Jentezen Franklin - Raise Your Voice - Part 2

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Look with me in Deuteronomy 22. There are laws of sexual morality, and there were things that God's word began to forbid, and it's dealing with one of those things in Verse 23. "If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed", that word betrothed means engaged, "if she is engaged to a husband", they're not married yet, but they're going to get married, "and a man finds her in the city and lies with her", some translations say forces himself upon her, "then you shall bring them both out to the gate of the city, and you shall you stone them to death with stones", listen, "the young woman because she did not cry out in the city", which implies that if she would've just spoke up it could've been stopped.

Now, again, remember what I just told you. But there's a real lesson in this spiritually. You gotta see this through the spiritual eyes to understand the insight that I want you to get. "And the young woman because she did not cry out in the city and the man because he humbled his neighbor's wife, so you shall put away this evil from among you". Verse 25, "But if a man finds a betrothed, engaged, young woman in the field, and the man forces her to lie with him", he's forcing her, "then only the man who lies with her shall die, but you shall do nothing to the young woman. There is in the young woman no sin deserving of death. For just as when a man rises against his neighbor and kills him even so is this matter", listen, "and he found her in the field, and the engaged, young woman cried out, but there was no one to save her".

I wanna talk to you about, "The Power of Raising Your Voice". Silence can be a sin in the times in which we live, and in this text, it deals with two young women. One of them lived in the country and one of them lived in the city. It's kind of confusing unless you understand the spiritual implication, and here it is. You're gonna get it. I promise. In Matthew 13:38, Jesus said in one of His parables, that the field is the world and in Hebrews 12:22 it says, "But you have come to Mount Zion. You're in the city of the living God".

So, the point is simply this that once you come into the city or the Kingdom of God, once you enter into Christ, we're in the city of the living God. We're not out in the field because Jesus said the field represents the world, but the city represents the city of the living God. And the Bible says the tragedy of the person in the field is when they are attacked and they cry out there is no one there to hear them. But in the city if you cry out if you're not too embarrassed, if you're not too ashamed to say I need help, if you're not too much of a person who refuses to acknowledge, you just wanna pretend like you're okay, but you're really hurting, you're really struggling, if you can ever get to the place that once you're in the city, once you're in the church, once you're in the Kingdom, you're willing to cry out and say, "Help! I'm struggling. I'm losing ground. I'm falling away. Help"!

All you gotta do is cry out, and the rescuer will come running. This text teaches us to speak up, to raise your voice. If you've ever been baptized in the Holy Ghost and prayed in the Spirit, the time you use that prayer language is when the enemy is attacking you. The enemy wants you to keep your voice of praying in the Spirit, praying in other tongues as the Spirit gives you the utterance. Oh, don't do that. Don't do that. Somebody might think you look funny. Somebody might think you're a fanatic. Somebody might think you're a nut, you're a religious nut. I don't care. When you go through everything that you go through, at some point, you form your own corporation, I Don't Give a Rip, Incorporated.

All I know is I need the stuff that works right now. I need the stuff that's gotten me through every valley I've been through, and sometimes I don't need a lay-me-down-to-sleep prayer. Sometimes I need a hotline to heaven. Sometimes I need to open up my mouth and when I don't know what I should pray as I ought, the Spirit Himself maketh intercession with groanings which cannot be uttered. Does anybody know what I'm talking about in the 21st Century church? We need a revival of uplifted voices praying in the Spirit, praising God with almost a militant spirit on us in a good way. "The violent take it by force," the Bible says. You're not in the field. You're in the church.

Many times in the Bible, people did not get a miracle because they were in the presence of Jesus. Many people were in the presence of Jesus. The people who got the miracles when they were in the presence of Jesus were people who cried out. Because if you stay quiet, you're just like those people who if they stay silent, I believe, Jesus would've passed them by. I doubt your desperation if you don't get your voice lifted up. I doubt if you really want it if you're too proud to cry out for help. In Luke 17, ten lepers stood afar off. They had lost their families. They had lost their wealth. They had lost their businesses. They had lost their health. The parts of their body were literally decaying on the bone, and here comes Jesus, the Miracle Worker, and they could've just let Him pass by, and He would have.

But the Bible said in Luke 17, "And they lifted up their voices and said, 'Jesus, I'm dying. Master, have mercy on me.'" They lifted up their voice. In one translation, "they said with a loud voice, 'Help, Master, Savior', and Jesus turned, and He said, 'Go show yourself to the priest'", and as they went, they were healed 'cause they lifted their voice, they would've died. They would've suffered the sentence of death if they had been silent even though they were in the presence of the Healer. Intimidation will kill you. If you don't get your voice uplifted, you could die. You could die spiritually. You're feeling the attack. You feel the tug of the flesh. You feel discouraged in your mind, beat up in your body. Maybe your marriage or family, your children, all hell is breaking loose. Refrain to remain silent even in this service today.

At some point you have to say I still believe. I still know that there is a God in heaven. I still know that He hears and answers prayer, and I still believe that if I call on Him, He will answer me and show me great and might things I know not of. Take a praise break. I'm almost done. But take a praise break. Come on. You got a better shout in you than that. It's time to raise our voice. It's time if you're tired of the devil attacking your family, attacking your children, attacking your finances, attacking your mind and your health. Lift your voice and declare Jesus is my rescuer. Jesus is my deliverer. Jesus is my healer. Peter, the Bible said, was sinking when he saw the boisterous winds and waves. He was afraid, I love it, and he was beginning to sink. That caught my attention. He was beginning to sink. He didn't wait until he was under bubbles. He didn't wait 'til he was taking his last gasp but when he was beginning to sink.

Somebody is listening to me, and you can feel it. I'm beginning to sink. I'm beginning to go back into that alcohol. I'm beginning to go back into that. I'm beginning. I can feel this thing. I'm under attack, Pastor, and the Bible said, "And as he as beginning to sink", don't wait too late. Do it now. "He cried out saying, 'Lord'". In this deep theological truth here. He didn't have to pray a fancy prayer, "Lord, save me. I'm beginning to sink", and Jesus took his hand and reached down and picked him up, and what he couldn't do on his own, when he took the hand of Jesus, they walked back to the boat together, but it happened when he cried out, when he raised his voice. One more.

I wonder if there's any blind Bartimaeus' in the house today because the Bible tells the story of a man named Bartimaeus who was born blind from his mother's womb, and one day he heard that Jesus was passing by and when he heard of Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me". And the religious crowd, they're always there. Many warned him, "Be quiet. Shut up". I think the intimidation came something like this, "Um, just act like the problem's not real. Just play church this morning. We don't want anybody to know about your little problem. Don't get vulnerable. Be quiet. Just act like it's not real. That's not for you. He's not coming for you". But I love what the next part of that Verse said. They warned him to be quiet, but he cried out all the more. The King James said, "He cried out louder, Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me".

Shout more. Pray more. Cry out more. The more the devil attacks you, the more you cry out. The more he intimidates and tries to defeat you, the more you cry out. You're in the city and silence is a sin in the city. Why? Because there's a Redeemer who is ready to rescue you. I got a text about seven weeks ago, something like that. It's from a pastor friend that I've known. We've never been, you know, super close or anything, but he's very cordial and one of the greatest, nicest men that I've ever met and very gifted, very anointed and pastors a great church in Tennessee. And he sent me a text about six or seven weeks ago, and he said, "I was watching you on television, and you'll never know the message that you preached". And he said, "I wept. I wept in my room, and I cried as I listened to you preach. It so touched my heart because I'm hurting". And we went back and forth, and you know, you just don't know who you're talking to. You don't know where they're at. And we went and exchanged some texts back and forth, and I wished him well and thanked him and prayed for him on the text and said I'm praying. Didn't give it much thought, to be honest.

Last week, I found out that young preacher took his life. I couldn't help but think of this thought of he was hurting, but who really knew? He was at his wit's end, but who really knew because we're so good at coming to church and acting religious when we ought to be crying out, "I'm dying. We're in trouble. I can't leave here. My family's jacked up. I need some help. I need God's help. I'm hurting too bad to pretend". Anybody ever get to that place that you can be honest with God? I'm struggling. I've got a besetting sin. Can you ever get to that place that you can say it, you can ever break the silence and say, "Help"! He'll come running. We used to end of a wedding, we don't do it much anymore. They've taken it out of the ceremony for some reason.

I guess 'cause families are so argumentative that they're scared somebody will take them up. But we used to say this at the very end of the ceremony right before you would pronounce the man and woman husband and wife. There's a little statement they used to write in it, "If there's anyone here who would object to this man marrying this woman", here's the big words, "speak now or forever hold your peace". I believe that we're at point in many, many, many lives that I'm reaching right now in all of our campuses and right here and those of you watching that the Lord is saying, "Speak now. Speak the word. Speak my name. Speak in prayer. Speak in intercession. Speak up for truth. Speak up for what's right. Speak now or forever hold your peace". Anybody ready to raise your voice? Anybody tired of the attack, the attack, the attack, and you're tired of it?

I believe I've come with a word in season today that would say I am still your Healer, I am still your Rescuer, I am still the one who delivers you out of the horrible pit, I am still the one who is your buckler, your shield. I'm your Redeemer, and I have come to the city for the cry of my people. Just lift your hands toward heaven and receive all that He has for you this morning. The presence of the Lord is very real here today. If you need healing right now, I want you to focus on the stripes that Jesus took on the cross. But He was wounded for your transgressions. He was bruised for your inequities. The chastisement of your peace was upon Him, and by His stripes you are healed.

Now say, "Jesus, you're my Healer". Here comes the one who rescues. Here comes the one who fights for you. Here comes the one who is your defense, your strength, your healer, and your life sustainer. Be healed. You're standing in proxy for someone. You're standing here, and they're in the hospital or they're in the bedroom or they're in some bad situation. Right now, you're standing proxy. Raise that hand high on behalf of that person that comes to your mind right now. Come on. Get a burden and cry out for them. Why don't you call their name before the throne? Why don't you just speak their name and ask Jesus, your Healer, to heal them and if they're in the field, He can take care of that too because the reason that the people in the field can't get any help is they don't know who to call on, but you know who to call on, and you can pray for them, and God will go get them out of that field of cocaine, out of that field of addiction, out of that field of shame and sin and guilt and pain and sorrow, depression, and hopelessness. Hallelujah!

Why carry it? Why don't you take it to the Lord in prayer right now? Why don't you raise your voice? Why worry yourself sick about them? Why don't you just speak their name one more time! Just speak their name. Speak it in authority like you were singing. Speak it with the power of knowing there's force. I heard a sermon today, and my faith is stirred. I can lift my voice. I'm not a victim. I can lift my voice, and Jesus will deliver. in the name of Jesus, I sense that God has given miracles right now. Miracles. Everybody say miracles. Miracles. Raise your hand. Raise that hand and say three times miracles, miracles. I'm speaking it. I'm raising my voice. I'm claiming it. Miracles in the name of Jesus. I'm not crazy. There's power in that name. Raise your voice for your family member that's on drugs. Raise your voice for your family member who is messed up in their mind and even you can sense a little spirit of suicide on them. Why don't you raise your voice? Our voice can make the difference. I saw for a man who would stand in the gap and take up the hedge.

♪ Savior, Savior ♪
♪ Hear my humble cry ♪
♪ While on others ♪
♪ Thou art calling ♪
♪ Do not pass me by ♪
♪ Savior, Savior ♪
♪ Hear my humble cry ♪
♪ While on others ♪
♪ Thou art calling ♪
♪ Do not pass me by ♪

Would you just raise up your right hand toward heaven? Say:

Lord Jesus, I raise my voice, and I repent. I turn to you with all of my heart. Have mercy on me. Master, Jesus, save me. Deliver me. Help me. I receive it. I know you know my voice. I know you hear my cry, and today, I receive your help. I receive your hope. I receive you victory in Jesus's name. Amen and amen.