And He Found Elisha by Apostle Johnson Suleman: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

And He Found Elisha

1 Kings 19:19 — "So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him."

Elijah was a prophet who had seen the dimensions of God — a man who locked the heavens and put the key in his pocket. Ahab's servants told Elijah, "There is no nation my master has not sent to search for you," yet Elijah was around the whole time and no one could find him. He was seeable, but not accessible. Whoever is looking for you to cause you harm will not see you, will not see your children.

God Hates Mixture

1 Kings 18:21 — "How long halt ye between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him." In those days Israel served God in the morning and Baal in the evening. Elijah confronted that mixture directly — God hates mixture. If you're going to be an unbeliever, stand for something rather than living in-between. Even after Elijah called down fire and put four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the grove to the sword, one woman's threat — Jezebel's — sent him running for his life. A man who had just called down fire ran from a single woman.

Adam, Where Art Thou?

Under the juniper tree, God asked Elijah, "What doest thou here?" Not because God couldn't see him, but because Elijah was not where he was supposed to be — the same way God asked Adam, "Where art thou?" not because He couldn't locate him, but because Adam wasn't in his place. Even if you miss other things in life, you will not miss your right location.

Notice that God stopped calling people to the village and started calling everyone to the city. A minister who, decades ago, left Lagos for a small town because that was where God sent him, and stayed there faithfully ever since — even as his peers rose to prominence and city pulpits — is a picture of what it means to remain exactly where you were sent, regardless of how unglamorous it looks.

Elijah, under the tree, cried out that he wanted to die — but he wasn't serious. A woman had already threatened to kill him; if he truly wanted to die, he could have simply stayed and let her. What God then revealed was that the very thing Elijah feared was, in truth, three times smaller than what he carried. God told him to anoint not one but three successors — Hazael, Jehu, and Elisha — because the assignment on Elijah's life was too heavy to be downloaded onto a single person. Many people are not aware that what they fear is actually afraid of them. No matter the battle in front of you, you are not merely an individual — you are a seed, and a seed does not die when it's dropped to the ground; it grows.

Elisha: An Improvement, Not Just a Replacement

Elijah performed roughly half the number of miracles Elisha would go on to perform — and Elisha's thirty-second miracle happened after his own death, when a dead man's body, thrown into Elisha's open grave, touched his bones and came back to life. Even death could not stop the double portion. God is not merely looking to replace fathers as they retire from the race — He is raising up a generation that will improve on what was given to them.

What Elisha Really Asked For

2 Kings 2:9-11 — Elijah asked, "Ask what I shall give thee before I be taken away from thee." Elisha answered, "Let a double portion of thy spirit be upon me." Elijah said it was possible, but conditional: "If thou see me when I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee." That condition wasn't about physically watching Elijah disappear — it was about how Elisha truly saw him. When the moment came, Elisha didn't cry out "my boss" — he cried, "My father, my father." He didn't just see a superior; he saw a father, and that posture of relationship is what released the mantle.

Elisha represents a minister in pursuit of elements, not things. He wasn't asking for Elijah's influence, his connections, or his reputation — he wanted the spiritual deposit that made Elijah who he was. Good cars, good houses, eloquence, intelligence, and good looks don't make good preachers. "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." What makes a man's life and ministry soar is not his diction or his connections — it is the spirit resting on him.

Demand Is Released Through Reference and Reverence

You can't demand the anointing of a man you've never truly seen or sat under — a spiritual demand works fastest on the platform of genuine reference and reverence toward the one carrying that grace. You can sound like a great man of God on the outside and still be spiritually stranded, because the true weight of a man's calling is announced by the spirit, not by imitation of style or delivery.

Physician, Heal Thyself

Colossians 4:17 — "Say to Archippus, Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received... that thou fulfil it." God gives the calling, but fulfilling that calling gloriously is entirely up to the one carrying it. A pastor who has never had a genuine personal encounter with God, yet ministers the word to others, is not delivering a message — he's spreading a rumor. It is the man, not the method or the strategy, that makes the ministry. What every minister needs first is not a technique but intimacy with God — a life that naturally births encounters and manifestation, because it has first encountered Him.