Leon Fontaine - Prophets, Kings and Priests
As a kid, I loved hearing the stories of the Old Testament and The New. My mom and dad, our Sunday school teachers. I mean, would talk to us about men like Samson. Oh, I could just wish I could pick up the city gates and take out 1.600 enemies. David taken out giants. Elijah calling down fire. I mean, hero after hero from the Old Testament. They would tell me the stories in living color. They wouldn't just read the verses. They would just tell the story of what would have been, must have been like for a teenage shepherd boy to step out into a valley filled with enemies looking at him, and his own army jeering at him, his brothers and to get up and to be strong and what God did. I mean, incredible people like Esther and Ruth.
So the stories and I want to challenge you. Make sure the only stories your kids hear aren't Disney. You know, it's fun to have fun. But, man, make sure they know the stories of the Bible. The stories of Paul and Silas in the jail and shaking it up. Jesus walking on water. I mean, the Bible is filled with stories that we need to be teaching our children so that they know their God. They know what Jesus is like. The one thing that I'm noticing that very few people teach on and few understand the body of Christ is what is the reality of you being a new creation. What are the principles? Who are you now as a new creation? And most people don't know.
And so I'm going to touch on this topic today. And in fact, I'm going to call this message, "Prophet, King, Priest, and Judge". What do I mean by that? Well, in the Old Testament most people were a part of, you know, that they are the children of Israel. That God would guide them. But He would guide them and govern them and judge, etcetera, through these four offices. You know, if you were the king. There is one king. You know, if you were a prophet, usually one prophet of God. They would train lots of guys to teach the Bible but that you're a prophet of God. And the presence of God would come on the person He chooses the king to do kingly things. The presence of God would come upon the prophet to do prophetic things to, and I'm not teaching on this, but to kind of know the direction that the country should go and to be aware of what's going wrong.
Then there'll be the priest who would go into the holy of holies and he would offer the sacrifice. And so, then there would be the judge. When you look at the judges in the Old Testament who before the kings came along, they would begin to judge decisions for people and make judgments. And so there was about four different types of anointing that were there. And then other than that everybody else kind of, it was just the herd of the children of Israel who looked to them for all of these areas.
Now, listen to this. When Jesus died on the cross, it's no longer which anointing here, which... We all have Jesus on the inside of us. And Jesus by the way, His presence is within us. And so the Bible shows us now a new creation. Truth is that you are kings and priests. That means that you have authority and power over your life. As a priest, you can go into the holy of holies because you are actually. But you can commune with God. You can get to know God for yourself. Your kings, priests. You are literally prophets and judges.
The words that you speak every day are prophesying your future. Be cautious about what you say. You are a judge over your own life. And the Bible's teaching us that He set before us life and death. It says that, you know, that we have been given the power to bind and loose. You get to judge what you want loose in your life and what you want stopped in your life. What you want release in your life and what you want bound. The Bible even give us an indicator of what to believe for. It says, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven". You, my friend, are a king, a prophet, a judge. You, my friend, are a priest. You are making decisions about your future. And the Holy Spirit is here. He is our helper. And so He's guiding us into all truth. But what a beautiful picture to look at the Old Testament and see these offices and recognize that now you and I.
Now, that doesn't mean that you're the king over other people. The prophet over other people. The priest for other people. No, no, no. Remember, your life. Now, in the church of Jesus Christ, which is another message. We've got the five-fold ministry, apostles, prophets, pastors, evangelists, teachers, and those are set by God. And that's to work as a church together. Today, I'm talking about you, your life, your kids, your marriage, your career, your future, winning the lost to Christ. You as an individual. You are these things. And if you don't understand this, you are never going to live your life in victory.
In Romans 10:9-11, it's talking about confession here. No, I'm not talking about confessing your sins. This is a different kind of confession. And it says that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Now, that word "saved", sozo, doesn't mean just saved from eternity and hell. It means saved from the entire curse of the law, poverty, sickness, mental illness, kidnapping, destruction. You are literally saved. And how? By the confession of your mouth and by the believing in your heart.
Then it goes on to say, "For with your heart you believe but with your mouth confession is made". And then it says in verse 11, "Whosoever believes on Him shall not be ashamed". Now, that word "ashamed" also means disappointed. So many people who've been taught wrong and tried Jesus. Never been taught their identity. The truths of the new creation. The authority that has been invested into them. That they are kings, priests, judges. They are literally prophets. You are speaking and you are determining your future. Your future whether or not you succeed or go down, God has placed it in your hands.
And so that kingly ability that the king would have in the Old Testament. You have to rule and reign with Him in your life. And overall, the lives of the enemy and the things that would attack you. You are a prophet. Meaning in the prophets of the old would declare the future. And if there was a real prophet, it would happen. If it, if he wasn't a real prophet, things wouldn't happen. That was the judgment. The prophet Samuel it says, not one word that came out of his mouth ever did not happen. Did you know that you are a prophet for your future? The words that you speak in everyday conversation, in your prayer time, whether or not you're confessing the Word.
Then you're confessing something else. And your muttering when you're by yourself. You're angry shouting at somebody. You're banging your head against the wall and making declarations. The Bible is saying that the words of your mouth in one scripture. You are justified or you are condemned. You are the judge. You speak the words over your life. If you're going to be negative and angry and blame others and talk about others and gossip and just declare this world is awful, everything suck and it's going nowhere. All of these words are self-fulfilling. They are being planted in your heart and they are bearing fruit into your future. It is over and over what are you saying as a judge.
The Bible's very clear like I said earlier. That you are determining. You are judging between life-giving words or you are judging between death-giving words. Your words bring life. Your words bring death. They bring death to relationships, death to health, death to your future. And so prayer is not a begging, bugging, and pleading with God. Prayer is a declaration of the inheritance that you have already been given by God because of Jesus dying in your place. One of the things you've got to understand, is that your mouth is not just for communication. It's just not to tell everybody how you feel or to give somebody else a piece of your unrenewed mind. But your mouth, you are speaking and prophesying your future.
Let me hang around with you for about a week, and I will tell you in an erring accuracy what your future will be like, because your words that come out of your mouth are being planted in something called your autopilot, your heart. And Jesus said in Mark 4 that Satan comes to steal it when it's the Word. He doesn't want you planting the promises of God in you because this process of faith starts with what you're saying. And everything you're saying your heart is listening to and trying to make it happen. Angels are listening to it according to the Word of God. The enemy is listening to it. And everything is decided by the words of your mouth because you have the authority over your life. Jesus gave it to you.
And so as we understand this issue of authority, as we understand that the world has never yet seen what a person who is a new creation in Christ, what they could do, what they could accomplish. The reality of healing and prosperity and blessing and the ability to govern. You, by the way, are have access to something greater than Solomon, greater than David, greater than Moses, greater than Samuel, greater than Elijah. You are a new creation. Jesus is the first born. We, if the church of Jesus Christ and we better figure this out, because the church needs to wake up all over the place. That who are we? We are the salt of this earth. We are the light and the salt.
So Jesus flowing through us and the ability to govern. The ability to be doctors. The ability to be in education. The ability when it comes to entertainment or songs. We've got to raise our kids with an understanding of who they are as a new creation. So when you get into the Word of God, it tells you very clearly in Romans 10:9-11. That if you confess with your mouth, believe in your heart, you'll be saved. And that word "saved" covers so many areas. I don't want a life of disappointment where this didn't happen, that didn't happen. So now I'm going to blame my mother. I'm going to blame my pastor. I'm going to blame my father. I'm going to blame my wife. I'm going to blame...
Listen, you can't blame anybody because what has been invested in you is you are the king of your life. You are the prophet of your life. You are the priest of your life. You are the judge of your life. These areas shown to us in the Old Testament you in Christ. You have the same Spirit of God that they had to fulfill those offices are all within you looking after your own life. And when we can understand this, we begin to rise up excited going, "I can stop blaming somebody else". And you need to watch your mouth.
Now, there's a couple of stories we've talked about, one is John the Baptist's dad, Zechariah. When the angel came to him and told him, "You're going to have a son". The angel had to strike him dumb where he couldn't talk because if he'd have spoken, he'd have spoken his unbelief. He'd have spoken his doubts and it would have cost him his son. So the angel struck him down with an inability to speak. And when John the Baptist was born, his dad's ability to speak came back. So he couldn't short circuit this miracle. When the children of Israel, when they were marching from Egypt to the promised land. They first came through a place called Jericho and God said march around it every day for six days, on the seventh day seven times and shout. But He forbade them to talk. Because as they walked around the walls, they were looking at these huge walls. And these walls of this city was a city of giants.
It was a city of giant walls, of giant war machines. And it would make you just utter all your doubts, all your unbelief. It would make you speak all your fears. And so God forbade them to speak. I wonder how many things in your life, in my life have been hurt by a mouth that speaks the negative. A mouth that speaks against the authority, the promises, the Word of God. Very carefully the Bible says life and death are in the power of the tongue. So you as a human being and as a born again believer have an ability. God when He spoke creation to existence, He used words.
Now, what are your words saying? There's an interesting study that not really heard too many speak about in John 17 as Jesus is praying. And Jesus is praying here and He's talking to God. And in John 17:1-4, He says something like wild. He says here that He has finished the work. He's talking to God. He says, "Father, I have finished the work". But just a minute. He hasn't gone to the cross yet. He hasn't been whipped. He hasn't died. He hasn't become sin. He hasn't gone to hell in our place. He hasn't rose victorious, gone into heaven and sprinkle His blood over the mercy. See, He hasn't done any of this stuff yet. Yet, here He is saying to God, "I'm finished"! Because Jesus always spoke the end from the beginning. You go further on. He goes on and He talks about how that He has been, He is glorified now.
And there's a teaching of that, when Jesus rose from the dead, from the very pits of hell. When He had taken your suffering, when He had taken death and the curse, and He rose up. He became the first begotten Son of God, the first born. And it says, He rose up and then God glorified Him. It hadn't happened yet, but He was declaring that it was done. As you go through 17, literally on verses 8 to 11 of John 17, Jesus says, "I am no longer in this world". But He was standing right there. People were puzzled. They were looking at Jesus scratching their head. Because when He prayed, He spoke, He prayed the end results. He hadn't finished. He hadn't been glorified. He wasn't gone from the world in that space of time where He was right there, but that's the way He spoke. It's not a play on words. It's not liked some people who just get all kind of weird. No, no. We're talking about what's in your heart that you believe. You begin to speak that way, talk that way, and even Jesus spoke this way.
You know, one of the things about Christians that we've got to understand is that we think that God's making all decisions for our life. But He said, "No, you are kings". He thinks that it is God that's going to decide what your tomorrows are like. No, it's you and God together because you're the prophet. You speak the words. When we understand that as a believer so much authority and power has been invested in every born-again believer on the planet. That once they understand, Jesus does a teaching where He says that when the Word of God begins to come into your heart and you begin to go, "Aha! Oh, my! Look at this". The enemy comes in immediately to shut down the Word to get you to go towards something. Don't stay in the Word because the Word planted in your heart will cause you to rise up and possess your inheritance walking your authority begin to speak the future.
Listen to me great grandparents. The words you pray over your kids, your grandkids, your great grand kids, the generations. The words that you speak in prayer declaring this is what my family will be like. Those words stay even when you go. Prayer is so unique. Prayer is so powerful. Sal and I started even before we had kids. We begin to declare. This is what our children will be like. This is how they would walk in health. They would know God. They would do great things for God. And one day when I die and I go to be with Jesus Christ, the words that I have spoken for my kids, my grandkids, my great grandkids and the generations of Fontaine will still be here when I'm gone to be with Jesus. Because the prayers of the saints, they transcend time. They go through generations.
Prayers that were prayed centuries ago are still having an effect today. People who prayed over Canada, pastors and leaders and prayer warriors who declare what Canada was going to do. They're gone. We're the ones now in the arena determining souls, etcetera. But those prayers are still there making a way for us. If you can understand the power of the spoken word, of declaring what's going to on in your world and in your life. Someone said to me, "Well, you know, I just don't know what God's will is". God's Word is His will. It's just a stupid question. If someone says to me, "Well, Leon, what really is your will about the church"? I've been talking about the church for years. I go, "Well, what I've been talking about".
You see, you can't separate someone's will from what they're saying. Do you want to know what God's will is? What His Word's saying? It's His words. When we begin to recognize that Jesus, when the Word teaches us to pray. Listen to this one line. It clears it all up. Pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. What is God's will? It is His will on earth as it is in heaven. Now, is it going to happen totally? No, because the god of this world is Satan. And until he's dealt with, we live in a militarize area where he will come to kill, steal, and destroy your marriage, your kids, your peace of mind, your joy. He will come to mess with your body, make it, get it systems, in other way he's going to come to bring disease. He loves to kill, steal, and to destroy.
So because we're on this planet, you and I must determine with our authority in God's Word to speak it every day. The mercies of the Lord are renewed every day. Every day get up and decide what this world is going to be like. Your world is going to be like. Decide what it's going to be like financially, career wise, marriage wise. You don't say, "Well, I sure hope". One person talking to me, "Well, when my girls turn 12, I'm going to get them on a pill because I just don't want them to get pregnant". And I'm going, "Really? That is your prophetic". Well, no, no. I mean, come on. Let's get real. No, realities are something you can determine by speaking, training, being obedient to the Word. And I'm not about to say, "Well, the world is one a hot pot of garbage. I sure hope my kids can make it". I disagree with both.
First of all, my kids are going to be taught of the Lord. They're going to walk in the gifts of the Spirit. They're going to have Jesus, the angelic army, and they're going to be taught to speak God's Word. But I don't agree that the world is going to hell in a handbasket. I don't agree that Satan's so powerful the church loses, and he wins. I don't agree the end times prophesy is the anti-Christ is going to come and behead you all and stop you from eating and drinking. So grab your three rifles and your 20 years of dried food and head for the hills. Oh, grow up. You are a king. You are a prophet. You are a priest. You are a judge. All of these over your world, your life, your future. Take the responsibility and learn how to move in those areas.