Connect Church
The Transition
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  • One of the most exciting events in track and field is the relay race. Four runners. One goal. One baton.
    What’s interesting is that the fastest team doesn’t always win. Sometimes the team with the most talented runners loses because of one mistake—the handoff.
    Races have been won and lost in the exchange zone. A runner can run a perfect leg of the race, but if the baton is dropped during the transition, all that effort can be wasted.
    The success of the race depends on more than running well. It depends on passing well.
    The same is true in life. Parents pass faith to children. Teachers pass knowledge to students. Leaders pass vision to those who follow them. And throughout Scripture, God’s work moves from one generation to the next.
    Abraham passed the promise to Isaac. Moses passed leadership to Joshua. David passed the kingdom to Solomon.
    And in 2 Kings 2, one of the greatest handoffs in biblical history takes place.
    Elijah has run his race faithfully. He has confronted kings, called down fire from heaven, and stood for God when no one else would. Now his ministry is coming to an end.
    The question is not whether Elijah has run well. The question is whether someone is ready to receive the baton.
    As Elijah prepares to leave, Elisha stays close. He watches. He learns. He refuses to walk away. And when the mantle falls, a new generation steps forward. Because what God starts in one generation, He intends to continue in another.
    Today we’ll discover that God isn’t just looking for people who can receive His blessings. He’s looking for people who are willing to carry His mantle and continue His work.
    For our series, we haven’t been introduced to Elisha. So, who is Elisha?
    Elisha wasn’t a prophet who suddenly appeared on the scene. Years earlier, he was a farmer plowing his family’s fields when God called him through Elijah. When Elijah threw his mantle over him, Elisha left behind his livelihood, his comfort, and his future plans to follow God’s call. He left everything that day.
    Since that day, he has faithfully served Elijah—not as the spotlight leader, but as a servant, student, and apprentice. He has watched Elijah’s victories, witnessed his struggles, and learned what it means to walk closely with God.
    Now, after years of preparation, Elisha is about to face the defining moment of his life. The question is no longer whether he will follow Elijah. The question is whether he is ready to carry the mantle himself.
    If you have your bibles, go to the book of 2nd Kings, chapter 2. We will begin reading at verse 1.
    2 Kings 2:1–14 NIV
    1 When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. 2 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. 3 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, “so be quiet.” 4 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. 5 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, “so be quiet.” 6 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. 7 Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. 8 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. 9 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. 10 “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” 11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. 12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. 14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.

    1. Spiritual Hunger Positions You for Inheritance

    How hungry are you?
    Elisha had walked with Elijah for the past several years. Everywhere Elijah went, Elisha would follow. He took his role seriously. He wanted to learn everything that he could from Elijah.
    So, as the time is growing close for Elijah to be taken up into heaven on a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha are on a tour of the places that key moments took place for the nation of Israel.
    Look at each of these places.
    Gilgal
    A place of beginnings and covenant renewal. It was where Israel first camped after crossing the Jordan under Joshua.
    Bethel
    Known as the place where Jacob encountered God and saw the heavenly ladder. It had become home to a school of the prophets.
    Jericho
    The city of Israel’s first great victory in the Promised Land. Another center for prophetic training.
    Jordan River
    The place where Israel entered the Promised Land under Joshua. It symbolizes transition, crossing over, and entering a new season.
    As Elijah and Elisha travel this route, they are retracing Israel’s spiritual history. God is reminding Elisha that the same God who worked in previous generations will continue to work in his generation.
    This was the last preparation stages for Elisha’s ministry that was about to begin. They were recounting what God had done. And re-assuring Elisha what God will continue to do through him.
    Just because one leader is finished, doesn’t mean that God is finished. Just because one generation has completed their task, doesn’t mean that God won’t use the next generation.
    We need a generation that is hungry for God.
    Many people want the blessing but not the pursuit. They want the mantle without the journey. They want the anointing without the sacrifice.
    God honors spiritual hunger.
    If you want everything God has for your life, stay hungry.

    You cannot receive what you stop pursuing.

    2. Faithfulness in the Shadows Prepares You for the Mantle

    When Tom Brady entered the NFL in 2000, he wasn’t the star everyone expected. He wasn’t the first quarterback drafted. He wasn’t the backup quarterback. He started as the fourth-string quarterback for the New England Patriots.
    Most fans never saw the countless hours he spent studying film, attending meetings, practicing, and preparing. While others were playing on Sundays, Brady was learning in the shadows.
    Then in 2001, starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe was injured during a game. Suddenly Brady’s opportunity arrived. The preparation that nobody had noticed became visible overnight. Brady stepped in and led the team to a Super Bowl championship that season.
    To the public, it looked like an overnight success.
    But it wasn’t.
    His moment came suddenly, but his preparation had been happening for years.
    When Elijah’s mantle finally fell, it may have looked like Elisha suddenly stepped into leadership. But there was nothing sudden about it. For years he had followed Elijah. For years he had served. For years he had learned. The mantle fell in a moment, but the preparation took years. God often does His deepest work in the shadows before He ever brings us into the spotlight.
    Faithfulness in the shadows prepares you for the mantle.
    The culture we are a part of today, wants instant influence. We want everything now. We don’t want to wait. Everyone wants to be an overnight success. We want to put $1 on a stock today and be millionaires by morning. Life doesn’t work that way. The church doesn’t work that.
    God develops people before He deploys them. God wants us to be seasoned and ready so that we can be disciple makers that make disciple makers.
    Many want the platform. Few want the preparation.
    If God has a greater assignment ahead of you, stay faithful where you are. Be the best door greeter you can be. Be the best janitor you can be. Be the best media tech you can be. Thrive in the place that God has placed you.
    Your season of serving is preparing you for your season of leading.
    So, in verse 9, when Elijah says to Elisha, “Tell me what can I do for you before I am taken from you?”
    His answer may create some curiosity in each of us. Look at what he says.
    2 Kings 2:9 NIV
    9 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.
    Many people assume Elisha was asking to be twice as powerful as Elijah, but that’s probably not what he meant. In the culture of Elijah and Elisha’s day, the double portion was the inheritance given to the firstborn son.
    According to Deuteronomy 21:17, when a father died, the firstborn son received a double share of the inheritance. The double portion wasn’t primarily about getting more wealth. It represented the responsibility of carrying on the father’s legacy, leadership, and family name.
    Elisha isn’t saying, “I want twice the miracles.”
    He’s saying, “I want to be recognized as your spiritual heir.”
    In essence, Elisha is asking, “Let me be your spiritual firstborn son. Let me carry on the ministry God has entrusted to you.”
    This makes sense because Elisha had spent years following Elijah, serving him, learning from him, and staying close to him. He had already demonstrated the heart of a son.
    Elijah says, “You have asked a difficult thing.”
    Why? Because Elijah couldn’t give the Spirit’s power. Only God could.
    Elijah is essentially saying, “Whether you receive this inheritance is God’s decision, not mine.”
    That’s why he tells Elisha, “If you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours.”

    3. Every Godly Transition is Both an Ending and a Beginning

    Look at verse 11 again.
    2 Kings 2:11 NIV
    11 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
    In every Godly transition there is an ending and a beginning.
    2 Kings 2:12–13 NIV
    12 Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two. 13 Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.
    A chapter closes. A season ends. A great leader is gone.
    Elisha tears his clothes in grief. This is a moment of loss. But it is also a moment of opportunity.
    As Elijah disappears, the mantle falls. What ended for Elijah was beginning for Elisha.
    God’s work did not stop. God’s mission did not end. God’s power did not leave. The servant became the successor.
    Change can be a painstaking process. I can only image the grief Elisha must have felt. He knew it was coming. It didn’t make it any easier to lose the mentor that meant so much to him.
    But now it was his time to fulfill the call that God has placed on him.
    Sometimes we resist transition because we focus only on what we’re losing. But God often uses endings to create new beginnings.
    One of the hardest times in my ministry was when Kelly and I lost our job in Florida because the church that we were at could not afford to pay us any longer.
    We were hurt, heartbroken, confused. We asked God why he would bring us all the way to Florida just for us to get fired.
    Then to come back home and wait for the next assignment that would not come for seven years. God used us during that time and prepared us. However, it was still some of the hardest times for us in ministry.
    A closed door may be preparing you for a greater assignment. A finished season may be making room for a fresh calling.
    When God closes one chapter, He is already writing the next.
    We just have to be listening for what He is telling us and preparing us for.
    As Elisha watched Elijah disappear into heaven, everything he had hoped for now came down to one question: Had God granted his request?
    Remember, Elisha had asked for a double portion—not because he wanted greater fame or greater power, but because he wanted to be recognized as Elijah’s spiritual heir. He wanted the responsibility of carrying forward what God had started through Elijah.
    The mantle had fallen, but a fallen mantle alone was not proof. The real evidence would come when Elisha faced the same obstacle Elijah had faced and discovered whether the same God who empowered Elijah would now empower him.
    Standing at the banks of the Jordan with Elijah’s mantle in his hand, Elisha is about to receive the answer.

    4. The Real Question is not “Where is Elijah?”

    Many of us in that situation may have wondered or even asked the question, “where is Elijah?” Enquiring minds want to know.
    But that wasn’t the question that Elisha was asking, because he knew that question. He knew that God had taken Elijah.
    Look at verse 14.
    2 Kings 2:14 NIV
    14 He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
    He wanted to know, “where is Elijah’s God?” He knew the power wasn’t in Elijah. He knew that the power only came from God.
    The mantle mattered. But the God behind the mantle mattered more.
    The same God that empowered Elijah, now empowers Elisha.
    Did Elisha Receive the Double Portion?
    Yes. The falling mantle symbolized the transfer of authority.
    The parted Jordan confirmed God’s approval.
    The sons of the prophets recognized it and declared in verse 15.
    2 Kings 2:15 NIV
    15 The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
    When Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion, Elisha wanted more than a blessing from Elijah. He wanted the privilege of carrying the work of God into the next generation. That’s why the story is not merely about receiving a mantle; it’s about being willing to carry it.
    Every generation must discover God for themselves. It is important that we teach the next generation what we have learned.
    Here are some truths that I believe all of us know. You cannot live on your parents’ faith. You cannot survive on your pastor’s faith. You cannot depend on yesterday’s encounters.
    The God of Elijah must become your God. That same God must be passed on to other generations. The same God who moved in previous generations is still moving today.
    God has never changed.
    So, as we come to the end of this story, we’re reminded that God’s work is always bigger than one person.
    Elijah’s ministry was ending, but God’s mission was not. The mantle fell, but it didn’t stay on the ground. Someone picked it up.
    That’s the lesson of 2 Kings 2.
    God is always looking for another generation that will stay hungry, remain faithful in the shadows, embrace the transitions He brings, and step forward when the moment comes.
    The God of Elijah is still calling people today. The God of Elijah is still empowering people today. The God of Elijah is still passing the mantle today.
    The question is not, “Where is the God of Elijah?”
    The question is, “Who will carry the mantle now?”
    Every person in this room has received something from those who came before them. Someone prayed for you. Someone taught you. Someone served. Someone gave. Someone sacrificed so that you could know Christ and experience His presence.
    Now it is our turn to make sure the next generation experiences the same thing.
    Today, I want to challenge every adult in this room to make a commitment before God.
    Don’t just admire the faith of the previous generation—pass it on.
    Don’t just celebrate what God did through others—help raise up someone God can use tomorrow.
    Pray for the next generation. Invest in the next generation. Encourage the next generation. Model faith for the next generation. Because what God starts in one generation, He intends to continue in another.
    In just a moment, we’re going to invite our Kids Church children, our students, and every young adult age 25 and under to come forward.
    As they come, I don’t want you to see children and young people standing across this altar.
    I want you to see future pastors, future missionaries, future worship leaders, future teachers, future business leaders, future godly husbands and wives, and future world changers.
    I want you to see the next generation God is preparing to carry the mantle.
    Today we are going to pray that God would place a holy hunger in their hearts. That He would draw them close to Himself. That He would prepare them for His purpose. That when their moment comes, they would be ready to step forward and say, “Here I am, Lord. Use me.”
    And as they come, I want every adult who is willing to join us around this altar. Let’s surround them. Let’s lay hands on them. Let’s pray over them. Let’s ask God to pour out His Spirit upon the next generation and raise up young men and women who will carry the mantle long after we are gone.
    Because the greatest legacy we can leave is not what we build for ourselves. It’s the generation we prepare to follow us.

      • 2 Kings 2:1–14NIV2011

      • 2 Kings 2:9NIV2011

      • 2 Kings 2:11NIV2011

      • 2 Kings 2:12–13NIV2011

      • 2 Kings 2:14NIV2011

      • 2 Kings 2:15NIV2011

      • 2 Kings 2:9NIV2011

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