Introducing: "THE Lion of Judah"
"And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not: behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
(Revelation 5:5)
There is only ONE Lion of the tribe of Judah, only ONE lamb slain from the foundation of the world, only ONE King of Kings, only ONE LORD of Lords, only ONE Alpha and Omega, and His name is JESUS CHRIST!
"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you
this testimony for the churches. I am the Root
and the Offspring of David, and the
bright Morning Star."
(Revelation 22:16)
We don't serve a "wanna' be," "should be," or "coulda' been;" we serve the Mighty and Great I AM! Clarke's commentary explains: "The Lion of the tribe of Juda - Jesus Christ, who sprang from this tribe, as his genealogy proves, see Matthew 1:2, Matthew 1:3, Luke 3:23 (notes). There is an allusion here to Genesis 49:9, Judah is a lion's whelp; the lion was the emblem of this tribe, and was supposed to have been embroidered on its ensigns. The Root of David - See Isaiah 11:1. Christ was the root of David as to his Divine nature; he was a branch out of the stem of Jesse as to his human nature."
Jesus Christ: The Lion and The Lamb
The Lord Jesus Christ is portrayed as a Lion and a Lamb. The Apostle John called the Lord Jesus, "The Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." Jesus Christ was born of a virgin in a stable, and laid in an animal trough, a manger. He lived in the little hill city of Nazareth with impoverished parents. He came into this world "as a lamb to the slaughter." He answered not a word to the accusations made against Him before the cross. Why? Because He was born to live; He lived to die; and He died to Rise! Hallelujah! Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God was the sacrifice for the world; He bore our sins and spilled the blood that should have been our blood, took the nails that should have nailed us, and HE paid our price.
The lamb-like persona of the Lord Jesus Christ before and on the cross, has now become ferocious in the Book of Revelation, where He is called the Lion of Judah, because He is the ONE worthy to open the Book, the ONE who has the authority to judge the earth, because He created it. The lion is a fearless animal and its roar makes all the beasts of the land tremble. So it is with Jesus Christ our Lord; Joel 3:16 describes it:
"The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder
from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble."
The Holy One, the Lord Jesus Christ has a date with planet earth; He's coming again "to judge." He, who redeemed the earth, was the only ONE worthy to open the scroll and loose the seals.
The four horses of the Apocalypse
As Jesus Christ opened the Book, the redeemed fell down before Him and began to sing. What ensues is war, famine, pestilence and death: "judgment." What should we do? Make friends with the Lion ... while He is still a Lamb!
Lord Jesus: SAVE ME! Have mercy on me, Dear Lord! I repent of all of my sins; I fall on my face before You; I'm sorry for every evil thing I have ever done; please wash me in Your blood and cleanse me of all of my sins. Fill me with Your Spirit and I will speak in tongues as Your Spirit fills me. I will go and be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of my sins. Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul; I will live for You all the days of my life and I will be a witness of Your mercy and grace to everyone. Bless me, I pray, and I will bless others. I give You my love, my life, my body, my strength, my soul and my spirit; guide me and lead me into all righteousness for Your name's sake. Amen!
He's coming back! Who? The Lion and the Lamb; they are One and the same, Jesus Christ the Lord. Before then, He'll have one more revival, one more outpouring, one more move of His signs, miracles and wonders, one more Holy fire on the altar of worship, one more beckoning to come unto Him, one more bright light of awe for the creation He loves so much. It's time to look UP!
(Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com.
PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)
It is about the climax of my faith story, which took place almost four years ago now. During that time, I was very involved with conspiracy theories, which made me very depressed and hopeless.
ReplyDeleteOne day I had an argument with my parents, which caused me to cut myself off from everyone and everything. After that, a few moments later, in the evening, I was sitting on the balcony, looking at the surroundings and thinking.
I felt like I was the only person in the world. A terrible feeling. The mood was accordingly very bad and I had never been so lonely in my whole life.
Then a distress call came out of me from within. It did not come from my mind, but rather from my heart. I said, "Jesus, do you (at least) love me?". I looked expectantly to heaven with slightly skeptical thoughts that nothing would happen anyway. But right after the skeptical thoughts faded away, and I was just looking up with hopeful and sad eyes, suddenly a small bright light became visible in the corner of my eye. Before, it was hidden behind branches and twigs of the trees in the background. I was perplexed. Unbelievable. It was as if this light shone directly into my heart, giving me peace and comfort alongside my confusion.
What had just happened? What exactly is this?
A somewhat hidden but very bright star that became constantly visible at that moment.
Unfortunately, when the shock and surprise disappeared, I began to see it skeptically. I was comforted, but I could not believe that this was a sign from Jesus and/or a higher power.
I speculated that it was just a coincidence. "The star is independent, it should be there, even without me. It was just that the wind moved the branches at that moment so that it became visible. There was absolutely nothing supernatural involved, it was a purely coincidental event and I got into it."
So I was in a dichotomy. It was my heart against my mind.
To believe or not to believe
I wanted to believe, but my mind would not allow it so easily.
A few days passed while I was torn between these two sides, but then, by God's grace, a final clue came.
I was browsing the internet and "accidentally" saw a very specific Bible verse that caught my attention. Up until that point, I had never read the Bible.
Nor had I ever heard or read that verse.
It was Revelation 22:16, the last chapter of the canonical Bible. Not a very popular verse, it reads:
" I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you all this in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright MORNING STAR."
I shuddered. Could this be?? I researched for morning star.
My research revealed that the morning star (/evening star) is also known as Venus, which is the brightest object in our sky after the sun and moon. Finally, through research, I found that the morning star/Venus was undoubtedly the star I saw that night when I asked about Jesus
Also, I had a special and maybe relating dream some years later. In the dream I watched a very bright star from my room window. I already had the knowledge and habit to look for the morning star and thinking about it differently. It was in eastern direction during a night, I don't know which time. All in all I wasn't sure if it was the star which gave me my testimony sign, so I was in a pondering state.
ReplyDeleteThen suddenly, I realized, it came closer in a not very noticeable way, until eventually it descended in our sphere. I quickly hid myself because of fear. Something landed right next to our house and it emitted glorious light, which I noticed through the window from the corner of my room. I cautiously and slowly stepped closer to the window to see what it was. Then I saw a divine, appearing to me lion like creature with wings, but it almost wasn't moving at all. It seemed like a living statue. I only noticed some motion in the eyes, which I feeled were looking at me through my window. It had wings and a two color body scheme. The bottom was rather vibrant and absorbing red, orange and the head was rather bright and light like yellowish white, light gold. The shine was so beautiful, comforting and satisfying. To me, I only can associate this lion with Jesus. I don't know how much it is contagious on true reality, but it was a beautiful and unforgettable dream. I only wished he said something to me... shortly after he looked at me, I think I woke up