Samuel Rodriguez - The Mantle of Authority - Part 2
Says to God's people, said nothing. They stood silent. Today's complacency is tomorrow's captivity. You are what you tolerate. There is no such thing as comfortable Christianity. truth must never be scarified in the altar of political or cultural expediency. And number five, for any single person here who says, "Well, you're preaching about Elijah's getting up in the 21 century in America and Elijahs, you're talking about confronting Ahab and Jezebel and Baal, but it doesn't matter Samuel Rodriguez, Christ is coming, he's right around the corner. Here we go, praise the Lord and pass the ammunition, we're outta here. So it doesn't matter what we do right now, things are gonna get darker and darker and darker, and darker you're wasting your time".
Well, sunshine let me remind you of the following, it's time for you to reconcile your eschatology or your missiology. What does that mean? It means you need to make sure you're theologically in full alignment. "What does that mean"? It means while we are waiting for Jesus to come down Jesus is waiting for his church to stand up. This is that hour! This is, why are you at this conference? We are about to see the church of Jesus Christ stand up in America like we have never stood up before! The next thing to fill America will not be a new variant! The next thing to fill America will be the glory of the risen Christ Jesus! The gospel of Christ! He confronted him, the idea of standing up and declaring that there are things that only God can do, that only God can make something out of nothing, Genesis 1:1. That only God can make a way where there is no way, Isaiah 43:19. That only God can restore things like the damage never happened, Luke 22:51, and of course, the verse, John 14:6, that Christ is the only way. He's the way, the truth, and the life.
I live this out personally. I had my moment, some of y'all already know this, you've seen it on television. I had a moment, by the grace of God, I've had an, and only by the grace of God, I can't even tell you this in a real quick story how I got there. In an assembly of God church when I was 14 years of age, again, there's a fine line between the prophetic and the pathetic, and I've been in the presence of both, and we have to be discerning to make sure we distinguish accordingly. But, in an assembly of God church when I was 14 years old, in Pennsylvania, the Lehigh Valley, where I'm originally from. My parents are not pastors. I'm a nerd. I'm a math and science guy, I'm an evangelical Trekkie. And I'm King James Trekkie, I'm William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy. Not the new stuff right now. That watered-down Trekkie stuff, it's just not right.
So... I grew up with a great inclination for mathematics. I still believe that calculus is the language of God. So, that was my thing. So I went to church 'cause my parents forced me, and I didn't believe the stuff I saw. I mean, you gotta be kidding me. Some of the expressions I saw, I went like, come on. This is just, that's emotionalism, that's just, snake-oil salesman. That's made-up stuff. This guy walks in, Bernie Galow from the Teen Challenge Ministry, David Wilkerson stuff from Readersburg, Pennsylvania, he walks in there, never met me before, first time in our church with a teen challenge choir. He goes out there and he stops in the middle of a song, "Holy Spirit, you are welcome in this place".
He stops the song mid-stream, and says, "Stop. The Lord says there is a Sammy in this church". A Sammy. If you would've said Jose or Maria, that would've been easy, it was a Latino church, right? Like, you can't miss that. Like, if you wanna prophesy in a Spanish church, say, "God has a word for Maria". You're not gonna miss. Not gonna miss. Boom, Maria, hey. Half of the church, hey, how you doing? But Sammy, not the most common thing. So Sammy, I'm the only Sammy, so my church, being a Latino church, real Hispanic, real introverted, I'm kidding, very loud. So, the church went around and said, which means, my pastor calls me out, reverendo Luis Philippe Lugos was his name. He calls me out. Said, "Sammy, that's for you". I'm 14, dude. I'm walking down the aisle going like, if this rapture stuff is for real, let it happen now. I've never been in that moment, like what, this guy knows names, like what's going on here? So he's, like, I'm going up, and he looks at me and says, "The Lord says you, Sammy, you're gonna pray over presidents".
I'm thinking, the president of what? Boys club? I mean, what? YMCA? I'm going like, are you kidding me? He starts laying out, you're gonna go around the world, I'm gonna make you an influential voice, you have no idea, blah-blah-blah, lays it out. I'm here going like, my mom is there, my dad is there, there's a young girl in the audience over here, seated. She watched the whole thing. I'm 14. She was 17. She watched the whole thing. She was looking, she said, "Man, if that stuff is true, I'm gonna wait for that boy to grow up and I'm gonna marry him". That's my wife of 32 years. So if you're single and you hear God say something... I'm kidding about that. That really happened. That's my wife for 32 years. She was right there. So that's how I ended up advising Bush and Obama and Trump, and it's not like I ever knocked on the door, I didn't. It was a God-ordained thing, that's why, I mean, you just have to know.
Again, you have to discern. So it happened. I had the privilege of advising president Bush and then Obama, I prayed at his inaugural prayer service at st. John's episcopal church in 2008. Myself, Yolanda Adams, TD Jakes, Charles Blake, Rick Warren. But then, in 2016, you know, something different happened. Donald Trump, the election. And then, something happened, I got a call, and I was driving with my wife from a restaurant, from a Puerto Rican restaurant in San Francisco. Good food, by the way. Plantains, they crush 'em and they put, like, shrimp in 'em, and then garlic, and then, I'm sorry, I just totally went off the scale here.
So, I'm driving, and I get this call on my bluetooth, and it's, you know, unknown number, but I usually don't take it, but this time, I did, boom. "We're looking for reverend Rodriguez". I thought it was the IRS again, right? So... But it wasn't this time, I promise, not this time. So, I take the number and it says, "Reverend Rodriguez, we're calling you from the president's transition team/the senate inaugural committee". Okay? "President-elect Trump would like you to participate in his inauguration". And I'm going, I'm here, I'm driving, bluetooth, my wife is here, and I'm thinking, so help me God, I'm thinking it's a prank. Right? So I'm thinking, is my cousin, Paco, from the Bronx? Come on, man. Is it Paco? "Reverend Rodriguez, we're serious, this is the senate inaugural committee, and the president-elect would like you," and I go, "Oh. I go, participate"? And I'm looking at my wife, going like, "I'm... And what... I'm so honored, I'm honored, and can you... I'm honored. What do you want me to do"? And he said, "We want you to participate".
And I went, great. What does that mean? And they went, "No, we want you to participate". So, see, 'cause I did the last time, but in the smaller scale, not in the big stage, but in the private ceremonies. I didn't, so, what do you mean? And they went, "Well," and I asked, do you want me to pray? And the person said, "Sure". Do you want me to read scripture? "Why not"? Do you want me to raise the offering? No, I didn't, that one did not come out. That's just me right now, that's not, the first two, it's like for real. So, the person Sai, so I went like, and then the person, like, understood, like, my confusion and went like, "Reverend Rodriguez, we're talking about the day of the inauguration, on the big stage, on the capitol, the president would like you to participate. Whatever you wanna do. Pray, share scriptures".
And I went, wow. And then I went, well, let me just, okay. I went, thank you, I'm grateful, can you tell the president-elect thank you so very much, I'm honored. I need to pray about it. There was this silence on the other side. Like, are you kidding me silence? Like, I'm sorry, you need to do what? I went, can I pray about this? Awkward silence. "You need to pray about this"? Yes, sir, I do. "Well, how much time do you need to pray"? So help me, my wife could bear, I went, and I'm doing, like, in my mind randomly, three weeks? The person said, "Three weeks to pray"? I could've lost it there, that person could've said, "You're gone," and the person said, "I guess we'll call you back in three weeks, then". And I went, well, thank you, and they went, "No, thank you". I looked at my wife, she's no longer looking at me. This way, tilted this way. And I'm all spiritual, I'm here, "Honey, call our intercessors up. Call up pastor Carla, we need to pray, I need to hear the will of God on this".
The reason I did that is because our church is diverse. I'm gonna be honest, I thought about budget cuts. If I lose a certain constituency, what does it mean? I'm being completely transparent. I'm thinking, who do I have to let go of? If I lose, you know, one-third of my church. This may happen, blah-blah-blah. So I'm thinking, and I'm going to my wife, let's pray 'cause I wanna hear, and then, I went, honey, you're not looking at me. And she went, honey, you're not looking at me. And finally, she looked at me and said, "What did you just do"? I said, I just told, what, is prayer a sin? She went, "On this occasion, it very well may be". And I went, what do you mean? She went, "What do I mean? What are you praying about"? She said, "I was there when you were 14 years of age, and God told you, you were gonna pray over presidents". You don't need to pray to see if it's God's will, you need to pray for God to fill your mouth with everything he wants you to share before the world on that day.
All right, lemme wrap it up, put the picture up real quick, put the photo up real quick if you have it. So there it is. Now, back here, I was seated, you... You go to YouTube, before I got on the podium, here were the Clintons, here were the Obamas, and I was hiding behind the Bush's. True story. So help me God, I'm not making that up. Here were the George Bush, and I was hiding right behind him. And so, before they called me up, so, a couple days before, I knew a reporter from a major magazine whose name you recognize, good person. Good person, we developed a rapport over the years. But it's a liberal reporter who looked at me and said, "Sammy, please tell me you're not doing this, 'cause if you associate yourself with that guy and that party, you're gonna alienate, people like you on both sides of the aisle, you're Mr. Lamb's agenda, so you're gonna stop being Mr. Lamb's agenda, and people are gonna start, they're gonna see you in one track, one thing".
And I went, like, you know what? It's my assignment, God called me to do this. So I'm gonna do it. And then, she said, then, she stopped me and said, "Stop. If you're gonna do it, please, tell me you're not gonna mention the name". And I meant, trump? She went, "No, not that name". She went, "Sam, for 11 years, the name hasn't been mentioned". It hasn't been mentioned, because someone decided 11 years back that that name was too decisive, too myopic, if you mention the name, you're only speaking to one audience, hence in inaugurations, we shouldn't mention the name. For 11 years, that name wasn't mentioned. So all of a sudden, I looked at her and said, "Let's see what happens".
I'm seated, I'm hiding behind the Bushs here. We were sequestered very early in the morning, true story. So I was very tired. I get a text from my daughter, Lauren, my youngest daughter. And I've never gotten a text from her like this before. This is the text from my daughter, I'm about to speak to 1.1 billion people around the world. And this is the text I get from my daughter. "Daddy, shut your mouth". Immediately, my Pentecostal mind said, "Spiritual warfare". So I text her back and said, "Are you kidding me? How dare you". She went, "No, dad. You're on Fox, your mouth is completely wide open right now. I can see your teeth". So I text back, "Thank you, sweetheart. Love you".
So I came up. They called my time to come up, the cardinal from New York went up, he didn't mention the name. The tradition of no name continues. I went up, fear and trembling, I'm gonna be honest. I was shaking when I was over there. The moment I started walking up, it all went away, but over here, it was this. I came up here, all gone, the anointing kicked in. Matthew 5, read it, prayed it, decreed it, declared it, looked at the cameras. And I could've just shut down and walked away and all of a sudden, the Holy Spirit just said, "Do it". Do it. Do it, Sam. I placed you on this planet for such a time as this. Do it. So I looked at the cameras, I looked around me, and said, "And I say this, and pray this, in the name of Jesus Christ". In the name of Jesus. The crowd shouted amen. The president said amen. Members of congress said amen. All over the world, my friends were texting me, "Dude. We're in Malaysia, we're in Asia. You said Jesus live on the BBC. Everybody heard it".
Why did the world react that way? There is still power in the name of... say the name! Preach the name. Proclaim the name. Live out the name. Stand with me, you are standing. Preach in that name, heal in that name. Quench the thirst, feed the hungry, welcome the stranger in that name. Bring good news to the poor, healing to the brokenhearted in that name. Do justice, love mercy, walk humbly in that name. There's a battle going on right now. And the battle is between your mind and your mantle. The battle is between the thoughts in your head and the calling upon your life. The battle is between anxiety and anointing, it's between your memories and your imagination. The battle is between drama and destiny. But how many already know the battle has been won? 1 Corinthians 15:57: "Christ is our victory, let nothing move you".
So I speak, this is the mantle of the spirit, the mantle of speaking truth with love, and the mantle of when heaven starts it, hell cannot stop it. What does that mean? I conclude with this, Jezebel, the moment that happened with Elijah, on mount Carmel with Ahab, Jezebel declared 1 Kings 19:1-2. "I swear by my Gods," the moment she heard what happened, I swear by my Gods, the moment Elijah called upon the name, she said, "I swear by my Gods, in 24 hours, Elijah, the man with the mantle, the prophet, will be dead". She said, I swear by my Gods in 24 hours, he will die. She prophe-lied. 24 hours passed, Elijah did not die. A week passed, Elijah did not die. A year passed, Elijah did not die. A decade passed, Elijah did not die, to be very forthright, a century passed, Elijah did not die. To be even more transparent, 1.000 years passed, Elijah did not die. To be more even more accurate, it's been approximately 2.800 years, since Jezebel prophe-lied, and Elijah has yet to die.
2 Kings 2:11 says: "Elijah and Elisha were walking together when a chariot of fire separated them, and he was taken up in a whirlwind, and he never died". The next time we see him, we see him taking a selfie with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. What does that mean for you? Whatever hell has declared upon you, your family, your church, your ministry, your calling, your destiny, the opposite will take place. In other words, what heaven starts, hell cannot stop. 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. And when your praise speaks louder than your pain, nothing can stop you. This guy suffered from fear, anxiety, and depression, the moment that Jezebel threatened him. He did.
Read it, 1 Kings 19. He overcame it 'cause God confronted him, but when he passed the mantle, the Bible never says Elisha inherited Elijah's fear, depression, or anxiety. Never. You get this right, your children will not inherit your sins. Your children will inherit your blessings. Anybody believe that? Your children will not inherit your mistakes, your children will inherit your mantles. And your legacy of faith, in Christ, as Lord and Savior of all. Real quick, I got about five minutes for this call. If you need to let go of your plow and grab your mantle, I'm gonna count to three, get out of your seat and join me. If you have to, if you don't have to, stay right there. But if you say, "Samuel Rodriguez, this word was 179.3% for me. I've been pushing, pushing, pushing, and now, I get it. I've been letting Jezebel somehow control me, prompt me into fear, anxiety, and depression, but today, God is telling me that what heaven starts, hell cannot stop".
If this is for you, I'm gonna count to three, come out of your seat and join me. One, two, three, let go of your plow. Come and grab your mantle, go. If you have to think about it, it's not you. If you already know that you know that you know, get out of your seat right now, run. Run and get your mantle of promotion. Get your mantle of promotion. That's a fresh anointing, in order for you to shine, the glory of the risen Christ in you, with you, and through you, like never before. Come up, I'm gonna pray for you. I wanna pray over you real quick. Get your mantle. Go. That's a deposit of the anointing, grace upon grace, according to the writings of the apostle John.
It is grace upon grace. It's what the apostle wrote in 2 Corinthians 3. One level of glory to the next level of glory, everything done in the name of Jesus, Colossians 3:17. Everything for the glory of Christ, 1 Corinthians 10:31. Come, right now. Come and grab your mantle. There's a season of push the plow, and a season to go with the mantle of promotion. Go, go, go. You will not be defined by what you've been pushing. You will be defined by what you carry. By what you carry, Romans 8:30. He gave you right-standing. He called you, he selected you, and he placed upon you his glory for you to carry. Come, right now. Come, in Jesus' name, come. Lemme just pray over you as you're here.
Heavenly Father, today, we come in your name. Completely aware of the fact that the plow of perseverance, through a relationship with Jesus, will always lead to the mantle of promotion. When we abide in Christ and Christ abides in us, John 15:7, the plow will be exchanged for a mantle. Lord, some of us have been pushing the plow for years. And for such a time as this, you have anointed us, selected us, to emerge as oracles of righteousness and justice, truth and love, Psalm 89:14. We will defeat the spirit of Jezebel, Baal, and Ahab in our generation. Because what we receive is not a physical mantle, it is a heavenly deposit of grace upon grace, of precious Holy Spirit, a fresh infusion of your spirit, that will enable us to shine for you like never before. We receive that impartation, that mantle of promotion, declaring that our children will not inherit our mistakes, our children will inherit our mantles, in the name of Jesus...
Now, here it is, I'm gonna let you go with this. Pastor Luke, I'm gonna give this over to you, or whoever is next. Here's what I'm gonna do. Everyone in the audience, everyone who responded. If you can just cater to this for a second. When I say one, go like this. Grab ahold of the plow. When I say two, I want you to go like this. Like you know something is coming your way. Like you know it. Like you feel it, you know it, you're solid about it, man. And when I say three, I want you to go like this. Let go of the plow, so push it, take one step, and give God arguably the best expression of praise you've given him in the past two years. I want Jezebel's ear drums to pop today. So let's do this, ready? One. Some of y'all should tell your neighbors, "Give me some room, my plow's pretty big". Two. It's coming your way. One, two, ready? Here we go, dream conference. One, two, three. Praise like you've got your mantle. Worship like you've got your mantle, rejoice like you received your mantle. Celebrate like you got your mantle! Rejoice, rejoice, again I say, rejoice. Rejoice!
All right, we love you, we bless you. I'm honored, thank you for having me. Thank you, blessed, thank you all for having me. I'm gonna be back there in the booth table, "Persevere with Power: What Heaven Starts, Hell Cannot Stop". I'll sign copies, you purchase 'em, I'll be back there. And if you wanna purchase a book on Amazon, or Christian books, if you think Amazon has the algorithm of the antichrist or whatever reason you don't wanna buy, but, those of you that are beyond that, if you wanna purchase the book on Amazon or any other platform, and you send a screenshot to my office, my office will send you a free copy of the previous book I wrote, about how my daughter survived COVID. She almost died, she was on a ventilator, and how a supernatural miracle, a prayer request, was answered.
Not everyone had the same outcome, I respect that and have great empathy, but I can't deny what God did in my family. So, if you purchase a copy on Amazon, you send a screenshot to my office, that information will be provided, and you'll get another copy of another book I bought, wrote, "From survive to thrive". I will be signing this one here in the back. We love you, we bless you. May the strength of the father, the grace of the son, the anointing of God's precious Holy Spirit make this conference the best conference ever. Hey. Dream city, let's do one thing together, ready? Let's go change the world, God bless you and God keep you.