THE APOSTLE'S HEART | DR MIKE WOODS SR | 12-4-2022

Well, praise the Lord, everybody! This is Apostle Michael Lyris Woods, and welcome to this Sunday edition of Rhoda Now. Listen, I am super excited as usual to come into your homes, your cars, wherever you may be, and share the Word of God with you. You know, like never before, the Word of the Lord is super important to our world. You know, so many people are trying to disdain the authority, the power, and the reality of God's Word. But I want to tell you something: the Word of God is alive, the Word of God is real, and you cannot afford to sleep on it. It's full of revelation, it's full of life, and it has been proven over and over again to be reality. It's not a fantasy book, it is real. So I want to challenge you, do not scroll, stay with me today. There is a word from the Lord today. Glory to God! In this first setting on Sunday, We're going to be sharing with you a powerful message that we taught a few weeks ago, glory to God, in the city of Madison, Mississippi. I was there at Glory Revival Center with my son Apostle Brandon Cornelius, and we taught a session to a group of leaders, glory to God, that I believe will be a blessing to you. Because no matter where you find yourself in life, I promise you, whether you're a parent, a manager, a supervisor, a coach— glory to the name of God— a CEO, a pastor, an apostle, a prophet, an evangelist, a teacher. No matter where you find yourself, there is a leader in you. As a matter of fact, if you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you have the spirit of leadership— hear me— house on the inside of you. So today, glory to God. We're going to share this message entitled The Apostolic Heart. It's very important to understand how powerful it is to plug into the ministry of apostles, and I think it's such a, um, taboo office in terms of the fact that some people think apostles are still relevant, some believe that all the apostles are dead. Some believe that it's no way there are still apostles, but I want to tell you, the apostles' ministry is more relevant today than ever. I know we got a lot of people that just signed up and said they are an apostle. I want to tell you, just because you start a church doesn't mean you're an apostle. Just because you've started 3 churches doesn't mean you are an apostle. There's an innate— glory to the name of God— design that comes with your birth, that was in you before you got in your mother's belly. And we talk about that. We talk about how to relate to that, because no matter again where you are and what you're trying to accomplish, you need connectivity with Apostles and the heart of Apostles. So let's dive into this message today, and I promise you, you're going to be blessed. So right after this worship moment, it's going to go straight into the word of God. And then I'm gonna be back right after the teaching to pray with you and to give you some very important instructions as we move forward into this new year. I love you guys. Y'all be blessed. Let's listen to this, man. The Apostolic Heart.

God bless you.

Praise is to your name, oh Lord.

Your name is great.

Oh, your name is great and greatly to be praised. We sing praises to your name. Oh Lord, praises to your name. Oh Lord, oh, your name, it is praised Great and great and great to be praised. For your name is great and great to be praised. For your grace, it is great and great to be saved.

How many of you agree his name is great? His name is great. Hallelujah! Y'all give my wife a hand. Always such a joy.

I pray, I pray.

I'm so glad that Apostle put you guys in a place to receive. And I really hope these kind of assignments for me— I was actually in San Francisco, um, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I took a red-eye from San Francisco Thursday night, got home Friday about 7:30 in the morning back to Atlanta. And being in— whenever I go in different time zones, it's always hard for me to sleep. And so God just telling me the whole time about what I needed to share while I was here. And I really hope that— I love y'all. I hope y'all love me.

I hope y'all like me when I get finished, because I got to tell you what the Lord said.

And it's so important that I don't play around with this.

The woman of God said something so profound. My laptop was open because I was taking notes. I'm always in the position of a learner. I got saved when I was 7 years old, started preaching when I was 8, got filled with the Holy Ghost at 7 and a half. I mean, I've been doing this a long time and I never cease to learn. And as she was teaching, I was taking notes because the most powerful position you can ever have is that of a learner. Matter of fact, I always say you earn what you learn. Amen. The word earn is inside the word. Your earnings are directly connected to what you know. If you learn what Dr. Denise knows, you can earn what she earns. If you learn what a lawyer knows, you can earn what that lawyer earns. Learn what a neurosurgeon knows, you can earn what he earns.

But if you like—

one guy said, think you know it all. You gonna stay stuck. Yeah, that's right. She called it stabilized, having a structural stability. That's a dangerous place. So I'm gonna drop something like it's absolutely hot. I just, I just really dated myself then. I took my 13-year-old, he had on some shoes, and you know when I bought the shoes for him, I just ordered them and I had never seen them on his feet until he put them on. I said to him, I said, Alex, them shoes gonna flink, man. He said, Dad, nobody's gonna flink no more. Nobody's gonna flink no more. I'm out, man. All right, so you'll bear with me, but I'm gonna drop this because I want you to go to Proverbs 4.

And if you know me, I love the word.

I believe everything starts with the word, right?

The Bible says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was God.

I think if we started all things in our life with the word, we have more longevity, we'll have success. But when we start things without the word being the substratum of the foundation, we're in trouble. Yes. And this is part of the problem in the world today—

not enough things built on the word of God.

So Proverbs 4:23, I'm going to read through, including, uh, verse number 27.

I'm reading out the New International Version.

The Bible says, above all else, yeah, Guard your heart. Somebody said he's supposed to be teaching about apostolic. I'm getting there, I'm coming. He said, for everything you do flows from it, your heart. Uh-oh. Keep your mouth free of perversity. Of what? Keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead. Focus. Fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. This is my favorite part. Don't turn to the right nor to the left. Keep your foot from evil. So I want to build this teaching around these verses, if y'all allow me. Yeah, I want to talk about the apostolic heart, and what we're going to do is we're going to just kind of discover the nature and the dimension of the heart of apostles. My God, I think one of the biggest challenges apostles have— and, and this is very important for people that serve with apostles to understand— is that oftentimes we have people around us that are clueless to who we are. And that in itself is dangerous because when my app was— God bless you, sis. God have mercy. Look at y'all.

Bless you.

Praise God. Oh my God, look at her. How's Ruby? She's better. She's doing good. Okay, I'm praying for her. 'Cause Apostle told me she was— so let me— I'm sorry, y'all, I had a moment. But one of the most dangerous things we can have is people in our space that have no idea how we roll. Listen, where there is no revelation There's always violation when I have not been revealed, or the man of God or the woman of God or the people you serve with haven't been revealed. At some point, violation is gonna happen. Yeah, because guess what? You can never be recognized You have to be revealed. When people handle you from the level of recognition and you buy in and allow yourself to only be recognized, you're doing yourself a disservice because They come recognizing you for who you are in the time. I see future. Come on. But the moment you let them down, because you wasn't revealed, they violated you. And that's why you got to handle your space based on revelation. When we got to get it— if you dealing with prayerless people You'll never be revealed because revelation happens in prayer. Yes, Paul said in Corinthians, henceforth now we should not know one another after the flesh. It's not based on how smart we are or how good we look or how gifted we are. We have to learn to slip past outer casing. And begin to examine who God has revealed the person is. Wait a minute, the Bible says know those who labor among you. The reason y'all violate one another in your churches— Jesus— because you don't know who you sitting next to. And what you got to start doing is demanding of the people in your culture to allow themselves to get deep enough in prayer where you are revealed.

Yes.

And guess what? When I'm revealed, you won't handle me like I'm just old Michael Lyris Woods. You will handle me like I'm God's man. You will handle that sister like she's God's daughter, and you will handle her with care because you know just like God has his hands on you, he has his hands on her. And he said, touch Not my anointed, neither. I'm sorry, I got to teach. You did that, you did that.

I came in here, I'm coming like I'm just going to teach.

I'm not going to sweat. Just got what somebody said. Don't recognize me. Don't recognize me. Tell— get a revelation.

Get a revelation.

A lot of trauma in church, yes, would cease.

Yes, come on.

If when Apostle broke that power on you and you hit the floor, you got up with something more than a I know this culture. I raised him in that culture. He stayed in the floor more than anybody. You just look at the boss.

He don't go out.

There's some people here just go to our church. Y'all know I'm telling the truth. But, but he was receiving and going out Lord. But when you get up out this floor, it got to be more than a good nap. Something going to change.

You want to get the revelation.

You can't tell me you walking in all that glory you say you're walking in and you can't get along. Come on, come on. Okay, so the apostolic heartbeat, I believe, in my opinion, Jesus, is one of the most important aspects of the architecture of this office. You got to understand the heart of an apostle to be an apostolic people. And if you are an apostle, you definitely need to understand what this heart looks like. Yeah, so I'm going to show it to you. Let's get some etymology real quick. First of all, the word apostolic means that that pertains to the work of an apostle. Come on, sir. Again, the woman of God was holy. I grew up in that same— been baptized in Jesus' name, tarry for the Holy Ghost, dresses down to the floor. But you know what I learned in that culture? It's just as much hell of a long dress as it is a short dress. It just take that woman a long dress a little longer. I just say this. When I was coming up, I had sinner women that I would date that had more respect for the fact that I was saved. Come on. Than the women in the church. I had one girl when I was in school, she, she was like, I ain't kissing you. You saved, you go to church. I'm not going to get in trouble with God. Little church girl, what you want? I'm paying for it. I'm buying it, buying it.

Whatever you need, I got it, I got it.

I'm just saying, something's got to happen on the inside.

Yeah.

So here, that structure— something's got to happen internally. It has to be revealed. Is apostolic means that, that pertains to the work of apostles. You don't understand that if you don't know what an apostle is. So can I— and I know y'all been taught that well in this house, but can I just revisit some of the pediatrics of this?

Please do.

Yes. I've also already given you the term in Greek, which is apostolos. Yes. Come on. It actually means a sent one or a special messenger. A special messenger, hear me, that is sent first of all with gubernatorial authority. The word gubernatorial deals with the fact that there is a governmental mantle, yes, that rests on every apostle. Yes. So that means I'm not just here to blow on you and you fall on the floor or prophesy to you or make you float in the glory. My apostolic government should shift things in your life that when you leave the building, you go into the marketplace and you begin to conquer in apostolic authority. You go into the municipality, which means you have an anointing to shift political outcomes because you are connected to gubernatorial authority. Watch this. Cumulatory authority. Let me use Apostle Hawkins for an example. Before she became an apostle, I knew she was one. Yeah, yeah. Before he became an apostle, I knew he was one. It's a matter of using cumulatory authority. And I was very wet behind the ears in this back then, trying to navigate through apostleship. But seeing what was in them, I started studying. Yes, I started putting mics in their hands. Yeah, even when he didn't want the mic, then I don't want to do that, I want to get up in front of people. Now you can't take the mic from this field. But what I'm trying to say is, when you encounter authentic apostleship, it's going to stir something in you. Yeah, I remember Prudence preached her first message. Yeah, church. She brings to that— we need you to do some more of that preaching, but you have to stir what's in there. That's what the gubernatorial authority does. Secondly, he's a special messenger, a sent one. I don't have time. That has plenipotentiary status. Plenipotentiary means that he has a multiplicity of potential, which means the apostle should be able to flawlessly move in and out of all 5 gifts. The apostle should of course be able to be an apostle, but then there ought to be a prophet inside of the apostle. There should also be an evangelist inside of the apostle. Which most apostles don't want to evangelize. They want everybody to come to their meeting, but they don't want to go get nobody to bring them to the meeting. Come on now, evangelists gather people into the kingdom.

Come on!

And an apostle ought to be a major gatherer. He ought to be a teacher. Yeah, she ought to be a teacher. If all the apostle does is scream, my God, he put question mark on that because apostles are educators. Yes, yes, watch this. Even beyond this room, I wasn't in San Francisco speaking to the church, I was speaking to leaders in the Fortune 500 company in Silicon Valley. Using the same apostolic authority and ability to teach, to teach leaders of corporations how to run their corporations effectively. An apostle is an educator, a teacher. That's why you can't get mad at Apostle coming here and teach you, even though it might take 4 or 5 hours. You do.

That's right, I own it.

So watch this. So you take your, your, your finger, your hand, and this is the Fivefold Ministry, the, the Explained Plenipotentiary. The Apostle is a thumb, so he could touch this finger, which is prophet that points into the future. He touches this finger, which is the evangelist that extends into the world. Touches this finger, which is the pastor that's married to the church. Touches this finger, that's the teacher that brings balance to the world. So the apostle is playing teacher. Watch this, let me take you further. He's also, or she's also, playing a potential in that all 9 gifts of the should flow freely through the apostle. Amen. So, so before you get in a hurry to call yourself an apostle, you got to make sure that you have plenty of a teacher status. Then it's just going to show up. You can't make yourself have this. Yeah, come on, sir. Apostle, shoot paper to not only speak in tongues but interpret tongues. Lay hands on sick and they recover. Discern spirits. Have a word of knowledge, a word of wisdom, word of faith, gift of prophecy, miracles. Play with your chair. Watch this. He's also apostles again, gubernatorial authority, plenipotentiary status. He's also a heavenly principality.

Yeah, yes, come on, come on, come on!

We hear so much talk, and I really— in my opinion, the church has too big of a devil.

Come on, come on!

So we spend too much time talking about what he can't do. I need you to recognize that God has placed heavenly principalities in place. Come on! In the form of princes in their palaces, in the form of apostles who can soar through the heavenly realm and bring control and order in a region and war against principalities in the present. Let me give you an example of my own. I'm in Atlanta. Atlanta is a crazy place, man. Uh, born and raised there. I've seen so much stuff come up and happen there. But during this time, God gave me an assignment as a heavenly principality in terms of being a gatekeeper in the region.

Yeah.

So I began to pray and ask God to show me the particulars of the assignment. And one of the particulars, one of God, was to ward off principalities that were trying to destroy mega pastors like Creflo Dollar, like Eddie Long. Listen, and like T.L. Bronner. And God said, I need you to keep these principalities away from them for two reasons. One, the church cannot afford another scandal. Jesus. To what they are doing as epicenters is important to the ecosystem in the kingdom, in the church. A lot of times we talk about— and most people who are in small settings despise that because they don't have it. If you had it, your testimony would be different. And then they, they're necessary because as pastors, there are things that they do. But as an apostolic house You must understand you're called to make sure those houses function. Yeah, although you may not be as big as that, right? The only reason Dwight Pickett can keep pastoring because this church is open. Okay, I call names.

I'm sorry.

The only reason New Horizons is still sitting on the hill down there Because there are some apostolic principalities that's standing in the hedge. Watch this. The apostle— the prophet— God said to the prophet, I sought for a man to make up the hedge and stand in the gap. What God does with apostles as principalities, he puts us in the gap. To make sure other ministries— and watch this— even the economy. That's right. See, apostles— and I could get into all of this— apostolic economy is so important because we affect how the economy moves. I was complaining one day, and you know, I can afford to buy gas, but I'm sitting at the pump, it's ridiculous because all my cars take premium. This is ridiculous. And the Lord said, what you complaining for? He said to me, don't complain about what you permit. You have authority to control the economy in this region. So I went back home and got on my face, began to pray, went to get some gas the next day. It was premium, was $3.28. I'm like, God, I thank you for the power to control the economy. Look at somebody, say, you see a gap, you see a gap, stand in it. Stand in it.

Thank you, Jesus.

Cuz we're not just here— thank you, sir— to go through the motions of what we do in church.

Amen.

It should communicate beyond these walls. Come on. All right, gubernatorial authority, plenipotentiary status, heavenly principalities. Here's the fourth thing: apostles flowing in as special messengers, they are also stratospheric warriors, which means they are air traffic controllers.

Come on!

Oh, if you ever get on an airplane and just kind of take a look at what's going on. And if you ever get to look inside of the cockpit, those pilots are not flying that plane. They're simply managing the instruments. There is a group of people on the ground called air traffic control. They can see all the traffic in the sky, and they're controlling the navigation of the airplane. This is what apostles and apostolic ministries should be doing. We should have a prophetic insight to everything that's happening in the atmosphere of the region that we've been assigned, and we should know how to strategically and deliberately pray Are you hearing this? Yeah, that, that atmosphere stays controlled by heavenly angels. Come on. And not demonic warriors. I promise you, the conditions— murders and crime, all these things that happen in your city— it's not a result just of people crazy. It's a result of a laziness among the people who are assigned to be stratospheric warriors to stop the stuff before it happens. Yeah, you realize we have authority to stop wars. Yes, yes, we have authority to change the mind of a president who's making a bad decision. But if we never get up into the realm, we won't see that. So that's what In a nutshell, I'm going on about what an apostle is. But you can't say you're apostolic if you don't have clarity concerning what the man or woman of God is doing. Yes. And I'm almost done, trust me.

So, heart.

So let's put this together. Apostle is laughing, man. So here's what's going to happen this weekend. I, I have a challenge. We're going to dispel the is that he did not get long preaching from me. I show you.

I inherited it, right?

So y'all got that? Apostle, the apostle. So let's look at this word heart. We're just getting some etymology, so that's too long for introduction. Heart, Greek word is kardia.

Jesus.

Not the heart that is 6 inches below the collarbone, but the word kardia is what we get words like cardiovascular pulmonary, cardiac. But this word literally means the center of man's being.

Jesus, come on!

It's the center of who man is, the human is. We're trichotomy. We're body, we're soul, we're spirit. We're made up of 3 parts. Your body is your bios life, your biological life. Has no value. The Bible said no good thing comes out of the flesh, the sarks or the bios.

Come on.

So nothing good can emanate out of this alone. It has to have an invisible system. Yeah, yeah, that works to make the body function. Come on. Sex doesn't start when you get into bed.

Jesus, Lord.

As a matter of fact, By the time most people get into bed, it's almost over. I'm trying to tell you that by the time it gets to the bottom, it's a dumb dick. Listen, I love my wife. When I got married to her, I said, my life has been filled with this stuff and I can't give you all of that stuff. I'm older, so I got about 30 minutes for you, and I'm going to fall off in a deep coma toast nicely, cuz that's all I got.

That's all I got. You expect anything on the third, man?

Anyway, all I'm saying, by the time it gets to this outer man, it's almost over. So some of y'all look at me, oh, you got some men look at me like that. How too many dudes going to judge me on 30? Okay, so all I'm saying is that by the time you get to the bottom, that's right, it's over. It's over. So it starts in the innermost man, in the spirit, which is your psayo life. It's the life that should be controlled by God. Yes, yes sir. It's the life that God influences. Yes sir. And what God does when he's in control, he sends a message to your soul or your heart, your psuke life. Which is your psychological existence, the center of where you are. And then in your soul, you work out a plan to bring to pass whatever message came—

oh my God—

to the soul in the body. You want that thing to come out. So a lot of what you manifest in your body is a result of bad messages that's flowing from your spirit. Yeah, if you don't like what's in your bank account, change the messages that you're receiving from your innermost man and what you're working out in your soul and presenting in your body. Let me say it this way in case somebody missed it: if you don't like what your check looks like at the end of the week, change what you're doing during the week. And the only way you change what you're doing during the week, you got to get the right message from the Spirit. It's going to change your behavior. So the heart then is the feelings, it's the emotions, the center, it's where decisions are made. So if you put those words together, the apostolic heart, I want you to understand something, is a heart that's very sensitive. The decisions for the kingdom in the assigned regional territory is made from the apostolic heart. Yeah, it's not made from the pastor's heart. It's not made from the evangelist heart. It's not made from the prophet's heart. It's made from the apostle's heart. God entrusts the apostle to manifest his agenda and to lead people in a way that what's in them will be manifest. Again, you got to get up off the floor and go out of the building and do something that's influential to humanity. Yeah, because that's what apostles are positioned to do for you. So let's understand how to stop nature. First of all, write this down.

It's gonna be a real simple right here.

Apostles—

this is the first part of their nature I want you to understand— are tough as nails. Come on, God, you know what we have to take. Let's think about a nail. The only way a nail can do its job It has to be hit with a hammer. So the apostles are niggas. That means we take a lot of hits. And not only that, the people connected to us, our family, yeah, take a lot of hits. So In an effort to cover the people we're assigned to in our family, we're taking so much stuff that we have to be tough. Yeah, because the only way that nail is going to penetrate that wood, you got to beat it through. And most of these apostles today have never endured beatings. Listen, you got to be willing to endure hardness. Yes, come on. That's a good soldier of Jesus Christ. And the woman of God said that although we're tough as nails— I want you to hear this, because most people, because they don't have a revelation, because we teach aggressively, yeah, yeah, our anointing is strong.

Yes, sir. Yes, yes.

There is in us a lion. She talked about the roar.

Amen. That's right, that's right.

Apostles have feelings. Some of us see the apostle floating and doing what they do, and we don't think that they have feelings. We're not superhuman. You know, the lamb part of us makes us a lot of times overly concerned about people when we should be more concerned about ourselves.

Jesus, oh God, it's true.

You know why this is though? Because in every apostle— this is why when God said— I say it all the time— I ain't signing up for this on my own. I be trying to have meetings with God like, can we retire? Can we Quit.

I've done it long enough.

I don't want to get hit with no hammer no more. I cast out on them devils, I lay hands on them sick. Can I just do something else?

His answer always is no.

Yes, sir. We are so concerned that you fulfill your purpose because we see it. We look out there, we see what's in you, and we want to get it out of you. And a lot of times we dismiss ourselves trying to sacrifice for you. Jesus. But in order to properly defend apostolic leadership— and all of us need it because you gotta know who he is, you recognize who he or she is— you got to defend them. But you gotta understand, and this is very important, Saints, what is it in you that's going to help them? Yes. And what is it in you, listen, that hinders them? That's good, because while you bring something to the table to help You gotta understand, there is something in you that will hinder them. You gotta check yourself and say, I gotta bring this in check, right? That's right. Because I don't want to hinder the progression and the continuity of what the Apostle is called to do.

I know you have—

I know you're good at what you do. But have you been honest with yourself? How do you hinder? And what have you done to address that thing that hinders? Again, that's why revelation is important. Yes. Because if you don't have a revelation, you have violation. Jesus. And that door swings both ways. Not only do you need a revelation of your leader, you need a revelation of you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This most dangerous thing is to think that you have no hindering characteristics. Jesus. The very fact that you opened your eyes and got out of the bed this morning suggests that there's something you could do to hinder somebody My God, really good. But you got to figure out how do I deal with that so I don't let that hinder the work. It's revelation. It's first recognizing you got that. Come on, your hindrance may be your selfishness, your laziness in giving. It may be your laziness in prayer. Your hindrance may be you're sitting there looking at the apostle thinking you could do it better than them. An apostle— and I told him a lot about this because I try to share wisdom with him in mistakes I'll make. And at the end of the day, you can't be here trying to Yeah, he's the most loving person I know. He loves everybody. He'll give his last tooth. That's that man right there. I know that for a fact. But what you have to do is not to try to manipulate that Come on, come on. Because that can be a hindrance, because you know he's gonna love you, you know he's going to be compassionate, you know at all costs he's loyal. But you got to realize when that devil in you is trying to work through you to manipulate that, cuz that hinders the whole progress of what God wants to do. I told y'all, I pray that y'all like me when I get through. I'm just trying to help. But you know what, as leaders, oftentimes, Sandra, our parental passion— that's what it is, that's what it is. Cuz I, I think about this in the natural first. First natural, then spiritual. I know how I handle my children It leads us far. Yes, it does. When I married my wife, I not only do I have my grandchildren, but I took on two other children. I have a blended family, and I never had a daughter. Now I got a daughter which gave us a granddaughter. My granddaughter, probably the baddest thing walking. I mean, she's— don't put your children to church. You're terrible. Is burning out immediately if she's there. She, she, she, she, she's just a 4-year-old that's confident, that thinks she's 40. But knowing that, I have to be hard on her sometimes. But there's just certain ways she could say my name. Papa Mike. I'll be by the chokers. Papa Mike, look at me a certain way and my heart just melts. And that's that parental passion. Well, come on, let's go get some ice cream. I forgot that she done tore up everything that was in her sight. But our parental passion for sons and daughters— watch this— it often causes us not to discern. Yeah, come on, come on. Watch this. Who will receive us properly?

Yeah, Jesus.

Yes, sir. And who will not? Yes, sir. That's so true, because we got a passion to give it to everyone, but we gotta discern. Yeah, the Bible said mark that one that's dangerous. You gotta mark them and say, look, you know, I gotta hold them there. Pull everybody close. So true. Jesus, I'm just trying to show you the nature of the Apostle's heart. And watch this, that's why the scripture said guard it. Yes, it said guard it, for out of it flows the issues of life.

Everything you need is in your apostolic leader.

I know we live in a society now, I'm grown, I can do what I want to do, I listen to people online, I learn online, all that crap.

Listen, you need a leader.

You need somebody that can pull your chain. Yeah, sometimes I just absolutely— I'm talking about absolutely, categorically hate my spiritual father, and I have to repent because this dude is off the chain. And I'm like, Apostle, Apostle Graham, listen, man, you're doing too much, man. I'm 53 years old. Wow, I understand. I— yeah, always. I understand. I needed that though. He can just pick up the phone and it's just out the blue. He'll see something I post. Well, now you shouldn't have said that. What's wrong with that? Apparently you ain't got much to do because you are stalking my Facebook post and then calling me telling me—

I ain't say nigger, but it's like that.

What you gonna do?

But here's what I'm saying. You need that because I understand that everything I am and will ultimately continue to become as an apostle is because of him.

That's good.

So I've heard it. You can't come to me and tell me nothing about him. Come on now, you talking about fighting words. Y'all not talking— listen, I ain't down with faith. I'm saved, but I ain't down with faith. I never— I believe the word of God. Bible said, what you find your hands to do, do with all your heart. Mess with my pastor, I got some Peter in me. I might cut your ear off and then put it back on. You got to guard your leader, your leader. How you going to engage in conversation about the man that's carrying life for you.

He carrying your life.

You know that somebody— listen, that's just like, again, taking the heartbeat of your assignment and stepping on it and saying it's worth nothing. You got to check people and say, hey, you went too far. This is how Jesus charges us apostles to handle when we can't discern what to give and who to give it to. Matthew 7, verse 6. The Bible says this, and we gotta, we gotta be right here, otherwise we'll end up hurt. He said, give not that which is holy unto the dogs. The word holy, hagios in Greek, and it means that that is consecrated, set apart for a specific assignment. So God's saying specifically, there's some things you just can't give some people. The word dogs there deals with a guard dog. Watch this, that's a watchdog, a protector. That's like a stronghold that's designed to keep what's in, in, and what's out, out. That's what a stronghold does.

It keeps what's in, in.

It starts guarding territory in our house. See, the devil will raise up guard dogs in the house and start guarding positions and territories to keep what's in, in. In and then to keep us out. Out there's some fresh things that want to come in, that want to be involved and be a part, that God done says, no, this is my territory, this is where I rule, this is where I get fulfillment, and I don't want that to penetrate what I'm doing over here. And you got to make up in your mind, I'm not going to allow anyone to keep me out of what belongs to me. Don't you let anybody keep you out of where you belong. Some of you get so upset with that spirit that you want to leave. That's why people leave churches. They know they're assigned there. Come on. Wow, wow, wow. They run off. Come on. Because a guard dog is trying to keep them from moving forward. Watch this. He says, don't get ahold of the dog, neither cast your pearls before swine. It's hard to get, lest they trample them under their feet. That word trample is a Greek word, agoumai.

Agoumai means that they wreck it, shatter it, bring it to total ruins.

Churches are destroyed When we give stuff to people who don't deserve it. Jesus had 12 apostles, only 3 was in his inner circle.

3, 3, 3, come on.

The others were apostles, but only 3 were close. Only 3 were close. Let me say this to you. Apostles— I'm just again trying to show you nature— are not superhuman. We have feelings. That's all I'm trying to tell you. 1 Corinthians 4, let's go. You just asked Paul, didn't you? He'll show you. I know a lot of apostles like to believe they're superhuman, but we're not. We're not. And there's something to be said about balance. The Bible said the false balance is an abomination to the Lord. That's the same thing— oh my God— he says about homosexuality and lesbianism. Abomination. It's detestable to him when we're out of balance. So we have to accept the fact that there is a humanity in us. Watch this, we're descendants of Jesus. Come on, come on. Every apostle is in the lineage of Jesus Christ. I'm gonna say it again. Every true apostle— and I don't have time to teach this— comes from the line of Jesus. In the apostolic DNA is Jesus Christ. The Bible said, before I formed you, Jeremiah 1:5, I knew you. Yada in Hebrew. I was intimate with you. I was close with you. I opened you up and made deposits in you. Based on who you would be. And then when you come to the earth, you're going to manifest what I deposited. So in every apostle in the before, in the Yada place, God deposited apostolic DNA that made us kindred to him. This is why every apostle is always, always evolving. 'Cause we have so much to gain and we got to grow, man. Yes, we do. We got to get beyond just prophesying, laying hands.

That's right, that's right.

Our place in the world is so much bigger. Matter of fact, I truly believe God wants to get us to the point that the people we're raising up, that y'all have enough power and authority to do the laying on the hands, to do the— that y'all love one another enough and clear enough about what God wants that you could do it, and all apostles got to do is stay here and teach. Okay, 1 Corinthians 4, verse 9. Say, apostles are not superhuman. Let me read it. For it seems to me— listen to this— you say you want to be an apostle. Yeah, Paul says, it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession. Well, that seems like we get no credit for all the work we do.

Jesus, again trying to be recognized.

He said, like those condemned to die in the arena. So when you become an apostle, death— I'm only going to talk about it—

is imminent.

We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe. Really not apostolic until you've been made a spectacle. I told somebody the other day, man of God, won't call his name, He called me from jail and he had just started accepting his apostleship and stuff. I said, all right, bro, every apostle has been to jail studying in the Bible. So what I'm gonna need you to do— there's a reason why God got you there, because maybe you wouldn't pray while you was praying. Maybe you would cultivate the gift in private while you was free. Maybe you didn't have enough discipline to unfold the gift to the level that needed to be unfolded free. So because he loves you, Jesus, he gave you a temporary season in the jail cell to introduce you to yourself. Apostle, those that will watch this, you better think that over. Say, he's made a spectacle to the universe. Watch this, to angels as well as to human beings.

The angels sitting up there looking at Apostle saying, ain't no way I will do that and go through what they have to go through to be who they are.

Jesus.

He said, verse 10, we are fools for Christ, which means we're bird brain.

We lost our mind. Whatever he wants, we want.

I always said Jesus is the chief of all apostles.

The Bible said the church is built on the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus being the chief.

A chief is in the order of anything, it is the head person in that order.

So in the order of apostles, Jesus is the chief, right? So if Jesus is in charge, he's our example. Oh God, yeah, didn't he die? Wasn't he crucified by his own people and then was resurrected by the Holy Ghost? So you go through things where you have to allow God to resurrect you, where he get the total glory. I always say, with the same eyes that they watch you struggle, with the same eyes that they watch you cry, With the same eyes they watch you lose everything. I say that because I'm talking to myself a lot of times when I'm saying that, cuz my story is huge. I've been through a lot of stuff. I've lost everything at one point in my life. And God said to me, with the same eyes they watched you fall, with the same eyes they watched you go With the same eyes that watch your marriage break up and lose your church and lose everything you had, he said, I'm going to make them watch you come out. He said, with the same eyes that they watch you go down, they going to watch you come up again. So until the— we got— so people coming and said, oh, I was in Atlanta, rode by, riding down Twitter, I saw your billboard for the church on I-20. I said, oh, just, just keep watching, we ain't finished. Glory to the name of God. Because when I was here, we had like 6 billboards at one time. We're just doing what God told us to do. It's not to be seen, it's to bring glory to the kingdom. Because if a beer company can put a sign up, we can put a sign up for Jesus, telling people to come to Jesus. And you got to learn that no matter what you're going through, because because you're apostolic, because you're tough as nails, because you go through hell and high water. I'm gonna just quit. I ain't through.

We gotta—

we got a few more services we got to do. But I want you to understand, you gotta demand of yourself to keep going. I know sometimes it gets so hard that you want to throw in the towel, that you want to quit, because that's the nature of apostolic stuff. You go through through so much hardness that you just want to give up, but you gotta demand of yourself that no matter how hard this gets, I'm going to keep going. You got to make up in your mind that somebody's watching me. It's not the fame or fortune or popularity, it's for the glory of God. Because when you think to hell and back, people need to understand that you went through something. See, if we don't go through nothing, we might as well sit a baby up here and let the baby talk to us. But you can't tell me nothing if you've never been through nothing. And that is the demand of the Apostle, to go through hell, to go through trouble, to go through trial, to go through tribulation, so we can come back. I dare you hit somebody and say, I'm back and I'm better than ever. Good God from Zion, hit somebody else and tell them, I'm back and I'm better than ever. The devil thought it was over, the devil counted me out, but I dare you shout, I'm back! You say, shout it again, I'm back!

I'm back.

I've had some hard days, but I'm back. I've had some trouble, but I'm back. I've had ups and downs, but I'm back.

I got somebody shouting, I'm back, I'm back, I'm back! I am back!

I feel somebody being restored. I feel somebody bouncing back. I feel God pulling you back into place. Come on, I tell you, open your mouth. I said, devil, you a liar, you can't hold me down.

I am blessed.

Well, praise God. I promise you, that message blessed us so much in person, and I pray, I really pray that you got the same charge that we got when we was there live experiencing the outpour from heaven. Listen, you, you have to connect to authentic, true apostolic leadership, especially if you are a leader. It is so vitally important, man, that you do that. Listen, I, I just, you know what, there's no way around it really. You have to have an apostle in your life at some point to stir what's in you, to flip on a switch, turn it on, and deploy you into what you've been called to do. So you got to connect adequately with the apostolic heart. Listen, this month, the month of December, I want to give every one of you an opportunity to preorder our book. And listen, this is going to be a powerful powerful, powerful book, man. It is called "The Gift of Apostleship." The Bible says, "And he gave, he gave some apostles," which means everyone is not an apostle. Everyone literally, glory to the name of God, is not assigned to apostolic leadership, even in the pastoral sense. So there, there you have the "some." But this book is a treatise really that opens up revelation knowledge to apostleship, what that means. So you'll have clarity really on how to connect with apostolic ministry because again, you so need it. This book is a long time coming. It's been in my loins for over 20 years. I'm so grateful that God has graced us really to birth on this level. And I wanna give you opportunity this month to get this download into your life. And then for those of you that preorder this month, you're also going to get, glory to the name of God, a hard copy when the hard copy drops. Glory to the name of God. In the month of February of 2023. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to preorder today at our special, The Gift of Apostleship. You can get, glory to God, for the low, low price. Watch this. Of $12.97, and that covers the download of the ebook, and it covers the shipping and handling. Glory to the name of God. With the hard copy, signed copy of the book that you're gonna receive directly from me when it drops in February. So again, you wanna make sure you get this. So you go ahead and pay your $12.97 today. On Christmas Day, you're gonna get a great gift, the gift of apostleship. You'll be able to download it digitally on your device so you can read it and enjoy it. But then when it drops in February, you'll get the actual hard copy of the book, and I'm super excited about that. So go ahead, place your order today. The way to order is on the screen. Make sure you go to the website, glory to the name of God, and get the book now. I promise you, you will be glad you did. Listen, let's Pray. Glory to God, it's prayer time. I thank you for joining us today, and I pray that you have a supernatural week for real. And what I want to pray for today is that the heart of the vision that God has given you, that it will be stirred, that it would emerge, that it will come alive, and that you will begin to walk in the full authority and manifestation of God's power and grace for your life. I believe that there is so much more. I believe that there is— there are things that you've never experienced yet that you're getting ready to experience. But you got to connect to the heart of the right apostolic patriarch or matriarch, and you got to align yourself properly so that what you've been dreaming about, what you've been thinking about, can come to pass. So let's pray. For the heart of your vision, that it is motivated not out of carnal desire, not out of childlike ambitions or selfish ambitions even. But let's pray, glory to God, that what you're trusting God to see come forth in your life really is born out of a real desire to please God and to see his— oh my God, hand of favor on your life perpetually because you're moving in perfect alignment with what you were born to do. And I'm telling you, I believe it is possible to really move in perfect alignment with what God has ordained for your life. Sometimes it takes a little while to find that, but if you follow the principles and listen to wisdom, I promise you, you will get there. I mean, it's possible to be in perfect alignment with the person God wanted you to marry, doing the right thing you're supposed to be doing in ministry and not guessing about it, starting the right business, taking the right classes, getting the right education. You could be perfectly aligned. There is a real purpose and destiny and vision over your life that was preordained by God. So let's pray for the heart of that. Let's pray that the things you do, the work you put in going forward, is aligned properly with God, and that God will send you to leadership if you don't already have it, that you can move forward in what God has called you to do. Let's pray. Father, in Jesus' name, I thank you for these your people. I thank you for the anointing that rests on their life. I thank you for— I thank you, God, that no weapon formed against that gift in their belly will be able to prosper. I decree and declare today, God, that their worst days are over, and I decree and declare even now that these are the best days of their life. Ishkorobo brikema, hasse bedosia talabande de bekosi, in the name of Jesus. And I decree and declare that you are Jehovah Jireh. Not, not only do you— a lot of times when we say that, we're thinking about physical needs that you provide. But the, the idea that, Jesus, you are Jehovah Jireh, but through your redemption we have access to the spirit of Jehovah Jireh, the spirit of provision. So not only do you provide for us physically, but you also provide for us spiritually. And so, God, I thank you for providing the spiritual things that pertain to life and godliness in this earth, because your word declares you've given us everything that pertains to life and godliness. It is found in you, Lord Jesus. So manifest clear purpose. I pray for every person under the sound of my voice that they will have clarity and understanding concerning what they should be doing relationally, ministerially, professionally, And even as parents and spouses, I pray, God, that you give them clarity on how to navigate through the seasons of their life and manifest perfectly what you've ordained. And I give you praise for it now. And God, even where we fail, we ask you for mercy. We ask you for grace. Forgive us, God. And God, set our course in the right direction. And we give you praise for it now, in Jesus' name. Amen. And thanks be to God. Listen, I want to invite you, glory to God, to be a giver today. Listen, plant seed in ministry. Glory to— I can't tell you what to do because the Lord is not telling me to challenge you with anything but to challenge your faith. I need you to make a sacrifice today. Pray about what you'll give. Be a support to ministry. If you're connected to Rhoda Church, it is incumbent upon you to tithe. I appreciate the partners and friends we have all over the country that tithe into this ministry, that really support this ministry through the teachings they receive. They feel— and they feel really obligated to sow and give. And then we have sons and daughters around the country that do their due diligence to support. Thank you so much. So I'm asking everybody today, sow, plant a seed, give unto ministry so we can continue to do what the Lord has called us to do. Listen, I love you so much. You're so amazing. You're so wonderful. You're so kind. Listen, give. The ways to give are on the screen. Rodder Church is our Cash App. You can go to our website, baptistchurch.com/donate. Simply click the donate button and share your tithe, your offering, however you choose to give today. Listen, I love you guys, man. Y'all are so wonderful. You're such an amazing people, and I bless you for—

hallelujah—

just being so kind to me. And I thank you again for all that you do. Listen, y'all be blessed. My time is gone. Share the word with a friend. And remember, your decisions will set you up for dominion. God bless you.