? Well, probably because you teach them today. That's where they come from, you know, and these dispensational pastors, you know, why are my church members so lazy? What's probably because you teach them that they're living in the dispensational era of the Laodicean church. That's why you're teaching them. It's okay to be lukewarm and just as the public schools teach, hey, it's okay to act like an animal and fornicate. Here's the condoms, here's the contraceptives, do whatever you want. You wonder why they act like that. Well, in churches, it's no different. Pastors getting up today say we're in the Laodicean church era, you know, that's why people don't want to seek God and, you know, but we're just going to keep, keep, keep, keep moving on, keep moving forward doing what? Saying that? Go to work, go see someone saved, go evangelize, go get someone baptized, go preach a hot sermon, go do something, don't use your laziness, don't try to fit your laziness into the scriptures of God's word and say, by the way, if that's the case, why don't you name your church Laodicean Baptist Church? Right, didn't Markles just preach on that Laodicean Baptist Church? If you believe you're in the Laodicean church era, then why don't you just go ahead and put that in your church? You know why? Because you don't want to necessarily promote that to the outside world because the outside world will know, oh, this is a lazy church. You do that to your church members so that you and your church members can do the bare minimum and not try to exceed beyond that. Oh, you know, it's just hard where we're at and, you know, it's just that it's not very receptive here, then go somewhere else. There's plenty of room out there in the United States of America to go preach the gospel and see people saved. I mean, look, we are taking care of El Mani and it's going to get done, but you know what? Because we've hit some dry spots, we're going to Ontario and you know, Ontario yields fruit. People who are receptive and once Ontario starts getting unreceptive, then we move on to other places. I don't know if Montclair is receptive or not or whatever, you know, San Bernardino is a big county, we can, there's much room, there's much land to be possessed. None of this Laodicean, you know, mentality where we're just not going to, you know, we're not going to try our best, look, obviously these pastors don't even have one portion of the spirit, let alone double. They don't even have a single portion of the spirit because the double portion means you do double the work. Jesus Christ did not say, lesser works than these shall you do, okay? So look, if you claim to live in the Laodicean church era and you know, there's nothing we can do about this, it's like the spirit of slumber has come upon this era of these pastors. You know, why is it that Jesus said that then? Was, oh, oh, was that for only that dispensation, that they can do greater works? No. You know, these are lame excuses that pastors and churches make so that they don't have to work, so that they don't have to preach the gospel, so they don't have to do great and mighty works. Look, there should be a desire within every human being to do something great and more specifically to do something great for God. We should have some spiritual ambition, should we not? Vision. Small dreams do move no man's soul. There should be a burning desire within a person to say, man, I want my life to count for something. I want to do something great for God. I don't want my life to just be wasted. I want to do something great for him. Okay, then this is what you do. Stay away from the Laodiceans then, of today. Stay away from the Laodicean pastors of today. Stay away from these fire extinguishers who will put out your fire. And look, these are the same people that when you start soul winning in their churches, they don't want to slow you down. Like, hey, you're getting a little too zealous there. Well, what kind of material are you passing on? You must be one of those Andersonites or whatever, you know? And what they really mean by that is like, hey, I don't want you to outdo me, okay? And I don't want you to, hey, I'm not trying to have you change our church from Laodicean to the Church of Philadelphia, right? I don't want you to turn us into a church that's actually doing a great work. We're content being Laodiceans here. Nice and lukewarm. But you know what? Nobody likes lukewarm soda. Nobody likes lukewarm coffee. Amen? Amen. It's either hot or cold, man. So what I'm saying here, I chased a rabbit here. The double portion. Hey, no single burgers at In-N-Out, amen? Double, double, yeah, even a triple, triple. It's a waffle, man. Four by four, right? So what I'm saying is this, is like, hey, since we, since we as Elisha, we had that double portion, let's take advantage of that to do greater works. And don't take an unreceptive area as not being able to do a greater work. Take it as, okay, this place is unreceptive, let's go somewhere else. Because there's people who are open out there to the gospel. And look, sometimes you even run into an area where people are not receptive and then you run into one apartment complex in that area that is very receptive. I mean, yesterday, all four complexes that we went to were unreceptive until the last one. The last one, or excuse me, the second to last and the last one were very receptive. Okay? So people, it was just low, low hanging fruit where people were ready to get saved. They even had questions about the rapture. This is great. But what they mean with these latest scenes, what they're talking about is like, well, it's unreceptive because they don't come to church. So? I mean, look, we want to invite people to church, amen? But the main goal when we're out there is to get them saved. You know why? Because when we get them saved, they get the Holy Spirit of God living within them and they don't get to offend them when they actually come to church because the preaching of God's word resonates with their spirit. Whereas if you have a natural person coming into church, they're not saved, they don't really understand a whole lot and they get offended a lot more. You know, a person who's saved becomes normalized, you know? Now what I have here in 2 Kings chapter 2 verse 19, it says, in the men of the city have said unto Elisha, behold, I pray that the situation of the city is pleasant as my Lord seeth, but the water is not and the ground barren. And he said, bring me a new cruise and put salt therein and he brought it to him. And he went forth into the spring of the waters and cast the salt in there and said, thus say the Lord, I have healed these waters. There shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha, which he spake. Go to John chapter number seven. So this event that we see here in 2 Kings chapter 2 verse 19 through 22 is that after he receives that double portion of Elijah's spirit, they go to these waters that are very bitter. And what does he do? He transforms the water and it gives forth living water, rivers of living water, right? Look at John 7 verse 38. He that believeth on me, as the scripture had said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And of course this is signifying of what? Of the Holy Ghost. Just as with Elisha in 2 Kings that once he received the double portion, he was even able to make bitter waters sweet. And look in like manner, when we come, we should be a sweet saver into this world, should we not? We bring the gospel and we're like a refreshing cold cup of water when they get saved because of the fact that they've been drinking out of the bitter waters of work salvation. They've been drinking out of the bitter cup of the Catholic church, pun intended, with their communion, right? They've been drinking out of the bitter cup of Jehovah's witnesses, false doctrines, you know, seven day Adventism. But when we come with that cup and we transform that bitter cup into a cold cup of water, it's a blessing to them, okay? It's good news from a far country as the Bible says in the book of Proverbs. And that's what we see here, the relation between Elisha being a symbolic of Jesus Christ and then Elisha being symbolic of the believer, okay? Go with me if you would to Romans chapter number 11. Romans chapter number 11. So that was, that was like a sub point regarding Elisha, but now we're going to get back on Elisha here and obviously there's still similarities between the two, us as believers and him and Jesus Christ, Elisha and Elisha. But another similarity that we see is that Elisha was rejected of his own people, okay? Look at Romans 11 verse 2, it says, God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. Why ye not what the scripture saith of Elias, how he maketh intercessions to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets and dig down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life. So his own people, the people of Israel rejected Elisha. In fact, the main leader of that day, Ahab, rejected Elisha, or Elisha, excuse me. Go to Luke chapter number 4, Luke chapter number 4. Luke chapter number 4, we see this here in Luke chapter number 4 verse 23, it says, and he said unto them, Luke chapter 4 verse 23, and he said unto them, ye will surely say unto me this proverb, physician, heal thyself, whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. And he said, verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land. But unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow, unto a woman that was a widow, excuse me. So we see here that Jesus Christ was not accepted of his own country. In fact, he was not accepted of many people, right? It says he came into his own, and his own received him not. He was a prophet that was without honor, saving his own country. We see a lot of people coming to Jesus who were not Israelites for salvation. We see the centurion, right? He said, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. He said of the Roman centurion. So it seems as though people who were outside of Israel were more interested in Jesus than the actual Jews. Is it any different today? The Gentiles are far more interested in the gospel than Christ rejected Jews, okay? But we see here that they were rejected of their own. Now look, this is a common attribute of prophets of today. They're gonna be rejected even of their own. Of course they're gonna be rejected of the world. The world's always gonna hate Christians. But you know what? Sometimes even other Christians will not like these type of Christians, because it's just too radical, too zealous. You guys are too harsh. You guys preach too hard. You guys are not that loving. You're too hateful, okay? And you see that sometimes we are without honor, saving our own country. Or excuse me, we are without honor. No prophet is accepted in his own country, the Bible says, okay? So even amongst our own people, independent fundamental Baptists, we're not very loved, are we? You have independent fundamental Baptists who we believe just like them. We're King James only. We love Sony. We love church. And yet they still don't want to honor. They still don't want to accept us. They reject us, okay? Now here's the interesting thing, is that Elijah, he prayed that it would not rain for three years and six months. You get that? And what happens at the end of those three years and six months, it begins to rain? What is that significant of even in end times Bible prophecy? Well we have three and a half years into the tribulation where Jesus Christ comes, right? Where he comes and they lift up their heads just as people would lift up their heads to see the rainwater. These people in the end times at the end of those 70 days, they would lift up their heads for their redemption draweth nigh at the end of those three years and six months, approximately of course, okay? Go to James chapter number five if you would. James chapter number five. Two more qualities and we're done. James chapter number five. Elijah was a man of like passions like Jesus Christ. Look at James chapter five verse number 10. It says here, take my brethren, the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering, affliction and of patience. Behold we count them happy which endure. You have heard of the patience of Job and have seen that, excuse me, the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. We've done in verse 17, Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained on the earth by the space of three years and six months and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit. So when it says that Elijah was a man of like passions, often we use that word passion to signify what? Zeal, right? Excitement. We say, you know, we look at a guy who maybe gets saved and he starts coming to church and he starts going soul winning. He starts, you know, just being really faithful and we say, man, that guy's getting passionate about church, about Christianity, right? Or you know, these guys who they like to weight lift a lot or something, exercise a lot, like that guy's passionate about this, you know, X, Y, and Z. We would use that word to mean that someone is excited about something, someone is zealous regarding something. But here, when it talks about passions, that's not exactly what it means. In fact, passions, the original intent for that word was suffering, okay? Because you think of suffering, someone who's suffering like fire, it's fervent and that's how it kind of molded and it transformed into the word meaning zeal, okay? So when it says that Elias was a man subject to like passions, we know that it's referring to suffering because of verse 10, it talks about the example of the prophets for an example of suffering affliction of patience, okay? Now go to Acts chapter number 1, if you would, because we know that Elijah in his ministry did suffer a lot. People threatened his life. He was, you know, he wasn't the only prophet. He felt like he was, but there's a time when he felt alone. He suffered a lot of affliction and a lot of trial and he's a man of like passions. In other words, what we can take from that of his life is that, hey, you know, we also, there's no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man. When you feel alone, when you feel you've been rejected, when you feel as though you're hitting the dumps of your life and you're just at the bottom of the barrel, you know what? Elijah basically felt the same way because he was a man of like passions. You know, there's not been an emotion that you've had that has not, that Jesus Christ has not had, that Elijah has not had, that other prophets have had. Look at Acts chapter one says in verse three, the former treaties have I made O Theophilus of all that Jesus began both to do and teach until the day in which he was taken up. After that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs being seen of them 40 days, speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So when it says there that he showed himself alive after his passions, it's referred to after his sufferings. Now, this is a bad example that I'm going to give you, but it really illustrates what that means. Like for example, there's a movie out there called the what? Passion of the Christ, right? And most people don't even know what that means. Passion just simply means the sufferings of Christ. And I believe the movie basically highlights the crucifixion of Christ, right? His sufferings. So we see that you say, what's the similarity there? Okay, it says that Elijah was a man of like passions and that Jesus Christ suffered. Go to Hebrews chapter number four, Hebrews chapter number four, Hebrews chapter number four, and verse number 14, it says, Seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. So can it be said of Jesus Christ as well that he's a man of like passions? In fact, the Bible even says of Jesus Christ in the book of Isaiah, that he was a man acquainted with grief. I mean, think about that title for a little bit. A man acquainted with grief. You know, he's a man who was acquainted with grief. He was stricken of God. He suffered the most horrible pains that any human being could ever suffer, right? As God in the flesh. But we see here that he, we don't have a high priest that cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, but he was tempted in all points as we are. You know, that should be an encouragement to you to realize, man, no matter what you go through, it's never as bad as what Jesus went through. I'm talking about as a Christian, right? You know, when you feel forsaken of all your family, of your friends, when you feel persecuted of the world, hey, think about this, Jesus said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Hey, at least you can say that God will never forsake you. In fact, it said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Nothing shall separate us from the love of God, neither perils nor persecutions nor hunger nor nakedness, nothing nor death nor life shall ever separate us from the love of God. Because with Jesus Christ, you know, even God the Father forsook him, okay? So that's why, you know, when we go through trials, we need to look into Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. He suffered such contradictions of sinners, right? He was forsaken and therefore we know that he's of like passions with us as well as Elijah. Now here's the last thing. Go to 1 Kings chapter 19. 1 Kings chapter 19, Elijah is very similar to Jesus Christ because of the fact that he expected Elias to just follow him, right? It's just like follow me. Now look at 1 Kings 19 verse 18. Here at this point, Elijah is reaching the end of his ministry and he's kind of having a complaining spirit. He's talking about how he's the only one left in Israel. Look at verse 18, God begins to have a talk with him and says, Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. It says, So he departed thence and found Elijah 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 on him. 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? So he's kind of like, he goes there, grabs his mantle, just chucks it at him and just keeps walking. He's not doing any follow up, you know, he's not like, Hey, please follow me. He doesn't even greet him, grabs his mantle, throws it at him and just keeps walking. And then Elijah comes and say, Hey, because he knows what that means. He's like, Oh, man, I'm taking over, right? I'm taking over, I'm going to be the next prophet. And he says, Well, let me go kiss my mom and my dad and let me go do all these things. And Elijah just says, Go back again, what have I done to thee? Like, whatever, you do whatever you have to do. It's your choice. And it says, He returned back from it and took a yoke of oxen and slew them and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave them to the people and they did eat. Then they, then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him. Go to Luke chapter nine, Luke chapter nine. So Elijah comes, he cast the mantle on Elisha, he's just like, he's just expecting for him to just take up the mantle. Okay. And look, Jesus should not have to beg people to follow him, right? That's why it's just, it's your choice. And by the way, if you don't, it's your loss. That's how it works. You know, Hey, thank God when they get saved, but you know what, after salvation, it's your choice to serve the Lord, but it's not the Lord's loss if you don't serve him. In fact, it's your loss. In fact, the Bible says that at the judgment seat of Christ, you shall be saved yet so as by fire. Luke nine verse 57, look what it says here, and it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee with a server thou goest. Jesus said unto him, foxes have holes in the birds of the air have nest, but the son of man has not where to lay his head. So he's just like, I'll go wherever you want. And he's like, I don't even have a bed to lay in. Look, the foxes, you know, the ones that I made, they have a place to sleep. I don't. So if you want to follow me, all right, look at verse number 58 or 59 and he said unto another, follow me. And he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, let the dead bury their dead, but go down and priest the kingdom of God. Ouch. That seems kind of a little rough there. Right. But understand, he has a three year ministry, so he's not playing around. Verse 61, another also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at my house. And Jesus said unto him, no man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Now he's basically saying, hey, a Christian ought to press towards the mark, forgetting those things which are behind, pressing forward to those things which are before, right? And when he says that they're not fit for the kingdom of God, this is not saying, hey, if you don't just surrender your life and just, you know, repent of all your sin and lay it all on the altar and you know, all these things that you can't come into heaven. That's not what that's talking about. Fit for the kingdom of God, remember what's being pictured here is the hand to the plow. In other words, you're not fit to preach the gospel. You're not fit to preach the kingdom of God. Why is that? Because of the fact that the Bible tells us that we should lay apart every weight in the sin that doth so easily beset us and run with patience the race that is set before us, right? So there's sin and weight that can hold us down from doing the work of God. When we lay that aside, we can run with patience the race that is set before us. Okay. And by the way, the Bible tells us in Colossians 1 12, giving thanks unto the father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints. Okay. So when we get saved, we're already meet for the kingdom of God, as far as going to heaven. Amen. But as far as preaching the gospel, we need to be fit for that, right? We can have no, you know, aerobic type Christians who can't lift spiritual weights, right? Who are not strong in the Lord and the power of his might out there preaching the gospel. They need to be fit. They need to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. They need to be well versed. They need to know bare basics, the Romans wrote, but even thereafter, other scriptures that pertain to life and godliness, because the Bible tells us to be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you of the faith that is in you with meekness and fear that the righteous teacheth his lips. The righteous study it to answer the Bible says. So as we read the word of God, as we exercise ourselves rather unto godliness, what does the Bible tell us? That we'll be fit for the kingdom of God. We're fit to preach the Bible. Okay. And this is what Jesus Christ requires of those who are saved as well. So these are the characteristics. I'm out of time. These are the characteristics that we see of Elijah and Jesus Christ. And just know this is that we can basically choose anybody in the Bible and they will have some sort of attributes or characteristics of Jesus Christ. It's just great to go through some of these prophets and see the shadow fulfilled in the New Testament by Jesus Christ, amen. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word. We're thankful for the example of Elijah. And sometimes we look at the prophets of the Old Testament, whether it's David, Elijah, and Elijah. And we think of the many exploits that they've done and sometimes we feel, well, man, I can't do that. But reality is more than just a miracle, the greatest miracle that we can perform is getting someone saved, preaching the gospel and getting someone saved. John the Baptist was greater than all the prophets and he didn't, he did no miracle. Yet he preached the word of God and he was a great preacher. And I pray, God, that you'd help us to take that into account and bless us, Lord, help us to have that spirit upon us as well that we may be filled there with, that we would have that double portion to do double the work. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.