Leon Fontaine - The Reality Is...
Hey, everybody! It is so good to have you with me today. We have a fascinating topic. We're going to talk about reality. Do you ever heard someone say, "The reality is," and what they're doing is they're trying to get you to face their reality. Years ago, I remember a preacher who asked a young guy talked about new creation realities. And that's what I want to dive into today because so many people in different seasons of life. You know whether it's storms or things aren't going the way you want them to. We tend to be under the circumstances.
Well, you know, under the circumstances. And we even use that in our speech. Well, under the circumstances we could do this, under the circumstances we could do that. But nowhere in the Bible does it say that whatever circumstances are going on in this world, that we are under them, that they control us. In fact, the opposite is true. So when someone starts saying to you something like, "Well, the reality is". You better check yourself because if they're going to bring out what the reality is according to the world. You're in big trouble. So as I dive in today, to the topic I want to talk about which is, "What's the reality of who we are and where we are"? And I hope that today that you just let go of this fear. Fear is a spirit. It is the spirit of fear the Bible says. It's not a feeling. It's not an emotion.
And I sense it in the body of Christ so many places, and especially in the end times people. And the ones who aren't can fear, they're escapist. You know, we don't have to worry about winning the lost. I'm counting down the time. I've got the clock figured out. We're all out of here, too much going to blow any moment now. One guy said, "Well, I'm going to go get as much debt as I can, and I just go buy what I want because I'm going to be raptured out here anyway. So who cares what I owe the banks". They're such a collage of thinking amongst Christians and their "end times beliefs".
So be careful. Be careful. Maybe what you're preaching is literally turning off the emerging generations. And they would have much rather go have a little bit of Jesus, and get away from the rhetoric that makes it sound like they can't get married. They can't have great careers. The world's going to disappear. We're all going to disappear, etcetera, etcetera. All right, now I've offended somebody good. Let's keep going. 1 John 4:4 says, "You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world".
Let's talk about for a minute evil leaders. Let's talk about evil men and women and what their purpose is on the planet. We've got evil when it comes to financial world. There will be evil in the medical world. There will be evil in governments, in the heads of countries. But listen to me. If the enemy is going to use people to bring heartache and pain, the Bible says that we are of God. And that he, that we have overcome them because greater is the God inside of me than the devil driving evil people. Now, you either got to believe that or not. You either got to believe that God inside of a business leader can be as greater than the enemy inside of that selfish self-centered leader who's all about him and hurting people.
God inside of us. We can overcome in the business world. We can overcome and raise up kids who know their God and do great exploits. It's surprising to me how many Christians have let go of the reality that greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world, or that we are of God and we have overcome them. Praise the Lord! Now, let's keep going here. We've got to begin to understand that victory is what our destiny is, all through the epistles it's about victory. And so we are to continue to advance. The light is going to grow brighter and brighter until that perfect day. We're the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. If in the Old Testament, when God's people were right with God. They raised up commerce. They raised up the greatest nation. They raised up politics and protection and armies and God's protection was on them. But today we've got a better covenant Hebrews says, with better promises. And yet we've still got people who already start thinking about end times.
And by the way, they can't seem to differentiate between who is this written to in some cases or written to, you know, the first generation or is it written to 2000 years later. They were thought this through. I want to challenge you to have a victorious mindset. I want to challenge you to get into God's Word. Let me read you a surprising Scripture for many believers. Hebrews 10:11:14, and it says, "And every priest in the old covenant stood daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin. But this man, Jesus, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down on the right hand of God. From henceforth," from here and on it means, "expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified".
Listen, Jesus, if you've given your life to Christ, He's on the inside of you. And we are to go forth and preach the Gospel with every creature. We are to use our gifts and abilities. We're to raise up our families, our churches. We're to seek first the kingdom of God. We are to build. We are to rise up. We're to own properties and we are to teach our people. You know, pastor who have equipped the saints for the work of the ministry. And there are people in your churches who have ministries in politics, ministries in business and education and the arts, music. You name it. And so as they know who they are in Christ and they become to a maturity of God's Word. They can walk into any of this arenas with all their talents and giftedness and the skills they add to it. And the presence of God that is upon them and we should have an unfair advantage.
Let's talk about leading a company. If you've got a CEO who doesn't know Christ, people think, "Well, they have an advantage because they can lie and cheat and steal and backstab and bribe people". You think that's an advantage? That's going to keep up with them. If you're a believer and you've got a company that is competing for the same work, bidding on the same jobs. And you say, "Well". One guy will say, "Oh, we can't even compete because I'm a Christian. I'm not going to lie, cheat, steal, bribe". I said, "Listen, as a believer, there are things that we know. There are things that God will guide us with should you even be bidding on that contract".
When you think about a believer who hears the voice of the good shepherd. Jesus is not just leading you on a moral path. Of course, He is. He is leading you in every area of your life. He understands if you're heading up a business in technology. He knows the future of technology. He knows the people's heart you're doing business with. He knows the smartest investment. He knows who to hire. Holy Spirit will guide you as a leader in that company as to what to do, what to move to wars, what to back off, what to say no to. A believer who knows Christ and can hear His voice and the favor of God is upon his life. He ought to be leading that company in a way that nobody else could touch if they don't know Christ, or they don't listen to Him. Regardless of all the cheating and lying and backstabbing they do.
Can you imagine a born again believer who is the head of a country, who really is mature in the Word. And they know that they've got to bring freedom to that country, which means you can't force religion on them. So freedom is for everybody. Other religions, other sexual beliefs, all the things. That we are to have a country where mankind is free. Nowhere in garden of Eden when He said to Adam and Eve, go forth and have dominion. It was never over other people. So everybody gets to decide who they're going to serve, what kind of life they're going to lead as long as it's not hurting others. You hurt someone. They're going to lock you up. But as far as what you believe, and how you live your life. God has given a freedom to every person on the planet.
So if you are the head of the country as a Christian. You bring freedom to that country. And as that country on the world stage is trying to make decisions, God will guide that leader in how to handle the leader of that country. How to handle trade embargos over here. How to handle situations that you need the wisdom of Solomon to figure out. Well, God is here. And the Bible says, "My sheep know My voice and they follow Me". Well, what does it mean we follow Jesus? With the giftedness and the abilities that are in you and I, Jesus will guide you through all of that career. How to raise families, marriages, raising up your kids, every generation. Jesus is here to guide us in all of the affairs of life.
So as the church world begins to lose this fear. That, you know, everything's going to end anytime now. And goes, "Okay, we're here to occupy. We're here to rise up and to be the head and not the tail, above and not beneath. Whatever we put our hands to, will prosper". David say, "I can run through a troop and leap over a wall". We can rise up and we can defend countries. Look, I hope that there's something that's coming across to you here. The New Testament, the new covenant is supposed to be based on better promises and better than the old covenant. So pick a hero from the Old Testament and the covenant that we have is far better. So here in Hebrews chapter 10, he says that Jesus is expecting His enemies to be made His footstool.
What does that mean? That means we are the body of Christ. He is seated at the right hand of the Father but at the same time because He's here in my heart, then I have Him in all that I need. Jesus is within me and He'll guide me and lead me and heal my physical body and help me renew my mind and get the right beliefs and deep in my heart. And that the power of God flows off in the miraculous in my life, in my world. In 1 John 5:4, it says, "For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world even our faith".
Now, some people look at that and they just believe that that's internal. That means while you're being beaten and whipped and sick and dying and while your wife is being raped and your kids are being killed. That, you know, well, we are victorious because we get to go to heaven, and we have Jesus on the inside. That is not Bible. That is ridiculous to even think that. If in the Old Testament God providentially even protected His people. He helped raise up mighty men. And I mean, they taught people to warfare and now we're going to be just passive?
See, well, Leon. We, you know, thou shall not kill. Oh, I totally agree with that. But it actually means thou shall not murder. But what would you do if someone broke into your house and he's threatening the lives of your little children? You protect them. Sometimes there's this craziness that has gone on in the Christian world. Where we've gotten so passive, that we think to be meek means that we will never rise up as leaders in the area of, you know, politics or even the general of an army. Do you know how many men who are followers of Christ and generals who were in there tents reading the Bible as that before they went into battle? I've got news for you. It's time for the church of Jesus Christ to begin to understand new creation realities.
If we can get the church to understand who you are. You are a follower of Christ. He's on the inside of you and each of us have different gifts. There are people listening to me. There are songs in you the world has never heard. That's going to put tears in their eyes and the presence of God is going to help them to love and reach out to their spouse. There are those who've got arts on the inside of you. That's going to make people just stand in awe as they see the beauty and the uniqueness of how that art was put together and they'll begin to look to you and I as believers. Whether it's an actor. Whether it's in politics or business. There are gifts inside of us. And we've got to stop feeling like the little church. We're just meek.
What does that mean? Well, it just means that we're meek. That we have a low opinion of our self. We don't see our self as leaders. We just see our self being kicked from pillar to post, you know. So the guys image of Jesus is a, you know, a guy of long, flowing brown hair and big precious eyes. And, you know, and He's wearing a skirt or a dress, and He's got flipflops on, and He walks around just gently and soft voice. He's going, "Peace. I love you". And that is so far remote. Yet that is what religion has done to the men who want to rise up and serve God. I could tell you stories. I don't have time today of sitting down with Navy Seals who are born again believers, who are depending their country. And to see that wonderful heart for God, yet at the same time they want freedom. So the Gospel goes forth. So their families are protected. Christians kept some of the craziest doctrine and some of the craziest ideas.
1 John 5:4, "For whatsoever is born of God is victorious over the world and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith". We are more than conquerors. Inside of us is an ability to raise up and build community, to build cities, to build nations. And there's promises in the Word of God for nations. You know, in Philippians chapter 4, it's talking here about Paul. He's talking about, "I've learned to be abased, and I've learned to abound in whatever state". He say, "I've learned to be full. I've learned to be hungry". And he says, "And I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me".
If life seems to go down for a while, answers to prayers aren't happening as fast as you want them. I'm not saying that life is just handed to us, you know, like a bowl of cheerios. No. I'm saying that, "Yes! We've got to stand in faith. Yes! We're living in the world where the enemy would love, and he is attacking the believers. But we the church have gone too far in that ditch going, "Well, we're on a world that Satan eventually is going to run. And so we'll just do what we can, kind of a half-baked attempt. We'll share the Gospel knowing that not many are going to get saved. But that's going to be a great following a way". And I'm listening to all this and going, "I'm sorry. But that's not the Jesus that I'm following. That's not the Jesus who died on the cross".
Yes, I know that people on this world can get evil and worse. And there are times you'll see nations begin to go down the tubes. But we the believers should be praying, believing and training and equipping the people in our churches to rise up and to make great in roads into business and medicine and career and the arts and politics, etcetera. But we haven't. We've just kind of taught some literally shallow doctrine about being good and just escaping the planet. And yet the Bible is teaching us that what we've been doing here is we are enforcing the victory of calvary. We are sharing the Gospel with people and one by one by one they're turning to Christ. And when they do that, then He's on the inside of them.
And we need to understand, Jesus even says in Matthew chapter 6, He's talking about physical things. To those of you who think, "Well, this is only spiritual". No. He said there that God looks after the birds. He feeds them. He looks after the flowers. He clothes them and He shelters them. And it says here the gentiles are always worried about food and clothing and shelter. And then it says very clearly in Matthew 6:33, "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added to you". What things? Well, if you want shelter from the cold, the rain, from burglars. There's protection there.
Look at all the promises of God in the Bible. That say that every mouth that rises against you, you put it down. That if a sword comes against you, it enters their own heart. That they'll come against you one way and flee before you seven ways. All of these beautiful things about protection, about being the head and not the tail. Meaning that we rise up into leadership. For some reason the church of Jesus Christ needs to wake up to new creation realities and get up and be who you are in Christ. Use the authority of the believer. You can't use your authority on other people. But whatever the enemy tries to bring in to your world, your life, your career, etcetera. The Bible says greater is He who is in you than anything that is in the world. Stopping your career, your health, your peace of mind, your protection, your following Jesus Christ.
So my challenge to you today is to take a new look at the Bible and if all you can listen and all you've heard is, "We're going to stay dumb till He comes". You need to get a new look at your Bible because the Jesus that I follow, Revelation says, what He looks like is not this long precious hair and wearing flipflops and a dress. Jesus doesn't look that way anymore. In fact, even when He was there, He was a man's man. But Revelation shows us the King of kings. The Lord of lords. And what He looks like today, it will shock you as to see He is the King of all kings. He is the Lord of all lords.
And I want to challenge you. That whatever you believe about the end times and Jesus coming back. Cool. I don't think anybody's figured out every detail. But there's one thing that I can promise you, is that we are to live as victors until then. We are to live as overcomers. We are to occupy. We're to raise up every generation to be leaders. We're to raise them up to follow Christ, to be in love with Him. And as we do that, you will be amazed how the church of Jesus Christ can impact countries.
Someone say, "Well, you know, there's so much evil out there". Again, I have read you the promises that greater is He who is in us that he who is in the world. I don't care how many millions and billions of people. Greater is He who is in us. Read the Old Testament and you'll find one man stand beside the leader of a nation and say, "Let my people go". And the miraculous power of God goes into effect and sets his people free. Read the Bible. It's almost always the power of one. One queen rises up and saves all of God's people. One warrior rises up like Gideon and comes against. You know, how he's been raised and the wimpiness he's been raised in. You know, burns down the idols and starts serving God and turns things around in a powerful and in a victorious way.
I give you something to read in Colossians 1:25-29, the apostle Paul is teaching us about a mystery that's been hidden for generations. And this mystery, the mystery of the Gospel is Christ in you. The hope of glory. And then he goes on on verse 29 to say this. I'm going to read in the Amplified. He says, "For this I labor unto weariness, striving with all the superhuman energy which He so mightily enkindles and works within me". Other versions in the Bible, I love the way they use the wording. They said, "And I work furiously, mightily because of the presence of God on my life".
If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, then He is on the inside of you. Greater is He than anything on this planet. He's put gifts inside of you. Get up and use them. Get up and begin to believe God. Get into God's Word. Listen to messages like this. I know that the enemy would love to just stop everything you can do, and there's evil people around us. But when you look at the Bible as a whole, and you see how God was there for His people in the Old Testament. Why wouldn't God be here for His people in the new covenant and beyond? Of course, He is. And the promises we have are greater than the ones in the Old Testament.
Well, I don't know if you've been listening, but I've covered a lot of territory here. Listen to this over and over. Dive into the Word of the God and let's be who we is, instead of just rolling over and going, "Well, I guess". There's a verse in the Bible. I close with this. It says, "The slothful man says, 'There is a lion in the streets. I guess I will die". What? Why is that called slothful? Because get up and fight! Pick up the sword of the Spirit. Put on the armor of a fully, you know, born again believer who knows the Word. Get up and wade into the world and let's win the lost.
Let's raise up families and generations. But oh, no, it's like, "Well, the devil's in the world. I guess we will lose". And it's just a lazy Christianity that says, and people say, "Well, Leon. Yeah, you're one of those". You bet, I am. And I've been preaching and teaching this for 40 years and to see what God has done and the impact that's been made and the things that are growing and we've only just began. Rise up. Jesus loves you. He designed you for victory.