Principles of Mantle Passing

Principles of Mantle Passing

By Pastor Matt Black

Bible Text: 1 Kings 19:19-21

Preached on: Sunday, April 20, 2008, 6am

Tabernacle Baptist Church

7020 Barrington Road

Hanover Park, Illinois 60133

Introduction: Open your Bibles to the book of 1 Kings 19:19-21. Every so often I see folk who were here 20 years ago in this ministry. Some are serving the Lord. Some are not. I wonder how many slipped through the cracks. That is something that concerns me at Tabernacle. We can do nothing for previous generations but pray. But what about the present generation? Are some slipping through the cracks?

This evening we are talking about mantle passing.

The mantle was basically a coat of animal hair. It was what prophets and kings wore. Some one who is given a mantle is given the greater responsibility. In our day and age, we would say, you need to put the adult clothes on. You need to fill the person’s shoes!

Who’s going to fill your shoes? Who are you going to give your shoes to?

We have a job to do. God has called us to train our children and to evangelize the world. Are you in a mentoring relationship with others? If you died today, what would your legacy, and upon whom would your mantle fall? Would you have any spiritual fruit left behind if your life were ended today?

Context: During the time of Elijah and Elisha there were some good kings who reigned in the southern kingdom and who brought about spiritual reforms. But in the northern kingdom (where Elijah and Elisha served) all the kings were evil and there were no true revivals. All the kings of Israel (the northern kingdom) did evil in the sight of the Lord.

It is in this context of wickedness, in many ways similar to our own, that Elijah passes on his mantle and ministry to Elisha. So tonight I want to give you “Principles of Mantle Passing”.

Would you stand as we read our passage tonight in 1 Kings 19:19-21, “So he [ELIJAH] departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. 20 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? 21 And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.”

[Prayer for Guidance]

Tonight we are looking at four principles of mantle passing;

I. Principle 1: Be joyful in the Journey!

II. Principle number 2: Pass your mantle through Mentoring.

III. Principle number three: Demonstrate sacrifice by fervent Forsaking.

IV. Finally we see the 4^th Principle of mantle passing. Be diligent in successful Service.

Elijah has just come from Horeb, or Mount Sinai as it is better known as. He was a mighty man of God with power and wisdom you and I have never experienced, but he was a man. He thought he was the only one left to carry on God’s work, but the Lord reminded him that this was not the case at all. In fact, there were 7,000 who had not bowed the knee to Baal. Among these had to have been several schools of the prophets. Until this time, they were hiding in caves, afraid to come out and speak for the Lord. But after Elijah saw the glory of God on Sinai, he began traveling over the country setting up prophets schools with Elisha—also mentoring Elisha.

I. Principle 1: Be joyful in the Journey! Look at Elijah’s joyful journey. We come to verse 19 which tells us that Elijah ”departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat”. Elijah's journey from Mount Sinai to Elisha’s home in Abel Meholah (verse 15) was a journey of almost 300 miles. I’m certain the walk was physically demanding, but I think Elijah must have enjoyed the journey in prayer and meditation to God. He had just seen the glory of the Lord in the cleft of the Rock at Mount Sinai. We know that after Moses saw the glory of the Lord in Exodus 34:31, that “when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him.” I know this was a physical quality, but I believe it there is also a spiritual quality to Moses’ face. We learn that when the Jewish leaders looked into Stephen’s face, it shown like the “face of an angel” (Acts 6:15).

The great blessing of the Jewish people, found in Numbers 6:24 has the idea of God’s face being reflected from us. If you were a Jew, the greatest blessing you could give to someone was to wish them the promise found in Numbers 6:24, “The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: 25 The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: 26 The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”

The Psalmist prayed in Psalm 4:6, “LORD, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.”

I know it must have been a hard 300 mile journey, but I believe his face shined with the glory of God, and his heart burned with the joy of His presence. I believe when you met Elijah after this, you could see the joy and presence of God in his face and in his life.

Application: Two questions come from this.

1. Are you a joyful person no matter what the journey? Are you taking time to reflect along the way? Do you have regular times of reflection and meditation on God? If not, you will dry up spiritually.

2. Can people see the glory of God in your life? We are told in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Are you living a life that people would recognize you as a holy, set apart, child of God filled with the glory of God’s Spirit?

II. Principle number 2: Pass your mantle through Mentoring. Look at Elijah’s mentoring mantle. We read in 1 Kings 19:19, ““So he [ELIJAH] departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.”

Elijah arrived at Abel Meholah at plowing time. As he came to Elisha’s dusty farm, he saw twelve yoke of oxen plowing in the fields. Elisha was plowing behind the twelfth pair of oxen. This leads us to conclude that since Elisha’s father Shaphat was a rich farmer, and Elisha was probably stood to inherit a generous inheritance of animals and property.

In ancient times, a mantle was an outer cloak worn over other clothing. Elijah used it mostly to keep warm, but it was also a symbol of authority. In other places in the Bible this term refers to “a beautiful costly garment of animal hair” (Hubbard, EBC—Genesis 25:25). Those that had these types of mantles were kings and people of importance. Elijah was known by his cloak of animal hair.

Elijah went up to Elisha “and cast his mantle upon him” (verse 19). Although Elijah did not speak a single word, Elisha understood immediately what this meant. It meant that Elisha had now been anointed as Elijah's heir. By throwing his cloak over Elisha, Elijah was proclaiming him to be prophet in his place.

Elijah would begin the work of mentoring Elisha.

Application: Now we all know we are not going to live forever. Therefore God commands us always to be training others. He does this throughout the Bible.

· Parents, you are to train up your children “in the nurture and admonition of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4). You are to invest in them. This is to be your first priority before ministry in the church. Do your children have a soft heart? Are they ready to forsake all for Christ? Don’t waste your ministry to your children on anyone or anything else. When you say YES to something else, you are saying NO to their discipleship. Never forget that! Don’t waste your home life!

· Leaders of the church are called to mentor and train others. Paul said to Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” If we are a healthy church, we will be seeing the spiritually immature come to spiritual maturity and lead others. Are you discipling anyone? Who are you mentoring? If you are growing spiritually, you will be impacting the lives of others. You have a responsibility to do this. Don’t waste your church life.

· In a sense, we all have a call to mentoring all people. Matthew 29:19-20, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” Are you teaching all nations? Are you constantly, lovingly, and boldly giving out the good news? When was the last time you’ve seen someone suddenly converted that you invested the Gospel in? You cannot save any body, but if you are faithful, God Himself will give you spiritual fruit for your labor. Don’t waste your work life simply making money and not making disciples of Jesus Christ!

So we’ve seen Elijah’s joyful journey, and his mentoring mantle passing.

III. Principle number three: Demonstrate sacrifice by fervent Forsaking. If you want those who follow you to forsake all, you must yourself do it. Now we see Elisha’s fervent forsaking. We read in verses 19-20, “Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him. 20 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 [ELIJAH] said unto him [ELISHA], Go back again: for what have I done to thee?”

In other words—Elijah says yes, say goodbye to your family—I’ve done nothing to prohibit you from doing that.

A. Radical sacrifice for Christ is made possible by His call. What makes this radical sacrifice possible for Elisha? It is precisely because of the one who is doing the calling. Though Elijah threw his mantle upon Elisha, there is clearly one greater than Elijah calling Elisha. God is the one that stirs up people for salvation and for service. He does it very easily.

We can see the power of God’s calling in the life not only of Elijah, but also of Moses. There are some striking similarities between both Elijah and Moses:

1. Both knew the Presence of God as they both spoke to God on Mount Sinai and saw God’s glory in the cleft of the rock.

2. Both knew the Person of God in His Son Jesus Christ. There were two people that appeared with the incarnate Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration: Elijah and Moses!

3. Both knew the Power of God. They saw the mighty power of God poured out through their lives. They both had symbols of authority for this purpose—Moses had his staff, and Elijah had his mantle. Moses’ staff was used in the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 14:16) and Elijah's mantle was used in the parting of the waters of the Jordan River. “And Elijah took his mantle, and wrapped it together, and smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, so that they two [Elijah and Elisha] went over on dry ground” (2 Kings 2:8).

Application: Have you experienced God’s effectual call to salvation. As many as He calls He justifies. Have you heard God’s voice in your heart of hearts and followed His voice? Are you experiencing the Person, the Presence, and the Power of God poured out in your life? These are the marks of God’s call. You could never radically sacrifice all for Christ without the inward calling of the Spirit of God!

B. Radical sacrifice for Christ is made possible by the consideration of the riches of Christ. We read in verse 21 that Elisha counted his call to God greater than a comfortable life in northern Israel. “And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat.” What radical sacrifice. But you could see he did it joyfully.

Elisha’s radical sacrifice for God is made possible through a deep soul sustaining faith and satisfaction in God. Moses is a primary example of radical sacrifice for the riches of Christ. Hebrews 11:24, “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 25 Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.”

Application: What are you living for? We don’t live in Egypt, but have you esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches that the treasures and comforts of America. Yes you can waste your life in mindless the mindless games and entertainment of Egypt.

Moses didn’t have time for the games his countryman wanted to play. He spent much time with God. And I want to awaken you tonight. Spiritual disciplines of Bible reading and prayer take way too much time. What too often happens is you either start neglecting your heart or neglecting your family or both. Don’t waste your life!

C. Radical sacrifice for Christ demands a great cost. This was a great forsaking because he would very likely never see his family again. Elisha was the son of a wealthy farmer, and he would lose much. Elisha forsakes all. He does bid his family goodbye, and he also says goodbye to a comfortable life on the farm with his loving family around him.

Elisha counted all things but dung that He might win the LORD His God! There had been 12 pairs of oxen plowing. The pair of oxen with which he was plowing were slaughtered and the plow was cut into pieces to serve as firewood so that the meat of the oxen could be roasted. Elisha then ate a farewell meal with his family, the servants, and others. Talk about burning your bridges. The oxen and the plow were no longer needed by Elisha – he was going to be a prophet rather than a farmer – so they were killed and burned. The meal was a good-bye meal. Elisha was saying good-bye to his family, his father's farm, his work, and his inheritance. He was giving up everything and unconditionally accepting his calling. He was devoting himself entirely to his calling as a prophet.

Application: What is prohibiting you from following Christ with abandon? What is keeping you from being radical for Christ? Jesus said in Luke 14:33, “whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” And again in Luke 9:62, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

God doesn’t demand a partial forsaking of things. He doesn’t want to be Lord of your intellect. He wants to have dominion over the control center of your mind and heart. Everything you have and love must be surrendered to Christ.

Do you love anything more than Christ? Would you hold back anything? It is an idol. I’m asking God to crush all idols and take all idols out of our hearts and hands and life tonight. Idols keep us from power and service!

IV. Finally we see the Fourth Principle of mantle passing. Be diligent in successful Service. If you want successful service, you must get up and follow the Lord. Do it! Do you have “I’ll wait for tomorrow” syndrome? Look at the launch of Elisha’s successful service. Verse 21b, “Then he [ELISHA] arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.” What is success in your view? Success, someone said, is finding God’s will and obeying it. That is right on. Obedience is the purpose you were made for. Disobedience will bring a curse to your life.

Your whole life is ministry about God. Are you diligent? Elisha wasted no time. He immediately and “arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.”

Is your prosperity gauge in check with God’s prosperity gauge? Psalm 1:1-3 says clearly “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. 3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.”

Conclusion: What is it that will bring success to you, to your children? Do they know the Word of God? They will not know it unless you know it. Do they love Him and serve Him? They will be passionate for what you are passionate.