Leon Fontaine - The Abilities of the Hidden Man
The Bible teaches us in the epistles that there's a hidden man. And that we can see your body. We can hear and sense and listen with our five senses to your mind, your emotions. But that's not you. And that you are the hidden man. I was speaking at a conference in another city, in another country. It was a huge conference going all week and that like 40 speakers. And we were all meeting before the conference started. It was wonderful to see people recognized, respected, and knew. And then I started chatting with this one guy who looked just like Elmer Fudd. And he sounded like Elmer Fudd. His voice intonation was like that. And for those who maybe haven't watched cartoons. Like I guess, I'm dating myself. Cartoons from 40 years ago, Elmer Fudd was the guy who's always hunting down Bugs Bunny, was it? And he's little, he's just a little man with a bald head in a, in a bad, you know, the way he uses English.
And so I met this guy in this green room. Didn't know who he was, um, tried to engage him in conversation and he was awkward, socially awkward. And so I just thought, you know, hhmn. I thought, "I'm going to go and listen to him preach". Because they either made a big mistake with one of the speakers, or this guy is a hidden gem. So I went and sat down during his session and I listened. And he got on stage and he didn't look like, you know, he was a world leader. He didn't look like, you know, he was, had it all together. As he got up there, he kind of sat there and opened up the Word of God and He began to teach God's Word. As he taught God's Word, the place went silent, and it went electric as something came out of this man. That nobody saw in the green room and nobody was looking out on the stage. It was coming out of the hidden man where Jesus Christ was alive, and the Word was alive, and the presence of God was alive. And it just flowed out and it touched people in a remarkable way. And when he was done that week, it was just great to meet him and talk with him and to recognize.
And I want you to understand, that don't worry about what people think about you physically. Don't worry if you're born with legs too short and body too long and nose, you know, whatever. Don't worry about it. Because that's, you are a being that is three-parts. Body, earth suit. Soul, mind, imagination, will, and then your spirit. This hidden man that is the real you. I remember years ago going into a situation where we had to use lawyers. And so kind of get into meetings in boardrooms with their lawyers and we had this lawyer. And I just thought, "Wow, he doesn't look aggressive. He doesn't look powerful. He doesn't, but as soon as he walked and it was his turn to get up and speak. It was absolutely brilliant what came out of that man".
Let me talk about you. Let me talk about your hidden man. Did you know the Bible considers as person becoming born again, reborn. They consider it the greatest miracle in the Bible. And you kind of go, "What"? Like, I might consider raising the dead, or you know, growths disappearing, or someone walking out of a wheelchair. Now, that's impressive but being born again we've kind of relegated it down to going to church, becoming a Christian. Woohoo whoop-de-doo. But we have so missed the hidden man. Not only do people not know who you are, did you know the majority of the church doesn't know who they are. They don't know the hidden man. I'm going to entitle my message today, "The Ability of the Hidden Man". Universities have tapped in to the ability of the mind and its reasoning and the five senses.
We've got coaches and we're paying millions of dollars to hockey players and football players who've tapped in to the ability of the human body. Nobody has tapped in like we could to who they really are, the hidden man of the heart. The greatest miracle is that when Adam and Eve were in the garden and they disobeyed God. They were born again backwards. The presence of God that was in them left. The nature of God left their spirit. And it was obvious as they share the story in the Bible because Adam became fearful and he hid. And when God called his name, "Adam! Where are you, you, you, you? Adam"! And he hid himself. And then when we have him talking to God, it is literally he is guilt-ridden. He is feeling so low. He is feeling like, you know. Why? Because the nature of God had left him. And mankind for thousands upon thousands of years has lived with this massive void.
Now, you can develop amazing reasoning skills of the mind. You can develop amazing skills to sing, to jump, to play hockey. And people will pack out Coliseums 80.000 people wave their hands and scream at a singer. We love you. You're awesome. But he'll go back in the green room afterwards and snort lines of coke because he's so empty on the inside. This hidden man. If you are born again today, you are reborn. This hidden man is very much alive. The thing is not too many people know what's in them. They pray incorrectly in the new covenant for things that have already been given to them. It's like me going, "Jesus, O God, I need some water. Please, God, water, water. O God, I need water. I need water. Please, please, please, please, please". Then God's going, "Leon, you're holding a glass of water". Oh, but God.
I know Christians who spent their whole life begging. They think prayer's begging. Which is why a lot of my friends would never come to know Christ because they thought, if I got us go to your church and get to the altar weeping and crying and begging God to do something about it. Then if He's that kind of a, of a God that He's hanging on to that miracle so tight. He's going to make you suffer. You sucker. And then I don't think I want that God. Religion. I hate religion. Religion is manmade rules that judges one another, and makes it impossible to really become who God designed you to be, because religion will keep you where you'll never add, measure up. The gospel is that Jesus made the way. Jesus died in your place. He exchanged your life for His life. He took your life and died for it. He went to hell for it, paid the price for it, rose again with new life. And when we really see this, this amazing miracle, is that dead people walking can be reborn. I was a dead person walking. Oh, I tried hard. But until I finally just swallowed my pride and invited Him in. I became reborn.
Now, most of us just stop there. But what does that mean? What goes on in a reborn person? Well, the nature of God comes into the very spirit, the hidden man of that heart. And you come alive with the nature of Him. Oh, what does that mean? It means that you are a new creation as never before. Jesus was talking in the book of Matthew to some of the Bible scholars and they were asking Him all these questions. He made a statement that is startling. He said, "There is one here now greater than Solomon". What? He's calling Himself greater than Solomon. Did you know that as you go into God's Word in the epistles and you find out what this born again experience is. That if you're born again, you are greater than Solomon because he was given a gift of wisdom to lead God's people. He wasn't born again. He didn't have the wisdom of God on the inside of him. We have so as Christians, it's become religion, instead of understanding what's going on on the inside of us. The Bible teaches us that when the nature of God came in, it wasn't just the nature. It was the ability.
Ephesians 1:16 and on, Ephesians 3:15 and on, Colossians 1:9 and on, and many other places where Paul is praying a Pauline prayer. He is literally God is trying to show us. What is God want you to know? He wants you to know that you have an inheritance. And that that inheritance has been qualified by Jesus Christ for you. And when people start praying for things they've already been given, your prayers begin to move you into unbelief. Now, that's a whole another topic we'll talk about one day. That praying believers can move quickly out of the miraculous area of sensing and knowing God's presence, God's power, God's help in their life, because of praying such unbelieving prayers. It is God's ability that works in us. If we take a hold of Solomon for example, and we look at Solomon. Do you know that the Bible says that the wisdom that we have today.
Let me read you a really powerful verse. 1 Corinthians 1:30, says, it tells us that Jesus was made unto us wisdom. What does that mean? Well, the Bible talks about knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Almost like 3 steps. Did you know that wisdom is the application of what you know. Did you know that you can give someone a lot of knowledge and they still can't connect the dots on what decision to make, what move to make as a leader, what to do in raising their family, what to do with their investments, what to do with their own health. They don't have a clue what to do. They've got all this knowledge. Today as never before tens of thousands of books are being written in self-help on everything imaginable. And as never before people they just want to be led. Someone just tell me what to do. That's what I hear all the time. And I want people to know that wisdom is in you. And that the wisdom of God, Jesus is your wisdom.
In James 3:15, it's talking about the world's wisdom. And it says, "Their wisdom is not a wisdom that comes down from above. It is earthly, sensual". In other words comes from your senses. And it says, "It can be devilish". Another words, people who look after themselves, think about themselves, or self-focused, self-centered, selfish. They all say and do things. Like you kind of go, "What is wrong with that person"? In Colossians 1:9, it says that you as a reborn believer have a spirit of wisdom. You have it. You have the spirit of understanding. Others might not know how to understand, or how to put these facts together, or what decision should I make. But the presence of God who was in your reborn spirit will connect all the dots for you. It just go...
Many times in meetings whether it's with our staff or family. We'll be thinking about things, looking at things, and we'll lay all the facts on the table. We'll put them on the wall. We'll write down pros and cons and all the thing the world teaches. And all of a sudden, God would go, and you'll just know. This is how we're going to do it. And you kind of go, "Oh, that's God's wisdom". You have it. You have it to raise your teenage daughter. You've got it to handle your finances. You've got it to make healthcare decisions. You've got it for everything in your life this wisdom of God. And you don't have to, "O, God, give me wisdom like Solomon". Are you kidding me? Jesus the Son of God is in you. Solomon doesn't hold a candle to what's available in your reborn spirit. You have wisdom. You need to believe it and start saying it.
Another thing that is in your reborn spirit is love. Did you know the sign of a born again believer according to the 1 John chapter after chapter, is love. Do you show love? I have, I have met men and women who think they're full of God. They call themselves prophets, apostles, teachers. Men and women of God. And I see no love. No, I'm not talking about emotional love where you kissed your boyfriend and your leg popped. I don't feel that kind of emotional love often for a lot of people and a lot of people don't feel it for me. The word love here means to value people. To look at someone and just know you're so valuable. And that way as you rise in confidence and in gifted knowing who you are in Christ. You don't have to put on all this false humility and put yourself down. No! You can think as highly of yourself as you want as long as you do two things. Give God the credit for who you are and has deemed everybody better than you. You're here to lead them with a servant's heart. This love, this love is something that you have an ability to love unlovely people.
Now, that doesn't mean you let people walk all over you. You don't walk in to your company with 100 employees and go, "I just love you all. You can work if you want. If not, it doesn't matter. I'm going to pay you anyway". I'm not talking about ridiculousness. I'm talking about you've got to fire somebody, though where you are literally looking at them because your job is to keep the company going. And if this person this is not where they should be, and you got to release them. Then release them while you value them. There's no place in the Word of God for us to treat one another out of love. And you can confront in love. You can be a leader with love. You can make the toughest decisions while you respect and honour the people that you lead. This love, it's in you. One guy said to me, "I'm been praying for love". And I said, "Why"? Oh, did you see who I'm married to? I said, "That's funny. She was telling me the same thing. That she's praying for love".
You don't have to pray for love. Love resides in your reborn spirit. The very nature of God. He is within you. As you look at this, this incredible, this incredible teaching in God's Word. That you are reborn believer. Then you got to understand that there is joy in you. Now, I'm not talking about teehehe. I'm going to explain this joy because this joy is the joy of Jesus. It's the joy of God. It's not happiness that comes from happenings as you often hear me say. In fact, I would say the opposite of joy is emptiness. I don't know how many people that I've gotten calls from in the midst of suicide. You know, that life just a mess. And they feel so empty, nothing they achieved, nothing they do. Yes, you can have someone that does something. You can go through an unhappy times. You can be grieving. You can lose job, career. You can literally be talked about and lied about.
And for some people they would be decimated. But they can't with you, because joy doesn't come because of what's happening around you. Joy is a force of your reborn spirit. And that is why as you go to God's Word, you'll find verses like Jesus saying in John 15:11, "These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy maybe in you, and that your joy will be full". He's talking about the force of joy in you and that is you have the ability to make it full in your life. And there's many scriptures that talk about how to have the fullness of joy. In 1 Peter 1:8, it says, "Whom not having seen you love, on whom though now we see him not, yet believing you rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory".
There is a joy that is inside the reborn spirit of every child, every teenager, every person. Whatever you're going through right now. I don't know what's knocking on your head. I don't know what's destroying your emotions. I don't know what lies are coming on the inside of you. You need to know that if you've given your life to Christ, that the joy of Jesus Himself resides in your spirit. Your human spirit, and you can have joy unspeakable and full of the glory of God in the midst of whatever you're going. It doesn't mean that when you hurt, you have this hahaha, fake thing. I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about laughter even. I'm talking about the joy of the Lord. He's your strength. That strength that keeps you strong. That strength when others are falling apart, and they look at you and they go, "Why are you so strong"? And you go, "I'm not. It's not my strength. It's not my joy".
Peace is a remarkable force. This force is in your reborn spirit. In John 16:33, Jesus says, "These things have I spoken to you, that in Me you would have peace". Where's the peace? Well, you get peace when the storm is over. No! You get peace that's always there from Jesus. I have news for you. Where we spend eternity, and who lives on the inside of us today, and how we make decisions, and the joy that is ours, and the peace that is ours, and the wisdom that is ours. This is not just some kind of play on words or try to brainwash everybody. It says this is a reality. All through the Word, I find promises of peace. And these aren't promises that go, "Pray hard and hope that God snaps His fingers and sends you some peace". No, in the new covenant, if you are a born again believer, inside of your spirit is the peace of God.
Jesus said, "My peace I leave with you, not as the world gives peace. My peace". Pray. Jesus has given me His peace. It's a peace that the world can give and it's mine. I declare I walk in peace. Jesus has given me His joy. It's a joy unspeakable and full of glory. I declare with my mouth. And you begin to pray the Word. You pray the answer. And you will find that day after day the Word gets planted in your heart and begins to rise up. And the very peace that is in you. The joy that is in you. The wisdom that is in you. The things that are in your reborn spirit begin to flow. In Ephesians 4:19 and on says, you put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Meaning, what's in you, put it on like a coat. And put off what you know isn't right. This fear, it's not what I should be having. Fear get off and I put on God's peace in Jesus name.
If you're at a place where you can't figure out how you going to deal with it. And you just say, "I put off this emptiness. I put off all these crazy questions I'm asking. The joy of the Lord is my strength. And in the name of Jesus, I declare. I walk in that joy. Not because things are joyful all around me, but because within me is a joy that no man can take away. And it's a joy unspeakable and full of glory". I just quoted six verses right there about joy because I love joy. And as I find this, I pray the Word. As I speak the Word, then it gets planted in my heart. And what is within me begins to radiate out.
I want to just say to you. You are beautiful. You're special. I guess I should have said ladies because the guys don't like being beautiful. Guys, God made you phenomenal strong. But you'll never make it without a reborn spirit. That's how He designed you. And with His spirit on the inside of you, and the peace of God, the joy of God, the wisdom of God. When you begin to recognize and all these ability flows out of your reborn spirit. You look amazing. Peter said in the two books he wrote. He said that you've been given all things that pertain to life and Godliness. And he says how to get them. You're going to get them through the promises. Take those promises and speak them, pray them, and watch the change take place in your life.