Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (5 page)

I believe it is the Lord’s will for mantles to be transferred to the generation that succeeds the former generation. Mantles should not fall and remain dormant but should be handed off and put into use by the fresh troops arriving on the scene. There is a group that should be looking to pass the relay baton and there is a group that should be looking to receive the handoff. A dear pastor couple that are precious friends of mine in Albuquerque, New Mexico, experienced a classic example of how the baton should be passed. The wife is the preaching-teaching pastor and her husband is the co-pastor and worship leader of this church. They make a great couple together in ministry. They spoke to me of how they heard of a very anointed minister who was in his eighties with a ministry marked by solid preaching and powerful miracles of healing. This minister had
acquired and used the enormous tent that healing evangelist Jack Coe once used for his ministry.

This dear man had traveled throughout America preaching the Word and seeing the power of the Holy Spirit displayed in tent meetings. The pastor couple in Albuquerque felt led of the Spirit to contact this man and invite him to minister at their church. Upon contacting him, they asked him when he would like to come, and to their surprise he said, “I feel I need to come as soon as possible.” The pastor couple thought that meant in several months, but he said, “No, I need to come
real soon
,” and so they arranged for him to be at their church at the earliest possible time which was in two weeks.

Once he arrived, they immediately felt a divine connection in the Spirit. The meetings were outstanding as the minister moved in the gifts of the Spirit and demonstrated God’s power through the strong anointing that God had bestowed upon his life. The pastor of this church told me that throughout the meetings this old minister seemed to be having such a wonderful time ministering. He laughed often and was clearly having fun as he taught the Word to the people. He got so happy in the Spirit he even ran around the sanctuary a few times in the middle of his preaching! Upon the minister’s request the pastor even drove him through a certain area of Albuquerque where decades before, this man had once held a tent revival meeting. The pastor could tell that this older minister enjoyed recalling the memories of those former meetings as he pointed out where the main tent once stood, where the healing tent was, and where the accompanying children’s tent was located. These
were precious memories that reminded him of his many years of labor in God’s vineyard as he looked forward to receiving his inheritance that was laid up in store for him in Heaven.

Just before the meetings ended, the minister did something the pastor and her husband did not expect. He laid his hands on the pastor couple and the assistant pastor and released his mantle to fully rest upon them. He held nothing back; he openly and publicly imparted to them every grace and mantle that he carried. It was a glorious moment, one of those divine appointments that only God can plan and cause to take place. After the meetings concluded, the minister flew home. Seven days later the pastor called the minister to speak with him, and the person who answered the phone shared that the minister was no longer alive, that he died two days ago!

I used to run track all through high school and college. I always liked watching the sprint relays because they were very exciting. In relay races you have an “exchange zone” in which you must make the baton pass. If you do not make the baton pass quick enough and run out of the zone, then the team is disqualified. Each handoff and each reception of the baton from runner to runner must take place within the
zone
. It blesses me to see how that older minister passed the mantle while he still had time. Too many ministers never released their mantles, nor did they raise up a successor to continue on in their stead before they died. We should all plan for the future and prepare to make things as easy as possible for those who
will transition in after our job is done. As an old man, Jacob blessed his twelve sons and prophesied over each one of them. After he blessed them, he put his feet up in the bed and died. That’s cutting it pretty close, but the baton still was passed within the zone. What I love about the Lord is that He is still not hindered even when there is human failure. The Lord can still cause mantles to be transferred even if there are gaps of hundreds of years in between! The zone of exchange for heavenly mantles is quite large in the realm of the spirit. All things are possible with God. Are you ready to receive the mantle the Lord has for you?

Throughout the Bible and church history, the transferring of mantles has been well documented. Let’s look at a few examples from the Bible and then we will observe other examples displayed in the annals of church history.

It is apparent that Joshua closely followed Moses. Notice how Joshua 1:1 states that Joshua was the assistant of Moses. In order to receive a mantle you must find some way to make a connection with that person. Joshua made this connection with Moses through serving him. I’m sure Joshua ran many errands for Moses. No doubt some of the serving he did was mundane and behind the scenes of the public eye.

It’s hard to find good servants even today. Promotion always comes after faithful serving. Even in my own life I didn’t just happen to end up with an international ministry that mysteriously fell into my lap. For years, I served another pastor, being faithful where the Lord had me. I know what it is to clean the church toilets and vacuum the carpet once everybody else has left. I would polish all the wooden pews in the church until not a fingerprint could be found on them. Once a week I would wash my pastor’s car and wax it to a brilliant shine. All these things I did without being asked, I just wanted to serve and I had no thoughts of pulpit ministry. So many people today want to jump straight to the top, but they have never gone through the serving process. There’s no other way to long term success without a servant’s heart.

Through the long process of Joshua serving the man of God, something happened to Joshua. Being so close to Moses
certainly allowed incredible leadership skills to rub off on him, but he also received a much greater transfer than great administrative gifting.

Moses had taken his tent and placed it far outside the camp. He called it the Tent of Meeting. Anyone who wanted to consult with the Lord would go there. As Moses would go into the tent, all the Israelites would watch him go until he disappeared inside. It was inside of this tent that the Lord would speak to Moses face to face because of their friendship. All the people would see the glory cloud come down and hover at the entrance while the Lord spoke to Moses. What’s amazing to me is that after Moses would leave the tent, we see that Joshua continued to stay inside the tent. The glory of God is returning to our churches in America and as it increases we are going to see the young people not want to leave! There will be a sudden loss of interest in video games and other worldly forms of entertainment. When the glory of God begins to show up, the young people won’t care what’s on television or what’s playing at the movie theaters.

These times of refreshing have been pre-set by the Lord for the equipping of His great end-time army. After the equipping will come the “sending out” to this nation and to the four corners of the earth. When God’s Spirit moves in power it won’t be necessary to get a six-year degree from a seminary. A few
months in the glory will impart a “knowing” of what to do. Yes, we will still need proper Bible training and equipping centers, but courses will be accelerated and understanding will come quickly. The old fashioned Pentecostals had a good way of describing it. They would say, “It’s better caught than taught.” I agree with that statement. The new style of Bible training will not only emphasize biblical teaching, but will understand the importance of impartation. The students will
catch it
and run with the message.

In the first chapter, we examined the mantle that was passed on from the prophet Elijah to his servant Elisha. It is my belief, based upon careful study of the Scriptures, that Elisha’s servant Gehazi had a place reserved for him in the prophetic ministry. Elisha received the mantle from Elijah because of his proven growth and maturity in the ways of God. Elisha was well trained and qualified to receive the mantle of Elijah.

However, Gehazi missed a once in a lifetime opportunity because of his love of money. Keep in mind that there is nothing wrong with money. It is the love of money that the Word of God tells us is the root of all evil. In the Book of Second Kings,
chapter 5
, we are given the account of how the Aramean army commander Naaman was healed of leprosy through the ministry of Elisha. Naaman was so thankful for his healing that he wanted to give a financial blessing to Elisha, but Elisha refused to receive it because it was not the right thing to do in this particular case. This was because Naaman’s superior officer had originally contacted the King
of Israel to request help for Naaman. The King of Israel was filled with fear when he received the letter, because he misunderstood the letter as not being sincere and he thought the Arameans were trying to somehow start a war (see Kings 5:1-7). It was at this time that Elisha was informed of the situation so he stepped in quickly and took charge before things got out of hand.

Knowing the full story helps us better understand why Elisha never took the offering that Naaman presented. If there was an offering to be given, it would only be proper for it to be presented to the king of Israel because it was in the king’s hands that the original request had been placed. Elisha did, however, receive two mules loaded with supplies from Naaman as compensation for his time, but he did not touch the king’s reward which was offered to him, which was ten talents of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of fine clothing. By doing this, Elisha passed one of the most important tests that a person could ever face—the money test. Unfortunately, Elisha’s servant Gehazi did not fare so well under this same temptation.

It’s interesting to see that Gehazi said, “I will run after him, and get something from him.” Whenever a person runs after money he or she is in for trouble. Gehazi should have run after God, faithfully served Elisha, and in due time the blessing of the
Lord would have come. Gehazi failed to understand that the anointing of the Holy Spirit actually attracts wealth. Today, God still wants His people to prosper financially, but it must come in His timing. Often there are many tests that the Lord will allow His children to go through before He takes them into their wealthy place, but by walking in the love of God and exercising faith and patience, all the promises of God can be obtained.

Let’s not overlook the
rest of the story
concerning how some time down the road the Lord eventually blessed Elisha with financial abundance.