Exercising Spiritual Authority (1 of 6) - The Apostolic Mandate

pray in tongues it's beginning to release our spirit to receive from God tonight it's open our heart shall abide under my care about that I began about that come on we can do better than a chilli Baba Baba Baba she corroborates ela bah bah bah bah bah bah bah Gharib idiot I yell LeBron Dharma calabria tell Ibaka remediate I ill baba Papa Rishi Calipari atomic arabela dice ela but under a Makarova ayat' arabic is she gonna baptize ela bah bah bah bah bah bah ah si Cara Maria die Caleb aroun drama Sullivan out there a bigger idiot dies illa buh-buh-buh-buh-buh Chikara Bharat die ear about Elsa caliber anti Ella Belushi Cahaba not thy Holy Spirit we invite you to come we call upon you to come and minister in elites to help us to speak to us to inspire us and to lift our faith to operate in a new level of authority but we honor you and thank you tonight we welcome you to come and help us in Jesus name everyone said Amen let's give a lot of clap thank you lord wonderful right please be seated and as in the other seminar will have some activations for you to do and the activations are to develop and to build your inner life so let's start with session 1 you see the sessions with outlined their various things one of them I'll break into two number one is on your apostolic mandate number two is on spiritual territory and number three on how you exercise spiritual authority and then 4 on how you exercise it in your own life and then we want to speak about your authority to minister to people and then give you some practical things on how to build your spirit man build the inner man because everything you do that flows in the realm of the Spirit requires you strengthen your in a man and with we have some time we'll share with you some practical things just on ministering the spirit and how to flow the Holy Ghost we all have some activations things for you to do because that will help you get just get your spirit alive and we'll give you some practical things of what you can do to raise the spiritual energy in your life and also how you actually go about releasing spiritual authority ok then so let's look on at one point one and everything's got paid to it so they're all numbered so we can find it very easy so firstly the Apostolic mandate and let me ask you this question if you knew that we you live in the community God had sent you there because he had something for you to accomplish how would that affect the way you related to the people and how you lived your life if you believe that the workplace that you are working in God actually sent you there with an assignment how would that affect the way you relate to all the other workers and the way you treat people and the way you respond to problems and difficulties if you believed that wherever you go you are a person on assignment how would that affect the way you would relate to people and to struggles and pressures and difficulties that come I believe that if we thought that way it would change totally how we live our life it's just we don't see we're on assignment we don't see that at all we just get busy with our life and so what I want to do in this first session is just look at the area of the apostolic mandate we have a tendency to think that to become a Christian means that you come to Jesus you're connected to him the Spirit of God is in you and then you're going to go to heaven this is only a half of the story and if you've only got a half of the story and you haven't really got it all at all so the full story is this that we are connect when we receive Jesus into our life the Spirit of God comes in we are connected to the Spirit of God we're connected to heaven but we are given a mandate to restore the community we live in or to change and bring waters around us into harmony with heaven we're called to bring heaven unto the earth now this is the the missional aspect of the church that is every believers calling we tend to think we're missionaries are just people you send out overseas but no the reality is the church is called to be missional in mind in other words every person is a missionary a sent person every person is called to embrace the missional aspect of what God has called them to so that's what it says here it's never looking first first of all understanding the Apostolic mandate after these things after what things after Jesus had sent twelve disciples out and they ministered in the power of the Holy Ghost and delivered people and and heal people he said he appointed another seventy and sent them out two by two before his face into every city in place he himself was about to go Luke 10:1 so Jesus had already deployed Twelve Apostles but the Bible says he looked and he saw the harvest was so great so he then got another seventy and launched them out here - in two by two and so he commissioned them and they have the same commissioning that the Apostles had they were called to do exactly the same bring the gospel heal the sick and cast out demons raised the dead bring heaven to earth wherever they went and it says they weren't apostles they were just followers of Christ but they had the same mission that the Apostles had and that word meant it's he sent them means literally it's the word Apostolou and Greek and it means something like this the word Epis teller we kind of think apostolic and you wonder what it means but if we were to go back to what it meant in the day it was written then you understand it so the word apostolic we call it apostolic now is a greek word Apostolou and what it means literally is this if the if the Romans wanted to send a general into an area to overcome resistance and occupy it and bring it into the Kingdom of Rome or under the Dominion of Rome they would say at mostello they sent him on a mission to do this that's the word they'd use if they wanted to in the in the Hebrew culture if they wanted to plant another synagogue in another place in other words to go to another area an unknown area and preach and plant a synagogue or we'd call it a church plant now the word that was used was the word Apostolou or apostolic they was sent on a mission so we tend to sort of get sort of unusual ideas around these words and we kind of don't found them easy to to take but if you were just to take that the word apostolic means you're sent on a mission to advance the of God wherever you've been assigned so notice that all seventy are apostolic they're all sent on a mission and wherever they were sent they were called to advance kingdom of God we want to look at practically how that might take place and so an apostle in in the early language they understood it it was someone who was an ambassador sent on a military mission to conquer an area and bring it in line or bring it under the kingdom so we think then that the church right at its origins is apostolic not pastoral the church tends to want to be pastoral people want to have their needs met they want to have someone to care for them someone to teach them look after them and this is a valid part of the Ministry of Christ part of his pastoral ministry but his primary ministry was apostolic he was sure one he's called the Apostle and high priest of our calling so one of the primary identifies of Jesus was as epistolary he was sent he said the father sent me and he said as Father sent me I send you so around Jesus thinking all the time was this aspect of sending so a believer may not be an apostle but they can be sent they can be apostolic so I believe that we're living in an hour when God is wanting every believer to be apostolic now that doesn't mean a title it means I'm missional in nature what that means is I'm a person with a mission I'm an ambassador for heaven I've got a work that is unique to me only I can do it how would your life be different if you believed that you are quite unique and that you have something unique to give to the people who meet you that would change how you're related to people it's all in the paradigm and in the thinking so if we think of church as the gathering where we come and sing songs and worship God and we don't think of it as a missional bodies people sent to do something we totally reduce Jesus thinking and his planning and his his dreams towards the church so all believers are sent notice Jesus has given a mandate and the mandates very clear it is a command it's an author zatia n-- to do something proclaim the gospel make disciples and minister in power in signs and wonders so let's have a look at the first Apostolic mandate and then we I want to just show you just a couple of things related to this but I want you to understand that you are designed to have dominion spiritually you're actually wired for that but let's have a look at the first Apostolic mandate in Genesis 1:28 god blessed them and said to them be fruitful and multiply fill the earth and subdue it have dominion over the sea the birds of the air and everything that moves on the earth now notice that man and woman were both given the same mandate and a woman are equal in this we're equally mandated by God to be fruitful to multiply or increase to fill the earth or subdue and have dominion that means that there must be something you've got a conquer if you called to subdue there must be something you have to subdue or and it's not a person's usually a spiritual issue so we see that the first R is the interesting thing which came first the people or the assignment they think about that one which came first the people or the assignment I believe the assignment came because man created man was created to fulfill the assignment think about that see before in Ephesians 2:10 it tells us that we are his workmanship created in Jesus Christ for good works which God for ordained we would walk in them in other words before we turned up on the earth and were born God had prepared something for us to accomplish with our life that means the assignment came before the people did notice which came first the garden or the people the garden so the assignment came first now it doesn't mean that the assignment is more important what I'm saying is that God produced people to fulfill a purpose so he had a think about this if you are if you are manufacturer and you design a toaster now which came first the toaster or the purpose the purpose you started to I need to create a machine that you can put slices of bread in and it'll heat them up and it'll make them nice and we can put my jam and marmalade and sew and stuff on it so you had a thing in mind to which you design the Machine and then the Machine fulfills the purpose so you think about God how God created us he created with something for us to do if you can get this in your heart you realize how important it is to discover what you're uniquely wired and called to do and most people unfortunately live their life from someone else's script in other words we're acting out what someone else said was what we should do rather than discovering for ourself what God called us to do and passionately pursuing the mission that God has wired into our heart quite challenging isn't it I was talking to one young man recently and he'd been seeking direction from me and I actually refused to give him the direction he should go what I directed him to do was to find what he was wide in his heart to do and he said well I don't know I said well actually I know you know the thing that's blocking you is you're trying to please everyone you've lived under control for so much of your life you've not actually taken ownership of what God put in your own heart I said if I tell you what to do I'll always be the one who told you what to do you actually have to own your life yourself and own your future yourself and discover what God why didn't you - beautiful film I showed him how to do that I was starting to begin to journal and to write down and discover the dreams of his heart and recently he came to me he said this is what I believe I should do I said great you've got it I'll help you do it and then if I told him which is what he wanted me to do it would have taken away from him the journey of discovering and taking ownership of his own assignment that God wrote into his heart unfortunately many people live and they've been in abusive situations and strongholds and things form around the mind and what happens we live out of what someone else said we should do rather than discovering what God called us to do how many of you thinking about that one day we said God God had an assignment for us and he created you to fulfill an assignment so where you were born the circumstances of your birth the kind of nation you were born in the locality you were born in the education he had the back on your head all contributes to forming who you are and even if some of it was bad when God redeems it what is redeemed then becomes the powerful testimony that God can use to indicate that to touch people's lives so you are a person with a mission even if you don't know what your mission is it doesn't change you were sent you didn't just arrive and that changes our thinking see if evolution will teach we just arrived and it was by chance it is horrendous thing because it takes away the truth of divine destiny and purpose you didn't just arrive no matter how you came into this world whether people wanted you or not you didn't just arrive God preordained you would come he knew you were coming and had an assignment for you to complete the part you have to play is to connect with God and discover what you call to do and arise and break free of the things that tell you can't do it and that is where learning to stand up take responsibility and assert spiritual authority starts to have its first place in your own life so you see getting free in your own life as a crucial part to being able to actually then have influence beyond yourself okay we're getting it you're getting quiet now how many starting to feel that already that's starting to affect your thinking how many could feel your thinking starting to check on that it's powerful isn't today it's just changing and it changes our concept because we tend to live out of out of paradigms and ways of thinking and we need our way of thinking change and so for example we tend to talk about all the problems that are round rather than actually problems we're here to solve problem we're not to complain about complaining about problems makes us part of the problem we're called to actually go to our assignment and change it that great isn't that a great thing and I want to share with you how to actually bring about some of that change so that you start to realize you're not a victim you are a person who has power to bring difference but there's always going to be a fight for that yeah the freedom always cost you something okay so the Apostolic Commission in Matthew chapter 9 verse 35 to 10:1 Jesus went about all the cities and villages teaching and all his synagogues preaching the gospel of the kingdom so he preached and his message was the kingdom of heaven with its blessings and life is really closed what is required is you repent or change how you think that was his message and he demonstrated the kingdom healing every sickness every disease among the people and when he saw the multitudes he was moved with compassion because they were weary and scattered like sheep having no Shepherd so he said to his disciples the harvest truly is great but the laborers few prayed a lot of harvest to send laborers into his harvest and when he called his twelve disciples he gave them power over unclean spirits to cast them out and heal all kinds of desert sickness all kinds of disease so we see that Jesus came to restore the original mandate the original mandate was to subdue and have dominion so in other words there was something that was going to oppose them that they had to arise and overcome and we know it was read the story how Adam and Eve sinned against God and the Bible tells us the authority they had they yielded up they lost their spiritual authority they lost their garments of glory they lost their connection with God they lost relationship and Dominion so when Jesus came back he came to give his back relationship and an assignment or Dominion again so notice he demonstrated he actually had authority when He healed sickness disease commanded nature that cast out demons all of these he demonstrated that he lived out the message and then understand that he came to actually restore us so we have again this ability to bring heaven to earth we just need to learn some of the practical ways of going about doing that and Jesus identified that the greatest need the greatest need he saw was for laborers for people who would give themselves to fulfilling their mission when Jesus looked he saw the multitudes he didn't just see a crowd of people he was actually deeply moved because they needed help one of the things that you is a practical thing that you could do very easily is to walk through the streets or walk through a crowd of people and just praying in your spirit and then begin to look into them just as you as you as you walk through people just look at people and smile at them otherwise you stare at them they start to get what's up with you but but look at people and smile them and as you look at them look into their eyes and look into that look into their countenance ask the Holy Spirit to help you to see them as he sees them and you know what will happen if you start to do that for a while you're not going to try and gauge any when you're just starting to open your eyes to see people like Jesus does we tend to see people as problems we tend to see people as divided into those we need their help for something or we don't really want to be too connected with them or they're an interruption to our life if you I when I first came here I found the things that really helped me was I began to walk through the street looking at people until I began to feel tremendous compassion and the terrible you could see the problems written on their faces you could see the burden on them you could you become awakened to see people like God can see them even on a church on a son you can go in and and you just get into a routine but if you go in there and realize listen I'm I'm here not because I come to church I'm here cos God fit me here I'm here to be a blessing and there's someone here needs what I have to do today so you go and he start to look around and talk with me and if you will start to look differently you will see the knees it doesn't take you very long that's the first phase is to get the heart for people ask Jesus to give you a heart of compassion because your mission is always to people now we may be a technical person we may do this I may do that but the bottom line is whatever our mission is it will always altom utley involve people so we need to get the heart of God for people I encourage it's it's such a simple thing first exercise you can write down that you could do it's just as you just to begin to walk through crowds of people and as you walk through them smile at them look into their eyes look into their face and try and just reach out towards them from your heart and ask God to show you what how he sees them you will be amazed how view changes second thing you can do is make a decision that you're going to start to engage people and ask them about themselves just take an interest in them ask questions don't try and talk about yourself in any way and try and convert them just ask questions and show kindness and an interest in the person now you will find a second thing the first thing you'll find is how you begin to feel and see people you feel about people and see people as Jesus sees them secondly when you start to ask the questions and listen what you find is you begin to discover what's really going on in people's lives I'm amazed how people will open up and talk if you just begin to ask questions don't get defensive just reflect back what you think you heard and they will begin if they find you'll listen to them they'll tell you stuff and they'll tell you things that you never would have realized and you begin to realize this this person's open their life because they're lonely and disconnected they want to find someone who'll listen to them then we'll share with you some other things you can do about how to bring the presence of God so you are call so notice he gave them an apostolic Commission so first he gave it to the twelve now he's given it to the seventy and as we'll see shortly we see in mark chapter 16 he gives it to everyone everyone has got the apostolic Commission everyone is a missionary everyone has sent so turn to someone to say well hello missionary come on see that's the funny thing is about that you it's a sort of a word you use for someone else you don't think of it as related to yourself but you're a person on a mission moment you walk out this building your own mission ok then so let's go to one point for your design for Dominion and some eight verse five and six now notice the psalmist is speaking and acknowledging you have made him a little lower than the Angels you've made man a little lower than the angels their word angels is literally the original word the word Elohim meaning God so you have made man just a little beneath God you have created in your own image and likeness notice what you have crowned him with glory and honor you've made him to have dominion over the works of your hands you put all things all things under his feet now of course we don't see that we see the consequences of sin but this is the original design so notice now that God designed us for dominion over his creation that would crown means an ornamental headgear that a sovereign state would wear so notice he said you have dismayed man just a little lower in rank than God and you have crowned him or put a sovereign headgear over him of glory and honor giving them glory and honor and you've made them for the purpose of having dominion over the works of your hands and put everything under your feet now you can't get it clear that's one of the best verses in the Bible to describe that you are royalty called on assignment to represent Jesus in the earth you're called to represent a king now many times when we speak and pray we don't see ourselves that way we don't think of ourselves that way we tend to think about ourselves out of what our old self esteem is but a matter of you to wake up every day and think I am royalty I am crowned with glory and honor I am called to represent the King of Kings today everywhere I go I will give my very best gives you a different perspective on your day totally differently it's it's something it's a truth to get into your heart that is who you are you call for this and now notice in the next verse we'll look out there around Dominion in some 149 verse 5 through to 9 it says this let the Saints be joyful and glory let them single out on their beds that the high praises of God be in their mouths so it's talking about the whole area of opening our life to engage with God so when it's saying be joyful singing aloud high praises what is really talking about is us opening up the realm of heaven for God to move that's how you open heaven to yourself you exalt the Lord he says he inhabits the praises of his people so when I give myself to vocal and Express of praise I am opening up the realms of heaven for the presence of God to flow through me into the earth now notice what it says next it said and the to idjit sword in the hand to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the people to bind their kings with chains their nobles with fetters of iron to execute on them their judgment written this honor has all his Saints now that word all his Saints God has placed a tremendous honor on you he could just wipe the devil out just like that in fact they'll come a day when he'll send some angels and I will sign them all into hell and they'll be there for a thousand years he can do it today could do it tomorrow he could have done it already but the Bible says he's given us a particular honor and this is what the Honor is he's given us an honor of dealing the judgments of heaven the judgments of the Word of God against evil spirits he's given us the honor of executing that in the earth he's given us the honor of addressing and dealing with evil spirits in the earth it's a it's an honor it's not an unusual ministry it's actually a privilege to represent God and get rid of the ravening wolves out of people's lives it's an honor and a privilege have you thought of that see a lot of people use the word deliverance or or spiritual warfare I think it's sort of some weird thing and it's just for a few people and then they don't realize actually this honor of bringing judgment against evil spirits is actually an honor given to all the saints and it requires that be worshippers of God knowing how to access God and that we know how to use the Word of God quite something we'll show you how to do that in a little bit later in one of the sessions what a great privilege for you to bring the presence of God to wherever you are and to change the spiritual atmosphere I was talking to one man and and he was complaining to me about a situation at work and I said I said to him well I said what's the problem and he told me well all the language and the cursing and the atmosphere was a horrendous place I said is that right he said what are you going to do about it he said well I'm going to leave that's it really I said well let me tell me tell me that one again I said how many other Christians are there and he said no one I said so let me say this again you're the only Christian there and because it's all so bad you're about to leave and resign you're a post he said well I haven't thought of it like that but yeah how's that set up I said why don't you do something about it so what can I do I said well I said the people there are under the influence of spirit wicked spirits they have access to their lives because their lives are unser and and they run independently but you on the on the you on the contrary you have access to heaven to bring heaven of the earth you could change that whole environment I said you're thinking of it as a problem and you wanted to get away so you can have an easier life you're not thinking yourself as a missionary in a workplace call to shift the spiritual atmosphere it's it and he wasn't thinking that way thought he was thinking how can I get out where it'll be nicer well we're not called to retreat to where it's nicer we're called to advance and change what's there can you see this it's a different thinking isn't it and so what I did then was I said I'll go down with you so we were down into his workplace and I said I can feel it's pretty oppressive his obviously spirits here our business is to drive them out because God has given us authority said you'd have to be the boss to do that he doesn't get to drive demons out because he's the boss you get to drive Matt because Jesus is your boss and you represent them so what we did was we prayed strongly in tongues then we began to walk around the workplace and began to address the spirits that were there we named this particular manifestations that were happening the various difficulties that they were facing over and over and over again we be able to speak to the spirits behind them commanded them to go for bad them to operate command them to go out of the place and then by the Holy Spirit to come in and increase the productivity to change the atmosphere in that workplace he can come about week later he came back he ran out he was really excited and he said we've had the best week we've ever had I have never enjoyed work some of us at this week and I said Wow is that wonderful I wonder why because often people don't connect the blessing and the flow of what they're experiencing back with the things that bought it about and I said you were about a week ago you were about to leave this place because it was so bad now you're saying how much you liked it it said you have had to change in the way you approach this whole thing you had to deal with the spirits in the atmosphere I had another young man and he was complaining about his workplace and it was very very difficult in the particular place he was working in they were having breakdowns of all kinds and there was bad morale a whole number of things there I said what are you going to do about it so I can't do anything about I'm not the boss I said hey listen how many other Christians they said would you believe it none I said well here you go I said don't you realize that the the problems are not just outward things there actually have got a spiritual root and a spiritual source and I said you you are a believer you can do something about that I said now tell me when did the problem start he said woman the new supervisor came on our line that's when the problem start I said what do you know about that man he said we've pretty dark heavy business we said what do you think he might have been involved in the occult and he said probably is I think he might be actually I said really their rights I said well we can deal with that company and and so I showed him what to do I showed him to stand up every day begin to pray in tongues and to stand as an ambassador of heaven speaking to the spiritual atmosphere take Dominion and subdue every spirit that was using that man as a gateway into the workplace and to subdue them forbid their operation and to release blessing into that place and I said you'll find it'll be a little challenging for you for the next few days but if you'll just keep it up things will change about ten days later he came to me and he said I want to tell you what's happened there what's happened he said well the guy's been taken off the role and he said I've been promoted into the role and actually the whole of the work environment has changed the problems have decreased and productivity has started to increase I could continually tell you stories just like that we we don't seem to realize just how much spiritual forces impact what goes on and how we as believers have authority to shut them down and if we don't who is going to I tell what happens most believers just forget that there is a real spiritual world they just forget it so we're trying to in this series I'll help you understand it is very real it is very present and when you step up to engage it then you will find that there is a real fight goes on and if you'll persist and learn how to walk and win the battle you'll change things immensely ok then so there we go so here we this is number one point five you've been commissioned and Matthew 28 verse 18 Jesus spoke to them and saying all Authority has been given to me in heaven and earth and so therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing the name of the Father Son Holy Ghost teaching them to observe all things I've commanded you lo I'm with you even to the end of the age so Jesus has given us a command and it involves nations and nations involves government it involves business it involves media it involves sports art science education now one of the things as we tend to forget that the Great Commission means transformation within the community transformation one soul at a time and this in particular our God is emphasizing ordinary believers arising in the different areas of the community and starting to make the presence of God and their presence felt in Taiwan where we have privilege to minister they're making tremendous inroads into the media and in one church alone that we've been to there over now over a hundred people from the media from the arts and entertainment and TV industry are in just one Church over a hundred that have been saved in the last four years and they are using their gifts to bring the gospel into the nation now there are about three significant churches in Taiwan that are having an influence and between them they have something between 200 and 250 celebrities covering the pop area the high-class quality entertainment area and then various areas of media and television I have prayed for them I fact I had a privilege of praying for and prophesying over the leading actor and and singer in Asia the one who's the most famous of all who when he turns out the crowds just come screaming and and and these people are responding God's the gospel is going into these areas we need to arise and believe it's possible to do that so the whole church has got a commission a mandate not just to go and win souls but actually get them aligned and start to shift the whole culture it's the most exciting possibility and so we saw how the original Commission was given to Adam and Adam lost it Jesus came to restore it he commissioned the twelve he commissioned the seventy and then he's commissioned the whole church and then before they started he said acts 1:8 wait until you receive the power of the Holy Ghost to do the work you have to be anointed and filled with the spirit to be able to do this kind of work you can't engage in the realm of the Spirit significantly unless you baptized in the Holy Ghost and release in the hala gate jesus promised that would we anoint it with the Holy Ghost and this was necessary for the completion of our assignment that's why just normal just giftings are not enough talent is not enough we need to be filled with the Holy Ghost need to be filled with the Spirit of God and he told us go fulfill the assignment make Christ now and make disciples heal the sick cast out demons bring the presence of God wherever you go and we want to help you in these next sessions to understand your assignment and then how to arise and begin to assert authority amen

Channel: Mike Connell

Views: 37,696

Rating: 4.8498659 out of 5

Keywords: assignment, missionary, sent, ambassador, apostolic, authorised, dominion, purpose, take responsibility, ownership, honour, execute judgement, overcome resistance, under the weather, assert spiritual authority, arise and overcome, heart for people, change atmospheres, compassion, militiary mission restore community, stand up, Spirituality (Literary Genre), Pastor

Id: MBbhr4qCrOg

Length: 34min 58sec (2098 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 06 2013