(Youth Conference 2006) Thirst for the Spirit's Power — Zac Poonen

Thirsting for Jesus and the Power of the Holy Spirit

Let's turn to John's Gospel, chapter 7, verse 37. John's Gospel, chapter 7, verse 37, we read, On the last day, the great day of the feast, or we could say of the camp, Jesus stood and cried out saying, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.

He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. This he spoke of the spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. For the spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified.

There are only two conditions mentioned in this verse, to have rivers of living water flowing from you. You know, there were probably many things said in that feast. Finally, at the end of the feast, Jesus said two things.

And I would say the same two things at the end of this camp. How many of you are thirsty for more of Jesus? More of the power of the Holy Spirit in your life? I mean really thirsty. All of us may be a little thirsty, but so thirsty that you're willing to give up anything for Him.

Removing Hindrances to Spiritual Thirst

Do you have things in your home that you need to give up? In fact, before the camp, when we were planning to have a campfire, Santosh was suggesting, why don't we get all the people to bring all the CDs and books they want to burn and put it into the campfire?

Things which they want to get rid of. You know, things which are not clean, things which are not good. But perhaps now is the time when you go back from here to have a little bonfire at home and get rid of some things that are a hindrance in your life.

You know, which are leading you in some wrong direction. Which are giving you desires for the world, which will draw you away from God. Get rid of them. If I had a book which was bad, I wouldn't give it to the junk man.

Somebody else may get it. I would tear it up, destroy it. If I had a CD which I felt was a rock music, which is not good, I wouldn't sell it. I wouldn't... I would break it, destroy it. How many of you are thirsty for more of the spirit that you are willing to do anything, pay any price?

You know, like you want something so much that you say, here it is, send me the bill. Send me the bill. I'll pay it, whatever the cost, because I want it. If you want the spirit like that, that's thirst.

Lord, send me the bill. Whatever it is, I'll pay it. Jesus took the example once of a man who was searching for precious pearls. Now, I don't know what is a precious pearl. You could fool me with something that looks like a pearl, because I don't know anything about pearls.

But there are precious diamonds and precious pearls, and this man knew the value of a pearl. When he saw a pearl, he said, boy, I can never find one like that. It's probably the finest pearl in the world.

And Jesus said how, when he asked the price, he discovered that he had to sell, you read that in Matthew 13. He had to sell all that he had. Imagine selling your house and buying a pearl. That looks pretty stupid, isn't it?

Selling your house, selling your property, all the land that you have and everything, and buying one little pearl and carrying it around in your pocket. People think you're crazy. But that's exactly what a lot of people think when you give up something for Jesus.

I remember when I gave up my job in the Navy, with all the prospects I had, people thought I was off my head. Some of my relatives thought I'd suddenly gone mad. And people wrote to me to think twice and think thrice and all that.

I'm glad I thought enough number of times once God has spoken, that's it. You know, you never, if you're so thirsty, you say, Lord, I'm not talking about giving up a job. I'm talking about giving up anything that God wants you to give up.

Leave it to God to decide that. I remember one person when he was seeking God for the power of the Holy Spirit. He was a preacher and he said, Lord, I want the power of your Holy Spirit. And he said, the Lord said, you've given up everything except one thing.

You want to be a very powerful creature, right? He said, yes, Lord, give it up. Then I'll give you the power of my spirit. He said, OK, Lord, I'll give it up. I don't want to be, you know, powerful preacher for the sake of fame, to get honor.

He gave it up, he laid on the table and God filled him with his spirit. And he quit his big pulpit that he was preaching in in America. And he decided to join the Salvation Army, which was started by William Booth.

Samuel Brangle and the Cost of Spiritual Power

This was in the 1800s. William Booth was a very godly man. It's not like today's Salvation Army. That was a mighty force, such a mighty force for God in England that I tell you, if I were living in England in the last, in 1800s, I would have joined William Booth.

I'd have been part of the Salvation Army. I'd have put on the uniform and gone around preaching on the streets and saving the drunkards and the addicts and the prostitutes from sin. He was such a mighty man of God.

And this mighty famous preacher from Boston left his pulpit, famous man. He was filled with the spirit and God told him to go and join the Salvation Army. And he went and joined. His name was Samuel Brangle.

And he went and joined William Booth. William Booth said, aha, the famous preacher has come. We'll, okay, what's your first job? You go and shine everybody's boots, all the other soldiers in the Salvation Army.

So he'd sit there in the basement shining the boots. He was willing. And he became one of the mightiest, godliest men in the Salvation Army over a period of years. So God sees, do you really want honor?

Do you want to be famous? Do you want to be accepted? Do you want everybody to know your name or you just want to live for Jesus? And say, Lord, I don't care if nobody knows my name. I don't care if nobody ever hears about me.

But you've done so much for me, Lord, that I want to do something in return for you before I leave this earth. And I can never do that unless I'm filled with the Holy Spirit. And that's why I say, I'm not seeking to be famous.

I'm not seeking to be honored. I don't want any honor in my own church, but I want to really, my life to be a blessing to other people. I'm thirsty. I'm so thirsty. The other condition is faith. You know, twice Jesus said, if he who believes in me, that's all.

He who believes in me, verse 38. And verse 39, those who believed in him were to receive. Now, to believe in Jesus, don't look for faith inside you. As you've heard me say before, you must never look for faith inside you.

Faith is not to be found inside you, but in the object of your faith. Supposing I tie a rope across a river and I say, I want you to cross the river on that rope. Will you have faith to go across? Yes or no?

Rest of you? No. Okay, now there's a bridge across that river and I say, cross the river over the bridge. Will you have faith to go across? Why? Was your faith found inside you or in something outside of you?

Outside. You didn't have faith in the rope, but you had faith in the bridge. So it is not inside you at all. It's what you saw outside that produced faith. And you look at the rope and say, I don't have any faith in that at all.

You look at the bridge and say, boy, I can go across that. Very important. When you put money in a bank, here's some guy, your neighbor started a bank yesterday and says, come and put all your money in here.

And there's a state bank of India opposite on the other side of the road. Where are you going to put your money if you have to put your money? Which one? Because that's a solid bank. Your faith is where?

Not inside you. There, you have faith in that bank, but you don't have faith in this bank this guy started yesterday. In his house. Now, when you say have faith in Jesus, don't look inside you. Do I have faith in Jesus?

No. It's outside of you. Jesus, like that bridge, like that bank. Can you trust him? What do you say? And the rest of you? Yes. Of course we can trust him. Now do you see how insulting it is? How insulting to God unbelief is.

Because you're saying, I don't trust you. I don't think I can trust you to keep your word Lord. Yeah. It's the greatest insult. If you're studying in a college and you phone up your dad and say, Dad, I got to pay my fees a thousand rupees or 5 ,000 rupees for the next semester.

Can you please wire that amount to my bank account here so that I can write a check? And your dad calls you the next day and say, the amount has been transferred electronically to your account. And you say, Dad, I don't believe you.

Well, don't you think that'll be an insult? What do you think? Yes or no? That'll be an insult. I don't believe you. He took all the trouble to scrape up his savings and send 5 ,000 rupees into your bank account.

You turn around and say, you don't believe him. I think it's like slapping him in the face. Many of you don't realize that when you don't trust the Lord, you're actually slapping him in the face. God, I don't trust you.

I don't believe that you're going to do that. I can't say that very hard to any of you because I've done that myself. I'm just so ashamed. But that's because when I was young as a Christian, nobody taught me what faith was.

Nobody taught me the importance of trusting God. They just said I had to believe for forgiveness of sins that he died on the cross. Okay, I believe that. But the Bible says the righteous shall live by faith, not just be saved once.

Your whole life, we walk by faith. We live by faith. And faith means I'm just depending upon God. I'm trusting him. His word is true. He who believes in me, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.

Receiving From God and Distributing to Others

That's God's job. It's not mine. I've often said to the Lord, Lord, I'm not in the production business. I'm in the distribution business. And that means that if the Lord wants me to do something, I say, don't ask me to produce it.

Ask me to distribute it, I'll do it. You ask me to produce it, I can't do it. Even a message. I say, Lord, don't ask me to produce a message. I can't do it. Ask me to distribute it. Give it to me and I'll give it out.

That I'll do. But I can't produce it. It's like the disciples with five loaves and two fishes. And the Lord says, come on, multiply this and give it to everybody. They say, oh, we can't do that. That's not our business.

And the Lord never asked them. The Lord said, I'll do the production. You do the distribution. So remember this, my brothers and sisters. You're not in the production business. You've tried to be in the production business and that's why you're so frustrated in your Christian life.

God is asking you to be in the distribution business. It's not only in that story. There wasn't enough wine in Cana, in the marriage. Jesus could have produced the wine without the servants doing anything.

But he asked the servants, you pour the water. Who produced the wine? Who? Jesus. Who distributed it? The servants. It's the same story. The servants did not have to produce the wine. And I want to tell you, you don't have to produce the wine.

You've got to distribute it. What God gives you, pass it on to others. Don't think that you have to produce it. You don't have to. You have to only distribute it. But you have to distribute it if you want to get more.

Very often, I'll tell you why you don't get more from God. Because you don't give out what he gives you. You know what a river is? What's the difference between a river and a lake? You can say it like this.

If you put your foot into a lake, take it out. And half an hour later, you put your foot into the same lake. It's the same water, same bit of water that you're putting your foot into. But if you put your foot into a flowing river and take it out, and half a minute later, put your foot in again, you know you're not touching the same water.

The water you touched has gone down already there. That's the difference between a flowing river and a lake. You're not supposed to be a lake. You're supposed to be a river. You got something, give it out.

Freely you receive, freely give. If you receive something in the camp, think of other people less fortunate than you. When you go back to your homes, share something with them, what you received. That's what a river means.

Many people don't understand what a river is. A river is something that flows out to bless other people. And so, Jesus said, if you believe in me, I'll make a river flow out from you. This is the promise of the Holy Spirit.

The Blessing of Abraham and Becoming a Blessing

A river flowing out from us to other people. Let me turn you to Galatians chapter three. I want all of you young people, I really, one of my great burdens for a long time has been that we will have another generation growing up in India, and that's you people, who will carry the torch and let India see the light of the gospel.

This country really needs to see it. He wants, the Lord wants you to be a serious Christian for his name's sake. So, Galatians chapter three and verse 14. It says, the one reason why Jesus died on the cross was so that he might, verse 13, he might become a curse for us.

Do you know that every curse that can ever come upon you was taken by Jesus on the cross? He became a curse, that you might never be a curse. It's wonderful. He became a curse. That's why nobody can put a curse on me.

Nobody can do any witchcraft on me, or on you, because Jesus became a curse for us. So, he became a curse so that there's a reason. The reason is that the blessing of Abraham might come to us, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The blessing of Abraham is this. The Lord said to Abraham in Genesis 12, I will bless you, and you will be a blessing. Please remember these two statements. I will bless you, and you will be a blessing.

That's the blessing of Abraham, and you'll be a blessing to all the families of the earth. So, that blessing is to come to us through the Holy Spirit. That means the purpose with which Jesus became a curse that I might receive the Holy Spirit.

I don't have to plead with God. God already sent Jesus to become a curse that I might receive the Holy Spirit. Why do I have to convince God about anything? He already loves me so much, he wants to give me the Holy Spirit so that, first of all, the Holy Spirit blesses me.

I'm not ashamed to say I want God to bless me. Sure, I don't want any of the rotten blessing of this world, but I want God to bless me. I want God to bless my life, and I hope you will desire that yourself.

But then, it doesn't stop there. Like a river through me, I want all the families I come across on earth to be blessed, and that must be your prayer. Lord, the blessing of Abraham, that every family whom I touch in some way will get a blessing through me.

You make that your prayer, my dear young people. Make that your prayer. Lord, every family I come across on the face of the earth in my lifetime must be blessed through me. I don't want them to hear words that will hurt them, offend them.

How many people we have hurt, and offended, and injured with words we have spoken, with actions that we have done. It's gonna be finished. There's a lovely promise in Zechariah chapter eight. If you have the faith for it, claim it.

It's like a check. It's signed with the name of Jesus. Take the check to the bank and cash it into your account. Zechariah chapter eight, verse 13. It's a very lovely promise. It'll come about that just as you were a curse, now I will save you, and you will become a blessing.

Don't be afraid. Let your hands be strong. So in the past, you were a nuisance to certain people. You were a problem, maybe in your home, to your parents. You hurt a lot of people, injured them by your way of life, your mannerisms, your brashness and brusqueness.

And now, from now on, you're gonna be a blessing. Take it today. Say, Lord, as I was a curse and a nuisance enough, problem to other people, from now on, I'm gonna be a blessing. And I'm gonna be a blessing, first of all, to my parents in my home.

And then I'm gonna be a blessing to the circle around me in my church. And it's not gonna stop there. I'm gonna be a blessing in my school, college office. I may not convert anybody. Nobody may be converted, but I'm gonna be a blessing.

I'm gonna be cheerful, I'm not gonna be gloomy. You need the power of the Holy Spirit for that. God says, I'll do it. What a wonderful life that is, where you can be a blessing and people just want to hang around with you.

Because you're such an encouragement. You must get that reputation. People should say, if you want some encouragement, go and spend a little time with that person. Be one like that. I have really wanted to be that.

The Ministry of Encouragement

If you're in CFC, particularly, you'll know that I have rebuked many people very, very strongly because I love them. Jesus loved Peter so much, he called him Satan. Shake him up! And I have rebuked some people very, very strongly because they are my children.

I don't always, I don't rebuke outsiders like that. But then I know I've also encouraged them. And all those people I know whom I've corrected and rebuked, I know that they value encouragement. They know in the long run, they were encouraged.

And I want you to be, you may not be called to rebuke. That's a special ministry God gives only to some people. So don't try that, but try to be an encouragement. And say, Lord, make me a blessing to every family, particularly when you're young, you're not called to rebuke anybody.

You wait till you come to my age for that. But when you're young, say, Lord, I want to be an encourager. I'll tell you, the greatest need in the human race today is for those who can encourage others.

In the church, the greatest need is for those who can encourage others. We got a bunch of people who are discouraged in the church. Imagine if you were going to be an encourager. As you've been encouraged, you're going to be a blessing.

Don't be afraid, he says, let your hands be strong. Don't let the devil say, oh, you're young, you can't do this. What do you mean you're young? Look at this word in Jeremiah chapter one. The Lord told Jeremiah, you know, I want to read in the message Bible.

The Lord said to him in verse five, Jeremiah 1 .5, before you saw the light of day, I had a holy plan for you. And I believe I can say that to all of you in the name of Jesus. Thus said the Lord, before you saw the light of day, I had a holy plan for you, says the Lord.

Take that personally. It may not be to be a prophet, but it can be to be an encourager. I called you to be an encourager in the church. I want to say that to you in Jesus' name. Before you were born, God knew that one day you would accept Christ as your Savior.

And He's called you. One of the ministries of a prophet is to encourage. He who prophesies, says in 1 Corinthians 14 .3, speaks to people to edify and encourage and also correct and challenge them, but encourage.

Just take that one aspect of a prophetic ministry. I'll pour out my spirit on all flesh and your sons and daughters will prophesy. And one part of prophesying is encouraging others. So if you will say, I want to be one of those, Lord, I want to encourage people.

I want to be an encourager. And He says, hold it, Lord. I don't know anything. I'm only a boy. Verse six, God told me, don't say I'm only a boy. And when God says, don't say I'm only a boy, don't say I'm only a little girl, don't say it.

I'll tell you where to go and you'll go there. I'll tell you what to say to people and you'll say it. I'll be right there with you, looking after you. He will give you words. I can tell you after 45 years of preaching, God gives me words to speak.

If you're really eager to bless people, if you've got a passionate desire that your life must bless people, God will give you words. I remember times when I've had a fever and been lying in bed. One of those rare times, it happens sometimes.

And I know it's Wednesday, 6 .30 is the time for the meeting and I'm lying in bed. And I say, Lord, I'm here in Bangalore. Whenever I'm in Bangalore, I go to the meeting, fever or no fever. And I think I've done that for 31 years.

Whenever I'm here, fever or no fever, rain or sunshine, I've gone to a meeting. And I've gone, got up from my bed, not let anybody know that I have a fever, got up and gone to the meeting, got up and preached and been healed of my fever while I preached and come back home.

You water others, God waters you. If I hadn't gone and tried to be a blessing to others, I think I'd have been sick for another few days. You know how much you're missing? God is not a debtor to any man.

Serving Without Excuses

How can God be in debt? Supposing I'm working for say Infosys or Wipro or some of these wealthy companies and they want me to do a job which only I can do and I'm terribly sick and the CEO knows that I'm terribly sick and they feel so sad that this guy is the only one I can depend on to do this job and he's so terribly sick.

And he sees that despite my sickness, I go and do that job and bring some profit to that company. Don't you think that guy will reward me in some way? An earthly man CEO? Do you think God is less than that?

God is no debtor to anyone. Don't ever make excuses saying, I'm a boy, I've got fever, it's raining, I can't do this. I never make excuses for God, for God's work. I've gone to places where they say, Brunswick, this person was supposed to speak, didn't turn up, you got to speak.

I say, okay, what to do? I say, Lord, I'm ready. You got to give me the words. I'm not in the production business. I'm in the distribution business. There are places where I've gone where I haven't got enough time to sleep.

I got to just get up and share the word. I say, okay, God, I trust you to take care of my health, take care of my, I got to travel somewhere. And sometimes I remember when I've got to make a flight connection and the other flight, this flight is late over there.

And if this flight doesn't reach in time, then I'll miss that other flight, which is a connection to go to the other place. I just pray, Lord, will you please delay that other flight? And those 200 people sitting there wondering why the flight is delayed.

Because I haven't come there yet. It's happened, I'll tell you. It doesn't happen always, but it does happen. You know, the result of that, the result of that in 40 years, I have never missed a meeting, never missed a flight, never missed a train.

God's been very good to me. Sometimes if in future, if he allows me to miss it, maybe he doesn't want me to go somewhere. But I can tell you in these 40 years, it's been amazing. Because it's not because of anything in me.

I feel that, Lord, the only way I can repay you for what you did for me on Calvary's Cross is by a lifetime of service. I don't know whether you feel like that. And I still feel I haven't finished saying thank you to the Lord.

Gratitude Expressed Through a Life of Service

13 years ago, I had a little accident when I was riding my moped. I was crossing the railway line where now they are building a bridge in Coxstown. And as usual, I was going very slowly. And to tell you honestly, I was trying to get past the railway line before anybody else.

But that guy lowered that boom, that level crossing, he was a substitute man there. Just as I was going, it hit me on my chest and knocked me on my moped. And I fell on the railway line and cracked my skull and I lay there unconscious.

I don't know for how long. I could have died. It could have been a train coming by. It could have, I could have cracked open my skull. Anything could have happened. I don't, I really don't know why. Because sometimes when you have an accident like that, that part of your memory sort of, you never, I still don't know what happened.

I don't know how long I lay there. The next thing I know, I'm standing up on the other side of the railway line and somebody's parked my bike there and they're all looking at me and saying, are you okay?

I seem to be okay. What's wrong with me? And my shoulder was dislocated. And being the military man I was, I got onto my moped and rode back home. And the policeman said, hey, hey, hey, be careful. I said, yeah, yeah, I'm all right.

And I went home and I said to my wife, hey, something's funny. I feel something funny here. I don't know what happened. But then I realized when I got the x-ray, there was a crack in my skull and my bone and my shoulder was dislocated.

And I said, Lord, then only I realized what happened. I said, Lord, I could have died. But Lord, I said, I have not finished saying thank you to you for dying for me on the cross. You can't take me away now, sorry.

You gotta give me some, I haven't finished. You know, supposing you're gonna say thank you and you've just said thank. You're gonna say thank you and you say thank. I said, I haven't finished. Let me complete.

Thank you. It'll take me a few more years still. You gotta give me a few more years, Lord, to say thank you for what you did for me on the cross. That's what I said that day. And he's given me 13 more years.

I should have been in the grave rotting away as dust. Why did God give me life? To be a blessing to others. I don't believe God needs to give me any reward at all in the final day. Because he's already done enough for me on the cross.

I don't want any reward for him. I'm not doing anything for reward. I'm not doing anything for money on earth or reward in heaven. I'm just trying to say thank you to the Lord. Don't you wanna say thank you to the Lord?

How are you gonna say it? Just with words? Imagine if you lived a life selfishly for yourself every day on earth. Just thinking of yourself and what you can get and how you can spend all your money on yourself and how you can live your life for yourself and you serve God only when it's convenient and you go for the meetings only when it's convenient, et cetera, et cetera.

And you go for picnics but not for the prayer meeting and you sit like that. And finally, when you get to heaven and you see what Jesus did for you, say, oh Lord, thank you so much. Your words will sound empty.

I'll tell you that. Your words will sound empty in your own ears. You say, what is this empty thank you? When I had the opportunity on earth to express my gratitude to God, I lived for myself. And now in heaven, when everything is so wonderful, I'm keeping on.

If I say a million thank yous to God, it'll all sound empty and hollow. You know, I don't wanna have any regret when I go to heaven. When I see Jesus face to face, I wanna say, Lord, there were many years of my life I was foolish and I didn't have wisdom to live totally for you.

But from the time I got understanding, I tried my best to live totally for you. Totally, there was never a time when you told me to do something when I was not ready to do it. Fever, no fever, tired, not tired.

Tell me to go here, there by bus or train or bullock cart or anything, I'm ready to go. I wanna be able to say that to the Lord so that my thank you to Jesus, when I see him face to face, won't be empty.

I wanna encourage you, I wanna challenge all of you, take your Christian life seriously. Think of what Jesus did for you. And remember, all of you who got good jobs and earning good salaries, it's good.

But remember, your job is only a means of earning a living. If you had asked the apostle Paul, who was supporting himself, making tents, what are you, Paul? He said, I'm an apostle. Oh, Paul, apostle, I thought you were a tent maker.

Oh, tent maker, that's only to earn my living. You should be able to say that. What are you? I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. I thought you were a software engineer. No, no, no, that's just to earn my living.

I thought you were a teacher. That's to earn my living. I'm a witness for Christ. That's what you're supposed to be. I'm a nurse. No, that's just to earn my living. You know, those are the type of people whom God uses.

I was seeing that movie about William Carey called A Candle in the Dark, very beautiful. I think you've seen it, some of us. Somebody says to him, Mr. Carey, I heard that you're a shoemaker. He says, no, sir, I was not a shoemaker.

I was only one who repaired shoes. I wasn't good enough to make shoes. See, that's the type of man who is humble, humble says, who's honest, whom God picks up. So it doesn't matter who you are. Say, Lord, you became a curse that I might be a blessing.

And I want all the families of the earth to be blessed through me. And I'm not going to be satisfied. I'm going to believe you. I have a thirst and I'm going to believe you. It's all two requirements.

I'm going to believe that you're going to do something through me the rest of my life. This is going to be an unforgettable weekend. And in eternity, I shall remember these dates in 2006, when God took me to a youth camp in Bangalore that turned my life around.

A Personal Turning Point and God's Healing

I remember a date like that in my life. It was the 12th of January, 1975. And God turned my life around. Six months later, we started meeting as a church in our home. I remember that date still, God, I was dying down, backsliding, backsliding.

God turned my life around that day. It's never been the same. And you know, you can have a meeting with God like that, where you'll never be the same. I was sick with asthma. So sick, I couldn't sleep at night.

Sitting up, wheezing, wheezing, putting pumps into my mouth to be able to breathe. People said, you'll never live in Bangalore. It's the worst place in India for asthma. And I knew that God had called my wife and me to come to Bangalore.

And I said, Lord, you got to heal me. God filled me with the Spirit. He healed me of my asthma that I never had it again. God can do anything. He'll do anything for you. He'll heal you of your sicknesses.

Give yourself totally to Him and say, Lord, I'm going to do a job to earn my living so that I don't become a beggar and a parasite on society and a beggar in the church. I'm going to do my, I do my own work and earn my own living.

You say that to the Lord, Lord, I want to earn my own living, but that's only to earn my living. But I'm a servant of God, first and foremost. And you say, oh, I'm a little boy. And God said, don't ever say you're a little boy.

I had a plan for you, dear brother, sister. Fulfill that plan. Let me turn you now to 2 Kings 2. 2 Kings 2. In 2 Kings 2, we read about Elijah. Elijah here is a picture of Jesus Christ being taken up to heaven.

But when Jesus Christ went up to heaven, he left behind somebody else to carry on his witness on earth. He was going to heaven, but somebody had to carry on the witness on earth. And that's the picture here in the Old Testament that Elijah was going up and somebody had to carry on that ministry on earth.

That was Elisha. And so Elijah tells, it says in verse one of 2 Kings 2, it came about when the Lord was about to take up Elijah by a whirlwind to heaven. Think of Jesus being taken up to heaven. Elijah said to Elisha from Gilgal, Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal.