When I was in India with Dr TL Osborn (February of this year) a number of people were asking him about receiving prayer to receive his mantle. His response was, “The same Holy Spirit that lives in me, lives in you; the promises in the Word of God that apply to me, apply to you” In essence, Dr. Osborn was pointing these people to Jesus and the Word of God for the power they were looking for.
I believe Dr Osborn is right. Anyone who carries an anointing for ministry has received it from Jesus and through faith in the Word of God. Jesus is the Source of all anointing and power for ministry. I want to discuss this mantle concept by considering the mentoring relationship of Elijah and Elisha. Elijah, I believe, is a type of Christ. Elijah spent time with Elisha teaching and training him until he was taken into heaven and then eventually he passed on his mantle.
Jesus spent time with His disciples until He was taken up to heaven; and He passed His mantle on to His disciples on the day of Pentecost. Elijah had a ministry of fire and miracles; he called fire down from Mount Carmel; he called fire down on the armies of the enemy. He raised the dead, healed the sick, and did miracles of provision. When he left the earth it was in a chariot of fire with horses of fire.
Jesus had a ministry of fire and miracles. John said that Jesus would be the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. Jesus did so many miracles that if every one of them were written; the world itself could not contain the books. (John 21:25). The Bible tells us in Revelation 1:14&15 that His eyes are like a blazing fire and His feet are like bronze standing in the midst of fire.
When it came time for Elijah to pass his mantle to Elisha. Elisha would not let Elijah out of his sight (2 Kings 2:2) He was persistent and placed a demand on the anointing that was on his mentor’s life. (2 Kings 2:9) He had the spiritual hunger, faith and perseverance to get what he needed from God.
When the time came, a great chariot of fire descended from heaven with horses of fire. I can only imagine what that must have looked like. Not only was the chariot on fire, but the horses were on fire! This was an apt way to transport of the Prophet who had called fire down from heaven! (2 Kings 2:11)
The Bible also says in verse 11, ‘Suddenly (the same kind of suddenly as we find in the book of Acts) a whirlwind took up this chariot and horses of fire with this great fiery Prophet’. What an incredible way to go! I have to believe there is a parallel with this whirlwind and the mighty rushing wind we see in Acts 2.
In 2 Kings 2:14 we see Elisha strike the water with the mantle of Elijah as he cried out “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” The water parted. Elisha now carried the same authority for the miraculous as his mentor. Today we look at the events of the past and wonder “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” We look at the book of Acts and wonder, “Where is the power the early disciples had?”
Jesus passed his mantle to the Church in Acts 2. The same Holy Spirit that was poured out then is available today. God has not changed. The Holy Spirit has not changed. The mantle of Jesus released for the early Church is available to you! God wants us to be like Elisha; to have a bold and tenacious faith that will not let go of God; to spend time with Jesus; to hunger for and place a demand on the anointing.
God wants us to remain unmoved by circumstance, to persevere, to be persistent until we see the full restoration of the power of the ministry of Jesus in our midst. Today, I believe that as I share, there will be a fresh release of the fiery and miraculous mantle of Jesus in your life. That you will see the miracles of Jesus in your life and you will never be the same again.
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