When I'm talking about a restored mandate, I'm referring to that mandate that we find in Genesis 1:28 when God commanded his main creation to subdue, to rule over, and have dominion over everything that was in the earth at that time.
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Every child of God has a portion, has a measure that's been given. I mean, you can't look at one person and say they have the whole bag of goods, right? There's no such person like that. One of the good reasons for that is because it allows us to be dependent on one another. That no one person, no group of people have all the answers. We're all children of God.
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Your territory and mine is anything, is anything that God has entrusted to us. Anything. Whatever the anything is, it's not. But our first territory, our main one, or for lack of a better word, our Jerusalem, is you and I ourselves.
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The truth is that all of godly ministry, we use that term ministry and we immediately think in the context of a church. But ministry is ministry. That is a small part. It goes beyond the four walls of a church building. And so everything has to flow out of our hearts too. Any ministry that you and I do, wherever we do it, must flow out of the heart of God.
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We are to watch over all our heart with all diligence. We need to guard, above all guarding. Because out of our hearts flow the springs of life. It's actually the source of life. Everything begins in the heart.
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To a believer, and I'm saying to a believer, those that have received Christ as their Lord and Savior, it's all about service to God and worship of God. But not within the context only of a church building, but within the context of every fiber of your life and mine, every single one.
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That’s an act of worship. It means that every aspect of your life and mine needs to be cultivated, needs to be developed, it needs to be tilled, seeds need to be planted, and then those seeds need to be watered. All as an act of service to God and worship of God.
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God really owned the garden, but he made Adam a steward, an administrator of what he gave him. And so, you know, even Eden, the garden of Eden, that was given or entrusted to Adam required cultivating.
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Keep means to have charge of. To guard, protect, and watch over. Now, listen, don't tune me out. God, I really need everybody to grab a hold of this. I really believe. I've been praying and believing that God's going to do a work, and as many of us are open to it. And I'm open to it. God means to have us have charge of. Guard, protect, and watch over.
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Adam was not only responsible to cultivate what God had given it. He was responsible to protect it from the enemy. So I'm going somewhere with this. He was supposed to subdue, rule over, and have dominion over his area. Adam was supposed to govern it, but unfortunately, and for us, he failed miserably.
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He failed to govern it. Wow, why? Why do you say he failed so miserably? Well, he was silent when the devil, through the serpent, was having all kinds of conversations with his wife. I don't see anywhere recorded in Scripture that Adam spoke up and said, get away from my wife. He didn't say anything.
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What happens in your spouse's life, whether it's a husband or a wife, is part of the territory that God wants you to protect, care for, and watch for.
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I think it's important for each spouse to believe, each one to believe that the other one belongs first and foremost to God. See, I've been walking this out in my own prayer life, confession life. When I look at my wife, and you all know that she, I mean, she's rough on me. Right? You all know that, right? Can I get an amen? Amen, amen. Honey, I'm talking right now. Those that are live streaming don't, they hear a word, and they're not going to hear a word in Jesus' name. No, but this is the truth. I have to view her first as being a daughter of the king. She needs to view me as a son of the king. It changes everything, guys.
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How we treat the other spouse is supposed to be a reflection of how God sees them. And so, I have to look, again, I'm going to use this. I have to look at her as how God sees her. And no matter what, I mean, she's not perfect. I know y 'all, some of you think she is. She's not. But you know what? I got to view her through the lens of God himself. And then, you know, I'm thinking, he loves her, despite, because I realized first, he loved me, despite.
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We're supposed to care for, protect, and guard against what? Against enemy intrusion. Oh, I don't see enemies. Yeah, you need to open up spiritual eyes, and you'll see them, because there is enemy intrusion all about us. The devil is like a roaring lion, roaming about, seeking whom he may devour. You know what that means? He's looking for who of us has an open door or a crack through a window that he can get in.
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If God gave to each a measure, a metron, the question is, are we using the measure he gave us? Are we aware that he gave us a measure? So he's given it to us. So what are we going to do about that?
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If you have children, they're part of the nature or metron and sphere of activity that God gave you. You and I cannot always be responsible for the choices that our children or teens make. Right? Right. Can we? How many of you have ever had children or teens do something you did not like? Raise your hand. A few of you are deceived. I'm going to tell you right now. You're deceived, but you be you. We can't always be responsible for the choices they make because we're not around them 24-7. We're not even around them 24-7 when they're locked away in their rooms anyway. Hmm? But, but, and there's always a but, we do have a responsibility for the culture, the values, the training that goes on in said home. That's the parent's responsibility. You are responsible for the culture. You are responsible for the training. You're responsible for the values.
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God entrusted those children to us, bucko, not to you. Not to you. Let's make it our business to know what's going on in their lives. Uh-oh, here we go. Because I had teenagers, too. You understand? I mean, they're here now. They're grown. They're grown up adults and everything. Homes of their own. But, you know, let's make it our business to know what's going on in their lives.
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I have a responsibility to God to raise you in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. That's our responsibility. Is it done perfectly? Of course not. I made mistakes. Not Rose. I made mistakes. But we need to get our, I mean, he gave us our home. God did.
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Children and teens are looking for something from their parents also. We may not know it. See, the question is, as parents, are we living the real, intangible life of Christ before them? Some way that they can taste and see that the Lord is good. Are we doing that?
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One thing that young people hate is hypocrisy. Now, I hate hypocrisy, but they hate hypocrisy, they do. And so even if they disagree with you and I, can they see the following word in us, consistency? They'll hate hypocrisy, but can they at least say that at least you were consistent? Can they say that mom and dad talked to them, but also walked the walk?
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These children, these teens, these spouses, these family members, people who live, they're our ground, yours and mine, to build, to cultivate, to tend to, to protect, and to watch over. And maybe somebody here this morning is saying, man, I've, I've really blown it. I got good news for you. You're in good company. We've all blown it. I've blown it. How about you? But this, I could tell you with all sincerity and with everything that I can believe, Jesus is still for you and not against you.
[01:18:45]
If some of us have had some cycles, we don't realize that we've been living that have been passed out from one generation to another in our familial history. And I'm telling you, God gave you the authority. You need to break those cycles in Jesus' name. You need to start another one. It's never too late. You know when it's too late? When you leave this earth.
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Jesus is still for you as long as you are still for him. He won't force himself on you. So if you're not for him, he could, but he chooses not to. He freely loved you and me and gave himself up for you and me of his own free will.
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What I want us to see is that the mandate was restored by Christ. What I want us to understand that he has given a measure to each one of his children. What I want us to know is that we have specific areas of our lives that we are supposed to, you and I, to bring under kingdom rule.
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We are to cultivate and keep those areas exactly in the same manner that Adam was instructed to do. And as you and I begin to grasp this reality from God, then you and I have to start addressing the spiritual climate that is pervasive around us and not in a good way.
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If we come across demonic activity in any of those areas, here's what I do know. Christ gave you and I the authority, the authority to address it, to deal with it, and to get rid of it.
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Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world. I go back to the Lord. I don't go to me. I go to the Lord. There's nothing of me by itself that's worth anything. You say, man, you're pretty down on yourself. No, no, I'm no longer down on myself. I was. I'm up on myself because Christ lives in me. His life is hid in me.
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Wherever a son or daughter of God is called to, they are called to bring the presence of God with them. Wherever you or I are called to, you're supposed to bring the presence of God with you. When you walk in your house, his presence is with you. When you walk in a church, I hope you believe his presence is with you. When you go to your schools, he's with you. At your workplace, he's with you. Vacation, he's with you. He is for you and not against you. That's he speaks to his children.
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