There’s a fine line between the prophetic and the pathetic and in the midst of a pathetic reality we find a prophetic declaration uttered by the Apostle John pointing to the answer for a hopeless world. John 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” Later on that same John much older in age saw the revelation on the island of Patmos and declared Revelation 5:13, “And every creature in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!’”
Friends, we live in difficult times. These are times of great uncertainty, unrest, great consternation and flux. The obituary of American Christianity in the 21st century already permeates both the church and society. Scholars and leaders from within and outside the church have arrived to the inevitable conclusion that Christianity will not survive the 21st century in any viable or sustainable manner. I beg to differ. For even though housing markets may crumble, the stock market may plummet, banks are failing and institutions that serve chicken are being protested and boycotted, there is one institution that is still alive: THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL!
For that matter, I believe the 21st century stands poised to experience the greatest Christian transformative movement in our history. This movement will affirm biblical orthodoxy. It will reform the culture. It will transform our political discourse and usher in a new awakening. I am convinced that God is not done with America and America is not done with God! For at the end of the day this will not be a political movement driven by expediency and agendas of man, but a prophetic movement driven by the impetus of the cross. What is the agenda of this new movement? It is not the agenda of the donkey or the elephant. This nation will be saved exclusively via the agenda of the Lamb. BEHOLD THE LAMB!
The agenda of the Lamb is Spirit-driven. Forget Harry Potter and Hogwarts. There are very, very real spirits in the world today. Via biblical illusions and biblical metaphorical applications the spirit of Pharaoh is still alive holding people in the Egypt of bondage and fear. The spirit of Goliath still lives mocking and intimidating the children of God. The spirit of Jezebel still makes men and women hide in caves with sexual perversion and manipulation. The spirit of Absalom is dividing homes, churches, relationships, while the spirit of Herod is killing the young through abortion, poverty, sex trafficking, and murder. Through dreams and visions, I have news for you today and for this nation: there is still a Spirit more powerful than all of these spirits combined. As a matter of fact, we are here today to declare not only to Dallas, Texas but to all of America that the most powerful Spirit today in our nation is not the spirit of Pharaoh, the spirit of Saul, Absalom, Goliath, Jezebel or Herod. The most powerful Spirit still is the Holy Spirit of Almighty God. He is still moving in this nation! He is still moving on this land! He’s still moving across the land from California to New York. The Spirit of God is still moving across the land. “It is not by might, nor by power but by my Spirit saith the Lord!”
So to every narrative and spirit that facilitates the platform of moral relativism, of spiritual apathy, of cultural decadence and ecclesiastical lukewarmness, we say the following: For every Pharaoh there must be a Moses. For every Goliath there must be a David. For every Nebuchadnezzar there must be a Daniel. For every Jezebel there must be an Elijah. For every Herod there must be a Jesus. And for every devil that rises up against us there is a mightier God who will rise up for us.
BEHOLD THE LAMB!
The Lamb’s agenda activates a Kingdom culture firewall of righteousness and justice. In other words, in order to defend life and protect liberty and facilitate the platform by which all Americans can pursue happiness, we must apply biblical optics and apply corrective lenses to spiritual and cultural myopia. In other words, when I wake up in the morning, I don’t see a Hispanic, black, white, or Asian, charismatic or automatic. I am first and foremost a child of the living God! I am a born again Christian! I am a Child of God! I am a follower of Jesus. I am a Christian – first and foremost! I am a believer and my vertical identity empowers my horizontal reality. And when we vote we must vote our vertical reality. We can’t be pro-life on Sunday and vote for abortion on Tuesday.
Revelation 12:11 says, “And they overcame and they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much that they were afraid to die.” There were some “propheliars” who once declared we wouldn’t even be here right now. Communist leaders declared that by the 21st century the whole world would be communist and there wouldn’t be a Christian alive. The Nazis declared that the Third Reich would outlast the church of Jesus Christ. In the 1960’s an English rock band said that by the 21st century they would receive more adoration than the Father, Son and the Holy Ghost combined. Well, guess what? We’re in 2012. Lenin is dead. Hitler is gone, the Beatles are gone, but the church of Jesus is still alive and well!
This message was delivered at the “Under God, Indivisible” conference on July 27, 2012.
This Sunday, October 7, is Pulpit Freedom Sunday. It is a time for pastors and priests to stand up and boldly proclaim the absolute importance of timeless, unshakable, biblical principles. Political discussions must never negate our responsibility to proclaim the undeniable truth and relevance of God’s Holy Word. Your entire congregation would be mightily blessed if there is a way you could play on a large screen the two messages delivered back to back by Dr. Tony Evans, Pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, followed by the message you just read by Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. You will hear from truly anointed African-American and Hispanic leaders. All of America needs to hear the messages delivered by these men of God.
-James
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