The Inspiration That Elisha Asked For

 

1 And it came about when the LORD was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven, that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, "Stay here please, for the LORD has sent me as far as Bethel." But Elisha said, "As the LORD lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they went down to Bethel. Then the sons of the prophets who were at Bethel came out to Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?" And he said, "Yes, I know; be still." Elijah said to him, "Elisha, please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to Jericho." But he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So they came to Jericho. The sons of the prophets who were at Jericho approached Elisha and said to him, "Do you know that the LORD will take away your master from over you today?" And he answered, "Yes, I know; be still." Then Elijah said to him, "Please stay here, for the LORD has sent me to the Jordan." And he said, "As the LORD lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you." So the two of them went on.

7 Now fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood opposite them at a distance, while the two of them stood by the Jordan. Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters, and they were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." He said, "You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; if not, it shall not be so." As they were going along and talking, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire which separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha saw it and cried out, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" And he saw Elijah no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces. He also took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and returned and stood by the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him and struck the waters and said, "Where is the LORD, the God of Elijah?" And when he also had struck the waters, they were divided here and there; and Elisha crossed over.

15 Now when the sons of the prophets who were at Jericho opposite him saw him, they said, "The spirit of Elijah rests on Elisha." And they came to meet him and bowed themselves to the ground before him. They said to him, "Behold now, there are with your servants fifty strong men, please let them go and search for your master; perhaps the Spirit of the LORD has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley." And he said, "You shall not send." But when they urged him until he was ashamed, he said, "Send." They sent therefore fifty men; and they searched three days but did not find him. They returned to him while he was staying at Jericho; and he said to them, "Did I not say to you, 'Do not go'?"

 

I am aware that you have much heard and learned the way of truth of salvation which is taught in this revelation. Today concerning this word I would like to dwell on the following:

 

The History in the Passage

  Elijah was a servant of God at that time who worked for Him, having received all the power of God and dwelling among His people and the Gentiles. It was when this servant was authorized the sovereignty of all the regimes of the Gentiles and the fallen people of God, and it was when he was granted all authority over faithful saints.

 

Elisha knew well that Elijah was a powerful servant who had been authorized to anoint Hazael king over the Gentiles and to anoint Jehu king over the fallen Israel, and to anoint Elisha as prophet of the remaining Israelites. Also it was Elijah that worked miracles of restoring the dead to life and of healing the sick.

 

Finally Elijah said to Elisha, "You have not failed to follow me. Ask what I shall do for you." Then Elisha said to Elijah, "I am not asking sovereignty of the Gentiles, sovereignty of Israel, all authority of Judah, signs, wonders, or any glory or honor in the world. Let a double portion of the Spirit governing you, Elijah, be upon me."

 

Elijah then said, "You have asked a hard thing. You have asked the most difficult and valuable thing. It would not have been difficult had you asked all the authority of the Gentiles, earthly possessions, or respect drawn from signs and wonders through the power of God. You have asked the hardest thing of me. You have asked a thing of the highest value. If you see me to the end when God takes me from over you, it shall be so for you; if not, it shall not be so. If you see me taken up to God by a whirlwind and if you continue to see God's work on me to the end, it shall be so for you; otherwise, it shall not be so."

 

Elijah went on through with Elisha from Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and the Jordan, and he went up by a whirlwind to heaven. At that time there were the sons of the prophets at Bethel and Jericho. They said, "Do you know that God will take away your master Elijah? Do you know that this time God will take up Elijah by a whirlwind, and do you still follow him? Your master is surely to be taken up by a whirlwind to disappear, and you are to fail behind. Let us, you and us, remain here." They adjured him.

 

Elisha then said, "Yes, I know; be still." So Elijah and Elisha departed Gilgal together and came to Bethel, to Jericho, and to the Jordan. Elisha said to Elijah, "As the LORD God's existence does not change and as your soul which has attained salvation does not change, my steps to follow the Lord will not change. I will not fall from you." When Elisha said this, Elijah said, "Let us go together," and they went together.

 

The prophets saw at a distance the two of them standing by the Jordan, and they saw that Elijah took his mantle and folded it together and struck the waters, and the waters were divided here and there, so that the two of them crossed over. Now Elijah went up by a whirlwind to heaven, and Elisha was left all alone, and said, "LORD God, where is the God that went together with Elijah?" He struck the waters using the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and the waters were divided here and there exactly as they had been when Elijah had struck, so that Elisha crossed over the dry land of the Jordan.

 

The prophets saw what had happened and said, "The Spirit that went together with Elijah rests on Elisha." They welcomed Elisha and all bowed themselves to the ground before him honoring him as their teacher, and they urged him, "Sir, there are with us fifty strong men, please let them go and search for your master Elijah; perhaps the Spirit of God has taken him up and cast him on some mountain or into some valley, and he might be injured now. Let them bring Elijah back."

 

Then Elisha answered, "You shall not send. Now that God has taken up Elijah to heaven, how can he be on the earth? Do not send." Mocking and scoffing they said, "What heaven has he been taken up to?" So Elisha said, "Then send." The fifty searched three days but they did not find Elijah, and they reported to Elisha that they had not found Elijah. Elisha said, "Now you do not believe God's work. Did I not tell you not to go?" And when Elisha was about to depart, the men of the city said to him, "The situation of this city is pleasant, but the water is bad and the land is unfruitful causing us economic trouble. Please heal this."

 

Elisha had salt brought to him and threw it in the spring of water, praying to God, "LORD, purify the waters so that it may not happen again." Thereafter in the city there has been no grain cast before the time and no harmful water to crops to this day. Then Elisha went up from there, and as he was going up by the way, young lads came out from the city and mocked him, reviling, "Go up, you baldhead; go up, you baldhead." Elisha cursed them before God, then two fierce beasts came out of the mountain and tore up the forty-two lads there. Then he returned to Mount Carmel.

 

This is what is written in the passage to tell us of the truth of salvation, and to teach us of the principle of salvation. Also it is a covenant.

 

Two Spirits Ruling Mankind

  This is the reason that I have felt it necessary to read to testify this word of covenant:

 

Satan in the guise of serpent came into the garden of Eden in the days of the ancestors of man, and enticed our ancestors Adam and Eve; death and sin have come in since, resulting in human death, and this evil spirit has been king over mankind up to now. This Satan that appeared as serpent in the garden of Eden has been king over mankind and will rule mankind until the Second Advent of Jesus.

 

The ruler in what Jesus said, "The ruler of the world is coming," indicates the evil spirit who had fought with the ancestor in the garden of Eden and conquered and overcame him. This evil spirit has occupied human beings, who will have been owned by the evil spirit until the Second Advent. The mankind who will be in the lake of fire and brimstone also has been owned by the evil spirit and has been a subject of the kingdom of the evil spirit.

 

As it is written in Ephesians 2:1 and the following, the evil spirit thus killed mankind by means of sins and trespasses. Now Jesus redeemed us liberating us through His work of vicarious redemption of the cross, reconciling us who were enemies to God, and justifying us to stand before God. He redeemed us and revived our dead spirits through the Holy Spirit and the truth.

 

According to the passage of Ephesians 2:1-5, we have been legally freed from the evil spirit and we have been clothed with the redemption of Christ. The elect among unbelievers remain captive to the evil spirit since they are yet to realize the redemption of Christ. This is why it is written there that the prince of the power of the air is now working in both unbelievers and believers in Jesus who are disobedient. The evil spirit rules us to destroy us and the Holy Spirit rules us to save us, and the conflict will last until the Second Advent of Jesus.

 

It is not because God is not as potent as Satan, remembering that God created Satan, that the evil spirit can rule mankind. He granted freedom through the contract between God Himself and mankind, and it is in accordance with the just law of God that Satan has enslaved and subjected mankind because Satan had prevailed over him.

 

We believers are regenerated by the redemption through the truth and the Holy Spirit. God always rules our spirit; our flesh consisting of the heart and the body belongs to God only when our heart and body receive God, and our flesh will belong to the evil spirit when our heart and body welcome the evil spirit. All unbelievers, great or small, are ruled by the prince of the air. Believers, however, can be ruled either by the Holy Spirit if they receive the Holy Spirit to be ruled by Him, or by the evil spirit if they reject the Holy Spirit to receive the evil spirit.

 

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Deception of the Evil Spirit

  Therefore, it is that either the evil spirit can rule us inside us or the Holy Spirit can rule us inside us. When the evil spirit rules us, all is of the evil spirit―our thought, knowledge, judgment and appraisal, hope and desire, and deeds. When the evil spirit comes to rule us, all hopes and deeds of ours become of the evil spirit, which makes all things―our knowledge, hope, character, thought, hobby, and appraisal―of the evil spirit.

 

Now through the evil spirit we have all that are to perish, hobby to perish, wish to perish, thought to perish, pride to perish, things enviable to perish, ardor to perish, confidence to perish, words to perish, and deeds to perish. Who can make us return from these? Who can make a thought to perish into a thought to last forever, who can make a hobby to corrupt and perish into a hobby to last forever, and who can make a corrupt and sordid desire destroying both ourselves and others into a desire to last forever? No one can do it, and this is what we believers all have experienced as true.

 

"This must be accomplished to death; This hope must be realized to death; I cannot live unless I have acquired this; I will do this even though I should die." Once upon a time a person went to a mountain to pray to God that a thing might be realized which he thought was more necessary, more valuable, and more desirable than life. He was inspired by the Holy Spirit during his prayer and his heart was converted into right heart, and wept loudly. "Lord, I thank you for preventing me from doing this. I had desired and hoped for this corrupt thing which is to perish and to die and to destroy myself and others. If this had been realized when I desired it, I could not have escaped from it for the rest of my life. I thank you for saving me from this." He repented of coming to God with the object of prayer.

 

Having been inspired by the Holy Spirit, he found out that what he had desired so much was in fact an enemy to himself more pernicious than a deadly poison. Now the enemy has become alienated from him, and the enemy is also what he hates most. He has been thus changed and his heart has been inspired to change.

 

"I will not be satisfied unless I have taken this power at the least, this money at the least, this affair at the least, this person at the least, and this thing at the least." Inside and outside this heart there is such heart, spirit, will, knowledge, and thought that cannot be alterable just like a patch of cloth dyed in black. Who can bleach the destruction completely dyed in the humanity of the whole character inside the body and the heart? Who can change this? The thing which is detested and grieved from the center of our heart, which is regrettable so much for having done like that, which is too much of a loathsome foe, and which is disgusting and filthy and full of heinous and injurious poison, who can change these into the exactly opposite? There is no one to do that. No one.

 

Today we see two types of mankind. One as a soldier of the cross has given up everything in the world as rubbish and goes the way of the cross devoting all his possessions, the body, and the life. Still he is regretful for not having gone this way before and is praying that he may continue in the way. He regards the one as foolish, insane, and silly, who witnessing the one going the way of the cross still refuses to receive the inspiration of the Holy Spirit but choose to be influenced by Satan.

 

The steps which Moses had taken to flee to the Midian wilderness seemed to be insane, when forsaking the status eligible for heir of the largest and most powerful country in the world he preferred to suffer together with the people of God. Receiving the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he came to acknowledge the way only to be true, and he departed as he could not live in Egypt knowing that it was only to perish to remain in the country.

 

Today it is all the same. All men and all Christians go the same way and die in the end regretting, shedding tears, beating breasts, and saying that it has been vain and regrettable. Even though all men testify this truth, men accepting the inspiration of the evil spirit will say, "It is what men usually say when dying, and I must accomplish this or that." Then they become subject to the inspiration of the evil spirit; they think of nothing but what is only to perish, they hope for what is only to perish, they cherish hobby that is only to perish, they chase enjoyment that is only to perish, they harbor zeal only to their destruction, and they do what is only to perish, and they hope for these only to annihilate this world and the world to come, and themselves and those belonging to themselves, and only to push everything into destruction and to burn themselves on explosives. This is what all men testified about when they left this world, though.

 

These do not look what they are, and men cherish them until the day of death―the enjoyment, the hobby, the value, the entertainment, the power, the rank, the behavior, the meal, the clothing, the residence, and the place, all too good to leave. Man cannot leave until he dies.

 

Now that we have seen this destruction, we must be changed substantially. We are of this human; we must recognize it as destruction, and we must abhor exactly and oppositely what we used to like, and we must fear it. Following the inspiration of the Holy Spirit which we have disliked, we must devote our body and life on what is eternally true and right in both this world and the world to come, going and hoping for this way. We must be changed to hope to be man of such heart day and night.

 

Do you think that knowledge can change our heart? Knowledge cannot do it. It is no use arguing or testifying to others logically and endlessly. We must receive the coming of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The inspiration of the Holy Spirit! Elisha knew this.

 

Our heart must be moved by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. God and His laws are exceedingly great, glorious, and authoritative, and only our life belonging to His laws is true and eternal. What is it good for to break from the subjection to God gaining the whole world? "Even though you may gain the whole world, you have all failed if you lose your true man and you are deprived of what could have become the element of the true man," the Lord said. "For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?"

 

Elisha Asks for a Double Portion of Elijah's Spirit

  It is impossible to have our hearts transformed right without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to have our heart possess right intention, right judgment, right value, right hope, right hobby, and right spirit. Man cannot change his hobby, for instance, although he has already come to know that he himself and his life are almost ruined by it. He knows that this hobby has ruined and will ruin his life in the end, but he still cannot dispose of the hobby. He cannot change his object of leasure, his object of desire, his object of disposition, and his object of peace. He cannot change. The change cannot take place without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

 

Thus rather than taking all the power of the unbelieving Gentiles, the power of Israel, and the power of the people of God, we ought to choose something better. Staying in Gilgal is good, and staying in Bethel is also good, but we must choose a better thing. Bethel means to live building the altar before God, or to lead a life of pure faith with faithful heart and intent before God. Gilgal means to live with the power and blessing of God in the spirit and the flesh. Jericho means to be bestowed the power to perform miracles and signs.

 

These were all good and all people were content to settle down there. Elisha, however, preferred the Inspiration that enabled Elijah to walk his way. Realizing through his inspired heart, Elisha affirmed that he needed the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that enabled Elijah to possess the true heart that was forever not to be put to shame. So he left all and came to the Jordan, and for two of them to cross the river he thought that the power alone, which he had brought from Jericho, was not enough. The Jordan is impossible to swim across; all will be drowned while swimming. Dying is different from living, but Elisha did not mind dying. Ignoring death he would walk with Elijah to go his master's way. Now that he had crossed the Jordan overcoming death, he was finally granted to ask what he wanted, and it was realized to him.

 

Only the Inspiration

  Therefore it is inevitable to be impossible without the Inspiration. It is impossible unless we receive the Inspiration. Nothing but the Inspiration can change our heart and silly thought, and our nature that is wicked, silly, foolish, and venomous. Our heart cannot evaluate rightly nor thus discard filthy happiness, filthy glory, filthy hobby, and all other filthy things unless the inspiration of the Holy Spirit moves our heart. Elisha did not pay attention to many good things of this or that in the world, nor death. He had this hope, "By any means I will have the Holy Spirit, who worked with Elijah, rule my heart and myself." We must have the same hope for the Inspiration.

 

It is the most painful for us to sever ourselves from the world while we still cherish the world. Also it is exceedingly distressful to go with much suffering the way which God leads us into. When the Inspiration comes upon us, what all the world envies becomes nothing but death, nothing but reproach, and nothing but poison. Now they are not what we used to feel in our heart that we want and envy. What we were interested in has been completely changed, so that we have come to view those as God views them, professing the conclusion in harmony with that of God in our heart, thought, and knowledge.

 

It is painful to break away from one's hobby and to correct it. However, hobby becomes changed if the inspiration of the Holy Spirit comes. The past favorite object of leasure becomes changed. The evaluation and the judgment have become changed.

 

One's nature, desire, and all knowledge have now become changed, so that though living in the earth he is finally capable of leading a life walking in the path of eternal life with delight and joy. We can have the same delight originating from the Inspiration in the Lord on the cross; "Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani"―"My God, My God, why have You bestowed on me this authority of glory, of mediator and propitiation between the Lord and the creation?" We cannot have such a heart nor understanding without the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. There is nothing but the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that can make one's heart blessed and make right heart, and that can make one's hobby blessed, hope blessed, desire blessed, and understanding and knowledge blessed.

 

Our spirit has been regenerated through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, but the Inspiration cannot come into our heart because of our old man―the evil spirit, the evil nature, and the evil habits. This is referred to as, "I stand at the door and knock. Open the door. I will come in to you and will work with you, and you will work with Me. Then you can live in this passing world of strangers well enough to build eternity."

 

Therefore we must be inspired by the Holy Spirit to correct our spirit, thought, knowledge, nature, appraisal, desire and all everyday life. Before the inspiration of the Holy Spirit comes, man is of the evil spirit, of the evil nature, and of the evil habits making the whole doomed to destruction. It is said in the Scripture, "Know that the best thing according to the evil spirit, the evil nature, and the evil habits is the worst, and know that what is the most interesting is the least interesting and dreadful. What you feel is desired most is what is the least desirable for you."

 

We must receive the Holy Spirit. Impossible unless we receive the Holy Spirit. We must know that even though we have been regenerated through the truth and the Holy Spirit, we are being ruled by the evil spirit, the evil nature, and the evil habits. Even though we are trying to live in faith, the way of God remains a stumbling way to us because the evil spirit is ruling us, rendering our heart, thought, desire, plan, judgment, appraisal and knowledge not in conformity to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. However hard we may try, the things in the world are a mass of foolishness, and it is impossible to break them off from us.

 

Prayer

We believe what You said, that only through the Holy Spirit of God it is possible to transform death into life and all falsehood into truth. Also today we know that no one but the inspiration of the Holy Spirit can change us. To break away from the world without the Inspiration will only result in suffering of faith and in pain of death, and to accomplish the righteousness of God without the Inspiration will result in suffering in pain to die. Through the Inspiration coming into us we will look to heaven and understand, and we will come to know that the way of the cross, which the Lord has provided us with, is of honor, of rejoice, of pleasure, and of glory. Through the Inspiration we will realize that no path is more successful and more rejoicing, and better than the path of the cross. Through the deception of the evil spirit we will feel that no path is better than the path of the world. We will perish without the Inspiration. You have already revived us through the Inspiration by the work of the precious blood of the Lord's cross, and we entreat You to fill our hearts and bodies with the Inspiration so that we may gladly and with joy and willingly walk the way of the cross. I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.

 

 

Selected Sermons 03 1982-10-03 Afternoon The Inspiration That Elisha Asked For (Continued) 2 Kings 2:9-10

 

9 When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me." He said, "You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so."

 

Absolutely Corrupt Human Heart and Spirit

  Our heart was completely corrupt and now the evil spirit works inside ourselves. Therefore, Jeremiah the prophet said that human heart is more deceitful than all else and desperately corrupt. What used to be right, straight, and true has become corrupt, only coming to leave no breath of life and being 'dead in trespasses and sins,' as it is written in the Scripture.

 

All the elements of man's heart have become completely corrupt, and further the evil spirit has restlessly been ruling the fallen human heart since the days of garden of Eden. Human heart has become of the evil spirit and desperately corrupt. So it is written through Jeremiah the prophet, "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?"

 

No Turning Back without the Holy Spirit

  It is written in Jeremiah 17:9 and the following that God tests all deeds of man to recompense according to his ways not only in this world but also eternally. Now man is more deceitful than all things and desperately corrupt; in addition, the evil spirit will not release man whom he holds captive and will try to subject him to his rule. How can human heart turn back that is fallen into a manifold and deep pit?

 

It is written that all the disobedient hearts are being ruled by the evil spirit of the air. This means that the evil spirit even rules the regenerate when they are disobedient to the truth and the Inspiration. The Lord saved our spirit through the redemptive work of the cross, but not the flesh consisting of the heart and the body. Our flesh is to be saved when it receives gladly the Inspiration and the truth through our spirit that has already been saved, and strives thereafter.

 

We cannot correct our unrighteousness without the help of the Holy Spirit. Beginning with a wrong desire we have the whole life and the eternity ruined, not knowing that the desire is wrong until the day of death. Finally when we die we then will conclude that we have strived in vain, which is all that we can do; we are not able to discard the wrong desire even though we are aware that it is wrong.

 

Think about a person born of a Christian family as an example; he was catechized and baptized, and he had a keen desire for learning and worked hard to be a prominent scholar at time of his death. His entire life had been devoted to the world and the things in it, forsaking God, the word of God, and the Inspiration and the kingdom of heaven. Though his heavenly elements now perished eternally, he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire. We do not know how many people like him there will be.

 

Who can teach man possessed of wrong ideas and desires so as to make him realize that his desires are indeed wrong? An ardent rhetorician may stop him in argument and even convince him, but cannot make him realize his fault to turn himself back. Only through the Holy Spirit of the Father is it possible to uproot the evil spirit, to uproot the evil nature living self-centeredly ignoring the obvious existence of the Creator, and to uproot anthropocentric filthy customs, practices, traditions, and all other vile things of the world that have been handed down through generations. It is not possible through human resolution or determination, or human penitent heart.

 

God has averred that nothing of man's can prevail. The evil spirit rules the hearts and bodies of believers, as well as unbelievers in the world. So it is only in their names and lips to profess Christ, and those actually believing in Jesus are rare as to find a grain of rice in husk in a sack of rice.

 

All are being ruled by the evil spirit, by the original sin, and by the evil nature which is the actual sin; those are a power strong enough to devour the entire mankind in the world. How can we break through the power to escape? It is absolutely impossible unless the Holy spirit helps us. Even though Elisha knew that Elijah was a man who could authorize power of the Gentiles and the Church and healing power of all wonders and signs, he asked for nothing else but the Inspiration working in Elijah.

 

Four Stages of Progress in Inspiration

  Elijah, Elisha, and the sons of the prophets were models of the saints of the New Testament Church to illustrate paths in faith.

 

Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho are cities in the land of Canaan beyond the Jordan, and the reason for the sequence of Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho to the Jordan is not merely due to the geographical locations. Those cities represent the ideas of faith each of which has its own history to reveal to us relevant divine works.

 

1. Faith at Gilgal: Earthly Blessing

What does Gilgal mean that is referred to in the conversation between Elijah and Elisha, "You stay here at Gilgal; the LORD God has sent me to Bethel"? Gilgal is where the Israelites, after entering the land of Canaan crossing the Jordan, first ate the grain, which God blessed of the land, instead of manna which they had eaten.

 

Before they begin to believe in Jesus, Christians struggle for themselves on their own. After they begin to believe in Jesus, grace and blessing of Jesus will now solve worries in family and complex matters, so that their lives in flesh and also in spiritual faith become successful and free of adversities. Then many believers in Jesus will choose to remain there. When Elijah said to Elisha at Gilgal, "You stay here, and I am going to Bethel," Elisha answered, "No, I swear to follow you." Then Elisha was granted to follow him.

 

One is not to be pressed to lead a life in faith; rather one should first be gladly willing to live in faith. Without willingness no life in faith will begin. The same is true today. Let us recall ourselves as believers in Jesus. Before we began to believe in Jesus, everything of ours, individual church life, family church life, social life, and all other life had been entangled. After we began to believe in Jesus, everything has been disentangled and secured, and we have come to prefer to stay in the satisfactory living. Then we are to be admonished to advance a step further, not to be forced. Of course, to remain there means to see no true success. Those who remained there throughout their lives led a living only to die, and ended in their lives without any connection to God.

 

2. Faith at Bethel: Living Attending the Altar

From Gilgal Elijah and Elisha went to Bethel. Bethel in the Scripture is the place of blessing covenanted by God through the ancestry in faith. Bethel was where altars were built; all built their first altars when they began. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all built altars at Bethel so that Bethel has come to pass for a place to build altar. Life of building altar.

 

All think it enough to keep sabbath well, to read the Bible, to give collection, to preach the gospel, and to pray so as to live in faith peacefully and without any difficulty. Then they are content to live there.

 

At that time Elijah told Elisha to live there. There were at Bethel many sons of the prophets who sought to be prophets and servants of God. Then the sons of the prophets also said to Elisha, "Do you know that it has been determined that God will take away your lord whom you are following from over you today? Why are you bothering to follow him, only to fail in the end? Stay with us here." Nonetheless Elisha said, "I know; be still." He was not stopped there and he tried to follow Elijah to the end, to go beyond the place. Instead of being content of the common, peaceful life in faith he insisted on following Elijah to the end.

 

Many people today are content of living in faith only to such extent, and not many people are willing to follow the Lord wherever He leads through the word of the Scripture and the Inspiration. They are settled in living at Bethel. Why do you think the sons of the prophets would remain there? It is for our instruction that such a historical incident was arranged. It had been purposed before eternity and is now revealed to us. It was only one person, Elisha, among many sons of the prophets that would follow Elijah to the end, saying, "I will follow you wherever you go."

 

3. Faith at Jericho: Signs and Wonders

When they arrived at Jericho, there were fifty choice sons of the prophets waiting, and they also stopped Elisha and told him not to go further, and urged him to stay with them.

 

"God will now take your lord, and you will fail should you follow him further. Knowing that you are going to encounter adversities and difficulties, you had better stay with us here." Elisha answered, "I know; be still," and he kept following Elijah to arrive at the Jordan.

 

4. Faith at the Jordan: Beyond Death

Scholars generally agree that the Jordan River symbolizes death. Its stream makes it impossible to cross unless there is a boat. Nonetheless Elijah and Elisha crossed over on dry ground, and finally Elijah asked what Elisha wanted. When told what Elisha wanted, Elijah said, "What you have asked will not be realized unless you continue to see me until I am taken from you." Elisha saw Elijah in the whirlwind to the end, to obtain the mantle of Elijah that fell from him.

 

What does it mean? It is a form. The mantle is of no significance. It is a model or a form of revelation.

 

True Faith and False Faith

  Elijah is shown to us today as a model of Jesus, and Elisha a saint following the Lord to the end. The sons of the prophets represent the saints at the stage of progress in faith at Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho. Some think it a manifestation of good faith to believe in Jesus, reading the Bible and being blessed by God to live without anxiety. Now some others go further for deeper faith to build altar, being content of attending dawn prayer services, praying, and keeping sabbaths. Still others are content to believe in Jesus to be blessed of signs and wonders.

 

It is said in Matthew 7, "Beware of the false prophets." Who are the false prophets? They are those who will come and say, "Did we not prophesy in Your name to lead many people into church, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform signs and wonders?" Then the Lord will declare to them, "I never knew you; depart from Me."

 

"Beware of the false prophets. Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven." Signs and wonders are performed to manifest the evidence of the living Lord, to make us believe clearly and without doubt and follow Him, but they are not salvation itself. They are meant to encourage us to believe when we see them performed. A miracle itself is not salvation. "Beware of the false prophets. Whoever does not do according to the will of My Father who is in heaven will all perish."

 

In Matthew 16, it is written, "Upon this rock I will build My church. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. This is not what flesh and blood revealed to you, but what the Spirit of the Father revealed to you, so that I will build My church on the rock. I will give him the keys of the kingdom of heaven upon whom I will build My church."

 

In the Revelation to John it is written, "Do not measure the court which is outside the temple, but measure the temple and the altar, and those who worship in it."

 

Prophesying in the name of the Lord to preach to many people, casting out demons, and performing signs and wonders, these are not the way of salvation itself. They just show the way of salvation. It is the false prophets who say, "Are these not salvation itself?" It is said that signs are for the people yet to believe, not for the people already believing. Signs are a means to admonish us that, as God lives and the word of God is true, we should profess as such, and live according to the word of the Lord.

 

What does it mean to live according to the word of the Lord? Then where is His church built? Through what are the keys of the kingdom of heaven given? 'Flesh' means what comes out of the research on human mind and body. Not on this flesh but on the Inspiration revealed by the Father will God build His church, and He will commit the keys of the kingdom of heaven to the Inspiration. Whatever the Inspiration binds on earth shall have been bound in heaven and whatever the Inspiration looses shall have been loosed, and this is all to make us concentrate on the Inspiration. Signs and wonders do not mean the Inspiration itself. They are not the Inspiration itself.

 

Lives in faith at Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho mean broadly to suggest a true path in faith; life in new grace of God in spirit and flesh, life in building altar to God, and life in wonders of healing.

 

Those who would remain at the three cities, who were they? They knew that Elisha would lose Elijah when Elijah ended in whirlwind. What did their knowledge of Elijah's ascension do for themselves? It moved them to refrain from following Elijah. Also they bowed themselves to the ground before Elisha to acknowledge him as their lord. Notwithstanding, what did their acknowledgement of Elisha do for themselves? They did not believe, doubting, that God had Elijah ascend, and urged Elisha to let the fifty strong men search for Elijah so that after they found the body of Elijah they would say, "See. Elijah has not ascended but fallen, and is now dead." They were always in opposition, in latent wishes from their hearts, that they would rather see the God's works not established than they see God's works accomplished.

 

The same is true today.

 

To Ask Only for the Inspiration to the End

  It is yet to go far more even after we have reached Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho. We must cross the line of death to overcome the death of the Jordan; we must not mind giving up our life to die as we regard the spiritual and eternal life as more precious than the bodily life; we must admit that all might of the Creator, the Lord, is greater than that of all creation, ignoring this world and the creatures in it; we must exalt the Creator more highly than the world when comparing the world with God, and we must appreciate the hope on heaven more than the hope on earth when comparing earthly hope with heavenly hope; we must seek for the Inspiration of God, though everything may fail, to work like Elijah and to live in faith like Elijah.

 

We must believe that man cannot do without the Holy Spirit; we must understand that through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit we ourselves and all the evil nature of corruption and all the works of the evil spirit can be transformed, released, and freed.

 

We must ask more―more than Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho, and the life and death of the Jordan, and then we will be asked what we ask for. Then we must ask for nothing on earth but the Inspiration, and it will be granted. When will the Inspiration be realized? The Inspiration rested upon Elisha when he continued to see Elijah in the last whirlwind to the end.

 

Today pastors in their ministry as well as the laity exhibit the same. Many pastors choose to be content to stay at Gilgal, at Bethel, or at Jericho. Many pastors prefer to remain where they are, being content with their performing signs and wonders, or securing church membership sufficient to make their living, or just maintaining the current situation. Many believers cannot overcome the line of death; they cannot appreciate salvation more than life, so that they will not invest their lives. Like unbelievers who lust after the things in the world, believers in the world lust after the things in the world and desire for them, and become satisfied to go on as such once they have secured them. This passage shows that there are many believers who take the same path.

 

Life in Faith through the Inspiration

  What Elisha did after he had received the Inspiration of Elijah was to purify the water and the land of Jericho, and it was said so purified thereafter. Was it because Elisha prayed that God answered? Was it because Elisha threw salt? No. It was to show us that God and Elisha moved together. When God and Elisha moved together after he received the Inspiration, Elisha first solved all problems on earth through the power of God to glory and brought about peace among people on earth.

 

Now Elisha cursed those who mocked at and rejected him. Was it an Elisha's mistake? It could not have been possible if God had not done it. It was possible because God did it. It was what God did. What did the incident reveal that forty-two lads were torn up by bears? "Construction and demolition on earth, and salvation and destruction, if you bind these on earth, they will be bound on earth, and if you loose these on earth, they will be loosed on earth. If you bind and loose these in heaven, they will be bound and loosed in heaven, respectively." Why? It is bound when the Inspiration binds it, and it is loosed when the Inspiration looses it. To bind and loose, and to save and destroy, that is, to move as God does is possible only through the Inspiration, not through performing signs and wonders. These precedent types are useful to teach us how to live in faith, and we can understand better now.

 

Today we see three types of believers; those who will settle down in living in faith at Gilgal, at Bethel, and at Jericho. They have not yet offered their lives on the altar, and they are devoted and attached to their lives. They may be raging now, but Satan is saying that they will be swept away in the end. True salvation cannot be attained unless the line of death is crossed over. Whatever is strived for will only result in Satan's prey and earning.

 

Only after he crossed over the Jordan was Elisha finally asked, "What do you ask?" Overcoming the line of death and offering life as a sacrifice all for the Lord and the way of the Lord, he advanced to the position to take the world and everything in it.

 

When God asked, "You can have whatever you ask for. What do you want?", he asked for the Inspiration instead of anything on earth, and he was given the grace of having the inspiration of the Holy Spirit rule him. It is so valuable that it is hard to obtain; now if we rage to the satisfaction of our desire, if we live on our own to exhaust our heart and strength, and then if we hesitatingly use like rubbish what has been left on us, which cannot even be used commercially in the world, only to keep sabbaths passively and read the Bible, pray and do mission works to a minimum extent―it is not enough.

 

Let us get over Gilgal!

Let us get over Bethel!

Let us get over Jericho!

Let us get over the Jordan!

Let us receive the power of the Holy Spirit!

 

Thus Elisha crossed over the Jordan back to reach where the people of God lived. Elisha and they were all the same in that they lived in Jericho, but he lived there with the people of God after he had lived throughout Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and the Jordan, after he had continued finally to see the Lord departing in the whirlwind, and after he had received the Inspiration to cross again over the Jordan.

 

Life in Preparation for the Inspiration

  Even the prudent virgins who were prepared with oil got drowsy and began to sleep while the bridegroom was delaying. But at midnight there was a shout, "Behold! the bridegroom!", and then those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and those who were not ready could not go in.

 

Some believe in Jesus going through the steps in due order esteeming the Lord and the kingdom of heaven more than themselves. Others living otherwise will not actually attain the constructional salvation though they are watched in hope of improvement while they are living at the three cities. Therefore we will have built our houses on the rock if we believe in these words.

 

"Beware of the false prophets." Who are the false prophets? "We prophesied in Your name and we taught in the name of God." To teach the way of God means to testify to it, but it does not mean that the testifier is sanctified by his teaching. His teaching sanctifies others, not himself. Performing a sign of casting out demons will not change himself. He will not be changed even if he has performed great works through the power of the Lord.

 

Then how can he who teaches the way of God be changed? It is written, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter." What is the 'will'? That is the Inspiration. That is the Inspiration. Salvation is initiated only from the Inspiration, and what all the others do is the works of salvation, not the salvation itself.

 

In Matthew 16 it is written, "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church." What is the rock and what are the keys of the kingdom of heaven?

 

"That you know about Me saying, 'You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,' is not what you have learned from all the predecessors or theologians through generations. It is not what man revealed. You learned what the Inspiration taught you, to admit as such, and to know as such as you know now. It is not what flesh revealed to you."

 

"The deed which you are doing as the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in you leads, I will build My church on that deed. To the person who does the deed, I will give the keys of the kingdom. What the Inspiration by which you are moved binds shall have been bound and what the Inspiration looses shall have been loosed."

 

Now that the kingdom of heaven is nearer than we first believed, we must be awakened as if this were our last time to have living faith. It is said to the church in Sardis, "You have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. I have not found your deeds completed."―"You should not be content with doing one out of one hundred or fifty out of one hundred. Life is worked only in a perfect deed." Let us discard our habit of discounting the way of God and discounting what could have been a perfect deed.

 

It is written in 1 John 2:27 and thereafter, "As the anointing teaches you truly and rightly, you need not learn from man." What we learn from man should be used as basic knowledge to understand the Scripture. Salvation does not lie in teaching the Scripture as an object of general knowledge; and salvation lies in doing as the Inspiration in us moves us. As we are doing as the Inspiration in us moves us, the Church will be built on it, and we will be built on it, and change will take place in it, and power will abide in it.

 

"Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." The love of the Father is cast out of the man who loves the world; the love of the Father cannot abide in him. Can three redemptive works of Jesus work in him who loves the world and the things in the world? The three redemptions will destroy the world in him and devour it and use it. Bringing up the world in him is exactly opposite to the redemptive works of the Lord, so the redemption of the Lord will work to kill the world and the world will try to kill the redemptive works. With these two being antagonistic with each other, what will become of the one who loves the world?

 

"The love of the Father"―salvation of man by God―"is not in him." The salvation of God is not in him who loves the world. Why? "All is from the world. It is from the world. It is the young of the world, the young of the world!"

 

"It is not from the Father." What is it? It is 'the lust of the world,' the one who lusts after the things in the world. It is 'the lust of the eyes,' the one who lusts after what is seen in the world, and it is the living which that one lives. The one is old man, who is the enemy of the works of the blood of Jesus.

 

"The world is passing away and so are its lusts; but the one who does the will of the Father lives forever." He says, "You may live like him; or you may live as the one who loves the world and the things in it. The one who loves the world and the things in it is from the world. All his deeds oppose the works of the Lord, so that the works of the Lord cannot abide in him. Now that you have become his ally to oppose the Lord, should the works of the Lord not be expelled out from you?"

 

Those prophets at Gilgal, Bethel, and Jericho were the prophets of God and ever professed the kingdom of heaven, but they all opposed the deeds of Elisha. They both seduced and opposed Elisha. They even seduced to oppose and mock what God had already completed.

 

Now the Second Coming of the Lord is near. Now that the Advent is being delayed, the world cannot endure. The world is full of wickedness in every respect and it is on the verge of destruction. Full of wickedness in every respect. The Advent of the Lord is imminent. We must quickly come out of the wickedness in which they are perishing.

 

What is the wickedness? To love oneself more than to love Jesus―to believe in Jesus, of course, but to believe in Jesus for one's own sake like those prophets. Since the Lord worked the redemption of the cross for us and sacrificed all to save us, it is lawful for us to live the rest of our lives for Him.

 

Even though they live in faith in Jesus, people continue living in faith in Jesus only for themselves, and it is the court outside the temple. Of course, the Lord lets them live like that, hoping that they will wake up and revive. Living and deed are of the constructional salvation, and living self-centeredly only to love oneself more than the Lord cannot accomplish the constructional salvation, not a hair. It is never accomplished; they have been given the foundational salvation, though.

 

Now that we have almost reached the end of the world, we must reach a conclusion. Heeded or not, we are at the end to give a conclusion. We have to reach a conclusion.

 

We must come out of the sin of living self-centeredly to please and do good for ourselves. Now we must stop centering ourselves to take advantage of the Lord and the way of the Lord, and we must acknowledge that we and all of ours must live for the Lord who redeemed us, and we must start living as such. The salvation will be realized, if ever, in steps of living only for the Lord. The constructional salvation does not exist elsewhere. It is the false prophets who say that the constructional salvation can be accomplished in some other ways.

 

However much one may have received the grace of healing power, it will not do good to himself to perform healing, and it will not do good to himself, either, to preach to many people, unless his living for the Lord is realized. The constructional salvation is built when the one who has been preached to has come to live for the Lord, living or dying; if he lives, he lives for the Lord, or if he dies, he dies for the Lord; if he eats, he does so for the Lord, and if he drinks, he drinks for the Lord. The one who has come to live thus, his constructional salvation is now realized. The constructional salvation is implemented only in living as a thing for use for the Lord, not for ourselves, and as a thing belonging to the Lord and living for the Lord.

 

Even though we all eat, drink, and work together, there are those who prepare oil and others who do not. Elisha was with the sons of the prophets at Jericho after he re-crossed the Jordan. All are there, but there are two kinds of people; one who has gone through the three cities and the other who has not; one who gets drowsy with oil already prepared and the other who also gets drowsy but without oil. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of God." This passage is just for encouragement, as a hope reserved only for a few people so that they will be changed.

 

What is 'the will of My Father'? Salvation exists only where the Inspiration works. No salvation elsewhere. Let us not be comforted in vain. No salvation elsewhere.

 

Now I must conclude finally. I have been trying to persuade people this or that way, but it is time to conclude. I must affirm finally.

 

Sanctification is achieved only where one is led by the Inspiration of the Lord, and the relevant deed will abide eternally and belong to the Lord. The one who is master over himself, who is in charge of his discretion, judgment, understanding, and appraisal, and who is an irresistible mighty king over himself―he may deal with the Lord in his own way, by crafts, with a smile, and with a gift, but what he does is the deed of old man, and not that of new man.

 

To serve as a Sunday School teacher is an easier way to have contact with the Inspiration. It is easier when one is in the Sunday School teacher ministry to distance himself from the entertainment and hobby in the world, and to get nearer to the kingdom of God and to the salvation of man. It is easier to transform one's hobby from the surface, or the external, in the beginning, and then to transform himself into a perfect man like the Lord when he serves as a Sunday School teacher.

 

Without practicing the core object, even if we may say, "I prophesied in Your name," we will be answered by the Lord, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness." We are not to attain salvation by merely performing those. Rather, they are simply a means to our salvation, a most expedient and immediate means.


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