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Watch 2022-2023 online sermons » Jentezen Franklin » Jentezen Franklin - Whose Report Will You Believe?

Jentezen Franklin - Whose Report Will You Believe?


Jentezen Franklin - Whose Report Will You Believe?
Jentezen Franklin - Whose Report Will You Believe?

I've got a message that I wanna share with you today from the Book of Isaiah 53. "Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed"? Who has believed our report? I wanna speak to you for a few moments today on "Whose Report Will You Believe"? When you understand the chapters leading up to this particular verse, there were prophecies of doom and gloom, destruction and judgment, and they were very real, and they were very accurate. And, it was telling how the people would go into Babylonian captivity, and how that Jerusalem would be just decimated by destruction, because of their wickedness and their evil, and it was very real, and it was happening.

And then, you move into the 52nd chapter, and there is a total shift, and the prophecy from the word of the Lord was one of restoration, and one of where God is going to give a promise of redemption to His people, that He would restore, that He would rebuild, that He would begin to bless. And then, it's so interesting. You get the bad report, you get the good report, and then you open Isaiah 53, which by the way is the chapter that deals with the covenant Jesus made on the Cross, where He lays it out, and says, "I was wounded for your transgressions," that famous verse. All of that is in Isaiah 53. But it begins with a question, "Whose report will you believe"? You got a bad report, and now, God has given you a prophecy, and a good report. And now, you need to make a decision, whose report will you believe? How are you going to think today? How are you going to believe today? How's your believing? How's your thinking?

When the doctor gives you a bad report, usually, the first thing we want is a second opinion. I need to hear a no from somebody else. There is another report. You don't just have to take the first bad report, but God's word always will give you another report. You can get bogged down in negative thinking. No matter how long you nurse a grudge, it won't get better. You can have a grudge against life. You can have a grudge against circumstances that you were placed in, that are so unfair. You can have a grudge against all kinds of things, and if you're not careful, you'll begin to nurse that grudge. And you'll begin to develop a bad report. This is no time, the time that we're living in, this is no time to nurse it, rehearse it, and disperse it. This is a time to reverse it.

And I have come this morning to reverse every one of you moving in the wrong direction, and tell you that there is another report, and you've gotta answer the question, whose report will you believe? I know the last days, the Bible speaks of a famine of hearing the word of God. But we are not going to participate at this church in that famine. We're gonna believe God's word, and hear God's word, over everything that we're going through. He said, "If you sow to the flesh," that's not us, "Then you will reap the flesh. If you sow to the Spirit," somebody say, "That's us," "Then you will, from the Spirit, reap the positive aspects and promises of peace and joy". That's our report. Matthew 24 warns that in the last days, there would be wars and rumors of wars, and earthquakes, and pestilence. That's bad times. Then, it says, in the same chapter, "And this Gospel shall be preached into all the world".

That's revival. They're both in the same chapter, and you don't just need to hear the bad report, but you need to grab hold of the good report. These are not just bad times, these are revival times, and somebody needs to plug in to that report. Think positively about the Father's blessings and goodness and faithfulness in times like these. You've got to get out of prison before you can help somebody else get out of prison, and many are incarcerated with negative thinking, low living, and low talking. The devil will wear you out before the harvest. God didn't teach us to swim to let us drown now. This is not our famine. We don't have to be apart of it, in Jesus' name. He didn't put us in His house, He didn't put His house in you, to move away from you. He said your body is His house, and His temple, and if anybody's moved, it was not God, it's you. He said, "I'll make your body My temple, and I'm not leaving you, 'cause you get in tough times".

I want you to hear today that I still believe, and this is my report, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous run in it, and they are saved. I am under a safe and new and better covenant. Storms are coming, Pastor. I know that. But I've got a better weather report. Revival's coming, too. Whose report are you going to believe? Some of you have been listening to the wrong reporter. Your source cannot be CNN, ABC, NBC, woe-is-me. You have to get another report. If you sow to the wind, you will reap the whirlwind. It becomes a boomerang, and comes back, and hits you. There are two reports. One for the sinner, and one for the saint. Here's the sinner's report. Everybody's worn out. Nobody's got victory. Nothing good is happening. I give up. I throw in the towel. The church is going down. Here's the saint's report. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers us out of them all. Here's the saint's report. In this world, you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, for I am with you, and I have overcome the world. Somebody, give the Lord a praise.

Whose report will you believe? That's my report, and I'm gonna believe it. No wonder Jesus said, in the last days, the harvest would be great, but the laborers would be few. Why does it begin with labor, the end-time harvest? When you first make your entrance into the world, the doctor called it labor. You can't get here without the mother going into labor. This is not a normal time. And you can either be plugged in to a bad report, or plugged in to a good report, because they're both there. I'm plugging into the good report, and I'm going to believe the report of the Lord. 1 Timothy 1:18, says: "This charge I commit unto you, my son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before you, that you might war a good warfare; holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck". And he names who they are. And he says: "Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme".

You know what Paul said in this verse? He said, "I commit to you the prophecies that have previously been made concerning you". There have been prophecies spoken over you. There have been promises that while preachers preached, the word of God got in you, and you know God promised you something about your family, about your child, about your business, about your future, about your health. You know that was a prophecy from God, and he said, "What you have to do is you have to fight with that prophecy". You go to warfare with that prophecy. One translation said, "You keep on keeping on with the prophecies that were made about you". You are epistles, the Scripture said, both read and learned by all men. We're like a book, some people will never read the Bible, you're the only Bible they'll ever read, and they watch you go through stuff, and they're reading your life, to see if you will curse God and die, or you'll stand in the middle of it all and say, "Jesus is still Lord and worthy is the Lamb". Worthy is the Lamb.

And, listen, he said, "You are epistles learned and read of all men". God didn't write any bad books, and His story for you isn't finished, and in the end, you will be an overcomer, if you won't give up. Hallelujah. I believe that, that's the report I believe. These prophecies, he said, with these prophecies that have been spoken, these words from God, over your life, you are to wage a good warfare. He was going to have faith, and a good conscience, the Bible said. Timothy, don't believe the bad reports about you, and about your future, and about your calling. But take the prophecies, take what God has spoken, and go forth, and fight good warfare. Timothy came from a dysfunctional family. His mother was a Christian, his grandmother was a believer, but his dad was a wicked sinner, according to everything we can find out. He was absent from his life for the most part.

One minute, he thinks, I'm a world shaker, 'cause granny laid hands on me, and momma put oil on me, and I'm telling you, I'm a world shaker, I'm a history maker. And the next minute, he thinks, I'm a flunky and a failure, and I don't even have a father, and now, you've gotta choose, which report, boy, will you believe? Do you believe that what you didn't have can stop what God put in you? It's up to you to believe the bad report, or the good report. But you got both, and now, if you'll go with God, He'll take you to a good warfare, where you win, win, win. Paul was encouraging him, keep on keeping on, with the prophecies. Because persistence breaks resistance. When you just won't give up, and you just won't quit, and you just won't stop, you break through. There's a difference between a good idea, and a God idea. A good idea might come to pass, but a God idea will come to pass.

When Simon Peter said to Jesus, "We'll never see You crucified, we won't let that happen, Lord". Jesus said, "Get behind me, Satan". Because it sounded like a good idea, what Peter said, but it wasn't a God idea. And sometimes, you have to be able to discern between the two, whose report will you believe? I can't even believe all the good ideas. I need the God ideas in times like these. He didn't bring you this far so you could be a could've-been, should've-been, and want-to-have-been story. He brought you this far to take you to the other side with victory. God never gives good ideas, He gives God ideas, and God ideas always are going to work. Don't let anybody steal your dreams. Joseph lost two coats, but he never lost his dream. God never would've put into the heart of a bird to fly south if there was not a south to fly to. And whatever God has put in your heart, and you know it's scripturally backed up by His word, it means it exists.

So go fight with that prophecy. He said, "You're the head, and not the tail". He said, "You are above only, and not beneath". And I'm telling you today, you are a world shaker, and you are a devil disturber, and so are your children, and your children's children. Whose report will you believe? I don't hear anybody taking this message serious, really. But I'm gonna tell you, this is where we are. You're either gonna believe this book, or you're gonna go into a shipwreck, the scripture said. I'm not going into a shipwreck. I'm going to the other side. I can't help but win, because God is on my boat, and on my side. Jesus said, "I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail". Whose report will you believe, the devil is a liar. Wake up the giant inside of you, and stand up, and say, "Timothy, you've been given a prophecy," and now, in the famine, when everything is short, we sure don't need dreamers to be short. We need people to dream like never before, that have inspired dreams from God, and won't let go. There are dream thieves.

Paul said, "Look at the two back sliders, Hymenaeus and Alexander". They were blasphemers. They must've been saying a lot of bad talk about Paul, and about the work of God. When God tells you something, you have to protect it, or someone will steal it. When God tells you, you're gonna be married, when God tells you, you're gonna have a family, when God tells you that He's gonna bless you with a blessed path and a career, when God tells you, "I'll supply your needs," you have to protect what God tells you, or the enemy will steal it. You've gotta understand that there are different growth levels. Jesus develops levels of partnership with people. He had the 70, that was a big group. Then, He had the 12, that was the smaller group that drew closer. And then, there were the three, Peter, James, and John, that went only certain places and certain prayer meetings with Him. And then, there was John, who was at the Cross.

John, who could hear the heartbeat of the Master, at the table of the Lord's last supper, when he leaned on Jesus' chest. That's intimacy, that's closeness with God. And what I'm asking you today is what level of partnership are you on with Jesus? Are you just one of the crowd, or are you near the cross? To the 70, He spoke in parables. Not every one of them understood. You have to guard your prophecy. You have to protect from dream thieves what God has specifically spoken to you, personally. There comes a moment where I can't rely on my momma's faith, I can't rely on my wife's faith, or my children, or somebody else. I have to go only on what God has promised me, and I have to stand and fight my own warfare over that promise.

The Bible said, "Stir up the gift that is within you". Anyone who's ever cooked anything knows if you don't stir it, it will stick to the bottom. And that's the problem. Many of you have not stirred up the promises. Many of you have not stirred up the prophecies. Many of you have not stirred up the word of God, and it's there, but it's sticking to the bottom, and you're on the bottom, and you can't get up, and you're not gonna get up until you start stirring the promises up, and suddenly, you'll feel God lifting you up. Have you lost your fight? Some of us are just tired of being tired. You've got to feast to fight.

I love the story in the Book of Kings of the four lepers at the gate of Samaria. There was a famine going on, and they were sitting there, dying, and starving to death, but they could smell the food of the enemy's camp down the road. And one of them turned to the other three and said, "Why do we sit here until we die? If we sit here, we're going to die. If we get up and move toward that smell of food, we'll probably die, too, but at least we'll be moving in the direction of a miracle". And, God is stirring me, one of those lepers said, "to get up and go in that direction," and they were afraid, but he said, "I'm going".

You can stay here and die, it's 100%. I'll take the 99% of probably dying, but at least I got a little bit of hope, and I'll start walking by faith. And when he started walking, God started working, and God took the heavenly microphone, put it on the feet of those four lepers, as they were shuffling along, and He turned the volume all the way up to ten, and the ear-piercing sound sounded like millions of soldiers marching in. And the army that had the food cooking on the fire took off running, ran for their lives, and four lepers, who were starving to death, walked into a feast. And the Bible said there was gold, and there was royal raiment, that's clothing. They put on Versace and Gucci, and had on Gucci slippers, and rings on their leprous hands, and crowns, and the Bible said they were drinking wine.

I don't recommend that, but they were drinking wine, and they were eating the food, had turkey legs and chicken, there's crowns, and Versace and Gucci robes, and came back to the city. And they said, "We've been feasting, and we've got faith". It's not time to die and sit there and die, it's time to get up and fight. And the Bible said that there was a man on whom the king leaned, meaning he advised the king. And he spoke up and said, "There's not enough food to feed all these hungry people. If God were to open up the windows of heaven and empty heaven of all the bread, it wouldn't be enough to take care of the tremendous hunger that we're going through".

And I love this story, I don't know why I enjoy it so much, but the Bible said when they saw... now, this is the Franklin translation, when they saw that big turkey leg, and they saw them ripping into that food, and I can see that crown half, you understand, you know, kinda like somebody a little bit lit, and they're just laughing and having a good time in those nice clothes, and all that. And all this sadness over here, in this city, and here's that one guy that's standing here, he's the scorekeeper, you know, he's telling 'em all the reasons why they don't need to believe for nothing, and the Bible said when they heard, when they encountered four people who feasted, and went from feasting to faith to fighting, all of a sudden, a stampede took place, and they started running toward the enemy's camp to get that food, and that scorekeeper got trampled to death.

The bad report got trampled to death, because the good news was better than the bad news, and they said, "Victory is coming, if you'll feast and you'll faith and you'll fight". That's all I got today, but I wanna ask you a question. Whose report will you believe? Hallelujah, I believe what I'm preaching. I believe this report. I believe that the sun is gonna shine again. I believe that He has good things coming for His people. I believe if I feast and I faith and I fight, I win, because Jesus is my Conqueror. Hallelujah. Give Him a mighty praise. Everybody, get up on your feet, give the Lord a mighty praise this morning.
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