The Lion On The Throne

Praise the Lord, church.

No name like Jesus, amen.

King of kings, Lord of Lords.

God all by Himself.

Don't need your help.

Don't need my help.

Amen.

He rules, He reigns.

Jesus is Lord.

Come on, everybody.

Give Him some praise in the house of God.

Good to see you all in church today.

So glad to be with you.

Welcome to all of our locations, our online television audience, social media audience.

We're glad everybody is here to hear a word from God.

If you need your Bible, would you kindly raise your hand?

Our wonderful ushers will get them to you.

Let's go ahead and hold our Bibles up and I'll make this declaration of our faith together.

Ready, go.

This is my Bible.

It is my primary source of spiritual nourishment.

I will read it every day and become all that God wants me to be.

My mind will be renewed, my life will be transformed.

I will become fully surrendered to Christ.

Therefore, I will hide his word in my heart so I can be all God has destined me to be.

Amen.

If you would kindly remain standing in honor of the word of God, we are going to the book of Revelation.

Revelation chapter number five, perhaps the most difficult book in the Bible to understand, but that's why you have a preacher so he can help you to understand the things of God.

Revelation chapter number five, verse number one says, And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.

And then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?

And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it.

So I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it.

But one of the elders said to me, Do not weep.

Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

Today I want to minister to you as we complete our series, Lions and Giants and Bears.

But God, I want to minister to you about the lion that is on the throne.

How many of you know Jesus is not just a lamb, but he's also the ruling and reigning lion of the tribe of Judah?

Let's pray.

Father, in the mighty name of Jesus, we thank you for your word.

We thank you for the Holy Spirit, who is our teacher, guider, leader in all truth.

I pray right now that he would speak through me.

I pray my mind, my heart, my mouth would all be anointed to speak and to share what you would have, and that lives would be touched, transformed, and changed.

Father, I pray that you would convict and convince as we get transformed further into the image of Christ.

In his name we pray, and everybody said, You may be seated.

Today we come to the close of our series, Lions, Giants, and Bears, but God.

And we have been in a lot of places.

We have been in a den with Daniel, and we saw how God can deliver from the lion's den.

We have been in a pit on a snowy day with Benaniah, and we saw how God can give us victory in difficult conditions.

We've watched David get victory over Goliath after God delivered him from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear.

And last week we visited Jairus and we found out that the enemy was not just a lion, it wasn't just a bear, it wasn't just a giant, it was death itself.

And we saw that even in those circumstances, when all hope is gone, that there is always a but God in our lives.

And the reason for that is because he rules and reigns.

Today we're talking about the greatest of all the lions that there is, the Lord Jesus Christ.

He rules and he reigns as King of kings and Lord of Lords.

He rules over kings and kingdoms and presidents and principalities and parliaments and powers.

He rules over sickness and disease.

He rules over sorrows.

He rules over demons and darkness and depression.

He rules over everything that the enemy tries to throw into your life.

He rules and he reigns, always will, always has.

He ruled and reigned before there was a devil to be defeated.

He'll rule and reign even after the devil is defeated.

His reign will never stop.

Nobody voted him in.

Nobody can vote it out.

He's the king of kings and lord of lords.

Today I want to talk to you about who's ruling in your life, who's the king on the throne of your heart.

Four things I want to share with you today about this king.

Number one, the lion is often imitated but never duplicated.

Now I know it sounds like a rhyme, but I want you to understand the power of this point.

First Peter chapter 5, verse number 8 speaks to us about somebody else who acts like a lion.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

We've read this text many times in this series.

Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, walks about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

He's like a lion.

Jesus is the lion.

He's an imitator.

He's always imitated ever since the beginning.

And you need to understand why the enemy imitates the real lion, the lion of the tribe of Judah.

It's because his original quest was for God's throne.

In Isaiah chapter 14, verse number 13, the Bible says, For you have said in your heart speaking of Satan or Lucifer before he was Satan.

Isaiah 14 · chapter mention

I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.

And later on he says, I will be like the Most High God.

Five times in that text, he says, I will.

And the fifth times he says, I will be like.

In other words, he's trying to imitate God, but he realized he'll never have God's throne.

He said, I'll try, but I can't.

He lost that fight and realized he can't have the throne of God.

God cannot be overthrown from his throne.

But there is one throne that God can be overthrown from, and that's the throne of your heart.

And really, what's happening in our lives, and most of us don't realize this, is that Satan is vying for the one throne that he can still have access to.

The one throne that he can still sit on.

And that is the throne of your heart and my heart.

And in Proverbs chapter 4, verse number 23, the Bible says, keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it come the issues of life.

Proverbs 4 · chapter mention

You and I have to make a determination that nobody is going to sit on the throne of our heart but Jesus.

And so when the devil brings temptation into our lives, we've got to do like the game show.

You remember that game show, deal or no deal?

You know, it looked good, it was a good deal, it was a great deal, it was a guaranteed deal.

It looked like it was gonna change your life, but there could be something better, right?

And so you had to decide deal or no deal.

When temptation comes, no matter how good it looks, you and I need to say no deal.

We've got to keep Jesus on the throne of our heart.

We gotta realize that Jesus is the only one who has a right to rule our hearts.

See, one of these lions is worth worshiping, the other one is not.

And when you compare the two, there is no comparison.

One has no beginning, has no end.

He's the Alpha and the Omega, the God that was, is, and will always be.

The other one is a created being.

One lives forever, the other lion is determined to die, cast into the lake of fire.

One defeated death, the other one will experience death and hell and the lake of fire.

We need to stay on the winning side.

We need to realize that death could not hold our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Like the song saying the veil was torn before him.

He silenced the call of sin and shame.

The heavens are roaring, the praise of his glory, for he was raised to life again.

He has no rival, he has no equal.

Now and forever he shall reign.

We need to realize there is no comparison.

We get fooled so often.

One lion is for us, the other is against us, one lion is our advocate, the other one is our adversary, one lion brings life, the other one comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

One speaks truth, the other is the father of lies.

One lion prowls, the other lion has prevailed.

So here's the question for every one of us which lion is on the throne of our heart?

Which lion is our Lord?

Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew chapter 6, verse 24.

Matthew 6:24

He said, No one can serve two masters.

For either you will hate the one and love the other, or else you'll be loyal to the one and despise the other.

You cannot serve God or mammon.

God or mammon, who sits on the throne of your finances?

Does your money serve God, or do you serve your money?

Who's on the throne of your life?

And we can broaden that.

God or self.

Jesus said, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.

Who wins when God's word and your wants collide?

Who's on the throne of your life?

God or pleasure.

The Bible warns of those who are lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God who's on the throne of your life.

God or the approval of people.

Paul said, if I still pleased men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ.

Whose opinion rules your decisions?

Who's on the throne of your life?

The enemy is after the throne of our heart.

He suddenly slides things onto the throne: a bank account, a career, a relationship, a habit, a screen, an image.

Because the devil is the master advertiser.

He's been running commercials ever since the Garden of Eden.

And he never shows you the bondage.

He always shows you the billboard.

It's like the impossible burger.

Y'all remember that?

I don't think it's around no more.

I think it just didn't sell.

Even though it looked like beef, saw that thing that had grill marks on it and everything, right?

Looked like beef.

It smelled like beef.

They even made it made it bleed like beef.

I mean, they try to make it look as much like a burger as a box, but it wasn't the real deal.

And here's what the enemy comes along and tries all the time.

He tries to give us these counterfeit things, these imitation things that promise us what God wants to give us in our lives if we do things his way.

But they never do measure up like sex outside of marriage.

It advertises intimacy, but it can't deliver covenant.

The bat the bottle, it advertises relief, but it delivers dependence.

The advertising is always intriguing.

It looks good until it's not.

Don't fall for the imitation.

Stick with the real thing.

God's ways are also always better.

We think it's innocent, but it's really looking for a position in your heart.

We think, oh, what's the big deal?

I got this.

What's the big deal?

It won't take over my life.

What's the big deal?

It's only once.

What's the big deal?

It's only this thing.

And we don't realize that's how the enemy gets to our heart.

Because there's a little taste of this and a little taste of this, and before you know it, he keeps dragging us in and dragging us in and dragging us in and dragging us in until that thing becomes more important to us than God.

And that brings me to the second thing we know need to know about this lion.

This lion demands willful allegiance.

It's like an oxymoron demands willful.

But he demands willful allegiance.

Look back at our text and watch what happens further down in Revelation chapter number five.

Revelation chapter five, verse number eight says, the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

They fell down into worship.

And by the time we get to verse number 13, every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and under the sea, they're all crying out, blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb.

Forever and ever.

Everything in the jungle bows to this lion because this lion doesn't share the jungle.

This lion rules the jungle.

He's a king on the throne.

He demands allegiance.

Philippians chapter 2, verse number 10 says this at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow, every tongue on earth and heaven shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father by us.

Philippians 2 · chapter mention

Here's what I want you to see, though.

In the throne room, nobody in Revelation is bowing at gunpoint.

The elders fall down willingly.

After all, not even Lucifer was required to worship.

He had a choice to worship.

And that's why when he chose to go against God, you think about that.

Even in heaven, everything in heaven is still willful.

It's not obligated.

God wants us to be there.

God wants us to see him as king.

God wants us to worship him as king because we want to, not because we have to.

This lion is after not forced compliance, but willful allegiance.

He doesn't want us to surrender because he's a tyrant.

He wants us to surrender because we realize he's worthy and we choose to surrender.

And that's the wonder of it, isn't it?

This all-powerful God who could force compliance if he wanted to.

He has every bit of power too.

We read the scripture.

At the end of time, at the name of Jesus, every tongue will confess, every knee will bow.

He can force us to bow, but this all-powerful God stands and knocks on the door of our hearts.

What kind of king is this?

With that kind of power that he still says you choose, willful allegiance is what is required.

He wants us to surrender to him because we recognize who he is.

Joshua chapter 24, verse number 15 says, choose you this day whom you will serve.

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

It is a choice.

God wants us to surrender willfully.

Both lions call for our surrender.

And both require an act of your will.

Listen to me.

Because neither God in his sovereignty or the devil in his subtility can make you and I do anything.

I don't know where we got this.

The devil made me do it.

The devil didn't make you do nothing.

That's an excuse.

It's an excuse because we want to do what's right, what's what we want to do, and not what's right in the eyes of God.

We have the choice.

We have the power to say yes, and we have the power to say no.

You enjoy salvation, is when you say yes to Jesus.

And when you say no to Jesus, you don't enjoy everything that salvation has to offer.

We have the power to choose, and when we surrender to Jesus, it's freedom.

When we surrender to the enemy, when we say no to God, a no to Jesus is a surrender to the enemy of our soul.

It's it the a no to the lion of the tribe of Judah is a yes to the one who acts like a roaring lion.

A no to Jesus is an open invitation to the enemy to live and rule and reign on the throne of our heart.

When we surrender to Jesus, we're free.

When we surrender to the enemy, we're in bondage.

John chapter 8, verse 36 says, Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.

John 8:36

We don't realize this, but every human being surrenders to something.

The only question is to whom and what it produces.

In Mark chapter number five, we visited this chapter last week when we looked at the story of Jairus.

But in Mark chapter number five, we find a man who is demon-possessed in the city of the Gaterenes.

He's living there and he's he's he's in such a state.

And we don't know how he got here, but we know he must have chosen it.

Say, what do you mean, Pastor?

Because the devil can't get into your life by accident.

He doesn't just walk in and you go, no, no, no, no.

The Bible says if you resist the devil, what will he do?

He'll flee from you.

So I don't know how, because the Bible doesn't give us that indication.

Maybe it was the advertising, maybe it was the try this just once, maybe it was the do this just once, maybe it was the this won't hurt you.

Maybe he got sucked in because it looked like beef, but it was an impossible burger.

By the way, there is no it there is no suitable substitute for the savior.

You can try something else, but I promise you it won't satisfy.

There is no substitute for the savior.

And I'm sure it promised freedom.

But after he let that into his life, listen to what the scripture describes his condition as.

And when he had come out of the boat, Jesus, immediately there was met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit.

By the way, if you read this in its context, Jesus says to his disciples, let us go over to the other side.

They get in the boat, and you remember what happens next?

The storm arises.

And you know why the storm arises?

Because the enemy knew what was on the other side of the storm.

I just preached something y'all just missed.

Do you know why storms arise sometimes in your life?

Because the enemy knows what's on the other side of where you're going to.

God's got something for you on the other side, and so oftentimes, out of nowhere, has a storm ever come out of nowhere in your life?

When storms come out of nowhere, you could do one of two things.

You could do what the disciples did, and you can get afraid, or you can do what Jesus did and rebuke that storm and say, God's got something for me on the other side of this.

And as soon as Jesus comes out of the boat, and by the way, not even the storm could keep Jesus from getting to you.

Amen.

Jesus is coming.

Somebody say, Jesus is coming.

Jesus is coming.

If you stay faithful, I'm telling you, he's walking into your situation.

Notice what it says, and when he came out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit.

By the way, even people who have given themselves over to the devil want Jesus.

There's a part of them that's fighting.

Everybody that's in bondage really wants to be free.

There is a struggle going on.

There is what I would call a battle of thrones happening in their life.

There's a battle for who's gonna rule and reign.

Immediately comes and it to Jesus.

He had his dwelling among the tombs.

No one could bind him, not even with chains, because he often he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broke into pieces, neither could anyone tame him.

And always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

Devil promised freedom, but he got bondage.

That's what the counterfeit lion does.

Anything that the devil brings into your life, anything that the world brings into your life, anything that the culture brings into your life that is contrary to Christ in your life, it is not an opportunity for freedom.

It is an opportunity for bondage, it's an open door for the enemy to rule and reign on the throne of your heart.

Notice what happened, it left him naked, bleeding, and living in a graveyard.

He was living but chained and bound.

But then the man met the true lion, and one word from Jesus did what a thousand chains couldn't do.

Look at the next picture.

It says this there they came to Jesus, and they saw the one who had been demon possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed in his right mind, and they were afraid or they were amazed at Jesus.

The counterfeit lion drove him to the tombs.

The lion of the tribe of Judah let him go home to his family.

I'm telling you what, surrender to the right lion.

He wants willful allegiance to your life, and it brings freedom and not bondage.

But number three, the third thing I want you to see here today is this lion came from Judah.

He's not referred to as just the lion, he's referred to in Revelation as the lion of the tribe of Judah.

And that title didn't start in Revelation, it started in Genesis when old Jacob gathered his twelve sons to prophesy over them.

Genesis chapter 49, verse number eight.

Genesis 49 · chapter mention

It said, Judah, you are he whom your brothers shall praise.

Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies, your father's children shall bow down before you.

Judah is a lion's whelp.

From the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He bows down, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who shall rouse him?

The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the people.

What does that mean, Pastor?

The scepter is the rod of a king.

Judah was marked as the royal tribe, the tribe from which the kings of Israel would come.

From Judah came David, the shepherd king, from David came Solomon and the whole royal line.

But notice Jacob said, the scepter will not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes.

Shiloh means he whose right it is, the one the scepter actually belongs to.

In other words, every king from Judah was just keeping the seed warm until the king, the Messiah, the root of David came.

So when the elders say the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David came.

He is saying, Shiloh has come.

The promised line of Genesis is now the prevailing line in the book of Revelation.

What does this mean?

1700 years from Jacob prophesying it to Revelation, it coming to pass.

1700 years, and God's word came to pass.

If God could keep his word, 1700 years after prophecy, God can keep his word to you.

He is watching over his word, waiting to perform it in your life.

Listen to me.

If God has given you a promise, take it to the bank.

Too many people, stuff starts happening, and all of a sudden their faith starts staggering.

Because they don't realize with God a promise is not a maybe.

I'm preaching to somebody right now.

Too many people, stuff starts happening, and your faith starts to teeter-totter because you don't understand when God says something, God is not suggesting it, God is not hoping for it, God is declaring it, and where the word of a king is, there is power when God speaks it.

It's gotta come to pass.

This lion was from Judah.

Notice Jacob's exact words.

Judah is a lion's whelp, a whelp is a lion's cub.

He came the first time as a whelp, a baby in Bethlehem's manger, meek and lowly.

But Revelation, by the time we get there, he's a full-grown lion who has prevailed.

And here's the problem: a lot of people get stuck on the meek and lowly Jesus and completely miss the lion Jesus.

They like the baby in the manger and the meek and mild Jesus because he makes no demands and he fits in their pocket.

But but the Jesus of Revelation is the King of kings and Lord of Lords.

He rules and he reigns.

He has no rival, he has no equal.

And when John saw this Jesus, the same John that put his head on his chest in the gospel, is now bowing at his feet.

This is not a God we bargain for with.

This is a God we bow before.

Too many people.

God is the genie in Aladdin's lamp.

Instead of God Almighty, He's the one that we look at and we think, well, everything He says is a suggestion.

That, like, you know, God is saying, you know, you could do this, you can't do this.

And somehow, somehow, God doesn't mean what He says.

But we have to see Him as a ruling king.

And when a sovereign says something, the subjects do what the sovereign has said.

We need to change our paradigm and realize he's not just meek and lowly, he's the lion of the tribe of Judah.

He's God to be worshipped, he's God for us to bow down before.

But he comes from the tribe of Judah.

The name Judah was born in a delivery room when Leah had a fourth son, Genesis chapter 29, verse 35.

Genesis 29:35

And she conceived again and bore a son and said, Now I will praise the Lord.

Therefore she called him Judah.

Judah literally means praise.

And Jacob's prophecy began, Judah, you are the one whom your brother shall praise.

The lion on the throne comes from the tribe whose very name means praise.

Why is this important?

Because God has a love language.

Any of y'all know what love languages are?

Some of y'all it's affection.

Some of y'all it's affirmation.

Some of y'all it's words of kindness.

It's all of these things, right?

And when we get married, we get stupid.

We do.

Because we fight against our spouse's love language.

And we wonder why our marriages aren't what God wants them to be.

When in fact, we just ought to get smart and speak their language.

Because when you speak your spouse's love language, there's nothing that your spouse won't do in return.

And so we got to learn to speak the language.

When you go into another country, in order for you to really get everything you need, guess what you need to do?

You need to learn to speak the language.

When you become a Christian, you know what you need to do?

You need to learn to speak the language.

You need to get accustomed to what is gonna get you what you need in life.

And God has a love language.

Yours may be affirmation, yours might be affection, yours might be acts of kindness.

You know what God's is?

It's praise.

Praise is God's love language.

Praise draws God out.

Psalm 22, verse 3 says, But thou art holy.

Psalms 22:3

Just meditate on that for a minute.

By the way, our theme for hunger conference coming up second week in October this year, that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

It's not too much too early to mark it on your account.

Our theme is 1 Peter 1:16.

1 Peter 1:16

Be holy as I am holy, says the Lord.

He is He is holy.

He is holy.

He is holy.

O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

What does that literally mean?

He enthrones the praises of His people.

Praise doesn't make Him king.

Listen to me, he already is.

Nothing that we could do or don't do changes that.

In other words, God's position is not dependent on our praises, but His presence in our circumstance is.

You missed that.

God's position is not predicated on anything that we do or don't do.

Our praise does not make God King of kings and Lord of Lords.

Our praise does not sit God on the throne in heaven.

Our praise doesn't make the earth his footstool.

But our praise determines whether God's presence is in the midst of our circumstance.

He is enthroned in the praises of Israel.

See, every time you praise, you are putting the imitation enemy on notice.

You don't reign here.

God does.

You don't rule in my marriage.

You don't rule in my health.

You don't rule in my family.

You don't rule in my finances.

You don't rule in my dreams or in my destination.

No matter what it looks like, God's throne rules and reigns here.

Whenever you praise, you set up a throne in the middle of your mess.

You set up God's authority in the middle of your situation.

Matter of fact, if we go to 2 Chronicles chapter 20, verse 15, the Bible says, speaking of Jehoshaphat, who by the way was the king of Judah.

2 Chronicles 20:15

The king of Judah.

Judah was always that one tribe that was set kept separate, right?

Even when God remember when the kingdom was divided, I preached about that a few weeks ago.

Kingdom was divided, all the other tribes on this side, and Judah was always kept separately.

Because Judah was the kingly tribe.

Judah was the tribe that that David and then Solomon and then Jesus would come from.

And so he's the king of Judah, which means praise.

And he's surrounded by three enemy armies.

And there's no way in the natural that he could win.

Zero chance.

Anybody, anybody have a zero chance against what you're going through right now, medically or family-wise or whatever?

Zero chance.

Listen up because this is for you.

If you've got a zero chance, I'm going to tell you how to turn it into a hundred percent chance.

From zero to a hundred, from last to first, from last to first, from last to first, from no to yes.

Are you ready for this?

Second Chronicles chapter 20, verse 15.

2 Chronicles 20:15

The Lord comes by a prophet, says, Thus says the Lord to you, do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours but God's.

So what does what does Jehoshaphat do?

He doesn't send the Calvary, he doesn't send a swordsman first.

What he does is he sends singers first.

He gathers all the praisers throughout the whole land.

And he says, before the army, we've got to send the praise.

Before the battle, we gotta send the praise.

Before we fight the enemy, we gotta send the praise.

Why?

Because when the praises go up, the presence comes down.

When the praises go up, a throne.

When you send the praises up, you don't fight alone.

When you put God's throne in the middle of your situation, you don't fight alone.

And so they send the praises up.

Second Chronicles chapter 20, verse 22.

2 Chronicles 20:22

And then they begin to sing and to praise.

And the Lord sent ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, which were come against Judah, and they were smitten.

The praise went up, the power came down.

God was still on the throne before the praise, but God became enthroned in the situation when they praised.

Praise, listen to me, it makes you slippery.

My good friend Rick Renner talks about in Bible times there was this thing called the palestra.

And in Ephesians chapter number six, it talks about the armor of God.

And when Paul is talking about the armor of God, he's not only talking about a Roman soldier, but he's also talking about combat sports in Bible times.

And this palestra was literally when warriors went in to fight against one another.

And when they went in to fight against one another, um, it would be fight to the death.

And oftentimes they went in and they fought in the nude.

And one of the things they did when they fought in the nude, by the way, do you know that you and I as Christians are supposed to fight in the nude?

I give that an amen, brother, because we don't want to see you naked.

Trust me.

But naked in the Bible means something different than what naked means to you and I.

Naked in the Bible means we're not fighting with carnal weapons.

Naked in the Bible means that we're we're stripping ourselves completely before God and we are getting totally dependent upon Him.

And you know what they did in the palestra to make themselves slippery?

They put oil all over their body.

And the reason why they put oil all over their body is because when the enemy went to grab them, they would slip out.

How many of you know when you get into battle, you cannot depend on yourself, but you gotta be immersed in the presence of the Holy Spirit?

You gotta have that oil dripping all over you.

And one of the ways you get the oil dripping all over you is you set up a throne, you set up God's throne by sending up a praise, and it makes you slippery.

Anything that the enemy tries to put on you falls off of you.

Do you remember Paul and Silas in the Philippian jail?

Beaten with rods, backs bleeding, feet and stocks, locked in the inner prison.

Their midnight moment.

And I love this.

Almost every preacher that I've ever heard has preached this theologically incorrect.

Because what they teach is that God is never early, God is never late, but he's always on time.

And they said, late in the midnight, ah, God's gonna turn it around, right?

And everybody is focused on, everything's focused, everybody's focused on how God shows up at midnight.

But that's not what that scripture says.

It says at midnight, Saul and Silas prayed and sang praises to God.

Why was it that God showed up at midnight?

Because that's when they prayed and sang praises to God.

And I'm here to tell you, you don't need to wait till midnight to have God show up in your life.

God can show up at sunup, God can show up in the middle of the day, and God can show up at midnight.

God can show up whenever you send up.

Praises God shows up.

But there's something to say about when it's the darkest moment in your life, and in those darkest moments of your life, because that's what it was to Paul and Silas, because it wasn't just midnight on the clock, it was midnight as far as as dark as life can get.

And sometimes life gets really, really, really dark.

And if you read the story carefully, they were in the inner chamber.

The inner chamber, there was no light in the inner chamber.

And I don't know who did it.

I don't know whether it was Silas, I don't know whether it was Paul.

But the Bible says, if two or three be agreed, I just get you somebody else who can believe God.

And I don't know whether it was Paul, I don't know whether it was Silas.

One looked over at the other and said, Let's set up a throne, let's set up God's throne right in the middle of this dark black place, whipped and beaten with chain, locked in chains, still praising.

You know what a midnight praise is?

It's a praise that said, No reason why you should, no, no evidence that God's gonna come through, but you trust God anyway.

God, your throne is in this place.

Tell you what, it irritates the devil.

When you put a throne in the middle of a dark place in your life.

And you know, they begin to sing and they begin to praise, and you know what happens?

All of a sudden, God hears his love language.

And when God hears his love language, what happens?

He is attracted.

The throne, the the God of the throne is attracted to the throne that is set up, and he hears that, and all of a sudden the chains that seem to bind them drop powerless behind them.

Why?

Because they praised him in the middle of the situation.

I'll tell you what, don't let your chains break your praise.

Let your praise break your chains.

Some of y'all in shackles, you let it steal your praise.

Every time you get shackled, you know what should do?

It should push the praise out of you.

Do you know what they say?

When the heat is on, you can really tell what's in you.

When you pushed, that's what you know is really on the inside of you.

We need to, when people poke us, when the enemy poke us, you know what ought to come out?

The power of God, the presence of God, the word of God, the praise of God.

When you get poked, there ought to be power and praise that comes from your lip.

You ought to be walking with Jesus all of the time.

Now watch this.

Did you know that lions are highly attracted to and driven by smell?

Did you know that a lion has roughly 200 million scent receptors in their nose?

And we have five million.

We have five million.

A lion has 200 million.

So under the right conditions, a lion can pick up a scent from five miles away.

Zookeepers will tell you that lions love certain fragrances so much, like spices like cinnamon and cloves, that when they catch the scent, they will go to the scent, they will flop in the scent, and they will rub their whole bodies in the scent.

And do you know what that behavior is called?

I couldn't believe this, Pastor K Sean.

You're gonna like this because I know you like a Bible nerd like me.

Do you know what they call when a lion rubs themselves in the scent?

It's called a scent anointing.

It's called a scent anointing.

In other words, the lion smells the fragrance from way over there.

And the lion says, I gotta get to the fragrance, I gotta get to the fragrance.

And when it gets to it rolls his whole self all up in there, and it gets a scent anointing that is released in the place.

Now, watch this because you know something about praise and prayer.

See y'all missing this, y'all.

Praise and prayer.

Did you know that they both have fragrances?

Do you know the Bible describes both a praise and a prayer as something that is a sweet smell to God?

Do you remember the woman with the alabaster box?

Do you remember what she did?

She came to Jesus and she she broke open the box and she poured her praise on him.

And the Bible says the whole house was filled with the smell of the fragrance.

And in Revelation chapter 5, verse number 8, it says, the four and living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp.

Revelation 5 · chapter mention

I like this praise.

Each having a harp and golden bowls filled with of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Your prayers and your praise rise before the throne like incense.

In other words, they have a fragrance.

And if a natural lion can smell a fragrance five miles away and have to get to the scene and release a scent anointing, what do you think happens when the praise and the prayer of a child of God reaches the throne of God?

God says, I gotta get down there and release a scent anointing.

And when God releases an anointing, you know what happens when God releases an anointing?

That every bondage breaks, every yoke is destroyed, everything that's been keeping you bound, all of a sudden you are set free.

Do you remember the demonic?

The guy from the Gatarenes.

What's the first thing he did?

He came in his demon-possessed self.

And what did he do?

He fell down at the feet of Jesus.

In his demon-possessed self, he said, I need to release an anointing that's gonna break me free of all these bonds and all these chains.

Set up your throne.

This lion is from Judah.

His love language is praise.

Now watch this, watch this.

Because we got too many spectators in praise.

There's a whole host of believers all over the world.

And sadly, some in our church.

And maybe you're one of them.

You think worship time is staring time.

And your worship looks like this.

Can I just tell you I'm not trying to pick on nobody?

Because I understand everybody has moments, right?

I understand, right?

But can I tell you?

It's not staring time.

It's worshiping the Savior time.

See, we don't realize what praise is.

And if this were possible, it's not possible.

But if it were possible, you know what happens in in most churches?

Is there's a throne over here, and there's a throne over here, but there's not a throne there, and there's not a throne there, and there's a throne here, and there's a throne here, but there's not a throne there, and there's not a throne there.

Could you imagine if there were thrones all over the place in the house of God?

Could you imagine if everybody was sending up a sweet smell?

Could you imagine what would happen?

Can I tell you what happens is when people begin to worship God and to praise God in a place of unison.

There's an anointing.

That's why a corporate anointing is so much stronger than an individual anointing because it's thrones of God all over the place.

And some people they're like, Well, Pastor, I don't like the music.

It's not for you.

And I don't mean that like, go find something that suits your vibe better.

I don't mean it like that.

I literally mean the music is not for you.

Well, you know, I'd like it if there was a little bit more gospel.

Well, why weren't you here last night?

I'd like it if we did a little bit more CCM.

Well, why are you staring in the middle of worship?

See, what you think is that worship is for you.

What you don't understand is God doesn't like CCM more than he likes gospel, more than he likes country, more than he likes this more.

Here's what God looks for in worship.

God looks for worship coming from a pure heart that's saying, God be enthroned in my worship.

And God don't care what kind of groove it is, God cares what kind of heart it's coming from.

This lion is from the tribe of Judah.

But the last thing I want to share with you is this lion is also the lamb.

And this stuck with me.

Pastor Brandon preached this in a different way a couple weeks ago, but it stuck with me.

He said it in passing.

I said, That's too good to just pass.

I said, I need to camp here for a minute.

This lion is the lamb.

The elder says, Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed.

And John gets up, and I believe John took turns around.

He's expecting to see a lion.

But he said, verse number six, and I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne stood a lamb as though he had been slain.

He hears lion, he sees lamb.

And not just a lamb, but a lamb as though it had been slain.

A lamb still carrying the marks of sacrifice, standing in the middle of the throne.

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Not just lion, not just lamb, but the lion is the lamb.

He's high enough to rule, but loving enough to sacrifice.

He's high enough to be immortal, but loving enough to become human.

He's high enough to live in the heavens and have earth as his footstool, but he's loving enough to condescend and be born in a manger.

There is King like him.

There was no king before him.

There'll be no king after him.

He stands alone all by himself.

He's matchless and unprecedented and incomprehensible and invisible and irresistible.

He's the king of kings and lord of lords.

He rules and he reigns.

He's a different type of king.

He's a king who's mighty, but who cares.

He's a king of all authority, but willing to become a servant.

He conquered like a lion by dying like a lamb.

God intentionally kept the offices of kings and priests separate in the Old Testament.

Guarded.

Anytime a king tried to become a priest, there was a problem.

Anytime a priest tried to become a king, there was a problem.

Matter of fact, King Saul tried to offer by himself, you remember that?

Without waiting for Samuel to show up, and what happened?

He lost the kingdom.

King Uzziah marched in to burn incense before the Lord like a priest and walked out like a leper.

The king was needed to govern, and the priest was needed to get people to God.

And then there was a sacrifice that the king had to bring.

And that that sacrifice was a lamb, and you would remember the king would take his hands symbolically and place them on a spotless lamb.

And that was the transference, symbolically, of the sin of the people of Israel on the sacrificial lamb to be accepted by God.

And the blood of that lamb would temporarily atone for the sin of the people.

And so you had the king, governor, the priest, go-between, and the lamb, the sacrifice.

And never could you have all three in one.

And the reason why you couldn't have all three in one, I believe, was too much power in one person.

And God is never meant for you to be dependent upon one person.

Can I tell you?

Your Bible knowledge should not be dependent upon me.

I should be a piece of the puzzle, I should be a place of revelation.

But you ought to have a greater source than me.

You ought to have the source called the Holy Spirit, who you are getting into the presence with every single day, and you are digging into the power in the presence of God.

Too much power for one person.

And God said, gotta keep them all separate.

Now here's the problem: Jesus was from Judah.

Judah was the king's line, it wasn't the priest's line.

But Jesus is also our high priest.

And the Bible recognizes the problem with this.

It says, This our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood.

Hebrews chapter number seven.

You ought to read Hebrews chapter number seven someday.

It's a good chapter in the Bible.

It'll clarify a lot of theological questions that you have.

But then it goes on and says, Jesus, who has come not according to the law of fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life, for he testifies, you are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Who is Melchizedek?

Well, he's this mysterious high priest that appears to Abraham in the book of Genesis.

It says that Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine, and he was the priest of the most high God, and he blessed him, Abraham, and he, Abraham, gave him Melchizedek, a tithe of all.

So Melchizedek is king and priest.

King of righteousness, that's what his name means.

He also means king of peace, and it also is high priest.

And so king of righteousness, sound like anybody.

King of priests, sound like anybody.

King of peace, sound like anybody.

Priest of the Most High God, sound like anybody.

Bread and wine, have you eaten of that table before?

So what is this?

This is at the very least a type and a shadow of a greater man who is coming, who won't be just king, who won't be just priest, who won't be just sacrifice, but will be king, the governor and ruler of your life.

Priest, the one who takes you to God, and sacrifice the payment of your sin, all wrapped up into one.

Why?

Because he's the one who you should rely on.

Because you don't need anybody else but Jesus.

And I mean that without having to clarify, you do need people, by the way.

But as your source, as your dependence, as the one that gets you to God, there is no other path.

There is no other way.

You can try whatever you want, but you will come up lacking.

You will come up short because there is nobody like him.

There'll never be nobody like him.

As I said before, and I'll say it again.

Nothing else can satisfy the desire of your soul.

You can try another path, you can try another person, but Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and nobody comes to the Father.

But by me.

And I want you to notice this.

I want you to notice what Abraham did.

After he defeated his enemies, after he was given the victory, after he was given the spoil.

After the bread and wine was brought out.

What did Abraham do?

He gave him a tenth of all.

Now I don't know if you know this or not, but let me say it for the people in the back.

Abraham lived before there was a law.

The Lord didn't start with Abraham, it started with Moses.

Abraham was before it.

Melchizedek was before it.

Melchizedek is a type of Jesus.

And so before there was any law, there was the father of our faith named Abraham, and the shadow and symbol of our Savior named Melchizedek.

And after he would, he he got the victory.

After he was brought out from underneath the hand of his enemy, after he partook of the bread and the wine as a love response, Abraham said, here's a tenth of all.

Can I tell you what tithing is, friends?

Tithing is a love response.

Tithing is a love response because you have been delivered out of the hand of the enemy and translated into the kingdom of your dear son.

Tithing is a love response because God has given you bread and wine.

God has given you his broken body and his shed blood.

God has given you the spoils of war.

Everything that Jesus paid for is yours.

If Abraham gave him a tenth, how dare we give God less than that?

This is about him being king.

Is he king of all or king of some?

Is he lord of your marriage?

Is he lord of your job?

Is he lord of your dreams?

Is he Lord of your finances?

He wants to be not Lord of all, but Lord of some.

He's the greatest of all.

I like when he met the woman at the well.

In essence, what he told her is why are you searching in all these places?

The search is over.

You trying to find everything and all these other things is all wrapped up in me.

I am all you need.

I'm everything you need.

And somebody said Jesus was her seventh man.

Seventh is the number of perfection.

I'll tell you what, she went to sixth man.

Six is the number of man.

Six is the number when you try to satisfy yourself.

But when she encountered the seventh man, he was everything that she needed.

He's our all in all.

This high priest is better.

Earthly priests offered lambs year after year.

Our high priest offered himself once and for all.

Earthly priests entered the Holy of Holies, trembling behind the veil.

The priest, our priest tore the veil from top to bottom.

Earthly priests needed a sacrifice for their own sins.

Our priest was sinless and became the sacrifice for our sins.

Earthly priests couldn't be touched by your infirmity, otherwise, they would become clean.

Our high priest is touched with the feeling of our infirmity.

Earthly priests died and had to be replaced.

Our high priest lives and makes intercession for us.

C.S.

Lewis.

By the way, if you want to really read the what my opinion is, perhaps the greatest theologian of modern time.

I guess it's not modern time anymore, but that I know of.

C.S.

Lewis was perhaps the greatest.

And C.S.

Lewis, he painted a picture of this lion who is the lamb in the Chronicles of Narnia.

And I want you to see it.

This is where we're going to get our money's worth on our screens.

Look at that here.

See it, the lion on the tribe of Judah.

Aslan, the great lion king, walks willingly to the stone table in the traitor's place.

Edmund was the traitor.

You know the young boy who was tricked by the white witch with the magical Turkish delight.

You know what the Turkish delight is?

It's whatever Satan offers you that makes you dethrone God from your heart.

That Turkish, this is sweet.

You could have all you want, this won't make you fat.

You could disobey God all you want and it won't have any effect on your life.

Come on.

Doesn't God know?

Doesn't God know that you know if you do this, all that's gonna happen, God's just trying to hold out on you.

Turkish delight.

What Turkish delight has he been putting out to you?

And so he becomes a traitor because he gets tricked by the wicked white witch, right?

But here's the thing he chooses it.

She might have tricked him, she might have enticed him, but she didn't make him do it.

And let me say it again so that you know with all your heart, you never have to do anything that contradicts the word of God.

You have a choice in your life.

But how many of you know sometimes we choose against God?

I'm guilty.

I don't preach at you.

Today I preach with you.

Part of the reason why I can say half of the things that I say is not because I'm exempt from everything I say, but it's because the Holy Spirit is the one that's speaking sometimes through me.

And when the Holy Spirit speaks, he's not just convicting you, he's convicting me at the same time.

Because there are times, sadly, ashamedly, I choose against Jesus.

I knowingly do something that I should not do, and I become a traitor.

And do you know what happens?

The great lion, Aslan, he lets them bind him, he lets them shave his mane, he lets them muzzle him and mock him.

He could have shredded every one of his enemies with one swipe of his paw on the altar, but he lays down his life, and the white witch is smiling smugly.

Look at him, don't even look like himself, almost unrecognizable, just like somebody else I know.

They plucked his beard out, they put a crown cone on his head, and they whipped and beat him to the point where he was unrecognizable.

That doesn't look like a powerful king, that looks like a weak sacrifice, the white witch is smiling smugly, thinking she had the kingdom and she defeated Aslan.

The lion, but she didn't know this, there was a deeper magic.

The Bible says, if Satan knew that by crucifying the Lord of glory, it would be the redemption of all mankind, he wouldn't have done it, but God is smarter, so she's smiling smugly, and when a willing, this was the magic in in in in in in Narnia, and when a willing and innocent victim dies in a traitor's place, death itself starts working backwards, and at dawn the stone table cracks, and Aslan the lion is alive, and his raw shakes all of Narnia.

And Lewis wasn't just telling us a children's story, Lewis was telling us the story of redemption.

He was telling us the story about the lion who is on the throne that he gave his life for you and I, so that traitors like you and me could walk free.

Traitors like you and me who deserved to die in that place could have eternal life.

This is a different kind of king.

The lion is the lamb, and so when the lion asks for your surrender, he's not asking you to do anything that he hasn't already done.

We have faced the lions, we have faced the giants, we have faced the bears.

We stood in dens, we climbed in the pits, we walked through impossible situations.

But here's what the resurrection of Jesus tells me.

We never walked alone.

Not one day in our entire life did we ever face that giant by ourselves, not one day in our entire life did we ever face that tragedy, that trial by ourselves, because we have a risen king, he's not only the Lord of all, but he's the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the earth.

And my heart, my passion is for you to see him like they saw him in Revelation.

They saw him, and there was only certain things they could say.

You're worthy, you're worthy, you're worthy of it all, you're holy, you're holy.

There's only certain things they could do.

One of the things they had to do is they had to take their crown off and they had to throw it at its feet, at his feet.

Do you know why?

Here's what a crown is a crown is every earthly accomplishment.

A crown is where so many of us get our worth from.

I did this, I achieved this, so on and so forth.

And when we get to heaven, when we see Jesus, you know what happens?

The crown comes off.

Throw it at his feet, it means nothing.

No earthly accomplishment means anything.

And you know what else happens?

We don't stand before him as though he's our equal.

We get down before him because we know he's the lion and the lamb, the one who is worthy of it all, worthy of it all.