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00:00 We've been talking on the subject of linking up and how important it is for us to link
00:05 up together in the body of Christ and as a body of believers in the house of God.
00:11 And specifically last week we started off and talking about the importance of linking
00:16 up with the leaders or the pastors in the house of God.
00:19 And we've been talking about having the heart of the pastor.
00:22 It's something that we do in our partners class, but we thought it's necessary to once
00:28 again a pressure course for everybody that's in the house.
00:32 And I don't know, you know, you may have been in partners class 30 years ago.
00:36 You may have been in partners class 20 years ago.
00:40 No matter how you've been in there, if you've heard Pastor Tony or myself teach in this
00:44 area of having the heart of the pastor, there's always more revelation that comes out of the
00:50 message and out of the service and that I'm praying and believing God that he would touch
00:55 your heart this morning and that you would hear the voice behind the voice.
00:59 Hallelujah.
01:00 And God would begin to speak to you concerning these things because I think it's so important.
01:05 You think about it.
01:06 Jesus, he died on the cross and he went to the lower parts of hell.
01:12 He nailed your sin, my sin to the cross and God raised him from the dead.
01:17 But the first thing he does when he gets up before he goes to the father, he give gifts
01:21 unto men.
01:22 Hallelujah.
01:23 I think this is real important.
01:26 If God's going to give us some gifts before he leaves here, then we know he gave us the
01:30 gift of the Holy Spirit who is still here with us.
01:33 Thank God for the Holy Ghost.
01:35 Hallelujah.
01:36 Who is a guarantee that everything that Jesus left us will be evident in our lives.
01:42 And so Ephesians 4, just to review a little bit, he gave these gifts.
01:46 He gave the gift of the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor, and the teacher
01:52 so that we can equip the saints to do the work of the ministry.
01:55 Somebody shout, I got work to do.
01:58 Say it like you mean it this morning.
02:01 We all got a work to do and God has given us a work to do.
02:05 But here is the position and the job.
02:08 And primarily we were speaking of the position of the pastor, though, you know, Pastor Toyin
02:13 and I wear more than one hat.
02:16 But I just want to talk about this link up with us because we do, we shepherd you.
02:21 We are your pastors.
02:23 You are the sheep.
02:24 God, praise God.
02:25 We're the under shepherds of the great shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ.
02:29 Hallelujah.
02:30 And you know, we have such a, such a heart for the people of God that God has poured
02:34 in our lives.
02:35 You know, when God called us into ministry, you know, it didn't take a whole lot of kicking
02:40 and screaming, but you know, we didn't know what that looked like because we knew that
02:45 God had called us into the office of the apostle before we ever became pastors.
02:49 For those of you that did may not have known that, but at all, you know, we think we're
02:54 going to do that work of the ministry and just jump right in that.
02:57 But God said, I called you to pastor.
02:59 And so, you know, again, we weren't necessarily kicking and screaming, but we was just trying
03:04 to figure out what that looks like from God's perspective.
03:07 And so we want to look at through the word of God, from God's perspective of what the
03:12 scripture has to say.
03:13 And as much as lies within us, we try to stick to the script.
03:17 Hallelujah.
03:18 Because it's important for us to do that.
03:20 And so we realized that pastors have been given as a gift to the body of Christ.
03:25 Somebody say, Pastor Tony and Pastor Cynthia, thank God for her.
03:30 It's a gift to the body.
03:32 It's a gift.
03:33 I'm sorry.
03:34 I'm going to make it very personal this week, okay?
03:38 It's a gift to this body.
03:41 And so we want to benefit from the gift that God has given us.
03:45 And so primarily we read in Jeremiah, still revealing, Jeremiah chapter 3 and verse 15,
03:51 that God said, I will give you pastors after my own heart that will feed you with knowledge
03:56 and understanding of the word of God.
03:58 So here's my job is to feed you with knowledge and understanding of the word of God.
04:02 We know pastors do a whole lot more.
04:05 Take a deep breath, do a whole lot more.
04:07 But primarily here's the function, to feed you with knowledge and understanding of the
04:12 word of God, to be to God word for you and to hear from God and to give you a word from
04:19 God.
04:20 And so that is our function.
04:22 And so we said, how do we relate to these gifts?
04:25 Number one, we must be linked or we must be planted in the house of God.
04:30 In order for you to grow and mature as a Christian, as a believer, you got to be planted.
04:36 You got to be planted in the house of God.
04:37 You know, God has not called anybody to be an island to themselves or I don't need the
04:43 church.
04:44 I don't need nobody to tell me nothing.
04:45 And that's why you don't know nothing.
04:48 Because God has called us to link.
04:50 Somebody said link up.
04:52 Because if all you have is you, all you have is your perspective and chances are if all
04:57 you have is your perspective, chances are you're missing something.
05:02 We call it the body of believers to come together.
05:05 How many had a perspective on something and heard somebody else's point of view and said,
05:09 ah, never thought about that.
05:11 You know, you can look at a picture and see so many different things.
05:14 Hallelujah.
05:15 But when you get together with somebody else, we see the whole picture.
05:19 Thank God he's given us these ministry gifts so we can see clear.
05:23 Somebody said I can see clearly now.
05:26 Hallelujah.
05:27 Because of the gifts that God has given to us.
05:32 Number two, you have to submit to the authority that God has placed in your life.
05:37 Remember Hebrews 13 and 17 said submit yourself, obey those elders, pastors that are over your
05:44 life and submit yourself because we have to give an account unto God for your soul.
05:49 Let us do it not with grief, but with joy.
05:52 Because with joy, with grief, it becomes unprofitable for you.
05:57 Again, we have to give an account to God for your soul.
06:01 What is that?
06:02 Whatever God tells us to say, whatever he tells us to preach, we have to preach it because
06:08 I may not know you, but God does.
06:11 He know you sitting here this morning.
06:12 He know what you did last night.
06:14 He know what you said this morning.
06:17 He knows what you're thinking in your heart.
06:19 And he said, I need you to say this so they can hear that so I can snatch them out of
06:24 the pit they about to drop in.
06:26 So we have to give an account to God and I ain't scared of nobody so I can say exactly,
06:34 I say exactly what God tells me to say.
06:38 Hallelujah.
06:39 So I'm not worried about, oh, maybe they won't give like they used to get.
06:43 I don't know what you give.
06:45 I ain't looking at your records.
06:47 I don't know.
06:48 I know I'm the biggest giver in here, so I'm all right.
06:50 So here, and so I'm not afraid to say anything because we have to give an account before
06:59 God for your lives.
07:01 Isn't it a wonderful thing to come into the house of God and God start talking to you?
07:06 Wouldn't it be a tragedy if you heard word and God never said nothing to you?
07:11 Somebody said this word is for me, not my neighbor, me.
07:20 Hallelujah.
07:21 Number three, you have to know that the pastor is the head of the local church.
07:26 And so there are many governing bodies in the body of Christ.
07:29 There are many denominations and they have their own makeup of how they govern their
07:35 churches and so we have to go by what God has given to us as this local church.
07:41 We don't have a board of deacons that tell us what to do.
07:46 We don't have a board of elders that tell us what to do.
07:50 There's a God that sits high and a God that looks low and you got to trust that we hear
07:56 from God.
07:58 If you don't believe that we hear from God, you are in the wrong place.
08:02 You want somebody that can hear from God and help you navigate this thing called life.
08:10 And so we do have a board of directors.
08:12 We do have elders and ministers and deacons and we have team leads and administrators
08:18 and we have a spiritual covering, Dr. Creflo and Taffy Dollar.
08:22 Thank God for their lives.
08:25 And so we are here in the house of victory that the pastor is the head of this local
08:31 body.
08:32 Number four, you have to submit to the vision and the mandate of this house and everybody.
08:38 If you've been here one day, you have heard the vision and you know the vision of this
08:42 house.
08:43 Vision gives you hope for your future.
08:45 Vision is the thing that calls you to wake up in the morning and know that you got an
08:49 assignment.
08:50 I have a work to do from God.
08:52 Vision allows you to see every time I look into the word of God, my life can be changed.
08:57 Vision allows me to have sight beyond what I can see naturally because anytime I can
09:03 see what God is saying, anytime I can hear what God is saying, anytime I understand the
09:09 word of God, that's the time I know my life can be changed.
09:13 And I wish I could just preach on those three things right now.
09:16 It is so important because your eyesight in the spirit is so important for you to live
09:22 the life that God has for you.
09:24 There are a lot of things that are happening in the world, but if you can see what God
09:27 is doing, if you can see what God is saying, your life will never be the same again.
09:35 So having knowing that the spirit of the Lord is upon us, he's anointed us to preach this
09:41 gospel and to raise up a body of believers.
09:45 You are the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
09:48 Listen, people, we are church without walls.
09:51 Your life should be so impacted in this house that you go outside the walls of this church
09:56 and impact somebody else's life.
09:58 Please listen to me.
10:00 Don't keep a good thing to yourself.
10:03 Change somebody else's life by how the word of God is changing your life.
10:08 You're the only Bible somebody will ever read and they ought to see it in your life and
10:13 that's what vision does for you.
10:15 And as Jesus is, come on and act like it.
10:22 Hallelujah.
10:23 Do what he would do and greater works.
10:27 Hallelujah.
10:28 Because he's gone to the father.
10:30 And so it is so important.
10:31 And so, you know, having the heart of a pastor, first understanding we can't do this by ourselves.
10:37 We need every single one of you.
10:40 You hear Pastor Tony says all the time, there are no bench warmers in the body of Christ.
10:45 Everybody gets off the bench.
10:47 Everybody gets to play in the game called life and the kingdom of heaven.
10:51 And you and I are his ambassadors.
10:54 We've been sent by God to turn this world upside down so that people will know we are
10:59 here because I'm telling you when we get up out of here, they're going to know we were
11:03 here.
11:04 Amen.
11:05 And so, we can't do this thing by ourselves.
11:08 We need every single one of you.
11:10 In the book of Exodus chapter 18, I'm just going to tell you some of the stories for
11:14 time's sake.
11:16 But you need to know that, you know, Moses was raised up as a deliverer.
11:20 He was a type of shepherd for the people of God.
11:23 He had to deliver a million people out of Egypt and take them into a promised land.
11:31 And I'm telling you, it was not an easy task.
11:34 They kick and scream and they didn't want to go.
11:37 And they even talked about Moses.
11:39 Moses, who are you?
11:40 They talked about Moses' assistant.
11:42 Aaron, who you think you are?
11:44 I mean, they just did not want to go.
11:48 And they wanted to stay in bondage.
11:51 They cried out to God to get out of bondage.
11:53 When God raised up a leader to get them out of bondage, they didn't want to follow the
11:57 leader.
12:02 Selah.
12:07 And so, with a series of events, some supernatural things that took place, signs and wonders
12:14 and miracles, they said, "Okay, let's get up out of here."
12:18 And so, God allowed them to come out of Egypt, a type of a world, and they went by the way
12:25 of the wilderness.
12:26 And then we get to Exodus chapter 18.
12:28 Moses, can you imagine?
12:30 He marching in the wilderness.
12:32 He got a million people behind him.
12:35 And his father Jethro comes and meet him with his wife Sapphora and Moses' two sons and
12:41 meet him.
12:42 And Jethro said, "Look what the Lord has done."
12:45 And he's looking around, he said, "Oh my God."
12:47 And Moses tells him the story.
12:49 He sent ten plagues.
12:50 I'm telling you, there was flies, there was locusts.
12:53 I mean, the water turned to blood.
12:55 I mean, the firstborn son died.
12:57 I mean, God showed up for us.
13:00 He showed out.
13:01 And Jethro was like, "Oh my God, give God some praise for that.
13:05 That brought you out."
13:08 And he said, and Jethro got so excited, he sacrificed an offering to, let me get on to
13:14 this.
13:15 He sacrificed an offering unto the Lord God.
13:18 And they begin to worship and to praise God.
13:21 And then the next day, Moses got up out of his tent.
13:24 He pulled up a chair and the people of God lined up.
13:28 And they one by one, sometimes two by two, sometimes a group of family, and they came
13:33 with all their issues.
13:34 Somebody said, "We got issues."
13:37 Somebody got issues.
13:38 They had marriage problems.
13:39 They had health problems.
13:40 They had financial problems.
13:42 They had get along problems.
13:43 They had every problem you can think of.
13:45 They had mental issues.
13:46 They had issues.
13:47 They had a lot of them.
13:49 And they lined up and they said, "Moses, we need to know what to do."
13:54 And Moses would seek God in that moment of hearing the issue in his heart saying, "God,
14:00 what do I do?
14:01 I don't know what to do with the issues.
14:04 I don't know."
14:05 But God would give him a word.
14:06 He would tell him.
14:07 And Jethro came out there and he said, "Moses, what are you doing?"
14:12 He says, "I'm talking to the people that have issues.
14:15 I hear from God and I tell them what to do."
14:17 He said, "Moses, that thing you're doing, that ain't good."
14:20 Somebody said, "That's not good."
14:21 He said, "Pastor, you can't do everything."
14:24 He said, "That ain't good.
14:28 You can't hear people's issues all day."
14:30 I ain't say it that like.
14:32 I didn't say that right.
14:33 He said, "You can't hear people's issues all day."
14:39 He said, "If you keep doing that, you're going to wear yourself out.
14:46 You're going to die prematurely.
14:49 You're going to wear yourself out."
14:50 And guess what?
14:51 The people will wear out.
14:54 Wait a minute now.
14:56 How they going to wear out if I'm telling them all their problems?
14:59 I'm giving them answers to all their problems?
15:02 Because you were meant to hear from God.
15:06 You were meant to hear God and obey his word.
15:09 You know you can hear a word from God preached in the pulpit and you'll come ask the same
15:13 question because you think your issue is different from what you just heard.
15:17 But here God is expecting everybody to do the word of God that you are hearing.
15:28 God wanted them.
15:29 Listen, God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt and brought them to the mountain
15:34 of God.
15:37 And God began to speak.
15:40 And they said, "No God, shut up.
15:43 Your voice is scary.
15:45 I don't like the thunder.
15:46 I don't like the lightning.
15:48 I don't like that.
15:50 God don't talk to us.
15:51 Just talk to Moses.
15:52 We'll hear Moses and we'll be good.
15:55 Don't talk."
15:56 But God wanted to be their God.
15:58 He wanted to talk to them.
16:04 And so he said, "But you can't keep doing this, Moses.
16:07 You're going to wear yourself out."
16:09 Can you imagine a million people?
16:11 How many issues did they have?
16:15 And it's only maybe a thousand of us and how many issues?
16:18 Anyway, so here, so Moses said, "You know, that sounds like really good godly advice.
16:25 I'll take that up."
16:26 He says, "What you need to do is appoint captains, captains of a thousand, of hundreds,
16:32 and fifties, and tens over the people and let them hear the people and give them godly
16:38 counsel.
16:39 If they have a hard question or a hard issue that they don't know the answer, then let
16:44 them bring it to you and then you will answer that.
16:47 But all of these other people, these elders, these deacons, these ministers, they ought
16:52 to be able to hear from God and help somebody.
16:56 So if you've got issues, can I have all my leaders stand up?
17:00 If you're a leader in this house, stand up.
17:04 So if you've got issues, look at these people because I need you to bring them their issues
17:09 today because they'll be able to help you with your issues.
17:14 Amen?
17:15 And if they can't, then you call the office and say, "May I speak to the pastor?"
17:21 And specifically say, "Pastor Tony."
17:24 Okay?
17:25 Hallelujah.
17:26 I say that because he's watching, y'all.
17:34 Tony Braylston at verizon.net.
17:36 Okay, have a seat.
17:39 301.
17:40 No, sorry.
17:42 Hallelujah.
17:43 And so Moses took that godly advice and he set up able people full of the Holy Ghost
17:51 that wasn't in there for their own personal gain.
17:56 They're not there to take advantage of the people.
18:00 There's no abuse in leadership.
18:02 No one in leadership position, you just saw those people stand up.
18:06 Nobody in the leadership position should be coming to you asking you for something.
18:11 Listen, I'm an elder so and so and I'm just behind a little bit.
18:15 Can you hold, can I hold $100?
18:18 No.
18:19 If you have any elder that is misconduct, have any misconduct of any kind, any elder,
18:24 minister, deacon, or whatever you call yourself, if you see that in the house of God, please
18:30 don't call pastor Tony, call me.
18:34 Please.
18:35 Call me.
18:38 Let me know.
18:42 Hallelujah.
18:44 Let the church say.
18:50 Glory to God.
18:55 We don't want no pastoral deaconess, elders, anybody abuse in any leadership position and
19:03 nor should anybody take advantage of the elders as well.
19:08 There's protocols for things of meeting the needs of God's people in the house of God.
19:12 This is to protect the church as well as to protect you.
19:15 And when you have the heartbeat of the church, you'll have an understanding of why we do
19:19 what we do.
19:21 You want to be protected.
19:22 You want to come to a place where we call home, it to be a safe place.
19:26 Amen.
19:27 And you want to be safe in the house of God.
19:30 And so the examples of receiving the heart of the pastor, these that can be found in
19:35 second Kings chapter two, and it's the story of Elijah and Elijah.
19:41 I love telling the story of those two great prophets is so much wealth of wisdom that
19:46 is in those stories concerning their lives.
19:49 And I really, I would take a month or three to really talk about them in its entirety.
19:56 They're both powerful anointing men of God in the old Testament, but they are mentioned
20:00 over and over again in the new Testament as well.
20:04 And so, but here is, I, we pull this out as an example of following the heart of the man
20:10 of God that God is placed in your life.
20:13 And when I say man of God, obviously I'm talking about pastor Tony and myself as the pastors
20:18 of this house.
20:19 I know we are walking in the office of apostle.
20:22 That is what God has called us to do.
20:23 As a matter of fact, he called us to do that before we ever became pastors.
20:27 I told you that before.
20:29 And so, but we are shepherds of this house and even there are times when God would say
20:35 to us, do the work of an evangelist and we have to go and do what God has called us to
20:39 do to preach this gospel around the world.
20:43 Hallelujah.
20:44 Hey man.
20:45 And so, but to have this understanding of what you follow and why you follow in the
20:50 benefits that you receive from it.
20:53 And this story of Elijah, it starts off in first Kings chapter 17.
20:59 And you remember the story of Elijah.
21:02 It says he's the Tishbite.
21:03 He just shows up on the scene with the time when Ahab and Jezebel are king and queen.
21:09 And he says to Ahab, it won't rain till I say so.
21:13 Somebody shout power.
21:15 That is a prophet of power.
21:16 He has such power in his life.
21:18 He did so many signs and wonders and miracles.
21:21 And so, God used him mightily.
21:24 And so, in this particular scene, he says to him, it's not going to rain.
21:28 Then God comes to him and tells him it's going to rain again.
21:31 And it doesn't rain for three and a half years.
21:34 And then he said, it's about to be a downpour.
21:36 It rains.
21:37 It starts to rain again.
21:39 And then he challenges the gods of Baal, the prophets of Baal.
21:44 Y'all remember the story.
21:45 And so, he challenged them because the people were serving the prophets of Baal.
21:49 These are false prophets because they have gotten so far away from the things of God
21:54 because of Ahab and because of Jezebel that they didn't even know God anymore.
22:00 And so, he challenged them and he said, whatever God answers by fire, he is the real God.
22:06 And so, they have this sacrifice that they set up and he calls on the name of God.
22:11 He said, God, let these people know that you have already turned their hearts and God.
22:16 And then he begins to pray and the fire of God comes down and consumes the sacrifice.
22:23 And the people cry out, God, he is God.
22:26 That was a good time.
22:27 Somebody say, God, he is God.
22:29 Oh, glory to God.
22:33 And so, Elijah instructs them, put a sword in your hand and kill all the prophets of
22:39 Baal.
22:40 They kill all the prophets of Baal.
22:43 Jezebel hears about it and she's upset and she's mad and she's, I'm going to kill Elijah
22:48 for having all my prophets killed.
22:50 He hears that Jezebel is after you.
22:53 She's going to kill you.
22:54 And so, he runs and hides in a cave.
22:58 Can you imagine?
22:59 He just rained down fire from heaven and now he's running and hiding in a cave.
23:04 I'd have been like, fire, come.
23:09 But he knows he goes and hides because he thinks that I'm the only prophet left.
23:14 And by happenstance, if she should take my life, God, you don't have anybody.
23:19 You ever thought she was the only one that could do what you do?
23:22 But anyway, there's a lot to be said about that.
23:27 So he hides in a cave and a series of events take place in that cave situation, but we
23:31 don't have time to preach that.
23:33 But God comes to the mouth of the cave and Elijah, what are you doing?
23:36 He says, I'm hiding in a cave, God.
23:39 I'm your only prophet.
23:40 If she kills me, you ain't going to have nobody.
23:42 He said, are you kidding me?
23:43 I got a thousand prophets that have not bowed their knee to the gods of Baal.
23:49 Get up out of that cave.
23:52 And I want you to go and anoint Elisha in your stead.
23:58 Knowing Jehu is king, gave him some instructions of what to do next in his life.
24:02 And then we get to second Kings chapter two, where he sees Elisha.
24:07 He's plowing oxen in the field.
24:10 He sees him, he goes and he takes off his mantle and he throws it on Elisha.
24:16 Now your mantle is the anointing of God, the grace of God, the gift of God on your life.
24:21 When people saw you wearing that type of mantle, that's a prophet of God.
24:27 People can see anointings on your life and know who you are in the realm of the spirit.
24:32 I'm telling you, when you walk in the office of what God is calling you in that day and
24:37 time, people saw the mantle on your life and knew it.
24:41 He knew Elisha came and he's plowing.
24:44 He throws his mantle on me.
24:46 He said, I'm the next in line.
24:48 I believe he got a quickening in the spirit.
24:52 When that mantle got on him, he said, let me go and say bye to my mama and daddy.
24:57 He said, hey, you do what you want to do.
24:58 I ain't got nothing to do with that.
24:59 I'm just doing what God told me to do.
25:00 I'm out of here.
25:03 See Elijah didn't run after Elisha.
25:06 Oh, suck it now.
25:11 Why the pastor ain't call me?
25:12 They know I ain't there today.
25:13 I'm sick.
25:14 Why they ain't come see me?
25:15 Elisha didn't run.
25:16 So here he is.
25:17 So did y'all catch that?
25:18 Okay.
25:19 So here, Elisha, he's plowing.
25:20 So he breaks up the plow.
25:21 He sacrificed the oxen.
25:22 He has this big feast.
25:23 And then he said, well, I'm going to go and say bye to my mama and daddy.
25:24 I'm just doing what God told me to do.
25:25 I'm just doing what God told me to do.
25:26 I'm just doing what God told me to do.
25:27 I'm just doing what God told me to do.
25:28 So he's plowing the oxen.
25:31 He has this big feast.
25:32 And then he said, where's Elijah?
25:33 He goes and runs after Elijah.
25:36 He knew that that mantle meant something that he threw on his life.
25:41 I've been called into the ministry, but I got to know what that looks like.
25:47 I got to have a model before me.
25:51 I don't walk in my own.
25:54 That's a divine connection when I link with a man of God that was on his life.
26:00 God wants to put in my life and he runs after him.
26:04 And I believe he tore up that plow and those oxen because he said, I'm not going back there
26:10 again.
26:11 I know what God has for my life.
26:14 I know what he's called me to do.
26:15 And that's where I'm going.
26:18 He finds Elijah.
26:19 And then we get into second Kings chapter two and we discover that they've been together
26:23 for 21 years.
26:27 And they're in this place called Gilgal.
26:30 Elijah said to Elisha, stay here.
26:33 I'll tell you, I'll be back.
26:34 Stay right here.
26:35 He said, no, no, no, no, no.
26:37 As long as you live and as long as my soul lives, I'm going to go wherever you go.
26:43 You're not leaving me here.
26:47 And he follows after him.
26:49 Are you hearing the heartbeat?
26:51 I know God has connected us.
26:53 I know I'm supposed to link with you.
26:55 And as long as you live and as long as my soul lives, you're not going to leave me here.
27:00 I'm going with you.
27:02 You got what I need.
27:04 You have the words of life for my life.
27:08 God connected.
27:09 So whatever comes out of your mouth, I know is for me.
27:12 Whatever anointing's on you, I know I'm going to have a right to it.
27:16 Wherever you go, that's where I'm going.
27:21 Hallelujah.
27:24 So they leave that place and they go over to Bethel.
27:26 And they get to Bethel and there's the sons of the prophets at Bethel.
27:30 And he says the same thing.
27:31 You stay right here in Bethel.
27:32 I'm going over to Jericho.
27:34 He says, no, as long as you live, as long as my soul lives, you're not leaving me.
27:37 And the prophets, the sons of the prophets see him and he says to Elijah, don't you know
27:42 that your master's head will be taken from you today?
27:45 That God's going to take him from you today?
27:47 And he said, I know.
27:49 Shut up.
27:50 Mind your business.
27:51 I'm sorry.
27:52 He said, hold your peace.
27:53 I'm sorry.
27:54 Let me get back to King James.
27:56 He said, hold your peace.
27:59 I know.
28:00 But really, he did say, shut up, mind your business.
28:03 I know what I'm doing.
28:07 And so he goes to, he crosses from Bethel to Jericho and he gets to Jericho and the
28:12 same thing happens.
28:13 He says, stay here.
28:14 He says, no, wherever you go, I'm going.
28:16 Sons of the prophets said, don't you know he's going to be taken from your head today?
28:20 He says, I know.
28:21 Shut up.
28:22 Mind your business.
28:23 I know what I'm doing.
28:24 And they go from Jericho and they go from Jericho and they get to the Jordan river.
28:28 But you got to understand each stage of this, their lives and this journey that we read
28:32 about in second Kings speaks a lot about journey as a body of believers and the stages of life
28:38 that we encounter even as Christians, as we walk and we walk with God and we're at a place
28:45 where God is connecting us, linking us up with headship, with leadership in our lives.
28:51 Remember, it's for the perfecting of the saints, for the working of the ministry, equipping
28:55 you.
28:56 And so there's, there's some, when you being equipped for a work in the ministry, it comes
29:01 with a great deal of responsibility that God has given to you.
29:07 But you have great challenges that you face in your life that some people fall away from.
29:15 You know, there are people that don't want nobody to tell them what to do.
29:18 Somebody said, that's not me.
29:21 Y'all said that really soft.
29:24 Somebody said, that's not me.
29:30 And so here they in this place called Gilgal and Gilgal was the first city that the
29:37 children of Israel entered into when they crossed over the Jordan River into the promised
29:43 land.
29:44 And the beautiful thing about Gilgal, God had them take out stones out of the Jordan
29:48 River and to place them as a momentum of what God had done.
29:53 And he said, anytime that anybody would see these stones stacked up and they say, what
29:58 does this mean?
30:00 You get to say, this is how God brought us out of Egypt and into the promised land.
30:05 There are stones, there are markings in your life that would determine where you were and
30:10 where God is taking you from.
30:13 And God wants to continue to move in your life.
30:16 And like Elijah, I don't want to stay right here.
30:21 Going somewhere.
30:22 So it means a circle of stone, but it also means a place of separation.
30:27 It means I was separated from Egypt out of the world system.
30:31 And now I have been brought into the kingdom of God.
30:34 He brought me out of darkness and he has translated me into the kingdom of God.
30:39 I am now at a place of promise.
30:44 This is the first place that God had taken them to through Joshua, bringing them in to
30:50 the promised land.
30:52 But you think about it in the wilderness, God gave them fresh manna that came down from
30:57 heaven every day.
30:59 Angels food they ate.
31:01 God supernaturally, somebody say supernaturally, God supernaturally took care of them.
31:08 But then when they got to Gilgal, they said, you know, we know how to do this thing.
31:12 They begin to eat the old corn of the land.
31:17 They no longer waited for God to feed them with fresh manna.
31:21 They ate what they thought they knew.
31:25 And so instead of looking for fresh manna coming from God, I'm going to eat off the
31:30 old corn.
31:31 Oh, I know that scripture.
31:33 Oh, I heard that before.
31:35 Oh, I seen that.
31:39 And so they missed out on some of all of what God, you can miss out.
31:44 I'm talking about you.
31:45 You can miss out on some of what God has for you by you getting to a place where your bridges
31:53 are like that, where you can take care of yourself.
31:58 Somebody said there always should be a dependency on God.
32:05 Angels food.
32:06 Hallelujah.
32:07 So they go from Gilgal to Bethel.
32:11 And you know, Bethel, it means the house of God.
32:16 I'm in Gilgal and I'm moving from Gilgal and now I'm experiencing the house of God.
32:24 I'm experiencing the presence of God like I've never had before.
32:29 There's a presence because I'm in the house of Jesus.
32:35 You remember Jacob.
32:38 He is in the place where he's kind of like a wilderness by himself.
32:44 And all of a sudden he has this dream of a ladder coming out of heaven and he sees these
32:49 angels ascending and descending upon this ladder.
32:53 And he realized when he wakes up that this is a place called Bethel.
32:58 It is the house of God.
33:01 He realized that he was in the presence of God.
33:05 But in that place, there was a wrestling.
33:09 He saw them angels ascending and descending on that ladder.
33:12 He grabbed one and the angel said, let me go.
33:15 I got to go back to God.
33:17 He said, no, no, no, no, no.
33:18 I'm not going to let you go until you bless me.
33:23 When you are in the presence of God, don't you let go of what God is doing in the house
33:29 of God.
33:30 Don't let go till you receive the blessings of God in your life.
33:35 You are in the presence.
33:37 You are in this place called Bethel.
33:40 Don't let go.
33:43 Don't let go till you, why am I here God?
33:47 There's an anointing in the house.
33:49 Yes, it feels good.
33:51 We cry, we shout, we sing, we dance.
33:54 But God, what are you saying?
33:55 What are you doing?
33:57 How can I take this home?
33:59 How can I take it on my job?
34:00 God, I need to know your direction for my life.
34:04 And you come to this place where you're wrestling.
34:06 You don't know what to do.
34:08 God, I don't know where you want me to go.
34:10 What do I do with what you're doing in my life?
34:12 You're wrestling.
34:13 But God, I'm not letting go till you bless me.
34:22 Finally makes a decision.
34:23 I'm going to go wherever you go.
34:24 And it gets to this place of Jericho.
34:27 And Jericho is a place where Joshua fought the battle.
34:33 So not only you wrestle, but you come out of that wrestle saturated with the presence
34:38 of God, and the next thing you know, you in a fight.
34:41 Anybody ever been in a fight in the house of God?
34:45 You heard a word and you fighting it.
34:47 I don't want to hear that.
34:51 They don't know what my husband did to me.
34:52 And they tell me I need to submit.
34:53 I need to love.
34:54 If they knew him, they wouldn't be telling me that.
34:57 You fighting.
34:58 You're fighting the word of God that you are hearing.
35:02 Or you're just fighting God's decision for your life.
35:06 It's a place of battle.
35:08 But God had already given you the victory.
35:11 He's just giving you some instructions.
35:13 And he said to the children of Israel, I just need you to walk around that city for six
35:17 days every day, six, seven times.
35:20 And when you get to the seventh day, walk around seven, y'all know the story, seven
35:24 times.
35:25 And on that seventh time, when you walk around at the seventh time, give God a big shout
35:29 of praise.
35:30 Hallelujah.
35:31 And when you do this breakthrough, the walls will come down.
35:40 Can you imagine walking around that wall every day, not knowing what's going to happen?
35:49 You're walking around the wall where your enemy is on top of the wall, looking at you,
35:53 probably jeering at you like, what y'all doing?
35:55 Y'all crazy.
35:56 You can't come through this city.
35:57 You ain't getting this city up on you.
35:59 It's mine.
36:00 You're not going to have it.
36:01 This is what they were going through.
36:03 But I'm telling you, each walk Jericho signifies and it symbolized a walk of faith.
36:11 You and I have been called to walk by and not by.
36:16 So it doesn't matter what it looks like.
36:20 It's a walk of faith.
36:21 They walk around those walls.
36:24 And when you know that seventh day, they begin to shout.
36:27 And every wall came.
36:30 It came down and they received the victory.
36:35 And then they get to this place, Jordan, and they get to the Jordan River and Elijah, we're
36:41 back at second Kings y'all there.
36:43 We get to the river and Elijah takes off his mantle, folds it over and he hits the Jordan
36:49 River.
36:51 And all of a sudden the Jordan River opens up and the two of them walk across on dry
36:57 land.
36:59 They get to the other side of the Jordan River and he says to him, "Hey, what do you want
37:05 from me?
37:07 You've been following me all these years.
37:10 What do you want?
37:11 What is your expectation in the house of victory?
37:14 What do you want God to do?
37:16 You in a place where the anointing of God is, you in a place of promise.
37:21 God sent you here.
37:22 What do you want?"
37:25 Elijah said, "I want a double portion of your spirit to be upon me.
37:31 What I see in you, I want to see in my life.
37:33 What I see in your marriage, I want to see in my marriage.
37:36 What I see in you, I want to see in me."
37:40 Another translation said, "I want to know what it takes to walk in the anointing on
37:44 your life to be your successor."
37:46 Hallelujah.
37:47 "That whatever God gave you, it will never die with you.
37:51 I'll carry it on."
37:52 Hallelujah.
37:53 Glory to God.
37:55 The vision lives.
37:58 I want what you got.
37:59 I want a double portion of the anointing of God on your life.
38:04 He said, "You ask a hard thing."
38:06 Somebody said, "It's a hard thing."
38:09 I know you get up and say, "I can do that.
38:10 I can preach like Pastor Stith.
38:12 I can preach better than Pastor Stith."
38:14 "Oh, I can do that like Pastor Tony and he ain't all that."
38:18 You know, I know the word too.
38:19 I got revelation.
38:20 I'm full of wisdom.
38:23 Hallelujah.
38:24 I know pastoring is just not about preaching.
38:29 This is the fun part.
38:30 I'm having fun today, just you know.
38:34 There's a lot more to it than what meets the eye.
38:40 And so he says, "You ask a hard thing.
38:44 Nevertheless, if you could see it, you could have it."
38:49 Hallelujah.
38:50 Somebody say, "Open my eyes, Jesus."
38:54 He said, "If you could see me when I am taken up, you can have it.
38:59 Because when I'm taken up, you can have it."
39:02 I'm out.
39:03 He said, "But if you could see it."
39:07 He doesn't mean just see with your natural eyes.
39:11 He said, "We have to have perfect alignment.
39:14 You got to talk like I talk.
39:16 You got to walk like I walk.
39:18 You got to do what I do."
39:22 You know, you have people in your life or people that you know about and you say, "Oh,
39:25 I wish I had that.
39:26 Oh, I wish I could do that.
39:28 Oh, I wish I could play ball like Mike."
39:31 Then you know you wish those things, but you're not willing to do the things that they did
39:39 to get what they have or to be where they are.
39:43 I just want it.
39:46 You're not willing to get up four o'clock in the morning and bounce a basketball for
39:50 the rest of your life.
39:52 You're not willing to do the things that are necessary for you to experience things that
39:57 most the average person doesn't do and the position or the thing that's right in front
40:02 of you that's looking.
40:03 You know, there are a lot of times people come to me and ask me, "Pastor, what's your day
40:06 like?
40:07 What do you do?"
40:08 And it's, "I'm going to start doing that."
40:10 And they last for a week.
40:14 But you know, you want something, but you're not willing to do.
40:18 He said, "You got to see like I see.
40:20 You got to walk like I walk.
40:22 You got to talk like I talk.
40:24 You got to do what I do.
40:25 And if you can see it, you can have it."
40:29 Hallelujah.
40:30 I had a pastor's ask me, he said, "I don't mean to be inquisitive in this respect or
40:37 disrespect, but I just want to know, how much do you give?"
40:42 I was like, "You know what?
40:45 Nobody's ever asked me that before."
40:49 And I told him a percentage of what we give on a regular basis.
40:53 And they said, "You know what?
40:54 I'm going to start doing the same."
40:57 And this couple asked me that maybe about three years ago, and they've been doing it
41:01 ever since.
41:03 And they said, "You would not believe the prosperity we're walking in today."
41:07 Because I just did.
41:08 If you can see it, oh my Jesus, you can have it.
41:17 That perfect alignment.
41:19 And while they are talking, here comes a chariot of fire, a whirlwind out of heaven, comes
41:25 down and scoops up Elijah by a whirlwind.
41:29 And now Elijah sees it and he cries out, "My father, my father, the chariots, the horses
41:35 of fire, I see it."
41:38 And then he sees Elijah's mantle falling from that place.
41:42 The first thing he does is rip off his own mantle.
41:47 He strips himself of his own self.
41:54 See that?
41:56 He strips himself of the mantle he has on.
42:00 Because in order for you to take on the mantle of somebody else, you got to strip yourself.
42:04 See, if you're faithful in another man's, then God said, "I'll give you your own."
42:09 And so he had to strip himself because remember that mantle in Elijah's life represented him
42:15 being a prophet of God because your clothing represented who you are.
42:21 Just like today, you know, we could tell a fireman from a policeman based on the uniform.
42:26 And we know the level of their authority.
42:28 We know the authority that a policeman carries different than a security guard.
42:34 You walk up to a security guard, you say, "Oh, he just a security guard."
42:38 You walk up on a policeman, you tiptoe him backwards.
42:42 Especially if you got something on you ain't right.
42:45 But when a security guard, you say, "Hey man, what's up, what's up, what's up?"
42:49 Because you don't care.
42:52 He ain't got no authority.
42:56 And so these mantles were so important in your life.
43:02 And so Elijah's mantle was falling from that chariot.
43:05 He strips himself of his own to take on the mantle of Elijah.
43:11 You remember the story of blind Bartimaeus?
43:14 He's sitting by the roadside begging.
43:17 He hears Jesus is coming.
43:19 The crowd is going ballistic.
43:20 He's like, "What's happening?
43:21 Jesus is getting ready to pass by."
43:23 And he's, "Oh my God, Jesus, thy son of David, have mercy on me."
43:31 And the crowd said, "Be quiet."
43:33 He said, "No, you're not blind.
43:36 Jesus, Jesus."
43:40 Cried loud, "Jesus, thy son of David, have mercy on me."
43:48 Jesus said, "Come here."
43:50 And he gets up, takes off his blind man clothes.
43:55 There's a greater level of anointing that's coming on his life so that he can see something
44:03 he's never seen before.
44:04 He can walk in something he's never walked in before.
44:08 But the only way to do it is to strip yourself off of what's on your life and to pick up
44:14 the mantle of God.
44:18 He took off those blind man clothes.
44:21 Bartimaeus, what you doing?
44:25 Because everybody knows you're blind.
44:26 If you take it off, they won't know.
44:30 They say, "You don't know.
44:31 My life is about to change.
44:33 He just called me into the ministry.
44:36 He just called me and I got to take off who I thought I was.
44:42 I got the wrong identity.
44:44 I didn't know who I was till he called me.
44:48 And when he called me, I had to strip myself of what was on me.
44:54 He took off them blind man clothes.
44:57 Why?
44:58 He's about to see something.
45:01 He comes to Jesus.
45:02 "Jesus, what can, how can I help you, son?
45:04 What can I do for you?
45:05 Lord, I want to see."
45:07 He said, "Be it unto you.
45:09 According to your word."
45:12 He walked away, what?
45:13 I can see clearly now the rain.
45:18 Hallelujah.
45:19 How many know that would have never happened if he didn't strip himself?
45:25 Never would have happened.
45:27 He took off that mantle and he took up the mantle of Elijah.
45:32 He said, "My father, my father, listen to me.
45:37 It doesn't matter if you call me Apostle Cynthia, Apostle Tony, Pastor Tony, Pastor Cynthia,
45:45 mom, dad.
45:48 It's a heart posture.
45:51 Whatever's in your heart, the level of respect that you have, whatever, don't get mad at
45:56 somebody else.
45:59 Why they don't call you dad?
46:00 Why they call you mom?
46:02 They should be calling you apostle.
46:04 Whatever's in your heart, whatever floats your boat.
46:06 I'm not mad at anybody.
46:07 Just don't say, "Hey, you," because I ain't going to answer.
46:11 And so he says, "My father, my father," and I believe he was so strategic of saying, "My
46:19 father," because remember, he wants a double portion of his anointing.
46:23 I want to be your successor.
46:25 I want to carry the anointing that you carry and only sons can inherit.
46:31 You could be a member of the church or you could be a son or a daughter in the house
46:34 of God.
46:39 So he said, "My father, my father."
46:42 The chariots, the fire, I see it.
46:45 I see it.
46:47 He grabbed a hold of it.
46:48 He put on Elijah's mantle and I believe the anointing again, he got a quickening in his
46:54 spirit.
46:58 He began to jump and shout.
47:01 He goes back to the River Jordan that is flowing again.
47:06 He didn't go, "Hey, I'm now the new prophet in town.
47:10 I'm just as anointed as Elijah was.
47:13 Y'all better hear me."
47:14 He said, "I'm good.
47:17 I got this thing now.
47:19 River open up."
47:20 He didn't say, "Hey, you see this mantle on me now, you know?
47:27 I'm anointed too."
47:28 No, he goes to the river.
47:32 He hits it.
47:33 Y'all going to read it tonight.
47:34 He goes to the River Jordan and he says, "Where is the God of Elijah?
47:43 Where is the God of Elijah?"
47:45 And the river said, "Here he is."
47:48 And the river opens up and he goes over on dry land and all the sons of the prophets
47:53 who could have been there too, who could have saw them too, instead of criticizing, talking
47:58 about you, why you go to that church, why you give them that money, why you do what
48:01 you do, why you a deacon, why you an elder, why you doing that, you shouldn't even go
48:06 there, who goes to church anymore, why you don't just watch it online, why you in the
48:10 house, don't you know you could get COVID, don't you know you could have this?"
48:13 All the sons of the prophets that did not go had something to say.
48:17 And he said, "Shut up, mind your business.
48:20 I know what I'm doing."
48:21 Elijah comes over, they all look at him and they said, "Oh my God, the spirit of Elijah
48:31 does rest upon you.
48:32 Oh my God, you went over one way, but you're now a different way.
48:38 I remember when you was in the world, I remember where you used to come from, but now I can
48:42 see the spirit of Pastor Cynthia."
48:50 I said we making this personal, right?
48:53 The spirit of the Brazilsons does rest upon you.
48:59 Hallelujah.
49:01 The spirit of Elijah does rest upon you.
49:05 I can see it and they begin to bow down to him.
49:08 He's like, "Hey, don't bow down to me."
49:10 And they said, "Where's Elijah?
49:11 Let us go look for him."
49:12 He said, "You ain't gonna find him."
49:14 He got caught up.
49:15 He said, "No, we can go look for him."
49:16 "No, you ain't gonna find him."
49:17 He got caught up.
49:18 "Oh, let's go look."
49:19 "Go ahead, help yourself."
49:20 Three days looking for him, come back and say, "He's not there."
49:21 "I told you not to go."
49:22 He got caught up.
49:23 And the Bible said that Elijah goes on to do double, twice as many miracles that Elijah
49:38 did.
49:39 But listen to me, 2 Kings chapter 3, they're in the wilderness.
49:44 These kings, they're getting ready to go to battle.
49:46 They run out of water, they thirsty.
49:48 They said, "We gotta hear from God.
49:50 We don't know what to do.
49:51 Are we gonna die out here?"
49:52 They said, "Let's look for somebody that can hear from God."
49:54 There's a prophet named Elijah who poured water over the hands of Elijah.
50:03 He did twice as many miracles.
50:05 He raised the dead.
50:06 He fed a multitude of people.
50:08 He did so many signs and wonders and miracles.
50:11 He caused a widow woman to household going to oil business.
50:16 I mean, he caused an ax head to swim.
50:18 The list goes on and on, but yet he is remembered for pouring water, serving in the house of
50:28 God.
50:29 Who are you serving today?
50:34 Who are you serving out there?
50:37 What service are you giving in the kingdom of God?
50:40 Well, I do stuff in the kingdom.
50:43 I just don't do it in my church.
50:47 Who are you serving and whose authority are you serving under?
50:53 Don't get quiet on me now.
50:54 I like it when you were shouting real good, real good.
50:57 Because if you're doing something outside the house, just submit it.
51:01 Watch God blow it up.
51:03 And I mean break through, make it prosper.
51:07 Hallelujah.
51:09 So we see that Elijah followed after Elijah.
51:12 There was submission.
51:13 There was acceptance of the authority.
51:15 The work was for the benefit of the whole.
51:17 Elijah trusted the leading of Elijah.
51:19 Elijah by obeying and following received a double portion.
51:22 Listen God's honor, God's authority comes to you based on your degree of your submission
51:27 to God's leadership and authority.
51:30 Let me say it again.
51:31 God's honor, God's authority comes to you, manifests in your life based on your degree
51:38 of your submission to the authorities that God has placed in your life.
51:45 Let me give you some scripture reference.
51:46 Pastor Cindy, I got authority.
51:49 How's it working for you?
51:51 So here's what happened in Matthew chapter eight.
51:55 Here's a centurion soldier.
51:57 In Luke chapter seven as well, he goes to the Jews and said, "Hey, ask Jesus to come
52:01 to my house, my servant home, sick of the posing."
52:04 Jesus said, "I'll come."
52:05 And they said, "Lord, you should do this because he helped build our church.
52:08 He helped build our church.
52:09 Do this for him."
52:10 They helped build our church.
52:11 Do it for them, Jesus.
52:13 Okay, so here he comes, he said, "I'll go."
52:17 He said, "Lord, I'm not worthy that you would come into my house, but if you would just
52:21 speak the word only, my servant will be healed.
52:24 For I am a man under authority."
52:29 Under authority and I say.
52:32 Somebody said you only get to say when you're under authority.
52:38 Otherwise you're just talking.
52:41 Jesus said, "I say to this one, come and he comes, and this one go and he goes, this one
52:44 do that and they do that.
52:46 And I recognize I am a man under authority.
52:48 I recognize you are a man under authority.
52:50 So just speak the word only and my servant will be healed."
52:53 Your authority comes to you based on your degree of your submission to the authority
52:58 that God has set up in your life.
53:00 Now you could try to work it on your own because of what you see naturally, but it doesn't
53:07 always work for you.
53:09 Because there were seven sons of Sceva, the prophet.
53:12 They saw Paul casting out devils and said, "Oh, you know, that looks really interesting.
53:19 Let's try that."
53:20 There's a man possessed with a devil and they go to him and said, "We adjure you in the
53:25 name that Paul preached, come out of him."
53:30 And the devil said, "Hold up, hold up, hold up.
53:33 Jesus I know.
53:36 And Cynthia I know.
53:41 Jesus I know.
53:42 Paul I know.
53:43 But again, who are you?
53:48 Like whose authority are you under?"
53:53 And the devil jumped on the seven sons of Sceva, beat them up, stripped them naked.
53:58 They came running out because they're trying to exercise authority they didn't have because
54:05 they weren't under nobody's authority.
54:08 But that authority comes in your life based on the authority that you're under.
54:12 Are you hearing me?
54:16 Elijah supported Elijah and Elijah was a servant to Elijah.
54:21 And I got to stop because my time was way over.
54:24 Come on y'all, stand to your feet.
54:25 Hallelujah.
54:26 I pray you got something out of that today.
54:32 Glory to God.
54:35 I thank the two people that got something for that.
54:42 Somebody said, "I believe."
54:43 I receive.
54:46 Glory to God.
54:47 Lift your hands high to heaven.
54:49 We're just, we're going to complete, we're going to finish this message.
54:52 We'll do a pause right here for time's sake.
54:59 And I'm so grateful and thankful to God for his gifts to men, to equip the saints for
55:07 the work of the ministry, to do what we've been called to do, to release an anointing
55:11 in your life, to do those good works so that our father would be glorified.
55:16 We're not glorifying an office.
55:18 We're not glorifying any leaders.
55:20 We glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.
55:23 We follow hard after him.
55:25 We thank God for the Holy Ghost.
55:28 Hallelujah.
55:29 And we thank God for the anointing that he's placed on leaders' lives to do a work for
55:35 him and his kingdom.
55:37 Father, we're so grateful for what we've heard here today.
55:41 Seal it in our hearts, Lord God.
55:43 Holy Spirit, speak heavily to our hearts and mind so we can grab hold of what you have
55:49 for us.
55:50 God, we strip ourselves of our own mantles this morning and we take up the mantle of
55:56 the Lord Jesus Christ and what he's already provided for us.
56:00 We thank you, Lord Jesus, that there will be great demonstrations, great manifestation
56:05 of signs and wonders and miracles because we link in a body of believers.
56:11 We link with the heads of authority in this house.
56:13 We link with one another.
56:15 So we thank you, Lord God, that miracle working power will begin.
56:19 Let the miracles begin in us, Lord Jesus.
56:23 We submit to the authorities of this house and we submit to your authority, Lord God.
56:28 And for this, God, we're going to give you praise in advance for what we believe you've
56:33 already done.
56:34 Come on and give your God some praise in this place.
56:37 Hallelujah.