Living a Life of Double Portion Pt. 2 — Carter Conlon

This recording is provided by Times Square Church in New York City. You're welcome to make additional copies for free distribution to friends. All other unauthorized duplication or electronic transmission is a violation of copyright and other applicable laws.

This recording cannot be posted on any website. However, written permission to link to the Times Square Church homepage may be requested by emailing info at timessquarechurch .org. Other recordings are available by calling 1 -800 -488 -0854 or by writing to Times Square Church Tape Ministry, 1657 Broadway, New York, New York, 10019.

The Church’s Dependence on God

Father, I stand before you with only the desire to be an oracle of God. There's nothing else in my heart. Lord, I pray God Almighty, you are doing something so powerful in our midst. I pray, Father, in my heart that I not be found to be a light man.

Oh, God, I pray that you do something very deep within me. Lord, that I can stand and speak for you, for your name's sake and for your church's sake. Your beloved bride that you bought with your own blood, that you cherish more than all of creation.

Oh, God, I pray that I may have the grace and privilege of standing to speak for you for the rest of my life. Lord, I'm asking for something that only you can do, because the work is too deep for any amount of my own effort.

I can only stand in faith and trust that you will do it. God Almighty, take us now as a church where we're to go in you. It's not about works. It's not about programs. It's about you. It's about where you're taking us in you.

Open my mind tonight in my heart. Enable me, Father, to speak this message in a way that it can be understood by those that you've gathered in this house. And, Father, I thank you for the enablement. All that really matters is that you enable me, quicken me, animate me, Holy Spirit.

The Double Portion as the Firstborn Inheritance

I am absolutely dependent on you, and I thank you in Jesus' mighty name. Tonight we're looking at the outflow of the double portion. Now, the double portion we saw was the son's inheritance that was given to him.

When Elisha asked Elijah for a double portion, he was not asking for twice the anointing of Elijah. We looked at that. We saw it in the scriptures. We understand it. If you have any problem with that, just read a commentary.

You're not going to really find any difference of opinion on this, or very little if there is any. He was asking for the portion that belongs to the firstborn son that was referred to in Deuteronomy as the double portion.

If you had ten sons and you were leaving them $100, for example, my math's not very good, but that means that if every son was to get $10, the firstborn would get $20. It would be a double portion. Not necessarily as much as the father had, but twice what those who were more distant would receive from the place of the firstborn.

That's the easiest way I can explain it. Paul the Apostle says in Romans very, very clearly that we are heirs, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the firstborn son. He has the portion of the father.

The full life of the father is his. And we are co-inheritors of that life with Jesus Christ. And the scripture makes that very, very clear. And it should be the quest of every Christian, everyone who calls themselves by the name of Christ, to say, God, I want the full life that Jesus you purchased for me on Calvary.

I want it. It's my inheritance. I want it in my heart. I want it in my life. I want everything, God, that you have for me. Now, we see that Elisha had this in his heart, but before he received it, God took Elijah and Elisha on a journey.

It was to a place of history first, a place of faith and promise, which was called Bethel. And he took him there. And then to a place of quiet and confident worship called Jericho. And then shortly after that, to a place where he saw Elijah taken away and he himself returned in the power of God.

It is an absolute type of Jesus Christ. You cannot get away from it. Jesus led the disciples. If I had time tonight, I would go into it. He led the disciples on an identical journey, really, to a place where they would believe him.

They would believe his word. They would believe his promises to a place where they would quietly and confidently trust him. And then to a place where he was taken away. Up into the clouds in the very same manner that Elijah was taken away.

Christ was taken away. And he had, as Elisha returned to cross over Jordan with this double portion, this anointing of God that Elijah had was now on his life. And he returned to cross the Jordan in this same anointing.

The same power of God was on him. And so it is. Jesus said clearly to his church, as the Father has sent me, I send you. Behold, he said, tarry. You'll be endued with power from on high. You'll be witnesses of my life.

Really, that's what it's about. Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth. They tarried. The Holy Spirit came upon them. And they received, as it is, the double portion. They were made co-inheritors of the firstborn son, the only begotten of God.

His inheritance became ours. Amazing when you begin to think of it. We see Elisha returning, taking the mantle of Elijah, smiting the Jordan. The water is now parting, which symbolizes the impossibility of any human effort ever accomplishing the work of God is gone.

It's no longer about human effort. It's now about the promises of God. It's now about the life of God that's been imparted to you. If the church of Jesus Christ could get a hold of this one truth, it could revolutionize our present day world.

That you have the life of God residing in you. You're not commissioned to take just a message about a savior that came 2 ,000 years ago. And somehow, through argument, to try to convince a generation.

No, you are to be a living testimony of that life. That life is to be lived in you. It's to be lived through you. It's to be supernatural. It's to be powerful. It's to touch the very inner core of your generation, beginning in your own home.

And beyond there to our generation all around us. You see, when Elisha came back over that river, the life of God which he desired was now in him. And even the prophets recognized it. And they bowed down.

They wouldn't obey him, but they would bow at least before the anointing. He had in him the life that's promised to Abraham. God said, Abraham, I'll bless you. I'll multiply you. I'll make you more than you are.

I'll make you more than you could ever be. Abraham had no power within himself to even have a son. But God said, no, it's not about even having one son. I'm going to give you so many descendants, you can't count them.

And through you and through your descendants, the whole world is going to be blessed. Do you know how impossible that seemed? We look in the mirror and we can't believe that God can use us. What if God gave you a promise like Abraham?

You're too old to even have a child. God says, I'm going to give you so many descendants, the whole world is going to be blessed. And the Bible says Abraham believed God. He believed him. And he became, through that faith and that relationship, a friend of God.

The Holy Spirit and the Life of God Within Believers

If God could only get a people who actually believe him. A people who actually believe that the Holy Spirit is not just some fuzzy feeling sent from heaven to make me aware that I'm a child of God. The Holy Spirit is God.

And I am now the temple of God. God lives in me. This is not just a concept. This is the reality of my inheritance in Christ. God lives in me. Therefore, everything that God says to me is a greater reality than everything else around me.

It doesn't matter what people have spoken to me. It doesn't matter what I see in the mirror. It doesn't matter what education I have or don't have. It doesn't matter how limited my natural ability and mind is.

God lives in me. That's the message that will change this next generation. There's no time to counsel everybody. There's not enough time to reason everybody out of their struggle. There's a simple truth that can change the worst of sinners.

God lives in me. You see, the man who will bless his generation, or when I say man, of course you understand it's generic for men and women, who will bless his generation has both the life and the burden of God upon him.

With the life comes the heart. I want the life of Jesus in me. I want God's presence. Well, with God's presence comes God's burden. Comes God's work. Comes God's mind. Comes God's heart. Comes God's spirit.

He comes. You see, there are many, many today who claim the life, but they have no burden. They lay claim to an anointing that doesn't represent Jesus Christ. It's all over the church world today. I'm so anointed.

He's so anointed. They're so anointed. But there's no burden. Show me the artwork of that anointing. Where's the proof of that anointing? I don't care how many foreheads are slapped and how many people fall on the floor.

Show me. Where's the evidence of the anointing? Where is Jesus in all of this? Where is his life? You know, and many, many people are running around claiming this anointing, only to find that all they have done, and even themselves, will be rejected at the very end.

Testing Spiritual Claims by Their Fruit

Look at Matthew 7. Put a marker in 2 Kings 2 and go to Matthew chapter 7, please, with me. Matthew chapter 7, verse 15. These are the words of Jesus. Now, keep in mind, he's speaking about those who claim to have his life within them.

He said, They come to you looking like followers of the shepherd, but there's another spirit that animates them. Something else is going on. They're not there to follow. They're there to devour. Even so, every good tree brings forth good fruit.

But a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.

Wherefore, by their fruits you shall know them. Not everyone. I don't know if there's a break here in your Bible, but there's no break in the original text. It's still the same thought. Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day. How many? Many. Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.

Depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Does it mean that Jesus didn't know their name? He didn't know what church they attended? He didn't know their address? That somehow there was a block between this all-knowledgeable God and who they were?

No, it's not about that. See, the issue is he knew everything about them. The word know in the Greek New Testament means to be intimately acquainted or to know intuitively. Hear me on this. It's as if Christ is saying, I know who I am.

Tell me, where am I found in you? I know who I am, but I don't know you. I don't see myself, because he's not looking for works. When we stand before Christ, we claim to be a Christian. We claim to have his anointing.

We claim to have the presence and power of God in our lives. He's not looking for the works. He's not looking for the prophesying or even the casting out of devils. He's looking for himself, because we're supposed to have the Holy Spirit within us.

The Holy Spirit is one with Christ. He is the Spirit of Christ. He's strictly looking for himself. And he looks and says, well, help me. I don't seem to see myself in you. You know, many, many people will not even be aware that they've been operating outside of the Spirit of Christ until they stand before his throne.

Examining Whether Christ Is Truly Within Us

If the life of Christ, we ask ourselves this question. If the life of Christ is in us, if it is truly his life, if his portion is ours, then how can we be sure that what is flowing from us is truly him?

How can we know if it's really his life? Paul says in 2 Corinthians 13, 5, he says, examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Prove your own selves. Know you're not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates.

And Paul is saying, look, have a look inside. And he said, do you not know that it's Christ in you, unless, of course, actually the new American standard says, unless, of course, you fail the test. Unless, of course, it is not Christ that is in you.

It is not Christ that animates you. It is not Christ that is moving you. It is not Christ that is guiding you. It just simply isn't Christ. And Paul says, examine yourself and find out if it is. Because if it isn't, there's a reprobation.

There's a false knowledge of God. A false perception, actually, of who God is. And there's much, much of that that is alive today. If Christ is in us, we first and foremost have a new nature. If you can't say you have a new nature, it is debatable and highly doubtful that Christ is in you.

You have a new nature. If any man is in Christ, he becomes a new creature. The old things are passed away. In other words, yes, there are old things in your life. But it's as if when Christ came into your heart, an axe was laid to the root of every rotten tree in your life.

Oh, yes, it still might be there. But it is dying. It's passing away. And you know it's changing. You don't want to do the things you used to do. Yes, you might be struggling. Yes, you might be battling.

But just like Paul, you're able to say, I don't want to do these things anymore. I don't want the body of death reigning in my life. God said to Ezekiel, when I come, I'm going to give you a new heart, a new mind, a new spirit.

I'm going to change you. I'm going to, simply by virtue of the new nature of God within us, the work of God becomes our desire. It's amazing. I never sat down one day and said, you know, I'm going to do the work of God.

It just starts to happen. You change. You start to care. I didn't need anybody to tell me Christ was alive. Beloved, when I got saved, I knew He was alive. I started to care. He even led me to people that I formerly hated.

And revealed the depth of His love for them and changed my heart. A new mind, a new heart, a new spirit. You're moving where you couldn't move before. You're doing what you could never do. You're touching people you could never touch.

You care about things you didn't care about. You move not by program. You move by instinct into the work of God. How else can I say it? It becomes your desire because you're born of the Spirit of God.

Christ’s Delight to Do the Will of God

God is in you. And so the desire. Psalm 40, verses 7 and 8. Now, the book of Hebrews, chapter 10, quotes these words and applies them solely to Jesus Christ. In other words, this is the heart of Christ in this particular passage.

Psalm 40, verses 7 and 8. And here it is. This is the words of Jesus. Then said I, lo, I come. In the volume of the book it is written of me. In other words, God, you've got a book. And in that book, it's written about me.

Well, what's written about me? Here it is. I delight to do thy will, O my God, yea, thy law is within my heart. This is the Son of God. This is the firstborn. This is the portion that God, this is God's inheritance.

And he said it's written in the book about me. I delight to do thy will, O God. What is written in heaven's book about you? About me. Is it written in heaven's book? I'm in a program of evangelism. That's a little short from I delight to do thy will, O my God.

I delight to do thy will. Thy will. I delight to do thy will. It's become the desire of my heart. It's become my pursuit. It's become my objective. It's to do the will of God. And to glorify him on this earth.

Here's an example. First John 420. If a man says I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. I want to bring it home. The word hate in the Greek is mizzeo. It means to detest. But it also means to love less.

Can I insert that in there? If a man says I love God and loves his brother less, he is a liar. If I am born again, it has to be my delight to love you if you are a Christian. It doesn't matter where you come from.

It doesn't matter your background, what you look like, what you speak. It's my delight to love you if I love you less. Now, I'm not stepping outside the scripture because a lawyer came to Jesus and said, what is the most important commandment without hesitation?

Love the Lord your God all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second is as important as the first. Love your neighbor as yourself. So I'm not stepping outside of anything to give you this interpretation.

We sometimes think if we say we love God and as long as we're not frothing at the mouth, running down the aisle with a dagger in our hand, it's okay. But you see, that's not what the scripture says. It speaks about an indifference.

It speaks about I don't really care. It speaks about it doesn't matter to me. You see, look at God's controversy with false religion. He's always had a controversy with that which represents him but is false.

God’s Judgment on Religious Self-Indulgence

Let me just read it to you. Ezekiel 34, 4, he says, the disease you have not strengthened. Neither have you healed that which was sick. And neither have you bound up that which was broken. Neither have you brought again that which was driven away.

And neither have you sought that which was lost. He says elsewhere in Amos 6, your service has been for your own gratification. In Amos 6, it talks about a people. He says, woe to those that are at ease in Zion.

He said, you lie on beds of ivory. In other words, you have a resource as it is but you've chosen to stretch out on it and comfort yourself with it. You eat the best of foods. You chant all kinds of wonderful songs.

You even invent new instruments of music. You drink wine in bowls. In other words, there's this doctrine of the new wine and you just drink it in and drink it in and you're just so enamored with the name of Jesus.

You anoint yourselves, he said, with the cheapest of ointments. I see a Christianity in our generation that is running from pillar to post all over the world for some new anointing every five years. You anoint yourself.

You come in and you just wallow in the presence of God. But you have no grief for the affliction of Joseph. I'm speaking beyond these walls. You understand this tonight. I'm speaking to a church that has no burden of God and claims to have the life of Jesus within it, cares little or nothing about people who starve to death for the knowledge of God.

As long as we're singing our songs and anointing ourselves and we have money in the bank and we have all this wonderfulness around us, everything is fine. God says, no, no, no, no. That's not the life of double portion.

Now, you understand if I raise my voice tonight, it's because there's a passion in me. I'm most definitely not angry with anyone. He says, you pretend to care while devouring everything in your path for your own use.

Jesus said to the Pharisees and the scribes, he said, Woe unto you, he said, you devour widows' houses and for a soul you make long prayers. Oh, there is a day of reckoning. There is a day of reckoning coming for every scoundrel in ministry today.

That devours everything in their path and they make long prayers to hide their greed. Then God says, my people became a prey during your watch. Ezekiel 34, 5, it says, they were scattered because there were no shepherds and they became meat to all the beasts of the field.

And that's the cry of my heart. I said, oh God, that your people not become a prey during my watch. That I can stand and speak for you. That I will know your heart. That I can live a genuine life and speak a genuine word to your church.

Elisha’s Burden for God’s Honor

Now the scripture tells us that Elisha returned in the spirit and power of Elijah. You see, Elijah was a man who possessed in himself a tremendous passion for God's honor. And that God's people come back to him again.

You remember, even after having to flee from Jezebel, he said, I've been very jealous for the Lord. I've been jealous, God, for your name. I've been jealous, God, for your people. And Elijah comes back over the river Jordan and he has this burden on his heart.

This passion for God. This passion for the purposes of God and this passion for the honor of God. And every Christian who's brought into the promise of Christ's life within him returns from his intimate dealing with God with this evidence of Christ upon him.

I don't believe there's any exceptions to the rule. There has to be an outflow if there's an inward Christ. There has to be something of his life. We say that we have living within us the Christ who so loved the world that he gave his only son.

God gave his son. Christ gave his life. That all can come to the knowledge that he loves them. He loves his creation. If I have this Christ living in me, the outflow of that Christ has to be an expression of this.

And we ask ourselves the question, what was the outflow of this new touch of God and God's life upon Elisha? How was it manifested? And what evidence indicates that this was truly God? I might shock you that I'm going to say this.

But I believe that everything Elisha did, I can do. I also believe that everything Elisha did, you can do. Now, the miracles were somewhat spectacular. But I want to look just beyond the spectacular to what was it really that God was doing through him?

We sometimes get just caught in the spectacular and say, Well, you know, I mean, I just don't think I could do what Elisha did. So we kind of relegate the anointing to history. And say, you know, well, one day we'll understand that.

Right now, I'm just sort of preoccupied with dealing with my own loneliness or whatever the issue is. And you miss the reality that the same Christ in Elisha is in you. Now, please hear me clearly on this.

It's not so much about that you and I are going to go out the doors and do things that are in the outward spectacular. But the heart is the same. Now, let me explain. And you'll understand as I go on.

I don't want you turning there. I want you just to listen to me. I've done a study of the life of Elisha. And I'm going to speak in addition to what I spoke on Sunday morning. I don't want to backtrack on some of the things that he did.

But I want to follow through some of his life with you tonight. And just show you exactly what it was that Elisha was doing. What was the outflow of double portion? And that's really what this message is about.

If I have this double portion in my life, what is the evidence? So we're looking at Elisha's life. We're looking at it critically. And we're saying, is there anything he did that I can't do? Is there one thing he did that I can't do?

Elisha Provides Direction and Provision

Chapter 3, verses 11 to 18. I'm just going to paraphrase everything, so please don't turn there. We find him providing, giving provision and direction for three leaders who are walking in the flesh. We find him a man who now understands the mind of the spirit.

And I'm not going to go into all the specifics. You're going to have to get the tape, find the scripture, and read it for yourself. But he comes on the scene of a people because of their fleshly leading are in a place where they're literally in danger of dying of thirst.

And he comes to them. And because heaven is open to him, he shows them the plan of God to make provision for them. And then speaks to them about their coming victory. Even though they're walking in the flesh.

God uses him because he has an intimate knowledge of the ways of God to give them leadership, to help them to get through this struggle and dryness that's in their life. And you are capable of doing that.

When you dig into this book and Christ's mind becomes your mind, you can be used of God to help every professing Christian to walk in the spirit, to understand the ways of God. If a man, for example, is dying of thirst and you go to him and say, Well, tell me now, how's your relationship with this person around the corner?

Oh, I hate him. You can give him direction, folks, how he can get back to living well again and get something into his spirit. You can help him to learn how to walk in the spirit. In chapter 4, verses 1 to 7, we find Elisha looking after the needs of a widow and her children.

You remember the story, the creditors were coming to take her sons away because she couldn't pay her bills. And so the anointing upon him gives him wisdom to tell her how she can make provision for her situation.

You can do that. I can do that. I can help widows with their children in their time of need. In chapter 4, verses 8 to 37, we find him firstly prophesying blessing to a barren friend. There's a family he visits and he stays there and the woman has no power to conceive a child.

And so he begins to prophesy to this barrenness that's within her life. And as he speaks to this barrenness, faith arises in her. And she has a son. And a little later on, the enemy comes and tries to take that son away from her.

And she comes to him. And in the same verses of Scripture, we find him pushing back the power of death that had come into the same home. You can do that. You've got neighbors around you that are barren, that don't have any power to produce any life that's of any glory and honor to God.

You can begin to speak to them what God has said, what God has done for you. Tell them who He is. And they begin to have belief and they begin to move forward. But the enemy will come and try to take it away.

The power of death will try to come back in the house again. God has given you power to step into that house and push back the power of death. With simple words of faith that come into your heart and life, you don't have to give in to this.

You don't have to go there. 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 devil in your house. You stand and take authority in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and push back the power of death.

Christ took captivity captive, the Scripture says, and gave gifts unto men. We are called to wage warfare against the powers of darkness. You can do that. Chapter 4, verses 38 -41, we find Elisha purifying the people's food.

They were eating food and there was death in the pot. It was a group of prophets that had gotten together and the pot was full of death. We find this man of God coming and infusing life into the pot again.

And people get like that. Groups get like that. Even Christian people get like that. Their understanding of God's Scripture and His ways just becomes a pot of death. But a man or woman who is filled with the Spirit of God can come in, and with tender hands and right motives can begin to put life back into the pot again.

You can do that. You can do that. You may have a Christian friend in college who's giving up. Or maybe they've embraced a wrong knowledge of God. Maybe they're looking in the mirror and they're not looking at who Christ is.

And there's death in the pot. But you can bring life if you have a humble spirit, if your motive is to restore and not to be a lord or some great teacher. But if you have a heart to undergird the church, you can bring life.

You can do that. Chapter 4, verses 42 -44, we find him feeding a hundred hungry people. You can do that. I can do that. He just says it's actually a forerunner to the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

He's just got a little bit of provision. He just says, cause the people to sit down and eat. And they all ate. They were all hungry. There was a hundred of them. He fed them. We can do that. There's hungry people in New York City.

We can feed them. And we have the right to say the Spirit of Elijah is upon me. I'm feeding hungry people. And sometimes we think, that's not very spectacular. Oh, it is. Oh, it is. Oh, it is. You see, cause you can't do with any degree of consistency without the life of Christ in you.

Mercy, Integrity, and Practical Ministry

Chapter 5, verses 9 and 10. This is a very interesting one. The anointing, the double portion. Naaman the Syrian comes to his door. The Syrians are enemies of Israel. Naaman is the captain of Syria's host.

He's got himself in a problem. He's a leper. Comes to the man of God. And this double portion that is on him. What does it do? Does it cause him to come out to the door of his house and say, Aha, you're an enemy of God.

You got what you deserve. Curse on you. What does he do? He shows mercy to a persistent enemy. You can do that. You can do that. I can do that. I can show mercy to an enemy. Even a persistent enemy. Here he is healing a man that's going to go back and lead a host that is determined to overthrow Israel.

You can be merciful to a man or woman who is going to curse your name until the day they go to the grave. But the double portion. You see, the Bible says that God is kind to the unthankful and the unholy.

God is. And if God is in me, he will through me be kind to the unthankful and the unholy. That's the life of the double portion. Chapter 5, verses 25 to 27, we find Elisha judging greed in his own ministry.

He had a servant called Gehazi. He said to Naaman the Syrian, I don't want any money for what I've done. But Gehazi had other designs. And Gehazi is his ministry associate. And he goes running after him.

Takes some stuff from him, hides it in his house, comes back. And we find this double portion on Elisha causes him to judge greed and not cover it up. Calls it what it is. And you see, for the rest of it, he's got this associate.

He's this man of God and he's got this associate with him that he's training up. As Elijah trained him, he's training Gehazi. And for the rest of their ministry, he's got a leper walking with him. Because the leprosy never departed from Gehazi for the rest of his life.

But Elisha kept him with him. For the rest of his ministry, he's got a leper walking beside him. And you can be sure there's a lot of questions. Because he's a great man of God and he's got a leper for an associate.

He was not afraid of what people say. It was more important to be honest with God. You heard that in this pulpit tonight. From two pastors of their own accord who got up and shared what God is dealing with in their lives.