Samuel Rodriguez - The Battle Between Your Mind and Your Mantle
The mantle, the mantle of when heaven starts it, hell cannot stop it. Yesterday we talked about we're juxtaposing, we're creating a dichotomy with great intentionality between Jezebel's threat, 1 Kings 19:2, in 24 hours, will die, and Elijah's mantle. So, it's the threat versus the testimony. And yesterday we talked about the mantle of the spirit, the mantle of drought, fire and rain, and the mantle of speaking truth with love. 1 Kings 19:2, I'm gonna remind you, "Jezebel sent this message to Elijah: 'may the Gods strike me and even kill me if by this time tomorrow I have not killed you just as you killed them".
I'm gonna tell you what happened here, the rest of the story. This is after Elijah's best day ever, hash tag best day ever. This is his great encounter on mount Carmel. You would assume, and you would assume because there's a logical continuum here, Elijah hears of Jezebel's threat, you would assume for a moment that if you just, if you prayed some three years back for a drought and there was a drought, when you prayed for fire, fire came down, and when you prayed for rain, rain came down, you would assume that Elijah when he heard Jezebel's threat would respond accordingly and say, "Who cares? Every time I pray, God answers". So Jezebel said, "I swear by my Gods, in 24 hours you will die".
And Elijah, you would assume would go like... "What"? But he didn't, he freaked out. What does that mean from the seminary, theologically speaking? It means he freaked out. Elijah should have known the following truth, who speaks into you, is much more important than who speaks about you. A distraction is the first step to a disruption. Lemme explain. When the Alexa Echos, before the Google things came out, when the Alexa Echo first came out, I did a planetshakers conference with Russell Evans and in the gift box, Russell gave me this Alexa Echo. So, I brought it back to California, it's like right when it came out, it was right, like the thing just came out and I brought it home, and I brought it home and I set it up. Next day it's Sunday, all en route to church, my lovely bride, my wife, she was, I was gonna say lagging behind, I would be incorrect, my wife was in the process of accommodat, anyway she did not depart when I departed so we went into different vehicles.
So, my wife gives me a call, I'm en route to our campus in Sacramento and I get this call, and the call was, you know, "Honey I can't turn her off". And I go, "What"? She goes, "Your Alexa". First of all, that's scandalous, "Your Alexa, I can't turn her off". And I'm going, "What do you mean"? She says, "Look, I saw what you did yesterday when you set it up, I don't want to unplug it 'cause you took so much time in setting her up, but I did everything, I spoke to Alexa, 'Alexa turn off'. Alexa wouldn't listen to me. 'Alexa lower volume'. Alexa wouldn't listen to me. She probably went Puerto Rican. Alexa. Alexa wouldn't listen to me". And I explained to her, I interrupted her, I said, "Honey, you're wasting your time". She went, "This is loud, it doesn't stop, it's very loud". I go, "Listen, you're wasting your time". "Why"? I said, "'cause I programmed Alexa. It's called voice recognition technology".
That the only voice Alexa will respond to will be the voice of the person who mastered the technology in order to speak into Alexa. In other words, if Alexa knows better not to respond to unauthorized voices, why do we respond to voices that have no authority in our lives. Elijah never understood the reality of the Alexa Echo. As a result, he experienced fear, anxiety and depression. He literally left the ministry. We find Elijah under a solitary broom tree, where God has to feed him and provide for him. Subsequently, we find him on the side of a cave, coming out of a cave on a mountain cliff, where God literally says verbatim, quote "Elijah, what are you doing here"?
By the way, when God asks what you're doing here, you're probably lost. Why would Elijah surrender after all the miracles? Because the battle is between your mind and your mantle. The real battle is between your mind and your mantle. The battle is between the thoughts in your head and the calling upon your life. The true battle is between anxiety and anointing. The battle is between your memories and your imaginations. The battle is between the hell in your past and the hope for future. But how many here know, not how many here hope, aspire, feel, or wish, how many know the battle has already been won. 1 Corinthians 15:57, "Christ is our victory, let nothing move you". Jezebel says, "I swear by my Gods".
Here's the rest of the story here, today's gonna be a, you know, 'wham bam, thank you, Sam'. No pun intended. But here it is, 24 hours you're dead. This is the way, the quote, "In 24 hours I swear by my Gods, you will die". She prophe-lied. Sounded like a prophecy, she even time stamped it, 24 hours. Here's the story, 24 hours passed, Elijah did not die, 48 hours passed, Elijah did not die. What if I tell you 72 hours passed, Elijah did not die? What if I tell you, a week passed, Elijah did not die? What if I tell you a month passed, Elijah did not die? What if I tell you a year passed, Elijah did not die? What if I tell you a decade passed, Elijah did not die? What if I tell you a hundred years passed, Elijah did not die? What if I tell you a thousand years passed, Elijah did not die? What if I tell you, it's been approximately 2800 years since Jezebel prophe-lied and guess who has yet to die? You gon' get this in a second.
2 Kings 2:11, Elijah and Elisha are walking together when all of a sudden, a chariot of fire comes in between them, a whirlwind takes the prophet up and the Bible says this man never died. The next time we see Elijah, Matthew 17:2, he's taking a selfie with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. Hawaii, I don't know if you understand what God is telling you today. I don't care what hell has declared upon you, your children, your children's children, your children's, children's, children. It doesn't matter what hell and the devil has declared upon Hawaii, upon America, it doesn't matter what hell has declared upon the millennial generation, the z generation, when heaven starts it, hell cannot stop it. If you believe that, lift up your hands.
If the enemy said your entire family will be lost it only means get ready, you're about to see your entire family saved. No joke, no hype, I don't know if you're ready for this. We're about to see the opposite of what hell has declared become a reality. I don't know if you understand what this means, the enemy said, "That child of yours, no, it won't, never gonna come back to the Lord, never gonna". Oh stop that. It only means, get ready, turn on your porch light, your prodigal sons and daughters are coming back home. Whatever hell has declared upon your life, upon your destiny, upon your calling, upon your health, upon your generation, the opposite will take place.
Some of you are not even supposed to be here right now. According to Jezebel's declaration, some of you shouldn't even be here right now. If you interviewed the enemy back in the day about you today in 2022, the enemy would've said, "Hey, by 2022, some of you right now, should be in jail, some of you right now should be in an alley all hung over, strung up with drugs. You're not in jail, you're not in an alley, you're not in prison, you're not six feet under, you are in God's house lifting up the name of Jesus. Because when heaven starts it, hell cannot stop it". If you believe that shout like you know it. I need you to high-five your neighbor, "Tell 'em it's too late now". No, no, no, tell 'em, "It's too late now". Tell three people, "It's too late now," your testimony is proof that the devil is a liar. Your testimony is proof that the devil is a liar.
Hey, she said he gonna die and he didn't, and he has yet to die. So, it doesn't matter whatever the enemy is declaring upon generations. That's why you can't buy into the prophe-lie. From a micro perspective, I talk to you, even at a macro level, so many attempts. Nero attempted to make certain that this, "The way," he called it, "The way" the followers of "The way" wouldn't survive and, yeah. And Vladimir Lenin, 1917 St. Petersburg square, communism will outlast the church of Jesus Christ. Nuremberg, Germany 1939 the Nazi, "The Third Reich," they actually stated the Third Reich will outlast Christianity. The Beatle's John Lennon once infamously declared that the Beatles would receive, at the end of the day, more adoration and more worship than the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit combined.
Well. Nero's dead, Lennon is dead, Hitler is dead, the Beatles are gone, but look around inspire church, the church of Jesus Christ is still alive and well. Because when your integrity is more important than your influence, nothing can stop you. I'll repeat that for the hearing impaired. When your integrity is more important than your influence, nothing can stop you. When you are driven by anointing rather than ambition, nothing can stop you. When your hunger for righteousness is greater than your fear of criticism, nothing can stop you. When you exchange your trauma for a testimony nothing can stop you, and when your praise speaks louder than your pain, nothing can stop you. Because John 1:5, "Light shines in the darkness and the darkness will never overcome it". "Because greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world", 1 John 4:4. "Because if God be for you who can be against you?" Romans 8:31. Colossians 2:15, "Publicly on the cross he defeated all the powers and principalities of darkness making a public spectacle of them".
That's the power of the cross, it's the reality. We do, we do live in an age where all the negativity, where the spirit of Jezebel is strong, yelling and threatening the church, and threatening Christians, and threatening families. And then you hear some push back even from within the church. And they say, "Pastor Sam, but we know, there's things rising up and different manifestations of darkness". And I go, "It doesn't really matter, I don't give a holy hoot. At the end of the day, light will always overcome darkness". "What does that mean? What if a Pharaoh rises up"?
For every Pharaoh there must be a Moses. For every Goliath, there must be a David. For every Jezebel, there must be an Elijah, for every Nebuchadnezzar, there must be a Daniel, for every Herod, there must be a Jesus, and for every devil that rises up against you, there is a mightier God that will rise up for you. We are about to see Elijahs and Elishas rise up, like never before, even coming out of this inspire conference, even coming out of Hawaii we're about to see Elijahs and Elishas rise up like never before. New Testament, new covenant, Christ centered, Bible based, spirit empowered Elijahs and Elishas rise up. It's gonna be powerful. Something took place, as you all know, in America a few months ago. It's something that has great spiritual significance. It's not a political issue, don't let the enemy confuse you with this attempt of saying it's political.
Don't address it, don't, no, it's the enemy trying to conflate. But there's an issue that took place. Some of you are cognizant or aware of the fact that the Supreme Court overturned "Roe v Wade". Now what does that mean? What are implications there? I don't care if you're a democrat or a republican, if you like worshiping donkeys or elephant, I worship the lamb, who is the lion of the tribe of Judah. But that's not a political issue. In the overturning of Roe v Wade, which is the overturning of the sanctity of life, there is something in the legal world called super precedent, P-R-E-C-E-D-E-N-T. All the lawyers in the house say, "Amen". And the super precedent component is simple, it's established law. So super precedent is something that so permeates the American legal system to such a degree that it would be almost egregious to confront it, modify it and, God forbid, overturn it. Hence the super precedent. Matter of fact, derivative laws are created from super precedent.
When Roe v Wade was overturned, I was in Houston, Texas, the Holy Spirit filled me the moment it happened, the Spirit of God hit me and said, "Samuel wherever you go tell 'em the following, 'just like abortion was overturned in America, because the church never gave up, I am the God that has the power to overturn everything the devil believes is permanently established'". Oh, you're not hearing that. Whatever the devil believe he established in your family for generations to come, our God overturns it, I'm prophesying over Hawaii, God is overturning what the enemy believed he permanently established over this kingdom. If you believe it shout like you know it. Overturning. You're not where you used to be because you're not who you used to be. Oh, Elijah and the mantle, 2 Corinthians 5:17, the new you, it is the mantle of when heaven starts it, hell cannot stop it. It is the mantle, whoo, for the next generation.
Lemme explain, it came a moment, so, you know, God encounters Elijah and there's this beautiful very nuance, whimsical, grace filled, Old Testament version of, "What are you doing here"? And God rebukes Elijah in such a beautiful way, brings him back into the fold of calling. And then Elijah finds Elisha, I need to illustrate this. Urie, can you come up here real quick for me? And then this happened. Do me a favor, you're Elisha for this illustration. Lemme have that. You know what, I could use this, I could use this. You're Elisha. So then he found this, if you do me a favor, lift that up, like if you were pushing that plow. All of a sudden, once Elijah gets that revelation, "Elijah", God says, "You're gonna find Elisha and you're gonna place your mantle on him".
So, then he comes along. Now, I need to put this in perspective. This is the guy who ends up inheriting the mantle, right? So can I just speak to you prophetically? Does the Bible ever say that Elisha ever inherited Elijah's fear? No. Does the Bible ever say that Elisha inherited Elijah's depression? No. Does the Bible ever say that Elisha inherited Elijah's anxiety? No, the Bible only says that Elisha inherited... I'm here to tell you put a smile on your face, your children will not inherit your sins. I don't know if you got that, your children, and your children's children, and your children's, children's, children's, children's, children's, children's will not inherit your sins, they will inherit your mantle of anointing. So right there, just lift it up and keep it there, keep it right there, that posture, right there.
And then 1 Kings 19:19, let me read it, "And Elijah found Elisha, son of shaphat plowing the field. Plowing with the twelfth team, when Elijah place his mantle across his shoulders and then walked away" let me just break this down for you real quick. No conversation, this is like a Netflix series. No dialogue. It's not like Elijah said, "Hi Elisha, I'm Elijah, God told me I have to anoint you. This is my mantle, it is symbolic of the authority from heaven. I'm gonna place it on you, your life's about to radically change, and...", never happened. All, this guy was, he was pushing a plow.
Stop for a moment, Hawaii, you need to hear this, he was not binging on Netflix or swiping. He was pushing, this is gonna be a little bit hard but it's the truth. There are people that want the mantle without ever pushing the plow. I'mma say that one more time, if you've never pushed a plow, don't expect to carry the mantle. If you've never pushed a plow, if you don't know what it is to get up every day and push the plow in your faith, in your family, in your home, in your marriage, in your calling, in your generation, but if you know what it is to get up every day and push the plow and break the ground, and, are there any plow pushers in the house? If you know what it is to push the plow raise your hand. Super grinders, people that every single day, you know what it is to push that plow.
And Elisha would have, via the conduit of historical contextualization, we know for a fact that he would have to push the plow on good days and bad days, sunny days and rainy days, happy days and sad days, he would have, with the exception of the day of the sabbath, the rest of the sabbath. He would push the plow. It's not a coinkydink, that the plow pusher became the mantle Carrier. I'm here to tell you Hawaii, there are a bunch of plow pushers in this house. Can I prophesy to you? I need you to get ready, some of you have been pushing the plow for months, some of you have been pushing the plow for years. Some of you lost count on how many years you have been pushing the plow.
Hey, get ready, there is a mantle of anointing, of favor, of God's glory. All the plow pushers lift up both hands. All the plow pushers that are ready for a mantle lift up both hands and a foot. All the plow pushers that have been waiting for the mantle, lift 'em up really, really high. Galatians 6:9, "Do not grow weary of doing what is right. In God's appointed time, time you will reap a harvest of blessings for not giving up". I sense a prophetic anointing here. If this makes you uncomfortable, get comfortable because I want you to hear me, there is an anointing, there is a mantle, 'cause God's about to shift your life. No, you're about to experience the glory of the risen Christ in you, with you, for you, and through you.
There are resources, and harvest coming your way, there are open doors coming your way, there is favor coming your way, there is grace upon grace and glory to glory coming your way. Only for the plow, all the plow pushers lift up your hands. Here it is, just, let me show you, this really happened. Watch this, watch this. He place his mantle across his shoulders. The moment he placed his mantle across, the Bible says, read it, he let go of the plow. You're about to let go of your plow, you're about to let go of the plow, because some of us, there's a season to push the plow and a season to carry the mantle.
I sense God here, ain't it? Can I get the musicians up here? Unless they're union workers, I don't wanna offend their contracts. Can they come up here real quick, the musicians? Unless they were raptured to... You can't do both. I'm just reading the book, you can't do both. You can't push the plow and carry the mantle. There's a season to push the plow. And the plow, it's that season where, and full disclosure, there are moments that you push the plow and then there are moments the plow pushes you.
There are moments... I remember one time I looked at God and I was going through the most difficult season of my life, and in the context of this message, right about 1-something in the morning, I told God, "I'm done with this. I am done. Not with you and not with salvation. We're talking about calling and that. And then when I'm done pushing, I'm done, tomorrow I'm starting a brand new, I'm gonna apply, new career, new everything and I'm just done". And I said, "I'm done. I'm done. I promise you God, so help me you, I'm done with this".
Wake up the next morning and the same guy who said I'm done pushing the plow, got up and continued to push the plow. You know why I got up? It has nothing to do with my cultural heritage, my inclination, it has nothing to do with my resilience, fortitude, wherewithal, acumen, none of that. Real simple, the same identical spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of me.