Have you ever met a doppelganger? Maybe I'll
do that other question. Have you ever heard of
what a doppelganger is? What is a doppelganger?
Somebody help me out here. Your twin, someone
that looks like you. Or maybe sometimes you might
meet someone and you'll be like, you really look
like maybe someone you know or a famous person
or something like that. Have you ever... Come
in contact. Have you ever met this so -called
doppelganger? I used to really enjoy road biking,
cycling, and when I used to live down in Calhoun,
Albert Handel, the youth pastor over at the Calhoun
Church, we would ride together often, and he
would say, you look like Bjarne Rees. Who? Well,
he was a cyclist from Denmark. who won the Tour
de France in 1996. They later found out he was
doping, but he's still listed as the winner,
so I guess bald. You know, we bald people look
alike sometimes, so I don't know. Is there any
similarities there with this Danish cyclist?
I don't know. But that's what I was told. I just
came across the website just earlier this week,
or excuse me, it was last week, and it was called
Civil War Twins. Civil War Twins. And you could
upload your picture. I'm sure they're doing something
negative with it. I don't know. And then it would
go through the archives of Civil War pictures,
and it would find someone who they said looked
like you. So here was 41 % match. of a Civil
War twin. And if you can't read that, this is
Pascal Fullington from the 9th New York Cavalry.
Maybe some facial hair. There was one more 41%.
Another bald guy. We look alike there. Sergeant
John Wood from the 15th New York Engineers. 41
% match. I don't know. But that's what this computer
program... I see some... Heads shaking there,
so maybe not much of a match there, but that
was the Civil War twin. Sometimes we meet people
that look similar to someone else we know. Sometimes
somebody tells us, oh, you look just like whoever,
and we ponder what characteristics would match
us with somebody else. We're going to... finish
out our series on Elijah today, the prophet Elijah.
This is our fourth sermon. We've been talking
about Elijah, and this will be the last one,
although there's many more stories that we could
tell. But as we go through this, we're going
to see that there was another character, another
prophet in the Bible who could match up a little
bit with clothes, with ministry, with actions.
And so we're going to look through this. as we
finish this story of Elijah. Now, we've seen
Elijah have some incredible high spiritual points
in his life, as he called fire down from heaven,
and the people said, the Lord, he is God. We've
seen Elijah have some spiritual low points in
his life. As two weeks ago, we looked at how
Elijah ran away when he faced adversity and threats
from Queen Jezebel. And we're going to move past
a couple stories and come down. to the end. And
so Elijah has anointed Elisha to be his successor,
to be the next prophet in line. And then Elijah
found out from God that his time of ministry
had come to an end. So we're going to be in 2
Kings. We've been in 1 Kings, but we're going
to be in 2 Kings, and we're going to start in
chapter 2 today. 2 Kings chapter 2. So turn with
me if you have your Bibles, we'll have the verses
on the screens as well. It says, and it came
to pass when the Lord was about to take up Elijah
into heaven by a whirlwind that Elijah went with
Elisha from Gilgal. So somehow Elijah knew that
his time of ministry was coming to an end and
God was going to take him up in a whirlwind,
it says. And so he went on with Elisha and notice
verse two. Then Elijah said to Elisha, stay here.
You stay here, please. For the Lord has sent
me on to Bethel. But Elisha said, as the Lord
lives and as your soul lives, I will not leave
you. And so they went down to Bethel. And this
happened several times over the next couple of
verses. Elijah tried to get Elisha, you stay
here. I'm going to go a little bit further. And
Elisha said, oh no. I'm not leaving you as the
Lord lives, as your soul lives. I'm not leaving
until eventually they get down and they're down
by the Jordan River. And we see some other people
have joined them. Some of those who studied from
the prophets. And in verse 7 it says, 50 men
of the sons of the prophets went and stood facing
them at a distance while the two of them stood
by. the Jordan River. So they're on the edge
of the Jordan River. He's tried to get Elisha
to stay, but Elisha is not doing that. He is
not staying. And then in verse 8, it goes on
and says, now Elijah took his mantle, his cloak,
his cover up. He took his mantle, he rolled it
up, and he struck the water, and it was divided
this way and that, and the two of them crossed
over on dry ground. What an incredible experience
that is. As they're making their way, there's
this river. It's not a huge river. It's bigger
than Chickamauga Creek, not as big as the Tennessee
River. And so they're at this river, and he hits
it with the mantle, and it divides. It splits.
And they pass through on dry ground. Just the
two of them, just the two of them. And it says,
as it goes on in verse 9, and so it was when
they had crossed over that Elijah said to Elisha,
ask, what may I do for you before I am taken
away from you? And Elisha said, please let a
double portion of your spirit be upon me. Let
a double portion, the power that you had, the
connection that you had with God, may I have
that? And may I have even more. May I have a
double portion of that spirit. And so Elijah
says, well, that's something challenging. I don't
know if that can be answered. But he said, if
you see me when I leave, then that means your
prayer, your request will be given. And in verse
11, the story goes on. It says, then it happened
as they continued on and talked that suddenly.
And I want you to try to picture this. Picture
this in your mind. Use your imagination to see
these events as I read these words. Suddenly,
a chariot of fire appeared with horses of fire
and separated the two of them, and Elijah went
up by a whirlwind into heaven. Notice the first
part of the next verse. Elisha, he saw it. Elijah
had said, if you see it, that means your request
will be answered. So picture this though. They're
walking along and there's a chariot of fire and
horses of fire and whirlwind and he's taken up
into the sky. Now this is a famous event in scripture.
And through the years, many people have attempted
to... to draw this. Some famous artists, this
is a picture from the National Gallery of Art,
and so they're picturing this scene, painting
this scene. Or modern versions, maybe some AI
work has been done of this scene of a fiery chariot
and fiery horses and a whirlwind. I should have
got Bethany to draw this one for me, but I didn't
ask her to do that. So this is an incredible
scene. And I don't think that the greatest painters
of the world, I don't think that the CGI or AI
or Hollywood special effects, I don't think it
can quite do this justice. Because what this
is, it's really a mini preview, you could say,
a mini preview of the second coming. A mini preview
of when Jesus comes again. Because Elijah was
caught up into heaven. And it said, Elisha saw
him. Turn over with me to Revelation 1 -7. We're
going to look at just a couple of verses here.
Revelation 1 -7. Talking about the second coming.
It says, Behold, he is coming with clouds. And
it says, Every eye will see him, even they who
pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth.
will mourn because of him. Even so, amen. So
when Jesus comes, it's going to be something
that is noted, something that is seen. Every
eye will see him just as Elijah saw him. I don't
have this verse on the screen, but turn over
to Acts chapter 1. When Jesus left this planet,
the angels said something incredible. Acts chapter
1. Jesus was with his disciples, and it said
in verse 9, Acts 1, starting in verse 9, it said,
Now when he had spoken these things, while they
watched, while the disciples watched, he was
taken up, and a cloud received him out of their
sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward
heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by
them in white apparel. Those are angels there.
Who also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand
gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was
taken up from you into heaven will so come in
like manner as you saw him go into heaven. They're
standing there in amazement as Jesus ascends.
And two angels are held back from this incredible
reunion for just a few moments to instruct these
disciples. And if you were to read through that
and circle or underline, there's at least five
different times that visual words are used. They
looked. They gazed. You saw him go into heaven.
They watched. Five times these visual words.
And it says you don't have to be frightened.
You don't have to be worried. Because this same
Jesus, not a different Jesus, but this same Jesus
who ministered before you, This same Jesus who
laid down his life on the cross, this same Jesus
who came forth from the tomb, that's the same
Jesus that's going to come. You saw him go, and
it says you're going to see him come in the same
way that you saw him leave. The same Jesus is
coming in the same way. It's going to be something
that we can see. Let's look at one more over
in 1 Thessalonians 4. 1 Thessalonians 4. We do
have this one on the screen. 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4. And it says, for the Lord himself,
this same Jesus, the Lord himself, will descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet of God. Not only
is it going to be something that is seen, but
it's going to be something that's audible as
well. And notice what happens, that voice of
God. That trumpet of God is going to burst open
the tombs because it says the dead in Christ
will rise first. And then just like Elijah, we
who are alive and remain shall be caught up,
and I love this word, together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus
shall we always be with the Lord. When Jesus
comes again, it's going to be something that
we're not going to miss because it's going to
be something that every eye will see, every ear
will hear, and even the graves will burst forth.
I think probably all of us have someone who has
passed away, who we are waiting for this reunion,
this resurrection to take place, that we shall
be caught up together to meet the Lord in the
air. and thus we shall always be. In the very
next verse, verse 18, it says, comfort one another
with these words. We can be comforted in knowing
that Jesus is coming again. I just said artwork,
can't picture it, but here is one attempt at
that. This is a picture by an artist named Nathan
Green. It's a picture of the second coming. I
really love this picture. You may not be able
to see it, but these folks that are... are waiting
with hands raised. They're from every nation
and tribe, and they're dressed in the clothes
of different cultures. And you can see graves
that have burst open. Incredible pictures of
what it is going to be like when Jesus comes
with the angels in the clouds of glory. And there's
one little picture down here in the left -hand
corner. I don't know if you can see that or not,
but there's an angel with a small little girl.
and he's bringing it to a mommy and daddy there.
And when I was taking some classes up at Andrews,
we had the privilege, we were able to go to Nathan
Green's studio and see the work he was painting
at the time, and he shared that time, and I've
heard him at other times, that this was a young
girl that passed away, that died at a very young
age. And her parents gave him permission. to
use her likeness in a painting like this. And
what a beautiful painting it is that it's picturing
this reunion that takes place. And that's a reunion
that we can all look forward to as we recognize
that Jesus is coming again. And this picture
of Elijah ascending to heaven is just a small
preview, a mini preview, might be like. And so
as Elijah ascended to heaven, that mantle drifted
down and Elisha took that mantle. He went back
to the Jordan River. And do you remember what
he did? He did the same thing. He hit the water
again and boom, the waters parted. And Elisha,
with that double portion of the spirit, you could
say, was able to walk through. on dry land. And
Elisha, if you read through his ministry, incredible
stories. And he even did more miracles than Elijah
did, but that's a sermon series for another time.
But Elijah goes to heaven in the fiery chariot,
and that's the end of his story in Scripture.
Or is it? Because believe it or not, Elijah continues
to show up. In fact, let's go to the book of
Malachi. That's the very last book in the Old
Testament. So if you were to go to Matthew, go
back one page from Matthew 1, maybe two pages,
and you will be in Malachi. And we're going to
go actually to the very last verses of the Old
Testament. Now there's about 400 years that take
place between Malachi and between the Gospels
when Jesus is born. There's about 400 years there.
where the people of God felt that God was silent.
They weren't getting any words from him, any
prophets giving them new inspiration and so forth.
And so this was the last messages they had from
God until Jesus showed up. So in Malachi 4, in
verse 4, it says, Remember the law of Moses,
my servant. So as he's closing out what we know
as the Old Testament, God's closing out this
message to his people. He says, Remember the
law of Moses my servant, whom I commanded him
in Horeb for all Israel with the statutes and
judgments. Remember that law that I put forth
to you. And then the next verse is the last two
verses here of the Old Testament. God says, Behold,
I will send you Elijah. The prophet before the
coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
So God says before this great day, before this
dreadful day of the Lord, Elijah, the prophet,
is going to show up again. And what's he going
to do? Verse 6, he will turn the hearts of the
fathers to the children and the hearts of the
children to their fathers, lest I come and strike
the earth with a curse. So this... message this
ministry of Elijah it's going to have something
to do with families bringing families together
and it seems like it's going to have something
to do with remembering this this law of God and
perhaps that's what brings these families together
before the coming of the great and dreadful day
of the Lord and so that's the last message that
these people of God have for a long time until
Well, let's go over to Luke. Luke chapter 1.
Luke chapter 1. Because there was an elderly
man who was working as a priest and he went into
the temple to minister in the temple as his job
was. And while he was there, an angel appeared
to him. And he told this priest, Zacharias, that
your elderly wife is going to have a son. They
hadn't had a son. They hadn't had a child. But
your elderly wife is now going to have a son.
And this would be the son that would be known
as John the Baptist. And as this angel is describing
what this son is going to do, notice Luke chapter
1 and verse 16. Verse 15 says, he shall be great
in the sight of the Lord. Verse 16, he will turn
many of the children of Israel He will turn them
to the Lord their God. Verse 17, he will also
go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah
to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children.
That's just what we read in Malachi. And the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just. The disobedient,
those that aren't following God's law, to make
ready a people prepared for the Lord. So this
angel, says, you guys are going to have a son.
It's going to be John the Baptist, and he's going
to come in the spirit and the power of Elijah.
And that's exactly what happened as John the
Baptist begun his ministry. But the people of
Israel, the people of God, they had this mindset.
You may remember when John the Baptist was beginning
his ministry, he was baptizing people, and they
came to him and said, what are you doing? Who
are you? And they ask him, are you Elijah, or
one of the prophets? Because we're expecting,
we're anticipating Elijah. And then later in
Matthew 16, as Jesus is with his disciples, he
asked his disciples, he said, what do people
say about me? Who do people say that I am? And
the disciples said, well, some people say you're
one of the prophets. or Elijah. And then as Jesus
often does, Jesus makes it personal. And he says,
well, what about you? Who do you say that I am?
And it's Peter that says, you are the Christ,
the son of the living God. I think that's a question
we need to ask ourselves. What about me? What
about us? What do we say about Jesus? And I hope
we'll be able to say he is the Christ, the son.
of the living God. Turn over to Matthew 17. Matthew
17. And in verse 10, it says, the disciples ask
him, why do the scribes say that Elijah must
come first? Well, that's because of what Malachi
said. But notice how Jesus answered in verse
11. Jesus answered and said to them, Indeed,
Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.
But I say to you that Elijah has come already,
and they did not know him, but did to him whatever
they wished. Likewise, the Son of Man is also
about to suffer at their hands. And the disciples
understood that he spoke to them about John the
Baptist. He said, Elijah is coming, and in fact,
he's already come. And it's almost as if he's
saying two different time periods there because
this idea, these hints throughout the Bible,
there's Elijah, there's John the Baptist, and
then there's some hints that, well, perhaps there's
some other type of spirit and power of Elijah,
some other type of ministry. that does the same
thing because Malachi said before the coming
of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. Well,
that hasn't happened yet. Jesus said Elijah is
coming and has already come. The disciples understood
he's talking about John the Baptist. Could it
be that we as the church have a part to continue
to play to serve the world? Similar to that ministry
of Elijah, similar to that ministry of John the
Baptist. This idea, this understanding as a church,
as individuals to minister in the spirit and
power of Elijah and bring people to God. We're
going to look real quick at about five different
characteristics that we see in the ministry of
Elijah and we see in the ministry of John the
Baptist. So we see that both of those gentlemen
were ready to stand up for truth. Elijah stood
before the king and said, you're a sinner. He
stood before the people and said, pray to the
true God. John the Baptist went before King Herod
and said, you're living a sinful world, a sinful
life. I don't care if you are the king. He was
willing to call King Herod out. And so, what
about us? Is there some element of truth that
we need to stand for in our life, in our family,
in our job? Is there some other thing that we
need to stand up for truth, stand up for Jesus
as we go through our week? Both John the Baptist
and Elijah, both of them in their ministry were
bold and fearless. I'm going to add something
to that. Most of the time. Could God be calling
us to be bold and fearless? And we may look at
ourself and say, well, that's not all the time
for me. Elijah stood on Mount Carmel, fire fell
from heaven, and the very next day, as we talked
about in our last sermon, when he got threats,
he ran away. He didn't trust God. He ran away.
What about John the Baptist? He stood before
the king. and called him out. He baptized Jesus,
but there was a point in time later in his ministry
where John the Baptist was imprisoned. He was
arrested at a place called Makarios. I'm probably
not pronouncing that right. That's on the eastern
side of the Jordan River down by the Dead Sea,
kind of straight across from Masada. That's a
little more famous palace that's there. This
was the palace of King Herod. It was a long ways
from Jerusalem. I'll be honest, I always thought
John the Baptist was imprisoned in Jerusalem
or somewhere over that direction. But it was
actually a long ways from there. And here he
is imprisoned. And was my ministry a waste of
time? And so he sends his messengers. And notice
in Matthew 11, turn back just a couple pages
to Matthew 11, as John the Baptist is imprisoned.
He says, when John heard in prison about the
works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples.
So they were helping him. They were supporting
him in prison. And he said to him, are you the
coming one, or do we look for another? I told
everybody it was you, but was my whole ministry
wrong? Was my ministry false? Are you the one,
or do we look for somebody else? Jesus' response.
As these two individuals spent the day with Jesus,
Jesus answered and said to them, Go and tell
John the things you hear and see. This is what
they had seen that afternoon. The blind see and
the lame walk. The lepers are cleansed and the
deaf hear. The dead are raised up and the poor
have the gospel preached to them. You just go
tell John what you saw happen here today. And
with that, that was enough for John, even in
prison, to recognize that his ministry had not
been a waste, that he had been serving the true
God. And so then a little while later, when King
Herod's stepdaughter Salome danced before the
king, you remember that story, and he said, I'll
give you anything. What do you want? She said,
give me the head of John the Baptist. Have mercy.
And so as he died in his ministry, he died because
of his ministry, he could die in faith knowing
that yes, Jesus was who he thought that he was.
On page 75 of the book Education, it says the
greatest want of the world is the want of men.
This is used in the humanity sense. It's the
want of men and women. People who will not be
bought or sold, who in their inmost souls are
true and honest. People who do not fear to call
sin by its right name. Men and women whose conscience
is as true to duty as the needle to the pole.
People who will stand for the right, though the
heavens fall. Picture your compass that you may
have from Pathfinders or Boy Scouts or whatever,
and you turn, wherever you turn, that needle's
going to point. to the north. And this is saying
that we need to be people like that, that no
matter what is happening around us, like John
the Baptist, like Elijah, that we are going to
stand for truth. We are going to stand and be
bold and fearless. And even though sometimes
we're not, God can still use us. So another thing
that those two guys have in common, they prepare
the way for the king. After the fire fell on
Mount Carmel, after the rains fell, Elijah ran
before the way of King Ahab. When the rain was
coming down, he ran about 20 miles in front of
this chariot to guide the king back to the town
he was going on. And John the Baptist, his ministry,
the purpose of his ministry was to make ready
the way for the coming king, for Jesus to show
up. That's what his ministry and his message
was all about. Believe it or not, I believe that
Jesus is coming soon. That Jesus is coming very
soon. And believe it or not, there's people in
this world that don't know that, that don't know
Jesus. I would imagine there's people that you
know, there's people that you love and care about
who don't. Think about Jesus who don't know about
Jesus. Somebody has to share. Maybe that someone
is you. Let me rephrase that. Definitely that
someone is you. When they came and asked John
the Baptist, are you the Christ? He said, no,
there's one coming after me. I'm not even worthy
to hook up his sandals. I'm not worthy to tie
his shoes. And when his own disciples were worried
because, oh no, John, our people are going to
follow Jesus. In John 3, John said, he, Jesus,
must increase and I must decrease. Let us do
what we can to prepare the way for Jesus to come
again. What else did Elijah and John the Baptist
have in common? Both of them did what they could
to fix the broken. Think of Elijah. We talked
about him rebuilding that altar that had broken
down. Maybe we need to rebuild that altar of
worship in our own life. And one of the primary
messages that John the Baptist preached, he said,
repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Repent. In your life, you have broken your connection
with God. Repent of that and come back to God.
Could it be that we can do... The same thing.
In Isaiah 58, verse 12, we're reminded of how
we can repair things. Isaiah 58, 12, it says,
Those from among you shall build the old waste
places. You shall build it, the old things. You
shall raise up the foundations of many generations.
You shall be called the repairer of the breach,
the restorer of streets to dwell in. When people
have broken their walk, their relationship, With
Jesus, we have the opportunity to point them
back to Bible truth that is so often forgotten.
The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen
short of the glory of God. We've all broken that
connection with Jesus, and we all need to repent.
And both Elijah and John the Baptist, this is
our final one, both of them had a ministry of
pointing people to Jesus. And you could say,
wait a second. Elijah was before Jesus. But we
talked about it when he prayed at that altar.
There was a time of the evening sacrifice, that
lamb in the temple that would be sacrificed that
pointed its way to Jesus. And Elijah said, let
it be known that you are God and let it be known
that I am your servant. And then, of course,
John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus coming. Toward
him, he said, look, behold, the Lamb of God who
takes away the sins of the world. That was his
ministry. That was his message. And that's why
we are all needed, old and young. This generation
is needed. We need to do more than just put on
our clothes and come to church once a week and
fill up the pews. We need to do more than just
showing up. We need to live our life 24 -7. We
need to take on the challenge of reaching the
world. And most of us are never going to go across
the ocean to teach somebody about Jesus. And
so which portion of reaching the world do we
get to select? Maybe it's not China or Indonesia
or Kenya or wherever, but could it be the person
across the street? Could it be the person that
sits at the desk next to us? Could it be the
checkout lady that we interact with on a regular
basis? Maybe that's the person that we can reach.
no matter what we're doing. In a few weeks, two
weeks I guess it is, there's going to be a group
going to Atlanta to pass out some literature.
Do that, but don't just do that. Take some with
you. Take some home. Take some to your office.
Give some to your neighbor. It was a few years
ago now, I was pastoring down at GCA, and one
day I got a text message from someone. It was
someone I knew. It was a lady that I knew. It
was actually the wife of another pastor a district
or two over. And this is what the text says.
She said, Hey there, I had to tell you I was
just in Walmart and got into a conversation with
an older gentleman in the pet aisle. We parted
ways, but then he came back and found me to invite
me to his church. She mentioned the name. It
was Leroy. inviting me to visit the GCA church.
Just had to let you, your neighbors, your members
are doing a great job. An old guy who goes to
a church that's at the academy and he was at
Walmart and he was talking to somebody and he
went back and said, hey, why don't you come to
my church? She's a pastor's wife. She was at
the church in Rome, so she didn't make that visit.
on that particular week. But just a simple conversation
can turn to something different. Because could
it be that we have a part to play in living out
the spirit and the power of Elijah? If I could
tell one more story, it was many years ago, my
son, who's now 25, 26, he was probably two or
three. And it was a summer day because we were
at the pool. And he was floating in the tube,
and he was looking up at the sky, and he was
calling for his cousin. He was saying, Evan,
Evan, come on, hurry up, Evan. We had just spent
a week or two before that, a vacation with his
cousin Evan and Travis and Chip, and he was calling
for Evan. And I said, Brandon, why are you calling
Evan? Do you miss playing with him? And he looked
at me. confused and was like, I wasn't calling
for Evan. I said, well, what were you saying?
He got a little shy. He said, heaven. I'm looking
up at the sky and I'm saying, heaven, come on,
hurry up. Come on, heaven. I'm waiting for you.
Could that be a cry? Could that be a call that
we could have on our heart? Heaven, we're waiting
for you. Heaven, we can't wait. And what can
you do this week to let someone else know about
what Jesus has done for you? There's a pink card
in front of you. I don't know what your next
step is. For some, maybe that next step is to
say, God, I'm broken. I need something to be
rebuilt. God, I need to take a first step with
you. On this card, one of those little boxes
says, I want to prepare for baptism. Maybe that's
something you've never done. If you would like
to talk about getting baptized, fill that out
and hand that to me when we're done. Maybe your
next step is to say, God, I need to find somebody
that I can share with, somebody that I can witness
with. Send somebody across my path this week.
Maybe your next step is to say, God, I need to
fix what is broken in my life. Maybe it's my
devotional habit or a broken relationship. Whatever
it is, just offer that up to God right now. Let's
bow our heads for prayer. Dear God, we can't
wait for heaven. We can't wait to see you. We
can't wait to spend eternity with you. But Lord,
we recognize that right now we are still in this
sinful place and we need you each day in our
life. So Lord, guide us, protect us, keep a strong
hold on us. and direct our path each and every
day. May we live our life in the spirit and the
power of Elijah. In your name we pray. Amen.