Samuel Rodriguez - Lions and Lambs
So, I intentionally don't Google churches I go to. The reason is, I don't want anything to jeopardize the integrity, the legitimacy of the prophetic impartation. Now, others could do that. I'm not judging you if you do, I'm just saying that's just my polity. I had no idea whatsoever what I was coming into... So, if you go back to yesterday and look at the video, the first few minutes were like, "What in the world is going on here, right"? Like, I'm going, like, "What is this"? Cause we could flow by the grace of God he's given us like just the, it's by his grace, 1 Corinthians 15:10. I could do a southern Baptist convention today. I could do like a super unbridled, charismatic expression the next day. So, it's not that I'm bipolar, it's just like you're able to flow in various streams, right?
So, I had no idea. And then yesterday, the whole a, and then the, and the, ooh. And I'm going, so I'm allowed to prof, I have no, I mean, you get, yeah, okay. And so, then I remember like three years ago, Cindy, mama Cindy, Cindy Jacobs, one of my seven elders. Cindy prophesied, give me a word and said, "Sammy, do you know Charles"? "And no, I don't". "Pennsylvania"? "No, I don't". She goes, "Well, you will, you'll be there". And so, it hit me afterwards. And then, so this is just, I'm gonna flow the way we flow. So, if that's offensive for you, get over it. And my point to you is... It's a different culture out there. I have to say, "With great due deference, get over it". But we just, we're gonna, we're gonna just, I'm just, so I'm just, we're gonna, I was in the green. I heard the Holy Spirit just drop a word and just say, "It's a season of redeeming and removal".
Let me explain. There are things God wants to redeem and things God wants to remove. And in this, right now, this time, the stamp on time right now. It is, and i, the Spirit of God just placed that in people that are attending today, this morning session. There's things that he's removing in order to redeem other things. And there are things that he's redeeming in order to remove some things. But it's a season of redeeming and removal. And you need to have the WI-FI, the maturity, the prophetic bandwidth, the discernment to be able to distinguish between the things he wants to redeem and the things he wants to remove. So, with this season, he'll bring clarity to that.
Let me just give you a passage of scripture that may seem a little bit initially, like, "Where's he coming from"? But you'll hear the, like, the outline, revelation 5. This morning I spoke to Hispanic pastors that were gathered here. So, the Hispanic, you have this, there's a young man named Chepe, who, Chepe is like the Latino John Maxwell. Not making this up. The man's brilliant, anointed, gifted, his integrity. You're gonna be hearing a lot more about Chepe. And God brought him to the United States with a prophetic mandate to train leaders and to remove the lids. So, you're gonna be, now watch this word Hispanic.
Years ago, I was in congress when I was working with president George W. Bush. They brought me in as an advisor, Karl Rove did, on a number of issues. And one of them had to do with immigration and all that. So, I'm there working with Karl Rove, working with president bush. This is like 2006, and there was a meeting in congress, there was a press conference. And then someone asked, you know, "Reverend Rodriguez, why are people so," this 2006, "Why are people so, you know, this issue about Hispanics in America and immigrants? What's the issue? What's the angst"? And I said, "I want people to come here legally, not illegally. Whether it's a blessed community, but we wanna respect the sovereignty of the rule of law". And then all of that, right? I gave that entire speech and then they went, "Yeah, but why are certain people like this thing with Hispanics"? And then it hit me.
So I said it, I went, "The angst and detention regarding the current immigration Melees lies embedded in the very construct of the word Hispanic". The reporter looked at me and went, "What did you just say"? Just like row number five over there, right? What, what do you? And I went, "Let's break it down, two syllables, capital H, His. Second word, Panic". Reporter went, "What"? I went, "We are Hispanic, we're not here to make you invest more in Taco Bell. We're not here to prompt you to dance the Macarena, Salsa, Merengue, or Cha-Cha-Cha. We're not here for you to download more of Mark Anthony, Jennifer Lopez, Bad Bunny, whatever a Bad Bunny may be. We are Hispanic, we are here to bring panic to the kingdom of darkness in the name of Jesus". So, I commend you and applaud you for networking this community right now. I love it, brilliance.
Watch, I want to prophesy something about Latinos in California, even though we're not in California. Across the nation, Hispanics, because we're the most pro-life community in America, according to pew research. We're gonna turn a state that is the womb of... Y'all didn't hear that. We're gonna flip some stuff towards righteousness and justice. In the words of Gomer Pyle, surprise, surprise, surprise. Anyone under 35 is just googling Gomer Pyle. Revelation 5, "But one of the 24 elders said to me, 'stop weeping, look the lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David's throne has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and it's seven seals".
This is what Spirit of God placed in my heart. Yesterday was a Segway embedded in the message for this. And you're taking any notes, good luck with that. Here we go. Here's the prophetic outline, a lion's roar marks his domain. Write that down. The lion of the tribe of Judah has won the victory. Read it. Not that he will win, it says, "He has won, stop weeping". Somebody say, "Stop weeping". Stop weeping, and we have been through a weeping season with great legitimacy behind it. And I love the Psalmist's promise that, "Weeping may last for the night but", Psalm 30:5, one more time, "Weeping may last for the night, but... Joy cometh in the morning".
I'm prophesying over Pennsylvania and America. Let not your heart be troubled, it's morning time. I'm telling you this weeping season is coming to an end. It will not last forever. There's gonna be more, I mean, we're gonna, yeah, look at the lion, watch this. He has won, not will win. And I know some of us look at time from a linear perspective, but God works without, in the outside of confines of time, within our reality of time. He already won the victory. He is worthy. The lion of the tribe of Judah has won the victory. Not that he will win, he won. That he will triumph one day. He already did. Whatever you're confronting, whatever you're facing, whatever you're fighting, I'm telling you right now, to rejoice, the lion of the tribe of Judah has already won the victory. So, he already won the victory. He won the victory.
Now, if Jesus is described here both as a lamb and a lion, I love this. Both a lamb and a lion. Stop looking the, I mean the lamb and the lion. There's the, again, he's described as the lamb and a lion both. Galatians 3:27 says, "For as many of you as we're baptized into Christ, you have put on the full nature of Christ". So, if Christ is both a Lamb and a Lion, and we have the nature of Jesus, then we as Christians have to be both lambs and lions. Yes, you may look like a lamb, but you have to roar like a lion. And in a world full of hyenas, serpents, and wolves, it's time for holy lions to rise up. The metaphorical, prophetic application of Jesus as the quintessential lion does not just say he's a lion. He's the lion of the tribe of what? That's important because the lion and Judah component are important. You already know this. You just, your simple biblical exigent here. The word Judah means what? Praise. It means praise.
So, it means praise. You're gonna get this in a second, how he marks his territory. A lion's roar can be heard a distance, and you could do your due diligence here of approximately five miles. The lion marks his territory with its roar. So, the way the lion works in his kingdom as far as the, the roar will reach, that's his territory. Wherever my roar reaches, that's my territory. And the lion's enemies, according to national geographic, which never lies, the lion's enemies respect the roar. If they hear the roar they don't enter in, unless there's a commitment, they find the lion outside his pride. Amos, let me make it legal. Amos 3:8 says, "The lion has roared: and who isn't frightened? The sovereign Lord has spoken: so who can refuse to proclaim his message"?
Your roar, your praise, your worship, your prayer time, it marks your territory. It truly does. Do not permit anyone. Let me be specific here about praise and worship here for a moment. It's not emotional exuberance, again, I may preach like kirk, but I think like spock. And so, the atmosphere here in this house and what you create, and let me just give you a word in this season, God is going to detox your relationships. He is going to sanitize your atmosphere, and he's gonna vaccinate your future and your destiny. So, he's doing it now. And so, your atmosphere, because we're so committed to a worship expression where we usher in the presence of God, your praise marks your territory, your worship marks your territory. Do not permit anyone or anything to occupy your praise and your worship.
First Samuel 17, "The Philistines gathered the forces for war. And they assembled in Judah". The first thing they did, they occupied Judah, which means what? Praise. If the enemy, if it cannot, the enemy wants to occupy your praise, he wants to occupy your worship. The enemy begins by taking away your worship, your praise, because that's your atmosphere. All things are possible. If he can interrupt your worship, then the warfare will tilt towards his favor. So, do not permit anything to occupy your praise, your worship expression. None of that. Matter of fact, I found out that praise and worship is actually a mathematical equation. The size of your praise, your worship is directly proportional to the magnitude of the hell that God took you out of.
Let me repeat that. Growing up in a Latino church, I used to think that praise and worship were a culturally contextualized manifestation of a theological review or of a religious expression. So, I was myopic in my way of thinking. I thought it was about polity and cultural dynamics. Let me break that down in layman's terms. I believed growing up that certain cultures had an affinity for more vibrant and fluid expressions of worship and praise. What does that mean? I thought Latinos and African Americans got their praise on, basically, I thought white people worship like spock. And that people of color were worshiped like kirk. Oh, it's emotional, it's culturally contextualized.
I was wrong. Then I started traveling around the world that, I mean around the world, with the exception of Antarctica. I've been everywhere, man. I've been there. And then I discovered that I was wrong. I discovered the size of your praise is directly proportional to the magnitude of the hell that God takes you out of. What does that mean? If God took you out of a little hell, then you give him a little praise. But if he saved you, if he delivered you, if he... If he healed you, if he turned you around and placed your feet on solid ground, if God transformed you, then you give him the best praise, the highest praise, the best worship. You marked that territory, don't let anything.
Number two, a lion's roar provokes his children to come back. You missed that. And let me say that one more time, and I sense just an impartation there. A lion's roar provokes his children to come back. Our lions roar provokes his children to come back. Hosea 11:10, "He will roar like a lion. When he roars, his sons shall come trembling from the west". Oh, you missed it, you missed it, you missed it. I'm there to tell you to get ready. Your roar is about to get louder. Your children and your children's children are about to hear your prophetic roar. And they are about... Let me say it again. Your children and your children's children are about to hear your roar, and they are about to come back. Are there any lions in the house this morning here in Harrisburg?
We are about to see our sons and daughters come back. No, listen, we are about to see our sons and daughters come back. Turn the porch light on baby, we are about to see our sons and our daughters come back home. And even the prodigal sons and daughters, the prodigal sons and daughters that left for various reasons. Left because they were led away, let astray, they deviated. Some of them led because just the enemy just confused them. And then they, and they fell. And then just the fleshly inclination towards sin and unrighteousness. Some of them left because the church placed the lid through dogmatic constructs that are outside aligned in the Word of God, and somehow dogma trumped doctrine. And it's, and, but they're coming back. They're coming back.
Some of the voices you'll be hearing in the next three years will be prodigal sons and daughters that are coming back this year. So, if you believe that, just say, "Yes". Yes, yes. I would remind you from yesterday that the children will not inherit your sins. They will inherit your blessings. Somebody say, "God, conquers. We possess. Our children inherit". God conquers, John 16:33, "I have conquered the world. We possess, we possess". Numbers 33:53, "Take possession of the land and settle it. I have given it for you, for you to occupy". In proverb 13:22, "A good man leaves a," what? "An inheritance to his children's children".
So, it's important that you understand and that there is a national geographic story, discovery channel, national geographic special. And they showed a lot, pretty cool story, man. They showed a lion before battle and then after battle. And they showed a lion, they showed a lion like this after the battle. And it wasn't against hyenas, it was against other lions. Interesting enough, some of the most biggest scars we get are, and that's a different story. Another day... Yeah. Yeah, yeah, we'll leave it there. And they showed the lion like this. And they, the lion was bleeding. And the narrator of the national geographic special said, you know, in that beautiful narrating voice, "And we find the lion, seems to be mortally wounded". And they have the lion bleeding profusely here and over here where his little baby, little babies. And he just went through the battle.
Then they showed the hyenas coming around this way, taking advantage of this bleeding, not scarred, but now bleeding, just fresh, fresh wounds, bleeding lion. And they were about to eat up the babies, devour the babies, just tear them up. And all of a sudden they show the lion. And the narrator says, the narrator says that, "And the lion has absolutely, very minimal strength. He can't raise his paws and claw, he can't even raise his head". They show the lion couldn't open up his eyes. And they said, "But here's what the lion has". And all of a sudden you hear from this lion that's been wounded, a roar. It was a broken roar, but it was still a roar. It was a broken roar, but it was a roar nonetheless. And the lion sensing via the conduit of instinct that his babies were about to be devoured, he released a roar. The roar was broken, but it was and it was broken.
And yet without exception, the narrator says this. "Now, we find without exception that not some, all the hyenas fled and refused to touch the babies". The narrator says this, "The enemies of the lion know very well that as long as the lion can roar, they cannot take away what belongs to him". We need a church no matter what we're going through. We need believers, we need families, we need moms and dads, we need spiritual moms and dads. I don't care what you've been through, as long as you can roar, as long as you can prophesy, as long as you can worship, the enemy will not take away what belongs to you. That roar, that roar, that roar, that roar. Yeah, yeah. Are there any questions?
Number three, a lion's scar grant's access to new territory. Do you have some of the images up there? Can you put the images up? That right there, the lion's scar. Proverbs 30:30, "The lion, king of animals who won't turn aside for anything". Every single presentation biblically substantiated and I wanna land on this here. It's the lion's scar that will grant a new territory. We alluded to this yesterday to the South Africa experience. There is an idea, there is a teaching now, there is, I find it to come from the pit of hell is called perpetual victimization. The enemy's objective is to make you a permanent victim. If you can drink the Kool-Aid and walk around, woe is me, easily offended by absolutely anything and everything. The enemy will win. The church can't drink the Kool-Aid. We have to push back on this everything offends me. I am offended by people that are easily offended. That's not who we are.
Now, pastors are we ever? Yeah, we may be a victim for a moment, for a minute, for a millennial minute when you may be a victim. But you can't live there in perpetuity. You can't be both more than a conquer and a permanent victim. And the enemy is attempting to even put permanent victimization lids on classes in our society, on races, on ethnicities. If you can believe you're a permanent victim then he wins. Oh man, we are not eternal victims, we are not the devil's punching bag, we are not cursed, we are not defeated. We are overcomers by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. If you overcame something in your lifetime, raise your hands. I mean, we overcame every you name it. From multi-generational realities, confusion, infirmity, brokenness, unforgivity, negativity.
So many things we overcame, and that overcoming empowers us. That empowers us to understand that, in Jesus' name, nothing will deter you. You are a Romans 8:37 byproduct. Nothing will deter you. My parents, we overcame some generational things that were limiting us. So, when I received that prophetic word when I was 14. I've been preaching for a long time. Started preaching after I received that prophetic word. So, 14, I get that word. I gave my first sermon when I was 14. I did my first outing when I was 16, started our television ministry when I was 18. It's been a long time. So, all these years I told you that my wife was in the audience, right? So was my mom and so forth. But my wife and I have had a 31 year conversation about one interesting thing. My wife has, and this is written and it's CTED, all the profiles they've done on me, they've written about, "When he was 14, Pastor Sam had this encounter".
And my wife and I have always had conversation. She always says, "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if you could ever connect to that choir director from teen challenge, right"? So, that's like 31 years we had this discussion. Matter of fact, she would even ask with great due deference. Yeah, we have to do that now 'cause it's a part of the polity. She would say, "Hopefully that person's still alive, right"? And I'd go, "Yeah, that'd be cool and like awesome". So, I've been preaching for all these years and I come to this conference. I arrived here yesterday, I preach. I come to this conference, this story, if you Google it, it's everywhere, it's in books from Time Magazine to New York times. They talked about this, "Sam, 14 years old. Sam claims that he..."
Yeah, I mean people were there. A couple hundred people were there says not. It's been validated. So pretty cool. So, I come to this conference yesterday, God gives me the word about being light and burning bright and all that. And then at the... Oh, where are you, Bernie? Where's he at? Where did he go? Is he here? Can you come here? Ladies and gentlemen, for the first time ever in my life, I wanna introduce you to the person who prophesied to me. You need to come up here, ladies and gentlemen. When I was 14 years old, this man went to my assembly of God church in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and he prophesied into me about presidents of the United States of America. This is gonna sound awkward. I've been looking for you all of my life. You need to tell them just the whole thing, please.
Bernie: well, we were singing a song. David Wilkerson, actually, he loved Holy Spirit thou art welcome in this place. And right in the middle, God said, "You need to step out, there's somebody here named Sammy". And I said, "Bernie, you're crazy". His name is Sammy. And I thought, "Well, it's a Hispanic church. There's probably at least one Sammy in the crowd". And he said, "Step out, stop the song. Say, 'man of God. He's not a man of God right now, but he's a man of God. That's how I see him. Tell him he will speak to presidents'". And all these years I have read about reverend Samuel Rodriguez, but when you told the story, I looked at my wife and she looked at me and she said, "Is that our Sammy"? I'm gonna send you a picture of my wife and I in my office. I think you can see the little note that says, Sammy. Because we knew God was going to use you, and we prayed your name and we said your name. You take that prodigal, say his name, pray his name. Say her name, pray her name, speak it. Let the lion roar!