Elijah's final day on earth is examined as a model for how to live with purpose and faith, even when facing the unknown. The sermon traces Elijah's journey with his successor, Elisha, through key locations like Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and the Jordan River, highlighting lessons of dependence on God, the presence of God amidst infidelity, the power of God in victory, and the continuity of God's work. The core lesson is to embrace God's presence and power, learning from past faithfulness and preparing for future responsibility. The sermon concludes by emphasizing the importance of Elisha's request for a double portion of Elijah's spirit, signifying a willingness to carry on God's work with dedication.
Restored with Diffio
Audio restored with Diffio. Diffio processed the original archive recording to reduce noise and produce a cleaner listening version; the original stays available.
Speech quality score (model-estimated, SCOREQ): before 1.94 → restored 4.42
Now, since we have been having a series of studies on the subject of prayer, and even this morning we consider two men who went up to the temple to pray, I was thinking that perhaps tonight we'll spend some time examining the last day in the life of a man who was a man of prayer. We refer to this man on Friday evening. His name was Elijah. Now I think we learn concerning that man that not only was he a man of prayer, but he was a righteous man.
But you will remember in that little section, it says the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much than it goes on to say, and Elijah, etc., etc. So Elijah was a man of prayer, but Elijah was a righteous man, or else his prayer would never have been answered. Not only so, but Elijah was a man of faith. Or it says the prayer of faith in that same section, before it introduces Elijah. So here was the pattern, as it were, the outstanding example of a man who knew how to pray the prayer of faith.
He prayed for a sick nation. They were restored. Here was a man who was a righteous man, yet he lived in the midst of an unrighteous people. Here was a man who had faith in his God at a time when his nation had turned away from God. and were worshipping idols. And I want this evening to examine the last day of this man's life on earth. Let us turn then to the second book of Kings chapter two. And we'll read the eleven verses from this chapter.
The second book of Kings chapter two, verse one. And it came to pass when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elijah from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elijah, Tari here I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Bethel. And Elijah 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 thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today? He said, Yeah, I know it. Hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, Tari here, I pray thee, for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. And he said, As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho, came to Elisha and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master from thy head today?
The answer, J, I knew it. Hold ye your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Tari, I pray thee here. For the Lord has sent me to Jordan. And he said, As the Lord liveth, as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they too went on. And fifty men of the sons of the prophets went and stood to view afar off. They too stood by Jordan. Elijah took his mantle, wrapped it together, and smoked the waters.
They were divided hither and thither, so that they too went over on dry ground. They came to pass when they were gone over that Elijah said unto Elijah, Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. The Elijah said, I pray thee. Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me. He said, Thou hast 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. And it came to pass as they still went on and talked, that behold, there appeared a chariot of fire and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder, and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
And the Lord who blessed you are the reading of these interesting verses. Let us suppose for a moment that each of us could be informed that we had just another day to be here on this earth. Just suppose that tomorrow was to be our last day. Now I'm not trying to be sordid and trying to be realistic. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if tomorrow was to be our last day down here and the Lord was going to call us home tomorrow night?
I wonder how many of us would say tonight if we could be informed that tomorrow was to be the last day. Even so, come Lord Jesus. That everybody says that. That in the house one night with a dear Christian gentleman, we're discussing the truth concerning the coming of the Lord. And he had a nephew sitting in the house who was in the British Air Force, the Royal Air Force. And he broke into the conversation. He said, I'm just as well tell you. He says, I don't want the Lord to come just now. I alluded to them and said, why not? Because, he says, there are things I would like to do.
Places I would like to go. things I would like to see before the Lord comes. A year later, I was in that same home talking to the same gentleman. He said, by the way, what about that nephew of yours? He said, which one? I said, the one who was stationed here in this area and was in your home the last time I was here. I said, he was in the Royal Air Force. Oh, him. He said... He's just turned out a bad young fellow." He said, what? Oh, yes. He says he's broke his parents' heart.
He says he's not interested the least in spiritual things. Well, I said, I'm not surprised. He says, why? He says, that man didn't want the Lord to come. Set your heart tonight, beloved. If we're not anxious for the return of the Lord, there's something wrong somewhere. Suppose we could be informed that tomorrow was to be our last day down here. How would we spend tomorrow? Now, how would you?
Well, Elijah was a man who knew that his last day had come, a man who was a man of God, a man who had passed through a variety of circumstances, a man who had stood the test of trial, above and beyond that he was a man of prayer, a man who knew how to pray for his nation, A man who knew how to present the case before God in faith. Now he's come to his last day on earth.
Because it's obvious from the reading of this passage he knew it. Came to pass when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind. that Elijah went with Elijah and so on and they said to Elijah, Do you know your master is going to be taken from you today? He said, Yes, I know that. Well, how did he know it if he wasn't told? How did the sons of the prophets know it if they hadn't been told? Elijah knew. Here was something that must have been revealed to him. His last day had come. and he was going to heaven without dying.
What a wonderful prospect. Well, how did Elijah spend that day? I want you to notice that he spent it having a walk. You might want to call it a journey. Because it was quite a journey. He went around in circuit, as it were, visiting certain places. And he had with him a young man, a young man who had been his servant, a young man who in his early days had worked on the farm, a young farmer, who used to plow with his oxen, not with a tractor, but with the oxen.
And one day he gave up the plowing in order to follow the man of God. And so from that point on he had been the servant to this great man, Elijah. And on the last day of Elijah's life down here he went for a walk with the young man who was his understudy. May I suggest he did this because he had certain things to tell the young man. certain things to pass on to him, certain instructions that he wanted to give to that young man.
It's quite a customary thing yet, isn't it? If some elderly person is lying in bed and the doctor has said, well, you know, John, you haven't long, no. I think you better call the family. And he gets his family around his bed. and he's got something to say to them. There's nothing new about that. You find it a way back in the book of Genesis. When old Jacob was dying, his twelve sons were called in, and one after the other they stood in front of their father's bed, and he had something to say to each of them. I suggest that right here Elijah knows he's just got another day, and he's going to pack in his mutt as he possibly can into that last day.
He's going to work to the last hour. In so doing, he goes for a walk with Elijah. Now, if you look at your Bibles again, I'll point out some things to you you might find interesting about those two. Things that sort of brought them together. You know, today we're hearing an awful lot about this generation gap. The generation gap. And I'll tell you something, I've never found that gap yet. It's a kind of mystical thing to me, a kind of mythical thing. Something that somebody has thought out as an excuse.
They call it a generation gap. Well, there was no generation gap between Elijah and Elisha. Luke and I'll show you why. Verse one. The closing statement of verse one that Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. He went with them. There was a mark of unity. An older man... walking, as it were, side by side with a younger man, and a younger man willing to go and walk with this older man. That's how it should be.
There should be no such thing as this gap between ages and gap between generations. It doesn't work that way. For the simple reason, right here... In this country today we're people of all ages, some well up in their nineties, some perhaps who are only born today, and you'll find there's people whose ages differ perhaps just by ours and ours, right down from the oldest to the youngest, the white up of a generation gap. No such thing. We've all... And no one could possibly draw the line and say, there's where it divides, the over-thirties and the under-thirties and so on.
Doesn't work that way. Some are under-thirties today, they'll be over-thirties tomorrow. It's a birthday. Here's the whole thing in the Word of God. When it comes particularly to that which savers of Christianity, when you get a Christian community, they're one. Not only was there the mark of unity, look at the end of verse two for a moment and watch this expression, so they went down to Bethel. Going down, may I suggest, a mark of humility.
It's not an easy thing to go down, is it? Everybody wants to climb up. Two words you'll see, wherever you go in this country, Puzian Pool. come to a door, either push it or pull it. And everybody's pushing and pulling, no matter where you go, and all for their own end. You remember the first thing the Lord said to Zacchaeus down there at Jericho, he said, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down. He had been climbing up. You remember what the Lord did that night in the upper room? He rose from the table, laid aside his outer garment, put the towel round here, gilded himself with a towel, and went down and washed their feet.
It's not an easy thing, is it? May I suggest that these two men, Elijah and Elisha, were met by unity. They went with one another. They were met by humility. They went down. But look at the end of verse four. The words of Elisha to his master. I will not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. I will not leave thee. There was a mark of fidelity. Playing word to say, Elijah, I've been with you now since that day that you threw your mantle over me when I was busy with the ox and plowing.
And I left everything to follow you and I'm not going to give it up now. Eve, if it's your last day, I'll stay with you to the bitter end. I'll stay with you to the last moment. Here is a mark of fidelity. Look at the end of verse six for another statement. And they too went on. In going on, may I suggest that there is a sign of continuity. There's no break in this journey. There was a mark of unity, they're going together. The mark of humility, they're going down.
The mark of fidelity, the younger man says, I will never leave you. There's a mark of continuity, and they too went on. But then look at the end of verse eight. Another interesting statement. So that they too went over on dry ground. There was the sign of victory. We'll come to that perhaps later on in our study. But look at the end of verse eleven. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Here was Elijah arriving in glory, the end of a perfect day.
Let's go back over again. And we'll watch this time the places that they visited. Now I learn in reading these verses As they went on, they talked. Now, how can two walk together except they be agreed? It must be awful for two people to go walking together without talking. Something wrong. If two people are out for a walk, they'll have something to say to one another. Now, I don't know how young people do now. I'm a little bit... out of date with some of the ideas what they do, but I know when I was a young fella and you started courting, you went walking.
It was a good thing. You took your girlfriend for a walk. And suppose that was less expensive then than what they do now. But unless Dad gives the car, I don't know, but we went walking. And usually when a young couple went walking, they were usually talking. their things to talk about. So that when you're walking and talking, it must be a very interesting walk. Now watch where they walked and they were talking. And I've asked myself this question once or twice in reading through this passage here, I wonder what did they talk about?
Suppose it had been all written down for us here, everything they said. Suppose it had been recorded. It certainly would have made a very interesting conversation. But I'm going to suggest to you that while we do not have the record of what they said, if we watch the places they went to, we might be able to arrive at some conclusion as to what they talked about. For example, the first place It's mentioned here is Gilgal, verse one. Elijah went with Elijah from Gilgal, so there's where they started. Now, you see, what lesson can we learn from that? I wonder what they talked about when they were at Gilgal.
Here's Elijah, the older man. Here's Elijah, the younger man. Elijah is about to leave him and go home to glory, and Elijah is to carry on with the work. He's going to take responsibility from that day onwards. They're at Gilgal. I'm going to suggest to you that they had a little conference meeting right there at Gilgal. And the man who had been characterized by prayer all his life, this man of God, would you have to pray. He would tell the younger man right there when they were at Gilgal, he would say, I want you to see something here. I want you to come along and see this heap of stone.
Here's a heap of stones built up like a small pyramid. I want to tell you something, Elisha. That heap of stones has a story to tell. Do you realize that when our fathers came over from the other side of Jordan and came into the promised land, this is where they encamped, right here at Gilgal. It was right here at Gilgal that God spoke to them. Do you know this was the first place where they kept the Passover after coming into the Promised Land? Do you know that it was right here at Gilgal that they reintroduced the covenant sign of circumcision which had been forgotten for forty years in the wilderness and the reproach of Egypt was rolled away right here at Gilgal?
It was here where God gave to them the Coron of the land, the old Coron, and it was here the man of sea. All the memories, the memories that would come back there at Gilgal. And putting all these things together, Elijah would tell Elisha, look, my boy, here is where the nation had to learn their dependence on God. I want you to learn this, that I'm going away and you can no longer depend on me. You'll no longer have Elijah to turn to, but from now on, your dependence will be entirely upon God, just as our forefathers had to depend on God.
You will require to depend on God. Isn't that exactly what you do when you pray? Isn't that what you're supposed to do? casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. So he would teach on that day lesson number one, Gilgal, while they were going in unity, you must depend on God. Now he says, I'm going over to Bethel. And he says, as the Lord liveth, as thy soul liveth, I'm going with you. I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel. Though when they came to Bethel, I wonder what they spoke about at Bethel.
May I suggest he took him along, first of all, and he showed him a pillar there. A pillar. You see, now, Elisha, I want you to remember that pillar was raised up by one of our great forefathers, Jacob. Do you know it was right here that Jacob had his first real dealings with God? Here was the place where God appeared to him when he was running away from home. Right here at Bethel that night he had the vision of that ladder set up. And in the morning he took the stone on which his head had rested. And he erected that pillar and poured his oil on it.
And performed that little religious service when he made his vow before God. Bethel. Bethel the place of the presence of God, the house of God. And Jacob said, I didn't even know that God was in this place. But he might have said to him, but I want to show you something else, Elisha. The very place where God appeared to her father Jacob. This is the same place where the people turned to idolatry. This is the place of infidelity. This was the place where they raised the altar to bail.
This is the place where the golden calf was set up. Not the one in the wilderness. No, no. The one in the land. This is the place where they turned away from the true worship. So I want you to note this, Elisha. You have two things to learn here at Bethel. It's the place that spoke of the presence of God, the place that spoke of the people's infidelity. Learn your lesson, my boy. As you go through life, you'll find the two roads. You'll find that which is well pleasing to God. You'll find the path of righteousness.
Remember what Jacob bowed there at Bethel? But remember what the people have done. You'll either be like Jacob, you'll be alone with God, and you may require to walk that lonely road. But remember there's the promise of God, I will be with thee. I will keep thee, and I will bring thee again into the land. So you've got presence and God's promise with you. Or there's the other path, running with the crowd. God's word of condemnation upon you. Just as you've been with me, Elijah, I want you to stand true to the things of God.
But they moved on from Bethel. He said, now we're going down to Jericho. I wonder, what did they speak about when they came to Jericho? Oh, I think that should be clear. No doubt he took him away up, first of all, onto the hillside there, just underlying those bleak, rugged hills. And he would say to him, now, Elijah, it was right here where the old city stood. It was right here where they marched round the old walls of the old city of Jericho. It was here that God gave the first great victory in the land when the walls of Jericho went down into the ground.
Now they didn't fall out or in, you know, they went down. Don't believe me. Go and have a look at them. They've found them. They're still there. And you can see those walls. They went down into the ground. He was shown where the old city stood. And he would remind him of this. that God said that that city was not to be built again. And whoever thought to build it, God would judge them there. He would judge them right from his firstborn to the last of his family, and God kept his word. There came the day when a man decided to rebuild Jericho.
The new city was built. But he started to build and God took away his first bond with the time they built the city. But the day when a man decided to rebuild Jericho, a new city was built. But he started to build and God took away his first bond. For the time they built the city, his family was gone. God kept his word. Now I'm suggesting to you that as a student Jericho Elijah would remind young Elijah of the power of God. Just as God's power was manifested with the nation when they came into the land, and they were able without armaments to capture that great city, able to defeat the people who were behind their high wall, God's power was manifested again.
in the man and in the family of the man who sought to defy God by rebuilding the land. I suggest to you that spoke of these things at Jericho. You know, I'm not surprised, of course, that a man wanted to build Jericho. Jericho, you know, has much in common with the place you're living in now. This is the park of the park. Jericho is the city of the palm. A lot of palm trees in Jericho. Beautiful places. Orange groves, bananas, grapefruit, dates, you name it.
It's there. Thanks to Elisha. We're speaking tonight of Elijah, not Elisha, but there's a little incident in Elisha's life, you know, when he came back over to the city of Jericho, they found the water there somehow or other was poisoned. Elisha was the man who, under the power of God, performed the miracle that water was made pure again, and that water is still there. And Elisha's fountain today is that which provides the water supply of the city of Jericho. They have it running down there in the duct to irrigate all round about where they grow the fruit in abundance.
And I suppose the rich people of that day used to go down to Jericho and spend their winter vacations. Must have been delightful. It's still got a balmy atmosphere, just like what you have in North Florida. But you see, God was out of it. They never thought of God. Now, I'm suggesting to you that Elijah spoke to Elisha that day and was pressing home upon the heart of the young man. There in Jericho, you must learn something of the power of God if you're going to live for God. Now he said, if you care to stay here, I'm going on, but God has sent me to Jordan. Well, he said, if you're going to Jordan, I'm going to.
Well, there was no Allenby Bridge in these days. He came to Jordan, and there was the water of Jordan, and no bridge to go over. Down they got to the river. I wonder what they spoke about at Jordan. May I suggest, as they got down there, almost to the very place where the children of Israel had come over when they were coming into the land. And now here's Elijah and Elijah standing here. First of all, there was talk about the time when God brought the nation into the land to take possession. That would be part of the conversation. But now he takes off his mantle. As he twists up his mantle and he smites the water, for the God that separated the waters of Jordan to let the nation in has now separated the waters, and Elijah is going out.
And Elijah goes over with them. And so they too went over. Here again he's learning something of the presence of God. The God who lived in the day when Joshua brought the people over is the same God. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. He was a God who was alive in Elijah's day. The same God. If he could slight the waters of Jordan and divide them for a nation to get over, he could divide the waters for Elijah to get over. Of course, it's often been said, rightly or wrongly, I don't know. But most preachers say that Jordan speaks of death.
I suppose that's because it runs into the Dead Sea. Whether that be true or not, here was a case of a man who had to go over. But as he's going to go over at Jordan, he's going over there in the power of God and into the presence of God. The presence of God was known right there at Jordan. Here's the way of Exodus. as well as the way of entry. And the power of God must be known. And as he divided the waters, as he smote them, and God divided the waters, the two of them went over on dry ground. Now remember, there was quite a number of young folks standing up at Jericho perhaps on the hillside there, and they're looking down and they saw the two of them.
They knew who they were all right. They wondered where they were going. See, they knew that Elijah was going to be taken away that day, but they didn't know how. All they knew was he was going. And they're watching to see what's going to happen, and they can see the two figures going down, getting farther away out there right in the distance, and they're standing now on the shores of the river. But what they saw was this, that the two of them went over with glorious victory on dry ground. the older man and the younger man, two of them men of God. He was a great victory going over in dry ground.
You know, I don't know at times when people sit down to think on the end of their days. Very strange thing. When in the hospital one day to visit a man, I was going in about twice a week to see him. He was very sick. I knew it. He knew it. As I was going in, usually there was someone else with them, perhaps his wife or a friend. Well, one day, his wife was away for lunch, and I was just leaving to come out. I was at the door, he said, Brother Matt, come here. He said, sit down.
They eased themselves up on his elbow. He says, you know what's wrong with me, don't you? I said, yes, I do. Well, he says, I know it too. So I know what's wrong with you. And he said, I'm going to be frank with you. He said, I perhaps have two months to go. He said, I may have three. Between two and three months, that's about all. He said, I may go in two months. I want to make some arrangements about things. And I'd never had anybody to speak to me like this in my life before it. touched me a little. He said, when I go, he said, I want you to take my funeral.
And at my funeral, I want you to tell the people that I knew where I was going. I want you to tell the people that I was saved. And I want you to tell them that I knew I was saved and when I got saved. He gave me all the details. I knew very well. said well Frank I said that's very nice of you to ask me to do that and I'll make the promise I'll do it but I came out that room that day with a lump in my throat and a heavy heart and yet I knew as well as he did but that now here's a man who knows he knows he's going and he knows it won't be long and he's making some arrangements now This is what he wants done.
You know, most of us are like the ostrich. We bury our head in the sand. And we try to suggest to ourselves, it's just not going to be me. And it's not going to happen to me. But let us face this, men and women. The Lord could come tonight or tomorrow and take us home to the glory. All at the same time. Just with trumpets on. Or it could be that he could just put his finger on you or me. And take us as individuals. Some, you see, will have to go by way of the tunnel. Tunnel of death. Others will have to go over the golden bridge.
Better at you. But we're all going. Elijah knew that it was his last day. And it came to pass when they were gone over. that Elijah said to Elijah, Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken away from thee. What a lovely thought. The older man looks at the younger man, now he says, Elijah, it's just about time for me to bid you goodbye. Now, will you make a last request? What would you like me to do for you before we part come? If it's within my power, Elijah, I'll do it.
See, here was the man who knew in his lifetime what it meant to ask God. And he knew what God had done for him. Now he's saying to the younger man, if there's anything I can do for you, ask me now because after tomorrow, you will have to get direct to God for what you want. In the meantime, if there's anything I can do for you, I'm willing to do it. Sometimes you and I lean on others. And there comes a time when God takes the props away. And when the last prop is taken away, we find ourselves cast entirely upon God. Now that's not an easy thing.
Just you read Isaiah chapter six and you'll find the last prop was taken away from Isaiah. What did he do? He lifted his eyes up and he saw the Lord high and lifted up. And some of you, perhaps all of you, most of you, have come to that stage in life. And I've been there, too, where you feel that the last block was taken away. He said, well, Lord, it's up to you. You cast yourself on the Lord for support. Elijah is saying to Elijah, now what would you like me to do? I've been doing a lot for you now. Your last request. Elijah said, I pray for one thing, a double portion of thy spirit to be upon me.
Now that's not a selfish thing. I want you to watch this very carefully. That was not a selfish request. What did he mean by saying a double portion? Well, who was it that got the double portion? Wasn't it the first born? If a father died and left so many sons, the firstborn was given a double portion. Why? Why was the firstborn given a double portion? So that he would have twice as much as the others? Of course not. See, the firstborn would have to step into his father's place and take responsibility for the mother.
And he would have to take the responsibility for the other members of the family. So he had his own portion as well as they had their portion, but he got the double portion and with that double portion he assumed the responsibility. It wasn't a selfish thing. It was like saying this, I'm willing to take the place of the firstborn, I'm willing to take the responsibility. And so he accepts the double portion and taking the responsibility when Elijah was going. But then see what he says. Thou hast asked the hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee.
And if not, it shall not be so. And he watched. And the end came, and the chariot of fire, and the horses came, and divided them both asunder. And Elijah goes up into glory with a whirlwind. What a glorious end to the life of a man of faith, a man of prayer, caught up without dying, right into the presence of the Lord. And the next day in all, of course, you remember he was the man who appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration with Moses and the Lord. There went Peter, James, and John looked on in blank amazement, glorified with the Lord, arriving in glory.
How would you spend your last day if you knew it was tomorrow. How should we? I've tried to trace through a little of how Elijah spent his last day. There's one little thing I've left out, I know. I'll leave you to study it through. You notice on their journey, they came across little groups of young men. You might call them Bible students, sons of the province. I've often wondered what Elijah said to these young fellows. No doubt he had little meetings with them as he passed on. I suggest he had things to say to them as well. But none of them followed with him, only Elisha.
Went right over Jordan, right to the place where he saw him go up. Beloved, it may be tomorrow we'll get a call, the trumpet shall shrill. And you and I will leave him park at the pond. Glorious place to leave from, I admit. But a better place you're going to if we go up there. Am I speaking to someone in here tonight who's not ready to go? Am I speaking to someone tonight in here that doesn't know the Lord? If the call came to you tomorrow, it would be a blow. You don't want to go. You're not ready to go. You don't know the Lord.
Why not get to know him too? Our Father, we thank thee for another glorious day spent with thy people. Thank thee for the time of worship this morning. We thank thee for the times we've met together for the ministry of the Word. Pray now as we put our heads down the pillar tonight, it will be to rest knowing that perhaps before another daybreak we'll have to call to come up higher. Oh, God, granted, each of us shall be ready for that, that all necessary preparation has been made.