PUT ON THE MANTLE
Then Elijah said to him, "Tarry here, I pray you; for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan." But he said, "As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on. Fifty men of the sons of the prophets also went, and stood at some distance from them, as they both were standing by the Jordan. Then Elijah took his mantle, and rolled it up, and struck the water, and the water was parted to the one side and to the other, till the two of them could go over on dry ground.
When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "I pray you, let me inherit a double portion of your spirit." And he said, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if you do not see me, it shall not be so." And as they still went on and talked, behold, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, "My father, my father! the chariots of Israel and its horseman!" And he saw him no more. 2 Kings 2:6-12
And as Elisha is looking up into heaven something comes floating down and drops at his feet. It's the mantle of Elijah.... the symbol of Elijah's authority .... his power in the Spirit of God. Elisha has now received a double portion of the spirit of Elijah.
Let's suppose for a minute that Elisha looks down and he sees this mantle ... the very mantle which had been thrown on him when Elijah called him to be a prophet in his place. He picks it up and carefully wraps it in plastic so it won't get dirty. He comes to the Jordan River and he holds it up high as he goes down into the water and wades to the other side. When he
gets the mantle home he hangs it on his living room wall for everybody to see. Soon people come from miles around to talk to Elisha about his life as the understudy of the great Elijah.
"And here is the mantle that fell from the sky the day I saw my master ascend into the heavens. It's the very mantle that was thrown upon me the day he called me to be a prophet in his place."
But the authority is locked in this thing hanging on the living room wall. And all Elisha can do now is sit around and talk about the past.
The rest of his life would then be spent as a public relations prophet. They send a reporter and a photographer from Time Magazine and do a marvelous article on the "Mantle Of Elijah." They take a picture of Elisha standing in front of it. Elisha is invited to university campuses all over the Middle East. He fills the football stadium in Samaria...people come to hear about his days
with Elijah...
...but the power is gone!
The mantle is hanging on the wall as a useless relic.
Now of course we know that's not how it happened. When Elisha sees that mantle at his feet, the first thing he does is tear off his own clothes and put on the mantle of his master. Now the Spirit that was on Elijah is on Elisha.... and he moves forward in power and confidence.
Then he took hold of his own clothes and rent them in two pieces. And he took up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. Then he took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him, and struck the water, saying, "Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?" And when he had struck the water, the water was parted to the one side and to the other; and Elisha went over.
Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho saw him over against them, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him, and bowed to the ground before him. 2 Kings 2:12b-15
And so Elisha doesn't wrap it up in plastic, doesn't hang it on the wall, doesn't sit around and talk about it, he puts it on! He moves in the power of this anointing!
He goes forward!
But what about us? What do we do when the mantle of Elijah falls to us? Do we take the mantle, carefully wrap it up in plastic so it won't get dirty, talk about it, conduct seminars about it, share wonderful things about it? Or, do we put it on?
So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:6-9
"Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Lord, what are you going to do now?"
"That's not the issue .... what am I going to do now.... it's not for you to know. The issue now is: what are you going to do? The issue is what you are going to do as I now give my mantle to you ... I pass the authority of the Spirit on to you, and it's your turn now to be my witnesses on the earth."
And when he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven." Acts 1:9-11
Then ten days later the mantle comes down.
When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
Acts 2:1-6
The mantle had now come. And immediately they put it on. And they began to witness to the resurrection and to the lordship of Jesus. They announced to the world that Jesus is Lord and the words that they speak are confirmed with great power.
"You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you."
The mantle that came to them on that day is still here. It hasn't faded. It hasn't worn. It's just as bright and strong and alive and clear and powerful as it has ever been. Wherever believers are gathered in the name of Jesus this day the mantle comes down upon them. The mantle comes upon us today. The issue is: what are we going to do with it? Are we going to wrap it in plastic,
nail it to the wall,
sit around and talk about it,
or are we going to put it on?
"Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
"Lord, we hear about all kinds of problems in the Persian Gulf and about armies massing to the north, and about the financial structures of the western world cracking and shaking. And we see evidence everywhere we look that things are out of control .... is now the time?"
"Stop sitting around speculating. It's not for you to know the times or seasons which
the Father has fixed by his own authority, but I'm giving you the power to be my wit¬-
nesses. I'm giving my mantle to you. Put it on and prepare the earth."
The word of the Lord to the Body of Christ on earth at this hour .... the word of the Lord to you as a believer at this hour is,
"Put on the mantle! Stop walking around wringing your hands complaining about your
problems and wondering about what's going to happen next. Put on the mantle and get
out there and be my witnesses!"
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come to you.
I am giving you a fresh measure of my spirit.... receive it.
Open your mouth and breathe it in ...
Open your heart and receive it....
put it on!"
How do you put on the mantle? You put on the mantle the same way you put on salvation ..... by faith. You don't wait for the goose pimples or the lightning or the thunder. You open your heart and receive.
Put on the mantle so that you may have life. Reading from Romans 8 (which is the big chapter about the mantle);
But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. (His righteousness.) If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you. Romans 8:9-11
The same life that raised Jesus from the dead, the same life that turned the water into wine, that opened the eyes of the blind comes to you now. Put on the mantle and you will have life ...... Life is nowhere else. The life of God is in the mantle..... The life of God is in the Spirit.....
It is the Spirit that gives life, the flesh --- is of no avail. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life.....
put them on.
Put on the mantle so that you may overcome the weakness of your own flesh.
So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh
for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to
death the deeds of the body you will live. Romans 8:12,13
Many of us are walking around resigned to the idea that "I'm going to be an emotional cripple the rest of my life."
God knows I love him. Jesus knows I love him. But there are certain weaknesses in me that I'm just going to have to live with the rest of my life.
It's a lie straight from the pit.
Some of us are saying,
- "Every once-in-a-while I'm just going to have to go out and get drunk. Get high. Indulge myself".
- "I can't help it, but every once-in-a-while I slip into sexual sin."
- "I can't help it but I get eaten up with obsessions of jealousy."
And this goes on and on and on. We know these weaknesses are there and we say,
"Well, I'm human. Everybody has their problems. God understands."
Nonsense! .... put on the mantle and by the Spirit overcome the weaknesses of the flesh. It can be done.... there's no reason why we have to do any of those things anymore. By the power of the Spirit you don't have to get drunk any more, or high any more, whatever it is that we're involved in.
If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.
Put on the mantle so that you can walk as sons and daughters of God.
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons/daughters of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of
son-ship. When we cry, "Abba! Father!", it is the Spirit himself bearing witness with
our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God
and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also
be glorified with him. Romans 8:14-17
Many of us are walking around like orphans. We feel we really don't belong anywhere. Nobody really knows us, or loves us, or cares about us. And this is why many of us are obsessed with the idea that we have to make our mark somehow. We get our sense of worth by how much we
can acquire, or how much we can achieve, or what kind of dent we can make in other people's lives.
Put on the mantle and immediately you will begin to hear a cry from your inmost heart,
"Abba! Father!"
And you will know that he is your Father .... you belong to him., You don't have to prove anything anymore. You're his daughter, his son, you're royalty walking down the street!
Put on the mantle so that you can pray with power.
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words. And he who searches the hearts of men knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26,27
Paul the apostle who has been laboring for years and years still says,
"We don't know how to pray as we ought."
He includes himself ... he doesn't know how to pray. Nobody knows how to pray. There are no experts in prayer. The ones who pray are the ones who wear mantles. It's the mantle of Elijah that makes it possible for us to pray.
Many of us become so discouraged. We've tried and tried to have some kind of prayer life. We know we have to have a disciplined prayer life .... that we can't make it if we don't have a disciplined prayer life .... but we fail again and again. The reason we fail is because we try to do it without the mantle. Put on the mantle. Go into your room and shut the door and receive again the Spirit of the Lord.
"God, I don't know how to pray. Father, I don't even know what to say ... my mind doesn't
concentrate. Lord, fill me with your Spirit again. Put the mantle over my shoulders...."
... and he will. You will find yourself crying, "Abba! Father!" You will begin to pray as you've never prayed before with confidence and freedom and power and joy.
Put on the mantle so that you can have bread to feed the hungry. People come to us with problems that are absolutely overwhelming. We don't know what to say to them. We don't know what to do. We feel so stupid. Put on the mantle and you'll have bread for these people!
And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him whatever he needs. And I tell you, Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will
find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For every one who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit (the mantle) to those who ask him!"
So we ask for the mantle ... daily, hourly. "Give me bread Lord God," and he gives it. Now they come to us and we have bread for the hungry ... we have healing for the sick ... we have hope for the despairing ... we have wisdom for the ones who are confused ... we have truth for those who are in error ... we have life for those who are dead ... and we have a word that will awaken those who are fast asleep.
Put on the mantle so that you can have a living word.... a word that will succor and strengthen those who are weary.
And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:31
They all spoke. Not just the ones who had the special gift of gab....... everybody.
Again we feel like we just don't have it. We open our mouths and so often nothing of any value seems to come out. But the mantle of the Lord gives us a door of utterance. Every one of us is called to open our mouth.
He who believes in me, out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.....
and this is true. Open your mouth .... and God will give you words that will be life.
Finally, put on the mantle so you don't have to spend the rest of your life in fear. So you can cast aside the spirit of fear.
Hence I remind you (Timothy) to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the
laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of fear but a spirit of power
and love and of a sound mind.
Most of us are so hampered and inhibited by fear.
We're afraid somebody might hit us,
We're afraid we're going to be rejected,
We're afraid we might fail,
We're afraid our friends might laugh at us,
We're afraid ..... afraid .... afraid.
Timothy, a strong and wonderful servant of God, allowed his mantle to get loose and Paul had to rebuke him.
"Come on, stir up your gift! Get that mantle on again! What's the matter with you?"
And he says that to us today....
"Put on the mantle and don't be afraid! Defy your fear and move ahead."
If we today will walk out the door wearing the mantle of the Lord we're going to have a week like we've never had in our lives. We'll hit the Jordan and the waters will part. We'll speak to the rock and it will open and living water will come out. We'll rebuke the devil and he'll flee. We'll call upon the Father and he'll answer. We'll announce to the world that Jesus risen from the dead is Lord and he himself will come in behind our words and confirm their truth.
"Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
"It's not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority, but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you shall be my witnesses."
That power has come and is coming now. And if we'll put it on and wear it, and move in it we will be his witnesses ... witnesses like we've never been before.