LIVING A LIFE OF DOUBLE PORTION: “THE OUTFLOW” — Part IIby Carter Conlon

In the first part of this message based on the Book of Kings, chapter 2, we sawthat when Elisha asked Elijah for a dou-ble portion, he was not asking for twicethe anointing of Elijah. He was askingfor the portion that belonged to the first-b o rn son, re f e rred to in the book ofD e u t e ronomy 21:17 as the double por-tion. For example, if you had ten sonsand were leaving them ten dollars each,nine would receive the ten but the first-b o rn son would receive twenty dollars. It would be a double portion. Not asmuch as the father had, but twice theamount of the others.

In Romans 8:17, the Apostle Paul says very clearly, we are “Heirs of God,and joint-heirs with Christ.” So as theF i r s t b o rn Son of God, Jesus inherited the double portion from the Father. Thefull life of the Father dwells in Him, andwe are co-inheritors of that life thro u g hJesus Christ. It should there f o re be thequest of every Christian, everyone whocalls himself by the name of Christ, tos a y, “God, I want the full life of the Spiritthat Jesus purchased for me on Calvary.It is my inheritance, and I want every-thing you have for me.”

■ THE JOURNEY: A TYPE OF CHRISTAND HIS CHURCHElisha had this desire in his heart for a double portion of the spirit that re s t e don Elijah, but before this could happen,God took both Elijah and Elisha on aj o u rn e y. First, it was to a place of histo-ry; a place of faith and promise calledBethel. Secondly, to a place of quiet andconfident worship called Jericho. Third l y,s h o rtly after Jericho, to a place whereElisha saw Elijah taken away and w h e reElisha re t u rned in the power of God, tothe Jordan. It is an absolute type ofJesus Christ and His work in the life ofHis disciples. He led them on an identi-

cal journ e y. First, to a place where they would believe on Him, where they would believe His word and His p romises. Secondly, to a place wherethey would quietly and confidently t rust Him. Lastly, He led them to theplace where He was taken away into the clouds in the very same manner that Elijah was taken.

■ RECEIVING THE DOUBLE P O RTION Elisha re t u rned to cross over the J o rdan with the double portion of thesame anointing and power of God thathad rested on Elijah. And so it is withus. Jesus had clearly said to His disci-ples, “And ye are witnesses of thesethings...behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye...untilye be endued with power from on high”Luke 24:48-49. They were to be witness-es of Christ in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,and to the uttermost parts of the eart h .They tarried, the Holy Spirit came uponthem, and they all received the doublep o rtion. They were made co-inheritors ofthe Firstborn and only begotten Son ofGod—His inheritance became theirsand, there f o re, our inheritance.

■ THE ABIDING LIFE OF CHRIST We see Elisha re t u rning, taking the mantle of Elijah and smiting the Jord a nR i v e r, and the waters parting. Thiss u p e rnatural parting of the waters sym-bolizes the impossibility of any humane ff o rt in ever accomplishing the work of God. For the church, it’s no longerabout human eff o rt, but it is now aboutfaith in the promises of God. It’s aboutthe abiding life of Jesus Christ madepossible through the outpouring of theHoly Spirit. If the church of Jesus Christcould get hold of this one truth, it couldrevolutionize our present-day world. You have the Spirit and life of God

residing in you. It is not by argument or human reasoning that we are commis-sioned to take the message of the Savior.No! We are called to be a living testimo-ny of the love and life of Christ. His lifeis to be lived in and through us by thepower of the Holy Spirit. It is to be as u p e rnatural life, a powerful life. A lifethat will touch the very inner core of ourgeneration, beginning in our own homes,and then beyond to the uttermost part of the world.

S c r i p t u re tells us that Elisha re t u rned in the spirit and power of Elijah. Elijahwas a man who had a tremendous pas-sion for God’s honor. His passion andcalling was for God’s people to turn fro mtheir backslidden ways and serve theLORD. Even after fleeing from Jezebel,he said, “I’ve been jealous for the Lord .I’ve been jealous, God, for your name.I’ve been jealous, God, for your people.”Now Elisha comes back over the RiverJ o rdan and he has this same burden onhis heart: this passion for God, this pas-sion for the purposes of God, and thispassion for the honor of God.

■ OUTFLOW OF THE ABIDINGLIFE—FRUIT—JOHN 15:5E v e ry Christian who has re c e i v e dC h r i s t ’s life re t u rns with the outflow of the evidence of Christ upon them. I don’t believe there are any exceptionsto the rule. Where there is an inwardworking of Christ in the life of theb e l i e v e r, there should also be an outflow of the anointing! If I have Christ living in me, then the outflow of His life has to be an expression of the life of God. Look at the outflow f rom our God who so loved the worldthat He gave His only Son. Now look at the outflow from Christ and how Hegave His life so that all people mayknow the Father’s love.

“A GREAT MULTITUDE OF ALL NATIONS AND KINDREDS AND PEOPLES AND LANGUAGES.” REVELATIONS 7:9 w w w. t s c n y c . o r gISSUE I / VOL 2 / AUG 05

■ WE NEED TO ASK OURSELVES A QUESTIONWe can then ask ourselves this question,“What was the outflow of this touch ofGod upon Elisha’s life? How was it mani-fested? And what evidence indicates thatthis was truly God?” This next statementmight shock you, but I believe every t h i n gElisha did, we can do, as well. The mira-cles he did were spectacular, but let uslook beyond the spectacular to what Godwas really doing through him. We have atendency to get caught up in the spectac-ular and think we could never do whatElisha did. So, we relegate the anointingto history and hope to understand it oned a y. Right now, you may be pre o c c u p i e din dealing with your own issues, and soyou miss the reality that the same Christin Elisha is also living in you. Hear meclearly on this. It’s not so much that youand I are necessarily going to go out anddo things that are outwardly spectacular.But, there are certain areas of his min-i s t ry that do relate to you and me.

■ THE MIND OF CHRIST—1 CORINTHIANS 2:16In 2 Kings 3:11-18 “And Jehoshaphatsaid, the word of the LORD is with him.So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphatand the king of Edom went down tohim...And he said, thus saith the LORD,Make this valley full of ditches...And thisis but a light thing in the sight of theLORD: he will deliver the Moabites alsointo your hand.” Elisha comes onto thescene of a people who, because of theirungodly leadership, are in danger ofdying of thirst. Elisha speaks the Wo rd of the Lord, and gives direction and the

p romise of provision to three leaders who are walking in the flesh. He is now a man who understands the mind of theSpirit. Elisha shows them the plan ofGod for provision and soon-coming victo-ry. Because he had an intimate knowl-edge of the ways of God, he was able togive them leadership, and help themt h rough the struggle and dryness in theirlives. You and I are capable of doingthat. When you abide in Christ, and HisWo rd abides in you, then Christ’s mindbecomes your mind, and you can be usedof God to encourage others to walk in theSpirit and to understand the ways of God.

What was the outflow of double port i o nin Elisha’s life? Looking at his life, ist h e re anything he did that I can’t do? If I have this double portion in my life,what is the evidence?

■ LOOKING TO THE NEEDS OFOTHERS—JAMES 2:15-17In Chapter 4:1-7, we find Elisha lookingafter the needs of a widow and her chil-d ren. You remember the story; cre d i t o r sw e re coming to take her sons awaybecause she couldn’t pay her bills. Theanointing came upon Elisha, giving himwisdom to share God’s plan of pro v i s i o nwith the widow. You can do that. I can dothat. I can help widows with their chil-d ren in their time of need.

■ DEFEATING THE POWER OF DEATHIn Chapter 4:8-37, we find Elisha p rophesying blessing to a barren woman,whose house he had stayed in from timeto time. Although she had no power toconceive a child, in time, according tothe Wo rd of the Lord, she brought forth a son. Some time later the enemy tried to take the boy away from her, but Elisha defeated the power of death, and re s t o red the boy to his mother. InChrist Jesus, we can do this too, as He is the One who destroyed the power ofdeath at Calvary, and now the enemy is adefeated foe (Heb 2:14,15). You haveneighbors around you who are barre nand have no power to produce a life thatbrings glory and honor to God. You cangive them your testimony of what theL o rd Jesus has said and done in yourlife. As you do this, faith will arise in

their hearts to receive new life from Him.The enemy may try and bring the powerof death back into their lives, but inChrist, you have the power to defeat thisenemy with simple words of faith fro myour heart. You don’t have to give upyour children. You don’t have to say your marriage is finished. You don’t have to let the devil into your house.Stand and take authority in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who hasdefeated the power of death. The scrip-t u re says that Christ took captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. We a re called to wage warf a re against thepower of darkness.

■ HEALING OF DEATH IN THE POTIn Chapter 4:38-41, we find Elisha atGilgal with the sons of the pro p h e t s .T h e re was a famine in the land and they had gathered herbs to put into thepot of food. As they ate they cried out,“Oh man of God, there is death in thep o t . ” Elisha cast some meal into the pot, bringing life and healing, so t h e re was no harm in it.

T h e re are people, groups, and evenChristians today, whose lack of under-standing of God, the scriptures, and His ways, have become like a pot ofdeath! But a man or woman who is filledwith the Spirit of God, with tender handsand right motives, can put life back intothe pot. Through Christ, you can do that.You may have a Christian friend in col-lege who feels like giving up, or hasembraced a wrong concept of God.Maybe they’re looking in the mirro rinstead of looking at who Christ is, andt h e re is death in the pot. If you have ahumble spirit and right motives, Christcan use you to bring life and re s t o r a t i o nto them. If you have a heart to underg i rdthe church in this spirit of humility, notbeing lords over God’s flock, the HolySpirit can use you to bring life to others.

■ FEEDING THE HUNGRY—JOHN 6:47-51In Chapter 4:42-44, we find Elisha feed-ing one hundred hungry people, a fore-runner to the miracle of the loaves andfishes. He had just twenty loaves of bar-l e y, and some ears of corn, but said,“Cause the people to sit down and eat.”

I BELIEVE E V E RYTHING ELISHA DID, WE CAN DO AS WELL.You don’t have to give up your children. You don’t have to say your marriage is finished.You don’t have to let the devilinto your house. Stand and take authority in the name of Jesus Christ.

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They were all hungry, they ate and weresatisfied. In the same manner, we havethe “Bread of Life” dwelling within us,and so are able to feed the hungry peo-ple in New York City. Sometimes wethink it is not very spectacular but yes,it is. We can feed them and share thatJesus is the Bread of Life, the Only Onewho can and will satisfy their every need.

■ IN SHOWING MERCY—LUKE 6:35, 36In Chapter 5:9-10, Naaman, the Syrian,comes to Elisha’s door. The Syrians areenemies of Israel, and Naaman is thecaptain of Syria’s host. He has an enor-mous problem, since he is a leper. Hecomes to the man of God who has thedouble portion resting on him. Elishadoes not come to the door of his houseand say, “Aha, you’re an enemy of God

and you got what you deserve.” Whatdoes he do? He shows mercy to a per-sistent enemy. Here he has healing for a man who will go back and lead a host,d e t e rmined to overt h row Israel. Becauseyou and I have received merc y, we arealso able to show mercy to an enemy,even a persistent enemy. You can evenbe merciful to a man or woman whocurses your name until they go to the grave.

■ GREED AND PARTIALITY IN MINISTRYIn Chapter 5:25-27, Elisha had a serv a n tnamed Gehazi, and in this passage wefind Elisha judging greed in his own m i n i s t ry. Elisha had said to Naaman, theSyrian, “I don’t want any money for whatI’ve done,” but Gehazi, his ministry asso-ciate, had other designs. With deception,he ran after Naaman, received silver and festal garments, and hid them in his house. Elisha did not cover up forGehazi. But the double portion of anoint-ing resting on him caused him to judgethis sin of greed, resulting in Gehazi

becoming leprous. Elisha was not afraidof the opinion of people, as it was morei m p o rtant to him to be honest with God. He was willing to judge his ownm i n i s t ry. You can do that. I can do that.

■ TIME FOR INDIVIDUAL NEEDS—JOHN 4:3, 4In Chapter 6:1-7, we see Elisha meetingan individual need. One of the sons of thep rophets, while felling a log, lost his axehead in the water. He said, “Oh, no, whatam I going to do, for it was borro w e d ? ”Some people think great men of Godd o n ’t have the time for things like this, do they? For example, as you’re headingout the door, there is some poor fellowwho has a flat tire. You say a hasty, “Godbe with you. Sorry, but I’ve got this bur-den of God, and I’m off to prophesy andp r a y. It can’t wait.” But Elisha takes time,stops and retrieves the man’s axe head.I t ’s important to God; He even takes noteof the sparrow when it falls. Jesus wentout of His way through Samaria to minis-ter to a needy soul. Because of His abid-ing life, you and I can do the same. Wemay not get the axe head back as dramat-ically as Elisha did, but we will get itback as God enables.

■ A FAMINE IS BROKEN—1 SAMUEL. 3:1; JUDGES 21:25In Chapter 7:1, we find a famine beingb roken by Elisha prophesying the Wo rdof the Lord. Sometimes we encounterpeople who are starving to death. Theysee no hope for the future. They areleaning on their last bit of hope. That’sexactly what was happening here, butinto the midst comes a man of God, whosimply begins to speak forth God’s faith-fulness and provision. The word Godspeaks through His prophet comes tru eand the famine is broken. We have awhole young generation, who are dyingfor the knowledge of God revealed inChrist. They live in a famine as pro p h e-sied in the days of Amos, where thes c r i p t u res talk about young people faint-ing in the streets. You can break thefamine. You can stand and speak witha u t h o r i t y, declaring that Christ is theOne who satisfies every need, the Wo rd of God made flesh, and foodindeed for the hungry soul. You can sayit with all authority.

■ DIRECTION AND PROTECTIONIn Chapter 8:1, we see Elisha giving thisvulnerable woman inspired direction forher safety during the seven-year faminethe Lord had called for in the land. Therewas a time of difficulty ahead and thiswoman, whose son Elisha had re s t o red to life, was to find a place where therewas food. You and I can also give dire c-tion to the vulnerable, we can point themto the One who provides, protects, andd i rects—He has provision for them indays of diff i c u l t y. Not just physical, butalso spiritual provision. “And the LORDshall guide thee continually, and satisfythy soul in drought, and make fat thybones: and thou shalt be like a watere dg a rden, and like a spring of water, whosewaters fail not” (Isaiah 58:11, KJV).

■ PEOPLE OF COMPASSION—LUKE 19:11In Chapter 8:12, “And Hazael said, ‘Why weepeth my lord?’ And hea n s w e red, ‘because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel: their strongholds wilt thou seton fire, and their young men wilt thouslay with the sword, and wilt dash theirc h i l d ren, and rip up their women withc h i l d . ’ ” E l i s h a ’s heart is beginning toi n c rease with sorrow because he seesthe suffering that is coming on the dis-obedient children of Israel. There is ab rokenness of heart which comes fro mthe Lord that not everyone has. Butthose who have His heart understandwhy He went to the cross, and just howmuch He cares for a lost and dying gen-eration. How the suffering for eternity isgoing to be beyond anything the humanmind can comprehend. There is a sor-row that comes into the heart that takesaway arrogance, and puts every soapboxback where it belongs. It causes thosewho preach the gospel to plead with thes i n n e r. There is no indiff e rence in theirh e a rt that would say, “You had a chanceto hear...too bad for you...you go to hell,i t ’s your choice.” No, that whole attitudeis gone. There is a sorrow for every per-son created in the image of God whodoes not know Him. That’s the outflow of the compassion of Christ within. Wesee the masses living in ignorance with-out God, and feel His mercy for them.You understand that God has an etern i t y

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HOW IS YOUR LIFE IN CHRIST IMPACTING O T H E R S ?

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in heaven for them but they’re choosingan eternity in hell. Something happensin your heart. You cannot work this up in the flesh.

■ A GODLY INFLUENCE—MATTHEW. 5:14-16In Chapter 9:1-3, we see Elisha sendingw o rd through one of the sons of thep rophets, to confirm a king, appointedby God, to bring judgment on the houseof Ahab. Elisha is now having an influ-ence in the nation, and is speaking intothe lives of the leaders of Israel. Kingsand leaders are beginning to care aboutwhat he has to say. When you live aChrist-like life, your boss will come toyou and ask you for direction. Peoplewill come to you when they see the lifeof Christ in you. They see that every o n eelse is frothing at the mouth and you arejust doing your job. Everyone else isnegative but you are positive about thef u t u re. Ultimately, they will come to you and ask you for help.

■ PROPHESYING FUTURE VICTORIESIn Chapter 13:14-19...When you getinto this portion of scripture, althoughElisha is at the point of death, he’s stillp rophesying future victories. He says toJoash, the king, “Take this arrow andsmash it on the ground.” Elisha wasa n g ry and said, “You only smashed itt h ree times. You should have done itfive, six, seven times, and you wouldhave annihilated Syria. Now you’re onlygoing to win three victories.” How doyou want to die as a Christian? What do you want your last moments to belike? Lying in bed, gasping for air, flail-ing at people? I’ve asked God that how-ever I die, it be with faith. I want tohave something within me that says tomy sons, daughters, and grandchildre n ,“ C h i l d ren, pick up the arrow of God and smash the enemy. Not just a fewtimes, but many times throughout your lives, standing against the power of darkness. May you see people

released into the glorious liberty ofJesus Christ—and our God will give you the strength and the victory.”

The question we should ask ourselves is, “How is my life in Christ impactingothers?” I don’t like the concept thisc h u rch age has picked up that we are a hospital for the chronically sick.Haveyou ever heard that? We just sit aro u n dmoaning, and watching each otherfalling apart until the Lord comes. We ’ recalled to be a conquering arm y, a victo-rious people with the life of Christ with-in us, making a diff e rence in our gener-ation. That’s the call of Christ. It’s thedouble portion. It’s His life within mine flowing out to others.

■ NO MORE DEFEATDo you understand now that every t h i n gElisha did, you can do? He had theSpirit of God upon him, and you and I have the Spirit of God abiding within.We can stand up and proclaim JesusChrist, the same yesterd a y, today andf o rever! It's time for the church to lookdefeat in the eye and say, "No more. I'm not walking under your cloud any-m o re. I'm not giving heed to your voicea n y m o re. I'm not listening to your theology anymore. I have the life of God in me. And by God's grace andGod's grace alone and God's life andGod's life alone, He's going to raise me up and my life is going to make a d i ff e rence in this generation.

“Now thanks be unto God, which alwayscauseth us to triumph in Christ, andmaketh manifest the savour of his knowl-edge by us in every place” (2 Corinthians2:14, KJV).

C a rter ConlonJ a n u a ry 30, 2005©2005 Times Square Churc h

R E V. CARTER CONLONCarter Conlon is senior pastor atTimes Square Church, where he has been in the pastoral staff since 1994.

T I M E S S Q U A R E C H U R C HTimes Square Church was founded in 1987 by Pastor David Wi l k e r s o n ,author of “The Cross and theSwitchblade.” It is an interdenomina-tional church located in the heart ofNew York City.

Founding PastorRev. David Wilkerson

Senior PastorRev. Carter Conlon

Tel:212-541-6300

Fax: 212-541-6415

Church Location:237 West 51st Street,Between Broadway & Eighth Avenue

Mailing Address: 1657 Broadway, 4th Flr.New York, NY 10019

e-mail: info@timessquarechurch.org

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LIVING A LIFE OF DOUBLE PORTION: “THE OUTFLOW” — PART I|

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