Jentezen Franklin - Small Talks From Angels - Part 2
I want you to open your Bible to the book of Zechariah 4. Zechariah 4:1. Verse 1, "And the angel," notice this, "And the angel that talked with me came again and waked me as a man that is wakened out of his sleep". Talking angel. Verse 5, "The angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, 'Knowest thou not what these things be?' And I said, 'No, my Lord.'" Verse 6, "Then he," who? The angel sent from the Lord, "Answered and spake unto me saying, 'This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel saying, 'Not by might nor by power but by my spirit,' sayeth the Lord of hosts. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain, and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, 'Grace, grace unto it.' Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 'The hands of Zerubbabel,'" this is the angel speaking, "'Have laid the foundation on this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you".
Now, here's my verse, verse 10. "For who hath despised the day of small things? For they shall rejoice and see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro throughout the whole earth". I wanna preach to you today about this amazing verse, it's one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, Zechariah 4. It's very meaningful to me as a pastor because it's one of those great promises that has helped us build the church. Zechariah 4 has been a theme. The Lord dropped something into my spirit about that, the verses I just read, and I've never focused in on just the one that I'm looking at, but that whole bunch of scriptures that I read are powerful, powerful verses.
Zerubbabel was sent back to build the temple. It was devastated and destroyed, and he was released from Babylon captivity to go back. He had favor with the king of Babylon to rebuild the temple and rebuild the walls in the city. And as he went back, it started off great, but then as the text said, it was like a mountain that was standing before him. He laid the foundation and then nothing happened. He got it going, but the dream and the vision that God gave him ceased, and the angel, God sent an angel and the angel says, "Thus says the Lord to you, Zerubbabel, the mountain that you're facing, God is gonna smooth it out. It will move from a massive, uncrossable mountain to a smooth highway and plane that you will be able to walk right into the promise that God gave you".
And then, he said something else powerful. And he said, "And your hands laid the foundation". God started it, and he said, "Your hands are going to finish this project. For who has despised the day...do not despise the day," one translation said, "Of small beginnings". It's an angel talking about small things, about seemingly insignificant. Don't make little. Don't despise the small start. Don't despise how insignificant it looks like your dream is just so down here when you were believing for so much bigger and so much greater that I was going to do. And I'm preaching today about this angel talking about small things. I wanna call it, "Small Talk from Angels".
Zerubbabel was in the dilemma, he was in an unfinished building project. God sent him to rebuild the walls and now nothing's happening. It's been ten years, the workers stopped showing up. They were being sued. You can read the story. They were literally being shut down by the government that was against what they were doing. In that time, the leaders over that providence shut 'em down, time after time. And the project was started, but it was sitting there unfinished for over ten years. And God sent an angel to a depressed leader. A person who started out with a blaze of a vision and great success, and now it's just not happening. It's just not. There's no progress being made in what Zerubbabel knew God had called him to do.
And the angel goes to this depressed leader with a little small talk, and he says, "Let me tell you the key to this whole miracle is don't you despise the little, small part that God has started because if God ever starts something, He is the author and He is the finisher. He will never leave it like it is, even though you've seen nothing taking place for ten years in that area of your life". The word "Despise" means do not undervalue where you are. Joseph learned to not devalue where he was. And when they threw him in a pit, stripped him of his coat, he was sold into Egyptian slavery, the scripture said when they put him in Potiphar's house, he did not despise the day of small beginnings, but he worked so hard that Potiphar, the chief executioner of Egypt, put him over him over his whole house.
And then, when Potiphar's wife lied on Joseph and they threw him into prison for a crime he did not commit and he served 17 years for a crime he did not commit, he didn't despise where he was. But the Bible said that he worked, and he saw value where he was and the prisoner captain put him over the entire prison, and the Bible said, "Nothing was done in the prison that was not done through the hands of Joseph". Quit waiting on a big break and if you're in prison right now, God knows where you are, and God starts something, and He'll finish it and... well, I feel like preaching. And after 17 years, God said, "Since you didn't devalue the little things, I'm about in 24 hours to take you from the prison to the palace and you're gonna sit at the right hand of the king".
Sometimes God will drop you in the middle of the strangest places and say, "Do it here". He took Ezekiel and dropped him in a graveyard and said, "Have at it. Have a revival". "There's nothing here but bones, Lord". Despise not the day of small beginnings. I hate to tell y'all this, but there's just not enough wonderful places, and if you're in ministry, there's not enough great churches just to give you one. So, God will drop you into places and He'll say, "Let me see some passion, let me see some prayer, let me see some sweat, let me see some tears. Build it". And when you get weary, endurance has to be transformed into adventure.
The Lord told Jeremiah in the 29th chapter, "Tell the elders of Babylon, who are down there in Babylonian captivity and they want to come home to Jerusalem". Jerusalem is where the glory is, that's wonderful, and Babylon is such a wicked place, it's such an evil place. He said, "You tell those elders there that are whining and complaining," listen to what he said, "Build houses, plant gardens, and sow, and seek peace and prosperity in the city that I have put you. Pray for the peace of the city because it will prosper, and if it prospers, you will prosper". In other words, sometimes God says, "Build houses and plant gardens. I don't care how bad it is". And that's, kinda, how you feel about America right now. It looks bad, looks dark, but you know what? We're the church and we're in Babylon right now. We're not home yet, we're not in new Jerusalem.
So, what are we gon' do? We gon' build houses, we're gon' plant gardens, we're gon' be the light, we're gon' stand up for what's right, we're gon' preach the truth, we're gon' get out and vote, we're gon' say, "This is our nation, and bless God, hell can't have our schools, it can't have our marriages, it can't have our communities, it can't have our cities, it can't have our constitution. It can't have any of it". Give me a big "Amen," somebody. I remember when I was so discouraged when we just were, just fighting so many battles and needed so much. So many resources. One time, the devil said, "Why don't you just quit? Why don't you just", Just felt like, I didn't hear his audible voice, but boy, he was riding me. It's, like, just a lot of stuff going on. "Just quit, just quit, just quit. Why don't you give up"?
I said out loud, "Because I'm called, you fool. And I'm never gonna give up, and I will not despise the day of small beginnings". Hallelujah. "What are you saying"? I'm saying right where you are, God can bless you. Right where you are, God can use you. Right where you are, God can raise you from insignificance to great impact for His glory. And I don't know who feels like giving up, but the Lord told me to tell you, He's the God who can take the small things and multiply it exceedingly, abundantly above all that you can ask or think. I'm gonna ask you to stand to your feet. And it seems like such a small thing that I'm gon' ask you. But I feel like saying to every person in this room, if you don't know you're right with God, this is your altar call.
If you've got trouble in your home or in your life, this is your altar call. If you're in a painful season when it looks like your dream is drying up and dying, God does not want you to quit and give up. I don't believe you're here by accident. I believe that there's glory in the insignificant. When God breathes on it, it will live. And if I'm preaching to you and you know it, get out of your seat and come stand right down here. I'm not gon' do this long. It's not how long we pray, it's the small prayers, it's the small beliefs, all it takes is a mustard seed of faith. And especially, this is what I feel. You're fighting for your dream right now. You're fighting. You know you need to see a breakthrough. You've worked hard and you need to see a breakthrough.
Come on. I need this church to just lift your hands all over this room. And maybe there's trouble in your home, shout the grace of... If the grace of God doesn't do it, you sure can't do it. If you got a son on drugs or daughter on drugs or alcohol or whatever, nothing... Just see the small things God's doing. He can turn it around if you'll believe. And everybody pray, "Jesus, I give you the small things. I will not despise the day of small beginnings. I'm a little frustrated. I'm in a season where it feels like I'm in the hall and you're behind the door doing big stuff for other people, but it's not happening where I am. But that's changing now because I've heard a word from the Lord. I've got some small talk from angels, and I will not despise the day of small beginning".
Now, throw your hands up and say, "Lord, I receive your grace. I receive your help. I receive your miracles. I receive your power. I receive it in Jesus' name". Sing it with everything you've got. Say to the mountain, "You're gonna be a smooth plane". Your hands started it, your hands are going to finish it by God's grace. Receive it today. Don't mistake where you are as death pains, it's birth pains. Yes, I do. Nothing is impossible. Nothing is impossible unto you. Nothing is impossible unto you.
Alright, now listen to me, listen to me. I felt the Lord check me and He said, "I want you to challenge the young people, the youth that are in this room. I'm going to transplant my dream for their life". I don't know why I said Forward. I don't know why I feel this, but I want teenagers, I want college students, if you're in your twenties and under... This is crazy, I've never done this. But I want you to get on the stage with me because today's gon' be a day when God... 'Cause you, you gotta know your purpose. You gotta know your purpose. You gotta find your purpose. And you don't decide it. Listen to me carefully, you don't decide your purpose. It was put in you the day you were conceived.
And this is an important service because if God's grace comes on you to do a thing, nobody can hold you back, nobody can stop you, nobody can tell you how far you can go and how high. God puts a dream in His people. Because if our young people don't have a vision, they become unrestrained. They'll waste years of their life doing crazy stuff, but when you got a vision for your life, it keeps you disciplined. And He says, "Don't you despise the day of small beginnings". Don't you, don't you devalue who you are, who God is, and His dream and purpose for your life. "Because I'm gonna put things in your heart to do and I'm gonna give you the grace to do it".
And this is how it happens. I was 20 years old when God called me to preach. How many of you are 20? Let me see your hand, 20 year olds. Raise your hand if you're 20 years old. Keep it up. I was you. Come here, son. I was you. That's when, that's when... Now, if I had devalued the call and said, "Well, you know..." God found me at 20 years of age and said, "I have called you to do a thing". And you're just as called as I am in whatever field God puts in your heart, but you gotta seek the Lord. You gotta seek the Lord. If you just, kinda... Some people keep waiting on something to happen. If you're not careful, you're gon' wait your whole life. So, what is key is at a young, early age to really commit to God and say, "Show me the way".
Isn't this beautiful? You're so important to us. You're so important to the kingdom of God. And you're not gon' be perfect, and you're gonna mess up, and you're gonna do stupid things, that's part of life. But if you'll keep holding on to God, hold the line, just get out front and hold the line and say, "You know what? I'mma stand for Jesus. I don't care what other people do, I'm gonna stand for Jesus". This is awesome. Come on, come on, come on, come on, here they come. Come on, this is beautiful. This is great.
And some of you, some of you, the Lord wants you to get on a stage because you've been burying your talent, and He wants you to stand on this stage because it's the beginning. And it may be in theatre, it may be in music, it may be in arts, I don't know. But it's good for you to be on this stage 'cause God says, "I want you to have influence on people in mighty ways". You are called. I just wanna say it like I wanna say it. God's calling you to greatness, not mediocrity, greatness. Hallelujah. Stretch your hand this way. And all of you, just lift your hands up toward Heaven. You say, "I ain't never done that". Well, welcome to a new thing, come on. And what you're saying is, "God, I'm grabbing your hand, and together, we're gonna do your will. Lead me and guide me".
Now, pray right now, and I want them to begin to sing this song and I want you to just close your eyes and I want you to say, "Jesus, I surrender everything to you. I'm stressed out, worried about how I'm gonna do it, and what I'm supposed to do, and where I'm supposed to go. So, I just give up and I give everything over to you, use me". Now, begin to worship Him all over this room. Sing and praise the Lord. Hallelujah. "Use me, use my gifts, use my talents. I will not despise the day of small beginnings, small beginnings". This is a big moment. This is a moment that will mark you.