My personal conception of Jesus - the Lion of Judah

It is a pleasure to be with you tonight, and also to conclude this series of meditations on the person of Jesus, and where each one of the pastors, pastors of the Church, have the opportunity to express their own version, their own feeling of Jesus . I believe that many times when we express what Jesus wants to say to us specifically, we are already revealing a lot about our psyche and our personality, because according to what one sees in Jesus one expresses certain aspects of his personality and his way of seeing. life and see spiritual things, so I believe that I am going to reveal certain aspects of my personality by sharing with you the Jesus that I serve, in my conception of Jesus Christ.

When I look at Jesus I do not necessarily see the tender and accessible Jesus that some have presented during these weeks, although obviously that part of Jesus exists, it is real, very important, and we must always keep it in mind, absolutely, Jesus is that tender being , cordial, kind, compassionate, who sees the hidden treasure in people and who appreciates, a person that no one would appreciate, who redeems them and lifts them up, gives them their dignity that they have lost, I believe that Jesus often has to be talked about grace, mercy, love, compassion, tolerance, patience, as an essential part of our ethics as a Church, as a congregation, and it is very important that we do not forget that, we have to present a real Christ to the world, that is why Christ incarnated, became man, to enter our dimension, feel what we feel, identify with us and be able to speak to a dimension of our being, we can identify with that human Jesus, and he knows how the Bible, our temptations, our illnesses, our struggles, as He knows that the Bible says that then he can be a priest who introduces him to God.

So nothing I want to say tonight please be construed as a denial of that Jesus. Now, having said that and having been healed, I want to talk to you about my conception of Christ, and I believe that this too can be even normative for our congregation, and many of you have heard me share at appropriate times over the years. the dream that I had about 20 years ago or so, with the Lion of Judah. The Lion of Judah was not a very important image for me when I had that dream, I knew the image because I had read it in the Bible, in the Scriptures, but it was not something that predominated in my mind, it was not something that I gave a lot of attention. When I had that dream where I saw, I am going to repeat it like this for all those who are new to the Church, perhaps they did not listen to me, in that dream I saw the skyscrapers of the city of Boston, as if you saw it on a screen like That, those photos that are presented in the city with its skylines, the skyscrapers, the large buildings, the river, I saw something similar, and I remember very clearly that the part was specifically the financial area, the financial neighborhood where the big banks are , many of the financial institutions in the city of Boston, and I saw this series of buildings and on top of the buildings they began to rise from the right side of the screen and glide quietly and slowly like they were huge planes, a herd or a swarm of poisonous spiders, in our country they say cockatoos, they were tarantulas, I don't know what other name, hairy black, big, immense, and they slid over the buildings and settled like a dark cloud, over all the buildings. buildings, with a height of perhaps in that case it would be like, I don't know, a thousand feet above the tallest buildings.

And by doing this they were exerting influence over the city. I was able to see these animals, these beings, and understand that they were demons, because I could feel the intelligence that was in them. I don't remember if they had eyes, but I remember that they were intelligent beings, and one thing that impressed me is that they were full of poison, poisonous, they were poisonous, completely full of poison, to the point that their skin was as tight, shiny, as amount of poison that it had inside, and they perched like that above the city, and I understood in the dream that they were demonic beings that exerted influence, controlled what happened in the city of Boston.

Now for the moment above them, much higher, on the left side of the screen, up high, for the moment the face of a Lion appeared, and it was like a flat plate, and it was looking over this scene of the spiders and below the city, and I was kind of at ground level looking at all of that from a distance. So this face was the face of a lion but it was not an animal face, what am I saying? I was impressed by the eyes, they were powerful eyes, firm eyes, very human eyes, eyes of authority that stood out from the face, and when I looked at that scene I understood, and it was like they gave me a close up of that face, I I understood that this lion, when looking at that scene, was exercising maximum authority, control, total influence, the lion's eyes did not flinch, they were not eyes of fear, exaltation, or annoyance, they were eyes that simply looked serenely, but with supreme authority on that stage.

I also understood in the dream that that lion was the Lion of Judah, and seeing that scene from where I was, I raised my right arm towards where the Lion was and said three times You are the Lord, and by declaring that there ended my dream. When I woke up in the morning I felt that this had not been an ordinary dream, and that God had given me a vision so to speak of Jesus and of a reality that existed in the city of Boston, but that I believe exists. in all the cities of the world in all parts of the world, where demonic beings that govern everything that has to do with evil, crime, violence, sexual violence, rebellion against God, the oppression of man against man, of exploitation of the poor, all these things are governed by those demonic beings, as the apostle Paul says, our fight is not against blood or flesh but against principalities and powers, against beings that are in heavenly places and govern darkness.

And that is what is the source of all the evil and all the suffering and sin and negativity in the world. Then I understood that God was telling me, that is the city of Boston governed by those demonic beings, but also after the dream, I understood that the Lord was calling us as a Church, at that time we were in the city of Cambridge, to come to the city of Boston to change residence, to make a transforming presence, and a presence like war and fight against that reality that I saw in the dream. And that gave rise to and unleashed in me that concern that I later shared with the Church about transferring to the city of Boston and changing everything, leaving a very comfortable place that we had there, leaving a decent reality and coming to this city that at that time It was a mess, full of crime, full of violence, destroyed streets, holes everywhere, collapsed buildings, and there was a dump, that was this area full of drug addicts and all kinds of evil and dysfunction.

The story is long, that is why we are here, and God also placed in my heart the call to change the name of our Church, to call it the León de Judá Congregation, and our original name was Central Baptist Church, a little tamer the name, Congregation Lion of Judah, this is really for decoration, if anyone has a little bit of water I would greatly appreciate it. By the way Raquel, thanks for doing all these decorations, a round of applause for her because every week she has been preparing these sets and she has graduated as an interior decorator (applause).

Brothers, I want to talk to you precisely about my image, my understanding of Jesus as the Lion of Judah. I see in my psyche, my spiritual understanding, I believe the image that God has given me personally of Jesus, my pastoral style, my understanding of the ministry, what I believe God has called our Church to be, what he calls to the Church of Jesus Christ with a capital I has to be at this time is related to that image of Jesus as the lion, the warrior, of the jungle, the lion is ferocious, the lion is militant, the lion does not tolerate questioning of his authority , the lion is not frightened by anything, it does not run away from the hunters, the lion is strong, the lion demands recognition of its authority and its power, the lion when it focuses on its prey does not rest until it knocks it down and devours it. That is my understanding of Jesus.

Notice that many would say oh, how ugly is this understanding of Jesus, those who like to see that tender, meek, humble, simple Jesus, the blond little Jesus with blue eyes with a little lamb in his hand, I know they are going to feel offended by this concept of Jesus. However, on the cross the risen Christ, that is the image that he presents to us. Take a look, for example, I'm not going to read the passages, but when John in the book of Revelation sees Jesus in chapter 1, he sees him with white hair, he says, and his dress shone, his eyes shining, it was like burnished bronze, it was a Jesus threatening, says that a sword came out of his mouth, and John when he saw that terrible image of Jesus as happened with Daniel when he saw an image of God, as happened with Ezekiel when he saw the image of God, as happened with Peter when he saw Jesus after fishing, he experienced the same terror, all those beings when they saw God experienced the same terror that John experienced when he sees that terrible, powerful, sinister Christ to use that word, and that is the Jesus that I I'm more interested.

Again, the other Jesus is also important, but I see that this vision of Jesus Christ as Lord, the warrior, the royal, noble being, the King who demands homage, reverence, you have to walk with Him carefully, around He how he walks next to a very very powerful King. It is interesting that I have also told you the story that when we finished negotiating about this building, that I stood out here one day shortly after learning about this building that I learned about it in a non-confidential way, when I stood in front of it. I don't know how many have seen it, in the front door that was the original entrance to the building, this entrance was later added later, but the front entrance was that one, which is hardly used now, above when I looked at the façade like this I discovered a lion in relief that had survived the change of façade, that is the original façade, that roaring lion.

Imagine, what is a lion doing attached to a building, how many lions have you seen like that in the very center above an entrance? One sees many things, yes, but a lion, I had already told the Church about the dream, the dream was what brought us to Boston, to change the name of the Lion of Judah Congregation Church, and for now I stand here and I see this blessed lion roaring, with its jaws, it is a ferocious lion that is roaring out there, and that was confirmation for me that this was from God. And there's still that lion roaring still saying like be careful. And that image of God haunts me, I believe that there is something called by God for us as a Church, my life, it is something personal, I do not expect many people to necessarily share that image of Jesus, but I believe that God has given me called to proclaim in my ministry, and I believe that in the future this lion temperament will be more and more real in our Church, it is already being so, but I believe that it is like a genetic code that God has implanted in our Church , on that part, the lordship of his power, his majesty, his militancy, his warrior character, his need for adoration and subjection and reverence, and that his power be recognized in all dimensions because He does not tolerate a neglect of his glory , and that is what I believe that we have been called to declare as a Church, in a world where the Lord is being neglected, contradicted, resisted, disrespected, a ministry is required, called people who exalt the name of Jesus, and who call the nations and the Church to recognize the lordship, the power, as I would say, the severity and the seriousness of the Christ that we serve.

So remember well what we are saying, if you ask me, what is your vision of Christ? I would say that the Lion, the militant, powerful being, full of authority, who has to be served, to whom we have to submit , before whom you have to walk with great reverence and fear and trembling, because the other things are good, they are complementary, but I think that in our culture I don't know how I would say, informal, that emphasizes needs, emphasizes care and tenderness. and attention, and heal people of their weaknesses and their problems, that severe Jesus, that powerful, royal, majestic Jesus, many times it doesn't seem to be very good. I believe that this neglect of that dimension of Jesus has been detrimental, it has been harmful for the life of the Church and for us too, we have to recover that image of Jesus.

Another passage that helps me remember that, there are many passages that help me, but another passage is Luke chapter 19, the parable of the Lord that you will remember that image where in this parable a lord calls his servants, a man says of good birth , a noble man, and he calls them, puts them in line and tells them I am going on a trip, and distribute a part of the money to each one, and he tells them to negotiate while I return, and he leaves and went to a distant place, time passes, and a clear image of Jesus ascending to heaven, leaving his Church a task of negotiating and moving, and doing different things, gives them endowments of power, authority, gifts, and then tells them As far as I am out, give me those gifts, put them to work.

When he returns, he says that he called his servants and called them to account, and he told them, what did they do? Each of the servants gives him the multiplied talent that he gave them except one, he says sir, I was afraid, I was afraid because I know that you pick up where you don't sow, and that you are a severe man, he says, and this man who is a The figure of Jesus does not contradict him, and it is more so then he tells him, and that is why I was afraid, and I took my talent and wrapped it in a handkerchief and hid it, and he says to him, aha!, unfaithful servant, why even if it is You didn't put it in the bank so that it would collect interest? So take away the talent and give it to the one who has it, the servants kind of trembling say, but sir, how is that, are you going to give the talent the little that he has to the other?, and the lord says no because the little that one has it will be given to the one who has and to the one who keeps it will be taken away, and then he orders to kill all those who resisted his return, that he return, he also says, he is a severe man, he is a terribly serious man, that Jesus sometimes we do not like to talk about Him, and yet I believe that that Jesus has to be rescued by the Church without losing the other Jesus, because the thing about Jesus is that Jesus is Lord and is servant, because He once told the disciples you call me Lord, that's fine, I am, but then that same Lord serves his disciples, washes their feet with water, and dries their feet with a towel.

So Jesus has that double aspect of Lord and servant, for those who accept him, receive him, love him, he is tender, but for those who resist him, be careful because he is also severe and terribly dangerous, so I believe that the The Church needs to rescue that image of Jesus as that also severe King.

So I think we have to see that over and over again, for example in Revelation chapter 5, look for it there, verses 11 onwards, it says there was an image of the Lord Jesus Christ being adored by the 24 elders and the 4 living beings and I looked says John And I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living beings and the elders, and their number was millions upon millions saying with a loud voice "the lamb that was slain is worthy to take power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise, and to all creation that is in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, and to all things that are in them, I heard him say. is seated on the throne and to the lamb, be praise, honor, glory and power for ever and ever." Wow that is a powerful image of Jesus.

I believe that once again, that Jesus worthy of praise, adoration, power, honor, glory, that the seas, the earth, the stars, the planets, declare and recognize his lordship, that Jesus I believe that at this time in history of humanity is waiting to reveal itself again and needs to be rescued and we have been called to that type of ministry. That is my conception of Jesus, I see it that way, the other conceptions are true and complementary, but I believe mine, that is what God has called me to do. By coming to Boston we have come to realize the elements of that original dream that I had.

I think we have a sympathy epidemic in the United States. All ministries want to be nice and pleasant to people, we are afraid of offending, no one dares to point out the truth and say God's demands. How do you feel that you fill needs? Nowadays, throughout the North American evangelical world, there is a lot of this idea of churches that remove the cross, remove the name of the demon or Christian, put neutral names, Iglesia de Esperanza, Iglesia Restauración, Iglesia del Camino, because they do not want to sound religious, because they are afraid that if people listen to something that is not generic and accessible they will not come, and then also many pastors do not like it anymore, we do not want to, they have literally gagged us, and We can no longer talk about things that spoil people's party, or spoil their lunch when they go to their favorite restaurant, so in many churches everything is God loves you, God wants to heal you, God has your needs in mind, God is loving, tender, merciful, it is a therapeutic Church that we have today, and I believe in all of that, I believe that the Church has to talk about the family, about marriage, all these things are necessary, but the other dimension Also, the dimension of obedience, of holiness, of the lordship of Christ, the terribly holy God, entering the church almost with fear and trembling, the fear of who God is, when we see him in his reality is terrible, The one who is coming is a Christ of power, a white horse, he says that his clothing is covered in blood because of all the war that He unleashes against his enemies, that is a Christ that many times we do not talk about, and we have to rescue that Jesus, and in our lives we have to reflect that dimension of Jesus, and this Church has to go more and more in that direction to rescue that aspect of Jesus Christ in our lives we have to reflect that, that is the Christ that I would like to proclaim one day, and I know that this is waiting, to be completely unleashed, and that is going to be a ministry of confrontation, of war, of persecution, of denouncing many things, that's what my brothers are waiting for.

If my intuition is correct, that is something embryonic that is in this ministry waiting to be unleashed, and it is not far from being fully unleashed, because it is something that God wants to do at this time in history, and that requires ministries that confront two things, that call the Church to take account of that terribly holy and serious God, and that we have to walk very carefully with Him and that it requires all of us so that that Church, full of the power and gift of Jesus, then has the gifts to to be able to rescue the world and recover the world for God. And a ministry that confronts the world and announces that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that they have to bow before Him and that they have to obey him, whether they want it or not, because God does not share his glory, nor does he allow his glory to be reduced, and I believe that God is calling the Church to that type of church and I believe that to other congregations, to prepare to undertake that type of ministry.

Psalm 2, with this I am finishing, today looking at this I realized that it is a Psalm for our time, it is a messianic Psalm in fact, and this Psalm says: "Why do people riot and think vain things ?, Kings and princes will rise up against Jehovah and against his anointed saying, let us break their bonds, and let us cast their ropes from us ". He is talking about a humanity, nations, kings, who rebel, he says, you know we are going to get rid of this nonsense, why do we have to obey Christianity?, we are going to look for our own ethical and moral methods in our lives, so let's break his ligature, he says, then kings will rise up and say let's break his ligature, and let us cast his rope, a humanity of rebellion, governments, nations of rebellion, as is this nation today, its main ruler, a person apart from being a decent person with good intentions but for me personally forgive me, I don't see anything Christian in his behavior, nor in his priorities, nor in his moral way of leading this nation, nor in anything, forgive me but that is the truth, that is what I say, many times we pastors do not dare to tell the truth, and many brothers get upset, too bad, I am very sorry because I have the microphone right now.

Forgive me but it is reality. I believe that the Church has to be warned and people like our friend Obama, I am going to mention it, why not, one day they are going to have to be confronted by apostles and prophets of God, and they are going to have to be called to account for the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

Now look at what it says, "He who dwells in the heavens will laugh, the Lord will laugh at them, then he will speak to them in his anger and trouble them with his anger." I believe that we are in times where God is preparing to do precisely that, He is going to, his annoyance with these nations, these rulers, who have adopted secular and humanist principles, and have wanted to escape the tutelage of Christianity many times in Partly because the Church has failed in its way of living, but it says that the Lord is going to laugh and say, who are you tadpoles to reject my glory and question me? And it will disturb them, I believe that at this time in history we are going to see disasters, we are going to see terrible situations in the financial world, in nature, in the cosmic world, tragedies of wars like the ones that come to the United States because of their rejection of lordship of Christ, of Jehovah, and the Lord is going to disturb them more, he is going to confuse them, and they are going to see that they cannot solve the problems, and God is going to take them practically against a rock and a hard place.

And then verse 6 says: "But I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain." This is a Psalm that was written hundreds and hundreds of years before Christ came, this is a Psalm of David I believe, and he is speaking prophetically. I believe that when David wrote this Psalm he did not know himself that he was prophesying about the coming of the Son of God. But look at how he says: "I will publish the decree, Jehovah has told me you are my Son, I begot you today, ask me and I will give you the nations as an inheritance and the ends of the earth as your possession, you will break them like a rod of iron You will crush them like a potter's vessel." That doesn't sound like a meek, gentle, cuddly, pretty little lamb to me. This is a terrible Jesus, those nations do not want to accept his lordship, He is going to force them with an iron rod.

I believe that we are going towards a point in the history of humanity in which for a while, I don't know how long, before the final judgment, I believe that the Lord and the Church of Jesus Christ are going to recover terrible power over the nations, there is going to be huge terrible conversions of entire nations, something is going to happen on earth that is going to be like the government of God for a time is going to be on earth. I still tell you that I am not here to fill up my credit card and buy my harp to go to heaven, there is still a lot of work to be done, I believe that in the next 20, 30, 40 years there is a lot of work to be done.

So prepare your swords, fortify your life, sharpen your weapons, tighten the nuts, prepare yourself as a soldier who is going to go on an elite mission tomorrow like these navy seals do, the frogmen of the United States when they went to attack, for example, Osama Bin Laden, I think last night they were oiling their rifles, counting the grenades they had, making sure everything was in place, rehearsing every move, studying the plans for his mansion, knowing exactly what they were going to do. to do if something went wrong, if this, preparing for the mission, and when they got on those helicopters they had rehearsed hundreds of times and were in perfect shape to do what they had to do.

And we are at a time when God's call for the Church to come into its true power for its identity is just around the corner. And you have to get ready, this Church has to get ready, tightening the screws, getting stronger, losing weight, God is calling us to greater concentration, greater vigilance, more study of the Word, more dedication of our lives, of everything, because we are almost about to enter the mission for which God has prepared us, and it is a mission of war, of rescue, it is a mission of confrontation, and a lucid, strong, clear, determined, powerful people is required, who can do what God wants him to do to restore the power of that Lion of Judah.

It says "You will break them with a rod of iron, now then, O kings, be prudent, admit warning judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling, honor the Son so that he is not angry and you perish on the way, for he suddenly inflames his anger, blessed are all who trust in him ". I believe that Psalm 2 is a Psalm for the nations today, and that is the Christ preparing for what we have to be serving, I see Jesus as the warrior, the one John chapter 3 says who came to To undo the works of the devil, our cities have to be rescued, they have to be rescued first from those horrifying demonic powers that are behind the scenes controlling the dynamics of the cities like puppeteers, that the puppets are ruling.

We see the puppets there below the stage but above there are demonic hands that are governing their movements, both from rulers and social agencies, from universities, from philosophical and cultural movements, behind that there are demonic powers that have to be taken away and controlled. , and subject to the will and lordship of Christ. We must serve the Lord with fear and trembling. Lion of Judah has received a great calling and we have to live up to that calling. This is the time that we have to start living as we serve a great King and Lord, who expects every knee to bow and every tongue to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Our mission in the light of that powerful Christ, Lord King, warrior, is to establish the lordship of Jesus in the city of Boston, far beyond.

We have to use our gifts to the maximum, prepare our gifts, we have to serve the Lord with all our might, we have to do spiritual warfare and proclaim the Lordship of Jesus in our meetings, our times of prayer, when the Church meets for example As on these Sundays we have seen the glory of the Lord, we have to go more and more in that direction, proclaim the power of Christ, there will be a time when we will have to declare the lordship of Jesus, declare the defeat of the principalities, the powers, God I believe that one day he will give us a clearer and more powerful manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, healings, signs, wonders, liberations, imparting the baptism of the Holy Spirit, all these things come and we have to prepare ourselves because God has called us to establish the lordship of Christ in the city.

And our service has to become a more militant service. That's why sometimes you see me apologize for the time the meeting is taking, frankly I'm not that nice, I do it to pretend and so that you think I'm courteous. But in reality more and more I want to train our Church and I will do it little by little, our services will have to become as long as the time it has to take and I call you my brothers, I anticipate the day when people come and say we don't know what's going to happen today, okay? I have been told many times, but I also believe that it is like a training place, that whoever comes here knows that this is a Church that is a place for tender warriors, both, right? On one side they have a rod of authority and on the other side they also have a little ointment for the wounded and to heal them as well.

But if you come here, know that you are going to enter a different place, Omar, there is a choir that I want us to sing, but the Lord put me there and told me, seated on his throne dressed in light, it seems to me that this chorus to end and conclude is appropriate, then we have to exercise spiritual warfare in our meetings. We have to sanctify our lives, we have to define ourselves, frankly when I came here on New Year's Eve, I wasn't thinking that God was going to give me that defining message, but I think we have to think more and more about emphasizing the definition. , because that is what God wants us to do, in this year and every day of our life, serve that Christ, we have to organize our lives, our homes, marriages, our Church as a congregation in order to serve that Lion of Judah, that ruler with more and more effectiveness.

I hope that this, instead of making you lose sleep, fills you with an expectation of the Christ that we serve, it is so wonderful, these are precious times that await the Church, and I believe that churches like ours have to be a place of preparation and training, one of the things that our vision is to be an exemplary Church that represents the best values of the Kingdom of God that inspires other churches, both North American and Hispanic, many people in this city see the Lion of Judah as a Church Exceptional, for the glory of God, that we have a synthesis of many things that the Church needs, social work, mercy, evangelism, strong worship, spiritual warfare, a supernatural vision, good administration, a people that gives and surrenders, and the world, the Church of Christ needs a Church like ours, the day will come when people will not think of León de Judá as a Hispanic Church, they will think of León de Judá as a simple church simply that heads, that blesses.

I am not glorifying this Church because I know that it has so many faulty things starting with its pastor but even so God has given us something very special and it is not for us to be proud and say oh I am the Lion of Judah, God sometimes calls the least able to glorify himself, but we have to live at that height, serve a powerful, warrior, militant, sovereign Christ, and do it with love and mercy, and present to the world that Christ who needs them to submit to him and to recognize his lordship.

I hope that it is clear and that this is it, I believe that this is the conclusion of this time, thanks to Omar for starting this series, and each one of you must rescue that Christ that God wants you to see, because Christ has many facets different, and perhaps you wonder, well, what is the symbol if you had to make a statue of Jesus that was like the symbol of my life and my relationship with him, what would that statue look like? Would it be a lamb, would it be a lion, it would be a warrior, it would be a lawyer, it would be the blonde from Galilee, it would be the way, the truth, the life, many ways in which we can see Jesus, what does Christ mean to you? So stand up for a moment, we declare the Lordship of Christ. Lord we declare through this word we unleash, that image of yours, warrior, King, Lord Almighty, irresistible, holy, worthy of reverence, worthy of fear, worthy of admiration, reigns over all authority, all principality, all power, no one can resist Your name, we want to be nice to you and we want to be appropriate for you.

Begin with each one of us, Lord, and may the message, may the content spread and be distributed throughout this entire congregation, those who are near, those who are far away, and even beyond throughout your Church in this time of the history. We adore you and bless you in Jesus name, amen and amen.