The Value Of A Spiritual Mentor

Amen.

How many of you know that our God is faithful?

That He's worthy?

As we were singing that song, I was reminded of a scripture that says, David said, I once was young, and now I'm old, and I've never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging for bread.

How many of you know that you need to taste and see that the Lord is good?

Taste and see that the Lord is good.

He is a strong tower, and the righteous can run to him and find safety.

Amen.

Well, how many of you are glad to be in the house of the Lord today?

Somebody said I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, it's so good to be with you guys today.

My name's Brandon, my beautiful wife and I, Judy.

We serve as the campus pastors at our Wilkett campus.

And we are honored and blessed to be with you guys today.

I also want to welcome all of those that are joining us online as well, or maybe you'll watch this later.

We're so glad to have you with us.

But welcome to Faith Church, where with Jesus you are.

Amen, amen, amen.

Well, I'm so glad to be here.

Before we get started, um, I do have to mention there was a youth event that happened last night.

And we actually had an impact youth event in our Wilkin campus a couple of weeks ago, and there's been over 200 students that have given their life to Christ, and over a couple of weeks, give God glory.

Amen.

So we're thankful for our youth ministry and what the Lord is doing.

God is doing some amazing things.

So if you're a young person, I used to be a youth pastor.

If you are a young person and you haven't been to Impact Youth, you need to be there because God is doing something amazing.

Amen.

Amen.

So thankful for Pastor Joey and Brianna and also Pastor AJ and Wilkett, man.

Thank you guys for what the Lord is doing through you and all of your team.

Amen.

Well, Pastor Frank, as Pastor Ronald mentioned, is in New York City, so I'm here.

But he actually just celebrated, he and Pastor Lisa just celebrated 32 years of marriage.

So can we give it up for our pastors and honor them?

Amen.

I'm so thankful for the visionaries of this house and the example that they set for all of us.

But I know you guys are standing, I don't want to keep you standing for too long, but at this time we're gonna make our Bible confession.

If you're in need of a paper Bible, just raise your hand and our amazing ushers will assist you.

This is just if you're new, this is a way to posture our hearts.

We believe that the word of God is living and it's powerful.

Yes, it was written by men, but they were inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, it is God breathed, and it is as if God was speaking to you.

Amen.

So we believe in the power of God's word.

So go on and take your Bibles out, hold it up high, and let's say this together.

One, two, three.

This is my Bible.

It is my primary source of spiritual nourishment.

I will read it every day and become all that God wants me to be.

My mind will be renewed, my life will be transformed, I will become fully surrendered to Christ.

Therefore, I will hide his word in my heart so I can be all that God has destined me to be.

Amen.

You guys sound wonderful.

Amen.

I want you to go with me in the scriptures to 2 Kings chapter 2.

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

2 Kings chapter 2.

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

Amen.

Gotta get situated on this podium here.

Amen.

Amen.

All right.

2 Kings chapter 2, and we're gonna begin in verse 19.

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

We are continuing in a series entitled Lions, Bears, and Giants but God.

But God.

Lions and giants and bears but God.

I don't know what you're up against today.

I don't know what trials you find yourself in, but God has already given you the victory.

Just stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

Whether it's an enemy outside of you or whether it's the inner you, God will get the victory if you yield yourself to Him.

Amen.

Now I want to preface what I'm about to read.

I know Pastor Frank ministered from the story of David.

We also ministered from the same story in Wilkett last week, but I'm coming from this sermon series from a different angle.

So I want to forewarn you, just bear with me and give me some time to pull this out.

Amen.

All will be revealed in time.

But as we read this story, I don't have enough time to read the whole chapter, but I just feel it's important for you to understand.

Elisha just received a commission from God to become the next prophet for Israel.

And that's where this story is picking up.

He was, he received a mantle that was left to him from his mentor, Elijah.

But let's get into this and see what the Lord has for us today.

I'm reading from the New King James Version, 2 Kings chapter 2, beginning with verse 19.

2 Kings 2 · chapter mention

If you got it, say I got it.

All right, let's roll.

Then the men of the city said to Elisha, Please notice the situation of this day is pleasant, as my Lord sees, but the water is bad, and the ground is barren.

And he said, Bring me a new bowl, and put salt in it.

So they brought it to him.

Then he went out to the source of the water, and he cast in the salt there, and said, Thus says the Lord, I have healed this water.

From it there shall be no more death or barrenness.

So the water remains healed to this day, according to the word of Elijah which he spoke.

How many of you know God's word will not return unto him void?

Whatever he has spoken over your life, it is faithful to come true because he is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent.

If he speaks it, it will come to pass.

But watch this.

Verse 23.

Then he went up from there to Bethel.

And as he was going up the road, some youths came from the city and they mocked him, and they said to him, Go up, you bald head.

Hold on now, hold on, hold on, hold on now.

Go up, you bald head.

We're laughing, but we're gonna deal with this.

Just give me some time to pull this out.

But for all my bald brothers out there, you are not alone.

And for those that are holding on and don't know when to fold, I'm speaking to you.

Amen.

Let me stick to the text.

But go up, you bald head, go up, you bald head.

So he turned around and he looked at them and he pronounced a curse on them in the name of the Lord.

And two female bears came out of the woods and mauled 42 of the youths.

Then he went from there to Mount Carmel, and from there he returned to Samaria.

I want to speak to you for a few moments from the subject matter: the value of a spiritual mentor.

The value of a spiritual mentor.

Another way that I could say this is the value of discipleship.

How many of you know that Jesus is not interested in converts?

He's interested in disciples.

In fact, he told us in Matthew 28 to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

So are you at a place where you are ready to be discipled because it's a two-way street?

We have to present opportunities for you to be discipled, but it's incumbent on you to look for discipleship as well if you are going to grow in your walk with God.

Let us pray.

Father, we thank you that the flower fades, the grass withers, but your word shall stand forever.

I thank you, Lord, that I'm ministering to a ready people.

I sense it here in the room.

I pray that you would use me as your servant.

I confess before each one of them that I cannot do this on my own.

I need you, Father.

And I pray that you would have your way and that you would bring understanding and conviction and power as we leave this place today.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

You guys can be seated.

Thank you so much for standing.

As we talk about spiritual mentorship, spiritual mentorship is so important because you could be on the cusp of going from surviving to thriving.

Some of you here in this room, maybe you're at a place in your life where you're just surviving in your marriage.

You're just surviving when it comes to raising your children.

You're just surviving when it comes to resisting temptation and the gratifications of the flesh.

You're just surviving.

Maybe you're just surviving when it comes to that diagnosis that you receive.

But I'm here to tell you that God wants you to thrive in life.

The Bible says in John 10, 10 that the enemy, the thief, he comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

But Jesus said that I have come that you may have life and you may have it more abundantly.

Some of you in this room, you could be in a roller coaster ride.

One minute you're up, the next minute you're down, one minute you're excited, exuberant, you're in the Word of God, you're doing the things of God, but the next moment you're nowhere to be found.

I'm here to tell you, could it be possible that the necessity of a spiritual mentor is missing in your life?

I don't care how old you are, it doesn't matter if you are young, it doesn't matter if you are seasoned.

Come on, somebody.

We all need spiritual mentors in our life, and this scripture that we are looking at is a prime example of the value of a mentor.

When we look at the Old Testament, this is not just the only example.

I also look at the life of Moses and I look at the life of Joshua.

Moses was a mentor to Joshua.

But what's amazing to me is Moses also had a mentor as well.

Some of you may not remember this, but in Exodus chapter 18, Moses was running himself ragged, and he was approached by his father-in-law of all people, who gave him some sound wisdom on how to delegate some of the responsibilities that were placed on his shoulders before he killed himself.

Exodus 18 · chapter mention

And he gave heed to that advice.

Spiritual mentorship.

Another example that I think about in the New Testament is Paul and Timothy.

I thank God for the book of 1st and 2 Timothy.

I really gleaned from this book over the years as a young minister, as a young man of God, because of the wisdom and the insight that the apostle Paul imparted into his young protege, Timothy.

I'm thankful for all of the mentors that I've had in my life.

And even now, Pastor Frank, who serves as my pastor, and I say this even to our Wilkett campus, every pastor needs a pastor.

All of us need to understand you can't operate in authority unless you are submitted to authority.

And I know I'm talking to the choir, and I and I don't mean to condemn anybody that's watching online.

I'm not here to judge you because I know some people may be traveling, maybe you're sick, or maybe you're in the hospital, and we pray for you to get well.

But the truth is there is something to be said about being in the house of God.

Come on, somebody.

There's something to be said about being in the house of God versus what you can experience at home.

Also, this is where your gifts are discovered.

This is where people begin to notice callings in your life.

Things are spoken over you.

This is why the Bible says in the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

Even the more as you see the day of the Lord approaching church is not optional.

It is a necessity for us to grow in our walk with God.

Can I be honest with you?

Even as a married couple, I can testify that there have been many moments where Judy and I have had intense moments of fellowship that seems to happen on Sunday mornings.

And there's a part of us that don't want to go to church or didn't want to come to church, or maybe she was trying to get something across to me, or maybe I was trying to get something across to her and it wasn't working.

But bless God, the minister spoke on it.

But one of the worst things that you can do, whether you are a spouse or a parent, did you hear what he just said?

Did you hear what she just said?

You just cut off the legs of the Holy Spirit in that person's life.

Just let the Lord work, swallow your pride, and if it comes through somebody else, the job is still getting done.

Amen.

Am I talking to somebody?

But mentorship is important.

The Bible says in Proverbs chapter 18, verse 1, it says, A man who isolates himself rages against all wise judgment.

Proverbs 18:1

He seeks his own desire.

The Bible also says that in the multitude of counselors, there is safety.

So there is something to be said about not operating in pride, but humbling yourself.

Even in, like there's another scripture that says there is a way that seems right unto man, but the end is the way of death.

This happens to be one of our foundational scriptures for my family and I, and the reason being is you should never get to a place where you think you have anything completely figured out.

I could always learn more as a pastor, I could always learn more as a father, I could always learn more as a husband, I could always learn more as a basketball player, I could always learn more in any area of my life.

And the same is true of you here in this room.

Are you hearing what I'm saying?

The truth is, when it comes to mentorship, some things are better caught than taught.

Some things are hard to convey in words, but when you observe and follow somebody, you pick up on things along the way.

That's why Jesus said, Follow me.

Follow me.

Even he told his disciples, you may not understand everything that I'm telling you right now.

But when the Holy Spirit comes, he will reveal all things to you.

So keep following me, keep trusting me, keep remaining in the word of God, and all things will be revealed in time because the Holy Spirit searches the deep things of God, and we understand through the Spirit.

Am I speaking to somebody?

The Lord no doubt brought Elijah into the life of Elisha.

Elijah didn't know it at the time, but both of them, as a mentor and the mentee, would be blessed by each other.

And this brings me to my first point.

Spiritual mentorship is birthed when a need is presented in both the mentor and the mentee.

Let me say this again.

Spiritual mentorship is birthed when a need is presented in both the mentor and the mentee.

If you go back to 1 Kings chapter 19, verse 15, listen to what this says.

1 Kings 19:15

Then the Lord said to him, Go return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus, speaking to Elijah, the mentor.

When you arrive, anoint Hazael as the king over Syria.

Also you shall anoint Jehu, the son of Nemsai, as the king over Israel.

And Elijah, the son of Shaphat of Abel Moloch, you shall anoint as prophet in your place.

It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazel, Jehu will kill, and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elijah will kill.

Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal and every mouth that has not kissed him.

This gives us a little clue into what Elijah as the mentor was needing.

Elijah, some of you may know, his ministry was surrounded by miracles.

And a lot of these miracles centered around defying the false God Baal and giving rise to the one true God, the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings.

But he had reached a place of discouragement.

In chapter 18, most of you may know the story, he called all of the prophets of Baal together to meet him on this mountain.

And on this mountain, he basically told them, Let's see if your God is real.

Let's see if your God will consume this sacrifice that's on the altar, cry out to him.

And most of you know the story, they began to cry out and nothing happened.

They began to cut themselves, which was customary in their religion, nothing happened.

But then he called on the Lord of hosts.

And not only did he call on the Lord of hosts, but he wanted to make it clear there is no other God but one.

So he actually consumed the sacrifice with water, and the Bible says that the Lord came down in a fire and consumed that sacrifice, and immediately it was understood who the true God was.

But after this moment, there was a king in charge at the time, and his name was Ahab, and he was a wicked king, and he had caused the children of Israel to sin because of their idolatry and their false worship of Baal.

But a lot of it was fueled by Jezebel.

Come on, somebody.

This is why you got to be equally yoked and not unequally yoked.

Because the Bible says, He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord, not a girlfriend, not a one-time fling, finds a wife, and not just any wife, a Proverbs 31 wife.

But he didn't choose that.

Because Proverbs 31 says, Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised.

And he missed this opportunity, and that's a message for another time.

But after this miracle that occurred, and Elijah defied the God of Baal, this Jezebel spoke to one of her servants and said, Go tell Elijah, literally, and I'm kind of paraphrasing that I'm gonna make his life a living hell.

And the Bible says, after she spoke this, that Elijah was on the run.

And he and he literally darted out of there, and some erroneously have concluded that he was afraid of her.

But he was not afraid of her, he had just reached a place of exhaustion, he had reached a place of discouragement.

One of the things that we get a clue about is in the scripture that I just read, he said, Lord, they have torn down your altars, they have killed your prophets, and I alone and left.

And he thought by performing this miracle that hearts would change for the good, but he was discouraged because he was looking at things in the flesh.

Oh, can I talk to somebody?

Have you ever been in a place as a mentor or as somebody that's trying to live for God when you were doing all that you know to do and you were being led of the spirit and God is using you in many ways, but you have yet to see things uh manifest, sorry, in the physical.

You have yet to see things change in your situation, but you have to understand something.

It takes faith.

It is impossible to please God without faith.

One must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

So I call those things that be not as though they were.

Even though I'm praying about this and I don't see change, I'll trust you.

Even though I received the doctor's diagnosis, I still trust you.

Even though I keep struggling in this same area, I'm gonna keep saying no, and those knocks are gonna become softer and softer, even though right now they're so loud.

Will you just hold on?

Will you just trust him?

God has called you to live in victory in every area of your life.

But he was discouraged.

And the Bible says that the Lord came to him when he was in a cave, and he told him to come out of that cave, and he revealed to him that sometimes the Lord does not speak to us through an earthquake or through the wind or through the fire.

Sometimes he speaks to us through a small, still voice.

And may I submit something to you?

I know what this is like.

I can remember when I was in college and I was searching for my identity, and I hadn't quite given my life to Christ.

And I was sitting in my dorm room at my desk, and the Lord spoke to me and said, Brandon, it's time to start living for me.

Not in an audible voice, but in the quietness of my spirit, and that one word was sufficient to set me on fire for Him.

There were seeds that had been planted, no doubt.

There were mentors or people that.

Had tried to speak into my life, but at that moment, that still small voice changed me.

How many of you can testify?

That still small voice changed me as well.

After this occurrence, he told him one of the things that you're missing, and it's and it's um indicated by the fact that he told him to go and look for Elisha, was he was needing a mentee, somebody that he could pour into.

Some, and this is what the Lord ministered to me as I was preparing this message.

Some of you in this room, God has deposited so much on the inside of you, it is not your place to keep it to yourself.

God is calling you to pray and to seek out a mentee that you can pour into.

I know you might be retired.

I know you may want to sit back and kind of take your ease, but what you have learned, what you have gleaned as a man or woman of God, it is time to pass on that wisdom.

It is time to erect generational blessings where there were generational curses.

God is calling you to pass on that spiritual blessing.

And once he did, he experienced an overwhelming joy and a peace because this person had a heart just like he did.

Something that I've discovered over the years being a pastor, and I believe this is a calling and and and I love it.

Like I can't see myself doing anything else, but more than sitting here ministering to you, uh, which is exciting, and I'm thankful for it, but I get even more excited when I see somebody go from point A to point B.

I get so excited when people start like asking questions.

When I see that they're digging in the Bible and they're texting my wife and I, what does this mean?

Because discipleship is occurring in their life, and there's a hunger and there's a thirst.

There's a thirst, there's a desire to grow in the things of God.

God is after disciples.

And the question is, are you hungry?

Are you desperate for God?

Have you reached a place where you've said to yourself, Lord, I know there's so much more.

I know that I've just scratched the surface of what you want to do, not just in my life, but in the life of those I'm trying to reach.

The Bible says the harvest is truly plentiful, but the laborers are few.

There are more souls to be saved.

There is more territory to take over, there is more generational curses to see broken over people's lives, and he wants to use us.

He wants to use us.

Point number two, and this is something that somebody shared with me a long time ago.

Do what you can until you can do what you want.

Do what you can until you can do what you want.

I want to share something with you in 1 Kings 19, 19 through verse 20.

It says, So he departed from there and he found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelve.

Then Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle on him, and he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, Please let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.

But listen to what Elijah said.

And he said to him, Go back again, for what have I to do to you?

It's almost like he was giving him a foretaste of what was to come.

But I really want to know, do you really want this?

Do you really want this?

You know what this instantly reminded me of?

And I didn't mention this in the first service, but I thought about this in between services.

This reminded me of the rich young ruler.

You guys remember the rich young ruler in the gospels who came to Jesus and he said, Good teacher, what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?

And Jesus said to him, Have you kept the Ten Commandments?

Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit murder.

And he went through the commandments that dealt with his fellow man, and the man said, Yes, I've kept all of these commandments from my youth, but what am I lacking?

And Jesus said, Go sell all that you have, give to the poor, and come and follow me.

And the Bible says the man went away sorrowful because he had many possessions.

Now you got to understand something.

That is what was holding him back.

That doesn't mean that's a word for all of us.

Because you can walk away from that scripture and think that God doesn't want the people of God to be prosperous, but the devil is alive.

He wants you to be prosperous.

He says, Beloved, I pray that you prosper and be in good health, even as your soul prospers.

So it is God's word for you to prosper, but for him, the prosperity had overtaken him.

He had become so attached to the things that he lost sight of the one who gave the things.

Sometimes you could be so enamored with the blessing, it begs to ask the question can you stand and be blessed?

And the God that we serve, he knows what's best.

You know what's amazing to me about that rich young ruler?

Jesus didn't chase him down.

Hold on, hold on, come back, come back.

No, no, no, no.

You missed something.

No, he let him go.

People of God, when you are evangelizing and sharing your faith, you have to be content in whatever role God decides for you to play in their life.

You may be the person who plants the seed, you may be the person who waters the seed, but it's God who brings forth the increase.

So I'm not gonna be turned off from sharing my faith, even though they're not ready to receive him right now, because it's not about me, anyways.

It's about him, and it's about putting him first.

But I want to talk to you for a moment about faithfulness, and I want to draw upon a comparison between Elisha and David.

Some of you may remember, Pastor Frank, I know he ministered on this last week, but David, when he was found by Samuel, the prophet, you guys remember the story?

Samuel, the prophet of the Lord, was called to anoint the next king of Israel.

He went to the house of Jesse and he began to go through all of Jesse's sons trying to determine who the next king was, and he thought it was this person, and God says, man looks at the outer appearance, but God looks at the heart.

You guys remember that?

But then once he went through all of his sons, he asked him, He said, Wait a minute, is there is there is there somebody else?

Because all of these that you brought before me, God has not chosen them.

Is there somebody else?

Thank God that he doesn't call the qualified, but he qualifies the called.

But he said, Is there is there somebody else?

And then it's almost like uh Jesse was, oh yes, I have my son that's out there in the field, and Samuel said, Call him here.

Call him here.

The same thing with Elijah.

When Elijah received this charge from God, when he got to his house, guess what he found him doing?

Plowing, working.

What is in your hand, child of God?

What is it that God has put in your hand to do right now until you wait on the promise to be fulfilled?

This is not a time for inactivity.

This is not a time to just shrink back from doing what God has put in your hands because it could be the Bible says the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

As I'm working what you gave me, something else that you really have intended for me is gonna come into full view.

So you got to be willing to be faithful.

I don't know where you work, I don't know what your occupation is.

Some of you may be in school, but let me tell you something.

Don't be paralyzed by fear.

Don't allow the fear of the unknown from keeping you from going forward.

I'm talking to my students in this room, whether you're in high school, whether you're in college, sometimes, and it and it's and it's a blessing because we want to do the will of the Lord and we want to be submitted to Him and we want His blessings to be upon our life.

But sometimes you got to start moving, and the Lord will reveal in time.

I knew that I was called a full-time ministry, and I'm not saying that's everyone's calling, but at the time I had to make a decision.

Am I gonna finish the degree that I was pursuing when I was in college, which was a business degree?

Am I gonna move on from this?

And the Lord told me, No, I want you to finish that.

And then I also met a fine young St.

Lucian woman over here to my left, and so I was about to get married, and I had to take care of her and provide, but I knew that the Lord had called me, but even though the calling was there, I still had to work what he gave me.

And eventually, as I look back, I can see where he connected the dots.

And I have a feeling that I'm not the only one in this room.

How in the world did I get from here to there?

How did I end up in this place?

It is only by the grace of God.

Jesus said, When he comes back, will he really find faith on the earth?

In other words, will people be looking for him?

Can I just admonish you and challenge you right now?

Don't allow the things of this world to keep you from looking and hastening to the day of the Lord because he's coming back for a church without a spot, wrinkle, or blemish.

And I don't want to be ashamed when he's coming back.

I want to be doing what my father has called me to do, which is winning the lost and seeing people come to know him.

Am I speaking to anyone here in this room?

David was a shepherd, Elijah was a farmer.

By the way, many scholars believe that Elijah was very wealthy because he had 12 yoke of oxen that he was plowing at this time.

David was taking care of the sheep, and Elijah was plowing 12 yoke of oxen when their spiritual mentor knocked on the door.

Samuel was a spiritual mentor to David.

Elijah was a spiritual mentor to Elijah, but when they both knocked on the door, he found them both working.

He found them both working.

They were on time, they were good stewards over what had been placed in their care, and they also understood what they possessed was not their own.

It was given to them.

Guys, keep working what God has placed in your care.

Be on time, operate with integrity.

Even though everyone else is cutting corners on the job, I'm not cutting corners.

I'm gonna be a man or woman of God with that operates with integrity, and God will bless you for it.

Am I talking to somebody?

Elijah received a mantle or a cloak that Elijah placed on his shoulders.

The cloak was the most important article of clothing a person could own.

It was used as protection against the weather, as bedding, as a place to sit on, and as luggage, but there was a special anointing on this mantle.

It could be given as a pledge for a dead or torn into pieces to show grief.

But the point that I want to drive home is when he put that cloak on him, he wanted to know, are you ready for this?

I've had a lot of people over the years, and I'm sure other pastors can testify to this as well, where some have come forward wanting mentorship, wanting to be discipled.

But when the rubber hits the road and when things are asked of them, particularly difficult things, crookets, they begin to scatter and they leave the assignment or the instruction that's being given.

Can I submit to you?

Sometimes receiving a mentor is gonna challenge you, and it's gonna cause you to think twice about some of the decisions that you are making.

But if you're humble enough, you'll recognize I need it.

I need this in my life.

I don't like it, I don't like this person right now and what they're telling me, but it's tight, but it's right.

Amen.

I need it, I need it.

The second or the third point that I want to make is a spiritual mentor will always ask you to leave something behind.

A spiritual mentor will always ask you to leave something behind.

This was the case with David, but as I meditated on this, something stood out to me.

David, he, because he was a good steward and he understood what had been entrusted to him, when he went to go serve in Saul's court, he left the sheep with another shepherd.

He didn't leave the sheep by themselves, so he still took care of them even in his absence.

But Elijah was a little bit different.

When he realized the call that was on his life, the Bible says he took one of the yokes, one of the equipment that was used to plow, to make the ground suitable for planting seeds.

He took one of those and he slaughtered all of his oxen.

And he gave and he boiled their flesh and he gave it unto the people.

What happened here?

What happened here was he was giving thanks and blessing unto his God for keeping him all this time.

And he celebrated with the people when he made this sacrifice, he gave gifts unto the people, celebrating how God had been faithful to him.

But also he recognized a potential weakness that could be on the horizon, and that is to want to go back.

How many of you have ever been in a place, Lord?

I know what you're calling me to, but I keep getting called back.

I keep wanting to go back to who I was, I keep wanting to go back to what is familiar.

This is why, even in premarital counseling, if there have been any other relationships, particularly sexual in nature, because you become one flesh with that person, and there are soul ties that are created, you gotta cut that person off.

I gotta unfollow them from Facebook.

I I can't keep their number in my phone.

Why?

Because I gotta sever all ties lest I'm tempted to go back.

See, you gotta know yourself, people of God.

After a while, when you're serving God, when you're walking with God, you should get to a place where you know your weaknesses.

I know the hour, I know the day, I know the time where I'm susceptible.

These are questions that you should be able to answer.

And you know what?

I'm not trying to see how far on the edge I can live and not sin.

Come on, somebody.

I'm not trying to see, like, well, well, well, like, is this okay?

Is that okay?

First of all, if there's a check, it's not okay.

If God has already put a check in your spirit, make a decision.

I am called to be holy because he is holy, and I'm gonna refrain as far away from this edge as possible because he deserves it.

So you have to resolve.

I thank God for the conviction of the Holy Spirit because the Lord convicts those in whom he loves.

And if you are without discipline, which Hebrews 12 teaches us, you are an illegitimate child.

You are not his.

But if you are, he convicts you.

And when you receive that conviction, Lord, I'm sorry.

Help me to turn away from this, help me to live with a clear conscience before you.

He had to break away.

Jesus has something to say about this in Luke 9.62, and he talks about the cost of discipleship by saying, No one having putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.

Can I be real with y'all for a second?

And this has been a while, and I'm gonna be dating myself, so please forgive me in advance.

But when I gave before I gave my life to Christ, I had a lot of issues.

All right?

Some things that I had to deal with, and I hope I'm not the only one.

I'm putting myself out there.

I had a lot of issues.

One of those issues was I cursed a lot.

Unless you forgot, cursing is not God's best.

If you look at Ephesians chapter 4, the Bible says, Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but that which brings edification that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Ephesians 4 · chapter mention

So it is a sin to curse and to belign somebody in, or to belign somebody in that way.

So one of the things that the Lord dealt with me, he said, Brandon, that's gotta change.

But Lord, how do I change this?

And he made it very clear the music you're listening to.

No, Pastor Brandon, but I'm just listening to the beat, man.

I just like the beat.

But God said, No, be not deceived, evil company corrupts good habits.

1 Corinthians 15, 33, be not deceived, evil company corrupts good habits.

I'm putting myself out there, y'all.

It was rap music and it was RB, and I was single.

There was a passion that was trying to be awakened on the inside of me that wasn't ready to be awakened.

I had no business listening to some of that music.

So God told me, He said, Brandon, and I'm dating myself, I had a lot of CDs.

Like, y'all know what that is, right?

Like it came in a little plastic case, it was circular, it had a little hole in the middle.

All right, it was a CD.

But the Lord told me, I want you to throw all of these CDs away.

Now, at the time, there was a company where you could go and trade in your CDs, video cassettes, like you remember what that is, right?

A video cassette?

Okay, all right, okay, okay.

Like, just check it.

All right, so so you could go to this place, and even some people suggested that.

Oh, bro, like why don't you just go and trade these things in?

Because you can get money for it.

But you know what the Lord spoke to me?

Why would you want anyone else to listen to that feel?

Throw it in the trash and let it go.

And the Lord began to introduce different types of music, not just rap, Christian rap.

But the Lord began to expose my heart to other forms of Christian music where God was glorified, and it got to a point, it doesn't matter who's singing it or what color they are, as long as they're glorifying the Lord, I can get down with it.

But I had to let it go.

I had to crucify that thing, I had to sever it, I had to cut off the umbilical cord.

Friends, somebody like the Lord right now is telling you to cut off the umbilical cord.

I know you knew, like, like this is this is your roll dog, this is your posse, like this is your boy right here, and you've known them your whole life.

But let me tell you something, right now, they're not good for you.

Let them go, let them go.

And I know they may come and tell you, oh, you think you're holier than now, you think you're better than us.

You know what?

I'm not saying that.

But I'm at a place where I'm trying to live for God, and I can't hang out with you no more.

I can't hang out with you no more, I can't look at these things anymore.

I'm not judging you, I'm not telling you to to to to do this or or do that.

I'm encouraging you because of what the Lord is doing in my life, but I gotta keep moving forward.

Am I talking to somebody?

But they're always gonna ask you to leave something behind.

Point number four, over time, a spiritual mentor becomes more than just a mentor.

Let me say that again.

Over time, a spiritual mentor becomes more than just a mentor.

You know what's amazing?

Over the years, the men of God, the women of God that have spoken into my life and Judy and I's life over the years, they've become more than just mentors.

They've become almost like a father figure, almost like a mother figure, close friends.

Initially, we were getting to know each other, but now I trust them.

I know their heart.

I know that they have good intentions.

And you know what?

It's very important that you seek this out, that you seek out a godly spiritual mentor.

And this is not to say that that spiritual mentor is perfect.

In fact, I would be more inclined to listen to them and be pulled to them if they had some things that they could share with me about how they overcame.

Because if they've had their stuff together their whole life, I don't know it's gonna be a whole lot that I can glean from them, but have you been through anything?

And what I mean by be like going through something doesn't mean that they've sinned, but at least they've experienced the pressure or the challenges of life and they've maintained their integrity, even that can be a witness.

Are you with me?

It can be helpful.

Before Elijah was about to be taken up to heaven in 2 Kings 2, he told Elijah to stay behind as the Lord sent him to various places.

However, Elijah refused to leave Elijah, knowing that his departure was drawing near.

And he said, As the Lord lives, as my soul lives, I'm not leaving you.

I know what's on the horizon, I know what we've been through together, and I'm not leaving you because I see something valuable in following you.

And I'm gonna be right here.

I'm not going anywhere.

If you were to leave me, I'm gonna be right here.

By his request, it's obvious that Elisha viewed Elijah as more than just a mentor, but a father figure.

The reason, and this is validated by the fact that Elijah asked, Elijah.

For a double portion of his spirit.

If you look in Deuteronomy 21, what he was asking for was for the rights of a firstborn son.

The rights of a firstborn son.

Because a firstborn son would not only receive the inheritance of his father, but Elijah was more so asking not for stuff, I want your spirit to be on me.

What good is it if we leave material possessions for our kids, but we don't leave the wisdom on how to follow God to help them keep it?

It's more valuable that you begin writing notes.

It's more valuable that you begin putting things on paper so that when I'm gone, you have something to follow.

You have testimonies, you have a book of remembrance of where I was, so that when you find yourself in that same situation, the same God that rescued me is the same God that will rescue you.

And he understood this.

He understood this.

One commentator wrote this that I came across.

His real request was that he would be Elijah's spiritual successor.

It was not a double portion of Elijah's goods that Elisha wanted, or that Elijah wanted, it was a double portion of his spirit.

In material things, the principal heir received a double portion of his father's goods.

Elijah wanted the principle of primary inheritance to apply to spiritual things.

Nearby were all sorts of prophets.

All of them would be his heirs or could be his heirs.

You may assume from the life that he lived that Elijah's request was not due to pride.

He simply wanted to be the man of God who would follow in Elijah's footsteps.

Far from being a selfish request, Elijah's petition reflects his humble acknowledgement that if Elijah's ministry were to continue through him, it would take specially God-given spiritual power.

And that's what he was asking for.

I want a double portion of your spirit to come upon me.

And by the way, that was not something that Elijah could give.

It was only something that God can give.

Little side note here: just because you were called to ministry doesn't mean your offspring is automatically called to ministry.

There still has to be a call of God on their life.

There still has to be a commissioning.

It is not just assumed.

Even with my own children, if this is what the Lord has for them, great.

But Lord, whatever you have called them to do, help me to help them get there.

Help me to pour into them and help them become who you have called them to be.

Let me bring this in for a landing with my last point.

The spiritual development of a mentor overcomes any attack from the enemy.

The spiritual development of a mentor overcomes any attack from the enemy.

Have you ever noticed you can receive good news in one breath and be commissioned in one instance and then be denied or have people deny or speak against or not believe that it's true in another breath?

Right after this mantle was passed down to Elijah, that's where this occurrence is, where he's going up to Bethel, and these youths come out and they begin mocking him and saying, Go up, you bald head.

But the reason why they were mocking him was because they came from an area that was heavily infiltrated by idolatry.

And Elijah, his mentor, had spoken vehemently against them and they didn't like it.

They were unwilling to change their ways.

So don't so don't think that this just happened and it's an isolated event.

God gave them opportunities to repent.

And this is something you must always understand when you read the Old Testament.

God always gave people an opportunity to repent.

Even though some scriptures are hard to read, you must understand through context the practices of some of these false gods.

Some of them had their kids pass through the fire as a form of worship unto their false deities.

Always read in context.

So they thought, I bet you Elisha is going to be the same way.

So they began to ridicule him.

Go up, you bald head.

But what did bald head really mean?

I want to know.

Come on, somebody.

First of all, it's very unlikely that these youth were children.

Commentators, scholars believe they were teenagers, maybe early, maybe young adults.

But it was a mob of young men, 42 at least, that had come up against this one man right after he was commissioned to ministry.

Right after.

But even though he was commissioned to ministry, he was able to draw from the well of mentorship that he had received from Elisha.

So he knew who he was.

And he knew, even though I'm stepping into this, I know my God is with me, but I also have the witness of a mentor and what he has gone through in his life as a way of encouragement for me right now in this season.

But bold head in the Hebrew, it was a word used against Elijah, and it was a severe insult.

It was a combining of mockery of his physical appearance with a contemptuous rejection of his prophetic authority.

In the ancient Near East, hair represented vitality.

Thus, bald head was used to describe him as weak, contemptible, or in some context, a leper.

Don't mess with the man or woman of God.

You got to be careful what you say against the Lord's anointed.

They were not merely teasing Elijah, but showing severe disrespect for his message and God's power.

They may also have jeered because of their disbelief in the chariot of fire that had taken Elijah.

When Elijah cursed them, he did not call out the bears himself, but God sent the bears as a way of judgment.

Sometimes you have to speak for yourself, but other times you don't have to say a word.

In this particular instance, he knew who he was and he spoke accordingly.

The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 was being accused of mishandling finances with the church at Corinth, and there were false teachers that were coming against him.

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

He had to speak up for himself in 1 Corinthians chapter 9.

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

But there's a scripture that's in Numbers chapter 12 that reads of Moses.

Numbers 12 · chapter mention

Most of you may know the story.

Moses' sister Miriam came against him because they didn't like the way that he was leading.

And on top of that, he had married an Ethiopian woman, and they disagreed with this.

So they spoke against him, not knowing that God was listening.

See, the Bible says, When your ways please the Lord, he makes even your enemies to be at peace with you.

See, sometimes you don't so in this instance they were talking about him, and God heard it, and he said, I want you, Miriam, I want you, Moses, and there was another, and I want you to come to the tabernacle of meaning, I got something to say.

And basically what he said was, Did you not fear the Lord in speaking against my servant?

And after the Lord was through having a discussion with all of them, uh, Miriam had leprosy.

She literally had to be put out of the camp for a specified period of time due to the purification of being clean or of being unclean until she was cleansed.

Do you know Moses had to pray for her?

The camp couldn't even move on on their journey until this situation was handled.

And Moses didn't say a word.

Friends, when you know who you are, I don't need to say a word in some instances.

I just need to keep my cool, I need to keep my integrity and let the chips fall where they may, but I know my God is for me.

And if my God is for me, who in the world can be against me?

Our ability to remain calm and consistent despite the opposition we faced, rest in our trust in God and operating in his power.

And Elijah learned this from Elijah.

Will you stand with me here in this place?