When Worship Goes to War | Jentezen Franklin

Come in your hurt. Come in your questioning. Where are you God? Why don't you do something? Come just like you are and just worship me. Together we're inspiring people to live for Jesus. If you're looking for more in life, to live with purpose and peace, to make a difference for your family and those in need around the world, Jesus is the answer. And our mission is to simply point you to Him. You're watching Kingdom Connection with Judson Franklin. We're going to begin reading with verse 22 of Acts 17. Then Paul stood in the midst of a arpeggist and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious, but religion is not Jesus. Religion is not, that's not what he's about. You're very religious, for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, that's in reference to the idols in Athens, Greece. I even found an altar with the inscription to the unknown God. Therefore the one whom you worship without knowing, you worship Him without knowing, that's a way of saying ignorantly, "Him, I proclaim to you. God who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands." Nor is He worshiped with men's hands as though He needed anything. Please understand, you're not doing God a favor raising your hands and even being in church this morning. He doesn't need anything from you. We need Him. He doesn't need us. He needs nothing. He needs, as though He needs anything, since He gives to all life, breath and all things. And He has made us from one blood. This is so important. You think you're better than somebody because of the color of your skin or the lack thereof. This is telling you where the human race came from. For He has made us from, boy, don't, isn't this a time for that verse to be highlighted in the world? He has made us from one blood every nation of men to dwell on the face of the earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their dwelling. God knew you would be right where you're sitting, right where you're living. God had preordained the boundaries of your dwelling, everything preordained by the hand of God. So, verse 27, that they should seek the Lord in hope that they might, the King James says, feel after Him and find Him, though He is not far from each of us. He's preaching to these people who are very religious, but they do not know God. And He says, for in Him, we live and we move and have our being also, as some of your points have said, for we are His offspring. Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think

that the divine nature is like gold. He's talking about statues, idols, that they were worshiping. They had them all over the place, silver or stone, something shaped by art or man's devising. Truly these times of ignorance, God overlooked. This worshiping of idols, God has overlooked, the ignorant worship of idols, God has overlooked for a season, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. the man, the man whom he has ordained, that's Jesus, he has given assurance to this to all by raising him from the dead. He just preached the resurrection to all of these people. I want to preach to you about the reason and the ways that we worship and what it's really all about what we're doing and I can do it quickly this morning. But when the United States of America launches war against a nation, they do it from war ships, they take off and they fight battles, they launch our attacks from war ships and spiritually we're in a war with principalities and powers and rulers and we launch our attack spiritually through worship. When we worship, we are releasing the forces of spiritual weaponry against the forces of darkness. That's why it's so important that we understand who we worship, why we worship and how we worship. Psalms 47 and one said, "Clap your hands all ye people and shout unto God with the voice of triumph." Psalms 149 and three said, "Praise the Lord in the dance for He takes pleasure, He takes pleasure in His saints." Psalms 150 talks about praising Him with the musical instruments, praising Him in the sanctuary, praising Him for His greatness and His exceeding greatness, His excellent greatness. Praise Him with our mouth, let the saints be joyful with the high praise in our mouth and the two-edged sword in our hand. Everybody take a praise, break and give God glory. We're not crazy for doing that. God surrounded Himself with the angelic hosts created to worship Him. I want you to see this in the book of Revelation. We're going to the throne room now.

We're going where God is right now. I know He's here by His Holy Spirit. He's omnipresent, but He sits upon a throne, Jesus sits upon a throne, and this is what the Scripture says about it. Verse 2, "And immediately I was in the Spirit," this is John, "and behold, a throne set in heaven and one, one, one set on the throne, and He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardest stone in appearance, and there was a rainbow around the throne. The rainbow belongs around the throne of God, not attached to a demonic doctrine and group of lifestyle that is forbidden in the Word of God. That's not mean. That's a preacher telling the truth. It is written. It is written. And that rainbow, isn't it just like Satan, that he's been in heaven. He was cast out of heaven. He's seen the rainbow around the throne, and isn't it just like him to steal it and put it on a cause that he knows would down people if they don't repent, just like adultery will, just like fornication will, that it's sin. And you will perish if you don't repent and turn away. The rainbow around the throne is holy in appearance like an emerald. On the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting. The Old Testament, those twenty-four elders would be the twelve tribes of Israel and then the New Testament, the twelve disciples, they will all be sitting on thrones. And I saw twenty-four elders sitting clothed with white robes. And they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices, seven lamps of there was a sea of glass. Now if you've got a love one in heaven you just think about this. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion. Everybody say a lion. And the second living creature

was like an ox or a calf. Everybody say an ox. The third living creature had the face of a man. Everybody say a man. And the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. Everybody say a flying eagle. The four living creatures each having six wings were full of eyes around and within and they do not rest day and night saying holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come and whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne who lives forever and forever the four and twenty elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying you are worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power. You have created all things and by your will they exist and we were created. You mess with me I stand up here and just read the Bible. The Bible is power. Don't need no preacher. None. All you need is that book right there and it's just it speaks for itself. John said I was in the spirit. Once the spirit gets in you, when you get saved, the spirit gets in you, when you get filled with the Holy Spirit, the spirit gets in you. Once the spirit gets in you, you need to learn how to get into the spirit and then we see these four living creatures which I think are a beautiful picture of the four seasons and times and ways we are to worship God. They represent something around the throne in heaven and God wants worshipers on earth that are doing what they're doing in heaven and he said the first one that I saw was a lion and that lion is symbolic of strength and courage and boldness. A lion can roar up to and the sound of that roar can be heard for five miles. The roar is just letting everybody know I'm here. It's what Paul and Silas got to hold off when they were in that jail sale and their backs had been beaten and at midnight they began to wake up and give the devil nightmares with praising the Lord with singing and praising and it's the lion of the tribe of Judah in you that you need to release when when you put on the face of the lion is saying I'm going to attack you Satan with worship because sometimes the battles that you're fighting are so great if you don't attack them with worship they will attack you with worry. There's no such thing as a cowardly lion. The righteous are as bold as a lion Proverbs 28 said you never see a chihuahua chase off a lion but you will see a lion calls a chihuahua to go running. The devil is the chihuahua. Hallelujah. The second face is an ox. You see that that lion is the it's the attack it's the attack it's the offense the offensive against the enemy but then there's other times when you're going through something and you need the face of the ox. What is an ox? An ox if you look it up in the dictionary

it says it's strong it's steadfast it's stubborn. The lion is the praise on the offense but the ox is just worship like an ox means I'm going through going to plow through this thing. I'm going to plow through this trial. Every day is a fight and every day is a struggle but I will not give up and I will never stop praising you Lord and I'll never stop being grateful and I'll never forget how you found me and you didn't leave me dying in the ditch but you poured in the oil and the wine and washed me and put me up and restored me and I'm not I'm still struggling with this addiction struggling with this problem struggling with this shame but I'm going to plow my way through because I know God is able to give me a brighter future than I have today. I don't know who I'm preaching to but you just need to keep on plowing on through put your head down and plow on through. Hosea 10 in verse 11 said Judah shall plow. Judah means praise. Praise plows through the tough hard ground and territory and season that you're in. You don't stay quiet. You praise when you're going through it plow through with the spirit and that face of the ox. I think about blind Bartimaeus and how the scripture said the disciples told him to be quiet. I believe it's in Mark chapter 10 and they said be quiet. Stop praising the Lord but he got the spirit and the face of that ox and the Bible said he cried out the louder. The more they said be quiet. He cried the louder and he got his miracle. Then thirdly the flying eagle. What is that about? What is the flying eagle about? Some trials that are so severe that if we're to be honest the problem is so severe that we think we can't escape it. We're in it and we're going through it that he said if you'll praise me with the face of the flying eagle I'll get what you can't get away from. You have to go through it. I'll get you over it. They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Worship says if I can't get through it I'll get over it. If I can never this is something's happened and you'll never be the same again but it's okay there is a praise that can get you over it. But there's one face that I am so thankful was there and he said then I saw the face of a man. The face of a man. I saw someone who worshiped like a human a human is frail a human is full of mistakes a human has sin and failure in their life but they came into my throne I invited them I want the humans to come in and you may not have a lion praise yet you may not have you may not have an ox determination you may not have the victory over what's happened you'll never get there until you approach him as a flawed messed up human being who can't fix yourself you're broken. I think of the people in the ministry that we have of new

beginnings and good landing and made for more and all of these wonderful ministries rehab ministry type ministries regeneration we like to call them and sometimes you don't feel like a lion or an ox or an eagle but I appreciate the fact that right there around the throne I can come in as a human being he says you come in with all your flaws with all of your mess ups come in with your depression come in with your anxiety come in with your addiction come on in with your bad marriage come on in with your children in your broken heart come on in with your shame with your abuse come on in come on in and if I ever see you worship my presence, one day they'll have a lion praise and an ox praise and a fly and eagle praise, and they'll be singing worthy as the lamb that was slain to receive glory and honor and power. I don't know what you're going through, but I know what will get you through, and I can only speak for myself, the thing that gets me through is when I show up and I say, "Lord, I don't have anything but a hallelujah." And I'm frail, and I'm weak, and I'm weary, and I'm struggling, and I'm fighting battles. And I tell you, the last few weeks have been some kind of warfare, but it's not our strength that God needs. He doesn't need you to be strong, be strong. No, he said, "Come, just come." Nothing's going right. If no good news is coming, just come in your frailty, come in your hurt, come in your questioning. Where are you, God? Why don't you do something? Come, just like you are, and just worship me. I'll take you just like you are frail, and you belong in this mix, too, because it's my blood that was shed for you. I didn't die for any of those animals, but I died for you, and it's your praise that I love the most.