Jordan-Mantle

We conclude the whole series of Elijah and Elisha walking together,

and we get to the place where they are in Jordan.

Last time we talked about what needs to happen to be positioned as Elisha was.

Today we talk about the mantle, and then we conclude this series and move on to something else.

So today we want to talk about the mantle.

What does the mantle mean? How does it work?

So a mantle indicates simply the extent of your responsibility.

The mantle indicates or kind of roughly defines the extent of your responsibility and authority.

The extent of your responsibility and authority.

Extent of your responsibility and authority assigned by God.

Assigned by God at a particular phase in your life.

At a particular phase in your life.

So that's what a mantle may be explained as.

It makes it very non-mystical, non-spiritual.

It indicates the extent, as in the scope or the vastness or the boundaries of your responsibilities and your authority.

And it's assigned by God and it's specific to a particular time in your life.

But it must be grown into.

It must be grown into.

Because it's bigger than you are, but you're capable of growing into it.

It must be grown into.

It's bigger than you are. It's never something that fits perfect.

It's bigger than you are, but you grow into it.

It must be grown into it.

And Elisha understood this.

In 1 Kings 19, 19, when Elijah comes, takes off his cloak, and most prophets used to have a mantle that they used to wear.

So he took off his cloak or mantle and put it on Elisha.

Elisha knew what it meant.

This wasn't a mystery to Elisha.

I remember when Paul's dad, Eddie, was here in 2007.

We were at the Viva Java room in Richmond.

And at some point on the last day that he was here, he began to weep.

And he took off his coat and he threw it on me.

And I knew what it meant.

So Elisha knew what it meant.

And the response, though, is what we need to pay attention to.

He wasn't confused about what it meant.

And so he immediately started training under Elijah.

He immediately started training under Elijah.

Because you cannot grow into the responsibility and authority unless you train.

And he immediately started training under Elijah.

And sometimes the mantle, sometimes the mantle...

Shoot. How do I make this go back to normal?

Two fingers. I'm using many fingers.

Where is Jeevan when I need him?

Can someone help me, please?

Nick, you're on camera and you don't get this, right?

Everybody in the world is watching.

That is weird.

Pardon? Double tap.

And then pinch?

I think it's a tool that maybe... I don't know.

Where'd it go? Where's the thingy?

Okay. Now it's really small.

Landscape?

Okay. While you play with it.

I can do without this. I don't know why I'm so dependent on this.

So the mantle falls from you, the mantle falls on you.

And the word often used is the same word that was used when the Holy Spirit fell on people.

So the mantle falls on Elisha as Elijah is being taken up in the whirlwind.

The mantle falls on Elisha.

And we need to understand that no mantle can be walked in without the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

No mantle can be walked in without the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

The mantle falls on you from the Holy Spirit.

This is important to understand.

Any mantle that is given to you, as in any responsibility that is given to you,

and the authority that comes with the responsibility given to you, comes from the Holy Spirit.

It does not come from man. It cannot be given to you by man.

It comes from the Holy Spirit.

Because there is a tendency nowadays to have people give you mantles.

And while it is nice and it looks quite heavy, it is not true.

Mantles come from the Holy Spirit.

It may come through man, but it comes from the Holy Spirit.

He is the one who cloaks you with the power that is required to walk in your responsibility and your authority.

He cloaks you.

So when man gives it to you, it ain't real.

Thanks.

So in 2 Kings 2.14, we see that as Elijah is being taken, as he ascends, the mantle descends.

And it's this pattern of the Holy Spirit.

Whenever Jesus ascends, the Holy Spirit descends.

In Acts chapter 8, with the Samaritans, the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

Acts 8 · chapter mention

In Acts chapter 10, with Cornelius, the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

Acts 10 · chapter mention

In Luke chapter 4, with Jesus, the Holy Spirit fell upon them.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

And with each falling, a new mandate started for them.

With Jesus, it was the beginning of his role ministering to people.

That is when he was revealed.

I keep coming back to the simple thing that any responsibility and authority that is given to you at any phase in your life is given by the Holy Spirit.

Man may explain it to you, man may convey it to you, man may lead you into it, man may equip you for it, but it comes from the Holy Spirit.

It is not created by some leader or some pastor or some some.

It's not.

So the mantle falls on you from the Spirit, it falls on you from the Spirit.

He's the one who cloaks you with power for it.

And then after he does that, he trains you through human equipers.

He trains you through human equipers.

So there can't be a disconnect with the Spirit, there can't be a disconnect with people.

If you want to step into the responsibility and authority assigned by God at a particular phase in your life,

which is basically how I want to define mantle, you cannot do without the Holy Spirit and you cannot do without the human equipers here on earth that the Holy Spirit sends.

Any questions? Anything you want to add or anything you want to disagree with?

Yeah, so can I get any mantle I want if it's not my portion?

Because it's the Holy Spirit who gives it. I can want, I can desire, I can desperately crave it and it won't fit.

Because it's the Spirit of God who tailors it. It is the Spirit of God who tailors it.

And if he tailors it, then I can't want what I want. I want what I'll have to want what he wants.

But sometimes it's revealed through people to you.

Because I'm not good at hearing every day. There are times when I'm not hearing.

There are other times when God will deliberately keep things from me so that I'm dependent on you.

Please hear me. There'll never be a day when I will be able to hear, do, act completely on myself even if I had as perfect a relationship with God as Jesus had.

Even on that day, he will not allow me to be so completely tuned to him, hearing him, acting like him without being dependent on you.

He will not give me pieces of information. The missing link is one of his favorite games to play.

He'll always keep something missing so that I will always need you.

You.

Yeah, you. Go ahead.

The fascinating thing about Jackie Pullinger is she tried so hard to depend on people around her.

And they chose not to let her depend on her. And then the Lord leads her out.

That's what I find fascinating about that woman.

The Lord rewarded her for trying really hard to work with people around her.

And then when nobody listened to her, she goes on her own.

And then God gives her the cloaking of the power of the Holy Spirit.

After. Yeah, after.

But the but the crazy thing is these guys got it right initially.

And then when it didn't work, they go off on their own.

She tried so hard.

I mean, she would go and man dominated mission boards would basically tell her to go pray some more.

The mantle is responsibility and authority assigned by God during a certain phase of your life.

We pass through multiple mantles. Yes.

But there are main things in our lives that God has us focus on.

And it's good when you discover the main thing, because then other things can take their right place.

But I don't know the main thing that God has for me in my life.

The main the all the overarching purpose is very three entry.

It's very, very easy.

M3. Make the father known.

Make disciples multiply churches.

That's the overarching theme that covers every believer that exists.

And in that, what is the main thing?

And if I can know the main thing, then I can cause everything else that demands my time to fall into the right place.

That's the that's the cool thing about the main thing.

If we think in terms of responsibility and authority, it demystifies it.

Mantle carries this.

Yeah, I don't know whether that expression conveyed anything, but basically it is responsibility and authority.

What is my main responsibility and authority?

What is my main responsibility that I'm supposed to focus on at this stage in my life assigned by God?

And with that responsibility, I'm supposed to be able to do something.

Yeah, you know that this is the main thing.

Soon in Reni's life, the main thing will be the baby.

The main thing will be Aaron, but the main thing will be the baby, too.

Yeah, because the baby shouldn't displace Aaron and rightfully so.

But the main thing will be the baby.

And that's the main thing.

And that's the main thing.

Yeah, because the baby shouldn't displace Aaron and rightfully so.

But the main thing will be that it won't be the BMW.

It won't be the Mustang.

It won't be the Colorado Alves.

Praise the Lord.

It won't be these things.

The main thing will be the baby.

So we quickly know what the main thing is.

And at different times in our lives, if we know the main thing, it's very helpful.

I can then concentrate on it.

So I want to look at it as responsibility that God has assigned to me at a particular stage in my life.

It makes it much easier.

Because the mantle thing is a little too spiritual and too much has been said about it.

And we don't use words like mantle.

The only time we use words like mantle in India is when we put stuff on our mantle.

At least in India, that's what mantles are used for.

Where are your keys?

Check the mantle.

So you don't get responsibility and authority.

You don't get the responsibility assigned to you.

I think the battery is dying.

You don't get the responsibility assigned to you by God.

By being at the right place or being opportunistic or being connected.

By being connected or opportunistic or at the right place.

That's not how you get these assignments.

Because nowadays there's a tendency in churches to think if you are connected to the pastor,

if you're in the inner circle, if you are opportunistic and grab every chance you get,

that's how you get mantles.

That's not how you get it.

This is given by the Holy Spirit.

With Elisha, the strange thing is in 1 Kings 19, 19, he already knew that he was going to be the next prophet and successor.

He already knew it.

He already knew it.

What he can do is he can develop, you can develop, you can develop what you've been appointed to.

You can develop what you've been appointed to with hunger and pursuit.

With hunger and pursuit.

You can develop what you've been appointed to with hunger and pursuit.

Hunger is something God gives.

Pursuit is something you cultivate.

You never have to worry about hunger.

God gives that.

Strange God.

Blessed are those that hunger and thirst and then he gives you the hunger and the thirst.

But after he gives you the hunger and thirst, he also kind of warns you with that scripture from Proverbs which says,

Some men are so lazy that they can't bring the spoon to their mouth.

And so you don't get your mantle or your responsibility and authority from God by being opportunistic, by being favored, by being connected.

You don't get it because of that.

You don't get it because you were at the right place at the right time.

You get it simply because it was prepared for you before the foundations of the earth.

And it is something that God has shaped you to operate in really well.

How do you obtain it?

You obtain it through pursuit and hunger.

Hunger God gives, pursuit you have to cultivate.

This is what Elisha distinguishes himself in.

You develop God's appointing through hunger that God gives and pursuit that you cultivate.

So you look at Elisha, you see that.

And Joseph, Joseph was another guy who knew right from when he was born that he was going to be numero uno, that his family would bow before him, that lands would bow before him.

He knew that right off the bat.

He knew that before he was 14.

And then once he knows that, he begins to hold on to that.

Joshua was the same way.

Joshua knew that Moses has called me out.

And now the hunger is there.

What does he do? He begins to pursue.

Where does he pursue?

He pursues anywhere Moses goes, he will go.

Goes to the tent of meeting, he's standing outside.

Goes up the mountain, he goes as far as he can go.

He's always there.

That's what pursuit looks like.

What does pursuit look like in your life?

Pursuit will look like one, moving forward.

And when you look back, you see a lot of debris.

A lot of old stuff behind you.

Pursuit is always seen by the junk you leave behind.

Pursuit is always seen.

How do you evidence pursuit in someone's life?

When you look behind them, there will be a lot of debris.

A lot of old stuff.

Old habits, old ways, old friends, old thinking.

Behind them, you'll find, you'll know they've traveled this way

because behind them, there's a lot of stuff floating around.

It's like being completely non-environmentally friendly.

You just keep chucking all the garbage overboard.

It's not a good thing.

That's how you know pursuit.

So do you know?

These are questions just to provoke us, not to make us feel bad.

Do you know your responsibility and your authority?

Forget even authority.

Do you know your responsibility that is assigned by God to you at this present time?

I'm not talking about your occupation.

I'm not talking about your career.

I'm not talking about your job.

I'm talking about what is the main thing that at present is active in your life

that you think God has assigned to you?

You begin by thinking that perhaps it's that.

That's where you start.

You've got to place it somewhere on a sheet of paper.

That's where you start, and then you can develop it.

But do you know?

The question then is, is it important to know?

There's only two ways to go about it.

If you know, then you can be intentional about it

or walk in such righteousness that every step of yours is ordered by God

and you don't have to worry about it.

Rejoice for the steps of a righteous man are ordered by God.

If you're walking in righteousness, you will keep walking in it anyways.

But if you know it, then you can be a little more intentional about it.

So do you know?

Or begin. If you don't know, begin by putting things down on a sheet of paper.

It's got nothing to do with your job.

Your job is just a petri dish or how ever you pronounce it

in which things can be cultured.

And what if you don't have a job? Does that mean you can't function?

That's absurd. So the job really doesn't have anything to do with it.

Sheldon doesn't have a job. I don't have a job.

So do you know?

Are you showing signs of hunger, signs of pursuit?

Are you showing signs of hunger, signs of pursuit?

These questions I must answer.

I mustn't go to someone else to answer this.

I must try and answer them honestly because all we're trying to do is,

Father, I'd really like to partake in your nature at this stage in my life

by being where you wanted me to be at this stage in my life.

So, am I hungry? Am I pursuing?

And then the question is, but what?

Yes, Christ, yes, but is there any phase of this that I am,

I know now and I'm beginning to pursue?

And third question that I need to ask is, can I handle an Elijah in my life?

Can I handle an Elijah in my life?

Can I handle it? Because it's not easy, eh?

Can I handle an Elijah in my life?

Can I handle an Elijah in my life?

As the world gets more and more modern,

it is harder and harder for us because of our individuality

to handle Elijahs in our lives.

In the olden days, it was taken for granted.

Apprenticeship was normal.

Nowadays, it's become really hard, eh?

Because we are so highly individualistic.

Can I handle an Elijah in my life?

Because nowadays people desire prophecy from Elijahs, not pruning.

They desire a prophecy from Elijah, but not pruning.

They desire Elijah's mantle, but not his sackcloth.

They desire Elijah's favor, but they don't want to walk in Elijah's faith.

They desire independence that Elijah operated with as a man of God,

but they don't want to engage in service.

One of the things you notice about Elijah, when God...

Yeah.

So we've got to ask this question, can I handle an Elijah in my life?

And it's a critical question.

And if the answer is not a resounding yes,

then I must make that adjustment,

because otherwise I will not be able to walk in the fullness of my responsibility and authority,

because whether you like it or not, it is a pattern that God uses.

You know, God could have provided rain out of the leaves of a tree.

Whenever it's rainy season, God decides that all the water under the ground

will come spraying out from the leaves of the trees.

But he chose not to do that.

He decided there'll be these fluffy little things that you eat cheese on

that will appear in the sky and they'll shed rain.

So he made clouds and clouds deliver rain.

And Philadelphia, right? Yeah.

So at least in Philadelphia, that's what they do.

So this is really getting bad. These jokes are getting really bad. I'm getting old.

And so he decided that the way rain will be supplied on Earth is through clouds.

In the same way that he decides something, then you cannot change it.

In the same way God decided that the only way you, Jacob, are going to be trained,

you, Jacob, are going to be recognized, trained and established,

the only way it's going to happen is through someone else. He's decided that.

This is why if I don't ask myself, can I handle an Elijah,

I may have to make that change first before anything else can happen.

And more and more we're getting books and programs and YouTube videos and how-tos to get there.

God is laughing his head off saying, ha ha ha, poor guys.

God appointed Elijah, but he used Elijah to recognize Elijah,

prepare Elijah, establish Elijah in his appointment.

There's no way around it.

God used Jacob, God used Potiphar, God used a prison warden,

God used Pharaoh to bring Joseph into his appointment.

Sometimes he even uses non-believers.

He uses those in oversight and authority over you to recognize and then establish you at the right time.

There's no getting around it, guys.

I'm saying that the ones who are in oversight are the ones who help you get to your appointment.

Occasionally they are not godly people, occasionally.

And again, like I said last time, do not think that this is an attempt to tell you that,

listen, I am the Elijah in your life. I am not saying that because I am not too many of you.

I cannot be too many of you.

But I'm saying there's no way around this unless you go down this route.

Any questions?

They will find you when your heart changes.

It is not the job of sons to look for fathers. It is always the job of fathers to look for sons.

But when a son's heart is positioned right, son is a genderless term,

when a son's heart is positioned right, God will send. It's absolute.

In this church, for sure, by this church for sure, again, it doesn't mean I'm talking about me.

In this church for sure, meaning this is some of the fundamental building blocks of this church.

It's impossible for it not to happen to you.

It may happen to someone, but it will happen.

But the heart.

After Eddie put this quote over me, I didn't want to go down and connect with him.

You know why? I'll tell you why.

It is such a worldly, self-absorbed reason.

My reason was, what if I connect to him and then find out that there's some other guy who's better than him?

And then what will I do? I'm connected to this guy now, and there's a guy who preaches better than him,

does more miracles than him, has a bigger church than him, can teach better than him.

Now I'm connected to this guy, I'll have to betray him.

So let's not betray him. Let's just keep him at a distance and play the market to find who's the best daddy around.

That's basically what we do.

I remember God saying, you're in the market looking for a dad.

I had a really good dad, so I had no problem with dads.

His words were very cruel.

He said, Jacob, you are surveying the market for the best deal for a spiritual father.

I was a slap on my face.

That's when I decided, okay, I better write to him.

Even forget the term spiritual father.

Call him whatever you want.

Because all these terms have become so negative because of the abuse that is associated with it,

that to use it, even though they are completely biblical, conjures images that are not helpful.

I don't know what to use now.

Can't even call house church house church.

Because they think it's a mom and pop shop operation run in someone's house who's disillusioned with church.

Can't call it household.

Because then they really think it's a mom and pop shop.

Can't call it microchurch.

Because someone's written a book on it.

Can't call it cell group or connect group because that's not what a house church is.

He got it wrong there.

What do you call it?

But then they think it's in a big building where a lot of people meet on a Sunday morning.

You've got to come up with some strange word.

And then insist that it's Greek.

Because nobody knows Greek anyways.

Sorry.

I won't go there right now.

For years, Elijah was an apprentice servant to Elijah.

For years, Elijah was an apprentice servant to Elijah.

For years, Elijah was an apprentice servant to Elijah.

Crazy, eh?

He was an apprentice servant to Elijah.

He learned spiritual things, yes.

But he served in menial capacities, too.

Can't think of stuff like this nowadays.

Second Kings 3.11 says that, yeah, there is a guy called Elisha of Shaphat who used to serve Elijah the Tishbite and used to wash his hands.

Meaning after meal, he'd make sure that Elijah's hands are washed.

No honey, then it was just plain water from a dirty river.

And so they'd wash their hands in it.

But he would take a menial job for Elijah and he would also learn spiritually.

He was an apprentice servant.

The idea of an apprentice servant in today's Christendom is unthinkable.

Like, how dare you?

It should not be demanded of you, but it should be given by you.

It cannot be demanded of me, but it should be given by me.

Always remember, guys, there's a very fine line that separates a church like this from a cult.

You coerce it, you legislate it, you insist on it, you force it, and you've stepped into the wrong dark side.

So it's a very fine line.

So for years, Elijah was a...

And this is when...

Maybe I've said this to you before.

I was sitting at Chris and Gisela's house.

Heidi was there when this happened.

Eddie was there.

And Eddie's wife, or Paul's mom, was there.

Sitting around the table, Chris' mom Gisela would always give me the head of the table.

So I'd always sit at the head of the table, regardless of who came.

And so I was sitting there and I used to go there almost...

I became fat because of Gisela's cooking.

I used to be a lean, mean fighting machine before that.

It was too loud, Pawan.

So I used to go there every Sunday for like eight years.

And it's scalloped potatoes and really good beef.

And so I take Eddie and Yvonne there and we're sitting there.

And after a meal, I didn't want to sit in the chair.

I just wanted to go loll on the sofa.

So everybody else is eating around the table.

I get up from the chair and I go and I sit down on the sofa.

And Eddie turns to me.

I think Diana might have been there too.

Eddie turns to me and says,

We are not finished. You will get up and come back and sit here, boy.

And something inside me rose saying, I brought you here.

This is a place I come to every week.

You're my guest.

How dare you speak to me like that?

That we are not done.

You will get up and come back and sit here till we are finished, boy.

Everything in me rose up.

In those days, goat was something else.

It's not greatest of all time.

It was goat was goat.

Like the goat inside me rose.

And I wanted to...

It's strange how goat becomes greatest of all time.

Really?

You could have chosen another animal.

But everything inside me rose and then I had this question.

So Jacob, what are you going to do now?

What are you going to do now?

And I remember getting up, quietly getting up, sheepishly getting up,

going back and sitting down at that chair.

And that day I knew that I had overcome something in my heart

that would always come up against any authority that was exerted against me.

That day it broke.

It was a frightening moment because I didn't know what I was going to do.

I pray, God, that you have moments like that.

And if you fail, that you get another chance.

Because...

Yeah.

Joseph served his father.

Joseph served Potiphar.

Joseph served the prison warden before he wore the mantle of rulership.

Because God is a servant king, because God is a servant in essence.

I know it's a terrible thing to say that.

God is a servant in his nature.

He did not take on servanthood.

He is a servant.

When he takes off his robe and wears just a towel around him

and goes and starts washing the feet of his disciples,

he wasn't putting on a show.

He is a servant at heart.

In essence, God is a servant.

Therefore, all leadership or rulership has to be tied to the or tethered to the nature of God

and God at his heart is a servant.

So there is no question of Joseph getting to a place of rulership

without having gone through a process of serving.

And nor does it happen to you and I.

If the Son of God had to go through it, how can we not go through it?

In this apprentice servanthood, you learn how to walk in order.

This is why this mantle thing is so freely given but rarely received.

Because there is a process, right?

Guys, there is a timeline that God puts in place.

There is a timeline that God puts in every one of our lives.

There is a timeline that God puts in every one of our lives.

And the reason he puts that timeline is because he is really keen about relational growth.

He is really keen about relational growth.

He is really keen about relational growth.

There is a timeline of relational growth that will take you through experiences

and during that timeline, you will go through experiences

that will either embitter you, make you proud, and make you self-reliant,

or it will humble you and make you teachable.

Or it will humble you and make you teachable.

Everyone here will go through it.

The way we work our way through it is how we end up positioning ourselves for the Kingdom.

Everyone here will go through it.

And these experiences that we go through will either embitter us,

it will make us proud, or it will make us self-reliant.

I am talking about in the Church and in the Kingdom of God.

It will embitter us as in, I have been through it, I will never go through it again.

Or it will make us proud as in, I am never going to let that happen.

Or it will make us self-reliant.

But the other side of it is it will humble us and make us teachable.

One or the other will happen.

And God does this with every one of us.

He did it with His Son.

So here is a statement then that needs to be made.

It is that Kingdom power and position, Kingdom power and position is directly proportional,

is directly proportional to relational maturity.

To relational maturity.

Kingdom power and position is directly proportional to relational maturity.

Everything in this Kingdom has to be about people.

Therefore, any Kingdom power and any Kingdom position that you are to receive

is directly proportional, as in completely dependent on relational maturity.

And what does relational maturity look like?

Relational maturity, we won't go into details of it, is one, humility.

Jacob, if you do not have the ability to be humble, I am not able to use you with people.

Two, Father's heart.

Jacob, if you don't know my heart, you cannot be relationally mature because you can't help people.

Three, joy-filled.

As in Jacob, if your life is not marked by being joyful,

then I cannot use you in people's life because that is who I am.

I am ridiculously joyful.

Four, open lives.

Jacob, if your life is not lived transparently, if your life is hidden, then I am not able to.

And then the last one is Jacob, you've got to learn how to not be offended.

Lack of offense.

These are just five early stages of relational maturity.

If I don't increase in this, it doesn't matter how gifted I am, I won't be able to move much.

Open lives.

When I was singing that for a second, I realized we're talking about God, not about humans.

It says, you know my weakness, my failures and my flaws.

And I was thinking, do people really know?

And then I realized, God is saying, you're singing it to God.

I was hoping we could sing it to each other.

Hey, Paul, you know my weakness, my failures and flaws.

And you go start singing to each other.

And Paul responds saying, I won't hide them from you.

And so this begins.

It's like a Hindi movie.

All that's missing is a few trees and a change of costume.

But the point is this, guys.

That open lives is when people see you through your struggle and whether you succeed or fail.

People see you through your weaknesses.

So in them taking the step of announcing a pregnancy at eight weeks, they're inviting you into their life and it's suddenly open.

Most of us live our lives together alone, hasn't?

Because open lives do not allow you to say M-Y-O-B.

Once you live open lives, your business is no longer your business.

And the moment you became a Christian, I've said this before, your self-determination ended.

We could have completely skipped that difficult part of Betty hadn't asked that question.

By the way, this mantle or these responsibilities that God gives you, it's full of promise, see?

It's full of life. It's full of the goodness of God.

And the Father wants you to enjoy the experience.

Because every time I step into a responsibility that he's giving me, it's a way of exploring and partaking in his nature.

Think of it along that line. Don't think of the mantle as some heavy thing that I have to now walk in like a prophet.

No, it's like, oh shucks, the Father wants to do something.

He's going to do it whether I join him or not.

But in the process, I can explore his nature. I can enter into his nature. I can partake in his nature.

Now that I know that this is the main thing that he and I are going to do for the next little while, let's enter in, Father.

The intent from the Father's heart is not that you walk around like you carry a heavy mantle on your shoulders.

Walk straight because I'm carrying most of it. And occasionally I carry you and give you the credit.

Enjoy it. Look forward to it.

I thrill that every so often, hardly six months are over and God's giving another responsibility. I thrill at it.

Either I finished what he wanted to or he's saying, you're no good at that. Let me give you something else.

One or the other. But regardless, every six to 12 months when it changes, it is like challenges you want to grasp

because you realize how enormous it is and that it is impossible.

That is a beautiful part of this. It is always impossible. It is always large. It is never what you can do.

That is one of the ways you measure mantles.

Is the responsibility being given to you? Do you have the authority for it? No. You would prefer turning and running.

But now you got to step into it because it is so large, it is impossible. Now your heart begins to thrill.

You're like the guy who's not a swimmer anymore. You're a surfer. Every wave is like, oh my God, invite me, invite me, invite me.

Swimmers? No. Big wave? Run to the shore. Play with the sand and the seashells.

Mantles change. Mantles change. Joseph had a many-colored robe.

Then he had a stewards cloak when he was at Potiphar's.

And then he had the royal robes that Pharaoh gave him in Genesis 41 verse 40 something.

Genesis 41:40

Mantles change. Don't measure mantles by ministry opportunities.

Don't measure mantles by mission trips.

Don't measure mantles by church roles. Don't measure mantles by jobs you may have.

Those come and go, those can be given or held back.

Mantles are responsibilities given by God.

You train under people.

Then you walk in it. Man can't stop you.

You may be in favor with the pastor, you may be out of favor with the pastor. He may like you a lot, he may not like you at all.

He may have good reason not to like you, he may have absolutely no good reason not to like you.

He cannot stop you.

So the question is, do you know what you presently wear?

What is it that you're wearing? Is it well worn?

And then the answer to those questions is, yeah, I kind of know what I presently wear. Is it well worn?

No, still trying to figure it out. I have no idea what to do with it.

Still trying to figure it out. Is it well worn?

And then the other question you need to ask is, is the responsibility that you used to have 10 years ago or 5 years ago or 4 years ago, have you thrown away that garment?

The first thing that Elisha does as soon as he receives a mantle, yes, he does it out of grief.

He tears his garment. That part of it was out of grief.

The other part was he's going to step into something new. He's got nothing to do with the old.

Elisha has been through it before. When he was plowing with the 12th yoke of oxen, what did he do?

He cut the plow up and he burnt the plow and then roasted the oxen. He's done this before. He's said goodbye to things before.

You cannot step into something new without letting go of that which is old. You cannot.

The old wine skin must be let go of if the new wine must be poured in. There's no way around it. You cannot.

Any questions before we end? Any questions?

The mantle you wear will be tested by God and targeted by the devil.

The mantle you wear will be tested by God and will be targeted by the devil.

It will be tested by God. It will be targeted by the devil.

Psalm 105, verse 19. Joseph knew from when he was a kid that he would one day rule.

Psalms 105:19

In Psalm 105, 19 it says,

And the word of the Lord tested him. As in Joseph, do you really believe all the dreams I gave you?

Do you really believe all the words I gave you?

He sent a man before the famine. They put his hands and feet in fetters and they chained him.

And the word of the Lord tested him till it came to pass.

God will test what you're wearing to see. Hey, Jacob, are you really believing this?

But the enemy will target it too.

It was a very cloak that was given to Joseph to show that he was favored to rule,

that his brothers hated and tore to shreds and dipped in the blood of a goat to present to the father as your son is dead.

It was a very cloak that Joseph wore as a steward that Potiphar's wife took hold of and framed him for a crime.

Please understand that once you step into this, it's time to man up whether you're a man or a woman.

Because this thing will be tested by God to see if you have the caliber to walk in it.

And it will be targeted by the enemy.

Because if you walk in it fully, he knows that a certain responsibility will be fulfilled with great authority.

Many Elisha's delay or step away from their tailored mantles because of the experiences they've been through.

Many Elisha's delay or step away from their tailored mantles, God-tailored mantles,

because of bitter experiences or ungodly experiences they have had.

They step away or they delay it.

And there will be constant attempts to rob you of it or to prolong you to wear something instead of moving on or to stain it.

But the great thing about a different spirit or an excellent spirit like the one that Caleb possessed,

and we talked about this long ago, is that if you have a different spirit, then you cut through lack.

You cut through limitations. You cut through lies. You cut through the blame game.

You cut through negativity and you do not give up easily.

I'll say it again. When you possess an excellent spirit or a different spirit,

then like Caleb, you have the ability to cut through lack.

Lack doesn't stop you from stepping into your mantle.

You cut through limitations. Being as short as Zeven doesn't prevent him from walking.

You cut through negativity. You cut through the blame game.

This person did that. That person did that. And they did it to you.

It is true, but you cut through it. Sometimes it takes time, but you cut through it.

You cut through lies. Every stronghold in my life is built on a lie.

You cut through lies. You cut through fear. And you cut through giving up easily.

It takes time, agreed, but you do cut through it.

Any questions?

Any questions?

Go ahead, Jill.

The questions that many elections state are layered in a way from God to you about this.

How do you reconcile that with, it all comes down to the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable?

Yeah. We run out of time. That's the only thing that happens.

The gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

And so God always wants it to be completed, but I run out of time.

So it isn't that it's withdrawn, but I don't have enough years left to fulfill it.

Yeah. Yeah.

But then I can also borrow time, like Caleb and Joshua did.

Yeah. Like Hezekiah did. You get an extra lease.

Because he sees that, man, Jacob, you squandered the last 60 years of your life, but you're really getting passionate at 61.

So you know what? I was planning to take you home at three score and 10. Let's make it four score and 10.

Max 29 will have to hang around till you die.

Any other questions?

Okay. Last point. Really.

The mantle surprisingly prolongs the life of Elijah's.

A mantle prolongs the life of Elijah.

You know, for years after he put his cloak on Elijah, Elijah now lives because he has to train this boy up.

Mantles prolong the life of Elijah's.

One of the ways to live long is to raise people.

The mantle prolongs the life of Elijah.

For years Elijah mentored or discipled Elijah after throwing his cloak on him.

If you don't raise up, you phase out.

If you don't raise up, if you don't raise up.

You phase out.

Why? Because if you don't raise up, you're not fulfilling the Genesis mandate.

What's the point of being here on earth?

If you don't raise up, you phase out.

If you're not here to fulfill the Genesis mandate as a believer, what are you here for? To go to heaven? Well, let's go.

How do you raise up? By desiring to raise up.

Because your father does this for a living.

That is not part of what you are doing.

And if you think you can do it on your own in some little corner, it doesn't work that way.

It happens with a people. God is interested in a nation, in a people.

Not in individual efforts on a solitary island.

Please guys, these are precious truths that you will be held accountable for.

And it's not about the size of your mansion.

When I say held accountable, I don't mean you'll get a smaller mansion and Betty will get a bigger one.

It's more than mansions that are involved here.

The mantle prolongs the life of Elijah. For years Elijah mentored or discipled Elijah after throwing the cloak on him.

I would suspect that even the schools of the prophets happened after Elijah was put in place.

Elijah accomplished quite a lot after he threw the mantle on Elijah.

Prolongs your life.

If you don't raise, you phase out.

Raising up is not siring. Siring is just giving birth.

Raising up, as Aaron is soon going to find out, is much harder work than siring.

Raising up is not soothing.

As in, oh, you feel like crying, come Baba, and make you stop crying. No.

Raising up is much more than service.

It's much more than this thing.

Raising up is a lot of unnecessary, really difficult work that you prefer not to do.

That's what raising up looks like.

And these are not even your children.

They don't even look like you.

So, if you don't raise up, you phase out.

Last point of the section.

This is the last point.

Shoot.

Okay. So, here's the thing.

In the process, Elijah became a source of comfort, of encouragement, and strength to Elijah.

Elisha has become a source of comfort, a source of strength, and a source of encouragement to Elijah.

This is so cool, eh?

My mom always asks me, do you have a retirement plan?

And I name a few of you saying, I'm sure they'll take care of me.

It doesn't comfort my mom at all, but...

So, there's encouragement, strength, and comfort that Elisha's bring Elijah.

And Elijah's can now leave absolutely confident that the work they started will be safe, will be sustainable, will go beyond them.

They're able to leave happily.

That's a great thing.