2 Kings 2, beginning at the first verse. This is God's holy word. When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah said to Elisha, stay here, the Lord has sent me to Bethel. But Elisha said, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So they went down to Bethel. The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today? Yes, I know, Elisha replied, but do not speak of it. Then Elijah said to him, stay here, Elisha. The Lord has sent me to Jericho. And he replied, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So they went to Jericho. The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today? Yes, I know, he replied, but do not speak of it. Then Elijah said to him, stay here, the Lord has sent me to the Jordan. And he replied, as surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you. So the two of them walked on. 50 men of the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up, and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you? Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit, Elisha replied. You have asked a difficult thing, Elijah said, yet if you see me When I am taken from you, it will be yours, otherwise not. That's as far as we'll read tonight from God's holy word. Friends, one of the first things that children learn to do when they learn to speak is to ask for things. Maybe the first thing they learn is to say no. But right after that, they learn to ask for things, things they see, things they want. I want this. I want that. Give me this. Give me that. Needs and wants are communicated by asking. And friends, it's true spiritually as well. As the children of God, we are an asking people. We are always petitioning God, supplicating him with our requests. And that's a good thing. It's good to be an asking people because it's a token of two great realities. It's evidence first of our need. We realize how much we need and how much the things we need are things that we can't generate ourselves, that we can't accomplish ourselves. And so we ask God. It's a token of our need and dependence upon God that we ask him of things. The proud don't ask. They're above that. They don't need anything. from anyone or from god but the children of god are not proud we're humble and so we ask him for things and secondly it's also a token of god's glory because when we ask him for something it is a recognition that he is the god who provides uh... abraham said, on the mountain of the Lord, it shall be provided. And he named the place Jehovah Jireh, which in Hebrew means the Lord provides. It is the glory of God that he is the one who provides every good thing for his people. And so you see, both realities are at work when we are asking God for things. It shows our need independence, and it glorifies God as the one who answers our prayers. And so we see God teaching us about asking Him for things all through scripture. In Philippians 4, verse 6, Paul says, don't be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition. And that means by prayer and asking. With thanksgiving, present your request to God. James says in chapter 4 of his letter, very simply, you do not have because you do not ask God. We don't have because we don't ask. Jesus emphasized the very same thing in John 14 when he said, you may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it. Jesus condones and encourages our asking. But of course, that asking for anything comes with this overarching provision. 1 John 5, 14, this is the confidence we have in approaching God, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And that's why Jesus said, you may ask me for anything in my name. At least part of that in my name reality means according to his wisdom. And of course we see the blessing of that right away, don't we? Especially if we've had children. Is it the good parent who gives his child everything that they ask for? Of course not. That's neither wise nor loving to a child. We listen to all their requests because we love them, but we don't give them everything they ask for because we love them. And God deals with us as his children in the same way. He wants us to present our requests to him. He wants us to be asking the things that are on our hearts, to pour out our hearts to him. But He wants us to know, and we should know, that He will always answer us in His wisdom and in His love, because He cannot be unwise and He cannot be unloving to you. And so He always answers according to His will, in His name. And so the question, you see, from the scripture is not, as believers, should we be asking God for things? Really, the question is, what should we be asking for and why? Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 says, seek the best gifts, covet the best gifts. That's what we should be asking. That's what we should be thinking about when we are asking God for things. What are the best things that I can be asking from God? And it's in this context that we come to the last moments of Elijah's life and ministry here on the earth. And in those last hours before he is taken miraculously into heaven, we see Elisha asking for something from Elijah. And I want to have us notice tonight three things about Elisha's asking. First of all, the timing of his request. Secondly, the nature of his request, and lastly, the confirmation of his request. The first thing that we see here is something of the timing of his request. Look at verse nine. When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you? What can I do for you before I am taken from you? Now, I think this is a point that would be very easy to pass over, but it's a point that was picked up on by several of our forefathers in the faith. You see, when the Reformation was fresher in the minds and lives of the church, The Reformation that much of the church is going to be celebrating and remembering at the end of this week, October 31st, recalling that day when Martin Luther, the German monk who had discovered the gospel again in the church, when he nailed those 95 arguments for debate on the door of the church, October 31st. 1517 and all that went along with the Reformation of the church and the rediscovery of the gospel and the reforming of the attitude of the people of God toward the Word of God and toward faith and toward Christ and grace and the glory of God. In a time when the Reformation was fresher in the minds and lives of the church, fresher often than it is today, When our forefathers came to this verse, verse 9, that word before jumped out at them. Elijah said to Elisha, tell me what can I do for you before I am taken from you? And it jumped out to them because they saw it as a clear refutation of a distortion in doctrine that was present in their day and continues to our day. Do you see what's important here in terms of the timing of this request? Elijah's words to Elisha imply that if he is to grant anything to Elisha or do anything for Elisha's benefit, it must be done before he is taken away into heaven. Ask me what I can do for you before I am taken from you. The implication is once I'm gone, that opportunity for you to ask or for me to bless you in this way is gone. Yet many in church history and many in the world today hope that those who have died and gone to heaven Saints who have lived before and are now in glory, that these saints can hear their prayers and hear their requests and confer some blessing upon them. But friends, such prayers to departed saints finds no support in the Bible and accounts like ours tonight argue positively against the practice. What can I do for you before I go to heaven? Because when I'm there, you won't be able to ask me for anything anymore. Friends, Jesus is our mediator in heaven. We have the great privilege, as he said, of asking in his name and presenting our requests to him. And what more could we want or need than to make our requests known to God in the name of Jesus Christ? To say nothing of how praying to any other would detract from the glory of Christ. And so in that little word before, We have a refutation of a prevalent error in the history of the church. We may pray for each other while we're on this earth, but when we go to heaven, we are not to pray to the dead, we are not to pray for the dead. And Elijah makes that clear to Elisha in the timing of the request. What can I do for you before I am taken from you? Well, secondly, let's look at the actual nature of Elisha's request. And this, of course, is the heart of the matter. What did he ask for? You know, that's an important consideration because a person's heart is revealed by their desires and their requests. You can tell a lot about someone by saying to them or being in the position of having them come to you and you say, what would you like? What can I do for you? And the kind of answer that they give, what are they asking for? You know, people come into a church and they ask for things. You can tell a lot about someone. by what they ask for. Our children come to us, and a little bit of their hearts are revealed to us by what they're always asking for. You know, and as they grow older, those requests, you know, and parents, we should be considering that. What are our children asking for? And how is that helping us to understand their hearts and where they're at? It's a way for us to have a look inside our own hearts tonight. If you could ask for anything, it's the old fairy tale of the genie in the bottle. If you could ask for anything tonight, what would you ask for? I don't expect you to tell me or to say it out loud, but be honest. If you could ask for anything tonight, what would you ask for? Does it have four wheels and a turbocharger? You know, does it have an en suite bath and hardwood floors? Does it have a lot of zeros in the bank account? What would you ask for? You know, this case of Elisha and what he asked of Elijah reminds me of King Solomon. Because the Lord came to Solomon. This is no genie in the bottle. This is the Lord God who is able to give anything. And at Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon, 1 Kings 3 verse 5, during the night in a dream, and God said, Ask for whatever you want me to give you. Carte blanche. Ask for whatever you want. And later on in that chapter, this is what Solomon replied. Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to be able to distinguish between right and wrong for who is able to govern this great people of yours. And in response to Solomon's response, we read in verse 10, the Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. So God said to him, since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have you asked for the death of your enemies, but for discernment. In administering justice, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart so that there will never be anyone like you, nor will there ever be." And we see in a very similar way in the case of Elisha, don't we? Elisha doesn't ask for anything that a worldling would desire. Long life, wealth for ourselves, the death of our enemies. When they had crossed the Jordan, Elijah said to Elisha, tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you? Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit, Elisha replied. What a wonderful request. A double portion of your spirit, the spirit of God in Elisha that empowered and enabled him to be the prophet of God. And when he asked for a double portion, that, of course, reflects the practice and the custom in Israel in the Old Testament, where the firstborn son would inherit a double portion of all of his father's inheritance. It would be divided up among the sons, but the firstborn son would receive a double portion, twice as much as any one of the other sons, as a symbol and a token of honor to that firstborn, Deuteronomy 21, 17. And so we see here that Elisha is thinking this way. He's thinking in terms of inheritance. Now, when we think in terms of inheritance, it's almost always in material ways. Rich Uncle Sam is passed away. What am I going to get? And as Elijah here is about to leave the earth, Elisha is thinking of his inheritance, double portion, but not in a earthly material way. He's thinking of his inheritance in a spiritual realm. He wants to be Elijah's successor, but he knows what he needs to accomplish that honor. Give me a double portion of your spirit, the spirit of Christ in you. That's what I want. I followed you for however many years he followed from the time he was called from driving the teams of oxen until now and he had seen the spirit of the living God in this man Elijah. And the more that he saw who Elijah was by God's grace and spirit and what he could do for God's glory, it just compelled him more and more to say, that's what I want. I want the spirit that makes you the man of God that you are. Have you ever been around Christians like that? You just see their lives. You see their speech. their behavior, their attitude. You see their love for those around them. You see their joy, their contentment in Christ. You see the way that their hearts rise above the situations that face them. And the more you're around them, that's what you find yourself saying, I want more of that spirit. I want more of that spirit of Christ in you. This is the nature of Elisha's request. And as with Solomon, I'm certain that the Lord heard that request and blessed it and honored it and said, because you have asked for this, I will do it. Beloved, the question comes to us in light of Elisha's request tonight as it comes to me. Do you want to be more spiritual than you already are? Do you want to be more spiritual? Do you want more of the Holy Spirit of God in your life? Of course, we know that He is given to every believer. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. But there is an outpouring and there is a fullness of the Spirit that may come and go. We may grieve the Holy Spirit. And we may have a fullness of the Spirit. That's why we read throughout the Bible, those who possess the Spirit in the new birth, it's still said of them, and the Lord came upon them to do this or that. Throughout the book of Acts, though they are filled with the Spirit, we read on several occasions, being filled with the Holy Spirit. There's a greater fullness of the Spirit operative in the lives of believers at one time or another. And because that's true, this is a legitimate request. Lord, I want more of your spirit. That's why Paul says in Ephesians chapter five, don't be drunk with wine. Don't let that control you, but be filled with the spirit. Do you want more fullness of the Holy Spirit in your life? You know, when I considered Elisha's request here tonight, I just reviewed my prayer life over the past however long. When was the last time I prayed, Lord, give me a double portion of your spirit? I can pray for lots of things. Lord, help me to be a better husband. Help me to be a better father. Help me to be a better pastor. Help me to witness more. Help me not to worry as much. Help me with my pride. Help me with this sin or that sin. Those are all good requests. But surely over and above them all, and really the answer to them all, is this request of Elisha. Give me a double portion of your spirit. That's what we need. Does that sound too Pentecostal for a Reformed church to be asking and praying? Well, if we're not, we're not a Reformed church. B.B. Warfield, called John Calvin, the theologian of the Holy Spirit. And if we're not praying for the work and working of the Holy Spirit of God in our lives and in our congregation, we don't have the first clue of what it means to be Reformed. Because to be reformed is to have an utter dependence upon God and His grace. To be completely bankrupt before God and to say, Lord, if I am to do anything, if I'm to have any blessing and victory in my life, you must be the one who is working it by your spirit in my life. In fact, to pray for a double portion of the Spirit of God is one of the greatest signs in and of itself that the Spirit is in your life. Have you asked our Father in heaven for the Holy Spirit? That's really the beginning of the Christian life. Really, we ask that the Spirit would come in Psalm 51, renew our hearts, and put a willing spirit within us, the new birth. Receiving a new heart comes when the Holy Spirit brings the benefits and merits of Christ to us. It's the beginning of the Christian life, and it continues every day of the Christian life, asking our Father for His Spirit. Luke 11. Jesus said, ask, and it will be given to you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives. He who seeks finds. To him who knocks, a door will be opened. Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. Now here is the crucial part of this passage, because all this seeking, and asking, and knocking, and giving, and finding, and opening, we fill our minds with all sorts of things. What is that? What am I asking that I'm gonna get? What is I'm gonna knock? What door am I gonna knock on that's gonna be open to me? What am I gonna be seeking that God promises here, Jesus promises I'll find? Listen to what Jesus says in verse 13. How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him? If we're not asking for the Holy Spirit, then we are not seeking and knocking and asking the way that Jesus wants us to. Because right on the heels of all that asking and knocking and seeking, in his mind, is people who are asking the Father for the Holy Spirit. Well, how does Elijah respond to Elisha? You've asked a hard thing. It would be easy for God to give the cattle on a thousand hills. This is a hard thing. Only God can do it. This is a request that only God can fulfill. Elijah can't do it. Elisha has asked Elijah, but the very thing that Elijah is asked, Elijah is powerless to do. You've asked a hard thing. I can't give you what you've asked. He knows only God can give it, and God does give it. Isaiah 61 7 instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion. Instead of disgrace they will receive their inheritance so they will inherit a double portion in their land and everlasting joy will be theirs. We've received that blessing. We are the Church of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has been poured out on the church because Christ has been seated at the right hand of God. And beloved, we need a double portion. We need a double portion of God's Spirit. Remember what Jesus said in John 15, I'm the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing. We need to remember that. Apart from me, you can do nothing, said Jesus. Paul says of his work and life and ministry in 2 Corinthians 2, who is equal to such a task? We need to pray for a double portion of God's spirit as we're involved in spiritual ministry. Whatever we're doing in the church for God's glory, for his kingdom, as you're speaking to other people, as you're helping them with their physical, material needs, and their spiritual needs, and remembering that their material and physical needs are wrapped up in their spiritual needs. We need a double portion of God's spirit to see blessing in that. as you live out your spiritual marriages. Your marriage to your husband and to your wife is a great spiritual arena. I was going to say crucible. That's a bit too painful. It's an arena. We'll never have the kind of marriages reflect Christ and his church and that honour and glorify God the way they should without God's Holy Spirit. We need to ask for a double portion of his Spirit for our marriages. Your child raising is a spiritual endeavour. You need a double portion of God's Spirit. It's a hard thing. Witnessing to our neighbours, double portion. Whatever it is, We need a double portion of God's spirit. The blessing here that we see in the encouragement is we see lastly the confirmation of Elisha's request. You have asked a difficult thing, verse 10, Elijah said, yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours, otherwise not. Strange that there should be this condition at all, you know, as we reverently question the scripture. Why didn't Elisha just say, God will give it to you? Why is there this conditionality to it in this condition of if you see me as I'm translated up into heaven? Well, we can assume that this is no arbitrary thing, that this was bound up in the nature of his request, this confirmation of the request. It was difficult for Elijah to do what he did in the world. It's an impossible thing from a human perspective to have the kind of faith and influence and impact that Elijah did in his day, to stand up to idolatry, to have such a faith in the God whom we have never seen. the life of faith in God, a life of utter conviction in things unseen and eternal. That's no easy thing. Maybe that's part of why Elijah said, you've asked for a hard thing, but if you see me, go up into heaven, it will be yours. Faith, friends, is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. And so perhaps Elijah's words here are not only the condition of the request, but also the evidence that Elisha has in fact received a double portion of the spirit. Will Elisha be able to see what would be hidden from the eyes of others? This spiritual miracle of Elijah being translated up into heaven, which the others didn't see, Elisha was permitted to see it. And the very fact that he did see it was evidence of the Holy Spirit and a faith that is able to see what is unseen. Isn't that also our life of faith? As we trust God, his word, his promises, as we strive to live not by sight, but by faith. Hebrews 11. Says Moses by faith left Egypt not fearing the king's anger he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. How do you do that boys and girls. How do you see him who is invisible. It sounds like a complete flat contradiction. But you see that's the life of faith. God has revealed himself in his word. And we see his promises in his word. And when we see his promises and what he's done in his word, we see his handiwork. We see the effects of God. And it's as if we are seeing God and who he is and what he's like and what he's done in his word. We trust that. And so we see him who is invisible by his word and what he's done. Hebrews 11, 13, all these people, all the faithful, were living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised. They saw them and welcomed them from a distance. They lived by what they couldn't see. They lived by faith. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary. What is unseen is eternal. Elisha was permitted to see what was unseen to the rest of the world. How Elijah was taken up into heaven. But that's really just a picture of our whole life of faith. We are able by God's spirit to live seeing what is unseen. That's what sets Christians apart from the world. They live by what they can see. We live by faith in what God has revealed as unseen and eternal. That makes all the difference. Christians do and must see this life differently than the world sees it. We see ourselves, we see our time, we see our resources, our priorities, our duties, our delights, our desires, all of them to be looked at in the light of eternity and in the light of Christ. Elijah was privileged to see the ascension of Elijah into heaven, but our privilege is greater even than that, because we see by faith in God's word the one who has ascended into heaven and is seated at God's right hand. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of God. Love at a double portion of the Spirit of God will mean living our lives and having the blessing of living those lives in light of what is unseen to the rest of the world. Unseen for now. But one day, every eye will see. Every eye will see. Every eye will see Him who is pierced. Every eye will be gathered before the Lord Jesus Christ and they will see Him. Every eye will see the realities of heaven and hell forever and ever. And on that day, by God's grace, the people of god will fall on their faces and thank god that by his spirit he allowed us to see that when it was still invisible and not yet though you have not seen him you love him and even though you do not see him now you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.