Gentle Conquest is Published Monthly by Charles Carrin

And Elisha said to Elijah, Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me. So he said, you have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so. I Kings 2:9,10.

In the fall of 1756, George Whitefield preached at St. Michael’s Anglican Church in the village of Haworth, north England. The local pastor, William Grimshaw, was a godly man and powerful in the Scripture. Whitefield stood on a platform erected outside an open window of the church where he could be heard by those crowded within the building and the several thousand standing without. He paused silently to pray and then in a loud, commanding voice, announced his text: “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the judgment. Before he could speak his next words there was a loud shriek from the audience. A person had dropped dead. There was a moment of confusion as Reverend Grimshaw rushed in that direction. The dead person was carried away. After a pause, Whitefield repeated the text loudly again; “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the judgment.” From a different section came another shriek. A second person had dropped dead. Both had died instantly upon hearing Whitefield’s announcement about death and judgement. This body was also carried out of the crowd. From the place where the second person had fallen, Grimshaw shouted to Whitefield, “You are standing between the living and the dead!” His reference was of the time Aaron stood with his censer between those alive and those who perished under God’s judgement. In explaining the deaths, I personally believe Whitefield had the “double portion.”

Today’s “signs and wonders” would seem mild in comparison to the Spirit’s astonishing demonstrations that occurred in his ministry. When preaching in Boston, Whitefield ordered people in the trees to come down. He knew when the power of the Holy Spirit fell upon the crowd that many of those overhead would drop like stones.

First of all, we need to ask the question, why Elijah’s requirement that Elisha see his translation? I think the answer is found in Acts 1:22 when the eleven Apostles appointed a successor for Judas Iscariot. To be named one of the “Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, whose names are inscribed in the foundations of the Holy City, Revelation 21:14, the new Apostle had to have been one of the original disciples and a witness of Jesus’ resurrection. So also with Elisha. To possess the “double portion,” or two-fold anointing that was on Elijah, Elisha had to be an eyewitness of the older prophet’s translation from earth to Heaven.

It is interesting to know that Scripture records seven miracles by Elijah at the time of his translation and thirteen by the end of Elisha’s career. Elisha missed the “double portion” of miracles by one. After his death, however, the Israelis hurriedly threw a corpse into his grave, which, in touching his bones, brought the dead man back to life. In this way, the exact number of fourteen miracles was completed. Even after death, Elisha’s works “followed him.”

Another question is important to us: Is the double-portion merely an intensifying of the same power or does the second part serve a totally different, specific purpose?

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF THE “DOUBLE PORTION?”

What I share with you is not given as doctrine. In all honesty, I am not only intimidated by what I say--but frightened. You are at liberty to disagree with me; you may be right and I be wrong. The word “portion” in Hebrew, peh, is the same word used for mouth; specifically, the mouth as an instrument of “blowing” the breath or speaking. Apparently, the power released through Elisha’s double portion was going to be discharged through his mouth by words. This principle is consistent with New Testament teaching.

We know nothing about those who died that day; the condition of their souls, or why God chose to call them to judgment at the moment Whitefield proclaimed the word. But you and I do know that a holy terror gripped the people standing before him. This man was no ordinary preacher. The congregation knew that in a paralyzing way the Holy Spirit was “confirming the word with signs following.” Mark 16 20.

This kind of power should not surprise us. A similar thing happened when Ananias and Sapphira dropped dead before Peter. Acts 5:1-11. Peter spoke and the “portion,” or peh responded. Paul commanded a “mist and a darkness” to fall upon Elymas the warlock and the man was led away blind. Acts 13:11. Peter told Simon the sorcerer, “Your money perish with you!,” --- and it happened. Peter had been present in that closed room the day of the resurrection when Jesus suddenly appeared before them and said, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.” John 20:23. There was no repentance in Simon, only fear, Peter held him accountable for his sin, and pronounced a curse upon him. Jesus had earlier revealed this principle when He cursed the barren fig tree, causing its immediate death, Matthew 21:19, and then urged the disciples to do the same thing. 21:21.

You understand why I said earlier I was frightened by what I share. Hear me carefully: I anticipate the day in which modern blasphemers and enemies of the Kingdom will fall dead by the power of God. It was for justifiable reason that Scripture says of the early disciples, “fear came upon all of them.”

With those truths in mind, we return to Elisha and the “double portion.” After he witnessed Elijah’s translation, Elisha was met with a group of brazen young people. They had learned of Elijah’s going up in a chariot of fire and in a mocking, ridiculing way, blasphemed that holy event by telling Elisha to do the same. “Go up! You baldhead! Go up!” Elisha pronounced a curse upon them. Instantly, two bears charged from the woods and killed 42 of them. This may shock you, but I would not be surprised to know that it was the second part of his anointing-power, the “double portion,” that was demonstrated when he cursed the young people. II Kings 2:24.

What I am saying is this: The modern church is totally unaware that the Spirit’s full empowering contains the authority of life and death.

There are two fearful aspects of this awesome truth: Those who will someday possess the power and those against whom the power comes. If believers who operate in this power are influenced by their own pride, the power will turn against themselves. They will self-destruct. In a sense, this is what happened when Ananias and Sapphira fell dead before Peter. Acts 5:1-12.

This husband and wife were believers but they allowed their own distorted sense of self-worth to attempt their defrauding of the church. God showed immediately what He thought of their ideas.

I am not suggesting you cease praying for the “double portion;” I pray for it -- but I do so with fear and trembling. The day may come in which the full New Testament power returns to the church. When that happens, the world and the church will know they have encountered God.

Charles Carrin,

ONE OF THE ELDERS who took part in my ordination in 1949 was the late Dr. J. Walter Hendricks who today would be nearly one hundred and thirty years old. My life was incredibly enriched by knowing this great old man. Every time I was in his home I found him surrounded by a mound of commentaries, books, and expositions of Greek and Hebrew word origins. Elder Hendricks was the first President of the school that later became Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia, and one of the campus buildings still bears his name. In my youth he and I spent time traveling across eastern parts of the United States and I listened with rapt attention when he spoke--even though I was terrified by his driving. When he talked about the Civil War he quoted friends and relatives who fought in it. And his convictions were always strong. He was never without an opinion or the will to express it. Once when he was stopped by a policemen for speeding, he said to the officer, “State your business--I’m in a hurry.” Riding with him was a lesson in faith--theologically and experientially. It was during one of our trips together that he told me about the burning of his boyhood church--Upper Cannoochee Primitive Baptist in Georgia.

The problem began one winter in the late 1800's when a herd of wild goats bedded under the building and brought an infestation of fleas. In those days of ladies hoop skirts and long petticoats, the fleas were hard to catch (or scratch) when they got inside the rows of lacy under-garments. As Brother Hendricks reminisced, he laughed, demonstrating how the women frantically stamped their feet and shook their hemlines to brush away the fleas. The pests finally got so bad that neither the goats nor the congregation could go near the place. With that, the men met at the building on a Saturday morning to remedy the problem. The solution they agreed upon was guaranteed to work: They spread a thin layer of pine straw under the building and set it afire. Within a short time the fleas were gone--but so was the building. The structure suddenly burst into flame with a roar that burned it to the ground. When the fire got out of control, the men raced frantically into the building and managed to save a few hymnbooks and benches. A moment later, as they watched panic-stricken, their beloved church went up in flames; their "remedy" had gone far beyond their original plan.

The men had authority to cleanse the building but their method was more destructive than the problem.

In our day, few churches are perplexed with wild goats and fleas--but, like the one in Georgia, we do employ wrong methods to solve our problems. I encountered this failure in myself, in other pastors, and churches, when my ministry began. I watched many a good pastor change from church to church, leaving his charge prematurely, because he was chased off by the fleas. In other instances, I saw congregations in the heat of mob-psychology lose rationale and make wrong decisions in their frantic flea-fight. When the story ended, everything had gone up in smoke.

I hate to shatter anyone's illusions, but we are going to find fleas wherever we go. No church is free of them. In fact, what can be found in some places is far worse than fleas. So, what do we do? We can confront the problem by burning the church down--or we can leave--or we can settle down like mature Christians and offer sensible, godly help. Burning the building or running away is definitely not God's answer. What is the key?

The success of home and church rests upon a proper implementing of Scriptural authority, godly wisdom, and genuine love; where these are absent, everything else disintegrates. Faith and sensibility must be compatibly joined. When either one is missing the “Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence” and the church goes up in flames. Though dead, the fleas still win. The Duke of Wellington expressed the need for this “faith-love” balance perfectly when he said, "Educate children without religion and you create a race of clever devils." In other words, educated choices may seem right but the result can still produce disaster. Dr. Charles Farah, Jr., emphasized the authority-grace balance this way: "No one can read the New Testament without a strong sense of authority. You can have a New Testament church without authority much in the same way you can have Christianity without Christ; it simply is not possible ... the Scriptures are full of passages relating to authority: ‘Obey them that have the rule over you’ ... ‘Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers...’”

Actually, there is more accountability held against the shepherds than there is against the flock. Leaders are in a more critical position than those who follow them. How leaders deal with the fleas can make or destroy the church.

What about the “followers?” What is the extent of their responsibility and accountability? Immediately, someone asks: "But how can I be safe in yielding to authority in the church? Ask yourself these questions:

Are the Elders sincere, godly, praying men?

Are they submitted to each other?

Has the Holy Spirit made them overseers in the flock?

Did the Holy Spirit place you in this Body of Christians?

If your answer is yes, then you are safe to follow them as they follow Christ. These are not the kind of men who will either burn down the building or burn you at the stake. Pray for them and follow them. When you get your feelings hurt, ask God for help, seek restoration with those who offended you, and get back in the church! Life is too short to be wasted scratching fleas.