Discerning His Voice When He Roars

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And that's the bottom line. Amen. It's about him.

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Yeah. It's about this God that we serve and that we

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love. And when all is said and done,

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when all is said and done, he is

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faithful and he is good. And he

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is worthy. He is worthy.

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A couple of things. Guys, next week we have about 17

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or 18 baptisms. So next week we will have a baptismal

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service, and it starts at 10:30. Only one gathering

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next week, and I'm excited about that. Something,

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if you are one of the people That are being baptized

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and you came with your family today, at the end of

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this gathering, if you would make your way over to

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the Fellowship Hall, we are gonna do the

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prebaptismal videos. And so, I would like to invite

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you to come and have a slice of pizza with your

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family. And we have an order we'll go in. We're gonna

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start with the littles first. And we'll get you in and do your

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video and get you out of here as quickly as we can. But we will

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feed you and be kind to you in the process. So, if you'll just make

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your way over there. The only other announcement that I have, guys,

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Hunchback of Notre Dame is today, and it's the last

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performance. And I can tell you, if you miss

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this, guys, you are missing something extremely special.

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There is something wonderful. Half of the choir is

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in the room, or in the— it is a beautiful

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story, and it is a strong, strong, strong

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performance. So I encourage you, if there are tickets left, I'm not sure, it's been

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pretty sold out. If there are tickets left, I encourage you to come do that.

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Okay. We are in the middle of the— or actually, we're at the

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end of the Discerning the Voice of the Lord. So obviously, y'all have learned to

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do that in the last few weeks. So, Discerning the

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Voice of the Lord. And we had Pastor Jonathan shared about how

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we discern his voice, how we find his voice in hard places

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or difficult seasons, and in the wilderness, learning to

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listen for his voice. And then last week, Pastor Ronnie

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shared about— Listening for his voice. Oh, my goodness.

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Listening to his voice in the whisper, not in the earthquake, not in the

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thunder, but in the whisper and that still small voice that he

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brings. And what I have for you that I believe the Lord has

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given me is discerning his

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voice in the roar. Because some of us don't listen to

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whispers. Some of us, it takes a roar. And

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I'm excited about what he has been sharing with me in this, and I

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hope that you can grab hold of it as well. The Lion Has

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Roared. For since the beginning, for since

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the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his

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eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly

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seen, being understood from what has been

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made. From what has been made. Father, I thank you so much for your Word,

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your truth. Father, we have nothing else to stand on. Father, the Word, the

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truth, the blood of Jesus Christ, that is where we are standing. And so,

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Father, I thank you for your Word today. I pray, Lord, that it would

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fall in fertile soil. Father, I pray our hearts would receive your truth. I speak

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your Word, your truth today, that my stuff would fall and yours would

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stand, in Jesus' name. My

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Papaw was

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something. He was one of the kindest, most— I said Papaw

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really Southern, didn't I? Just went right back over there. My Papaw,

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to my knowledge, he never stepped foot in a church, not one

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time. He was— he had his Bible,

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And he had the farm. And the Lord spoke to him through both.

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And one of the greatest lessons that he would always teach me was to see

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God in the everyday. I remember standing

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with him, actually sitting, because it was like 2:00 AM in the morning and we're

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out in the barn and he's helping a pig deliver about 21

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babies, which I thought was impossible, you know. And he's talking to me

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the whole time about, you know, God did this and then, you know, this will

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grow in this creation and this. And I just remember learning at

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his feet the beauty of God in creation. whether it was the stars above

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and the skies. And he would stand out and he would explain, or he would

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walk with me over to a blackberry bush and he would talk about, you know,

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how things grow and how they are. And I don't know how God does this,

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but, you know, and he would— I would see God in those

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weathered and worn hands as he would display portions of nature

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to me. You know, grab the blackberry, but watch for the snake behind it. You

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know, on all of those things. That's so good. And so he was a very—

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he was a country scholar

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who loved the Lord, who loved his Word, but

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didn't care a whole lot for church. And you know what? There's a lot of

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those out there. And that's okay, as long as the Lord has their heart and

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has their— and they have the Word and they're growing, that's wonderful. God does

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what God does. But I wanna talk to you today about

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how God can speak to you through the everyday ordinary that you're in.

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you wouldn't think about if you just pay attention.

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According to the scripture, creation carries the fingerprints of God.

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Creation carries God's fingerprints. It says that the heavens

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declare, the heavens declare his glory. Some

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translations say the heavens sing

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of his glory. Some translations say the heavens

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shout of his glory. And when you step out on your porch at

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night and the sky isn't filled with every other kind of

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light, and you look up and you see Yes. And you see how small we

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really are, and how big and

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vast. And you're going, there is no way that this

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just happened. There's no way. There is a

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Creator God behind this. And it

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testifies. And if you will step out and look at something

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bigger, you begin to see the bigness and the goodness of God.

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Scripture says that the mountains testify. The mountains

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testify. They testify of time. They testify

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of His faithfulness. They testify of unchanging

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God. Says the

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rocks cry out if we don't. If we don't.

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There's testimony in them. And Scripture says that all creation

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groans in anticipation. All creation

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groans in anticipation. So if the

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Lord in His Word is speaking to us about how creation

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can speak to us, I wanna pay attention to that because we're learning

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to discern God's voice, right? And most of us have not heard

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the audible voice of God, but we have stood outside

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and we have heard the wind through the trees. We have heard the cry of

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the birds. We have heard his voice in the

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thunder. We have seen his strength in the lightning.

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We've seen his provision in the rains that cover the land.

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And if we will pay attention, you will find that God is speaking He's

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speaking. And in all of those things, you know what else? He

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also speaks as lions roar.

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As lions roar. Amos tells us this,

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the lion has roared, who will not fear? The Sovereign Lord has

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spoken, who can but prophesy?

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And as I was getting into this Word, I was like, Lord, you know, there

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are sometimes in my life that I can respond

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to a whisper, you know, and sometimes a whisper is

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wonderful. And as parents, sometimes our children might

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respond to a whisper, but the chances of that are very

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slim. Sometimes

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we raise our voice to get attention, and sometimes we

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need them to focus on— Rowan loves to

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go, what are the words coming out of my mouth? You know,

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sometimes we need to pay attention to the words coming out of his mouth, And

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because there are so many words coming out of everybody else's mouth,

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that if we aren't focused on what he's saying, we

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will lose track of what's important in this. That's right. What's

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important. And so, he speaks in the roar. And so, I

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felt like one of the things the Lord was gonna help share with us today

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was begin to discern his roar.

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Because listen, guys, I am not an expert

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on lions, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

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No, I didn't. I did study. I began to study. I don't

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know anything about lions, but I know one,

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the Lion of the tribe of Judah. And so I began to pray, and I

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began to study some texts and some things like that. So I said, Lord, I

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want to know about this roar. I want to know that the—

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when you speak to get my attention, What is the purpose

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behind it? How can I discern if this is you speaking to me,

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if this is my flesh speaking to me, or if this is the people around

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me speaking to me? Because, God, I need to discern

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your roar. And what I found out is that lions roar for 3 very

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distinct reasons. How they know this, I don't know.

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You can't really ask a lion, well, why did you do that? But what you

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can do is pick up on the patterns of the roar and how

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they do it. And that's what we're gonna go with, lions roar. for 3 very

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distinct reasons. Now, before we do that, let me tell you, a lion

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can roar. It says that a family, a pride of lions, can

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hear the king of their tribe, they can hear his roar

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up to 5 miles away. So that would be the equivalent of me

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standing here with the door open and calling out,

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and somebody over at Smyrna High School being able to hear it.

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That would be the equivalent of, as the crow flies, me

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speaking and yelling from here, and over in Antioch, they can hear me. That's right.

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But see, the pride of lions is so attuned to the roar of

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the lion, they can pick up on the timbre. It's almost as if

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there is this vibration in the air when the lion

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roars that the pride picks up on. And let me tell you something, that is

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consistent with what the Holy Spirit does. When he speaks,

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if we are attuned to his voice—

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if we are attuned to his voice, we pick up on the nuances. And the

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very first thing we find out is the roar, the day-to-day, day-to-day, day-to-day,

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business roar of the lion is geared toward family

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communication. Family communication. This is him

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speaking to you day in and day out. The Word tells us that we

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can have our senses trained through practice, according to

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the Amplified, having our senses trained through practice to

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discern what is good and what is evil. This

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particular passage of scripture is talking about those who are satisfied

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with the milk of the Word, or those who are going to move on to

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the meat of the Word. And those that are able to move on to the

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meat, appropriate when talking about lions. If you're gonna move

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on to the meat of the Word, you have to be able to discern what

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is good and evil over time through practice. And so,

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as his tribe, as his people, learning to discern his

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roar is important. It says, there is a roar that

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orients the family. The lion may not be visible, but the

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roar reveals his proximity to the family. And see,

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we're kind of in that situation right now. We don't know Yes. See him

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physically with us. The Lion of the

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tribe of Judah is not physically with us in

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this moment, but we can discern his roar. We can discern

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his voice if we will pay attention and learn it.

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Scripture tells us this, they shall walk after the

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Lord. He shall roar like a lion. When he shall

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roar, then the children shall tremble, From the west.

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Now let me tell you, when there is a roar, kids tremble.

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My husband does not have a— well, there is a roar, but it's a different

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kind of roar. But my husband, there's this thing that he does that gets

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everybody's attention in the family. Can you, can you

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do that for me, please? Okay. All right.

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Oh, that's just a little one.

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When he does that, the kids, Growing up, it

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didn't matter where they were in the neighborhood, it didn't matter what they were doing,

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when they heard that, they knew that that was their father, and they knew it

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was time to get home. And if it was stronger than that, or

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harder than that, or God forbid if he did it twice back to back,

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they were like, oh, we're hiding now. But they knew that sound,

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and they responded to that sound. And there is a resonance in the

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voice of the Lion that when he's speaking to you, there's an

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awareness. The Word tells us that eternity is written on the

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hearts of men. When he roars, when he begins to speak in family

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communication, it is to orient you. You know, in Genesis, when

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he walked into the garden and Adam and Eve had sinned, and they

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had hidden, they had made clothes for themselves, which I think

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that would be really interesting to see it sometime. But

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anyway, when he walked into the garden and he said, where are

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you? He went to walk with them in the cool of the day and he

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said, where are you? Where are you? Of course, he knew where they

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were. They said they've sinned and they had hidden themselves

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from him. But the question wasn't, where are you? It was more, where

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are you in proximity to where I am? Are

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you paying attention? It's like there's this thing that the Holy Spirit does

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that brings his voice into your situation and

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orients us as a family to go, how far off track

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am I? How far away from this voice have I

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gotten? And he will roar to do that. Sometimes

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God's greatest mercy is not found in explanation, but in positional

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orientation. You know, he doesn't have to explain

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why he's done what he's done. Right. He doesn't have to give you an

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explanation, or me an explanation, why you're walking through

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the things that you're walking through, or going through the things that you're going through.

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But in his grace, and in his goodness, and in his mercy,

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he will sound, he will speak to you. It might sound

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like a scripture that someone gives to you. It might sound like a prayer that

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someone is praying for you. over you. It might

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sound like you sitting in your room just talking to Him

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and allowing Him to speak. But this specific

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roar does a few things. This roar brings you into positional

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alignment with the King.

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And sometimes we need that. We need to go, God, I just need

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to be in alignment with the King. I just need to be in

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alignment with You, Father. Line me up in this. Comfort.

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and reassures when you're not in his presence. Does

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anybody ever need him to just comfort you for a

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while? To just reassure you of his presence?

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That regardless of what you're going through, knowing that they're there. When my

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kids were little, and when your kids— as your kids are little, do you

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ever notice how everything can be fine and

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the world is going on as it should until you walk out of the room?

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And then you walk out of the room and it's like, wait a minute, I

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am no longer the center of attention. Wait a minute. Mom,

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Mom, Mommy, Mommy, Mom, Mom, Mommy, Mommy. And all of a sudden they're wrapped

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around your ankle because you've left. I remember one of my kids going,

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oh, I lost you! No, you didn't. I was hiding

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anyway. No. I'm like, I know. Thank you for finding me,

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honey. And Lord forbid that you try to take a bath. It's like,

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Are you still in there? Well, the door's still shut. Are you

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still in there? What are you doing? You have to splash and

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make noise, you know, just so they can orient themselves to

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know, hey, she's still in the room. It's still okay. And then

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they would get to where they would slide their fingers under the bathroom door.

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Are you still in there, Mom? Yes, those tears you

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hear are mine. But

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orienting themselves, because sometimes when you

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need to just line up and go, okay, He's still here. I'm still

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reassured of his presence. And then instruction.

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Instruction, guys, this lion, when it roars,

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they say that the pride understands just from that roar,

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which is amazing to me. From that roar, whether they need to

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run, whether they need to hide the family, whether they need to

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sit still positionally, that he can hear that, that roar, and

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he can do those things. And I love I love that. That that is the

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kind of God the Lion roars.

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It says, whether you turn to the right or to the

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left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, this is

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the way, walk in it. This is the way,

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walk in it. I trust that. I trust

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that if I will listen and if I will pay attention, he will tell us

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how to move and how to walk as family. The

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second thing that he does is this: a lion will cry out in dominion

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and in warning. Dominion and in warning. It says

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the lion roars to

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establish presence and testimony— or territory. The

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roar announces, someone rules here. You are in

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my house now. You are in my house now.

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I grew up in the country in In case you didn't

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know, well, like, my Uncle Tommy,

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my Uncle Paul, my Uncle Junior all lived on the farm with my Papaw.

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And they just basically, they were a compound

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before compounds were popular and trendy. But I mean,

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those boys could shoot. And I mean, they'd take the

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wings off a gnat. And it wasn't so much that my Papaw taught them, my

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Granny did. And which leads me to

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just tell you that The Beverly Hillbillies was not a sitcom. That was a

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documentary.

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And it adequately and accurately depicts the life

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I grew up in. And my granny could shoot. I said that to

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where I came from,

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guns spoke and trespassers

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didn't. you

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kinda knew that you let somebody know if you were getting ready to go on

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their property, 'cause they were protective. I mean, they were protective

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of their families and obviously had a lot of

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enemies, but we're not gonna get into that. You know, they just— you

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just didn't do it. And I think about this lion, and I think about him

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being off in the distance and still watching over his family, and

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caring for his family, and sending out the cry that he needs

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to in that time to go, Listen, you're on my land

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now. And some of us need to remember that this is his

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land. This is his church. This is his

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house. And he has dominion in it. He has

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sovereignty. He is sovereign in it. Listen to this,

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guys. It says, a lion will often roar before he pounces. He

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isn't afraid of giving away his position because he knows nothing can touch him

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anyway. That's right.

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What? What? Okay, I'm a visual

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person, but I kind of have this image of the lion going,

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hmm, okay, if you think so.

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If you think so, we're gonna go. That a lion will often roar before he

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pounces. He isn't afraid of giving away his position because he knows

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nothing can touch him anyway. Oh, that's a lion. But it says,

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a lion mighty among beasts who retreats at nothing. That's

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the Word. Our God retreats before nothing.

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Nations rage and kings rise, rulers plot, and the One

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enthroned in heaven laughs.

say this: 00:20:25

You ever just feel like the Lord's going, is that the best you got?

say this: 00:20:30

Is that the best you got? And that's what I think with this lion, to

say this: 00:20:33

go, I'm gonna roar. I'm gonna

say this: 00:20:37

give away— I'm gonna even give away my position. And I'm

say this: 00:20:41

gonna give you a choice in how you deal with that. How

say this: 00:20:44

you deal with that. It says this, a

say this: 00:20:48

warning roar means there is still time to respond.

say this: 00:20:53

You've still got time to move. You've still got

say this: 00:20:56

time to act. There's a warning roar. There is a place, and it's

say this: 00:21:00

gonna come to you. When that warning roar comes, it's gonna come to your

say this: 00:21:04

spirit, and it's— I had somebody ask me today, they said, what is the difference?

say this: 00:21:07

Oh, not today, this week. What is the difference between conviction

say this: 00:21:11

and condemnation? And I will tell you, for me, that conviction is a

say this: 00:21:15

word from the Lord that pierces that place of

say this: 00:21:19

truth and eternity in your spirit. And for me, the difference

say this: 00:21:23

between the two is there's not accusation in it. There is warning

say this: 00:21:27

in it. There is a promise at the end of it to go, okay,

say this: 00:21:31

okay, Smitty, you know what you're doing.

say this: 00:21:35

And I want you to stop. Because if you will

say this: 00:21:39

stop, here's what's on the other side of this for you. There's

say this: 00:21:42

conviction that leads to repentance. Conviction will cause you to go,

say this: 00:21:46

God, I am so sorry. I am so sorry.

say this: 00:21:50

But not sorry like the world is sorry, because there is

say this: 00:21:54

a worldly sorrow that leads to death, according to

say this: 00:21:57

scripture. In other words, I'm so sorry I did that. Okay, but there's no

say this: 00:22:01

repentance behind it. And there's a godly sorrow that leads to

say this: 00:22:05

repentance, and repentance will lead to life. Yeah.

say this: 00:22:09

That's the warning roar. The warning roar. And

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one of the other differences, guys, is condemnation, when it comes at

say this: 00:22:16

you, listen for the voice of the accuser in it.

say this: 00:22:20

Because he accuses. He tells you how bad you are, how wrong you are,

say this: 00:22:24

how horrible you are. And there's no promise of hope, of

say this: 00:22:28

redemption behind it. Learning one will lead you

say this: 00:22:31

to life, and one will allow you to stay in your mess.

say this: 00:22:36

That's what it will do. You'll feel bad about the mess, but you'll stay in

say this: 00:22:39

it. The warning

say this: 00:22:43

protects. It says, if you are coming for them, you are coming

say this: 00:22:47

through me. I like that a lot.

say this: 00:22:51

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you. I have

say this: 00:22:54

summoned you by name. You are mine. You are

say this: 00:22:58

his. You are his. And he is fiercely

say this: 00:23:01

protective of you. He will speak to you in

say this: 00:23:04

family, in communication. He will speak to

say this: 00:23:08

you in warning. He will speak to you to let you know that

say this: 00:23:12

he is still in charge of this situation.

say this: 00:23:16

He is still speaking. And if I get the worship team to come

say this: 00:23:19

out, there is one more roar. If he's speaking in victory,

say this: 00:23:24

Or is he speaking in communication? He speaks in dominion to

say this: 00:23:27

establish, I am still in charge. I am still over you

say this: 00:23:31

and over this situation. And the final one that we

say this: 00:23:35

find in the roar is a roar of final victory.

say this: 00:23:39

There's a roar that a lion has that sounds like no other roar,

say this: 00:23:44

but it's a roar of final victory. I wanna pull up

say this: 00:23:47

some scripture for you.

say this: 00:23:52

Amen. If you are in the middle of a hard place,

say this: 00:23:56

if you are in the middle of a place, know this: God always

say this: 00:23:59

finishes what he starts. He always finishes the work,

say this: 00:24:03

whatever that looks like. And it may not look like you think it's going to.

say this: 00:24:06

It may not look like I think it's going to. But he will finish the

say this: 00:24:09

work in such a way that beauty will come from ashes. He will

say this: 00:24:13

finish it in such a way That His Bride is covered

say this: 00:24:17

and blessed.

say this: 00:24:22

It says this, after the battle,

say this: 00:24:26

the lion roars to announce to family that the threat has been

say this: 00:24:30

overcome and the battle is finished,

say this: 00:24:33

inviting them to come and eat.

say this: 00:24:39

Inviting them to To come and eat.

say this: 00:24:43

Doesn't that sound familiar? To

say this: 00:24:47

know what He has done, the battle

say this: 00:24:51

that the Lion of the tribe of Judah has waged, to

say this: 00:24:54

understand that there is a final victory

say this: 00:24:59

roar. This is what the scripture says in

say this: 00:25:02

Revelation 5.

say this: 00:25:07

Beginning with verse 1. Then I saw

say this: 00:25:11

in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing

say this: 00:25:15

on both sides and sealed with 7 seals. And I saw a

say this: 00:25:19

mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, who is

say this: 00:25:22

worthy to break the seals and open the scroll? But no one

say this: 00:25:26

in heaven or on earth or under the earth

say this: 00:25:31

could open the scroll or even look inside it. And I wept

say this: 00:25:35

And I wept because no one was found.

say this: 00:25:39

No one was found who was worthy to open the scroll

say this: 00:25:44

or to look inside. Then one of the elders said to

say this: 00:25:47

me, do not weep. Do

say this: 00:25:51

not weep. The Lion

say this: 00:25:55

of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David,

say this: 00:25:59

has triumphed. He is able to open The scroll

say this: 00:26:03

and its 7 seals.

say this: 00:26:08

And you know, you would think,

say this: 00:26:12

you would think when somebody says, behold the Lion

say this: 00:26:16

of the tribe of Judah, you would have thought that, that, that

say this: 00:26:20

John would have turned around and seen this magnificent

say this: 00:26:24

lion, but that's not what it says.

say this: 00:26:29

He is able to open the scroll and its 7 seals. And then

say this: 00:26:33

when he turned, it says, then I saw a Lamb

say this: 00:26:37

looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne,

say this: 00:26:42

encircled by the 4 living creatures and the elders.

say this: 00:26:51

See, the Lion becomes the Lamb. The

say this: 00:26:54

lion roars and he sends his message to us. He communicates

say this: 00:26:58

to his family day in and day out. He is

say this: 00:27:02

speaking. He is instructing. He is allowing us to orient

say this: 00:27:06

ourselves to his truth, to his Word. He is

say this: 00:27:09

speaking to us if we will listen to him. He is speaking

say this: 00:27:13

to us about just the communication and

say this: 00:27:17

drawing us in. He's letting us know that, hey, listen,

say this: 00:27:21

I know this is hard. I know that this is a

say this: 00:27:25

painful season. I know what you're going through, but you know what? I'm

say this: 00:27:28

still here. I am still over you.

say this: 00:27:32

I'm still sovereign, and I am still strong enough to

say this: 00:27:36

take on all comers. He is faithful,

say this: 00:27:40

and He is good, and He has not changed. He has not

say this: 00:27:44

changed. The lion

say this: 00:27:47

roars in communication and dominion, and Amen! Guys, He

say this: 00:27:51

has roared in victory! He has

say this: 00:27:55

roared in victory! And the roar sounded like,

say this: 00:28:00

it is finished!

say this: 00:28:05

It is finished! The

say this: 00:28:08

roar of the Lion of the

say this: 00:28:11

tribe of Judah! We'll hear it again.

say this: 00:28:15

We'll hear it again. Amen. But we're listening for it now.

say this: 00:28:19

Listening for it now. I have asked Jonathan and them, we're going to go back

say this: 00:28:24

to the beginning. We are going to— you know,

say this: 00:28:27

it just seems appropriate that deserts and lions and Egypt

say this: 00:28:31

would go together. And the way that he draws, it's

say this: 00:28:35

still in my spirit for us to worship through. It's still in my

say this: 00:28:39

spirit to end in worship and to worship To worship

say this: 00:28:42

anyway. To worship anyway as we are navigating our

say this: 00:28:46

way through waters. And guys, I do remind you that when this is

say this: 00:28:50

said and done, we're gonna worship. If you wanna join us down here,

say this: 00:28:54

we're gonna worship. And then those who are gonna be baptized or

say this: 00:28:57

get filled for baptism, if you'll go through those doors and join.

say this: 00:29:01

Father, I thank you so much. Thank you so much for your Word. I thank

say this: 00:29:05

you for your truth. I thank you, Father, that you are still

say this: 00:29:08

speaking, that you are still roaring. Father, and we long for the

say this: 00:29:12

roar of the Lion of Judah to direct us, to orient us, to draw us

say this: 00:29:16

back toward you. We bless you and we thank you in Jesus'

say this: 00:29:19

name. Bless your name. Would you stand? And those who wanna

say this: 00:29:23

worship, if you would just come down, we're gonna worship for a minute.